MegaETH Hits First KPI, Triggers Token Launch

Sonya Kim of 3F | Tether Backs KAIO in $8M Tokenization Round

Marco Manoppo & Karon Pangestu
April 24, 2026

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Good Morning

MegaETH is tying its token emissions to actual usage milestones instead of a vesting calendar, and bitcoin ETF flows have finally flipped green for the year after months of bleeding

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In Today's Email:

What Matters: MegaETH Hits First KPI, Triggers Token Launch 👀
Founders Highlight: Sonya Kim of 3F 👩
Deal Flows: Tether Backs KAIO in $8M Tokenization Round 💰️

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WHAT MATTERS

MegaETH Hits First KPI, Triggers Token Launch

State of play: MegaETH cleared its first performance milestone with 10 Mega Mafia apps live, starting a seven-day countdown to the MEGA token generation event next Thursday.

The launched apps include stablecoin payments startup Cap, yield tokenization platform Brix, and onchain lending protocol Avon, each required to generate 100,000+ transactions over 30 days.
MegaETH tied 53.3% of its 10B MEGA supply to performance KPIs instead of time-based vesting, with remaining allocations going to VCs (14.7%), team (9.5%), ecosystem (7.5%), and a public auction (5%).
USDM circulating supply sits at $62.9M, roughly 13% of the $500M KPI target, with the foundation committing to use USDM revenue to accumulate MEGA tokens.

Why it matters: KPI-gated emissions are a direct rebuke of the low-float high-FDV launches that defined the last cycle, forcing the network to prove usage before insiders and stakers get paid.

Our take: Tying unlocks to 100K transactions per app is a low bar dressed up as rigor, and the real test is whether any of these Mega Mafia apps retain users once the token is liquid and the incentive flywheel starts spinning.

For builders and investors: Watch whether the $50K daily fee KPI across three apps gets hit on organic demand or on wash activity, because that distinction determines whether KPI-gating becomes a template or a cautionary tale.

BUILDER-INVESTOR HIGHLIGHT

Sonya Kim of 3F

Intro: Sonya Kim is the Co-Founder of 3F, an on-chain yield index of leveraged exposure to the world's leading alternative assets.

Previous background: Prior to 3F, Sonya spent two years at Steakhouse Financial and three years as an investor at Progrmd Capital.

Her earlier career was rooted in TradFi, with stints as an Investment Manager at Aberforth Partners, five years as an Investment Analyst at Kiltearn Partners, and two years as an Investment Risk Analyst at Baillie Gifford.

The big idea: Sonya and 3F’s big idea is to turn the slow, manual "looping" process that funds use to build leveraged positions on tokenized real-world assets into a one-click trade, completed within a single settlement cycle.

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INSIGHTS

Bitcoin ETF Flows Turn Positive for the Year

Spot BTC ETF flows have flipped green for the year after months of bleeding, with every rolling period tracked by Bloomberg now positive.

Cumulative one-day inflows hit $335M Thursday, monthly flows topped $2.1B, and year-to-date flows recovered to ~$1.8B after a brutal start to the year.
IBIT drove the rebound with $246M in single-day inflows and $1.9B over the past month, while GBTC remains the lone major outflow at $960M YTD.
Total spot BTC ETF AUM sits at $125B, still well below the $162B all-time high set in October 2025 when BTC traded above $120,000.

DEAL FLOWS

Tether Backs KAIO in $8M Tokenization Round

Deal flows slowed down this week - we saw $36M+ in deals 💼

Abu Dhabi tokenization firm KAIO raised $8M led by Tether to bring institutional funds from BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane onchain with minimums starting at $100.

The round brings KAIO's total funding to $19M, with Systemic Ventures joining as a new backer alongside returning investors.
KAIO plans to expand into credit, structured products, and ETFs, and launch an onchain fund with Mubadala Capital, the Emirati PE firm with $385B in AUM.
The firm has tokenized roughly $100M in assets and processed over $500M in transactions, with compliance embedded across Abu Dhabi, Cayman, and Singapore frameworks.

Deal flows in the past week:

Claw Intelligence, $3M Seed Round
KieDex, $3.5M Seed Round
Hata, $8M Series A Round
BetHog, $10M Series A Round
KAIO, $8M Strategic Round
ILITY Network, $2M Private Round
RealGo, $3.5M Unknown Round
Cluster Protocol, $5M Unknown Round
Mindra AI, Undisclosed $ Strategic Round

QUICK BITES

Tether freezes $344M in USDT on Tron.
Bitmine’s ETH staking passes 70% of holdings.
Bitcoin ETF flows turned positive for the year.
Blockchain Capital seeks $700M for two new funds.
MetaMask’s Dan Finlay announces departure from Consensys.
Jane Street asks court to dismiss Terraform Labs' insider trading lawsuit.
JPMorgan says DeFi exploits and stagnant TVL limit institutional appeal.
DOJ arrests US soldier accused of using secret intel to make Polymarket bet.
MegaETH hits first KPI with 10 apps live, starts 7-day MEGA token countdown.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

Ari’s read on DeFi Isn't Dying, It's Dividing.
The Smart Ape’s read on Where Did the Kelp $292M Go?
Axis’s read on Tokenized Markets Lack Infrastructure, Not Assets.

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