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Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade Goes Live on ‘Holesky’ Testnet, But Fails to Finalize

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Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade went live on the Holesky testnet on Monday but failed to finalize in the expected time.

Pectra was activated on the Holesky testnet at 21:55 UTC (4:55 p.m. ET), but did not initially finalize according to blockchain data.

Finality is the state in which, once a transaction is confirmed and added to a block, it is immutable and cannot be reversed. A testnet is a network that copies a main blockchain (in this case Ethereum), and is used to test upgrades or new code before it goes to the main network.

It is not immediately clear why the Pectra upgrade did not finalize on Holesky. Ethereum developers were discussing Monday over the Eth R&D Discord channel what the issue could be.

This is not the first time an upgrade has not finalized on an Etheruem test network. In January 2024, when the developers were testing the Dencun upgrade, the hard fork did not initially finalize on the Goerli testnet.

What is Pectra?

The Pectra hard fork combines together 11 major upgrades, or «Ethereum improvement proposals» (EIPs), into one package. At the heart of this is EIP-7702, which is supposed to improve the user-experience of crypto wallets. The proposal, which was scribbled by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in just 22 minutes, will allow wallets to have some smart contract capabilities, as part of a broader strategy to bring account abstraction to Ethereum — a concept that makes the usability of wallets a lot less clunky.

Another key proposal, EIP-7251, will allow validators to increase the maximum amount they can stake from 32 to 2,048 ETH. The proposal is supposed to ease some of the technicalities that validators who stake ETH face today: Those that stake more than their 32 ETH have to spread that across multiple validators, making the process a bit of a nuisance. By lifting the maximum stake limit and combining those validators, it could speed up the process of setting up new nodes.

Holesky is the first of two testnets to run through a simulation of Pectra. The next test is supposed to occur on the Sepolia testnet on Mar. 5. But according to Christine Kim, a Vice President of Research at Galaxy, developers could delay it depending on the scale of today’s issue.

After Pectra goes live on both testnets, developers will ink in a final date to activate the upgrade on mainnet.

Pectra was originally on track to be Ethereum’s biggest upgrade to date, and it’s the first big change to the blockchain in almost a year. Developers decided that Pectra was too ambitious, and they agreed to split the original package into two.

Read more: Ethereum Developers Finally Schedule ‘Pectra’ Upgrade

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Bitcoin’s Breakout Signals BTC Potentially Rallying to $90K-$92K: Technical Analysis

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This is a daily technical analysis by CoinDesk analyst and Chartered Market Technician Omkar Godbole.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent range play resolved bullishly early Monday, shifting focus to the $90,000-$92,000 range, which was previously a strong support zone.

The leading cryptocurrency by market value rose past $87,000, convincingly breaking out of a week-long consolidation between $83,000 and $86,000. The renewed willingness among the bulls to lead the price action indicates the resumption of the recovery from the April 7 lows under $75,000.

It also means potential for a continued move higher to the $90,000-$92,000 range, which acted as the floor, arresting price drops from December to early February. The support zone was eventually breached in late February, spurring a rapid decline to under $75,000.

BTC's hourly and daily charts. (TradingView/CoinDesk)

The range breakout is seen on the hourly chart (left).

It follows the recent invalidation of the bearish trendline, characterizing the sell-off from record highs, as seen on the daily chart. BTC has also surpassed the 30-day exponential moving average (EMA) of price highs, indicating a bullish shift in momentum.

The focus, therefore, is on the $90,000-$92,000 range, the former support zone from early this year. Those tracking moving averages should note that the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) is now located at $88,245.

The bullish outlook risks invalidation should prices fall all the way back to $85K by the day’s end (UTC).

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Stablecoin Giant Circle Is Launching a New Payments and Remittance Network

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Circle, the firm behind the $60 billion USDC stablecoin, is launching a new payments and cross border remittance network on Tuesday — the company’s “next product move” — from its plush New York City headquarters, high on the 87th Floor of One World Trade Center.

The launch event is aimed at banks, fintechs, payment service providers, remittance providers and USDC strategic partners. It will feature Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire sharing his vision for the stablecoin giant’s next move within the payments space, according to an invite seen by CoinDesk.

New and incipient regulations around the globe are opening up the stablecoin space, where Circle has shared the limelight with larger rival Tether. It makes sense then that Circle — a firm that has successfully pivoted during its years in the crypto space — should look to consolidate its position and return to its roots as a payments company.

“Circle is launching a payments network that is initially targeting remittances but is ultimately aiming to rival Mastercard and Visa,» said a person familiar with the plans.

Stablecoins have reached an adoption level where the technology could disrupt global money transfers in a way similar to WhatsApp and international calls, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz said in recent report.

