BlockBeats will organize the key industry news content of the week (5.12-5.18) in this article, and recommend in-depth articles to help readers better understand the market and learn about industry trends.
Important News Review
"Ethereum surges 40% in 3 days" related topics topped the Douyin hot list; Ethereum on-chain activity increased significantly this week
On May 11, the topic "Ethereum surged 40% in 3 days" topped the Douyin hot list. The related content is "3 days surge 40%, what happened to Ethereum". This week, the price of Ethereum has exceeded $2,600 several times, with the highest exceeding $2,700. On the 16th, Sentora (formerly IntoTheBlock) published a statement saying that due to the substantial increase in on-chain activities, the total handling fee of Ethereum rose by 160% this week. Related reading: "After a 95% increase in half a month, has the price of Ethereum peaked?" , "New and old memes are rising together. Is the bull market starting or is it the dealer's self-rescue?" , "Ethereum leads the rise and triggers the "copycat season" conjecture. How do traders view the market outlook? " , "Fundamental analysis: ETH surged 40%, SOL is about to counterattack with three killers" , "5,000 US dollars is the starting point? When ETH value is re-evaluated, these three ecological projects benefit the most"
China and the United States reached a trade agreement in Geneva. The United States has adjusted its tariffs on China on the 14th.
On May 12, the United States announced a trade agreement with China in Geneva. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson said the negotiations, which lasted two days in Geneva, Switzerland, had made "substantial progress." The negotiations were jointly participated by Bessant, Ambassador Jamieson, the Chinese Vice Premier and two vice ministers. On the 14th, the United States revoked a total of 91% of tariffs imposed on Chinese goods (including goods from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region) in accordance with Executive Order No. 14259 of April 8, 2025 and Executive Order No. 14266 of April 9, 2025 at 00:01 a.m. Eastern Time, and amended the 34% reciprocal tariff measures imposed on Chinese goods (including goods from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region) in Executive Order No. 14257 of April 2, 2025, of which 24% of tariffs were suspended for 90 days, and the remaining 10% of tariffs were retained. At the same time, the United States also lowered or rescinded additional tariffs on small-value parcels from China (including small-value parcels from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), reduced the ad valorem tax rate for international mail from 120% to 54%, and rescinded the measure originally scheduled to increase the specific tax from US$100 per piece to US$200 per piece starting June 1, 2025.
Meme LaunchPad platform "opens the book": Pumpfun, Believe, LetsBonk continue to large MC memecoin, and the competition is fierce
This week, the competition among Meme LaunchPad platforms has become fierce, and large MC memecoin continue to emerge. LetsBonk.fun, launched by Raydium and BONK, and social platform Believe have successively launched differentiated strategies, trying to break the monopoly of Pump.fun through creator profit sharing, community governance, Scout incentives and other mechanisms, pushing Launchpad from speculation to value incubation, and becoming a new entry point for cold start of Web3 projects. On May 13, TOM, a contributor to Letsbonk.Fun, a Meme coin launch platform on Solana chain, posted that he had been blacklisted by the official Twitter account of pump.fun. This behavior attracted community attention and discussion. About 9 hours later, the official X account of pump.fun was unblacklisted. Related reading: "LetsBonk surpasses Pumpfun, Believe creates hundreds of millions of large MC memecoin, and the competition in Meme LaunchPad enters a white-hot war" , "The outbreak of the Believe platform: mastering the first principle and buying low at the value depression" , "Pump.fun lost for the first time, Raydium counterattacked with the LaunchLab ecosystem" , "What is "ICM"? Solana's new narrative that supports Believe's market value of 400 million"
This week's Golden Dog summary:
Believe: GOONC, STARTUP, LAUNCHCOIN
On May 13, X platform KOL Pata van Goon (@basedalexandoor) released celebrity coin GOONC on meme distribution platform Believe. The market value of the coin exceeded 10 million US dollars within 3 hours of its launch, and the highest market value exceeded 20 million US dollars. According to the @basedalexandoor page information, a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen follows the account, and its bio is set as "applied @openai". Related reading: "With a market value of 70 million in 24 hours, will GOONC be the next billion-level large MC memecoin on the Believe platform?"
On the 15th, the market value of the Solana chain meme coin STARTUP soared from $450,000 to over $20 million, an increase of more than 40 times within an hour. The coin was triggered by KOL him (@himgajria) who opened a position at a low point and then continuously shill orders. The narrative focuses on "product is market value", satirizing the traditional venture capital logic. With the minimalist setting of "no team, no roadmap, purely emotion-driven", it quickly became the strongest emotional ticket of the day and entered the Solana hot list. Related reading: "STARTUP rose 40 times in half an hour. How did him become the emotional king of Believe?"
On the 16th, the market value of Believe's platform coin LAUNCHCOIN exceeded 260 million US dollars, becoming one of the strongest 100x coins in recent times. The coin was formerly known as the celebrity coin $PASTERNAK, which was issued by Ben Pasternak, the founder of Clout (now renamed Believe) at the beginning of this year. It once returned to zero, but later became popular again on the chain with the transformation of the platform, the active ecological projects and the support of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. "LaunchCoin 20 times a day, how did Believe create a $200 million large MC memecoin after returning to zero? ｜100x Review"
Letsbonk.fun: Hosico, Useless, IKUN
The prototype of Hosico is a cute cat with 1.8 million followers on Instagram. Hosico issued on the Letsbonk.fun platform is a Ghibli AI style meme coin with a maximum market value of 60 million US dollars.
