In this article, we explore liquid staking protocol StakeStone's key features, the STO token launch, tokenomics and how to trade STO on Bybit.

StakeStone (STO) is a next-gen omnichain liquidity infrastructure protocol designed to optimize yield and cross-chain liquidity. Its introduction of liquid yield-bearing versions of ETH and BTC — STONE and STONEBTC — enables users to earn sustainable yield while enhancing capital efficiency. This article explores StakeStone’s architecture, core assets, founding team, tokenomics and recent market performance.

 is a decentralized liquidity infrastructure protocol that issues liquid, 

-bearing assets like STONE (Ethereum) and STONEBTC (Bitcoin). Designed for omnichain integration, it empowers users and protocols with composable 

 solutions and efficient cross-chain liquidity.

Launched in 2024, StakeStone was built to address the fragmented and capital-inefficient nature of ETH and BTC staking by introducing secure, flexible and modular primitives. StakeStone’s mission is to maximize on-chain yield while ensuring deep liquidity across ecosystems.

StakeStone was founded in 2023 by a team of DeFi-native builders led by Charles K, a crypto veteran with over 10 years of experience in centralized exchanges (CEXs), hardware wallets and DeFi infrastructure The core team includes Rose Li, Chief Strategy Officer, and Ivan K, Chief Marketing Officer.

The project has secured funding from notable crypto funds, including Polychain Capital, Binance Labs, OKX Ventures, Amber Group, HashKey Capital and Bankless Ventures. These backers not only provide capital but also strategic ecosystem access — positioning StakeStone as a serious player in omnichain liquidity and yield infrastructure.

StakeStone converts ETH and BTC into liquid, yield-bearing assets — STONE (ETH) and STONEBTC (respectively) — through a modular and omnichain framework. When ETH is staked, it flows into the StakeStone Vault and is allocated to the Strategy Pool, and STONE is minted via the Minter.

Yield is generated through strategies such as:

Users can deploy STONE across chains via the 

 (LP) rewards, with optional LP locking for enhanced returns. SBTC is the liquid BTC asset mirroring Bitcoin’s value, with STONEBTC adding a yield layer to BTC and unlocking passive income without sacrificing liquidity.

StakeStone implements key security measures, including the following:

STONE (ETH): Omnichain yield-bearing asset

 derivative. It’s minted when users stake ETH, and is backed by underlying yield from stETH, EigenLayer restaking and additional DeFi strategies.

STONE supports seamless cross-chain bridging, enabling deployment across supported networks and STONE-Fi Pools for additional rewards. Users benefit from passive yield, cross-chain utility, governance participation and on-demand liquidity.

SBTC is a liquid Bitcoin asset that mirrors BTC’s value and enables seamless use within EVM-compatible chains. STONEBTC, on the other hand, enhances SBTC by adding a yield layer, empowering users to earn yield from BTC-based strategies while preserving liquidity.

 utility by unlocking native BTC liquidity and enabling new use cases, such as cross-chain lending and borrowing, LP participation in BTC-based DeFi pools and composable integration across multichain DeFi protocols.

Together, SBTC and STONEBTC aim to position Bitcoin as an active capital layer across Ethereum and beyond.

 of StakeStone, with a total supply of 1 billion. It underpins protocol governance via OPAP proposals, voting-escrowed STO (veSTO) staking and 

Emissions are set to taper gradually until 2031, aligning incentives with long-term ecosystem growth.

According to CoinGecko, as of Apr 24, 2025, 

with a market cap of over $25 million. The token has recently shown strong momentum, rallying 85.4% over the past two weeks. Furthermore, StakeStone’s value could benefit from various catalysts, such as the rise in demand for 

 the STOUSDT Perpetual futures contract in the Innovation Zone, with up to 20x leverage.

 a Bybit account, complete identity verification and fund your 

 using crypto deposits or fiat currencies. 

