PA Daily News | Startale completes $63 million Series A funding round; Bitmine launches institutional-grade Ethereum staking platform MAVAN

Today's top news highlights:

A proposal to allow cryptocurrency inclusion in 401(k) retirement plans has passed White House review.

US SEC Chairman: Tokenization innovation exemption may be issued in the coming weeks

Upbit will list its KAT token on the Korean Won, BTC, and USDT markets.

Franklin Templeton partners with Ondo to launch ETFs that can be traded 24/7 in crypto wallets.

Coinbase partners with Chainlink to put order book and derivatives data on-chain.

Bitmine launches MAVAN, an institutional-grade Ethereum staking platform.

Soneium, in partnership with developer Startale, has raised $63 million in Series A funding, with participation from SBI Group and others.

Sky Treasury Inc. (SDEV) holds 2.135 billion SKY tokens, worth approximately $156 million.

Regulation & Macro

A new proposed bill in the United States seeks to ban the US president and members of Congress from participating in prediction markets.

U.S. lawmakers from both parties have introduced the "Preventing Real-Time Exploitation and Deceptive Insider Trading Act," which proposes banning the president, members of Congress, and senior government officials from betting on prediction markets, with their spouses and dependents also subject to restrictions. Violators would face a penalty of 10% of the total contract value and would be required to forfeit all profits.

The bill comes as U.S. lawmakers and regulators are increasing scrutiny of prediction markets, targeting contracts on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket involving politics, war, and sports. This follows the introduction of the "Prohibition of Transactions Related to Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act" by two other Democratic lawmakers.

A proposal to allow cryptocurrency inclusion in 401(k) retirement plans has passed White House review.

A Trump-backed proposal to allow cryptocurrencies and private equity to be included in 401(k) retirement plans has passed White House review. The U.S. Department of Labor is expected to release relevant rules soon.

US SEC Chairman: Tokenization innovation exemption may be issued in the coming weeks

According to The Block, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prepares to introduce an innovation exemption program for tokenized assets, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on March 25 entitled "Tokenization and the Future of Securities: Modernizing Capital Markets." Republican Representative Andy Barr stated that securities tokenization is an inevitable trend, and the U.S. needs to lead this process while protecting investors. Some Democratic lawmakers expressed concern that the innovation exemption could weaken core securities regulation. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the agency will soon solicit public comments on a range of issues related to future rulemaking, including a proposed innovation exemption that could serve as a regulatory sandbox for on-chain assets.

CFTC Chairman: Bringing crypto perpetual futures back to the US is a key focus of the CFTC's innovation policy agenda.

Michael Selig, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that bringing “real” cryptocurrency perpetual futures back to the United States is a key component of the agency’s innovation policy agenda.

Traders are increasing their bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike, believing there is a greater than 50% chance of a rate increase this year.

According to CLS News Agency, traders have increased their bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike, believing that the probability of a rate hike this year is greater than 50%.

Nvidia faces class-action lawsuit for concealing cryptocurrency mining revenue.

According to Decrypt, a U.S. federal judge has granted certification to a securities fraud class-action lawsuit against Nvidia and its CEO Jensen Huang. Investors allege that Nvidia concealed the true extent of its gaming GPU revenue related to cryptocurrency mining between 2017 and 2018, and internal company emails show that executives believed Nvidia's stock was "held high due to these statements." In November 2018, after Nvidia disclosed a decline in cryptocurrency-related sales, its stock price fell approximately 28.5% within two trading days.

In 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined Nvidia $5.5 million for failing to disclose the impact of cryptocurrency mining on its business. This case, originally filed in 2018, was dismissed in 2021, but was successfully appealed. After the Supreme Court rejected Nvidia's appeal, it is now proceeding as a class-action lawsuit. The class-action lawsuit covers investors who purchased Nvidia stock between August 10, 2017, and November 15, 2018. A hearing is scheduled for April 21.

Trump plans to appoint Zuckerberg, Huang, and Ellison to his Science and Technology Advisory Committee.

Trump plans to appoint Zuckerberg, Huang, and Ellison to his Technology Advisory Council. The council will advise on the administration's artificial intelligence policy and other issues. David Sachs will serve as co-chair of the council.

Project Updates

Upbit will list its KAT token on the Korean Won, BTC, and USDT markets.

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit will list the KAT token on the Korean Won, BTC, and USDT markets.

