Ethereum developers agreed on Thursday to split the upcoming hard fork "Pectra" into two phases to reduce the complexity of the massive upgrade and reduce the risk of bugs or vulnerabilities.

The decision to split the upgrade this time around isn't surprising. According to CoinDesk reports, developers had previously proposed the idea of ​​splitting Pectra because it was too large to be completed at once to reduce the risk of discovering code errors.

Pectra was originally expected to be the largest hard fork in Ethereum history, but now developers will be able to focus on a narrower scope. The developers have previously stated that they aim to complete this upgrade in early 2025, and this remains the target for the first phase of the Pectra upgrade.

Blockchain security company PeckShield said earlier today that it had observed suspiciously large outflows from cryptocurrency exchange BingX, with more than $13.6 million having been transferred to a suspicious address.

According to data monitored by on-chain data analysis platform Spot On Chain, in the past 4 hours, multiple crypto assets worth more than $27 million were suspiciously transferred out of BingX and exchanged for ether (ETH). The address suspected to be owned by the hacker currently holds 7,172 ETH (worth $17.58 million) and 11,467 BNB (worth $6.44 million).

Solana may currently be the top alternative Layer 1 network after Ethereum, but analysts at cryptocurrency research firm K33 Research speculate that Sui Network may eventually challenge that status.

David Zimmerman, a DeFi analyst at K33, said in a research note published on Wednesday that Sui’s performance relative to Solana, coupled with its architecture and upcoming game consoles, could make it a major contender among “alternative L1s.” Zimmerman said:

“Solana often steals the spotlight in the L1 battle, with SOL/ETH up 6% since opening in August, but SUI/SOL up 115% in the same period.”

BingX, the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange, announced the listing of a new digital asset AgentLayer ($AGENT) on its Launchpool. AgentLayer is a decentralized autonomous AI agent network that aims to create a stable environment and better collaborate with humans. The core of this innovation is the new currency $AGENT, which promotes the agent economy on the Base blockchain and enables the casting, deployment and exchange of AI assets on the chain. A limited-time staking event will take place from September 13 to September 18, allowing BingX users to earn AGENT tokens and explore the unlimited potential of this AI-driven project.

In an interview with The Block at the Token2049 event in Singapore, Andrew Vranjes, senior vice president and head of international operations at Blockdaemon, said that Hong Kong regulators may approve the introduction of staking functionality for Ethereum spot ETFs this year.

Andrew Vranjes said his team is working closely with ETF issuers in Hong Kong to discuss possible staking solutions with local regulators. It said the team has made progress and regulators may approve the staking feature "within a specific structure and scope."

"Let's see how the market develops. There may be a model where accredited investors and above have this option first. It may develop in that direction and gradually advance over time."

According to "The Block" report, Solana Mobile, the smartphone division of Solana blockchain development company Solana Labs, revealed the name of its second-generation blockchain mobile phone as "Solana Seeker" at "TOKEN2049" in Singapore on Thursday. Will be released in mid-2025.

Emmett Hollyer, general manager of Solana Mobile, said in an interview with "The Block" that the name "Seeker" was inspired by the late British writer and speaker Alan. A quote from Alan Watts that accurately conveys the essence of this device and its user. Hollyer added:

Following the successful launch of a Bitcoin spot ETF, BlackRock recently released a detailed report outlining Bitcoin’s unique position among the major asset classes.

The current market value of Bitcoin exceeds US$1 trillion, and the spot Bitcoin ETF launched by BlackRock earlier this year quickly accumulated US$21 billion in assets under management due to strong market interest, making it one of the most successful ETFs in history. .

In the latest white paper released by BlackRock, the institution explains why Bitcoin can become a "unique risk diversification tool" and why many investors have difficulty comparing it with "traditional assets" when analyzing Bitcoin. Make a comparison. The report noted that Bitcoin’s correlation with U.S. stocks or U.S. interest rates tends to be short-lived.

