Ethereum Foundation Pledges $6M for Blockchain Protocol Research at Columbia
The Ethereum Foundation has announced a major partnership with Columbia University to support the Columbia-Ethereum Research Center on Blockchain Protocol Design. The foundation will match donations up to $500,000 per year for the first three years, contributing to a total $6 million funding commitment. This interdisciplinary center aims to advance blockchain infrastructure research on consensus, security, transaction processing, and economic incentives under the leadership of professor Tim Roughgarden.
Next-Gen Privacy and Scale: TEEs Power a New Era of Blockchain Innovation
Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) allow nodes to process data inside secure CPU enclaves, making private smart contracts, MEV-proof block building, low-cost off-chain compute, and confidential decentralized AI a reality. With 50+ projects now experimenting in this space, TEEs are set to drive not just privacy, but the next wave of scalable, efficient, and secure decentralized applications.
TEEs create “hardware-secured” environments where both code and data are protected and cryptographically attested. Early blockchains leveraged TEEs for confidential DeFi, and today’s research shows their potential across Web3 scalability, off-chain computing, and smarter dApps. Also, experts expect TEE adoption to grow beyond privacy concerns, fueling a new era of scalable and secure blockchain infrastructure.
Polygon Trading Goes Prompt-Based With BankrBot—Bridge, Swap, Stake Instantly
Polygon users can now trade and stake directly from any supported network using simple chat prompts. BankrBot lets you bridge assets, swap into liquid staking tokens like @staderlabs’s MaticX, and stake for yield and airdrop eligibility—all without navigating exchanges or clunky wallets. Just tag @bankrbot, type your trade or staking command, and the bot handles the full transaction in seconds. This marks a breakthrough for onchain trading, turning DeFi into a chat-driven, effortless experience.
According to Crypto Quant, TRON Data Shows a Surge in Institutional USDT Holdings: Liquidity Reshaped!
“Wallets holding more than 1 million USDT recorded a 3.68% increase, while those holding more than 10 million USDT saw the largest growth, reaching 9.34%.” – By ArabxChain
Users can now trade tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) like stocks, bonds, and commodities on BNB Chain thanks to Protofire and SwarmMarkets’s decentralized OTC (dOTC) infrastructure. This breakthrough enables instant, secure, and permissionless trades—no middlemen required. BNB Chain’s “One BNB” architecture is powering new liquidity across assets and institutions, cementing the blockchain as the leader in onchain RWAs.
Space and Time Now Powers USDC—Global Stablecoin Payments Meet ZK-Proven Data
Space and Time has teamed up with @circle_ventures to bring USDC to its data-centric blockchain. Developers can now pay for zero-knowledge–proven queries on the SXT chain using USDC, which is automatically converted to SXT for protocol use. This move connects Space and Time to the global stablecoin economy, simplifying onchain payments for next-gen apps and supercharging development in gaming, DeFi, and real-time analytics.
🌐 PayPal USD (PYUSD0) Goes Live on TRON via Stargate Hydra
TronDAO announced that PayPal USD is now available on the TRON network as a permissionless token, PYUSD0, through Stargate Finance’s Hydra integration. This launch leverages LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) Standard, enabling seamless cross-chain functionality for PayPal’s stablecoin.
The move strengthens TRON’s position as a leading blockchain for stablecoin adoption and expands the real-world use cases of PYUSD across decentralized finance (DeFi). With omnichain interoperability, users will enjoy more flexibility and accessibility when transacting in stable assets.
Pump.fun Streams Flip Rumble with $20M Creator Payouts and $1B Daily Volume
Pump.fun’s CEO just declared victory over Rumble, boasting more concurrent live streams than the competitor and a wave of viral earnings for creators. The Solana-based platform paid out over $20 million in the past week, with daily trading volumes topping $1 billion and the PUMP token market cap exploding past $3 billion. According to founder Alon Cohen, Pump.fun now has 35,000 daily active users, holding 1% of Twitch’s and 10% of Kick’s share in concurrent streams.
Guinness World Record with Epic Bitcoin Drone Show
Crypto has made history, winning a Guinness World Record for the largest-ever Bitcoin symbol formed in the skyusing a fleet of 1,000 drones over Austin, Texas. The night show not only lit up the sky with the iconic ₿ logo, but also marked a milestone moment for mainstream crypto adoption and the cultural impact of digital assets.
Fidelity’s Onchain Money Market Fund Surpasses $200M on Ethereum
Fidelity Investments, a $6.4T asset management titan, has officially crossed $200 million in supply for its tokenized money market fund on Ethereum. The Fidelity Digital Interest Token (FDIT) is backed by U.S. Treasuries and aims to deliver yield for DeFi users and institutions.
Currently, the tokenized treasuries sector has tripled this year, with over $7B now onchain. Major players like Ondo Finance now leverage FDIT as a reserve asset, marking a new era of institutional-grade tokenization in crypto.
World Cup Collectibles Go Onchain—USDC and Card Payments Now Live
FIFA Collect has rolled out an upgrade: fans can now buy official World Cup NFTs and collectibles onchain with USDC or a credit card. Choose the new, fast way with instant USDC checkout or stick to familiar card payments—either way, global football collectibles are just a click away, with ownership secured onchain.
Solana Apps Dominate: $10.17M Daily Revenue More Than Next 10 Chains Combined
Solana-based applications just set a new record, generating $10.17 million in revenue in the past 24 hours—outpacing the next 10 largest chains combined. Notably, this haul was 3x higher than Ethereum ($3.3M) and even topped Hyperliquid ($3.4M). Heavy hitters like Pump.fun and Axiom Pro led the charge, while DeFi and NFT activity continue to surge.
ApeCoin Expands: From Ethereum to Solana via LayerZero
ApeCoin is taking its ecosystem truly cross-chain. In partnership with Layer Zero Core, ApeCoin has evolved from its roots on Ethereum to launching ApeChain for high-speed DeFi and gaming—and now, the Ape community is officially live on Solana. This multichain leap aims to deliver low fees, seamless NFT transfers, and a bigger developer playground for the entire Ape ecosystem.
ApeCoin’s used LayerZero-powered bridge to unlocks instant swaps and staking between blockchains. ApeChain’s also launch on Arbitrum Orbit laid the foundation for DeFi and NFT app growth. The Ape community DAOs and new integrations are fueling adoption across both EVM and Solana networks.
DeFi markets are, at their core, prediction markets for protocol revenue—but the chart that compares Aave’s monthly fee income to its fully diluted valuation (FDV) is always a wake-up call. In September 2025, Aave’s annualized revenue neared $94M, with daily protocol fees above $3M, yet FDV sits in the multi-billion range. The spread between TVL, FDV, and actual fee generation puts the spotlight on how fast markets price growth versus proven income.
Aave charges dynamic lending/borrowing fees, paid from interest and flash loans, with DAO treasury mechanisms powering protocol sustainability. Its annualized revenue has surged as cross-chain liquidity features and institutional adoption expand, but FDV growth often runs ahead of tangible fee income,where Smart DeFi investors use these metrics as a playbook for finding over- or undervalued lending protocols.