Latest news with #Cryptocurrency
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Protocol: Ethereum Validator Exit Queue Backs Up
Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I'm Margaux Nijkerk, CoinDesk's Tech & Protocols reporter. In this issue: Ethereum Validator Exit Queue Tops $2B as Stakers Rush to Quit After 160% Rally Jito Launches BAM to Reshape Solana's Blockspace Economy Ethereum Validators Signal Intention of Upping Gas Limit to 45M Dogecoin Could Soon Verify ZK Proofs Natively, Thanks to DogeOS Push Unknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the ` option Network news VALIDATOR EXIT QUEUE ON ETHEREUM BACKS UP: Ethereum's validator exit queue posted its longest wait time on record, a possible signal stakers are looking to pull funds after a major price rally in ether (ETH). As of Wednesday 09:00 UTC, nearly 625,000 ETH worth about $2.3 billion was in line to exit the network, data from shows. That's even larger than the amount waiting during the January 2024 spike, extending withdrawal delays to over 10 days, the data shows. The congestion is due to the dynamics of Ethereum's proof-of-stake model, which limits how quickly validators can join or leave the network. Validators are entities that stake tokens to help secure the blockchain in return for a reward. The exodus is likely due to profit-taking by those who staked ETH when the price was much lower and are now cashing out after it's rallied 160% from an early April trough. "When prices go up, people unstake and sell to lock in profits," said Andy Cronk, co-founder of staking service provider Figment. "We've seen this pattern for retail and institutional levels through many cycles." Unstaking spikes can also occur when large institutions move custodians or change their wallet tech, he said. — Krisztian Sandor Read more. JITO LAUNCHES BLOCK ASSEMBLY MARKETPLACE: The Jito Foundation introduced the Block Assembly Marketplace (BAM), a system aimed at improving how blocks are built and transactions sequenced on the Solana blockchain. BAM is designed to make 'transaction sequencing transparent and verifiable,' while enabling programmable innovation at the blockspace layer, unlocking new revenue opportunities for developers and reducing the harmful effects of Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). The launch builds on Jito's established infrastructure, including its widely adopted validator client, and the Jito Block Engine. BAM introduces a modular architecture with three key components. BAM Nodes are specialized schedulers that privately organize transactions using secure hardware. BAM Validators run the updated Jito-Solana software client and receive the ordered transactions from the nodes and execute them on-chain. Finally, Plugins will offer developers, traders and applications a programmable interface to interact with the scheduler, enabling customized transaction logic. According to the team, BAM will start up on mainnet in the coming weeks with an initial set of validators led by key Solana ecosystem participants such as Figment, Helius, SOL Strategies and Triton One. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more. ETHEREUM VALIDATORS BEGIN TO UP THE GAS LIMIT: According to the dashboard as of July 21, 49% of validators' staked ETH indicate that they are in favor of increasing the gas limit to reach 45 million units. On Ethereum, gas is the unit that measures the computational work required to execute transactions or smart contracts. Whenever a user interacts with the blockchain, they must pay a gas fee, which covers the cost of using Ethereum's computing resources. This ensures users pay in proportion to the complexity of their actions. Each block on Ethereum has a gas limit, which is the maximum amount of gas that can be consumed by all transactions in that block. If the total gas needed by pending transactions exceeds the block's limit, some transactions are postponed to future blocks. Because space is limited, transactions compete for inclusion, and those offering higher fees are more likely to be included first. The gas limit was last raised in February, when it was set to 36 million. That was the first time since 2021 that it had been increased, after more than half of the validators on the network supported the change, without needing a hard fork. