Stablecoins Move Toward Becoming a Core Payment Layer

One of the report’s central themes is the expanding role of stablecoins in global payments. With roughly 46 trillion dollars in transaction volume recorded in 2024, stablecoins surpassed many traditional platforms. Yet, according to the analysis, widespread daily usability remains limited. Emerging solutions that integrate with regional payment rails, support QR-based transactions, and enable real-time transfers are beginning to address this gap. These developments position stablecoins not as niche tools, but as a foundational component of the internet’s financial infrastructure.

Tokenization Enters a Transformational Phase

The report also draws attention to inefficiencies in today’s tokenization practices. Many financial institutions still rely on simple one-to-one digital replicas of real-world assets, a method a16z considers outdated. Looking ahead, the firm expects tokenized assets to evolve through more advanced derivative structures that unlock greater liquidity, lower costs, and faster settlement. The future of tokenization, the report suggests, lies not in copying existing products onto a blockchain but in reimagining how those assets should function in a digital-native environment.

From Identity Verification to “Know Your Agent”

As AI agents proliferate across financial operations, the report anticipates a shift in compliance frameworks. Similar to how individuals must verify their identities before accessing financial services, AI agents will need to undergo authentication as well. This transition marks the emergence of a “Know Your Agent” standard, where autonomous systems communicate, operate, and even audit one another.

Privacy-Focused Blockchains Set for Heightened Competition

Privacy technology is projected to become a major battleground in 2026. While cross-chain asset transfers have become more streamlined, transferring sensitive data or user privacy remains significantly more difficult. Networks capable of providing strong confidentiality guarantees are expected to attract considerable market share.

Forecasting Markets and the Rise of On-Chain Media

The report also foresees growth in prediction markets, which are likely to expand into broader political, economic, and social events. Additionally, analysts and commentators may begin staking funds on-chain to back their public statements. Such transparent financial alignment could reshape how credibility is established in digital media.

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Game-Changing Investment in EigenLayer

Venture capital giant a16z has invested $70 million in EigenLayer, currently the largest restaking protocol on Ethereum with over $12 billion in TVL. This follows their earlier $100 million commitment during EigenLayer’s Series B funding round. This latest investment focuses on acquiring EigenLayer tokens.

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According to a16z, the funding aims to speed up the commercialization of EigenLayer’s services and to integrate their AVS ecosystem. The goal is to unblock barriers for developers working across smart contract platforms and even those from traditional Web2 environments.

Introducing EigenCloud: The Future Is Verifiable

Sreeram Kannan, CEO of Eigen Labs, envisions a future where EigenCloud powers a new wave of crypto apps aimed at mass markets. Recently released in its alpha stage, EigenCloud is designed to help developers build verifiable and trustless Web2 applications on top of any blockchain infrastructure.

This breakthrough enables:

• Fully onchain games,
• Onchain insurance services,
• Decentralized marketplaces,
• Verifiable AI integrations,
• Smart adjudication systems.

All of which rely on programmable cryptographic verification.

The New Era of Crypto Applications

The company believes this is only the beginning. In their official statement, Eigen Labs noted:

“Bitcoin disrupted money, and Ethereum made it programmable. But we believe the next era of innovation starts when any application in any industry can be made verifiable by any developer.”

Currently, access to EigenCloud is limited to select developers, with a broader rollout expected by the end of the year.

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This idea doesn’t focus on the number of followers, but on who those followers are. Today’s content creators aim not for random mass audiences but for influential accounts with deep knowledge. Platforms like cookie.fun and Kaito are designed around this logic, helping creators reach a more targeted, meaningful audience.

So, who exactly are these Smart Followers? Why are they so important? And more importantly: how can you attract them?

Who Is a Smart Follower?

A Smart Follower isn’t your average social media fan. These are users on X (formerly Twitter) who are usually experts in their fields, active in the crypto space, and respected for sharing valuable insights. They often display special badges like “Inner Circle CT” and are usually seen as KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders).

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These users don’t just consume content—they amplify it. A like, retweet, or reply from a Smart Follower can drastically increase your content’s reach. Even more significantly, this kind of engagement directly contributes to rewards on platforms like cookie.fun and Kaito.

The Role of Smart Followers on Kaito and Cookie.fun

Both Kaito and cookie.fun are social engagement platforms that reward users for producing valuable content. But unlike traditional metrics, these platforms measure who interacts with your posts, not just how many people do.

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On Kaito, content creators earn “Yaps” based on the visibility and quality of their posts. If a Smart Follower interacts with your content, your Yap rewards increase significantly. Additionally, sharing meaningful insights about pre-TGE and post-TGE projects (like Eclipse, Monad, Abstract, Berachain, $ANIME, etc.) helps creators move up on the leaderboard.

cookie.fun, on the other hand, rewards interaction with social tokens. But it doesn’t reward generic engagement—it prioritizes meaningful interactions from reputable users. So, who interacts with your post is just as important as what the post says.

