Lending

Lending protocols form the backbone of the decentralized money market, allowing users to lend or borrow digital assets without intermediaries. Using smart contracts, platforms like Aave and Morpho automate interest rates based on supply and demand while requiring over-collateralization for security. The 2026 lending landscape features advanced permissionless vaults and institutional-grade credit lines. This tag covers the evolution of capital efficiency, liquidations, and the integration of diverse collateral types, including LSTs and tokenized RWAs.

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Created: 2026/02/02 18:52
Updated: 2026/02/02 18:52
Bitcoin Hyper’s $28.8M Presale Hits One Milestone After Another

Bitcoin Hyper’s $28.8M Presale Hits One Milestone After Another

Quick Facts: ➡️ Bitcoin’s base layer offers strong security but struggles with high fees, slow confirmations, and limited programmability, restricting richer DeFi and application development. ➡️ As capital flows back toward $BTC, demand is growing for infrastructure that unlocks faster, lower-cost transactions without leaving Bitcoin’s security model behind. ➡️ Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) introduces the first […]

Author: Bitcoinist
Why Binance Blockchain Week is returning to Dubai and what to expect

Why Binance Blockchain Week is returning to Dubai and what to expect

We caught up with Binance’s head of global event marketing Kim Murphy ahead of Binance Blockchain Week 2025, taking place at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena on December 3-4 In our last conversation we talked about how Binance events are always evolving in line with industry trends and demand. What do you aim to achieve from this […]

Author: Agbi
Best Crypto to Buy Now as Bitcoin Hyper’s Presale Races Toward the $30M Milestone

Best Crypto to Buy Now as Bitcoin Hyper’s Presale Races Toward the $30M Milestone

What to Know: Bitcoin’s base layer still struggles with slow transactions, high fees, and limited programmability, creating a gap between its narrative and everyday usability. As demand for high-throughput DeFi and dApps grows, users increasingly expect instant confirmations and low fees, even when interacting with Bitcoin-linked assets. Bitcoin Hyper plans to introduce a Bitcoin Layer-2 with SVM integration, aiming to deliver faster-than-Solana performance while preserving Bitcoin’s settlement security. By combining low-latency execution, SVM-based smart contracts, and Rust tooling, Bitcoin Hyper targets wrapped $BTC payments, DeFi, NFTs, and gaming on a Bitcoin-secured backbone. Bitcoin’s narrative is shifting again. After a decade of proving itself as pristine collateral and macro hedge, attention is swinging back to utility: payments that actually feel instant, and apps that don’t grind to a halt when demand spikes. Yet on the base layer, Bitcoin still moves slowly, with limited capacity of just seven transactions per second, and no native smart contracts. That mismatch is becoming harder to ignore as users experience sub-second confirmations and near-zero fees on newer chains. When you can move assets cheaply and interact with DeFi in real time elsewhere, waiting minutes for a Bitcoin transaction feels like a relic from another era. The demand is clear: keep Bitcoin’s battle-tested security, but upgrade the experience. ⚙️ This is where Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) enters the scene. The project positions itself as a Bitcoin Layer-2 that integrates the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), promising Solana-style performance anchored to Bitcoin’s trust layer. If it works, Bitcoin-native dApps stop being theory and start being everyday tools. And the $HYPER presale structure doubles down on that thesis. With a staged price schedule and a $28.8M+ raise, early conviction is rewarded: those stepping in now are effectively betting that Bitcoin Hyper can become a go-to hub for high-speed, Bitcoin-backed DeFi and dApps, not just another speculative token. ➡️ Discover more about this Layer-2 project in our comprehensive Bitcoin Hyper review. Bitcoin Hyper Aims to Turn $BTC Into a High-Speed dApp Platform Bitcoin Hyper pitches a straightforward value proposition: turn Bitcoin from a slow settlement rail into a high-throughput environment where you can pay, trade, lend, and game at speeds that compete with top Layer-1s. Instead of fighting Bitcoin’s limitations, it will route activity to a Layer-2 execution environment while anchoring security back to the main chain. By integrating the SVM, Bitcoin Hyper aims to deliver faster performance than Solana itself for many use cases, while still treating $BTC as the core asset in the ecosystem. That means high-speed payments in wrapped $BTC with low fees, plus DeFi primitives – like swaps, lending, and staking – that feel responsive rather than congested. The project also targets builders with a Rust-based SDK and API support for NFT platforms and gaming dApps, giving developers a familiar toolkit while tapping into Bitcoin’s liquidity. The early traction is notable: the presale has already raised $28.8M, signaling that the market sees potential in a Bitcoin Layer-2 that targets Solana-level speed. ➡️ Check out our guide to buying Bitcoin Hyper if you plan to join the presale. $HYPER’s Presale Momentum Signals Rising Confidence For Bitcoin holders tired of choosing between security and usability, Bitcoin Hyper offers a different trade-off: keep $BTC at the center, but get Solana-style speed and dApp depth. And as the presale races toward the $30M milestone, it’s securing investors and liquidity to entrench that position. The presale’s pricing, early staking incentives, and clear focus on SVM-powered performance give $HYPER a differentiated pitch in a crowded market. Bitcoin Hyper currently costs $0.013355 per token and dynamic staking at 40% APY right now. According to our Bitcoin Hyper price prediction, $HYPER has the potential to end 2026 at $0.08625 – that’s a ~546% ROI on today’s price. Looking further ahead, $HYPER could reach $0.253 by 2030, a significant ~1,794% ROI. That upside scenario assumes the project becomes a leading venue for Bitcoin-native DeFi and high-throughput applications, not just another experimental scaling play. 🐳 Momentum indicators are starting to line up with that thesis. Smart money is moving, with high-net-worth wallets joining the presale. Whale buys of $502.6K and $379.9K have contributed to $HYPER’s $28.8M-strong presale. Combined with 40% staking APY and rewards geared toward active governance, the tokenomics are clearly designed to favor early, engaged participants. Bitcoin Hyper’s rise as a candidate for best crypto to buy now reflects a deeper shift in the market: users want Bitcoin’s credibility paired with modern UX. If Bitcoin Hyper can bridge that gap between store-of-value and everyday utility and deliver on its promise of extremely low-latency execution, fast smart contracts, and a growing catalog of dApps, it could become a natural hub for Bitcoin-native activity. 🚀 Join the $HYPER presale before the next price increase. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice of any kind. Always do your own research before making any investment decision. Authored by Aaron Walker, NewsBTC – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/best-crypto-to-buy-now-as-bitcoin-hyper-presale-nears-30m

Author: NewsBTC
Critical Alert: Bithumb Places YFI on Investment Warning List – What Investors Must Know

Critical Alert: Bithumb Places YFI on Investment Warning List – What Investors Must Know

BitcoinWorld Critical Alert: Bithumb Places YFI on Investment Warning List – What Investors Must Know In a significant move that has caught the attention of the cryptocurrency community, South Korean exchange giant Bithumb has placed Yearn.finance (YFI) on its investment warning list. This decision directly impacts traders and signals potential security concerns within the DeFi ecosystem that every investor should understand. Why Did Bithumb Issue This YFI Investment Warning? Bithumb […] This post Critical Alert: Bithumb Places YFI on Investment Warning List – What Investors Must Know first appeared on BitcoinWorld.

