Coinbase signed a deal to acquire the crypto derivatives exchange Deribit for $2.9 billion, signaling the company’s growing interest in the crypto derivatives market.
The exchange will transfer $700 million in cash to Deribit, making the rest of its payment in Class A stock. This may or may not delay the deal’s finalization for a few months.
Four months later, Deribit is willing to accept a much lower offer. It’s unclear what pushed Deribit to move forward with a $2.9 billion offer from Coinbase. After the Kraken deal fell through, the crypto derivatives exchange left Russia due to EU sanctions.
This may have contributed to its lower valuation, but it’s difficult to say for sure. One thing seems evident: Coinbase pursued the deal to expand its presence in the derivatives market.
“With Deribit, Coinbase becomes the #1 global platform for crypto derivatives by open interest and options volume. Deribit brings approximately $30 billion in open interest and $1 trillion+ in trading volume. This is a major step in our global expansion strategy. We’re set to offer unparalleled access to crypto derivatives,” Coinbase claimed on social media.
This partnership with Deribit, however, will allow Coinbase to supercharge these operations.
Meanwhile, Coinbase’s share prices have recovered significantly since Trump’s sweeping tariffs last month. COIN surged over 36% since April, as the exchange prepares its Q1 2025 earnings report later today.
Deribit executives will receive most of their $2.9 billion asking price in Class A stock from Coinbase. The latter firm will pay $700 million in cash, but will otherwise seal the acquisition deal with 11 million shares.
According to the press release, this may delay the proceedings somewhat, but the transaction “is expected to close by year-end.”
Moving forward, Coinbase didn’t specify how it plans to leverage Deribit’s resources for its own expansion plans. Still, the firm’s public statements repeatedly stressed that Deribit is the world leader in crypto derivatives.
By simply taking over its user base and trading volumes, Coinbase has gained many opportunities to take over the spotlight.
The non-fungible token (NFT) sector experienced explosive growth in 2021. Artists, investors, and collectors were all swept up in the frenzy. Yet, its meteoric rise was followed by a downturn, prompting questions about the sector’s sustainability.
Alexander Salnikov, co-founder of Rarible, believes the market is not facing a collapse but rather a shift. In an exclusive interview with BeInCrypto, Salnikov offered his perspective on the state of NFTs in 2025 and their role moving forward.
Are NFTs Still Relevant in 2025, or Have They Run Their Course?
The rise of NFTs, fueled by excitement and speculation, was inevitable for a market experiencing such rapid innovation. Nonetheless, like many emerging technologies, this early surge was followed by a correction. The hype gave way to the realities of market maturation and sustainability.
According to the latest report by DappRadar, the art NFT market saw an impressive surge in 2021, with trading volumes reaching $2.9 billion. However, by the first quarter of 2025, the trading volume was recorded at just $23.8 million, marking a 93% decline.
NFTs Trading Volume Over the Years. Source: DappRadar
Similarly, the number of active traders peaked at a record high of 529,101 in 2022. Yet, this figure sharply declined by 96%, with just 19,575 active traders remaining by Q1 2025.
A previous industry report from DappRadar revealed that the underwhelming performance wasn’t just a trend in 2025. In fact, 2024 was one of the worst-performing years for the NFT market since 2020. In addition, BeInCrypto also reported on a study that revealed 98% of NFT projects launched in 2024 were essentially “dead.”
Despite the decline, Rarible’s Salnikov has maintained a positive outlook for the sector. He emphasized the importance of a clear purpose when it comes to NFTs.
“Once upon a time, after the .com burst, the headlines rang that the internet was only a fad. But as more companies integrated the technology into everyday use cases, it became ingrained as a part of life,” he told BeInCrypto.
“The speculative phase had its moment, but now we’re watching NFTs evolve into actual infrastructure—tools creators use to build communities, products, and new digital economies,” he said.
NFTs Beyond the Hype: Unlocking Real-World Utility
Salnikov stressed that utility in the NFT space is no longer a distant concept—it is happening right now. Creators are using NFTs for membership, brands for loyalty programs, and games for player identity.
He pointed to a growing convergence between the digital and physical worlds, with NFTs being tied to merchandise, events, and even real-world assets. Binance Research’s April 2025 report further corroborates this trend.
