Crypto Aula Hub

DeFi Surpasses FinTech: AAVE’s $40B TVL Overtakes Revolut’s Assets

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is rapidly moving into the FinTech mainstream, with AAVE’s total value locked (TVL) now exceeding $40 billion—surpassing the total assets of digital banking giant Revolut. This milestone highlights the scale and maturity DeFi protocols are reaching, as AAVE’s smart contract-based lending platform now handles more capital than some of the world’s most prominent Web2 payment systems.

AAVE allows users to lend and borrow cryptocurrencies in a fully decentralized way, relying on code rather than intermediaries, and its TVL has surged thanks to user deposits and the rising value of assets like Ether. This puts AAVE ahead of traditional FinTechs like Revolut, and also ahead of other DeFi protocols such as Lido and Sky, which are themselves major players in the ecosystem.

Meanwhile, in front of AAVE in terms of scale are industry giants like Circle, Tether, Robinhood, and Coinbase—companies that bridge the gap between traditional finance and crypto, and whose platforms are often used as onramps to DeFi.

The fact that a decentralized protocol like AAVE can now rival or surpass major FinTechs in assets under management signals a major shift: smart contract platforms are proving they can securely and efficiently handle huge amounts of capital, challenging the dominance of legacy financial systems and paving the way for a new era of programmable finance.

#DeFiRevolution

$AAVE $LDO

Tether Brings $800M+ in Gold Onchain with XAUt, Offering a Digital Non-Fiat Store of Value

Tether has now brought over $800 million worth of gold onchain through its XAUt token on Ethereum, making it the largest gold-backed stablecoin by market cap24. Each XAUt token is fully backed by one troy ounce of physical gold stored in secure Swiss vaults, giving users a transparent, blockchain-based way to hold and transfer gold without relying on fiat currencies.

#XAUtmore

$PAXG

Livepeer Q1: AI Video Drives Record 52M Minutes Transcoded, Fees Up 51% Despite ETH Slump

Livepeer transcoded over 52 million minutes of video in Q1 2025—a 49% jump quarter-over-quarter—while demand-side fees soared 51% to $110,000, even as ETH prices fell 45%18. Nearly half of all network fees now come from AI-powered video workloads, highlighting Livepeer’s growing role in decentralized, AI-driven video infrastructure

#AIVideo

$FET

Aptos Developer Activity Hits 6-Month High as Daily Contract Deployments Surge

Developer momentum on Aptos is accelerating, with daily smart contract deployments surpassing 450—a 6-month high and a 4x jump from just weeks ago. This surge highlights Aptos’s growing appeal among builders, thanks to its high scalability, low fees, and expanding ecosystem partnerships. As more developers choose Aptos for DeFi, NFTs, and next-gen Web3 apps, the network’s innovation pace shows no signs of slowing down.

#AptosUpdate

$APT

Shopify Adds USDC Payments on Base for Seamless Crypto Checkout

Shopify is rolling out support for USDC stablecoin payments on the Base network, letting customers pay with crypto directly through Shopify Payments and Shop Pay. Early access is available now, with a broader rollout planned throughout the year.

This move, developed in partnership with Coinbase and Stripe, is powered by a new open-source smart contract payments protocol and aims to make stablecoin transactions fast, borderless, and affordable for merchants and shoppers alike. Merchants can choose to receive payouts in local currency or keep USDC, with no foreign transaction fees.

Shopify’s adoption of USDC highlights stablecoins as a natural fit for internet commerce, offering instant settlement, lower fees, and a frictionless checkout experience from hundreds of supported crypto wallets. A 1% USDC cashback for customers is also planned later this year.

#ShopifyCrypto

$USDC

Gold Goes 24/7: XAUt0 Launches on Hyperliquid, Bringing Tokenized Gold to DeFi

XAUt0, a tokenized version of gold backed by real physical metal, is now live on Hyperliquid’s HyperCore and HyperEVM, marking the first gold-backed asset on the platform’s spot markets. This launch lets users trade, buy, sell, and lend gold in fractional increments around the clock—no paperwork, no borders, just pure digital gold.

Thanks to LayerZero’s omnichain technology, XAUt0 is fully fungible and can move seamlessly between Ethereum Mainnet, HyperCore, and HyperEVM, eliminating the need for bridges or wrapped tokens5. Hyperliquid users now have direct access to gold as a real-world asset (RWA) for portfolio diversification, collateral, and DeFi strategies—all through a single, unified interface.

With XAUt0, the world’s oldest store of value meets cutting-edge blockchain, opening up new possibilities for global finance and 24/7 gold trading

#XAUt0

$PAXG $ZRO

Who is ready for AAVE V4?

#AAVEUpdates

$AAVE

Chainlink, J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys, and Ondo Team Up for Next-Gen Tokenized Treasury Payments

Chainlink is partnering with Kinexys by J.P. Morgan and Ondo to enable institutional clients to purchase Ondo’s tokenized treasuries using Kinexys Digital Payments. With over $23 billion in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) now on public blockchains, the demand for secure, cross-chain Delivery vs Payment (DvP) infrastructure is rapidly increasing. This collaboration marks a major step forward in making institutional-grade, blockchain-based finance more accessible and efficient.

#TokenizedFinance

$LINK $ONDO

Bitcoin Adoption Just Getting Started: 21 New Public Companies Add BTC to Treasuries

In the past 30 days alone, 21 new public companies have joined the ranks of Bitcoin treasury holders, signaling that institutional adoption is still in its early stages. This growing trend highlights increasing corporate confidence in Bitcoin as a long-term store of value and a strategic asset. As more companies diversify their balance sheets with BTC, the foundation for mainstream acceptance continues to strengthen.