Useless tokens have attracted the attention of @Solporttom, the founder of the Letsbonk.fun platform, shill to the support of @theunipcs (Bonkguy), a well-known KOL on the platform. The main theme is "useless use is the use of Meme". The market value has reached up to 34 million US dollars.
IKUN, a representative meme project named after the fan group of celebrity Cai Xukun, has gained attention from the meme coin community at home and abroad due to the promotion (CX) by the famous KOL @theunipcs (Bonkguy) of the Letsbonk.fun platform and Chinese community bloggers and community members. The market value has exceeded 10 million US dollars. Related reading: "The new meme platform Letsbonk.fun scored twice, and the "Chinese meme" token has become a hot target?" ,
Binance Alpha launched multiple airdrops and TGE activities this week, with trading volume hitting new highs
Details are as follows:
May 12: Alpha points ≥ 186 or points 147–185 and UID ends with 5, 362 PUFFER airdrops
May 13: 482 RDAC will be airdropped for users with points ≥ 205 or points 170–204 and UID ending in 7, and 15 points will be consumed.
May 14: Points ≥ 198, or points 162–197 and UID ending in 0, can participate in Privasea AI TGE, consuming 15 points
May 15: Points ≥ 187, or points 143-186 and UID ends with 9, 198 NXPC will be airdropped and 15 points will be consumed
May 16: Players with ≥186 points can participate in the Alaya AI (AGT) TGE event.
On the 15th, Binance Alpha's trading volume reached 770.4 million US dollars, setting a new record. Among them, ZKJ's trading volume was 391.9 million US dollars, B2's trading volume was 148.7 million US dollars, and SKYAI's trading volume was 79.1 million US dollars, ranking at the top. Related reading: "150 days, what has changed in Binance Alpha?", "Binance Alpha's points are in full swing: users are crazy about scoring, and Meme projects are also winners?" , "Disassembling Binance Alpha2.0's "Asian market-making driven" new model"
The blockchain game project MapleStory (MapleStory) officially launched TGE this week, with the number of transactions on the day exceeding 100,000, setting a record high
On May 15, the Web3 version of "MapleStory" was officially launched, and the game token NXPC was issued at the same time. This is the largest blockchain game in history: it has been in operation for more than 20 years, with a total revenue of more than 5 billion US dollars and a total number of players exceeding 250 million. NXPC was launched on multiple trading platforms such as Binance, Bybit, Bitget, Upbit, Bithumb, etc. at the same time as TGE, and the Binance Alpha airdrop single number earned up to 600 US dollars. On the 15th, its transaction and token data reached a peak: the number of active addresses exceeded 1.15 million and the number of transactions reached 103,000. Related reading: "First Experience of the Blockchain Game Version of the Great Masterpiece "MapleStory"" , "MapleStory's Crypto Adventure: NXPC Creates Wealth Effect, Will the Spring of Blockchain Games Come Back?"
Coinbase to be included in the S&P 500, becoming the first pure crypto company to join the S&P 500
On May 13, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase (COIN.O) will be included in the S&P 500 Index, replacing Discover Financial. Coinbase became the first pure crypto company to join the S&P 500 Index. The stock price rose by more than 20% that day.
Coinbase suffered a double blow of "SEC investigation" + "user data theft", with an estimated loss of $400 million and a 7% drop in its stock price in a single day
On May 15, according to Coinbase official news, hackers stole some personal information of less than 1% of active users by bribing overseas customer service staff, but no passwords, private keys or funds were involved. Coinbase refused to pay the $20 million ransom and set up a $20 million reward fund to track down the attacker. Affected customers will be compensated if they are deceived into transferring money due to fraud. Coinbase Prime accounts were not affected, and the case is being investigated in cooperation with law enforcement agencies. Coinbase officials expect to pay $180 million to $400 million in compensation for this incident. On the 16th, according to market news, hackers have been able to access Coinbase's customer data since January this year. Bloomberg then reported that the personal information of Sequoia Capital Managing Partner Roelof Botha's Coinbase account was stolen.
In addition to being caught up in a hacker scandal, Coinbase is also under investigation by the U.S. SEC. According to four people familiar with the matter, the SEC is investigating whether Coinbase falsely reported the number of users in past disclosure documents-an investigation that began under the Biden administration is still continuing during Trump's tenure. The previously undisclosed investigation focuses on Coinbase's claim of having more than 100 million "certified users" in securities filings and promotional materials. The data appeared in 2021 listing documents, but the company stopped citing it two years later. Two people familiar with the matter said that Coinbase has continued to communicate with the SEC this year and hired Davis Polk to assist in the response. Related reading: "Coinbase's 100,000 user data leaked, hackers offered $20 million in hush money"
Affected by Telegrame blocking, Haowang Guarantee announced the suspension of operations
On May 15, Haowang Guarantee (formerly Huine Guarantee) recently issued an announcement on its official website stating that "all the company's NFTs, channels and groups have been blocked by Telegrame, and Haowang Guarantee will cease operations from now on." According to Wired, Haowang Guarantee's move was a response to Telegram's action on Monday, in which Telegram banned thousands of accounts that formed the infrastructure of a huge third-party supplier market, many of which provided money laundering and other services to the booming East Asian cryptocurrency fraud industry.
