Binance Wallet goes from underdog to overlord in simply months
Cryptocurrency trade Binance’s pockets has surged out of nowhere in 2025 to develop into the dominant within the business.
It closed the week beginning on Could 5 with an 86% share of the swap market, and to date, within the week beginning on Could 12, it’s at 93%, in keeping with Dune Analytics data.
On the first full week of the yr, Binance Wallet managed a measly 3.4% whereas OKX led the business with 44.6% of the market, with MetaMask and imToken every at round 18.5%.
Dovey Wan, founding father of Primitive Ventures, attributes Binance Wallet’s exercise explosion to the launch of the trade’s Binance Alpha program.
Binance Alpha is a type of token launchpad that incentivizes customers to interact within the platform by way of a reward system referred to as Alpha factors, which measures a person’s eligibility for early entry to new token tasks. Binance states that sure tokens featured on Binance Alpha could also be thought of for trade itemizing.
Some customers are blaming the Binance Alpha program for ruining airdrops and “killing early communities.”
Well-liked airdrops ceaselessly have their eligibility tied to blockchain exercise. Binance Alpha determines rewards immediately by way of centralized engagement, and it’s working. Inside months, Binance Wallet has absorbed the lion’s share of swap exercise, pushing once-dominant gamers like OKX, MetaMask, and imToken into the margins.
Binance Alpha contributors get publicity to hyped early-stage tokens with much less friction, and tasks launching by way of this system acquire entry to tens of millions of energetic customers and near-instant liquidity.
However airdrop followers argue it centralizes discovery and erodes the permissionless attraction of crypto.
China largest securities dealer launches tokenization enterprise
Guotai Junan Worldwide (GTJAI), the Hong Kong arm of China’s largest securities dealer, has entered the real-world asset (RWA) market with the launch of its tokenized securities enterprise.
In a Could 13 press release, GTJAI stated it acquired approval from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Fee (SFC) to supply tokenized securities distribution and digital bond issuance providers.
The platform will use distributed ledger expertise (DLT) to handle the complete lifecycle of conventional monetary devices from issuance to custody.
GTJAI is a subsidiary of Guotai Haitong Group, a state-backed $230 billion securities powerhouse shaped in September final yr when Shanghai’s Guotai Junan Securities acquired Haitong Securities.
World asset managers are more and more leaping into tokenization, with Standard Chartered projecting the sector might attain $30 trillion by 2034.
In late April, Ant Digital, a subsidiary of Chinese web titan Alibaba, launched its personal Ethereum layer-2 community, signaling its entry into the RWA race.
MapleStory enters Web3 with NXPC on Avalanche
South Korean gaming heavyweight Nexon has formally entered the Web3 gaming market by way of the launch of its NXPC (Nexpace Coin) and MapleStoryN, a brand new model of its cult basic role-playing sport.
The MapleStory franchise is deeply entrenched within the reminiscences of millennial teenagers throughout South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Within the 2000s and early 2010s, it functioned as a proto-metaverse the place gamers made mates, met lovers and constructed communities.
Nexon additionally pioneered microtransactions in on-line gaming with profitable titles like Loopy Arcade, a Bomberman-style multiplayer sport with water balloons, and KartRider, a Mario Kart-style character racing sport.
The Tokyo-listed firm can be one of many largest company Bitcoin holders in Asia. In April 2021, it positioned a $100 million bet in Bitcoin, which is now price $174.5 million.
NXPC debuted on main native exchanges Bithumb and Upbit, whereas Binance Alpha acquired the first trades on the worldwide buying and selling scene. Within the first six hours of NXPC’s debut, it recorded over $300 million in world buying and selling quantity, which was among the many 30-most traded cryptocurrencies, in keeping with CoinGecko data.
NXPC is issued by Nexpace, Nexon’s blockchain subsidiary. It runs on Avalanche and the foreign money is used within the gaming ecosystem for MapleStory Universe, the place MapleStory N is the primary sport.
In October, the breakout success of Off The Grid on Avalanche’s GUNZ subnet confirmed each mainstream avid gamers and crypto-native customers why Avalanche is turning into a severe contender in blockchain gaming.
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Korean actress admits to embezzling $3 million to ape in crypto
Okay-drama actress Hwang Jung-eum has admitted in court docket to embezzling 4.2 billion Korean received ($3 million) from her family-run firm to put money into cryptocurrency, Yonhap Information Company reported.
The primary trial was held on Could 15, the place prosecutors charged the previous Okay-pop idol Hwang with misappropriating funds from a family-owned leisure company in 2022.
In line with prosecutors, Hwang invested the embezzled funds into cryptocurrencies utilizing her private title. Whereas she owns 100% of the company in query, the funding was allegedly made with out formal authorization or company oversight.
Hwang’s authorized staff admitted to all costs, stating that she had hoped to develop the corporate by way of crypto investments.
The protection additionally requested the court docket to think about mitigating elements, noting that the corporate’s earnings had been derived completely from Hwang’s personal actions.
Her authorized staff additionally claimed partial restitution had already been made by way of crypto liquidation and acknowledged that extra reimbursement will come from the sale of actual property belongings.
A second listening to is scheduled for August.
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Yohan Yun
Yohan Yun is a multimedia journalist protecting blockchain since 2017. He has contributed to crypto media outlet Forkast as an editor and has coated Asian tech tales as an assistant reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Forbes. He spends his free time cooking, and experimenting with new recipes.
