Coinbase officially launched XRP futures contracts on its U.S. Derivatives Exchange on April 21. The XRP futures saw strong performance, with daily trading volume already surpassing 100 million USDC. The strong start shows the increasing demand and interest from both retail and institutional traders.
The futures include two types of contracts, Standard Contracts representing 10,000 XRP, aimed at large institutions and active traders, and retail-oriented “nano” contracts representing 500 XRP each, or approximately $1,000 as of April 21, for retail traders and smaller institutions, as per the filings.
Coinbase expanded its offering adding to its 20+ existing contracts on assets like Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, and Solana. The launch also follows recent additions of CFTC-regulated Cardano and Natural Gas futures.
Major exchanges like Coinbase, Robinhood and CME have been expanding their crypto futures offerings to cater to the rising demands. Coinbase now lists derivatives for over 92 assets globally and around 24 in the US. Derivatives trading on the exchange soared over 10,000% last year. The exchange is also reportedly eyeing Deribit acquisition to expand its presence.
Oregon Files Lawsuit Against Coinbase
Just days before Coinbase launched XRP futures, the Oregon Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the exchange claiming that the 31 tokens including XRP, UNI, LINK, AAVE, and MKR, are unregistered securities sold on Coinbase.
Paul Grewal, Coinbase CLO also condemned Oregon’s Attorney General for filing the lawsuit and warned that this lawsuit could not just harm Coinbase, but the entire crypto industry. He claimed the lawsuit lacked credibility and was motivated by political and financial interests.
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw strong demand yesterday, with total net inflows exceeding $350 million. This followed BTC’s breakout past the $105,000 resistance level to close above the $110,000 price.
With strengthening bullish pressure, the leading coin is poised to continue its rally, further fueling the demand for ETF products.
BTC ETFs See $386 Million Inflows as Investor Confidence Returns
On Monday, BTC spot ETFs recorded net inflows of $386.27 million. This capital inflow marked a significant shift in market sentiment following last week’s decline.
Total Bitcoin Spot ETF Net Inflow. Source: SosoValue
These inflows reversed the previous week’s trend of net outflows, as BTC’s lackluster performance and waning investor confidence had dragged down demand. The surge followed BTC’s breakout above the $105,000 resistance level, with the asset closing at $110,263 during yesterday’s trading session.
As a result, renewed optimism spread across the market, driving heightened activity in ETF trading as well. On Monday, Fidelity’s CBOE-listed FBTC fund led the charge, posting the largest single-day net inflow among all US BTC ETF issuers.
BTC Futures and Options Flash Bullish as Price Holds Above $109,000
BTC trades at $110,227 at press time, up 4% over the past day. The coin’s funding rate has flipped back into positive territory on the derivatives front, signaling a shift toward bullish market positioning. It currently stands at 0.0017%.
The funding rate is a periodic payment exchanged between traders in perpetual futures contracts to keep prices aligned with the spot market.
When its value is positive, it indicates bullish sentiment and a higher demand for longs. It means that traders holding long BTC positions pay those holding short positions, a trend that could drive the coin’s value upward in the near term.
Furthermore, traders are buying BTC call options today, signaling growing bullish sentiment on the asset’s future price.
Therefore, the combination of institutional inflows, rising price momentum, and a return to positive sentiment in derivatives suggests that the market may be entering a renewed accumulation phase.
Blockchain Funding News:- Crypto VC fundings for crypto startups are trying hard to make rebound this year. Till now, the crypto startups in US have raised approximately $861 million Q1 of 2025.
The majority of these fundings are directed towards stablecoin and crypto*AI projects.
However, in the latest instance on Tuesday, two new blockchain projects became the centre of million dollar VC fundings in web3.
This includes two new blockchains, Miden – Polygon’s offshoot and IP-focused Camp Network. Miden, the Edge Blockchain, received $25 million seed funding round on Tuesday.
On the same day, Camp Network also raised $30M to build the autonomous IP Layer1 blockchain.
These fundings are being seen as a bet by leading crypto ventures on Layer-1s showing technical differentiation beyond just standard EVM-compatible chains.
