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25 May 2026, 08:57

Vitalik Buterin pushes Ethereum Foundation toward AI-verified code

Vitalik Buterin has made clear his view of the current transition process the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is undergoing, which aims to adopt strategies to increase longevity, specialization, and expertise in technical matters. In a lengthy post on X, the Ethereum co-founder elaborated that the EF is not focusing on its broad coordinating role. Instead, it is becoming a specialized node in the wider Ethereum ecosystem. This aligns with ensuring the organization focuses on functions critical to the sustainability of Ethereum as a censorship-resistant, privately secure, open, and private technology—a concept abbreviated as CROPS—which can benefit from AI formal verification technology. Vitalik Buterin stands ground on EF’s evolving role in the crypto market To start off, Buterin has clarified that the perspectives stated were his own contributions on technical matters and did not reflect a board-level directive. Currently, the foundation board is growing significantly, especially under the leadership of @aerugoettinea, and Buterin was deliberately reducing his involvement in running the foundation as it was now in his best interests. He further stated that 2025 had been quite a successful year, with increased competence, efficiency, and a focus on realistic objectives that solved several operational challenges faced by the foundation earlier. Comparing Google’s early motto of “don’t be evil” to Buterin’s emphasis on the need for some organizations within the sector to resist the general trend of greed and fast-paced superintelligence. Vitalik’s thoughts on the efforts to save and strengthen EF. Source: X . Buterin reiterated that the foundation was just another node and not a central authority like Ethereum. It was consistent with its original objective during the token sale era, which was completed with the help of the Serenity upgrade. Fiscal responsibility is at the heart of the pivot. At present, the EF owns only about 0.16% of the total ETH in circulation—significantly less than even some individuals or corporations—and is certainly not set up to be an everlasting guardian of the entire ecosystem. To maximize effectiveness, it will focus on longevity rather than breadth, meaning it will sell less ETH. Vitalik boosts EF’s technical vision, taking on CROPS Buterin’s vision starts and ends with the need for Ethereum to be “deeply impressive” within CROPS, not speed alone, which would simply make it mediocre. He flat-out rejects 250ms latency and 1 million TPS as a recipe for failure, as it would render Ethereum no more decentralized than its competitors. Instead, the team will aim to achieve three key objectives with respect to technology, all of which can be done with the aid of high-throughput and scalable L2 systems: Provably bug-free software via AI-assisted formal verification: What was once deemed to be an impossibility for cybersecurity researchers is now possible within the last few months, all because of AI innovations. The EF’s goal is to make Ethereum one of the frontrunners in having bug-free code. Available chain consensus: Ethereum, on the other hand, provides BFT security in an asynchronous setting, coupled with Bitcoin-like security in a synchronous setting (up to 49% Byzantines). Buterin pointed out that he had always been averse to using social consensus or hard fork as a solution to even 34% Byzantine failure. Intermediary minimization : Current efforts related to FOCIL, EIP-8141, EIP-7701, and other projects aim to address the need for intermediaries to include transactions on Ethereum. This will be especially helpful for smart contract wallets, privacy-oriented systems such as Railgun, and higher-level applications like Kohaku. The broader implications for ETH and its ecosystem Buterin highlighted that about $250 billion in ETH was secured on Ethereum, which remained the single most significant financial asset. About 90% of his net worth was invested in ETH, while the rest was invested in open-source biology, software, and hardware development projects. Nevertheless, some of the market-related responsibilities pertaining to the ETH coin lay outside the ambit of EF’s new focus area. Buterin encouraged “other heroes” – including organizations that held more ETH than the Foundation – to take responsibility, with the latter willing to provide any necessary support initially. Through this model, it would be ensured that Ethereum remained decentralized, with the EF preserving the integrity of the blockchain and others promoting ETH as the market leader. This will be hard to achieve. As reported by Cryptopolitan , EF appears to be experiencing a major talent exodus, with at least six individuals already leaving or going on leave since April and May 2026 alone. Among recent departures are Carl Beek and Julian Ma, two of EF’s leading researchers, who stepped down on May 18. Seven-year veteran Carl Beek, who was among those who helped create the Beacon Chain and perform the KZG ceremony, confirmed that May 29 will be his last working day. Four-year-old cryptoeconomics researcher Julian Ma said he was leaving, expressing gratitude for cooperation in some important projects. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .

25 May 2026, 07:00

Vitalik Says Ethereum Foundation Will Sell Less ETH As It Narrows Mission

Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is moving toward a smaller, more focused and more opinionated role, with fewer ETH sales and a sharper mandate around Ethereum’s long-term resilience, privacy, security and capture resistance. In a lengthy post via X on Sunday, Buterin framed the shift as a deliberate move away from treating the EF as the “center of Ethereum” and toward a narrower function inside a broader ecosystem. He also stressed that the remarks reflected his own view, not an official unilateral directive. “First of all, this is only my own view. The board is not just me, and I have no extra special powers on the board that the other board members do not,” Buterin wrote. He added that the board is expanding and that his own influence within the organization “will continue to decrease,” which he said is “honestly what I want.” A Smaller Ethereum Foundation With A Narrower Mandate Buterin said the EF’s 2025-era changes had improved execution, efficiency and focus on concrete goals. But with those issues partly resolved, he argued that a different criticism became harder to ignore: that Ethereum’s public values around decentralization, privacy and “sanctuary technology” were not always reflected strongly enough in the foundation’s actions. The result, according to Buterin, is a transition toward a foundation that does less, but does it with more conviction. He described the EF as “one node, with a defined purpose, alongside other nodes,” rather than Ethereum’s central coordinating body. That distinction matters financially as well as culturally. Buterin noted that the EF holds only around 0.16% of all ETH, which he said is “less than many other individual ETH holders,” while central foundations in other blockchain ecosystems often hold much larger shares. He also argued that the EF’s original fiscal role was limited: to fund the development of the chain software through the milestones described in Ethereum’s pre-launch materials, a scope he said was “fully completed in 2022.” “And so today, the EF is choosing to use its remaining resources to pursue longevity over breadth,” Buterin wrote. “Yes, this means we sell less ETH.” The foundation, he said, will focus specifically on work “critical to the success of ethereum as a censorship/capture-resistant, open, private and secure system ” that would not happen otherwise. That means some respected people and projects may sit outside the EF, even when they are aligned with Ethereum’s broader mission. Ethereum Should Not Chase Speed Alone Buterin’s technical argument centered on what he called the CROPS dimension: censorship resistance, openness, privacy and security. He contrasted that with the view that Ethereum should define its ambition mainly through ultra-low latency and extreme throughput . “To some, ‘impressive’ means: 250ms latency and 1M TPS. I think Ethereum trying to go that route is a mistake,” he wrote. “Being as fast and as scalable as possible, and only a small epsilon more decentralized than the others, is a route to mediocrity, and if we try it we will lose.” Buterin said Ethereum should still scale, but argued that its most defensible edge should be deeper. He pointed to AI-assisted formal verification as a potential path toward a “provably bug-free Ethereum,” a goal he said would have seemed absurd to many cybersecurity researchers until recently. He also highlighted “available chain consensus,” arguing that Ethereum’s direction with lean consensus preserves properties he sees as distinct from both Bitcoin-style and traditional BFT-style systems. A third priority is intermediary minimization. Buterin called it “honestly embarrassing” that smart contract wallets and privacy protocols often depend on intermediaries to get transactions included onchain. He cited FOCIL, EIP-8141, EIP-7701 and Kohaku as part of the push toward stronger inclusion properties, public mempool access and user-layer infrastructure that does not leak private data across multiple third-party services. ETH The Asset Still Matters Buterin also linked the technical direction to ETH’s economic role, calling ETH “the most high-value ‘product’ of the ethereum blockchain, financially speaking.” He said Ethereum secures $250 billion of ETH and argued that the properties he described are beneficial for the asset. He added that nearly 90% of his net worth is in ETH, with most of the remainder in about $40 million of onchain fiat already allocated to open-source biotech, software or hardware initiatives. Still, he said some necessary work to support ETH as an asset sits outside the EF’s scope and will require other organizations and major ETH holders to step in. The foundation’s new long-term structure, Buterin said, is expected to stabilize over the next few months. His closing description was blunt: EF will be “a smaller ship than in previous years,” more opinionated, longer-lasting and more narrowly suited to ensuring Ethereum “brings something meaningful to the world.” At press time, ETH traded at $2,108.

