Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has approved a new Ethereum ETF with staking capabilities, allowing institutional investors to earn staking rewards.

Daily top performer — Pyth Network (PYTH)

The S&P 500 dropped 1.5% to 5,282.70 this week, down 5.9% in April and 10% year-to-date, led by tech losses. Real estate and energy outperformed, while political pressure on Fed Chair Powell and inflation concerns weighed on sentiment. Gold dipped 0.6% to $3,319 after a record high, as Powell’s stagflation warning tempered its rally. Despite the pullback, the uptrend remains intact. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, are up by 0.77%, with Bitcoin and Ether rising 0.64% and 0.72%, respectively, over the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is PYTH, up 10.1%, following the launch of Pyth Entropy for secure on-chain random number generation by Soneium.

Pyth Network (PYTH),  is a blockchain oracle system that delivers real-time crypto price data to blockchains, enabling smart contracts to react to market changes. Soneium 

 Pyth Entropy, a tool for securely generating random numbers on-chain. Two apps, HandsNFT AI and 2p2e, are already utilizing Pyth Entropy to create unpredictable and engaging experiences.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has approved a new Ethereum ETF with staking capabilities, allowing institutional investors to earn staking rewards. This approval follows recent changes to local laws, with China Asset Management (ChinaAMC) partnering with OSL Digital Securities to launch the ETF by May 15. The ETF will offer exposure to Ethereum staking, transforming it from a passive investment into an active participant in the Ethereum network. The staking process is powered by Kiln, with OSL providing custody and insurance services. The rewards will contribute to the ETF's net asset value, benefiting shareholders.

Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $25.9M in inflows, all from non-GBTC funds, while GBTC recorded no flow.

" and a points campaign called Drops, where users can earn points—potentially leading to an airdrop—by engaging with Linera content on X. To join, sign up on 

, complete tasks like joining Discord and interacting on X, then enter the campaign. Keep engaging to earn more points, but avoid spamming.

Beginner

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Hong Kong approves Ethereum ETF with staking rewards, boosting institutional participation

Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events; the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume; and futures, options and perpetual contracts.

US president Donald Trump’s tariff policies are influencing both crypto and US equities. Last week, BTC and the S&P 500 rallied due to a 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs (excluding China). Equities are slightly below their April 9 highs, while BTC is holding above $83K. Its implied volatility term structure has normalized, and the volatility skew has improved from last week’s bias toward out-of-the-money puts, though it hasn't fully shifted toward calls.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Tariff pause briefly brings back trading volume

Since our last report, open interest surged on Apr 9, 2025, as crypto spot prices rose after President Trump’s temporary tariff pause, accompanied by a nearly $10B increase in trade volumes. However, trade volumes have since returned to mid-March levels, and open interest has declined from the April 9 highs. The initial price spike indicates the tariff pause surprised the markets, but the subsequent pullback reflects concerns over remaining tariffs.

After being inverted for much of April due to trade policy shocks and macro headwinds, BTC’s term structure has disinverted, with front-end volatility dropping significantly this week. Call and put volumes have been balanced, with calls slightly exceeding puts most days. Apr 9, 2025, reflected mixed market sentiment, as both call and put volumes rose, but puts were higher overall. Open interest remains greater in calls, and has increased slightly since last week, reaching its highest level for the month (more than double from the beginning of April).

Despite a rally on Apr 9, 2025 that brought ETH close to $1.7K, traders sought downside protection, leading to higher volumes in put contracts as compared to calls. Since then, ETHUSDT options volumes have declined, but open interest remains strongly weighted toward calls with later expirations, which have increased since last week. After being inverted for much of April, ETH’s term structure of volatility has flattened, with volatility compressing around the 70% mark across tenors.

Advanced

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Bybit X Block Scholes crypto derivatives analytics report (Apr 16, 2025): Bitcoin put bias has moderated, but not yet shifted to calls

KiloEx (KILO) is a user-friendly DEX for perpetuals trading, offering high leverage, rewards, LSTfi integration and a robust multi-chain ecosystem.

 trading is one of the most lucrative areas for cryptocurrency enthusiasts if you know how to navigate the sometimes complex world of these contracts. Unlike standard futures, perpetual futures contracts have no expiration date, allowing traders to hold onto their positions as long as they prefer. You only exit a crypto perpetual (or “perp”) contract when you feel it’s the best time to execute your long or short trade. The lack of an expiration period makes these contracts attractive for traders.

