Morpho has raised $175 million in a major DeFi funding round, with Fortune reporting a valuation of about $2 billion. The capital is set to support product development and deeper integrations with banks, fintechs, asset managers and crypto platforms.

LIT token fell 20% to $2.07 after breaking key support. Despite a buyback program, early holder selling and weak technicals suggest further downside risk. RSI sits near 28 in oversold territory.

Lighter DEX now requires LIT staking to enter its liquidity pool at a 1:10 ratio. Existing liquidity providers have until January 28, 2026 to stake or get their deposits removed.

Pi Network Ventures, a $100 million fund announced in May 2025, has publicly disclosed only one investment—OpenMind—as of July 2026. Token depreciation and lack of transparency raise concerns.

LIT token surged 20% on May 20, driven by Vitalik Buterin's mention, Tealstreet integration, SpaceX pre-IPO futures, and a ZK verification milestone. Daily volume reached $75.8 million, market cap hit $297 million.

Crossmint's Lobster.cash adds Mastercard Agent Pay and Verifiable Intent for Openclaw's 1M+ AI agents. Each transaction goes through Mastercard network with cryptographic user authorization records.

Altcoins diverged sharply despite Bitcoin weakness. MemeCore surged on rebound-driven meme momentum, while Taiko, Gnosis, and Morpho climbed on Layer 2, governance, and institutional catalysts, highlighting a market that is rewarding selective narratives rather than broad risk-on buying.

Tiger Research, using RootData records covering 9,416 crypto investment deals from 2018 through the first half of 2026, says the market has entered a far more selective phase. Funding volume in H1 2026 reached $13.3 billion, nearly matching the full-year 2024 total of $13.2 billion, yet the number of rounds fell to only 435, down 78% from the 2022 peak of 1,978. The report argues that the old model of wide portfolio spraying around token launch narratives has broken down. The investor base has changed as well. Traditional financial institutions took part in 54.5% of all investment deals in H1 2026, and capital increasingly went to companies with auditable revenue, regulatory licenses, and mature business models. Large crypto-native firms remained important in lead rounds, while exchange-affiliated investors ranked highly in overall participation thanks to liquidity and distribution advantages. Sector data showed sharp declines in gaming, NFTs, and social projects, while payments and stablecoins, centralized exchanges, prediction markets, and custody drew outsized capital. Tiger Research says this marks a broader move away from speculative early-stage bets and toward owning infrastructure, distribution, and regulated financial rails inside crypto.