Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM Goes Live on Mainnet

On February 18, the Hyper Foundation launched HyperEVM, an Ethereum Virtual Machine integrated into the Hyperliquid Layer 1 blockchain. Unlike traditional EVMs, HyperEVM is secured by HyperBFT consensus, allowing smooth interaction between the network’s native financial components.

HyperEVM's initial mainnet release supports native spot transfers of HYPE tokens, with general ERC-20 support planned for a future upgrade. The Hyper Foundation described the launch as “a major step toward the vision of housing all finance” within its high-performance financial system.

Developers can deploy Ethereum-compatible applications on HyperEVM with lower gas fees and faster transactions compared to Ethereum. To incentivize security, the platform introduced a bug bounty program, offering up to $1 million in USDC for critical vulnerabilities.

Despite the launch, HYPE’s price dropped 10% to $22.32, with a market cap of $7.6 billion and $350 million in daily trading volume. Meanwhile, Hyperliquid’s total value locked (TVL) surged to $679 million, marking a 300% increase since December 2024.

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Monad to Launch Public Testnet in Less Than 24 Hours

Later today, Monad Labs will launch the public testnet for its high-performance EVM-compatible blockchain. The testnet, following a two-year development cycle, allows developers to experiment with Monad’s enhanced transaction speeds and execution model. “For the first time, developers can build-on and experiment with Monad,” the team announced.

With its parallel execution model, Monad boosts its transactions per second from 10,000 to 14,000, cutting block times to under one second. At launch, it will be compatible with Uniswap, OpenSea, and Magic Eden, while supporting MetaMask, OKX, and Rabby wallets. Backed by $225 million in funding from Paradigm, the Monad eyes a 2025 mainnet debut.

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Solana DEX Meteora's Founder Resigns Amid LIBRA Scandal

Ben Chow, co-founder of Meteora (a decentralized exchange on Solana), has resigned following allegations of insider trading related to the collapse of LIBRA token, which lost over 90% of its value hours after launch. The fallout has drawn scrutiny over suspicious wallet activity, with on-chain analysts linking insiders to the sell-off at LIBRA’s peak market cap of $4 billion.

“I feel so sick, because I gave him Melania,” Chow admitted in a leaked video, referencing his connection to Hayden Davis of Kelsier Ventures. Meteora, which provided the technical framework for LIBRA, now faces an independent investigation. Meow, the pseudonymous co-founder of Jupiter and Meteora, defended Chow’s character but acknowledged his “lack of judgment” in recent token launches.

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Tether Co-Founder Plans Yield-Bearing Stablecoin

Reeve Collins, co-founder of Tether, is set to launch Pi Protocol, a yield-bearing stablecoin on Ethereum and Solana in late 2025. Unlike USDT or USDC, Pi Protocol will generate returns from tokenized real-world assets. The stablecoin’s yield mechanism remains undisclosed, but industry trends suggest revenue from U.S. Treasuries and other fixed-income assets.

Pi Protocol will compete with Ethena’s sUSDe, which dominates the yield-bearing stablecoin market with a $4.5 billion cap. Collins, who previously led Tether from 2013 to 2015, has a track record in crypto innovation, including the launch of BLOCKv NFTs and gaming startup Pala Interactive.

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Data of the Day

Polymarket has launched prediction markets on whether Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will audit Fort Knox’s gold reserves by May 2025. With 50% betting odds favoring an inspection, speculation swirls over whether the 4,600 tons of U.S. gold have been untouched since 1974.

Rising gold prices, surging to an all-time high of $2,942, have intensified calls for government transparency. Some analysts warn a discrepancy in gold holdings could trigger a global confidence collapse in the U.S. dollar, forcing investors toward Bitcoin and tokenized assets.

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More Breaking News

• Layer-2 network Abstract Chain is investigating a wallet drain tied to its Cardex-based game, though developers say it is not a global issue.
• Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov has raised $5M for Yield Basis, a project aiming to mitigate impermanent loss for tokenized BTC and ETH.
• Australia’s financial watchdog AUSTRAC has taken action against 13 crypto firms following a year-long investigation into compliance failures.
• Buyers of Trump-branded merchandise, are eligible for a TRUMP memecoin airdrop worth approximately $50.
• OpenSea has paused its XP-based airdrop reward system after backlash from users who criticized the mechanics as promoting wash trading.
• FTX has begun its initial $1.2 billion payout to creditors with claims under $50,000, distributing funds via BitGo and Kraken.
• Nigeria plans to tax cryptocurrency transactions as part of a regulatory amendment aimed at generating substantial revenue.

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