Tokenized Stocks on CEXs: The Cost You Don't See
CryptoRank tested Bitget, Binance and Gate on the same names. Top-of-book spreads were close. But on a $50K order the cost split wide open: Bitget's rTokens averaged 11.8 bps of slippage versus 23 to 31 for the others, up to 58% lower.
Bitget also lists the most (568 tokenized stocks and ETFs vs 45 and 65), names its custodian (Alpaca, FINRA and SIPC), and is the only one publishing daily independent proof of reserves.
CryptoRank tested Bitget, Binance and Gate on the same names. Top-of-book spreads were close. But on a $50K order the cost split wide open: Bitget's rTokens averaged 11.8 bps of slippage versus 23 to 31 for the others, up to 58% lower.
Bitget also lists the most (568 tokenized stocks and ETFs vs 45 and 65), names its custodian (Alpaca, FINRA and SIPC), and is the only one publishing daily independent proof of reserves.
BNY Is Moving Its $8.6T Transfer Agency Onchain
BNY, the world's largest custodian bank, is putting the recordkeeping behind its $8.6 trillion transfer-agency business onto a blockchain, a business that spans 7.6 million fund accounts.
A transfer agent keeps the official record of who owns a fund's shares and handles issuance, transfers and redemptions. BNY is moving those books and records onchain to create one shared ledger and strip out layers of reconciliation between parties.
BNY, the world's largest custodian bank, is putting the recordkeeping behind its $8.6 trillion transfer-agency business onto a blockchain, a business that spans 7.6 million fund accounts.
A transfer agent keeps the official record of who owns a fund's shares and handles issuance, transfers and redemptions. BNY is moving those books and records onchain to create one shared ledger and strip out layers of reconciliation between parties.
Early tokenized funds on the platform come from Baillie Gifford, BlackRock and BNY's own Dreyfus unit. BNY says it will keep its legacy systems running alongside the chain for years, given cyber and smart-contract risk. Note that the $8.6T figure is BNY's own book of business, not the whole market, and BNY has no token.
Top DeFi Protocols by TVL Launched this Summer
Robinhood's canonical bridge leads with $231M, the clearest sign that Robinhood Chain is becoming a real ecosystem, not a side project. Behind it, the new wave splits two ways: DEXs & derivatives (RocketSwap $196M, plus BULK and Arcus from dYdX team) and real-world assets (Valos $112M, tokenized gold, tokenized yield).
The rest is still small, most under $50M. But summer's builders are all betting on the same two themes: trading infrastructure and RWAs. The question is which of these is still here by winter.
Robinhood's canonical bridge leads with $231M, the clearest sign that Robinhood Chain is becoming a real ecosystem, not a side project. Behind it, the new wave splits two ways: DEXs & derivatives (RocketSwap $196M, plus BULK and Arcus from dYdX team) and real-world assets (Valos $112M, tokenized gold, tokenized yield).
The rest is still small, most under $50M. But summer's builders are all betting on the same two themes: trading infrastructure and RWAs. The question is which of these is still here by winter.
Binance US Plans a CFTC Bid for Prediction Markets
Binance US plans to apply next month to become a CFTC-regulated exchange, a Designated Contract Market (DCM), so it can legally offer prediction markets to US users. CEO Steve Gregory unveiled the plan onstage this week.
A DCM is a federal license to run a regulated venue for futures and event contracts. It would let Binance US list prediction markets itself, instead of leaning on an outside partner the way some rivals do.
Binance US plans to apply next month to become a CFTC-regulated exchange, a Designated Contract Market (DCM), so it can legally offer prediction markets to US users. CEO Steve Gregory unveiled the plan onstage this week.
A DCM is a federal license to run a regulated venue for futures and event contracts. It would let Binance US list prediction markets itself, instead of leaning on an outside partner the way some rivals do.
The move extends the exchange's comeback after the SEC dropped its long-running lawsuit against Binance. It steps into a fast-growing race with Kalshi, Polymarket and Coinbase for US traders. The filing is still planned, not yet submitted, and Binance.US has no token.
Kulipa Shuts Down, Bricking 120K Crypto Cards
Kulipa, the Paris startup behind the rails for many crypto payment cards, is winding down over solvency issues, abruptly killing more than 120,000 cards across its partners.
