Singapore Flags Crypto's Rising Role in Terror Funds, But Cash Is Still King

Mercuryo, a crypto payments firm, has unveiled a Mastercard debit card for European crypto holders. The virtual card, named Spend, lets users convert crypto to fiat for purchases. It's available across the EU. Users can buy stuff at over 90 million Mastercard merchants. Polish fintech Quicko issues the card. Mercuryo aims to make Spend widely accepted. "Spend's launch is a big deal for us," says Petr Kozyakov, Mercuryo's co-founder and CEO. He's pretty chuffed about it. "It's a step towards making crypto more mainstream." The card works with a non-custodial wallet. Users keep their crypto keys. It supports 40 cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Solana. No word about Bitcoin, though. Mercuryo claims instant conversion from crypto to fiat. No waiting around like with banks. For now, it's just for the European Economic Area. But they're planning to roll it out globally soon. The card has a €40,000 monthly limit. There's a €1.60 issuance fee and a €1 monthly maintenance fee. Users gotta follow anti-money laundering rules. Mercuryo isn't the first to launch a crypto-to-fiat card. MetaMask did it in August with Mastercard. Bybit's been offering one since last year. It's a crowded field. But Mercuryo's betting on its competitive fees and security to stand out. Time will tell if they've got what it takes to make a splash in the crypto payments world.

Cardano is set for a major governance overhaul. The change comes with the upcoming Chang hard fork. It's got ADA holders on edge. Charles Hoskinson, Cardano's founder, has stepped in to clear the air. He's laid out the options for withdrawing staking rewards post-fork. The clarification follows growing unease among ADA holders. Concerns first surfaced when Linda, a Stake Pool Operator, sounded the alarm. She warned that users might need to delegate to a DRep to access rewards. Hoskinson was quick to respond. "Users have three choices," he stated. They can vote no confidence, abstain, or delegate to a DRep. Lace, a wallet, will default to abstain if users only select delegation. It's meant to simplify things. But there's a catch. Abstaining isn't passive. It requires action. Hoskinson confirmed this in a follow-up tweet. ADA holders must make active decisions in the new system. Some users aren't thrilled. Jacob, posting on X, expressed distrust in the new DRep roles. He fears "influencer DReps" might drain the treasury. Hoskinson reassured skeptics. "That's why that option is there," he said. Users can even vote no confidence in the entire system. It's a built-in safeguard. The Chang hard fork introduces significant changes. These are outlined in Cardano Improvement Proposal (CIP-1694). It details four governance roles: General ADA holders, Delegated Representatives (DReps), Stake Pool Operators (SPOs), and the Constitutional Committee. General ADA holders form the network's backbone. They can engage directly or delegate to DReps. DReps vote on behalf of others. They're expected to understand proposals deeply. SPOs maintain the blockchain's infrastructure. Under the new model, they can submit proposals and vote on actions. The Constitutional Committee ensures governance aligns with network principles. It's a lot to take in. But for ADA holders, understanding these changes is crucial. The new system aims for more democratic governance. Whether it delivers remains to be seen.

The crypto market's been a bit of a rollercoaster lately. Bitcoin ETFs saw their biggest outflow in two months on Monday. It was rough, but there is one small group of players who may be actually enjoying the ride. The crypto whales. They are buying the dip. And not only Bitcoin, there is another coin that gains momentum right now thanks to the whales' attention. This sell-off pushed Bitcoin below $56,000 early Wednesday. But it didn't stay down for long. By midday, Bitcoin had bounced back above $58,000. Why? Whale watching might give us a clue. On-chain sleuth Lookonchain spotted a wallet scooping up 545 BTC on Wednesday. That's no small fry. This same wallet's been on a buying spree. It's nabbed 862 BTC in just three days. Another big player's been making moves too. Dubbed "Mr 100" by crypto Twitter, this wallet's been steadily accumulating. It now holds a whopping 72,726 BTC. Some reckon it might be an exchange. Who knows? Despite the dip, some experts reckon Bitcoin could be gearing up for a comeback. The $70,000 mark isn't out of reach. The Fed's about to start cutting rates. And Trump, a crypto fan, is leading the polls for November. It's all looking pretty bullish. But here's the kicker – while Bitcoin might double, there's a new kid on the block. Pepe Unchained, a meme coin, is turning heads. It's raised nearly $12 million in its presale. That's no joke. Chester, Cryptonews.com's in-house analyst, reckons it's one to watch, he's got a video breaking it all down. So, what's the takeaway? The crypto market's as unpredictable as ever. But one thing's for sure – the whales aren't sitting this one out.

