TheMerkleNews

Tether’s presence in decentralized tech space is growing due to the launch of its developer grants program designed to fund open-source tools for local-first AI systems and independent payment infrastructure.
This announcement, made on May 11, is part of a wider push by the stablecoin issuer to

Bitget officially launched pre-IPO access to OpenAI via its IPO Prime platform which deepens their engagement throughout the layers of tokenized finance, artificial intelligence and retail crypto-assets investing.
This product will let select clientele get exposure to OpenAI’s expected

While challenges remain, the decentralized finance sector is moving forward, and Huma Finance’s exploit serves to highlight both some of the weaknesses associated with legacy infrastructure and the strengths that new blockchain architectures provide.
The market had experienced reports of its

Chainlink is continuing its mission to be the most widely integrated infrastructure in crypto, adding 10 new integrations exploring six different services across 14 blockchains.
This latest wave of adoption showcases how both DeFi protocols and institutional actors are now increasingly dependent on

A vulnerability in one of the core DeFi protocols on Sui Network exposes the ecosystem to renewed scrutiny.
Around 3:18 AM UTC, a bug that led to undercollateralization of the DeepBook Protocol’s USDC

Bitwise has launched the Bitwise Crypto Carry Fund (USCC), its first tokenized investment product for institutional investors that will enable them to earn yield from crypto markets through blockchain-based infrastructure in partnership with Superstate.
That should be a significant step in the

Polymarket has locked in another massive win. The fast-rising prediction market platform announced that it has become the exclusive prediction market partner of Yahoo Finance, one of the most visited financial news and analytics hubs in the United States.
The partnership will integrate Polymarket’s

The crypto market has entered one of its most fear (full) phases in years. After more than a month of turbulence, the Fear & Greed Index (FGI) has collapsed to 10, reaching its lowest point since the chaotic summer of 2022.
That period followed some of the darkest moments in crypto history,

Grayscale has officially launched the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF (ticker: GXRP), opening a new door for institutional and retail investors seeking direct market exposure to one of the most established digital assets in the world.
The product now trades with 0% fees for its first three months of

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon is asking a U.S. court to cap his prison sentence at five years, marking the latest turn in the ongoing fallout from the 2022 collapse of the Terra ecosystem.
The request comes as prosecutors in South Korea push for a dramatically harsher outcome, up to 40 years

TRON ended November as the top blockchain by fees, extending its dominance in payment infrastructure and stablecoin settlement.
Despite experiencing its lowest fee revenue since January 2023, the chain still outperformed every major competitor, signaling strong real-world usage and accelerating

The Polygon PoS network has activated the Madhugiri Hardfork at block 80,084,800 around 10:00 UTC, marking another major step in the chain’s aggressive scaling roadmap.
The upgrade arrives months after the Bhilai milestone, which helped the network break 1,000+ transactions per second, and now

Ethereum developers have officially named the network’s post-Glamsterdam 2026 upgrade Hegota. The name merges two parallel tracks into a single release: Bogota for the execution layer and Heze for the consensus layer.
This isn’t just branding. It reflects how Ethereum now ships upgrades,

Uniswap has crossed a line it has debated for nearly four years. Following the approval of the UNIfication proposal, the Uniswap treasury has officially burned 100 million UNI tokens, worth approximately $591 million, sending them to an irrecoverable burn address.
The transfer was confirmed by Unis

Tether has minted another $1 billion USDT on the Tron network, adding to a growing wave of stablecoin issuance in 2026.
The fresh mint was executed by Tether Treasury and quickly flagged by on-chain trackers, reinforcing Tron’s position as one of the most active settlement layers for USDT

ZetaChain has officially announced the launch of ZetaChain 2.0, alongside the beta release of Anuma, marking a major expansion of its vision to unify artificial intelligence and Web3 infrastructure.
The upgrade introduces what ZetaChain describes as a “universal layer for AI and Web3,” designed to

Coinbase has officially entered the fast-growing prediction market space with the launch of Coinbase Predict, a new platform that allows users to trade on real-world outcomes spanning sports, politics, crypto, economics, and culture.
The product marks a major expansion of Coinbase’s services

Fresh speculation swirled this week around X after reports claimed the platform was preparing to roll out cryptocurrency and Bitcoin trading features.
The chatter suggested new tools like “Smart Cashtags” were on the way and that X could soon allow users to execute crypto trades directly within the

A new funding round is putting fresh attention on efforts to expand what can be built on the Bitcoin network. Payments infrastructure startup Utexo has raised $7.5 million with backing from Tether, Big Brain Holdings, and Portal Ventures.
The company says the funding will help it push forward a