Daylight Energy raises $75M to expand decentralized energy infrastructure network

  • Daylight Energy secures $75M to grow its decentralized physical energy network.
  • Framework Ventures leads funding; A16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures join in.
  • New DayFi protocol links energy infrastructure yields to DeFi investors.

Daylight Energy has raised $75 million in new funding to accelerate the growth of its decentralized energy network, marking a major milestone for the startup as it aims to bring blockchain-based innovation to the physical energy infrastructure sector.

The round combines both equity and project finance capital, underscoring growing investor interest in decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN).

Funding structure and investor participation

The $75 million round includes $15 million in equity and $60 million in non-recourse project finance capital, which is secured directly against infrastructure assets, according to CEO Jason Badeaux.

This type of financing structure allows repayment from the project’s own cash flows rather than relying on the company’s balance sheet.

Framework Ventures led the $15 million equity raise, joined by several notable venture backers including A16z Crypto, Lerer Hippeau, M13, Room40 Ventures, EV3, Crucible Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Not Boring Capital.

The project finance portion was led by Turtle Hill Capital, according to a company statement.

Daylight plans to use the new capital to advance its position in the DePIN ecosystem, particularly focusing on decentralized energy distribution.

The company previously raised $9 million in Series A funding in 2023, also led by A16z Crypto, which has remained one of its core supporters.

Expanding the DePIN vision in energy

Founded in 2022, Daylight Energy is developing a decentralized protocol that enables users to connect their energy devices—such as thermostats, batteries, electric vehicles, and solar inverters—to its application.

In return, participants earn rewards for contributing to the network’s distributed infrastructure.

The concept builds on the growing DePIN movement, which seeks to decentralize ownership and control of physical assets like telecommunications, storage, and energy infrastructure through blockchain technology.

“To build the largest decentralized energy network in the world, you need to incentivize behavior change to adopt distributed energy and catalyze a huge amount of capital behind it,” Badeaux said. “Crypto is uniquely good at doing those two things and creates opportunities to align incentives, drive down costs, and rebuild this industry on a foundation of transparency, ownership, and shared economic upside.”

Daylight’s mission aligns with a broader industry push toward democratized access to clean energy generation and participation in its value chain.

By merging blockchain incentives with real-world energy systems, the firm aims to reduce barriers to decentralized adoption.

Introducing DayFi: a bridge between energy and DeFi

Alongside the new funding, Daylight announced DayFi, a yield protocol designed to open the energy infrastructure market to decentralized finance (DeFi) investors.

The protocol will allow users to earn returns directly tied to electricity revenues generated from Daylight’s growing portfolio of solar and storage assets.

This move effectively bridges renewable energy and DeFi, offering investors exposure to real-world energy production within a blockchain-native framework.

Daylight was co-founded by Jason Badeaux, Udit Patel, and Evan Caron, all veterans of the traditional energy sector.

The team’s combined experience and backing from prominent venture firms position Daylight as one of the leading players exploring how blockchain can reshape physical infrastructure markets.

With the new financing secured, Daylight Energy is poised to expand its decentralized network footprint and further integrate energy production, distribution, and financing into a transparent, tokenized ecosystem.

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Ripple (XRP) makes $1B move into corporate finance with GTreasury acquisition

  • Ripple expands beyond cryptocurrency payments into enterprise finance.
  • The purchase unlocks the multi-trillion-dollar treasury market.
  • Ripple will leverage GTreasury’s 4-decade experience to reach top and wealth clients.

Ripple is in the limelight again. This time outside crypto.

The remittance company has taken it to X to confirm purchasing the treasury management firm GTreasury for $1 billion.

The deal has gained traction as it marks Ripple’s bold move toward democratizing corporate finance.

Notably, GTreasury boasts a four-decade experience serving leading brands, and offers the traditional credibility that matches Ripple’s ethos.

The blockchain firm aims to transform the financial space with speed, reduced entry barriers, and lower fees, solving problems that have long engulfed the TradiFi space.

Commenting on the acquisition, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has said:

Ripple’s and GTreasury’s capabilities together bring the best of both worlds, so treasury and finance teams can finally put their trapped capital to work, process payments instantly, and open up new growth opportunities.

Ripple unlocks a new era for treasury management

The $1 billion purchase reflects Ripple’s dedication to combining old and new technology to revolutionize global finance.

Moreover, the timing appears perfect.

Corporate treasuries are exploring ways to navigate the new finance, which is centered around digital currencies.

Most are grappling with the best strategies to handle things like stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

Meanwhile, Ripple has acquired GTreasury to merge decades of treasury expertise and blockchain technology.

The alliance focuses on two things.

Firstly, it aims to unlock idle funds for enterprises to access new liquidity through strategic collaborations, like partnering with prime broker Hidden.

