MagazinAisle

Author: rb809rb

  • Crypto finance is beginning to look at lot more traditional, Aave and Ethena founders say

    Crypto finance is beginning to look at lot more traditional, Aave and Ethena founders say

    Crypto finance is only now beginning to provide an environment that matches traditional finance: ways to earn steadier, more predictable returns — similar to bonds or savings products, according to Aave Labs founder Stani Kulechov and Ethena CEO Guy Young.

    “Most fixed income is like the distribution of risk in different formats … basically just slicing and dicing and distributing risk,” Young said during a panel at Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in New York. “This piece of DeFi was probably the least featured two years ago.”

    Until recently, crypto users mostly traded tokens or borrowed against them, often chasing high, unpredictable yields. New tools make it possible to lock in returns, even in a market known for big swings.

    “What you’re doing with Pendle is providing a fixed-to-floating rate swap,” Young said, referring to a system that lets users choose between more stable or more variable returns — similar to choosing between fixed or adjustable interest rates.

    That’s not easy in crypto. “It’s very difficult to know three months out what the market is actually going to look like,” he said.

    Kulechov said Aave has helped support this shift by providing deep pools of capital that other projects can tap into. “Aave is sort of acting as a liquidity sink,” he said, helping “bootstrap a lot of the new coming products in DeFi.”

    For now, much of the money being made still depends on trading rather than traditional lending. “A lot of DeFi yield … is largely still based on … leverage,” Kulechov said.

    Over time, that could change as more real-world assets move onchain, a process known as tokenization.

    “A lot of the yields and a lot of the economics will come from the traditional finance,” he said.

    Read more: Ethena-backed suiUSDe stablecoin goes live on Sui with $10 million yield vault launch

  • US Critical Institution CFTC Launches New Bullish Initiative for Cryptocurrencies! Here Are the Details

    US Critical Institution CFTC Launches New Bullish Initiative for Cryptocurrencies! Here Are the Details

    Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins continue to hold strong despite the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran.

    As the five-day deadline given by US President Donald Trump to Iran awaits to determine whether the next move will be an uptrend or a downtrend, a move in favor of cryptocurrencies has come from the US.

    Accordingly, Michael Selig, Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced today the establishment of an “Innovation Task Force.”

    The task force aims to establish regulatory standards for innovative companies developing new products and technologies in the U.S. derivatives market.

    The Innovation Task Force will create regulatory frameworks for several designated areas: “1) Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, 2) Artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, 3) Prediction markets and event contracts.”

    CFTC Chair Selig stated, “By creating a clear regulatory environment for companies driving innovation in new areas of finance, we can encourage responsible innovation and ensure that U.S. market participants don’t fall behind.”

    The Innovation Task Force will be chaired by Michael J. Passalacqua, special advisor to President Selig.

    The Innovation Task Force will work with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC on innovation.

    While the CFTC is taking steps in favor of cryptocurrencies, the SEC, another major US financial regulator, also clarified in guidance published last week that crypto assets like Bitcoin are commodities, not securities. It was also stated that 16 altcoins, including Ethereum (ETH), are not securities.

    *This is not investment advice.

  • OKX Rolls Out Round the Clock Trading for Mag Seven Stocks Using Crypto Collateral

    OKX Rolls Out Round the Clock Trading for Mag Seven Stocks Using Crypto Collateral

    In brief

    • The contracts track major U.S. stocks and indices but do not grant ownership, functioning as synthetic exposure products.
    • Traders can post Bitcoin, Ethereum and yield-bearing crypto assets as collateral under a unified margin system.
    • The launch comes as exchanges race to offer real-world asset exposure to retail traders outside traditional brokerage systems.

    OKX has launched more than 20 equity perpetual swap contracts, offering users across Asia, the CIS region, Latin America, and Türkiye exposure to trade major global stocks around the clock using crypto as collateral.

    The launch includes the full “Magnificent 7”—Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, according to a statement shared with Decrypt.

    It also covers crypto-linked firms such as Strategy, Coinbase, Robinhood, and Circle, as well as technology stocks Palantir, Intel, Micron, and SanDisk, and the S&P 500 tracker SPY.

    The equity perp launch is framed as the first phase of a broader rollout, with OKX planning to expand its range of equity contracts and tokenized real-world asset exposure in the coming months.

    It’s OKX’s latest push into real-world assets, as crypto exchanges increasingly compete to offer traditional market exposure to retail investors who face hurdles accessing U.S. equities through conventional brokerages in many parts of the world.

