network news
AXIOM employee accused of insider training by ZACHXBT: Blockchain detective Zach In a thread posted on X, ZachXBT said Brooks Bauer, a senior business development employee at New York-based Axiom, used an internal dashboard to examine sensitive user information, including linked wallet addresses, and shared that data with a small group mapping the transactions of prominent crypto influencers. Founded in 2024 by Myst and Cal, Axiom is a member of Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 cohort and has generated more than $390 million in revenue to date, according to researchers. ZachXBT said he was detained to investigate allegations that internal tools were being misused. He did not say who held him back. In an audio clip shared in the thread, the person identified as Bauer allegedly claims that he can track “any Axiom user” by referral code, wallet address, or UID and “find out anything they are associated with.” In the same recording, he explains that he initially investigated 10 to 20 wallets and gradually increased the activity to make it “less suspicious.” — Oliver Knight read more.
EF “STRAWMAP” roadmap released: The Ethereum Foundation has released a roadmap that looks like it’s building for the next decade, rather than just getting through this quarter. The document, dubbed the Straw Map and published by EF researcher Justin Drake on Wednesday, lays out plans for seven hard forks by 2029. A hard fork is a network-wide software upgrade that all nodes must implement or be left behind, making it the most dangerous type of change Ethereum can make. The plan is structured around five goals, known as the North Star. These include a fast Layer 1 that delivers transaction finality in seconds. Dramatically higher Layer 1 throughput (referred to as “gigagas” scale) capable of approximately 10,000 transactions per second. Layer 2 networks reach “Teraga”-level throughput, or approximately 10 million TPS. Built-in privacy with post-quantum encryption and shielded ETH transfers. — Shaurya Marwa read more.
Robinhood Chain Testnet Update: Robinhood’s (HOOD) testnet recorded 4 million transactions in the first week its testnet chain was live, the investment platform’s CEO Vlad Tenev told X. Robinhood Chain, which focuses on tokenization and trading, comes as the broader Ethereum ecosystem debates its future and the centralized exchange seeks to build its own blockchain infrastructure. “Developers are already building our L2, which is designed for tokenized real-world assets and on-chain financial services,” Tenev wrote. Testnet is a risk-free environment where developers can test code and experimental features before mainnet goes live. The two stages of network development can be compared to flight simulators and commercial flights. The Robinhood Chain testnet emerged against the backdrop of larger calculations in the Ethereum world. Earlier this month, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin declared that the protocol’s long-held Layer 2 (L2) rollup-centric roadmap “no longer makes sense,” claiming that many rollups are not fully decentralized and that Ethereum’s base layer is scaling up faster than expected. — Margaux Nykerk read more.
OPENAI enters smart contracts in earnest: OpenAI is diving deeper into cryptocurrency security with the debut 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 are self-executing code deployed on blockchains such as Ethereum, powering decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and a wide range of on-chain financial applications. These contracts typically cannot be modified once deployed, making their vulnerabilities potentially severe. EVMbench is OpenAI’s attempt to see if modern AI systems are doing their part to prevent these problems. The benchmark was built in collaboration with crypto investment firm Paradigm and leverages real-world smart contract vulnerabilities that have already been uncovered through audits and security competitions. The system measures performance across three key capabilities: identifying security bugs, exploiting those bugs in a controlled environment, and fixing vulnerable code without violating contracts. OpenAI says its goal is to establish clear standards for evaluating AI systems in blockchain security, especially as decentralized finance continues to secure billions of dollars in user funds. The stakes for smart contracts are only going to increase. — Margaux Nykerk read more.
In other news
- U.S. tech giant Meta, led by Facebook founder 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, hopes to start integrating stablecoins as early as the second half of this year, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the plans are private. Meta plans to integrate vendors to help manage stablecoin-backed payments and implement new wallets, the people said. Another person said Meta sent out a request for product (RFP) to third-party companies and identified Stripe as a likely candidate for a stablecoin pilot. The introduction of a stablecoin could allow Meta to open payment rails to a large user base while avoiding expensive traditional banking fees, potentially establishing itself as a global leader in ‘social commerce’ and cross-border remittances. — Ian Allison read more.
- American Bitcoin (ABTC), a bitcoin mining company backed by President Donald Trump’s family, announced a loss of $59 million in the fourth quarter after the value of its holdings eroded as the price of the largest cryptocurrency plummeted. The company, which went public in September less than a month before the largest cryptocurrency hit an all-time high, has been pursuing a dual strategy of mining and buying, with roughly a third of its funds coming from $BTC It comes from mining operations. The remainder will come from open market purchases and strategic transactions, with the majority of the funding coming from stock sales. The company, which is 20% owned by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., generated $150.5 million through an initial public offering during the quarter. This capital allowed the company to increase its per-share Bitcoin exposure by nearly 50%. Currently holding over 6,000 items $BTCit was written. During the quarter, the company mined Bitcoin at a gross profit margin of 53%, suggesting that production costs remained well below spot prices even as the cryptocurrency’s price fell. Revenue increased 22% from the third quarter. — Francesco Rodriguez & James Van Straten read more.
regulation and policy
- The Indiana State Legislature approved a public retirement and savings plan to gain exposure to digital assets and physical exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as granting residents access to cryptocurrency investments. Governor Mike Brown is expected to sign HB 1042 within the next 10 days. Indiana joins at least seven other states, including Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona, in integrating crypto-related products into their public investment frameworks. Nearly half of U.S. state governments are moving toward or already have invested some of their funds in cryptocurrencies, and much of this trend has developed since President Donald Trump directed his administration to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve. — Olivier Acuña read more.
- The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned the Russian company Operation Zero and the individuals behind it, including Sergei Sergeevich Zelenyuk, accusing them of purchasing stolen cyber tools for millions of dollars in virtual currency and reselling the technology created for use by the U.S. government. The tool was originally said to have been stolen by Australian Peter Williams, who once worked for a defense contractor that produced national security-focused software “for exclusive use by the U.S. government and certain allies.” Mr. Williams pleaded guilty last year to selling trade secrets. “The Treasury Department continues to work with other members of the Trump administration to protect America’s sensitive intellectual property and protect our national security,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Zelenyuk and others are said to be the first people to be sanctioned under the US Intellectual Property Protection Act. — jesse hamilton read more.
calendar
- March 24-26, 2026: Digital Asset Summit, New York City
- 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 29th – October 1st, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- October 7-8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- November 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- 15-17 November 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London