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Asset management firm Franklin Templeton sees growing potential in Solana to cement itself as the third-largest cryptocurrency in the market.

The asset manager with over $1.5 trillion in assets under management (AUM) took to X on May 2 to praise Solana,currentlythe fifth largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

Solanas growth is likely to continue because it is well-positioned to capture the next wave of crypto adoption, solidifying itself as the third major crypto asset after Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), the firm said.

In the note shared on X, the firm revealed that Solanawas able tograb a part of the cryptocurrency acceleration during Q4 2023 through its round of native airdrops, which subsequently propped up the whole SOL ecosystem.

Franklin Templeton also mentioned the networks robustness. Solana was severely affected by FTXs meltdown in 2022 butmanaged to recoverwith solid adoption numbers. Owing to its low fees and scalability, Solana also capitalized on the memecoin craze, creating popular meme tokens, including BONK and WIF, which have remained among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market valuation.

The Wall Street giant expects Solana to expand its reach as its performance and network effects position it to capitalize on thenextcrypto trends. The network is home to various initiatives deploying use cases, including payments, decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN), and compression non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which Franklin Templeton believes will help the blockchain usher in the next wave of adoption.

The firms note stated:

Crypto enthusiasts are wondering what the next big thing in crypto might be While we dont know the precise answer, wed argue there is a strong chance it happens on Solana.

While the institution acknowledged that increased activity had caused operational problems in Solana, it also recognized the efforts of developers working to fix these issues as soon as possible.

On Oct. 31, Dan Albert, the executive director of the Solana Foundation, revealed the launch of the testnet for Firedancer, an anticipated scaling solution for Solana.

The project, spearheaded by web3 development firm Jump Crypto since last August, is expected to enhance the networks speed, reliability, and validator diversity, with amainnet launch projected for the first half of 2024.

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Franklin Templeton foresees Solana as third-largest cryptocurrency - crypto.news

DeFi on Ethereum is often clunky and unintuitive, with few safeguards for new entrants.

One highly anticipated improvement is Account Abstraction a new way for Ethereum wallets to handle transactions.

Still, theres a hitch.

Account Abstraction is incompatible with existing wallets, which is slowing its adoption.

A recent proposal from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin may change that. Called EIP-7702, the proposal creates a route for existing wallets to use Account Abstraction which was previously difficult to achieve.

Its still a very early proposal, so we need to evaluate all the rough edges, Ethereum core developer Marius van der Wijden told DL News.

EIP-7702 adds a new transaction type that allows existing wallets to emulate the functions of Account Abstraction wallets, Van der Wijden said.

If successful, the proposal will unlock new transaction types, prevent users from losing access to their funds through email recovery, and even facilitate new use cases for the top smart contract network.

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Van der Wijden said EIP-7702 will probably be included in Ethereums next major upgrade dubbed Pectra scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Account Abstraction has been around for a while.

In March 2023, a previous update introduced an Ethereum feature called ERC-4337, which allowed developers to start building Account Abstraction wallets.

A lack of support for Account Abstraction, coupled with no easy way for users to switch over to the new wallet type, has slowed adoption.

At the same time, another proposal, called EIP-3074, introduced a change that would allow those with non-Account Abstraction wallets to delegate their control to smart contracts, allowing users to access Account Abstraction features.

While EIP-3074 could aid Account Abstraction adoption, many developers criticised it because it puts users funds at increased risk.

The answer may be Buterins EIP-7702 proposal.

EIP-7702 aligns the two previous routes to Account Abstraction EIP-3074 and ERC-4337 into one unified Account Abstraction roadmap, Alex Jupiter, a senior product manager at MetaMask, told DL News.

The result is a streamlined way for existing wallets to use all the features of Account Abstraction without the risks of EIP-3074.

On the surface, Account Abstraction wallets function the same as existing wallets. But under the hood, they have the ability to use smart contracts to manage funds, allowing for a host of new features that could help increase DeFi adoption.

The most obvious improvement is the ability to program transactions, allowing blockchains to replicate services banks and other money-transmitting services offer, such as scheduling payments.

Payments provider Visa has previously highlighted the potential of Account Abstraction for automatic payments.

The ability to sponsor transactions is another appealing feature that Account Abstraction unlocks. Sponsoring transactions means allowing another party such as a wallet provider, DeFi protocol, or blockchain to pay for a users transaction fees.

Programming transactions can also help make using DeFi on Ethereum more intuitive.

Currently, when users want to swap tokens on a decentralised exchange, or send tokens to a different blockchain via a crypto bridge, they must sign multiple transactions at different stages of the process.

