Justin Sun has confirmed plans to directly support Liberland’s blockchain development during his appearance at the latest Congress debate, ahead of the republic’s tenth-anniversary celebration. The event, with over 200 attendees and 35 speakers, is happening on April 11-13, at the Ark Village, which Sun intends to attend in person to show Tron’s full support for the initiative. 

“I personally, and the Tron team also, support this anniversary,” Justin said during the speech, referring to the event as a priority. The information comes from a full transcript of the Liberland Congress meeting provided by Liberland’s official channels, detailing Tron’s involvement, including their tech team already collaborating with Liberland’s blockchain engineers on EVM compatibility. Integrating EVM will make it easier for users to interact with Liberland’s blockchain infrastructure and it will open up access for broader crypto communities. “We are going to be EVM-compatible, which will get more users exposure to the infrastructure,” Justin said. He stressed that it would allow more people to start using the Liberland governance protocol directly.

The US visit and Government Meetings in May

The agenda for the second quarter of 2025 has also been announced, revealing early talks and close cooperation through “multiple channels with the U.S. government” to advance Liberland’s interests. Mr. Sun also spoke about the need to bring in more students, government representatives, and international participants to recognize and engage with Liberland as a country. The vision, according to Justin, is to build a functioning crypto-backed nation with on-chain governance, decentralized law systems, and real-world infrastructure.

Liberland’s On-chain Government Model Attracts Global Crypto Players

Liberland’s 10-year anniversary event is expected to draw more than 200 people, including 35 speakers, making it the largest event in the country’s history so far. The program will feature conferences focused on decentralized governance models, interactive workshops, local Liberlandian cuisine, wine tasting, and a barbecue at Jefferson Square, located in the territory claimed by Liberland between Croatia and Serbia.

President Vít Jedlička, who founded Liberland on April 13, 2015, said the weekend is about pushing the country forward, not just celebrating past milestones. “This anniversary isn’t just about reflecting on our achievements—it’s about building the future of Liberland together,” Vít said. “It’s a moment to strengthen our community and create new opportunities for all.”

Technology is a central part of Liberland’s structure. Vít said that up to 90% of bureaucratic processes in the republic can be automated using blockchain and artificial intelligence. He questioned why nations still pay for massive administrative overhead when machines can handle the same tasks faster and without bias.

The weekend event will feature a wide cast of crypto advocates, with U.S. Senator Rand Paul and entrepreneur Brock Pierce both confirmed to speak. Rand is expected to discuss policy and legal structures for emerging governments, while Brock will focus on how blockchain communities can build national-level institutions. The two join a growing list of global figures engaging with Liberland not just as a concept but as a real political project with its own land, governance structure, and development goals.

One of those figures is blockchain expert Mr. KEY (Karnika E. Yashwant), who was just elected into Liberland’s Congress to help build its decentralized and innovation-driven government. He is the Founder and CEO of KEY Difference.

• In the first quarter of 2025, Ethereum apps—mostly DEXs and aggregators—generated over $1 billion in fees.
• In recent weeks, the L1 network offered much lower prices, generating $176 million in gas fees.
• While retail consumers trade and swap on less expensive networks like Solana and BNB Smart Chain, Ethereum is still a chain for whales.

As far as on-chain commerce is concerned, Ethereum (ETH) is still alive. In the first quarter of 2025, Ethereum-based apps generated over $1 billion in fees.

There is still a strong app ecosystem for Ethereum (ETH). Similar to 2024’s figures, the applications generated $1.01 billion in fees in the first quarter of 2025. During the 2021 market top, Ethereum apps generated almost $2 billion in fees; during the 2022–2023 bear market, they generated about $500 million.

Despite ETH trading at a lower range, Q1 activity and fee production levels were comparable to earlier quarters. After breaching above $1,600 lately, ETH stabilized around $1,548.73. With market concerns causing ETH to go below $1,000, the chain is being keenly monitored for indications of vitality and recovery.

According to recent data from Token Terminal, Ethereum is not a dead network, and there is still a baseline amount of activity on its apps. Some apps, however, attempt to avoid using the main network, and not all apps require on-chain transactions. The nature of the apps also contributes to high prices, with DEX swaps incurring the most reduction. The most popular distributed apps on Ethereum among daily users are Uniswap versions, which are followed by aggregators such as 1inch and CowSwap. Although Ethereum experiences somewhat less bot activity than Solana, the Banana Gun trade bot is also very active.

Apps with high fees have become popular on several chains, notably Solana (SOL). The main issue is that those apps frequently take value away from the ecosystem by keeping the revenues mostly for their developers. It would be necessary to liquidate or convert some of the apps’ ETH payments to stablecoins.