Intermediate

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StakeStone (STO): Cross-chain liquid staking protocol

The MANTRA (OM) token’s wild crash on Apr 13, 2025, shocked the crypto world. Discover the causes, fallout, and what’s next in MANTRA’s road to recovery.

In the morning and daytime hours of Apr 13, 2025, the MANTRA blockchain's native token, OM, sat at a respectable market cap of $6 billion, making it the third-highest-ranked cryptocurrency in the 

 (RWA) category, the area the platform specializes in. Everything seemed like smooth sailing for the token.

Then, just after 6 PM UTC, the price of the OM token suddenly began to free-fall, declining from nearly $6 to about $0.50 in the space of just two hours.

A project that started the day as one of the top players in the RWA field was now worth 90% less as the evening approached. OM's abrupt, sharp crash immediately caught the market's attention, with speculation of a 

However, MANTRA's CEO, John Patrick Mullin, immediately sprang into action for PR damage control on social media, reassuring the public that the team members weren’t dumping OM tokens at all. Instead, MANTRA's founder and CEO alleged that deliberate actions of some 

 (CEXs) had caused the catastrophic plunge.

As of our coverage date of Apr 23, 2025, this is a developing story. In this article, we’ll establish what actually happened, who's involved and what awaits the OM token in the foreseeable future.

 decentralized network dedicated to RWA tokenization and utilization in compliance with real-world regulatory requirements.

 It features high scalability and low transaction fees. The project is one of the earliest initiatives dedicated to RWA use via blockchain technology. Originally, MANTRA debuted as a 

 (ETH) in August 2020. In October 2024, the project migrated to its own dedicated Layer 1 platform, the MANTRA Chain. The MANTRA blockchain is based on the Cosmos SDK framework, and is part of the wider 

The MANTRA ecosystem's main products include MANTRA DEX, a 

 (DEX); a digital identity (DID) management tool; a compliant token development and management solution; and a comprehensive compliance and permissioning system. MANTRA has also partnered with global powerhouses like Google Cloud, and with DAMAC Properties, one of Dubai's most prominent developers, to propel innovative solutions for 

Starting in late 2024, right after its own dedicated mainnet launch, MANTRA had become a significant player in the RWA corner of 

 (DeFi). By late February 2025, the platform’s native OM token had climbed to a value of nearly $9, with its market cap peaking at around $8.2 billion. Before the fateful events of Apr 13, 2025, OM was the third-highest-capped crypto in the RWA category, trading at $6.27, with a market cap of slightly over $6 billion, according to the CoinGecko portal.

In the evening hours (UTC time) of Apr 13, 2025, OM began to lose its value precipitously, dive-bombing from over $6 to about $0.52 in the space of two hours. The token’s market cap fell to slightly under half a billion dollars — a loss of more than 90%.

CEO John Mullin was quickly online, reassuring the crypto community that no team member had sold their OM holdings, and that this wasn’t a case of the bad ol’ rug pull. Instead, Mullin alluded that after OM tokens were moved to two leading CEXs (Binance and OKX) to use as collateral, the exchanges initiated a cascade of 

 of positions backed by the token. Both exchanges refuted the allegations, and connected OM’s price collapse to its recent unusually high price 

, and significant tokenomics changes made to OM in October 2024 that greatly undermined its value.

As a chain of liquidations took place, the token’s price started to plummet, causing significant panic that quickly led to further price drops. The situation only stabilized closer to the end of the day, with OM’s price remaining under $1. As of Apr 23, it’s trading at $0.5543 — a far cry from its rate of over $6 just two weeks ago.

After investigating, crypto analytics firm Lookonchain concluded that 17 wallets had deposited 43.6 million OM tokens (4.5% of the token's circulating supply) into the implicated exchanges. Two of these wallets are believed to belong to Laser Digital, one of MANTRA's investors. Another investor in the project, Shorooq Partners, is also suspected to be among the 17 wallets. Both Shorooq and Laser Digital have denied the allegations.

