Crypto World
Fireblocks Adds Canton Support as Institutional Tokenization Expands
Crypto infrastructure company Fireblocks has added support for the Canton Network, allowing financial institutions to custody and settle assets on a privacy-enabled blockchain designed for regulated markets.
According to Tuesday’s announcement, the integration enables governed settlement of Canton Coin (CC) through Fireblocks’ platform and its New York Department of Financial Services–chartered trust entity. The offering is aimed at banks, custodians and asset managers exploring tokenized securities, deposits and other regulated instruments that require private settlement and strict controls.
Financial institutions can custody Canton Coin via Fireblocks and apply its existing enterprise policy controls and workflow automation when settling assets on the Canton Network. Fireblocks also operates a Super Validator on the network, giving it a direct role in transaction validation and governance.
Fireblocks said support for additional Canton-based tokens and applications is expected to be added over time.
Fireblocks secures more than $5 trillion in digital asset transfers annually and has supported over $10 trillion in total transfers to date, with more than 2,400 organizations using its platform, according to the company.
Related: Fireblocks buys crypto accounting platform TRES for $130M
Institutional adoption builds on the Canton Network
The Canton Network, a permissioned blockchain developed by Digital Asset and governed by the Canton Foundation, has seen a steady expansion of institutional integrations through late 2025 and early 2026.
In October, digital asset infrastructure provider BitGo added support for Canton Coin, enabling US banks and asset managers to custody the token through a qualified custodian.
Roughly a month later, Franklin Templeton connected its Benji tokenization platform to the Canton Network. The integration allows tokenized assets issued via Benji, including Franklin Templeton’s onchain US government money market fund, to be used for collateral and liquidity within Canton’s Global Collateral Network.
In December, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) said it plans to mint a subset of US Treasury securities on the Canton Network, with potential expansion to other assets.
More recently, Temple Digital Group launched a private institutional trading platform built on Canton, offering continuous, 24/7 trading through a central limit order book with a non-custodial structure.
Canton’s native token, Canton Coin, has responded to increased network activity. It is up about 31% over the past three months, according to CoinGecko data.
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Aave Labs is consolidating its branding around core decentralized finance offerings, signaling a shift away from its umbrella project Avara. The reorganization follows a string of moves intended to streamline product focus and accelerate mainstream adoption of Aave’s DeFi stack. In a post on X, founder and CEO Stani Kulechov explained that Avara—an umbrella for projects including the Family crypto wallet and Lens-related initiatives—will be deprecated as the team doubles down on bringing Aave to a wider audience. The announcement underscores a broader theme in the ecosystem: simplifying user experiences to drive mass adoption rather than expanding brand reach through ancillary products.
Key takeaways
- Aave Labs replaces Avara as the central branding home for current and future products, including Aave App, Aave Pro, and Aave Kit.
- The Family wallet on iOS is winding down, with onboarding of new users halted and a slated wind-down over the next year.
- Lens governance has shifted away from Aave, with stewardship handed to Mask Network and Aave taking on a primarily advisory role for Lens-related work.
- The change is part of a broader strategic refocus on DeFi product development and ecosystem integration rather than broad branding expansion.
- Aave remains the dominant DeFi protocol by total value locked (TVL), hovering around $30 billion, well ahead of competitors.
Tickers mentioned: $AAVE
Price impact: Negative. The AAVE price recently declined about 0.7% in the last 24 hours, trading around $127.40.
Market context: The move comes as the DeFi sector consolidates leadership around core lending and borrowing protocols. With Aave at the forefront of TVL—roughly $30 billion, according to DefiLlama—the branding simplification may help streamline user onboarding and product development amid fluctuating risk sentiment and regulatory scrutiny that has grown tighter around decentralized finance offerings.
Why it matters
The decision to sunset Avara and consolidate into Aave Labs signals a strategic bet on a more focused, product-led growth path. By winding down the Family wallet and relegating Lens governance to a governance partner, Aave appears to be prioritizing a seamless end-user experience and clear product ownership. For investors and developers, the move provides a more direct line of accountability for delivering DeFi features that scale: a more cohesive roadmap, clearer product boundaries, and less fragmentation across brands.
