Ethereum R1 is a new donation-funded, tokenless Layer 2 rollup designed to offer a decentralized, censorship-resistant, and governance-minimized scaling solution for Ethereum

The S&P 500 rose 0.63% Thursday, boosted by strong Meta and Microsoft earnings, but futures slipped Friday as investors awaited the April jobs report and weighed Apple and Amazon tariff concerns. Gold fell to $3,235 as easing trade tensions cut safe-haven demand; markets await US jobs data for rate cut signals. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, rose 2.19%, with Bitcoin and Ether up 2.57% and 2.60%, respectively in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is AR, which gained 16.8% following CloneX's successful migration to Arweave, sponsored by ArDrive.

Arweave (AR), founded in 2017, is a decentralized network for permanent data storage, using blockweave and Proof of Access to ensure long-term accessibility. It offers 200-year storage for a one-time fee, incentivized by AR tokens for miners. The system connects blocks efficiently to preserve and retrieve data, aiming to create a lasting digital knowledge repository. CloneX has successfully 

 to Arweave for permanent storage, with the support of ArDrive, which sponsored the migration of 100 GB of data. The process is nearly complete, with only Animus remaining to undergo decentralization.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

 is a new donation-funded, tokenless Layer 2 rollup designed to offer a decentralized, censorship-resistant, and governance-minimized scaling solution for Ethereum. Built on open-source code and the Nethermind Surge stack, it emphasizes credible neutrality, public good funding (with all fees burned after 2030), and infrastructure that remains free from VC control or centralized dependencies.

Yesterday, BTC spot ETFs saw $71.1M in total inflows, with $16M from GBTC and $55.1M from other ETFs.

 $BOOP tokens to active Solana memecoin traders and creators who promote memecoins or Solana dapps on X. To claim, users must connect their Solana wallet or X account and launch a free token. The airdrop arrives in 30 days, but growing the token’s market cap can accelerate the reward.

Beginner

3.png

Ethereum R1 offers a decentralized rollup solution for Ethereum

This article dives into Bitcoin liquid staking protocol Lombard Finance, how LBTC works and how you can stake LBTC through Bybit Web3.

Bitcoin stands as the undisputed giant of the cryptocurrency space, commanding the largest market capitalization. Yet, much of its potential remains untapped, often sitting idle as a store of value rather than actively participating in the thriving 

 ecosystem. Lombard Finance aims to change this narrative by unlocking Bitcoin's utility and integrating it seamlessly into DeFi.

Lombard is built upon Babylon, the innovative Bitcoin staking protocol, and is incubated by Polychain Capital. Lombard’s flagship product, 

 (LST) for BTC. This article explores what Lombard Finance is and how LBTC works, and describes the Lombard ecosystem and how you can stake LBTC through Bybit Web3.

 is a liquid staking protocol that focuses on transforming 

's role in the digital economy. Its core mission is to evolve BTC from simply being a store of value — also viewed as 

 — into a productive asset that actively generates yield and participates within DeFi. Currently, a significant portion of Bitcoin's

 sits idle, lacking the native staking capabilities or cross-chain composability seen with assets such as 

Lombard Finance addresses this shortcoming by building on top of 

, a protocol that supports BTC staking without needing 

 or custodians. Babylon allows Bitcoin's economic weight to secure other 

 (PoS) chains and applications, creating a new yield source for holders. Lombard leverages this foundation to offer LBTC, making staked BTC liquid and usable across the DeFi market.

Lombard’s goal is ambitious: to channel Bitcoin's vast liquidity into DeFi. This could potentially double the ecosystem's 

 (TVL) if even a fraction of available BTC is introduced. Lombard believes this integration will catalyze significant growth and create more sustainable market dynamics by making BTC a core, yield-bearing primitive within DeFi.

Founders and investors of Lombard Finance

Lombard Finance was founded in April 2024 by a team with deep expertise within DeFi, drawing talent from established crypto projects like Polychain, Babylon, Argent, Coinbase and Maple. This collective experience underpins the protocol's design and strategic direction.

