Из жизни альткоинов

Ethereum’s position as the default smart-contract settlement layer for tokenized finance is facing a new test after Google Cloud revealed plans for a Layer-1 network—Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL)—explicitly aimed at financial institutions and programmable with Python.

Google Cloud Enters The Arena

In a LinkedIn post, Rich Widmann, Google Cloud’s global head of Web3 strategy, said the company’s ledger is “performant, credibly neutral and enables Python-based smart contracts,” adding that “any financial institution can build with GCUL” and that “we’ll be releasing more technical details in the coming months.” He framed the move as a response to the wave of corporate base-layer initiatives: “All this talk of Layer 1 blockchains has brought Google’s own Layer 1 into focus. As a product leader in crypto, you know that if you’re building a Layer 1 it has to be differentiated.”

Widmann cast GCUL as part of a three-horse race now forming alongside Stripe’s “Tempo” and Circle’s “Arc,” and published an infographic that positioned Google’s effort as a “planet-scale” Google-developed L1 rather than an EVM chain. The comparative table said Stripe is building an EVM L1 tethered to its payments stack and custody/onboarding rails, and Circle’s Arc is an EVM L1 with “USDC as native gas,” an integrated FX engine and sub-second finality.

By contrast, GCUL is “built for finance,” designed to support “native commercial bank money on-chain,” and—crucially—relies on Python-based smart contracts. The architecture choice matters for Ethereum: EVM chains (Arc, and reportedly Tempo) hew to Ethereum’s developer lingua franca and tooling, while a Python-native L1 suggests a clean break from Solidity-first ecosystems that dominate Ethereum and its rollups.

The pitch to institutions is as much about neutrality and distribution as it is about code. “Besides bringing to bear Google’s distribution, GCUL is a neutral infrastructure layer. Tether won’t use Circle’s blockchain—and Adyen probably won’t use Stripe’s blockchain. But any financial institution can build with GCUL,” Widmann wrote. He disclosed that “institutions like the CME Group chose the Universal Ledger to explore tokenization and payments on one of the largest commodities exchanges in the world leveraging GCUL,” underscoring a go-to-market centered on market infrastructure rather than consumer crypto.

In the comments, when asked whether rivals would ever touch a Google-run chain, Widmann replied that Amazon or Microsoft “may if they can get comfortable becoming more participatory on-chain—in fact, our goal would be in the near future they could even run it themselves for the benefits of their customers.”

A Competitor For Ethereum?

For Ethereum, the competitive contours are nuanced. The world’s largest public smart-contract network is already the gravity well for DeFi liquidity, token standards, and a sprawling L2 stack, with RWAs and payments gradually layering on top through EVM-compatible rails and stablecoins.

Circle’s own Arc, if it proceeds as described, would keep one foot firmly in Ethereum’s universe by retaining EVM semantics and the familiar gas-and-tooling model, even as it privileges USDC at the protocol layer.

Stripe’s Tempo, as presented, also orbits Ethereum through EVM compatibility while optimizing for payments throughput and compliance primitives. GCUL, however, sets out a different axis of competition: it emphasizes bank money, “credibly neutral” enterprise governance, and Python programmability, signaling an institutional ledger that could route some tokenization and wholesale-payments flows away from public-permissionless venues and toward a managed, industry-operated base layer.

That does not automatically make GCUL a “replacement” for Ethereum. The early posture—private testnet status, a focus on commercial bank money accounts, and partnerships with financial-market operators—reads like an institutional network designed for regulated workloads that demand predictable fees, enterprise SLAs and tight identity controls.

The open questions for Ethereum’s ecosystem are where and how GCUL will interoperate: Will bridges or messaging standards give Ethereum-native assets seamless passage to GCUL environments? Will on-chain data and attestations produced on GCUL be consumable by Ethereum rollups and vice versa? And will GCUL’s governance decentralize beyond a cloud-operated trust model in ways that satisfy institutions and crypto-native builders alike?

Widmann’s framing also highlights why Ethereum remains central to the narrative even as corporate L1s proliferate. If Arc and Tempo are EVMs, they implicitly validate Ethereum’s developer stack while competing on distribution, compliance and payments ergonomics. If GCUL succeeds with Python contracts among financial institutions, it could expand the total addressable market for on-chain finance without directly contesting Ethereum’s open-network moat—unless, over time, significant volumes of tokenized collateral, settlement and FX migrate to a GCUL-style ledger and remain siloed there.

For now, Ethereum is still the benchmark against which GCUL, Arc and Tempo will be judged. Google Cloud’s entry elevates the competitive bar, but it also reinforces the idea that the base layer for the next phase of tokenized finance will be plural.

At press time, ETH traded at $4,613.

