Based, a web3 trading and payments app built on Hyperliquid’s infrastructure, has raised $11.5 million in a Series A funding round as it looks to expand into AI-driven “agentic commerce.”

The round was led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures and Karatage, Based said Monday. Fundraising began in the fourth quarter of 2025 and closed last week, Based co-founder and CEO Edison Lim told The Block. The round was structured as an equity investment with token warrants, Lim said, declining to disclose the firm’s valuation. Pantera received an observer board seat as part of the deal, Lim added.

Bitcoin's recent drop to $64,000 is attributed to macroeconomic shocks impacting a leveraged market, not a structural cycle breakdown. Analysts suggest that ongoing pressures, such as trade policy changes and leverage, are influencing the cryptocurrency's price movement.

Backpack plans to offer a token allowing users to earn equity in the exchange, with 20% of equity reserved for this initiative. The company aims to improve existing models by providing ownership opportunities through staking their token for at least a year.

Ethereum has been experiencing its sixth consecutive month of decline, with a nearly 40% drop in the past month. Analyst Max Shannon predicts a potential crash to $1,500 due to Bitcoin's influence on Ethereum's price movements.

An Australian executive received over $1.26 million in crypto for selling cyber tools to a Russian broker, endangering Five Eyes intelligence capabilities. Prosecutors seek a nine-year prison sentence, $35 million restitution, and argue that crypto facilitates national security threats.

Bitcoin and Ethereum have experienced significant drops from their previous all-time highs, with Bitcoin falling over 29% in the last month. The Clarity Act, if passed by the U.S. government, is believed to bring stability to the crypto market by providing clarity on regulations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized the importance of passing this bill soon.

Coinbase has introduced Agentic Wallets, a payments infrastructure integrated into its custody and compliance stack, designed to work with AI models like ChatGPT and Claude. The wallets aim to address security risks by separating vault keys from the agent's core logic.

The Thai Cabinet has approved changes to allow crypto as underlying assets for regulated derivatives, promoting market growth and expanding investment opportunities. The SEC plans to amend rules for digital asset operators to offer crypto-linked contracts and coordinate with TFEX on contract specifications.

A Bitcoin wallet address linked to Nancy Guthrie's disappearance saw new activity this week, with a fresh ransom demand emerging. Despite a small transaction and a third ransom note, authorities have not confirmed the sender's identity or motives.

Financial institutions are exploring tokenization and blockchain settlement, but face challenges with scale, speed, and coordination. LayerZero aims to address the blockchain trilemma by developing a new blockchain, Zero, to potentially bring the global economy on-chain.