With Account Abstraction, everything can be bundled into a single transaction, allowing for a smoother experience.

Account Abstraction should also make using DeFi safer.

When a user creates an Ethereum wallet they receive a private key, usually abstracted to a sequence of words called a recovery phrase.

This key is the only way a user can access their funds. If the key is lost, stolen, or if a users wallet is accidentally uninstalled or the wallet account is deleted, the funds it controls could be lost forever.

With Account Abstraction, it is possible to implement a recovery process in which a user can designate multiple trusted individuals as recovery agents. This can consist of an email address or other forms of identification, such as Google Authenticator for two-factor authentication.

The process is similar to creating and securing an account in the web2 world, but it is executed through a decentralised network.

Tim Craig is a DeFi Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tim@dlnews.com.

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Vitalik Buterin has a new proposal to make Ethereum wallets easier to use but obstacles remain - DLNews

Grayscale Investments will focus on converting its Ethereum trust the worlds largest to spot exchange-traded products, CEO Michael Sonnenshein said on Wednesday.

At Grayscale we decided to focus our energy on our spot products. Thats really core to our DNA, he said during an event in London that was hosted by the Financial Times.

On Tuesday, media reported that the crypto-native asset manager had withdrawn its application to the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide an Ether futures ETF.

It had filed the application in October.

Sonnenshein said the asset manager was withdrawing the application because a number of futures products are already available for investors.

As DL News has reported, VanEcks EFUT and ProShares EETH dominate the brutally competitive Ethereum ETF field, accounting for over 90% of total trading volume at launch.

Sometimes we will file for a product. That doesnt necessarily mean its going to come to market, Sonnenshein said

Grayscale paved the way for the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs by winning a legal case against the SEC that allowed it to convert its Bitcoin Trust to an ETF.

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The SEC granted Grayscales application plus 10 others from various asset managers, including BlackRock and Fidelity Investments in January

Since the wild success of these funds, which have seen almost $12 billion in net inflows, attention has turned to the approval of spot Ethereum products.

Grayscale, along with BlackRock, VanEck, ARK Invest, Fidelity, Invesco, and Hashdex, has applied to convert its Ethereum trust to a spot ETF.

The industry will know what the SEC is thinking when the regulator makes a decision on the first application, VanEcks, on May 23.

Grayscale has also filed to provide a mini trust a smaller fund seeded with assets from the larger trust.

Craig Salm, chief legal officer at Grayscale, has said the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust aims to complement the rest of the firms Ethereum-based line of products to support a range of investors.

The mini trust would launch as a lower-fee alternative spot Ethereum ETF and is designed for investors interested in optimising their Ethereum ETF investment for a buy-and-hold strategy in their brokerage or retirement account, for example, Salm said.

Analysts arent bullish on the chances of the SEC approving any of the applications for spot Ether products.

For one, Ethereums regulatory status isnt clearly defined. SEC chair Gary Gensler has been evasive about whether Ethereum is a security.

Plus, Gensler suffered political blowback from anti-crypto politicians in the Biden administration after the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs though, arguably, the agency had no choice after it lost in court to Grayscale.

On Wednesday, Sonnenshein said while it was difficult to know what the SEC is thinking on Ethereum, Grayscale is optimistic that the SEC will do the right thing by investors.

He added that Grayscale Ethereum Trust is already an SEC reporting company. We file 10-Ks and 10-Qs [disclosures to the SEC], and weve always been a business that pushes our regulators to allow crypto to be brought further and further into the regulatory perimeter.

Reach out to the author at joanna@dlnews.com.

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Grayscale will focus energies on spot Ethereum products, CEO says - DLNews

Fri 10 May 2024 4 min of reading by Evans S.

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and fervent defender of Bitcoin, recently made a bold prediction: he envisions Bitcoin reaching the symbolic threshold of one million dollars by 2030. But what is fueling such a prognosis, and what could be the implications for the future of digital finance? This article delves deeply into Dorseys vision and the current dynamics of Bitcoin.

Jack Dorsey is not a newcomer to the crypto universe. Boasting a history of significant investments and initiatives to bolster the Bitcoin ecosystem, his enthusiasm for this digital currency is not recent.

He describes Bitcoin not just as a mere currency, but as a fascinating ecosystem and movement where every contributor, whether a developer, investor, or user, plays a critical role in enhancing its value.

Dorsey and his payment firm, Block, have developed Bitcoin wallets and ASIC mining chips, evidencing their commitment to supporting the growth and adoption of this cryptocurrency.

The decision by his retail payment solution, Square, to allow stores to convert a portion of their daily sales into Bitcoin, illustrates a strategy aimed at further integrating Bitcoin into the daily business transactions.

