Latest news with #EthereumFoundation
CNBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Why ether ETF inflows have come roaring back from the dead
Ether ETFs have finally come to life this year after some started to fear they may be becoming zombie funds. Collectively, the funds tracking the price of spot ether are on pace for their sixth consecutive week of inflows and eight positive week in the last nine, according to SoSoValue. The second largest cryptocurrency has become more attractive to institutions in recent weeks largely due to recent regulatory momentum in the U.S. around stablecoins – many of which run on the Ethereum network – the successful IPO of Circle, the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin; and new leadership at the Ethereum Foundation. "What we're seeing is institutional recalibration," said Ben Kurland, CEO at crypto charting and research platform DYOR. "After the initial ETH ETF approval fizzled without a price pop, smart money started quietly building positions. They're betting not on price momentum but on positioning ahead of utility unlocks like staking access, options listings, and eventually inflows from retirement platforms." The first year of ether ETFs, which launched in July 2024, has been characterized by weak demand. While the funds have had spikes in inflows, they've trailed far behind bitcoin ETFs in both inflows and investor attention – amassing about $3.9 billion in net inflows since listing versus bitcoin ETFs' $36 billion in their first year of trading. "With increasing acceptance of crypto on Wall Street, especially now as a means for payments and remittances, investors are being drawn to ETH ETFs," said Chris Rhine, head of liquid active strategies at Galaxy Digital. Additionally, he added, the CME basis on ether – or the price difference between ether futures and the spot price – is higher than that of bitcoin, giving arbitrageurs an opportunity to profit by going long on ether ETFs while shorting futures (a common trading strategy) and contributing to the uptrend in ether ETF inflows. Despite the uptrend in inflows, the price of ether itself is negative for this month and flat over the past month. For the year, it's down 25% as it's been suffering from an identity crisis fueled by uncertainty about Ethereum's value proposition, weaker revenue since its last big technical upgrade and increasing competition from Solana. Market volatility driven by geopolitical uncertainty this year has not helped. In March, Standard Chartered slashed its ether price target by more than half. However, the firm also said the coin could still see a turnaround this year. Since last week's big spike in inflows, they've "slowed but stayed net positive, suggesting conviction, not hype," Kurland said. "The market looks like a heart monitor, but the buyers are treating it like a long-term infrastructure bet."
Arabian Post
14-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Post
Ethereum Foundation Backs Roman Storm with $500K Fund
The Ethereum Foundation has pledged a significant $500,000 to support the legal defence of Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency privacy mixer under legal scrutiny. The funds are designated for Storm's upcoming trial in the United States, where he faces charges related to facilitating money laundering. EF maintains that Storm's actions—creating computer code to enable financial privacy—should not be criminalised. According to their position, penalising code that protects user privacy sets a dangerous legal precedent, potentially criminalising open-source software development. Complementing its own contribution, the Eastern blockchain non‑profit has also committed to matching up to $750,000 in community donations. This initiative highlights a growing trend among privacy advocates and open‑source groups rallying behind the principle that privacy-preserving tools like Tornado Cash are legitimate forms of expression. ADVERTISEMENT Storm was sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2022 following accusations of facilitating transactions for illicit actors. Prosecutors allege that he developed and operated the protocol despite knowing it could be used for crime. EF's funding underscores a global debate over the legality of cryptographic tools and the boundary between code development and criminal liability. Legal scholars warn that punishing software developers for downstream misuse of their code risks criminalising a broad array of programmers. EF counsel Mark Richardson stated that the Foundation views the case as emblematic: 'Drawing a line at coding privacy tools criminalises essential computer science.' Meanwhile, Storm's defence team asserts he has complied with all legal sanctions since 2022 and is legally entitled to defend himself. His lawyers argue that code is not money, and that the US charges threaten basic digital rights