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Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin is rethinking how DeFi handles market crashes

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Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin is rethinking how DeFi handles market crashes

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is exploring a new way to build crypto investment products that could reduce one of decentralized finance’s biggest risks: sudden liquidations.

In a research post published Monday, Buterin proposed creating index-tracking assets using options contracts rather than the debt-based structures that underpin much of DeFi today. The idea is to allow users to gain exposure to a basket of crypto assets, similar to an index fund, without relying on collateralized debt positions (CDPs), which can be wiped out when markets move sharply.

“What if we use options as the base of DeFi, instead of CDPs and liquidations?” Buterin wrote in a post shared on X.

Under today’s DeFi model, users typically borrow against crypto collateral to create synthetic assets or stablecoins. If the value of that collateral falls too quickly, positions can be automatically liquidated, often triggering cascades of forced selling during periods of market stress.

Buterin argued an options-based system could replace that abrupt “you get liquidated” dynamic with a smoother process. Rather than instantly losing a position when prices move against a trader, exposure would gradually diverge from a target allocation, potentially making the system more resilient during periods of volatility.

A key advantage, according to Buterin, is that the design could function using slower-moving price oracles, the data feeds that tell DeFi protocols what assets are worth. Most DeFi applications today rely on near real-time oracle updates, which can become targets for manipulation during periods of market turbulence.

By contrast, Buterin said an options-based framework could work with “slow oracles” similar to those used by prediction markets. That could reduce the risk of protocols acting on incorrect price data and lessen the need for split-second automated liquidations.

The proposal is particularly relevant to algorithmic stablecoins, which have historically depended on oracle systems and collateral mechanisms that can fail under stress. Buterin said he would feel “much safer” holding algorithmic stablecoins built on an options-based structure than one that depends on real-time oracle feeds that could potentially be manipulated.

The idea comes with tradeoffs. Buterin acknowledged that such a system would require regular portfolio rebalancing and that it remains unclear whether those adjustments can be made cheaply and efficiently enough to avoid excessive trading costs or slippage.

The concept remains theoretical and has not been implemented on Ethereum. Still, it reflects a broader effort by Buterin to rethink the foundations of DeFi and develop systems that prioritize robustness over leverage.

Read more: Buterin says Ethereum Foundation will shrink, sell less ETH, and focus on ‘CROPS’

Vitalik Buterin Proposes Options-Based DeFi to Replace Liquidation-Driven Debt Model

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Vitalik Buterin Proposes Options-Based DeFi to Replace Liquidation-Driven Debt Model

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed splitting 1 ETH into two paired option assets that always sum back to 1 ETH, eliminating forced liquidations and letting synthetics rely on slow, prediction-market-style oracles.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on Monday proposed rebuilding decentralized finance on options contracts instead of collateralized debt, a shift that would eliminate forced liquidations and let synthetic assets run on slow, prediction-market-style oracles rather than the real-time price feeds driving most of DeFi today.

The proposal, Building index-tracking assets on top of options instead of debt, published on the Ethereum Research forum, defines two assets P and N with strike price S and maturity date M. A (P, N) pair is minted from one ETH and can be redeemed for one ETH at any time. At maturity, an oracle resolves the index to x; P receives `min(1, S/x)` ETH and N receives `max(0, 1 – S/x)` ETH. Because the two payoffs always sum to 1, “there is no possibility of liquidation,” Buterin wrote. The post credits feedback from Lighter founder Vladimir Novakovski and developers of the Curve decentralized exchange.

Liquidation cascades have been DeFi’s dominant failure mode for half a decade. On March 12, 2020, ether fell roughly 43% in hours, MakerDAO keeper bots failed to bid, and a single bot walked off with $8.32 million of ETH for zero DAI. Maker took on a $6.65 million Dai shortfall and later paid $1.16 million to settle a class action from vault owners. Every CDP-based protocol since has been tuned to the assumption that bidders show up; Buterin’s design removes the auction entirely.