Author: bitcoinworld
Ethereum's HTTPS Moment for Privacy: From Defensive Tool to Default Infrastructure

Ethereum's HTTPS Moment for Privacy: From Defensive Tool to Default Infrastructure

Author: ZHIXIONG PAN The Ethereum Privacy Stack, held during Devconnect Buenos Aires 2025, is the most important privacy-themed gathering in the Ethereum ecosystem this year. The most significant consensus reached at this event was the establishment of the concept of "Holistic Privacy": privacy is no longer just a collection of on-chain tools such as zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) or coin mixers, but a complete closed loop that runs through the network transport layer (Tor), RPC reading layer, data storage layer and user interaction front end. As Vitalik Buterin and Tor project founder Roger Dingledine emphasized, application-layer anonymity is meaningless if the underlying network leaks IP addresses. The community has reached a consensus that Ethereum must adhere to the "weakest link" principle, patching the weakest point—metadata leakage—in order to truly become a censorship-resistant "world ledger." Trend Insight: The Decisive Battle Towards "Default Privacy" and User Experience Participants generally agreed that Web3 privacy is undergoing a critical moment similar to the transition of Web2 from HTTP to HTTPS. Privacy technology should no longer be the exclusive domain of "geeks" or "hackers," nor should it bear the moral burden of "hiding crime." Through comparisons with Railgun, Kohaku Wallet, and historical experiences of Web2, speakers pointed out that the next key step is to "stigmatize non-privacy behavior," that is, to treat transparent and open transfers as an abnormal act akin to running naked on the internet. By 2026, the Ethereum community aims to reduce the cost of privacy transfers to an acceptable level (e.g., only twice that of ordinary transfers) and achieve a seamless, one-click experience, thereby not only serving retail investors but also opening the door for traditional financial institutions that are unable to enter the market due to a lack of trade secret protection. Core Controversy: The Hidden Dangers of an "Internal War" Between Compliance Spectrum and L1 License Despite the increasingly clear technological roadmap, ideological tensions persist. The biggest point of contention lies in the struggle between "compliant privacy" and "permissionless privacy." One side, represented by Privacy Pools, advocates for proactively isolating illicit funds through "proof of disassociation" in exchange for regulatory tolerance and institutional adoption; the other side insists on the pure cypherpunk spirit, arguing that any form of compliance compromise will ultimately lead to censorship. Furthermore, PSE's Andy Guzman warned of a potential "civil war": whether privacy features should be moved down to the Ethereum core protocol layer (L1). While writing them to L1 could bring unified liquidity and default protection, it could also introduce significant regulatory risks and protocol complexity. This decision will determine the political nature of Ethereum's future. Infrastructure Awakening: Hardware and the Last Line of Defense Against Censorship Beyond software-level discussions, this event unusually delved into the physical and network layers. From "running your own nodes" to "trustless trustless Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs)," the community recognized that if backdoors are implanted in the hardware, all upper-layer encryption will fail. Censorship resistance was redefined as a public infrastructure akin to a "fire escape"—seemingly without market demand in peacetime, but the only hope for survival in times of crisis. Whether building decentralized VPNs (like Nym and HOPR) or utilizing ZK-TLS for "guerrilla interoperability," the aim is to construct a system that remains robust even under extreme geopolitical conflicts. Self-salvation of law and culture The event was imbued with an urgent atmosphere of "self-rescue" in response to the plight of the Tornado Cash developers. Legal experts and developers alike called for the establishment of a robust legal defense fund and policy lobbying groups. They recognized that protecting privacy is not just about writing code, but a battle for narrative power: developers must be transformed from "potential accomplices to terrorists" to "defenders of freedom in the digital age." If the industry cannot unite to protect open-source contributors, technological progress will stagnate because no one dares to write code. The following is a detailed summary of the 16 presentations and panels of this event. 1. Onionizing Ethereum Speakers: Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum Foundation), Roger Dingledine (Tor Project) This conversation marks a significant conceptual shift in Ethereum's privacy vision. Vitalik pointed out that the Ethereum Foundation is pushing for a plan to deeply integrate Tor and Onion Services into the entire Ethereum technology stack. This represents a shift in mindset: from simply focusing on transaction-level privacy (such as ZK proofs) to a more comprehensive "holistic privacy" view. This holistic view encompasses write privacy (transaction sending) and read privacy (RPC data reading), aiming to prevent users from revealing their IP addresses and access patterns when broadcasting transactions or reading on-chain data. Roger Dingledine shared the current state of the Tor network as the underlying infrastructure for Bitcoin, pointing out that approximately three-quarters of Bitcoin nodes currently connect via Tor addresses. He emphasized that simply achieving credential anonymity at the application layer is insufficient; if the underlying network transport layer leaks IP addresses, application-layer privacy protection becomes meaningless. Ethereum's current goal is not only at the smart contract level but also at the P2P network layer, introducing Mixnets and Tor routing to defend against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks targeting validators and improve censorship resistance. Vitalik further elaborated on the two meanings of "censorship": transaction censorship at the application layer and access censorship at the network layer. He emphasized that Ethereum's goal is to become a globally accessible ledger, where users and validators can still access the network via Tor's pluggable transports (such as Snowflake) even when blocked by national firewalls. This technology can disguise traffic as ordinary WebRTC video call traffic, thereby bypassing censorship. This is not only about privacy, but also about Ethereum's resilience and geographical decentralization as a "world ledger." In their future outlook, the two discussed the possibility of Ethereum validators (Statakers) simultaneously running Tor relay nodes. Since traffic to specific Tor services does not require an exit relay, this means validators could easily run non-exit relays, contributing only bandwidth without incurring legal risks. If implemented, this would significantly enhance Ethereum's censorship resistance and privacy protection in the coming years, resulting in a dual improvement in user experience and network resilience. 