Web3 | Identosphere Blogcatcher

June 12th is the Day!

PIVX, Firo: Private cryptocurrency infrastructure, The Particl Project and BasicSwapDEX host the Private Roundtable with special guest Edge.

Topics:
Edge Wallet, and AI vs. scammers, social tricks, and attacks; local AI boosts privacy
Time:
June 12th, 09:00 am EDT
Xspace link:
https://x.com/i/spaces/1PlKQMXVmqdKE

We are so excited! Can’t wait to see you there.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org

Join our next Privacy Roundtable Event! was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

What happens when two of the biggest tech waves—AI and crypto—start to converge?

In this LP Summit conversation, a16z General Partners Chris Dixon and David George explore how stablecoins are creating a new global financial layer, why generative AI is reshaping market structures, and how the next tech giants will be built.

From network effects to native AI business models, this is a sharp look at the future of innovation and investing.

 

Resources: 

Find Chris on X: https://x.com/cdixon

Find David on X: https://x.com/DavidGeorge83

Watch ‘What is an AI Agent?’: https://youtu.be/xGEUPLLuEIo?si=RM-tD-R8H9XfbIP

 

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

The new incentive mechanism marks a shift from OS2’s closed beta to a public release.

The first draft of the broad market structure and regulation bill that the cryptocurrency industry has been calling for has been released.

Webus International and VivoPower are gearing up to spend a cumulative $420 million on XRP for digital asset treasuries.

Bitcoin exchange reserves have reached a new all-time low, with the amount of Bitcoin held on exchanges dropping to historic lows

The Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed that protocol staking does not fall under its purview, making it far more attractive for financial institutions to participate.

Major cryptocurrencies fell sharply after President Trump accused China of violating a preliminary trade agreement.

Loud turns Kaito Mindshare tweets into SOL rewards via its $LOUD token and Meteora trading fees.

According to analysts, ETH's price action this month is the result of the upgrade, and a refocus on core activities.

Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group has completed a private placement of roughly $2.4 billion.

Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, announced the launch of Bitcoin-backed loans with single-digit interest rates

Bitcoin's options open interest has reached a new all-time high of $46.2 billion

Canary Funds has submitted a registration statement (S-1) to the U

Cantor Fitzgerald is also part of the new BTC treasury consortium, Twenty One Capital, alongside Tether and Softbank.

The U.S. SEC has issued new guidance clarifying that certain protocol staking activities are not considered securities transactions.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has announced a comprehensive plan to transform the UK into a "crypto powerhouse" at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas.

PIVX Weekly Pulse (May 23rd, 2025 — May 29th, 2025)

Stay in the loop with your weekly PIVX update! Get insights into market trends and discover what’s new with the community.

Market Pulse Masternode Count: The number of active PIVX masternodes currently stands at 2,088, a small decrease from last week’s total of 2,121. It looks like a few masternodes have gone offline in the past week. Price Check: The Daily USD Value of PIVX experienced a further decline this week, with daily prices ranging between $0.14 and $0.15. The weekly average settled at $0.15, down from last week’s $0.1609. While the precise reason for this sharper drop isn’t fully clear, it likely reflects the broader volatility in the crypto market, as assets like Bitcoin also saw losses of over 4% in the last seven days. Trading Buzz: Amidst a growing bearish sentiment among traders, PIVX’s total weekly trading volume saw a further dip, decreasing from $13.4 million to approximately $12.9 million. Nevertheless, daily trading activity remained robust, consistently exceeding $1.5 million. New Listings: Despite weakening prices and market action, the PIVX team continues its strong development push. This past week saw PIVX land new listings on both ExPlace and Intercambio. Furthermore, the integration with Edge Wallet is complete, enabling users to seamlessly store, send, and receive PIV coins through the Edge wallet.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

PIVX Weekly Pulse (May 23rd, 2025 — May 29th, 2025) was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A new project is calling for more companies to acquire ETH as a treasury asset.

The Chairman of Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy says public wallet addresses are a security risk. Arkham Intelligence is outing them anyway.

The BNB Chain-based DEX is the top DEX by volume over the last 30 days, experiencing a 1,500% increase during that period.

Avalanche’s transaction count is soaring following the launch of MapleStory and the announcement of the upcoming FIFA blockchain.

The U

A trade court panel ruled that Trump did not have the authority to roll out the majority of his recently threatened tariffs. An appeals court stayed the ruling while it sorts out each side's arguments.

Twenty One Capital, a Bitcoin treasury firm backed by Tether and SoftBank, has raised its total financing to $685 million following a second note sale

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced that the company has experienced growth comparable to that of Facebook, highlighting Bitcoin as the ultimate social network

Paris Saint-Germain, one of Europe's leading football clubs and a finalist in the UEFA Champions League, has announced the adoption of Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset

The EF has caught flak for funding its day-to-day operations by selling ETH. With a $2 million loan on Aave, it may be turning to DeFi borrowing to replace those sales.

Arkham Intelligence has publicly identified approximately 454,231 Bitcoin (BTC) linked to Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, representing about 78% of the company's disclosed holdings

In this episode a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz sit down with legendary music producer and bestselling author Rick Rubin to explore the origin of his unexpected new creation: "The Way of Code"*

Blending ancient philosophy and modern AI, The Way of Code reimagines the 3,000-year-old Tao Te Ching for the age of artificial intelligence, software, and “vibe coding.” What began as a viral tweet quickly evolved into a creative manifesto—part book, part tool, part spiritual operating system for the future. Joined by a16z General Partners Anjney Midha and Erik Torenberg, the group dives deep into: 

How Rick became a meme for Vibe Coding —and then quickly wrote "The Way of Code" Why AI is just another artistic tool Remix culture, creativity, and collective consciousness Why great founders and artists need to stay true to themselves

With shout outs to punk rock, the collective unconscious, and Johnny Cash’s famed acoustic sessions, this conversation is a sprawling, soul-searching journey across music, philosophy, tech, and truth. We hope you enjoy this deeply personal and surprisingly practical conversation on how to live—and create—in the age of AI. 

The Way of Code:  https://www.thewayofcode.com/

“Tools will come and tools will go. Only the vibe coder remains.” - Rick Rubin 

Resources: 

Watch the Tetragrammaton podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Gat6FdyiG5ydUUHqPTAEQ

Rick on X: https://x.com/rickrubin

Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca

Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/

Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz

Erik on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Erik's Substack: https://eriktorenberg.substack.com/

Anjney on X: https://x.com/AnjneyMidha

 Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

The high-profile Bitcoin Treasury Company now has $685M in its coffers.

Major cryptocurrencies are trading lower after initially rallying on a U.S. court ruling striking down President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.

Five promising DeFi apps to put your money to work on Sui.

Banco Santander, Spain's largest bank and the biggest lender in the Eurozone with 175 million customers worldwide, is considering an expansion into digital assets

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency project backed by the Trump family, has announced the integration of its stablecoin USD1 with Kernel DAO

U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have attracted more than $9 billion in net inflows over the past five weeks.

60% of deposits into scam crypto wallets are lost to AI-powered scams.

The Bank of Russia has approved a policy allowing financial institutions to offer crypto-linked derivatives, securities, and digital financial assets to qualified investors

Norway-based digital asset company K33 has announced the launch of a Bitcoin treasury strategy, securing approximately SEK 60 million (around $6

DeFi Development Corp

As of May 2025, approximately 93% of the total supply of Bitcoin has already been mined

Bergen County, New Jersey, the state's most populous county, has entered a five-year agreement with blockchain software firm Balconytech to digitize and tokenize approximately $240 billion worth of real estate property deeds

The controversial leader called for the repeal of BitLicense in his speech at Bitcon 2025.

Panther Protocol Foundation has received a $1.15 million endowment in liquid assets from Panther Ventures Limited, the development company behind Panther Protocol. This funding marks a key milestone in the Foundation’s mission to foster the long-term success of the Panther ecosystem.

Following the transfer of Panther Protocol’s intellectual property to the newly established Swiss-based Foundation, the grant will be used to advance the protocol’s development and adoption in alignment with its decentralized and community-driven vision.

Limited Mainnet Beta Deployment

In line with its mandate to support the growth and sustainability of the Panther ecosystem, the Foundation is pleased to report the successful deployment of Panther’s limited mainnet beta last quarter. This release enables web3 users, builders and operators to explore private, compliance-compatible DeFi functionalities.

Over the past few weeks, the Foundation has prioritized incorporating feedback from the community and addressing early technical issues. We extend our thanks to all participants helping to test and refine the beta. So far, more than 2900 zAccounts have been created, with thousands of swaps, deposits, and withdrawals processed on the network.

The Foundation remains committed to ensuring the beta experience is as smooth and secure as possible, laying a strong foundation for the protocol’s full mainnet release.

What’s Next

In the coming weeks, we will share additional updates on Panther’s progress toward mainnet launch. Panther Protocol Foundation will also continue to champion a community-first approach and support developments that enrich the broader ecosystem.

Stay up to date by following Panther on X (Twitter), Discord, and Telegram.

About Panther Protocol Foundation

Panther Protocol Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the growth, sustainability, and responsible use of Panther Protocol. While it does not operate the protocol or facilitate digital asset services, the Foundation plays a critical role in promoting adoption, supporting open-source development, advancing research, and raising awareness around the protocol’s core privacy-preserving technologies.

By empowering users, developers, and permissioned actors within DeFi and web3, the Foundation contributes to building a more secure and confidential digital future.

For more information, visit www.panther.org.
To learn more about Panther Protocol, visit www.pantherprotocol.io.

Contact
Panther Protocol Foundation
📧 Email: general@panther.org
🌐 Website: www.panther.org

The Central Bank of Russia has authorized financial institutions to offer crypto-related products, including derivatives, securities, and digital financial assets, to qualified investors

Mezo Network has officially launched its mainnet, introducing a Bitcoin-centric decentralized finance (DeFi) platform designed to enable users to live off their Bitcoin holdings without selling them

Lending volume is down from $1 billion in January 2024 to $50 million this month.

From the Course to the Console—BAT Utility Hits Its Stride

Brave’s Rewards 3.0 Partner Program is picking up speed. Designed to expand Basic Attention Token (BAT) utility across Web3, the program gives partners premium exposure to Brave’s over 86 million monthly active users. In May, we’re welcoming 6 new partners spanning fitness, sports, gaming, DeFi, and creator tools, each bringing new ways to earn, engage, and build with BAT. This month also introduces new Brave Rewards product updates and Offer Wall enhancements, making it even easier for users to explore and participate.

New in Brave Rewards Implemented ability to add banner images to the Rewards offer wall (1.80.x) New dark mode (1.80.x)  Updated Brave Creators dashboard Meet May’s featured partners

This month’s partners are bringing Web3 into the rhythm of daily life, from movement-based challenges and golf rewards to community tokens, creative tools, and immersive gaming. Each one offers a distinct way for users to earn, play, or participate in the culture using BAT, whether trading on a next-gen DEX, stepping bravely into a dystopian game world, or finding the perfect podcast guest. 

New partner offers will roll out across the Brave Rewards Offer Wall, Notification Ads, and New Tab Takeovers throughout the program, giving users fresh ways to explore, engage, and earn with BAT.

Berrie DEX 

BerrieDex is a multi-chain order book decentralized exchange reimagining DeFi trading with slippage-free limit and market orders. Operating on nine networks, including Ethereum and Solana, Berrie offers a “vortex of liquidity,” enabling frictionless trading and unlimited market creation. Its native token, $BERRIE, rewards stakers with 100% of trading fees, redistributed through open-market buybacks to support token value.

Through the program, Berrie will explore swap discounts for Brave Rewards users and BAT holders, making trading and earning in DeFi more accessible. Berrie has also listed BAT and GUANO are now listed on Berrie’s muti-chain exchange. 

GolfN

GolfN is a play-to-earn app that rewards golfers for doing what they love. Launching in open beta this spring on iOS and Android, it features scoring, AI-powered on-course tips, performance analytics, and community tools. Players earn points through in-app activity, which can be redeemed for premium golf gear in the GolfN Pro Shop, sweepstakes entries, and soon, even tradable on-chain for cash via $GOLF.

As part of the Rewards 3.0 Partner Program, GolfN will integrate BAT as a payment option, create custom, co-branded merchandise, and offer special bonus points opportunities and Pro Shop perks for BAT holders and Rewards users.  

Moonwalk Fitness

Moonwalk Fitness is an accountability app that combines daily step goals with financial incentives. Users can join or create games, set daily step targets, and pledge entry funds. Hitting your goals protects your deposit, while missing them forfeits a portion to a prize pool shared by the most consistent players.

Brave first partnered with Moonwalk in 2024 on several step challenges, including Step for Gold, during the Paris Winter Olympics and the Singapore Stroll at Solana Breakpoint. BAT sponsored the bonus prize pools for each, drawing hundreds of signups via Brave’s unique game codes. In May, Brave and Moonwalk teamed up again for Accelerate Impact, a charity challenge benefitting BONK’s Bonk for Paws initiative. The event raised over $32K from Brave and other sponsors, with 1,000 signups in just under a week. 

As part of the program, Brave will continue sponsoring Moonwalk challenges with BAT rewards. Moonwalk is also exploring BAT as a buy-in option on its platform, expanding earning and utility opportunities for BAT holders and Brave Rewards users. 

Novacast AI

Novacast is an AI-powered platform that connects podcast hosts with ideal guests instantly, streamlining the entire booking process. Hosts can browse expert profiles, automate scheduling, and earn for publishing episodes. Guests can get matched with relevant shows or use AI tools to discover and pitch active podcasts with the click of a button. Novacast handles the heavy lifting so creators and guests can spark conversations that matter.

Novacast and Brave are combining efforts to amplify creator visibility, unlock new content opportunities, and introduce novel utilities for BAT within the podcasting ecosystem.

