Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Abstract, the Ethereum layer-2 network backed by Pudgy Penguins, will shut down on Dec. 15 after losing tens of millions, the project said. Users must bridge their assets off the chain before that date. No further details on the wind-down were given.

TREE NEWS reports: Two Hyperliquid wallets tied to London investment firm Abraxas Capital Management hold roughly $1.58 billion in net short exposure, including about $948 million in bitcoin and ether positions. As of 2:55 p.m. ET on October 6, the wallets held shorts of about 189,400 ETH and 5,120 BTC, with unrealized losses near $115 million. Nansen and Arkham Intelligence tag the addresses as Abraxas-linked, with Arkham showing a Heka Funds connection; the wallets also short SOL, HYPE, ENA, XRP, SUI and PUMP, while large spot holdings may hedge part of the exposure.

TREE NEWS update: Ethereum Layer 2 network Abstract, launched by the Pudgy Penguins team, will halt operations on Dec 15, 2026, after which unbridged funds become inaccessible. Users can exit via the official migration hub or native bridge, which carries roughly a three-hour delay. Abstract said a consumer-focused chain is not sustainable as a standalone model, citing a limited DeFi ecosystem and thin on-chain liquidity. The network drew over 400,000 users and more than 144 deployed apps, and warned users to beware of fake migration sites.

TREE NEWS update: Ethereum Layer 2 network Abstract, built by the Pudgy Penguins team, said it will wind down and halt operations on Dec 15, 2026, after which unbridged funds will be inaccessible. Users can move assets via the official migration hub at migrate.abs.xyz or the native bridge at native-bridge.abs.xyz, which carries about a three-hour delay. Abstract cited limited DeFi activity and thin on-chain liquidity for stalled growth, and warned users about fake migration sites. The network had drawn over 400,000 users and more than 144 deployed apps.

TREE NEWS update: BTCPay Server released version 2.4.5, tightening Lightning and LNURL security and improving invoice generation performance. The update makes Tor optional in Docker deployments, narrows exposure of the public Lightning API, and removes several deprecated or unmaintained integrations, with server administrators advised to update. The Plugin Builder, previously suspended after a server breach, has reopened with builds running in an ephemeral isolated sandbox plus build-output validation and admin audit logs.

TREE NEWS reports: Ethereum’s active validator count has fallen to 863,000 while the total amount of staked ETH edges higher. The decline follows Pectra, which lets operators combine validator balances, cutting network overhead without requiring them to withdraw their ETH. Fewer validators now secure the same or greater stake.

TREE NEWS update: Firelight has begun writing DeFi cover, with its first positions placed on two Sentora vaults and payouts backed by 50.2 million XRP staked on Flare. Claims will be decided by a five-firm consortium on a three-of-five vote. Audits of the coverage contracts are listed as coming soon.

TREE NEWS update: Umia, a token issuance and governance platform for crypto projects, raised $6.11 million in a seven-day auction of its UMIA token, selling 34.6% of total supply at a fully diluted valuation of $18 million. About 45% of subscriptions came from institutional investors, with 10 funds and nearly 700 individual bidders participating, including Galaxy Ventures, DCG and Draper Associates. Umia’s first external project, Slop.cash, is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2026.

TREE NEWS update: BNB Chain prediction market predict.fun posted “Soon” with a P-branded token image on Tuesday, prompting founder dingaling to say the TGE is “weeks, not months” away. Polymarket traders now price an 83% chance of a launch by Dec. 31, up nearly 40% in 24 hours. Aspecta pre-market data puts predict.fun at a roughly $750 million valuation; with about 500 million points outstanding, estimates put each point at $0.10 to $0.40.

TREE NEWS reports: Crypto futures liquidations across all exchanges totaled $154 million over the past 24 hours, with $76.57 million in long positions and $77.53 million in shorts wiped out. BTC liquidations reached $36.68 million and ETH $18.79 million. The largest single liquidation order, worth $5.80 million, occurred on HYPERLIQUID-XYZ:SP500-USD.

TREE NEWS reports: Flash loan attacks drained $1.2 billion from DeFi protocols between 2020 and 2024. Researchers found the attacks grew more sophisticated and less predictable over the period. The findings cover a five-year window of exploit activity across decentralized finance.

TREE NEWS update: Ripple Prime will provide prime brokerage, clearing and financing services to funds managed by Brevan Howard, the $35 billion alternative investment manager. The move expands an existing agreement between the two firms and adds institutional trading infrastructure to Ripple’s offerings for hedge fund clients.

TREE NEWS update: Brevan Howard will use Ripple Prime for multi-asset prime brokerage, clearing and financing, Ripple said. The service will cover the roughly $35 billion hedge fund’s multi-asset needs. The tie-up builds on Brevan Howard’s earlier investment in Ripple and its participation in Ripple’s $500 million strategic funding round last year.

TREE NEWS update: Brevan Howard will use Ripple Prime for prime brokerage, clearing and financing, the two firms said. The tie-up deepens a relationship that began with Ripple’s investment in the hedge fund. Ripple Prime provides multi-asset brokerage and clearing services to institutional clients.

TREE NEWS update: Polymarket has rolled out Protocol V2, replacing its legacy Gnosis-based architecture with a single ERC-1155 positions contract and pUSD collateral. The upgrade consolidates the prediction market’s position handling into one contract and switches its collateral asset to pUSD.

TREE NEWS update: Ether.fi announced a dollar stablecoin whose reserves, minting, redemptions and compliance will be managed by Ethena. The platform reports more than $300 million in existing stablecoin balances. The token marks Ether.fi’s move into issuing its own dollar-denominated asset.

TREE NEWS update: Solana-based perpetual futures trading platform Imperial has raised $1.5 million in seed funding at a $15 million valuation, led by Foundation Capital with backing from Solana ecosystem angel investors. The capital will go toward expanding Imperial’s product suite, including a perpetuals aggregator, a lending platform and its flagship Armada. Armada is a Solana perpetuals AMM that sources liquidity from DeFi venues such as Hyperliquid, letting traders access deeper order books without leaving Solana.

TREE NEWS update: Ether.fi is launching ether.fi USD, its own stablecoin, with Ethena handling reserves, minting, redemptions and compliance. The token targets the more than $300 million in stablecoins already held on ether.fi. Ethena will run the reserves backing the new asset.

TREE NEWS update: Paxos’ USDG stablecoin is now live on Arbitrum, the Ethereum layer-2 network. Arbitrum has proposed 100 million ARB in incentives to support USDG adoption and liquidity. The stablecoin is backed by Paxos’ $3 billion issuance.