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more. ZK PROOFS ON DOGECOIN?: Dogecoin might've started as a joke, but this upgrade isn't one. DogeOS, the app layer developed by the MyDoge wallet team, submitted a formal proposal to Dogecoin Core introducing a new opcode to enable the network to verify zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) natively. Developers aim to transform an unused part of the script system into a tool that can verify cryptographic proofs, starting with 'Groth16' (a specific type of proof widely used in ZK systems) and allowing for future upgrades. This would enable Dogecoin to support more advanced, off-chain applications, such as rollups and smart contracts, while maintaining the main chain's speed and simplicity. The approach is modular by design because proof systems are mode-selectable, and the opcode behavior is strictly opt-in. If the proof verifies, the script proceeds; if not, it fails. Old nodes remain compatible, treating the opcode as a no-op. No surprise forks, no VM bloat. — Shaurya Malwa Read more. Unknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the ` option In Other News Polymarket, the cryptocurrency-powered prediction market that recently attained a billion-dollar valuation, is deciding whether to introduce its own customized stablecoin or accept a revenue- sharing deal with Circle based on the amount of USDC held on the platform, according to a person familiar with the plans. Polymarket's motivation to create its own stablecoin is simply to own the yield-generating reserves that back the large amount of Circle's USDC dollar-pegged token used to make bets on the popular betting platform, the person said. A Polymarket representative said no decision has been made. — Ian Allison Read more. SharpLink Gaming (SBET), the ether (ETH) treasury company led by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, continued its buying spree, bringing total holdings above $1.3 billion. The firm said in a Tuesday press release that it bought 79,949 ETH over the last week at an average price of $3,238, its largest weekly purchase. With the latest acquisition, the firm held 360,807 ETH as of July 20, worth roughly $1.33 billion at current prices. The company still has $96.6 million of funds raised by selling shares through its at-the-market equity for more ETH purchases, the company said. — Kristzian Sandor Read more. Unknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the ` option Regulatory and Policy President Donald Trump fulfilled part of his vow to establish U.S. crypto regulations, signing legislation into law that formally established rules for stablecoin issuers — marking a first step that the digital assets industry hopes will end with the more important regulatory regime governing the wider crypto markets. Before a crowd of crypto executives in the East Room of the White House, a jubilant Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which registered a massive 308-122 bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday and an earlier 68-30 vote in the Senate — demonstrating a huge margin of support from walked into the packed room to be met by applauding lawmakers and industry leaders, including Coinbase's Brian Armstrong, Tether's Paolo Ardoino, Circle's Jeremy Allaire, Gemini's Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Kraken's Dave Ripley, Chainlink's Sergey Nazarov and others. — Jesse Hamilton & Nikilesh De Read more. The U.S. Senate is marching on in its effort to craft rules and regulations for the vast majority of the crypto market, releasing a discussion draft of a market structure bill that more clearly defines some of the frameworks the lawmakers are contemplating. The 35-page draft released Tuesday formulates new definitions for digital assets that are not securities, and directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to engage in rulemaking around these assets that would exempt them and their issuers from existing regulations. The bill later directs the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to engage in joint rulemaking around certain aspects of crypto market activity, such as portfolio margining. — Nikilesh De Read more. Unknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the ` option Calendar Sept. 22-28: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul Oct. 1-2: Token2049, Singapore Oct. 13-15: Digital Asset Summit, London Oct. 16-17: European Blockchain Convention, Barcelona Nov. 17-22: Devconnect, Buenos Aires Dec. 11-13: Solana Breakpoint, Abu Dhabi Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BNB Chain News: BNB Hits ATH as Treasury Companies Expand
