Mois : juillet 2025

Solana developers are considering increasing the network’s block capacity by 66% as demand for block space on the most widely used network grows.

A new proposal, SIMD-0286, floats the idea of increasing Solana’s per-block compute limit from 60 million to 100 million compute units (CUs), according to a document posted by core contributors this week.

The goal is to let Solana process more transactions and support heavier apps like DEXs, MEV systems, and restaking protocols without hitting compute ceilings.

« Block limits’ primary purpose is to ensure the vast majority of network participants are able to keep up with the network, by restricting the amount of work a leader is allowed to pack into a block, » the proposal’s motivation reads.

« However, current mainnet traffic is largely not constrained by large block execution times. This proposal aims a substantial increase in block limits to 100 million CUs, in order to provide additional capacity to the network, » it adds.

Solana currently produces blocks every 400 milliseconds, with strict caps on how much compute can be packed into each one. Earlier this month, the network activated SIMD-0256, which increased the limit from 50 million to 60 million CUs.

But developer demand has spiked in tandem, raising the need for even more block space. The new proposal would allow validators to opt into the 100 million CU ceiling via a software upgrade, which is expected to go live in a future epoch once it is adopted.

SIMD-0286 only raises the Max Block Units limit, which governs total compute per block. Other limits, such as Max Writable Account Units, stay unchanged.

This means the extra capacity will primarily benefit non-vote, parallelizable transactions such as DeFi swaps or NFT mints, without increasing pressure on individual accounts.

Read more: Solana Breaks $200 as Jito’s BAM Draws Bullish Bets

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Bitcoin’s (BTC) consolidation continues to take the wind out of the bull run in the broader market that had raised hopes for the so-called alt season marked by prolonged outperformance of alternative cryptocurrencies.

Over the past 24 hours, major altcoins have experienced a significant decline, led by a double-digit drop in the payments-focused XRP and an 8% slide in SOL. The CoinDesk 80 Index, which tracks the performance of altcoins, has dropped over 7% while the CoinDesk 20 Index, which is dominated by bitcoin and ether, has declined by 4%.

« The crypto market took a nosedive, losing almost 4% of its market cap over the last 24 hours. Without bitcoin’s growth, altcoins, which had been driving the market upwards in previous days, found themselves on sale. Forty-eight of the top 100 altcoins are losing double-digit rates over 24 hours, while only three are growing, » Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said in an email.

Amid all this, social media is abuzz with posts about some $2 billion worth of ether waiting to be unstaked, with over 475 Ethereum validators awaiting exit. (check chart of the day section). Some are drawing parallels with January 2024, when large unstaking marked a temporary price top.

The latest surge in unstaking appears to be driven by the soaring ether borrowing rates on decentralized platforms like Aave, which have diminished the appeal of looping strategies designed to boost ether staking yields.

Typically, these strategies involve users depositing liquidity staking (LST) or liquid restaking tokens (LRT) as collateral on platforms like AAVE and borrow ETH. The borrowed ETH is again converted to LRT and LSTs and redeposited, creating a loop. The strategy works when staking yields are greater than borrowing costs.

However, with borrowing costs on the rise, the loop is likely being reversed, leading traders to rush to repay loans, exit LST/LRT, and reclaim ETH.

« The real trigger is soaring ETH borrowing rates since July 16 (peaking at 18%). This forced mass unwinding of ETH leverage loops on Aave, as negative yield spreads crushed profitability. Traders rushed to repay loans, exit LST/LRT positions, and reclaim ETH — causing depegs and queue congestion, » pseudonymous observer Degen Station noted on X.

It added that arbitrageurs are now scooping up LSTs and LRTs at a discount to redeem them for ether, worsening the issue, while demand for new staking remains strong. To cut to the chase, the large queue for unstaking is not necessarily a bearish signal.

In other key news, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said that the company is planning to re-enter the U.S. with stablecoin offerings for payments, interbank settlements, and trading.

In traditional markets, major currencies traded flat against the U.S. dollar, except for the risk-sensitive AUD/USD pair, which crossed above resistance at 0.66. Traders were closely watching for signs of sustainability as failure could be a harbinger of broad-based risk aversion.

Stay Alert!

What to Watch

CryptoJuly 28: Starknet (STRK), an Ethereum layer-2 validity rollup (zk-rollup), launches v0.14.0 on mainnet.July 31, 12 p.m.: A live webinar featuring Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan and Bitzenship founder Aleesandro Palombo discussing bitcoin’s potential as the next global reserve currency amid de-dollarization trends. Registration link.Aug. 1: The Helium Network (HNT), now running on Solana, undergoes its halving event, cutting annual new token issuance to 7.5 million HNT.Aug. 15: Record date for the next FTX distribution to holders of allowed Class 5 Customer Entitlement, Class 6 General Unsecured and Convenience Claims who meet pre-distribution requirements.MacroJuly 24, 8:15 a.m.: The European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision, with President Christine Lagarde’s press conference following 30 minutes later. Livestream link.Main Refinancing Operations (MRO) rate Est. 1.9% vs. Prev. 2.15%July 24, 9:45 a.m.: S&P Global releases (flash) July U.S. data on manufacturing and services activity.Composite PMI Prev. 52.9Manufacturing PMI Est. 52.6 vs. Prev. 52.9Services PMI Est. 53 vs. Prev. 52.9July 24, 4 p.m.: President Donald Trump will visit the Federal Reserve headquarters, highlighting his public disagreements with Chair Jerome Powell and Fed monetary policy.July 25, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Census Bureau releases June manufactured durable goods orders data.Durable Goods Orders MoM Est. -10.8% vs. Prev. 16.4%Durable Goods Orders Ex Defense MoM Prev. 15.5%Durable Goods Orders Ex Transportation MoM Est. 0.1% vs. Prev. 0.5%Aug. 1, 12:01 a.m.: New U.S. tariffs take effect on imports from trading partners that failed to reach agreements by the July 9 deadline. These increased duties could range from 10% to as high as 70%, impacting a wide range of goods.Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)July 29: PayPal Holdings (PYPL), pre-market, $1.30July 30: Robinhood Markets (HOOD), post-market, $0.31July 31: Coinbase Global (COIN), post-market, $1.39July 31: Reddit (RDDT), post-market, $0.19July 31: Sequans Communications (SQNS); pre-market, N/AAug. 5: Galaxy Digital (GLXY), pre-market, $0.19Aug. 7: Block (XYZ), post-market, $0.67Aug. 7: Hut 8 (HUT), pre-market, -$0.08Aug. 27: NVIDIA (NVDA), post-market, $1.00