What the Mechanism Changes

“The problem with relying on liquidations is that liquidations depend on real-time oracles,” the post argues. “You cannot use what is by far the most effective technique to make a safe and cheap oracle: put a prediction market in front of a safe but expensive oracle, and only use that oracle in case of serious disagreement.”

Splitting one ETH into a P/N pair fixes that — the system is solvent by construction, so the oracle can resolve at maturity instead of every block. Buterin equates the design to scalar prediction markets on platforms like Seer, letting the instrument share oracle infrastructure with markets that have run for years.

Where Options-DeFi Already Exists

The primitive is not net-new. Panoptic runs perpetual, oracle-free options on Ethereum mainnet by tokenizing Uniswap v3 LP positions. Opyn’s Squeeth wraps a power-perp on ETH-squared exposure. Premia operates an options AMM with portfolio margin. What Vitalik proposes sits one layer higher: a synthetic that tracks a price index by stacking options rather than borrowing against collateral.

The user playbook is to hold deep in-the-money options and rotate them into lower strikes as the price gets close. Rebalancing could run through an automated DAO wrapper or through a local daemon — the latter, Buterin notes, “reduce[s] the user’s MEV risks, because the transaction is not visible ahead of time.”

The 2% Tax

The cost is drift. Holders of P don’t get a clean dollar peg; they get a quadratic deviation from their target exposure that grows with the gap between current price and strike. Buterin pegs the realistic range at “standev ~1-4% per year” and reframes it as a feature. The design is “unusable as an ‘accounting stablecoin'” — a counterparty or tax authority won’t treat one P as one dollar — but works “in the context of ‘I want price stability’,” meaning pre-funding a known share of future expenses.

The bigger competitive risk, Buterin warned, is rebalancing itself. “It is very easy to lose 2% per year or more from multiple rounds of slippage, and this is the largest risk by which this whole scheme might become uncompetitive.” His proposed mitigation exploits the fact that rebalancing users have very low time preference — they don’t care whether they trade today or three days from now — to build “an ideal market structure that minimizes slippage far more than traditional AMMs do.”

The post is research-grade rather than a deployment plan, and no protocol has yet committed to building on the spec.

Bitcoin Derivatives Show Bulls Making Moves Despite $70K Sell-off

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Bitcoin Derivatives Show Bulls Making Moves Despite $70K Sell-off

Key takeaways:

  • Whale’s bullish positioning in the Bitcoin derivatives market is failing to counter the heavy spot selling pressure. 
  • The slight discount on USDT indicates capital is exiting to fiat, exposing the Bitcoin futures leverage risks.

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $71,000 on Monday for the first time in seven weeks, liquidating $276 million in leveraged bullish positions as traders reduced their positions amid renewed military action between the US and Iran. Despite this heightened risk aversion, whales and market makers increased their bullish exposure in the Bitcoin derivatives markets.

Bitcoin top traders’ long-to-short position at Binance & OKX. Source: CoinGlass

At Binance, the long-to-short ratio among top traders surged to 1.4x from 1.1x one week prior. These institutional players have gradually accumulated long positions since Bitcoin broke below $76,500 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top traders at OKX initially expanded their short positions between Thursday and Sunday, but reversed course on Monday as their long-to-short ratio jumped to 1.9x.

Bitcoin futures aggregate open interest at major exchanges, USD. Source: CoinGlass

Aggregate open interest for Bitcoin futures across major exchanges stood at $43.5 billion on Monday, remaining flat compared to the previous week. Despite the forced liquidations, traders did not rush to close their positions at a loss. Nonetheless, further analysis is required to determine whether bullish traders are relying excessively on leverage to sustain their current positions.

Bitcoin perpetual futures annualized funding rate. Source: Laevitas

The annualized funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures jumped above the neutral 6% to 12% range for the first time in over six months. This data hints at growing confidence among bulls, but it also heightens the risk of cascading liquidations should Bitcoin’s price fall further. Nonetheless, a modest 13% funding rate remains far from signaling market desperation.

