Uncategorized
Still Learning After All These Years

Last June, a sailing buddy (and aerospace engineer) asked if I could check out a family friend’s “bitcoin.” He forwarded me an image of a plastic bitcoin wallet held with a private key partially obscured. The family friend had received the card as some sort of “gimmick at a conference” and tossed it in a drawer.
This is one of those moments where I find imposter syndrome perched on my shoulder, nodding its head, lips pursed. Two years in the business preceded by another two monkeying around in my personal account didn’t give me nearly enough crypto cred to say, “Oh, yeah, wow. I remember these.” Fine, I’m a noob. I made a no-promises disclaimer and quickly changed the subject.
Back home, I opened the image and set to work with the solemn determination of Quincy, M.E. (although forensic examination is an inapt metaphor, given the complete absence of foul play). How did these ancient wallets work? If the private key is printed on the card, how is that secure? I knew BIP39, but what’s BIP38?
Learning ensued. Then, I checked the bitcoin blockchain and noted that exactly one bitcoin had been moved to this address nine-and-a-half years earlier, when a bitcoin fetched just over $325. No activity since. As for the obscured BIP38 “private” key, you need a passphrase to decrypt it. Uh-oh. Did the family friend save the passphrase for ten years, on a Post-it® now worth $100,000?
—
This week, we were out to see a show with a different group of friends. I offered to reimburse them for our tickets with crypto. “Set up a Phantom wallet, copy and securely store the seed phrase, and send me your Ethereum address. I’ll pay you in ether or USDC, your choice.”
I saw all the faces. Chuckle, eyeroll, are you serious, wait-a-minute, hmmm, why not, OK! I’m still waiting for that Ethereum address, but I have no doubt this will happen. Another “gimmick,” ten years later.
Why ETH or USDC? Why not bitcoin? In 2025, bitcoin is no longer a mystery. Folks get it, and if they are thinking about buying a digital asset, they’ll find bitcoin on many shelves. It’s a store of value. It’s scarce. As more buyers enter the market over time, its value should rise.
Many folks do not get Ethereum, nor smart contract platform blockchains. Folks don’t get stablecoins either, nor the fact that they rely on other blockchains, and involve paying fees in ETH or SOL or a dozen other blockchain coins. For the “5%ers” — those who will eventually spend 5% of their investing energy and resources on crypto — this feels like the next key intuition unlock.
There is no better way to get there than to put a few “learning dollars” (i.e., not “investment dollars”) on-chain and move them around. I hope my friends take their new USDC and throw some on AAVE, bridge some to Solana, and buy something on Uniswap.
This primary research might solidify an investor’s conviction in a single platform. Or, just the opposite: it may solidify conviction that picking winners is hard in what is likely to be a year of explosive growth. XRP, XLM, and HBAR sat atop the 2024 leaderboard of the CoinDesk 20 Index, an outcome few would have predicted. We feel — actually, we are expecting — that investors and advisors will choose diversified market beta over the possibility of selection alpha.
The holders of the plastic-wallet bitcoin did not “take the bait” and become active bitcoin enthusiasts (presumably), although, ex post, they did the right thing by throwing the wallet in a drawer for 10 years (along with a Post-it® with the passphrase; whew!). These days, I’m trying to take as many opportunities as possible to get folks to fire up a wallet and get some blockchain experience. (But if not, I’ll still be good for the theater tickets with fiat.)
Uncategorized
BNB Hovers Above $648 as Maxwell Hard Fork Upgrade Set to Double Block Production Speed

BNB BNB traded in a narrow range on Sunday, reflecting resilience amid low volatility as the BNB Chain community gears up for a significant infrastructure upgrade, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model.
The Maxwell hard fork upgrade scheduled for June 30 is poised to enhance the performance of the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) mainnet by cutting block times from 1.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds—doubling the chain’s throughput potential.
This upgrade builds on earlier milestones like the Lorentz fork, which reduced block time from 3 seconds and introduced enhanced network stability. Maxwell moves BSC into sub-second block speeds, helping it compete more directly with faster chains such as Solana.
The hard fork will be powered by three protocol improvement proposals: BEP-524, BEP-563 and BEP-564. These measures overhaul key components of validator coordination and consensus mechanics. Notably, validators will now serve longer block proposal turns (16 blocks per turn), and the epoch length is being extended from 500 to 1,000 blocks — changes expected to stabilize performance even under accelerated conditions.
To avoid network congestion and excessive state growth, the per-block gas limit will be halved from 70 million to 35 million. Improvements on the networking side are also expected, with faster block propagation among validators — within 400 milliseconds —and improved range synchronization for lagging nodes.
Named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell, the upgrade is designed to balance speed with stability, aiming to elevate BNB Chain’s standing across DeFi, GameFi, and enterprise blockchain sectors. By delivering more responsive block finality and smoother validator participation, the Maxwell hard fork could help drive future adoption and developer growth across the ecosystem.
Technical Analysis Highlights
- Between June 28 15:00 UTC and June 29 14:00 UTC, BNB climbed from $646.29 to $650.25, a 0.61% gain with a $5.75 (0.89%) trading range.
- The price found key support at $647.11 during the 02:00 UTC hour on June 29, with above-average volume of 10,034 units.
- Resistance emerged at $651.30 during the 12:00 UTC hour, capping further gains.Notable volume spikes at 07:00 and 09:00 UTC (18,696 and 22,494 units, respectively) confirmed persistent buyer interest above $648.
- From 13:05 to 14:04 UTC on June 29, BNB dipped slightly from $650.85 to $650.25, posting a 0.09% intraday loss.
- Price briefly hit a session peak of $651.07 at 13:23 UTC before rejecting lower, with a volume spike of 957.81 units at 13:25 UTC.
- As of 21:24 UTC, BNB traded at $648.37, paring earlier gains and holding below resistance near the $651 level.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
Uncategorized
Ondo Finance: ‘2025 Will Be the Year of Tokenized Stocks’

