yield – Earlybirds Invest https://earlybirdsinvest.com Latest Crypto News Thu, 04 Sep 2025 01:23:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.7 https://i0.wp.com/earlybirdsinvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/cropped-New-Project-2024-12-17T235703.455.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 yield – Earlybirds Invest https://earlybirdsinvest.com 32 32 240146708 VivoPower Unveils $30M XRP Yield Program With Doppler, Plans $200M Expansion https://earlybirdsinvest.com/vivopower-unveils-30m-xrp-yield-program-with-doppler-plans-200m-expansion/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/vivopower-unveils-30m-xrp-yield-program-with-doppler-plans-200m-expansion/#respond Thu, 04 Sep 2025 01:23:45 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/vivopower-unveils-30m-xrp-yield-program-with-doppler-plans-200m-expansion/

Nasdaq-listed VivoPower International has entered the XRP finance sector with a $30 million treasury deployment through Doppler Finance, marking the first phase of a broader $200 million allocation plan.

The move positions the energy solutions company as one of the first publicly listed firms to adopt an institutional framework for earning yield on XRP reserves.

Institutional Adoption Gains Momentum

Announcing the partnership on September 2, Doppler emphasized that the program will focus on qualified custody, segregated accounts, and real-time proof-of-reserves, aiming to standardize risk controls in XRP-based finance.

The initial phase involves a $30 million deployment, which the company intends to be the first step toward a total allocation of $200 million. This initiative stands out for its institutional-grade design, prioritizing qualified custody, segregated accounts, and Proof-of-Reserves verification over chasing the highest possible returns.

In a statement, Kevin Chin, VivoPower’s executive chairman and CEO, said the firm views XRP as a “cornerstone treasury asset” and stressed the strategic importance of South Korea, where an estimated 20% of the global XRP supply is held. Doppler, which has a strong presence in the Korean market, will provide the programmable infrastructure for the initiative.

This development comes at a time when the Ripple ecosystem is gaining momentum. Gemini recently launched a credit card offering rewards in XRP, while industry players continue to discuss the potential for a spot-based exchange-traded fund.

Furthermore, the XRP Ledger itself is experiencing growth, particularly in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization sector, where its market valuation has increased significantly, going from about $130 million in June to $320 million by late August per data from RWA.xyz.

XRP Price Performance

Looking at the market, XRP is currently trading at $2.84, gaining a modest 1.3% in the last 24 hours after oscillating between $2.77 and $2.86.

Over the past week, the asset slipped 5.7%, underperforming the broader market’s 0.5% dip. The red also extends to XRP’s one-month performance, where it shed nearly 6% of its price. However, it is still showing a 399% gain year-on-year.

Technically, XRP remains pressured after falling from its all-time high of $3.65 in mid-July. Analysts previously noted that the token had formed a spinning bottom candlestick pattern, which is often read as a potential reversal after a steep decline.

Key support has held at $2.7, with resistance levels looming at $2.9 and $3.0. If bulls regain control, a breakout above $3 could set the stage for a test of the $3.6 to $4 zone. However, failure to defend support risks a drop toward $2.5.

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]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/vivopower-unveils-30m-xrp-yield-program-with-doppler-plans-200m-expansion/feed/ 0 56644 GENIUS ban won’t stop institutions from seeking stablecoin yield — ex-Standard Chartered exec https://earlybirdsinvest.com/genius-ban-wont-stop-institutions-from-seeking-stablecoin-yield-ex-standard-chartered-exec/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/genius-ban-wont-stop-institutions-from-seeking-stablecoin-yield-ex-standard-chartered-exec/#respond Mon, 11 Aug 2025 21:07:20 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/genius-ban-wont-stop-institutions-from-seeking-stablecoin-yield-ex-standard-chartered-exec/

The landmark US GENIUS Act could serve as a major catalyst for stablecoin adoption both domestically and abroad. But rather than simply boosting demand for dollar-backed digital currencies, it may unintentionally push capital into the tokenization market as investors seek yield on their holdings.

That was one of the key takeaways from a recent interview with Will Beeson, a former Standard Chartered executive and now founder and CEO of Uniform Labs, a developer of institutional liquidity solutions for tokenized financial markets.

A central provision of the GENIUS Act is its blanket ban on yield-bearing stablecoins, which prevents holders from earning interest on their digital dollar balances. According to Beeson, this restriction will accelerate the flow of capital into tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

An excerpt of US President Donald Trump’s GENIUS Act fact sheet. Source: White House

“With yield-bearing stablecoins off the table, institutions need a compliant way to earn yield while staying liquid,” Beeson told Cointelegraph. “Capital is already shifting.”

He noted that trillions of dollars in non-interest-bearing stablecoins are poised to enter digital finance. “Institutional holders aren’t going to sit on idle, depreciating assets. They’ll demand yield — and infrastructure that makes accessing it […] compliant,” he said, adding: 

“The next phase isn’t about holding idle stablecoins. It’s about programmatic access to risk-free yield, and the ability to move between cash and high-quality assets at will.”

Beeson’s view is shared by Aptos Labs’ Solomon Tesfaye, who told Cointelegraph that the GENIUS Act will benefit tokenization as much as it does stablecoins.

To meet this need, Beeson’s Uniform Labs is building Multiliquid, an institutional liquidity layer for tokenized markets that enables programmable, real-time conversion between tokenized assets, such as US Treasurys and money market funds, and stablecoins.

