U.S. Regulatory Breakthrough - The SEC and CFTC released coordinated guidance to clarify the application of federal securities laws and the Commodity Exchange Act to crypto assets and transactions.
RedotPay eyes $150 million - Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments firm RedotPay is discussing a new funding round of up to $150 million, potentially valuing the company above $4 billion ahead of a U.S. IPO targeted for this year.
XRP Flips BNB - XRP surpassed BNB to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization following a monthly price high of $1.60 late Monday.
CLARITY Act: What It Means for Crypto Market Structure
The CLARITY Act is Congress’s most significant attempt to define a market structure for digital assets in the United States. In this webinar, Messari breaks down the bill’s evolution across House and Senate drafts, the proposed frameworks for asset classification and regulatory oversight, and the key provisions shaping the debate. We also examine the political vote math, contested issues such as stablecoin rewards and DeFi compliance, and the most likely legislative outcomes. Join us for a clear, practical analysis of how the CLARITY Act could reshape crypto markets and institutional participation.
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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.
By: Jake Koch-Gallup · @immutablejacob · Research Analyst
Total capital raised in 2025 increased 60% YoY to $28.58 billion, while deal count declined 38% to 2,545 deals. The increase in capital raised reverses a two-year downtrend, marking the highest annual fundraising total since 2022.
M&A activity hit an all-time high in 2025 with 330 deals totaling $22.76 billion in disclosed value, representing a 49% YoY increase in deal count and 73% increase in transaction value.
Investor participation in 2025, measured by the number of unique investors per year, declined 28% YoY to 3,510. While still well below the 2022 peak of 6,648 unique investors, the decline reflects a broader venture market shift toward established firms with proven track records and away from new entrants.
Accelerator activity decreased 40% YoY in 2025 to 626 deals, remaining well below the all-time high of 1,040 deals recorded in 2024. Total capital raised through accelerator rounds declined even further, dropping 51% YoY to $34.9 million.
The total capital raised by newly launched funds in 2025 increased 15% YoY to $7.79 billion, while the number of funds declined 41% YoY to 61.
By: Matt Kreiser · @KreiserMatt · Research Analyst
Stellar’s RWA market cap (excluding stablecoins) surpassed $1 billion on Jan. 21, and increased 184% in 2025 from $301 million to $855 million. The increase was driven primarily by the issuance of new assets such as treasuries from Spiko and real estate from RedSwan, alongside the growth of Franklin Templeton’s U.S. Government Money Fund (BENJI) and Etherfuse’s government debt offerings.
On Jan. 22, the X-Ray privacy protocol upgrade went live on Stellar, laying the groundwork for zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography so developers can build privacy-preserving, regulatorily compliant applications on the network.
Stellar’s stablecoin market cap increased 53% year-over-year from $159 million to $244 million, driven by PayPal’s PYUSD launch on the network in September, and USDC’s 45% YoY increase in market cap to $223 million.
U.S. Bank is testing custom issuance of its own stablecoin on Stellar, underscoring the network’s institutional appeal due to its reliability (>99.99% uptime), affordability (settlement at <$0.01 USD), and built-in asset controls for regulatory compliance.
Stellar is realizing increased DeFi composability, thereby achieving greater capital efficiency and DeFi TVL, as more protocols are launched and issued assets are adopted on the network. This includes lending and borrowing protocol Templar, which will soon support freely transferable RWAs on Stellar.
By: Alexander Beaudry· @ahbeaudry · Research Analyst
Average daily volume on Rango increased 42.4% QoQ to $14.6 million, driven by expanded usage on Ethereum and BNB Chain, which grew 40.1% QoQ and 74.6% QoQ respectively.
Average daily transactions on Rango increased 11.9% QoQ to 21,995, while average daily active addresses rose 19.2% QoQ to 14,102. BNB Chain and Solana together accounted for over 60% of user activity.
Rango expanded its infrastructure integrations with XRPL, ZetaChain, Monad, CCTP, and Garden Finance, extending support for native BTC bridging, omnichain smart contracts, and more efficient USDC routing.
Rango’s 2026 roadmap introduces a phased rollout of core features aimed at simplifying DeFi UX and automating cross-chain execution. With plans to launch gasless swaps, AI-assisted intent routing, and a fully integrated trading terminal, Rango is evolving from an aggregator into a comprehensive access layer for multichain financial applications.