Crypto World
Aave DAO Approves ARFC to Advance V4 Mainnet Plans
TLDR
- Aave DAO approved the Request for Comment proposal to begin discussions on deploying Aave V4 on Ethereum mainnet.
- The governance vote closed after four days with 100% support from participating members.
- The ARFC marks the first non-binding stage before a formal onchain Aave Improvement Proposal vote.
- Aave V4 introduces a modular Hub and Spoke architecture to unify liquidity and isolate risk.
- The Liquidity Hub will consolidate supplied assets while Spokes will set individual lending and collateral rules.
Aave DAO has approved a Request for Comment proposal to start discussions on deploying Aave V4 on Ethereum mainnet. The vote closed after four days with 100% support on Aave’s governance platform. The measure now moves the protocol closer to a binding onchain proposal and eventual rollout this year.
Aave DAO Backs Initial Governance Stage for V4
Aave DAO used its governance platform to pass the non-binding Aave Request for Comment proposal. The vote recorded full support after a four-day voting period. As a result, the process now advances to the next governance phase.
The ARFC serves as the first step in Aave’s decentralized governance framework. It allows contributors and token holders to refine technical and risk details before a binding vote. After community feedback, Aave Labs will submit an Aave Improvement Proposal for onchain approval.
Aave Labs, led by Stani Kulechov, will coordinate the next submission. The team will work with security and risk advisors to define final risk parameters. The snapshot proposal states that deployment preparations will continue during this review period.
Aave V4 Introduces Modular Hub and Spoke Architecture
Aave V4 represents the next major upgrade of the onchain lending protocol. The upgrade introduces a modular Hub and Spoke architecture to improve liquidity efficiency. The design aims to unify liquidity while isolating risk profiles.
According to official documentation, the Liquidity Hub will consolidate supplied assets into a single unified pool. Individual Spokes will connect to the Hub under distinct lending rules and collateral policies. Each Spoke will define its own risk parameters and user conditions.
The new structure addresses the issue of siloed liquidity within the protocol. It also allows markets to operate under separate risk frameworks while sharing liquidity depth. The snapshot proposal states, “Liquidity depth is maximized, risk is priced with precision, and a wider range of lending activity can be supported onchain.”
The documentation also confirms deeper integration of Aave’s native GHO stablecoin within V4. The upgrade will introduce a revamped liquidation engine to improve efficiency. Together, these changes aim to expand supported market structures within one framework.
Governance Changes and Security Review Shape Deployment
The governance move follows internal changes among core contributors. BGD Labs and Aave Chan Initiative announced plans to step back when their contracts expire. Their announcements followed Kulechov’s “Aave Will Win” proposal on governance restructuring.
Kulechov’s proposal calls for greater DAO control over Aave Labs’ revenue and intellectual property. In exchange, the DAO would manage a defined budget for operations and development. The proposal also urges stakeholders to prioritize Aave V4 deployment.
Kulechov has also called for streamlined governance procedures within the protocol. He has encouraged faster coordination between contributors and token holders. These proposals remain under discussion within the community.
Aave V4 has completed roughly 345 days of cumulative security review. The process included manual audits, formal verification, invariant testing, fuzzing, and a public security contest. The DAO ratified a $1.5 million security budget to support these efforts.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies chairman Tom Lee has tipped an end to the “mini-crypto winter” impacting Ether, as the company bought another $139 million in ETH last week, bringing it closer to its goal of hitting 5% of the token’s total supply.
Lee said in a statement on Monday that Bitmine has maintained a higher buying pace over the last three weeks as it expects the end to a several-month-long Ether slump in its “base case.”
The crypto markets crashed in October last year, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling from its all-time peak above $126,000 during the month, while Ether declined from its August high of $4,946. Analysts have been debating when the crypto markets will see a meaningful rebound.
Lee pointed to positive catalysts, such as the CLARITY Act advancing in Congress and crypto’s relative stability despite recent turmoil in Iran, as signs that winter is starting to thaw.