Tokenized Treasury and money market funds have witnessed significant growth in 2025. Source: Glassy Nakamoto

Multiliquid’s open-architecture design allows compliant issuers to integrate without commercial agreements.

While declining to name partners, Beeson confirmed that Uniform Labs is “working with a number of leading institutions, fintechs, and stablecoin issuers” ahead of its production launch later this year.

Before launching Uniform Labs, Beeson served as chief product officer at Libeara, a tokenization platform incubated by Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures.

Related: Tokenized money market funds emerge as Wall Street’s answer to stablecoins

Tokenization surge to broaden beyond private credit, government bonds

Although the GENIUS Act gives newfound legitimacy to stablecoins — and to digital currencies more broadly — “the next phase of digital assets is focused on asset tokenization,” wrote Sandra Waliczek, a member of the World Economic Forum’s blockchain and digital asset division.

Waliczek highlighted tokenization’s potential to level the investing playing field for asset classes like real estate and private equity, which have historically been restricted to wealthier investors.

“Tokenization changes this by enabling asset fractionalization, breaking assets into smaller, more affordable units,” she wrote.

A snapshot of the nearly $26 billion tokenization market. Source: RWA.xyz

So far, the nearly $26 billion tokenization market has largely centered on private credit and government bonds. But as Beeson noted, the disruption will extend far beyond those segments, encompassing “corporate bonds, credit and credit funds, commodities, equities, real estate funds, private equity funds, and ultimately private equity and real estate assets themselves.”

Related: GENIUS Act scrutinized for stablecoin yield ban as TradFi tokenization gains steam

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/genius-ban-wont-stop-institutions-from-seeking-stablecoin-yield-ex-standard-chartered-exec/feed/ 0 52711 Pendle’s TVL records $8.3 billion since the debut of the platform trading yield https://earlybirdsinvest.com/pendles-tvl-records-8-3-billion-since-the-debut-of-the-platform-trading-yield/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/pendles-tvl-records-8-3-billion-since-the-debut-of-the-platform-trading-yield/#respond Sat, 09 Aug 2025 19:28:34 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/pendles-tvl-records-8-3-billion-since-the-debut-of-the-platform-trading-yield/

The total value of the pendle is locked (TVL) Its native token pendle surged to a record $8.27 billion, but its native token pendle went to $5.6 last week, at 45%.

According to Dune Data, Bitcoin’s funding rate averages around 10% this week, about $80 billion in public interest, changing hands by over $8 billion a year between years and shorts.

Boros packages these yields into tradable on-chain assets called yield units (Only)causing the trader to run out of rates themselves.

Boros can be used for many pre-tactics, such as including hedge floating financing payments in a fixed interest rate or locking at high yields during volatile periods.

In the first two days, Boros attracted more than 283 Wes deposits (Approximately $1.1 million) 6.4 WBTC (Approximately $750,000) The safe shows the data.

Activities in Pendle’s Arbitrum deployment have skyrocketed alongside launches, with active addresses well above the average each month, with both buyers and sellers increasing as they follow the data in TheTie, riding on distributed exchanges.

Boros currently supports BTC and ETH funding rates, but the plan is to expand to other floating yields, such as compensation and tokenized Treasury bills.

Pendle performance and locked totals were also behind the high lipid ecosystem. The company was integrated with high lipids later last month. Since then, Khype from Kinetiq, the largest liquid staking token in HypereVM, has raised $221 million at a total locked price.

Pendle Token has significantly outperformed the broader cryptocurrency market, measured by the Coindesk 20 (CD20) index over the past week, up 13.15% over that period.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/pendles-tvl-records-8-3-billion-since-the-debut-of-the-platform-trading-yield/feed/ 0 52383 ONyc Launches on Kamino, Unlocking Real-World Yield and Collateral Utility in Solana DeFi https://earlybirdsinvest.com/onyc-launches-on-kamino-unlocking-real-world-yield-and-collateral-utility-in-solana-defi/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/onyc-launches-on-kamino-unlocking-real-world-yield-and-collateral-utility-in-solana-defi/#respond Tue, 05 Aug 2025 15:03:48 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/onyc-launches-on-kamino-unlocking-real-world-yield-and-collateral-utility-in-solana-defi/

August 5th, 2025 – Hamilton, Bermuda

OnRe’s yield-bearing asset, ONyc, is now accepted as collateral within Solana’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

This development enables the integration of real-world yield sources into DeFi applications. Incentive programs from USDG and Ethena have launched to reduce borrowing costs, enhance yield opportunities, and support the use of real-world collateral onchain.

Onchain Yield Coin (ONyc), a yield-bearing, stablecoin-backed asset issued by OnRe, is now live on Kamino, Solana’s largest DeFi money market. This integration marks the first time reinsurance-backed yield is being used as onchain collateral in Solana DeFi, opening access to real-world risk through a composable, liquid, and resilient asset. 

A New Form of Yield in DeFi

Kamino secures over $700M in stablecoin TVL and underpins liquidity and capital strategies across the Solana ecosystem. With ONyc now live on Kamino, users can:

  • Leverage ONyc as collateral for borrowing, lending, or looping strategies
  • Earn ~14%+ base yield uncorrelated to crypto volatility
  • Enter or exit positions 24/7 with onchain liquidity
  • Track NAV in real time through verifiable pricing data

Together, these capabilities make ONyc a powerful tool for capital deployment across market conditions. By enabling lending, borrowing, and looping in a fully composable way, ONyc brings real-world yield into active use across Solana’s DeFi ecosystem.

