Connect with us

Crypto World

Ethereum Foundation starts experimenting with ‘DVT-lite’ technology

Published

on

Why machine-to-machine payments are the new electricity for the digital age

Network News

ETHEREUM FOUNDATION STARTS EXPERIMENTING WITH DVT-LITE TECH: The Ethereum Foundation is testing a method for running validators that could make it significantly easier for institutions holding large amounts of ether to set up staking infrastructure, widening the pool of participants and creating a more decentralized network. In a post on X, blockchain co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the foundation is using a simplified version of distributed validator technology, or “DVT-lite,” to stake 72,000 ETH. The experiment aims to make running validators across multiple machines less complicated. Buterin said the goal is to reduce the process to something close to a one-click setup, where operators choose which computers will run validator nodes, launch the software and enter the same key on each machine. The system would then automatically connect the nodes and begin staking. “My hope for this project is that we can make it maximally easy and one-click to do distributed staking for institutions,” Buterin wrote. Running Ethereum validators today typically means operating a single node that holds the key used to sign blocks and participate in the network. If that machine fails or goes offline, the validator can stop working and may be penalized. Distributed validator technology (DVT) changes that by allowing multiple independent machines to collectively act as a single validator. Instead of relying on one key and one computer, several nodes work together, and only a handful of them sign for the validator to function. That means the validator can keep operating even if some machines go down. But existing DVT systems can be complicated to deploy because operators must coordinate networking, keys and communication between nodes. Buterin has previously argued that complexity is one reason large staking providers have come to dominate the ecosystem. The “DVT-lite” setup aims to automate much of that process, making it easier for institutions to run distributed validators with minimal infrastructure expertise.— Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

NVIDIA SHARES AI CREATES JOBS IN RARE BLOG: The AI jobs debate got its sharpest rebuttal yet, from the person selling the hardware. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang published a rare standalone essay laying out what he calls the “five-layer cake” of AI infrastructure: energy at the base, then chips, then physical infrastructure, then models, then applications. It positioned AI not as a software product or a chatbot but as an industrial buildout on the scale of electrification, one that requires trillions of dollars in physical construction and a massive workforce of electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, steelworkers, and network technicians. “These are skilled, well-paid jobs, and they are in short supply. You do not need a PhD in computer science to participate in this transformation,” he said. Huang’s argument for why the buildout needs to be so large starts with a fundamental shift in how computing works. Traditional software retrieves stored instructions, while AI generates new outputs in real time, with every response created fresh based on the context provided. It isn’t looking up an answer, but instead, reasoning through one on demand. Because intelligence is produced in real time, the entire computing stack beneath it has to be reinvented, which is why AI requires purpose-built infrastructure from the energy layer up rather than running on existing data centers. The timing is pointed. The essay arrives after weeks of mounting anxiety about AI’s impact on employment, from Block Inc.’s mass layoffs to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s comments about job displacement. Tech stocks had been selling off on the combination of those fears since early this year. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

AAVE SEES RARE $27M IN LIQUIDATIONS DUE TO PRICE GLITCH: About $27 million was liquidated on the decentralized lending platform Aave over the last 24 hours, in what some market participants say may have been caused by a temporary pricing issue involving the token wstETH. Blockchain data flagged by risk-management firm Chaos Labs shows a spike in liquidations in the past 24 hours. Some observers believe the event may have been linked to a price update in a risk-oracle system that Aave uses to determine the value of collateral. Oracles are services that feed price data from the outside world into blockchain applications. Lending protocols like Aave rely on them to decide when a borrower’s collateral is no longer sufficient to back their loan — at which point the position can be liquidated. While such scenarios are rare, most recently, a price-oracle setup misconfigured by DeFi lender Moonwell briefly valued Coinbase Wrapped ETH (cbETH) at about $1 instead of roughly $2,200, leaving the protocol with nearly $1.8 million in bad debt. In Aave’s case, some say the issue may have involved wstETH, a token issued by Lido that represents staked ether. Because it accrues staking rewards over time, one wstETH is typically worth slightly more than one ETH. According to a post from LTV Protocol on X, at the time of the liquidations, Aave’s risk-oracle appeared to value wstETH at roughly 1.19 ETH, while the broader market valued it closer to 1.23 ETH. Volume remained relatively low for wstETH trading pairs, with just $10 million being traded over the past 24 hours, so it is unlikely any astute traders capitalized on the pricing mismatch before it snapped back. Stani Kulechov, the founder and CEO of Aave Labs, said in a post on X that there “was no impact to the Aave Protocol.” According to Chaos Labs, the incident was caused by a mismatch between stale parameters stored in a smart contract, including a reference exchange rate and its associated timestamp. Because those values were not updated in sync, the CAPO system temporarily calculated a maximum allowed exchange rate that was lower than the real market value of wstETH. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

