Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he expects growth to continue next year, but with smarter adjustments that expand capacity without new bottlenecks. Ethereum crossed a threshold in execution capacity as its mainnet block gas limit reached 60 million, the highest level the network has seen in four years. Data tracker Gas Limit Pics showed that in November, over 513,000 validators signaled a 60 million gas limit, pushing the Ethereum network over the threshold needed for the protocol to begin moving the gas limit upward. A higher gas limit allows Ethereum to fit more work into each block, including swaps, token transfers and smart contract calls. In practice, that can ease congestion during busy periods and help the network process more activity at the base layer. Read more
EU governments agree to push forward with child sexual abuse Chat Control rules, but a compromise keeps voluntary scanning alive, leaving privacy advocates fuming. Representatives of European Union member states reached an agreement on Wednesday in the Council of the EU to move forward with the controversial “Chat Control” child sexual abuse regulation, which paves the way for new rules targeting abusive child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on messaging apps and other online services. “Every year, millions of files are shared that depict the sexual abuse of children… This is completely unacceptable. Therefore, I’m glad that the member states have finally agreed on a way forward that includes a number of obligations for providers of communication services,” said Danish Minister for Justice, Peter Hummelgaard. The deal, which follows years of division and deadlock among member states and privacy groups, allows the legislative file to move into final talks with the European Parliament on when and how platforms can...
Bitcoin remained below key support levels as traders hoped the rally could achieve the highest-ever Thanksgiving Day close for BTC price. Bitcoin (BTC) rallied 13% from multimonth lows at $80,000, reclaiming the $90,000 mark on Wednesday. This move came as a surprise as BTC staged a pre-holiday rally, increasing hopes of a continued upward move going into Thanksgiving weekend. Key takeaways: Bitcoin stages a pre-Thanksgiving rally and seeks to defy its historical average return of -0.8% during the holiday. Read more
Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon asked a US court to limit his prison term to five years as he faces a separate case in South Korea. Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon asked a US judge to cap his prison time at five years for his role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which erased about $40 billion from crypto markets in 2022. In a court filing on Wednesday, Kwon argued that a longer term would be excessive given the punishment he has already served and the penalties he has agreed to accept, according to Bloomberg. Kwon pleaded guilty in August to two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud after being extradited from Montenegro, where he had been detained. His lawyers said he had spent almost three years behind bars, “with more than half that time in brutal conditions in Montenegro,” and that he had already paid a heavy personal and financial price. Read more
ARK Invest expects another $300 billion in liquidity to return after the government shutdown, a development that may alleviate the “liquidity squeeze” affecting crypto and AI valuations. Equities and cryptocurrency markets may be setting up for a year-end reversal as liquidity improves and US monetary policy turns more supportive following the end of the record government shutdown. Improving market conditions will be driven by the increasing liquidity, which has already returned $70 billion into markets since the end of the US government shutdown, with another $300 billion expected to return over the next five to six weeks as the Treasury General Account normalizes, according to investment management company ARK Invest. Another potential catalyst will arrive on Dec. 1, when the US Federal Reserve is scheduled to end its quantitative tightening program and pivot toward quantitative easing, a shift that involves bond-buying to lower borrowing costs and stimulate economic activity. Read more