Polymarket Nears $200M Raise at $1B Valuation

Polymarket is near closing a $200 million funding round that would value the decentralized prediction platform at $1 billion, according to The Information. The raise follows months of renewed trading activity after a post-election slump in early 2025, signaling investor conviction.

“Polymarket's reported unicorn status arrives as it recently experienced month-over-month increases in trading volume,” The Block reported, citing internal data. The platform saw trading jump 21% from March to April, then another 17% through May, showing clear upward momentum.

The New York-based firm previously raised $45 million in a Series B and another $25 million in an unannounced Series A led by General Catalyst. Cumulative trading volume passed $13.89 billion in May, with the majority now coming from users outside the USA.

The CFTC fined Polymarket $1.4 million in 2022, forcing it to wind down domestic operations amid tightening scrutiny. Still, with election cycles, sports betting, and crypto-native speculation all accelerating, backers are betting this prediction engine hasn’t peaked yet.

Mastercard and Chainlink Enable Onchain Crypto Purchases

Mastercard has partnered with Chainlink to allow over 3 billion global cardholders to buy crypto directly onchain. Announced Tuesday, the collaboration supports fiat-to-crypto swaps through a network of providers, including Zerohash, Shift4 Payments, and the Uniswap protocol. The goal is to eliminate longstanding technical and regulatory hurdles that block widespread crypto adoption traditional card payments.

Swapper Finance and XSwap will interact with Chainlink’s infrastructure to provide decentralized execution and error-free processing. Zerohash is tasked with regulatory compliance and custody services, while Shift4 enables card payments through integrated liquidity. Mastercard said the offering provides users with a secure, intuitive way to access digital asset markets without relying on intermediaries.

Ledger Launches Physical Spare Key For Wallets

Ledger introduced Recovery Key; a new tap-to-recover physical backup for its touchscreen wallets, Ledger Flex and Ledger Stax. Users can now pair a spare key with their devices via NFC and protect it with a unique PIN, creating an offline fallback that doesn’t replace the standard 24-word phrase. The tool minimizes self-custody without compromising security standards already baked into Ledger hardware.

The new feature complements Ledger Recover, an optional encrypted backup service launched last year, and extends recovery options for user preferences. Recovery Key will require confirmation on the primary device for setup, ensuring only owners can initiate the process. Ledger plans to release the product soon alongside an audited whitepaper and reviewable codebase, backed by internal and external security vetting.

Circle Now Top Holding In VanEck Digital Assets Index

Circle’s stock now makes up 13% of VanEck’s MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity Index, becoming its largest weighted component. The index, tracked by VanEck’s Digital Transformation ETF, includes 24 crypto-linked companies like Coinbase, Strategy, and Block. The stablecoin issuer’s rise in index weighting follows its explosive NYSE debut earlier this month.

Circle stock surged 750% from its IPO price of $31, hitting $263 as of Monday’s close. The company’s influence is growing as USDC is increasingly adopted in crypto perpetuals and set to benefit from pending federal legislation. VanEck noted that Circle’s weighting has surpassed CEO Jeremy Allaire’s personal shareholding, as investor confidence in the firm’s role in crypto increases.

Data of the Day

Bitcoin’s market dominance has climbed back above 62%, up from a May low of 59%, signaling capital concentration around the largest digital asset. The dominance metric gauges BTC’s share of the total crypto market cap and is often used to assess investor sentiment. A rising figure generally suggests waning enthusiasm for altcoins and a flight to perceived safety.

Analysts say institutions are fueling this trend by focusing their exposure on Bitcoin and related equities like MicroStrategy and Circle. Limited access to crypto in traditional markets has pushed most capital toward BTC ETFs, leaving thousands of altcoins underrepresented. This trend continues to delay the anticipated onset of a full altcoin cycle, despite broader interest in digital assets.

More Breaking News

• Turkey plans to enforce stricter crypto rules requiring platforms to collect origin and purpose data for all transfers, along with mandatory descriptions and withdrawal delays.
• Ethereum may soon double its block speed under a proposal to reduce slot times to six seconds, aiming to cut fees and improve responsiveness across DeFi activity.
• SharpLink Gaming expanded its Ethereum treasury by acquiring over $30 million in ETH last week, bringing its total holdings to 188,478 ETH currently deployed in staking.
• Pompliano’s ProCap BTC purchased 3,724 Bitcoin after raising $750 million in capital, and intends to use its holdings in yield-generating strategies tied to long-term market exposure.
• DeFi Dev Corp launched a Solana validator with the Dogwifhat community and will split rewards after expenses as part of its strategy to grow SOL per Share metrics.
• Nano Labs revealed a $1 billion BNB acquisition plan funded by $500 million in convertible notes, aiming to accumulate a sizable percentage of BNB’s circulating supply.
• Sei token surged nearly 50 percent after being selected as a candidate chain for Wyoming’s upcoming state-backed stablecoin, gaining momentum from recent network growth.
• Celestia's token dropped over 90 percent from its peak, but founders say the project has a $100 million reserve and a six-year runway to execute long-term improvements.
• Japan’s regulators proposed reclassifying crypto as financial products, which could open the door to ETFs and apply a flat 20 percent capital gains tax on digital assets.

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