Optimisus

Lantern Finance, Inc. today announced a significant reduction in its Bitcoin-backed loan rate, lowering the annual interest rate from 13% to 8% for one-year loans. Combined with a 2% upfront fee, this rate represents the lowest available for Bitcoin-backed loans in the United States backed by an institutional-grade custody solution. The new rate is effective immediately.
The reduction makes Lantern’s Bitcoin-backed loans among the most accessible in the market, allowing U.S. crypto holders to unlock liquidity against their Bitcoin holdings without selling, avoiding taxable events, and preserving long-term upside at a cost that has historically been out of reach for most borrowers.
Unlike other lenders that apply tiered pricing based on loan size, Lantern offers an 8 percent rate that applies uniformly across all borrowing amounts. The same rate is applied regardless of whether the loan amount is 1,000 dollars or 1,000,000 dollars, without volume minimums, size-based tiers, or additional conditions.
Lantern’s Bitcoin loans are fully custodied through BitGo, one of the most trusted names in digital asset security, with $250 million in insurance coverage and assets held in cold storage. Borrowers benefit from institutional-grade protection that most competing lenders cannot match without paying the premium that has traditionally come with it.
“Our borrowers deserve the best of both worlds real protection for their assets and a rate that doesn’t eat into their returns,” said Prince Jindal, Co-Founder of Lantern Finance. “Dropping to 8 percent is a statement: we believe crypto-backed lending should be affordable and safe, not a tradeoff between the two. This is the rate the market has been waiting for.”
“Security has always been our foundation, and now we’re making it the most cost-competitive option as well,” said Jung Won Kim, Co-Founder of Lantern Finance. “With BitGo’s custody infrastructure behind every loan, we’re proud to offer U.S. borrowers a product that sets a new standard for what a Bitcoin-backed loan should look like.”
Lantern Finance continues to expand its crypto-backed lending platform across the United States, supporting 12 digital assets and offering borrowers a seamless, fully regulated path to liquidity. The company’s conservative risk model — including a 50% maximum LTV, 72-hour grace periods, and human oversight during market stress — has kept its borrowers protected through multiple volatile market events.
For more information or to apply for a Bitcoin-backed loan, users can visit lantern.finance.
About Lantern Finance
Lantern Finance is a financial services and technology company built for crypto investors. Its mission is to simplify crypto finance by offering a safe, seamless platform where users can do more with their digital assets. Lantern’s primary offering is a crypto-backed loan product, which allows clients to safely access loans against their crypto holdings without selling.
Website: https://lantern.finance/

Leading global game developer WEMADE, parent company of the global blockchain ecosystem WEMIX, has announced that the highly anticipated global version of its flagship MMORPG, Legend of YMIR, will officially launch on the PC gaming platform Steam on April 7, 2026, at 10:00 AM KST.
The launch on Steam represents a pivotal milestone in the Legend of YMIR global expansion strategy. Circumventing traditional platform constraints, WEMADE aims to tap into the massive Steam ecosystem to secure a sustainable, long-term user base and enhance accessibility for players worldwide. By leveraging Steam’s robust global infrastructure, this move is designed not only as a platform addition but a core component of a broader effort to establish Legend of YMIR as a premier global PC franchise.
To coincide with the Steam launch, a massive content expansion will introduce a new combat class, the “Rune Fighter”, a formidable new hero that wields the ancient power of runes to deliver a unique and versatile combat style. Unlike standard content patches, this update is designed to expand the game’s tactical depth to attract new players while providing significant fresh content to incentivize the return of veteran users.
Michael Kim, Head of Game Business Division, WEMADE, said: “Our goal is to provide a premium PC gaming experience that lives up to the standards of the Steam community. Launching on a new platform alongside the ‘Rune Fighter’ expansion marks the beginning of a new era for our players.”
Earlier this month, WEMADE and leading gaming lifestyle brand Razer partnered to host the inaugural YMIR Cup World Championship, bringing together elite talent from across the globe. Following the event’s success as well as a Steam debut and major expansion on the horizon, WEMADE continues to scale the Norse mythology-inspired title into a long-term competitive IP built to support its global audience.
For more information about Legend of YMIR, please visit https://www.legendofymir.com. Pre-register on Steam and join the community today via the official Discord, YouTube, and Facebook channels for real-time updates and interaction.
About WEMADE
WEMADE is the only company combining over two decades of AAA game development success with a fully operational, game-proven blockchain ecosystem-built entirely on its proprietary Layer-1 mainnet, WEMIX3.0. Known for global hits such as The Legend of Mir, MIR4, NIGHT CROWS and Legend of YMIR, WEMADE is leading the industry in seamlessly integrating gameplay, tokenomics, NFTs, stablecoin payments, and blockchain infrastructure. Through WEMIX PLAY, WEMADE delivers a unified digital economy where players, creators, and investors can own, trade, and benefit from digital assets-powering the next generation of interactive entertainment and driving the evolution of Web3 gaming. For more information, please visit https://wemade.com/