The integration is powered by Chainlink’s Onchain NAV solution, which sources ONyc’s net asset value from OnRe and delivers it in real time via Chainlink Data Streams. This ensures tamper-resistant pricing and enables secure collateralization, supporting reinsurance-backed strategies with verifiable, onchain fund valuations.

“ONyc’s launch on Kamino marks a broader shift in DeFi, bringing real-world yield to Solana with the transparency, liquidity, and composability the ecosystem was built for,” said Dan Roberts, Co-Founder and CEO of OnRe. “It introduces a new class of collateral designed to perform through market cycles and support sustained DeFi activity. Solana has become a hub for capital innovation, and Kamino continues to set the standard for how real-world assets should operate onchain.”

Incentives Designed for Early Participation

To encourage early adoption, OnRe is launching incentive programs in collaboration with Kamino, Global Dollar Network, and Ethena:

Borrowing Incentives

A $200K rewards pool is available to lower borrowing costs for users who deposit ONyc as collateral to borrow USDG on Kamino. This reduces costs and creates room for more favorable yield spreads.

“This marks one of the first fully permissionless implementations of real-world yield distributed directly onchain through DeFi,” said Nick Robnett at Paxos, on behalf of Global Dollar Network. “We are proud to support ONyc’s launch on Solana and Kamino, leveraging USDG to advance OnRe’s vision of bringing real-world assets with intrinsic value onchain and making them accessible to a global user base.”

Looping Strategies

Participants can also redeploy borrowed USDG to acquire additional ONyc or other assets, increasing exposure and unlocking higher returns. Incentives apply on up to $20M in total borrowing volume.

Ethena Points Multiplier

In addition, OnRe is offering a 5x Ethena Points multiplier to ONyc holders on qualifying sUSDe deposits, unlocking additional rewards for those providing real-world yield collateral.

Integration of Real-World Yield Mechanisms in DeFi

ONyc integrates premium-backed yield from real-world assets with decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure, enabling an onchain structure designed to support scalability and diversification beyond traditional financial instruments.

“One of the most exciting things for Kamino’s users is onboarding high quality collateral assets, and ONyc is a great example of that. Access to credit and leverage for ONyc holders, powered by Kamino, is a great example of bringing DeFi utility to tokenize real-world investments,” said Mark Hull, a Kamino contributor.

With base yields above 14% and expanding utility across Solana, ONyc gives users a high-performing alternative to traditional DeFi strategies. Mint directly on the OnRe app or swap instantly using Kamino Swap in the OnRe Market.

About Kamino

Kamino Finance is the largest money market on Solana, with over $4B in assets deployed across its suite of credit, leverage, and liquidity products. Through products like automated liquidity vaults, the K-Lend lending market, and tools for advanced trading strategies, Kamino helps users and institutions deploy capital efficiently. Kamino is the go-to platform for funds, market makers, and stablecoin issuers operating at scale on Solana.

About Global Dollar Network

Global Dollar Network is the world’s fastest growing stablecoin network with unmatched economic upside. Powered by Global Dollar (USDG), a US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Paxos Digital Singapore and Paxos Issuance Europe, Global Dollar Network offers a transparent and equitable economic model that rewards partners for their contributions. Global Dollar Network partners include industry leaders such as Anchorage Digital, Bullish, Kraken, OKX, Paxos, Robinhood, Worldpay, and more. Note: USDG is available on Solana, Ink, and Ethereum.

About Chainlink

Chainlink is the backbone of the blockchain industry, the global standard for connecting blockchains to real-world data, other blockchains, governments, and enterprise systems. Chainlink has enabled tens of trillions in transaction value across the blockchain economy, powering critical use cases across DeFi, banking, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), cross-chain, and more. Users can learn more by visiting chain.link.

About OnRe

OnRe bridges the reliability of the $750B global reinsurance market with the transformative power of blockchain. Licensed to deploy digital assets as insurance collateral, OnRe provides a new class of investors with direct access to consistent real-world yield through structured products designed to perform across market cycles. With a focus on transparency, scalability, and capital efficiency, OnRe is transforming how capital is deployed, bringing opportunity to a system that has historically been out of reach.

Disclaimer: This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities or digital assets. ONyc may be accessible via decentralised protocols such as Kamino, but OnRe does not operate or control any secondary market for the token. Secondary trading occurs independently of OnRe. Capital is at risk. Redemption with OnRe is only available to qualified investors. Access may be restricted in certain jurisdictions.

Contact

Head of Operations
Sarah George
OnRe
sarah@onre.finance

This content is sponsored and should be regarded as promotional material. Opinions and statements expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of The Daily Hodl. The Daily Hodl is not a subsidiary of or owned by any ICOs, blockchain startups or companies that advertise on our platform. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in any ICOs, blockchain startups or cryptocurrencies. Please be advised that your investments are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility.

