Catégorie : Crypto News

Ethereum (ETH) is poised for a resurgence in 2025 as it rides a wave of emerging trends to capitalize on a $100 trillion opportunity in tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs), according to a letter shared with investors by Bitwise’s senior investment strategist, Juan Leon. 

The document highlighted that the crypto market was marked by two narratives this year: Bitcoin’s (BTC) new all-time high, driven by spot exchange-traded funds (ETF) approval in the US, and Solana’s (SOL) meteoric popularity as retail investors piled into memecoin speculation. 

As a result, Ethereum’s 66% year-to-date return paled when compared to BTC’s 130% gain and SOL’s 106% rally.

ETFs signaling changes

However, recent signs suggest a reversal of sentiment. Over the past 10 days, Ethereum ETFs have attracted a staggering $2 billion in net inflows, eight times the $250 million net inflows recorded in the preceding four months.

On Dec. 5, data from Farside Investors pointed out that the spot Ethereum ETFs traded in the US registered $428.5 million in inflows, a new daily record propelled by $292.7 million directed at BlackRock’s ETHA.

Moreover, Ethereum ETFs saw less than three-digit daily inflows in only 3 out of the 10 past trading days saw inflows.

This surge indicates that institutional and retail investors are warming up to Ethereum again.

RWA growth

The tokenization of real-world assets might be the fuel for Ethereum’s resurgence. This process involves digitizing traditional assets — such as Treasury bills, real estate, and commodities — into blockchain-based tokens, offering faster, cheaper, and more efficient trading and settlement.  

Tokenization is no longer a far-off dream. Major players like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and UBS have adopted blockchain technology to tokenize RWAs. BlackRock’s tokenized treasury fund, BUIDL, currently has a market cap of $544 million. 

According to the letter, real-world assets are valued at roughly $100 trillion globally, creating a staggering opportunity. While it could take decades for significant portions of this market to shift to blockchain rails, Leon sees immense potential upside. 

Considering that Ethereum holds 81% of the RWA market, Leon estimates that fees generated from RWA-linked activity on Ethereum could ultimately surpass $100 billion annually, more than 40 times the network’s $2.4 billion in fees year-to-date.

The letter attributes Ethereum’s dominance to its status as the most reliable and decentralized smart contract platform, secured by its long history of supporting decentralized applications and its vast distributed validator network.  

As the world’s largest asset managers explore tokenized assets, Ethereum remains the “battle-tested” standard. Furthermore, regulatory tailwinds could accelerate this transformation, setting Ethereum for potentially explosive growth. 

The letter noted that an increasingly pro-crypto U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may provide much-needed clarity, removing barriers to adoption and institutional participation.

Mentioned in this article

Lido, the prominent liquid staking protocol, has announced the discontinuation of its liquid staking protocol on Polygon, marking the end of its operations over the coming months. Following extensive discussions on the DAO forum and a community vote, LDO token holders officially approved the decision to phase out Lido on Polygon.

The process is set to begin shortly.

Lido’s Exit from Polygon

Initially launched in 2021 through a proposal by Shard Labs, Lido on Polygon faced challenges such as limited user adoption, insufficient rewards, and high resource maintenance demands, according to the official blog post. Additionally, the evolving DeFi space – specifically the growing focus on zkEVM solutions – has reduced the demand for liquid staking on Polygon PoS, which hindered Lido’s ability to serve as a foundational DeFi layer.

These factors, combined with Lido’s strategic focus on Ethereum, as outlined in the GOOSE and reGOOSE governance initiatives, led to the reevaluation and eventual discontinuation of Lido on Polygon.

The phase-out process carries several key implications for stMATIC holders. As such, rewards will be discontinued during the transition, and a temporary pause in operations is scheduled between January 15-22, 2025, during which no withdrawals will be processed.

Users are encouraged to unstake their MATIC tokens through the Lido on the Polygon front-end before June 16, 2025. After this deadline, front-end support will cease, and withdrawals will only be accessible through blockchain explorer tools.

The timeline begins on December 16, 2024, when new staking will no longer be accepted. A six-month withdrawal period will follow, spanning December 16, 2024, to June 16, 2025, to facilitate a smooth transition for users.

Lido has previously halted its operations on Solana last year. This decision came after a community vote, citing financial sustainability concerns and low fees as key issues. Lido was initially launched on Solana on September 8, 2021.

Setbacks for Polygon Ecosystem

Lido’s current decision to wind down on Polygon comes after lending protocol Aave proposed discontinuing its operations. The proposal was made by Aave’s founder, Marc Zeller, on December 13 in response to Polygon’s governance request regarding a new bridging mechanism, which raised concerns about the risk profile of bridged assets.

In a related development, liquid restaking protocol Swell announced that its Layer 2 is migrating to the Optimism Superchain, moving away from the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK) as part of this transition in October.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released its final guidance ahead of the full implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations across the region, according to a Dec. 17 statement.

This marks a culmination of 18 months of regulatory efforts, during which ESMA developed over 30 Technical Standards and Guidelines in collaboration with the European Banking Authority (EBA).

Strengthening market oversight

A significant focus of ESMA’s guidance is tackling market abuse in crypto markets. The publication includes a structured reporting format for suspected abuse and establishes protocols for cooperation between regulators across borders.

These measures aim to equip authorities with tools to identify market manipulation and enforce penalties effectively.

The document also addressed reverse solicitation, outlining the conditions under which crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) can engage with clients.

Additionally, it sets guidelines for suitability assessments, ensuring CASPs provide advice tailored to investors’ needs. ESMA emphasized the alignment with existing financial regulations to promote consistency across advisory services.

Meanwhile, investor protection remains central to the framework. The guidance highlighted policies CASPs must implement to safeguard client transfers and outlined requirements for classifying crypto-assets as financial instruments.

MiCA implementation phases

Europe’s MiCA regulation will take full effect at the end of this month. The first phase, which came into force six months ago, targeted stablecoins.

Since its rollout, stablecoin issuers like Tether have faced significant compliance challenges, resulting in its USDT stablecoin being delisted across some platforms.

The second phase will focus on broader crypto industry regulations, addressing crypto-asset operations, market integrity, and investor protections.

ESMA believes its final guidance will support the consistent and effective implementation of MiCA across the region. However, Verena Ross, ESMA Chair, noted:

“It is crucial to recognize that the new regime would not suffice to eliminate the inherent uncertainty and volatility in the crypto-assets market, and investors should fully understand the risks before engaging in this space.”

[PRESS RELEASE – USA, USA, December 17th, 2024]

Saga, the Layer 1 blockchain protocol to launch Layer 1s, today announced its Mainnet 2.0, setting the stage for a fundamental transformation in how the blockchain industry approaches liquidity. The growing number of independent blockchains has created unprecedented challenges for liquidity management and cross-chain operations. This major upgrade lays the foundation for the Q1 2025 launch of Saga’s Liquidity Integration Layer (LiL), which will create a unified liquidity environment across all blockchain ecosystems. Combining LiL with a novel token economic design, Saga will be able to automate bridge and routing transactions and eliminate gas fees for users interacting with DeFi products on Saga.

Uniswap v3, the world’s leading decentralized exchange (DEX), is deployed on Saga’s natively multichain protocol in a historic first – marking their inaugural app chain. Uniswap v3 is deployed on a Saga Chainlet and will enable a completely gasless trading experience, removing one of the primary barriers to mainstream crypto adoption and demonstrating Saga’s new economic model to make decentralized finance accessible to everyone. Saga’s LiL will enable easy and automated asset movement from any ecosystem to the Uniswap

“Blockchain’s promise of financial accessibility has been held back by fragmented liquidity and prohibitive gas fees,” said Rebecca Liao, Co-Founder and CEO at Saga. “Today’s fractured landscape of appchains and L2s forces users to navigate complex bridges, manage multiple tokens, and pay unpredictable fees just to complete basic transactions. With Mainnet 2.0 and our Liquidity Integration Layer, we’re creating a unified environment where liquidity flows freely between chains and applications, users never pay gas fees, and developers can finally build without constraints.”

