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Nasdaq-listed Janover purchases $10.5 million worth of Solana after stock soars to record high

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Key Takeaways

  • Janover purchased 80,567 Solana tokens worth $10.5 million, increasing its total Solana holdings to 163,651 SOL.
  • The company plans to operate Solana validators to stake assets and generate network security rewards.

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Software company Janover announced Tuesday that it had acquired 80,567 Solana (SOL) for approximately $10.5 million.

This marked the firm’s third SOL buy under its digital treasury plan, and it was revealed after its stock hit an all-time high of nearly $66 at market close Monday, per Yahoo Finance data.

Shares edged lower ahead of the market open today, but they’re still up more than 1,200% so far this year.

The new acquisition boosts Janover’s SOL stash to around 163,651 units, worth approximately $21 million. The purchase was funded through the company’s recently completed $42 million financing round.

Janover plans to immediately begin staking its newly acquired SOL to generate revenue while supporting the Solana network.

The move follows Janover’s recent leadership change, with a team of former Kraken executives acquiring majority ownership of the firm. Under new leadership, the company is focused on bridging the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance.

Earlier this month, Janover’s board approved a new treasury policy, authorizing long-term accumulation of crypto assets starting with Solana.

Janover also plans to operate one or more Solana validators, enabling it to stake its treasury assets, participate in network security, and earn rewards. The staking revenue will be reinvested to acquire more SOL.

“Speed and clarity of execution are central to our model,” said Parker White, COO & CIO at Janover, in a statement upon the company’s first purchase. “We plan to continue building our SOL position as we scale our strategy — and we believe today’s market conditions offered a compelling opportunity to take our first step.”

The Nasdaq-listed firm also plans to change its name to DeFi Development Corporation and revise its ticker symbol.

Apart from Bitcoin, global companies are also exploring integrating other major digital assets into their strategic reserves.

Worksport, a company specializing in the design and manufacturing of truck accessories, announced last December that it had started adopting XRP, alongside Bitcoin, as treasury assets.

SOL was trading at around $132 at press time, up nearly 24% in the past week, according to TradingView.

The digital asset has fallen approximately 30% year-to-date amid a market-wide pullback triggered by US tariff policy.

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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon offloads over 130,000 shares worth $31.5 million

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Key Takeaways

  • Jamie Dimon sold 133,639 JPMorgan shares worth $31.5 million in April.
  • Earlier this year, Dimon sold $233 million of company stock.

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A new SEC filing reveals that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon offloaded 133,639 shares, valued at approximately $31.5 million.

The transaction, executed at an average price of $235 per share on April 14, leaves Dimon with direct ownership of 1.32 million shares. He maintains additional indirect holdings through family trusts, 401(k) accounts, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), and a limited liability company.

At JPMorgan Chase, Dimon was historically seen as a long-term holder, making major purchases in 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2016 — typically during periods of market uncertainty. However, since last year, he has shifted to selling.

In 2024, Dimon sold about 1 million shares in total, executed in two transactions. In February 2024, he sold approximately 821,778 shares worth around $150 million. Two months later, in April, he sold the remaining 178,222 shares, worth about $33 million.

In February, Dimon sold another $233 million worth of company stock, equivalent to more than 11% of his holdings.

Dimon’s stock sale comes as JPMorgan Chase is off to a strong start this year. Last week, the Wall Street giant reported better-than-expected profits in the first quarter.

However, despite the strong numbers, the bank is still very cautious about the economic outlook amid trade tensions.

The return of Donald Trump to the presidency initially boosted business confidence, but that optimism was shaken when his administration introduced steep new tariffs on many countries.

However, these tariffs have been temporarily paused. These back-and-forth moves have added to market instability.

Dimon noted last week that middle-market clients are scaling back investments and deals due to market uncertainty.

JPMorgan, the largest US bank by assets, has maintained a strong lead over its peers throughout Dimon’s nearly 20-year tenure.