2. Ethereum is for DefiPunk. Speaker: Hsiao-Wei Wang (Ethereum Foundation) Hsiao-Wei's speech centered on the Ethereum Foundation's (EF) latest financial policy. She introduced the concept of "DefiPunk," aiming to reinfuse the spirit of Cypherpunk into the DeFi ecosystem. She pointed out that DeFi should not merely pursue yield but should also possess censorship resistance, open-source nature, and privacy protection. EF's decision to allocate funds consider not only financial returns but also Ethereum's core values, supporting projects that contribute to Ethereum's long-term healthy development, rather than simply chasing high APY protocols or adopting centralized shortcuts. To guide this strategy, she elaborated on DefiPunk's six core attributes: Security, Open Source, Financial Self-sufficiency, Trust-minimized, Crypto Tools Support, and Privacy. Particularly regarding open source, EF favors projects using free and open-source (FLOSS) licenses to encourage genuine transparency and collaboration, rather than commercial source code protection. In terms of specific standards, DefiPunk emphasizes that the protocol must be permissionless, accessible to users from any region; users must have complete user sovereignty over their assets, rather than relying on third-party custody. Furthermore, it specifically stresses that privacy should not be a luxury in DeFi, but rather a first-class citizen's right. EF encourages projects to mitigate the censorship risks that centralized front-ends may pose by using distributed front-ends, independent UIs, and even command-line tools. Finally, Hsiao-Wei called on the community and developers to uphold these values. EF's role is not only that of a fund provider, but also a pillar of this philosophy. She encouraged users to think like a true "DefiPunk" when choosing DeFi protocols: review the codebase, pay attention to the transparency of governance processes, and check for the existence of immutable smart contracts. This speech challenged the current state of the DeFi industry, demanding a return to the original purpose of decentralized finance: to provide uncensorable financial services to the oppressed and those without access to banking. 3. Privacy-Aware Mechanisms for Public Goods Funding Guests: Camila Rioja (Plexos), Thomas Humphreys (EF), Tanisha Katara, Beth McCarthy, José Ignacio Trajtenberg This roundtable discussion focused on how to balance transparency and privacy in public goods funding. Panelists first shared real-world application examples, such as Xcapit's aid distribution project in partnership with UNICEF, and Brazil's attempt to manage community currency using blockchain technology. In these scenarios involving humanitarian aid and vulnerable groups, privacy is not only about data protection, but also a critical factor concerning the safety of recipients' lives. The core tension in the discussion lies in the trade-off between "transparency" and "privacy." Transparency is necessary for the outcome of fund allocation to ensure that funds flow to the right places and have an impact; however, privacy is crucial at the participation level, particularly in voting and identity verification. If voting is completely public, it creates bribery markets and social pressure, leading to distorted governance outcomes. By introducing zero-knowledge proof (ZK) primitives, voting eligibility and results can be verified without revealing specific ballots, thereby achieving anti-collusion governance. The panelists also discussed how technological tools can be adapted to the needs of different jurisdictions. For example, in some countries, collecting certain data may be legal, but in others (such as Germany), the same data collection may violate the GDPR. Therefore, building global public goods financing tools should not attempt to meet all compliance requirements, but rather should build flexible, privacy-first infrastructure that allows local communities to adapt it to their own needs. Finally, the discussion looked ahead to future technological directions, including privacy-preserving prediction markets and self-sustaining public goods financing mechanisms. The panelists agreed that technology should not only address efficiency issues but also return to a "human-centered" design philosophy. Through ZK identity verification and privacy voting tools, user data can be protected while preventing Sybil attacks, thereby establishing a fairer and more secure community governance system. 4. Who pays for privacy? The real cost of building aligned apps. Speaker: Lefteris Karapetsas (Rotki) Lefteris opened with a sharp revelation about the current state of the industry: "If the product is free, then you are the product." He pointed out that current internet applications generally exchange free services for data taxes, resulting in the collection and sale of user data. To break this situation, he proposed the concept of "Aligned Apps," which are software that truly serves the interests of users, respects data sovereignty, prioritizes local availability, and is untraceable. However, building such applications faces enormous engineering challenges and cost pressures. He used his own Rotki (a local-first portfolio tracking tool) as an example to detail the hidden costs of developing privacy applications. Unlike SaaS products, local applications cannot be easily A/B tested or have error logs collected. Developers must package binaries for multiple operating systems, handle local database migrations, and pay expensive code signing certificate fees. This means lower development efficiency and an inability to monetize user data, making business models more difficult. Lefteris strongly advises developers against relying on donations or grants for survival, as this is a dead end. He argues that privacy apps must have a clear business model that charges users directly. This is not only to sustain development but also to educate users that privacy has explicit costs. Through freemium models, enterprise support, or specific paid features (such as advanced data analytics), developers can generate predictable and recurring revenue. In his closing remarks, he called for a new contractual relationship between users and developers. Users should realize that paying is not just for current software features, but also for supporting a future free from surveillance and malicious intent. He encouraged developers to price confidently, not to undervalue their work, and to maintain financial transparency to earn the community's trust. Building "consistent applications" is itself a form of punk, a rebellion against the monopolies and data surveillance of cloud computing giants. 5. Ethereum Privacy Ecosystem Mapping Guests: Mykola Siusko, Antonio Seveso, cyp, Alavi, Kassandra.eth This panel aimed to clarify the complex and fragmented Ethereum privacy ecosystem. The panelists agreed that the core of the ecosystem is not merely listing all privacy protocols, but understanding the relationships between them. The current privacy ecosystem is primarily divided into several verticals: on-chain privacy (such as anonymous addresses and privacy pools), network layer privacy (such as hybrid networks), and the most crucial connecting layer—user experience (UX). UX is seen as the bridge connecting these decentralized technological components, determining whether privacy technologies can truly be adopted by the general public. The discussion touched upon the delicate relationship between "compliance" and "privacy." The panelists reflected on the limitations of building privacy tools solely for regulatory defense. They argued that privacy should not be defined merely as a defensive technology (preventing surveillance), but rather as a collaborative community effort, a tool that unlocks new capabilities for users and the community. Overemphasizing the "defense" narrative may actually limit the product's potential. Regarding regulation and compliance, the guests expressed a strong view: building a global product that fully complies with the compliance requirements of all jurisdictions is unrealistic, even naive. Instead of attempting to build compliance into the protocol layer (which often means leaving backdoors), it's better to build a universal privacy infrastructure and empower users with the right to selectively disclose information at the application layer (such as View Keys). This protects users from comprehensive surveillance while retaining the ability to demonstrate compliance when necessary. Finally, the speakers emphasized the importance of breaking down the technological "echo chamber" and called for closer ties with privacy organizations outside of cryptography, such as Tor, EFF, and Signal. The future ecosystem landscape should not merely be a collection of technology stacks, but should include legal aid, hackathons, educational and advocacy organizations. Normalizing, socializing, and even making privacy fun are key to the next stage of the ecosystem's development. 