Author: NBTC

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk. In this issue: Ethereum Faces Validator Bottleneck With 2.5M ETH Awaiting Exit Is Ethereum’s DeFi Future on L2s? Liquidity, Innovation Say Perhaps Yes Ethereum Foundation Starts New AI Team to Support Agentic Payments American Express Introduces Blockchain-Based ‘Travel Stamps’ Network News ETHEREUM VALIDATOR EXIT QUEUE FACES BOTTLENECK: Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system is facing its largest test yet. As of mid-September, roughly 2.5 million ETH — valued at roughly $11.25 billion — is waiting to leave the validator set,…

The trend of price increment of Ether since the last three Federal Reserve meetings has been clearly observed. A recent tweet by a famous crypto analyst, Crypto Rover (@rovercrc), described such a trend. The tweet shows a simple graph of the Ethereum (ETH) price dynamics against time, and the arrows are used to show that the prices increase after these conferences. The Federal Reserve meetings will be tomorrow and it is thought that the rate cuts would be effected. This has created market euphoria. According to the chart of Crypto Rover, Ethereum may rise again after this next meeting. What…

Concord Medical (HKEX: 0370) has disclosed that its affiliate Hua Jian Medical is partnering with Renhe International, a wholly-owned arm of Renhe Pharmaceutical, to build a new real-world asset (RWA) platform for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. The venture is being described as the first vertical RWA system dedicated to OTC pharmaceuticals, with the aim of streamlining supply chains and improving transparency in China’s rapidly growing OTC market. Tokenizing OTC Drugs for Secure, Real-Time Trading The project is still in development, but the companies said it will tokenize OTC pharmaceutical assets, enabling secure, traceable, and real-time transactions between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.…

Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov unveiled a proposal on the Curve DAO governance forum that would give the decentralized exchange’s token holders a more direct way to earn income. The protocol, called Yield Basis, aims to distribute sustainable returns to CRV holders who stake tokens to participate in governance votes, receiving veCRV tokens in exchange. The plan moves beyond the occasional airdrops that have defined the platform’s token economy to date. Under the proposal, $60 million of Curve’s crvUSD stablecoin will be minted before Yield Basis starts up. Funds from selling the tokens will support three bitcoin-focused pools; WBTC, cbBTC…

AGI Open Network, a decentralized AI agent infrastructure firm, has partnered with AICEAN, which merges AI-generated content and blockchain incentives. The partnership focuses on combining blockchain-based content creation with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As mentioned in AGI Open Network’s official announcement, the development merges film-scale intellectual property and cutting-edge AI to offer new tech and entertainment opportunities. Additionally, the move also underscores the crucial role of both the entities in filling the gap between advanced AI-led media and blockchain technology. 🥳 We’re excited to announce our strategic partnership with @Aicean_ai!🎯 AICEAN is an AI + blockchain content platform,…

Aave CEO and founder Stani Kulechov has broken his silence on a major upgrade coming to Aave in Q4, 2025. The Aave v4 upgrade is anticipated to be one of the major events in DeFi in 2025, including features such as a Hub-and-Spoke architecture, reinvestment module and others, boosting Aave liquidity and saving gas. The upgrade will also include UX improvements and a new liquidation engine. The Reinvestment Module would help Aave earn more from unused capital, utilizing idle liquidity. On Sept. 15, the Aave founder informed the crypto community of the Aave v4 upgrade roadmap, which highlights where the…

The most recent hype among the crypto community was one that was made in a wallet created in Ethereum in 2010 and swiftly transferred a large amount of ETH to Bybit, one of the most well-known crypto exchanges. It is also known as an OG address and this wallet has been holding the ETH since 2017. Analysts are now feeling that it will be a massive sale of ETH that could happen in the nearest future. This is not a small move. In fact, it is reported that the wallet carries an extremely big sum of ETH since 2017. Between…

Decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid has consistently outperformed traditional finance giants in terms of volume and net income. DefiLlama data estimates Hyperliquid’s annualized net income at $1.24 billion as of Sept. 12, exceeding Nasdaq’s $1.12 billion net income for the entirety of 2024 by 11%. The comparison positions the DeFi platform ahead of one of the world’s largest stock exchanges in net income, despite operating with just 11 team members. Additionally, data from ASXN shows Nasdaq employed 9,162 people in 2024, producing a net income per employee ratio of $123,335.52. Hyperliquid’s 11-person team generates approximately $113 million per employee, establishing the…

Bitkub Exchange, a Thailand-based digital asset entity, has collaborated with Sui Network, a next-gen blockchain ecosystem. The partnership aims to accelerate blockchain adoption, digital innovation, and education among blockchain enthusiasts and mainstream consumers. As Bitkub Exchange’s official X announcement reveals, the collaboration denotes a mutual vision of promoting decentralized technologies via community-led initiatives and accessible platforms. Hence, this makes Sui Network a critical contributor to the wider digital transformation within Southeast Asia. 💚 Bitkub Exchange is announcing a partnership with @SuiNetwork💧.Bitkub Exchange has announced a collaboration with Sui, a leading blockchain platform. This partnership aims to accelerate education and adoption…

Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are moving beyond digital versions of traditional securities to become key building blocks of decentralized finance (DeFi), according to the 2025 RWA Report from Dune and RWAxyz. The report notes that Treasuries, bonds, credit, and equities are now being used in DeFi as collateral, trading instruments, and yield products. This marks tokenization’s “real breakthrough” – composability, or the ability to combine and reuse assets across different protocols. Projects are already showing how this works in practice. Asset manager Maple Finance’s syrupUSDC, for example, has grown to $2.5 billion, with more than 30% placed in DeFi apps…