Although the price plunge was immediately compared to the 2022 collapse of the 

 (LUNA) blockchain, many analysts point out that the two crashes are fundamentally different. Terra's crash resulted from structural abnormalities in the 

 regulating UST, the project's stablecoin. In contrast, OM's fiasco is suspected to be the direct result of market-driven manipulation by 

, and possibly exchanges. No security breach, disruption to services or data, or other adverse structural events have occurred on the platform.

While this development is unprecedented for the project, MANTRA has been embroiled in other controversies throughout its history. One of these was its 

, first announced in August 2024 and then delayed multiple times. Around 50% of the wallets believed to be bots were cut off from the airdrop list. However, many considered the bot-culling process to have been conducted without much proof.

There have also been reports of vote rigging in the project's governance system in a bid to obscure MANTRA’s centralized model of profit allocation. Additionally, some analysts have accused the project of "forced bridging" to manipulate the market price. Platform users had to migrate their Ethereum-based OM tokens to MANTRA's native OM tokens via 

, which would increase gas fees and allow the project team to control the token's circulation pace.

How is MANTRA (OM) headed toward recovery?

MANTRA’s CEO rapidly reassured users that the team is now working hard to jump-start the token’s recovery. On Apr 14, 2025, Mullin unveiled plans to initiate a buyback scheme, along with the intent to burn all OM tokens held by the project team. The team's supply totals 300 million tokens, representing about 17% of the total supply.

He also denied factually incorrect assertions circulating online that the team effectively controls 90% of OM's supply. Mullin further assured the public that no large-scale selling events by investors have occurred.

As OM’s value has stayed firmly under $1, it remains to be seen how these PR efforts — as well as the planned buyback and burn — will affect the token’s future.

 as a swap pair with USDT, or on the Derivatives market as the 

Naturally, given the ongoing situation with the OM token, buying OM is at your own discretion, as right now the token is truly for the adventurous and brave at heart.

As of Apr 23, 2025, the OM token is trading at $0.5543, 93.8% lower than its ATH of $8.99 on Feb 23, 2025, and 3,138.8% higher than its ATL of $0.01726 on Oct 12, 2023.

Curiously, most crypto price prediction portals are optimistic about the OM token's long-term prospects. DigitalCoinPrice 

 of $1.81 in 2027 and $2.82 in 2030, whilePricePrediction 

It's hard to verify all the allegations flying around regarding the involvement of exchanges and key investors in the MANTRA OM incident. What matters at this stage is that the project team has been quick and proactive in injecting transparency and clarity into the situation.

The free fall in the token's price seems to be over by now. In fact, OM’s decline was over within hours of the incident. Moreover, unlike Terra's LUNA and UST coins, OM hasn't become worthless. All these factors point to potential stabilization and recovery ahead. The question now is: Will the pace and magnitude of the recovery be enough to save the project in the long term? At this early stage after the collapse, few people could answer the question with confidence. We'll eagerly await the developments over the next few weeks to see if MANTRA finds its way out of the woods. 

mantra om crypto.png

MANTRA (OM): Understanding its wild ride and road to recovery

In this article, we explore WalletConnect's features, its native token (WCT) and how you can trade WCT on Bybit Spot and Futures.​

WalletConnect is an open source bridging protocol that facilitates secure connections between digital wallets and 

 (DApps). With over 38 million unique active wallets and 57,000 supported apps, it’s getting noticed by the crypto community. In this article, we explore WalletConnect's features, its native token (WCT) and how you can trade WCT on Bybit.​

 protocol that allows users to connect their mobile wallets to DApps via QR code. This eliminates the need for browser extensions, and enhances security by keeping 

The protocol supports a wide range of wallets and DApps, making it a versatile tool for users navigating DeFi and web3.

 is essentially a decentralized infrastructure that facilitates a uniformed way for users to easily connect their crypto wallets with thousands of DApps. It operates through a network of

 that relay messages, ensuring reliable and secure connections. The network's design emphasizes scalability and resilience, catering to the growing demands of DeFi. 