6. Ethereum Institutional Privacy Now Guests: Oskar Thorin, Zach Obront, Amzah Moelah, Eugenio Reggianini, Francois Oskar Thorin began by introducing Ethereum's Institutional Privacy Task Force (IPTF) and its mission: to help traditional financial institutions migrate to Ethereum while meeting their privacy needs. The current trend is that institutions are no longer refusing to go on-chain due to regulation, but rather because of a lack of privacy. Even if only 1% of traditional financial funds enter Ethereum, the impact on the privacy ecosystem will be enormous. During the panel discussion, guests from ABN Amro and Etherealize shared the real pain points of institutions. Institutions don't necessarily want to avoid using the global liquidity of public blockchains, but they cannot accept the complete public disclosure of their trading strategies, holdings, or customer data on-chain. Unlike retail investors, institutions need not only privacy, but also "control": clear who can see what data, when, and how. This control needs to be granular down to specific business flows, such as bond issuance, lending settlements, or secondary market trading, each scenario having different requirements for transparency. Francois, a representative from Polygon Miden, explained how they address this issue through a hybrid account model (Account + UTXO): users can maintain a private state locally, proving the validity of transactions only to the public network when necessary. The discussion also touched upon the application of zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) in compliance reporting, using ZK technology to demonstrate an institution's solvency or compliance to regulators without revealing underlying data. The panelists unanimously agreed that the future direction is not to build isolated private blockchains, but rather to construct a privacy layer on the Ethereum public blockchain. By decoupling identity verification (KYC/KYB), policy enforcement, and compliance reporting, institutions can enjoy Ethereum's security and liquidity while maintaining their business confidentiality. The maturity of this architecture will be a key turning point for large-scale institutional adoption of Ethereum around 2026. 7. Privacy Without Terrorists Speaker: Ameen Suleimani (0xbow) Ameen's presentation began with a parable about the pollution of Patagonian lakes, vividly illustrating Tornado Cash's dilemma: when a few ("terrorists"/hackers) pollute public resources (privacy pools), everyone (ordinary users) is punished. He reviewed Tornado Cash's history, pointing out that developers shouldn't be held responsible for users' illegal activities, but also raised a pointed question: when ordinary users use the mixer, they are essentially providing privacy cover for hackers. Therefore, the community has a responsibility to build a new system that protects the privacy of legitimate users without empowering criminals. This is the core concept of Privacy Pools. Unlike Tornado Cash, Privacy Pools allows users to publicly "dissociate" themselves from illicit funds (such as funds from North Korean hackers) using zero-knowledge proofs. When withdrawing funds, users can prove that their funds originate from a legitimate pool of deposits without disclosing the specific source of those deposits. This satisfies regulatory requirements for anti-money laundering while preserving users' on-chain privacy. Ameen detailed 0xbow's management mechanism. The system incorporates KYT (Know Your Transaction) checks, requiring deposits to be approved. If 0xbow discovers a deposit source is illegal, it can remove it from the compliant pool, but cannot freeze the user's funds. He particularly emphasized the "Rage Quit" mechanism: even if a user's deposit is subsequently flagged as non-compliant, or 0xbow decides to cease operations, the smart contract still guarantees that the user can withdraw their principal at any time. This achieves a "non-custodial but permissioned" privacy model. Finally, Ameen previewed the roadmap for Privacy Pools V2, planned for release at EthCC (Paris). V2 will support shielded transfers, allowing peer-to-peer payments within the pool, eliminating the need to withdraw to a new address as required in V1. V2 essentially trades some fungibility for recoverability, aiming to build a privacy infrastructure for "good guys" and prevent developers from going to jail for writing code. 8. Is censorship resilience truly necessary? Speaker: Mashbean (Matters.lab) Mashbean raises a disturbing question: if censorship resistance is so important, why do products built around it struggle to survive? Drawing on five years of experience operating Matters.news (a decentralized content publishing platform), he reveals a misalignment between "market demand" and "survival needs." While marginalized groups (dissidents, journalists) have a strong moral need to combat censorship, this market is small and lacks the financial capacity to do so. Most ordinary users only care about content quality, not whether the platform is censorship-resistant. He delved into the "honeypot paradox": building censorship-resistant platforms naturally attracts the most sensitive content, thus concentrating risk. This not only invites blocking by authoritarian governments but also a flood of spam and fraudulent attacks. Ironically, to combat spam, platforms are forced to introduce some form of moderation, creating tension with the original intention of censorship resistance. Furthermore, massive spam attacks have even triggered automated anti-fraud systems in democratic countries, leading to the wrongful blocking of platforms and forming a new type of "cross-border joint censorship." Faced with these challenges, Mashbean proposed some counterintuitive solutions. First, instead of building a single, large platform, it should build modular components (storage, identity, payments) so that small communities can reuse this infrastructure, avoiding creating obvious targets for attacks. Second, developers must "eat their own dogfood," meaning they themselves must adopt strong OpSec (operational security) and privacy-preserving payment protocols, as developers themselves are also a high-risk group. The conclusion is that censorship-resistant technologies should not be viewed as ordinary commercial products, but rather as public infrastructure akin to "fire exits" or "safety belts." You don't ask how large the market size (TAM) of fire exits is, but they are lifesavers in the event of a fire. Therefore, the financing model for such projects needs to change, incorporating public funds, charitable donations, and community ownership. The success metric should not be revenue, but rather how many people can still have a voice and survive under pressure. 