JPMorgan Private Bank said that although the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has declined 10% over the past year, Bitcoin has fallen 13% over the same period, breaking from its typical pattern of strengthening during periods of dollar weakness. Analysts added that the dollar’s slide has been driven largely by short-term positioning and market sentiment, rather than by fundamental changes in economic growth or expectations for monetary policy.
Sony Innovation Fund has committed an additional $13 million to Startale Group as the first tranche of the company’s Series A round. Startale is a co-developer of the Soneium blockchain.
The company previously secured $3.5 million in seed funding from Sony in 2023, followed by a $3.5 million seed extension in 2024 backed by UOB Venture Management and Samsung Next. With the latest investment, Startale’s total disclosed funding now stands at $20 million.
According to data shared by Blockworks researcher Shaunda Devens, Hyperliquid has quietly emerged as the venue with the deepest top-of-book liquidity in the crypto market. Within ±1 basis point of the mid-price, Hyperliquid shows $3.1 million in resting BTC depth, exceeding Binance’s $2.3 million.
In addition, Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 silver market records $33,000 in depth at the tightest price level, also ahead of Binance, which shows $24,000.
Aave’s 51.5% DeFi Lending Dominance Raises New Systemic Risk Questions
Aave has crossed a historic threshold in DeFi, now controlling about 51.5% of the entire decentralized lending market — the first time a single protocol has held a majority share since 2020. This shift did not come from the collapse of competitors, but from steady capital concentration. With roughly $33 billion in total value locked (TVL) in a lending sector worth about $65 billion, Aave has effectively become DeFi’s primary liquidity hub. But TVL dominance does not directly equal credit risk. Lending TVL measures deposited collateral, not borrowed funds. Still, Aave currently carries around $24 billion in outstanding loans, putting its borrow-to-TVL ratio near 70%. That means the protocol is running significant leverage on top of its collateral base. In practice, Aave functions less like a passive asset vault and more like a massive, automated margin engine for the DeFi ecosystem. This distinction is critical for understanding systemic risk. The danger is not simply that Aave is big, but that it concentrates leverage and liquidation activity. When markets fall, DeFi risk materializes through forced deleveraging — automated liquidations that sell collateral to repay loans. The larger Aave becomes, the more of that system-wide deleveraging flows through a single protocol.
A recent stress event on Oct. 10 offered a preview. Over two days, Aave processed nearly $193 million in liquidations on Ethereum, making it one of the largest liquidation episodes in the protocol’s history. Liquidators earned about $10 million in bonuses, and the protocol treasury collected roughly $1 million in fees. Importantly, the system functioned smoothly: underwater positions were closed, collateral changed hands, and no meaningful bad debt or oracle failures were observed. However, this stress test occurred under relatively favorable conditions. Stablecoins held their pegs, on-chain liquidity remained deep, and major assets did not experience extreme price gaps. In other words, the environment allowed liquidators to operate efficiently. The real systemic concern appears in harsher scenarios. Imagine a 25–35% market drawdown happening alongside stablecoin instability or sharp dislocations in key collateral assets such as liquid staking derivatives. In that environment, liquidity could thin out rapidly, spreads could widen, and price feeds might lag real market moves. Liquidation volumes could spike far beyond recent records, potentially overwhelming the system’s ability to unwind positions smoothly. Aave governance has explicitly acknowledged this “tail risk.” In early 2026, a proposal reduced supply and borrow caps for certain assets while oracle changes were finalized, with the stated goal of improving liquidation profitability and reducing the chance of bad debt during potential depegging events. This shows that risk management is active and adaptive rather than static. Still, structural limits remain. Aave’s primary loss-absorption mechanism — the Safety Module — holds about $460 million. Compared to roughly $24 billion in outstanding borrows, that is only around 2% coverage. Governance is also moving toward “Umbrella” modules that provide asset-specific backstops (for example, staked aUSDC covering USDC-related deficits) rather than a single shared reserve. This design improves capital efficiency but leaves the system more exposed to cross-asset contagion, where stress in multiple markets occurs at once. Risk management in Aave resembles a prime brokerage model in traditional finance: parameters such as interest rates, collateral factors, and caps are actively adjusted to control leverage and encourage orderly deleveraging. The difference is that traditional prime brokers rely on human discretion, credit teams, and access to emergency central bank liquidity. Aave relies on immutable smart contracts, automated liquidations, and economic incentives for bots — with no lender of last resort. Under moderate stress, this automated system can work extremely well, acting as a shock absorber that forces losses to be realized quickly and transparently. Under extreme stress, however, execution risk becomes the key variable. If prices move faster than oracles update, or if liquidity evaporates faster than liquidators can act, bad debt can accumulate before the system stabilizes.
