Author: NBTC
This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. Validator clients are the software that nodes run to participate in consensus and maintain the network. They validate and vote on blocks, process transactions, and generally just keep the network alive, handling both consensus and execution in a single piece of software. Historically, Solana’s entire ecosystem has relied on one implementation, a Rust-based client developed by Solana Labs, and now maintained by Anza under the name Agave. Today, however, the vast majority of stake (90%+) runs on Jito-Solana, a fork of the Agave client with added MEV…
MoonPay, a cryptocurrency on-ramp and payments firm with over 20 million users, has been granted a coveted BitLicense and money transmitter license by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The BitLicense approval completes MoonPay’s U.S. regulatory coverage, complementing money transmission licenses in 46 other U.S. jurisdictions, as well as registrations in the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, Ireland and Jersey, the company said in a press statement on Wednesday. Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly administration has made attaining a solid footing in the U.S. all the more desirable for firms as his administration works on federal regulations. The NYDFS BitLicense…
Bitget, the famous cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, has announced a new partnership to improve its services and enhancing the customer trading experience. According to reports, Bitget will collaborate with Kronos Research, a top quantitative trading firm, to enhance market liquidity and trading efficiency on its platform. Partnership Aims for Deeper Liquidity, Tighter Spreads This strategic alliance with Kronos Research, as Bitget explains, will allow the exchange to provide deeper liquidity and tighter bid-ask spreads. That would enable digital asset traders and Bitget’s institutional clients to execute large orders with minimal slippage. The goal here is to make trading on…
Shards Protocol has secured $2 million in funding to advance Aura, its Web3 reputation system that turns on-chain activity into reputation and rewards. In a press release shared with crypto.news, Shards Protocol announced that it has raised $2 million in funding backed by Animoca Brands, Kyber Ventures, Yield Guild Games, and others. The capital will primarily fund the development and integration of their flagship product, Aura, within the Web3 ecosystem. Aura is a recognition and reputation layer that converts users’ on-chain activity into verifiable reputation and rewards. Users can flaunt their reputation scores and badges from their Web3 activities right…
Evertz Pharma GmbH, a company focusing on premium natural cosmetics, has become Germany’s first company to adopt a strategic Bitcoin reserve model by purchasing an additional 100 BTC in May 2025—valued at approximately €10 million (~$10.8 million USD), according to a press release. The adoption marks a continued expansion of the company’s BTC treasury, which began in December 2020 with an initial €2 million Bitcoin purchase. Since then, Evertz Pharma has regularly allocated corporate profits toward Bitcoin, building a digital reserve aimed at long term stability. “Our mission is to promote natural beauty on a scientific foundation,” said Dominik Evertz,…
Ethereum maintains DeFi dominance with highest TVL and bridged capital. Solana leads in user count but shows short-term engagement volatility. Emerging chains like Sui see strong growth despite low current usage. Ethereum continues to lead the blockchain space in decentralized finance (DeFi) activity, liquidity, and bridged capital, even as user engagement shifts across multiple networks. The latest cross-chain activity rankings display a combination of steady leadership by Ethereum and growing momentum among emerging and Layer-2 networks, with usage metrics showing both gains and declines depending on the chain. Ethereum recorded 450,397 active addresses in the last 24 hours, showing a…
Wall Street Eyes Ethereum ETFs: After months of skepticism, institutional investors are showing renewed interest, with ETH ETF inflows surging for 12 straight days, led by BlackRock. Ethereum Breakout Nears: Despite bearish sentiment on Binance and CME, shrinking exchange reserves and rising fundamentals hint at a bullish breakout. Ethereum (ETH), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, is quietly building momentum. Despite facing multi-week consolidation and repeated rejections at key resistance levels, underlying fundamentals are strengthening. From surging ETF inflows to falling exchange reserves, Ethereum’s ecosystem is flashing signs of renewed confidence. But the big question remains: will it finally break out? 10x…
Circle stock surged Thursday as the stablecoin issuer began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, marking one of the strongest debuts by a crypto-native firm in recent memory. The offering raised nearly $1.1 billion, giving Circle a closing market capitalization of $18.4 billion, positioning it behind sector giants but ahead of smaller entrants. Trading under the ticker CRCL, Circle listed 34 million shares and quickly attracted investor demand. The stock opened at $69 and peaked at $103.75 intraday, with trading halted multiple times during the session due to volatility. Its stock closed at $83.23, representing a 168% leap from…
Launchcoin, the native token of the Believe launchpad, is surging after founder Ben Pasternak announced a series of updates surrounding fee distribution and transparency. Pasternak revealed a new fee claim system, where fees are blocked for the first 24 hours of every new token launch. The Believe team also reserves the right to block fee claims for new coins to discourage scams and disingenuous attempts at token launches. The update will also feature a public coin health status, creator earnings display, and a renewed effort to increase the proportion of tokens launched via the iOS-compatible application, as opposed to through…
Crypto products backed by U.S. President Donald Trump are making it difficult for lawmakers to have a productive dialogue on regulating digital assets, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said on Wednesday. “Trump doesn’t just want Americans to use his crypto,” she said, referring to the president’s Solana-based meme coin. “He wants to put our money in his digital wallet while he guts our financial regulators, the watchdogs that protect families from financial fraud.” Lawmakers in the House of Representatives convened on Capitol Hill to discuss the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a…