9. Guerilla Interoperability Speaker: Andreas Tsamados (Fileverse) Andreas's speech was highly combative, comparing the current Web2 internet to a city filled with "hostile architecture," where giants control users through walled gardens, DRM, and data lock-in. To combat this "enshittification," he proposed the concept of "Guerilla Interoperability." This is a user-driven tactical resistance that uses technological means to forcibly achieve interoperability and reclaim data sovereignty without the dominant platform's permission. He detailed the technological arsenal for achieving this goal, particularly ZK-TLS (Zero-Knowledge Transport Layer Security). This technology allows users to generate cryptographic proofs of their interactions with Web2 websites (such as banks and social media), thereby bringing Web2 data into the Web3 world in a permissionless manner. This means developers can build applications that depend on existing monopolistic platforms, exploit them, and even surpass them without waiting for the platforms' APIs to open up. Andreas champions a culture of "revolutionary optimism," rejecting a fatalistic view of the current state of the internet. He showcased tools developed by Fileverse, such as ddocs.new and dsheets.new, which are decentralized alternatives to Google Workspace. These tools not only offer end-to-end encryption but also support inviting collaborators via ENS, with data stored on IPFS. The core recommendation of the speech is: don't wait for the giants to have a change of heart, but instead forcefully build alternatives using programmable accounts, decentralized storage, and ZK technology. This "digital right to repair" movement calls on developers to leverage existing closed system infrastructure to provide users with better privacy and sovereign choices until the giants are forced to accept this new normal. 10. Building infrastructural resilience Guests: Sebastian Burgel, ml_sudo, Pol Lanski, Kyle Den Hartog This panel focused on the physical and hardware layers. The speakers pointed out that if the underlying hardware is untrustworthy, then upper-layer software privacy is like building on sand. Current chips (such as Intel SGX) often sacrifice security for performance and are vulnerable to side-channel attacks. ml_sudo introduced the Trustless TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) initiative, which aims to build fully open-source hardware chips that are transparent and verifiable from design blueprints to manufacturing processes, adapting to today's increasingly fragmented geopolitical threat models. Pol Lanski (Dappnode) emphasized the importance of self-hosting. He believes that while the current user experience isn't ideal, the goal should still be "everyone running their own node." This isn't just about decentralization; it's also a form of civil disobedience—"voting with your feet." When laws (like Chat Control) attempt to monitor all communications, running your own relay nodes and servers is the most effective way to prevent the law from being enforced. Sebastian (HOPR) proposed an interesting concept: "Nerds protect networks." While we hope that ordinary users can also participate, in reality, it is a small group of geeks willing to tinker with hardware and run nodes who form the network's front line of defense. Therefore, the ecosystem should respect and empower this geek culture, while also striving to lower the hardware barriers to allow more people to participate. The discussion ultimately returned to the question of "why." In this era of rampant AI forgery and ubiquitous connectivity, only through trustless hardware and infrastructure can we preserve "humanity" in the digital world—the assurance that you are interacting with real people and that your data has not been stolen. This resilience of infrastructure is our last line of defense against digital totalitarianism. 11. Kohaku wallet on Ethereum Speaker: Nicolas Consigny (EF) Nicolas has launched Kohaku, a new project spearheaded by the Ethereum Foundation. This is a collection of primitives focused on privacy and security, including an SDK and a reference implementation of a browser extension wallet (based on the Ambire fork). Kohaku's goal is not to become another competing wallet, but rather to raise the privacy benchmark across the entire ecosystem by providing high-quality open-source components, like a "buffet," for other wallet developers to use. Kohaku's core strength lies in its significantly simplified approach to privacy protocols. It integrates with protocols like Railgun and Privacy Pools, allowing users to switch between them with a single click within the wallet interface and send assets directly to privacy pools without complex setup. Furthermore, Kohaku introduces a "one account per dApp" connectivity system to prevent users from accidentally linking the same address to multiple applications, thus reducing metadata leaks. In terms of hardware security, Kohaku has achieved several significant breakthroughs. The team collaborated with ZKnox to enable direct signing of Railgun's ZK transactions on hardware wallets, meeting the needs of advanced users for "cold storage + privacy." They also demonstrated a universal hardware application layer, allowing the same privacy signing logic to run on Keystone, Keycard, and even low-cost DIY hardware. Nicolas's demonstration showcased EF's pragmatic approach to privacy: not aiming to change the world overnight, but rather enabling existing wallets to easily integrate Tor network support and privacy transaction functionality by building secure and easy-to-use SDKs (such as the OpenLV Connectivity Kit). Kohaku plans to launch its public testnet during EthCC next April, marking a new phase of standardization and modularization for Ethereum application-layer privacy. 12. Private voting in DAOs Guests: Joshua Davila, Lasha Antadze, Anthony Leuts, Jordi Pinyana, John Guilding This discussion delved into the necessity of privacy voting in DAOs and real-world governance. Anthony (Aragon) bluntly pointed out that the lack of privacy leads to a false sense of governance: under the pressure of transparent voting, 99% of proposals receive 99% approval because nobody wants to be a "disappointment" or face retaliation. Privacy voting is not only about protecting voters, but also about obtaining genuine public opinion and breaking this toxic "false consensus." Representatives from Rarimo and Vodoni shared their experiences implementing privacy-based voting in high-risk environments, such as under oppressive regimes. In these scenarios, participating in the vote itself could lead to imprisonment, making identity privacy a matter of life and death. Technically, the current challenge lies in combining real-world identities (such as passports and biometrics) with on-chain privacy, preventing Sybil attacks (multiple votes by one person) while ensuring the untraceability of the votes. John (MACI) emphasized the importance of anti-collusion. Privacy voting is not just about anonymity; it must also ensure that "it's impossible to prove who you voted for" to prevent bribery. If voters can generate proof of "I voted for A" for vote buyers, a bribery market will form. MACI (Minimum Anti-Collusion Infrastructure) is dedicated to solving this problem. He mentioned the recent Gitcoin privacy round as a successful experiment, demonstrating that related technologies (such as quadratic voting combined with ZK identity) are nearing production readiness. The panelists unanimously agreed that 2026 will be a pivotal year for privacy voting protocols to mature and be integrated into mainstream DAO tools such as Snapshot and Tally. While the technology is largely ready, the biggest obstacle lies in perception: the crypto community is accustomed to "transparency equals justice," even viewing bribes as a normal DeFi mechanism. Changing this narrative and making people realize that privacy is a cornerstone of democracy is the next political task. 13. From Tornado Cash to future developers protection Guests: Marina Markezic, Fatemeh Fannisadeh, Ayanfeoluwa Olajide, Joan Arús This was