Rocket Pool ETH

Kunal Doshi

Boccaccio

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">subscribe</a>.



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The market rally hit its first resistance yesterday, with every sector except gold closing in the red. BTC fell 2.6%, mirroring weakness in traditional markets as the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq slipped 0.28% and 0.44%, respectively. Gold was the lone standout, gaining 0.97% as investors continue rotating toward safety as the metal continues setting new ATHs.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="850" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108793" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-29.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



The pullback followed a New York Fed <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/ny-fed-finds-rising-worry-about-state-job-market-september-2025-10-07/">consumer expectations survey</a> that showed worsening sentiment and higher inflation forecasts. After seven straight sessions of gains for the S&amp;P 500, a correction was arguably overdue.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="857" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108795" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-31.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



Amid the broader selloff, the AI sector showed surprising resilience, falling just 4.2% — relatively mild for a group that typically reacts sharply to market moves. IP, ICP, NEAR, and TAO all posted small declines, suggesting dip buyers may already be circling.



At the other end of the spectrum, memecoins were the hardest hit, sliding 7.7% on the day. The weakness was compounded by the ongoing meme season on BNB, which has siphoned liquidity from existing names as traders chase quick returns in new launches.



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BNB has been on an absolute tear, climbing 27.5% over the past week and 45.5% over the last month. For the third-largest token by MC, those are staggering numbers in such a short span. The fundamentals back it up, too. BNB’s share of total network revenue has surged from 6.5% at the end of August to 24% today, recently overtaking Solana and even matching Hyperliquid in daily network revenue.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="788" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108794" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-30.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



So what’s fueling this run? It started with Aster, hyped as the next Hyperliquid, which pulled traders and capital into BNB in hopes of farming a lucrative airdrop. But momentum has since shifted to a new memecoin wave sweeping across the BNB ecosystem. Since early October, CZ has <a href="https://x.com/cz_binance/status/1975595775540257262">subtly</a> leaned into the movement, with memes like 4 and GIGGLE getting listed on Binance Alpha. The frenzy hit new heights when PALU, a small-cap coin with a $3 million market cap, pumped over 3200% after being added to Binance Alpha.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1322" height="587" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108791" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=1322 1322w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-27.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1322px) 100vw, 1322px" /></figure>



These explosive returns have supercharged activity on Four.meme, BNB’s native meme launchpad, as traders rush to buy the next viral token. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this move. A similar meme season hit earlier this year and each wave lasted roughly a month before fading.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="739" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108797" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-33.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



Bridging data shows capital rotating from Solana and Ethereum into BNB over the past week, signaling fresh inflows chasing the trend. The open question is sustainability. With the Aster drop still to come, this wave could run longer than the last. The simplest way to ride it is through tokens like BNB, CAKE, and FORM, which directly benefit from rising activity.



But history offers a word of caution. Past BNB meme seasons have been highly reflexive, with sharp drawdowns once liquidity rotated to the next narrative. While we’d all like to believe that this time will be different, it probably won’t. Manage risk accordingly.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Prediction markets battle it out</h2>



The past few days have again been dominated by prediction markets, which have now become increasingly focused on publicity, dominating CT narratives and mindshare.&nbsp;



Kalshi has turned on its badging funnel, going above and beyond in terms of recruiting influencers and Twitter personalities. This came after the announcement of its new crypto focus (onboarding John Wang as head of crypto).



The Kalshi team has also increasingly become further integrated across financial information services, brokerages and news. Most recently, Kalshi has been integrated into Bloomberg. It’s also started working closely with Robinhood. In addition, both Polymarket and Kalshi have increasingly been cited across media, including TBPN and MSM.



While Kalshi has been focused on integrations and publicity, Polymarket recently announced that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of NYSE, made a $2 billion strategic investment at a $9 billion post-money valuation. It also announced a $150 million round (at $1.2 billion) led by Founders Fund, and a $55 million round (at $350 million) led by Blockchain Capital. It seems that thus far, with the exception of regular, non-institutional capital, everyone has found ways to gain exposure to Polymarket, Kalshi and the growing prediction market sector.



Kalshi and Polymarket are in a fight to dominate prediction markets. This initially became apparent in earlier leaks that Kalshi had attempted to sabotage Polymarket&#8217;s (using Antonio Brown, amongst others to <a href="https://x.com/PirateWires/status/1860080475899080965?lang=en">disparage Polymarket and Shayne Coplan</a>).&nbsp;



Although we in crypto have historically been more aware of Polymarket, it’s led us to assume it&#8217;s the largest prediction market, and this isn&#8217;t true.&nbsp;



Kalshi&#8217;s notional prediction market volumes are significantly higher compared to those of Polymarket. Over the past week, Kalshi saw $956 million (nearly 66% of all volume) in weekly volume, while Polymarket saw only $464 million (32% of all volume).



