AMAGE

🚨R&D: The True Engine of Global Power

In the race for technological dominance, Israel stands far ahead—investing a stunning 6.3% of its GDP into research and development (R&D), nearly double the share of the U.S. Despite limited land, scarce water, and no major natural resources, Israel has built a tech empire powered by innovation.

Here, the state, military, and private sector work as one. Elite army units like Unit 8200 serve as incubators for tech talent—training young minds in cybersecurity, AI, and analytics. After military service, many launch startups that export cutting-edge technologies globally.

But look east—China is rising fast. While its R&D share of GDP is “just” 2.6%, the absolute numbers are massive. Since 2000, China’s R&D investment has surged 18x, reaching $723 billion in 2023—second only to the U.S. and EU combined. The trend is clear: China is aiming not to catch up, but to lead.

R&D isn’t just a budget line—it’s a preview of a nation’s future. Countries that ignore it risk falling behind in the digital age.

Question: Do you believe traditional industrial power still matters—or will the future belong to the smartest investors in innovation?

#AppleCryptoUpdate

Apple Crypto Shift: Web3 Finally Gets the Green Light

On May 2, Apple officially loosened its grip on in-app payments—now letting iOS developers redirect users to external platforms, including crypto wallets, NFT markets, and DeFi services. This follows increasing antitrust pressure and could be a pivotal moment for mainstream crypto adoption.

For years, Apple’s “walled garden” limited blockchain-based apps from offering real utility. But now, creators can integrate Web3 features without paying Apple’s 30% cut or facing rejection for crypto integrations.

The impact? Massive. Expect a wave of innovation from NFT platforms, decentralized finance tools, token-gated content, and digital identity apps—all optimized for iOS.

Apple didn’t just change policy—it opened the door to a decentralized layer across a billion devices.

What’s next? Could this be the inflection point that brings Web3 to the average iPhone user?

What crypto-powered experiences do you think will gain the most from Apple’s policy shift?

🚨Same $100. Same 1 BTC. Completely different outcomes.

In 1998, $100 filled a shopping cart to the brim. In 2005, it filled half.
By 2024, it barely covers essentials. That’s inflation — silent, steady, and often ignored.

Now flip the script.
In 2012, 1 Bitcoin couldn’t even buy a pizza.
In 2013, it filled a cart.
By 2024, it buys multiple cars.

This isn’t a meme — it’s monetary reality. While fiat currencies quietly erode in value due to money printing and systemic debt, Bitcoin is built on fixed supply and digital scarcity.

It doesn’t inflate. It doesn’t bend to politics.
It just is — and with each halving, it gets stronger.

This image tells a bigger story: a paradigm shift.
Not just from paper to digital, but from centralized trust to decentralized truth.

Bitcoin isn’t about getting rich quick.
It’s about not getting poorer slowly.

So the question isn’t “Is Bitcoin risky?”
It’s: “Can you afford to ignore it in 2025?”
#BTC

🚨Institutions Are Back: CME Crypto Derivatives Surge 129% in April

📈 The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the largest regulated crypto derivatives platform, recorded a sharp increase in trading volumes in April 2025. Average daily volume hit 183,000 contracts, representing $8.9 billion in notional value — up 129% year-over-year, signaling a renewed wave of institutional participation.

The standout performer? Ethereum-based products.
Daily ETH futures volume soared 239%, reaching 14,000 contracts, while micro ETH futures jumped 165% to 63,000 contracts.

CME’s offering includes standard contracts (5 BTC / 50 ETH) and micro contracts (0.1 BTC or ETH), giving institutional and professional traders precise control over risk and exposure — whether hedging long-term holdings or managing intraday volatility.

This surge suggests that institutions are increasingly using regulated instruments to express directional views and hedge positions — especially as onchain liquidity fragments and macro uncertainty remains high.

