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The Protocol: Ethereum’s Pectra Goes Live on Testnet

Published

2 месяца ago

26 февраля, 2025

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

In this issue:

Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade Goes Live

Avalanche Visa card launched

Ethereum Foundation executive director leaving

Hackers using GitHub to steal bitcoin

Network News

PECTRA GOES LIVE ON TESTNET: Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade went live on the Holesky testnet Feb. 24 but failed to finalize in the expected time. 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. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

MIYAGUCHI LEAVES ETHEREUM FOUNDATION ROLE: Ethereum Foundation Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi is leaving her position to transition to a new role as president at the organization. The news comes as the nonprofit goes through a leadership shake-up and as Ethereum has become less popular for new builders in recent months, with some even blaming Miyaguchi’s leadership as for why the blockchain’s token price is lagging behind other cryptocurrencies. “This new opportunity will allow me to continue supporting EF’s institutional relationships, and to expand the reach of our vision and culture more broadly,” Miyaguchi wrote in a blog post published Feb. 25. The Ethereum Foundation is a nonprofit that supports the development of the Ethereum blockchain. Founded in 2014, Miyaguchi joined in 2018 and has been the executive director ever since. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote in a post on X that “every success of the EF — the steady execution of Ethereum hard forks, client interop workshops, Devcon, Ethereum’s culture and steadfast commitment to its mission and values, and more — is in part a result of Aya’s stewardship.” — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

AVALANCHE VISA CARD LAUNCHES: The Avalanche Foundation, the non-profit that helps steward the development of the Avalanche blockchain, said its much-anticipated Avalanche Card, a Visa credit card that allows users to purchase items with their cryptocurrency, is live and ready to be used. The card was developed in collaboration with Rain, a blockchain-based card issuing platform. It enables users to spend their Avalanche tokens (AVAX), wrapped AVAX, and stablecoins USDT and USDC at any store that takes Visa, the foundation said in an email. While other teams have also released credit cards tied to a user’s crypto holdings, the news signals the further integration between traditional financial technologies and cryptocurrency. The Avalanche Foundation said in October that it planned to introduce the card, focusing on signing up users from Latin America and the Caribbean. According to the card’s website, the credit card will be linked to users’ “new self-custody wallet and unique address per asset.” “In a move to double down on mainstream adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi), Avalanche remains committed to powering accessible inroads to blockchain for every type of user,” the team said. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

HACKERS USE GITHUB TO NAB BTC: The GitHub code you use to build a trendy application or patch existing bugs might just be used to steal your bitcoin (BTC) or other crypto holdings, according to a Kaspersky report. GitHub is a popular tool among developers of all types, but even more so among crypto-focused projects, where a simple application may generate millions of dollars in revenue. The report warned users of a “GitVenom” campaign that’s been active for at least two years but is steadily on the rise, involving planting malicious code in fake projects on the popular code repository platform. The attack starts with seemingly legitimate GitHub projects — like making Telegram bots for managing bitcoin wallets or tools for computer games. Each comes with a polished README file, often AI-generated, to build trust. But the code itself is a Trojan horse: For Python-based projects, attackers hide nefarious script after a bizarre string of 2,000 tabs, which decrypts and executes a malicious payload. For JavaScript, a rogue function is embedded in the main file, triggering the launch attack. Once activated, the malware pulls additional tools from a separate hacker-controlled GitHub repository. Once the system is infected, various other programs kick in to execute the exploit. How can users protect themselves? By scrutinizing any code before running it, verifying the project’s authenticity, and being suspicious of overly polished READMEs or inconsistent commit histories. Because researchers don’t expect these attacks to stop anytime soon: “We expect these attempts to continue in the future, possibly with small changes in the TTPs,” Kaspersky said. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

In Other News

Miners Pivoting to AI, But Bitcoin Still Makes Sense

Public bitcoin miners are rushing to build AI business lines, but there’s still room for their original mandate, says this investment bank analyst. Colin Harper, of Blockspace, reports.

Starknet Layer 2 Gets Gaming App-Chain

Nums, a sequential game built off of Starknet’s technology, is the first layer-3 to settle on the network.

Regulatory and policy

SEC, TRON Ask Court to Freeze Fraud Case Over ‘Potential Resolution’

Calendar

Feb 23-March 2: ETHDenver

March 18-19: Digital Asset Summit, London

April 30-May 1: Token 2049, Dubai

May 14-16: Consensus, Toronto.

May 27-29: Bitcoin 2025, Las Vegas.

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Canary Capital Files for Tron ETF With Staking Capabilities

Published

15 часов ago

18 апреля, 2025

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Canary Capital is looking to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the price of Tron’s native token, TRX, according to a filing.

The hedge fund submitted a Form S-1 for the Canary Staked TRX ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday. As the name suggests, the fund — if approved — would stake portions of its holdings.

