NFT

NFTs are unique digital identifiers recorded on a blockchain that certify ownership and authenticity of a specific asset. Moving past the "PFP" craze, 2026 NFTs emphasize utility, representing everything from IP rights and digital fashion to RWA titles and event ticketing. This tag explores the technical standards of digital ownership, the growth of NFT marketplaces, and the integration of non-fungible tech into the broader Creator Economy and enterprise solutions.

13111 Articles
Created: 2026/02/02 18:52
Updated: 2026/02/02 18:52
Polymarket Valuation Could Hit $15B Amid New Funding Talks

Polymarket Valuation Could Hit $15B Amid New Funding Talks

Prediction markets are rapidly gaining momentum, attracting significant investor interest amid soaring valuations and record-breaking trading volumes. With major players like Polymarket and Kalshi eyeing multi-billion-dollar funding rounds, the sector is quickly transforming into a pivotal component of the evolving cryptocurrency and blockchain landscape. Polymarket is in early negotiations for funding at a valuation ranging [...]

Author: Crypto Breaking News
Top Crypto Casinos That Offer NFTs

Top Crypto Casinos That Offer NFTs

The post Top Crypto Casinos That Offer NFTs appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Online casinos and blockchain innovations coexist for years, but nothing has shaken up the space quite like the NFTs. These assets, that were once thought of as quirky collectibles and overpriced art, are now entering the casino scene. The result: platforms where you can do more than spin reels or place bets. You can now own unique digital items that carry value, status, and even gameplay advantages. Picture yourself in a casino where your loyalty is rewarded not with points stored away, but with a unique NFT that you truly possess. This item could offer exclusive perks that other players don’t have, act as a collectible with trade value, or grant you entry to tournaments. Suddenly, your time at the tables isn’t just about wins and losses. It becomes an experience for your digital collection. If you are exploring where to start, the list of top-rated sites keeps growing, and platforms like https://www.casinospesialisten.net/casinospill-med-kryptovaluta provide a roadmap to find trusted crypto casinos that offer NFTs. What NFTs Bring to the Table Why are NFTs such a big deal in the casino world? The answer lies in what they represent. NFTs are not just pictures or collectibles. They are verifiable, blockchain-backed assets that you own. That ownership creates new value. Check them out: Instead of getting regular bonuses, you can get NFTs that can grow in value or grant exclusive perks at your selected casino. An NFT earned in a casino can be sold or traded, making it a potential investment. Some NFTs are acting like a digital badge, which gives you bragging rights on a certain platform or at a casino. NFTs can be tied with tournaments, or special casino challenges, making the games even more exciting. The appeal of NFTs doesn’t stop here. It’s about being part of a new…

Author: BitcoinEthereumNews
Best Crypto Investments in 2025: Ozak AI’s Projected ROI of 350% to 500% Could Change the Game

Best Crypto Investments in 2025: Ozak AI’s Projected ROI of 350% to 500% Could Change the Game

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Author: Blockchainreporter
Key Crypto Market Data for 2025: From Speculation to Survival, Web3 is Going Mainstream

Key Crypto Market Data for 2025: From Speculation to Survival, Web3 is Going Mainstream

