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.

After the $250 Million Acquisition, Polygon's Long-Term Strategy Emerges

Polygon Labs has announced the acquisition of crypto startups Coinme and Sequence for a total of over $250 million. The deals are part of Polygon's strategic push into the stablecoin sector and broader financial infrastructure. Coinme, a US-based financial services company holding multiple state money transmitter licenses, will provide crucial regulatory compliance for Polygon to enter the US market. It will continue operating its existing crypto exchange, wallet, and service offerings. Sequence, a wallet and developer infrastructure provider, is intended to bolster the user-facing entry point for Polygon's ecosystem. These acquisitions represent a clear "upstream and downstream" strategy: securing regulatory pathways on one end and user infrastructure on the other. This aggressive, counter-cyclical move aims to transition Polygon from a crypto infrastructure project into a regulated financial infrastructure provider amid a tightening regulatory environment. Despite a broader market downturn, Polygon has shown resilience in on-chain revenue, recently ranking seventh among blockchains. A significant short-term driver of this growth is Polymarket, a prediction market platform whose high transaction volume has substantially increased network fees. This activity has accelerated the burn of POL tokens, creating a deflationary effect that currently outpaces staking rewards. In summary, while short-term fee growth is largely fueled by Polymarket, Polygon's long-term strategy is focused on building a compliant framework for stablecoins and real-world financial applications, positioning itself for the next phase of competition.

Odaily星球日报01/14 12:47

After the $250 Million Acquisition, Polygon's Long-Term Strategy Emerges

Odaily星球日报01/14 12:47

Crypto Market Cap Hits $3.25T as Bitcoin and Altcoins Rally

The cryptocurrency market surged significantly, with the total market capitalization reaching $3.25 trillion, a 4.17% increase in 24 hours. Trading volume also rose sharply by 61.95% to $153.19 billion. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index stands at 52, indicating a "Neutral" sentiment. Bitcoin's price increased by 3.82% to $95,130.84, maintaining a market dominance of 58.6%. Ethereum saw a 6.56% rise to $3,333.46, with a 12.4% market share. Meme tokens like PEPE TRUMP, TRUMP AI, and TRUMP MAGA were among the top gainers, with $TRUMP surging over 558%. DeFi TVL grew by 4.70% to $120.35 billion, and NFT sales volume increased by 9.94% to $10.3 million. Additionally, the U.S. government approved the sale of Nvidia H200 chips to China.

TheNewsCrypto01/14 12:40

Crypto Market Cap Hits $3.25T as Bitcoin and Altcoins Rally

TheNewsCrypto01/14 12:40

Alibaba Invested in a Latin American Stablecoin Company, Why VelaFi?

VelaFi, a financial infrastructure platform focused on Latin America and bridging fiat and crypto, has raised $20 million in a Series B round, bringing its total funding to over $40 million. Notably, the investment round included participation from Alibaba Investment, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group. Alibaba's investment is strategic, as VelaFi's stablecoin-based infrastructure enables instant, low-cost cross-border settlements. This addresses key pain points of high fees and slow processing times, aligning with Alibaba's goals for its AliExpress and B2B platforms in emerging markets. The funding was co-led by XVC and Ikuyo, with participation from other firms. VelaFi, part of Galactic Holdings and led by CEO Maggie Wu, was formerly known as TruBit Business. It has expanded from Latin America into the U.S. and Asia, serving hundreds of enterprise clients and processing billions in transaction volume. VelaFi's core B2B model focuses on two main services: providing regulated on/off ramps for converting between local fiat and stablecoins, and facilitating cross-border payments by converting one local currency directly into another (e.g., Mexican Pesos to Brazilian Reals). It achieves this by integrating with local instant payment systems like Mexico's SPEI and Brazil's PIX, using stablecoins as a settlement layer to create a faster, more efficient alternative to traditional banking channels.

marsbit01/14 10:40

Alibaba Invested in a Latin American Stablecoin Company, Why VelaFi?

marsbit01/14 10:40

MEXC Begins 2026 With Strong Reserves: January Audit Shows BTC Coverage at 158%

MEXC has released its January 2026 Proof of Reserve Audit Report, showing strong reserve ratios for all major assets. BTC coverage increased to 158%, while USDC rose to 140%. USDT and ETH remained at 127% and 107%, respectively. The exchange holds 6,172.88 BTC, $2.24 billion USDT, $111.54 million USDC, and 61,729.67 ETH in reserves. The audit, conducted by blockchain security firm Hacken, uses a Merkle Tree system to allow users to independently verify their balances. MEXC emphasizes its commitment to user asset security through excess reserves and regular third-party audits to ensure transparency and trust.

TheNewsCrypto01/14 10:16

MEXC Begins 2026 With Strong Reserves: January Audit Shows BTC Coverage at 158%

TheNewsCrypto01/14 10:16

Changpeng Zhao Backs Non-Custodial Trading Platform Genius Through YZi Labs

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, is investing in Genius Trading, a non-custodial crypto trading platform, through YZi Labs family office. The investment, worth tens of millions of dollars, supports a platform designed to protect large DeFi traders from front-running and MEV attacks. Genius uses Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and a non-custodial design to conceal trades by breaking large orders into smaller pieces and using temporary wallets, ensuring privacy and execution secrecy. CZ’s backing signals a strategic shift toward on-chain trading and institutional privacy tools, positioning Genius as a potential game-changer in crypto trading.