PUDGY PENGUINS LAUNCHES ITS WEB3 GAME: Pudgy Penguins shipped its flagship game to the general public, and the most notable thing about it is that you wouldn’t know it had anything to do with crypto unless someone told you. Pudgy World, the browser-based game first announced at Art Basel in late 2023, went live with 12 unique towns across a world called The Berg, narrative quests where players help a penguin named Pengu find someone named Polly, and a set of mini-games. CoinDesk played a 10-minute session and came away with a simple takeaway. It’s smooth, responsive, intuitive, and clearly not built with a crypto-first user in mind. “We created custom world-building tools using open-source web technology, giving us a lightweight editor built for speed and rapid iteration,” co-founder @chefgoyardi said in an X post. “Our asset pipeline lets artists work in Maya, Cinema4D, or Blender while custom Houdini scripts automatically convert everything into a web-optimized format. Creative freedom without compromise.” “We engineered physics specifically for the browser. Snappy movement, parkour, fluid navigation, and high frame rates even on lower-end devices,” they added.The game could be pure Club Penguin nostalgia for some users. The game was Disney’s browser-based virtual world that ran from 2005 to 2017 and peaked at over 200 million registered users, mostly kids who customized penguin avatars and played mini-games. It remains the template for what a mass-market Penguin game looks like, and the comparison Pudgy World could be measured against in the broader audience. The NFT gaming space has spent years producing products that feel like wallets with gameplay bolted on. Pudgy World goes the other direction, building something that works as a game first and connects to the token economy second. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

Advertisement

In Other News

  • Mastercard has launched a new Crypto Partner Program that brings together more than 85 companies from across the digital asset and payments industries, an effort to more directly link blockchain technology with the infrastructure that underpins global commerce. The program includes crypto exchanges, blockchain developers, fintech firms and banks such as Binance, Circle, Ripple, Gemini, PayPal and Paxos, the company told CoinDesk in a statement. Participants will work with Mastercard to explore how blockchain-based systems can connect with traditional payment rails used by banks, merchants and consumers around the world. Mastercard said the initiative focuses on practical use cases where digital assets are already gaining traction, including cross-border transfers, business-to-business payments and global payouts. For payment companies like Mastercard, the challenge is less about replacing existing systems and more about connecting new ones to the networks that already handle global commerce. Mastercard’s network links banks, merchants and consumers in more than 200 countries and territories. The company argues that blockchain-based payments will only scale widely if they can plug into that kind of global infrastructure.The Crypto Partner Program is designed to create that bridge. Companies in the program will work with Mastercard teams to help shape products that combine on-chain tools — such as programmable payments or tokenized assets — with established payment rails. — Helene Braun Read more.
  • Foundry Digital, one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools by hashrate, said it plans to introduce a zcash (ZEC) mining pool by next month, expanding beyond BTC and bringing a large institutional operator into the privacy-focused network. With the new pool, Foundry aims to offer zcash miners a U.S.-based platform designed around compliance checks, reporting standards and operational controls often required by public companies and large firms. The move addresses what Foundry describes as a gap in Zcash infrastructure. While the cryptocurrency has existed for nearly a decade, much of its mining ecosystem still consists of smaller global pools that often operate outside formal compliance frameworks. “Zcash has matured into an institutional-grade asset, but the mining infrastructure supporting it hasn’t kept pace,” Foundry CEO Mike Colyer said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. The expansion comes as privacy-focused cryptocurrencies regain attention across the market as new crypto tax reporting rules, with the threat of asset seizure, kicked in across the European Union at the turn of the year and as onchain analysis keeps developing, leading to growing demand for financial anonymity. — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.

