Stripe is testing a new US dollar-backed stablecoin product for businesses outside the U.S., U.K., and Europe, aiming to expand the dollar's global footprint.

Daily top performer — Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)

S&P 500 futures dipped as over 180 S&P companies prepare to report earnings this week, following a 4.59% gain last week amid easing US-China trade tensions. Gold prices dipped to around $3,310 as easing US-China trade tensions reduced safe-haven demand, though recession fears may limit further losses ahead of key US economic data releases. Fed hawkishness may cap gains. CoinDesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, fell 0.72% in the past 24 hours, while Bitcoin and Ether dropped 0.19% and 1.07%, respectively. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is PENGU, rising by 27.5%, following Pudgy Penguins' recent expansion into multiple industries and their celebration of World Penguin Day.

Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), launched in July 2021, is a popular NFT collection known for its cute artwork. It has expanded into physical products like toys, generating over $10 million in sales, and the collection now holds a market cap of over $1.19 billion. Pudgy Penguins and $PENGU were recently 

 as a fitspo in Wisdom Kaye's content, marking a major milestone for their influence across industries. Additionally, last Saturday, the brand celebrated 

, highlighting its continued growth and impact beyond the NFT space. This showcases Pudgy Penguins' expanding presence and reach in multiple sectors.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

 a new US dollar-backed stablecoin product for businesses outside the U.S., U.K., and Europe, aiming to expand the dollar's global footprint. This follows Stripe's acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin payment network, which competes with the SWIFT system. Stripe has a history with crypto and recently introduced stablecoin payments in over 70 countries. The company sees this new product as a decade-long ambition, with the stablecoin market growing significantly in 2025.

BTC spot ETFs saw $3.06B of net inflows for the week ending 25 April 2025, with $2.97B from non-GBTC products and $94M from GBTC. Since inception, ETFs have accumulated $38.4B in net flows, with non-GBTC products contributing $61.1B and GBTC seeing $22.7B of outflows.

GiveRep, a decentralized reputation protocol on Sui, has 

 a points program where users can earn Reputation Points by tweeting about GiveRep and its Loyalty projects to qualify for an upcoming airdrop. A minimum of 100 X (Twitter) followers is required, and participants may also earn bonus airdrops from partner projects.

Beginner

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Stripe launches testing for global stablecoin payments after Bridge acquisition

Initia is a blockchain ecosystem that unifies Layer 1 security with customizable Layer 2 rollups through its Interwoven Stack architecture. Learn more here.

 ecosystem forces developers to choose between security and customization, while fragmenting liquidity across isolated chains. Enter Initia (INIT), a groundbreaking protocol that reimagines blockchain architecture by seamlessly integrating 

This article examines Initia's Interwoven Stack architecture, its innovative economic features and the INIT token's utility and distribution, and considers whether this ambitious ecosystem redesign represents a promising investment opportunity following its recent mainnet launch.

 is a blockchain ecosystem that unifies Layer 1 security with customizable Layer 2 rollups through its Interwoven Stack architecture, enabling developers to build specialized application chains without sacrificing interoperability or liquidity or requiring deep infrastructure expertise.

Initia emerged in 2022 when Stanford Liu and Ezaan "Zon" Mangalji left Terraform Labs to tackle blockchain's fragmentation challenges. They later added ecosystem lead OmniscientAsian from Sino Global Capital to help create a more streamlined blockchain infrastructure.

The project quickly gained investor backing, starting with Binance Labs' pre-seed funding in October 2023. This was followed by a $7.5 million seed round led by Delphi Digital and Hack VC, then a $2.5 million community round and a $14 million Series A that valued Initia at $350 million by late 2024.

Initia aims to eliminate the traditional security/customization trade-off in blockchain by creating a unified ecosystem that allows both to coexist. By establishing a central hub for all rollups, the project combines the advantages of monolithic security with the flexibility of modularity, thereby eliminating the fragmentation that currently plagues blockchain systems.

The platform's integrated stack simplifies blockchain development with pre-built solutions that work together seamlessly. Users benefit from Initia's Universal Accounts system, which provides a consistent experience across all connected chains, eliminating the need for multiple wallets or managing different tokens for gas fees.

By introducing economic alignment mechanisms such as the 

, Initia creates an environment in which developers can focus solely on innovation in their applications. This shift away from infrastructure concerns toward product development aims to enhance capital efficiency and drive broader adoption of blockchain.

Initia fuses Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) technologies into a unified architecture with three distinct components. The foundation is Initia L1, built on Cosmos SDK, which functions as the orchestration layer. This base provides security, governance and interoperability.

