The Coin Weekly is the essential rendezvous to stay informed about the news of the week on cryptocurrencies, NFTs, DeFi, and GameFi! 📰
Apecoin Announces Its Layer 3 Based on Arbitrum: ApeChain
ApeChain is a Layer 3 built on Arbitrum Orbit, in partnership with Layer Zero and its standard LayerZero Omnichain Fungible Token, allowing the use of the APE token as a GAS Token for the blockchain.
The price of $APE doubled in less than 24 hours following the announcement, and the community is already having fun trading numerous memecoins on the platform, with the ecosystem already offering its own version of Pump.fun called Ape Express.
Worldcoin Also Deploys Its Layer 2: World Chain Based on OP Stack
World, formerly known as Worldcoin, has launched World Chain, a layer 2 network based on Ethereum that prioritizes verified human users through a World ID.
This network grants its users priority access to the block space and free gas allocation, while excluding bots. With over 15 million users who have verified their identity through iris scanning, World Chain aims to revolutionize the crypto market by introducing a new human-centric approach and promoting cryptocurrency adoption.
Pump.fun Plans to Launch a Token
Pump.Fun, the Solana-based memecoin exchange platform, has announced the future launch of a token and the establishment of ‘Pump Advanced,’ a trading terminal with advanced features for intensive users.
This new interface offers real-time statistics, charts, and advanced filters, with 0% fees during the first month. The team has specified that early users will be rewarded during the token launch.
Vitalik Shares His Vision for Ethereum’s Future
Vitalik Buterin shares his vision for Ethereum, focusing on faster transactions, increased accessibility to staking, and enhanced security.
He proposes reducing the transaction finalization time to a single slot, which is 12 seconds, compared to the current 32 slots (or 384 seconds), increasing network responsiveness and reducing congestion. It is even possible that finality could decrease to 8 seconds if the block time is further reduced (which is also under discussion).
In addition, he aims to lower the staking participation threshold from 32 ETH to 1 ETH in the long term, making the network more accessible to a larger number of users and reinforcing decentralization.
These changes aim to improve the user experience and make Ethereum a more competitive network, but many complex modifications are needed, so patience is required.
For security, Vitalik suggests introducing the ‘single secret leader election’ cryptographic mechanism and strengthening protections against 51% attacks.
He is also preparing the network for the upcoming Pectra update in 2025, which will bring improvements in scalability for rollups, security, and efficiency. This update will mark a new milestone in Ethereum’s evolution, consolidating the progress made since the transition to proof-of-stake and enhancing the network’s resilience and innovation.
The Trump Family Earns 75% of World Liberty Financial’s Revenues
The Trump family will receive 75% of the net revenues from the crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLF), without any management responsibility, according to the ‘World Liberty Gold Paper.’ This model, which values the Trump family while shielding them from operational risks, raises questions about transparency and the project’s ethics.
Although WLF aims for a valuation of $1.5 billion and seeks to raise $300 million in its initial token sale, only $13.5 million has been raised so far, which amounts to 904 million tokens at $0.015 per token.
The project, positioned as a kind of ‘crypto bank,’ would allow users to borrow and invest in cryptocurrencies via a decentralized finance platform. However, the significant portion of revenues allocated to the Trump family, without direct involvement in management, fuels debates about ethical practices and the project’s financial structure.
The European Central Bank Reduces Interest Rates by 0.25%, With a Key Rate at 3.25%
The European Central Bank (ECB) has reduced its interest rates by 0.25%, bringing the key rate to 3.25% in response to economic slowdown and declining inflation in the eurozone. This decision, supported by an evaluation of economic prospects, aims to adjust monetary policy in the face of well-established disinflation, according to ECB President Christine Lagarde.
The markets anticipate further rate cuts in the coming months, while the ECB adopts a data-based approach without committing to a fixed trajectory for 2025.
Grayscale Files Application for ETF Combining Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Ripple, and Avalanche
Grayscale has filed an application with the SEC to convert its Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC) into an ETF, aiming to make major cryptocurrencies more accessible to traditional investors.
This fund will track the CoinDesk Large Cap Select index, including major cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Ripple, and Avalanche, and will be listed on NYSE Arca once approved.
This initiative reflects Grayscale’s desire to expand access to digital assets despite the significant outflows from some of its funds converted into ETFs.
DeFi: Radiant Capital Suffers Another $50 Million Hack and Suspends Its Markets
Radiant Capital, a decentralized lending protocol, has been hacked for over $50 million. The attackers compromised three out of eleven private keys of the platform’s multi-signature wallet, allowing them to manipulate smart contracts on Binance Smart Chain and Arbitrum, thus draining users’ funds. This is the second major attack on Radiant this year, following an earlier incident in January, raising concerns about the protocol’s security.
In response, Radiant Capital has suspended its markets on Base and Mainnet, and is collaborating with several security partners to mitigate the consequences. The platform, managed by a DAO, aims to aggregate fragmented liquidity from the web3 money markets, but these recurring security vulnerabilities question the ability to maintain a secure decentralized environment.
News in Brief
- SOL: Ethena Labs proposes adding Solana to collateral positions of the USDe stablecoin
- Base surpasses Arbitrum and becomes the leading Layer 2 in terms of TVL and user activity
- XRP: Ripple Labs announces partners for the upcoming launch of its stablecoin RLUSD
- SingularityDAO, Cogito Finance, and SelfKey merge their tokens to create an AI layer 2
- Tesla transfers all of its BTC: Is Elon Musk preparing a Bitcoin sale?
- Robinhood officially announces the arrival of futures trading on Bitcoin and Ethereum
- The FBI arrests the hacker linked to the fake tweet about Bitcoin ETF approval by the SEC