    All contracts are denominated in USDT and offer up to 5x leverage, allowing traders to respond to earnings releases, macroeconomic developments, and market-moving events even when traditional equity markets are closed, the statement said.

    Unlike tokenized equities that represent actual shares, equity perpetual swaps are derivatives that track price movements without granting ownership, placing them closer to synthetic exposure products already offered by other exchanges.

    “I think these instruments will command a good following from momentum-driven retail investors,” Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Labs, told Decrypt. “Crypto exchanges are far more accessible venues for retail investors in many jurisdictions around the world.”

    “On traditional rails, these names are often beyond their reach due to various hurdles,” he added.

    Asked how the product differs from those offered at rival platforms, including Binance, an OKX spokesperson told Decrypt its offering is differentiated by its “unified trading account.”

    The spokesperson said the platform allows users to stake assets and use them as collateral for equity perpetual positions, with those assets continuing to generate yield while positions remain open.

    A unified trading account allows users to deploy a range of crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and staked holdings, as collateral across positions.

    “This is one step towards bringing a broader range of real-world assets into our platform,” the spokesperson said when asked about the choice of perpetual swaps over tokenized equities representing actual shares.

    “We will keep expanding our infrastructure to support exposure to global equities while allowing traders to use their crypto portfolios for this,” they said.

    The rollout follows OKX’s high-profile tie-up with Intercontinental Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company, which invested in OKX earlier this month at a $25 billion valuation. 

    The deal is also expected to enable OKX users to trade tokenized stocks and derivatives listed on the NYSE starting in the second half of the year. 

    OKX’s native token, OKB, is trading at $85, up 0.3% in the last day, and down 11.7% in the last 7 days, according to CoinGecko data.

    Daily Debrief Newsletter

    Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.

  • ‘Monstress’ Adult Animated Series in the Works at Amazon From Netflix’s Former ‘One Piece’ Showrunner (EXCLUSIVE)

    ‘Monstress’ Adult Animated Series in the Works at Amazon From Netflix’s Former ‘One Piece’ Showrunner (EXCLUSIVE)

    An adult animated series based on the hit comic book series “Monstress” is in development at Amazon MGM Studios from Steven Maeda, a co-creator and former showrunner on Netflix’s “One Piece.”

    Per the official description for the potential Amazon Prime Video show, “Set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world, ‘Monstress’ tells the story of a young woman with a literal monster living inside of her. On a quest to understand her past and avenge her mother’s murder, she’s joined by a colorful ensemble including a talking cat and a hybrid fox/human girl as they’re thrown in the middle of a war between human and otherworldly forces. When the world turns us into monsters, ‘Monstress’ asks how can we overcome our monstrosities?”

    Written by Marjorie Liu and illustrated by Sana Takeda, the Image Comics-published “Monstress” comic book series has garnered multiple accolades, including four Hugo Awards, seven Eisner Awards and was the Harvey Awards’ Book of the Year in 2018.

    Maeda will write and executive produce the “Monstress” project alongside Tiffany Greshler (Netflix’s “One Piece,” “Underground,” “Helix”). Maeda and Greshler will serve as co-showrunners. Additional executive producers include Jason Brown, Ryan Stayton (Hivemind), Liu and Takeda.

    Best known for his work co-creating and co-showrunning the first season of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of best-selling manga and animated series “One Piece,” Maeda’s additional notable credits include “The X-Files,” “Lost” and “Lie to Me.”

    Maeda is repped by UTA, Literate and attorney David Colden.

    Greshler is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment.

    Liu and Takeda are repped by UTA.

  • Morning Exercise May Help Lower Your Risk of Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes

    Morning Exercise May Help Lower Your Risk of Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes

    Female jogging by a lake in the morningShare on Pinterest
    Research shows that exercising in the morning may lower cardiometabolic risk. Image Credit: Olga Rolenko/Getty Images
    • A recent study found that morning exercise may help lower your cardiometabolic risk.
    • Cardiometabolic risk factors include cardiovascular disease and metabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.
    • The findings show that exercising in the morning, rather than later in the day, may help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 30%.

    Exercise has various health benefits, from maintaining a moderate weight to improving heart health.

    While all exercise is beneficial, a recent study found that exercising in the morning may yield greater cardiometabolic benefits than later in the day.

    It’s unclear whether the relationship between exercise and cardiometabolic health is mediated by other factors or causal. However, the researchers noted that the findings could inform counseling approaches for physical activity based on a more granular view of exercise behaviors.

