Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

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The Ethereum Foundation Announces Updates on 2026 Priorities

• 2025 will see progress in L1 scaling, Blob scaling, and UX improvements with the implementation of Pectra and Fusaka.

• In 2026, we will reorganize into a three-track system: “Scale,” “Improve UX,” and “Harden the L1.”

• Pushing full-scale scaling with gas limits exceeding 100M, ePBS, zkEVM attesters, and more.

• Place native account abstraction and interoperability at the core of the user experience.

• Strengthening security, censorship resistance, and post-quantum compatibility as core L1 features.

Aptos Releases Tokenomics Update

• Shifting from subsidy-driven inflation to usage-based “performance-driven tokenomics.”

• Proposal to reduce staking rewards from 5.19% to 2.6%, considering a design that rewards long-term staking.

• Gas fees increased tenfold + Decibel DEX’s high TPS expected to burn tens of millions of APT annually.

• 2.1B APT hard cap implementation + Foundation 210M permanent lock.

• Aiming for future deflation through increased burning, reduced issuance, and consideration of buybacks.

Base Network transitions from Optimism to its own stack

• Base has transitioned away from OP Stack dependency to its own “Base-operated unified stack.”

• Integrated components previously distributed across multiple repositories to reduce operational and maintenance complexity.

• Plans to transition from Optimistic proofs to Base’s proprietary TEE/ZK proofs in the future (V1 hard fork).

• Gradually reducing ties with Optimism through additional hard forks.

• A strategic shift toward de facto “independent L2 implementation” while maintaining the public specification.

Zora launches ‘attention markets’ on Solana

• SocialFi products that can go long or short on trending topics and buzz on social media.

• Market any theme or link and track PnL in real time.

• An attention-based economic model extending from existing NFTs and Creator Coin experiments.

• Movements aiming to form a new category in the SocialFi × speculative market.

Pumpfun introduces “Cashback Coin”

• Solana’s Pumpfun introduces “Cashback Coins.”

• Creators must choose in advance whether to “keep the commission fee themselves” or “return the full amount to the trader.”

• Re-adjusting Incentive Design for Team-Absent Meme Coin Issues.

• A design philosophy that entrusts the market with the choice of reward distribution.

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Introducing posts and articles I found interesting.

Banks are Becoming Scaffolding for Stablecoins

• Stablecoins are beginning to shift settlement, liquidity, and yield off-balance sheet while relying on banks for custody and regulatory compliance.

• Deposits are gradually becoming decentralized, with users moving funds in search of higher yields and instant settlements.

• Automated wallets and agent management are expected to further lower barriers to trust and user experience.

• Banks will remain as the infrastructure layer for credit, insurance, and central bank access, but they will no longer be the center of capital flows.

• In the medium to long term, banks may either evolve or become fixed as mere compliance layers.

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I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of the Fundraising Project for This Week.”

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💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、Novig

• Overview：A commission-free sports prediction market platform. Based on a peer-to-peer model, it eliminates the typical “house edge” by matching buyers and sellers of outcomes, offering fairer odds and better pricing.

• Category：Prediction Market

• Procurement amount：$75M

• Investment round：Series B

• Investor：★Pantera Capital、Multicoin Capital、Forerunner Ventures、Makers Fund

2、Kresus

• Overview：A web3 mobile application that functions as a comprehensive toolkit for managing digital assets. Users can securely and easily create, manage, and store their assets, regardless of their level of expertise in the world of cryptocurrency and NFTs.

• Category：Wallet

• Procurement amount：$13M

• Investment round：TBD

• Investor：Hanwha Investment & Securities

3、Newity

• Overview：A fintech company that promotes lending to small and medium-sized enterprises through a fully digital lending experience. As a lending service provider, it partners with participating banks that handle loan origination and approval. It offers an online application process, automated document generation workflows, and operational support to accelerate funding, enabling significantly faster access to capital than traditional banking channels.

• Category：Finance

• Procurement amount：$11M

• Investment round：Strategic

• Investor：CMT Digital

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Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

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Vitalik redefines the relationship between AI and blockchain. Ethereum is the “economic infrastructure for AI.”

• Buterin emphasizes designing AI to participate on-chain not as a “universal decision-making entity,” but as an “economic entity.”

• Envisioning a decentralized AI economy where bots collaborate, with AI handling payments, collateral, reputation, API usage fees, and more.

• Designs incorporating AI as the final arbiter for DAOs and smart contracts warrant caution from the perspective of adversarial attack risks.

• Ethereum’s role is not to create AI itself, but to provide “the economic infrastructure enabling trustless interaction between AI and humans.”

• We aim for AI integration aligned with “Don’t trust, verify” through local LLMs, crypto payments, client-side verification, and more.

Polymarket partners with Kaito to launch Attention Market

• Polymarket and Kaito have partnered to launch a prediction market targeting “mindshare” and “sentiment” on social media.

• Data is sourced from X, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, with popularity and favorability serving as betting targets.

• The pilot market has already recorded over $1.3 million in trading volume.

• We will launch dozens of markets in March and plan to expand to hundreds of markets within the year (starting with AI-related themes).

• Kaito has shifted its business focus from the traditional reward-based InfoFi model to “Attention × Prediction Markets.”

ERC-8004 has facilitated the release of over 15,000 new on-chain agents since its launch on Ethereum last week.

• Over 15,516 AI agents registered within one week of mainnet launch.

• Over 3,337 feedback submissions recorded, with over 14,028 active users.

• Updated to exclude “flags (non-existent agents)” and count only active agents.

• Emphasizing a participant-centric ecosystem that builds reputation on-chain.

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I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of the Fundraising Project for This Week.”

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💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、Cap Labs

• Overview：A DeFi protocol providing a stablecoin mechanism designed to generate high-level, sustainable yields. It focuses on optimizing capital efficiency and aims to offer decentralized yield options unattainable through traditional finance.

• CategoryStablecoin

• Procurement amount：$15M

• Investment round：Public Sale

• Investor: Individual investor

2、Bullshot

• Overview：BNB Chain-based AI-powered meme token launchpad enabling one-click token creation and deployment. Combining AI automation, bonding curve mechanics, and anti-bot protection systems to deliver seamless token launches without coding knowledge.

• Category：AI

• Procurement amount：$7.50M

• Investment round：Private

• Investor：Animoca Brands、B1 Ventures、RG Ventures、tbv、etc..

3、Levl

• Overview：A compliant stablecoin payment infrastructure provider enabling seamless cross-border transactions in both fiat currencies and digital assets. Offers Tier 1 bank-designated USD, GBP, and EUR accounts, POBO (Payment on Behalf) structures, FX services, and integrated on/off ramps for fiat and crypto assets.

• CategoryStablecoin

• Procurement amount：$7M

• Investment roundSeed

• Investor：★Galaxy Digital、Protagonist、Deus X Capital、Blockchain Builders Fund、etc..

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Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

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Vitalik Buterin argues that while base layer progress continues, decentralization of Layer 2 solutions is “far slower.”

• Vitalik is reevaluating Ethereum’s “rollup-centric strategy,”The decentralization of L2 is significantly behind schedule compared to expectations.pointed out.

• On the other hand, Ethereum L1 is steadily evolving, with scaling potential expanding through technologies like ZK solutions.

• Some features are not L2,Option to integrate directly into L1It also suggests that it should be reconsidered.

• L2 should focus on clearly differentiated areas such as “ultra-low latency” and “specialized applications.”

• The future of Ethereum should not be solely dependent on Layer 2 solutions,L1 and L2 Role Redesign PhaseContent indicating entry.

Lido has deployed stVaults to mainnet for users including Linea, Nansen, and multiple institutional investors.

• Lido introduces a new primitive for Ethereum staking:stVaultsThe mainnet officially launched, with Linea, Nansen, and institutional investors beginning to use it from day one.

• stVaults were introduced in Lido V3.Non-custodial, Customizable Staking VaultThis enables design tailored to specific purposes and organizational structures.

• L2 enables native yield implementation at the infrastructure level, allowing institutional investors to build dedicated configurations tailored to KYC, operational, and risk management requirements.

• Lido has evolved from a single product toCommon Modular Foundation for Ethereum StakingIt will evolve into a new position.

• The key structural change lies in enabling institutional-grade compliance while maintaining stETH liquidity.

SBI Holdings Announces Layer 1 Proof of Concept for Tokenized Stocks Developed Jointly with Startale Group

• SBI Holdings has released a proof of concept (PoC) for “Strium,” a Layer 1 blockchain specifically designed for tokenized equities, in collaboration with Startale Group.

• Strium aims to become the foundational platform for Asia’s on-chain securities market, prioritizing 24/7 trading, instant settlement, and interoperability with DeFi.

• Not merely the digitization of existing shares,Creation of New Financial Primitivesemphasizes the point of aiming for.

• The yen-pegged stablecoin, RWA trading, institutional custody, and compliance solutions are designed as an integrated whole.

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Introducing posts and articles I found interesting.

Is This a Crypto Winter? Post-Regulation Market Shift

• Past crypto winters followed a common pattern: “Major incident → Collapse of trust → Talent drain.”

• This downturn stems primarily from external factors such as ETF approvals, interest rates, and geopolitics, rather than internal collapses like FTX, and differs from the conventional “crypto winter.”

• The post-regulation market was fragmented into three tiers: the “regulated zone,” the “unregulated zone,” and the “shared infrastructure.”

• Funds flowing through ETFs remain in Bitcoin, with no trickle-down effect to altcoins.

• The next bull market will require killer use cases emerging from the unregulated zone and improvements in the macro environment.

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Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of This Week’s Funding Project.”

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💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、Anchorage Digital

• Overview：A globally regulated crypto platform providing integrated digital asset financial services and infrastructure solutions to institutions.

• Category：Finance

• Procurement amount：$100M

• Investment round：Strategic

• Investor:Tether

2、TRM Labs

• Overview：A blockchain intelligence company that assists financial institutions, cryptocurrency firms, and government agencies in detecting and investigating cryptocurrency-related financial crimes and fraud.

• Category：Security

• Procurement amount：$70M

• Investment round：Series C

• Investor：★Blockchain Capital、CMT Digital、Goldman Sachs、Bessemer Venture Partners、etc..

3、Jupiter

• Overview：Solana-based DEX aggregator. Focuses on providing traders with optimal prices and minimal slippage by aggregating liquidity. Originally designed as a swap engine, it has expanded its services to offer various products including dollar-cost averaging (DCA), limit orders, perpetual trading, and a launchpad catering to diverse user needs.

