Kappa Lab

Institutional-grade market making with boutique precision. Providing 24/7 deep liquidity and enhancing market efficiency across digital assets.

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

2025 marked a pivotal year in Kappa Lab’s operations and performance. We’re proud to have supported some of the industry’s most ambitious protocols and builders.

We expanded to Dubai, added 4 new business verticals, 13 new partnerships, 18 new exchange integrations, and sustained $15B in monthly trading volume. Together, these milestones reflect a broader trend: institutional-grade crypto infrastructure is scaling rapidly.

Now in 2026, we’re building on this momentum with new initiatives already underway. Stay tuned.

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

👇 Additional highlights:

→ Senate Banking voted 15-9 to advance the CLARITY Act; needs 60 votes to advance on the Senate floor.

→ @THORChain halted trading after one Asgard vault was drained for ~$10.7M across four chains; $RUNE fell ~12%.

→ $HYPE hit ATH near $75.5, entering top 10 by market cap; spot ETFs from @21shares + @Bitwise reached $185M in net assets since mid-May.

→ Hana Bank agreed to acquire 6.55% stake in Upbit operator Dunamu for ~$670M, with an MOU covering a won stablecoin and joint products.

→ @Securitize, @jumptrading, and @JupiterExchange launched tokenized equities trading on @solana.

→ @okx launched Exchange OS for permissionless market deployment on X Layer.

→ @CharlesSchwab began spot $BTC + $ETH trading rollout to eligible retail clients at 75 bps per trade.

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

Industry Catch-Up | June 2, 2026
$BTC at ~$66.9K. $ETH at ~$1,8K.

1) The @CFTC approved @Kalshi to list the first regulated $BTC perps in the US on May 29. Chairman @ChairmanSelig said the CFTC took "historic action." @coinbase Financial Markets also received a no-action letter to offer @DeribitOfficial listed perps to US clients.

2) @Strategy sold 32 $BTC between May 26 and 31 at an avg of $77,135. It was the firm's first sale since 2022. The $2.5M is expected to fund $MSTR $STRC preferred stock dividends. Strategy still holds 843,706 $BTC.

3) @CMEGroup launched 24/7 crypto futures and options on May 29. Over 7,200 contracts traded in the first weekend, worth about $50M. $BTC Volatility futures also went live on June 1.

4) @binance opened US stock trading for non-US users on June 1. Eligible users can now trade over 7,000 stocks and ETFs at zero commission through ADGM broker Nest Trading. Binance also previewed tokenized bStocks.

US ETF Flows (May 25 to June 1):
🔴 $BTC: -$1.9B
🔴 $ETH: -$286M
🟢 $XRP: +$19.3M
🟢 $SOL: +$2.4M
🟢 $HYPE: +$58.5M — ATH near $75

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

@cz_binance 👀

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

@hibachi_xyz Congratulations to the Hibachi team!

It has been great to see it all come together. Proud to be part of the journey 🤝💜

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

@hibachi_xyz 🧠🧠

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

One friction point for institutions moving onchain is surprisingly basic: the gas token.

On most blockchains, using the network means holding the native token just to transact.

For an institution, that is not just a technical detail. It means adding another asset to manage, price, report, and operationally support.

In our conversation with Thibault @ayotibo, co-founder of @hibachi_xyz, he explained why @circle’s Arc network takes a different approach: gas is paid in USDC.

That matters because it reduces the need to manage a separate gas asset.

Combined with privacy controls and sub-second finality, @arc is designed to reduce operational friction for institutional stablecoin activity.

It is also part of why Hibachi chose Arc for its stablecoin-native FX venue.

👉 Watch the full episode here: https://t.co/6lCTCVIvkx

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

@OndoFinance Our deepest condolences to Nathan’s family, friends, and the Ondo team. May he rest in peace.

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

@vickbln__ 💜🤝

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

If FX is moving on-chain, not every flow can be visible by default.

