Ethereum transaction fees remain at near all-time lows despite peak network activity that saw daily transactions top 1.6 million for the first time since October’s market crash. Despite growing blockchain activity on Ethereum, gas fees on the world’s largest smart contract network remain near historic lows, signaling a more mature and scalable infrastructure ready for advanced real-world use cases. Ethereum transaction fees remained at a historic low of just 0.16 gwei, or about $0.01 per transaction. Gas fees were slightly higher for token swaps at $0.15 and at $0.27 for non-fungible token (NFT) sales, according to blockchain data aggregator Milkroad. The low costs stand in sharp contrast to previous periods of high network activity, when demand often sent fees soaring, which was one of Ethereum’s biggest criticisms in past cycles. Read more
OpenAI is preparing a trillion-dollar IPO in 2026 to fund ChatGPT’s next evolution as global AI competition intensifies, Reuters reported. Artificial intelligence company OpenAI is reportedly preparing an initial public offering (IPO) for late 2026, which could see the world’s largest startup reach a trillion-dollar valuation. The AI company is reportedly preparing to launch its IPO at a $1 trillion valuation, which would include a $60 billion capital raise, according to three anonymous sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported on Thursday. The filing may reach US securities regulators in the second half of 2026, putting OpenAI on track to debut on public markets ahead of its previously announced 2027 target. Read more
Bank Indonesia will issue tokenized government bond–backed digital securities built on its digital rupiah CBDC, calling it the nation’s “stablecoin version.” Bank Indonesia (BI), Indonesia’s central bank, is moving ahead with plans to issue what it describes as its “national stablecoin version,” a digital currency backed by government bonds (SBN). The initiative was unveiled by central bank Governor Perry Warjiyo during the Indonesia Digital Finance and Economy Festival and Fintech Summit 2025 in Jakarta on Thursday, according to a report by CNBC Indonesia. During the summit, Warjiyo said Bank Indonesia plans to issue digital central bank securities, which are tokenized versions of SBN. The digital securities will be backed by the digital rupiah, the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). Read more
Crypto’s transparency reveals market manipulation that traditional finance hides. Century-old laws riddled with loopholes enable unpunished manipulation. Opinion by: Nic Puckrin, founder of CoinBureau The largest liquidation event in the history of the crypto market, which wiped out at least $19 billion in long positions after US President Donald Trump announced punitive tariffs on China late on Oct. 10, exposed an ugly side of this nascent market: its vulnerability to insider trading. Onchain data shows that a significant short position was taken out on Hyperliquid just half an hour before the big announcement. Once the market plummeted, this trader bagged $160 million, sparking speculation over market manipulation — with some even theorizing that the “whale” behind the transaction was close to the presidential family itself. Read more