Notably, the majority of Kalshi&#8217;s volume comes from sports betting. Sports made up $877 million of the $956 million over the past week (around 92%). This has been an ongoing shift, following Kalshi’s partnership with Robinhood to launch NFL and College Football markets. Excluding sports, Kalshi&#8217;s market share (15%) compared to Polymarket&#8217;s (85%) was significantly lower.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="668" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108796" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-32.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



We’ve seen that sports on Polymarket have similarly historically been dominant (barring weeks involving important geopolitical or election news). Over the past week, 50% of volumes have been sports-related.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="829" height="412" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-28.png" alt="" class="wp-image-108792" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-28.png?w=829 829w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-28.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-28.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-28.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-28.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-28.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-28.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 829px) 100vw, 829px" /></figure>



In terms of politics, Polymarket captures more than 90% of the volume between the two. Unfortunately for Polymarket, sports betting is much more widespread compared to political betting, and is less influenced by seasonality.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="831" height="413" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-26.png" alt="" class="wp-image-108790" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-26.png?w=831 831w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-26.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-26.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-26.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-26.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-26.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-26.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 831px) 100vw, 831px" /></figure>



Going forward, we’ll have to see whether Polymarket is able to match the distribution that Kalshi gets with Robinhood. Historically, many have commented (including us at Blockworks Research) on how sports betting through prediction markets is not as entertaining or optimized as it is through traditional apps, like DraftKings. However, it’s clear that it has allowed Kalshi to gain mindshare and market share despite Polymarket announcing large, impressive raises and backers.



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0xResearch Newsletter

Prediction markets boom as crypto pulls back

Blockworks

Jupiter, the Solana-based decentralized exchange aggregator, announced on Oct. 8, that it will launch its own native stablecoin, JupUSD, in partnership with Ethena Labs.



The new token will serve as the core liquidity and collateral asset across the entire Jupiter ecosystem, including its perpetual futures, lending, and spot trading platforms. <a href="https://x.com/JupiterExchange/status/1975929208049463384">According</a> to Jupiter, JupUSD is slated to go live in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending multiple security audits of its Solana-native mint-and-redeem contracts.



JupUSD will be initially backed 100% by USDtb, a stablecoin nearly fully collateralized by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, before incorporating USDe, Ethena’s delta-neutral stablecoin, to optimize yield for holders. The partnership extends Ethena’s Stablecoin-as-a-Service model, which allows protocols to create bespoke digital dollars using its infrastructure.



Ethena, which has issued over $16 billion in stablecoins to date, <a href="https://x.com/ethena_labs/status/1975924462152495602">positions</a> JupUSD alongside other ecosystem-native assets such as Frax’s USDe integrations and MegaETH’s USDm.



The collaboration mimics a growing trend among major DeFi protocols toward self-issued stablecoins to retain liquidity and fee revenue internally — a path also taken by Aave’s GHO and Curve’s crvUSD.&nbsp;



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Ethena

Jupiter launches JupUSD stablecoin with Ethena Labs on Solana

Donovan Choy

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">subscribe</a>.



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The decentralized content delivery network (CDN) Pipe launched on Solana mainnet today alongside the token generation event of its PIPE token.



Pipe is integrating Jito&#8217;s Node Consensus Network (NCN) as its economic security layer, effectively restaking a pool of already staked SOL without standing up its own validator set. Pipe node operators will stake PIPE tokens to participate in the network.



The testnet has delivered 60+ petabytes of data across a network of ~290,000 Point of Presence (PoP) nodes, reporting ~70% lower latency and ~100x cost efficiency than traditional CDNs, according to Pipe’s press release.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="900" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108807" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=464 464w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-34.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



About $2.5 million in PIPE testnet tokens have been burned to date.



“Our CDN is ready to go live and compete against the offerings from Cloudflare, Fastly, Akamai and Web2 stalwarts of the world,” David Rhodus, founder of Permission Labs and core contributor to Pipe Network said, emphasizing Pipe’s performance and uptime “at the edge” as a traditional weak spot for incumbents.



CDNs act as local delivery hubs for the internet, caching popular content in local data centers near users so websites, videos and apps load faster.



Pipe aims to provide the same service using a DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure) model. Instead of owning or leasing thousands of servers, it coordinates independent node operators’ under-utilized resources to expand capacity where bandwidth is scarce and costly.



This distributed supply model gives Pipe two key advantages. One, Pipe can scale and target regions where bandwidth costs have historically been prohibitive. Based on its roadmap, Pipe’s stated expansion efforts include regions like South Korea and emerging markets like India and Egypt.



Secondly, it enables Pipe to welcome and monetize AI-agent traffic that are often <a href="https://x.com/DavidRhodus/status/1940593266946462121">default-blocked</a> by incumbent CDNs due to rising egress costs from AI crawlers, or intellectual property concerns around model training from CDN’s customers.



Pipe is estimated to be generating at least about $55 million in annualized revenues, with stated revenue targets of at least $100 million in ARR by end of 2025, according to a <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/pipe-network-valuation-and-market-positioning">report</a> by Blockworks Research’s Nick Carpinito.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Pipe Network usage</h2>



Pipe’s flagship CDN has been used to store saved states of the Solana network’s ledger and the chain’s full Proof-of-History archival dataset, amounting to about 1.5 petabytes stored with roughly 100 terabytes of daily egress.



The PIPE token can be used to pay for CDN usage and the company’s Firestarter Storage offering, which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/pipe-network-debuts-firestarter-storage">went live </a>in late July.



Following mainnet, Pipe plans to introduce a liquid stake delegation program with Jito, directing staked PIPE to Pop nodes based on bandwidth and uptime.



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DePIN

Decentralized content delivery network Pipe launches mainnet

Katherine Ross

375ai raised $10 million across multiple rounds, Blockworks has exclusively learned.&nbsp;



It raised $5 million in a round led by Delphi Ventures, Strobe Ventures and HackVC. 6MV, ARCA, EV3, Peaq and Heartcore also participated in rounds to bring the total to $10 million. 



