Ether price is pinned below $5,000, but heavy accumulation and record institutional flows set the stage for a potential $6,800 target in Q4. Key takeaways: Roughly 1.7 million ETH ($7.5 billion) were accumulated in the $4,300 to $4,400 range, creating strong support. Institutional demand surges as CME open interest hits all-time highs with short-term maturities dominating. Read more
Prediction markets now overwhelmingly favor Native Markets, but questions about credibility linger as the vote approaches. Ethena, the team behind the USDe synthetic dollar protocol, withdrew its bid to issue Hyperliquid’s USDH stablecoin, conceding to concerns raised in direct discussions with community members and validators. In a X statement Thursday, the Ethena team acknowledged pushback over not being a Hyperliquid-native project and said it would step aside, congratulating rival Native Markets, now viewed as the frontrunner in the race. “While some are complaining about their [Native Markets] lack of credibility I think their success here perfectly embodies everything which is so special about Hyperliquid and their community,” wrote Ethena Labs founder Guy Young, adding: Read more
Mega Matrix is betting big on Ethena, positioning itself as the first public proxy for the ecosystem as stablecoin regulation heats up. Public holding company Mega Matrix (MPU) has made the Ethena stablecoin ecosystem the centerpiece of its digital asset strategy, betting that the synthetic dollar project can capture market share from incumbents like Circle. The company’s push comes on the heels of the US GENIUS Act, a comprehensive stablecoin bill that establishes federal oversight of issuers, sets capital and liquidity requirements and creates a framework for banks and fintechs to issue dollar-pegged tokens under regulatory supervision. However, Circle is currently the only publicly traded option to capitalize on the enormous growth of stablecoins, Colin Butler, Mega Matrix’s executive vice president and global head of markets, told Cointelegraph. Read more