Ethereum remains the key platform for DEX ecosystem

Due to L2 scaling or off-chain processing, Ethereum’s L1 generates significantly reduced fees. The entire L1 network generated $176 million in fees for the first quarter of 2025, narrowly surpassing the Aave (AAVE) protocol.

Ethereum costs dropped as low as $100,000 per day before rising up to $1.4M. The chain ranks third in terms of fee generating, behind TRON and Solana. With substantially lesser inflows from transaction fees, block producers and validators continue to rely on ETH block rewards.

The average number of active daily addresses on the Ethereum chain is about 400K, which is comparable to the baseline level for the previous few years. Ethereum is a whale’s network, meaning it can handle requests for more liquidity than other networks with accessible on-chain operations.

Despite the relatively low traffic, DeFi apps on Ethereum generate significant fees due to the activity of whales and frequent traders. Ethereum retains 46.9% of all EVM-compatible trading volume, thanks to highly liquid DEX pairs. Ethereum DEXs are widely used to swap to and from WETH, as well as shift between various types of stablecoins.

One of the most popular gas burners and use cases is the Uniswap V4 router. Furthermore, one of the largest gas burners and fee earners is still the Tether smart contract.

Some of Ethereum’s small-scale retail consumers who once flocked to purchase meme tokens and NFTs have left the platform. In March, gas payments hit all-time lows as swaps cost $0.31 and normal transactions dropped to $0.02. When compared to the gas costs for Solana, BNB Smart Chain, or Arbitrum, those prices are still significantly higher.

With a weekly production of roughly 16,000 ETH, the chain continues to be inflationary, contributing to a total annualized inflation rate of 0.70%. Even while apps are able to increase their volumes and draw in whales, they are only using a little portion of ETH per day, keeping the remainder.

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• When the Iranian markets reopened following a lengthy break, the value of the Iranian rial fell to 1,043,000 to the US dollar.
• Although Iran is amenable to indirect discussions, Trump has written to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an attempt to initiate direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
• Iranians are hoarding cryptocurrency, gold, automobiles, and hard currency.

As Iranians went back to work on Saturday after the holiday, Iran’s rial currency fell to a record low compared to the US dollar. A dollar now costs more than a million rials. This is just the beginning, as relations between Washington and Tehran will probably continue to rise.

The exchange rate fell to more than 1 million rials during Nowruz, the Persian New Year, when currency shops were closed. Only informal traders were present on the streets at this period. The market was further strained by the fact that individuals were not working.

However, the rate fell even more, to 1,043,000 to the dollar, rather than rising again. The new low is therefore probably here to stay.

The majority of Iran’s money markets are situated on Ferdowsi Street in Tehran, the country’s capital, and as a result, several traders shut down their electronic signs that displayed the going rate. They took this action because they were unsure about the rial’s potential fall.

“We turn it off since we are not sure about the successive changes of the rate,” stated Reza Sharifi, an employee of one exchange.

The decline in rial is a result of tensions between the US and Iran

Iran’s economy has been significantly impacted by international sanctions, particularly since US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from Tehran’s nuclear agreement with other superpowers in 2018. Iran promised to drastically cut back on the amount of uranium it enriched and stockpiled in exchange for the relaxation of international sanctions.

With additional sanctions, Trump launched his so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran when he returned to the White House in January for his second term. Once more, he targeted businesses that dealt in its crude oil, including those that sold it cheaply in China.

In an attempt to initiate direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran, Trump has written to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although Iran has stated thus far that it is amenable to indirect negotiations, discussions such as this failed during the Biden administration.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to launch significant airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Since Israel decimated other terrorist organizations during its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, they are the final entity in Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that has the ability to attack Israel.

Mehdi Darabi, a market expert, stated that he believes concerns of a drop in oil sales and increased prices have been stoked by external factors in recent months. It thus led to a higher rate for hard currencies.

But the US is not only to blame for the currency’s demise. Iran’s headscarf, or hijab, law continues to be a major source of political unrest. Furthermore, there are reports that the government may increase the nation’s subsidized gasoline price.

Iran has made an effort to clean up its mess. For instance, Abdolnasser Hemmati was dismissed as finance minister in March when the exchange rate was 930,000 rials to the US dollar. He was charged with bad management because the rial was plummeting too quickly.

Cryptocurrency and other tangible assets are being held upon by Iran’s economy

People in Iran are holding onto hard currencies, gold, automobiles, and other material possessions since they have lost all of their savings in the current economic unrest. Cryptocurrencies and quick-money scams are of interest to others.