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]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/onyc-launches-on-kamino-unlocking-real-world-yield-and-collateral-utility-in-solana-defi/feed/ 0 51621 SharpLink’s quest for 1 million Ethereum boosted by $3 million staking yield https://earlybirdsinvest.com/sharplinks-quest-for-1-million-ethereum-boosted-by-3-million-staking-yield/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/sharplinks-quest-for-1-million-ethereum-boosted-by-3-million-staking-yield/#respond Tue, 29 Jul 2025 16:13:40 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/sharplinks-quest-for-1-million-ethereum-boosted-by-3-million-staking-yield/

SharpLink has generated approximately $3 million in rewards from staking its 438,190 Ethereum holdings, according to a company update released on July 29.

According to the firm, it has leveraged staking rewards and equity issuance to expand its ETH treasury during the past week. To date, the company has earned 722 ETH, worth around $2.7 million, through staking activities alone.

Last week, the firm also acquired 77,210 ETH, valued at about $295 million, for its reserve.

SharpLink Ethereum Purchases
SharpLink Ethereum Purchases (Source: CryptoQuant)

This has helped push the Ethereum-focused firm to now hold 438,190 ETH, placing the total value of its reserves at roughly $1.687 billion based on the current market price of $3,849 per ETH.

The company revealed that it has moved 44% closer to its long-term goal of acquiring one million ETH.

Meanwhile, SharpLink’s Ethereum holdings are also generating a sizable unrealized gain.

SharpLink Ethereum Treasury Reserve
SharpLink Ethereum Treasury Reserve (Source: CryptoTreasuries)

The company currently sits on an estimated $400 million in unrealized profit as a result of its dollar-cost-averaging strategy.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/sharplinks-quest-for-1-million-ethereum-boosted-by-3-million-staking-yield/feed/ 0 50329 Binance launches RWUSD yield bearing stablecoin-like product offering 4.2% APR from RWAs https://earlybirdsinvest.com/binance-launches-rwusd-yield-bearing-stablecoin-like-product-offering-4-2-apr-from-rwas/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/binance-launches-rwusd-yield-bearing-stablecoin-like-product-offering-4-2-apr-from-rwas/#respond Mon, 28 Jul 2025 10:57:49 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/binance-launches-rwusd-yield-bearing-stablecoin-like-product-offering-4-2-apr-from-rwas/

Binance has launched RWUSD, a new principal-protected yield product offering up to 4.2% APR benchmarked against tokenized U.S. Treasury bills and other real-world assets.

The offering aims to continue Binance’s plan to incorporate off-chain financial instruments into its Earn product suite while avoiding direct exposure to tokenized assets.

Users can subscribe to RWUSD using stablecoins like USDT or USDC, depending on regional availability. Upon subscription, Binance issues RWUSD in a 1:1 ratio to a user’s Spot Account, with no associated subscription fees.

Redemption is only permitted in USDC at the same 1:1 ratio, regardless of the initial stablecoin used. Fast Redemption and Standard Redemption options carry fees of 0.1% and 0.05% respectively, though Binance may periodically waive Fast Redemption fees at its discretion.

RWUSD is not a stablecoin

According to Binance, RWUSD is neither a stablecoin nor a tokenized asset, nor does it represent ownership in any RWA. Instead, it functions as a ledger entry reflecting a user’s principal and accrued rewards within Binance’s infrastructure.

Unlike stablecoins, RWUSD cannot be traded, transferred to other accounts, or withdrawn on-chain. However, like stablecoins, it may be used as collateral for Binance VIP Loans, providing yield continuity even when leveraged within Binance’s loan ecosystem.

Rewards accrue daily and are distributed in RWUSD directly to the user’s Spot Account. Yield rates are determined at Binance’s discretion and benchmarked against instruments such as tokenized U.S. Treasury bills. The APR is flat across all deposit sizes, with no tiered rates or limits on subscription amounts up to $5 million per user.

RWUSD begins accruing rewards the day after subscription, based on the lowest daily balance held. Distribution occurs two days after the subscription, and rewards are only issued for balances above 0.01 RWUSD. Redemption timing varies by method: Fast Redemption delivers USDC instantly, while Standard Redemption returns assets to users by 10:00 UTC on the third day following the request.

Although RWUSD is benchmarked to yields derived from tokenized RWAs, Binance explicitly clarifies that it does not constitute a tokenized security, fund, or transferable on-chain asset. The firm emphasizes that users have no direct claim to the underlying RWAs or the income generated.

RWUSD is unavailable to U.S. persons and subject to change in yield rates, subscription caps, and redemption conditions, per Binance’s internal policies.

The product’s backing stems from revenue streams within Binance’s ecosystem and select off-chain assets, not from on-chain collateral or third-party custodians.

RWUSD remains confined within Binance’s closed-loop system, aiming to appeal to yield-seeking users with high subscription thresholds and collateral options, without directly engaging with tokenized securities markets.

Mentioned in this article
]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/binance-launches-rwusd-yield-bearing-stablecoin-like-product-offering-4-2-apr-from-rwas/feed/ 0 50120 Warren Buffett Sold Apple and Bank of America in Favor of This Boring Investment Offering a 4.3% Yield https://earlybirdsinvest.com/warren-buffett-sold-apple-and-bank-of-america-in-favor-of-this-boring-investment-offering-a-4-3-yield/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/warren-buffett-sold-apple-and-bank-of-america-in-favor-of-this-boring-investment-offering-a-4-3-yield/#respond Sat, 19 Jul 2025 08:27:35 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/warren-buffett-sold-apple-and-bank-of-america-in-favor-of-this-boring-investment-offering-a-4-3-yield/ Buffett continues to favor this stable source of revenue for Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio.

