Prediction market rivals Kalshi and Polymarket are reportedly targeting $20B valuations in upcoming funding rounds, roughly doubling their late-2025 valuations. The sector is gaining momentum despite regulatory scrutiny, as platforms scale revenue and expand toward regulated global markets.

The move follows strong growth across prediction markets, with Kalshi crossing $1B+ annualized revenue and Polymarket preparing a U.S. regulatory expansion.

Nasdaq and Kraken are developing infrastructure for tokenized stocks, enabling traditional equities to be issued as blockchain-based tokens and distributed globally through Kraken’s platform.

The move reflects a wider trend among major financial institutions exploring tokenization of real-world assets, which could enable faster settlement, global access, and potentially 24/7 trading of traditional securities.

Stablecoin payments startup KAST has raised $80 million from QED Investors and Left Lane Capital, bringing its valuation to roughly $600 million. The company is targeting an annual revenue run rate of around $100 million this year.

The capital will support global expansion, regulatory licensing and further development of its stablecoin payments platform.

KAST is building a platform designed for storing, earning and spending stablecoins, targeting the growing market for digital-dollar transactions.

Crude prices have officially surged past the $100-a-barrel threshold for the first time since the 2022 energy crisis. This marks a massive 50% rally following the joint US-Israeli strikes on February 28, as the market braces for a prolonged supply shock.

Asian markets faced a brutal sell-off on Monday morning, with the Nikkei 225 and KOSPI plunging over 7% and 8% respectively as investors reacted to soaring energy prices. This downward spiral extended to the West, where US stock futures dropped nearly 2% in pre-market trading, signaling a global retreat from risk assets.

GRVT, a perpetuals exchange, is gaining attention for turning trading collateral into yield. Unlike most platforms where deposits sit idle, GRVT integrates with Aave, allowing traders to earn up to ~11% APY while keeping funds available for trading.

Built by former professionals from Goldman Sachs, DBS Bank, and Meta Platforms, GRVT combines centralized exchange usability with on-chain, self-custodial infrastructure

ℹ️ Platform Highlights & Growth

– Total Value Locked (TVL): $102.58M

– Trading Volume: +352.5% WoW

– Open Interest: +1,796.15% WoW

– Collateral Yield: Up to ~11% APY via Aave integration

– Product Focus: Perpetual futures with self-custodial trading

With perpetual futures remaining one of crypto’s largest trading sectors, GRVT’s model, where trading capital can generate yield without sacrificing execution speed, is quickly becoming a trending topic among traders and DeFi users

Utexo has raised $7.5M to build infrastructure enabling native USDT settlement on Bitcoin, including support for payments over the Lightning Network.

The round was co-led by Tether, Big Brain Holdings, and Portal Ventures, with participation from Fulgur Ventures, Alchemy, Franklin Templeton, Paper Ventures, Maven11, Ethereal Ventures, among others.

Utexo aims to enable Bitcoin-native stablecoin payments with predictable fees, atomic settlement, and security anchored to the Bitcoin network

As Nest expands to Solana through its integration with Perena, we prepared a quick one-pager highlighting the protocol’s key metrics, vaults, and yield strategies. Here’s a closer look at how Nest brings real-world asset income onchain.

USDsui is issued by Bridge, a Stripe company. Unlike traditional stablecoins, the yield generated from reserve assets will be redirected back into the Sui ecosystem through mechanisms like SUI buybacks, DeFi liquidity incentives, and network funding.

Paradex Announces DIME Genesis Event & Tokenomics Update

⏩ Paradex has confirmed the Token Generation Event for DIME:

– Genesis: March 5, 2026 — 07:00 UTC

– Initial Listing: March 5, 2026 — 14:00 UTC

– Exclusive trading at launch on Paradex

2️⃣ Tokenomics Update

– Airdrop allocation increased to 25% (from 20%)

– Foundation acquired 4.4% of supply via XP purchases

– Circulating supply at TGE reduced to 24.5% (excluding Foundation Treasury)

– Future seasons boosted via Ongoing Community Rewards

3️⃣ DIME Utility. DIME is the native token of the Paradex ecosystem and is designed for:

– Buybacks. Net protocol revenue allocated to periodic buybacks

– Staking. Fee reductions, rebates, priority access (full details post-TGE)

– Gas Token. Powers Paradex Chain (DimeVM), enabling composable onchain applications

4️⃣ Roadmap Highlights

– RWA perpetuals (Commodities, FX, Equities, Indices)

– Dated Options Launch

– Integration with Paradigm RFQ Network ($1T+ Lifetime Volume)

DIME positions Paradex as a full-stack onchain financial system combining perps, spot, options, unified margin, liquidity primitives, and privacy infrastructure.

Plume’s ecosystem has seen several developments that include a new compliance appointment, the launch of PLUME-USD markets on dYdX, additional stablecoin infrastructure, and broader data availability for on-chain analytics.

Below is a closer look at Plume's infrastructure, partnerships, and market integrations in recent weeks.