Home Blog Page 149

U.S. payroll growth slowed sharply in June, adding only 57,000 jobs

info@uweb3.io
-
0
U.S. payroll growth slowed sharply in June, adding only 57,000 jobs

U.S. jobs growth disappointed last month, with the data likely to set back market expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike as soon as this summer or early Fall.

The U.S. added 57,000 jobs in June, according to the government’s Nonfarm Payrolls Report released Thursday morning. That’s lower than the 110,000 forecasted by economists and significantly below May’s 129,000 gain (revised from an originally reported 172,000).

The unemployment rate came in at 4.2% versus an expected 4.3% and May’s 4.3%. The drop in the UE rate, even as hiring slowed, was due to the Labor Force Participation rate declining to 61.5% from 61.8%.

Up strongly ahead of the report, bitcoin BTC$61,808.83 held above $61,000, higher by 4% over the past 24 hours.

U.S. stocks are liking the data, Nasdaq 100 futures moving to a 0.7% gain from about flat ahead of the report. The 10-year Treasury yield has dipped four basis points to 4.46%

JPMorgan warns Strategy’s bitcoin (BTC) sales policy raises crypto market risk

info@uweb3.io
-
0
JPMorgan warns Strategy’s bitcoin (BTC) sales policy raises crypto market risk

Strategy has become one of the largest corporate holders and buyers of bitcoin, with 847,363 BTC on its balance sheet. Its aggressive accumulation strategy has made the company a major source of demand for the cryptocurrency, meaning any shift toward selling the digital asset, even occasionally, could influence market liquidity, price dynamics and investor sentiment by introducing a new source of supply.

Demand for U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the largest source of institutional crypto buying since their 2024 debut, has weakened sharply in recent months. The funds saw a record $4 billion in net outflows in June after a 13-day redemption streak pushed year-to-date flows into negative territory for the first time.

The bank said bitcoin came under pressure in late May and early June after Strategy disclosed in a June 1 regulatory filing that it sold 32 BTC between May 26 and May 31 to fund dividend payments. The sales compounded pressure from a broader repricing of Federal Reserve interest-rate expectations that had already weighed on bitcoin and gold.

JPMorgan noted that Michael Saylor’s Strategy has become one of bitcoin’s largest buyers, purchasing roughly $13.7 billion worth of the cryptocurrency year to date, about 70% of the bank’s estimate for total net digital asset inflows. The company holds around 4% of bitcoin’s total supply.

Aave Deploys V3 on Monad as High-Speed EVM Chain Seeks Core DeFi Liquidity

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Aave Deploys V3 on Monad as High-Speed EVM Chain Seeks Core DeFi Liquidity

  • Aave has deployed V3 on Monad, bringing lending, borrowing and its GHO stablecoin to the high-performance Ethereum-compatible blockchain.
  • The launch gives Monad a core DeFi liquidity layer as it seeks to attract institutional and real-time financial applications.

Aave has deployed its V3 lending protocol on Monad, giving the high-performance Ethereum-compatible blockchain one of DeFi’s largest credit markets at launch.

The move brings lending, borrowing and Aave’s GHO stablecoin to Monad for the first time. It also positions Aave as a core liquidity layer for an ecosystem trying to attract institutional DeFi, fintech and real-time financial applications.

The deployment follows months of Aave governance discussion.

A February temperature check framed Monad as a network built for high-frequency DeFi, citing 400-millisecond block times, 800-millisecond finality and full Ethereum compatibility. A later May governance proposal advanced the deployment of Aave Protocol V3.7 on Monad and described Aave as a potential “core liquidity engine” for the chain.

Monad is a Layer-1 blockchain built to run Ethereum-style applications with higher throughput.

Its public mainnet launched on Nov. 24, 2025, according to Monad’s documentation. Aave Labs’ technical review said Monad targets 10,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality through optimistic parallel execution, decoupled consensus and execution, MonadBFT and a custom database layer called MonadDB.
That performance claim is central to the Aave deployment.

“The next generation of blockchain applications depends on fast execution and deep, reliable liquidity,” said Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave Labs. “Deploying on Monad extends Aave’s lending markets and GHO to a new high-performance ecosystem advancing the EVM, giving more users access to decentralized finance.”

