Problem – Earlybirds Invest https://earlybirdsinvest.com Latest Crypto News Mon, 11 Aug 2025 16:32:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.7 https://i0.wp.com/earlybirdsinvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/cropped-New-Project-2024-12-17T235703.455.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Problem – Earlybirds Invest https://earlybirdsinvest.com 32 32 240146708 Fun token withdrawal problem with Freebitco.in (closed) https://earlybirdsinvest.com/fun-token-withdrawal-problem-with-freebitco-in-closed/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/fun-token-withdrawal-problem-with-freebitco-in-closed/#respond Mon, 11 Aug 2025 16:32:04 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/fun-token-withdrawal-problem-with-freebitco-in-closed/

I requested to withdraw my fun token from FreeBitco.in on July 11, 2025 on my Binance Fun ERC20 wallet. But so far I have not acquired a withdrawal at Binance Wallet. The fun tokens on Freebitco.in are displayed in my account. And I can’t see the history of my fun token leave transaction there. If anyone leads me in this respect, I would appreciate you.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/fun-token-withdrawal-problem-with-freebitco-in-closed/feed/ 0 52678 Crypto’s energy problem may have a DePIN solution https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cryptos-energy-problem-may-have-a-depin-solution/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cryptos-energy-problem-may-have-a-depin-solution/#respond Sun, 11 May 2025 23:03:08 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cryptos-energy-problem-may-have-a-depin-solution/

The following is a guest post and opinion by Ruchir Punjabi, Co-Founder at ReNRG.

Crypto, for all its growth, has an energy reputation problem. The proof-of-work era left a lingering carbon footprint, and while the industry has largely pivoted to more efficient mechanisms, the perception persists.

Yet within the technology that birthed this conundrum lies a potential solution: Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePINs). These networks, which bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds, could redeem crypto’s energy image while also accelerating the global energy transition.

The promise of grid optimization, often touted as a clear IoT application, remains largely theoretical in much of the Global South. Today’s LLMs can effectively parse real-time energy data to achieve smarter, more efficient energy distribution, but scaling such systems requires vast amounts of real-time data, which is scarce across many emerging markets.

The often disconnected grids of the Global South also prevent efficient energy sharing, even if the homogeneous data to manage the grids in real time existed. By deploying networks of IoT devices and sensors on a DePIN, the granular data necessary to optimize energy consumption and distribution can be collected without requiring a major IoT investment from a grid operator.

Power to the People

Now, imagine a managed solar DePIN, where an individual invests in a solar panel, a local third party manages the panels’ operation, and the electricity is used by a local business. A DePIN uses crypto rewards to encourage individuals and communities to collectively build and operate real-world infrastructure, rather than relying on a single large company. Instead of relying on centralized utilities, individuals globally could purchase solar energy generated from panels installed in energy-deficient regions of the Global South through smart contracts.

These panels, connected to a DePIN, would transmit real-time generation data, enabling efficient energy distribution and transparent revenue sharing. This model would allow users to purchase tokenized electricity from renewable assets located anywhere in the world, thus lowering the upfront costs and boosting capital availability for renewables. This model bypasses the capital and technological limitations of traditional grid infrastructure, allowing for the rapid deployment of renewable energy in areas where it is needed most. And because smart contracts can automate settlement and disbursement, energy becomes programmable, reducing friction in everything from billing to maintenance incentives.

The benefits extend beyond environmental impact. DePINs can unlock new economic opportunities for communities in the Global South, providing access to clean energy and generating revenue through the sale of excess power. Moreover, this model democratizes energy ownership, allowing individuals to directly participate in the transition to a sustainable future. Combined with a decentralized governance mechanism, such a DePIN would grant token and node holders rights over key decisions, such as asset selection and network upgrades, ensuring the platform evolves in line with the community’s needs.