Unfortunately, many crypto perpetual contract trading platforms are far from user-friendly. It seems like many perpetual crypto exchanges assume that only professional traders dabble in these contracts, and along with that assumption goes a second one — that these pros can navigate even the most complex user interfaces. As a result, finding a user-friendly perps platform is a challenge in the world of crypto trading.

 (DEX) that aims to change the status quo by providing a user-friendly environment for traders. Its platform also offers high leverage ratios, integration into the wider liquid staking token finance (LSTfi) ecosystem and generous reward programs for referrers and affiliates.

Thanks to its numerous benefits, this DEX caters to the needs of traders at all levels of expertise who are interested in crypto perpetuals. Operational since mid-2023, KiloEx launched its native token, KILO, in March 2025 to further enhance its platform's reward, staking and governance mechanisms.

 (BNB) that specializes in crypto perpetual futures trading.

 The platform prides itself on offering a user-friendly interface, high 

 ratios of up to 100x, multi-token vaults with generous APYs and a number of reward programs for referrers and affiliates.

Co-founded by Joey Ni (CEO) and Charles Gong (COO), KiloEx was originally launched on BNB Chain's mainnet in June 2023. As of mid-April 2025, the platform has additionally expanded its service coverage to five 

 (B2). This coverage allows KiloEx to access the ecosystems of three leading blockchain platforms — 

Manta, Base and Taiko are Ethereum-focused Layer 2 solutions, while opBNB is an efficient and low-cost optimistic rollup for the BNB Chain, while B

 is a platform linked to Bitcoin that acts as a major Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) enabler.

Because it’s a BNB-native platform, KiloEx's industry footprint is most notable within this blockchain's broader ecosystem. In fact, as Apr 17, 2025, KiloEx is the top DEX on the opBNB network by 

Using Layer 2 chains allows KiloEx to offer its users fast and low-cost transactions, which isn't always possible on a typical Layer 1 network. It's true that BNB Chain, the primary Layer 1 used by KiloEx, generally has much lower gas fees than Ethereum, the industry's leading 

 chain that’s notorious for its exorbitant costs. However, KiloEx's partner Layer 2 networks help drive costs and transaction times even lower. BNB Chain's current average gas fee is slightly over $0.10, while the opBNB Layer 2 rollup's comparable fee is only about $0.005.

In 2024, the platform introduced one of its most innovative features — the 

, which allows liquidity providers to stake multiple assets to earn high yields. That same year, KiloEx significantly expanded its partnership network, becoming an active player in the LSTFi ecosystem. LSTFi is a new stream within the DeFi industry that allows you to use 

 (LSTs) on various protocols for additional yield.

Having solidified its market presence in 2024, the project launched its native token, KILO, in March 2025. However, in mid-April 2025, KiloEx 

 and halted trading on April 15 as a risk management measure, pending investigation of the damage.

The Hybrid Vault is among the most innovative features offered by KiloEx. Essentially, it acts similarly to liquidity pools on other exchanges. Liquidity providers can contribute their crypto funds to the vault to support trading activity on the DEX and earn interest on their contributions, based on the fees earned by the protocol.

You can contribute a mix of coins to a KiloEx vault. Supported assets include 

Depending upon trading activity and the mix of coins contributed, you can earn APYs as high as 30%, making KiloEx one of the most lucrative choices for liquidity providers in this niche.

KiloEx uses a health factor calculation for this type of vault to keep your funds and the entire ecosystem safe. Based on the health factor score of your contribution to the vault, your funds could be liquidated if their value drops dangerously low.

Discounts are also offered for fixed-term deposits for established assets, such as USDT and USDC. Withdrawals for the fixed deposits are processed upon maturity, while all other withdrawals are processed within one to three "epochs," with each epoch on the platform lasting about three days. Thus, depending upon your contributed funds, you’ll wait anywhere from three to nine days to receive your crypto back.

The KiloEx platform also runs a generous referral program under which you can earn rewards for referring your friends to the platform. The amount you earn depends upon the trading volumes generated by the people whom you’ve referred. Additionally, your referees to the DEX can also benefit from fee rebates, again depending upon the volume of trade they generate.

There’s a tiered system, comprising nine levels, based on which you and your friends earn commissions and rebates. Under this system, even those referred traders whose monthly volume is at the lowest level (below $5,000) can still benefit from 5% rebates, while you also earn a 10% commission.

The table below shows the structure of this referral system with percentages for commission and rebates based on monthly trading volumes.

KiloEx offers an affiliate program for key opinion leaders (KOLs) with a certain level of social media following and influence in the crypto market. KOLs may apply to join the program by filling out an application, which is then considered by the project team within 48 hours.