• CategoryDeFi

• Procurement amount：$35M

• Investment round：Strategic

• Investor：ParaFi Capital

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Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

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Israel attacks Gaza, cryptocurrency market crashes, $220 billion wiped out; ETH and XRP lead weekend losses

• Amid thin liquidity over the weekend, ETH and XRP led sharp declines, with the entire cryptocurrency market losing approximately $220 billion.

• While it remains unclear whether geopolitical risks (Gaza airstrike reports) were the direct cause, cryptocurrency markets reacted as the first to reflect risk-off sentiment.

• High-leverage positions triggered a chain reaction of liquidations, resulting in approximately $1.1 billion in stop-loss orders being triggered for ETH.

• While BTC showed relative resilience, altcoins suffered more severe declines due to their weaker liquidity.

MegaETH outlines four KPIs that determine the release schedule for 53% of the MEGA token supply.

• Over 53% of the MEGA token supply,Unlocked based on KPI achievement, not timeadopted the design

• Key performance indicators include four metrics: TVL, decentralization stage of Layer 2, protocol performance, and overall decentralization of Ethereum.

• A countermeasure to the “low float, high FDV” problem: a structure where supply enters the market based on success

• If KPIs are not met, tokens will remain locked, leaving room for future governance decisions.

• Token distributionFrom speculative rewards to behavior-guiding incentivesattempt to shift to

Lido announces the release of Lido V3 on the Ethereum mainnet

• Lido V3 operates on the Ethereum mainnet,stVaultsintroduced a modular staking platform

• A new staking design that balances customizability (operating entity, policies, reward structure) and liquidity (stETH)

• Delivering institutional-grade ETH staking with asset segregation, auditability, and liquidity for institutional investors

• Node operators can implement differentiated product designs (fees, APR, DeFi integration).

• The critical evolution of staking from a “single product” to an “infrastructure layer”

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Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of the Fundraising Project for This Week.”

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💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、Mesh

• Overview：A global crypto payment network connecting hundreds of exchanges, wallets, and financial service platforms to enable seamless digital asset transactions. Consumers pay with any asset (Bitcoin, Solana, etc.), while merchants instantly receive payments in their preferred stablecoin or fiat currency.

• Category：Payment

• Procurement amount：$75M

• Investment round：Series C

• Investor：★Dragonfly Capital、Paradigm、Moderne Ventures、Coinbase Ventures、etc..

2、Talos

• Overview：An institutional-grade digital asset trading infrastructure platform supporting the entire transaction lifecycle, from price discovery to settlement. It features advanced algorithmic execution, smart order routing, portfolio management, risk management, finance and settlement, white-label solutions, and DeFi integration.

• Category：Finance

• Procurement amount：$45M

• Investment round：Series B

• Investor：Robinhood、Sony Innovation Fund、IMC、QCP Capital、etc..

3、Zama

• Overview：An open-source cryptography company specializing in cutting-edge fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) solutions for blockchain and AI. Its user-friendly FHE library enables developers—from individuals to enterprises—to easily integrate end-to-end encryption without requiring deep cryptographic expertise.

• Category：Privacy

• Procurement amount：$44M

• Investment round：Public Sale

• Investor: Individual investor

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Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

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Gas fees have fallen to their lowest level on record, while Ethereum’s daily transaction volume has surged to an all-time high.

• Ethereum’s daily transaction volume has reached an all-time high (approximately 2.5 million transactions on a 7-day average).

• Average gas cost isApproximately $0.15dropped to the lowest level in network history.

• The background is due to the Fusaka upgrade.Blob Extension and L2 Cost Reduction。

• All transactions35–40% are stablecoin transfersAs a result, utilization driven by actual demand is expanding.

• Overcoming the criticism of “high-cost L1,”Ethereum has entered the practical infrastructure stagesuggests.

Pump.fun launches a new investment division to fund startups

• Solana-based meme coin issuance platform Pump.fun establishes investment arm “Pump Fund”.

• As the first initiative, we supported 12 projects through a $3 million hackathon.

• Not VC screening,Design evaluated and funded by the market and usersadopted.

Hashed Unveils Layer 1 Concept for Korea’s Stablecoin Economy

• Hashed’s Maroo is a regulation-friendly Layer 1 platform specialized for the Korean won (KRW) economy.

• Gas fees are denominated in KRW stablecoin (OKRW), prioritizing practical suitability for accounting and settlement.

• Dual Track (Open / Regulated) trading and a programmable regulatory layer (PCL) are included.

• Privacy is not complete anonymity,Selective and Verifiable Privacyadopted.

• A key feature is incorporating KYA (Know Your Agent) into the design, assuming AI agents’ economic participation.

Binance Wallet Adds Three AI-Powered Features

• Binance Wallet has introduced three new AI-powered features: Social Hype, Topic Rush, and AI Assistant.

• Analyze the level of attention and buzz on social media,Visualizing early signs of tokens and narratives。

• Topic-based token discovery and bulk purchasing, etc.Shortening the Path from Discovery to Transaction。

• On-chain analysisMore intuitive and abstracted for non-expertsthe act of doing.

• Binance is transitioning from “wallet = execution layer” to “Discovery and Decision Layerindicates that it is expanding to.

American Gen Z trusts cryptocurrency more than banks and seeks “autonomy and control.”

• U.S. Gen Z is “Administrative Authority · Verifiability · Self-Sovereigntyhighly values cryptocurrency based on this reason.

• Generation ZApproximately 22% trust cryptocurrency more than banks(The elderly have significantly lower rates).

• Self-regulation and use of regulatory bodiesHybrid-orientedis a characteristic.

• In the mortgage sector as well,Movement to incorporate BTC and ETH into asset valuationare beginning to appear.

• Cryptocurrency shifts from “investment” toEntities that impact life infrastructureis becoming.

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Introducing posts and articles I found interesting.

Prediction Markets’ Next Frontier: Impact and Decision Markets

• As the next stage of prediction markets, we propose Impact Markets and Decision Markets.

• The market expresses not the probability of an event occurring, but rather the impact on asset prices and decision-making should it occur.

• Impact Markets enables conditional pricing, delivering advanced hedging and information extraction.

• Decision Markets automates organizational decision-making using market prices (Phutalki).

• Predictive markets may evolve from “prediction” to “execution and governance.”

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I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of the Fundraising Project for This Week.”

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💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、BitGo

• Overview：A digital asset security company trusted by some of the world’s largest institutional investors, specializing in protecting their cryptocurrency assets. Its comprehensive solutions, including custody services and cybersecurity measures, meet the needs of institutional investors such as banks, hedge funds, and exchanges.

• Category：Custody

• Procurement amount：$212.80M

• Investment round：IPO

• Investor: Individual investor

2、Superstate

• Overview：An asset management company leveraging blockchain technology to modernize investing through tokenized financial products. Filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the Ethereum-based open mutual fund “Superstate Short-Term Government Bond Fund.”

• Category：RWA

• Procurement amount：$82.50M

• Investment round：Series B

• Investor：★Bain Capital Crypto、★Distributed Global、HAUN Ventures、Brevan Howard Digital、etc..

3、ZBD(Zebedee)

• Overview：A global web3 payment service provider for games and interactive entertainment built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Enables fast, low-cost, large-scale real-money payments through compliant APIs and SDKs, supporting rewards, in-game purchases, payouts, and embedded monetization features.

• Category：Payment

• Procurement amount：$40M

• Investment round：Series C

• Investor：Blockstream Capital Partners

4、Space

• Overview：Solana-based leveraged prediction market platform. Through transparent on-chain mechanisms, high liquidity, and gamified competition, it aligns incentives to create a dynamic environment where informed predictions yield real economic rewards.

• Category：Prediction Market

• Procurement amount：$14M

• Investment round：Public Sale

• Investor: Individual investor

5、River

• Overview：We are building a chain-abstracted stablecoin system that integrates assets, liquidity, and yields across multiple blockchains. By leveraging the omnichain CDP-based stablecoin “satUSD,” users can collateralize assets on one chain and mint assets on another, enabling native yield, leverage, and scaling capabilities.

• Category：DeFi、Stablecoin

• Procurement amount：$12M

• Investment round：Strategic

• Investor：Tron Foundation、Justin Sun、Maelstrom、The Spartan Group

✨Other, 13 projects

• Finst[$9.35M/Series A]A cryptocurrency trading platform based in the Netherlands. It aims to provide a level playing field for all cryptocurrency investors by offering a unique combination of security, transparency, and minimal fees.

• Cork Protocol[$5.50M/Seed]Introduces a new DeFi primitive called “Depeg Swap,” allowing participants to trade risks associated with pegged assets, similar to traditional financial credit default swaps (CDS). Provides a mechanism to manage liquidity and credit risk in on-chain credit markets, contributing to DeFi stabilization and reduced volatility.

• Akedo[$5M/Seed]An AI-native content creation engine and launchpad powered by a collaborative multi-agent system. Creators, studios, and communities can rapidly build games, generate AIGC content, and launch tokenized collections with a one-click workflow.

• Bitway[$4.44M/Public Sale]Bitcoin-native Layer 1 protocol and infrastructure platform enabling seamless, gas-free BTC-based transactions, lending, and tokenization of real-world assets. Users interact through familiar Taproot or native SegWit wallets, eliminating the need for EVM wallets or bridging.

• Warden[$4M/Strategic]An AI-native Layer 1 blockchain designed for developers to build intelligent applications. It provides verifiable access to AI models, whose outputs can be directly applied to on-chain and off-chain logic. By combining programmable key management and policy-based authentication with a chain-agnostic architecture, it enables secure collaboration between humans, smart contracts, and AI agents across Cosmos, Ethereum, Solana, and Web2 systems.

• Immunefi[$2.50M/Public Sale]A bug bounty security service platform focused on bug bounties and security services for web3 projects.

• HyperLend[$1.70M/TBD]Hyperlend is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol built for the Hyperliquid ecosystem. Users can supply assets, earn yields, and borrow funds in an on-chain environment optimized for high performance and capital efficiency. Designed to integrate seamlessly with Hyperliquid’s infrastructure, Hyperlend supports permissionless markets, transparent risk parameters, and configurable DeFi use cases.

