Author: driver789

It took Polymarket less than 24 hours to turn a Middle Eastern war into an active trading floor.Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran Saturday, the prediction market has seen a flood of new contracts covering everything from ceasefire timelines to whether the Iranian regime will collapse by June.The speed and specificity of the markets is striking. Bettors aren’t just wagering on whether the conflict escalates, but pricing the week it ends, who replaces Khamenei, and whether U.S. ground forces enter Iran by March 7.Polymarket’s largest completed market is “Khamenei out as Supreme Leader of Iran by March…

A recent evaluation has surfaced that reveals that Bitcoin’s long-term holders are slowly easing away from their deep profits, and that this could affect prices in either way, depending on further developments. Long-Term Holder Average Monthly SOPR Slips Under 1  In a recent QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, a pseudonymous on-chain analyst, Darkfost, reveals that Bitcoin’s long-term holders are entering a fragile phase in the current cycle. This post is based on readings obtained from the BTC: Long-Term Holders (LTH) SOPR metric, which tracks if coins moved by Long-Term Holders are done profitably, or at a loss. A SOPR value above…

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is urging the Ethereum ecosystem to treat oracle design and decentralization as a priority security problem, warning that key parts of DeFi’s stack still hide uncomfortable fragilities behind the industry’s recent growth. In a post outlining how the Ethereum Foundation is thinking about DeFi, Buterin framed decentralized finance as “a central part of the value that Ethereum provides” and argued that its next phase must pair renewed innovation with a harder line on security and centralization risks. “Defi is a central part of the value that Ethereum provides. Financial empowerment is a central part of what…

Ethereum account abstraction, or smart accounts, will be shipped with the Hegota upgrade “within a year,” said Vitalik Buterin on Saturday.“We have been talking about account abstraction ever since early 2016,” said the Ethereum co-founder over the weekend. He added that now, “we finally have EIP-8141, an omnibus that wraps up and solves every remaining problem that AA [account abstraction] was intended to address (plus more),” and it is slated for deployment this year.  “Finally, after over a decade of research and refinement of these techniques, this all looks possible to make happen within a year (Hegota fork).”The core concept is “about…

Fresh U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have drawn new attention to a financial network Tehran has built in parallel to its battered banking system: bitcoin mining and a fast-growing stablecoin economy.Iran legalized crypto mining in 2019, allowing licensed operators to use subsidized electricity in exchange for selling mined BTC to the central bank. Bitcoin has served as a tool for paying for imports and settling trade outside the dollar system, even if indirectly.Estimates in recent years have put Iran’s share of global bitcoin mining power between 2% and 5%, though much of the activity operates out of public view.Blockchain…

Ethereum account abstraction, or smart accounts, will be shipped with the Hegota upgrade “within a year,” said Vitalik Buterin on Saturday.“We have been talking about account abstraction ever since early 2016,” said the Ethereum co-founder over the weekend. He added that now, “we finally have EIP-8141, an omnibus that wraps up and solves every remaining problem that AA [account abstraction] was intended to address (plus more),” and it is slated for deployment this year.  “Finally, after over a decade of research and refinement of these techniques, this all looks possible to make happen within a year (Hegota fork).”The core concept is “about…

Bitcoin is trading at weekly RSI levels historically seen near bear market bottoms, signaling that selling pressure may be easing. While confirmation is needed, the market is in a zone often marking late-stage capitulation. The key question: was the recent drop the final flush, or is one last shakeout still ahead? RSI Compression Signals Downside Exhaustion According to crypto analyst Batman, Bitcoin’s weekly RSI has fallen back into the same territory that historically marked prior bear market bottoms. This momentum zone has repeatedly appeared during late-stage capitulation phases, making it a critical signal that the market could be nearing another…

Key takeaways:Institutional adoption of the Ethereum network accelerates despite Ether disappointing price action. Ethereum and its layer-2s hold 65% of TVL market share.Vitalik Buterin is shifting focus toward base layer scalability and ZK-EVM to ensure long-term onchain efficiency and security.Ether (ETH) has declined 36% in 2026, sparking frustration as the $3,000 level feels increasingly out of reach. Despite a retreat toward $1,900, Ethereum fundamentals appear resilient. Development continues at a rapid pace, specifically targeting base layer scalability, privacy, and quantum resistance. Critics claiming Ether is poorly positioned may be surprised if the market sentiment shifts back toward cryptocurrencies. ETH/USD (orange) vs…

Ethereum is attempting to stabilize around the $2,000 level as the broader crypto market shows tentative signs of relief. After weeks of persistent pressure, price action has paused its decline, but sentiment remains fragile. The recent rebound has helped ease immediate downside momentum, yet the technical structure still reflects a market recovering from significant damage rather than entering a confirmed uptrend. Related Reading According to a CryptoQuant analyst, Ethereum endured a severe liquidation-driven sell-off in recent weeks, falling sharply from local highs near $3,300 to lows around the $1,850 region. The intensity of this move becomes particularly evident when analyzing…

Bitcoin’s future in an artificial intelligence-driven world may depend less on code and more on central banks.In a new note, Greg Cipolaro, global head of research at financial services and infrastructure firm NYDIG, argued that artificial intelligence will affect bitcoin mainly through macroeconomic channels and its impact on the labor market.The key variables are growth, employment, real interest rates and liquidity. Bitcoin, he writes, sits downstream of those forces.If automation cuts jobs and wages, consumer demand could weaken and, in a severe case, falling incomes would strain debt payments and pressure asset prices.Those fears appear to be well-grounded. Just this…