Top crypto stories of week 4, 2025
Mon 20 to Sun 26 January 2025
The 20 top stories on Kiwi News from Mon 20 to Sun 26 January 2025, ranked by upvotes, comments and clicks, with 88 comments in total. Most-shared sources: hackmd.io, medium.com.
Text under a title is an AI summary of the linked article.
- Farcaster and the New Narrative Machine (research.auditless.com)
Ben Hunt's "Narrative Machine" concept underpins the argument that narrative, not rationality, drives markets and that social media's value lies in its narrative output rather than its network effects. The author argues that Farcaster's architecture is well suited to this shift, which is being driven by decentralization, the convergence of information platforms and markets, AI agents, and memes. The article notes that X's partnership with x.AI Grok reflects this value, and that agents already support more than $10B in market cap, mostly on X. It predicts that API terms could be changed to tax agent-driven activity, and that the move from taxing attention to taxing narrative development is inevitable.
- Farcaster 2026: Empowering Decentralized Social Media Users (dspyt.com)
Farcaster, a decentralized, open-source social network built on Ethereum and using IPFS for content storage, is presented as a platform that could grow by enhancing user control, fostering interoperability, and expanding marketing and education efforts. The article suggests Warpcast, the flagship app for the Farcaster protocol, could add customizable feeds, interest-based channels, and community management tools. It also proposes a DAO model where users vote on community project proposals, and it recommends webinars, community contests, and partnerships with educational platforms to explain decentralization to potential users.
- Daily discussion thread (hackmd.io)
Kiwi's team is running a trial "Daily discussion thread" to move loose, wide-ranging conversations from its Telegram channel onto the Kiwi platform. The team says its Telegram discussions are high quality but often shift between topics, so they cannot be tied to a specific content piece the way most Kiwi comments are. The idea is modeled on r/ethereum's daily general discussion thread, and users are asked to post Telegram-style discussions under this post for a few days while the team gathers feedback to improve the format.
- I don't know (lessdumb.xyz)
The author, writing about crypto, says Bitcoin's rise and Trump's crypto-friendly presidency leave the industry's future unclear, and that they are taking profits from their crypto holdings while keeping their Bitcoin. They note that Bitcoin has gone from being treated as suspect money to being embraced by figures including Larry Fink, Donald Trump, Stanley Druckenmiller, Ray Dalio and Elon Musk. They argue the industry has been built on a broken incentive structure, citing CoinGecko's figure of $26 billion in airdrops from the top 50 biggest airdrops. They say they have 95% of their net worth in crypto and are moving some of it into "real things."
- Daily discussion thread 2025-01-23 (hackmd.io)
A Kiwi post titled "Daily discussion threads 2025-01-23" introduces a daily thread for open-ended conversation that currently happens on the Telegram channel. The team says the Telegram discussions are high quality but often shift between subjects, so they cannot be tied to a specific content piece the way most Kiwi comments are. The thread is modeled on a daily general discussion thread on r/ethereum, and users are asked to take Telegram conversations to this post. The team plans to run the experiment for a few days and collect feedback to improve it.
- ECB pitches digital euro as response to Trump's crypto push (reuters.com)
- Farcaster 2026: The Game-Changing Potential of AI Agents (app.t2.world)
AI agents could drive Farcaster's next phase of growth, positioning the platform as a hub for Web3 AI agents. The popular agent Aether is cited as an example, with an NFT drop on Zora minted around 466K times and over 6.8K token holders as of January 2025. Aether's treasury, valued at over $254,000, was used to support Bountycaster, a Base-built app that rewards users for posts and engagement, and Aether has posted 59 bounties there. The AI agent category's market cap rose from $4.8 billion to $15.5 billion in the final quarter of 2024.
- Elon Musk did the Nazi salute on live TV to prove he could (open.substack.com)
Musk's Nazi-style salute at the inauguration is presented as a sign that tech oligarchs have consolidated power over media and public opinion, and the salute's exact meaning is beside the point. The text says Musk, who currently supports Germany's AfD party, made a gesture any viewer would read as a Nazi salute, and that news outlets were likely to soften or edit it out. The text notes that four of the five richest men, worth over $1 trillion, sat in the front row, including Zuckerberg, Pichai and Bezos. Astra Taylor is cited as saying that opposition outrage will ultimately amount to little.
- How to grow Farcaster in the post social network era (denkeni.substack.com)
Denken argues that Farcaster is declining and should change its approach by building community around its features rather than emphasizing technology alone. Citing Google+, Facebook's Messenger attempt to copy WeChat's mini apps, and Threads' growth, the post says growth depends on community needs and the customer experience. It notes that Farcaster's registration fee and onboarding are weak points, while multiple clients could let communities build tailored apps. The author proposes that Farcaster refine its branding, define its boundary with Warpcast, and share revenue with third-party developers.