• Pan Network[$1M/TBD]An on-chain AI payment protocol built for the autonomous agent economy. Enables real-time machine-to-machine (M2M) value exchange through A2A payments, the x402 payment protocol, and the ERC-8004 trust standard.

• Lazbubu[TBD/TBD]An on-chain AI companion agent equipped with the DAT mechanism, designed to evolve through continuous interaction with users. By recording conversations, decisions, and behavioral signals, and anchoring this data to the BNB Chain, Lazbubu ensures transparency, verifiability, and user-owned data. Combining AI-driven personality growth with blockchain-backed data integrity, Lazbubu delivers a personalized, persistent AI companion that users can truly control.

• Fogo[TBD/TBD]A high-performance Layer 1 blockchain designed to deliver large-scale real-time experiences. By leveraging the Firedancer client in its purest form, it aims to push the boundaries of performance, finance, and physics. By minimizing latency and expanding bandwidth, it combines traditional financial performance with decentralized infrastructure to enable institutional-grade on-chain finance.

• Farcaster[TBD/M&A(Neynar)]Decentralized social network.

• Atlas[TBD/M&A(Chainlink)]A universal execution abstraction protocol for building application-specific order flow auctions on the EVM. Applications and frontends can collect user intent and execute auctions.

• Coinstack[TBD/M&A(Alpha Edge Media)]Coinstack is an independent crypto research and media platform focused on providing detailed analysis, market insights, and commentary on web3, digital assets, and the blockchain ecosystem. Published as a newsletter and research hub, Coinstack covers topics such as token launches, DeFi protocols, market structures, funding rounds, and emerging trends.

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Disclaimer：I carefully examine and write the information that I research, but since it is personally operated and there are many parts with English sources, there may be some paraphrasing or incorrect information. Please understand. Also, there may be introductions of Dapps, NFTs, and tokens in the articles, but there is absolutely no solicitation purpose. Please purchase and use them at your own risk.

About us
🇯🇵🇺🇸🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇸 The English version of the web3 newsletter, which is available in 5 languages. Based on the concept of ``Learn more about web3 in 5 minutes a day,'' we deliver research articles five times a week, including explanations of popular web3 trends, project explanations, and introductions to the latest news.

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mitsui
A web3 researcher. Operating the newsletter "web3 Research" delivered in five languages around the world.

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The author is a web3 researcher based in Japan. If you have a project that is interested in expanding to Japan, please contact the following:

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*Please note that this newsletter translates articles that are originally in Japanese. There may be translation mistakes such as mistranslations or paraphrasing, so please understand in advance.

Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

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Sui was down for several hours

• Sui’s Layer 1 network has been down for several hours.Transaction Halt。

• The development team officially acknowledged the “network star (stopped state)” and implemented recovery operations.

• dApps and block explorers are also temporarily unavailable.

• Sui had been growing rapidly by touting its high throughput, but there have been outage incidents in the past.

• In high-performance L1Stability and Fault Tolerance Issueshas been brought into sharp relief once again.

Polygon Labs unveils “Open Money Stack” concept to complete fund transfers entirely on-chain

• Polygon Labs announces a comprehensive infrastructure plan to complete fund transfers and payments entirely on-chain.

• Can be used without being aware of stablecoins or tokenized depositsChain-independent designis a characteristic.

• Based on the premise of interoperability with multiple blockchains and existing financial infrastructure.

• Not only individuals and companies,Autonomous payments by AI agentsAlso anticipated.

• We aim to build an economic foundation where funds will continue to circulate on-chain in the future.

After X revised its API policy and banned the InfoFi crypto project, the Kaito token plummeted.

• X announces API policy banning “post-reward apps.”

• The background is that InfoFi-related projects were generating massive amounts of AI spam replies.

• Immediately following this announcement, the native token of the InfoFi networkKaito plunged more than 10%。

• Kaito will discontinue its reward-based features and transition to a new model leaning toward traditional marketing.

JCB, Digital Garage, and Resona to Collaborate on Social Implementation of Stablecoin Payments

• JCB, Digital Garage, and Resona Holdings have begun collaborating to implement stablecoin payments in Japan.

• Using USD-pegged and JPY-pegged stablecoinsPayment Proof-of-Concept Testing in Physical StoresScheduled.

• Verifying practical challenges such as UI/UX, blockchain processing performance and stability, and merchant settlement operations.

• JCB handles the merchant network, Digital Garage manages the payment infrastructure, and Resona is responsible for financial service design.

• Future plans include expanding the ecosystem and exploring partnerships with other businesses.

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Introducing posts and articles I found interesting.

enough with the buy-and-burns. jesus christ

• Buy-and-burn is simple and easy to understand, but it is criticized as an inherently value-destructive token model.

• When successful, it repurchases at a high price; when unsuccessful, it fails to produce results—pointing out the “worst asymmetry.”

• Early-stage projects should allocate funds toward growth investments, as returns can easily backfire.

• The cryptocurrency market is highly reflexive, with narratives driving prices.

• In many cases, we conclude that a poorly designed token is worse than having none at all.

The Heat Death Of Memecoins: Tracking the Memecoin Hype & Rapid Cooldown of 2025

• The total market capitalization of the meme coin market has decreased by approximately 61% over the past year.

• Solana’s Pump fun enables hyper-rapid token proliferation, forming a speculative bubble in early 2025.

• The number of new token issuances has decreased from a peak of 70,000 per day to around 20,000.

• There are numerous cases where bot trading is prevalent and price formation does not reflect actual demand.

• Similar to the NFT market, we have now entered a “post-hype phase,” with consolidation and convergence underway.

📊Market & News

🟠Market Overview

• JPMorgan expects cryptocurrency inflows to increase further in 2026 after hitting a record high of $130 billion in 2025.

⛓️L1 Blockchain

• Ethereum staking hits all-time high, with approximately 30% of ETH supply locked

• Vitalik Buterin argues Ethereum should not delay preparations for the threat of quantum computing

• Buterin calls for Ethereum updates to ensure blockchain outlasts its developers

• Ripple secures UK license to expand payment services

• Sonic Labs Provides Partial Compensation to Exploit Victims

⛓️L2 Blockchain

• Polygon surges 15%, driving the sharp rise in altcoins

• Polygon lays off 30% of employees as it shifts focus to payment services

• ZKsync’s 2026 roadmap centers on real-world infrastructure.

• Polygon Labs to strengthen payment infrastructure under U.S. regulations. Acquiring CoinMe and Sequence.

• Starknet partners with NEAR to bring STRK to Solana

💰DeFi

• Felix Protocol Launches Spot Stock Trading on HyperEVM

• YO, $3.7 Million Loss from Unintended Stablecoin Exchange

• Trove Markets’ $11.5 million token sale saw last-minute changes ripple through Polymarket’s bets, triggering a backlash.

• ETHGas releases GWEI tokens to manage Ethereum’s block space and make on-chain execution predictable

• As sports betting drives on-chain prediction markets, Football.Fun unveils the FUN token

• Polymarket CEO Promotes Prediction Platform’s “Most Mainstream Integration” at Golden Globes Awards Ceremony

• Lighter introduces LIT staking for access to liquidity pools

• $LIT continues to decline after the TGE

• Euler’s founding CEO steps down; protocol refocuses on institutional investor business

🤑RWA・Stablecoin

• Galaxy receives $50 million allocation from Globe and tokenizes its first CLO on Avalanche

• Franklin Templeton Updates Two Money Market Funds to Support Blockchain

• The CEO of Goldman Sachs stated that as U.S. regulations evolve, the firm is actively exploring tokenization and prediction markets.

• Gacha sales hit an all-time high, sending CARD tokens soaring

• Fujitsu Utilizes Blockchain for Green Iron Value Distribution in METI Research Project

• Figure Announces On-Chain Stock Network Aiming to Reform Stock Trading and Financing

• As banks rush to bring cash and funds on-chain, State Street expands its push for tokenization

• The CEO of Bank of America has warned that up to $6 trillion in deposits could shift to stablecoins if interest payments are permitted.

• Visa partners with BVNK to enable stablecoin payments via Visa Direct

• USD1 lands on prediction market Myriad

• WLFI Launches Crypto Asset Lending and Borrowing App, Enabling USD1 Stablecoin Operations

• Ethena Labs aims to increase holdings of USDe Safe through gas-free Ethereum transactions and a tenfold increase in rewards.

• South Korea’s major financial institution KB applies for patent on stablecoin credit card

• Sumitomo Mitsui Card to Conduct Proof-of-Concept Trial for JPYC Touch Payments Using My Number Cards

• Tether has frozen $182 million worth of USDT tied to five Tron addresses.

🏢ETF・DAT

• Bitcoin ETF inflows hit $1.7 billion for the third consecutive day

• Michael Saylor fiercely criticizes interviewer who questioned Bitcoin’s financial model: “Ignorant and unpleasant”

• Ethereum finance company BitMine invests $200 million in MrBeast’s Beast Industries

• Allied Architects, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, launches next-generation DAT initiative. Yu Oki, former head of the Solana Super Team, appointed as project leader.

• Kushim and Fracton form business alliance to advance treasury operations and support the Ethereum community

• Solana finance company Sharp Technology partners with Coinbase to launch validator

🖼️NFT

• OpenSea Partners with Metamask to Earn Points

• MoonBirds Announces $1 Billion Revenue Forecast

🤖AI Agent

• AMIKO introduces TARS, equivalent to ERC-8004, for the Solana ecosystem

• NEAR AI joins NVIDIA Inception to accelerate the development of enterprise-grade privacy-preserving AI infrastructure.

• Dexter AI launched Dexter Marketplace, enabling agents to search for and pay for services using x402 with real-time payment and usage visibility.

• Hive Intelligence has launched its Crypto Governance Analyst agent, designed to rigorously evaluate the alignment of DAO governance structures with decentralization.

National, Legal, and Regulatory Matters

• CFTC Chairman Selig Announces Innovation Committee to Examine Cryptocurrencies and Prediction Markets

• The Senate Banking Committee’s decision to postpone the markup has caused the comprehensive cryptocurrency bill to hit a major snag.

• Coinbase states it does not support the Senate cryptocurrency bill ahead of the Banking Committee vote

• Tennessee Demands Closure of Sports Betting Marketplaces Polymarket, Calci, and Crypto.com

• South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges criticize government’s proposed holding limit

• South Korea Approves Framework for Tokenized Securities at Key Legislative Hearing

• Google Play removes South Korean exchanges

• Russia finalizes bill to open cryptocurrency market to unlicensed traders

• Nigeria plans to track cryptocurrency without hacking blockchain

• Dubai bans use of privacy tokens on exchanges, tightens stablecoin rules amid cryptocurrency reset

Other

• Cake Wallet adds support for Zcash

• MetaMask adds native Tron support to its mobile and browser extension wallets as part of its multi-chain push acceleration.