Big Short on Wall Street: Short Strategy and Buying Bitcoin
On May 15, according to CNBC, Jim Chanos, a well-known Wall Street short, bet on Bitcoin and short MicroStrategy at the same time. The company adopted a high-risk cryptocurrency strategy with the support of enthusiastic retail investors. Chanos said: "We are shorting Strategy shares and buying Bitcoin, basically buying at $1 and selling at $2.5." Chanos said: "If you look at Strategy, and some of the more worrying imitation companies now, they are raising a lot of money, basically selling the idea to retail investors: We will buy Bitcoin in a corporate structure. Because of Strategy's approach, you should value us at a similar premium." However, Chanos called this idea "absurd."
MetaMask co-founder: The team is still considering launching a native token for the wallet
On May 15, MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay said in an interview with The Block's Tim Copeland that the team is still considering launching a native token for the wallet. Finlay said that parent company Consensys has long proposed the idea of launching tokens for vertical industries including MetaMask to promote "progressive decentralization." "If we do it, we will promote it directly in the wallet. You will be able to find the link directly in the wallet."
Crypto market maker Wintermute to open US headquarters in New York in June
On May 15, crypto market maker Wintermute announced that it will open its first U.S. headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York on June 1. At the same time, it appointed policy veteran Ron Hammond as head of policy and advocacy. Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said: "As U.S. policies become more friendly to digital assets and blockchain innovation, we decided to act quickly and establish roots in New York City, the world's financial capital." The move comes at a time when the Trump administration has taken a supportive attitude toward the crypto industry, including appointing the head of a crypto-friendly regulator. Related reading: "What does Wintermute CEO think of the market maker scandal?"
Farcaster front-end application Warpcast will be officially renamed Farcaster
On May 15, Farcaster co-founder and technical director Varun Srinivasan announced that Warpcast, one of the front-ends of the decentralized social media network Farcaster, will be renamed Farcaster. Other specific changes are as follows: the mobile application will be renamed Farcaster; the classic Arch logo (Farcaster Logo) will be reactivated; the official website domain name will be moved from warpcast.com to farcaster.xyz; all old links will remain reverse compatible (users do not need to take any action).
Trump is expected to launch the "Trump Points" NFT market
On May 13, according to leaked information on the website, Trump's official MEME coin TRUMP is suspected to launch the "Trump Points" NFT market - a platform where users can buy and sell NFTs using loyalty points or cryptocurrencies. Loyalty points can be earned through transactions and completing tasks defined by the platform, and holding TRUMP tokens may increase the points earned. Note: This is a leaked message from the website, and the authenticity is for reference only.
Tiger Brokers launches cryptocurrency deposit and withdrawal service, supporting mainstream cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH
On May 14, according to the Economic Times, Tiger Brokers (Hong Kong) launched cryptocurrency top-up and withdrawal services, supporting the deposit, trading and withdrawal of cryptocurrencies, covering mainstream cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), etc. The service is also a virtual asset trading service app licensed by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission. Tiger Brokers also launched a promotion. From 12:00 noon on May 14, 2025, anyone who successfully deposits cryptocurrency into a Tiger Trade account for the first time and reaches 0.01 Bitcoin (BTC) or 0.5 Ethereum (ETH), and maintains a net asset of not less than 0.01 BTC or 0.5 ETH for 60 consecutive days, can receive a Coinbase (US.COIN) stock reward worth HK$200.
Ethereum Foundation Launches 'Trillion-Dollar' Security Plan
On May 14, the Ethereum Foundation announced the launch of the "Trillion Dollar" Security Plan, an ecosystem-wide plan to upgrade the security of Ethereum and help the world move to the chain. The plan includes three parts: "Full-Stack Security Mapping", "Key Area Attacks" and "Security Awareness Upgrade". The "trillion dollars" in the plan refers to the billions of individuals willing to store assets over $1,000 on the chain, with a total of trillions of dollars stored on Ethereum. Companies, institutions or governments can easily store more than $1 trillion in value in a single contract or application. The entire plan is co-chaired by Fredrik Svantes (Head of Protocol Security) and Josh Stark (EF Management Team) as co-chairs of the project.
