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The power unit of bitcoin miner Hut 8 (HUT) has landed a five-year capacity contract with Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator, giving the Miami-based firm a dependable paycheck for 310 megawatts of natural-gas generation.

The deal covers plants in Iroquois Falls, Kingston, Kapuskasing, and North Bay, all owned by Far North, Hut 8’s joint venture with Macquarie Equipment Finance.

Starting May 2026, according to a press release, the plants will earn an average CAD $530 ($388.5) per megawatt-business day in the first year, with partial inflation indexation. The income comes from a government-backed AA3-rated agency.

Ontario forecasts electricity demand will grow 75% by 2050, with a shortfall of up to 5.8 gigawatts as early as 2030, the release adds.

HUT shares are higher by more than 15% on the news, leading the mining sector higher. Cleanspark (CLSK), MARA Holdings (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) are ahead a bit less than 10%.

Just yesterday, American Bitcoin Corp, a miner 80% owned by Hut 8 and backed by Eric and Donald Trump Jr., revealed it raised $220 million from accredited investors, about $10 million of which in bitcoin, according to an SEC filing.

REX Shares and Osprey Funds have selected Anchorage Digital as the exclusive custodian and staking partner for their newly launched REX-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF (SSK), the first crypto staking exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed in the U.S.

The fund, which offers investors exposure to Solana (SOL) while generating staking rewards, began trading Wednesday on the Cboe exchange Wednesday at $25.47 per share.

Unlike existing spot bitcoin and ethereum ETFs, which fall under different regulatory frameworks, SSK is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. That means a qualified custodian — not the fund issuer — is required to hold the underlying assets. Anchorage Digital, currently the only federally regulated bank authorized to both custody and stake digital assets, will fill that role.

“Staking is the next chapter in the crypto ETF story," said Nathan McCauley, CEO and co-founder of Anchorage Digital, in a release. "The launch of crypto staking ETFs marks a win for consumers and a significant step forward in full access to the crypto ecosystem."

The ETF gives investors indirect exposure to Solana while also participating in the blockchain’s staking mechanism, which provides additional yield by helping to secure the network. Staking allows holders of certain cryptocurrencies to earn rewards by locking their tokens into the network, a process that previously required technical know-how and direct interaction with crypto protocols.

By packaging staking into an ETF structure, REX Shares and Osprey aim to make that process accessible to a wider range of investors through traditional brokerage accounts.

SOL is higher by 2% over the past 24 hours to $150.

The SSK launch comes as the crypto ETF market continues to evolve beyond bitcoin and ether, with issuers exploring new ways to bring blockchain-based products to regulated exchanges. The introduction of staking ETFs marks a new phase for the industry, combining income-generating features with exposure to digital assets, all within an SEC-regulated investment vehicle.

Cryptocurrency markets remain in a lull on Wednesday as the majority of assets continue to trade within a tight range.

Cosmos' ATOM token is no exception, it is currently trading around $4.00 and looks poised to make a continued move to the upside.

ATOM's V-shaped recovery pattern formed during the 24-hour period from 1 July 15:00 to 2 July 14:00 suggests interest remains strong despite broader uncertainties affecting traditional markets.

Technical analysis

• The price action formed a clear V-shaped recovery pattern, with strong volume support emerging at the $3.91 level during the 2 July 01:00 session, where buying pressure exceeded the 24-hour volume average of 425,000 units.
• The overall range of $0.13 (3.24%) indicates moderate volatility, with price establishing a new resistance zone around $4.04, confirmed by multiple tests during the 11:00 and 13:00 sessions on 2 July, suggesting potential for continued upward momentum if this level is breached.
• During the 60-minute period from 2 July 13:06 to 14:05, ATOM-USD displayed a bullish trajectory, rising from $4.02 to $4.03, representing a 0.32% gain.
• The price action formed a cup-like pattern with a notable dip to $4.01 around 13:24 before staging a recovery.
• Volume significantly increased in the final minutes of the session, with particularly strong buying pressure emerging at 13:58-13:59 (33,000+ units combined), establishing a new support level at $4.02.
• The price successfully broke through the $4.03 resistance in the final minutes, with three consecutive higher highs from 14:03 to 14:05, suggesting potential continuation of the upward momentum.

Web3 promises an internet owned by its users, when in reality, the cash behind it now resembles a carnival barker’s till. Regulators are accelerating enforcement, courts are handing down multi-year sentences, and talent is migrating to sectors where equity rewards genuine traction.

Global venture financing declined to $23 billion in April this year, according to Crunchbase data, representing barely a third of its total in March. Yet, a stubborn share of that smaller pie still pours into token deals explicitly designed for rapid exit rather than durable revenue.

Unless capital breaks this fixation on high-velocity token churn, the idealized decentralized future will suffocate under the weight of its own exploitation.

Traditional venture capital (VC) tolerates early losses to cultivate long-term value, while token-centric funds invert that equation entirely.