25 May 2026, 02:15

Silver Price Steadies Near $78.50 as US-Iran Deal Hopes Lift Market Sentiment

BitcoinWorld Silver Price Steadies Near $78.50 as US-Iran Deal Hopes Lift Market Sentiment Silver prices held firm near $78.50 per ounce during Tuesday’s trading session, supported by growing optimism surrounding potential progress in US-Iran diplomatic talks. The precious metal has found a footing after recent volatility, as traders weigh geopolitical developments against broader macroeconomic signals. US-Iran Talks Drive Risk Appetite Reports of renewed dialogue between Washington and Tehran have fueled expectations of a potential deal that could ease Middle East tensions. Such an outcome would likely reduce safe-haven demand for the US dollar, providing a tailwind for silver and other dollar-denominated commodities. Market participants are closely monitoring any official statements from both sides, as a breakthrough could shift capital flows into riskier assets. Silver, often viewed as both a precious metal and an industrial commodity, has benefited from the dual narrative of geopolitical easing and stable demand from sectors like solar energy and electronics. The metal’s price action reflects a cautious optimism, with traders balancing the prospect of lower geopolitical risk against persistent inflationary pressures. Technical Levels and Market Outlook From a technical perspective, XAG/USD has established support near $77.00, with resistance emerging around $80.00. The $78.50 level represents a key midpoint where the metal has consolidated in recent sessions. A sustained move above $79.50 could open the path toward the $80 psychological barrier, while a break below $77.50 might trigger further selling toward $75.00. Analysts note that silver’s correlation with gold remains strong, but its industrial applications give it additional sensitivity to global growth expectations. Should US-Iran talks yield tangible results, silver could outperform gold in the near term due to its dual demand drivers. What This Means for Investors For precious metals investors, the current environment presents a mixed picture. While a US-Iran deal could reduce safe-haven premiums, it may also support broader commodity demand. Silver’s role in green technology and electronics provides a structural demand floor that pure monetary metals like gold lack. Investors should monitor diplomatic developments closely, as any unexpected breakdown in talks could reverse the recent risk-on sentiment. Conclusion Silver’s ability to hold near $78.50 reflects a market cautiously pricing in improved geopolitical conditions without overextending. The coming days are critical, as clarity on US-Iran negotiations will likely dictate the metal’s next directional move. Traders should remain attentive to official statements and broader risk sentiment indicators. FAQs Q1: Why is the US-Iran deal important for silver prices? A US-Iran deal could reduce geopolitical tensions, weakening the US dollar as a safe haven and boosting demand for risk assets, including silver. A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced commodities cheaper for foreign buyers, supporting prices. Q2: What are the key technical levels for silver right now? Immediate support is near $77.00, with resistance at $80.00. The $78.50 level is a current pivot point. A break above $79.50 could lead to a test of $80, while a drop below $77.50 may target $75.00. Q3: How does silver differ from gold in the current market? Silver has significant industrial uses in solar panels, electronics, and medical devices, giving it demand beyond safe-haven buying. This makes it more sensitive to economic growth expectations and industrial output trends compared to gold. This post Silver Price Steadies Near $78.50 as US-Iran Deal Hopes Lift Market Sentiment first appeared on BitcoinWorld .