The project, as CEO Harry Dewhirst explained to Blockworks, captures data in the physical world by monitoring vehicles in places like Los Angeles to better understand consumer behavior. Dewhirst said that the DePIN is also rolling out in New York, Miami and the team is eyeing an international push next year.&nbsp;



In order to track vehicles, 375ai uses 375 Edge, which has cameras, audio and environmental sensors. The team is building the network on Solana to “transform the physical world into structured intelligence,” a press release said.&nbsp;



375ai also has a partnership with Outfront Media that helps it monitor well over a million vehicles a day to collect the data.&nbsp;



For Dewhirst, the opportunity was clear: “There is so little known about what actually happens in the real world in any great fidelity or scale in comparison to that of online, where they know everything about you. Yet, 75% of commerce happens offline, not online.”



“375ai is positioned to become core infrastructure for AI,” Tommy Shaughnessy, founding partner of Delphi Ventures, said. “Its ability to compress vast amounts of raw data into actionable intelligence at scale has the power to transform entire sectors, from creating smarter mobility systems to powering more meaningful AI-driven applications worldwide.”



Generally speaking, the government has been the only one monitoring these types of habits, but 375ai seeks to democratize the data and allow the community to “buy and deploy these nodes to capture and digitize the analog,” Dewhirst explained.



The team has been busy building for the last three years, and is aiming to hold its token generation event at the end of October. It’ll also be doing a public sale to raise additional capital.&nbsp;



“Over the past year, in our test net phase, we&#8217;ve [had] 300,000 users of our mobile app, which complements our 375 Edge locations. So [we’ve had] people from all over the world, and frankly, the kind of enthusiasm and demand for using the app and engaging with it has been far beyond our wildest expectations,” Dewhirst said.



The funds raised will go towards building out 375ai’s deployments and its ability to capture real-world data, specifically in the US.



“This investment validates and accelerates our mission to drive real-world impact and reshape the way society works, as we move towards physical AI and an agentic world — from enabling smarter cities and businesses to creating safer streets and more efficient robotics and autonomous transport,” Dewhirst noted in a statement.



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Exclusive: 375ai raises $10M from Delphi, Strobe, 6MV

Square, the payment services arm of Block, has announced the rollout of integrated Bitcoin payments and an AI-powered voice ordering system for merchants.



<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/square-launches-ai-voice-ordering-and-an-integrated-bitcoin-solution-for-merchants/ar-AA1O5jkA">Announced</a> on Wednesday, the update allows business owners to accept Bitcoin directly through Square’s platform without relying on third-party processors, while a new artificial intelligence tool handles customer voice orders across devices and languages.



The combined release aims to streamline commerce by unifying crypto transactions and conversational AI within Square’s existing merchant ecosystem.



The company said the Bitcoin payment feature connects directly with Block’s infrastructure, leveraging the Lightning Network for faster and cheaper transactions. Merchants can choose to settle in Bitcoin or instantly convert proceeds to fiat currency. Square’s AI voice ordering system, meanwhile, enables restaurants and retailers to manage phone and kiosk orders through natural language prompts, trained on each business’s unique menu or product catalog.



This move marks Square’s latest expansion of Bitcoin utility across Block’s portfolio, following CEO Jack Dorsey’s ongoing push to integrate Bitcoin at the protocol level through projects like TBD and Spiral. While the company framed the update as a boost to merchant efficiency, it also positions Square competitively against fintech rivals such as PayPal and Shopify, which have pursued separate crypto integrations.



Block stated that the new Bitcoin and AI tools are available immediately for US merchants, with international support planned for 2026.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Bitcoin

Square announces Bitcoin payments for merchants

Plume Network, a blockchain protocol focused on tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring Dinero Protocol to expand its institutional-grade decentralized finance (DeFi) yield offerings.



The acquisition, first <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/10/08/rwa-chain-plume-acquiring-dinero-to-expand-institutional-defi-yield-offering">reported</a> by Coindesk, brings Dinero’s suite of liquid staking and yield-bearing tokens — including ipxETH, pxSOL, and pxBTC — under Plume’s umbrella, strengthening its position in the growing institutional DeFi sector.



Dinero’s ipxETH product, which has attracted $125 million in total value locked, will serve as a foundation for Plume’s broadened yield strategy, offering compliant access to staking returns on major assets such as ether (ETH), SOL, and bitcoin (BTC).



Backed by major investors including Galaxy, Haun Ventures, Apollo Global Management, and Brevan Howard, Plume launched its mainnet in June 2025 and has since accumulated over $360 million in assets on its protocol.



The network recently secured approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a regulated transfer agent, enabling it to handle tokenized securities onchain and integrate with US financial infrastructure such as the Depository Trust &amp; Clearing Corporation (DTCC). Co-founder Teddy Pornprinya said the move marks a “large institutional push” across the US, Asia, and the UAE as Plume seeks to onboard new categories of investors.



A definitive agreement has been signed, though the deal has not yet closed, according to a Plume spokesperson. If finalized, the acquisition would position Plume among a small group of regulated RWA platforms combining tokenized assets with compliant DeFi yield mechanisms, a space increasingly watched by both investors and regulators following the SEC’s evolving stance on crypto yield programs.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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M&amp;A

Plume Network to acquire Dinero in effort to expand institutional DeFi yields

Coinbase announced on Wednesday that residents of New York can now stake cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) directly on its platform, following regulatory approval from state authorities.



The move <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/blog/staking-is-now-available-in-new-york">restores</a> access to staking services for millions of New Yorkers, marking a significant change in one of the country’s most tightly regulated crypto markets.



