1. Weekly Highlights

Tether Prepares for Its First Full Audit Through Engagement with a Big Four Accounting Firm

• Tether, the leading stablecoin by market share, has signed a comprehensive audit engagement with one of the global Big Four accounting firms.

• Despite maintaining its position as the world’s largest stablecoin, Tether has long faced ongoing scrutiny over reserve transparency and regulatory compliance.

• In particular, during the 2016 Bitfinex hack, Tether used its reserves as a loan to cover losses and concealed the shortfall in USDT backing—an incident that ultimately resulted in fines.

• However, it appears that these internal issues have since been addressed. If Tether successfully completes a full audit this time, it would significantly strengthen its credibility and resolve one of its key weaknesses.

• Meanwhile, Circle, Tether’s main competitor, has long positioned regulatory compliance and audited reserves as core strengths of USDC. With Tether potentially closing this gap, Circle’s stock has fallen by more than 20%.

Tether has signed a comprehensive audit engagement with one of the global Big Four accounting firms and is preparing for its first full audit. There has long been significant controversy surrounding Tether’s transparency—most notably in 2016, when it claimed its reserves were fully backed despite insufficient funds, resulting in an $18.5 million fine and a loss of trust.

However, if Tether successfully proceeds with a proper audit going forward, it is expected to address one of its key weaknesses: regulatory compliance. In contrast, USDC has positioned itself with strong advantages in auditing and regulatory compliance. If USDT adopts a similar strategy post-audit and expands into institutional capital markets, it could threaten USDC’s market share. Reflecting this risk, Circle’s stock dropped by more than 20% in a single day.

In reality, the stablecoin market is largely dominated by USDT and USDC. It remains to be seen whether this duopoly structure will continue.

99% Loss from a Failed $500K Swap on Aave

• On March 12, 2026, a user attempted to swap approximately $500,000 worth of aEthUSDT to aEthAAVE through the Aave protocol interface.

• However, due to insufficient market liquidity, the user received only 327 aEthAAVE—worth around $36,000—resulting in a loss of approximately 99% of the transaction value.

• This incident marks one of the largest losses in DeFi history, highlighting issues such as ignoring user warnings and potential limitations in the CoW Swap infrastructure.

• In response, Aave announced the introduction of Aave Shield, a feature designed to automatically block swaps that would cause price impact exceeding 25%, aiming to better protect users. Additionally, the fees generated during the swap have been refunded to the affected user.

An anonymous user suffered a 99% loss while attempting to instantly swap $50 million worth of assets through Aave. The loss, caused by insufficient liquidity, marks one of the largest incidents in DeFi history.

While part of the issue stems from the user proceeding despite warnings during the swap, there is a broader consensus that liquidity conditions and the overly simplistic checkbox-based warnings were inadequate.

Aave and CoW Swap stated that they would refund the fees generated during the transaction to the affected user. However, since the majority of the profits were captured by MEV bots, this compensation appears to have limited practical impact.

BlackRock Launches Ethereum Staking ETF

• BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) on Nasdaq on March 12.

• This marks BlackRock’s third crypto ETF and its first to offer Ethereum staking yields.

• By combining spot ETH exposure with staking, ETHB provides investors with both price exposure to Ethereum and an annual yield of approximately 3% derived from staking rewards.

• On its first day of trading, the ETF recorded $15.5 million in volume. As it introduces staking and yield features not available in existing Ethereum ETFs, strong investor demand is expected.

BlackRock has launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB). Unlike traditional ETH ETF products, ETHB differentiates itself by staking a portion of its Ethereum holdings and distributing the generated rewards as dividends.

This allows both retail and institutional investors to earn yield without the complexity of running validator nodes. Additionally, as demand for the ETF grows, it is expected to have a positive impact on ETH supply dynamics.

Unlike stocks such as MicroStrategy (MSTR), which provide leveraged exposure to Bitcoin, ETFs like ETHB are backed by actual spot holdings managed by BlackRock. Therefore, aside from price volatility, they are generally considered to carry relatively minimal additional risk.

Resolv USR Infinite Mint Exploit

• A major exploit occurred involving Resolv’s stablecoin, USR.

• The attacker used approximately $200K in USDC to mint $80 million worth of unbacked USR.

• The USR was then converted into wstUSR and swapped into USDC and USDT, which were subsequently used to purchase ETH.

• The root cause of the incident has been attributed to a private key compromise, meaning the smart contracts and underlying collateral mechanisms were not directly exploited.

• In response, the Resolv team has burned 9 million USR held by the attacker and is supporting redemptions for USR issued prior to the incident.

• During the attack, lending protocols that accepted USR as collateral suffered significant losses. Fluid, for example, stated that it will cover the costs required to liquidate all USR-related debt, and if additional funds are needed, it is prepared to raise capital—even by selling FLUID tokens.

A depegging event occurred in Resolv’s stablecoin, USR. Despite undergoing more than 18 audits and bug bounty programs, the attack appears to have been caused by a compromised private key that held minting authority over USR.

The total damage is estimated at around $25 million. Notably, the losses were amplified beyond simple USR minting through abuse of lending protocols that accepted USR as collateral.

Many lending protocols had hard-pegged USR at $1. As a result, when the price of USR dropped below $0.10 due to the attacker’s selling pressure, malicious actors were able to buy USR cheaply, deposit it as collateral, and borrow USDC—leading to significant exploit-driven loans.

This incident highlights that in DeFi, even well-audited protocols with large TVL are still exposed to risks such as private key compromises, and users should remain cautious at all times.

2. Notable Project

MSTR Preferred Stock STRC

• STRC is a perpetual preferred stock launched through a July 2025 IPO, raising $2.52 billion. The proceeds from STRC issuance are used by Strategy to purchase Bitcoin.

• It has no maturity date and pays cumulative dividends on a monthly basis, based on a $100 par value. The initial dividend yield started at 9% and has since increased to 11.25%.

• Recently, STRC recorded an all-time high daily trading volume of $409 million, making it one of the most actively traded securities in the preferred stock market.

• While the current yield is attractive, there is a risk that dividends may not be paid if Bitcoin experiences a sharp price decline.

STRC is a perpetual preferred stock issued by Strategy, designed to trade around its $100 par value.

The reason STRC has been drawing significant attention in the market is not only due to MSTR’s Bitcoin-driven DAT strategy, but more importantly because holders can receive an annual dividend of approximately 11.5%. Even considering that the dividend is adjusted monthly at the discretion of Strategy’s board, this remains a notably high yield.

According to Strategy CEO Phong Le, the current STRC dividend structure is sustainable for over two years. However, if future capital raising becomes challenging, the company may suspend dividends or even sell Bitcoin to cover unpaid dividends.

In other words, if Bitcoin prices decline and fail to recover for an extended period, risks could emerge. Therefore, investors should carefully consider these factors when evaluating STRC.

Kalshi Raises $1B at a $22B Valuation

• Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated prediction market platform in the U.S., has successfully raised $1 billion in a new funding round at a $22 billion valuation.

• This represents a twofold increase from its $11 billion valuation in December last year—an unusually sharp rise.

• Meanwhile, its competitor Polymarket received a $2 billion strategic investment from Intercontinental Exchange in October 2025, reaching a $9 billion valuation, and is currently pursuing new funding with a target valuation of $20 billion.

• Both Kalshi and Polymarket have surpassed $60 billion in cumulative trading volume, reflecting strong user adoption. However, there is a key difference in user behavior: Kalshi sees a higher proportion of manual trading by human users, whereas Polymarket has a larger share of automated trading driven by bots.

Kalshi, a prediction market platform, has recently raised $1 billion in new funding at a $22 billion valuation. This represents a twofold increase compared to its funding round last December, making prediction markets—outside of AI—one of the fastest-growing sectors.

Built on compliance with the U.S. CFTC, Kalshi is generating strong performance with over $30 million in daily trading volume. However, ongoing state-level licensing disputes suggest that there may be limitations to scaling the market without constraints.

Kalshi’s competitor, Polymarket, is also reportedly in the process of raising additional funding. Given that both platforms are successfully attracting capital and generating significant revenue, it is unlikely that either will launch a native token in the near term.

GRVT Announces Tokenomics and TGE Scheduled for June

• GRVT is a ZK-based on-chain hybrid exchange.

• The project has raised a total of $33 million from investors including Delphi Ventures, zkSync, and 500 Global. It recently unveiled its tokenomics, with a total supply of 1 billion tokens and 28% allocated to community airdrops.

• While the token launch was originally planned for Q2, it has been postponed to after June 30. This delay sparked some dissatisfaction within the community, but the team explained that the decision was made to avoid token dilution and to better align with market conditions.

• The GRVT token will offer various utilities, including trading fee discounts, increased allocation limits for the GLP Vault, higher APY on earnings, and cashback benefits when using the GRVT card for payments.

GRVT, a ZK-based on-chain hybrid exchange, has announced its tokenomics while simultaneously postponing its token launch from the originally planned Q2 timeline to after June 30.

Given the current unfavorable market conditions, most PerpDEX tokens tend to decline in price immediately after TGE. From the team’s perspective, it appears they prefer delaying the launch and waiting for market recovery rather than failing to meet the valuation expectations held by the community.

Anticipating potential backlash, GRVT has also increased token rewards. Specifically, the Season 2 allocation has been expanded from 12% by an additional 6%, bringing the total allocation to 18%.

Why TAO Price Is Surging

• Bittensor (TAO) is a crypto AI project focused on building a decentralized machine learning network.

• It has a fixed total supply of 21 million tokens—similar to Bitcoin—and TAO can be mined through network participation.

• TAO’s price has risen by more than 70% since early February, which is particularly notable given the broader crypto market conditions.

• Several factors appear to be driving this surge, including the completion of training for the Covenant-72B model, the launch of the Grayscale TAO Trust, and a mention of TAO in the context of decentralized computing on the All-In Podcast featuring NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.

As one of the leading crypto AI projects building decentralized machine learning infrastructure, TAO is once again attracting significant market attention. Its strong performance—especially rising over 70% while the broader market is declining—has naturally increased interest.

In addition to its ongoing technical developments, the mention by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang in a major podcast is believed to have had a meaningful impact on price momentum. Furthermore, TAO is listed on major centralized exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb in Korea, as well as Binance and OKX globally, making it highly accessible.

Given these factors, TAO is expected to remain one of the top-performing projects within the crypto AI sector in the near term and is worth closely monitoring.

Katana Acquires IDEX

• Katana is a DeFi-focused Layer 2 incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR.

• Although it successfully secured spot listings on major exchanges such as Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Coinbase at the time of its TGE, its performance has been relatively underwhelming, with an FDV remaining around $120 million.

• Recently, Katana acquired IDEX, a hybrid DEX launched in 2017, and introduced its own perpetual futures platform, Katana Perps, to strengthen its revenue model.

• While Katana previously generated revenue primarily through vaults and liquidity provision (LP) on its own chain, the acquisition of IDEX enables it to capture additional revenue through trading fees.

Katana, which recently launched its native token, has acquired IDEX. IDEX is a hybrid DEX that supports both spot and derivatives trading, making it a strong strategic fit as it fills the gap in trading fee revenue that Katana previously lacked.

Following the acquisition, IDEX has been rebranded as Katana Perps, and will be integrated with the KAT token, vKAT governance, and the Vault Bridge. A new points program is also being introduced alongside these changes.

While the exact acquisition amount has not been disclosed, this move is expected to help redirect capital back into the Katana ecosystem post-TGE and expand the utility of the KAT token, potentially having a positive impact on its price.

Notably, despite securing spot listings on major exchanges such as Binance and OKX, KAT’s FDV has remained around $120 million. As a result, the upside appears more open than the downside at this stage.

Surf Introduces Studio Feature

• Surf, a crypto-focused AI platform, has raised $15 million from investors including Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures.

• With its recent Surf 2.0 update, the platform introduced a new feature called Studio, which allows users to create custom dashboards, portfolio trackers, and even applications using simple natural language commands.

• Studio demonstrates a high level of sophistication, enabling users to build tools in flexible formats—ranging from whale activity alerts, price and sentiment tracking, to integrated monitoring of news and on-chain movements.

• Currently, this feature is available only to Max subscribers, while Pro and Plus tier users have access to a limited preview version.

Surf has introduced a new feature called Surf Studio alongside the release of its 2.0 version. This feature enables users to instantly create and deploy crypto dashboards, portfolios, and applications using simple natural language prompts, and is currently available to Max-tier subscribers.

Previously, Surf functioned mainly as an LLM that helped users better access and understand crypto information. With this update, however, it now provides capabilities powerful enough to build full-fledged crypto applications, making it a highly innovative upgrade.

That said, there is still a barrier to entry since the feature is limited to Max-tier subscribers. If it eventually becomes accessible to all users, it is likely to see widespread adoption.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

OpenSea Indefinitely Delays TGE Schedule

• OpenSea had publicly committed to launching its SEA token TGE on March 30, 2026.

• However, on March 16, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer announced that the token launch would be postponed indefinitely, citing worsening market conditions.

• According to Finzer, the SEA TGE will only happen once, so the team intends to launch it only after ensuring that all elements are fully prepared. He also stated that participants in the Waves 3–6 reward programs will be given the option to receive refunds on platform fees.

• OpenSea has already delayed its TGE for over a year since initially announcing the SEA token. With this latest indefinite postponement, the company has significantly damaged trust within its community.

OpenSea had previously announced via its official social media account a year ago that it would launch the SEA token on March 30, 2026. However, once March arrived, the company unilaterally decided to postpone the launch indefinitely, ultimately failing to keep its promise.

The reason this decision has sparked particular controversy within the crypto community is that, over the past year since announcing the SEA token, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $120,000. Despite having ample opportunity to proceed with the TGE during favorable market conditions, OpenSea chose not to launch—and is now citing market conditions as the reason for the delay, which many find difficult to understand.

From the perspective of existing users, this is especially frustrating. Many participated in the Waves reward program—enduring potential losses—under the expectation that the token would launch on March 30. Seeing a sudden indefinite delay announcement is understandably disappointing.

Based on CEO Devin Finzer’s statement, OpenSea appears to be planning to introduce additional features such as perpetual trading and prediction markets, along with new point farming mechanisms tied to these products. This raises a strong possibility that existing users’ accumulated points could become diluted.

What Were the Results of Backpack’s TGE?

• Backpack is a Solana-focused all-in-one crypto platform that has built a centralized exchange.

• The project raised $37 million from well-known VCs including Jump Crypto, Amber, Hashed, and Delphi, and recently conducted the TGE for its native token, BP.

• At TGE, nearly 25% of the token supply allocated to the community was unlocked for users who had previously traded on Backpack. However, due to unfavorable market conditions, BP is currently trading at an FDV of around $200 million—significantly below the $500 million FDV that had been anticipated on platforms like Polymarket.

• One of the most heavily promoted utilities of BP was that staking the token would eventually allow conversion into company equity, with the potential to receive shares upon a future IPO. However, since the IPO timeline remains uncertain, waiting for such a conversion could take a considerable amount of time.

Backpack, a Solana-based exchange often referred to as the successor to FTX, has completed the TGE of its native token.

Prior to the TGE, it was valued at an FDV of around $500 million on Polymarket. While reaching $1 billion may have been unrealistic, many expected it to trade near the $500 million range. However, once spot trading began, the FDV dropped sharply to around $200 million.

Community sentiment has been very negative, and it is clear that performance has fallen short of expectations. In particular, while the project emphasized token utility linked to a future IPO, such an event is highly uncertain and could take a long time to materialize. Given the crypto market’s strong aversion to uncertainty, many investors have been selling BP tokens, further driving the price down.

Although it is difficult to determine where the bottom lies, the current market environment remains weak, and buying liquidity is limited. Caution is advised when trading newly launched tokens in the near term.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve significant risk, so please conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the views of Uncommonlab research interns and do not represent financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend trading any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

Magic Eden, an NFT Marketplace, to Shut Down Its Bitcoin and EVM Marketplaces

• NFT marketplace Magic Eden announced that it will focus on Solana and the on-chain casino and sports betting platform Dicey.

• As a result, the company stated that it will gradually phase out the Bitcoin and EVM-based marketplaces and wallets it has supported so far.

• CEO Jack explained that more than 85% of NFT trading volume occurs on Solana, and the decision aims to reduce the complexity and operational costs of maintaining a multi-chain infrastructure. The services will remain available only until March 9.

• While EVM-based NFTs are unlikely to be significantly affected due to the presence of platforms like OpenSea, the situation is different for Bitcoin Runes and Ordinals. Since Magic Eden has been the most accessible and convenient platform for trading them, it may become much harder to trade these NFTs going forward.

Magic Eden CEO Jack announced that the platform will shut down the Bitcoin and EVM-based NFT marketplaces that Magic Eden has supported so far.

Most of the NFT trading volume on Magic Eden has historically come from Solana, so the company stated that maintaining a multi-chain marketplace required significant resources and costs, making it inefficient. The shutdown is intended to reduce that operational burden.

For Bitcoin NFTs, Magic Eden had been the most convenient and accessible platform for trading. With the marketplace now closing, traders suddenly have fewer places to trade, which has already had a noticeable impact on the market, with NFT prices dropping.

While many users are disappointed by Magic Eden’s decision to discontinue support for these marketplaces, the project team explained that the move is meant to focus on its most profitable segments—Solana and the on-chain casino platform Dicey.

With both Magic Eden and OpenSea pivoting toward token swap platforms, it seems increasingly unlikely that the NFT sector will recover the trading volumes it once had.

Predict.fun Acquires Probable

• Opinion, which previously recorded the largest trading volume on the BNB Chain, successfully launched its token and secured listings on multiple exchanges, including Binance.

• Following this, the BNB Chain prediction market was expected to see increasing competition between Predict.fun and Probable.

• However, Predict.fun — a BNB Chain–based prediction market — announced that it will acquire Probable, a prediction market project that had been incubated by PancakeSwap.

• It is believed that the two teams reached an internal agreement and decided on the acquisition in order to grow the BNB-based prediction market ecosystem together. As part of the integration, points will be merged at a 1:2 ratio, and a fee rebate event will also be held.

Opinion, which received investment from YZi Labs, has completed its token launch and successfully secured a Binance listing. As a result, it was expected that the BNB Chain prediction market would see intensifying competition between the remaining platforms, Predict.fun and Probable.

However, Predict.fun suddenly announced the acquisition of Probable, stating that the two platforms will now operate as a unified service under Predict.fun.

While the exact reason behind the acquisition has not been clearly disclosed, some speculate that Opinion’s performance turned out to be weaker than expected, leading to lower activity in BNB Chain prediction markets. As a result, the teams may have concluded internally that merging to survive in the market would be the better strategy, which likely led to the integration of Predict.fun and Probable.

Allegations of Token Dumping by the Power Protocol Team

• Power Protocol is a blockchain gaming project that operates the game Fableborne.

• Recently, the price of the POWER token dropped sharply from $2.3 to $0.14 within a week, sparking controversy and allegations of dumping.

• According to reports, Power Protocol restricted the daily bridge limit for POWER tokens while simultaneously accumulating POWER on the Ethereum chain, which drove up the token’s price.

• Most of the circulating supply exists on the Ronin chain, but POWER on the Ethereum chain is required to deposit tokens to exchanges. By restricting the bridge and manipulating the price of the relatively small supply of POWER on Ethereum mainnet, the team allegedly pushed the price up and encouraged users to buy.

• A few days later, just one day before the staking reward distribution, a large amount of POWER tokens was sold, triggering a sharp price crash.

• The team claims that the market maker (MM) withdrew and sold tokens allocated for market making without permission. However, since the process requires multi-signature approvals, many believe the dumping likely occurred with the team’s consent.

The gaming project Power Protocol has sparked controversy after allegedly dumping its own token.

To transfer POWER tokens to exchanges, users needed POWER on Ethereum mainnet. However, since most of the circulating supply existed on the Ronin chain, users had to go through a bridge process to move tokens between chains.

The problem was that the bridge had a daily transfer limit, which prevented most users from moving their tokens. As a result, the relatively small supply of POWER on Ethereum mainnet surged to around $2.3, creating a significant price discrepancy between Ronin and Ethereum.

During this period, the team reportedly sent POWER tokens to a market maker (MM) under the pretext of market making. The MM then deposited the tokens to exchanges and sold them all, causing the price to crash to $0.14.

The Power team claims that the MM sold the tokens without permission, but since the transfer process required multi-signature approval, it is widely believed that the dumping likely occurred with the team’s consent.

Because the price gap between Ronin and Ethereum POWER tokens had already widened significantly once the bridge restrictions were in place, many consider this a clear case of price manipulation. The fact that the team ultimately blamed the MM while the tokens were fully sold off suggests that, although the project briefly gained attention in the gaming sector, the real objective may have been to dump the token.

PancakeSwap Accused of Copying Curve Finance Code Without Authorization

• PancakeSwap recently introduced an update aimed at offering better pricing for StableSwap exchanges. However, during the implementation process, it was revealed that code from Curve Finance had been copied without authorization.

• After discovering this, Curve Finance publicly stated on social media that PancakeSwap had replicated its code without permission, arguing that this constitutes a violation of the license.

• In response, PancakeSwap said it would reach out directly to the Curve team to resolve the issue regarding the code.

• Although the technology is open source, it still requires proper attribution and compliance with licensing terms. As a result, this incident is likely to be resolved through discussions between the teams rather than through legal disputes.

PancakeSwap Used Curve Finance’s AMM Open-Source Code Without Attribution

PancakeSwap used AMM-related open-source code developed by Curve Finance without providing attribution or coordinating with the Curve team beforehand.

In response, Curve Finance publicly addressed the issue on social media, informing PancakeSwap that this constitutes a violation of the code’s license. Curve also stated that if PancakeSwap wishes to use the code without legal issues, they are welcome to reach out and discuss proper licensing.

PancakeSwap acknowledged the issue and replied that it would review the situation and contact the Curve team. As a result, the matter is expected to be resolved through licensing cooperation rather than legal disputes.

The 20 Millionth Bitcoin Mined

• Out of Bitcoin’s total supply of 21 million, the 20 millionth BTC was successfully mined on March 9, 2026, marking a historic milestone.

• This achievement occurred 6,267 days after the Genesis Block in January 2009, meaning that approximately 95.2% of Bitcoin’s total supply has now been mined.

• The remaining 1 million BTC will be mined gradually over the next ~114 years due to Bitcoin’s halving mechanism, which continuously reduces block rewards over time.

• While the event did not have an immediate market impact, it serves as a reminder to long-term holders that the amount of mineable Bitcoin remaining is becoming increasingly scarce.

Out of Bitcoin’s total supply of 21 million, the 20 millionth BTC has now been mined. As a result, about 95.2% of all Bitcoin has already been mined, and the remaining 1 million BTC will be gradually mined over the next 114 years.

Considering the 2.3–3.7 million BTC that are estimated to be permanently lost, the amount of Bitcoin that is actually available for trading in the market is likely only around 15.8–17.5 million BTC, making it even scarcer in effective supply.

While I don’t fully agree with the argument that Bitcoin still behaves like “digital gold,” since it no longer closely tracks the price of gold as it once did, it has clearly established itself as a reliable hedge against inflation. In particular, in an environment where global liquidity is expanding rapidly, Bitcoin tends to be one of the fastest assets to respond to changes in liquidity, which is why I believe it has firmly positioned itself as a legitimate investment asset.

CZ Ranked 17th Richest Person in the World by Forbes

• Forbes has estimated the net worth of Binance founder CZ (Changpeng Zhao) at $110 billion, ranking him as the 17th richest person in the world.

• This represents an increase of $47 billion compared to the previous year, surpassing Bill Gates. However, the figure largely reflects CZ’s ownership stake in Binance and the company’s estimated valuation.

• CZ pushed back on the estimate, arguing that such a large increase in his net worth is unrealistic, especially given that most crypto assets, including Bitcoin, have fallen by more than half from their previous highs.

• Since Forbes has not publicly disclosed in detail how it calculates these valuations or what specific data it uses, the figure should not necessarily be considered an exact measure of CZ’s actual wealth.

Binance founder CZ has been ranked the 17th richest person in the world by Forbes.

In response, CZ questioned the estimate, pointing out that most crypto assets, including Bitcoin, are still down about 50% from their highs, and asked how his net worth could have increased under such conditions.

It appears that the valuation largely reflects the estimated value of Binance, in which CZ holds a significant ownership stake. Unlike typical crypto assets, exchanges can generate revenue through trading fees regardless of whether crypto prices are rising or falling.

In other words, even if overall market sentiment is weak, people continue to buy and sell cryptocurrencies through Binance, and the fees generated from those transactions flow into the exchange. This means the exchange itself can continue to grow, which could in turn increase the estimated value of CZ’s holdings.

While the exact accuracy of the estimate is uncertain, it is clear that CZ is believed to control a substantial amount of wealth, so the figure is best taken as a rough reference rather than a precise measure.

2. Notable Project

Kraken Receives Federal Reserve Master Account Approval

• Kraken’s Wyoming SPDI subsidiary, Kraken Finance, has received approval for a Federal Reserve master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

• A master account grants direct access to Fedwire, the real-time gross settlement system used by banks and credit unions, allowing institutions to process large-scale dollar payments without relying on intermediary banks.

• Most crypto companies that applied for a master account had their requests rejected in court, but Kraken succeeded after more than five years of ongoing engagement with regulators.

• However, this is a restricted master account, meaning certain features—such as earning interest on reserves or access to the discount window—are excluded. Even so, the approval is expected to positively impact the valuation of Kraken’s upcoming IPO.

Kraken, which is preparing for an IPO, has received approval for a Federal Reserve master account.

More specifically, Kraken Finance, Kraken’s Wyoming SPDI subsidiary, was granted the master account by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City after more than five years of continuous engagement with regulators.

With this approval, Kraken can process large-scale U.S. dollar settlements directly without relying on intermediary banks, which is expected to make fiat deposits and withdrawals in the crypto market more stable and efficient.

As a result, the development is expected to positively impact the valuation of Kraken’s upcoming IPO, as well as the native token planned for issuance on its L2 network.

Zcash Open Development Lab Raises Funding

• ZODL (Zcash Open Development Lab) is a Zcash-based mobile wallet project created by early members of the Zcash protocol.

• The project has raised $25 million in funding from major venture capital firms including Paradigm, a16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Maelstrom.

• Leveraging Zcash’s strong privacy features, ZODL plans to build a mobile wallet aimed at broader mainstream adoption.

• As demand for privacy increases amid evolving regulatory environments, ZODL aims to develop into a self-custodial privacy-focused financial platform through its wallet ecosystem.

The entire team from Electric Coin Company has joined ZODL to develop a mobile wallet that can be used within the Zcash ecosystem.

For Zcash, growing regulatory pressures have increased the demand for privacy-focused solutions, and the ecosystem is positioning this as a key strength. ZODL aims to evolve into a self-custodial privacy financial platform built around this vision.

Thanks to the involvement of OG team members, the project was able to secure $25 million in funding from top-tier venture capital firms. Moving forward, the key question will be how effectively the team can build the wallet and drive broader mainstream adoption of Zcash.

OKX Receives Strategic Investment from ICE, the Parent Company of the New York Stock Exchange

• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has made a strategic investment in OKX.

• ICE reportedly valued OKX at $25 billion as part of the investment, although the specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Through this investment, ICE will join OKX’s board of directors and collaborate with the exchange to support U.S. futures markets and tokenized stock trading for NYSE-listed equities on OKX.

• Following the announcement, OKX’s exchange token, OKB, surged by more than 50%. The investment from a major Wall Street institution is expected to further accelerate the development of the tokenized equities market within the crypto industry.

OKX has raised a strategic investment from ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, at a $25B valuation.

Through this investment, ICE will secure a seat on OKX’s board, while OKX plans to support trading of tokenized versions of NYSE-listed equities and derivatives on its platform.

Investments by Wall Street institutions into crypto exchanges are still relatively uncommon, but as the crypto industry gradually moves into clearer regulatory frameworks, it appears that traditional financial firms are beginning to establish early exposure despite the remaining uncertainty.

Following the announcement, OKX’s exchange token, OKB, surged by around 50%. Despite the $25B valuation assigned to OKX, the market capitalization of the OKB token remains relatively small at around $2B, suggesting that it may be worth monitoring going forward.

$2.7M Exploit Occurs on Solv Protocol

• Solv Protocol suffered a $2.7 million exploit in its Bitcoin Reserve Offering (BRO) vault due to a double-minting vulnerability.

• The attacker exploited a bug that allowed 135 BRO to be increased to 567 million BRO, repeating the attack 22 times and amplifying the amount by about 4,200x, before swapping the inflated BRO for Solv BTC.

• Fewer than 10 users were affected, and the Solv team covered all losses using treasury funds.

• Solv officially disclosed the incident and stated that if the attacker returns the funds, they will face no legal consequences and will receive a 10% bounty.

Solv Protocol was attacked through a vulnerability in its Bitcoin Reserve Offering.

The exploit resulted in the loss of 38 BTC, worth approximately $2.7 million, and the Solv team has stated that it will fully cover the losses. Funds belonging to users of other vaults remain safe, and the SolvBTC TVL still stands at around $500 million.

The SOLV token is listed not only on international exchanges but also on Korean exchanges such as Bithumb and Coinone. Due to the exploit, the token has been designated as an investment caution asset.

Although the scale of the exploit is not small, the team has committed to compensating all losses, and the incident does not appear to significantly impact the token’s price. For this reason, it is unlikely that the token will face delisting.

Justin Sun Reaches Settlement with the SEC and Withdraws from Lighter

• In 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Justin Sun, the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry Inc., alleging unregistered securities sales of TRX and BTT tokens as well as wash trading.

• However, in March 2026, the case was settled after Justin Sun agreed to pay a $10 million fine. As part of the settlement, the matter was concluded in a way that prevents the SEC from bringing the same claims again against Justin Sun personally, as well as the Tron and BitTorrent foundations.

• Justin Sun currently holds Lighter’s LIT token and had also provided liquidity in the LLP liquidity pool, but he recently withdrew his funds.

• Following the withdrawal, many people asked Justin Sun about the reason, and he explained that it was part of a wallet rebalancing process and that he plans to redeposit the funds later.

Justin Sun, Tron, and BTT had all faced lawsuits from the SEC, but after Donald Trump’s election, the case was settled in 2026 with a $10 million fine. Although Justin Sun did not admit to the allegations during the settlement, it is notable that the case was resolved through a settlement without him going to prison, unlike what happened with CZ.

Separately, Justin Sun recently became the center of attention after withdrawing funds from Lighter. The LIT token has been steadily declining, and with holder sentiment already weak, Justin Sun—who holds a large amount of the token—transferred funds to the HTX exchange, which accelerated the price decline.

As the LIT price continued to fall, many holders demanded an explanation. Justin responded through his social media account, stating that he does not plan to sell his LIT tokens and that the transfer to HTX was only for wallet rebalancing purposes.

Despite the explanation, the price of LIT has continued to decline, now approaching $1.

$27M Liquidations Occur on Aave

• A $27 million liquidation event occurred on Aave due to an issue with the Collateralized Asset Price Oracle used in the protocol.

• The oracle calculates the price of wstETH by retrieving the wstETH/stETH ratio from Lido, applying a price cap through the WstETHPriceCapAdapter, and then multiplying it by the ETH price. During this process, the collateral value was evaluated lower than the actual market price, causing some users’ positions to be liquidated.

• The CAPO system is designed as an additional defense mechanism to protect against oracle manipulation or price attacks. However, due to a technical configuration error, positions that were already close to liquidation thresholds ended up being incorrectly liquidated.

• Although the incident did not create any bad debt for the protocol, users with otherwise healthy positions were liquidated, so the losses are expected to be compensated by the Aave treasury and DAO.

A $27M loss occurred on Aave due to forced liquidations of wstETH caused by a CAPO oracle configuration error.

Fortunately, no bad debt was created during the process, and all affected users are expected to be compensated using funds from the Aave treasury and DAO.

After identifying the issue, the Aave team worked with Chaos Labs and BGD Labs to mitigate the problem by reducing the wstETH borrowing cap to 1 and manually realigning parameters through the Risk Steward, which helped restore the correct exchange ratio.

Although Aave’s core protocol itself was not compromised, the incident shows that issues in oracle systems can still be critical. If such problems occur, users need to be aware that they can lead to significant fund losses.

KAST Secures an Additional $80M in Funding

• KAST is a neobank project that supports stablecoin-based payments in more than 30 countries.

• The company has raised a total of $90 million in funding from venture capital firms including QED, HongShan, and Left Lane Capital.

• Users can complete KYC, deposit USDT or USDC, and activate a virtual card, allowing them to make payments anywhere that accepts Visa.

• KAST also offers benefits such as earning interest on stablecoins held within the app and cashback rewards proportional to spending amounts.

KAST has raised an additional $80M in funding.

The project has surpassed 1 million users within 18 months, and it appears to have received strong market recognition because it supports real-world payments based on the growing demand for stablecoin payments.

KAST also plans to launch its own native token. Currently, users can earn and accumulate points in-app based on card spending, which are expected to be related to the upcoming token.

The token’s valuation is currently indicated at around a $1B FDV, and the TGE is expected to take place sometime between Q2 and Q3.

One of KAST’s biggest advantages is that stablecoins can be directly used for payments through a Visa card, making it highly practical for everyday use.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Limit Break Testnet Briefly Revealed

• Limit Break is a project that started in Web3 gaming and has since evolved toward programmable tokens and AMM infrastructure.

• In 2022, the project raised $200 million in funding from investors including Paradigm, Standard Crypto, and Buckley Ventures. Based on this funding, it launched the DigiDaigaku NFT collection through an early Free-to-Own model.

• So far, there has been no official announcement regarding a token launch, and the project has remained relatively quiet while transitioning from a game-focused project to token and infrastructure development.

• However, the team recently announced the upcoming launch of its own testnet and began accepting pre-registrations. They are also running a $100,000 bounty program for finding vulnerabilities in Guardian Defender, a component related to their AMM protocol.

Limit Break has recently announced the upcoming launch of its own testnet and has begun accepting pre-registrations.

Until now, the team has been relatively quiet while focusing on building its technology, including ERC-20C and ERC-721C programmable token standards, Apptokens that enforce logic during token transfers and trades, and LBAMM, a programmable AMM designed to overcome some of the limitations of traditional models like Uniswap.

With pre-registration now open, it appears that the project is finally preparing to launch its testnet while building anticipation within the community.