I just finished reading a16z’s 2025 State of Crypto report and would like to share some key data and thoughts: 1) The annual transaction volume of stablecoins has reached 46 trillion US dollars, which is three times that of Visa. Even if we remove noise data such as robots, it is still 9 trillion US dollars, which is still 5 times that of Paypal. This means that stablecoins are no longer simply competing with a single payment company; they are reshaping the entire dollar system. This explains the sudden shift in the US government's stance on crypto: they recognize that stablecoins are a digital weapon to consolidate the dollar's hegemony. It also explains why Tether is building Plasma and Stable, and why Paypal is supporting KiteAI in developing AI payment infrastructure. These are all driven by competition and confrontation. 2) Cryptocurrency institutional adoption is booming: ETF holdings of BTC and ETH have reached $175 billion, a 169% year-over-year increase. Traditional finance and tech giants like Visa, BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, and Stripe are all entering the market. This turn of events was somewhat unexpected. With the passage of the GENIUS Act and Circle's billion-dollar IPO, the market landscape has completely reversed from one where crypto was trying to break out of the market to one where traditional finance was actively entering the market to compete for a niche. 3) Usage differentiation between emerging markets and developed markets: Argentina’s wallet usage has increased 16 times in three years, while South Korea and Australia focus on MEME speculation. It's interesting that small and medium-sized developing countries are attracted to Crypto's "anti-inflation + cross-border payment" features just to make a living, while developed countries are attracted to its "high volatility + arbitrage opportunities" speculative properties. Obviously, the former is the real mass adoption; 4) Accelerated integration of AI and Crypto: Protocols such as x402 provide payment standards for AI agents. It is predicted that the AI agent economy will reach 30 trillion US dollars in 2030. This data sounds exaggerated, but the recent performance of nof1 Arena has made everyone realize that the power generated by AI Agents' autonomous custody of assets and autonomous execution of transactions is so great. 5) The on-chain economy is in full bloom: DEX accounts for 20% of spot trading volume, perpetual contracts have increased 8 times annually, the RWA market is US$30 billion, and DePIN is expected to reach US$3.5 trillion in 2028. Cryptocurrency is evolving from pure financial speculation to real-world applications. RWAs are injecting real-world business revenue into the blockchain to generate interest, while DePINs are using tokens to reconstruct physical infrastructure. This trend indicates that internal cycles relying solely on token subsidies are failing. Instead, sustainable business models that rely on protocol monetization, token buybacks (dividends for holders), and robust on-chain financial management are maturing. This will also be a crucial consideration for selecting future value targets. 6) Prediction Market + Privacy Technology: Polymarket/Kalshi transaction volume increased fivefold, approaching historical highs. Privacy coins such as Zcash and Railgun are leading ZK technology back to the mainstream. Many people assumed the prediction market would cool down after the election, but trading volume actually surged fivefold in 2025. This demonstrates that prediction markets aren't just about betting on the election; they're becoming a new way to uncover true market expectations. From sporting events to economic indicators, and especially in the pre-market cryptocurrency market, any event with uncertainty can be priced in. The resurgence of privacy through regulatory compliance may also create new opportunities for ZK technology to return to the mainstream. Note: The above only extracts the important data and content that I am interested in. The original text also covers many topics such as Ethereum's L2 strategy, the rise of the Solana ecosystem, and the transformation of the NFT market. If you are interested, you can read the full report.

Author: PANews
How Strategic Investing in Ozak AI Could Turn Ordinary Investors Into Millionaires in the Next Bull Cycle

How Strategic Investing in Ozak AI Could Turn Ordinary Investors Into Millionaires in the Next Bull Cycle

Ozak AI ($OZ) has been receiving interest from investors as one of the leading AI crypto projects. It combines artificial intelligence with blockchain technology to deliver real-time analytics, automation, and distributed data processing. Built on a solid framework, it’s designed to strengthen on-chain intelligence and provide users with fast, clear, and reliable data insights. Its […] The post How Strategic Investing in Ozak AI Could Turn Ordinary Investors Into Millionaires in the Next Bull Cycle appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

Author: LiveBitcoinNews
What Analysts Are Saying About Ozak AI’s Potential to Hit $1 by End of 2026 and $5 by 2027

What Analysts Are Saying About Ozak AI’s Potential to Hit $1 by End of 2026 and $5 by 2027

Ozak AI ($OZ) is rapidly becoming one of the most talked-about names in the crypto landscape, bridging artificial intelligence and decentralized infrastructure in a way few projects have managed to achieve. As an AI-powered crypto project that fuses AI tools with DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network), Ozak AI is pioneering a new model of tokenized […] The post What Analysts Are Saying About Ozak AI’s Potential to Hit $1 by End of 2026 and $5 by 2027 appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

Author: LiveBitcoinNews
a16z Declares Crypto Has Hit Its Adulthood Phase in 2025 State of Crypto Report

a16z Declares Crypto Has Hit Its Adulthood Phase in 2025 State of Crypto Report

The post a16z Declares Crypto Has Hit Its Adulthood Phase in 2025 State of Crypto Report appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Andreessen Horowitz’s 2025 State of Crypto report describes cryptocurrency as a mature, fast-growing financial ecosystem reshaping global markets. The venture firm, better known as a16z, highlights an industry stepping into what it calls its adulthood phase. From stablecoins to DeFi, to on-chain finance and institutional adoption, every key metric points upward. $4 Trillion Market and Millions of Users According to a16z, the total crypto market capitalization has officially crossed $4 trillion, marking a major milestone for digital assets. Monthly active crypto users now range between 40 million and 70 million, up roughly 10 million from the previous year. Mobile wallet adoption hit all-time highs, up 20% year-over-year. These numbers reflect a maturing base of retail and institutional participants, not just speculators, but users transacting, saving, and building. Crypto is expanding beyond the “hype” narrative. It’s becoming a utility-driven economy. Our latest State of Crypto report is here. The main theme for the year is the maturation of the crypto industry: • Traditional financial institutions and fintechs launched crypto products• DeFi and stablecoins went mainstream• Blockchains got faster and cheaper• The… pic.twitter.com/xEZoO3AX5N — a16z crypto (@a16zcrypto) October 22, 2025 Stablecoins: The Heart of On-Chain Finance If there’s one standout in the 2025 report, it’s stablecoins. a16z data shows $46 trillion in annual stablecoin transactions (adjusted to $9 trillion), making them one of the largest financial instruments in existence. That’s 20× PayPal’s annual volume and 3× Visa’s. Stablecoins have become the preferred rails for moving digital dollars, fast, borderless, and low-cost. More than 1% of all U.S. dollars now exist as stablecoins on public blockchains. Together, stablecoin issuers hold over $150 billion in U.S. Treasuries, a figure that surpasses the reserves of several sovereign nations. It’s no longer a crypto niche, it’s a global macroeconomic force. Institutions Step In Institutional participation is…