However, obvious challenges remain. The deployment of DePINs still requires upfront investment and technical expertise. Ensuring data security and privacy is paramount, particularly in regions with limited regulatory oversight. And interoperability between different DePINs is crucial for creating a truly decentralized and efficient energy ecosystem.

Crypto’s Energy Redemption

The crypto industry, with its innovative spirit and deep pockets, is uniquely positioned to address these challenges. Some already are, like Filecoin Green, an initiative that seeks to make its blockchain carbon-neutral and, in time, carbon-negative. But by encouraging energy DePINs, crypto can change its energy reputation and contribute to the global energy transition. It’s not enough to offset carbon emissions from servers or mining rigs; it’s about building a more sustainable and equitable future for all.

By harnessing the power of DePINs, we can transform the energy landscape, creating a system that is cleaner, more resilient, and more accessible. Crypto started with a desire to make money better. Let’s make energy better while we’re at it.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cryptos-energy-problem-may-have-a-depin-solution/feed/ 0 35698 ‘Bond King’ Jeffrey Gundlach Says Stocks Not Rallying Due to $3,000,000,000 per Day US Problem https://earlybirdsinvest.com/bond-king-jeffrey-gundlach-says-stocks-not-rallying-due-to-3000000000-per-day-us-problem/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/bond-king-jeffrey-gundlach-says-stocks-not-rallying-due-to-3000000000-per-day-us-problem/#respond Tue, 25 Mar 2025 06:58:40 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/bond-king-jeffrey-gundlach-says-stocks-not-rallying-due-to-3000000000-per-day-us-problem/

Billionaire “Bond King” Jeffrey Gundlach says the stock market is struggling to sustain rallies due to a massive expense draining the government’s coffers.

In a new CNBC interview, the CEO of investment management firm DoubleLine Capital points out that the S&P 500 has given up most of its gains since the Federal Reserve began its rate-cutting cycle in Q3 2024.

According to Gundlach, risk assets like equities tend to witness upside bursts when the Fed slashes interest rates. With the S&P500 plummeting to a level last seen in September of last year, Gundlach says the bearish price action indicates a deeper issue is troubling the stock market.

“Since the Fed starting cutting rates back in September, bond yields are still up and the stock market is doing very, very little since then. So this is an unusual time period where the Fed cutting rates by 100 basis points and talking about two more, we have not seen a rally in the 10-year Treasury bond…

We have also not really had a rally in stocks since the Fed started cutting interest rates. There’s that old phrase ‘Don’t fight the Fed,’ which is supposed to mean that if the Fed is cutting, you’re supposed to stay long risk but it sort of isn’t working this time.

I think that’s going to continue to be a theme as we move forward in time.

I think that we really have a big problem… with this interest expense. It’s over $3 billion a day in interest expense on the Treasury debt.”

Interest expense is the interest paid by the US government to holders of its $36.22 trillion national debt. The nonpartisan, nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) says data from the Treasury Department showed that the government paid $882 billion in interest costs during the 2024 fiscal year, which ran from October 1st, 2023 to September 30th, 2024.

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]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/bond-king-jeffrey-gundlach-says-stocks-not-rallying-due-to-3000000000-per-day-us-problem/feed/ 0 27076 DeFi’s billion-dollar problem: Why hybrid security is the answer https://earlybirdsinvest.com/defis-billion-dollar-problem-why-hybrid-security-is-the-answer/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/defis-billion-dollar-problem-why-hybrid-security-is-the-answer/#respond Sat, 22 Mar 2025 13:48:25 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/defis-billion-dollar-problem-why-hybrid-security-is-the-answer/

The following is a guest post from Chris Thomas, Head of Blockchain and Corporate Security at GRVT.

While a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, in the world of cryptocurrency, that weak link is often security. Each year, billions of dollars vanish overnight from the crypto market due to security breaches, hacks and exploits.