Bitcoin spot ETF outflows contrast with AI bulls

While the weakness in Bitcoin’s price can be partially attributed to rising oil prices, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index managed a 0.5% gain on Monday. Brent crude oil jumped to $95 per barrel after US officials stated that Iran had fired two ballistic missiles overnight. Additionally, Israel carried out a military incursion into southern Lebanon over the weekend.

Investors’ intense focus on the AI sector has also contributed to capital outflows from the cryptocurrency market. On Monday, Anthropic, the developer of Claude AI, announced that it had confidentially filed its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus. Separately, Elon Musk’s SpaceX officially filed its own IPO prospectus.

Related: Bitcoin dip buyers place $500M in bids as $70K retest looms

USDT stablecoin / USD at major exchanges. Source: TradingView and Cointelegraph

Tether’s USDT stablecoin traded at a slight 0.10% discount over the past week, signaling capital outflows into traditional fiat currency. This data aligns with the $3.46 billion in net outflows from US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs since May 13. Ultimately, heavy selling pressure in spot markets is likely the driver behind Bitcoin’s recent price correction.

It is still too early to claim that pro traders are flipping bullish based purely on the long-to-short ratio, especially following the recent spike in the perpetual futures funding rate. With no clear evidence that cryptocurrency market outflows are slowing, traders may remain skeptical of a sustainable short-term bull run, despite the relative strength in Bitcoin derivatives data.

Strategy’s $2.5 million BTC sale and lessons from the first time MSTR sold in December 2022

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Strategy’s $2.5 million BTC sale and lessons from the first time MSTR sold in December 2022

When Strategy (MSTR) disclosed that it sold 32 bitcoin in May, memories were jogged of the company’s first-ever bitcoin sale in December 2022.

Both events generated headlines questioning whether Michael Saylor’s company was backing away from its long-standing bitcoin accumulation strategy. Both prompted scrutiny of the firm’s finances. Both represented extraordinarily rare moments in the history of the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder.

Yet the more useful lesson from the 2022 sale may be that investors should be cautious about reading too much into any single disposal.

Late 2022 was one of the most tumultuous periods in cryptocurrency’s history, the culmination of the “crypto winter” that unfolded that year which came to a head with the collapse of exchange FTX in early November.

From a high of around $69,000 a year earlier, bitcoin had fallen over 75% to below $16,000.

“Of course bitcoin isn’t going to zero,” geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan wrote on X on Nov. 12. “We have carbon taxes in some places. Bitcoin is going negative.”

The following month, MicroStrategy as it was then known, sold 704 BTC for roughly $11.8 million as bitcoin traded near $16,500. The company said the transaction was designed to harvest tax losses that could offset future gains.

Michael Saylor’s firm then bought 810 BTC two days later, leaving its overall bitcoin position larger than before.

At the time, however, many critics saw something more consequential.

Gold advocate Peter Schiff argued the sale exposed cracks in Saylor’s unwavering commitment to bitcoin and suggested it could be the first step toward a broader liquidation.

“Shares of MicroStrategy just made a new 52-week low, down 90% from the record-high in Feb. 2021,” he wrote in a separate post. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking 90% off is a good buy. This isn’t just a sale, it’s a going-out-of-business sale.”

History unfolded differently. Rather than marking the beginning of a selling cycle, the December 2022 transaction occurred near the bottom of the bear market. Over the following years, bitcoin rebounded to record highs while Strategy dramatically expanded its holdings. The company’s stash has since grown from roughly 132,500 BTC at the end of 2022 to more than 843,000 BTC today.

That experience could tempt investors to dismiss the latest sale as equally irrelevant. But doing so risks overlooking how much the company itself has changed.

The Strategy of 2022 was largely a leveraged bitcoin holder. The Strategy of 2026 is a far more complex financial vehicle built around bitcoin ownership. The company now manages a capital structure that includes convertible debt, common-equity issuance programs and multiple preferred-stock offerings designed to attract different classes of investors.

Against that backdrop, selling 32 BTC, worth roughly $2.5 million and representing less than 0.004% of its holdings, is financially insignificant. But the transaction may reflect a broader reality: bitcoin sales are no longer unthinkable within Strategy’s operating model.