a panel filled with a sense of urgency and a call to action. Joan Arús shared the background of the Sentinel Alliance: an alliance of victims of spyware such as Pegasus. He recounted the experience of the Aragon and Vodoni teams being monitored by the government using spyware for developing anti-censorship voting technology. This demonstrates that the threat has escalated from "prosecuting past crimes" to "preemptive surveillance," targeting the potential uses of open-source code. The lawyers provided a detailed analysis of the escalating legal risks. Current anti-terrorism laws are extremely broad, and any attempt to "disrupt political or economic structures" could be defined as terrorism. This means that developers of decentralized finance or privacy tools could be unknowingly labeled as terrorists. Fatemeh warned that we cannot rely solely on bureaucratic procedures to seek justice; we must establish proactive defense mechanisms. Marina (EUCI) offered a glimmer of hope. She shared the latest developments in the EU's GDPR revision process, noting that after lobbying, regulators are beginning to recognize the unique nature of blockchain and may recognize privacy-enhancing technologies as a means to achieve GDPR compliance, rather than an obstacle, in the amendments. This demonstrates the effectiveness of policy advocacy. Finally, Panel issued a strong appeal: the crypto industry, with billions of dollars in capital, must stop wasting its funds on mere gatherings and instead invest in legal defense funds and policy lobbying. Without establishing a legal framework to protect developers, without uniting against the trend of criminalizing open-source development, any one of you could be the next in jail. This is not just a compliance issue; it's a battle for survival of freedom. 14. Protocol-level privacy: Lessons from web2 Speaker: Polymutex (Walletbeat) By reviewing the history of Web2's transition from HTTP to HTTPS, Polymutex provides a valuable reference framework for the popularization of Web3 privacy. He points out that the early internet was just as privacy-less as blockchain is today, for strikingly similar reasons: immature encryption technology, regulatory uncertainty (encryption was once considered a weapon), and high performance overhead (handshake delay). He summarized four key stages in the widespread adoption of HTTPS: 1. Making privacy possible (standardization, such as SSL/TLS); 2. Making privacy legal (winning encryption rights through litigation); 3. Making privacy inexpensive (hardware-accelerated instruction sets); 4. Making privacy the default and norm. The emergence of Let's Encrypt was a turning point, making obtaining certificates extremely simple and free. The final stage was when browsers began marking HTTP websites as "insecure," thereby stigmatizing non-privacy behaviors. Mapping this framework to Web3, we're currently doing well in the "possible" phase (privacy protocol standards); the "cheap" phase is progressing through ZK hardware acceleration and pre-compiled contracts; but we still face significant challenges in the "legal" phase (Tornado Cash case) and the "simple" phase (wallet integration). In particular, Web3 currently lacks an "Oh Shit Moment" like the Snowden revelations to truly awaken public awareness of privacy. Polymutex concluded that we need tools (like WalletBeat) to monitor wallet privacy practices (such as RPC leaks) and push for privacy to become the default setting. More importantly, the community needs to stigmatize non-privacy practices—just as browsers warn of HTTP insecurity now, future wallets should warn users, "This is a public transaction; your finances will be monitored." Only when a lack of privacy protection is considered abnormal can privacy truly become widespread. 15. Ethereum Privacy Now: Key Challenges Speaker: Alan Scott, Max Hampshire Alan and Max discussed the real pain points of building privacy protocols on the front lines in a relaxed conversation. The primary challenge is the narrative. Currently, using privacy tools (such as Railgun) is often directly associated with illegal activities, with stigma such as "Why are you hiding? Are you afraid of the police?" deterring ordinary users. They emphasized that the narrative must shift from "hiding crime" to "protecting everyday financial security" (like not wanting everyone to see your Visa statement). Integration friction is another major obstacle. Alan mentioned that Railgun's SDK has hundreds of thousands of lines of code. For mainstream DeFi protocols like Aave, integrating such a behemoth is not only technically challenging but also highly risky. This is why DeFi protocols tend to have privacy layers adapt to them, rather than the other way around. Furthermore, existing wallets (such as implementations forked from Rabby) are often riddled with various analytics, which contradicts the goals of privacy protocols. Regarding network layer privacy, Max points out that it's a cat-and-mouse game. Deanonymization techniques (such as traffic analytics) and anonymization techniques (such as Mixnets) are constantly evolving. Relying solely on application layer privacy is insufficient; if ISPs or RPC nodes can see your IP address and access patterns, on-chain privacy is significantly compromised. Therefore, network layer infrastructure like Nym needs to be tightly integrated with application layer protocols. Finally, the two discussed how to expand the Anonymity Set. If privacy tools are only used by whales, their privacy effectiveness is limited. The goal must be to allow ordinary users to use privacy features unnoticed (plug and play), even if it's just to prevent copy trading or protect against alpha. Only when there are enough "good people" and ordinary transactions can a privacy network truly provide protection. 16. Ethereum Privacy Roadmap Speaker: Andy Guzman (PSE) Andy Guzman provided a macro-level summary and outlook for the day's activities. He proposed a simplified classification model of the privacy technology stack using PSE: Private Reads, Private Writes, and Private Porting. He used the Law of the Minimum to point out that the strength of a privacy system depends on its weakest link. Even if we achieve perfect ZK privacy on-chain, if the IP is leaked at the RPC layer, the entire system is still a failure. Regarding roadmap predictions, Andy boldly predicts that by November 2026 (the next Devcon), the issue of private transfers on Ethereum will be completely resolved. He points out that more than 35 teams are currently exploring approximately 13 different technical paths (from anonymous addresses to privacy pools), and this rich ecosystem ensures that a winning solution will eventually emerge. Future solutions will feature low cost (only twice as expensive as regular transfers), low latency, and a one-click experience. He also raised a potential point of contention: should privacy be retained at the application layer or pushed down to the core protocol layer (L1)? This could potentially spark a "civil war" in the future. Writing privacy into L1 could bring better liquidity consistency and default privacy, but it could also introduce regulatory risks and protocol complexity. He called for open discussion on this issue within the community. Finally, regarding compliance, Andy presented a spectrum from "permissionless privacy (Cypherpunk)" to "practical privacy." He believes that while the pure spirit of cypherpunk is worth pursuing, responsible solutions like Privacy Pools are also needed for institutional and government adoption. Ethereum's privacy future should not be singular, but rather a diverse ecosystem embracing different needs. PSE will continue to work to fill technological gaps and ensure Ethereum becomes a truly privacy-first network.