Ethereum's layer-1 network has taken a beating. Revenue has plummeted by 99% since March 2024. The Dencun upgrade is the culprit. Layer-2 solutions are thriving. They're attracting more users and offering lower fees. Token Terminal data confirms this trend. The Dencun upgrade went live on March 13. It optimized layer-2 transactions. Days before, Ethereum's layer-1 revenue topped $35 million. Then fees began to nosedive. By August's end, revenue hit rock bottom at $600,000. This shift reveals changing user behavior in the Ethereum ecosystem. "Blobs" are the game-changer. They allow layer-2 solutions to process transactions with less reliance on layer-1. The result? Dirt-cheap transactions. Layer-1 revenue has fallen off a cliff. But it's not all doom and gloom. Layer-2 projects are popping up like mushrooms. There are now 74 solutions duking it out. It's a race to the bottom for transaction fees. Users are laughing all the way to the bank. They're saving a bundle on faster transactions. Some validators reckon the fee focus is off-base. Ryan Berckmans, a big-shot validator, argues layer-2 success makes Ethereum more accessible. He quips, "Fees are a result of Ethereum being useful, not the goal in itself." The community's split on this one. Some worry about long-term consequences. The reduced ETH burn rate has flipped the supply from deflationary to inflationary. This raises eyebrows about ETH's future value. Some reckon blob fee tweaks might be needed to rebalance the scales. Despite the hubbub, institutional interest is picking up. Coinbase, Circle, and even BlackRock are backing Ethereum. They're building infrastructure for the long haul. Ethereum fanboy Adriano Feria reckons this institutional support is the real deal. He says speculation might bring a flash in the pan, but it's the big players that'll drive real progress. Feria's bullish on layer-2 solutions. He sees them unlocking new possibilities and jazzing up the user experience. Giants like Coinbase's Base and Arbitrum are tapping into Ethereum's liquidity. They're proving layer-2 can coexist and thrive alongside layer-1. The layer-2 boom is hitting Ethereum's layer-1 revenue hard. But it's opening a new chapter for the network. The Dencun upgrade has reshaped the landscape, making transactions cheaper and more accessible. With institutional interest brewing and users flocking to layer-2 solutions, Ethereum might be on the cusp of its next evolution. It's a bumpy ride, but the destination could be worth it.

Polygon, the Ethereum scaling solution, is set to flip the switch on a major upgrade. The change? Swapping out its MATIC token for a shiny new POL token. It's a big deal. Here's why. The swap kicks off Wednesday. For many users, it'll happen automatically. No fuss, no muss. MATIC isn't small potatoes. It's the 13th largest crypto by market cap, worth about $3.8 billion. That's why folks are watching this move closely. This switch is part of Polygon's "2.0" roadmap. They laid it out last year. The goal? Make POL the top dog across all Polygon chains. In phase one, POL takes over MATIC's job. It'll handle gas fees and staking on the Polygon PoS network. Later, it'll play a bigger role in something called the AggLayer. What's the AggLayer? It's a system for bundling Polygon-built blockchains. Fancy stuff. The Polygon community has big plans for POL. Come 2025, they want it involved in block generation, zero-knowledge proofs, and Data Availability Committees. That's a mouthful. Now, let's talk tokenomics. POL will have a 2% annual emission rate. Some of that goes to validators as rewards. The rest? It fills up the community treasury. Marc Boiron, Polygon Labs' CEO, spilled the beans on why this upgrade was necessary. "We burned the MATIC upgrade keys years ago," he told CoinDesk. "We couldn't make changes to that token." Boiron's excited about the new emissions. He reckons it'll help grow the ecosystem through grants and validator incentives. It's all about decentralization. Polygon's journey kicked off back in 2017. Back then, it was known as the Matic Network. A bunch of Indian developers cooked it up to tackle Ethereum's scaling issues. In 2021, Matic rebranded to Polygon. They expanded their scope beyond just Plasma scaling. The project's been on a tear since then. They've rolled out various scaling solutions and snagged partnerships with big names like Meta and Starbucks. Now, with this token swap, Polygon's writing its next chapter. It's been quite a ride.

