At 8:00 AM UTC+8, Bitcoin was priced at $68,021, showing a 1.38% increase, while Ethereum stood at $2,507, up by 1.02%. The market's 24-hour long/short ratio in the futures market was almost balanced at 50.8% long versus 49.2% short positions. The Fear and Greed Index, which measures market sentiment, was at 74 yesterday, indicating a "Greed" level, but has slightly decreased to 72 today, keeping the crypto market in Greed territory. 

• Vitalik Buterin: Exploring targeted grants as an alternative to staking ETH. Ethereum Foundation sells ETH to fund developer projects within the ecosystem.

• Tether CEO Breaks Down USDT Reserves Amid Allegations  and denounced the Wall Street Journal's report as irresponsible.

• Solana's on-chain DEX daily trading volume led for 17 consecutive days; Base chain ranked third for 7 consecutive days.

• FTX reached a $228 million settlement with Bybit, allowing it to withdraw $175 million in digital assets and sell $53 million in BIT tokens to Bybit’s investment arm, Mirana Corp.

Crypto Fear & Greed Index | Source: Alternative.me 

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This past week, the crypto world has been marked by significant shifts, including Tether’s efforts to boost transparency, Arkham Intelligence’s expansion into Solana data, and Vitalik Buterin's roadmap to reduce Ethereum's complexity. Each of these developments highlights major transformations in the crypto ecosystem, bringing new capabilities and insights.

Read More: X Empire Token Launches on KuCoin, Solana Network's Daily Fees Revenue Reaches New Highs: Oct 25

Amid claims that Tether was under investigation by U.S. authorities for violating anti-money laundering laws, CEO Paolo Ardoino provided transparency on the company’s reserves at Lugano's PlanB event. Tether holds $100 billion in U.S. treasuries, 82,000 Bitcoin (worth about $5.5 billion), and 48 tons of gold. Ardoino criticized the Wall Street Journal's report, denying any investigation and highlighting Tether's role in helping law enforcement retrieve illicit funds. Since 2014, Tether has assisted in recovering over $109 million linked to cybercrime and sanctions evasion. Ardoino also voiced concerns about the U.S. regulatory environment, citing the lagging policies that push innovative crypto firms to relocate abroad. Despite these issues, Tether remains optimistic, expecting changes in crypto regulations post-2024 U.S. elections. As of October, USDT reached a market cap of $120 billion—seen as a positive sign for the broader crypto market.

Tether tokens in circulation. Source: Tether

Arkham Intelligence has expanded its crypto tracking capabilities by adding Solana blockchain data to its platform. This update enables users to monitor large fund movements, receive real-time trading alerts, and follow Solana's top traders and investors. Solana, the fifth-largest blockchain by market cap, has become a hub for memecoin trading, particularly popular for its low fees and quick transactions. Arkham’s move aims to bring greater transparency and monitoring capabilities for Solana, providing more detailed data on transactions and market trends. The addition of Solana comes as part of Arkham's mission to broaden its blockchain coverage, giving users more robust tools for tracking and analysis in an increasingly diversified crypto ecosystem.

Source: X

Read more: Top Crypto Projects in the Solana Ecosystem to Watch in 2024

Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin presented "The Purge," a proposed roadmap to reduce the blockchain’s "bloat" and complexity. Bloat occurs as Ethereum accumulates new features and stores massive amounts of historical data, which has made running a node challenging due to high storage requirements. 

Chart depicting the current data required for full sync on the Ethereum network. Source: ycharts

Currently, an Ethereum node requires about 1.1 terabytes of storage for execution, adding a burden on individual participants. Buterin's solution involves reducing the necessity for every node to store all historical data while maintaining network redundancy. His plan includes having nodes store only a portion of the blockchain’s history, thereby reducing costs while maintaining the blockchain’s integrity. Buterin also discussed expiring old blockchain state information to reduce storage needs further. This approach would help Ethereum stay scalable, secure, and accessible in the long term. "The Purge" is just one of several updates Buterin has suggested, alongside plans like "The Scourge" to mitigate centralization risks and "The Verge" to simplify computational processes, making Ethereum node management possible even for smaller devices like smartwatches.

The Purge roadmap showing the plan to simplify the protocol and eliminate technical debt. Source: vitalik.eth

Read more: What Is The Surge Phase in Ethereum 2.0 Upgrade?

The cryptocurrency ecosystem is transforming, as exemplified by Tether’s transparency efforts amid controversy, Arkham Intelligence’s expansion into Solana, and Vitalik Buterin’s vision for Ethereum’s future. These moves demonstrate a maturing market, seeking better compliance, transparency, and scalability. As blockchain technology continues to evolve, staying informed is vital for those engaged in this dynamic space. Each of these developments, in its own way, points toward a more inclusive, transparent, and efficient digital economy.