Ethereum’s next major upgrade, Pectra, is set for activation in early May 2025, bringing changes aimed at boosting scalability, improving user experience, and enhancing validator efficiency, according to Nansen. Combining improvements to the execution and consensus layers, the upgrade builds…

Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade to launch in May, targeting UX, L2 costs

Jobless claims surged at the end of April according to fresh data from the 
Department of Labor, but both traditional and crypto markets still rallied 
Thursday morning. Markets Rally: Bitcoin Hits $97K Even as Jobs Data 
Disappoints The number of unemployed Americans filing for jobless benefits 
swelled to a seasonally adjusted 241,000 for the week […]

Bitcoin Breaks $97K as Markets Defy Weak Employment Data

Pipe Network is launching rewards for node operators that help build the 
decentralized version of the internet.

Solana-based Pipe Network launches rewards for its decentralized internet

World App has introduced a large retail rollout of decentralized finance 
tools, giving over 25 million users access to lending, borrowing, and yield- 
generating products directly within the app. The integration, powered by 
Morpho—a decentralized lending platform with over $4.5 billion…

Sam Altman-backed World App launches human-focused DeFi with Morpho

DeFi Development Corp. announced Thursday it has secured $24 million through a 
private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal to scale its Solana 
accumulation strategy. The round attracted prominent investors including 
Galaxy Digital, Arrington Capital, Republic Digital, Borderless Capital, and…

DeFi Dev Corp plans $24m for Solana push, stock keeps surging

Research house and exchange-traded-product issuer 21Shares is arguing that 
Dogecoin has matured into “a smart addition to your portfolio,” projecting a 
bull-market price target of $1.42 per coin if bullish momentum holds. In a 
post published on X on 30 April, the firm told its followers that “Dogecoin 
isn’t just a meme anymore—it might be a smart addition to your portfolio.” 
Linking to a research note, 21Shares detailed stress-tested portfolio 
simulations in which a traditional 60/40 basket of equities and bonds is first 
“infused with 3 % Bitcoin” and then supplemented with a “modest 1 % DOGE 
allocation.” According to the researchers, “the benchmark returned 7.25 % 
annually, while DOGE-enhanced portfolios reached as high as 8.95 %. Sharpe 
ratios improved in almost all tests,” while the worst peak-to-trough drawdown 
only “deepened by a few percentage points.” Related Reading: What Will Send 
Dogecoin Soaring? Analyst Reveals The Key Drivers The study attributes the 
incremental performance to Dogecoin’s decade-long record of outpacing most 
large-cap crypto-assets while maintaining “a low correlation to crypto and 
traditional assets.” Even so, the authors stress that disciplined rebalancing 
remains vital. “Without it, returns can plateau while risk quietly compounds,” 
they warn, adding that monthly or weekly rebalancing strikes the best 
compromise between upside capture and volatility control, particularly “during 
periods of broader market stress, as we’ve recently seen.” Three Scenarios For 
Dogecoin To frame expectations for the coming cycle, 21Shares sets out three 
scenarios: In the bear case, Dogecoin’s post-election rally is described as 
potentially having “front-run its true cycle potential.” If the token merely 
compounds at 10 % per year from its 2021 peak of $0.73, it would “land around 
$0.38 by 2025,” a doubling from today’s $0.18 but, for the first time, a 
failure to record a new all-time high within a full market cycle. Related 
Reading: Dogecoin Could Rally To $0.74 ATH If Price Closes Month Above This 
Level, Analyst Says The neutral case assumes the total crypto-asset market 
capitalizes at $5 trillion and DOGE’s market share slips from 4 % to 3 %. On 
those inputs, Dogecoin would be worth roughly $150 billion and trade “near $1 
per coin,” about a 5.5-fold gain from current levels, with the token 
“retaining its stature as the leading memecoin” amid stiffer competition. The 
bullish projection scales the token’s compounded growth between the pre-2021 
bottom of $0.007 and the current-cycle trough of $0.0585, a rate calculated at 
189 % per year. “If DOGE were to mirror this explosive growth,” the paper 
concludes, “DOGE would reach approximately $1.42.” Such an outcome would 
require a revival of “memecoin mania,” tangible real-world use cases and, 
critically, deeper integration with major consumer platforms such as Elon 
Musk’s X. In that environment, the authors write, a full-throated return of 
retail exuberance “could re-establish DOGE as the breakout asset of the cycle, 
potentially even doubling its all-time high.” 21Shares finishes on a pragmatic 
note: “With the right structure, a 1 % allocation to Dogecoin isn’t 
reckless—it’s rewarding.” At press time, DOGE traded at $0.175. Featured image 
created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com