This week has brought significant developments across the blockchain ecosystem, from major protocol upgrades and strategic shifts to regulatory engagements and market dynamics. Here’s a breakdown of the most important events and what they mean for the industry.
SEC Postpones Multiple Crypto ETF Applications
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again delayed its decision on several cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This includes applications for XRP and Litecoin ETFs from Bitwise and CoinShares, as well as Fidelity’s proposal for a physical Bitcoin ETF. In parallel, the SEC has officially accepted the application for a Staked TRX ETF submitted by Canary Funds. These moves reflect the regulator’s continued cautious approach toward crypto-based financial products.
Berachain’s HONEY Stablecoin Faces Liquidity Issue
Users of Berachain’s native stablecoin, HONEY, are currently unable to redeem it for USDC.e due to depleted reserves of the bridged asset on the network. The project’s co-founder, known as Smokey, clarified that HONEY remains fully collateralized—primarily by BYUSD (bridged PayPal USD). Users can redeem HONEY for BYUSD and then bridge these assets to Ethereum to swap on platforms like Curve or deposit into exchanges. On-chain data shows the backing treasury holds over 98 million BYUSD, while USDC.e reserves are virtually empty.
Sei Labs Unveils Ambitious Plan for High-Throughput EVM Chain
Sei Labs has released the whitepaper for "Sei Giga," outlining its plan to become a high-performance Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible Layer 1 blockchain. A key innovation is its parallel block proposal architecture, which the team claims can achieve 5 Ggas throughput, 200,000 transactions per second, and 400-millisecond finality. The design incorporates asynchronous state commits and a custom consensus protocol named Autobahn, aiming for a 50x improvement in throughput over conventional blockchains while maintaining full EVM compatibility.
Polygon Co-Founder Steps Down Amid Strategic Shifts
Mihailo Bjelic, one of the original co-founders of Polygon, announced he is stepping back from active management and leaving his board positions at both Polygon Labs and the Polygon Foundation. He cited diverging visions for the project’s future as the reason for his departure. This follows the exits of fellow co-founders Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun over the past two years, signaling a significant transition in the project’s leadership.
Pump Fun Trading Volume Manipulated by Bots, Analysts Warn
Market analysts are raising alarms about the prevalence of automated "Proxies" bots on platforms like Pump Fun. These bots are designed to artificially inflate trading volume—accounting for an estimated 60–80% of activity on some tokens—creating the illusion of organic demand and inducing fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) among traders. While these activities may temporarily boost liquidity and prices, they ultimately distort market signals and harm long-term ecosystem health. Traders are advised to exercise caution with memecoins showing sudden, explosive volume.
Hyperliquid Advocates for DeFi Perpetuals in CFTC Submission
Hyperliquid Labs has submitted comment letters to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) expressing support for decentralized finance (DeFi) perpetual futures contracts and 24/7 trading mechanisms. The letters emphasized the potential of DeFi to enhance market efficiency, transparency, and user protection. Hyperliquid positioned itself as a constructive industry partner, advocating for a regulatory framework that allows the U.S. to maintain leadership in the evolving digital asset market structure.
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Lido Releases Draft Proposal for Major V3 Upgrade
A draft Request for Comments (RFC) for Lido V3 has been published, outlining a major architectural shift centered around the introduction of "stVaults." These are isolated staking positions designed to decouple the act of ETH staking—including node operator selection, fee structures, and risk preferences—from the liquidity layer. This upgrade aims to preserve the liquidity benefits of stETH while enabling greater customization for institutional and protocol-level staking products.
Succinct to Launch PROVE Token for Decentralized ZK Network
Succinct, a zero-knowledge (ZK) infrastructure project backed by Paradigm, has announced plans to launch its native token, PROVE. The token will serve as the core asset for its Ethereum-based decentralized proof network. The project is currently in its second testnet phase and is progressing toward a mainnet launch. Succinct Labs previously raised $55 million in a Series A round led by Paradigm in 2024.
OKX to Discontinue Support for Runes Trading Market
OKX Web3 Wallet has announced it will suspend support for the Runes trading market on June 5, 2025. After this date, users will no longer be able to create or cancel orders, and all open orders will be cleared. The wallet will continue to support the display and transfer of Runes assets. The Runes protocol, created by Ordinals founder Casey Rodarmor, enables token creation on Bitcoin using the UTXO model and OP_RETURN opcode.
Binance Launchpool Announces Huma Finance (HUMA) Listing
Binance has revealed that Huma Finance (HUMA) will be the 70th project on its Launchpool platform. Users can farm HUMA tokens by staking BNB, FDUSD, or USDC. Huma Finance operates a "PayFi" network focused on streamlining cross-border and card-based payments.
The project has also released its tokenomics. HUMA has a total supply of 10 billion tokens, allocated as follows: 5% for an initial airdrop, 31% for liquidity providers and ecosystem incentives, 7% for exchange listings and marketing, 4% for market making and on-chain liquidity, 2% for presale, 20.6% for early investors, 19.3% for the team and advisors, and 11.1% for the protocol treasury. The initial circulating supply will be 17.33% of the total.
The Huma Foundation confirmed that the first airdrop will be claimable for one month following the Token Generation Event (TGE). A second airdrop, accounting for 2.1% of the total supply, is scheduled approximately three months after TGE.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does the SEC's delay of crypto ETFs mean?
The SEC's decision to postpone several crypto ETF applications indicates a continued regulatory cautiousness. It suggests that more time is needed for review, but it does not necessarily mean the applications will be rejected. The acceptance of the Staked TRX application shows the process is still moving forward.
How can I redeem my HONEY stablecoin now?
While direct redemption for USDC.e is paused, you can redeem HONEY for BYUSD on Berachain. You can then bridge your BYUSD to Ethereum and use a decentralized exchange like Curve to swap it for other assets, or deposit it directly on a supporting centralized exchange.
Why is the Sei Giga upgrade significant?
Sei's plan to become a high-performance EVM chain is a major technical evolution. Its proposed architecture claims to significantly outperform existing Layer 1s in speed and throughput while maintaining compatibility with the vast ecosystem of Ethereum tools and smart contracts, potentially attracting new developers and users.
What are the risks of trading on Pump Fun?
The primary risk is market manipulation by automated trading bots, which can create false volume and price pumps. This can lead to rapid price inflation followed by sharp declines when the bots sell, resulting in significant losses for uninformed retail traders who buy into the hype.
What changes will Lido V3 bring?
Lido V3 introduces stVaults, which will offer users more choice and customization in their staking strategies. It aims to separate the risks and rewards of validating from the liquid staking token, potentially making the protocol more robust and attractive to a wider range of users, including institutions.
What is the utility of the PROVE token?
The PROVE token is intended to power the Succinct network, a decentralized marketplace for zero-knowledge proof generation. Token holders will likely use it to pay for services, secure the network, and participate in governance, supporting a trustless ecosystem for ZK applications.