Ubisoft

Ubisoft is a leading game publisher known for creating rich, immersive worlds across iconic franchises like Assassin’s Creed®, Brawlhalla®, For Honor®, Far Cry®, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon®, Just Dance®, Rabbids®, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six®, and more. In 2023, Ubisoft generated nearly $2 billion in net bookings, powered by a global network of studios and a loyal player base.

Through platforms like Ubisoft Connect and Ubisoft+, players can access an expansive catalog of over 100 games and services that enhance play across devices and communities. 

As part of the Brave Rewards 3.0 Partner Program, Ubisoft is developing a custom Brave skin for avatars in Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E., a community-driven adventure set in a dystopian future where players shape the narrative through collective decision-making. The Brave skin is a symbol of digital resistance, created for players who reject conformity and challenge the status quo. 

Brave and Ubisoft are also teaming up for an experiential activation at EthCC in Cannes (June 30-July 3), inviting fans to step into the world of Captain Laserhawk and explore shared themes of independence and disruption.

Updates from April Partners 

In April, 6 partners joined the Rewards 3.0 Partner Program: Coinage, H3 Entertainment, STEPN, Unfungible, Unstoppable Domains, and Zcash Media. Together, we launched Brave Ads campaigns, co-branded activations, and early BAT integrations designed to boost engagement, drive adoption, and pilot innovative on-chain experiences. 

Pudgy Pop, Bandit, and GuanCoin teamed up for a community raffle. BAT and GUANO holders who completed a Web3 quest on bat.bandit.network earned bonus entries for a Pudgy Penguin NFT giveaway hosted by Pudgy Pop, blending on-chain participation with playful incentives.

Brave also launched its own on-chain top-level domain, .brave, in partnership with Unstoppable Domains. Within days, over 3,500 .brave domains were claimed. Fans can still claim a .brave domain here, using BAT, cryptocurrency, or credit card. An upcoming episode of The Brave Technologist podcast will feature a discussion between Unstoppable’s COO Sandy Carter and Brave’s Luke Mulks around decentralized identity and the future of user-owned naming.

Meanwhile, Brave and STEPN teamed up to launch a limited-edition digital collectible: the Brave sneaker. From May 27-30, 200 sneakers (199 OG and 1 Genesis edition) will be raffled off to eligible participants. Holders of BAT x Adam Ape NFT holders receive a 50% boost in their odds of winning. Collectible sneakers enhance both earnings and gameplay, demonstrating a real-world application of crypto in fitness and lifestyle. On May 27, Chonky from STEPN joined the weekly BAT Community Call to share more about the partnership and raffle.

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Exciting collaborations with Coinage, H3 Entertainment, Unfungible, and ZCash Media are also in motion, with more to be revealed in the next update. 

How interested partners can get involved

Web3 builders and projects can join the Rewards 3.0 Partner Program to gain access to a highly engaged, privacy-conscious user base, and help shape the next wave of utility for BAT. Get in touch to learn more.

Stay tuned for more partner announcements and ways to engage with BAT.

Brave is a driving force leading the way for Web3 adoption, directly supporting Web3 into the broader Web through its privacy browser, independent search engine, and browser-native, multi-chain crypto wallet. Brave currently has over 85 million monthly active users. Learn more at brave.com and basicattentiontoken.org.

The total supply of stablecoins has reached a new all-time high of $247 billion, marking a $3

Several prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry, including Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, and Blockstream CEO Adam Back, have made public statements predicting that Bitcoin will reach $1 million per coin

TimeDotFun, a platform built on the Solana blockchain that tokenizes time, has officially launched to the public

Matt Cole, CEO of Strive, has publicly urged Meta Platforms Inc

Cantor Fitzgerald has officially launched a $2 billion Bitcoin-backed lending program, executing its first transactions with crypto firms FalconX and Maple Finance

Op-Ed: An integrated roadmap for scaling the Ethereum L1, bringing L2s home, and becoming the best.

qrcoin.fun, a new onchain advertising experiment, is picking up steam on Base and Farcaster.

Pakistan has announced plans to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve as part of its national financial strategy

The U.S. President's social media company is planning its own corporate bitcoin treasury.

Three months after the LIBRA memecoin scandal involving Argentine president Javier Milei, Circle has stepped in.

Digital asset investment funds recorded $3

BNB Chain has successfully activated the Maxwell HardFork on its testnet, introducing key upgrades such as reducing block time to 0

The ‘smart DEX’ will unify lending, trading, and borrowing capabilities with boosted yields and Uniswap v4 compatibility.

Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has frozen approximately $57 million in USDC linked to the Libra team

A host of crypto investors are bankrolling SharpLink Gaming's transition into becoming "Strategy for ETH.'"

The Biden Administration put its ‘thumb on the scale’ against cryptocurrency investments, said Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to make the city the first in the world to issue a Bitcoin-backed bond, referred to as a BitBond

Bergen County, New Jersey, has announced a five-year agreement with blockchain software firm Balcony to digitize all 370,000 of its property deeds on the Avalanche blockchain network

The Ethereum L2 is targeting financial institutions looking for permissioned, enterprise-grade blockchain solutions.

Bergen County, New Jersey, along with several other municipalities in the state, is undertaking the largest blockchain-based real estate deed digitization initiative in U

Starknet has introduced Asset Runes, a new class of Bitcoin-native assets that provide 1:1 exposure to tokens such as USDC, with plans to expand to STRK, ETH, NFTs, and real-world assets (RWAs)

Partnering with Rillet: The Financial ERP for the AI Age

Nicolas, Stelios and their team have rebuilt the foundation of the CFO suite.

By Julien Bek, Roelof Botha, and Cornelius Menke Published May 28, 2025 Rillet Co-Founder Nicolas Kopp.

Over the past 10 years, innovations have remade nearly every aspect of fintech—and in the process, unbundled a stack that was once wholly contained within a company’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. But the general ledger (GL)—the central record-keeping system that is the beating heart of financial operations—has been static, still dominated by legacy ERP solutions like NetSuite or Sage, launched decades ago.

For businesses trying to scale, the pain is real. They’re forced to graduate from products with limited functionality that no longer meet their needs to arcane, inefficient systems that take 10 or more specialists to run—and 15 to 20 days of manual work to close each month.

Why has this ERP foundation, so ripe for disruption, remained virtually untouched? In part because replacing the general ledger is a high-stakes proposition in a risk-averse field—and in part because it’s very hard to build.

Thankfully, Rillet co-founders Nicolas Kopp and Stelios Modes decided to take on that challenge, and rebuild an AI-native ERP from the ground up. The mission is to enable CFOs to achieve a zero-day close, and lay the foundation for a “one-person Finance function.” With a robust GL and features such as multi-entity support and advanced revenue recognition, Rillet becomes the go-to solution for businesses that are scaling past QuickBooks, as well as those that are slowed down by their NetSuite setup and want to modernize their CFO stack.

Prior to starting Rillet, Nicolas and Stelios experienced firsthand the challenges of working with traditional GL solutions while scaling the neobank N26. They recognized the sharp contrast between the hollowed-out legacy ERPs and the consumer-grade UI of newer solutions, and they understood that AI’s massive savings potential was pushing CFOs to innovate.

Over the past year, those insights have paid off, and Rillet has experienced strong pull from the market, attracting customers such as Windsurf and Decagon and collecting glowing reviews across the board, with an NPS of more than 70 and a perfect score on G2. Companies that once slogged through six-month deployments of legacy solutions can get up and running on Rillet in just weeks. Consulting-heavy customizations are replaced by simple user-friendly workflows and real-time reporting with pre-built investor metrics. Zero-day closes will soon be not the exception, but the expectation.

We at Sequoia are excited to lead Rillet’s Series A and support their growth, as their team—split across New York, Barcelona and now Menlo Park—continues to expand. What they’ve already accomplished is impressive, but it is just the start. We believe Rillet’s next chapter, around agentic automation of the Finance function (including auditing, accrual and reconciliation) will take the CFO experience to a whole new level. Thanks to Nicolas, Stelios and their team, CFOs finally have a fully modern foundation—that they can build on for years to come.

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FTX is scheduled to distribute over $5 billion in stablecoins to its creditors on May 30, 2025

The Bitcoin market is experiencing a pronounced supply crunch, with exchange balances reaching historic lows

GameStop launches its BTC treasury with a significant purchase.

The post Gen AI Present and Future: A Conversation with Chris Bedi, CCO and AI Enterprise Advisor at ServiceNow appeared first on Greylock.

FTX is set to distribute over $5 billion in stablecoins to its creditors on May 30, representing nearly 2% of all stablecoins currently in circulation

U

SharpLink Gaming, a Nasdaq-listed sports-betting technology company, has announced a $425 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) to establish an Ethereum (ETH) treasury strategy

Bitlayer Labs has announced partnerships with three of Bitcoin's largest mining pools—AntPool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool—which together control 36

The post Welcome, Howard Ting! appeared first on Greylock.

The U

Sonar lets teams self-host public token sales with “configurable compliance.”

Cork Protocol, an asset-pegged protocol backed by a16z CSX and Orange DAO, has suffered a major security breach resulting in losses estimated between $11 million and $12

The U

On May 28, 2025, a smart contract exploit resulted in the unauthorized transfer of approximately 3,760 wrapped staked Ether (wstETH), valued at around $12 million, from the Cork Protocol

VanEck, a $120 billion asset manager, has publicly urged the U

Imagine waking up to a message from your bank asking you to explain the source of your wealth and why you held cash at home. You’d probably shove this off as one of those phishing emails but this wasn’t the case for Louis Christopher, a respected property researcher.

Back in April, SQM Research managing director Christopher received an email from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) threatening to close his long-term account unless he updated his personal information. While this may be considered a routine KYC procedure, the bank demanded extensive personal information, including details about his source of wealth and the reason for holding cash outside the financial institution.

The email reportedly warned of account restrictions or closure if he failed to comply. Initially fearing a scam, Christopher confirmed the authenticity of the request directly with the bank, only to find the questions genuine and far-reaching. The case has brought to light the increasing intrusiveness of “Know Your Customer” (KYC) requirements and raised serious questions about privacy, financial autonomy, and the evolving relationship between Australians and their banks.

Although Australian banks are legally bound by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Act 2006, enforced by AUSTRAC, to collect and verify customer information, the depth and nature of CBA’s inquiry have been met with widespread public backlash. Many view the demand to explain personal cash holdings as an overreach, blurring the lines between legitimate financial oversight and an invasion of privacy.

A CBA spokesperson stated that these measures are designed to deter fraud, money laundering, and terrorism financing, and that having up-to-date customer details helps protect them. However, critics, including Christopher, argue that such aggressive interpretations of AML/CTF obligations can feel disproportionate and lack common sense, especially for customers with long and unremarkable banking histories. Christopher reportedly asserted that how he generates his wealth is his business unless there is a genuine suspicion of wrongdoing, which should warrant a court order.

This incident is not isolated. Social media has been abuzz with similar experiences from other customers reporting comparable demands from various Australian banks, with some even having accounts frozen after providing what were deemed “ambiguous” answers or missing emails. The consequences of non-compliance can be severe, ranging from restricted access to accounts to outright closure, which can significantly disrupt daily life for individuals relying on their banking services.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

Beyond KYC: Is Your Bank Spying on Your Couch Cushions? was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The TON Foundation has appointed Nikola Plecas, a former Visa executive with experience in crypto-focused global payments strategy, as its Vice President of Payments

GameStop Corp

Jack Dorsey's Block has announced plans to enable Bitcoin payments on all Square point-of-sale terminals

Metaplanet, a Japanese company, has issued $50 million (approximately 72億円) in zero-interest (0%) ordinary bonds to finance additional Bitcoin purchases

Cameron Winklevoss, billionaire co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, has publicly predicted that Bitcoin will reach a value of $1 million per coin

Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, currently holds over $120 billion worth of Bitcoin, representing approximately 5

Cetus, a protocol on the Sui blockchain, plans to fully compensate users affected by the $223 million exploit that occurred on May 22

David Sacks, the White House AI and Crypto Czar under the Trump administration, has accused Senator Elizabeth Warren of controlling the autopen during the Biden administration

David Sacks, the White House Crypto Czar under the Trump administration, stated that Bitcoin is transforming the U

Block Inc

Sol Strategies has filed a preliminary base shelf prospectus to raise up to $1 billion to acquire Solana (SOL) tokens

Starknet has introduced Asset Runes, a new class of Bitcoin-native assets that provide 1:1 exposure to real tokens such as USDC, with plans to expand to STRK, ETH, NFTs, and real-world assets (RWAs)

Block, the payments company led by Jack Dorsey, announced the launch of Bitcoin payments on all Square point-of-sale terminals

BlackRock has significantly increased its Bitcoin holdings, acquiring 22,419 BTC last week, valued at approximately $2

Cetus Protocol, the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Sui blockchain, suffered a security breach in May 2025 resulting in the theft of approximately $223 million in digital assets

Rosie Rios, the former Treasurer of the United States, has publicly affirmed the enduring presence of Bitcoin in the financial landscape

Cantor Fitzgerald has officially launched a $2 billion Bitcoin-backed lending program, marking its entry into crypto-backed financing

Digital asset investment products recorded robust inflows during the week of May 19 to May 23, 2025, with total weekly net inflows reaching approximately $3

Wynn’s leveraged BTC long position reached as large as $1.2 billion before he was forced to unwind some positions amid mounting losses.

Digital asset investment products recorded $3

Resolv Labs has earmarked 10% of the RESOLV supply for the airdrop, which must be claimed by June 27.

SharpLink’s stock rallied over 400% after it announced its plans for an ETH treasury and tapped Lubin as chairman of the board.