A new scam is causing havoc in the Solana ecosystem. Users are buying tokens that vanish within seconds. The culprit? A sneaky abuse of Solana's "Permanent Delegate" extension. Slorg, a member of Jupiter's Core Working Group, flagged the issue. "Imagine you swap for a token and the wallet history confirms that you received it. But then you look inside and nothing shows up," he posted on X. The scam exploits a feature in Solana's Token 2022 standard. PeckShield, a blockchain security firm, explained the technicalities to Cointelegraph. The extension grants unrestricted privileges over token accounts. Solana's website describes the feature's intended uses. These include retrieving mistakenly transferred tokens and enabling automatic payments. However, they admit it's a "double-edged sword". So why burn victims' tokens? Slorg offered two theories. "Sometimes scammers just want to see destruction and chaos," he said. It's a mix of prank and malice. The second reason is more calculated. Burning tokens reduces float. "If someone can't sell, the price won't decrease," Slorg explained. Even small profits can add up for persistent scammers. PeckShield suggested another motive. The scam could be an attempt to manipulate token supply. This affects the cryptocurrency's overall economics. Beosin, another security provider, had a different take. They believe scammers might use this tactic to create a false impression of token scarcity. This could artificially inflate prices. The crypto community is fighting back. Jupiter and RugCheck have created indicators for this extension. But Slorg stressed the need for caution. "Always have a routine that you don't deviate from," he advised. As the Solana ecosystem evolves, so do the scams. Users must stay vigilant. The price of carelessness in crypto can be steep. It's a wild world out there, and even seasoned traders are getting caught out.

Ripple is set to add smart contracts to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) developer ecosystem. The move is supposed to attract developers and expand XRPL's capabilities. So it's a big change, many developers were eagerly waiting for. Smart contracts are coming to XRPL's Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain "in the coming months". Ripple says this will open up new use cases for users, builders, and entrepreneurs. It's a smart play to lure more developers to the platform. The company also plans to bring smart contracts to the XRPL mainnet. But that's still in the research phase. No specific timeline has been given for this deployment. Smart contracts are self-executing agreements stored on the blockchain. They automatically progress when certain conditions are met. These contracts handle transactions without middlemen. The applications of smart contracts are wide-ranging. They're used in decentralized finance (DeFi) and supply chains. Popular blockchain platforms like Ethereum and Solana already use them for decentralized applications (DApps). Ripple is keen to work with DeFi developers. They want community input on design specifics. The company is inviting programmers familiar with EVM languages to explore possibilities on its sidechain. The sidechain was built for developers using Ethereum-based smart contracts. It provides a familiar environment for deploying DApps. Developers can use Solidity, a programming language for Ethereum smart contracts. Ripple developed the sidechain with blockchain firm Peersyst. The company believes this will make the blockchain more appealing to developers. It's a no-brainer, really. "This sidechain will bring Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility to the XRP community," Ripple stated. It allows developers to use familiar tools and programming languages. This move could broaden XRPL's appeal to developers globally. Ripple plans to keep pushing forward. The company aims to add smart contracts to the mainnet by 2025. It's all part of their grand plan to increase XRPL's programmability. Let's see if it pays off.

Bitcoin "whales" are on a feeding frenzy. The number of wallets holding over 100 BTC just hit a 17-month high. This comes as smaller traders lose their nerve and dump their coins. Blockchain analytics firm Santiment dropped some eye-opening stats. In August alone, 283 wallets crossed the 100 BTC threshold. That's no small change. "As crypto prices have let retail traders down, Bitcoin whales are growing in number," Santiment said. The total count of these chunky wallets now sits at 16,120. It's not just the big fish, either. "Shark" wallets, holding 10+ BTC, are also beefing up their stacks. All told, wallets in the 10-10,000 BTC range have scooped up over 133,000 coins in the past month. That's a cool $7.6 billion at current prices. Blockstream CEO Adam Back noticed the trend. He pointed out that whales have been buying 450 BTC daily since a price dip on August 28. "Go ahead sell them cheap corn," he quipped. Why the whale feast? Santiment reckons smaller traders are "impatiently" offloading their holdings. The pressure's on as prices slide. CryptoQuant's Axel Adler Jr. thinks more pain could be coming. He warns the number of folks willing to sell at a loss might double if current trends continue. The market mood isn't great. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has been stuck in "Fear" territory. It averaged a measly 37 in August. But not everyone's doom and gloom. Bitgrow Lab's Vivek Sen sees a silver lining. He notes that heavy whale buying has often preceded new Bitcoin all-time highs. "The last time whales bought a lot, Bitcoin hit a new ATH," Sen said. Time will tell if history repeats itself.