Binance Bridges CEX Liquidity With DEX

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Good Morning.

Everybody on CT is making a tier list and that’s when you know that it might not be a bad time to DCA some capital (obviously NFA). Anyway, EOS is reportedly rebranding to “Vaulta” and plans to launch new token… smh

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In Today's Email:

• What Matters: Binance Bridging CEX & DEX 🔗

• Case Study: Institutional to Increase Crypto Exposure 📈 

• Governance & Features: Cronos Approves 70B $CRO Reissuance 🖨️ 

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TOGETHER WITH

Ethena Launches Institutional-Focused Blockchain with BlackRock BUIDL Tokenization Platform Securitize

Ethena, in partnership with Securitize, BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenization platform, is launching Converge—a purpose-built blockchain settlement layer designed to merge traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized finance (DeFi).

Converge enables institutional investors to access compliant, tokenized financial products and DeFi applications at scale, unlocking new capital inflows into the crypto ecosystem.

Key Features

Institutional-Grade Settlement Layer—Converge provides a secure and compliant execution environment for traditional financial institutions to engage with tokenized assets and DeFi.

USDe and sENA at the Core—USDe will serve as the network’s gas token, while sENA will be a stakable asset securing transactions and enabling validator-level features like fast finality and pre-transaction privacy.

iUSDe: A Scalable Yield Solution for Institutional Investors—iUSDe combines staking and the futures basis trade, two of crypto’s largest yield sources, into a single dollar-denominated asset.

• As TradFi bond yields decline, iUSDe offers an alternative high-yield product, with structural return advantages—delivering 18% APY in 2024.

Tokenized Financial Products—Built on Securitize’s infrastructure, Converge allows institutions to trade traditional securities, equities, and structured financial products on-chain.

Permissioned and Permissionless Applications—Converge supports a range of financial applications:

• DeFi-native protocols such as Aave, Pendle, Morpho, and Maple Finance, built around USDe.

• Permissioned applications where KYC-compliant institutions can engage with iUSDe, USDtb, and tokenized TradFi assets.

• New institutional financial instruments leveraging Securitize tokenization, including single-name equities and structured derivatives.

Bridging DeFi and TradFi – Crypto-native assets issued on Converge can integrate into TradFi markets, facilitating billions in new institutional capital flows.

Why Converge?

Despite DeFi's rapid growth, its total value locked (TVL) remains a fraction of global finance, with institutional adoption limited by infrastructure gaps.

Fixed-income markets hold over $190T in assets, yet DeFi remains underutilized due to compliance barriers and insufficient institutional-grade products.

Converge solves this by providing a compliant, scalable blockchain solution, making DeFi accessible to the world's largest asset managers and institutional investors.

WHAT MATTERS

Binance Alpha 2.0: Bridging CEX & DEX

State of play: Binance has launched Binance Alpha 2.0 which integrates the Alpha platform with Binance Exchange. The upgrade streamlines access to early-stage tokens and improves security, reducing tx costs, and eliminating the need for external wallets.

Binance Alpha is positioned as a pre-listing token discovery platform, showcasing promising crypto projects before they may be listed on Binance Exchange. The latest upgrade enhances:

• Transparency – Community-driven token selection

• User Experience – Intuitive interface with integrated Binance tools

• Security – On-chain trading without exposing assets to external risks

• Risk Management – Binance highlights its speculative nature but offers educational insights on emerging tokens

Alpha 2.0 allows Binance users to trade decentralized tokens directly within the Binance ecosystem, bridging centralized and decentralized trading.

• By leveraging Binance’s exchange accounts, users can bypass unnecessary steps and trade DEX tokens on a CEX platform.

• Binance also introduced a voting system for token listings and delistings, giving users a role in deciding which projects are listed.

• Projects that fail to meet requirements enter a “monitoring zone,” where users can vote for their delisting.

Why it matters: This marks a significant step in bridging centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) finance, making on-chain trading more seamless and efficient.

Our take: Binance is now the only CEX that has this edge as it owns its own chain also — competitors such as Bybit, OKX, and Bitget will take a while to catch up.