How to Earn Smart Followers?

Attracting Smart Followers requires both patience and strategy. Here are some proven methods:

• Create Valuable Content: Don’t just repeat what everyone else is saying. Offer original takes and thoughtful analysis. Sharing insights on trending projects from Kaito or cookie.fun leaderboards (like Eclipse, Monad, MegaETH) adds value.
• Engage With Accounts on X: Smart Followers are often the ones shaping discussions on X. Engage with them sincerely and constructively, especially on timely topics.
• Be Consistent and Reliable: It’s rare to see overnight results. But consistent, high-quality content builds trust and visibility over time.
• Comment on Projects and Trends: Sharing your thoughts on topics like crypto x AI, and key VCs such as a16z and Binance Labs, or analyzing pre/post-TGE trends, positions you as a credible content creator.

By applying these methods, you don’t just create content—you make sure it reaches the right people. And that’s what ultimately boosts your ability to earn more Yaps and gain recognition across these platforms.

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Patrick McHenry Joins Andreessen Horowitz as Senior Adviser

Former U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) has announced that he is joining the renowned Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as a senior adviser. With $45 billion under management, a16z has been an early investor in successful companies such as Twitter, Airbnb, and Facebook.

The firm’s founders, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, are politically active figures. Andreessen has publicly expressed his support for President Donald Trump. Additionally, the duo funds Fairshake, a super PAC that supports both Republicans and Democrats.

McHenry, who served in Congress for 20 years and held the position of speaker pro tempore of the House, will assist a16z with policy matters and provide guidance to its portfolio companies navigating the regulatory landscape in Washington, D.C.

Senate’s Digital Asset Policy Subcommittee Holds First Session

In the crypto world, today’s session of the Senate’s first subcommittee on digital asset policy is attracting attention. The subcommittee’s top Democrat, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), will emphasize in his opening remarks that crypto “presents both extraordinary opportunities and significant challenges.” Gallego will also stress the need for “robust oversight” to ensure that crypto is “not used to circumvent existing laws on money laundering, tax evasion, or illicit financing.”

Gallego will further call for “encouraging innovation that is productive and useful to everyday Americans,” stating, “The rise of meme coins from Trump to DOGE to Peanut the Squirrel is about gaining attention and trending on social media, not about providing unbanked and underbanked communities with access to the financial system.”

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This significant investment is expected to strengthen Avalanche’s ecosystem and enable the rapid development of new projects. Following the announcement of the investment, AVAX saw a notable surge in its market value.

This investment could further drive the growth of Avalanche’s technical infrastructure and decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

The increasing popularity of Avalanche allows the platform to reach a broader user base, creating significant momentum for future projects. With the backing of powerful investors like Galaxy, Avalanche’s market performance is expected to strengthen even further.

In response to the news, investors have reacted positively, with expectations that the price could rise even more in the short term.

What Is Avalanche (AVAX)?

Avalanche is a Layer-1 blockchain that began development in 2020 and was launched in September 2020.

Thanks to its fast transaction capacity and advanced technological infrastructure, it has rapidly gained popularity in the cryptocurrency world and achieved significant market value.

Avalanche has attracted substantial investments from leading firms such as a16z, Polychain, and Galaxy Digital.

Due to its multi-chain structure, Avalanche can host multiple blockchains built for different purposes on the same platform.

This structure creates specialized subnets for each project, positioning it as the key solution to enhance the scalability of the AVAX ecosystem.

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The Sui team argues that the limited transaction capacities of existing blockchains lead to congestion, resulting in high costs and significant delays. They believe that these issues create a poor Web3 experience for users. To address this, Sui promises a fast, reliable service that enhances user experience through its parallel execution system, transaction fee mechanism, and consensus system.

Recently, Sui gained even more attention following the Arbitrum airdrop, which significantly boosted its popularity. In April, Sui launched its native token, SUI, through a public sale, defying the community’s expectations of a direct airdrop. This decision sparked some controversy, but those who joined Sui’s Discord servers before February 1, 2022, were given the chance to purchase the token at $0.03, providing early supporters with a special privilege and calming some of the debates.

What is SUI Coin?

SUI Coin is the native token of the SUI blockchain, developed by Mysten Labs. The token has a fixed total supply of 10 billion coins. But what are the main functions of SUI Coin, and what does it do?

Participation in PoS Consensus Mechanism: SUI Coin is used to participate in the network’s Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, allowing token holders to contribute to the security and validation processes of the SUI network.

Transaction Fees: Transactions and other activities on the SUI network require fees, which are paid using SUI Coin.