Rosie Rios, the former Treasurer of the United States, has publicly affirmed the permanence of Bitcoin in the financial landscape

VanEck, a $120 billion asset management firm, has publicly urged the U

U

Starknet has launched a new bridge enabling Bitcoin-native assets called Runes to be transferred and traded on its platform

Block, the company led by Jack Dorsey, has announced that its Square point-of-sale terminals will begin accepting Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network

Japanese energy and automotive company Remixpoint has resolved to purchase an additional ¥1 billion (approximately 10 billion yen) worth of Bitcoin, increasing its total investment in the cryptocurrency to ¥12 billion

AI’s breakout moment is here - but where is the real value accruing, and what’s just hype?

Recorded live at a16z’s annual LP Summit, General Partners Erik Torenberg, Martin Casado, and Sarah Wang unpack the current state of play in AI. From the myth of the GPT wrapper to the rapid rise of apps like Cursor, the conversation explores where defensibility is emerging, how platform shifts mirror (and diverge from) past tech cycles, and why the zero-sum mindset falls short in today’s AI landscape.

They also dig into the innovator’s dilemma facing SaaS incumbents, the rise of brand moats, the surprising role of prosumer adoption, and what it takes to pick true category leaders in a market defined by both exponential growth - and accelerated wipeouts.

Resources: 

Find Martin on X: https://x.com/martin_casado

Find Sarah on X: https://x.com/sarahdingwang

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Liquity V2 is live with its new $BOLD stablecoin, NFT-based Troves, and a “forkonomics” program spawning friendly spinoffs.

Despite Bitcoin rallying above $110,000, the overall crypto market capitalization is down 0.5% over the past 24 hours.

Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, is estimated to hold over $120 billion worth of Bitcoin, representing more than 5% of the current circulating supply

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has recorded 30 consecutive days without any outflows, now holding approximately 3

MetaMask, a leading cryptocurrency wallet and browser extension, has integrated support for the Solana network

Cantor Fitzgerald LP has officially launched a $2 billion Bitcoin-backed lending program, marking its entry into crypto-backed financing

New podcast series. New analytics. Long-term investing, the right way.

The U.S. president’s media company will be adopting Michael Saylor’s approach and issuing stocks and convertible notes to buy billions worth of Bitcoin.

We couldn’t miss the Avalanche Summit where we sat down with Emin Gün Sirer, co-founder & CEO of Ava Labs, to discuss the evolution of Avalanche’s ecosystem and how HyperSDK ushers in a scalable, interoperable, multi-chain future. Join us for a fascinating discussion on Avalanche’s approach to decentralisation, scalability & interoperability, and learn why real-world applicability relies heavily on bespoke blockchain solutions.

Topics covered in this episode:

Gün x Epicenter bromance How the Avalanche ecosystem & community evolved The future vision for Avalanche Scaling Avalanche and the HyperSDK Interoperability and the multi-chain future Decentralising Avalanche L1s Use cases and institutional adoption On-chain privacy AvaCloud The impact of AI in crypto Gün’s focus in the near future

Episode links:

Emin Gun Sirer on X Avalanche on X Ava Labs on X

Sponsors:

Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.

HYPE highs, an explosion in HyperCore activity, and HyperEVM ecosystem growth are spreading the Hyperliquid story.

The public market giant now owns 580,250 bitcoin.

Ever tried to access a website, only to be blocked by a message saying it’s unavailable in your region? While a VPN can help you bypass those digital “brick walls,” its benefits stretch far beyond just accessing restricted content. It’s a powerful tool offering significant protection and flexibility for all your online activities. So, the real question is: Do you really need a VPN?

Read on to discover what a VPN is, its pros and cons, and when one is needed.

What Is a VPN?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a tool that protects your online privacy. It creates a secure encrypted tunnel between your device and the internet. When you connect to a VPN, all your internet traffic is routed through this encrypted tunnel before reaching its destination.

To keep things simple, there is a four-step process whenever you use a VPN — encryption, tunnelling, IP masking, and decryption.

Encryption: When you connect to a VPN, all data leaving your device is immediately encrypted. This scrambles your information into an unreadable code, making it indecipherable to anyone who might intercept it. Tunneling: Your encrypted data then travels through a “tunnel” (the virtual private network) to the VPN server. IP Masking: The VPN server acts as an intermediary. Your original IP address is hidden, and your online activity appears to originate from the VPN server’s IP address. This effectively masks your real location and identity. Decryption: The VPN server decrypts your data and sends it to its intended destination (e.g., a website). When the website sends data back, it goes to the VPN server, which encrypts it again and sends it back through the tunnel to your device for decryption. Pros of Using a VPN Enhanced Security, Especially on Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi networks in cafes, airports, hotels, or libraries are notoriously insecure. They are often unencrypted, making it easy for cybercriminals to intercept your data through “man-in-the-middle” attacks or by setting up “evil twin” networks. A VPN encrypts your connection, making your data unreadable to anyone else on the same network.

Protecting Your Online Privacy

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can typically see and log your browsing history, online activities, and even sell this data to third parties. A VPN encrypts your traffic and masks your IP address, preventing your ISP from monitoring your online behavior. This also shields you from targeted advertising based on your browsing habits and makes it significantly harder for websites and other entities to track your online footprint.

Bypassing Geo-Restrictions and Censorship

One of the main reasons why people use VPNs is to circumvent geographic restrictions. It’s no news that many streaming services and online content are geo-restricted, meaning they are only accessible from specific geographic locations. By connecting to a VPN server in a different country, you can effectively “spoof” your location and gain access to content that would otherwise be unavailable. This is crucial for individuals living in countries with strict internet censorship, allowing them to bypass government firewalls and access a free and open internet.

Avoiding Censorship and Content Blocking

Speaking of internet censorship, in countries or organizations with restrictive network policies, VPNs can help bypass these limitations. By routing your traffic through servers in different locations, you may be able to access blocked websites and services. However, it’s important to note that using VPNs to circumvent restrictions may violate local laws or organizational policies.

Cons of Using a VPN Reduced Internet Speed

The encryption process and the routing of your traffic through a remote server can introduce some latency and reduce your internet speed. The extent of this slowdown depends on the VPN provider’s server quality, the distance to the server, and the encryption protocols used.

High Cost

I’ll tell you for free, quality VPN services typically come with a subscription fee. While free VPNs exist, they often come with limitations such as data caps, slower speeds, intrusive ads, and, most critically, may compromise your privacy by logging and selling your data. The saying “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product” often applies to free VPN services.

Not a Catch-All Security Solution

A VPN enhances your privacy and security online, but it’s not a silver bullet. It won’t protect you from malware, phishing scams, or viruses. Good cybersecurity practices, including strong passwords, antivirus software, and cautious clicking, remain essential.

Security Breaches

VPNs are not infallible. Research from Specops claimed that over 2 million VPN passwords were stolen in 2024. You are essentially routing all your internet traffic through the VPN provider’s servers. That said, choosing a reputable VPN provider with a strong “no-logs” policy and a proven track record of security and transparency is crucial.

Do I Need a VPN?

Given the pros and cons, there are specific scenarios where VPNs are highly recommended. For instance, a VPN is a must if you regularly work from coffee shops, airports, hotels, or other locations with public Wi-Fi. The security risks of unsecured public networks are significant, and a VPN provides essential protection for your sensitive data.

Similarly, if you live in or frequently visit countries with strict internet censorship, government surveillance, or limited access to global content, a VPN can be an essential tool for maintaining internet freedom and accessing information. Other instances where you may need a VPN include access to sensitive information such as confidential work documents or banking details, anonymity during p2p file sharing, and access to greater online privacy.

Ultimately, the decision to use a VPN rests on your personal risk assessment and how much you value your digital footprint and freedom.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

Do I need a VPN? was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Pennsylvania suit alleges Coinbase shareholders 'suffered significant losses and damages' due to improper disclosure of the breach.

Even amid cooler NFT markets, GONDI has fired up and surged to dominate the NFT lending scene.

Sandeep Nailwal remains the firm's only active co-founder after its three other co-founders have stepped back.

What happens when AI stops being just infrastructure—and becomes a matter of national identity and global power?

In this episode, a16z’s Anjney Midha and Guido Appenzeller explore the rise of sovereign AI—the idea that countries must own their own AI models, data centers, and value systems.

From Saudi Arabia’s $100B+ AI ambitions to the cultural stakes of model alignment, we examine:

Why nations are building local “AI factories” instead of relying on U.S. cloud providers How foundation models are becoming instruments of soft power What the DeepSeek release tells us about China’s AI strategy Whether the world needs a “Marshall Plan for AI” And how open-source models could reshape the balance of power

AI isn’t just a technology anymore - it’s geopolitical infrastructure. This conversation maps the new battleground.

Resources:

Find Anj on X: https://x.com/AnjneyMidha

Find Guido on X: https://x.com/appenz

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

 

Weekly Recap: Circle reportedly entertaining buyers, Sui deals with DEX exploit.

Exploring Cookie’s Snaps creator network with real-time loyalty scoring, project leaderboards, and $COOKIE rewards.

Crypto phones, policy talks, technical reveals, and more from Solana's NYC conference this week.

Canary Capital's Staked TRX ETF filing gets an acknowledgment from the SEC as the agency continues to delay crypto application approvals.

PIVX Weekly Pulse (May 16th, 2025 — May 22nd, 2025)

Your weekly PIVX update is here! Get the latest on market activity and all things community.

Market Pulse Masternode Count: The number of active PIVX masternodes is currently 2,121. This represents a slight dip from last week’s total of 2,123. Price Check: The Daily USD Value of PIV saw a decline this week, fluctuating between $0.16 and $0.17. The weekly average price settled at $0.1609, a notable decrease from the previous week’s $0.1758. This downward swing occurred despite the generally bullish cryptocurrency market. However, looking at the broader picture, PIV remains up by over 20% on a month-on-month basis. Trading Buzz: The total weekly trading volume for PIVX saw a pullback this week, dropping from $16.5 million to approximately $13.4 million. While daily trading volume remained healthy, it occasionally dipped below the $2 million benchmark. New Listings: PIVX has continued to consolidate its presence and strengthen listing efforts under the leadership of Jeffrey, Head of Business Development. Over the past week, the leading privacy coin got listed on two new platforms — SecureShift and ChainSwap.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

PIVX Weekly Pulse (May 16th, 2025 — May 22nd, 2025) was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rep. Maxine Waters introduced the bill, named “Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act of 2025.”

The black-tie event hosted at the Trump National Golf Club drew significant criticism and a number of irl protestors.

Pump.fun's Solana token-launching dominance is waning as new competitors make a splash.

The apparent exploit cratered the prices of a number of top Sui ecosystem tokens.

In today’s world, consumer privacy is often promised but rarely delivered. In crypto conversations, terms like “private,” “anonymous,” and “pseudonymous” are used interchangeably, creating the illusion of safety in systems […]

Source

Crypto exec Braden Karony was found guilty on charges related to securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

What exactly is an AI agent — and does anyone actually agree?

In this episode, taken from of AI + a16z, General Partner Guido Appenzeller and partners Matt Bornstein and Yoko Li break down one of the most hyped- and most hotly debated 0 concepts in AI right now: agents.

Are agents just clever wrappers around LLMs? Tools that can reason and act? Or simply a fresh label for familiar tech?

Whether you're building, investing, or just trying to make sense of the buzz, this episode is for you.

Resources:
Find Guido on X: https://x.com/appenz

Find Yoko on X: https://x.com/stuffyokodraws

Find Matt on X: https://x.com/BornsteinMatt

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

The bill awaits the governor's sign-off before enabling the state to include crypto assets in its treasury.

Zcash was built to give people the power to transact freely. Privacy and self-sovereignty are at the heart of that mission. Now, through the Maya Protocol integration, Zcash unlocks decentralized […]

Source

There's been a flurry of activity around Farcaster in recent weeks. Here's everything you need to know.

The Verus community’s presence at Consensus 2025 marked what many attendees described as the most impactful conference appearance in the project’s history. For those of us who were there — and for the broader community who made it possible — this event demonstrated a shift in how the blockchain industry understands and values what the community has built. When Complex Ideas Finally Click

Throughout the conference, we witnessed something special: moment after moment where visitors to our booth suddenly understood concepts that had previously seemed abstract or unclear. One community member described these as “lightbulb moments” — that instant when someone grasps not just what Verus does, but why it matters.

The phrase that seemed to catalyze these moments? “DeFi is not an app.”

This simple statement opened doors to deeper conversations about what we’ve always known: that DeFi should be a foundational primitive built into blockchain protocols, not bolted on top through vulnerable smart contracts. Marketing professionals and developers alike found themselves nodding along as we explained that smart contracts are essentially stored procedures in a shared global database — useful, but hardly the revolutionary construct they’re often portrayed to be.

Real Conversations About Real Problems

What set this conference apart wasn’t just theoretical discussions. Attendees brought real concerns about security vulnerabilities they’re facing today. When we talked about the recent DNS redirection attacks on platforms like Curve, heads nodded knowingly. When we asked, “How will anyone solve phishing if users have to give smart contracts direct access to their wallets?” — the silence was telling.

These weren’t gotcha moments. They were honest technical discussions about fundamental challenges in blockchain architecture. And we had answers that resonated.

The Presentation That Changed Perspectives

The recorded presentation “Own or be Owned: How Verus Secures Ownership in a Digital World” at the Protocol Village by Michael J. Toutonghi, lead developer, became a focal point of our conference presence. Following the talk, booth traffic surged with attendees wanting to dive deeper into the concepts presented.

In the presentation we announced Commons Powered Apps. More on that in a future article.

“Wait, This Isn’t a Company?”

Perhaps the most gratifying reactions came when visitors learned about Verus’s structure. The disbelief was palpable: How could something this technically sophisticated, this well-organized, this professional, not be backed by venture capital or run by a corporation?