To qualify for affiliate status, a KOL must have: 

Approved affiliates are provided a link to the platform, and are encouraged to invite their followers to trade on the KiloEx. If they invite at least five followers who trade at sufficient levels, the affiliates can start earning their commission. KOLs can earn up to 55% commission, depending upon the referred followers' trading activity.

KiloEx’s native utility token, KILO, is a 

 asset launched on BNB Chain. It’s used on the platform for governance, fee discounts on trades, rewards via 

, liquidity provision incentives and staking.

KILO is a supply-capped asset, with a maximum and total supply of 1 billion. The token’s supply allocation shares are shown in the chart below.

xKILO is an escrowed version of the KILO token. You can convert KILO to xKILO at a fixed rate of 1:1. The primary utility of xKILO is to provide boosted liquidity provision, which makes it possible to receive staking rewards. By locking xKILO on the platform, you can access special discounts and other benefits reserved for VIP-level users. Holding xKILO also grants you governance power to vote and influence the platform's future direction.

Unlike KILO, xKILO is nontransferable and isn’t tradable on the secondary market. The only ways to obtain xKILO are either to buy it with KILO or receive it via airdrops.

Platform users can earn points to qualify for KILO airdrops. Typically, you accumulate points by trading, depositing funds, referring others to the DEX, checking in to the platform and completing other specified eligible activities.

The project’s initial airdrop, Genesis Season, had an eligibility snapshot taken back in July 2024. Under the currently running airdrop campaign, Pioneer Season, users can earn points to receive KILO tokens for 180 days past the token generation event (TGE) in late March 2025 (i.e., until late September 2025).

Additionally, you can earn KILO tokens on Bybit simply by participating in the 

 event and holding BNB in your account. Every day at various random times, Bybit will take snapshots of your BNB holdings in your Funding and Unified Trading Accounts to calculate the number of KILO tokens you’re eligible for. The campaign will run through Apr 25, 2025, 11:59PM UTC, and you’ll have your share of KILO airdropped seven days after this date.

 market as a swap pair with USDT. If you don't have a Bybit account, you can easily 

, and access opportunities across hundreds of trading pairs and crypto products on the exchange's Spot and Derivatives markets.

As of Apr 17, 2025, the KILO token is trading at $0.039, which is 76.2% lower than its ATH of $0.1648 on Mar 27, 2025, and 17.3% higher than its ATL of $0.03344 on Apr 12, 2025.

Long-term price forecasts for KILO are mostly bullish. CoinCodex 

 at $0.0387 in 2027 and then rise to $0.135 in 2030 while PricePredictions 

When it comes to perpetuals trading, both traditional 

 (CEXs) and DEXs have often struggled to offer an intuitive trading experience. In contrast, KiloEx has made user-friendliness a cornerstone of its operations. With KiloEx, you can enjoy a streamlined trading process, access market trends info for thorough research, get an overview of the cryptocurrency market and conduct other activities via an interface that’s designed for anyone, irrespective of their familiarity with decentralized trading.

The platform also boasts a diverse range of other benefits not easily found in the world of perpetuals-based cryptocurrency trading — generous leveraged trading options, trading fee discounts, lightning-fast trades, low trading fees and an innovative Hybrid Vault system. Many of these benefits are thanks to KiloEx's collaboration with several Layer 2 decentralized platforms, which provide the technical infrastructure to enable low costs and fast order processing.

If you’re a crypto perpetuals enthusiast, KiloEx is definitely a platform to peruse.

Intermediate

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KiloEx (KILO): More than a DEX — a rewarding ecosystem

In this article, Bybit Learn breaks down how the RFC meme coin was launched by the 'ifindretard' community, what’s driving its popularity and how to trade the RFC meme coin on Bybit.  

RFC quickly became one of the most talked-about and actively traded meme coins in early April 2025. In this article, we’ll break down how the token started, what’s driving its popularity and show you how to trade RFC on Bybit.  

Meme coins have always relied on humor to capture a wide audience and RFC is no different. The coin is inspired by the 

 X account that posts right-leaning, political and social posts on the platform. The account quickly became popular and gained over 718,000 followers as of mid-April 2025. 

 the launch of RFC, a Solana-based meme coin with a core mission of becoming the definitive meme coin for their community. The project aims to counter the prevalence of rug pulls and scams and create a token that is fair and community-centric.

The RFC token was launched on Mar 24, 2025, on the 

 platform. Within a few hours of its launch, the token graduated from the bonding curve and was placed in the liquidity pool. The initial post from the @ifindretards account is likely the major cause of the parabolic rise in the price of the token on the pump.fun platform. 