Is this just the beginning of the institutional comeback?
Or a tactical move before the next volatility wave hits?
#BTC #eth

🚨Deribit targets the U.S. — the options giant is ready to enter the world’s largest market

⚡️ According to Financial Times, Deribit, the world’s leading crypto options exchange — handling over $30 billion in monthly volume and commanding more than 85% of global crypto options market share — is preparing to launch in the United States.

Until recently, Deribit had avoided the U.S. due to strict regulatory barriers. But with the Trump administration signaling a more crypto-friendly stance and pressure easing from the SEC, the landscape is changing fast.

The company is now actively working on regulatory alignment and infrastructure to operate legally within the U.S. If successful, this move could challenge legacy derivatives platforms like CME and inject serious competition into the American options market.

Why does it matter?
Deribit isn’t just another exchange — it helps define price discovery for Bitcoin and Ethereum through options and futures, directly influencing institutional strategies.

Will U.S. platforms keep up with this “European wave”?
And could this mark the rise of America as a global crypto derivatives hub?
#DigitalAssetBill

⚡️HEADLINE TRAP: One of these actually happened. Can you guess which one?

A) Hong Kong to allow 24/7 crypto trading for retail investors
B) Solana integrates ChatGPT for native on-chain prompts
C) Microsoft acquires Chainlink to power Azure’s data oracles

All three sound real… but only one is true as of May 3, 2025.
Which one is it?

Comment below — A, B, or C?
Let’s test your alpha instincts, AMAGE community.
#BinanceHODLerSTO

🔝CryptoQuant: Bitcoin enters recovery phase as holders move into profit

🔬 The YoY True MVRV indicator has flipped into the green zone — a signal that the average purchase price of BTC over the past year is now lower than the current market price. In short, most investors are finally back in profit.

According to analyst Axel Adler Jr., panic selling pressure is fading. Many short-term holders are no longer underwater and feel less urgency to exit. At the same time, the “speculative premium” is still low, meaning few are rushing to take profits.

This shift aligns with a broader market recovery and may signal the beginning of a more sustainable bullish trend.

As Adler put it: “The real action is just beginning.”

Are you already in — or still watching from the sidelines?
#BinanceHODLerSTO

Worldcoin, the blockchain project by Sam Altman, is expanding into the U.S. market with plans to deploy 7,500 Orb devices by the end of 2025. These chrome spheres scan users’ irises to generate a unique digital ID based on retinal patterns—one of the most stable and tamper-resistant biometric markers. The goal is to build a universal proof-of-personhood system for global digital identity, beyond borders and government IDs.

Alongside this rollout, Altman’s team at Tools for Humanity announced major integrations. World App users will gain access to crypto-backed loans via Morpho, prediction markets through Kalshi, and a new Visa debit card that lets users spend their tokens in real life. Notably, World ID will also be integrated into dating apps like Tinder in Japan to verify identity and reduce bots.

While the tech promises easier access to finance, identity, and services, it also raises questions about privacy, surveillance, and biometric ownership. Your eye might be your new passport—but are we ready for that level of tradeoff?

Would you scan your iris in exchange for digital access and financial tools?
$WLD $FET


#wld

🔺S&P 500 hits 9-day winning streak — the longest in 20 years

As of May 3, 2025, the S&P 500 stands at $5,686, capping off nine consecutive days of gains — a record not seen in two decades. The rally follows a sharp correction triggered by former President Trump’s tariff announcement earlier this year.

What’s remarkable is the speed of the recovery. The index has nearly returned to its six-month highs, reflecting renewed investor confidence and the market’s ability to absorb geopolitical shocks.

This momentum also highlights how markets increasingly price in macro events with agility, often separating political noise from long-term fundamentals.

With tokenization, AI adoption, and soft landing hopes in the background, the S&P’s surge raises a key question:

Is this the start of a new bull cycle — or just a calm before the next storm?

