Ethereum Developers: Pectra Update Coming Q1 2025
Ethereum developers at the last conference call announced the implementation of the Pectra update in the first quarter of 2025. This will be the next major update after Dencun implemented in March.
The update will include proposals to improve the format of Ethereum Virtual Machine objects, as well as the deployment of EIP-7251, known as the “maximum effective balance increase.” This change will allow validators to increase the staking limit from the current 32 ETH to 2048 ETH, which will allow node operators to reduce their number.
In addition, the developers decided to replace the account abstraction proposal EIP-3074 with the new proposal EIP-7702 proposed by Vitalik Buterin. This improvement will introduce a new type of transaction that will allow Ethereum account addresses to temporarily function as smart contract wallets and then be restored to their original state.
The amount of blocked assets in the TON network exceeded $300 million
The total value of locked assets (TVL) on The Open Network (TON) currently exceeds $317 million. The figure has been growing rapidly since the beginning of March, which is largely due to the Tonstakers liquid staking program and the decentralized exchange Ston.fi.
In April, TON developers took an important step by reducing fees for on-chain transactions by 2.5 times, and also announced the distribution of 105,600 TON (about $600,000) to the most active traders and NFT holders on the Getgems, xRare and TON Diamonds marketplaces.
In May, trading of the NOT token from the gaming Web3 project Notcoin began on leading exchanges such as Binance, Bybit and OKX. According to the Dune dashboard, after reaching a peak of $1.4 billion in daily trading volume, the figure returned to a level of about $225 million.
The network's native token, Toncoin (TON), maintains relative balance with NOT, posting values of around $150 million (according to CoinGecko). The market circulation of the coin is $3.47 billion with a total capitalization of ~$32.9 billion.
The fourth halving is completed in Ethereum Classic
On May 31, at a height of #20,000,001, the fourth halving occurred on the Ethereum Classic network. Now the reward for the mined block has decreased to 2,048 ETC. This scheduled event repeats approximately every two years, reducing the reward by 20% with the goal of reaching the supply cap of 210.7 million ETC. Since 2017, this is the fourth time that a halving has occurred on the Ethereum Classic blockchain.
Bitdeer Raises $100 Million Investment from Tether
Tether has made a significant investment of $100 million in Bitcoin miner Bitdeer, owned by Jihan Wu. The agreement also includes a warrant to purchase an additional 5,000,000 shares with a total value of $50 million. Tether has the opportunity to increase its stake in Bitdeer over the next year.
The funds raised will be used to expand the Bitdeer data center, develop a new ASIC device for bitcoin mining, as well as for general corporate purposes and replenishment of working capital.
A Tether representative noted that the company looks forward to working closely with Bitdeer on a number of key infrastructure projects.
Tornado Cash developers received 30 ETH from Vitalik Buterin for legal support
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated 30 ETH (about $111,000) to the legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm. The Free Alexey & Roman fundraising initiative was launched in January on the decentralized Juicebox platform.
On May 14, a court in the Netherlands found Pertsev guilty of laundering $1.2 billion through a cryptomixer, sentencing him to 64 months in prison. He has been under arrest since August 2022, and in April 2023 he was transferred to house arrest.
Charges of money laundering and violation of sanctions in the United States have also been brought against the co-founders of Tornado Cash, Storm and Roman Semenov. Storm was released on bail and pleaded not guilty, while Semenov remained free but was subject to sanctions.
Vitalik Buterin called Pertsev’s verdict an “unfortunate” and “very sad” situation, expressing hope that this will serve as an incentive to rethink the role of cryptocurrency mixers.
Hackers continue to attack X accounts to advertise scam projects
Over the past weekend, numerous X accounts belonging to influencers and celebrities have been the victims of hacks aimed at promoting scams and market manipulation.
One of the victims was a crypto investor with the nickname Gigantic-Casocked-Rebirth (GSR), who has about 250,000 subscribers. On May 26, a message about ORDI and LUNA 2.0 coins appeared on his page, which led to a short-term increase in their value by 6% and 274%, respectively. The post was later deleted, and GSR himself confirmed that his account had been hacked.
Also recently, the X account of American rapper Rich The Kid published a post with an offer to purchase the new RICH token, launched through the meme token creation tool on the Solana platform - pump.fun.
Be wary of such ads and advertisements appearing on the accounts of famous people. Fraudsters often use popular accounts to deceive gullible users. Always verify information from independent sources before taking any action.
A behavioral scientist from Canada has compiled a portrait of BTC investors
The average Bitcoin investor values personal development and has emotional stability. This is according to behavioral scientist and associate professor at the University of Toronto Stefano Di Domenico in a study reported by Decrypt.
The study involved 500 customers of the Canadian platform Shakepay, who were asked to answer more than 350 questions. Di Domenico has examined more than a dozen hypotheses, but his work has not yet been peer-reviewed or published. He presented some of his findings at the Canadian Bitcoin Conference 2024.
In his opinion, Bitcoin investors are characterized by intellectual curiosity and emotional stability. They value personal development, relationships, community and health over material goods, and are also financially literate.