Three broad scenarios help frame the range of outcomes. In a mild 10–15% market decline with stable pegs and healthy liquidity, liquidation volumes might resemble past events around $180–200 million, and the system would likely rebalance smoothly. In a more severe 25–35% drawdown with thinner liquidity, liquidations could rise into the $200–600 million range, and price impact from forced selling could spill into other protocols that use the same collateral. In a tail scenario combining deep price drops with stablecoin depegs or major collateral dislocations, liquidations could exceed $600 million and strain both oracle responsiveness and market depth — the point where systemic fragility becomes a real concern. Aave’s 51.5% market share may signal that DeFi lending is entering a “natural monopoly” phase, where liquidity concentration reinforces itself. That can improve efficiency, pricing, and user experience. But it also means that Aave is now the primary margin engine of DeFi. The system’s resilience will depend not on its market share alone, but on whether its liquidation infrastructure, oracle design, and backstop mechanisms can scale alongside its growing leverage — and whether the broader ecosystem has meaningful alternatives if that central engine comes under stress. $AAVE
Criminal groups generated an estimated $158 billion in illicit digital asset activity in 2025, marking a sharp rise in total value after several years of decline, according to a new TRM Labs report. Despite the increase, illicit transactions accounted for only about 1.2% of total crypto volume, as the overall market — particularly stablecoins — grew rapidly.
The report highlights a shift toward more professional, state-linked operations using advanced infrastructure. Russia-linked networks drove a major surge in sanctions-related crypto flows, while North Korea continued to play a central role in both hacking and laundering stolen funds.
Crypto hacks resulted in nearly $3 billion in losses during the year, with a large portion tied to a single major exchange breach. Attackers are increasingly targeting core infrastructure and operational systems, not just smart contract bugs.
Stolen assets are often funneled through complex laundering networks, including so-called “Chinese laundromats,” using chain-hopping and transaction fragmentation to evade tracking. TRM warns that this growing professionalization makes asset recovery harder and shortens the window for law enforcement to intervene.
The findings come as U.S. lawmakers debate crypto market structure legislation, where concerns over illicit finance remain a key point of contention.
Solana’s validator count has dropped below 800 for the first time since 2021, down more than 65% from a peak of around 2,500 in early 2023. This sharp contraction has reduced daily vote transactions — the validator-submitted votes that help confirm blocks — from roughly 300,000 to about 170,000. The decline is largely tied to shifting economics. Support mechanisms from the Solana Foundation, including time-limited vote cost assistance and stake-matching programs, have been tapering off. As these incentives shrink, smaller validators are struggling to cover infrastructure and voting costs without enough delegated stake and rewards, making operations financially unsustainable. Despite the drop in validators and vote activity, overall network usage remains strong. Non-vote transactions — such as decentralized exchange trades, dApp interactions, and token transfers — have held steady at around 100 million per day, reflecting continued user activity, particularly driven by the memecoin trading wave on Solana.
MegaETH, a high-performance Ethereum layer-2 network, has announced that its public mainnet will launch on Feb. 9, marking a key milestone for one of the most closely watched scaling projects in the ecosystem. The project brands itself as a “real-time” blockchain for Ethereum, aiming to deliver ultra-low latency and extremely high transaction throughput. Over the past year, MegaETH has attracted strong attention and funding, backed by prominent Ethereum figures including Vitalik Buterin and Joe Lubin. In October 2025, MegaETH completed a heavily oversubscribed $450 million token sale, offering about 5% of its total 10 billion MEGA token supply. The rapid sellout highlighted intense investor demand for next-generation blockchain scaling infrastructure. MegaETH is being developed by MegaLabs, which raised $20 million in a 2024 seed round led by Dragonfly. The team positions MegaETH not just as a traditional scaling solution, but as a new type of real-time blockchain designed for applications that require near-instant transactions, such as trading platforms, games, and consumer-focused crypto apps — areas where Ethereum has historically faced congestion during peak usage.