Coinbase framed the approval as a milestone for financial inclusion, crediting Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration for providing clarity on staking programs. New York’s Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has historically taken a strict approach to digital-asset activities under the BitLicense regime, which limited certain yield-based products.



Coinbase’s ability to relaunch staking in the state suggests a softening stance on services previously viewed as securities-adjacent under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Howey test framework.



The announcement comes after the SEC’s February 2023 enforcement against Kraken’s staking program, which led to a $30 million settlement and nationwide withdrawal of its service. Coinbase has maintained that its staking program differs because it merely facilitates network participation rather than pooling customer assets for profit.



The company recently prevailed in several state-level challenges, including dismissals in Illinois, Kentucky, and South Carolina, reinforcing its argument that staking-as-a-service is not a security.



New York’s approval could influence other states still restricting staking — Coinbase estimates residents in California, New Jersey, Maryland, and Wisconsin have lost over $130 million in potential rewards.&nbsp;



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Coinbase

Coinbase gains New York approval to offer crypto staking

Coinflow, a stablecoin-based payments startup, has raised $25 million in a Series A.



The round was led by Pantera Capital with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Reciprocal Ventures, and Jump Capital, Fortune <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/10/08/stablecoin-coinflow-startup-funding-round-pantera-stripe-payments/">reported</a> on Wednesday.



Led by cofounder and CEO Daniel Lev, Coinflow operates as a payment service provider competing with established players such as Stripe, Worldpay and Square. The company claims it can reduce settlement times from days to seconds by using stablecoins as an intermediary layer while allowing merchants to transact in traditional currencies.



Coinflow partners with banks like Cross River and major stablecoin issuers to mint, burn and convert tokens across blockchains including Ethereum and Solana.



Founded in 2022, Coinflow gained traction after Stripe’s 2024 acquisitions of Bridge and Privy introduced more mainstream companies to stablecoin payments. The firm now reports growing adoption among non-crypto businesses, spurred by regulatory clarity following the passage of the Genius Act and broader institutional acceptance of blockchain payments.



With only 25 employees, Coinflow faces growing competition as Stripe rolls out tools for businesses to issue their own stablecoins. Lev maintains that Coinflow’s smaller size and technical integration across traditional banking networks offer an edge in speed and cost efficiency. “If you can perform better and faster, then volume naturally flows to you,” he said.



This is a developing story.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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raise

Coinflow raises $25M to expand stablecoin payments network

Ben Strack

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forward-guidance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Firms continue responding to investor calls for diversified exposure to a crypto space becoming more entwined with the traditional financial system.&nbsp;



S&amp;P Global is a few weeks from offering a Digital Markets 50 Index that would blend 15 tokens with 35 crypto-linked equities involved in digital asset operations, infrastructure, financial services, blockchain applications, etc. This mix of crypto stocks and tokens is a first for the index giant.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The company did not reveal the index’s specific holdings, but noted tokens would be selected from the S&amp;P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index (a benchmark with BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB and SOL as its top five holdings). Here’s that index’s track record:&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="690" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108756" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-24.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



This comes as the crypto segment has moved “from the margins into a more established role in global markets,” S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices chief product/ops officer Cameron Drinkwater said. Market participants are gravitating to crypto for diversification, growth or innovation strategies, he added.&nbsp;



This isn’t some crypto-focused firm building an index like this. It’s the financial goliath who brought you the S&amp;P 500. Ever heard of it?&nbsp;



Dinari helped design the index and plans to create a token that tracks the benchmark by the end of 2025. The company offers what it calls dShares — 150 or so tokenized stocks and ETFs that are backed 1:1 by off-chain assets.



“It was clear to us that there’s a need for the ‘S&amp;P 500’ of the space,” Dinari chief business officer Anna Wroblewska told me. “Who better to build it with than the incredible S&amp;P team.”



Wroblewska told me in May that the company was focused on bringing the entire stock market onchain. Its subsidiary, Dinari Securities, received a broker-dealer registration with the SEC and FINRA the following month.



“In the longer term, Dinari’s mission is to help facilitate a global, pooled on-chain secondary market for tokenized stocks and other RWAs,” Wroblewska noted at the time. “Imagine, for example, the cross-asset opportunities if NYSE and the CBOE and the CME were all unified in one place that all market participants could access.”



Today, the Dinari executive added that her firm is focused on scaling tokenized equities while “preserving the ownership rights and control that make US capital markets function so well.” I’m also told to keep an eye out for Dinari’s US launch and regulated 24/7 trading.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Let’s go back to indexes for a moment, as CoinShares is set to introduce an ETF that tracks the CoinShares-Compass Altcoins Index.



That benchmark allocates to emerging layer-1 alternatives across three themes: high-speed blockchains, interoperability protocols and growing platforms. The ETF will offer this exposure by investing in ETPs listed in the US, Canada, the UK and EU.



Its ticker will be DIME — clever, given its plan to allocate to 10 tokens:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="828" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108767" style="width:681px;height:auto" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-25.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



These upcoming launches focused on diversification come after the Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF — holding BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL and ADA — hit the NYSE Arca last month. Hashdex recently <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/etfs-indexes-crypto-investing">added several assets to its crypto index ETF</a> — tracking a benchmark CIO Samir Kerbage said could one day hold 200 assets.



