16 Blockchains Can Freeze Funds? Bybit Sounds the Alarm

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 🧊 16 blockchains have fund-freezing powers, says Bybit

• 🪙 Circle considers native token for Arc

• 💼 First U.S. spot XRP ETF launches on Nasdaq

• 🎯 Polymarket quietly returns to the U.S.

• 🎧 FIRST episode of our new show, DEX in the City!

• 🎙️ Bits + Bips on debt, DATs, and the stablecoin future

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Aptos, BNB Chain and 14 Blockchains Can Freeze User Funds: Bybit

Blockchain researchers at Bybit’s ‘Lazarus Security Lab’ have found that 16 blockchains have the ability to freeze user funds.

Five chains, including BNB Chain and VeChain, were hardcoded with freezing capabilities at the protocol level.

Prominent layer 1 blockchains Aptos, EOS and Sui were among the 10 networks with a config-based freezing capability, meaning validators or foundations can restrict accounts.

Bybit’s research also suggested that an additional 19 blockchains, including Arbitrum, Cosmos, Axelar, Babylon, Celestia, and Kava, could easily implement these controls if desired.

“The presence of these mechanisms fundamentally challenges the foundational principles of a decentralized ecosystem and necessitates further discourse within the blockchain community, but it has prevented hackers from stealing funds,” noted the researchers. 

Unchained On Air is here! Here’s what’s streaming today at 12pm ET:

First, Steve Ehrlich sits down with Katie Stockton, founder and managing partner of Fairlead Strategies, for a dive into the crypto charts 📈

Then, Sam Ragsdale, founder and CEO of Merit Systems, and Erik Reppel, head of engineering at Coinbase Developer Platform and author of x402, discuss the hot topic of agentic commerce with Laura.

📺️ Where to watch 👉️ YouTube, X, PumpFun, or Twitch

Circle Plans New Native Token for Arc Network

USDC issuer Circle is actively exploring the launch of a native token for its Arc blockchain, its new layer 1 chain purpose-built and optimized for stablecoin usage and enterprise payments.

At present, USDC is used as Arc’s native gas token, but Circle said in its Q3 earnings report that a native token could “foster network participation and drive adoption,” signaling a move toward a broader decentralized governance model.

Circle debuted its Arc network in October with a public testnet late last month, which saw participation from over 100 companies across the financial, banking, payments, and digital asset sectors.

The stablecoin issuer posted a 202% annual increase in net income, which soared to $214 million this quarter, while USDC in circulation grew 108% year-over-year to $73.7 billion.

Canary XRP ETF Set for Nasdaq Launch as Shutdown Ends

The Canary XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) is officially set to debut on Nasdaq on Thursday, marking the launch of the first pure spot XRP exchange-traded fund in the United States. 

The fund, listed under the ticker XRPC, received regulatory and Nasdaq certification late Wednesday, allowing trading to begin at Thursday’s market open.

Other asset managers — including Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, ProShares, and CoinShares — have updated filings and are expected to follow closely with their own spot XRP ETF launches.

The shutdown of government agencies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), temporarily delayed certification. 

Now that the House has passed a set of bills allowing federal agencies to reopen, crypto ETF issuers will be looking to gain a first-mover advantage by launching their funds before competitors.

Polymarket Quietly Relaunches in U.S. in Beta Mode: Report

Decentralized prediction market firm Polymarket has quietly relaunched in the U.S. in beta mode after a nearly four-year absence due to regulatory issues with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The relaunch reportedly started with limited user access focusing initially on sports-related markets, including athletic events and spreads, ahead of a full-scale reopening.

Polymarket has been self-certifying its event contracts through its Designated Contract Market (DCM) license, a regulatory process that allows it to list new markets unless the CFTC objects within one business day.

This return follows a $1.4 million fine and settlement in 2022 for operating an unregistered derivatives exchange and a subsequent ban on U.S. access. The firm’s acquisition of CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse QCX earlier this year paved the way for its re-entry into the U.S. market.

The company also plans to launch a native token and airdrop future tokens to users after establishing its U.S. presence.