On the user experience front, the Family wallet’s wind-down represents a realignment of resources toward experiences that encourage sustained engagement, such as savings-oriented features rather than open-ended wallet functionality. While the wallet’s iOS app will be phased out over the coming year, existing users will still be able to access their funds via Aave’s web interfaces through at least 2027. This keeps funds secure and accessible while the underlying infrastructure continues to support Aave Labs’ broader product ecosystem.
The Lens protocol transition, previously under Aave stewardship, to Mask Network, underscores a broader industry trend: governance and development responsibilities are increasingly distributed to specialized teams. While Aave maintains an advisory role, the strategic emphasis remains on preserving protocol integrity and enabling DeFi deployment at scale. This alignment could help reduce overlaps and accelerate deployment timelines for core Aave products in areas like lending, borrowing, and asset management, reinforcing the network’s competitive position in a crowded DeFi landscape.
In formal terms, Aave Labs will house all current and future offerings, including the Aave App, Aave Pro, and Aave Kit. The branding simplification aims to minimize confusion for users navigating a growing suite of tools and services. By concentrating branding under a single umbrella, the company aims to deliver a more coherent user journey—from onboarding to advanced use cases—without sacrificing the security and reliability that have underpinned its market leadership.
From a market perspective, Aave’s status as the largest DeFi protocol by total value locked provides a cushion against volatility in the broader crypto markets. With TVL around $30 billion and Lido’s staking protocol trailing at roughly $21.7 billion, the competitive landscape remains robust. The price action of AAVE—which traded around $127.40 after a 0.7% daily dip—reflects the typical sensitivity of blue-chip DeFi tokens to broader liquidity and regulatory dynamics, even as the core product suite continues to evolve in line with the company’s strategic reorientation.
What to watch next
- April 1: No new users will be onboarded to the iOS Family Wallet, marking a hard stop for new installations.
- April 1, 2027: Existing Family Wallet users retain access to their funds via Aave’s web interfaces; iOS app access ends, completing the wind-down.
- Updates on Aave App, Aave Pro, and Aave Kit within Aave Labs, including roadmap milestones and governance developments.
- Lens protocol governance and collaboration with Mask Network—monitor any public governance proposals or technical integrations.
Sources & verification
- Stani Kulechov’s X post announcing the sunset of Avara and the move to focus on bringing Aave to the masses.
- Avara blog post detailing that current and future products will operate under Aave Labs and the wind-down of the Family wallet on iOS.
- DefiLlama TVL data confirming Aave as the largest DeFi protocol with approximately $30 billion in total value locked.
- CoinGecko price data showing AAVE trading around $127.40 with a ~0.7% daily decline.
Why it matters
The branding consolidation is a signal of maturity for Aave as it increasingly treats DeFi tooling as an integrated ecosystem rather than a set of standalone products. By aligning development under Aave Labs, the project can allocate resources more efficiently, reduce friction for users, and accelerate delivery of core DeFi capabilities that have driven adoption since the early days of the protocol.
For builders, the move clarifies accountability and ownership for each product, potentially speeding up integration work and reuse of components across the Aave ecosystem. For users, a streamlined brand can translate into a simpler onboarding flow, more consistent user interfaces, and fewer disruptions caused by shifting project scope. Regulators, too, may appreciate a well-defined product suite with centralized governance and clearer risk management practices across Aave’s core offerings.
In the broader crypto market, the emphasis on DeFi-focused growth comes at a time when liquidity and risk appetite remain uneven. However, as institutional and retail demand for scalable, compliant, and user-friendly DeFi tools persists, Aave’s renewed focus could bolster confidence in its trajectory and reinforce its position as a leading provider of decentralized financial primitives.
What to watch next
- Roadmap updates for Aave App, Aave Pro, and Aave Kit under Aave Labs in the coming quarters.
- Any governance proposals related to Lens or other partnerships tied to the Lens ecosystem.
- Evolving product onboarding experiences aimed at broad user segments, including savings-focused features.
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XRP price faces heightened downside risks following massive outflows from US Spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) amid risk-off sentiment in the broader crypto market.
Rising US and Japan bond yields signal macroeconomic stress, dragging the total crypto market capitalization 32% below its October 2025 peak.
BTC, ETH, and XRP retested their lowest levels in more than two weeks after crypto and stock markets digested US President Donald Trump’s fresh round of tariff threats.