ZAP (Zealous Auctions Protocol) brings transparent, on-chain price discovery to the IGRA token sale using the same continuous clearing auction mechanism that processed $59 million from 17,000 bidders across 191 countries during Aztec’s token launch. 3.5 percent of total IGRA supply is allocated with a $0.006 floor price and no lockup cliff.
Igra Labs has announced the launch of ZAP (Zealous Auctions Protocol), a public auction for the IGRA governance and security token. The auction takes place on Igra Network on March 26, 2026 and is open to all participants holding iKAS on the network.
ZAP implements a continuous clearing auction mechanism based on Uniswap’s CCA framework (https://docs.uniswap.org/contracts/liquidity-launchpad/CCA). The same design powered Aztec’s December 2025 token sale, which processed $59 million from approximately 17,000 bidders across 191 countries. In that auction, 96% of bidders contributed under $10,000 each, the sale cleared at 60% above the floor price, and no instances of sniping or automated price manipulation were detected.
The mechanism was designed to address structural failures in conventional token launches. Fixed-price sales create priority races that favor bots over people. Dutch auctions reward professional timing over genuine valuation. One-shot auctions invite last-minute sniping and demand suppression. Continuous clearing eliminates these dynamics by distributing tokens gradually over the auction period and determining price through sustained demand rather than speed.
Participants submit bids specifying a maximum price and total budget. Each block, the protocol determines a single market-clearing price: the highest price at which all tokens allocated for that block can be sold. Every participant filling in a given block pays that same clearing price, following uniform-price auction logic. Bids with higher maximum prices fill first, with remaining supply at the clearing price distributed pro-rata.
Early participation carries a structural advantage. Because bids are automatically spread across remaining auction blocks, earlier bids gain greater exposure to blocks where clearing prices are lower, producing more favorable average pricing. The mechanism rewards conviction and valuation over transaction speed.
3.5 percent of the total IGRA supply is allocated to the public sale, with a floor price of $0.006 per token. Tokens carry no lockup cliff or vesting schedule and are immediately available after claiming them from the auction. Auction proceeds will seed initial on-chain liquidity for secondary trading.
IGRA serves as both the security and governance token for Igra Network. Attesters stake IGRA to validate network execution state and earn a share of Layer 2 transaction fees generated by network activity. Fee revenue is derived entirely from actual network usage rather than inflationary token emissions. Governance authority over protocol upgrades, bridge parameters, and treasury allocation will transition to a fully decentralized autonomous organization within 24 months of launch.
“Most token launches are designed around the interests of insiders. ZAP is designed around the interests of participants,” said Pavel Emdin, CEO of Igra Labs. “Price discovery happens entirely on-chain. There is no negotiated pricing, no preferential allocation, and no offchain deals. The market determines the outcome in the open.”
“Aztec proved that continuous clearing works at real scale, with 17,000 people across 191 countries participating on fair terms,” said Ashton Wood, Head of Ecosystem and Business Development at Igra Labs. “That is exactly the kind of mechanism and participant base that a network built on proof-of-work decentralization should launch with.”
You can participate in the IGRA Auction at https://auctions.zealousswap.com/auctions/igra. Following the auction, IGRA will be available for secondary trading on centralized exchanges, as well as ZealousSwap (https://zealousswap.com), a decentralized exchange native to Igra Network.
Igra Network launched its public mainnet in March 2026 as the first decentralized EVM-compatible execution layer on Kaspa’s proof-of-work BlockDAG. The network delivers over 3,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality and architectural MEV resistance. A security audit by Sigma Prime completed clean with no unresolved issues.
About Igra Network
Igra Network is a based rollup on Kaspa’s proof-of-work BlockDAG delivering full EVM compatibility, 3,000+ TPS, sub-second finality, and architectural MEV resistance without a centralized sequencer. Users can learn more at igralabs.com (https://igralabs.com).

