hodler

14 Apr 2026, 23:51

Polygon launches sPOL liquid staking token to unlock native DeFi

Polygon Labs has launched sPOL, a native liquid staking token (LST) and it is designed to mobilize more than 3.6 billion staked POL into the network’s DeFi ecosystem. sPOL is the first liquid staking token built directly by Polygon Labs and it is backed by a 100 million sPOL treasury commitment to seed liquidity from day one. What gap is sPOL designed to close? According to Polygon , more than 3.6 billion POL tokens being staked across the network, however, only around 4 to 5%of that capital is liquid. This is a far cry to the roughly 30% of staked ETH that sits in liquid staking tokens on Ethereum. The third-party liquid staking market on Polygon has done little to close that gap. Existing liquid staking tokens carry fees ranging from 5 to 16%, and collective adoption has remained shallow. Providers including Ankr and Stader Labs have offered POL liquid staking products for years, but uptake never got close to the levels seen on Ethereum. According to Polygon, when a user stakes POL through the new standard, they receive sPOL at a 1:1 exchange rate. The received sPOL accrues value over time as staking rewards accumulate. The token can be traded, used as collateral, deployed into liquidity pools, or layered across DeFi yield strategies. Existing stakers are not left out of the mix as they can also migrate their positions through the staking portal shared by Polygon with no waiting period and no gap in rewards. Polygon Labs committed $10 million at launch from its own treasury to back sPOL, with $90 million to follow progressively. It also stated that Uniswap V4 AMM pools are also live at launch. The token arrival coincides with a governance effort from Polygon that, if passed, would change how network fees flow across Polygon’s validator set. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal wrote on X , “This is part of a bigger push we’ve been making for POL stakers. Priority fees on Polygon have surged 1000% since PIP-65 and with PIP-85, a larger portion of those fees will be shared directly with stakers and delegators. Now we’re unlocking liquid staking too.” Polygon makes diversity push Polygon’s DeFi total locked value (TVL) is currently over $1.27 billion after recording 40.1% year-on-year growth to reach $1.17 billion at the end of January 2026. The bulk of that increase was driven by Polymarket, which now holds $438.08 million in TVL, a quarter of the entire ecosystem. Polymarket’s exit from Polygon has the potential of shaking the network’s DeFi profile, and the possibility of that departure happening increases every passing day. Polygon Labs has been proactive in weaning itself away from Polymarket by channeling resources into building the next payment infrastructure for businesses. The company is reportedly in talks to raise up to $100 million for a new stablecoin payments business, having already acquired payments firm Coinme and wallet provider Sequence. POL , Polygon’s native token, did not receive a boost as a result of the announcement, as it is currently trading around 0.083, down by over 0.9% in the past 24 hours, as of the time of writing. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .

14 Apr 2026, 23:30

Crypto Market Sees $1.1 Billion Inflows As Institutional Interest Picks Up

Morgan Stanley’s freshly launched Bitcoin exchange-traded fund pulled in nearly $62 million within its first week of trading — a debut that landed in the middle of the strongest week for crypto investment products in three months. Related Reading: TRUMP Buying Frenzy Builds Ahead Of Mar-A-Lago Power Event Macro Shifts Fuel The Comeback That broader rebound was driven by more than one firm’s market entry. Crypto funds globally attracted $1.1 billion in net inflows for the week ending April 11, according to asset manager CoinShares. The turnaround came after five straight weeks of outflows that drained roughly $4 billion from the market and left investor sentiment battered heading into April. CoinShares head of research James Butterfill pointed to two specific triggers: early ceasefire signals out of Iran and a softer-than-expected US inflation reading. Both helped ease nerves that had kept institutional money on the sidelines. US investors led the charge. Based on CoinShares data, American buyers accounted for $1.06 billion — about 95% of total global flows for the week. US spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed the largest share, pulling in $833 million, per data from Farside Investors. Bitcoin And Ethereum Both Draw Fresh Money Bitcoin funds worldwide attracted $871 million. Ethereum, which had recorded outflows for three consecutive weeks before this, saw $196.5 million flow back in. Weekly trading volumes climbed 13% to $21 billion, though that number still sits well below the year-to-date average of $31 billion, reports indicate. The positioning among big investors told an interesting story. At the same time institutions were buying into Bitcoin and Ethereum, short-Bitcoin products — funds that profit when Bitcoin’s price falls — recorded $20 million in inflows. That was the highest single-week total for those products since November 2024. Money was moving in, but some of it was being used as a safety net. XRP funds, which had briefly outpaced Bitcoin the previous week with nearly $120 million in inflows, cooled significantly. Reports show XRP investment products brought in a little over $19 million during the same period. Morgan Stanley Moves Deeper Into Crypto Beyond the weekly numbers, Morgan Stanley’s expanding footprint in the space drew attention. The bank has already filed for Ethereum and Solana ETFs following its Bitcoin fund launch. Related Reading: Dollar’s Shrinking Value Adds Fuel To XRP Bull Case: Finance Expert According to reports, Morgan Stanley executive Amy Oldenburg said the firm also plans to roll out crypto services including a tokenized money market fund and tax-harvesting options for clients. Year-to-date, Bitcoin ETF inflows have reached just under $2 billion — about 82% of all crypto ETP inflows recorded in 2026. Ethereum remains in the red for the year, sitting at $130 million in cumulative outflows despite last week’s recovery. Total assets under management across crypto investment products climbed back to levels not seen since early February. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

