IOTA Unveils New Era 2.0, $100 Million in Crypto Shorts Destroyed as Bears Lose Their Ground, 800 Million XRP Returned to Ripple Escrow: Crypto News Digest by U.Today

• IOTA, a distributed ledger technology platform that aims to enable the Internet of Things, has announced the launch of its IOTA 2.0 DevNet, also known as Nectar. This is the first version of a fully decentralized IOTA network that does not rely on a Coordinator, a centralized entity that previously validated transactions on the network. IOTA 2.0 DevNet introduces a new consensus mechanism, a new message structure, and a new feeless transaction model that can support smart contracts, DeFi platforms, and second-layer applications¹².
• The crypto market has seen a strong rally in the past few days, with Bitcoin surging above $40,000 and Ethereum reaching $3,000 for the first time since May. The bullish momentum has triggered a massive liquidation of short positions across major exchanges, totaling over $100 million in just 15 minutes on Oct. 1. According to CoinGlass, more than $70 million worth of crypto shorts were squeezed in a 24-hour span, with Bitcoin accounting for 81% of the squeeze³⁴⁵.
• Ripple, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency, has returned 800 million XRP to its escrow system after unlocking 1 billion XRP on Oct. 1. This move signals Ripple’s caution and foresight in managing its XRP supply and distribution. Ripple’s escrow system locks 55 billion XRP (55% of the total possible supply) into a series of on-ledger escrows that release 1 billion XRP each month over 55 months. This provides an upper limit on the amount of new XRP that can be brought into circulation. The amount of XRP actually released into circulation is usually much less than this, as Ripple tends to sell or re-lock most of the unlocked tokens¹⁶⁷.