Vitalik Buterin’s recent posts reflect a shift from idealistic decentralization toward pragmatic system design. Rather than rejecting Ethereum’s core principles, he questions where complexity, governance, and the current development path fail under real-world constraints.
Alex Harutunian
Hyperliquid is evolving from a perp DEX into a vertically integrated financial stack. By launching its own L1, native stablecoin, and spot markets, it prioritizes market fit over ideology. Started on Arbitrum, its roadmap reveals a larger ambition: to become the global base layer for all trading.
Alex Harutunian
Triggered by a routine macro shock, crypto once again unraveled faster than any other market. Not because of sentiment alone, but because CEX risk engines, DEX liquidation incentives, and always-on leverage turn small moves into cascading stress.
Alex Harutunian
From Polymarket’s stripped-down design to Kalshi’s regulatory breakthrough, prediction markets are turning collective opinion into a financial asset class — and a new battleground over who defines truth
Alex Harutunian
Curve Finance is launching Yield Basis with a $60M crvUSD credit line. The product aims to eliminate impermanent loss for liquidity providers, and at the same time transform CRV from a governance token into an income-generating asset with revenues shared back to holders
Alex Harutunian
Vitalik Buterin’s recent posts reflect a shift from idealistic decentralization toward pragmatic system design. Rather than rejecting Ethereum’s core principles, he questions where complexity, governance, and the current development path fail under real-world constraints.
Alex Harutunian
The digital euro is increasingly framed as a tool of EU sovereignty. China’s interest-bearing e-CNY shows no banking disruption so far. Tokenization goes mainstream as the ECB validates DLT collateral and the U.S. SEC distinguishes issuer-backed from wrapper tokens.
Bermuda is integrating USDC stablecoin into its economy. In a dollar-pegged island state, stablecoins aren’t replacing money—they’re upgrading the rails. If it works, dozens of “Other Bermudas” could emerge as the next growth engine for stablecoins.
• Tomasz K. Stańczak steps down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation. • Andre Cronje’s Flying Tulip to launch public token sale on February 16. • Buterin shares on X his thoughts on prediction markets. • BlackRock brings its Treasury-backed BUIDL token to Uniswap.
01.01.2026 EU crypto tax transparency directive DAC8 takes effect, requiring crypto-asset service providers to report user data to national tax authorities. 01.01.2026 MiCA comes into force in Spain. 31.12.2025 Ethereum smart contract deployments hit a record high in Q4. 2026 OUTLOOK Haseeb Qureshi (Dragonfly
Balancer Protocol was exploited through a tiny rounding bug in its code. As losses neared $100 million, projects froze pools, rolled back blockchains, and clawed back funds—revealing the centralized and still untamed side of decentralized finance
01.12.2025 Telegram’s Pavel Durov announces Cocoon, a decentralized confidential AI compute network. 01.12.2025 SushiSwap CEO steps down as Synthesis invests $3.3M in the struggling DEX. 01.12.2025 Grayscale to launch the first Chainlink ETF in the US. 01.12.2025 Germany and Switzerland
29.10.25 Ondo Finance launches Ondo Global Markets on BNB Chain. 29.10.25 Ethereum Foundation launches portal to guide institutional adoption. 29.10.25 Securitize goes public via SPAC merger with Cantor Fitzgerald’s CF Acquisition Corp VIII. 28.10.25 Trump Media & Technology Group to launch
Kazakhstan launched a state-backed crypto reserve, Alem Crypto Fund, partnering with Binance Kazakhstan and starting with an investment in $BNB. SWIFT is building a blockchain ledger with 30+ banks using Consensys. Polish lawmakers passed a Crypto-Asset Market Act, aligning rules with the EU’s MiCAR. Vitalik Buterin opposes EU’s
Uniswap’s Unichain has boosted L2 volumes past $40B, but liquidity tells a different story. TVL has halved since July, exposing the limits of incentive-driven growth. Despite cheaper fees, users remain on Ethereum—where Uniswap continues to be one of the network’s largest revenue engines.