The project was notably incubated by Polychain Capital, a prominent crypto investment firm that also led Lombard's $16 million seed funding round (which was 

 in July 2024). This round saw participation from a wide array of significant players in the crypto space — including Babylon, dao5, Franklin Templeton, Foresight Ventures, HTX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Mantle EcoFund, Nomad Capital, OKX Ventures and Robot Ventures — thus highlighting broad industry confidence in Lombard's vision. Strategic partnerships and contributions from exchanges like

 and Bitget are further bolstering its distribution and liquidity aggregation efforts.

LBTC is Lombard Finance's flagship product — a liquid staking token (LST) that represents Bitcoin staked through the Babylon protocol. Designed as a universal liquid BTC standard, LBTC is fully backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin, ensuring its value is directly tied to the underlying asset.

The token is yield-bearing, capturing rewards generated from securing PoS networks via Babylon staking. Crucially, LBTC remains liquid, meaning holders can freely use it across various DeFi applications — such as 

 and automated vaults — without sacrificing their underlying staked positions or associated yield.

LBTC is also designed for cross-chain compatibility, natively minted on supported blockchains like Ethereum, Base and Sui and using secure infrastructure [such as 

]. This avoids the risks associated with traditional bridging or wrapping methods, thus aiming to provide a more secure and seamless way to utilize Bitcoin across the multichain DeFi ecosystem.

Lombard Finance simplifies the process of putting Bitcoin to work within DeFi through its LBTC token. The mechanism is designed with security and user experience in mind, leveraging the Babylon protocol and a robust Security Consortium.

The core benefit of LBTC lies in its ability to unlock multiple layers of value simultaneously. Holders earn native yield from Babylon staking, potentially accrue additional rewards (such as Lombard Lux points) and gain access to diverse DeFi yield opportunities, all while maintaining the liquidity of their Bitcoin position. This transforms BTC from a static asset into a dynamic, yield-generating component of the DeFi ecosystem.

Lombard Finance is actively building a wide LBTC ecosystem that already boasts over 75 DeFi integrations. Security is foundational, anchored by the 14-member Security Consortium (including prominent names like Galaxy and OKX Ventures) and validating all critical operations alongside audits and bug bounties.

Core infrastructure relies both on Babylon for staking, and on the Chainlink CCIP for secure cross-chain movement, with EigenLayer integration 

. LBTC integrates with leading DeFi applications across lending platforms (e.g., 

) and automated vaults. The platform supports multiple blockchains (including Ethereum, Base, Sui, BNB Chain) and 

 (L2s), positioning LBTC as a versatile cross-chain asset.

Here's how you can stake BTC on Lombard and use LBTC in DeFi and automated vaults.

Lombard Finance (via its LBTC token) offers a compelling way for Bitcoin holders to put their assets into use, earn yield via Babylon staking and gain exposure to the expansive DeFi ecosystem — all while maintaining liquidity. Incubated by Polychain Capital and supported by a robust consortium and growing partner network, Lombard is positioning LBTC as a secure and versatile liquid Bitcoin standard.

It’s easy to participate in the Lombard ecosystem through 

, you can utilize your Bybit Web3 Seed Phrase Wallet to stake BTC and mint 

, Lombard's vault token that represents deposits in automated yield strategies. This provides you with a seamless gateway to access Bitcoin liquid staking and DeFi yields.

Ready to unlock your Bitcoin's potential? 

Intermediate

lombard tutorial.png

Lombard Finance: Polychain-backed Bitcoin liquid staking protocol

The cryptocurrency market has entered a phase reminiscent of past altcoin seasons, primarily driven by Bitcoin's recent rebound to the $94K–$96K range. 

Altcoin season might have come with reviveding speculation 

The cryptocurrency market has entered a phase reminiscent of past altcoin seasons, primarily driven by Bitcoin's recent rebound to the $94K–$96K range. This resurgence has sparked renewed interest among retail traders, shifting focus from Bitcoin to smaller, more speculative altcoins. The overall market saw a 10% increase in value during the final eight days of April, contrasting with Bitcoin's 7% gain. This trend indicates a growing appetite for risk among investors, particularly in meme coins, which have seen a surge in social media discussions.