Polygon’s Layer-1 Blockchain Miden Receives $25 M Funding
Privacy in blockchains have been developing as a strong point of contestation and deliberations. It’s most famous proponent have been Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin.
He has asked for ensuring blockchain privacy and suggested Zero knowledge roll-ups as the solution.
In a move towards it, Miden – the Edge Blockchain is being built by Polygon Team and Azeem Khan, co-founder of the blockchain, as a privacy-focused blockchain.
It was originally incubated by the Polygon Labs team but now Miden has spun out as an independent project with this funding.
Privacy Using ZKVMs: What is it
To ensure privacy, it uses ZK-STARK-based virtual machine (VM) or Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent ARguments of Knowledge.
ZK-Vms are a type of cryptographic proof system that allows a blockchain to verify the correctness of a transaction or computation without revealing the underlying data. They are post-quantum and execute transactions on smart contracts.
It is this vision of Miden that saw its funding round receiving $25M in its seed funding round co-led by the crypto arm of Andreessen Horowitz along with Hack VC and 1kx.
Other investors included Finality Capital Partners, Symbolic Capital and angel investors like Avery Ching, the cofounder of the Aptos blockchain.
Miden is building the “Edge Blockchain”, a new zk-powered system where execution happens on the client side, unlocking a new design space for applications that demand performance and privacy. Edge execution is the blueprint for blockchain’s final form.
Brian Seong, Researcher and Developer at Polygon said in a X post, “From its roots as an early-stage zkVM, Miden has evolved into a privacy-first, parallelized, UTXO-based blockchain that’s not just innovative—it’s a pioneer.”
He said that the blockchain is designed for mass adoption and is aimed at tackling use cases that could redefine how we think about privacy and scalability in Web3.
Maiden is a standalone Layer-1 blockchain. This means that it would operate independently of Ethereum or any other base chain. This stands in contrast to many zk-rollups which would help the blockchain in avoiding the limitations and congestion risks.
Camp Funding: Blockchain in the Age of AI & IP
Camp Network, in another new Layer-1 blockchain funding update on Tuesday secured $30 million in a Series A funding round. It was led by Paradigm with additional investments coming from various Web3-native developer platforms and node operators.
Camp is a purpose-built Layer 1 blockchain building for the future of AI and IP. It enables users to register and tokenize their IP onchain – giving them copyright royalties using blockchain.
It also allows developers to train and deploy AI agents, and then participate in distributions for the use cases of these AI agents. The agents are set to be trained on their IP for transparent, enforceable way.
AI is rewriting the rules of creativity, putting all creators at risk
As models train on content without consent and agents replace direct interaction, real value will shift from commoditized models to unique, user-owned IP and vertical AI agents fine-tuned on it
The combined $55 million blockchain funding raised by Camp and Miden reflects a growing shift – venture capital is increasing its focus toward highly specialized Layer-1 chains.
In contrast to the hype-driven fundraising of 2021–2022, investors in 2025 appear more focused on blockchains showing,
technical differentiation,
real-world applications such as AI, and
long-term sustainability with privacy assurance.
Thus, as crypto VC funding rebounds in 2025, Layer-1 innovation is regaining center stage. This is particularly for chains being built in privacy, modularity, and developer tooling.
With Camp and Miden securing major funding and community interest, all eyes will now be on their testnet performance and ecosystem traction in the coming quarters.
The recent depeg incident involving sUSD from Synthetix has highlighted that this sector remains fraught with risks despite the immense potential of algorithmic stablecoins.
The sUSD incident is not the first to expose the vulnerabilities of algorithmic stablecoins. From technical challenges and regulatory pressures to dwindling community trust, projects in this space must navigate numerous obstacles to survive and thrive.
The Landscape of the Algorithmic Stablecoin Market
Algorithmic stablecoins, which maintain their value without direct asset backing, were once hailed as a breakthrough in decentralized finance (DeFi). However, according to CoinMarketCap data from April 2025, the total stablecoin market capitalization stands at $234 billion, while algorithmic stablecoins account for about $458 million, equivalent to just 0.2%.