Token Events

Governance votes & callsRocket Pool DAO is voting to finalize Saturn 1’s implementation. Approval by a 75% supermajority will ratify key protocol changes, including new transaction designs and a potential revenue share to the pDAO treasury. Voting ends July 24.Aavegotchi DAO is voting on a proposal to sell its treasury of around 16 million GHST at a discount to VC firm Rongming Investment for around $3.2 million in USDC, dissolve the DAO, and distribute funds to active members. The VC firm aims to scale Aavegotchi globally while Pixelcraft retains IP ownership. Voting ends July 25.Lido DAO is voting on a new system that lets validator exits be triggered automatically through the execution layer, not just by node operators. It includes tools for different authorization pathways, emergency controls, and built‑in limits to prevent misuse. The update is expected to make staking more decentralized, secure, and responsive. Voting ends July 28.GnosisDAO is voting on a proposal to provide $30 million per year, paid quarterly, to Gnosis Ltd., now a non-profit, to sustain its ~150‑person team building critical Gnosis Chain infrastructure, products (like Gnosis Pay and Circles), business development, and operations. Voting ends July 28.Aavegotchi DAO is voting on funding three new features for the official decentralized application: a Wearable Lendings UI, Gotchis Batch Lending and a BRS Optimizer. Voting ends July 29.NEAR Protocol is voting on potentially reducing NEAR’s inflation from 5% to 2.5%. Two-thirds of validators must approve the proposal for it to pass, and if so, it could be implemented by late Q3. Voting ends Aug. 1.July 29, 10 a.m.: Ether.fi to host a bi-quarterly analyst call.UnlocksJuly 25: Venom (VENOM) to unlock 2.84% of its circulating supply worth $12.36 million.July 28: Jupiter (JUP) to unlock 1.78% of its circulating supply worth $29.04 million.July 31: Optimism (OP) to unlock 1.79% of its circulating supply worth $21.48 million.Aug. 1: Sui (SUI) to unlock 1.27% of its circulating supply worth $163.66 million.Aug. 2: Ethena (ENA) to unlock 0.64% of its circulating supply worth $18.92 million.Aug. 9: Immutable (IMX) to unlock 1.3% of its circulating supply worth $13.36 million.Aug. 12: Aptos (APT) to unlock 1.73% of its circulating supply worth $52.59 million.Token LaunchesJuly 24: Uranium.io (XU3O8) to be listed on KuCoin, MEXC, Gate.io, and others.July 24: Aspecta (ASP) to be listed on Binance Alpha, OKX, KuCoin, BingX and others.July 24: Rent (REKT) to be listed on Binance.US

Conferences

The CoinDesk Policy & Regulation conference (formerly known as State of Crypto) is a one-day boutique event held in Washington on Sept. 10 that allows general counsels, compliance officers and regulatory executives to meet with public officials responsible for crypto legislation and regulatory oversight. Space is limited.

July 24: Decasonic’s Web3 Investor Day 2025 (Chicago)July 25: Blockchain Summit Global (Montevideo, Uruguay)July 28-29: TWS Conference 2025 (Singapore)Aug. 6-7: Blockchain.Rio 2025 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)Aug. 6-10: Rare EVO (Las Vegas)Aug. 7-8: bitcoin++ (Riga, Latvia)Aug. 9-10: Baltic Honeybadger 2025 (Riga, Latvia)Aug. 9-10: Conviction 2025 (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

Token Talk

By Shaurya Malwa

PENGU surged to a record $0.044, reclaiming the title of top Solana meme token after overtaking BONK in a rally timed with the fourth anniversary of the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection.The token jumped 21% in 24 hours, extending a multiday rally and overtaking its previous all-time high of $0.042 from January.South Korean traders are driving momentum, with 38% of PENGU volume now in KRW pairs, up from 32% earlier this month, a significant concentration of localized demand.Open interest in PENGU futures is at a record high, indicative of expectations of further volatility.The Pudgy Penguins NFT floor price has almost doubled to 16.2 ETH, reinforcing the connection between token price and NFT ecosystem strength.PENGU’s rally comes amid weak sentiment around PUMP following its underwhelming post-ICO performance, pushing attention and liquidity toward other Solana memecoins.The token is increasingly being viewed as a proxy for meme market sentiment, combining high liquidity, exchange access, cultural mindshare and ties to a top-tier NFT IP.

Derivatives Positioning

Open interest in BTC, ETH, XRP and SOL offshore perpetual has declined along with prices in the past 24 hours. Yet, funding rates hold positive. This combination indicates that the market swoon is predominantly driven by the unwinding of bullish bets rather than outright shorts. On the CME, the annualized three-month basis in BTC futures has ticked up to nearly 9%, the highest since May. However, open interest remains locked in familiar ranges. ETH CME futures open interest has pulled back slightly from the record 2.08 billion ETH to 1.87 billion ETH. Basis, meanwhile, has topped 10% for the first time since the end of May, indicating a bullish sentiment. On Deribit, the put bias in short-dated BTC risk reversals has strengthened, indicating fears of deeper price pull back. ETH options continue to show a bullish call bias across all tenors. Surprisingly, XRP risk reversals remain bullish despite the sharp price drop in the past 24 hours.

Market Movements

BTC is up 0.49% from 4 p.m. ET Wednesday at $118,534.04 (24hrs: -0.09%)ETH is up 1.9% at $2,607.45 (24hrs: -1.15%)CoinDesk 20 is up 0.41% at 3,934.83 (24hrs: -3.55%)Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 2 bps at 2.95%BTC funding rate is at 0.0091% (9.9645% annualized) on KuCoinDXY is up 0.14% at 97.35Gold futures are down 0.86% at $3,368.50Silver futures are down 0.32% at $39.38Nikkei 225 closed up 1.59% at 41,826.34Hang Seng closed up 0.51% at 25,667.18FTSE is up 1.00% at 9,151.80Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.56% at 5,374.36DJIA closed on Wednesday up 1.14% at 45,010.29S&P 500 closed up 0.78% at 6,358.91Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.61% at 21,020.02S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.19% at 27,416.41S&P 40 Latin America closed up 1.86% at 2,639.18U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 1 bps at 4.398%E-mini S&P 500 futures are unchanged at 6,402.00E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.33% at 23,387.75E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index are down 0.30% at 45,078.00

Bitcoin Stats

BTC Dominance: 62.1% (0.33%)Ether to bitcoin ratio: 0.3055 (unchanged)Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 908 EH/sHashprice (spot): $59.59Total fees: 4.19 BTC / $496,766CME Futures Open Interest: 149,260 BTCBTC priced in gold: 35.2 oz.BTC vs gold market cap: 9.87%

Technical Analysis

The DeFi dominance index, which measures the share of decentralized finance coins in the total crypto market, is currently showing a classic « breakout and re-test » pattern. This technical setup, characterized by a re-test of the breakout point, typically signals that the index is consolidating before a potential significant rally.