When a user initiates a connection between their wallet and a DApp, WalletConnect establishes a secure session through a relay server that enables encrypted communication, allowing users to interact with DApps directly from their wallets. 

The network's architecture ensures that messages are transmitted efficiently, maintaining a seamless user experience.​

The WalletConnect ecosystem comprises various stakeholders, including node operators, wallet providers and DApp developers. Node operators play a crucial role by maintaining the network's infrastructure and relaying messages. 

To incentivize participation, the network implements a rewards mechanism whereby node operators earn WCT tokens, based on their performance and contribution. Prominent organizations like Consensys, Ledger and Figment are among the network's node operators, underscoring its robustness and reliability.​

 is the native utility and governance token of the WalletConnect network. It has a total supply of 1 billion, 

Initially, WCT is nontransferable to ensure that tokens remain within the WalletConnect ecosystem, supporting its focus on network functionality and development. Based on discussions within the community, transfers will be enabled based on community consensus and future governance decisions.

Where to buy the WalletConnect token (WCT)

 on Bybit Spot, and as a Perpetual contract with up to 75x 

. Bybit provides a secure and user-friendly platform for buying and selling WCT, allowing users to participate in the WalletConnect ecosystem. 

How to trade the WalletConnect token (WCT) on Bybit

Bybit's platform ensures efficient execution and provides various tools to assist users in their trading journey with ease.​ 

walletconnect wct.png

WalletConnect (WCT): Bridging web3 beyond wallets and DApps

Circle has launched the Circle Payments Network (CPN), a global payment solution designed to streamline cross-border transactions using stablecoins like USDC and EURC for real-time settlement. 

The S&P 500 rose 2.51% as investor confidence improved following President Trump’s support for Fed Chair Powell and hints of easing U.S.-China trade tensions, despite tempered optimism and Tesla’s earnings miss. Gold rebounds toward $3,400 as the US Dollar weakens and investor caution lingers over US-China trade and Fed concerns. Technicals suggest a possible pullback, with focus shifting to upcoming S&P Global PMI data. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, rose 7.46%, with Bitcoin and Ether up 4.68% and 7.70%, respectively, in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is DEEP, up 122.1%, following the launch of DeepBook v3.1 on Sui, which unlocks permissionless pools, enhanced balance management, and cost-efficiency for DeFi.

DeepBook (DEEP), launched on July 12, 2023,  is Sui’s native liquidity layer, using a central limit order book to enable high-throughput, low-slippage, and low-fee trading. 

, introduces several key upgrades: permissionless pools, revamped fee mechanics, and enhanced balance management. These changes make DeepBook more accessible, composable, and cost-efficient for DeFi users. Permissionless pools allow anyone to create custom trading pairs, while the enhanced balance manager supports third-party liquidations and improves protocol stability and user experience.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

, a global payment solution designed to streamline cross-border transactions using stablecoins like USDC and EURC for real-time settlement. CPN offers faster, programmable, secure, and always-available money movement for financial institutions. It supports services like invoice payments, remittances, treasury services, and payroll payouts. Over 20 design partners, including dLocal, WorldRemit, and BVNK, are contributing to building a more efficient global payments infrastructure.

Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $719.2M in total inflows, with $654.1M from non-GBTC funds and $65.1M from GBTC.

 its incentivized testnet, allowing users to earn $SO tokens by testing its cross-chain lending platform. By supplying and borrowing assets across chains and completing quests, participants earn "Seeds," which will convert to $SO at TGE. Powered by LayerZero, Soul aims to unify liquidity across blockchains.

Beginner

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Circle launches Circle Payments Network for faster, secure global transactions using stablecoins

Blockchain

Delegated proof of stake involves a voting and delegation mechanism to incentivize users to secure the network. But how is it different from PoS? Learn more.

What-Exactly-Is-Delegated-Proof-of-Stake-DPoS.jpg

Delegated proof of stake is a type of blockchain consensus protocol that allows users to spend their coins to vote for various delegates. Once these delegates have been elected, they’re able to make critical decisions that apply to the whole network. For instance, the elected delegates can set protocol rules or validate transactions.