Warren Buffett’s tremendous success as an investor didn’t come from trying to time the market, nor from predicting which stocks would go up or down in the near term. Those are impossible tasks, he has noted on multiple occasions. Instead, the primary thing that Buffett and his team at Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.29%) (BRK.B 0.10%) do is try to determine whether a business, at that particular moment, is worth more or less than its market price.

That strategy has led to some phenomenal results. Berkshire Hathaway stock has grown at a compound annual rate of about 20% since 1965, when Buffett took control of what was then a failing textile business. To put that in perspective, the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.01%) has produced compound annual returns of just 10.4% over that time. 

As impressive as that may sound, it can be hard to grasp just how vast that difference becomes when compounding has decades to work its magic. From 1965 through 2024, an investment in the S&P 500 (with dividends reinvested) would have multiplied in value by about 390 times. The same investment in Berkshire would have risen by more than 55,000 times.

In short, buying stocks that are fundamentally worth more than the market thinks they are works. But in recent times, Buffett has concluded that many of the equities in Berkshire’s portfolio might not be worth as much as the market is paying for them. Further, he has found the pickings quite slim in terms of potential new equity holdings to buy. As a result, Berkshire Hathaway has been a net seller of stocks for 10 consecutive quarters. In that period, Buffett and his team have sold $174 billion more in stocks than they bought.

Two of the biggest positions recently getting trimmed at Berkshire Hathaway were Apple (AAPL 0.46%) and Bank of America (BAC 0.64%). The conglomerate cut its stakes in them by 67% and 39%, respectively. With some of the proceeds from those sales and others, Buffett has been piling into a high-yield investment that’s paying around 4.3% as of this writing.

Warren Buffett from the shoulders up.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Cutting some of his biggest holdings

At one point, Apple stock accounted for more than half the value of Berkshire’s equity portfolio. Buffett first purchased shares of the iPhone maker in 2016 when it traded for around $25 on a split-adjusted basis. Over the next few years, he built a massive stake in the stock, pouring an estimated $36 billion into it by late 2018.

When Buffett made his initial investment in Apple, it was trading at a P/E multiple of around 10. That was an incredible value for the stock, even as the company was experiencing a downturn in net income. Buffett saw the value of the iPhone and the Apple ecosystem, noticing how attached people were to their smartphones. He expected the business to turn around, thanks to Apple’s brand strength, its leading position in smartphones, and its strong free cash flow. Sure enough, the stock soared over the next eight years.

But by late 2023, it had climbed to above 30 times earnings, which is an extremely high multiple for a company growing its earnings per share at a single-digit percentage annual rate. That was enough to convince Buffett to start taking some cash off the table. From October 2023 through September 2024, he sold more than two-thirds of Berkshire’s stake in the tech giant.

Apple remains the largest holding in Berkshire’s portfolio, accounting for nearly 22% of its value. But given its forward P/E of 29, it’s unlikely that Buffett plans to start adding to the position again in the near future, absent any significant developments.

Bank of America was Berkshire’s second-largest holding as of last summer. But over the last three quarters, Berkshire has trimmed its stake in the company by 39%. Bank of America remains Berkshire’s third-largest holding based on the company’s most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But Buffett may have continued selling the stock in the second quarter.

Berkshire’s original stake in Bank of America came from stock warrants received in connection with preferred shares Buffett picked up in 2011 through a special deal he made while Bank of America was struggling. Those preferred shares paid nice dividends, but in 2017, it became more lucrative to own the common stock instead. So, Buffett exercised his warrants and converted the preferred shares into common stock, then proceeded to gradually add to the position through 2020.

Again, valuation seems to be the biggest reason for Buffett’s decision to book some profits on his Bank of America investment. The stock’s run-up in price has been fueled by expectations that interest rates will decline. Bank of America has longer-dated debt on its balance sheet that struggled when the Federal Reserve was hiking interest rates, but that will leave it well positioned relative to its peers when interest rates decline. But as the stock price climbed over the past couple of years, its price to tangible book value did too. That ratio has exceeded 1.6 for much of the past year. It currently trades closer to 1.7, well above its 10-year average of 1.49.

The investment paying Berkshire $13.5 billion per year

Those massive stock sales put a lot of cash in Berkshire Hathaway’s coffers. As mentioned, Buffett’s stock sales outpaced his purchases by $174 billion over the past two and a half years. While a sizeable chunk of that cash went toward paying Berkshire’s massive tax bill from last year, almost all of the rest went toward a single investment holding.

As of the end of the first quarter, Berkshire held $314.1 billion in U.S. Treasury bills on its balance sheet. With those bonds delivering an average yield of around 4.3%, the company is in line to collect $13.5 billion in 2025 just from interest on its government bond holdings. That number could climb higher if Buffett buys more T-bills throughout the year.

A $13.5 billion payout for doing nothing but supporting the U.S. government isn’t a bad deal. Berkshire’s total income from operations in 2024 was $47.5 billion. But Buffett has made it clear that he would rather invest Berkshire’s growing pile of cash (Treasury bills are considered a cash equivalent) in equities instead of bonds.

“Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities,” Buffett wrote in his 2024 letter to shareholders.