- Daily discussion thread: 24/01/25 (hackmd.io)
This is a Daily discussion thread from the Kiwi platform, introduced as a new experiment to move loose, topic-hopping conversations that currently happen on the Telegram channel onto Kiwi. The post says these discussions often shift between subjects, so they cannot be tied to a specific content piece like most Kiwi comments. The idea is inspired by r/ethereum's daily hyde park thread. Users are asked to post Telegram-style discussions under this post, and the team plans to run the experiment for a few days and gather feedback to improve it.
- Tech titans bicker over $500bn AI investment announced by Trump (theguardian.com)
Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Satya Nadella publicly sparred on Wednesday over the Stargate AI infrastructure project, which Donald Trump announced on Tuesday as a $500bn investment by OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank. Musk wrote that OpenAI "doesn't actually have the money" and that SoftBank had "well under $10B secured", then posted an image of a crack pipe claiming it was the research tool OpenAI used to reach the $500bn figure. Altman responded that Musk was wrong and invited him to visit the first site under way, while Nadella told CNBC he would spend $80bn building out Azure.
- Wikenigma - an Encyclopedia of Unknowns (wikenigma.org.uk)
Wikenigma is a wiki-based encyclopedia that documents fundamental gaps in human knowledge, listing scientific and academic questions that no one can currently answer definitively. The site reports 1302 entries so far and describes them as 'known unknowns' or 'open problems' that no one has yet been able to solve. All articles can be edited by registered users, and only registered users can create or edit content. The site acknowledges Wikipedia as a source of help in its compilation, while stating that it is not associated with Wikipedia.
- Co-founder of Ledger freed after kidnapping (bloomberg.com)
- How Farcaster could grow big without losing its Soul (medium.com)
Farcaster can grow to broader adoption while preserving user control over identity and data, permissionless innovation and decentralized governance, which are presented as the core of its identity. Suggested paths include data portability, open APIs, sub-DAOs and quadratic voting, user-chosen feed algorithms, opt-in advertising, client diversity, and forkability as a safeguard if governance goes astray. The text notes that governance is still in transition, currently guided by a core team, with possible token-based voting later.
- The case for Brain Rot (theatlantic.com)
- pectra.wtf (pectra.wtf)
- Gentrifying Wallets in Hopes That We Actually Get the People Who Would Benefit … (thenetworkcompany.substack.com)
The author argues that crypto's marketing and vocabulary, not its technology, now need attention if the industry wants to reach developers, content creators, media companies and entrepreneurs. The piece says crypto is discussed mainly through gambling, grifting, theft and legal problems, despite a clear use case, and that crypto holds less than 1% of digital economic activity. It proposes that "wallet" is the wrong term, since the app stores finances, media and content, connects to websites, and switches between networks, making it feel more like a hard drive or cloud storage.
- All Devcon talks ranked by views (github.com)
The list ranks Devcon talks by view count, led by "Ethereum in 30 minutes" with 13,000 views. Next are "Why VPNs are scams and what to do about it" with 1,900 views and "This year in Ethereum" with 1,500 views, followed by a keynote with 1,300 views and "Speedrun Rollups" with 1,100 views. Several talks appear more than once under identical titles, such as "ETH++: A roadmap to (real) decentralization in a world of centralized power," and the ranking runs down to 117 views before cutting off mid-entry at the end.
- Farcaster: Beyond the Hype: A Roadmap for Sustainable Growth (medium.com)
Farcaster, a decentralized social network built on Ethereum, could reshape social media if it focuses on user experience, mini-apps, crypto-specific features, growth initiatives, and its core community values. The article says mini-apps have the highest potential for driving growth, citing higher user engagement and retention, developer attraction, and viral spread. It also recommends growth tactics such as influencer marketing, referral incentives, partnerships, hackathons and contests, and paid advertising on Twitter, Reddit, and Discord, while resisting centralization and monetization that would compromise decentralization.
- Executive Order: Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Fintech (whitehouse.gov)
President Trump's executive order on digital fintech sets a policy of supporting responsible growth of digital assets and blockchain technology, and prohibits US agencies from establishing, issuing or promoting central bank digital currencies. It revokes Executive Order 14067 and the Treasury's July 7, 2022 framework on digital assets. It also establishes the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets within the National Economic Council, chaired by the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, which must report within 180 days on a proposed federal regulatory framework for digital assets including stablecoins, and evaluate a possible national digital asset stockpile.