According to The Block, Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said in a memo to clients on Tuesday that "no one likes Ethereum" in the current market, as the ETH/BTC exchange rate recently fell below a three-year low. However, Matt Hougan believes this instead provides a potential contrarian investment opportunity at the end of the year.

No one likes Ethereum

Although the overall cryptocurrency market has underperformed over the past six months, Bitcoin is still up 42% in 2024 and Solana is up 27%, compared with Ethereum's gain of just 1%. Matt Hougan said that the mood of the Ethereum community is very depressed, and the main issues causing this situation include: the risk of the US election, increased competition from Solana, token economic challenges, and the poor performance of spot ETFs.

British financial technology company Revolut plans to issue its own stablecoin, CoinDesk reported, citing four people familiar with the matter. Two of the people familiar with the matter revealed that the company has made considerable progress in creating a stablecoin.

Revolut, which provides cryptocurrency trading services and has 45 million users worldwide, obtained a British banking license in July this year. The company last month announced a secondary stock offering to provide liquidity to employees, valuing it at $45 billion.

When asked about its stablecoin plans, a spokesperson for Revolut said the company hopes to expand its cryptocurrency offerings and take a compliance-first approach to become a safe haven for the entire cryptocurrency community. The spokesperson said in an email:

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appeared at a New York City restaurant known for accepting Bitcoin payments, becoming the first former US president to conduct transactions using cryptocurrency.

The restaurant, Pubkey, announced on X on September 19 that Trump used Bitcoin to purchase a burger at its restaurant, a transaction included in block height 861871. Bitcoin supporter and CEO of Professional Capital Management Anthony Pompliano also attended the campaign event. According to video taken at the scene, Trump purchased at least 12 burgers, distributed them to attendees at the scene, and called them "Crypto Burgers."

According to data from Arkham, MicroStrategy, a US-listed company that holds a large amount of Bitcoin, transferred 4,922.697 Bitcoins to 3 addresses this morning, with a total value of approximately US$294 million.

It is unclear whether the new addresses are owned by MicroStrategy, and the company and its founder, Michael Saylor, have yet to respond.

Source

The Federal Reserve took a bold decision in its interest rate resolution early this morning. It cut interest rates by two percentage points in one breath, lowering the target range to 4.75% to 5.0%. It was the first interest rate cut in more than four years. Chairman Powell emphasized at the post-meeting press conference that the U.S. economy is in good shape and there are currently no signs of recession. The 2-point rate cut is a "recalibration" of the Fed's monetary policy. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the same rate cut will be made at the next meeting. , investors should not expect the Fed to continue cutting interest rates at this level.

During the press conference, gold surged to a record high of $2,600 before retreating. At the same time, the S&P and Dow Jones also fell quickly after hitting record highs during the session, while the Nasdaq also ended lower.

Ethereum (ETH) appears to be less popular now, but its underperformance may reverse before the end of the year, crypto asset management firm Bitwise said in a report on Tuesday, CoinDesk reported.

Bitwise notes that Ethereum’s price has been little changed year-to-date, while Bitcoin (BTC) is up 38% and Solana’s SOL is up 31%. The report states that the reasons for Ethereum’s recent underperformance come from risks related to the November U.S. presidential election, increasing competition from Solana and other blockchains, challenged token economics, and U.S. Ethereum spot exchange trading The fund (ETF) has received mixed reactions since its launch.

Market Analysis – How many yards will the Federal Reserve announce to downgrade its seats early this morning? Will this be a watershed in the currency circle?

This week on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the entire market has started a small rise. Both mainstream coins and altcoins have increased by 5-10%. The increase of BTC is still in the previous period, which is very strong. BTC Dominance also hit a new high today to 58.51 %, which is the highest level since April 2021. In comparison, the ETH/BTC exchange rate fell as we had expected, and even hit a new low since April 2021, which means that the altcoin market is really weak. It also means that after the adoption of the Bitcoin spot ETF, BTC will get more The attention of institutions and the deeper connection with the overall economy and stock market have also further compressed the altcoin market.