It hasn’t been simple, though, particularly for people in the cryptocurrency industry. The Iranian government has been tightening down on cryptocurrency and internet exchanges as the value of the country’s currency declines in an unstable economy.

At the start of the year, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) abruptly halted all cryptocurrency payments on all sites. This prevented over 10 million cryptocurrency users from purchasing Bitcoin or other international virtual currencies with their rials.

One of the main objectives was to prevent further depreciation of the faltering national currency by preventing its exchange for foreign currencies. It obviously didn’t work.

Last year, the cryptocurrency sector experienced significant growth, and it appears that this trend will continue through 2025. This is because, in an economy that is mostly isolated from the rest of the world due to strict Western sanctions, a large number of young Iranians are looking to the expanding global market to earn money.

In actuality, power outages in the nation’s capital and surrounding regions have increased in frequency. Some believe that the outage is related to cryptocurrency mining.

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With a user base exceeding 400,000 and a reported trading volume of over $3.5 million, NODO is developing autonomous AI agents designed to execute market-making strategies on decentralized finance (DeFi) pools and perform portfolio rebalancing to support yield optimization. The project is supported by EMURGO Africa, Adaverse, and Sui Hydropower. Combining multiple strategies from market making, protocol farming, and futures trading with advanced risk assessment techniques, NODO’s multi-chain AI agent prediction keeper network brings institutional-grade automation to decentralized finance.  

Solving DeFi’s Biggest Challenges  

The DeFi sector continues to grapple with critical challenges in accessibility and usability. New market entrants often face high slippage and costs due to low and fragmented liquidity in new DEX pools. Up to 10% in losses can occur when entering or exiting positions. Compounding this issue, investors frequently face yield dilution of up to 50% during market volatility, making it hard to optimize earnings from a supposedly passive and stable financial tool. 

NODO confronts these systemic problems through market-making and yield optimizer AI agents, bringing robust liquidity management, real-time risk assessment, and autonomous yield optimization to digital asset investors. By replacing manual processes with intelligent automation, the platform equips investors to adapt instantly to market dynamics while adhering to their unique risk tolerance and financial goals.  

Powering Up Development with Sui Hydropower Mentorship

In a significant development, NODO has been accepted into season two of the Sui Hydropower Cohort, reserved for the next wave of pioneering builders on the Sui Network. Cohort members are entitled to receive official technical, advisory, and marketing support from the Sui Foundation team to accelerate product development and project growth. 

NODO will be closely mentored by seasoned ecosystem founders on Sui during the development of their agentic AI infrastructure and have the opportunity to present and obtain vital feedback from leading VCs in the space via the end-of-season Demo Day. 

The cohort members will also receive networking and partnership growth support from the foundation, which NODO aims to leverage as part of its plan to integrate with leading DeFi and AI projects building on Sui. In particular, the agentic AI infrastructure is looking to integrate with the leading Sui AMM Cetus, as well as other Sui-based DeFi protocols and DEXes, to enhance the capabilities of its AI agents.

Sowmya Raghavan, NODO’s Co-Founder, shared about the project’s expansion to Sui: “The Sui Hydropower program is about more than support – it unlocks real-world AI execution for DeFi. With Sui’s cutting-edge object model and unparalleled transaction processing capabilities, we’re automating portfolio management at speeds that rival top-tier financial services. With the mentorship and support of the Sui Foundation, which believes in our vision for an autonomous and decentralized economy, we are well positioned to redefine efficiency in DeFi.”

How NODO is Evolving DeFAI

NODO’s competitive edge stems from its advanced AI agentic capabilities, which redefine efficiency in decentralized finance. The platform excels in multi-protocol APY tracking, offering real-time monitoring across diverse DeFi ecosystems to ensure that investors capture optimal yields. 

Leveraging a multi-layer AI coordination architecture, NODO’s AI infrastructure turns abstract on-chain data into actionable insights and then autonomously executes them in real-time on behalf of investors. A dedicated Intelligence layer aggregates, analyzes, and devises the optimal strategy based on key market data in real-time, such as price movements, market conditions, trading activities, and risk factors. This information is then fed to autonomous agents in the Execution layer, which specialize in specific trading pairs, to implement the tailored strategy in split seconds, minimizing slippage and dilution risks.

Market Momentum & Strategic Backing  

AI has become one of the most important technologies in modern history. Today, 75% of businesses aim to integrate AI into their operations by 2026, while 63% of users are open to letting autonomous agents manage their funds. The market numbers further back this up. DeFi and AI, two of the most popular sectors amongst VCs, are currently valued at $101.6 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively. Sui Network, in particular, is a rising star with over $1.22 billion in DeFi valuation alone and is quickly expanding toward AI with the Sui Hydropower Cohort accelerator program.