    “Any exercise is going to be better than no exercise, but we tried to identify an additional dimension relating to the timing of exercise,” Prem Patel, a medical student at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and the study’s lead author, said in a press release.

    “If you can exercise in the morning, it seems to be linked with better rates of cardiometabolic disease,” he continued

    The study’s researchers analyzed data from 14,489 individuals who were participating in the large national study All of Us. The research was based on health records and Fitbit-derived heart data.

    Over 1 year, the researchers analyzed minute-level heart rate data from Fitbit devices.

    To track bursts of physical activity, the research team identified periods during which participants had an elevated heart rate for 15 consecutive minutes or more. This differs from the methodologies of other studies because it is based on the body’s response to exercise rather than tracking specific activities, such as walking, housework, or gym workouts.

    They assessed each participant’s exercise in those 15-minute intervals throughout the day. Then they grouped participants according to the timing of their exercise.

    Using health records, the researchers analyzed any connection between the timing of exercise and effects on:

    • age
    • sex
    • total activity level
    • sleep duration
    • smoking status
    • alcohol use

    When compared to people who exercised later in the day, those who frequently exercised in the morning were:

    • 31% less likely to have coronary artery disease
    • 18% less likely to have high blood pressure
    • 21% less likely to have hyperlipidemia
    • 30% less likely to have type 2 diabetes
    • 35% less likely to have obesity

    The lowest rates of coronary artery disease were associated with exercise between 7 and 8 a.m.

    It’s important to note that these findings show only an association. They do not indicate whether early exercise habits cause improvements in health markers.

    “It’s important not to overinterpret these findings. This was an observational study, meaning it shows association, not cause and effect,” said Robert Glatter, MD, attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ Northwell. Glatter wasn’t involved in this study.

    “It’s entirely possible that people who are disciplined enough to work out in the morning are also more likely to engage in other health-promoting behaviors,” Glatter told Healthline.

    Regular physical activity can have various immediate and long-term benefits.

    Exercise can help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. It may also help you sleep better.

    • managing weight
    • strengthening muscles and bones
    • reducing the risk of falls in older adults
    • managing chronic conditions and disabilities

    Getting regular physical activity may also help increase your likelihood of living longer, according to the CDC.

    “The bigger takeaway is this: consistency matters far more than timing. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, incorporate strength training, and reduce long periods of inactivity,” said Glatter.

    “In the end, the ‘best’ time to exercise isn’t necessarily 6 or 7 a.m. — it’s the time you can commit to, day after day.”

  • Top Analyst Reveals the Level That Will Launch the Real Bullish Move for Bitcoin (BTC)!

    Top Analyst Reveals the Level That Will Launch the Real Bullish Move for Bitcoin (BTC)!

    Bitcoin ($BTC) continues its struggle to rise above $70,000 as the US-Iran conflict continues at full speed.

    At this point, the market is awaiting the end of the five-day deadline given by US President Donald Trump to Iran. Yesterday, Trump announced a five-day pause in operations targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure.

    At this point, analysts predict that Bitcoin’s direction will depend on events that occur at the end of this period, while one senior analyst pointed to the $75,000 level for $BTC to enter an upward trend.

    Speaking to CoinDesk, FxPro’s chief market analyst, Alex Kuptsikevich, stated that while Bitcoin may continue to recover amid geopolitical uncertainty, a sustained move above $75,000 is necessary for a full-fledged bull market.

    While the upward movement is encouraging for bulls, according to the analyst, the real test for $BTC will be around $75,000.

    This level is very critical for Bitcoin and has been a significant turning point at least twice in the last 12 months. During the March-April 2025 decline, Bitcoin lost its downward momentum around $75,000, and the rally in early 2024 also encountered resistance here. Furthermore, $75,000 corresponds to retracement levels according to the important Fibonacci pattern.

    At this point, the Fxpro analyst believes that Bitcoin needs to break above $75,000 to confirm its transition to a bull market.

    “While Bitcoin may not immediately benefit from the upward momentum and increase its gains, its ability to remain at current high levels indicates confidence among bulls. They are gradually developing a more optimistic outlook.”

    However, it would be too early to say the downtrend is over until prices break above $75,000, where the March turning points and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level resulting from the January-February decline are concentrated.

    *This is not investment advice.

  • There’s a new Payday game, this time in VR

    The popular co-op heist franchise Payday is coming to VR. Payday: Aces High will release for the Meta Quest platform and SteamVR later this year. It looks like it has everything people love about the series, but with some of that VR-style immersion.

