Author: driver789

Strip Bitcoin and Ethereum out of the crypto market and what remains has shed almost a quarter of its value in the first half of 2026, falling to $666 billion while liquidity retreats into a handful of survivors. This is not a crash; crashes end. It is something slower and stranger: a depression in the long tail of crypto, with its own causes, its own refugees, and its own short list of assets that refuse to participate. Summary The ex-Bitcoin and ex-Ethereum crypto market lost nearly 23% in the first half of 2026. Liquidity is retreating from the long tail…

Perpetual futures are on track to become one of the dominant trading instruments in global finance, with decentralized exchange Hyperliquid demonstrating how blockchain-based infrastructure could challenge traditional markets, according to Pantera Capital.The blockchain-focused asset manager said in a Wednesday X post that perpetual futures offer structural advantages over traditional derivatives, including 24/7 trading, no contract expiries, simpler position management and continuous price discovery, making them increasingly attractive beyond crypto markets.Pantera, an investor in the Hyperliquid ecosystem, said Hyperliquid has become the leading example of that shift by expanding perpetual futures beyond cryptocurrencies into equities, commodities and stock indices as part…

Key Highlights Cupertino-based tech giant reportedly negotiating with Caltech-born startup PrismML regarding innovative on-device AI compression capabilities The startup successfully reduced Alibaba’s Qwen 3.6 model (27 billion parameters) from approximately 54 GB to under 4 GB The compression technique maintains full activation of all 27 billion parameters simultaneously on iPhone 17 Pro hardware Current premium Siri functionality depends on Google’s Gemini operating through cloud infrastructure powered by Nvidia processors Khosla Ventures led PrismML’s $16.25 million seed funding round completed in early 2024 Apple (AAPL) stock climbed 0.44% during Wednesday trading following reports that the iPhone maker is engaged in discussions…

Nearly every transaction on Ethereum’s layer-2 networks passes through a single machine, run by a single company, called a sequencer. It orders trades, sets the pace of the chain, earns the fees, and can go dark or say no. This guide explains what sequencers actually do, why the most decentralized ecosystem in crypto runs its fast lanes through central operators, what can and cannot go wrong, and the roadmaps racing to fix it. Summary Ethereum layer 2 networks rely on centralized sequencers that order transactions, collect fees, and can temporarily halt network activity during outages. Sequencers cannot steal user funds…

ZK STARKs are the best way to deal with the issues created with making Bitcoin quantum-safe — and to reach mass adoption at the same time — says StarkWare co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson.What’s more, he claims Blockstream founder Adam Back agrees.Ben-Sasson has been in the news this week for his controversial suggestion on X to increase Bitcoin inflation to 4% annually. Grok’s analysis of the replies found “zero clear support for the proposal.”But as the co-inventor of STARKs — quantum-secure, hash-based zero-knowledge proofs — he’s on much firmer ground, with some leading Bitcoin researchers supporting the concept.Ben-Sasson’s own project Starknet last…

Sony Financial Group has taken a meaningful step toward entering the US stablecoin market through a newly planned, regulated banking subsidiary. Sony Bank said it received preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to form a US national trust bank subsidiary that will be able to issue US dollar-denominated stablecoins. According to an announcement from Sony Financial Group, the unit—Connectia Trust, National Association—would be fully owned by Sony Bank. Sony Financial Group also said the effort is backed by $40 million in starting capital and is intended to serve as a building block for a…

Ethereum price has remained pinned near $1,750 after renewed Middle East tensions triggered a risk-off mood across financial markets and sellers once again defended the $1,800 resistance zone. Summary Ethereum price remains stuck near $1,750 as Middle East tensions keep risk appetite subdued across crypto markets. Repeated rejection at $1,800 and heavy liquidation clusters continue to block a sustained ETH breakout. A break below $1,750 could expose $1,700, while reclaiming $1,800 may trigger a short squeeze toward $2,000. According to data from crypto.news, Ethereum (ETH) price traded around $1,756 on Wednesday after failing to sustain multiple attempts above $1,800 during…

The world’s largest financial messaging network, SWIFT, said its blockchain-based ledger is ready for initial use after nine months of development.Seventeen major banks, including HSBC, Citi, BNP Paribas, UBS, ANZ, DBS and Standard Chartered, are preparing to pilot cross-border payments using tokenized bank deposits on the new ledger, SWIFT announced on Thursday. The ledger will enable participating banks to support 24/7 cross-border payments, including overnight and weekend transactions, while maintaining existing compliance, credit, risk and control standards embedded in current payment processing.The launch marks another step in banks’ efforts to use tokenized deposits within regulated financial infrastructure while extending payment availability…

A crypto user lost nearly $1 million after approving a malicious token permission on Ethereum, according to onchain tracking shared by Scam Sniffer. The incident highlights how phishing “token approvals” continue to evolve from one-off scams into repeatable theft workflows. Scam Sniffer reported that the victim’s loss was 999,999 USDT ($1.00 · Live) (USDT) linked to an Ethereum phishing approval. The attacker first attempted to drain funds through multicall requests but failed due to insufficient balance, then immediately succeeded seconds later by executing follow-up transfers that removed the remaining funds. Key takeaways A single “approve” on an Ethereum token can…

A crypto user has lost nearly $1 million after approving a malicious Ethereum transaction that gave scammers access to drain almost the entire wallet balance, adding to hundreds of millions of dollars in phishing losses recorded this year. Summary A crypto user lost nearly $1 million after approving a malicious Ethereum transaction that allowed scammers to drain the wallet. Phishing scams caused $723 million in losses across 248 incidents in 2025 as approval based attacks continued targeting crypto users. The latest theft follows another multimillion dollar onchain loss, highlighting separate risks from phishing approvals and flawed transaction routing. According to…