However, caution is warranted as elevated crowd enthusiasm often precedes market corrections. Historical patterns suggest that when buzzwords like "altseason" are dominating discussions, it may signal an impending price exhaustion. The current market dynamics reflect a shift toward speculative investments, raising concerns about the sustainability of this enthusiasm.

Bitcoin's bullish sentiment substantially improves

Bitcoin's position as the leading cryptocurrency has remained steady, with discussions around its price fluctuating significantly. Following a period of pessimism, when predictions dipped as low as $10K–$69K, sentiment shifted dramatically with the price recovery. Now, optimistic projections of $100K–$159K are dominating conversations, indicating a reversal in trader sentiment.

Despite Bitcoin's consistent presence in market discussions (approximately 25% of asset topics), the ratio of bullish-to-bearish commentary has grown increasingly favorable. This suggests a growing confidence among traders bolstered by Bitcoin's recent performance. However, it’s essential to monitor whether this bullish sentiment translates into sustained investment, or if it leads to overconfidence that may trigger a market pullback.

Ethere, once a robust contender in the altcoin arena, has struggled to regain retail investor confidence despite recent bullish commentary and promises of innovation from co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Its social media presence has dwindled to about 6–7% of discussions, a significant drop from previous years. This decline highlights the challenges Ethereum faces in re-establishing itself as a go-to investment in a market increasingly dominated by speculative assets.

Conversely, XRP has seen a notable increase in optimism surrounding ETF approvals, with expectations rising to 85%. This shift reflects a broader trend of institutional interest in cryptocurrencies, potentially paving the way for significant capital inflows. Meanwhile, Dogecoin's potential ETF listings have sparked renewed interest, transforming its image from that of a meme coin to a legitimate investment option. The growing dialogue surrounding institutional adoption of Dogecoin and XRP indicates a pivotal moment for these assets, suggesting they may play critical roles in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.

Advanced

Intro to Santiment.png

Bybit x Santiment social sentiment report: Altcoin sentiment recovers despite Bitcoin’s resilience

Bybit Spread Trading allows traders to simultaneously buy and sell two related instruments in order to hedge risk or profit from price discrepancies. Read more.

Whether markets are flying high or wobbling unpredictably, one thing remains true: traders are always looking for smarter ways to 

 and find profit opportunities. That’s where Bybit Spread Trading comes in. This feature is tailor-made for those who want to go beyond basic buy/sell plays and start taking advantage of price discrepancies between related instruments. In this guide, we’ll walk through exactly how Bybit Spread Trading works, why it matters and how you can start using it today, whether you’re 

is a newly launched Bybit feature that allows users to simultaneously buy and sell two related instruments — such as Spot, Perpetual or Expiry contracts with different settlement dates — in order to hedge risk or profit from price discrepancies.

This type of trading strategy is popular among institutional and professional traders because it enables more precise, controlled market exposure. However, with Bybit’s interface, the barrier to entry is significantly lowered, opening the door for individual traders to tap with just a few clicks into a powerful set of tools.

At its core, Spread Trading on Bybit is about executing what’s called a combo trade. This means entering two positions at once: one long, one short. These positions are taken on related instruments, such as a BTC Spot trade and a BTC Perpetual contract, with the idea that their prices will either converge or diverge in a way that benefits your position.

When you place a buy combo, you’re buying the instrument with the longer expiration (the “far leg”) and selling the one that expires sooner (the “near leg”). 

A sell combo is the reverse: selling the far leg and buying the near leg. The profit (or loss) comes from how the spread between these two instruments shifts over time.

For example, if you believe the spread between a Perpetual and a Quarterly Futures contract will widen, you can buy the combo. If the spread increases after your entry, that movement becomes your profit. Bybit calculates your 

 prices automatically, based on the mark prices and your defined “order price,” so there’s no need to manually crunch the numbers.

