Kategorie: Crypto News

• Ethena Labs and Securitize are joining forces to launch Converge, a new blockchain for decentralized finance and tokenized assets.
• Converge will be Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible and serve both retail and institutional DeFi.
• ENA price rose 5% to change hands above $0.38 following the announcement

Ethena Labs and Securitize are teaming up on a venture that will see the crypto projects unveil Converge, a new blockchain built for tokenized assets and decentralized finance.

Announced on Mar. 17, Converge will be a custom-built, Ethereum-compatible blockchain. The developers envision a platform that will cater to both everyday investors and deep-pocketed institutional players.

Per a blog post introducing the new blockchain, the anticipated launch date is Q2 2025.

Ethena, Securitize unveil Converge

According to Ethena Labs, Converge is a blockchain platform designed to bridge the gap between traditional finance and DeFi.

The technology behind the EVM-compatible chain will allow users to leverage user-friendly decentralized applications for retail investors. Converge will also offer a suite of top tools aimed at institutional investors.

Both Ethena Labs and Securitize plan to tap into the new blockchain to advance the DeFi and asset tokenization ecosystem. In this case, the partnership will see Ethena bring its burgeoning DeFi to Converge.

Securitize will also revamp its traction in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization space. With nearly $2 billion minted, Securitize stands out as one of the top platforms championing the growth of tokenized assets.

Converge’s unveiling will bring an EVM-compatible settlement layer, driving new adoption for stablecoins and tokenized assets.

“We’re developing Converge to fill a clear gap in the market as the go-to settlement layer for institutional-grade DeFi and tokenized assets,” Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs, said in a statement.

According to Young, “storage and settlement of stablecoins and tokenized assets” is set to be a massive opportunity in the coming years.

Stablecoins, blockchains and exchanges are a “holy trinity of crypto protocols” the Ethena Labs founder posted on X.

Further comments came from Carlos Domingo, the co-founder and CEO of Securitize. He noted:

“By combining Ethena’s innovation in DeFi with Securitize’s leadership in tokenizing real-world assets, Converge sets a new standard for how institutions can confidently engage with on-chain financial markets.”

Converge’s initial launch partners

The two firms will look to advance Converge via key industry collaborations. Helping the cause are initial launch partners, including Pendle, Aave Labs (via its Horizon project), Morpho, Ethereal and Maple Finance.

Converge’s RWA traction will also benefit from custodial support from Anchorage, Copper, Fireblocks and Zodia among other institutional-grade custody providers.

Also key will be interoperability partners LayerZero and Wormhole. Meanwhile, Converge will tap into oracle support from Pyth Network and RedStone.

Furthermore, Converge will use Ethena’s native governance token ENA for staking and security. The latter will tap into a permissioned validator set. The USDe and USTb stablecoins will power network transactions as gas tokens.

The news saw the ENA token jump more than 5% to trade above $0.38.

The post Ethena Labs and Securitize to launch Converge, a new blockchain for DeFi appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Canary Capital’s Sui exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been acknowledged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• The crypto fund manager has filed several altcoin ETFs with the SEC, including Hedera, Litecoin, and XRP
• The Sui ETF comes as the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) announced last week that it would be adding Sui assets to its token reserve

Canary Capital has filed an S-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a Sui exchange-traded fund (ETF) as institutional interest rises.

According to a blog from the Sui Foundation, the SEC has acknowledged the filing, which it noted was a “critical early step” in the approval of the ETF.

The March 17 Sui ETF filing is the latest from Canary Capital. A few crypto ETFs it’s already filed for with the SEC include Hedera, Litecoin, and XRP. The new filing follows a regulatory change within the agency after the re-election of US President Donald Trump last November.

Since then several organizations have filed S-1 and 19b-4 forms with the SEC to track and list crypto ETFs.

Joining WLFI

The Sui Foundation said: “The Sui ecosystem’s momentum is directly attributable to its technological edge, recently attracting a flurry of institutional builders and products, surpassing $70 billion in decentralized exchange (DEX) volume, and amassing over 67 million accounts. The Canary Capital ETF filing is the latest validation of this trajectory, as institutions continue to recognize the advantages of Sui’s technology.”

News of Canary Capital filing for a Sui ETF is also significant as the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial platform (WLFI) announced last week it would add Sui assets to its token reserve.

Evan Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Mysten Labs, the original contributor to Sui, said: “We believe that the combination of Sui’s technology and WLFI’s ambitions could help redefine how the world stores and uses assets.”

The move for a Sui ETF comes after the crypto fund manager filed a trust entity in the state of Delaware on March 6. The next step for Canary Capital is to file a 19b-4 form with the SEC.

The post Canary Capital files S-1 form for a Sui ETF with the SEC appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Plume jumped 20% after YZi Labs announced an investment in Plume Network
• The price of PLUME reached $0.18, not far from its all-time high of $0.21.
• Plume has raised funds from Brevan Howard, Haun Ventures and Galaxy.

