NFTgators

Quick take:

The ETH, which is worth roughly $45 million currently, will be deployed over the next few years. 

Buterin said he is also exploring secure decentralized staking options that will allow even more capital from staking rewards to go towards open-source security and privacy tech.

The Ethereum Foundation will also continue to develop Ethereum, with the same goal in mind.

Vitalik Buterin has unveiled plans to put 16,384 ETH, roughly $45 million, towards open-source security and privacy tech. The funds will come from Vitalik’s personal holdings to outline his personal financial commitment to fund technologies he views as essential to the blockchain’s long-term mission.

According to Vitalik’s post on the X platform, the funds will be deployed over the next few years. He also plans to explore secure decentralized staking options that will allow even more capital from staking rewards to go towards open-source security and privacy tech.

“Ethereum everywhere” is nice, but the primary priority is “Ethereum for people who need it,” Vitalik wrote. “Not corposlop, but self-sovereignty, and the baseline infrastructure that enables cooperation without domination.”

The Ethereum Foundation will also continue to develop Ethereum, with the same goal in mind.

Vitalik, who believes more technology would be involve is certain that the technical layer is something that “we are in control of”. His goal is for project builders and their communities to be able to enjoy the autonomy and safety as a basic right that belongs to everyone.

“Open not in a bullshit ‘open means everyone has the right to buy it from us and use our API for $200/month’ way, but actually open, and secure and verifiable so that you know that your technology is working for you,” he said.

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Quick take:

The project has also raised an additional $50 million through Curated, the DeFi platform operated by Impossible Finance, as part of the $200 million fundraising set aside for Impossible.

A separate $200 million has also been set asideet aside for Coinlist, and begins next week.

The project is also planning more whitelist rounds to fill the remainder of its $1 billion raise.

Flying Tulip, the project behind the delta-neutral stablecoin ftUSD, has raised $75.5 million in two separate fundraisings. According to the report by The Block, Amber Group, Paper Ventures, and Fasanara Capital participated in a $25.5 million Series A token round at a valuation of $1 billion. The Series A round brings the total raised to $225 million.

The project has also so far raised $50 million through Curated, the DeFi platform operated by Impossible Finance, as part of the $200 million fundraising set aside for Impossible, according to Cronje.

The project has also set aside an additional $200 million for Coinlist whitelisting, with plans for more allocations planned to fill out the remainder of its $1 billion target. The latest funding follows Flying Tulip’s $200 million seed round announced in October. 

Flying Tulip has received soft commitments in the tune of $1.6 billion; however, there is only space for about $400 million to be filled, assuming Coinlist and Impossible Finance’s allocations are filled, according to Cronje.

Both platforms have already attracted interest in the tune of billions, which again points towards a possible case of oversubscription.

According to Cronje, all Flying Tulip (FT) tokens are priced at $0.10 for the allocations, with a capped fully-diluted value of $1 billion. The tokens can be redeemed fully on-chain for both public and private rounds, in what is dubbed a “perpetual put”.

According to Cronje’s description, a perpetual put allows investors to burn their tokens at any time, redeeming up to the original principal in the asset they contributed, like the ETH.

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Quick take:

The Exchange API Vault employs the same enterprise-grade security best practices for securing private keys, but adjusts them to facilitate seamless, low-latency trading and automated liquidity operations.

The API Key management tool also comes with integrated runtime remediation as a kill switch to shut out hackers in the event keys are compromised, and is fully auditable in real time.

Some of the crypto platforms already using the Exchange API Vault include leading market making platform, Flow Traders, eToro, Exodus, Flowdeesk, and Raise, among others.

Sodot, a crypto key management company specializing in self-hosted MPC and TEE products, has rolled out the Exchange API Vault, an enterprise-grade key management solution designed to be integrated with CEX trading infrastructure and secure billions of dollars in digital assets. 

The new API key management solution seeks to address the challenges of securely managing API keys used in crypto. Its full rollout comes amid rising cases of off-chain attacks leading to on-chain loss of funds, with the latest examples being Bybit (Safe), Swissborg (Kiln), and Dimo. Bybit’s hack saw attackers from North Korea steal about 400,000 ETH, equivalent to about $1.46 billionat the time.

Attackers have been taking advantage of some key weaknesses in the industry, including fragmentation. With institutional firms operating across multiple exchanges, venues, and vendors, they are forced to rely on hundreds of API keys used continuously by multiple automated systems. This exposes them to the risks associated with the fragmented nature of the industry.