#AMAGE

Goldman Sachs is stepping into the onchain era with plans to tokenize U.S. Treasury bonds and money market funds, enabling 24/7 trading for traditionally rigid financial instruments. In response to growing institutional interest in blockchain-based assets, the bank will launch three tokenization projects in 2025, including euro-denominated digital bonds and other onchain investment products.

This move reflects a broader shift in traditional finance toward real-world asset tokenization. By bringing bonds and cash-equivalent instruments onto the blockchain, Goldman Sachs aims to boost liquidity, transparency, and accessibility—especially for global investors operating outside standard market hours.

Projects like Franklin Templeton’s BENJI token and Ondo Finance’s USDY have already shown how tokenized treasuries can offer yield and flexibility onchain. Goldman’s entry signals that legacy players now see blockchain not as disruption, but as infrastructure.

Tokenization could redefine how capital flows globally. But the question is: will users trust Wall Street’s version of DeFi?
$HBAR $ONDO #CryptoAdoption

🚨The Greatest Crypto Heist of 2025: Teenagers, Yachts, and Minecraft

A crypto investor in the U.S. lost $243 million after scammers posed as Google and crypto exchange employees. They tricked the victim into revealing personal data, accessed wallets, and stole the funds.

It later emerged that part of the group were teenagers, spending the stolen money on yachts, supercars, and wild parties. The funds were laundered through… Minecraft, using in-game servers as a shadow financial network.

The plot thickened when one of the culprits turned out to be a banker’s son, who was later kidnapped for ransom. An anonymous crypto detective exposed the group, leading to arrests across the U.S. and Singapore. A portion of the funds was recovered.

This case is a loud wake-up call: social engineering, weak cybersecurity, and poor digital hygiene can cost hundreds of millions.

What’s your take on this story?
Can Web3 ever be truly secure?
And how do we protect ourselves in the world of digital assets?
#DigitalAssetBill

Is Ethereum returning to its roots? Vitalik Buterin proposes simplifying Layer 1 — and it could change everything.

On May 2, 2025, Buterin published an essay titled “Simplifying the L1”, calling for a major redesign of Ethereum’s base layer. He suggests limiting code complexity to make the protocol more like Bitcoin — simpler, safer, and more sustainable. The core L1 should only handle consensus and data security, while advanced logic should move to Layer 2 (rollups). He also proposes removing redundant features, such as complex transaction preconditions, and improving L1-L2 communication.

Buterin believes this shift would reduce development costs, improve security, and make Ethereum more modular and scalable. As networks like Solana, Aptos, and Sui grow more competitive, this strategy could be key to Ethereum’s long-term dominance.

What do you think? Should Ethereum embrace minimalism? And can ETH break $5,000 in 2025?
#AMAGE #ETH

Unichain from Uniswap Kicks Off a New Era of L2 Solutions
3 May 2025

Uniswap, the largest decentralized exchange on Ethereum, has unveiled Unichain—its first Layer 2 solution featuring Trusted Execution Environments (TEE). Developed in partnership with Flashbots, Unichain builds blocks inside secure hardware modules, which:
• Reduces MEV risks (transaction-ordering exploits)
• Speeds up confirmations via optimized block sequencing
• Enhances privacy and resistance to miner manipulation

What is Uniswap?
Uniswap is an automated market maker (AMM) and one of the most popular decentralized DEXs. As of May 2025, its TVL exceeds $4 billion and UNI’s market cap sits around $5–6 billion. The project aims to make asset trading as cheap, fast, and transparent as possible.

Why It Matters
Layer 2 solutions often face censorship and high fees under peak loads. Unichain’s TEE-powered design and Flashbots integration show it’s possible to blend Ethereum L1 security with high throughput and fair transaction ordering.

Your turn, AMAGE community:
– How promising is a TEE-based scaling approach?
– Can Unichain outpace rival L2s and set a new standard?
– When will you adopt Uniswap’s L2 in your trading strategies?

