Home Blog Page 1204

human.tech Kicks Off HUMN Onchain SUMR Season 2

0

human.tech, a privacy-focused identity and “proof-of-personhood” project backed by Holonym Foundation, said it has begun a second season of its HUMN onchain SUMR community campaign—pivoting from basic “are you human?” verification toward user contributions, shared principles and an emerging governance structure.

The new phase centers on what the group calls the “Covenant of Humanistic Technologies,” which it describes as both a living charter for human-aligned technology and a curated body of community submissions—ranging from essays and research to art—that could later feed into a DAO-style governance model for grants and long-term direction.

The initiative lands at a moment when crypto applications, airdrops and onchain communities are increasingly grappling with automated accounts, Sybil attacks and deepfake-driven fraud—problems that have pushed developers to experiment with “proof-of-personhood” systems that can gate access to voting, incentives or scarce resources without forcing users into fully public, doxxed identities.

From “proof” to “participation”

Season 2 is framed as an attempt to turn identity infrastructure into a broader social layer. On its manifesto site, human.tech outlines a flow that begins with reading the Covenant and signing a declaration, then verifying “proof of humanity,” and finally submitting “artifacts”—with the site suggesting that “real humans” may be able to earn a token labeled $HUMN through contributions.

In the announcement shared by human.tech, the project said Season 1 drew 68,800 unique participants interacting with Human Passport and resulted in more than 38,000 “Human Passport scores” minted onchain across networks including Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Linea, zkSync and Scroll. The group is now asking participants not only to verify they are human, but also to contribute to what it wants to become a culture-and-governance layer built around privacy-preserving participation.

you can join the campaign: manifest.human.tech

The rails: Human Passport and zero-knowledge identity

The campaign builds on Human Passport, a Sybil-resistance and identity-verification toolkit that originated as Gitcoin Passport and was later brought under Holonym’s umbrella. In February 2025, Holonym said it had acquired Gitcoin Passport and launched human.tech as a broader suite spanning keys, wallets and identity tools, positioning Passport as a core product for distributing capital and access to “real humans” rather than bots.

Holonym has pitched the stack as relying heavily on applied cryptography—particularly zero-knowledge proofs—to let users demonstrate properties about themselves (such as uniqueness or eligibility) without revealing the underlying personal data. Its Human ID documentation describes a system designed to verify facts about identity without organizations storing sensitive information.

The “privacy-preserving” angle is central to the project’s pitch: rather than traditional KYC processes that collect and retain identity documents, human.tech argues that identity proofs can be generated and checked in ways that minimize surveillance and linkability.

Use cases: from airdrops to governance

Human Passport has been used as a gating mechanism in several crypto contexts where one-person-one-vote or fair access matters. In one case study, the project said Passport helped secure governance participation for Optimism’s Citizens’ House by requiring a threshold “Passport score” to reduce Sybil risk, aiming to align voting with unique humans rather than token-weighted influence.

Holonym has also marketed Passport as infrastructure for “safe and fair token distributions,” saying it has been used across a wide set of campaigns. In its 2025 announcement, Holonym said Human Passport had produced tens of millions of credentials and supported the distribution of more than $225 million in grants and airdrops across numerous campaigns—figures that, if accurate, would place it among the larger identity products in crypto by usage.

Season 2’s emphasis on “artifacts” and an emerging DAO structure suggests the organization is now trying to extend that identity layer into a community coordination model—one that can, in theory, determine who is eligible not only for access but also for influence and resource allocation.

Holonym is backed by Finality Capital and Paper Ventures

In 2024, Holonym raised $5.5 million seed round led by Finality Capital and Paper Ventures, alongside other crypto venture backers.

Since then, the foundation has expanded the human.tech brand to include multiple components—Human Passport, Human ID and related tooling—arguing that a privacy-preserving identity layer is a prerequisite for onchain systems to scale without being overwhelmed by automation and fraud.

Read Also:

Disclaimer: The information provided on AlexaBlockchain is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Read complete disclaimer here.

Crypto’s Big Regulatory Overhaul May Crawl Through Years Of Rulemaking: Exec

0

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

A top policy official at crypto firm Paradigm warned this week that a broad overhaul of US crypto rules could take years of agency work to finish.

Justin Slaughter, Paradigm’s vice president for regulatory affairs, said the law itself would only begin a longer process of writing dozens of detailed rules that agencies must draft, publish for comment, and finalize.

Lawmakers Unveil Draft Bill

On January 13, 2026, US senators released a draft bill meant to clarify which tokens are securities or commodities and to set who regulates spot crypto trading.

The draft would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over many spot markets and includes measures aimed at limiting how stablecoins are used to pay interest, among other provisions.

Rulemaking Could Stretch For Years

Slaughter pointed out that the bill would require about 45 separate, detailed rules to be written by regulators before its goals could be fully enforced.