Above this foundation, Interwoven Rollups (Minitias) provide developers with customizable Layer 2 environments, allowing them to select their preferred virtual machine (

, Move or Wasm), define unique gas token systems and implement specialized transaction ordering mechanisms. 

Binding everything together is the Interwoven Stack, a comprehensive framework that provides all necessary tools for building and deploying rollups without requiring developers to source and integrate disparate components.

The system leverages optimistic rollups through the OPinit Stack to achieve remarkable transaction speeds (up to 10,000 

) while maintaining security. Transactions processed via L2 rollups are submitted to Initia’s L1 for finalization, with data availability secured through 

Initia provides the following core features that work together to simplify development and unify the blockchain ecosystem.

Initia L1 serves as the foundational layer and central coordination hub for the entire ecosystem. Built on the Cosmos SDK with CometBFT and MoveVM, it provides essential services, including network security, governance mechanisms and liquidity solutions through InitiaDEX.

 (also known as Minitias) are flexible Layer 2 blockchains built on top of Initia L1. These rollups rely on the orchestration layer for security and data settlement, operating without native 

 while enabling advanced rollup functionalities.

Developers can customize their rollups by selecting from multiple virtual machines and defining their own gas token and fee structure. This flexibility enables application-specific optimizations and economic models, at the same time maintaining seamless interoperability within the broader Initia ecosystem.

The Interwoven Stack is Initia's comprehensive, all-in-one solution, designed to empower developers in building and deploying rollups with unmatched ease. Instead of requiring developers to research and piece together numerous components — such as wallets, explorers and 

 — the Stack provides everything needed right out of the box.

At the core of this framework is OPinit Stack, designed exclusively for optimistic rollups within the Cosmos ecosystem. It includes mechanisms for fraudproofs and rollback capabilities and supports multiple virtual machines, which allows developers to focus solely on building their applications, rather than configuring complex infrastructure.

The Vested Interest Program (VIP) is Initia's novel incentive alignment mechanism that’s designed to address common issues in multi-rollup ecosystems. It addresses the misalignment of incentives for high-activity 

 (DApps), the economic underutilization of the native token and the inefficient distribution of protocol-level incentives.

VIP programmatically rewards valuable economic activities by allocating INIT tokens to rollups that create innovative applications, and to users who perform beneficial actions. This approach ensures that rollup teams, users and token holders all share aligned interests in the ecosystem's long-term success.

 (DEX) built on the Initia L1, functioning as the central liquidity hub for all Interwoven Rollups. It features Balancer-style weighted pools for diverse asset pairs, and 

 pools for assets with closely correlated prices, ensuring an optimal trading experience.

Enshrined Liquidity is Initia's solution to the traditional dilemma in 

 (PoS) systems, whereby token holders must choose between either staking for security or providing liquidity. It allows governance-whitelisted InitiaDEX liquidity positions (INIT-TOKEN pairs) to function as staking assets alongside the native INIT token.

Users can earn both staking rewards and trading fees from a single position, dramatically improving capital efficiency. To qualify, LP tokens must include INIT as part of the pair (with at least 50% weight for Balancer pools) and receive 

 approval, which also determines reward weight distribution among all whitelisted tokens.

Minitswap eliminates the days-long waiting periods typically required by optimistic bridges when moving assets from rollups to Layer 1s. Users can instantly swap their rollup tokens for L1 assets through liquid trading pairs, creating a frictionless experience for asset transfers throughout the Initia ecosystem.

 offers a unified interface for managing assets across multiple rollups, thereby facilitating cross-chain transfers and accessing DApps. By abstracting multichain complexity into a single interface, users can navigate the entire Initia ecosystem without confronting technical barriers or fragmented experiences.

Initia's bridge technology enables secure token transfers between Initia L1 and rollups using an optimistic bridge model. The OPinit Bridge leverages Cosmos SDK modules, and operates through two key components that work in tandem to ensure system integrity.

The Executor handles token movements, output submissions and data relay, while the Challenger monitors for invalid proposals and provides security oversight. This balanced architecture delivers verifiable cross-chain communication that maintains the integrity of both L1 and L2 chains while enabling reliable asset transfers throughout the Initia ecosystem.

Initia reached a major milestone with its successful mainnet launch on Apr 24, 2025. Before then, the project had completed several critical developments, including the MiniEVM and MiniMove frameworks, the deployment of InitiaDEX and the implementation of the innovative Vested Interest Program.

The immediate post-launch phase is focusing on expanding the ecosystem by onboarding strategic partner projects across 

 and enterprise sectors. This expansion demonstrates Initia's versatility as it builds a network of interconnected Interwoven Rollups that leverage the platform's unified infrastructure.

