Top crypto stories of week 17, 2025
Mon 21 to Sun 27 April 2025
The 20 top stories on Kiwi News from Mon 21 to Sun 27 April 2025, ranked by upvotes, comments and clicks, with 45 comments in total. Most-shared sources: x.com, decrypt.co.
Text under a title is an AI summary of the linked article.
- Can Ethereum Win Again? (rettig.substack.com)
Ethereum's early lead in technology, economics and community is eroding as rival chains catch up, and its slow pace of innovation has left sentiment among longtime members at its lowest point, according to a former Ethereum Foundation employee who worked there from late 2017 to early-mid 2019. That person attributes the problem largely to a culture that prizes research over applications, usability and product work, noting there were no product people at the Foundation during their time there. Native account abstraction on NEAR and Spacemesh, stablecoin gas tokens and faster finality on newer chains are cited as evidence that Ethereum's usability problems were not inevitable.
- Vocdoni raised $1M to build DAVINCI: a secure voting protocol for the masses (blog.vocdoni.io)
- My Favorite Tools for Crypto Writers (bankless.com)
The author argues that crypto needs more writers and that the main barrier is psychological, with a range of decentralized tools available for publishing. The piece recommends Paragraph for longform posts, noting that Paragraph acquired Mirror last year, and Fountain for the Lens ecosystem. For short-form writing collectibles, it names Highlight, Rodeo and Zora, and for distribution it recommends Warpcast on Farcaster and Hey on Lens. Wait, I need to correct the wording to fit the rules: avoid "The author argues" framing. Crypto needs more writers, and the main obstacle is psychological, according to the piece, which points to a range of decentralized publishing tools. For longform posts it recommends Paragraph, which acquired Mirror last year, and Fountain for the Lens ecosystem. For short-form writing collectibles it names Highlight, Rodeo and Zora, while Warpcast on Farcaster and Hey on Lens are suggested for distribution.
- DeepWiki (example of OSO) (deepwiki.com)
- Europe Moves to Rein In Blockchain Data Access With New Privacy Guidelines (decrypt.co)
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has approved draft guidelines on storing and accessing personal data on blockchains, aiming to align the technology with GDPR rules. The board states that storing personal data on a blockchain should generally be avoided if it conflicts with data protection principles, and it urges organizations to conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments before processing such data where high risk is likely. The EDPB ratified the rules this month and opened public comment until June 9. Bryn Bennett of Hacken says decentralization does not mean deregulation, while Harry Halpin of Nym Technologies says it is a mistake to put personal data on the blockchain.
- Apples of the Infinite Garden: A Children’s Book on EIP-7918 (notes.ethereum.org)
This children's-book style explainer uses an apple orchard analogy to present EIP-7918, an Ethereum proposal that bounds the blob base fee by execution cost. Audrey the Auctioneer raises prices by about 10% per 12-second round when more than 6 apples sell, but when prices fall to tiny fractions of a cent, demand does not rise because customers still must pay transportation costs such as a $1 bus ticket. The friends therefore decide that Audrey will stop lowering the price once the cost of the 6 apples produced each round equals the bus ticket price, so that customers always care at least somewhat about the price.
- Zora Allocation Checker (zora-checker.vercel.app)
- Token Shielder - transfer tokens directly into a RAILGUN Private 0zk balance (tokenshielder.com)
- L2 Base Launchpad Zora Announces TGE Amid Jesse Pollak 'Content Coin' Campaign (decrypt.co)
Zora, a social media platform that turns every post into a token on Coinbase's Base chain, is holding its token generation event on Wednesday, April 23, amid criticism of the timing of a "content coin" campaign led by Base creator Jesse Pollak. A Base token called "Base is for everyone" reached a $16.9 million market cap on Wednesday last week, then fell 92% to $1.3 million within two hours, according to the article. According to Dune data, Zora daily traders rose 601% from 40,638 to an all-time high of 284,931 on Sunday. Pollak says the coin effort was a coincidence and that the Zora team didn't know about it until after it happened, while pseudonymous trader IcoBeast called the timing suspicious.