Mantle, the high-performance premier distribution for real-world assets connecting traditional finance and on-chain liquidity, today announced it has crossed $755 million in total DeFi TVL, according to DeFiLlama. This milestone represents 230% growth over six months, establishing Mantle as one of the fastest-growing networks in the current market cycle and surpassing several major Layer 1 chains like Avalanche and Sui in total DeFi TVL.
A Masterclass in Resilience
What makes this milestone particularly significant is the context in which it was achieved. In September 2025, Mantle’s Total Value Locked (TVL) ranged from $160M to $200M. Over six months, and despite navigating one of the most challenging and “coldest” market cycles in years, the ecosystem has achieved a growth rate approaching nearly a 300% increase.
While many protocols struggled to maintain liquidity, Mantle’s fast expansion reflects a flight to quality and utility among DeFi participants. This growth is not the result of short-term liquidity incentives or mercenary capital. It is the compound effect of deliberate ecosystem building, structural infrastructure advantages, and the unique distribution flywheel created by Mantle’s strategic alignment with Bybit, one of the world’s largest centralized exchanges with over 80 million users globally. 
Two Strategic Levers: RWA and CeDeFi
Mantle’s ecosystem is currently focused on two strategic, high-conviction growth levers.
Real World Assets (RWA): Mantle has positioned itself as the primary destination for the next generation of on-chain finance. By optimizing infrastructure for tokenized treasury bills, credit, and real estate, Mantle is ready to capture the massive liquidity influx as institutional RWA TVL begins to flow.The CeDeFi Flywheel: Through a strategic and deep collaboration with Bybit, Mantle continues to bridge the gap between centralized and decentralized finance. This “CeDeFi” narrative provides users with the security of on-chain transparency coupled with the liquidity and ease of use found in top-tier exchanges.
Mantle’s Ecosystem Momentum
The $755M milestone was accelerated by a series of recent ecosystem integrations and milestones:
Mantle x Aave: Mantle has crossed $1.34 billion in total lending and borrowing on Aave in just over a month since deployment, making it the third-largest Aave market globally, trailing only Plasma and Ethereum.Mantle Vault Expansion: Bybit’s Mantle Vault, now running directly on Mantle Network and powered by CIAN Protocol and Aave, has crossed $150M in AUM, serving as a direct CeFi-to-DeFi gateway for Bybit’s user base.Bybit Alpha Integration: Four Mantle-native assets are now live and tradeable on Bybit Alpha, giving 80M+ Bybit users seamless access to Mantle’s on-chain ecosystem.Capital Efficiency for MNT: 3Jane, a credit protocol on Ethereum backed by Paradigm, has whitelisted $MNT, $mETH, and $cmETH for unsecured USDC credit lines, expanding the capital utility of Mantle’s native assets.Frictionless Access via Everclear: Users can now deposit stablecoins from any supported chain directly into Aave on Mantle in a single transaction, with no manual bridging required.
“Surpassing major L1s like Avalanche and Sui is just the beginning,” said Emily Bao, Head of Spot at Bybit and Key Advisor at Mantle. “Our 230% growth despite the current “cold” market conditions and ongoing political tensions proves that our infrastructure is built for builders who value sustainability and scale. As RWA becomes the backbone of DeFi, Mantle will be the engine accelerating it.”
The Road to Top 10: RWAs as the Next Growth Lever
Mantle’s $755 million TVL milestone is a proof point, not an endpoint. The network’s roadmap is oriented around a clear thesis: as tokenized real-world assets begin flowing on-chain in earnest, Mantle is positioned to capture a disproportionate share of that activity.
The infrastructure is already in place. A deeply liquid lending market on Aave provides the yield and borrowing layer. The Bybit distribution flywheel provides the capital access. Mantle provides the RWA protocol foundation. With tokenized gold and further institutional-grade RWAs in the pipeline, Mantle’s TVL trajectory is structurally positioned to continue its upward path.
A top 10 ranking in global DeFi TVL is not a distant ambition. It is the natural outcome of a distribution layer that is already connecting the world’s largest CeFi ecosystem to on-chain liquidity at scale.
About Mantle
Mantle positions itself as the premier distribution layer and gateway for institutions and TradFi to connect with on-chain liquidity and access real-world assets, powering how real-world finance flows.
With over $4B+ in community-owned assets, Mantle combines credibility, liquidity and scalability with institutional-grade infrastructure to support large-scale adoption. The ecosystem is anchored by $MNT within Bybit, and built out through core ecosystem projects like mETH, fBTC, MI4 and more. This is complemented by Mantle Network’s partnerships with leading issuers and protocols such as Ethena USDe, Ondo USDY, and OP-Succinct.
For more information about Mantle, please visit: mantle.xyz
For more social updates, please follow: Mantle Official X & Mantle Community Channel  