Гендиректор аналитической платформы WhaleWire Джейкоб Кинг (Jacob Kinge) заявил, что биткоин может столкнуться с катастрофическим обвалом. Причина — майнинг первой криптовалюты стал слишком централизованным.

Власти Таиланда выбрали оператора цифровой платформы для запуска токенизированных государственных облигаций G-Token, сообщили в Министерстве торговли Таиланда (МОС).

После того, как цена биткоина рухнула ниже отметки $110 000, есть высокий риск дальнейшего падения котировок первой криптовалюты, сообщили опрошенные изданием The Block аналитики.

Over the weekend, the Ethereum price broke above $4,900 to mark a brand-new all-time high after a choppy four years. Naturally, this has resulted in heightened volatility strengthened by both buying and sell-offs, as investors tend to take profit during levels like this. The next step is for Ethereum to step into price discovery as it leads to higher highs in the coming months, with analysts already expecting it to cross the $10,000 level.

Previous Cycle Performance Points To 5-Figure Levels

In an analysis, TheSignalyst points out how the Ethereum price has performed historically. This has usually started with the price spending years in a consolidation zone as it bleeds out. This often ends in a breakout that sees the altcoin break its previous all-time high.

This was the case back in the 2018 bear market, where the Ethereum price consolidated for around three years before reaching an end. It will eventually break the $1,400 all-time high of the previous bull cycle in 2021. What followed was an explosive rally that saw the ETH price rise over 250% from its previous all-time high to put in a new high of $4,800 before cooling off.

Taking this previous performance into account, it is possible that the Ethereum price could follow this same trend. This is due to the similar consolidation pattern before a break of the previous all-time high levels. The breakout of this extended range is inherently bullish and could suggest that history may not be repeating, but it could rhyme.

How High Can The Ethereum Price Go?

Taking into account the Ethereum price performance after breaking out of the extended range in 2021, it is possible that the altcoin will break $10,000 into the 5-digit range. A more than 250% increase from its all-time high, like the 2021 cycle, would mean that the price would rally to the $17,000-$18,000 range.

“ETH hitting new highs signals strong ecosystem demand and potential altcoin season, driven by Powell’s unexpectedly dovish speech fueling risk-on trades,” Bitget Research Analyst, Ryan Lee, said. “On-chain data shows whales selling BTC to buy ETH, boosting ETH’s momentum. This macro easing and capital rotation should drive both assets higher, with ETH likely outperforming due to its utility and ETF prospects.

Now, even taking a more conservative stance that the Ethereum price would only rise around 100% from its previous all-time high of $4,800 would put the price very close to $10,000. Either way, an explosion into another bull market suggests that Ethereum would likely see the 5-digit range this cycle.

TheSignalyst states that “Cycles may not repeat perfectly, but they often rhyme — and Ethereum’s structure suggests we could be on the verge of another explosive move.” Usually, the most important moves for Ethereum have happened in the month of November. Thus, the next three months could be very eventful for the altcoin.

Инвестиционная компания Canary Capital подала в Комиссию по ценным бумагам и биржам США (SEC) заявку на запуск спотового биржевого фонда (ETF), привязанного к мемкоину TRUMP президента США Дональда Трампа.

Howard Lutnick, the US Secretary of Commerce and former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, announced plans to integrate blockchain technology into the dissemination of economic statistics. 

GDP Statistics On The Blockchain

Speaking at a cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Lutnick articulated his vision of placing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data on the blockchain, highlighting the potential for enhanced transparency and data distribution across government departments.

Lutnick emphasized that the initiative aligns with Trump’s identity as “the crypto president,” framing it as a groundbreaking step toward modernizing how economic reports are generated and shared. 

“The Department of Commerce is going to start issuing its statistics on the blockchain,” he stated, adding that the aim is to create a more open and accessible framework for global markets. 

While the project is still in its developmental stages, it promises to facilitate real-time updates to economic data, a significant shift from traditional reporting methods.

Lutnick Champions Bitcoin And Stablecoins

Throughout his career, Lutnick has been an outspoken advocate for cryptocurrencies. He has drawn comparisons between Bitcoin (BTC) and gold, defended the reserves backing USDT issuer Tether, and dismissed concerns regarding the role of stablecoins in illicit activities during his Senate confirmation hearing. 

Lutnick’s relationship with the White House has also been pivotal in advancing this agenda. During a rally in Michigan celebrating Trump’s first 100 days in office, Lutnick praised the President’s leadership and emphasized collaboration with David Sacks, the White House’s crypto and AI czar. 

Together, they have worked to facilitate the rollout of the Bitcoin strategic reserve, a concept Lutnick believes will solidify Bitcoin’s status as a commodity. “Once you embrace the concept of commodity, you’ll see how beautiful that is,” he remarked in an interview with Bitcoin Magazine.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com