Limit Break previously raised $200 million in funding from multiple venture capital firms, including Paradigm, in 2022, so there is a possibility that the project could launch its own token. Participating in the upcoming testnet may provide more insight into the project and its potential token plans.

Limit Break also has an NFT collection called DigiDaigaku. As the likelihood of a native token launch increases, demand driven by expectations of potential token allocations could push the price of DigiDaigaku higher.

Proposal to Convert ACROSS Tokens into Equity

• A proposal has been submitted to transition Across Protocol, which currently operates as a DAO, into a U.S. corporate structure.

• As part of the transition, ACX token holders would have two options:

• Exchange their tokens for company shares at a 1:1 ratio, or

• Redeem their tokens for USDC with a 25% premium.

• The final decision will be determined through a formal vote by ACX token holders in two weeks.

• However, nothing has been finalized yet, and the proposal could still change depending on the community’s response and discussions.

A proposal has been submitted within Across Protocol to transition the project from its current DAO structure to a U.S. corporate structure. As part of this process, ACX token holders would have two options: exchanging their tokens for company shares or redeeming them for USDC.

However, if the project converts into a U.S. corporate entity, it cannot necessarily be considered an entirely positive change. In practice, it would mean purchasing equity in a private company, which may require Accredited Investor status. Unlike tokens, such shares would not be freely tradable anywhere in the world, and they would also be subject to stricter legal and regulatory requirements.

Given this, if the Across team believes that the ACX token is currently undervalued, it might have made more sense to first propose measures aimed at improving the token’s valuation before suggesting a structural transition like this.

Binance Launches ETF Product Tracking the KOSPI Top Index

• As Binance expands its stock trading support, users can now trade more than 10 stocks—including Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla—24/7 using USDT.

• Recently, Binance also launched a perpetual futures product based on the EWY index, which tracks the iShares MSCI Korea ETF as its underlying asset.

• This ETF is listed on NYSE Arca and tracks major Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The product allows users to trade with up to 10x leverage using USDT.

• The launch reflects the growing expansion of TradFi asset-based derivatives in crypto markets, enabling traders to access assets that may otherwise be restricted under domestic regulatory environments.

Binance has listed the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, which tracks major KOSPI stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

The product is called EWY and is based on the ETF listed on NYSE Arca in the United States. On Binance, it can be traded as a USDT-based perpetual futures contract with up to 10x leverage.

Perpetual futures have no expiration date and are settled through a funding rate mechanism, which adjusts the price gap between the spot market and the futures market.

From the perspective of Korean investors, this product offers the advantage of being able to trade KOSPI exposure even during weekends and nighttime hours. Additionally, if the funding rate is high, a strategy may be possible where investors buy the actual KOSPI exposure in the traditional market and short the equivalent position on Binance to farm funding payments.

However, traders should be cautious about the liquidity of the EWY product on Binance. Moreover, if taxation on trading profits in Korea begins in 2027 as planned, the overall advantage of such strategies may end up being less significant than expected.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Investments in cryptocurrencies and digital assets carry a high level of risk, so please conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the views of Uncommonlab Research interns and should not be considered financial or legal advice, nor should they be interpreted as a recommendation to trade any specific asset.

1. Weekly Highlights

Insider Trading at Axiom Investigated by ZachXBT

• ZachXBT operates anonymously and analyzes blockchain data to track and expose hacks, rug pulls, scams, and insider trading — effectively acting as an on-chain investigator.

• Recently, one of the most profitable companies in the crypto industry became the center of major controversy after it was revealed that several employees had allegedly abused internal data over an extended period to conduct insider trading. The announcement that the findings would be disclosed three days later generated significant attention — enough to spark a prediction market on Polymarket.

• The platform in question was Axiom, a Solana-based trading platform. According to the exposé, an employee exploited vulnerabilities in an internal dashboard to access user information such as referral codes, wallet addresses, and UIDs. This data was allegedly used to establish trading positions before certain announcements became public.

• Evidence shared included an audio clip suggesting abnormal trading activity by BD employee Broox Bauer, screenshots of the internal dashboard, Google Sheets records, and on-chain transaction data showing suspicious timing patterns. Following the publication, Axiom announced that it had immediately revoked access to the internal tool in question and would investigate those involved to hold them accountable.

ZachXBT, widely known as an on-chain investigator, examined and publicly disclosed alleged insider trading at the Solana-based trading platform Axiom.

The core allegation is that an Axiom employee used an internal dashboard to access users’ referral codes, wallet addresses, and UIDs, and then executed abnormal trades by building positions before certain announcements were made public.

Shortly after ZachXBT published the exposé, Axiom responded by stating that it had immediately revoked access to the internal tool in question and launched an investigation into the individuals involved, pledging to pursue legal accountability where appropriate.

During the period when ZachXBT was signaling the upcoming insider revelation, betting volume on Polymarket surged to approximately $40 million, reflecting intense market interest. However, as multiple wallets profited from betting on Axiom-related outcomes, criticism emerged claiming that individuals who may have cooperated with the investigation effectively engaged in insider-like behavior themselves — creating an ironic and controversial situation.

Jane Street has been sued over allegations that it played a role in the collapse of Luna.

Jane Street, which operates not only in traditional finance but also actively in the crypto market as an investor and trading firm, is now facing legal action.

Recently, Terraform Labs’ bankruptcy administrator, Todd Snyder, filed a lawsuit against Jane Street in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan Federal Court), alleging insider trading.

According to the complaint, shortly after Terraform Labs quietly withdrew 150 million UST from the Curve Finance 3pool, a wallet linked to Jane Street allegedly withdrew 85 million UST from the same pool and conducted large-scale sales, contributing to the weakening of UST’s dollar peg.

A central issue in the case is whether Jane Street obtained non-public information in advance from insiders at Terraform Labs and used it to unwind or adjust its positions before the broader market became aware of the situation.

According to the bankruptcy administrator of Terraform Labs, Jane Street allegedly received non-public information through insiders, sold UST ahead of the market, accelerated the collapse of Terra, and profited from the situation. Based on these claims, a lawsuit has been filed in federal court.

Jane Street has strongly denied the allegations, calling them baseless. The firm stated that the root cause of the collapse of Terra and Luna lies with Do Kwon and the management of Terraform Labs, not with Jane Street. The factual determination of these claims will ultimately be decided through ongoing legal proceedings.

Separately, some market participants speculate that Jane Street had been selling large amounts of BTC every day around 10 a.m., suppressing the price, and that Bitcoin began rising after the lawsuit because those sales stopped — leading to rumors that Jane Street may have shut down its crypto desk. While there is no confirmed evidence supporting this theory, it is true that Bitcoin’s price has increased since Jane Street was sued.

Companies Abandoning the DAT Strategy Like ETHZilla

• DAT (Digital Asset Treasury) is a strategy in which companies hold BTC or ETH as treasury assets and seek to have their corporate valuation re-rated based on those holdings. ETHZilla began implementing its Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) strategy in July 2025.

• However, starting in December 2025, ETHZilla effectively abandoned its ETH-based DAT strategy and pivoted toward an RWA tokenization business model.

• One of the main reasons many companies are giving up on the DAT strategy is the sharp decline in the prices of Bitcoin or Ethereum — the very digital assets underpinning their treasury strategy. When prices fall significantly, the company’s market valuation relative to the value of its crypto holdings can drop below 1x, undermining the core premise of the strategy.

• Moreover, unlike MicroStrategy (MSTR) or BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), most DAT-focused companies lack sufficient capital reserves. To execute their digital asset treasury strategies, they often issue convertible bonds. Over time, as debt servicing becomes more difficult, they are forced to sell their digital assets to meet obligations — creating a negative feedback loop.

• In ETHZilla’s case, the situation deteriorated more rapidly after Founders Fund — the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel — sold its entire 7.5% stake in the company. The exit of such a prominent core investor significantly accelerated the company’s decline.

Companies that adopted a Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) strategy in 2025 are now rapidly abandoning it. The primary reason is the decline in the prices of most crypto assets, including Bitcoin.

At its core, the DAT model relies on a company announcing large-scale coin purchases, which drives up its stock price and creates an mNAV (multiple of Net Asset Value) premium. Based on this premium, companies raise capital by issuing new shares or convertible bonds.

However, as crypto prices continued to fall, the mNAV premium disappeared. Instead of benefiting from valuation expansion, companies began incurring losses. As a result, aside from large-scale DAT players such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) and BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), most firms can no longer sustain this strategy. Consequently, many are left with no choice but to abandon their DAT approach.

The Man Who Successfully “Panhandled” the Lobstar Wilde AI

• Lobstar Wilde is an AI trading bot reportedly created by Nik Pash, who is believed to be an OpenAI developer.

• On February 22, 2026, a user named Treasure David posted on X claiming that his uncle had contracted tetanus from a lobster injury and needed 4 SOL for medical treatment. Due to a decimal miscalculation, the bot mistakenly transferred 5% of the total LOBSTAR token supply.

• At the time, the LOBSTAR tokens David received were worth approximately $250,000. Despite experiencing high swap slippage when converting the tokens, he proceeded to sell them.

• The incident ultimately boosted LOBSTAR’s token price and significantly increased its visibility. However, it also exposed vulnerabilities in the treasury management of autonomous AI agents, leading to a rise in similar “begging” attempts targeting such systems.

A person named Treasure David appealed to the AI trading agent Lobstar Wilde, claiming that his uncle had contracted tetanus from a lobster-related injury and needed 4 SOL to cover medical expenses. Due to a bot error, however, he received not 4 SOL, but LOBSTAR tokens worth approximately $250,000.

As the incident went viral, awareness of the LOBSTAR token increased and its price even saw upward momentum. In terms of proving that an AI agent can autonomously execute trading strategies and manage its own wallet without human intervention, the event demonstrated what many envision as the ideal form of an autonomous AI agent.

However, the case also exposed a critical vulnerability: an AI agent can make mistakes and accidentally transfer or lose significant funds. This highlights the need for safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future.

2. Noteworthy Project

Punch – The Baby Monkey Meme Token

• Punch was born at a zoo in Ichikawa City, Japan, and was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth.

• Caretakers gave Punch a stuffed orangutan doll, which he came to recognize as his mother. Photos and videos of Punch tightly hugging the stuffed toy quickly went viral on social media for the first time.

• Later, as Punch began socializing with other monkeys, he was occasionally bullied. Whenever that happened, he would return to the stuffed orangutan he viewed as his “mother,” a scene that deeply stirred people’s protective instincts and triggered a second wave of virality.

• In other words, the combination of a baby monkey’s cuteness, the loneliness of clinging to a stuffed orangutan as a substitute mother, and the emotional socialization process — including moments of being bullied — all worked together as powerful meme elements that propelled Punch to fame.

• In mid-February, Justin Sun donated $100,000 to Punch’s zoo, drawing attention from the crypto market as well. The Punch meme token’s market capitalization quickly surged to nearly $50 million at its peak and is currently trading around $33 million.

The Punch meme first gained widespread attention on social media after images and videos showed the baby monkey, abandoned by his biological mother, relying on a stuffed orangutan for comfort. The emotional story resonated deeply with audiences.

Momentum in the crypto space accelerated after Justin Sun donated $100,000 to the zoo for Punch, bringing the narrative into the broader crypto community.

As a meme built around an animal that had already generated strong public affection — a recurring theme that has historically performed well in meme markets — the Punch meme token briefly reached an FDV of $50 million, marking one of the stronger performances in the Solana meme sector in recent times.

However, given the overall weak sentiment in the broader crypto market and the inherently short-lived nature of meme trends, which often surge rapidly and fade just as quickly, it does not appear to be well-suited for long-term investment.

Backpack Token: 20% Equity Exchange Available for 1+ Year Stakers

• Recently, Backpack Exchange announced its tokenomics ahead of its upcoming TGE (Token Generation Event).

• At launch, the initial circulating supply will be 25%. Of the total allocation, 24% will go to points holders, 1% to NFT holders, 37.5% will unlock upon achieving specific milestones prior to an IPO, and the remaining 37.5% — allocated to the team and investors — will be subject to a minimum one-year lock-up after the IPO.

• On February 23, 2026, CEO Armani Ferrante announced on X that users who stake their tokens for more than one year will be eligible to exchange them for up to 20% of the company’s equity at a fixed ratio.

• In other words, through an unusual reward structure that allows token holders to swap tokens for company shares, Backpack aims to incentivize long-term staking and effectively reduce circulating supply in order to support token price stability.

• Notably, the team and investors will not receive directly liquid token allocations. Instead, their upside is tied to company equity held in the corporate treasury, locked for at least one year post-IPO. The team can only realize gains if the company goes public or if a liquidity event involving equity occurs.

• Therefore, unlike typical crypto projects, Backpack is positioning itself for a long-term trajectory toward a U.S. IPO, with team compensation structured around corporate equity rather than immediate token unlocks.

Backpack Exchange recently announced that users who stake its token will be eligible to receive up to 20% of the company’s equity. This appears to be an attempt to address structural issues commonly criticized in traditional tokenomics models.

In most projects, token prices and company equity are completely separated. As a result, teams often have little incentive to support the token price. Moreover, after TGE, teams frequently sell their token allocations, putting downward pressure on the market. From a typical investor’s perspective, there is little reason to buy a token that even the team is continuously selling.

This negative cycle has repeated across the market, causing many altcoins to trend toward zero over time and draining overall market vitality.

Against this backdrop, the Backpack team has chosen a different approach. Instead of allocating immediately liquid tokens to team members at TGE, they structured incentives so that users who stake tokens can exchange them for up to 20% of company equity. This signals a longer-term orientation aligned with a potential IPO outcome.

The approach itself seems compelling. However, there are open questions about the actual upside. Backpack’s equity valuation is reportedly around $1 billion — only about twice the implied token valuation. In that context, it is unclear whether staking for one year would generate sufficiently attractive returns.

Additionally, for Korean investors, crypto taxation is set to begin next year. From a practical standpoint, it may be more efficient to benefit from reduced circulating supply and rising token prices in the short term rather than committing to long-term staking.

Base Chain to Move Away from the OP Stack

• Base has been operating using the OP Stack, but it is now planning to transition toward a more independent mainnet structure.

• This move appears aligned with recent comments from Vitalik Buterin, who emphasized that the future of Layer 2 solutions should not be solely about increasing raw speed, but about building L2s with differentiated and specialized value propositions.

• Following the announcement that Base would diverge from the Optimism ecosystem, the OP token fell more than 5.5% on the same day.

• If Base adopts a fully integrated stack under its own direction, it is expected to operate more independently under the management of Base and Coinbase, enabling faster development cycles and greater flexibility.

Base announced that it will move away from the OP Stack it has been using and transition to a unified, fully integrated stack.

While the Optimism OP Stack enabled Base to launch quickly by leveraging existing infrastructure, it also created structural complexity due to external dependencies. To address these limitations and evolve beyond being just another OP Stack chain, Base appears to be transitioning toward a more tightly integrated, Ethereum-aligned, and internally optimized Layer 2 infrastructure.

The shift will likely occur gradually over several months. Once Base becomes a fully independent chain, it is also expected that the long-speculated Base token launch could materialize.

For Optimism, Base had reportedly generated around 13 ETH per day in fees. With Base pursuing an independent path, Optimism stands to lose approximately 94% of those fees. Given this context, the decline in the OP token price appears to be a natural market reaction.

Crypto and Prediction Market Paid Promotions Banned Under Updated X Policy

• Following a recent update to X’s policies, any promotional content that involves compensation — whether in the form of money, products, fees, or other incentives — must be clearly disclosed.

• Among the updates, certain categories are now explicitly prohibited from being promoted through paid partnerships. Notably, cryptocurrencies and prediction markets have been added to the restricted list.

• In particular, prediction market platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi are highly likely to be interpreted under the platform’s Gambling category according to policy guidelines.

• As a result, promotional posts involving financial compensation related to exchanges, token sales, airdrops, prediction market platforms, or similar crypto-related services may no longer be permitted. Violations of these rules could lead to enforcement actions or account penalties.

X recently updated its policies, adding cryptocurrencies and prediction markets to the list of categories prohibited from paid partnership promotions.

As a result, influencers can no longer officially promote crypto projects or prediction market platforms through paid partnerships. Violations may lead not only to post deletions but also to account suspensions.

Following the earlier crackdown on so-called “InfoFi” content, crypto-related promotional posts are now effectively restricted as well. Consequently, many crypto influencers on X are expected to disappear from the platform.

In particular, Nikita Bier, X’s Head of Product, has reportedly warned numerous crypto accounts directly that failure to properly disclose advertisements could result in account deletion. Some users who attempted to disguise paid promotions as organic content — even tagging Nikita’s account — have allegedly had their accounts forcibly removed, signaling that enforcement is now being actively carried out.

Solana-Based Energy DePIN Project: Fuse Energy

• Fuse Energy is an energy infrastructure project built on Solana and is preparing for its token launch.

• The project aims to address inefficiencies in the traditional power sector by building a blockchain-based system that integrates energy generation, trading, supply, installation, and infrastructure management.

• Since its founding in 2022, Fuse Energy has supplied energy to approximately 200,000 households and achieved an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of around $400 million. Based on this operational track record, the company successfully raised approximately $160 million in funding, demonstrating real-world infrastructure execution capabilities rather than a purely conceptual model.

• Fuse Energy has also obtained a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), allowing it to issue and sell the ENERGY token within the United States. This could set an important precedent for tokenized energy incentives under regulatory clarity.

• The ENERGY token is expected to be used for hardware discounts and energy bill payments, and will also function as a reward mechanism tied to actual energy consumption behavior.

The Solana-based energy infrastructure project Fuse Energy is preparing for its token launch.

The project operates on the basis of real-world infrastructure, including solar and wind power facilities, and holds regulatory approvals such as a UK energy supplier license. Participants are expected to receive ENERGY tokens as rewards tied to their involvement and energy usage.

To ensure regulatory compliance in the United States, Fuse Energy has also secured a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Since the reward structure is based on actual energy consumption behavior, it presents a more utility-driven model, which may make participation appealing.

However, the service is currently focused primarily on the UK market, and participation from Korea remains limited for now. Interested users may need to wait for future geographic expansion.

Aptos Tokenomics Update

• The Aptos Foundation proposed changes to Aptos tokenomics on February 19, 2026.

• Under the previous model, Aptos operated with an uncapped, inflationary supply structure. Following the proposed update, the system would transition to a deflationary model with a fixed hard cap of 2.1 billion APT tokens.

• Staking rewards would be reduced significantly from 7% to 2.6%, cutting emissions by more than half. Gas fees would increase tenfold and be fully burned. In addition, the foundation plans to permanently lock up 210 million APT tokens — representing 18% of the circulating supply — further tightening long-term supply dynamics.

• Until now, Aptos’ tokenomics had faced criticism for excessive dilution, which many argued contributed to sustained price declines. For this reason, a shift toward a deflationary model has been viewed as a necessary step to better support long-term token value.

Aptos has proposed a tokenomics overhaul. While the network previously operated under an uncapped inflationary supply model, the new proposal aims to introduce a deflationary structure with a fixed cap of 2.1 billion tokens. Given that the Aptos Foundation is backing the change, it is widely expected to pass.

In its early days, Aptos was positioned as a direct competitor to Sui, often framed as part of a head-to-head rivalry. However, due to perceived execution challenges and continuous token price pressure driven by inflation, Aptos is generally viewed as having lost momentum in that competition.

As the token price continued to decline, user activity and ecosystem engagement reportedly weakened significantly. With the chain now facing relevance concerns, the foundation appears to have recognized the urgency of reforming its tokenomics.

Even after the announcement, Aptos’ price has continued to trend downward. Therefore, beyond adjusting supply mechanics, the project may need a broader long-term strategy to revitalize its ecosystem and restore market confidence.

ACP by Virtuals Protocol

Virtuals Protocol is an AI platform that enables users to create, tokenize, own, and monetize AI agents.

Previously, only AI agents officially verified by the Virtuals team were available on the platform. Recently, however, the protocol introduced ACP (Agent Commerce Protocol).

ACP functions as a marketplace where AI agents can collaborate with one another, forming an autonomous multi-agent system that enables structured cooperation between multiple agents.

Anyone can register their own agent on Virtuals, and once registered, a VIRTUAL-based token pool is automatically created for that agent, allowing it to be traded.

Unlike traditional centralized AI agent models, Virtuals operates on the Base chain and features a shared revenue model: 70% of agent token trading fees go to the creator (founder), while 30% goes to the protocol. This structure enables actual value creation and on-chain revenue distribution.

The core competition in AI is no longer about who has the best LLM, but about how effectively these models can be connected to real economic activity.

In response to this shift, Virtuals Protocol launched ACP (Agent Commerce Protocol) to accelerate the growth of the AI agent economy. ACP aims to standardize commerce between agents by introducing on-chain escrow, automated settlement, reputation systems, and an agent registry.

Anyone can create an agent through OpenClaw and onboard it to ACP. If real economic interactions occur between agents — leading to actual transactions — fees accumulate, and participants can generate revenue based on that activity.

However, the ecosystem is still in its early stages, and many agents currently lack differentiated or meaningful functionality. If higher-quality agents emerge and sustained collaboration frameworks develop, this could become a turning point — potentially driving appreciation not only in individual agent tokens but also in the broader VIRTUAL token price.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

What Is the Future of Coinbase Under the Clarity Bill?

• Coinbase reported its Q4 2025 earnings, posting results below expectations. This marked the end of eight consecutive profitable quarters, as the company returned to a net loss. Its stock price fell to the lowest level since March 2024.

• Despite pursuing diversification through its “Everything Exchange” strategy — including strengthening derivatives via the acquisition of Deribit, and expanding into prediction markets and tokenized stock trading — Coinbase’s share price has continued to decline. This appears to be influenced not only by Bitcoin’s price weakness but also by uncertainty surrounding the proposed Clarity legislation.

• If the Clarity bill includes a provision prohibiting exchanges from paying interest or rewards to customers on stablecoin holdings, Coinbase’s short-term profitability could improve due to reduced payout obligations. However, in the long term, such restrictions could weaken customer acquisition and reduce competitiveness relative to other exchanges. It may also shrink revenue streams tied to DeFi and stablecoin-related products.

• CEO Brian Armstrong has voiced strong opposition to banning stablecoin rewards, suggesting that the banking industry is supporting such provisions to avoid competition. He has even stated that no legislation would be preferable to one that restricts stablecoin yield. While Armstrong strongly supports regulatory clarity overall, he firmly opposes limits on stablecoin-based rewards.

As the largest U.S.-based exchange and a publicly listed company, Coinbase generates revenue not only from trading fees but also through a unique revenue-sharing arrangement with Circle, allowing it to capture a significant portion of USDC-related income.

Thanks to this structure, Coinbase has maintained a market capitalization of over $40 billion and previously recorded eight consecutive profitable quarters. However, following its Q4 2025 earnings report, the company returned to a net loss, leading to a decline in its stock price.

While Bitcoin’s price performance is certainly a factor, near-term stock volatility appears to be heavily influenced by uncertainty surrounding the proposed Clarity bill. One key provision under discussion is a potential ban on exchanges paying interest or rewards on stablecoin holdings.

If stablecoin interest payments are definitively prohibited, Coinbase’s short-term profitability could improve due to reduced payout obligations. However, over the long term, such restrictions may weaken its competitive position relative to other exchanges and make customer acquisition more challenging.

Therefore, beyond whether the Clarity bill passes, it will be crucial to monitor how the stablecoin interest provision is ultimately resolved.

The Integration of TCG and Blockchain

• TCG (Trading Card Games) feature unique characters and abilities assigned to each card. Rare cards command higher prices, and when combined with strong IP and dedicated communities, the ecosystem evolves into a complex investment market.

• Among them, the most popular TCG in recent times is Pokémon cards. In some emerging models, blockchain technology is being integrated into the process of randomly drawing cards from packs.

• Platforms like Courtyard have generated over $54 million in revenue and raised approximately $30 million in funding. Meanwhile, Collector Crypt focuses specifically on Pokémon TCG cards, tokenizing physical Pokémon cards into NFTs so they can be traded digitally.

• Unlike simple NFT projects, these models are directly linked to physical cards and can generate tangible revenue. In particular, tokenization helps address one of the traditional TCG market’s biggest limitations — the difficulty of quickly liquidating physical cards. By enabling faster liquidity through tokenized representations, this approach could evolve into a more sustainable business model.

The TCG (Trading Card Game) market is growing rapidly, driven by major IPs such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and One Piece, along with their strong fan communities.

The appeal lies in the ability to own limited-edition and rare physical cards, satisfying collectors’ desires. At the same time, the randomness of card packs — and the possibility of pulling a highly valuable card — taps into gambling psychology, continuously attracting new users.

Despite strong demand, a major limitation of the traditional TCG market has been the difficulty of converting owned cards into immediate cash. By combining TCG with blockchain technology, this issue has been addressed through tokenization, allowing cards to be traded more efficiently in digital form.

Moreover, blockchain’s tamper-resistant properties enable the implementation of transparent, verifiable Gacha-style systems, where users can purchase and open packs from anywhere. As a result, not only crypto-native participants but also traditional TCG fans are joining the ecosystem, contributing to steady market expansion over time.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve significant risk, so please conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the views of Uncommonlab Research interns and do not constitute financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend the purchase or sale of any particular asset.

1. Weekly Issue

2,000 BTC Erroneously Distributed Due to Event Glitch at Korean Exchange Bithumb

• A major incident occurred at the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, where a system error during a self-hosted “Random Box” promotional event led to the erroneous distribution of a large amount of BTC to users.

• Instead of awarding 2,000 KRW to each of the 249 winners, the system mistakenly credited 2,000 BTC due to a unit selection error. Some recipients immediately sold the BTC at market price, causing BTC on Bithumb to briefly trade at levels up to 17% lower than on other exchanges.

• After recognizing the mistake, Bithumb restricted trading and withdrawals for the affected users. However, some individuals had already sold the BTC and completed withdrawals before the restrictions were implemented.

• On February 8, Bithumb announced its own compensation plan. Nevertheless, Lee Chan-jin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), stated that all possible measures under current law would be considered. He also mentioned that once the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act is passed, sanctions at the level of licensing authority could be imposed.

During the distribution of rewards for a “Random Box” promotional event, Bithumb mistakenly selected the wrong unit, resulting in the erroneous crediting of 2,000 BTC instead of 2,000 KRW.

Some recipients quickly confirmed the funds and sold the BTC at market price. The impact was significant enough that, albeit briefly, BTC on Bithumb traded at prices approximately 17% lower than on other exchanges.

The incident has drawn widespread attention because it appears that Bitcoin quantities not actually held by the exchange were internally created and even traded within the Bithumb platform. This has raised serious concerns about the exchange’s internal control and asset management systems.

Bithumb later issued a public notice promising measures to prevent recurrence and announced a 110% compensation plan for affected users. However, given the exposure of weaknesses in its internal control system, Lee Chan-jin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), stated that all measures available under current law would be pursued, suggesting that the exchange may face extremely strict regulatory action.

MegaETH Mainnet Launch — Token Release Delayed

• MegaETH is an ultra-low latency, high-performance Layer 2 solution that has received backing from investors including Dragonfly and Vitalik Buterin.

• The mainnet is scheduled to launch on February 9. However, unlike most projects that conduct their Token Generation Event (TGE) on the same day as the mainnet launch, MegaETH has introduced a unique condition: the token will only be launched once at least one of its target KPIs is achieved.

• The three KPIs MegaETH aims to meet are:

  1. USDM issuance exceeding $500 million within a 30-day period

  2. Launch of 10 MegaMafia applications along with a minimum level of transaction activity

  3. At least three applications generating over $50,000 in daily fees for 30 consecutive days

• In other words, MegaETH does not intend to become a typical project where the TGE marks the end goal. Instead, the team aims to build a serious and sustainable token business together with MEGA token holders.

• All revenue generated from USDM will be used for MEGA token buybacks.

MegaETH is finally launching its mainnet. However, instead of conducting a TGE on the same day, the team has chosen a unique approach: the token will only be released once at least one of three predefined KPIs is achieved.

This decision is not merely about differentiation. It can be seen as an acknowledgment of the token models that have failed over the past few years and a strategic shift toward growing the ecosystem first. In other words, rather than launching a token and then trying to build utility and an ecosystem around it, MegaETH aims to establish real utility and ecosystem traction first—developing them to a meaningful scale before giving the token a clear reason to exist.

By tying the token launch to measurable KPIs, the team has effectively placed itself under public accountability. This self-imposed commitment clearly sets MegaETH apart from projects that treat token issuance as the final milestone, making its approach particularly compelling to watch.

Arthur Hayes Proposes Bet Following Kyle’s Criticism of HYPE

• Kyle, who recently left Multicoin Capital, published a post criticizing Hyperliquid.

• According to Kyle, Hyperliquid exemplifies many of crypto’s core problems. He argues that the founder left his home country to start the business, that the platform tolerates funding related to criminal and terrorist activities, and that its codebase is closed-source while the system operates in a permissioned manner.

• However, the majority reaction has been that people do not understand or agree with Kyle’s negative view of Hyperliquid.

• Arthur Hayes responded by stating that by July 31, 2026, HYPE will be the best-performing coin among all tokens with a market capitalization above $1 billion, according to CoinGecko. He also proposed a bet to Kyle: each would choose one coin, and whichever coin performs worse by the deadline would require its picker to donate $100,000 to a charity selected by the winner.

Kyle, who recently left Multicoin Capital, has sparked controversy after suddenly criticizing Hyperliquid.

According to Kyle, Hyperliquid represents many of the fundamental problems within crypto. However, most people do not agree with or understand his negative stance toward the project.

It may be a coincidence, but after Kyle’s departure, Multicoin reportedly purchased HYPE. As a result, some speculate that internal issues related to this may have influenced his decision to publish the criticism.

Meanwhile, Arthur Hayes stated on social media that by July 31, HYPE would be the best-performing coin among all tokens with a market capitalization above $1 billion. He also proposed a wager to Kyle: each would choose one coin, and whichever coin underperforms would result in its picker donating $100,000 to a charity selected by the winner.

2. Notable Project

Relay Raises $17M in Series B Funding

• Relay, a multi-chain payment protocol, recently secured $17 million in Series B funding from Archetype Ventures and Union Square Ventures.

• Relay enables users to transact their existing assets in their preferred format and across different chains, offering a highly convenient cross-chain experience.

• Compared to traditional bridges, Relay can reduce gas costs by up to 90% and supports 85 different chains. As a result, it is frequently used for OpenSea cross-chain minting.

• According to a recent announcement on its official Twitter account, Relay has no plans for a Token Generation Event (TGE) at this time. Therefore, it does not appear likely that a token will be launched in the short term, as the team plans to focus primarily on expanding its infrastructure.

Over the past two years, Relay has steadily expanded its scale while developing infrastructure designed to meet global transaction and payment demands. Based on this progress, the company recently raised $17 million in Series B funding from Archetype and Union Square Ventures, and plans to build a dedicated chain to efficiently support large-scale cross-chain payments.

Compared to traditional bridges, Relay reduces gas fees by up to 90% and supports more than 85 chains, which has driven significant user adoption.

According to the Relay team, there are currently no immediate plans for a Token Generation Event (TGE), as the primary focus remains on expanding infrastructure. Therefore, it may be worth monitoring the project until a potential points system or other incentive mechanism is introduced in the future.

Katana Incubated by Polygon and GSR

• Katana is a DeFi-focused Layer 2 built on Polygon’s AggLayer CDK-OP Stack.

• Unlike traditional models where bridged assets remain idle, Katana deploys these assets into lending markets to generate yield, creating a more capital-efficient structure.

• The project has been incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR, and a Token Generation Event (TGE) is expected in the near future.

• Users can currently deposit funds into supported vaults — including USDC, WETH, USDT, WBTC, and AUSD — to earn base yield along with KAT token rewards.

Katana is a project designed to deploy bridged assets—typically left idle on most Layer 2 networks—into Ethereum lending markets to generate yield, which is then recycled back into the Katana ecosystem as rewards.

The project has been incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR. Notably, Sentient, which recently received investment from Polygon, has delivered very strong performance. As a result, it will be worth watching whether Katana can follow a similar trajectory.

A Token Generation Event (TGE) is expected in the near future, and KAT tokens can be earned by participating in quests or by depositing assets into supported vaults.

LayerZero Announces Its Own L1: Zero Chain

• LayerZero has unveiled its own Layer 1 blockchain, the Zero Chain, claiming throughput of over 2 million transactions per second (TPS).

• The network is reportedly more than 100,000 times faster than Ethereum. This performance is made possible by separating execution and verification through zero-knowledge (ZK) technology and implementing a multi-core architecture.

• LayerZero is also repositioning itself from a cross-chain protocol to institutional-grade financial infrastructure, supported by strategic investments and partnerships with major institutions including Citadel Securities, ARK Invest, Google Cloud, and Tether.

• Even after the transition to the Zero Chain, the ZRO token will continue to be used as the native token and for governance purposes.

LayerZero is launching the ZERO Chain. By breaking away from the traditional homogeneous replication model of blockchains and leveraging zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to separate execution from verification, the project aims to deliver a Layer 1 capable of processing over 2 million transactions per second (TPS).

LayerZero has secured strategic investments from Citadel Securities, ARK Invest, and Tether. Notably, Cathie Wood has joined the board of a crypto project for the first time in her career, suggesting that this initiative has been in preparation for quite some time.

The Zero Chain mainnet is scheduled for launch in the second half of 2026. LayerZero was already well regarded as a cross-chain protocol, and with this additional expansion into its own L1, expectations are high.

However, the claimed 2 million TPS will require thorough technical validation. Additionally, given that the circulating supply of the ZRO token remains relatively low compared to its fully diluted valuation (FDV), investors should be mindful of potential price pressure from future token unlocks.

RWA-Focused Robinhood Chain Announced

• Robinhood, a U.S.-based fintech company that provides trading services for stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, has announced the launch of its own Layer 2 network, the Robinhood Chain.

• Built using Arbitrum Orbit technology, the Robinhood Chain aims to transition its financial platform on-chain and provide 24/7 trading infrastructure through the tokenization of traditional financial assets.

• Designed with extremely low gas fees, the network will offer faster transaction speeds for Robinhood Wallet users.

• By leveraging its existing financial licenses and regulatory framework, Robinhood plans to launch the mainnet as the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization market begins to scale in earnest.

