Hey there, PoI readers! 💫

It's your favorite crypto connoisseur, Mochi, back with another serving of tantalizing tech and web3 news. From Trump's WLFI token causing derivative mayhem and VCs getting picky about their investments to Solana's lightning-fast upgrade dreams and Sonic Labs making bold TradFi moves, we've got a lot to unpack. So, buckle up and get ready for a wild ride through the wonderland of digital assets!

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INTEL BRIEF

🟧 Trump-linked World Liberty Financial token derivatives are seeing massive trading spikes with nearly $1B in open interest just before a major token unlock.

🟧 VCs are ditching risky early-stage crypto bets for established projects with predictable revenue streams as the market matures and institutions demand real yield.

🟧 Solana's Alpenglow upgrade is cruising toward approval with 99% support, promising to slash transaction finality to lightning-fast 150ms - faster than your Google searches.

🟧 Sonic Labs got overwhelming approval to issue $200M in S tokens for a bold TradFi expansion, including a Nasdaq-listed vehicle and ETF plans while lamenting their "2018 tokenomics.”

WLFI Token Derivatives Reach Nearly $1 Billion Before Major Unlock

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token is having quite the party before the big unlock event! And by party, I mean the kind where derivatives traders are throwing around nearly $1 billion.

WLFI derivatives just hit $950 million in open interest during early Monday trading before settling at a still-impressive $887 million - that's a whopping 45% jump in just 24 hours! Meanwhile, trading volume has exploded by over 535% to reach $4.54 billion, making it the fifth-most traded crypto derivative in the past day. Not bad for a token that's speculated to be primarily a governance token!

The token itself is currently trading around 34 cents, down from its peak of over 40 cents last week. If WLFI maintains its current price, it could theoretically boast a fully diluted market cap of $34 billion based on its 100 billion total token supply. That would allegedly catapult it to the ninth-largest cryptocurrency, potentially bumping both Tron and Dogecoin out of the top 10!

Binance is absolutely dominating the WLFI derivatives scene, capturing about half of all trading volume at $2.22 billion with over 10.5 million trades. OKX follows as a distant second with nearly 1.1 million trades totaling $917.5 million.

World Liberty is believed to be releasing 20% of early supporter tokens today at 8 AM New York time, which represents roughly 5 billion tokens hitting the market.

WLFI derivatives hit $887M open interest (+45%) ahead of today's token unlock

Trading volume exploded 535% to $4.54B, making it the 5th most-traded crypto derivative

At current prices, WLFI could theoretically rank as the 9th largest cryptocurrency by market cap

Crypto VCs Shift Focus From Speculation to Revenue Generating Projects

Chief investment officer at Ajna Capital. The VC game has fundamentally shifted, and it's all about that sweet, sweet predictable revenue now.

"It's harder because we have reached a different stage in crypto," Oberholzer told Cointelegraph, explaining that the market has matured. VCs are now laser-focused on established projects with clear business models.

"Predictable revenue models, institutional dependency, and irreversible adoption." If your project can't show consistent cash flow, you're getting the same treatment as a memecoin during bear season.

Wall Street types are demanding crypto projects that actually generate yield and revenue, not just hopium and rocket ship emojis. VCs are now concentrating on stablecoin projects and payment infrastructure that can generate fees.

Real-world asset tokenization (RWA) platforms are also catching serious VC attention because they come with revenue models tied to minting and managing tokenized assets onchain. As Matt Hougan from Bitwise puts it, when you stake $1 billion of ETH, "all of a sudden, you're generating earnings" - and Wall Street loves companies that generate earnings more than a trader loves leverage.

Ethereum is particularly well-positioned here, hosting the majority of stablecoin, RWA, and DeFi activity that generates stable revenues through fees and other forms of financial rent.

VCs now prioritize established crypto projects with predictable revenue over early-stage speculation

Focus shifted to institutional adoption and yield-generating businesses rather than memecoin frenzies

Stablecoin, RWA tokenization, and payment infrastructure projects are getting the most VC attention

Solana Approves 150ms Transaction Speed Upgrade

The Alpenglow upgrade is absolutely crushing it in the governance vote with over 99.6% approval and honestly, those 0.4% of "no" votes probably just accidentally clicked the wrong button.