“This may just be the beginning of much larger sales to come,” Schiff wrote on X following news of Strategy’s second sale. “Plus, if MSTR just stops buying more bitcoin that’s a huge problem for bitcoin.”

That does not mean the company is abandoning accumulation. Strategy continues to buy bitcoin aggressively and raise capital to fund additional purchases. But unlike in 2022, the question is no longer whether Strategy will ever sell bitcoin.

The more relevant question is whether future sales remain rare exceptions or become another routine tool in the management of an increasingly sophisticated bitcoin treasury empire.

Bitcoin Volatility Drops 56% As Analysts Watch For 20% Price Move

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Bitcoin Volatility Drops 56% As Analysts Watch For 20% Price Move

Bitcoin’s realized volatility has fallen to 17.2%, one of its lowest levels in recent months. Multiple Bitcoin analysts have said that long periods of price compression, alongside declining volatility, have historically preceded double-digit rallies. 

Bitcoin realized volatility is down 56% in Q2

Bitcoin researcher Axel Adler Jr. said that BTC’s one-week realized volatility, smoothed over a 30-day period, has fallen to 17.2% from 39% this quarter, a 56% decline.

Bitcoin realized volatility (one-week). Source: CryptoQuant 

The realized volatility, which measures how much the price has actually moved over a given period, sits well below its long-term median of 40%. Adler explained that such volatility compression may lead to a major price move. 

However, the metric does not indicate direction. Instead, it measures how much momentum is building while the price movement slows.

The long-term volatility gauges tell a similar story. Three-month realized volatility has fallen to 80% from 109% since early April, while six-month realized volatility declined to 127% from 148%. 

The drop across multi-time-frame volatility measures indicates that price movement has become compressed, a condition that may precede larger market moves. 

Bitcoin three- and six-month realized volatility. Source: CryptoQuant

The network valuation data adds another layer. The Bitcoin growth rate metric, which compares market capitalization growth to realized capitalization, has remained negative for more than six months. The delta, or 365-day moving average, recently slipped to -0.0013, indicating that BTC’s market value is growing more slowly than its realized value.

Adler said that the data points to a cooling market. Bitcoin’s price is not rising as quickly as the capital flowing into the network, suggesting investors are becoming more cautious amid reduced market volatility. 

Bitcoin growth rate based on market cap and realized cap. Source: CryptoQuant

Related: Bitcoin price targets $78K as BTC holders defend ‘strongest near-term support’

Bitcoin enters a “tug-of-war” phase, says analyst

CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn said Bitcoin has spent 114 days trading within a broad range of $60,000 and $80,000, while the Bitcoin volatility index has dropped toward multi-month lows near 0.90.

According to Maartunn, similar periods of compression have historically preceded 10% to 20% moves once the price range breaks.

BTC price and volatility index analysis by Maartunn. Source: X

MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe remained bullish on BTC, stating the current area as a key support zone. Van de Poppe said, 

“If history repeats itself, that means that we’re going to see two great weeks of upwards momentum for Bitcoin and the end of this correction. It’s a crucial support zone for Bitcoin, which needs to hold in order to prevent a test at $61,000 to happen.”

Meanwhile, CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha pointed to a growing split in market behavior. Binance’s 30-day Bitcoin inflows rose by roughly $5.6 billion since April across both retail and whale cohorts. Retail inflows increased by $3.6 billion, surpassing the $2 billion rise from whale wallets.

At the same time, wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC accumulated 55,450 BTC on May 30, marking their strongest accumulation activity since February. Taha added, 

“For Bitcoin, this points to a tug-of-war phase. Exchange inflows are increasing, which may create near-term selling pressure, but large wallet accumulation is also returning, which could provide underlying support if demand remains strong.”

Related: Trump says Iran will ‘work out well’: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) sold bitcoin (BTC). These crypto treasuries are still buying

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Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) sold bitcoin (BTC). These crypto treasuries are still buying

Strategy (MSTR), the company whose bitcoin accumulation strategy inspired a new generation of so-called digital asset treasury firms, sold BTC for the first time since December 2022, offloading roughly $2.5 million worth of tokens.

