Aethir, a leading Decentralized Public Infrastructure Network (DePIN) firm, is making a bold move in the AI and gaming sectors with the launch of its $100 million Aethir Ecosystem Fund. The initiative, backed by the Aethir Foundation, is set to provide crucial financial support to artificial intelligence (AI) and gaming projects, offering developers the resources they need to scale and innovate.
The fund comes with a grant program called Aethir Catalyst, aimed at accelerating the adoption of Aethir’s decentralized compute platform. A total of 336,000,000 ATH tokens will be distributed over the next year, split equally between AI and gaming initiatives. With this massive funding effort, Aethir seeks to empower startups and established enterprises alike to grow without the limitations imposed by compute-intensive tasks.
Aethir Catalyst – $20M Grant Program for AI and Gaming
At the core of Aethir’s new ecosystem fund is the Aethir Catalyst, a $20 million grant program that will form the backbone of Aethir’s mission to democratize access to compute power. The program will support over 100 AI and gaming projects, providing financial aid through grants or subsidies for companies that rely heavily on GPU compute power.
Mark Rydon, Aethir’s co-founder, emphasized the significance of the Catalyst program, stating, “Aethir Catalyst represents a significant commitment to democratizing access to GPU compute for AI and gaming innovators. By allocating $20 million to this fund, we are ensuring that the most promising companies have the resources they need to thrive, reducing the barriers to compute power for all.”
Accelerating Growth for AI and Gaming Industries
The launch of the Aethir Ecosystem Fund comes at a pivotal moment for the AI and gaming industries. Both sectors are rapidly becoming more compute-intensive, with the demand for high-performance infrastructure continuing to grow. Aethir’s decentralized cloud computing platform offers a unique solution, allowing data centers, cloud providers, and crypto mining firms to contribute idle GPU resources to its network.
This innovative approach is positioning Aethir as a crucial infrastructure provider, enabling developers to focus on creativity and innovation without being hampered by the limitations of traditional cloud services. Aethir’s platform, launched on the Ethereum mainnet in June, leverages blockchain-based protocols to decentralize and optimize the operation of physical hardware infrastructure.
Partnerships and Strategic Grants
In addition to the Aethir Catalyst, the ecosystem fund includes two other $10 million grant programs in collaboration with XAI and XPLA, which are designed to further accelerate advancements in AI and gaming. These strategic partnerships reflect Aethir’s ambition to support a broad range of projects, from early-stage startups to large-scale enterprises.
By nurturing these industries, Aethir aims to foster long-term innovation and growth, establishing itself as a key player in both the AI and gaming spaces.
Aethir’s $100 million ecosystem fund underscores its commitment to powering the next generation of AI and gaming technologies. As these industries continue to evolve and expand, Aethir’s decentralized compute platform offers a scalable, cost-effective solution for developers in need of robust infrastructure.
The firm’s grant programs, including the Aethir Catalyst, represent a significant investment in the future of AI and gaming, democratizing access to compute power and supporting the innovators who will shape the future of these sectors.
Base, a layer-two blockchain developed by Coinbase, has seen a significant surge in Total Value Locked (TVL) over the last 24 hours following a key integration.
It comes amid changing regulatory winds in the US, with President Trump’s pro-crypto stance inspiring bold moves among sector players.
Base TVL Soars 20% As Binance.US Adds Support
According to data on DefiLlama, Base TVL is up by $557 million. It moved from $2.778 billion on Thursday to $3.335 billion as of this writing, a 20% surge in the last 24 hours.
The surge in TVL suggests an increased volume of assets staked, locked, or deposited in the Base blockchain. A higher TVL indicates increased user activity, trust, and adoption, with users committing capital to the protocol.
Meanwhile, this surge follows a notable announcement from Binance.US, the American arm of Binance exchange, the world’s largest crypto trading platform by volume metrics.
According to the announcement, Binance.US now supports Base. It allows Ethereum (ETH) and Circle’s USDC (USD Coin) stablecoin transfers on the Layer-2 network.
“We’re excited to announce that Binance.US now supports Base! Starting today, you can deposit and withdraw Ethereum (ETH) and USDC via Base,” an excerpt in the announcement read.
The exchange highlighted that more assets will join Binance.US on the Base network, indicating interest in developing the integration. Meanwhile, using Base’s blockchain, users can deposit and withdraw ETH and USDC directly to and from Binance.US.