24 May 2026, 19:50

China’s AI trade is holding up even as the wider economy stays weak

China is giving investors a weird but very clear setup right now. The economy looks soft, shoppers are not spending with much force, and April retail sales grew at the slowest pace since the post-COVID reopening. Yet the stock trade is not really about malls, restaurants, or hospital names. It is about AI, semiconductors, hard tech, software, cloud capacity, and the companies sitting close to Beijing’s self-sufficiency push. Investors keep buying China’s AI supply chain while the wider economy stays uneven Modern alpha manager WisdomTree’s Liqian Ren thinks the technology growth story will continue as well. While she said that many companies in the AI ecosystem continue earning good profits, she clearly warned that such companies do not have sufficient scale to turn the entire economy around. “It’s very, very uneven,” she stressed. While many hardware manufacturers trade A-shares on the exchanges of mainland China, not Hong Kong, this is important considering that mainland stocks have outperformed this year. The Chinese CSI 300 index, which includes large firms trading in Shanghai and Shenzhen, has gained almost 5% this year while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is nearly unchanged. Large private firms are not accessible to stock investors. Private firms like ByteDance and Huawei are not publicly listed. However, many Chinese chip producers, artificial intelligence model developers, and high-tech components makers have gone public recently. Leonid Mironov’s fund holds Tencent Holdings (0700.HK, TCEHY) and Alibaba Group (BABA, 9988.HK) as its largest positions. He also owns hardware names such as Anji Microelectronics (688019.SS) in Shanghai. Leonid said investors still miss how much policy support has helped smaller and mid-sized firms make money. “I think people don’t really see and appreciate how fundamentally beneficial the policy has been to the bottom line of these smaller and mid-cap names,” he said. He is not buying every AI model story, though. Leonid said he is still waiting on Zhipu and MiniMax because he wants clearer proof that customers will stay and that the business model can hold up. Morgan Stanley (MS) is taking the other side. The bank is overweight on Zhipu, MiniMax, and Alibaba. It also has an overweight rating on Cambricon Technologies (688256.SS) with a 2,000 yuan price target, or about $294. DeepSeek cuts V4 Pro pricing and puts China’s AI cost trade against OpenAI and Anthropic Finally, an aspect that plays a significant role in telling the China AI story is pricing. DeepSeek, a Hangzhou startup, has maintained the 75% discount on its V4 Pro for one month after launching its V4 series. The V4 series comprises both V4 Pro and lightweight V4 Flash. By doing so, DeepSeek places itself in the middle of global competition over cost. According to Artificial Analysis, which is a third-party benchmark firm, V4 Pro ranks top globally considering intelligence per dollar cost. In other words, this ranking depends not only on intelligence but also on the amount of output that buyers receive from the model. The latter factor is especially relevant since powerful computation is constrained, while running large AI models is costly. The official API price of DeepSeek’s V4 Pro model ranges from as low as $0.0036 per 1 million cached input tokens and $0.87 per 1 million output tokens. According to Artificial Analysis, the cost of running the Intelligence Index benchmark on this model amounts to about $268. Meanwhile, the cost to do the same thing on OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.7 models would be 12 and 19 times higher, respectively. This is relevant for all software developers, exchange houses, trading houses, and AI tool developers. The output cost may be a small issue considering the cost that will be added up from tokens. Third-party tests are significant because not all AI businesses use the same pricing or scores for their AI models. DeepSeek is not the only Chinese name on the list for costs per unit of intelligence. The M2.7 model of MiniMax and the MiMo V2.5 Pro of Xiaomi make the list. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .

24 May 2026, 19:10

OpenAI and Anthropic now sit at the center of Big Tech’s AI cloud backlog

The AI boom now has one very ugly question hanging over it. Is the money real, or are Big Tech companies just feeding cash to AI startups and booking the same cash as cloud sales later? That question now sits right on top of OpenAI and Anthropic, because fresh filings show both companies are tied to more than half of the almost $2 trillion in future cloud revenue sitting on the books of Microsoft ( MSFT ), Oracle (ORCL), Alphabet ( GOOGL ), and Amazon (AMZN). It sounds too good to be true, and yes, it is wild. A tech giant invests billions in an AI firm through some financing agreement, and in that agreement, the AI firm is advised to deploy its funds on purchasing cloud infrastructure owned by the same tech giant. And so, the AI firm receives funding, the cloud firm makes income, and Wall Street enjoys looking at some impressive figures. The money does not get very far, however. It goes out through one door and returns through another door in the guise of a new customer. Microsoft books OpenAI cloud spending after funding the same customer Microsoft’s OpenAI collaboration serves as an illustrative example. Microsoft spent close to $13 billion on funding OpenAI; however, this investment was not limited to cash contributions only. The majority of that investment consisted of Azure credits, which OpenAI used to develop and execute its AI models using Microsoft infrastructure. The usage of the Microsoft servers by OpenAI generated revenues for Microsoft. As a result, Microsoft contributed financially to OpenAI’s activities, OpenAI used Microsoft resources to execute them, and Microsoft recognized that contribution as demand from its customers. OpenAI’s cloud bill has now climbed above $60 billion a year. Its revenue is around $25 billion. That means its server costs are more than double what it brings in. For a normal company, that would look like a giant red flag. In AI land, it gets treated like growth. Anthropic is running a similar play with Amazon. The company spent about $2.66 billion on Amazon Web Services in nine months. That was roughly the same size as its revenue at the time. So the money coming in was almost matched by the money going straight back out to AWS. That is where the second part of the scam plays out. With more money flowing into Anthropic or OpenAI at a higher valuation, the technology giants that have invested in them can inflate the value of their stakes to make money without having sold any goods or collected any cash. A gain has been made. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, earned $62.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026. $28.7 billion was attributed to Google’s gains in relation to its stake in Anthropic. Amazon posted $30.3 billion in earnings in the first quarter of 2026. Its Anthropic gains accounted for $16.8 billion of it. Amazon burns real cash while AI paper gains lift reported profit However, Amazon’s cash metrics appeared to be in a more difficult position. Free cash flow fell by 95% to $1.2 billion, and the company also invested $44.2 billion into physical data centers. This clearly demonstrates the difference between accounting profits and real cash. One sits in spreadsheets, while the latter builds real-life data centers using land, semiconductors, electricity, cooling, connections, buildings, and personnel. This could lead to concentration risks for both companies. In particular, Microsoft has 49% of its $627 billion future backlog dependent on OpenAI. On its part, Oracle has 54% of its $553 billion future pipeline dependent on OpenAI alone. This all looks eerily familiar to something straight out of the dot-com era. Back in 2001, when Global Crossing and Qwest Communications traded equal fiber network capacity and recorded such swaps as sales. As a result, Qwest lost $1.4 billion in fraudulent revenue. Meanwhile, Global Crossing filed for bankruptcy. The only thing that separates both cases today is the fact that such swaps by telecommunications companies were not considered legal at that time, while today’s AI cloud loop easily fits in today’s accounting rules. According to the Kobeissi Letter, the ten largest American stocks constitute 41% of the S&P 500. Among these stocks, we find Magnificent Seven, including Apple and Tesla. This percentage is 14 points above the previous dot-com peak in 2000. “This means about 41 cents of every dollar invested in the S&P 500 flows directly into shares of just 10 firms,” The Kobeissi Letter wrote . “Roughly 35 cents of every dollar flows specifically into the Magnificent 7 group. All while nearly 50 cents of every dollar is now going into AI-linked stocks. Mega-cap tech is all that matters right now.” Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .

24 May 2026, 14:12

AI bots drive $73 million in USDC crypto payments

🚀 Over $73 million moved in 176 million blockchain payments by AI agents. AI software now makes frequent, ultra-low-cost payments using $USDC crypto. 🏁 Key point: Clear global rules are needed before the sector can scale up. Continue Reading: AI bots drive $73 million in USDC crypto payments The post AI bots drive $73 million in USDC crypto payments appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .