Binance Labs has announced its investment in Kernel, a restaking infrastructure designed to enhance security and utility on the BNB Chain. 

Kernel aims to use restaking to transform BNB’s security into programmable trust, supporting a range of crypto services, applications, and middleware.

Kernel Will First Launch On the BNB Chain

The initial rollout will focus on integrating BNB Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) and restaked BNB as economic security to drive innovation in DeFi on the BNB Chain. 

Also, Kernel plans to expand by incorporating Bitcoin and its derivatives into its restaking framework. Over 20 decentralized applications (dApps), will utilize Kernel’s economic security. This will include AI co-processor Mira and ZK proof aggregation protocol Electron

Meanwhile, collaborations with projects like ListaDAO, Solv, and YieldNest will further enhance the utility of restaked assets. Kernel’s long-term vision includes scaling its infrastructure to additional layer-1 blockchains.

Kernel’s approach integrates native and liquid staking tokens from BNB, BTC, and other yield-bearing assets. This will likely optimize the asset’s utility and improve capital efficiency.

“Kernel exemplifies the type of innovative project that aligns with Binance Labs’ mission to bring more users onto Web3 by supporting meaningful technology and advancing the ecosystem,” Alex Odagiu, Investment Director at Binance Labs said in a press release.

This investment follows Binance Labs’ recent backing of Lombard, a Bitcoin-focused liquid staking platform. Lombard’s LBTC token currently captures 40% of the Bitcoin liquid staking token market and aims to expand its secure multi-chain staking protocol.

Additionally, Binance Labs has ventured into the decentralized science (DeSci) sector.  The firm recently invested in BIO Protocol, marking its first entry into this field. 

Overall, Binance Labs’ has seemingly adopted a broader strategy to diversify its $10 billion portfolio into innovative and impactful sectors.

Between November 20 and 23, Dogecoin (DOGE) whales reduced their holdings — the same week the cryptocurrency reached a yearly high. This decrease in exposure caused DOGE’s price to dip to $0.36.

However, that is no longer the situation today, as these key stakeholders have resumed buying. Here is how this could affect Dogecoin’s value going forward.

Big Wigs Won’t Let Dogecoin Go Without Buying

According to Santiment, the balance of addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million DOGE dropped to 10.39 billion on November 23 but has since risen to 10.59 billion.

This indicates that Dogecoin whales took advantage of the weekend dip, accumulating approximately 200 million coins. At DOGE’s current price of $0.42, this equates to $84 million worth of purchases. Such whale accumulation often indicates a reduction in selling pressure.

Consequently, this surge in buying activity suggests that Dogecoin’s price could be gearing up for a climb beyond its current $0.42 level. Should that be the case, then the prediction that the meme coin could hit $1 might come to pass.

Additionally, the Average Directional Index (ADX) has been climbing steadily. The ADX is a technical analysis tool that helps traders evaluate the strength of a trend, whether bullish or bearish.

When the ADX exceeds 25, it signals strong directional momentum. Conversely, a reading below 25 suggests weak movement. On Dogecoin’s daily chart, the ADX has surged to 68.00, indicating a significant uptrend. With the coin trending higher, this suggests that DOGE’s price could continue to rise.

DOGE Price Prediction: $1 Still Feasible

A further look at the daily chart shows that Dogecoin’s price experienced resistance at $0.43. This decline was one reason the cryptocurrency failed to rally to $0.50. It is also important to mention that trading volume dropped, making it challenging for the uptrend to continue.

Meanwhile, it appears that bulls are defending the $0.36 region. If sustained, then DOGE’s value could climb towards $0.48. In a highly bullish scenario, the meme coin could rally toward the $1 mark.

However, if DOGE whales decide to sell, this might not happen. Instead, the coin might decline to $0.32.

This week’s crypto calendar is packed with major events, as Sonic Labs is about to launch its L1 mainnet, the Avalanche Etna update went live, Jupuary voting began for Jupiter, and more.

