Crypto
Published 24th June 2025
📣 Headlines
• GenLayer launched its Asimov testnet combining AI and blockchain technology for decentralized marketing, enabling automated influencer campaigns through intelligent decision-making models.
• FC Barcelona partnered with Futureverse to launch Barca.Pass, a digital collectibles wallet for over 11 million fans that creates personalized digital identities without requiring crypto knowledge.
• DuckDuckGo enhanced its browser security with Scam Blocker technology that now protects users from fake crypto exchanges and scareware while maintaining privacy.
• Data center company Soluna is capitalizing on stranded renewable energy by purchasing excess power from wind and solar sources to support AI and cryptocurrency mining operations.
🌐 Industry Insights & Commentary
No title (markjgsmith.com). Matt Odell discusses essential tools for achieving Bitcoin sovereignty, emphasizing Bitcoin Core, Electrum Server, and Mempool Space for privacy-conscious users with some technical expertise
Back from Berlin Blockchain Week: Thoughts on DappCon, Privacy, and Where Blockchain Goes Next (kristaps.me). DappCon in Berlin highlighted stablecoins, privacy through zero-knowledge proofs, the need for improved UX in crypto, and the influence of governments and big tech on the decentralized landscape
Comments on Crypto Development and Trade War (trfetzer.com). Commentary on crypto's potential, trade war effects on Bitcoin mining, and implications for US industrial policy and energy markets
🏛️ Regulation & Policy
The Asbestos Doctrine: Why Crypto Must Be Contained, Not Condoned (stephendiehl.com). Cryptocurrency is likened to financial asbestos due to its structural harm, lack of accountability, and deceptive promises. Advocates for regulation risk legitimizing a harmful system instead of prioritizing societal containment and safeguarding against systemic risks
United Kingdom: Draft Legislation to Regulate Cryptocurrency Published (loc.gov). On April 29, 2025, the UK government published draft legislation to regulate cryptoassets, establishing a framework for exchanges, dealers, and stablecoins, and aiming to enhance consumer protection and investor confidence
Senate passes GENIUS Act—criticized as gifting Trump ample opportunity to grift (pappp.net). Senate approved the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins, prompting criticism that it allows Trump potential conflicts of interest amidst his family's crypto dealings and calls for expedient legislation
Issue 86 – State power sponsored by Coinbase (citationneeded.news). The GENIUS Act, aimed at regulating stablecoins, passes the Senate amid lobbying threats towards Democrats, while crypto billionaire Justin Sun strengthens ties with Trump through investments and stablecoin ventures
How U.S. Policy Can Support Tokenization (blog.chain.link). U.S. policymakers face three regulatory challenges in supporting tokenization: asset classification, interoperability standards, and consumer access, which affect the market's growth and the adoption of technologies like Chainlink CCIP
🚀 Platform Development & Infrastructure
Checkpoint #4: Berlinterop (blog.ethereum.org). During Berlinterop, Ethereum developers collaborated on the Fusaka upgrade and gas limit increases, launching networks, stress-testing, and discussing long-term strategies for slot restructuring and history expiry
Introducing EigenCloud, A Developer Platform to Unlock Crypto's App Era (blog.eigencloud.xyz). EigenCloud launches as a developer platform enhancing blockchain's programmability through tools like EigenDA for data, EigenVerify for dispute resolution, and EigenCompute for computation, backed by the EIGEN token to support verifiable applications
EigenCloud: Cloud-Scale Programmability, Crypto-Grade Verifiability (blog.eigencloud.xyz). EigenCloud integrates cloud-scale programmability with crypto-grade verifiability, enabling sophisticated applications like AI agents and decentralized services, using technologies like EigenDA, EigenVerify, and EigenCompute for enhanced developer capabilities
Web3 Social Graphs: Thesis (medium.com/1kxnetwork). The evolution of Web3 social graphs empowers users with control, enabling new interactions through features like NFT minting and tokenized systems, overcoming bottlenecks faced by existing decentralized platforms
