Coin Market

Ethereum Fusaka hard fork set for late 2025 with major EVM changes

Published

4 weeks ago

April 28, 2025

Ethereum’s Fusaka hard fork is expected to take place in the third or fourth quarter of this year, according to an Ethereum Foundation official.

In an April 28 X post, Ethereum Foundation co-executive director Tomasz Kajetan Stańczak said that the organization is aiming to deploy the Fusaka Ethereum network upgrade in Q3 or Q4 2025. Still, the exact rollout schedule has not been decided yet.

The comments come amid controversies over the upcoming implementation of the EVM object format (EOF) upgrade for the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). As Stańczak pointed out, EOF is expected to be a part of the Fusaka network upgrade.

Source: Tomasz Kajetan Stańczak

The EVM is the software that runs Ethereum smart contracts. EOF would implement a series of protocol changes, known as Ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs), with profound implications for how it operates. EOF introduces an extensible and versioned container format for the smart contract bytecode that is verified once at deployment, separating code and data for efficiency gains.

Wrap, stamp once, send

Bytecode is a low-level, compact set of instructions. Solidity smart contracts must be compiled into bytecode before the EVM can execute them.

EOF defines a container module for smart contract bytecode, replacing today’s free-form bytecode blobs with a better-defined structure. These objects would be composed of:

A header starting with the 0xEF00 hexadecimal value, followed by a one-byte version number to ensure upgradability.

A section table, providing metadata about the contents of the container. Each entry comprises one byte setting for the kind of entry and two bytes for the entry’s size.

Sections with the actual content, with at least one code section and any necessary data sections — more types of sections could be added through future EIPs.

This structure streamlines EVM operation, allowing for higher efficiency and lower processing overhead. This upgrade would result in a cleaner developer environment and easier-to-understand deployed smart contracts.

Don’t JUMP, RJUMP instead!

EIP-4200, one of the EOF EIPs, provides an alternative to the JUMP and JUMPI instructions, which allow the program to move execution to any arbitrary byte offset. This kind of execution chain leads to hard-to-spot bugs (the JUMP value being wrong in some instances may not be easy to predict) and makes it easy to hide malware in data blobs and move the execution pointer there.

This practice is known as dynamic jump, and EIP-4750 (under review) proposes disallowing dynamic JUMP/JUMPI inside EOF smart contracts, rejecting them entirely during a later phase of EOF deployment. In its current form, this EIP replaces them with call function (CALLF) and return from function (RETF) function calls. Those new instructions would ensure that destinations are hardcoded into the bytecode, but legacy pre-EOF smart contracts would be unaffected.

Developers who opt to use JUMP or JUMPI after the upgrade will have their bytecode go through deploy-time validation, which ensures that they can never jump into data or the middle of another instruction. This verification would take place via EIP-3670’s code-validation rules, plus the jump table (EIP-3690), so every destination is checked.

As an alternative to those functions, EOF implements RJUMP and RJUMPI instead, which require the destination to be hardcoded in the bytecode. Still, not everyone is on board with EOF implementation.

EOF has its haters

EOF is the implementation of 12 EIPs with profound implications for how smart contract developers work. Its supporters argue that it is efficient, more elegant, and allows for easier upgrades down the line.

Still, its detractors argue that it is over-engineered and introduces further complexity into an already complex system such as Ethereum. Ethereum developer Pascal Caversaccio lamented in a March 13 Ethereum Magicians post that “EOF is extremely complex,” as it adds two new semantics and removes and adds over a dozen opcodes. Also, he argued that it is not necessary.

He said all the benefits could be introduced in “more piecemeal, less invasive updates.” He added that the legacy EVM would also need to be maintained, “probably indefinitely.”