The project is building a DePIN network that lets devices share their locations with each other and work together to understand their physical surroundings.
Alexander Mardar
Happy Sunday, Observers! All eyes were on California this week, where brush fires swept through entire neighborhoods, killing people and destroying billions in property. The forced stop to normal life in the region, which is home to some of the highest-paid tech talent and to some of the most vibrant
Eva Senzaj Pauram
Bybit, a crypto exchange with the largest user base from Russia, has temporarily suspended operations in India due to ongoing regulatory challenges. While promising to honor withdrawals, other services like trading and new accounts are restricted.
Rebecca DentonLayerZero settles with FTX estate, buys out FTX’s equity stake. Stablecoin market cap surpasses $200B, up $40B since November. ECB President says Bitcoin won’t be part of EU central bank reserves. SEC approves Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Pump Fun faces class action lawsuit over alleged securities violations.
Observers
The AI agents industry has grown rapidly, starting from scratch just six months ago and now valued at over $16 billion.
Alexander Mardar
All network rewards will be paid in HNT as Helium ends its multi-token system. Helium Mobile network's SubDAO attempted to boycott the move
Mathilde AdamThe Usual Protocol’s stablecoin, USD0++, has lost its peg and is now trading at $0.91 after the company announced a change in its design. The team effectively transformed USD0++ from a stablecoin into a four-year zero-coupon bond worth $0.87. Following the announcement, hundreds of millions in user
Alexander Mardar
The digital euro is increasingly framed as a tool of EU sovereignty. China’s interest-bearing e-CNY shows no banking disruption so far. Tokenization goes mainstream as the ECB validates DLT collateral and the U.S. SEC distinguishes issuer-backed from wrapper tokens.
Bermuda is integrating USDC stablecoin into its economy. In a dollar-pegged island state, stablecoins aren’t replacing money—they’re upgrading the rails. If it works, dozens of “Other Bermudas” could emerge as the next growth engine for stablecoins.
• Tomasz K. Stańczak steps down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation. • Andre Cronje’s Flying Tulip to launch public token sale on February 16. • Buterin shares on X his thoughts on prediction markets. • BlackRock brings its Treasury-backed BUIDL token to Uniswap.
01.01.2026 EU crypto tax transparency directive DAC8 takes effect, requiring crypto-asset service providers to report user data to national tax authorities. 01.01.2026 MiCA comes into force in Spain. 31.12.2025 Ethereum smart contract deployments hit a record high in Q4. 2026 OUTLOOK Haseeb Qureshi (Dragonfly
Balancer Protocol was exploited through a tiny rounding bug in its code. As losses neared $100 million, projects froze pools, rolled back blockchains, and clawed back funds—revealing the centralized and still untamed side of decentralized finance
01.12.2025 Telegram’s Pavel Durov announces Cocoon, a decentralized confidential AI compute network. 01.12.2025 SushiSwap CEO steps down as Synthesis invests $3.3M in the struggling DEX. 01.12.2025 Grayscale to launch the first Chainlink ETF in the US. 01.12.2025 Germany and Switzerland
29.10.25 Ondo Finance launches Ondo Global Markets on BNB Chain. 29.10.25 Ethereum Foundation launches portal to guide institutional adoption. 29.10.25 Securitize goes public via SPAC merger with Cantor Fitzgerald’s CF Acquisition Corp VIII. 28.10.25 Trump Media & Technology Group to launch
Kazakhstan launched a state-backed crypto reserve, Alem Crypto Fund, partnering with Binance Kazakhstan and starting with an investment in $BNB. SWIFT is building a blockchain ledger with 30+ banks using Consensys. Polish lawmakers passed a Crypto-Asset Market Act, aligning rules with the EU’s MiCAR. Vitalik Buterin opposes EU’s