Explore how the Condorcet paradox exposes the limits of perfect fairness in blockchain consensus. For decades, research in distributed systems, especially in Byzantine consensus and state machine replication (SMR), has focused on two main goals: consistency and liveness. Consistency means all nodes agree on the same sequence of transactions, while liveness ensures the system continues to add new ones. Still, these properties do not stop bad actors from changing the order of transactions after they are received. In public blockchains, that gap in traditional consensus guarantees has become a serious problem. Validators, block builders or sequencers can exploit their privileged role in block ordering for financial gain, a practice known as maximal extractable value (MEV). This manipulation includes profitable frontrunning, backrunning and sandwiching of transactions. Because transaction execution order determines validity or profitability in DeFi applications, the integrity of transaction ordering is vital for ...
Bitcoin traders focused on the weekly close amid flat BTC price action and warned that the whole bull market could end with a bad result. Key points: Bitcoin faces an important weekly close with several key price levels on the line. The bull market’s future is still at stake, a trader says, amid ongoing whale selling. Read more
Ledger is weighing a New York listing after revenues hit triple-digit millions in 2025, driven by record crypto hacks and growing demand for cold storage wallets. French crypto hardware wallet provider Ledger is considering a New York listing as surging cyberattacks drive record demand for its hardware devices, sending revenues soaring into the triple-digit millions in 2025. CEO Pascal Gauthier recently told the Financial Times that the company, founded in Paris in 2014, is seeing its best year yet as both individuals and companies rush to protect their digital assets from increasingly sophisticated hackers. “We’re being hacked more and more every day ... hacking of your bank accounts, of your crypto, and it’s not going to get better next year and the year after that,” he said. Read more
Robert Kiyosaki predicts Bitcoin will reach $250,000 and gold $27,000 by 2026, saying he’s buying hard assets amid a looming crash. Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki has doubled down on his bullish outlook for hard assets, saying he’s buying more gold, silver, Bitcoin and Ethereum even as markets brace for a potential crash. In a post shared on X on Sunday, Kiyosaki warned of an impending economic downturn but said he’s preparing for it by accumulating assets he calls “real money.” “Crash coming: Why I am buying, not selling,” he wrote, setting ambitious targets of $27,000 for gold, $100 for silver and $250,000 for Bitcoin (BTC) by 2026. Read more