For the exchange, this integration could bolster accessibility. Specifically, Binance.US users can interact with Base’s ecosystem without bridging assets through Ethereum’s mainnet. This is amidst concerns that Ethereum’s mainnet is slow and costly.
As an L2 scaling solution, Base offers faster and lower-cost transactions compared to Ethereum’s mainnet. Data on Etherscan shows Ethereum’s transaction throughput is approximately 13.2 TPS. This could lead to network congestion and high gas fees during peak periods.
On the other hand, Base processes transactions off-chain, bundling them before submitting them to Ethereum. This Method achieves higher throughput and significantly lower fees, making it more cost-effective for users.
Therefore, the integration allows Binance.US users to move ETH and USDC to Base for DeFi activities at a fraction of the cost.
Binance.US suspended its USD deposit and withdrawal services following a high-profile SEC lawsuit and mounting regulatory pressure starting in 2023. However, amid shifted political rhetoric toward crypto, exchanges appear to be taking bold steps.
“Now that we’ve survived, our goal is to help crypto thrive and empower all Americans with freedom of choice,” Binance.US interim CEO Norman Reed said recently.
It aligns with a recent move from the Kraken exchange. As BeInCrypto reported, the US-based exchange listed BNB in a move that marked a strategic shift in US crypto exchanges, potentially signaling broader token adoption in the country.
Altcoin/BTC spot trading pairs were once considered a key channel for investors to increase their Bitcoin holdings. However, this perception is fading. Data indicates a decline in interest, with many Altcoin/BTC pairs delisted in early 2025.
Meanwhile, Altcoin/USDT spot pairs remain the primary avenue for traders seeking profits.
Binance Delists Multiple Altcoin/BTC Spot Pairs
At the beginning of 2025, Binance removed several Altcoin/BTC spot pairs from its platform. Today, Binance announced the delisting of MDT/BTC, MLN/BTC, VIB/BTC, VIC/BTC, and XAI/BTC due to low liquidity and trading volume. This is not the first such announcement this year.
“To protect users and maintain a high-quality trading market, Binance conducts periodic reviews of all listed spot trading pairs and may delist selected spot trading pairs due to multiple factors, such as poor liquidity and trading volume,” Binance stated.
Since the start of the year, Binance has issued seven delisting announcements, affecting 34 spot trading pairs. Of these, 50% were Altcoin/BTC pairs, while the rest were Altcoin/ETH or Altcoin/BNB. Notably, the delisting of an Altcoin/BTC pair does not necessarily mean its corresponding Altcoin/USDT pair is removed (e.g., ENJ, C98, REZ).
This shift reflects traders’ preference for Altcoin/Stablecoin pairs, likely due to better liquidity and lower risk exposure.
Retail Investors Reduce Bitcoin Holdings While Institutions Accumulate
CryptoQuant data shows that retail investors have been reducing their BTC holdings since Q4 2024, while large investors continue to accumulate.
Bitcoin Holdings of Retail And Large Investors. Source: CryptoQuant.
“Retail is panic-selling. Whales are accumulating,” Investor Mister Crypto commented.
Since the approval of Bitcoin ETFs and the start of Trump’s new term, Bitcoin has become a playground for institutional investors. Retail traders seem less interested, as BTC’s high price is out of reach for many. Instead, they hold fewer BTC and allocate more capital to altcoins, particularly meme coins.
Furthermore, trading Altcoin/BTC pairs exposes traders to two risks simultaneously—the volatility of both altcoins and Bitcoin. Even the most liquid pairs, such as ETH/BTC and SOL/BTC, have shown prolonged downtrends and high volatility, increasing the risk of losses.
Volatility of ETH/BTC and SOL/BTC. Source: TradingView
Market analysts also tend to focus on Altcoin/USDT spot pairs, leaving Altcoin/BTC pairs with less attention.
According to CoinMarketCap data, USDT’s daily trading volume exceeds $115 billion, out of a total market trading volume of $147 billion. This confirms that USDT remains the primary channel for traders seeking opportunities.
Solana has emerged as a powerful presence in the crypto industry. Since its inception in 2020, the network has dominated the market, demonstrating remarkable levels of user engagement and practical utility, particularly in decentralized finance (DeFi). Many in the industry view it as the next natural contender to receive an ETF approval in the United States.