U.K. urges banks not to discriminate against crypto firms The U.K. government says it expects banks to treat crypto businesses fairly as part of its ambition to make the country a global hub for digital assets. HM Treasury stated that crypto firms authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should not face account closures or transaction restrictions solely because they operate in the sector. The comments follow complaints from the U.K. Cryptoasset Business Council and Coinbase, which allege that major banks are blocking millions of customers from accessing legal, FCA-registered crypto services. A survey of 10 compliant exchanges found that seven reported a more hostile banking environment in 2025, while three saw no improvement. Treasury officials emphasized that licensed crypto companies meeting regulatory standards should not be treated differently from other lawful businesses. The FCA currently lists 59 registered crypto firms that comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules, including Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini. The dispute comes as the U.K. finalizes its crypto regulatory framework, with full rules expected to take effect by October 2027. Industry representatives argue that blanket banking restrictions undermine consumer access and conflict with the government’s goal of positioning Britain as a leading digital finance center.
White House to meet crypto and banking leaders over stablecoin bill concerns The White House plans to convene executives from major crypto firms and traditional banks in the coming days to address sticking points in the stalled digital asset market structure bill, with a focus on stablecoin yield features. The legislation has faced resistance over proposed limits on interest-bearing or reward-linked mechanisms tied to dollar-pegged stablecoins. Banks argue that allowing such rewards could draw deposits away from the traditional banking system, while crypto companies say sharing yield from reserve assets would benefit users. The meeting will be hosted by the White House’s crypto policy council, which includes officials from the National Economic Council, the Treasury Department and other agencies. The goal is to gather direct feedback from industry participants on how to resolve disagreements and move the bill forward. Industry groups including the Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation confirmed they will attend, expressing support for clear, bipartisan rules that protect consumers while encouraging responsible innovation in digital assets.
Wall Street groups urge SEC to keep tokenized securities under existing rules Representatives from SIFMA, law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel, Citadel and JPMorgan met with the SEC’s Crypto Task Force to argue that tokenized securities should be regulated under existing federal securities laws, not a separate framework. According to an SEC memo, the firms warned that allowing blockchain-based versions of stocks or other securities to trade under lighter standards could weaken long-standing investor protections and market-structure rules. They urged the commission to rely on formal rulemaking rather than broad exemptive relief or informal staff guidance. Participants said tokenization changes the market’s technical plumbing, not the economic reality of securities. Whether issued natively onchain or through custodial, entitlement or “wrapped” structures, tokenized instruments were described as economically equivalent to traditional securities and therefore subject to the same regulatory obligations. DeFi was only briefly discussed, mainly in the context of how exchange, broker-dealer and market-access rules might apply if tokenized securities trade through decentralized or hybrid systems. Broader DeFi activities such as lending and governance were not a focus. The meeting underscores growing alignment between regulators and major financial institutions that while tokenization may modernize market infrastructure, it does not justify a separate regulatory regime for securities.
Tesla holds bitcoin steady, books $239 million digital asset loss Tesla made no changes to its bitcoin holdings in the fourth quarter of 2025, maintaining a total of 11,509 BTC. However, the value of those holdings fell sharply as bitcoin’s price dropped from around $114,000 to $88,000 during the final three months of the year. As a result, the company recorded an after-tax impairment loss of approximately $239 million on its digital asset holdings, according to its newly released fourth-quarter earnings report. Tesla originally disclosed the purchase of 43,200 BTC in early 2021 but later sold most of its position during the 2022 market downturn. Since then, its remaining bitcoin holdings have stayed largely unchanged. For the fourth quarter, Tesla reported revenue of $24.9 billion, slightly below expectations of $25.1 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.50, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45. TSLA shares rose 3.4% in after-hours trading.
SEC says tokenized securities remain subject to U.S. securities laws The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued new guidance clarifying how federal securities laws apply to tokenized securities. The agency said that even if ownership is recorded on blockchain and represented by crypto tokens, these instruments are still securities and must comply with existing registration, disclosure and regulatory requirements. The SEC outlined two main categories. The first includes issuer-sponsored tokenized securities, where the issuer records ownership directly on blockchain and token transfers represent actual transfers of the underlying security. The second covers third-party sponsored models, where a custodian holds the original security and a token represents an indirect ownership interest — a structure the SEC says is comparable to traditional custodial arrangements. The agency also addressed “synthetic” structures that provide economic exposure to a security without granting shareholder rights, noting that many of these arrangements may also fall within the existing securities framework.
