Hacks and exploits are increasingly taking more root in the crypto space. With the acceptance of digital assets globally, crimes also grow. The criminals use more technological approaches to aid their exploitation and hacks on protocols and platforms. A slight and negligible loophole is enough to result in these exploits.
MEV bot, an Ethereum arbitrage trading bot, amassed a whopping $1 million as a jackpot prize. However, the joy of its gains was short-lived as events turned out negatively for it some hours later. Before adequately reflecting on the tremendous value, a hack wiped the gains.
MEV Bot’s Crypto Gains Came Through Arbitrage Trading Opportunity Robert Miller, an employee of Flashbots, a research firm, took to Twitter to report the attack. He noted that the Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bot with the prefix 0xbadc0de earned Ether through arbitrage trades. He said the bot gained up to 800 ETH worth about 1 million in the works.
The bot leveraged a considerable arbitrage opportunity from trader sales from Miller’s explanation. The transaction involved about $1.8 million in cUSDC via Uniswap v2, a decentralized exchange (DEX). The trading yielded just $500 assets in return. Upon detecting the advantage, the bot immediately utilized its availability to obtain a huge earning.
But the bot’s gain could not stay much longer when a hacker discovered a vulnerability in its lousy code. The bad actor used the lapse to trick it into authorizing a transaction. The hacker wiped the bot’s balance, about 1,101 ETH.
Ethereum drops by 3% in price l ETHUSDT on Tradingview.com PeckShield, a blockchain security company, revealed that the bug is traceable to the bot’s callback routine. This served as the loophole for the exploit through which the hacker approved an arbitrary address for spending.
Similar Vulnerability Attack Vulnerability attacks on the crypto space are skyrocketing. For example, an Ethereum vanity address generator, Profanity, recorded a vulnerability exploit on September 18. The attack ended with a loss of $3.3 million worth of funds from different wallets.
1Inch Network, a DEX aggregator, investigated the exploit. The DEX discovered some ambiguity in the creation of the compromised wallets. It warned the wallet users to move their funds due to the risk associated with their use.
There was another exploit on a vanity wallet address just a week after that of Profanity. The attack resulted in the loss of some Ether valued at approximately $1 million. The hackers moved their proceeds to Tornado cash, the crypto mixer which was recently sanctioned.
Featured image from Pixabay, Chart: TradingView.com
Ethereum Name Service price surged by almost 19% showcasing bullish momentum. ENS’ daily trading volume has increased by 170% showing buying interest. Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has recorded a major technical breakout, and this could be a change of market sentiment as the altcoin takes a firm step above important moving average lines. The recent price movement indicates a high bullish potential that may mark the start of a long-term bullish trend of the domain name protocol token.
The most significant change in the technical environment of ENS is the fact that it has broken out above the 50-day EMA of $20.46 and the 200-day EMA of $21.34. This two-moving-average break is a very strong bullish indicator in technical analysis because the price has succeeded in breaking two major resistance levels at the same time. The price has settled above these important levels and has turned them into possible support areas for the price in the future.
According to the CoinMarketCap data, this breakout has an impressive momentum, as ENS has seen a significant 19% price increase along with an unprecedented 170% growth in its daily trading volume. This increase in volume is especially notable since it shows a true interest in the market and not a low-volume pump, which gives credence to the present bullish run.
What’s Next For Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Price? With an RSI of 77, the bullish momentum is very strong, but it is close to being overbought. Although this indicates that the rally is quite strong, traders must know that the RSI level could be a cause of concern to new entries since there is a possibility of a short-term pullback before another leg up.
The MACD indicator that shows positive values also proves the bullish thesis, and the momentum oscillator proves the power of the current upward trend. This technical convergence gives further support to the sustainability of the breakout.
Another aspect, which is perhaps equally important, is the social sentiment, which is measured by social sentiment indicators. The decrease of negative sentiment towards a more neutral and positive one indicates the increased confidence of the community and possibly the wider awareness of the value of ENS within the decentralized web ecosystem.
Strategically, the breakout above the 200-day EMA is especially important since it is usually a sign of a shift in the bear market to a bull market period. Provided that ENS manages to hold the price above the $21.34 mark, it may receive more institutional and retail attention, which would likely facilitate further price growth over the next few weeks.
Shubham Sahu is a crypto journalist and writer with extensive experience covering blockchain technology, digital currencies, and AI. With over seven years in financial markets, Shubham began his journey in traditional trading before uncovering his passion for the crypto verse. After making his first crypto investment in 2021, Shubham combines practical market experience with deep technical knowledge to provide insightful analysis and commentary.
Ethereum Name Service (ENS), a naming system based on Ethereum (ETH), edges higher by over 8% at press time on Wednesday, outpacing the broader crypto market with double-digit gains in the last 24 hours. With the bullish comeback of Ethereum surpassing the $3,100 mark, the ENS rally gains traction as part of its ecosystem, suggesting increased demand in the Web3 space.
Both derivatives and on-chain data flash bullish signals with increasing Open Interest and declining supply on exchanges aligning with the traders’ anticipation of an extended rally.
ENS Open Interest jumps nearly 50% CoinGlass’s data shows a 48% increase in ENS Open Interest (OI) over the last 24 hours, reaching $131.58 million. An increase in OI refers to heightened capital inflow in the derivatives market, suggesting a boost in traders’ interest.
A spike in OI-weighted funding rate to 0.0149% in the last 8 hours, from 0.0028%, reflects the bullish incline in traders’ interest. Bulls pay the positive funding rates to offset the imbalance in swap and spot prices.
The massive shakeout of short positions of $599.40K in the last 24 hours, compared to $119.27K of long positions, suggests a bullish inclination in the active positions. Adding credence to the bullish imbalance, the long/short ratio is at 1.0121. Typically, a ratio above 1 refers to a greater number of active longs compared to short positions.
ENS Derivatives. Source: Coinglass
Declining ENS supply on exchanges hit a record lowSantiment data shows a decline in the ENS supply available on exchanges, reaching 4.99 million tokens — the lowest since November 14. Based on the demand-supply correlation, the declining ENS supply could fuel the rising demand, extending the bullish run.
ENS supply on exchanges. Source: Santiment
ENS targets $30 breakout amid rising bullish momentumENS prints its fourth consecutive bullish candle on the daily chart on Wednesday, reclaiming the $26 level after five months. The recovery run accounts for a 41% rise so far in July, targeting the $30.29 resistance, last tested on February 3.
A decisive close above this level could push the uptrend towards $34.51, last tested on February 1, followed by the year-to-date high at $38.57.
A rising trend in the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) is on the verge of surpassing the 100-day EMA, which is considered a buy signal as short-term growth exceeds the medium-term trend.
The Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) and its signal line are rising higher in positive territory, indicating a bullish trend is in motion. An uptrend in histogram bars above the zero line suggests increased momentum.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) reads 78 on the daily chart, indicating overbought conditions on the back of growing buying pressure.
ENS/USDT daily price chart.
However, if ENS fails to uphold momentum, a bearish turnaround could retest the $24.88 level, marked by the daily close on February 9.
ENS dropped plans for Namechain, its own Layer-2 network, as the ENSv2 upgrade stays on Ethereum L1. The ENSv2 will remain fully compatible with Layer-2 networks. In a significant strategic shift, the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has announced that its next-generation protocol, ENSv2, will stayon Ethereum’s Layer-1 mainchain, dropping previous plans of building its own Layer-2 network, Namechain, according to a blog post by ENS co-founder Nick Johnson on February 6.
ENSv2 is the Ethereum Name Service’s upcoming major upgrade, intended to expand ENS capabilities to a Layer-2 network, providing users with lower fees and faster transactions than the Ethereum mainnet, as well as to provide structural modifications such as hierarchical registries, which give name owners more power and support for numerous chains.
Why ENS Dropped Its Layer-2 Plans Johnson wrote, “ Ethereum is scaling faster than almost anyone predicted two years ago; we’ve seen a 99% reduction in ENS registration gas costs over the past year, coinciding with Ethereum’s gas limit increases from 30M to 60M in 2025. By staying on L1, we’re aligning ENS with the strongest possible infrastructure guarantees, Ethereum itself.”
As Johnson mentioned, ENSv2 will still be released as planned, and halting work on Namechain will not affect the company’s broader roadmap. By having everything on one blockchain rather than two, he expects names to load faster and run more smoothly for users. Also, Johnson noted that the majority of the improvements made to make ENS easier to use over the last two years will stay in place.
Further, ENS Labs COO Katherine Wu shared a post via her X handle, “It is important to note that ENSv2 is ultimately an upgrade to ENS as it exists today — it’s still ENS! Regardless of where it ultimately gets deployed,” and highlighted new features such as individual registries for each ENS name and new apps currently in testing.
Vitalik Backs ENSv2’s Ethereum L1 Move Vitalik Buterin supported the ENS labs decision by saying, “It’s a good decision!” As he noted that ENS names and records represent a critical on-chain state for the Ethereum ecosystem, should remain easily accessible from anywhere.
Further, he added, “It’s also a semi-financial application, in the sense that buying and holding ENS names has a cost, and ENS names can become very valuable objects. With the expanded scaling roadmap, Ethereum L1 is the ideal place for these applications.”
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Writer with roots in journalism and international relations, actively exploring blockchain and crypto, with curiosity for the field and a passion for simplifying complex ideas.
EasyDNS has confirmed that a security failure within its own systems allowed a social engineering attacker to briefly seize control of eth.limo, a primary gateway for the Ethereum Name Service.
Summary
An attacker impersonated an eth.limo team member to bypass account recovery protocols at easyDNS and gain control of domain settings. DNSSEC safeguards prevented the redirection of users to malicious sites by rejecting forged responses that lacked valid cryptographic signatures. EasyDNS is migrating the service to Domainsure to eliminate account recovery vulnerabilities and prevent future social engineering breaches. The incident occurred on Friday when an attacker successfully impersonated an eth.limo team member to initiate an account recovery process, gaining the authority to modify name server records and redirect the domain to Cloudflare.
The eth.limo team, in a post-mortem published Saturday, stated that they immediately notified the community and prominent figures like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin once the DNS hijack was identified.
Serving as a bridge for roughly 2 million decentralized websites, eth.limo is a high-stakes target because a successful compromise could allow hackers to divert users to malicious pages. Buterin himself issued an urgent warning on Friday, advising his readers to avoid his blog until the team could restore secure operations.
Security extensions prevent widespread impact EasyDNS CEO Mark Jeftovic noted that the presence of Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSEC) played a critical role in stopping the attacker from causing further damage.
Because the hacker lacked the necessary cryptographic signing keys, modern DNS-aware resolvers rejected the forged responses, resulting in users seeing error messages rather than being funneled to phishing sites.
“We screwed up and we own it,” Jeftovic stated on Saturday, acknowledging that this was the first successful social engineering breach in the provider’s 28-year history.
The eth.limo developers highlighted in their own report that these safeguards likely reduced the “blast radius” of the hijack. While the service was disrupted, the team is currently unaware of any confirmed user impact or fund losses.
Jeftovic added that eth.limo is now being migrated to Domainsure, an enterprise-grade platform that does not offer a manual account recovery mechanism, effectively closing the loophole exploited in this attack.
The latest incident is one of the many recent infrastructure attacks hitting the crypto sector. Only days earlier, on April 14, the decentralized exchange aggregator CoW Swap lost control of its domain for several hours following a similar social engineering attack against the .fi registry, leading to an estimated loss of $1.2 million from affected users.
What is the difference between TradFi (traditional finance) and DeFi (decentralized finance)? Proponents of each often see one or the other as inherently superior. Native crypto users tend to ride hard for decentralization over everything; those in web2 and banking often argue that DeFi simply replicates TradFi but worse. This guide gets into the nitty gritty, covering the strengths and weaknesses of TradFi vs. DeFi. Here’s what to know in 2026.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
➤ TradFi and DeFi offer fundamentally different architectures — one built on institutions and law, the other on code and decentralization.
➤In DeFi, liquidity is a programmable primitive, whereas in TradFi, it is controlled and distributed through siloed institutions.
➤ Both systems rely on different trust models: TradFi assumes institutional reliability; DeFi minimizes trust through transparency and incentives.
➤ Rather than replacing TradFi, DeFi reimagines its core functions with new assumptions about access, risk, and control.
In This Guide:
What is TradFi?What is DeFi?A brief history of financeTradFi vs. DeFiTradFi vs. DeFi: Which one is better?Finance is not a zero-sum gameFrequently asked questionsWhat is TradFi?TradFi is a combination of the words traditional and finance; it refers to the established financial system predating blockchain technology. Traditional finance encompasses all financial institutions, products, and services that operate within regulated frameworks, including:
Central banks Commercial banks Payment networks Money markets TradFi includes lending, investing, clearing, and settlement mechanisms and monetary policy, typically mediated by centralized entities such as banks, brokers, and regulatory bodies.
Some of the markets that collectively make up TradFi include equities (encompassing stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and swaps); fixed income (such as corporate bonds, sovereign debt, and municipal bonds); foreign exchange (FX); commodities (including energy, metals, and agricultural products); real estate; and interbank money markets.
What is DeFi?Decentralized finance (DeFi) refers to a system of financial services built on blockchains that operates without centralized intermediaries.
DeFi replicates functions of traditional finance, such as lending, borrowing, trading, asset issuance, and payments, using smart contracts and decentralized protocols.
Governance and operations are typically enforced through code and consensus mechanisms, rather than through centralized institutions or legal contracts.
At its core, DeFi mirrors the products and services of TradFi, but reimplements them using open-source software, transparent ledgers, and programmable logic. DeFi does not simply recreate financial primitives like borrowing or lending; it also reinvents TradFi’s more abstract or structural elements.
The total value locked (TVL) of DeFi often exceeds $100 billion.
A brief history of financeTradFi is a concept that exists in contrast to DeFi; its definition emerged retrospectively rather than from a single point of origin. Still, important historical developments in traditional finance laid the groundwork for DeFi’s rise.