Crypto Equities

Strategy (MSTR): closed on Wednesday at $412.67 (-3.22%), unchanged in pre-marketCoinbase Global (COIN): closed at $397.81 (-1.64%), unchanged in pre-marketCircle (CRCL): closed at $202.41 (+2.07%), -1.6% at $199.18Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $31.03 (+6.6%), -0.1% at $31MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $17.57 (-11.62%), +0.23% at $17.61Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $14.34 (+0.49%), -0.49% at $14.27Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $13.49 (+0.07%), +0.37% at $13.54CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $12.45 (-3.04%), unchanged in pre-marketCoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $27.34 (-0.8%)Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $39.32 (-2.16%)Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $34.21 (-1.5%)SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $25.81 (-5.8%), +0.66% at $25.98

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

Daily net flows: -$85.8 millionCumulative net flows: $54.44 billionTotal BTC holdings ~1.3 million

Spot ETH ETFs

Daily net flows: $332.2 millionCumulative net flows: $8.67 billionTotal ETH holdings ~5.24 million

Source: Farside Investors

Overnight Flows

Chart of the Day

The queue for unstaking ether now consists of 652,298 ETH with waiting time of over 11 days.

While You Were Sleeping

FTX to Start Next Round of Creditor Repayments on Sept. 30 (CoinDesk): FTX, the bankrupt crypto exchange formerly led by Sam Bankman-Fried, has repaid nearly $6.2 billion to creditors. The next distribution will be handled by BitGo, Kraken and Payoneer.Crypto Industry Asks President Trump to Stop JPMorgan’s ‘Punitive Tax’ on Data Access (CoinDesk): A plan by JPMorgan to charge companies like Plaid and MX for linking bank accounts to crypto exchanges threatens fiat on-ramps, with Plaid alone facing fees that could wipe out most of its revenue.‘Wall Streetization’ of Bitcoin: BTC Volatility Index and the S&P 500 VIX Boast Record 90-Day Correlation (CoinDesk): Institutional crypto traders are mirroring equity option strategies, reshaping bitcoin’s volatility signals into sentiment gauges and decoupling them from price trends, leading to record alignment with Wall Street fear metrics.BTC, XRP, SOL, ETH Witness ‘Long Squeeze’ as Futures Open Interest Slides With Prices (CoinDesk): Positive funding rates and declining futures exposure suggest bullish traders are being cleared out — not replaced — pointing to a leverage reset rather than a shift in sentiment.Chinese and EU Leaders Are About to Meet — but the U.S. Is Complicating Things (Financial Times): EU officials challenged Beijing over its $142 billion trade surplus and ties to Moscow, while China defended its stance and warned Brussels against tariffs or restricting market access through supply chain controls.How a Chinese Border Town Keeps Russia’s Economy Afloat (The New York Times): China’s booming imports of Russian energy, timber and grain now feed its manufacturing sector as Beijing replaces Western buyers across key sectors of the post-sanctions economy.

In the Ether

Sur le marché des ETF, c’est Ethereum qui crée la surprise en ce milieu d’année 2025. En effet, depuis quelques semaines, des capitaux massifs affluent vers ses fonds négociés en bourse. Le token natif du réseau Ethereum affiche ainsi une performance mensuelle supérieure de près de 50 % à celle de son grand frère. Pourtant, le Bitcoin est plus fort que jamais. Pourquoi les investisseurs se ruent-ils donc vers ETH ?

Les ETF marquent un tournant décisif

Avec une capitalisation croissante et un regain d’intérêt institutionnel, Ethereum attire désormais l’attention des géants de la finance. Pour la première fois, les ETF Ethereum enregistrent des afflux massifs qui viennent concurrencer ceux du Bitcoin.

Le token ETH connait actuellement une envolée spectaculaire. Sur les trente derniers jours, ETH a surperformé le Bitcoin (BTC) de plus de 50 %. Au-delà de la hype crypto générale, la dynamique de l’ETH est soutenue par des signaux clairs. En l’occurrence, il s’agit surtout de l’appétit institutionnel croissant qui a conduit à l’explosion des ETF adossés à Ethereum.

En effet, les ETF au comptant adossés à Ethereum ont enregistré 2,18 milliards de dollars d’entrées nettes en quelques semaines. Une performance d’autant plus remarquable étant donné le fait que les ETF BTC attiraient 45 fois plus de capital en avril. Mais ce ratio est désormais tombé à x1,6, marquant un rattrapage spectaculaire pour ETH.

Les investisseurs américains au rendez-vous

D’après Julio Moreno, directeur de la recherche chez CryptoQuant, ce basculement traduit un signal fort du repositionnement stratégique en cours. Les achats via les ETF Ethereum basés aux États-Unis ont surpassé ceux de Bitcoin ces dernières semaines.

Un constat qui est renforcé par la hausse continue des volumes d’échange spot d’ETH. De plus, le ratio de détention d’ETH par rapport au BTC dans les ETF institutionnels ne cesse de croitre. En clair, Ethereum gagne du terrain dans les portefeuilles de type baleine.

Le concert des facteurs favorisants

Plusieurs facteurs structurels contribuent à cette réallocation de capitaux sur Ethereum. Dans un premier temps, plusieurs entreprises cotées en bourse multiplient les opérations stratégiques autour d’ETH. C’est notamment le cas de Dynamix Corporation ou The Ether Machine.

Par ailleurs, certains analystes tels que Sean Dawson de Derive, évoquent un scénario Strategy-like pour Ethereum. En effet, ils suggèrent que le modèle d’accumulation massif, déjà éprouvé sur Bitcoin, serait en train d’émerger côté ETH.

Le rôle de réserve de trésorerie qu’Ethereum commence à occuper dans certaines sociétés attire les grands noms de la finance. Delroy Fong, responsable trading chez Amber Group, souligne également la montée des “flux de capitaux structurants” en faveur de l’écosystème.

Un cadre réglementaire plus favorable

Sur le front politique, la récente promulgation du GENIUS Bill par Trump vient offrir un cadre réglementaire plus clair aux actifs numériques. Cette loi promeut l’adoption des cryptomonnaies comme instruments légitimes au sein de l’économie américaine.

Une évolution qui lève de nombreuses incertitudes pour les investisseurs institutionnels, historiquement prudents vis-à-vis de l’ETH. Nous assistons donc à une confluence d’éléments réglementaires et financiers susceptibles d’offrir à Ethereum un moment unique pour briller.

Une valeur technologique comme plus riche ?

Au-delà des signaux de marché, Ethereum bénéficie également d’une narration technologique plus dense. Il tient un rôle central dans la finance décentralisée (DeFi), les NFT, les solutions de layer-2. En outre, la perspective des évolutions de son protocole (comme le proto-danksharding), présente encore plus Ethereum comme l’innovation fonctionnelle de la blockchain.