Regulatory and Policy

  • Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, on the same day the newspaper published a report claiming the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Iran used the world’s largest crypto exchange to move funds in violation of American sanctions. In the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the company said the newspaper published “false and defamatory statements” about its compliance practices and handling of Iran-linked transactions in an article published on Feb. 23. In that article, the Journal said Binance fired staff who flagged funds moving through the exchange to sanctioned entities, allegations Binance rejected. The lawsuit says Binance did not fire employees for raising compliance concerns. Staff departures stemmed from alleged breaches of internal data protection policies rather than retaliation, it said.”Binance categorically did not dismantle any compliance investigation,” a spokesperson for the exchange told CoinDesk. “The WSJ continues to report the same falsities. As a result, we have filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal for defamation.” — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.
  • Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has introduced proposed legislation that would ban prediction market contracts tied to terrorism, war, assassination, and death, directly challenging market regulator CFTC’s shift toward looser regulation of event trading. The bill, dubbed the DEATH BETS Act, would strip the agency of discretion over whether to permit such contracts and write explicit prohibitions into law, putting Schiff on a collision course with CFTC Chair Mike Selig’s deregulatory agenda. Schiff, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee that oversees the CFTC, is positioned to press the issue legislatively as the agency’s new rule-making takes shape. Under the Commodity Exchange Act, the CFTC already has authority to block contracts tied to war, terrorism, or assassination if it determines they are contrary to the public interest. But enforcement hinges on the regulator’s judgment, meaning the scope of protection shifts with agency leadership. Schiff’s bill would eliminate that flexibility. — Sam Reynolds Read more.

Calendar

Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Crypto World

SEC, CFTC end years of rivalry with deal that will mean combined crypto oversight

Published

on

SEC, CFTC end years of rivalry with deal that will mean combined crypto oversight

The U.S. markets regulators are melding their operations in the places where the duties of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) overlap, and building a crypto oversight framework is listed among the core aims of a written agreement released on Wednesday.

Most of the objectives of the memorandum of understanding in combining supervision, product approvals and policy interpretations, plus coordinating enforcement actions and providing dual registration, will effect the regulated majority of the crypto sector. But the agreement also specifically listed “Providing a fit-for-purpose regulatory framework for crypto assets and other emerging technologies,” as a top goal.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins had previewed the MOU in Tuesday remarks, detailing how the agencies are offering contact information for regulated firms to call combined meetings to discuss policy matters and product applications.

“For decades, regulatory turf wars, duplicative agency registrations, and different sets of regulations between the SEC and CFTC have stifled innovation and pushed market participants to other jurisdictions,” Atkins said in a statement on Wednesday. “By aligning regulatory definitions, coordinating oversight, and facilitating seamless, secure data sharing between agencies, we will ensure our rules and regulations deliver the clarity market participants deserve.”

Advertisement

The new agreement says the staff of the CFTC and SEC will meet regularly and share data on mutual interests. That includes enforcement actions, which have historically been pursued independently, sometimes leaving a crypto firm confronted with similar accusations by both agencies. If the two regulators overlap in an enforcement case, they’re agreeing to “confer on potential charges and relief, sequencing of filings, litigation strategy and public communications.”

During the previous administration, other crypto positions of the two agencies sometimes directly contradicted each other, including in how certain assets were being placed in which bucket: securities or commodities.

Now, their enthusiasm for friendly crypto rules is mutual and essentially unopposed, with the CFTC run by a sole Republican chairman on an otherwise empty five-member commission and the SEC led by Atkins and two other Republicans, with the Democrat seats kept vacant.