Robinhood is a U.S.-based fintech company that enables users to trade a wide range of financial products—including stocks, ETFs, private equity, and crypto assets—on a single platform.

The company recently announced its own Layer 2 network, the Robinhood Chain. Through this infrastructure, Robinhood plans to tokenize financial assets and enable seamless on-chain trading.

By allowing RWA assets to be traded 24/7 from anywhere, the platform aims to significantly improve accessibility. In addition, users will be less dependent on intermediaries or specific platforms, making the overall experience more flexible and convenient.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

ZAMA, AZTEC, and ESP: Token Prices Continue to Decline After TGE

• Zama raised $130 million from venture capital investors and later completed its public token sale at a $550 million FDV through an auction platform.

• Aztec secured $119 million in VC funding and conducted its AZTEC token sale via its own token sale platform at an FDV ranging between $350–400 million.

• Espresso raised $60 million from VCs and completed its ESP token sale at a $400 million FDV through KAITO.

• All three projects share a common pattern: they raised funds at high valuations and proceeded with public token sales at elevated FDVs. However, their post-TGE performance has been notably weak.

• Currently, ZAMA is trading at an FDV of approximately $200 million, AZTEC at around $216 million, and ESP at roughly $265 million—each down about 50% from their respective public sale valuations.

ZAMA, AZTEC, and ESP all raised funds from venture capital investors at very high valuations and proceeded with public token sales. However, all three tokens are now trading at prices more than 50% below their respective public sale FDVs following their TGEs.

Part of the reason may be broader market conditions, including Bitcoin’s significant decline from its peak and the overall market sentiment. However, a more fundamental issue appears to be that most teams do not actively prioritize token price performance, and holding the token does not provide meaningful benefits such as dividends or tangible value accrual similar to equity.

In other words, the token and the underlying project often lack a direct economic connection, and even if the token price declines, it may not materially impact the team. In the past, fewer people recognized this dynamic, and with a smaller number of tokens in the market, capital could concentrate into specific assets relative to available liquidity. Now, with dozens or even hundreds of new tokens launching every day, there is little incentive to buy unless there is a compelling reason—leading to a structural tendency for prices to trend downward over time.

Controversy Over Jupiter’s Unilateral Delay of the “Jupuary” Airdrop

• Jupiter’s airdrop event, known as “Jupuary,” was originally scheduled for January. While the snapshot has been completed, no official claim date has been announced.

• Because no clear explanation or substantive reasoning has been provided, many long-term JUP holders and stakers—some of whom have held and staked the token for years—feel that a basic level of respect and transparency has been lacking.

• Adding to the tension, SIONG, who has been communicating this information, has previously stated publicly that he sees limited tangible value in JUP stakers. His remarks have been perceived by some as dismissive of long-term holders, further worsening community sentiment.

• In particular, with the JUP team’s token unlock and Mercurial’s unlock both scheduled around late February, concerns about potential downward pressure on the token price have intensified, leading to growing dissatisfaction within the community.

The Jupuary airdrop, which is scheduled to distribute a total of 200 million JUP tokens, has become controversial after only the snapshot was taken on January 30, with no claim date announced.

Since the event was branded as “Jupuary” and originally scheduled for January, JUP holders naturally expected to receive their tokens within that timeframe. However, even though more than half of February has already passed, the team has yet to disclose an official claim schedule.

This delay is particularly concerning because if the JUP team’s token unlock and Mercurial’s unlock—both expected in late February—occur before the Jupuary distribution, participants may end up receiving their tokens after potential price declines, reducing the value of their airdrop.

In JUP’s case, there is a steady stream of token unlocks continuing through June, which may make it difficult for the token price to recover quickly. The key question is how the Jupiter team will address this situation and create sufficient incentives for users to buy and hold JUP.

For those who believe in the long-term future of Jupiter and Solana, accumulating during periods of heavy unlock-driven selling pressure may not necessarily be a bad strategy.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve significant risk, so please conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the views of an Uncommonlab research intern and do not constitute financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend the purchase or sale of any particular asset.

1. Weekly Highlights

Status of the Clarity Act

• The bill commonly referred to as the Clarity Act, officially named the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, is legislation aimed at defining the market structure of the U.S. crypto industry.

• The bill has several key objectives: clearly delineating jurisdiction over digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC; establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins under the GENIUS Act; introducing a regulatory framework for DeFi; and enforcing measures such as reserve disclosures and wash trading prevention.

• If passed, the anticipated benefits include greater regulatory clarity, enabling companies to formulate long-term business strategies; increased institutional participation under a clear regulatory regime; improved trust through stablecoin reserve transparency; and stronger safeguards against market manipulation.

• However, some provisions of the bill—particularly the ban on yield-bearing stablecoins—have drawn criticism. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has argued that the traditional financial sector is attempting to restrict core crypto functionalities. He contends that in a free market, banks should either offer higher interest rates themselves or directly participate in the stablecoin business, rather than limiting competition through regulation.

• As a result, conflicts of interest between traditional banks and the crypto industry have emerged, leading to delays in review by the Senate Banking Committee.

The Clarity Act could become a major turning point for crypto regulation in the United States. If passed, it would provide clear standards and much-needed regulatory certainty, which is why many market participants are closely watching its progress. At the same time, the bill has been criticized for taking an overly bank-centric approach. Brian Armstrong, in particular, has criticized provisions such as the ban on stablecoin yields and restrictions on DeFi, arguing that they are designed to prevent banks from competing with crypto.

While the likelihood of the Clarity Act passing is considered high, if it passes with the prohibition on yield-generating stablecoins intact, users may see little advantage in crypto exchanges compared to traditional banks. This could reduce capital inflows into the crypto market. Therefore, close attention should be paid to how these provisions are ultimately decided as the bill moves toward passage.

Impact of the Decline in Bitcoin and Ethereum on MSTR and BMNR

• MicroStrategy has transformed itself into the world’s largest Bitcoin treasury company, raising capital through the issuance of convertible bonds and using the proceeds to purchase Bitcoin.

• However, over the past few months, MSTR’s stock price has fallen by more than 60%. One key reason is that the company’s average Bitcoin purchase price is now approaching the current market price of Bitcoin, reducing the perceived upside buffer for investors.

• Similarly, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, an Ethereum treasury company, raised capital through private funding rounds and equity sales to acquire Ethereum. As Ethereum’s price has fallen significantly below Bitmine’s average acquisition cost, the company is currently sitting on massive unrealized losses of approximately $6.5 billion.

• Both companies are pursuing a buy-and-hold strategy, but if Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to decline over the long term, they may fail to secure additional capital and could be unable to continue executing their Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) strategy. In the event of large realized losses, this could also trigger an exit of institutional investors.

As Bitcoin and Ethereum prices have dropped sharply, concerns are growing around companies such as MSTR and BMNR that hold these assets on their balance sheets. MSTR, which has been steadily accumulating Bitcoin, is in a relatively comfortable position, holding approximately $2.1 billion in cash, enough to sustain operations for more than a year. In contrast, BMNR is already facing losses exceeding 40% relative to its average purchase price, raising doubts about its ability to raise additional capital if prices fall further.

MicroStrategy has a track record of weathering previous bear markets without selling its Bitcoin, which suggests that, with sufficient cash reserves, it is likely to remain resilient under current conditions. Moreover, because its structure does not involve collateralized positions, the worst-case scenario would be the suspension of dividends rather than forced liquidation.

BMNR, on the other hand, accumulated Ethereum with a very large amount of capital over a short period, resulting in substantial losses. As a result, investing directly in Ethereum may be a more efficient strategy than purchasing BMNR shares.

While DAT companies could benefit from the passage of the U.S. CLARITY Act, they inherently carry significant risk due to their leveraged exposure to crypto assets. This risk should not be overlooked. Beyond asset prices themselves, as market conditions turn bearish, investors should also pay close attention to the potential bankruptcy risk of companies that pursued aggressive DAT strategies during the downturn.

Binance Announces $1B Bitcoin Purchase

• Binance has decided to convert assets held in stablecoins within its SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users) into Bitcoin.

• As a first step, the exchange used $100 million to purchase 1,315 BTC, and plans to convert the remaining $900 million into Bitcoin within the next 30 days.

• The Binance SAFU fund will continue to account for Bitcoin price volatility. If the fund’s market value falls below $800 million, Binance plans to replenish it back up to $1 billion.

• The background behind this decision is widely believed to be an effort to counter recent negative sentiment and criticism surrounding Binance and its founder, CZ.

• In particular, Binance appears to have recognized the irony that, despite being the leading exchange in the industry, it did not hold any Bitcoin on its own balance sheet.

Binance has announced that it will convert SAFU assets currently held in stablecoins into Bitcoin. While this move can be seen as a response to recent criticism of Binance and CZ, it also reflects an acknowledgment that a market-leading exchange lacking direct Bitcoin exposure was becoming increasingly noticeable. The total purchase size is $1 billion, and if Bitcoin price declines cause the SAFU fund’s value to drop below $800 million, Binance has stated it will inject additional capital to restore it to $1 billion.

Although this may partly be a reputational move, Binance has never taken this kind of action before, which suggests that internally, the company may view current Bitcoin prices as an attractive entry point. While the scale is still smaller than companies like MicroStrategy that use Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, Binance generates substantial cash flow from its exchange business. As a result, Binance could emerge as a new and influential player capable of supporting Bitcoin prices over time.

Kyle Departs Multicoin Capital

• Kyle, one of the most prominent figures at Multicoin Capital, announced via his X account that he has decided to leave the firm.

• The official reason given is his desire to explore new technology sectors beyond blockchain. He emphasized that this does not mean a complete departure from crypto: he will continue making personal investments, including in Solana, and will remain active as a board member of ZAMA and Chairman of Forward Industries.

• However, in a post he shared shortly before his resignation—and then quickly deleted—Kyle expressed a far more skeptical view of the crypto industry. In that post, he stated that crypto is no longer as interesting as it once was, that blockchains are ultimately just ledgers, and that aside from onchain confidentiality, most of the fundamental questions in the space have already been answered. This revealed a deep sense of disillusionment with the current state of the market.

One of Multicoin Capital’s key figures has now decided to step away from the firm. While the public explanation centers on exploring new technologies outside of blockchain, the deleted post suggests that Kyle, who once believed strongly in the Web3 vision, no longer holds the same conviction and has developed a broadly skeptical perspective on the blockchain industry. The only area he appears to view positively is onchain privacy, which aligns with his continued involvement as a board member at ZAMA.

Given the current state of the crypto market—where much of the focus has shifted away from technological progress and innovation toward quick token launches and rapid exits—the sentiments expressed in Kyle’s deleted post arguably resonate more strongly than his official statements.

Vitalik’s View on L2s and Their Role

• According to Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, the progress of EVM-based L2s toward Stage 2 has been far too slow and difficult.

• As a result, he no longer sees L2s as the core pillar of Ethereum scaling in the way they were originally envisioned.

• In particular, as existing L1s continue to scale and Ethereum’s gas limits are expected to increase significantly, L2s must offer clear differentiation beyond scaling alone. Vitalik argues that future L2s should focus on areas such as privacy, specialized VMs, ultra-low latency, non-financial applications, and use cases like AI and social applications.

• He also noted that through a precompile-based structure for verifying ZK-EVM proofs, L2s can achieve strong and secure interoperability with Ethereum. Beyond that foundation, what each L2 builds is a matter of choice. However, he emphasized that L2s should not stop at simply extending L1, but must add something fundamentally new.

From Vitalik’s perspective, L2s that focus solely on scaling appear to have limited long-term relevance. This is because L1s are scaling faster, gas limits are rising, and transaction fees are expected to decline further. To remain valuable, L2s will need to define their direction around areas where L1s struggle—such as non-EVM or specialized VMs, deeply optimized architectures for specific applications, and ecosystems centered on social and AI use cases.

Looking at widely used L2s like Arbitrum (ARB) and Optimism (OP), whose tokens have declined over time despite high usage, it increasingly seems like a natural outcome that scaling alone is insufficient to sustain long-term value.

2. Notable Project

Konnex - Turning Robotic Labor Onchain

• Konnex is a platform building a marketplace for autonomous systems.

• It aims to convert robotic labor into onchain liquidity, with payments settled in USD. The project has raised $15 million from venture capital firms including LD Capital, Cogitent Ventures, M77 Ventures, Leland Ventures, and Covey.

• Ahead of its planned onchain testnet later this year, Konnex has launched Konnex Ingest, an onboarding phase for developers and miners. This stage operates offchain, allowing the team to improve models without economic risk or validator incentive constraints.

• There is still limited public information available, but the presence of Konnex Points earned through Ingest suggests a high likelihood of a future native token launch.

Konnex is building infrastructure that brings robotic labor—currently operating within closed, proprietary systems—onchain, enabling connectivity and payment. As the robotics sector rapidly expands with a growing number of autonomous machines, these systems remain siloed due to dependence on their own operating environments. Konnex can be seen as a project driven by the goal of addressing this fragmentation. With the ongoing Ingest onboarding program and the existence of a native point system, Konnex appears well worth monitoring as a potential future token issuer.

Estimating Project TGE Timelines Using Aspecta

• Aspecta features a system called Buildkey, which allows users to trade pre-TGE project tokens by taking long or short positions.

• Users can purchase Long keys on a bonding curve and either sell them back later or hold them until the TGE to receive the actual tokens. If a user believes the project’s FDV is overvalued, or already expects to receive tokens in the future, they can take a Short position and effectively sell future token exposure.

• In practice, projects such as FightID had their keys traded on Aspecta prior to TGE, and currently Opinion, Polymarket, and Bitway are active on the platform.

• When projects like Superform or Espresso begin onboarding to Aspecta while simultaneously opening airdrop registration through their own websites, it can be a strong signal that their TGE is approaching.

Aspecta enables pre-TGE token trading through Buildkey. While participation requires staking ASP tokens, which makes direct access less straightforward, the platform can still be useful even without active trading. By observing the FDV levels at which Buildkeys trade and tracking which projects are onboarding, users can benchmark token valuations and infer how close a project may be to its TGE.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Listing Trends Observed Through BIRB’s Upbit and Bithumb Listings

• The NFT-based project Moonbirds successfully listed its token BIRB on Korea’s major KRW exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, shortly after its TGE.

• Notably, Bithumb announced the KRW listing before Upbit—an unusual sequence—and the listing once again highlighted how Korean exchanges have consistently shown a strong preference for NFT-based project tokens, given their history of listing many such assets.

• Projects that secure listings on Upbit and Bithumb shortly after TGE tend to share common traits: they actively target Korean users by hosting meetups in Seoul and running aggressive local marketing campaigns.

• Looking at past projects that successfully listed on Upbit, one particularly important factor appears to be whether the token is already listed on Coinbase spot markets. In this regard, BIRB met that criterion.

From a project’s perspective, the Korean market is too important to ignore. Due to its unique structure as a KRW-based market rather than USD-based, and the high difficulty of securing listings, success in Korea can generate liquidity comparable to—or even exceeding—that of Binance. As a result, most projects actively aim for listings on Upbit and Bithumb.

Historically, tokens that conducted strong Korea-focused marketing—such as hosting meetups in Seoul—have had a higher likelihood of being listed on Korean exchanges. Among these, NFT-based tokens have shown particularly high success rates, with BIRB being a recent example.

Recently, both Upbit and Bithumb appear to be delaying KRW trading support until a day or even a week after TGE, likely waiting for prices to stabilize before listing. For traders in Korea, KRW listings represent a significant opportunity. It may be worth thinking strategically about how to leverage these listing dynamics to capture potential returns.

Why Hyperliquid’s HYPE Is Rising While Almost All Other Coins Are Falling

• While the prices of most cryptocurrencies—including Bitcoin—are declining, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token has been moving in the opposite direction, showing notable strength.

• Looking more closely, the contrast is stark: over the past seven days, HYPE has risen by 18%, while BTC is down 18% and ETH has fallen 28%.

• One key driver behind this divergence appears to be Hyperliquid’s HIP-4 upgrade. HIP-4 introduces a new derivatives primitive through Outcome Contracts, enabling support for prediction markets and option-like products.

• In addition, a significant portion of protocol revenue is used for token buybacks, and under the HIP-3 framework, launching a perp product or a DEX requires holding 500,000 HYPE. These structural demand drivers naturally contribute to upward price pressure.

In a market where most tokens are under heavy pressure, HYPE stands out as one of the few assets showing sustained strength. This performance is largely attributed to the HIP-4 upgrade announced on February 2, which expanded Hyperliquid’s scope into prediction markets and fueled strong market expectations.

At its core, Hyperliquid remains one of the most user-friendly platforms in the highly competitive Perp DEX space and has consistently maintained the top market share. Combined with its policy of allocating the majority of protocol revenue toward HYPE buybacks, this design allows the token to perform well even during broader market downturns.

If Hyperliquid continues to operate smoothly without major disruptions, there is a strong case that HYPE’s market capitalization could eventually break into the top 10 among crypto assets.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve significant risk, and you should conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research commentary reflects the views of Uncommonlab research interns and should not be considered financial or legal advice, nor does it recommend the purchase or sale of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

TSLA Binance Futures Support

• Binance has launched TSLA futures contracts that track the price of Tesla shares.

• The product is structured under a secure framework regulated by Abu Dhabi’s ADGM FSRA, allowing traders to use USDT with leverage of up to 5x.

• Unlike the Nasdaq, which trades only during limited market hours, TSLAUSDT is available for trading 24/7, including weekends and public holidays.

• This marks the first tokenized stock supported on Binance, signaling the exchange’s strong intention to actively expand into the TradFi market.

Starting with TSLA, Binance appears set to roll out full-scale TradFi stock futures trading. This move represents an evolution from a pure crypto exchange into a comprehensive financial platform that also supports stock trading. Compared to traditional equity markets, Binance offers key advantages such as higher leverage and round-the-clock trading, further blurring the line between TradFi and crypto.

Following TSLA, it is widely expected that top Nasdaq market-cap stocks such as AAPL, NVDA, and MSFT will also be supported. For existing Binance users, this means they can trade major US stocks easily using USDT without opening a foreign brokerage account, which is highly convenient.

However, some argue that at a time when crypto market trading volumes are already declining, adding stock trading could further reduce participation in crypto assets. This, they warn, may ultimately contribute to a contraction of the crypto market itself.

John’s Alleged Theft of U.S. Government Bitcoin Tracked by ZachXBT

• According to an investigation released on January 25, 2026, by ZachXBT, an on-chain investigator known for exposing scams through blockchain data, John Daghita allegedly stole over $40 million in assets from wallets seized by the U.S. government.

• The stolen funds are believed to originate from U.S. government–seized assets related to the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

• The incident came to light through a Telegram game called “Band-For-Band,” where participants compete to show who holds more money. During this game, John publicly shared screenshots of his wallet balances and demonstrated the real-time movement of millions of dollars, drawing attention to his funds.

• Using the wallet addresses revealed during this event, ZachXBT traced the on-chain flows and discovered evidence suggesting that the funds were stolen directly from U.S. government–controlled wallets.

• Further raising suspicion, John’s father, Dean Daghita, is the CEO of CMDSS, a company contracted by the U.S. Marshals Service under the Department of Justice to manage seized cryptocurrencies. Given this relationship, the case is widely suspected to involve embezzlement.

The U.S. government typically relies on third-party contractors to store, manage, and liquidate seized crypto assets derived from criminal activity. CMDSS, a Virginia-based IT government contractor led by John’s father, is one such firm. While details remain unclear, it appears that John may have obtained access to government-managed wallets controlled by CMDSS and transferred assets at will.

By openly showcasing wallet balances and transactions on Telegram, John effectively provided direct evidence himself, which ZachXBT later compiled and exposed using on-chain data—sparking significant controversy.

The U.S. government has previously stated that it does not intend to sell all seized Bitcoin and may hold portions long term. However, if weaknesses in asset custody allow individuals to arbitrarily transfer or sell seized Bitcoin, this could escalate into a major systemic issue with serious implications for trust and asset security.

Space Token Sale Controversy

• Space is a Solana-based leveraged prediction market platform.

• In January, Space conducted its own token sale, aiming to raise $2.5 million at a $69 million FDV. Many participants assumed that any excess contributions would be refunded, but instead, total deposits exceeded $20 million, and the team used a “soft cap” justification to force the purchase of $14 million worth of tokens.

• This behavior closely resembled the Trove token sale, which significantly damaged community trust. Further worsening sentiment, it was revealed that members of the Space founding team had previously been involved in the UFO Gaming project, whose token had collapsed by over 90%, pushing public opinion to an all-time low.

• As the controversy grew out of control, the Space team announced a partial refund plan. Under this plan, the top 5% of investors and the remaining participants will receive a 50% refund of their invested capital, with the stated goal of increasing the relative allocation for smaller participants.

• Refund procedures are scheduled to begin on January 27 via the official website. However, given that full refunds are not being offered and the project has already suffered severe reputational damage, proceeding with the TGE (Token Generation Event) is likely to result in very poor outcomes.

Space is positioned as a Solana-based leveraged prediction market platform, yet it is not currently usable, having conducted a token sale before releasing a working product. The token sale process itself reflected extremely poor execution. The team initially stated it would raise only $2.5 million, but when deposits exceeded $20 million, they chose to force a $14 million allocation instead of issuing refunds, citing a soft cap.

As narratives spread comparing Space to Trove, a token sale widely viewed as borderline rug-like, backlash intensified. Once the situation became unmanageable, the Space team ultimately announced a partial refund.

Had the team adhered to its original plan and raised only $2.5 million, the token sale likely would have concluded smoothly and generated strong expectations. Instead, the issue appears to stem from excessive greed around fundraising, raising serious concerns that the project may continue to demonstrate poor judgment and negative behavior going forward.

Why Binance and CZ Are Facing Widespread Criticism

• Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), are currently facing public criticism on X from across the crypto community.

• In Binance’s case, one of the main accusations is its predatory listing structure, where projects are reportedly required to pay around 8% of their token supply as a listing fee. In addition, more than 80% of projects listed through Binance Alpha have declined in price, leading to claims that these listings function primarily as liquidity exit venues for token sales rather than long-term growth platforms.

• Further controversy surrounds a large-scale altcoin liquidation event on October 10, where some allege that the incident originated from a collapse in Binance’s internal pricing system. There are also rumors that certain VIP clients were warned in advance, intensifying suspicions of unfair information asymmetry.

• CZ himself has also drawn criticism. His post stating that “Buy and Hold beats most trading strategies” was interpreted by many as encouraging people to hold all coins indiscriminately, which angered users amid ongoing market declines. Additionally, his frequent promotion of Aster has fueled speculation that Binance is attempting to undermine competitors such as Hyperliquid and capture their market share.

• During the collapse of FTX, CZ publicly announced the sale of $500 million worth of FTT and simultaneously signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire FTX. This move allegedly discouraged other potential rescuers from stepping in. Binance ultimately withdrew from the deal, leaving FTX beyond recovery—leading some to claim that CZ effectively eliminated his largest competitor.

Recently, posts critical of Binance and CZ have been circulating widely within the crypto community. Reports that Binance demands close to 8% of token supply for listings appear credible and are widely viewed as excessively expensive, making criticism unavoidable.

While not all allegations against CZ can be confirmed as factual, many find his actions questionable in context. With crypto prices continuing to fall, his “Buy and Hold” messaging has further intensified backlash. The criticism is not limited to retail users—Star, the CEO of OKX, also posted remarks on X that appeared to indirectly criticize Binance, drawing even more attention.

In response, CZ has claimed that the sudden surge of similarly worded posts criticizing both him and Binance represents a coordinated, manipulated attack. However, the reality is that many long-time, respected participants in the crypto space also agree with a significant portion of these criticisms, lending weight to the ongoing debate.

Xangle Secures $8M Strategic Investment from Hanwha

• Xangle is a Korea-based company that provides Web3 and crypto-related data, research, and information services.

• The company recently secured a $8 million strategic investment from Hanwha Group’s financial affiliates.

• The investment was reportedly personally led by Kim Dong-won, CEO of Hanwha Life, and alongside the funding announcement, Xangle began a strategic collaboration with Hanwha Investment & Securities, supplying them with data APIs.

• As traditional financial institutions—such as banks and securities firms—increasingly recognize the importance of Web3 data and infrastructure capabilities, they are making strategic investments in companies like Xangle. These institutions also appear to believe such partnerships will support the future launch of blockchain-based services.

Xangle operates a comprehensive platform that aggregates and organizes key disclosures from crypto projects, participates in blockchain validator operations, provides APIs, and publishes research, delivering end-to-end Web3 data and infrastructure services.

The recent $8M investment from Hanwha’s financial affiliates suggests that Xangle can immediately meet the Web3 data and infrastructure needs of traditional financial institutions. As digital assets continue to enter the regulated financial system—starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs—even conventional banks are making strategic investments to adopt relevant technologies and align with this institutionalization trend.

2. Notable Projects

KRW Stablecoin MAROO

• Hashed Open Finance has unveiled Maroo, a Korean won–based Layer 1 blockchain.

• Maroo is designed with a dual-track system that simultaneously satisfies the openness of public blockchains and regulatory requirements, aiming to build an ecosystem around stablecoins, RWAs, and STOs.

• Unlike most existing blockchains—such as Ethereum or Solana—where gas fees are paid in a native token, Maroo is architected so that a KRW-pegged stablecoin can be used directly to pay transaction fees.

• The chain was developed with Korea’s upcoming Digital Asset Basic Act, expected in Q1 2026, in mind, and positions itself as foundational infrastructure for the digital transformation of Korea’s financial ecosystem.

Maroo is a KRW-based Layer 1 blockchain designed for regulatory compliance. It has been developed in anticipation of the Digital Asset Basic Act scheduled for Q1 2026, and a litepaper has already been released. Some of its technology was partially validated in 2025 through the Busan Digital Asset Exchange and the Bidamooni project, though additional time will be required before a fully functional mainnet is launched.

Because gas fees are paid using a KRW stablecoin, Maroo will not have a separate governance token, setting it apart from most existing mainnets. Given that the chain is structurally designed for financial infrastructure use cases, if real demand materializes, Maroo could see meaningful adoption sooner than expected.

What Drove the Surge in River Token’s Price?

• The River token has surged more than 30x in just one month, currently maintaining a market cap of $1.47B and an FDV of $7.5B.

• River raised $12M in funding from prominent backers including Tron Foundation, Maelstrom, Justin Sun, and Spartan Group. Leveraging this support, River plans to integrate its stablecoin, satUSD, into the Tron ecosystem.

• Users can earn River Points by staking tokens such as wBNB or USD1, posting River-related content on social media, and participating in a referral system. These points can be locked and later converted into River tokens.

• However, when converting points into tokens, users must wait a minimum of three months. Expecting the token price to fall during this period, many traders attempted to hedge by opening short positions when River was trading around $4. Instead, these positions were aggressively liquidated, driving the price up to $75.

River’s price has climbed relentlessly from $2 to $75 within a single month, attracting intense market attention. While the project’s $12M raise from Maelstrom (Arthur Hayes’ firm) and Justin Sun’s Tron Foundation lends credibility, the speed and scale of the rally appear highly abnormal.

According to an investigation shared on X by WazzCrypto, a specific group allegedly accumulated nearly 2 million River tokens—close to half of the circulating supply—by withdrawing tokens across 2,418 wallets and Bitget when the price was around $4. With liquidity intentionally kept thin, this group was able to force large-scale short liquidations, generating significant profits.

Another contributing factor appears to be the forced liquidation of hedge shorts placed by users converting River Points into tokens. As these users sought guaranteed returns, they opened short positions, which were then liquidated. This exploited the futures market mechanics, where short liquidations mechanically push prices higher.

It is likely that both strategies were applied simultaneously, resulting in the current price levels. Given that token unlocks have been deliberately delayed and circulating supply is tightly controlled, the situation appears highly engineered. Under these conditions, avoiding trading the River token altogether may be the most prudent approach.

Citrea Mainnet Launch

• Citrea is a Bitcoin-native zkRollup, providing an EVM-compatible execution environment while using Bitcoin as the settlement and data availability layer.

• The project has raised $16M in funding from prominent VCs including Founders Fund and Galaxy, and officially launched its mainnet on January 27, 2026.

• Alongside the mainnet launch, Citrea announced integrations with Morpho and Edge Capital’s UlltraYield to enable BTC-collateralized lending, as well as the introduction of ctUSD, a stablecoin issued by MoonPay and powered by M0 infrastructure.

• Assets can now be bridged to the Citrea mainnet. Based on net asset inflows, liquidity provision, and token trading activity on DEXs, Citrea is expected to run incentive campaigns, making it highly likely that participation could lead to a future token airdrop.

Citrea is a Bitcoin Layer 2 project backed by $16M from Founders Fund, Galaxy, and others. With the recent mainnet launch, users can already bridge assets to the network, and related campaigns aimed at early adopters are expected to follow—potentially tied to token airdrops.

Given the presence of ctUSD, a stablecoin designed to comply with the upcoming GENIUS Act guidelines, users may feel more comfortable bridging assets to the Citrea mainnet and participating in early farming opportunities.

Tether’s U.S. Regulation-Compliant Stablecoin: USAT

• USAT is a U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoin that Tether is planning to launch in compliance with U.S. regulatory requirements.

• While Tether aims to compete directly with USDC, its operations originally began in Hong Kong, and its corporate structure remains geographically distributed, making it difficult to fully align USDT with U.S. regulatory standards. As a result, Tether has faced limitations in offering services within the U.S. market.

• To address these challenges, Tether plans to issue USAT in compliance with the GENIUS Act, the U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins, with issuance facilitated through Anchorage Digital Bank.

• Under this approach, Tether appears to be pursuing a dual-strategy: maintaining its global dominance with USDT while using USAT as the primary stablecoin for the U.S. market.

The reason Tether is introducing USAT alongside USDT is fundamentally tied to regulatory compliance in the United States. USDT is supported by virtually every exchange and remains the most widely used stablecoin globally. However, unlike USDC, Tether is not U.S.-based, and its origins in Hong Kong have created regulatory uncertainty and restrictions within the U.S..

By launching USAT, a federally regulated stablecoin, Tether aims to secure compliant access to the U.S. market while preserving USDT’s established position in the global crypto ecosystem.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Opinion Token Launch Announcement

• Opinion, a prediction market platform that has been rapidly increasing its market share, has announced an earlier-than-expected TGE for its native token, OPN.

• To date, Opinion has been distributing 100,000 points per week, allocated based on trading volume, limit order usage, and holding duration.

• Ahead of the TGE, the platform is currently accepting wallet registrations, allowing users to split their OPN token allocation across up to five wallets.

• While it is not yet confirmed whether a snapshot will be taken, bonus points are being offered. Users can earn points efficiently by selecting near-expiry markets and holding equal amounts of YES and NO positions, a strategy that allows participants to accumulate points with minimal or no directional loss.

Following Kalshi and Polymarket, Opinion has risen to third place in prediction market trading volume. Officially launched in October 2025, Opinion is a BNB Chain–based prediction market platform. After receiving investment from YZi Labs, it has gained significant attention—often described as the prediction market counterpart to ASTER in the PerpDEX space.

Expectations of strong returns from the OPN token have driven substantial trading activity on the platform, with users receiving weekly point distributions proportional to their activity. Opinion has now confirmed its token launch and is allowing users to register up to five wallets to receive OPN allocations.

While the exact value of allocations for long-term participants remains uncertain, Opinion’s position as the third-largest prediction market platform suggests the token could deliver solid performance. The project is currently valued at an estimated FDV between $800M and $1.3B, though a clearer picture will emerge once detailed tokenomics—including supply and circulating allocation—are released.

Given that Opinion is moving to TGE faster than most competitors in the prediction market space, there is optimism that it may outperform expectations upon launch.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve significant risk, and investors should conduct their own due diligence and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the views of an Uncommonlab research intern and do not represent financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend the purchase or sale of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

Noble Ultimately Leaves Cosmos

• Noble is a project building a stablecoin liquidity hub based on the Cosmos SDK. Its stablecoin, USDN, has achieved broad adoption across the IBC ecosystem, becoming one of the most widely used stablecoins within Cosmos.

• However, Noble determined that its existing architecture posed limitations in terms of product launch velocity and scalability. In order to meet the stability and reliability standards required of a global stablecoin infrastructure, the team decided to move beyond the Cosmos SDK and transition to a Noble EVM L1, starting March 18.

• A full USDN migration will be supported, and USDN is expected to become a core component of the Noble EVM L1, functioning as a yield-bearing native stablecoin within the new network.

• Within the Cosmos community, some have described this move as a “betrayal.” In reality, however, many acknowledge that achieving large-scale success purely within the Cosmos ecosystem has become increasingly difficult. From this perspective, Noble’s decision is largely understandable.

Noble, which previously provided USDN liquidity across the Cosmos and IBC ecosystems, has now committed to transitioning into an EVM L1. USDN liquidity on Cosmos will be migrated to Noble EVM in phases, with the ultimate goal of consolidating all liquidity on the new chain. While the Cosmos SDK will continue to be supported, it is expected to shift into maintenance mode over the long term.

Although Noble benefited significantly from Cosmos by becoming one of its most widely adopted stablecoin infrastructures, the team appears to have concluded that, given the declining expectations for the broader Cosmos ecosystem and the failure of many Cosmos-based projects, exiting the ecosystem was the rational long-term choice.

It remains to be seen how Noble’s expansion into the EVM ecosystem will play out, but there is a high likelihood that the launch of the Noble EVM mainnet will be accompanied by the issuance of a native NOBLE token.

Magic Eden Begins Buybacks and Staker Rewards Starting February 1

• Starting February 1, Magic Eden will allocate 15% of its platform revenue toward buybacks.

• Looking more closely at the mechanism, half of the funds will be used to buy back ME tokens, while the other half will be distributed in USDC to ME token stakers, proportional to their staking power.

• The decision to distribute rewards in USDC is particularly noteworthy. Due to potential securities law implications, many projects have been hesitant to implement cash-like reward structures. Magic Eden is one of the first major platforms to move forward with this model.

• Recently, a growing number of projects have announced token buybacks. However, in most cases, the scale of buybacks is far smaller than the volume of newly issued or unlocked tokens, leading to continued downward pressure on token prices. In practice, many of these buybacks amount to little more than rhetoric.

• In this context, Magic Eden’s approach—distributing actual project revenue to token holders in USDC—represents a more meaningful form of buyback. This is not a model that can be easily copied at will; it requires real, sustainable revenue. As a result, tokens backed by genuine cash flow are increasingly likely to attract attention.