“It’s entirely community-driven,” we’d explain. No ICO. No pre-mine. No company behind it.

The authenticity of that message — backed by the reality of what the community has built — changed conversations immediately. Suddenly, we weren’t just another blockchain project. We were proof that communities can build world-class technology without traditional corporate structures.

Building Bridges to the Future

The conference generated exactly the kind of connections we hoped for. Our booth became a hub for substantive technical discussions with projects and companies exploring blockchain solutions for their real-world challenges.

These weren’t casual meetups. These were in-depth conversations with organizations that immediately understood the limitations of current blockchain approaches and were actively seeking alternatives. The technical depth of these discussions — and the genuine interest in Verus’s architectural differences — has resulted in a list of follow-ups.

What struck us most was the quality of these interactions. Rather than the typical conference small talk, we found ourselves in detailed technical discussions about specific implementation challenges and use cases.

A Community Effort in Every Sense

None of this would have been possible without the Verus community members who funded the Consensus presence. Every donation, large or small, contributed to putting our best foot forward at this critical industry event. The booth & the ability to have a presentation — all of it came from community support.

For those who couldn’t attend but contributed: you were there in spirit, and your support directly enabled every conversation, every connection, and every breakthrough moment we experienced.

Looking Forward

As we process the connections made and opportunities identified at Consensus 2025, one thing is clear: the industry is ready for what Verus offers. The questions we’re answering aren’t theoretical anymore — they’re practical, pressing problems that developers and organizations need solved today.

The shift we experienced at this conference wasn’t just about better messaging or a nicer booth. It was about the broader blockchain ecosystem reaching a level of maturity where the foundational questions we’ve been addressing for years are now front and center for everyone.

For the Verus community, Consensus 2025 wasn’t just another conference. It was validation that our patient, principled approach to building better blockchain infrastructure is exactly what the industry needs. And we’re just getting started.

Thank you to every community member who made our Consensus 2025 presence possible. The impact of your support continues to ripple through every new connection and opportunity that emerged from this event.

🛠️ Build dApps with Verus

Look up the complete command list here. Go to verus.io to find out about all the possibilities to build. (e.g. launching currencies, tokens & liquidity pools).

Join the community. Learn about the protocol. Use Verus & build dApps.

➡️ Join the community on Discord

Follow on Twitter

Go to verus.io

Consensus 2025: The Conference Where Things Clicked for Verus was originally published in Verus Coin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Bitcoin is surging through to new heights, besting its previous high achieved on Jan. 20, Trump's inauguration.

Crypto Twitter gets vocal about Real Economic Value.

The entity behind the Solana smartphone is shipping its next phone this summer, and has plans for a token launch as well.

As part of an evolving community-wide conversation about Unified Addresses (UAs) and Zcash address design, Zashi is updating how UAs function in the app.  Until now, Zashi Unified Addresses have […]

Source

The Panther Protocol Foundation now owns Panther’s intellectual property, including its core architecture, which has been open-sourced after a successful audit by Veridise.

Panther Protocol’s main codebase is now open-source, following the recent audit completion by industry-leading audit firm Veridise. The Panther Protocol Foundation (PPF) will support the protocol’s continued development and has assumed control of all Panther-related intellectual property previously held by development company Panther Ventures Limited.

Successful Audit and Open Sourcing

Before open-sourcing, Panther’s codebase underwent a comprehensive security audit conducted by Veridise. The audit covered the protocol’s Zero-Knowledge circuits, and smart contracts, improving security and reliability. With the audit now complete, Panther’s codebase has been made publicly available under the LGPL3.0 and MIT License.

The open-source code will enable developers, financial market participants, and blockchain innovators to integrate, utilize, and build upon Panther’s privacy-enhancing technology. The full audit report detailing Veridise’s findings is available for public review here. Panther's documentation also provides a comprehensive list of features and functions in the current codebase.

Open-Sourcing and Community Engagement

Panther’s codebase can be found on the Panther Protocol’s Foundation GitHub and GitLab, with the additional read-me files in place to support developers. The licensing chosen supports the open-source ethos of the Web3 ecosystem, fostering a community-driven approach to Panther’s evolution.

Governance of the protocol will remain the responsibility of the Panther DAO, ensuring a decentralized model for decision-making and ongoing development. This reinforces Panther’s commitment to a trustless, resilient, and community-first DeFi ecosystem.

Quote from Panther Protocol Co-Founder

"Open-sourcing Panther’s audited code represents a significant milestone in our journey toward transparency and decentralization. By making our technology accessible, we invite the broader Web3 community to contribute, innovate, and verify our security, ensuring Panther’s continued growth as a trusted, privacy-preserving DeFi protocol. The goal of the project was always to build an infrastructure where compliance and confidentiality can coexist, and we would like to invite everyone to try out the solutions that have been built." — Anish Mohammed, Co-Founder

About Panther Protocol Foundation

The Panther Protocol Foundation is dedicated to supporting the adoption and sustainability of the Panther Protocol across the decentralized Web. The Foundation works to anchor the Panther Protocol for DeFi and blockchain ecosystems, thus empowering users, builders, and licensed operators to participate in tomorrow’s internet while remaining confidential. The Foundation also focuses on open-source code, research, and awareness of the Panther Protocol's core technologies. 

For more information, visit https://www.panther.org.

For more information about Panther Protocol, please visit www.pantherprotocol.io.

Contact Information

Panther Protocol Foundation

Email: general@panther.org

Website: www.panther.org

In a landmark ruling delivered last Wednesday, the Brussels Court of Appeal ruled that tracking-based online advertising was illegal, directly challenging the pervasive practices of tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and X across the European Union.

The decision pivots on the finding that the widely adopted consent mechanisms for this type of advertising fail to meet the rigorous standards set by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The court’s judgment specifically targets the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF), a ubiquitous standard within the online advertising ecosystem. The TCF is designed to solicit user consent for the processing of their personal data for targeted advertising through a system known as Real-Time Bidding (RTB). In RTB, advertisers engage in lightning-fast auctions to display ads to specific users based on their digital footprint and inferred interests.

The court’s decision echoes the prior conclusions of the Belgian Data Protection Authority (DPA) from 2022, which determined that the technology underpinning tracking-based ads contravenes several core tenets of the GDPR. The fundamental issue, as the court affirmed, lies in the absence of genuine and informed consent from users. The prevalent pop-up consent requests, the court reasoned, fall short of providing adequate transparency or control regarding the collection and dissemination of user data among the myriad companies involved in the RTB process.

Hannah Storey, Amnesty International’s Policy Advisor on Technology and Human Rights, lauded the ruling as “a major win for the right to privacy and a clear message that the tech industry should move away from surveillance-based advertising to a more rights-respecting model.” She asserted that the current practice of amassing and processing personal data via the TCF is incompatible with the fundamental right to privacy.

Dr. Johnny Ryan, Director of Enforce at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, a key figure in the legal battle against the ad tech industry, asserted that the court’s decision “shows that the consent system used by Google, Amazon, X, Microsoft, deceives hundreds of millions of Europeans.” He contended that the tech industry has sought to mask a “vast data breach behind sham consent popups,” effectively turning the GDPR into an inconvenience rather than a safeguard for individuals.

While the EU court’s ruling marks a crucial victory for privacy advocates, the practical implementation and the response from the tech industry remain to be seen.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

EU Court Declares Tracking-Based Ads Illegal was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The post Introducing Greenlite AI: AI Workforce to Fight Financial Crime appeared first on Greylock.

In a government filing, the exchange detailed that the total number of users impacted by its recent data theft was 69,461 individuals.

The crypto platform 'exploited thousands of investors with fictitious promises,' the suit alleges.

It's been a transformative year for Coinbase. Here are some of COIN's top catalysts.

The mega asset manager is dipping its toes into digital assets.

Days after a judge ruled that the elected leader must disclose his bank accounts, Milei moved to shut down the unit tasked with investigating the memecoin incident.

FROST, which stands for Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold, is an advanced cryptographic protocol designed to improve threshold signature schemes. Unlike traditional single-party signatures, FROST enables a group of participants to collaboratively generate digital signatures using shares of a private key, so that only a specified threshold of participants is needed to authorize a transaction. This approach boosts both security and resilience against key loss or compromise. 

FROST is notable for reducing network overhead during signing operations, supporting efficient two-round (or even single-round, with preprocessing) signing without sacrificing security or concurrency. These features make FROST especially suitable for Zcash.

 

What is FROST for Zcash?

Our rationale from the onset of this project was that “Zcash transactions should be publicly indistinguishable (i.e. an adversary observing the blockchain should not be able to gain any information about who the payment is for, how much the payment is, or who authorized the payment). Zcash previously did not have a good mechanism to achieve this goal in a multi-party setting, where a group of users want to jointly control funds and authorize transactions. Prior to FROST, the best protocols to perform this signing process required either undesirable implementation complexity, high network overheads to perform signing operations, the inability to support a threshold number of signers, or undesirable privacy leaks such as exposing the number of signers. Consequently, our decision to design a new threshold scheme stemmed from the desire to improve the state of threshold signature research to match the needs of Zcash users today.” 

When it comes to advancing privacy and security in digital transactions, the FROST for Zcash implementation we developed stands out with several important features. Notably, it is designed to keep the same security guarantees of RedDSA, in particular unlinkability, which is required by the Zcash protocol. This prevents attackers from linking two FROST-generated signatures to the same person. This makes integration straightforward for developers and organizations without the need for major infrastructure changes. 

To support adoption, Zcash Foundation (ZF) provides user-friendly libraries, demo applications and tutorials, making it easy for anyone to incorporate FROST for Zcash into their projects. 

 

Why did we develop FROST for Zcash?

ZF committed to building FROST for Zcash to address several important needs within the Zcash ecosystem. One of these primary motivations was to develop a secure, privacy-preserving multisignature implementation for shielded transactions, a functionality that was previously missing. The goal from the onset was to ensure seamless compatibility with existing Zcash standards and protocols, like RedDSA. This allows developers and projects to integrate FROST for Zcash into their systems without having to overhaul their infrastructure. 

ZF also wanted to make advanced cryptographic tools more accessible through user-friendly libraries, demo applications, and tutorials to help developers adopt FROST quickly and easily.

 

What is the current state of FROST for Zcash?

We have now concluded our development work on the FROST reference implementation, frost-core, along with the ciphersuite crates. To help with deployment, we have also developed tools to help participants communicate with each other: a frost server, frostd, and the command line tool frost-client whose purpose is to work as a standalone tool but also as reference for wallets to integrate FROST. 

 

What Happens Next?

The next step is for wallets to integrate FROST using those tools directly or as reference, knowing that ZF is willing to provide guidance as needed. If wallet developers are hesitant to run their own frostd servers, the team is open to deploying a production version. Importantly, the frostd server doesn’t need to be trusted, as all messages are end-to-end encrypted; it only relays information, similar to lightwalletd, and leaks minimal metadata that can be further protected with tools like Tor.  

There are some existing concerns about the lack of a standardized key generation specification for FROST, which currently limits interoperability; progress on this front is ongoing, and we hope to complete that soon with guidance from ECC engineers. 

 

FAQs

Why does Zcash require its own implementation? Why isn’t there one FROST implementation for all protocols?

Zcash requires a custom FROST implementation to maintain its privacy guarantees and protocol-specific needs, as generic FROST variants lack critical features like rerandomized signatures (ensuring threshold-signed transactions mirror single-party ones for anonymity) and compatibility with Zcash’s shielded transaction systems (Sapling/Orchard). Additionally, Zcash integrates share recovery mechanisms, identifiable aborts, and safeguards against concurrency attacks-adaptations unnecessary for non-privacy chains. Since blockchain protocols prioritize divergent tradeoffs (e.g., Bitcoin’s simplicity vs. Zcash’s unlinkability), a universal FROST standard is impractical due to cryptographic nuances (curves, serialization) and ecosystem-specific security requirements.

 

Does FROST for Zcash have commercial applications outside of Zcash?

No, this reference implementation was created specifically for the Zcash ecosystem. 

 

Has FROST for Zcash been audited? 

Yes, there have been two audits: the first one by NCC audited the core crates which implement the cryptographic part of FROST; check the complete report. The second audit covered the frostd and frost-client helper tools and was done by Least Authority; the complete report is available here.

 

Why is a FROST server needed? What is the risk of using it?

The FROST server simply helps participants to communicate with each other; most devices today are behind firewalls or routers which make direct peer-to-peer communication difficult. Technically the server is not even aware that it is being used for FROST! 

Additionally, the frost-client tool we have developed (which also serves as reference for other implementations and also works as a library) does end-to-end encryption of all messages. This means that the server does not need to be trusted and won’t be able to see the content of the messages. The server is able to gather metadata though (e.g. who is talking to who at what times), but that risk can be mitigated by using e.g. Tor. The risk is very similar to the risk that wallets take by using lightwallet servers.

Also note that using the FROST server is optional. We believe that it’s the easiest path forward until a better solution is developed, but wallets are free to handle user communication as they wish.

 

What is missing for a regular Zcash user to be able to use FROST?

The missing piece is for wallets to integrate FROST. The required tooling to make that happen has already been completed by ZF (though of course wallets are free to use the implementation and design they wish to). Technical-inclined users can use FROST with Zcash today using our frost-client command line tool.

 

Is this reference implementation of FROST capable of being included in NU 6.1?

Due to the way FROST works, it’s not required to change the protocol in order to use FROST with Zcash. Therefore, yes, FROST can be used in NU 6.1, or even now with NU 6.

 

What is the best way for wallet developers to contact ZF with questions?

Open an issue or discussion in the repo and reach out on the #frost channel of the R&D Discord.