The move came as the scheme has faced major headwinds since gaining popularity last year.

Dozens of companies raised capital through stock and debt offerings to buy bitcoin, ether (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies, aiming to replicate Michael Saylor’s playbook. The model worked for a while last year as crypto prices surged and treasury stocks traded at premiums to their underlying values.

However, that all changed as crypto markets peaked in October. As token prices fell and treasury stocks slipped below net asset value, many firms lost the ability to raise capital on attractive terms, and some stocks fell more than 90% from their peak. Some stopped buying, while others turned into sellers.

Through all that, Strategy held strong and kept buying as its Executive Chairman, Michael Saylor, continued to advocate for buying and holding.

But that didn’t hold for long. Strategy first alluded to a potential sale earlier in May and then finally reported the first sale on Monday, June 1. With Strategy breaking its accumulation streak and many peers stepping aside, some might think it’s the final nail in the coffin for the treasury firms, as the list of active buyers has now narrowed considerably.

Still buying

However, a few remaining companies continue to buy. Among them is Bitmine (BMNR), Tom Lee’s Ethereum treasury company.

The company purchased roughly $53 million worth of ETH last week and accumulated over 338,000 tokens through May, worth roughly $665 million at current prices. It holds more than 5.4 million ETH, making it the largest corporate holder of the token.

However, Tom Lee said the firm plans to slow its accumulation pace as it approaches its goal of owning 5% of the ETH supply.

Another Ethereum-centric Bit Digital (BTBT) returned to the market in May, buying $20 million worth of ETH. That was the company’s first purchase since October.

Some bitcoin-focused firms are still buying.

Strive (ASST) disclosed acquiring roughly 1,944 BTC in May, spread across multiple purchases, at a cost of about $150 million. Japan’s Metaplanet also reported a purchase in early April, when it acquired 5,075 BTC.

Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR), the treasury firm focused on buying HYPE, the native token of red-hot Hyperliquid blockchain-based exchange and its ecosystem, said it spent $216 million to buy 7.3 million tokens between early December and the end of April. Given HYPE’s surge to record highs, the return on that investment has more than doubled since then.

Despite last week’s sale, Strategy remained one of the largest sources of bitcoin demand through May, purchasing more than 25,000 BTC for over $2 billion.

The sellers

On the other hand, several firms have been reducing crypto holdings recently.

Nakamoto Holdings (NAKA), the bitcoin treasury company led by David Bailey, sold 284 BTC in March, about 5% of its holdings. Empery Digital sold 370 BTC in April to repay a term loan. Genius Group (GNS) said in April it liquidated its remaining 84 BTC to pay down $8.5 million of debt.

Meanwhile, others have abandoned the treasury model entirely.

Forum Markets, formerly known as ETHZilla, shifted its focus to tokenization earlier this year after selling roughly $114 million worth of ether.

VivoPower, which had planned to build an XRP-focused treasury, pivoted to data center and AI infrastructure in February, divesting its Ripple-related investments and XRP holdings.

Read more: Digital asset treasuries must now earn their keep

Digital asset firm Keyrock plans to acquire BlockFills out of bankruptcy

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Digital asset firm Keyrock plans to acquire BlockFills out of bankruptcy

Keyrock, a Brussels-based digital asset services firm, is in the process of acquiring bankrupt crypto trading and lending firm Blockfills, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

A Keyrock spokesperson told CoinDesk that the acquisition is subject to court approval. According to a bankruptcy filing, Keyrock agreed to a purchase price of $3.25 million, and will assume “substantially all” of BlockFills’ assets, certain liabilities, some of its equity interests, customer lists and its proprietary technology and intellectual property.

“We can confirm that, as set out in the official Bankruptcy Court document filed on 26 May 2026, Keyrock SA has been declared the ‘Successful Bidder’ for certain assets of Reliz Technology Group Holdings Inc. and its affiliated debtors,” a Keyrock spokesperson said in a statement.