The potential tariffs are an attempt by the administration to convince Denmark to reconsider its control of Greenland.
The S&P 500 index fell 1.9%, while gold prices surged to a new all-time high of around $4,885/ounce, and the crypto market capitalization dropped to $3 trillion, down from nearly $3.2 trillion, according to Coingecko data.
XRP dropped nearly 1% in the last 24 hours to trade at $1.90 as of 4:39 a.m. EST, with an intraday low of around $1.89.
Spot XRP ETFs Records $53.32 Million in Net Outflows
According to Coinglass data, spot XRP ETFs recorded $53.32 million in net outflows on Tuesday, January 20, marking their second-ever daily capital outflow and the largest since they began trading in November 2025.
The outflow was from Grayscale’s GXRP ETF, which recorded a total outflow of $55.39 million. Meanwhile, Franklin’s XRPZ recorded $2.07 million in inflows.
Following the latest outflow, total net inflows since launch now stand at $1.22 billion.
The recent bearish spell was not unique to XRP, as most other crypto ETFs also saw outflows. Specifically, the BTC ETFs recorded $479.70 million in outflows, while the ETH ETFs recorded $230 million.
Can XRP Stabilize or Is More Downside Ahead?
XRP price is currently trading around $1.90–$2.00, sitting directly on top of the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) near $1.90, which has become a critical long-term support level. The price remains well below the 50-day SMA at $2.39, highlighting persistent medium-term bearish pressure.
After peaking near the $3.60–$3.70 region, XRP entered a prolonged corrective phase, forming a falling channel pattern.
Despite this, XRP has so far managed to defend the $1.85–$1.90 zone, an area that also aligns with a major Fibonacci extension level from the prior advance.
The 50-day SMA remains downward-sloping, signaling that trend momentum has not yet shifted in favor of the bulls. As long as the price of XRP trades below this SMA.
Overhead, the $2.20–$2.40 region stands out as a heavy resistance band, combining the descending channel top and the 50-day SMA.
XRP’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently hovering around 41, below the neutral 50 level. This suggests weak momentum, though RSI is not yet deeply oversold.
The higher-timeframe XRP/USD chart suggests the Ripple token may attempt a short-term stabilization above the $1.85–$1.90 support zone, given the confluence with the 200-day SMA. A sustained hold here could allow for another corrective move toward $2.10–$2.30, where prior breakdown levels and channel resistance converge.
A decisive daily or multi-day close above the $2.30–$2.40 region would be required to weaken the bearish structure.
On the downside, a clean break below the 200-day SMA and $1.85 support would significantly change the bearish structure. As a result, XRP could slide toward the $ 1.35–$ 1.50 demand zone.
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Crypto.com has spun out its prediction markets business into a standalone platform called OG, marking a fresh push into one of the fastest-growing corners of digital finance and putting it in direct competition with Polymarket and Kalshi.
Key Takeaways:
- Crypto.com has launched OG as a standalone, US-only prediction markets platform built on its CFTC-regulated derivatives infrastructure.
- The spinout follows explosive growth, with Crypto.com reporting 40x weekly increases in prediction market activity over the past six months.
- OG enters an increasingly competitive market as major crypto and Wall Street players expand into event-based contracts.
OG, which went live this week, is powered by Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA), a CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse affiliated with Crypto.com.
The company said the platform is currently available only to users in the United States, underscoring its focus on operating within the country’s regulated market structure.
Crypto.com Spins Out OG After Surge in Prediction Market Activity
The decision to launch OG as a separate platform follows rapid growth in Crypto.com’s prediction market offerings.
The firm first entered the space in 2024 and rolled out a “sports event trading” product for US users in December of that year. According to co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek, activity has surged since then.
“We’ve experienced 40x weekly growth in our prediction market business over the last six months,” Marszalek said, adding that the pace justified a dedicated platform rather than keeping the product bundled within Crypto.com’s broader ecosystem.
OG will be led by Nick Lundgren, Crypto.com’s chief legal officer, who takes on the role of CEO.
Lundgren described prediction markets as a “deca-billion dollar industry,” pointing to rising interest from both retail users and institutional players.
Still, the field is becoming increasingly crowded. Coinbase launched a US-focused prediction market product in partnership with Kalshi in late January, while Hyperliquid recently outlined plans to expand into event-based markets.
