Author: driver789

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure Vitalik Buterin says a new “fast confirmation rule” for Ethereum could give users a hard guarantee that a block will not be reverted after a single slot, or roughly 12 seconds, a change that would sharply reduce one of the network’s biggest practical frictions for exchanges, bridges and Layer-2 systems. The proposal, described publicly by Ethereum Foundation researcher Julian Ma and endorsed by Buterin on X, is designed to narrow the gap between Ethereum’s strong security model and the slower confirmation times that still shape user experience…

Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments company RedotPay said it has “consolidated” teams to improve efficiency as it scales, after a report claimed executive turnover and sensitivities tied to its mainland China connections.On Wednesday, a Bloomberg report claimed RedotPay is facing leadership churn and sensitivities tied to China as it explores raising up to $150 million. Citing people familiar with the matter, the report said that at least five senior hires left the stablecoin company within a year, including two compliance chiefs, and described a demanding work culture with extended hours.In February, Bloomberg reported that RedotPay is considering a US IPO that…

Bitcoin heads into the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting with strong momentum, trading above $74,000 after eight consecutive daily gains. However, data compiled by bitcoin lender Two Prime suggests this strength may mask a recurring pattern, FOMC meetings have historically acted as short term bearish catalysts for BTC.Looking at 2025, bitcoin posted negative returns in the 48 hours following seven of eight FOMC meetings. Even in May, when BTC rallied sharply, the broader trend points to consistent post meeting weakness regardless of whether the Fed held rates or shifted policy direction. This reinforces the idea that the event…

Ethereum client teams are testing an opt-in fast confirmation mechanism that could cut the time some layer-2 networks and exchanges wait to recognize mainnet deposits to about 13 seconds.The proposed Fast Confirmation Rule (FCR) would reduce “deposit time from Ethereum L1 to L2s or exchanges to about 13 seconds, an 80-98% reduction for most L2s and exchanges,” Ethereum researcher Julian Ma wrote on X.Most users today rely on canonical bridges, where transfers typically wait for multiple block confirmations or full finality, a process that can take around 13 minutes. However, many exchanges and L2s do not wait for finality, instead…

Bitcoin’s five-year compound annual growth rate has slipped below gold’s for the second time in its history, according to Fidelity Digital Assets, marking an unusual moment for an asset long defined by its outsized long-term returns. For markets, the signal is not just about relative performance against gold, but about what a slower growth profile may say about Bitcoin’s current market cycle. In a new Chart Chatter segment posted on X, Fidelity Digital Assets research analyst Zack Wainwright said Bitcoin’s five-year CAGR has been trending lower over time as the asset’s price has risen. That dynamic, he argued, has now…

Supported by YZi Labs, the Aster project has announced the launch of the Aster Chain mainnet. The solution is positioned as an L1 blockchain focused on trading. As the lotus lives in water, where no trace will remain.Leave nothing behind. Trade on Aster Chain. pic.twitter.com/GWe4iA7Uhx— Aster 🥷 (@Aster_DEX) March 17, 2026 The project aims to eliminate the “transparency trap” of modern DeFi and achieve CEX-level performance. To this end, the architecture integrates zero-knowledge cryptography and stealth address mechanisms at the execution level. 100,000 Transactions Per Second According to developers, the block creation time in the new network is just 50…

Crypto e-commerce platform Bitrefill said it was the target of a cyberattack earlier this month that resulted in stolen funds and limited exposure of customer data, with indicators pointing to the North Korean-linked Lazarus Group as a likely perpetrator. The breach, which began on March 1, originated from a compromised employee laptop, according to the company’s incident report.  Attackers were able to extract legacy credentials tied to production systems, allowing them to escalate access across Bitrefill’s infrastructure, including segments of its internal database and certain cryptocurrency hot wallets. Bitrefill said the attackers drained an undisclosed amount of funds from its…

Ethereum has reclaimed the $2,300 level as renewed buying activity begins to emerge across the market following months of persistent downward pressure. The recovery marks an important shift in short-term sentiment, with traders increasingly pointing to strengthening momentum as buyers attempt to regain control after a prolonged corrective phase. Related Reading The recent move higher suggests that the market may be entering a transitional period, where accumulation replaces the aggressive selling that characterized much of the previous months. Ethereum, which often acts as a high-beta asset within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, tends to react strongly when risk appetite begins to return.…

More Australians reported using cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services in 2026 compared to the year before, but banking friction has continued to weigh on crypto users, according to a new report by crypto exchange Independent Reserve.The annual survey of 2,000 “everyday Australians” was conducted between Jan. 12 and Jan. 30.It found that the share of Australians using crypto to buy goods or pay for services doubled from 6% to 12%, with the report suggesting “more Aussies are viewing crypto as a practical payment method rather than just a speculative bet.”Among the respondents who used crypto for goods and services,…

XRP (XRP) is trading just above a level heavily targeted by derivative traders, making it a critical zone for near-term price action.The payments-focused cryptocurrency changed hands at around $1.50 at press time, placing just above a notable concentration of options activity at $1.40 on crypto exchange Deribit. XRP is used by Ripple to facilitate cross-border transactions. Options are derivatives contracts whose value is derived from an underlying asset, in this case XRP. They give traders the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell XRP at a specific price (known as the strike) before a set expiry date. Call…