The chairmen of the agencies were both appointed by President Donald Trump, who arrived in office last year with a new-found enthusiasm for crypto, stemming in part from his own growing business interests. Both Atkins and CFTC Chairman Mike Selig had worked for crypto clients prior to taking their jobs.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

MetaMask plugs Uniswap API directly into in-wallet swaps

Published

on

MetaMask plugs Uniswap API directly into in-wallet swaps

MetaMask has integrated the Uniswap API as a core swap provider, routing in-wallet trades through Uniswap v2, v3, v4, and UniswapX across 16+ networks for deeper, CEX-like liquidity.

MetaMask has integrated the Uniswap API as one of its core swap providers, allowing users to route trades directly through Uniswap v2, v3, v4, and UniswapX from within the wallet across more than 16 networks. The move tightens the link between the most widely used self-custodial wallet and the largest on-chain DEX liquidity venue, effectively turning MetaMask into a front-end for Uniswap’s full routing stack rather than just a generic swap aggregator.

According to the announcement, MetaMask selected the Uniswap API based on liquidity depth, pricing efficiency, and infrastructure reliability across supported chains. The same API already powers swap flows for Uniswap Labs’ own products, as well as institutional and retail platforms including OKX, Talos, Fireblocks, Anchorage Digital, and Ledger, giving it a track record with both exchanges and custody providers. For end users, this means tighter spreads and deeper routing for volatile or long-tail assets without leaving the wallet.

Advertisement

The scale is non-trivial: cumulative historical trading volume through the Uniswap protocol has now exceeded 40 trillion dollars, underscoring how much order flow and price discovery sits on its pools. By plugging that liquidity into MetaMask’s native swap UX, the integration effectively reduces friction between retail order flow and DeFi’s largest AMM infrastructure. In practical terms, MetaMask users get a more “CEX-like” experience on-chain: one click to quote and execute across fragmented pools and versions.

For developers, the Uniswap API remains free to integrate, with no subscription or per-call fees; teams can generate API keys via the Uniswap developer platform and tap into the same routing engine now wired into MetaMask. That pricing model keeps barriers low for wallets, fintechs, and trading tools that want industrial-grade routing without building their own infrastructure or paying SaaS-style tolls. Over time, this could consolidate more of the retail swap stack around Uniswap’s infra, even as liquidity at the protocol level remains open and permissionless.

Strategically, the MetaMask–Uniswap link pushes the ecosystem a step closer to a de facto standard: MetaMask as the default EVM wallet, Uniswap as the default DEX backend. For centralized venues and competing aggregators, the risk is that a growing share of high-intent order flow never touches their rails, instead going straight from self-custody into Uniswap liquidity via wallet-native swaps. For users, the incentive is simple: fewer hops, deeper liquidity, and reduced reliance on centralized intermediaries for everyday trading.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

888casino vs ZunaBet: Comparing Bonuses and Features

Published

on

Meet Zuno: The Zunabet mascot

Bonuses and features are often the first things players look at when choosing an online casino. They shape the initial experience, influence how far a bankroll stretches, and determine whether a platform feels rewarding over time or just during the first deposit. 888casino and ZunaBet both compete for player attention in 2026, but they do so with very different toolkits. One is a long-established brand operating within traditional frameworks. The other is a crypto-native newcomer that arrived this year with a bonus structure, game library, and reward system designed to outperform what legacy platforms typically offer. Here is how they actually compare when you break down what each one puts in front of players.


888casino: A Familiar Name With a Traditional Approach

888casino has been part of the online gambling landscape since 1997, making it one of the oldest platforms still in operation. It operates under 888 Holdings, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange with licenses from the UK Gambling Commission, Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, and other jurisdictions. The brand carries nearly three decades of recognition and has maintained a steady presence across European and international markets.

The casino library at 888casino covers standard ground. Slots make up the largest portion, joined by table games, video poker, and live dealer experiences. The platform operates its own proprietary software alongside games from external providers, which gives it some exclusive titles not found elsewhere. Total game counts vary by market but generally land in the range of a couple of thousand titles. It is a mature library that covers mainstream categories without pushing into exceptional territory on volume.