Author: PANews
Best Crypto to Invest While BTC Fades, Why Analysts Predict a 900% Climb By Mid-2026

Best Crypto to Invest While BTC Fades, Why Analysts Predict a 900% Climb By Mid-2026

The post Best Crypto to Invest While BTC Fades, Why Analysts Predict a 900% Climb By Mid-2026 appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News Bitcoin’s dominance is slowly shrinking as its volatility declines and ETF-driven maturity limits upside. Analysts notice that BTC’s risk-adjusted returns are becoming less attractive for large capital flows. With slower growth, investors are turning to mid-cap DeFi projects that provide real utility and tangible returns. Among these, Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is emerging as a top …

Author: CoinPedia
Ethereum Price Prediction: ETH Reclaims $3,000 as Mutuum Finance (MUTM) Zooms Past 95% Complete in Phase 6 Presale With $19M Raised

Ethereum Price Prediction: ETH Reclaims $3,000 as Mutuum Finance (MUTM) Zooms Past 95% Complete in Phase 6 Presale With $19M Raised

Ethereum has regained the $3,000 level with a strong recovery from long-term support and is setting the stage for a potential run-up and establishment of new year-high prices on the charts. This came about due to improved market liquidity and a fresh fascination with large-cap alternative coins, leading to a positive outlook on the future […]

Author: Cryptopolitan
Tether Dominates CeFi Lending at $25B Peak Since 2022

Tether Dominates CeFi Lending at $25B Peak Since 2022

The post Tether Dominates CeFi Lending at $25B Peak Since 2022 appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. The CeFi lending market has surged to $25 billion in outstanding loans during Q3 2024, marking its highest level in over three years and reflecting greater transparency and stability compared to past cycles. CeFi lending market reaches $25 billion in Q3 2024, up over 200% since early this year, driven by transparent platforms like Tether and Nexo. Unlike the 2022 peak, today’s market emphasizes full collateralization and stricter risk controls following major platform collapses. DeFi lending complements this growth, hitting a record $41 billion in Q3 2024, pushing total crypto borrowing to $65.4 billion. Explore the booming CeFi lending market at $25 billion in Q3 2024, with Tether leading at 60% share. Discover transparency gains and DeFi highs—stay ahead in crypto finance today. What is driving the growth of the CeFi lending market in 2024? The CeFi lending market has experienced significant expansion, reaching nearly $25 billion in outstanding loans by the end of Q3 2024, its highest since early 2022. This growth, up more than 200% from the start of the year according to Galaxy Research, stems from increased transparency among key players like Tether, Nexo, and Galaxy, replacing less stable predecessors. The shift follows lessons from past collapses, fostering conservative lending practices and full collateral requirements. How has the CeFi lending landscape evolved since 2022? The CeFi lending landscape has transformed dramatically since the 2022 market downturn. Previously dominated by platforms such as Genesis, BlockFi, Celsius, and Voyager—which suffered heavily from exposures to FTX’s collapse in November 2022 and Celsius’s earlier bankruptcy in July 2022 due to Three Arrows Capital—the market now prioritizes transparency and risk management. Galaxy Research reports that new entrants have filled the void, with Tether holding $14.6 billion in open loans as of September 30, 2024, capturing 60% of the market share. Nexo follows…

Author: BitcoinEthereumNews
👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Google’s AI brain is coming to Nigeria

👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Google’s AI brain is coming to Nigeria

In today's edition: Google to revamp AI curricula in Nigeria || 27 banks have turned to the markets for capital, says CBN || Kenya has lost $200 million to cybercrimes this year || Special Number

Author: Techcabal
Stablecoins in 2025: You're in the Dream of the Red Chamber, I'm in Journey to the West

Stablecoins in 2025: You're in the Dream of the Red Chamber, I'm in Journey to the West

