OpenTrade raises $17M in a Strategic funding round
#OpenTrade secures $17M in a Strategic funding round co-led by Mercury Fund and Notion Capital, with participation from a16z crypto, AlbionVC, and CMCC Global. This funding round brings OpenTrade's total capital raised to $32.7M.
OpenTrade is a stablecoin infrastructure platform that connects digital asset liquidity to real-world assets, allowing fintechs, wallets, and exchanges to offer compliant, yield-generating products.
#Ethos ecures $22.75M in a Series A funding round led by a16z, with participation from General Catalyst, XTX Markets, Common Magic, and angel investors. Ethos connects users with paid opportunities spanning expert calls, market research, fractional roles, and full-time positions. According to the platform, top contributors are already making more than $10,000 per month, while roughly 35,000 new users sign up each week.
Ethos is based on the idea that #AI should enhance human value rather than replace it. The platform converts professional expertise into recurring income by dynamically connecting users across sectors such as finance, legal, healthcare, and operations.
World Liberty Financial and WorldClaw have launched WorldRouter
#WorldLibertyFinancial and #WorldClaw announce the launch of #WorldRouter , enabling users to access over 300 #AI models through a single account at prices approximately 30% lower than the public list prices set by the respective model providers. The platform uses $USD1 as the settlement layer across #Solana and #BNBChain, enabling agents to execute tasks and process payments within a unified system.
#a16zCrypto has raised $2.2B for its Crypto Fund 5 to back crypto startups at all stages over the next decade. The fund will target practical applications built on crypto infrastructure, spanning stablecoins, payments, financial services, decentralized systems, and sectors such as perpetual futures, lending, prediction markets, and tokenized assets.
The raise comes amid weaker sentiment than in previous cycles, though underlying activity across the sector remains strong. While smaller than its $4.5B 2023 fund, Crypto Fund 5 still exceeds recent raises by peers such as Haun Ventures ($1B) and Dragonfly Capital ($650M).
#MoonPay has acquired #DFlow , a decentralized, #Solana -based liquidity protocol, in a $100M all-stock deal. Through this acquisition, DFlow’s execution layer will be integrated into MoonPay, adding the speed, reliability, and scalability needed to support everything from high-volume trading to the next generation of agent-driven financial applications.
Since April 2025, DFlow has processed more than $50B in trading volume, including $12B in Q1 2026 alone, serving over 1M active traders across over 500 applications.
Solana Foundation unveils a partnership with Google Cloud
#SolanaFoundation partners with #GoogleCloud to launch #Paysh , a payment gateway for #AIagents . Paysh enables users to access and pay for APIs through #Solana wallets using stablecoins on a pay-per-call basis, eliminating the need for accounts or subscriptions.
The system integrates with Google Cloud services such as Gemini, BigQuery, Vertex AI, and Cloud Run, along with 50+ third-party APIs, while offering pay-per-use access and multi-service selection through a unified API marketplace.
Public companies continue to expand their Bitcoin holdings, solidifying cryptocurrency's role in traditional financial markets. With industry leaders like #Strategy holding substantial amounts, the total $BTC reserved by these firms now surpasses an impressive 1,171,113 $BTC , representing significant confidence in Bitcoin's long-term value. As the market matures, these holdings underscore the evolving relationship between traditional institutions and digital assets.
#Bullish announced an agreement to acquire #Equiniti in a transaction valued at $4.2B. Bullish will pay roughly $2.35B in stock and take on about $1.85B of Equiniti’s debt as part of the deal. Following the deal, the companies plan to provide corporate issuers with end-to-end tokenization services, including 24/7 securities trading and stablecoin-based payment and settlement solutions. The transaction is expected to close in January of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Western Union's Solana-based stablecoin #USDPT is now live. Fully backed by U.S. dollars and issued by Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. on the #Solana blockchain, $USDPT is built for real-world payments, combining blockchain settlement with Western Union’s global compliance, risk, and distribution network.
$USDPT will support several use cases across Western Union’s ecosystem, including exchange access, connections between crypto platforms and its global payout network, consumer payments in over 40 countries through Stable by #WesternUnion , and near-instant agent settlements to improve liquidity efficiency.
Upbit unveils a partnership with Optimism on GIWA Chain
Upbit partners with #Optimism to develop #GIWA Chain, an #Ethereum #Layer2 built on the #OPStack . GIWA Chain is now live on testnet, with a mainnet launch planned next. GIWA Layer 2 will launch under the Self-Managed tier of OP Enterprise, giving Upbit direct control over network operations, including the sequencer and transaction fees. Optimism Foundation will provide monitoring, failover support, and technical guidance, helping GIWA balance operational independence with institutional-grade resilience.