Avalanche9000 Testnet Goes Live With $40M For Developers
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GM. Bitcoin briefly dipped to $93,000 before bouncing back to around $94,500, and it seems this flush was the catalyst many crypto projects were waiting for to drop major announcements.
Today alone, we’ve seen Avalanche roll out its first major upgrade in years, Phantom extend support to Base (the largest Layer 2), and Farcaster’s founder tease the release of Frames v2.
Not all updates are built to last, though, as the Pump.fun story below will show. 👇
Avalanche9000 Testnet Goes Live With $40M For Developers
Avalanche has launched the "Avalanche9000" upgrade on its Fuji testnet, accompanied by $40 million in retroactive grants for developers. The upgrade aims to reduce development costs on its mainnet, the C-Chain, and includes changes like cutting validator fees by 96%.
Avalanche L1s, project-specific blockchains that operate independently from the C-Chain, are also part of this upgrade. The Foundation plans to distribute grants to developers via a public leaderboard, Retro9000, and community voting, incentivizing public projects.
More than 500 Layer 1 chains are already in development on Avalanche's network. The upgrade also includes Interchain Messaging (ICM), allowing for the creation of cross-L1 decentralized applications (dapps), making development more cost-effective and efficient.
Pump.fun Disables Livestreaming Feature After User Backlash
Popular meme coin launcher Pump.fun has disabled its livestreaming feature following backlash over controversial content. Users could stream a video feed alongside creating meme coins, but content including animal cruelty and proposed self-harm led to its removal. Pump.fun said the pause is indefinite until a stronger moderation infrastructure is in place to protect user safety.
The feature had sparked considerable concern in the crypto community, prompting demands for its shutdown. Pump.fun previously came under fire for its tokenized video feature, which allows users to create meme coins from video files. Despite these issues, Pump.fun remains the largest token launchpad on Solana, helping launch over 50,000 new tokens daily.
MicroStrategy Acquires Record 55,500 Bitcoin Worth $5.4 Billion
MicroStrategy acquired 55,500 additional Bitcoin between November 18 and 24, at an average price of $97,862 per coin. This acquisition follows a $3 billion debt offering and share sales totaling $2.46 billion, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 386,700 BTC worth over $37 billion. The company has spent $21.9 billion in total on its Bitcoin acquisitions at an average cost of $56,761 per coin.
Analysts expect MicroStrategy to acquire 4% of Bitcoin's circulating supply over the next decade, potentially holding 830,000 BTC by 2033. The firm’s "Bitcoin Yield" key performance indicator indicates a 59.3% year-to-date growth in holdings. MicroStrategy’s latest acquisition marks three consecutive weeks of large Bitcoin purchases, proving its aggressive accumulation strategy.
Phantom Wallet Adds Base Support in Multi-Chain Expansion
Phantom wallet has rolled out support for Base, Coinbase's Ethereum-based Layer 2 blockchain, extending its multi-chain offerings. This integration allows users to swap tokens and buy Ether and USDC on Base. Phantom initially focused on Solana but expanded in 2023 to support Ethereum, Polygon, and now Base, with a vision for cross-chain interoperability.
Base is currently the largest Layer 2 network by Total Value Locked (TVL), which stands at nearly $3.4 billion. With this, Phantom aims to boost user experience by making it easy to interact with various blockchain ecosystems through a single crypto wallet. This positions Phantom as a key player in multi-chain digital asset management, across the leading blockchain networks.
Data of the Day
Ethereum has overtaken Tron in terms of USDT stablecoin supply for the first time since June 2022, with 66.936 billion USDT now hosted on its blockchain.
The increase is attributed to recent bullish market conditions and growing anticipation of Bitcoin ETF approvals, which have reignited institutional interest. Ethereum's dominance in DeFi and institutional adoption makes it the preferred chain for stablecoin liquidity.
Tron remains a critical player, especially in remittance-heavy regions, where the low fees and transaction speed of its TRC20 USDT provide advantages. Despite its loss in USDT dominance, Tron's efficiency keeps it crucial for stablecoin transactions.
More Breaking News
- Justin Sun becomes the largest investor in Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial by purchasing $30 million worth of tokens.
- Rumble adopts a Bitcoin treasury strategy, planning to allocate up to $20 million of cash reserves into Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation.
- Ripple launches a tokenized money market fund on the XRP Ledger through a partnership with FCA-regulated exchange Archax.
- Sui network to launch Bitcoin staking on Babylon, a Bitcoin layer 2 network, enabling Bitcoin holders to mint and use LBTC as a collateral asset in DeFi.
- Solana's decentralized exchanges surpassed $109 billion in trading volume in November, significantly outperforming Ethereum mainnet.
- Farcaster founder teases Frames v2, which will enable full-screen interactive applications inside the Warpcast social media platform by 2025.
- Aptos Labs adds ex-Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein and OpenAI exec Kevin Weil to its advisory board to advance AI and institutional adoption.
For the latest updates on digital asset markets, follow us on X @Datawalletcom.
Written by
Jed Barker
Editor-in-Chief
Jed, a digital asset analyst since 2015, founded Datawallet to simplify crypto and decentralized finance. His background includes research roles in leading publications and a venture firm, reflecting his commitment to making complex financial concepts accessible.