The post The State of FROST for Zcash appeared first on Zcash Foundation.

Recorded live at the 2025 a16z LP Summit, this episode is a candid conversation between a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz—hosted by general partner Erik Torenberg.

They cover the evolution of a16z from startup firm to multi-practice platform, how the media landscape is shaped by meme-speed narratives, why reorgs—not just returns—determine who wins, and what it takes to build an enduring venture franchise.

They also share thoughts on the changing policy landscape for AI and crypto, the firm’s bipartisan approach to Washington—and why Marc personally screens social media profiles before anyone joins the team.

 

Resources: 

Find Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca

Find Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz

 

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

The Senate moved the major piece of crypto legislation through to another round of debate.

SAN FRANCISCO–May 20th, 2025: In a major step forward for digital identity and internet decentralization, Brave has become the first browser to launch its own on-chain top-level domain. In partnership with Unstoppable Domains, the new .brave domain is now available to Brave’s over 85 million monthly active users—offering a seamless way to own digital identity, send crypto, and navigate Web3. Minted on the Polygon blockchain, .brave domains will resolve across multiple networks—including Base, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Sonic, and more—making them widely compatible in the Web3 ecosystem.

The launch of .brave marks a defining moment in the evolution of the internet, bridging the mainstream browser experience with the permissionless power of Web3.

“Our mission is to put privacy, ownership, and control back in the hands of users,” said Brian Bondy, CTO and co-founder of Brave. “.brave is more than a domain—it’s a user-owned identity layer, native to the Brave ecosystem.”

Through Unstoppable Domains, Brave users can now claim personalized .brave domains that unlock a full suite of decentralized tools. .brave domains can be used in the Brave Wallet, allowing for crypto payment in a simplified way. They can host censorship-resistant websites on IPFS, which are directly accessible within the Brave browser without traditional hosting fees. .brave domains will be directly resolvable within the Brave browser and the Brave Wallet starting in version 1.81 which will be available in Nightly, and targeted to Release on August 5th, 2025.

Cryptocurrency payments become simpler and more human with .brave names replacing long wallet addresses. Users can also build a verifiable on-chain identity through UD.me, showcasing their digital assets, wallet connections, and public credentials within the broader Brave community.

The .brave domain integrates with Unstoppable’s broader ecosystem, offering secure, badge-gated messaging, domain trading through the Unstoppable Marketplace, and frictionless access to dApps, games, and metaverses via Login with Unstoppable.

“This is a bold leap toward an open internet,” said Sandy Carter, COO of Unstoppable Domains. “.brave puts digital identity in the hands of everyday users, not platforms.”

As part of the rollout, Unstoppable Domains will join Brave’s Rewards 3.0 Partner Program, further expanding the reach of the Basic Attention Token (BAT). With over 99% of BAT’s 1.5 billion supply in circulation, BAT now ranks as the 14th most held token on Ethereum and is accepted by 1.5 million verified creators worldwide.

Brave and Unstoppable are taking the next step in expanding the reach of the .brave domain by exploring the process for ICANN gTLD registration. While still in the early stages and subject to regulatory review, this move could pave the way for .brave to function across both the traditional Web2 internet and decentralized Web3 environments.

The potential ICANN accreditation would mark a significant milestone in the shared mission to empower users with greater control over their digital identities—no matter which corner of the internet they call home. This effort reflects a broader vision of a more open, interoperable web where innovation and ownership go hand in hand.

To claim a .brave domain and join the movement, visit https://get.unstoppabledomains.com/brave/

About Unstoppable Domains

Launched in 2018, Unstoppable Domains is an ICANN-accredited registrar and leading digital identity platform dedicated to onboarding the world onto DNS and Web3. Unstoppable Domains provides Web3 domains minted on the blockchain, empowering individuals with full ownership and complete control over their digital identities, with no renewal fees. Users can replace lengthy alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses with easy-to-remember human-readable domain names, streamlining their interactions with apps, wallets, exchanges, and marketplaces. Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers for four consecutive years—2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025—Unstoppable Domains has rapidly grown, boasting over 4.2 million registered domains.

For more information, please visit unstoppabledomains.com.

About Brave and Brave Wallet

Brave is a driving force leading the way for Web3 adoption, directly supporting Web3 into the broader Web through its privacy browser, independent search engine, and browser-native, multi-chain crypto wallet. Brave currently has over 85 million monthly active users. Learn more at brave.com.

Brave Wallet is the secure, multi-chain crypto wallet built directly into the Brave privacy browser—no extensions required. With Brave Wallet, users can manage tokens and NFTs; connect to DApps and onramp to Web3; and explore decentralized finance, social media, gaming, and more. Brave Wallet users can connect other “cold” wallets like Ledger & Trezor. They can buy, store, send, and connect to DApps on Solana, Ethereum and EVM chains, Zcash, and Filecoin.

Brave Wallet is available on desktop, Android, and iOS, and is free to use. To get started on desktop, Brave browser users can click the wallet icon near the address bar. On mobile, users can tap “⋮” (Android) or “…” (iOS), then tap the wallet icon.

The L1 continues to hit milestones as its ecosystem ships.

$100k in prizes are up for grabs across some of Starknet's top up-and-coming games.

Jack Dorsey was among the supporters of a new proposal aimed at keeping the focus on 'bitcoin' as the standard denomination versus 'sats.'

Fortune reports that the stablecoin issuer is fielding offers from both Coinbase and Ripple ahead of its planned IPO.

The firms announced Monday that recent buys had added 7,390 bitcoin and 1,004 bitcoin to their respective reserves.

With major shifts in regulatory landscapes and a growing awareness of digital privacy, the privacy coin market is poised for significant expansion. We speak with Jeffrey, the Head of Business Development at PIVX, to gain insights into their strategic vision, the key trends they anticipate, and how PIVX is positioning itself for robust growth in this evolving sector.

How do you see the privacy coin market evolving in the next 3–5 years? What key trends and challenges do you anticipate?

I believe we are now entering the stage of adoption in the privacy coin market. Major security breaches and recent crackdowns on privacy have sparked an interest in privacy and privacy coins.

Recently, Tornado Cash won a major legal battle for privacy in the USA, making people more comfortable with the idea of using obfuscation for funds. It is no longer perceived as a tool for criminals but as a tool to protect oneself from prying eyes. Privacy is a human right, and coins such as PIVX simply provide the tools to protect this right.

The biggest challenge to this is regulation at the moment. PIVX has overcome this by introducing exchange addresses to allow those who operate a business that requires transparency to only engage with transparent PIVX transactions.

There are also discussions with a few major cryptocurrencies to integrate privacy. I truly believe it will become the norm soon, as it’s simply the safest option for anyone. PIVX, being one of the first, has set a standard, and this is going to make PIVX shine especially with the optional privacy, which resolves many issues around regulation.

Ultimately, I believe the future for privacy projects is bright. Many of our new and upcoming partnerships have all embraced us and our privacy protocol. In the past, we faced scrutiny, but this is mostly not the case now, a clear indicator of privacy becoming a standard. I am excited for the future of PIVX in this sector.

Where do you believe PIVX currently stands in the market, and what are its biggest opportunities for growth?

PIVX dimmed out in recent years, largely due to the influx of memecoins. We also had a lack of funding and no dedicated business development activities. This has completely changed since the introduction of our new budget, which introduced new team members and roles.

Since taking on the role of business development head, we have successfully established major partnerships, such as NowPayments, Travala, Coinomi, as well as new exchange listings on top exchanges such as MEXC, Binance (USDT), BitMart, Lbank, and more. This shows major strength in a coin that was created at the beginning of the cryptocurrency cycle and will allow us to slowly but surely overcome all future challenges and to secure PIVX as a top privacy cryptocurrency.

Regarding our position from a technical standpoint, PIVX became the first-ever proof-of-stake cryptocurrency to incorporate ZK-Snarks and is currently working on becoming the first to allow private staking and masternodes. I believe we blaze the trail by providing sound security, fast transactions, functionality, and ease of use, with an expanding team that is going to introduce PIVX to many more. The future for PIVX is bright.

What are your thoughts on the role of regulatory compliance in PIVX’s business development strategy, and how would you navigate potential challenges?

It is key that we pay attention to regulatory demands so that we can provide PIVX globally without issues in terms of exchanges. However, as a decentralised project, our blockchain will go on regardless.

Because we care about following regulations, we keep in touch with our exchange partners. Binance recently asked for “Exchange Addresses,” a feature that limits them to receiving only the basic, transparent PIVX. This would make PIVX completely compliant due to a lack of privacy on said exchanges. This doesn’t remove privacy on our blockchain. Users who value protecting their financial data can always withdraw and send it to a SHIELD address.

Our team is active and willing to work with all of our partners and regulatory environments to deliver our project globally without issues, and most of all, to give our users a secure and sound blockchain that protects their financial data.

What are your thoughts on the integration of privacy features into other blockchain ecosystems and the potential for interoperability?

I believe it is very transformative and in the right direction for projects to integrate privacy features. It would also be a great introduction for PIVX as it is one of the earliest projects to incorporate privacy and the first-ever Proof of Stake blockchain to integrate ZK-Snarks (SHIELD) as a privacy protocol. I also believe PIVX, with its optional privacy integration, would be an inspiration for many existing and new projects that want to integrate privacy.

Having the freedom of choice makes things easier for those who require a transparent ledger, versus having some transactions that need to remain out of public sight, such as retail or savings. Having this model also makes PIVX regulatory compliant and a great example to replicate.

Allowing for interoperability would be a great way to incorporate seamless value transfer across other blockchains, whilst preserving privacy through PIVX. I am all for it since it would introduce PIVX to a much wider audience and grow the use of the network. Perhaps it is something that we as a PIVX team can look at and discuss once we achieve our milestone v6.0 release.

What are some common misconceptions about privacy coins that you would like to address?

The most common I’ve seen is the narrative that those who engage with privacy coins have something illicit to hide. I usually combat this with a simple question, “If a stranger were to ask to see your bank statement, would you let them?” This usually results in an immediate no; I then proceed with: “Well are you okay with the entire world seeing your cryptocurrency transactions without your permission?”

Most people fail to realise that relying on a transparent ledger can compromise one’s security and potentially lead to being harmed.

Using private blockchains such as SHIELD by PIVX helps you separate your crypto to prevent malicious parties from tracking your portfolio. I’ll end by saying that privacy coins do not facilitate crime, criminals facilitate crime, and privacy protects you from criminals.

What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned during your time leading business development at PIVX?

Even for a project with a minimal budget, big dreams can be achieved. I have worked alongside many amazing new partners for PIVX, such as Travala, MEXC, NOW Group, and many more, and each has provided a new use case for PIVX.

It is hard, but having a community that unites behind my thinking process and choices makes everything much smoother. I have also learnt that everything in this industry has a ripple effect. What I mean by that is that one small listing or integration for PIVX can lead to another quite easily, as they may work together or use each other’s services.

It has also given me the time to reflect on PIVX and to identify weaknesses and to see that the biggest factor to growth is liquidity. This is now a key focus point for me. I am working alongside major exchanges that support PIVX to identify their liquidity needs so that we may attain other listings on their platform, such as Perpetual contracts, and thus far it has succeeded.

There is a lot to learn, however, I feel that the knowledge that I have gained through numerous conversations with like-minded people will be the driving factor for me to bring PIVX to new audiences, heights, and more use cases.

Beyond privacy, what other unique technological or community-driven advantages does PIVX offer potential partners and users?

A strong selling point I always highlight to our partners is the DAO and self-funded treasury that PIVX has. This mechanism allows for partners to submit their own proposals and to seek funding for work they may want to collaborate on with PIVX. This self-funded treasury guarantees constant development and funding for proposals that pass.

An example of this would be a recent partnership with Coinomi, which has now submitted a proposal for funding through our DAO. Participation in the DAO through such proposals, whether by submitting them or voting on them, is a key strength of the PIVX project. This also helps with our next advantage which is the community. Because PIVX is a DAO, our community has grown used to the fact that they do indeed have a voice when it comes to the decisions made for PIVX and are therefore active and do support us and our partners.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

“The Future for Privacy Projects is Bright,” PIVX’s Business Dev Lead Asserts was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a $300 billion industry powering the back- and front-office operations of the world’s largest companies.

In her article, "Unbundling the BPO: How AI Will Disrupt Outsourced Work," Kimberly Tan (Partner, a16z) explores how the rise of AI is challenging the status quo. 

In this episode, Kimberly unpacks the shift—from call centers and invoice processing to cross-system automation and coding agents. They explore how AI is redefining the economics of scale, unlocking new markets, and expanding the reach of automation beyond the Fortune 500. For founders and operators alike, this conversation offers a clear-eyed look at the playbook for building in this newly addressable space.

 

Resources: 

Read the article: https://a16z.com/unbundling-the-bpo-how-ai-will-disrupt-outsourced-work/

Find Kimberly on X: https://x.com/kimberlywtan

 

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Weekly Recap: COIN's chaotic week, the DOJ's disappointing decision.

Yuga Labs sells the CryptoPunks IP to non-profit NODE, shifting Ethereum’s iconic NFTs from corporate stewardship toward the cultural commons.

Blockchain architecture is constantly being forced to adapt to new technologies, as well as to meet new demands from users and builders. While the idea of apps building their own chains was first explored by Cosmos, it lacked the support and tooling to see it succeed. Later on, rollups also took the centerstage of Ethereum’s scaling roadmap, but due to their general purpose design, it led to a cannibalistic ecosystem. Initia learned from these 2 models and combined the best of both worlds: it built a full-stack framework for a seamless DevEx from the get-go and, more importantly, it designed its tokenomics in order to ensure maximum incentive alignment for its appchains. While the former decision removed the need for each separate chain to reinvent the wheel and risk ending up ‘a jack of all trades, master of none’, the latter ensured that appchains would not extract value away from the L1.