The recent Bybit hack, where attackers drained over $1.5 billion in Ethereum, serves as yet another reminder of these risks. While Bybit assured users that funds were secure, the incident reinforced a fundamental issue: even the largest platforms remain vulnerable to sophisticated attacks under traditional security models.

Total value stolen in crypto hacks and the number of hacks. Source: Chainalysis

In 2024 alone, crypto-related thefts surged by 21%, totaling $2.2 billion, while hacking incidents increased from 282 in 2023 to 303. However, security failures go beyond just theft — centralized systems expose user funds to risks even without a direct breach.

Crypto’s Security Dilemma

The collapse of FTX in 2022, which erased over $8 billion in user funds, heightened concerns about custodial exchanges. Entrusting assets to centralized entities has repeatedly led to devastating losses, whether through mismanagement, fraud or outright collapse.

But decentralization hasn’t solved the problem either — flash loan attacks, smart contract exploits and governance vulnerabilities have drained liquidity pools in seconds, proving that DEXs are not immune to financial catastrophe.

The ongoing dilemma highlights a fundamental issue: neither traditional CEXs nor fully decentralized protocols offer a foolproof security model. CEXs provide user-friendly interfaces but require blind trust in a centralized entity, exposing users to custodial risks. DEXs eliminate intermediaries but introduce new challenges, such as private key mismanagement, smart contract vulnerabilities and slow governance responses to security threats.

No matter how advanced crypto technology is, fortunes can vanish in an instant. The question is no longer CEX vs. DEX — it’s how security can evolve to eliminate their weaknesses. A new approach is needed — one that blends the best of both worlds.

The Case for Hybrid Security in DeFi

A hybrid security model combines the advantages of centralized security measures with decentralized, trust-minimized solutions. Instead of forcing users to choose between control and convenience or security and usability, hybrid exchanges aim to provide institutional-grade protections while preserving self-custody.

The hybrid security approach recognizes the strengths and limitations of both CEXs and DEXs. Source: GRVT

Centralized exchanges implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), cold storage, anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and insurance coverage against cyber threats. However, these protections have limits — cold storage remains a single point of failure, MFA can be compromised through social engineering, and users must trust the exchange to act in good faith.

Decentralized exchanges rely on non-custodial asset management, smart contract audits and decentralized governance mechanisms. While these features enhance transparency and user autonomy, they do not eliminate risks. Lost private keys mean lost funds and even the most rigorously audited contracts have been subject to multi-million-dollar exploits.

A hybrid security model closes these gaps by combining CEX-level protections with DeFi resilience, allowing users to enjoy high-security standards while retaining decentralization.

How Hybrid Security Reduces Risk

Hybrid security models seek to mitigate the risks that have led to billions in losses across the crypto space. By combining decentralized self-custody with centralized security controls, these models offer a more resilient approach to asset protection.

1. Self-Custody Without Exchange Failure

Unlike traditional CEXs, which require users to relinquish control of their assets, hybrid models enforce self-custody through solutions like Secure Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology. With the new approach, users can be confident that their funds will be protected even if the exchange is compromised, reducing the risk of catastrophic failures seen in past CEX crashes.

2. Smart Contract-Backed Withdrawal Protection

Hybrid security platforms integrate Web2 and Web3 security measures at the smart contract level. Users can whitelist withdrawal addresses, and transactions require multi-factor authentication and wallet signatures. The hybrid security model significantly reduces the likelihood of unauthorized withdrawals, even in cases of compromised login credentials.

3. Order Book Systems Prevent DeFi Exploits

One of DeFi’s biggest vulnerabilities is flash loan attacks, which exploit automated market makers (AMMs) to drain liquidity pools in seconds.

The hybrid security infrastructure prevents critical financial risks with a multilayered security approach. Source: GRVT

Hybrid exchanges avoid this risk by utilizing off-chain order books, preventing front-running, sandwich attacks and price manipulation that plague fully decentralized protocols.

