Why Today's Crypto Exchange Leaders Are Powerful, but Not Inevitable
As crypto asks why prices shot down, the power and influence of exchanges are at the center of the conversation.

As crypto traders ask why bitcoin prices shot downward, the power and influence of exchanges are at the center of the conversation.
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After settling in at the $10,000 price level, bitcoin
In this episode of The Breakdown, we discuss the power exchanges wield - both in terms of market liquidity as well as the ability to shape news cycles. The good news is new funding for insurgent exchanges suggest that power is not inevitable.
Lastly, we discuss the latest in central bank digital currencies, with Sweden launching an e-krona pilot, a former head of China’s national bank saying the coronavirus could accelerate efforts to develop a digital yuan, and a new member of the Libra Association.
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Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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Proposed ‘AfterDark’ Bitcoin ETF Would Skip U.S. Trading Hours

The fund would hold bitcoin only overnight, betting on data showing bitcon gains mostly occur outside regular market hours.
What to know:
- Nicholas Financial has filed with the SEC to launch a bitcoin ETF that holds BTC only during overnight hours.
- The “AfterDark” ETF buys bitcoin after U.S. stocks close for the day and then sells bitcoin and shifts into Treasuries during the American session.
- Data shows bitcoin tending to perform better when traditional U.S. markets are closed.