The report spotlighted several real-world partnerships, indicating interest in NFTs. Examples include Azuki’s physical-backed NFT with Michael Lau, The Sandbox’s Jurassic World collaboration, EGGRYPTO’s anime characters with Eparida, and Sony’s Soneium platform partnering with LINE to create Web3 mini-apps.
“The next wave of growth isn’t about chasing a trend—it’s about unlocking new types of ownership and access that feel native to the internet generation,” noted Salnikov.
While this perspective offers optimism, the reality for many companies is quite different. Due to low trading volumes, major platforms like Bybit, X2Y2, and Kraken have resorted to discontinuing their NFT services.
Those that didn’t shut down explored alternative avenues. For instance, Magic Eden expanded beyond NFTs with the acquisition of Slingshot. Nevertheless, Salnikov dismissed this strategy, commenting,
“We’re not trying to bolt on non-NFT features just to stay busy—we’re building NFT commerce that actually fits the communities using it.”
He explained that this approach uses modular, customizable on-chain marketplaces. Creators can tailor them to fit their specific audiences, whether it’s a gaming project, an L3, or a legacy brand.
“NFTs are the feature—they just need the right framing,” the Rarible co-founder stated.
When Fame Fades: The Diminishing Returns of Celebrity-Backed NFTs
In January 2022, Bieber spent 500 ETH (approximately $1.3 million at the time) on Bored Ape #3001. This NFT is from Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection.
However, according to the latest data, the NFT is worth only 13.51 WETH (around $24,174), a decline of 98.1%. Although the singer hasn’t sold his NFT, it has received little attention lately, with no promotional efforts or notable discussions around it.
Thus, while celebrities can bring attention to NFTs, this highlights the need for substance beyond the name itself. As Salnikov pointed out, celebrity involvement in the sector is fleeting.
According to him, a celebrity name alone can’t replace genuine creative direction or a strong community.
“Celebrity drops will come and go—it’s the culture behind them that determines if they stick,” he remarked.
He argued that celebrities treating NFTs as mere merchandise deters audiences. Nevertheless, when an NFT drop is intentional and truly taps into something meaningful like music, fashion, or fandom, that’s where the lasting value is found.
“We’re way more interested in working with creators who are building for the long haul than just chasing headlines,” Salnikov disclosed to BeInCrypto.
The executive also outlined the need for a more accessible and user-friendly approach for attracting interested users. He detailed that onboarding users should not feel “like a tech demo.” Salnikov pointed to Rarible as an example.
According to him, Rarible focuses on ensuring that each marketplace built on its platform is a product people genuinely want to use. This involves features such as fiat onramps, low-cost mints, a clean user interface, and, most importantly, content that resonates with users.
“We’re not selling NFTs—we’re powering experiences that just happen to be onchain,” Salnikov concluded.
While the NFT market faces ongoing challenges, it remains to be seen whether the industry is entering a new phase of growth or if further obstacles lie ahead in its evolution.
Bittensor’s (TAO) subnet ecosystem continues to capture attention with its impressive performance amidst broader market volatility. The market cap has shown substantial growth. Additionally, the total number of subnets has increased threefold over the past year. At present, there are 95 subnets on the network.
Interestingly, the top three subnet tokens—Chutes (SN 64), Gradients (SN 56), and Targon (SN 4)—have posted strong monthly gains. While the momentum has slowed recently, the tokens’ fundamentals and community support remain important factors for consideration.
Chutes
Chutes is a serverless AI compute subnet on Bittensor. The platform offers tools for deploying AI models directly through their platform or via an API, making it simple for developers to integrate AI into their applications without needing to manage the underlying infrastructure.
In terms of performance, the token’s price has increased by approximately 170% over the past month. Since late March, the subnet token has seen a substantial rally, driving its market capitalization to surpass $100 million.
“Bittensor TAO has its first $100 million subnet, just 9 weeks after dTAO launch. Congrats Chutes (SN64)! Chutes is ‘serverless AI’ providing ‘instant on’ AI model hosting (DeepSeek, Mistral, etc.) for 85% less cost than AWS,” a user highlighted on X.
Nonetheless, the high was followed by a slight correction. Since mid-April, the token has been trading more steadily. At press time, it traded at $115.4 (0.35 TAO), representing a weekly decline of 12.1%. In addition, its market cap has also dipped to $93.7 million.
