Industry News

Tracks company news, strategic changes, funding activities, and personnel adjustments across the blockchain and crypto industries, delivering a full-spectrum industry overview for our users.

A High-Stakes Gamble in the Regulatory Void: Binance Fully Backs Unlicensed Stablecoin U

On January 13, Binance announced the listing of the stablecoin United Stables (U), launching U/USDT and U/USDC trading pairs with zero trading and leverage fees. Within 30 minutes, trading volume exceeded $4.5 million. U is issued by United Stables Limited, a BVI-registered entity, and is backed 1:1 by reserves held in a trust structure with fiat in regulated banks and digital assets with licensed custodians. It has received a custody attestation from Ceffu and a smart contract audit from PeckShield. Notably, U currently lacks regulatory approval under major frameworks like EU’s MiCA, Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Ordinance, or the U.S. GENIUS Act. Binance, though not the official issuer, is deeply integrated with U across its ecosystem—including BNB Chain, Binance Wallet, and DeFi protocols—providing liquidity and adoption support. The CEO, Athena Y, is a former Binance NFT lead and Ceffu CEO, but the project has not fully disclosed its core team or financial backing. U aims to serve as a “unified liquidity layer” rather than a direct competitor to USDT or USDC, targeting use cases in exchanges, DeFi, payments, and AI agents. As of January 13, U’s supply is around 410 million tokens with nearly 14,000 holders. It has been adopted by HTX, Aster, Lista DAO, and AEON Pay, though on-chain activity remains moderate.

比推01/13 13:22

A High-Stakes Gamble in the Regulatory Void: Binance Fully Backs Unlicensed Stablecoin U

比推01/13 13:22

Competitors Narrow the Gap from Binance. Who Leads Among Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Competitors are closing the gap with Binance, which remains the dominant leader among cryptocurrency exchanges in 2025, according to data from WuBlockchain. While Binance continues to lead in both spot and derivatives trading volume, smaller platforms are demonstrating more significant growth. In spot trading, the total volume on major exchanges grew 8.8% to $19.1 trillion. Binance, Bybit, and Gate were the top three, with Binance's volume nearly five times that of the second-place exchange. BitMart, KuCoin, and Bitget saw the largest growth in spot volume, while Upbit and Bybit saw declines. The derivatives market grew more substantially, rising 27.8% to $62.4 trillion. Binance, OKX, and Bybit led this segment. HTX and KuCoin recorded the highest growth rates here. Despite the increase in trading activity, overall website traffic to major exchanges fell by 6.9%. HTX, KuCoin, and Crypto.com were the only platforms to see significant traffic growth. The report notes that data from CoinGecko and Similarweb may be influenced by factors like wash trading and bot activity. Notably, Russian users accounted for a significant portion of traffic, representing 31% of all visits to Bybit.

RBK-crypto01/13 13:21

Competitors Narrow the Gap from Binance. Who Leads Among Cryptocurrency Exchanges

RBK-crypto01/13 13:21

Salad.com and Golem Network Partner To Bridge Web2 and Decentralized Computing

Salad.com and Golem Network have partnered to test the integration of traditional cloud computing with decentralized infrastructure. Salad will run real commercial workloads—including AI inference, 3D rendering, and drug-discovery simulations—on Golem’s decentralized network. The goal is to evaluate compatibility, cost efficiency, and the benefits of crypto-based settlements. Salad, which operates a GPU cloud service using global devices, still relies on centralized systems for payments and user rewards. This experiment aims to reduce operational overhead and explore whether decentralized infrastructure can support Salad’s scale while introducing cryptocurrency payments—a feature requested by users. The collaboration reflects a broader industry trend where Web2 companies experiment with Web3 infrastructure to improve transparency, lower costs, and leverage underutilized global computing resources. If successful, it could make high-performance computing more accessible and efficient through decentralized models.

ccn.com01/13 13:07

Salad.com and Golem Network Partner To Bridge Web2 and Decentralized Computing

ccn.com01/13 13:07

80% of Oil Revenue Settled in Stablecoins, Venezuela Turns USDT into a Second Dollar