We’re also waiting for more single-asset crypto ETF approvals in the US. Given recent <a href="https://x.com/JSeyff/status/1971689757525868812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1971689757525868812%7Ctwgr%5E9d9e027903749467ca991298513623da00e4111c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fblockworks.co%2Fnews%2Fetfs-indexes-crypto-investing">S-1 amendments</a>, the SEC seems focused on greenlighting solana products first.&nbsp;



A person close to those filings told me there’s no clear approval timeline at the moment given the government shutdown has paused SEC reviews. “We expect the process to move quickly once the government reopens,” they added.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



After two funding proposals failed in the Senate last night, it’s hard to know when that will happen.



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Index giant, crypto ETP issuer push diversification in latest product plans

S&amp;P Global announced Tuesday, that it will launch the S&amp;P Digital Markets 50 Index, a new benchmark combining cryptocurrencies and publicly traded crypto-linked equities.



The index, <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sp-global-to-launch-innovative-crypto-ecosystem-index-a-new-way-to-combine-cryptocurrencies-and-crypto-linked-equities-302577058.html">developed</a> in partnership with Dinari, aims to provide a diversified view of the crypto ecosystem, spanning blockchain infrastructure, financial services and digital assets. Dinari will also issue a token tracking the benchmark, making the index accessible through blockchain-based instruments.



The index will include 35 companies involved in digital asset infrastructure and applications alongside 15 cryptocurrencies from the existing S&amp;P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index. S&amp;P Global said the index is designed to give investors a structured and transparent measure of performance across both traditional and decentralized finance sectors.



Cameron Drinkwater, Chief Product &amp; Operations Officer at S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices, said the move reflects the growing role of digital assets in global markets, offering consistent tools for evaluation and exposure. Dinari’s Chief Business Officer Anna Wroblewska described the initiative as a demonstration of how blockchain technology can modernize financial benchmarks, enabling combined access to equities and crypto within one instrument.



The new index expands S&amp;P Global’s suite of digital asset benchmarks, which already includes the S&amp;P Cryptocurrency Indices and S&amp;P Digital Market Indices.



This is a developing story.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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S&P Global announces crypto ecosystem index blending digital assets and equities

Macauley Peterson

The current competition to host the next wave of stablecoin liquidity is less about raw throughput and more about control vs. openness. The field is getting crowded, both with veteran chains like Gnosis, newcomers like Plasma and Neural, and yet-to-be launched app-chains like Arc and Tempo.



First, a reality check. For all the new layer-1 (L1) fanfare, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a> still has the lion’s share of stablecoin issuance and liquidity. <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/usdt">USDT</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/usdc">USDC</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/peeling-back-usde-growth">USDE</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/makerdao">USDS/DAI</a>, etc, along with most of the real activity in <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/defi">DeFi</a>, all live (or anchor) there. Even as new chains arise, they’ll contend with the gravity of Ethereum’s liquidity and network effects.



The emerging stablecoin-specific blockchains — Arc, Plasma, Tempo, Neura — are designed to challenge that dominance by offering more “purpose-built” architectures. But at their core lies a tension: Do you give issuers control (and with it risk), or preserve an open system that welcomes any stablecoin without asking permission?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Gnosis and the pitch for open rails</h2>



In a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/q4haLNd9qmw">community presentation</a>, Gnosis leadership made their philosophy explicit. They repeatedly contrast a model where a chain backs a single issuer versus one where many issuers and partners can plug in. As business development head Julian Nesk put it, “We’re thinking of Gnosis chain as a B2B platform” and “giving tooling to our partners, which are mostly wallets, that then they will give to the users.”



In short, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/gnosis">Gnosis</a> wants to provide the plumbing — liquidity, bridges, DeFi applications — without choosing winners, keeping it aligned with Ethereum’s ethos of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-inclusion-lists-scrutiny">neutrality</a>.



For a refresher, Gnosis was founded in 2015 by Martin Köppelmann and Stefan George as one of the first projects built on Ethereum, originally focused on decentralized prediction markets. Over time, it evolved into a broader Ethereum ecosystem player, serving a role a bit like a canary network. For example, Gnosis has consistently adopted Ethereum upgrades — hard forks — <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gnosis-chain-ethereum-dencun-hard-fork">in advance of mainnet</a>. Major infrastructure projects such as <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/safe">Safe</a> (formerly Gnosis Safe) and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/cow-dao-mev-capturing-amm">CoW Swap</a> originated with Gnosis.



A core argument from Gnosis: Why issue via a chain built by a stablecoin issuer when that issuer can deprioritize you later? They warn that when issuers launch their own chains, partners or smaller issuers may lose access or support. Gnosis frames its neutrality as a safeguard against that centralization trap.



Gnosis also emphasizes a more regional approach to stablecoins, aiming to become “the chain of local currencies” by supporting euro, peso, lira, rand, and more.



“We&#8217;re going to be definitely the stablecoin chain, not because we&#8217;re going to have the highest circulating supply of US-dollar stablecoins, but because we&#8217;ll be the stablecoin with the highest number of local currency stablecoins,” Nesk said. That strategy depends heavily on openness: the more issuers and regional variants they integrate, the broader their moat.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="889" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108741" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-23.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Celo has made a similar bid for non-USD stablecoins to Gnosis (not shown) | Source: <a href="https://blockworks.com/analytics/treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies-eth-holdings">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>







That said, Gnosis acknowledges challenges: Liquidity buildup, bridging, and yield incentives are nontrivial. So far, there has been very little demonstrated demand for non-USD stablecoins. But its pitch is that openness will ultimately win. It is one of the few permissionless L1s explicitly courting multiple teams rather than being tied primarily to one.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Architectures in contrast</h2>



Arc is essentially <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-l1-impact-ethereum">Circle’s attempt</a> to move from &#8220;issuer&#8221; to &#8220;rail operator.&#8221; The chain is designed around USDC, as its native gas token, enabling predictable, dollar-denominated fees, and <a href="https://www.circle.com/blog/introducing-arc-an-open-layer-1-blockchain-purpose-built-for-stablecoin-finance">intends to integrate</a> a built-in FX engine and cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP) to tie stablecoins together.