Doppler raises $9 million to expand token launch infrastructure Doppler, an onchain token creation and launch protocol, has raised $9 million in a seed round led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Variant, Figment Capital and Coinbase Ventures. The funding was secured through parent company Whetstone Research using SAFEs with token warrants. Nine months after launch, Doppler says more than 90% of new DEX pools on Base are created through its platform. The project aims to become the default infrastructure for launching tokenized assets across multiple blockchains. Founder Austin Adams said Doppler offers an audited, plug-and-play system that allows teams to deploy tokens, bootstrap liquidity and design market structure in as little as two weeks. The protocol uses price discovery auctions to limit sniper bots while generating protocol-owned liquidity from day one. Doppler claims more than 40,000 assets are now created daily through its platform, representing over $1.5 billion in value and more than $1 billion in cumulative trading volume. The protocol generates revenue by collecting trading fees on assets launched through its system.
Strive raises $225 million, cuts debt and boosts Bitcoin holdings Bitcoin treasury firm Strive (ASST) has raised $225 million through an upsized and oversubscribed offering of its SATA preferred stock. According to a press release, the deal drew more than $600 million in orders, well above the company’s original $150 million target. The proceeds, along with related exchanges, allowed Strive to quickly reduce leverage following its acquisition of Semler Scientific (SMLR). The company retired $110 million of Semler’s $120 million in legacy debt, including $90 million in convertible notes that were exchanged into SATA stock and the full repayment of a $20 million loan from Coinbase Credit. As a result, 100% of Strive’s bitcoin holdings are now unencumbered. The company also plans to eliminate the remaining $10 million in debt by April 2026, ahead of its original 12-month schedule. Strive used part of the newly raised capital to purchase an additional 333.89 BTC at an average price of $89,851 per coin, bringing its total holdings to about 13,131 BTC. At Bitcoin’s current price near $89,100, those holdings are worth more than $1.1 billion, making Strive the world’s tenth-largest public corporate holder of bitcoin. ASST shares remained under pressure, falling 1.5% early Wednesday to $0.81.
Citrea launches mainnet to unlock Bitcoin-backed finance Citrea has launched its mainnet, enabling lending, trading and structured financial products backed directly by Bitcoin. The rollout also introduces ctUSD, a native stablecoin fully backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills and cash. Issued by MoonPay, ctUSD is designed to align with the anticipated U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins under the GENIUS Act. Citrea said the launch is aimed at mobilizing idle BTC and establishing an institutional-grade settlement layer for Bitcoin-based capital markets. Unlike systems that rely on intermediaries or wrapped versions of BTC, ctUSD is built as a native liquidity and settlement layer anchored directly to Bitcoin. The platform is being developed by Chainway Labs and is backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures. The project has raised $16.7 million across two funding rounds. According to the team, the mainnet is built to bring Bitcoin-secured financial activity fully onchain, including BTC-backed lending and institutional credit settled via ctUSD. Citrea added that more than 30 Bitcoin-native applications are already preparing to launch on the network, as developers increasingly seek to expand Bitcoin’s role beyond passive holding and into active financial use cases.
Optimism approves OP buyback plan tied to Superchain revenue Optimism governance has approved a proposal to link the OP token more directly to the economic performance of the Superchain, marking a notable shift in how one of Ethereum’s largest layer-2 ecosystems approaches token value and revenue allocation. The measure passed with 84.4% of votes in favor on Optimism’s on-chain governance portal, following several days of discussion among delegates and tokenholders. Under the plan, the Optimism Foundation will allocate 50% of net Superchain sequencer revenue to recurring OP token buybacks during a 12-month pilot program beginning in February. The remaining revenue will continue to fund ecosystem development, grants, and operational costs. The initiative represents Optimism’s first formal effort to connect demand for the OP token with network activity across the Superchain — a growing network of OP Stack-based chains that includes OP Mainnet, Base, Unichain, World Chain, Soneium, Ink, and others. Since launch, OP has primarily functioned as a governance token, allowing holders to vote on protocol upgrades and treasury spending. The newly approved buyback mechanism introduces a different dynamic: as Superchain usage increases, more capital will be directed toward purchasing OP on the open market. According to the Optimism Foundation, Superchain sequencers generated roughly 5,900 ETH in revenue over the past year, a figure that could rise as more chains go live and transaction volume expands. OP tokens acquired through the buyback program will be held in the Optimism Collective treasury. The proposal does not require the tokens to be burned or permanently removed from circulation, leaving future uses — such as staking mechanisms, incentives, or potential burns — to later governance decisions. That flexibility was a central point of debate during the review process. Some delegates argued it preserves strategic optionality, while others called for clearer long-term commitments.
