Crypto News

This initiative seemed unremarkable at the time. Bitcoin was virtually worthless in 2010, with 5 BTC worth only a few cents. Andresen's motivation for creating the faucet was straightforward: get as many people as possible to experience this emerging technology and drive early Bitcoin adoption.

Deribit, the dominant cryptocurrency options exchange, and SignalPlus, a digital asset trading platform, have announced that their joint Mission450K trading competition has exceeded $11 billion in notional volume. The impressive figure underscores sustained institutional and retail interest in crypto derivatives markets, highlighting the sector's maturation even as broader market conditions remain dynamic.

The Hyper Foundation has put forward a proposal for validators to vote on burning the $HYPE tokens currently held in the project's Assistance Fund. If approved, the burn would permanently remove these tokens from circulating supply, representing a significant shift in the protocol's token economics and treasury management philosophy.

BitMine has significantly bolstered its cryptocurrency treasury with the acquisition of 48,049 ETH, valued at approximately $140 million at current market prices. The substantial purchase positions the company among a growing cohort of corporations holding Ethereum as a strategic reserve asset, extending a trend previously dominated by Bitcoin treasury strategies.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded its four-year investigation into Aave, one of the largest decentralized lending protocols in cryptocurrency, without recommending any enforcement action. The decision marks a significant victory for the DeFi sector, which has operated under persistent regulatory uncertainty since its emergence as a major force in digital asset markets.

The Bitcoin Lightning Network has reached an all-time high in total network capacity, marking a significant milestone for the layer-2 scaling solution designed to enable fast and inexpensive Bitcoin transactions. The surge comes as major cryptocurrency exchanges increasingly integrate Lightning functionality, bringing the technology to millions of users who previously relied solely on slower, more expensive on-chain transactions. This capacity expansion reflects growing confidence in Lightning's reliability and utility after years of development and real-world testing. What began as an experimental protocol discussed primarily among technical enthusiasts has matured into infrastructure that some of the industry's largest platforms now consider essential to their operations.

Jack Mallers, the outspoken founder and CEO of Strike, has once again articulated his conviction in Bitcoin's transformative potential, declaring it "the best money in human history" and framing his company's mission around building infrastructure for a Bitcoin-denominated future. His statement, "If we can fix the money, we can fix the world," encapsulates a philosophical stance that has animated Bitcoin advocates since the network's inception.

Valour, a European digital asset investment product issuer, is set to launch its Solana exchange-traded product on B3, Brazil's main stock exchange, on Wednesday. The listing marks another milestone in the firm's Latin American expansion strategy and reflects growing institutional appetite for diversified cryptocurrency exposure in the region.

Retail investor sentiment toward cryptocurrency has shifted decisively bearish, according to on-chain analytics firm Santiment. While such pessimism might seem like a warning sign, historical patterns suggest the opposite: extreme retail bearishness has frequently preceded significant price recoveries.

Cryptocurrency asset manager Bitwise has released an optimistic forecast for 2026, painting a picture of comprehensive strength across digital assets. The firm predicts Bitcoin will reach new all-time highs, ETF demand will surge dramatically, crypto-related equities will outperform traditional markets, and institutional adoption will deepen across various market segments.