Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly roundup of the top stories in cryptocurrency technology development. I’m Ben Schiller, CoinDesk’s opinion and features editor.
In this issue:
- Sony’s blockchain faces memecoin controversy
- Bubblemaps prepares BMT and new intel desktop
- Babylon improves Bitcoin interoperability
- Prosecutors seek 95k BTC Bitfinex return
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Network news
SONY EMBRACES BLOCKCHAIN, BATTLES MEMES: Sony, the 78-year-old Japanese electronics giant, is the latest legacy megacorp to explore blockchain technology. On Tuesday, the company announced that it is officially launching “Soneium,” its general purpose blockchain platform built on Optimism’s OP Stack. The network aims “to bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3 audiences, especially for the creators, fans and community,” the team behind the network told CoinDesk’s Margaux Nijkerk in a statement. Like similar general blockchains, the network is built to support a wide range of use cases, from decentralized financial apps to entertainment and gaming services. While Sony’s blockchain technology has attracted eyeballs over the past week, not all the attention has been positive. Within the first few hours of Soneium’s launch, some X users complained that the network was blocking memecoin trading, leading to claims that the (apparently decentralized) network was “censoring” certain types of transactions, a big no-no for some crypto supporters The controversy underscored the inevitable tension between hardline blockchain ideals and traditional corporate interests, but the incident also demonstrated crypto’s resilience: Some savvy blockchain users found a workaround that allowed them to “force through” transactions to the Ethereum base network, rendering Sony’s alleged transaction blocking moot. Read more.
BUBBLEMAPS WANTS MORE CRYPTO-SLEUTH: Bubblemaps, the blockchain analytics service, announced on X this week that it will launch a token, BMT, and a new “Intel Desk” that will give holders a voice in running surveys. Bubblemaps recently introduced V2 to its platform, which helps crypto speculators find out who really owns the delivery of a given token. The platform sorts closely related blockchain addresses into clusters, and its easy-to-read graphics have become a common sight on crypto Twitter, where they’ve been used to demonstrate suspicious supply patterns among popular memecoins and DeFi tokens. Bubblemaps V2, which began rolling out to users in November, added new AI clustering features and made it easier to examine token distributions over time. Bubblemap’s just-announced token, BMT, will be sent to users of the V2 platform. Holders will be given a role on the platform’s “Intel Desk,” where community members can propose investigations and vote on how Bubblemaps allocates internal investigators and resources.
BABYLON BRINGS ZK MOMENTUM: Babylon Labs, developer of the largest BTC stake protocol, is building a trust-minimized Bitcoin bridge with the Cosmos network to improve the interoperability of the world’s oldest blockchain. Working with developers Fiamma, Babylon uses the BitVM2 computing paradigm, which is designed to allow Ethereum-style smart contracts on Bitcoin, which then paves the way for zero-knowledge (ZK) technology. ZK calculations allow different parties to verify that the information is accurate without actually revealing to each other what the information is. In this sense, it is fundamental to bridge digital assets between different blockchains. Developers like Babylon Labs and Fiamma aim to unlock the deep wells of value stored in BTC to fund other ecosystems and allow it to be traded on blockchains free of some of Bitcoin’s speed and scale limitations. Read more.
BITFINEX: US prosecutors have asked a federal judge to greenlight the return of nearly 80% of the 119,754 bitcoins stolen in the 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex. In a court filing Tuesday, prosecutors said the 94,643 bitcoins the government recovered from the original wallet used by the hacker, Ilya Lichtenstein, can be paid to Bitfinex as restitution in kind when the court gives the green light. Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Satoshi Vision and Bitcoin Gold generated via multiple hard forks after the hack will also be sent to Bitfinex. Last November, Lichtenstein was sentenced to 5 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in 2023. His wife, Heather Morgan – better known by her rap moniker Razzlekhan – received an 18-month sentence for helping Lichtenstein do some money laundering. of the income from the hack. Both agreed to forfeit the stolen cryptocurrency as part of their plea agreements. Read more.
Money center
You haven’t seen anything
State coffers multiply
Legislation and policy
Calendar
- 20.-24. January: World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland
- 21.-25. January: WAGMI Conference, Miami.
- 24.-25. January: Adoption of Bitcoin, Cape Town, South Africa.
- 30-31 January: PLAN B Forum, San Salvador, El Salvador.
- 1.-6. February: Satoshi Roundtable, Dubai
- 19.-20. February 2025: ConsensusHK, Hong Kong.
- 23.-24. February: NFT Paris
- 23 Feb-2 March: ETHDenver
- 18.-19. March: Digital Asset Summit, London
- 14.-16. May: Consensus, Toronto.
- 27.-29. May: Bitcoin 2025, Las Vegas.