The trajectory of TradFi — toward increasing abstraction, complexity, and dependence on centralized infrastructure — ultimately created the conditions for its alternative: DeFi. Each stage of TradFi’s development left a structural or philosophical gap that DeFi attempts to address through code and decentralization.
For this guide, we refer to TradFi’s history in relation to the rise of centralized banking (e.g., Bank of England, Bretton Woods, and the Federal Reserve). Centralized banking refers to a system where a single institution, known as a central bank, manages a country’s monetary policy and controls the money supply.
Central banking laid the foundation for the modern financial system. While there were many tradeoffs, the emergence of central banks helped:
Standardize monetary policy Stabilize currency issuance Introduce a baseline of safety to the system Simply put, this meant that people could use fiat currencies and procure loans with ease and safety. This shift made fiat broadly usable and bank deposits more trustworthy, which in turn led to the growth of institutional finance.
However, the same institutions that made modern finance possible also introduced new forms of risk and exclusion.
Centralization created single points of failure, opaque governance led to mistrust, and growing reliance on intermediaries concentrated power into the hands of a few.
The 2008 financial crisis was a turning point and made these vulnerabilities apparent, exposing how complex, interconnected systems built on trust and opacity could fail.
Shortly thereafter, the enigmatic figure Satoshi Nakomoto created Bitcoin in 2009. This marked the beginning of crpto and blockchain technology and created the technological primitives and philosophical principles upon which DeFi eventually built.
16 years ago, Satoshi encoded “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks” into bitcoin's genesis block, at a time when “Eat Out from £5” was still a standard deal.
Each anniversary, this headline reminds us how bailout-driven monetary expansion erodes purchasing power. pic.twitter.com/27OQidXY0A
— Onramp (@OnrampBitcoin) January 3, 2025 TradFi vs. DeFiHow does DeFi organize and compose financial activity differently from TradFi? In the following sections, this guide covers how DeFi differs from TradFi in philosophy, core primitives, assets, and risk management.
PhilosophyAt their core, TradFi and DeFi are not just different in how they operate, they are built on different philosophies. In TradFi, rules are enforced through laws. Banks are audited, exchanges follow rules because of regulators, and contracts are enforced through courts.
On the other hand, DeFi is governed by protocols and economic incentives. It operates based on the principle of trust minimization (i.e., why trust when you can verify). In this scenario, trust is placed in code, cryptography, and math, and game theory becomes the mechanism for aligning interests.
DeFi’s ethos is rooted in open-source transparency, censorship resistance, and accessibility. Whereas TradFi asks users to trust institutions.
It is important to keep in mind that both philosophies have tradeoffs. TradFi offers legal recourse and protections but can selectively enforce rules. DeFi offers transparency, self-custody, and availability but introduces unique attack vectors.
Institutions vs. protocolsIn TradFi, financial activity revolves around institutions. Liquidity flows through a network of banks, exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearinghouses — each siloed and bound by trust. However, the core of DeFi is the decentralized exchange (DEX), specifically pools of liquidity.
DEXs were initially and solely created as peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplaces where users could trade crypto without needing an intermediary. Today, other protocols integrate with DEXs to source liquidity, manage collateral, and create new financial primitives.
In other words, they have evolved beyond their traditional role and now function more like modular liquidity infrastructure as opposed to mere trading venues.
Flow of liquidity in DeFi: BeInCryptoIn traditional finance, liquidity flows through banks, exchanges, shadow banks, and similar institutions. Each of these institutions are fragmented, requiring licenses, credit relationships, legal agreements, and intermediaries.
Flow of liquidity in TradFi: BeInCrypto In summary, the financial system is built around regulated entities. These institutions are the building blocks that hold and move capital. In DeFi, the liquidity itself is the primitive. As a result, DEXs become public, programmable liquidity layers that other protocols can plug into.
TradFiDeFiTraditional finance is institution-centricDecentralized finance is protocol-centricLiquidity is fragmented across multiple institutionsLiquidity is concentrated in liquidity poolsRequires institutional trust and contractual arrangementsAccess is open and permissionlessCoordination via legal infrastructureCoordination via programmable infrastructureAssetsTradFi and DeFi don’t just differ in architecture, they differ in the composition and trust assumptions of the assets that underpin their systems. In TradFi, the assets that make up the foundation of liquidity are composed of fiat currencies, sovereign debt, and credit instruments, backed by trust and legal enforcement.
USD, for, example, is a fiat currency that serves as a global settlement layer. It is backed by the economic activity of the U.S. (and its military).
Share of global reserve currencies: wolfstreet.comIn DeFi, the analogues to these assets emanate from protocol design. For example, ETH is a base currency of the Ethereum network (analogous to USD and the U.S.). However, it is also a yield-bearing asset through staking — similar in function to a sovereign bond, such as U.S. treasuries.
LP tokens are like claims on underlying capital and have similar functionality to equity or structured notes. Lending protocol receipt tokens, like aUSDC or cDAI, are on-chain debt instruments backed by collateral in smart contracts.
CategoryTradFiDeFiBase assetFiat currencies (USD, EUR, JPY)Native tokens (ETH, SOL, BTC)Risk-free yield Sovereign bonds (e.g., U.S. Treasuries)Staked ETH / LSTs (e.g., stETH)Credit instrumentsCorporate bonds, commercial paperLending protocol debt (e.g., aUSDC, cDAI), undercollateralized loans (Maple)Equity-likeStocks, ETFsProtocol tokens (e.g., UNI, AAVE), LP tokens (claim on revenue/yield)Collateral InstrumentsRepo securities, margin accountsLP tokens, vault shares, wrapped assets The big difference lies in the trust assumptions. TradFi relies on solvency of the nations and institutions issuing and custodying the assets; DeFi relies on code and incentive alignment.
StablecoinsStablecoins are somewhat of an anomaly, as they have ties to both worlds. They are the bridges between TradFi and DeFi. They allow DeFi protocols to price assets and settle trades, all while functioning on-chain.
Fiat-backed stablecoins (USDC and USDT) are on-chain liabilities of off-chain institutions, similar to how eurodollars are liabilities held in foreign banks. They rely on off-chain solvency, legal enforcement, and trust in the custodian. Because of this, fiat-backed stablecoins are more like a hybrid asset: neither fully DeFi nor TradFi.
Tell me without telling me you live in America.
Stablecoins have many use cases in the eurodollar system.
I have personally used them to pay for things in SE Asia and South America. They were preferred to local currency or bank dollars.
Walt is burying his head in the sand and… https://t.co/ZDPOYbxNlv
— Austin Campbell (@CampbellJAustin) December 13, 2024 Decentralized stablecoins (DAI and crvUSD), on the other hand, fit natively into DeFi’s trust model. They are backed by on-chain collateral, managed by smart contracts, and governed by decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
Risk management and designOne of the most important questions we must ask about every financial system is what happens when things go wrong? A financial system’s design addresses how it operates under both normal conditions and stress.
In traditional finance, a network of institutions and regulations manage risks. Banks have capital reserves, trading firms have margin requirements, so on and so forth. In this system, trust relies on legal enforcement and solvency.
Conversely, DeFi does not delegate risk management, it is resolved in real time. Protocols like Sky (formerly MakerDAO) and Aave mitigate credit risk through:
Over-collateralization Decentralized oracles Time weighted average prices (TWAP), Bots that execute liquidations automatically In this system there are no bailouts — just code and game theory.
Liquidation bot on Aave: app.blocksec.comOne of the tradeoffs of this design is that protocols and assets are more volatile in the short term, but resilient over time. On the other hand, TradFi buffers risk through institutional control. This design effectually hides risk until it reaches a breaking point.
one thing crypto has over tradfi is the high frequency of liquidations. liquidate early, liquidate often. accumulate data, improve at risk management, reduce systemic risk
tradfi does the opposite, putting the whole system at risk with just a couple days of bad price action
— juthica (@juthica) April 5, 2025 Both systems acknowledge that risk cannot be eliminated, only designed for. Each approach takes a different philosophy of control.
GFC vs. Terra-Luna and Celsius contagionThe Great (or Global) Financial Crisis (GFC) is an event that began in 2007 and peaked in 2008. It was a financial crisis that originated in the U.S., spread to other countries, and became widely recognized as the most significant economic downturn since the Great Depression.
The GFC exposed how interdependence and the lack of transparency can allow risk to accumulate quietly and spread systemically. Bailouts and quantitative easing ensured that the system remained operational. However, this also taught the world an important lesson: in TradFi, risk is socialized.
Much like the GFC spread to global financial markets, the Terra-Luna collapse was the catalyst for widespread contagion in crypto markets. This led to the collapse of Celsius, Voyager, Three Arrows Capital, and many other CeFi platforms.
The contagion revealed the systemic risks of centralized lending platforms operating under the banner of DeFi. Though this event spread throughout the crypto markets, leading to a collapse in asset prices, actual DeFi platforms remained operational.
TradFi vs. DeFi: Which one is better?Rather than question whether DeFi or TradFi is better, it’s smarter to consider what each system is designed for. TradFi is more mature and deeply embedded into the global economy. It supports everything from insurance, banking, real estate, and more. Entire industries rely on TradFi.
By contrast, DeFi is nascent, experimental, and narrow in practical application. Most of its activity centers around trading and lending. Its adoption is still niche and real-world application is still in its early phases.
However, DeFi reimagines core functions of the financial system. It is not meant to replace it entirely. TradFi builds around institutions and laws, whereas DeFi builds around protocols and minimized trust. It encodes rules on the blockchain, opens access to anyone, and allows users to hold and trade assets without intermediaries.
TradFi dominates in stability in scale, while DeFi is structurally more egalitarian. The real question is how will they influence each other in the future.
CategoryTradFiDeFiMaturityMature EmergingScopeBroadNarrowSystem designInstitution-centricProtocol-centricAccessPermissionedPermissionlessTransparencyOpaque systems, private ledgersFully transparent, real-time, on-chain dataRisk managementCentralized oversightOn-chain risk mitigationPhilosophyTrust in institutions and legal frameworksTrust minimized through open-source code and cryptographyValue propositionStability, scale, and economic integrationTransparency, composability, and financial inclusivityFinance is not a zero-sum gameTradFi and DeFi have two fundamentally different approaches to organizing and managing financial systems — one built on trust, the other on code. DeFi is still early but has introduced new possibilities. Conversely, TradFi is essential to global economies but subject to human error. The outcome of TradFi vs. DeFi is not a zero-sum game. The future of finance may not be one or the other but a marriage of both; something evidenced in the recent institutional adoption of crypto and popularity of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Frequently asked questions Both TradFi and DeFi have tradeoffs. While DeFi is better for transparency, TradFi is better for real world use. Both have strengths and weaknesses, however, TradFi is the more widely used of the two.
TradFi is the established financial system that predates DeFi. The term was created retrospectively as the alternative to DeFi. It comprises multiple institutions, such as banks, insurance, equities, real estate, and more.
DeFi is the collection of financial services on the blockchain. It replicates the function of traditional finance, such as lending, borrowing, trading, payments, and more. What separates DeFi from traditional finance is the decentralization of the systems that are built out from blockchain protocols.
Yes, it is possible to make money in DeFi. There are many protocols that replicate familiar products and services in traditional finance. Some of these include lending, borrrowing, and trading.
A widely followed cryptocurrency analyst and trader believes that one top 15 altcoin project could more than double against Bitcoin (BTC).
Michaël van de Poppe tells his 686,300 followers on the social media platform X that the decentralized oracle network Chainlink will likely witness a massive breakout rally against Bitcoin (LINK/BTC) this year.
[adinserter block="1"]
“Chainlink against Bitcoin is still looking for a big breakout later this year. Higher lows are being established, a breakout above 4,500 sats, and it’s going to go to 9,000 sats. I’m buying the dips.”
Source: Michaël van de Poppe/X LINK/BTC is trading for 0.000336 BTC ($14.09) at time of writing, indicating an upside potential of about 167% if the pair hits the analyst’s target.
Next up, the trader says Bitcoin will likely trade within the range of about $49,000 and $39,000 before a breakout after the April halving event, when miners’ rewards are cut in half.
“I’ve not posted an update on this chart for Bitcoin in a while. It’s going pretty well as planned. Now, consolidation will likely occur before continuing to new all-time highs.”
Source: Michaël van de Poppe/X The analyst also believes that the total market capitalization for digital assets is in an uptrend after testing a key support level at $1.547 trillion.
“Total market capitalization of crypto has taken the liquidity and bounced from the crucial area. It seems likely we’ll continue to $2 trillion in the coming period.”
Cover image via u.today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
The market went through something similar to a reset that is essentially making a proper recovery possible in March when multiple breakthroughs line up properly.
Bitcoin between liquidity clustersThe $70,000 range has essentially turned into the most fiercely defended price level on the chart, as Bitcoin is once again trapped in a narrow battle zone. The way the market is currently set up, Bitcoin is wedged between fierce overhead resistance and liquid support below.
Source: CoinglassTechnically speaking, Bitcoin is still trading below major moving averages as it tries to level off following a steep drop. A narrow consolidation pattern, that shows hesitation rather than unambiguous directional confidence, is being formed by the sideways grinding price action.
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Every attempt to push higher is met with strong selling pressure close to the upper boundary, strengthening the resistance wall between $69,000 and $70,000. The structure implies that although buyers are active, they are not yet powerful enough to take back control.
Key BTC zonesThis range is particularly significant because of the enormous liquidity concentration shown by the most recent 24-hour BTC liquidation heatmap. The battlefield is characterized by two major liquidity clusters: the first is located around $69,000, a heavy short liquidation zone, and the second cluster, situated at about $66,000, is full of lengthy dense liquidations that might be swept if the price falls.
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The market is responding to leverage positioning as well as price levels. Liquidations increase momentum, so whichever side breaks first could start a domino effect. A breakdown below support could hasten selling pressure through lengthy liquidations.
The image of indecision is reinforced by volume behavior, as sharp moves cause spikes to appear, but they soon disappear, suggesting that big players are holding off on making a commitment until they have confirmation.
Ethereum moves forwardFollowing months of structurally lower highs and numerous attempts to sustain recovery, the most recent move above the 100 EMA represents a significant shift in short-term momentum.