globally. The donation has triggered mixed reactions across the crypto ecosystem. Privacy-focused developers and activists have welcomed the move, viewing it as a bulwark against overreach. Others caution that aligning with a figure sanctioned for money-laundering may tarnish the reputations of supportive institutions. Industry analysis shows similar defence funds are emerging. After Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Pertsev was indicted in 2023, a contingent of blockchain attorneys and developers established a legal support fund that raised over $1 million. That effort helped secure pro bono counsel and led to a plea deal later that year, avoiding jail time. This pattern reflects an emerging ecosystem of legal defence organisations in crypto. Legal incubators like the Blockchain Advocacy Group are also gaining prominence. Their efforts underscore how the infrastructure behind open‑source development is evolving—from purely technical endeavours to encompassing legal and policy support. Globally, courts are increasingly confronting the tension between code as speech and legal responsibility for misuse. In the US, landmark cases such as Bernstein v. US DOJ recognised source code as protected expression under the First Amendment. However, the legal landscape remains uncertain as more privacy tools face legal action. Ethereum's own legacy in decentralisation and censorship-resistance makes this move philosophically consistent. Other projects, including Monero and Zcash, have similarly supported neutral stances on privacy technologies while discouraging illicit misuse. Some funders in the Ethereum ecosystem have previously financed legal defences for developers under regulatory pressure. Legal experts caution that outcomes in Storm's trial could have far-reaching implications. If the prosecution succeeds, it may embolden regulators to pursue software developers in other jurisdictions—potentially chilling innovation in cryptography and privacy tools. EF's donation also coincides with debates in Europe and the US over privacy regulation. In the EU, digital privacy laws are being reformed; shielding cryptographic tools may soon gain legislative clarity. In the US, government task forces are evaluating whether sanctions should extend to software developers whose code is used unlawfully. Public reaction has been vocal. Twitter and Telegram forums dedicated to crypto privacy have confirmed that EF's announcement prompted a surge in community donations. Some analysts estimate over $200,000 has been raised within just 24 hours of the announcement.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Protocol: Polygon, Once a Scaling Leader, Eyes a Revamp
Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. We're Margaux Nijkerk and Sam Kessler, CoinDesk's Tech & Protocols team. In this issue: Sandeep Nailwal Takes Control of Polygon Foundation, Charts New Course, Retires ZkEVM Ethereum Foundation Unveils New Treasury Policy With 15% Opex Cap Bitcoin Core 30 to Increase OP_RETURN Data Limit After Developer Debate Concludes Plume Launches Genesis Mainnet to Bring Real-World Assets to DeFi Unknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the ` option SANDEEP NAILWAL TAKES CONTROL OF POLYGON FOUNDATION, RETIRES ZKEVM: Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has officially assumed the role of CEO of the Polygon Foundation, marking a pivot in the organization's leadership makeup and a sweeping overhaul of the network's longterm roadmap. Nailwal, who launched the project in 2017 when it was still called Matic Network, will consolidate control and reorient the team toward AggLayer — Polygon's new cross-chain liquidity protocol that promises seamless interoperability across networks. The foundation will also retire zkEVM, Polygon's rollup network. "This renewed control marks the beginning of a strategic push for Polygon to reclaim its position at the forefront of Web3," the team wrote in a press release shared with CoinDesk — Marguax Nijkerk Read more. ETHEREUM FOUNDATION'S NEW TREASURY POLICY: The Ethereum Foundation published an updated treasury policy, outlining a series of new plans around token sales, fiat purchases and transparency practices designed to ensure the organization's "long-term agency, sustainability, and legitimacy." The EF, a Swiss non-profit, plays a central role in the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem. In addition to employing researchers, builders and community liaisons, the foundation was granted a large trove of ether (ETH) tokens at Ethereum's genesis which it uses to fund its operations and support other projects in the ecosystem. In a blog post, the foundation stated it plans to annually designate 15% of its treasury to operational expenses ("opex"), with a 2.5-year buffer kept at all times in its reserves. "We intend to reduce annual opex roughly linearly over the next five