4. Institutional-Grade Compliance with Blockchain Transparency

While implementing traditional security controls like suspicious activity monitoring and withdrawal limits, hybrid security models ensure that key aspects of governance remain decentralized. Smart contract enforcement minimizes human intervention risks while maintaining transparency on the blockchain.

Hybrid Security: The Next Evolution of DeFi

The idea that finance must be fully centralized or fully decentralized is outdated. Security should not come at the cost of autonomy, and usability should not require blind trust in a single entity.

The hybrid security model represents a logical evolution in DeFi’s development — balancing institutional safeguards with blockchain transparency. Pure CEX models have demonstrated their vulnerabilities through high-profile collapses, while fully decentralized models are still in their infancy and vulnerable to emerging exploits.

Hybrid models signal a shift towards a more robust security framework, ensuring that exchange failures and protocol breaches become relics of the past. The question is no longer whether hybrid security will define the next era of crypto but how soon the industry will accept that the old ways are no longer enough.

Mentioned in this article
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]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/defis-billion-dollar-problem-why-hybrid-security-is-the-answer/feed/ 0 26592 The Nothing Phone 3a’s Essential Key is a great idea, but there’s a big problem https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-nothing-phone-3as-essential-key-is-a-great-idea-but-theres-a-big-problem/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-nothing-phone-3as-essential-key-is-a-great-idea-but-theres-a-big-problem/#respond Sun, 09 Mar 2025 21:12:37 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-nothing-phone-3as-essential-key-is-a-great-idea-but-theres-a-big-problem/
Nothing Phone 3a Pro power button and Essential Key with man's fingers

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

One of the star features of the new Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro is the Essential Key. It’s a new hardware button that controls an app called Essential Space. Using AI, Essential Space allows you to combine screenshots (or photos) with voice recordings and automatically turn them into actionable tasks. It’s an interesting idea and, with some more polish, it could become a hit.

The problem, though, is the location of the Essential Key. For some reason, Nothing chose to put it right underneath the power button. During my time with the phones thus far, I’ve accidentally hit the Essential Key instead of the power button numerous times. I’ve also accidentally held down the power button, thinking I was holding down the Essential Key.

Nothing must have known this would be a problem because it designed the Essential Key to have a glossy, rounded look, which is different from the flat matte design of the power button. Unfortunately, this still doesn’t stop me from mistaking which was which and wishing the Essential Key wasn’t even there.

Let this be a lesson to Nothing and any other manufacturer thinking of adding a new button to their latest smartphones: it’s a good idea to stay away from the power button!

If a button is even necessary, it could go in so many other places

Nothing Phone 3a Pro power button and Essential Key

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

Nothing phones have what I call a “button split design,” with the power button and volume rocker on separate sides, similar to iPhones and OnePlus phones. This leaves a ton of room on either side of the phone for a new button.

Instead of putting it on the right side of the phone underneath the power button, Nothing could have put the Essential Key on the left side underneath the volume rocker, for example. As long as there was enough separation between the volume keys and the Essential Key, no one would ever mistake the latter for the former — and they certainly wouldn’t mistake it for the power button.

Why not put the button on the left, under the volume rocker? Why not way above the power button? In fact, why have a button at all?

Conversely, Nothing could have put the Essential Key above the power button, near the very top of the phone. This would have put enough separation between the two while also preventing your thumb from naturally covering the Essential Key when you’re blindly hunting for the power button. My big problem is that I put my thumb on the right side of the phone and press the first key I feel. But if the Essential Key were way high up, that wouldn’t happen. I would need to purposefully go to the Essential Key when I wanted to use it.

Of course, there is the notion that the button doesn’t need to exist at all. As it stands, the Essential Key only operates Essential Space. That limited functionality could easily have been transferred to the volume keys (hold down both volume keys simultaneously, for example) or even a power button shortcut (double-pressing the power button traditionally opens the camera, but Nothing could choose to transfer that to Essential Space).