14 Apr 2026, 23:23

Capital Flows into Bitcoin Turn Positive as $80,000 Resistance Comes into Play

Prominent on-chain analyst Willy Woo has highlighted that capital Flows into Bitcoin have turned positive for the first time since January of this year.

14 Apr 2026, 23:23

MSTR Stock: Michael Saylor-Led Strategy’s STRC Hits $1.1 Billion Volume

Strategy Inc. drew renewed market attention after STRC, its perpetual preferred stock, recorded about $1.1 billion in trading volume in a single day. The move came as investors tracked the company’s capital-raising activity and its link to ongoing Bitcoin purchases. At the same time, MSTR stock traded at $138.80, up 4.86% on the day, adding focus to how Strategy’s financing model may shape near-term trading in its shares. The record session for STRC represented a gain of nearly 47% from its prior high, based on the figures cited in market reports. Michael Saylor said in a post on X that STRC had “~1.7% volatility, a 4.49 Sharpe, and ~$278M in daily liquidity,” describing the preferred stock as an instrument with money market-like stability and strong risk-adjusted returns. In a separate post, he added that “$STRC volatility is in the money market range. Everything else isn’t.” STRC Trading Activity Moves to the Center The latest volume data has placed STRC at the center of Strategy’s funding structure. The company has increasingly used the preferred stock under its at-the-market program to raise capital that can later be directed toward Bitcoin acquisitions. That has made STRC one of the most closely watched securities tied to Strategy’s balance sheet and treasury strategy. Strategy recently disclosed that it bought 13,927 Bitcoin for about $1 billion, lifting its total Bitcoin holdings to 780,897 BTC. The purchase was funded through the sale of more than 10 million STRC shares. That direct connection between preferred stock issuance and Bitcoin buying has led traders to track STRC volume as a possible signal of future treasury activity. The company’s broader financing model includes STRC alongside other preferred instruments such as STRK, STRF and STRD, as well as common stock issuance. These vehicles form part of Strategy’s “42/42” plan, a capital target designed to raise $84 billion through 2027 for additional Bitcoin purchases. As STRC trading expands, attention has shifted toward whether it is becoming the lead instrument within that framework. Bitcoin Funding Estimates Draw Fresh Attention The rise in STRC activity has also led market participants to estimate how much Bitcoin demand may be tied to the preferred stock. Data shared by STRC.live suggested that around 10.6 million shares traded above certain levels could correspond to about 7,130 BTC. Other analysts published different estimates based on separate price assumptions and timing models. Those calculations remain tentative because trading volume does not convert directly into Bitcoin purchases. The amount of Bitcoin Strategy can be buy depends on the timing of share issuance, the price at which securities are sold, and how the company allocates the proceeds. For that reason, heavy trading in STRC may point to funding capacity, but it does not confirm the size or timing of future Bitcoin acquisitions. Lyn Alden, who has commented on the structure and demand profile of STRC, said earlier this week that the preferred stock had become larger than all of Strategy’s other preferred securities combined. That assessment added to the view that STRC now plays a larger role in the company’s financing mix than other preferred products launched earlier.

14 Apr 2026, 23:15

Bitcoin shows ‘bull market behavior’ as chart pattern targets $90K

Bitcoin rallied to $76,000 on Tuesday as a bullish chart breakout and increasing onchain activity hint at an extended rally to $90,000.

14 Apr 2026, 23:00

Stablecoin liquidity stays idle at $319B as Ethereum activity slows – Why?

Stablecoin liquidity sits idle on Ethereum, while Bitcoin moves within a tight range, leaving capital waiting for a clearer directional signal.