 The Sandbox, an immersive gaming platform and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, today opened pre-registration for the playtest of The Sandbox NEXT, marking for the franchise a going back to its roots after 40 million historical downloads on mobile. The Sandbox NEXT is built by Unreal Engine, a significant technical shift for The Sandbox, which has historically run on Unity. Register for free at sandbox.game/next.
The Sandbox NEXT offers a multiplayer extraction and survival mobile gameplay in which players carry over their identity, progression, and all the voxel assets from The Sandbox game platform, including UGC and branded ones. The Sandbox NEXT provides players with a fast-paced, replayable PvP experience that connects intense and skill-demanding gameplay with the broader player-driven ecosystem of The Sandbox, where player avatars from over 56 collections of branded Avatars (Snoop Dogg, Attack on Titan, Smiley, Steve Aoki, Paris Hilton, Smurf, etc) extend beyond a single match.
Players of The Sandbox NEXT are dropped into the Desert, an open-terrain environment built around sightlines and long-range combat, or the City, a vertical, close-quarters map that rewards adaptability. Matches support solo play or multiplayer groups of up to 20 players per instance.
The Sandbox NEXT will serve as a new entry point into The Sandbox, where playing, collecting, and expressing identity all converge. The mobile launch represents a major step for one of web3’s most established entertainment brands, with more than 400 brand and IP partners spanning gaming, music, fashion and culture, including Warner Music Group, Gucci, Ubisoft, Snoop Dogg and Lacoste.
Season 7 of The Sandbox, which is currently ongoing, introduced three browser-based games as a frictionless entry point to The Sandbox ecosystem. Now, with The Sandbox NEXT playtest, The Sandbox is taking steps to integrate additional experiences via mobile.
“Like our recent launch of WebGL games, The Sandbox NEXT is part of our plan to increase the reach of The Sandbox so players can discover, play and come back more often, whether they’re on desktop or on their phone,” said Robby Yung, CEO of The Sandbox. “The goal is to meet people where they spend their time. A native mobile experience in addition to the desktop version makes that possible in a way browser access alone can’t.”
Registration for The Sandbox NEXT playtest is now open until 25 March 2026 at 2 p.m. (UTC), with limited spots assigned on a first-come first-served basis. The playtest begins on 26 March, with additional features rolling out as The Sandbox NEXT evolves. Register now at sandbox.game/next.
For more information about The Sandbox NEXT mobile app playtest, visit sandbox.game/blog and follow The Sandbox on X, Discord, and Instagram for regular updates.
About The Sandbox
The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is an immersive metaverse platform in which users play, create, and monetize unique experiences alongside their favorite brands, IPs, and celebrities across gaming, entertainment, music, art, and more. The Sandbox leverages web3 technologies to fully enable end-user creation and creator economies, disrupting existing platforms by providing both Players and Creators with true ownership of their assets, creations, and rewards as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Over 400 partners have joined The Sandbox, including Warner Music Group, Gucci, Ubisoft, Paris Hilton, Attack on Titan, Snoop Dogg, Lacoste, Steve Aoki, The Smurfs, and many more. For more information, please visit www.sandbox.game and follow the regular updates on X, Medium, and Discord.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ACN: 122 921 813) is a global digital assets leader building and investing in impactful technologies and ecosystems to reimagine future economies. It has received broad industry and market recognition including Fortune Crypto 40, Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2025, Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific, and Deloitte Tech Fast. Animoca Brands is recognized for building digital asset platforms such as the Moca Network, Open Campus, Anichess, and The Sandbox, as well as institutional-grade platforms; providing digital asset services to help Web3 companies launch and grow; and investing in frontier Web3 technology, with a portfolio of over 600 companies and digital assets. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on X, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok.

For the last few years, crypto has been trapped in the same loop.

New token.
New narrative.
New hype.
Same question:
“What pumps next?”
But the biggest money is rarely made by people chasing what is already loud.
It is made by people who catch the infrastructure shift before the crowd realizes the game has changed.
That is exactly why PayFi matters now.
Because while most of the market is still staring at charts, the rails for the next breakout phase of crypto are already being built in plain sight: stablecoins, on-chain settlement, wallet-native payments, cross-border money movement, and real-world merchant utility. This is not a theory anymore. It is not “maybe someday.” The numbers are already screaming it. Visa says stablecoins are becoming increasingly integrated into mainstream payments, and even states that every financial institution should have a stablecoin strategy.  
Let that sink in.
When a global payments giant is no longer asking whether stablecoins matter, but instead telling banks they need a strategy, that is not a niche crypto signal. That is a market transition signal. And most people still are not treating it like one. Visa’s recent materials also point to stablecoin circulation above $270 billion, while Reuters reported in January 2026 that Visa’s crypto leadership sees the category growing fast even if merchant acceptance is still early.  
This is where the real FOMO should begin.
Because the biggest mistake in every cycle is underestimating the layer that looks “boring” before it becomes essential. DeFi looked niche before it exploded. Stablecoins looked like side tools before they became systemically important. And now PayFi is at that same dangerous stage — the stage where smart builders are moving, while latecomers still think it is too early.
Look at the volume.

(https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/state-of-crypto-report-2025)
a16z’s State of Crypto 2025 says stablecoins processed $9 trillion in adjusted annual transaction volume, up 87% year over year, with monthly adjusted volume approaching $1.25 trillion in September 2025 alone. That is not small. That is not experimental. That is a financial rail scaling at a speed most people still do not fully understand.  

And here is the part the market keeps missing:
When transaction infrastructure starts compounding before the narrative fully matures, the upside does not wait for consensus.
By the time consensus arrives, positioning is already expensive.
That is why PayFi is dangerous — in the best way possible.
Dangerous for people who ignore it.
Dangerous for projects that move too slowly.
Dangerous for anyone still thinking crypto’s future is only about speculation.
Because the next wave is not just about holding digital assets.
It is about using them.
And the addressable market is already massive.