That is a heavy technical lift. He compared the likely timeline to rules written after the Dodd-Frank law, which took roughly three to eight years to be finalized for many parts of the financial system.

That comparison matters because it shows how slow the work can be even when lawmakers act quickly. Agencies must draft proposals, take public comments, revise drafts, and then publish final rules. Each step can be delayed by legal challenges, staffing limits, or political shifts.

Industry Groups Prepare For Phased Change

Exchanges, banks, and stablecoin firms have already begun drafting compliance plans. Some industry players say they prefer the bill’s tilt toward the CFTC for spot oversight, believing it could ease certain market practices.

Others worry that long rulemaking windows will leave uncertainty for months, or even years, while firms try to follow shifting guidance.

BTCUSD now trading at $95,088. Chart: TradingView

What Could Slow Things Down

Among the likely bottlenecks: fights over who enforces which rules, debates on how decentralized finance fits under old statutes, and political turnover.

Slaughter warned that parts of the rulemaking might span two presidential terms before everything is settled. That would leave the sector operating under a mix of new guidance and legacy rules for a long time.

Lawyers And Regulators Step Into The Fray

Regulatory staff at the SEC and CFTC have already ramped up work on crypto issues. The SEC has signaled plans to update long-standing securities rules to better address tokenized instruments.

At the same time, the CFTC is preparing market-structure and custody guidance tied to its growing role. These agency moves will shape the final form of the technical rules required by whatever law, if any, becomes binding.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

Morning Minute: Financial Advisors Are More Bullish on Crypto Than Ever

0

📈 Financial Advisors Are Turning Bullish on Crypto in 2026

The survey results are in, and –

Financial advisors are turning up their crypto recommendations to new ATHs.

📌 What Happened

New survey data shows financial advisors are allocating to crypto at the highest levels ever recorded.

This is a meaningful shift in how this particular cohort has viewed digital assets and are now allocating inside their traditional client portfolios.

Key takeaways from the data:

  • 32% of advisors reported allocating to crypto in client accounts over the past year, up from 22% in 2024 (an all-time high for the survey)
  • 56% of advisors now personally own crypto, the highest level of advisor ownership since the survey began in 2018
  • Among client portfolios with crypto exposure, 64% now allocate more than 2% to crypto, up sharply from 51% last year
  • 42% of advisors said they now have institutional access to buy crypto for clients, up from 35% in 2024 and just 19% in 2023
  • When asked what themes excite them most, stablecoins and tokenization led interest at 30%, followed by “digital gold / fiat debasement” (22%) and crypto-linked AI investments (19%)

Financial advisors are finally embracing crypto—and they’re jumping in with both feet.

🗣️ What They’re Saying

1% allocation to $BITB across clients. Email from a large wealth team at a major US Bank. Mainstream investors are coming into this asset class —” – Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise

🧠 Why It Matters

This is what real investment adoption looks like.

For the past few years, crypto’s institutional story revolved around hedge funds, DATs, and ETFs.

But financial advisors are arguably the most important distribution channel of all as they sit between markets and millions of end investors.

The data points to three big implications for 2026:

  • First, crypto is increasingly being treated as a core portfolio asset. Allocations above 2% are becoming the norm where crypto is present, signaling longer-term positioning.
  • Second, access is compounding adoption. As more advisors gain the ability to buy crypto through compliant, institutional rails, allocations naturally follow. The jump from 19% access in 2023 to 42% today is a significant and telling shift.
  • Third, the narratives are maturing. Advisors are gravitating toward stablecoins, tokenization, and macro use cases.

There’s an analogy that wealth advisors don’t move like speed boats but more like cruise ships or oil tankers. They’re slow and methodical, but once they turn in a direction – they’re very hard to stop and they tend to keep going.

That’s why this tipping point matters so much.

Once financial advisors start pitching crypto to their clients—they will most likely continue to do so. And add, and increase portfolio allocations.

This is the infinite twap. And this is the wave (or tsunami) of buy pressure that will eventually overtake the Bitcoin and broader crypto sellers.