NODO’s strategic roadmap aligns seamlessly with this trajectory, emphasizing multi-chain AI interoperability to unify fragmented ecosystems, institutional-grade risk management tools to safeguard assets, and democratized DeFi automation to empower users of all experience levels. Backed by top VCs and bolstered by partnerships with industry giants, including Tether and OKX Wallet, NODO is well-positioned to realize its mission to redefine decentralized finance through intelligent automation.

About NODO  

NODO is an agentic AI-powered ecosystem that maximizes return generation through a multi-layer infrastructure automating real-time analytics, adaptive risk management, and cross-chain execution. Supported by Sui Hydropower and industry leaders, including EMURGO Africa and Adaverse, NODO empowers investors to navigate volatile markets with confidence.  

About Sui Hydropower Cohort  

A strategic initiative by Sui to accelerate high-potential Web3 projects through technical resources, mentorship, and investor access. 

• In order to bolster its assets and purchase additional Bitcoin, MARA assets is initiating a $2 billion stock offering.
• The business has arranged an at-the-market (ATM) equity program with significant investment banks to make the stock sale easier.
• MARA currently owns 46,376 BTC and is using Michael Saylor’s technique of issuing shares to purchase Bitcoin.

In order to purchase more Bitcoin, the mining business MARA Holdings is launching a new $2 billion public stock offering.

This action follows the company’s “Hodl” goal and keeps up its plan of raising capital to get Bitcoin onto the open market.

MARA establishes a new ATM equity scheme to finance the purchase of Bitcoin

A recent prospectus and Form 8-K submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) state that MARA has established an at-the-market (ATM) equities program with a number of investment banks serving as agents, including Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, BTIG, and Cantor Fitzgerald.

The shares will occasionally be offered at MARA Holdings’ discretion in accordance with the prospectus supplement. The purchase of Bitcoin on the open market will be the primary use of the offering’s revenues.

In its prospectus, MARA stated, “At this time, we plan to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including the purchase of Bitcoin.”

With a market valuation of $4.7 billion and a focus on financial services, the firm has a healthy liquidity position, as seen by its current ratio of 4.94, which shows that it can cover short-term obligations.

The shares will be sold via what is known as a “at the market offering” or other ways that are agreed upon. A commission of up to 3% of each sale’s gross revenues is due to the agents.

The company, which focuses on financial services and has a market capitalization of $4.7 billion, has a strong liquidity position, as seen by its current ratio of 4.94, which demonstrates its ability to meet short-term obligations.

A “at the market offering” or other mutually agreed-upon methods will be used to sell the shares. The agents are entitled to a commission of up to 3% of the gross proceeds from each sale.

MARA increases its Bitcoin holdings by adopting Saylor’s strategy

MARA’s present actions are in line with Michael Saylor’s strategy of issuing convertible bonds and shares in order to amass Bitcoin on the open market. The miner now holds 46,376 BTC in its treasury, which is second only to MicroStrategy’s 506,137 BTC among publicly traded companies.

MARA has become more and more dependent on purchasing Bitcoin on the open market, even though she mines it. In acknowledgment of the growing difficulty of mining Bitcoin at a discount to the current price, the company implemented this strategy last year.

The most recent Bitcoin halving event, which cut mining incentives in half and put pressure on profit margins against rising operating costs, has put the sector under extreme strain.

As a result, buying Bitcoin on the open market has emerged as a somewhat more advantageous tactic for miners looking to expand their holdings and continue mining.

MARA’s move comes at a time when institutional interest in Bitcoin has remained high despite rising volatility. With a staggering total shareholder return of 2881.63% over the past five years, MARA Holdings has made great progress in changing its business approach.

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Many users now consider Coldware the superior choice since Pi Network has failed to meet its promised outcomes. The following article reveals the reasons along with steps to participate in the Coldware (COLD) ecosystem.

Coldware: Redefining Mobile Blockchain Technology

The Coldware (COLD) is more than a simple crypto project because it functions as a comprehensive mobile-oriented ecosystem built through original development. The proof-of-stake (PoS) Layer-1 blockchain design behind Coldware enables its systems to handle high volumes of transactions cost-effectively as well as efficiently manage power consumption. Its standout features include:

• Litenodes:  They serve as portable hardware applications that grant smartphone users the power to maintain decentralization.
• Decentralized dApp Store: A marketplace for innovative, mobile-native applications.
• PayFi Capabilities: Built-in financial tools for seamless, low-fee payments.