• Ledger Wallet introduces “BTC Yield” feature in collaboration with Lombard and Figment

• Bitpanda, backed by Peter Thiel, plans IPO in the first half of 2026

• Bank of Thailand Monitors USDT “Grey Money” Transactions

• Kraken-related SPAC aims for Nasdaq IPO at $250 million

• Cryptocurrency custodian BitGo aims to raise $201 million in U.S. IPO

• Binance Japan to Release “Binance Japan Card” Credit Card That Earns BNB

• Coincheck Group Acquires Digital Asset Management Firm 3iQ from Monex Group Through Share Transfer

• Privacy coins make a comeback as Monero sets a new record price

• CoinGecko is considering a sale at a valuation of $500 million

• Backpack launches prediction market

• Paxos’ asset base will increase by 450% by 2025

• DASH surges nearly 50% following Alchemy Pay integration

• Discord suddenly locked down servers for the same alarming reasons X purged these crypto developers.

Subscribe now

Disclaimer：I carefully examine and write the information that I research, but since it is personally operated and there are many parts with English sources, there may be some paraphrasing or incorrect information. Please understand. Also, there may be introductions of Dapps, NFTs, and tokens in the articles, but there is absolutely no solicitation purpose. Please purchase and use them at your own risk.

About us
🇯🇵🇺🇸🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇸 The English version of the web3 newsletter, which is available in 5 languages. Based on the concept of ``Learn more about web3 in 5 minutes a day,'' we deliver research articles five times a week, including explanations of popular web3 trends, project explanations, and introductions to the latest news.

Author
mitsui
A web3 researcher. Operating the newsletter "web3 Research" delivered in five languages around the world.

Contact
The author is a web3 researcher based in Japan. If you have a project that is interested in expanding to Japan, please contact the following:

• X：@web3researchgl

• Telegram：@mitsui0x

*Please note that this newsletter translates articles that are originally in Japanese. There may be translation mistakes such as mistranslations or paraphrasing, so please understand in advance.

Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of This Week’s Funding Project.”

💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、Alpaca

• Overview：Alpaca is an API platform offering free trading of stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies. Designed to enable fintech startups, algorithmic traders, and financial institutions to build and extend trading applications, it provides a suite of APIs including trading APIs, broker APIs, and market data APIs. Alpaca supports over 20 cryptocurrencies and 56 trading pairs, featuring secure custody solutions and real-time market data, available 24/7, 365 days a year.

• Category：Date

• Procurement amount：$150M

• Investment round：Series D

• Investor：★Drive Capital、Citadel Securities、Opera Tech Ventures、MUFG Innovation Partners、etc..

2、LMAX Group

• Overview：A global trading and financial technology company providing a trading platform exclusively for the execution of foreign exchange, digital assets, and equities. Operating on a Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) model, it delivers transparent pricing, high liquidity, and low-latency execution to banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds, and asset managers.

• Category：CEX

• Procurement amount：$150M

• Investment round：TBD

• Investor：★Ripple

3、ICEx

• Overview：A regulated cryptocurrency exchange based in Indonesia, offering spot trading and digital asset services to individual and institutional investors. Licensed by local regulatory authorities, it focuses on compliance adherence, secure custody, and providing local on/off-ramp services within the Indonesian market.

• Category：CEX

• Procurement amount：$70M

• Investment round：TBD

• Investor：TBD

4、Upexi

• Overview：A diversified consumer brand owner and e-commerce operator focused on acquiring and expanding Amazon-based businesses. Specializing in health, wellness, pet care, and nutritional supplements, it reduces customer acquisition costs by integrating consumer data with proprietary advertising technology. It has entered the crypto space by building a Solana-based treasury and expanding its Bitcoin mining operations through subsidiaries like ChainbitMiner and Quantum Hash, aiming for passive income and asset growth.

• Category：DAT

• Procurement amount：$36M

• Investment round：TBD

• Investor：Hivemind

5、VelaFi

• Overview：A financial infrastructure platform providing stablecoin-based financial infrastructure compliant with corporate regulations. It supports modern fund transfers through both digital and traditional payment methods, enabling businesses to manage transactions, payments, and financial operations swiftly, reliably, and in a regulatory-compliant manner.

• Category：Stablecoin

• Procurement amount：$20M

• Investment round：Series B

• Investor：★XVC、★Ikuyo、Alibaba Group、Planetree、BAI Capital

✨Other, 20 projects

• Project Eleven[$20M/Series A]Applied Quantum Computing Research Institute focused on protecting digital assets and blockchain from quantum threats. Develops quantum-resistant cryptographic tools such as the “Yellowpages” registry, which links current Bitcoin addresses to quantum-resistant keys without on-chain transactions.

• Konnex[$15M/Strategic]Konnex is a web3-native, permissionless marketplace for robotic intelligence and autonomous physical work. By enabling robots to autonomously sign smart contracts and pay for specialized services, Konnex builds an open coordination layer for real-world robotics, decentralized AI, and autonomous execution.

• X-Machine[$10M/TBD]DePIN is a platform for tokenized autonomous robots that enables people to share in the profits generated by smart machines. Companies can tokenize real-world assets (RWA) and transform intelligent machines into public investment opportunities for scaling robotics ventures.

• Veera[$10M/Seed]Veera is a web3-native on-chain neobank providing global financial services that bridge crypto and traditional assets. Users can earn, invest, borrow, and spend while retaining full control of their funds using self-hosted wallets. Veera also offers the Veera Card, enabling users to seamlessly utilize their on-chain assets in the real world.

• TBook[$10M/TBD]StableFi Coordination Layer built for digital workers, linking ID, payments, and yields to on-chain authentication. The chain-agnostic infrastructure distributes stablecoins and RWA through TBook Vault, while decentralized ID and WISE Score record verified user contributions.

• Noise[$7.10M/Seed]Attention Market: A platform adjacent to prediction markets where traders bet on whether topics, brands, trends, and narratives will maintain cultural relevance over time. Combining elements of Google Trends with prediction market mechanisms, it enables continuous trading of cultural mindshare.

• Meld[$7M/TBD]A stablecoin settlement and conversion infrastructure designed as a one-stop platform for accessing global digital assets. Enterprises, fintech companies, and developers can seamlessly convert over 150 fiat currencies and a wide range of stablecoins and tokens within their own applications.

• Neuraminidase[$5M/Seed]A web3-native AI agent and tokenization platform. Developers can automate, manage, and monetize complex blockchain operations using autonomous AI agents.

• Infinex[$5M/Public Sale]A secure, user-friendly platform designed to simplify access to DeFi and on-chain protocols. Provides an intuitive cross-chain wallet and non-custodial accounts protected by passkeys and biometric authentication.

• TROVE[$2.50M/Public Sale]A Web3-native trading platform specializing in collectibles and digital assets. Its flagship protocol enables trading of tokenized collectibles with up to 5x leverage in perpetual markets, enhancing liquidity and price discovery for traditionally illiquid assets.

• KOLect[$1.20M/Pre Sale]KOLect is an AI-powered Web3 analytics and strategy platform. It evaluates KOL credibility and transforms social media activity into data-driven cryptocurrency insights. By analyzing cross-platform signals from X, Telegram, on-chain data, and more, KOLect scores influencer performance, enables strategy backtesting, supports automation, and facilitates community-driven crowdfunding centered around proven signal sources.

• Saturn Labs[$800k/Angel]Developed a yield-bearing stablecoin backed by MicroStrategy’s STRC (Bitcoin credit product for institutional investors). Designed to deliver a real yield exceeding 10%, it integrates DAT, stablecoins, and RWA into a reserve model offering superior transparency and scalability.

• Instant Coin Bank[TBD/M&A(Bitcoin Depot)]A Bitcoin ATM operator with multiple locations across Texas and Oklahoma, providing users with convenient, cash-based access to cryptocurrency. In addition to its ATM network, it offers digital asset services enabling the purchase, sale, and management of cryptocurrency through simple, easy-to-use tools.

• Naoris Protocol[TBD/TBD]A distributed cybersecurity mesh that transforms all connected devices into validator nodes, enhancing network security at scale. Leveraging quantum-resistant cryptography, a custom distributed security proof (dPoSec) consensus mechanism, and distributed SWARM AI, it provides real-time threat detection and continuous verification across the entire digital infrastructure.

• DTR[TBD/M&A(Bakkt)]A cutting-edge payment infrastructure platform that enables seamless corporate fund transfers by integrating stablecoin and fiat currency settlement systems. By providing white-label APIs and custom financial solutions, businesses can accept, store, transfer, and manage both stablecoins and traditional currencies.

• SOMO[TBD/M&A(Animoca Brands)]A crypto-native collectible and gaming brand designed for next-generation collectors and internet-native audiences. Through its flagship games SOMO Battleground, SOMO Codex, and SOMO Duel, it transforms digital collectibles into playable, streamable, and tradable assets.

• Coinme[TBD/M&A (Polygon)]A regulated digital asset financial services company that simplifies the buying, selling, and management of digital assets, primarily Bitcoin. Founded in the United States, it is known for operating one of the world’s largest Bitcoin ATM networks and providing consumer-facing digital asset wallets and securities services.

• Sequence[TBD/TBD]Horizon Blockchain Games, previously known as Horizon Blockchain Games, is a web3 development platform that provides wallet infrastructure, APIs, and tools for building consumer-facing blockchain games and applications. It offers marketplace functionality that abstracts web3 complexity through smart contract wallets, user authentication, payments, seamless onboarding, gas-free transactions, and cross-chain support.

• Genius[TBD/TBD]Shuttle Labs developed a non-custodial cryptocurrency trading platform focused on decentralization and user control. It addresses issues related to centralized failures like FTX by enabling users to manage their private keys, eliminating third-party risks.

• City Protocol[TBD/TBD]A decentralized infrastructure for intellectual property and capital markets, bringing real-world intellectual property on-chain. Creators and communities can fundraise, scale, and trade cultural assets as liquid, investable units through programmable fundraising, RWA, and AI-driven distribution.