“A hearing to consider approval of the sale is currently scheduled for June [16,] 2026. In the meantime, parties continue to collaborate on the administrative process to complete the transaction. Furthermore, final completion of the transaction remains subject to final court approval and the appropriate regulatory approvals referenced in Keyrock’s bid,” they added.

BlockFills provides institutional clients with liquidity, financing and risk-management services, including crypto lending and borrowing, derivatives trading, and over-the-counter (OTC) execution. Its customer base includes hedge funds, asset managers, market makers and mining companies. Keyrock is a Brussels-based digital asset services firm that provides market making, liquidity, OTC trading and infrastructure solutions to crypto exchanges, institutions and token issuers.

Representatives for BlockFills did not return a request for comment by press time.

On March 15, Reliz Ltd., the operator of BlockFills, and three affiliated entities filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The court filing showed Reliz reporting assets between $50 million and $100 million against liabilities of $100 million to $500 million.

The firm decided to file for bankruptcy after consulting all stakeholders, it said in an official statement at the time.

“After extensive discussions with investors, clients, creditors, and other stakeholders, BlockFills has determined that a voluntary chapter 11 filing is the most responsible path forward in order to preserve the value of the business and maximize recoveries for stakeholders. This filing will allow the firm to implement an orderly restructuring while maintaining transparency and oversight through the court-supervised process,” it said.

CoinDesk reported in February that the Chicago-based firm had suffered losses of roughly $75 million and was seeking either a buyer or emergency financing.

Earlier that the month the company announced that it was suspending customer withdrawals and deposits, citing challenging market and financial conditions. At the time, BlockFills said it was working with investors and clients to restore liquidity and reach a resolution.

According to Blockfills, trading volume exceeded $60 billion in 2025, a 28% increase from the previous year. The firm said it served approximately 2,000 institutional clients and ranked among the more active desks in the institutional crypto lending and borrowing market.

The acquisition comes months after Keyrock raised a Series C round led by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s venture capital arm, at a $1.1 billion valuation.

It acquired Turing Capital, a fund manager based in Luxembourg, last fall, in a push to expand into asset and wealth management, it announced in September.

Read more: Crypto trading firm BlockFills files for bankruptcy

Hyperliquid’s HYPE Breakout Puts $100 Price Target in Play

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Hyperliquid’s HYPE Breakout Puts $100 Price Target in Play

Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, has rallied more than 30% in five days to a record high near $74, with a bullish chart breakout now pointing to a potential move above $100.

HYPE/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

Key takeaways:

  • HYPE has broken out of a bull pennant pattern, putting its measured upside target near $105.
  • Hyperliquid has become the second-largest blockchain by app revenue on a 30-day rolling basis.

HYPE bull pennant hints at rally toward $105

Hyperliquid’s rally may have further room to run after HYPE broke out of a textbook bull pennant pattern.

The setup developed after HYPE’s sharp late-May rally formed the pattern’s “flagpole,” followed by a brief consolidation inside a symmetrical triangle. During this pause, the token printed lower highs and higher lows, showing tightening volatility before the next directional move.

HYPE/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

In technical analysis, bull pennants typically resolve when the price breaks above the upper trend line. Traders then estimate the upside target by adding the flagpole’s height to the breakout point.

Over the weekend, HYPE moved above the triangle’s upper boundary on rising volume, suggesting stronger conviction behind the breakout. If the pattern plays out as intended, the price could climb toward its measured target near $105.30 by June or July, about 45% above current levels.

However, momentum is becoming stretched. HYPE’s relative strength index was above 77 on Monday, placing it in overbought territory and raising the odds of a brief consolidation or correction.

If profit-taking accelerates, HYPE could retest its 20-day exponential moving average near $58.32 in June. A decisive break below that level would weaken the bullish setup and risk invalidating the pennant breakout.

Hyperliquid futures show a strong bullish bias

Derivatives market data adds another bullish layer to HYPE’s technical breakout.

Hyperliquid’s open interest has climbed to a record $3.5 billion, up from about $1.41 billion at the beginning of the year, according to Coinglass data. The sharp rise shows that more leveraged capital is entering HYPE markets as it pushes into price discovery.