Venezuela is increasingly using USDT, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, to settle up to 80% of its oil export revenue, as the country seeks to bypass U.S. sanctions and a collapsing traditional banking system. At the same time, USDT has become a financial lifeline for ordinary Venezuelans grappling with hyperinflation of the bolivar and strict capital controls. They use it for remittances, savings, and daily transactions—from paying building fees to haircuts. While Tether, the issuer of USDT, has cooperated with U.S. authorities to freeze wallets linked to sanctioned oil trade, the stablecoin’s role reflects a broader reality: it serves both as a tool for evading financial controls and as a critical means of survival in an economy with broken institutions. The situation underscores the dual nature of stablecoins—operating in regulatory gray zones while providing essential services where traditional systems fail.

marsbit01/13 12:09

80% of Oil Revenue Settled in Stablecoins, Venezuela Turns USDT into a Second Dollar

marsbit01/13 12:09

Brother Sun and CZ Jointly Endorse, New Stablecoin United Stables (U) Emerges

New stablecoin United Stables (U) has been launched on multiple exchanges including Binance, Gate, and BitMart, with HTX listing it earlier on December 18 alongside a 20% APY earnings campaign. Positioned as a next-generation stablecoin for trading, payments, wealth management, and AI-native ecosystems, U aggregates liquidity across different chains and assets. It is currently issued on BNB Chain and Ethereum, with a total supply of 409 million tokens. The project gained significant attention due to public support from two major industry figures: CZ (Binance founder) and Justin Sun. Both followed United Stables’ official X account, and CZ referred to U as a “second-generation stablecoin” during an AMA. Sun promoted U through a livestream and offered financial incentives via HTX. United Stables is backed 1:1 by a mix of USD and major audited stablecoins like USDT, USDC, and USD1. It features real-time Proof of Reserves (PoR) and monthly audits. The token is fully integrated into the BSC ecosystem, supported by DeFi protocols such as PancakeSwap and wallets like Trust Wallet and SafePal. The coin is also linked to Athena Y, a co-founder who previously served as Executive Director of the Binance Charity Foundation.

marsbit01/13 11:22

Brother Sun and CZ Jointly Endorse, New Stablecoin United Stables (U) Emerges

marsbit01/13 11:22

Coin Stock Barometer丨Strategy Invested $1.25 Billion Last Week to Add 13,627 BTC, Total Holdings Unrealized Profit Exceeds $10.55 Billion; Bitmine Holdings Increase to 4.168 Million ETH, Unrealized Loss of $3.225 Billion (January 13)

Crypto Market Weekly Roundup: Strategy Invests $1.25B in Bitcoin, BitMine Expands ETH Holdings Last week saw traditional equities and precious metals rally, while crypto-linked stocks remained subdued with only a few like BKKT and RIOT posting gains. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) invested $1.25 billion to acquire 13,627 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 687,410 BTC. With an average cost of $75,353, its unrealized profit now exceeds $10.55 billion. Institutional analysis suggests digital assets are transitioning from speculative instruments to financial infrastructure in 2026, driven by clearer stablecoin regulations and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. South Korea lifted its nine-year ban on corporate crypto investments, now allowing listed firms to allocate up to 5% of net assets to top cryptocurrencies. On the Ethereum front, BitMine increased its ETH holdings by 24,266 tokens, bringing its total to 4.167 million ETH. However, its position shows an unrealized loss of $3.225 billion with an average cost of $3,862. The company's chairman urged shareholders to approve a proposal to authorize more shares to prevent a slowdown in its ETH accumulation strategy. Other notable moves include Bit Digital holding over 155,000 ETH, ALT5 Sigma maintaining its WLFI token treasury, Bakkt acquiring stablecoin infrastructure firm DTR, and AIxCrypto planning a $10 million strategic investment in Faraday Future.

marsbit01/13 10:57

Coin Stock Barometer丨Strategy Invested $1.25 Billion Last Week to Add 13,627 BTC, Total Holdings Unrealized Profit Exceeds $10.55 Billion; Bitmine Holdings Increase to 4.168 Million ETH, Unrealized Loss of $3.225 Billion (January 13)

marsbit01/13 10:57

BitGo Targets Nearly $2 Billion Valuation As It Prepares For IPO In The US

Crypto custody firm BitGo is targeting a valuation of up to $1.96 billion in its upcoming U.S. IPO, planning to raise $201 million by offering 11.8 million shares priced between $15 and $17. Despite a volatile market environment and recent selloffs, BitGo aims to leverage positive momentum in early 2026. The company, which secured a national trust charter from the OCC, has enlisted Goldman Sachs and Citigroup as lead managers for the offering. It plans to list on the NYSE under the ticker "BTGO," joining other major crypto firms entering public markets.

bitcoinist01/13 10:32

BitGo Targets Nearly $2 Billion Valuation As It Prepares For IPO In The US

bitcoinist01/13 10:32

Frequent Pokémon Card Heists: Is On-Chain Storage for Physical Collectibles a Risky Solution?

