Liquid releases emergency update for Elements v23.3.4, fixing proof verification cache vulnerability.

a16z Crypto has announced the release of a new version of its open-source zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM), Lattice Jolt. The update switches the underlying cryptography from elliptic curves to lattice cryptography, making the system quantum-resistant, and boosts both prover and verifier speeds by 2 to 3 times. Its proof size currently stands at under 100KB, which a16z Crypto claims is the smallest proof of any post-quantum zkVM. Lattice Jolt uses a novel polynomial commitment scheme called Akita, built on the Module-SIS lattice hardness assumption, with a target 128-bit security level. Akita was developed by LayerZero’s research and engineering team in collaboration with teams from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Southern California, and a16z Crypto. Performance-wise, Lattice Jolt can prove over 2 million RISC-V cycles per second on a CPU-only device; with Apple Metal GPU acceleration, it exceeds 10 million cycles on a MacBook. The prover’s memory footprint has also dropped from roughly 300 bytes per cycle to 200 bytes, supporting proof generation for millions of compute cycles on mobile phones. The project will add additional zero-knowledge functionality via an upcoming academic paper.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has published a post detailing the recursive STARK mempool proposal EIP-8288, which he aims to include in Ethereum’s I-star upgrade following the Hegota upgrade. The proposal cuts on-chain computation and data costs by offloading signatures and proofs from Ethereum’s core execution path and recursively aggregating STARKs within the mempool. Vitalik noted that the solution supports low-cost quantum-secure signatures and privacy protocols, with the cost of quantum-secure private transactions projected to drop from around 10 million Gas to tens of thousands of Gas. It is also compatible with new signature or proof schemes such as Falcon and ML-DSA without modifying the EVM, while enabling private account abstraction. Per the design, nodes will periodically aggregate transaction dependencies and generate recursive STARKs, and block builders will produce proofs for transactions slated for inclusion in blocks. Each block’s additional on-chain overhead is approximately a 100–300 KB STARK, plus 96 bytes of data per statement to be proven. The scheme may also drive Ethereum to adopt RISC-V as the standard instruction set for recursive STARKs.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the three major US stock indexes declined, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose above 4.85%, the yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond broke through 5.30%, the US Dollar Index surged sharply, and spot gold fell rapidly. On the news front, the US Treasury Department announced it would repurchase up to $6 billion in long-term bonds on Thursday. Previously, the US Treasury had stated that the size of each single long-term bond repurchase would at least double to $4 billion before November 4.

According to the latest data from CoinMarketCap, Binance has recorded a cumulative trading volume of $1.5919 trillion in the RWA perpetual contracts market, accounting for 50.4% of the total market share, making it the leading centralized exchange (CEX) in this segment. In terms of product offerings, Binance currently provides around 179 RWA perpetual contract products, with its trading volume taking up more than half of the market. Its products focus primarily on core assets including gold, silver, and top-ranked stocks by market capitalization, concentrating liquidity in major markets with high trading demand. This trend indicates that as the trading scale of RWA and tokenized assets expands, CEXs like Binance are emerging as key trading venues bridging traditional financial assets and crypto-native trading markets.

Per GMGN market data, BSC meme token "Niu Lai" has erased all gains it posted after Binance announced its spot listing, now trading at $94 million, over 36% below the all-time high of $147 million it hit following today's Binance spot listing announcement. BlockBeats reminds users that related tokens are highly volatile, so investors should exercise caution.

According to CNBC, U.S. President Donald Trump’s disclosed holdings in nine of the largest oil and gas companies are estimated to have gained between $1.5 million and $4.4 million in value between February 27 and August 31, the period on the eve of the outbreak of war with Iran. The holdings include ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, and several refining and pipeline firms. Trump’s investment account continued trading energy stocks during the conflict. As of June 29, the account reported at least 23 sales of related stocks. On the first trading day after the March 2 U.S.-Israeli first strike on Iran, the account purchased stocks in eight oil and gas firms, including $100,000 to $250,000 worth of ExxonMobil shares. On March 23, Trump delayed strikes on Iranian energy facilities before market opening; Brent crude fell nearly 11% that day, and his account reported 16 purchases of oil and gas stocks totaling roughly $163,000 to $570,000. On April 7, the account sold $500,000 to $1 million worth of ExxonMobil shares; roughly two and a half hours later, Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran, and the stock opened more than 6% lower the next day. Since disclosure documents do not provide exact share counts, transaction prices, or sale batches, the above estimates do not represent actual realized profits or current precise holdings. CNBC also found no evidence that Trump directed the trades, had advance knowledge of relevant decisions, or used personal interests to influence policy. The White House stated that the investment portfolio is managed entirely by independent administrators.