Sodot seeks to address this challenge by employing the same enterprise-grade security best practices for securing private keys, but also adjusting them to facilitate seamless, low-latency trading and automated liquidity operations.

The company’s comprehensive solution for key management enables asset managers and market makers to orchestrate their crypto keys at the scale needed to support high-volume and low-latency trading.

The Exchange API Vault has also integrated runtime remediation as a kill switch to shut out hackers in the event keys are compromised, and is fully auditable in real time.

Some of the crypto platforms already using the Exchange API Vault include leading market making platform, Flow Traders, eToro, Exodus, Flowdeesk, and Raise, among others.

Commenting on the announcement, Laszlo Fodor, Head of Digital Assets Technology at Flow Traders, said in a statement: “Solutions like Sodot’s Exchange API Vault contribute to the trust across the digital asset ecosystem, which is an important driver for broader adoption and its underlying technological innovation. We are actively leveraging and supporting such solutions to continue to advance capital markets.”

Ido Sofer, CEO of Sodot, commented: “Flow Traders sets a high bar for how modern trading teams should operate. We’re proud to support that standard with our infrastructure products, and contribute to their important mission of driving efficiency and innovation across global financial markets.”

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Quick take:

Fund of funds, Cendana, was the biggest investor in the raise, with $15 million, according to a report by Fortune.

This is cofounders Salvador Gala and Mahesh Ramakrishnan’s second fund, and at $61.74 million, it is more than triple the size of their first fund.

The growth-oriented venture firm plans to use the capital to accelerate decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) projects focused on telescopes, solar energy, and more.

Escape Velocity, a growth-oriented crypto venture firm, has raised $61.74 million for its second fund. The fund closed in December and attracted some of the marquee crypto investors, including the likes of A16z’s Marc Andreessen and Micky Malka of Ribbit Capital.

According to the report by Fortune, Fund of funds, Cendana, was the biggest investor in the raise, with $15 million. 

The new fund is more than triple the size of Escape Velocity’s first fund of $20 million, announced in 2022, which attracted participation from the founders of Andreessen Horowitz, Multicoin, and Framework Ventures.

The firm’s activity in DePINs since its first fund has seen it invest in projects like the solar energy startups Daylight and Glow.

Although DePIN was popular when it first emerged as a major vector in crypto, it has since fizzled significantly, partially affected by the crypto bear market and the shift towards AI from the venture capital perspective.

However, Escape Velocity’s Ramakrishnan, who is one of the biggest staunch supporters of the segment, believes the future remains bright, telling Fortune that it’s only a matter of time before one of the main players breaks into the mainstream.

“A lot of what you’ve seen in the last three years are DePIN projects that have launched tokens before they have anything—they’re launching tokens on the basis of hype and on the basis of an idea,” he said.

According to information on its website, Escape Velocity is also looking to back startups in AI and Advanced Analytics, Health and Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing and Materials, Supply Chain and Logistics, and Fintech and Insuretech, among others.

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Quick take:

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev cited the current SEC leadership’s willingness to embrace innovation and facilitate experimentation with tokenization as a major boost to its plans.

He also thinks that the CLARITY Act, a crypto legislation currently in Congress, will play a crucial part in ensuring future SEC administrations continue the same path and write modern rules for embracing tokenized equities.

According to Tenev, legislation would also ensure that subsequent commissions cannot abandon or reverse the progress achieved by this SEC.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has unveiled the company’s plans for tokenizing U.S. securities in the coming months. The online trading platform has already rolled out more than 2,000 tokens representing U.S.-listed stocks to EU investors, but is now adding more features to enhance the trading experience.

“In the coming months, we’re planning to unlock 24/7 trading and DeFi access, which will allow investors to self-custody their stock tokens, with possibilities for lending, staking, and more,” said Tenev.

According to the post shared on the X platform, Tenev believes the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) will continue to play a pivotal role in bringing tokenized stocks to retail investors. 

Highlighting the progress made with major U.S. exchanges and clearinghouses announcing plans to tokenize equities, Tenev said it is inevitable that the US embraces the technology.

However, regulation will be key to implementing the plans. 

“Without regulatory clarity, such efforts are moot. Fortunately, we now have a timely opportunity,” he said. According to Tenev, the current SEC leadership’s willingness to embrace innovation and facilitate experimentation with tokenization is a major boost to its plans.

