In a related move, Based releases an airdrop eligibility checker for its BASED ecosystem.

Disclaimer reaffirms attribution to third-party sources and underscores independent research and non-financial-advice.

Major project updates include Across Protocol weighing a DAO-to-C-Corp conversion with 1:1 token-to-equity, xStocks linking Nasdaq and Payward to connect tokenized equity markets to blockchain, StarkNet’s STRK20 for ERC-20 privacy, Ethereum and Virtuals Protocol releasing ERC-8183 for agentic commerce with escrow, and Pudgy Penguins expanding with Pudgy World as a browser game.

The week centers on on-chain derivatives gaining traction, led by Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 open interest surpassing $1.2 billion with a focus on oil and gold, while Derive reports a record $1 billion open interest and a shift toward options, as Hyperliquid unveils HIP-4: Outcome Markets in testnet.

A wave of fundraises includes Kast’s $80 million Series A led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital, Zodl’s $25 million seed, Kled AI’s $5.5 million seed, and Utexo’s $7.5 million round backed by prominent investors.

Key corporate and protocol news feature Michael Saylor’s Strategy accumulating 17.884 BTC to push total holdings to 738,731 BTC, Mastercard launching a Crypto Partner Program with 85 participants, and Wells Fargo filing a trademark for WFUSD to cover crypto trading, payments and tokenization.

DeFi brief highlights new products like Theo’s thUSD yield-bearing stablecoin, KernalDAO’s KUSD linked to real-world receivables with a 10% base rate, Wildcat Finance’s Wildcat 2.5 with modular vault hooks, and Sonic’s USSD stablecoin developed with Frax Finance.

Market signals show stable daily liquidations in the $300–$400 million band, with rising funding rates suggesting growing confidence in a continued move.

Tweet of the week features a trader-friendly explainer on oil for a crypto audience.

CMC Market Pulse shows a mixed market tone with Bitcoin and Ethereum slightly higher for the week and the total crypto market cap at about $2.43 trillion, up roughly 1.25%.