Author: BitcoinEthereumNews
a16z 2025 Annual Report: The World is Moving to Blockchain, and the US Crypto Market is Stronger Than Ever

a16z 2025 Annual Report: The World is Moving to Blockchain, and the US Crypto Market is Stronger Than Ever

Author: Daren Matsuoka, Robert Hackett, Jeremy Zhang, Stephanie Zinn, Eddy Lazzarin Translator: zkBernard, ChainCatcher This year , the whole world began to go blockchain. When we published our first State of Cryptocurrency report , the industry was still in its adolescence . The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies was about half of what it is today , and blockchains were slower, more expensive, and less reliable. Over the past three years , cryptocurrency builders have weathered severe market downturns and political uncertainty — yet have continued to make significant infrastructure improvements and other technological breakthroughs. These efforts have brought us to today , a moment when cryptocurrency is becoming a vital part of the modern economy. The story of cryptocurrency in 2025 is a story of industry maturation. In short , cryptocurrency has grown up : Traditional financial giants like Visa , BlackRock , Fidelity and JPMorgan Chase — as well as tech-native challengers like PayPal , Stripe and Robinhood — are offering or launching cryptocurrency products. The blockchain now processes over 3,400 transactions per second ( an increase of over 100 times in the past five years ) . Stablecoins support $ 46 trillion ( $ 9 trillion adjusted ) in annual transaction volume , comparable to Visa and PayPal . Over $ 175 billion is invested in Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded products. Our latest State of Crypto report delves into the industry's transformation , from institutional adoption and the rise of stablecoins to the convergence of crypto and AI . We also debuted a new way to explore data and track the industry's evolution through key metrics: the State of Crypto dashboard . Now let’s look at what the research found … Key Points The cryptocurrency market is large, global, and growing Financial institutions fully embrace cryptocurrencies Stablecoins enter the mainstream Cryptocurrency is stronger than ever in the United States The whole world is going blockchain Blockchain infrastructure is ( almost ) ready for prime time Cryptocurrency and AI are merging The market is large, global and growing In 2025 , the total cryptocurrency market capitalization surpassed $ 4 trillion for the first time , signaling widespread progress across the industry. The number of mobile cryptocurrency wallet users also reached a record high , with a 20% year-over-year increase. The shift in the regulatory environment from hostile to more supportive , coupled with the accelerating adoption of these technologies — from stablecoins to tokenization of traditional financial assets to other emerging use cases— will define the next cycle. Based on analysis using our updated methodology, we estimate there are currently approximately 40 million to 70 million active cryptocurrency users, an increase of approximately 10 million from last year. That’s just a fraction of the estimated 716 million people who own cryptocurrency, a 16% year-over-year increase. It’s also just a fraction of the roughly 181 million monthly active addresses on-chain, an 18% year-over-year decrease. The gap between passive cryptocurrency holders (people who own cryptocurrency but do not conduct on-chain transactions) and active users (people who conduct on-chain transactions regularly) provides cryptocurrency builders with an opportunity to reach more potential users who already own cryptocurrency. So where are all these cryptocurrency users? And what are they doing? Cryptocurrency is global, but different parts of the world seem to be using it differently. Mobile wallet usage, an indicator of on-chain activity, has grown fastest in emerging markets like Argentina, Colombia, India, and Nigeria. (Argentina, in particular, has seen a 16-fold increase in cryptocurrency mobile wallet usage over the past three years amid an escalating currency crisis.) Meanwhile, our analysis of the geographic origins of token-related web traffic shows that indicators of token interest are skewed towards developed countries. Activity in these countries—particularly Australia and South Korea—may be more focused on trading and speculation than on user behavior in developing countries. Bitcoin, which still accounts for more than half of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization, hit a new all-time high of over $126,000 as it grows in popularity among investors as a store of value. Meanwhile, Ethereum and Solana have recovered most of their losses from their post-2022 slump. As blockchains continue to scale, fee markets mature, and new applications emerge, certain metrics become increasingly important; one of these is "real economic value"—a measure of how much people actually pay to use the blockchain. Hyperliquid and Solana currently account for 53% of revenue-generating economic activity, a significant shift from the dominance of Bitcoin and Ethereum in previous years. When it comes to builders, cryptocurrencies remain multi-chain, with Bitcoin, Ethereum (and its Layer 2), and Solana attracting the most developers. Ethereum