GameFi Funding Declines as Web2.5 Games Rise

According to TechFlow, the GameFi sector has experienced a significant decline in funding this year, dropping over 55% compared to the previous year, while Web2.5 games are gaining traction. In the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, the total value locked (TVL) in real-world asset (RWA) protocols has surpassed that of decentralized exchanges (DEX), making it the fifth-largest DeFi category. Billionaire Grant Cardone has announced plans to launch the world's largest real estate Bitcoin company by 2026. Meanwhile, Strategy has acquired an additional 1,229 Bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to over 672,000. In the commodities market, spot gold prices have plummeted, falling below $4,350 per ounce, with a daily drop exceeding $180, marking a 4% decrease. The cryptocurrency market has seen a significant contraction, with the total market capitalization shrinking by nearly $100 billion in the past 19 hours, dropping from a peak of $3.02 trillion to $2.93 trillion. Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market experienced liquidations totaling $243 million, with long positions accounting for $160 million. Bitcoin and Ethereum liquidations amounted to approximately $82 million and $56 million, respectively. In the stock market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.51%, the Nasdaq by 0.5%, and the S&P 500 by 0.35%. Notable declines included Nvidia at -1.21%, Circle at -0.94%, and Strategy at -2.15%. The Bitcoin/USDT liquidation map indicates a high-risk volatility structure, with significant leverage short positions accumulating in the $88,000–$89,000 range and long positions concentrated in the $86,000–$87,000 range. Bitcoin spot inflows and outflows over the past 24 hours were approximately $84 million and $118 million, respectively, resulting in a net outflow of $34 million. Cantor Fitzgerald predicts a potential "institutional winter" in 2026, with on-chain assets and DeFi as growth highlights. Framework Ventures co-founder anticipates a focus on mainstream tokens and continued institutional interest in quality DeFi projects by 2026. Dragonfly partner forecasts Bitcoin surpassing $150,000 by the end of 2026, though its market share may decline. In legal news, South Korea's Supreme Court upheld a four-year prison sentence for a cryptocurrency exchange employee who assisted North Korean hackers in recruiting a South Korean army captain in exchange for military secrets. Project updates include Neel Somani stepping down as executive chairman of Ethereum Layer 2 protocol Eclipse, effective October 2025, and Meta's acquisition of Butterfly Effect, a company developing AI applications. The total market cap of tokenized stocks has reached a record high of $1.2 billion, and BlackRock's first tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, has distributed over $100 million in dividends. The U.S. XRP spot ETF saw a net inflow of $8.44 million in a single day.