Binance Alpha has opened the second round of the Tradoor airdrop, with a minimum requirement of 242 points.

According to the official announcement, Binance Alpha has opened the second round of the Tradoor (TRADOOR) airdrop. Users with at least 242 Binance Alpha Points can claim 14 TRADOOR tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If the reward pool is not fully distributed, the points threshold will automatically decrease by 5 every 5 minutes. Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim on the Alpha event page within 24 hours, otherwise they will be considered to have forfeited their claim.

X Platform Product Manager: Grok's full algorithmic functionality will be available next week.

Nikita Bier, product manager for the X platform, stated that Grok's full algorithmic capabilities will be available next week, marking the most significant change to the X platform to date.

Tron DAO has expanded its AI fund to $1 billion to build an intelligent agent economy.

Tron DAO has expanded its AI fund from $100 million to $1 billion, focusing on investing in early-stage startups building core infrastructure for the smart agent economy. The fund will focus on four areas: proxy identity systems, stablecoin-based payment channels, tokenized real-world assets, and developer tools for autonomous financial systems.

SlowMist: Apifox desktop client suffers supply chain attack; malicious code can steal credentials and execute commands remotely.

MilkyWay has announced the closure of its L1 chain, and user assets have been returned to the native chain.

Liquidity staking protocol MilkyWay has announced the initiation of its L1 mainnet shutdown process. Prior to the shutdown, the team completed the chain upgrade and returned all assets from MilkyWay L1 to its native chain. Previously held assets have been returned to the native chain (e.g., TIA from Celestia has been returned to the Celestia network). If users do not see their funds, the official team recommends submitting their wallet address to the official team or leaving a message under the announcement post for further assistance.

Franklin Templeton partners with Ondo to launch ETFs that can be traded 24/7 in crypto wallets.

According to Bloomberg, asset management firm Franklin Templeton, in partnership with Ondo Finance, has launched a tokenized version of ETFs that can be traded 24/7 in crypto wallets, bypassing traditional brokerage accounts and limited trading hours. The product covers US stocks, fixed income, and gold, initially targeting investors in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. Franklin stated that the launch date in the US market will depend on further clarification from regulators regarding the on-chain distribution of registered funds by third parties.

Coinbase partners with Chainlink to put order book and derivatives data on-chain.

Coinbase is bringing its exchange market data directly onto the blockchain for the first time through Chainlink's newly launched DataLink service. This integration covers order books, perpetual contracts, futures, and some stock and commodity data from Coinbase International Exchange and Coinbase Derivatives Exchange, providing real-time access to decentralized protocols and applications for building or optimizing derivatives, tokenized assets, and other products.

Movement launches native stablecoin USDCx

Move Industries, a core contributor to the Movement Network, has launched USDCx on the Movement M1 mainnet. This stablecoin is fully backed by USDC reserves at a 1:1 ratio and automatically converts USDC across chains via Circle xReserve, requiring no third-party bridge and with near-zero minting fees. It has also been integrated into ecosystem applications such as DEXs, lending platforms, wallets, and institutional custody.

Coinbase will list Perle (PRL) spot trading.

Coinbase Markets announced that spot trading of Perle (PRL) will be launched on March 25, and the PRL-USD trading pair will be launched later today, subject to liquidity conditions.

Bitmine launches MAVAN, an institutional-grade Ethereum staking platform.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies announced the official launch of its self-developed institutional-grade Ethereum staking platform, MAVAN. Based on a distributed infrastructure in the US and globally, the platform provides ETH and other PoS chain staking services to institutions, custodians, and ecosystem partners. Bitmine stated that it currently has 3,142,643 ETH staked, equivalent to approximately $6.8 billion at $2,148 per ETH, and plans to migrate almost all of its remaining unstaken ETH to MAVAN in the coming weeks. Based on the current 2.83% seven-day BMNR yield, the annualized staking rewards are close to $300 million.

Binance has released a risk guide for market makers, reminding project teams to be wary of illegal activities.

Binance has issued risk warnings and compliance guidelines for crypto market makers. The article points out that projects should be wary of unusual behaviors such as premature or excessive selling that deviates from the established unlock/distribution plan, one-sided sell orders, large-scale simultaneous selling pressure across multiple platforms, high trading volume with abnormally limited price fluctuations (suspected wash trading), and sharp price swings despite insufficient liquidity. Binance recommends that project teams conduct due diligence before selecting market makers, sign contracts clearly defining the intended use and compliance obligations, prohibit profit-sharing or guaranteed return models, and continuously monitor market-making activities after launch, reporting to the exchange and cooperating with blacklisting measures when necessary to maintain market order and protect user interests.