Bitcoin mining company American Bitcoin and Gryphon sign merger agreement, plan to go public
On May 12, American Bitcoin, a Bitcoin mining company, announced that it had signed a formal merger agreement with Gryphon Digital Mining Company and planned to go public. The merged company will be traded on the Nasdaq under the stock code ABTC, with Trump's son Eric Trump as chief strategy officer, and Tinder co-founder and Hut 8 executives jointly chairing the board of directors. The merger will accelerate its expansion in the construction of Bitcoin infrastructure in the United States while retaining the profit potential of Hut 8 shareholders. Stimulated by the news, Gryphon's stock price soared by more than 300%. Related reading: "American Bitcoin, Trump's son's Bitcoin mining company, went public through a backdoor listing, and Gryphon Mining's stock price soared 330%"
U.S. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins announces his vision for crypto regulation, with agencies taking a friendlier approach to digital assets
On May 13, the new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins announced a major shift in crypto regulation, and detailed the relevant policies on issuance and custody at the fourth crypto task force roundtable. Compared with the previous administration, he advocates a completely different regulatory approach. He plans to develop guidelines for assets with securities attributes or investment contract properties, and criticized the previous chairman's inaction on the registration process, accusing him of adopting an "ostrich policy" and not adjusting the registration form to accommodate crypto technology. Atkins also stated that custody rules may be updated to allow funds and advisers to self-custody under certain conditions. At the same time, he mentioned that he would explore providing conditional exemption paths for registrants or non-registrants launching new products to address the incompatibility between current rules and new businesses. Related reading: "5 golden sentences to clarify the crypto regulatory trends of the new SEC chairman"
FTX major repayments will begin on May 30, with a total allocation of over $5 billion
On May 16, Reuters reported that FTX's main repayment will begin on May 30, which is the second distribution to creditors, with a total distribution of more than $5 billion. FTX has previously made the first repayment distribution to small creditors in the Convenience Classes in the Chapter 11 reorganization plan. BlockBeats previously reported that Sunil, a representative of FTX creditors, said that Kraken has begun to send emails to FTX users to confirm that the next round of FTX compensation distribution will be on May 30, 2025. This distribution covers claims below $50,000 and above $50,000.
SEC Seeks Comments on BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Physical Redemptions and Delays Grayscale SOL and Litecoin ETF Proposals
On May 12, it was disclosed that BlackRock submitted an application to allow its Ethereum ETF to conduct physical redemptions and support direct repurchase of ETH. On the 14th, the US SEC postponed its decision on the physical redemption mechanism of BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust and asked the public to submit comments on the proposal. The current cash redemption model requires the custodian to sell Bitcoin before returning cash to investors. Analysts pointed out that if physical redemption is approved, it will improve the efficiency of ETF transactions. In addition, the Grayscale Litecoin Trust and Grayscale Solana Trust proposals have been postponed, and the 21Shares Dogecoin ETF has entered the public comment stage.
Sky Q1 loss of $5 million as incentive USDS interest expense increased 102%
On May 14, Coindesk reported that according to a report written by contributors to Steakhouse Financial, Sky (formerly MakerDAO) lost $5 million in the first quarter of this year due to a doubling of interest paid to token holders. This loss is in stark contrast to the previous quarter, when Sky realized a profit of $31 million. The main reason for the 102% increase in interest expenses is that Sky decided to use higher incentives to drive users to use its newly launched stablecoin Sky Dollar (USDS) to replace the existing DAI. Related reading: "USDS channel costs eat up profits, MakerDAO lost $5 million in the first quarter"
Former Aptos co-founder and CEO: Holds a considerable SUI position and still holds about 98% of APT
On May 13, former Aptos co-founder and CEO Mo Shaikh said on the X platform that he still holds about 98% of APT tokens and said that he holds a considerable SUI position (I have nice SUI bag now ;-)). In December last year, Mo Shaikh announced his resignation. At that time, Mo Shaikh said that he would continue to serve as a strategic advisor to Aptos Labs and in the next few months, "reflect on the direction of development and think deeply about how the financial system will develop to continue to promote Aptos to become the most mature Layer 1 in the field."
YZi Labs announces investment terms for global incubation program EASY Residence
On May 13, according to official news, YZi Labs announced the investment terms of EASY Residence, a global incubation program for Web3, AI and other fields. The program will invest $500,000 in each selected startup; the investment is divided into two parts: 1. Purchase 5% of the equity (plus other rights if applicable) for $150,000 in the form of a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE). 2. In the next round of financing after the demo day, the startup will receive an additional $350,000 uncapped SAFE. Earlier news, YZi Labs announced the launch of EASY Residence, a 10-week global incubation program for early teams in the fields of Web3, artificial intelligence (AI) and healthcare. The first phase of the project will be launched on June 2, 2025 in Silicon Valley, California, USA, when 10 to 20 selected teams will be supported and end on August 10, 2025. Applications are now open and the deadline is May 21, 2025.
Dubai Finance Ministry to Start Accepting Cryptocurrencies for Government Services
On May 13, according to Solid Intel, Dubai’s Ministry of Finance will begin accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment option for government service fees. As previously reported, Dubai signed a landmark agreement with Crypto.com, and will become one of the first governments in the world to fully enable crypto payments for public services.
