GeckoPulse: No Sleep for Tokenized Stocks

More Stonks are Coming On-chain

Popular trading platform eToro have announced their plans to launch tokenized US equities in the form of ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum.

Based on the company’s recent press release, 100 different tokenized shares and ETFs listed in the US will be deployed and can be traded on-chain at any time during the weekdays. 

The firm also added that users will also be able to redeem and withdraw the tokens from their eToro wallet to their own self-custodials wallets or to be used in DeFi activities.

These tokens can also be sent back to the eToro platform, providing a seamless and composable way for users to transfer funds from Ethereum.

Tokenized stocks are still relatively new in crypto, with Backed Finance’s xStocks making their debut just last month with over 60 different tickers.

The market cap for xStocks is currently sitting at around $36M, a far cry compared to other tokenized real-world assets such as US treasuries and gold.

However, users from the US and certain regions are prohibited from accessing these products.

No Hack for Hyperliquid

Popular perp DEX Hyperliquid suffered a temporary outage yesterday that lasted approximately half an hour.

The team confirmed that the outage was caused by a spike in traffic on the platform's API servers, which delayed orders sent to Hyperliquid's nodes.

The issue has since been fixed, and the team added that additional detection methods will be added to the API servers to prevent future errors.

During the incident, the price of HYPE temporarily fell by 2.7% from $44.20 to $43, but recovered soon after.

Funding Complete

Ethereum treasury protocol, ETH Strategy, has successfully raised close to $47M in ETH deposits during its pre-launch funding round.

In a nutshell, ETH Strategy operates similarly to Michael Saylor's Strategy, utilizing a bonding mechanism to issue protocol debt for funding ETH purchases.

According to the team, the raise was completed through 3 separate funding channels for private and public investors.

The private and public sale raised a total of 8,142 ETH (~$31M), where investors were eligible to purchase the protocol's leveraged token, STRAT, at a rate of 1 ETH to 10K STRAT, with a 6-month vesting period.

An additional 4,200 ETH (~$16M) was raised through puttable warrants with the same vesting period, but at a higher rate of 1 ETH to 8,333 STRAT.

Most of the collected funds will go towards ETH staking and protocol liquidity, while the remainder will be reserved for expenses, development, and community programs.

The STRAT token, which offers leveraged ETH exposure to holders, is slated to go live later today, with liquidity to be added on Uniswap.

Buying NFTs in the Real-world?

NBA Top Shot collectibles are now available for purchase via physical vending machines in Japan.

In partnership with Web3 marketing company 24karat, fans can now purchase Top Shot Moments using their mobile phones by interacting with smart vending machines located across the country.

Upon purchasing an NFT pack, buyers will just have to scan a QR code, which will automatically create a Flow network wallet to store the collectibles.

Each pack sells for 1000 yen, or around ~$7, and contains a random Top Shot Moment.

To expand their presence further in Japan, 24karat plans to introduce limited edition drops and exclusive giveaways.

In Other News…

Unleash the Zilla. Biotech firm 180 Life Sciences is rebranding to ETHZilla after starting an ETH treasury. The firm expects to raise over $425M and will be using those proceeds to buy ETH.

SEC Approves Crypto ETFs Redemptions. Previously, investors were only able to sell their BTC and ETH ETFs for cash. Now, institutional investors will be able to directly exchange their ETFs for the BTC or ETH that is backing them. Redemptions reduce the tax liability for investors in certain jurisdictions.

LINEA Tokenomics Revealed. The Consensys backed ETH L2 has finally released the tokenomics information for their upcoming LINEA airdrop. 10% has been allocated for the airdrop, with the initial circulation supply being at 22%.

Kraken Exchange at $15B Valuation. The US-based crypto exchange is reportedly seeking to raise $500M in funds, valuing the firm at $15B ahead of its rumored 2026 IPO plans.

Sui Strategy. Nasdaq-listed Mill City Ventures III (MCVT), is joining the trend of adopting a crypto treasury after raising $450M in a private placement to buy the SUI token, the native token of a L1 blockchain.

Crypto Malware on Steam. Chemia, a game released on Steam Early Access contained malware which targeted crypto wallets and personal data. This is reportedly not the first time it has happened, suggesting an attack vector trend that hackers have been using.

Ray Dalio Urges Investors to Buy Bitcoin. World famous investor Ray Dalio urges investors to allocate 15% of their investment portfolio to gold and Bitcoin as a hedge against macroeconomic risks such as inflation. Ray Dalio is known for founding Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund.

Tron Inc. Joining the Party Too. Nasdaq listed Tron Inc. is selling $1B in securities to fund its new crypto treasury into TRX, TRX strategy.

Everyone’s Pivoting. Canadian vape company CEA Industries Inc. (VAPE) surged 550% after announcing its pivot to become a BNB crypto treasury firm. CEA Industries said it plans to become the world’s largest publicly traded BNB treasury firm, buying up to $1.25B worth of BNB.

Orca Hints at Crypto Launchpad. Solana decentralized exchange (DEX) Orca hints on X that they are planning on joining the competitive space of crypto launchpads, likely joining the fight against other launchpads such as LetsBONK and Pump.fun.