Ondo (ONDO) ONDO rose 1.5% to $0.7671 over the past 24 hours, holding near recent highs after a week of gains, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model.
The move comes roughly two weeks after Ondo Finance disclosed a new industry collaboration focused on setting standards for tokenized securities.
In a June 17 blog post, the firm announced the creation of the Global Markets Alliance, a group of wallets, exchanges, and custodians working together to improve interoperability, investor protections, and access to tokenized real-world assets. Participants include the Solana Foundation, BitGo, Fireblocks, Jupiter, 1inch, Trust Wallet, Bitget Wallet, Rainbow Wallet, and Alpaca.
The announcement comes ahead of Ondo’s planned launch of Ondo Global Markets, a platform aimed at allowing crypto wallets and applications to offer tokenized exposure to U.S. publicly traded securities, such as stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds, for users based outside the U.S. According to the company, the initiative is intended to reduce frictions associated with traditional capital market infrastructure and broaden global access.
Each member of the alliance is contributing in a different capacity. Wallet providers like Trust Wallet and Rainbow Wallet are integrating Ondo’s tokenized asset standards, while exchanges such as Jupiter and aggregators like 1inch are expected to support programmatic access to tokenized assets. BitGo and Fireblocks are providing institutional custody and infrastructure, and Alpaca is handling brokerage and regulatory services tailored to tokenized securities.
The firm said the group will work to align technical and compliance standards for tokenized securities, improve cross-platform access and liquidity, and support use cases such as self-custody and onchain trading. While the alliance has not committed to a specific timeline, its members have framed the initiative as part of a longer-term shift toward integrating traditional financial products into blockchain-based systems.
In a post on X dated June 28, Ondo Finance wrote that “2025 will be the year of tokenized stocks,” indicating the team’s belief that adoption of tokenized financial instruments may accelerate in the coming quarters.
Technical Analysis Highlights
- Between June 28 15:00 UTC and June 29 14:00 UTC, ONDO rose from $0.749 to $0.769, a 2.67% gain within a 3.33% trading range.
- Strong support was confirmed at $0.755 with high volume during the 21:00 UTC hour on June 28.
- Key resistance at $0.765 was broken during the 00:00 UTC hour on June 29, when volume spiked to 8.9 million.
- From 13:05 to 14:04 UTC on June 29, ONDO fell slightly from $0.773 to $0.769, a 0.58% drop, with notable selling at 13:33 UTC.
- A temporary support level formed at $0.768 as multiple recovery attempts above $0.769 failed in the final minutes.
- Price action during the final hour formed a descending channel with lower highs, but the last candle hinted at potential reversal.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
Uncategorized
Coinbase Outpaces S&P 500 With 43% June Rise as Stablecoin Narrative Grows: CNBC

Shares of Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) rose 43% this month, making the firm the top performer in the S&P 500 since it joined the index at the end of last month.
June’s run is already the stock’s best since November and caps three straight monthly gains. Coinbase’s shares reached their highest level since their public debut.
COIN hit a $382 high this week before enduring a slight correction, ending the week at $353 and seeing a slight 0.7% drop in after-hours trading to $351.
The wider S&P 500 index rose roughly 5% in June as geopolitical tensions eased.
Washington’s progress on the GENIUS Act, Congress’s first rulebook for dollar-pegged stablecoins, helped shift investor focus from trading fees to stablecoin revenue.
The bill brightened the outlook for Circle, whose shares hit a record high and saw its market cap near that of Coinbase this week.
Coinbase keeps all yield on USDC balances held on its platform and nearly half of other USDC income, equal to about 99 percent of Circle’s revenue, giving shareholders indirect exposure at no added cost, CNBC reported Friday, citing analysts including Citizens’ head of financial technology research Devin Ryan.
Trading, however, remains subdued. Average daily volume on Coinbase has drifted lower since April.
-
Business9 месяцев ago
3 Ways to make your business presentation more relatable
-
Entertainment9 месяцев ago
10 Artists who retired from music and made a comeback
-
Fashion9 месяцев ago
According to Dior Couture, this taboo fashion accessory is back
-
Entertainment9 месяцев ago
\’Better Call Saul\’ has been renewed for a fourth season
-
Business9 месяцев ago
15 Habits that could be hurting your business relationships
-
Entertainment9 месяцев ago
Disney\’s live-action Aladdin finally finds its stars
-
Entertainment9 месяцев ago
New Season 8 Walking Dead trailer flashes forward in time
-
Tech9 месяцев ago
5 Crowdfunded products that actually delivered on the hype