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“In my view, these activities should fall firmly within the jurisdiction of law enforcement agencies,” crypto regulations experts told Cointelegraph.

Crypto asset manager and ETF provider Bitwise has made its first allocation into decentralized finance (DeFi) through a partnership with on-chain credit specialist Maple Finance, the companies said on Thursday.

Bitwise’s allocation, the size of which was not disclosed, is leveraging a Maple bitcoin-backed lending product, and represents a significant milestone in the adoption of on-chain credit by institutional allocators, said Maple CEO Sid Powell. Maple’s BTC backed lending product is available to accredited investors in the U.S.

As digital versions of real world assets become a normal component of traditional finance, firms are looking beyond things like tokenized Treasury Bills, particularly as interest rates have been dropping while DeFi yields are seeing a resurgence.

Bitwise is a big believer in the future of asset management moving on-chain, Powell said, where products are transparent and firms can find opportunities that don’t exist in traditional finance.

“In this case, the yield from lending against bitcoin is not a product that's already available anywhere else in traditional finance,” Powell said in an interview. “Maple packages this product in a way that's consumable by institutional asset managers.”

The move required Bitwise to do some pretty serious due diligence and background work, Powell said.

“It was about 12 months of discussions and work in the background between our teams to pull this together,” he said. “Bitwise is incredibly thorough and this process involved working with their operations team, their legal and compliance team, their risk team, as well as tax advisors.”

As well as its high profile crypto ETFs, Bitwise has over $12 billion in client assets across separately managed accounts, private funds, hedge fund strategies, and staking.

Sam Altman's blockchain venture, World Network, is breaking into the messaging game with its newest feature: World Chat.

The new feature, a "mini app" accessible via the World App wallet, will offer special features to holders of World Network's digital passport, which lets users scan their iris in exchange for an account that verifies their "proof-of-personhood."

World Chat is the latest iteration of World's ongoing quest to help people discern bots from humans in the age of AI. "By connecting to World ID, World Chat allows you to know when you’re chatting with a verified human," World developer Tools for Humanity said in a statement to CoinDesk.

Those who haven’t peered into World's iris-scanning Orb will still have access to the new chat feature. The new messaging app takes design cues from Apple's iMessage, which uses blue chat bubbles for iPhone users and green bubbles for everyone else. "Conversations with verified World ID holders feature a blue chat bubble as well as a unique World ID gem in the upper right corner," Tools for Humanity explained. "Conversations with non-verified accounts feature a grey chat bubble and no such gem."

Mini Apps were launched back in October 2024, and there were more than 250 million Mini App opens in the first two months of 2025, according to Tools for Humanity.

“The World App has grown so much over the past year, we've continuously heard requests for a DMs layer. And we think that for some actions like sending money, that is just way more natural and fun than going to a wallet, and sending a transaction,” Tiago Sada, the head of product at Tools for Humanity, told CoinDesk. “People have been asking for the chat product specifically.”

World Chat will be available on the World App for Android and iPhone iOS users starting Thursday.

In addition to World Chat, World and social protocol Friends With Benefits, are teaming up with Alchemy, Bain Crypto Capital, Blockchain Capital and Variant Fund to launch an incubator program called World Build. The program includes hackathons, building retreats, and a demo day and is meant to encourage developers to build "Mini Apps."

Read more: Sam Altman's Eye-Scanning Orbs Can Now be Summoned 'Like a Pizza', Say Worldcoin Execs

Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.

Lombard Finance’s liquid-staking bitcoin token, LBTC, will launch on the Sui blockchain on Thursday, marking its first expansion to a non-Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible chain.

The expansion extends LBTC beyond the blockchains it currently uses, which include Ethereum, Base, and BNB chains. The token is meant to install bitcoin as collateral on decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, which on Sui currently have around $1.3 billion in total value locked (TVL).

Bringing LBTC to Sui means that users on the network will have access to bitcoin staking rewards while being able to leverage the tokens across its decentralized finance protocols, according to a press release shared exclusively with CoinDesk.

The token is set to be supported by Sui Wallet and Phantom Wallet while being initially integrated into Cetus, Navi Protocol, and SuiLend — the network’s largest protocols by TVL.