I’m sure Nothing avoided doing that because it would be too easy for users to ignore Essential Space. Having a dedicated button there puts it front and center, for better or worse.

The power button’s location is well established, don’t mess with it

Nothing Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro flat on a table

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

Outside of some extremely niche smartphones, the power button is always in the same place. It’s always on the right and easily accessible by your thumb when held in your right hand. Even Apple abides by this rule. Apple also seems to understand that it shouldn’t mess with it. It smartly put the new Camera Control button very low under the iPhone’s power button and made it flush with the side so the two don’t feel anything alike.

Is it OK for new buttons on phones to be near the power button?

37 votes

Granted, some companies put all their buttons on the right and then put the power button above the volume rocker, with Google being the most prominent example. This might seem backward to Samsung users who are used to the right-sided setup but with the power button below the volume rocker. Either way, though, the power button is always on the right and easily accessible by your thumb. In both cases, should Google or Samsung decide to add a new button, it would almost certainly need to go on the left side of Pixel and Galaxy phones, where there currently are no buttons. This wouldn’t mess with the established norms.

Apple has added two buttons to iPhones over the past few years, and even it knows not to mess with the power button.

Nothing seems to be the only company that thinks this design rule isn’t that important. I’m interested to see how Nothing users react when they get their new Phone 3a or Phone 3a Pro. I’m sure that, over time, muscle memory will adjust, and they’ll stop doing what I’ve been doing over the past week and mixing the buttons up. Even assuming that will happen, though, it still would have been better for everyone if the Essential Key were in a less confusing spot in the first place.

What do you think? Vote in our poll above and sound off in the comments with how you feel about the sanctity of the power button’s location!

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-nothing-phone-3as-essential-key-is-a-great-idea-but-theres-a-big-problem/feed/ 0 24207 Vitalik Buterin Warns: Lost Crypto Is a Bigger Problem Than Hacks https://earlybirdsinvest.com/vitalik-buterin-warns-lost-crypto-is-a-bigger-problem-than-hacks/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/vitalik-buterin-warns-lost-crypto-is-a-bigger-problem-than-hacks/#respond Fri, 28 Feb 2025 21:07:25 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/vitalik-buterin-warns-lost-crypto-is-a-bigger-problem-than-hacks/

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s
ETH


$2,213.68

co-founder, is pushing for stronger wallet security solutions to help users avoid losing access to their digital assets.

Buterin believes that personal losses due to forgotten passwords, lost devices, or lack of backups are just as concerning but often overlooked, while high-profile hacks often dominate the conversation—such as the recent $1.4 billion theft from Bybit



$4.34B

.

In a February 28 post on X, Buterin highlighted how easy it is to lose access to funds, “Software bug, forgotten password, lost device, paper wallet burned down in LA fire, upgraded device without backing up data … lots of ways for that to happen”.

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He also pointed out that many people feel too embarrassed to talk about these losses because they blame themselves.

For years, Buterin has been an advocate of social recovery—a method that allows users to regain access to their wallets with the help of trusted individuals or institutions.

In May 2024, He shared that he personally stores most of his crypto in a multisig Safe wallet, a system that requires multiple approvals to access funds.

Meanwhile, in January 2021, he proposed a system where “guardians” could step in when a user was locked out. These guardians could be friends, family members, or institutions, ensuring that assets remain accessible even if primary credentials are lost.

On February 27, MetaMask, a self-custody crypto wallet, shared its near-term product roadmap. What are they? Read the full story.