La dualité prédominante est donc celle d’un Bitcoin perçu comme une réserve de valeur. Dans le même temps, Ethereum s’impose comme une plateforme d’usages et de services. Désormais, c’est ce positionnement plus large qui attire un public différent, plus tourné vers les perspectives long terme.

Sur le même sujet :

ETF ONDO Finance : les RWA vont exploser sur ethereum et profiter aux altcoins ?

ETF Bitcoin : 131 M$ de retraits, la dynamique s’essouffle-t-elle ?

Trump vise Wall Street avec un ETF crypto via Truth Social

The post ETF Ethereum vole la vedette au Bitcoin : voici les raisons  appeared first on Cryptonews France.

By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

The government’s announcements of trade agreements with countries including Indonesia and Japan “raised hopes that the U.S. might be about to reach deals with other countries that avoid the higher tariffs,” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note reported on by Reuters.

That optimism has allowed investors to move into riskier assets, with equity index futures rising and the price of gold, a risk-off haven, falling. The dynamic is echoed in crypto markets. The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index of the largest, most liquid assets has dropped 0.5% in the past 24 hours, while the CoinDesk Memecoin (CDMEME) index is up 2%.

Bitcoin (BTC) is down around 0.4% at $118,000 and spot ETFs offering exposure to the cryptocurrency ended a 12-day, $6.6 billion inflow streak on Monday, registering nearly $200 million in outflows over the past two days.

But bitcoin doesn’t tell the full story, as allocations have been floating to riskier bets.

“We’re seeing a clear shift in momentum across the crypto market, with strong capital rotation away from bitcoin and into altcoins, » Bitpanda deputy CEO Lukas Enzerdorfer-Konrad said in an emailed statement. “The broad ecosystem is clearly healthy and there is more for investors to explore than just BTC and ETH.”

Ether ETFs, benefiting from the GENIUS Act’s passage into law, are still drawing in capital. Week-to-date, they’ve brought in $830 million, bringing the month’s total net inflow to $4.1 billion, according to SoSoValue data.

Risk appetite also revived the NFT space, which has seen a massive 35.6% rise in its market capitalization this week. The increase comes after a prolonged bear market that saw sales volumes plateau and several NFT marketplaces shut down or pivot to token trading.

“Whether this marks the start of a sustained altcoin season remains to be seen, but the current rally shows just how quickly sentiment can turn once confidence and liquidity are in place,” Konrad added. Stay alert!

What to Watch

CryptoJuly 23, 1 p.m.: Hedera (HBAR) mainnet upgrades to version 0.63. The process is expected to take about 40 minutes, during which network users may experience temporary disruptions.July 23-24: The Root Network (ROOT) mainnet will undergo a technical upgrade (v11.79.0) affecting NFT ownership data storage, requiring some 24 hours of downtime for NFT-related operations like minting, bridging, transferring and marketplace activity to support improved performance and scalability for large collections.July 31, 12 p.m.: A live webinar featuring Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan and Bitzenship founder Aleesandro Palombo discussing bitcoin’s potential as the next global reserve currency amid de-dollarization trends. Registration link.MacroJuly 24, 8:15 a.m.: The European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision, with President Christine Lagarde’s press conference following 30 minutes later. Livestream link.Main Refinancing Operations (MRO) rate Est. 1.9% vs. Prev. 2.15%July 24, 9:45 a.m.: S&P Global releases (Flash) July U.S. data on manufacturing and services activity.Composite PMI Prev. 52.9Manufacturing PMI Est. 52.5 vs. Prev. 52.9Services PMI Est. 53 vs. Prev. 52.9July 25, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Census Bureau releases June manufactured durable goods orders data.Durable Goods Orders MoM Est. -10.5% vs. Prev. 16.4%Durable Goods Orders Ex Defense MoM Prev. 15.5%Durable Goods Orders Ex Transportation MoM Est. 0.1% vs. Prev. 0.5%Aug. 1, 12:01 a.m.: New U.S. tariffs take effect on imports from trading partners that failed to reach agreements by the July 9 deadline. These increased duties could range from 10% to as high as 70%, impacting a wide range of goods.Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)July 23: Tesla (TSLA), post-market, $0.42July 29: PayPal Holdings (PYPL), pre-market, $1.29July 30: Robinhood Markets (HOOD), post-market, $0.30July 31: Coinbase Global (COIN), post-market, $1.35July 31: Reddit (RDDT), post-market, $0.19Aug. 5: Galaxy Digital (GLXY), pre-market

Token Events

Governance votes & callsRocket Pool DAO is voting to finalize Saturn 1’s implementation. Approval by a 75% supermajority will ratify key protocol changes, including new transaction designs and a potential revenue share to the pDAO treasury. Voting ends July 24.Lido DAO is voting on a new system that lets validator exits be triggered automatically through the execution layer, not just by node operators. It includes tools for different authorization pathways, emergency controls and built‑in limits to prevent misuse. The update is expected to make staking more decentralized, secure and responsive. Voting ends July 28.GnosisDAO is voting on a proposal to provide $30 million per year, paid quarterly, to Gnosis Ltd., now a non-profit, to sustain its ~150‑person team building critical Gnosis Chain infrastructure, products (like Gnosis Pay and Circles), business development and operations. Voting ends July 28.Aavegotchi DAO is voting on funding three new features for the official decentralized application: a Wearable Lendings UI, Gotchis Batch Lending and a BRS Optimizer. Voting ends July 29.NEAR Protocol is voting on potentially reducing NEAR’s inflation rate from 5% to 2.5%. Two-thirds of validators must approval the proposal for it to pass, and if so it could be implemented by late Q3. Voting ends Aug. 1.July 29, 10 a.m.: Ether.fi to host a bi-quarterly analyst call.UnlocksJuly 25: Venom (VENOM) to unlock 2.84% of its circulating supply worth $12.48 million.July 31: Optimism (OP) to unlock 1.79% of its circulating supply worth $23.45 million.Aug. 1: Sui (SUI) to unlock 1.27% of its circulating supply worth $169.38 million.Aug. 2: Ethena (ENA) to unlock 0.64% of its circulating supply worth $19.75 million.Aug. 9: Immutable (IMX) to unlock 1.3% of its circulating supply worth $15.11 million.Aug. 12: Aptos (APT) to unlock 1.73% of its circulating supply worth $59.26 million.Token LaunchesJuly 23: Binance Alpha to feature Alliance Games (COA).

Conferences

The CoinDesk Policy & Regulation conference (formerly known as State of Crypto) is a one-day boutique event held in Washington on Sept. 10 that allows general counsels, compliance officers and regulatory executives to meet with public officials responsible for crypto legislation and regulatory oversight. Space is limited.

July 24: Decasonic’s Web3 Investor Day 2025 (Chicago)July 25: Blockchain Summit Global (Montevideo, Uruguay)July 28-29: TWS Conference 2025 (Singapore)Aug. 6-7: Blockchain.Rio 2025 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)Aug. 6-10: Rare EVO (Las Vegas)Aug. 7-8: bitcoin++ (Riga, Latvia)Aug. 9-10: Baltic Honeybadger 2025 (Riga, Latvia)Aug. 9-10: Conviction 2025 (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

Token Talk

By Shaurya Malwa

LetsBonk, the BONK-backed Solana token launchpad, is dominating the on-chain memecoin economy, posting record highs across every major growth metric for a second straight week.Over 150,000 tokens debuted through the platform last week, a 14% jump from the previous week, including a single-day record of 26,600 tokens on July 18.LetsBonk’s share of the token launch market has surged to 64%, up from just 5% a month ago, while Pump.fun’s share has collapsed from over 90% to just 24%.Token graduations (i.e., tokens meeting liquidity thresholds to list on Raydium) also hit all-time highs, with 282 graduating on July 16, up 20% week-over-week. LetsBonk now holds 79% market share in graduations, vs. Pump.fun’s 18%.Trading volume flipped too: On Friday, LetsBonk recorded $179 million in daily volume compared with Pump.fun’s $52 million — a sharp reversal from a month ago, when Pump.fun consistently averaged 15x more volume.Fee generation has followed suit, with LetsBonk pulling in more than $8 million in protocol fees last week, while Pump.fun managed roughly half that.This shift in memecoin infrastructure dominance marks a critical rotation in Solana culture and liquidity flows, with BONK now at the center of both speculation and tooling.

Derivatives Positioning

Ether perpetual futures are hinting at an influx of shorts as open interest (OI) has increased by 1.2% this week alongside a 2.42% price drop. BTC perp futures OI remains steady for a second week. Perp funding rates for the top 10 tokens, excluding SOL, are hovering near an annualized 10%, pointing to moderate bullish positioning. SOL’s rate is relatively elevated at 18%. SUI futures open interest is holding near an all-time high of $1.2 billion, the sixth-largest level in the crypto market. Fartcoin futures boast the 10th largest OI. Front-end BTC options risk reversals show renewed put bias, reflecting downside concerns amid persistent bull failure at the $120K mark. ETH risk reversals continue to show call bias across all tenors. Block flows on OTC network Paradigm featured a long put trade in the Aug. 8 expiry call at the $110K strike and demand for higher strike ether calls.

Market Movements

BTC is down 1.32% from 4 p.m. ET Tuesday at $118,142.74 (24hrs: -0.79%)ETH is down 1.15% at $3,664.03 (24hrs: -1.2%)CoinDesk 20 is down 1.66% at 4,087.94 (24hrs: -0.65%)Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 7 bps at 2.97%BTC funding rate is at 0.0033% (3.6135% annualized) on KuCoinDXY is unchanged at 97.42Gold futures are down 0.21% at $3,436.40Silver futures are up 0.48% at $39.74Nikkei 225 closed up 3.51% at 41,171.32Hang Seng closed up 1.62% at 25,538.07FTSE is up 0.53% at 9,071.43Euro Stoxx 50 is up 1.37% at 5,363.09DJIA closed on Tuesday up 0.40% at 44,502.44S&P 500 closed unchanged at 6,309.62Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.39% at 20,892.69S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.17% at 27,364.43S&P 40 Latin America closed up 0.1% at 2,590.91U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 4 bps at 4.376%E-mini S&P 500 futures are up 0.35% at 6,369.00E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.15% at 23,262.25E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index are up 0.47% at 44,920.00

Bitcoin Stats

BTC Dominance: 61.09 (0.24%)Ether to bitcoin ratio: 0.03095 (-0.96%)Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 898 EH/sHashprice (spot): $59.42Total Fees: 4.34 BTC / $515,576CME Futures Open Interest: 153,785 BTCBTC priced in gold: 34.5 ozBTC vs gold market cap: 9.77%

Technical Analysis

Bitcoin-holder Strategy’s (MSTR) share price has dropped over 6% this week, invalidating the bullish inverse head-and-shoulders breakout seen early this month. The failed breakout could invite chart-driven sellers, potentially yielding deeper price losses. The last week’s high of $456 is the new level to beat for the bulls.

Crypto Equities

Strategy (MSTR): closed on Tuesday at $426.4 (+0.03%), -0.19% at $425.58 in pre-marketCoinbase Global (COIN): closed at $404.44 (-2.22%), +0.39% at $406.01Circle (CRCL): closed at $198.31 (-8.23%), +2.11% at $202.49Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $29.11 (+6.05%), +2.54% at $29.85MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $19.88 (+5.58%), -1.11% at $19.66Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $14.27 (+1.78%), -0.49% at $14.20Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $13.48 (+1.58%), +0.45% at $13.54CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $12.84 (+3.63%), -0.62% at $12.76 CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $27.56 (+4.08%)Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $40.19 (+1.31%), +1.24% at $40.69 Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $34.73 (+3.33%), unchanged in pre-marketSharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $27.4 (+8.54%), -4.42% at $26.19

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

Daily net flows: -$68 millionCumulative net flows: $54.53 billionTotal BTC holdings ~1.3 million

Spot ETH ETFs

Daily net flows: $533.8 millionCumulative net flows: $8.34 billionTotal ETH holdings ~5.12 million

Source: Farside Investors

Overnight Flows

Chart of the Day

The Buffett indicator, named after Warren Buffett, is the ratio of total U.S. stock market value divided by the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The ratio has risen to new lifetime highs above 200%, which is about 1.8 standard deviations above the historical trendline, suggesting that the stock market is overvalued relative to GDP.That level suggests scope for downside volatility in stocks, which could feed into cryptocurrencies and other risk assets.

While You Were Sleeping

U.S. and Japan Reach Trade Deal (The New York Times): Trump said Japan will invest $550 billion in the U.S. and ease trade barriers, with both sides accepting 15% auto tariffs. The move lifted Japanese stocks Wednesday.Goldman Sachs Sees Trump’s Baseline Tariff Rate Rising to 15% (Bloomberg): The bank expects Trump-era tariffs to lift core inflation by 1.7% over three years and cut 2025 GDP by 1 point, with additional sectoral levies expected to deepen the impact.Disguised Unemployment in Blockchain? Data Shows Only 12% of Ethereum, 25% of Solana Protocols Have Revenue (CoinDesk): DeFiLlama data shows the vast majority of Ethereum and Solana protocols failed to generate revenue recently. Inactive smart contracts increase storage burdens, security risks and economic inefficiency, hindering the overall user experience.Dogecoin Could Soon Verify ZK Proofs Natively, Thanks to DogeOS Push (CoinDesk): Dogecoin could support zero-knowledge proofs under a new proposal, paving the way for smart contracts and other advanced features without sacrificing the blockchain’s speed or lightweight design.Backed Finance’s Tokenized Stocks Product Volume Jumps to $300M (CoinDesk): xStocks are on-chain tokens representing shares in U.S. firms, fully backed by the underlying equities, but critics say they are like Europe’s contracts for difference and lack real ownership and weekend liquidity.Chinese and EU Leaders Are About to Meet — but the U.S. Is Complicating Things (CNBC): The U.S. is pressuring Brussels to harden its stance on China while simultaneously threatening 30% tariffs on EU exports, leaving the bloc diplomatically squeezed ahead of high-stakes Thursday talks with Beijing.

