FIFA, football’s global governing body, plans to use Avalanche’s network to power its own dedicated layer-1 blockchain.

The FIFA Blockchain is an Avalanche L1, a customizable blockchain that uses Avalanche’s technology (also previously known as a subnet). The news comes as the Avalanche network recently went through its major Avalanche9000 upgrade, aimed at attracting new developers and encouraging them to create customized L1s.

Thursday’s announcement is not FIFA’s first foray into the world of blockchain and crypto. In 2022, the football body released a non-fungible token (NFT) collection on the Algorand blockchain ahead of the Qatar World Cup. FIFA also teased this change in April, noting that it would shift its collection to an EVM-compatible blockchain while continuing to pursue Web3 initiatives.

The NFT craze, which saw large institutions and corporations jumping into the trend, has now mostly vanished after the brutal crypto winter that dampened industry sentiment for several painful years. However, a large entity such as FIFA’s continued focus on blockchain likely signals that the use case for the technology hasn’t died down, and big enterprises are still looking to dabble in the industry.

“Avalanche is designed for enterprises and organizations looking to build custom, high-performance blockchain solutions,” said John Nahas, chief business officer at Ava Labs, in a press release shared with CoinDesk . “FIFA’s decision to launch its L1 on Avalanche is a testament to our technology’s ability to support global-scale applications with speed, flexibility, and security.”

While FIFA currently only has a World Cup NFT collection and a digital collectibles marketplace, it did not share what else it is planning to release on its new blockchain.

Read more: FIFA Embraces NFTs Tied to Classic Games Highlights for World Cup 2022

BNB’s impressive 24-hour rally showcases the growing strength of the Binance ecosystem amid broader crypto market optimism.

The token’s upward momentum coincides with Bitcoin’s approach toward new all-time highs and increased activity across the BNB Chain, which recently recorded over 8 million daily transactions and 2 million active wallet addresses.

Technical indicators remain bullish for BNB, with strong support established at $682 and multiple tests of this level showing sustained buyer interest despite minor resistance around $684, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis data model.

Technical Analysis Highlights

• Price action formed a clear uptrend with significant volume spikes at the 15:00 and 16:00 hours on May 21st (183K and 186K respectively).
• Strong volume support established around the $663-$670 zone.
• The asset encountered resistance near $689.35 during the 03:00 hour on May 22nd before a minor pullback.
• Support maintained at $679.08, suggesting continued bullish momentum.
• Notable volatility in the last hour with a significant price surge between 07:35-07:37, climbing from $680.85 to $683.78 (0.43% increase).
• Multiple tests of $682.00 level showing buyer interest, with resistance around $683.90.
• Volume peaked during the 07:37 period with over 7,190 units traded, confirming strength of upward movement.
• Final minutes showed consolidation around $682.28, suggesting temporary equilibrium after volatile trading.

External References

• «Binance Coin BNB Breaks Bull Flag, Targets $750 Amid Maxwell Hardfork Buzz«, The Crypto Basic, published May 21, 2025.
• «Binance’s Spot-to-Futures Ratio Hits 1.5-Year Peak as Bitcoin Reclaims $109K«, NewsBTC, published May 22, 2025.

A single trader has opened a massive $1.1 billion notional long position on bitcoin (BTC) using 40x leverage on the onchain decentralized exchange (DEX) Hyperliquid, a rare instance of a ten-figure position being open entirely on a blockchain-based platform.

The trade is tied to wallet address “0x507,” belonging to pseudonymous trader “James Wynn” on the platform.

Lookonchain data shows the position was opened at an entry price of $108,084, with a liquidation level just under $103,640 — meaning if BTC drops to that price, the position could be wiped out. The trade is sitting on over $40 million in unrealized profit as of early Thursday.

Wynn closed 540 BTC (~$60M) in European morning hours to lock in a $1.5 million profit. Notably, his past three exits were followed by sharp BTC pullbacks and traders may want to watch for a repeat, Lookonchain said.

Hyperliquid is built on its own high-performance layer 1 blockchain, HyperEVM, and offers features typically reserved for centralized platforms, like real-time order books, deep liquidity, and near-zero gas fees.

Its consensus mechanism, HyperBFT, reportedly handles over 200,000 transactions per second, allowing traders to execute quickly and transparently.

Unlike centralized exchanges that require KYC or restrict access, Hyperliquid allows anyone with a wallet to trade permissionlessly. The platform has rapidly gained popularity for its speed and capital efficiency, and this billion-dollar position may serve as a signal to other large players exploring onchain execution.

In many ways, it also marks a new phase of capital migration from centralized finance to decentralized finance (DeFi) — one where whales, not just retail, are willing to place big bets outside the traditional system.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE is up 15% in the past 24 hours as demand for the token increased.