This would be done through third-party providers, with BitGo acting as custodian for the assets. The fund would track TRX’s spot price using CoinDesk Indices calculations.

A proposed ticker as well as the management fee for the product have not been shared yet.

Issuers had initially filed applications for spot ethereum (ETH) ETFs with the staking feature included but removed them in an amended filing later in order to receive approval from the SEC on their proposals.

While the SEC under former Chair Gary Gensler was strictly against staking, issuers have grown more hopeful that they will be able to add the feature to their spot ether funds, among others, with the appointment of crypto-friendly Chair Paul Atkins.

A decision on a February request from Grayscale to allow staking in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH) was postponed by the regulator just a few days ago.

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Feds Mistakenly Order Estonian HashFlare Fraudsters to Self-Deport Ahead of Sentencing

Published

16 часов ago

18 апреля, 2025

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Just four months ahead of their criminal sentencing for operating a $577 million cryptocurrency mining Ponzi scheme, the two Estonian founders of HashFlare were seemingly mistakenly ordered to self-deport by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — an instruction that directly contradicted a court order for the men to remain in Washington state until they are sentenced in August.

In a joint letter to the court last week, lawyers for Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin told District Judge Robert Lasnik of the Western District of Washington that both men had received “disturbing communications” from DHS ordering them to leave the country immediately.

“It is time for you to leave the United States,” an email to Potapenko and Turogin dated April 11 read. “DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.”

The email, included with the letter filed last week, threatened both men with “criminal prosecution, civil fines, and penalties and any other lawful options available to the federal government” if they stayed in the country. It resembles emails that undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens alike have received over the past few days.

Ironically, Potapenko and Turogin are not in the U.S. of their own volition — they were extradited from their native Estonia at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice in 2022 on an 18-count indictment tied to their HashFlare scheme. Though they initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, in February they both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. They have both been in the Seattle area on bond since last July.

“Although there is nothing Ivan and Sergei would want more than to immediately go home, they understood that they are also under Court order to remain in King County,” wrote Mark Bini, a partner at Reed Smith LLP and lead counsel for Potenko, wrote in the pair’s joint letter to the court. Bini did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

In his letter, Bini said DHS’s emails had caused both Potapenko and Turogin «significant anxiety.”

“We and our clients have all seen recent news. Immigration authorities make mistakes, and individuals who should not be in custody end up in custody, sometimes even deported to places where they should not be deported,” Bini wrote.

Six days after Bini’s letter to the judge, the DOJ filed its own letter with the court saying that prosecutors had coordinated with DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division and secured a year-long deferral to the self-deportation order.

“This should provide ample time for the sentencing to take place,” the prosecution’s letter said.

DHS did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

Potapenko and Turogin are slated to be sentenced on August 14 in Seattle. Their lawyers have said that they will request to be sentenced to time served, meaning no additional time in prison, and to be sent home to Estonia “immediately.”

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CoinDesk Weekly Recap: EigenLayer, Kraken, Coinbase, AWS

Published

16 часов ago

18 апреля, 2025

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Following last week’s tariff-caused drama, this was a relatively quiet week in crypto. Bitcoin remained stable around $84k. The CoinDesk 20, which tracks about 80% of the market, was up about 4% in the last seven days — i.e. nothing historic.

Still, plenty happened. On Tuesday, much of crypto went offline because of a tech issue at AWS, showing how the decentralized economy isn’t always that decentralized. Shaurya Malwa reported the news early. Bitcoin and other major cryptos slipped on bad news for Nvidia, Omkar Godbole reported.

Mantra, a project focused on real world assets, lost 90% of its value. Explanations varied (the company said it was due to “force liquidations” exchanges).

Meanwhile, EigenLayer, a restaking leader, rolled out a “slashing” feature meant to address security concerns (Sam Kessler reported). OKX, a major exchange, announced plans to set up in California following a $500 million settlement with the SEC over claims it operated previously in the U.S. without a money transmitter license. Cheyenne Ligon had that story.

In less good news, Kraken laid off “hundreds” of staff ahead of an expected IPO. And Coinbase became embroiled in a “front running controversy” linked to a curiously named token on its Base L2. Privacy advocates reacted with alarm to rumors that Binance was about to delist Zcash following a long decline in the value of privacy coins.

In D.C. news, Jesse Hamilton reported on a new wave of crypto lobbyists flooding the capital. Some asked if there are now too many trade groups and whether they really all could be effective.

Friends With Benefits, a buzzy social club for creative technologists, launched a new program to build Web3 products for music, film, publishing and other fun activities. (I wrote that one.)

Of course, there was plenty happening in the economy and markets (Trump’s disgust for Fed chair Powell fed into the unease). But, in crypto, it was pretty much business as usual. Fortunes won, fortunes lost, fortunes deferred.