“Deploying on Saga represents a strategic evolution for Uniswap, allowing us to explore new possibilities in multichain environments historically plagued by liquidity fragmentation,” said Joe Bjornsen, Head of Uniswap Growth Program. “This integration advances our mission to make decentralized trading accessible to everyone while opening up unprecedented opportunities for the future of DeFi.”

Saga represents a radical departure from traditional blockchain economics. Instead of charging per-transaction gas fees that create barriers for users and developers, Saga’s model generates potential revenue by capturing a percentage of the total value flowing through the network. This approach enables:

• Completely gasless transactions for end users
• Elimination of complex bridge systems and token management
• Seamless movement of assets between different chains and applications
• True interoperability between blockchain ecosystems

To support the Mainnet 2.0 upgrade, Saga is working with two infrastructure partners:

• Evmos is providing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) runtime for Saga’s chainlets, enabling native support for EVM tokens
• Squid Router is extending its token swapping and routing services to Saga’s EVM environment

These partnerships support Saga’s development of the Liquidity Integration Layer, designed to eliminate gas fees for users while creating new opportunities for developers.

With Mainnet 2.0 now live and supporting the Uniswap deployment, Saga is on track to launch its Liquidity Integration Layer in Q1 2025. The LiL will build upon Mainnet 2.0’s foundational infrastructure to deliver a comprehensive solution for unified liquidity across blockchain ecosystems. Developers interested in leveraging Saga’s infrastructure can begin building on Mainnet 2.0 immediately, with seamless integration into the LiL environment when it launches next year.

For more information about Saga and its upcoming Liquidity Integration Layer, users can visit www.saga.xyz.

About SAGA

Recognized as a leading developer ecosystem in crypto and web3 gaming, Saga is creating the developer environment of the future. Its mission is to help creators unblock themselves and build where blockspace is at its most plentiful and simple. Saga was founded in 2022. Early seed investors include Placeholder, Maven11, Longhash, Samsung, Com2uS, and Polygon. Originally built on Cosmos, Saga has furthered its presence by bringing typically disparate but the best ecosystems into its Saga Multiverse through ongoing strategic partnerships.

Saga Origins is the Saga game publishing arm. Launched in March 2024, it aims to build a portfolio of games that will make players think and feel in new ways. Creatively, Saga Origins projects are provocative, like web3, and the titles will push the envelope on what’s considered gaming on all fronts.

To learn more about the Saga protocol, users can check out the website, litepaper, and developer documentation. Joining Saga’s Discord and Telegram and follow Saga on Twitter for the latest news and updates.

European Union Member of Parliament Sarah Knafo has urged the bloc to prioritize a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve instead of moving forward with the European Central Bank’s (ECB) digital euro project.

In a Dec. 17 video shared on X, Knafo criticized the ECB’s plan for a centralized digital currency, arguing it risks financial freedom and overreach. Instead, she advocated for Bitcoin as a decentralized safeguard against inflation and poor monetary policies.

Knafo stated that a strategic Bitcoin reserve would align the EU with global financial trends while fostering resilience against economic uncertainty.

Bitcoin as a strategic asset

Knafo wrote:

“NO to the digital euro. YES to a strategic reserve of BITCOIN.”

The lawmaker pointed to El Salvador as a prime example of Bitcoin’s potential. Despite international skepticism, El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender three years ago and has since seen its national Bitcoin investment double in value.

Knafo noted that this financial gain has improved economic security and empowered citizens, offering a model that European countries could replicate. She urged EU nations to recognize Bitcoin’s strategic importance and follow El Salvador’s lead by building their reserves.

The lawmaker also referenced shifting attitudes in the United States. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s description of Bitcoin as “digital gold” and President-elect Donald Trump’s evolving stance highlight growing recognition of BTC’s potential as a reliable financial asset.

Protecting financial freedom

Knafo warned that the ECB’s push for a digital euro signals a move toward excessive centralized control.

She stated:

“It is time to change the paradigm. It is time to protect our people from inflation and the poor economic choices of our states. It is time to say no to the totalitarian temptations of the European Central Bank, which wants to impose a digital euro entirely in its hands.”

Instead, she argued that Bitcoin offers a decentralized alternative, empowering citizens and fostering financial independence.