According to the chart, Ethereum had been trading below important moving averages for a while, and the 26, 50 and 200 EMAs were all stacked in a bearish manner.
ETH/USDT Chart by TradingViewPrice action broke sharply from the previous support zone near $2,800 and then gradually compressed near the $1,900-$2,000 region.
The decline accelerated, and a bearish continuation phase was confirmed when that zone, which had served as a long-standing floor, gave way. The recent surge above the 100-day mark indicates that there is less pressure to sell in the near future.
Ethereum's potential for moreThe push higher resulted in an increase in volume, which is significant because prior attempts at recovery were unpopular and quickly faded. This time the move followed a string of smaller higher lows and consolidation, suggesting that sellers were losing control prior to the breakout.
The 200-day average is still above as a significant resistance level, and Ethereum is still trading below the longer-term moving averages. In the past, recovering the 100-day average has frequently signaled the start of a transitional phase, as opposed to an abrupt trend reversal.
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The breakout, in this case, should be seen as a technical advancement rather than an indication of a complete recovery. If buying pressure continues, momentum may continue, as it has recovered from oversold territory and is entering neutral levels.
Keeping the price above the recently recovered average and turning it into dynamic support will be Ethereum's next major challenge.
Shiba Inu's direction unclearWith price action confined inside a declining structure that has determined its short-term direction for weeks, Shiba Inu enters March at an intriguing technical crossroads. SHIB is still under a lot of pressure on the longer time frame chart, trading below important moving averages that are still sloping lower.
SHIB/USDT Chart by TradingViewHowever, if one particular condition is met, namely a clean breakout from the descending triangle formation, the lower time frame, especially the four-hour chart, shows early indications that momentum could shift. The classic conflict between persistent sellers and stabilizing demand is reflected in the descending triangle that can be seen on the four-hour time frame.
Although bears are still in control of the overall trend, lower highs continue to push the price toward a comparatively flat support zone, indicating that they have been progressively losing strength. The current configuration is noteworthy because, as the pattern develops, volatility has been declining.
For March to be bullish, SHIB must break above the declining trendline with strong volume. Prior recovery attempts were swiftly rejected, primarily due to insufficient buying pressure to validate reversal attempts.
WSJ: Treasure Global Establishes Digital Asset Treasury Anchored in Ethereum as Core Blockchain Infrastructure Asset with BitGo as Licensed Custody Provider
TLDR: Bitbank and Epos Card launched Japan’s first crypto-linked credit card on April 27, 2026. Cardholders earn a 0.5% crypto cashback monthly, choosing between Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Astar. Users can pay monthly card fees directly from their bitbank exchange account using Bitcoin. Visa’s Japan president confirmed support, calling it a key step in connecting crypto to daily payments. Japan’s Bitbank has officially entered the credit card market with a compelling cashback offer. In partnership with Epos Card Co., Ltd., the company launched the EPOS CRYPTO Card for bitbank on April 27, 2026.
The card gives users a 0.5% crypto cashback on all monthly card spending. This move positions Bitbank as a serious player in Japan’s broader consumer financial services space.
A Cashback Model Built Around Crypto Asset Returns The 0.5% crypto cashback feature sits at the center of this card’s value proposition. Unlike traditional cashback programs that return yen or points, this card rewards users in digital assets.
Cardholders can receive their returns in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or Astar (ASTR). The chosen crypto asset is then credited directly to the user’s Bitbank exchange account.
What makes this arrangement particularly practical is the monthly selection flexibility. Users are not locked into one crypto asset for the entire year.
Instead, they choose their preferred return asset each month based on personal preference. This gives cardholders direct control over how they build their digital asset holdings over time.
New members also receive an additional welcome benefit worth 2,000 yen upon signing up. This is awarded on top of the recurring 0.5% crypto cashback program.
Together, both incentives make the card attractive for users already active on the bitbank exchange. Applicants must hold a verified bitbank account to qualify for the card.
Epos Card, the fintech arm of the Marui Group, brings its financial inclusion mission to this partnership. The company has long aimed to provide accessible financial services across all income levels.
Pairing that mission with Bitbank’s crypto infrastructure creates a card that serves both new and experienced crypto holders. The result is a rewards structure designed to lower the barrier to digital asset ownership.
How Bitbank Is Reshaping Japan’s Crypto Payment Landscape Beyond cashback, the card also allows users to pay monthly fees directly from their bitbank exchange account. This makes it Japan’s first credit card to support crypto asset withdrawals for card payment.
Bitcoin is the only asset currently accepted for this withdrawal function. The BTC is sold at the prevailing market rate at the time the payment is processed.
Users should factor in that crypto price movements can affect the final yen-converted amount. There is also a possibility that insufficient BTC holdings could prevent a payment from going through.
Furthermore, selling crypto assets in Japan may carry tax obligations requiring a formal return. Cardholders are advised to stay informed on the regulatory side of crypto transactions.
Visa Worldwide Japan K.K. President Setan Kitney publicly welcomed the card’s launch with a clear statement of support. “We are pleased to announce that we have taken a new and important step in connecting crypto assets with the everyday payment experience,” Kitney said.
He further added, “We hope that new options such as payments and rewards using crypto assets will become more accessible to more people.” His comments reflect growing institutional confidence in crypto-integrated consumer products across Japan.
Kitney also reaffirmed Visa’s broader commitment to the space. “Visa will continue to work with issuers and other ecosystems to foster innovation and expand access to financial services,” he noted.
This backing from a global payments giant adds credibility to the card’s long-term prospects. It also signals that major financial networks are aligning with the direction both Bitbank and Epos Card are heading.
Looking ahead, both companies plan to widen the card’s supported digital assets and payment options. A commemorative campaign is currently running on Bitbank’s official website for new applicants.
Bitcoin and crypto market twist has brought unexpected changes to almost all assets. Prices have been declining with little or no hope for a reversal. The FTX exchange fiasco intensified the performance as several losses have been recorded in the entire crypto space.
Following the events, the price of Bitcoin dipped below its critical resistance level of $20K. Since then, the primary cryptocurrency has plummeted as the value slipped toward the $17K region.
Over the past 24 hours, BTC could not make any significant positive movement. Hence, the token has resolved to consolidate around the $17K level. But many doubts are brewing if a storm could follow this new calmness in the future.
Bitcoin Calms Around $17K Bitcoin has failed to trigger enough volatility that could push the price higher. The cryptocurrency has stalled around the $17K level during some trading hours. As of yesterday, BTC managed to hit up to $17,424. But the surge couldn’t last long as the bears suddenly took over.
According to data from Binance, the primary crypto dropped to an intraday low of $16,867. However, the coin is gradually climbing upward. At the press time, Bitcoin is trading at around $16,835, indicating a drop. It boasts a market cap of about $326.81 billion, and its dominance over the altcoin is at 38.33%.
Bitcoin price fails to surge above $17,000 l BTCUSDT on Tradingview. com Over the years, several interpretations for prolonged periods of reduced volatility have been given. One such is that it stands as a precursor toward a massive surge. Hence, the speculation on Bitcoin’s current consolidation could represent the calm before the storm.
Altcoins In Red Zone The crypto market has experienced an overall drop as prices keep dropping. With the strong presence of the bears, the altcoins have painted the market red. This declining trend has cut down the overall market cap more.
At the time of writing, the cumulative market cap sits at $853.33 billion. It shows a drop of about 1.39% over the past 24 hours.
The performance of the altcoin has not been impressive. Most recorded a decline between 2% and 6% over the last day.
The worse performers over the past day are BTSE Token and GMX. While the former dipped by 8.3%, the latter plummeted by over 7.2 % within 24 hours.
Other losers include ETH with a 3.41% drop, DOGE dipped by 6.47%, XRP by 2,57%, BNB by 2.38%, MATIC by 3.17%, ADA by 3.11%, and others.
However, the market saw just a few exceptions to the southward move. The best performers are Axie Infinity’s AXS and Synthetix Network’s SNX. While AXS surged by 4.4%, SNX recorded an increase of 5.4% in the last 24 hours.
Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView.com
Biconomy has proposed ERC-8211, a new Ethereum standard for “smart batching” complex DeFi flows. The standard lets AI agents chain multi-step transactions in a single atomic call, resolving each step at execution time. Ethereum Foundation researcher Barnabé Monnot says ERC-8211 aligns with the Foundation’s “Improve UX” push to hide DeFi complexity from end users. Biconomy has proposed a new Ethereum standard, ERC-8211, that introduces “smart batching” so AI agents and smart accounts can execute complex, multi-step DeFi operations in a single transaction while resolving each step’s parameters at execution time rather than at signing.
The standard, published on April 6, 2026, is designed as a contract-layer encoding that works with existing account-abstraction frameworks and does not require any Ethereum protocol fork.
According to ERC-8211’s full specification stack published on Github, the protocol addresses a core bottleneck in today’s DeFi infrastructure. That most batch systems lock all parameters before a transaction hits the chain. Annoyingly even when later steps depend on outputs that are unknown in advance, such as the exact proceeds of a token swap or a lending withdrawal.
“Smart batching resolves parameters at execution time,” the ERC-8211 specification explains, allowing each parameter in a batch to declare how its value should be obtained — as a literal, via a static call, or from an on-chain balance — and what constraints it must satisfy before the batch can continue.
How ERC-8211 works The ERC-8211 spec describes a batch format where every input parameter carries three pieces of information: a fetcher type to define how the value is sourced, routing information that decides whether it becomes a call target, value field or calldata, and inline predicates that must hold or the entire batch reverts.
That structure lets an AI agent express flows like “swap token A for token B on Uniswap, then deposit whatever actually arrives into Aave,” with the second step pulling its amount from the resolved output of the first call rather than a guessed number.
Smart batching also introduces assertion-only “predicate entries,” where a batch step has no call target and instead encodes a boolean condition on chain state — for example, asserting that a wallet’s WETH balance remains above a safety threshold after a leverage loop.
These predicates use the same runtime resolution path as regular actions and act as gates between steps, turning a batch into what the spec calls “a program with embedded safety checks, not a hopeful script.”
Tying into Ethereum’s UX and agent roadmap In comments to Decrypt, Ethereum Foundation research scientist Barnabé Monnot said ERC-8211 fits directly into the organization’s user-experience roadmap.
“The protocol cluster of the Ethereum Foundation has ‘Improve UX’ as one of its strategic priorities,” Monnot said, adding that “ERC-8211 support is coming from this strategic priority” and that the collaboration with Biconomy began during a 2025 workshop convened by the Foundation’s Improve UX initiative.
Monnot argued that “the agentic execution angle is new, but has imposed itself given the rapid developments of agents over the last three months,” calling ERC-8211 “a perfect use case since agents can orchestrate complex cross-chain interactions, and ERC-8211 gives them the right platform to do so.”
Biconomy, which describes itself as “the smart wallet and execution engine for high-performance DeFi and autonomous onchain agents,” has previously worked on account-abstraction tooling and gasless UX, and says ERC-8211 can be implemented directly in TypeScript clients that construct batches against its encoding.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surged 8.46 percent over the past 24 hours, hitting $1,805.94. This jump outperformed the overall crypto market, which saw a 7.69 percent uptick over the same period. Ethereum’s strong move has renewed investor interest after weeks of muted performance across digital assets.
Short-term outlook and latest trendsEthereum’s momentum against Bitcoin also strengthened. In the past day, ETH gained 5.17 percent against BTC, signaling a possible recovery from its recent weakness. According to analysts, the short-term forecast suggests that the price could climb to $1,909.55 by June 20, 2026. This would represent an additional rise of 11.17 percent from current levels.
Analysts currently predict that Ethereum could reach $1,909.55 by June 20, 2026, marking an 11.17 percent increase compared to its current price.
However, the broader trend over longer time periods remains negative. Ethereum has declined 17.01 percent in the last month and dropped 22.29 percent over the past three months. On a yearly basis, ETH is down by 28.34 percent. For comparison, at this time last year, Ethereum was trading at $2,520.16.
Technical indicators flash cautionDespite the recent gains, technical signals suggest caution is warranted. Most market indicators remain bearish, with 17 producing downward signals and just 14 showing a more positive picture. This distribution highlights that, despite the short-lived rebound, the market has not yet confirmed a strong directional shift.
Investor sentiment also remains subdued. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index currently stands at 20, indicating extreme fear in the market. Historically, such levels are associated with uncertainty, though some traders consider them potential buying opportunities.
Glossary: The Fear & Greed Index is a tool for measuring investor sentiment. Low values often indicate caution, while high values reflect rising risk appetite.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) for Ethereum stands at 37.84, suggesting the market is not yet in formal oversold territory but is approaching a neutral zone. Nonetheless, ETH’s price remains above both the 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages, factors considered positive in technical analysis.
Key support and resistance levelsIn the near term, traders are watching support at $1,676.93, $1,631.17, and $1,607.54. On the upside, resistance levels are noted at $1,746.31, $1,769.94, and $1,815.70. Within the current market cycle, the highest level reached by ETH was $1,823.28, and the lowest was $1,513.54.
While Ethereum is showing signs of a short-term recovery, many technical indicators urge caution; as a result, market sentiment, key support zones, and volatility are being closely monitored by analysts.
Thirty-day volatility currently stands at 11.07, and Ethereum closed positively on 12 of the past 30 days. These figures indicate an ongoing attempt at recovery, but the market remains undecided about the sustainability of this momentum.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Industry experts argue that recent crypto ETF outflows reflect a maturing market rather than fading interest in digital assets.
A Different ‘Crypto Winter‘Speaking on CNBC’s ETF Edge on June 16, CoinDesk Indices President David LaValle noted that the recent selloff and roughly $3 billion in outflows from Bitcoin exchange-traded products have led some investors to question the future of crypto.
However, he argued that ETF flows are behaving similarly to those seen in traditional asset classes. "They are serving both buy-and-hold investors and institutional holders."
LaValle described the current downturn as a different type of crypto winter compared with previous cycles.
"This crypto winter is more about when do I get back in, as opposed to whether there is a future," he said.