The initial Aave market on Monad supports USDT0, USDC, GHO, USDe, mUSD, AUSD, WETH, cbBTC, wstETH, weETH, syrupUSDC and sUSDe.

Users can supply assets, borrow against collateral and access decentralized liquidity on the network. The governance proposal listed USDT0, USDC, GHO, USDe, mUSD and AUSD as borrowable assets, while USDT0, USDC, GHO, WETH and cbBTC were among assets enabled as collateral.

For Monad, the listing gives builders access to an established lending primitive.

For Aave, it extends a multichain strategy that has already taken V3 to networks including Celo, Sonic, Linea, Plasma and Ink. Aave’s documentation lists those deployments across 2025, showing how the protocol has used V3 to follow liquidity across Ethereum-compatible ecosystems.

The broader issue is whether new blockchains can attract useful liquidity, not just throughput claims.

Aave’s governance discussion said Monad Foundation would provide $15 million in incentives in the first 12 months after activation and acquire 10 million units of GHO to retain for more than six months. The Aave DAO also proposed 500,000 units of GHO incentives to support growth on Monad.

That matters because lending markets often become infrastructure for other applications.

A mature lending pool can support leverage, treasury management, stablecoin liquidity, collateralized borrowing and embedded credit products. Without deep liquidity, even technically fast chains can struggle to support financial applications beyond trading and incentives.

Keone Hon, co-founder and general manager of the Monad Foundation, said Aave’s arrival brings an institutional standard to the network.

“Aave is a lending standard that institutions trust and bringing it to Monad means that the Monad ecosystem now runs on the same liquidity primitives as Ethereum, at 10,000 TPS and 800ms finality,” Hon said. “Monad is built for institutional DeFi: the protocols that matter, running where performance actually clears, and extending the use cases unlocked by composability.”

The deployment also marks another step in GHO’s expansion beyond Ethereum mainnet.

Aave says GHO was initially available only on Ethereum but was designed as a multichain stablecoin. Its help documentation says expansion beyond Ethereum is intended to improve accessibility, lower transaction costs, improve user experience and deepen liquidity.

Chainlink is also part of the Monad setup.

Aave said Chainlink Price Feeds will secure price data, while cross-chain interoperability will be supported through Chainlink infrastructure. Monad joined Chainlink Scale in April 2025, a move that brought Chainlink Data Feeds, Data Streams and CCIP to the network’s developer ecosystem.

The Monad deployment also includes day-one support for Chainlink Smart Value Recapture, or SVR.

That is significant for protocol economics. LlamaRisk has described SVR as a way for Aave to recapture oracle extractable value that would otherwise go to MEV extractors, while also warning that the mechanism adds timing and synchronization risks during volatile liquidation events.

The deployment is not without caveats.

Aave Labs’ April technical assessment said Monad appeared technically viable for Aave V3.6 and found no hard technical blockers. But it also said Monad is a newer independent Layer-1 with a shorter production record than more established networks, and that its validator breadth, execution model and long-term operating characteristics still require scrutiny.

That makes the Aave launch an early test of Monad’s institutional DeFi pitch.

If liquidity grows, Monad could gain more than another application. It could get a base money market that other protocols, wallets and fintech-style products can build around.

The calculation is same for Aave.

The protocol already ranks among DeFi’s largest lending markets, with DefiLlama showing roughly $10.18 billion in active loans on Aave. The Monad deployment gives it a new venue for deposits, borrowing demand and GHO distribution at a time when lending protocols are competing to become the default credit layer across multiple chains.

The news value is therefore less about one more chain integration and more about market structure.

Monad is trying to prove that a faster EVM chain can host real financial activity. Aave is testing whether its lending markets and stablecoin can become default infrastructure wherever that activity moves next.

The above article “Aave Deploys V3 on Monad as High-Speed EVM Chain Seeks Core DeFi Liquidity” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/aave-deploys-v3-on-monad/

Read Also: Polygon’s 5,000 TPS Upgrade Could Make Stablecoin Payments Viable for Payroll, Remittances and B2B Settlement

Disclaimer: The information provided on AlexaBlockchain is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Read complete disclaimer here.