This progressive legislation is expected to continue into the foreseeable future, with the CLARITY Act at the heart of it. The CLARITY Act ensures future SEC administrations continue the same path and write modern rules for embracing tokenized equities.

The legislation will also ensure that subsequent commissions cannot abandon or reverse the progress achieved by this SEC.

Tokenized U.S. securities became a buzzword during 2025, with major crypto exchange platforms like Kraken, Gemini, and Bitrue rolling out tokenized stocks and ETFs. However, trading volumes are yet to peak compared to other assets like traditional cryptocurrencies and popular altcoins. 

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Quick take:

Plug and Pay runs on Oobit’s fully regulated payments stack, covering card issuing, settlement, KYC, AML, and risk workflows.

The new solution allows wallet teams to focus on product and users instead of infrastructure and regulation, cutting the time to market from months to just days.

Wallets can choose between white-labeled UI components or fully branded in wallet card experiences.

Oobit, the crypto payments-enabled mobile app, has introduced Plug and Pay, a turnkey embedded crypto payments solution that unlocks a new utility layer for wallet providers by enabling in-store and online crypto payments with the same simplicity and global acceptance people expect from everyday payments.

Built on Oobit’s fully regulated payments stack, covering card issuing, settlement, KYC, AML, and risk workflows, Plug and Pay allows wallet service teams to instantly power real-world crypto spending inside their own apps with a single integration and no payment stack to build.

The hassle-free integration enables teams to focus on product and users instead of infrastructure and regulation, cutting the time to market from months to just days. Wallets can choose between white-labeled UI components or fully branded in wallet card experiences.

With Oobit operating the full compliance and payments flow end-to-end, wallet partners do not need to secure issuing banks, manage regulatory approvals, or build KYC systems. This also allows them to expand functionality without expanding operational risk.

The Plug and Pay solution is designed to support real-world payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay, where available, enabling spending across hundreds of millions of global merchant stores where Visa is accepted.

According to the announcement, Plug and Pay supports users across more than 100 countries with localized onboarding and payment flows.

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Quick take:

The announcement makes Oobit the first payments network to make USA₮ spendable in more than 100 million merchants where Visa is accepted.

The announcement also comes on the heels of Oobit’s launch in the US, announced earlier this month.

Issued by Tether America, USA₮ launched in November as the first stablecoin token designed to comply with the federal regulations of the U.S. GENIUS Act.

Oobit, the crypto payments network enhancing crypto utility by enabling daily usability, has announced support for Tether’s newly launched USD-backed stablecoin USA₮. The announcement makes Oobit the first payments network to make USA₮ spendable in more than 100 million merchants where Visa is accepted.

Issued by Tether America, USA₮ launched in November as the first stablecoin token designed to comply with the federal regulations of the U.S. GENIUS Act. 

The announcement also comes on the heels of Oobit’s launch in the US, announced earlier this month. According to the announcement shared with NFTgators, the partnership will enable U.S. users to transact securely and efficiently with any physical or online retailer that supports Visa credit and debit card payments.  

Tether sees this partnership as a key milestone as it bids to transform American commerce with more efficient, stablecoin-based payments. 

The two companies will collaborate to integrate USA₮ in Oobit’s payments network, enabling U.S. users to transact securely and efficiently with any physical or online retailer that supports Visa credit and debit card payments.  

Amram Adar, CEO of Oobit, CEO of Oobit, said: “The Digital Dollar is only real when you can buy something with it. Tether delivered the regulatory foundation with USA₮. We deliver the moment of use. This is the final piece that turns stablecoins into everyday money in the United States.”

Tether has also partnered with Achorage Digital, the first US-regulated crypto bank, to make it simpler for users to send USA₮ from the Oobit app, and the funds are immediately converted into fiat and transferred into the retailer’s U.S. bank account.

Oobit’s global payments network through DePay has already launched in multiple jurisdictions around the world, including Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, and South Africa. It has also partnered with leading crypto wallet service providers like MetaMask, Phantom, and Trust Wallet, as it continues to scale its crypto support network.

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Quick take:

Tenbin plans to use the funding to build its “next-gen” tokenized asset infrastructure by making on-chain assets faster, more liquid, and “more capable than their off-chain counterparts.”

Some of the assets it seeks to bring on-chain include gold, FX, and commodities.

