New York, NY

New York developer James McManus discussed an ongoing financing dispute involving Fairbridge Asset Management during an interview on The Frank Truatt Morning Show, which airs on WTBQ AM 1110 / FM 93.5 and WGHT AM 1500 / FM 98.3 across Northern New Jersey and the surrounding region.

The program, hosted by Frank Truatt during morning drive time, reaches up to 3 million listeners according to station information.

McManus told Truatt that his team was developing a 32 unit residential project in the Bronx that included an affordable housing component intended to serve the local community. According to McManus, the lender encouraged the acquisition of adjacent air rights by offering 100 percent financing for that portion of the transaction, a departure from the standard loan to value structure requiring 30 percent borrower equity.

McManus said that after closing on the air rights, the lender declined to provide the additional capital required to complete the expanded project.

He described the sequence as an engineered default that allowed the lender to pursue control of the property after the borrower had absorbed the development work and risk.

During the broadcast, McManus also pointed to broader concerns within the private credit sector. According to JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, risks within private credit markets have been a subject of repeated public warnings to investors and regulators.

McManus told Truatt that the stress surrounding the dispute contributed to a heart attack in October 2024. He said he was later admitted to St. Francis Hospital on December 4, 2024, where he underwent six bypasses and a heart valve repair. According to McManus, contact from the lender continued during his recovery.

“I am the first one to take the fight to them, to challenge them, and to bring the deceptiveness, the coercion, and the equity strips into the light,” McManus said during the broadcast.

“Speaking with Frank Truatt was an opportunity to explain this situation to a regional audience that understands how damaging this type of conduct is to small developers, to working communities, and to the integrity of the private credit market. I am grateful for the platform and for listeners who are paying close attention,” Mr. McManus said.

Interview Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUvdg7sQDl0&t=7s

Hong Kong

Pharos today announced the launch of its Pacific Ocean Mainnet and $PROS token, bringing its network for real-world financial applications fully live.

The launch follows a high-scale testnet that processed more than 4.3 billion transactions across 209 million wallets in less than a year, demonstrating strong early demand and readiness for production use.

The network is designed to address two key barriers that have limited the practical use of tokenised real-world assets: fragmented distribution across onchain markets, and the lack of infrastructure that meets institutional requirements for compliance and privacy.

Pharos has raised $52M to date, including a $44 million Series A round led by a mix of traditional technology, finance, and crypto investors. An additional strategic partnership from Hong Kong-listed energy company GCL New Energy (HKEX: 0451) values the company at nearly $1 billion.

Tokenized real-world assets such as Treasuries and real estate have expanded rapidly but remain difficult to access and deploy at scale. Distribution is often fragmented, limiting how capital can move between platforms, while institutions require greater control over compliance and how transactions and portfolio data are managed.

Pharos addresses these challenges by providing infrastructure designed for compliant, privacy-preserving access to real-world assets across onchain markets. The network enables institutions and users to interact with tokenized assets within a consistent framework, while maintaining control over how data is shared.

Once onboarded, participants can move, lend, trade, and settle real-world assets more seamlessly across applications, without operational barriers, improving distribution and allowing liquidity to flow more efficiently across financial applications.

Projects building on Pharos can deploy directly into this environment, gaining access to shared liquidity, interoperable infrastructure, and regulated stablecoin integrations.

The launch comes as the real-world asset tokenization sector expands toward a projected multi-trillion-dollar opportunity, with growing institutional participation increasing demand for infrastructure that can support scalable and efficient onchain financial activity.

Pharos positions itself as infrastructure for ‘RealFi,’ supporting real-world financial activity onchain. The network includes OKX Wallet and Topnod Wallet, enabling access for millions of existing users to participate without requiring new onboarding, as well as USDC and CCTP integration for regulated liquidity flows.

Additional ecosystem components include the RealFi Alliance, a $10 million Hong Kong-based global incubator program, alongside a growing network of real-world asset applications building on Pharos. More than 50 ecosystem dApps are expected to deploy at launch, spanning asset issuance, trading, and financial services.

