But while top VCs like Thrive Capital, a16z, and Accel are celebrating, there’s one name glaringly missing from the winners’ circle: FTX. Here’s why.
From $200K to $500M: What Went Wrong?
Back in 2022, Alameda Research – FTX’s sister trading firm – quietly invested $200,000 into Cursor’s seed round. Fast forward to today, and that stake could be worth an estimated $500 million.
Unfortunately for FTX creditors, the platform’s liquidators sold it off for the exact amount it was purchased at: $200,000. No markup.Just a clean exit… from half a billion dollars in potential recovery. Ouch, right?
Cursor’s Impressive Rise
Cursor, built by Anysphere Inc., is trying to redefine how developers write code. With a sleek split-screen interface and AI-powered chatbot, Cursor allows users to automate complex coding tasks using simple natural language prompts. It analyzes, breaks down tasks, fetches context from documentation, and applies real-time changes.
Its engine runs on models from OpenAI and Google, along with its own internal model, Cursor-Fast. And with over $200 million in annual recurring revenue, the momentum is great.
This funding round wasn’t too hush-hush. Thrive Capital led the $900M investment, the same firm that backed OpenAI’s $6.6B round last year.
The buzz? OpenAI reportedly tried – and failed – to acquire Anysphere earlier this year. They’re now eyeing Windsurf (Exafunction Inc.) for up to $3 billion instead.
If we’re being real…
This seems like a major loss for FTX. Is there more than meets the eye? Guess we’ll know with time.
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Zora Network — a dedicated layer-2 solution for NFTs — has officially announced the ZORA token airdrop, scheduled for April 23, 2025.
Launched in 2020, Zora has raised $60 million from investors such as Coinbase Ventures and Haun Ventures. The airdrop comes amid a cooling NFT market and ongoing debates around “content coins.”
Zora to Launch ZORA Token on April 23: Key Details
According to Zora’s official announcement, the airdrop will take place on April 23. It will be a retroactive airdrop aimed at users who have actively engaged with the platform.
The snapshot data splits into two phases:
The first phase spans from January 1, 2020, to March 3, 2025.
The second covers March 3, 2025, to April 20, 2025.
Zora plans to allocate 10% of its total 10 billion token supply—that is, 1 billion ZORA—for this airdrop. The Zora team will hold 18.9% of the supply, and strategic advisors and development supporters will control over 26%.
Moreover, Binance revealed it would list ZORA on Binance Alpha on April 23. Binance also announced an airdrop of 4,276 ZORA tokens to eligible users.
“Exclusively for users who have totally purchased at least $50 on Alpha using Spot or Funding accounts on Binance Exchange between 00:00:00 March 22, 2025 (UTC) to 23:59:59 April 20, 2025 (UTC),” Binance stated.
Currently, ZORA is trading at around $0.03 on pre-market platforms, which allow token trading before the official launch. This price suggests the airdrop is worth about $30 million. Zora Network’s fully diluted market cap sits at around $300 million.
Zora is more than an NFT marketplace. It also functions as a protocol that enables third parties to build and sell NFTs. One notable example is its recent integration with Base, Coinbase’s layer-2 project.
According to a recent report from BeInCrypto, Base used Zora to tokenize a post on X titled “Base is for everyone.” They turned it into an ERC-20 token. That post generated over $30 million in trading volume within 12 hours and earned $70,000 in profit.
However, the event sparked controversy. Some users accused Base of a “pump and dump” scheme after the token’s price plummeted 99% within four hours. At its peak, trading volume on Uniswap hit $13 million before collapsing.
Base denied that the token was a meme coin or a pump-and-dump plan. Still, the incident raised concerns about transparency in projects tied to Zora.
As of writing, data from Dune shows that Zora Network has processed over 87 million transactions. It currently attracts about 37,000 active addresses per day.
Total Transactions And Active Users on Zora Network. Source: Dune
However, user activity has dropped sharply. The number of active users has declined by over 80% in the past year.
Moreover, a recent report from Binance indicates that the NFT market experienced a significant decline last month. Total sales volume across the top 10 blockchains decreased by 12.4%, which suggests weaker buyer interest.
While many have seen tokens like SHIB and PEPE make headlines, a new contender is emerging quietly. This overlooked cryptocurrency might just outshine them both by summer 2025. Explore how this underdog is gaining traction and why it could become the next big name in the crypto world.
Demand for $XYZ Surges As Its Capitalisation Approaches the $15M Milestone
The XYZVerse ($XYZ) project, which merges the worlds of sports and crypto, has attracted significant investor interest. Unlike typical memecoins, XYZVerse positions itself as a long-term initiative with a clear roadmap and an engaged community. The project was recently recognized as Best NEW Meme Project, further solidifying its appeal.
Price Dynamics and Listing Plans
During its presale phase, the $XYZ token has shown steady growth. Since its launch, the price has increased from $0.0001 to $0.003333, with the next stage set to push it further to $0.005. The final presale price is $0.02, after which the token will be listed on major centralized and decentralized exchanges.
The projected listing price of $0.10 could generate up to 1,000x returns for early investors, provided the project secures the necessary market capitalization.
So far, more than $10 million has been raised, and the presale is approaching another significant milestone of $15 million. This fast progress is signaling strong demand from both retail and institutional investors.
Champions Get Rewarded
In XYZVerse, the community calls the plays. Active contributors aren’t just spectators—they’re rewarded with airdropped XYZ tokens for their dedication. It’s a game where the most passionate players win big.
The Road to Victory
With solid tokenomics, strategic CEX and DEX listings, and consistent token burns, $XYZ is built for a championship run. Every play is designed to push it further, to strengthen its price, and to rally a community of believers who believe this is the start of something legendary.
