Cryptopolitan

As Bitcoin (BTC) breaches the $90,000 barrier, investment attention is being directed at what comes next beyond the market leader. The largest gains can be experienced in projects which are still relatively early and undervalued. Currently at the front of the pack is Mutuum Finance (MUTM), which is enjoying swift adoption during the presale phase. Currently at $0.04 during Phase 7, the MUTM presale provides the best returns  to those who buy early, with the token price set to go higher soon. 

 Already surpassing $19.5 million and growing with a wider holder base, it is a serious DeFi crypto providing lending and borrowing solutions and represents an extremely promising cryptocurrency ahead of the next market expansion. For investors looking for the best crypto to buy, Mutuum Finance presents a front-row opportunity with returns which outperform other DeFi players. Analysts also suggest that MUTM could be the next crypto to explode, making it a top consideration for forward-looking investors.

How BTC Stability Makes MUTM More Attractive

Bitcoin is still displaying a strong pattern as it maintains strength above the $90,000 support level and follows through on efforts to reach the resistance level of $95,000. Momentum suggests that there is still measured movement upward in price despite showing short-term selling pressures. As one of the leading assets in the cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin is still not as attractive as new projects such as MUTM for investors seeking bigger gains for their investments. Still being in the presale stage makes it accessible for investors long before trading starts. This early-stage advantage positions MUTM as one of the best cryptos to buy for those looking to enter before the mainstream crowd.

Ground-Level Opportunity 

Mutuum Finance is still in its early stages of development, which means early investors have a huge edge. Based on the current presale cost of $0.04, an investment of $2,500 would fetch 62,500 MUTM tokens. Assuming MUTM hits $1 in a year, which is also discussed among analysts, that $2,500 could turn into $62,500, which would provide potential profits exceeding $60,000. Even the most conservative estimates would provide substantial profits; for example, at a price of $0.10 after its presale, that same $2,500 would now be worth $6,250, which is more than double the initial investment. With such a strong potential for growth, many investors see MUTM as the next crypto to explode in value. The presale has already surpassed 18,710 unique token holders as phase 7 sees strong investor FOMO. Phase 8 will start soon at a higher price. 

Mutuum Finance does not only provide tokens but incentivizes community engagement to encourage natural demand for MUTM. A reward of $100,000 will give ten people $10,000 in MUTM, and a daily leaderboard reward gives the top buyer $500 on a daily basis. This helps recognize project demand through proper incentives, further cementing its reputation as the best crypto to buy and the next crypto to explode for early investors.

Transparent, Long-Term Growth

Mutuum Finance has an open-source approach, meaning anyone in the public could view and verify the code to be used in the project. This provides a tremendous boost to the trust factor. It also shows the investors that the project is not a temporary experiment in the DeFi sector but will be a long-term DeFi infrastructure project, making it a prime candidate for the best crypto to buy and a strong contender for the next crypto to explode.

Instant Access to Liquidity Provides Greater Opportunities

One of the edges provided by MUTM lies in the constant liquidity that users get to enjoy, allowing them to borrow or invest funds instantly and irrespective of market conditions. Take, for instance, an investor who holds $1,000 in ETH but realizes the need for immediate cash flow for a short period. The investor can borrow USDT through their ETH without selling the latter. Conversely, for example, a user in possession of 3 ETH can choose to lend it out on the platform and get an 8–10% APY in return, earning him or her an extra 0.24–0.3 ETH in passive income without selling his or her holdings.

Mutuum Finance offers ground-floor pricing, real-world utility, and a powerful incentive structure that makes it a very attractive investment option. Early adopters will benefit from token value appreciation, as well as through actual participation in a functional ecosystem that pays users for growth. With possible upside that would take a $2,500 investment to $62,500, depending on the scenario, MUTM offers a very special investment opportunity. With all these factors combined, it’s increasingly clear why many consider MUTM the best crypto to buy.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://mutuum.com/ 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance 

Nike reportedly sold its digital products subsidiary RTFKT in December, following up on its plan to “wind up” its NFT department by the end of January.

The athletic wear giant had previously announced last year that it would end its non-fungible tokens (NFTs) operations and other blockchain-based initiatives. The sale was executed just over a year after the company commenced the shut down of the “Artifact” unit.

RTFKT’s official X account shared a press statement on X in 2024, in which the subsidiary said it was proud of its achievements during its time under Nike. 

“We’ve built a community where traditional boundaries between physical and digital creativity dissolved, where artists and collectors redefined what the future could be. Looking back, we’re incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved together,” the post read. “RTFKT is becoming what it was always meant to be, an Artifact of cultural revolution.”

Nike ends NFT production after quarterly sales drop shock

Nike had announced on Medium back in September that it would temporarily halt NFT products developed by RTFKT. The company stopped creating blockchain-based collectibles, but insisted that partnerships with video game companies to produce in-game wearables with RTFKT’s design would continue.

CEO Elliott Hill’s second year is seemingly taking the clothing and footwear company away from digital assets and back to traditional sports, athletic products, and rebuilding relationships with partners such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker. 

RTFKT was acquired by Nike in 2021 under former CEO John Donahoe, who backed direct-to-consumer and digital sales channels. The acquisition was meant to expand the sportswear brand’s presence in collectibles and metaverse markets during the 2020-2021 NFTs and digital worlds bubble. 

In a brief statement, Nike confirmed that the sale of RTFKT was effective December 16 and it was “launching a new chapter for the company and its community,” but the buyer and terms of the sale were not disclosed.

“Nike continues to invest in delivering innovative products and experiences in physical, digital, and virtual environments,” the statement added, which could mean the company intends to continue with its digital footprint despite exiting the NFT-specific market.

Although CEO Hill has not yet publicly detailed his plans for the company in 2026, the sale of RTFKT spells Nike’s return to a much-familiar playbook of athletes and sports performance.

Nike’s financial performance report for the quarter ending November 30 saw the company make $12.4 billion in sales, exceeding Wall Street’s predictions of $12.2 billion. Its earnings per share reached $0.53, well above the $0.37 consensus estimate, but the Converse brand counted a 30% drop in quarterly sales.

RTFKT lawsuit still continues, co-founder’s demise legacy lives on

RTFKT’s co-founder Benoît Pagotto passed away last year at the age of 41, as first reported by Philippe Rodriguez through a LinkedIn post. The founding partner at Avolta Partners, who advised on RTFKT’s sale to Nike in 2021, said Pagotto was “super creative, discreet and humble.” 

Fellow co-founder Steven Vasilev later confirmed Pagotto’s death on X, writing that “the vision, mission, and inspiration he gave to the world will live on forever.” 

Visionary, Genius, Mentor, Friend & Brother

The vision, mission and inspiration @benitopagotto gave to the world will live on forever. ♾️ 👁️‍🗨️

Heartbroken we lost a legend 💔🕊️ pic.twitter.com/Jwn1zBVpK0

— Zaptio RTFKT (@Zaptio) October 12, 2025

Amid the sad news, Nike is still facing a class action suit for abruptly exiting the NFT market. Some purchasers of Nike-themed NFTs and other crypto assets filed a proposed lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court in April last year. 

The plaintiffs were led by Australian resident Jagdeep Cheema, who claimed that Nike’s closure of RTFKT caused the value of their NFTs to collapse, resulting in financial losses. Cheema’s attorneys are seeking “unspecified damages of more than $5 million” for alleged violations of consumer protection laws in New York, California, Florida, and Oregon. 

According to the law filing, the NFTs were unregistered securities sold without approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The plaintiffs accuse Nike of using “its iconic brand and marketing prowess to hype, promote, and prop up the unregistered securities that RTFKT sold,” much similar to what caused Dapper Labs to settle with investors after issuing NBA Top Shot NFTs in 2023. 

They also claimed to have purchased the NFTs expecting their value would grow, and had the buyers known the assets were unregistered securities, they would not have invested.