Secondly, corporations will enjoy near-instant payments, cutting the current settlement time to seconds from days.

GTreasury CEO Renaat Ver Eecke said:

The combination of our cash forecasting, risk management, and compliance foundation with Ripple’s speed, global network, and digital asset solutions creates an opportunity for treasuries to manage liquidity, payments, and risk in the new digital economy.

Why does it matter?

Ripple’s move into enterprise finance is about transformation and growth.

Treasury management systems have relied on outdated infrastructure for years, lagging behind tech innovation.

Blockchain is about to change that, with Ripple’s venture into the space promising transparency, efficiency, and speed in international monetary operations.

Keep in mind that Ripple’s XRPL can process up to 1,500 TPS (transactions per second).

Precisely, this acquisition connects two worlds. Ripple’s blockchain-centric efficiency meets GTreasury’s expertise in corporate finance.

Success here could alter how leading companies handle liquidity in the changing fiscal landscape.

With GTreasury’s acquisition, Ripple expands beyond cryptocurrency as it shapes the next phase of finance.

XRP price outlook

Ripple’s native token mirrored the current downside in the broader marketplace.

XRP hovers at $2.38 after losing more than 3% in the past 24 hours.

The GTreasury acquisition updates failed to flip sentiments as they coincided with Bitcoin’s dip below $108,000.

The cryptocurrency market exhibits significant selling pressure.

XRP should reclaim $2.80 to avoid potential declines to the support barrier at $2.10.

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Jito’s JTO token rises on a16z’s $50 million investment in Solana staking protocol

  • Jito’s native token, JTO, jumped 3% intraday on October 16, 2025, following a16z’s $50 million investment.
  • The $50 million investment by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, acquiring locked JTO tokens, signals strong institutional confidence in Jito’s liquid staking and MEV solutions.
  • The funding will fuel Jito’s Block Assembly Marketplace and node expansion.

Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm has  announced a $50 million investment in Jito, acquiring a substantial allotment of the protocol’s native JTO tokens.

Jito, an important infrastructure layer on the Solana blockchain, offers liquid staking and maximum extractable value (MEV) extraction.

a16z investment of $50m in staking protocol

Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) $50 million infusion into Jito marks the venture firm’s largest single commitment to a Solana staking protocol.

It eventually emphasizes strategic token purchases over traditional equity. In exchange for the investment, a16z received non-circulating JTO tokens, locking them for an extended period.

Brian Smith, executive director of the Jito Foundation. highlighted the deal’s novelty:

If you’re accepting long-term alignment where you can’t sell for a while, then there’s traditionally some modest discount associated with that.

This structure, particularly 16z’s prior $55 million LayerZero and $70 million EigenLayer investments, prioritizes ecosystem growth over quick flips.

The capital to accelerate Jito’s roadmap, including BAM node expansion.

Strategically, it aligns a16z with Solana’s high-throughput ethos, where Jito’s MEV tools mitigate front-running risks plaguing other chains.

This infusion arrives amid a16z’s aggressive crypto pivot, following $4.5 billion in new funds raised earlier in 2025.

As institutional inflows swell, the deal could herald a staking renaissance, democratizing yields while fortifying blockchain security.

Jito price outlook

Jito is currently trading at $1.16, up nearly 3% and has touched highs of $1.19 across major exchanges.

The gains came amid news of a16z’s investment and reflected trader optimism around the token as institutional validation takes root. Solana’s price rising in the past few weeks also buoyed traders.

Analysts are linking this rebound to the investment’s timing, coinciding with positive Solana network metrics. This includes a 15% uptick in daily active users and rising decentralized finance volume.

In terms of the technical outlook for JTO, the daily chart price is near the oversold territory with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 35.

The indecisive market nonetheless has Jito poised above $1 after bulls recovered from lows of $0.33 seen on October 10, 2025.

Jito price chart by TradingVew

Other than the technical perspective, regulatory shifts that could impact liquid staking tokens remain a risk.

However, recent SEC exemptions and broader market downturns indicate a long-term bullish outlook.

The surge to near $1.20 suggests bulls could eye the $1.50-$1.70 range, above which lie the key targets of $1.85 and $2.56.

If market conditions align, buyers will target the all-time peak above $5.61 reached in December 2023.

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Lightning Stock Exchange secures EU license to launch Europe’s first tokenized equity platform

  • Lise gains EU license to launch Europe’s first tokenized equity exchange for SMEs.
  • The DLT TSS license enables blockchain-based trading and settlement infrastructure.
  • Lise plans its first tokenized IPO in early 2026, backed by major French banks.

Lightning Stock Exchange (Lise), a new trading platform headquartered in France, has secured a Distributed Ledger Technology Trading and Settlement (DLT TSS) license from the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR).