Vetify Director of Research Todd Rosenbluth noted that many investors continued holding Bitcoin ETFs despite the market correction.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ:IBIT) recently remained in net inflow territory despite BTC decline earlier this year.
The NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF (BATS:BTCI) attracted roughly $500 million of inflows this year through last week, making it one of the most popular Bitcoin-linked ETFs in 2026.
Over the past week, BTC and ETH have gained around 7% while SOL is trading 13% higher.
Adoption Still In Early InningsLaValle argued that Bitcoin ETF adoption remains surprisingly early despite spot Bitcoin ETFs being available for more than two years.
He noted that many large advisory platforms and model portfolios have yet to fully incorporate Bitcoin products.
As an example, he pointed to Morgan Stanley’s recently launched Bitcoin ETF offering, which gathered more than $250 million in assets despite entering the market after several established competitors.
"It’s super early," LaValle said.
Besides BTC and ETH, he also highlighted SOL as a network attracting growing developer activity and institutional attention, while noting that future crypto investing may increasingly focus on utility and real-world applications rather than purely speculative trading.
"We do not yet know what the application of crypto is going to be," he said.
Image: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
The crypto market is witnessing renewed optimism, as the latest 24-hour data points out. Hence, the total crypto market capitalization has surged by 1.75%, reaching $2.24T. In addition to this, the 24-hour crypto volume shows a 31.09%, accounting for $63.82B. At the same time, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index stands at 23 points, indicating “Fear” among the market participants.
Bitcoin ($BTC) Drops by 0.04%, While Ethereum ($ETH) Sees 1.62% Rise Bitcoin ($BTC), the leading cryptocurrency, is currently changing hands at $65,838.45. This price level highlights a modest 0.04% decrease while Bitcoin’s ($BTC) market dominance sits at 58.8%. However, the flagship altcoin, ETH/USDT, is now trading at $1,793.10, presenting a 1.62% rise. In the meantime, the market dominance of Ethereum ($ETH) is 9.3%.
$BPX, $RDNT, and $AZZ Lead Crypto Gainers of Day The list of today’s key crypto gainers includes Black Phoenix ($BPX), Radiant Capital ($RDNT), and Arena-Z ($AZZ). Particularly, $BPX has surged by a staggering $1900.34%, hitting the $0.09142 mark. Following that, a 417.69% jump has placed $RDNT’s price at $0.001757. Subsequently, $AZZ is hovering around $0.00008048 after a 219.58% increase.
DeFi TVL Jumps by 0.80%, and NFT Sales Volume Records 38.0% Spike Today, DeFi TVL has witnessed a 0.80% growth, attaining the $74.623B spot. Additionally, the top DeFi project in terms of TVL, Lido, has hit $16.14B, displaying a 1.20% increase. Nonetheless, when it comes to 1-day TVL change, XY Finance has become the top DeFi player, claiming a stunning 843% surge over the past twenty-four hours.
Similarly, the 24-hour NFT sales volume has jumped by 38.0%, reaching $2,062,096. In the same vein, the top-selling NFT collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club, has climbed by 227.7%, touching $406,304.
GameStop Investor Challenges CEO Pay Vote, US Blocks Chinese AI Firms Moving on, the crypto landscape has also experienced many other crucial developments across the globe over the past 24 hours. In this respect, a GameStop ($GME) investor has filed a lawsuit to block a vote concerning the $35B pay package of the CEO, Ryan Cohen, until the shareholders get adequate disclosures.
What’s more, New York Magazine has disclosed the claim of a fellow inmate who says SBF is planning his exclusive coin after completing his imprisonment period. Furthermore, the US authorities are reportedly holding off on the inclusion of Chinese AI venture DeepSeek and over 100 other entities flagged as posing risks to national security.
AUTHOR
Crypto journalist with years of experience providing in-depth analysis and news on blockchain and decentralized finance. With a keen eye for detail, Shahzaib delivers insightful articles that explore the latest trends, market movements, and innovations within the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. His work focuses on educating readers while offering expert commentary on the evolving landscape of digital assets, DeFi protocols, and the broader impact of blockchain technology.
The party around Ethereum seems to be over. The altcoin was on its way, ready to cross the symbolic $4,000 threshold. But despite this surge, ETH stalled around $3,600, raising doubts. Rising borrowing rates, liquidity pool saturation, flashing technical signals: all the ingredients for a high-risk summer are gathered. In the crypto world, even giants like Ethereum are never safe from a domino effect.
In Brief The wETH borrowing cost is exploding, undermining classic leverage strategies. Aave’s usage rate reaches 95%, a critical threshold for system liquidity. ETH is technically overbought, in a calm summer market but prone to tensions. High-Rate Regime: The Crucible of Ethereum’s Fragility The latest on Ethereum: the cost of borrowing in wETH has risen dramatically since early July on the Aave platform: the utilization rate went from 86% to 95%. This near saturation makes borrowing unprofitable for many. Markus Thielen states:
The variable borrowing cost has gone up and it has become unprofitable to borrow ETH.
When more than 90% of loans are variable rate, a sudden rise can trigger a rapid unwind. This could result in forced liquidations, liquidity withdrawals, and large-scale repositioning. Added to this is a stressed stETH-ETH peg, where slippage could amplify DeFi stress.
Historically, Ethereum has already entered a marked technical overbought zone. Despite the calm summer season in the US (volume down, potentially amplified volatility), the indicators remain tense.
Finally, Q3 is often the weakest quarter for ETH, with an average of +8.19%, versus +22.59% in Q4 since 2013.
Between Past Obituaries and Flawed Predictions: The Great Crypto Theater In 2017, a certain Evan Faggart listed five reasons why Ethereum was heading straight for disaster: network congestion, lack of use cases, high volatility, community conflicts, and proliferation of scams. At the time, the ETH price was $281.80. Seven years later, it hovers around $3,600, continuing to be one of the pillars of the crypto universe.
Such predictions resurface regularly, fueled by ironic tweets like that of @Jrag0x. He refers to the many times Ethereum has been declared dead. But ETH keeps forging ahead. With its rises, jolts, and critics. It has absorbed skepticism and setbacks but continues to embody, for many, the resilient and inspiring crypto.
Key Figures to Remember: 95%: Aave pool utilization rate; 49%: ETH increase in one month (~$3,623 at publication); 34%: ETH/BTC ratio growth over 30 days; +8.19%: average historical Q3 return; +22.59%: average historical Q4 return. Andrew Keys, founder of Ether Machine, asserts that ETH has outperformed Bitcoin over the decade. For him, ether is a winning long-term bet, far outperforming most assets. Though the altcoin is shaken, it remains, for many, a crypto of the future and a pillar of the decentralized ecosystem.
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Mikaia A.
La révolution blockchain et crypto est en marche ! Et le jour où les impacts se feront ressentir sur l’économie la plus vulnérable de ce Monde, contre toute espérance, je dirai que j’y étais pour quelque chose
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
After four years of operating as a sidechain, Ronin is to become an Ethereum L2. Gaming (Mateo/Unsplash) Summary
Ronin, the gaming-focused blockchain behind Axie Infinity, will hard fork on May 12 to migrate from an independent sidechain to an Ethereum layer 2, causing about 10 hours of network downtime.During the migration window, all Ronin transactions and onchain game actions will be paused.The transition to the OP Stack and a new Proof of Distribution model will sharply cut RON token inflation and aim to improve security, scalability and costs after the network’s history-making $625 million bridge exploit.Ronin, the gaming-centric blockchain once synonymous with the industry’s infamous $625 million exploit, is officially shedding its sidechain skin on May 12 to become an Ethereum layer 2 to improve security while maintaining throughput.
Ronin, which announced the migration in April, will execute a hard fork at block 55,577,490, a process that will result in about 10 hours of downtime for users, the network said Monday on X. According to onchain data, the migration is expected to begin on Tuesday around 15:16 UTC.
“Four years ago, we launched Ronin because Axie Infinity needed a faster and more efficient network,” Ronin said when announcing the migration. “It worked. Axie Infinity onboarded millions of gamers to crypto, and Pixels proved that it was possible to do it again.” The time has come to plug "back into the mothership."
While operating as an independent sidechain in mid-May 2022, Ronin suffered what is still today the largest DeFI bridge exploit in history. Layer 2 protocols benefit from tighter links to the underlying blockchain than sidechains, offering benefits that include greater security.
The network's native token, RON, is currently trading at around 11 cents with a market capitalization of about $89.5 million, according to CoinDesk data. While the token remains significantly below its 2024 peak, the migration sparked a rally, with prices climbing 30% over the last 30 days as investors eye a shift in the network's supply dynamics.
“During this downtime window, all network transactions [including transfers, swaps, and smart contract interactions] will be paused,” Ronin said, adding that all games using its network will also be affected. “To avoid any inconvenience, please complete all necessary transactions/onchain game actions on the Ronin Network before the downtime begins.”
During the downtime, a "Proof of Distribution" model will be introduced to reward builders based on active network contribution rather than passive staking, Ronin said. The team noted that “this is fundamentally bullish for RON as it dramatically cuts token inflation from over 20% to below 1%.”
The company also said that transitioning to the OP Stack will allow it to inherit Ethereum’s robust security while maintaining high throughput. The move redirects 90 million RON tokens previously earmarked for staking rewards into the Ronin Treasury, while more than doubling marketplace fees to 1.25% from 0.5%.
Ronin said its narrative is dominated by its pivotal return to Ethereum, a strategic move to reset its economics, secure its bridge infrastructure, and secure its future in an upgrade intended to improve scalability and reduce costs through the use of EigenDA for data availability.
PANews reported on May 11th that, according to CoinDesk , Ronin, the gaming public chain behind Axie Infinity , will undergo a hard fork on May 12th , migrating from an independent sidechain to the Ethereum Layer 2 network. This is expected to cause approximately 10 hours of network downtime, during which all transfers, swaps , contract interactions, and on-chain gaming activities will be suspended. This upgrade will introduce an OP Stack architecture and a " Proof of Distribution " model, rewarding builders based on their actual network contributions. It will also significantly reduce the RON inflation rate from over 20% to less than 1% , and transfer 90 million RON tokens originally used for staking rewards to the Treasury Fund. Market fees will be increased from 0.5% to 1.25% to improve security, scalability, and reshape the token economy.
Ronin, the gaming-focused blockchain developed by Sky Mavis, will migrate from an independent Ethereum sidechain to an OP Stack-based Layer 2 network on May 12, a transition expected to trigger approximately 10 hours of scheduled downtime.
During the downtime window, all network transactions, including transfers, swaps, and smart contract interactions, will pause, according to an announcement.
Onchain game actions for titles running on Ronin, including Axie Infinity and Pixels, will also halt, the network announced via its official security account on Monday. Users can track the migration's start time on Ronin's block explorer.
The upgrade, executed via hard fork, moves the network away from the independent sidechain model it has operated since 2021 and to an Ethereum Layer 2 using the OP Stack, the same framework underlying Base and Optimism.
Among the most immediate structural changes is a significant tokenomics shift. The upgrade will cut RON's annual inflation rate from above 20% to below 1%, the network said.
How Ronin got here Sky Mavis, the studio behind Axie Infinity, launched Ronin in 2021 as an EVM-compatible sidechain built for fast, low-fee transactions for in-game assets and play-to-earn mechanics.
The network has processed billions of dollars in NFT volume since launch. The migration arrives four years after Ronin's most consequential security incident.
In March 2022, a bridge exploit drained roughly $625 million in ETH and USDC via compromised validators, making it one of the largest cross-chain bridge hacks in DeFi history, The Block previously reported.
The attack was attributed to North Korea's infamous Lazarus Group.
Sky Mavis subsequently raised $150 million from Binance to reimburse affected users and replace the compromised validators.
U.S. law enforcement and Chainalysis later recovered $30 million from the stolen funds, while authorities in Norway returned an additional $5.7 million in 2024.
The upgrade plays out against a difficult backdrop for blockchain gaming.
An estimated 93% of Web3 gaming and GameFi projects launched since 2020 are now effectively defunct — defined by token prices falling more than 90% from peak and near-zero daily active users — according to an April 2026 market analysis by Caladan.
Total capital deployed into the sector from 2020 through early 2026 is estimated at $12 to $15 billion, with gaming token prices down roughly 95% from 2022 highs and VC funding for blockchain gaming studios collapsing by an estimated 93% over the same period. Axie Infinity, which drove Ronin's initial growth, has reportedly seen its own daily active users fall more than 90% from its peak.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
Ronin, originally launched as a gaming-focused blockchain project, is preparing to undergo a transformative upgrade set for May 12. The network will move away from its sidechain architecture and transition into an Ethereum-based Layer 2 solution. According to the company, this change will require an estimated 10-hour service interruption across the network.
Migration process and expected impactsThe Ronin team first announced the shift to Layer 2 in April. The transition will be triggered by a hard fork at block 55,577,490, which is projected to commence around 18:16 Turkish time on May 12. During this upgrade, all on-chain transfers, token swaps, and smart contract operations will be temporarily suspended. Network officials have advised players and developers to complete any necessary transactions ahead of the scheduled downtime.
“All network activity [transfers, swaps, and smart contract interactions] will be suspended during this maintenance period. All games using our network will also experience a temporary pause. We strongly recommend completing your transactions before the scheduled maintenance to avoid any disruptions,” Ronin representatives stated in a public notice.
Ronin was initially designed to serve as a fast, cost-effective infrastructure for the popular blockchain game Axie Infinity. This game onboarded millions of players into the blockchain ecosystem and quickly elevated Ronin’s status in the gaming world. However, as a standalone sidechain, Ronin was hit by a major cyberattack in mid-2022, resulting in one of the largest losses ever recorded in a DeFi bridge exploit.
Major changes in economics, security and governanceBy adopting the Layer 2 model, Ronin expects a significant boost in security, leveraging closer integration with the main Ethereum blockchain and stronger resistance to external threats. The migration to the OP Stack will enable Ronin to benefit from Ethereum’s robust security framework while maintaining throughput. The use of EigenDA is also set to enhance data availability, promoting greater scalability.