The challenge Buffett currently faces is that most stocks on the market are expensive from a valuation standpoint. That’s especially true for stocks that he could buy in quantities large enough that they could actually move the needle for a giant like Berkshire Hathaway. With nearly $350 billion to deploy, Berkshire’s universe of investable stocks is limited to those with large market caps that can absorb billions of dollars of capital. Unfortunately, large-cap stocks trade at much higher valuations these days. Illustrating that trend, the S&P 500’s forward P/E ratio has climbed above 22 to one of its highest levels since the dot-com bubble, save for a few quarters in 2020 and 2021 (ahead of the 2022 bear market).

If Buffett were a smaller investor with just a few million dollars to invest, he’d surely be able to find great opportunities in the market. The small- and mid-cap indices trade for around 16 times expected forward earnings. Even the equal-weight S&P 500 index trades at just 17.6 times earnings, reflecting the fact that smaller members of the index are trading at more attractive values than its largest components.

Investors who take the time to research individual companies outside of the largest and most well-known names in the market can find some great companies worth more than their current market values. And if you consistently buy those stocks, you can generate excellent returns over the long run.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/warren-buffett-sold-apple-and-bank-of-america-in-favor-of-this-boring-investment-offering-a-4-3-yield/feed/ 0 48490 RoarChain: Bridging self‑custody, AI, and sustainable yield for web3’s next billion https://earlybirdsinvest.com/roarchain-bridging-self%e2%80%91custody-ai-and-sustainable-yield-for-web3s-next-billion/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/roarchain-bridging-self%e2%80%91custody-ai-and-sustainable-yield-for-web3s-next-billion/#respond Fri, 18 Jul 2025 14:27:48 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/roarchain-bridging-self%e2%80%91custody-ai-and-sustainable-yield-for-web3s-next-billion/


In the latest SlateCast episode, CryptoSlate’s Editor‑in‑Chief Liam “Akiba” Wright and CEO Nate Whitehill sat down with Dustin Hedrick, co‑founder of The Roar, to unpack how RoarChain, a self‑custody‑first layer‑two built on the OP‑Stack, blends artificial‑intelligence tooling, fee‑backed yield, and a decade‑long roadmap to welcome the next wave of crypto users.

Building a Self‑Custody L2 on OP‑Stack

RoarChain’s architecture begins with an unflinching stance on wallet sovereignty.

“Decentralization is core and we cannot move away from that… you don’t own your wallet or your keys unless you have those keys privately,”

Hedrick stressed when asked how the chain protects newcomers who struggle with basic password hygiene.

By rolling its own OP‑Stack network, Hedrick says the team can keep fees low while inheriting Ethereum security and Optimism’s Superchain interoperability, without “feeding users to death” on transaction costs.

Smarter Wallets & AI Trading Agents

A standout feature is Roar’s forthcoming “smarter wallet,” where AI parses on‑chain data the moment a user connects.

“You’ll have the NFTs literally interact with the AI as you log in… it’s learning your traits in those first few seconds,”

Hedrick explained, outlining how the model combines wallet history with a 25‑point, five‑star project‑rating system that scans over 11,000 tokens.

Full trade execution (“agency”) is still gated, but Hedrick hopes to activate it later this year once the guardrails are battle‑tested.

Yield Backed by Fees, Nodes & NFTs, Not Ponzinomics

Skeptics of high‑yield promises often recall the 2021 cycle’s excesses. Hedrick counters that RoarChain’s rewards are underwritten by real cash‑flows:

“We have some of the same staking fees as Uniswap and… our chain is offering nodes that actually do something in function”.

Revenue from node sales, DEX trading fees, and secondary NFT markets cycles into a DAO‑controlled treasury, which has been “largely personally funded” to date. The goal is a rapid network effect:

“Everyone knows the real security in a community is inviting more people in faster and bigger,” Hedrick added.

UX & Regulatory Hurdles

Wright pressed Hedrick on whether the team can deliver Gmail‑level simplicity without sacrificing key ownership. Hedrick conceded the challenge, pointing to unified log‑ins and mobile‑first design as priorities, while reiterating that decentralization “cannot move away” from the plan.

Wright’s skepticism was candid: “Anyone that says ‘I’ve got the answer,’ unless you can prove it, I just don’t believe you because it’s a very difficult problem”. Hedrick agreed, noting RoarChain’s two‑year runway to refine the experience.

On the legal front, Roar assembled five law firms and embedded utility into its token to dodge the Howey trap. Liquidity is locked, vesting is public, and circulating‑supply APIs sit behind ROARtoken.org so regulators and users alike can audit flows.

A Decade‑Long Vision for the Next Billion

RoarChain’s roadmap spans ten years, but Hedrick expects to hit key milestones sooner thanks to OP‑Stack compatibility, AI‑augmented user journeys, and fee‑backed sustainability. Whitehill framed the ambition plainly: onboarding the first billion Web3 users will require Web2‑grade polish, transparent economics, and iron‑clad self‑custody, pillars RoarChain says it has been architecting from day one.

Conclusion

RoarChain offers an audacious blend of self‑custody, AI personalization, and fee‑driven yield designed to make decentralized finance accessible and trustworthy for everyone. If Hedrick’s team can translate its OP‑Stack infrastructure and AI wallet vision into a frictionless, regulator‑friendly product, RoarChain may well become the blueprint for decentralized AI‑powered finance in the decade ahead.