Aaron S. Editor-In-Chief

Having completed a Master’s degree in Economics, Politics, and Cultures of the East Asia region, Aaron has written scientific papers analyzing the differences between Western and Collective forms of capitalism in the post-World War II era.
With close to a decade of experience in the FinTech industry, Aaron understands all of the biggest issues and struggles that crypto enthusiasts face. He’s a passionate analyst who is concerned with data-driven and fact-based content, as well as that which speaks to both Web3 natives and industry newcomers.
Aaron is the go-to person for everything and anything related to digital currencies. With a huge passion for blockchain & Web3 education, Aaron strives to transform the space as we know it, and make it more approachable to complete beginners.
Aaron has been quoted by multiple established outlets, and is a published author himself. Even during his free time, he enjoys researching the market trends, and looking for the next supernova.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/vitalik-buterin-warns-lost-crypto-is-a-bigger-problem-than-hacks/feed/ 0 22494 The Protocol: Can Based Rollups Solve Ethereum’s Layer-2 Problem? https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-protocol-can-based-rollups-solve-ethereums-layer-2-problem/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-protocol-can-based-rollups-solve-ethereums-layer-2-problem/#respond Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:30:28 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-protocol-can-based-rollups-solve-ethereums-layer-2-problem/

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Ben Schiller, CoinDesk’s Opinion and Features editor.

In this issue:

  • Can Based Rollups solve Ethereum’s problem?
  • Lido goes modular
  • Uniswap finally unveils Unichain
  • Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade is coming

Network news

BASED ROLLUPS TO THE RESCUE: In recent years, Ethereum has embraced a layer-2 scaling roadmap—a plan that encouraged the development of third-party auxiliary networks called “layer-2 rollups”—to help scale the base Ethereum ecosystem. Offloading activity to these upstart networks has helped bring down fees and improve speeds for end-users, but it has led to a massive, deeply fragmented ecosystem of layer 2s. But while layer-2 networks all post data back down to Ethereum, they often struggle to communicate directly with one another, meaning passing assets and data between them can become expensive and cumbersome. There’s also the risk of centralized sequencers: reliance on company-controlled black boxes to pass transaction data between blockchain layers. As a result, some Ethereum developers are pushing rollup tech that takes a new approach to security and interoperability: “based rollups.” Based rollups differ from most existing rollups because they shift execution duties—such as processing transactions—back to Ethereum’s layer-1 rather than handling them on a separate layer-2 network. When someone transacts on a layer-2 rollup, their transaction is processed through a component called a “sequencer.” The sequencer batches multiple transactions and submits them to Ethereum for settlement. While sequencers provide efficiency and generate revenue for rollup operators by strategically ordering transactions, they also introduce a single point of failure. Based rollups avoid this vulnerability by using Ethereum’s built-in sequencing—its massive community of validators—rather than a single centralized sequencer. Rollups like Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, zkSync, and Blast have quickly grown to support larger transaction volumes than Ethereum itself. According to L2Beat, there are currently 140 live layer-2 networks, but the experience of operating between them—passing assets and other data between networks—has become clunky. As Ethereum becomes bigger and layer-2 networks become more integral to its functioning, improving communication between layer-2s—in other words, improving “composability”—has become more important than ever. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

LIDO GOES MODULAR: The developers behind Lido, the largest staking service on Ethereum, have proposed revamping the staking platform with modular “vaults.” The new framework would introduce stVaults, a customizable component designed to help Lido accommodate institutions and more complex staking strategies. Lido currently allows investors to pool their ether (ETH) together and “stake” their crypto — locking up their tokens with the network, helping to secure it in exchange for interest. Lido pioneered liquid staking: users get a receipt on their deposits called Lido staked ETH (stETH) that they can trade at any time. With liquid staking on Lido, entering and exiting staking positions became as simple as buying and selling stETH tokens. Lido V3’s stVaults are “modular smart contracts designed to meet the diverse and evolving needs of Ethereum participants,” according to a press release shared with CoinDesk. The upgrade would enable staking setups beyond cut-and-dry liquid staking. Specifically, stVaults will be able to help institutional stakers who want to personalize their staking setups, node operators who want to attract high-volume stakers, and asset managers who want to create new staking use cases. “What is important to understand with customizable infrastructure, is that you can in general build even more complex products,” said Konstantin Lomashuk, the founder of the Lido staking protocol. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