“As many have noticed, crypto and particularly ETH have outperformed the broader market since the Iran war commenced, with ETH rising 18% and outperforming equities by 2,450 basis points,” he said.
“This is a marked contrast to Gold, a traditional store of value, which has fallen more than 15%. Crypto is demonstrating itself to be a good ‘wartime’ store of value,” Lee added.
Lee’s statements came as Bitmine disclosed it had purchased an additional 65,341 Ether in the past week (worth $139 million), bringing total holdings to more than 4.6 million tokens.
Bitmine nears Ether accumulation goal
Bitmine has stockpiled roughly 3.86% of the total circulating supply of 120.6 million since announcing its crypto pivot eight months ago.
To reach its goal based on the current total supply, the company will need to buy roughly 1.4 million tokens, which, at current prices, would cost roughly $2.9 billion, according to CoinGecko.
Ether does not have a fixed supply; it can increase or decrease based on whether more is burned than issued.
Related: Early Ethereum whale rebuilds stack with $19.5M in ETH buys
The firm has also leaned heavily into staking, with more than three million of its Ether currently staked.
Bitmine also reported other holdings, including $1.1 billion in cash, 196 Bitcoin, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries, a media company founded by YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson and a $95 million stake in e-commerce inventory management platform Eightco Holdings.
A flood of companies pivoted to crypto in 2025, with Bitmine rising to the second-largest behind Michael Saylor’s Strategy in terms of holdings. However, some, like the multinational bank Standard Chartered, predict that not all will survive in the long term, which may force them to adopt new strategies or fade away.
StrategicEthReserve is currently tracking 67 large treasury holders of Ether, with Bitmine leading by a large margin. SharpLink Gaming, which held the top spot before being surpassed by Bitmine, is second with 863,000 Ether, while Ether Machine ranks third with 496,000 tokens.
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Two Delaware lawmakers are working to establish stablecoin regulations as part of a broader package of regulatory proposals aimed at “modernizing” the state’s financial sector.
In a statement on Monday, the Delaware Senate Democrats announced that Senator Spiros Mantzavinos and Representative Bill Bush had filed the Delaware Banking Modernization Act (Senate Bill 16) and the Delaware Payment Stablecoin Act (Senate Bill 19).
“This legislative package sends a signal loud and clear: here in Delaware, we’re democratizing our financial services and lowering the barriers to entry, making it easier for all residents to send, receive and save money with just an internet connection,” said Delaware Governor Matt Meyer.
Delaware has generally had a friendly and proactive approach toward crypto and blockchain. As far back as 2016, former Governor Jack Markell launched the Delaware Blockchain Initiative to attract blockchain firms. It has also made minor regulatory adjustments to support the sector.
However, some technology and crypto firms left the state last year, including Coinbase, which reincorporated in Texas after expressing dissatisfaction with Delaware’s Chancery Court, which handles corporate law disputes.
These two bills could help the state re-attract some of these businesses.
“Our administration is focused on attracting the jobs of the future to the First State, and that includes continuing to foster an innovative banking ecosystem that will open doors not just for workers and companies, but for every single person who participates in our economy,” added Meyer.
Stablecoin Act proposes a licensing framework
The stablecoin-focused bill aims to create a licensing framework for stablecoin issuers and digital asset service providers operating in Delaware.
The bill adopts language and definitions from the US government’s Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) and “other federal models.”
The bill outlines potential guardrails, including reserve shortfall remediation cascades, mandatory redemption timing standards, capital standards and anti-money laundering obligations.
If approved, the State Bank Commissioner would be directed to implement the rules within a specified timeframe.
Meanwhile, the Delaware Banking Modernization Act primarily focuses on traditional finance, updating corporate governance and organizational requirements for local banking institutions. However, it also references digital assets.
The bill also seeks to update Delaware banking code by providing definitions of digital assets in a bid to offer regulatory certainty around the sector and how it relates to traditional finance.