The $COLD token provides the foundation for this ecosystem to run all operations which include staking functions and access to dApps and enables users to interact with IoT devices such as Larna 2400® smartphones and ColdBook laptops. 

The $COLD token was built to solve existing problems across DeFi environments as well as gaming systems and the Internet of Things. The platform’s new mobile application attracts early adopters, particularly those using the outdated mobile platform Pi Network who are seeking better services.

Why PI Whales Are Shifting to Coldware

The primary launch of Pi Network’s mainnet was expected to be transformational yet the experience has proven extremely challenging. The PI token presents at a price range between $0.84 and $0.85 on March 27 2025 yet it has undergone a price decline of more than 70% from its peak in February. 

In the past day, whale investors have shown minor interest with a 3% increase in their PI holdings although their larger stakes show signs of impatience. Consumer interest in Coldware (COLD) continues to rise because they find attractive features which include:

• Lightweight Mobile Nodes: Offering decentralization without the heavy resource demands of traditional blockchains.
• DePin Utility uses decentralized physical infrastructure to create practical applications for users.
• Mobile devices now enable users to avail themselves of staking and earn rewards within their devices.

The growth of Coldware demonstrates its ability to create a practical mobile blockchain solution that Pi Network has not successfully implemented. The Web3 sectors including gaming, DeFi and IoT drive PI whales to choose Coldware (COLD) as their resource while they pursue long-term success and enhanced performance metrics.

PI Network’s Post-Launch Struggles

The beginning of Pi Network in 2019 brought about drastic shifts throughout its existence. The promised accessible mobile mining aspect which made Pi Network famous failed to deliver when the mainnet launched on February 2025. Key challenges include:

• The validator system faces backlash criticism because genuine decentralization is absent leading the crypto community to lose its core members.
• The rejection of PI by Binance exchange might have resulted from their mainnet being closed and their governance being centralized which created exchange listing doubts.
• The steep decline beyond 70% on the market reflects how holding PI tokens no longer receives widespread support from investors.

The domain auctions under the .pi domain generated brief market attention yet these sales did not manage to build enduring community trust. The community faces confusion because of the lack of official updates and enduring debates about utility which led whales to seek opportunities elsewhere.

How to Join the Coldware Ecosystem

The beginning phase of the Coldware presale presents easy ways to join specifically through its official website at coldware. network. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

• Go to the Coldware website here
• Choose a wallet for your account including MetaMask or Trust Wallet.
• Select payment method from available crypto options.
• Purchase $COLD tokens. The user dashboard allows you to monitor your purchasing progress of $COLD Tokens which becomes available for claim before their official launch.

The fast-growing Coldware ecosystem demonstrates speed through its present presale stage which has earned almost $760,000 from its 21 billion $COLD total supply. Beyond its monetary value, the platform stands out through its mission to develop complete decentralization in user-driven software that provides practical solutions beyond what Pi Network currently provides.

Conclusion: The Future Belongs to Utility and Decentralization

The diminished interest in Pi Network creates an opportunity for Coldware (COLD) to establish its position in the market. The PI whales who are diversifying their investments while accelerating the presale have demonstrated that blockchain success relies on utility-driven decentralized mobile-first platforms. The token functions as a symbol which represents a major push toward developing an accessible and working Web3 ecosystem.

For more information on the Coldware (COLD) Presale: 

Visit Coldware (COLD)

Join and become a community member: 

With 61.5M TON in TVL and nearly 100,000 stakers, Tonstakers is TON’s leading liquid staking protocol. Its tsTON liquid staking token is integrated with all major TON DeFi protocols, enabling users to get more rewards in addition to staking rewards.

A New Standard for Liquid Staking

Key benefits of leveraged liquid staking on Tonstakers with EVAA include:

• Low-cost borrowing: TON at 0.37% APR with USDT & TSTON as collateral.
• High-yield staking looping: Up to 7.89% APY with automatic compounding.
• Instant withdrawals: No waiting period, full liquidity.

Dynamic Looping & Total Yield Calculation

The EVAA Earn update enables Tonstakers users to leverage their staking position to increase staking rewards. As shown in the new EVAA Earn interface, a dynamic “Loops Amount” selector has been introduced, allowing users to define the number of staking and reinvestment cycles within EVAA + Tonstakers. 

The process follows a looping strategy:

1. Stake TON with Tonstakers.
2. Supply tsTON to EVAA.
3. Borrow TON and repeat the cycle.

Total Yield is automatically calculated, streamlining the process for both retail users and large-scale investors.

This upgrade enhances usability, making the platform more intuitive for all users and everyday users alike, and reinforcing our mission to build a truly user-friendly DeFi ecosystem.