UNICHAIN FINALLY: Uniswap Labs, the primary developer behind one of the largest decentralized exchanges (DEX), Uniswap, shared Feb 13 that its long-awaited layer-2 network, Unichain, is now live. Powered by Optimism’s OP stack, Unichain—like other layer-2s on Ethereum—offers faster and cheaper transactions compared to Ethereum’s mainnet. Developers can deploy apps onto the network, which has been optimized specifically for decentralized finance (DeFi) and aims to serve as “the home for liquidity across chains,” according to Uniswap Labs. For Uniswap Labs, the benefit of launching a layer-2 is twofold: it will provide a better experience for users of Uniswap and similar platforms, and it will create a new revenue opportunity in the form of network fees. A representative for Uniswap Labs told CoinDesk that “around 20%” of the chain’s revenue will go directly to the company. Unichain has been in testing since October 2024 and is classified by Uniswap Labs as a “stage-1” rollup, meaning it has elements of decentralization but retains some centrally-controlled safeguards at this early phase. The network is built on the OP Stack, a modular framework that lets developers build interoperable layer-2 chains based on Optimism’s optimistic rollup technology. Several well-known teams have come out with their own OP Stack-based layer-2’s, including Coinbase’s ‘Base’, Kraken’s ‘Ink,’ World’s ‘World chain,’ and Sony’s ‘Soneium.’ “We are anticipating a world of many, many different use cases, of which trading is a small subset,” Adams told CoinDesk in an interview. In collaboration with Ethereum research and development firm Flashbots, the Uniswap team said it has created a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) on Unichain, a secure area for more sensitive transactions and is meant to optimize the chain for DeFi by allowing for more advanced trades and faster transaction finality. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

PECTRA IN APRIL: Ethereum developers have officially set test dates for Pectra, the network’s first upgrade in 11 months, putting it on track for a potential April release date. Pectra will contain an array of improvements — with a special focus on wallets and validators — but it comes at a period of heightened scrutiny for Ethereum, which has recently faced pressure from its community to refocus and catch up with competitors. Ethereum’s core builders decided on Thursday during their bi-weekly “All Core Developers” call to begin testing Pectra on Feb. 26 on the Holesky testnet, with a follow-up test on the network’s Sepolia testnet slated for Mar. 5. Should those tests succeed, the developers will reconvene on Mar. 6 to determine when to launch the upgrade officially. According to Tim Beiko, the protocol support lead at the Ethereum Foundation, developers expect the upgrade to hit mainnet in early April. Pectra — a portmanteau representing two separate upgrades, Prague and Electra — includes eight major improvements to the second-largest blockchain. Among the most-anticipated is EIP-7702, which is supposed to improve the user experience of crypto wallets. The Ethereum community has been facing an identity crisis over the last few weeks. Its native token, ether (ETH), is underperforming against other cryptocurrencies, and competitor networks like Solana have drawn attention and talent from the Ethereum ecosystem — the first-ever programmable blockchain and still the most trafficked. Amid the controversy — much of it directed at the Etheruem Foundation, which coordinates chain upgrades and is currently undergoing a major leadership shuffle — developers are hoping that Pectra will help put the network on steadier footing. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

Money Center

El Salvador Dispatch

Berlín, a city of 20,000 people, is home to El Salvador’s second Bitcoin circular economy. “Bitcoin City already exists. It’s called Berlín,” said one resident. Tom Carreras reports.

LinksDAO Launches on Base

LinksDAO began by selling NFTs, but the market has moved on in the time since.

Regulatory and policy

Hester Peirce, head of the SEC’s new crypto taskforce, says that memecoins likely to fall outside the regulator’s jurisdiction.

Calendar

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/the-protocol-can-based-rollups-solve-ethereums-layer-2-problem/feed/ 0 19096