This revamp aligns with Cronos’ overall roadmap, which prioritizes effectiveness, affordability, and AI agent readiness. The last boost in productivity was just last month, when there was a 10x reduction in gas fees, making the network more accessible for users and developers alike. 

Climbing The Finality Leaderboard 

According to a press release shared with CryptoPotato, the update is scheduled to go live on the mainnet today, reducing the average Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) block interval from over 5.5 seconds to under one second. 

This achievement solidifies its position as one of the most compatible and low-latency EVM chains. With this finality time, Cronos ranks in the top 10 fastest blockchains for on-chain finality, bringing it on par with competitors such as Aptos, SEI, SUI, Solana, and others. 

This jump in speed is also aided by recent scalability modifications, including BlockTSM, the parallel execution engine, which was introduced in the Pallene upgrade released in December last year. It enabled multiple transactions to be processed simultaneously within each block. 

Both of these upgrades combined are expected to: 

• Increase transaction throughput (TPS)
• Enable near-instant responsiveness
• Improve developer user experience (UX)
• Reduce latency for real-time interactions on-chain

Mirko Zhao, Cronos Labs Lead and Head of Product & Engineering, commented:

“By unlocking sub-second performance, we’re not just making the network faster — we’re enabling a new class of ultra-fast blockchain applications. This upgrade reinforces our long-term commitment to developer experience and performance at scale.”

The Cronos ecosystem comprises three chains: Cronos EVM, an Ethereum-compatible blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK; Cronos POS, a chain dedicated to payments and NFTs; and the Cronos zkEVM, a high-performance Layer 2 (L2) network secured by Ethereum.  

Its native cryptocurrency, CRO, is currently ranked among the top 50 by market capitalization, according to the latest data from CoinGecko, with a total capitalization of over $2.5 billion. 

[PRESS RELEASE – Abu Dhabi, UAE, May 23rd, 2025]

The Venom Foundation has successfully completed a closed‑network stress test of its next‑generation protocol, which is capable of completing 150,000 transactions per second (TPS) and finalizing all transfers in under three seconds. The implementation of this upgrade is set to occur in Q3 2025 and make Venom one of the most effective throughput public blockchains in existence.

“Throughput only matters if it can remain reliable under pressure,” said Christopher Louis, Chief Executive Officer at Venom. “Our new stack can handle enterprise‑scale workloads without spiking fees or compromising decentralization, which is exactly what payment providers, exchanges, and game studios need.”

Why It Matters for Markets

• Speed at scale — DAG‑based mempool consensus unlocks headroom for 400,000+ TPS in synthetic benchmarks while maintaining real‑time finality.
• Fair order flow — The distributed sorting layer can convert the DAG into a single linear order, preventing front‑running and other MEV exploits.
• Parallel smart‑contract execution — TVM actor model shard accounts and processes call asynchronously, enabling high‑volume DeFi and microtransactions.
• Deterministic security — Validators can generate identical outputs, meaning finality is reached once 2 n + 1 signatures are collected, making forks virtually impossible.
• Lean networking footprint — Asynchronous block distribution keeps bandwidth costs low for operators and cloud partners.

Path to Production

Testnet (Q2 2025) – Security audits, ecosystem tooling, third‑party audits

Mainnet Migration (Q3 2025) – In‑place hard fork

Ecosystem Expansion (Q4 2025) – Cross‑chain bridges, feature‑complete SDKs

Transparency

All raw data, node configurations, and test scripts will be published to Venom’s public GitHub repository ahead of the testnet launch. Independent auditors are currently reviewing both the security and performance aspects of the upgrade.

About The Venom Foundation

The Venom Foundation consists of researchers and developers from Abu Dhabi, where they built the foundations for the network. The foundation is a Cayman‑registered, community‑driven non‑profit supporting research, development, and adoption for the Venom blockchain.

Website: https://venom.foundation/

https://x.com/VenomFoundation/

Press contact: press@venom.foundation

Strategy’s Bitcoin-focused investment operation achieved a year-to-date BTC Yield of 13.7% and a BTC $ gain of $5.8 billion as of April 28, according to its first quarter earnings report.

The firm also raised its full-year BTC Yield target from 15% to 25% and increased its BTC gain projection from $10 billion to $15 billion.

The firm’s total Bitcoin (BTC) holdings stood at 553,555 BTC as of April 28, acquired at a cumulative cost of $37.9 billion, or approximately $68,459 per coin. The updated figures incorporate the company’s record $21 billion at-the-market (ATM) equity offering, through which it added 301,335 BTC to its balance sheet during the first quarter.

BTC Yield, BTC Gain, and BTC $ Gain

Strategy tracks three internal performance indicators related to its Bitcoin strategy: BTC Yield, BTC Gain, and BTC $ Gain.

These are not accounting metrics but rather internal key performance indicators intended to illustrate the effects of the company’s capital deployment on its per-share Bitcoin exposure.

BTC Yield represents the percentage change in the ratio between Bitcoin holdings and Assumed Diluted Shares Outstanding. As of April 28, the year-to-date BTC Yield was 13.7%, with a Q1 figure of 11%. 

The company defines Assumed Diluted Shares Outstanding as the sum of basic shares and all convertible instruments treated as shares, regardless of vesting or exercise conditions.

BTC Gain expresses the outcome of BTC Yield in Bitcoin terms. Strategy achieved a BTC Gain of 49,131 BTC in the first quarter, growing to 61,497 BTC year-to-date. 

BTC $ Gain, in turn, translates that gain into dollar terms using spot Bitcoin prices. Based on a BTC price of approximately $95,000 on April 28, the company calculated the BTC $ Gain at $5.8 billion year-to-date.

Accounting changes and unrealized fair value losses

On Jan. 1, Strategy adopted ASU 2023-08, a fair value accounting standard for digital assets. This change led to a $12.7 billion increase in retained earnings at the beginning of the year, aligning reported net income more closely with market fluctuations in Bitcoin pricing.

Despite the accounting shift, the firm reported an unrealized fair value loss of $5.9 billion for the first quarter, driven by the quarter-end BTC price of $82,445. 

However, with the price recovering to approximately $97,300 by late April, the company estimates a fair value gain of roughly $8 billion for the second quarter thus far.

As of March 31, Strategy held 528,185 BTC with a cost basis of $35.6 billion and a market value of $43.5 billion. The firm’s average acquisition price was $67,457 per BTC.

Strategic capital deployment

In addition to the ATM common stock offering, Strategy issued $2 billion in 0% convertible senior notes due 2030 and completed two preferred stock IPOs, Strike and Strife, raising over $1.2 billion combined. 

These instruments contributed to the company’s aggregate net proceeds of $10 billion during the first four months of 2025.

Strategy used the proceeds from these issuances to acquire additional Bitcoin, supporting the company’s stated objective of increasing BTC per-share exposure. The company now has $20.9 billion in capacity remaining under its STRK ATM offering agreement.

While these KPIs reflect Strategy’s internal assessment of capital efficiency relative to Bitcoin accumulation, the firm emphasized that the metrics do not account for liabilities or dividend obligations on preferred stock. 

Management also noted that the market shouldn’t see these KPIs as traditional financial return metrics. With the adjustments to its annual BTC performance targets and the adoption of fair value accounting, Strategy aims to maintain its positioning as a capital markets vehicle for Bitcoin exposure.

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