years, ending at a long-term 5% baseline," the foundation wrote. "This policy reflects our conviction that 2025-26 are likely to be pivotal for Ethereum, warranting enhanced focus on critical deliverables.' — Margaux Nijkerk Read more. BITCOIN CORE 30 TO INCREASE OP_RETURN DATA LIMIT: The developers of Bitcoin Core, the primary open-source software for connecting the blockchain behind the world's largest cryptocurrency, said October's version 30 release will increase the default limit for OP_RETURN data transactions from the current 80 bytes to nearly 4MB, a limit imposed by Bitcoin's block size. The proposal for the change, which was confirmed in an update on GitHub, had sparked debate within the Bitcoin community. Critics argued that removing the limit could encourage increased embedding of arbitrary data, potentially leading to network spam and a shift from bitcoin's primary function as a financial tool. — Sam Reynolds Read more. PLUME MAINNET GOES LIVES: Plume, a blockchain network focused on real-world assets, announced the launch of its hotly anticipated Genesis launch, according to a statement shared by the Plume team, marks the "next generation" of asset-backed DeFi — tokenizing traditional financial instruments, or real-world assets (RWA), so they can interact with blockchain-based financial tools. RWAs have taken over the world of blockchain, as they are viewed as a market that could be worth trillions of dollars with traditional financial institutions steadily dipping into crypto. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more. Unknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the ` option Safe, the popular multiparty crypto wallet previously called Gnosis Safe, has launched a new development unit, Safe Labs, in a move aimed at consolidating its operations and sharpening its product roadmap after it was targeted in February's $1.4 billion ByBit hack — the largest crypto heist to date. Along with the change, Safe is building a more "opinionated" V2 of its platform targeted at enterprise customers. — Sam Kessler Read more. Morpho, a permissionless cryptocurrency lending protocol, unveiled an update that seeks to further align decentralized finance (DeFi) with traditional lending by bringing more in the way of bespoke, predictable loan terms. Morpho V2 delivers market-driven fixed-rate, fixed-term loans with customizable terms, features previously unseen in DeFi, which are required to meet the demands of institutions and enterprises looking to build or migrate financial products on-chain, Morpho said in a press release on Thursday.— Ian Allison Read more. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is working on policy to exempt decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms from regulatory barriers, said Chairman Paul Atkins. Software developers building DeFi tools have no business being blamed for how they're used, Atkins and other SEC Republicans contended at the final of five crypto roundtables that have been held at the agency since the leadership turnover under President Donald chairman told a roundtable of DeFi experts that he's directed the SEC staff to look into changes to agency rules "to provide needed accommodation for issuers and intermediaries to seek to administer on-chain financial systems." Atkins called that potential exemptive relief "an innovation exemption" that would let entities under SEC jurisdiction bring on-chain products and services to market "expeditiously." — Jesse Hamilton Read more. The international unit of Alipay owner Ant Group plans to seek stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Ant International will apply for a stablecoin issuer's license once the regulatory regime comes into effect in August, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter. The firm is also planning to apply for a similar license in its native Singapore, as well as Luxembourg. — Jamie Crawley Read more. Unknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the ` option June 8-22: Berlin Blockchain Week, Berlin June 24-26: Permissionless, Brooklyn June 30-July 3: EthCC, Cannes July 16-18: Web3 Summit, Berlin Sept. 22-28: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul Oct. 1-2: Token2049, Singapore Nov. 17-22: Devconnect, Buenos Aires Dec. 11-13: Solana Breakpoint, Abu Dhabi Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ethereum Foundation Unveils New Treasury Policy With 15% Opex Cap
