The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to issue a decision soon on the proposed Litecoin exchange-traded fund filed by Canary Capital. As of May 5, the SEC’s designated deadline for a decision, Canary’s Capital application has not been…

Litecoin ETF could get early nod as SEC decision is expected by May 5

Blockchain-focused privacy protocol COTI will collaborate with the ECB to 
implement its privacy technology for the upcoming digital euro. COTI, a 
privacy-centric layer-2 solution on Ethereum, has been selected as one of the 
pioneer partners in the European Central Bank&#8217;s…

Web3 privacy protocol COTI teams up with European Central Bank on digital euro

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has explained when he believes rollup- 
based layer-2 platforms should go decentralized, and why &#8220;as soon as possible&#8221; 
is not the correct answer.
In a May 5 X post, Buterin explained that there is a right time for rollup- 
based scalability solutions to transition to a decentralized model. This 
moment depends on how low the proof system&#8217;s failure probability has fallen 
compared with the risks introduced by centralization.
Buterin&#8217;s thread came in response to a separate post by decentralized exchange 
Loopring founder and CEO Daniel Wang. Wang explained in his thread that the 
maturity of a system matters to its security:
&gt; &#8220;Not all code is created equal. A rollup can be Stage 2, but running fresh 
&gt; code that&#8217;s never been tested under real stress.&#8221;
Rollup development is classified into stages: stage zero, stage one and stage 
two. Each stage is increasingly decentralized, with stage two being fully 
decentralized and trustless.
_**Related:**__**Vitalik Buterin &#8216;s vision for Ethereum: Pectra, Glamsterdam 
and beyond**_
## Code that experienced war
Cryptocurrency systems that manage significant assets are exposed to profit- 
motivated bad actors worldwide. Even if a project does not feature a bug 
bounty program promising payments to people who find vulnerabilities, it is 
still taken apart under a microscope &#8212; it may just pay more for found faults.
This threat is growing as nation-state-backed bad actors increase their crypto 
activity level. One such example is the Lazarus hacking group, responsible for 
many high-profile hacks in the crypto space, including the $1.4 billion ByBit 
hack.
Wang suggested introducing a new metric for veteran code that survived the 
pressure of being exposed to highly motivated advanced hackers and hacker 
groups: &#8220;BattleTested.&#8221; The BattleTested badge would be awarded to a rollup 
that consistently secured at least $100 million of assets for at least six 
months, with at least $50 million being in Ether (ETH) and a major stablecoin.
Also, this badge would be lost at every update, as the new code needs to 
survive the onslaught of attackers to earn it as well. Buterin commented on 
the analysis:
&gt; &#8220;A good reminder that stage 2 is not the only thing that matters for 
&gt; security: the quality of the underlying proof system matters too.&#8221;
Analyst at Kronos Research Dominick John told Cointelegraph that &#8220;to 
responsibly transition from stage 1 to stage 2, rollup teams must […] take a 
hard look at correlated risks like shared custody weaknesses or geopolitical 
chokepoints that can compromise the reliability of multisig security 
councils.&#8221; He said that such risks often go unnoticed until the locked value 
crosses $100 million. He added:
&gt; &#8220;The real green light for decentralization comes not when the proof system 
&gt; looks good on paper, but when it proves under real economic pressure that 
&gt; it&#8217;s more reliable than the potential for coordinated failures among council 
&gt; members.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**Vitalik wants to make Ethereum &#8216;as simple as Bitcoin&#8217; in 5 
years**_
## When to go decentralized?
Buterin explained that the best time for a protocol to go decentralized is 
when its onchain proof system is safe enough for the centralized components 
serving as a centralized point of failure or collusion risk to be the bigger 
threat. This is because until a system is proven to be secure enough, 
decentralization, which increases the reliance on this system, may end up 
making the system less secure.
_Chart showing example rollup risk analysis per stage. Source:__Vitalik 
Buterin_
Mike Tiutin, chief technology officer at decentralized compliance protocol 
PureFi, told Cointelegraph that &#8220;going decentralized too early […] can leave 
users vulnerable.&#8221; John explained that &#8220;decentralization isn&#8217;t a race, it&#8217;s a 
long-term responsibility shared by the entire ecosystem.&#8221; He explained that 
rushing to stage two puts ideology before safety and increases risks:
&gt; &#8220;In stage one, councils can step in if something breaks. In Stage 2, a 
&gt; single bug could wipe out billions with no rollback.&#8221;
While going decentralized right away is recognized as problematic, many 
experts highlight the issue of not going decentralized at all. Arthur 
Breitman, co-founder of the Tezos blockchain, told Cointelegraph that 
&#8220;prominent Ethereum L2s&#8221; are &#8220;fundamentally custodial&#8221;:
&gt; &#8220;Privileged entities control core logic, jeopardizing asset integrity; 
&gt; banking on their immunity to collusion is fragile, and failure is likely to 
&gt; be correlated.&#8221;
_**Magazine:**__**What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum &#8216;s latest 
innovation**_

