Crypto is building a new layer, not for money, but for truth. Markets, AI and protocols must fix the broken systems of science and verification. Opinion by: Sasha Shilina, founder of Episteme and researcher at Paradigm Research Institute In 2024, Nature reported a record-breaking number of scientific paper retractions: over 10,000 papers pulled from journals due to fraud, duplication or flawed methodology. Peer review, the long-revered backbone of academic legitimacy, is under siege. It’s too slow, too opaque and too easily gamed. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence models trained on this flawed data set generate confident but nonsensical output. Papers cite nonexistent studies. Research decisions are guided by influence, not inference. The internet, once hailed as a democratizing force for knowledge, is now a battleground of misinformation, clickbait and manipulated metrics. Read more
CBDCs threaten more central bank control over money, including potential expiry dates on personal savings, Bitcoin Policy UK’s CEO said. Global central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts are threatening to give financial institutions more control over the money supply and personal savings, as the transatlantic divide between the US and Europe widens in terms of financial technology. CBDCs are digital versions of fiat money issued on a permissioned, private blockchain, usually controlled by a central bank, as opposed to decentralized blockchain networks. “Not all digital currencies are the same,” said Susie Violet Ward, financial analyst, co-founder and CEO of think tank Bitcoin Policy UK, warning that CBDCs represent the “weaponization of money in its purest form.” Read more
Draining volume has dropped from 2024, but a new scam service tool called Vanilla has been turning investigators’ heads with $5 million stolen in three weeks. A blockchain investigator has attributed at least $5.27 million in crypto stolen over three weeks to a rising scam service known as Vanilla Drainer. Drainers are entities that provide scam software to fraudsters, often paired with phishing tactics to access victims’ funds. Vanilla is part of a new generation of these groups and has largely flown under the radar, but recent high-value thefts have drawn attention from blockchain sleuths. Draining scams peaked in 2024, when victims lost almost $500 million to top services, such as Angel, Inferno and Pink, according to Scam Sniffer. Draining still occurs frequently, though volumes have dropped due to new security technologies. However, blockchain investigator Darkbit warns that drainers are adapting. Read more