The company noted that this update will introduce fresh economic models to the network. Approximately 90 million RON tokens, previously reserved as staking rewards, will now be redirected to the treasury. Additionally, the marketplace commission rate will increase from 0.5% to 1.25%, aiming to provide the community with more sustainable revenue streams.
As part of the transition, a new “Proof of Distribution” incentive mechanism will roll out. This system will reward developers who play an active role in the network, shifting the focus from passive staking to participation-driven rewards. According to company projections, this will reduce RON’s annual inflation rate from over 20% to below 1%.
Market response and price trendsRecent data from CryptoAppsy shows RON trading near $0.11, with a market capitalization of around $89.5 million. Although this price remains below the year’s peak, the migration news has helped drive a 30% increase over the past month. Investors are watching closely as changes in supply dynamics unfold.
The migration of Ronin to an Ethereum Layer 2 solution marks a fundamental shift in economic and technical architecture. Company officials emphasize that this strategic pivot will make the network more secure, sustainable, and innovative in the coming period.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Ronin Network will reconnect to Ethereum on 12 May through a major infrastructure upgrade that also slashes RON token inflation from more than 20% to below 1%.
The migration marks a major shift for the gaming-focused blockchain, which originally launched in 2021 because Ethereum could not efficiently support Axie Infinity’s explosive growth.
Now, Ronin says Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem has matured enough for a “homecoming.”
“The time has come to plug Ronin back into the mothership: Ethereum,” the team said in an April announcement ahead of the migration.
The upgrade will move Ronin onto Ethereum’s modern Layer 2 stack using the OP Stack.
RON inflation to fall below 1% The migration also introduces one of the network’s biggest tokenomics changes to date.
Ronin said RON inflation will drop from above 20% annually to less than 1% after the upgrade. The network described the change as a 20x reduction in new token emissions.
The project also plans to redirect new revenue streams into the Ronin treasury. Ronin increased the treasury’s marketplace fee allocation from 0.5% to 1.25%.
The team said the treasury should increasingly be held by RON holders as the ecosystem matures.
Markets react ahead of the migration Traders appeared to respond positively ahead of the upgrade.
RON rose about 4.5% over the past 24 hours, while trading volume climbed roughly 58%, according to CoinMarketCap data. The token traded near $0.115 at the time of publication.
Source: CoinMarketCap The market reaction suggests investors are closely watching the network’s lower inflation model and deeper integration with Ethereum infrastructure.
Ethereum scaling maturity changes the equation Ronin originally launched as a standalone gaming chain because Ethereum transaction costs and throughput limitations made large-scale blockchain gaming difficult.
At the time, Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem was still in its early stages.
The migration now reflects how much Ethereum scaling infrastructure has evolved over the past four years. OP Stack-powered chains currently process millions of transactions across the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
Ronin said the shift will strengthen security, treasury revenue, builder incentives, and long-term sustainability.
The migration will temporarily halt block production for around 10 hours on 12 May while the network completes the transition.
Final Summary Ronin will reconnect to Ethereum through an OP Stack-based upgrade scheduled for 12 May. The migration cuts RON inflation from above 20% to below 1% while introducing new treasury and builder reward systems.
TLDR Ronin will migrate from an independent sidechain to an Ethereum layer 2 on May 12. The network will execute a hard fork at block 55,577,490 and pause activity for about 10 hours. Ronin said all transfers, swaps, and smart contract interactions will stop during the downtime. The upgrade will introduce a Proof of Distribution model to reward active contributors. The new model will reduce RON token inflation from over 20 percent to below 1%. Ronin will migrate from an independent sidechain to an Ethereum layer 2 on May 12. The network will execute a hard fork at block 55,577,490 and pause operations for about 10 hours. The team said the move will strengthen security while maintaining throughput and lower token inflation.
Ronin Migration Plan and Network Downtime Ronin announced the transition in April and confirmed the execution timeline this week. The network said it will begin the upgrade around 15:16 UTC on Tuesday, based on onchain data. The hard fork will halt transfers, swaps, and smart contract activity during the downtime window. Ronin stated on X, “All network transactions will be paused,” and urged users to complete actions before the pause.
As part of the upcoming Ronin L2 migration, the network will experience approximately 10 hours of scheduled downtime.
During this downtime window, all network transactions [including transfers, swaps, and smart contract… pic.twitter.com/QvbRvZBqa7
— Ronin Shield (@ronin_shield) May 11, 2026
The team said all games built on the network will experience temporary disruption. It confirmed that Axie Infinity and Pixels will suspend in-game onchain actions during the upgrade. Ronin explained, “To avoid any inconvenience, please complete all necessary transactions before the downtime begins.” The network will resume operations after completing the technical transition.
Ronin launched four years ago to support Axie Infinity’s need for faster transactions. The company said, “Axie Infinity onboarded millions of gamers to crypto.” It added that Pixels later demonstrated repeated onboarding success. The team now aims to reconnect with Ethereum and integrate more closely with its base layer.
Ronin suffered a $625 million bridge exploit in 2022 while operating as a sidechain. The attack remains the largest DeFi bridge exploit recorded. The new structure will link the network directly to Ethereum as a layer 2. The team said this structure will enhance bridge security and reduce structural risk.
RON Token Economics and OP Stack Integration The migration will introduce a “Proof of Distribution” model during the downtime. Ronin said the model will reward builders based on active network contribution. The company stated that the change will reduce token inflation from over 20% to below 1%. It described the adjustment as “fundamentally bullish for RON.”
Ronin will redirect 90 million RON tokens from staking rewards to the treasury. The network will also increase marketplace fees to 1.25% from 0.5%. The team confirmed these changes as part of its revised token structure. It aims to reset supply dynamics through lower emissions and updated incentives.
RON trades at about $0.11 with a market capitalization near $89.5 million. The token remains below its 2024 peak level. However, prices rose 30% over the past 30 days following the migration announcement. Onchain data reflects increased activity during the preparation phase.
Ronin will transition to the OP Stack to operate as an Ethereum layer 2. The network said this integration will allow it to inherit Ethereum’s security framework. It will also use EigenDA for data availability to support scalability. The company confirmed that it will begin the migration process on Tuesday at 15:16 UTC.
Ronin, the blockchain backbone of the Axie Infinity gaming ecosystem, is preparing for a major upgrade on May 12. The network will undergo a hard fork to transform itself into an Ethereum Layer 2 solution using OP Stack technology. This transition will begin at block height 55,577,490 and come with a planned network shutdown expected to last around 10 hours.
Planned network outage and user alertsDuring the transition, all transactions, swaps, smart contract interactions, and in-game activities on the Ronin network will be paused. Users are advised to complete any pending operations before the maintenance begins. The Ronin team has proactively warned the community to minimize disruptions and potential issues.
During the upcoming Ronin Layer 2 migration, the network will experience a planned outage of approximately 10 hours. All network activity, including transfers, swaps, and smart contract transactions, will be suspended throughout this period.
Ronin was originally launched in 2021 as a sidechain to handle heavy transaction loads for Axie Infinity, which the Ethereum network struggled to support at the time. In the four years since, Ethereum has evolved significantly, witnessing lower fees and more mature layer 2 scaling solutions.
Security and new integrationsSecurity concerns were a major factor in Ronin’s decision to migrate to Layer 2. In March 2022, a notorious exploit linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group compromised five network validators, leading to a loss of $625 million on the bridge. This incident remains the largest cross-chain bridge hack in decentralized finance history. Another, albeit smaller, attack took place in August 2024.
By adopting OP Stack, Ronin will begin leveraging Ethereum mainnet security directly, aiming to prevent ‘bridge’ exploits from recurring. Additionally, with the integration of EigenDA for data availability, the network will lower scaling costs while maintaining high transaction throughput.
Major tokenomics overhaulThe move to Layer 2 will also bring fundamental changes to the tokenomics of Ronin’s native token, RON. The annual inflation rate will be slashed from over 20% to below 1%. Roughly 90 million RON tokens previously reserved for validator rewards will instead be allocated to a network treasury. Marketplace transaction fees will be reduced from 1.25% to 0.5%.
Staking rewards are getting a major revamp as well. The traditional model, which automatically rewarded all passive validators, will be replaced by a new ‘Proof of Distribution’ system. Only stakeholders actively contributing to the network will receive rewards, fostering stronger incentives for developers and projects.
According to CryptAppsy data, RON is currently trading near $0.11, with a market capitalization of $89.5 million. The price has surged about 30% in the past 30 days. Investors anticipate further gains as the supply tightens and the rewards scheme shifts with the Layer 2 migration.
Ronin’s Layer 2 transition marks another example of independent chains like Celo integrating into Ethereum’s security framework. This trend is expanding, yet Layer 1 competitors such as Solana continue to vie for market share without slowing pace in the short term.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Ronin Ethereum is migrating to a Layer 2 on May 12 with roughly 10 hours of scheduled downtime.
Summary
Ronin will hard fork at block 55,577,490 on May 12, transitioning from an independent sidechain to an Ethereum Layer 2 on the OP Stack. All transfers, swaps, and smart contract interactions will pause for roughly 10 hours during the migration window. RON token inflation will drop from over 20% to below 1%, with 90 million RON redirected to the treasury as marketplace fees rise to 1.25%. Ronin, the gaming-focused blockchain behind Axie Infinity, is executing a hard fork on May 12 to complete its transition from an independent sidechain to an Ethereum Layer 2. The migration was announced in April and will trigger at block 55,577,490, expected around 15:16 UTC.
All Ronin transactions will pause for roughly 10 hours during the migration window. That covers transfers, swaps, NFT trades, and smart contract interactions. Node operators on Ronin mainnet are required to upgrade to release 1.2.2 before the hard fork.
What changes after the migration Ronin said the move is about plugging “back into the mothership.” The new structure will link the network directly to Ethereum for settlement and data availability, replacing the older nine-validator sidechain model with OP Stack rollup infrastructure.
RON token inflation will fall sharply from over 20% annually to below 1% under a new Proof of Distribution model. Marketplace fees will also rise from 0.5% to 1.25%, with 90 million RON tokens previously allocated for staking redirected to the Ronin treasury.
Ronin will integrate EigenDA to handle data availability for transactions, storing data off-chain while keeping it verifiable and accessible to Ethereum. The migration brings Ronin into the same OP Stack ecosystem as other chains including Celo and Fraxtal.
Context: the $625 million hack that made this necessary While operating as an independent sidechain in March 2022, Ronin suffered the largest DeFi bridge exploit in history, with $625 million in ETH and USDC drained from its bridge. The attack exposed the structural risks of the sidechain model, where only a small number of centrally-managed validators were responsible for securing the network.
The Layer 2 transition directly addresses those concerns by inheriting Ethereum’s security rather than relying on Ronin’s own validator set. The Ronin bridge previously migrated to Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability protocol in April 2025 as an earlier step in securing its infrastructure ahead of the full L2 move.
The digital gaming landscape underwent a significant structural transformation on May 12, 2026, as the Ronin Network officially finalized its transition from a standalone sidechain to an integrated Ethereum Layer 2 network. This shift, executed via the OP Stack, represents a pivotal “homecoming” for the ecosystem that famously birthed the play-to-earn phenomenon through Axie Infinity. By aligning with the Optimism Superchain architecture, Ronin has effectively traded its isolated security model for the shared finality and robust protection of the Ethereum mainnet. This transition is not merely a technical patch but a comprehensive reimagining of what a gaming blockchain must look like in a post-exploit era. The migration involved approximately ten hours of scheduled downtime beginning at block height 55,577,490, during which every piece of in-game data, marketplace listing, and wallet balance was meticulously ported to the new Layer 2 state. For the millions of users within the Ronin ecosystem, this change promises a future where the friction of cross-chain bridging is minimized and the specter of a standalone validator compromise is permanently removed. The engineering feat required to synchronize the massive state of games like Pixels and Axie Infinity into a Rollup structure highlights the maturity of the OP Stack as a scalable solution for high-throughput applications.
Radical Tokenomic Restructuring and the Deflationary Pivot Beyond the architectural upgrades, Ronin has introduced a drastic overhaul of its native token, RON, shifting from an inflationary incentive model to a fundamentally deflationary one known as Proof of Distribution. Under the previous sidechain regime, the network relied heavily on high inflation—often exceeding twenty percent—to subsidize staking rewards and secure the network. The new Layer 2 reality has allowed the Ronin Foundation to slash annual inflation to less than one percent, a move that has stunned market analysts and signaled a transition toward long-term sustainability. Approximately ninety million RON tokens that were originally earmarked for passive staking rewards have been redirected into the Ronin Treasury to serve as a war chest for future game acquisitions and ecosystem development. To replace the lost staking incentives, the network is implementing a sequencer net fee capture system alongside a revised marketplace fee structure, which has been increased from point-five percent to one-and-a-quarter percent. This pivot ensures that value accrual is driven by actual network utility and gaming volume rather than artificial token issuance. By integrating EigenDA for data availability, Ronin is able to maintain negligible transaction costs for its users while capturing a higher percentage of the economic value generated by its premier gaming titles, effectively turning the network into a self-sustaining economic engine.
The Future of On-Chain Gaming within the Ethereum Ecosystem The decision to become an Ethereum Layer 2 places Ronin in an elite category of sovereign networks that have recognized the long-term dominance of the Ethereum settlement layer. This migration allows Ronin to leverage Ethereum’s deep liquidity pools while maintaining the specialized environment required for low-latency gaming. The integration with the OP Stack also opens the door for seamless interoperability with other Superchain participants, potentially allowing gamers to move assets between different specialized layers without traditional bridging delays. As the 2026 gaming market becomes increasingly crowded, Ronin’s move provides it with a distinct competitive advantage by offering the highest level of security available in the decentralized world. The homecoming is a clear signal that the era of fragmented, insecure sidechains is coming to an end, replaced by a modular future where specialized application chains benefit from a unified security umbrella. For developers, this means the Ronin ecosystem now offers the best of both worlds: a highly tailored environment for game mechanics and the uncompromising peace of mind that comes from Ethereum’s multi-billion dollar security budget. As the network stabilizes in its new form, the focus shifts back to the content, with several AAA titles slated for release on the newly fortified Ronin Layer 2 before the end of the fiscal year.