Arizona Governor Signs Crypto ATM Anti-Fraud Bill HB 2387
On May 13, it was reported that Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed two cryptocurrency-related bills while signing a bill to regulate cryptocurrency ATMs. The two bills that were vetoed included SB 1373 (Digital Asset Strategic Reserve Fund Act) and SB 1024 (Allowing State Governments to Accept Cryptocurrency Payments Act). The signed HB 2387 bill establishes strict regulatory measures for cryptocurrency ATMs, including requiring operators to display multilingual fraud warnings, set daily transaction limits ($2,000 for new users and $10,500 for existing users), provide 24/7 customer support, and comply with anti-money laundering protocols.
7 men in Hubei, China, were investigated for illegally setting up online channels to engage in illegal virtual currency transactions
On May 15, according to China News Network, the Xianning City, Hubei Province Xianning police successfully cracked a case of unauthorized use of illegal channels for international networking. A criminal gang headed by Tang Moumou set up multiple network devices in a private room and used illegal channels to access the international Internet. With the help of overseas software, they engaged in illegal transactions of virtual currency and foreign exchange. The funds involved in the case amounted to more than 120,000 yuan. Currently, 7 offenders have been given administrative penalties in accordance with the law, and the case is being further investigated and expanded.
A gang illegally operated foreign exchange through virtual currency trading, involving a total amount of more than 3.9 billion yuan
On May 16, according to Red Star News, on May 15, the Sichuan Public Security Bureau of China released 10 typical cases of economic crimes, including the "2•6" illegal operation (foreign exchange) case. In this case, since August 2021, Fan, He, Chen and others have successively set up studios and technology consulting companies in Chengdu, using social networking software to conduct targeted traffic to target customers, colluding with domestic agents of overseas exchange institutions, and providing illegal cross-border RMB exchange business through overseas gift card cashing and virtual currency counter-trading, involving a total amount of more than 3.9 billion yuan. The case successfully arrested 21 criminal suspects, and the investigation was concluded in December 2024 and transferred for review and prosecution.
This week's major financings: Openverse Network completed $11 million in strategic financing, GD Culture Group announced a $300 million financing commitment, and AI video platform Hedra completed $32 million in Series A financing
On May 12, blockchain infrastructure platform Openverse Network announced the completion of a strategic financing of US$11 million, with participation from Castrum Capital, TB Ventures, DuckDAO and Asva Capital. The Openverse Network ecosystem includes blockchain browsers, wallets, developer documentation, GitHub resources, etc., creating a comprehensive development and usage environment.
On the 13th, GD Culture Group Limited, a US-listed company, and its subsidiary AI Catalysis Corp. announced that they had signed a common stock purchase agreement with a certified investor, a limited liability company registered in the British Virgin Islands. According to the agreement, the company will sell up to $300 million of common stock to the investor. The proceeds from the financing will be used to support the company's crypto asset reserve strategy, including the purchase of Bitcoin and the official TRUMP token.
On the 15th, the US AI video platform Hedra completed a $32 million Series A financing, led by a16z Infrastructure Fund, with participation from Index Ventures, Abstract and others, with a total financing of $43 million. Hedra plans to expand its team to 60 people by the end of the year and upgrade its Character-3 model for enterprise-level AI video marketing scenarios. Hedra combines text, image and audio inputs to generate high-quality digital characters, helping brands to efficiently produce realistic video content.
This week's hot articles
Fartcoin's fart is heard on Wall Street
Fartcoin, an absurd token created by an AI "farting" in a chat, unexpectedly became the only mainstream coin to rise in Q1 2025. A16z, Sigil Fund and Wintermute are all suspected of being deeply involved. It not only triggered a craze in the crypto with its communication power and emotional control, but also aroused controversy on Wall Street. It was criticized by hedge fund bosses as "the epitome of speculation" and ridiculed as "the pinnacle of financial nihilism." The popularity of Fartcoin shows that in a market where attention is paramount, absurdity is sometimes more convincing than logic.
"150 days, what has Binance Alpha changed?"
Binance Alpha has grown from a wallet function to a core mechanism that dominates on-chain liquidity and asset pricing power, establishing a closed loop of "points-airdrops-listing" between project parties, the "money-grabbing party" and retail investors. By setting up screening mechanisms such as point thresholds and lucky tail numbers, Alpha has achieved the reconstruction of traffic guidance, asset cold start and user participation paths. In order to compete for Alpha's listing quota, project parties have mapped tokens to the BNB chain, injected liquidity, and reshaped the incentive structure, even at the cost of "backstabbing" the early community; while retail investors have turned to a point strategy centered on institutional gaming to seek low-threshold returns. Alpha has successfully pre-positioned Binance's primary asset organization capabilities on the chain, pulling the pricing power that originally belonged to VC or other trading platforms back to the Binance system, becoming the traffic entrance with the most systematic voice in the current cycle.
"First experience of the blockchain version of the masterpiece "MapleStory""
The Web3 version of MapleStory was sold out as soon as it was officially launched, triggering a "Have you been to the island?" craze, but there was a gap between the game experience and the expectations of gold farming. Although the classic gameplay is retained and the on-chain character NFT and token economic system ($NXPC, $NESO) are added, the high threshold casting and drop mechanism limit the benefits of early players. At present, the gold farming efficiency is low and the equipment explosion rate is rare, which strengthens the gaming attribute of "Play to Raffle". Although there were constant problems in the early stage of the launch, such as incomplete Chinese localization and insufficient guidance for novices, this blockchain game masterpiece led by Nexon and listed on multiple exchanges as soon as it was launched is still regarded as a weather vane for the future development of Web3 games.
