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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
Pen and paper still power the majority of national voting processes worldwide, but now that blockchain is becoming mainstream, how long can the archaic system last?
A new legislation that exempts small crypto transactions and long-term holdings from taxation passed the lower house. On social media, the move was proclaimed the beginning of "Velká Kryptoměnová Revoluce" - the Great Cryptocurrency Revolution.
Another U.S. state pushes for CBDCs to be banned — as a tokenization platform secures a crucial license for rolling out in the EU. Also in this issue: an overview of developments in China, Russia, and the EU central bank digital currencies.
Over 41 million tokens have been minted ahead of New York's regulatory decision, while XRP surges past Tether and Solana to claim the third spot amid ETF filings and a new wave of meme coins.
The infamous exchange’s wallet movements have repeatedly sparked fears of sell-offs that could destabilize Bitcoin prices. Yet, recent activity from Mt. Gox wallets has been met with strong market resilience.
Coinbase’s possible blocking of accounts due to VPN usage raised discontent among the community. As always, the PR team promptly handled the mini-crisis.
Happy Sunday, Observers!
This has been a major week for crypto, with Bitcoin finally surpassing the $100k mark following Donald Trump’s nomination of Paul Atkins as the next Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The market was further energized on the day following Atkins’ appointment when Trump announced
From a viral meme sensation to a sophisticated money launderer helping Russia's elite, it isn't just men in the upper echelons of alleged crypto crimes.
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