Perhaps the most important feature here is atomic execution. This ensures both sides of your combo trade are filled together, in equal quantities, or the trade doesn’t go through at all. It removes “leg risk,” which is the danger of getting filled on one side of the trade, but not the other. In volatile markets, that alone can save you from an unwanted mess.

Spread Trading on Bybit currently supports combinations such as Spot and Perpetual, Spot and Expiry, Perpetual and Expiry, or even two Expiry contracts with different dates. This flexibility lets you build strategies that align with different market outlooks — bullish, bearish or neutral.

There’s a strong reason why Spread Trading is a go-to for many experienced traders: it allows for strategic plays that are more sophisticated than just guessing price direction. On Bybit, it’s not only powerful, but also convenient.

First, you get price certainty. Your spread is locked in at the price you specify. There’s no 

 between legs because the entry prices are automatically calculated and matched. You’re trading the spread, not the individual legs.

Secondly, the trading experience is smoother. Instead of placing two separate orders and manually trying to sync them, Bybit handles everything as a single transaction. You don’t have to worry about whether one leg gets filled and the other doesn’t — that risk is eliminated through atomic execution.

Third, this setup is a great hedge against volatility. By taking opposing positions on two related contracts, you reduce exposure to sharp price movements. Your P&L becomes more about the relative performance between contracts, rather than the market direction itself.

There’s also a strong cost advantage. Trading spreads on Bybit is significantly cheaper than doing it manually. You pay only half the trading fees you’d incur if you placed two individual trades on the order book. For high-volume or 

, that translates to meaningful savings over time.

Finally, it unlocks strategy flexibility. Whether you're 

 funding rates between Spot and Perpetual, doing 

 with different Futures contracts or taking advantage of price convergence before expiry, this platform gives you the tools to execute those ideas efficiently.

How to get started with Bybit Spread Trading 

Now that you have a better understanding of how Bybit Spread Trading works, let’s look into how to get started. Please note that you’ll need to have a Bybit account in order to proceed. If you don’t already have one, please check out our 

 for more information on how to create a Bybit account.

: Log in to your Bybit account and hover your cursor over the 

: The available spreads are organized in a grid, with each tile representing a unique combo. Choose your preferred combo to trade.

Tiles with a border around them signify that Spread Trading offers a better price. Hover over a tile for more details, or use the bar at the bottom of the grid to explore more options.

On the order placement page, set up your order with the following parameters:

to place your order. A pop-up window will appear for you to confirm your order details. Then, click on 

Congratulations — you’ve successfully placed an order!

You can view your Spread Trading orders from any trading page (Spread Trading, Spot and Futures), as they all share the same order data.

 to view your active orders. You’ll be able to view the combo, underlying asset, order price and more. 

If you would like to adjust your order parameters, you may click on the pencil icon under 

. To cancel your order, simply click on the order’s corresponding 

to view your completed orders. To view each order’s information on each leg, click on the order’s corresponding 

button. For additional insights, click on 

Spread trading isn’t for everyone — but if you’re someone who enjoys strategic trading, hedging or arbitrage, it’s a tool worth adding to your arsenal. It appeals to traders who are less interested in taking a directional bet, and more focused on capitalizing on inefficiencies in the market.

You don’t have to be a pro trader to benefit, either. The simplified execution and intuitive UI mean even intermediate users can explore advanced strategies without being overwhelmed. As long as you understand how spreads work, and how your P&L is affected by their movement, you’re already halfway there.

More importantly, in times of market uncertainty or low volatility — when price action feels sluggish — spread trading gives you an alternative way to profit. It keeps you in the game — even when momentum plays aren’t cutting it.

