Lascado

Nick Szabo, one of the most respected names in the cypherpunk movement and often pointed out as one of the 'fathers' of Bitcoin, reappeared on social media after years of silence and quickly attracted the spotlight of the community. In his return, he made strong criticisms of the so-called 'shitcoins' and commented on the dispute between Bitcoin Core and Knots.
A historical and influential figure in the crypto universe, Szabo has spoken out precisely at the moment when the update of Bitcoin Core to version 30 generates intense debate among developers and node operators. His absence had lasted almost five years.

The developers of Solana are analyzing a proposal that could eliminate block limits once the Alpenglow update is implemented. The idea is to increase the processing capacity of the network, allowing performance to keep up with the power of the hardware used by validators.
Presented on Friday under the code SIMD-0370, the proposal suggests eliminating the current limit of 60 million computing units per block. Instead, the blocks would have a dynamically adjustable size, able to grow to support more transactions as the capacity of the more powerful validators increases. Those with simpler infrastructure could choose not to vote on blocks that exceed their capacity.

According to Forbes magazine, Donald Trump's investments in cryptocurrencies were decisive for his fortune to increase by about 70% in just one year. From $4.3 billion in 2024, his net worth rose to $7.3 billion (approximately R$ 39 billion).
The significant growth occurred after Trump's victory in the elections last November, with his cryptocurrency businesses contributing about $2 billion to the total. Additionally, new international real estate licensing contracts and the expansion of his golf clubs also boosted his wealth.

Last week, the crypto community came together to support the Latvian streamer Raivo “Rastaland” Plavnieks, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He fell victim to an online scam involving a Steam game, which resulted in the loss of about $31,000 (R$ 165,000) raised for his treatment. The case gained traction on social media, and users of CryptoTwitter quickly mobilized to help him.
The incident occurred during a live broadcast when Plavnieks downloaded the game “Block Blasters” on Steam, recommended by a viewer, according to information from UOL. Upon opening the game, all the cryptocurrency funds he had managed to raise disappeared, leaving the streamer in a desperate situation.

The international financial messaging network Swift announced that it will integrate a blockchain-based shared ledger into its infrastructure, with the main objective of enabling real-time international payments available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
According to a company announcement, the development of the shared ledger will be based on a 'conceptual prototype' created in partnership with Consensys.
The new system will allow for secure and instantaneous transactions of regulated tokenized value, using smart contracts to record, sequence, and validate each operation. The intention is for it to be fully compatible with existing financial systems, preserving the compliance standards already applied by Swift.

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated on Saturday (27) that Drex does not aim to surveil or control the population, but rather to enhance the transparency of the financial system. The statement was made during an interview on the podcast 3 Irmãos, where he also emphasized that there is still no defined deadline for the launch of the project.
“There is no control, there is transparency. But in Brazil, when we talk about transparency, many people immediately think of control,” said Haddad in response to the topic. One of the presenters commented that the technology of Drex could allow greater monitoring by the government, to which the minister replied: “It could, but that is not the purpose.”

The influencer Gabriel Spalone, identified as the leader of a scheme that embezzled R$ 146 million through Pix, was arrested on Saturday (27) in Argentina by the Federal Police. According to the Civil Police of São Paulo (PCSP), he allegedly opened shell companies to operate in the digital financial services and cryptocurrency sector without the proper authorization from the Central Bank to operate in the payment system.
According to the newspaper O Globo, Spalone was arrested at the International Airport of Buenos Aires after disembarking from a flight coming from Panama. Previously, he had been arrested in that country but was released by the local authorities. This time, the arrest occurred because his name was already on the Interpol wanted list due to the 'Dubai Operation', conducted by the PCSP.

Glaidson Acácio dos Santos, known as the “Pharaoh of Bitcoin” and identified as the leader of the financial pyramid GAS Consultoria, was transferred back to the prison system of Rio de Janeiro after serving nearly two years in the Federal Penitentiary of Catanduvas, in Paraná. According to the defense, the change is definitive.
There was an impasse between judicial decisions from different instances regarding where he should remain — in Bangu I, in Rio, or in Catanduvas. However, lawyer Thiago de Souza Cardoso Lemos stated to the newspaper O Globo that Glaidson's exclusion from the federal system has already occurred, which makes a return impossible without new facts to justify it.

The Swiss manager 21Shares sees Brazil as a promising scenario for the expansion of investments in cryptocurrencies. After three years evaluating the national market, the company decided to debut on B3 with six new products, supported by regulatory advances and the growing appetite of local investors — factors that, according to the company, create ideal conditions to expand its presence in Latin America.
“Today we have a more favorable environment to launch this offer on B3, both in regulation and market potential and investment levels,” highlights Bruna Cabús, senior associate at 21Shares for the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. The entry into Brazil was marked by the listing of BDRs of ETPs backed by physical assets, among them one of Solana, which already totals € 1.4 billion under management in Europe. According to Cabús, the strategy of replicating global products instead of creating local versions aims to combine speed, regulatory security, and brand strength. She also emphasizes that the presence of BTG as a market maker ensures liquidity and a consistent track record — fundamental aspects in staking assets, where trust and security are crucial for competitive returns.

