Industry Reports

The United Nations Development Programme is using blockchain technology to improve public digital infrastructure, enhance transparency and data sharing. The report showcases application cases from multiple countries and emphasizes the importance of governance and risk control. The application of blockchain in public governance is becoming a key technology for digital transformation.

Ripple is overhauling how it secures the XRP Ledger, and AI is at the center of the effort. Its engineering team outlined a new AI-driven security strategy for the XRP Ledger in a detailed post earlier this week, one that integrates machine learning tools across the protocol's entire development li

The a16z research team proposed the concept of "Strong Chain Quality" (SCQ), extending Chain Quality (CQ) from a cross-time average to a fine spatial distribution within each block, ensuring that nodes with a specific proportion of stakes can obtain the same proportion of block space in each block. This design enhances the fairness and censorship resistance of the blockchain and opens up research space for transaction ordering mechanisms.

Digital asset ETPs saw a peak of over $250B, ending 2025 with $184B AUM, mainly driven by Bitcoin products. The market is evolving, with over 125 new filings indicating a trend toward diversified asset offerings.

The market cap of tokenized assets reached $24.6B in January, led by tokenized treasuries and commodities. Treasuries made up 39% of this, while commodities surged due to rising gold prices. Stablecoins contributed to liquidity, with a market cap of $308B.

A recent ECB-funded working paper faces criticism for its approach to measuring decentralization in crypto. It suggests DeFi protocols are more centralized than expected, but experts highlight the report's subjective data interpretation and lack of objective standards, raising concerns about its conclusions and data reliability. This debate emphasizes the ongoing struggle to define and measure decentralization in digital assets.

Bitcoin mining is undergoing a structural transformation, with average mining costs for mining companies expected to reach $80,000 by the end of 2025, while the price of Bitcoin is only around $70,000. Mining companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, with total related contracts exceeding $70 billion. The funding for this transformation mainly comes from leveraged financing and the sale of Bitcoin reserves. Although there is a significant divergence in the valuations of mining companies, whether the price of Bitcoin can rebound to $100,000 will impact the future development of the mining industry.

> Original Title: Beyond a core blockchain property: "Strong Chain Quality" > Original Authors: ittaia, PGarimidi, jneu_net, a16z > Original Compilation: AididiaoJP, Foresight News Chain Quality (Chain Quality,

Intercontinental Exchange adds $600 million investment to Polymarket, bringing the total to $1.64 billion. Trump emphasizes the importance of Bitcoin, while Yilihua states the cryptocurrency market has performed poorly for four years. The U.S. plans to release a draft of stablecoin yield provisions, and Ripple's CEO says the CLARITY Act may be delayed until May. California bans public officials from trading on insider information. The crypto industry enters the "Shirt Era," with blockchain and AI integration driving development. Lido proposes to buy back LDO tokens, and Ripple and Stellar founders jointly invest $1 billion in AGI research.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated that the company expects record performance in the first quarter, primarily driven by mergers and acquisitions. He revealed that approximately $4 billion has been invested in the crypto ecosystem and called for an acceleration of the U.S. digital asset legislative process to avoid excessive political influence on industry development.

a16z crypto partner Guy Wuollet stated that the cryptocurrency industry is entering the "collared shirt" era, gradually maturing and moving towards the mainstream. Traditional financial institutions are offering Bitcoin through ETFs, and the combination of blockchain and AI will drive the development of agency commerce, with the first agency payments being realized online.

Stablecoins are undergoing an evolution into a foundational financial infrastructure. North America leads in development, focusing on regulated, compliant options. The market shows a shift with RLUSD gaining traction due to integration with Ripple, emphasizing real demand over exchange liquidity.

ICE's increased investment in Polymarket signals strong institutional confidence in prediction markets, despite regulatory scrutiny. The $600 million funding adds to ICE's previous commitments, indicating a belief in the sector’s long-term potential amidst rising market activity and the need for oversight.

After being listed on Binance, most tokens faced severe losses, with an average retracement of 71% to 80%. Being listed is no longer seen as an investment opportunity but rather as an insider sell-off event. The main reasons include internal liquidity events, overvaluation, weak capital flows, and market saturation; only projects with real products and communities can survive in the future.

Cryptocurrency is facing a reputational crisis, especially as the prevalence of meme coins has affected the public's trust in genuinely valuable projects. Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov criticized the meme coin craze for misleading the public and giving legitimate projects a negative reputation. At the same time, the "identity crisis" in the crypto space has prompted several opinion leaders to rethink how to rebuild trust.

Tether hired KPMG to carry out a comprehensive audit of USDT, and worked with PwC to optimize its financial processes—an important step in improving financial transparency. This move comes as the company prepares to enter the U.S. market and for a new round of fundraising. Despite the many past questions about its reserves, Tether still plans to raise funds from the market and has shifted toward allocating more of its investments to short-term U.S. Treasuries.

Cardano's ecosystem has made progress, with Midnight reaching an agreement with the UK bank Monument to tokenize £250 million in deposits on-chain. This marks a new step in the integration of traditional finance and blockchain, while also promoting the development of tokenized assets. However, Cardano still faces challenges in the DeFi space, and the ecosystem's activity level needs to be improved.

The integration of LayerZero and Canton Network allows tokenized assets to flow across 165 public chains, facilitating the entry of traditional finance into the crypto liquidity system. This move addresses privacy and compliance issues in cross-chain asset movement, while also promoting the fusion of institutional-level blockchain and public chain ecosystems, marking an intensification of competition in cross-chain interoperability.

Tether has hired KPMG for a comprehensive audit of its $184 billion USDT stablecoin, along with PwC to prepare for the process. This comes amid plans to register USDT under the GENIUS Act, addressing transparency concerns over its reserves.

Research from the European Central Bank shows that governance power in DeFi protocols is highly concentrated, with the top 100 token holders controlling over 80% of the token supply, and the top 5 addresses of Aave and Uniswap holding nearly 50%. A large number of governance tokens are held by protocols and exchanges, and the anonymity of identities challenges claims of decentralization, impacting regulatory compliance.