🔐 Technical Cryptography & Consensus
Why use hash puzzles for proof-of-work? (johndcook.com). Cryptocurrencies utilize hash-based puzzles for proof-of-work, ensuring security against quantum computing vulnerabilities, while alternatives like FoldingCoin demonstrate the challenges of integrating useful computations in mining processes
What is the Bitcoin proof-of-work problem? (johndcook.com). Miners solve a puzzle using SHA256 to demonstrate proof of work for Bitcoin blocks, requiring brute force to find a string s with a hash value less than target T, which fluctuates over time
What Are BLS Signatures and How Do They Work? (zellic.io). BLS multi-signatures enhance consensus in Ethereum, demonstrated with EigenLayer's AVS contracts for efficient task validation and signature aggregation while addressing potential pitfalls in implementation
Pairing-Based Cryptography Demystified: A Deep Dive into Elliptic Curves (fuzzinglabs.com). Explore pairing-based cryptography through elliptic curves, discussing the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem (ECDLP), groups, finite fields, Weierstrass equation, geometric group law, and efficient point representation
🔍 Security, Analysis & Research
Ukrainian Web3 security auditing company Hacken suffered an attack that allowed a hacker to create 900 million HAI tokens (databreaches.net). Hacken, a Ukrainian Web3 security auditing firm, experienced a breach that enabled a hacker to produce 900 million HAI tokens, highlighting vulnerabilities in blockchain security measures
RACE #41 Of The Secureum Bootcamp Epoch∞ (ventral.digital). RACE #41 of the Secureum Bootcamp challenges Ethereum Smart Contract Auditors with complex staking and slashing logic using the ERC4626 standard, emphasizing deposit management and operator validation
Correlation Analysis of Silver, Bitcoin, SOXX, and Blockchain Index with {corrr} package (datageeek.com). Correlation analysis of Silver, Bitcoin, iShares SOXX, and Nasdaq Blockchain Index using the corrr package reveals a strong correlation, particularly between the Blockchain Index and Bitcoin
Data Analyst Guide to Aptos: Supply and Volume (pt.3) (aptoslabs.medium.com/data-analyst-guide-to-aptos-supply-and-volume-pt-3-535e312946ad). Explore Aptos coin supply dynamics, including supply calculations, volume measurements, fungible assets, and tracking methods through SQL queries and event management
📚 Academic Research
FORGE: An LLM-driven Framework for Large-Scale Smart Contract Vulnerability Dataset Construction (arxiv:cs). FORGE automates smart contract vulnerability dataset construction using LLMs, extracting data from audit reports and classifying vulnerabilities based on CWE standards
Enabling Blockchain Interoperability Through Network Discovery Services (arxiv:cs). This paper presents a decentralized blockchain network discovery architecture and asset/service discovery mechanism, implemented using the Substrate framework, demonstrating scalability with 130,000 concurrent requests and a 5.5 ms median response time
A theory of Lending Protocols in DeFi (arxiv:cs). Lending protocols in DeFi leverage trustless on-chain mechanisms, rewarding liquidators of under-collateralized loans, creating complex incentives that may lead to strategic user behaviors, requiring formal models to analyze economic dynamics and stability
Optimistic MEV in Ethereum Layer 2s: Why Blockspace Is Always in Demand (arxiv:cs). Optimistic MEV in Ethereum Layer 2s drives over 50% of gas on Base and Optimism, highlighting its speculative nature and role in arbitrage while consuming less than a quarter of total gas fees
Consensus Power Inequality: A Comparative Study of Blockchain Networks (arxiv:cs). This study evaluates consensus power inequality in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Hedera, and Algorand using the Gini coefficient and Theil index, identifying disparities in decentralisation and offering insights for equitable network design
Quantum Enhanced Entropy Pool for Cryptographic Applications and Proofs (arxiv:cs). Integration of quantum randomness into Verifiable Random Functions using Ed25519 elliptic curve enhances unpredictability but introduces challenges in computational overhead and resource usage, with key generation times significantly increased
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