Ether Tops $4,000 as Spot ETFs See Massive Inflows

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 🚀 ETH smashes $4K, ETFs flood with cash

• ✍️ Bo Hines exits White House crypto role

• 📈 WLFI plots $1.5B Nasdaq listing play

• 💰 $110M deal to bring Stargate home to LayerZero

• 🏦 Custodia’s stablecoin patent vs Wall Street

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Ether Breaks $4,000 as Spot ETFs Get Massive Inflows

Ethereum’s native token ether reclaimed the $4,000 mark for the first time since December 2024 on Friday, before rallying further to an intraday high of $4,340 late on Sunday.

ETH’s rally triggered $156 million worth of liquidations for those betting on a lower price, according to data from CoinGlass, over a 12-hour period on Friday.

“It puts a smile on my face to see ETH shorts get smoked today. Stop betting against BTC and ETH - you will be run over,” said Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, on X.

Short sellers weren’t the only ones feeling regret. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, who sold $8.32 million worth of ETH the week before, said he “had to buy it all back.”

“I pinky swear, I'll never take profit again,” said Hayes in a post on X.

ETH is now trading just 12.7% below its all-time high of $4,891, which it touched in November 2021. The price action comes amid surging investor flows into U.S.-listed spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which recorded $5 billion worth of inflows in the last month alone.

On Friday alone, spot ETH ETFs recorded $461 million in net inflows, surpassing Bitcoin’s $404 million. When adjusted for Bitcoin’s roughly four-times larger market capitalization, the Ethereum figure would be comparable to about $2 billion in Bitcoin inflows.

Tune in for macro updates!

Bits + Bips is LIVE today at 4:30 ET: Noelle Acheson, Ram Ahluwalia, and Alex Kruger break down the latest in crypto and macro along with guest Sid Powell, CEO of Maple Finance.

White House Crypto Advisor Bo Hines Steps Down

Bo Hines has resigned from his role as Executive Director of the White House Crypto Council after serving just seven months. His deputy Patrick Witt, a former Pentagon tech official, is expected to succeed him, according to Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett.

“As I return to the private sector, I look forward to continuing my support for the crypto ecosystem as it thrives here in the United States,” said Hines on X.

During his tenure, Hines played a key role in shaping U.S. crypto policy, advocating for limited overregulation and opposing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

He also pushed for a strategic bitcoin reserve acquired through budget-neutral means like asset seizures and revaluing gold holdings.

World Liberty Financial Eyes $1.5 Billion Nasdaq-Listed Company to Hold WLFI Tokens: Report

World Liberty Financial is reportedly exploring the creation of a publicly traded company listed on Nasdaq to hold its WLFI tokens, targeting approximately $1.5 billion in fundraising.

According to a Friday report from Bloomberg, the structure of the deal is still being finalized, but discussions with major investors in technology and crypto are moving along quickly.

This new entity would function as a treasury company managing WLFI tokens, which are expected to become tradable in the near future.

The company, backed by President Trump’s family, has already raised about $550 million through two public token sales and aims to position itself as a decentralized finance (DeFi) and stablecoin platform challenging traditional finance.

LayerZero Foundation Proposes $110 Million Stargate Acquisition, Retiring STG for ZRO Tokens

The LayerZero Foundation has proposed a $110 million acquisition of the Stargate cross-chain bridge and its STG token.

The proposal aims to bring Stargate, which LayerZero originally launched in 2022, under the LayerZero Foundation's direct ownership and operation.

Under the terms, the Stargate DAO would be dissolved, and the STG token would be discontinued. STG holders would be able to exchange their tokens for LayerZero's native token, ZRO, at a fixed rate of 1 STG for 0.08634 ZRO.

After a seven-day discussion period ends, the proposal will move to a snapshot vote carried out over three days, where token holders will decide the outcome. A quorum will be reached with 1.2 million vote-escrowed STG (veSTG) tokens and a minimum threshold of 70% in favor.

“Tldr; We want to move faster, ship incredible product and win. Let’s bring the bridge home,” said the LayerZero Foundation in the proposal.

The STG token, which has failed to gain momentum since its launch, surged 14% after the proposal was introduced. However, the token is still trading 95% below its all-time high. 

Custodia Has a Patent for Bank Stablecoins: Can It Box Out Big Banks?

When President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law last month, ushering in a new era for the stablecoin industry, analysts immediately assumed that big banks such as JPMorgan, Citibank, and Bank of America were going to be the big winners.

After all, they held trillions of dollars in deposits and now had regulatory clearance to compete with the likes of Tether and Circle. However, one company claimed that it would be able to stand in their way: Wyoming-based Custodia Bank.

Could Custodia’s patent really block Wall Street from dominating the stablecoin market—or will the big banks find a way around it?

• 🏦 BlackRock said it has no current plans to launch ETFs for XRP or Solana, even after Ripple’s court battle with the SEC ended, signaling it may wait to gauge market demand before expanding beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.

• 📱 Coinbase launched in-app decentralized exchange trading for U.S. users—starting with tokens on its Base network—to give retail customers faster access to newly minted coins.

• 🚫 A planned $1.5 billion SPAC deal to take Joe McCann’s Solana-focused treasury firm public collapsed, following steep losses at his hedge fund and uncertainty over the project’s future path. The deal was first reported by Unchained.

• 💹 Bitcoin jumped past $122,000 on Sunday—just shy of its record high—after strong ETF inflows, fresh corporate purchases, and a White House order opening retirement plans to crypto investments.

• 🦠 The ransomware group Embargo moved over $34 million in crypto since April by attacking U.S. hospitals and critical infrastructure, with investigators linking it to the defunct BlackCat operation.

• 💨 The team behind CrediX vanished after a $4.5 million exploit involving a compromised admin wallet, taking down their site and socials despite earlier promises to repay users.

• ⏳ Ethereum Foundation co-director Tomasz K. Stańczak urged developers to focus on delivering the Fusaka upgrade this year and delay talk of the 2026 “Glamsterdam” fork amid slipping testnet timelines.

• 🎓 Harvard disclosed a $116 million stake in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF while Brown University increased its holdings to $13 million, joining the wave of institutions gaining crypto exposure through regulated funds.

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