- Privacy as a Social Problem, Not a Technology Problem - CITP Blog (blog.citp.princeton.edu)
Bob Blakley argues that technologists frame privacy poorly by treating it as a technology problem when it is a social one, and the article's author agrees with this point while cautioning against overextending it. Blakley describes privacy as a social good people give one another, and he holds that technology should be designed to help social mechanisms work, such as making photo tagging reveal the photographer and tagger as well as the subject. The author warns that technology also creates new problems, citing James Grimmelmann's term "Accidental Privacy Spills," in which a private email was forwarded to thousands of people through many seemingly harmless decisions. The author concludes that good design is not the whole solution but can be started now without a sweeping societal agreement.
- Why Brainrot Memes and TUNG TUNG SAHUR Are Taking Over AI & the Internet (x.com)
- @TheiaResearch: why tokens are fundamentally broken in crypto (x.com)
Theia Research argues that tokens are fundamentally broken across the crypto industry, affecting teams, VCs, liquid investors and M&A. The article says teams are harmed when they focus on price charts instead of customers and product-market fit, and that VCs were hurt after funds went into "Token is the Product" businesses. It proposes fixes including token transparency standards, abandoning "Token as Product" in favor of tokens tied to future cash flows, and better regulation, citing the Securities Act of 1933 as an example of helpful rules.
- @Tyler_Did_It: MetaMask now supports custom default gas tokens (x.com)
- 10 Years of Ethereum (blog.ethereum.org)
The Ethereum Foundation is promoting a 10 Years of Ethereum celebration, marking ten years since the genesis block on July 30, 2025, with global community meetups, onchain artifacts and a livestream. The Ecosystem Support Program will fund self-organized, free, open, Ethereum-focused meetups worldwide with up to $500 USD each, and applications close June 15, 2025. The announcement describes Ethereum as having led to breakthroughs in tokenization, fundraising, DeFi and digital ownership, and as transforming into the global settlement layer for the world.
- @KingKong9888: Digital yuan disrupts global finance in 7s cross-border payments (x.com)
China's digital yuan, settled through the CIPS 2.0 cross-border system, is portrayed as disrupting dollar-based global finance. It cites a 120 million yuan ($16.5 million) payment from Shenzhen to Kuala Lumpur that cleared in 7.2 seconds, and a $100,000 SWIFT payment to a Thai supplier that cost $4,950 and took 72 hours. It also claims ASEAN will settle 90% of intraregional trade in digital yuan by 2025, and quotes Bank of England officials saying "We're at least 2.3 years behind China."
- AAVE Governance Temp Check to Deploy Aave v3 on Tron (governance.aave.com)
The Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) has posted a Temp Check seeking community input on deploying Aave V3 on Tron Mainnet. The proposal argues that Tron, with about $73bn of bridged value, nearly $69bn of it in stablecoins, is the second-ranking EVM blockchain by bridged TVL after Ethereum, and that Aave has overlooked it. It states that the Tron DAO has committed to deposit funds at deployment to bootstrap liquidity, with more details to be shared at the ARFC stage. Risk parameters are to be provided by Service Providers, and if the Temp Check reaches consensus, the proposal moves to a Snapshot vote, then an ARFC, then a final AIP vote.
- @RAILGUN_Project: Gnosis Guild proposes NFT account standard for zk privacy (xcancel.com)
- Tipn - send small tips per approve for every WC like (tipnearn.com)
- Lens Spring Hackathon (lens.xyz)
The Lens Spring Hackathon runs from May 5 to May 20, 2025, with a prize pool of $55,000 for builders creating apps in SocialFi, finance, AI, gaming, and consumer categories. It follows a mainnet launch and a December Holiday Hackathon that the organizers say drew 40+ projects. Lens prizes include 20,000 $GHO for first place, 10,000 $GHO for second, and 5,000 $GHO each for third and fourth, while Bonsai tracks award $2,000 and $500 in BONSAI for each of two categories. Entries must build on Lens Protocol with at least one Social Primitive, deploy smart contracts on Lens Chain, and be submitted with a README, open-source code, and a demo through Alchemy University by May 20 at 4:00 PM CET.
- @eriktorenberg: Joining a16z as GP and acquiring Turpentine (x.com)
Erik Torenberg is joining Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as a general partner, and a16z has acquired Turpentine, the network he founded. Torenberg says the role lets him combine investing, media and networks, which he describes as work he has done throughout his career for founders. He reports that Ben and Marc encouraged the move, with Marc suggesting he "do it all here, but bigger." Turpentine's shows will continue, with the acquisition providing more resources for supporting hosts and growing the network.