This stark disparity reflects the reality that algorithmic stablecoins have yet to gain widespread trust from the community. High-profile failures like the collapse of UST/LUNA in 2022, coupled with regulatory uncertainties such as the EU’s MiCA framework, have fueled skepticism.
More recently, the depeg of Synthetix’s sUSD is a typical example of this model’s inherent risks.
A Deep Dive into Synthetix’s sUSD Depeg
Synthetix is a well-known DeFi protocol celebrated for its synthetic asset system. Within this ecosystem, sUSD is an algorithmic stablecoin designed to peg its value at 1 USD, backed by the SNX token and price data from Chainlink.
However, sUSD has faced significant challenges with a prolonged depeg recently. At the time of BeInCrypto’s report, sUSD was trading at 0.77 USD, which has persisted since late March 2025. The primary cause was a major liquidity provider withdrawing from the sBTC/wBTC pool on Curve, which triggered intense selling pressure on sUSD. This forced users to convert other synthetic assets like sETH or sBTC into sUSD, exacerbating the price decline.
On April 21, 2025, Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix, announced on X that the team had implemented an sUSD staking mechanism to address the issue. However, he noted that the mechanism remains manual and lacks a fully functional user interface (UI), which is expected to launch in a few days.
“Update on the sUSD depeg. We have implemented an sUSD staking mechanism but it’s very manual until the UI goes live in a few days. Here was my hot take from discord though,” shared Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix.
Warwick further stated that if the incentive mechanism (carrot) proves ineffective, Synthetix would adopt stricter measures (stick) to compel stakers in the 420 pool to participate more actively. He emphasized that, with the collective net worth of SNX stakers reaching billions of USD, Synthetix has the financial resources to stabilize sUSD and resume development of derivative products on Layer 1.
No Successfully Algorithmic Stablecoin Project
Before the sUSD depeg incident, the market witnessed the dramatic collapse of UST/LUNA in 2022. UST, Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin, suffered a severe depeg, dragging LUNA’s value down from $120 to near zero. This event caused billions of USD in losses and significantly eroded trust in the algorithmic stablecoin model.
More recently, the ‘Godfather of DeFi’, Andre Cronje, behind Sonic (formerly Fantom), also shifted direction. Sonic initially developed a USD-based algorithmic stablecoin but later pivoted to a stablecoin pegged to the UAE dirham.
“Pretty sure our team cracked algo stable coins today, but previous cycle gave me so much PTSD not sure if we should implement,” Cronje stated.
Beyond technical risks, algorithmic stablecoins face mounting regulatory pressures. The EU’s MiCA regulation, effective since June 2024, imposes strict standards on stablecoin issuers to ensure consumer protection and financial stability. Under MiCA, algorithmic stablecoins are classified as ART (Asset-Referenced Token) or EMT (E-Money Token), requiring projects to meet complex compliance demands.
This intensifies the pressure on developers, especially as other jurisdictions also tighten crypto regulations.
These examples show the vulnerability of algorithmic stablecoins to liquidity shocks and market sentiment, particularly due to their lack of direct asset backing.
The Potential of Algorithmic Stablecoins
Despite the challenges, algorithmic stablecoins still hold developmental potential. A March 2025 post on X by CampbellJAustin suggested that a next-generation decentralized algorithmic stablecoin is feasible if lessons are learned from past failures.
“I actually think a next-gen decentralized algorithmic stablecoin is possible. I also think it will not be done correctly by the crypto community because the primary constraints are economic and risk management, not technological,” CampbellJAustin shared.
However, projects must focus on building more price stability mechanisms, combining algorithms with liquidity safeguards to succeed. Additionally, they should prepare for regulatory requirements, particularly in regions with stringent rules like the EU. Transparency in operations, regular audits, and clear communication with users are crucial to rebuilding community trust.
By addressing these factors, projects in this space can seize the opportunity to regain confidence and drive innovation.
(@campnetworkxyz) 
