Today's News Recap
Pectra Expectations - Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, its most ambitious yet, goes live today with 11 improvements to enhance user experience, validator operations, and Layer 2 scaling.
Making MOVEs - World Liberty Financial proposes a USD1 airdrop to WLFI holders, following Falcon Finance deposits and controversial MOVE token deals, with a vote open for approval.
Lending Liaison - Strike launches a Bitcoin-backed lending service allowing users to access funds without selling, powered by Morpho Labs.
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In Messari News
New Research Podcast
In Episode 4 of the so called Shoot the Sh*t Pod, the Messari Enterprise team covers crypto’s post-Liberation Day rally, Ethereum’s renewed L1 scaling push, and BitTensor’s booming AI subnets like Shoots, now processing over 50B tokens/month. They unpack stablecoin headlines—including Ripple’s rumored Circle bid and Mastercard’s USDC integrations—and discuss Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 proposal, aiming to decentralize perp listings. The episode wraps with onchain activity, from Hyperliquid trading to web3 gaming updates and early-stage AI infra trends.
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Messari Protocol Reporting
Messari's protocol reports give you a deep dive on the foundation and state of top crypto protocols, including key metrics and notable events. See the complete list of protocol reports here and get a preview of our latest report below.
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Messari Research
Evaluating the Perpification of Real-World Assets
By: Kinji Steimetz
Enterprise Exclusive
This report explores the emerging approach of "perpification"—offering synthetic exposure to real-world assets (RWAs) via perpetual futures rather than traditional tokenization. It examines current usage patterns across platforms like Ostium and Gains Network, highlighting that demand for RWA perps remains limited relative to crypto-native markets.
The report also analyzes the structural constraints of peer-to-pool exchange models, particularly around directional risk and liquidity scaling, and evaluates the oracle layer as the most differentiated and potentially enduring component of these protocols. Ultimately, it questions whether current designs are well-positioned for long-term adoption or if significant architectural changes will be required as competition and expectations evolve.
