network news
Ethereum community’s response to EF’s withdrawal: A wave of departures from the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is reigniting debate within the crypto industry: What is happening to the key managers behind Ethereum, and why does the community know so little about what’s going on behind the scenes? Days after several prominent figures said they were leaving the foundation amid an internal shakeup, members of the X community are beginning to publicly question the organization’s direction, leadership structure, and communications practices. “What happened to EF?” Andy, a cryptocurrency commentator and co-founder of the Rollup podcast, wrote in a post on X. Others expressed similar dissatisfaction, saying EF failed to clearly explain the rationale behind the changes or how responsibilities evolved within the organization. “Why can’t EF be transparent about things,” wrote Joon Ian Wong, a well-known figure in cryptocurrency community activism. The criticism reflects long-standing tensions surrounding the Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss-based nonprofit that plays a central role in funding research, coordinating upgrades and managing the development of the world’s second-largest blockchain by market capitalization. Unlike traditional companies, EFs have historically operated in a loose and decentralized structure. Some believe this model preserves Ethereum’s neutrality and prevents excessive concentration of power. Others say the approach increasingly conflicts with the expectations of an ecosystem that currently underpins hundreds of billions of dollars in assets and decentralized finance activity. The recent departures appear to have reignited the debate. — Margot Neckar Read more.
Citibank says Bitcoin in particular faces quantum threats: Quantum computing is becoming a growing risk for digital assets, with Wall Street bank Citigroup (C) warning that recent breakthroughs are accelerating the timing of potential threats to cryptographic security and internet infrastructure. Advances in quantum computing are challenging the cryptographic systems that underpin cryptocurrencies, financial networks and online communications, the bank said in a report. Analyst Alex Saunders wrote: “While large-scale quantum attacks remain a mid-term concern, the pace of progress has shortened the time horizon and deserves investors’ close attention.” Quantum computing is a long-term threat to cryptography, because sufficiently powerful quantum computers could undermine the encryption systems that protect wallets, exchanges and blockchains, especially public-key cryptography such as ECDSA used by Bitcoin and Ethereum. In theory, a quantum attacker could obtain private keys from exposed public keys, forge transactions, and steal funds. However, the risks are not immediate. Experts say the hardware needed to achieve this at scale is still years away, and blockchains may migrate to post-quantum cryptography before then. The analyst emphasized that Bitcoin is particularly vulnerable due to its conservative governance model and slower ability to upgrade the protocol. Sanders pointed to vulnerabilities related to exposed public keys, dormant wallets and early payment public key (P2PK) addresses on the chain, including a wallet believed to belong to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. The latest estimate is that approximately 6.5 million to 6.9 million Bitcoins are at quantum risk because their public keys have been exposed. This represents approximately one-third of the circulating supply, which is worth approximately $450 billion, depending on BTC price. — Will Canney Read more.
FIREDANCER CLIENT FOR JUMP CRYPTO: Jump Crypto’s long-awaited Firedancer validator client is now generating blocks on the Solana mainnet, marking a turning point in the project’s years-long effort to overhaul blockchain performance infrastructure. “Firedancer is already live and running in production,” Ritchie Patel, Firedancer’s founding engineer, told CoinDesk. “We’ve completed tens of millions of transactions over the past few months.” However, the program’s rollout has been intentionally limited. Patel said the team would prefer a gradual rollout across the network rather than a broad public launch, as the team remains cautious about rapidly increasing adoption. “We don’t expect everyone to run it yet,” Patel said. “If half the network is upgraded before we complete a full security audit, that’s a little too much.” Firedancer, developed by Jump Crypto, is a validator client for Solana, or another version of the software that runs the blockchain. The move comes in part in response to concerns about early service outages at Solana and its reliance on a single primary customer maintained by Solana infrastructure company Anza. Rather than seeing Firedancer as a competitor to Anza, Patel describes the relationship as a partnership. — Margot Neckar Read more.
Buterin talks about artificial intelligence formal verification and encryption: Vitalik Buterin says artificial intelligence can make cryptocurrency systems and critical internet infrastructure more secure if developers combine AI-generated code with mathematically verified software. In a lengthy blog post shared, the Ethereum co-founder argued that AI-assisted “formal verification” could become one of the most important tools in cybersecurity, as increasingly advanced AI systems make it easier to discover software vulnerabilities. Formal verification refers to the use of machine-checkable mathematical proofs to confirm that software behaves exactly as expected. While the technology has been around for decades, Buterin said recent advances in artificial intelligence have made it more practical by helping developers write code and the evidence needed to verify it. Buterin framed the technology as a response to growing concerns that artificial intelligence could overwhelm defenders by accelerating false discovery and cyberattacks. Smart contract vulnerabilities remain a persistent problem across the crypto space, with attackers regularly stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable decentralized finance protocols. Buterin believes mathematically proven software can help reverse this trend, especially in areas where safety failures can be catastrophic. He singled out Ethereum infrastructure, zero-knowledge proof systems, consensus mechanisms, and post-quantum cryptography as technologies that could benefit from formal verification. — Margot Neckar Read more.