Vitalik Buterin says rollups must prove security before decentralizing

Where memecoins generated attention, stablecoins promise adoption, and Solana 
has shown it can handle volume

Stablecoins are the next big thing for Solana as memecoin frenzy cools | Opinion

Bybit is gearing up to offer more than just crypto, with plans to roll out 
U.S. stocks, commodities, and indices by the end of the current quarter. 
During a May 3 livestream, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced that the exchange…

Bybit to launch US stocks and commodities trading by end of Q2 2025

The Dogecoin two-day candlestick chart has returned to the same accumulation 
shelf that preceded its five-fold burst last autumn, and independent market 
technician Astronomer (@astronomer_zero) argues the pattern “looks 
bottomed—early call, and I’m long.” The strategist, who flagged Bitcoin’s 
April higher-low before it erupted through $69 000, told followers on X that 
DOGE now offers a “6R+ trade” back into December’s supply wall. The Dogecoin 
Bottom Is In The updated chart shows price printing successive wicks into a 
lavender demand band that begins at $0.12and tops out just below $0.15000. So 
far every test of that floor has been absorbed, leaving a series of higher 
two-day closes. “Alright, DOGE only moved slightly off the low,” Astronomer 
wrote, “so there still is a 6R+ trade to be scored if it were to go to the 
highs.” The black horizontal at $0.18210 marks the first decisive reclaim. 
Sunday’s session opened at $0.18141, punched to $0.18210, and settled at 
$0.17548—fractionally under the trigger but well clear of the grey value area 
that defines the analyst’s risk box. For traders running tight stops, the 
invalidation sits just under $0.12982, limiting downside to roughly twelve- 
and-a-half cents while keeping the full upside open to a $0.40000–0.48527 
liquidity void shaded in emerald green. “If you want a defined risk for a 
defined reward,” Astronomer added, “a long as presented also makes sense.” 
Related Reading: Dogecoin Eyes $1.80 In Summer Rally As Analyst Flags Breakout 
Structure Technically the structure mimics October 2024, when DOGE carved a 
rounded base at $0.10, ignited on rising volume, and topped out at $0.48527 
eight weeks later. “Last time we left the range mindset was October ‘24 and we 
bought DOGE at 10 c,” the analyst reminded readers. “It pulled a 5x before 
retracing for what IMO now has become a higher low.” The projection sketched 
on the chart anticipates a one to two months sideways chop inside the grey 
band that caps at roughly $0.175, followed by a staircase advance into the 
low-$0.30s and an autumn test of the December pivot. Related Reading: Dogecoin 
Could Hit $1.42 This Cycle In Bull Case, Says 21Shares None of the hand-drawn 
arrows pierce the old high, underscoring that the thesis is not predicated on 
price discovery—only on a mean-reversion to the last heavy supply node. “Given 
this is an altcoin and expectations are likely beyond $0.5, having heavy spot 
bags already pays for little risk,” he wrote. “They still may take time and 
take off slower than BTC, but the RR IMO will be higher.” As ever, 
confirmation will come—or fail—on the tape. A two-day close above $0.20000 
would establish a higher-time-frame reversal and expose $0.30 liquidity, 
whereas a settlement beneath $0.12982 would invalidate the setup and reopen 
the 10-cent handle. Until then, Astronomer’s call rests on the premise that 
Bitcoin bottoms first, Ethereum follows, and “one by one, alts bottom out 
through cyclical timing, sentiment, and their respective POIs.” Dogecoin, he 
contends, just ticked every box. At press time, DOGE traded at $0.173. 
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com