About the Author: Karthik Subramanian
Karthik Subramanian is a founder, writer, and technology consultant with nine years in the crypto ecosystem. He covers token economics, L1/L2 infrastructure, DeFi protocols, wallets/custody, and the bridge between crypto and forex—broker technology, liquidity, and macro drivers. Karthik’s writing focuses on clear, practical frameworks that help professionals evaluate new products and on-chain innovation alongside FX market realities.
Ronin L2 migration completed May 12, ending four years as a sidechain after a 10-hour network shutdown.
Summary
Ronin executed its hard fork at block 55,577,490 on May 12, completing a transition to an OP Stack Ethereum Layer 2 with 10 hours of downtime. RON token inflation drops from over 20% to below 1% under a new Proof of Distribution model that rewards active builders over passive stakers. Partners including Optimism, Conduit, Boundless, and EigenLayer supported the migration, with EigenDA handling off-chain data availability. The Ronin L2 hard fork executed at block 55,577,490 on May 12, transitioning the gaming blockchain from an independent EVM sidechain into a full Ethereum Layer 2 built on Optimism’s OP Stack. Sky Mavis co-founder Jihoz announced in the lead-up that the network would enter “hibernation” for approximately 10 hours while the upgrade completed, with no action required from users or players.
Ronin joins Base, Celo, and Fraxtal as purpose-built chains that have chosen to operate under Ethereum’s umbrella through the OP Stack. “Four years ago, we launched Ronin because Axie Infinity needed a faster and more efficient network,” the team said when first announcing the migration. “The time has come to plug back into the mothership.”
What changed in the hard fork RON token inflation falls from over 20% annually to below 1% under the new Proof of Distribution model, which redirects 90 million RON tokens previously earmarked for passive staking toward the Ronin treasury. Marketplace fees also rise from 0.5% to 1.25%, with sequencer profits from the Layer 2 flowing into the treasury.
EigenDA handles off-chain data availability for the new chain while Ethereum provides settlement and finality. Partners including Optimism, Conduit, Boundless, and EigenLayer supported the migration, with Ronin now composable with Ethereum’s broader DeFi ecosystem.
Any node running older software was cut off once the new chain activated. Ronin confirmed that all games on the network, including Axie Infinity and Pixels, suspended on-chain activity during the downtime and resumed immediately upon completion.
Why the migration happened now The move addresses the structural concerns that made Ronin vulnerable to the $625 million Lazarus Group bridge exploit in March 2022, the largest DeFi bridge hack in history. Operating as an independent sidechain with only nine validators created a centralised security model that Ethereum Layer 2 settlement directly resolves by inheriting the base chain’s security.
Governance also shifts to token-weighted voting under the new structure, giving RON holders direct input over treasury decisions, buybacks, and DeFi initiatives. Ronin also plans to deploy Uniswap v3 as its canonical DEX post-migration, backed by a $1.5 million liquidity incentive program to bootstrap DeFi activity on the upgraded network.
Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk.
In this issue:
The biggest consensus overhaul in Solana history is officially live for testingLayerZero says it "made a mistake" in $292 million Kelp exploitRonin set to transition to Ethereum layer 2 from independent sidechainThe Ethereum Foundation unveils new "Clear Signing" standard to stop users from approving malicious crypto transactionsNetwork News"ALPENGLOW" UPGRADE LIVE FOR TESTING ON SOLANA: Solana developer Anza said that Alpenglow, the network’s biggest proposed consensus overhaul to date, is live on a community test cluster, marking a major step toward a potential mainnet rollout. The update means validator operators can now test software designed to move Solana from its current consensus system, which combines Proof-of-Stake with TowerBFT and Proof-of-History, toward a new architecture intended to dramatically reduce finality times and improve network responsiveness. “Alpenglow is live on the community test cluster,” Anza wrote on X. “The biggest consensus change in Solana’s history, now running on validator infrastructure ahead of mainnet.” Today, Solana relies on Proof-of-History, a cryptographic clock that timestamps transactions, alongside TowerBFT, a voting mechanism validators use to agree on the state of the blockchain. While the design has helped Solana achieve high throughput and low fees, some have pointed to outages and network instability during periods of heavy demand. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
LAYERZERO APOLOGY FOR KELP DAO INCIDENT: LayerZero said that it “made a mistake” allowing its own verification infrastructure to secure high-value crypto assets in a vulnerable configuration, marking a notable shift in tone after weeks of blaming developer Kelp DAO for a $292 million hack tied to North Korean attackers. The admission marks a notable shift after weeks of public finger-pointing between LayerZero and Kelp over responsibility for the April hack, which LayerZero had initially framed as an application-level configuration failure by Kelp. “First things first: an overdue apology,” LayerZero wrote in a blog. LayerZero initially blamed Kelp, arguing the protocol had chosen a risky “1-of-1” configuration in which only a single decentralized verifier network, or DVN, needed to approve cross-chain transfers, creating a single point of failure. A DVN is part of the infrastructure that verifies whether a transaction moving assets between blockchains is legitimate. “We made a mistake by allowing our DVN to act as a 1/1 DVN for high-value transactions,” the company said. “We didn't police what our DVN was securing, which created a risk we simply didn't see. We own that.” — Sam Reynolds Read more.
RONIN TO TRANSITION TO LAYER-2: Ronin, the gaming-centric blockchain once synonymous with the industry’s infamous $625 million exploit in 2022, is officially shedding its sidechain skin on May 12 to become an Ethereum layer 2 to improve security while maintaining throughput. Ronin, which announced the migration in April, will execute a hard fork at block 55,577,490, a process that will result in about 10 hours of downtime for users, the network said Monday on X. According to onchain data, the migration is expected to begin on Tuesday around 15:16 UTC. “Four years ago, we launched Ronin because Axie Infinity needed a faster and more efficient network,” Ronin said when announcing the migration. “It worked. Axie Infinity onboarded millions of gamers to crypto, and Pixels proved that it was possible to do it again.” The time has come to plug "back into the mothership." While operating as an independent sidechain in mid-May 2022, Ronin suffered what is still today the largest DeFI bridge exploit in history. Layer 2 protocols benefit from tighter links to the underlying blockchain than sidechains, offering benefits that include greater security. — Olivier Acuna Read more.
ETHEREUM DEVELOPERS RELEASE “CLEAR SIGNING”: The Ethereum Foundation and a group of major crypto wallet developers are rolling out a new security standard designed to stop users from accidentally signing away their funds, a problem that has fueled some of the industry’s biggest hacks and scams. The initiative, called “Clear Signing,” aims to replace the confusing walls of code users currently see when approving Ethereum transactions with simple, human-readable explanations of what they’re actually agreeing to. The effort comes after years of phishing attacks and wallet drains that often boil down to the same issue: users unknowingly approving malicious transactions they don’t understand. The Ethereum Foundation pointed to incidents like the Bybit hack as examples of how attackers exploit “blind signing,” where users approve transactions filled with unreadable technical data. Right now, signing a crypto transaction can feel like clicking “accept” on a terms-of-service page written in another language. Wallets often display long strings of code that only highly technical users can decipher, leaving everyday traders vulnerable to fake apps, malicious links and compromised websites. — Margaux Nijkerk Read More.
In Other NewsCharles Schwab, the brokerage giant that manages around $12 trillion in client assets, began the rollout of its spot cryptocurrency trading service for retail customers in the U.S. An initial group of clients can now trade bitcoin and ether (ETH) on the Schwab Crypto platform, the company posted on X.In July last year, CEO Rick Wurster said the company planned to introduce crypto trading in the near future, with a timeframe of first-half 2026 confirmed last month. The Westlake, Texas-headquartered firm already offers crypto investments through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures trading. — Jamie Crawley Read more.JPMorgan (JPM) is preparing to launch a tokenized money market fund, the latest sign that major financial institutions and Wall Street asset managers are speeding up efforts to move traditional assets onto blockchain rails. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission SEC) outlined plans for a blockchain-based money-market fund investing exclusively in short-term U.S. Treasuries, cash and overnight repo agreements backed by government securities. The fund, dubbed JPMorgan OnChain Liquidity-Token Money Market Fund (JLTXX), will maintain blockchain-based token balances tied to investors' ownership records, allowing approved users to submit purchase, redemption and transfer requests through Ethereum, the filing said. The underlying blockchain infrastructure will be operated by Kinexys Digital Assets, JPMorgan’s blockchain unit formerly known as Onyx. — Kristzian Sandor Read more.Regulatory and PolicyThe legislation that could fully insert the U.S. crypto industry into the regulated financial system has emerged in its latest form, with the Senate Banking Committee unveiling the market structure bill's text just after midnight on Tuesday in advance of this week's hearing that's set to push the effort forward. The latest version wasn't expected to offer many surprises for the crypto industry that's already had a chance to dig through it privately, but it includes still-contentious language on stablecoin yield and it maintains legal protections for decentralized finance (DeFi) developers, keeping that corner of the crypto sector happy (so far). Industry insiders waited for the release late into the night, and they'll still have to study the language to ensure their expectations were met. "This bill reflects serious, good-faith work across the committee and delivers the certainty, safeguards, and accountability Americans deserve," committee Chairman Tim Scott said in a statement. "It puts consumers first, combats illicit finance, cracks down on criminals and foreign adversaries and keeps the future of finance here in the United States." — Jesse Hamilton Read more.The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on Tuesday, moving President Donald Trump’s pick one step closer to becoming the next chair of the U.S. central bank. Lawmakers approved Warsh in a 51-45 vote. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the only Democrat to support the nomination. Warsh still must win a separate Senate vote to become Fed chair, which is expected Wednesday. Governors serve 14-year terms while the chair serves a four-year term. If confirmed as chair, Warsh, 56, will replace Jerome Powell, whose eight-year term leading the Fed ends Friday. Powell, however, has said he plans to remain on the board until a federal probe into renovations at the Fed’s headquarters concludes. — Helene Braun Read more.Calendar
June 2-3, 2026: Proof of Talk, ParisJune 4, 2026: Stable Summit, New YorkJune 8-10, 2026: ETHConf, New YorkSept. 29-Oct.1, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, SeoulOct. 7-8, 2026: Token2049, SingaporeNov. 3-6, 2026: Devcon, MumbaiNov. 15-17, 2026: Solana Breakpoint, LondonRelated Assets
The foundation council will feature established builders from the Ethereum community, including Polygon Co-founder Sandeep and Sacha from Lido.
Aragon, a platform for building and managing Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), is creating the Aragon Foundation, a new governing body that aims to help the project move past a tumultuous phase and further its development.
The Aragon Foundation will be led by a so-called Strategic Council, a group of high-profile Ethereum community members who are tasked with formulating strategies, allocating funds, advising the Aragon team and fostering developers. Memebers of the council include Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, and Sacha, one of the leading researchers in the Lido ecosystem.
In November 2023, the Aragon Association, which was an entity overseeing the Aragon DAO, announced its motion to dissolve the entity and enable user redemptions of its native token ANT.
The Aragon Foundation will inherit funds left over from the legacy Aragon Treasury that are not redeemed by the ANT Redemption Initiative, which is set to end on Nov. 2. The ANT token is up roughly 35% since the initiative was announced and currently trades at a $280 million fully-diluted valuation.
As of Oct 28, 82.5% of the outstanding supply had been redeemed for ETH.
ANT Price - CoinGeckoThe Aragon Foundation will operate as an ownerless organization that aligns with Aragon's values and mission. The Aragon team will remain independent from the Foundation.
“There is an entirely new governing body, and it is composed of people who have been Aragon supporters and users,” Aragon CEO Anthony Leuteneggar told The Defiant in an interview. “There will be alignment around one singular mission, and you have professional people who can fulfill that mission.”
Aragon, which launched in 2017, provides users with no-code DAO creation and management tools. Through Aragon users can distribute tokens, set governance parameters and authorize wallets for voting simply through its interface.
It believes that “the future of humanity will be decided at the frontier of technological innovation and human collaboration.”
The Ethereum Foundation’s Privacy and Scaling Explorations team has rebranded as Privacy Stewards of Ethereum (PSE). Such a name change reflects its push to make end-to-end privacy an essential part of the network.
As highlighted on PSE’s new roadmap, the team’s role ‘isn’t to own every solution in the space, but to drive clarity, focus, collaborations, and outcomes across the ecosystem.’ This way, they can ensure ‘privacy is treated as a first-class feature at the application layer.’
Alongside these developments, Best Wallet emerges as an excellent partner. This non-custodial crypto wallet gives you full control of your assets on Ethereum and beyond with top-notch safeguarding measures.
Ethereum’s PSE Turns to Private Writes, Reads & Proving PSE’s ultimate vision is to make privacy on the Ethereum network a norm, not just an afterthought. It aims to achieve this through protections embedded across the entire stack, spanning protocol applications, wallets, and governance.
Their roadmap is structured around three key tracks:
Private writes: Makes private transactions, votes, and dApp interactions as easy and cost-effective as public ones; Private reads: Allows users to query balances, contracts, or data without exploring identity or intent; Private proving: Enables fast, zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) for secure, portable, and verifiable data sharing. To bring this to life, the PSE prioritizes transfers with PlasmaFold and privacy wallets, new voting systems with Aragon, and confidential DeFi standards for institutions.
They’re also working on privacy-preserving Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs), mixnets, ZK-based identity, and a faster proving system. And all while emphasizing user experience, such as making privacy tools powerful yet super easy to use.
Instead of building every solution itself, the PSE aims to collaborate openly with builders, researchers, and projects.
By steering the network while encouraging open collaboration, the PSE is laying the foundation for a privacy-first Ethereum. Given that Best Wallet shares a similar ethos, they work hand in hand to make crypto safer, more private, and user-centric.
Best Wallet Combines Security, Presales & Cross-Chain Swaps Available on iOS and Google Play, the Best Wallet mobile app positions itself as a highly secure way to manage crypto while on the move.
As a non-custodial wallet, it gives you complete access to your private keys. It also includes protections like 2FA, biometric, and local encryption, so only you can control your crypto holdings.