Magic Eden announced that it will allocate 15% of total platform revenue toward buybacks, expanding beyond its original NFT marketplace to include revenue from its in-house prediction market as well.

Under this structure, half of the allocated funds will be used to purchase ME tokens, while the remaining half will be distributed in USDC to ME token stakers. Distributing rewards in USDC introduces regulatory risk, as such payments could potentially be interpreted as dividend income from an unregistered security. However, Magic Eden appears to be proceeding under the assumption that, as long as the ME token is not classified as a security, this structure should not pose a legal issue.

Magic Eden generated approximately $24M in revenue last year, and for projects with real, sustainable revenue, distributing USDC rewards in an interest-like format may be a more constructive approach than symbolic or ineffective buybacks. This model encourages long-term token holding rather than short-term speculation.

A similar USDC-based reward mechanism is reportedly being prepared by Jupiter on Solana, though it remains unclear whether this approach will ultimately deliver meaningful results.

Neynar Acquires Farcaster

• Neynar, the leading API and infrastructure provider for developers within the Farcaster ecosystem, announced that it will acquire Farcaster.

• Over the coming weeks, ownership of Farcaster’s contracts, code repositories, applications, and Clanker will be transferred to Neynar, which will assume full operational and managerial control of the platform.

• Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero will step away from all Farcaster-related responsibilities to pursue a new project, effectively exiting the company.

• Following the announcement, some community members—including Mirza—harshly criticized Dan Romero. They argued that he sold the vision of a “decentralized social network” as a potential second Facebook to raise capital from a16z and Paradigm, and after reportedly securing up to $40M in profits by selling shares on secondary markets, no longer had incentive to continue building the company.

• In response, Dan Romero stated via his personal social channels that he plans to return the entire $180M raised from venture capital investors, directly addressing accusations of personal enrichment.

• Neynar emphasized that it has long worked closely with Farcaster, and as a result, there are expected to be no major short-term product changes following the acquisition. The stated goal is to evolve Farcaster into a builder-optimized network.

The acquisition presents an ironic outcome. Farcaster had raised approximately $180M from top-tier VCs such as a16z and Paradigm, making it one of the most highly anticipated projects in the decentralized social space. The first shock came when Farcaster announced it was deprioritizing social in favor of a wallet-centric platform direction. The second followed shortly after, with the announcement that Farcaster would be acquired by Neynar—the very company that had been providing API infrastructure to Farcaster.

Many in the community have questioned how such a deal was possible, given that Neynar’s valuation is believed to be lower than the total capital raised by Farcaster. A plausible interpretation is that Dan Romero, having failed to demonstrate sufficiently meaningful traction to date, faced increasing pressure from investors and ultimately stepped aside. While Dan Romero appears to have received compensation close to an exit, public sentiment remains divided, with some suggesting that after raising significant capital, the incentive to continue scaling the company diminished.

Finally, expectations around a potential Farcaster token launch, which many users had anticipated, may have actually increased as a result of the acquisition, as key decision-making authority has now shifted to the Neynar team.

Trove Betrays the Hyperliquid Ecosystem

• Trove is a trading platform built on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework, enabling users to trade RWA and equities with up to 10× leverage.

• During its token ICO, a prediction market was launched on Polymarket regarding the total amount Trove would raise. At the official ICO closing time, the total stood at $11.5M, and up until that point, the probability of the raise exceeding $15M or $20M remained extremely low.

• However, Trove abruptly announced a five-day extension of the ICO. Immediately after this announcement, the YES probabilities for the $15M+ and $20M+ outcomes surged to 80–90%, causing significant losses for participants who had bet on NO. This sparked widespread rumors that the project had engaged in explicit market manipulation.

• Just 42 minutes later, Trove reversed its decision and announced that the extension would be withdrawn. As a result, Polymarket probabilities rapidly collapsed back toward NO, and trust in the project evaporated.

• Further controversy followed. In order to deploy on Hyperliquid using the HIP-3 protocol, projects are required to stake 500,000 HYPE tokens. Trove claimed that its liquidity partner had independently decided to liquidate this stake, selling the tokens on the market. This made deployment on Hyperliquid impossible, after which Trove announced it would move to Solana, effectively branding itself as a traitor to the Hyperliquid ecosystem.

Initially, Trove attracted significant attention by announcing that it would be built on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework. Based on this narrative, the team conducted a token ICO. However, through the manipulation of Polymarket outcomes via a reversed ICO extension, Trove directly caused financial losses to market participants and irreparably damaged its credibility. Compounding this, the team sold the HYPE tokens that were required for HIP-3 deployment, making a Hyperliquid launch impossible and ultimately deciding to relaunch on Solana.

This sequence of actions can reasonably be interpreted as a betrayal of the Hyperliquid ecosystem—raising funds by leveraging Hyperliquid’s credibility, then selling HYPE tokens and abandoning the chain. Many view this behavior as indistinguishable from a scam.

On-chain investigator ZachXBT tracked Trove’s wallet activity and publicly exposed the team’s actions. In response, the Hyperliquid Foundation donated 10,000 HYPE tokens to ZachXBT, signaling a clear stance against Trove and an effort to distance the ecosystem from the project.

Trove’s actions are widely regarded as indefensible. With the involvement of paid promotions by prominent overseas influencers, the situation has increasingly been concluded as a premeditated scam, rather than a series of unfortunate missteps.

ParaDEX Rolls Back the Chain

• ParaDEX, a Starknet-based perpetual DEX, experienced a technical failure during a database migration, resulting in a critical system error.

• During the incident, Bitcoin prices on ParaDEX were displayed as $0, and users were reportedly charged what appeared to be an entire year’s worth of position fees at once. These anomalies ultimately forced the team to roll back the chain to block 1,604,710. As part of the recovery process, all open (unfilled) orders were removed.

• The decision sparked criticism, as performing a chain rollback on a decentralized exchange runs counter to the core principles of decentralization. However, it is widely assumed that the scale of the losses made it impractical for ParaDEX to absorb the damage without reverting state.

• Following the rollback, ParaDEX fully refunded all accounts that were incorrectly liquidated, resumed deposits and withdrawals to Gigavault, and restored normal platform functionality. Despite this, the incident has caused a significant loss of user trust.

ParaDEX acknowledged the technical failure and proceeded with the rollback—a move that, in effect, amounts to admitting that the system is not fully decentralized. Nonetheless, by restoring functionality in stages and fully compensating affected users, the project avoided more severe backlash than initially expected.

ParaDEX is currently approaching the end of its points season, with plans to list its native token DIME thereafter. However, given the recent poor market performance of newly launched PerpDEX tokens, there is growing uncertainty around how DIME’s launch will ultimately be received.

NYSE to Support 24/7 Tokenized Stock Trading

• The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced plans to develop a tokenized securities platform that will enable 24/7, year-round trading of tokenized stocks.

• The platform is currently awaiting regulatory approval from the SEC and is targeting a launch by late 2026.

• However, despite the appeal of around-the-clock trading, the actual barriers to entry may be higher than many expect. Trading NYSE-issued tokenized stocks will likely require full KYC, along with a U.S. brokerage account or a bank account for funding, limiting accessibility for a broader global user base.

• In contrast, HIP-3–based tokenized stock platforms are often cited as alternatives to NYSE’s approach. These platforms allow users to connect a Web3 wallet and trade tokenized equities with up to 20× leverage, typically without traditional regulatory hurdles.

• The key distinction lies in regulatory compliance. NYSE’s tokenized stocks, being issued and traded under a regulated framework, are expected to track real stock prices accurately and offer dividend rights and corporate governance participation, with minimal legal or operational risk. On the other hand, HIP-3–based platforms operate outside formal regulatory structures. As a result, users may not receive dividends, and in the event of trading errors or losses involving unsupported stocks, there may be no legal protection or recourse.

NYSE officially confirmed that its regulated, 24/7 tokenized securities platform—pending SEC approval—will enable legally compliant stock trading around the clock, with a target launch in late 2026. While tokenized securities may seem like a major leap forward in accessibility, in practice they are likely to offer incremental convenience rather than radical openness, due to mandatory compliance requirements such as KYC and linked banking infrastructure.

By contrast, HIP-3–based platforms prioritize accessibility and speed, allowing users to trade desired stocks instantly with nothing more than a wallet connection. That ease of use comes with clear trade-offs: lack of legal protections, limited shareholder rights, and higher counterparty and operational risk.

Each approach presents distinct advantages and disadvantages. Investors should weigh these factors carefully and choose the platform that best aligns with their risk tolerance, regulatory preferences, and trading objectives.

2. Notable Project

Noise Raises $7.1M in Funding Led by Paradigm

• Noise is a platform that leverages social media signals to enable the trading of attention, trends, and mindshare.

• The project raised $7.1M in funding from top-tier investors including Paradigm, GSR, and Anagram, and is currently accessible on testnet via invite codes.

• Recent changes to X’s API policy have had a significant impact across the broader InfoFi sector, to the extent that Kaito suspended its Yaps reward program. While some were concerned that Noise—given its prior partnership with Kaito—would be similarly affected, Noise clarified that it relies on its own proprietary mindshare data, mitigating direct dependency on X’s API.

• With the upcoming V2, Noise plans to introduce a reward mechanism for accurately predicting trends, differentiating itself from traditional prediction markets. Rather than simply betting on whether an event will occur, users will be able to trade on how important or influential a topic is at a given moment, offering a more nuanced form of market signaling.

Noise is set to launch on the Base chain as an attention-quantification protocol, transforming how frequently specific projects or topics are mentioned into a tradable market. Given that the round was led by Paradigm, a VC well known for allocating generous token airdrops, actively using the platform after its public launch could be worthwhile for those targeting potential airdrop opportunities.

Although Noise initially partnered with Kaito and utilized Kaito’s API, the team emphasized that it is also conducting independent data collection, addressing concerns that recent changes to X’s policies could negatively impact the platform. Unlike standard prediction markets, Noise allows users to trade on future levels of attention and mindshare, reducing the risk of outcome manipulation by insiders.

Axis AI: Training Robots Through Collective Intelligence

• Axis AI is a platform that combines simulation and crypto to train robots to think and act like humans.

• The project addresses one of the biggest bottlenecks in robotics AI: the lack of high-quality training data. Axis AI enables anyone to contribute data through a browser-based robot simulation, with participants rewarded in tokens for their contributions.

• Axis AI has raised $5M from notable investors including Galaxy, Maven11, and GSR. The team aims to build the world’s largest robotics training dataset by 2026, although the platform is currently limited to a waitlist-only sign-up.

• The experience is designed to feel like a game—users control robots directly in their browser, and the resulting interaction data is used to train AI models. Axis AI describes this approach as a form of global, collective intelligence for robots, built collaboratively by people around the world.

Axis AI is fundamentally focused on solving the robotics industry’s data scarcity problem. Users generate valuable training data via simulations and are compensated with tokens, while the project monetizes by supplying this data across the broader robotics ecosystem.

Although the Axis AI platform has not yet launched, once it goes live, participation is expected to be open and highly accessible. Given that a token launch is effectively confirmed, contributing early to the project may be a reasonable strategy for those seeking potential token airdrop opportunities through meaningful participation.

Bitway Launches Token Sale on Kaito Launchpad

• Bitway is a Bitcoin-compatible PoS Layer 1 capital infrastructure project.

• The project will conduct a token sale via the Kaito Launchpad, offering 3% of the total token supply at a valuation of $80M FDV.

• This valuation represents a 20% discount compared to Bitway’s previous $100M VC investment round, which included investors such as YZi Labs and HashKey Capital. At the TGE, 50% of the tokens will be unlocked, with the remaining 50% vesting over three months.

• Bitway has previously run campaigns via Binance Wallet, allowing users to deposit USDT in exchange for Bitway tokens. Following its investment from YZi Labs, Bitway has been actively collaborating with Binance.

Bitway’s decision to launch via the Kaito Launchpad comes ahead of its January TGE, alongside a series of Binance Wallet–based campaigns. These signals suggest that the project may be positioning itself with Binance listings in mind. While a Binance spot listing may be challenging, inclusion in Binance Alpha appears highly likely, and the probability of a Binance futures listing is considered relatively high.

In addition to the Kaito Launchpad sale, users can deposit stablecoins such as USDT into Bitway to earn Bitway points, which are likely to be directly linked to future token airdrop allocations. Participating in this points farming may be a worthwhile strategy.

It is also worth noting that Bitway is rumored to be a rebranded version of the former Side Protocol, a factor that investors should take into account when evaluating the project.

Perle Labs: An AI Training Data Platform

• Perle Labs is a Solana-based AI training data platform focused on closing the AI data quality gap through expert-validated datasets.

• The project has raised $17.5M from prominent venture capital firms, including CoinFund, HashKey Capital, Big Brain Holdings, and Framework Ventures.

• Perle Labs allows users to directly contribute to AI training by participating in quests, earning Perle Points, which are widely expected to be convertible into Perle Labs tokens in the future.

• Notably, Season 1 launched on January 19, offering an opportunity for early participation.

Originally launched in 2024 as Kiva AI, the project rebranded and entered the Solana ecosystem in 2025, launching an open beta and ultimately evolving into Perle Labs. By presenting a clear solution to the AI data quality problem, the team has recently opened a platform where humans can directly contribute to AI datasets.

In Season 1, users earn points by watching videos and completing tasks, which are likely to translate into future token airdrop allocations. Given the project’s sizable funding, well-defined points system, and active quest-based participation model, Perle Labs appears to be a project worth monitoring through its eventual TGE.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Arcium: Privacy Infrastructure in the Solana Ecosystem

• Arcium is a Solana-based confidential computing network and cryptographic supercomputer, having raised $11M from venture capital firms including LongHash Ventures, Greenfield Capital, and Coinbase Ventures.

• By leveraging Multi-Party Computation (MPC), Arcium enables private and verifiable on-chain computation for applications across DeFi, DePIN, and AI, addressing a critical gap in privacy-preserving infrastructure.

• Arcium is currently preparing for mainnet. In official announcements on July 24 and November 27, 2025, the team explicitly stated that there would be no token airdrop. Instead, contributors will be rewarded through Retroactive Token Grants (RTG), where accumulated credits can be exchanged for tokens.

• Arcium introduces C-SPL, a Solana SPL–compatible standard that allows developers to implement confidential functionality using familiar workflows. Smart contracts can directly handle encrypted computation, extending privacy across the broader Solana infrastructure stack and potentially enabling institutional adoption and regulated expansion.

Arcium is considered one of the most anticipated projects in the Solana privacy and encrypted computing sector heading into 2026. The project has raised a total of $14M from VCs and an additional $4M via CoinList at a $200M FDV, with 100% of tokens unlocked at TGE. Based on this funding, Arcium is building a scalable privacy network on Solana, targeting mainnet launch and TGE in 2026.

While the team has clearly ruled out traditional airdrops, users can earn credits through testnet participation, application development, and community contributions, which will later be redeemable for tokens via RTG at TGE. Historically, among testnet-based reward programs, node operation has delivered the highest returns, making it a reasonable strategy to run an Arcium testnet node and accumulate credits in anticipation of RTG-based token rewards.

Superform’s UP Only Program

• Superform is a user-owned neobank that automates cross-chain deposits in a single transaction, streamlining access to yield across multiple networks.

• The project has raised $13.9M from major venture capital firms including Polychain Capital and VanEck, and has conducted token sales via Legion and ECHO.

• Superform recently launched the UP Only program, under which 1% of the total UP token supply will be distributed to SuperVaults V2 depositors. These tokens will be 100% unlocked at TGE.

• While the original TGE was planned for 2025, it was postponed due to broader market conditions. As a result, expectations are that the token will be listed as soon as market conditions allow.

Under the UP Only program, Superform offers a base APY of 8% on USDC deposits, with additional yield paid in UP tokens allocated on an epoch basis. The program has seen strong demand—APYs dropped from approximately 38% to 12% within a week due to rapid inflows.

The UP token TGE, initially scheduled for 2025, has now been delayed to 2026 amid unfavorable market conditions. With UP Only Epoch 1 ending on January 29, the conclusion of this phase is widely seen as a potential catalyst for moving forward with the TGE.

Given the expectation of a relatively near-term token listing, Superform currently appears to be a reasonable USDC yield farming venue, offering both stablecoin interest and exposure to upcoming token rewards.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve a high level of risk, so please conduct your own due diligence and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the personal views of an Uncommon Labs research intern and do not constitute financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend the purchase or sale of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

The Meme Token “币安人生 (Binance Life)” Successfully Listed on Binance Spot

• The meme token 币安人生 has successfully secured a spot listing on Binance.

• This is a highly unusual case, as no token primarily based on the Chinese language has ever been listed on Binance before, making this listing particularly noteworthy.

• Starting with 币安人生, the door is now open for tokens based on various national languages to potentially be listed on Binance in the future. Naturally, Chinese-language meme tokens—considered the highest priority—saw the largest price increases following this development.

• Adding to the momentum, Binance founder CZ publicly posted on his social media that he was considering naming the Chinese edition of his autobiography “币安人生,” further amplifying the buzz around the token.

While many meme tokens have previously been listed on Binance’s spot market, 币安人生 is the first to be based on Chinese language usage. Until now, Binance had supported only English-based token tickers, but this move suggests a new strategic direction: if a token becomes sufficiently relevant or viral, Binance may support not only Chinese but potentially other languages as well.

Some users argue that supporting Chinese-language tokens like 币安人生 could be seen as favoring China, given that many top exchanges have Chinese origins. However, to date, no other meme token built around a specific language has generated trading volume comparable to 币安人生. Whether Binance will go on to support meme tokens based on other national languages remains to be seen and will be an important trend to watch going forward.

Prediction Market Controversy Surrounding a White House Briefing

• On Kalshi, a prediction market was opened on whether a White House press briefing would last longer than 65 minutes.

• As the briefing time approached, a situation emerged where money heavily flowed into the “Yes” outcome, pushing the implied probability that the briefing would exceed 65 minutes to 98%.

• However, just a few dozen seconds before the 65-minute mark, the briefing was abruptly ended with a final “Thank you,” and the speaker left the podium.

• Because of the almost perfect timing, many people began to speculate that the briefing may have been intentionally cut short so that someone could profit by betting on the opposite outcome, giving rise to conspiracy theories.

As prediction markets grow in size, bets on even highly specific events—such as the duration of a White House briefing—have begun to appear. This incident became one of the more notable examples. The fact that the briefing ended mere seconds before 65 minutes led to rumors that Karoline, who was conducting the briefing, may have personally bet against the outcome and ended it early to secure profits.

In reality, this is highly unlikely. The total betting volume on this prediction was only around $3,000, making it structurally impossible to generate meaningful profits. Moreover, although prediction markets have expanded, they are still unfamiliar to the general public, and not every event needs to be interpreted as intentional or manipulated.

It is also important to recognize that many topics listed on prediction markets are inherently susceptible to manipulation by specific individuals, and this risk should be taken into account when interpreting such markets.

Korea Allows Corporate Crypto Investment of Up to 5% of Equity Capital

• As part of Phase 2 measures to allow corporate participation in the digital asset market, listed companies and registered professional investors will be permitted to invest up to 5% of their equity capital in cryptocurrencies.

• The final guidelines are expected to be released in January–February, and eligible investment targets will be limited to the top 20 cryptocurrencies by quarterly market capitalization, based on disclosures from Korea’s five major exchanges.

• Whether stablecoins such as USDT and USDC will be included is still under discussion. Some market participants argue that, compared to overseas standards, the 5% cap is excessively restrictive.

• If corporate crypto investment moves forward in earnest, it is estimated that capital from approximately 3,500 corporations could flow into the market.

The roadmap for corporate participation in the digital asset market is structured in three phases.

Phase 1 allows limited participation, permitting non-profit organizations and public research institutions to sell digital assets they already hold. This phase was implemented on June 1, 2025, when World Vision became the first organization in Korea to sell Ethereum on Upbit and convert it into cash.

Phase 2, planned for 2026, will allow listed companies and corporations registered as professional investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies up to a maximum of 5% of their equity capital. The exact timing may vary depending on the National Assembly’s legislative schedule, but approximately 3,500 corporations are expected to be eligible, suggesting a significant potential impact.

Phase 3 would expand participation to general unlisted corporations, enabling full corporate participation in the crypto market. This would effectively represent the complete institutionalization of digital assets. However, this phase is expected to proceed only after crypto taxation and related regulatory frameworks are fully established and taxation has begun, meaning it will likely take more time to be realized.

The End of InfoFi Projects Like Kaito and Cookie Following X’s Policy Changes

• Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, announced a revision to X’s API policy, stating that so-called InfoFi models—which reward users for posting content on X—will no longer be permitted on the platform.

• Following this announcement, Cookie shut down all campaigns on its Snaps platform, while Kaito terminated Yaps and its incentive leaderboard, pivoting instead to Kaito Studio, a creator collaboration platform.

• After the news became public, both the COOKIE and KAITO token prices dropped sharply.

• One major point of controversy is that InfoFi projects such as Kaito and Cookie were reportedly aware of the upcoming X policy changes before Nikita Bier’s public announcement, yet failed to take preemptive action. As a result, token holders bore the brunt of the losses.

As X-based InfoFi projects shut down in response to the API policy changes, Kaito—one of the flagship InfoFi platforms—has transitioned to its own creator collaboration platform, Kaito Studio, while Cookie and other lower-profile projects are expected to fully discontinue their InfoFi models.

In the early days, InfoFi often surfaced genuinely valuable market information, but over time the space deteriorated. An increasing number of users began posting sensational or misleading content solely to farm rewards, leading to widespread content fatigue. Moreover, the use of AI to automatically generate posts and comments created an overwhelming amount of low-quality, spam-like data, which from X’s perspective amounted to an unsustainable level of noise.

In this sense, X’s policy change can be seen as an effort to eliminate the problem at its root. Going forward, InfoFi models without their own independent social platforms are likely to struggle to remain viable.

SUI Mainnet Outage

• The SUI mainnet was halted on January 14, 2026, due to a consensus failure.

• The total downtime lasted approximately six hours, with about one hour passing between the network halt and the official announcement.

• After completing a patch to address the consensus issue and coordinating with validators, the team was able to restore the network to normal operation.

• As a result of the outage, the price of SUI briefly dropped by around 10%, raising concerns about the network’s overall stability.

SUI, which trades within the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, experienced a roughly six-hour shutdown caused by a malfunction in its consensus mechanism. Although the SUI team responded quickly and restored the network, such outages are rare in the absence of major chain-level upgrades, leading many to question the reliability and robustness of the network.

In addition, the double-digit price decline reflected a noticeable cooling of market expectations toward SUI compared to the past. If similar mainnet downtime incidents were to occur again in the future, confidence in SUI could deteriorate significantly.

2. Noteworthy Project

Babylon Raises an Additional $15M in Funding

• Babylon is a trustless protocol that allows Bitcoin to be used as a security asset for PoS chains without relying on bridges or centralized custodians. A key feature is that Bitcoin holders can retain full custody of their assets while still earning staking rewards.

• Even before its TGE, Babylon’s technology had already been recognized, raising $96M from top-tier VCs such as IDG Capital, Polychain, and Paradigm. However, despite a TVL of $5.5B, the BABY token is currently trading at a relatively low valuation, with an FDV of $184M and a market cap of around $50M.

• Despite the continued decline in the BABY token price, Babylon recently secured an additional $15M investment from a16z Crypto to support the expansion of its BTC Vaults.

• Starting April 1, VC token unlocks will begin. Around the same time, Babylon is scheduled to be integrated with Aave V4, enabling native BTC to be used as collateral within the protocol.

Babylon has been favorably differentiated from other Bitcoin L2 solutions due to its ability to stake native Bitcoin directly—without bridging it to another chain—while earning rewards. The protocol successfully attracted a significant amount of Bitcoin deposits, fueling high expectations for the BABY token.

However, after the TGE, the BABY token suffered from a lack of clear utility, and since staking rewards were paid in BABY tokens, continuous sell pressure naturally emerged, leading to a steady price decline. The current FDV of $184M appears relatively low compared to the total capital raised to date.

If the upcoming Aave V4 integration in April successfully demonstrates a proof of concept for using native BTC as collateral on Ethereum via Babylon’s BTC Vaults, it could have a positive impact on the BABY token’s valuation.

Genius Trading Terminal Backed by YZi Labs

• Genius Terminal is a privacy-focused cross-chain trading terminal.

• It supports spot trading, futures, copy trading, token launches, and yield farming within a single interface, and is usable across more than 10 blockchains.

• On January 13, Genius received a strategic investment from YZi Labs, drawing significant attention due to the unusual move of CZ joining the project as an advisor.

• In response to some criticism, CZ clarified that Genius is not a competitor to Aster, but rather a platform focused on connecting Perpetual DEXs for private trading.

Genius is a terminal platform that enables on-chain private trading through its “Ghost Order” feature. With CZ participating as an advisor and investment from YZi Labs, the project has attracted strong interest from users who believe Binance may actively support Genius, similar to how it has supported Aster.

The platform is currently in open access. Its Launchpads section provides a unified view of token launches on BNB Chain and Solana, while the Perps section currently supports Hyperliquid and Aster, with plans to expand to more than 10 networks in the future.

Genius operates a points system called GP through its terminal and has already hinted at a future token launch via a dedicated Airdrop tab. Users who accumulate GP points are therefore highly likely to be eligible for a future token airdrop.

With its strong privacy-focused value proposition and the backing of Binance-related capital and CZ as an advisor, Genius is widely expected to deliver strong performance at its TGE.

CoinList Platform Revamp

• CoinList is an ICO platform that historically enabled early access to major tokens such as SOL, FLOW, and IMX.

• Recently, CoinList has undergone a significant transformation, shifting toward a non-custodial, on-chain operating model to improve regulatory compliance and user experience.

• One of the most notable changes is the major overhaul of the KYC process, an area that had long been plagued by errors. CoinList has now significantly simplified KYC, introducing a faster and more streamlined verification flow.

• Previously, users were required to complete lengthy questionnaires, respond to unnecessary additional requests, and often wait through manual review processes. Under the new system, automatic approval is granted after verifying an ID and completing a simple biometric check.

CoinList has served as a gateway for early-stage token investments, facilitating sales for a large number of projects. Among them were standout successes such as SOL, ONDO, FLOW, and IMX, which delivered multi-fold returns relative to their initial sale prices, driving widespread adoption of the platform.

However, as token sale performance has deteriorated in recent years, user activity declined, prompting CoinList to pursue a comprehensive upgrade. To address long-standing user frustrations—particularly around frequent KYC failures and manual deposit/withdrawal processes—the platform is simplifying its infrastructure and transitioning to non-custodial, on-chain operations.

While many projects launching on CoinList struggle to maintain their token prices, the platform occasionally surfaces high-quality opportunities with strong outcomes. For this reason, CoinList remains a platform worth monitoring consistently, despite its mixed recent performance.

Solana Mobile Seeker Launches Its Native Token, SKR

• The Solana Seeker smartphone is set to launch its native token, SKR.

• The total token supply is 10 billion SKR, of which 18% will be airdropped to users who have purchased and fully activated a Seeker phone.

• Airdrop recipients are categorized into five different tiers, and allocations vary based on actual Seeker phone usage. In some cases, users may receive a reduced allocation or be excluded entirely.

• Starting January 21, 2026, SKR tokens can be claimed for 90 days via the Seed Vault Wallet. While no exchanges have yet announced SKR listings, many are optimistic due to Seeker’s growing significance within the Solana ecosystem.

Solana Mobile’s Seeker is launching its own token, SKR, and expectations are high. The Seeker phone has already been adopted by a large user base and functions as core infrastructure for the Solana mobile ecosystem, which has further fueled anticipation around the SKR token.

With the TGE scheduled for January 21, Seeker owners will be eligible to receive the SKR airdrop. Although no exchanges have officially confirmed listings yet, the project has received strong public support from Solana co-founder Toly, who has referenced it multiple times, increasing confidence in a strong debut.

Personally, SKR stands out as one of the Solana ecosystem tokens most worth watching in the near term. That said, given the relatively large airdrop allocation, a long-term holding strategy is not recommended.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Nansen Points Program – Season 2

• Nansen is an on-chain analytics platform that provides labeling for over 500 million wallets and advanced smart money tracking features.

• The company has raised a total of $88.2M from top-tier venture capital firms including Mechanism Capital, a16z Crypto, Accel, and Coinbase Ventures, and launched its native points program in June 2025.

• To accumulate points, users must engage in paid Nansen subscriptions, coin staking, and various quests. A Nansen Pro subscription costs $588, granting users 5,880 points immediately.

• In Season 2, users can earn points based on in-app DEX trading volume. However, this method is considered inefficient relative to transaction costs, making staking long-term assets to earn bonus points a more favorable strategy.

Nansen is preparing for a token launch through its points-based system. Participation effectively requires a paid Nansen Pro subscription, along with completing staking and quest activities.

Points accumulated through Nansen are expected to be used for a future token airdrop. Given that Nansen is backed by prominent VC firms and is considered an essential platform for on-chain crypto intelligence, it is widely expected that the token will achieve broad exchange listings at TGE.

As such, accumulating as many points as possible could be a worthwhile strategy for those aiming for meaningful airdrop rewards.

Expected Airdrop Project Tiers for 2026

• Following 2025, a large number of projects are once again approaching their TGEs in 2026.

• Some community members have even gone so far as to create and share tier lists of projects they expect to deliver large token airdrops.

• These tier lists are typically divided into S, A, B, C, and D tiers, but since opinions vary widely, it is important to clearly understand the criteria behind each ranking.

• In the image referenced, Base, Polymarket, Kalshi, MegaETH, OpenSea, and Pumpfun are placed in the S tier. This ranking appears to reflect a combination of market expectations, potential airdrop size, and valuation, and is a level that many people would likely agree with.

• However, projects placed in the A, B, C, and D tiers are based on more ambiguous and subjective criteria, making disagreement inevitable. For this reason, it is important to research each project individually and establish your own evaluation framework.

In 2025, dozens of projects launched tokens every single day, and 2026 is expected to be no different, with an overwhelming number of projects still waiting to launch. As a result, classifying projects into S, A, B, C, and D tiers based on valuation and expected airdrop size has become something of a trend.

Most lists place Base, Polymarket, Kalshi, MegaETH, OpenSea, and Pumpfun in the top S tier. Personally, while Polymarket and Kalshi are highly valued due to their prediction market narratives, I believe that in terms of airdrop rewards, Base and OpenSea are more likely to deliver larger distributions.

I also find it difficult to consider Pumpfun as an S-tier project. It has already launched its token, and the promised airdrop has been repeatedly delayed, so in my view it should be excluded from the list.

Ultimately, perceptions of each project vary significantly from person to person. Rather than relying blindly on tier lists, it is more useful to use them as a reference point and form your own opinions and evaluation s.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve high risk, and you should make decisions carefully after conducting your own research.

• All research comments reflect the personal views of an Uncommonlab research intern and do not represent financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend the trading of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

Mirae Asset’s Acquisition of Korbit Exchange

• An article has been released reporting that Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of the Mirae Asset Group, is set to acquire Korbit, one of Korea’s top five cryptocurrency exchanges.

• On the 28th, the Mirae Asset Group announced that it had signed an MOU to acquire most of the stakes held by Korbit’s largest shareholder, NXC (which owns 60.5%), and its second-largest shareholder, SK Planet (which owns 31.5%).

• The total deal size is expected to be between KRW 100 billion and KRW 140 billion. Since Mirae Asset Consulting is not a financial institution, the transaction is not considered a violation of Korea’s separation of industrial and financial capital regulations.

• Through the acquisition of Korbit, Mirae Asset is actively pushing forward the integration of traditional finance and digital assets, which lies at the core of its “Mirae Asset 3.0” strategy.

News of Mirae Asset’s acquisition of Korbit has drawn significant attention. In Korea, financial institutions face regulatory restrictions on directly operating virtual asset businesses. As a result, Mirae Asset has opted for a regulatory workaround by acquiring Korbit through its non-financial affiliate, Mirae Asset Consulting. Whether this structure will ultimately receive approval from financial authorities remains a key question.

If approval is granted, Mirae Asset—already a strong player in traditional finance—is expected to make a full-scale entry into the digital asset business based on the Korbit acquisition. As part of its Mirae Asset 3.0 strategy, the group has already listed and manages a variety of products through its subsidiary Global X, including Bitcoin futures ETFs and covered call ETFs. With the acquisition of Korbit, Mirae Asset would be able to further expand into direct asset custody services and institutional-grade offerings.

Looking at these developments, it appears that over time, more traditional financial institutions like Mirae Asset will enter the crypto market, signaling a broader shift toward a more regulated and institutionalized crypto ecosystem.

Flow Hack

• On December 27, an attacker targeted Flow’s execution layer, illicitly minting millions of wFLOW tokens as well as bridged assets such as wBTC and wETH.

• Before validators were able to respond, the attacker bridged all the funds to Ethereum, resulting in total losses of approximately $3.9 million.

• Flow later announced that it had reached a consensus to revert the chain to a pre-attack state. The network was halted, and preparations were made to roll back the chain to block 137,363,395, starting from the testnet.

• In response, deBridge founder Alex Smirnov stated that a rollback at this stage would create systemic issues affecting bridges, custodians, users, and counterparties who had acted honestly during that period. He also noted that deBridge had received no communication from Flow regarding the rollback.

• In a final update, Flow concluded that it would not proceed with a network rollback. Instead, the accounts used by the attackers would be restricted to prevent any further damage.

As a result of the attack, the Flow network suffered losses of $3.9 million. Although Flow initially considered resolving the issue by rolling back the chain to a pre-attack state, it ultimately decided against this approach due to the systemic risks it would pose to bridges, custodians, users, and counterparties. Instead, Flow chose to freeze the attacker-controlled accounts. This incident once again highlights the ongoing debate around decentralization in blockchain ecosystems, as Flow’s consideration of a chain rollback raised questions about the practical limits of decentralization in real-world scenarios.

OverTake’s TAKE Token Price Crash

• OverTake is a SUI-based P2P marketplace designed for trading in-game assets.

• Following its TGE, the TAKE token showed a steady upward trend, building strong confidence among holders—many of whom even participated in staking.

• However, on December 30, the price of the TAKE token suddenly collapsed from around $0.50 to $0.12.

• According to the team’s official statement and data verification, the primary cause of the price drop appears to have been a cascade of derivative liquidations triggered by insufficient liquidity.