Dimon has signaled that succession planning is in motion. Last May, he indicated that his tenure was “not five years anymore,” prompting speculation he could step down by 2025 or 2026.

However, Dimon plans to stay on as CEO for the next few years, with a possible transition to chairman later.

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MANTRA’s OM token crashes over 90%, team rejects dumping claims

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Key Takeaways

  • The OM token from MANTRA crashed by 90% on Sunday.
  • The crash allegedly wiped out over $10 billion in market capitalization, with claims that the team held 90% of supply.

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OM, the native token of the MANTRA ecosystem, nosedived as much as 90% in just four hours, erasing billions in its market value, according to data tracked on Binance.

OM’s price crashed from above $6 to $0.37 on April 13, wiping out nearly all of its gains since its meteoric rise from $0.0158 in January 2024. The token reached a peak at $9 earlier this year.

OM crashes 90%

At the time of reporting, OM traded at above $0.6, down approximately 93% from its all-time high.

Although the reason for the steep drop is not yet confirmed, speculation points to the project team potentially unloading their tokens.

MANTRA denies involvement, pointing to massive forced liquidation

Dustin McDaniel, MANTRA’s community lead, addressed on the project’s Telegram channel that the core team is aware of the community’s concerns and is working on a response. The project’s Telegram group is currently closed to new members.

Dustin McDaniel 1

MANTRA has denied involvement in the OM token’s 90% crash, blaming “reckless liquidations” for the sudden drop. In an official statement, the team said the sell-off was not triggered internally and pledged to share more details soon.

MANTRA

During an X Spaces session following OM’s collapse, MANTRA co-founder John Patrick Mullin called the situation “unprecedented,” citing massive forced liquidation on an undisclosed exchange.

“I literally woke up about 30 minutes ago into this,” Mullin said. “It’s honestly unprecedented and we’re still figuring out exactly what’s going on, but I can tell you, we’re still here and we’re gonna sort it out.”

“From my understanding, it seems like there was a massive force liquidation on an exchange over the weekend,” Mullin said. “I won’t name the exchange yet, because we’re starting to get exactly why they did what they did.”

He explained that the exchange “took over a bunch of different positions and completely just closed them out,” though the reasons behind that move are still under investigation.

MANTRA is a key player in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization space. The project has gained attention through partnerships with Google Cloud and Dubai’s DAMAC Group.

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MANTRA co-founder says forced liquidations triggered OM token’s 90% crash

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Key Takeaways

  • OM token crashed 90% due to forced liquidations by centralized exchanges, said MANTRA’s co-founder.
  • MANTRA denies involvement from MANTRA team or investors in the price drop.

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John Patrick Mullin, the co-founder and CEO of MANTRA, addressed the OM token’s abrupt 90% price decline on Sunday, stating that “reckless forced closures” on CEXs caused the drop, rather than alleged internal activity by the project team.

“The timing and depth of the crash suggest that a very sudden closure of account positions was initiated without sufficient warning or notice,” Mullin said in a statement to the community a few hours after the crash surfaced.

While not naming any specific platform, the entrepreneur argued that the issue was the possibly unchecked and “reckless” actions of the CEXs where OM was being traded.

“That this happened during low-liquidity hours on a Sunday evening UTC (early morning Asia time) points to a degree of negligence at best, or possibly intentional market positioning taken by centralized exchanges,” he stated.

Mullin noted that these exchanges “continue to exercise enormously high levels of discretion,” and warned that when such powers are used without oversight, “dislocations like what recently happened can and will occur, hurting both projects and investors alike.”

The OM token, which peaked at $9 earlier this year, fell from $6.3 to as low as $0.37 on April 13. At the time of writing, the token has slightly recovered above $1.

MANTRA was accused of offloading their bag. However, Mullin denied those claims, stressing that “this dislocation was not caused by the team, the MANTRA Chain Association, its core advisors, or MANTRA’s investors.”

Mullin added that all team and investor tokens are still locked according to their publicly disclosed vesting schedules. He also claimed that the OM token’s fundamental tokenomics remain unchanged.

