Ethereum Nodes on Phones, Tether Market Tops $120B: Finance Redefined

Optimism is returning among crypto investors after Tether passed the $120 billion mark for the first time – signaling the start of a historic “Uptober” rally as investors are loading up on the stablecoin.

Adding to the growing investor sentiment, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin announced that the blockchain's upcoming upgrade, “The Verge,” will allow Ethereum nodes to run on mobile phones and smartwatches, making the mainnet more accessible and secure.

Tether's USDT hit a $120 billion market cap and flashed an “Uptober” sign.

Tether, the US dollar stablecoin, has surpassed $120 billion in market capitalization for the first time, signaling the potential for a crypto rally.

Tether's USDT (USDT), the world's largest stablecoin, surpassed a record high on Oct. 20, according to the institution's website, which provides live updates on the stablecoin's supply.

Stablecoins are the main conduit between fiat currencies and digital assets. A growing stablecoin supply is often used as a signal to predict an upcoming bull rally, as it suggests that investors will load up on stablecoins before investing in cryptocurrencies.

The growing USDT supply will help fuel the next Bitcoin (BTC) rally. In August, Tether created $1.3 billion USDT in five days after Bitcoin's price hit a five-month low of $49,500 on August 5.

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Ethereum “Verge” upgrade to enable nodes on phones and smartwatches

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin told The Verge that the network's next upgrade is designed to make Ethereum more secure and accessible, allowing its nodes to run on devices that look like “phones or smartwatches.”

Verge aims to reduce hardware requirements by using “stateless verification,” which allows nodes to verify blockchain blocks without storing large amounts of data.

Stateless proof

One of Ethereum's challenges is increasing the amount of data required to operate a node, which currently requires “hundreds of gigabytes of state data,” according to research from Paradigm.

Verge introduces stateless authentication, which Buterin says fully validates the chain with the computing power that every mobile wallet, browser wallet, and even smartwatch is running by default.

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Kraken is set to launch Inc. Blockchain for DeFi in early 2025.

Kraken, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX), plans to launch its own blockchain, dubbed “Color,” in early 2025 with a focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

According to Bloomberg, Inc's goal is to enable users to trade, borrow and lend without intermediaries – a step up from CEX's current position in crypto and Web3.

Kraken's much-anticipated blockchain work aims to simplify the definition process for a wider audience and make it accessible and cost-effective for consumers.

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The cosmos was shaken by the accusations of the North Korean developer

A newly released Onchain investigation reveals that the Cosmos ecosystem may have been developed by North Korean agents and attracted the attention of the FBI in 2023.

According to Cosmos Ecosystem developer Jacob Gadikian, who shared the investigation in an October 16 X post, the Cosmos Liquid Stacking Module (LSM) unit may have been built by North Korean developers.

“It's not about their geography or their ethnicity. The people who built LSM are some of the world's most skilled and accomplished crypto thieves.

Investor concerns arose after the revelation, with some developers linked to the notorious Lazarus Group, a cybercriminal group with ties to the North Korean government responsible for some of the biggest crypto hacks, including the $600 million Ronin Bridge exploit.

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The Radiant Capital hacker made off with $52 million in stolen funds

Radiant Capital, a recently hacked decentralized financial protocol, moved stolen funds from Layer-2 protocols to Ethereum in a move to hide their location.

On October 24, the blockchain security firm PeckShield “almost all” of the addresses connected to the Radiant Capital exploit, the Arbitrum-2 network, and the Binance BNB Chain exploit “almost all” bridged to the Ethereum network.

The total amount taken was 20,500 Ether (ETH), about $52 million, Peckshield pointed out.

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Overview of the DeFi market

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.

Out of the top 100, the newly launched Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) memecoin was the biggest gainer of the week, up over 125%, followed by ApeCoin (APE), up over 64%.

Thanks for reading this week's roundup of the most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and lessons about this dynamic and evolving space.