The coin issuance platform is rolling up, but have you made money?
Over the past year, the meme coin issuance platform on the Solana chain has evolved from Pump.fun's monopoly to a multi-platform competition landscape. Although Pump.fun has ignited the meme craze with the "no-threshold coin issuance + instant trading" mechanism, it has also aroused doubts due to poor project quality, high user loss rate and continuous selling of SOL; Raydium's LaunchLab, BONK's LetsBonk.fun and social platform Believe have successively launched differentiated strategies, trying to break Pump.fun's monopoly through creator profit sharing, community governance, Scout incentives and other mechanisms, and promote Launchpad from speculation to value incubation, becoming a new entry point for the cold start of Web3 projects.
"Binance Money-Making Effect Guide: BNB Holders vs. Alpha Points Holders, How to Maximize Profits?"
Binance currently has four major money-making activities - Alpha Airdrop/TGE, Launchpool, HODLer Airdrop and Megadrop, which correspond to different user risk preferences and participation methods, forming two mainstream strategies: "steady holding of BNB" and "actively brushing Alpha points": the former is suitable for long-term value holders, and obtains steady returns through financial management, mining and tasks; the latter relies on frequent operations to brush points and grab airdrops, pursuing high returns. A reasonable combination of the two strategies is expected to maximize capital efficiency and maximize returns.
Raoul Pal, a former Goldman Sachs executive, believes that the key to making a steady fortune in the crypto space is to stick to long-term investment and buy Bitcoin using the DCA method, rather than pursuing huge profits. He warned of the high risks of Meme coins and the hidden dangers of Crypto Yield, and emphasized that market cycles are dominated by liquidity and macroeconomics. He is optimistic about Ethereum's institutional status and the growth potential of Sui's ecosystem, and pointed out that NFT and AI will be important areas for future value reconstruction. He suggested paying attention to assets in the top 20 projects that have both user growth and real applications to capture the next round of asset revaluation dividends.
Multiple wallets on the Solana chain have achieved millions of dollars in profits by preempting project tokens and accurately buying and selling, which has aroused attention to the phenomenon of "insider trading". In projects such as LIBRA, Andrew Tate, and HAWK, team wallets frequently operated before and after the tokens were launched, cashing out millions of dollars and establishing connections with key figures through on-chain transfers. These wallets have high transaction frequencies and accurate coin selection. The huge profits are not accidental, but the control of market conditions and insider information. Despite the huge risks, tracking the dynamics of these addresses is becoming an effective means to understand market trends and discover investment opportunities.
The meme coin LaunchPad war on the Solana chain has started in full swing. LetsBonk.fun, launched by BONK, has become a new dark horse, surpassing PumpFun in terms of daily active users and number of graduated tokens in a short period of time. Backed by BONK's influence in the ecosystem and Toly's personal endorsement, LetsBonk not only attracted support from the OG community and core projects, but also led to a wave of topical tokens (such as HOSICO, USELESS, and DAZHUANG) that quickly became popular. At the same time, another new coin issuance platform, Believe, also emerged to fight against PumpFun's monopoly, making the LaunchPad market present a multi-brand competition pattern, injecting long-lost liquidity and vitality into the Solana ecosystem.
What is “ICM”? Solana’s new narrative that supports Believe’s $400 million market value
"Internet Capital Markets (ICM)" is rapidly replacing the meme narrative and becoming the keyword for a new round of crypto bull market on the Solana chain. Its core concept is to build an on-chain capital market where everyone can participate and assets can be freely issued and circulated, shifting from the early "on-chain Nasdaq" to a decentralized financial infrastructure covering multiple asset forms such as financing, trading, culture, and AI applications. The representative project Believe has made LaunchCoin the first to become popular through a low-threshold coin issuance mechanism and explosive platform income, and related tokens such as BSCREENER, DUPE, AURA, and BUDDY have followed suit. However, the real ICM proposition is not to encourage the rampant issuance of coins, but to find high-quality assets that are difficult to reach in the traditional market but have real needs, so that they can complete issuance and financing with the help of on-chain mechanisms, thereby realizing the release of institutional dividends and the implementation of value. Believe may be a bubble, but the path that ICM is trying to open up may become the long-term evolution direction of on-chain finance.
"10 types of "toxic VCs"in the crypto, how many can you recognize?"
This article describes 10 common types of cryptocurrency venture capital in a satirical way, namely those VCs who seem to be supportive but are actually only interested in profit. For example, they emphasize "long-term holding" on the surface, but sell when the market falls; or recover their investment through "marketing companies" or even force the project team to operate according to their requirements. Real investors should have technical capabilities, understand the project vision, and provide value beyond capital.