In the following days, the popularity of RFC experienced a significant surge, largely fueled by an enthusiastic community that rallied around the project. The coin’s 

 on Solana and its allocation of 96% of the supply to the public attracted a lot of attention from the meme coin community. Such community-centric characteristics quickly boosted the coin’s profile. According to 

, over 216 KOLs have mentioned the coin, with 124 being bullish and only five being bearish. This positive momentum was soon reflected in the price surge of RFC.

Following the graduation from the bonding curve, the price momentum continued and the coin reached a peak market cap of around $8 million, but quickly retraced to $1.2 million the next day. Over the next few days, the coin consolidated in the $1 million to $5 million range. 

On Mar 31, 2025, the coin broke out of this range and witnessed a 2-week staggering rally that saw the market cap rise as high as $138 million on Apr 14, 2025. This is a 25x increase from the first day’s close of $5.5 million. The coin has since retraced slightly, and as of Apr 15, it’s currently trading at a valuation of around $91 million market cap. 

The total supply of RFC is fixed at 1 billion tokens. The distribution of these tokens is heavily weighted towards the public, with 96% allocated for a public fair launch. Notably, only 4% of the total supply was allocated to the developer wallet, and the project explicitly states that there were no airdrops or presales.

If you’re interested in riding the RFC wave, you can go long or short on the token with up to 20x leverage on Bybit through its 

 RFCUSDT perpetual contract. Whether you're bullish or bearish, you can dive into the action and start trading the 

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RFC: Trending meme coin with a strong community

Crypto

Crypto token and coin are similar fundamentally. The main difference boils down to their utility. Learn how they are different from one another.

The crypto space is filled with a dazzling array of jargon, buzzwords and arcane terminology. And if you’ve decided to dip your toes into the cryptoverse, you’ve probably heard the terms coin and token thrown around. You could be forgiven for assuming they mean the same thing. Even industry experts sometimes use them interchangeably. But just like concrete versus cement, crypto tokens and crypto coins are different, though they may frequently be confused — especially on the Internet. 

Knowing the difference between tokens and coins helps you understand the crypto market better. Token and coin projects may have different technological challenges. You’ll also be able to discuss crypto developments while demonstrating in-depth awareness of the market. This article defines the differences between tokens and coins, as well as their individual uses and main attributes. 

Understanding the Use of Digital Currency

Tokens and coins are subclasses of digital currencies, which can be owned, used and exchanged. But they only exist digitally in electronic form. While all cryptocurrencies are digital currencies, not all digital currencies are cryptocurrencies. The main difference between these two boils down to their utility.

Though tokens and coins are fundamentally alike since they offer a secure way of using digital assets as a currency, a store of value, and a way for the payment process. These digital assets use cryptography, a high-level encryption method that prevents forgery and 

, thereby maintaining the integrity of crypto-based digital assets. 

The blockchain is a decentralized database distributed among nodes of computer networks which securely tracks digital asset ownership using cryptography. Blockchains make it possible for digital assets to be created, traded and stored. The decentralized structure of blockchains allows anyone to transact in cryptocurrencies and tokens directly, without needing a central party such as a bank, broker or other intermediaries. Essentially, removing third parties from financial transactions makes them faster, cheaper and easier.

A crypto coin is a digital asset native to a blockchain network that is used as a means of exchange and as a store of value. It runs on its own blockchain network, rather than on another asset’s blockchain. That also means that these coins do not move away from the network, but the changes only appear in the account balances. For example, if Alice transferred money to John, the changes are only made on both of their accounts’ balances with a fee incurred. 

Cryptocurrencies or coins are created by mining, a process that typically uses either 

 (PoS) verification. PoW uses enormous amounts of computer power to solve mathematical problems, and creates coins to reward miners. PoS mechanisms create and validate transactions based on coin holdings. Additionally, crypto coins are used to pay transaction fees on their networks. 

Cryptocurrencies are decentralized — that is, they do not rely on any central authority to function. Instead, computer nodes manage all transactions and activities. While the code allows users on the network to operate within the rules automatically — permissionless and “trustless,” meaning trust 

is not required, since transactions are enforced by smart contracts that execute only when mutually agreed-upon terms are met.

A crypto token represents the units of value built on existing blockchain networks using smart contracts. Tokens essentially piggyback on another blockchain, sharing compatibility with that blockchain’s native cryptocurrency. 

For instance, Tether (USDT) is a popular token that operates using 

. Tether is built on the Ethereum blockchain and can be sent to any Ethereum address. 

