Invest ideasNews
2 Jun 2026, 18:15
0xPPL, Pingu announce shutdown plans as crypto winter persists
Pingu Exchange (PINGU) announced its closure date as July 31 and was quickly joined by 0xPPL, which also announced that it would be ending all operations at the end of June. The development adds to the growing list of projects shutting down in the crypto ecosystem. The news reveals a growing pattern in the industry where more and more projects that had real users, real activity, and real investors find it hard to pull through the market, eventually closing up shop as prices continue to spiral. Pingu’s failed gamble The fall of Pingu Exchange is a reminder of the harsh realities of migrating to a different chain. The platform launched in January 2024 on Arbitrum with around $270,000 in capital and was gaining ground in the ecosystem, generating $2.4 billion in trades over 18 months with around $650,000 in ETH and USDC shared to stakers. Following the success, the team decided to pivot to the Monad mainnet, betting its treasury funds on the growth of the new chain. This move didn’t pay off, and in six months, trading volume had dropped to $80 million, compared to the $2.4 billion it did while on Arbitrum. Additionally, total funds on the platform dropped to $59,781 and were generating only $71 in fees daily, according to DefiLlama . By June, the protocol had nothing left to work with. Following its closure, the team will distribute the remaining 64.46 ETH in its treasury to users who bought and held on to the PINGU token on Arbitrum in 2024. On the other hand, the team’s share of the total token supply will not be used to claim any ETH, allowing PINGU token holders to get a better payout. 0xPPL ceases operations after four years 0xPPL’s shutdown is a lot harder to understand, as the project had sufficient backing, making this difficult to categorize as a small team losing steam. The project launched in August 2024 with notable projects like Alliance DAO, Anagram, and Peak XV Partners backing them up. On top of that, they also had popular crypto figures like Anatoly Yakovenko and Balaji Srinivasan backing the project. Sadly, all that was not enough as the project shut down all trading operations on June 6, and the app completely goes offline on June 30, 2026. Following this announcement, the team has also urged users to move all funds out and not wait for the last minute. Projects are losing steam amid extended winter Bitcoin currently sits below the $69,000 mark on CoinMarketCap , down 5.1% in the past hour and down 12% over the past week. Additionally, Ethereum also sits at $1,912 and has suffered a drop of 2.5% at the time of writing. The effect of these numbers on the broader industry is telling as Consensys , Grayscale, Kraken, and Ledger have all delayed going public this year. Currently, the only crypto company that has completed its stock listing in 2026 remains BitGo, which raised around $213 million in January 2026, and now trades 36% below its initial price listing. These numbers and the effects on the market leave smaller projects with little to no options, especially as they do not have any stock market options to fall back on. So whenever their trading volume drops and token prices fall, they usually run out of money and can only look to retreat from the market. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .
20 May 2026, 15:10
HYPE breaks $50 barrier on rising appetite for on-chain markets
Hyperliquid’s token HYPE climbed above $50 for the first time since October 2025. The asset erased all losses, signaling the growing importance of Hyperliquid in the crypto ecosystem. HYPE broke out in the past week, extending its gains above $45. The $50 range was closely watched, as the asset found support based on active Hyperliquid usage. HYPE traded at $50.62, up by 4.7% in the past day. The rally accelerated during US open hours, as HYPE established itself as one of the day’s trending tokens. Over 71% of whales on Hyperliquid are long on HYPE, though one whale has built a $75M short position. For the past week, HYPE rose by over 29%, and is up by over 80% for the past 90 days. The token is in the top 15 of the most active crypto assets, though it stands out for stronger fundamentals, rather than short-term hype. HYPE may rise as high as $52 in a short squeeze move, or drop to the $46 range to liquidate the accumulated long positions . HYPE open interest is at a six-month peak of $1.95B, of which $1.2B is on the Hyperliquid platform, securing concentrated liquidity and potential momentum. Why is HYPE rising? HYPE has gained multiple sources of support from adoption and everyday usage. The recent deal with Coinbase increased revenues. Goldman Sachs also disclosed a new position in Hyperliquid Strategies, INC, a digital asset treasury company dedicated to HYPE. For Q1, 2026, Goldman Sachs reported exposure to PURR for $3.32M. Goldman Sachs gained exposure to the Hyperliquid ecosystem through Hyperliquid Strategies, Inc. | Source: Goldman Sachs 13-F filings . Although relatively small, the Q1 purchase draws mainstream attention to Hyperliquid. The 21 Shares Hyperliquid ETF is also live, increasing buying demand for HYPE. Hyperliquid activity remains robust, driven by RWA activities. The platform achieves $50M in monthly revenue, using 99% of the proceeds for HYPE buybacks. As Cryptopolitan reported, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan considers HYPE an undervalued asset. UPDATE: THE MARKET IS COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT HYPERLIQUID @Bitwise CIO @Matt_Hougan says everyone is valuing @HyperliquidX as just another perp exchange But its actually a SUPER APP in disguise HYPE = best performing large cap of 2026 (up 77% YTD) pic.twitter.com/w5Tx48Lzqp — Cryptopolitan (@CPOfficialtx) May 20, 2026 Hyperliquid keeps attracting over 64K daily active users , a mix of retail traders and high-profile whales. The platform has a growing share of real-world assets, almost catching up with HYPE trading activity. Whales move in to boost HYPE Whales on Hyperliquid are one of the chief factors for HYPE price moves. As of May 20, whales have opened 100 high-profile long positions , against 82 short positions. One whale still holds $15M in unrealized gains from a 5X long position on HYPE. Another whale has picked up spot market activity, depositing up to $19M into Hyperliqid. The whale continues buying, accumulating over $8.1M in HYPE. An address linked to Garrett Jinn is also among the aggressive HYPE buyers. The address withdrew $40M in stablecoins from Binance and deposited $10M to Hyperliquid for HYPE accumulation. The whale accumulation is happening silently, as there is no significant social media noise around HYPE. The platform has become a staple in permissionless trading, and has so far survived the stagnant crypto market. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .
7 May 2026, 13:26
At Consensus Miami: Solflare founder tells Cryptopolitan the idea of crypto wallets replacing banks is “delusional”
Solflare founder Vidor Gencel told Cryptopolitan at Consensus Miami that he does not buy the loud crypto banking story being sold across the industry. Vidor said wallets can serve a real group of users, especially people who already hold USDC, trade often, or get paid in stablecoins. But he rejected the bigger claim that wallets are about to replace banks for everyone. “Going and thinking, okay, crypto wallets are now going to replace banks or neobanks is just very delusional,” Vidor told us. Solflare founder tells Cryptopolitan crypto cashback can hide card fees Vidor explained to us that cashback can mislead users when the real cost sits inside card fees. He compared crypto cards with large traditional banks such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which can charge merchants high fees and return part of that money to customers. Crypto card firms usually do not have the same power, so the reward can come from somewhere else. Vidor pointed to foreign exchange fees as the place where users need to pay attention. A person may spend USDC on a euro purchase, see 2% cashback, and miss the fact that the card charges more on currency conversion. “Some cards have that FX fee as high as like 3 or 4%, and then do 2% cashback,” Vidor said. He named Bybit , which is privately held, while explaining the issue. In his example, a user pays a 3% FX fee and gets 2% cashback, leaving the card provider with the difference. “So they effectively earn 1% in all of their spending,” he said. Vidor said Solflare wants the card cost to be clear. Issuing is free. Onboarding is free. KYC is free. The user pays a 1% FX fee when spending in non-dollar currencies. That setup is less flashy than a huge cashback number, but the math is easier to understand. https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/telegram-cloud-document-5-6332533780183522670.mp4 He also said the card is not the full Solflare strategy. The company still likes the neobank idea, but with limits. He said users who make more than two transactions show very strong retention, which tells Solflare that the product works for a narrow but serious crowd. For people outside crypto, the offer is harder. If someone does not hold USDC, does not trade, and does not already use a wallet, the card may not beat a normal banking product. Solflare stays Solana-only as stablecoin incentives get serious Vidor also said Solflare is not planning to leave its Solana-only path. Phantom expanded across other chains, but Vidor said the data does not make that route attractive for Solflare. He said revenue from extra chains has often been “less than 5% of their all-time revenue” for wallets that tried it. His view is that Solana can handle the main jobs wallets need, including trading, payments, and remittance. He said the Solflare team has been going deeper into Solana since 2020 because the network is cheap, fast, and active. He accepted that perpetuals are different because Hyperliquid has its own position there, but he still expects Solana to do well. The card market is now crowded. Binance is private and has a card. Other exchanges have cards. Wallets are building them too. Vidor said the business depends on the market, but crypto cards in Europe are often money-losing products unless the company controls issuing and more of the back end. He said the best use case is simple. If a user is paid in USDC or trades into USDC, spending from a Solflare card cuts out extra transfers, repeated checks, and another app. That is why card usage can send people back into the wallet again. The banking dream also came back after meme coin mania left new money in crypto. Vidor said people started talking again about removing banks, then poured money into card and account products. But the rails are still familiar. These apps use banking partners, run AML checks, and ask the same risk questions banks ask because a bank still has to approve the user. On stablecoins, Vidor said the market is changing because Circle (CRCL) now understands that it has to share incentives. He said USDT is harder to track, while USDC and USDT remain the only truly successful stablecoins at scale. Vidor then mentioned PayPal (PYPL), saying its stablecoin incentive deals look more like B2B arrangements with DeFi platforms than public retail adoption. But said that it’s “giving good incentives for the other DeFi platforms,” regardless.
