The stories attracting the most readers across The Token Press.
The UK’s financial watchdog has opened final consultations on 10 proposed crypto rules, aiming to apply traditional finance-style standards while acknowledging the sector’s inherent risks, with a new licensing regime for crypto firms expected to open applications in 2026.
Bitcoin whales have accumulated more than $5.3 billion worth of BTC while retail traders take profits, a setup Santiment views as bullish. With supply shifting toward long-term holders and leverage still muted, Bitcoin’s multi-week consolidation could be nearing a breakout.
NFT markets in 2025 have cooled sharply from their speculative highs, with volumes and valuations falling across the board. As prices fade, NFTs are increasingly being used for real-world applications, cultural stewardship, and utility-driven experiences rather than pure speculation.
Coinbax has raised $4.2M in seed funding to build a programmable trust layer for stablecoin payments, targeting banks and institutions adopting onchain settlement. The platform adds policy controls, escrow logic, and compliance-ready workflows on top of stablecoins.
A crypto user lost nearly $50M in USDT after copying a poisoned wallet address from transaction history. The incident highlights how address spoofing scams exploit habit and speed, not technical flaws.
Ripple is piloting its RLUSD stablecoin on Ethereum layer 2s including Optimism and Base using native crosschain transfers. The move signals a broader multichain push as Ripple positions RLUSD as a regulated, scalable stablecoin for both DeFi and institutional use.
Bitcoin has slid in recent months but is still outperforming most crypto sectors, Glassnode says. Deeper losses in ETH, AI tokens, memecoins and DeFi suggest investors are concentrating capital in BTC as a relative safe haven.
UK FCA will fast-track pound stablecoin payments in 2026 with a new sandbox for issuers, as the region accelerates efforts to stay ahead in global stablecoin regulation.
CZ’s Giggle Academy has disavowed any link to the GIGGLE token, calling it an unofficial, community-made memecoin. Despite charitable claims, GIGGLE’s price has swung violently, dropping from a $277M peak to $60M within days. The episode adds to volatility in the BNB ecosystem, even as Binance faces scrutiny over its broader financial ties and political narratives.
Ethereum’s daily transactions hit 1.6 million while average gas fees stay around $0.01 — near record lows. Thanks to upgrades like Dencun and Pectra, the network now processes more transactions efficiently, underscoring Ethereum’s maturity and scalability.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has warned that governments worldwide are rapidly undermining internet freedom through surveillance-driven laws like the EU’s Chat Control, the UK’s digital ID program, and Australia’s online age verification system. He called these moves “dystopian,” urging global resistance to protect privacy, free speech, and the open internet.
The Tuttle Capital Government Grift ETF (GRFT), designed to track the stock trades of US lawmakers and politically connected firms, could launch as soon as Friday. With Trump’s crypto-linked holdings possibly in scope and the SEC streamlining ETF approvals, the fund underscores the growing overlap between politics, traditional finance, and digital assets.
OKX’s Haider Rafique warns that a U.S. Bitcoin strategic reserve could destabilize both BTC and the U.S. dollar. While advocates see it as a step toward Bitcoin becoming a global reserve currency, critics argue it risks market manipulation, liquidation pressure, and a broader loss of confidence in the dollar.
A new Ethereum token standard, ERC-7943, has been introduced to address industry fragmentation in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Proposed by Brickken co-founder Dario Lo Buglio, the standard provides a minimal, vendor-agnostic interface for compliance that works across Ethereum layer-2s and EVM chains. Backed by multiple Web3 and fintech firms, ERC-7943 aims to make tokenized assets easier to integrate while meeting institutional compliance needs.
Bubblemaps has alleged the largest Sybil attack in crypto history on MYX Finance’s airdrop, flagging 100 wallets that claimed $170 million worth of MYX tokens under suspicious conditions. MYX denied wrongdoing, citing trading activity and anti-Sybil measures, but Bubblemaps dismissed the response as vague. The case highlights growing concerns over large-scale airdrop farming operations, such as massive phone farms used to exploit token giveaways.
Ondo Finance, in partnership with Chainlink, has launched its Ondo Global Markets platform, bringing over 100 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs onchain. The platform, live on Ethereum, is currently available to non-U.S. investors and is being promoted as “Wall Street 2.0.”
Trezor analyst Lucien Bourdon said self-custodial wallets can securely hold RWA tokens like gold or Treasury-backed assets, but unlike crypto, ownership differs. With cryptocurrencies, private keys mean direct ownership, while with RWAs, the token is secured, but the underlying asset stays with an issuer or custodian.
A New York judge has delayed a decision on Aave’s request to unfreeze $71 million in ETH linked to the Kelp DAO exploit. The court wants more legal clarification before moving forward with the case. Meanwhile, recovery efforts for affected rsETH users continue across the DeFi ecosystem.