‍Trump Pardons Binance Founder CZ Former U.S. President Donald Trump has officially pardoned Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, founder of Binance. This follows CZ's resignation as CEO and a four-month prison sentence for violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws. The White House stated the pardon corrects what they called the Biden Administration's "war on cryptocurrency," noting the prosecution proceeded without fraud allegations or identifiable victims. The pardon may signal a more lenient regulatory stance towards crypto, potentially restoring the U.S.'s image as a tech leader and boosting industry morale.
‍MoreMarkets Partners with FalconX to Offer Institutional-Grade Yield Strategies for XRP MoreMarkets, a transparent crypto yield platform, has partnered with FalconX, a leading digital asset prime brokerage, to enhance its XRP account offerings. This collaboration integrates institutional-grade credit and derivatives infrastructure, expanding access to sophisticated financial strategies for XRP holders. The partnership allows MoreMarkets to leverage FalconX's robust platform for advanced yield strategies and structured products, including the new XRP Eagle Account and XRP Institutional Account. This initiative aims to democratize access to institutional-level returns within the XRP ecosystem, backed by FalconX's institutional standards for execution and risk management.
‍ROBA Launches Open Robotics Ecosystem Fueled by $ROBA Token ROBA, "The People's Robotics Platform," has launched its open, interoperable robotics ecosystem. Aiming to disrupt the $218 billion robotics industry, ROBA simplifies robot creation with no-code enablement and ensures full ownership of data, assets, and revenue. The $ROBA utility token powers a decentralized creator economy, allowing users to build, train, share, and monetize robot designs and assets. Contributors earn $ROBA tokens through automated royalties, and the token also governs the platform via RobaDAO. Approximately 30% of the token supply is allocated to ecosystem rewards. ROBA's vision, "Design-to-Doorstep Robotics," aims to make complex robotics accessible personal technology, supported by partners like NextWave Incubator and Cogitent Ventures.
‍Bitcoin Embraces EVM dApps: Maestro and Midl Forge Native Integration Maestro and Midl are enabling EVM-compatible dApps and smart contracts to run directly on the Bitcoin network, bypassing the need for bridges. Midl's EVM environment allows Solidity smart contracts and familiar EVM applications to deploy on Bitcoin, unlocking new functionalities like AMMs and lending protocols. Maestro's infrastructure, including its Symphony indexer, is deeply integrated into Midl's validator nodes, providing developers with native mempool awareness and real-time access to Bitcoin chain state. This synergy offers developers a faster deployment path and users an enhanced experience with native Bitcoin wallets, fees, and token interactions. "This collaboration accelerates Bitcoin adoption," stated Marvin Bertin, Maestro Co-founder and CEO. "We ensure Midl-powered applications are secured by Bitcoin finality." Midl aims to build the largest token ecosystem on Bitcoin, leveraging its significant native liquidity.
‍Studio Chain Mainnet Launched: Revolutionizing Web3 Entertainment and Gaming The Karrat Foundation has announced the mainnet launch of Studio Chain, a Layer 2 blockchain designed for entertainment and Web3 gaming. Built on Arbitrum Orbit and Caldera, it uses $KARRAT as its native gas token. AMGI Studios, with veterans from Pixar and Disney, is the launch partner, featuring their game *My Pet Hooligan*. A key innovation is Resiliency Nodes (RNs), a staking mechanism for network security, requiring 5 million $KARRAT to activate. Participants can earn up to 20% APY in Year 1. Studio Chain aims to provide high-performance infrastructure, democratized funding, tokenized IP, and transparent governance, fostering seamless integration with traditional media and user-friendly Web3 experiences.
‍WebX Accelerates Bitcoin Strategy with HK$30 Million Partnership Hong Kong-listed WebX International Holdings Limited has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Pansemi (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., a partner of Bitcoin mining provider WhatsMiner. The HK$30 million deal over 24 months will boost WebX's cloud computing power and Bitcoin mining operations. This collaboration grants WebX preferred access to computing power at discounted rates, a key step in its "Bitcoin Accumulation Company" (BAC) strategy. WebX aims to achieve greater cost efficiency and supply stability in its global digital finance services. The company highlights its regulatory trust as a Hong Kong-listed entity and its role as a China liquidity gateway.
‍THORWallet Integrates dYdX for Mobile Decentralized Derivatives Trading THORWallet, a mobile-first self-custodial DeFi wallet, has integrated with dYdX, a leading decentralized perpetual trading protocol. This partnership allows users to trade on-chain perpetual futures directly within the THORWallet app, maintaining self-custody of assets. The integration enables seamless cross-chain deposits and leverages dYdX's custom Layer-1 blockchain for secure, decentralized trading. To celebrate, a $165,000 USDC prize pool is available through trading competitions. Users also benefit from dYdX's incentive programs, including monthly fee rebates in DYDX tokens and a $3 million monthly reward pool. This collaboration aims to advance decentralized derivatives into the mobile era, making DeFi more accessible and rewarding.
‍RedStone Integrates Kalshi Data for DeFi Expansion Oracle provider RedStone has integrated event-driven market data from Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated exchange, across over 110 blockchains. This partnership unlocks access to real-world prediction data, including elections and interest rate decisions, for DApps on networks like Ethereum and Solana. The integration aims to enhance DeFi primitives such as derivatives and lending markets by providing regulated and reliable information. This move is seen as a significant step towards bridging traditional finance and the decentralized world, with prediction markets potentially paving the way for mass DeFi adoption due to their simplicity and regulatory backing.
‍US Crypto Regulation: Navigating a Political Minefield The U.S. crypto industry faces intense political battles in Washington D.C. amid partisan tensions between Democrats and Republicans. A Democratic roundtable saw Senator Ruben Gallego warn crypto executives against aligning with the Republican Party, highlighting industry concerns over political leverage. Despite stated desires for a comprehensive market structure bill, disagreements over regulatory control (SEC vs. CFTC), consumer protection, and innovation versus risk mitigation are widening the chasm. This could lead to regulatory gridlock and hinder industry growth.
‍Ledger Nano Gen5: Redefining Crypto Security with a New Look and Name Ledger introduces the Nano Gen5, a redesigned hardware device featuring exclusive badges by Apple icon designer Susan Kare. The company is rebranding its hardware wallets as "signers" to clarify their function in securely authorizing blockchain transactions, not storing assets. Ledger Live will now be called "Ledger Wallet." This evolution aims to encourage more active engagement with digital assets. Key takeaways: • Redesigned Nano Gen5 with Susan Kare badges. • "Hardware wallet" rebranded to "signer." • Ledger Live becomes "Ledger Wallet." • Expanded capabilities for securing digital logins. • Focus on active crypto engagement.