Aave V3 Goes Live on Monad With $15M Incentive Plan

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Aave V3 Goes Live on Monad With $15M Incentive Plan

Decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Aave has deployed its V3 lending protocol on Monad, expanding the layer-1 blockchain’s lending ecosystem with support for 12 assets at launch. 

On Thursday, Aave announced that the initial market supports USDT0, USDC, Aave’s GHO stablecoin, USDe, mUSD, AUSD, WETH, cbBTC, wstETH, weETH, syrupUSDC and sUSDe. It is also Aave’s first deployment with Chainlink Smart Value Recapture enabled from day one, allowing part of the value generated from liquidations to be redirected back to the protocol.

The deployment expands Aave’s multichain lending network while giving Monad users and developers access to an established borrowing market, Aave’s GHO stablecoin and liquidity incentives intended to support early adoption. 

Monad is compatible with Ethereum’s application environment, allowing existing Solidity contracts and Ethereum tooling to be used with minimal changes, according to Aave’s governance proposal.

Monad’s total value locked as of Thursday. Source: DefiLlama

Aave deployment tests Monad’s liquidity ambitions 

Aave’s governance documents show that the Monad Foundation committed $15 million in incentives during the first 12 months after activation. The foundation also agreed to acquire and retain 10 million GHO for over six months, while Aave DAO committed another 500,000 GHO in incentives to support adoption on Monad.

These incentives could help establish initial liquidity. However, user activity will need to persist after incentives decline. According to a risk assessment by LlamaRisk, Monad’s mainnet launched on Nov. 24, 2025, and had about $359.5 million in total value locked as of June 8. It said early network usage had compressed after a strong start and that liquidity remained concentrated in established protocols.

LlamaRisk supported the deployment with conservative initial parameters, citing Monad’s short operating history.

Related: DeFi TVL drops 39% in 2026 amid market downturn and record hack activity

The launch also comes as institutions increasingly explore bringing tokenized assets into DeFi lending markets. In June, Standard Chartered said that tokenized assets entering DeFi could drive deposits into Aave, whose deposit base reached about $75 billion at its October 2025 peak. 

In April, Centrifuge revealed plans to bring tokenized Treasurys, private credit and AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations to Monad for use in lending, collateral and secondary-market activity. 

Although Centrifuge has not announced that its assets will be integrated into Aave, the deployment gives Monad an established lending venue that could support tokenized assets as its ecosystem develops.

Magazine: China’s 107 Bitcoin memory thief, Bithumb CEO booked: Asia Express

Bitcoin Bounces Off 21-Month Low But Will Bulls Hold The Line?

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Bitcoin Bounces Off 21-Month Low But Will Bulls Hold The Line?

Bitcoin (BTC) traded as high as $60,200 on Wednesday, up about 2.7% over the past 24 hours after falling to a 21-month low of $57,737 earlier in the session. Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) also gained, up 3% and 4.85%, respectively. 

The bounce took place amid deep investor caution, with sentiment trackers gauging the balance of fear and greed in crypto markets currently reading around 11 out of 100, in “Extreme Fear” territory. Despite the rebound from the yearly low, Bitcoin remains down roughly a third since the start of the year. 

Crypto Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me

Bitcoin dip-buyers overshadowed by fear of future selling

Investors’ cautious stance shows up differently depending on what data is analyzed. US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen more money leave than enter in recent weeks, including a reported $4.5 billion total outflow in June, the largest since the funds launched. 

At the same time, onchain data shows that long-term holders added roughly 270,000 BTC over the past two weeks. That is generally read as a sign that some bigger investors see the recent decline as an opportunity rather than a reason to sell. 

Looking at the past few days, one useful gauge is the funding rate. That figure has stayed positive for three straight days, meaning bets on rising prices have remained crowded even as Bitcoin fell to new lows. When leverage builds up on one side of the market like this while price is weak, it can add to volatility, since more traders become exposed to being forced out of their positions if the market moves further against them. 

Bitcoin open interest, funding rate. Source: Hyblock

Liquidations continue to define the price action

A broader look at where leveraged positioning is concentrated, combining data from three major exchanges over the past week, shows the heaviest concentration of positioning is roughly between $57,000 and $60,500, which closely wraps around the range Bitcoin has traded in since late June. That concentration thins out noticeably above about $61,000 to $62,000, and again below about $55,000 to $56,000. 

