Author: driver789

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin backs a controversial shift from Casper FFG to Minimmit, betting that making censorship harder matters more than preserving textbook fault‑tolerance as ETH trades near $2,000. Summary Vitalik proposes replacing Ethereum’s two‑round Casper FFG finality gadget with Minimmit, which finalizes blocks in a single round. The trade‑off: fault tolerance drops from 33% to 17%, but censorship resistance and recovery from bugs or attacks arguably improve. The debate lands as ETH hovers around $2,000, with markets weighing whether faster, more resilient finality can justify a premium in a choppy macro tape. Vitalik Buterin has put his weight behind…

Keshav is currently a senior writer at NewsBTC and has been attached to the website since June 14, 2021. Keshav has been writing for many years, first as a hobbyist and later as a freelancer. He has experience working in a variety of niches, even fiction at one point, but the cryptocurrency industry has been the longest he has been attached to. In terms of official educational qualifications, Keshav holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from one of the premier institutes of India, the University of Delhi (DU). He started the degree with an aim of eventually making a career…

Utexo, a startup building Bitcoin-native stablecoin settlement infrastructure, announced a $7.5 million seed round co-led by Tether, Big Brain Holdings, and Portal Ventures.  The round also included participation from Franklin Templeton, Maven11 Capital, Fulgur Ventures, Alchemy VC, Ethereal Ventures, Auros Ventures, Arcanum Capital, Paper Ventures, Axia8, FlowTraders, Plan B, Gate Ventures, Sats Ventures, and strategic angels including operators from Ledger, Hyperion, BTC Turk, Echo, Legion, and SOLV. The company was founded to address a longstanding gap in the cryptocurrency ecosystem: enabling USDT to settle natively on Bitcoin with robust, production-ready payment rails. Tether’s  CEO, Paolo Ardoino, said that Bitcoin has…

Pakistan’s parliament passed the Virtual Assets Act, 2026 on Wednesday, cementing the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), a government agency, as the country’s digital asset regulator.The framework gives PVARA, established in July 2025, the authority to enforce licensing requirements and oversight over digital asset service providers, according to an announcement from the regulator.PVARA is also tasked with setting and enforcing anti-money laundering provisions and international sanctions compliance under the new legislation. PVARA Chairman Bilal Bin Saqib said:“With no objection certificates (NOCs) already issued and banking rails being developed in coordination with the State Bank of Pakistan, we are now…

Cracks in the global private credit market are rattling investors, raising concerns the stress could spill into crypto markets.Bloomberg reported Friday that BlackRock’s $26 billion private credit fund has begun limiting withdrawals amid rising redemption requests. The move follows similar stress at Blue Owl, which sold $1.4 billion in loans last month to meet withdrawals and reportedly has exposure to a collapsed U.K. property lender.Shares of major asset managers including BlackRock (BLK), Apollo Global Management (APO), Ares Management (ARES) and KKR slid 4%-6% Friday, extending their 2026 rout.Read more: Blue Owl liquidity crisis has investors bracing for 2008-style falloutIf redemption…

Bitcoin’s derivatives market is showing where the next major price reactions could occur. A liquidation map tracking leverage positions on the Binance BTC/USDT perpetual market highlights clusters of highly leveraged trades positioned above the current market price. This arrangement provides clues about how the next Bitcoin price move could unfold, how much short traders can be liquidated in the next sweep, and what could probably happen after. Massive Short Liquidation Wall Sits Around $71,800 Bitcoin has spent the past 24 to 48 hours trading above $70,000, offering an early glimpse into how price action may unfold for the leading cryptocurrency…

Demand for tokenized commodities is increasing as investors look for safe-haven exposure through crypto-native markets that trade around the clock, rather than only during traditional market hours.The tokenized commodities sector grew 10% over the past month to $7.69 billion in cumulative market capitalization, while holders increased by 5.8% to 189,390, according to data aggregator RWA.xyz.Tether Gold (XAUT) makes up the lion’s share with $2.96 billion of onchain commodities, while Paxos Gold (PAXG) is second with $2.56 billion.The growth underscores how real-world assets are becoming a larger part of crypto market activity. Tokenized commodities allow investors to gain 24/7 blockchain-based exposure…

Russia’s central bank is weighing a plan that would allow banks and brokerage firms to operate cryptocurrency exchanges through a simplified licensing pathway tied to their existing financial permits, according to remarks from Governor Elvira Nabiullina. Under the proposal, financial institutions could obtain authorization to run crypto trading platforms through a “notification process,” rather than applying for a new standalone license.  The approach would allow firms that already hold banking or brokerage licenses to expand into digital asset services using their current regulatory status. Back in January, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, made…

Polymarket, Kalshi, and other prediction markets have taken the world by storm and in the process seen massive support from the cryptocurrency industry. Kalshi makes claims about “democratizing finance” while Polymarket proclaims that “using decentralized blockchain technology removes the need for a central authority in trading, which fosters fairness and open participation.” Kalshi wasn’t originally built on a blockchain at all, however, it’s expanded into tokenized positions on Solana, claiming that “tokenization is the endgame. It is non-custodial, instant, and crypto native.” However, that’s not how it currently functions; instead, it depends on Jupiter to “handle the off-chain actions required,”…

Recent events at the US Federal Reserve signal acceptance of digital assets at the highest levels of the country’s monetary system. Kraken recently became the first crypto exchange to receive a master account at the Federal Reserve.The Fed could also see a new crypto-friendly chair. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday submitted a pro-Bitcoin candidate for the Senate’s consideration.These developments represent a significant shift in how the Fed could treat the crypto industry. But there are also detractors.Why are Fed master accounts so important to the crypto industry?On Wednesday, Kraken announced that its Wyoming-chartered bank, Kraken Financial, had been awarded a…