Jack Dorsey has always advocated for a more decentralized internet, a vision that extends to his view of Bitcoin.

Moving away from centralized platforms like Twitter, through projects like Nostr, he seeks to promote a tech approach that better respects user freedom and independence.

As reported by decrypt, this philosophy deeply resonates with the foundational principles of Bitcoin, which is itself a challenge to the traditional centralized financial system.

In interviews, Jack Dorsey has expressed his disappointment in decentralization attempts that end up replicating the same mistakes as centralized models, citing Bluesky as an example.

His support for Nostr, which he describes as a truly open protocol, shows his commitment to infrastructures that support anonymity and autonomy, values he seems to believe conducive to a future significant appreciation of Bitcoin.

However, the future of Bitcoin and its rise to a million dollars are not without challenges. The recent investigation by US federal prosecutors into Blocks compliance practices, including the handling of crypto transactions linked to terrorist groups, casts a shadow over the whole industry.

These issues underscore the importance of regulation and security in the cryptocurrency domain, aspects Dorsey and other industry leaders must address to realize their vision.

Jack Dorseys prediction that Bitcoin will hit one million dollars by 2030 is certainly bold, but it is part of a consistent long-term vision marked by a commitment to decentralization and technological innovation.

Yet, as contagious as Dorseys optimism may be, we cannot overlook the regulatory, technological, and economic hurdles that litter the path to this stratospheric valuation. The future of Bitcoin remains, as always, as uncertain as it is fascinating. Meanwhile, an ETF makes all the difference.

Maximize your Cointribune experience with our 'Read to Earn' program! Earn points for each article you read and gain access to exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start accruing benefits.

Fascin par le bitcoin depuis 2017, Evariste n'a cess de se documenter sur le sujet. Si son premier intrt s'est port sur le trading, il essaie dsormais activement dapprhender toutes les avances centres sur les cryptomonnaies. En tant que rdacteur, il aspire fournir en permanence un travail de haute qualit qui reflte l'tat du secteur dans son ensemble.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

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Bitcoin: Jack Dorsey predicts that the flagship cryptocurrency will reach 1 million - Cointribune EN

Solanas validators are a bit like baristas flipping around an iPad theyre nicer to you when you include a tip. And as traders keep cramming into Solanas metaphorical coffee shop, the validator tip jar looks increasingly stuffed with money.

Validators are a group of 1,728 computers that run software to produce blocks on the Solana blockchain. Coinbase Cloud is a prominent Solana validator, as is Google Cloud. One revenue stream that validators earn is called maximal extractible value (MEV), which refers partly to tips paid by searchers to be included in Solana blocks.

This MEV revenue has been growing quickly since mid-March. Notably, Solana validators are earning more from MEV overall than Ethereum validators, according to Blockworks Research. Just a few months ago, Solanas MEV revenue was a rounding error compared to Ethereums.

Read more: MEV doesnt have to be a zero-sum game, research suggests

Broadly defined, MEV refers to the largest amount of value that validators can create by packing transactions into blockchain blocks. Blockworks Researchs dashboard suggests Solana validators raked in a hair under $7 million from MEV last week.

At the moment, Solana MEV is almost entirely the product of a protocol named Jito. Jito offers a fork of the Solana validator called Jito-Solana, and 78% of Solanas validators use this client, according to Jitos website. The client lets searchers, or traders, arrange transactions in bundles. Searchers can include a tip to try getting validators to send their particular bundle to the blockchain.

Whether all this is good for Solana is something of a matter of perspective. Some forms of MEV can be predatory. Jito recently suspended its mempool, a kind of waiting area for transactions, due to sandwich attacks that let opportunists create MEV by trading right before and after a transaction to manipulate the price and take profit from the trader.

Read more: Jito Labs ends mempool functionality citing impact on Solana users

In Jitos telling, the protocol is making Solana more efficient while also minimizing negative forms of MEV like sandwich attacking. If it can pull that off, Solana could see a lot of benefit.

Continued long-term growth in Solanas MEV would likely imply that less spam is being included in blocks, and Solana would have more available blockspace, Blockworks Research analyst Hayden Tsutsui said. In a best case scenario, more blockspace could free up room for more on-chain activity, which could also bring along more liquidity, Tsutsui said.

But it bears mentioning that as things currently stand, Solana is still staggering under a mountain of spam. More than 60% of non-vote transactions fail on Solana, according to Blockworks Research, largely due to bots taking advantage of Solanas cheap fees by inundating the network in hopes of getting transactions to land.

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MEV collected by validators is now higher on Solana than on Ethereum - Blockworks