Today in crypto: Mirae Asset Group is reportedly in talks to acquire South Korea’s crypto exchange Korbit, US Senator Cynthia Lummis says Fed’s ‘skinny’ accounts will end Operation Chokepoint 2.0. Meanwhile, Bitmine has begun staking Ether after depositing nearly $219 million worth of ETH into Ethereum’s PoS system.
Mirae Asset in talks to buy Korean crypto exchange Korbit in $100M deal: Report
Mirae Asset Group is in talks to acquire Korbit, South Korea’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange, in a deal valued at roughly 100 billion to 140 billion Korean won ($70 million to $100 million).
The potential acquisition would be led by Mirae Asset Consulting, a non-financial affiliate of the group, which has reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with Korbit’s major shareholders, according to a Sunday report from The Chosun Daily.
Korbit is primarily owned by NXC and its subsidiary Simple Capital Futures, which together hold about 60.5% of the exchange. SK Square owns an additional 31.5% stake.
Korbit holds a full operating license and compliance infrastructure, which could make it an attractive entry point for a major financial group seeking regulated exposure to digital assets.
Bitmine begins staking ETH, deposits $219M into Ethereum PoS contract
Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine has begun staking its Ether holdings depositing nearly $219 million worth of ETH into Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) system.
On Sunday, multiple wallets linked to Bitmine sent large Ether (ETH) transfers to a contract labeled “BatchDeposit,” onchain data from Arkham shows. The transfers totaled 74,880 ETH, a pattern typically associated with institutional staking setups that aggregate funds before validator creation.
“The largest Ethereum treasury company Bitmine (BMNR) has finally started attempting to stake its held ETH to earn interest income,” EmberCN said in a post on X.
“This is their first time staking, and they now hold 4.066 million ETH, with an approximate APY of 3.12%. If all of it were staked, they could earn about 126,800 ETH in interest over a year, which at the current price of $2,927 would be worth $371 million,” the onchain analyst said.
Ethereum’s TVL could skyrocket ’10X’ in 2026: Sharplink CEO
Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) may surge ten-fold in 2026 as adoption expands across multiple use cases and institutional investors, according to Sharplink’s co-CEO Joseph Chalom.
Sharplink Gaming is the second-largest public Ethereum treasury company, holding 797,704 ETH, worth roughly $2.33 billion at the time of publication, according to Ethereum Treasuries data.
“The stablecoin market will hit $500B by the end of next year,” Chalom predicted in an X post on Friday, as the total stablecoin market capitalization currently sits at around $308.46 billion. A move to $500 billion would represent an increase of about 62%.
With over half of the total stablecoin activity (54%) taking place on Ethereum, such a rise could potentially contribute to an increase in the network’s TVL.