“This strategic move to Sui reflects our commitment to driving Bitcoin adoption in innovative blockchain ecosystems, ensuring that bitcoin holders can seamlessly participate in the future of on-chain finance while maintaining the highest standards of security and liquidity,” said Lombard Finance’s co-founder Jacob Phillips.

LBTC has grown rapidly since its launch, with nearly $2 billion in circulation and 70% of its supply actively deployed in DeFi protocols including Aave and Morpho, according to the release.

Speaking to CoinDesk, Phillips revealed that there "will be incentives to promote the adoption of bitcoin in Sui-native DeFi applications" to help incentivize the adoption of LBTC on the network.

As for any potential expansion to other non-EVM networks, Phillips said Lombard is "eager to bridge bitcoin to any ecosystem that is a leader in DeFi innovation. We'll have more to share on that front in the next few months."

Solana's decision-makers are debating an economic overhaul that could boost SOL's investment appeal, but critics warn it could knock out small-time validators who contribute to the network's decentralization.

Like so many real-world economic discussions, this one centers on inflation. Any economist can tell you that some is inevitable. For proof of stake blockchains like Solana, it's also by design. The network automatically prints new tokens to reward the validators who keep their networks running, giving them a reason to do the expensive computing work.

But Solana's powerbrokers largely believe the network is printing too much new SOL, too fast. One proposed solution, SIMD-0228, co-written by a partner at the powerful venture firm Multicoin Capital, introduces a market-driven system that slashes inflation from 4.7% to around 1.5%, assuming current staking rates continue.

Such a change would keep billions of dollars of new SOL from entering circulation annually. SOL's price chart would likely benefit from validators and their stakers earning, and selling, fewer new tokens.

Tushar Jain, the proposal's Multicoin co-author has claimed it will also make Solana more Wall Street friendly. In a February call he said it eliminates the "enormous opportunity cost" of investing in the Solana ETF, a still theoretical product that almost certainly won't have access to staking rewards.

Solana's loudest voices, including co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz and influential validators, especially large ones, have lined up behind the proposal, calling it necessary for Solana's evolution.

Rejiggering Solana's inflation regime could, however, imperil smaller validators who already navigate tight margins. Even supporters of 228 have acknowledged the proposal might force 100 or more of Solana's 1300 validators out of business, critics warn.

"I feel that most small/medium-sized validators are against it," said Jota, who runs Pine Stake, one such validator. He claimed "the consequences of it might be losing +25% of profitable validators."

Compounding Jota's fears is another, unrelated proposal, SIMD-123, that he predicts will further squeeze small-time validators by changing the way rewards flow between validators and their stakers.

A major drop-off in the number of validators would leave Solana open to accusations of centralization, said David Girder, head of liquid investments at Finality Capital Partners. He calculated the inflation changes could knock out as many as 250 validators, and maybe kill off a third of the total "at the bottom of the bear market."

Monetary policy changes

Solana's backers view inflation as a payment for security. Validators accrue staked SOL from token owners who want to earn native yield. The bigger their stake, the bigger their staking rewards. The validators must keep doing honest work to keep earning their rewards, and if they don't they'll risk losing that stake.

Currently, the network pays out its staking rewards at a rate of 4.7%. Every year that reward is set to drop 15% until it eventually bottoms out at 1.5%. This regimented rate gives validators a solid base to map out their economics.

SIMD-0228 would replace this model with a "smarter curve," longtime validator operator Brian Long said in a post on X. It treats the percentage of SOL's total supply being staked as a barometer for how many new SOL tokens to issue every epoch.

Smart emissions would see Solana pay as much, or as little, as it needs to for its security. If a small proportion of SOL is being staked, then the yields would rise to attract more stakers – and increase the security base. Conversely, if a high number of stakers are staking, the yields would drop in a reflection of the lack of demand.

Decentralized economics

Staking rewards only comprises a piece of the revenue puzzle for most validators. They also get SOL through a variety of fees and Jito tips. These streams tend to grow during boom times for the network, when more people are paying more money to operate on Solana, and shrink in the quiet periods.