The INIT airdrop will distribute 50 million tokens, representing 5% of the total supply, to early supporters and community members. This allocation is strategically divided across three main categories: testnet participants (89.46%), social contributors (6.04%) and Interwoven Stack partners (4.50%).

The largest portion (44.7 million INIT) is being designated for the 194,294 users who participated in Initia's public testnet campaigns, particularly those who engaged with interactive 

 activities. Additional allocations target users from partner ecosystems, including LayerZero, IBC and milkTIA holders.

Following the mainnet launch on Apr 24, 2025, eligible participants will have a 30-day claim window to secure their tokens. This airdrop serves as both a community-building initiative and a strategic token distribution to those most likely to contribute to the ecosystem's growth.

INIT is the native token of the Initia ecosystem, with a fixed total supply of 1 billion. Initial circulating supply at launch was 148.75 million INIT, representing 14.88% of the total supply. The token’s distribution is strategically designed to ensure long-term sustainability and broad community engagement.

INIT enables staking to secure the network, powers governance decisions for protocol changes, facilitates cross-rollup operations between different Minitias and provides liquidity through InitiaDEX. This utility-driven model ties INIT's value directly to ecosystem activity and adoption.

Looking to trade Initia tokens? Bybit now offers the INITUSDT Perpetual contract following the recent mainnet launch. To get started, you'll need to create a Bybit account, fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

While Initia represents a groundbreaking approach to blockchain scalability through its interwoven architecture and unified liquidity model, investors must carefully weigh its significant growth potential against relevant risk factors.

Initia shows promising potential with its comprehensive ecosystem approach and significant financial backing. In addition, growing demand for scalable blockchain infrastructure that doesn't sacrifice security or customization provides a favorable market environment. However, potential investors should 

 and consider their individual risk tolerance.

Initia revolutionizes blockchain architecture by creating a multichain environment in which thousands of appchains can coexist harmoniously through modularity and orchestration. With established financial backing and over 16 appchains already onboarded at mainnet launch, Initia could transform the way blockchain applications are built, deployed and interconnected.

Intermediate

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Initia (INIT): The Interwoven Stack behind scalable rollups

Apr 28, 2025: Our weekly Institutional Insights explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

 explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

Weekly highlight — US-Sino trade conflicts cool down

China is considering suspending its 125% tariff on certain US imports, including medical equipment and industrial chemicals like ethane, due to the economic impact of the trade war. Discussions are also underway to waive tariffs on aircraft leases, which are financially burdensome for airlines.

This potential move has boosted investor optimism, with Asian shares rising and the yuan recovering losses. Analysts view this as a step toward de-escalation, although significant differences between the US and China remain.

The proposed exemptions align with recent US tariff exclusions on electronics, highlighting the intertwined nature of the two economies. Chinese companies reliant on US goods, such as advanced medical equipment and ethane, have reported some shipments arriving without tariffs.

While the list of potential exemptions is still being finalized, authorities have requested companies submit customs codes for necessary goods. Reports suggest China may also waive tariffs on at least eight semiconductor-related products, excluding memory chips, which could impact companies such as Micron Technology.

Overall, while investor interest grows, relations between the two nations still face challenges, with China demanding the US revoke unilateral tariffs before resuming trade talks.

Traders have heavily invested in Cantor Equity Partners Inc, a blank-check company merging with Twenty One Capital Inc., which is backed by Tether, Bitfinex and SoftBank. Since the April 22 merger announcement, Cantor's stock has surged 197%, closing at $31.50 on Friday.

The merger includes a convertible debt offering, potentially leading to a market capitalization of about $12 billion that would far exceed the estimated $4 billion value of the Bitcoin it’s expected to hold. This would reflect strong demand for crypto-related investments.

Analysts note that investing in such vehicles is akin to betting on Bitcoin's growth. Public special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) shareholders are projected to own 2.7% of the new company, while major stakeholders like Tether and SoftBank will have substantial shares. Overall, the market is optimistic about this collaboration in the digital asset space.

Advanced

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Weekly Institutional Insights: Trade conflicts cool down as crypto SPAC sees popularity

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.

At the start of the week, Bitcoin showed signs of decoupling from US equities. However, US president Trump's positive remarks about the US-China trade war (which had included a 145% tariff on Chinese goods) triggered a relief rally across markets. As a result, BTC has resumed moving up with US equities. 

This rally has led to a rise in short-tenor implied volatility and a recovery in BTC’s put-call skew, indicating that traders are seeking upside exposure.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Perp open interest rises across the board

Perpetual open interest increased significantly this week across various tokens, especially ETH. Perpetual trading volumes also rose. Notably, Ap 7, 2025 recorded the highest trade volume of the month, following Trump's comment, "Forget markets for a second, we have all the advantages."