In general, delegated proof of stake has proven to be the most effective consensus mechanism available, which has helped to ensure that blockchain protocol remains sustainable and scalable. This stake consensus is able to eliminate the mining process that consumes so much energy with 

 protocols. The following guide takes a look at delegated proof of stake and the many benefits it provides as a consensus mechanism.

Before getting into the basics of stake-delegated proof and how it works, it’s important to take a look at what consensus algorithms are. Blockchain networks function because they’re decentralized. This means that every node within the network needs to verify transactions. A node is typically a computer or similar system.

 require separate transaction validation, the network itself must use some type of method to make sure each node agrees on the transactions that are valid and the ones that aren’t. The method the network uses to make sure that every node agrees is considered to be the blockchain consensus algorithm. Each type of blockchain uses a different algorithm. 

Delegated proof of stake works similarly to 

 (PoS) except it involves a voting and delegation mechanism to incentivize users to secure the network with their staked collateral. 

Users must stake their coins in order to participate in the both PoS and DPoS consensus mechanism. However, a successful block production involves network users elect witnesses, or delegates and only elected delegates and voters can validate transactions.

The elected delegates are oftentimes referred to as block producers or witnesses. When delegated proof of stake is used, it becomes possible to vote on delegates by pooling all of your coins into a centralized staking pool, after which you can link these coins to a specific delegate. It’s important to understand that your coins aren’t physically transferred from your wallet to any other when you link to a delegate.

When delegates are finally elected, it’s important that they’re able to agree upon which transactions should be rejected and which should be approved. 

Why Blockchain Needs Consensus Mechanisms

To understand just how beneficial stake-delegated proof can be, it’s first important to know why blockchain technology requires consensus. Blockchain is a kind of distributed ledger that’s able to record all of the transactions that occur across a network. 

 has proven to be an essential component of all blockchain technologies. This means that a single entity doesn’t keep track of every transaction that occurs. Instead, these transactions are distributed across numerous nodes in a network.

Even though transactions are spread across many different nodes, it’s possible to validate transactions with 

. These functions generate unique values for various unique inputs. It’s assumed that the record with the most nodes is less fallible than the others. In order for blockchain technology to function properly, it’s essential that it comes with consensus protocols. These protocols allow the different nodes within the network to properly validate legitimate transactions.

Looking specifically at Bitcoin, it uses the proof of work (PoW) consensus protocol, which delivers notable results but is considered to be time-intensive and energy-intensive. Because of this, the transaction speed is low when compared to standard networking protocols used by companies such as Visa and MasterCard.

Regardless of the protocols that different cryptocurrencies use, they’re necessary to ensure that all of the nodes within a server can come to an agreement about each transaction. With a consensus mechanism in place, the nodes are able to agree that a transaction should either be approved or declined. This technology also prevents users from spending a single coin on two separate transactions, known as double-spending.

There are many different components of delegated proof of stake that allow the technology to be effective and efficient at validating transactions. Even though proof of stake and proof of work is used by more blockchains at the moment, the stake-delegated proof is designed to solve most of the limitations that affect 

This particular consensus algorithm is maintained with a unique election system that selects nodes who are able to verify blocks. In most cases, delegates are voted in based on reputation. Every user who holds at least one coin with the DPoS blockchain can vote for the nodes who they want to validate transactions. Before using a DPoS blockchain, it’s highly recommended that you understand every facet of this system and how it works to achieve consensus.

Stake-delegated proof includes an all-important voting component. In order for nodes to be selected for the transaction verification process, different nodes must be voted in by users who would like to vote. Even though each DPoS network has its own voting system, most systems work by allowing DPoS consensus users to vote directly or provide their voting power to someone else who can vote on their behalf.

