GeckoPulse: Token Announcements Amid Bitcoin's Worst Week in 2026!

This GeckoPulse episode covers February 3-5's top crypto news. Subscribe to our free daily newsletter to be the first to receive breaking updates!

Axie Has a New Token?

GameFi project Axie Infinity is launching a new game token known as bonded AXS (bAXS) and airdropping a portion of the supply eligible users.

The new token is fully backed by the original AXS token and carries similar functions within the Sky Mavis ecosystem.

However, bAXS will include features that aim to encourage usage within the Axie Infinity economy.

100K bAXS will be distributed to users who have staked at least 10 AXS, weighted based on their Axie Score and staked holdings.

Additionally, bAXS will also be allocated to players of Sky Mavis’ upcoming land-based title known as Terrariums.

The game is expected to launch in Q2 later this year, after the official deployment of bAXS and 2 other airdrops.

The price of AXS spiked by 10% earlier today from $1.50 to $1.65, but has since retraced to $1.55.

BBBY Goes Beyond

Beyond Inc., the parent company of retail chain Bed Bath & Beyond, is making its foray into RWAs with the acquisition of financial infrastructure platform Tokens.com.

According to the firm's press release, the acquisition will be used to develop a new all-in-one RWA platform that features tokenized stocks, real estate, and other RWA products.

In a nutshell, Beyond aims to create a single digital hub where users can monitor their property values, manage ownership records, and unlock the equity in their homes using blockchain.

The company already holds existing stakes in crypto-related businesses, including tZERO and GrainChain, which will be integrated into the digital hub.

Additionally, the firm will work with fintech companies such as Figure Technologies to provide home equity services.

As expected, the platform will support stablecoins and is scheduled to go live in the second half of 2026.

Place Your Bets!

Crypto exchange Crypto.com is splitting its prediction markets arm into a separate app called OG.

The product launch aims to capture surging interest and volume in the days leading up to Super Bowl LX.

OG will be deployed under Crypto.com's US derivatives division, which is registered with the CFTC.

Additionally, OG will feature leveraged and margin trading for prediction markets, subject to regulatory approval.

On-chain FX for Institutions

Startale Group and SBI Holdings have announced is new Layer-1 Strium, a network dedicated to providing a professional-grade environment for financial settlements and asset exchanges.

The network will primarily focus on trading foreign currencies, tokenized stocks, and physical real-world assets.

Trading will initially begin with synthetic derivatives of US and Japanese equities and commodities.

However, Strium will expand support for tokenized shares and asset-backed tokens, available to eligible users who have completed KYC and complied with local regulations.

In Other News

Ripple Welcomes Hyperliquid. Ripple Labs, the team behind XRP, has integrated Hyperliquid into its institutional prime brokerage platform. Hyperliquid has recently made waves after achieving record Open Interest riding on the hype of commodities trading as well as a future prediction market feature.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) Under Probe. Rep. Ro Khanna, a senior House Democrat, has launched a probe into the Trump-linked crypto project, World Liberty Financial. The probe comes over a reported $500M investment into WLFI from an entity tied to the United Arab Emirates royal family.

CME Coin?! CME Group is exploring a "tokenized cash" offering that will come out in 2026, reportedly under development with Google Cloud. CME is the world's leading derivatives trading venue.

Building Her Crypto Ark. Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest bought additional shares in Bitmine, Bullish, Circle, and other crypto-related stocks during the ongoing market downturn. Cathie Wood was recently in the limelight for sparking the debate between CZ and OKX’s Star Xu.

It’s Just Aave Now. Aave Labs announced that it would be sunsetting its Avara "umbrella brand”, and sticking with Aave Labs for all its future products. This move seeks to simplify the firm’s branding and refocus the attention back to its lending protocol.

Tokenized Stocks on Metamask. Through a partnership with Ondo Finance, users can now buy tokenized stocks directly from their Metamask crypto wallets. Assets such as Tesla, NVIDIA, Silver and Gold will be available 24/7 to users in select regions.

Vitalik Doesn’t Need L2s Anymore. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin comments on the future of Ethereum Layer 2s and how they have strayed from their original purpose. He stressed that Ethereum mainnet is scaling and growing at a promising pace and that L2s are not needed for this purpose any longer.

Upbit Pumps BIRB. Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, announced the listing of BIRB, the native token of the Moonbird NFT collection. BIRB is up 80% on this news.

xAI Deepening Crypto Understanding. Elon Musk's xAI is reportedly hiring finance experts in the field of crypto to help its AI models better understand digital asset markets beyond simple price prediction. xAI is behind X’s chatbot, Grok.

Down For the First Time. Bitcoin prices dropped below the average buying price of Michael Saylor’s Strategy for the first time in years on Sunday. As of Friday, Strategy is now down $7B.

Bankr Now Live on Solana. AI agent-powered launchpad BankrBot, is now live on Solana. Bankr originated from the ETH L2 Base and allows users to launch tokens by tagging its X handle @bankrbot.

Top Wagers

Prediction markets allow users to bet ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on the outcome of a particular event. Here are some markets to look out for.

Super Bowl LX Winner - Seattle (69%) Vs. New England (33%)

Fed Chair Nomination - Kevin Warsh (95%) Vs. Judy Shelton (3%) Vs. Others (2%)

BTC Price in February - $85K (11%) Vs. $55K (38%) Vs. $50K (16%)