The announcement comes as the value of tokenized real-world assets excluding stablecoins topped $33 billion in 2025.

Tenbin, a real-world asset tokenization platform looking to bring capital markets on-chain, has raised $7 million in a funding round led by Galaxy Digital. The fundraising also attracted participation from Wintermute Ventures, FalconX, GSR, Nascent, Variant, Archetype, Bankless Ventures, among others.

According to the press release seen by NFtgators, Tenbin is building a “next-generation” tokenized asset infrastructure by making on-chain assets faster, more liquid, and “more capable than their off-chain counterparts.”

Some of the assets earmarked to debut on the platform first include gold, FX, and commodities.

Although there are several platforms focused on tokenizing real-world assets, Tenbin believes most tokenized assets are structurally inferior to their off-chain equivalents, with limited utility and scalability.

“Today’s tokenization models wrap assets without rebuilding the market infrastructure that gives these assets utility,” Tenbin wrote in a press release seen by NFTgators. “As a result, tokenized gold, FX, and commodities often trade with shallow liquidity, delayed settlement times, and on-chain price distortions that limit their usefulness as collateral or store-of-value. Tenbin was launched to solve this.”

“What impressed us about Tenbin is their approach. They’re not wrapping assets, they’re rebuilding the entire issuance and liquidity stack for on-chain markets. We believe Tenbin will play a foundational role in the evolution of on-chain capital markets,” said Will Nuelle, General Partner of Galaxy Ventures.

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Quick take:

The company plans to use the fresh funding to continue building and scaling its products as it expands its global network.

The funding brings the total raised to more than $200 million, according to a blog post seen by NFTgators.

Mesh says its global payments network now supports customers and partners across Latin America, Asia, and Europe.

Mesh, a crypto payments infrastructure provider, has raised $75 million in a Series C funding round led by Dragonfly, with participation from Moderne Ventures, Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, SBI Investments, and Liberty City Ventures.

The company offers a unified global network across wallets, chains, and assets. It supports a variety of services, including any-to-any payments via SmartFunding, with instant settlement in the merchant’s preferred currency.

According to a blog post seen by NFTgators, the latest funding brings the total raised to more than $200 million and values the crypto payments company at $1 billion.

Mesh said it will use the fresh funding to continue building and scaling its products as it expands its global network.

“Now we move into the next phase: building the universal payments network for a truly tokenized, borderless economy. Any asset. Any chain. Any geography,” a social media statement on the X platform reads.

Mesh’s global expansion strategy has seen it support customers and partners across Latin America, Asia, and Europe.

“The funding will allow us to continue building and scaling our products, expand our global presence, and invest further in the infrastructure needed to support a truly tokenized, borderless economy,” the blog post reads.

The announcement comes as crypto continues to embed itself in traditional payment rails amid more institutional adoption and progress in the regulatory framework. 

“Our goal is to build the universal payments network for crypto–one that works without silos, without friction, and without artificial constraints,” the company wrote. “A new era of payments is beginning, and we’re excited to help shape it. We’re just getting started.”

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Quick take:

Mastercard is reportedly still considering a strategic investment in Zerohash, with discussions ongoing.

A person familiar with the matter told CoinDesk that transaction details could still change.

Mastercard reportedly planned to acquire Zerohash in a $2 billion deal, according to a Fortune report last October.

Zerohash, the enterprise-blockchain infrastructure service provider for stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization, is reportedly raising $250 million at $1.5 billion valuation. 

According to the report, the transaction details of the deal could still change as discussions progress. CoinDesk also reported that Mastercard is still considering a strategic investment in Zerohash, after the blockchain company withdrew from acquisition talks that would have valued it at about $2 billion.

The report comes amid increased interest from traditional financial institutions in digital asset payment rails, supported by the signing into law of the GENIUS Act last July. The proposed acquisition and now a potential strategic investment in Zerohash is seen as a strategic play by Mastercard in the stablecoin race.

The report also comes out barely three months after Zerohash raised $150 million in a Series D-2 funding round led by Interactive Brokers, with participation from Morgan Stanley, Apollo-managed funds, SoFi, Jump Crypto, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, FTMO, IMC, and Liberty City Ventures. The round valued the crypto company at $1 billion.

Founded in 2017, Zerohash provides APIs and developer tools that enable traditional financial institutions and fintech companies to offer cryptocurrency, stablecoin, and tokenized products.