Additionally, Starknet will soon begin STRK token staking, and Stacks Foundation will release a timeline for its sBTC Bitcoin-backed asset.

Sonic Mainnet Is Launching in December

Sonic Labs (formerly known as Fantom) has repeatedly claimed in recent weeks that its Layer-1 mainnet would launch in December. This EVM platform also known as Sonic will offer developers attractive incentives and powerful infrastructure.

However, the company is yet to confirm the exact launch date. A social media post from earlier today teased a few details.

“Tired of waiting months or years for empty launch ‘promises’, and you’re ready to show the world what you can do? Come launch with us on Sonic. Our mainnet goes live this December. Earn up to 90% of your app’s fees. Real 10k at sub-second finality. Secure gateway to Ethereum. Grants available via Innovator Fund. $200 million S airdrop,” Sonic Labs wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

These breadcrumb announcements, alongside Sonic Lab’s airdrop, have generated dramatic interest in the last few days. Sonic’s FTM token has also been performing admirably, surging over 30% in the past week as the mainnet launch approaches. The network’s post-launch success could determine a broader trend in FTM valuation.

Avalanche Etna Goes Live

Blockchain network Avalanche has launched its Etna upgrade on testnet today. After this phase, Etna will launch on the mainnet, which will be the final step before the company launches its “largest update ever.” This update, Avalanche 9000, will drastically upgrade the underlying technology, and Avalanche Labs cofounder Kevin Sekniqi recently discussed its importance:

“My excitement for mainnet deployment literally cannot be overstated. This vision has been in the works for so many years. Huge upgrade, and my expectation and hope is that it’ll spark a golden age of L1s, making ‘scaling’ a thing of the past. No more ‘how do we scale’ but now ‘ok, what do I build to get to 1 billion users?’”, claimed Sekniqi.

The Etna upgrade empowers L1 creators with greater control over their networks. Developers can now define custom staking mechanisms, select alternative gas tokens, and implement unique governance models tailored to their specific use cases.

Jupiter’s Jupuary Begins Voting

Jupiter, a Solana-based decentralized exchange, began the first round of voting for its “Jupuary” airdrop today.

Essentially, Jupiter opened up a vote to the community on whether or not to conduct several massive airdrops. These airdrops require 70% community approval, and their stated goal is to build engagement.

“This current vote is for checking if the community is comfortable with 2 more JUPuaries round of 700M $JUP tokens each. Building a decentralized community has never been an easy task. Jup by Jup, you and I should strive to make $JUP the best governance token in the world and J.U.P the best community ever,” an influencer wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

This is not the platform’s first Jupuary airdrop, but it is the largest. Developers stated that this airdrop’s mission is to “accelerate, decentralize, unify” their broader community ecosystem. If the first vote passes, it will lead to one round of airdrops and successive votes until they lose approval.

Starknet Begins Staking

Starknet, a permissionless ZK-Rollup, will begin staking on its STRK token this week. It deployed staking infrastructure on mainnet earlier today. This will begin the platform’s overall transformation into a Proof-of-Stake network in four phases of preliminary test experiments.

“Validator tooling is now operational, and Validators are invited to begin their integration. For Delegators, UI and dApps for delegation will be available tomorrow with the official launch. Starting tomorrow, becoming a STRK Delegator will be very simple for everyone,” the firm claimed via social media.

Stacks to Reveal sBTC Launch Timeline

Additionally, the Bitcoin L2 Stacks is expected to reveal a timeline for its sBTC Bitcoin-backed asset. The company has released a whitepaper and roadmap, but it claimed that a more detailed timeline is forthcoming. This new asset will seek to provide new opportunities for Bitcoin in nontraditional DeFi applications.

Finally, all eyes will be on Bitcoin as it pushes towards the long-awaited $100,000 milestone. Despite the brief corrections in the market on Monday, Bitcoin has been consistently pushing new boundaries of all-time highs. It will be interesting to see BTC finally reaches six figures ahead of Thanksgiving and Christmas.