Cryptocurrency
Achieving Equilibrium Between Blockchain Security and Decentralization (Op-Ed)
By Trevor Traina, Founder and CEO of Kresus
You are reading these words because our planet is orbiting the sun at just the right distance to neither fry nor freeze us. Our planet is perfectly balanced for life to thrive. And within that world, numerous other forces exist in a state of optimal balance: light and dark, tropical and polar, terrestrial and aquatic.
So it is when it comes to designing blockchain systems. Their most powerful forces must be balanced in such a way that one cannot usurp another. Security should be as high as possible, but this must be balanced with the need to maintain sufficient decentralization. Network fees should be low but not so low as to induce spam attacks.
Finding that Goldilocks zone, the place where conditions are just right, is as much an ideological challenge as it is a technological one. After all, blockchain systems are ultimately designed and used by people who are only as strong as their weakest link. Web3 systems must walk the line between being optimized for security and for decentralization. It’s a delicate balancing act that goes to the very heart of what makes blockchain valuable.
Too Much Decentralization Can Kill You
There’s such a thing as too much freedom, which is why societies have laws and moral codes to regulate the worst excesses of human behavior. When it comes to Web3, it’s similarly possible to have too much freedom (i.e., decentralization) in the form of systems that have no recourse for worst-case scenarios:
- A team member loses their multisig key
- A user loses access to their wallet
- Tokens are sent to the wrong address
- A coding error leaves funds locked into a smart contract
- Assets are stolen using an exploit
All of these are “bad things” by Web3 standards, yet they occur every single day. As new users enter the space, the number of victims of phishing attacks, front-end injection, wallet poisoning, and other exploits will continue to rise. Attackers are getting more sophisticated, while each wave of Web3 users remains as vulnerable as the last.
Only recently, scammers used wallet drainers on Google and X ads to steal digital assets worth close to $60 million. Back in July, meanwhile, it was reported that four separate wallet drainers had stolen close to $65M since the start of 2023.
Give a society too much freedom, and a few of its members will rob, assault, and injure, driving at high speeds and engaging in other risky behaviors. Give Web3 users too much decentralization, and a portion will hack, be hacked, lose access to their wallets, and generally screw up.
Real-world freedom is dampened through security: police forces and CCTV. And blockchain freedom (decentralization) is also mitigated through security, which must be set at the right level to protect users from the most common mistakes while retaining the features that make blockchain so powerful:
- Strong transaction finality
- Lack of centralized control
- Support for financial self-sovereignty
Some crypto users want full control over their assets while also maintaining an undo button if they screw up. Others shudder at the thought of non-custodial wallets being “weakened” through provisions such as social login, seedless design, and key shares held by the developer.
Too Much Centralization Can Kill You
Do you know that saying about pleasing some people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time? That. When it comes to securing decentralized systems, it’s hard to create a single product that satisfies every user type. Put in too many safeguards, and hardcore users will abandon you; force new users to record a lose-it-at-your-peril seed phrase, and sooner or later, they’ll come unstuck.
Add too many centralized levers into a supposedly decentralized protocol, and you risk weakening the very foundations that gave it strength. Consider an ERC20 token contract that is upgradable by its creator. On the one hand, this allows the token’s parameters to be updated to reflect a shift in direction. On the other hand, it allows unscrupulous token creators to rug their operators.
As a result of this dichotomy, DeFi developers must strike a delicate balance between providing users with autonomy over their digital assets and making sure they aren’t taken advantage of by scammers seeking their next mark. Crypto wallets need to be more secure, but developers fear overstepping the boundaries of the decentralized wallet they’ve created.
Go for the Low Hanging Fruit
So what’s the solution? Well, for one thing, developers need to implement security features that can solve real threats – not theoretical ones. Less “military-grade encryption,” in other words, and more practical measures to warn users when they’re connecting to a spoofing site or about to send funds to a known phisher.
A lot of this comes down to better UX and more common sense on behalf of developers. For instance, it would be easy to filter all address poisoning attacks in which a user receives a dust transaction from a “lookalike” wallet they’ve recently interacted with. So why’s no one doing it?
Let’s focus on thwarting the most common hacks and scams before we move on to tackling threats from quantum computing and theoretical MiTM attacks. Hackers don’t go for the toughest possible exploit conceivable; they go for the low-hanging fruit, chalking up easy wins where possible. DeFi developers need to follow suit, focusing on fixing the most common ways in which users get rekt.