Liquidity is pulled forward through initial exchange offerings, staking subsidies, and insider unlock schedules, while product-market fit is often put on the back burner — sometimes permanently.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case in April highlights this fact quite clearly. The $198 million fraud case, in which the SEC alleged that insiders had siphoned $57 million from investors, all while touting "risk-free" yields.

This example is not an outlier but a blueprint, as these structures function as rolling Ponzi schemes that demand a constant inflow of fresh buyers to subsidize yesterday’s promised rewards.

When macro funding tightens, there are too few latecomers left to fleece. The result: a graveyard of zombie protocols kept on life support by artificial emissions and empty liquidity pools.

Tokens as Exit Strategy

In a healthy network, a token serves as a coordination device that fuels governance, staking, or bandwidth, among other functions. One thing it is not is a golden parachute for insiders.

Despite this, 2025 term sheets routinely demand one-year cliffs and two-year full vesting, effectively guaranteeing early investors a liquid market long before a product ever even reaches beta.

The consequences may have slipped by before, but now they come backed by legislative force.

Criminal liability is no longer hypothetical, as evidenced by a New York federal judge sentencing the co-owner of three virtual-currency platforms to a 97-month prison term after he raised over $40 million on promises of guaranteed returns.

It should come as no surprise that the money was recycled to pay earlier investors and finance personal luxuries. The case turned on classic Ponzi scheme hallmarks, including fabricated trading bots, forged account screenshots, and relentless reference bonuses.

No amount of glossy branding can disguise the emptiness that held it all together. It’s a painstaking space to navigate through, as talent drain accelerates, reputational discount compounds, and Web3’s social license steadily erodes.

Engineers lured by inflated token grants soon discover that maintaining an abandoned codebase is professional quicksand. Institutional allocators, once happy to sprinkle 5% of a portfolio into digital assets, are quietly writing down those positions and redirecting risk capital to sectors with more transparent accounting. The list goes on…

Each collapse or indictment in Web3 hardens public scepticism and furnishes ammunition for critics who argue that all tokens are thinly veiled gambling chips.

Developers building decentralized identity or supply chain provenance tools are now finding themselves guilty by association. They’re forced to justify the very existence of tokens before audiences that no longer distinguish between utility coins and outright scams.

The common denominator among all these determining factors is a funding model that rewards narrative over substance. As long as term sheets treat the tokens as the exit, entrepreneurs will optimize for hype cycles instead of actual user needs.

Code quality will remain an afterthought, and every bull market will give birth to a larger class of disgruntled bagholders in the current state of the industry.

Reclaiming Web3 from Ponzinomics

Regulation can raise the cost of hollow token launches, but capital must finish the job.

The European Commission’s decision to tighten stablecoin oversight under MiCA, despite the European Central Bank’s objections, signals the arrival of adult supervision and a real recognition that consumer protection matters more than maximalist ideology.

Circle’s IPO in June raised over $1 billion at $31 per share and doubled its share price on the first trading day. It was just another echo of the same fast-exit dynamics that dominate token rounds that show that even "mature" crypto listings still provide VCs with near-instant liquidity.

Precise reserve requirements and pan-E.U. disclosure rules will force issuers to prove collateral rather than continue to print promises.

Limited partners should now demand utility milestones, such as measurable throughput gains, audited security proofs, and real user adoption, before any token unlocks.

Funds that replace 24-month vesting calendars with five-year lockups linked to protocol fee share will filter out rent-seekers and redirect resources to genuine engineering.

Web3 still has potential. It offers censorship-resistant finance, novel coordination tools, and programmable ownership. However, potential is not destiny, and the gears need to turn in harmony and the right direction.

If the money continues to chase quick-flip ponzinomics, the movement of Web3 will remain a slot machine masquerading as progress, while innovators capable of delivering the future steadily walk away.

Break the cycle now so that the next decade can see Web3 fulfill its promise of an internet that serves people, rather than serving them up for Ponzi VCs as exit liquidity.

Bitcoin (BTC) is set to defy historical post-halving patterns and push toward an all-time high in the second half, investment bank Standard Chartered (STAN) said in a research report Wednesday.

The cryptocurrency's price typically falls about 18 months after the halving, a quadrennial event that slows the rate of growth in bitcoin supply. This time, structural support from institutional investors is expected to counter any such weakness, said Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.

"The bitcoin halving cycle is dead," Kendrick wrote.

The analyst reiterated his year-end bitcoin price forecast of $200,000, and said he expects the largest cryptocurrency to rise to around $135,000 by the end of the third quarter.

Strong inflows from spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and renewed corporate treasury demand, which combined totaled 245,000 BTC in the second quarter, are seen as key drivers, and are expected to accelerate in the coming months, the report said.

Macro tailwinds include a possible early departure by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and progress on U.S. stablecoin legislation, both of which could fuel further upside, the report added.

Read more: U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Marks Milestone in Institutional Adoption: Gemini