(https://www.triple-a.io/blog/crypto-ownership-report)
Triple-A estimates that 562 million people worldwide owned crypto in 2024, equal to about 6.8% of the global population, up 34% from 2023. Asia alone accounted for 326.8 million crypto holders. That is not a fringe user base anymore. That is a massive, globally distributed, digitally native capital base already primed for the next behavior shift.
Now combine that with where the highest-opportunity users are actually living.
(https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/2024-05-31-2024-5-62-8829064451881)
The UAE has one of the highest crypto ownership rates in the world. Singapore is among the global leaders too. These are not random markets. These are international business hubs, mobility hubs, wealth hubs, travel hubs, and payment innovation hubs. In other words, they are exactly the kind of environments where USDT, stablecoin payments, borderless spending, and wallet-based finance can move from niche behavior to daily habit much faster than people expect.  
Then add the lifestyle layer — the one most analysts still underprice.
MBO Partners says the number of American digital nomads reached 18.5 million in 2025, up 153% from 2019. Read that again: 153% growth. That is not a trend. That is a structural shift in how people live, work, earn, and move.  
And what do borderless people need?
They do not need another theory.
They need faster rails.
They need to earn globally, hold globally, spend globally, and move capital globally — without getting destroyed by settlement delays, banking fragmentation, unnecessary conversion friction, or outdated payment systems. That is where PayFi stops being a nice idea and starts becoming an inevitable product category.
Because the pain is still there.
The World Bank says the global average cost of sending remittances was still about 6.49% in Q1 2025, far above the UN target of 3%. Think about how insane that is. In 2025, the world still accepts a system where moving money across borders is expensive enough to eat into salaries, freelance income, family support flows, and small business margins. That is not efficiency. That is a giant market inefficiency waiting to be attacked.  
And whenever a giant inefficiency meets a scaling new rail, history gets very interesting.
That is exactly what Messari’s PayFi Ecosystem Analysis points toward. Messari frames PayFi as a multi-layer infrastructure opportunity addressing global payment and financing inefficiencies, and notes that monthly stablecoin transfer volume jumped from $1 trillion to $2.6 trillion in 2024. That kind of acceleration does not happen because a market is “curious.” It happens because demand is already forming underneath the surface.  
So ask yourself the real question:
If stablecoin rails are already processing trillions…
If global crypto ownership is already in the hundreds of millions…
If digital nomad and borderless work culture keeps rising…
If cross-border payment friction is still painfully high…
If major financial institutions are telling the world to prepare stablecoin strategies…
What exactly are people waiting for?
Permission?
Consensus?
Another buzzword?
That is how people get left behind.
The market loves to pretend it wants innovation early. In reality, most people only believe once the move is obvious. But obvious is late. Obvious is crowded. Obvious is where retail comes after the groundwork has already been laid by builders, operators, and ecosystems that moved when the signals were still asymmetric.
That is why PayFi feels like one of the most explosive setups in Web3 right now.
Not because everyone already gets it.
But because they do not.
And that gap between reality and recognition is where the biggest upside usually lives.
To be clear, this does not mean the whole stablecoin economy is already pure checkout payments today. Reuters reported that JPMorgan pushed back on the most aggressive long-term forecasts and argued only a relatively small share of current stablecoin demand is directly tied to payments, with much of the rest still concentrated in trading, DeFi, and collateral flows.  
But that is exactly why this moment matters.
If the category is already processing enormous volume, already gaining institutional attention, already aligning with borderless user behavior, and still has early penetration in actual payment usage, then the upside is not gone — it may be just beginning.

That is the asymmetry.
The rails are maturing.
The users are forming.
The pain is real.
The market still underprices the shift.
And that is where PayWithCrypto can hit differently.

Because the winners of the next cycle may not be the ones with the loudest slogans. They may be the ones who make USDT spending, QR payments, wallet utility, merchant adoption, and cross-border settlement feel so seamless that users stop calling it “crypto” and start calling it normal.
That is when sectors stop being narratives and start becoming defaults.
That is when habits form.
That is when retention compounds.
That is when distribution matters more than noise.
That is when the real moat begins.
So yes — people can keep chasing the next shiny token.
They can keep waiting until PayFi is “confirmed.”
They can keep pretending stablecoins are just parking tools.
But history is usually brutal to people who confuse early with risky and obvious with safe.
The market has already spent years proving that people are willing to buy digital assets.
The next and much bigger race is about who will help the world use them.
And when that shift fully hits,
the projects that moved first will not be asking for attention.
The next chapter of Web3 will not be won by noise alone.
It will be won by utility.
By repetition.
By daily usage.
By becoming part of how people actually live, spend, move, and transact.
That is why the rise of PayFi matters so much.
Because when stablecoins stop being something people only hold, and start becoming something people use every single day, the entire market changes.
At that point, the winners will not simply be platforms.
They will be infrastructure.
They will be habit.
They will be the rails beneath a new global economy.