Security and autonomy don’t have to operate in conflict with one another: with a little thought, it’s possible to have the best of both worlds, combining the power of non-custodial ownership with a web2-level UI that demystifies everything from transaction signing to wallet backup.
Our planet may be perfectly balanced for life to thrive, but the on-chain environment still has some way to go. Still, it took the earth millions of years to create a climate that was hospitable for intelligent life. At just 15 years of age, blockchain has time on its side.
Author bio
Trevor Traina is the Founder and CEO of Kresus, the go-to Web3 SuperApp that combines a crypto wallet and an NFT platform. He is an investor and seasoned entrepreneur who co-founded five companies that were acquired by the likes of Microsoft, MasterCard, and Intuit and served on multiple non-profit boards such as the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and the Venetian Heritage, among others. Trevor served as the U.S. Ambassador to Austria from 2018 to 2021.
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Cryptocurrency
Pi Network Community Grows in These Countries, But When Mainnet?
TL:DR;
- Although it’s yet to see the light of day officially, Pi Network continues to attract new users, and its community is growing in many large countries.
- Nevertheless, a large portion of its user base still wonders when the mainnet will be live, with the latest projections indicating that this will happen by the end of March 2025.
Community Grows
The controversial crypto project has attracted a substantial fan base, with previous estimates suggesting that more than nine million people have completed the KYC verifications and migration process to the mainnet. Perhaps due to its popularity, the number of scams impersonating the protocol is also on the rise, which prompts the team to issue frequent warnings about such frauds.
The official X page focused on Pi Network news, Pi News, outlined a few consecutive developments in different countries that have boosted the project’s popularity even further in those regions. Most recently, the team posted about a Megha Event held on January 26 in India, where a group of supporters gathered to discuss the protocol.
Megha Event held on January 26, 2025: in India Pi Network Community gathering in Odisha celebrating #PiNetwork pic.twitter.com/d05HgO0t2H
— Pi News (@PiNewsMedia) January 30, 2025
Before that, the team bragged about an event that took place in Nigeria, saying that its presence in the country is “growing stronger every day.” Pi Network’s popularity is also on the rise in another African country – Botswana.
But When Mainnet?
The main criticism against the project has been the lack of an official mainnet launch and token release. Although Pi Network was created years ago, it continues to delay their launch, which has caused some speculation about a potential fraud.
However, the team still maintains that the protocol will see the light of day officially soon. In fact, its most recent publication on the matter indicated that the Open Network will be live this quarter (which ends in March).
Although the news was praised by many, it also faced some skepticism due to the previous delays. Many comments advised people to lower their expectations due to Pi Network’s history.
— Pi News (@PiNewsMedia) January 27, 2025
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Cryptocurrency
Solana Price Surges as New Trump Venture Lifts Market – May Solaxy Pump Next?
The launch of Truth.Fi has shaken up the crypto market – and Solana (SOL) is capitalizing.
Trump’s newest company is planning a massive $250 million crypto investment.
Some traders are now searching for low-cap coins that could benefit from this potential investment.
Solaxy (SOLX) is one of these coins, having raised more than $16 million in its limited-time presale phase.
Solana Rallies After Trump’s Truth.Fi Prompts Crypto Market Speculation
Solana is trading around $241, marking a 6% jump in the past 24 hours.
It’s now the biggest gainer among the top 10 cryptos by market cap and has almost caught XRP in terms of daily trading volume.
SOL is now at its highest price since last Sunday.
This rebound seems linked to Trump Media & Technology Group’s Truth.Fi, a new financial entity that’s got everyone hyped.
Truth.Fi is looking to invest up to $250 million into digital assets, with Bitcoin firmly in its crosshairs.
That’s a considerable portion of the firm’s $700 million war chest.
And everyone’s speculating on which coins Truth.Fi might invest in alongside Bitcoin, with Solana looking like a prime candidate.
This isn’t Trump’s first exposure to the crypto market.
He’s been investing in it through World Liberty Financial and has also promised to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the U.S.
Market Sentiment Flips Bullish Despite Latest Fed Decision
The broader market is recovering, with Bitcoin and Ethereum back in the green – posting 3% and 5% gains, respectively.
But the biggest gainer has been Sui with a 14% rally that’s got everyone talking.
