PANews Feature | Strive Ramps Up Bitcoin Buying. Why Is Strategy Slowing Down? Bitcoin is rebounding, but @Strategy is slowing its purchases as @Strive accelerates, becoming the world’s fourth-largest corporate bitcoin holder. Both use preferred stock to fund accumulation, yet their capital allocation priorities are diverging. Strategy has spent roughly $2.05 billion repurchasing STRC. Once a key funding source for bitcoin purchases, the preferred stock now competes for that capital as it continues to trade below par and carries a substantial dividend burden. Is preferred equity an engine for growth, or a financial strain when the cycle turns? As preserving access to capital and reducing dividend obligations take priority, the bitcoin treasury model faces a cash flow test. #Bitcoin #Strategy #Strive #STRC #BitcoinTreasury

Token Unlocks for Next Week (Oct. 26–Nov. 1) Several tokens are set for major unlocks next week, including ethereum:0xfa1c09fc8b491b6a4d3ff53a10cad29381b3f949, solana:CARDSccUMFKoPRZxt5vt3ksUbxEFEcnZ3H2pd3dKxYjp and sui:native. @falconfinance (FF) will unlock approximately 208 million tokens on Oct. 29, representing about 6.62% of its circulating supply and worth around $20.7 million. @Collector_Crypt (CARDS) will unlock approximately 59.26 million tokens on Oct. 30, representing about 9.60% of its circulating supply and worth around $18.4 million. Full breakdown in the image 👇

PANews Feature | Beyond Perps: The Race for Onchain Options Heats Up @HyperliquidX, @Lighter_xyz, and @variational_io are expanding into options, taking different approaches, from trading infrastructure and short-dated binary options to planned institutional structured products. ETF inflows are fueling demand for risk management, while onchain options volumes continue to grow. Yet much of that growth remains concentrated on Derive. Can the newcomers challenge its dominance? From directional bets to volatility trading, onchain derivatives are evolving. Fragmented liquidity, trading costs, and a steep learning curve remain hurdles to broader options adoption. #DeFi #Options #PerpDEX #Hyperliquid

PANews Feature | a16z Drops “Crypto.” What Comes Next for Crypto VC? @a16z Crypto has rebranded as @a16zfrontier, expanding into AI, robotics, and other frontier technologies while continuing to invest in crypto. @paradigm and @HaunVentures are also broadening their mandates. The shift comes as crypto fundraising cools, capital concentrates in mature companies, and token-based exit strategies face growing pressure. Investors are placing greater weight on revenue and user demand, and less on the crypto label. Is capital chasing new growth, or is crypto maturing beyond a standalone investment category? @naval Ravikant’s response to @cdixon captures the moment: “Welcome back, Chris.” #a16z #CryptoVC #VentureCapital #AI

PANews Feature | $2.6B Left Behind Onchain; Most Is Still Claimable HiddenFunds has identified $2.61 billion in residual assets across more than 6 million wallets, classifying 88% as directly claimable by users. Missed withdrawal steps after unstaking. Unfinished token migrations. Defunct protocols. These stranded funds reflect more than forgetfulness—they expose gaps in complex workflows and rapidly changing ecosystems. As some chains and applications shut down, even claimable assets can become harder to recover. We examine where these funds sit, how they got there, and why owning assets onchain doesn’t always mean being able to access them. #DeFi #Onchain #Crypto

PANews Feature | DFINITY Founder Challenges NEAR’s Privacy Design; The Community Pushes Back @dfinity founder @dominic_w questioned whether @NEARProtocol's Confidential Intents relies too heavily on trust in permissioned node operators. NEAR’s response: those design choices were disclosed from the start. The dispute quickly escalated, with community members even launching a memecoin to mock Williams. Behind the clash are diverging market and ecosystem trends: capital is returning to NEAR, while ICP faces weak price performance and a struggling DeFi ecosystem. DFINITY is shifting its focus toward sovereign cloud services and AI infrastructure. Its comeback will depend on turning that technical vision into products people actually use. #DFINITY #ICP #NEAR

PANews Feature | $825M in Supply, 2,200 Holder Addresses: Inside OUSD’s Launch Backed by @stripe, @coinbase, @Visa, and other major players, ethereum:0x9f6f3991d525015a6f8caf062c83b62fd3ac4436 has scaled quickly. But with roughly 2,200 holder addresses and 82% of circulating supply concentrated in the top 10 wallets, sustained payment and trading demand remains unproven. Beyond the initial capital commitments, questions remain: If reserve income largely goes to partners, what covers compliance, settlement, and liquidity costs? And how does OUSD retain distribution partners that also support competing stablecoins? We examine OUSD’s growth and business model. Scale gets it in the door. Sustained adoption is the next test. #OUSD #Stablecoins #Stripe #DeFi

PANews Feature | Lose Money, Earn Tokens: Can Papertrade’s Model Last? Up to 1,000x leverage. robinhood:0xaa3b129e4906009e228a060340601260de068ff5 tokens for trading losses. USDC distributions for stakers. @papertrade_xyz's “loss-to-earn” model has quickly gained traction, but roughly 84% of its reported revenue comes from LP surplus, driven primarily by trader losses. Now, a delay in enabling PAPER transfers has sparked controversy. Multiple platforms have delisted pre-market contracts, while user growth and inflows are slowing. As token incentives shrink and trading activity cools, can a system that relies on losses to replenish liquidity keep funding trader profits, and retain user confidence? #Papertrade #DeFi #Perps #HyperEVM

Weekly Funding Report by PANews | Oct. 12–18 Last week, crypto funding concentrated on RWA liquidity infrastructure and stablecoin payments. According to incomplete statistics compiled by PANews, the global blockchain sector recorded 6 funding deals totaling more than $54 million. Fission raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Pantera Capital. In AI, DeepSeek’s planned funding round could expand to approximately RMB 100 billion, at a pre-money valuation of around RMB 500 billion. AI infrastructure company Infinigence AI raised RMB 2.3 billion in Series C funding, while SWI Group raised €800 million in equity financing to convert former Bitcoin mining sites into AI data centers. These deals highlight continued investment in model development, computing services and the repurposing of existing energy infrastructure. In embodied AI, AgiBot was reportedly pursuing RMB 1–1.5 billion in fresh funding at a valuation of approximately RMB 50 billion. Oula Wanxiang completed an angel+ round worth several hundred million yuan. DeepSeek also plans to lead a seed round of tens of millions of dollars in robotics AI startup Winverse AI, at an expected post-money valuation of around $400 million. #AI #Crypto #Blockchain #Funding #VentureCapital #Stablecoins

PANews Feature | After StandX: 9 Perp DEXs on the Airdrop Radar StandX is winding down, canceling its TGE and offering a one-time DUSD airdrop to compensate its community, a reminder that points don’t guarantee a token payout. We examines nine major perp DEXs: established platforms such as Variational and Extended face intense competition for points, while new seasons at TxFlow and Arcus offer earlier entry opportunities, with protocol maturity and genuine demand still to be tested. Ondo Points, meanwhile, carry no promise of token conversion. From trading volume and open interest to incentive rules and participation costs, which opportunities warrant attention, and which expectations need a reset? The next phase of airdrop farming will reward sound risk-reward judgment, not just trading volume. #PerpDEX #Airdrops #DeFi #Derivatives