The timing of OG’s debut reflects broader momentum across the sector. Prediction markets have grown from less than $100 million in monthly volume in early 2024 to more than $13 billion by the end of 2025, according to industry data.
Combined volumes on Polymarket and Kalshi alone reached $37 billion last year, as Wall Street and crypto firms alike explore new uses for event contracts beyond online betting.
State Opposition to Prediction Markets Builds Over Consumer Concerns
State opposition to prediction markets has been building for months.
In 2025, the SWC urged the CFTC to prohibit sports event contracts, arguing that such products bypass state safeguards such as age verification, responsible gaming rules and anti-money laundering requirements.
As reported, a new legislation to limit the interactions between government officials and the prediction markets is being supported by more than 30 Democrats in the US House of Representatives, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The lure behind new restrictions is a controversial Polymarket bet, which started as a bet of $32,000 but eventually became more than $400,000 shortly before the unexpected detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The bill proposed by the New York Representative Ritchie Torres is the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026.
The post Crypto.com Launches Standalone US Prediction Markets Platform OG appeared first on Cryptonews.
Crypto.com has spun out its prediction markets business, first launched in 2024, into a standalone platform called OG, competing with the likes of Polymarket and Kalshi.
OG is powered by Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA), a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered exchange and clearinghouse and affiliate of Crypto.com.
OG said on Tuesday that it is only available in the United States for now.
Entering a ‘deca-billion dollar’ industry
Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, highlighted the firm’s growth in the prediction market space as the reason for launching a dedicated platform.
Crypto.com first announced the launch of a “sports event trading” product for US users in December 2024.
“We’ve experienced 40x weekly growth in our prediction market business over the last six months. This type of growth warrants a concerted effort with a standalone platform.”
Related: Polymarket strikes prediction market deal with major US soccer league
Nick Lundgren, chief legal officer of Crypto.com and new CEO of OG, described prediction markets as a “deca-billion dollar industry.”
However, OG is entering a crowded space. Coinbase launched its own prediction market platform in the US in partnership with Kalshi in late January, while Hyperliquid proposed plans to expand into prediction markets on Monday.
Boom time for prediction markets
OG is debuting amid accelerating growth in prediction markets, with Wall Street exploring event contracts for new use cases beyond blockchain betting.
Prediction markets have seen 130-fold growth, from less than $100 million per month in early 2024 to over $13 billion by the end of 2025, according to International Banker.
The combined volume for market leaders Polymarket and Kalshi was $37 billion in predictions placed in 2025, and the two platforms raised $3.6 billion in equity investment in 2025.
Meanwhile, prediction market firm revenues are expected to balloon from around $2 billion annually to over $10 billion by 2030, according to the Citizens Financial Group.
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Billionaire scrap-metal entrepreneur Adam Weitsman continues expanding his involvement in the non-fungible token space through high-volume acquisitions and intellectual property takeovers. In yet another bullish move, the scrap metal mogul has acquired a rare non-fungible token series from the digital asset incubation studio Ghost Labs.
Billionaire Adam Buys More NFTs
In a January 21 blog post, Billionaire Adam Weitsman confirmed he has bought a rare Fire Ghost NFT collection. “The non-fungible token market was pretty brutal today, so I thought I would help by supporting another NFT project that deserves a little more attention in my opinion,” Mr Adam wrote. The billionaire investor has bought 1/1 ‘Fire Ghost’ NFT from the digital asset incubation studio Ghost Labs.
Market was pretty brutal today so thought I would help by supporting another NFT project that deserves a little more attention in my opinion. Having a lot of fun being a part of some really great communities recently like this one. The 1/1 Fire Ghost of the @GhostLabNFT now… pic.twitter.com/NZYf531VYu
— Adam Weitsman (@AdamWeitsman) January 21, 2026
Billionaire Adam Weitsman is a renowned industrialist, entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, and crypto investor. Most recent estimates from his business and entertainment finance outlets place Adam Weitsman’s net worth in a broad range of about $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, with some outliers reporting lower or higher figures. Adam serves as CEO of “Weitsman Recycling,” which has become the largest privately held scrap metal recycling company on the East Coast.