2025 was a year of excitement and division for stablecoins, starting with the US Genius Act's definition of stablecoin compliance, followed by Hong Kong's passage of the Stablecoin Ordinance, which sparked heated discussions about offshore RMB stablecoins and debates about the digital RMB, culminating in the final chapter of stablecoins in mainland China in 2025. Who is in the Dream of the Red Chamber, and who is in Journey to the West? We probably all have the answer in our hearts. However, we need to look beyond the surface to understand the essence. We need to clarify the underlying logic of stablecoins in 2025 and see the future development trends. What has changed fundamentally about stablecoins that have garnered global attention in 2025, and what hasn't actually changed at all? At the 2025 Financial Street Forum Annual Meeting in October, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated: "Since 2017, the People's Bank of China, together with relevant departments, has successively issued a number of policy documents to prevent and deal with the risks of domestic virtual currency trading and speculation. These policy documents are still in effect. In the next step, the People's Bank of China will work with law enforcement agencies to continue to crack down on the operation and speculation of domestic virtual currencies, maintain economic and financial order, and at the same time closely monitor and dynamically assess the development of overseas stablecoins." We will focus on: "Policy documents remain in effect" and "Dynamically assess the development of offshore stablecoins". I. Mainland regulators' attitude towards virtual currencies remains unchanged – continued crackdown. 1.1 Mainland China Regulation: The Virtual Currency Nature of Stablecoins Recently, 13 ministries held a meeting to define the legal status of stablecoins under the mainland's regulatory system: http://www.pbc.gov.cn/goutongjiaoliu/113456/113469/5916794/index.html On November 28, 2025, the People's Bank of China convened a meeting of the coordination mechanism for combating speculation in virtual currency trading. Officials from the Ministry of Public Security, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Central Financial Stability and Development Office, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Justice, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the State Financial Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange attended the meeting. The meeting pointed out that in recent years, all units have earnestly implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and in accordance with the requirements of the "Notice on Further Preventing and Handling Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation" jointly issued by the People's Bank of China and ten other departments in 2021, have resolutely cracked down on virtual currency trading and speculation, rectified the chaos in the virtual currency market, and achieved significant results. Recently, affected by various factors, virtual currency speculation has resurfaced, and related illegal and criminal activities have occurred from time to time, posing new challenges and new situations for risk prevention and control. The meeting emphasized: Virtual currencies do not have the same legal status as legal tender, do not have legal tender status, and should not and cannot be used as currency in the market. Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities. Stablecoins are a form of virtual currency that currently cannot effectively meet requirements for customer identification and anti-money laundering, and are at risk of being used for illegal activities such as money laundering, fundraising fraud, and illegal cross-border fund transfers. The meeting required all units to adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and its subsequent plenary sessions, regard risk prevention and control as the perpetual theme of financial work, continue to uphold the prohibitive policy on virtual currencies, and persistently crack down on illegal financial activities related to virtual currencies. All units should deepen coordination and cooperation, improve regulatory policies and legal basis, focus on key links such as information flow and capital flow, strengthen information sharing, further enhance monitoring capabilities, severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities, protect the property safety of the people, and maintain the stability of the economic and financial order. 1.2 The attitude of mainland regulators towards virtual currencies remains unchanged. Yesterday's meeting was a concrete implementation of the "Notice on Further Preventing and Handling Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation" (Yinfa [2021] No. 237) issued in 2021, demonstrating that "the policy document remains valid." https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-10/08/content_5641404.htm Including stablecoins within the category of virtual currencies means that stablecoin/virtual currency-related business activities constitute illegal financial activities. "We will continue to uphold our prohibitive policy towards virtual currencies and persistently crack down on illegal financial activities related to virtual currencies." The rhetoric represents a trend toward stricter enforcement; previously, the descriptions of illegal financial activities involving virtual currencies were illustrative, but now they are direct and general. Although virtual currencies are recognized as "virtual commodities" in China (with their property attributes partially acknowledged in criminal and civil judicial practice), their place of existence as "financial assets" or "settlement tools" has been completely eradicated in mainland China. 1.3 The practitioners remain unchanged – walking on thin ice Although stablecoins have been included in the scope of virtual currencies under the mainland's regulatory framework, let's think back and see what changes this brings to industry practitioners. Actually, no. We are still expanding overseas, still operating within compliance regulations, obtaining licenses in the relevant jurisdictions, and fulfilling the regulatory requirements of various regions. It's still like walking on thin ice. II. The financial infrastructure based on blockchain has changed – dynamically assessing the development of overseas stablecoins The U.S. Genius Grant Act provides a clear definition for stablecoins: "Payment stablecoins" are digital currencies that rely on distributed ledgers, are pegged to national fiat currencies, and are used for payments and settlements. Let's set aside for now the various forms of digital currency: stablecoins, deposit tokens, and CBDCs. What has changed? — The ledgers on which assets are based have changed, becoming more efficient, more convenient, and more globalized. This is what Europe and America are flocking to; it's what Blackrock's CEO stated: "asset tokenization" will lead the next financial revolution; it's the Federal Reserve's "historic" meeting where they actively discussed embracing this innovation; it's the direction of Nasdaq's transformation: tokenized trading, tokenized IPOs, and 24/7 trading. This is also a point that mainland regulators need to dynamically assess – the financial infrastructure based on blockchain, regardless of what kind of digital assets are running on it. 2.1 Starting from the origins of blockchain As Dr. Xiao said, we need to start from the origin of blockchain, from first principles, and from the basics, to examine the currently hotly debated digital currencies/crypto assets, the crypto market, and the blockchain technology behind them. What is the essence of finance? It is the mismatch of value across time and space. This essence has remained unchanged for millennia. Blockchain-based new finance can greatly improve the efficiency of finance: Transcending time. This is reflected in two aspects: firstly, the time value of money; and secondly, transactions and settlements. Cross-space. Globally, value allocation across spaces. The way value is transferred. Just as the essential attributes (measure of value) and core function (medium of exchange) of money remain unchanged, despite the evolution of its various forms and manifestations such as shells, tokens, cash, deposits, electronic money, and stablecoins, the essence of finance remains the same. The key question is how to provide better financial services in a distributed, digitalized, and time-transcending context. 2.2 New Financial Infrastructure Compared to traditional finance, the biggest innovation of new finance lies in the change in the way accounting is done—the blockchain, a transparent and publicly accessible global public ledger. Humanity's accounting methods have only changed three times in thousands of years, each profoundly shaping economic forms and social structures, and each breakthrough reflecting the co-evolution of technology and civilization. The single-entry bookkeeping system of the Sumerian period (around 3500 BC) enabled humanity to overcome the limitations of oral communication for the first time, promoting early trade and the formation of states, as it necessitated the recording of taxes and trade. Commercial dispute clauses appeared in the ancient Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. Double-entry bookkeeping played a significant role in the commercial revolution of the Renaissance (14th-15th centuries). The prosperity of trade among Mediterranean city-states, the investment of Genoa's fleet, and the Medici family's transnational bank all required complex financial instruments, which in turn spurred the emergence of banks and multinational corporations and the establishment of commercial credit. What followed was the distributed ledger technology we are familiar with, which was driven by Bitcoin in 2009, leading to decentralized finance, changes in trust mechanisms, and the rise of digital currencies. This new financial system, revolutionized by distributed ledger technology, is inextricably linked to blockchain, smart contracts, digital wallets, and programmable currencies. Blockchain, as the ledger settlement layer of financial infrastructure, was initially designed to solve the problem of eventual consistency in payment clearing. The combination of digital currencies built on distributed ledgers and smart contracts can bring limitless possibilities to the new financial system: near-instantaneous settlement, 24/7 availability, low transaction costs, and the programmability, interoperability, and composability with DeFi inherent in digital currency tokens themselves. Therefore, the new finance mainly presents three major changes: First, the accounting method has changed from centralized double-entry bookkeeping to decentralized distributed bookkeeping; Second, the account changes from a bank account to a digital wallet; Third, the accounting unit has changed from legal tender to digital currency. The most important distributed ledger emerged because of its digital characteristics that span time, space, and organization. 2.3 The dramatic changes in financial infrastructure Therefore, regardless of the various forms of digital currency—stablecoins, deposit tokens, CBDCs—the financial infrastructure based on blockchain has undergone a radical transformation. What seeds have been sown here? What makes digital currency unique is that it sits at the intersection of three massive markets: payments, lending, and capital markets. Not to mention the value channel of the future AI-based silicon civilization. Despite the wave of deglobalization caused by geopolitical factors, we will still be brought together by the unified ledger of blockchain, and you will find that the world really is flat. Just like the book says: "We wanted transoceanic planes, but we invented Zoom instead." III. In Conclusion In fact, the key points that "policy documents remain valid" and "dynamically assess the development of overseas stablecoins" still provide us with guidance. Although the reality of stablecoins in 2025 may seem surreal, like "you're in the Dream of the Red Chamber, I'm in Journey to the West." "I am on the journey to the West" is about leaving home, spiritual practice, the obsession with overcoming the eighty-one tribulations, and the ambition to explore the next generation of financial infrastructure. In 2008, Modern Sky released a music compilation album called "You Are in the Dream of the Red Chamber, I Am in Journey to the West", which was inspired by "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Journey to the West" and reinterpreted classic songs, forming a cultural dialogue between classical and modern, East and West, and fantasy and reality. You go on your journey through the mortal world, while I embark on my long and arduous journey. But in the end, we may all arrive at the same destination by different paths.

Author: PANews