AI project Vana receives a total of US$25 million in financing

According to the official announcement, the cryptocurrency artificial intelligence project Vana announced that it has successfully received a total of US$25 million in financing. This funding came from three top institutions in the cryptocurrency field, including a US$5 million strategic financing round from Coinbase Ventures and an US$18 million investment from Paradigm. US$ Series A financing, and a US$2 million seed round led by Polychain.

Vana is a project that aims to create a user-owned AI platform dedicated to solving the data shortage currently facing the AI ​​industry. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, data has become a key resource for training AI models, but traditional data sources (such as public Internet data) have tended to dry up, and AI researchers have encountered the so-called "data wall."

Arthur Hayes, chief investment officer at Maelstrom and co-founder of BitMEX, said at the Token2049 conference in Singapore that risk assets including cryptocurrencies could collapse within days of the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut.

Cutting interest rates is a bad idea

In an interview with CoinDesk on the sidelines of the Token2049 conference, Arthur Hayes explained that the upcoming rate cut will exacerbate inflation problems and cause the Japanese yen (JPY) to strengthen, triggering widespread risk aversion.

“Cutting interest rates is a bad idea because inflation is still a problem in the United States and the government is the main driver of price pressures. If borrowing costs are lowered, this will increase inflation. The second reason is that cutting interest rates will narrow the interest rate gap between the United States and Japan. , which could lead to a sharp appreciation of the yen and trigger the unwinding of the yen carry trade.”

According to a report by CoinDesk, cryptocurrency custodian BitGo announced plans to launch a U.S. dollar stablecoin USDS at the "Token2049" conference in Singapore. The stablecoin will reward institutions that provide liquidity to compete in this crowded market. stand out.

USDS will be backed by short-term treasury bills, overnight repurchase agreements (Overnight Repo) and cash, and is what BitGo calls the first stablecoin open to participation. The company said USDS will launch in January 2025.

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said in an interview with CoinDesk:

“The main reason for launching USDS is that while existing stablecoins have great features, we believe there is an opportunity to create a more open and fair system that promotes innovation and, most importantly, rewards those who build the network. People. The real value of a stablecoin comes from the people using it, the liquidity they provide, and the access points to exchange.”

According to the Financial Times, Swiss Exchange Group (SIX Group) is exploring the creation of a cryptocurrency trading platform in Europe in an attempt to enter a market dominated by established digital asset companies such as Binance, OKX and Coinbase.

SIX Group is looking to leverage its reputation and Switzerland's progressive cryptocurrency laws to attract large traditional investors who are increasingly interested in trading digital assets. Bjørn Sibbern, global head of exchange at SIX Group, said in an interview with the Financial Times: "The trend we are seeing is that more and more international banks and institutions are paying attention to cryptocurrencies."

This article is reproduced from an article published by Yi He, co-founder of Binance, on Binance Square.

The following text begins:

Is the currency circle going to end?

Recently, many posts in the industry denigrating the blockchain have become popular. Many people outside the industry are asking me if the blockchain scam is over? People in the industry are asking whether the industry is running out of steam? Where are we in the cycle? Compared with good news, bad news is more likely to make headlines, and bad news is also more likely to gain more traffic and attention. What is more worthy of ridicule than people in the cryptocurrency community who sing down about the cryptocurrency community? These behaviors and emotions continue to be contagious, and the traffic is becoming more and more intense. Even the retirement of some OGs has been amplified as evidence that "the currency circle is about to end." Some staunch idealistic players in the industry will also reveal anxiety and confusion when chatting with me.

According to "CoinDesk", the international credit rating agency Moody's (Moody's Ratings) stated in its first report on decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) on Tuesday that the DePIN industry may help the expansion of existing networks and Innovation, but a number of risks, including unclear regulations, could hinder its development.

The report’s authors said: “By connecting existing parts of the system backbone with the building blocks of distributed ledger technology (DLT), DePIN has the potential to improve the reliability and efficiency of the network while reducing operational costs and optimally resources and industrial cooperation.”