Bitcoin liquidation heatmap, three-day look back. Source: Hyblock

In practical terms, most of the leverage that could be forced to unwind sits close to the current price rather than in a distant zone, so a decisive move beyond roughly $61,000 on the upside, or $56,000 on the downside, is where forced position closures would likely have the most room to accelerate a move.

The view for the next 24 hours leans neutral and a genuine shift in positioning would likely need to show up as rising leveraged positioning alongside a rising Bitcoin price, a combination that has not yet appeared in the data.

Supreme Court Overturns Humphrey’s Executor, Clearing Trump to Fire SEC and CFTC Commissioners

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Supreme Court Overturns Humphrey’s Executor, Clearing Trump to Fire SEC and CFTC Commissioners

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Trump v. Slaughter overturns a 91-year-old precedent shielding independent agency commissioners from at-will removal, with direct implications for SEC and CFTC leadership as the CLARITY Act nears a floor vote.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that President Trump can fire commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission and other independent agencies without cause, overturning a 91-year-old precedent that shielded regulators including the SEC and CFTC from at-will removal. The 6-3 decision in Trump v. Slaughter directly reinstated Trump’s 2025 firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority that Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, the 1935 case that let Congress protect FTC commissioners from removal except for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,” has “not withstood the test of time.” SCOTUSblog reported the ruling extends to roughly two dozen multi-member agencies Congress designed to operate independently. Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, argued the majority handed the president “far greater power than ever before.”

The opinion does not name the SEC or CFTC directly, but both agencies’ commissioners serve under similar for-cause removal statutes, meaning Decrypt reported the ruling puts them within its reach at a pivotal moment for crypto-market oversight.

The decision arrives as Senate Republican leadership pushes for a floor vote on the CLARITY Act next month. Senate Democrats have said they will not back the bill, which would give the SEC and CFTC expanded authority over crypto markets, unless Trump commits to appointing Democrats to both agencies.

Trump told Decrypt in December he was “open” to naming Democratic commissioners but has made no such appointments in the six months since. The ruling now lets him remove any Democrat he might appoint just as easily.

The Defiant has covered the SEC’s recent commissioner turnover, including Republican Hester Peirce’s departure after nearly three decades at the agency, and the CFTC’s aggressive posture on prediction-market jurisdiction under Selig. SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Selig jointly issued a March interpretation clarifying crypto asset treatment under federal law, an effort now made easier to reverse under a future administration, or entrench under this one, without commissioners who could outlast a president’s term.

The CLARITY Act faces a deadline stakeholders have pegged to early August, ahead of November’s midterm elections, to have a realistic path to becoming law.

Bitcoin zooms above $61,000 as inflation fears soften

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Bitcoin zooms above $61,000 as inflation fears soften

Bitcoin climbed above $61,000 on Thursday, up about 4.1% over 24 hours, per CoinDesk data, its firmest footing so far this week after a sell-off sent the asset to as low as $58,200 earlier.

The lift came from the Federal Reserve. Chair Kevin Warsh told the European Central Bank’s forum in Sintra, Portugal, that inflation risks had come down, his first notably softer comment since a hawkish June rate outlook set off weeks of outflows from U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

The move stood out because it came against a rough day for tech.

South Korea’s Kospi index fell 7.9% on Thursday after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shed a combined $290 billion in market value, the second time this month the index has buckled on worries about artificial-intelligence chips, according to Bloomberg.

Meta added to the unease with plans to sell spare computing power to outside customers, a move that revived the question of whether the AI infrastructure buildout has run ahead of real demand.

Bitcoin Taps $60K As Investors Grapple With Rate Hike, Record ETF Outflows

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Bitcoin Taps $60K As Investors Grapple With Rate Hike, Record ETF Outflows

Key takeaways:

  • Persistent spot Bitcoin ETF outflows and US dollar strength reduce the odds of a quick bounce to $65,000.
  • Strong AI sector earnings momentum and higher fixed-income returns pull capital from Bitcoin and gold.

Bitcoin (BTC) reacted positively to US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s remarks on stubborn inflation. Despite the gains on Wednesday, traders fear that incentives for fixed-income investments and strong earnings momentum in tech stocks will continue to pressure non-yield-bearing assets like cryptocurrencies.