Subscribe now

Disclaimer：I carefully examine and write the information that I research, but since it is personally operated and there are many parts with English sources, there may be some paraphrasing or incorrect information. Please understand. Also, there may be introductions of Dapps, NFTs, and tokens in the articles, but there is absolutely no solicitation purpose. Please purchase and use them at your own risk.

About us
🇯🇵🇺🇸🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇸 The English version of the web3 newsletter, which is available in 5 languages. Based on the concept of ``Learn more about web3 in 5 minutes a day,'' we deliver research articles five times a week, including explanations of popular web3 trends, project explanations, and introductions to the latest news.

Author
mitsui
A web3 researcher. Operating the newsletter "web3 Research" delivered in five languages around the world.

Contact
The author is a web3 researcher based in Japan. If you have a project that is interested in expanding to Japan, please contact the following:

• X：@web3researchgl

• Telegram：@mitsui0x

*Please note that this newsletter translates articles that are originally in Japanese. There may be translation mistakes such as mistranslations or paraphrasing, so please understand in advance.

Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

📰Pickup News
📗Pickup Article
📊Market & News

Subscribe now

📰Pickup News

ERC-8004 v0.1 Paper Published

• ERC-8004 is a standard for building a trust foundation for autonomous agents on Ethereum.

• Composed of three on-chain registries: Identity, Reputation, and Validation

• In v1.0, IDs will be converted to ERC-721 NFTs to ensure ecosystem compatibility and transferability.

• On-chain reputation scoring with cryptographically signed feedback to prevent fraud

• The verification registry is designed to enable progressive validation.

• A major overhaul before the mainnet launch, but it aims to establish the foundation for a cross-organizational agent economy.

Ethereum has “solved” the blockchain trilemma: Vitalik

• Vitalik Buterin claims that Ethereum has overcome the trilemma of decentralization, security, and scalability.

• The core technologies are PeerDAS through the Fusaka upgrade and the maturation of zkVM.

• PeerDAS significantly increases the amount of data L2 can transmit, enabling cost reduction and scalability.

• zkVM dramatically reduces block verification costs while maintaining node decentralization and improving performance.

• However, it will take several years for the full benefits to materialize, with around 2030 being the target for widespread adoption.

• Ethereum has entered a “new phase of decentralized networking”

Optimism Foundation Proposes OP Buyback

• Optimism positions the buyback of OP tokens as part of its ecosystem growth strategy.

• The buyback is explained as a means for long-term public asset fund circulation, not price manipulation.

• Proceeds will first be allocated to ecosystem investments and public goods support; if a surplus remains, repurchases will be considered.

• In early-stage projects, reinvestment takes priority, and ongoing buybacks are not anticipated.

• Tokens are defined as tools for network participation and public goods coordination, not as “shares.”

• Token value depends on the overall health of the Optimism Collective, not short-term prices.

Bitcoin staking platform Babylon raises $15 million from a16z to fund development of “BTCVaults”

• Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon raises approximately $15 million from a16z Crypto

• Funds will be used for the development and expansion of the new infrastructure “Trustless BTCVaults.”

• BTCVaults enables native BTC collateralization without wrapping or custody.

• Utilizing zero-knowledge proof technology, it is possible to verify that BTC is correctly locked.

• Expanding DeFi, lending, and stablecoin applications through neutral and verifiable BTC collateral

• As infrastructure enabling the use of BTC without moving it, aiming for the long-term financialization of BTC

Wyoming Issues First State-Backed Stablecoin on Solana

• Wyoming officially launches “FRNT,” the first state government-issued dollar-pegged stablecoin in the United States.

• FRNT uses Solana as its native chain and also deploys to multiple chains including Ethereum and major L2s.

• The reserve fund is managed by the state trust and is overcollateralized in U.S. dollars and short-term U.S. Treasury bills.

• Franklin Templeton will handle the management and custody, with interest income allocated to the state’s education fund.

• Leveraging transparency and legal backing provided by public entities as strengths to differentiate from private stablecoins

• An exemplary case symbolizing the “public infrastructureization” of compliant stablecoins

📗Pickup Article

Introducing posts and articles I found interesting.

Stablecoins Are a Rail, Not a Brand

• Stablecoins are not a “brand,” but rather infrastructure (the rails) for streamlining payments.

• A world where numerous companies issue their own stablecoins is inefficient for users.

• True competitive advantage lies not in issuance itself, but in integration with existing products.

• Reduced settlement costs, instant clearing, and cross-border remittances are the key value propositions.

• The market naturally converges toward a small number of tokens such as USDT and USDC.

• The business of issuing stablecoins alone is not sustainable.

On token buybacks (and how to decide how much to do)

• The cryptocurrency industry has been forced into a distorted capital structure (separation of tokens and shares) amid a regulatory vacuum.

• As a result, many tokens failed to capture value and became “assets that keep falling.”

• In recent years, revenue-generating “Revenue meta” projects have been gaining traction in certain sectors.

• Token buybacks are not price manipulation; they are essentially a capital policy equivalent to dividends.

• Uniform, high-rate buybacks that ignore a company’s growth stage and the relationship between ROIC and WACC are harmful.

• The fundamental solution lies in institutional design that grants tokens legitimate equity rights.

Mistakes to avoid while building in consumer crypto

• The author reflects that a complex infrastructure-focused approach led to failure and shifted to consumer-oriented products.

• The belief that “complexity equals value” often diverges from actual user demand.

• Design that naturally encourages sharing, with young users in mind, will be key to growth.

• It is more important to make the product itself the “means of distribution” than to focus on marketing.

• User feedback is implemented immediately, fostering emotional ownership.

• Clarity, speed, and iterative improvement are the top priorities in B2C crypto.

Prediction markets barely make money; sportsbooks make money

• Approximately 90% or more of Kalshi’s transactions and revenue are effectively derived from sports betting.

• The gap between the pretense of a “market that prices truth” and its actual reality

• Sports feature high frequency, short-term outcomes, and information advantage, making them highly profitable.

• Fee structures are optimized to maximize returns in sports trading.

• It operates in a regulatory gray zone, causing significant friction with state governments and sports leagues.

• As a result, the “truth machine” is a byproduct; the main business is closer to sports betting.

Why Prediction Markets Are Where They Are

• Polymarket and Kalshi are at “local maxima” with superficial success.

• Notional volume is an indicator that tends to exaggerate success beyond actual performance.

• Due to low liquidity, even small transactions can cause significant price movements.

• To compete with sportsbooks, feature enhancements like parlays are essential.

• Event resolution and oracle design are becoming scalability constraints.

• It holds potential as a new asset class, but structural reform is necessary for it to mature.

The Demise of Petro: A Reflection of Venezuela’s Failure

• The Venezuelan government introduced the state-issued cryptocurrency “Petro” as a solution to its economic collapse.

• It was touted as oil-backed, but in reality it was a centralized and unreliable system.

• Technical inconsistencies, arbitrary price changes, and poor UX amplify public distrust.

• Far from evading sanctions, it became a hotbed of corruption and money laundering.

• Ultimately, following a massive corruption scandal, Petro and the cryptocurrency industry itself collapsed.

• An example symbolizing that technology cannot compensate for a lack of systems and trust

Agentic Payments and Crypto’s Emerging Role in the AI Economy

• AI agents are becoming autonomous economic entities capable of acting and transacting independently, making “agent-oriented payments” a crucial foundation for this evolution.

• x402 utilizes HTTP 402 (Payment Required) to establish a standard enabling agents to pay directly with cryptocurrency for APIs, data, and services.

• The greatest value lies in eliminating the need for API keys or subscriptions and enabling micro-payments per request.

• Initially, speculative use was prevalent, but the focus has now shifted toward practical agent-to-agent transactions involving APIs, data, and computational resources.

• In e-commerce, major existing payment processors like Stripe are advancing their agent support, making x402 more likely to be used as a complementary solution.

• In conclusion, blockchain will not take center stage but will instead become widespread as the “invisible infrastructure” supporting the AI agent economy.

📊Market & News

🟠The entire market

⛓️L1 Blockchain

• Bitcoin has entered dangerous territory of “liquidity depletion” as Japan’s 30-year bond yield hit a record high.

• Crude oil prices fall amid U.S. attack on Venezuela, drawing attention to Bitcoin

• ether.fi CEO Predicts Neo Banks Will Drive Ethereum’s Growth in 2026

• Ethereum will ultimately deploy a fork with only the planned Blob parameters as the final step of the Fusaka upgrade.

• Ethereum staking: Exit queues cleared, participation queues increase

• Ethereum Summarizes 2025 Ecosystem Progress. Privacy Technology Growth Stands Out

• The ETH Foundation establishes the dAI team

• XRP rose 12%, reaching its highest level since mid-November.

• Flow returns online after tokens drop 40% following a $4 million exploit

⛓️L2 Blockchain

• The Starknet outage marks the second major disruption since Grinta’s introduction.

• Kraken’s Ink Layer 2 surpasses $500 million in TVL

• Arbitrum has released the ArbOS Dia update, enabling smoother L2 fees.

💰DeFi

• Aave may share non-protocol revenue with token holders.

• Jupiter Team Proposes Halting Token Buybacks

• PolymarketAdded taker fees to the 15-minute crypto market as liquidity rebate funds

• Polymarket partners with Parcl to transform housing price indices into prediction markets

• Major on-chain Pups exchange Lighter launches 24/7 Pups trading

• Lighter’s LIT token surged 14% as the protocol signaled aggressive buybacks.

• After Perp DEX released the LIT token, Lighter users reported withdrawal issues.

• Meme coins surge, outperforming the broader crypto market

• PumpFun Launches Creator Fee Distribution Mechanism Supporting Multi-Wallet Allocation and Permission Transfer

• Trove, ICO begins on January 8

🤑RWA・Stablecoin

• The total assets under management for tokenized stocks exceed $1 billion.

• Tether introduces Satoshi-style Scudo units for its gold-backed XAUT token

• Jupiter launches its native JupUSD stablecoin, 90% backed by BlackRock and Ethena’s USDtb.

• JPMorgan introduces JPM Coin to Canton, marking its second deployment following its launch on Base.

• BNY Mellon Launches Tokenized Deposits for Institutional Investors and Digital Natives

🏢ETF・DAT

• Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin and Solana ETF applications suggest deep institutional investor involvement in crypto assets.