"The Biggest Promoter of Bitcoin, the Crypto Ambition of Financial Empire BlackRock"
BlackRock is quietly leading the reconstruction of the financial order with its on-chain layouts such as IBIT and BUIDL. Its Bitcoin spot ETF IBIT has received more capital inflows than the gold giant GLD this year, symbolizing the official beginning of Wall Street's takeover of the crypto narrative. The rise of the tokenized asset fund BUIDL shows that BlackRock is no longer satisfied with just guiding the flow of funds, but wants to build a new infrastructure for on-chain finance. From traditional assets to RWA, from ETFs to blockchain standards, BlackRock has laid out a "Wall Street on the Chain" led by itself in a trinity of liquidity, voice and regulatory coordination. It is not participating in the crypto revolution, but taking over and writing the rules of this revolution.
Lido's oracle hot wallet was hacked, resulting in the theft of 1.46 ETH, but since it is designed only for operations, the impact is minimal. Lido's oracle architecture is highly decentralized, and 5 of the 9 independent nodes must reach a consensus to submit a report, and all reports must pass the on-chain rationality check to ensure that even if multiple nodes are compromised, it is difficult to cause catastrophic consequences. Oracles cannot control funds or contract upgrades, and their responsibilities are limited to status reports and lightweight transaction operations. Even if malicious behavior occurs, the system's built-in delay and emergency mechanisms can still protect user rights. Lido is also promoting cutting-edge solutions such as zero-knowledge oracles to further enhance security and de-trust. Overall, Lido's oracle system has good anti-attack resilience and transparency, and the current incident does not pose a substantial threat to the protocol.
In his latest speech, Xiao Feng pointed out that blockchain has entered the eve of an explosion of applications from the infrastructure stage, and RWA, stablecoin payments, PayFi, etc. are becoming new hot spots; he emphasized that the real opportunity for change comes from the deep integration of encryption systems with the real world, and believes that AI and blockchain will jointly build the future global wealth distribution and governance system; at the same time, he called on the Ethereum Foundation to return to China to promote the reconstruction of the technology ecosystem; finally, he proposed that the future financial revolution will be centered on tokenized dollars, DeFi, and efficient settlement systems, redefine financial infrastructure, and build a trusted value collaboration mechanism for the AGI society in advance.
Which US states have rejected Bitcoin reserve bills?
Several U.S. states have attempted to establish Bitcoin reserves through legislation, but most of them have been rejected or shelved. Proposals in Florida, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and other states were rejected, while Utah deleted relevant content from the bill; although the governor of Arizona vetoed the Bitcoin investment proposal, another bill allowing the storage of airdrops and pledged assets was passed; currently only New Hampshire and a few states such as North Carolina and Texas are promoting relevant legislation. Overall, the legitimacy of Bitcoin as a state-level asset reserve still faces major policy resistance and controversy.
The Solana ecosystem DePIN track achieved a record high revenue of US$458,000 in April, a year-on-year increase of 33%, mainly driven by projects such as Helium, Render, Hivemapper, and XNET; although the overall number of active contributors has slightly decreased, small protocols such as Nosana have grown rapidly, Roam node and user data are impressive, and Shaga, Grass, Wingbits, etc. have also achieved key breakthroughs in vertical fields such as GPU computing, bandwidth contribution, and aviation data, showing that the Solana DePIN ecosystem is increasingly diversified, with high-frequency interactions and application landing trends.
Solana is experiencing its strongest development period in history, with significantly improved network stability, continuously enhanced decentralization level, pledged market value exceeding Ethereum, high developer and user activity, and on-chain TVL and stablecoin market value firmly in the forefront; in terms of ecology, DeFi is becoming more mature, DePIN is rising rapidly, consumer applications and institutional entry signals are frequent, community culture and talent aggregation advantages are unique, and the market structure is undergoing a transformation. The current price of SOL is still similar to the bubble period in 2021. It is severely underestimated against the backdrop of comprehensive improvement in fundamentals and has extremely attractive investment value in the long run.
The selling pressure from Bitcoin miners has dropped to the lowest level this year, indicating that the market has entered a strategic hoarding phase, with long-term holders accounting for more than 80% and exchange reserves continuing to decline, supporting the market's upward momentum. At the same time, although positive signals from Sino-US trade negotiations have boosted market sentiment, unclear details of the agreement and structural contradictions remain concerns. The current market is at the intersection of the post-Bitcoin halving and macro-game, and derivative leverage and policy variables may cause short-term fluctuations, but the continued inflow of ETF funds and improved miner behavior are long-term positives, and asset pricing is ushering in a new round of liquidity revaluation.
AI and robotics have become the focus of the technology circle, obscuring the current stagnation of innovation in the crypto industry. Imran and Qiao pointed out that stablecoins and tokenization narratives are becoming more and more similar, competition among trading platforms is becoming increasingly fierce, and Robinhood is intervening in the tokenization battlefield with a fintech attitude, posing a threat to the startup ecosystem. At the same time, AI tools are rapidly improving coding efficiency, driving the rise of small entrepreneurs and moving towards tokenization monetization. In fields such as education and healthcare, AI assistance is accelerating the replacement of entry-level positions, and children are building a new cognitive system through personalized learning and hands-on projects. The core of future competition will shift to agency and cross-border learning capabilities.
