RT Gareth Jenkinson (@gazza_jenks)I recently caught up with @joechalom from @SharpLink to unpack their Q3 report.We spoke candidly about Ethereum dropping below $3000 and what levels pose a risk to ETH DATs.Chalom's key points on @Cointelegraph Chain Reaction 👇🔮 Long-term thesis on ETH remains strong💱Won't be forced sellers of ETH💰 ETH staking gives value for institutional investorsFull video is in the comments! ...

Core Insights - EyeOnChain has identified Garrett Jin, former CEO of BitForex, as the whale controlling over 100,000 BTC, linked to a suspected $56.5 million exit scam in February 2024 [1][2] - Jin denies ownership of the funds, claiming they belong to his clients, and asserts he operates nodes for in-house insights [3][4] - The investigation reveals Jin's significant trading activities, including selling over 35,000 BTC for ETH and opening a $735 million BTC short position [3][5] Group 1: Background on Garrett Jin and BitForex - Garrett Jin served as CEO of BitForex from 2017 to 2020, during which the exchange faced accusations of falsifying trading volumes and operating without registration in Japan [2] - BitForex froze withdrawals in February 2024 after approximately $57 million was withdrawn from hot wallets, coinciding with the resignation of CEO Jason Luo [2] Group 2: Whale Activity and Investigative Findings - The whale sold over $4.23 billion in BTC to acquire ETH and opened a $735 million BTC short position on Hyperliquid, strategically timed before a market crash [3][4] - Jin currently holds 46,295 BTC, valued at approximately $5.19 billion, across eight wallet addresses [4] - The investigation traced wallet addresses back to Jin through ENS domains, linking funds withdrawn from exchanges to his tenure at Huobi and the BitForex collapse [1][6] Group 3: Staking and Trading Operations - Jin's trading involved a series of BTC wallets that received over 570,000 ETH, which were deposited into Ethereum's Beacon Deposit Contract for staking through his company, XHash [5] - An ETH staking contract linked to Jin's address was initially funded by an address on Binance Smart Chain, with the first interaction involving a deposit of 32 ETH [6] - Analysis of the wallet that opened the $735 million BTC short position revealed it received funds from an address that deposited $4.1 million in USDC to a Binance deposit address shortly before [7]

Very interesting survey results here from Obol Collective & Lido, highlighting some trends in ETH staking-Institutions are hungry for ETH staking-Safety & security are top priority-There's clear demand for distributed validator infraAnd more paths to institutional staking is good for Ethereum (and ETH)Obol Collective (@Obol_Collective):The results from our 2025 Ethereum Institutional Staking Survey are in.Our latest report compiles them to reveal where ETH staking is headed next.TL;DR Institutions want to s ...

Trust Wallet Performance & Growth - Over 50 million USD locked in Stablecoin Earn [1] - ETH staking experienced significant growth [1] Industry Recognition - Eowyn Chen recognized as a Top 50 Woman in Web3 & AI [1] Product Development & User Experience - Tokenized RWAs are coming to Trust Wallet [1] - Solana UX has been improved [1]

🔥 LATEST: Tom Lee says, “Wall Street will stake ETH to be involved in the enhancement of ethereum,” as it moves to financialize the world onto blockchain.“That is the difference between centralized finance and defi.” https://t.co/6RJJzPysGd ...

Project Overview - Puffer Finance aims to upgrade ETH staking [1] - Puffer Finance unlocks validator access with liquid restaking [1] - Puffer Finance features low entry barriers [1] - Puffer Finance integrates EigenLayer [1]

Centralization Risk & Stablecoins - The cryptocurrency industry acknowledges centralization risk as a significant concern, particularly regarding the imbalance between ETH's economic security (staked ETH) and the total value of stablecoins it secures [1][2] - Stablecoin issuers face business risks if the underlying chain's security diminishes, potentially leading them to become net buyers of ETH to ensure the security of tokenized assets [2] - Centralized entities accumulating large ETH holdings poses a threat of influence, politically or otherwise, potentially undermining the decentralized future envisioned by Satoshi [2] - Circle and Tether might accumulate DeFi tokens to influence governance decisions on protocols, creating an illusion of decentralization [3] Potential Solutions & Market Dynamics - The industry suggests that ETH market capitalization needs to grow through broader adoption, staking, and price appreciation to mitigate centralization risks [4] - Deeper network security features are needed to reduce the obligation for centralized entities to accumulate ETH for risk management [6] - Decentralized stablecoins need to gain traction as an alternative to centralized stablecoins [6] - Governance caps for giga whales when voting on protocol proposals could help to maintain decentralization [6] - Regulators may need to intervene to ensure disclosure around influence or control, similar to traditional financial systems [4] - World Liberty Financial (WLF) has been hedging its risk by holding TRX and ETH [5]