• Grayscale begins distributing staking rewards to Ethereum ETF investors

• Bitwise files for 11 cryptocurrency ETFs, including AAVE, UNI, and HYPE

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs report $697 million in net inflows, the largest single-day total since October

• 40% of BTC financial companies are trading below NAV

• After MSCI announced it would not ban DAT “for the time being,” Strategy’s stock price rose 5%.

• Bitcoin Treasure stock rises amid cryptocurrency surge, Metaplanet shares soar

• BitMine continues to increase its ETH staking

🖼️NFT

• NFT Paris cancels event with one month’s notice

• Nike sells RTFKT digital collectibles division to anonymous buyer

🤖AI Agent

• DeepNode partners with OpenLedger to provide verifiable, high-quality datasets on the platform for next-generation AI models and agents.

• Virtuals announces Pegasus, Unicorn, and Titan—a three-track framework for agent activation from initial experimentation to large-scale deployment.

• Loosh AI has released the Cognition Engine beta on SN78, unveiling verifiable multi-stage reasoning, memory, and ethics layers for agents and robots.

• TIS and gC Labs’ Hinode Technologies to Participate in “0G” Node Operation

• AI-focused tokens surge, with RENDER climbing 30%

National, Legal, and Regulatory Matters

• Finance and Financial Services Minister Katayama designates 2026 as the “Digital Year One,” expressing expectations for its adoption through stock exchanges.

• Clarity Bill to Begin Revised Deliberations on January 15; Hopes for Progress in Cryptocurrency Regulation

• The Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill has been postponed until 2027 and may be enacted in 2029.

• Regional banks sound the alarm over loopholes in GENIUS yield-bearing stablecoins

• Kalshi CEO Supports Bill to Ban Insider Trading in Prediction Markets

• SEC’s sole Democratic commissioner and cryptocurrency skeptic Caroline Klenk to step down

• South Korean regulators are requiring receipts for all cryptocurrency transactions, no matter how small the amount.

• Brazilian presidential candidate calls for creation of national Bitcoin reserve

Other

• PwC Strengthens Cryptocurrency Initiatives Citing U.S. Regulatory Changes

• Major crypto VC announces outlook for 2026 fundraising and token sales

• New Phishing Scam Targeting MetaMask Users: SlowMist CSO Issues Warning

• Coinbase halts USDC trading in Argentine pesos, temporarily reduces local services

• Goldman Sachs upgrades Coinbase stock to buy, warns of execution risks and intensifying competition

• Ripple has reiterated that it has no plans for an IPO, citing its strong balance sheet and focus on growth.

• As analysts consider expanding beyond cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase and Gemini face diverging outlooks.

• Zcash developer resigns, establishes new company following board conflict

• Fireblocks acquires crypto accounting platform TRES, becoming the “first complete operating system” on-chain

• Solana Mobile, a Web3 smartphone initiative, to airdrop 2 billion SKR native tokens

• Cryptocurrency trading volume has fallen to its lowest level in 15 months.

• Ledger suffers data breach via payment processor

• Rekt Drinks launches Worldstar Cherry Cola

• YouTube rival Rumble announces Bitcoin and Tether wallets for cryptocurrency creators

• Mastermind of cryptocurrency scam arrested in Cambodia after $12 billion worth of Bitcoin seized

• The next “dominant narrative” for crypto assets will be privacy: Arthur Hayes

• As altcoins surpass Bitcoin, digital asset funds are expected to raise $47.2 billion by 2025

• Binance Launches Tradfi Perpetual Contracts Trading

Subscribe now

Disclaimer：I carefully examine and write the information that I research, but since it is personally operated and there are many parts with English sources, there may be some paraphrasing or incorrect information. Please understand. Also, there may be introductions of Dapps, NFTs, and tokens in the articles, but there is absolutely no solicitation purpose. Please purchase and use them at your own risk.

About us
🇯🇵🇺🇸🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇸 The English version of the web3 newsletter, which is available in 5 languages. Based on the concept of ``Learn more about web3 in 5 minutes a day,'' we deliver research articles five times a week, including explanations of popular web3 trends, project explanations, and introductions to the latest news.

Author
mitsui
A web3 researcher. Operating the newsletter "web3 Research" delivered in five languages around the world.

Contact
The author is a web3 researcher based in Japan. If you have a project that is interested in expanding to Japan, please contact the following:

• X：@web3researchgl

• Telegram：@mitsui0x

*Please note that this newsletter translates articles that are originally in Japanese. There may be translation mistakes such as mistranslations or paraphrasing, so please understand in advance.

Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of the Fundraising Project for This Week.”

💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、Rain

• Overview：A blockchain-based card issuance and stablecoin interoperability platform designed for web3 teams, DAOs, and protocols. Enabling platforms to issue customizable, globally usable payment cards facilitates seamless digital asset payments and expense management.

• Category：Payment、Stablecoin

• Procurement amount：$250M

• Investment round：Series C

• Investor：★ICONIQ Capital、Sapphire Ventures、Dragonfly Capital、Bessemer Venture Partners、etc..

2、BlackOpal

• Overview：A global payment finance platform in Latin America specializing in tokenized credit card receivables from Brazil’s $750 billion payment market. Offers tokenized funds for institutional investors yielding 13-14%, backed by investment-grade Brazilian credit card receivables.

• Category：RWA

• Procurement amount：$200M

• Investment round：TBD

• Investor：Mars Capital Advisors

3、Tres Finance

• Overview：A cryptocurrency accounting and tax reporting platform specifically designed for Web3 companies. By collecting and aggregating digital asset data from various wallets and accounts, it streamlines accounting processes and enhances the monitoring, management, and automation of financial transactions for Web3 businesses.

• Category：Finance

• Procurement amount：$130M

• Investment round：Mergers and Acquisitions

• Investor：Fireblocks

4、Babylon

• Overview：Bitcoin staking protocol to enhance the security of PoS networks and DApps. Bitcoin holders stake their assets to earn rewards while strengthening the security of PoS chains and DApps.

• Category：DeFi

• Procurement amount：$15M

• Investment round：TBD

• Investor：a16z crypto

5、HabitTrade

• Overview：HabitTrade provides access to U.S. stocks, Hong Kong stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies through a single trading experience. Through gamification, automation, and social features, HabitTrade promotes disciplined trading.

• Category：Finance

• Procurement amount：$10M

• Investment round：Series A

• Investor：★Newborn Town、StableStock、Bright Venture Capital

✨Other projects: 4

• ZenChain[$8.50M/TBD]A fully decentralized EVM-compatible Bitcoin Layer 1 blockchain. Leveraging Bitcoin’s security to enable scalable smart contracts and cross-chain interactions.

• Stakin[TBD/M&A(The Tie)]A web3 infrastructure provider specializing in enterprise-grade blockchain staking and node operations. Enables institutional investors, funds, and token projects to securely stake digital assets, operate validators, and participate in network governance across multiple Proof-of-Stake blockchains.

• River[TBD/TBD]We are building a chain-abstracted stablecoin system that integrates assets, liquidity, and yields across multiple blockchains. By leveraging the Omni-chain CDP-based stablecoin “satUSD,” users can collateralize assets on one chain and mint assets on another, enabling native yield, leverage, and scaling capabilities. Additionally, we provide fully reserved Bitcoin services including custody, instant transfers, and fee-free recurring purchases.

• Ubyx[TBD/TBD]A global payment and settlement platform designed to enable stablecoins to function as universal digital cash. Banks, fintech firms, issuers, and retailers can accept, deposit, and redeem stablecoins at face value across multiple currencies and blockchains through existing financial infrastructure.

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Disclaimer：I carefully examine and write the information that I research, but since it is personally operated and there are many parts with English sources, there may be some paraphrasing or incorrect information. Please understand. Also, there may be introductions of Dapps, NFTs, and tokens in the articles, but there is absolutely no solicitation purpose. Please purchase and use them at your own risk.

About us
🇯🇵🇺🇸🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇸 The English version of the web3 newsletter, which is available in 5 languages. Based on the concept of ``Learn more about web3 in 5 minutes a day,'' we deliver research articles five times a week, including explanations of popular web3 trends, project explanations, and introductions to the latest news.

Author
mitsui
A web3 researcher. Operating the newsletter "web3 Research" delivered in five languages around the world.

Contact
The author is a web3 researcher based in Japan. If you have a project that is interested in expanding to Japan, please contact the following:

• X：@web3researchgl

• Telegram：@mitsui0x

*Please note that this newsletter translates articles that are originally in Japanese. There may be translation mistakes such as mistranslations or paraphrasing, so please understand in advance.

Happy New Year.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

We’re resuming our newsletter starting today. The first issue will be a news recap, though there wasn’t much to cover due to the year-end and New Year holidays. We’ll continue updating as usual from today onward, so thank you for your continued support!

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📗Pickup Article
📊Market & News

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📰Pickup News

Ethereum’s daily transaction volume hit a record high, surpassing the 2021 NFT boom.

• Ethereum’s daily transaction count has reached 1.87 million, surpassing the peak during the 2021 NFT boom.

• The number of new and active addresses has also reached its highest level in several years, with network usage expanding driven by actual demand.

• Reducing fees and improving scalability, among other things,Effects of the Pectra・Fusaka Upgradebecomes apparent

• ETFs, RWA, stablecoins, etc.,Establishment of Financial Use Casesis the background

Creator Coin has once again failed to meet expectations, and ZORA has declined.

• A coin issued by a prominent creator on Base’s Zora platform plummeted by approximately 80% in a short period, significantly failing to meet expectations.

• Following this disappointment, the ZORA token itself also declined, leading to a loss of confidence in the creator coin model.

• Market participants strongly criticize it as “a structure lacking real demand or ongoing utility, destined to be sold after unlocking.”

• The experiment combining content and tokens proved unsustainable beyond mere buzz, highlighting a lack of design for sustained usage and revenue.

Lighter Launches Native Token LIT, Allocating Half to Ecosystem Growth

• Lighter, a decentralized perpetual DEX,Native Token LITissue

• 50% of the total supply is allocated to ecosystem growth (airdrops and future incentives).

• Protocol revenue is visualized on-chain,Value accrues to LIT holdersDesign

• Lighter is solidifying its position as one of the major perpetual DEXs, backed by high trading volume and growth rates.

Dexter AI has released the x402 SDK to add per-request USDC payments to its API.