Topics covered in this episode:

Ezaan’s background From building on Terra to Initia How Initia is rewriting the appchain thesis Initia’s enshrined liquidity & vested interest program (VIP) Metrics & Initia’s bet on crypto innovation Solving liquidity fragmentation Delphi’s involvement in Initia Future roadmap

Episode links:

Ezaan Mangalji on X Jose Maria Macedo on X Anil Lulla on X Initia on X Delphi Digital on X Delphi report on Initia

Sponsors:

Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.

Virtuals readies its next act: ACP’s “SWIFT” is linking AI agents, while Project 69 gives builders a 69-day token testbed.

The stablecoin moment is here.

Zashi is built with privacy at its core. We don’t track your activity, profile you, or collect personal data. The only information we have access to is anonymized crash reports […]

Source

Argentina President Javier Milei's memecoin fraud scandal continues.

Some people might call Jonathon Keats an artist, but he calls himself an experimental philosopher. His body of work explores the way that human life intersects with political and economic systems. His first major work, in the year 2000, involved sitting in a chair thinking for hours, and then selling his thoughts to patrons at prices calculated on the basis of their income. He once copyrighted his own mind as a sculpture. He created a ringtone based on John Cage’s famous piece, 4’33”, which is four minutes and thirty-three seconds of complete silence. He built a pinhole camera that takes photographic exposures lasting 100 years. In Berkeley, California, he built a temple for the worship of science. Recently, he has been involved in efforts to formalize rights of nature. 

Jonathon challenges us to look carefully at the assumptions built into our markets, our democracies and our technologies, and constantly seems to do it in ways that seem abstract at the time, but end up prefiguring political or cultural issues years or decades before they erupt. He’s a wonderful guide to this territory, and to the big questions it involves. 

In this conversation Matt and Jonathon discuss the philosophy of timekeeping. They consider the connectedness and the alienation of being on universal atomic time, the promise of alternative systems such as the river clock, and how different notions of timekeeping influence our understanding of democracy and nature.

Jonathon Keats is an experimental philosopher, artist and writer. He is currently a fellow at the Berggruen Institute, a research fellow at the Long Now Foundation, a research associate at the University of Arizona, principal philosopher at Earth Law Center and an artist-in-residence at Hyundai, the SETI Institute and Flux Projects. His most recent book is “You Belong to the Universe: Buckminster Fuller and the Future” (Oxford University Press).

Mentioned:

Alaska RiverTime

If you have feedback or ideas for future episodes, email us at info@radicalxchange.org.

Host: Matt Prewitt

Guest: Jonathan Keats

Producer: Jack Henderson

Connect with RadicalxChange Foundation:

Website X BlueSky YouTube LinkedIn Discord

The 'cyber-enabled racketeering conspiracy' had stolen $243M from a single Genesis creditor.

PIVX Weekly Pulse (May 9th, 2025 — May 15th, 2025)

Keep up with PIVX! Get your weekly dose of key market insights and community updates.

Market Pulse Masternode Count: Demonstrating continued network strength, the number of active PIVX masternodes has risen to 2,123, up from last week’s 2,117. Price Check: While the Daily USD Value showed a period of consolidation this past week, with values holding steady between $0.16 and $0.18, the overall narrative remains encouraging. This week’s average price of $0.1758 represents a tangible step forward from the $0.1694 recorded in the preceding week. The upward trajectory, even amidst daily stability, likely reflects the unwavering commitment of the PIVX community and the tailwinds of a generally bullish cryptocurrency market providing a supportive environment. v Trading Buzz: The total weekly trading volume for PIVX witnessed a significant pullback this week, registering at approximately $16.5 million, a stark contrast to the previous week’s $40 million. Nevertheless, the daily trading volume maintained a healthy pace, consistently exceeding $2 million.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

PIVX Weekly Pulse (May 9th, 2025 — May 15th, 2025) was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ethereum did $908 billion in stablecoin volume in April according to onchain data.

Today on the a16z Podcast, we’re sharing Marc Andreessen’s recent appearance on TBPN.

Marc—cofounder and general partner at a16z—joins hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays for a wide-ranging conversation, recorded live at the a16z’s 2025 LP Conference in Las Vegas.

They cover the rise of AI, the future of open source models, and how tech is transforming every corner of the economy—from education and defense to healthcare and housing.

Marc also shares his thoughts on the evolution of venture capital, the firm’s new branding, and what it takes to build enduring companies in a rapidly changing world.

 

Resources:

Watch more from TBPN: https://www.tbpn.com/

Find TBPN on X: https://x.com/tbpn

Find Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca

 

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Dig into the platforms offering tokenized asset investment opps.

Despite dropping part of a charge related to operating an unlicensed money transmitter, the DOJ is planning to continue its prosecution of Storm over charges related to money laundering.

The lengthy process to reimburse creditors of the defunct exchange is nearing resolution.

The marketplace, Haowang Guarantee, operated via Telegram and reportedly had upwards of $26B in USDT transactions flow through it.

The Thai government is planning an initial offering of 5 billion baht in 'G-token' tokenized government bonds.

The trend toward low latency is bringing real-time, esports-worthy speeds to fully onchain games.

Democrats in the House are asking for 'suspicious activity reports' on Trump's various crypto efforts.

We had a good thing going. Here's how we get it back.

In an increasingly connected world, privacy has become one of the defining issues of our time. Nearly every digital interaction—every search, message, location ping, and purchase—leaves behind a trail. These […]

Source

The initiative aims to map security shortcomings, promote fixes and communicate strengths of the Ethereum network.

One of the early selling points of cryptocurrencies was a promise of a new era of financial freedom and control. Ironically, most blockchain transactions remain completely public by design. Your wallet activities and spending patterns are exposed for anyone curious enough to look.

Privacy protocols emerged as the solution to this transparency problem. They create a protective shield around your financial activities, preserving your right to privacy. Join me as I explore the ABC of privacy protocols.

Why Privacy Matters

Know-Your-Customer (KYC) isn’t exactly a bad thing. As a matter of fact, you may not appreciate the value of KYC until your funds are stolen and recovered. However, given our increasingly connected world with massive digital footprints, you never know who is watching.

Individuals publicly associated with cryptocurrency are frequent targets for attackers, and tragically, their family members can also be at risk. Here are some chilling incidents to jolt your interest:

Dad Kidnapped for Ransom: Imagine your dad snatched in broad daylight! That’s what happened to the father of a wealthy French crypto holder in Paris this May. The brutal twist? Kidnappers cut off one of his fingers to force compliance with their multi-million-euro Bitcoin ransom demand. Five suspects were caught, but the sheer audacity and violence highlight the real-world dangers of being a known crypto asset holder. Ledger Co-Founder Tortured for Crypto Keys: In January 2025, David Balland, a co-founder of the massive crypto wallet firm Ledger, his wife, and a former colleague were victims of a home invasion. Balland himself was kidnapped, and in a horrifying act, his finger was severed to coerce him into revealing crypto wallet credentials. The gang even contacted another Ledger co-founder for ransom. Teenage Crypto Heist Turns Violent Kidnapping: Three teenagers, emboldened by the allure of digital wealth, lured a crypto event host in Las Vegas in November 2024, kidnapped him at gunpoint from his own home, and drove him into the desert. They then proceeded to drain a staggering $4 million in crypto and NFTs.

Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies expose your transactions to public view. Your wallet address functions like a public record that anyone can monitor. Over time, repeated transactions create patterns that can link back to your real identity.

Data analytics companies track these patterns to profile your spending habits. Government agencies might monitor your financial activities and wealth accumulation. Even your business competitors could gain insights into your deals and strategies. Privacy isn’t just a nice feature to have in this environment — it is essential for genuine financial independence and security.

Basic Types of Privacy Protocols

1. Stealth Addresses

Think of stealth addresses as burner phones for your crypto transactions. They generate unique, one-time addresses for each transaction you receive. Even if someone knows your main public address, they cannot connect it to these temporary addresses. Your complete transaction history remains private and compartmentalized. Monero incorporates this technique as one of its core privacy features.

2. Ring Signatures

Ring signatures cleverly mix your transaction with others to create ambiguity about the source. Imagine placing your signed check in a stack with several others of the same amount. An observer would see that a valid check exists, but couldn’t determine which person wrote it. When someone attempts to trace your transaction, they encounter multiple possible senders instead of just you. Your true identity blends into this carefully constructed group.

3. Zero-Knowledge Proofs

These sophisticated protocols work like mathematical magic tricks. They allow you to prove you know something without revealing what that thing is. In cryptocurrency transactions, you can verify you have sufficient funds without displaying your actual balance. You can confirm a transaction’s validity without exposing any sensitive details. Zcash built its privacy features around this technology, with PIVX implementing several bespoke upgrades.

4. Confidential Transactions

These specialized protocols conceal the amount being transferred while maintaining verifiable transactions. Observers can confirm that a valid exchange occurred but cannot see how much money changed hands. This prevents outsiders from analyzing your spending amounts or patterns. Cryptocurrencies like Grin and Beam implement this approach as a central feature.

5. Coin Mixing/Tumbling

Mixing services combine your coins with those from other users. They shuffle everything thoroughly and return different coins of equivalent value to each participant. This process resembles putting your marked dollar bills in a hat with others, mixing them thoroughly, and having everyone draw the same amount they contributed. CoinJoin protocols operate on this principle to break transaction trails.

Major Privacy Cryptocurrencies

Monero (XMR)

Monero is perhaps the most popular privacy-focused cryptocurrency. It implements a comprehensive suite of protections, including ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions by default. Every single transaction automatically receives these privacy benefits without requiring special settings. Your balance, transaction history, and recipient information remain hidden from prying eyes.

Zcash (ZEC)

Zcash offers a flexible approach to privacy through its innovative zero-knowledge proof system called zk-SNARKs. Users can choose between fully private “shielded” transactions or transparent ones similar to Bitcoin. This optional privacy model appeals particularly to institutions and businesses that need privacy for sensitive operations while maintaining regulatory compliance when required. The cryptographic foundations of Zcash come from rigorous academic research.

PIVX (PIVX)

PIVX brings privacy to the proof-of-stake consensus model. It began as a fork of DASH but evolved significantly in its own direction. PIVX implemented a custom privacy protocol called zk-SNARKs (similar to Zcash) through its SHIELD technology. Users can choose between transparent and private transactions according to their needs. The project combines privacy with energy efficiency through its staking mechanism. This unique blend makes PIVX stand out as both environmentally conscious and privacy-focused. The PIVX community strongly emphasizes decentralized governance, allowing stakeholders to vote on development decisions.

Privacy Protocols on Public Blockchains

Secret Network

This innovative blockchain platform extends privacy to the realm of smart contracts. While standard smart contracts expose all their data and operations publicly, Secret contracts maintain data confidentiality while executing programmed functions. This breakthrough enables private decentralized applications, including confidential DeFi services, private NFT marketplaces, and anonymous voting systems. Secret Network provides privacy for entire applications rather than just basic transactions.

Aztec Protocol

Aztec brings sophisticated privacy features to Ethereum through an advanced layer-2 solution. It employs zero-knowledge proofs to shield critical transaction details from public view. Users can obscure transaction amounts, sender information, and recipient details while maintaining compatibility with the Ethereum network. The protocol creates private versions of tokens that can interact seamlessly with existing DeFi applications. This integration brings powerful privacy options to the broader Ethereum ecosystem.

Regulatory Challenges

Government authorities worldwide have expressed growing concerns about privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. They worry these tools could potentially facilitate illicit activities beyond regulatory oversight. These concerns have led some cryptocurrency exchanges to delist privacy coins to avoid regulatory complications.

Compliance with financial regulations becomes particularly challenging when transaction details remain hidden. The privacy cryptocurrency community actively works to address legitimate regulatory concerns while still protecting fundamental user privacy rights and financial sovereignty.

In conclusion, privacy doesn’t exist to conceal wrongdoing — it protects your fundamental right to financial autonomy. We naturally expect privacy in other financial contexts, using sealed envelopes for mail and secure passwords for banking. Privacy protocols simply extend these normal expectations into the cryptocurrency realm.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

The ABC of Privacy Protocols was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

American healthcare is in crisis—but what if we could change the system by preventing disease before it starts?

In this episode of the a16z Podcast, general partner Vijay Pande sits down with Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and one of the most cited researchers in medicine, to explore the cutting edge of preventive healthcare and longevity science.

Drawing from his new book Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Path to Longevity, Topol breaks down why understanding the biology of aging—not reversing it—is the key to preventing the “Big Three” age-related diseases: cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative conditions. The conversation spans AI-powered risk prediction, organ clocks, polygenic risk scores, GLP-1s, and the cultural and economic shifts required to move from a “sick care” system to one rooted in precision prevention and extended healthspan.

If you’ve ever wondered how data, personalized medicine, and AI can add seven healthy years to your life—and what it will take to bring those benefits to everyone—this episode is for you.

 

Resources: 

Find Eric on X: https://x.com/erictopol

Find Vijay on X: https://x.com/vijaypande

 

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Believe, Solana’s tweet-to-token launcher, is aiming to disrupt venture funding with internet capital markets.

VanEck has launched its first tokenized fund, the VBILL Treasury Fund, alongside Securitize.

Yuga has offloaded the famed NFT collection to a nonprofit dedicated to preserving digital art.

The acquisition is the latest major investment Robinhood has made in the crypto sector.

Welcome to the Empeiria’s development update from April 2025

Over the past weeks our team focused on reliability, identity‑centric functionality, and polishing the end‑user experience.

Take a look at some of the key milestones that move our Self‑Sovereign Identity (SSI) stack closer to a public launch — and what they mean for builders and the wider community.

