Canary Capital launches Axelar Trust targeting institutional investors

Canary Capital launches Axelar Trust targeting institutional investors

Digital asset investment firm Canary Capital has launched a new Axelar private investment fund, giving institutional investors direct access to the interoperability network’s native token, AXL.

According to a Feb. 20 announcement, the Canary AXL Trust will be available to institutional and accredited investors. Currently, Axelar has a market capitalization of more than $444 million and nearly $1 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to Flipside Crypto.

Axelar’s interoperability stack went live in October, allowing decentralized applications to connect with various blockchains, including Solana, Stellar and Sui. Axelar’s technology also allows developers to tokenize real-world assets, including real estate, commodities and intellectual property.

Canary cited Axelar’s major institutional partnerships with Apollo Global Management, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank as one of the reasons for launching an AXL fund.

“In addition to evaluating top 20 market cap protocols, we are evaluating a handful of top 100 market cap protocols that have strong teams of developers that are building real applications and platforms [and] have the potential, based on developer interest along with launching product, to win in their category and make it to a large market cap,” Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg told Cointelegraph.

“Axelar qualifies in the category of interoperability,” said McClurg. “There is already demand for AXL among qualified investors.”

Institutional demand for crypto is growing

The launch of Canary’s new trust coincides with a boom in institutional demand for crypto assets. Unlike the closed-ended AXL Trust, Canary is also pursuing open-ended exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to Solana, Litecoin and XRP.

The applications were submitted following the overwhelming success of the US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which sucked in nearly $40 billion in net assets in 2024. Bitwise’s Matt Hougan believes the US Bitcoin funds could attract more than $50 billion in investor inflows this year.

Increased regulatory clarity in the United States under President Donald Trump is expected to see more institutional uptake of digital assets in the near future, Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin told Cointelegraph in January.

Industry executives have also cited President Trump’s executive order banning the creation of a central bank digital currency as a major driver of institutional adoption.

“This move tells you where Trump stands: He’s betting on the existing crypto market rather than creating government-backed digital dollars. It’s a vote of confidence in Bitcoin, Ethereum and others, potentially giving them a boost in legitimacy and market value,” Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain adviser, told Cointelegraph.

Representatives from the crypto and institutional investment industries recently met with President Trump’s Crypto Task Force to discuss ways to open up the market to more established players. They requested clearer guidelines around exchange-traded products and protocol staking, among others.

 

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/canary-capital-launches-institutional-axelar-fund

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Uniswap Launches Unichain L2: All You Need to Know

Uniswap Launches Unichain L2: All You Need to Know

Since its launch in 2018, Uniswap has evolved to become a cornerstone of the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, becoming one of the most widely used decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

Amid its growing popularity, Uniswap has struggled with high fees and slow transaction speeds. In a bid to address this issue, the platform has introduced Unichain, an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network specifically designed to optimize DeFi applications.

Similar to other L2s, Unichain is built to improve transaction speeds, lower gas fees, and improve user experience, all while using Ethereum‘s security.

In this article, we will explore Unichain and its aim to solidify Uniswap’s dominance in the DeFi ecosystem by offering a better user experience.

Key Takeaways

  • Uniswap has launched Unichain to solve high fees and slow transactions.
  • Unichain’s key features include Flashblocks for fair transaction ordering and Trustless Revert Protection.
  • The Validation Network ensures fast and secure transactions, preventing double-spending and block manipulation.
  • Unichain integrates with Ethereum’s Superchain for cross-chain liquidity.
  • With faster block times and no initial swap fees, Unichain aims to make DeFi trading faster and better.

What Is Unichain?

Unichain is a DeFi-focused Ethereum L2 chain designed to enable instant transactions, low fees, and cross-chain interoperability.

It was developed by Uniswap Labs using the OP Stack, an open-source rollup development stack. The OP Stack allows Unichain to join the Superchain, a network of interoperable L2 chains that share bridging, decentralized governance, upgrades, and a communication layer.

Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain expert, told Techopedia:

“Since its start, Uniswap has been a go-to for many in the DeFi community, providing a user-friendly platform for swapping tokens and adding liquidity.

“It’s only natural that Uniswap would evolve by creating its own blockchain, Unichain, to better serve and grow its business. This development not only solidifies Uniswap’s leadership but also tackles some of Ethereum’s challenges like high transaction costs and slower processing times.”

Unichain’s standout features are Verifiable Block Building and the Unichain Validation Network (PDF).