Fairshake amasses $193M war chest for U.S. midterms Crypto-focused political action committee Fairshake, backed by major industry players including Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), said it holds more than $193 million in cash as it heads into the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. The total includes a $25 million contribution from Coinbase in 2025, as well as more recent donations such as $25 million from Ripple and $24 million from a16z, according to a statement released Wednesday. Fairshake said it will continue opposing anti-crypto politicians while supporting candidates who favor digital asset innovation. The group framed its mission around protecting consumers, fostering U.S. innovation, and expanding access to the financial system. The PAC was a major force in last year’s election cycle, spending millions to back crypto-friendly candidates. Together with the super PAC Defend American Jobs, Fairshake poured $40 million into supporting Republican candidate Bernie Moreno, who ultimately defeated crypto critic Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November. Funding from a16z, Coinbase, and Ripple is expected to play a significant role again in this year’s midterm races. On the policy front, Senate negotiations around comprehensive crypto regulation have recently stalled. Hearings to amend and vote on key legislation were delayed, and the Senate Banking Committee postponed a planned session at the last minute after Coinbase withdrew its support, citing concerns over tokenized equities and the treatment of stablecoin rewards. The issue of stablecoin yield is scheduled to be discussed at a White House meeting on Monday. Meanwhile, the Senate Agriculture Committee is still expected to move forward with its own hearing on Thursday, focused on crypto market structure.
Mystery entity quietly accumulates 10% of total LINK supply
A single unidentified entity appears to have accumulated approximately 100 million LINK tokens — 10% of Chainlink’s total supply — through a highly coordinated and carefully concealed on-chain strategy. The discovery, based on wallet and transaction pattern analysis, is being viewed as one of the most significant accumulation events in LINK’s history. A network of nearly identical wallets The pattern first emerged while analyzing the largest LINK-holding wallets on-chain. Dozens of addresses stood out for one unusual reason: they each held almost the exact same amount of LINK — roughly 2 million tokens per wallet — and virtually no other crypto assets. Further investigation revealed that this was not a coincidence. In total, 48 wallets were identified that shared multiple characteristics: Similar LINK balancesCreation dates clustered between August and November 2025Funding routes that traced back to the same Coinbase hot walletHighly synchronized transaction timing When their transaction histories were mapped visually, the similarities became even clearer. These wallets repeatedly bought comparable amounts of LINK on the same days, month after month. While early purchases varied slightly depending on when each wallet was created, their long-term accumulation patterns quickly converged into near-perfect alignment. Such consistency strongly suggests that the wallets are controlled by one coordinated entity, rather than independent investors acting coincidentally.
Accumulating at scale without moving the market Under normal circumstances, buying 10% of a token’s total supply would trigger a dramatic price surge. However, LINK’s market price did not experience extreme upward volatility during this period. That’s because the accumulation strategy appears to have been engineered specifically to avoid drawing attention or creating sudden demand shocks. The buyer used newly created, anonymous wallets and spread purchases across time, avoiding large single orders. More importantly, the timing coincided with a rare period of exceptionally high market liquidity. The October 10 liquidity window A key turning point appears to have been the October 10, 2025 market crash, when technical disruptions and macro-driven panic selling caused widespread dislocations across crypto markets. Liquidity surged as forced selling flooded order books, and exchanges reportedly absorbed significant inventory to stabilize trading conditions. In the weeks that followed, this excess supply was gradually redistributed back into the market, leading to prolonged sell pressure but also unusually deep liquidity. For a large buyer seeking to accumulate without affecting price, this environment was ideal. Notably, 39 of the 48 wallets linked to the accumulation were created during October and November — precisely when liquidity conditions were most favorable. Exchange balances dropped in parallel Blockchain data also shows a sharp decline in LINK balances held on exchanges during the same October–November window. The timing closely matches the creation of new wallets and their ongoing purchases, suggesting that large amounts of LINK were being withdrawn from trading platforms and moved into long-term storage. This pattern reinforces the view that the accumulation was deliberate, sustained, and strategically timed.