Centralization Risk in Crypto - Centralization risk is a significant concern, particularly if the economic security of ETH (staked ETH) is dwarfed by the total value of stablecoins it secures [1][2] - Stablecoin issuers face business risk if the underlying chain's security diminishes, potentially leading them to become net buyers of ETH to ensure the security of tokenized assets [2] - Accumulation of ETH by centralized entities like Circle and Tether poses a threat of influence, politically or otherwise [2] - Circle and Tether could accumulate DeFi tokens to sway governance decisions on protocols, creating an illusion of decentralization [3] Potential Solutions and Market Dynamics - ETH market cap needs to grow through broader adoption, staking, and price appreciation to mitigate centralization risks [4] - Deeper network security features are needed to reduce the obligation for centralized entities to accumulate ETH to manage their risk [6] - Decentralized stablecoins need to gain traction as an alternative [6] - Governance caps for giga whales are suggested when voting on protocol proposals [6] - Strategic ETH reserves might be set up to protect the dollar as more USD is minted on-chain [3] Regulatory and Traditional Finance Integration - Regulators may need to step in to ensure disclosure around influence or control, similar to traditional financial systems [4] - The industry is potentially bringing traditional systems on-chain [3] Diversification Strategy - World Liberty Financial (WLF) hedges its risk by holding TRX and ETH [5]

Centralization Risk & Stablecoins - The cryptocurrency industry acknowledges centralization risk as a significant concern, particularly regarding the imbalance between ETH's economic security (staked ETH) and the total value of stablecoins it secures [1][2] - Stablecoin issuers face business risks if the underlying chain's security diminishes, potentially leading them to become net buyers of ETH to ensure the security of tokenized assets [2] - Centralized entities accumulating large ETH holdings poses a threat of influence, politically or otherwise, potentially undermining the decentralized future envisioned by Satoshi [2] - Circle and Tether might accumulate DeFi tokens to influence governance decisions on protocols, creating an illusion of decentralization [3] Potential Solutions & Market Dynamics - The industry suggests that ETH market capitalization needs to grow through broader adoption, staking, and price appreciation to mitigate centralization risks [4] - Deeper network security features are needed to reduce the obligation for centralized entities to accumulate ETH for risk management [6] - Decentralized stablecoins need to gain traction as an alternative to centralized stablecoins [6] - Governance caps for giga whales when voting on protocol proposals could help to maintain decentralization [6] - Regulators may need to intervene to ensure disclosure around influence or control, similar to traditional financial systems [4] - World Liberty Financial (WLF) has been hedging its risk by holding TRX and ETH [5]

Centralization Risk & Stablecoins - The cryptocurrency industry acknowledges centralization risk as a significant concern, particularly regarding the imbalance between ETH's economic security (staked ETH) and the total value of stablecoins it secures [1][2] - Stablecoin issuers face business risks if the underlying chain's security diminishes, potentially leading them to become net buyers of ETH to ensure the security of tokenized assets [2] - Centralized entities accumulating large ETH holdings poses a threat of influence, politically or otherwise, potentially undermining the decentralized future envisioned by Satoshi [2] - Circle and Tether might accumulate DeFi tokens to influence governance decisions on protocols, creating an illusion of decentralization [3] Potential Solutions & Market Dynamics - The industry suggests that ETH market capitalization needs to grow through broader adoption, staking, and price appreciation to mitigate centralization risks [4] - Deeper network security features are needed to reduce the obligation for centralized entities to accumulate ETH for risk management [6] - Decentralized stablecoins need to gain traction as an alternative to centralized stablecoins [6] - Governance caps for giga whales when voting on protocol proposals could help to maintain decentralization [6] - Regulators may need to intervene to ensure disclosure around influence or control, similar to traditional financial systems [4] - World Liberty Financial (WLF) has been hedging its risk by holding TRX and ETH [5]