A sharp decline in the token price of OverTake—previously well-regarded by the market—has now occurred. The impact felt even more severe because a large portion of TAKE tokens held by users were locked up through staking while the price was falling. Based on the team’s announcement, this does not seem to be the result of a hack or security breach. However, judging purely by price action, the situation appears even worse than a typical exploit, and recovery may be difficult. As a result, the token is likely to remain under downward pressure for some time. In many similar cases, projects fail to reclaim their previous highs and either fade away or are abandoned by their teams. How OverTake ultimately responds and evolves remains to be seen.

Lighter TGE News and Clarification on the LLP Controversy

• Lighter, which had been widely regarded as the strongest PerpDEX since Hyperliquid, has successfully completed its token launch.

• Lighter’s token ticker is LIT. On the day of the TGE, it maintained a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $2.6 billion and a market cap of $673 million, showing price stability without a sharp post-launch sell-off.

• However, controversy emerged within the community after a post claimed that a wallet which had provided $5 million in USDC to LLP liquidity—distributed across five wallets roughly nine months ago—received an airdrop equal to 1% of the total circulating LIT supply, effectively gaining assets worth around $26 million.

• In response, Vladn explained that in 2024, Lighter had entered into an LP agreement with a third party to secure early liquidity, and that the airdrop was compensation for this arrangement. He stated that anyone who took on the early risks and opportunity costs at that stage would be entitled to such rewards.

Lighter has now completed its token TGE. Following Hyperliquid’s success, it currently holds one of the highest valuations in the PerpDEX sector, maintaining an FDV of $2.6 billion. While there was community discussion around whether the reward for early LLP contributors—particularly the wallet that received 1% of the circulating supply—was excessive, Vladn addressed the issue via Discord. His explanation appears to have been broadly accepted, and the controversy is unlikely to have a significant impact on the LIT token price.

That said, Lighter has yet to disclose the exact amount and percentage of LIT token buybacks that will be funded by protocol revenues. If the buyback ratio approaches Hyperliquid-levels and trading volume remains strong, there is a meaningful possibility that the LIT token price could appreciate over time.

2. Notable Projects

Minara AI

• Minara AI is an AI service that provides real-time answers via an LLM when users ask questions based on crypto-related data.

• It offers three paid subscription plans: Lite at $19 per month, Starter at $49 per month, and Pro at $199 per month.

• Users can accumulate bonus Sparks through payments, and those who collect a sufficient amount can receive Discord roles and NFT whitelist access.

• Through the Trading Copilot, users can execute trades directly within Minara. Based on workflow-driven strategies, it supports features such as DCA, market tracking, automated trading, and copy trading.

Minara functions as a crypto-focused LLM similar to Surf, gathering real-time data to respond to user queries. While it operates on a paid subscription model, access to Trading Copilot requires users to hold a certain number of Sparks earned through payments. Unlike Surf, Trading Copilot is built around LLM-driven workflows, allowing users to design strategies for DCA, automated trading, and copy trading, and execute them using in-app assets within Minara.

Base and BC Card Sign MOU

• BC Card has signed an MOU with Coinbase to introduce USDC payments in Korea.

• They will jointly conduct a pilot project to integrate BC Card’s QR payment solution into a Base chain–based wallet, allowing customers holding USDC to make payments at domestic merchants.

• Coinbase already supports USDC across its entire infrastructure stack—including the Base chain, Base App, and Base Pay. Leveraging this setup to enable payments at Korean merchants represents a significant shift compared to past attempts.

• Recently, BC Card has formed a dedicated digital asset task force and is focusing on building a universal payment infrastructure necessary to activate the domestic stablecoin market through strategic partnerships.

BC Card is launching a pilot program in collaboration with Coinbase to bring the USDC stablecoin into domestic payments. The companies have even signed an MOU to review and design the structure for USDC payments in Korea. Compared to the past, it is striking to see traditional financial institutions taking the initiative in considering stablecoin-based payments.

For USDC payments to be practically implemented in Korea, resolving issues around KRW-based settlement, accounting, and regulation will be critical. Given that BC Card is a key player in Korea’s card payment infrastructure rather than a typical private company, there is reason to be optimistic about how these challenges might be addressed.

Bitmine Holds 3.41% of Ethereum’s Total Supply

• Bitmine initially focused on Bitcoin mining but shifted its corporate strategy in 2025 toward an ETH treasury–based model.

• The company set a long-term goal of acquiring 5% of Ethereum’s total supply and, in just six months, has accumulated 3.41% of the total supply—making it the largest publicly listed company holder of ETH.

• To fund this strategy, Bitmine has raised capital from major investors including ARK Invest (Cathie Wood), Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), Bill Miller III, Pantera Capital, and Galaxy Digital. The ETH it acquires can also be staked to generate yield.

• Bitmine’s total assets amount to $13.2 billion, with the majority consisting of ETH. To reach its target, the company is expected to make an additional $5.6 billion worth of ETH purchases.

Bitmine is positioning Ethereum as a core treasury asset and currently holds 3.41% of Ethereum’s total supply. The company generates revenue by staking its ETH holdings and plans to continue accumulating ETH until it reaches 5% of the total supply. Much like MicroStrategy (MSTR) for Bitcoin, Bitmine (BMNR) is becoming a well-known Ethereum proxy, drawing significant attention—especially given that Peter Thiel reportedly holds a 9% stake in the company.

So far, Bitmine’s aggressive ETH accumulation has been positive for the market. However, questions remain about how the company will manage the periodic ETH selling pressure that could arise in the future if all of its ETH is staked and the staking rewards are sold to fund interest payments.

Legion Ends the Curator Track Amid Concerns Over Quality Control

• Legion has decided to shut down its Curator Track and completely redesign the structure.

• The primary reason is that there was no clear distinction between projects that were directly vetted by Legion and those that merely used Legion’s technology and infrastructure to conduct token sales.

• In particular, projects like VOOI conducted their token sales using the Legion Curator Track through CookieDAO. When these projects delivered very poor TGE results, many in the community began to associate the failures with Legion itself.

• As a result, Legion CEO Fabrizio announced that, for the time being, all projects launched on Legion will be directly vetted and selected by the Legion team.

Until now, curators such as CookieDAO and Nozomi had used Legion’s infrastructure to conduct token sales. However, most projects that went through the Curator Track showed disappointing TGE outcomes, which naturally led to growing criticism of Legion. In response, CEO Fabrizio decided to discontinue the Curator Track altogether.

Since sales conducted via curators were damaging Legion’s reputation, the platform will now directly select and vet projects, working closely with teams to ensure higher quality. Legion also announced that it will introduce an improved token sale framework with three categories: Prime, for projects collaborating with tier-1 exchanges; Standard, where valuation and tokenomics are designed jointly with Legion; and Early, for projects at a very early stage.

Jupiter Launches JupUSD, a Solana-Based Collateralized Stablecoin

• Jupiter has launched JupUSD, a Solana-based stablecoin, through a collaboration with Ethena Labs.

• The reserves backing JupUSD consist of 90% allocated to BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund and the remaining 10% held in USDC. The project has undergone audits by Offside Labs, Guardian Audits, and Pashov Audit Group.

• JupUSD is most actively used within Jupiter Lend, and users can benefit from reduced fees when using it across the broader Jupiter ecosystem.

• Since launch, JupUSD has maintained a stable $1 peg. From Jupiter’s perspective, JupUSD appears to be a strategic move to challenge USDC’s dominance within the Solana ecosystem.

With the launch of both a mobile app and JupUSD in collaboration with Ethena, Jupiter is working to establish a stablecoin that can be widely used across the Solana ecosystem. In particular, JupUSD seems designed to compete directly with USDC, which has long been the default stablecoin on Solana.

Although JupUSD is still in its early stages, expanding incentives through Jupiter Lend could drive increased adoption. If successful, JupUSD could eventually become more widely used than USDC within the Solana ecosystem, which in turn could positively impact the price of the JUP token.

That said, there are several risks to consider. A continuous monthly unlock of approximately 53.47 million JUP tokens creates ongoing supply pressure, making it difficult to support the token price through buybacks alone. Additionally, since JupUSD can currently only be minted by the team, concerns may arise around fairness if premiums develop and the team captures arbitrage profits by selling newly minted supply.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Cascade, a Project Closely Linked to Perennial

• Cascade is a perpetual markets platform that offers futures trading on cryptocurrencies, U.S. equities, and private assets through a single unified margin account.

• It has raised $15 million in funding from Polychain Capital, Variant Fund, and Coinbase Ventures, and is preparing for a public launch in Q1 2026.

• As the service is being built with a U.S. focus, Cascade is expected to develop infrastructure for U.S. regulatory compliance and integrate traditional financial assets.

• However, caution is warranted. Despite three years of development, Perennial— which shares the same investors, founders, and APIs as Cascade—has yet to meaningfully ship a product or launch a token.

Recently launched in private beta, Cascade has drawn significant attention as a U.S.-compliant perpetual market that enables futures trading across crypto and U.S. equities, backed by a $15 million raise. Access currently requires an invite code, and users can farm Cascade points by depositing funds into Cascade’s Liquidity Strategy.

While allocating capital to early-stage projects typically carries high risk, it can also offer substantial upside if the project succeeds, which is why some users choose to participate consistently. That said, a key concern is that Cascade shares the same founder as Perennial. Given Perennial’s failure to deliver a fully developed product or token launch, there is a risk that Cascade could face similar challenges.

Polymarket Predictions on OpenSea’s FDV

• OpenSea is the world’s largest NFT marketplace and has raised a total of $425.15 million from leading venture capital firms including Paradigm, a16z, Blockchain Capital, and Coinbase Ventures.

• Currently, the way to earn the SEA token is by trading tokens and NFTs on OpenSea to accumulate XP. By upgrading chest tiers based on XP, users become eligible for rewards at the time of the SEA token TGE.

• There are 13 tiers in total, and OpenSea has stated that rewards will be distributed at TGE based on these tiers, which has driven strong user participation.

• With the TGE expected around Q1 2026, markets have been created on Polymarket to predict OpenSea’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) after the token launch.

• As of now, Polymarket estimates roughly a 90% probability that the post-TGE FDV will exceed $500 million, and about a 54% probability that it will exceed $1 billion. These probabilities continue to fluctuate as traders buy and sell positions.

• Typically, a reasonable TGE-day FDV is considered to be around 5–10x the total amount of capital raised. In OpenSea’s case, however, the investments were made relatively long ago, and NFT marketplace trading volumes are currently muted. As a result, market participants tend to predict a comparatively lower FDV.

OpenSea’s total funding of $425.15 million by 2022 places it among the largest-funded crypto projects. This has led some to expect a high FDV for the SEA token. However, on Polymarket—the leading prediction market—the odds of the FDV exceeding $1 billion remain roughly even.

Personally, OpenSea appears highly likely to secure simultaneous listings on major exchanges at TGE, including Korea’s Upbit and Bithumb, as well as global exchanges like Binance. Even considering the time elapsed since its fundraising, I believe an FDV above $1 billion is still achievable.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Investments in cryptocurrencies and digital assets involve high risk, so please conduct your own due diligence and make decisions carefully.

• All research commentary reflects the views of an Uncommonlab research intern and does not constitute financial or legal advice, nor does it recommend the purchase or sale of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

$50M Fund Theft via Address Poisoning Attack

• A theft involving approximately $50 million occurred through an address poisoning attack.

• Most wallets hide the middle portion of an address with “…” to improve UI readability. As a result, many users have developed the habit of verifying only the first and last characters of an address when reviewing transaction history.

• Scammers exploit this behavior by generating lookalike wallet addresses that share the same beginning and ending characters as the victim’s real address. This tactic is known as an address poisoning attack.

• In a recent case, a user sent 50 USDT as a test transaction to their own wallet before transferring a much larger amount. Immediately after this test transfer, the scammer generated a wallet address with the same first 4 and last 4 characters as the real address and created a transaction to the victim.

• Unaware of the attack, the victim later copied the scammer’s fake address from their transaction history and sent the remaining 49,999,950 USDT to it, believing it to be their own wallet. As a result, the entire amount was stolen.

A $50 million fund theft occurred through an address poisoning attack. After the victim sent 50 USDT as a test transaction, the scammer immediately generated a lookalike address with the same starting and ending characters as the test wallet and created a transaction to make it appear legitimate. Unaware of this manipulation, the wallet owner mistook the scammer’s address in the transaction history for their own test wallet, copied and pasted it, and sent the remaining full balance. As a result, all funds were stolen. Given the wide variety of scams that exist on-chain, it is essential to double-check the entire wallet address when transferring large amounts of assets.

Polymarket Moves Away from the Polygon Chain

• Until now, Polymarket has operated on the Polygon L2 network. However, an incident involving RPC node issues on Polygon caused temporary disruptions to Polymarket’s operations.

• Following this event, Polymarket announced plans to leave the Polygon network and build its own dedicated L2. At the same time, it stated that it will end its reliance on external infrastructure providers such as GoldSky and Alchemy, using strong language to describe their services as inadequate and emphasizing an intention to migrate away from them as quickly as possible.

• Overall, Polymarket appears to have concluded that relying on external infrastructure limits its ability to guarantee reliability and performance. As a result, it plans to design a customized chain tailored specifically to its needs.

Since 2020, Polymarket has been highly active on Polygon, accounting for roughly 25% of transaction activity on the network. However, the recent Polygon outage highlighted the need for greater stability and operational control. With Polymarket now established as the leading prediction market and having raised approximately $2.3 billion in funding, it no longer needs to be dependent on a single chain. As stability and control become increasingly critical, this strategic shift toward launching its own L2 appears to be a natural decision.

The Dispute Between Aave Labs and the DAO

• Aave is broadly divided into two entities: Aave Labs, founded by Stani, and the DAO, which consists of governance token holders.

• On December 4, 2025, Aave Labs integrated CoWSwap into the Aave interface to improve swap pricing and provide MEV protection. However, controversy arose when swap fees generated by the new CoWSwap contracts were routed to a private wallet controlled by Aave Labs rather than to the DAO.

• From the DAO’s perspective, this was problematic because a brand and UI built using DAO resources were being used for private benefit. Aave Labs countered that the interface is privately owned and maintained by Labs, and that the fees are used to cover operational costs. Labs also argued that any previous revenue shared with the DAO had been voluntary and not an obligation.

• As tensions escalated, on December 23, 2025, Aave Labs initiated a Snapshot vote proposing to transfer all brand-related assets and rights to AAVE token holders via the DAO. This included brand assets, domains, social media accounts, naming rights, GitHub, NPM, and other associated permissions.

• The proposal stated that it was written based on a suggestion from Aave’s CTO, Ernesto. However, Ernesto publicly objected, stating that the vote was initiated without his consent while discussions were still ongoing, and that his name had been used without permission. He urged token holders to abstain.

• Marc from ACO, the largest delegator in the Aave DAO, responded by stating that the issue had not been resolved, that no clear agreement had been reached, and that the proposal had been unilaterally advanced to the Snapshot stage without Ernesto’s consent. He described this as an unprecedented interference in DAO governance processes and released a formal statement outlining ACO’s position.

This dispute—sparked by the allocation of CoWSwap-generated revenue—has evolved into a broader conflict between Aave Labs and the DAO over control of branding, frontend infrastructure, and intellectual property. It can be viewed as one of the most significant governance disputes in DeFi, raising fundamental questions about how much control a DAO should exert.

Aave Labs has been instrumental in Aave’s success, having developed and launched V2 and V3, which established Aave as one of the strongest DeFi protocols in the industry. While Labs is indispensable, excessive concentration of power within a single entity raises concerns about token value alignment and organizational incentives. How the DAO and Labs ultimately reach consensus will be critically important. The outcome of this dispute is likely to set a meaningful precedent for DeFi governance and DAO operations, with potential implications not only for AAVE’s token price but also for the future of governance across DeFi as a whole.

Trust Wallet Browser Extension Hack

• Trust Wallet is a non-custodial wallet acquired by Binance, where users retain full control over their private keys and funds.

• Until now, Trust Wallet had not experienced any major issues. However, on December 25, reports began circulating on social media that many Trust Wallet users had their wallets compromised and assets stolen.

• The following day, Trust Wallet announced via its official account that a security incident had affected only version 2.68 of the browser extension. Users were instructed to immediately disable version 2.68 and upgrade to version 2.69.

• The total confirmed losses so far are estimated at around $6 million, raising questions about whether Trust Wallet will be able—or willing—to compensate affected users. Although mobile users were not impacted by the incident, it is likely that many users will stop using Trust Wallet altogether.

A security incident occurred in Trust Wallet browser extension version 2.68. While the exact root cause has not yet been identified, the fact that the issue was isolated to a specific version suggests that malicious code may have been injected during the update process, possibly disguised as an analytics script. The estimated losses from this incident amount to at least $6 million, and CZ has promised to compensate affected users. Although Trust Wallet has officially stated that the mobile app and other versions were not affected, from a user’s perspective there is little incentive to continue using a wallet once a security breach has occurred. As a result, many users are likely to uninstall and stop using Trust Wallet following this incident.

2. Notable Project

Dawn Raises an Additional $13M in Funding

• Dawn is a Solana-based DePIN protocol that allows users to share their excess internet bandwidth in exchange for rewards.

• With a recent additional $13 million raise, Dawn has now secured a total of $48.5 million in funding from well-known VCs such as Polychain Capital, Dragonfly, and VanEck.

• Users can earn points by downloading a validator extension on their PC, or by purchasing Black Box hardware, both of which may qualify them for a future token airdrop.

• Details about Dawn’s native token have not yet been announced, and the protocol leverages the Helium network, one of the most well-known DePIN projects on Solana.

Dawn is a DePIN project that rewards users for sharing excess internet bandwidth. It has raised a total of $48.5 million from tier-1 VCs including Polychain Capital and Dragonfly, and plans to launch a token airdrop based on its points system. While detailed information about the token TGE has not yet been released, the size of the funding round and the ability to mine points simply by installing a PC extension make it an attractive project to consider participating in. That said, Solana-based DePIN projects have shown highly mixed outcomes at TGE, so it will be interesting to see how Dawn ultimately performs.

HashKey’s IPO and Listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

• HashKey Holdings has successfully completed its IPO and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).

• This marks the first publicly listed digital asset company in Asia. HashKey operates as a fully compliant platform, holding Hong Kong SFC licenses including Type 1, Type 7, and VATP.

• On the back of its regulatory credibility, HashKey also operates the HashKey Exchange, which allows trading of Bitcoin and various other crypto assets. The exchange is split into two platforms: one for Hong Kong and one for global users.

• However, since the launch of the HashKey Exchange, it has struggled to gain traction. Liquidity has been extremely low—insufficient for meaningful trading—and as users declined, the price of the HSK token fell steadily from around $2 to $0.25.

• Going forward, HSK’s price is expected to move in correlation with the stock price of HashKey Holdings (3887.HK) listed on HKEX.

HashKey Holdings has successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the ticker 3887.HK. Beyond the symbolic significance of being Asia’s first publicly listed digital asset company, HashKey’s strong emphasis on regulatory compliance could enhance the competitiveness of the HashKey Exchange within the crypto sector. In particular, a clear regulatory framework may increase the likelihood of institutional and traditional finance participation.

That said, the HashKey Exchange currently has very low trading volume compared to other exchanges and effectively lacks an active user base. How HashKey plans to address these challenges will be critical to watch. If the exchange revives previously paused initiatives such as its launchpad, uses group-level revenue for HSK buybacks, and successfully attracts institutional capital, HashKey Exchange could regain momentum.

Kyrgyzstan’s Official Stablecoin KGST Listed on Binance

• KGST is a stablecoin officially supported by the government of Kyrgyzstan.

• It is issued and traded on the BNB Chain and is a collateral-backed stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Kyrgyz som. This project represents a national-level effort to tokenize fiat currency on blockchain. Following a meeting with President Sadyr Japarov, CZ became involved as an advisor to the project.

• On December 22, KGST was successfully listed on Binance. This listing is a notable example of regulatory compliance, as KGST fully complies with Kyrgyzstan’s virtual asset laws and has received formal government approval.

The KGST stablecoin, officially supported by the Kyrgyzstan government and advised by CZ, has achieved a spot listing on Binance. KGST complies with Kyrgyzstan’s 2022 Virtual Asset Law and operates under the supervision of the central bank and the Ministry of Digital Development, making it a concrete example of fiat currency tokenization at the national level. Rather than pursuing decentralization for its own sake, this case highlights how sovereign stablecoins—designed for specific use cases—can improve accessibility and enable participation in global markets, as demonstrated by Kyrgyzstan’s approach.

Tria Card – Points Season 1

• Tria, a crypto neobank project, has introduced an XP-based points system.

• Users can earn XP by making payments with the Tria card, upgrading their card, or referring friends. As XP accumulates, users level up, and starting from Level 10, a higher-tier system based on card decks is applied.

• Points Season 1 is scheduled to end in late January, and at the end of the season, Tria tokens will be distributed as rewards based on each user’s final tier.

Tria has implemented a system where using the card earns XP points. Rankings on the leaderboard are determined by XP, and higher rankings are expected to receive larger rewards. Since Points Season 1 is likely to conclude around the same time as the Tria token TGE in late January, rewards are expected to be distributed alongside the token launch. If you already have card spending needs, using Tria for payments to accumulate XP could be a reasonable strategy. Among recently launched crypto neobank projects, Tria stands out with a solid $15 million funding round and appears to be one of the projects most likely to launch its token in the near term, making it particularly interesting to watch.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

The Most Anticipated PrepDEX TGEs After Hyperliquid: Lighter and EdgeX

• Following the success of Hyperliquid, a large number of new PerpDEXs have emerged.

• Among them, the projects receiving the most attention are Lighter and EdgeX.

• Lighter is currently accepting airdrop claims from point holders until December 26, indicating that its TGE is imminent. Its token ticker has been revealed as LIT, and the token is already tradable on various pre-market venues, including Binance.

• EdgeX has also launched a beta version of its spot trading product, signaling that its TGE is approaching as well. Prior to that, EdgeX plans to launch a meme token called MARU around Christmas.

• Despite unfavorable market conditions, many PerpDEX tokens are moving forward with their TGEs. The listing performance of Lighter and EdgeX is likely to shape overall market expectations for the PerpDEX sector going forward.

Since Hyperliquid’s success, significant capital has flowed into the PerpDEX sector, leading to the emergence of many new platforms. Among these, Lighter and EdgeX stand out as the most anticipated projects with upcoming TGEs. Lighter’s LIT token is already trading on pre-markets and is reportedly being valued at around $3.5 billion, making it the largest PerpDEX token launch since Hyperliquid. As such, many market participants are closely watching its performance. EdgeX is also expected to conduct its TGE soon, with plans to list a meme token called MARU beforehand. If Lighter and EdgeX perform well upon listing, valuations across PerpDEX-based projects could rise broadly. Conversely, weak performance could significantly reduce the sector-wide premium.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve significant risk, so please conduct your own research and exercise caution before making any decisions.

• All research commentary reflects the views of an Uncommonlab research intern and does not represent financial or legal advice. It is not intended to recommend the purchase or sale of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

Pivot from Social to Wallet in Farcaster

• After focusing on decentralized Web3 social networking for five years, Farcaster announced that it will shift its direction toward a wallet-centric strategy.

• The reason is that, despite years of effort to build a decentralized social platform, Farcaster failed to grow to the scale of apps like Twitter and was unable to find clear product–market fit (PMF).

• Meanwhile, after wallet functionality was launched in the Farcaster app earlier this year, user activity increased, and the wallet emerged as the product closest to achieving PMF—more so than the social features.

• As a result, Farcaster concluded that wallets are more effective for expanding user onboarding and can generate greater synergy when combined with existing social networks.

Farcaster, one of the leading Web3 social projects, has officially announced that it will abandon a social-first strategy and transition to a wallet-centric model. Founder Dan Romero stated that although the company pursued a social-first approach for four to five years, it failed to achieve PMF. In contrast, the in-app wallet launched in February 2025 became the most actively used product across the entire Farcaster ecosystem. Based on this, Farcaster plans to maintain its social features at a basic level while concentrating development efforts on areas with stronger user demand, such as the wallet.

This decision has disappointed many in the community. Farcaster previously raised around $180 million as a social platform, and critics argue that pivoting to a fairly generic wallet project renders its past efforts meaningless. Others point out that if Farcaster’s wallet overlaps with the Base app, it may struggle to compete against a product directly backed by Coinbase. Even with a strategic shift toward a wallet, there are doubts about whether Farcaster can offer truly differentiated value capable of attracting users in an already crowded wallet market.

Looking at Web3 decentralized social network projects so far, the structural limitations appear clear, and even projects like Farcaster—despite raising substantial funding—have found it difficult to overcome these challenges.

Circle Acquires Interop Labs, the Core Development Team Behind Axelar

• Circle has acquired Interop Labs, the core development team behind Axelar, with the goal of strengthening its multichain interoperability infrastructure.

• However, the details of the acquisition sparked controversy, as the deal reportedly includes only the Interop Labs team and their intellectual property, while explicitly excluding the Axelar network itself and the AXL token.

• Since Interop Labs developed all of Axelar’s core products and also received allocations of the AXL token, excluding them from the acquisition effectively leaves only an open-source product behind. In this structure, there is little remaining rationale for holding the AXL token.

• In other words, because the Interop Labs team is being acquired by Circle, they can sell their AXL tokens and walk away without bearing further responsibility, leaving AXL holders in a disadvantaged position.

The acquisition of Interop Labs by Circle has therefore become highly controversial. During Axelar’s development, Interop Labs received team allocations of AXL and reportedly engaged in token sales and OTC transactions. Given this, many argue that the team has an obligation to continue developing and supporting the Axelar project through to the end. Instead, by excluding the Axelar network and the AXL token from the acquisition, the team has effectively chosen a path that allows them to survive while leaving the token behind.

Unlike equity, tokens do not carry legal obligations that transfer when the operating entity exits. Under the banner of open source and community governance, teams can justify stepping away by claiming a renewed focus on decentralization. As a result, similar cases—where teams are acquired while the token is left behind—have been occurring more frequently. From the perspective of token holders, there is little incentive to continue holding a token whose own team has effectively abandoned it, which in turn discourages investment in altcoins altogether.

HumidiFi’s WET Token Listed on Upbit and Bithumb

• HumidiFi is a dark pool AMM that accounts for over 40% of market share on Solana.

• The WET token conducted its first public sale through Jupiter’s ICO platform, DTF.

• Unlike projects such as Aztec and Gensyn, which have conducted their own token sales at valuations of around $1 billion, HumidiFi—despite occupying a significant portion of the Solana ecosystem and demonstrating real-world utility—chose to sell most of its initial token supply through DTF at a relatively low FDV of $69 million.

• There were no additional token unlocks for WET for six months, and since the pre-market price was more than twice the public sale price, there was limited aggressive selling. As a result, the token showed a gradual upward trend over time.

• After listings on Bybit and OKX, WET traded around an FDV of approximately $200 million and entered a consolidation phase for about a week. The price then rose again following announcements of KRW pair listings on Upbit and Bithumb. Notably, for Upbit, WET became the first KRW listing in three weeks after the exchange halted new listings following a major fund theft caused by poor Solana wallet management.

WET, a Solana-based dark pool AMM, conducted its public token sale via DTF at an exceptionally low FDV. After completing exchange listings, the token rose to around $200 million in FDV—more than three times the $69 million valuation of the public sale—before entering a period of consolidation. The sudden announcements of KRW listings on Upbit and Bithumb then triggered another price increase. Many noted that WET’s Upbit listing was difficult to predict, as Upbit had not listed any new tokens for three weeks following a significant security incident involving Solana wallet management.

Compared to many projects that conduct public sales at high valuations and subsequently sell team allocations, WET’s approach stands out. Its listings on both Upbit and Bithumb may be viewed as a positive signal.

Coinbase Exchange and the Direction of BaseApp

• Coinbase announced support for stock trading, prediction markets, and DEX assets on its exchange under the slogan “Everything Exchange.”

• U.S. users can trade hundreds of major stocks and ETFs 24/7, and through integration with Kalshi, they also gain access to prediction markets.

• Coinbase has integrated Solana DEXs—previously difficult for exchange users to access—and added a Base bridge, creating an environment where users can actively engage with DEXs directly from the exchange.

• BaseApp, which previously required a private invite code, has now officially launched and is open to everyone. Alongside this, Coinbase has kicked off a $2 million new-user acquisition campaign.

Coinbase has unveiled a major update that concretely realizes its “Everything Exchange” vision. The core of the update is the integration of traditional financial assets such as stocks, along with DEXs and prediction markets, all within the Coinbase exchange app. BaseApp has also transitioned from an invite-only product to a full public launch, making it accessible to all users. Overall, Coinbase appears to be positioning its app as a single platform where users can trade everything—from Web3 on-chain activities to traditional financial assets like stocks.

2. Notable Projects

zkSync-Based PerpDEX Grvt

• Grvt is a perpetual DEX built on zkSync.

• It has raised a total of $33 million from a range of venture capital firms, including zkSync, Further, EigenCloud, and 500 Global.

• Grvt is currently running its own points program and plans to allocate 20% of the GRVT token supply to a future airdrop.

• Users can earn points by generating trading volume on Grvt or by providing liquidity to the GLP vault, a delta-neutral market-making strategy.

Grvt is a zkSync-based PerpDEX that has raised $33 million from VCs such as zkSync, Further, and EigenCloud. It is targeting its token generation event (TGE) in Q1 2026 and is operating a points program designed to reward users with a future token airdrop. One aspect that sets Grvt apart from other PerpDEXs is that users can earn up to 10% APY on funds held in their funding wallet, up to a maximum of 100,000 USDT. This yield is independent of the delta-neutral GLP strategy and applies to funds that can also be used for perpetual trading, making capital usage highly efficient for traders. With 20% of the GRVT token supply allocated to the airdrop, actively using Grvt for trading and point farming may be worthwhile.

Social-Fi Platform Bantr

• Bantr goes beyond simple InfoFi, where rewards are based solely on social influence, and positions itself as ImpactFi—a model that can verify actual product usage on-chain in addition to social activity.

• Built on FairDAO’s ImpactFi engine, Bantr operates through off-chain tracking without the use of smart contracts or tokens.

• A variety of projects, including Ostium, ApeChain, Spaace, and Injective, have onboarded Bantr to reward users based on their SNS posts and performance.

• While Bantr generally has fewer participants compared to other InfoFi platforms, the rewards are often larger, and there is also potential for a future native token launch.

Unlike traditional InfoFi projects that reward indiscriminate posting, Bantr tracks on-chain activity to measure overall contribution more comprehensively. With multiple projects already onboarded, reward sizes tend to be relatively generous. In some cases—such as with Injective—users can earn double rewards through both the main campaign and ecosystem dApps, making participation highly efficient from a user perspective. Competition remains relatively low compared to other InfoFi platforms, so joining campaigns from strong projects may be worthwhile.

RedotPay, a Leading Crypto Neobank

• RedotPay is a fintech blockchain company founded in Hong Kong in 2023 that is building a multi-layered financial services platform supporting payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, and USDT.

• With a multicurrency wallet that supports both crypto assets and local fiat currencies, and a stablecoin card that has no annual fee and is accepted at over 130 million merchants worldwide, RedotPay had more than 6 million registered users as of November 2025.

• Recently, RedotPay successfully raised an additional $107 million from investors including Goodwater Capital, Pantera Capital, Blockchain Capital, and Circle Ventures, bringing its total cumulative funding to $194 million.

• RedotPay’s growth is driven by strong market demand for stablecoin payment infrastructure. While there has been no announcement of a native token so far, if RedotPay were to launch one, it would likely become one of the largest tokens in the crypto neobank sector.

Following its $107 million Series B raise, RedotPay is accelerating the development of stablecoin payment infrastructure, backed by significant financial resources. The company stated that the new funding will be used for strategic M&A, expansion of licenses and compliance capabilities, and ensuring regulatory compliance for stablecoins. RedotPay is one of the fastest-growing players in the crypto neobank space and is already generating substantial revenue. As demand for USDT and USDC transfers—and payments in general—continues to grow, the company is well positioned for even faster expansion. Although regulations around crypto payments remain unclear in many regions, broader regulatory clarity and user growth could eventually lead RedotPay to consider launching its own native token.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Prediction Market Arbitrage on Platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi

• Prediction markets trade probabilities tied to the outcomes of future events. The structure is such that a correct outcome settles at $1, while an incorrect outcome settles at $0.

• Well-known prediction market platforms include Polymarket and Kalshi, and many new prediction market projects are also launching.

• Prediction market arbitrage exists by exploiting price discrepancies for the same event across different platforms.

• Over the course of a year, approximately $40 million in arbitrage profits have been realized. However, as competition from bots intensifies and risks such as fees and oracle-related settlement disputes remain, the difficulty of this strategy increases over time.

As prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi grow in scale and trading volume, price discrepancies for the same topics are occurring more frequently. Some traders generate profits by arbitraging price differences between platforms, with Polymarket arbitrage alone reportedly exceeding $40 million over the past year. While competition has increased and profit margins have narrowed, Polymarket is expected to launch a volume-based token airdrop. As a result, even small arbitrage profits may be worthwhile if traders focus on generating volume in anticipation of future rewards.

Newer prediction market platforms tend to offer larger arbitrage opportunities, along with the potential for volume-based token airdrops. That said, competition is likely to intensify over time, and settlement conditions can differ across platforms even for the same event, so careful review is required.

Probable: a BNB Chain Prediction Market Backed by CZ

• Probable is a BNB Chain–based prediction market platform incubated by PancakeSwap and YZi Labs, and it officially launched on December 16.

• Any token deposited into Probable is automatically converted into USDT on BNB Chain, which is then used for participation in prediction markets.

• Similar to Aster, a BNB-based PerpDEX that received strong backing from CZ, Probable has also been directly mentioned by CZ even before its launch.

• As token launches from major prediction market projects such as Polymarket and Kalshi continue to be delayed, a BNB Chain project that receives exclusive incubation from YZi Labs and moves quickly toward a token launch has a high likelihood of delivering strong performance.

As demand for prediction markets grows, new projects backed exclusively by YZi Labs are emerging on BNB Chain. On December 16, Probable launched its prediction market platform with incubation from PancakeSwap and YZi Labs, and CZ has already shown explicit support by mentioning it directly on his social media. A similar BNB-based prediction market is Predict, which was launched with exclusive investment from YZi Labs by the well-known crypto influencer Dingaling. Between Probable and Predict, one of them is expected to grow into a flagship prediction market on BNB Chain—similar to Aster—and potentially deliver strong price performance through a token TGE, continued mentions from CZ, and rapid listings on tier-1 exchanges.