The chain is expected to offer deterministic, sub-second finality via a Malachite consensus engine and allows opt-in privacy features. On paper, it looks like a prime test of the Cosmos-inspired app-chain thesis.



Because Circle already controls major stablecoin issuance and infrastructure (USDC, gateways, payments), Arc will begin life with deep liquidity and infrastructure hooks. But that comes with centralization risk: Validators, governance, and incentives may tilt toward Circle-aligned interests.



Arc’s architecture is thus a hybrid: open-source, EVM-compatible, but deeply integrated with an issuer’s stack.



Plasma, which went live on September 25, markets itself as a “stablecoin-native” chain. It touts zero-fee USDT transfers, configurable gas tokens, and support for confidential payments as baseline capabilities.&nbsp;



While optimized for high volume USDT flows and built for payments, not generalized DeFi, it has nevertheless gained <a href="https://defillama.com/chain/plasma">over $13 billion</a> in bridged TVL in its short life, lured by significant <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/plasma-announces-mainnet-beta">liquidity incentives</a> of the chain’s XPL token. But again, liquidity is concentrated in one stablecoin, and non-USDT issuers may find limited support. The tradeoff: excellent performance and low friction for USDT traffic, but a narrower ecosystem.



Tempo, backed by Stripe and built with Paradigm, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stripe-and-paradigm-incubate-tempo">has surfaced</a> as a payments-first chain that’s yet to launch. Technical details are slim, but it aims for sub-second finality, a stablecoin-agnostic gas model, and tight integration with merchant payment flows.&nbsp;



It will be interesting to see what stablecoins it targets for adoption.



Neura is more speculative and vertically ambitious: It <a href="https://x.com/Neura_io/status/1973418535528571032">envisions</a> owning hardware, protocol-level revenue (RPC, MEV / OEV), and “gas-free” transfers for its native stablecoin. It aims to capture yield flows along with settlement. But it’s going to have a lot of competition, and this latest incarnation of Near represents a pivot from an “AI chain” <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/290147/ankr-launches-ai-focused-layer-1-blockchain-neura-on-public-testnet">originally pitched</a> by the Ankr team in 2024.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="889" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108740" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-22.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Non-USD volume remains modest onchain (USD hidden above) | Source: <a href="https://blockworks.com/analytics/treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies/ethereum-treasury-companies-eth-holdings">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>







What separates Gnosis from these challengers is its insistence on openness. Gnosis effectively bets that the next wave of stablecoin adoption will come from diversity, not dominance. If many local-currency stables, cross-border remittance tokens, regional FX bridges, and stablecoin partners emerge, the network that welcomes them without gatekeeping may have an edge.&nbsp;



Even as these stablecoin chains battle, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/evm">EVM</a>) remains the standard. No matter how optimized Arc or Plasma become, their stablecoins will likely still reside mainly on Ethereum mainnet, just as USDT does today (with <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/tron">Tron</a> a close second). That inertia is immense.



Gnosis’s path to success is much steeper. Its openness is on par with any L1, but it must demonstrate yield, adoption, bridging, performance, and stability equal to the upstarts. If liquidity flows begin to prefer Arc’s guaranteed performance or Plasma’s zero-fee transfers, Gnosis may lean harder into diversity.



In narrative terms, this is not just a performance arms race — it’s a fight over who controls the rails of programmable money. Will stablecoins inhabit a world of corporate-owned rails or public goods that anyone can access? Watch this space.



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Ethereum

The fight for ‘the stablecoin chain’ is about control

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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A little-known privacy project, Umbra, launched its initial coin offering (ICO) on Solana yesterday.



As I write this, Umbra is already 1169% oversubscribed over its $750K raise target.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1146" height="633" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108732" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=1146 1146w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-20.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1146px) 100vw, 1146px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://metadao.fi/projects/umbra/fundraise">MetaDAO</a></figcaption></figure>







The real story here isn’t Umbra — it&#8217;s the infrastructure that’s powering its sale: MetaDAO’s “Unruggable ICO” futarchy launchpad.



A lot has <a href="https://futarchy.guide/">already</a> <a href="https://x.com/0xcarlosg/status/1971253625231147313">been</a> <a href="https://members.delphidigital.io/reports/markets-will-save-the-world#the-futarchy-rises-6b86">written</a> on the intersection of crypto and futarchy by people smarter than me, but here’s the gist: Futarchy is the simple idea that governance should be decided by markets, rather than “one man, one vote” democratic rules, or DAO token voting.



If you believe Donald Trump will spur economic growth more than Joe Biden, buying “Pass Trump” shares will get him elected if enough traders buy it past a set threshold.



Or if you believe Facebook spending $50 billion on investments in the metaverse will not improve Meta’s stock price, then do the opposite and buy “Fail” shares.



Futarchy markets work similarly to prediction markets: They channel the wisdom of markets by requiring participants put their money where their mouth is. The key difference is that with futarchy, actual outcomes are influenced by how markets “vote.”