    Just like the mainline games, this version tasks players with planning and then pulling off elaborate heists. It offers four-player co-op, with each person filling a particular role within the group. These are your standard heist movie archetypes. There’s the planner, the brawler, the gadget nerd and the silent but deadly assassin.

    The developer also promises plenty of gear and weapons, with “an arsenal that keeps growing.” This leads to the usual Payday gameplay loop. Each successful heist lets players buy more weapons and gadgets. Rinse and repeat.

    Fast Travel Games is making this one, and the developer has a decent pedigree in the VR space. It helped make Cities: VR and Apex Construct, among many others. The graphics here look decent and we already know the gameplay is solid. Plus, there are clown masks. We’ll find out if Payday: Aces High makes the grade later this year.

    This is just the latest major gaming franchise to experiment with virtual reality. There are VR versions of Half-Life, Assassin’s Creed, Horizon and many more.

  • JUST IN: Coinbase Lists a Surprise Altcoin

    JUST IN: Coinbase Lists a Surprise Altcoin

  • HBO Max Inks First-Look Deal With ‘Sirât’ Producer Domingo Corral

    HBO Max Inks First-Look Deal With ‘Sirât’ Producer Domingo Corral


    HBO Max has signed an overall first-look deal with acclaimed Spanish TV executive Domingo Corral, one of the producers on Oliver Laxe’s Oscar-nominated drama Sirât.

    Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content at HBO Max, unveiled the pact with Corral on Tuesday at television festival Series Mania in Lille, France. Calling the Spanish indie producer “a champion of bold, distinctive voices and a trusted collaborator across the creative community,” Aubrey said the deal would give the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer “exclusive television services in Spain” from one of the country’s most acclaimed producers.

    As the head of content at Spanish pay-TV company Moviestar Plus+, and previously as head of content at Telefónica’s TV division, Corral have overseen the production of some of Spain’s most critically acclaimed and commercial successful film and television. His TV work includes Riot Police (2020), The Messiah (2023), and The Anatomy of a Moment, a new period drama screening at Series Mania this week.

    When Corral left Movistar Plus+ last year, 144 members of the Spanish creative community, including Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Pedro Almodóvar, signed an open letter in support of the producer, warning of the damage his exit could have on the Spanish industry.

    Speaking of the pact with HBO Max, Corral said: “I am delighted to have found a partner with whom I can continue producing the series I have always believed in. HBO’s commitment to quality, boldness, and originality has always inspired my approach to the art of storytelling.”

    Aubrey revealed Corral’s first project under the HBO Max deal, a series set in the 1980s and based on the notorious case of Santiago Corella, alias ‘El Nani’. A petty criminal from the Spanish slums, El Nani was wrongly arrested by a police unit staffed by former officers from Franco’s fascist regime and “disappeared.” The case became a cause célèbre when, in 1988, the police officers involved were put on trial, turning it into a test of the country’s transition from Fascism to democracy.

    El Nani, which is currently in development, will be written and directed by Alberto Rodríguez and Rafael Cobos., the team behind period drama The Anatomy of a Moment, which screened at Series Mania this week.

  • Disney and Nickelodeon Child Stars: Where Are They Now?

    Disney and Nickelodeon Child Stars: Where Are They Now?

    Miley Cyrus, Zendaya, Zac Efron, Ariana Grande, Keke Palmer, Selena Gomez and Kenan Thompson are among those who rose to fame as teens for their roles on the kids’ television networks.

    'Hannah Montana,' 'True Jackson, VP,' 'High School Musical' and 'Wizards of Waverly Place.'

    ‘Hannah Montana,’ ‘True Jackson, VP,’ ‘High School Musical’ and ‘Wizards of Waverly Place.’

    Everett Collection (4)

    Before they were winning awards, selling out stadiums, leading blockbuster films and TV shows or even working outside of entertainment entirely, celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Zendaya, Hilary Duff, Zac Efron, Keke Palmer, Ariana Grande, Kenan Thompson and Selena Gomez, among many others, actually had one thing in common: They all found child stardom on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon.

    The kids’ networks are widely known for launching the careers of now-global actors and singers, as well as giving young talent helpful training for the entertainment industry. Some have gone on to build massive careers, such as Cyrus, a multi-Grammy winner, who is now celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hannah Montana, the Disney series that launched her career, with a new special.

    Below, The Hollywood Reporter is highlighting some of the biggest Disney and Nickelodeon child stars and where they are now.