Alleged NDA Ties Ripple, JPMorgan, and BlackRock to XRPL Identity Protocol

BNB Chain is back in focus in 2025, with its total value locked climbing to the highest level since 2022.

The growth is supported by a steady rise in active addresses and its native token, BNB, trading close to its all-time high.BNB Defies Market Crash

BNB Chain’s total value locked (TVL) has surged to $13.4 billion. The latest figure represents its highest level since 2022, according to data shared by CryptoRank.

The network has also maintained over 14 million active addresses for nine consecutive weeks, as a result of steady user engagement. This strength is mirrored in BNB’s price performance, with the token trading just 3% below its recently established all-time high, even as most top cryptocurrencies retreated significantly from their respective peaks.

A crypto analyst stated that BNB is showing resilience despite the recent market downturn, having printed a fresh all-time high and holding above the key $814 support level. The analyst added that if momentum returns, a new ATH could follow, while potential pullbacks to around $806 or $770 may provide ideal long-entry opportunities.From Wall Street to Bhutan

Institutional adoption has catalyzed BNB’s growth. An increasing number of publicly listed companies are diversifying cash reserves with digital assets. Although Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to lead, investors are now eyeing BNB as a strong alternative.

For instance, companies like Windtree Therapeutics, Nano Labs, and Liminatus Pharma have added BNB to their treasuries. Meanwhile, BNB Network Company, which happens to be CEA Industries Inc.’s treasury arm, recentlypurchased200,000 BNB worth around $160 million. The company previously said that it aims to become the largest publicly traded BNB treasury company in the United States and bring institutional exposure to the asset.

Interestingly, institutional interest is not confined to corporates. Bhutan’s sovereign investment fund, Druk Holding & Investments, also disclosed holdings in BNB. These developments briefly pushed the crypto asset near $870. It evenoutpacedhousehold names like Nike and DoorDash in market value.

The decentralized governance organization behind cross-chain bridge Stargate has voted to approve an acquisition offer from the LayerZero Foundation, which stewards the interoperability protocol of the same name. 

The offer was approved with nearly 95% of votes in favor after LayerZero modified the terms of its offer to appease holders of Stargate's native STG tokens. Under the terms of the proposal, the Stargate DAO will be dissolved and STG holders will be able to swap their holdings for LayerZero's native ZRO tokens at a ratio of 1 STG : 0.08634 ZRO. At current token prices, the deal is valued around $120 million. 

Though STG holders who locked their tokens to receive veSTG and a portion of Stargate's bridge fee revenues were originally going to lose their yield income under the terms of the original deal, LayerZero Foundation modified the offer before the vote began, offering veSTG holders 50% of Stargate's top-line revenue for six months following the vote's passage. The remaining 50%, and later all Stargate "excess revenue," will be used to buy and burn ZRO tokens under the terms of the proposal. 

The final days of the vote were complicated by a rival $120 million cash offer from the Wormhole Foundation, a LayerZero rival, which requested that the vote be paused for five days so that the Stargate DAO can evaluate the competing offer. Wormhole said it secured financing for $120 million in USDC stablecoins and moved the funds into a segregated wallet. 

Following Wormhole's counter-offer, cross-chain protocols Axelar and Across also expressed interest in bidding for Stargate, though they acknowledged that the ongoing vote would need to be slowed down in order to make a proper bid. 

"I have no interest in rushing an 11th hour proposal, however if this process is slowed down and other bids are properly considered, Across will participate," Across co-founder Hart Lambur wrote on the proposal's discussion page. "I do honestly believe it would be in the best interests of Stargate holders to run a proper process with other bidders."

The Axelar Foundation echoed the sentiment in its own post. "If a competitive process is initiated for the Stargate acquisition, we would be very interested in preparing a comprehensive proposal and encourage Stargate to collect all options before making a decision," the firm wrote. The Block was unable to reach Lambur or the Axelar Foundation for additional comment. 

Despite some chatter around pausing the LayerZero acquisition vote, the vote was finalized on Saturday night. “LayerZero has spent the last four years laying the infrastructure that enables the most efficient form of money transfer ever,” said Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs, in a statement. “Stargate’s return gives the LayerZero ecosystem a clear access point to the end-consumer, an immediate revenue-generating asset, and a clear focus on accelerating the velocity of value transfer.” 

LayerZero also framed the acquisition as a win for mergers and acquisitions in crypto, calling the deal "one of – if not – the first private acquisitions of a DAO over $100M." 

