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Zcash Upgrade Coming Soon
ZEC took a major price hit back at the end of May when a critical vulnerability was discovered in its Orchard shielded privacy pool. This could in theory have allowed an attacker to create counterfeit ZEC inside the affected pool, while Zcash’s privacy design meant it was not possible to confirm whether or not this had occurred.  However, Project Tachyon, a Zcash research group working on formal verification of the protocol, this week published a new update about strengthening Zcash’s shielded pools, stating that it is close to producing a mathematical proof that Zcash’s latest pool design, Ironwood, does not contain counterfeiting flaws.
Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said the project is “on the verge” of proving that the newest shielded pools are bug-free, and the ZEC price surged on the news, gaining over 12% in one day on Tuesday.
Prior to the initial discovery of the vulnerability, ZEC had been trading at around $620, but it subsequently crashed to $247, and is now trading at around $470.
Why You Should Be EARNING on Your Bitcoin
Is BTC a productive asset? Is it a store of value or a currency? Don’t worry, we’re not going to get lost in any endless discussions about the nature of Bitcoin. These debates have been raging for approaching two decades now, they always seem to get louder during bear markets, and you no doubt have your own views.
But we can focus on that first point–whether BTC is productive–from a practical, profit-minded point-of-view. If you hold large amounts of BTC long-term then you benefit from its number-go-up nature, but there are also now products and structures in place allowing you to regularly earn further returns and rewards.
I’ve partnered with Xapo Bank–where I’m a member myself–and this members-only private Bitcoin-friendly bank unlocks returns from your BTC in several ways:
● Right now, by referring friends to Xapo, both parties can earn $500 in rewards, paid in BTC.
● You can receive up to 4% APY* on BTC and USD holdings, paid in BTC.
● There are borrowing services to unlock liquidity against your BTC. (not available in the UK)  There are tons more reasons to become a Xapo member, with enhanced security high up on the list, but the point here is that BTC needn’t be regarded as an asset that simply sits in a digital vault waiting to appreciate. As we approach 20 years of tick-tock-next-block, there’s no reason not to be picking up extra income from the BTC section of your financial portfolio.
Visit Xapo Bank to learn more about its comprehensive bitcoin banking services, and to start your own Xapo Membership application.
*The 4% rate is a target, not a guarantee. Your actual returns may be higher or lower and can change over time. These are investment products, not standard savings or deposit accounts. This means your money is not protected by traditional bank deposit guarantee schemes, and you must meet our eligibility rules to access them.
BNB Chain Creating New Agentic Trading Chain
BNB Chain is developing a new Layer-1 blockchain aimed at high-speed agentic trading, with a testnet planned for late 2026 and mainnet projected to launch in early 2027.
The new chain is designed to join BNB Smart Chain, opBNB and BNB Greenfield, which are all part of the BNB Chain ecosystem, and its goal is to offer a trading experience that matches the efficiency of centralized exchanges while maintaining onchain custody and settlement.
Developers are aiming for transaction preconfirmations below 50 ms, and throughput above 100,000 transactions per second. Also, a feature called TxStream will remove the public mempool, which should speed onchain processes up, while preventing sandwich attacks.
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