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]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/roarchain-bridging-self%e2%80%91custody-ai-and-sustainable-yield-for-web3s-next-billion/feed/ 0 48331 The Evolution of DeFi Staking – From Simple Rewards to Complex Yield Strategies https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-evolution-of-defi-staking-from-simple-rewards-to-complex-yield-strategies/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-evolution-of-defi-staking-from-simple-rewards-to-complex-yield-strategies/#respond Thu, 03 Jul 2025 05:03:35 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-evolution-of-defi-staking-from-simple-rewards-to-complex-yield-strategies/
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How liquid staking and restaking are reshaping the DeFi landscape in 2025

Since its inception, the DeFi (decentralized finance) ecosystem has transformed unbelievably, with staking mechanisms evolving and no longer existing in the simple form of receiving PoS (proof-of-stake) rewards, as they are currently being advanced as quite elaborate yield-generating schemes.

The rise of liquid staking and restaking protocols is one of the essential DeFi trends of 2025, as the technology transforms how users engage with blockchains to get rewards and obtain returns.

Difficulty in registering disasters and disaster gaps filling the traditional staking bottleneck

Despite its role as the basis of PoS networks, classical staking has long entailed two potential costs – its users have to give up liquidity by locking the tokens to provide their network with security and earn remuneration in society.

Such a constraint has always kept other investors outside the process of staking, especially those interested in having the freedom of selling or frequently using their resources, like in other DeFi services and protocols.

As DeFi transitioned into a mature product, the problem was even more imminent.

The users were forced to either stake to receive the staking rewards or engage in other yield-generating ones, such as lending, borrowing or supplying liquidity to DEXs (decentralized exchanges).

To a large extent, this type of either-or situation left too much value at the table, resulting in inefficient use of capital throughout the ecosystem.

That is the liquid staking revolution.

Liquid staking was created to solve this dilemma elegantly and enable the user to stake their tokens and maintain liquid derivative tokens reflecting their stake.

These LSTs (liquid staking tokens) are freely tradable. They can be secured as collateral or create leverage in other DeFi protocols, thus removing what is known as the liquidity penalty of traditional staking.

This idea became popular with protocols like Lido Finance that offered stETH (staked Ethereum) as a fluid version of staked ETH.

This new technology made the possible use cases and yield strategies floodgates.

By now, users could stake ETH and in return, get their teeth – then use it in DeFi solutions like providing liquidity on DEXs, gaining more rewards by lending protocols or following other DeFi ideas.

The implications have been enormous.

These protocols boosted the overall security of the network by allowing staked assets to be withdrawn when a stake was less likely to be attacked by a lazy observer, since this raised the number of people staking – thus making the network more secure – and because it added capital to the DeFi ecosystem by making more capital available to be staked and therefore used by all the protocols available.

The new frontier – restaking

Restaking has become the logical upgrade based on the effectiveness of liquid staking.

With restaking, the users may increase the security assurances of their collateral possessions to cover other blockchain services and protocols and earn other payoffs simultaneously.

EigenLayer is one of the first to enter this market, and they have developed what some are referring to as a paradigm shift in how blockchain security is handled.

Instead of having each new protocol require booting up its security, restaking enables sharing staked assets to secure many services via a single staking set.

That makes the security model more efficient and gives stakes more revenue opportunities.

The technology does not end at that point. The LRTs (liquid restaking tokens) are a second layer of such an ecosystem and enable the liquidity of restated positions in the same way LSTs enable traditional staking.

This forms a compound effect where users can obtain rewards generated by a single source while keeping their liquidity and capability to engage in other DeFi processes.

The awakening of the institution

The fact that more and more institutions have become interested in the DeFi staking mechanisms was perhaps the most critical development in 2025.

DeFi has been used to define many of the current financial services based in the traditional financial world, but they are becoming more open to the value proposition of these developed staking tactics.

Several factors are causing the shift.

First, the regulatory climate has improved, and some straightforward rules are crystallizing regarding the staking of digital assets and DeFi engagement.

Second, the infrastructure has become highly mature, and forms of institutional-grade custody and compliance tools allow traditional finance to enter the space more safely.

Leading financial institutions have stopped seeing DeFi as a speculative turf and instead see it as a plausible yield source that can supplement conventional investment.

The fact that liquid staking and restaking protocols allow for the earning of many incomes – keeping the option of moving the positions due to varying market realities – fits the practices of institutional risk management.

Risks and its considerations and challenges

Along with the thrilling prospects, the development of staking procedures has given rise to new risks that one will have to pay close attention to.

The risk of smart contracts has also been compounded, given that people are dealing with more complex protocols.

All abstractions between liquid staking, restaking and liquid restaking introduce possible sources of failure.

There are more nuances to slashing risks. In classical staking, users are subjected to cuts due to validator malpractices on an individual network.

When restaking, these risks add on top of each other on various services and protocols. When a validator is malicious when securing more than one network by staking, the fines may even be more drastic.

The complexity of such systems also causes new types of systemic risk. The more capital that flows into interconnected staking protocols, the greater the chance of an escalating failure.

The potential effects of a serious problem with one of the largest liquid staking providers on the DeFi ecosystem are huge.

To the future – Future of yield

This path of the development of DeFi staking speaks of the idea that we are just at the beginning of a paradigm shift, like blockchain networks secured and rewarded to users.