1. Test Infrastructure: From Unit to Full‑Stack Confidence

Testing is mission‑critical for an identity network, so we invested heavily in new automation.

Core libraries now sit at nearly 100 % unit‑test coverage, giving us early warning when edge‑cases creep in.

On top of that, we built a Docker‑orchestrated end‑to‑end (E2E) framework that spins up the complete stack — blockchain nodes, agents, and auxiliary services — in a disposable network.

Every pull request now runs the same interactions a production system would perform, catching integration bugs before they leave the branch.

2. Linked Resources Module: On‑Chain Proof for Any Asset

Our new linked‑resources Cosmos‑SDK module lets a DID owner anchor versioned resources -revocation lists, credential schemas, media, or arbitrary JSON directly on‑chain.

Each upload is signed by the DID controller, timestamped, and assigned a monotonic version so consumers can verify both authenticity and freshness.

This unlocks lightweight, verifiable registries without a separate storage service and paves the way for richer ecosystem integrations.

3. MCP Server: Faster QR Flows & Cloud‑Native Deployment

We released a brand‑new Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, now hosted in its own repository at https://github.com/empe-io/mcp-server

The server exposes the complete set of SSI operations through a streamlined API and ships with plug‑and‑play Issuer and Verifier services you can deploy in a single click.

Test API keys and sandbox addresses are pre‑configured in the .env.test.example file, letting developers issue and verify credentials in minutes. A convenient /qr endpoint can also return wallet‑ready QR codes on demand, smoothing agent‑to‑wallet hand‑offs without extra libraries.

Learn more about MCP Empe Server: https://x.com/empe_io/status/1920826190756995091

4. EMPE DID Wallet: Fresh Look, Secure Backups, Biometric Login

The wallet received its first full design overhaul since alpha.

Users will notice a cleaner layout, clearer credential previews, and snappier navigation on low‑power devices.

Under the hood we introduced an encrypted backup/export option that lets you download all credentials in a single protected file, while a companion seed‑word export secures your DID keys. Restoration stays a one‑tap operation — ideal for device migrations.

We also enabled biometric authentication and broadened deep‑link support for seamless transitions between any on‑device app and the wallet.

5. EMPE Hub: Credential‑Gated Airdrops & Faucet

On the platform side, the Airdrop section of the Empe Hub now issues an eligibility credential that doubles as anti‑sybil protection.

Holding that credential unlocks a new faucet protected by rate‑limits and on‑chain revocation checks, dramatically reducing the risk of bots draining test funds.

The flow showcases how Verifiable Credentials can safeguard token distribution without sacrificing user experience.

Stay tuned for upcoming details about on-chain airdrop!

6. AI Credential Agent Prototype: Conversational Issuance Demo

Our prototype conversational agent now begins each session with a quick KYC validation, confirming the user’s identity before any sensitive data is exchanged.

Once verified, the agent gathers only the necessary details about the user’s tax profile and — when the criteria are met the agent issues a compliant credential via the MCP pipeline.

The entire flow happens in a single chat, concluding with a wallet‑ready QR code, and demonstrates how SSI agents can seamlessly combine identity proofing and document issuance while keeping the user in control.

7. Backend & API: Launch‑Ready Clean‑Up

Finally, the API layer underwent a spring clean: we removed deprecated endpoints, unified error codes, and tightened request validation. Container hardening, SBOM generation, and stricter CI gates round out the picture, positioning us for external security audits and the forthcoming mainnet launch.

Looking Ahead

With confidence in our test coverage, a powerful new on‑chain resource model, and user‑facing tools ready for prime‑time, we are gearing up for performance tuning under load and a full security review.

May will also bring an external developer preview of the wallet SDK — stay tuned and, as always, thank you for building the future of trust with us!

The new DX Terminal experiment fuses AI agents and Base NFTs in a week-long financial simulation contest.

Subscribe to our new AI + Frontier Tech podcast feed to taste our limitless future.

Zashi is a privacy-first wallet, and we take that seriously. That means having access to as little data as possible, and being transparent about the data we have access to, […]

Source

Strategy's latest purchase adds $1.3 billion of the asset to the firm's coffers, while Japan's Metaplanet added $126M in bitcoin.

The long-time BTC advocate has taken the new company public via SPAC merger with $710 million in financing for its Bitcoin treasury.

Google has agreed to pay Texas $1.375 billion to resolve claims around its unlawful collection and tracking of users’ private data. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the agreement, emphasizing that the settlement sends a strong message to tech companies that they were not above the law and would be held accountable for violating user privacy.

The lawsuit, initially filed in 2022, alleged that the tech giant secretly tracked users’ movements, private searches, and even collected biometric data such as voiceprints and facial geometry through various products and services, including Google Photos and Google Assistant. These practices, according to the lawsuit, violated the privacy rights of Texas residents.

Google, while agreeing to the settlement, did not admit any wrongdoing. The company was quick to state that the agreement resolves “old claims” related to product policies that have already been updated. Google also clarified that the settlement does not require any further changes to its current products or services. A Google spokesperson stated that the company is pleased to put these issues behind them and will continue to build robust privacy controls into its services.

The settlement is the largest data privacy payout from Google to a single state, exceeding previous settlements obtained by other states in similar cases. Texas has been proactive in holding tech companies accountable for data privacy violations. In a similar case, Texas secured a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta over the company’s use of facial recognition software without user consent.

PIVX. Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice.
To stay on top of PIVX news please visit PIVX.org and Discord.PIVX.org.

Big Brother Busted! Google’s Secret Tracking Costs Them a FORTUNE! was originally published in PIVX on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The asset has exploded in recent days after an aggressive months-long slide.

Once live, the Input | Output (IO) led integration will bring full Cardano support to Brave Wallet, including Cardano native assets, as well as send, receive, swap, and signing capabilities- all natively embedded within Brave’s best-in-class browser wallet. This establishes Brave as a key partner to the Cardano community in the age of Voltaire.

San Francisco, May 12th, 2025: Input | Output (IO), the preeminent Web3 blockchain infrastructure and engineering firm, today announced a strategic partnership with Brave Software, the creator of the leading privacy-first browser and  integrated multi-chain Brave Wallet. Together, they will integrate Cardano into the Brave Wallet, enabling Cardano blockchain access and token management from within the Brave wallet. 

“Our partnership with IO reflects Brave’s commitment to building a Web3 that maximizes interoperation for user choice, while giving them better tools to engage with decentralized ecosystems,” said Brendan Eich, CEO and co-founder of Brave and the Basic Attention Token (BAT). “Integrating Cardano into Brave Wallet not only expands multi-chain access, but also enhances security, governance participation, and the overall user experience.”

Through this integration, Brave users and the broader Cardano community will gain direct access to Cardano’s blockchain for activities such as governance participation and native asset management, all within the privacy-focused Brave Wallet. Additionally, Brave Wallet will support the execution of swaps with Cardano native tokens and other on-chain transactions. This major milestone enhances Brave’s multi-chain capabilities, adding to its existing support for networks like Ethereum and Solana. Cardano users will now be able to manage native assets like NIGHT, engage in governance, and seamlessly swap tokens—securely and privately—through Brave’s in-browser wallet.

“This collaboration with Brave is a natural fit,” said Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IO. “We share a vision for a more secure, accessible, and user-respecting Web3. By bringing Cardano into Brave Wallet, we are not only expanding functionality for Cardano users in the age of on-chain governance, but also advancing a new standard for how blockchain networks should empower individuals—protecting privacy while enabling active, on-chain participation.”

The partnership also sets the stage for future innovation around engagement with Cardano’s governance and Midnight, a blockchain developed by Shielded Technologies, an Input | Output spinout focused on confidential smart contracts and data protection. 

About Input | Output (IO)

Input | Output (IO) is a world-leading blockchain infrastructure and research engineering firm dedicated to building a sustainable Web3 ecosystem. IO is committed to advancing the next generation of blockchain innovation, focusing on scalability, security, and real-world adoption through pioneering research and cutting-edge engineering.

About Brave Wallet and Brave

Brave Wallet is the secure, multi-chain crypto wallet built directly into the Brave privacy browser—no extensions required. With Brave Wallet, users can manage tokens and NFTs; connect to DApps and onramp to Web3; and explore decentralized finance, social media, gaming, and more. Brave Wallet users can connect other “cold” wallets like Ledger & Trezor. They can buy, store, send, and connect to DApps on Solana, Ethereum and EVM chains, Zcash, and Filecoin.

Brave Wallet is available on desktop, Android, and iOS, and is free to use. To get started on desktop, Brave browser users can click the wallet icon near the address bar. On mobile, users can tap “⋮” (Android) or “…” (iOS), then tap the wallet icon.

Brave is a driving force leading the way for Web3 adoption, directly supporting Web3 into the broader Web through its privacy browser, independent search engine, and browser-native, multi-chain crypto wallet. Brave currently has over 85 million monthly active users. Learn more at brave.com.

As society evolves, so do its values and principles, but is that desirable for technology that seeks to build the most reliable, trustless and censorship resistant global settlement layer? Ever since the rise in popularity of Solana with its inflow of retail capital in a memecoin gold rush, Ethereum became even more criticized for sticking true to its core values despite the completely divergent demands of market participants. Moreover, the rollup centric scaling roadmap seemed to further silo attention and cause liquidity fragmentation, driving away value from Ethereum mainnet. As institutional demand is expected to grow with the introduction of staking ETFs, a new executive leadership took charge of Ethereum foundation to help steer the protocol’s narrative at the intersection between community demands and Ethereum’s ethos.

Topics covered in this episode:

Hsiao-Wei’s & Tomasz’ backgrounds How they became co-executive directors of Ethereum Foundation Ethereum Foundation’s role moving forward Decision making in Ethereum Foundation Shaping Ethereum’s narrative The layer 2 landscape Scaling Ethereum as the global settlement layer Sharding Rollup scalability & their trade-offs What values drive adoption L2 interoperability Future goals

Episode links:

Hsiao-Wei Wang on X Tomasz Stanczak on X Ethereum Foundation on X Ethereum on X

Sponsors:

Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.

Weekly Recap: ETH springs back from the brink, Mashinsky gets 12 years.

Catching up with Daydreams, a generative agent framework merging AI with onchain games and beyond.

BlueYard backs founders building fabric layer technologies that will underpin a world yet to come. The world feels full of potential — yet completely off its axis. The band of possible outcomes has widened, and the margin for error is deadly sharp. Within this context, we invest in pivotal technologies such as breakthroughs in computation, engineering, crypto and biology. We are a small and equal partnership based in the US and Europe‌,‌ founded in 2016‌,‌ managing $500M in ‌A‌uM‌,‌ and deploying our third fund‌.‌ BlueYard invests $500K — $5M in pre‑seed to Series ‌A‌ rounds as a lead or co‑lead investor‌.‌

We are excited to expand our team with a Head of Communications / PR (full-time or part-time) to lead and evolve BlueYard’s communications strategy for our portfolio companies and BlueYard itself. The ideal candidate will be a strategic storyteller who can elevate BlueYard’s voice in the venture capital world while empowering our portfolio companies to shape, communicate, and amplify their key narratives. This person will be responsible for developing and executing an integrated communications and public relations strategy that enhances our brand, strengthens media relationships, and supports the growth of the BlueYard ecosystem. All while staying true to BlueYard’s authentic and genuine style. We are open to starting the relationship in a part-time capacity and evolving to full-time as appropriate.

The role includes:

Owning and developing BlueYard’s communications & public relations strategy, working closely with key stakeholders to position the firm more publicly Cultivating strong relationships with top-tier journalists, media outlets, and influencers across multiple regions to ensure consistent, strategic coverage of BlueYard’s portfolio and people. Ensuring that BlueYard’s values, mission, and vision are consistently reflected across all communications Providing hands-on PR support to portfolio companies in press releases, media outreach, speaking engagements, and thought leadership content. Support portfolio founders in the development of compelling narratives that resonate with target audiences while maintaining their authentic voices. Collaborating with BlueYard’s Head of Platform on building and managing engaging events for founders, LPs, and our broader network Leading communications campaigns around major events, funding rounds, and key announcements within the portfolio.

Here’s what we’d like you to bring to the table:

Proven experience in communications or public relations, ideally within the venture capital or startup ecosystem. Ability to craft and tell compelling stories that resonate with different audiences, from investors to founders to the general public. Self-(fire)starters — be able to run on your own, identify opportunities, and prioritize without much guidance Strong interpersonal skills — happy to work extensively within the team and with entrepreneurs Native English language skills, both written and oral Strong media relationships with a proven track record of securing top-tier coverage for clients or companies. Deep understanding of the startup ecosystem, technology trends, and the challenges faced by early-stage companies. Excellent writing, editing, and verbal communication skills. Experience working remotely and across multiple time zones. Strong project management skills with the ability to juggle multiple initiatives and work collaboratively across teams.

If you are interested in the position, please send the following to team@blueyard.com:

Your CV A collection of links that best characterize your online presence

Our process will then be as follows:

After the initial screening, we will invite selected candidates for a video interview We will then invite a limited group of candidates for in-person interviews with both the team and our entrepreneurs A decision will be made shortly thereafter

The Ethereum-native NFT project launched its token which will be utilized across the Doodles ecosystem.

Years after dismantling its Diem effort, Zuckerberg is looking to integrate stablecoins to reduce costs of payments on its platforms.

How the singleton design pattern offers a fresh path for streamlining Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.

As AI agents increasingly mediate financial transactions, healthcare decisions, and supply chain operations, a $7T verification fraud crisis looms — a figure highlighted by Anthony Scaramucci at ADFW 2024. With 85% of enterprises citing data provenance as their top AI adoption barrier, Empe L1 blockchain and Model Context Protocol (MCP) emerge as Web3’s answer to trusted AI interactions.