Rising global thefts and frauds targeting high-value Pokémon cards, such as armed robberies in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, highlight systemic risks in the physical collectibles market. As these items become increasingly financialized, traditional transaction methods—relying on in-person meetings, private trust, and community trades—are exposing participants to heightened personal and fraud risks. The market’s infrastructure has failed to keep pace with the liquidity and cross-regional nature of these assets. While local card shops are enhancing security measures, such as improved surveillance and formalized transaction processes, these efforts remain limited to specific locations and cannot scale globally. In response, some projects are exploring blockchain-based solutions to introduce verifiable ownership, custody, and transfer mechanisms. For instance, platforms like Renaiss on BNB Chain are developing specialized smart contracts that link physical cards to on-chain NFTs through certified custodians, binding asset status and location to enable secure, borderless trading. However, merely tokenizing cards without robust, transparent custody and verification does not address real-world risks. The evolution toward on-chain systems aims to provide a foundational layer of trust—enabling validation, reducing physical delivery risks, and clarifying accountability. Not every collector may adopt full blockchain integration, but the market grows increasingly dependent on such infrastructure to ensure safety, authentication, and liquidity as collectibles transition into high-stakes digital assets.

marsbit01/13 09:31

Frequent Pokémon Card Heists: Is On-Chain Storage for Physical Collectibles a Risky Solution?

marsbit01/13 09:31

Developer's Personal Account: I Wasted Three Years on Base

Developer @weretuna, co-founder of @pndmdotorg, shares a critical account of their three-year experience building on Base, the Ethereum L2 chain backed by Coinbase. Initially drawn by promises of strong developer support and an "app-first" narrative, the team built over 10 products, including games, AI agents, and prediction markets. Despite creating @infecteddotfun, one of Base's most viral games that gained 50k followers in a month, they received no support, retweets, or even responses from the Base team. The author realized that support was selectively given to projects affiliated with Base's investments, like Farcaster and Zora, rather than based on merit or innovation. After receiving empty promises of support for their successful launch, the team migrated to Solana. There, they built @addicteddotfun, which generated $4M in revenue in 48 hours, becoming a major 2025 crypto game. The conclusion is that developers should build where the users and liquidity are—currently Solana—and avoid chains that fail to deliver on promises of support, ultimately saving time and achieving greater success.

marsbit01/13 09:06

Developer's Personal Account: I Wasted Three Years on Base

marsbit01/13 09:06

Weekly Funding Roundup | 7 Projects Secured Funding, Total Amount Reaches $332 Million (Jan 5 - Jan 11)

According to incomplete statistics from Odaily, between January 5 and January 11, 2025, seven blockchain-related funding rounds were disclosed globally, raising a total of $332 million. This marks a significant increase compared to the previous week. The largest single funding round was secured by stablecoin company Rain, which raised $250 million at a $1.95 billion valuation, led by ICONIQ. AI data exchange platform Protege followed with a $30 million Series A round led by a16z. Other notable raises include a $30 million strategic investment for Web3 gaming platform RuneSoul, a $15 million round for Bitcoin protocol Babylon with participation from a16z Crypto, and a funding round of over $10 million for RWA infrastructure provider TBook. Additionally, HabitTrade raised nearly $10 million for its regulated brokerage infrastructure, KOLECT raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed round, and digital payment infrastructure PhotonPay raised tens of millions in a Series B round. The funds are primarily allocated for global expansion, platform development, regulatory compliance, and advancing blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

marsbit01/13 08:45

Weekly Funding Roundup | 7 Projects Secured Funding, Total Amount Reaches $332 Million (Jan 5 - Jan 11)