Even if you happen to lose account access, you’ll easily be able to retrieve your assets thanks to the wallet’s encrypted cloud backups (with no seed or recovery phrase required).
Better yet, it makes it super easy to buy, sell, manage, and swap 1K+ assets across not just Ethereum but other major chains like BNB Chain and Polygon.
In fact, it promises to support 60 networks in the future so that you can anticipate even broader crypto opportunities.
Moreover, the app has its very own launchpad, allowing you to access the best crypto presales. That, coupled with a swap engine, which scans more than 330 DEXs and 30 bridges, offers you the best possible rates.
It also plans to launch more advanced tools, including market intel analytics, stop-loss orders, and derivatives trading.
For more information on what else Best Wallet has up its sleeve, check out our comprehensive Best Wallet crypto review.
Source: Best Wallet Token By the way, Best Wallet’s native token – $BEST – makes all this possible. The reason is that a sizable 25% of its total token supply is earmarked for product development, ensuring long-term growth for the entire ecosystem.
And that’s not all. Holding $BEST unlocks additional benefits, including governance rights, staking rewards at an 84% APY, and lower gas fees.
To reap the perks, you can buy $BEST on presale for just $0.025645, using either $ETH, $BNB, $USDT, $USDC, $FLOKI, SHIB, $PEPE, $DOGE, or fiat.
Now’s a great time to do precisely that as new app developments could propel the token to $0.035215 this year – a potential ROI exceeding 35%.
Ready to jump in? Join the Best Wallet Token presale today.
Authored by Aaron Walker, NewsBTC – www.newsbtc.com/news/best-wallet-non-custodial-combo-with-ethereum-privacy
Ethereum Protocol has seven most established protocols, significantly Aragon along with Aave Labs, Curve, Lido Labs Foundation, Spark Foundation, The Global Foundation, and the Uniswap Foundation. This unwavering platform of Ethereum Protocol Teams jointly announced the exclusive launch of the Ethereum Protocol Advocacy Alliance (EPAA). The aim of this giant gathering is to defend basic infrastructure protecting over $100 billion in on-chain assets directly.
It’s critical for policy to reflect the pragmatic and technical realities of securing $100B+ onchain, without intermediaries.
Meet the Ethereum Protocol Advocacy Alliance. pic.twitter.com/jQfK3ccTOl
— Aragon.eth 🦅 (@AragonProject) November 5, 2025 This struggle is nominated as a public interest in the pursuit of digital assets to grow. According to the Crypto Survey 2025 by Strategy & PwC network, rough figures of 5% to 20% retail investors are turning to crypto. In the United States, polling from the decentralized finance (DeFi) Education Fund and Ipsos revealed that 56% of Americans want full control over their assets or money.
Ethereum Protocol Alliance Unites to Strengthen OnChain Governance and Decentralization Ethereum protocols allowed users to self-custody in the past decades and transact directly with their assets. Now, centralized actors invested strongly in lobbying and earned outsized influence in policymaking. The purpose of this giant gathering is to build a strong protocol by utilizing their expertise to ensure a strong voice to reflect the policy in a real sense and serve the people who access them worldwide.
Anthony Leutenegger, CEO of Aragon, said, “We’ve seen firsthand the technical and practical complexity involved in building on-chain systems. Bringing together the most credible protocol teams will help ensure regulatory outcomes are workable for the builders moving this space forward.”
In response to Anthony Leutenegger, Sam Kim, Chief Legal Officer of Lido Labs Foundation, expressed his views. He said, “Decentralization is the foundation of Ethereum’s credibility and resilience, and through the EPAA, we’re ensuring that policy recognizes and protects this principle.”
Ethereum Protocol Alliance Upholds Neutrality and Permissionless Innovation As per the details shared by Aragon, Brian Nistler (General Counsel of the Uniswap Foundation) also added some words. He said, “The Uniswap ecosystem has faced undue regulatory scrutiny in the past—that’s why we know how critical it is for actual builders to have a seat at the table when policy for decentralized financial systems is being shaped.”
In short, this alliance will focus on protecting the neutrality of the protocol layer, advancing on-chain transparency, preserving flexibility for protocol inception, and upholding global permissionless access to on-chain infrastructure. In a nutshell, this struggle ensures ruling effectively, technically rooted, and protective of the principles that keep Ethereum protocols secure, effective, neutral, and transparent.
AUTHOR
Crypto journalist with years of experience providing in-depth analysis and news on blockchain and decentralized finance. With a keen eye for detail, Shahzaib delivers insightful articles that explore the latest trends, market movements, and innovations within the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. His work focuses on educating readers while offering expert commentary on the evolving landscape of digital assets, DeFi protocols, and the broader impact of blockchain technology.
Top 1 On-Chain Liquidation: ETH Bull Whale Hit With 4 Consecutive Forced Liquidations, $14.11 Million in Positions Liquidated
According to Hyperinsight monitoring, today’s largest liquidation on the Hyperliquid platform involved a high-leverage Ethereum (ETH) long whale. The address opened a long position yesterday when ETH was trading at roughly $1,661, and immediately incurred losses after entry. Triggered by ETH’s short-term dip below $1,600 in the early hours of today, the whale faced four consecutive liquidations, resulting in the forced closure of a total of 8,734 ETH positions valued at approximately $14.11 million. The address now holds less than $150,000 in remaining funds, with all positions fully cleared. Address: 0x1cb0b187c14a8c0fb36ca0dcbb775dcc7f02b408
4 minutes ago
A certain on-chain address opened long positions in BTC, ETH, and silver, and purchased $10.699 million worth of BTC and ETH spot.
According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi (@ai_9684xtpa)’s monitoring, address 0x960…3f0fc simultaneously went long on both futures and spot positions this early morning, opening long positions of 102.55 BTC, 954.38 ETH, and 8,790 silver units, with total position value around $8.29 million. It also purchased spot BTC and ETH worth approximately $10.699 million. Its current take-profit levels are set at $63,000 for BTC and $1,650 for ETH.
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A whale that reaped over $23.77 million in profits from the Basic Attention Token (BAT) ICO has reawakened after six years of dormancy, offloading 12,600 ETH in the past two days.
According to monitoring by EmberCN, a whale address that participated in the BAT ICO in 2017 and generated approximately $23.77 million in total profits has started selling ETH recently after six years of inactivity. Over the past two days, the address has sold 12,586 ETH, receiving 20.59 million USDS in exchange, at an average selling price of roughly $1,636. The whale invested 17,789 ETH in the BAT ICO in May 2017, acquiring around 113.8 million BAT. It then sold BAT gradually over approximately two and a half years at an average price of $0.245, netting about $23.77 million in profits, with some of the BAT converted into 27,586 ETH. Since then, the ETH has remained inactive for a long time until it resumed reducing its holdings recently. Currently, the address still holds around 15,000 ETH, valued at approximately $24.29 million.
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Japanese storage firm Kioxia plans to list American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in the U.S. in April or May next year.
Market news: Japanese storage chip maker Kioxia plans to list its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in the U.S. in April or May next year. (Jinshi)
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Micron's earnings report lifts SK Hynix's stock price 11%, trader 'yixie' expands their unrealized profit to $1.3 million.
According to Hyperinsight monitoring, Micron’s Q3 financial results exceeded all expectations, driving peer SK Hynix’s stock to rally nearly 11% from its recent low. On the Hyperliquid platform, SKHYNIX is currently trading at $1,821, up 6.2% in the past 24 hours. Prominent trader yixie (X: @yixie10) nearly doubled his principal during this rally; he is now holding a 2x long position of 2,289 SKHYNIX contracts at an average entry price of ~$1,239.9. Fueled by the rally, the position’s unrealized profit has expanded to $1.37 million, a 96% gain. As of press time, the trader boasts an 85% win rate in semiconductor storage stock trades since opening positions this year, with total historical profits of $6.68 million, including $4.25 million from Micron Technology trades. Address: 0xa65ce1d604fa901c13aa29f2126a57d9032e412b – HyperInsight Bot is now live. Add @HyperInsightBot to your Telegram group and set it as an admin (enable message sending permission) to automatically sync on-chain news.
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STRC drops to near $80, marking another new all-time low.
According to Bitget market data, Strategy’s preferred stock STRC has dropped to a low of $80.26, hitting a new all-time low since its listing. Calculated based on a $100 par value, the current discount has reached 20%.
Think you’re good at the classic shooter Doom? On Thursday, a fully on-chain, weeklong competition called the “Doom Olympics” began with a $15,000 prize pool up for grabs.
Crypto gaming project RIVES has previously put “every aspect” of retro games like Tetris on the Cartesi blockchain—an Ethereum-based scaling network that uses Linux-powered rollups—as well as Base, the Coinbase-incubated Ethereum layer-2 network. By doing so, every movement, score, and interaction is recorded and verifiable.
With such a robust record of in-game actions, RIVES—short for RISC-V Verifiable Entertainment System—has created the “Doom Olympics” with seven challenges that provide new and intriguing ways to test players’ skills in the iconic first-person shooter.
By competing in game contests such as Knuckle Crusher and Treasure Seeker—each of which puts a different spin on the classic experience—as well as social activities like referring friends, players stand the chance of winning a share of the $15,000 total prize pool.
Id Software, the original developer of Doom, is not directly involved in the project with RIVES opting to use the “Freedoom” version of the game, which layers open-source assets on top of the Doom engine.
Running until September 19, gamers will play Doom in-browser with every element of gameplay being recorded permanently on the Cartesi network. Each run is then replayable through a RIVES feature called “tapes” that is similar in approach to classic Doom speed demos. The team explained that this will help ensure fairness and create a new standard of trust.
This attempts to solve an issue that the speedrunning community has faced for some time. When competing remotely, it is possible for players to cheat during runs and fake their purported feats, sowing doubt in the entire premise of speedrunning—and negatively impacting those players who set records via legitimate means.
This has happened many times in the past, such as when one player faked the world record for the Blade Wolf DLC of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance during an online charity event. This cheater cut videos together to make it look like he’d completed the game in record time in one smooth run, but he actually didn’t.
By recording every movement on-chain, allowing the resulting “tape” to be replayable by anyone, the theory is that players won’t be able to cheat.
“This eliminates the need to rely on third-party intermediaries for validating scores or gameplay, allowing for decentralized verification of speedruns and the use of canonical, persistent leaderboards, RIVES co-founder Max Hatesuer told Decrypt’s GG.
“Additionally, this opens up exciting possibilities for custom rule creation and modding,” he added. “For instance, anyone could design a contest where only punches count, or one where speed is the only criterion, with the assurance that all gameplays are validated in a decentralized manner.”
It’s become a running joke that Doom can be played on almost everything from pregnancy tests to ATMs, not to mention robot lawn mowers and gut bacteria. There have also been renditions inscribed onto the Bitcoin and Dogecoin blockchains, though it’s really just a means of storage; the games themselves didn’t benefit from on-chain functionality.
“We also noticed that while Doom runs on nearly every platform, no one has managed to bring it on-chain,” Hatesuer said. “Cartesi’s RISC-V VM and rollup infrastructure made it possible, and we embraced the challenge.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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Developers will have the security and scalability benefits of restaking at their fingertips, along with complete compatibility. Cartesi and EigenLayer are setting an example for the industry via an invitation-only internal hackathon. EigenLayer and Cartesi are both dedicated to bridging the gap between infrastructure protocols and dApps for end users. In order to allow their core developers to create transformational decentralized applications (dApps) that are capable of driving end-user adoption, EigenLayer, the Ethereum restaking protocol, is collaborating with Cartesi, a powerful modular blockchain protocol that provides builders with a complete Linux environment and high speed rollups. Cartesi’s Linux-powered Coprocessor and EigenLayer’s ground-breaking restaking protocol will be able to work together to provide builders, including conventional Web2 developers, with the ability to capitalize on the combined benefits of both.
With the inclusion of Linux, the Cartesi Virtual Machine allows developers to build dApps with the advantage of decades of battle-tested programming languages, tools, and libraries. Cartesi provides each dApp its own rollup with dedicated computing, offering considerable increases in computational scalability without sacrificing on decentralization, security and censorship resistance.
To enable future web3 developments, infrastructure protocols are continuing to expand at a fast rate. However, the adoption and refining of end-user products has not evolved as swiftly as the growth of infrastructure protocols. Protocol projects need to actively work to ideate and nurture the next generation of transformative decentralized applications in order to ensure widespread adoption of web3 solutions and to have a significant impact on the lives of end-users.
Cartesi and EigenLayer are setting an example for the industry via an invitation-only internal hackathon (Experiment Week #3) that will take place from February 10th to February 17th. This hackathon is an inspiration for the industry as it provides protocol core developers with the opportunity to get in the trenches in order to ideate and prototype consumer decentralized applications (dApps) and new use cases.
Felipe Argento, Co-founder and Advisor at Cartesi stated:
“We saw so many mind-blowing projects built in the first two editions of Cartesi Experiment Week, and I’m beyond excited for what’s in store this time – especially with a giant like EigenLayer joining the fun!”
However, Cartesi’s Coprocessor is the only virtual machine in the blockchain space that is capable of running Linux. EigenLayer’s restaking technology is revolutionizing the way in which blockchain applications can leverage Ethereum’s security and scale. Cartesi is currently providing power to more than one hundred different projects.
Nader Dabit, the Director of Developer Advocacy at EigenLayer, said:
“We’re thrilled to partner with Cartesi for this hackathon. Their Linux-powered rollups enable developers to build complex on-chain applications with familiar tools. This event will showcase the incredible potential of Cartesi’s technology to push the boundaries of what’s possible in web3.”
EigenLayer is a decentralized restaking protocol that increases the security and scalability of blockchain ecosystems by enabling Ethereum validators to extend their security guarantees to new networks and services. By using the current Ethereum staking infrastructure, EigenLayer allows developers and decentralized apps to benefit from Ethereum’s powerful security without the need to build separate validator networks.
