Crypto News
Ethereum’s ‘Pectra’ Upgrade Moves Closer to Mainnet After Sepolia Test
Ethereum’s long-awaited Pectra upgrade took a major step forward early Wednesday with its successful deployment on the Sepolia test network.The biggest upgrade to Ethereum since 2024, Pectra consists of 11 major features, or "Ethereum improvement proposals" (EIPs), that will be shipped all at once. Together, the features aim to enhance staking, wallet functionality, and overall network efficiency.Sepolia's Pectra upgrade, which was completed at 07:29:36 UTC, followed a failed test on Ethereum’s Holesky testnet last week. A misconfiguration among validators resulted in a chain split, rendering Holesky temporarily unusable.Testnets mimic a main blockchain and are used by developers to test code changes in a low-stakes environment. Holesky, which has a validator structure closer to Ethereum’s mainnet than Sepolia, was seen as...
Controversial Australian Olympic Breakdancer Raygun’s Brother Charged for Crypto-Linked Fraud
Brendan Gunn, the brother of Australian breakdancer Raygun, has been charged by a local court for running a crypto-linked fraud scheme.The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said that Gunn with a criminal offence, which carries a maximum three years imprisonment, a fine of $37,800 or both.Raygun, aka Rachael Gunn, is an Australian breakdancer whose 2024 Olympic appearance garnered widespread social media attention. Although Gunn dropped out of the Olympics, her bizarre performance drew a lot of ire from social media and gave birth to several viral memes.ASIC said that Brendan Gunn carried two blank cheques from three victims, totaling A$181,000 ($113,000) for crypto investment. Gunn was the director of Mormarkets Pty Ltd, which accepted deposits for crypto an overseas...
5 Aggressive Strategies Trump Could Use to Build a Colossal Federal BTC Reserve
The U.S. government could rapidly build a strategic bitcoin reserve under the Trump administration through five key methods: seizing assets, accepting tax payments, purchasing directly, selling federal assets for BTC, and borrowing bitcoin via loans or bonds. 5 Key Methods the U.S. Government Could Leverage to Fast-Track a Federal Bitcoin Stockpile The U.S. government maySource link
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Registers Highest Trading Volume in 3 Months
Last week, prices for BlackRock's spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) declined over 11%, with volumes reaching the highest since mid-November, according to data source TradingView. Over 331 million shares of the ETF, which trades under the IBIT ticker on Nasdaq, changed hands as the fund's price dipped below the January support of $50.69, eventually sliding to $46.07, the lowest since early November.That might be a disappointment development for the bulls. For decades, one of the cardinal rules in the market has been that price movements must be validated by trading volume. It means that a bearish price action is considered to have legs when accompanied by a notable increase in the number of shares or contracts traded on the...
OFAC Blacklists Iran-Based Nemesis Admin, 49 Crypto Addresses in Post-Takedown Sanctions
The U.S. Department of the Treasury blacklisted 49 bitcoin (BTC) and monero (XMR) addresses connected to Behrouz Parsarad, an Iran-based figure accused of overseeing the defunct Nemesis darknet marketplace (DNM), as part of persistent initiatives to disrupt fiscal channels underpinning illicit narcotics trade and digital malfeasance. After Takedown, Treasury Targets Nemesis Founder and 49 CryptocurrencySource link