Plume Network’s native token PLUME soared 20% as YZi Labs, formerly Binance Labs, announced its investment in the layer 1 network.

PLUME rose sharply to hit intraday highs of $0.18, with this pushing bulls to near the all-time high of $0.2108. The altcoin reached this price level in January 2025.

Per CoinGecko data at the time of writing, bulls were just 15% off that peak.

YZi Labs invests in Plume Network

Plume Network is a crypto platform aiming to bridge traditional finance and decentralized finance.

Over the past several months, the project has attracted attention and investment. Largely, it’s been down to the project’s traction in the real world assets market. As it looks to bring RWA on-chain, Plume has attracted backing from Brevan Howard Digital, Haun Ventures and Galaxy.

YZi Labs is another venture capital heavyweight backing the Plume Network’s RWAfi initiative, according to an announcement.

The investment underscores Plume’s potential and sees Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao led YZi Labs continue its push into RWA, artificial intelligence and other sectors at the intersection of TradFi and DeFi.

In a comment on the investment, YZi Labs investment director Max Coniglio, said:

“At YZi Labs, we invest in projects that harness blockchain technology to create real-world impact, and Plume is a prime example—they are bringing real-world assets on-chain to unlock new capital, expand access, and drive adoption. By making RWAs as seamless as any other digital asset, Plume is bridging traditional finance and DeFi, paving the way for broader adoption.”

While today’s announcement did not disclose the financial terms of the investment, it adds to past funding moves aimed at boosting Plume’s growth. In October 2023, the project raised $10 million in a seed round led by VC firm Haun Ventures.

YZi participated in the financing deal.

On this latest collaboration, Plume Network’s chief executive officer and co-founder, Chris Yin, said:

“YZi Labs’ investment reinforces our vision of building a robust RWAfi ecosystem that drives institutional asset adoption while empowering crypto-native users.”

Who else backs Plume?

Plume has recently inked major collaborations with the likes of Superstate, Fireblocks, Aethir, BounceBit, Mercado Bitcoin and Moca Network.

As noted, YZi Labs, rebranded from Binance Labs earlier this year. The venture capital firm now operates as a family office, with Binance co-founders Changpeng Zhao and Yi He at the helm.

The firm’s investment in the RWAfi project suggests confidence in what it’s likely to achieve in the market.

Other projects that have received notable adoption include Ondo Finance and MANTRA.

The post PLUME token jumps 20% as YZi Labs invests in Plume Network appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Bitcoin and Ethereum traded at key levels amid $1.7 billion in crypto investment outflows for last week.
• The negative flows have now stretched to five straight weeks, with outflows running for 17 straight days.
• BTC traded just above $83k while ETH hovered near $1,900 as of writing.

Bitcoin and Ethereum prices continue to struggle amid a broader market downturn.

On Monday , March 17, 2025, both BTC and ETH traded just in the green at $83,417 and $1,907. The top two digital assets by market cap were up 1.1% and 1.5% respectively.

The outlook mirrored the broader crypto market, which has seen billions of dollars wiped off the market. Also trending has been the massive liquidations to hit cryptocurrencies since BTC flipped negative with price plummeting below $100k and then $90k.

Digital assets see outflows for fifth straight week

Per latest report on performance of digital asset investment products, bearish pressure remains as outflows mount. James Butterfill, head of research at crypto asset manager CoinShares, reported that the market recorded a fifth consecutive week of outflows last week.

Investors pulled over $1.7 billion from crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) and other investment products for the week ending March 14. Overall, it extended the negative flows to a  five-week total of $6.4 billion.

“This also marks the 17th straight day of outflows, the longest negative streak since our records began in 2015,” Butterfill noted.

Despite the gloom, year-to-date inflows remain in positive territory at $912 million.

What analysts are however looking at is the sustained price correction. To many, this is likely to dent investor confidence, which is low after tariffs concerns and general jittery outlook across risk asset markets.

Already, negativity has slashed total assets under management by $48 billion to $133 billion.

Top two by market cap lead in outflows

Bitcoin’s weekly outflows reached $978 million, pushing its five-week total to a staggering exit of $5.4 billion. Interestingly, investors have also been unwinding short-bitcoin positions.

Last week, a total of $3.6 million in short BTC positions left exchange-traded funds and other digital asset products.

In a comment on what may be next for BTC and other assets, analysts at QCP Capital noted:

“BTC is holding strong, but will macro headwinds take control? Watch for US Retail Sales data & Fed commentary this week—they could set the tone for the next big move.”

The trend has also been downward for Ethereum – both in terms of market price and investment products AUM. In the past week, concerned investors pulled $175 million from ETH products, which coincides with a 7.7% downturn in seven days. Ether price is down by more than 30% in the past month.

As well as ETH, Solana registered notable outflows of $2.2 million. However, XRP defied the trend with $1.8 million in inflows.

The post BTC, ETH struggle as crypto ETP outflows hit fifth consecutive week appeared first on CoinJournal.