And when that moment arrives, PayWithCrypto should not just be participating in the movement.
It should be leading it.
Because the future does not wait for permission —
it belongs to the builders bold enough to create it first.

PWC has become the first non-custodial crypto payment wallet ever officially recognised by both ASEAN Records and Asia Records.

This is not just news.
This is the beginning of a new era.
And everyone knows it—This is not the end.
This is the moment PayWithCrypto was truly written into history.
Because on this night, we witnessed a turning point:
PWC is now the first ever non-custodial crypto payment wallet officially recorded and recognised across both ASEAN and Asia.
PWC ONE was not simply an annual dinner.

It was an industry confirmation.
ASEAN & Asia Records Have Officially Written PWC Into History
In a crypto world full of noise and speculation, records are never self-proclaimed.
True milestones are validated only through official recognition. And on this night…
PWC achieved exactly that.
The PayWithCrypto Super App has been officially recognised by:

ASEAN Records

Asia Records
For one reason:
PWC has delivered the first true breakthrough in payment-grade crypto infrastructure:
Non-custodial wallet architectureA payment wallet built beyond exchangesMulti-country national QR scan-to-pay integrationInstant crypto-to-fiat settlement across borders
This is not a concept.
This is a record.
This is history.

ASEAN Records Official Coverage:
Asia Records Official Coverage:
This moment means one thing:
PWC is no longer just a project.
PWC is now infrastructure.
Founder & CEO Vincent Tse Recognised by Forbes — A True Pioneer of the Digital Economy

That same night, we witnessed another defining milestone.
PWC Founder & CEO Vincent Tse was recognised by Forbes for his leadership and impact in the digital economy.
Forbes feature:
https://www.forbesuruguay.com/innovacion/estos-son-40-lideres-tech-estan-revolucionando-futuro-digital-vale-pena-conocer-n82019
This is proof that the world is no longer watching short-term price movements.
The world is watching the builders of long-term infrastructure.
History remembers only two kinds of people:
Those who define the era— and those who miss it.
Co-Founder & CMO Jackson Neo Unveils 2026: From Payments to National-Scale Expansion

If 2025 marked the first phase of adoption:
B2C — Crypto payments reaching everyday users

Then 2026 will be the next explosion of scale:
B2B — Opening the Energy Trading & Global Logistics Settlement Layer
In 2026, PWC will officially integrate with energy companies and energy trading systems.
Payments will move into the core of:
EnergyLogisticsGlobal trade
Because the largest market of the future is not only products.
It is energy.
And PWC will become the payment rail that settles it.
B2G — Entering Government-Level Payment Infrastructure

Even more importantly…
This year, PWC will connect with Abu Dhabi’s government fine payment systems.
Formally opening:
B2G — Enterprise-to-Government Payment Infrastructure
This means PWC is not only serving users.
PWC is entering national-scale use cases.

And our global community will travel with us to Abu Dhabi—to witness the next chapter of growth together.
After PWC ONE, The World Will No Longer Ask: “Is PWC Real?”
The world will no longer ask: “Is PayWithCrypto real?”
The world will ask only one thing:
How early were you?
Because PWC ONE has never been just an annual dinner.
It stands for:
One Platform.
One App.
One Mission.
One Vision.
It stands for: One for All. All in One.
PWC ONE was not an ending.

It was the ignition of the future.
And the next chapter—
will not wait for anyone.

Enjin, the pioneer in metaverse experiences and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), today unveiled Essence of the Elements, a Multiverse initiative built around true player ownership with in-game items that can be used, progressed, and expanded across multiple games. Rather than a single in-game event, Essence of the Elements builds upon the model where players genuinely own their items, carry them between different worlds, and grow their value through cross-game play.
Through Enjin’s Multiverse Dashboard, players link their gaming wallet to access a shared progression system spanning multiple titles. By completing quests and challenges across different games, players earn Essence and unlock new items that evolve beyond any one game, creating a growing set of Multiverse collectibles. Each season—Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth—adds new opportunities to expand an item’s utility and unlock additional Multiverse items through play in diverse game environments.
Essence of the Elements expands the original prize pool of past Multiverse chapters. Each season in this event introduces prizes that evolve as players gain Essence. These NFT rewards are infused with Enjin Coin (ENJ), with 50,000 ENJ allocated per season across rewards. At the end of each season, eligible players enter a draw to receive a new seasonal Multiverse item. Each season also features a prize of an exclusive, element-themed Degen NFT with a staking pool capacity of 1 million.
Rene Stefancic, COO of Enjin commented, “Essence of the Elements shows what’s possible when players truly own their items. Using NFTs, Enjin enables items that belong to players, not games, and can move, evolve, and unlock new value across multiple worlds. This is about ownership that persists beyond any single title, where progress in one game creates opportunity in another, and players stay in control of what they earn.” 
Essence of the Elements is a free-to-play campaign to all gamers from Web3 newcomers to veteran players. Games in the first season include ENJ Excavators, Etherscape, Into the Multiverse, Lost Relics, and The Six Dragons. Additional games may join in future seasons.
Enjin is dedicated to delivering a cross-game journey that continuously evolves and improves, with a fair-play and sustainable structure that can grow over time.
The Essence of the Elements Multiverse Chapter is now live on multiverse.nft.io.
Rene Stefancic, COO at Enjin, available for interview
About Enjin
Enjin is the leading ecosystem for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), offering a comprehensive suite of products for creating, trading, distributing, and integrating NFTs into virtual worlds. As a scalable, accessible platform, Enjin’s technology has seen wide application in blockchain games, apps, enterprise programs, and innovative marketing campaigns. The Enjin ecosystem is fueled by Enjin Coin (ENJ), a utility token used to back the value of blockchain assets. To date, over one billion Enjin-powered assets have been created. For more information, visit enjin.io.
For Media Enquiries
Enjin
Glhaiza Pacheco
E: contact@enjin.io

