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Aptos Ecosystem Grows in Week 3 of February 2025: Key Developments and Partnerships

The Aptos ecosystem keeps making strides in the blockchain space and showing incredible growth and innovative partnerships during the week of February 20, 2025. This week has been punctuated by coverworthy announcements, huge new partnerships, and this ecosystem’s destiny-fulfilling movement toward decentralized finance (DeFi)—not to mention the Aptos blockchain’s completely on-chain, state-of-the-art lending platform. You can undoubtedly see a big difference in Aptos’s appearance, direction, and potential in this ecosystem. Here’s a brief highlight recap of this week: Strategic Partnerships and Expanding Ecosystem A significant development this week is the launch of PACT Protocol on Aptos. PACT Protocol is making a notable impact on the on-chain lending space, providing users with decentralized and efficient lending options. This launch is viewed as a cornerstone event for the network, pushing DeFi solutions into the spotlight and making Aptos more relevant as a space for decentralized financial services. PACT Protocol is expected to be by far the most significant development in the Aptos lending space, using the advantages of transparency, security, and speed that come with the blockchain to disrupt traditional lending services. Moreover, Aptos Foundation appointed as new community development chief PoOn Yeung—who was previously at the Web3 organization ConsenSys—onboarding a talented individual with lots of experience in developing and engaging with communities. This is a key role because Yeung’s position makes him an integral part of onboarding new projects that help expansion of the Aptos ecosystem. At the same time, “community development” is a big part of the foundation’s efforts to generate interest in what’s being built on Aptos, as well as a big part of the foundation’s overall focus on what they say is a growing demand for blockchain adoption. Aptos also embraced Huddle01 into its ecosystem, a Web3 stage that provides decentralized, secure, and efficient meeting solutions. As the world steadily pivots toward the virtual sphere for collaboration, Huddle01 stands primed to contribute to the growth and provisioning of decentralized communication tools. This alliance will fortify the ecosystem and Aptos’ collaborative layer within it because Huddle01 has a “new layer” of just that sort of efficient meeting infrastructure, both secure and scalable, for decentralized communities. Growing Interest in Staking and DeFi on Aptos Staking will remain a major theme for Aptos in 2025 and is now an activity seeing a surge on the platform. Apparently, the staking volume on Aptos has skyrocketed recently to the tune of +7.7 million APT (+28%), which takes us from a total of 27 million APT staked in early January to a presently 34.7 million APT staked. Why? Well, obviously, people are partaking in network governance and security for the chance to earn some sweet, sweet rewards, but what’s really pushing this narrative forward? Platforms like Amnis Finance, for one, are enabling the governance token holders to stake their APT and earn some rather attractive yields. The growing enthusiasm for staking coincides with Aptos’s wider objective of emerging as a top-tier platform for decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions. With the staking of an increasing number of tokens, the network’s total security and decentralization also improve, rendering it an even more appealing choice for developers and users. AI and DeFi: The Future of Aptos Aside from its growth in decentralized finance, the Aptos ecosystem is also experiencing movement among AI agents. Two standout projects in this nascent AI-powered sector are JouleFinance and its counterpart, Merkle_Trade, and together they represent what could be a seismic shift in the operation of decentralized finance. JouleFinance is using AI to effect the kind of fundamental change in fiDe that we formerly might have expected from quantum computing. Merkle_Trade is using the same kind of AI (in a different way) to produce a similarly revolutionary effect. The two projects have something in common: they are both fully integrating AI with the smart contract capabilities of the Aptos blockchain. In a similar way, Merkle_Trade is using AI to improve the automation of trading using its plugin, Merkle Eliza. Employing algorithmic AI, Merkle_Trade aspires to completely change how users deal with trading strategies, making it all a lot smarter and more efficient in the realm of DeFi trading. These two projects are merely the entrance of the AI train into the Aptos ecosystem, and we can expect a lot more in the coming months. Weekly $APT @Aptos Recap – Tuần 3, tháng 02/2025 Giao thức PACT @pactconsortium ra mắt trên Aptos: Bước ngoặt cho hoạt động lending on-chain Chúc mừng PoOn Yeung ( @poymeetsworld ) gia nhập Aptos Foundation với vai trò trưởng bộ phận phát triển cộng đồng.… https://t.co/npBnYSptdT pic.twitter.com/jXl2z4vWlH — Blog Tiền Ảo (@blogtienao_hq) February 24, 2025 In addition, Aptos co-hosted BUIDL Day at EthereumDenver, an event that drew developers from both ecosystems together. The day served to highlight several projects being built on the Aptos blockchain—such as Emojicoinfun, Joule Finance, Kana Labs, KYD Labs, Mirage Protocol, Panana Predictions, and Fliq Predictions—that illustrate the diverse array of use cases springing up around the Aptos chain from NFTs to predictions markets and DeFi apps. AI + DeFi Panel Discussion An exciting occurrence came from an engaging panel discussion and the insightful questions that resulted from it, hosted by Haley (@llcool_hay) and a guest expert panel. They steered the audience and themselves through a deep dive into the growing influence of AI and DeFi (DeFAI) on the Aptos ecosystem. The discussion skimmed over some surface-level understanding of those concepts before delving quite a bit deeper into what they mean for our world and the Aptos ecosystem. When we think of those two (AI and DeFi) together, we actually have the potential to create something much more interesting than either of those two topics individually can create. Conclusion The week of February 2025 has been an exhilarating one for the Aptos ecosystem. From launching groundbreaking protocols such as PACT Protocol to bringing on board strategic allies like Huddle01, the network Carlsbad continues to invigorate its capabilities and solidify its stature in the blockchain and DeFi realms. The mounting volume of staking and the burgeoning influence of AI in DeFi further highlight Aptos’s prospects for long-term greatness. Aptos stands ready to keep on keeping on, largely due to PoOn Yeung and his partnerships. Yeung leads community development for Aptos, and his work with the community and a panoply of partners has put the nascent network on solid ground as it heads into its next growth stage. The Aptos team sees “growing up” across three dimensions: in technical development, in ecosystem growth, and in added community development. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any service. Follow us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news ! Image Source: armmypicca/ 123RF // Image Effects by Colorcinch Bitcoin World