Who could be behind it? The scale — well over $1 billion worth of LINK — makes it highly unlikely that this was the action of a private individual. The precision of the strategy and the ability to execute without disrupting price further point toward an institutional-grade participant. Several categories of entities have been speculated: Major asset managers such as BlackRock are frequently mentioned. The firm has been vocal about tokenization as a core part of the future financial system and already uses Chainlink services in tokenized fund structures. Holding a large LINK reserve could provide strategic exposure to critical blockchain infrastructure. Large banks like JPMorgan are also seen as plausible candidates. The bank has significantly expanded its blockchain and tokenization initiatives and relies on oracle and cross-chain infrastructure that Chainlink provides. A LINK reserve could serve operational, staking, or strategic positioning purposes in a future where traditional finance increasingly interacts with public blockchain networks. Chainlink Labs itself is generally considered a less likely explanation. Most of its token holdings are publicly known and categorized as non-circulating supply, making a covert accumulation of this scale inconsistent with its historical transparency. Strategic positioning rather than speculation One of the most intriguing aspects is the round-number precision of the accumulation: almost exactly 100 million LINK, or one-tenth of total supply. This suggests intentional sizing, consistent with a long-term strategic allocation rather than opportunistic trading. If the buyer is indeed a financial institution, the move could signal expectations that Chainlink infrastructure will play a critical role in future financial systems — from tokenized assets to cross-chain settlement and data verification. Bullish signal — with a caveat From a market perspective, such large-scale, long-term accumulation can be interpreted as a bullish signal, implying strong conviction in LINK’s future utility. It may also make it harder for other institutions to build similar positions quietly, potentially leading to more aggressive buying in the future. However, the situation also introduces concentration risk. A single unknown entity controlling around 10% of supply holds significant influence. Without knowing whether the tokens are intended for long-term use, staking, collateralization, or eventual distribution, uncertainty remains. One of the most notable LINK events to date What is clear is that the accumulation was real, highly sophisticated, and executed with institutional-level precision. Whether the buyer turns out to be a major financial player, a strategic technology partner, or another type of organization, the event stands out as one of the most remarkable on-chain patterns ever observed for LINK — and one that could have lasting implications for its role in the evolving digital financial ecosystem.
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, reinforcing a sharp shift in market expectations that had previously leaned toward an early 2026 rate cut. Policymakers cited subdued job growth, a stabilizing unemployment rate, and still-elevated inflation as reasons for maintaining a restrictive stance. Two officials dissented, favoring a 25-basis-point cut, highlighting some internal division. Markets showed muted immediate reactions. Bitcoin hovered just below $89,500, U.S. equities were little changed, the dollar strengthened, and gold surged toward record highs. Rate-cut expectations have been steadily pushed back in recent months, with markets now assigning very low odds to easing in the near term and expecting policy to remain tight through at least the first quarter. Although a January cut is now off the table, investors still anticipate eventual easing later in the year, with probabilities gradually rising for the spring meetings. Analysts warn that if Chair Jerome Powell signals a prolonged “higher-for-longer” approach or fewer cuts in 2026, risk assets — including bitcoin — could face short-term pressure. Attention now turns to Powell’s press conference for further guidance on the Fed’s policy path.
Uniswap Labs has launched its Continuous Clearing Auctions (CCA) mechanism on the main Uniswap web app, expanding access to an onchain, permissionless auction system designed to improve price discovery and liquidity formation for new or low-liquidity tokens. CCAs allow tokens to be distributed through transparent, fully onchain auctions where pricing, bidding, and settlement are visible in real time. This model addresses a common issue in token launches, where early liquidity formation often happens privately, leading to information gaps and unstable markets once public trading begins. The system also reduces the advantage of trading bots that typically “snipe” liquidity at launch. Instead of releasing full liquidity instantly, CCAs introduce tokens gradually in line with real demand, while an automated mechanism helps determine a fair market price. After an auction ends, buyers receive their tokens and liquidity is automatically seeded into a Uniswap v4 pool. For new projects, CCAs offer a way for users to participate before open market trading begins. For existing tokens, teams can use the same framework to distribute supply and bootstrap liquidity. While CCAs do not change Uniswap’s core protocol, their integration into the main frontend could significantly reshape how token launches happen by crowd-sourcing price discovery and smoothing early volatility. The CCA smart contracts are already live on Ethereum mainnet, Unichain, Arbitrum, and Base. Uniswap noted that Aztec used the model for a token distribution in November, raising $60 million from over 17,000 participants without detecting bot-driven manipulation. Going forward, Uniswap will display ongoing and upcoming CCA auctions directly in its interface, and projects will be able to customize parameters such as token supply, starting price, duration, and verification tools like ZK Passport.