MANTRA, which recently became the first DeFi protocol licensed by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), plans to host a community discussion on X to address the recent incident.

The explanation didn’t ease concerns in the crypto community. Many still felt the statement lacked transparency. In a follow-up post, Mullin said that the team is working on compiling details of the situation.

Previously, several altcoins suffered sharp declines on Binance, including Act I: The AI Prophecy, which dropped 50%, DeXe, which fell 38%, and dForce, down 19%. The declines came after Binance revised margin requirements, which could increase liquidation risks for undercollateralized positions.

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Brad Garlinghouse says Bitcoin at $200,000 ‘is not unreasonable’

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Key Takeaways

  • Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse suggests Bitcoin could reach $200,000 due to US crypto-friendly policies.
  • Ripple is settling its SEC litigation for $50 million, facilitating their growth and acquisitions.

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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said Bitcoin’s $200,000 price target is achievable as institutional interest rises and US regulators shift toward a more crypto-friendly approach.

“I think $200,00 is not unreasonable,” said Garlinghouse when asked about his Bitcoin price target during an interview with Fox Business Network’s The Claman Countdown on Friday. “I wouldn’t predict XRP. It’s too close to home.”

CoinGecko data shows Bitcoin at approximately $83,500, reflecting a 3% increase over the past day. However, the leading digital asset is still 23% lower than its peak value reached on January 20.

Garlinghouse said that he avoids short-term Bitcoin predictions and is focused on long-term macro trends. The CEO of Ripple is confident that macro tailwinds and the reversal of US regulatory hostility will continue to drive value in the crypto space.

“I think about what are the macro trends playing out for the crypto industry, for the XRP ecosystem,” said Garlinghouse. “XRP has been the best-performing major crypto in the last 90 days. We think about it as, what does that look like over the next three years? I’m very optimistic.”

Garlinghouse believes people are underestimating the impact of the US economy on the crypto market. He noted that the economic powerhouse has transitioned from “headwinds, hostility” to “tailwinds,” yet the market hasn’t fully grasped the positive impact of this regulatory shift.

“The largest asset managers in the world go from relatively frozen out or hostile to now a friendly market. This has sensible regulation that is thinking about pro-innovation here at home,” he said.

Garlinghouse agrees that crypto acts as a hedge against inflation and global currency instability, though short-term movements are volatile.

“The long-term value here is going to be very clear. It (crypto) is a hedge against inflation. It is a dynamic where the more utility we drive in the crypto markets, the more we’re going to see value accrete to that market,” he said.

ETFs as a safer, institutionalized gateway into crypto markets

This week, Teucrium launched the 2x Long Daily XRP ETF, the first-ever leveraged XRP ETF in the US. The product saw debut trading volume of $5 million, placing it in the top 5% of all new ETF launches.

On the spot ETF market, multiple applications for XRP ETFs have been filed in the US, though none have been approved yet. Garlinghouse said an XRP ETF would represent a safer, more institutional gateway into the crypto market.

He previously predicted that XRP ETFs would debut in the second half of this year. JPMorgan and Standard Chartered estimate XRP ETFs could attract $8 billion in inflows in the first year if they are approved.

Discussing Ripple’s recent $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, Garlinghouse said the firm would not have made the deal a year ago due to hostile regulatory conditions under the Biden administration.

The move comes as the company expands its workforce to approximately 1,100 employees. He said the acquisition could enable Wall Street giants to access crypto via traditional infrastructure, according to him.

“This allows even larger institutions like BlackRock, like the biggest Wall Street financial institutions, to come into this market in a way they understand with a safer prime broker to help clear transactions and a bigger balance sheet to do that. It’s good for the whole industry,” he said.

Under Trump, Ripple has seen a clear policy shift favoring crypto innovation. Garlinghouse credited David Sacks, Scott Bessent, and newly confirmed SEC chair Paul Atkins for creating a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment.