Bybit Spread Trading is a powerful tool that combines simplicity with sophistication. Whether you're looking to hedge, save on fees or experiment with 

 strategies, it offers a clean and user-friendly way to do so. With lower risk, lower costs and plenty of flexibility, Bybit Spread Trading is a smart move for any trader looking to level up their game — especially when markets get messy.

bybit spread trading.png

Bybit Spread Trading: Smart strategies for market swings

Altcoins

Crypto

NFT helps Rarible gains its popularity as a marketplace. But did you know the existence of a RARI token? Read on to find out more.

LearnBybit-Rari.-1600x900jpg.jpg

(NFT) market has been a buzzword for a while now, providing new ways for digital artists and creators to gain exposure and sell digital collectibles securely. If you’re keen to monetize your art but still struggle to decide if Rarible is a good 

, or if OpenSea is a better alternative, here is everything you need to know. 

In this guide, you’ll also find out what all the fuss is about the RARI token. We will also be deciphering how the Rarible platform works, its history, and the future transitions to a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (

An NFT is a token residing on a blockchain representing (or pointing to) some data, like an image or video. For example, a Bitcoin is fungible. You can trade one Bitcoin for another Bitcoin. But trading an artwork like the “Mona Lisa” for another identical painting is impossible because it is unique.

 blockchain, any NFT can be easily tracked. That means buyers or sellers can verify the authenticity, history, and ownership of any digital collectible. In more detail, NFTs are generally smart contracts, usually,

 is an NFT community-owned marketplace, issuance platform and distributed network, a first of its kind built on the Ethereum blockchain.

NFTs — also referred to as crypto-collectibles — allow for a digital certificate of authenticity This makes Rarible revolutionary because it represents a new kind of ownership for digital files such as images, music, videos and documents.

Since NFTs are a form of liquid intellectual property, these digital collectibles are often themselves unique, available as limited quantity traceable assets, mainly to prevent the circulation of counterfeits. That’s precisely why NFT is gaining popularity and how “Beeple” artwork can be sold for over $60 million. Rarible is being used by artists, digital creators, and collectors.

Digital artists and creators employ the Rarible software platform to issue ERC-721 and

 NFTs to represent the ownership of their digital artwork secured with blockchain. To fully utilize Rarible, users must own Ethereum (ETH) tokens and connect their wallets, for example, 

 and WalletLink, to connect to Rarible’s minting service, similar to OpenSea or Mintable. Once this is done, they alone can create their unique NFTs.

Typically, NFTs are issued without the need for any coding skills. But once they are issued, they can be sold or traded publicly without an intermediary on the Rarible platform.

That also means anyone can easily set up an account on Rarible to perform these transactions. The only thing you need to keep in mind is to make sure the seller on the Rarible network is legitimate. 

Digital creators can also program royalties, which are the rights to future cash flows within NFTs. By using 

 when setting a percentage of future sales, you can receive the returns automatically by issuing a token.

This is especially true since NFTs can be designed to pay out royalties immediately. For example, if a piece is set to a 9% royalty, the creator receives 9% of any subsequent sale of that art. 

The latest addition to this platform is the NFT market index. The index is derived from the value of the token’s 

. It can track and show the performance and development of the token within the NFT industry. This is especially helpful for investors hesitant about which artworks to choose.

Another exciting feature of the Rarible network is its merger with the 

, the purpose of which is to encourage the issuance of insurance employing digital tokens by joining with the yInsure project at 

The Rarible platform was first conceived in 2017 and officially launched in early 2020. The founders are two Russian developers, Alexei Falin and Alex Salnikov. A team of 12 people supports them, primarily artists. Alexei Falin was a full-stack developer with several years of experience and is currently Rarible’s CEO. He also co-founded Sticker.Place, a software company that mediates between artists and consumers who want to buy stickers. It was this emphasis on tokenizing collectibles which gave rise to Rarible. 

Although Alex Salnikov is a renowned financial professional and market strategist, he was also the co-founder with Ivan Starinin in 2014 of MarginCall, at the time the most technologically advanced exchange. He also participated in 

, a well-known blockchain application for the unbanked population. Rarible is backed by various investors, including

, a blockchain investment company in New York. According to DappRadar, the Rarible marketplace is bustling with

 and over $140 million in trading volume.