Maximizing EVAA XP Rewards

EVAA Protocol offers EVAA XP for borrowing TON. The more cycles of supplying stTON and borrowing TON you complete, the more EVAA XP you earn.

EVAA XP (Experience Points) is a key component of the Earn section, designed to enhance user incentives. It rewards users for borrowing TON and plays a crucial role in determining the future allocation of $EVAA tokens after the Token Generation Event (TGE).

Each iteration of borrowing TON generates additional XP. This means that users actively engaging in looping strategies will accumulate more XP, further increasing their potential rewards.

Seamless Access Across Major Wallets

The upgraded Earn section is now available across:

• Tonkeeper
• TON Space (@ Wallet)
• MyTonWallet
• Binance Wallet
• Bitget Wallet
• Bybit Wallet
• Gateio Wallet
• OKX Wallet

“This upgrade represents a major step forward in making liquid staking more efficient and accessible,” said Vladislav Blizniuk, CTO at EVAA. “By integrating deeper with the TON DeFi ecosystem, we’re unlocking new ways for users to earn while maintaining liquidity.”

“This EVAA Earn update unlocks new ways to maximize Tonstakers staking rewards, adding more value for our users and strengthening the entire DeFi ecosystem,” said Roman D., CEO of Tonstakers.

About EVAA & Tonstakers

EVAA—the leading DeFi protocol built on TON, offering innovative liquidity market solutions and leveraged staking strategies. With a focus on efficiency and accessibility, EVAA enables users to borrow, stake, and reinvest seamlessly, maximizing capital utilization without compromising liquidity. The platform is integrated with Telegram, top-tier TON applications, and wallets, ensuring a frictionless experience for both institutional and retail users.

Tonstakers—the leading liquid staking protocol on TON, providing secure, non-custodial staking while maximizing rewards. It enhances staking mechanics with tsTON, a liquid staking token that maintains staked TON liquidity and allows users to earn additional rewards in external DeFi protocols alongside regular staking rewards. Beyond securing the TON network, Tonstakers continues to expand the ecosystem’s global reach through strategic partnerships and integrations, including its recent native integration with Crypto.com.

Together, EVAA and Tonstakers provide a next-generation staking experience, merging capital efficiency with DeFi innovation to unlock new earning opportunities in the TON ecosystem.

• Trezor Safe 3 and Safe 5 wallets had security holes discovered by Ledger that could allow for remote fund theft.
• Because of the microcontroller’s susceptibility to voltage glitching assaults, hackers can alter firmware and take private keys.
• Firmware assaults are undetectable since Trezor’s authentication algorithm only checks the Secure Element and not the microcontroller.

According to a March 12 Ledger study, Trezor’s most recent hardware wallets, the Safe 3 and Safe 5, contain some significant security flaws.

According to the article, Ledger Donjon, the security research team, discovered many flaws in these devices’ microcontrollers that might provide hackers direct access to customer funds.

Even though Trezor upgraded to a two-chip design with an EAL6+ certified Secure Element, the defects still exist. According to Ledger’s analysis, all cryptographic operations are still carried out on the microcontroller, which is susceptible to voltage glitching attacks, even though the Secure Element safeguards private keys and PINs.

If abused, an attacker might acquire cryptographic keys, modify firmware, and circumvent security checks, leaving user funds at risk.

Crucial operations are not protected by Trezor’s enhanced security design

In an attempt to abandon the single-chip architecture used in previous Trezor models, Trezor released the Safe 3 in late 2023 and the Safe 5 in mid-2024. Both wallets featured an improved two-chip design.

Infineon’s Optiga Trust M Secure Element, a specialized security chip designed to store PINs and cryptographic secrets, was also included in the upgrade.

Ledger’s research indicates that this Secure Element blocks access to private information unless the right PIN is input. Additionally, it prevents resistance to hardware assaults like as voltage glitching, which were previously employed to recover seed phrases from Trezor One and Trezor T variants.

However, despite these advancements, Ledger Donjon’s research demonstrates that the microcontroller still handles the majority of cryptographic operations, including transaction signing, which is still a serious security flaw.

The TRZ32F429 microcontroller, which is actually a specially packaged STM32F429 chip, is the one utilized in the Safe 3 and Safe 5.

There are known flaws in this chip, including voltage glitching exploits that give hackers complete read/write access to the flash memory.

An attacker could control entropy creation, which is crucial to cryptographic security, once they have altered the firmware. This might result in the remote theft of private keys, which would provide hackers full access to user money.

The integrity of the microcontroller is not verified by the authentication method

Ledger Donjon discovered that although Trezor use cryptographic authentication to authenticate its devices, the firmware of the microcontroller is not checked by this method.

