🔵 Base Didn’t Mean To RugPull You🙂

Happy Thursday Everyone 💛

Have you read Vitalik Buterin’s latest article on privacy?

I enjoyed it very much despite the paragraphs of technical Jargon.  

A striking thought Butern proposed: Crypto can be engineered to be private and decentralized, yet unusable by bad actors. 

That will be interesting to see.

In Today’s Edition

🌕 Market Watch
🌕 Based Rug Pull
🌕 $RAY’s Moment
🌕 More Crypto ETFs

Let’s get in ==>

Market Watch 🔍

Crypto markets are finding their footing after a shaky start to the week. 

Bitcoin is holding above $84,000, tacking on a modest 2% gain, while Solana stole the show overnight with a 6% surge, leading majors like ETH and XRP higher. 

But optimism remains guarded after Fed Chair Powell dashed early rate cut hopes, citing the need to gauge tariff-driven economic impacts.

This raised again the specter of 1970s-style stagflation.

Stagflation refers to an economic condition when inflation is rising, but gross domestic product (GDP) and employment levels are flat or shrinking.

Technicals show mixed signals. SOL continues to outperform, clocking a 24% rise over the past week and notching its highest-ever weekly close against ETH. 

Stablecoin flows on Solana also hit fresh records, with USDC transfer volume topping $12 billion this month, suggesting growing confidence in Solana’s dollar rails. 

Meanwhile, Canada just launched spot Solana ETFs with staking features, a potential game-changer for institutional access.

So much $SOL energy, not so? 

🔵 A Based Rug Pull?

Base’s experiment with on-chain culture just took a messy turn, and crypto sleuths were quick to pounce. 

The Coinbase-backed Layer 2 promoted its “Base is for everyone” token on Zora, an on-chain social network that auto-tokenizes posts.

Blockchain detectives would later discover three wallets that had scooped up millions of tokens hours before the official announcement. 

Their haul? A tidy $666K profit.

The token’s market cap initially rocketed past $15 million, then promptly crashed 95% after Base announced another token for its FarCon event, sucking liquidity out. 

In a familiar boom-bust cycle, late entrants were left licking their wounds while early movers cashed out. 

Although the "Base is for everyone" token has since rebounded to around an $18 million market cap, the incident reignited criticism around memecoin launches and insider advantages.

Base insisted it didn’t launch the token—Zora’s automatic minting feature did—and stressed that the token isn’t affiliated with Coinbase. 

Still, the optics were rough. In a market still reeling from the LIBRA and TRUMP token fiascos, where millions in investor wealth evaporated, even experiments branded as “contentcoins” carry real financial consequences.

The takeaway? On-chain culture is fun… until someone gets rug-pulled.

A $RAY of Sunshine

Amid a tough macro backdrop, Raydium ($RAY) is flashing a rare bright spot. 

The Solana-based DEX has climbed nearly 15% over the past week, even as broader crypto markets remain skittish. 

Bitcoin hovers near $84K, licking its wounds from last week's sell-off, while altcoins are still searching for footing.

Raydium’s relative outperformance comes as liquidity and swap volumes on Solana continue to consolidate around key platforms. 

PumpSwap, despite its early hype, has cooled off, while Raydium seems to be solidifying its dominance post-memecoin frenzy. 

Analysts suggest that renewed investor focus on real yield and ecosystem stability could be playing to Raydium’s favor.

Meanwhile, futures markets signal caution. Funding rates have turned slightly negative across Bitcoin and Solana pairs, hinting at a persistent bearish bias among leveraged traders. 

Yet at the same time, open interest remains robust, suggesting the crowd is still heavily positioned for volatility.

Zooming out, this week’s U.S. CPI data is in focus. 

A hotter-than-expected inflation print could trigger further equity and crypto drawdowns, while a cooler reading might offer some breathing room. 

Either way, selective strength — like Raydium’s — could hint at where smart money is quietly rotating during the chop.

For now, $RAY is proving that even in a bear-biased market, some flowers still manage to bloom.

What The Coin is Going on? 🪙

1. VanEck has confirmed it will launch crypto-related ETFs next month, a big step in the direction of making Wall Street fall deeper in love with crypto.

2. Quantum computing is up for an $85K challenge. They’re offering 1 BTC to anyone smart enough to break Bitcoin’s cryptographic key.

3. Here’s Why Demand For Solana ETFs May Be Muted.

4. Imagine The White House Stashed the Income From Tariffs Into Bitcoin. That Could Happen.

5. Get on-the-go nuggets in a 10-minute chat on everything hot in crypto—on Spotify and Apple.

That’s all for today, folks.    

Talk Tomorrow,
Your Friend At Token Metrics💛