On Friday, Vaultro Finance officially revealed the first-ever decentralised index fund dashboard on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Calling it “a new era of on-chain portfolio investing”, the fund protocol announced the launch in a blog post, confirming that it is the first protocol to deliver a fully on-chain index fund interface on XRPL. XRP Ledger Gets a Boost With DeFi Index Fund Dashboard For XRPL users, it’s a biggie, as the Vaultro Finance’s launch brings structured, on-chain investment tools like index funds tracking AI, DeFi, and stablecoins, directly to XRPL users. This eliminated the need for centralised intermediaries and reduced technical barriers, claims Vaultro Finance. The significant milestone also boosts XRPL’s utility beyond payments. It also aligns with Ripple’s push into regulated DeFi and tokenized real-world assets like U.S. Treasury funds. As the Ripple lawsuit remains unresolved, such utilitarian projects could brighten the sentiments within the XRP community. In a… Read More at Coingape.com
Ethereum Layer-2 protocol Arbitrum has launched Converge, a new blockchain designed to serve as a settlement layer for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and on-chain finance. Created by Ethena Labs and Securitize, Converge aims to bring billions of dollars in stable assets into decentralized finance (DeFi).
Arbitrum Converge: Key Details to Note
The Ethereum layer-two (L2) scaling solution revealed that Converge was specifically developed to support the tokenization of real-world asset and related financial applications.
Per the update, the network will use Celestia’s modular data availability layer, which ensures faster, more reliable data processing. Two key stablecoins, USDe and USDtb, will serve as gas tokens, providing stability in transaction fees.
Initially, the chain will operate with 100ms block times, with upgrades planned to bring block times down to just 50ms. Validators will secure the network using sENA. In addition to this, Converge will host major decentralized finance applications. These include DApps such as Ethereal DEX, with plans for more appchains.
Furthermore, the planned Stylus upgrade will allow developers to write smart contracts using Solidity, Rust, C, and C++. This broader programming language support ensures more efficient and scalable application development.
The assets of Ethena Labs, worth $5 billion, and those managed by Securitize, totaling $2 billion, will be moved onto Converge. Per the design, this will significantly boost its liquidity.
Ethereum Layer 2 and Competition
Beyond Arbitrum, it is worth noting that Layer 2 solutions have seen growing adoption. For example, Ethereum Mainnet averaged just 14.10 User Operations Per Second (UOPS) last year.
In comparison, Base achieved 83.99 UOPS, peaking at 155.44 on January 1, 2025. It processed over 221 million operations in 30 days, the highest among L2 networks per L2Beat data.
Arbitrum One recorded a 35.9% decline in 30-day usage, with current UOPS at 21.71. Despite this, the network’s infrastructure remains a strong contender, and rollup activity saw a surge towards the end of 2024, showing growing trust in L2 solutions.
Arbitrum Price Outlook
Recent reports indicate that U.S.-based trading platform Robinhood has added Arbitrum (ARB) to its list of tradable cryptocurrencies. The listing led to a 14% price rally for the Ethereum layer-2 network.
As of this publication, CoinMarketCap shows the Arbitrum price was trading at $0.2808, with a slight 0.11% positive change in the past 24 hours. Additionally, trading volume has risen by 6.84%, reaching approximately $115.38 million.
Based on market perception, the launch of Converge could drive more interest and engagement, which may positively impact ARB’s price in the near future.
Beyond Converge, the next major development being watched is the Ethereum Pectra upgrade, which is billed to go live on the mainnet by May 7.
MicroStrategy 2.0:- Bitcoin’s significance as a strategic asset has grown significantly. Today only it surpassed Google’s market cap to become the fifth-largest asset with $1.862 trillion in market value.
As it continues to rally and push further, major investment firms are continuing to scale their Bitcoin Acquisition strategy.
Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy, now rebranded as Michael Saylor, has been accumulating Bitcoin since 2020. As of April 2024, the company holds 214,400 Bitcoins. It has now become the world’s largest corporate holders of Bitcoin, its primary treasury reserve asset.
In a move attempting to create its alternative,US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s son has also jumped into it. His son, Brandon Lutnick, has partnered with Tether, Bitfinex and SoftBank to form a MicroStrategy rival – 21 Capital.
Lutnick’s New Crypto Venture with SoftBank and Tether
The influential wall street figure, Brandon Lutnick, currently serves as the Chairman of Cantor Fitzgeral, LP. As per the Financial Times report, Lutnick’s new SPAC venture, 21 Capital, will be sponsored by Cantor only.
Cantor, the investment banking firm, has created a black check company, Cantor Equity Partners, to drive the operations of this new crypto venture.
It had reportedly raised $200 million in January and plans to recieve $3 bn in Bitcoin from its partners. The trio consortium of its partner includes Tether and Bitfinex, SoftBank. Each will contribute:
1. 1.5 bn of BTC – Tether
2. $900 mn of BTC – SoftBank
3. $600mn of BTC – Bitfinex
On Tuesday, Bitcoin Price surpassed $91,000 – for the first time since March 2. Going by its current price, number of Bitcoins 21 Capital will see in contributions will be roughly around;
1. Tether: $1.5 billion / $91,000 – 16,484 BTC
2. SoftBank: $900 million / $91,000 – 9,890 BTC
3. Bitfinex: $600 million / $91,000 – 6,593 BTC
BTC Price Today | Source: Coingecko
Once merged, 21 Capital will convert its bitcoin holdings into publicly traded shares priced at $10 each. In the share-issuance calculation, it will value Bitcoin at $85,000 per coin for public investors.
According to 21 Capital, this will lower the barrier to large-scale bitcoin exposure without direct crypto custody unlike MicoStrategy. Its share-pricing formula does highlights the vehicle’s bullish long-term outlook on bitcoin’s price trajectory.
Can it Become MicroStrategy 2.0
Lutnick’s investment vehicle, 21 Capital, has been dubbed as “MicroStrategy 2.0”. This is because of its aim to replicate MicroStrategy’s treasury-bitcoin accumulation strategy at institutional scale.
MicroStrategy pioneered the corporate-treasury-bitcoin model in 2020. It raised capital via debt and equity to amass over 528,000 bitcoins at an average cost of $66,385 each.
21 Capital seeks to replicate and scale this playbook. It aims to use convertible bonds and private-placement equity alongside its SPAC proceeds. As per the information available, it is expecting to raise $350 million in convertible bonds and a separate $200 million private equity for its BTC purchase. placement
However, this is mirroring MicroStrategy’s own “21/21 Plan”. It targets $42 billion in combined equity and fixed-income raises over three years. On the surface, ‘Strategy’ of both the firms may appear the same, but in the long term, it is the execution that will determine its fate.
21 Capital’s Mammoth Task – Market Volatility
Executing bitcoin acquisition strategy on a large-scale comes with certain financial risks. Despite booming Bitcoin gains, MicoStrategy has reported four consecutive quarterly net losses, including a $1.17 billion loss in fiscal 2024,
Though its bold strategy has earned the firm NASDAQ-100 inclusion, success of such firms is subject to market volatility.
There’s a growing spree in the development of such firms. Recently, Kraken Executives acquired Janover to push their acquisition strategy but for Solana.
Thus, the fortune of 21 Capital will be directly tied to the long-term price trajectory of Bitcoin. If bullish, its boon. But if bearish for long-term, it can doom.
