Maple Finance’s token continued its strong rally, reaching its highest level since November last year as its assets and fee revenue surged. Maple (SYRUP) jumped to a high of $0.3490, up 287% from its lowest level this year, bringing its…

Here’s why Maple Finance’s SYRUP token is surging

In recent weeks, a proposal aiming to eliminate Bitcoin’s 80-byte limitation 
on script opcodes has stirred spirited debate, culminating in what some are 
calling the OP_RETURN War of 2025. On Thursday, block 896,696 featured an 
unusually large non-standard OP_RETURN—so expansive it occupied the entire 
block with a solitary transfer. OP_RETURN ‘Rickrolling’ Discussion around the 
Bitcoin […]

Bitcoin’s 1-MB OP_RETURN Block Breaks Records as Blockchain Becomes a Message Board

The XRP price is once again in the spotlight as a new technical analysis 
indicates that the cryptocurrency may be on the verge of a significant price 
explosion to $5.9 and beyond. According to the analyst behind this forecast, 
XRP’s recent price behavior is not a sign of weakness but rather a period of 
strategic consolidation that is building momentum for the next major surge. 
Consolidation Phase To Fuel XRP Price Explosion Master Ananda, a crypto 
analyst on TradingView, released a detailed analysis of XRP on May 15. The 
analysis highlights the cryptocurrency’s current price action and predicts its 
next bullish move. Starting with its historical price behavior, the analysis 
highlights a strong rally that took place in 2024, particularly around 
November and December, when XRP printed long green candles that indicated 
strong momentum. Related Reading: Analyst Says XRP Must Hold This Level For 
Bullish Continuation To $4.2 After reaching a high, XRP entered a 
consolidation phase, during which price action formed a pattern resembling a 
symmetrical triangle or wedge. This is marked with red dashed lines on the 
chart, showing indecision in the market as the price was suppressed. Master 
Ananda revealed that after this triangle formation, XRP broke out around April 
7, 2025 — a date now marked as a potential inflection point in the 
cryptocurrency’s market cycle. Since then, weekly candles have consistently 
closed in the green, indicating renewed bullish momentum. Adding to Master 
Ananda’s bullish case for the XRP price is a Fibonacci retracement and 
extension levels drawn from the previous major swing high to the recent low. 
These levels help identify potential resistance and target zones for the next 
leg up. Notably, the retracement levels have been marked around $2.05 (0.236 
Fib), $2.39 (0.382 Fib), and $2.71 (0.618 Fib), culminating at the previous 
high of $3.40. Fibonacci extension project potential targets are at $4.50 
(1.618 Fib), and the highest level is at $6.29 (2.618 Fib). Currently, the 
trajectory of the curved green arrow in the chart shows a more probable price 
target of around $5.9. However, XRP will still have to surge past the 
aforementioned retracement levels and the resistance at $4.5 to reach this 
level. The overall takeaway of this analysis is that XRP is printing strong 
bullish signals, and its current consolidation is seen as a precursor to 
further growth. The asset Approaches Make Or Break Zone XRP is entering a 
decisive phase, as crypto analyst Egrag Crypto predicts an imminent breakout 
from a tight consolidation range, within which the cryptocurrency has been 
trading for months. The analyst’s chart shows a purple zone, which he 
described as a “pandora box.” This zone represents a critical price range 
acting as both resistance and support, effectively trapping price action. 
Related Reading: XRP Price Surge To $10: Analyst Reveals Factors That Will 
Make It Happen In 2025 Egrag Crypto emphasizes that a breakout above or below 
this boxed range could ignite high volatility and significant momentum for 
XRP. He frames it as a pivotal moment where big moves, possibly explosive 
ones, are expected to happen. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from 
Tradingview.com

XRP Price Explosion To $5.9: Current Consolidation Won’t Stop XRP From Growing

Solv, Avalanche, and a consortium of DeFi protocols have launched 
SolvBTC.AVAX, the first institutional-grade bitcoin yield vault backed by 
real-world assets. The move aims to activate idle BTC by offering onchain, 
composable yield through tokenized U.S. Treasuries and structured DeFi 
strategies. First Institutional-Grade BTC Yield Vault Launches on Avalanche In 
a landmark step for bitcoin […]