BTC option open interest shows a mixed picture; put-call skew in short tenor sends positive signals

President Trump’s recent willingness to negotiate a trade deal with China’s President Xi triggered a relief rally across asset classes, including crypto. Bitcoin had already risen 7% since Apr 21, 2025, prior to Trump's comments. Despite this rally, open interest in puts has outpaced calls, with options volume remaining relatively balanced. 

It's unclear if the demand for puts reflects a hedge against downside risks, or a bet against the upward movement. Meanwhile, perpetual funding rates are providing limited insight into sentiment. However, the recovery of the put-call skew at short tenors indicates that traders are seeking upside exposure to the rally — and are willing to pay for it.

ETH unexpectedly outperforms BTC in this relief rally

ETH's response to the recent crypto market recovery has diverged from previous trends: it outperformed BTC in spot prices, a rarity in past rallies, and open interest in calls exceeds that in puts — opposite to BTC's trend. In addition, ETH call open interest is nearly double that of puts, with calls dominating options volumes. This suggests traders anticipate ETH will reduce its significant underperformance against both BTC and other “ETH killers” like SUI and SOL. Additionally, the spot rally has led to another term structure inversion for ETH.

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Bybit X Block Scholes crypto derivatives analytics report (Apr 24, 2025): Put-call skew recovers at short tenors, showing reviving sentiment

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Armed with good vibes, Okay Bears NFTs have been all the rage recently. Find out why and what Okay Bears are all about with our handy guide.

The Okay Bears NFT project is one that has been featured in headlines across many tech and crypto news sites recently. Okay Bears is a 

 project with many variations of cartoon bears. Buyers who are considering investing in this new Solana NFT project should first understand what the Okay Bears are, the features of the project’s blueprint, and its performance. This guide will explain all of these points, price trends, and why the Okay Bears NFT project is so popular.

Okay Bears are algorithmically-generated NFTs that were released in April 2022 on the Solana blockchain. With a total of 10,000 bears initially priced at 1.5 SOL each, the collection has taken over the Solana NFT market with an alluring culture shift that focuses on good vibes

The purchase price for the Solana PFP NFT bears was equal to almost $150 in American currency at the time of minting. As of late May 2022, each of the bears was worth about 90 SOL, or $8,850. Two reasons why the Solana PFP NFT bears were so successful at the time of their release were the hype the creators built, and the innovative design of the project's blueprint, which we’ll cover later in more detail.

BAYC and Azuki built hype. However, the Okay Bears NFT team took hype to new levels by offering open spots to random winners who followed instructions. The instructions included creating poems, sharing posts with hashtags, and changing a social media profile picture. By doing that, the creators reached more people to spark interest in their Solana PFP NFT project. The project's Discord was closed, and members still had to work to get on the whitelist after they got into the exclusive Discord. Such exclusivity with a challenge made the hype even stronger.

The Okay Bears NFT project puts emphasis on accepting community members as they are, and even creates its own judgment-free kindness culture. In several ways, the creators help members understand that they are valuable parts of the project. This idea is similar to the concept of corporate citizenship that businesses use to retain workers and help them to feel valued. The creators brilliantly aligned that concept with their promotion of the Okay Bears NFT project from the start when they turned fans into brand ambassadors, and showed them the value of working to become a part of a community.

Instead of releasing a simple road map, the Okay Bears NFT team created an in-depth blueprint for its community. Demonstrating the creators' desire to let members know that they’re vital to the success of the Solana NFT project, the blueprint page reminds members that they’re "building this together." The interactive blueprint outlines both these key areas, and the plans intended for them.

The Park: Home of the Okay Bears' Good Vibes

Bear Market: Unique Sales Channel Ecosystem

Once again emphasizing that community members are a part of the popular Solana PFP NFT project, the creators have made this area a workspace for public awareness projects and grassroots community engagement. The projects include collaborations of corporate social responsibility with global brands, social media outreach, real-world advertising and more. Here are some more details about the three main categories listed in this blueprint section:

In this area of the Okay Bears NFT community, the creators have set the brand apart by innovating a spinoff of a popular acronym in the crypto world. The popular acronym is WAGMI, which means ”We’re all going to make it.” The Okay Bears acronym is WAGBO — short for “We’re are all going to be okay.”

The Studio: Emphasis on Community Art and Music

The Studio is the place where the Okay Bears NFT community fosters and encourages creativity. Holders have priority access to this area and its exclusive content. The following points highlight some of what The Studio offers:

The folk tales and wallpapers are public to allow the rest of the world to get a glimpse into the Okay Bears NFT world and its good vibes.