Chutes (SN 64) Token Performance. Source: Tao Stats
It is worth noting that Chutes is one of three subnets developed by Rayon Labs on Bittensor, alongside Gradients and Nineteen. The former is next on the list.
Gradients
The Gradients subnet is designed to make AI model training accessible to everyone. It leverages the Bittensor network’s decentralized infrastructure, allowing users to easily train AI models with minimal effort, even without prior AI knowledge. Its latest version (V3) was launched on April 15.
Wanted a comparison? You’ve got it.
TLDR: Gradients is cheaper AND better.
Some come close to the performance (Google Vertex) but at high cost per hour.
Some come close to the cost (togetherai) but not even close to the performance.
Impressively, its gains even surpass Chutes. Its price has appreciated by over 550% in the last month.
“Gradients has pumped 500%+ in just a couple of weeks,” an analyst observed on April 2.
Yet, much like Chutes, the subnet token also saw a correction, which caused it to shed 30.7% of its gains over the past week. At press time, Gradients’ trading price stood at $54.1 (0.16 TAO).
Gradients (SN 56) Token Performance. Source: Tao Stats
Despite this, the community’s optimism remains quite strong.
“Subnets created by Rayon Labs now account for over a quarter of emissions on Bittensor. This is what happens when a world class team builds with conviction and actually delivers. The network rewards those shipping real products and bringing real value,” the analyst added.
Targon
Lastly, the Targon subnet is a decentralized infrastructure within the Bittensor network, specifically designed to support a marketplace for digital commodities related to AI. As a decentralized system, Targon enables AI models to interact, process, and generate information across various data types and formats without relying on a centralized authority.
“Targon stands out as one of the strongest subnets in the ecosystem,” a user claimed.
Nevertheless, the subnet token has seen the smallest gains compared to its counterparts. Its value has appreciated by around 60% over the course of the last month. It faced a correction in early April. After a slight recovery, the declines resumed.
Targon (SN 4) Token Performance. Source: Tao Stats
At press time, the token’s price was $52.4 (0.15 TAO), a downtick of 19.3% over the past seven days.
As more developers and businesses explore decentralized AI solutions, Bittensor’s ecosystem is likely to expand. The ongoing evolution of these subnets will be crucial in shaping the future of AI infrastructure, and monitoring future developments could likely reveal new opportunities within the decentralized AI market.
Bitcoin whales are regaining dominance over exchange activity. The Exchange Whale Ratio’s 30-day moving average has surged to 0.47—its highest level in seven months—indicating that nearly half of all BTC inflows to exchanges are now coming from the largest transactions.
Historically, such spikes in whale activity have preceded major market tops, as large holders tend to move funds in preparation to sell. With retail participation fading and whale influence rising, the market may shift into a distribution phase, raising the risk of a short-term correction.
Is a Deeper Bitcoin Crash Coming?
Bitcoin recently surpassed $111,000, making new all-time highs. Yet, profit-taking from whales and another potential macroeconomic downturn has caused BTC to drop over 6%, and it is currently trading at $104,000.
Data from CryptoQuant shows a sharp rise in the Exchange Whale Ratio, suggesting caution.
Historically, when this ratio exceeds 0.5—indicating that whales account for the majority of exchange inflows—price tops often follow.
The Exchange Whale Ratio measures how much of all Bitcoin flowing onto exchanges comes from the ten largest transactions. A 30-day moving average at 0.47 means nearly half of every BTC deposit is a “whale” transaction.
This pattern played out during previous market cycles, such as mid-2022 and late 2024, when elevated whale activity coincided with significant corrections.
In contrast, periods when the whale ratio dips below 0.35 have often marked phases of accumulation or early bull market momentum, dominated by retail participants.
“There is a growing dominance of large holders in recent exchange activity. This sharp increase mirrors the surge seen in the Exchange Whale Ratio during Bitcoin’s price rally in late 2023 and early 2024,” CryptoQuant analyst JA Maartunn told BeInCrypto.
The current spike in the 30-day moving average of the ratio further reinforces the notion that whales are once again becoming more active in exchange activity.
If history repeats, significant whale selling could trigger a pullback or increased volatility.
While Bitcoin price remains strong for now, this shift in behavioral dynamics suggests the market may be transitioning from accumulation to distribution, increasing the probability of a near-term top or correction.