With just two days left until voting closes on Tuesday at 1 PM UTC, this game-changing upgrade is practically guaranteed to pass. The 33% quorum threshold has already been smashed, meaning Solana validators are more united on this than crypto Twitter agrees on literally anything.

Alpenglow would slash Solana's current transaction finality from 12.8 seconds down to just 150 milliseconds. That's a nearly 100-fold speed increase that would make Solana faster than your average Google search.

This upgrade would reportedly make Solana the speed king of layer-1 blockchains, leaving Sui's 400ms finality in the dust and making Ethereum's 12-minute finality look like it's running on dial-up internet from 1999.

Votor (which handles voting and block finalization) and Rotor (a data dissemination protocol replacing Solana's proof-of-history system). These upgrades could allegedly expand Solana's use cases far beyond the usual suspects of payments, trading, and gaming.

"A median latency of 150ms means Solana can compete with Web2 infrastructure in terms of responsiveness" - basically turning blockchain tech into something that could power real-time applications without users wanting to throw their devices out the window.

Alpenglow won't magically fix Solana's infamous network outages. The independent Firedancer client is expected to launch later this year, providing much-needed client diversification.

99.6% of voters support Alpenglow upgrade with voting closing Tuesday

Transaction finality would drop from 12.8 seconds to 150ms (nearly 100x faster)

Would make Solana faster than Google searches and most Web2 infrastructure

Sonic Labs Secures Approval for $200 Million Traditional Finance Expansion

Sonic Labs just pulled off one of the most unanimous votes in crypto governance history! With 99.99% approval from 105 wallets, Sonic is about to make a $200 million splash into traditional finance that's got everyone talking.

Sonic is allocating $100 million in S tokens to build a strategic reserve for a Nasdaq PIPE vehicle, plus another $50 million for an S token-tracking ETP from what they're calling a "regulated, top-tier ETF provider" with over $10 billion in assets. The fund will allegedly be custodied by BitGo, because apparently even DeFi projects need some TradFi credibility these days.

Sonic is establishing Sonic USA LLC and hiring a US-based CEO and team in New York to facilitate their TradFi dreams and schmooze with the suits in Washington, DC. They're dedicating 150 million S tokens (worth about $47.7 million) just to bootstrap this American expansion.

Sonic is basically flipping the script on the usual corporate crypto playbook. Instead of companies adding crypto to strengthen their balance sheets, Sonic is leveraging traditional financial instruments to become more competitive in crypto.

After rebranding from Fantom Opera in December 2024, Sonic inherited what they dramatically call "2018 tokenomics" - holding less than 3% of their token supply while most Layer 1 and 2 teams keep around 50% for strategic initiatives. This allegedly prevented them from capitalizing on partnerships with GameStop, Robinhood, and Polymarket.

Sonic plans to make the S token more deflationary by updating gas fees and burning more transaction fees. The S token has had a rough ride, falling nearly 69% since January.

Sonic just joined the US Department of Commerce's blockchain program to publish economic data onchain using Chainlink and Pyth oracles.

99.99% approval for $200M S token issuance to fund TradFi expansion including Nasdaq PIPE and ETF plans

Sonic claims "2018 tokenomics" with <3% token supply prevented major partnership opportunities

Will establish Sonic USA LLC and make S token more deflationary to offset new issuance

And that's a wrap, my lovely PoI readers! 💎 I hope this edition left you feeling informed, entertained, and maybe even a little bit richer (in knowledge, of course). From billion-dollar derivative frenzies to 150-millisecond transaction speeds, today's crypto world continues to surprise us with its endless innovation and occasional chaos. Remember to stay curious, stay informed, and keep spreading the love. Until next time, this is Mochi, signing off with a virtual high-five!

P.S. Don't forget to share your thoughts, questions, and favorite crypto puns with us. very voice matters in the PoI community! 📣❤️ Share the newsletter

🍨📰 Catch you in the next issue! 📰🍨