The company’s products have been adopted by some of the leading financial services companies, including Interactive Brokers, Stripe, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, Franklin Templeton, and DraftKings.

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Quick take:

Dan Romero, a former vice president at Coinbase, assured followers that Farcaster isn’t shutting down, and that Neynar plans to shift it in a more developer-focused direction.

According to Romero, Farcaster had 250,000 MAUs in December and boasts over 100,000 funded wallets.

On January 20, Aave transferred Lens Protocol stewardship to Mask Network, highlighting the ongoing consolidation in the crypto social segment of the blockchain industry.

Merkle Manufactory, the organization behind the Ethereum-based Web3 social media infrastructure platform Farcaster, has announced plans to return $180 million to venture capital backers.

The report came out late on Thursday after users raised concerns on social media platforms following Neynar’s acquisition of Farcaster. Dan Romero, a former vice president at Coinbase, assured followers that Farcaster isn’t shutting down, and that Neynar plans to shift it in a more developer-focused direction.

Founded in 2020 by former Coinbase executives Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan, Farcaster grew to amass an MAU of 250,000 in December and over 100,000 funded wallets, according to Romero.

The platform’s latest move demonstrates the increasing consolidation in the crypto space, with Aave transferring Lens Protocol’s (another crypto social protocol) stewardship to Mask Network, according to an announcement on January 20.

According to Akshat Vaidya, co-founder and managing partner of Arthur Hayes’ family office Maelstrom, scaling DeFi social is brutal. “Tokens and on-chain ownership are nice features, but they don’t solve the chicken-egg problem: nobody posts daily where their audience isn’t already living,” Bloomberg reported.

Last May, Farcaster raised $150 million in a round led by Paradigm with participation from a16z crypto, Haun, USV, Variant, Standard Crypto, and others, valuing the crypto startup at $1 billion.

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Quick take:

People familiar with the matter cautioned that the plans could still change, according to the Financial Times.

Ledger offers cold wallet storage devices, enabling crypto users to store private keys off-chain.

Founded in 2014 in Paris, Ledger was valued at $1.5 billion in 2023 after raising funds from the likes of Singapore’s True Global Ventures and 10T Holdings.

Cryptocurrency security company Ledger, the developers of the popular cold storage crypto wallet by the same name, is reportedly going public in an IPO that could value it at more than $4 billion.

According to the report by the Financial Times, the French cryptocurrency company is reportedly already working with bankers from bankers at Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Barclays on the deal, which could happen as early as this year. However, people familiar with the matter have cautioned that the plans could still change.

Founded in 2014 in Paris, the company was valued at $1.5 billion in 2023 after raising funds from the likes of Singapore’s True Global Ventures and 10T Holdings.

Ledger is renowned for its cold wallet storage devices, which enable crypto users to store private keys (a set of unique, secret, alphanumeric codes, often represented as 12-24 word seed phrases) off-chain.

The report comes just a day after crypto custody services and infrastructure company BitGo raised $213 million in an IPO at a valuation of $2 billion. 

Cryptocurrency companies have, over the past year, expanded their fundraising strategies to include public listing in US stock markets, with the success stories of the likes of eToro, Circle Internet Group, Gemini, and Figure Technology Solutions among those that made headlines last year.

However, activity slowed in the fourth quarter of 2025, amid a bearish crypto market, before BitGo’s 2026 curtain-raiser.

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Quick take:

The partnership is anchored by a strategic token swap between the two companies.

It follows Spacecoin’s launch of three satellites into orbit in November, as it continues to build a constellation over the past three years.

This new internet demands financial infrastructure purpose-built for global scale, and World Liberty Financial enables that capability, Spacecoin wrote.

Spacecoin, a decentralised satellite internet connectivity service provider, and World Liberty Financial, a technology conglomerate investing in digital assets, AI, and clean energy, have partnered to build solutions at the intersection of decentralized finance (DeFi) and satellite internet connectivity, anchored by a strategic token swap between the two companies.

Spacecoin believes it provides the financial infrastructure required to scale decentralized satellite internet connectivity.

Spacecoin has been building a constellation of satellites in orbit over the last three years as it seeks to achieve that goal. This announcement comes on the heels of its recent launch of three satellites in November.

The company believes that its partnership with World Liberty Financial marks the beginning of a journey to developing new solutions that converge the decentralized technology of finance and satellite internet connectivity.