Why Trust Matters? AI agents become increasingly autonomous and influential without tools to verify and trust. Traditional systems waste $7T annually on verification costs. 62% of executives distrust AI decisions due to unverifiable data sources. Deepfakes and phishing scams cost businesses $12B+ yearly, demanding cryptographic proof of authenticity. MCP Empe Server: AI Trust Solution

MCP Servers are systems that provide context, tools, and prompts to AI clients. They expose data sources like files, documents, databases, and APIs to make them accessible to AI systems.

Empeiria drops the world’s first MCP Web3 Trust Layer — scalable, private and future-proof. A new era for AI Agents.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) Empe Server provides tools for interacting with Empe’s infrastructure for Self-Sovereign Identity operations.

Key Benefits Scalability: Built to handle the growing ecosystem of AI agents. Privacy: Ensures data integrity while maintaining user privacy. Future-proof: Designed with evolving AI and blockchain technologies in mind. How to Test?

Option 1️⃣ — Participate in the MCP Empe Server Test Environment

Example Issuer and Verifier services have been created on the one-click deployment platform for testing purposes: http://oneclick.empe.io

API keys and addresses can be found in the documentation: http://github.com/empe-io/mcp-servers

Option 2️⃣ — Deploy your own MCP Empe Server

1. Sign up: http://oneclick.empe.io

2. Create Discord ticket to claim deployment credits: http://discord.com/invite/BbCzfuJzkv

3. Follow the platform instructions to deploy the required services

4. Note the configuration details provided after deployment

Join the Trust Revolution

Follow @EMPE_io for updates, join Empeiria’s Discord community, and get ready to build the future of trusted AI.

Democrats in the Senate pointed to the President’s efforts to enrich himself via crypto ventures as a central reason for the block.

Five altcoins that saw wild price action in April and are poised to see more.

AI Ascent 2025

Sequoia convened builders and researchers in AI for another packed day of conversations, talks and demos.

By Team Sequoia Published May 8, 2025

On May 2, we hosted our third AI Ascent event in San Francisco, bringing together more than 100 leading founders and researchers in AI to engage with what partner Pat Grady calls, the “tremendous sucking sound in the market” for AI, and his advice to “go at maximum velocity, all of the time.” Partner Sonya Huang talked about the improved retention rate of generative AI applications and pronounced that coding had reached “screaming product-market fit.” And partner Konstantine Buhler looked ahead to how the agent economy will transform how we work, and laid out the technologies we need to get there.

Over the course of the day we talked with AI leaders including Sam Altman of OpenAI, Jensen Huang and Jim Fan of Nvidia, Jeff Dean of Google, Mike Krieger of Anthropic, Bret Taylor of Sierra and many more. The talks ranged from new business models for AI agents, the race to build data centers, the power of vertical applications and the importance of open source.

Below is a selection of videos from the event (some sessions were off the record).

Videos from AI Ascent 2025 Previous Video Next Video

You can also watch the videos on the AI Ascent 2025 YouTube playlist.

Share Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share this on LinkedIn Share this via email Related Topics #AI Generative AI’s Act o1 by Sonya Huang, Pat Grady, and o1 Perspective Read The Always-On Economy By Konstantine Buhler Perspective Read Steel, Servers and Power: What it Takes to Win the Next Phase of AI By David Cahn Perspective Read AI Ascent 2024 Video highlights from our AI conference. Perspective Read JOIN OUR MAILING LIST Get the best stories from the Sequoia community. Email address Leave this field empty if you’re human:

The post AI Ascent 2025 appeared first on Sequoia Capital.

The mostly-stock deal for the derivatives exchange is the largest crypto acquisition ever.

Juiced by hope of a trade deal, BTC once again crossed the significant barrier.

The payments giant completed its $1.1B acquisition of Bridge in February.

Taiko is a decentralized, Ethereum-equivalent (type I) rollup scaling solution which uses ZK technology. Taiko's goal is to scale Ethereum efficiently while maintaining security and decentralization. Being a type I zkEVM, Taiko retains full Ethereum equivalence, which creates a seamless DevEx, although this comes at the expense of UX as slower proof generation is the main trade-off. Moreover, in order to stay true to its decentralised ethos, Taiko operates as a based rollup, meaning that transaction sequencing is performed by L1 validators.

Topics covered in this episode:

Joaquin’s background Loopring and Taiko’s beginnings The 4 types of zkEVMs Taiko's zk circuits vs. Polygon’s Based sequencing Data availability and blob commitment Ethereum’s role in the future The L2 landscape and its compromises Sequencer security model Dealing with MEV Based preconfirmations & Taiko ecosystem UX

Episode links:

Joaquin Mendes on X Taiko on X Loopring on X

Sponsors:

Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.

EIP-7702 unlocks smart contract powers for every Ethereum wallet, marking a major UX leap for onchain apps and culture.

In this episode of th a16z Podcast, we’re sharing Katherine Boyle’s recent interview on TBPN.

Katherine—General Partner at a16z and the architect of the American Dynamism thesis—joins hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays to discuss the state of the movement today. They cover the Department of Defense’s sweeping reform efforts, the role of startups in national security, and why American Dynamism is just getting started.

From procurement reform to reindustrialization, this wide-ranging conversation explores how founders and investors are reshaping the future in service of the national interest.

Resources:

Watch more from TBPN: https://www.tbpn.com/

Find TBPN on X: https://x.com/tbpn

Find Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Democrats have sent letters to World Liberty Financial and the entity behind the TRUMP memecoin.

The much-hyped crypto startup garnered criticism after CoinDesk leaked a number of controversial agreements the firm held with market makers.

The new hard fork update brings 11 major changes, including staking updates, upgraded account functionality, and improved core performance.

Your ideal customer profile (ICP) is the north star for your entire company: it determines who you’re building for and selling to. Though most growth-stage founders think they know who their ICP is, very few know how to update and refine it to keep the company focused as they grow—which can lead to a lot of headaches down the road.

In this debut episode of a16z Growth’s new company scaling podcast, the a16z Guide to Growth, a16z's Joe Morrissey (General Partner, a16z Growth), Michael King (Partner, Go-to-Market Network), and Mark Regan (Partner, a16z Growth) break down why ICP misalignment is often the hidden cause of common problems across the entire company, from pipeline gaps and bloated marketing spend to stalled product roadmaps—and dive deep on how to fix it.

They offer tactical advice for defining (and refining!) your ICP as you scale, explain why getting it right requires company-wide alignment, and how to navigate the “precision paradox” when implementing it. Plus, why ICPs matter even more in the AI era, and how a well-executed ICP shows up across the business when it's working.

 

Resources: 

Read more on sales and go-to-market on our Growth Content Compendium

Find Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morrisseyjoe/

Find Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mregan178/

Find Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-king-62258/

Find Emma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmajanaskie/

 

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Ethereum's next major hard fork went live this morning. Here's how its 11 included EIPs will push the network forward.

Not enough people are talking about how huge Apple's court loss is for the future of crypto development.

The nation's first such bill enables the state treasurer to invest public funds in digital assets with a market cap over $500B.

The Zcash Foundation is pleased to announce the release of Zebra 2.3.0.

This release includes a number of improvements to regtest mode, by adding methods to reconsider and invalidate blocks, as well as fixing a bug that was preventing some transparent transactions from being served by Zebra in regtest mode. Additionally, this release restores Zebra’s ability to mine blocks on testnet and regtest. 

We have also made several improvements to the set of RPC methods supported by Zebra to cover the required validator node use cases once zcashd is deprecated. 

Finally, the release includes the following breaking changes: 

The RPC endpoint is no longer enabled by default in Docker. Users who require it must follow these instructions. We no longer publish Docker images tagged with the sha- or v prefixes. The getblocktemplate-rpcs Cargo feature has been removed, and the functionality behind that flag is now available by default.

You can see a full copy of the included changes in the v2.3.0 Release Notes on GitHub.

The post Zebra 2.3.0 Release appeared first on Zcash Foundation.

Changpeng Zhao claimed BTC could go as high as $1 million this cycle, in comments on a podcast interview.

House Democrats are boycotting crypto regulatory hearings over Trump's personal crypto dealings.

The Zcash Foundation is committed to transparency and openness with the Zcash community and our other stakeholders. Today, we are releasing our Q1 2025 report, which provides an overview of the work undertaken by our engineering team, as well as an overview of other activities during this period.

As with our previous quarterly reports, this report describes our financial inflow and outflows, with a detailed breakdown of our expenses, and we have included a snapshot of the Foundation’s financial position, in terms of liquid assets and liabilities that must be met using those assets.

Download the Q1 2025 report here.

Our previous quarterly reports can be found here.

The post The Zcash Foundation’s Q1 2025 Report appeared first on Zcash Foundation.

The Ethereum community is clamoring for network improvements. Vitalik has ideas.

Focus Tree’s gasless wallet is bringing 1,000s of students onto Starknet, proving the network’s crypto consumer potential.

Regulators said the project behind Worldcoin did not have sufficient permitting.

The investment firm has filed an S-1 document for the Binance-founded chain's native token.

Partnering with FastAPI Labs: Simplified App Deployment

Sebastián is removing roadblocks for app developers—and transforming the software development process.

By Bogomil Balkansky and Lauren Reeder Published May 5, 2025 FASTAPI LABS FOUNDER SEBASTIÁN RAMÍREZ.

We at Sequoia knew Sebastián Ramírez well long before we became the lead investor in his company, FastAPI Labs. In 2023 he was the inaugural recipient of our Open Source Fellowship.

We started the fellowship because we recognized that open source is the lifeblood of software, and that open source contributors around the world make commercial software better and more reliable. We wanted our first fellowship recipient to be someone who already had a huge impact on the open source ecosystem. 

Sebastián perfectly fit that bill! He is the creator of FastAPI, the wildly popular open-source Python framework used everywhere from Fortune Global 500 corporations such as BMW, American Express and Roche, to academia, to nonprofits such as NASA’s Space Telescope Science Institute and the Red Cross. At the start of the fellowship, Sebastián was overflowing with ideas to improve on what he’d built—and we are proud to have supported his work in the years since. 

Starting a company came up several times in our many conversations with him. In a sense, Sebastián has been an entrepreneur his entire life, having taken the road less traveled many times before. And he has plenty of the grit and perseverance a founder needs. Building a new business today may be a fad for many engineering and business graduates, but Sebastián was intentional about what his company would do. 

FastAPI the open-source framework was born from Sebastián’s vision for solving a complicated problem—building an API in Python. FastAPI Labs the company was born from his frustration with how difficult it is to deploy an app. It turns out that the software development lifecycle is an exercise of moving the cheese: you remove one bottleneck, only to discover the next. And Sebastián has never been someone to shy away from removing bottlenecks or solving gnarly problems. That’s why he and his team are building FastAPI Cloud: a service that enables developers to seamlessly deploy apps to the cloud. 

Given our long relationship with and belief in Sebastián, it’s only natural that we’re leading the seed round in FastAPI Labs, and we are excited to continue to support him and his team.

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This is the 34th post in an ongoing series describing new privacy features in Brave. This post describes work done by Vadym Struts (Senior Software Engineer) and Kleant Zogu (Mobile Product Designer) and was written by Shivan Kaul Sahib (VP, Privacy and Security).

Brave for Android 1.78 introduces a new Shields option called Block Elements, which lets you tap any on-page annoyance and hide it.

Most websites are crowded with visual clutter, largely due to third-party advertising. This problem is even worse on mobile devices, where limited screen real estate makes every banner feel even more intrusive, especially on news or recipe websites. Brave already protects you from many of these annoyances by automatically stripping away third-party ads and trackers, cookie consent notices (read more about how we’re automatically detecting cookie consent notices) and those “Open in app” prompts. This ensures a safe and pleasant browsing experience the moment you download Brave.

Now, Brave for Android takes this annoyance blocking a step further by allowing you to manually hide any remaining page clutter. This could be a sidebar of “Trending” clickbait, a promo banner you can’t close, or anything else that gets in the way of focusing on the content you care about.

The Block Elements feature already exists on desktop, but we’ve revamped the experience there to improve its usability and better align with Android.

How to block elements Android

To block unwanted page elements on Brave Android:

Tap the Shields icon in the address bar. Tap Advanced controls. Tap Block element. Tap the page element you want to block. Press the Block Elements button.

The unwanted page element will now be hidden.

Desktop

To block elements on Desktop:

Right-click on the page you’re viewing. Select Block elements. Select the element you want to block. Press the Block Elements button. Clear all blocked elements

On both Android and desktop, you can easily undo your changes and bring back blocked elements for a website:

Open Shields. Click or tap Clear all blocked elements.

Note: This action will only clear rules for the website you’re currently viewing. Also note that the Clear all blocked elements option will only appear at the bottom of the Shields panel if you have any blocked elements on the page.

Clear all blocked elements on Android

Clear all blocked elements on desktop

Customizing blocking rules

Under the hood, the Block Elements feature works by adding custom, cosmetic filter rules for individual sites. To see all of your per-site custom rules, you can press Manage filters while selecting elements to block. Alternatively, you can navigate to brave://settings/shields/filters on both Android and desktop.

On desktop, you can also find other elements at the same DOM level by moving the slider. This can be useful to block multiple related elements or narrow down the block. Click Show rules to see the changing cosmetic rules.

Selecting multiple elements on wikipedia.org

User-friendly privacy features

Similar to the Shred feature on iOS, we designed Block Elements on Android to be a usable and fun feature that gives you more control over your browsing experience. However, note that blocking elements on a page might cause the website to break, especially if the website changes over time. If a page suddenly looks odd (for example, the page is blank or has unusable buttons) tap Clear all blocked elements to undo your changes for that page.

As always, let us know what you think on community.brave.com, GitHub or social media.

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