Caversaccio also explained that EOF would require a tooling upgrade, which risks introducing new vulnerabilities due to its large attack surface. Also, he said, “EVM contracts get much more complicated due to headers,” while currently empty contracts weigh just 15 bytes. Another developer raised a separate point in the thread:

“Perhaps as a meta point, there seems to be disagreement about whether major EVM changes are desirable in general. A stable VM, on which people can invest in building up excellent tooling and apps with confidence, is much more valuable.“

Caversaccio appears to be in good company in his opposition to EOF. A dedicated poll on the Ethereum polling platform ETHPulse shows that 39 voters holding a total of nearly 17,745 Ether (ETH) are opposed to the upgrade. Only seven holders of under 300 ETH voted in favor.

Ethereum EOF implementation approval pool. Source: ETHPulse

Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race

Coin Market

Bitcoin buyer dominance at $111K suggests 'another wave' of gains

Published

39 minutes ago

May 23, 2025

Key points:

Bitcoin buyer interest remains strong at all-time highs, contrasting with the first touch of $100,000 in 2024.

The BTC price uptrend “may continue” as a result, CryptoQuant analysis concludes.

Bitcoin short-term holders are firmly in the black in a further potential bull market boost.

Bitcoin (BTC) buyers remain dominant on exchanges as all-time highs are met with unusual optimism.

Data from onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant shows a 90-day cumulative volume delta (CVD) favoring Bitcoin bulls.

CryptoQuant: BTC price uptrend “may continue”

BTC price all-time highs continue to find support among traders, with buyers staying dominant despite the market surging 50% in under two months.

Analyzing 90-day CVD, CryptoQuant contributor Ibrahim Cosar reveals the extent to which sellers have ceded control during that period.

“In short: Buy orders (taker buy) have become dominant again. In other words, more buy orders are being placed in the market than sell orders,” he summarizes.

“This generally signals that the uptrend may continue.”Bitcoin spot taker CVD. Source: CryptoQuant

CVD measures the difference between buy and sell volume over a three-month period. Until mid-March, sell-side pressure dominated the order book, with BTC/USD hitting multimonth lows under $75,000 in early April.

Neutral conditions then prevailed until buyer dominance reentered in May.

“The summary of the situation: As the price tests above $110K and reaches a new all-time high (ATH), buyers have not backed down. This could be setting the stage for another wave of upward movement,” Cosar concludes.

Bitcoin hodlers hold off on sales

As Cointelegraph reported, hodlers have broadly refrained from distributing coins to the market at current levels.

Daily profit-taking is half of what it was when Bitcoin first reached $100,000 in December 2024, research shows, while the price is 10% higher.

“Older coins were much less active this time, signaling stronger holding behavior,” onchain analytics firm Glassnode added in an X thread on the topic.

Coin age distribution shows the shift:

76.9% (May 2025)
44.6% (Dec 2024)

>6m-old coins:
13.4% (May 2025)
24.7% (Dec 2024)

Older coins were much less active this time, signaling stronger holding behavior. pic.twitter.com/8PZq8p3ZX7

— glassnode (@glassnode) May 22, 2025

CryptoQuant notes that price momentum increased after reclaiming the average cost basis for Bitcoin’s short-term holder (STH) cohort at just under $100,000 — entities buying within the last six months.

“Bitcoin is rallying after reclaiming the Short-Term Holder Average Cost basis — a key level that often serves as a strong buy-the-dip indicator during bull markets,” it told X followers.

Bitcoin STH cost basis data. Source: CryptoQuant

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Coin Market

DeFi near-zero onboarding costs can help 1.4B unbanked: 1inch co-founder

Published

39 minutes ago

May 23, 2025

Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms have a major cost advantage over traditional banks when it comes to onboarding new users, according to Anton Bukov, co-founder of decentralized exchange (DEX) 1inch.

Speaking at a panel during Dutch Blockchain Week on May 22 in Amsterdam, Bukov said traditional banks spend between $100 and $300 per user to verify documents and set up accounts. Online banks, he said, spend about $20 to $30. In contrast, DeFi requires almost nothing beyond a smartphone and internet access.