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A major investor is demanding explanations from the board of a London investment fund about decisions made regarding its SpaceX holdings. The threat? Legal action if satisfactory responses aren’t provided.

Boaz Weinstein’s firm, Saba Capital Management, put out a public letter Wednesday with pointed questions about why Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust didn’t tell the market about reducing its position in the space company.

The letter also asks whether plans to merge EWIT with another fund played into the timing of the sale.

Here’s what Saba says happened: Investment manager Baillie Gifford sold off a big chunk of both EWIT’s and US Growth Trust’s SpaceX shares back in October. The sale price looks way lower than values established two months later in December, when reports came out that Elon Musk’s company was aiming for a $1.5 trillion price tag for its planned public stock offering.

Legal action on the table

The hedge fund manages about $6 billion in assets. It’s set a deadline of January 9 for EWIT’s board to address concerns about the transaction. “Unless and until we receive satisfactory responses to these questions and concerns, we reserve all of our rights, including to issue proceedings on behalf of” EWIT, Saba said in its letter.

Saba’s done the math and says shareholders already lost out on £37 million—that’s $49.9 million—because of how the sale was handled.

This isn’t the first fight between these two. Weinstein is trying to replace EWIT’s entire board with his own picks. A shareholder vote on this is scheduled for January 20. The hedge fund tried something similar less than a year ago but didn’t succeed.

Legal & General Group, a major UK asset manager, said Tuesday it would vote against Saba’s proposal. The plan “lacks sufficient detail regarding its future strategy” for managing the fund, they said.

Weinstein ran a big campaign in late 2024 to take control of seven different UK investment funds trading below their actual asset values. Those attempts failed, but some of the targeted funds ended up making the structural changes Saba wanted anyway.

The current fight is about the proposed merger of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust with Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust. Saba’s argument is simple: the SpaceX share sale was mishandled and happened at bad prices.

Board defends its position

Jonathan Simpson-Dent chairs Edinburgh Worldwide’s board. He’s pushed back on Saba’s latest campaign by bringing up the failed attempt earlier this year. “Less than a year ago, you launched a similar campaign seeking to remove the board and replace it with your own nominees,” Simpson-Dent said. “That proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by shareholders who recognized your objectives for what they were, an attempt to take control of the board in order to pursue your own agenda.”

Weinstein built his reputation as a derivatives specialist. He’s famous for his role in the London Whale trading incident. He’s already spent years and billions buying up stakes in US closed-end funds run by BlackRock and other big asset managers.

Now he’s focused on Britain’s investment trust sector. The sector has had a rough time lately, high interest rates, limited size and trading activity, plus new regulations around cost disclosure haven’t helped. Investment trusts still make up about a third of the FTSE 250 index. A bunch of mergers that started in 2023 have shrunk the sector.

SpaceX is moving ahead with plans for what could be the largest initial public offering in history along with OpenAI and Anthropic. People familiar with the plans say the company wants to raise more than $30 billion.

The offering could happen anywhere from mid-2026 to late 2026. The exact timing depends on market conditions and other factors. Some sources say it might even slip into 2027.

SpaceX plans to use money from the public offering to build space-based data centers. That includes buying the computer chips needed to run them. Musk talked about this idea recently at a Baron Capital event. The company’s Starlink satellite internet service and its Starship rocket program are pushing the timeline for going public.

For investors in Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust, the January 20 vote will decide whether they trust the current board’s handling of their investments or want new management under Saba’s direction. The outcome could shape how other UK investment trusts deal with similar situations down the road.

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Cryptocurrencies are often primarily seen as an investment vehicle. This is not wrong but it would also be inaccurate to say that crypto is only an asset class for trading and holding for the long term. 2025 taught us that cryptocurrencies, via stablecoins, transitioned into a full fledged payment settlements rail. For everyday transactions, crypto is increasingly being used not just to invest, but to spend. 

The easiest method to off ramp crypto into a local currency and spend today is through crypto cards. These are debit cards that bridge crypto wallets, exchanges and traditional payment networks like Visa and Mastercard. These cards not only make it extremely easy and efficient to spend your crypto but oftentimes also reward users with cashback. 

Integrations with Visa and Mastercard enable seamless payment across millions of merchants worldwide. As spending volumes on crypto cards increase year on year, this is a trend worth watching closely in 2026. 

This article highlights some of the top crypto cards available on the market today. Each of these cards on the list are categorized based on the type of user it may be most relevant for. 

Binance Card – Best Overall Crypto Card

Why it ranks #1

Binance, the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange by volume, has a crypto card service which acts as the easiest off ramp method for Binance users. Since the card is issued by Binance, the integration is extremely smooth within the Binance application and broader ecosystem, enabling easy funding, tracking and rewards management. 

The list of cryptocurrencies that can be automatically converted into local fiat currency at the point of sale varies depending on the region. That said, popular stablecoins like USDT and USDC and bluechip cryptos like BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL and XRP are available for withdrawal in all regions. 

There are no joining or annual fees attached to the crypto card and users have access to a virtual card immediately after applying. 

Key Features

The Binance Card is a Visa-branded payment card which enables users to spend their crypto anywhere Visa is accepted. This includes both physical and online stores once their account is funded. 

Apart from being able to spend their crypto across millions of merchants worldwide, Binance also offers cashback rewards of up to 3% on every purchase. It must be noted, however, that these cashback rewards differ depending on the region. 

Best For

The Binance Card is extremely useful for those who are active crypto users. For those who hold and trade crypto frequently, this service allows you to effectively off-ramp crypto automatically without having to exit positions and convert to a local fiat currency manually. The integration with the Binance application also brings a streamlined user experience. Existing Binance users will find this beneficial as all the information regarding portfolio, spends and rewards are displayed neatly in a single interface. 

Limitations

The biggest hurdle that the Binance Card runs into is the regional support. Currently the service is only operational in Brazil, Columbia and Peru. Another trade-off is that by using the Binance Card, users must hold their assets within Binance. This means that assets are custodial, which may not suit those looking for complete control over their private keys. 

Crypto.com Visa Card – Best Rewards Program 

Why it stands out 

The Crypto.com Visa card is a prepaid crypto card popular for its tiered rewards system. It offers some of the highest cashback rates among crypto debit cards. Users, depending on the tier, can earn up to 8% in CRO (Crypto.com’s native token) on every transaction and up to 15% on travel spending. The tiered structure is based on the amount of CRO tokens staked or locked up on the platform. While there is a free subscription in the midnight blue crypto card, the everyday CRO rewards become applicable only with paid tiers or lock up models. 

The crypto cards can be easily topped up from your crypto holdings, from fiat in your cash account or with a credit/debit card within the crypto.com application. Currently, the exchange offers this service across North America (US & Canada), Europe (many EU countries & UK), Singapore, Australia and Brazil with plans of ongoing expansion to more regions. 

The attractive rewards for higher tiers unlocked through staking CRO tokens will appeal to long term CRO holders to maximize cashback and card benefits. 

Trade-offs

To access some of the premium cards with the highest rewards, users are required to stake large amounts of CRO tokens, generally for 12 months. This ties up capital and exposes users to the price volatility attached to the CRO token. 

Coinbase Card – Best for Beginners 

Why it’s included 

Coinbase as a crypto exchange is known for its simplicity and user friendly interface. This design thinking extends to its crypto card service as well. For beginners looking to use crypto cards, coinbase offers a visa debit card that links directly to a users’ coinbase wallet. There is minimal setup and no staking requirements.

Accessibility is a strong point for the Coinbase Card as it is available across key markets. It is currently available in the United States (all states except Hawaii) and many European countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and others. 

Limitations 

Although users can earn rewards on purchases, the rates are lower compared with tiered reward systems like Crypto.com’s structure. Another drawback is that in many markets, a conversion spread applies every time crypto is sold to fund a purchase or ATM withdrawal, which essentially increases the cost of transactions relative to flat-fee cards. 