That was the point Varun @GandalfTheBr0wn , co-founder of @hibachi_xyz, made when Kappa Lab CBO Kiran @kiranxyz_ asked how privacy is shaping Hibachi’s institutional conversations.

Hibachi is building a stablecoin-native FX exchange, with spot and derivatives markets designed for conversion and hedging.

FX is largely an institutional market. Banks, financial institutions, PSPs, and cross-border providers move large volumes, and many do not want every transaction publicly indexed and auditable in real time.

Hibachi’s model is hybrid: an offchain central limit order book for fast matching, with ZK proofs used to verify settlement and system integrity on-chain.

Privacy, without removing verifiability or self-custody.

A useful framing for why stablecoin-native FX may need a different market structure than a fully transparent on-chain DEX.

👉 Watch the full episode here: https://t.co/6lCTCVIvkx

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

The CLARITY Act advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee on May 14 in a 15-9 bipartisan vote.

The committee vote is one step. The broader shift is structural.
For years, US crypto firms have operated under a framework shaped by court cases, enforcement actions, and agency interpretation. CLARITY would move part of that framework into written law.

The bill works alongside GENIUS, which became law in July 2025. GENIUS set the rules for stablecoin issuers. CLARITY sets the rules for the broader digital asset market structure.

A third track is also emerging. The SEC is reportedly preparing an “innovation exemption” for tokenized securities, including blockchain-based versions of public stocks.

Together, GENIUS, CLARITY, and the SEC’s tokenization work point in the same direction: US digital asset policy is moving from case-by-case interpretation toward defined market structure.

Here is what CLARITY does.

It splits crypto oversight across two primary regulators:
• CFTC: Expanded authority over digital commodity spot markets.
• SEC: Continued oversight over tokens deemed securities.

The bill also sets registration rules for exchanges, brokers, dealers, and custody firms. It creates a pathway for projects to raise capital on-chain. It gives banks, brokers, and trading venues more defined roles in on-chain markets.

On DeFi, the bill takes a layered approach. Software developers, network participants, and self-hosted wallet use receive specific protections. Centralized firms and intermediaries that interact with DeFi would face tailored compliance rules.

Several issues remain unsettled:
• Stablecoin yield: The compromise restricts passive yield while preserving activity-based rewards. Banking groups have pushed for stricter limits, while crypto firms have argued for reward flexibility.

• Custody: Clearer asset classification would give custodians a more defined legal basis to operate from. Further rules are still needed around customer asset treatment if a custodian fails.

• The commodity-security line: The split between digital commodities and digital securities still leaves edge cases for future rules and agency interpretation.

The bill is not law yet. It still needs to align with the Senate Agriculture version, clear the full Senate, and reconcile with the House framework.

For large firms, the gating issues have historically been custody, venue access, and broker registration. CLARITY attempts to define each one.

At Kappa Lab, we operate liquidity infrastructure at the intersection of execution, risk, and shifting on-chain markets. Bills like this reshape the operating environment: which venues market participants can access, how positions are structured, and which counterparties can participate.

The lasting question is which on-chain markets become accessible to larger firms, and under what compliance model.

That answer will shape where liquidity can form.

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

Source: CoinDesk

https://t.co/Eyv2RH4iRR

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

👇 More from this week:

- Strategy agreed to buy back $1.5B of its 2029 convertible notes for $1.38B in cash, listing bitcoin sales among potential funding sources.

- Hana Bank agreed to acquire a 6.55% stake in Upbit operator Dunamu for about $670M from Kakao Investment, with an MOU covering a won stablecoin and joint products.

- Securitize, Jump Trading, and Jupiter launched onchain regulated trading for tokenized equities on Solana.

- Charles Schwab began phased rollout of spot BTC and ETH trading to eligible retail clients at 75 bps per trade.

- Lawyers for Iranian terrorism victims filed an SDNY motion to compel Tether to redirect $344M in frozen USDT.

- Solana's Alpenglow consensus upgrade activated on a community testnet, targeting 150ms finality versus the current 12.8 seconds.