• Dexterx402-compatible SDKEnables easy implementation of USDC micropayments per API

• Automate 402 error handling, wallet signing, and retries,Implement payment processing with just a few lines of codepossible

• Dynamic pricing based on token count (for AI inference) and Phantom compatibility included as standard features

• Based on API × Payment × AI,Practical Implementation of On-Chain Billing InfrastructureExamples demonstrating

Trust Wallet Begins $7 Million Compensation Process for Browser Extension Hacking Victims

• The Trust Wallet Chrome extension has been compromised,Approximately $7 million was lost.

• The cause was due to an API key leak in the Chrome Web Store,Malicious updates distributedthe point that was made

• Trust Wallet has officially launched its compensation process,The full amount of damages will be compensated.Then stated

• In wallet extensionsSupply Chain Attack Riskhas been brought into sharp relief once again

📗Pickup Article

Introducing posts and articles I found interesting.

Five Charts Showing How Cryptocurrency Will Change by 2025, Based on Data

• In 2025, while BTC will hit new highs,The alto section as a whole is sluggish.The bull market failed to materialize

• U.S. spot ETFs continue to see inflows,Institutional investor involvement has become established

• Stablecoin supply has reached record levels, establishing itself as a payment and remittance infrastructure.

• Prediction markets (Polymarket / Kalshi) become mainstream and integrate with media and finance

• While Perp DEX makes a comeback, the boom in cryptocurrency holding companies (DATs) rapidly shrinks.

Balance of power

• Modern society faces the simultaneous expansion of three major powers: big government, big business, and big crowds.

• The essence of the problem is,A structure where economies of scale self-reinforce power concentration

• As a solution, the diffusion of technology, knowledge, and means of production is crucial, rather than mere redistribution of wealth.

• Open standards, interoperability, and adversarial interoperability are key.

• Decentralization is not “neutralization,”Design that exerts influence without creating dominanceis

2026: What to Expect from Real-World Asset Tokenization

• RWA tokenization has concluded its experimental phase,Standard Infrastructure for Asset Managementis beginning to be positioned as

• By 2026, it is predicted that a majority of major asset managers will have strategies based on tokenization.

• The axis of growth is not speculation,Actual demand, stability, operational efficiency (settlement, liquidity, distribution)

• Index products, government bonds, and private credit are being fully integrated onto the blockchain.

• The challenge lies not so much in the issuance itselfCirculation, Integration, and Secondary Marketand this is where the competition lies

To Predict or Not to Predict? My take on Prediction Markets in 2026

• Prediction markets will transition from niche to mainstream by 2025, with 2026 marking the stage of “how they will evolve.”

• AI agents are not analytical tools,market participants themselvesbecome

• Rather than opinion polls,Predictive markets begin to be used as a reference layer for decision-making.

• Evolving from YES/NO-type to conditional branching and scenario decomposition markets

• The future competitive axis will be more about quality than liquidity.Reliability and Standardization of Resolution

Crypto Card Moats

• The crypto card market has entered a mature phase,Rewards and cashback are no longer differentiating factors.

• The true moat lies in the “underlying infrastructure” of liquidity, licensing, compliance, and settlement rails.

• CeFi platforms achieve scale but have low profit margins, while DeFi platforms offer high leverage tied to yields but are unstable.

• B2B infrastructure providers (issuance, FX, KYC, settlement)Once integrated, it becomes extremely difficult to switch.

• The future winner will be,Stripe-like full-stack middlewareplayer holding

📊Market & News

🟠The entire market

⛓️L1 Blockchain

• The Fed leaked bullish liquidity signals suggesting Bitcoin could anticipate a 2026 recovery.

• Bitcoin has a 70% probability of experiencing a major breakthrough in 2026, but only if this trend continues.

• Why Tom Lee Says Ethereum Is Headed for a 2026 ‘Supercycle’ Despite Price Decline

• Vitalik Buterin emphasizes true usability and decentralization over the victory of the “next meta.”

• Ethereum’s daily transaction volume hit a record high, surpassing the 2021 NFT boom.

• Flow blockchain, FLOW token plunges over 40%, investigates security incident

⛓️L2 Blockchain

💰DeFi

• Childcare Fraud Journalist Tokenizes Content on Base

• Creator Coin has once again failed to meet expectations, and ZORA has declined.

• UNI fell after Uniswap Labs burned 100 million tokens

• Aave Labs is attempting to ease governance tensions through non-protocol-compliant revenue distribution.

• Hyperliquid Labs Schedules Next HYPE Token Payment Following Unstaking of 1.2 Million Tokens

• Lighter Launches Native Token LIT, Allocating Half to Ecosystem Growth

• Kalshi’s weekly trading volume reached $2.3 billion, nearly double that of Polymarket.

🤑RWA・Stablecoin

• SBI Securities and Others to Demonstrate DVP Settlement for Secondary Digital Securities Trading Using Tokenized Deposits “DCJPY”

• WLFI’s USD-pegged stablecoin “USD1” surpasses $3 billion in supply

🏢ETF・DAT

• Spot crypto ETF cumulative trading volume has surpassed $2 trillion, doubling in half the time.

• Grayscale files for spot Bittensor ETF after network’s first halving event

• Bitmain’s holdings of Ethereum exceed 4.1 million coins, with its total cryptocurrency and cash holdings reaching $13.2 billion.

🖼️NFT

🤖AI Agent

• Elsa introduced its proprietary x402 facilitator, enabling on-chain payments using multiple tokens per request between agents on Base.

• GenLayer announces the live release of Intelligent Contracts. Users can now build and deploy the first AI-powered smart contracts.

• Dexter AI has released the x402 SDK to add per-request USDC payments to its API.

• BitAds launches the first live on-chain marketing campaign to generate revenue using incentive-based e-books

National, Legal, and Regulatory Matters

• Coinbase CEO Announces First Arrest in India Over Insider Data Leak: “More Arrests to Follow”

• South Korea’s stablecoin bill stalls amid controversy over issuance qualifications

• Congressman Torres condemns “insider trading” in prediction markets after traders profit $400,000 following Maduro’s arrest

Other

• December cryptocurrency trading volume hits lowest level in 15 months

• Hundreds of crypto wallets compromised across EVM chains; root cause remains unidentified: ZachXBT

• Trust Wallet Begins $7 Million Compensation Process for Browser Extension Hack Victims

• Cryptocurrency M&A and IPOs surged in 2025, with industry insiders expecting the momentum to continue into 2026.

• Amid altcoin gains in the cryptocurrency market following the holiday, PEPE is leading the rally in meme coins.

• Trump Media Announces New Token Issuance in 2026

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Disclaimer：I carefully examine and write the information that I research, but since it is personally operated and there are many parts with English sources, there may be some paraphrasing or incorrect information. Please understand. Also, there may be introductions of Dapps, NFTs, and tokens in the articles, but there is absolutely no solicitation purpose. Please purchase and use them at your own risk.

About us
🇯🇵🇺🇸🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇸 The English version of the web3 newsletter, which is available in 5 languages. Based on the concept of ``Learn more about web3 in 5 minutes a day,'' we deliver research articles five times a week, including explanations of popular web3 trends, project explanations, and introductions to the latest news.

Author
mitsui
A web3 researcher. Operating the newsletter "web3 Research" delivered in five languages around the world.

Contact
The author is a web3 researcher based in Japan. If you have a project that is interested in expanding to Japan, please contact the following:

• X：@web3researchgl

• Telegram：@mitsui0x

*Please note that this newsletter translates articles that are originally in Japanese. There may be translation mistakes such as mistranslations or paraphrasing, so please understand in advance.

Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of the Fundraising Project for This Week.”

Subscribe now

💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、HashKey Group

• Overview：Operates a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange. Its core businesses include HashKey Capital, a global asset management firm specializing in blockchain technology and digital assets; HashKey Cloud, a world-leading blockchain node validation service provider; HashKey Tokenisation, a tokenization service provider; and HashKey NFT, a Web3 PFP incubation and community management service provider.

• Category：Finance、CEX

• Procurement amount：$250M

• Investment round：TBD

• Investor：TBD

2、Architect

• Overview：A financial technology company specializing in high-throughput, low-latency infrastructure for both traditional and tokenized assets. We help exchanges, trading firms, hedge funds, and professional investors navigate the evolving digital asset market.

• Category：Finance

• Procurement amount：$35M

• Investment round：Series A

• Investor：★Miami International Holdings、★Tioga Capital Partners、Galaxy Digital、ARK Invest、etc..

3、Enigma Nordic

• Overview：A Nordic-based high-frequency trading (HFT) firm specializing in market-neutral cryptocurrency strategies. Using proprietary trading systems, it executes automated strategies across global cryptocurrency exchanges, focusing on liquidity provision, arbitrage, and statistical inefficiencies.

• Category：Finance

• Procurement amount：$32M

• Investment round：Mergers and Acquisitions

• Investor：Hilbert Group

4、Octra

• Overview：A blockchain network focused on fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), providing cryptographic tools for secure mathematical operations within isolated execution environments. It supports smart contracts developed in OCaml, AST, ReasonML, and C++, and offers open-source libraries such as Hypergraph to achieve broader compatibility.

• Category：L1

• Procurement amount：$20M

• Investment round：Public Sale

• Investor：Individual investor

5、See you again

• Overview：A Layer 1 trustless protocol for deep learning computation that rewards participants based on computational time. It facilitates task distribution and payment through smart contracts, ensures verification of completed machine learning tasks, and builds a decentralized AI computing network.

• Category：AI

• Procurement amount：$14.19M

• Investment round：Public Sale

• Investor：Individual investor

✨Other, 7 projects

• Coinbax[$4.20M/Seed]Banking, fintech, and enterprise stablecoin payment infrastructure. Provides programmable controls, automated settlement logic, and secure channels for stablecoins and tokenized deposits, enabling real-time settlements for compliant corporate and institutional investors.

• easy.fun[$2M/Seed]Hyperliquid’s on-chain trading arena transforms crypto trading into a skill-based competitive game. Its tight integration with Hyperliquid delivers the high-speed execution and liquidity essential for competitive trading.

• Tomato[$2M/TBD]A no-code web3 automation protocol and DeFi smart assistant designed to enable users to easily create, monitor, and automate on-chain actions. Build automated workflows for trading, portfolio management, and DeFi interactions without writing smart contracts or code.

• Rocket[$1.50M/Pre Seed]Next-generation prediction market protocol building a “redistribution market” on MegaETH. Transforming price speculation from static betting into a dynamic, social, mobile-first experience. Users can earn continuous profits by predicting cryptocurrency price movements, while enhancing liquidity efficiency by redistributing the same funds across multiple predictions.