Wirex Card – Best for EU Users

Why it works

The Wirex platform is built as an everything app where users can grow, borrow and spend their crypto. The Wirex crypto debit card is widely available across Europe, including the UK and many EU member states. 

Users can earn instant rewards of up to 8% cashback on everyday spending. Apple pay and google pay integration also enables tap and pay functionality across merchants worldwide. 

One of its core strengths is its multi-currency account model. Users can hold, convert and spend a variety of both cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies within one wallet. 

BitPay Card – Best Bitcoin First Card 

The BitPay card is a prepaid crypto debit card that makes it easy to spend Bitcoin, stablecoins like USDC, EURC, USDP etc and altcoins like ETH, BCH, DOGE and others. The BitPay card functions as a normal Visa/Mastercard debit card, allowing users to spend anywhere these networks are accepted. 

However, as of recent updates, new applications for the BitPay card have temporarily paused while the program is being improved. 

Nexo Card – Best Hybrid Credit-Style Crypto Card

Why it’s different 

This list thus far has highlighted some of the top crypto debit cards. The Nexo Card, however, stands out because it offers both a credit and debit mode in one crypto payment card. In the credit mode, users can make everyday purchases using funds drawn from a crypto-backed credit line rather than having to sell their digital assets. 

The crypto you hold acts as collateral for the credit line, allowing you to spend fiat without selling your crypto. Therefore, the Nexo can function like a credit card but with your crypto value behind it. This gives users access to liquidity while keeping their longer term positions intact. 

While there is an in-built debit mode, the credit feature is inherently more complex. Users must understand how borrowing works, how collateral affects credit availability and how repayments and interest are factored in. 

Comparison Table 

CardNetworkRewardsFeesBest ForBinance CardVisa⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐LowOverallCrypto.com CardVisa⭐⭐⭐⭐☆MediumRewardsCoinbase CardVisa⭐⭐⭐MediumBeginnersWirex CardVisa⭐⭐⭐⭐LowEU usersBitPay CardMastercard⭐⭐⭐MediumBTC holdersNexo CardMastercard⭐⭐⭐⭐VariableCredit-style use

The family office of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and security services firm CertiK have formed a collaboration to improve the security infrastructure of startups participating in the EASY Residency Incubation Program. 

According to a press statement shared with Cryptopolitan on Tuesday, CertiK agreed to issue a $1 million auditing grant for early-stage founders, in addition to AI-driven scanning and Skynet Boosting services.

The EASY Residency began as a global 10-week incubation first announced by YZi Labs in May 2025. The investment firm said the initiative would help startups in Web3, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology create long-term value. 

Participating founders in the program received mentorship from crypto KOLs and established developers, access to a global network of investors, and immersive in-person residency to accelerate development and marketing of their products. 

Some of the leaders mentioned in the mentorship program included Sandeep Nailwal of Polygon, Eric Chen of Injective, Ronghui Gu of CertiK, Veronica Wong of SafePal, and Harry Halpin of Nym.

CertiK issues a $1 million grant for security audits

As revealed in YZi Labs’ press release, CertiK’s $1 million security grant will provide EASY Residency participants with formal verification. It has code reviews, and AI-powered vulnerability scanning to detect threats like reentrancy attacks and logic errors in smart contracts. 

YZi Labs will see through the collaboration between CertiK and its incubated projects by helping founders understand and implement the security tools effectively.

“Security is the foundation of long-term success, but for early-stage founders, it’s often a high-stakes distraction while they are still chasing product-market fit,” head of YZi Labs Ella Zhang said in the presser. “Think of it like building a skyscraper: Founders should focus on the architecture and the vision, while CertiK are the structural engineers that make sure the frame is earthquake-proof.”

Professor Ronghui Gu, Co-Founder and CEO of CertiK, added that the partnership with YZi Labs will significantly improve the security level of projects and provide the “necessary guarantees” for their long-term development. “This is not only related to the growth of projects but also to the health and sustainability of the entire Web3 ecosystem,” he concluded.

During the program’s debut last May, Zhang confirmed EASY Residency is an “evolution” of the Binance Labs Incubation initiative that began seven years ago. YZi’s Managing Partner reiterated that it was a focused environment for the top 1% of founders to build, ship, and expand their market reach. 

“EASY Residency creates a multi-generational support network where founders benefit from insights drawn from experience in funding, governance, and scaling. We’ve now added access to specialized security resources provided by CertiK, and since The YZi Labs team handles everything else, founders can focus on what matters most,” Zhang surmised.

YZi Labs pushes back on CEA Industries’ shareholder rights changes

YZi Labs is reviewing recent governance decisions made by Nasdaq-listed CEA Industries, which now trades as BNC. As reported by Cryptopolitan, the company implemented a stockholder rights plan and tightened written-consent rules last week, against the backdrop of pressures from YZi to make changes to the board.

According to the publicly-traded firm’s financial filings, BNC secured a $500 million private placement with an option to raise up to $1.25 billion if all warrants are exercised. Its stock price has been trading in the red for over a month now, closing near $6.41 on January 6. 

The price is a 92% decline from its 52-week high of $82.88, and a 3% downturn from its $7.52 30-day peak. Binance’s native token BNB, in contrast, is trading just 33% away from its $1,370 all-time-high level at the time of this reporting.

YZi Labs coined BNC’s share issuance choice as “stockholder-unfriendly actions” and claimed that the board chose protection over accountability. The firm also rejected BNC’s statement propounding it “has never considered an alternative token for the Company’s digital asset treasury, nor launched competitive DAT ventures.” 

YZi cited a November statement from BNC CEO David Namdar who said the company had indeed contemplated switching to other crypto assets like Solana.

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EDF Group International Regional Headquarter (EDF RHQ) and Saudi-based droppRWA Limited have signed an MOU to explore implementing blockchain tokenization solutions in the energy sector in Saudi Arabia and the development of tokenized carbon credits.

EDF Group is a world leader in low-carbon energy, which reports a carbon output of 520TWh, a diverse generation mix based mainly on nuclear and renewable energy (including hydropower). It is also investing in new technologies to support the energy transition. 

Saudi assets move onchain via tokenization route

As per the press release, the MOU will establish a framework to explore blockchain decentralized technologies within the Saudi energy landscape. It focuses on the adoption of blockchain-based protocols to streamline inter-company transactions, the tokenization of real-world energy assets to improve project liquidity, and the development of innovative frameworks for the carbon credit industry.

By bringing energy assets on-chain, ranging from renewable energy installations to thermal assets, the partnership seeks to modernize financing structures and drive transparency throughout the asset lifecycle.

droppRWA’s role in the arrangement as per documentation will be to use its Sovereign RWA infrastructure to set a new standard for how large-scale energy projects are managed and financed in the region, for sustainable and efficient economic environments.

Omar Aldaweesh, CEO of EDF RHQ, commented that exploring the potential of asset tokenization and next-generation financial technology allows them to look beyond traditional frameworks. He asserts, “This collaboration with droppRWA will provide valuable insights into how these technologies can drive value for our projects and contribute to a more robust carbon credit market.”

Faisal Al Monai, Chairman of droppRWA, added, “By applying our world-class tokenization infrastructure to key projects in the Kingdom, we are building the future of the Primary Capital Market. This MoU represents a significant step toward making energy assets more accessible, liquid, and efficient through the power of blockchain.”

droppRWA has partnered with several entities in KSA

In November of 2025, Saudi Arabian, Adeer Real Estate and droppRWA, blockchain tokenization service provider, also signed an MOU for a strategic partnership aimed at introducing blockchain digital ownership solutions across Adeer’s real estate portfolio in the Kingdom, by introducing tokenized projects across Adeer’s development pipeline.