“It’s been more than four decades since we’ve made any meaningful updates to our state’s banking laws, and in that time, the way people bank and conduct transactions has changed significantly,” said Rep. Bush, adding: “We need to make sure our laws are keeping up with those changes.”
Both bills are still a way off from becoming law. The next stage of progression will see the bills reviewed by the Senate Banking Committee and then debated on by the full Delaware Senate.
The announcement also stated that the lawmakers will file another regulatory proposal in the coming days called the Delaware Money Transmission & Virtual Currency Modernization Act.
It primarily aims to implement consumer protections and standardize the types of activities required for licensing.
US politicians push for crypto regulation and clarity
The Delaware lawmakers aren’t the only ones this week signaling intent to push crypto-related legislation.
Related: Banks push tokenized deposits as onchain cash race intensifies: Report
In an X post on Monday, US Senator Bill Cassidy said he plans to advance his bill at the federal level to bring US “crypto tax rules into the 21st century.”
The bill, introduced in partnership with Senator Cynthia Lummis in September, seeks to address crypto taxation challenges and support the adoption of digital assets in the US.
The bill proposes a $300 de minimis rule for crypto purchases, ending double taxation for miners and stakers and providing taxation parity with other financial assets, among other things.
“It is important for America to be in the driver’s seat on digital assets for both our economy and our national security,” Cassidy said on X.
On Friday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent two proposed rules to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for review, which include a proposal to have most of the crypto assets on the market not treated as securities under federal law.
The proposal would see the SEC potentially change its approach to the industry, and would also give primary oversight of crypto non-securities to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Commenting on the move via X on Monday, CFTC chairman Mike Selig said his agency and the SEC want to stop crypto being left in “limbo” and provide “clarity for the crypto markets.”
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TRON DAO has scaled up its artificial intelligence fund by a factor of ten, from $100 million to $1 billion, targeting investments in and acquisitions of early-stage startups building core infrastructure for the agentic economy.
The billion-dollar fund, announced on Monday, will focus investments in four areas: agent identity systems, stablecoin-based payment rails, tokenized real-world assets (RWA), and developer tooling for autonomous financial systems.
The expansion is built on Tron DAO’s theses dating back to 2023, which foresees stablecoins becoming the practical medium of exchange between AI agents, stablecoins becoming the natural payment layer for “AI-augmented people,” and the rise of tokenized equity.
Blockchains race to support agentic AI
Tron is just one of many crypto-native ecosystems to expand investment into AI by targeting the agentic payment economy. Solana and Base have also made moves to expand into this nascent field; others recently include Visa, Stripe, and World.
In September, the Ethereum Foundation formally entered the agentic AI race with the launch of the “dAI Team,” which aims to make Ethereum the “preferred settlement and coordination layer” for AI agents and the machine economy.
However, it is a notable contrast to TRON’s approach as Ethereum is positioning itself as a trust and coordination layer rather than a payments rail, leaning into its decentralization ethos rather than competing on speed and fees.
Tron scaling to support AI agents, Justin Sun says
Tron said its blockchain is positioned to serve the future agentic economy with 370 million user accounts, more than $21 billion in daily transaction volume, and over $85 billion in circulating USDt (USDT).
Tron founder Justin Sun previously told Cointelegraph that many AI agent use cases involve small, frequent transactions, “which require networks that are fast and inexpensive to use.”
Average confirmation times are about three seconds on TRON, compared with roughly 12 seconds on Ethereum, “making it well-suited for high-frequency transactions,” he said, citing an Arkham report.
Related: Agentic AI commerce may spell the end of internet ads: a16z Crypto
Regarding scaling, he said the real question is what happens if AI agents move from a handful of applications to mainstream machine-to-machine commerce.
“To support this shift, infrastructure is beginning to develop around the ecosystem,” he continued, mentioning an AI agent framework recently launched on TRON called AINFT, which is designed to help developers build and deploy autonomous agents.
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Monday’s ceasefire trade lasted about 18 hours.
Bitcoin climbed 3.1% to $70,352 on Tuesday morning, recovering from the weekend’s slide below $68,000, with ether (ETH), solana’s SOL, dogecoin and xrp gaining between 2-4%.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Saudi Arabia has agreed to give the U.S. military access to King Fahd Air Base, reversing its earlier position that its bases couldn’t be used to attack Iran. The UAE has taken similar steps.
Gulf states joining the war directly would transform the conflict from a U.S.-Israel operation into a broader regional coalition, a significant escalation from what markets had been pricing.
Iran’s deputy speaker ruled out talks with the U.S., echoing the Fars news agency denial from Monday evening. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut with only a trickle of vessels making their way through.
Traditional markets responded immediately. S&P 500 futures fell 0.5%. European shares were set to drop 0.8% at the open. Brent crude jumped 4% to about $104. The dollar strengthened 0.3%. Gold fell 1.5%, extending what is now its longest daily losing streak on record.
The gold collapse continues to be the most disorienting signal in global markets. A safe-haven asset falling to record losing streaks during an active and widening war breaks every historical precedent.
The most likely explanation is forced selling by funds facing margin calls across other positions, with gold being the most liquid asset to sell. But whatever the cause, it makes bitcoin’s relative stability even more notable. The token that’s supposed to be the volatile one is holding a range while the one that’s supposed to be steady is in freefall.
The five-day window Trump gave Iran expires Saturday, but Saudi Arabia joining the conflict changes the calculus entirely. A regional coalition fighting Iran is a different war from a U.S.-Israel air campaign, and it puts oil infrastructure on both sides of the Gulf at risk.
Bitcoin is holding $70,000 on a Tuesday morning where everything else is deteriorating. Whether that’s resilience or just the market waiting for the next headline to react to is the question the rest of the week will answer.
Bitcoin’s mining concentration problem just showed up on the blockchain itself, triggering a small “reorg.”
Foundry USA, the largest bitcoin mining pool, produced seven consecutive blocks late on Monday and in the process orphaned two valid blocks mined by AntPool and ViaBTC.
Think of it as two checkout lines opening at the same time in a busy store. At first, both lines are moving, but suddenly, one of the line starts clearing customers faster. This leads everyone to shift to the faster line and the slower one gets abandoned.
That’s essentially what happened here: Dominant pool Foundry’s “line” moved ahead quickly with several blocks in a row, so the network followed it, leaving the other valid blocks by AntPool and ViaBTC behind.
Bitcoin miners compete to add new blocks of transactions to the blockchain, and sometimes two miners find a valid block at nearly the same time. When that happens, the network briefly splits, but it ultimately chooses one chain to continue – usually the one that grows faster.
A mining pool, such as Foundry, is a group of miners who combine their computing power to mine blocks and split the rewards,. Finding a block solo is like winning a lottery that individual miners can rarely win on their own.
Bitcoin’s consensus rule is absolute: the chain with the most cumulative proof of work wins. AntPool and ViaBTC’s two blocks became stale, permanently erased from the ledger, and those miners earned nothing for producing them.
The event was a 2-block chain reorganization, rare but not unprecedented, and the clearest on-chain signal yet that hashrate is concentrating into fewer hands as the industry contracts.
At block height 941,881, AntPool and Foundry found valid blocks within 12 seconds of each other, at 15:49:35 and 15:49:47 UTC respectively. Both were legitimate and the network briefly split, with some nodes following one chain and others following the other.
The race continued to block 941,882, where ViaBTC extended AntPool’s chain and Foundry extended its own.
That created two competing chains, each two blocks deep, running in parallel. Later on, blocks 941,883 through 941,886 all went to Foundry, making their chain the heaviest by a wide margin.
Transactions in the orphaned blocks weren’t lost, however. They return to the mempool and get included in future blocks. An orphaned block is a valid block that loses the race when two miners find blocks at nearly the same time, getting discarded permanently from the chain despite being perfectly legitimate.
Mining difficulty just dropped 7.76% on Saturday, the second-largest negative adjustment of 2026. Hashrate has retreated to roughly 920 EH/s from the 1 zetahash record hit in 2025.
Smaller and mid-sized miners are exiting because bitcoin at $70,000 sits well below the estimated $88,000 average production cost. Every operator that shuts down concentrates the remaining hashrate into fewer pools.
A 2-block reorg doesn’t threaten Bitcoin’s security. The network handled it exactly as designed, with the longer chain winning and consensus re-establishing within minutes.
But when fewer pools control more hashrate, the probability of a single pool finding multiple consecutive blocks increases, and with it the probability of competing chains when two large pools find blocks near-simultaneously.
Two leading prediction-market platforms have rolled out tighter guardrails on Monday to curb insider trading and suspected market manipulation in event-based contracts, as lawmakers in Washington step up scrutiny of a sector that blends finance, law and politics.
Kalshi and Polymarket argued that their updates are designed to prevent the exploitation of confidential information and to reduce the risk that markets skew the outcomes of real-world events. The moves come amid a broader policy push in the United States to regulate or restrict prediction markets that resemble gambling or sports betting.
Key takeaways
- Kalshi and Polymarket introduced new guardrails to combat insider trading and manipulation in event contracts.
- Kalshi will preemptively bar political candidates from trading on their campaigns and exclude individuals connected to college and professional sports from relevant markets.
- Polymarket expanded prohibitions to forbid trades based on stolen confidential information or those who can influence market outcomes.
- A bipartisan bill, the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, would bar CFTC-registered platforms from listing event contracts that resemble sports bets or casino-style games.
- The policy debate highlights tensions over jurisdiction, licensing and the boundaries between financial markets and entertainment-oriented betting.
Guardrails tighten as Congresseye rules intensify
Kalshi said it would preemptively ban political candidates from trading on their own campaigns, along with individuals known to be involved in college and professional sports—such as athletes, staff, and referees. The exchange described the move as part of a long-running effort to align with evolving regulatory guidance and proposed legislation addressing insider trading and market manipulation in prediction markets.
In a separate but related move, Polymarket unveiled broader prohibitions intended to close loopholes that could enable insiders to benefit from confidential information or influence the outcome of a contract. The company said its updated rules aim to make the market more resistant to manipulation and to protect the integrity of events traded on its platform.
The changes come on the heels of intense public debate about whether some well-timed bets on political or geopolitical events reflect legitimate market activity or exploit privileged information. In recent coverage, observers noted bets placed around high-profile events such as U.S. and Israeli actions in Iran and a U.S.-led operation related to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, with some traders appearing to use multiple accounts to mask activity. The Guardian reported that the Iran-strike bets were made by users who could be perceived as having inside information, underscoring the ongoing concerns about insider knowledge shaping market outcomes.
Kalshi described its policy evolution as a proactive response to the regulatory environment and to proposed congressional action. The company, which is a member of the Coalition for Prediction Markets, argued that these guardrails are part of preparing for potential legal guidance and legislative developments that address insider trading and market manipulation in prediction markets.
Policy spotlight: bipartisan efforts and legal tensions
On Monday, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and Republican Senator John Curtis introduced a bipartisan bill, the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act, that would bar Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered entities from listing event contracts that resemble sports betting or casino-style games. In their view, sports prediction contracts are effectively sports bets—an assertion Schiff has repeated to emphasize the public-law implications of these instruments when they resemble gambling more than information-driven markets.
The proposed legislation would withdraw a key allowance for platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket by limiting what contracts they may offer in the United States. Schiff’s office framed the issue as one of regulatory clarity and consumer protection, while Curtis stressed maintaining state authority over broader gaming and betting activities.
Kalshi’s chief executive, Tarek Mansour, reacted to the bill by framing the move within a broader “casino lobby” effort. He argued that the legislation is not about protecting consumers but about preserving entrenched monopolies, a line he shared publicly on social media. His comments underscore how industry actors view the political dynamic surrounding prediction markets and their place in the U.S. financial-regulatory landscape.
Legal tension has already surrounded prediction-market operators in several states, which have asserted that sports-event contracts constitute gambling that requires a state license. Platforms such as Kalshi, Polymarket andCoinbase have contended that their offerings are not illegal betting and, regardless, fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than state authorities.
The policy debate is not theoretical for traders and developers who rely on prediction markets for hedging and information discovery. As reported by Cointelegraph, the U.S. Senate has been weighing bills aimed at curtailing or redefining the reach of these markets, alongside state-level actions that challenge the legality of specific contracts. The ongoing legal and regulatory discourse creates an environment of uncertainty, even as platforms push for clearer rules that would allow compliant operation in the United States.
For context, Cointelegraph’s reporting has highlighted instances where traders leveraged event-driven markets to capitalize on geopolitical developments, reinforcing concerns about information asymmetry and the potential for manipulation. The new guardrails by Kalshi and Polymarket are thus part of a broader effort to reconcile the commercial appeal of prediction markets with legitimate safeguards against abuse.
What to watch next in the evolving landscape
As lawmakers advance their proposals and courts consider disputes over jurisdiction and licensing, the trajectory of prediction markets in the United States remains uncertain. If the proposed act passes, CFTC-approved platforms could face tighter restrictions or even a narrowed set of permissible contracts, potentially dampening growth but improving trust and regulatory compliance.
For users, traders and builders, the key questions are how the guardrails translate into practical trading limits, whether state or federal rules will ultimately prevail, and how enforcement will unfold in a landscape that often intersects with political sentiment and sports governance.
The next chapter will likely hinge on legislative momentum in Congress and any legal clarifications from federal or state authorities. Watch for updates on whether the bipartisan bill gains traction, how the industry responds with further rule adjustments, and whether there are new developments in the ongoing legal actions against these platforms. The balance between innovation and integrity in prediction markets remains delicate, and investors should monitor both regulatory signals and platform-level safeguards as the market evolves.
Sources: Kalshi newsroom announcements on guardrails; Polymarket rule updates; U.S. Senate press releases announcing the proposed act; coverage of insider-trading concerns around event contracts; The Guardian reporting on Iran-strike bets; ongoing state-level legal actions against prediction-market operators.
Balancer Labs, the team behind the decentralized finance protocol Balancer, is shutting down after mounting financial pressure and a $116 million hack in November, with executives proposing continuation of the protocol under a leaner, more cost-effective structure.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to wind down Balancer Labs. This is not a decision I take lightly,” one of Balancer Protocol’s founders, Fernando Martinelli, said on Monday, adding that Balancer Labs has become a “liability rather than an asset to the protocol,” as it has been operating without revenue.
Balancer Labs CEO Marcus Hardt added that it was spending too much to attract liquidity relative to the revenue the protocol is making, a strategy that came at the cost of diluting Balancer (BAL) token holders.
Balancer was one of the more notable DeFi protocols during the 2020–2021 bull market, reaching a peak of $3.3 billion in total value locked (TVL) in November 2021.
However, that figure fell to $800 million by October 2025, with the hack leading to another $500 million TVL drop over the next two weeks. Balancer’s TVL has since fallen to $158 million, showing how challenging it is for DeFi protocols to recover from large-scale hacks.
Martinelli said the November exploit “created real and ongoing legal exposure” and that maintaining a corporate entity that carries the liability of past security incidents wasn’t sustainable.
Balancer Labs executives outline restructuring plan
Moving forward, Hardt and Martinelli are pushing for Balancer’s future to be managed by the Balancer Foundation and the protocol’s decentralized autonomous organization.
Martinelli advocated for Balancer to adopt a more “lean continuation path,” which involves cutting BAL emissions to zero, restructuring fees to enable Balancer’s DAO to capture more revenue, reducing the team as much as possible and targeting lower operating costs.
“Balancer still has real value to build from here. If we can make this transition work, we have a real chance to build a stronger and more sustainable protocol on the other side of it,” Hardt said.
Balancer DAO members have been asked to vote on two proposals reflecting possible changes in Balancer’s operational restructuring and BAL’s tokenomics.
Related: OP_NET launches Bitcoin DeFi push without bridges or wrapped BTC
Despite the tokenomics issues, Martinelli noted that Balancer is “still generating real revenue” at over $1 million across the past three months:
“That’s not nothing — that’s a functioning protocol buried under a broken tokenomics model and an overweight cost structure,” he said.
“The problem isn’t that Balancer doesn’t work. The problem is that the economics around Balancer aren’t working. Those are fixable.”
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Two NYSE-linked exchanges have put new crypto ETF options rules into effect after filings cleared the SEC process.
Summary
- NYSE Arca and NYSE American removed position limits on options tied to 11 crypto ETFs.
- The SEC waived the usual waiting period, allowing the new crypto options rules to take effect immediately.
- The rule change gives institutions more flexibility and allows crypto ETF options to trade as FLEX contracts.
NYSE Arca and NYSE American removed the 25,000-contract position and exercise limit for options tied to 11 spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds, giving those products broader trading terms.
NYSE Arca filed its proposed rule change on March 10, 2026, to revise rules for options on certain crypto-linked ETFs. The filing covered products that had been trading under a 25,000-contract cap since their launch phases.
NYSE American filed a similar proposal on the same date. Its filing also removed the fixed 25,000-contract limit and updated the exchange’s rules so those options can follow the broader position-limit structure already used for other eligible products.
SEC waiver made the changes effective at once
Both filings became effective under Rule 19b-4(f)(6). In each case, the SEC said the standard 30-day operative delay could be waived because the changes aligned crypto ETF options rules with those used by other exchanges and did not create new regulatory issues.
The Federal Register notices state that the Commission designated both proposals to be operative upon filing. In the notices, the SEC wrote that waiving the delay was consistent with investor protection and the public interest, making the new rules active without waiting another month.
Furthermore, the rule changes affect 11 crypto ETF options. The list includes BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF, Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF, Bitwise Ethereum ETF, iShares Ethereum Trust ETF, and Fidelity Ethereum Fund.
Earlier filings had already removed some limits for a smaller group of Bitcoin ETF options, including GBTC, the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, and IBIT. The new March 2026 changes extend similar treatment across the full set of listed crypto ETF options covered by these exchange rules.
FLEX options and larger positions now get more room
The updates also allow these crypto ETF options to trade as FLEX options under the revised rules. FLEX contracts let market participants customize terms such as strike prices, expiration dates, and exercise styles instead of using only standard listed terms.
NYSE American’s filing says the exchange wants these crypto asset options treated like other options for position, exercise, and FLEX trading purposes. A separate Nasdaq ISE proposal still seeks to raise the position limit for IBIT options to 1 million contracts, and that proposal remains under SEC review.
Crypto prices opened lower in Asia on Monday as fresh pressure from oil markets and geopolitical tension weighed on risk assets.
Summary
- Crypto prices dropped in Asia as war fears and oil market stress pressured investor sentiment again.
- Traders are watching PMI, jobless claims, and sentiment data for clues on rates inflation.
- Bitcoin and Ether weakened as rising energy costs and macro risks weighed on markets.
Meanwhile, investors are also watching a packed U.S. data calendar this week, with new reports on business activity, jobless claims, consumer sentiment, and inflation expectations due between March 23 and March 27.
Crypto markets faced renewed selling after conflict in the Middle East kept traders focused on energy supply risks. Reuters reported that U.S. stock futures fell as investors reacted to President Donald Trump’s 48-hour demand for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran warned of retaliation if attacks hit its infrastructure.
Oil prices stayed elevated as the new week began. Brent crude at about $113.20 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate traded near $101.32. Higher oil prices have lifted concern about inflation and have pushed markets to reassess the path for interest rates.
Investors shift focus to economic data
The week’s economic calendar may shape trading across crypto and traditional markets. A Wall Street Journal report cited Deutsche Bank economists as saying,
“This is significant because it’s one of the first economic indicators we’ll get that cover the period since the conflict began,” referring to the March PMI data.
Thursday’s initial jobless claims report will offer another reading on labor market conditions. At the same time, markets are tracking whether inflation pressure from fuel costs could change expectations for Federal Reserve policy. Investors have sharply reduced hopes for rate cuts this year and are now pricing in a higher chance of a rate increase later in 2026.
Bitcoin and Ether trade lower in Asia
Bitcoin remained under pressure in Monday trading. Live market data showed Bitcoin (BTC) at around $68,400, while Ethereum (ETH) traded at $2,000. Both assets were down from recent highs as traders pulled back from risk during a weak start to the week.
Broader crypto market sentiment also softened as investors moved more carefully across global markets. Rising yields, weaker equities, and higher energy costs have added pressure across risk assets, including digital tokens.
Higher oil prices may feed through to household spending if the rally continues. CBS News quoted Oxford Economics chief global economist Ryan Sweet, who said,
“To kind of put it into context, every penny increase in gasoline prices reduces consumer spending by one and a half billion dollars over the course of a year.”
H100 Group has signed a letter of intent to buy Norwegian Bitcoin companies Moonshot AS and Never Say Die AS through an all-share deal.
Summary
- H100 plans an all-stock deal to acquire Moonshot and Never Say Die in Norway.
- The proposed acquisition could raise H100’s Bitcoin holdings to about 3,501 BTC total.
- If completed, H100 would become Europe’s second-largest listed Bitcoin treasury company by holdings.
If completed, the transaction would expand H100’s Bitcoin treasury and move the Sweden-listed company closer to the top tier of Europe’s public Bitcoin holders.
According to a press release, H100 said the proposed transaction would be carried out as a share-for-share acquisition. Under the plan, H100 would issue new shares to acquire all shares in Moonshot AS and Never Say Die AS, with no cash payment included in the structure.
The company said this setup is designed to keep the sellers exposed to Bitcoin through shares in a listed company. H100 added that the final terms will be set in definitive agreements, while the deal remains subject to due diligence, corporate approvals, and stock exchange requirements.
Bitcoin holdings could rise to about 3,501 BTC
Bitcointreasuries data shows H100 currently holds 1,051 BTC. The company said the two target firms hold about 2,450 BTC combined, which would bring the total to about 3,501 BTC if the acquisition closes.
That total would place H100 just behind Germany’s Bitcoin Group among Europe’s listed Bitcoin treasury companies. Bitcointreasuries ranks H100 44th among public Bitcoin treasury companies worldwide at present, and the added holdings would move it well above its current standing.
H100 chairman Sander Andersen said,
“Scale, credibility and access to capital markets are increasingly important in the Bitcoin space, and this transaction would strengthen H100 in these areas.”
That statement appeared in public reporting on the planned acquisition and outlined the company’s stated reason for the move.
The company has also completed the acquisition of Switzerland-based Future Holdings AG, showing that it is still building its Bitcoin treasury platform through deals. H100 said the new transaction would not change its listing structure or its role as the listed parent company.
AGM timing and share performance remain in focus
H100 expects to sign a definitive agreement by April 22. The company has said closing would come after its annual general meeting, but its current financial calendar lists the AGM on May 21, 2026.
The proposed deal comes while H100 shares remain under pressure and Bitcoin treasury companies continue to face a weaker market environment.
AO VIVO: MONEY NEWS I – 23/03/2026 | CNN MONEY
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