Scrap Meta mogul Adam Weitsman officially entered the NFT market in early 2023, marked by a high-profile $1.6 million purchase. Adam has substantially increased his NFT holdings by acquiring 5,000 Otherside NFTs, including Otherdeeds and Kodas, directly from Yuga Labs to support their metaverse project and 229 Meebits in an over-the-counter deal. He is also actively managing the HV-MTL project’s intellectual property. Last week, Adam purchased 100 Quirkies in a private transaction.
Billionaire Adam’s Motive for Buying NFTs
Unlike many traders in the NFT space, Adam Weitsman isn’t motivated by flipping or profit. He’s never sold an NFT in his life, and says he doesn’t believe in selling and never will. In the past pressers, Weitsman emphasized that his acquisitions are about “legacy, not liquidity,” prioritizing the preservation of digital culture over short-term financial gains. “I collect because I love the art, the people, and the history being made. For me, collecting is about legacy, not liquidity,” He said.
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Polymarket is taking its brand offline, opening a free grocery store in New York City and backing it with a $1 million donation to fight food insecurity.
Summary
- Polymarket will open a free grocery store in NYC on Feb. 12, open to all residents.
- The company donated $1 million to Food Bank For New York City.
- The move blends community support with a high-profile brand push.
Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market platform, announced on Feb. 3 that it will open New York City’s first free grocery store later this month as part of a community-focused initiative.
The pop-up store, called “The Polymarket,” is set to open on Feb. 12 at noon ET and will offer groceries at no cost to visitors. The company said no purchase will be required, and the store will be open to all New Yorkers. Polymarket has not yet disclosed the exact location.
Alongside the launch, Polymarket donated $1 million to Food Bank For New York City, a non-profit that supports hunger relief across all five boroughs. The company described the donation as part of its effort to give back to the city it calls home.
A physical bet on community impact
Polymarket framed the project as a “real, physical investment” in New York. The company said the store will be fully stocked and emphasized that the initiative is meant to address food insecurity rather than function as a traditional retail operation.
Food Bank For New York City said the donation will support its ongoing work to expand access to food and strengthen long-term food security. Polymarket encouraged members of the public to contribute to the organization as well.
Sources familiar with the project say the grocery store is expected to run for a limited time, likely spanning several days around the opening weekend.
Marketing push amid rising competition
The move also comes as competition heats up among U.S.-based prediction market platforms. Rival Kalshi earlier staged a smaller free grocery giveaway in New York, prompting comparisons between the two campaigns.
Both efforts echo campaign rhetoric from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who previously floated the idea of city-run grocery stores. Polymarket currently hosts active markets tied to whether such stores will open in the city by mid-2026, adding another layer of symbolism to the initiative.
The launch follows a busy stretch for Polymarket. In late January, the platform announced a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer, becoming the league’s official prediction market partner. On Feb. 2, Polymarket integrated with decentralized exchange aggregator Jupiter, allowing users to access markets directly on Solana.
The company is also navigating regulatory pressure. A Nevada state court issued a temporary restraining order last week preventing Polymarket’s U.S. affiliate from offering certain contracts to Nevada residents, with a hearing scheduled for Feb. 11.
There’s always a bull market somewhere.
While bitcoin and shares of bitcoin holder Strategy are falling, an exchange-traded fund designed to move in the opposite direction of MSTR and double its daily change has hit a record high.
That exchange-traded fund is the GraniteShares 2x Short MSTR Daily ETF, trading under the ticker MSDD on Nasdaq. It is an actively managed fund designed to deliver -200% of the Strategy’s daily performance. In simple terms, if MSTR falls 2% in a day, the ETF targets a 4% gain that same day (before fees/decay).
The fund debuted on Jan. 10, 2025 and is seen as a high-risk short-term tactical tool for bears betting against MSTR. And it has lived up to its repute.
MSDD’s price hit a record high of $114 on Tuesday, up 13.5% on the year, extending the past year’s 275% surge, according to data source TradingView.
MSDD’s compatriot, the Defiance Daily Target 2x Short MSTR ETF (SMST), also clocked an 11-month high of $113 on Tuesday. This fund debuted on Nasdaq in August 2024.
In other words, MSTR bears out there who loaded up on these ETFs have made a killing.