It included residential communities to commercial assets, and new financing structures. droppRWA noted that they completed Saudi Arabia’s first end-to-end tokenized property transaction in partnership with Kingdom regulatory authorities, establishing the infrastructure for compliant blockchain-based property transfers.

droppRWA, also partnered with Saudi Arabia’s real estate developer RAFAL Real Estate Co, to execute a Saudi Arabian pilot that would tokenize real estate transactions.

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Token Terminal data revealed that stablecoin issuers raked in approximately $5 billion in revenue from deployments on Ethereum in 2025. The report noted that financial product issuers are leveraging Ethereum to expand distribution, reduce costs, and reach a broader range of investors.

The Token Terminal report further noted that financial product issuers were also leveraging Ethereum to offer more transparent, more liquid, and more composable products at a lower cost. These benefits offer stablecoins a significant advantage over traditional off-chain financial products.

The report also noted that stablecoin issuers generate revenue primarily from the yield they earn on their collateral assets. The revenue assigned to Ethereum is based on a pro rata calculation, meaning if 70% of an issuer’s stablecoin supply is on Ethereum, then 70% of its revenue is assigned to the Ethereum deployment.

Ethereum stablecoin volume doubles to an ATH of $8T 

Token Terminal previously reported that Ethereum stablecoin transfers in the fourth quarter of 2025 surpassed $8 trillion, recording a new all-time high. The milestone is nearly double the Ethereum stablecoin volume in Q2, which was approximately $4 trillion. Stablecoin issuance on Ethereum in 2025 also increased from $127 billion to $181 billion by the end of the year, representing a 43% rise. 

The number of daily unique addresses active as senders or receivers on the Ethereum network surpassed a million in late December. The network remains the primary stablecoin settlement layer, which accounts for nearly 65% (~$19B) of the market share. 

That market dominance surges to over 70% when EVM and L2 networks are included. Ethereum now holds a 57% market share of all issued stablecoins, with USDT leading in issuance at $187 billion. The issued USDT also accounted for 60% of the entire stablecoin market, and over 50% of that on Ethereum.

More Token Terminal data also reveals that about 50% of stablecoins deployed in Europe are on Ethereum. The remainder is distributed across Solana, Arbitrum, Base, and Polygon. Among the top Euro-backed stablecoins on Ethereum are Circle’s Euro Coin (EUROC), STASIS EURO (EURS), and  Société Générale’s EUR CoinVertible (EURCV).

Tether tops the list of stablecoin issuers by revenue in 2025

Source: Token Terminal. Weekly revenue by project for the past 365 days.

Token Terminal data revealed that stablecoin issuer Tether generated over $5 billion in 2025. The stablecoin issuer has raked in $421.4 million in the past 30 days, representing a decline of approximately 5.5%. 

Tether generated a revenue of $104.35 million in the week from December 1, 2025, which dropped slightly to $100.51 million during the week from December 8. The revenue plummeted further to $97.64 million in the week from December 15, remained the same in the week from December 22, but rose slightly to $97.72 million in the week from December 29, 2025, to January 1, 2026.

Meanwhile, Circle’s revenue reached $2.4 billion in 2025 and managed to raise $201.4 million in the past 30 days, representing a 2.3% decrease. The stablecoin issuer’s revenue was $50.15 million in the week from December 1, 2025, before dropping to $49.13 million in the week from December 8. Circle’s revenue declined further in the week from December 15 to $48.31 million, but rose slightly to $48.81 million in the week from December 22. The revenue plummeted by at least $2 million in the final week of December 2025, clocking $46.69 million. 

Another stablecoin issuer, SKY, generated $363.9 million in revenue in 2025. SKY has generated $22.5 million in revenue over the past 30 days, representing a 33.1% decline. SKY’s revenue in December 2025 also dropped sharply from $21.56 million in the week from December 1 to just $1.16 million in the week from December 8. 

SKY’s revenue dropped further to a little under a billion (~$996.67M) in the week from December 15, and even lower to $929.83 million in the week from December 22. The revenue jumped to $19.06 million in the final week of December, ending January 1, 2026.

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Angle & Purpose

Angle: Contrast the year-end ‘Santa rally’ optimism with the early-January reality check, focusing on how sentiment, positioning, and behavior change once holidays end and real money returns.

Purpose:

Help readers understand why markets often feel different in early January.

Frame crypto moves as positioning and psychology, not just price noise.

Deliver a credible, macro-aware hype piece that sparks discussion without exaggeration.

Mandatory Instructions

Writer must be sure about the data and the information he presented.

Verify all price levels, ETF flows, funding rates, and sentiment indicators at publish time.

Avoid assuming causation (e.g., “January always dumps”)—use data and qualifiers.

AI usage must not exceed 15%.

Target Audience

Active crypto traders and investors

Macro-curious readers tracking flows and sentiment

Readers looking for “what now?” clarity after year-end narratives fade

SEO & Metadata

Primary Keyword: crypto market sentiment January

Secondary Keywords: Santa rally crypto, January effect crypto, crypto positioning 2026

Search Intent: Informational / market analysis

Intro Requirements

Exactly 2 sentences

Both sentences bold

Frame contrast: optimism vs reality

Sample Intro (2 sentences, bolded)

Crypto entered the new year shaking off Santa-rally optimism as January trading exposed a more cautious mood.
With real capital back at desks and positioning resetting, sentiment is shifting from celebration to scrutiny.

Structure & Writing Rules

After the intro:

2–4 short paragraphs, then a subheading

Most subheadings should NOT be in the active voice

Content under subheadings should be paragraph form only (no bullet points)

No conclusion subheading (this is news/analysis)

Suggested Flow & Subheadings

After Intro (2–4 paragraphs)

Brief recap of late-December optimism (Santa rally narrative, thin liquidity, light volumes).

Transition into early-January dynamics: desks reopen, liquidity normalizes, risk reassessed.

Subheading: Holiday Liquidity Removed

Explain how thin year-end liquidity can exaggerate upside moves and why January trading often feels heavier and more deliberate.

Subheading: Positioning Being Reset

Describe how funds, ETFs, and large traders rebalance at the start of the year, trimming exposure or reallocating based on fresh mandates.

Subheading: Sentiment Indicators Cooling

Discuss shifts in funding rates, open interest, volatility, or ETF flows that suggest sentiment normalization rather than panic.

Subheading: What Traders Are Watching Now

Cover near-term focus points: key price levels, macro data, dollar/rates, and whether buyers step back in once positioning stabilizes.

Tone & Style

Reflective, calm, confident

Avoid extreme language (“collapse,” “guaranteed”)

Emphasize psychology and structure over hype predictions

Visual Suggestions

BTC price chart: late December vs early January

ETF flow comparison: last week of December vs first week of January

Sentiment gauge (funding rates / volatility index)

Ripple President Monica Long has cited recent success stories of the company, including its financial stability, noting the company plans to expand privately through major acquisitions and new product development.

In a recent interview, the executive stated that the company currently has “no plan, no timeline” for going public, adding that it is well-positioned to continue its growth without tapping public markets.

The decision ends months of speculation in the crypto and financial press about Ripple potentially listing its shares on a stock exchange. 

Ripple accelerates growth with $500 million raise and strategic acquisitions

After her comments, reports from trusted sources showed that her statement was made after the company had actually raised around $500 million as of November 2025. Ripple’s valuation reached about $40 billion at this time. 

Several reporters contacted Long for comments regarding this fundraising effort, hoping to gain more context. When asked to explain certain details, such as measures of investor protections that permit individuals to effectively sell shares back to Ripple at a guaranteed price or preferential treatments, particularly in significant events like bankruptcy or a company sale, Long responded that the company had adopted a positive and favourable deal structure, but still failed to provide enough explanation for the question raised.

Analysts conducted research and found that 2025 was a significant year for Ripple, as it brought major growth to the firm. According to their findings, this growth mainly resulted from the fintech’s four key acquisitions. This included the acquisition of Hidden Road, a global multi-asset prime broker; Rail, a platform for stablecoin payments; GTreasury, a provider of treasury management systems; and Palisade, a firm specializing in digital asset wallets and custody services.

The transactions carried out at this moment totaled approximately $4 billion, contributing to Ripple’s long-standing goal of becoming a full-service provider of enterprise digital asset infrastructure. 

By last November, the payments of the fintech company had soared sharply to over $95 billion in total volume. Seeing how popular the company had grown, Ripple Prime, the newly rebranded multi-asset prime brokerage resulting from Ripple’s acquisition of Hidden Road, diversified its services to include collateralized lending and institutional products connected to XRP. Notably, RLUSD, a stablecoin launched by Ripple, pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, plays an important role in both sectors.

Long elaborated that, “Our entire company strategy revolves around creating products. We aim to provide the connections that traditional finance needs to make blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and other tokenized assets truly useful and relevant in everyday life.” 

Ripple aims to solidify its position as a leader in the industry 

As reporters continued to dig deep into Ripple’s fundraising, they noted that the funding round, which also drew substantial investments from Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace, followed the company’s recent $1 billion tender offer, recorded at the same valuation. With this finding, they concluded that this situation demonstrated Ripple’s best year ever.

Following these claims, Brad Garlinghouse, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ripple Labs, weighed in on the situation. He stated, “We began in 2012 with one main focus—payments—and have successfully branched out into custody, stablecoins, prime brokerage, and corporate treasury by utilizing digital assets.”

Later, Garlinghouse shared his forecast, noting that the new investments made in the company will significantly boost its business connection with key players in the traditional finance sector. As a result, Ripple will successfully achieve its goal of expanding its presence in institutional markets using its stablecoin, prime brokerage, and treasury services. 

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Barclays invested in U.S. stablecoin settlement company Ubyx on January 6, 2026. The British bank stated the move is part of its plans to explore new forms of digital money.

Ubyx launched in 2025 and operates as a clearing system for stablecoins that reconciles tokens created by different issuers. Barclays declined to disclose the investment size or valuation.

Barclays makes first stablecoin infrastructure investment

Barclays announced its stake purchase in Ubyx on Wednesday, calling it the bank’s first investment in a stablecoin-related company. The bank and Ubyx are committed to developing tokenized money within the regulatory perimeter.

The bank declined to make public the size of its investment or the valuation placed on Ubyx. The venture capital arms of U.S. crypto companies Coinbase and Galaxy Digital previously invested in Ubyx, according to PitchBook. The company raised $10 million in seed funding in 2025 from a mixed investor base, including Galaxy Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund, Paxos, and VanEck.

Various banks and financial institutions have announced plans involving stablecoins in the past year. Banks are exploring issuing stablecoins or creating blockchain-based tokens to represent financial assets. Many banks’ blockchain-related projects remain in early stages.

Ubyx provides a clearing layer for multiple stablecoin issuers

Ubyx operates as a clearing and settlement layer for stablecoins. The company reconciles tokens from different issuers, including Tether, Circle, and PayPal. The system allows any bank or fintech to redeem any stablecoin at par value into traditional financial accounts.

Today’s stablecoins are siloed, with each issuer maintaining proprietary distribution channels. Ubyx creates what it calls singleness of money across multiple issuers and blockchains.

Ubyx’s business model centers on connecting stablecoin issuers with receiving institutions through standardized APIs and shared settlement infrastructure. Rather than competing as a stablecoin issuer alone, Barclays is betting on the new layer of interoperability providers.

Barclays pursues G7 currency stablecoin consortium

In October 2025, Barclays joined nine other major banks in a consortium to explore issuing a stablecoin collectively pegged to G7 currencies on public blockchains. Other members of the consortium include Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Bank of America, Citi, Santander, BNP Paribas, MUFG, and TD Bank. The group was formed to explore the possibility of jointly issuing a multi-currency token.

While USDT and USDC dominate dollar-based stablecoins, there is no institution-grade, compliant stablecoin for multi-currency G7 settlement. On-chain foreign exchange settlement through a G7-backed token could improve cross-border payment efficiency.

Barclays was involved in the UK Regulated Liability Network pilot for tokenized deposits using a shared ledger. The bank played a leading role in the G7 consortium aimed at meeting the regulatory requirements across borders. In June 2025, Barclays opted to block crypto credit card purchases, moving away from speculative retail crypto markets.

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Elon Musk’s xAI finalized its $20 billion Series E funding round on Wednesday, with major investors including Nvidia and Cisco Investments. The firm stated that the funding round exceeded the $15 billion it had previously targeted as investors poured millions of dollars into the initiative.

Several investors also participated in the initiative, including Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Stepstone Group, Baron Capital Group, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and others. xAI said its investors continue to support the firm in advancing its compute infrastructure, which aims to build the largest GPU globally.

xAI seeks to enable rapid development and deployment of its AI products

Musk on Tuesday congratulated the xAI team on its latest feat, and also thanked investors for trusting in his company. He added that the firm is seeking to recruit AI Finance Tutors to train Grok.

xAI also revealed that it’s planning to hire mission-oriented individuals. The firm wants the team to focus on making a transformational impact on the future of humanity.

Musk’s artificial intelligence startup said the funding will enable the rapid development and deployment of its AI products. xAI also believes the funding will fuel groundbreaking research and advance the company’s mission: Understanding the Universe.

“It’s worth asking whether X data, used as Grok model training data, could ultimately produce better models than the data that other language model providers like OpenAI are training on.”

-Joni Pirovich, Founder and CEO of Crystal aOS.

Pirovich argued that the funding round proves that major backers are willing to bet on xAI. He also believes that investors want exposure to the upside if the AI company can funnel market share from OpenAI and increase consumer and enterprise use of Grok models.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated in October that his company was interested in xAI’s latest funding round. He expressed his excitement in the initiative, saying he wished he could even offer more money to the company, its founders, and the owner. The techpreneur maintained that people should want to be part of almost everything that Musk is involved in.

xAI sees breakthrough momentum in 2025

xAI also revealed that it saw breakthrough momentum in 2025, constructing several massive data centers in the U.S. The firm pointed to the growth of its Colossus I and II data centers, which made more than one million Nvidia H100 GPU equivalents by year-end.

Musk’s firm added that it has advanced reinforcement learning training in its Grok 4 Series, powered by Colossus. xAI revealed that the initiative refines Grok’s intelligence, reasoning, and agency using pretraining-scale compute.

xAI maintained that its advanced Grok Voice agent delivers low-latency speech in multiple languages. The agent also enables tool calling and real-time access, which serves users on the Grok mobile app and in Tesla vehicles.

Musk’s artificial intelligence startup also reported that it reached approximately 600 million monthly active users across the X and Grok apps in 2025. xAI said in the announcement that Grok on X, together with its image and video generation models, Grok Imagine, also advanced last year. 

xAI acknowledged that it’s currently training its Grok 5 model. The firm stated that the model is focused on launching innovative new consumer and enterprise products. According to the announcement, the Grok 5 model aims to harness the power of Grok, Colossus, and X to transform people’s lives.

Cryptopolitan previously reported that xAI’s recent funding round pushed the company’s valuation up to around $230 billion in total. Bloomberg reported in June that xAI was close to generating approximately $500 million in revenue last year. According to the report, the AI startup was projected to generate upwards of $2 billion in 2026 via partnerships and AI expansion.

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World Liberty Fi rolled over some of its WBTC positions into ETH. Previously, the fund has shown significant support for the Ethereum ecosystem. 

World Liberty Fi switched one of its WBTC positions into ETH, based on recent wallet data. The fund removed WBTC from an Aave vault and exchanged some of the funds into ETH. 

WLFI(@worldlibertyfi) is rotating from $WBTC into $ETH.

They just withdrew 162.69 $WBTC($14.98M) from #Aave and swapped 27.12 $WBTC($2.5M) for 770.6 $ETH.https://t.co/UeDdWJIRag pic.twitter.com/V54xGfu3So

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 7, 2026

The fund used a dedicated address for its swapping operations, which used a decentralized trading infrastructure. The funds were swapped through the Cow Protocol aggregator, the recently integrated trading pathway for Aave. 