Trezor signs the public key, which is then embedded into a certificate when the Optiga Trust M Secure Element creates a public-private key pair during production. Trezor Suite delivers a random challenge that the device must sign with its private key when the user connects their wallet. The device is regarded as authentic if the signature is legitimate.

However, as demonstrated by Ledger’s study, this procedure only validates the Secure Element—not the microcontroller or its firmware.

Using a pre-shared secret that is encoded into both chips during production, Trezor tried to connect the Secure Element and microcontroller. Only after the microcontroller demonstrates that it knows this secret will the Secure Element react to requests for signatures.

The issue? The flash memory of the microcontroller, where this pre-shared secret is kept, is susceptible to voltage glitching attacks.

By extracting the secret and reprogramming the chip, Ledger’s team managed to completely circumvent the authentication process. This implies that a hacker might alter the firmware and still get past Trezor’s security measures.

According to Ledger’s research, they were able to break out the pads of the TRZ32F429 onto normal headers by building a special attack board.

With this configuration, they are able to put the microcontroller onto their attack system, get the previously shared secret, and reprogramme the device covertly.

Since the cryptographic attestation scheme is unaltered, the device would still look authentic when linked to Trezor Suite after being reprogrammed.

This puts compromised Trezor Safe 3 and Safe 5 wallets in danger of being sold as authentic devices while covertly running malicious firmware that embezzles user money.

Bypassing firmware validation exposes users to

Ledger Donjon managed to go beyond Trezor’s firmware integrity check, which is a feature of Trezor Suite.

In order for the firmware check to function, a random challenge is sent to the device, which uses both the challenge and its firmware to calculate a cryptographic hash. This hash is checked against a database of authentic firmware versions by Trezor Suite.

This approach appears to be quite successful at first appearance because the device must compute the hash in real time to demonstrate that it is running authentic firmware, making it impossible for an attacker to simply hardcode a fake hash as they would not be aware of the random challenge beforehand.

Ledger Donjon, however, found a method to completely get around this defense. An attacker can alter the microcontroller’s firmware to simulate a legitimate response because it manages this computation.

The attacker can make any firmware version look genuine by altering the way the device computes the hash. Because it enables attackers to run altered software and yet pass Trezor Suite’s verification procedures, this is a significant problem.

A compromised Trezor Safe 3 or Safe 5 could therefore continue to look authentic while surreptitiously leaking private keys or changing transaction data.

According to Ledger’s study, replacing the microprocessor with a more secure one is the only method to completely safeguard the Safe 3 and Safe 5. The STM32U5, a more recent microcontroller included in the Trezor Safe 5, does not currently have any known fault injection vulnerabilities.

However, because it’s still a regular microcontroller rather than a Secure Element, there’s still a chance that new attack techniques will be found.

The vulnerabilities have already been fixed by Trezor, but the fundamental security issues still exist. Users will have to rely on Trezor’s software security measures until the microcontroller itself is completely protected, which Ledger Donjon’s research has already shown can be circumvented.

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• Although no new regulations have been announced, officials are stepping up their scrutiny of fraud.
• Singapore’s Minister of Home Affairs cautioned citizens about the high risks of cryptocurrency scams and advised them to avoid them.
• A member of parliament called for harsher punishments for crypto fraudsters, including caning for serious offenses.

The Singapore Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sun Xueling, has encouraged the populace not to invest in cryptocurrencies since the number of linked frauds has increased.

She stated during her March 4th speech in parliament that the anonymity of cryptocurrencies makes them difficult to regulate and gives criminals an advantage.

“We advise the general people to avoid cryptocurrency. The risk of getting burnt is enormous, and if you become a victim of a scam, the chances of getting any of your money back are slim,” said Sun Xueling.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore regulates local crypto operations under the Payment Services Act, but most exchanges and wallets are outside its jurisdiction. With the increased use of cryptocurrencies, criminals are now using them to force victims to withdraw their money into digital money so that it can hardly be traced. The Monetary Authority of Singapore suffered 1.1 billion yuan losses from scams last year, 70% more than in the same period last year. These scams included those involving cryptocurrencies and accounted for a quarter of the losses incurred.

Demands for harsher sanctions for fraud

There was also discussion about whether fraud penalties ought to be harsher. According to Jurong GRC MP Dr. Tan Yew Meng, Singapore’s current legal system is unduly lax. Fraudsters who steal considerably greater sums of money can get away with it, but moneylenders who handle $10,000 worth of illegal funds risk being caned.

He even supported mandatory caning in situations where the fraud offense is deemed serious. His remarks reveal the growing alarm regulators have expressed in recent years regarding the surge in cryptocurrency scams.