Commenting on the announcement, Zak Folkman, Co-Founder of World Liberty Financial, said that Spacecoin is addressing a real infrastructure problem — expanding internet access by building connectivity from space.

“What stood out to us is the focus on execution and long-term utility. USD1 is intended to support payment and settlement activity in the real world, and partnerships like this are focused on exploring payments, settlement, and coordination in environments where traditional financial rails may be limited,” he said.

Tae Oh, Founder of Spacecoin, believes his company’s efforts so far have only been able to address half of the problem, stating that “True digital freedom also requires access to robust, fair, and open financial services.”

“Partnering with World Liberty Financial, a provider of compliant and trusted DeFi solutions, means when our users come online for the first time, they can have access to one of the most important internet capabilities: to financially transact,” he said.

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Quick take:

Atlas will now exclusively support Chainlink SVR, with a streamlined migration path set for existing Atlas users.

Users from the deprecated Atlas RedStone deployment will also migrate to the new expanded ecosystem.

Atlas enables DeFi protocols like Compound and Venus to recapture value by powering application-specific order flow auctions, such as for liquidations.

Chainlink, the decentralized oracle network that acts as a secure bridge, connecting blockchains and smart contracts with real-world data, both on-chain and off-chain, has announced the acquisition of Atlas by FastLane. Atlas is an EVM-compatible modular protocol built for execution abstraction to enable optimized transaction execution through decentralized auctions.

As part of the acquisition, key Atlas personnel are joining Chainlink from FastLane, bringing a market-tested order flow and value recapture solution under the Chainlink standard. Atlas enables DeFi protocols like Compound and Venus to recapture value by powering application-specific order flow auctions, such as for liquidations.

The modular protocol’s production-proven order flow technology has already been integrated into Chainlink SVR, as Chainlink seeks to increase revenue for the DeFi economy by expanding SVR to new blockchain ecosystems, including Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, and HyperEVM. The company plans to add more chains over time.

Commenting on the announcement, Johann Eid, Chief Business Officer at Chainlink Labs, said in a statement: “I’m thrilled to welcome Atlas into the Chainlink standard. Uniting Atlas’s proven order flow auction technology with Chainlink SVR creates the most effective value recapture system DeFi has ever had, increasing revenue for DeFi through SVR expansion to new ecosystems. We’re excited to deepen our collaboration with FastLane to bring SVR to more protocols, faster.”

Alex Watts, CEO of FastLane, commented: Bringing Atlas together with Chainlink creates the most credible path for DeFi protocols to recapture value on-chain at scale. Chainlink is best positioned to lead the OEV market and advance Atlas through its industry-leading SVR product. We’re excited to see Atlas thrive within the Chainlink ecosystem and to help protocols onboard to SVR with confidence.”

Atlas will now exclusively support Chainlink SVR, with a streamlined migration path set for existing Atlas users. Users from the deprecated Atlas RedStone deployment will also migrate to the new expanded ecosystem.

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Quick take:

The IPO priced BitGo at a value of $2.08 billion, with the valuation rising to $2.59 billion after the price rose to $22.43 per share.

BitGo becomes the first crypto IPO of the year after a relatively slower period towards the end of last year.

It follows in the footsteps of the likes of eToro, Circle Internet Group, and Gemini, among leading crypto companies looking to tap into public markets amid the Trump-led crypto-friendly regulatory approach.

BitGo, the digital asset custodial services provider, went public on Thursday, pricing its initial public offering at $18 per share, slightly above its forecasted range of $15-$17. BitGo raisd $212.8 million from the IPO at a valuation of $2.08 billion.

Shares of the digital asset infrastructure and financial services provider popped 25% to trade at about $22.43 on Thursday, valuing the stock at $2.59 billion.

BitGo is now the first crypto company to go public in 2026, and opens the doors overall for several other IPOs planned marketwide, including from the likes of Kraken.

It follows in the footsteps of the likes of eToro, Circle Internet Group, and Gemini, among leading crypto companies looking to tap into public markets amid the Trump-led crypto-friendly regulatory approach.

It also comes amid a bearish crypto market sentiment, with the Bitcoin price shedding a significant fraction of its value from its all-time highs set in October.

Commenting on the timing of BitGo’s IPO, IPOX research associate Lukas Muehlbauer said: “BitGo’s IPO is the first major bellwether of the market’s appetite for crypto listings in 2026. While Gemini ‍listed near the peak of the crypto market last year, BitGo is going public into the headwinds of the recent selloff.”