The recent swap was part of a series of operations in which World Liberty Fi shifted its liquidity. The shift takes into account the low yield of Aave’s WBTC vault, at 0.1% annualized. 

The fund retains over 770 WETH, with the potential of wrapping or staking. Currently, various forms of wrapped ETH are one of the biggest holdings for World Liberty Fi. The latest sale increased the balance of WETH, which is not affiliated with any DeFi protocol. 

After a recent vote, WETH can earn 3.81% on Aave. The token is also more agile compared to WBTC, which has been phased out from some DeFi protocols. The total supply of WBTC has fallen to an all-time low of 124,963 wrapped coins, as it lost support from large-scale holders, including FTX. 

World Liberty Fi has mostly split its BTC holdings from its DeFi ecosystem operations and shifted to ETH as a more agile asset for DeFi collaterals. The shift in operations happened as WETH traded higher, reaching $3,251.15. ETH traded at $3,255.21, or 0.035 BTC. 

World Liberty Fi announces USD1 season

World Liberty Fi has mostly focused on spreading the influence of its USD1 token. For now, WLFI tokens remain mostly unchanged, trading at around $0.17, with no participation in DeFi or other operations. 

The supply of USD1 has been growing in the new year, reaching a new all-time high at over 3.38B tokens.

USD1 has been spreading through the Binance ecosystem, as both a source of centralized and decentralized liquidity. Recently, World Liberty Fi announced new USD1 pairs on Binance. 

Additionally, USD1 has been used within the BNB Chain meme ecosystem. The token is also forming a pair on Aster DEX, boosting the liquidity of the newly launched B token. 

USD1 spreads as a multi-chain stablecoin

The main World Liberty Fi wallet also shows increased USD1 activity, with redeeming transactions and new mints. USD1 is a cross-chain asset and has even spread to the Raydium exchange on Solana. 

USD1 remains the main activity driver for World Liberty Fi. The stablecoin spread to more chains in the past year, boosting its supply on Ethereum. | Source: Dune Analytics.

Around 61% of USD1 is on the BNB Chain, down from over 94% initially. The fastest-growing supply of USD1 is on Ethereum, with robust inflows to Solana. 

USD1 also brings liquidity to a selection of meme tokens, though the assets remain volatile and risky.

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The New York-based financial firm with over $113 billion under management has officially withdrawn its registration for a proposed spot XRP ETF. The announcement may have caused or added to Ripple’s 24-hour token price slump of about 3%.

WisdomTree filed its S-1 registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2024, seeking to launch a fund that would directly track the price of XRP. 

In its filing submitted on Tuesday, the firm said it has “determined not to proceed at this time” with the offering and requested the SEC to withdraw the registration statement and all accompanying exhibits and amendments. 

“Pursuant to Rule 477 of Regulation C under the Securities Act of 1933, WisdomTree XRP Fund hereby requests that the SEC consent to the withdrawal of the Trust’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, together with all exhibits and amendments thereto, initially filed with the Commission on December 2, 2024. No shares were sold pursuant to the above-mentioned Registration Statement,” the ETF issuer’s filing with the SEC read.

WisdomTree withdrawal sparks confusion as XRP ETF products rake over $1 billion

According to data compiled by SoSoValue, US-based spot XRP (exchange-traded fund) ETFs have collectively recorded over $1.25 billion in total inflows since their launch. On Tuesday alone, net inflows totaled $19.12 million, with Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ collecting $7.35 million in new capital. Canary’s XRPC and Bitwise’s XRP ETFs followed with over $10 million combined.

With all signs showing a market of sustained investor demand, WisdomTree has surprisingly decided to pull its application from the race. The SEC’s standard review period for such filings is up to 240 days, meaning a decision on the proposal was anticipated in October 2025. However, the SEC pushed back the decision deadline for WisdomTree’s application, which has now been officially rescinded for reasons only known to the asset manager.

Some netizens have suggested that WisdomTree’s decision is in tandem with the anticipation of asset managers like BlackRock potentially filing their own spot XRP ETF applications. 

“In the industry, this is known as “Clearing the Deck.” It’s a strategic retreat that smaller issuers make when they get intel that a giant (BlackRock or Vanguard) is about to drop a nuclear bomb on the market,” suggested one crypto ETF market observer. “They don’t withdraw a major product just because they changed their mind. You only withdraw an application like this for one reason if you know you can’t compete with the giant that is about to enter.”

XRP price pulls back to $2.28 after heated 2026 start

WisdomTree’s spot XRP ETF application withdrawal may have widened the wound of the token’s bloodbath in the last 24 hours, taking its price below $2.3 after peaking at $2.4. XRP had formed a defined trading base in the $1.77 to $1.95 range before New Year’s Eve, but a charge from bulls helped the coin regain its spot as the fourth largest crypto by market cap. 

According to several market watchers, XRP’s short-term technical indicators spell an uptick in price momentum, but support levels near $2.05 to $2.10 must hold to sustain a rebound. If that support fails, prices could retest lower levels and lead to a drop to $1.9, a level the market last witnessed on January 2. 

XRP price resistance clusters have been formed around the $2.33 to $2.35 range, where the 200-day exponential moving average sits. A breakout above this zone could clear the path for $2.64 and potentially $3. 

XRP $3.55 This dip is simply harvesting power. pic.twitter.com/5pTJ6WMiey

— CryptoPhoenix27 (@CharlesMcCull27) January 6, 2026

Commentator ‘Steph is Crypto’ drew a comparison between the current price patterns and the 2017 XRP market cycle on X, noting that in both instances, periods of consolidation were followed by corrective movements forming a falling wedge structure. 

The resolution of that pattern in 2017 started with a reset, which preceded a breakout phase that took XRP from $0.23 to a then all-time-high price level of $2.28.

“That same setup is visible today. The corrective structure looks complete, downside momentum has faded, and XRP is now breaking out of the same type of compression zone that preceded the 2017 rally,” the trader explained.

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Mega moves in crypto tend to begin in the same manner. These largest of the holders give up on what has already been run, and start accumulating positions in smaller assets that still have room to reprice. Such a change is often silent initially. It appears in watchlists, late-stage purchases and an increasing interest in projects that are leaving the build mode and entering release mode.

This is the context in which Binance Coin (BNB) and Mutuum Finance (MUTM) can be compared. BNB is already a giant. Mutuum Finance is developing, it is under $1, and it remains in the phase where milestones in advancement may alter the manner in which this market regards it.

Binance Coin (BNB)

Binance Coin (BNB) is at $900 and has a market capitalization of around $130B. It is also one of the largest altcoins and liquidity is profound. People who invested in BNB early were fond of the fact that the story of utility was understandable and the company could grow to its current size in a long duration.

It is just that initial rush that led to the current change in set up. BNB requires a gigantic capital increase to provide another scramble at a market capital of $130B. The chart is likely to slow down even in case the market becomes bullish with an asset that large.

Critics reckon that BNB would have a relative forward outlook in the period of 2026-2027 compared to smaller names. Even in a more conservative case, it is estimated that BNB could only handle a move that is approximately 1.3-1.8x unless the whole market is growing violently over the long term. 

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is a new developing cryptocurrency project working on a non custodial loaning and borrowing protocol. It is intended to allow clients to loan, borrow, and operate their collaterals under prescribed regulations. The project outlines the concept of a dual-market structure, which is to be used in addressing various lending requirements with the rise in adoption.

Good participation is also reported in Mutuum Finance. The latest sale data indicates that it has raised some $19.6M, approximately 18,700 holders, and just less than 822M MUTM were sold to date. MUTM has a price of $0.04 in presale Phase 7. It started selling in early 2025 at $0.01 and the increase to 0.04 signifies 300% increase in stages. Mutuum Finance also utilizes an official price at launch of the sale of $0.06 as a point of reference once the sale period is over.