This radical idea was popularized by the libertarian economist Robin Hanson and has existed for years as a topic of nerdy fascination in technolibertarian circles.&nbsp;



(Hanson, incidentally, was also responsible for advancing many of crypto’s major innovations, like automated market makers and prediction markets.)



For some time, DAOs like Drift, Sanctum and Marinade have experimented with piecemeal futarchy governance using MetaDAO’s core protocol.



The ongoing Umbra ICO is taking place on a relatively newer MetaDAO product, its futarchy-powered ICO launchpad.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="900" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108733" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=464 464w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-21.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://x.com/0xcarlosg/status/1971253625231147313">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>







By launching on MetaDAO’s ICO launchpad, teams like Umbra in effect bind its entire governance to a futarchy model from day one.



The incentive for existing DAOs to adopt futarchy isn’t strong, which is why MetaDAO is now targeting founders from day one, MetaDAO’s pseudonymous co-founder Proph3t tells me.



This entails limiting the founding team’s powers in ways that would be considered abnormal in the real world.



For one, teams have to commit to a set budget allowance. Umbra, for instance, is agreeing to lock in to a <a href="https://x.com/UmbraPrivacy/status/1973785682872062014">$34K</a> monthly budget. This can change, but only if markets vote on it to pass.



Secondly, the team agrees to subject its treasury and all intellectual property — domain names, Discord and Twitter accounts, brand names — to ownership under a DAO LLC legal entity headquartered in the Marshall Islands, executed by MetaDAO themselves. This ensures that whatever happens onchain is legally binding in the real world.



The first criterion primarily serves to align long-term incentives between founders and tokenholders, avoiding situations where founding teams have quietly abandoned projects with huge controlled allocations.



The second avoids crypto’s notorious <a href="https://x.com/TheOneandOmsy/status/1975030540492308708">token equity mismatch problem</a>, where revenues are directed to equity holders rather than tokens.



“I&#8217;m not in love with governance. I see it as a tool to solve a specific problem. Most founders want control for obvious reasons and I would like to give them as much control as possible while still maintaining the properties that make tokens unruggable,” Proph3t tells me.



In return for binding their hands to a futarchy-based governance model, founding teams can signal legitimacy by advertising their tokens as protected by traditional “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/token-transparency-framework">shareholder protections</a>”.



But whether or not you believe these protections are robust depends on whether you believe market forces can make the right governance decisions.



Are they? Take the example of the mtnCapital investment fund.



In April, mtnCapital ran the first ICO on MetaDAO’s futarchy launchpad, raising ~$5.7 million USDC. The fund’s performance eventually underperformed, so DAO members took it upon themselves to vote on a proposal to unwind the fund and return monies to MTN tokenholders in September.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="672" height="785" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-19.png" alt="" class="wp-image-108731" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-19.png?w=672 672w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-19.png?w=257 257w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-19.png?w=220 220w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-19.png?w=223 223w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-19.png?w=187 187w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-19.png?w=68 68w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://futarchy.metadao.fi/mtncapital/trade-v4/DMvjMUJ9ePr9NYJjzMemJqVzWqyz1SECxWHpDtRXgbJ">MetaDAO</a></figcaption></figure>







That decision was made by tokenholders, as opposed to the mtnCapital investment team that could have quietly abandoned the project, or conjure an endless string of amorphous reasons for why their strategy “needed more time”.



Futarchy isn’t a guarantee that the business will succeed; it serves as a safeguard against the kinds of plutocratic rent-seeking that DAOs have been plagued with for years.



The META token, which has seen a speculative pump of 191% in the last month, currently receives no value accrual.



That is set to change in the near future with MetaDAO taking a 25 bps take-rate on its futarchy AMM.



This will work similarly to how memecoins launch from launchpads to a DEX, Proph3t tells me.



Updated 10/7/25 at 1:35 pm ET to correct a typo in Umbra&#8217;s raise target.



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DAOs

Umbra’s ICO and MetaDAO’s ‘Unruggable’ futarchy take center stage

Grass, the Solana DePIN project, is raising $10 million in a bridge raise, Blockworks has exclusively learned.&nbsp;



The project previously raised both a seed and a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/grass-data-verification-depin-funding">Series A round</a>.&nbsp;



Polychain and Tribe Capital participated in the bridge round, which is primarily a token purchase, Grass’s Andrej Radonjic told Blockworks.



“Grass is a piece of technology that allows companies to access data at an unprecedented scale,” Radonjic said when asked why Grass was interested in a token purchase. The decentralized AI project allows folks to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/depin-grass-reshaping-ai-data-layer">sell idle internet bandwidth</a>.



“The possibilities are kind of endless in terms of the directions that you&#8217;re able to go. And there are multiple things that we think are vital to build on top of this, namely live context retrieval.”



He further explained that, at this moment, the way AI companies are training their models is to scrape search engines such as Google. However, they can’t deploy internet-scale web crawls because they’re being blocked, but Grass offers a solution.&nbsp;



Grass wasn’t necessarily actively looking to raise at the moment, Radonjic said, but it happened at the right time for the team.&nbsp;



“I was mentioning that commercially, things are going really well, and…we&#8217;re seeing amazing growth in terms of selling training data to AI companies that are looking to train things like video models and text to speech models,” he said.&nbsp;



“But I had mentioned that one of the things that we&#8217;re looking forward to over the next year to two years…[is actually] having Grass become infrastructure for not just training data, but also inference data.”



