New XRP Ledger Software Update 2.5.0 Goes Live

Sonic publicly revealed that it ended its five-year partnership with Wintermute. A few hours prior, the market maker dumped over $850,000 in S tokens, causing a 6% price drop.

Wintermute was involved in a controversial token dump last month, but today’s events may be part of a normal business interaction. Sonic claimed no foul play, stating that the market maker sold token holdings to return loaned money.

Wintermute and Sonic Part Ways

Sonic (formerly Fantom) has been on an impressive run since launching its native token in January. It hit $1 billion in TVL in only 66 days, and continued its forward momentum with a Binance airdrop.

However, Sonic’s price fell dramatically over the last few hours, as the market maker Wintermute began offloading around $857,000 in S tokens.

Intel Scout, a Sonic ecosystem decoder, was the first to connect S’s price action with Wintermute’s token dumping. He claimed that the market maker sold around 3 million S tokens in 24 hours, and several other whales disposed of even more.

Sonic’s anonymous Head of Strategy responded to these claims, revealing that the companies had split ways:

24 hours ago, we informed @wintermute_t that we will not be renewing our MM contract. We have been using WM exclusively for 5 years of service.

We have engaged with other MM firms who are willing to provide MM++, they get involved in our DeFi ecosystem, engage with applications…

— assistant.sonic (@SonicAssistant) May 15, 2025

Sonic’s Head of Strategy went on to state that the company was in talks with several market makers to replace Wintermute.

Specifically, they claimed that CEX only support is “simply no longer enough,” and that this successor needs to proactively engage with Sonic’s DeFi ecosystem, community, apps, and developer team.

Even if Sonic and Wintermute had an amicable breakup, this is not the market maker’s first controversy. In January, the firm faced accusations of market manipulation after $20 million in transactions with Binance.

Last month, Wintermute’s token dump tanked ACT by 50%, only a few months after it partnered with the project. This also led to community outrage.

Nonetheless, today’s actions have not caused a similar scandal yet. If Sonic was dissatisfied with Wintermute’s actions, the company could’ve addressed this, but it didn’t.

It even gave a sympathetic reason for the token sales, explaining that Wintermute needed to return loaned funds. Wintermute, for its part, hasn’t said anything about the episode.

The post Sonic Price Drops 6% As Wintermute Offloads Token Holdings appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Webus International, a Nasdaq-listed Chinese AI solutions company, announced today that it’s planning to invest up to $300 million in an XRP reserve. The firm claims that this strategy is primarily aimed at facilitating cross-border payments.

Additionally, Webus aims to use XRP to help expand an AI-native company’s other blockchain-related development ambitions. Depending on the investment’s success, the firm may incorporate on-chain solutions in several fields.

Chinese Firm Bets Big on XRP

In recent months, many corporations have made serious attempts to hold substantial amounts of cryptocurrency.

Obviously, Bitcoin has been an early and enduring favorite, but certain companies have begun experimenting with altcoins like Solana. Today, one Chinese firm is innovating again by considering investing up to $300 million in an XRP reserve.

Webus is not the only Chinese company considering a massive crypto investment this month, but its XRP reserve plan seems more deliberate.

Two weeks ago, Addentax Group, a logistics firm, considered investing $800 million in BTC and TRUMP. This may have been an attempt to secure tariff relief, and Addentax barely mentioned its crypto ambitions.

On the other hand, Webus described a long-term vision for the XRP reserve in explicit detail:

“These strategic developments have the potential to create a powerful synergy between our domestic and international operations. The integration of an XRP blockchain integration has the potential to revolutionize how we handle cross-border payments for both partners and travelers worldwide,” claimed Nan Zheng, CEO of Webus.

In other words, Webus’ AI solutions cater to customers around the globe, and DeFi may help smooth over recurring problems. Chinese firms can experience difficulties with bank processing across borders, but XRP may provide a solution.

Webus mentions using the tokens for lending, shareholder guarantees, third-party credit, and other core financial interactions.

Furthermore, a $300 million investment could help an AI-specific firm access the other advantages of Web3. In addition to improving cross-chain payment operations, XRP integration will help develop the company’s blockchain infrastructure.

Webus’ press release mentions a few concrete goals like on-chain record keeping, loyalty tokens, and customer wallets.

Meanwhile, the company’s stock price has surged over 60% in after-market prices since the announcement.

XRP is already a leading cryptoasset, but $300 million is a substantial amount of money by any metric. If Webus helps integrate the token into the Chinese AI ecosystem, it could prove highly beneficial for XRP and the company.

Depending on the success of this reserve strategy, Webus could be setting a new trend for crypto’s worldwide integration.

The post Chinese AI Company To Invest $300 Million in XRP appeared first on BeInCrypto.