RaaS #494: Gemini IPO Raises $425M!

On-chain PERP Landscape, Ethena Withdraws USDH Bid, and Moar!

ZachXBT is running for Arbitrum’s Security Council. Known for his on-chain investigations ($250M+ recovered), he advises Paradigm, sits on Polygon’s Protocol Council, and brings expertise in exploits, scams, and cybercrime, backed by 900K+ followers and published intel.

X penalties go far beyond shadowbans; tweets can be downranked, hidden from search, blocked from ads, or flagged for spam, toxicity, crypto shilling, or misinformation. Many flags date back 2 years, but algorithm changes keep evolving. If engagement is down, penalties may be why.

Traders miss opportunities by waiting for perfect conditions, fearing tops, avoiding risk, misjudging price, over-checking portfolios, losing focus in quiet markets, lacking conviction, undercapitalization, and fighting trends. Success comes from consistency, risk tolerance, and timely conviction.

They had every right to hack him, right?

Hollywood’s grip on attention is dead; internet-native value is rising. Memes, short-form video, and collectibles now drive capital flows. Belief is value, attention is currency, and founders, not CT leads, move markets. Metagametrade aims to capture this shift.

Influence in crypto isn’t clout alone; it’s clout, content, community, and connection. Attention moves markets, but trust sustains them. Authenticity, consistency, and accountability build lasting impact, shaping culture beyond hype cycles into a resilient ecosystem.

Perps dominate crypto trading, and on-chain perps are now a multi-billion-dollar vertical. Hyperliquid leads with 60–70% share, Solana apps like Jupiter & Drift surge, Base grows via Avantis, Ethereum lags except ApeX, while EdgeX’s $47B vol sparks wash-trade doubts.

Bitcoin’s hash rate hit 1.12B TH/s and difficulty reached 136T, both record highs. Miner reserves rose to 1.8M BTC, signaling reduced sell pressure. With a Fed rate cut expected, experts say conditions mirror past post-halving rallies, priming BTC for an upside move as altcoins follow.

We appreciate your sacrifice, soldier!

On The Radar Vol. 5 is live today at 2:15 PM UTC. This week’s spotlight: women in web3. Luki hosts Maha (Head of Comms Symbiotic) and Karolina (Growth Manager Uniqly) to share what they’re building.

Range positions itself as the “Palantir for stablecoins,” offering real-time intelligence across chains with attribution datasets, blacklist feeds, and a risk API. It aims to be the core tracking layer for the trillions of dollars in stablecoin flows onchain.

Vana is cooking something!

PayPal froze $400 from Satsume Labs’ cofounder back in 2009. That frustration fuels why they’re building a crypto-native eCommerce platform, with no gatekeepers, no frozen funds, and open access. Test phase goes live this month.

Fosun Wealth tokenized $328M worth of Sisram Medical shares on Solana, Ethereum, and Sonic via Vaulta’s “Banking OS.” It’s Hong Kong’s first move to bring listed equities on-chain, with more bonds and shares planned, further proof that RWAs are becoming mainstream.

Starknet kicks off its Re{solve} Hackathon on Sept 15 with $50k+ in prizes. Open tracks span Bitcoin, payments, privacy, gaming, and more. With sub-second txs, gasless UX, and decentralized infra, Starknet wants builders to ship real apps and push Bitcoin-native DeFi.

Sandeep highlights Sentient’s ROMA, an open-source meta-agent framework beating closed models like ChatGPT and Perplexity on Seal-0 and FRAMES. ROMA’s recursive, parallel approach to complex reasoning is drawing attention from mainstream AI leaders.

Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade aims to cut latency to 0.1s and lower validator costs, boosting decentralization. By reducing fees and pairing with dynamic inflation, it could make smaller validators profitable and address stake concentration. Full rollout expected by late 2025 or early 2026.

Top Gainers: KET, EMDR, NAORIS, OVPP, UB.

ModStealer, a new cross-platform malware, is spreading via fake recruiter ads and evading all major antivirus tools. It targets 56 browser wallets, steals keys and credentials, and enables remote access. Researchers warn that it reflects the rise of Malware-as-a-Service, urging stronger behavior-based defenses.

Crypto Intern dropped a fresh batch of Web3 marketing jobs: roles at TON, Serotonin, Arbitrum, Wintermute, Fleek, Magic Eden, Movimentum, and Gnosis Guild. All remote. Plus handy job boards for more listings.

Gemini raised $425M in its Nasdaq IPO at a $3.3B valuation, pricing shares at $28 amid demand 20x oversubscribed. Proceeds were capped, with Nasdaq joining via a $50M placement. The Winklevoss-led exchange now joins Coinbase, Bullish, and Circle as publicly traded crypto firms.

Ethena is withdrawing its USDH bid on Hyperliquid, conceding to Native Markets while praising the community-led process. Despite the outcome, they’ll continue building: hUSDe, USDe savings/spending, hedging flows, and HIP-3 innovations like reward-bearing collateral and equity perps.

Most apps lose 90% of users in 30 days, yet crypto obsesses over instant virality. Quick wins fade, conviction compounds. Polymarket proved it, years of obscurity, then breakout success. True resilience comes from persistence, user focus, and a belief that survives hype cycles.

That’s all for today!