Hyperliquid open interest. Source: CoinGlass

HYPE’s open interest-weighted funding rate stood near 0.0050% every eight hours as of Monday and has remained positive through most of the latest rally.

Hyperliquid OI-weighted funding rates. Source: CoinGlass

That means long traders have been paying short traders to keep their perpetual futures positions open, a sign that leveraged demand has leaned bullish. While not extreme, the consistently positive funding rate points to a clear upside bias in HYPE’s derivatives market.

Meanwhile, short sellers have taken the bigger hit during the latest rally.

Since May 20, HYPE has seen about $126.28 million in short liquidations, compared with $68.85 million in long liquidations.

Hyperliquid total liquidation chart. Source: CoinGlass

That imbalance suggests bearish traders have been forced to close positions as the price moved higher, creating a “short squeeze.”

Further gains in HYPE could put more shorts at risk of liquidation, forcing more buybacks and potentially accelerating the move toward the $100–$105 target zone.

Hyperliquid surpasses Ethereum in monthly app revenue

HYPE fundamentals are also leaning bullish.

Hyperliquid has overtaken Ethereum to become the second-largest blockchain by app revenue on a 30-day rolling basis, generating $57.9 million, according to DefiLlama.

Top revenue-generating protocols. Source: DefiLlama

The chain routes 99% of its protocol fees to its Assistance Fund, which buys HYPE on the open market. That buyback mechanism has become a core part of the bullish investment case for the token, as higher trading activity can lead to stronger recurring demand for HYPE.

The broader backdrop for perpetual futures has also improved.

On Friday, the CFTC recognized perps as useful tools for price discovery and risk management, helping legitimize the market that sits at the center of Hyperliquid’s business model, even if the protocol is not a direct beneficiary.

HYPE has rallied roughly 25% since the CFTC update.

Related: Hyperliquid launches prediction markets for real-world events

The launch of US-listed HYPE exchange-traded funds (ETF) may also help fuel the rally.

US Spot HYPE ETF net flows. Source: SoSoValue

Since their May 12 debut, HYPE funds from Bitwise and 21Shares have attracted a combined $122.2 million in net assets, according to SoSoValue, pointing to early institutional demand for exposure to the digital token.

Telegram’s Durov Renames TON’s Native Token to Gram, Price Climbs as Much as 19%

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Telegram’s Durov Renames TON’s Native Token to Gram, Price Climbs as Much as 19%

Pavel Durov said in a Telegram channel post that The Open Network’s native cryptocurrency will be renamed from Toncoin to Gram over the next three weeks, restoring the 2018 whitepaper name the SEC blocked. The token climbed as high as $2.21.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on Monday that The Open Network’s native cryptocurrency will be renamed from Toncoin to Gram over the next three weeks, in a post to his personal Telegram channel that revives the 2018 whitepaper name the SEC blocked six years ago.

“TON’s native currency is becoming Gram,” Durov wrote. “Gram was the original name of TON’s currency in the first white paper. We’re returning to our roots — and starting a new chapter.” Durov framed the rename as “step 4 of 7 to Make TON Great Again,” the roadmap he has published through the same channel since taking over TON development from the Switzerland-based TON Foundation in May.

Toncoin climbed as high as $2.21 on Monday before paring some of the gain, a 24-hour rise of about 19% according to CoinMarketCap data on the TON/USDT pair, with 24-hour spot volume of roughly $575 million, more than double the prior session. The token had been near $1.83 before the post hit shortly after 15:48 UTC, CoinGecko data showed.

What the Rebrand Changes

The change is a rebrand, not a token swap. Durov said in the same post that “TON remains the name of the blockchain” and that the three-week transition will not require any action from holders, validators or DeFi integrations. Existing TON balances will simply trade under the GRAM ticker once exchanges and wallets cut over.

That distinction matters because the Gram name carries the heaviest legal baggage in TON’s history. Telegram raised about $1.7 billion in two 2018 presale rounds for Gram tokens that were never issued, and in October 2019 the SEC obtained an emergency action halting the offering as an unregistered securities sale.