Strategy fell to $126 on Tuesday, the lowest since September 2024, extending its multi-month bear market. The stock is now down a staggering 76% from its lifetime high of $543 in November last year.
Strategy is the world’s largest publicly listed bitcoin holder, stashing 713,502 BTC ($54.24 billion) at press time. Naturally, its share price tends to follow swings in bitcoin’s market value.
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, has dropped 12% this year and traded as low as $73,000 on Tuesday. That was the weakest since late 2024. Since then, prices have bounced back to $76,000, thanks to narrowly approved funding package that alleviated near-term U.S. shutdown risk and stabilized risk sentiment in financial markets.
“Currently, a 10 billion market cap, this thing is not even worth $1 billion,” one X user argued.
The latest cryptocurrency market crash was brutal, sending Cardano’s ADA to multi-month lows.
Some analysts believe the storm may not be over, warning the price could nosedive by as much as 75% in the short term.
The Bad Days for the Bulls Aren’t Over?
Several hours ago, ADA plunged to 0.27, the lowest level since August 2024. Currently, it trades at around $0.29 (per CoinGecko’s data), representing a 15% decline on a weekly scale.
The well-known analyst DrBullZeus claimed that the asset is now nearing “a must hold support zone” at the range of $0.24-$0.28. He thinks that breaking below that level could result in a price crash to $0.125 and even $0.075.
The popular trader Matthew Dixon also chipped in. He suggested that “technically speaking,” ADA has retraced in three waves since the local top seen towards the end of 2024. He outlined $0.24 as a “very important long-term support,” predicting that as long as it holds, the price could rebound.
“A break of support would be a serious concern,” he alerted.
Prior to that, Harmonic Trader predicted that in six months, ADA might trade under $0.10. “Currently, a 10 billion market cap, this thing is not even worth $1 billion,” they argued.
Time to Rally?
Despite ADA’s recent price decline, some other analysts remain optimistic that a resurgence could be on the way. One of them, using the X nickname “Lucky,” asked their almost two million followers whether they plan to increase their exposure to the token at current rates. The analyst also envisioned a potential pump to nearly $1 in the near future.
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LaPetite is also bullish. Several days ago, he forecasted that ADA is about to go “parabolic,” claiming that “huge announcements” concerning Cardano are coming soon.
The recent exchange netflows signal that a rebound could indeed be on the horizon. Data provided by CoinGlass shows that over the past days and weeks, outflows have significantly outpaced inflows. This means investors have been shifting from centralized platforms to self-custody, which in turn reduces immediate selling pressure.
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Aave Labs says it is sunsetting its “umbrella brand” Avara in the company’s latest move to refocus on decentralized finance and simplify its branding.
Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov posted to X on Tuesday that Avara, a company encompassing projects including the Family crypto wallet and previously the social media platform Lens, “is no longer required as we go all in on bringing Aave to the masses.”
Kulechov said the Apple iOS-based Family crypto wallet was also being wound down as the team has “learned that onboarding millions of users requires purpose-built experiences, such as savings, rather than generic, open-ended wallet experiences.”
The move marks Aave’s latest effort to refocus on products such as its flagship lending protocol as the project handed stewardship of Lens to the Mask Network last month, with Kulechov saying Aave’s role in the protocol would be reduced to an advisory role so it can focus on DeFi.
Kulechov said in his latest post that Aave was “now united as one team of world-class designers, engineers, and smart contract experts, aligned around a single mission: bringing DeFi to everyone.”
All future projects under Aave Labs
Avara said in a blog post that “all current and future products, including the Aave App, Aave Pro, and Aave Kit, will operate under Aave Labs” to simplify the brand.
It added that accounts linked to the Family wallets “will continue as core infrastructure within Aave Labs products,” but the iOS app would be wound down over the next year.
No new users will be onboarded to the app from April 1, and existing users can continue using the app until April 1, 2027, and will continue to have full access to their funds on Aave’s website.
Related: There is no trust in DeFi without proper risk management
Aave is the biggest DeFi protocol with $30 billion in total value locked, nearly $9 billion more than the next largest project, the staking protocol Lido, which has $21.7 billion in value locked, according to DefiLlama.
The Aave (AAVE) token has traded flat over the past day, down just 0.7% in the last 24 hours at $127.40, according to CoinGecko.
