Crypto Markets Bounce as Trump Brokers Iran-Israel Ceasefire

Hi! In today’s edition:

• ✌️ Ceasefire relief lifts crypto back

• ⏳ ETH blocks might soon come twice as fast

• 🧰 Big players get direct DeFi via Anchorage + Uniswap

• 🌌 Midnight airdrop spans major chains

• 🔐 Ledger debuts NFC backup card

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Crypto Markets Rebound After Iran-Israel Ceasefire Deal

Bitcoin and ether surged after U.S. President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel, easing geopolitical tensions that have rattled markets over the past two weeks.

Bitcoin climbed above $106,000, recovering from a dip below $99,705 the day prior, while ether jumped nearly 9% to around $2,420. 

Altcoins XRP and Solana also posted strong gains, with the broader crypto market rebounding sharply as investors returned to risk assets amid renewed optimism for global stability.

Data from CoinGlass shows that those betting on lower crypto prices took a big hit over the last 24 hours, which saw $358 million worth of shorts liquidated.

Aaron Dishner from The Better Traders Club noted that the ceasefire-linked rally in bitcoin may not be a long term trend.

“…hidden bearish divergence is starting to show up. Markets reacted with relief but the effects may be short-lived,” he said.

EIP-7782: Ethereum’s Slot Time Could Drop to 6 Seconds

Ethereum core developer Barnabé Monnot proposed reducing Ethereum’s slot time from 12 seconds to 6 seconds via EIP-7782, effectively doubling the rate at which new blocks are created on the network.

With blocks proposed twice as often, transactions are included and confirmed more quickly, resulting in a more responsive blockchain. This means that wallets and dapps would be able to display fresher data, and onchain updates occur more frequently, leading to smoother interactions for users.

“Shorter slot times make Ethereum a better confirmation engine, which is arguably one of its main value propositions for apps and rollups settling on Ethereum L1,” wrote Monnot in a discussion forum.

The goal would be to introduce EIP-7782 at the next major mainnet upgrade dubbed Glamsterdam expected in 2026.

Institutions Get Direct DeFi Access as Anchorage Digital Integrates Uniswap Trading API

Anchorage Digital has integrated Uniswap’s Trading API into its institutional self-custody wallet Porto. 

This gives Anchorage’s large clients like asset managers, hedge funds, and protocol foundations direct access to decentralized finance (DeFi) swaps and liquidity from within the wallet’s web dashboard.

The integration is designed to maintain high security standards, with private keys kept offline and secured in air-gapped, tamper-proof hardware security modules throughout the transaction signing process.

Institutions engaged in DeFi will effectively be able to move at “crypto-native speed” while still meeting regulatory and compliance requirements, according to Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley.

Midnight Network to Airdrop 24 Billion NIGHT Tokens Across Top Blockchains

The Midnight Network plans to distribute its native 24 billion NIGHT tokens to users across multiple blockchains in an airdrop initiative called the "Glacier Drop.”

The airdrop targets holders of bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), cardano (ADA), solana (SOL), binance chain (BNB), ripple (XRP), and avalanche (AVAX), with eligibility based on holding at least $100 worth of native tokens at the time of a pre-announced snapshot.

NIGHT is minted on Cardano, which represents 50% of the airdrop allocation. While NIGHT will serve as the native utility token, it will be used to generate another token called DUST, a resource used to pay for transactions.

“Traditional tokenomic models rely on a single token and require users to spend tokens for every transaction, creating economic uncertainty due to token price volatility,” said the Midnight Network in its white paper.

“This adversarial approach focuses too much on competition, and too little on cooperation.”

Ledger Unveils NFC Recovery Key: A New Layer of Crypto Backup. How Safe Is It?

Ledger is launching a new backup device called the Ledger Recovery Key, an NFC-enabled card that acts as a spare key for your Ledger wallet. Charles Guillemet, Ledger’s Chief Technology Officer, explains how it works, why Ledger built it, and whether it actually makes self-custody safer, or just different.

In conversation with Laura, he discusses how it compares to traditional 24-word backups, how it aims to protect against threats like “wrench attacks,” and what this means for crypto security as more users come into the space.

The full interview is available now!

• 🧊 Self Chain fired CEO Ravindra Kumar after he was linked to a $50 million crypto OTC Ponzi scheme involving fake token deals and Telegram-based broker scams.

• 📨 Trezor warned users about a phishing exploit where attackers mimicked support replies via its contact form, though no data breach occurred and the issue has been contained.

• 🎰 Onchain sleuth ZachXBT exposed NY-based scammer Christian Nieves for draining $4 million from Coinbase users through phishing attacks, then blowing most of it on crypto gambling and flaunting it online.

• 🧪 A satirical fork of Solana called Gorbagana, born from an online decentralization debate, briefly hit a $60 million valuation after launching in under 24 hours and processing 14 million testnet transactions.

• 🚫 Senator Adam Schiff proposed a bill to block public officials and their families from promoting or launching digital assets during and around their time in office, citing Trump’s $57 million earnings from token sales as a key concern.

• 💳 Fortune 500 giant Fiserv will issue a Solana-based stablecoin, FIUSD, using Paxos and Circle rails, as it positions programmable money for 24/7 settlement amid growing U.S. regulatory clarity.

• 🏠 U.S. housing regulator Bill Pulte announced the FHFA will study whether crypto holdings should count toward mortgage qualifications, as the agency explores integrating digital assets into its loan risk assessments.

• 🛠️ Digital Asset, the firm behind Canton Network, secured $135 million from backers like Goldman Sachs and Citadel to scale real-world asset adoption on its institutional-grade privacy blockchain.

• 🧱 Veda secured $18 million from CoinFund to scale its DeFi vault tech that powers $3.7 billion in deposits across fintechs and crypto wallets by abstracting complex yield strategies for developers.

• ⚡ Paradigm led a $15 million series A into GTE, a DEX claiming to match Binance-level latency via a central limit order book on MegaETH and already attracting 700,000 testnet users.

• 💸 DeFi startup Blueprint Finance raised $9.5 million from Polychain and others to expand its Ethereum- and Solana-based lending platforms, aiming to simplify yield generation for all investor types.

• 📊 A team of Chorus One veterans launched Frachtis with $20 million to back early-stage crypto-AI startups solving novel problems in infra, middleware, and social apps.

• 🟠 Anthony Pompliano’s ProCap is going public through a $1 billion SPAC deal after raising $775 million to build a yield-driven bitcoin treasury platform targeting institutional investors.

• 📡 French IoT firm Sequans aims to raise $385 million via equity and convertible bonds to buy bitcoin.

• 🟡 A hedge fund trio plans to raise $100 million to buy BNB via a Nasdaq-listed firm they’ll rebrand as Build & Build Corp, aiming to be the first public company to hold BNB as a core treasury asset.

• 🍊 Strategy added 245 BTC worth $26 million to its holdings last week, pushing its bitcoin stack to 592,345 BTC, over $60 billion in value and 2.8% of total supply.

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