In the Ether

The death of the legendary rockstar Ozzy Osbourne, “Prince of Darkness,” on Tuesday has triggered a frenzy in the crypto markets. Within hours, opportunistic developers began minting “OZZY” and “RIP Ozzy” tokens across the Solana blockchain, hoping to capitalize on the heavy metal icon’s passing.

Blockchain data reveals at least 15 Solana-based meme coins bearing Ozzy’s name launched in the past two hours alone. Many of these tokens attracted speculative traders with promises of quick gains, but turned out to be classic pump-and-dump schemes. In several cases, developers pulled liquidity from their token pools within minutes of launch.

According to on-chain data, at least 10 of these tokens were confirmed rug pulls, draining an estimated 1,625 SOL from liquidity pools—roughly $325,000 at current market prices. Additional suspected scams from smaller pools could push total investor losses to between 1,675 and 1,725 SOL, equivalent to $335,000–$345,000.

This pattern echoes other opportunistic scams, such as those seen on Bitcoin Pizza Day when meme coin shysters profited over $200,000 in rug-pulls.

A report by Solidus Labs claimed that up to 98% of tokens on Pump.fun were rug pulls or pump and dump schemes, a claim that the project refuted by saying Solidus « lacks a basic understanding of memecoins. »

« 98% of memecoins – just like NFTs, tweets, IG posts, trading cards, and most art – are worth little in the long run. That’s precisely the point. What IS important is the availability of a functioning marketplace connecting motivated buyers and sellers AND the underlying cultural expression to which the market attributes or assigns value over time. That’s where the magic happens and where we learn what’s truly valuable, » Pump.fun spokesperson Troy Gravitt told CoinDesk in May.

Read more: Bitcoin Pizza Day Turns Sour as Meme Coin Shysters Profit Over $200K in Rug Pulls

Le prix plancher des NFT CryptoBatz a bondi de 400 % après la mort d’Ozzy Osbourne.
Le volume des échanges de NFT CryptoBatz a atteint 281 000 dollars, soit une hausse de 100 000 % en 24 heures.
Le marché des NFT montre des signes de renouveau dans un contexte de regain d’intérêt.

La mort soudaine de la légende du rock Ozzy Osbourne a déclenché une réaction spectaculaire sur le marché des objets de collection numériques.

Dans les heures qui ont suivi l’annonce mardi du décès de l’icône du heavy metal à l’âge de 76 ans, l’activité commerciale autour de sa collection de NFT CryptoBatz a fortement augmenté.

Les fans et les collectionneurs se sont précipités pour posséder une partie de son héritage numérique, alimentant une flambée majeure des prix planchers et du volume des transactions.

Les prix rapides des NFT CryptoBatz ont bondi après le décès d’Osbourne

Peu de temps après l’annonce de la mort d’Osbourne, le prix plancher de ses jetons non fongibles CryptoBatz a grimpé en flèche.

Selon les données de Coingecko, le prix plancher de la collection a bondi de plus de 400 %, passant de moins de 0,02 Ether (ETH) à un pic de 0,1069 ETH.

Bien que le prix plancher ait depuis chuté à environ 0,037 ETH (environ 135,02 $) au moment de la publication, il était encore en hausse de 96,7 % au cours de la semaine dernière.

Cette évolution des prix, bien que temporaire, a souligné la réaction émotionnelle des fans et la capacité du marché à réagir rapidement aux gros titres.

Ce pic reflète une tendance croissante dans le monde des NFT, où des événements notables, en particulier impliquant des célébrités, peuvent entraîner une forte augmentation de la demande et des prix.

L’activité de trading de NFT CryptoBatz en hausse sur les places de marché

Outre la hausse des prix planchers, les NFT CryptoBatz ont également connu une augmentation massive du volume des transactions.

Les données de DappRadar montrent que les volumes de transactions ont explosé de 100 000 % en seulement 24 heures, pour atteindre un total de 281 200 $.

L’activité intense a représenté près de 80 % de la capitalisation boursière totale estimée de la collection, qui s’élève maintenant à environ 355 000 $.

Au cours de ce pic, 402 vendeurs et 327 acheteurs se sont engagés dans des transactions, une participation impressionnante compte tenu de l’offre totale de 9 666 NFT dans la collection CryptoBatz.

Ce regain d’activité reflète un regain d’intérêt pour un projet qui s’était largement calmé ces derniers mois.

Bien que le volume ait considérablement chuté depuis son lancement initial, la mort d’Osbourne a clairement ravivé l’enthousiasme des collectionneurs.

Toujours en deçà des sommets historiques

Alors que l’intérêt soudain signale un possible renouveau du commerce des NFT, les prix et les volumes actuels restent modestes par rapport au lancement de la collection au début de 2022.

À son apogée, le prix moyen des NFT CryptoBatz a dépassé 0,14 ETH, ce qui rend la récente augmentation notable mais encore loin des sommets historiques.

À l’heure actuelle, le NFT CryptoBatz le plus cher répertorié est la rare chauve-souris Megadragon, dont le prix est de 99 ETH.

Pendant ce temps, le jeton le moins cher disponible sur le marché, CryptoBat #5892, est coté à environ 0,4 ETH – toujours nettement plus élevé qu’avant l’annonce du décès d’Osbourne.

Bien que cette résurgence n’ait pas été à la hauteur de la frénésie observée lors des débuts de la collection, elle peut suggérer qu’un peu de vie revient sur le marché des NFT après un ralentissement prolongé.

Signaux d’un rebond plus large du marché des NFT

Les observateurs de l’industrie surveillent de près si ce pic indique une reprise plus large dans l’espace NFT.

Bien que l’augmentation du trading de CryptoBatz puisse être due en grande partie à l’émotion et à la nostalgie, elle a attiré l’attention sur un secteur que beaucoup avaient radié après une forte baisse en 2023 et au début de 2024.

Malgré les chiffres modestes, certains experts estiment qu’il pourrait s’agir d’un signe précoce d’un retournement du marché.

