A1 Abraaj Restaurants Group has become the first publicly traded company in 
the Middle East to adopt bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, signaling a 
major shift in regional finance. Bahrain’s A1 Abraaj Embraces Bitcoin for 
Crypto Treasury In a regional first, Bahrain-based A1 Abraaj Restaurants Group 
(Bahrain Bourse: ABRAAJ) has officially adopted bitcoin as […]

A1 Abraaj Becomes First Middle Eastern Public Firm to Adopt Bitcoin Treasury Strategy

Ethereum (ETH) experienced a slight price pullback over the past 24 hours, 
declining by 2.1% to hover slightly above $2,500. Despite this daily decline, 
ETH has remained at more than 30% over the past week, marking a strong 
recovery trend from earlier market conditions. The rally follows broad 
strength across the crypto market, with Ethereum pushing into new price zones 
that have brought it above several important realized price levels. The price 
movement from Ethereum prompted one of CryptoQuant’s contributors, 
BlitzzTrading, to closely monitor ETH&#8217;s realized price data, particularly how 
it relates to different wallet cohorts. Related Reading: $1.2B In Ethereum 
Withdrawn From CEXs – Strong Accumulation Signal Understanding Realized Prices 
Across ETH Wallet Tiers BlitzzTrading highlighted that Ethereum has moved 
above the average cost basis of most holders, broken down by wallet size. This 
“average cost basis,” or realized price, refers to the average price at which 
a given cohort of investors acquired their ETH. It is calculated by assessing 
the aggregate value at which the coins were last moved, providing insight into 
whether those investors are currently in profit or loss. Tracking these levels 
can help traders identify potential support zones or areas where profit-taking 
may occur. According to BlitzzTrading’s data, holders with balances between 
100–1,000 ETH have a realized price of $2,225, those with 1,000–10,000 ETH 
hold at $2,196, and wallets holding between 10,000–100,000 ETH have an average 
cost basis of $1,994. Larger wallets, with over 100,000 ETH, have a much lower 
average cost basis of $1,222. As the current ETH price hovers around $2,500, 
most of these groups are in profit. However, price corrections to retest these 
levels, especially after sharp rallies, are common in both bullish and 
sideways market structures. Profit-Taking by Ethereum Whales Raises Questions 
About Short-Term Top In a related post, BlitzzTrading explored the behavior of 
large Ethereum holders, referred to as “whales,” defined as addresses holding 
over 10,000 ETH. These large investors can have a disproportionate impact on 
market prices due to the volume of their trades. The analyst noted that after 
ETH previously reached the $4,000 mark, whale-driven profit-taking contributed 
to a drop in price down to $1,300. Monitoring such activity is vital, as it 
can signal upcoming shifts in trend or potential short-term price ceilings. 
Related Reading: Ethereum Stakers Enter Profit Zone as Price Climbs Above 
$2,400 Currently, ETH is once again approaching territory where whales are 
significantly in profit. If these large holders begin to offload their 
positions, similar to previous cycles, it may introduce downward pressure. 
However, if whale wallets continue to hold or accumulate, it may reinforce 
broader market confidence. Real-time monitoring of whale flows remains a key 
tool for interpreting Ethereum’s short-term trajectory. Featured image created 
with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView

Ethereum Breaks Above Key Realized Price Zones—What It Means for ETH

Brazilian fintech company Méliuz has become the first publicly traded firm in 
Brazil and Latin America to adopt Bitcoin as a treasury asset following 
shareholder approval. In a statement issued on May 15, the cashback-focused 
firm, which serves over 30…

Méliuz becomes Brazil’s first publicly listed firm to adopt Bitcoin treasury model