Verifiable Block Building

With Verifiable Block Building, Unichain aims to optimize user experience and market efficiencies by reducing block times, limiting maximal extractable value (MEV) losses, and protecting against failed transactions.

Built in collaboration with MEV solutions developer Flashbots, Unichain’s verifiable block-building feature looks to reduce the risk of “discretionary block ordering” by separating the role of block building from the sequencer.

Blocks on Unichain will be executed inside a trusted execution environment (TEE), which will allow external users to verify that blocks were built inside the TEE according to stated policies.

Unchain also aims to enable 200-millisecond to 250-millisecond block times by spitting each block into four “flashblocks.”

Unichain users will also benefit from the “trustless revert protection,” which reduces the risk of paying for a failed transaction. The TEE block builder simulates transactions while building blocks to detect and remove faulty transactions.

Unichain Validator Network

Sequencers are critical L2 network participants who are responsible for ordering transactions, batching them, creating new L2 blocks, and posting proofs to the Ethereum L1.

A notable drawback of Ethereum L2 chains is the centralization of sequencers. At the time of writing, popular L2 chains, including ArbitrumOP Mainnet, and Base, each have only one sequencer.

Unichain, too, will operate as a single sequencer L2. To reduce risks related to a single sequencer, Unichain introduces a decentralized network of node operators that independently validate the latest blockchain state called the Unichain Validation Network.

To become a validator on Unichain, users must stake UNI tokens on the Ethereum mainnet. The main function of Unichain validators is to perform simple block attestations to increase confidence in the state of the chain.

Why Was Unichain Created & How Does It Improve Uniswap’s DeFi Offerings?

Launched in 2018, Uniswap is a pioneer of automated market-making (AMM) protocols and is currently the most popular DEX in DeFi history boasting a cumulative volume of over $1.64 trillion, as of February 2025.

As Uniswap saw meteoric growth amid increased DeFi adoption, it soon became evident that the Ethereum L1 blockchain was not equipped to give Uniswap the high performance it craved.

Therefore when Ethereum set course to scale its blockchain with the help of L2 solutions, Uniswap took the opportunity to create a performant application-specific L2 called Unichain.

With Unichain, the DEX pioneer looks to solve two pressing issues Uniswap faces on Ethereum: high transaction fees and fast transactions.

Unichain solves the first problem by being an L2 chain that processes transactions off-chain before bundling them to post to the Ethereum L1. The distribution of gas fees across several L2 transactions is said to lower fees by 95% compared to L1 gas fees.

For faster transactions, Unichain is customized with features such as TEE block-building to produce one-second block times, a significant upgrade from Ethereum’s 12-second block time. Unichain ultimately aims to hit 200-millisecond to 250-millisecond block times.

In a bid to solve the fragmentation problem caused by the excess of L2 chains in the market, Unichain will join the Superchain collective, which is a group of interoperable L2 chains created using the OP Stack.

As of February 2025, the Superchain collective had over 25 members including Base, OP Mainnet, Soneium, Zora, Ink, and HashKey Chain.

Features of Unichain

According to Unichain’s whitepaper, the project has introduced several features that help it enhance speed, security, and efficiency within Uniswap’s DeFi ecosystem. Here are its key components:

  1. Unichain implements Flashblocks, a mechanism that locks in transaction order before execution, to reduce the risks of frontrunning and harmful MEV extraction.
  2. “Trustless Revert Protection” — A unique mechanism that ensures users do not lose gas fees on failed transactions.
  3. Unichain features a Validation Network where independent validators stake UNI tokens to help confirm transactions quickly and securely. This system prevents double-spending and block manipulation.
  4. Unichain is built as part of Ethereum’s broader rollup ecosystem (Superchain), ensuring liquidity access across different chains.
  5. Unichain significantly reduces transaction costs compared to Ethereum’s mainnet, making DeFi trading and liquidity provision more accessible.

The Growing Trend of Appchains in 2025

Appchains are blockchains built for a single app or a small set of apps. They can be layer-2 or layer-3 solutions, often forked from existing blockchains to save time and improve compatibility.

Appchains are important because they speed up transactions, lower costs, and improve security by focusing resources on just one application. They also give developers more control over governance and upgrades.

So far in 2025, several new appchains have emerged, each tailored to optimize performance for specific dApps. Last month, Ethereum Layer 2 project Starknet introduced the SN Stack, a software suite enabling developers to launch customized appchains.