Solv, Avalanche and Elixir Launch Real-World Yield for Bitcoin

Tokenization could open new opportunities for retail investors to access 
traditionally restricted asset classes, according to Johann Kerbrat, senior 
vice president and general manager of Robinhood Crypto, who called it &#8220;very 
important for financial inclusion.&#8221;
Speaking at the Consensus 2025 event in Toronto, Kerbrat said that some real- 
world assets, such as real estate and private equity, are available only to up 
to 10% of the US population. &#8220;You need to be an accredited investor to invest 
in private equity right now,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;How many people can afford a house or an apartment in New York?&#8221; he 
elaborated. &#8220;But you can get a piece of it with fractionalization, through 
tokenization. And so we think it makes it a lot easier to be exchanged, a lot 
more accessible for everybody.&#8221;
_Robinhood&#8217;s Johann Kerbrat at Consensus 2025. Source: Cointelegraph_
Robinhood has been one of a handful of investment firms or brokerages that 
have explored RWA tokenization in recent months. Others include BlackRock, 
Franklin Templeton, Apollo, and VanEck.
RWA tokenization is often touted as a means to enhance financial 
accessibility, with most tokenized funds currently concentrated on the private 
credit and US treasury markets. According to RWA.xyz on May 16, the total 
market capitalization of onchain RWA is $22.5 billion across just 101,457 
asset holders. On average, each holder owns $221,867 in onchain assets.
_**Related:**__**MultiBank, MAG, Mavryk ink world &#8216;s largest $3B RWA 
tokenization deal**_
## Stablecoin evolution will create more &#8216;specialized&#8217; tokens
Kerbrat also touched on stablecoins, which have emerged as a key crypto use 
case this cycle. &#8220;You will see 100 stablecoins,&#8221; he predicted.
Kerbrat expects a rise in stablecoins that are &#8220;more specialized in a specific 
market.&#8221; According to DefiLlama, dollar-pegged stablecoins dominate the 
stablecoin sector. The two largest, Tether&#8217;s USDt (USDT) and Circle&#8217;s USDC 
(USDC), account for $211.8 billion or 87.1% of the $243.3 billion stablecoin 
market cap.
&#8220;If you&#8217;re trying to move funds from the US to Singapore, maybe you will use a 
specific stablecoin,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The shift is going to go from just stablecoin 
to platforms that are managing all these stablecoins.&#8221;
_Tether&#8217;s USDT has seen its market share surge over the past few years. 
Source:__DefiLlama_
Fireblocks policy chief Dea Markova recently told Cointelegraph that there is 
a growing demand for non-dollar-pegged stablecoins. In April, the Italian 
finance minister warned that dollar-pegged stablecoins represent a greater 
risk than US President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariffs.
_**Magazine:**__**Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi 
tokenization race**_

Tokenization makes investing more accessible — Robinhood exec

An unprecedented surge in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s May Manufacturing 
Business Outlook Survey has jolted global risk markets and given crypto asset 
traders their clearest macro catalyst of the year. The Future New Orders 
diffusion index leapt by forty-plus points, a move that Julien Bittel, head of 
macro research at Global Macro Investor (GMI), called “literally” historic. 
Crypto Bulls Can Rejoice Bittel’s commentary on X framed the print with 
statistical precision: “Philly Fed data for May dropped yesterday – and the 
Future New Orders index just made history. Literally. … Expectations for new 
orders posted the largest monthly spike ever recorded – going all the way back 
to the index’s inception in May 1968. A staggering +4.3 standard deviation 
move. He underlined the shock with a comparison few macro watchers will 
forget: For perspective: that’s an even bigger move up than the downside 
collapse during the depths of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (-4.1σ). Let 
that sink in…” Bittel then set the surge in a broader narrative that has 
animated his research since late last year. “Q1 growth was weak. The reason is 
straightforward – financial conditions tightened sharply in Q4. The dollar 
ripped, bond yields surged… a classic tightening phase,” he wrote. Related 
Reading: Analysis: Crypto Heats Up As $35 Billion Enters Market In Under A 
Month The proximate trigger, in his telling, was “businesses panic‑loading 
inventories ahead of Trump tariffs, and markets front‑running the inflation 
narrative.” Those dynamics, he argued, are a replay of Donald Trump’s first 
term: “We’ve highlighted repeatedly: this had all the hallmarks of Q4 2016 
during Trump’s first term. Just like early 2017, that tightening spilled over 
into slower growth momentum in Q1.” Where 2017 began with doubt and ended in a 
synchronous global boom, Bittel believes 2025 is rhyming. “Those Q1 headwinds 
have flipped into Q2 tailwinds,” he insisted. “Everything flows downstream 
from changes in financial conditions… Purchasing managers’ expectations are 
shifting – and shifts in thinking eventually translate into action. Sentiment 
shifts first. Action follows. It always does. Bullish.” The crypto market 
responded muted. Bitcoin reclaimed the $104,000 level in early‑European trade, 
but lost it later on. Ether steadied near $2,600, and high‑beta layer‑one 
tokens such as Solana and Avalanche moved in tandem. Related Reading: Ethereum 
Gains Momentum Amid Flat Funding Rates – Is This A Healthy Uptrend? Giancarlo 
Cudrig, head of markets at Immutable, said the scale of the shock is less 
important than how under‑positioned investors are for an upside growth 
surprise. “An upside economic shock like this – +4.3σ on new orders – is rare. 
But the bigger story is market positioning. Asset prices are not prepared. The 
melt‑up is the asymmetric risk. Now it’s being repriced.” Independent analyst 
Market Heretic struck a similar note on X: “When this dropped, markets didn’t 
even blink. Because the shift’s already in motion. This wasn’t news, it was 
confirmation. That’s the real tell, when markets shrug off a four‑sigma upside 
shock. It means the turn is already upon us – and it’s just getting started.” 
For crypto investors, the implications are immediate. A softer dollar and 
retreating real‑yield expectations reduce the opportunity cost of holding 
non‑yielding assets, while the early phase of a reflationary turn historically 
favours high‑beta exposures. Bittel’s own playbook is unambiguous: “Sentiment 
shifts first. Action follows.” As long as that chain reaction continues, the 
crypto bulls appear to have both math and momentum on their side. At press 
time, the total crypto market cap stood at $3.28 trillion. Featured image 
created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com