While Girder and Jota predict big, negative consequences for SIMD-0228, others believe the impact on small validators will be far smaller: perhaps 20-30 shutdowns, instead of 200-300.

"The belief is that the more validators that exist on the network, that the greater amount of security exists as well," one validator called LakeStake said in a recent explainer video on SIMD-0228. "Opponents would argue that there's just not enough data to support that this proposal is worth the risk of losing validators."

Skeptics have successfully lobbied for some changes to SIMD-0228, most notably a months-long delay in its post-approval rollout that would give ample time to reform Solana's expensive vote fees – a major daily operating expense for validators.

Still, preparation can only go so far in mitigating the downside risks for validators on Solana. If a deep bear market dried up the validators "real economic value" (all those tips, fees and rewards), small operations would be most susceptible, and some would go offline.

Just as there's no consensus on the size of the hit, there's little agreement on how bad for Solana's decentralization a small-time validator wipeout would be.

Many long tail validators are already heavily subsidized by the Solana Foundation, pointed out Laine, who runs the well-regarded validator operation Stakewiz, and who has emerged as one of SIMD-0228's most vocal backers.

"Losing 200 validators who rely exclusively on a single staker (Solana Foundation) has no meaningful impact on decentralisation imho," Laine said on X.

The situation has many parties arguing, why the rush? To that, co-author Jain has warned against "analysis paralysis" that could turn Solana into a hulking, cumbersome ocean liner of a network (or in other words, Ethereum).

"Something that can happen to organizations as they scale is status quo bias. Why do we do it this way? Because we've always done it this way. And I think that is the death knell of the organization."

President Donald Trump is set to announce a significant shift in crypto policy, including plans for a crypto strategic reserve, at Friday's White House crypto summit, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick reportedly said.

While bitcoin (BTC) is expected to receive special status, Lutnick mentioned that other coins will also be positively regarded.

However, the market appears to be pricing in minimal expectations for altcoins, as evidenced by the lackluster price movements of XRP, SOL, and ADA—the coins Trump identified on Sunday as part of the reserve.

BTC has bounced to $91,000 to trade 4.5% short of Sunday's high of over $95,000 brought by Trump's announcement of the crypto reserve. XRP, however, trades at $2.57, or 17% short of the Sunday high of $3.02, according to data source TradingView. Cardano's ADA and Solana's SOL are short 27% and 20% from their respective highs on Sunday.

The lag in these tokens compared to BTC indicates that investors do not anticipate Trump will assign a significant role to them in the strategic reserve. Perhaps, Trump's initial mention of these tokens was bait to secure the BTC reserve, as observers told CoinDesk early this week.

Besides, some observers believe a BTC-only reserve too will take time to materialize.

"These two things—the U.S. wanting a BSR while the IMF actively blocks sovereign BTC accumulation—cannot be true at the same time. So while we can continue the domestic political theater around BSR (which I support, since everything has to start somewhere), the real signal to watch is the IMF. When that changes, you’ll know readiness is near. This is a long-term catalyst. Until then, everything else is noise," Jeff Park, head of alpha strategies at Bitwise Asset Management, said on X.

Park added that the crypto community needs to temper its expectations on the strategic reserve.

Brazilian fintech Méliuz has adopted a new treasury strategy to allocate a portion of its cash reserves into bitcoin (BTC) after it was approved by the firm’s board of directors.

The company’s strategy allows up to 10% of its cash holdings to be invested in bitcoin, according to a securities filing on Thursday, as it seeks “long-term” returns from the investment. As part of this initiative, Meliuz has already purchased 45.72 BTC for roughly $4.1 million at an average price of $90,926 per bitcoin.

Meliuz, known for its cashback and financial services platform, serves over 30 million registered users in Brazil. The firm is also evaluating expanding its treasury strategy to evaluate “adopting bitcoin as a main strategy asset” and ways to “generate additional bitcoin for shareholders.”

Bitcoin’s breach of $90,000 support increases the chance of a liquidity grab below the price range lows.

Brazilian fintech unicorn Meliuz has reportedly purchased Bitcoin worth millions of dollars as part of its new treasury strategy to maximize long-term shareholder value.