Additionally, Polymarket is now integrating its real‑money prediction odds directly into Yahoo Finance to bring betting-style forecasts into mainstream financial tools.

Who Will Protect DeFi Users When the Code Doesn't? - DEX in the City

Who’s responsible when code breaks and why crypto law is still stuck in neutral.

In this first episode of DEX in the City, hosts Jessi Brooks of Ribbit Capital, Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos of StarkWare, and Vy Le of Veda dig into the questions that DeFi keeps forcing the industry to confront.

They debate how projects should respond after exploits like the recent Balancer hack, what “programmable risk management” could look like in practice, and why the idea of “pure DeFi” might be more myth than model. They also cover the MIT Brothers trial (and what its mistrial revealed about the law’s limits in crypto) and end with why the long-awaited crypto market structure bill still isn’t close to the finish line.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Bits + Bips: Every Fortune 500 Company Will Be a DAT

The government’s about to reopen, but the debt problem hasn’t gone anywhere. Plus, DATs are trading below par and stablecoins dream of a $3 trillion market.

The government’s about to reopen, but the economic cracks aren’t healing.

From runaway debt to DATs trading below NAV, markets are feeling the strain of unsolved macro problems.

In this week’s Bits + Bips, hosts Austin Campbell and Chris Perkins are joined by Matt Zhang of Hivemind Capital and Felix Jauvin, head of content at Blockworks and host of Forward Guidance, to unpack what happens when policy meets reality.

They discuss why a $2,000 “tariff dividend” could ignite inflation, how America’s ballooning debt is constructive for crypto, and why DATs could still have plenty of potential, despite already showing cracks.

Plus: the Bank of England’s £20K stablecoin proposal, whether $3 trillion is too low a target for the sector, and a final provocation: is XRP worth more than Ripple equity?

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

• 🚫 Hyperliquid briefly shut off deposits and withdrawals on Arbitrum after a trader’s oversized Popcat bet collapsed and triggered nearly $5 million in losses for a community vault, prompting the exchange to pause its bridge while liquidations were sorted out.

• 🌐💱 Dromos Labs introduced Aero, a unified trading hub meant to merge its Aerodrome and Velodrome exchanges under a single token and expand across more Ethereum networks, aiming to simplify on‑chain trading and funnel all activity back into one shared liquidity system.

• 📜 Mike Selig, currently leading the SEC’s crypto enforcement team, will face a Senate hearing in November for his nomination to run the CFTC, a role that could put him in charge of overseeing crypto spot markets if Congress finalizes its long‑debated regulatory bill.

• 🪙 SEC Chair Paul Atkins said he is preparing new exemptions to make it easier to launch crypto assets tied to investment contracts while stressing that not all tokens fall under SEC authority forever, and urging clearer rules so innovation isn’t trapped in regulatory limbo.

• 🐳 Blockchain analysts said a single entity used roughly 14,000 tightly coordinated wallets to scoop up more than 60% of aPriori’s APR airdrop on BNB Chain, with the cluster of addresses funded from Binance and quickly shuffling tokens, while the project team has stayed silent.

• ➡️🤠 Coinbase asked the SEC for permission to shift its legal home from Delaware to Texas, arguing that Texas has become a friendlier base for fast‑moving tech companies as Delaware’s once‑dominant corporate landscape faces growing competition.

• 💱 The Sui Foundation introduced USDsui, a new stablecoin for the Sui blockchain issued by Stripe‑owned Bridge, promising wide wallet and app support plus cross‑network compatibility with other Bridge‑issued stablecoins later this year.

• 🧾 South Korea’s NH NongHyup Bank launched a pilot with Avalanche, Fireblocks, Mastercard and Worldpay to test a tourist tax‑refund system that uses stablecoins and automated smart contracts to speed up VAT payouts for visitors.

• 🔐 Seismic raised $10 million from major crypto investors to build a privacy‑preserving blockchain for fintech apps, arguing that demand for crypto payments is rising but adoption still lags because traditional companies worry about exposing customer data.

We’re now live on Base.

If you’re already spending time onchain, you’ll find us there too.

Unchained now has a mini-app on the Base App (currently in beta), where you can stream episodes directly.

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