Similarly, HyperLiquid and dYdX have launched their appchains to improve decentralized trading by offering lower latency and deeper liquidity.

Future of Uniswap & Unichain

Uniswap’s Unichain could be the platform’s golden ticket to shape the future of DeFi with faster, cheaper, and more scalable trading.

Lian added:

“Unichain is set to shake things up in DeFi by offering much faster transaction speeds – starting with one-second block times, with the goal of cutting this down to 250 milliseconds.

“This is a game-changer for the quick trading and liquidity activities that Uniswap users are accustomed to. Plus, by making Unichain permissionless right from the start, Uniswap stays true to its roots of being open and community-driven.”

The Bottom Line

Unichain is a big deal for Uniswap, tackling high fees, slow transactions, and liquidity fragmentation while keeping the platform fast, cost-effective, and permissionless.

Unichain expects Uniswap with all the necessary tools to lead the next era of decentralized finance.

 

Source: https://www.techopedia.com/uniswap-launches-unichain-l2-all-you-need-to-know

 

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Exploring the future of digital currency: HKMA launches e-HKD Pilot Programme

Exploring the future of digital currency: HKMA launches e-HKD Pilot Programme

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has made an exciting announcement regarding the launch of the e-HKD Pilot Programme. This initiative involves the participation of 16 carefully selected firms from the financial, payment, and technology sectors. The primary objective of the program is to explore and identify potential use cases for the e-HKD across various categories, including payments, programmable payments, offline payments, tokenised deposits, settlement of Web3 transactions, and settlement of tokenised assets.

  • Alipay Financial Services (HK) Limited: Programmable payments – Merchant reward programme
  • ARTA-Emali HK Limited: Programmable payments – Investment
  • Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited: Programmable payments – Government grant disbursement; Programmable payments – Prepaid services
  • China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation: Programmable payments – Prepaid services 
  • Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) Limited: Settlement of tokenised assets
  • Ripple Labs Inc.: Settlement of tokenised assets
  • Giesecke+Devrient: Offline payments
  • Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited: Offline payments
  • Hang Seng Bank Limited: Programmable payments – Government grant disbursementProgrammable payments – Merchant reward programme
  • Hang Seng Bank Limited: Tokenised deposits
  • The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited: Tokenised deposits
  • Visa Inc. : Tokenised deposits
  • Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Ltd:. Offline payments
  • Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte. Ltd.: Settlement of Web3 transactions
  • The Boston Consulting Group: Settlement of tokenised assets
  • HKT Payment Limited: Settlement of tokenised assets
  • ZA Bank Limited: Settlement of tokenised assets
  • The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation: Limited Full-fledged payments

Chief Executive of the HKMA, Eddie Yue has expressed his enthusiasm for the e-HKD Pilot Programme and its potential to explore innovative use cases while laying the groundwork for the possible implementation of the e-HKD. He has also acknowledged and appreciated the active participation of industry stakeholders in the pilot projects, and extended gratitude to the academic experts who are contributing their knowledge and experience to this important CBDC initiative. The ultimate goal is to foster collaboration among all stakeholders and ensure that the research and development efforts align with practical business opportunities.

The e-HKD Pilot Programme represents a significant step forward in the HKMA’s approach to the development of a potential retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). By working closely with stakeholders, the HKMA will conduct a series of pilot projects aimed at examining use cases and addressing implementation and design challenges associated with the e-HKD. The valuable insights gained from these pilots will inform and enhance the HKMA’s overall strategy and decision-making process in relation to the potential implementation of the e-HKD. It is important to note that a final decision to introduce the e-HKD has not been reached at this stage.

At the commencement event, senior executives from the selected firms had the opportunity to present the key highlights of their proposed use cases. In the coming months, the HKMA will maintain close collaboration with these firms, closely monitoring the progress of the pilot projects. While the specific outcomes may evolve and develop over time, the HKMA plans to share the key learnings and insights with the public during Hong Kong FinTech Week 2023. Additionally, the HKMA has expressed its intention to continue conducting further rounds of pilots in collaboration with industry stakeholders in the future.

In order to facilitate effective collaboration between the government, industry, and academia in the realm of CBDC research, the HKMA will establish a dedicated CBDC Expert Group. Comprised of leading academics from local universities, this group will provide invaluable insights and expertise on policy and technical issues relevant to CBDC, including privacy protection, cybersecurity, and interoperability.

 

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/business/blockchain-exploring-the-future-of-digital-currency-hkma-launches-e-hkd-pilot-programme-3095794/

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Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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