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New liquid staking protocol for the Flare blockchain launches in private beta

Sceptre, a new liquid staking protocol for the ‘blockchain of data’, Flare, has launched in private beta.

Designed to maximize FLR yield, Sceptre will enable users to use their tokens in DeFi protocols while also continuing to claim native Flare rewards and monthly FlareDrops.

The Sceptre protocol has been developed by Rome Blockchain Labs (RBL), who are simultaneously building the lending and borrowing platform Kinetic. The two protocols will function hand in hand to help maximize the functionality of the FLR token.

Flare, which is billed as the blockchain for data, has three native reward mechanisms:

  • Staking to infrastructure providers to support network consensus and security
  • Delegating to the Flare Time Series Oracle to support the delivery of decentralized data to the network
  • Receiving monthly FlareDrops for network participation.

Hugo Philion, co-founder of Flare, welcomed Sceptre to the ecosystem:

“The Flare tokenomics, and particularly the 36 monthly FlareDrops that will run until January 2026, are weighted heavily towards the community, with almost 60% of all tokens destined to them. With Sceptre and liquid staking, builders can take advantage of this attractive environment knowing that potential users of their dapps will still have access to these native rewards.”

With liquid staking, holders can continue to receive these rewards while also using the liquid staked variant, sFLR, to earn additional yield in other protocols. This increases the functional liquidity of the FLR token, creating a more attractive building environment for developers.

Users start by staking their FLR with Sceptre and receiving sFLR in return. The sFLR continues accumulating the Flare native rewards while providing full liquidity. When unstaked from the platform, the user receives their initial stake plus rewards and FlareDrops, minus a protocol fee.

Initially Sceptre will enable users to use sFLR to participate in lending protocols and dex liquidity pools, but RBL has indicated that further use cases are also in the pipeline.

Announcing the launch of Sceptre’s private beta, Alexander Elhorst, COO of Sceptre, said:

“Flare is a young and energetic network. Liquid staking will allow the growth of its DeFi ecosystem to accelerate even further. We see a bright future for the chain and want to help build it. We are happy to offer the first liquid staking protocol on the network and are looking forward to working with other ecosystem projects to integrate sFLR.”

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Jack Dorsey-backed Bitcoin mining pool OCEAN opens global hub in El Salvador

  • OCEAN Mining has announced the establishment of a global hub in El Salvador.
  • The Bitcoin mining pool is backed by Jack Dorsey.

OCEAN Mining, a Bitcoin mining pool backed by Jack Dorsey, the founder of payments firm Block (formerly Square), has established its headquarters in El Salvador.

OCEAN opens international hub in El Salvador

In a press release published on May 29, OCEAN said its new global hub would be based in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador.

The Bitcoin mining pool will use this hub to advance its global presence and promote decentralization in BTC mining.

OCEAN’s President Mark Artymko commented on the development:

“To further our decentralization efforts we needed a global presence, and El Salvador was the obvious choice. With places like Venezuela and the EU imposing legislation to ban Bitcoin mining, El Salvador’s political stance was in stark contrast and a beacon of hope for the industry.”

El Salvador’s “Bitcoin-first culture”

El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The country adopted BTC as legal tender in June, 2021, with the law becoming effective on September 7 that year.

President Nayib Bukele continues to champion the adoption of Bitcoin and has often provided updates on the country’s BTC holdings.

Stacy Herbert, head of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office, noted that the “Bitcoin-first culture” provides a conducive environment for crypto companies and entrepreneurs in the country.

“This decision by the OCEAN Mining team reaffirms that the Bitcoin-first culture we are building in El Salvador is providing the tools that entrepreneurs around the world need to thrive in a Bitcoin economy. We welcome OCEAN and all other companies working to advance Bitcoin adoption,” Herbert added.

OCEAN co-founder and CTO Luke Dashjr said that the hub will contribute to Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador and across the globe.

“El Salvador is on the leading edge of Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining adoption, and we believe OCEAN’s presence here will help to advance these efforts here and create new opportunities for El Salvador and elsewhere,” the Bitcoin Core developer noted.

OCEAN Mining launched in 2023, and faced some controversy as its operations went live.