Les ventes de NFT ayant atteint 2,8 milliards de dollars au premier semestre 2025, même dans un contexte de baisse des volumes, des moments comme celui-ci pourraient contribuer à rétablir la confiance.

Dans un développement distinct mais connexe, Spotify a récemment fait l’objet de critiques après avoir été accusé de publier des chansons générées par l’IA sous les noms d’artistes décédés sans autorisation appropriée.

La controverse a suscité un débat autour de l’éthique de l’héritage numérique, un sujet de plus en plus pertinent dans le monde des NFT.

The post Les prix des NFT CryptoBatz ont bondi de plus de 400 % après la mort d’Ozzy Osbourne appeared first on CoinJournal.

CryptoPunks en force. Le marché des NFT a connu une baisse significative ces dernières années, mais une récente vague de ventes de CryptoPunks a ravivé l’intérêt pour cet écosystème. Et ces fameuses images pixelisées ne sont pas les seuls projets NFT à enregistrer un regain d’intérêt puisque d’autres collections voient leur prix se réveiller dans un marché crypto qui reprend des couleurs. On fait le point sur tout ça.

Les CryptoPunks en tête de course

Dimanche dernier, le marché des NFT a enregistré sa journée la plus active depuis février, avec 26 millions de dollars de ventes de JPEG tokenisés sur Ethereum, selon les données de Dune. Lundi, ce chiffre a été suivi par un volume de 24,9 millions de dollars.

Plus de la moitié du volume de dimanche peut être attribuée à CryptoPunks.app, la place de marché officielle dédiée à cette collection emblématique de 10 000 images de profil pixelisées. Au cours de la semaine dernière, le prix plancher de la collection a d’ailleurs augmenté de 20% pour atteindre 48 ETH. En dollars, le prix d’entrée pour les CryptoPunks a bondi de 45% pour atteindre 177 000 dollars, en partie grâce à la hausse de la valeur de l’Ethereum. Pendant ce temps, 174 NFT de la collection ont changé de mains, soit une augmentation de 460% par rapport à la semaine précédente.

En mai, une nouvelle organisation à but non lucratif appelée The Infinite Node Foundation a acquis la propriété intellectuelle des CryptoPunks auprès de Yuga Labs, le créateur du Bored Ape Yacht Club. La fondation a déclaré qu’elle se concentrerait sur la préservation de la collection, l’engagement avec sa communauté et la promotion de sa marque.

Les NFT ne sont pas morts et certaines collections retrouvent des couleurs à la faveur du marché haussier sur les cryptos

Ethereum et Solana dominent les ventes de NFT

D’autres collections NFT sur Ethereum ont également vu leurs prix augmenter au cours de la semaine dernière. Notons par exemple une hausse de 38% pour les Pudgy Penguins, de 26% pour les Mutant Ape Yacht Club et de 64% pour les Fidenza de l’artiste génératif Tyler Hobbs. Les NFT basés sur Ethereum ont ainsi enregistré 105 millions de dollars de ventes, soit une augmentation de 50% sur sept jours.

Sur Solana, le prix des Mad Lads a augmenté de 27% au cours de la semaine dernière, tandis que le prix des Clarnosaurz a augmenté de 47%, et celui des Solana Monkey Business Gen2 a bondi de 43%. Au total, 9,3 millions de dollars de ventes de NFT basés sur Solana ont eu lieu sur les marchés secondaires au cours de la dernière semaine, soit une augmentation de 59%, selon CryptoSlam.

Bien que le marché des NFT ait connu une baisse ces dernières années, les ventes récentes de CryptoPunks et d’autres collections populaires montrent que l’intérêt pour les NFT est loin d’être mort. Alors que les prix des cryptomonnaies continuent d’augmenter, il sera intéressant de voir si cette tendance se poursuit dans les mois à venir et si d’autres nouvelles collections arrivent à tirer leur épingle du jeu.

L’article NFT : Les CryptoPunks mènent la danse sur Ethereum et Solana est apparu en premier sur Journal du Coin.

Principaux points à retenir

PENGU a augmenté de 20 % au cours des dernières 24 heures, ce qui en fait le meilleur performeur du top 50.
La pièce pourrait dépasser le prix record qu’elle a fixé il y a sept mois.

Le volume élevé des ventes de NFT pousse PENGU à la hausse

PENGU, le jeton natif de l’écosystème Pudgy Penguin, est le plus performant parmi les 50 premières cryptomonnaies. La pièce a ajouté 20 % à sa valeur au cours des dernières 24 heures, soit près de 45 % en sept jours.

Ce rallye intervient dans un contexte d’augmentation du volume des ventes de NFT. La collection NFT a enregistré un volume de ventes de 9,65 millions de dollars au cours de la semaine écoulée, faisant passer le prix plancher de 10 $ à 16,88 $. En plus de cela, les baleines ont accumulé le jeton car elles anticipent de nouveaux mouvements de prix à la hausse.

Les baleines ont accumulé plus de 200 millions de jetons PENGU depuis le début du mois, cette activité soutenant la hausse des prix. De plus, le volume des transactions de PENGU a grimpé de 230 % au cours des trois dernières semaines. L’indicateur de volume dans l’ensemble de PENGU montre une pression d’achat continue sur le marché.

PENGU pourrait sortir son prix record de 0,05738 $

Le graphique en 4 heures de PENGU/USD est extrêmement haussier car le memecoin a ajouté 40 % à sa valeur au cours des sept derniers jours. Les indicateurs techniques sont également haussiers, ce qui suggère que les acheteurs ont le contrôle total.

Les lignes MACD se situent dans la région positive, tandis que le RSI est de 81. Les deux indicateurs révèlent que PENGU a un biais haussier pour le moment. Au moment de mettre sous presse, PENGU se négocie à 0,04503 $.

Si le rallye persiste, PENGU pourrait dépasser le niveau de résistance de 0,047 $ au cours des prochaines heures. PENGU n’est qu’à 22 % de son sommet historique, et les haussiers pourraient pousser le prix vers un nouvel ATH.

Cependant, le memecoin pourrait faire l’objet d’une correction après une longue période de rallye. Si cela se produit, il est probable qu’il retestera le premier niveau de support majeur à 0,036 $. Le graphique PENGU/USD sur 4 heures n’est toujours pas efficace, et une course baissière prolongée verrait le jeton atteindre le niveau de l’EPA à 0,03372 $.

The post PENGU vise un nouveau record historique dans un contexte d’augmentation du volume des ventes de NFT appeared first on CoinJournal.

Global crypto tax reporting still has major cracks — and tokenized stocks may be the catalyst that forces the system to catch up.