The Ethereum Foundation published an updated treasury policy on Wednesday, outlining a series of new plans around token sales, fiat purchases and transparency practices designed to ensure the organization's "long-term agency, sustainability, and legitimacy." The EF, a Swiss non-profit, plays a central role in the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem. In addition to employing researchers, builders and community liaisons, the foundation was granted a large trove of ether (ETH) tokens at Ethereum's genesis which it uses to fund its operations and support other projects in the ecosystem. In a blog post on Wednesday, the foundation stated it plans to annually designate 15% of its treasury to operational expenses ("opex"), with a 2.5-year buffer kept at all times in its reserves. "We intend to reduce annual opex roughly linearly over the next five years, ending at a long-term 5% baseline," the foundation wrote. "This policy reflects our conviction that 2025-26 are likely to be pivotal for Ethereum, warranting enhanced focus on critical deliverables." In addition to periodically selling some of its ETH tokens onto the market, the foundation said it will occasionally diversify its holdings into fiat to ensure it can continue funding key ecosystem projects regardless of crypto market conditions. The foundation emphasized that decisions about managing its treasury — including occasional ETH sales — are made with operational planning and risk mitigation in mind. The foundation stated that its investments are not driven by speculative goals, but to ensure EF can continue to support the ecosystem well into the future. 'We will frequently reallocate funds between protocols for reasons such as changing market conditions, diversification, or new yield opportunities,' the foundation wrote. 'Withdrawals should be understood in this context and not as anti-endorsements.' Furthermore, the foundation promised to publish quarterly financial reports to its board, as well as an annual report, which in the past has been made public. On Oct. 31, 2024, the EF shared it had $970.2 million in treasury, down 39% from the previous time the organization reported its financial standings. Token-rich crypto foundations like the Ethereum Foundation have, for years, been at the center of many of the industry's biggest controversies. Foundations hold immense power within the ecosystems they serve, but they are frequently criticized for having opaque operations, generous compensation packages and vague responsibilities. Wednesday's post comes amid a broader push by the Ethereum community for foundation transparency and reform. In 2024, a pair of Ethereum Foundation researchers came under fire for quietly accepting token allocations from Ethereum-based projects, pushing the entire organization into a reckoning around conflicts of interest. Ethereum has also faced heightened competition from other blockchains over the past year, and some within the community have pushed for the Ethereum Foundation to act with more urgency in pushing along the ecosystem's tech development. Earlier this week, the foundation shared that it had laid off some members as part of a restructuring of its research arm. Read more: Ethereum Foundation Lays Off Some Staff Amid R&D RestructuringError in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ethereum Foundation Lays Off Some Staff Amid R&D Restructuring
The Ethereum Foundation has laid off some members of its research and development team as part of a broader restructuring effort aimed at refocusing on critical protocol design challenges, the organization said in a blog post Monday. The shake-up comes as the Switzerland-based nonprofit grapples with ongoing criticism over its management and strategic direction. Some in the Ethereum community have warned for over a year that failure to address key technical hurdles could threaten Ethereum's status as an industry leader, and the organization has already undergone leadership changes in part to address these concerns. The foundation is rebranding its Protocol Research and Development division under the simplified name 'Protocol,' and is repositioning the group around three main priorities: scaling Ethereum's base layer, expanding blobspace (a key part of its data availability strategy), and improving user experience. 'The changes we're announcing today are a departure from our previous ways of working, but we feel these set us on a more responsive and effective path,' the foundation said in its post. The EF did not disclose how many staff were affected by the layoffs. '[S]ome members of PR&D won't be continuing with the Ethereum Foundation,' the blog stated. 'We hope these individuals continue on in the Ethereum ecosystem and encourage others building out their teams to seek them out.' A spokesperson for the foundation did not respond to a request for comment. The restructured Protocol team will serve as a hub for Ethereum's core development efforts, aiming to improve public visibility into upgrade timelines, technical documentation, and research. 'We're hopeful that this new structure will empower our internal teams to focus more clearly and drive key initiatives forward,' said Hsiao-Wei Weng, the co-executive director at the EF in a post on X. Read more: Ethereum Foundation Picks New Co-Executive Directors, Following Leadership Reshuffle