It’s just a matter of time…


🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

A few headlines that stood out:

  • Crypto majors are very green with Bitcoin making a new 2-month high; BTC +3% at $95,100; ETH +5% at $3,300, SOL +2% at $145; XRP +3% to $2.12
  • IP (+22%) , DASH (+22%), ICP (+16%) and PUMP (+13%) led top movers; XMR hit another new ATH at $715
  • Visa is partnering with stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to integrate stablecoin pre-funding and direct payouts into its Visa Direct real-time payments platform
  • Coingecko is considering a sale for $500M, tapping Moelis & Company to help them explore options
  • A draft provision in the Clarity Act would grant XRP, Solana, Dogecoin and others the same non-security status as Bitcoin and ETH (along with all ETF assets)
  • Galaxy Research warned that the new draft Clarity Bill will give the Treasury too much surveillance power
  • Bipartisan legislators introduced a bill to clarify when crypto developers and infrastructure providers are treated as money transmitters under federal law
  • Wintermute reported that OTC crypto liquidity is concentrated in BTC and ETH, with broader altcoin rallies fading in 2025
  • Polygon announced its Open Money Stack, becoming a regulated US payments platform after its Coinme and Sequence acquisitions

In Corporate Treasuries / ETFs

  • The BTC ETFs saw $753.8M in net inflows on Monday, the highest day since Oct 10; ETH ETFs saw $150M in net inflows
  • SharpLink shared plans to expand in 2026 after amassing nearly $3B of ETH and staking $170M on Linea, ultimately targeting 5% of ETH supply
  • A newly formed Kraken-linked SPAC filed for a $250M U.S. public offering
  • Semler Scientific shareholders approved a merger with Vivek’s Strive Inc. in an all stock deal

In Memes / Onchain Movers

  • Meme majors were mostly green with some posting 5-10% gains; Doge +5%, Shiba +1%, PEPE +10%, TRUMP +3%, Bonk +7%, Pengu +6%, SPX +3%, WIF +9% and Fartcoin +9%
  • Ralph (+57%), 1 (+39%), 67 (+20%) and Buttcoin (+30%) led notable onchain movers

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

  • Fogo launched its token airdrop claim page ahead of Thursday’s TGE
  • The ETHGas Foundation introduced its GWEI token and announced a snapshot for Jan 19
  • Binance announced that Aster will power perps in its Binance Wallet, with Aster points incentives and a $200k prize pool
  • Yzi Labs made an 8-figure investment in Genius Trading, a privacy-focused platform aiming to build an onchain Binance, with CZ joining on as an advisor
  • Backpack announced a new prediction market with a cross margin feature
  • Rekt Drinks sold out its World Star Cherry Cola in less than a day

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

  • NFT leaders were mostly flat on the day; Punks even at 29.2 ETH, Pudgy even at 5.13 ETH, and BAYC +4% at 5.88 ETH; Hypurr -1% 508 HYPE
  • Chimpers (+14%) and Good Vibes (+8%) led notable top movers
  • Token Works announced that anyone can now create an ERC20 strategy token

Perp DEXs Will Eat TradFi 2026: Delphi Digital

0

Perpetual decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are gaining traction as traders turn to blockchain-based platforms that promise lower costs and fewer intermediaries than traditional centralized venues.

Perp DEXs are blockchain-based venues for trading perpetual futures contracts, allowing traders to bet on the underlying asset’s price with leverage and without an expiry date.

Crypto research firm Delphi Digital said in its outlook for 2026 that perp DEXs are poised to continue taking market share from traditional finance products. It argued that decentralized infrastructure is structurally more efficient than legacy systems, which it described as fragmented and expensive to operate.

“Now Hyperliquid is building native lending. Perp DEXs could become brokerage, exchange, custodian, bank, and clearinghouse all at once,” wrote Delphi Digital in a Tuesday X post, adding that competitors such as Aster, Lighter and Paradex are “racing to catch up.”

Source: Delphi Digital

Related: $675M Lighter airdrop ranks among crypto’s 10 largest: Bubblemaps

Perp DEXs have already taken a significant share of revenue from centralized exchanges, as their market share rose from 2.1% in January 2023 to a new all-time high of 11.7% in November 2025, according to a report by data aggregator CoinGecko.

DEX to CEX perps volume ratio. Source: CoinGecko

The growing adoption of decentralized trading platforms may bolster the leading DEX token, Hyperliquid (HYPE), to over $200 in the next 10 years, according to a December research note from Cantor Fitzgerald.

The company’s prediction assumed that the token’s price will grow at a 15% compound annual growth rate while the Assistance Fund will repurchase about 291 million HYPE tokens, reducing the total supply to 666 million tokens.

HYPE token predictions, 10-year forecast. Source: Cantor Fitzgerald

Related: Standard Chartered said to plan crypto brokerage, trims ETH forecast

Perp DEX volume triples in 2025 amid growing onchain derivatives demand

The cumulative trading volume of perp DEXs tripled during 2025, reaching $12.09 trillion, up from $4.1 trillion at the start of the year, Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 31.

About $7.9 trillion, or 65% of the total perp DEX volume, was generated in 2025, according to DefiLlama data, showing the significant adoption of these trading platforms during the past year.

However, this figure pales in comparison to the notional value of outstanding over-the-counter derivatives, which reached $846 trillion in June 2025, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements.

Magazine: Can Robinhood or Kraken’s tokenized stocks ever be truly decentralized?