Network News
AXIOM EMPLOYEE ACCUSED OF INSIDE TRAINING BY ZACHXBT: Blockchain Detective ZachXBT said a senior employee at on-chain trading platform Axiom Exchange allegedly abused internal access to user data to track private wallets and potentially trade memecoins using inside information. In a thread posted on Axiom, founded in 2024 by Mist and Cal and a member of Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 cohort, has generated more than $390 million in revenue to date, according to the investigator. ZachXBT said it was retained to investigate allegations that internal tools were misused. He did not say who detained him. In audio clips shared in the thread, a person named Bauer allegedly claims to be able to track “any Axiom user” by referral code, wallet address or UID and “find out everything related to that person.” In the same recording, he describes initially searching 10 to 20 wallets and gradually increasing the activity “so it doesn’t seem so suspicious.” — Olivier Chevalier Learn more.
PUBLICATION OF THE EF “STRAWMAP” ROADMAP: The Ethereum Foundation has released a roadmap that gives the impression that it is building for the next decade, without surviving the current quarter. The document, called a “straw map” and published Wednesday by EF researcher Justin Drake, outlines a plan for seven hard forks through 2029. Hard forks are network-wide software upgrades that every node must implement or be left behind, making them the highest-stakes type of change Ethereum can make. The plan is organized around five objectives described as “north stars”. These include faster Layer 1 with transaction finality in seconds; significantly higher Layer 1 throughput, capable of around 10,000 transactions per second (called “gigagas” scale); Layer 2 networks reaching “teragas” throughput levels, or around 10 million TPS; post-quantum cryptography and built-in privacy through protected ETH transfers. — Shaurya Malwa Learn more.
ROBINHOOD CHANNEL TESTNET UPDATE: Robinhood’s (HOOD) testnet saw 4 million transactions in the first week its testnet chain went live, the investment platform’s CEO Vlad Tenev said on “Developers are already building on our L2, designed for real-world tokenized assets and on-chain financial services,” Tenev wrote. Testnets are risk-free environments for developers to test experimental code and features before the mainnet goes live. The two stages of network development can be compared to a flight simulator and a commercial flight. The Robinhood Chain testnet arrived against the backdrop of a broader reckoning in the Ethereum world. Earlier this month, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the protocol’s Layer 2 (L2) rollup-centric roadmap “no longer makes sense,” arguing that many rollups have not achieved full decentralization and that Ethereum’s base layer is evolving faster than expected. — Margaux Nijkerk Learn more.
OPENAI IS GETTING INTO THE WATER INTO SMART CONTRACTS: OpenAI is diving deeper into cryptographic security with the launch of EVMbench, a testing framework designed to measure how well artificial intelligence can understand and potentially secure smart contracts on Ethereum and similar blockchains. Smart contracts, the self-executing code deployed on blockchains like Ethereum, underpin decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and a wide range of on-chain financial applications. Since these contracts are generally immutable once deployed, vulnerabilities can be serious. EVMbench is OpenAI’s attempt to see if modern AI systems are up to the task of helping prevent these problems. Built in collaboration with crypto investment firm Paradigm, the benchmark draws on real-world smart contract vulnerabilities already discovered through security audits and competitions. The system measures performance based on three primary capabilities: identifying security bugs, exploiting those bugs in a controlled environment, and fixing vulnerable code without breaking contracts. OpenAI says the goal is to establish a clear standard for evaluating AI systems in blockchain security, especially as decentralized finance continues to secure billions of dollars of user funds. The stakes for smart contracts are only increasing. — Margaux Nijkerk Learn more.
In Other news
- Meta, the US tech giant led by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, aims to enter the stablecoin space later this year, pending a successful integration with a third-party company to facilitate payments using dollar-pegged token technology, according to three people familiar with the plans. The tech giant, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram and has more than 3 billion users, wants to begin its stablecoin integration early in the second half of this year, said one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans are not public. Meta plans to onboard a provider to help administer stablecoin-backed payments and implement a new wallet, the person said. A second person said Meta had sent a request for product (RFP) to third-party companies and mentioned Stripe as a likely candidate to pilot the stablecoin. The introduction of stablecoins would allow Meta to open payment pathways to its massive user base while bypassing costly traditional banking fees, and potentially position it as a global leader in “social commerce” and cross-border remittances. — Ian Allison Learn more.
- American Bitcoin (ABTC), the Bitcoin mining company backed by President Donald Trump’s family, said it lost $59 million in the fourth quarter as the fall in the price of the largest cryptocurrency eroded the value of its holdings. The company, which went public in September, less than a month before the largest cryptocurrency hit an all-time high, is pursuing a dual mining and purchasing strategy, with about a third of its BTC coming from mining operations. The rest comes from open market purchases and strategic transactions, financed largely by stock sales. The company, 20% owned by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, generated $150.5 million from an at-market stock offering during the quarter. The capital allowed him to increase his bitcoin exposure per share by almost 50%. He now holds more than 6,000 BTC, he says. During the quarter, the company mined bitcoin at a gross margin of 53%, suggesting that production costs were significantly lower than spot prices even as the cryptocurrency’s price fell. Revenue increased by 22% compared to the third quarter. — Francesco Rodrigues and James Van Straten Learn more.
Regulation and policy
- The Indiana state legislature has authorized public retirement and savings plans to gain exposure to digital assets and spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while confirming residents’ access to crypto investments. Governor Mike Braun is expected to sign HB 1042 into law within the next 10 days. Indiana joins at least seven other states, including Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona, that have moved to integrate crypto-related products into public investment frameworks. Nearly half of U.S. state governments are on track to invest some of their money in crypto or have already done so, with much of this trend growing since President Donald Trump ordered his administration to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. — Olivier Acuna Learn more.
- The US Treasury Department has sanctioned a Russian company, Operation Zero, and the individuals who run it, including Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk, after accusing them of purchasing stolen cyber tools for millions in cryptocurrency and reselling the technologies, created for use by the US government. The tools were allegedly initially stolen by an Australian national, Peter Williams, who formerly worked at the defense contractor that created the national security-focused software “for the exclusive use of the U.S. government and certain allies.” Williams pleaded guilty last year to selling trade secrets. “Treasury will continue to work alongside the rest of the Trump Administration to protect sensitive American intellectual property and safeguard our national security,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Zelenyuk and the others would be the first people to be sanctioned under US intellectual property protection law. — Jesse Hamilton Learn more.
Calendar
- March 24-26, 2026: Digital Assets Summit, New York
- March 30-April. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
- April 15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- April 29-30, 2026: Token2049, Dubai
- May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
- September 29-October 1, 2026: Korean Blockchain Week, Seoul
- October 7 and 8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- November 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- November 15-17, 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London