Mutuum Finance reports that V1 Protocol is being developed first to Sepolia testnet and then to final mainnet, both of which will be described as coming soon. The Liquidity Pool, mtToken, Debt Token and a Liquidator Bot are noted as core V1 components and the initial assets are ETH, and USDT.

What Part of MUTM Resembles Early BNB?

It is not comparing itself to copying Binance. It is an early-stage organization. The optimal time of BNB was when the market began to consider its utility real and repeatable. Mutuum Finance is attempting to achieve the same level of trust, where a protocol is evaluated based on its ability to give rise to repeat use.

The comparison is brought up because there are three reasons. First is timing. Mutuum Finance is at its building stage. The token is valued at $0.04 and is yet to be fully utilized in the protocol. That provides it with a broader range of valuation as compared to a mature asset.

Second is utility design. A borrowing and lending protocol is a fundamental DeFi application that is being constructed by Mutuum Finance. Lending also can bring about continuous action since borrowers and lenders come back. This is unlike tokens that rely on narrative cycles.

Third is the demand model that is linked with protocol activity. Mutuum Finance explains a buy-and-distribute system under which part of the protocol fee is utilized to purchase MUTM in the open market. The MUTM that is acquired in the open market is re-distributed to consumers who mount mtTokens in the safety module. In case of an increase in the borrowing activity, fees may increase, and the model indicates repetition in the market buys.

Halborn Security Audit

According to Mutuum Finance, Halborn Security had its V1 lending and borrowing protocol audited by an auditor. It also quotes a CertiK token scan rating of 90/100 and a 50k bug bounty. These checkpoints are important in the case of a developing protocol since they remove the uncertainty surrounding the fundamental logic such as collateral handling and liquidations.

Market commentators believe that any early borrowing activity and fee generation as a result of V1 Protocol delivery could result in MUTM repricing significantly higher than the $0.06 reference point and begin to grow thereafter. 

On a bullish trend, it has been projected that MUTM could go 10x-15x as compared to the current price of $0.04 in the long run. This would put the token in the $0.40-$0.60 range in that model, and $1 as a subsequent marker in case adoption continues to follow a scaling pattern.

The conclusion is not that BNB is not doing well. It is that BNB is already huge. Mutuum Finance is still in the process of development, and it is standing at the window where milestones in executing it can adjust the market to its long-term growth.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Ethereum has now raised the blob limit from 15 to 21 for the second part of the Blob Parameter-Only hard fork, which it completed this weekend. Within an expanding network-wide plan to promote its ambition and attract more users, it has made major progress towards that goal.

To strengthen security on Ethereum’s mainnet this weekend, the system has been expanded to process more transactions and data simultaneously, particularly on Layer 2 (L2) networks. This enhancement increases security and independence, while also increasing and stabilizing profits for investors along the way.

The hard fork began at 1:01:11 UTC, increasing the amount of data Ethereum could handle within a block. Blobs, or groups of data, are used for temporary storage. In Layer 2 networks, blobs are assembled through multiple transactions until they are returned to an Ethereum chain in this manner.

A blob is capable of storing 128 kilobytes of data. By allowing Ethereum to allocate 21 blobs for a block and thereby store up to a total of 2,688 kilobytes in just one such block (or roughly 2.6 megabytes), the amount is already multiplied many times over.

The upgrade also upped the blob target from 10 to 14. The target is the quantity that Ethereum attempts to use most of the time.

These computers require a high internet speed and sufficient storage to maintain a healthy network. Ethereum developers are attempting to increase speed without compromising the network’s security by raising the target prudently.

Blobs help keep fees low and the main network stable

Apart from enhancing speed, blobs also help maintain the Ethereum gas fee at a more moderate level. Gas fees are the tiny charges that users pay to send transactions or run smart contracts on the Ethereum network.

When many people use the network simultaneously, fees tend to increase. Layer 2 networks can utilize blobs to transfer data at a rapid pace, thereby reducing the need for a larger number of transactions to compete for space on the main Ethereum network.

It helps to reduce the traffic jams and stabilizes fees. This is a huge advantage for Ethereum developers. As layer 2s mainly use blobs, they help to regulate the main Ethereum network more evenly.

Ethereum plans bigger upgrades in 2026

This second BPO hard fork is only one component in a much larger strategy. Developers also discussed increasing the gas limit in Ethereum, for example, at an Ethereum All Core Developers meeting on December 15. It represents the limit on transaction and smart contract actions in a given block. At this point, the gas limit is 60 million. 

Developers had discussed raising it to 80 million after the second BPO hard fork. In this case, Ethereum blocks would include more activity, which could further improve speed and lower fees. Even further down the path, Ethereum is designing the Glamarsterdam hard fork, which it expects to launch later in 2026. 

This upgrade will place a strong emphasis on scalability. It will allow the gas limit to increase gradually to as much as 200 million. It’ll also enable something called perfect parallel processing. Now, Ethereum handles transactions primarily one after another, in the same way that cars flow in a single lane. 

Perfect parallel processing will enable Ethereum to process numerous transactions simultaneously, much like cars traveling on a multi-lane highway. 

This will be accomplished with the benefit of Block Access Lists, part of Ethereum Improvement Proposal 7928 (EIP-7928). This improvement will help Ethereum accommodate significantly more demand without slowing down.

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UAE RAK BANK has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) to issue an AED-backed stablecoin, subject to the completion of regulatory and operational requirements. Further updates on the pilot phase and potential expansion will be shared in due course, subject to regulatory approvals.

According to the press release, this is part of RAK BANK’s digital assets journey and its commitment to align with the UAE’s digital economy framework.

This is not the first time RAK BANK has dabbled in the crypto space. In 2025, it announced that it would offer its retail customers the ability to trade crypto using Dubai-regulated Bitpanda as their crypto exchange.

Features of RAK BANK’s AED stablecoin

As per the announcement, the AED stablecoin will combine the confidence of traditional banking and the efficiency of blockchain. It will feature a 1:1 backing AED, regulated to support full redemption at par value. It will include audited smart contracts with real-time reserve attestations that support transparency.

Raheel Ahmed, Group CEO of RAK BANK, noted that this in-principle approval reflects their focus on responsible innovation, regulated and built on trust. He explains, “As we mark our 50th anniversary, we remain committed to developing solutions that are designed around our customers’ needs and aligned with the UAE’s vision for a future-ready financial system. It is another step in delivering banking that is digital with a human touch.”

FAB Bank and Crypto.com have also announced AED stablecoin projects

In October, Dubai’s Department of Finance (DoF), in collaboration with Dubai Land Department (DLD) and with the support of Dubai Pay platform from Digital Dubai Authority, as well as Foris Dax, represented by Crypto.com and Emirates NBD, successfully trialed the payment settlement of cryptocurrencies to AED Dirhams and AED stablecoin for Dubai government services fees.

The DLD explained that the transaction tested successfully was for the “Issuance of a Property Map” service, as part of testing new technologies and systems within a secure environment before the official launch in the future.

Moreover, Abu Dhabi FAB Bank announced that it was working on an AED stablecoin to be built on the ADI Chain. The ADI Blockchain Foundation will develop an AED stablecoin to be issued by First Abu Dhabi Bank, with the support of ADQ, a sovereign investor, and IHC, another investor.

MBANK was the first to issue a regulated AED Stablecoin in the UAE

However, neither RAK BANK nor FAB will be the first banks to issue a regulated stablecoin. Al Maryah Community Bank was the first to do so with AE Coin. The AE Coin has been incorporated into not only governmental entities but also private sector companies within the UAE.

The race towards the issuance and utilization of AED stablecoins has progressed in the UAE, with Tether one of the first to announce it would launch an AED stablecoin, which is still clearly out of the picture.

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Bitcoin slipped below $93K even with sky-high futures volume and $1.85T market cap still holding.

