Schlagwort: crypto market news

• 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.

The post Daylight Energy raises $75M to expand decentralized energy infrastructure network appeared first on CoinJournal.

• 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.

📣🚨NEWS: @a16zcrypto has made a $50M strategic investment in Jito!

With BAM live on mainnet, Jito’s growing momentum across DeFi, and institutional adoption continuing to accelerate via JitoSol ETF’s, things are just getting started.

Accelerate Jito. pic.twitter.com/pKGhLyvkdI

— Jito (@jito_sol) October 16, 2025

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.

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.

The post Jito’s JTO token rises on a16z’s $50 million investment in Solana staking protocol appeared first on CoinJournal.

• 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.

The post Lightning Stock Exchange secures EU license to launch Europe’s first tokenized equity platform appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Solana (SOL) has dropped by more than 6% in the past 24 hours.
• The altcoin has broken below $200 as macroeconomic headwinds intensify.
• This brings the losses for the week to 13%, with Solana now poised near support at $190.

As cryptocurrencies struggle to hold onto gains, Solana’s price has plummeted 6% in the past 24 hours.

The losses mean the altcoin is now below the psychologically significant $200 threshold, with bulls giving up gains from earlier in the month when SOL rose to near $240.

This sharp decline builds on a gruelling week where SOL has shed more than 13% overall.

As the chart below shows, paring gains has Solana price teetering on the edge of a critical support zone.

Risk-off sentiment, catalysed by a fresh escalation in the US-China trade tension, has also impacted all top coins.

Bitcoin has dropped to near $110,000 again, while Ethereum is testing the $4,000 mark.

Is SOL poised for a retest of $150?

SOL mirrors the overall financial markets’ outlook.

A positive resolution of the trade tensions could act as a catalyst, potentially restoring confidence and halting the slide.

For now, SOL’s weakness is evident. The token is testing the $190 support level on the daily chart — a zone that has shown resilience in recent sessions but remains fragile.

A breakdown from here could trigger another leg lower, setting up a retest of $170 — last week’s low when SOL tumbled from $222.

If selling pressure intensifies, even that buffer may fail, exposing the token to a deeper slide toward $150.

Technical indicators such as the daily RSI and MACD currently favour the bears, reinforcing the downside risk.

What could help Solana bulls?

Market sentiment offers a sliver of optimism, however.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has edged up from “extreme fear” to a more tempered “fear” following dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

His remarks hinted at the likelihood of two additional interest rate cuts this year, a development broadly bullish for risk-on assets, including cryptocurrencies.

Lower rates could ease borrowing costs, stimulate economic activity, and funnel fresh liquidity into digital assets.

Historically, the fourth quarter has been crypto’s strongest stretch — a seasonal tailwind that could help cushion SOL’s downside, particularly if global trade tensions ease.

Fueling optimism further is mounting anticipation around a potential spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval.

Expectations are running high that such a move could unlock billions in institutional inflows, validating Solana’s growing maturity and providing a more structural bid for price stability.

A sustained breakout above the $200 level would likely invalidate the prevailing bearish outlook.

If that happens, bullish momentum could drive SOL toward the $280 and $300 resistance zones.

The post Solana price forecast: SOL risks bearish flip amid 6% dip appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Deal includes $32.5 million cash and $67.5 million in Payward stock.
• Acquisition grants Kraken CFTC-licensed access to US derivatives market.
• Kraken strengthens position ahead of planned IPO in early 2026.

Kraken has acquired the US-licensed Small Exchange from IG Group in a $100 million deal, as the crypto exchange strengthens its push into regulated derivatives trading.

The acquisition, which includes $32.5 million in cash and $67.5 million in Payward stock — Kraken’s parent company — gives the exchange the ability to offer perpetual futures and round-the-clock trading directly to US customers under regulatory oversight.

Kraken gains CFTC-licensed access to US derivatives market

The Small Exchange is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Designated Contract Market (DCM).

This means Kraken can now operate within the US regulatory framework and offer futures trading without routing activity through third-party venues.

The move will allow the exchange to integrate clearing, risk, and matching services into a single environment that adheres to the same standards as major global exchanges.

This acquisition represents a major step for Kraken’s expansion strategy.

The company already holds similar regulatory permissions in the UK and the EU and recently purchased the retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion.

That deal enabled the firm to provide CME-listed futures across crypto, equities, and commodities, expanding its global derivatives footprint.

IG Group secures profit and ongoing partnership

For IG Group, the sale of Small Exchange marks a strategic exit from its US derivatives operations.

The $100 million deal is expected to generate a post-tax gain of £73.3 million and increase IG’s regulatory capital by £22.7 million.

Despite divesting its ownership, IG will continue to collaborate with Kraken through a partnership agreement that ensures access to product distribution opportunities linked to the exchange’s derivatives offerings.

This decision aligns with IG’s broader goal of focusing on growth in other regions.

The company recently strengthened its crypto operations by acquiring Independent Reserve, an Australian cryptocurrency exchange, and securing a cryptoasset licence from the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

Move comes ahead of planned IPO

Kraken’s acquisition comes at a time when the exchange is preparing for an initial public offering, expected as early as the first quarter of next year.

The move to own a US-licensed futures exchange could help position the company more favourably with investors and regulators ahead of its listing.

The US regulatory environment for crypto firms has also become more flexible under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Several enforcement cases, including some involving Kraken, have been dropped or paused while new rules governing the digital asset sector are being developed.

The post Kraken looks to expand US derivatives business with $100M IG deal appeared first on CoinJournal.