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Quick take:

The company plans to use the fresh capital to accelerate its ongoing projects as it seeks to bring WallStreet on-chain through tokenization.

Superstate said it has already tokenized over $1.2 billion in assets since its $14 million Series A raise in November 2023.

The company also built Opening Bell, a platform that enables public companies to tokenize their shares on Ethereum and Solana, as well as raise follow-on capital through Direct Issuance Programs.

Superstate, the real-world asset tokenization platform targeting publicly listed companies, has raised $82.5 million in a Series B round led by Bain Capital Crypto and Distributed Global.

The fundraising also attracted participation from Haun Ventures, Brevan Howard Digital, Galaxy Digital, Sentinel Global, Bullish, Hypersphere Capital, and Flowdesk, alongside our existing investors, Superstate wrote in an announcement on its website on Thursday.

According to the announcement, the company plans to use the fresh capital to accelerate its ongoing projects as it seeks to bring WallStreet on-chain through tokenization. Supetstate claims to have already tokenized over $1.2 billion in assets since its $14 million Series A announced in November 2023.

The company also built Opening Bell, a platform that enables public companies to tokenize their shares on Ethereum and Solana, as well as raise follow-on capital through Direct Issuance Programs.

“Tokenization is often discussed as a future concept,” the company wrote. “Our view is simpler: the technology now exists to operate capital markets more efficiently, transparently, and globally than today’s systems allow.”

Superstate believes that the next step now is execution, and that this can be achieved by building reliable infrastructure, working within regulatory frameworks, and earning trust over time.

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Quick take:

The fund is an upgrade of Laser’s 2023-launched Bitcoin Adoption Fund and targets 5% returns on top of Spot BTC performance.

It seeks to actively monetize carry-like investment opportunities across market-neutral arbitrages, lending, and options.

The fund requires a minimum subscription amount of $250,000 or BTC-equivalent, and is only eligible to certain accredited investors in eligible jurisdictions, outside of the U.S.

Nomura-Backed Laser Digital has launched the Laser Digital Bitcoin Diversified Yield Fund SP, the first tokenized Bitcoin yield-bearing fund through KAIO (formerly Libre Capital), with Komainu as custodian.

The fund is an upgrade of Laser’s 2023-launched Bitcoin Adoption Fund and targets 5% returns on top of Spot BTC performance over 12 months, recurring. According to the announcement on Thursday, the fund seeks to actively monetize carry-like investment opportunities across market-neutral arbitrages, lending, and options.

“Recent market volatility has shown that yield-bearing, market-neutral funds built on calculated DeFi strategies are the natural evolution of crypto asset management,” Jez Mohideen, co-founder and CEO of Laser Digital, said in a statement.

The fund targets long-term bitcoin holders with a minimum subscription amount of $250,000 or BTC-equivalent. It is only eligible to certain accredited investors in eligible jurisdictions, outside of the U.S.

Laser Digital is Nomura’s digital asset arm, offering institutional services in trading, asset management, and ventures, with emphasis on institutional-grade risk management and compliance.

According to a statement on the Laser Digital website, the Laser Digital Bitcoin Diversified Yield Fund dopts rigorous safeguarding arrangements through regulated custodians for off-exchange collateral custody as well as strict live risk management controls, and is offered in both traditional and tokenised formats.

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Quick take:

Jack and part of the Clanker team will be joining Neynar, the Ethereum infrastructure developer, announced on Wednesday.

Neynar’s vision for Farcaster is to enable builders to go from idea to recurring revenue, supported by a builder-first network.

The company plans to create a unified platform for software generation and crypto native rails in a builder-focused ecosystem.

Ethereum infrastructure developer, Neynar, has announced the acquisition of social media protocol, Farcaster, from Merkle. As part of the acquisition, Neynar will now maintain the Farcaster protocol, run the Farcaster clients, and operate Clanker, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday. Jack and part of the Clanker team will be joining Neynar.

Neynar is the infrastructure platform for the Farcaster ecosystem, with a significant portion of Farcaster products also running on its infrastructure. Farcaster has been one of its primary focuses since its launch five years ago, and Neynar now sees the acquisition as the next step in the journey. 

“Over the last 5+ years, Merkle has done incredible work. We are excited to take up the mantle from here,” the team said.