US five-year Treasury yield (left) vs. Bitcoin/USD. Source: TradingView

The US five-year Treasury yield jumped to 4.22%, meaning traders demanded higher returns to hold government bonds. Even as inflation eventually eases and WTI crude oil prices fell to a 4-month low, investors anticipate monetary expansion. Regardless of how the Fed manages interest rates and its balance sheet, the US Treasury dictates debt issuance trends.

Implied odds of FED interest rates on Sept. 16. Source: CME FedWatch Tool

US government bond futures implied 64% odds of interest rate hikes by September, up from 23% one month prior. The higher expected return on fixed-income investments came as the US dollar strengthened against other major global fiat currencies, which is especially concerning for alternative hedges such as gold and Bitcoin.

Gold/USD (left) vs. US dollar strength (DXY). Source: TradingView

Despite the gains on Wednesday, gold prices are down 12% in two months, while the US dollar strength (DXY) nears its highest mark in one year. This vote of confidence in the US economy partly stems from AI sector strength, evident in the 25% gains in the Nasdaq 100 index. However, some specific tech sub-sectors have recently signaled weakness, which could act as a catalyst for Bitcoin and gold.

Could the AI sector cool off act as a catalyst for Bitcoin?

Micron (MU US) and SanDisk (SNDK US) shares saw intraday losses exceeding 9% on Wednesday after competitors SK Hynix (000660 KR) and Samsung (005930 KR) announced plans to expand capacity. Still, the move can hardly be deemed a trend reversal as the iShares SOX Semiconductor Index ETF (SOXX US) gained 78% in three months.

Continued outflows from US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have shattered bulls’ hopes, reinforcing a negative price spiral as negative news gets amplified while positive events barely register. 

US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs daily net flows, USD. Source: SoSoValue

Regardless of the rationale behind the sales, Bitcoin’s weakness, 53% below its all-time high, does not inspire confidence in the $60,000 support level.

Strategy (MSTR US) increased its cash position to restore a healthy 17 months of dividend coverage on Monday. However, Strategy’s variable-rate Stretch preferred stock (STRC US) continued to trade far from the $100 target required for additional issuances. The STRC dividend rose to 12% from 11.5%, which was apparently not enough to entice more buyers.

Related: Bitcoin just $5K away from ‘best investment opportunity’ of bear market

Bitcoin might have temporarily benefited from Fed Chair Warsh’s concerns about persistent inflation, but rising expectations for higher interest rates and strong earnings momentum in the AI sector may continue to exert negative pressure on Bitcoin. As a result, a sustainable rally to $65,000 could take longer.

Metaplanet (3350) buys another $170 million of bitcoin expanding treasury to 43,000 BTC

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Metaplanet (3350) buys another $170 million of bitcoin expanding treasury to 43,000 BTC

Metaplanet (3350) announced the purchase of an additional 2,823 BTC ($170.7 million), bringing its total treasury to 43,000 BTC ($2.6 billion).

The acquisition cements the Tokyo listed firm as the third largest publicly traded company holding bitcoin, trailing only Strategy MSTR) and Twenty One Capital (XXI), according to data tracked by Bitcoin Treasuries.

Metaplanet closed 3.5% higher at 207 yen ($1.28) on Thursday following the announcement.

Alongside the bitcoin purchase, the company released its second quarter FY2026 results for its Bitcoin Income Generation business. The division generated approximately 1.75 billion yen ($10.85 million) in operating revenue during the quarter, taking first half revenue to approximately 4.72 billion yen.

Metaplanet uses bitcoin options to generate recurring income while expanding the company’s bitcoin holdings. On a trailing 12-month basis, revenue reached approximately 11.4 billion yen.

The latest results reinforce Metaplanet’s dual strategy of aggressively accumulating bitcoin while generating recurring cash flow from its Bitcoin Income Generation business.

XRP edges higher as whale activity rises while retail traders stay cautious

info@uweb3.io
-
0
XRP edges higher as whale activity rises while retail traders stay cautious

New wallet creation hit a three-month high and large-holder activity strengthened, but XRP still needs to reclaim $1.10 before the recovery looks convincing.

1...148149150...1,337Page 149 of 1,337