Crypto

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Published 26th August 2025

📣 Headlines

Wall Street lobbying battles with crypto firms intensify as GOP-advocated reforms push for crypto market structure, stablecoins regulation, and tokenization of stocks.

• A grassroots carbon sequestration scheme proposes biochar carbon banks with digital tokens and community-backed banking, drawing analogies to the gold standard.

Bluesky blocks Mississippi users over state age verification laws requiring ID collection, raising broader concerns about decentralized platform governance and free speech.

• The IPO market shows signs of reopening with AI-focused companies leading the way, including potential listings from Figma and Circle in the convoy-style recovery.

Secondary market demand for private company stakes continues to outpace supply as LPs and GPs seek liquidity, with deals involving OpenAI, Ramp, and Deel highlighting the structure challenges.

U.S. billion-dollar startup exits are rebounding in 2025 with increased IPO and M&A activity driven by AI growth and improved private-to-public market confidence.

🚨 Industry News & Scam Analysis

As he builds US power, Justin Sun fights to control his story (citationneeded​.news). Justin Sun sues Bloomberg over his crypto fortune details, reveals TRX concentration, HTX ownership, Tron DAO influence, and alleged privacy breaches amid Trump advisory ties

Kanye Finally Did It (theneedledrop​.com). Anthony Fantano analyzes Kanye West's YZY Money crypto venture, criticizing its legitimacy, Solana-based minting, YZY card concept, and the broader skepticism surrounding crypto scams and influencer-led coins

What the new stablecoin law means for Nebraska banks and consumers (siliconprairienews​.com). Nebraska advances stablecoin framework with GENIUS Act insights, Nebraska Financial Innovation Act roots, Telcoin DADI prospects, bank adoption, consumer literacy, cross-border payments, and Fed-KC Fed notes on lending impact

Exposing the 'Multibank Crypto Poker' Recruitment Scam (happihacking​.com). Exposes Multibank Crypto Poker scam: fake recruiters, remote code execution via AUTH_API_KEY, base64-encoded C2 at vercel.app, deliberate broken authentication, wallet harvesting, poisoned job tests, suspicious repo tied to MultiBank Group

🌐 Decentralized Social Networks

Notes on FAIR Package Manager (kaspars​.net). Notes on FAIR Package Manager cover WordPress plugin integration, DID-based authenticity, plc.directory metadata, wp-json/minifair endpoints, signature verification challenges, and privacy benefits

No title (markjgsmith​.com). Miljan Braticevic discusses account ownership vs. self-sovereign keys on Nostr, contrasts with centralized platforms like X, and reflects on tractability and analysis paralysis in decentralization

Introduction to AT Protocol (mackuba​.eu). AT Protocol overview: records, CBOR, lexicons, NSID prefixes (app.bsky, com.atproto), DIDs (did:plc), PDS, blobs, feeds, follows, blocks, lexicon governance, and Bluesky-centric vs general ATProto APIs

Blue In Mississippi (feed​.tedium​.co). Bluesky exits Mississippi over age verification law; discusses decentralized networks, external clients, Bridgy Fed, Bounce tool, Mastodon, Blacksky, AT Protocol, and legal challenges to online safety laws

🔗 Blockchain Protocols & Infrastructure

Trillion Dollar Security - Phase 2 (blog​.ethereum​.org). Ethereum Foundation launches Phase 2 of Trillion Dollar Security focusing on UX security: Minimum Security Standard for wallets with Walletbeat, unblocking tech tree for blind signing, Verifier Alliance data, in-wallet transaction decoding and simulation, open-source vulnerability database, non-tech and enterprise wallets research

Protocol Update 002 - Scale Blobs (blog​.ethereum​.org). Scale Blob throughput in Ethereum via PeerDAS with DAS sampling, BPO steps, cell-level messaging, bandwidth optimizations, Blobpool censorship resistance, and future FullDAS research for Glamsterdam 2026

Layer-1s Vertical Analysis (coinmetrics​.io). Layer-1 blockchains, Bitcoin genesis, on-chain analytics, token economics, network usage metrics, stablecoins’ role, sector analysis series, and Coin Metrics’ data tools and dashboards

Chainlink Becomes First Data and Interoperability Oracle Platform To Achieve ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Compliance (blog​.chain​.link). Chainlink achieves ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 1 for CCIP, Price Feeds, SmartData, and Proof of Reserve, signaling enterprise-grade security for DeFi data and cross-chain interoperability