In recent weeks, platforms like Robinhood and Gemini have started offering tokenized stocks to users in the European Union. These blockchain-based derivatives mimic the price of real equities like Apple and Tesla and allow users to trade 24/7, free from the limitations of traditional market hours.

That might sound like a leap forward for accessibility and innovation. But if these products continue to gain traction, and firms like Galaxy Digital believe they will siphon liquidity from traditional exchanges, regulators will face growing pressure to close the reporting gap between crypto platforms and traditional brokers.

Despite the progress the crypto industry has made over the years, crypto tax reporting is still far behind compared to traditional asset exchanges in many parts of the world.

There is still an obvious gap. Take Australia. The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) provides the tax office with structured data, including sale prices, dates, and proceeds, which is automatically pre-filled into users’ returns.

For crypto, the ATO’s approach is more like a gentle tap on the shoulder to its taxpayers. It presents a notification reminding users to check for taxable events, rather than a detailed pre-filled report. While the ATO knows you are active in crypto because crypto exchanges report you have an account, it does not have the same comprehensive oversight as it does with stock trading.

That approach may have been justifiable in crypto’s early days, when most activity was tied to speculative tokens or NFTs. But now, with platforms likely wanting to expand their offerings of tokenized stocks globally — which are not yet available in Australia but I dare say it is being considered — the lack of tax transparency becomes much harder to justify.

Governments can’t afford to let potential tax revenue slip through the cracks simply because they’re happening onchain. I believe as tokenized stocks start to gain more and more attention over the coming months, regulators will be scrambling to ensure they are prepared.

In the U.S., the IRS is already attempting to catch up. Its new crypto reporting rules, including the long-awaited Form 1099-DA, are set to take effect in 2026. These will require crypto brokers to report user transactions similar to traditional financial institutions.

Meanwhile, Robinhood is reportedly preparing to launch tokenized stocks for U.S. customers.

It raises a timely question…will that rollout coincide with the new IRS requirements?

On a global scale, the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), also due in 2026, will enforce transaction data sharing across jurisdictions, similar to how banks comply with the Common Reporting Standard.

If tokenized stocks are going to mimic real equities then the tax data reporting around them needs to match accordingly.

The days of crypto existing in a regulatory gray zone are numbered. Whether platforms are ready or not, the era of full tax transparency is coming and tokenized stocks may be the turning point that forces it into reality.

I believe that moment will arrive within the next five years.

Ethereum introduced smart contracts to the world and spurred a Cambrian Explosion of innovation, including DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and a universe of dApps. On July 30, the network will hit its 10 year anniversary.

The past decade of the ecosystem focused on proving Ethereum’s functionality and capabilities as well as enhancing efficiency through upgrades like The Merge, which marked the transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. The next era requires a pivot to match the more mature ecosystem that it now supports — one that includes not just Web3 natives but financial institutions, governments, corporations, and people who don’t know what « yield farming » is but who may want to get a loan for their house with crypto collateral.

Amid increasing government and institutional involvement, the hope that crypto will contribute to creating a « free and open society, » an ideal originally expressed in A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto, is sometimes lost. For Ethereum to make good on that original promise, privacy must be a core tenet of its future.

Privacy is identity

Some degree of privacy is essential for financial safety and freedom. You wouldn’t want to reveal your net worth to the cashier every time you buy a latte or a slice of pizza, but this is essentially how crypto has been operating for the past decade — with the radical transparency of immutable ledgers recording every transaction publicly.

Not only does this level of transparency put individuals at risk for phishing and other attacks, but it also hinders the involvement of institutions that do not want to give their competitors an edge by revealing their activity. Though it is possible to retain pseudonymity through never interacting with a centralized platform, this is not practical for interactions that touch the real world.

People and businesses need to be able to interact with governments and banks through ID-linked accounts, and the key to enabling these types of interactions — without putting personal information in jeopardy to theft and misuse — is programmable privacy.

The solution is ZKP-powered technology

The solution is already here: Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP)-powered smart contracts give users control over what information to share and with whom. With the programmable privacy enabled by ZKPs integrated into Ethereum at a foundational level, a world of applications are not just feasible but practical.

Products and services must comply with the regulatory requirements of each jurisdiction in which they operate. This includes collecting customer information in accordance with KYC guidelines, Countering-the-Financing-of-Terrorism (CFT) and AML laws. Typical KYC processes involve sharing some form of ID, such as a passport or driver’s license, along with personally identifying information (PII) like name, date of birth and address.

If captured by bad actors, this type of information can be used to target people in phishing scams and other types of attacks (see recent Coinbase data breach). Rather than requiring people to reveal their PII and make themselves and their data vulnerable to attack and theft, ZKP-powered solutions allow people to prove they are not operating out of sanctioned countries and to prove eligibility to participate, all without giving the platform their data and contributing to potential honey pots.

The possibilities enabled by ZKPs go well beyond compliance too. Airdrops currently suffer from Sybil attacks where AI bots beat out real human participants to give certain participants an outsized advantage. The same issue applies to decentralized governance. Decision making in a DAO cannot be truly fair and free unless it can be proven that the right number of votes are going to the right number of people — not bots. ZKPs offer a solution with « proof of humanity » via data provenance tools like zkPassport, zkEmail, and zkTLS.

Digital payments must provide the same privacy as cash. Payments in dollars, euros, and other sovereign currencies via stablecoins are another important factor in enabling mass adoption of DeFi applications, but this will never take off en masse without privacy guarantees. The same applies to decentralized mortgages, loans, and essentially any type of legal contract, which all require IDs to execute.

There are many other applications made possible with privacy as a core tenant of the Ethereum ecosystem. These include proving the authenticity of product or restaurant reviews, enabling secure digital voting, decentralized escrow services, carbon offsetting tracking, proving builder status on GitHub anonymously, and employment skill verification — all done in a secure, privacy-preserving way that doesn’t involve the sharing of sensitive PII to centralized providers.

Creating a culture that demands privacy

Though the technology exists to implement ZKP solutions today, challenges will need to be overcome before privacy is comprehensively reflected as a core value throughout the Ethereum ecosystem. Technical challenges with implementing ZKP-powered tech include the greater expense of ZKP transactions. Building ZKP-focused applications is also more complicated, posing a learning curve for builders. These are all solvable issues.

Other challenges are cultural: creating universal buy-in from the spectrum of participants in the value of privacy and coordinating the implementation of solutions across the tech stack, from protocol to wallet. There is also the misguided perception hurdle of privacy’s associations with illicit activity.

Changing technology is ultimately easier than changing minds, but the core ethos of crypto is, after all, a philosophical one — a technology that underpins a belief in freedom and the privacy of individuals and entities. If in another 10 years, we look back on another decade of Ethereum and can celebrate its role in enabling greater financial freedom, an emphasis on privacy will be key.