and its Layer 2 will be the top destinations for new developers in 2025. Meanwhile, Solana is one of the fastest-growing ecosystems, with builder interest increasing by 78% over the past two years. The chart below reflects the number of ecosystems founders told us they are building or interested in building—based on analysis by the a16z crypto investment team. (You can take a closer look at these and other trends in our State of Crypto dashboard.) Financial institutions fully embrace cryptocurrencies 2025 is the year of institutional adoption. Just five days after last year's State of Crypto report concluded that stablecoins had found product-market fit, Stripe announced its intention to acquire Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure platform. The race is on: Traditional financial firms are also preparing to openly enter the stablecoin space. A few months later, Circle's multi-billion dollar IPO signaled the arrival of stablecoin issuers as mainstream financial institutions. In July, the bipartisan GENIUS Act was signed into law, providing builders and institutions with the clarity they needed to move forward. In the months since, mentions of stablecoins in SEC filings have increased by 64%, and major financial institutions have continued to make a series of announcements. Institutional adoption is rapidly increasing. Traditional institutions—including Citigroup, Fidelity, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, and Visa—are now (or plan to) offer cryptocurrency products directly to consumers, allowing them to buy, sell, and hold digital assets alongside stocks, exchange-traded products, and other traditional instruments. Meanwhile, platforms like PayPal and Shopify are doubling down on payments and building the infrastructure for everyday transactions between merchants and customers. Beyond direct products, major fintech companies—including Circle, Robinhood, and Stripe—are actively developing or have announced plans to develop new blockchains focused on payments, real-world assets, and stablecoins. These initiatives could bring more payment traffic onto blockchains, encourage enterprise adoption, and ultimately create a larger, faster, and more global financial system. These companies have vast distribution networks. If development continues, cryptocurrencies could become deeply integrated into the financial services we use every day. Exchange-traded products are another key driver of institutional investment, with on-chain cryptocurrency holdings now exceeding $175 billion, a 169% increase from $65 billion a year ago. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is considered the largest-ever Bitcoin exchange-traded product offering, and subsequent Ethereum exchange-traded products have also seen significant inflows in recent months. (Note: While often referred to as exchange-traded funds or ETFs, these are actually registered as ETPs, or exchange-traded products, using the SEC's Form S-1, indicating that the underlying portfolio does not contain securities.) These products have made cryptocurrencies more accessible, unlocking a flood of institutional capital that has historically remained on the fringes of the industry. Publicly traded “digital asset treasury” (DAT) companies—entities that hold cryptocurrencies on their balance sheets, much like a corporate treasury holds cash—now collectively hold about 4% of all Bitcoin and Ethereum in circulation. Together, these DATs and exchange-traded products now hold about 10% of the total Bitcoin and Ethereum token supply. Stablecoins enter the mainstream In 2025, nothing better signals the maturation of cryptocurrencies than the rise of stablecoins. In years past, stablecoins were primarily used to settle speculative cryptocurrency trades; in recent years, they have become the fastest, cheapest, and most global way to send U.S. dollars—in less than a second, for less than a penny, to nearly anywhere in the world. This year, they have become the backbone of the on-chain economy. Stablecoin transaction volume reached $46 trillion in the past year, a 106% year-over-year increase. While this isn’t a completely apples-to-apples comparison, as this figure primarily represents financial flows (rather than retail payments through card networks), it’s nearly three times Visa’s volume and close to the level of the ACH network for the entire U.S. banking system. On an adjusted basis—a better measure of organic activity that attempts to filter out bots and other artificially inflated activity—stablecoins handled $9 trillion in transactions over the past 12 months, an 87% year-over-year increase. That’s more than five times the throughput of PayPal and more than half that of Visa. Adoption is accelerating. Monthly adjusted stablecoin trading volume has surged to an all-time high, reaching nearly $1.25 trillion in September 2025 alone. Notably, this activity is largely uncorrelated with broader cryptocurrency trading volumes – suggesting non-speculative uses for stablecoins and, more importantly, their product-market fit. The total supply of stablecoins has also reached a record high, now exceeding $300 billion. The largest stablecoins dominate the market: Tether and USDC hold 87% of the total supply. In September 2025, $772 billion in stablecoin transactions (adjusted) were settled on the Ethereum and Tron blockchains, representing 64% of all trading volume. While these two issuers and chains account for the majority of stablecoin activity, growth among new chains and issuers is also accelerating. Stablecoins are now a global macroeconomic force: over 1% of the US dollar now exists in tokenized stablecoins on public blockchains, and stablecoins are now the 17th largest holder of US Treasuries, up from 20th place last year. Overall, stablecoins hold over $150 billion in US Treasuries—more than many sovereign nations. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury bonds are surging, even as global demand for that debt is waning. For the first time in 30 years, foreign central banks hold more gold in their reserves than U.S. Treasury bonds. But stablecoins are bucking this trend: over 99% of stablecoins are denominated in U.S. dollars, and their value is projected to grow tenfold to over $3 trillion by 2030, providing a potentially strong and sustainable source of demand for U.S. debt in the coming years. Stablecoins are strengthening the dollar’s dominance even as foreign central banks reduce their holdings of U.S. Treasuries. Cryptocurrency is stronger than ever in the United States The United States has reversed its previously hostile stance towards cryptocurrencies, restoring confidence among builders. This year's passage of the GENIUS Act and the House-approved CLARITY Act signal bipartisan consensus that cryptocurrencies are not only here to stay but poised to thrive in the United States. Together, these bills establish a framework for stablecoins, market structure, and digital asset regulation, striking a balance between innovation and investor protection. This legislation is complemented by Executive Order 14178, which reverses earlier anti-crypto directives and creates an interagency working group to modernize federal digital asset policy. The regulatory landscape is opening the way for builders to realize the potential of tokens as new digital primitives, similar to how websites served previous generations of the internet. As regulatory clarity improves, more network tokens will be able to complete their economic cycles by generating revenue that accrues to token holders—creating a new economic engine for the internet that is self-sustaining and gives more users a stake in the system. The whole world is going blockchain The on-chain economy—once a niche playground for early adopters—has evolved into a multi-sector market with tens of millions of monthly participants. Nearly one-fifth of all spot trading volume now occurs on decentralized exchanges. Perpetual swaps have exploded in popularity among cryptocurrency speculators, with trading volume increasing nearly eightfold over the past year. Decentralized perpetual swap exchanges like Hyperliquid have processed trillions of dollars in trades and generated over $1 billion in annualized revenue this year—figures that rival those of some centralized exchanges. Real-world assets (RWAs)—traditional assets like U.S. Treasuries, money market funds, private credit, and real estate, represented on-chain ("tokenized")—bridge the gap between cryptocurrency and traditional finance. The total market size for tokenized RWAs is $30 billion, having grown nearly fourfold in the past two years. Beyond finance, one of the most ambitious frontiers for blockchain in 2025 is DePIN, or the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network. Just as DeFi reimagined finance, DeFi is reimagining physical infrastructure, including telecommunications and transportation networks, energy grids, and more. The opportunity is enormous: the World Economic Forum predicts that the DeFi category will grow to $3.5 trillion by 2028. The most notable example is the Helium Network, a grassroots wireless network that now provides 5G cellular coverage to 1.4 million daily active users via over 111,000 user-operated hotspots. Prediction markets entered the mainstream during the 2024 U.S. presidential election cycle, with the most popular platforms, Polymarket and Kalshi, collectively seeing billions of dollars in monthly trading volume. Despite questions about their ability to maintain engagement in a non-election year, these platforms' trading volume has increased nearly fivefold since the beginning of 2025, approaching previous highs. In the absence of regulatory clarity, memecoins have flourished, with over 13 million coins launched last year. This trend appears to be cooling in recent months—with issuance in September down 56% from January—as sound policy and bipartisan legislation clear the way for more productive blockchain use cases. NFT market transaction volume is far from its 2022 peak, but the number of monthly active buyers has been growing. These trends appear to signal a shift in consumer behavior from speculation to collecting, a shift facilitated by the emergence of cheaper block space on chains like Solana and Base. (For more on the intersection of cryptocurrency and the creator economy, see our Voices Onchain project.) Blockchain infrastructure is (almost) ready for prime time All of these activities would not be possible without significant advancements in blockchain infrastructure. In just five years, the aggregate transaction throughput