Check Point Research revealed that the North Korean advanced persistent threat (APT) group, KONNI, has been targeting blockchain developers in Japan, Australia, and India. The hackers are using AI-generated PowerShell backdoors.
According to reports released on January 21, 2026, the attack starts when KONNI uses Discord to offer a link that prompts developers to download a ZIP file. This archive contains elements that start a multi-stage infection process on the victim’s computer.
The ZIP file includes a Windows shortcut and an apparently authentic PDF file. The Windows shortcut initiates scripts that launch a PowerShell script in memory, generate scheduled tasks, and unpack other files. This script then connects to servers under the attackers’ control, creating a permanent backdoor on the compromised system.
Check Point Research reveals that the PowerShell backdoor possesses unique features linked to the development of large language model (LLM) code. Additionally, the script is renowned for its modular design, excellent English documentation, and educational placeholders.
Also, it includes a comment that indicates where to put a unique project identification (UUID). Every 13 minutes, while waiting for more instructions from the attackers, the backdoor transmits system information to a remote server using this UUID to identify the project instance on each compromised device.

Since at least 2014, KONNI has been active. Previous efforts have targeted South Korean governmental and diplomatic institutions as well as organizations associated with the Korean Peninsula.
The organization’s attention has recently switched to the cryptocurrency industry, namely targeting blockchain developers who oversee the infrastructure and code for initiatives using digital currencies.

The Tezos protocol has been successfully upgraded, following an on-chain governance process with broad participation from bakers (validators) and community members. 
Developed by Nomadic Labs, Trilitech, and Functori, Tallinn is the 20th protocol upgrade, marking 20 evolutions of the Tezos blockchain, proposed, adopted, and seamlessly activated by the protocol itself.
“Adapting to market demand 20 times over 7 years without network disruptions, and in a fully decentralized way, is undeniable proof of Tezos’ reliability and future-proof design,” said Yann Régis-Gianas, Head of Engineering at Nomadic Labs. ”
The Tallinn upgrade shortens Tezos Layer-1 block time to 6 seconds, reducing latency and speeding up finality on the network’s censorship-resistant settlement layer. This pairs naturally with Etherlink, Tezos’ EVM-compatible Layer-2, which already confirms transactions in under 50 milliseconds, now backed by Layer-1 finality in two blocks, or 12 seconds.
Tallinn also enables all bakers (network validators) to attest to every block, instead of a subset of bakers, which brings stronger security and more predictable staking rewards. This is achieved through the use of BLS cryptographic signatures, which aggregate hundreds of signatures into just one per block. By lightening the load on nodes, it also opens the door to further block time reductions.
Finally, Tallinn introduces an ‘Address Indexing Registry’ that can improve storage efficiency by up to 100x for apps using the Michelson runtime. It is done by eliminating redundant address data, and apps adopting this feature will benefit from lower costs and higher potential throughput. 
“Based on inputs from Tezos builders, our development team is excited to be able to offer such drastic improvements for enterprise-scale apps, large NFT ledgers, and other setups storing many addresses,” said Yann Régis-Gianas, Head of Engineering at Nomadic Labs. 
Since launching in 2018, the Tezos blockchain has continued to evolve seamlessly through protocol upgrades, with each activation introducing a series of features designed to improve the overall experience of using and building on the network. Tallinn is another forkless step forward in making Tezos faster, more secure, and optimized for enterprise use, with no compromise on decentralization, and further proof of the network’s ability to quickly adapt to user needs and ensure longevity through continuous innovation and optimization. 
About Tezos
Tezos is an open-source and energy-efficient blockchain designed to empower institutions, developers, and businesses and facilitate value transfer in a digital environment. It is designed for the scalable deployment of decentralized applications. As one of the first Proof of Stake blockchains, Tezos is globally supported and valued for its strong governance, long-term upgradability, and smart contract capabilities. For more information about Tezos, visit http://www.tezos.com. 