For builders and investors: Study how simple UX optimization can increase capital flow.

CASE STUDY

75% of Institutional Investors Plan to Increase Crypto Exposure in 2025

A Coinbase and EY-Parthenon survey of over 350 institutional investors found that more than 75% expect to increase their digital asset allocations in 2025, with 59% planning to allocate over 5% of AUM to crypto and related products.

• Institutional investors cite clearer regulations as the primary reason for increased exposure.

• 60% prefer ETFs and other regulated structures for crypto investments.

• 74% hold altcoins, expanding beyond BTC and ETH.

• The study was conducted in January when Bitcoin was surpassing $100,000, and before Donald Trump’s administration appointed crypto-friendly officials.

• Interest rates were also a factor, with DeFi adoption expected to accelerate if rates decline, allowing institutions to earn additional yield.

Since the study, crypto markets have faced increased volatility, with Bitcoin dropping below $80,000, but institutional interest remains strong for long-term allocations.

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INSIGHTS

Raydium is Developing PumpFun Competitor

Solana-based decentralized exchange Raydium is developing LaunchLab, a memecoin launchpad designed to compete with PumpFun. This move comes after PumpFun was found testing a custom AMM, potentially to replace Raydium’s infrastructure.

• Pump.fun contributes over 35% of Raydium’s revenue, making its shift to an independent AMM a significant concern.

• Raydium generated $154M in swap revenue in 2024, with daily earnings projected to reach $1M across all liquidity pools.

• LaunchLab has a similar logarithmic bonding curve as PumpFun, it allows third-party UIs to set fees and provides direct access to Raydium’s liquidity pools.

• LaunchLab has reportedly been in development for months, signaling a strategic response to PumpFun’s expansion efforts.

• Meanwhile, Pump.fun is planning to launch a native token, while Raydium’s RAY token has surged over 5%, trading at around $1.67.

FEATURES & GOVERNANCE UPDATE

Cronos Approves Reissuance of 70B $CRO

Cronos, the L1 blockchain developed by Crypto.com, has approved a controversial governance proposal to reissue 70B CRO ($5.6B) that was previously burned in 2021. This decision increases CRO’s total supply from 30B back to its original 100B cap.

• The new tokens are allocated to a strategic reserve wallet under a multi-year vesting schedule.

• The proposal faced strong opposition from independent validators but was ultimately approved after a last-minute surge of 3.35B CRO votes, raising participation from below the required quorum to over 70%.

• Critics argue this move reflects centralization issues, with suspicions that Crypto.com controls key validators.

• Andre Cronje called the decision a major shift, pointing out that Cronos' market cap will jump from $2.5B to $8.5B overnight due to a single vote.

• Despite concerns, Crypto.com is moving forward with an ETF application for CRO, aiming to increase institutional adoption.

Other notable feature updates:

• Berachain launched Bepolia.

• GMX has launched on Solana.

• Movement’s Public Mainnet Beta is live.

• Wormhole has integrated Circle's CCTP V2.

• Aave has added Circle’s euro stablecoin, EURC.

• Compound has launched Morpho-powered vaults.

• Sky has introduced token rewards for supplying USDS.

QUICK BITES

• Coinbase launches verified pools.

• Ethena and Securitize launch Converge.

• Cronos to reissue 70B burned tokens from 2021.

• Bernstein sets a $310 price target for Coinbase shares.

• US spot bitcoin ETFs post largest daily net inflows in six weeks.

• South Korean Central Bank will start the ‘Hangang’ CBDC pilot.

• Raydium is working on a PumpFun memecoin factory competitor.

• Cosmos gets a native EVM framework as it opens-sources evmos.

• Strategy issues 5M-share ‘perpetual strife’ preferred stock offering.

• EOS rebrands to Vaulta, pivots to web3 banking, and plans a new token.

• ETH’s stablecoin dominance grows as USDC & USDT drive $850B in vol.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

• Donn’s read on why dTAO is broken.

• Haseeb’s read on passing Solana's seed round.

• Quinn Thompson’s read on ONDO TVL growth.

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.