of major blockchain networks has increased more than 100-fold. Back then, blockchains processed fewer than 25 transactions per second. Now they handle 3,400 transactions per second, comparable to Nasdaq's completed transactions or Stripe's global throughput on Black Friday—and at a fraction of the historical cost. Solana has become one of the most prominent players in the blockchain ecosystem. Its high-performance, low-fee architecture now powers everything from decentralized lending projects to NFT marketplaces, and its native applications generated $3 billion in revenue over the past year. Planned upgrades are expected to double the network's capacity by the end of the year. Ethereum continues to execute on its scaling roadmap, with the majority of its economic activity migrating to Layer 2 (L2) platforms such as Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism. The average transaction cost on L2 has dropped from approximately $24 in 2021 to less than 1 cent today, making block space on Ethereum cheap and plentiful. Cross-chain bridges are enabling blockchains to interoperate. Protocols like LayerZero and Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol allow users to move assets across multiple blockchain systems. Hyperliquid's canonical cross-chain bridge has also seen $74 billion in transaction volume year-to-date. Privacy is returning to the forefront and may become a prerequisite for wider adoption. Indicators of growing interest: Google searches related to crypto privacy surge in 2025; Zcash’s shielded pool supply grows to nearly 4 million ZEC; and Railgun’s transaction flow exceeds $200 million per month. More momentum: The Ethereum Foundation launched a new privacy team; Paxos partnered with Aleo to launch a compliant, private stablecoin (USAD); and the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash, a decentralized privacy protocol. We expect this trend to gain further momentum in the coming years as cryptocurrencies continue to move toward mainstream adoption. Similarly, zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs and succinct proof systems are rapidly evolving from decades of academic research to critical infrastructure. Zero-knowledge systems are now integrated into Rollups, compliance tools, and even mainstream web services—Google’s new ZK identity system is an example. Meanwhile, blockchain is accelerating its post-quantum roadmap. Approximately $750 billion in Bitcoin is stored in addresses vulnerable to future quantum attacks. The U.S. government plans to transition federal systems to post-quantum cryptographic algorithms by 2035. AI and cryptocurrency are merging Among other advances, the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 brought AI to the forefront of public attention—creating a clear opportunity for cryptocurrencies. From tracing provenance and licensing IP to providing payment rails for agents, cryptocurrencies could be a solution to some of AI’s most pressing challenges. Decentralized identity systems like World, which has verified over 17 million people, can provide “proof of humanness” and help distinguish humans from bots. Protocol standards like x402 are emerging as the potential financial backbone for autonomous AI agents, helping them conduct microtransactions, access APIs, and settle payments without intermediaries—an economy Gartner estimates could reach $30 trillion by 2030. At the same time, the computing layer of AI is consolidating around a handful of tech giants, raising concerns about centralization and censorship. Just two companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, control 88% of the revenue of "AI-native" companies. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google control 63% of the cloud infrastructure market, while Nvidia holds 94% of the data center GPU market. These imbalances have driven double-digit quarterly net revenue growth for the "Big Seven" companies over the past few years, while overall earnings growth for the rest of the S&P 500 has failed to exceed the rate of inflation. Blockchain provides checks and balances on the apparent centralized power of AI systems. Amid the AI boom, some developers have shifted from cryptocurrency to other fields. Our analysis shows that since ChatGPT launched, approximately 1,000 jobs have shifted from cryptocurrency to AI. However, this number has been offset by an equal number of developers from other fields, such as traditional finance and technology, joining the cryptocurrency field. Future Outlook Where does this leave us? With greater regulatory clarity on the horizon, a path is opening up for tokens that generate real revenue through fees. Cryptocurrency adoption by traditional finance and fintech will continue to accelerate; stablecoins will upgrade legacy systems and democratize financial access globally; and new consumer products will bring the next wave of cryptocurrency users onto the blockchain. We have the infrastructure, distribution channels, and hopefully soon the regulatory clarity needed to bring this technology to the mainstream. It's time to upgrade the financial system, rebuild the global payment rails, and create the internet the world deserves. Seventeen years on, cryptocurrencies are leaving adolescence and entering adulthood. Original link

