Welcome to the protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wraps of the most important story of cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerkk, CoinDesk’s Ethereum reporter.
In this issue:
- Hello, Hoodi: Ethereum invites a new testnet
- Microsoft has raised the malware alarm that targets Coinbase, Metamask Wallets
- Halliday raised $ 20M for AI’s protocol to eliminate the writing of wise contracts for Defi
- Sam Altman and Razer’s World Network wants to beat the Gaming Bot problem
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Network news
Hello, Hoodi: Ethereum invites a new testnet: Ethereum developers launched a new one Test Network, Hoodi, this week to use to perform the upcoming “Pectra” Blockchain upgrading. Pectra will live on the hoodi on March 26, and if all is well, the long-awaited upgrade will continue with the Mainnet of Ethereum almost 30 days later, According to The major network developers. Hoodi was created subsequently Faulty Pectra tests on other testnets of Ethereum, Hollesky and Sepolia, which failed to end well due to problems with how they were configured. Test networks such as holesky, sepolia, and hoodi aim to mimic Ethereum’s main network-allowing developers the opportunity to test code changes or major upgrades such as Pectra in a low-figure environment before they are sent to Mainnet. – Margaux Nijkerkk Read more.
Microsoft has raised the malware alarm that targets Coinbase, Metamask Wallets: Microsoft giant shared Microsoft a new report Malware warns that target 20 of the most popular cryptocurrency wallets used in the Google Chrome extension. Microsoft response researchers have raised alarms of a new remote access trojan (RAT), called Stilachirat, which can deploy “sophisticated methods to prevent discovery, proceed to the target environment, and explore sensitive data,” the team Shared with a blog post. Malware was discovered in November 2024, and it could steal the information of purse users, and any credentials, including usernames and passwords, stored in their Google Chrome browser. Stilachirat targets 20 crypto wallets including some of the most widely used such as metamask, coinbase wallet, phantom, OKX wallet, and BNB chain wallet. While the malware was not distributed widely, Microsoft shared that it did not determine what entity was behind the threat and laid out some alternative guidelines for current targets including installing antivirus software. – Margaux Nijkerkk Read more.
Halliday raised $ 20M for AI’s protocol to eliminate the writing of wise contracts for Defi: Artificial Intelligence (AI) -Focused Blockchain Protocol Halliday said it raised $ 20 million to help the work-flow agent development fund (AWP), aimed at accelerating the development of Decentralized Finance (DEFI) Applications and avoid the need for programmers to write smart contracts. The series of funding of funding was led by giant venture capital Andreessen Horowitz’s (A16z) crypto arm. “Our mission is to pioneer the Blockchain software season, which enables developers to build applications in times, not years,” Halliday said in an email announcement. “In the halliday, you can no longer write a wise contract.” – Jamie Crawley + Ai Boost Read more.
Sam Altman and Razer’s World Network wants to beat the Gaming Bot Problem: Sam Altman’s blockchain project, World Network, has covenant with gaming hardware firm Razer in a suite of features designed to make bots from video games. The “Razer ID verified by the World ID” is a single sign-on mechanism that will prove to real human players from bots. It was built above the Razer ID, the existing Razer -logging service, and would help guarantee that there is “a real person behind each Razer ID account,” according to a statement shared by Razer and World. The collaboration between the two companies comes as artificial intelligence (AI) tools run every corner of online life-including video games, struck by non-human “bots” since long before Altman’s chatgpt increases. – Margaux Nijkerkk Read more.
In other news
- The EOS Network, known for Scalable Blockchain Infrastructure, is rebranding in vaults as it is pivots toward Web3 Banking. The move has a token swap provision that is scheduled for the end of May. It also came to the launch of the Vaulta Banking Advisory Council, a group of financial and blockchain industries dedicated to bridging the gap between traditional banking and decentralized systems. Members include executives from systemic trust, tetra, and and financial, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk. – Francisco Rodrigues Report.
- Solana based on the Decentralized Exchange Raydium is set to start its own token release platform in the coming weeks to drive more trade trade service revenues. Raydium’s launchlab is first resembling a hit token issue platform pump.fun, blockworks first reported. Although developers say it will have many extra features that make it more appealing for the token launch. – Shaurya Malwa Report.
- The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to drop an appeal against Ripple, ending a four -year legal battle, according to company CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The XRP token, closely related to Ripple, jumped 10% on Wednesday morning morning after Garlinghouse Posted about the news in X. – Krisztian Sandor and Helene Braun Report.