Rarible aims to become a DAO, a software-based system controlled by its users and empowered by the blockchain. A DAO uses blockchain technology such as programs and code to ensure transparency and decentralization over the platform. Thus, a key component is governance.

 comes in, as the Rarible governance token by which the Rarible DAO can influence decisions and incentivize any participation.

The Rarible DAO can be defined as the organization in which all decision-making rests with the platform’s users. The RARI token given to the active users acts as a governance instrument, enabling collectors and creators to vote on multiple upgrades and decide how the platform should evolve.

This makes the governance of the Rarible platform directly dependent on its most active users, and further positions Rarible as a public good operated by its community.

RARI is also being used to acquire marketplace users and incentivize NFT traders within the platform. This is called marketplace liquidity mining. Users earn RARI tokens by buying or selling on the Rarible marketplace, since the objective is to give autonomy to the Rarible DAO.

In addition, the RARI distribution mechanism incentivizes users to list their NFTs on the Rarible platform itself.

However, the main goal of a DAO is to ensure that the platform’s users are in charge of making all decisions. In the case of Rarible, the RARI governance token is the basis. In this sense, RARI token holders will shape the future of the Rarible in the NFT space.

RARI tokens give their holders various rights, such as allowing for community voting by which holders of RARI can submit and vote on proposals and participate in curation and moderation. Voting with RARI is 

 and advisory at the moment (the transition to a DAO will correct this), meaning that Rarible as a company currently reviews its users’ suggestions before making its own decisions and final implementations. 

RARI token was launched in July 2020. The price has fluctuated between $10 and $13, despite the all-time high of $40 with an average 24-hour trading volume of $4 million. Currently, there’s a max supply of 25 million, while 24.8 million of them are already circulating in the market.

Approximately 30% of the tokens are distributed to the Rarible team and investors, 10% is air-dropped to Rarible users and NFT owners, whereas the remaining 60% (marketplace liquidity mining) is given away over 200 weeks to buyers and sellers (50/50) on the Rarible platform. Every Sunday, 75,000 tokens are released. 

Item listing and transaction fees for creators are cheaper in OpenSea. With OpenSea, you must mint NFTs only when selling items, meaning you first list and offer your art. With Rarible, you are required to mint before the sale. This is the reason why you are required to pay a higher fee just for listing your art in Rarible.

Minting fees are always needed for both platforms since tokens must be minted to come onto the blockchain. But with Rarible, you need to pay these fees even if your art is never sold.

However, since Rarible is a closed and smaller community and has fewer users, you can more easily track your artwork, compared to OpenSea. The main difference between these two platforms is that OpenSea does not yet have a unique platform token, like the RARI, that could gain value over time.

The collectibles are secured with blockchain, and the users on the platform are authentic and legitimate. To complete a registration on Rarible, a user must submit a legitimate backstage photo proof to verify their authenticity. But for additional security, users must verify and link their Twitter account to the platform before they’re allowed to start listing and buying collectibles on Rarible. 

It should be noted that Rarible was once delisted in July 2020 

 wash trading activities. This basically means that some brokers were buying digital assets from Rarible and reselling them through another broker illegally. Since then, Rarible has been actively locating and blacklisting these traders on the platform in order to ensure a transparent marketplace.

Rarible is one of the most popular NFT marketplaces emerging in 2020. It has been designated as the first community-owned NFT marketplace, with its native ERC-20 RARI token. Rarible’s first-mover advantage in the 

 NFT sub-niche is the right choice, given that its ability to innovate has been demonstrated with its announced DeFi NFTs, fractional NFT ownership, and indexes.

However, its technology needs to evolve to allow a fully interoperable marketplace, such as cross-chain NFT transactions among multiple blockchains.

A Beginner’s Guide: What Is Rarible and the RARI Token?

Compete for 2,500 USDT Every Week

Earn Points by Completing Tasks

Event Rules

Weekly Leaderboard