Tokens primarily function as utility crypto digital assets within projects. They can be used to reward specific actions, raise funding, or pay fees. There are thousands of tokens currently in use. However, they can be classified into five main types:

Utility tokens grant users access to a blockchain-based service. For instance, the Basic Attention Token (BAT) is used by advertisers on the 

 to pay publishers, who in turn reward their audience in BAT when they view ads. 

Tokens such as Tether (USDT), Binance USD (BUSD), and Dai (DAI) are known as stablecoins. They are collateralized by and usually pegged to fiat currency. This means they aren’t prone to crypto’s notorious volatility and, therefore, are useful as a means of exchange and store of value.

Security tokens are conventional securities such as stocks and shares that have been converted to digital tokens on a blockchain. These tokens give holders the right to a slice of the company in which they’ve invested. As with traditional securities, security token holders also get a cut of the company’s profit.

, expected to be at least $17.7 billion by year-end. They are unique cryptographic tokens that exist on a blockchain used to digitally represent ownership of unique content. They can be traded or exchanged, however, they are irreplaceable thereby making it impossible to represent their value equal to one another.

Governance tokens give the token holder the right to propose and vote on changes within a blockchain project. By doing so, users directly influence the operation and direction of a protocol. 

Crypto token projects make use of several token standards for token creation. ERC20 and ERC721 are some of the most-used token standards, enabling the creation of tokens that seamlessly integrate with the Ethereum blockchain. While the ERC20 standard supports tokens that integrate with the Ethereum suite of DApps, ERC721 is designed to create non-fungible tokens.

, there are over 3,000 DApps currently running on various blockchains. DApps — decentralized applications — take a decentralized approach to data management using blockchain technology. These DApps focus on 

), a blockchain-enabled solution to real-world finance problems. Each DApp has a digital asset or token with which users interact. Ethereum’s blockchain is the most popular platform for creating crypto token projects.

Tokens have a vast range of uses within their ecosystems. Tokens on crypto platforms such as Golem (GLM), 0x (ZRX), Civic (CVC), Raiden Network (RDN), and 

 (BAT) are used as a means of exchange, as well as to carry out specific functions that range from loaning out computing power to using decentralized exchanges (DEXs). 

Augur (REP), Keep Network (KEEP), Truebit (TRU), 

 (LINK), and Gems (GEM) tokens are used to perform work and/or maintain the integrity of their projects. 

 (MANA). These tokens are used for lending and borrowing, gaming, and as NFTs. 

Now that we know the fundamental distinction between tokens and coins in crypto, evaluating whether Bitcoin is a coin or token is easy. Bitcoin is a coin because it has its own blockchain. In fact, Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency coin, and many projects in the cryptocurrency market have been modeled after or inspired by it. For example, Ethereum elaborated upon the concept of a decentralized currency to popularize smart contracts that run when predetermined conditions are met.

Coins were developed to be used directly as currency and as a store of value. In other words, holders can use them to pay for goods and services. On the other hand, while tokens can be used for payments, they also have other forms of utility and play significant roles in DeFi, gaming and DEXs. 

 is the Aave protocol token. Aave is a DeFi protocol which allows crypto lending and borrowing activities without a centralized middleman. Aave is built on the Ethereum network, and all of their transactions use AAVE tokens, which run on the popular ERC20 token standard. 

Coins are created on a blockchain platform. The project must design security protocols and reward systems, as well as dictate how a coin will be created, how to manage the coin supply, and how to record and process transactions.

Meanwhile, tokens rely on the existing protocols of their operative blockchains. Interestingly, a token can run on several blockchains. This gives tokens the advantage of speed and flexibility, meaning they can be exchanged more easily with other digital assets. For instance, Tether issues tokens on several blockchains, including Ethereum, Tron, Bitcoin, Algorand, SLP, and OMG.

Tokens and coins are both digital assets, and have a lot in common. They can be used to represent value, and as a medium of exchange. 

The main difference between them is that coins run on their own blockchain, while tokens don’t. Instead, tokens run on existing, independent blockchains.

Utility is another way in which tokens differ significantly from coins. Tokens can have many uses, unlike coins, which are primarily used to exchange and store value.

Tokens and coins are critical parts of the crypto ecosystem, allowing users to interact with blockchain-enabled digital assets. An informed investor benefits by understanding the slight but essential differences between a token and a coin.

Token vs. Coin: What Sets Them Apart?

Compete for 2,500 USDT Every Week

Token vs. Coin: What Sets Them Apart?

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Compete for 2,500 USDT Every Week

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards