Bitcoin

treasury firm Twenty One has raised an additional $100 million through convertible senior secured notes, pushing its total capital raised to $685 million as it advances toward a planned merger with Nasdaq-listed Cantor Equity Partners (CEP), a Thursday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows.

The fresh financing comes from existing investors and sponsors who exercised their option to buy more of the notes, originally granted during the April fundraising round, the regulatory filing said.

The new notes carry a 1% coupon and are due in 2030. The $100 million boost adds to the $385 million initially committed, bringing the total note financing to $485 million. That’s on top of $200 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) disclosed last month.

CEP is lower by 1.5% in morning U.S. trade as bitcoin slips below $107,000.

Twenty One is the latest example of firms with a crypto treasury strategy, following Michael Saylor’s Startegy (MSTR). The firm is being launched by Brandon Lutnick—the son of U.S. Commerce Secretary and former Cantor Fitzgerald chairman Howard Lutnick—via a a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) structure using Cantor Equity Partners. Owners include iFinex—the parent company of Bitfinex—and Tether, the issuer of the $150 billion USDT. The company will be led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers.

The company recently disclosed a $458 million BTC acquisition earlier this month.

• Toncoin price rose 13% in the past 24 hours to lead top gainers on Wednesday.
• Gains followed major news announcements by TON Foundation and another related to Telegram.
• TON price traded at $3.48 at the time of writing, while volume was at $745 million.

Toncoin (TON) price caught the crypto market’s attention on Wednesday as it rose sharply amid broader market struggles for Bitcoin and top altcoins.

With 13% in price gains in the past 24 hours, Toncoin ranked among the top gainers on the day, outpacing the likes of Quant, Uniswap, and Injective among the top 100 by market cap.

TON, native to The Open Network blockchain, rallied as traders raced to buy amid a series of major Telegram news.

Toncoin price soars, volume up 400%

As the price of Toncoin soared by more than 13%, trading volume rose through the roof.

As per data from CoinMarketCap, Toncoin recorded a 410% spike in volume, hitting $745 million.

TON’s price reached highs of $3.69 before slightly retreating to $3.48 at the time of writing.

Gains see TON token up by more than 10% in the past week.

Before the latest gains, Toncoin price largely traded flat over the week, with no momentum after bulls gave up ground.

Is this uptick thus going to push the altcoin to above $5? The price last hovered above these levels in early 2025.

Telegram news buoys TON price

As noted above, the main catalyst for Toncoin’s notable price surge is a series of positive news.

The vibe mostly relates to two major announcements linked to Telegram and the TON Foundation.

First, the TON Foundation revealed the appointment of Nikola Plecas as its new Vice President of Payments.

Plecas, a former Visa executive with deep expertise in crypto product innovation, is tasked with scaling TON’s payment infrastructure to cater to Telegram’s massive user base of over 1 billion.

His focus will be on enhancing interoperability, security, and scalability—key pillars for mainstream adoption of Web3 payments.

Plecas’s experience at Visa, where he shaped the company’s global crypto strategy, positions him as a pivotal figure in TON’s ambition to revolutionize payments within the Telegram ecosystem.

Why else is Toncoin’s price up today?

Also fueling optimism around TON is news that Telegram plans to raise $1.5 billion through a bond sale.

Notably, market reaction largely jumped as traders noted that Telegram’s initiative is backed by Wall Street heavyweights like Citadel and BlackRock.

That’s not all. TON is also expanding its ecosystem, integrating Ethena’s USDe and tsUSDe stablecoins for in-app savings.

Collaboration with Tether via LayerZero for a multi-chain network has also been a key development.

In a move that’s as calculated as it is revealing, Russia has just cracked open the door to cryptocurrency — but only for the financial elite. And no, this isn’t your everyday pro-crypto announcement. This is Russia playing chess while the rest of the world debates checkers.

Let’s break this down.

Russia’s central bank — famously anti-Bitcoin — has now granted permission for its financial institutions to offer indirect exposure to crypto through derivative products.

In short :
They still don’t want people buying Bitcoin directly. But if you’re a “qualified investor” (read: rich, connected, or institutionally important), you can now play the game through cash-settled futures and structured bonds tied to crypto prices.

So, no actual Bitcoin in your wallet. But you get to profit from it. Classic.

Alexander Zozulya from Sberbank (Russia’s biggest bank) said this structure mimics how U.S. ETFs operate. Basically, Russia is borrowing Wall Street’s playbook and tweaking it to fit Kremlin rules.

But here’s the kicker:
While giving the green light, the central bank also warned against direct crypto exposure. This is crypto freedom, but with shackles.

While Shiba Inu has shown early signs of a breakout, it is consolidating within a tight range, driving SHIB holders to Unilabs presale, offering high upside potential.

The past week, Bitcoin price jumped above the $100,000 mark, lifting market sentiment that saw several tokens, including Shiba Inu, reverse trends. Capital flowed into the SHIB ecosystem, reflecting tremendous momentum, suggesting the start of the 2025 bull run.

During the same period, Unilabs (UNIL) experienced significant inflows as SHIB holders poured profits into its ICO. The presale has already raised over $1.2 million, selling tokens for just $0.0051. This growing momentum demonstrates immense investor demand for the emerging DeFi asset manager.