Stargate, which LayerZero calls the most widely used bridge in crypto, was originally launched by LayerZero in 2022. Its native STG token has struggled compared to the native tokens of other popular bridges, its market cap currently sitting below Wormhole and Axelar. LayerZero currently trades at $2.13 following a 2.3% rise over the past twenty-four hours, according to The Block's ZRO Price page. 

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

VanEck’s recent ETF filing has reignited debate over whether staking yields or raw price performance matters more for long-term investors.

The firm, which has been at the forefront of the push for more digital asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs), filed with the SEC for the first spot Solana ETF fully backed by a liquid staking token (LST)—JitoSOL.

Analysts Debate Staking Yield vs Price Action

If approved, the VanEck JitoSOL ETF would become the first 100% LST-backed ETF in the US. This would mark a new stage in the institutionalization of staking-based products.

The announcement immediately fueled discussion among analysts. While community sentiment reflected optimism, one user noted that staked SOL outperformed Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, and Staked Ether since Solana launched.

Against this backdrop, researcher Tom Lombardi questioned the relevance of staking yield for JitoSOL. This is in terms of its impact on the Solana price.

More closely, the analyst highlighted the mismatch or potential disconnect between short-term price momentum and long-term staking benefits.

However, according to Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets Research, investors should focus on the long-term compounding advantage of staking rather than immediate price impact.

Meanwhile, the debate suggests a broader divide. On the one hand, short-term traders focus on price swings.

On the other hand, asset managers, among other investors, increasingly focus on compounding yield as a risk buffer during market cycles.

Has the SEC Opened the Door for LST ETFs?

Jito, the Solana-focused staking protocol behind JitoSOL, framed the ETF filing as a milestone after almost a year-long pursuit.

The SEC’s 2025 guidance, recognizing LSTs as technical receipts representing staked assets plus rewards, has effectively cleared the compliance path.

Jito emphasized that ETFs’ advantages include liquidity discipline, investor-friendly economics, clean NAV mechanics, and closer network alignment. Notably, all these are critical elements for winning institutional trust.

For VanEck, the JitoSOL ETF is part of a strategy to bring staking economics into regulated wrappers. The financial instrument bridges the gap between emergent blockchain infrastructure and traditional allocators.

With Solana gaining traction as an institutional-grade blockchain, the ETF could offer exposure that blends yield, liquidity, and compliance.

Whether investors ultimately prioritize staking yields or pure price action, the filing signals that staking-based products are moving squarely into the regulated mainstream.

Bitcoin transaction fees have fallen to their lowest point in more than a decade, highlighting a major shift in how the network is being used.

Glassnode data shows that the 14-day simple moving average of daily fees now sits at 3.5 BTC, a level not seen since 2011 when the protocol was still in its early adoption phase.

Why is Bitcoin’s Network Fee Declining?

Weaker demand for blockspace has driven the decline, reflecting Bitcoin’s broader shift in purpose. Investors now hold the asset primarily as a store of value instead of using it as a payment rail.

On-chain data confirms this shift. Public companies such as Strategy have aggressively expanded their Bitcoin holdings in recent months, positioning the asset as digital capital rather than a medium for everyday transactions.

For context, Galaxy Digital noted that Bitcoin’s mempool activity is lacking as the percentage of not-full blocks has spiked to nearly 50% at times in the past few months.

The firm continued that after the 2024 halving reduced block rewards to 3.125 BTC, miners had expected transaction fees to offset lost revenue. Instead, the opposite has happened.

According to the firm, a subdued fee market makes it harder for smaller operators to remain profitable. This trend raises questions about the long-term economics of Bitcoin’s security model.

Beyond these technical changes, the current market structure also plays a role in the Bitcoin network fees cut.

According to Galaxy, the growth of custodial products such as exchange-traded funds and institutional derivatives has reduced the need for investors to transact directly on-chain.

Moreover, retail traders seeking high-volume activity — particularly in meme coin markets — are moving to cheaper, faster blockchains like Solana. These networks offer smoother execution than Bitcoin’s Runes ecosystem.

Meanwhile, this development arrives at an interesting time when the blockchain network is enjoying significant adoption from institutions and governments globally.

As a result, Bitcoin’s price has climbed to a new all-time high of more than $124,000. There are also now increased projections that its value could reach above $1 million.

Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor signaled an impending Bitcoin purchase, and, if completed, the transaction will mark the company’s third BTC acquisition in August.

The company’s most recent Bitcoin buy occurred on August 18, when Strategy purchased 430 BTC for $51.4 million, bringing its total holdings to 629,376 BTC, valued at over $72 billion at the time of this writing.

Data from SaylorTracker shows Strategy is up over 56% on its BTC investment, representing over $25.8 billion in unrealized gains at current prices.