The nodes whom they vote in are referred to as witnesses. These witnesses are able to create blocks by validating transactions. In the event that all transactions in a single block are verified, the witnesses receive a special reward that can then be shared with every person who voted for that witness.

If the selected witness doesn’t validate every transaction within their allotted time, the block is missed, which means that none of the transactions is verified, and the witness earns no reward. In most cases, the reward that the witness would have earned is added to the one that the next witness receives, should they end up verifying all transactions. When this occurs, the block is considered stolen.

As mentioned above, witnesses are responsible for securing and validating the blockchain. While a user doesn’t need cryptocurrency in order to become a witness, they must be able to obtain enough votes to be elected. When a witness is able to confirm a transaction, it will officially be recorded in a ledger. The total number of witnesses in a single server can range from 21 to 101. Even though it’s possible for a witness to keep certain transactions out of a block, they’re unable to change the transaction’s information.

Keep in mind that the voting process is continual, which means that witnesses can be voted out if voters believe someone else is more trustworthy. If a large number of people are applying for the role of witness, there may be an ample amount of competition. In this case, reputation may be key to determining which people are voted in and which ones aren’t.

The stake-delegated proof transaction time refers to the amount of time it takes for the transaction to be processed. Because DPoS is designed to be a more efficient technology when compared to PoS and PoW, the transaction should process in a shorter period of time. However, transaction times differ with each stake-delegated proof network. For example, the TRON network uses DPoS and has an estimated transaction time of one minute.

With TRON, in order for a transaction to go through 20 confirmations are required. Two confirmations occur when one block is placed chronologically after another. TRON requires 20 separate confirmations to occur within one minute. In contrast, the estimated transaction speed for USD Coin, which uses a PoS consensus mechanism, is five minutes.

Delegates are users in a DPoS system who oversee governance within the blockchain. Delegates are voted in by other users. It’s possible for a delegate to propose altering the size of a single block, or changing how many witnesses are paid for validating blocks. When changes are proposed by a delegate, the users within the blockchain vote on adopting these changes.

 who are able to validate that blocks created by different witnesses adhere to the consensus rules. If a user becomes a block validator, all they’re required to do is run the validator and verify the network. Unlike being a witness, there’s no financial incentive to being a validator.

 between DPoS and PoS. In general, the stake-delegated proof is viewed as a more efficient and democratic version of PoS.

A PoS user builds blocks based on the exact stake they have in the currency and their time in the blockchain network. DPoS differs in that delegates and witnesses are voted in, with witnesses being able to create blocks.

Even though stake-delegated proof blockchains are highly beneficial for their inclusivity and for protecting users from double-spending, they do have a couple of limitations. For one, it’s possible for the network to become centralized in the event that only a limited number of users can act as witnesses. It’s also possible for weighted voting to occur, wherein users who don’t have a large stake in the currency decide not to vote.

While many popular blockchain networks use DPoS consensus, the primary ones are EOS, TRON and Cosmos.

When the EOS network, all delegates are referred to as block producers. An election occurs after a period of two minutes and six seconds. Once a user stakes some EOS coins, they can vote on as many as 30 candidates. Exactly 21 candidates are then elected. The minimum hardware requirements for each block producer include having at least 8GB of RAM.

This network refers to delegates as Super Representatives. When a user stakes TRON coins, they can vote for five SR candidates per election. These elections are held once every 24 hours. The top 27 candidates will be chosen as witnesses.

 network, delegates are called Validators. Around 100 of these Validators are able to verify the transactions that occur. Eventually, Cosmos intends to increase the Validator count to 300 to further decentralize their blockchain.

The stake-delegated proof technology known as DPoS is among the most effective consensus systems around. Along with using less energy than PoW systems, DPoS also takes less time than PoS systems. Consensus algorithms are at the heart of every blockchain network. Using the right algorithm ensures that transactions are validated quickly and securely. DPoS provides viable networking solutions at a time when faster transaction speeds, decreased energy consumption and network security are becoming top priorities for all blockchain protocols.

What Is Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)?

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