“Onboarding to DeFi literally costs zero,” Bukov said. “You don’t need brick-and-mortar infrastructure or lengthy verification processes. Just connect and transact.”

Bukov said that this gives DeFi an edge over traditional financial institutions in reaching the 1.4 billion unbanked people who remain excluded from traditional finance due to high onboarding expenses.

1inch Network co-founder Anton Bukov at the Dutch Blockchain Week. Source: Cointelegraph

Reaching 1.4 billion unbanked users

“That’s why we have 1.4 billion people on the planet who are unbanked. No one’s going to invest those hundreds or tens of dollars into them because they will never return to them,” Bukov added.

Unlike traditional finance, which has high barriers to entry, Bukov said DeFi allows the unbanked to become a part of the global economy and engage in real-life transactions using stablecoins like Tether’s USDt (USDT).

With lower barriers to entry, DeFi becomes a tool for financial inclusion. Bukov said DeFi will continue to reach users who never had access to traditional banking as internet access expands globally.

“You can just get a phone, access to the internet, and you can exchange your chicken for USDT,” Bukov said, highlighting how easily DeFi enables participation in the global economy.

DeFi allows access to global liquidity

Apart from financial inclusion, Bukov said that the real value of crypto lies in how it gives access to global liquidity. The 1inch co-founder said crypto is evolving into an independent economic zone, where hundreds of billions flow through decentralized protocols.

“Crypto isn’t just about adopting stablecoins or building national digital currencies,” Bukov said. “It’s a growing global liquidity hub.”

He said that this liquidity is dynamic and allows financial experimentation, yield strategies and cross-border capital movement.

Bukov added that countries that align their regulations to enable easier access to this global liquidity can tap into economic opportunities and cooperation. “The more countries trade with each other, the more they succeed. Crypto works the same way,” he said.

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story

Coin Market

Hyperliquid backs 24/7 crypto trading in CFTC comments submission

Published

39 minutes ago

May 23, 2025

Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange operating on its own layer-1 blockchain, has submitted formal comments on 24/7 derivatives trading to the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

In a May 23 X post, Hyperliquid Labs announced that it has “submitted two comment letters to the [CFTC] in response to its recent Requests for Comment on perpetual derivatives and 24/7 trading.” The team behind the decentralized exchange (DEX) added:

“We commend the CFTC for its proactive engagement on these topics, understanding of which is fundamental to the evolution of global markets.”

Hyperliquid stated that it is committed to the advancement of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The team also claimed that its implementation “exemplifies how core DeFi principles can be put into practice to enhance market efficiency, market integrity, and user protection.”

Source: Hyperliquid

CFTC’s 24/7 derivatives plans

Hyperliquid’s remarks follow CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger recently saying that crypto perpetual futures contracts could receive regulatory approval in the US “very soon.” Perpetual crypto futures “can come to market now,” she said.

“We’re seeing some applications, and I believe we’ll see some of those products trading live very soon,” Mersinger said. She also added that it would be “great to get that trading back onshore in the United States.”

Perpetual futures contracts are a type of derivative that allows traders to speculate on the price of a crypto asset without owning it, similar to traditional futures, but with no expiration date. Such contracts remain open indefinitely and are kept in line with the spot market price using a funding rate mechanism, where payments are exchanged between long and short positions at regular intervals.

Crypto derivatives are a busy area

The crypto derivatives market has recently been swarming with announcements of product launches, acquisitions and regulatory developments. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently said the exchange will continue to look for merger and acquisition opportunities after acquiring crypto derivatives platform Deribit.

Armstrong’s remarks followed Coinbase’s agreement to acquire Deribit, one of the world’s biggest crypto derivatives trading platforms. Europe is seeing just as much hustle in the crypto derivatives industry as the Americas are.

Major crypto exchange Gemini has also recently received regulatory approval to expand crypto derivatives trading across Europe. Elsewhere, DeFi platform Synthetix will also venture further into crypto derivatives, with plans to re-acquire the crypto options platform Derive.

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story