Author: PANews
Top 5 Meme Coins to Buy Now That Are Shaping the Future of the Market

Top 5 Meme Coins to Buy Now That Are Shaping the Future of the Market

The post Top 5 Meme Coins to Buy Now That Are Shaping the Future of the Market appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. The post Top 5 Meme Coins to Buy Now That Are Shaping the Future of the Market appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News As the bull run enters its most aggressive stage, traders are eyeing a new crop of meme tokens poised for massive moves. Analysts are calling for gains as high as 1,700% on some of the sector’s fastest-rising names that will shape the future of the market. Here are the five meme coins investors say could deliver those kinds of returns: Little Pepe (LILPEPE), BONK, Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), POPCAT, and dogwifhat (WIF). Little Pepe (LILPEPE): The Frog With Big Ambitions No meme coin is drawing as much attention as Little Pepe (LILPEPE). LILPEPE has raised over $27.1 million in Stage 13 for $0.0022 per token, with more than 16.5 billion tokens sold. That’s already one of the largest presales of 2025, and it shows no signs of slowing down. The hype isn’t just about memes. LILPEPE is developing an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain designed for meme tokens, providing new projects with a cheaper, faster, and safer platform for launch. It’s a move that blends meme culture with real infrastructure, a rare combination that could turn speculative buzz into long-term growth. Already audited by CertiK and listed on CoinMarketCap, LILPEPE is gaining legitimacy while maintaining its meme-driven energy. With predictions suggesting it could debut on exchanges near $0.10 before aiming for $3 by 2026, the upside is clear. A small $500 entry could easily turn into tens of thousands if forecasts play out, which is why many believe LILPEPE is the meme coin of the year. BONK: Solana’s Favorite Meme Returns Strong Bonk, at $0.00001482 with a $1.14 billion market cap, is Solana’s memecoin star, up 128.69% this month. Analysts see $0.00021 by Q4, a 2000% jump, driven by…

Author: BitcoinEthereumNews
When Ethereum no longer needs "re-execution", Brevis Pico's real-time proof revolution

When Ethereum no longer needs "re-execution", Brevis Pico's real-time proof revolution