Blockchain gaming user activity dipped and funding slowed in April, but the 
overall ecosystem is healthier and maturing, according to blockchain analytics 
platform DappRadar.
User activity dropped 10% over April, with blockchain gaming reaching a 2025 
low of 4.8 million daily Unique Active Wallets, DappRadar analyst Sara 
Gherghelas said in the platform&#8217;s April Games Report.
Gaming dominance over the decentralized app industry also fell and is now tied 
with decentralized finance at 21%.
Gherghelas said it&#8217;s clear user attention is shifting away from gaming, but 
under the surface, new infrastructure went live, major publishers doubled 
down, and high-quality games edged closer to launch.
_Source:__DappRadar_
&#8220;The blockchain gaming industry isn&#8217;t dead &#8212; it&#8217;s evolving. It&#8217;s moving from 
noise to signal,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;Teams are building, and capital continues to flow into the space. What we 
might be seeing is a healthier ecosystem &#8212; one driven less by speculative 
play-to-earn mechanics and more by users who have a genuine interest in 
gameplay, asset ownership and community.&#8221;
April&#8217;s blockchain gaming investment activity also dropped 69% from March, 
reaching $21 million.
## Weaker projects die off, funds shift to builders
Gherghelas said part of the drop is because investor and user interest is 
increasingly shifting toward real-world assets and artificial intelligence.
Another factor is the macroeconomic landscape, with ongoing market uncertainty 
weighing on investor sentiment, making capital harder to secure for startups.
Gherghelas said weaker projects &#8220;are falling away,&#8221; and funds are flowing into 
other projects that &#8220;are quietly laying the groundwork for the next generation 
of blockchain games.&#8221;
_Blockchain gaming funding has seen a sharp drop since last year. 
Source:__DappRadar_
&#8220;Investors are now optimizing for sustainable models, player engagement, and 
actual retention, not just token hype,&#8221; she added. &#8220;This shows that the 
market&#8217;s clearly in reset mode.&#8221;
Gherghelas noted that &#8220;66% of all blockchain game funding in 2025 so far has 
gone to infrastructure,&#8221; signaling a more mature market.
_**Related:**__**Crypto gaming has mixed Q1 as deals jump, investment totals 
dip: DappRadar**_
Mainstream gaming companies are also still experimenting with blockchain- 
powered games, with Gherghelas pointing to Ubisoft&#8217;s partnership with 
Immutable, and Sega adding non-fungible tokens and play-to-earn mechanics to 
its game, KAI: Battle of Three Kingdoms.
&#8220;April 2025 wasn&#8217;t a record-breaking month for blockchain gaming, and that&#8217;s 
okay. What we&#8217;re seeing is a space recalibrating,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;Speculative hype is cooling down, but the builders haven&#8217;t stopped,&#8221; she 
added. &#8220;Games are launching. Ecosystems are expanding. Infrastructure is 
maturing.&#8221;
_**Magazine:**__**Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier 
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Crypto gaming interest drops in April, overall ecosystem healthier: DappRadar

Ethereum layer-2 scaling platform Starknet has reached a decentralization 
milestone laid out by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and is now the 
largest zero-knowledge rollup-based network by total value locked.
Starknet said in a press release shared with Cointelegraph that it has hit 
&#8220;Stage 1&#8221; decentralization, according to a framework Buterin laid out in 2022, 
which means the network operates with limited oversight or &#8220;training wheels.&#8221;
Starknet added that the framework was the &#8220;gold standard onchain tool for 
analyzing Ethereum scaling solutions,&#8221; and said it achieved the milestone 
through changes such as creating a security council and censorship-avoidance 
mechanisms.
While the system still allows intervention from a security council, it has 
implemented a fully functional validity proof system governed by smart 
contracts.
Starknet is now the only layer-2 ZK-rollup network to have reached Stage 1 and 
has grown to be the largest ZK-rollup blockchain with a total value locked of 
$629 million, just ahead of ZKsync&#8217;s $610 million, according to L2beat.
Starknet is the fifth-largest layer-2 network by value locked, with the top 
four all Optimistic rollup-based and all reached Stage 1 decentralization 
using fraud proofs.
_Layer-2 networks ranked by total value locked. Source:__L2beat_
Fraud proofs assume transactions are invalid until proven valid, while 
validity proofs assume transactions are valid only if proven valid with 
cryptographic evidence.
&#8220;Our goal is for the training wheels to come off completely and to reach Stage 
2 decentralization on Ethereum, and simultaneously steam forward with our work 
on Bitcoin too,&#8221; said Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder and CEO of StarkWare, the 
developer behind Starknet.
&#8220;Stage 2&#8221; decentralization is the point where the network will be fully 
autonomous and community-governed. Only three small layer-2 scaling platforms 
have reached this stage, according to L2beat.
_**Related:**__**Vitalik Buterin says rollups must prove security before 
decentralizing**_
Buterin introduced the concept of &#8220;training wheels&#8221; or three stages for 
Ethereum scaling rollup projects at various phases of development in 2022.
## Base leads layer-2 ecosystem
The Coinbase layer-2 network Base is the leader of the sector in terms of 
value locked, with $14.7 billion, giving it a market share of 33%. 
Comparatively, Starknet has a market share of 1.4%.
The total value secured onchain in the layer-2 ecosystem is $44.2 billion. The 
figure has jumped recently as the value of Ether (ETH) has gained, but is down 
20% so far this year.
_**Magazine:**__**Metric signals $250K Bitcoin is &#8216;best case,&#8217; SOL, HYPE 
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Cryptocurrency price in BTC