TL;DR: Altcoin rally: BNB sector hits ATH mcap, +$24.4B weekly. BNB up 14.1%; ecosystem tokens surge, TVL +9.4%, leaders include $SPK & $SLP. Key news: Nano Labs & Windtree treasuries; DIA partnerships; L1 upgrade plans. Bitcoin's dominance is breaking down, sending altcoins soaring. With the CMC Crypto Fear and Greed Index now squarely in the greed category, it's safe to say bullish sentiment has returned. With that in mind, let's see how the BNB Chain sector shaped up this week. BNB Chain Market Recap The BNB Chain sector is on fire, with an across-the-board pump sending its market capitalization (mcap) to an all-time high (ATH). More than $24.4 billion was added to the sector in one of the best weeks on record. Much of this growth is attributed to the standout performance of BNB, which added 14.1% this week and briefly tapped a new ATH of $804. A wave of green was also seen throughout the BNB Chain ecosystem, with some of the best-performing BEP-20 assets adding upwards of 40% week-on-week. This week's best performers and their likely catalysts (if known) include: Spark (SPK): +250.8% (spike in staking due to Ignition Airdrop Phase 2) DIA (DIA): +122.9% (back-to-back partnership announcements with Hydration & Plume) Smooth Love Potion (SLP): +65% (unclear catalyst) Tagger (TAG): +54.1% (investment from BNB Chain Incentive Program) Caldera (ERA): +46.1% (multi-exchange listing, incl. Binance and Coinbase) That said, a handful of laggards failed to benefit from the pump. This week's worst performers include: Chintai (CHEX): -25.8% Banana For Scale (BANANAS31): -14.2% 1inch network (1INCH): -12.1% The BNB Chain platform continues to compare favorably with competing L1s. Per data from Artemis, it leads the competition in terms of daily transaction counts (edging out Solana when discounting vote transactions) as well as on-chain trading volume—regularly clocking in upwards of $9 billion in daily DEX volume. When it comes to daily active addresses and stablecoin transfer volume, it's neck-and-neck with TRON. Source: DefiLlama Overall, the platform grew its TVL by 9.4% this week, with a significant uptick in Binance Staked ETH deposits. BNB Chain News Roundup The recent bullish momentum was underpinned by a wave of positive developments and updates, helping to improve sentiment. Some of this week's most significant updates include: Nano Labs Lifts BNB Reserve to 120K Tokens: The Hong Kong chipmaker expanded its strategic stash to 120,000 BNB (~$90M) and said it will upgrade its BNB reserve strategy, reinforcing its long‑term pivot into Web3 infrastructure. Windtree Therapeutics Plans Up to $200M BNB Treasury: Windtree unveiled a corporate BNB reserve strategy targeting $200M, positioning itself as a major institutional holder and aligning with Build & Build Corp's accumulation push. DIA Links Up With Hydration & Plume: On July 21 and 22, DIA announced integrations with Hydration (Polkadot lending) and Plume (RWA rollup), supplying source-level oracle feeds to both. The move helps to broaden cross-chain data pipes and potential liquidity routes for BNB Chain projects. BNB Chain Teases Ultra-Fast Private L1: A recent blog post outlined plans for several upgrades to BNB Chain, aiming to deliver a next‑gen layer 1: sub‑150 ms finality, 20K+ TPS, Rust client, 10x gas limit, and native privacy. >> That's all for this update. Check in next week for more BNB Chain updates and analyses.
The National
a day ago
- Business
- The National
What new US crypto laws mean for the future
Crypto has reached a critical moment in its history. The US released a slew of game-changing bills for cryptocurrency last week, signalling a long-anticipated seal of approval of crypto from the world's largest economy. Those bills are the Clarity Act, something called the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, and – the Genius Act, which is what we are focusing on today. It is all expected to have major implications for the Middle East, which has already established its own level of crypto adoption. On this episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid hears from two experts; Naeem Aslam, CIO at Zaye Capital Markets in London, and Ola Doudin, CEO of UAE-based cryptocurrency exchange BitOasis. here.
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Truth Social Expands Bitcoin Holdings to $2 Billion
Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Truth Social ( (DJT)) has provided an announcement. On July 21, 2025, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. announced it has accumulated approximately $2 billion in bitcoin and bitcoin-related securities as part of its bitcoin treasury strategy, which now comprises two-thirds of its $3 billion in liquid assets. The company plans to continue acquiring bitcoin and related assets to generate revenue and potentially acquire more crypto assets, aiming to ensure financial freedom and protect against financial institution discrimination, while creating synergies with a planned utility token for the Truth Social ecosphere. More about Truth Social Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. operates in the social media, streaming, and financial technology industries. The company runs Truth Social, a platform for free expression, Truth+, a family-friendly streaming service, and a FinTech brand focused on America First investment vehicles. Average Trading Volume: 7,865,009 Technical Sentiment Signal: Sell Current Market Cap: $5.17B For a thorough assessment of DJT stock, go to TipRanks' Stock Analysis page.
International Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- International Business Times
Breaking Barriers: Making DeFi Truly Accessible With Unichain
For years, the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem has promised open access to financial tools without intermediaries. But for everyday users, that promise often collided with a reality of prohibitively high gas fees, opaque transaction systems, and technical barriers. In 2024, average Ethereum transaction costs spiked during periods of network congestion, with some users paying more than $100 per transaction. For smaller developers and retail participants, this created a system where Cryptocurrency felt anything but accessible. One builder has worked to change that equation As Head of Growth for Uniswap Foundation, Chirag Narang led the development and launch of a new Layer 2 blockchain architecture called Unichain, designed from the ground up for DeFi. The mission was clear: eliminate the bottlenecks that inflated user costs, starting with the structural causes behind gas inefficiency. Chirag Narang didn't approach the problem as a feature tweak or short-term optimization. He viewed high gas fees as a systemic failure, one that necessitated a fundamental re-evaluation of how transactions are ordered, validated, and executed. Rather than build around the inefficiencies, Chirag Narang led the creation of an entirely new infrastructure layer with fairness and cost-efficiency as core design principles. This wasn't just about cutting fees, it was about making DeFi truly accessible. Why High Transactional Fee Was More Than a Technical Glitch Ethereum's core infrastructure was never optimized for the high-frequency, multi-party transaction logic required by most DeFi protocols. With every smart contract interaction competing for blockspace, high gas costs became the norm rather than the exception. These costs didn't just impact power users trading large volumes. They excluded many participants entirely, particularly smaller U.S. investors and developers experimenting with their first smart contracts. Moreover, high gas prices weren't just a matter of congestion. As Chirag Narang observed, centralized sequencer models across many Layer 2s often prioritized throughput over fairness. This meant users who couldn't pay higher gas premiums were routinely pushed to the back of the queue or fell victim to front-running by faster, well-resourced users. Building an Infrastructure That Cuts Cost at the Root Unichain was built to solve this problem at the system level. Rather than layering onto an existing architecture, Chirag Narang led the effort to architect a purpose-built network that integrated two critical components: decentralized sequencing and programmable liquidity. At the core of Unichain's architecture is its Validation Network (UVN), a decentralized group of validators that eliminates reliance on a single sequencer. This structure alone limits the gas manipulation opportunities that single-operator rollups often introduce. The use of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) in Unichain enables fair ordering of transactions. Unichain ensures a fairer playing field for users by imposing gas-based priority instead of backroom preferences. Failed trades are refunded. High-speed trading doesn't drown out slower participants. And most critically, users aren't forced to overpay just to ensure inclusion. Gas Efficiency Through Programmable Liquidity The other half of the cost equation lies in liquidity design. Traditional DeFi systems require repeated contract calls and static fee structures, each adding cost to a transaction. Under Chirag Narang's leadership, Unichain launched programmable liquidity hooks that allow developers to consolidate logic such as rebalancing, fee adjustments, or collateral management into a single on-chain module. That consolidation reduces the number of steps in a transaction, and therefore, reduces gas fees. In practice, users engaging with Unichain-enabled apps pay less because they're no longer routed through bloated, hard-coded smart contracts. From System Design to Measurable Impact The proof is in adoption. Within six months of launch, Unichain secured around $900 million in total value and became one of the fastest-growing Layer 2 networks. U.S.-based developers, including those without large operational budgets, were able to deploy applications with greater capital efficiency. Unichain enabled retail users to return to the ecosystem without worrying about the high gas fees and threats. Apart from retail users, Unichain was adopted by several other significant organizations, including finance firms like Enso Finance, researchers from universities in the UK and Germany, and various other blockchain founders. More than a protocol upgrade, Chirag Narang's contribution redefined what DeFi affordability could look like, not through subsidies or temporary incentives, but through architecture-level changes that persist across market cycles. Lower Fees, Higher Trust Gas costs in DeFi aren't just a line item. They're a trust signal. When users feel they're being priced out or manipulated at the infrastructure level, adoption stalls. By reducing those costs systemically, Unichain under Chirag Narang's leadership rebuilt a foundation where DeFi can be what it always claimed to be: open, fair, and efficient for all. In conclusion, Chirag Narang didn't just launch a Layer 2 blockchain; he helped restore access to an entire class of users priced out of the digital financial future and showed that cost-efficiency, when built into the architecture, can scale equity along with innovation.