The approval marks a major step toward launching what Lise describes as Europe’s first fully tokenized equity exchange dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“This approval authorizes us to operate the first tokenized stock exchange dedicated to equities in Europe,” said Lise’s managing director, Mark Kepeneghian, in a LinkedIn statement announcing the milestone.

Backed by leading French financial institutions including BNP Paribas and Bpifrance, Lise operates as a subsidiary of Kriptown — a company that brands itself as a “neo-exchange for startups and SMEs” focused on digital assets.

The exchange aims to bridge traditional finance with blockchain innovation, offering a regulated venue for SMEs to raise capital through tokenized equity offerings.

Understanding the DLT TSS license and its role

The DLT TSS license falls under the European Union’s DLT Pilot Regime, which provides a regulatory framework for market infrastructures using distributed ledger technology.

Introduced in March 2023, the DLT Pilot Regime governs the trading and settlement of financial instruments that qualify as crypto assets under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).

According to Lise, the license enables the creation of next-generation market infrastructure by integrating both market and post-trade functions within a single system.

This approach combines the roles of multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) and central securities depositories (CSDs), allowing for a more streamlined and efficient trading environment.

The company described the move as a “profound shift in how financial markets operate,” suggesting that blockchain-based settlement could significantly reduce transaction costs and processing times while improving transparency and security.

Tokenized IPOs set for launch in 2026

Lise’s approval follows its emergence from stealth in April 2025, when the company outlined its mission to “fundamentally rethink” the concept of initial public offerings (IPOs).

By leveraging blockchain technology, Lise plans to create a secure and cost-efficient alternative to traditional public listings.

“The first tokenized IPOs are expected to take place in early 2026, following the completion of issuer onboarding and final operational readiness testing,” Kepeneghian told Cointelegraph.

The company expects its debut tokenized IPO to serve as a proof-of-concept for its model, with plans to tokenize 10 additional IPOs in 2027.

The initiative has attracted attention from several major European banks.

In August, Caceis — the asset servicing arm of French banking group Crédit Agricole — acquired a minority stake in Kriptown to support Lise’s development.

Caceis said the move aligns with its long-term digital asset strategy and commitment to transforming financial market infrastructure.

Lise’s tokenization push comes amid growing momentum for tokenized securities across Europe.

Earlier this year, crypto exchanges such as Gemini and Kraken began offering tokenized securities to EU clients under the bloc’s evolving regulatory framework.

With its regulatory approval and backing from established financial players, Lise’s entry marks a milestone in Europe’s shift toward blockchain-based capital markets — one that could reshape how SMEs access funding in the digital age.

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Ethereum price forecast: ETH eyes $4,300 amid choppy price action

Key takeaways

  • ETH is trading around $4k per coin, down 1.7% in the last 24 hours.
  • The leading altcoin could rally towards $4,300 soon amid choppy price action.

Ethereum Foundation deploys 2,400 ETH and $6M on Morpho

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has been underperforming over the past 24 hours despite the Ethereum Foundation announcing its DeFi expansion to Morpho.

The Ethereum Foundation announced on Wednesday that it is deploying 2,400 ETH, valued at about $9.3 million, and $6 million worth of stablecoins into the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Morpho.

The team added that the funds will be deposited into Morpho’s yield-bearing vaults as it looks to expand its recent treasury policy. In its announcement, EF stated that, 

“Morpho is a pioneer in permissionless DeFi protocols and consistently demonstrates a commitment to Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) principles. FLOSS licenses ensure that builders are free to fork and build on existing protocols, making the DeFi ecosystem more resilient and permissionless.”

The Ethereum Foundation is the non-profit that manages research and protocol updates for the Ethereum blockchain. Currently, the foundation holds about $823 million worth of ETH assets in its treasury.

ETH could reclaim $4,300 as price action remains volatile

The ETH/USD 4-hour chart remains bearish and efficient as the price action in recent days has been choppy. The volatile price action resulted in $124.7 million in futures liquidations in Ethereum over the last 24 hours, with another $77.1 million in long liquidations also recorded. 

The momentum indicators are currently weak, but could turn bullish as market sentiment improves. ETH lost the $4,100 support on Wednesday after hitting the $4,300 level on Monday.

ETH/USD 4H Chart

The RSI of 47 is below the neutral 50, indicating that the bears are losing control of the market. The MACD lines are also within the negative zone after flashing a sell signal earlier this week. 

If the bearish trend continues, ETH could drop to the support near $3,470 in the coming hours. However, if the bulls keep ETH’s price above $4k, it could rally towards the $4,300 resistance level. An extended rally would bring the 4H TLQ of $4,513 into focus.

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