In a recent interview, crypto custody tech specialists Fireblocks pointed to billions being moved around by payments services providers doing things like cross border payments using stablecoins like USDC and USDT.

Circle was in the news most recently, after the firm announced plans to go public in the U.S., only to postpone the date of its IPO thanks to choppy and uncertain market conditions.

Circle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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BNB, SOL, XRP Spike Higher as Bitcoin ‘Digital Gold’ Narrative Makes a Comeback

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Surging gold prices and bitcoin’s (BTC) relatively strong price action amid a global market sell-off have some traders revisiting the latter’s role as “digital gold” — a big narrative in bitcoin’s early years but one that has lost steam in recent times.

BTC zoomed above $87,000 in Asian morning hours, with Cardano’s ADA, BNB Chain’s BNB, XRP and ether (ETH) adding as much as 1.5%. The spike reversed all declines since Thursday, with tokens such as Solana’s SOL up 5.2% in the past week.

The tariff-driven trade wars have sparked fears of inflation and currency devaluation, prompting comparisons of the asset to gold’s historical role as a hedge.

“Although bitcoin has had a close correlation with U.S. equities, it seems to be changing with a stronger tie to the rise of the price of gold, which has been a safe haven while equities have plummeted,” Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message on Monday.

“Bitcoin crossed $87,000 as a sign of renewed investor confidence as the market continues to stabilize after panicking over tariffs. It’s also worth noting that Bitcoin’s digital gold narrative is taking off as both assets have grown in tandem,” Ruck said.

Gold set fresh highs Monday with a push above $3,380 per ounce, bringing year-to-date gains to 25%. Bitcoin has dropped more than 20% from a January peak of $108,000, though Monday’s push over $87,000 sent the asset to its highest level since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” in early April.

Pressure on the greenback has continued to grow as the dollar index (DXY) crashed to a three-year low, with some pointing out that most bad news has been “priced in” and that bitcoin could see upside in the coming days.

“Trump’s inclination to remove Jerome Powell as Fed Chair and force interest rate cuts is causing people to sell the U.S. dollar and U.S. government debt, moving to other safe haven assets such as gold, European bonds, and now, Bitcoin,” Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message Monday.

“After all, when rates are cut, more money flows into the money supply, devaluing the U.S. dollar. In general, downward pressure on the US dollar is growing and this could be a driving catalyst for Bitcoin to become a safe haven asset,” Mei added.

Meanwhile, here’s a machine’s view of the markets today, powered by the CoinDesk Markets AI bot.

ADA Price Analysis

  • Cardano’s ADA is above 63 cents with strong technical indicators pointing to continued upward momentum despite macroeconomic headwinds.
  • Price action formed a clear ascending channel with strong support at $0.612, which successfully held during multiple retests.
  • Notable volume spike occurred on 2025-04-21 00:00 when volume reached 68M (3x average), propelling price through key resistance at $0.630.
  • Fibonacci extension levels suggest 64 cents as the next target, with an overall range of 0.031 (5.1%), indicating substantial volatility.
  • RSI remains below overbought territory despite the rally, suggesting potential for continued upward momentum.
  • Consolidation near previous resistance suggests accumulation rather than distribution.

XRP Price Analysis

  • XRP’s decisive breakout signals a potential end to months-long sideways trading, with technical indicators pointing to further gains ahead.
  • Fibonacci retracement levels suggest potential continuation toward $2.15, with the 61.8% extension pointing to $2.18 as the next target if bullish momentum persists.

SOL Price Analysis

  • SOL breaks decisively above $135 resistance, surging 10.2% to establish new support levels with strong volume confirmation
  • Key technical battle emerges between $129 support and $144 resistance zones, with on-chain data showing 5.75% of realized volume concentrated at these critical levels
  • Price action formed a clear ascending channel with higher lows and higher highs, particularly evident in the April 19-21 rally.
  • Volume significantly increased during upward movements, confirming the strength of the bullish trend.
  • The 48-hour momentum indicators show bullish divergence with price maintaining strength above the 20-hour moving average.

BNB Price Action

  • BNB breaks $600 barrier with 3.2% surge as large holders accumulate during market volatility.
  • Recent quarterly token burn removed 1.57 million BNB worth over $1 billion, supporting price momentum.
  • Open interest in BNB rose 3.3% to $760 million despite negative funding rates, with 68% of traders betting on continued price increases.
  • BNB broke out of its consolidation range with a 3.2% surge from $592.63 to $601.74.
  • Price action shows clear bullish momentum with increasing volume, particularly during the breakout candle where volume spiked to 55,661 units.
  • Fibonacci extension targets suggest potential continuation toward the $605-610 zone if current momentum persists.
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