Network Governance: SUI Coin grants holders the right to participate in the governance processes of the SUI blockchain, allowing them to take part in decision-making mechanisms.

These functions highlight SUI Coin’s central role in the SUI blockchain ecosystem, serving as a key tool for various interactions on the network.

Founders of Sui: A Strong Meta Connection

The founding team of Sui includes several high-profile names from Meta (formerly Facebook). Evan Cheng, the CEO of Mysten Labs, along with Sam Blackshear (CTO) and Adeniyi Abiodun (CPO), previously held senior positions at Meta. Sui was developed by Mysten Labs, which secured $300 million in funding during its Series B investment round, reaching a valuation of $2 billion. Notable investors included Binance Labs, a16z, Coinbase Ventures, and FTX Ventures.

What Sets Sui Apart from Other Blockchains?

Move Programming Language:

Sui uses the Move programming language, a Rust-based bytecode language originally designed for Meta’s defunct blockchain project, Diem. Sui’s version of Move is an updated iteration, also utilized by another scalable blockchain, Aptos. This language is designed to prevent double-spending and enhance Sui’s security, addressing the shortcomings of existing programming languages like Solidity.

Parallel Execution:

One of Sui’s most significant innovations is its ability to process transactions in parallel, which optimizes the network’s resource utilization. Unlike other blockchains that process transactions sequentially, leading to increased traffic and longer processing times, Sui handles multiple transactions simultaneously. While the Ethereum network processes 15 transactions per second, Sui has achieved 120,000 transactions per second in tests, surpassing other blockchains and even outpacing Visa by five times.

Transaction Fees:

Sui’s transaction fee mechanism sets it apart from other blockchains, where increased network activity often leads to higher fees and slower processing times. Sui’s gas pricing system offers low and predictable fees, even during periods of high network usage. Validators on the Sui network scale proportionally with transaction volume, ensuring that fees remain low even under heavy load. This feature positions Sui as a potential game-changer for Web3, much like broadband internet was for Web2.

Transaction fees are a critical aspect of blockchain technology, often leading to user challenges when they increase. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently expressed concerns about scalability and high fees, warning that without improvements, users might face $500 transaction fees in the next bull market.

The post What is SUI Coin? Sui Project Reviews appeared first on Coin Engineer.

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According to the Web3 firm, the funding is being directed towards the launch of a new suite of non-custodial wallet tools. The company said in a statement that the new features will help wallet developers “remove the complexity of crypto.”

Dynamic Labs said in a statement,

“We are excited to announce our $13.5M Series A, led by a16z crypto, with participation from Founders Fund, Castle Island Ventures, Breyer Capital, Nikil Viswanathan Joe Lau from Alchemy, and others. This funding will help accelerate our work to support builders who are making these incredible things possible,”

Dynamic Labs plans to launch new and non-custodial wallet tools to provide developers with the ability to incorporate FaceID and TouchID into web3 wallet design. This will help to facilitate the creation of a wallet login process that is specifically designed for mobile users.

Dynamic Labs Launches SDK v1

Dynamic Labs also announced that SDK v1 was officially launched on the day it closed its funding round. This new software development kit includes fundamental architecture improvements, a reduced package size, and a transition to the Viem TypeScript library.

The new SDK also includes customization options, the ability to connect multiple wallets in both authentication and connection modes, and an email login feature that can be integrated with existing wallet solutions.

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In the announcement, IYK stated that ventures like 1kx, Collab Currency, Lattice Capital, and gmoney were among the other investors in the round.

According to information received, IYK was a graduate of the a16z Crypto Startup School that usually invests 500.000 dollars in participating ventures in exchange for 7% equity.

It is not clear when IYK started to increase for the seed round and when the company closed this. Co-founder Ryan Ouyang did not make a statement about the investment round. He also refrained from making a statement about the seed round structure.

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What is IYK?

IYK is a Web3 initiative that allows brands, musicians, and creators to create experiences by establishing a digital-physical connection. It also helps reward their customers and fans, and keep in touch with their communities.

Its products include a near field communication chip that helps to tokenize physical products and events, including NFTs. IYK also uses developer APIs and modules for greater personalization of the experience.

The company said that it incorporated more than 100 creators since 2021. It is preparing to launch its self-service program to incorporate more creators.

Ouyang said, “As a content creator on the IYK platform, you can choose to create a ready-to-use experience with code-free tools, or invite developers to reorganize and expand the experience as much as you want with IYK APIs.”

He also said, “We are not locking you into a type of chip, an authentication system, and even our domain.”

“Compare this with competitors like Collect.ID or LNQ that direct you to the first-party experiences, require consumers to open an account with themselves, and sometimes force consumers to download their mobile apps,” he added.

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