There’ll be a shift from compute cycles on training to inference, and the Grass team wants to get ahead of it. The end goal will be to do an “internet scale web crawl,” which would allow them to build out the live context retrieval.&nbsp;



“Rarely have we come across a team executing as ferociously as the Grass team does. They are an archetypical example of how businesses built on distributed systems can outcompete web2 peers,” Polychain’s Josh Rosenthal told Blockworks in a statement.&nbsp;



“After leading their Seed round, participating in their Series A, and now leading this round, this is the third time Polychain Capital has backed Grass…We’re thrilled to triple down on Grass at such a meaningful inflection point of their journey as a leading data and AI business.”



In a cycle that’s hyper-focused on crypto use cases, Grass is offering a more crypto native use case than, say, stablecoins. But it’s also operating in a space — AI — that’s just as lucrative as it is competitive.



&#8220;Since we invested in 2023, Grass has served as a benchmark for how we want our portfolio companies to operate — a diabolical focus on product and revenue,” Boris Revsin, CEO and Managing Director of Tribe Capital, told Blockworks.&nbsp;



“Grass is a product leader and we have seen major 7-figure clients, including the largest AI labs, sign up in the last 12 months. That’s what matters. Everything else follows.”&nbsp;



In the last 30 days, Grass has had 8.5 million monthly active users and is currently working with around 20 companies, as well as with nonprofits and universities.&nbsp;



The structuring of the round was never really “a question,” Radonjic explained.&nbsp;



“The Grass Foundation…faces all of our customers contractually. And all the revenue that these customers are paying is going straight into the Grass Foundation&#8217;s bank account…The GRASS token is the primary vehicle for value accrual for everything that we&#8217;re doing.”



Updated 10/7/2025 at 1:15 pm ET for clarity.



Updated 10/7/2025 at 2:30 pm ET to correct a byline error.



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DePIN Grass raises $10M from Polychain, Tribe Capital

Bitcoin life insurer Meanwhile has raised $82 million in new funding to meet surging global demand for BTC-denominated life insurance, annuities and savings products.



The round was co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Haun Ventures, with participation from Pantera Capital, Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Stillmark. The company is regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, giving it a prudential license comparable to traditional insurers while allowing it to operate globally.



The raise brings Meanwhile’s total 2025 funding to $122 million, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-life-insurance-bitcoin-meanwhile-framework">following a $40 million Series A</a> earlier this year led by Framework Ventures and Fulgur Ventures.&nbsp;



CEO Zac Townsend said the company is “bringing the long-term capital discipline of life insurers to Bitcoin,” positioning BTC as a foundation for inflation-resistant savings and institutional financial products.



Meanwhile’s model combines standard insurance structures with Bitcoin as a reserve asset, earning yield through conservative private credit and long-duration lending. The company reports Bitcoin assets under management up more than 200% in 2025 as investors seek protection from inflation and currency devaluation.



Backers say the company is building core infrastructure for the Bitcoin economy, comparable to how traditional insurers underpin legacy financial markets.&nbsp;



Haun Ventures partner Chris Ahn said Meanwhile “will unlock a new wave of innovation across Bitcoin-denominated capital markets.” Bain Capital Crypto’s Stefan Cohen called it “a compliant path to Bitcoin-linked savings and retirement.”



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Meanwhile raises $82 million to expand Bitcoin life insurance

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has taken a $2 billion equity stake in blockchain-based prediction market Polymarket, valuing the company between $8 billion and $9 billion, according to statements from both firms on Tuesday.



ICE shares <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/10/07/nyse-owner-intercontinental-exchange-2-billion-polymarket-stake.html">rose</a> more than 3% in premarket trading following the announcement. ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said the partnership will allow both companies to “uniquely serve opportunities across markets,” while Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan <a href="https://x.com/Polymarket/status/1975528768039985449">described</a> it as a fusion of “institutional scale and consumer savvy.”



The deal marks one of the largest private investments ever made in a crypto-native platform, underscoring how traditional financial infrastructure is expanding into decentralized event-based markets.



Polymarket operates on Ethereum through Polygon, allowing users to trade on the probability of real-world outcomes such as elections, policy decisions, or sporting events — an approach sometimes called “event-driven finance.” The platform was recently cleared to operate in the United States and earlier this year received backing from 1789 Capital, a fund linked to Donald Trump, Jr.



Analysts at Piper Sandler project the prediction markets sector could reach $8 billion in annual revenue by 2030 as platforms like Polymarket and rival Kalshi attract institutional interest.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Polymarket

Intercontinental Exchange takes $2B stake in Polymarket

Pineapple Financial Inc. has launched its $100 million Injective Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) strategy with an initial open market purchase of 678,353 Injective (INJ) tokens valued at about $8.9 million, the company announced on Tuesday.



The Toronto-based fintech said the purchase marks the first phase of its plan to become the largest INJ holder and staker, with all tokens to be deployed onchain for staking at an expected annual yield of 12.75%. That yield is nearly double Ethereum’s and about 1.8 times higher than Solana’s current staking rates.



The move follows Pineapple’s September 2025 $100 million private placement to fund the treasury.



“This initial Injective investment underscores our conviction in the strength of the $INJ token’s future and our ambition to create the world’s largest and most productive INJ treasury platform,” said Shubha Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer of Pineapple Financial. “We’re excited to see Pineapple take this important first step in executing its Injective treasury strategy,” added Eric Chen, co-founder of Injective Labs.&nbsp;



“Pineapple is helping accelerate the adoption of onchain finance while reinforcing Injective’s role as a leading blockchain purpose-built for financial applications.”



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst. </li>



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