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Cardano (ADA) ETF Approval Odds Surge in the US After Key Development: Details

TL;DR The SEC acknowledged Grayscale’s application to introduce a spot ADA ETF in America. The asset manager also seeks to convert its XRP Trust into an ETF, with similar filings pushing the approval odds to 74% before the end of 2025. The Chances Are Rising Over the past few months, there has been a bunch of companies displaying their intentions to launch spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. Among the most active entities in this field is the world’s largest digital asset manager – Grayscale . The organization officially filed for a Cardano (ADA) exchange-traded fund with the New York Stock Exchange on February 10. Several hours ago, the SEC acknowledged Grayscale’s application. The move marks the beginning of the regulatory review process, which usually lasts 240 days. The SEC’s acknowledgment has increased the chances of the product seeing the light of day before the end of 2025. According to Polymarket, the odds have risen from 52% on February 24 to 66% as of now . A potential green light will allow investors to gain exposure to ADA without purchasing it from exchanges or worrying about self-custody methods. This could have a positive effect on the price in the long term. As of now, though, Cardano’s native token is not in the best shape. It trades at around $0.64 (per CoinGecko’s data), representing a 12% daily decline . Its drop aligns with the broader collapse of the cryptocurrency market , where Bitcoin (BTC) crashed below $90,000, while Ethereum (ETH) dipped under $2,400. As CryptoPotato reported , the sector’s decline negatively affected some over-leveraged traders. The total value of liquidated positions in the last 24 hours surged past $1 billion. Grayscale’s XRP-Related Efforts The entity also recently sought regulatory approval to convert its existing XRP Trust into an exchange-traded fund. Earlier this month, the SEC acknowledged that application, triggering a substantial uptick in the price of the underlying asset . Other well-known companies willing to introduce an XRP ETF in America include 21Shares and Bitwise. The Commission has also acknowledged their filings. According to numerous industry participants the launch of such an investment vehicle might be just around the corner, whereas Ripple’s CEO has asserted multiple times that this is “inevitable.” The chances of an approved XRP ETF in the US before the end of 2025 currently stand at 74% (per Polymarket). The post Cardano (ADA) ETF Approval Odds Surge in the US After Key Development: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato . Bitcoin World