Crypto: 29th July 2025

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Published 29th July 2025

📣 Headlines

BlackSuit ransomware gang's darknet websites were seized by police in a multinational operation involving U.S. Homeland Security, with the group having made over $500 million in ransom demands.

Germ seeks to introduce end-to-end encrypted messaging on Bluesky's AT Protocol, aiming to enhance user privacy without compromising safety features.

Proton launched Lumo, a privacy-focused AI chatbot using zero-access encryption for tasks like document summarization while maintaining complete user data privacy.

Tobacco companies are exploiting the metaverse to market cigarettes and vapes to children, using NFTs and immersive events without regulation in virtual environments.

RAD Security launched RADBots for automated security investigations, offering risk assessment and compliance management to enhance security team workflows.

Amazon's Nova AI Challenge showcased university teams enhancing AI coding assistant security through live adversarial testing scenarios.

Armada raised $131M to scale portable data centers for remote operations, attracting interest from military and energy sectors for edge computing needs.

Trump's AI action plan promotes deregulation, benefiting tech giants like Alphabet and Meta as they lobby for favorable AI legislation.

🔒 Privacy Technologies & Legal Challenges

FHE@PDX 2025 (jeremykun​.com). Homomorphic encryption mini-workshop in Portland fosters community among local tech companies with talks, discussions, and a hackathon for the HEIR compiler

The Tornado Cash case: When politics sabotage a prosecution (citationneeded​.news). Roman Storm's Tornado Cash trial highlights tangled regulatory challenges, evidentiary blunders, and the impact of shifting political landscapes on cryptocurrency prosecutions

Judge Allows Testimony on ‘Feasible’ Tornado Cash Code Changes (cosmicmeta​.io). Federal judge allows testimony on feasible Tornado Cash code changes, impacting privacy protocols, developer responsibilities, and compliance in decentralized finance

Monero 0.18.4.1 'Fluorine Fermi' released (getmonero​.org). Monero 0.18.4.1 'Fluorine Fermi' released with bug fixes, featuring contributions from 14 developers and new binary downloads for various platforms

🌍 Hemispheres Can’t Stop Us (S2025-E06) (news​.dyne​.org). Insights on EUDI privacy, the launch of Tomb v2.12, post-quantum WireGuard updates, and reflections on decentralization at a global digital identity conference

⚡ Decentralized Infrastructure & Protocol Development

Blossom protocol (markjgsmith​.com). Exploration of Blossom protocol for data storage and retrieval using sha256 Universal ID and public/private key cryptography for blogger content verification

Payment Processing (john​.colagioia​.net). Exploring a decentralized payment processing solution to resist censorship, support adult content, and enhance transaction transparency without traditional financial burdens

EigenCloud Goes Multi-Chain on Base (blog​.eigencloud​.xyz). EigenCloud introduces Multi-Chain Verification, expanding AVS deployment to L2s and other chains, enhancing user experience and reducing costs

Redistribution is Live on Mainnet (blog​.eigencloud​.xyz). EigenLayer launches Redistribution on Mainnet, enabling slashed funds to be redistributed, enhancing capital efficiency, and improving use cases for lending and insurance protocols

Nodiux. A lightweight web app to explore Bluesky decentralized conversations and networks (digitaldatastories​.it). Nodiux is a lightweight web app for exploring decentralized conversations on Bluesky, allowing users to visualize and analyze social network data effortlessly

🛡️ Security Analysis & Cross-Chain Risks

Inside EthCC[8]: Becoming a smart contract auditor (blog​.trailofbits​.com). Nicolas Donboly outlines a pathway to becoming a smart contract auditor, focusing on programming, blockchain security, and practical skills development at EthCC[8]

Turning Milestones Into Meaning: The Depth Behind Our Audits (leastauthority​.com). Least Authority highlights its 300 security audits, focusing on quality, zero-knowledge technologies, Ethereum, and significant projects like Linea zkEVM and MetaMask

Cross-Chain Crisis? Why Wrapped BTC Might Be Bitcoin’s Weakest Link (cosmicmeta​.io). Wrapped Bitcoin bridges Bitcoin to Ethereum, enhancing DeFi access but exposing users to security vulnerabilities and regulatory challenges in the crypto ecosystem

15 Million+ Centralized Cross‑Chain Swaps Traced (caudena​.com). Caudena tracks over 15 million centralized cross-chain swaps, including Monero transactions, enhancing compliance, forensic investigations, and risk management in the crypto ecosystem

📚 Academic Research

Autonomous Dominant Resource Fairness for Blockchain Ecosystems (arxiv:cs). Autonomous Dominant Resource Fairness applies smart contracts for efficient multi-resource allocation in blockchain systems, enhancing management across diverse user demands

From Contracts to Code: Automating Smart Contract Generation with Multi-Level Finite State Machines (arxiv:cs). Multi-level finite state machine model simplifies smart contract development, enhancing modularity and traceability while addressing security vulnerabilities for non-expert users

Resilient Multi-Agent Negotiation for Medical Supply Chains:Integrating LLMs and Blockchain for Transparent Coordination (arxiv:cs). Hybrid framework integrates blockchain and LLMs for resilient, transparent medical supply chain negotiation during crises, enhancing efficiency, fairness, and accountability

Bridging Cloud Convenience and Protocol Transparency: A Hybrid Architecture for Ethereum Node Operations on Amazon Managed Blockchain (arxiv:cs). Hybrid architecture for Ethereum nodes on Amazon Managed Blockchain with observability, security, and automation using AWS Cloud Development Kit and CloudWatch for performance monitoring

SILS: Strategic Influence on Liquidity Stability and Whale Detection in Concentrated-Liquidity DEXs (arxiv:cs). SILS framework enhances liquidity stability in DeFi by identifying high-impact LPs using ETWL profiles and Liquidity Stability Impact Score for proactive risk management

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