Author: NBTC

Vitalik Buterin proposes a new “efficiency ratio” to measure cryptographic performance The efficiency ratio compares computation time with cryptography versus raw computation time, providing a clearer view of performance overhead. Challenges remain due to heterogeneous operations, parallelization, and memory patterns Ethereum is exploring new ways to measure and improve performance of cryptographic systems. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin is now calling for a shift in how developers assess cryptographic systems like zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), aiming to provide them with more meaningful metrics. Buterin Proposes New Efficiency Metric Traditionally, cryptographic performance has been measured in “operations per second”…

The multibillion-dollar market for cosmetic items in the popular esports first-person shooter game Counter-Strike 2 crashed following an update to its mechanics. According to an Oct. 8 report by Esports News, the Counter-Strike 2 skin market at the time reached a new high of nearly $5.78 billion. A separate Thursday report by Eurogamer said that almost $2 billion of this market was liquidated following a recent game update. The game’s producer, Valve, has changed the trade-up system so that players can now convert five low-rarity (covert level) skins into a knife or a pair of gloves, which were previously exceedingly…

BlackRock clients have reportedly sold $146.1 million worth of Ethereum. According to data shared by Whale Insider and blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence. The move has caught attention across the crypto market. As it comes amid growing institutional focus on Bitcoin and shifting sentiment around Ethereum short-term performance. While Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to see inflows. This large Ethereum selloff by BlackRock clients signals potential caution or rebalancing among institutional investors. JUST IN: BlackRock clients sell $146.1 million worth of $ETH. pic.twitter.com/qUch4eXqqT — Whale Insider (@WhaleInsider) October 18, 2025 Institutional Investors Trim Ethereum Exposure The transactions, tracked by Arkham,…

An exchange-traded fund from crypto asset manager Grayscale that tracks the price of XRP, Solana, and Cardano—along with Bitcoin and Ethereum—was primed for its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, following long-sought approval from the SEC. In an order on Wednesday, the regulator permitted the listing and trading of Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC), following an indefinite pause in July. The SEC meanwhile approved of generic listing standards for commodity-based products, paving the way for other crypto ETFs. A person familiar with the matter told Decrypt that GDLC is expected to begin trading on Friday. Unlike spot Bitcoin…

After years of establishing its dominance in decentralized finance (DeFi) lending, Aave is now entering what could be its most explosive growth phase yet. With the release of Version 4 (V4), a $50 million token buyback program, and an ambitious expansion into real-world assets (RWA), Aave is strengthening its leadership position. V4 – A Strategic Milestone Defining Aave’s Future Data shows that Aave (AAVE) currently controls an impressive 82% of Ethereum’s total outstanding lending debt, the highest level to date. This market share has grown steadily over the past four years, outpacing competitors such as Morpho, Spark, and Compound. Moreover,…

As the cryptocurrency segment is still captured by negative sentiment, investors in spot Ethereum ETFs in the U.S. are withdrawing liquidity en masse. The six biggest ETFs logged outflows, while the products by Franklin Templeton, 21Shares and Invesco registered zero changes. Ethereum ETFs are bleeding, BlackRock’s ETHA is worst performer Yesterday, Oct. 17, 2025, Ethereum spot ETFs demonstrated weak performance amid market uncertainty. The total net outflow across all funds hit $232.8 million, SoSoValue tracker data says. BlackRock’s ETHA fund lost $146 million, while Fidelity’s FETH and Grayscale’s ETHE logged $30 million and $26 million outflows in one day. Bitwise’s…

Prediction market Kalshi just topped $1 billion in monthly volume as state regulators nip at its heels with lawsuits alleging that it’s an unregistered sports betting platform. “Despite being limited to only American customers, Kalshi has now risen to dominate the global prediction market industry,” the company said in a press release. “New data scraped from publicly available activity metrics details this rise.” The publicly available data appears on a Dune Analytics dashboard that’s been tracking prediction market notional volume. The data show that Kalshi now accounts for roughly 62% of global prediction market volume, Polymarket for 37%, and the…

Lighter, the second-largest decentralized perpetuals exchange, was one of many platforms that experienced platform outages during the crypto market’s flash crash on Oct. 10. To compensate affected users, Lighter has distributed points that will translate to a future token airdrop. Lighter announced its reimbursement plan on Oct. 14, dropping 250,000 points to traders affected by the platform’s technical issues during and after the crash. While points may seem like nebulous compensation for lost funds, Lighter points are in high demand, reaching as high as $100 per point on OTC markets before Friday’s events. As of Oct. 16, the highest bid…

Ethereum price has crashed into a bear market in the past few weeks, but technicals and treasury purchases point to a strong comeback in the near term. Summary Ethereum price has pulled back and moved into a bear market this year. The coin has formed a bullish flag pattern on the daily chart. Companies like BitMine have continued to accumulate Ether tokens. At last check Saturday, Ethereum (ETH) traded at around $3,860, down by over 22% from the year-to-date high of $4,965, but up about 2.4% over the past 24 hours. Ethereum price has numerous fundamental and technical catalysts that…

The European Union is preparing a year-end push to expand pension savings and tighten oversight of markets, with plans that could hand its Paris watchdog new authority over crypto firms. Speaking at the Eurofi Forum in Copenhagen on Thursday, Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque said the package will cover pension auto-enrolment, tax incentives for savings, and steps to cut cross-border barriers in trading, alongside a debate over shifting key supervisory powers to the European Securities and Markets Authority. “We are looking at possible centralized supervision of certain market infrastructures, such as central counterparties, central securities depositories, and trading venues,”…