PEPE: A Deflationary Memecoin Tribute on the Ethereum Blockchain
PEPE is a deflationary memecoin launched on Ethereum as a homage to the Pepe the Frog internet meme created by Matt Furie. The project seeks to capitalize on the popularity of meme coins like Shiba Inu and Dogecoin, aiming to establish itself among the top meme-based cryptocurrencies. PEPE appeals to the cryptocurrency community by adopting a no-tax policy and being transparent about its lack of utility, maintaining simplicity as a pure memecoin.
In late April to May 2023, PEPE experienced a significant surge, with its market capitalization reaching a peak of $1.6 billion. This rapid growth resulted in substantial gains for early holders and attracted a community of enthusiasts. The surge contributed to what some have called a “memecoin season,” prompting other memecoins to experience dramatic fluctuations. The PEPE roadmap includes phases focusing on listings on CoinMarketCap, centralized exchanges, and aiming for “tier 1” exchange listings accompanied by a “meme takeover.” The coin’s recent performance has drawn attention in the current market cycle, reflecting ongoing interest in memecoin phenomena within the cryptocurrency space.
Shiba Inu (SHIB): An Ethereum-Based Memecoin with Expanding Utilities
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is a cryptocurrency inspired by Dogecoin. It was launched in August 2020 by an anonymous developer known as Ryoshi. SHIB runs on the Ethereum blockchain, which allows it to be compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem. It started with one quadrillion tokens, and half of these were sent to Vitalik Buterin, the co-creator of Ethereum, to build trust. Buterin donated a large portion of his SHIB to the India Covid Crypto Relief Fund and burned 40% of the total supply, reducing the number of SHIB in circulation.
SHIB’s integration with Ethereum enables the development of applications like ShibaSwap, a decentralized exchange. There are plans for a future NFT platform and a governance system based on a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). These developments could increase SHIB’s utility in the crypto space. In the current market cycle, SHIB’s attractiveness depends on factors like community support and technological advancements. Its position on the Ethereum blockchain may offer advantages over other memecoins that lack such compatibility.
Conclusion
PEPE and SHIB have shown impressive gains, but XYZVerse (XYZ) aims to surpass them by uniting sports fans in a memecoin targeting 20,000% growth by 2025.
You can find more information about XYZVerse (XYZ) here:
The post Missed SHIB and PEPE? This Underdog Crypto Could Outperform Both by Summer 2025 appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
While many have seen tokens like SHIB and PEPE make headlines, a new contender is emerging quietly. This overlooked cryptocurrency might just outshine them both by summer 2025. Explore how this underdog is gaining traction and why it could become the next big name in the crypto world. Demand for $XYZ Surges As Its Capitalisation …
MANTRA CEO, JP Mullin, is burning 150 million OM tokens from his own allocation and engaging other ecosystem partners to burn an additional 150 million tokens. This 300 million OM token burn aims to restore investor trust in the project and stabilize the altcoin’s price dynamics.
OM is attempting to recover from one of the most dramatic crashes in recent crypto history. On April 13, it lost over 90% of its value in a single hour. The collapse, which erased more than $5.5 billion in market cap, triggered widespread accusations of insider activity and manipulation within the Real-World Assets (RWA) sector.
Understanding MANTRA’s Token Burn
Mantra, once one of the biggest players in the Real-World Assets (RWA) sector, suffered a dramatic collapse on April 13, with its token crashing over 90% in less than an hour and wiping out more than $5.5 billion in market capitalization.
The plunge followed a rapid surge earlier this year, when OM rose from $0.013 to over $6, pushing its fully diluted valuation to $11 billion. The crash was reportedly triggered by a $40 million token deposit into OKX by a wallet allegedly linked to the team, sparking fears of insider selling.
Panic spread quickly as rumors of undisclosed OTC deals, delayed airdrops, and excessive token supply concentration fueled mass liquidations across exchanges.
Despite co-founder John Patrick Mullin denying any wrongdoing and blaming centralized exchanges for forced closures, investors and analysts raised concerns about potential manipulation by market makers and CEXs, drawing comparisons to past collapses like Terra LUNA.
This move also lowers the network’s staked amount by 150 million tokens, which could impact on-chain staking APR.
Additionally, MANTRA is in talks with partners to implement a second 150 million OM burn, potentially cutting the total supply by 300 million tokens.
OM Price Faces Critical Test as Token Burn Battles Lingering Market Doubt
Despite MANTRA’s ongoing token burn efforts, it’s still uncertain whether the move will be enough to fully restore investor confidence in OM.
From a technical standpoint, if momentum begins to recover, OM could test the immediate resistance at $0.59. A successful breakout at that level may pave the way for further gains toward $0.71, with additional key hurdles at $0.89 and $0.997 standing between the token and a return to the psychologically important $1 mark.
However, reclaiming these levels will likely require sustained buying interest and broader sentiment recovery across the Real-World Assets (RWA) sector.
On the downside, if the token burn fails to shift sentiment or if selling pressure continues, OM risks resuming its decline.
The first key support lies at $0.51, and a breakdown below that level could send the price further down to $0.469.
Given the scale of the recent crash and the lingering distrust among investors, the path to recovery remains fragile—OM now sits at a critical crossroads between a potential rebound and further erosion of its market value.
Just in: AI coding platform Cursor has raised $900 million in funding, reaching a $9 billion valuation.
In 2022, #Alameda invested $200,000 in Cursor’s seed round, but #FTX liquidators later sold the stake for the same amount.