₿ Bitcoin Technology & Economics

Bitcoin Core Code: C++, some Python and a Custom Build System (binaryigor​.com). Bitcoin Core is analyzed: C++ core, Python tests, cryptographic primitives, build system, codebase quirks, Rust-free dependencies, historical context, and test suite execution details

Earning Bitcoin (k3tan​.com). Bitcoin earning through services, products, and peer-to-peer dynamics: self-custody, BTCPayServer, Wallet of Satoshi, orange label directory, btcmap.org, meetups, and selling Bitcoin Nodes

What’s hierarchical about a hierarchical wallet? (johndcook​.com). HD wallets derive keys from seed phrases via BIP-44 hierarchy (purpose, coin type, account, change, address index); private keys don’t exist until used, blockchain lookups reveal activity, and back-ups rely on seed phrases

OpenTimestamps and Knots/OCEAN (petertodd​.org). OpenTimestamps uses merkle trees and OP_RETURN in Bitcoin to timestamp data; Knots/OCEAN relay limits debated; hypothetical resilience via P2WSH, multisig, and alternative embedding strategies discussed

Assessing Bitcoin’s Lasting Potential in a Digitally Connected Financial Economy (brandonbyars​.com). Bitcoin, digital transactions, decentralized networks, technological resilience, market trust, investor confidence, and long-term value in a digitally connected financial economy

🔐 Cryptography & Security Research

Ed25519 Support Lands in Chrome: What It Means for Developers and the Web. (blogs​.igalia​.com). Chrome 137 ships Ed25519 in Web Crypto API; impact on IPFS, Helia, Proton, Matrix, Signal, and decentralized web projects

Anubis (re​.factorcode​.org). Anubis: Factor-based SHA-256 hashing, nonce search, and C/OpenSSL vs. Factor implementations to thwart AI scrapers, with tests and performance benchmarks

Postdoc Position in Lattice-Based Cryptography (martinralbrecht​.wordpress​.com). Postdoc position in lattice-based cryptography focusing on practical advanced post-quantum cryptography, OPRFs, Blind Signatures, UPKE, NIKE, lattice-based primitives, King's Cryptography Lab, ERC project

Tiny Book of Simple Cryptography (blog​.acthompson​.net). Alfred Thompson's Tiny Book of Simple Cryptography overview: free PDF, updated methods (baker’s dozen), classroom-friendly cryptography, Amazon paperback, Kindle version, and accompanying blog posts

Haraka Hash: A Look at AES-based PoW for Blockchains (zola​.ink). Haraka Hash exploits AES-NI for high-throughput AES-based permutation; discusses CPU-friendly PoW, decentralization benefits, Monero application, energy efficiency, and potential hybrid consensus implications

📚 Academic Research

Money in Motion: Micro-Velocity and Usage of Ethereums Liquid Staking Tokens (arxiv:cs). First comprehensive analysis of Ethereum liquid staking token circulation patterns, revealing high velocity and institutional dominance in stETH/wstETH usage. Critical insights for DeFi protocol designers and LST ecosystem participants

A Social Choice Analysis of Optimism's Retroactive Project Funding (arxiv:cs). Analyzes Optimism's $100M+ RetroPGF governance mechanism using computational social choice theory, proposing improvements for DAO funding allocation. Essential reading for blockchain governance and public goods funding

Sentiment-Aware Mean-Variance Portfolio Optimization for Cryptocurrencies (arxiv:cs). Combines technical indicators with news sentiment analysis for crypto portfolio optimization, achieving 38.72% returns vs Bitcoin's 8.85%. Practical framework for sentiment-driven crypto investment strategies

Probabilistic Forecasting Cryptocurrencies Volatility: From Point to Quantile Forecasts (arxiv:q-fin). Introduces probabilistic volatility forecasting for crypto markets using multiple ML models, moving beyond deterministic predictions. Valuable for risk management and trading strategy development in volatile crypto markets

Graph Learning for Foreign Exchange Rate Prediction and Statistical Arbitrage (arxiv:q-fin). Novel graph-based approach for FX prediction and arbitrage using multi-currency relationships, achieving 61.89% higher information ratio. Methodology transferable to crypto arbitrage and cross-chain trading strategies

👋 Before you go

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