888casino also connects to 888sport, the company’s sportsbook product. Football, tennis, basketball, horse racing, and other popular sports are covered with competitive odds. The sportsbook is functional and well-integrated but operates as a companion product rather than a standout feature in its own right.

Advertisement
Meet Zuno: The Zunabet mascot
Meet Zuno: The Zunabet mascot

Welcome bonuses at 888casino have historically been modest compared to some competitors. Offers vary by market and change periodically, but they typically involve a deposit match with a cap that sits well below what many newer platforms now offer. The terms tend to come with standard wagering requirements that players need to work through before any bonus funds become withdrawable.

Payments run through conventional channels. Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, bank transfers, and other traditional methods handle deposits and withdrawals. Processing times follow the usual patterns — e-wallets are quickest while bank and card methods can take several business days. The system is comprehensive but operates within the standard limitations of traditional financial infrastructure.

888casino rewards loyal players through a VIP program with tiered levels. Players earn comp points through real-money wagering that can be exchanged for bonus funds. Higher tiers offer improved conversion rates, faster withdrawals, and access to exclusive promotions. It is a structured program, which puts it ahead of operators that rely solely on ad hoc promotions, though the actual return rates remain modest compared to what newer platforms are now introducing.


ZunaBet: Bigger Numbers at Every Level

ZunaBet launched in 2026 under Strathvale Group Ltd with an Anjouan gaming license. The team behind it brings over 20 years of combined gambling industry experience, and they used that experience to build a crypto-native platform that challenges established operators on bonuses, features, and player value simultaneously. Everything from the welcome offer to the loyalty program to the payment system was designed to outperform what traditional platforms deliver.

The game library sets the scale immediately. ZunaBet hosts 11,294 games from 63 providers. Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Hacksaw Gaming, BGaming, and Yggdrasil headline the list, while more than fifty additional studios push the variety well beyond what most single platforms offer. Slots dominate the count as expected, but live dealer rooms and RNG table games carry genuine depth. Comparing this to a traditional library of a couple of thousand titles illustrates just how wide the content gap has become between legacy and next-generation platforms.

Advertisement
ZunaBet Website
ZunaBet Website

The sportsbook was built as a full standalone product. Football, basketball, tennis, hockey, and other major global sports get comprehensive market coverage. Esports occupy a permanent position with dedicated markets on CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Valorant. Virtual sports and combat sports extend the offering further. The sportsbook is not an afterthought attached to the casino — it stands on its own merits for players whose primary interest is sports betting.

The welcome bonus immediately distinguishes ZunaBet from more conservative operators. New players can claim up to $5,000 plus 75 free spins across three deposits. The first deposit matches at 100% up to $2,000 with 25 spins. The second matches at 50% up to $1,500 with 25 spins. The third matches at 100% up to $1,500 with 25 spins. The total package dwarfs what most traditional casinos offer and sustains bonus value across three separate deposits rather than concentrating everything into a single moment.

Zunabet Sports
Zunabet Sports

Payments are entirely crypto-based. Over 20 coins are accepted including BTC, ETH, USDT across multiple chains, SOL, DOGE, ADA, XRP, and more. ZunaBet charges no processing fees. Withdrawals move through the blockchain without bank involvement, business hour restrictions, or geographic speed variations. Fast, free, and consistent for every player on the platform.

Native apps cover iOS, Android, Windows, and MacOS. The dark-themed responsive interface loads quickly across all devices. Live chat support operates around the clock.


Bonus Structures: Conservative vs Aggressive

The welcome bonus comparison alone tells a significant story about how these platforms position themselves.

888casino has traditionally kept its welcome offers relatively contained. Deposit matches with moderate caps and standard wagering requirements are the norm. The offers are fine for casual players looking for a small boost, but they do not dramatically extend a new player’s runway or create a compelling incentive to make multiple deposits.

Advertisement

ZunaBet’s $5,000 plus 75 free spins welcome package operates on a completely different scale. The three-deposit structure is particularly notable because it rewards players who stick around rather than just showing up once. Each deposit triggers its own match and its own batch of free spins, creating three separate waves of bonus value rather than a single event. For players evaluating where their first deposits will go the furthest, the math favours ZunaBet by a considerable margin.