However, others are more cautious in their evaluations. BeInCrypto spoke with representatives from Gravity, Variant, and OKX to understand the areas where Solana is still lacking. Industry leaders referred to centralization, network reliability, and excessive regulation as points of contention for Solana’s ETF approval.
Bitcoin and Ethereum’s Precedent
The availability of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for prominent cryptocurrencies has grown over the past year. These funds offer investors diversified investment opportunities and act as a bridge between traditional finance and the increasingly mainstream cryptocurrency market.
Meanwhile, the deadline for some filings, including Grayscale’s, was extended until October. Nonetheless, posts on X and some analytical reports suggest yesterday’s deadline as a date of interest for an initial or consolidated SEC response to several applications.
2025 Predictions and Market Expectations
The tentative approval of a Solana ETF has generated much debate across social media platforms. ETF President Nate Geraci formally predicted that 2025 would be the year of crypto ETFs and that Solana would receive its approval this year.
Per previous reports, former Trump White House Secretary Anthony Scaramucci expressed that, with a Trump reelection, Solana ETFs could gain approval during Q1 of 2025. According to his predictions, Solana would receive the SEC’s green light during the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, the prediction market Polymarket estimates an 82% chance that a Solana ETF will get approved in 2025.
According to a Polymarket poll, Solana has an 82% chance of getting an ETF approval in 2025. Source: Polymarket
Several factors make an imminent Solana ETF approval seem plausible. Less than five years after the network launched, Solana quickly became a major player in the crypto industry, attracting users for its high transaction speeds and low gas fees.
“From a network perspective, Solana’s performance has been remarkable, now driving nearly 50% of all global DEX volume– a dominance that fundamentally reshapes the DeFi landscape. The blockchain is not just handling unprecedented transaction volumes… it’s transforming our understanding of blockchain scalability at scale,” Lennix Lai, Global Chief Commercial Officer at OKX told BeInCrypto.
Solana has established itself as a dynamic force in the crypto industry following a successful 2024.
A Messari report detailed particular growth in Solana’s final quarter across DeFi, liquid staking, NFTs, and institutional involvement. The total value locked (TVL) in Solana’s DeFi sector increased substantially, growing by 64% to $8.6 billion, which placed it behind Ethereum as the second-largest network based on TVL.
Solana’s positive performance, coupled with Donald Trump’s reelection to the US presidency, further amplified the crypto industry’s optimism over an ETF approval.
However, some industry experts have expressed more tempered expectations.
Experts Offer Tempered Expectations
A few days before Trump assumed the presidency, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said Solana ETFs may not be launched in the US until 2026. He cited the SEC’s precedent of taking a lot of time to review filings as the cause for delay.
In another post, Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said that ETF approvals for other cryptocurrencies were more likely to occur before Solana.
“We expect a wave of cryptocurrency ETFs next year, albeit not all at once. First out is likely the BTC + ETH combo ETFs, then prob Litecoin (bc its fork of btc = commodity), then HBAR (bc not labeled security) and then XRP/Solana (which have been labeled securities in pending lawsuits),” Balchunas said.
Balchunas further explained that complex legal issues around Solana, relating to its status as a security, need to be resolved before it can gain ETF approval. Consequently, he deemed the approval of Litecoin or Hedera ETFs more likely.
Uncertainty over whether Solana classifies as a security is a major driver fueling doubts over its ETF approval.
Security Classification Concerns
Martins Benkitis, co-founder and CEO of Gravity, explained that Solana’s regulatory classification complicates its path to approval.
“It’s no secret there’s currently a lack of precedent for Layer-1 blockchains beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum in the ETF space, this suggests cautious optimism but with higher regulatory hurdles. Bitcoin, being a commodity in the SEC’s eyes, and Ethereum’s gradual transition to PoS had different legal considerations. Solana, on the other hand, faces concerns over potential classification as a security due to its token distribution and foundation’s involvement,” Benkitis told BeInCrypto.
The SEC identified Solana as a security in lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase over the past two years, although these lawsuits have since been dropped. The SEC argued that these tokens could be considered investment contracts under the Howey Test.
While some interpreted the SEC’s lawsuit withdrawal as a softening stance on Solana’s security classification, others quickly challenged this assumption.