#AMAGE #UNI

#BTC #GOLD Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro at Fidelity, highlighted a notable shift in the investment landscape: Bitcoin appears poised to assume the role traditionally held by gold as a store of value. Timmer observed that while gold currently boasts a Sharpe ratio of 1.33, indicating robust risk-adjusted returns, Bitcoin’s Sharpe ratio stands at -0.40, reflecting recent underperformance relative to risk-free assets. Despite this, he anticipates that Bitcoin may soon overtake gold in performance, driven by its digital nature and increasing institutional adoption.

Timmer suggests that investors consider both assets as complementary components of a diversified portfolio, recommending a 4:1 allocation favoring gold. He characterizes Bitcoin as a dual-natured asset—serving both as “hard money” and a speculative investment—making it particularly relevant amid current macroeconomic uncertainties.

As of May 3, 2025, Bitcoin is trading at approximately $96,421, with a market capitalization of around $1.91 trillion . In contrast, gold is priced at about $3,240.72 per ounce, contributing to a total market capitalization exceeding $20 trillion .  

Question for the Community:
Do you believe Bitcoin will surpass gold as the preferred store of value in the coming years? Share your thoughts on the future of these assets.

DeFi: Evolution, Not Threat, for Bitcoin

At Token2049 in Dubai, Kevin Farrelly (Franklin Templeton) shared a key insight: DeFi is not a threat to Bitcoin — it’s an evolution. His firm’s investment in Bitlayer, a Bitcoin Layer 2 solution, reflects growing support for expanding Bitcoin’s functionality without diluting its core purpose.

Why It Matters:
Bitlayer brings smart contracts and faster transactions to Bitcoin, enabling DeFi features like lending, borrowing, and DEXs. This marks a shift from Bitcoin as simply “digital gold” toward a more active role in the decentralized economy.

Understanding DeFi:
DeFi enables services like interest-earning loans, trading on decentralized exchanges, and stablecoin transfers — all without banks. Projects like Aave, Compound, and Uniswap offer access to financial tools via smart contracts.

What Changes for Bitcoin?
With DeFi on Bitcoin, users can earn yield, miners get more fee-based rewards, and the ecosystem gains new use cases. As block rewards shrink, DeFi provides a sustainable alternative for network growth.

Let’s Discuss:
• Will DeFi help Bitcoin scale and evolve?
• Which DeFi-on-Bitcoin projects do you believe in?
• Is this the future Satoshi envisioned?

Join the conversation — AMAGE.
#btc #defi

China Signals Willingness to Negotiate Tariffs After April Duties
May 3, 2025 | AMAGE

In a surprising shift, Beijing has publicly welcomed U.S. overtures to reopen trade talks following fresh duties imposed in April. For the first time since Washington’s announcement of 25% tariffs on $150 billion of Chinese goods—including electric vehicles and semiconductors—China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed that senior U.S. officials have signaled their readiness to negotiate.

What happened in April?
• April 12: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai unveiled new tariffs aimed at curbing China’s high-tech exports.
• April 15: Beijing retaliated with levies on $100 billion of American products, from LNG to medical equipment.

Today’s developments
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao stated:

“The U.S. has sent messages through relevant channels seeking talks. We are evaluating these overtures and hope the U.S. demonstrates sincerity.”

Why this matters
• Supply chains: Auto, electronics, and clean-energy industries have felt the squeeze of mutual tariffs, driving up costs worldwide.
• Global markets: Equities jumped on hopes of a truce—Shanghai Composite rose 1.8%, while the S&P 500 futures added 0.9%.
• Crypto spillover: Bitcoin climbed 3% as traders anticipated reduced geopolitical risk.

What’s next?
Negotiators on both sides are expected to meet in Geneva later this month. Key issues include tariff rollbacks, investment screening, and technology transfer rules. A successful outcome could ease inflationary pressures and restore confidence across global markets.

Your take, AMAGE community:
Do you believe these early signals will lead to a lasting trade détente—or is this just another temporary pause in a long-running rivalry?

#china #usa