Loyalty: Comp Points vs Direct Rakeback

Beyond the welcome bonus, the ongoing loyalty experience determines how much value a platform returns to regular players over time.

888casino uses a comp points system tied to its VIP tiers. Real-money wagering earns points that convert to bonus funds at rates that improve as players climb through the levels. Higher tiers bring perks like faster withdrawals, dedicated account managers, and exclusive promotions. It is a structured system and more transparent than platforms that rely purely on rotating promotions. However, the conversion rates and overall return remain conservative, and the value can feel modest relative to the volume of play needed to reach the upper tiers.

ZunaBet approaches loyalty through its dragon evolution program with six tiers — Squire at 1% rakeback, Warden at 2%, Champion at 4%, Divine at 5%, Knight at 10%, and Ultimate at 20%. A dragon mascot named Zuno evolves alongside the player’s progression. Higher tiers add up to 1,000 free spins, VIP club access, and double wheel spins.

Advertisement
Zunabet VIP Levels
Zunabet VIP Levels

The core difference is the mechanism. Comp points require conversion and the resulting value depends on exchange rates set by the platform. Rakeback is direct — a percentage of your wagering comes back without conversion steps or variable rates. At 20%, the return is substantial and easy to calculate. A player does not need to track points, check conversion tables, or wonder what their loyalty is worth. The number is right there, applied automatically, every session. For regular players who care about maximizing the return on their activity, rakeback at these rates represents a meaningful upgrade over traditional comp point economics.


Payment Speed and Cost

888casino processes payments through conventional methods that work reliably but slowly by modern standards. E-wallet withdrawals are fastest, card and bank methods stretch across multiple business days, and international players may encounter conversion fees depending on their location and currency. It is the standard experience that traditional platforms have offered for years.

ZunaBet eliminates the wait entirely. Crypto withdrawals process on-chain without banks, without card networks, and without fees from the platform. There is no variation in speed based on geography or payment method because there is only one payment channel and it works the same way for everyone. For players who have experienced the difference between waiting days for a traditional withdrawal and receiving crypto within the same session, the choice becomes straightforward.


What the Comparison Reveals

888casino has earned its longevity. Nearly three decades in operation, publicly traded, and licensed across major jurisdictions all speak to a platform with genuine staying power. For players who value brand history, traditional VIP structures, and conventional banking, it remains a reasonable choice with a track record to back it up.

But the specifics of what each platform offers tell a clear story in 2026. ZunaBet’s welcome bonus is several times larger. Its game library is several times bigger. Its rakeback system returns more to players more transparently than comp points can match. Its payment system moves money faster and cheaper than any traditional method available at 888casino.

Advertisement

ZunaBet was designed for a generation of players who evaluate platforms on measurable output rather than brand familiarity. More games, bigger bonuses, better loyalty returns, and faster payments — every metric that directly affects the player experience tilts in ZunaBet’s direction. For anyone making a fresh choice about where to play in 2026, the numbers make a compelling case.


Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Crypto World

Revolut Granted Banking License in the United Kingdom

Published

on

Banks, United Kingdom, Stablecoin, Companies

Financial technology company Revolut announced on Wednesday that it has launched a bank in the United Kingdom after receiving regulatory approval from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), a banking and financial services regulator.

Revolut Bank UK will begin offering deposit accounts for individuals and businesses, with eligible deposits up to 120,000 British pounds ($160,958) protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), according to the company’s announcement. 

The FSCS offers a safety net for customer deposits at banks and other financial institutions, similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance for US bank deposits up to $250,000. 

Banks, United Kingdom, Stablecoin, Companies
Source: Revolut

Existing Revolut UK customers will be rolled over to the new account type gradually, with the process expected to take several months to fully complete, according to the company.

The new bank sets the stage for offering a “wider range” of services in the future, including lending, the company said.

Advertisement

Revolut also applied for a full banking license in Peru and a federal banking charter in the United States in January, as crypto and financial technology companies pivot to become banks, blurring the line between digital and traditional finance.