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[PRESS RELEASE – Los Angeles, California, February 3rd, 2026]
Backed by Top Consumer, Crypto, and Cultural Investors, BLUFF Quickly Emerges as a Fast-Growing Betting Platform Boasting More Than 125M Bets in Beta
BLUFF, the next-generation betting and entertainment platform, has raised $21 million in strategic investment led by global blockchain technology fund 1kx, with participation from Makers Fund, Maximum Frequency Ventures, Delphi Ventures Founders and other high-profile backers, including sports champion & tech investor, Tristan Thompson. The team includes former senior executives from Stake, Bet365, William Hill and Bodog, drawing on experience operating the world’s leading betting platforms to deliver a truly novel gaming experience. The team will use the funds to advance the innovative betting platform and launch at scale.
BLUFF is building a social centric betting platform and sportsbook designed for the next generation of players. The platform prioritizes speed, transparency and player alignment, with instant onboarding, real-time settlement, provably fair games and reward systems that allow users to participate directly in the ecosystem they help grow.
“When we began building BLUFF, we set out to create a betting platform for the new generation of betters who prioritise fast, high-engagement gameplay, real-time experiences, real stakes and the social energy that defines how players engage online today,” said BLUFF’s Founder. “This funding, and the investors who have backed us, validates our mission of what the future of online betting can look like. Novel content, user-experience obsessed, deep community focus, and hyper-engaging for all users.”
The raise follows an exceptional pre-release phase, during which BLUFF has attracted over 600,000 sign-ups, sustained tens of thousands of daily active users and processed over 125,000,000 bets through its beta in 3 months alone. This early traction positions BLUFF as one of the fastest-scaling new betting platforms in the market with strategic partners across crypto, gaming and consumer entertainment.
“The speed of execution and level of organic demand we’ve seen from BLUFF is rare,” said Peter Pan, Partner at 1kx. “They’re building a category-defining platform with the potential to become the number one destination in betting and entertainment. BLUFF is exactly what the next generation of users is demanding.”
Beyond traditional iGaming and sports betting, BLUFF is building a unified experience that blends betting, live prediction markets, binary outcomes, and creator-led community events within a single platform. Bluff also provides a VIP matching program to make the transition from legacy platforms such as Stake, Shuffle and Rollbit to Bluff as seamless as possible, offering market-leading bonuses, rewards and world-class VIP service through a 24/7 VIP concierge.
“We are thrilled to back the BLUFF team,” said Andrew Willson, Partner at Makers Fund. “They bring a deep, nuanced understanding of player needs combined with an innovative approach to company building and platform design. By prioritizing players and offering a differentiated experience, we expect BLUFF to become a disruptive brand in the betting space.”
To learn more and play now, visit Bluff.com.
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About BLUFF
BLUFF is built for the new generation of players. A global sports betting and iGaming platform where gaming, real stakes, culture, and community merge into a single, continuous loop to meet today’s users’ demands. It starts as a betting platform and sportsbook and evolves into something much bigger, with novel bet types, loot boxes, and trading that make for a unique betting experience. Backed by global blockchain technology fund 1kx, the founding team includes senior executives and operators from Stake, Bet365, William Hill, Bodog, YOLO, and other category-defining platforms, bringing decades of experience at the highest levels of betting and gaming.
About 1kx
1kx is a research-driven, fundamentals-focused global investment firm. Founded in 2018 by tech entrepreneurs Lasse Clausen and Chris Heymann, 1kx invests at key inflection points for blockchain technologies to create breakthrough opportunities across industries. The firm’s mission is to develop the domain expertise and thought leadership required to accelerate the most consequential markets emerging at the intersection of blockchain and the broader economy. As one of the top-performing and most institutionalized funds in the blockchain space, 1kx partners with a diverse global investor base, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, endowments, foundations, fund of funds, corporations, and family offices. Renowned for its hands-on approach, technical rigor, and unwavering long-term commitment to founders, 1kx has empowered over 150 visionary startups to scale transformative projects while delivering enduring returns for its investors.
To learn more, visit https://1kx.capital/ or @1kxnetwork on X.
SECRET PARTNERSHIP BONUS for CryptoPotato readers: Use this link to register and unlock $1,500 in exclusive BingX Exchange rewards (limited time offer).
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