TheNewsCrypto01/14 09:44

Changpeng Zhao Backs Non-Custodial Trading Platform Genius Through YZi Labs

TheNewsCrypto01/14 09:44

South Korea Plans to Lift Ban on Listed Companies Investing in Cryptocurrency, Thousands of 'Whales' May Once Again Drive the 'Kimchi Premium'?

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) is planning to lift the ban on cryptocurrency investments for listed companies and professional investors, a policy that has been in place since 2017. The draft guidelines propose allowing eligible entities to invest up to 5% of their net assets annually, focusing on top-20 cryptocurrencies by market cap, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The move aims to address the market imbalance where retail investors dominate, potentially attracting significant institutional capital and boosting liquidity. However, challenges remain, including limited investment quotas and competition from traditional equities and emerging ETFs. The final guidelines are expected in early 2026, marking a significant shift in South Korea’s digital asset strategy.

marsbit01/14 09:02

South Korea Plans to Lift Ban on Listed Companies Investing in Cryptocurrency, Thousands of 'Whales' May Once Again Drive the 'Kimchi Premium'?

marsbit01/14 09:02

Hotcoin 2025 Annual Review and Outlook

Hotcoin 2025 Annual Review and Outlook 2025 was a year of steady growth and capability upgrades for Hotcoin. The platform focused on global market expansion, product optimization, and user growth systems, achieving significant results in user scale, trading depth, and operational efficiency. By year-end, Hotcoin served users across 183 countries and regions. User growth was driven by expansion into emerging markets and improved localized services, with P2P payment support for over 40 fiat currencies across 70+ regions. Trading and liquidity improved throughout the year, with notable growth in derivatives trading reflecting deeper markets and better risk controls. Revenue streams became more diversified. Key product innovations included the launch of "Hotcoin Selection" for market analysis, USDC contract trading, new user incentive tools, a full brand visual upgrade, enhanced live streaming features, and Web3 wallet integration. Platform stability remained a core focus, achieving 99.99% system availability and a 15.1% improvement in trading efficiency. Security was robust with no major incidents and 100% asset safety, supported by new AI risk control systems. Compliance milestones included passing AUSTRAC audit in Australia, renewing remittance licenses, and joining Korea’s CODE-VASP Travel Rule alliance. Hotcoin strengthened its brand through global events, media collaborations, and KOL partnerships, resulting in over 3.7 million exposures. The live streaming ecosystem hosted 5,124 sessions by 93 streamers. Strategic initiatives included a $20 million Hotcoin Labs fund to support early-stage projects and partnerships with key ecosystems. Looking ahead to 2026, Hotcoin will focus on technology infrastructure, product expansion, deeper global localization, and exploring new areas like RWA, continuing its long-term, user-centric approach to growth.

marsbit01/14 08:58

Deconstructing Smart-Cashtags: How X Is Entering Web3 Financial Infrastructure?

X, formerly Twitter, is launching "Smart-Cashtags," a feature that integrates real-time financial data directly into its platform, marking a significant step in its evolution into an "Everything App." This update aims to eliminate the friction users face when switching between X for market information, charting tools like TradingView, and exchanges to execute trades. The core innovation is the binding of a cashtag (e.g., $SOL) to a specific on-chain smart contract address, combating the widespread issue of scam tokens with identical names. This provides a layer of verification and security for users. Beyond fraud prevention, Smart-Cashtags will display a financial dashboard with real-time price, volume, and on-chain data when a user clicks a tag. This transforms X into a "Bloomberg Terminal for retail," enabling near-instant decision-making without leaving the app and accelerating the platform's influence on asset pricing. This move is also a strategic play in the "Web3 traffic入口" war against Telegram, which has captured mobile trading demand via its trading bots. With the recent acquisition of payment licenses and an in-app wallet in development, X is positioned to eventually integrate "Buy/Sell" buttons, potentially becoming the world's largest social trading platform. Scheduled for a global rollout, Smart-Cashtags represent X's ambition to move beyond being a source of information to becoming the central hub for social finance (Social-Fi), capturing value directly within its ecosystem.

marsbit01/14 07:37

Deconstructing Smart-Cashtags: How X Is Entering Web3 Financial Infrastructure?

marsbit01/14 07:37

The Wall Street Maverick, Vance's Aide, and a Century-Old Bank: Lead Bank

Lead Bank, a century-old community bank from Missouri, has transformed into a fintech and crypto-friendly banking leader under the leadership of Wall Street veteran Jackie Reses. After acquiring the bank in 2022, Reses and her team rebuilt its core systems in-house, avoiding reliance on third-party middleware—a key vulnerability that caused industry-wide disruptions following the collapse of firms like Synapse. Lead Bank serves major fintech clients like Revolut and Ramp and is one of the first banks to support Visa’s USDC settlement on Solana. Its strategy focuses on low-cost transactional deposits from fintech and crypto firms, generating revenue primarily through fees rather than interest margins. With strong regulatory connections, including ties to the White House via Reses’s brother, the bank has navigated compliance challenges while positioning itself at the intersection of traditional banking and digital asset innovation. As of 2025, Lead Bank’s assets have doubled to $1.97 billion, driven by its tech-native approach and emphasis on real-time API-based banking services.

marsbit01/14 03:40

The Wall Street Maverick, Vance's Aide, and a Century-Old Bank: Lead Bank