The June 2020 settlement required Telegram to return $1.2 billion to investors and pay an $18.5 million penalty, and Durov shut the project down the following month. Independent developers later revived the codebase and rebranded the asset Toncoin in 2021 — a name chosen in part to put distance from the litigated Gram brand.

Telegram Roadmap

Step 4 follows three upgrades Durov pushed through the channel since taking the validator helm in May. The network rolled out Catchain 2.0 for sub-second block finality, cut base transaction fees by roughly six times, and made Telegram itself TON’s largest validator with millions of tokens staked through the messenger’s own infrastructure. Three more steps are still to come; Durov has not detailed them publicly.

The market response has been front-loaded into each step. Toncoin roughly doubled from $1.30 to a $2.80 peak through May’s validator-takeover and fee-cut announcements before retracing, and the Gram rename adds another 19% candle on top.

Where It Could Get Awkward

A pure rename does not change supply, fees or the on-chain mechanics that drive long-run token value, and Durov did not pair Monday’s post with the customary detail an SEC-cleared issuer would publish; a transition schedule for exchanges, a coordinated wallet update plan, or a statement from the TON Foundation, which has not yet posted on the rebrand.

Reviving the Gram name also reopens questions about U.S. regulatory perception six years after the original offering was shut down, even though the new Gram is the existing TON token under a new label, not a fresh issuance.

The three-week transition will play out across exchange listings and wallet interfaces through mid-June. Durov has signaled steps 5 through 7 will follow.

Crypto funds suffer second-largest outflows of 2026 while XRP and HYPE attract inflows

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Crypto funds suffer second-largest outflows of 2026 while XRP and HYPE attract inflows

Crypto investment products recorded their second-largest weekly outflow of 2026 by the end of May, with investors pulling $1.67 billion from digital asset funds as geopolitical tensions and a broader risk-off mood weighed on markets, according to a report from CoinShares.

The withdrawals marked the third consecutive week of net outflows and brought total redemptions over the past three weeks to $4.21 billion. CoinShares said concerns surrounding Iran had overwhelmed any positive sentiment generated by recent progress on the CLARITY Act, a U.S. crypto market structure bill.

Assets under management across digital asset investment products fell to $141 billion from $148 billion the previous week, their lowest level since early April.

The latest outflows coincide with a sharp decline in crypto prices. Bitcoin fell close to the $70,000 mark on Monday after reports that Iran had halted talks with the United States in protest over Israel’s continued incursions into Lebanon. The move coincided with Strategy (MSTR), the largest holder of bitcoin, selling some of its stack after years of its executive chairman Michal Saylor vowing he wouldn’t do so. The largest cryptocurrency dropped about 3% over the past 24 hour period, adding pressure to digital asset investment products.

The United States accounted for nearly all of last week’s withdrawals, with investors pulling $1.63 billion from crypto funds. Germany, which had largely avoided earlier bouts of selling, recorded $25.7 million in outflows. Sweden and Hong Kong posted withdrawals of $6.6 million and $4.5 million, respectively.

Bitcoin BTC$71,472.93 investment products saw the largest share of the selling, losing $1.44 billion during the week. According to CoinShares, that was the largest weekly bitcoin outflow of 2026, surpassing both the previous week’s record and the peak reached during January’s selloff. Year-to-date bitcoin inflows have fallen sharply to $1.19 billion, down from $2.6 billion a week earlier and $3.9 billion two weeks ago.

Ethereum (ETH) funds also came under pressure, recording $257.3 million in outflows. Meanwhile, investor appetite for alternative cryptocurrencies weakened considerably. CoinShares noted that only five digital assets attracted more than $1 million in inflows, down from 11 assets three weeks ago. XRP (XRP) led with $20.3 million in inflows, followed by Hyperliquid (HYPE) at $10.8 million and Near at $7.6 million.

Despite the recent pullback, crypto investment products still hold roughly $142 billion in assets globally, underscoring how much institutional capital remains invested in the sector even as market sentiment deteriorates.

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