Neynat’s vision for Farcaster is to enable builders to go from idea to recurring revenue, supported by a builder-first network. The company plans to create a unified platform for software generation and crypto native rails in a builder-focused ecosystem.

“Farcaster, at its core, is a community of builders deliberately cultivated over many years – the ‘scenius.’ This community has consistently driven the network’s most meaningful moments – Frames, Degen, Warplets, and more,” Neynar wrote.

According to the announcement, products built on Fracaster will be usable everywhere, starting with the incorporation of global transactions, asset issuance, and on-chain ecosystems into native crypto rails.

The announcement coincides with Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin’s post on the X platform, detailing the layer-1 blockchain’s plan to decentralize social media in 2026.

Replying to Lens  Protocol’s post on Wednesday, Buterin wrote: “If we want a better society, we need better mass communication tools. We need mass communication tools that surface the best information and arguments and help people find points of agreement. We need mass communication tools that serve the user’s long-term interest, not maximize short-term engagement.”

According to Buterin, more competition is key to addressing the current social media problems, and decentralization is the way to enable that, by allowing anyone to build their own client on a shared data layer.

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Quick take:

The company’s Ondo Global Markets trading platform now expands to Solana, after being initially only available on Ethereum and BNB Chain.

Traders will be able to trade U.S. stocks across all sectors, ETFs, market indexes, and sector funds.

They will also be able to trade Gold, silver, oil, strategic metals, as well as Treasury and corporate bonds, and Leveraged and inverse ETFs, among others.

Ondo Finance has launched Ondo Global Markets on Solana. The launch expands the tokenized securities trading platform to three chains, including Ethereum and BNB Chain. The expansion allows Solana users to now access Wall Street-grade liquidity across more than assets, including token tracking.

According to the announcement on Ondo Finance’s X account, traders will be able to trade U.S. stocks across all sectors, ETFs, market indexes, and sector funds. They will also be able to trade Gold, silver, oil, strategic metals, as well as Treasury and corporate bonds, and Leveraged and inverse ETFs, among others.

“Hundreds of tokenized stocks & ETFs are now live on @solana, bringing the full TradFi portfolio to crypto’s largest trading ecosystem,” the company wrote in the announcement. “Ondo Global Markets is how trillions in value connect to internet capital markets.”

Real-world asset tokenization has been one of the fastest-growing segments of the crypto space, attracting traditional financial institutions, including private credit providers and investment management companies.

“We’ve seen early signs of demand for on-chain equities on Solana, but liquidity depth and asset selection from the current versions of tokenized stocks remain limited today,” Ian De Bode, president of Ondo Finance, told CoinDesk. “Ondo’s tokenized stocks are built to address that by bringing liquidity inherited from traditional exchange venues and a broad catalog of stocks and ETFs on-chain.”

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Quick take:

The fund targets sustainable, revenue-generating projects in DeFi, payments, AI-driven systems, and tokenized real-world assets.

Solayer’s SVM-powered layer-1 blockchain boasts a throughput of over 330,000 transactions per second and settlement finality of approximately 400 milliseconds.

The company said projects focused on tokenized U.S. Treasuries and AI-powered trading products are already in development.

Solayer, the SVM-powered layer-1 blockchain, has launched a $35 million ecosystem fund backed by Solayer Labs and the Solayer Foundation. According to the announcement, the fund will be used to support blockchain applications built on its infiniSVM network.

Solayer’s SVM-powered layer-1 blockchain boasts a throughput of over 330,000 transactions per second and settlement finality of approximately 400 milliseconds. The ecosystem fund primarily targets sustainable, revenue-generating projects in DeFi, payments, AI-driven systems, and tokenized real-world assets. The company said projects focused on tokenized U.S. Treasuries and AI-powered trading products are already in development.

“We’re solving for real-time behavior, immediate, guaranteed settlement, and low latency,” Joshua Sum, Solayer’s chief product officer, told CoinDesk. “Most blockchains still batch transactions, like legacy financial systems. We want to replace that with actual real-time clearing.”

The company plans to carefully curate qualifying projects based on performance indicators like durability, protocol revenue, and transaction volume, among others.

The announcement comes barely a month after the company announced the launch of the InfiniSVM Mainnet Alpha on December 11. Dubbed the “most performant SVM chain in existence,” the layer-1 blockchain is designed to power the next frontier of blockchain apps, which the company says won’t be static. “They will be reactive.”

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