In November, Jack Dorsey led a $6.2 million funding round for the mining pool’s Wyoming-based company Mummolin.

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MAGA Hat, Super Trump soar as politics-related memecoins heat up

  • MAGA Hat token has jumped more than 500% in the past 24 hours.
  • Super Trump reached  new all-time high on May 29 and is up 200% at the time of writing.
  • Meme coins are not directly linked to former US President Donald Trump, but his bid is inspiring new frenzy.

Meme coins fervour continues with politics-related and celebrity tokens at the centre of the latest FOMO. 

While tokens Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and Pepe remain top meme coins, there’s a rising tide in the politics arena with former US President Donald Trump-inspired tokens leading gains in the sector.

The biggest movers are MAGA (TRUMP), MAGA Hat (MAGA) and Super Trump (STRUMP).

US election and former President Donald Trump inspires meme coin frenzy

MAGA (TRUMP) epitomises the rise of PolitiFi meme coins.

According to data from CoinGecko, TRUMP, which traded around $0.01136 in October last year, has jumped a staggering 112500% to current price levels of $12.84.

In the past week, news that a wallet of the former US President Donald Trump directly holds millions of dollars’ worth of the token pushed TRUMP higher.

Trump’s campaign also announced it was accepting crypto donations, including in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin. During remarks made at a campaign event, Trump said he would free Ross Ulbricht on day one of presidency.

This comes as Trump looks to capture the huge crypto holder vote block, which data shows is largely leaning towards his crypto-friendly outlook.

MAGA Hat and Super Trump are soaring

Although tokens such as TRUMP, MAGA and STRUMP have no direct association with Donald Trump, the communities around these projects are overwhelmingly in support of his election bid.

The effort to have crypto count in the upcoming election adds to this growing trend – and meme coins tapping into this are seeing massive gains.

For instance, on May 29, the meme coin MAGA (TRUMP) hit an all-time high of $15.45, breaking into the top 150 coins by market cap. Meanwhile, Super Trump skyrocketed more than 240% to lead the PolitiFi tokens sector by 24-hour gains.

STRUMP price peaked at $0.02298 on May 29, and despite the volatility, remains more than 200% up in the past week.

Meanwhile, MAGA Hat has shot up more than 500%, reaching prices of $0.0006262. Buyers could catalyse a new run to the recently hit ATH of $0.0007379.

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Singapore’s largest bank DBS holds $650 million in ETH: Nansen

  • Singapore’s DBS bank holds over 173.7k ETH worth $650 million.
  • Blockchain analytics plaform Nansen identified a whale wallet with the ETH as belonging to the bank.

DBS, Singapore’s largest bank that boasts nearly $740 billion in assets, holds Ethereum (ETH) worth $650 million.

On Thursday, blockchain analytics firm Nansen revealed that a whale address with more than 173,700 ETH belongs to DBS. According to Nansen, the said wallet is $200 million in profit on the ETH holdings.

At the time of writing, the wallet address held 173,753 Ether tokens. At current ETH prices of $3,738, that’s worth around $649.4 million.

While this report highlights DBS’ crypto portfolio in terms of ETH holdings, it’s worth noting that the bank has traction in the crypto space. DBS runs a digital asset custody and exchange, catering to accredited investors and announced plans to launch a crypto retail desk.

DBS recently released a report that showed increased demand for crypto across retail and hedge funds among other investors. Per the research, a lot of the interest is around “ETF-like financial products backed by cryptos.”

SEC recently approved spot ETH ETFs

Ethereum price reached highs of $4,000 in March and rose close to the mark this month after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the rule change that allows for the listing of spot Ethereum ETFs in the US.

Anticipation is high ahead of the trading debut of ETH ETFs on exchanges. BlackRock’s filing of an updated spot Ethereum ETF S-1 form has added to speculation that this could happen in coming weeks.

More issuers whose 19b-4s the SEC approved recently are also expected to file their revised S-1s. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas sees end of June as a probable timeline.

DBS’ holding of ETH among other tokens is an overall bullish indicator for Ethereum and the market, particularly in regards to institutional demand.

The positive sentiment around US regulatory approach to crypto also adds to this outlook.

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