• HodlHer[$1.50M/Strategic]A web3 AI companion and investment assistant designed to support cryptocurrency users, especially traders, both emotionally and strategically. It combines an AI “girlfriend”-style interface for stress management, confidence, and action guidance with practical on-chain tools for portfolio tracking, market insights, and risk management.

• The Clearing Company[TBD/M&A(Coinbase)]Founded by former Polymarket team members, we are building a next-generation prediction market platform that is on-chain, permissionless, and regulatory compliant.

• BLIFE Protocol[TBD/M&A(Portal)]A decentralized ecosystem protocol built on the Bitcoin blockchain, aiming to integrate web3 applications and cultural experiences. It is a digital ID system that connects Bitcoin wallets and secures exclusive .BLIFE names, enabling access to decentralized apps, social networks, and marketplaces.

Subscribe now

Disclaimer：I carefully examine and write the information that I research, but since it is personally operated and there are many parts with English sources, there may be some paraphrasing or incorrect information. Please understand. Also, there may be introductions of Dapps, NFTs, and tokens in the articles, but there is absolutely no solicitation purpose. Please purchase and use them at your own risk.

About us
🇯🇵🇺🇸🇰🇷🇨🇳🇪🇸 The English version of the web3 newsletter, which is available in 5 languages. Based on the concept of ``Learn more about web3 in 5 minutes a day,'' we deliver research articles five times a week, including explanations of popular web3 trends, project explanations, and introductions to the latest news.

Author
mitsui
A web3 researcher. Operating the newsletter "web3 Research" delivered in five languages around the world.

Contact
The author is a web3 researcher based in Japan. If you have a project that is interested in expanding to Japan, please contact the following:

• X：@web3researchgl

• Telegram：@mitsui0x

*Please note that this newsletter translates articles that are originally in Japanese. There may be translation mistakes such as mistranslations or paraphrasing, so please understand in advance.

Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

📰Pickup News
📗Pickup Article
📊Market & News

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Jump Crypto’s Firedancer Launches on Solana Mainnet, Aiming to Unlock 1 Million TPS

• Jump Crypto’s new client “Firedancer” has launched on the Solana mainnet.

• By implementing multiple clients, Solana’s fault tolerance and decentralization have been significantly enhanced.

• In proof-of-concept testing, it achieved over 1 million TPS using standard hardware.

• Solana has entered a phase of evolution from a “high-performance chain” to a “high-reliability infrastructure.”

Predictive market monthly trading volume to increase 130-fold after 2024: Keyrock, Dune

• Monthly trading volume on on-chain prediction markets surged 130-fold in about one year.

• The growth is being driven by fields other than sports: “politics, economics, and science.”

• Polymarket and Kalshi demonstrate high prediction accuracy and are gaining attention as decision-making tools.

• Prediction markets are evolving from speculation into a “real-time information infrastructure.”

Kamino adds Superstate tokenized shares as collateral

• Kamino on Solana adopts Superstate’s tokenized U.S. stocks as collateral.

• One of the first instances of using compliant stocks as DeFi collateral.

• Investors can borrow stablecoins while maintaining their equity exposure.

• A move symbolizing the entry into the practical phase of RWA×DeFi.

Coinbase to expand trading platform to support multiple assets including stocks and prediction markets.

• Coinbase to integrate and offer stocks, prediction markets, and DEX assets alongside cryptocurrencies.

• U.S. stocks and ETFs: Kalshi-integrated prediction markets to be rolled out in phases.

• Not just transactions, but integrated asset management, remittances, and revenue opportunities.

• Coinbase is transitioning from a “cryptocurrency exchange” to a “comprehensive financial platform.”

World releases a “super app” featuring cryptocurrency payments and encrypted chat functionality

• World announces new app integrating crypto payments and encrypted chat.

• Emphasizes a design that balances human verification (World ID) with privacy protection.

• Targeting everyday payment infrastructure such as bank account linking and payroll receipt.

📗Pickup Article

Introducing posts and articles I found interesting.

Most used chain based on what?

• Questioning the ambiguity of metrics (TVL, transaction volume, fees, user count) used when discussing “the most widely used chain.”

• Solana will surpass Ethereum in growth starting in 2023, with TVL increasing approximately tenfold and also outpacing Ethereum in transaction volume, fees, and user count.

• Solana dominates particularly in transaction volume, value transferred, DEX trading volume, and fee share.

• Ethereum still has a strong developer network, but lags in on-chain metrics.

• Rather than emotional arguments like “praise for Ethereum vs. dismissal of Solana,” we advocate for a rational evaluation based on data.

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Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of the Fundraising Project for This Week.”

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💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、RedotPay

• Overview：Hong Kong-based stablecoin payment fintech company. Enables transactions from cryptocurrencies to fiat currencies worldwide through cards, wallets, and payment infrastructure. Serves over 6 million users across more than 100 markets, processes $10 billion in annual payment volume, and generates $150 million in annual revenue.

• Category：Payment、Stablecoin

• Procurement amount：$107M

• Investment round：Series B

• Investor：★Goodwater Capital、Pantera Capital、Blockchain Capital、Circle Ventures、etc..

2、Fuse

• Overview：A distributed renewable energy network providing distributed energy resource (DER) installation, power trading, and retail electricity services. Operates as a vertically integrated retail electricity provider through its subsidiary, Fuse Energy. Enables communities and individuals to generate, trade, and manage energy in a sustainable and decentralized manner, promoting a cleaner and more efficient energy ecosystem.

• Category：DePIN

• Procurement amount：$70M

• Investment round：Series B

• Investor：★Lowercarbon Capital、★Balderton Capital

3、METYA

• Overview：An AI-driven Web3 dating platform integrating social interaction and token economies. Users connect globally and earn economic benefits through engagement. With over 8.5 million active users across more than 100 countries, it offers real-time communication, content creation, and data sharing features.

• Category：AI、SocialFi

• Procurement amount：$50M

• Investment round：Strategic

• Investor：★Century United Holdings Group、Castrum Capital、Alpha Capital、M2M Capital、etc..

Read more

Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

This is a summary article covering the web3 market over the past week. We gather information from over 20 domestic and international media outlets and newsletters, selecting news items from them. Please use this to catch up on information and trends!

📰Pickup News
📗Pickup Article
📊Market & News

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📰Pickup News

Superstate’s new direct issuance program enables listed companies to raise capital using tokenized shares.

• Superstate announces a mechanism enabling listed companies to raise funds directly through tokenized shares.

• Investors pay with stablecoins and instantly receive on-chain shares.

• Achieving faster settlement and cost reduction without going through underwriting securities firms.

• Against the backdrop of U.S. regulatory approval, the on-chain transformation of capital markets has advanced further.

Tempo, a blockchain specialized for Stripe and Paradigm settlements, has launched its public testnet.

• Tempo, a payment-focused L1 incubated by Stripe and Paradigm, launches its public testnet.

• Leveraging instant settlement, low fees, and stablecoin-native design as key strengths.

• Klarna, Mastercard, UBS, and others are involved as design partners.

Stablecoin Mainnet Launch Plunges into Chaos Amid Token Price Plunge

• Bitfinex-backed L1 “StableChain” launched its mainnet, but encountered issues including withdrawal failures and flawed gas design.

• Users received STABLE tokens but were unable to convert them back to USDT, leading to an outpouring of strong dissatisfaction.

• Paying for gas requires the proprietary token gUSDT, and the poor user experience is exacerbating the confusion.

• The STABLE price has fallen approximately 25% from its recent high, reigniting criticism of the pre-funding design.

Grayscale anticipates TAO price increase following next week’s Bitcoin halving

• The decentralized AI network Bittensor will undergo its first halving on December 14.

• Grayscale analysis indicates that the halving of new TAO issuance will enhance scarcity, positively impacting price.

• The introduction of dTAO has made subnets investment targets, expanding institutional investor interest.

• The convergence of actual demand for AI and cryptocurrency with supply constraints indicates that the market has entered a medium-to-long-term maturation phase.

📗Pickup Article

Introducing posts and articles I found interesting.

The Anatomy of a Crypto Neobank

• Neobanks disrupted traditional banks with low costs and convenience, but their reliance on custodians makes them inferior to DeFi in terms of transparency and freedom.

• The current CEX is a “crypto version of a neobank,” but it still relies on legacy financial rails and has not yet become a true on-chain bank.

• The proposed “DefiBank” model enables users to self-custody their assets and complete all functions—Save/Spend/Earn/Borrow—entirely on-chain.

• By eliminating intermediary settlement providers, optimizing MEV, and implementing on-chain credit assessments, it has the potential to become more efficient than traditional banks and neobanks.

• Stablecoins, DeFi, and on-chain data integration will form the “next-generation bank,” with particularly high potential for adoption in emerging markets.

10 Token Sale Themes for 2026

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Good morning.
I’m Mitsui, a web3 researcher.

Today’s topic is “Summary of the Fundraising Project for This Week.”

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💥Top 5 Projects by Funding Amount

1、Aztec Network

• Overview：A privacy-focused Layer 2 network for Ethereum. By combining zero-knowledge rollups with programmable privacy, it enables encrypted smart contracts. Developers can build applications where data—such as balances, transactions, and logic—remains private by default, while inheriting Ethereum’s security.

• Category：L2、Privacy

• Procurement amount：$40.20M

• Investment round：Public Sale

• Investor: Individual investor

2、LI.FI

• Overview：A cross-chain liquidity aggregation protocol that bridges developers and users to DEXs and decentralized liquidity sources through a single API, SDK, or widget. It intelligently routes trades and bridges to find the optimal price, lowest cost, and most secure path, enabling optimized swaps and asset transfers across over 30 blockchains.

• Category：Infrastructure

• Procurement amount：$29M

• Investment round：Series A

• Investor：Multicoin Capital、CoinFund

3、Real Finance

• Overview：A Layer 1 blockchain for institutional investors specializing in tokenizing RWA financial assets, insurance, and trading. Combining EVM compatibility with a Cosmos-based architecture enables compliant issuance and on-chain management of bonds, real estate, commodities, and more, embedding risk metadata and regulatory compliance at the protocol level.

• Category：L1, RWA

• Procurement amount：$29M

• Investment round：TBD

• Investor：★Nimbus Capital、Magnus Capital、Frekaz Group

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