Boutique: Exclusive Member-Only Merchandise

In this section of the blueprint, members have access to exclusive merchandise that’s tangible, including special Okay Bears prints, swag and collectibles. All new members are eligible for a complimentary welcome pack in the token-gated shop. Although some general items are available to the public in the boutique, there are several limited-edition collectibles that only Okay Bears NFT holders can buy. There are 3D crafts, concept art prints and more. Giving members a chance to stand out in this coveted Solana NFT project, the boutique also features exclusive Okay Bears fashion items that collaborate with lifestyle, fashion and sports brands.

Because members are highly valued, the creators made this space to showcase Okay Bears NFT holders and their talents. In addition, the gallery may feature fan art from non-members. The Okay Bears Gallery is a place where people can view all 10,000 of the bears in the collection. In the Curated Fan Art Display section, top fan art is displayed along with information about artists or communities behind it. Additionally, the section includes information about IRL popup exhibits, which may be found in various cities around the globe. Focusing on global causes and other hot topics, the art brings together NFT communities and one-of-one NFT artists.

The Platform is a place that includes information about a series of initiatives that spotlight and promote innovation and thought leadership throughout the Solana communities. In this section, members can learn more about keynotes, meetups and conferences. The events featured in The Platform are those that bring together mainstream leaders and Solana PFP NFT thought leaders. Some of the meetups and events are exclusive to Okay Bears NFT holders, or members of partner collections. Members can also learn about copyright licensing and community grants through The Platform. Some startup concepts may qualify for licensing or a grant through the Okay Bears initiative called The Honeypot, which exists to help the Okay Bears brand grow.

Traits for the Okay Bears are divided into these categories:

In each of these categories, there are more specific items, so that more than 170 total traits exist for the various Okay Bears in this Solana NFT project. For example, the clothes category has more than 45 specific clothing styles. With clothes, a black suit is the rarest, while a black tee is very common. Purple is the rarest background color, and cream is the most common. As noted earlier, the bears were created by an algorithm. There are six that are especially rare: The rarity of the rarest bear is 0.0000000001562%. Individual cards for the bears show their specific traits and the rarity percentages for each one.

During the last week of May 2022, the average Okay Bears NFT price was 197 SOL, which was equal to about $8,321 at the time. The project’s market cap was 1.55 million SOL, or $65.5 million. After the initial quick selling of all the original NFTs, high secondary trading volume followed. During the month of May, a few bears sold for around 250 SOL, which was over $10,200. One bear sold for over $12,000. And one bear with all rare traits — although it hadn’t yet sold — was listed on OpenSea for 3,001 SOL, which was equal to approximately $123,000. Some were priced upward of 400 or 500 SOL. Several bears have recently sold for between 75 and 175 SOL on OpenSea.

In the last week of May, there were more than 500 sales. On May 26, 2022, the floor price of Okay Bears was 150 SOL, marking a decrease of more than 13% from the day before. At that time, there were more than 1,050 listings available, with 55 sales during the 24-hour period and a top sale of 555 SOL. Finally, in the week before May 26, the floor price ranged from 150 to 206 SOL.

Price trends and trading volume so far look favorable. On the Okay Bears blueprint, the creators indicate that there will not be new bears released for the collection. The 10,000 that were released appear to be the only ones that will remain in circulation, which helps the bears stay valuable for now. With so many Solana NFT projects in existence or in the planning phases, it’s hard to say if another project will surface that threatens the popularity of the Okay Bears during the next several months. Needless to say, Okay Bears have gained considerable value in comparison with their original price of 1.5 SOL at minting.

Recently, a knock-off of the Okay Bears Solana PFP NFT project called the Not Okay Bears was in development. For a short time, it appeared to be a potential competitive threat. However, OpenSea delisted the copycat project after there were complaints from holders of Okay Bears NFTs. For investors considering a Solana NFT project to invest in, Okay Bears is a good choice. Rarer bears may be better investments for long-term strategies. The creative blueprint and its heavy emphasis on members helping build the brand is also a good sign for the NFT's future. New fans of the Okay Bears are more likely to appreciate the long-term value of these NFTs because of their attractive utilities and community.

So far, the Okay Bears NFT project has been the most successful Solana PFP NFT project to date, boosting Solana trading volume significantly. The structure of the community, the design of the project and the utilities make it attractive to buyers — and especially to NFT fans, who like the unique characters with positive vibes. Now that investors know the potential of Solana NFTs, it’s also a good time to start researching and watching for other projects with potential.

Okay Bears: A More-Than-Okay Milestone for Solana NFTs

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