“There is no reason to think [the] SEC has decided SOL is a non-security. That they don’t want to do discovery on a dozen tokens in the Binance case appears to be a litigation tactic, not a change in policy,” said Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer at Variant, following the Binance lawsuit withdrawal in July 2024.
Others believe that a pro-crypto administration should be enough to influence the SEC to consider Solana as a non-security. Lai disagrees.
“The changing political landscape, particularly with Trump’s victory and pro-crypto stance, could create a more constructive environment for innovative blockchain platforms like Solana. However, the technical and market structure considerations will remain crucial regardless of administration changes,” he said.
In the meantime, there are several other requirements Solana must meet.
On his part, Lai added other aspects to the list of considerations.
“While Polymarket shows high odds for 2025 approval, several critical factors suggest a more complex pathway: Solana’s technological architecture presents unique challenges with its PoS mechanism; The absence of CME futures raises liquidity and risk management concerns; Historical network downtime incidents need addressing; Centralization questions relative to BTC and ETH remain unresolved; Institutional interest hasn’t matched BTC and ETH levels despite the network driving 48% of global DEX volume; [and] the temporary nature of trending themes suggests caution in using current volumes as primary indicators,” Lai told BeInCrypto.
Concerns about centralization and scalability have long been discussed regarding Solana, even outside of discussions over an ETF approval.
Since 2021, Solana has suffered over a dozen network outages varying in severity. These outages have jeopardized the network’s reputation as stable and reliable– two strongly considered characteristics during the ETF approval process.
“From a market making standpoint, network reliability is crucial as any downtime or congestion can significantly impact trading operations and order execution,” Benkitis affirmed.
However, Solana has successfully curbed the number of outages it has experienced. Once notorious for the frequency of its shutdowns, the last time Solana experienced one was in February 2024.
Meanwhile, developers designed Solana’s upcoming Firedancer validator client to improve network stability and transaction processing. Its distinct codebase offers greater resilience against widespread outages and will enhance Solana’s performance.
Yet, Solana must also mitigate centralization concerns to improve its chances of obtaining ETF approval.
Centralization Concerns
Solana’s validator node requirements, which demand significant hardware investments, can create barriers to entry. These obstacles can potentially concentrate power within the network among those capable of affording the necessary infrastructure.
In turn, the protocol’s limited number of validators compared to other networks raises concerns over centralization. For context, while Solana currently has around 2,000 active validators, Ethereum passed the one million benchmark last year—the largest number recorded by any blockchain network.
Though Solana’s hardware reliance speeds up the network, it also raises decentralization concerns. Benkitis factored this aspect into his evaluation of an ETF approval.
Its currently underdeveloped futures market infrastructure further complicates Solana’s viability as an ETF candidate.
Its filings were unprecedented because the network did not have a previously established futures market. This factor was crucial in determining an ETF approval for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“The lack of CME futures and institutional frameworks comparable to BTC/ETH could influence [the SEC’s] evaluation,” Lai said.
He added that the proliferation of meme tokens minted on Solana could present themselves as a potential roadblock.
“Market reactions reflect Solana’s emergence as the primary driver of this cycle, with DEX volumes exceeding $100 billion and dominating major aggregators. However, I believe the temporary nature of trending themes suggests continued volatility. While technological advancement and growing institutional adoption may provide stronger foundations, we need to maintain perspective on the cyclical nature of crypto trends,” Lai said.
This more recent development in Solana’s attraction also brings its set of downsides.
Meme Coin Influence and Regulatory Concerns
The expanding meme coin market on Solana partially explains its popularity. Platforms like Pump.fun allow anyone to launch their tokens, and this design has even led to celebrities launching their tokens on the platform.
More recently, political figures like Donald Trump and Argentine president Javier Milei have also launched meme tokens on Solana platforms. Yet, these activities have proven to be high-risk. In many cases, meme coin investments have caused smaller retailers millions of dollars in losses.
Benkitis said that the SEC might frown upon the speculative nature of these trading activities.
“While an ETF approval could unlock liquidity opportunities, the market’s heavy dependence on speculative sentiment calls for a measured and cautious approach,” he said.
With so many considerations, approving a Solana ETF in 2025 is far from guaranteed. The SEC’s eventual decision will be a defining moment for the network and the broader crypto industry.
