DEXs enlivened

Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid (HYPE) extended its epic rally, touching a new record high near $45 just hours ago, even as the broader crypto market has stiffened amidst geopolitical upheaval.

Another DEX token, Uniswap (UNI), increased 7% in the past day. This jump appears connected with news that Binance launched a UNI perpetual contract.

In general, regulators and centralized exchanges seem smitten by trading that isn't centralized. Coinbase last week wrapped its loving arms around the concept of on-chain integration, giving Aerodrome Finance (AERO) a lift.

Earlier today, Bybit announced plans to launch Byreal, a new Solana-based DEX that'll combine "CEX liquidity with DeFi-native transparency," said the Byreal team in an X post that promised a release of a testnet version by the end of this month.

"This is what real hybrid finance looks like," said Bybit CEO Ben Zhou.

In a speech last week at a roundtable event dubbed “DeFi and the American Spirit,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the core U.S. values of "economic liberty, private property rights and innovation are in the DNA of the decentralized finance movement."

While the SEC works to craft custom rules for on-chain markets, Atkins said he has directed the staff to consider a conditional relief framework — an “innovation exemption” — that would expedite development of on-chain products.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid has fast-tracked its way to dominance within the crypto derivatives space. Over the past month, the platform has facilitated $247B worth of volume as aggressive short-term traders continue to flock to perpetual offerings that allow users access to up to 40x leverage. Hyperliquid's monthly haul is almost 3x the combined volume of the ten largest decentralized perpetual contract platforms, per CryptoNews.

The HYPE token has surged 60% in the past 30 days. It's now the largest DEX token. HYPE at last check occupied CoinGecko's overall No. 12 slot, with a total market capitalization of $14.7B. It trails Cardano (ADA) and Lido Staked Ether (STETH), each with a market cap in the vicinity of $23B.

Total crypto assets today sit near $3.46T, flat over 24 hours. Although hostilities in the Middle East have worsened, the crypto world largely has shrugged away the situation, CoinDesk said.

Bitcoin edged higher last night. It had declined to $103.6K as of last Thursday night when Israeli airstrikes on Iran were first reported. BTC wallowed near $104K again yesterday morning. However, buoyed by news of big-time buying, it reclaimed $107K early Monday.

Big coins have languished in the red (ever so slightly) over the past week. For example, No. 6 Solana is down 0.2% versus last Monday. XRP, fourth-largest coin, lost 0.7% in that span. This is nothing to write home about but, considering geopolitical turmoil, it's barely a scratch.

Among the worst-performing big coins over the past week is Dogecoin, down 5% since last Monday.

It was only three weeks ago were we wondering whether the original memecoin could stay at least a quarter? Then last week, DOGE's 20-cent mark came under pressure. Now DOGE is clinging to 18 cents. But it's worth remembering that back in October, DOGE was a dime. Also, the options market reportedly seems convinced a new uptrend is due to begin.

Earlier today, Michael Saylor’s Strategy disclosed it bought another $1B worth of Bitcoin in the past week. This follows a move by the company to issue a new class of "perpetual preferred stock" with an eye toward using $250M in proceeds to do more stacking. The Nasdaq-listed STRD shares began trading last week.

Perpetual preferred stocks often pay fixed dividends indefinitely, with no maturity date and typically enjoy priority over common stock. As Cointelegraph explained, the bulk of Strategy's previous purchases have been facilitated via the issuance of common stock and convertible notes.

Saylor issued Metaplanet some public kudos on Monday as that company's stack officially surpassed 10,000 BTC.

Some crypto analysts are cautioning firms against mimicking such strategies, Cointelegraph said.

Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research, flagged inherent risks connected with public companies' market cap versus the scale of their BTC stack.

“If the stock trades at or near NAV," Sigel said in a post on X, "continued equity issuance can dilute, rather than create, value."