As payments, finance, and blockchain infrastructure continue to converge a new paradigm of value circulation is taking shape.

1. From DeFi to PayFi: The Inevitable Evolution of Blockchain Applications
In the early stages of blockchain development, industry focus was largely centered on asset transfers and financial derivatives.
DeFi (Decentralized Finance) proved that blockchain could build financial systems without intermediaries.
However, it did not solve a more fundamental problem: everyday payments and settlement.
No matter how advanced technology becomes, the real economy ultimately revolves around one core activity:
Payment.
PayFi (Payment Finance) emerged precisely in this context.
It is not a rejection of DeFi, but a natural extension toward the real economy.
2. What Is PayFi? It Solves Payment Problems, Not Speculative Finance
PayFi = Blockchain × Payments × Financial Infrastructure
Unlike DeFi, which focuses on how capital is lent, traded, or structured into derivatives, PayFi addresses far more fundamental and high-frequency use cases:
Digital Currency PaymentCrypto PaymentUSDT Payment / Stablecoin PaymentDigital Currency SettlementDigital Currency Online AcquiringCross-Border Payment
PayFi does not aim to create new speculative financial instruments.
Its purpose is to make digital currencies scalable tools for real-world payment and settlement.

3. The Real Foundation of PayFi in 2025: Data Is Driving the Shift
PayFi is widely discussed in 2025 not because of hype, but because of data.
Key Industry Indicators in 2025 (Aggregated Market Trends)
Global annual stablecoin settlement volume has reached multiple trillions of USD, with more than half used for payments, remittances, and settlement, not speculation.Emerging markets — Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa —are experiencing the fastest growth in stablecoin payments, with annual growth rates commonly exceeding 40%–60%.The cross-border payment market continues to expand, while traditional systems still charge 3%–6% average fees, compared to sub-1% total costs for stablecoin-based settlement.In multiple countries, USDT has effectively become a cross-border unit of account, especially in tourism, freelancing, international trade, and e-commerce settlement.
These data points make one thing clear:
The question is no longer whether PayFi will happen —but who will be able to absorb and scale this demand.
4. Why Stablecoins (USDT) Became the Core Carrier of PayFi
PayFi depends on one essential condition: stability.
Historically, cryptocurrencies struggled as payment tools due to price volatility.
The maturity of stablecoins fundamentally changed this assumption.
Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC offer:
Stable value anchoringNear-instant on-chain transfersGlobal accessibilityDeep liquidity and market depth
This allows USDT payments to gradually take on monetary characteristics in the real world,
forming the settlement foundation of the PayFi ecosystem.

5. PWC’s Role in the PayFi Framework:
The Real-World Payment Connectivity Layer within the PayFi ecosystem, not every participant directly faces users or merchants.
What truly determines real-world adoption is the intermediate layer connecting on-chain systems to real-world commerce.
PWC (PayWithCrypto) is one of the representative players in this layer.
What Is PWC?
Functionally, PWC is neither an exchange nor a simple wallet.
It is a payment network and settlement system connecting crypto payments with real-world merchants.
It solves a critical mismatch:
Users want to pay with digital currency while merchants want to receive local fiat currency.
How PWC Operates (PayFi in Practice)
User side:
Users complete crypto payments using USDT and other stablecoins
System layer:
On-chain settlement and clearing mechanisms handle digital currency settlement
Merchant side:
Merchants receive local fiat currency without bearing volatility risk. This structure allows Digital Currency Online Acquiring to scale in a manner similar to traditional online acquiring systems.
As of 2025, PWC has completed large-scale deployment across multiple Southeast Asian markets, covering tens of millions of merchants, making it one of the most tangible real-world PayFi implementations.
6. PayFi Is Changing More Than Just Payment Methods
From a long-term perspective, PayFi’s significance extends far beyond “faster and cheaper payments.”
As payments and settlement move fully on-chain, several structural shifts emerge:
Payment equals settlement, dramatically improving capital efficiencyTransparent, verifiable transaction data, enabling new credit systemsLower cross-border barriers, allowing SMEs to directly participate in global commerceFinancial services built around real transactions, rather than speculative activity
PayFi is becoming a core infrastructure layer connecting the real economy with blockchain-based systems.
7. Conclusion: PayFi Changes the World Through Adoption, Not Disruption
PayFi will not replace banks or traditional payment systems overnight.
It resembles the early TCP/IP protocols of the internet — initially a supplement, eventually one of the default standards.
When people become accustomed to paying with USDT, merchants routinely accept digital currency payments, and businesses settle cross-border transactions using stablecoins, PayFi will have fulfilled its most important mission.
PayFi is not a slogan.
It is a payment infrastructure already being adopted by the real world.