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Ethereum developers have officially set test dates for Pectra, the network's first upgrade in 11 months, putting it on track for a potential April release date.Pectra will contain an array of improvements — with a special focus on wallets and validators — but it comes at a period of heightened scrutiny for Ethereum, which has recently faced pressure from its community to refocus and catch up with competitors.Ethereum's core builders decided on Thursday during their bi-weekly "All Core Developers" call to begin testing Pectra on Feb. 26 on the Holesky testnet, with a follow-up test on the network's Sepolia testnet slated for Mar. 5.Should those tests succeed, the developers will reconvene on Mar. 6 to determine when to launch the...

Crypto Twitter may sometimes seem like a raging brawl, but come Feb. 20, there will be some actual live combat between crypto influencers at Consensus Hong Kong 2025.The conference will play host that evening to the eighth edition of Crypto Fight Night (CFN), an industry sporting and networking event that’s become hugely popular since holding its first event in 2021. At the most recent CFN held in Dubai in December, popular crypto YouTuber Bitboy squared off against memecoin trader and influencer Ansem in a dramatic fight that went to the last round and ended in a draw. The bout drew a record one million live streams.Read more: Ansem: The Memecoin KingRahul Suri, one of CFN’s co-founders, said the organizers were...

Crypto exchange Bybit completed registration with India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) after agreeing to pay a 92.7 million-rupee ($1 million) fine for operating in the country without authorization.The Dubai-based company said in January it would temporarily halt its services to Indian users while it pursued the regulation process. "As part of this process, Bybit has settled the monetary fine and diligently addressed and resolved prior regulatory matters," the company said on Thursday. "We have been working diligently with the FIU-IND to address their concerns and ensure full adherence to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act ("PMLA") and associated regulations."In March 2023, India mandated that crypto companies would have to register with the FIU, which tackles anti-money laundering matters.Source link

In today’s issue, Ben Harper from Luxor Technology provides an update on what’s happening with bitcoin mining this year.Then, Colin Harper from Blockspace Media answers questions on the topic of mining and AI in Ask and Expert.– Sarah MortonYou’re reading Crypto for Advisors, CoinDesk’s weekly newsletter that unpacks digital assets for financial advisors. Subscribe here to get it every Thursday.Bitcoin Mining Has Changed — It’s No Longer Just About the PriceThe bitcoin mining investment thesis used to be simple — miners thrived when bitcoin’s price soared, and when it fell, they suffered. But in 2024, that equation changed. Bitcoin ETFs, hashrate markets and AI have fundamentally reshaped the industry, reducing miners' dependence on bitcoin’s price. Here’s why mining is no...

New York, NY — Ondo Finance, the second-largest tokenized Treasuries issuer, said it plans to start its own layer-1 blockchain designed for tokenized real-world assets in a bid to connect traditional capital markets with decentralized finance, the company announced on Thursday at its inaugural Ondo Summit.Ondo Chain was crafted to meet institutional compliance standards while maintaining the transparency and accessibility of public blockchains like Ethereum, the company said. The network will rely on permissioned validators to verify transactions and ensure accurate financial data, such as asset prices and token backing. It will also support staking of tokenized real-world assets and native bridging between blockchains for interoperability."Financial markets are overdue for an upgrade," CEO Nathan Allman said in a statement. "We’re...