Gold steadied after a 3-day rally, trading near $4,470, with traders watching U.S. data instead of global chaos.

Trump said Venezuela will send up to $3B worth of oil to the U.S., while the White House didn’t deny using force to grab Greenland.

China tightened military-use exports to Japan, silver dropped 2.2%, and US stock futures barely budged after record highs.

Spot trading volume for tokenized stocks on Bitget has blown past the $1 billion milestone mark.

Bitget’s “universal exchange” became a preferred venue for trading tokenized versions of gold and silver in a record year for precious metals.

Traditional finance and crypto mainstays, including Nasdaq, Coinbase and Ondo continue to increase exposure to tokenization. 

Crypto exchange Bitget, which prides itself as the world’s largest universal exchange, has announced that cumulative spot trading volume for tokenized stocks on its platform has exceeded $1 billion.

Most of the growth occurred in December 2025, when the platform recorded about 95% of the total volume it saw that year. 

Gold and silver have also emerged as the major catalysts for this growth as their prices rose to new highs in conventional markets, with traders flocking to the tokenized versions of popular ETFs on Bitget’s platform.

Volume for IAUon, the tokenized version of the iShares Gold Trust ETF, jumped 4,904% over a two-week period, while SLVon, linked to the iShares Silver Trust, recorded a 3,729% increase during the same timeframe.

Bitget’s ‘universal exchange’ hits peak popularity 

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Gracy Chen, Bitget’s chief executive officer, said, “Reaching $1 billion in cumulative tokenized stock trading volume reflects a structural shift in how global users want to access markets.”

She also added that there’s a demand for equities on-chain and an increasing “appetite for assets like gold and commodities to trade with the same speed, transparency, and global reach as crypto.” 

Traditional brokerages require account applications and verification processes and operate within set hours, meaning that there are off periods. 

Platforms like Bitget, on the other hand, enable users to trade tokenized stocks round the clock using USDT stablecoins. The exchange now lists over 100 such tokens, from tech giants such as Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, and Alphabet to commodity ETFs.

On a general scale, the tokenized stock market has also seen considerable growth, rising to $1.2 billion in total capitalization, according to December figures.

Tokenized commodities overall are approaching $4 billion, with Tether Gold and Paxos commanding the lion’s share.

Traditional finance is moving on-chain 

Nasdaq has submitted filings to US regulators expressing interest in tokenized stock offerings. 

Ondo Finance is preparing a Solana-based launch, while Coinbase is expanding beyond cryptocurrency into equities, meaning that the market will be seeing more offerings of these kinds of products to users.

As of December 29, tokenized silver products had recorded a twelve-fold increase in monthly transfer volume and tripled their holder count in 30 days.

Traders shift to always-on markets

The appeal of continuous trading becomes most apparent during volatile periods. When news breaks outside New York or London hours, traditional equity holders must wait for markets to open. 

Tokenized stock traders can react immediately, repositioning as events unfold. This proved valuable during recent commodity swings, when Asian and European traders could adjust their exposure to gold and silver in real time.

Bitget, founded in 2018, now claims over 120 million users globally. The firm has positioned itself at the intersection of crypto and traditional finance, securing partnerships with Spain’s La Liga football league and MotoGP racing. 

Last month, Cryptopolitan reported its collaboration with UNICEF, aiming to deliver blockchain education to 1.1 million people within the next two years.

Traditional brokerages offer regulatory protections and established infrastructure. Blockchain-based alternatives promise speed, accessibility, and lower barriers to entry. For now, both worlds appear to be converging, with platforms like Bitget acting as bridges between established finance and emerging digital rails.

Price no longer tells the story when the market becomes more discriminating. Investors begin searching what can continue to move at a fast rate, what has actual catalysts going on, and what has already become too enormous to provide high upside. 

This is why top crypto investments lists tend to be a mixture of one established brand, one risky heritage meme, and a new crypto that is at an early stage of the construction cycle. The following are three of the altcoins that continue to feature in crypto projections through 2026 to 2027, and one new crypto is at an early-stage position making a runway.

Binance Coin (BNB)

Binance Coin (BNB) can be considered one of the basic large-cap altcoins due to its liquidity and position in the market. It has a current value of approximately $900, with a market capitalization of approximately $124B, within a size range where it is more difficult to experience explosive returns.

Other commentators feel that BNB will climb into the future in 2027 with less energy than smaller assets. The reasoning is simple. To relocate a $124B asset five times further requires huge new capital. On a more cautious note, it is estimated that BNB will be unable to provide more than a modest increase, including 1.3x to 1.8x, unless the wider market goes into a vigorous, sustained growth.

Dogecoin (DOGE)

Dogecoin (DOGE) is also among the most monitored meme coins. It trades at approximately $0.15 having a market capital of approximately $25B. It has also had quite an extended history of steep rallies, and that is the reason it remains on the radar whenever the market becomes risk-on.

It is the issue that follows the initial bounce. DOGE will commonly require high volume to overcome resistance and the graph may stagnate when momentum is lost. One of the most popular zones is near the point of 0.20, where the sellers are likely to appear and the price will not easily keep above the point.

Other market observers say the size of DOGE can constrain its prospects in 2027 and its capacity to generate new demand can trigger a new trend. In a held back case, it is projected that the DOGE could only achieve 1.5x to 2x by 2027 without a resurgence at meme trading. That is not a very strong profile compared to many buyers when they are looking into the potential best cheap crypto to buy now.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

The project is a new cryptocurrency project called Mutuum Finance (MUTM) that is developing a non custodial lending-borrowing protocol. It is positioning itself around product delivery and structured mechanics instead of narrative cycles.

Recent sales data indicate that a project is going into later stages of distribution. According to Mutuum Finance, it raised $19.6M and has approximately 18,700 holders, and has sold 822M MUTM. 

In presale Phase 7, MUTM is at a value of $0.04. The transition to $0.04 is an increase of 300% in stages since the sale started in early 2025 at $0.01. An official launch price of $0.06 is also mentioned in Mutuum Finance.

V1 is the short term point of delivery. According to Mutuum Finance, V1 Protocol will first go to Sepolia testnet, and then to mainnet, and is scheduled to happen soon. According to the project, the Liquidity Pool, mtToken, Debt Token and a Liquidator Bot are the main elements of the project, and ETH and USDT will be the initial assets.

2027 Price Scenario

Mutuum Finance brings together protocol activity and token dynamism via mtTokens, and the structure of fees. mtTokens are deposit accounts and are intended to reflect yield accrued through time as borrowers pay interest.

Another mechanism described in the project is that of buy and distribute, MUTM involves a buy and sell part of protocol fees on the open market. The MUTM bought in the open market is resold to those who deposit the mtTokens in the safety module. It is a direct relationship between the market demand and revenue. In case of increasing usage, the model identifies recurring buys.

MUTM Projections indicate that in a bullish scenario the protocol may experience an 8x to 9x run in the next 2027 in case V1 delivery results in actual borrowing activity, fee generation and long term sustainability of the market through the buy-distribute loop. This growth potential is equivalent to the framing of 800% growth.

Halborn Audit and Layer-2 Plans

It is also on security that MUTM is being monitored. According to Mutuum Finance, Halborn Security has undergone an audit by an independent auditor of its V1 lending and borrowing protocol. It also refers to a CertiK token scan of 90/100 and a $50k bug bounty. These form typical preparation measures in favor of a lending system which will handle collateral and liquidations.

Instead of V1, Mutuum Finance outlines a plan of overcollateralized stablecoin and the cost savings of Layer-2 compression of call data. Reduced charges can increase day-to-day use, and this is usually what dictates the difference between a DeFi crypto and a fad.

Simply, the size and demand points of BNB and DOGE may put a lid on upside. Mutuum Finance is in a different category, a new cryptocurrency that is only in its early phase of life, where V1 preparation, security checks, and system design are geared towards acquiring long-term use.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance