Dubai is building the blueprint for web3-driven finance | Opinion

In a push towards overhauling global trade systems, the IOTA Foundation and five prominent international organizations have launched the TWIN Foundation, an initiative aimed at making global trade more sustainable, transparent, and inclusive through decentralized infrastructure. Formed in partnership with the World Economic Forum, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, TradeMark Africa, the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, and the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, the TWIN Foundation will govern the Trade Worldwide Information Network (TWIN), an open-source infrastructure built on IOTA’s (IOTA) distributed ledger technology. The announcement was made on May 8 at the AfCFTA Digital Trade Forum in Lusaka, Zambia. This marks a contrast to the recent rise in protectionist trade policies, such as U.S. tariffs and economic warfare under U.S. President Donald Trump. TWIN aims to connect global supply chains, rather than fragment them. “We are betting on a future where IOTA is the decentralized, neutral, open, and immutable digital infrastructure that connects countries and people around the world,” Dominik Schiener, Co-Founder and Chairman of the IOTA Foundation, told crypto.news in an interview. TWIN addresses long-standing inefficiencies in international trade, offering governments smarter border management and the private sector access to new efficiencies and digital services. The platform enables real-time, verifiable data exchange across borders and sectors, leveraging tools like decentralized identifiers, digital product passports, and self-sovereign identity frameworks. Real-world deployments TWIN is already powering real-world deployments worldwide. Examples include: 1) the United Kingdom’s Cabinet Office pilot for poultry imports from the European Union, 2) a blockchain-enabled monitoring hub known as the Virtual Watch Tower, and 3) fresh produce tracking between Kenya and the Netherlands via the RESULD project. These implementations showcase how digital transparency can reduce disruptions, ensure product quality, and align with ESG standards. TWIN is not just a technology stack but a governance-first infrastructure. The Foundation will be responsible for setting standards, ecosystem growth, and long-term sustainability. At its core is an open source, neutral, and financial self-sufficient entity. You might also like:Swirl brings liquid staking to IOTA, boosting liquidity for its DeFi “Our agenda is very simple: We want to make it easier and cheaper for countries to trade with each other,” IOTA co-founder Dominik Schiener also said. “We are not part of any political agenda, but we are driving forward an economic solution.” As the project moves into public rollout, IOTA and its partners see TWIN not just as an upgrade to outdated systems—but as a blueprint for the future of international trade. Upcoming expansions and a technical deep dive into the infrastructure are expected later this month.  “Just this week, we have upgraded IOTA to the Rebased protocol,” Schiener added. “Exactly because of this network upgrade, we and our partners are confident that IOTA will be the solution on which trade will be digitized and soon billions of assets tokenized.” Below is the entire Q&A with Dominik Schiener, Co-Founder of IOTA and Chairman of the IOTA Foundation. crypto.news: The initiative is being promoted as a counterbalance to recent nationalist trade policies. Why has the IOTA Foundation aligned itself with such a politically hot-topic mission? Can you ensure your involvement remains about providing neutral blockchain infrastructure rather than pushing a specific global policy agenda? Dominik Schiener: The entire reason why Blockchain was created was to remove borders and barriers to create a frictionless system without intermediaries. We are betting on a future where IOTA is the decentralized, neutral, open, and immutable digital infrastructure that connects countries and people around the world.  Our agenda is very simple: We want to make it easier and cheaper for countries to trade with each other. We are not part of any political agenda, but we are driving forward an economic solution. Every country wants to trade more, as it leads to prosperity and global access.  There is a trillion-dollar funding gap in trade finance, and billions of dollars are wasted every year in fraud and inefficiency in a system that is still largely paper-based. TWIN is built to solve these problems.  CN: TWIN is built on IOTA’s distributed ledger, yet it includes heavyweight institutions like the WEF and government-linked organizations. What mechanisms are in place to prevent any one entity from exerting outsized control over the network or the data flowing through it? DS: TWIN is built and operated by a Swiss non-profit, the TWIN Foundation. The TWIN Foundation has a governance board with several globally renowned organizations (including the IOTA Foundation), which make decisions on how the infrastructure evolves and grows. The mandate of the TWIN Foundation is strictly focused on the open-source development of the solution and its global expansion for the betterment of the global economy. The objective of the Foundation is not to make money from the infrastructure itself, but to ensure its continued expansion by connecting more and more countries. Kenya was just the start, and we aim to bring at least dozens of countries on board over the coming years. CN: Some in the crypto community might view IOTA’s partnership with the WEF and the Tony Blair Institute as aligning with a “globalist” establishment. Does working with these prominent institutions compromise IOTA’s independence or the open ethos of blockchain tech? DS: IOTA is and always remains independent and impartial. It is a decentralized network and not controlled by anyone. Our objective since the founding of IOTA has been to work with governments, NGOs, and enterprises to onboard them to the power of permissionless Blockchain networks. We see it as our mission to bring the real world to Web3, and these partnerships with WEF and the Tony Blair Institute are part of realizing this goal. This, in our view, is the way in which we achieve mainstream adoption and bring new users, use cases and assets onchain.  CN: TWIN plans to tokenize trade documents as NFTs and secure them with digital identity verification. Who will govern this new digital identity system, and how can you guarantee that these features enhance data sovereignty rather than create new points of centralized control or surveillance? For instance, what prevents a powerful coalition member from unilaterally accessing or exploiting sensitive trade data under the guise of “inclusive” commerce or security needs? DS: The system itself is fully open-source and standardized, and operates as a smart contract infrastructure on IOTA. Meaning that anyone can utilize and participate in TWIN without asking for permission. This means that there is no need for anyone to “govern” the system itself, but rather just make it seamless to use through integrations into port and customs clearing systems to make these tokenized trade documents accessible and accepted.  All data on TWIN is fully encrypted and owned by the traders themselves. Meaning we are fully GDPR-compliant and self-sovereign. Only if the trader provides consent can data be shared with third parties (e.g., port authorities, customs declarations, or banks for trade finance).  We leverage the full power of open, permissionless Blockchains, self-sovereign identities and verifiable credentials to build an open, decentralized and secure environment for traders to securely share data across borders. CN: IOTA’s technology has faced questions about decentralization in the past (for example, its earlier reliance on a Coordinator node for network security). Now that critical trade infrastructure may rely on your ledger, how are you addressing any lingering centralization or security concerns in the IOTA network itself? If the system still requires any form of special oversight or could be halted in an emergency, doesn’t that undermine trust in this supposedly decentralized trade platform? DS: Just this week, we have upgraded IOTA to the Rebased protocol. This makes IOTA a fully decentralized and production-ready network supporting the MoveVM for programmability on the L1 secured by a decentralized validator set of 150+ validators. Exactly because of this network upgrade, we and our partners are confident that IOTA will be the solution on which trade will be digitized and soon billions of assets tokenized.

Etherlink 已在主网上部署了其第三个协议升级 Calypso，为 Tezos 第 2 层网络带来巨大的性能提升。 基于 Tezos（XTZ）构建的与以太坊虚拟机兼容的第 2 层解决方案宣布 Calypso 升级于 3 月 12 日在主网上线，而这距离在测试网上部署与 EVM 兼容的 L2 仅隔了几周时间。 通往主网的道路包括 Tezos 面包师的治理投票，这是与 Tezos 节点一起工作的关键生态系统组成部分。 在获得主网启动批准后，Calypso 已成功部署，为去中心化应用程序开发人员带来了诸如增强网络速度、弹性和效率等改进。部署还意味着可以更快地将 XTZ 从 Etherlink 提现到 Tezos。 阅读更多：Messari 2024 年第四季度报告显示，Tezos 的 Etherlink L2 蓬勃发展，合约部署量激增 184% Etherlink’s non-custodial platform, powered by the Tezos smart rollup technology, allows for frictionless integration of dApps and supports Ethereum ecosystem tools such as wallets and indexers. With its latest upgrade going live on mainnet, its performance could see up to a 30x boost — significant numbers in the world of decentralized finance and exchanges. Calypso also means improved smart contract storage and governance updates. It lays the foundation for improvements to non-custodial and trustless token bridging. As it stands, users can bridge the native Tezos token tez from the layer 1 chain to Etherlink and back. Bridging XTZ from Etherlink to Tezos L1 is called withdrawing, while bridging XTZ from the layer 1 chain to the Etherlink network is called depositing. In both cases, XTZ is the native token on both chains. Tezos 在 2 月份主网推出之前表示：“目前将 tez 从 Etherlink 移至 Tezos L1 就像在交通中等待一样。Calypso 引入了一个新的预编译合约入口点，为更快的提款奠定了基础。” Etherlink 于 2023 年推出了 alpha 测试网，并于 2024 年初推出了 beta 版，其关键路线图里程碑包括集成 oracle 价格馈送、LayerZero 桥和去中心化序列器。 与此同时，Tezos 最近通过启动魁北克部署了第 17 次升级，引入了更快的交易速度、改进了权益证明机制并加强了代币发行。 你可能还喜欢：据报道，Sepolia 测试网上的以太坊 Pectra 升级遭到不明身份攻击者的攻击

TRON 创始人孙宇晨宣布积极推动加强 TRON 的 memecoin 生态系统，提供零交易费、无限免费能源以及高达 100 万美元的开发者奖励。 TRON (TRX) 创始人孙宇晨在 X 上表达了对 memecoin 的看好态度，表示将全力推动 Tron meme 生态系统的发展。他进一步表示，他不会从 TRON 上推出的 meme 中获利。相反，他将捐出所有收益并自行承担任何损失。 https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1902194760988905950 他的承诺已经实现，即在未来几个月内免除平台上 memecoin 的交易费，这意味着用户现在可以在不花费 TRX 的情况下交易 TRON 的 meme。此外，TRON 将完全承担 memecoin 交易的能源成本，且不设上限。通常，用户需要冻结他们的 TRX 才能获得执行智能合约所需的能源，但这项补贴完全消除了这种需要。由于零费用和无限免费能源，TRON 上的 memecoin 交易现在在未来六个月内完全免费。 除了免除费用和补贴能源之外，孙宇晨最近还承诺向 memecoin 开发者提供高达 100 万美元的资金，以激励他们在 TRON 上进行开发。这笔资金与在 Huobi 和 Poloniex 等主要交易所的优先上市相辅相成，使新的 memecoin 更容易获得知名度和流动性。 就 TRX 价格而言，费用减免、能源补贴和开发者资金的结合可能对 TRX 的长期走势有利。尽管用户在未来 6 个月内不需要支付交易费或能源成本，但由此产生的交易活动涌入可能会导致交易量增加和整体网络增长。例如，用户可以使用从 memecoin 交易中获得的利润来交易 TRON 上的其他需要支付费用的资产，从而增加对 TRX 的需求。 此外，TRON memecoin 开发者的资金支持以及优先交易所上市可能会刺激网络的进一步发展。随着网络随着更多项目的发展而增长，对 TRX 的需求可能会增加，因为开发人员使用代币来执行智能合约。 你可能还喜欢：孙宇晨建议逢低买入，TRX 价格出现双底 与此同时，TRX 目前的股价为 0.23 美元，已从 0.20-0.21 美元的局部支撑区域反弹。然而，MACD 线低于信号线，表明空头仍占主导地位。话虽如此，两条线都开始趋于平缓，这意味着 TRX 看跌势头可能正在减弱。 此外，RSI 为 55.02，呈上升趋势。它仍远低于超买区域，这意味着价格有足够的上涨空间，而不会被视为超买。 来源：crypto.news 根据这些指标，TRX 价格在短期内谨慎看涨。然而，确认将取决于突破主要阻力位。直接阻力位在心理上重要的 0.25 美元水平附近。下一个阻力区在 0.28-0.30 美元之间，价格在 12 月至 1 月初飙升后在此盘整。 你可能还喜欢：Tron 价格预测：TRX 会在 2025 年达到 1 美元吗？

Coinbase 正在敦促美国银行业监管机构允许银行提供加密货币服务，包括交易和托管。 据彭博社报道，该加密货币交易所认为，现行法规设置了不必要的障碍，阻碍银行全面进入数字资产市场。 Coinbase 在致货币监理署、美联储和联邦存款保险公司的一封信中呼吁进行改革，使银行更容易与加密货币公司合作。 你可能还喜欢：比特币能否在即将到来的金融崩溃中幸存下来？| 观点 美国银行需要额外批准才能参与加密货币业务 具体来说，Coinbase 要求 OCC 撤销一项政策，该政策称该政策对希望从事加密相关活动的银行施加了额外的审批。它还敦促美联储和联邦存款保险公司确认，受其监管的银行既可以提供加密服务，也可以外包加密服务。 由于监管不确定性，银行一直不愿进入加密货币领域。据报道，2022 年至 2023 年期间，联邦存款保险公司 (FDIC) 要求一些金融机构暂停或限制其加密货币活动。这导致银行不再提供数字资产服务，尽管机构和散户投资者有需求。 Coinbase 的举措正值唐纳德·特朗普总统执政期间监管环境发生变化之际。特朗普任命了对加密货币持更开放态度的监管机构，并最近废除了美国证券交易委员会的一项规定，该规定使银行提供加密货币托管服务的成本变得高昂。 Coinbase 发出这封信的时间值得注意，因为参议院银行委员会正在准备就“去银行化”举行听证会——即切断对某些行业（包括加密货币）的金融服务。Coinbase 长期以来一直认为，严格的银行政策使加密货币公司难以获得传统金融服务。 Coinbase 的请求得到了三家大型律师事务所的支持，它们认为现行法律已经允许银行与加密货币公司合作。美国货币监理署和联邦存款保险公司拒绝置评，美联储尚未回应。 你可能还喜欢：2 月份 Solana 和莱特币可能会飙升；以下是分析师的看法

Aptos 是一个顶层第 1 层网络，即使其代币徘徊在 2023 年以来的最低水平附近，也表现出了韧性。 周二，Aptos (APT) 代币的交易价格为 5.90 美元，略高于今年迄今的低点 4.60 美元。这一价格比去年 12 月的最高点低约 62%。 Aptos 的价格最近出现下跌，尽管其生态系统仍在继续增长。根据 DeFi Llama 的数据，Aptos 网络中锁定的总价值已跃升至 10.6 亿美元。这些资产大部分都在 Aries Markets，这是一个拥有超过 3.91 亿美元资产的借贷协议。网络中的另一个顶级平台 Echelon Market 持有超过 1.78 亿美元，而 Cellana Finance 持有 2670 万美元。 Aptos 生态系统中其他领先的流动性质押平台包括 Amnis Finance、Echo Protocol 和 Thala。 你可能还喜欢：XRP 价格能达到 5 美元吗？Ripple 首席执行官 Garlinghouse 关注 SWIFT 颠覆 数据还显示，Aptos 上的稳定币市值首次突破 10 亿美元大关。这一增长表明用户对生态系统中去中心化应用程序的参与度不断提高。 Aptos 的收入今年也持续增长。2 月份，其应用程序收入攀升至创纪录的 20.5 万美元，本月则为 20.1 万美元。这些收入数字低于其他连锁店，因为 Aptos 用户被该网络较低的费用所吸引。 Aptos DeFi TVL、稳定币市值和费用 | 来源：DeFi Llama Aptos 价格技术分析 APT 价格图表 | 来源：crypto.news 日线图显示，APT 在过去几个月中一直处于强劲下跌趋势，从 11 月份的 15.3 美元高点跌至本月的 4.93 美元低点。 Aptos 仍低于 50 天指数移动平均线，表明空头目前占据主导地位。从积极的一面来看，该代币已经形成了一个大型双底形态，颈线位于 15.3 美元。这种形态被认为是市场上最看涨的反转信号之一。 因此，APT 可能在未来几天反弹，下一个关键目标是 12.13 美元，即 50% 的回撤点，这将代表从当前水平上涨约 105%。 你可能还喜欢：随着马斯克引发争议后特斯拉股价下跌，石墨网络传递的信息变得清晰：声誉比资本更重要