Ahead of mainnet, Pharos demonstrated early capital formation through its pAlpha High Yield RWA Vault, with over $15 million committed in initial phases and the full $50 million capacity reached within days.

As a result, Pharos launches with both active applications and meaningful onchain liquidity from day one.

“Institutions entering the ecosystem was once just a theory. Now it is happening, and this launch turns that momentum into something the whole ecosystem can actually use,” said the Pharos Foundation founder and CEO Wish Wu.

About Pharos Labs

Pharos is the inclusive financial Layer 1 for RealFi, where real value and institutional-grade assets circulate onchain and are composable with decentralized assets, becoming the new infrastructure of global finance for all.

Pharos combines modular architecture, deep-parallel execution, and built-in compliance to power real-time finance onchain.

Built by the leadership and engineers from Ant Group, the project is backed by Hack VC, Faction VC, and other global TradFi investors.

Media Contact

marketing: @pharoslabs.xyz

[email protected]

Pharos.xyz | @pharos_network

Prague

Littlebit, a Bitcoin-powered micro-saving platform, today announced the official launch of its app, enabling users to automatically accumulate Bitcoin through everyday spending. The app connects directly to the BitDCA ecosystem, where Bitcoin rewards generated from real usage are shared with BDCA token stakers.

In just three months, more than 2,500 users have already saved over 5 BTC through the platform, driven primarily by organic adoption and word of mouth.

Turning Everyday Spending Into Bitcoin Savings

Littlebit allows users to connect existing debit or credit cards in under three minutes, automatically converting a percentage of each transaction into Bitcoin.

The product is designed to be passive. Once set up, users continue their normal spending habits while consistently building Bitcoin exposure in the background. By removing the need for active trading or manual transfers, Littlebit simplifies long-term accumulation for everyday users.

“Bitcoin still feels intimidating to a lot of people. Many see it as something for traders or tech enthusiasts. That’s exactly the problem we set out to solve – one card swipe at a time,” said Jan Záruba, CEO & Co-Founder of BitDCA.

Early Traction Signals Growing Demand

Users are currently saving more than 1.5 BTC per month, with steady double-digit growth as adoption continues to expand.

The data points to increasing demand for simple, automated ways to access Bitcoin without changing existing financial behavior.

Expansion Plans

Following its initial traction, Littlebit plans to expand into Central Europe, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where strong fintech adoption supports further growth.

The company is also preparing for expansion into Asia, alongside plans to extend the BitDCA ecosystem across additional blockchain networks to increase accessibility and liquidity.

A Revenue-Backed Bitcoin Rewards System

Littlebit is integrated with the BitDCA ecosystem, creating a system where user activity directly drives rewards.

As users save Bitcoin through everyday transactions, the platform generates a 2.5 percent transaction fee. These fees are used to fund Bitcoin rewards, which are distributed to BDCA token stakers.

To date, more than $10,000 in Bitcoin rewards has already been distributed across four completed reward cycles. Unlike most crypto reward systems built on token printing, BDCA rewards are funded by actual revenue – making them sustainable by design.

BDCA is a token that gives holders access to these Bitcoin rewards. By staking BDCA, users receive a share of revenue generated by the Littlebit app, aligning ecosystem participation with real economic activity. This reflects a broader shift in crypto toward sustainable reward models, where value is derived from actual product usage rather than token issuance.

At the same time, the platform supports consumer crypto adoption by allowing users to gain Bitcoin exposure through familiar payment behavior, lowering the barrier to entry for new participants.

About Littlebit

Littlebit is a fintech application that enables users to accumulate Bitcoin automatically through everyday spending. By linking existing payment cards and converting a portion of transactions into Bitcoin, Littlebit simplifies long-term crypto accumulation.

About BitDCA

BitDCA is a tokenized ecosystem that connects real-world fintech usage with on-chain incentives. Through its integration with Littlebit, BitDCA enables Bitcoin rewards distribution to token stakers funded by platform activity.

Littlebit App

Official Website

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