The concept of yield staking – the possibility to earn more than one source of income on one underlying asset – is becoming more advanced.

Further advancements can also involve cross-chain restaking when the value staked on the first blockchain can be used to secure the services on the other chains.

This would make the multi-chain ecosystem even more intertwined and efficient and present users with even more varied sources of revenue.

There is also a high probability that integrating traditional finance with such DeFi mechanisms will speed up.

There is a potential to create new financial instruments to offer the DeFi rates to the conventional investment portfolio as institutions gain more comfort with the risk-reward curves of more advanced staking strategies.

Clarity of regulation will remain extremely important to this evolution.

The more lawmakers and regulatory authorities have an insight into the inner workings of these systems, the more guidelines of ease or restriction may emerge that can either speed up the use of these mechanisms or narrow down how they evolve.

Conclusion

The development of simple staking to more sophisticated yield-generation strategies is an evolution of technology and a paradigm shift in our capital efficiency and blockchain security models.

By removing the trade-offs that restricted stake participation in the past, liquid staking and restaking protocols are opening up new opportunities for individual and institutional investors.

As these mechanisms keep maturing and becoming mainstream, they are bound to play a focal role in the overall transformation of the financial system.

It is possible to have several income streams in one asset, remain liquid and be a part of a larger system of financial services, which has a strong appeal to the point where conventional finance is finding it difficult to ignore.

The critical point is that the participants should clearly view the risks and rewards of these opportunities.

New optics in DeFi will create a new opportunity, and whoever best understands how to operate in the complexity and manage the risks will be in the best situation to take advantage of this new paradigm.

Erick Otieno Odhiambo is a full-stack developer freelancing for crypto-based projects and blogs, with a strong interest in blockchain technology. He has years of experience in software development and creating content. His goal is to teach and encourage with well-researched stories about Web 3.0.

 

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]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-evolution-of-defi-staking-from-simple-rewards-to-complex-yield-strategies/feed/ 0 45478 Cake Wallet onboards dEURO decentralized stablecoin, offers 10% yield on collateral https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cake-wallet-onboards-deuro-decentralized-stablecoin-offers-10-yield-on-collateral/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cake-wallet-onboards-deuro-decentralized-stablecoin-offers-10-yield-on-collateral/#respond Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:07:41 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cake-wallet-onboards-deuro-decentralized-stablecoin-offers-10-yield-on-collateral/

Cake Wallet added the decentralized stablecoin dEURO to its offerings on Tuesday, expanding its stable of euro-denominated digital assets for users.

The decentralized stablecoin is overcollateralized by other digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Monero (XMR), meaning that to mint the dEURO stablecoin, users must first deposit other cryptocurrencies as collateral.

Overcollateralizing, or depositing cryptocurrency worth more than the value of the asset being borrowed, acts as a shield against de-pegging events, the dEURO team told Cointelegraph. The dEURO offering also features automatic liquidations, which occur when loan-to-value ratios drop below a certain threshold.

Cake Wallet says users can earn 10% yield from crypto holdings backing the stablecoin, without giving up custody of their funds. The yield is generated from stability fees paid by depositors minting the stablecoin and deposited into an equity reserve pool, a dEURO spokesperson told Cointelegraph.

This helps maintain the stability of the stablecoin and adds liquidity to the user’s crypto holdings, allowing them to generate a euro-pegged token without selling their crypto, the spokesperson said.

Decentralization, Euro, Stablecoin, Terra
An illustration of the dEURO minting process. Source: dEURO

Decentralized and algorithmic stablecoins are promising use cases consistent with the early cypherpunk ethos of the crypto community. However, critics of algorithmic and decentralized stable tokens argue that these assets carry substantial risk, pointing to a history of de-pegging events and token collapses.

Algorithmic and decentralized stablecoins have a habit of de-pegging

Perhaps the most high-profile algorithmic token collapse was the implosion of the Terra-LUNA ecosystem and the de-pegging of UST, the ecosystem’s stablecoin, in May 2022.

The algorithmic stablecoin relied on a mint-and-burn mechanism, where users would burn approximately $1 in LUNA tokens to mint roughly $1 in UST.

This approach encouraged arbitragers to take advantage of price discrepancies between LUNA and UST, which was supposed to keep the price of the token pegged to the US dollar.

Despite the theoretical protection provided by arbitrageurs stepping in and correcting price discrepancies in UST, a significant portion of demand for UST came from the lending platform Anchor Protocol, which offered users a 20% yield on UST deposits.

Mass withdrawals from Anchor triggered a cascade of events that caused UST to drop to $0.67 in May 2022, before collapsing entirely to just $0.01.

UST did not feature any collateral backing, unlike other decentralized alternatives such as DAI (DAI) and dEURO, which require users to deposit excess collateral against their loans.

Decentralization, Euro, Stablecoin, Terra
The complete collapse of Terra’s UST stablecoin. Source: CoinMarketCap

However, backing algorithmic and decentralized stablecoins with excess reserves has not proven to be a panacea for de-pegging events.

Moreover, collateral backing has not been enough to fully protect traditional fiat stablecoins, backed by US debt instruments and bank deposits, from losing their currency pegs.

DAI, the decentralized stablecoin of Sky, formerly MakerDAO, de-pegged in March 2023 after Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), which was used as collateral backing for DAI, briefly lost its dollar-peg.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

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