Other news
- Qivalis, the European banking group building a regulated euro stablecoin, said on Wednesday that 25 more banks have joined the initiative, more than tripling its membership, as the region’s banks ramp up their push into blockchain finance. The expansion brings the number of financial institutions in the consortium to 37, located in 15 European countries. New members include ABN AMRO, Rabobank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Nordea, First Savings Bank and the National Bank of Greece. The expansion comes at a time when tokenization is gaining traction among large financial institutions and asset managers, with stablecoins – cryptographic tokens whose value is tied to traditional assets such as fiat currencies – playing a key role in settlement and asset trading on blockchain rails. The effort also reflects a broader push by European banks to expand the use of euro-denominated stablecoins and reduce the dominance of U.S. dollar-backed tokens, which currently account for about 99% of the global stablecoin market. The total market value of stablecoins is approximately US$318 billion, dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle Internet’s (CRCL) USDC. Together they account for more than 80% of the total. As blockchain settlement gains traction among institutions, Qivalis aims to strengthen the single currency’s role in digital payments and tokenized finance by building a regulated alternative to the euro. “This infrastructure is vital if Europe wants to compete in the global digital economy while retaining its strategic autonomy,” said Qivalis Supervisory Board Chairman Howard Davies. Christian Sandel Read more.
- Galaxy Digital said New York regulators granted the company a BitLicense and money transmission license, allowing the crypto financial services company to expand its institutional digital asset business in one of the industry’s most highly regulated markets. The approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services authorizes the company’s New York entity, GalaxyOne Prime NY, to provide regulated cryptocurrency trading and custody services across the state. Galaxy said in a press release that the move gives New York-based institutions, including hedge funds, registered investment advisers and family offices, access to its digital asset platform, which the company said manages approximately $9 billion in client assets. “New York has the deepest institutional capital pools in the country, and digital assets are no longer on the fringes of these allocations,” Galaxy founder and CEO Mike Novogratz said in a statement. — Helen Braun Read more.
Regulation and Policy
- In an executive order, US President Donald Trump ordered the federal government to update its regulatory framework to integrate “digital assets and innovative technologies into traditional financial services and payment systems.” The document said the United States should integrate fintech services into its existing payments and financial services track. “Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States to streamline the regulatory process, reduce unnecessary barriers to entry, and encourage cooperation among fintech companies, federally regulated financial institutions, and federal financial regulators,” the order states. The order directs the heads of financial regulators to review existing rules over the next three months and identify any rules or documents that “unduly impede fintech companies from entering into partnerships with federal regulators.” Within six months, Trump directed regulators to “take steps to encourage innovation based on the results of the review.” Those steps include asking the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to review how uninsured depository institutions and nonbank financial companies are allowed to access payment accounts and services. — Nikhilesh De Read more.
- U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is asking the agency that oversees the nation’s banks to explain the charters of its nine cryptocurrency-focused institutions, which she believes are inconsistent with federal regulations and pose risks to the financial system. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted trust licenses to a series of banks as the agency supports President Donald Trump’s agenda to boost the cryptocurrency industry and create a friendly regulatory environment. Now, Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, has written to OCC Chairman Jonathan Gould demanding an explanation for the approval of trusts for companies including Coinbase, Paxos, Ripple, BitGo, and Fidelity Digital Asset Services. “These companies are effectively cryptocurrency banks seeking to evade the basic safeguards and obligations that come with being a bank,” Warren wrote in the letter. Warren previously criticized Gould’s decision during the hearing. “Your decision to promote this regulatory arbitrage not only conflicts with federal law but also poses serious risks to consumers, the safety and soundness of the banking system, and the separation of banking from commerce.” — Jesse Hamilton Read more.
calendar
- June 2-3, 2026: Proof of Talk, Paris
- June 4, 2026: Stability Summit, New York
- June 8-10, 2026: ETHConf, New York
- September 16-17, 2026: Avalanche Summit, New York
- September 29-October 1, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- October 7-8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- November 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- 15-17 November 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London