Kulipa ran the behind-the-scenes plumbing that let wallets offer Visa-style spending cards. When it ran out of money, every card built on its rails went dead at once, and partners like Solflare, Ready and Flutterwave were cut off with no warning.
Kulipa, the Paris startup behind the rails for many crypto payment cards, is winding down over solvency issues, abruptly killing more than 120,000 cards across its partners.
Kulipa ran the behind-the-scenes plumbing that let wallets offer Visa-style spending cards. When it ran out of money, every card built on its rails went dead at once, and partners like Solflare, Ready and Flutterwave were cut off with no warning.
User funds are safe where the wallet was self-custodial. Solflare confirmed it never parked balances with Kulipa and is already building a replacement card with Apple and Google Pay support. Kulipa had raised about $9.2M in total (a $6.2M seed co-led by Flourish Ventures and 1kx) and had no token.
Mastercard Completes BVNK Acquisition to Expand Stablecoin Payments
Mastercard has officially completed its acquisition of BVNK, strengthening its strategy to bridge traditional finance with digital assets and expand global stablecoin payment capabilities.
The integration is expected to accelerate real-world stablecoin use cases, including cross-border B2B payments, remittances, payouts, settlement, and treasury operations, while providing secure, compliant, and interoperable payment infrastructure.
Mastercard said the acquisition reflects its vision of a multi-money future, where fiat currencies, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits operate together across a connected global payments ecosystem.
Mastercard has officially completed its acquisition of BVNK, strengthening its strategy to bridge traditional finance with digital assets and expand global stablecoin payment capabilities.
By combining Mastercard's global payments network with BVNK's stablecoin-native infrastructure, the company aims to enable financial institutions, fintechs, and enterprises to seamlessly move, manage, and convert value across fiat currencies, stablecoins, and tokenized assets.
The integration is expected to accelerate real-world stablecoin use cases, including cross-border B2B payments, remittances, payouts, settlement, and treasury operations, while providing secure, compliant, and interoperable payment infrastructure.
Mastercard said the acquisition reflects its vision of a multi-money future, where fiat currencies, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits operate together across a connected global payments ecosystem.
Ethereum Devs Propose Capping Staking at 50%
Ethereum researchers, including the Ethereum Foundation's Justin Drake, have proposed burning validator rewards to keep staking from passing half of all ETH.
Ethereum researchers, including the Ethereum Foundation's Justin Drake, have proposed burning validator rewards to keep staking from passing half of all ETH.
The 'Tapered Issuance Burn' would destroy a growing share of each validator reward as the staking ratio climbs, reaching 100% near 60.25M ETH staked, about half the supply. Rewards would taper over roughly 18 months. Backers argue that beyond a point, extra stake concentrates power and makes Ethereum less secure. Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov pushed back, calling the proposal hurtful for Ethereum and its DeFi yield strategies.
Robinhood Became the Leading Layer 2 Chain by Revenue in July
In July, the combined transaction fee revenue of the Layer 2 networks reached approximately $6.3M. Robinhood generated $3.5M of that, which is nearly 56%.
Robinhood became the primary revenue driver among the largest L2s in July, while Base delivered a more stable but significantly lower daily result.
In July, the combined transaction fee revenue of the Layer 2 networks reached approximately $6.3M. Robinhood generated $3.5M of that, which is nearly 56%.
Robinhood became the primary revenue driver among the largest L2s in July, while Base delivered a more stable but significantly lower daily result.
MetaMask Launches an Agent Wallet for AI
Agent Wallet is a self-custodial way for traders and builders to let AI agents execute actions while staying inside rules the user sets.
It is MetaMask's move into a fast-growing race to give autonomous AI a safe way to touch money onchain, alongside efforts like Coinbase's x402 and Cloudflare's agent wallets.
Agent Wallet is a self-custodial way for traders and builders to let AI agents execute actions while staying inside rules the user sets.
The pitch is agents that trade while users stay in control: keys and limits live with the user, so an agent can swap, send or interact with contracts only within pre-set guardrails, with no handing over a private key. It ships compatible with a stack of popular agent tools, including OpenClaw, Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, OpenCode and Cursor, so builders can wire crypto actions into agents they already run.
It is MetaMask's move into a fast-growing race to give autonomous AI a safe way to touch money onchain, alongside efforts like Coinbase's x402 and Cloudflare's agent wallets.