Investment and financing news

Soneium, in partnership with developer Startale, has raised $63 million in Series A funding, with participation from SBI Group and others.

According to The Block, Soneium blockchain co-developer Startale Group has completed a $63 million Series A funding round, including a $50 million Series B round led by SBI Group and a $13 million Series C round previously invested by Sony Innovation Fund. The company stated it will use the new funds to expand its Layer 1 network Strium to support institutional-grade tokenized securities and real-world asset trading, and to drive the adoption of stablecoins such as JPYSC. Startale and SBI previously partnered to launch Strium, a Layer 1 blockchain focused on tokenized securities and real-world asset trading, and JPYSC, the first yen stablecoin backed by a trust bank.

Cross-border payment company Tazapay has completed a $36 million Series B funding round, led by Circle Ventures.

Singapore-based cross-border payments company Tazapay has completed an extended Series B funding round led by Circle Ventures, bringing its total Series B funding to $36 million. New investors include CMT Digital and Coinbase Ventures, joining Circle Ventures, Peak XV Partners, January Capital, and GMO Venture Partners in this extended round. Existing investors include Ripple, Norinchukin Capital, ARC180, and RTP Global.

Tazapay focuses on building cross-border transaction settlement and payment infrastructure for businesses. It currently holds licenses or has completed registration in Singapore, Canada, Australia, and the United States, and is applying for relevant licenses in the UAE, the EU, and Hong Kong. The company stated that this round of funding will be used to obtain more regulatory approvals and develop products that automate payment processes.

Privacy-focused stablecoin payment network Payy raises $6 million in seed funding, led by FirstMark Capital.

According to The Block, Payy, a startup focusing on privacy-focused stablecoin payments, has completed a $6 million seed funding round led by FirstMark Capital, with participation from Robot Ventures and DBA Crypto. Formerly the Web3 database project Polybase, Payy transitioned to stablecoin payments in 2023. It currently offers self-custodied wallets and Visa cards supporting USDC transactions. Payy is also developing the Payy Network, a Layer 2 network on Ethereum using zero-knowledge proofs, to achieve on-chain privacy for transaction amounts, addresses, and other information.

Opinions & Analysis

Google has set 2029 as the deadline for quantum cryptography migrations afterward, warning that the quantum threat is rapidly approaching.

According to Cointelegraph, Google has set 2029 as its deadline for its post-quantum cryptography migration, warning that the threat of quantum computing may arrive sooner than expected. Google stated that rapid progress in quantum computing hardware and quantum error correction, along with updated timelines for quantum computers to break current encryption standards, has increased the urgency of the action. This is the first time Google has set a timeline for deploying post-quantum capabilities in its products, earlier than some industry predictions of "Q-Day." Google is developing its quantum chip Willow, which has 105 qubits and is one of the most powerful quantum processors currently available.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer supports a moratorium on cryptocurrency political donations, citing the risk of "illegal finance."

According to The Block, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a government suspension of accepting cryptocurrency political donations to address risks of illicit finance and foreign interference. This proposal is a temporary measure designed to buy time for regulators to develop transparency rules. Once the rules take effect, political parties will be required to return any cryptocurrency donations they have received, and violators may face criminal penalties after the grace period. This move stems from a government-commissioned review report that warned that cryptocurrency transactions could obscure the source of funds and increase the difficulty of enforcing donation rules and identifying foreign sources. Previously, the Reform Party accepted tens of millions of pounds in cryptocurrency donations, prompting cross-party MPs to call for an "immediate ban" on cryptocurrency political donations, arguing that they pose an "unacceptably high risk" to electoral integrity.

Important data

Sky Treasury Inc. (SDEV) holds 2.135 billion SKY tokens, worth approximately $156 million.

According to on-chain analyst Ember, Sky Treasury (SDEV) holds 2.135 billion SKY tokens, worth approximately $156 million, including 31.6 million SKY tokens (approximately $2.31 million) in staking interest. Its average purchase cost for SKY is approximately $0.065. The most recent purchase occurred last night, withdrawing 184 million SKY tokens (approximately $14 million) from Coinbase Prime to the blockchain.