Author: ZHIXIONG PAN The Ethereum community has recently been discussing "Real-time Proving" (RTP). Simply put, it means that instead of requiring all Ethereum nodes to expend significant resources re-executing every transaction, a small proof can be verified more cheaply and quickly. However, achieving this is extremely difficult. Previously, even the most powerful technology could only verify approximately 40% of blocks within 10 seconds, and the hardware cost reached hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, the Brevis team's new Pico Prism technology has broken this bottleneck: using affordable consumer graphics cards (64 RTX 5090s), they have achieved, for the first time, the generation of valid proofs within 10 seconds for 96.8% of Ethereum's latest mainnet blocks (45M gas), an average of just 6.9 seconds. This reduces hardware costs to half that of competing products. This means that the Ethereum mainnet has the potential to achieve significant capacity expansion without sacrificing decentralization—making transactions cheaper, faster, and more secure. What problem are you solving? Currently, Ethereum generates a block every 12 seconds. Tens of thousands of nodes worldwide must redo all calculations and repeatedly verify transactions. Imagine this: every time you receive a transfer notification, you have to recalculate all of your bank's ledgers—extremely inefficient and costly. This is the current state of Ethereum. The Ethereum Foundation has proposed a new approach: Real-Time Proof (RTP). Rather than requiring each node to rerun the transaction execution process, dedicated machines efficiently compute a compact "proof file." Other nodes only need to download and verify this proof—a method that reduces costs and increases efficiency. However, the challenges are enormous: Ethereum transactions are inherently computationally complex, and generating mathematically rigorous proofs requires tens or even hundreds of times more computation than standard execution. Consequently, over the past two years, numerous zkVM technology companies around the world have been continuously working to reduce costs and shorten latency. Features of Brevis and Pico Prism Before 2025, the industry's most powerful real-time proof solution was the Succinct team's SP1 Hypercube. On a 36M gas block, it generated proofs within 10 seconds for approximately 40.9% of blocks, but required 160 RTX 4090 graphics cards, costing approximately $256,000. Under the same conditions, Brevis' Pico Prism achieved proof generation for 98.9% of blocks within 10 seconds, an average of only 6.04 seconds, and at half the cost (64 RTX 5090s, with a total cost of approximately US$128,000). Even more impressive is that even after Ethereum raised the mainnet block gas limit to 45M in July 2025, Pico Prism still achieved: 99.6% of blocks are proven within 12 seconds; 96.8% of blocks were proven within the strict real-time standard of “under 10 seconds”; The average proof time is only 6.9 seconds. This demonstrates that Brevis' engineering design has made significant progress. How does Pico Prism do it? Pico Prism's ability to complete zero-knowledge proofs for Ethereum blocks in an incredibly short time isn't due to a single algorithmic breakthrough, but rather a system-wide engineering innovation. The team restructured the entire proof pipeline, optimizing the division of tasks between the CPU and GPU. Lightweight scheduling and preparation work is handled in parallel by the CPU, while all the intensive encryption and computational work is offloaded to the GPU, allowing each graphics card to operate at near-full capacity. This extreme resource utilization is the core reason Pico Prism outperforms its competitors on comparable hardware. A more critical innovation lies in its multi-GPU, multi-machine collaborative architecture. Traditional proof systems are often limited to single-machine, single-GPU environments, limited by video memory and bandwidth, and their performance quickly reaches a ceiling. Pico Prism redesigns task sharding and communication methods, allowing GPUs on different servers to work together like an assembly line. Data is sliced, transferred, and aggregated across multiple nodes with exceptional efficiency, achieving near-linear scalability. In other words, adding GPUs is no longer just a matter of adding more resources; it increases speed proportionally. All of this ultimately converges to a clear outcome: real-time proofs have become accessible to the masses. Generating a proof for an Ethereum block once required a cloud-based supercomputing cluster, but now, a commercially available RTX 5090 GPU can accomplish the same task. Pico Prism's success isn't the result of a single algorithmic miracle, but rather the reconstruction and industrial optimization of the entire proof process. It demonstrates that zero-knowledge proofs can be both efficient and cost-effective, a crucial step in Ethereum's journey toward the era of real-time proofs. Visualization platform Ethproofs In 2025, the Ethereum Foundation launched a public platform called Ethproofs to display proofs of Ethereum mainnet blocks generated in real time by various teams. The Ethproofs platform: Provide real-time data to publicly compare the speed and cost of proof generation among different teams; Encourage transparent competition in the ecosystem and promote continuous breakthroughs in the industry; Provide block proof files for download, allowing the public to verify authenticity by themselves. Pico Prism has been incorporated into Ethproofs, and you can view the proofs they generate online in real time and even verify them in your browser. What it means to ordinary users The real-time proof technology brought by Pico Prism means that Ethereum will be even cheaper to use and transaction speeds will increase in the future. When the network no longer requires every node to rerun all transactions, instead verifying simple proof documents, on-chain congestion will be significantly alleviated. For ordinary users, daily operations like transferring funds, purchasing NFTs, and participating in DeFi will become more streamlined and significantly reduce fees. At the same time, the widespread adoption of real-time proofs will further decentralize the Ethereum network. Previously, verifying each block required extensive hardware resources and high electricity costs, making it virtually impossible for ordinary households to participate. Now, Pico Prism has proven that real-time verification of mainnet blocks is possible using ordinary consumer-grade GPUs. This means that in the future, even ordinary people at home will be able to easily run an Ethereum node and participate in the verification and protection of the network. Even more exciting is the potential for this technology to spawn entirely new application scenarios. For example, cross-chain transactions will become more secure, eliminating the need for additional trusted parties. Mobile wallets can become true light clients, eliminating the need for remote nodes. Even AI reasoning and large-scale off-chain computations can generate compact proof files that can be easily submitted to the blockchain for trusted verification. These new scenarios will inject new vitality into the entire blockchain ecosystem. How far are we from our final goal? The Ethereum Foundation has set clear goals: More than 99% of block proofs are completed within 10 seconds; It can be run using no more than 10 kilowatts of power and hardware costing no more than $100,000; All code must be completely open source and allow third-party reproduction. Currently, Pico Prism is close to this target line (hardware cost $128,000, and performance reaches 96.8% of blocks meeting the 10-second requirement). The Brevis team's next plan is to further reduce the number of GPUs to less than 16, so as to fully meet the "home-level" standard set by the Ethereum Foundation. Summarize The Ethereum community is undergoing a significant technological leap: transitioning from the traditional "re-execution of every transaction" to "real-time verification and proof." Pico Prism, launched by the Brevis team, is one of the key drivers of this crucial shift. Using a multi-GPU parallel architecture, they achieved real-time proofs for the latest 45M gas blocks on the Ethereum mainnet using standard consumer graphics cards for the first time. 96.8% of blocks were verified within 10 seconds, with an average time of just 6.9 seconds, and the hardware cost was halved compared to the previous state-of-the-art solution. This breakthrough means that the Ethereum network can significantly scale in the future without sacrificing decentralization or security, resulting in lower transaction costs, stronger network performance, and affordable participation in blockchain verification for even ordinary households. Ethproofs, a transparent platform launched by the Ethereum Foundation, is tracking and verifying these developments in real time, allowing the public to stay informed of the latest technological advances and personally verify the real-time proofs produced by various teams. Therefore, Brevis and Pico Prism are not only technological milestones for Ethereum, but also open up new prospects for the entire crypto ecosystem and deserve continued attention.

Author: PANews