Gensyn Token Sale

• Gensyn is an AI network that aggregates computing power to perform decentralized machine learning workloads.

• It has raised a total of $50.6 million from venture capital firms including a16z, CoinFund, and Protocol Labs.

• Recently, Gensyn announced its AI tokenomics and simultaneously launched a token sale via Sonar, offering 3% of the total token supply through an auction-based mechanism.

• Bidders can submit bids with prices ranging from $0.0001 to $0.1 per token. Tokens are allocated starting from the highest bid downward, and the auction ends once 300 million tokens are sold. This structure allows Gensyn to raise up to $30 million.

• At the highest bid price, the implied fully diluted valuation (FDV) is $1 billion, which matches the valuation at which Gensyn previously raised capital led by a16z. Notably, the tokens are 100% claimable at TGE with no lockup.

Gensyn is conducting its token sale through Sonar using a price-auction format. While the sale can raise up to $30 million, bidding at the highest price implies an FDV of $1 billion. Given the current market conditions, this valuation appears expensive, especially considering the tokens are fully unlocked at TGE. There has also been dissatisfaction among testnet participants, as many invested in GPU operations and server costs but are now being offered additional rewards primarily through participation in the token sale rather than through direct airdrops—effectively pressuring contributors to join the sale.

That said, there is a 2% token bonus allocation for testnet contributors who participate in the sale. Bidding the minimum amount of $100 to capture this bonus allocation may be a reasonable approach. For the broader public sale, however, participation is not recommended if the auction clears at an FDV of $1 billion, as this valuation appears too high relative to current market conditions.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve significant risk, and readers should conduct their own research and exercise caution.

• All research commentary reflects the views of an Uncommonlab research intern and does not represent financial or legal advice, nor does it recommend trading any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

Crisis Concerns for MicroStrategy Following Bitcoin Decline

• MicroStrategy (MSTR) is a company that has raised capital through stock issuance and convertible bonds to purchase Bitcoin as a treasury strategy.

• However, as the price of Bitcoin has recently fallen sharply, MSTR’s stock has also dropped 62% from its October peak of $457, closing at $171.

• With both Bitcoin and the stock price declining, MSTR’s current modified Net Asset Value (mNAV) is around 1.12. CEO Phong Le noted that if mNAV falls below 1 and the company becomes unable to raise additional capital, they may be forced to sell Bitcoin—an option never previously acknowledged.

• To secure emergency liquidity, MSTR sold shares on December 1st to cover 21 months of interest expenses, temporarily easing short-term risks. However, if Bitcoin falls below $74,000, the company could face forced-selling pressure.

Despite positioning Bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset, MicroStrategy is now experiencing a liquidity crisis caused by the recent decline in both its stock and Bitcoin price. Although Michael Saylor has repeatedly insisted that MSTR will never sell Bitcoin, CEO Phong Le stated for the first time that if mNAV drops below 1 and capital cannot be raised, selling Bitcoin may become unavoidable. Even after securing $1.4B in emergency liquidity, if Bitcoin continues to fall toward MSTR’s average purchase price of $74K, forced selling could occur—potentially triggering simultaneous declines in both MSTR stock and Bitcoin. This scenario warrants close attention.

Kamino Blocks JupiterLend Migration Amid Intensifying Competition

• Kamino has long held the leading market share in the Solana lending ecosystem.

• However, Jupiter recently launched its own lending platform, JupiterLend (Juplend), which reached $490M TVL within one week, quickly capturing 13% of Solana’s lending market.

• Feeling competitive pressure, Kamino responded by reducing liquidation penalties from 1% to 0.1% and lowering liquidation batch size from 20% to 10%.

• Yet, as Juplend continued to gain share, Kamino applied a controversial code-level update that prevents Kamino users from refinancing or migrating loans to Juplend, effectively blocking access to better rates offered by Juplend.

With Jupiter entering a market once dominated exclusively by Kamino, the landscape is shifting rapidly. Powered by the Fluid engine, Juplend offers lower borrowing rates than Kamino and surpassed $1B TVL within six months of launch.
Facing significant user and liquidity attrition, Kamino implemented technical restrictions to stop capital from moving to Juplend, which has drawn heavy criticism from the community for limiting users’ control over their own assets, contradicting the decentralization ethos of blockchain. Cases of lending protocols blocking cross-platform migration like this are extremely rare, making this situation particularly notable.

Arthur Hayes Raises Concerns About Potential USDT Insolvency — Tether Responds

• Tether, the issuer of USDT, has recently been making aggressive investments, purchasing large amounts of gold and Bitcoin.

• This is seen as preparation for a future interest rate cut, which would reduce yield from U.S. Treasury holdings and may require alternative sources of income.

• Arthur Hayes posted on his social media suggesting that if external macro conditions caused the prices of gold and Bitcoin to drop 30%, Tether’s capital could be depleted and the company could become theoretically insolvent. He argued that to properly assess this risk, real-time visibility into Tether’s liabilities is necessary.

• In response, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that Tether currently has $215B in total assets versus $184.5B in liabilities (USDT supply), indicating a strong capital position. He emphasized that Tether earns over $500M per month from U.S. treasury yields alone, and accused critics of spreading FUD by excluding shareholder equity from their calculations.

Arthur Hayes argued that a 30% drop in the value of gold and Bitcoin on Tether’s balance sheet could theoretically lead to insolvency, whereas Paolo Ardoino countered that Tether remains financially healthy with $215B in assets and $184.5B in liabilities, plus additional group capital and substantial treasury income.
Although Tether has faced numerous waves of FUD and even temporary depegging since USDT first launched, it has survived and remains the leading stablecoin. Nonetheless, it is true that a relatively high allocation to assets not easily liquidated immediately, such as gold and Bitcoin, may require more careful balance management moving forward.

2. Notable Project

Opinion — Prediction Market Launched on BNB Chain

• Opinion is an AI-oracle-based prediction market platform launched on the BNB Chain.

• The project raised $5M led by YZi Labs and is currently running an OPN points program based on trading volume.

• Thanks to the rising valuation of prediction markets following projects like Polychain and Kalshi, Opinion quickly achieved a daily peak trading volume of $169.2M.

• During a recent AMA, the team confirmed that its native token launch is coming soon, increasing market anticipation.

Opinion enables trading on predictions related to macroeconomic events, politics, and cryptocurrency markets. It has raised $5M led by YZi Labs and currently supports only the BNB Chain, making it comparable to Aster as a BNB-exclusive prediction market.
Users can earn OPN points based on trading activity, which are expected to be tied to future token airdrops. If Opinion receives the typical prioritization and infrastructure benefits often given to BNB-chain projects by Binance, strong performance after TGE could be expected, similar to Aster.

Yearn Finance yETH Exploit

• Yearn Finance is a DeFi yield optimization protocol founded by Andre Cronje.

• yETH is a community-governed LST index, where users deposit ETH-based LST tokens to mint yETH at a 1:1 ratio.

• Recently, a critical vulnerability was exploited, resulting in an attack on Yearn Finance’s yETH.

• The attacker abused an infinite minting bug in the yETH contract to generate 235 trillion yETH in a single transaction, then swapped them through the Balancer pool for ETH and LST tokens, draining liquidity and effectively driving the value of yETH to zero.

• Approximately 1,000 ETH was transferred to Tornado Cash for laundering, making recovery difficult, while remaining LST tokens still sit in the attacker’s wallet.

• The only positive outcome is that the vulnerability was limited to the yETH pool, and no issues were found in Yearn’s main vaults.

The exploit resulted in losses of around 1,000 ETH through an infinite-mint flaw in yETH. Although Yearn claims the issue is isolated to the yETH pool and that vaults remain secure, the damage is substantial, and once a DeFi protocol is exploited, the risk of additional vulnerabilities remains unpredictable. For that reason, avoiding the protocol may be advisable until trust and security assurances are restored.

Daylight — Solar-Powered Revenue Generation Project

• Daylight is an RWA/DePIN project that builds a virtual power plant (VPP) by aggregating household energy resources such as solar panels and batteries.

• The project recently raised $75M from top-tier VCs including a16z, Framework Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures.

• In December, Daylight plans to launch a Pre-Deposit Vault on the Plasma chain, backed by U.S. Treasury bills.

• The revenue model is structured so that power generation revenue from solar energy will be distributed as DeFi yields to depositors. However, because the project is still at an early stage before large-scale commercial power generation, there are uncertainties around the business model and regulatory risks in the energy sector.

Daylight aims to provide DeFi yields backed by revenue generated from solar power. The idea of transforming energy into a new financial asset has drawn strong interest, and the recent $75M investment validates market confidence. The Pre-Deposit Vault is expected to open in December, and while it remains unclear how much revenue solar infrastructure will generate initially, the project appears to have sufficient capital runway and is highly likely to issue its own token. For this reason, participating in early farming may be attractive.

Solana Smartphone Seeker to Launch SKR Token

• Seeker is a smartphone developed by Solana Mobile, serving as the successor to the Saga, which was released in 2023.

• The device includes: A Seed Vault Wallet that stores private keys locally using a Solflare-based hardware wallet and fingerprint authentication / Seeker ID, an on-chain identity system that combines wallet addresses with a Genesis Token / A Store featuring access to over 100 Solana dApps

• Recently, the team announced the launch of the SKR token, scheduled for January 2026, and released its tokenomics — notably assigning 30% of supply to the airdrop, a significantly large allocation.

• The airdrop is expected to be distributed to users who receive the physical Seeker phone, activate the device, and claim their Genesis Token.

Seeker is a Solana ecosystem–exclusive smartphone developed by a Solana subsidiary. Prior to Seeker, the Saga smartphone offered airdrops of Solana ecosystem memecoins to buyers, eventually exceeding the device’s retail cost in value. Because of this precedent, many purchased Seeker expecting similar rewards — and indeed, the total value of airdrops distributed so far has already exceeded the cost of the device for many users. Following shipment of the Seeker units, the team announced the SKR token launch and published tokenomics showing a large 30% allocation for airdrops. To receive SKR, users will likely need to physically receive the Seeker phone, activate their account, and claim their Genesis token. While the market value of SKR remains unknown, the fact that the token is launching after full device delivery and is supported by the Solana Foundation suggests that performance could be strong.

Miden — Privacy-Focused ZK Rollup from Polygon

• Miden is a regulation-friendly privacy ZK rollup project that has raised $25M from leading VCs including Polygon Ventures, 1kx, Hack VC, and a16z.

• Originally developed within Polygon, Miden later spun out as an independent project. It plans to airdrop 10% of its token supply to POL stakers, based on a snapshot taken on April 29, 2025.

• The project is targeting the launch of its privacy-focused L2 mainnet, Edge, in March 2026, and a native token issuance has been confirmed.

Miden is a regulation-friendly privacy ZK rollup backed by $25M in funding. With the mainnet scheduled for March 2026 and a confirmed token launch, positioning for an airdrop opportunity seems worthwhile. Although there is currently no official testnet or Discord access, the most accessible strategy is likely to increase Kaito Pre-TGE mindshare ranking to maximize the chance of qualifying for the token airdrop.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Infinex Token Sale Overview

• Infinex is a non-custodial multi-chain platform led by CEO Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix. It aims to solve the complexity of existing DeFi and provide a centralized exchange-like user experience.

• The INX token sale is scheduled to take place on Sonar, the token sale platform that recently hosted the MegaETH sale. Sonar will offer 5% of the INX supply at a $300M FDV with a 1-year lockup.

• The lockup mechanism is unusual — the token will start at a $1B valuation on TGE day and gradually converge to a $300M valuation over time. If the market valuation rises above the vesting valuation, participants can claim and sell their tokens at any time.

• The team claims that the Patron NFT currently maintains a $400M FDV based on its current price. However, most of the NFTs are held by the team, VCs, and related parties. With only around 5,000 of the 100,000 NFTs actually circulating, the 1.5 ETH floor price is likely artificially supported. Therefore, saying that Patron NFTs reflect a $400M valuation is essentially meaningless.

• The TGE date is set for January 15, 2026, and Patron NFT holders are guaranteed an airdrop of 100K INK tokens — fully unlocked and liquid on TGE day.

The INX token sale is being run through Sonar. I believe there is no need to participate because the Infinex team themselves set the sale valuation at $300M based on the Patron NFTs, which is unreasonable given the manipulated supply and price conditions. Since NFT holders receive an unlocked 100K INK token airdrop at TGE, it makes more sense to either buy the NFT and potentially sell the airdrop if the valuation is high, or simply not participate in the sale at all — rather than committing funds to a 1-year locked token sale.

Nado, which plans to distribute INK tokens as rewards

• Noda is a CLOB DEX on the INK L2 chain built by the Kraken team.

• It launched its private alpha on November 20th, featuring a structure that maximizes capital efficiency by allowing users to manage spot, perp, and money-market positions simultaneously using their entire portfolio as collateral.

• Users earn Nado Points by trading on Nado or depositing into the NLP Vault with USDT0, and these points are expected to convert into INK token airdrops later.

• The Kraken-backed INK token TGE is expected to take place in Q1 2026.

Nado is currently the highest-volume CLOB DEX on the INK chain, achieving $1B in cumulative trading volume within just two weeks of launch, despite being in private alpha and requiring an invite code to access. This growth likely comes from the demand to farm INK tokens through earning points on Nado. Similar to other perp DEXs, there is an NLP Vault, and since its capacity is currently limited, it might be worthwhile to deposit USDT0 to farm points once the cap is expanded. It is expected that, leading up to TGE, INK Chain will attract users and increase TVL by distributing token incentives through dApps like Nado.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Investments in cryptocurrencies and digital assets involve high risk, and you should conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research commentary reflects the views of the Uncommonlab research interns and does not represent financial or legal advice, nor does it encourage the trading of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

Dunamu pushes for NASDAQ listing through merger with Naver Financial

• Dunamu, operator of Upbit—the No. 1 crypto exchange in Korea—is pursuing a merger with Naver Financial.

• The merger will be executed through an all-stock exchange. All Dunamu shareholders will exchange their shares for equity in Naver Financial, and Dunamu will become a subsidiary under Naver Financial.

• The agreed corporate valuation ratio between Dunamu and Naver Financial is 1:3, and the share exchange ratio is 1:2.54.

• Following the announcement of the merger filing, the process has been completed normally, and a NASDAQ listing is now being considered.

Dunamu has long aimed for a NASDAQ listing. However, due to practical barriers such as regulatory risks and valuation challenges, they opted for a stock-exchange-based merger with Naver Financial and are expected to attempt a listing afterward. This move appears to mirror the path taken by Coinbase, which is already listed in the U.S.

Notably, Dunamu recently announced its own Layer-1 mainnet “Giwa Chain”, suggesting a positioning similar to Coinbase’s BASE. This development is expected to bring infrastructure and liquidity that enables a KRW-based stablecoin ecosystem.

Upbit Suffers 44.5 Billion KRW Theft of Solana-based Tokens

• Solana ecosystem tokens held by Upbit—Korea’s leading crypto exchange—were transferred to an unauthorized internal wallet address.

• Upbit immediately suspended deposits and withdrawals and conducted an emergency security review of the wallet system, confirming that approximately 44.5 billion KRW (around $33 million USD) had been stolen.

• In an official announcement, Upbit stated that all losses will be fully covered using company-owned assets and that customer funds will not be affected.

• This marks the first major breach in six years since the 58 billion KRW hack in 2019. A detailed post-incident analysis is expected to be released later.

On November 27, 2025, at 4:42 AM KST, Upbit detected unauthorized transfers of its Solana-based tokens to an unapproved wallet, prompting an immediate halt of deposit and withdrawal services and a rapid assessment of the damage. The incident occurred coincidentally during the period when Dunamu and Naver Financial announced their merger plans, suggesting potential implications beyond the financial loss itself.

Based on the currently available information, North Korea’s Lazarus Group is suspected to be responsible. Considering that even a corporate-level, professionally managed wallet with strong security protocols could be compromised, it highlights the vulnerability of self-managed personal wallets. Users should enhance asset security by utilizing hardware wallets such as Ledger.

BeraChain VC Investment Refund Controversy

• A document revealed by JACK showed that Nova Digital, part of Brevan Howard, holds the right to claim a refund within one year for its $25M Series B investment in Berachain if the BERA token price falls below a certain threshold after TGE.

• This structure is unusual, as it allows investors to recover funds without loss if the token price drops post-launch.

• Unlike Nova Digital, other Series B investors stated they were never informed about any refund clause.

• In response to the controversy, the Berachain team clarified that Nova’s compliance department requested the clause as protection in the event that Bera failed to launch or list after TGE, since locked BERA acquired via financial transactions might not qualify under Nova’s liquidity strategy.

• They emphasized that the agreement was not written to prevent post-launch losses, and stated that there are precedents for similar arrangements.
  Additionally, contrary to claims in some reports, Nova is one of the largest (or among the largest) holders of BERA tokens.

Bera successfully launched its own mainnet using the Proof of Liquidity consensus mechanism and issued its token. However, the token price has continued to decline since listing, generating significant dissatisfaction among holders.
The controversy over the refund clause escalated when the document became public, but Berachain maintains that the clause only applies if the TGE fails, not after the token launch—meaning it is irrelevant under current conditions. The root issue appears to be the continuous price decline and lack of recovery following the TGE.

Discrimination Against India-Based Projects After X Introduces Public Country Disclosure

• After X updated its policy, the home country of users operating crypto project accounts is now publicly visible to everyone.

• Not all cases are negative, but since India-based projects have recently underperformed, some users have started engaging in racist behavior, judging projects based on nationality.

• Vitalik Buterin commented that while the change may have short-term positive effects, in the medium term it will likely lead to situations where people falsify their country information, pretending to be from different regions.

• Furthermore, this feature was enabled without user consent, creating significant privacy and safety concerns, as such information could put certain individuals at risk.

Due to the X policy update, the nationality of people managing project social accounts has become exposed, without permission. This raises the need for a true Web3-native social platform that respects privacy and ownership of identity.
Criticism of India-based projects has increased due to the poor recent performance of several initiatives, and with country data now publicly visible, users are actively identifying which projects are based in India. This behavior is clearly racial discrimination.

However, the situation was escalated further by cases like Astra Nova, which changed token sale unlock terms to 0% on TGE and imposed a lockup of over 6 months, while the team sold their own tokens—an act widely viewed as fraudulent. Similar incidents involving India-based teams have happened multiple times, making reputation recovery extremely difficult.

2. Notable Project

Re Protocol – Generating Yield from Real Insurance Premiums

• Re Protocol, developed by the Resilience Foundation, connects the traditional insurance market with DeFi to provide yield sourced from real insurance premiums.

• Since it supports the collateralized insurance risk of licensed insurers using on-chain capital, KYC is required for deposits.

• The protocol offers two stablecoins

• reUSD – Uses a delta-neutral strategy and earns yield through T-Bills

• reUSDe – Provides higher returns derived from assuming insurance-related risk

• Although Re Protocol does not yet have its own token, users can accumulate points based on deposit amount and type, suggesting a high likelihood of a future token launch.

Re Protocol bridges traditional insurance and blockchain to generate returns backed by real-world insurance premiums.
It operates two stablecoin products: reUSD, which protects principal and generates approximately 7% APY, and reUSDe, which takes on insurance loss risk in exchange for 16–25% APY.
Additionally, depositing reUSD into Pendle LP pools can provide around 12% APY plus additional reward points.

User deposits are moved into a Fireblocks-managed vault, and when the licensed reinsurer withdraws excess premium notes, the corresponding collateral is transferred on-chain to the reinsurer involved in the contract. This structure contributes to a perception of relative safety.

However, because revenue is tied directly to insurance performance, there is still inherent downside risk, and real-world insurance contracts cannot be instantly audited through on-chain data.
Depositors should therefore carefully consider these risks before allocating capital.

Spaace — A Gamified NFT Marketplace Built by Community Investors

• Spaace is a gamified NFT marketplace that has grown as a community-driven project, raising $6M in funding from individual investors across 50 countries rather than traditional VCs.

• The project is preparing a large-scale airdrop, allocating over 60% of its token supply to the community, and has assigned $2M worth of tokens to various social projects such as Cookiedotfun, Wallchain, and Bantr.

• Users can trade NFTs through quest-based mechanisms to mine XP, which will be used as the basis for a future token airdrop. The currently active Season 2 offers rewards 10x larger than Season 1.

• This is the final mining phase before TGE, and participation is structured through daily quests, allowing users to join without requiring large capital—unlike platforms such as Opensea.

Although the NFT marketplace space is crowded with players like Blur and Opensea, Spaace differentiates itself as a community-first platform, heavily promoting this narrative leading into TGE.
With 60% of tokens set to be distributed to the community and an additional $2M allocation for contributors via social-fi collaborations, participating in quests and accumulating XP may be particularly worthwhile.
In Season 2, rewards are 10 times greater than Season 1, making consistent participation through NFT trading an attractive strategy.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Orange Cap Games’ Moonbirds Valuation

• Orange Cap Games is a TCG-focused studio that previously released Vibes and a Pudgy Penguins–based TCG.

• In May 2025, the studio acquired the Moonbirds IP and announced plans to launch a token. Recently, a Token Warrant document related to the deal was posted on ECHO, revealing detailed conditions.

• The terms state a $120M FDV, with 1-year cliff and 3-year linear vesting for Moonbirds token allocations.

• Given that a single Moonbirds NFT currently trades around $5,000, the implied NFT market cap for all 9,999 supply is around $55M.

• Assuming 30% of tokens are allocated to NFT holders, this would imply an FDV of approximately $165M, suggesting that buying NFTs may be more efficient than entering under the ECHO vesting structure, which has long lockups.

Orange Cap Games revealed its Token Warrant SAFT deal via ECHO, and the conditions appear unfavorable compared to current NFT pricing. Although the company is rumored to have generated revenue from its TCG products, the Vibes and Pudgy-based TCGs are not original standalone content, and primarily target the crypto-native audience. As time passes, interest and profitability could weaken.

Thus, acquiring the Moonbirds IP and launching a token appears to be an effort to create additional revenue.
However, considering that token launches tied to major NFT brands like Pudgy Penguins and Doodles have struggled to maintain strong valuations post-launch, it may be significantly harder for the Moonbirds token to sustain a high valuation.

IRYS Airdrop Wallet Controversy After TGE

• IRYS is a data storage Layer 1 project that raised $18M in funding from VCs including CoinFund, Lemniscap, and Framework.

• During the recent TGE and token airdrop, controversy arose when close to 20% of the total airdrop allocation was claimed by wallets suspected to be controlled by a single individual.

• The issue escalated because the majority of IRYS Galxe participants—who contributed for over a year—did not receive any token allocation, and IRYS responded by stating that they will not accept appeals or reconsider airdrop claims.

• Due to the unfair distribution and large portion of tokens concentrated in wallets believed to belong to the team, discussions have erupted across social media.

• Founder Josh and the IRYS team have not released an official statement, and since the announcement of the Coinbase listing, the IRYS token price has doubled.

IRYS has become the center of controversy immediately after its token launch. There are two main reasons behind the backlash:

1. Galxe contributors who supported the project for over a year were excluded from token allocations, and

2. On-chain evidence shows a single entity claiming nearly 20% of the airdrop, including shared ETH used for gas fees between the wallets involved.

IRYS did not disclose transparent criteria for airdrop eligibility and stated they would not accept any appeals, leading many to suspect that the team manipulated the allocation to claim tokens for themselves.
With no response yet from Josh or the IRYS team, a clear explanation is necessary due to the scale of the involved wallets and shared transaction patterns.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve high risk, and you should conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research commentary reflects the views of Uncommonlab research interns and does not constitute financial or legal advice, nor does it recommend the trading of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

The Boom of ICOs and Launchpads

• Coinbase, a U.S.-regulated exchange, conducted its first ICO, demonstrating that token sales can be carried out legally within a compliant framework.

• The first ICO project is MONAD, selling 7.5% of the MON token’s total supply at an FDV of $2.5B.

• The distribution mechanism prioritizes small applicants to prevent monopolization, imposes penalties by reducing future allocations for those who sell within 30 days, and lowers the minimum participation amount to $100 to improve accessibility for small investors.

• Beyond Coinbase, platforms like Cookie DAO (using Legion’s infrastructure), Kaito, Buidlpad, and others are steadily running launchpads, turning this into a broader trend.

Coinbase running the Monad token sale is meaningful not just because they are selling 7.5% of MON tokens, but because it shows that ICOs can be conducted legally on a U.S.-regulated exchange. The valuation for MON is quite high at a $2.5B FDV, and because it uses a bottom-up allocation model, small users with multiple accounts have an advantage over large users with only one account.

This appears to be an intentional strategy by Coinbase to maximize new user sign-ups. The sudden resurgence in ICOs and launchpads is likely due to the fact that buying altcoins after exchange listings no longer yields meaningful profits. As a result, even smaller-scale but well-structured ICOs and launchpads—offering more favorable terms and more predictable returns—have naturally become more attractive.

From the project side, conducting token sales before listing helps secure some capital in advance, offering greater stability. This creates a mutually beneficial environment for both projects and users.

DappRadar Shuts Down

• DappRadar, which has been tracking Web3 dapp data and presenting it in a highly intuitive way since 2018, has announced that it is shutting down its service.

• The reason is financial: the team determined that it was no longer feasible to sustain operations, and after exploring all possible options, concluded that shutting down was the right decision.

• The platform will undergo a shutdown process over the next few days, and updates regarding the RADAR token will be communicated separately through the DAO channel.

• Like DappRadar— which operated for 7 years but was unable to establish a sustainable revenue model—an increasing number of projects are shutting down due to the inability to generate clear revenue streams.

DappRadar provided blockchain data services for nearly seven years but ultimately decided to cease operations due to financial constraints. This is not an isolated case; it reflects a broader issue within the Web3 market, where many crypto projects lack a clear and sustainable revenue model. The projects that remain active and generate revenue even after launching a token are the ones that are truly sustainable—something worth keeping in mind when evaluating investments.

Interchain DROP Project Shut Down

• Drop was launched in 2024 to increase the efficiency of staked assets across the interchain and expand liquidity access for Cosmos ecosystem assets.

• After releasing dAssets, the project became the largest liquid staking protocol in the ecosystem. However, given the current state of the ecosystem and market conditions, the team concluded that sustainable growth is no longer possible.

• As a result, Drop will cease operations, and both the TGE and airdrop will not take place.

• For participants in the Droplets program—who were anticipating a potential airdrop—the team is exploring ways to distribute protocol revenue. Regarding dAssets: dTIA and deINIT will be discontinued, while dATOM and dNTRN are likely to continue operating; any future changes will be announced in advance.

Members of the team, who previously made history with Lido on Ethereum through liquid staking, launched Drop within the IBC ecosystem. The project grew into the largest liquid staking protocol in Cosmos, built on top of dAssets, and was preparing for its TGE. Then, suddenly, they announced an immediate shutdown. According to Drop, based on current market and ecosystem conditions, they concluded that sustained development after token launch would be impossible.

To be honest, if a project that expanded this successfully decides to shut down right before TGE, I think it signals that the future of the IBC and Cosmos ecosystem is bleak.

2. Notable Projects

Zama Mainnet Coming Soon

• Zama is an open-source company building Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) solutions.

• It has raised a total of $130M in funding from various VCs, including Multicoin Capital, Pantera Capital, and Blockchange Ventures.

• Zama is currently running its public testnet and is positioned not as a new L1 or L2 but as a cross-chain confidentiality layer built on top of existing chains.

• The ZAMA token launch is planned, with the mainnet and TGE scheduled for 2025.

Zama is a blockchain-based open-source cryptography project developing Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) technology. FHE enables computation directly on encrypted data without decrypting it, and because Zama operates on top of existing L1s and L2s with cross-chain compatibility, the project has attracted significant attention. This technological capability has led to $130M in investments from VCs such as Multicoin Capital and Pantera.

The Zama mainnet and ZAMA token TGE are planned for December, and currently, users who publish content related to Zama can earn an OG NFT, which appears likely to be tied to a future token airdrop.

PerpDEX VOOI Token Sale

• VOOI is a PerpDEX aggregator that uses chain abstraction technology to allow users to manage funds across all chains and DEXs with a single deposit.

• It has received investment from YZi Labs and secured additional funding via Echo.

• VOOI is integrated with major PerpDEXs such as Hyperliquid, Orderly Network, SynFutures, KiloEx, and Ostium Protocol, and with Aster recently added, users can now earn dual point rewards, which has led to a rapid increase in trading volume.

• With its own token TGE coming soon, the team is conducting a community token sale through the Cookie Launchpad, offering participation at an FDV of $112.5M.

VOOI, as a PerpDEX aggregator, has recently generated massive trading volume thanks to its integration with projects like Aster, enabling dual point farming. Based on this momentum, the team is preparing its token TGE and is hosting a token sale on the Legion-based Cookie Launchpad at an FDV of $112.5M. Objectively, the valuation is not cheap, but many participants are still eager to join due to the 100% unlock at TGE.

In the past, DEX aggregators like Rage Trade performed poorly after TGE and eventually shut down entirely. It remains unclear what differentiation VOOI can offer to ensure users continue using the platform sustainably.

AZTEC Token Sale

• Aztec is an Ethereum-based, privacy-focused zk rollup L2.

• The team is targeting an early 2026 mainnet launch and has drawn significant attention after raising a total of $171M in funding.

• However, Aztec officially announced that there will be no token airdrop, and instead will conduct a token sale via a Dutch auction, where the price is determined by aggregating demand relative to the fixed token supply.

• From November 13 to December 1, only users classified as Aztec contributors can participate. From December 2 to 6, participation opens to everyone.

• 14.95% of the Aztec token supply has been allocated for the sale, with a 1-year lockup, and the token sale valuation sits at a very high $298M. However, since there is a possibility of early unlock after 90 days through a governance vote, market sentiment during the public sale phase could shift.

Aztec is a privacy project that uses zero-knowledge proofs to enable selective information disclosure, and it is now conducting its token sale. With an FDV of $298M and a 1-year lockup for the 14.95% token sale allocation, the valuation feels quite expensive—even after considering the $171M they raised from VCs. Currently, only users designated as Aztec contributors can participate, and even when the public sale opens, participation may remain low. In many similar cases, when participation falls short near the end, projects often allocate additional tokens to small participants under the “contributor” category, so targeting this angle might be worthwhile.

Brevis Mainnet and TGE Coming Soon

• Brevis is a ZK verification computing platform that enables dApps to process data off-chain while maintaining on-chain trust through zero-knowledge proofs.

• It has raised $7.5M from VCs such as YZi Labs and Polychain Capital, and has generated more than 250 million ZK proofs across platforms including PancakeSwap, Uniswap, Linea, and MetaMask.

• Recently, Brevis launched ProverNet, an open ZK proof marketplace where different ZK teams compete on price, speed, and quality—allowing users to access cheaper and better ZK infrastructure.

• Brevis has confirmed the launch of its own token, with the mainnet and TGE scheduled to occur together.

Ahead of the mainnet and token launch, Brevis introduced ProverNet, a ZK proof marketplace. This marketplace brings ZK-related teams together to compete on price, speed, and proof quality, and all proof fees will be paid using the upcoming BREV token. Since Brevis has real users within the ZK sector and its token launch appears imminent, participating in Brevis’ official campaigns and quests could be a good way to position for a potential token airdrop.

3. Uncommonlab Alpha

HumidiFi, Upcoming ICO on Jupiter DTF

• HumidiFi is a dark pool platform that combines high-frequency trading (HFT) strategies from traditional finance with DeFi.

• Through its dark pool mechanism, it processes nearly 40% of all DEX activity on Solana.

• As the first-ever project to launch on Jupiter’s ICO platform, DTF, expectations are extremely high.

• The token ticker will be WET, and WET tokens will be used for network fee settlement and to reward liquidity providers.

HumidiFi introduces a Prop AMM and real-time oracle system to solve long-standing issues in the AMM market, using dark pool routing to maximize MEV resistance. It currently accounts for almost 40% of Solana mainnet DEX volume and provides optimal pricing through Jupiter routing, despite having no public interface.

It will be the first token sale hosted on Jupiter’s ICO platform, DTF, and the symbolic significance of being the inaugural project is drawing strong attention. The ICO is scheduled for December, and there’s a high likelihood that JUP token holders will receive an allocation, so preparing in advance is recommended.

Multipli fi, A Multi-Chain Protocol Offering Delta-Neutral Arbitrage Yields

• Multipli fi is a multi-chain protocol that generates returns through delta-neutral arbitrage strategies.

• It has raised $21.5M from VCs including Pantera Capital and Sequoia Capital, and currently maintains $113M TVL.

• Average APYs are around 4.18% for stablecoins like USDT and USDC, 3.07% for BTC, and up to 9.21% when minting rwaUSD, Multipli’s credit-based stablecoin, using assets like PAXG as collateral.

• The platform features its own point system, ORBs. Holding xTokens on Multipli earns 6 ORBs per day per $100, and since Multipli plans to launch its own token at the end of 2025, users won’t have to wait long to see the outcome.

Multipli is scheduled to hold its TGE this year and is currently running Point Season 2. Converting assets such as USDT, USDC, BTC, and PAXG into xTokens yields both base interest and ORBs points. ORBs also come with a 20x bonus on the first deposit, meaning that if Multipli launches its token in December, users could farm early for a month and earn meaningful airdrop rewards. Withdrawals can take up to 14 days, but as a stablecoin-based farming strategy with relatively quick results, it’s worth considering.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments carry a high level of risk, and you should exercise caution and conduct your own research before making any decisions.

• All research comments reflect the views of UncommonLab research interns and do not constitute financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend the purchase or sale of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issues

The xUSD depeg at Stream Finance and the disclosure of a $93M loss

• Stream Finance had been investing deposited USDC assets using a market-neutral strategy, functioning similarly to an on-chain hedge fund. However, the protocol incurred losses while using nearly 4x leverage through collateralized lending based on xUSD.

• Initially, the size of the losses was not disclosed. But an external fund manager overseeing the Stream fund revealed through an official account that the losses amounted to $93M. Following this disclosure, the price of xUSD briefly dropped to as low as $0.35.

• Funds deposited into Stream are effectively non-withdrawable, and xUSD was never designed to be a true stablecoin—it merely tokenizes Stream’s market-neutral fund. As a result, the chances of recovery are extremely low.