- Lombard moved over $1B in BTC-backed assets from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP, bringing cumulative migration to about $4B.

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

🗞️ On this week's Industry Catch-Up:

1) The Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 on May 14 to advance the CLARITY Act. Two Democrats, Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks, joined all 13 Republicans. The bill now moves to the full Senate, where it needs 60 votes to advance.

2) CME Group plans to launch Bitcoin Volatility futures on June 1, pending regulatory review. The cash-settled contracts track 30-day implied vol on the CME CF Bitcoin Volatility Index. Each contract is sized at $500 times the index value.

3) The first US spot Hyperliquid ETFs launched this week. 21Shares THYP listed on Nasdaq on May 12 at a 0.30% fee, with $1.8M in day-one volume and $1.2M in net inflows. Bitwise BHYP listed on NYSE on May 15 at a 0.34% fee, waived for 30 days on the first $500M. Bitwise says BHYP is the first US crypto ETF to use in-house staking.

4) THORChain halted trading on May 15. One of its six Asgard vaults was drained for about $10.7M across Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base. ZachXBT flagged the exploit and PeckShield confirmed it. RUNE fell about 12%.

More in the comments 👇

#cryptonews #digitalassets #fintech #defi #web3

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

@hibachi_xyz @kiranxyz_ Hibachio

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

FX does not just need faster settlement. It needs better price discovery.

Our CBO @kiranxyz_ framed it simply: if stablecoins improve FX settlement, and onchain rails improve speed, where does @hibachi_xyz create its edge?

Varun’s answer: price discovery.

“You basically pay what they tell you to pay.”

That’s how Varun @GandalfTheBr0wn, co-founder of Hibachi, describes the legacy structure of FX.

Pre-stablecoin, the market was more of a walled garden, with access concentrated around the major banks and interbank rails that handled settlement.

There was no single transparent orderbook for FX in the way Nasdaq or LSE has for equities. If you were a broker, a PSP, or anyone outside that network, you often took the quotes you could access.

Hibachi is rebuilding this onchain: a stablecoin-native FX exchange with a transparent CLOB, designed to bring open, orderbook-based price discovery to global currency markets.

👉 Watch the full episode here: https://t.co/6lCTCVHXuZ

[Hibachi @hibachi_xyz]

FX is in severe need of an upgrade.

Today, access to real pricing is a private members club of 72 banks who are able to dictate pricing in the market completely.

One way or another, you are being spread from the real underlying price, which you likely will never even see.

Now, with stablecoins underneath, we can create an alternative price discovery venue for FX markets that also settle instantly.

The F(X)uture is faster, cheaper, and better. We're building it.

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

@StratiumX @kiranxyz_ @hibachi_xyz Stratium

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

@feibendepangzi @hibachi_xyz @GandalfTheBr0wn @ayotibo Hibachio 🔥

[Kappa Lab @KappaLab_io]

Partner Spotlight Series, Episode 3 is live!

We sat down with @hibachi_xyz co-founders Varun ( @GandalfTheBr0wn ) and Thibault ( @ayotibo ). Hibachi is a ZK-secured onchain exchange, originally built for perpetuals, and now building the first stablecoin-native FX venue on @circle 's @arc.

🚨 The framing that anchored the conversation: "FX is the largest market in the world." And crypto has barely served it.

Varun's take: a lot of what gets lumped into "RWA" deserves to be its own category. FX in particular is massive and structurally underserved.

In this episode we cover:

→ Why Hibachi pivoted from perps to FX
→ The legacy structure of FX: a "walled garden" with no real price discovery
→ Hibachi's hybrid CLOB + ZK architecture, and why institutional FX needs privacy
→ The Fire Liquidity Provider (FLP) vault, operated by Kappa Lab
→ The Circle x Arc partnership and what USDC as gas unlocks

👉 Watch the full episode here: https://t.co/6lCTCVIvkx

#crypto #defi #hibachi #fxexchange