Need evidence of speculator fervor. Look no further than Coinglass’ crypto derivatives leaderboard, which shows that fartcoin (FARTCOIN), the Solana-based memecoin, is now the 10th largest token based on derivatives open interest.

As of writing, notional open interest in futures tied to fartcoin totaled over $1 billion, placing the joke cryptocurrency ahead of well-established coins, such as Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink’s LINK (LINK), Avalanche’s AVAX (AVAX), and several others.

The other tokens play pivotal roles in decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain oracles and payments. Notional open interest refers to the dollar value locked in the number of open or active derivative contracts at a given time.

What’s more alarming is that fartcoin’s open interest now equals 65% of its market capitalization of $1.62 billion. By market value, fartcoin ranks 83rd in the world. Meanwhile, the $84.7 billion open interest in bitcoin derivatives amounts to just 3.5% of the leading cryptocurrency’s market value of $2.36 trillion.

Fartcoin’s unusually high open interest relative to its market cap indicates a buildup of speculative excesses typically seen during the crypto market bull runs, which drives retail investors to take significant risks in cheaper tokens.

A similar trend is seen in other smaller coins, according to data tracked by Alphractal.

«From the Top 300 down, Open Interest becomes disproportionately high compared to Market Cap — a strong risk signal. What does this mean? These altcoins will eventually liquidate 90% of traders, whether they’re long or short. They are also much harder to analyze with consistency,» founder and CEO of Alphractal, noted on X.

Read more: Disguised Unemployment in Blockchain? Data Shows Only 12% of Ethereum, 25% of Solana Protocols Have Revenue

Galaxy Digital (GLXY) is well positioned to capture upside from the favorable regulatory backdrop for cryptocurrency, Jefferies said in a new research report.

Jefferies has initiated coverage of the crypto investment bank with a buy rating, citing the passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. as «providing favorable market structure,» for Galaxy’s business.

The research on Tuesday also highlighted Galaxy’s potential for profiting from the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. Jefferies referred to Galaxy’s lease of CoreWeave’s 393 MW site at Helios, West Texas as «a transformational deal.»

Jefferies assigned Galaxy a buy rating and a $35 price target. GLXY shares closed over 6% higher at $29.11 on Tuesday. They were up a further 3% at $30 in pre-market trading on Wednesday.

The Mike Novogratz-founded firm is a digital assets financial services firm providing trading, asset management and investment banking. However, Jefferies believes approximately two thirds of its value stems from its data center business.

The bitcoin (BTC) mining industry has been pivoting to AI data to cash in on the proliferation of the sector and to diversify their revenue streams amidst more challenging conditions for BTC mining.

AI data centers and bitcoin mining facilities have numerous similarities in terms of the required hardware and expertise in high-performance computing (HPC), thus it can prove a natural expansion for miners.

CoinShares (CS) said it received a license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, the first crypto asset manager based in continental Europe to qualify.

The approval allows the Saint Helier, Jersey-based firm to offer crypto portfolio management services across the 27-nation bloc under a single, harmonized regulatory framework. Operations are already passported to countries including Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and it may expand further, the company said.

The license, granted by France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), joins CoinShares’ existing permissions under the EU’s MiFID and AIFM directives. That, the company says, makes it the only major European asset manager to hold all three credentials.

It’s a step the firm says could help open the 33 trillion euro ($38.7 trillion) European asset management industry to more fully regulated cryptocurrency investment products.

“Receiving MiCA authorisation from the AMF is a pivotal milestone, not just for CoinShares, but for the entire European digital asset industry,” CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti said in the statement. “With MiCA, we now have a clear, harmonized structure across the EU, and CoinShares is proud to be the first in continental Europe to meet that standard as a fully regulated asset manager.»

Various other cryptocurrency firms, it’s worth adding, have secured MiCA licenses, including exchanges Coinbase, Bybit, OKX, and Crypto.com.

Founded in 2013 and publicly traded on Nasdaq Stockholm, CoinShares says it manages over $9 billion in assets.

The company’s shares rose 1.7% to 120 krona ($12.66). They’re up more than 46% year-to-date.