#BitcoinAdoption

$BTC

PayPal Expands PYUSD to Stellar for Faster, Cheaper Payments—Pending NYDFS Green Light #Stellar

PayPal is set to bring its dollar-backed stablecoin, PYUSD, to the Stellar blockchain, pending approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services. This move aims to boost real-world utility with faster payments, lower fees, and new financing options—giving users and businesses an alternative to Ethereum and Solana.

Stellar’s infrastructure, known for near-instant settlements and minimal transaction costs, will enable PYUSD users to enjoy affordable cross-border transfers, streamlined remittances, and real-time working capital for small businesses. The integration also unlocks new “PayFi” financing use cases, allowing instant loans and supply-chain payments directly in PYUSD.

With this expansion, PayPal is positioning PYUSD as a leading stablecoin for global payments and digital commerce, leveraging Stellar’s reach and speed to serve millions of users and merchants worldwide

#PYUSDUpdate

$XLM

Arkham Launches Telegram Mini-App for Real-Time On-Chain Intel

Arkham has just unveiled its new Telegram Mini-App, letting users search through 2.1 billion labeled blockchain addresses and 700,000 entities—all within Telegram. Instantly create and manage alerts for any on-chain transaction, keeping you updated on the latest crypto moves without leaving your chat app. This tool brings powerful blockchain analytics and real-time intelligence straight to your fingertips, making on-chain tracking easier and more accessible than ever.

#ArkhamUpdate

$ARKM .

Aptos: The Flash of Blockchains with 0.13s Block Time! ⚡️

Aptos is setting new records with an average block time of just 0.13 seconds (130 ms), making it the fastest among leading chains. For comparison, Arbitrum One clocks in at 250 ms and Base at 2.0 seconds. Aptos’ ultra-fast block production, powered by advanced parallel execution, positions it as the go-to choice for high-speed DeFi, gaming, and next-gen Web3 apps.

#AptosSpeed

$APT $ARB

Treasury Secretary: Dollar-Linked Stablecoins Could Hit $2 Trillion, Bolstering Global Dollar Power

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says dollar-pegged stablecoins could reach a $2 trillion market cap within a few years—a “very reasonable number” that could even be exceeded. Bessent argues this explosive growth would strengthen the dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency, as stablecoins backed 1:1 by U.S. Treasury bills and other high-quality assets become more widely used for payments and global transactions. New legislation, supported by Congress and the administration, aims to ensure these stablecoins are fully backed and regulated, boosting both demand for U.S. government debt and the dollar’s reach worldwide.

#StablecoinsUpdate

$USDC $USD1

HyperLend Integrates Chainlink Data Streams for Lightning-Fast Lending on HyperEVM

HyperLend, the largest lending protocol on HyperEVM with over $480 million in TVL, has become the first project to adopt Chainlink on HyperliquidX’s chain. By upgrading to Chainlink Data Streams, HyperLend now powers lending and borrowing with highly accurate, sub-second price data—bringing DeFi users faster, more reliable, and more secure transactions than ever before

#Hyperlend

$LINK

Starlink Surges to 6 Million Subscribers, Doubling in One Year

Starlink has reached 6 million subscribers worldwide as of June 2025, more than doubling from 3 million in May 2024 and up from just 1 million in December 2022. The service now spans 140 countries, rapidly expanding access to high-speed internet, especially in underserved regions. Despite this growth, around 3 billion people globally remain without internet access. Starlink’s booming subscriber base is also fueling SpaceX’s long-term mission to fund Mars exploration

#Starlink

$DOGE $PEPE

Chainlink’s Sergey Nazarov: Why Crypto Is Only 2% Built and the Future Is Cross-Chain

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov says the crypto industry is still in its infancy—just 2% built—with massive growth ahead as real-world assets (RWAs) become tokenized and move onchain. Nazarov highlights that cross-chain DeFi and oracles like Chainlink are crucial for connecting traditional finance and decentralized finance, enabling secure, seamless transfers of data and value across multiple blockchains.

He believes Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) will become the global standard, allowing banks and institutions to interact with hundreds of blockchains through a single interface, much like how the internet unified global communication. Nazarov also emphasizes that the benefits of tokenized assets—such as fractionalization, atomic settlement, and improved liquidity—will eventually drive nearly all value onchain, fundamentally transforming the global financial system.

#ChainlinkKnow

$LINK ..

Solana & Litecoin ETFs Steal the Spotlight with 90% Approval Odds, Say Bloomberg Analysts

Bloomberg ETF analysts have put Solana and Litecoin at the front of the crypto ETF race, each boasting a 90% chance of approval for spot ETFs—making them the hottest prospects in the upcoming wave of crypto index funds

#ETFApprovalUpdate

$LTC $SOL $XRP

The Blockchain Group Gets Green Light to Raise €10B for More Bitcoin

Europe’s first Bitcoin treasury company, The Blockchain Group, has secured shareholder approval to increase its capital raising capacity to over €10 billion. This move positions the company to significantly expand its Bitcoin holdings, reinforcing its role as a major institutional player in the European crypto market. The approval marks a bold step in mainstream Bitcoin adoption and signals growing confidence in digital assets among European investors.

#BlockchainGroup #cryptoupdate

$BTC $USDC

Rumble to Add Bitcoin Lightning

Video platform Rumble is rolling out a crypto wallet with Bitcoin and Lightning Network support, enabling instant, low-fee payments for creators and users.

$BTC

Steak 'n Shake to Boost Food Quality Thanks to Bitcoin Payments

Steak 'n Shake announces it will reinvest the money saved from accepting Bitcoin payments directly into making their food even better. Could crypto be the secret ingredient to tastier burgers?

#Bitcoin #SteaknShake

$BTC