According to Sun, the government is now reviewing anti-fraud legislation and expanding the list of offenses that carry the death penalty. According to her, over 80% of the scam victims voluntarily gave the money to the con artist by impersonating them, posing as authorities, or making false claims of financial advantage.

The Anti-Fraud Protection Bill was recently passed by the Singaporean government in an effort to lessen this menace. However, if the victims disregard the threats, the law permits police to block their assets. This is expected to be put into effect this year.

However, a policy change addressing some of these issues has not yet been made. However, it should be mentioned that new laws may soon be enacted, based on rumors from the local media. The use of cryptocurrencies is growing in Singapore, meanwhile, in spite of the fraud instances. To increase stability, Singapore’s central bank increased the market’s licenses in 2024.

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• Binance is the largest holder of TRON-based USDT, which accounts for over 6% of exchange inflows.
• The token is awaiting the introduction of its fee-free functionality.
• USDD, an algorithmic token for TRON-based DeFi, will be relaunched using TRON-based USDT.

Recent inflows to centralized exchanges have caused the USDT, which is based on TRON, to shift its characteristics. This version of USDT was mostly utilized for P2P payments and within the TRON ecosystem, despite its abundance.

As its trading profile develops, the TRC-20 form of TRON is entering exchanges. With more inflows during the last week, the token’s supply has returned to 63.73 billion. Following Tether’s issuance of additional 1B tokens for the TRON network, the inflows also surged. The arrival of the new mint on March 1 had little impact on the cryptocurrency market as a whole.

TRX stayed largely stable following the most recent USDT mint and increased activity. Nevertheless, TRX only dropped one cent to trade at $0.23 following the most recent market decline.

During the most recent bull cycle, the USDT, which is based on TRON, increased its flow into exchanges. The TRON network currently accounts for 6.1% of USDT deposited on exchanges. The TRON version makes up for activity and volumes, even though Ethereum-based coins are the most valuable overall.

Out of all the exchanges, Binance holds the most USDT on TRON. The top 10 holders include Bybit, OKX, and Kraken, among other significant market operators.

Stablecoins based on Ethereum had a 75.9 billion supply at the same time, with some withdrawals during the previous week. With 5.2 billion additional tokens added in the last month, both iterations of the token contribute to the expansion and impact of USDT liquidity.

As a vehicle for transfers, DEX activity, and payments, USDT is working to regain its turnover. USDT saw a 6.57% increase in turnover over the previous month, reaching $25 billion. Volumes of the controlled USDC coin exceeded $48 billion, although the monthly result is 85% lower. The primary factor influencing USDT’s overall success is TRON activity, which is ten times more than Ethereum’s.

USDT, based on TRON, provides fee-free transactions

The USDT transfers are getting ready for the anticipated shift to no-fee transfers. The move was scheduled to take place within a week after Justin Sun made the announcement on February 25. Depending on the sending and receiving wallet’s condition, sending USDT on TRON is still cost between $3 and $6.29, according to the most recent fee report.

There are no extra costs to onboard the coin, and transactions on the TRON chain are free. In both centralized and decentralized marketplaces, USDT continues to be the stablecoin with the largest usage and turnover.

Although USDT increases TRON’s available liquidity, the project’s creator wants to bring back Decentralized USD (USDD). Because the stablecoin is issued algorithmically, it is riskier.

Supporting USDD’s liquidity is one of USDT’s roles on TRON. The use of USDD for DeFi, passive income, and other purposes may increase as a result of increased printing and activity.

Nonetheless, USDD has been seen as a potentially hazardous asset with suspicion. During the bad market, the prior iteration of USDD experienced de-pegs and was phased out. Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, went back to the USDD concept after the 2024 bull market and resumed expanding the token’s supply.

According to Sun, USDD is now becoming more and more popular and will provide a 1:1 swap with USDT.

At the moment, USDD is positioned as USDT’s wrapped counterpart. At the moment, the relationship between WETH (Wrapped ETH) and ETH is rather comparable to that between USDD and USDT. Why is it necessary to wrap ETH in WETH? In a recent post on X, Sun noted that WETH is easier to interface with DeFi protocols because their specifications differ.

Sun has also made an effort to increase the TRON ecosystem’s adoption, despite some detractors viewing it as risky because of the opaque token creation process. The cooperation and consulting role with Trump’s investment fund, World Liberty Fi, is one of the most recent attempts to increase the value of TRON. While Sun has purchased $30 million worth of WLFI tokens, the fund still holds 41.718 million TRX.

Whether the TRON ecosystem will integrate with the US-centered crypto activity is still up in the air.

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