"Is the Qualified Investor System Coming? Analyzing the New SEC Chairman's Crypto Blueprint"
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins emphasized that clear rules will be established for the issuance of crypto assets, ending the "punish while punishing" regulatory approach, and promoting the United States to become the world's strongest compliant crypto market; he proposed an innovative disclosure system, support for compliant self-custody, and relax restrictions on trading products to pave the way for the possible birth of a "crypto Nasdaq" in the future; if this series of reforms are implemented, it will accelerate the migration of CEX and project-oriented compliant platforms, lower the entry threshold for institutional funds, and bring token valuation logic closer to U.S. stocks. Retail investors may be more compliant with new listings, which also means that meme projects and borderline gameplay will face greater challenges.
《Do you really know how to use Uniswap V4's "hook"?》
The core innovation of Uniswap V4 is the introduction of the "Hooks" mechanism, which is more like a "plug-in system" than a technical abstraction. Developers can use hooks to customize functions for liquidity pools, such as setting permissions for specific addresses, dynamically adjusting fees based on market activity, and even changing price curves. This mechanism not only expands the flexibility of Uniswap, but also opens up a third type of "money-making niche" in addition to LPs and traders - hook developers. Hooks like Flaunch have achieved revenues of over one million US dollars by directing fees to developer wallets and repurchase mechanisms, making Uniswap more like a modular financial Lego.
Dalio, Founder of Bridgewater Fund: Investment Logic under Debt Crisis and Sino-US Game
The world is currently at a critical point where five key forces converge: pressure on debt and monetary systems, domestic wealth polarization and political confrontation, imbalanced international order, frequent natural disasters, and rapid technological development. The US government faces high debt, deficits, and capital market pressures, coupled with rising populism and weakening rule of law within society, while the world is facing a decline in multilateralism and intensified geopolitical conflicts. Although the Trump administration has achieved some short-term results with its aggressive trading strategy, it remains to be seen whether it can effectively deal with these deep crises. In this context, it is crucial to maintain a rational perspective, focus on long-term trends, and formulate a sound investment strategy.
A mainland college student was unintentionally involved in the money laundering operation of a Southeast Asian criminal group while "purchasing" USDT in Hong Kong, exposing the risk of Hong Kong's over-the-counter trading market (VAOTC) being abused by industrialized crimes: criminal gangs organized part-time "drivers" through the "card back to U" model, using the anonymity of virtual assets to convert victims' funds into USDT and transfer them to the guarantee platform for laundering. On-chain analysis shows that such operations have formed a highly divided and clearly structured money laundering network. The incident also revealed the fragility of Hong Kong's crypto ecosystem under the regulatory system that has not yet been fully implemented, prompting the policy makers to accelerate the promotion of the OTC license system, requiring practitioners to strengthen AML/KYC compliance construction, and actively embrace supervision to ensure the healthy development of the market and block the channels for black and gray funds.
In the first quarter of 2025, the Korean Web3 market entered a critical transition period, shifting from a "liquidity export market" dominated by retail speculation to an industrial ecosystem with institutional support and builder foundation. The government announced the phased opening of corporate crypto trading accounts to lay a legal foundation for institutional market entry and service diversification. Although Web3 companies are unlikely to fully benefit from the new policy in the short term, foreign-funded projects such as Avalanche, TON, Ripple, and Solana have actively cultivated the local ecology and promoted activities such as hackathons and builder support programs, allowing South Korea to gradually transform from a capital inflow to an innovation exporter, marking the industry's transition from investment-driven to long-term structured development.
Arthur Hayes' 2028 prediction: Bitcoin will reach a million, and Altcoin will bleed into a river
The US economy is similar to the "fat aesthetics", which is prosperous on the surface but unbalanced on the inside. While the food system is controlled by giants and obesity and metabolic diseases are glorified, the US economy is also dominated by excessive credit and asset bubbles. The article criticizes the institutional problems of the Federal Reserve printing money to maintain stability, and points out that tariffs cannot cure the trade deficit, and capital controls may be a more effective means of rebalancing. If foreign capital is taxed on US assets, it can not only reduce the trade deficit, but also subsidize domestic voters, which is in line with Trump's political logic. With the advancement of capital controls and the withdrawal of foreign capital, the United States will restart printing money to maintain stability, thereby pushing up non-sovereign assets such as gold and Bitcoin. It is predicted that the price of Bitcoin will accelerate due to risk aversion and currency depreciation, becoming a "lifeboat" in the future global financial fission.
Coinbase Monthly Outlook: The global monetary system shifts, and Bitcoin begins to be negotiated
This article is compiled from the latest monthly outlook research report released by Coinbase. The report points out that as the US "twin deficits" continue to expand and trade protectionism intensifies, market confidence in the US dollar continues to weaken, and the world may usher in a round of large-scale asset portfolio reconstruction. In this context, Bitcoin is being regarded by more and more countries as a potential supranational reserve asset because of its sovereign neutrality and freedom from capital controls. According to the report's conservative estimate, if Bitcoin is gradually included in the global reserve system, its total market value is expected to increase by about US$1.2 trillion.
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