• Users who deposited funds into liquidity pools on Morpho, Euler, and similar platforms simply because they offered high APYs are now unable to withdraw their assets due to xUSD being mispriced as collateral—its oracle price was hard-coded and did not reflect its real market value.

Stream Finance has operated multiple vaults and provided roughly 18% yields based on xUSD. These yields were generated through a looping strategy: borrowing other stablecoins against xUSD as collateral, then minting more xUSD, repeatedly compounding leverage. The situation escalated when it was revealed that an external fund entrusted with managing Stream’s assets had incurred a $93M loss. Compounding the issue, xUSD was used as collateral across various L2 lending markets with a fixed oracle price of $1.27. Since this value did not adjust even as the real value of xUSD declined, positions could not be liquidated properly. Consequently, massive bad debt is now emerging in markets where loans were issued against xUSD—for example USDT0, plUSD, msUSD, and others. Although the incident is still unfolding and not fully resolved, many analysts believe that structural limitations make recovery unlikely and that bankruptcy is a strong possibility. At present, assets related to xUSD or Stream Finance, as well as any connected DeFi pools, carry significant risk and should be approached with caution.

CZ’s Unusual Public Disclosure of Buying ASTER

• CZ, the founder of Binance, revealed on his Twitter that he purchased $2 million worth of ASTER, a BNB Chain perpetual DEX token.

• This is highly unusual, as CZ has never publicly posted about buying a specific altcoin other than BTC and BNB before.

• He also stated that he plans to accumulate and hold ASTER long-term just like BNB, which can effectively be interpreted as extremely strong support for ASTER.

• Following this announcement, the price of ASTER surged more than 30%. Despite the purchase being made with CZ’s personal funds, many believe that if he continues to show such public support, ASTER will inevitably catch up to Hyperliquid’s market share.

CZ disclosed on Twitter that he bought $2 million worth of ASTER at $0.90, causing the token’s price to jump over 30% in a short period. Since CZ has never mentioned or publicly confirmed buying any specific token other than BTC and BNB, many people are now considering whether they should buy ASTER as well. In my view, in a market where most altcoins have lost fundamental value, it appears that CZ—the key decision maker at Binance, the No.1 exchange—has chosen ASTER as a contender to compete against Hyperliquid. His open show of support, including publicly confirming his token purchase through social media, suggests that riding this momentum may not be a bad strategy. Given that a platform’s value can grow significantly under CZ’s influence, taking a short position on ASTER seems unwise, even if one chooses not to buy it.

$128M Exploit from Balancer Hack

• Balancer is an automated market maker (AMM) protocol that allows anyone to create and join liquidity pools on Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains.

• Recently, a smart contract hack on the Balancer V2 Vault resulted in roughly $128 million being stolen by attackers.

• The V2 Vault had passed more than ten external audits, but the vulnerability went undetected and was ultimately exploited — a development that has weakened overall trust in DeFi protocols.

• Projects that forked Balancer were hit as well: Beets Finance suffered the same vulnerability and lost funds, and when Berachain’s BEX — which runs a direct fork of Balancer V2 logic — was found to be at risk, validators deliberately halted the chain and performed a hard fork to patch the vulnerable code.

Although Balancer had undergone over ten audits, a previously undiscovered flaw still allowed a $128M exploit. This is large enough to rank among the biggest hacks in history and has broadly eroded confidence in DeFi. Because many projects copy Balancer’s code, the same vulnerability propagated to forks and increased the total damage. The incident is a reminder that even long-established DeFi protocols with many audits can harbor undiscovered, critical vulnerabilities — on-chain risk must always be considered.

CBB’s Advice on Using Pendle YT

• A popular crypto influencer, CBB, recently advised people with balances under $1M to study Pendle.

• His main point is that Pendle’s YT allows users to exploit information asymmetry to maximize returns.

• Typically, users with larger capital prefer using PT to earn fixed yields. But for those with smaller capital, selecting the right pools can allow them to target 2–3x returns through YT.

• Because YT inherently comes with high slippage and tends toward zero as it approaches maturity, it is difficult for whales and funds to engage effectively. This makes YT a potentially attractive tool for retail users who can plan their strategies properly.

Pendle standardizes yield-bearing assets into SY and then splits them into PT and YT for trading. PT trades at a discount before maturity and pays back principal 1:1 at maturity, making it suitable for fixed-yield strategies. YT, on the other hand, receives all yield and points generated before maturity (including points that convert into airdropped tokens), making it a high-risk, high-return option. CBB argues that by identifying undervalued YT assets, retail users can exploit market inefficiencies to earn high returns. In fact, certain YT positions have increased more than 2–3x over time, so with careful selection, YT can serve as a strong yield-maximization strategy. However, when market sentiment is strong and many users seek places to put excess capital, YT can also become heavily overvalued — so caution is required.

2. Notable Projects

Perena’s USD*

• Perena is building USD*, a hub-and-spoke stablecoin infrastructure on Solana.

• In this hub-and-spoke model, the rapid increase in stablecoin issuers has fragmented liquidity. Perena aggregates major stablecoins like USDC, USDT, and PYUSD into a single Seed Pool, and connects new stablecoins to a Growth Pool, providing a unified liquidity layer.

• The project has raised $3M from VCs including YZi Labs, SevenX, and ABCDE.

• When users mint USD* on Perena, they can mine Perena’s own points and collect badges. The more badges a user earns, the larger their rewards at the end of the season.

Perena is a project building stablecoin infrastructure on the Solana network. Users can mint its native stablecoin USD* using USDC, and in return they receive a 13% APY along with Perena points. Although its funding size is relatively small compared to other stablecoin projects, Perena has been consistently building within the Solana ecosystem, and the combination of APY plus point-based rewards — which may lead to a future token airdrop — makes it a reasonably attractive option for depositing capital.

XPLA Rebranding

• XPLA has rebranded by changing its token ticker to CONX, shifting from a game-focused project to a comprehensive platform connecting culture, technology, and finance.

• A governance vote began on November 2, 2025, and lasted for one week. The proposal passed, and the symbol will officially change to CONX.

• Although there is no change in token supply, many believe the rebrand aims not only to refresh the project’s image but also to effectively “reset” a chart that had fallen nearly 96% from its all-time high.

• It's important to note that aside from Gate and Bithumb, XPLA has virtually no major exchange listings, so caution is required.

XPLA originally launched as a gaming token through the FTX Launchpad and was extremely popular in its early days. However, after FTX collapsed, the project was negatively affected, and its tokenomics were structured in a way that released large amounts of supply over time. As a result, XPLA failed to maintain price support and dropped nearly 99%. The project is now changing its ticker from XPLA to CONX and plans to rebrand as a broader platform connecting culture, technology, and finance, rather than focusing solely on gaming. However, since this rebranding does not include technical upgrades or supply changes and is more akin to an image makeover — and because the token is tradable on only Gate and Bithumb — investors should exercise caution.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Flying Tulip Token Sale Upcoming

• Flying Tulip is a full-stack on-chain financial platform designed by Andre Cronje, the creator behind Yearn Finance and Keep3r Network.

• In today’s DeFi market, spot trading, derivatives, lending, stablecoins, and insurance all operate as separate protocols, leading to structural limitations such as inefficient collateral usage, fragmented liquidity, reliance on price oracles, and siloed platforms.

• Flying Tulip aims to solve these issues by connecting all on-chain financial services within a single system, maximizing collateral efficiency and liquidity through a unified collateral base.

• The project has raised $200M at a $1B valuation, and it will conduct a token sale of $15M on IDO platform Impossible — at the same $1B valuation offered to VCs.

• Although Flying Tulip begins with a high valuation, it is gaining strong attention because retail investors can participate under the same terms as VCs, tokens unlock 100% at TGE, and FT tokens come with a permanent on-chain put option that allows users to redeem their principal at any time by burning the tokens.

Flying Tulip, designed by Andre Cronje, is preparing for its token sale. According to the information released so far, retail investors can join under the same conditions as VC investors, there is no additional token issuance, tokens unlock fully at TGE, and users are granted an on-chain right to redeem their principal whenever they wish. Since the structure essentially guarantees principal (excluding hacking risks), many expect strong participation once the sale officially begins. Because the project is led by Andre Cronje, expectations are relatively high, though one point of caution is that the platform is launching first on the Sonic chain — which may lack the infrastructure and robustness of Ethereum mainnet, making careful consideration important before investing.

Billions Network

• Billions Network is a privacy-focused digital identity network that can verify both humans and AI agents without requiring any biometric data, using zero-knowledge (ZK) technology for verification.

• The project has raised a total of $30M from various VCs, including Polychain Capital and Coinbase Ventures.

• Through Kaito, Billions conducted a token sale at a $100M valuation. After signing up for the Billions app and verifying that you are human, you can earn Power points, which are expected to convert into BLNS tokens in the future.

• Users can also earn additional points by staking POL or participating in campaigns run jointly with TRIA. For those already staking POL or using TRIA, participating through Billions is likely the most efficient way to maximize rewards.

Billions Network enables digital identity verification without requiring biometric information. The project has raised $30M so far, and users can accumulate its native Power points through the app. These points will later be used for a token airdrop, and since the token sale through Kaito is already complete, the TGE is likely not far away. Billions also has Billions Genesis and Billions Supermasks NFTs; while their utilities haven’t been fully revealed, many expect them to be tied to token airdrops. However, given the current NFT prices, there is a possibility they may not receive airdrops, and based on Billions’ statements emphasizing rewarding genuine contributors, focusing on using the app itself may be the more reliable strategy.

BOB Token Community Sale Announced

• BOB is a hybrid L2 that combines the security of Bitcoin with the flexibility of Ethereum.

• The project has raised $21M from VCs such as Coinbase Ventures, CMS Holdings, and RockawayX, and will conduct a community sale for its BOB token through CoinList.

• The public round is offered at a 230M FDV, with 20% unlocking at TGE and the remaining 80% vesting linearly over 12 months.
  The community member round is offered at a 165M FDV, with 0% TGE unlock, meaning the entire allocation vests linearly over 12 months.

• Participants can invest between $50 and $250,000 per person, and 4% of the total BOB token supply is allocated to the community sale.

BOB will run its token sale through CoinList. It features two rounds: a public round at a 230M FDV and a community member round at a 165M FDV. The public round appears to be priced higher than the VC valuation, so participation is not recommended. To illustrate how high this valuation is: even Babylon — one of the most anticipated Bitcoin-related projects — raised $96M and later launched its BABY token, which currently sits at a $67M market cap and a $248M FDV. Many Bitcoin-centric projects have shown weak token performance, so participation in Bitcoin-based token sales is generally not advised.

• This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments carry high risks, so please conduct thorough research and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the views of UncommonLab research interns and do not represent financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend trading any specific asset.

1. Weekly Highlight

x402 Lead by Coinbase

• x402 is a payment protocol developed by Coinbase that enables instant stablecoin payments over HTTP.

• By leveraging the HTTP 402 standard, developers can integrate stablecoin payments with just a single line of code. Its simple structure — requiring no additional fees other than blockchain gas — has quickly attracted significant attention.

• Moreover, when combined with AI agents, x402 could allow autonomous agents to automatically find optimal products and complete stablecoin payments seamlessly.

• However, caution is advised, as some projects are prematurely launching tokens and selling them even before their x402-related protocols are properly functional.

[Comments] Coinbase’s introduction of x402, an open payment protocol that enables stablecoin payment integration with just one line of code, has received widespread positive feedback. Unlike traditional payment systems involving banks or card networks, x402 offers a simpler and borderless approach, allowing payments through stablecoins such as USDC on the blockchain. Coinbase also provides infrastructure for processing these stablecoin payments on its BASE chain, and because the system uses HTTP — the same standard used by Web2 payment platforms — integration is highly universal and scalable. Stablecoin-based payments are becoming an indispensable part of the future financial landscape, and while regulatory progress is still slow, it’s steadily moving forward. This is definitely an area worth keeping an eye on.

MegaETH Public Token Sale on Sonar

• MegaETH is an ultra-fast, EVM-compatible Layer 2 network targeting 100,000 TPS.

• The project is scheduled to launch its mainnet in Q4 2025 and is currently conducting its token sale on Sonar, the platform acquired by Coinbase from Echo.

• A total of 5% of the MEGA token supply is being sold through this public auction, where participants can bid within a valuation range of $1M to $1B.

• Currently, the PreMarket price of MEGA tokens is trading at a valuation around 4x higher than the auction’s maximum bid cap ($4B vs $1B), indicating extremely high competition for allocation.

[Comments] MegaETH is holding its public token sale on Sonar. Having already demonstrated strong technical capabilities and community traction, the upcoming mainnet launch and token performance are now crucial milestones. Although the MEGA token has not yet officially launched, PreMarket trading is available on platforms like Hyperliquid and Bybit, offering early price discovery. Based on PreMarket data, MEGA’s FDV remains above $4B, suggesting that even if participants secure allocation at the public sale’s $1B valuation cap, potential returns could reach up to 4x, which explains the strong interest and competition in the sale.

2. Notable Project

OpenMind — Building the Operating System for Robotics

• OpenMind is developing an open-source, AI-native software stack designed for intelligent robotics.

• The project has raised $20M from leading investors including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and DCG, and plans to launch OM1, a modular operating system that allows users to integrate AI models without deep technical expertise, along with the FABRIC Network, a data contribution network powering the machine economy.

• OpenMind has quickly become one of the most talked-about projects in the booming robotics sector, combining AI, robotics, and crypto into a unified vision that’s attracting significant attention.

• Currently, OpenMind is running Season 1 of its points program, has issued free NFTs on the BASE chain, and onboarded to Kaito Yapping, which strongly suggests a high likelihood of a future token launch.

[Comments] OpenMind is building an open-source AI software stack for intelligent robotics, centered around its flagship AI-native operating system, OM1. OM1 enables robots — whether humanoid, quadrupedal, or aerial — to perceive, reason, and act in real-world environments regardless of hardware design. In addition, OpenMind is developing FABRIC, a decentralized protocol for machine identity, collaboration, and trust built on blockchain, making it one of the most closely watched projects in the crypto-robotics space. By issuing free Identity NFTs on the BASE chain and rewarding participants through the FABRIC network’s points system, OpenMind appears well-positioned to launch its own token in the near future.

Allora Reveals Tokenomics Ahead of TGE

• Allora is a self-improving AI network that aggregates machine learning models to generate context-aware on-chain predictions.

• The project has raised $33.75M from leading investors including Polychain Capital and CMS Holdings, and is set to launch its mainnet and conduct its Token Generation Event (TGE) in November.

• ALLO tokens are already available for PreMarket trading on MEXC, and Allora has officially released its tokenomics and staking mechanisms.

• Eligible participants for the ALLO token airdrop include testnet contributors, community role holders, Forge participants, EVM points earners, and other key contributors.

[Comments] Allora had long teased its token launch, but after establishing its Foundation account, updates went quiet for several months. Now, with the official announcement of PreMarket trading for ALLO, the release of tokenomics and staking mechanisms, and the disclosure of airdrop eligibility details on its official Twitter, the community is confident that the token launch will finally happen in November. According to the published details, 20.05% of the total ALLO supply will be in circulation at launch, with 9.3% distributed via community airdrops with no vesting, which is higher than many expected. Factoring in Allora Prime staking rewards and network emissions, a significant portion of tokens will circulate early on. However, it’s worth noting that 57.9% of the total supply will be controlled by the team and its stakeholders — including 17.5% for the team, 31.05% for investors, and 9.35% for the foundation — which poses a notable centralization and supply risk.

BaseApp and Farcaster — Potential Base Token Airdrop Opportunities

• Following the announcement at the BaseCamp 2025 event that Base is considering launching its own native token, interest in the Base ecosystem has surged dramatically.

• The token launch now appears virtually confirmed, and it’s expected that the airdrop will target a wide range of community users — including those active on flagship Base dApps such as Zora, Virtual, and Farcaster — along with other ecosystem participants meeting various criteria.

• Recently, Base introduced BaseApp, a super app for the Base ecosystem that evolved from the Coinbase Wallet rebrand. BaseApp integrates wallet, social, payments, trading, and mini-app functionalities into one all-in-one experience.

• Given that the Base chain is effectively Coinbase’s onchain ecosystem and the probability of a native token launch has grown significantly, many users are actively using BaseApp in anticipation of a potential airdrop.

[Comments] BaseApp can be seen as an all-in-one hub for interacting with every major dApp within the BASE chain ecosystem. It supports almost all onchain activities related to Base, and given the hints dropped during the BaseCamp event — where the Base token launch was all but confirmed — frequent and consistent usage of BaseApp could make users eligible for the airdrop. Therefore, it’s recommended to use BaseApp as often as possible and build onchain activity records within the Base ecosystem to increase potential eligibility.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

MetaMask Launches Points Program

• MetaMask, the most widely used Web3 wallet, has launched a points-based rewards program with a total reward pool of $300,000.

• Users can earn points through activities such as token swaps, futures trading, referrals, and even based on past wallet activity.

• As users accumulate points, they level up — and those who reach the highest level (Level 7) will receive a free MetaMask Metal Card valid for one year, along with all rewards from the previous levels.

• ConsenSys CEO Joe Lubin has publicly stated that a MetaMask token launch is on the way, and since the claim-related domain has already been registered, many expect that a token airdrop will be distributed based on this points program.

[Comments] MetaMask has officially rolled out its points reward program. Users can earn points by generating trading volume through MetaMask, and this points system is expected to play a key role in the upcoming MetaMask token airdrop. The program is structured into multiple seasons, and appears to be ongoing for the foreseeable future. Notably, users who accumulate over 1,000 points will receive Linea tokens proportional to their total points — effectively giving users a partial rebate on their activity. While the duration of the points program is still unknown, consistent participation will likely be necessary for those hoping to qualify for the MetaMask token airdrop.

ParaDEX — Undervalued in the Korean Market Relative to Trading Volume

• In the perpetual DEX (PerpDEX) sector, platforms like Hyperliquid and Aster have seen their token prices surge by several multiples after launch.

• As a result, investor interest has grown around PerpDEX platforms that have not yet released tokens, intensifying competition within the sector.

• While Korean discussions and articles often highlight Lighter and EdgeX, ParaDEX receives comparatively little attention despite showing solid performance metrics.

• According to data based on Open Interest (OI) and Market Cap ratios, ParaDEX currently ranks 4th among PerpDEXs that haven’t launched a token yet, demonstrating strong fundamentals. However, given the lack of awareness and coverage in the Korean market, it appears to be undervalued relative to its peers.

[Comments] Following the success stories of Hyperliquid and Aster, many Korean traders profited significantly, which has fueled rising demand for unlaunched PerpDEX projects. Among them, Lighter and EdgeX are frequently discussed in the community, as they rank within the top 3–4 by OI-to-MarketCap ratio — a sign of strong market traction. In contrast, ParaDEX, despite being among the top-performing unlaunched PerpDEX platforms globally, remains largely under the radar in Korea, likely due to its predominantly international user base. This suggests that once ParaDEX expands its presence in the Korean market, it could show significant upside potential and currently stands as one of the most undervalued PerpDEX projects relative to its performance metrics.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments involve high risk, so please conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the views of UncommonLab research interns and do not represent financial or legal advice, nor do they encourage trading or investment in any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issue

Alpha Arena: Where Leading AI Models Compete

• Alpha Arena is designed to evaluate the investment capabilities of AI models.

• Currently, six prominent AI models—Deepseek Chat V3.1, Grok 4, Claude 4.5 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Pro, GPT 5, and Qwen 3 Max—are participating in the competition.

• Each model is given $10,000 in real trading capital, along with the same conditions and input data.

• All trades are executed through Hyperliquid, and each model’s real-time trading activity is shared publicly for transparency.

[Comments] Alpha Arena provides an intriguing experiment in measuring how well AI can invest compared to humans. So far, Deepseek has achieved the highest returns among the six AIs. It’s fascinating to see that AI can potentially outperform human traders, and it will be exciting to observe how much further AI-based trading can evolve—and how much higher its returns can go over time.

Expectations for the Prediction Market Through the Valuations of PolyMarket and Kalshi

• Prediction markets allow participants to bet money on the outcomes of future events.
  They function by trading tokens whose prices represent probabilities, and since real money is at stake, these markets can sometimes be more accurate than expert analysis.

• Two of the leading prediction market platforms are PolyMarket and Kalshi.

• PolyMarket leverages blockchain infrastructure and uses USDC payments, enabling it to expand globally.

• Kalshi, on the other hand, does not use blockchain, but operates within U.S. regulatory frameworks, focusing primarily on the U.S. market.

• Both PolyMarket and Kalshi have seen their valuations increase more than fivefold within just six months, successfully securing venture capital funding. This surge reflects the growing optimism and anticipation around the prediction market sector.

[Comments] In the prediction market sector, PolyMarket has emerged as the global leader by showcasing transparent, blockchain-based outcomes. Recently, Kalshi has joined the momentum by complying with U.S. regulations and dominating the domestic market. As the market continues to expand, reports have surfaced that PolyMarket is in talks to raise funds at a $12–15 billion valuation. Given this trend, the prediction market—sitting at the intersection of gambling and finance—could potentially evolve into a legitimized form of casino or betting platform under the guise of market forecasting.

Brian from Coinbase and Cobie Revive UpOnly TV

• UpOnly TV is a crypto podcast co-hosted by Cobie and Ledger. After being on hiatus for some time, the show is set to return following an interesting move by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who purchased and burned an NFT worth $25 million.

• This NFT grants its holder the right to force the production of eight new episodes of UpOnly TV. Once the NFT is burned, a new season must begin within three months of the burn date. This has been widely interpreted as Coinbase’s attempt to expand into the crypto media and content space.

• Moreover, since Cobie is one of the most respected and least controversial figures in the crypto community, the revival of UpOnly TV is expected to attract significant attention.

[Comments] Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong purchased a $25 million NFT that grants the right to compel the creation of new UpOnly TV episodes. Given Cobie’s massive influence and strong reputation in the crypto space, the podcast’s return is generating high expectations. The burn clause, which mandates the launch of a new season within three months of burning the NFT, suggests that Coinbase’s move is a strategic investment aimed at expanding into crypto media content.

Coinbase Acquires Cobie’s Token Sale Platform ECHO for $375 Million

• Coinbase has acquired ECHO, an early-stage investment platform founded by Cobie, for $375 million.

• According to Coinbase, the main purpose of the acquisition is to enable community-driven fundraising directly on-chain through ECHO.

• This acquisition follows Coinbase’s recent purchase of Liquifi, which provides token issuance and cap table management capabilities. With ECHO now integrated, Coinbase has effectively built a fully unified ecosystem that supports everything from token issuance and fundraising to trading.

[Comments] Coinbase’s acquisition of the early investment platform ECHO aims to establish a legally compliant, on-chain fundraising infrastructure. While some question whether ECHO truly justifies its $375 million valuation, the platform has already proven its functionality—having raised over $300 million and completed more than 300 private token sales. Given that ECHO’s user base consists of KYC-verified, capital-ready investors capable of participating in early-stage project funding, it’s understandable why the platform commands such a high valuation.

Astra Nova: Team Allegedly Dumps Tokens Under the Guise of a Hack

• The project Astra Nova recently held its RVV token TGE (Token Generation Event).
  The RVV token achieved listings on multiple exchanges—including Binance Alpha, Gate, Bitget, and KuCoin—and reached a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $200 million on the day of TGE.

• Previously, Astra Nova had conducted RVV token sales on its own platform at $30M and $50M valuations. However, right before TGE, the team changed the vesting terms from a 50% unlock at TGE to a 7-month linear vesting, meaning no investors received tokens at launch.

• The team had also promised airdrop rewards to the top 15,000 leaderboard participants, but the leaderboard rankings were suddenly altered, with unknown accounts appearing in top positions—raising suspicions that the team had manipulated the leaderboard.

• Despite the fact that no legitimate token holders had access to unlocked RVV tokens, the token price dropped by 50% after listing, with on-chain data indicating large sell-offs by the team. The team responded by claiming that their market-making (MM) wallet was hacked, but failed to address the sudden vesting change or leaderboard manipulation, instead maintaining one-sided communication.

[Comments] The Astra Nova team appears to have dumped their tokens at high FDV levels during the TGE, while unilaterally changing vesting terms for early investors and manipulating the leaderboard so that team members received most of the rewards—actions that border on outright fraud. Changing vesting schedules without consent on TGE day is virtually unheard of in any legitimate project. Although the community has been strongly condemning Astra Nova’s actions, the team has ignored all criticism and refused to engage transparently. Given the widespread backlash, it seems likely that many exchanges will delist the token soon.

2. Notable Project

Kite AI

• Kite AI is an infrastructure Layer 1 network designed to enable autonomous economic activity by AI agents.
  The project has raised $33 million in funding from prominent venture capital firms including PayPal Ventures, General Catalyst, Hashed, and Samsung Next.

• Kite AI is currently running the Wind Runner Program, where users can earn Kite SBTs (soulbound tokens) as rewards for writing articles about Kite AI.

• A major emerging trend in the market is Agentic Payments—systems where an AI agent can autonomously search for products, compare reviews and prices, and complete payments in one seamless flow. Kite AI is positioned to meet this growing demand.

[Comments] Kite AI is building the infrastructure layer that allows AI agents to perform independent economic actions. The Agentic Payment sector is gaining significant attention, and Kite AI is among the most promising projects in the space, having raised $33 million from leading VCs such as PayPal Ventures. Through the Wind Runner Program, active community members who promote or write about Kite AI can earn SBT rewards, which many expect to later include token incentives. The project has announced its mainnet launch for Q4 2025, and the recent creation of the Kite Foundation account suggests that the token TGE may happen sooner than expected.

NeoBanks Supporting Stablecoin Payments

• NeoBanks are a new type of financial service platform that integrates card-based payments with stablecoin transactions through mobile apps and web interfaces.

• These platforms offer faster transaction speeds, lower fees, and higher yields compared to traditional banks, providing superior convenience and profitability regardless of nationality or location.

• However, due to ambiguous regulations and varying legal frameworks across countries, many projects are attempting to solve these challenges by partnering with VISA to support compliant payment processing.

• In Korea, two notable crypto-based NeoBank projects are KAST and TRIA.

• KAST supports physical card issuance and enables payments based on USDC balances.

• TRIA recently raised $12 million in funding and is preparing for physical card issuance and a token sale.

[Comments] As NeoBanks begin supporting stablecoin payments, the model is quickly becoming a new trend in crypto finance. With USDT or USDC stored in a wallet, users can make instant global payments while earning higher yields than traditional banks. As stablecoin infrastructure continues to expand, demand for NeoBank-based stable payments is expected to grow as well. Currently, very few crypto-based NeoBank projects have both implemented stablecoin payments and launched tokens, but TRIA—which recently raised $12 million and announced a token sale through Legion—is likely to be among the first to launch its token.

Rexy NFT by T-REX

• T-REX is a Layer 2 network specialized in entertainment and content, developed by Everest Ventures Group (EVG).

• The project has raised $17 million from investors including Framework Ventures, Portal Ventures, and Arbitrum Gaming.

• Through its Proof-of-Engagement (PoE) mechanism, T-REX verifies Web2 user activity on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and X using zkTLS-based proofs, rewarding users on-chain for their engagement.

• T-REX is currently conducting the minting of 3,333 Rexy NFTs, which are expected to play a key role in its ecosystem. Given that the PoE reward system is based on an ecosystem points structure, there is a high likelihood that T-REX will issue its own native token to facilitate these rewards.

[Comments] T-REX, developed by EVG, is an entertainment-focused Layer 2 project that has secured $17 million in funding. By installing the T-REX browser extension, users can watch or interact with YouTube, TikTok, or X content and earn rewards for their engagement—effectively getting rewarded for enjoying entertainment and contributing activity. Currently, users can complete quests on the T-REX website to accumulate points, with the system emphasizing consistent participation and contribution within the ecosystem. The Rexy NFT collection serves as a genesis NFT for the ecosystem, and holders are widely expected to receive future token airdrops, making it a noteworthy opportunity for early participants.

Stable Pre-Deposit Opens

• Stable is a USDT-dedicated Layer 1 blockchain, developed with support from Bitfinex and Tether.

• As a stablecoin infrastructure that allows direct USDT investments, it has attracted significant attention and is positioned to potentially surpass TRON in terms of USDT activity.

• Recently, in partnership with Concrete, Stable launched a Pre-Deposit pool worth $825 million.

• The pool closed immediately upon opening, demonstrating the high demand for Stable in the market.

[Comments] Stable is being developed as a USDT-exclusive L1 stablecoin chain with backing from Bitfinex and Tether, offering fast and low-cost payment infrastructure suitable for global transactions and institutional use. The $825M Pre-Deposit pool, launched with Concrete, closed instantly, reflecting the strong market demand for Stable. According to social media, most of the deposits were filled by VCs before the official announcement, which aligns with observed deposits made prior to the public notice. This also appears to be a marketing tactic to create FOMO among regular users by limiting immediate access. Since USDT deposits in Stable carry minimal risk, it could be worthwhile to participate in future deposit openings.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

Rainbow Wallet Token Launch Announced

• Rainbow Wallet is a non-custodial wallet supporting both mobile apps and browser extensions, built with an intuitive UX.

• The project has raised $19.5 million from investors including Seven Seven Six, Y Combinator, 35 Ventures, and Hyperguap.

• Rainbow Wallet users currently earn platform-specific points, which will be airdropped at a 1:1 ratio with the launch of the RNBW token in Q4 2025.

• With the TGE approaching and relatively few active users, participating in app activities could be a good opportunity to qualify for the airdrop.

[Comments] Rainbow Wallet is set to launch its native token faster than wallet projects like Metamask and Rabby. The token ticker is RNBW, and the existing points program will serve as the basis for airdropping tokens to real users. Although the Q4 TGE has been officially announced, user adoption is still low, so qualifying for the airdrop could result in a substantial reward for early participants.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments carry high risks, so please conduct your own research and make decisions carefully.

• All research comments reflect the views of an UncommonLab Research Intern and do not constitute financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend the purchase or sale of any specific asset.

1. Weekly Issue

Record Crypto Liquidations Triggered by Trump’s China Tariff Announcement

• On October 11, 2025, U.S. President Trump posted on Truth Social announcing a 100% tariff on Chinese imports in response to China’s rare earth export restrictions.

• Following the announcement, crypto prices began to plunge sharply, with some tokens like IOTX and ATOM crashing to nearly zero on Binance.

• This led to a cascade of DeFi liquidations, resulting in $19 billion in total liquidations, surpassing even the scale of the FTX collapse.

• It was the largest liquidation event in crypto history, and Binance alone suffered around $1 billion in losses due to the depegging of USDe, wBETH, and BnSOL, prompting the exchange to deploy its emergency insurance fund.

[Comments] U.S. President Trump announced a 100% tariff on Chinese imports in response to China’s rare earth export restrictions. This immediately impacted the crypto market, causing a sudden and sharp drop in many coin prices, with some crashing to near zero. The plunge triggered a cascade of liquidations, resulting in $19 billion in total liquidations—the largest in crypto history and exceeding the scale of the FTX collapse. In particular, Binance suffered significant losses due to the depegging of USDe, wBETH, and BnSOL, prompting the exchange to deploy its insurance fund.

BNB-Based MEME SZN

• BNB price surged past $1,300, reaching a new all-time high.

• Transaction fees on the BNB Chain were cut by half, creating an ideal environment for high-frequency meme trading.

• Binance founder CZ posted “BNB meme szn” on Twitter, which served as a catalyst for a surge in meme coin activity on the BNB Chain.

• Similar to Solana’s Pumpfun, the FourMeme platform made it easy for anyone to launch their own meme tokens, significantly lowering the technical barriers to entry.

[Comments] As BNB’s price broke its all-time high, liquidity began flowing into the BNB ecosystem. The spark came from Binance founder CZ, who posted “BNB meme szn” on his Twitter, triggering a broad rally in BNB Chain meme coins and marking the real start of an active meme trading season on the chain. If BNB’s price remains strong and Binance continues to actively support the listing of BNB Chain meme tokens, this meme season is expected to continue for some time. However, meme tokens are highly volatile, and trends can shift quickly, so traders should be aware of the risks involved.

Binance Acquires Korean Exchange GOPAX

• In 2023, Binance acquired a 67% stake in Korean crypto exchange GOPAX as part of its strategy to enter the South Korean market.

• However, the deal had been put on hold after Binance was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for violations of anti-money laundering regulations, resulting in a $4.3 billion fine.

• Additionally, Korean authorities had delayed approving the executive change report due to concerns that the acquisition could affect the country’s anti-money laundering framework.

• Now that Binance’s legal issues with the U.S. have been resolved and it has met local regulatory standards, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has officially approved the executive change application, giving final approval for Binance’s acquisition of GOPAX.

[Comments] With Binance’s successful acquisition of Korean exchange Gopax, the company is officially entering the Korean market in full force. Although the acquisition took an unusually long two years to complete, the entry of the world’s largest exchange into Korea through legal and regulatory approval is expected to bring significant changes to the market. Currently, Upbit and Bithumb dominate the Korean exchange market, but Binance is likely to attract users through Gopax by offering better incentives and benefits than existing platforms. For users, this increased competition among exchanges will naturally lead to advantages such as lower trading fees and other promotional benefits, making it a welcome development.

2. Notable Project

SUI DEX Momentum to Hold Buidlpad Token Sale

• Momentum, a leading DEX on the SUI network, is planning a token sale for its native token MMT through the Buidlpad launchpad platform.

• The MMT token sale valuation depends on participation conditions:
  Condition 1: Users holding at least $3,000 worth of LP tokens on Momentum can participate at an FDV of $250 million.
  Condition 2: Users who have not provided LP tokens but have completed Buidlpad registration and KYC can participate at a higher FDV of $350 million.

• Momentum’s sudden surge in popularity comes from Buidlpad’s track record: it has previously conducted token sales for Solayer, SaharaAI, Lombard, and Falcon, all of which successfully listed on major exchanges like Binance and Upbit immediately at TGE.

• Because all four previous projects achieved strong financial results, expectations for Momentum are naturally rising among investors and the community.