According to market insiders, the growing market demand for Unilabs is justified as seen in shifting trends from memecoins like SHIB coin to utility-driven altcoins.

SHIB struggles to make a comeback

As the market recovers, most cryptocurrencies are adding gains to their values. But this is not the case for all tokens in the market. While SHIB previously showcased signs of a breakout, Shiba Inu price is consolidating between a narrow range of $0.000012 and $0.000017.

The popular memecoin has attempted and failed to break past the $0.000020 resistance. This is due to the In/Out of the money around price (IOMAP) indicator. Typically, this indicator highlights the key price levels where massive clusters of addresses have previously bought SHIB coins.

Notably, the higher the number of tokens bought at a lower value than the current Shiba Inu price, the stronger the support. If the cluster of SHIB coins accumulated at a higher Shiba Inu price than the current one is larger, it suggests resistance.

According to IntoTheBlock data, almost 130,000 SHIB coin holders who purchased the crypto between $0.000015 and $0.000019 are at a loss. Notably, over 530 trillion SHIB coins were purchased at this level, making it difficult to break above this level in the short term.

Unilabs to outperform Shiba Inu with AI utility demand

As Shiba Inu investors continue to make losses, Unilabs’ passive income seems to be drawing in crypto whales across the globe. The DeFi market is evolving quickly, and investors want more than just yield farms.

Most of the investors are now looking for smart, secure, and dynamic ways of earning, and this is where Unilabs comes in. Designed to unlock institutional-grade asset discovery for everyday users with over $30m AUM, Unilabs is quickly shaping up as a cornerstone for the next-gen DeFi.

However, the asset management platform isn’t just all about identifying the next hidden gem within the market. It also provides UNIL token holders with a rare chance of earning without trading. Its passive income has been enhanced by additional tools like the Flash Accelerator for high-frequency trading experts. 

Beyond this, UNIL introduces a gamified 12-tier reward mechanism. Here, UNIL holders have the chance to earn a share of the platform’s fees based on the amount of tokens one holds, with the APYs reaching up to 122%. 

Shiba Inu consolidation phase continues

Looking at its daily chart, SHIB’s MACD is declining and approaching the negative territory. A negative MACD usually suggests a bearish price outlook. Notably, if the Shiba Inu price fails to reverse the current trends, it could stage further declines toward its $0.000012 support level. 

In case of increased bearishness, Shiba Inu could trend downward towards the $0.000010 level. On the flip side, if the MACD turns positive, Shiba Inu could regain bullish momentum. This could spark a rally, charging SHIB above the $0.000020 resistance. Any additional gains will lead the memecoin to rise towards $0.000025

Unilabs’ 122% APY sees presale surpass over $1.1m in funding

By offering a unique passive income to its holders, where the profits will be distributed automatically through smart contracts, Unilabs is proving to be a transparent platform. This has already led to impressive gains as the project surpasses the over $1.1m milestone.

Moreover, this has seen Unilabs attract over 27% gains, selling at a stage two price of $0.0051. Unilabs is also looking to record more gains in stage three, where the UNIL token will attract a 55% surge from its starting price of $0.004.

Such a milestone sets the UNIL token apart from the rest of the altcoins, giving early investors the chance to capitalize on the growing demand for AI-based tokens within the crypto market.

To learn more about Unilabs, visit its website and Telegram.

[PRESS RELEASE – London, UK, May 29th, 2025]

Zebec Network, a Solana-based blockchain payment network, has acquired the assets of Science Card, Ltd, a UK university card platform dedicated to simplifying university research finance. This acquisition enriches Zebec’s robust card program, spanning payroll pay cards, crypto debit cards, and now Science Card’s mission-driven card, cementing Zebec’s leadership in bridging traditional and digital payments.

Science Card’s mission is to empower students, researchers, and university staff with secure, transparent financial tools. Science Card reaches over 50,000 students across the top 10 UK universities (with leading names like Cambridge and Aston University) and will offer prepaid cards to streamline campus spending, research grants, and budgeting.

By joining Zebec Network, Science Card’s vision gains global reach, integrating with Zebec’s innovative payment ecosystem.

“Science Card’s commitment to academic finance aligns perfectly with our mission to make payments seamless and inclusive,” said Simon Babakhani, Zebec’s COO. “Adding their mission card to our payroll and crypto card offerings creates a trifecta of financial empowerment for diverse users.”

“Science Card was built to remove financial barriers in academia,” said Daniel Baeriswyl, Science Card Founder. “With Zebec’s technology, infrastructure and on and off crypto rails, our mission evolves, capable to deliver next-generation stablecoin streaming payment solutions to campuses worldwide.”

The acquisition enhances Zebec’s portfolio, positioning it to operate within the growing EdTech, DeSci and FinTech space. For live discussion about the deal, join Zebec x Science Card Spaces on X Thursday, May 29th at 12 noon ET (9 am PT: 5 pm GMT) X @Zebec_HQ

About Zebec

Zebec Network is a leading crypto company enabling real-world value flows through blockchain-powered payroll, card, and payment solutions for both traditional and digital economies. Founded in 2021, Zebec has attracted $35 million in investments by Circle, Coinbase, Solana Ventures, Breyer Capital, Republic, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others.

About Science Card

Science Card is a UK academia-based card platform that channels a portion of every transaction to fund university research, enabling users to support science simply by spending.