Knafo concluded by calling on European leaders to adopt a forward-thinking financial strategy. She argued that Bitcoin would allow the EU to secure its economic future, strengthen resilience, and uphold the principles of financial freedom.

Mentioned in this article

Aurora Labs, the developer behind the Near-based next-generation blockchain Aurora, has unveiled a network and decentralized trading platform for the artificial intelligence (AI) meme coin Turbo (TURBO) to advance the token’s ecosystem.

According to a press release shared with CryptoPotato, Aurora Labs has launched TurboChain and TurboSwap in collaboration with the Near Protocol. TurboChain is the first AI meme coin blockchain and a virtual chain for TURBO, while TurboSwap offers decentralized trading with cross-chain liquidity for the ecosystem.

Aurora Labs Unveils TurboChain and TurboSwap

Per the announcement, TurboChain will offer its users scalability, customization, and unmatched speed. Built using Aurora’s advanced Virtual Chain technology, the network allows developers to create decentralized applications and enables cross-chain compatibility with Ethereum, Near Protocol, and other major chains.

“By blending advanced technology with a thriving community-driven approach, TurboChain pushes the boundaries of blockchain innovation and exemplifies the future of AI-powered meme coins,” Aurora Labs stated.

The launch of the TurboChain will enhance Turbo’s utility as the asset will become the network’s native token, powering all transactions and playing a central role in the ecosystem. The community-run meme coin, created from the ChatGPT prompt “create the next great meme coin, starting with a budget of just $69,” currently operates on the Ethereum blockchain.

Noteworthily, TurboSwap will enable users to access liquidity from several networks, including Ethereum, Near, Bitcoin, Solana, Arbitrum, Base, and TurboChain.

Alex Shevchenko, CEO of Aurora Labs, said: “TurboChain and TurboSwap show the power of Aurora Virtual Chains. They can turn ideas into scalable blockchain ecosystems. With the Turbo Token community, we’re setting a new standard for seamless blockchain innovation and interoperability.”

Powering Communities to Use Aurora Cloud

Aurora Labs intends to launch 1,000 interconnected blockchains in 2025, and TurboChain and TurboSwap represent the start of this plan. This plan aims to empower communities to use Aurora Cloud, which enables innovation at a low cost and with simplicity.

Aurora Cloud allows innovators to deploy scalable virtual chains without any tech skills and at a very low cost compared to traditional financial systems. Aurora Labs says launching a blockchain on Aurora Cloud is as easy as launching a Shopify store.

Meanwhile, TURBO recently hit an all-time high, rallying to $0.014 on December 11, per data from CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, the token was worth $0.010, slightly up in the past 24 hours.

The Hong Kong government has reaffirmed its intention to adopt a global crypto tax reporting framework by 2028, according to a recent statement.

This decision followed recent discussions with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Tax Information.

The framework, introduced in June 2023, expands the existing Common Reporting Standard (CRS) to cover crypto asset transactions. It establishes an automated system for sharing crypto account data across tax jurisdictions where users reside, aiming to improve transparency and curb cross-border tax evasion.

Hong Kong authorities are preparing legislative amendments to align with the framework, with completion expected by 2026.

Once enacted, the first automatic exchange of crypto-related information with participating jurisdictions will take place in 2028. The shared data will enable tax authorities across countries to effectively enforce global tax compliance.

Since 2018, the city has been sharing financial account information with tax partners annually to support assessments and detect evasion.

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui highlighted the initiative’s significance, underscoring Hong Kong’s dedication to international tax cooperation.

Hui emphasized that this step is vital to maintaining the city’s status as a global financial and business hub while reinforcing its responsible approach to tax governance. He stated:

“The implementation is crucial for maintaining Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial and business centre. It also reflects Hong Kong’s ongoing efforts in promoting international tax co-operation as a responsible tax jurisdiction.”

The move is part of Hong Kong’s broader efforts to solidify its status as a leading crypto-friendly hub. Authorities have rolled out initiatives such as proposed tax breaks for hedge funds and private equity firms to attract global investors.

Additionally, a stablecoin regulation bill published earlier this month outlines guidelines for issuers and marketers, reinforcing Hong Kong’s push for regulatory clarity in the digital asset space.