Trading volumes are soaring too, jumping 17% from yesterday’s figure.
Investor sentiment seems to be shifting from cautious to confident, as evidenced by the Crypto Fear & Greed Index returning to 70 – firmly in “Greed” territory.
All of this is despite the Fed keeping interest rates steady at yesterday’s meeting.
Usually, that kind of news would lead to a sell-off, but the market seems calm about it – suggesting expectations were already priced in.
Crypto analyst Rananjay Singh is calling it: “The bull run is taking shape again.”
And he might be onto something, given the climbing trading volumes and positive price action across the board.
Solana looks primed to capitalize, with the next key resistance level around $258.
If SOL can breach that level, there’s a potential path back to all-time highs.
Is This New Layer-2 Project About to Pump? Solaxy Passes $16M in Presale & Receives Influencer Endorsement
All of the buzz around Solana (and crypto in general) is putting the spotlight on Solaxy, a new Layer-2 project in presale.
With over $16 million raised already, Solaxy is positioning itself as the solution to Solana’s scalability issues.
It’s precisely the kind of infrastructure that could catch the eye of big players like Truth.Fi.
What’s interesting about Solaxy is its cross-chain approach.
Solana has always been one of the fastest chains, but Solaxy’s ability to bridge with Ethereum opens up a world of possibilities for traders and developers.
Solaxy promises to easily handle high-volume trading – an interesting pitch as more institutions look to get into crypto.
And there’s more since Solaxy also has a staking protocol built in.
Currently, annual yields are estimated at 243%, encouraging investors to lock up more than 4.7 billion SOLX.
The developers have a clear roadmap for after the presale, beginning with a DEX listing (and a potential CEX listing).
Some popular influencers are already optimistic about these listings.
ClayBro, known for his in-depth crypto analysis, believes that once Solaxy goes live, it could “take over” the meme coin space.
He believes its mix of utility and meme energy could set it apart from all of the useless meme coins launched every week.
Overall, things look promising for this new Layer-2 project – making it one to watch in early 2025.
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Cryptocurrency
Ethereum Could See a Pullback to $2,500 Amid Whale Absence
After a short-lived rally past $3,700 in early January, Ethereum struggled to sustain its gains and is now 12% below its recently established local top. The leading altcoin’s market sentiment remains muted.
As such, a new analysis suggests that the next significant price shift will largely be influenced by whales.
No Whale Frenzy
Ethereum’s price has stabilized above $3,000, but CryptoQuant analyst ‘IT Tech’ warned that a drop to $2,800-$2,500 remains a possibility if whale activity surges amid price weakness.
Currently, Ethereum’s large transaction volume (LTV) remains low compared to previous bull cycles, indicating a market driven more by retail investors than large institutional players.
Unlike in 2017 and 2021, there is no sign of excessive speculative activity from whales. Such a trend usually indicates a more organic rally driven by retail players instead of speculative mania.
While occasional spikes in LTV have been observed, they are not yet at levels that typically precede major price movements. For Ethereum to continue its upward momentum toward $3,500 and beyond, analysts suggest a sustained increase in LTV is necessary as confirmation of strong institutional interest.
However, if large holders begin distributing ETH while prices weaken, it could trigger a significant correction. Investors should closely monitor LTV trends, as sudden shifts in whale behavior could be an early warning of a price decline to the $2,800-$2,500 range.
Rocky January for Ethereum
The Ethereum ecosystem as a whole has faced significant criticism over co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s ETH sales, centralization fears, and regulatory uncertainty. However, market experts argue that negative sentiment often precedes a rally, with a few projecting the asset to surge from $4,000 to $20,000.
Meanwhile, Vivek Raman, former UBS trader and founder of Etherealize, believes that crypto assets remain undervalued. He cited five key reasons for bullishness.
First, the Trump family’s DeFi project, World Liberty Finance, is heavily invested in Ethereum. Second, he pointed to the rising institutional demand with asset managers and hedge funds embracing tokenization, a movement reliant on Ethereum’s infrastructure.
Third, investment banks are integrating crypto functionality, favoring Ethereum for its security and programmability. Fourth, the repeal of SAB 121 removes regulatory barriers and, in turn, enables banks to hold ETH and other tokenized assets.
Finally, a staked Ether ETF is expected, backed by a more innovation-friendly SEC leadership.
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