[Comments] Buidlpad will begin the Momentum token sale on October 22. While some believe that Momentum’s token sale valuation is too high, previous projects on Buidlpad had similar valuations and all successfully listed on Binance and Upbit immediately at TGE four times in a row, making active participation in Momentum a reasonable choice. The amount of liquidity you provide to Momentum determines your participation limit in the Buidlpad sale. The safest LP option is the suiUSDT-USDC Pool; by adding a sufficient amount of liquidity before the snapshot on October 27, you can secure a larger token allocation than others. Since all previous projects conducted through Buidlpad have shown strong performance, it is recommended to participate as much as possible until a failing project emerges, although it’s unclear how long this trend will continue.

NFT Moonbird Token Launch Announcement

• After being acquired by Yuga Labs, Moonbird remained largely inactive, trading at a low price of around 0.4 ETH for roughly a year starting January 2024.

• However, on May 30, 2025, the Moonbird IP was sold to Orange Cap Games, the company that launched the Vibes TCG game on Pudgy Penguins and generated over $1.5 million in revenue, which caused Moonbird prices to start rising again.

• The reason Moonbird’s price quadrupled in a short period was largely due to Spencer, the founder of Orange Cap Games, who is a well-known NFT trader. His involvement indirectly signaled the upcoming token launch, generating strong anticipation for Moonbird.

• Finally, on October 2, the official Moonbird account announced that it would launch its native token BIRB on the Solana chain, which drove the NFT price up to 4 ETH.

[Comments] Moonbird has officially announced the launch of its native token. This is the first NFT-based token launch in a while since Doodle. For Moonbird, with a total of 9,999 NFTs and a floor price of 2.85 ETH, the market capitalization translates to roughly $120 million. Looking at previous NFT-based token launches like Pudgy and Anime, the NFT allocation was around 30% of the total token supply. If Moonbird follows a similar tokenomics model, the estimated FDV would be around $400 million, which is relatively high. The success of the launch will likely depend heavily on whether it can list on tier-1 exchanges such as Binance or Upbit. If it fails to secure tier-1 listings, similar to Doodle’s listing, there will be insufficient liquidity to absorb selling pressure, making it difficult to defend the token price. With Moonbird NFTs now priced over $12,000 each, the safest way to acquire tokens with minimal risk is through Kaito Yapping. However, caution is advised, as none of the NFT-related projects onboarded through Kaito have performed well so far.

Monad Airdrop Checker Launched

• Monad is an L1 blockchain aiming to achieve 10,000 TPS through parallel EVM execution.

• The project has been preparing its mainnet for over three years and has raised $244 million from well-known VCs such as Paradigm and Electric Capital.

• Recently, following the Monad mainnet and token TGE announcement, MON token trading has been supported on Hyperliquid and Binance Pre-Market.

• On October 14, Monad also launched a checker tool to allow users to see whether they are eligible to receive the airdrop, although the exact airdrop amounts are not yet disclosed.

[Comments] The airdrop checker for Monad, one of the most anticipated L1 projects of the year, has been released. With the mainnet launch approaching, the team plans to distribute tokens to 5,500 Monad community members and 225,000 members of the broader crypto community. The Monad team appears to have deliberately set a wide eligibility range for the MON token airdrop. Even individuals who previously had no interest in Monad are likely to take notice if they receive an airdrop, which seems to be a strategic move to attract real ecosystem participants. The exact airdrop amounts are scheduled to be announced on November 3, with the mainnet launch and MON token TGE expected around the same time.

Farcaster 10% Deposit Bonus Event

• The Base-chain social platform Farcaster has launched a USDC deposit bonus event on the BASE chain.

• Users who deposit USDC for 10 weeks, earning 1% interest per week, can accumulate a total of 10% interest.

• Each participant can receive up to $500 in rewards, so depositing $5,000 maximizes efficiency.

• Farcaster has raised $180 million from VCs including Paradigm and A16Z, so barring any hacks, the platform has sufficient capacity to pay out rewards reliably.

[Comments] The Farcaster USDC deposit bonus event, which offered an additional 10% reward, ended just one day after it started. While the exact reason for running this event is unclear, participating allowed users to earn stable rewards through USDC and potentially become eligible for a future Farcaster airdrop. It’s important to note that, regardless of how much USDC is deposited, the maximum reward per person was capped at $500, so depositing $5,000 was the most efficient approach. The event is currently closed, but if any new announcements regarding similar events are made in the future, it’s recommended to participate as quickly as possible.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

AZTEC Testnet Validator

• Aztec is a ZK-Rollup L2 that provides privacy using zero-knowledge proofs.

• The project has raised $119.1 million from top-tier VCs including A16Z, Paradigm, and Consensys.

• The testnet is currently live, and users can prove they are human via ZKPassport and run a Validator to earn a special Discord role.

• Running a Validator requires KYC, the technical entry barrier is high, and the number of participants is limited. Because of this and the exclusive Discord role reward, the incentive is expected to be meaningful.

[Comments] Although Aztec is an L2, it aligns well with the current privacy-focused metaverse trend and has received significant investment, so its token is expected to perform well once launched. Currently, Aztec is running its own testnet, but simply executing transactions is unlikely to qualify users for a potential future token airdrop. However, running a Validator, which has a high technical barrier and is not widely done, could be recognized as a meaningful contribution, potentially making participants eligible for a token airdrop when the mainnet launches.

In Uncommonlab Weekly Alpha, we compile and share newly emerging crypto alpha insights each week.

1. Weekly Issue

1. Response after the Yala Hack

• On September 14, the price of YU, Yala’s stablecoin that is redeemable 1:1 with USDC, suddenly dropped, triggering a depeg.

• A postmortem revealed that the hacker exploited a temporary key during the approved bridge deployment process to set up an unauthorized cross-chain and illegally minted a total of $30M worth of YU.

• The hacker then sold $7.71M worth of YU, stealing funds equivalent to 1,636 ETH. Immediately after the incident, Yala suspended its Convert and Bridge functions, which enabled the recovery of the remaining $22M worth of YU.

• On September 23, the team announced that YU would be fully restored and redeemable 1:1 with USDC again, clarifying that the root cause was mismanagement of the temporary key and not an inherent issue with the protocol itself.

• Subsequently, YU successfully recovered to $1 and completed its 1:1 peg with USDC, with Yala returning to normal operations.

[Comments] The depeg of YU against USDC occurred due to a temporary key exploit at the Bitcoin-based stablecoin protocol Yala. The damage, estimated at $7.71M, was relatively significant. However, since the incident was not caused by a direct vulnerability in the Yala protocol itself, there appears to be no fundamental issue as long as the YU–USDC peg is restored. By the recovery date of September 23, YU had successfully regained its $1 peg, and both liquidity and bridge functionality had returned to normal, resolving most issues. That said, as interest in stablecoin deposits continues to grow, it’s important to remember that risks such as depegs and hacks are always present on-chain, and should be factored into any decision-making.

2. After Aster Token TGE

• On September 17, Aster, a leading BNB-based PerpDEX, conducted the TGE of its native token $ASTER.

• Initially, $ASTER could only be traded within the Aster platform itself, and with withdrawals not supported until October 1 as per the official notice, the token couldn’t be listed on exchanges. As a result, its price failed to break above $0.1 in the early stage.

• However, after Binance founder CZ posted a screenshot of the Aster exchange, Aster began to be perceived as the “Chinese Hyperliquid,” and the $ASTER price quickly climbed to $0.5.

• The rapid price increase led the team to open withdrawals earlier than planned, on September 19 instead of October 1.

• As CZ continued to highlight Aster, the $ASTER token eventually surged to $2, reaching a $20B FDV.

[Comments] Following Hyperliquid’s success, interest in PerpDEXs has grown significantly. While $ASTER launched at only $0.07 on TGE day, CZ’s repeated positive mentions of the exchange helped shape the narrative of “China’s Hyperliquid,” driving the token price up more than 20x within a week to $2. Some speculate that CZ is strategically supporting Aster to counter Hyperliquid’s growing market share in the PerpDEX space. Given his resources and his recent return to Binance, that possibility doesn’t seem far-fetched.

2. Notable Projects

1. Sentient

• Sentient is a blockchain-based open-source AI project.

• It has raised a total of $85M from top-tier VCs such as Founders Fund, Pantera, and Framework.

• Its core features include: GRID: a system that combines and coordinates multiple models, AI agents, and data streams to function as a form of distributed intelligence. Sentient Chat: an interface similar to ChatGPT that allows users to interact with AI directly.

• Recently, Sentient was onboarded to Kaito Mindshare, which has increased speculation around the possibility of a token launch.

[Comments] Former Polygon Co-Founder Sandeep Nailwal is also a Co-Founder and core member of Sentient. Under his involvement, the project has successfully raised $85M from leading investors such as Founders Fund, Pantera, and Framework. This is a very large funding amount for the crypto AI sector, suggesting that if Sentient were to launch a token, its valuation could be extremely high. With Sentient now listed on Kaito Mindshare, the chances of a token launch have risen even further. However, since the project currently does not have any direct token farming programs within its products, focusing on Yapping (community engagement/contributions) could potentially lead to greater rewards.

2. Tea, Coinlist Token Sale

• Tea is a network designed to address the “Nebraska problem” of OSS infrastructure, where the ecosystem has long depended on unpaid volunteers. Tea’s goal is to make open-source software sustainable by rewarding verified maintainers.

• In 2021, Tea raised $7M in a Pre-Seed round at an FDV of $60M. In 2022, it raised $10M in a Seed round at an FDV of $130M.

• However, the upcoming Coinlist token sale is set at an FDV of $50M, even lower than the Pre-Seed valuation, with 100% token unlock at TGE—a condition that has attracted strong interest from participants.

• That said, Tea’s tokenomics allocate 28% of the supply to airdrops, and with the Coinlist sale also fully unlocked, a significant amount of sell pressure is expected. This could make it difficult for the token to hold its price in the early phase.

[Comments] Tea will conduct its token sale on Coinlist. The sale terms are more favorable than the Pre-Seed round, and with 100% unlock at TGE, demand for participation is expected to be very high. Especially in the current bullish crypto market environment, many tokens with similar TGE conditions have performed well, which could further increase demand for Tea’s sale. However, given Tea’s tokenomics, a large amount of airdropped tokens will also unlock at TGE. Unless the token lists on an exchange with enough liquidity to absorb this sell pressure, there’s a real risk of early losses. Moreover, it’s unclear how much time will pass between the Coinlist sale and the eventual exchange listing, which adds another layer of risk participants should carefully consider.

3. Growing Interest in the Robotics Sector

• Following AI, the robotics sector has been drawing increasing attention.

• In September, robotics-related tokens recorded an average gain of 25.6%, and CoinMarketCap even created a dedicated Robotics category.

• Among the top performers, PEAQ has shown strong momentum, while OpenMind is also highly anticipated after raising $20M from VCs including Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures.

• Mechanism Capital, founded by Andrew Kang, has been aggressively investing in robotics-related projects, regardless of whether they are Web3 or Web2.

[Comments] Interest is shifting beyond just AI to robotics combined with DePIN. Although projects producing actual robots are rare, many projects—such as PEAQ (infrastructure provider) or OpenMind (data provider)—stand to benefit indirectly from the sector’s growth. Despite being in its early stages, robotics has already seen massive investment and product development in Web2. It’s likely only a matter of time before we see large-scale investment and spotlight in the Web3 robotics sector as well.

3. UncommonLab Alpha

1. Spacecoin Airdrop Season 2

• Spacecoin is a Depin platform that aims to build a 5G network using multiple small satellites.

• The project is built on Creditcoin and is currently running Airdrop Season 2 for $CTC holders.

• Participation is available through Penguinbase, a new platform built on Creditcoin. By holding $CTC in an on-chain wallet and completing missions, participants accumulate points, which determine the size of their Spacecoin airdrop allocation.

• The season 2 end date, exact reward ratio, and snapshot date have not yet been confirmed.

[Comments] The reason Spacecoin is attracting attention is that, historically, token airdrops with snapshot support on Upbit have often led to KRW listings. In Spacecoin’s case, since Upbit is supporting the airdrop for $CTC holders, it’s worth keeping an eye on. Moreover, both Creditcoin and Spacecoin were title sponsors at KBW 2024 and 2025, actively working behind the scenes for potential listings on Korean exchanges. Therefore, since public interest is still relatively low, it seems advantageous to participate in Airdrop Season 2 for $CTC holders now—by completing missions to maximize the amount of Spacecoin rewards.

2. The Final Reward Program Before Opensea TGE

• Opensea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, is preparing to launch its own token, SEA.

• In order to qualify for a future SEA token airdrop, users must earn XP on Opensea through NFT purchases or token swaps.

• Currently, Opensea’s token swap fee is 0.85%, meaning it costs about $0.0085 to earn 1 XP.

• Reaching the highest tier (Tier 12) requires roughly $20,000 in spending, which is a substantial investment—so far, fewer than 10 people have reached Tier 12.

• Moreover, this isn’t a one-time event: the program will continue in seasonal cycles, making many participants uncertain whether it’s worth spending significant money on fees.

• Opensea has clarified that this XP distribution method is the final step before the SEA token TGE.

[Comments] If Opensea launches its token, it will have massive impact—enough to be listed on major exchanges immediately after TGE. Backed by $425M in funding from top VCs like Paradigm and a16z, the token valuation is expected to be very high. The token launch is confirmed, though it’s still unclear how much allocation will go to Opensea users. That said, it seems worthwhile to accumulate XP for the chance of an airdrop. Currently, XP can only be earned through NFT trading or token swaps, and the reward tier is determined by how much fee you’ve paid. There are 12 tiers in total, and the higher the tier, the more you’ve spent on Opensea—meaning the larger your likely reward. Generally, I prefer airdrop opportunities that require real spending, since the barrier to entry is higher and participation is smaller.

3. Aggressive New Coin Listings on Korean Exchanges Upbit and Bithumb

• Recently, Korea’s major exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, have been aggressively listing new coins.

• On Upbit, which has the largest trading volume, 20 coins were listed for KRW trading in September alone: WLFI, RED, FLOCK, WLD, OPEN, LINEA, HOLO, PUMP, AVNT, ZKC, TOSHI, LA, BARD, SUN, 0G, FLUID, XPL, MIRA, SUPER, and FF.

• Even considering the intensifying competition between Upbit and Bithumb, the frequency of these new coin listings is unprecedented.

• Notably, coins like 0G, MIRA, and FF were traded at 2–4 times the price of overseas exchanges at the time of listing, demonstrating the typical Korean exchange phenomenon: “once listed, the price tends to rise.”

[Comments] As competition between Upbit and Bithumb for exchange market share intensifies, the frequency of new coin listings has increased. As a result, many coins have successfully listed on Korean exchanges simultaneously with their TGE. However, most coins reach their peak price on the listing day and then decline steadily. This happens because the TGE price is higher than on overseas exchanges. When the airdrop claim time coincides with the listing time, depositing tokens to a Korean exchange involves processes and confirmation times that are longer than expected. Since circulating supply is low at that moment, prices can spike sharply. Overseas exchanges usually secure sufficient circulating supply via mechanisms like launchpools before trading starts, so such spikes rarely occur there. In a sense, this is a unique characteristic of Korean exchanges. Recent coins like 0G, MIRA, and FF repeatedly demonstrated this pattern, indirectly confirming that the market is overheating.

4. Earning APY Using Pendle PT

• Pendle is a yield tokenization protocol with YT, PT, and LP concepts.

• YT (Yield Token): A variable yield token. Buying YT grants the holder all yield and points until maturity, but it carries high risk.

• PT (Principal Token): A fixed yield token. At maturity, it can be redeemed 1:1 for the underlying asset. It carries low risk and is popular among those seeking stability.

• LP (Liquidity Provision): By providing liquidity, users can earn additional returns through trading fees and PENDLE incentives.

• Recently, news that Falcon YT buyers made substantial profits has increased demand for YT, which in turn has pushed the PT rates for GAIB and USDai close to 40% APY.

[Comments] Pendle is a DeFi protocol that separates yield-generating assets into principal tokens (PT) and yield tokens (YT) for tradable purposes. Recently, high demand for YT has driven PT APYs to very high levels. For those seeking stable returns, purchasing PT is a sound investment strategy. YT, on the other hand, can generate large profits for some, but it can converge to zero at maturity, meaning poor TGE outcomes could result in losses. As more people purchase YT to chase large gains, YT demand rises, boosting PT rates to near 40% in some cases. Personally, in this environment, I recommend focusing on PT or LP rather than buying potentially overvalued YT.

• This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Investments in cryptocurrencies and digital assets carry high risks, so please exercise caution and conduct your own research before making any decisions.

• All research comments reflect the views of Uncommon Lab research interns and do not constitute financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend trading any specific asset.

1. The Significance of Being a KBW Sponsor

Participating as a KBW sponsor is very different from simply attending the event as a speaker.

Even the smaller sponsorship tiers are known to cost anywhere from $1k to $50k, while major sponsorship packages can reach over $100k

This means that projects appearing on the sponsor list are not just attending for exposure—they are making a deliberate investment with the clear intention of entering the Korean market and pursuing an exchange listing.

In short, projects that are willing to pay significant sums to secure a KBW sponsorship demonstrate strong commitment and sufficient capital, making them highly likely candidates for Korean exchange listings. For this reason, the sponsor lineup serves as an important indicator when predicting which projects may succeed in getting listed in Korea.

2. The KBW Sponsor List

In the previous part, we examined projects with a high likelihood of listing on Korean exchanges based on the KBW speaker lineup. In this second part, we focus on the more direct indicator—the sponsor list—and analyze the listing potential of projects that invested in sponsorship.

Selection Criteria

• Regardless of TGE status, any project with at least some possibility of token issuance was considered.

• Projects such as $SUI and $OPNE, whose tokens are already listed on both of Korea’s major exchanges (Upbit and Bithumb), were excluded.

• Entities not directly related to tokens, such as VCs, media outlets, and banks, were also excluded.

Note: The sponsor list used here is based on the projects published on the KBW official website as of September 1. Any projects added afterward were not included in this analysis.

2-1. Official Conference Partners

The title of Official Conference Partner is awarded to projects that provide the highest level of sponsorship at KBW.

As will be explained later, one of last year’s Official Conference Partner projects, Movement, successfully listed on all major Korean exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone—at the same time as its TGE.

For this reason, projects sponsoring as Official Conference Partners this year are also highly likely to achieve listings on Korean exchanges concurrently with their TGE.

Among the projects on the list, SUI will be excluded since it has already been listed on all Korean exchanges, including Upbit and Bithumb. Instead, we will focus on Stable and 0G.

STABLE

• Stable is a stablecoin-focused Layer 1 that uses USDT as the transaction fee token.

• It aims to build a financial infrastructure platform capable of delivering stable and fast payment services, and has raised $28M in funding from investors such as Bitfinex, HackVC, and Franklin Templeton.

• On Stable, USDT is used as the native gas token, and since no staking or deposit campaigns have been announced yet, the timeline for token issuance remains uncertain.

• However, if such announcements are made, the likelihood of a listing on Korean exchanges would be very high.

0G

• 0G is a decentralized, AI-focused Layer 1 blockchain.

• It positions itself as a modular AI platform with high performance, scalability, and transparency, and has raised $75M from investors including HackVC, Delphi Ventures, and OKX.

• In addition, through node sales and OTC token sales, the project has secured a total of $359M, which is being used to build out its own AI ecosystem.

• The 0G token is expected to undergo its TGE alongside the mainnet launch in September, which is highly likely to coincide with the KBW period.

2-2. Title Sponsors

Title Sponsors can be considered the next tier of sponsorship after Official Conference Partners in terms of scale.

Last year, Sahara AI participated as a Title Sponsor at KBW and successfully listed on Korean exchanges simultaneously with its TGE.

Accordingly, we have identified the projects among this year’s Title Sponsors that are most likely to achieve a Korean exchange listing.

However, we will exclude Bitcoin mining company AmericanBTC, venture capital firm HackVC, and Doge, which is already listed on domestic exchanges.

PEAQ

• Peaq is a Layer 1 blockchain that connects and tokenizes machines and devices used across various industries such as energy, mobility, telecommunications, and agriculture, creating a machine economy.

• It has raised a total of $23.5M from investors including Borderless Capital, Spartan Group, DWF Labs, and Animoca Brands.

• The PEAQ token is traded on Bithumb, Bitget, and Gate, with a market cap of $79M and an FDV of $308M.

• The reason Peaq participates as a KBW Title Sponsor, beyond general marketing in the Korean market, is likely to pursue a listing on Upbit.

GAIA

• Gaia is an infrastructure platform that allows anyone to easily create and deploy personalized AI agents.

• It has raised a total of $20M from investors including Mirana Ventures, Mantle, and ConsenSys.

• The GAIA token is traded on Kraken, Bitget, and MEXC, with a market cap of $17M and an FDV of $105M.

• Given its relatively low market cap compared to the investment size, if Gaia succeeds in listing on a Korean exchange through KBW participation, it is expected to experience significant price appreciation.

ORBT

• The project generates revenue through RWA and DeFi lending markets based on a modular stablecoin.

• Since the website has not been launched yet, detailed information about the project is not available. However, it is participating as a KBW Title Sponsor.

• It is expected that full-scale promotion of the project will begin around KBW 2025.

TON

• Ton is an open-source Layer 1 blockchain.

• It was originally developed under the name Telegram Open Network within Telegram, but due to regulatory issues, direct development was halted, and the TON Foundation was established to continue the project independently.

• By integrating wallet and payment functions within the Telegram app, Ton enables payments for most Telegram services using TON.

• The TON coin is traded on Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Bithumb, with a market cap of $8B and an FDV of $16B. The last major exchange remaining for listing is Upbit.

• Having participated consistently as a KBW sponsor since last year, the listing seems inevitable; it’s likely only a matter of time.

SPACECOIN

• Spacecoin is a DePIN project aiming to build a global 5G internet infrastructure via satellites.

• It is built on Creditcoin (CTC), which is already listed on Upbit, and plans to airdrop SPACE tokens to CTC token holders.

• Upbit has announced that it will support the SPACE airdrop for members holding CTC.

• While exchanges often support airdrops without listing the token, Spacecoin’s participation as a KBW Title Sponsor makes it relatively more likely that the project will eventually achieve a listing as well.

2-3. Diamond Sponsors

Being a Diamond Sponsor can be considered the final sponsorship tier at KBW that is meaningfully related to potential listings on Korean exchanges.

However, since Tron and Sahara AI are already listed on all major Korean exchanges, including Upbit and Bithumb, we will omit detailed explanations.

2-4. Gold Sponsors

From the Gold Sponsor tier onward, the lower sponsorship cost appears to correspond with a sharply reduced likelihood of listing on Korean exchanges.

Participation as Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Copper sponsors can generally be considered unrelated to potential Korean exchange listings.

Therefore, we will briefly cover only the projects that still show some possibility of listing.

Among the current Gold Sponsors, Uxlink, Chiliz, and Sign are already listed on Korea’s Upbit and Bithumb, leaving Enso and Babyboomtoken as the relevant projects.

ENSO

• Enso is a Web3 development platform that eliminates the complexities of blockchain integration, helping developers build products more easily.

• It has raised a total of $9.2M from investors including Polychain, Spartan, and Multicoin.

• Having already completed a $5M token sale on Coinlist, a token TGE is expected soon.

• Given that Enso held a Korean meetup at the Hashed roundtable just before KBW and is participating as a sponsor, it appears to be highly interested in a listing on Korean exchanges.

BABYBOOMTOKEN

• Babyboomtoken has a blockchain-based reward system designed to address the global decline in birth rates.

• The BBT token is traded on Mexc, Gate, and BingX, with a market cap of $2.15M and an FDV of $133M.

• It is essentially a meme-like token, and its small market cap makes it unlikely to meet the listing criteria for Korean exchanges.

2-5. Silver Sponsors

Similar to Gold Sponsors, Silver Sponsors are not strongly associated with potential listings on Korean exchanges.

Therefore, only a brief overview will be provided. Tokens such as LayerZero and Avalanche are already listed on Korean exchanges and are thus excluded.

SOON

• The SOON token is traded on Bitget, Mexc, Gate, and Kucoin, with a market cap of $80M and an FDV of $270M.

• For the Korean market, it is available on Upbit BTC market and Bithumb KRW market.

• Upbit occasionally lists coins from the BTC market onto the KRW market—a process referred to as a “side listing.” Since SOON could be a candidate for such a side listing, it is worth keeping an eye on, even though its status as a Silver Sponsor may not be particularly significant.

PAY PROTOCOL

• The PCI token is traded on Bithumb, Korbit, Bitget, and HTX, with a market cap of $101M and an FDV of $183M.

• It was previously listed on all major Korean exchanges, but trading support was suspended after the Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA) cited that Pay Protocol had failed to complete real-name verification accounts and virtual asset business registration.

• Danal filed an injunction, but it was dismissed, and following DAXA policy, PCI was only able to be relisted on Bithumb and Korbit one year after delisting.

• Recently, with crypto-friendly policies being promoted in the U.S., Pay Protocol—whose business had previously been scaled back due to regulations—is becoming active again, including filing patents for KRW stablecoins, suggesting the possibility of additional exchange listings.

IONET

• The IO token is traded on Binance, Bybit, and Coinbase, with a market cap of $103M and an FDV of $412M.

• For the Korean market, it is available on Upbit BTC market and Bithumb KRW market.

• Similar to SOON, since it is listed on the BTC market, it qualifies as a candidate for a side listing, meaning a KRW market listing could happen at any time.

2-6. Bronze Sponsors

The majority of projects fall under the Bronze Sponsor tier.

Similar to Gold and Silver sponsors, Bronze Sponsors are not strongly associated with potential listings on Korean exchanges and appear to participate primarily as KBW booth sponsors.

BITLAYER

• The BTR token is traded on Bitget, Gate, and Kraken, with a market cap of $13M and an FDV of $50M.

• It raised $25M at a $300M valuation from well-known VCs including Polychain Capital, Franklin Templeton, ABCDE, and GSR, but has shown weak performance since its TGE.

• Bitlayer has been attending KBW consistently since 2024, even before its token launch. This year, its participation is expected to be strongly aimed at listing on Korean exchanges and promoting the project.

SONIC

• The S token is traded on Binance, Bybit, Coinbase, and Bithumb, with a market cap of $874M and an FDV of $978M.

• Among the high-volume exchanges, Upbit in Korea is the only major market where it is not yet listed. The project appears to be focusing its efforts on KBW sponsorship and meetups to target this listing.

OPENLEDGER

• OpenLedger is a platform for monetizing data models and AI agents.

• It has raised a total of $8M from investors including Polychain Capital, Borderless Capital, and Hashkey Capital.

• Upon its TGE, the project successfully listed on Binance as well as Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb, and is currently traded with a market cap of $300M and an FDV of $1.4B.

GAIB

• GAIB is a GPU tokenization platform that connects AI infrastructure with DeFi, creating revenue-generating synthetic assets called AID backed by physical GPU collateral.

• It has raised a total of $15M from investors including Hashed, HackVC, Faction, and Amber Group.

• Since the Korean VC Hashed and HackVC—commonly seen in projects listing in Korea—participated in the investment, there is potential for a listing on Upbit or Bithumb after the TGE.

• Additionally, Upbit had previously refrained from listing stable-related tokens following the collapse of LUNA’s stablecoin TERRA, but recently listed USDe’s governance token ENA, indicating a shift in policy. This suggests that GAIB’s governance token could also potentially be listed after its TGE.

XION

• The XION token is traded on Bybit, Bitget, and Gate, with a market cap of $36M and an FDV of $186M.

• Since it has not yet succeeded in listing on Korean exchanges after its TGE, it is likely to continue pursuing this.

• Other than being an L1 blockchain, there are no notable features, and additional exchange listings appear necessary to drive the token price higher.

ANOMA

• Anoma is a platform for building a Web3 decentralized operating system focused on intent-centric applications.

• It has raised a total of $57.75M from investors including Polychain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Electric Capital, and CMCC Global.

• Although its sponsorship tier is not particularly high relative to the investment size, sudden listings at TGE—similar to Newton Protocol’s NEWT token—cannot be ruled out.

• The token ticker has been confirmed as $XAN, and detailed tokenomics have been released, suggesting that a listing may be approaching soon.

METIS

• The METIS token is traded on Binance, Coinbase, OKX, and Bithumb, with a market cap of $98M and an FDV of $150M.

• Since it is already listed on almost all major exchanges, Upbit listing appears to be its final target.

• Given the recent overall weakness in the L2 sector, METIS has not performed well, so the project will likely aim for price appreciation through its Upbit listing.

SOMNIA

• The SOMI token is traded on Binance, Bybit, Bitget, and MEXC, with a market cap of $262M and an FDV of $1.64B.

• The token recently conducted its TGE, and no unlocked supply is expected to enter the market in the near term.

• However, given the high FDV relative to its market cap, there is potential for a Korean exchange listing in the future to increase liquidity in line with the token unlock schedule.

2-7. Copper Sponsors

Copper Sponsors represent the lowest tier of sponsorship, with the smallest contribution amounts.

As a result, the likelihood of Korean exchange listings among Copper Sponsors is generally the lowest. However, since exchange listing criteria can change depending on market conditions, it is still worth keeping an eye on promising projects.

BOUNDLESS

• Boundless is a general-purpose ZK protocol developed by RISC Zero.

• It conducted a $4M token sale via the Kaito launchpad and is preparing for its mainnet launch and token TGE.

• Expectations for Boundless are high, especially since its competitor, Succinct’s PROVE token, listed on Binance and Upbit simultaneously with its TGE and surpassed an FDV of $1B.

• To pursue a Korean exchange listing, Boundless plans to hold its own side party during KBW.

ZIRCUIT

• The ZRC token is traded on Bybit, Bitget, and Bithumb, with a market cap of $55M and an FDV of $251M.

• Backed by investors including YZi Labs, Mirana, and Amber Group, the project has developed an EVM-compatible ZK rollup L2 and completed its TGE.

• With approximately two months until the next token unlock, the project is likely preparing for listings on additional Korean exchanges beyond Bithumb to help maintain the token price.

Up to this point, we have summarized the 2025 KBW sponsors that have at least some potential for listing on Korean exchanges.

3. Projects That Successfully Listed in KRW After Participating as 2024 KBW Sponsors

Based on the previous analysis, to identify projects that successfully achieved KRW listings after participating as KBW sponsors, it is useful to look at precedents from KBW 2024.

In the promotional materials for KBW 2024, Official Conference Partners, Title Sponsors, and Gold Sponsors were featured in the main article images. Among them, the largest sponsorship tier, Official Conference Partners, included two projects: Sui and Movement.

At the time, Sui had already been listed on all Korean exchanges, while Movement participated as a sponsor before its token launch.

However, three months after KBW 2024, in December, Movement conducted its token TGE and on the same day successfully listed on all major Korean exchanges—including Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone—achieving a simultaneous listing.

The Title Sponsors lineup included Aptos, Tron, Chiliz, Dop, Creditcoin, Sahara AI, Presto, and Ton.

Excluding Aptos, Tron, Chiliz, Creditcoin—which were already listed on Korean exchanges—and the VC Presto, the only project that successfully achieved a new listing on Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone simultaneously with its TGE after KBW was Sahara AI.

Among Title Sponsors, the projects with potential for listing were Dop, Sahara AI, and Ton. Since only one of the three achieved a new Korean exchange listing, the likelihood is not high, but it is not impossible.

For the largest Gold Sponsors, the projects included Orbs, Flare Network, and Ripple. Both Ripple and Orbs had already supported KRW trading on Upbit and Bithumb, and Flare Network was tradable on Bithumb, so there were no new listings.

From this, it can be inferred that the larger the sponsorship tier at KBW, the higher the potential for a listing on Korean exchanges.

4. List of 2025 KBW Projects with High Potential for KRW Listings

Based on the analysis so far, we have compiled a list of 2025 KBW projects that are likely to achieve KRW listings on Korean exchanges.

1. 0G

• 0G secured the largest sponsorship tier at KBW, the Official Conference Partners.

• Projects backed by Hack VC have generally shown a high probability of listing on Upbit.

• Node-based projects tend to achieve Korean exchange listings simultaneously with their TGE with remarkable ease.

• According to 0G’s CEO, Michael Heinrich, the project signed the top sponsorship contract at KBW for three consecutive years, which he noted was the largest ever among all projects. This suggests that 0G likely received benefits related to Korean exchange listings.

• Although not confirmed, some believe that 0G’s token TGE may coincide with the KBW period.

2. Peaq & Gaia

• Both projects participated as Title Sponsors, the tier just below Official Conference Partners, and also served as official KBW speakers.

• Both Peaq and Gaia have relatively low market caps, suggesting that if they were listed on Upbit, their price could see significant upside. However, their probability of listing is not as high as 0G.

• The key difference is that Gaia has not yet listed in Korea, whereas Peaq is already tradable on Bithumb, making Gaia a higher-risk, higher-reward option compared to Peaq.

3. TON

• Following its participation as a Title Sponsor in KBW 2024, TON is again participating as a Title Sponsor in KBW 2025.

• With Upbit being the only major Korean exchange where it is not yet listed, its participation appears to be aimed primarily at securing an Upbit listing.

• TON, ranked 22nd by market cap, is a well-established project, so the listing itself seems to be only a matter of time.

4. Spacecoin (Creditcoin)

• Spacecoin is the first DePIN project on Creditcoin L1.

• Creditcoin participated as a KBW 2024 sponsor, while Spacecoin is participating as a KBW 2025 sponsor, preparing for entry into the Korean market.

• Holders of CTC (Creditcoin) will receive 5% of Spacecoin’s total supply in Season 1, and a larger portion in Season 2.

• Major Korean exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone, officially support this airdrop.

Other projects that may take longer but are likely to eventually list include Sonic, as well as Ionet and Soon, which are already on Upbit’s BTC market and therefore have high potential for KRW listings, and personally, Boundless. Many projects participating as sponsors are potential candidates for Korean exchange listings.

Predicting KRW listings on Korean exchanges is inherently uncertain—unless you are part of the exchange team, it is impossible to know, and market conditions can change at any time.

However, based on past cases, projects that participate as KBW sponsors, especially those with larger sponsorship tiers, have often succeeded in listing on Korean exchanges.

Therefore, this summary was prepared to serve as a reference before KBW officially begins.

By using this information to anticipate and prepare for projects with a high likelihood of Korean exchange listings, investors may find opportunities to achieve significant returns.

• This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Cryptocurrency and digital asset investments carry high risks, so please conduct thorough research and make careful decisions.

• All research comments reflect the views of Uncommon Lab research interns and do not constitute financial or legal advice, nor do they recommend the purchase or sale of any specific asset.