Erick de Moura, Founder of Cartesi, commented:
“Cartesi’s vision is to expand the web3 design space by bringing real-world computation on-chain. With EigenLayer, Cartesi’s Linux Coprocessor unlocks groundbreaking possibilities for developers. Experiment Week offers a unique opportunity to showcase practical applications and inspire new builders and founders through this powerful collaboration.”
Developers will have the security and scalability benefits of restaking at their fingertips, along with complete compatibility with the mainstream software industry, thanks to the combination of Cartesi’s Linux-powered Coprocessor and EigenLayer’s ground-breaking restaking protocol. This will open up the space for innovation in web3. This synergy paves the way for sophisticated decentralized finance, verifiable artificial intelligence inferences, and a plethora of other use cases.
Builders have the potential to experiment and tackle key industry concerns such as data integrity, fairness, and verifiability, which will ultimately lead to the development of an artificial intelligence landscape that is more reliable and ethical. This opportunity comes in the midst of a growing demand for decentralized artificial intelligence to ensure transparency, security, and trust in AI applications. It is either impossible or extremely expensive for applications to run artificial intelligence on-chain due to the limited computational capacity it possesses as well as the high costs associated with the current data availability and execution layers.
Smart contracts are equipped with the software tools and complex computation that power web2 thanks to the Cartesi Coprocessor, which revolutionizes blockchain applications. The integration of a RISC-V virtual machine that is compatible with Linux is what distinguishes the Cartesi Coprocessor from others. This gives developers access to a configuration that is both familiar and flexible for carrying out computations. Developers will find it much simpler than ever before to reuse pre-existing software libraries and tools for web3 use cases as a result of this compatibility, which bridges the gap between traditional software development and blockchain innovation.
Through the provision of a “marketplace for trust,” EigenLayer is able to solve the bootstrapping problem that is associated with new web3 services. Instead of requiring each web3 builder to independently raise capital, establish cryptoeconomic security, and onboard Operators, EigenLayer provides Cryptoeconomic Security as a Service by bringing together Restakers, Operators, and Actively Validated Services (AVSs). This eliminates the need for each web3 builder to do these things. Without having to go through the time-consuming and expensive process of protecting their own network, new applications are able to take advantage of Ethereum’s security by using this strategy.
EigenLayer and Cartesi are both dedicated to bridging the gap between infrastructure protocols and decentralized applications (dApps) for end users in order to speed up the process of widespread adoption of blockchain solutions.
The recent $1.5 billion Bybit hack turned North Korean Lazarus Group into one of the top 15 Ethereum holders in the world. The breach sent shockwaves through the crypto space, alerting users who previously thought Ethereum was among the safest and most decentralized networks.
In a conversation with BeInCrypto, representatives from Holonym, Cartesi, and Komodo Platform discussed the implications of this breach, steps to curb similar situations in the future, and how public trust in Ethereum can be restored.
A Different Kind of BreachThe Bybit hack shook the crypto community not just because of the quantity of funds stolen but also because of the nature of the breach.
The Bybit breach was the largest in crypto history. Source: X.While other crypto exchange breaches, like the 2014 Mt. Gox episode or the 2018 Coincheck hack, involved private keys or direct compromises of exchange wallets, Bybit’s situation was different.
Rather than stealing private keys, the hackers manipulated the transaction signing process, indicating that it was an infrastructure-level attack. The transaction signing process was targeted instead of the asset storage itself.
Forensic analysis of the Bybit hack traced the breach to Safe Wallet, a multi-signature wallet infrastructure provided by a third party. Safe Wallet uses smart contracts and cloud-stored JavaScript files on AWS S3 to process and secure transactions.
Hackers could secretly modify transactions by injecting malicious JavaScript into Safe Wallet’s AWS S3 storage. Therefore, although Bybit’s system was not directly hacked, the hackers altered the destination of transfers that Bybit had approved.
This detail exposed a serious security flaw. Third-party integrations become weak points even if an exchange locks down its systems.
Lazarus Group Among Ethereum’s Top HoldersFollowing the monumental hack, North Korea is among the top 15 largest Ethereum holders.
Following the Bybit hack, the Lazarus Group was among Ethereum’s top 15 holders. Source: Etherscan.The fact that an infamous group like Lazarus, responsible for several high-profile hacks in the crypto sector, now holds such an important amount of Ether raises several trust issues. While initial speculation pointed toward a weakness in Ethereum’s decentralized nature, Nanak Nihal Khalsa, Co-Founder of Holonym, discards this claim.
Given that Ethereum’s governance and consensus mechanisms rely on validators rather than token holders, the Lazarus Group holding such a substantial amount of ETH does not compromise the network’s overall decentralization.
“Lazarus still owns less than 1% of ETH in circulation, so I don’t see it as highly relevant beyond simple optics. While it’s a lot of ETH, they still own less than 1%. I’m not worried at all,” Khalsa told BeInCrypto.
Kadan Stadelmann, Chief Technology Officer at Komodo Platform, agreed, emphasizing that Ethereum’s infrastructure design is the source of its weakness.
“It proves a vulnerability in Ethereum’s architecture: illicit actors could expand their holdings further by targeting exchanges or DeFi protocols, and thus wield an influence over market dynamics and possibly change governance decisions in Ethereum’s off-chain processes by voting on improvement proposals. While Ethereum’s technical decentralization has not been compromised, Lazarus Group has eroded trust in Ethereum,” Stadelmann told BeInCrypto.
However, while token holders cannot influence Ethereum’s consensus mechanisms, they can manipulate markets.
Potential Impacts and Market ManipulationsThough the Bybit hackers have already finished laundering the stolen ETH, Stadelmann outlined a series of possible scenarios that the Lazarus Group could have carried out with the massive wealth they originally accumulated. One option is staking.
“Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake security relies on honest validators and resilience of wallets, exchanges, and dApps. While the Lazarus Group’s haul doesn’t threaten the blockchain’s consensus mechanism, since their holdings are not known to be staked, it certainly raises the spectre that this could be achieved. They’re unlikely to do this, as the funds they’ve stolen have been tracked,” he explained.
Along equally unlikely lines, the Bybit hackers could cause a significant market downturn by selling their holdings altogether.
“Their holdings do give them an opportunity to manipulate markets, such as if they dump their holdings. This would be difficult to do since their ETH are flagged. If they try to exchange the ETH via selling, their assets could be frozen,” Stadelmann added.
What Stadelmann is most worried about looking toward the future is the impact hacks can have on Ethereum’s Layer 2 protocols.
“Lazarus and its partners could attempt to attack Layer 2 protocols like Arbitrum and Optimism. A censorship attack on layer 2 could undermine dApps and cause the ecosystem to move towards centralized transaction sequencers. That would underscore Ethereum’s weakness,” he said.
While Ethereum’s network was not compromised, Safe Wallet’s attacks underscored the vulnerabilities in the security of the greater ecosystem.
“The breach has certainly increased tensions in the ecosystem, and created an uneven token distribution. The question remains: will Lazarus or other hacking groups associated with state actors attempt to exploit the Ethereum ecosystem, particularly at layer 2?” Stadelmann concluded.
It also raised questions about the need for better security standards.
Verification Over TrustKhalsa argued that the Bybit hack, while not a threat to Ethereum’s core security, highlighted the need for improved security standards among users.
“Saying the hack is Ethereum’s problem is like saying death by car accident is the car’s problem when the driver didn’t wear a seatbelt. Could the car have more safety measures? Yes, and it should. But as a seatbelt has little to do with the car, the hack had little to do with Ethereum. It’s a protocol and it worked exactly as intended. The problem is the lack of convenience and know-how for securely custodying digital assets,” he said.
Specifically, the incident exposed vulnerabilities within multi-signature wallets, demonstrating that reliance on third-party integrations can introduce significant risks, even with robust internal security. Ultimately, even the most sophisticated wallet security measures become ineffective if the signing process can be compromised.
Khalsa emphasized that proven self-custody security measures exist, while multi-signature wallets are not among them. He added that government agencies should have long ago advocated for superior security standards and practices.
“The repercussion we can all hope for is getting serious about stopping North Korea from stealing more funds. While it’s not the government’s place to change how self-custody is carried out, it is absolutely the government’s place to encourage better industry ‘best practices.’ This attack was due to the myth that multisigs of hardware wallets are secure. Sadly it took this attack for it to be acknowledged, but better standards set by government agencies could encourage safer practices without the need for $1.5 billion compromises to wake up the industry,” he asserted.
The incident also exposed the need to verify transactions rather than trust third-party applications.
A Solution to Front-End VulnerabilitiesBy injecting malicious JavaScript into vulnerable Safe Wallet cloud servers, the Lazarus Group launched a sophisticated attack, enabling them to mimic the interface and trick users.
According to Erick de Moura, co-founder of Cartesi, this exploit highlights a critical vulnerability. The issue lies in the reliance on centralized build and deployment pipelines within a system intended for decentralization.
“The SAFE incident serves as a stark reminder that Web3 is only as secure as its weakest link. If users cannot verify that the interface they interact with is genuine, decentralization becomes meaningless,” he said.
De Moura also added that a common misconception in Web3 security is that smart contract breaches are among the most effective forms of hacking exchanges. However, he deems that the Lazarus Group’s strategy on Bybit proves otherwise. Injecting malicious code into the front-end or other off-chain components is much more seamless.
“The hackers didn’t need to breach smart contracts or manipulate ByBit’s systems directly. Instead, they injected malicious code into the front-end interface, deceiving users into thinking they were engaging with a trusted platform,” he explained.
Despite these vulnerabilities, a transition from trust-based to verifiable security is possible.
The Case for Reproducible BuildsDe Moura views the Bybit hack as a wake-up call for the Web3 community. As exchanges and developers reassess their security, he argues that verifiable, reproducible builds are essential to prevent future attacks.
“At its core, a reproducible build ensures that when source code is compiled, it always produces the same binary output. This guarantees that the software users interact with hasn’t been altered by a third party somewhere in the deployment pipeline,” he said.
Blockchain technology is vital to ensure that this process takes place.
“Imagine a system where every software build generates binaries and resources in a verifiable way, with their fingerprints (or checksums) stored on-chain. Instead of running such builds on cloud servers or computers that are prone to security breaches, they can be executed on dedicated blockchain co-processors or decentralized computational oracles,” De Moura told BeInCrypto.
Users can compare the checksum of the front-end resources they are loading against on-chain data through a browser plugin or feature. A successful match indicates an authentic build interface, whereas a discrepancy signals a potential compromise.
“If a verifiable reproducible builds approach had been applied to SAFE, the exploit could have been prevented. The malicious front-end would have failed verification against the on-chain record, immediately exposing the attack,” De Moura concluded.
This approach presents a helpful alternative to relying on users with varying levels of self-custody knowledge.
Addressing Gaps in User KnowledgeAs attacks grow more sophisticated, the lack of user knowledge about how to securely custody digital assets presents a significant vulnerability.
The Bybit hack frustrated users who originally thought that reliance on third-party integrations would be enough to safeguard their assets. It also affected the broader perception of cryptocurrency security.
“It shows crypto is still in the Wild West and in its growing phase in terms of security. I think in a couple years we will have superior security but in its current state, the public fear is well-justified,” Khalsa said.
Ultimately, embracing different approaches will be essential for the Web3 community to build a more secure and resilient ecosystem. A good starting point is to demand better industry practices and evaluate the integration of verifiable, reproducible builds.
Honeypot changes rollup security testing by means of a community-incentivized audit and interdisciplinary hacker battlefield. Cartesi is one of 26 projects that have managed to maintain their Ethereum L2 status in accordance with the new standards established by L2Beat. An upgraded version of Cartesi’s Honeypot decentralized application (dApp) has been launched, which raises the bar for rollup security standards. Cartesi is a modular blockchain system that first pioneered application-specific rollups. Moreover, Cartesi’s PRT Honeypot is already a Stage 2 rollup app and one of only three recategorized as Stage 2 by L2Beat.
Honeypot, which is now equipped with Cartesi’s Permissionless Refereed Tournaments (PRT) fraud-proof system, illustrates the project’s dedication to security, transparency, and open development.
Honeypot is a hacking challenge that was first introduced on the Ethereum mainnet two years ago. It is defined as a “hacking challenge based on the concept of honeypots.” Honeypot changes rollup security testing by means of a community-incentivized audit and interdisciplinary hacker battlefield. PRT, a fraud-proof mechanism that provides resistance to Sybil attacks without relying on permissioned validators or hefty hardware, has been added to this most recent version, which serves to strengthen it.
According to L2BEAT, which is a major open-source analytics platform for Layer-2 solutions, projects are evaluated based on proof systems that check rollup data for the purpose of ensuring safe Ethereum settlement. It is currently changing the classification of L2 projects depending on how far along they are in the process of becoming fully operational fraud-proof systems. This organization is widely regarded as a significant industry standard for rollup decentralization and security.
Honeypot is already recategorized as Stage 2, which is the ultimate step in which rollups become entirely governed by smart contracts. This is because Honeypot’s system is completely permissionless and fraud-proof, and it does not depend on a gated multisig for any interventions.
Erick de Moura, Founder at Cartesi stated:
“We don’t expect trust to be given — it should be earned. Honeypots allow projects to commit their own funds to validate the integrity of their fault proofs before asking others to rely on them. It’s a gradual, transparent path toward trustless security that reflects the values this ecosystem was built on.”
Cartesi’s new Honeypot upgrade is a crucial and essential milestone, indicating the maturity of its rollup technology. This is in light of the fact that Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has emphasized the need for all Layer-2s to implement measures that prevent fraud. With an eye toward the future, the group is working on the next-generation ‘Dave’ fraud-proof system in order to further increase security.
The conventional software stack and blockchain are separated by Cartesi, which acts as a bridge between the two. The infrastructure of the internet was built over the course of forty years, requiring billions of hours of labor and trillions of dollars. Through the use of Cartesi, developers are able to obtain access to the operating systems, programming languages, software libraries, and tools that have been methodically honed over the course of many decades. This paves the way for the next generation of blockchain applications.
A crypto enthusiast. Loves to write. Gives full dedication to every task assigned. Specializes in delivering on tight deadlines. An animal lover, especially dogs.