Garlinghouse noted that stablecoin legislation and market structure bills have gained momentum in Capitol Hill. He expects federal stablecoin legislation and market structure reform to pass soon, helping firms like Ripple, Circle, and Tether.

Launched under a New York trust license, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has exceeded $250 million in market cap and is approaching $300 million.

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BlackRock draws $3 billion in digital asset inflows in Q1, AUM reaches $11.6 trillion

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Key Takeaways

  • BlackRock attracted $3 billion in digital asset product inflows in the first quarter of 2025.
  • Digital assets represent a small portion of BlackRock’s business, accounting for 0.5% of total assets under management.

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Investors poured around $3 billion into BlackRock’s digital asset products in Q1 2025, contributing to $84 billion in total net inflows for the quarter, according to the firm’s first-quarter earnings release on April 11.

BlackRock’s iShares ETF platform brought in a strong $107 billion in net inflows during Q1 2025. However, the firm’s total net inflows came in lower at $84 billion, as outflows in other segments—notably a $45.5 billion pullback from institutional index funds—offset the ETF gains.

BlackRock’s digital assets under management stood at over $50 billion at the end of Q1, up from $17.5 billion a year ago, which represents a 187% increase year-over-year. This surge dwarfed the growth rate of other asset classes within the firm’s portfolio, such as equities, which was up 8% YoY to $5.7 trillion.

The first quarter also brought notable volatility. Even though digital assets attracted over $3 billion in net inflows, market depreciation reduced their value by over $8 billion.

As of March 31, the global asset manager oversees approximately $11.6 trillion worth of client assets.

Digital assets make up just 1% of BlackRock’s total AUM, with their $3 billion net inflows accounting for 2.8% of total ETF inflows in Q1 2025. For comparison, private market investments brought in $9.3 billion during the same period.

Digital asset-related investment advisory and admin fees reached $34 million in Q1, less than 1% of BlackRock’s total $4.1 billion in long-term revenue as of March 31.

That figure aligns with the segment’s AUM share but underscores the low-fee structure typical of digital offerings.

For example, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), BlackRock’s flagship crypto ETF launched in early 2024, operates at a competitive 0.25% fee post-waiver.

The report comes as US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their sixth straight day of net outflows, with $149 million in redemptions yesterday, according to Farside Investors.

The withdrawals were led by Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s GBTC, amidst a broader market movement where investors sought safer assets such as gold and cash, influenced by escalating US-China tariff disputes and market volatility tied to US policy changes.

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World Liberty Financial moves $775K to wallet used for altcoin purchases

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Key Takeaways

  • World Liberty Financial transferred $775,000 in USDC for altcoin investment on Thursday.
  • The project holds a diverse portfolio and is expanding its blockchain collaborations.

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World Liberty Financial (WLFI) on Thursday transferred $775,000 in USDC from its main wallet to a secondary wallet primarily used for purchasing altcoins, according to data tracked by Arkham Intelligence.

The transfer comes after the project acquired over 3.54 million Mantle (MNT) on March 23. The week prior, WLFI had added $4 million worth of MNT and AVAX tokens to its portfolio.

In addition to MNT and AVAX, the project holds nine other digital assets including Ethereum (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Tron (TRX), Chainlink (LINK), Aave (AAVE), Ethena (ENA), MOVE (MOVE), Ondo (ONDO), and Sei (SEI).

World Liberty Financial recently established a strategic collaboration with Sui blockchain, aiming to integrate Sui’s technology into its ecosystem and explore next-generation blockchain applications focused on decentralized finance.

The project, endorsed by President Trump, plans to add Sui tokens to its “Macro Strategy” reserve as part of the partnership.

WLFI is launching USD1, a stablecoin for institutions and sovereign investors that will be redeemable one-to-one for US dollars. The team also conducted test transfers on its new stablecoin.

The stablecoin, backed by US government treasuries, dollar deposits, and cash equivalents, will launch on Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain, with BitGo providing custody services and third-party accounting firm audits planned.

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