Google DeepMind presented this week two new versions of its artificial intelligence models focused on robotics, with the promise of making robots much smarter and more autonomous. Called Gemini Robotics 1.5 and Gemini Robotics-ER 1.5, they were developed so that machines can reason about problems, search for information on the web, and even share skills among different robots.
According to the company, this represents an essential advancement towards systems capable of dealing with the challenges of the physical world in a more natural and efficient way. “By introducing agent capabilities, we are surpassing the phase where AI only reacts to commands. Now, it can reason, plan, use tools, and generalize,” emphasized Google in the announcement.

The BitcoinOS (BOS), smart contract operating system in the Bitcoin ecosystem, presented in London the Grail Pro, a new protocol that promises to give utility to billions of dollars in Bitcoin currently held in institutional reserves — without compromising security and custody.
According to BOS, the Grail Pro was created as an institutional-grade protocol, offering trustless bridges, programmable tokens, and fully on-chain verifications, directly on Bitcoin.

Big names in technology investment, such as SoftBank Group and Ark Investment, are in talks to participate in a billion-dollar fundraising round for Tether. The operation could value the issuer of USDT at around $500 billion, as revealed by Bloomberg last Friday (27).
The movement comes just a few days after it was revealed that Tether, headquartered in El Salvador, is looking to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion in exchange for a 3% equity stake. Sources interviewed by Bloomberg, however, indicated that the final amount may be lower. If confirmed, this fundraising could further open up space for Tether in the traditional financial market.

The number of millionaires and billionaires in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surged in the last year, with increases of 40% and 29%, respectively, according to the Crypto Wealth Report by consulting firm Henley & Partners.
Based on data up to June 30, the survey indicates the existence of around 241,7 thousand millionaires in crypto and 36 global billionaires, reaching new records of digital wealth.
According to the report, this leap is linked to the advancement of institutional adoption, marked by unprecedented events, such as the launch of cryptocurrencies by a sitting US president and by the First Lady.

The arrival of a stablecoin pegged to the real has ceased to be a distant project and is already beginning to consolidate as a central part of the digitalization of the Brazilian economy. More than creating rules for this market, the great challenge is to ensure that the asset operates with liquidity, security, and trust—decisive elements for its adoption by both the common investor and the traditional financial system.
At DAC 2025, experts emphasized that it is not enough to talk about the concept: it is necessary to put the idea into practice. Jorge Borges, head of Latam at Fireblocks, highlighted that the issuance of tokens only makes sense if it is supported by a reliable infrastructure. According to him, the global success of stablecoins is precisely linked to their utility as a means of payment, collateral, and real-time liquidity tool. 'The possibility of settlement 24/7 is one of the biggest attractions for institutions. But, without adequate custody and integration with existing systems, trust is lost,' he noted.

A memecoin linked to the name of Pinkfong plummeted on Thursday (25), after the company responsible for the Baby Shark phenomenon declared it had no connection to the token.
The digital asset was created on the Story Protocol network, which aims to facilitate the management of copyright and allow for derivative works. However, according to a statement from Pinkfong on X, the issuance occurred "without authorization," and the company promised severe legal actions against those responsible.
Although the Story Protocol was developed to reduce dependence on intermediaries in the intellectual property sector, the situation showed the opposite: a possible misunderstanding among users ended up attracting more lawyers than creators.

Democrat Ian Calderon, former majority leader in the California Assembly, officially launched his candidacy for state governor with the proposal to make Bitcoin a central pillar of his political platform.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) last Tuesday, he declared:
“California has always been at the forefront of technological innovation. The time has come to reclaim that role and make the state the world's leading reference in Bitcoin.”

Calderon has shown himself to be a strong enthusiast of Bitcoin and, during a live broadcast on the same day as the announcement, stated that, if elected, he intends to “put Bitcoin on the state’s balance sheet” and also allow state programs to accept payments in cryptocurrencies.

In recent months, a dispute of a technical and ideological nature has stirred the Bitcoin community. What seemed to be merely a divergence between developers and node operators has gained prominence, as it brings into play different interpretations about the direction of the network.
On one side is Bitcoin Core, the main reference for transaction validation and widely adopted throughout the ecosystem. On the other, Bitcoin Knots is gaining strength, a derivative of Core that adopts a stricter stance on data filtering.

Nansen, a company specialized in blockchain analysis, took a new step in the use of artificial intelligence on Thursday (25) by presenting Nansen AI, an AI agent developed from its vast database with wallets identified across more than 20 blockchains.
The feature was built on the Claude language model from Anthropic, but gained a differential: integration with Nansen's proprietary data. This way, instead of relying only on traditional dashboards and charts, users can interact through a conversational interface to investigate market trends and wallet movements.

Aster, a decentralized exchange, announced that it reimbursed users who incurred losses due to 'atypical price movements' of the newly launched XPL token last Thursday. The platform, which runs on the BNB Chain and had been experiencing rapid growth in recent days, thus faced its first significant setback.
According to the team, after some rounds of compensation, all affected customers received equivalent amounts in USDT. Those who have not yet been reimbursed should contact Aster support via Discord.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Hypervault was possibly targeted by a rug pull — a term in English that means 'pulling the rug' — after registering atypical movements involving approximately US$ 3.6 million.
According to the blockchain security company PeckShield, the funds were transferred from Hyperliquid to the Ethereum blockchain via a bridge, converted into 752 ETH, and subsequently sent to Tornado Cash, one of the leading cryptocurrency mixers in the market.