Lido Introduces Advanced DeFi Strategies, Including Restaking

Lido has announced a partnership with Mellow Finance, a pioneering member of the Lido Alliance alongside Drop, to enhance the utility of staked ETH (stETH) by providing holders with access to advanced decentralized finance (DeFi) vaults. This initiative, which includes restaking opportunities in collaboration with Symbiotic, aims to bolster the Ethereum restaking ecosystem.

The integration of these DeFi strategies with Mellow Finance, which enables the creation of customizable Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs), seeks to maximize the utility and liquidity of stETH. The initiative also ensures strong security through thorough testing and continuous monitoring. The launch features four initial vaults, offering stETH holders additional staking rewards and benefits from curated strategies.

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MetaMask Launches Pooled Staking for Ethereum Users

MetaMask developer Consensys has introduced pooled staking for its Web3 wallet, allowing users to stake any amount of ether to support Ethereum network security and earn validator rewards, overcoming the previous 32 ETH minimum requirement. Users can unstake their ether, though the process may be subject to variable waiting times due to the Ethereum validator exit queue.

The pooled staking service is being phased in, initially unavailable to US or UK users, and will leverage the Ethereum liquid staking derivative StakeWise for its smart contracts. Consensys aims to democratize staking and increase Ethereum network security by making it accessible to more MetaMask users, as 27.1% of ether supply is already staked, primarily in large pools.

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Trump Wants All Remaining Bitcoin To Be Mined in the US

Former US President Donald Trump expressed support for Bitcoin mining during a meeting with Bitcoin miners at Mar-a-Lago, citing their contribution to energy grid stability. Trump, who has adopted a pro-crypto stance for the upcoming November election, pledged to advocate for Bitcoin mining if re-elected. The meeting included representatives from Bitcoin mining firms CleanSpark Inc. and Riot Platforms.

Trump’s embrace of cryptocurrency has garnered support from industry leaders, exemplified by a recent $12 million fundraising event attended by notable figures like the Winklevoss twins. Additionally, Trump announced he will accept political donations in cryptocurrencies. In contrast, President Joe Biden's re-election campaign has started engaging with the crypto industry for policy guidance.

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BTC Lost Daily Gains as Fed Sees Just One Rate Cut in 2024

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained its benchmark fed funds rate range at 5.25%-5.50% but now expects just one 25 basis point rate cut this year, signaling a more cautious economic outlook. The FOMC noted modest progress towards its 2% inflation goal, a positive change from earlier concerns over stagnant inflation progress, according to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

Updated projections show the fed funds rate at 5.1% by the end of 2024, up from 4.6% three months ago, and at 4.1% by the end of 2025, indicating more gradual rate cuts ahead.  Despite an unexpected inflation slowdown reported in the May Consumer Price Index (CPI), which initially boosted markets, the Fed's hawkish stance dampened those gains, leaving Bitcoin and altcoins sidelined.

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Data of the day

According to data from CoinGecko, the top-performing altcoins that rebounded most quickly one hour after the CPI reading pump within the top 100 coins were Notcoin ($NOT) with a 13.9% increase, Stacks ($STC) up 10.0%, Injective ($INJ) rising 8.9%, Ordi ($ORDI) gaining 8.7%, The Graph ($GRT) improving by 8.1%, and both Arweave ($AR) and Ondo ($ONDO) advancing 7.8%.

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More breaking news

• XRP Ledger, the blockchain network backed by Ripple, announced its upcoming "XRPL EVM sidechain," set to launch with interoperability platform Axelar.
• OKX crypto exchange and SlowMist are investigating a multi-million dollar exploit resulting in two stolen user accounts that occurred through a SIM swap attack.
• Terraform Labs have agreed to a settlement agreement with the US SEC that would see them paying over a combined $4.5 billion in civil penalties.
• Ethereum NFT traders count has fallen below 4,000 for the first time since June 2021, down tremendously from the 80,000 peak back in February 2022.
• Citron Research, a renowned short seller, has abandoned its short position in meme stock GameStop as the company built up a $4 billion cash reserve.

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