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<img src="https://cdn.sanity.io/images/s3y3vcno/production/c4b55ff67ef1d065e3e2e556ba0209a416b27d44-2048x1365.jpg" /><br><div><p>Hello and welcome to The Protocol, your guide to the week's most important developments in cryptocurrency technology. I'm Margaux Nijkerk, CoinDesk’s Ethereum Reporter, here to walk you through the top stories.</p><p>In this issue, we're taking a look at:</p><ul class="unordered-list"><li>Hello, Hoodi: Ethereum Welcomes a New Testnet</li><li>Microsoft Sounds the Alarm on Malware Targeting Coinbase and MetaMask Wallets</li><li>Halliday Secures $20M to Develop AI Protocol that Simplifies DeFi Smart Contracts</li><li>World Network and Razer, Led by Sam Altman, Join Forces to Combat Gaming Bots</li></ul><hr/><p><strong>Enjoying this article? It's brought to you by The Protocol, our weekly newsletter diving deep into the tech shaping crypto, one block at a time.  Click here to subscribe and receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.</strong></p><hr/><h3 class="font-headline-sm font-medium">Network news</h3><p><strong>HELLO, HOODI: ETHEREUM WELCOMES A NEW TESTNET:</strong> Ethereum developers this week <a target="_blank" href="https://dora.hoodi.ethpandaops.io/">launched</a> Hoodi, a brand new test network designed to facilitate the upcoming “Pectra” upgrade.  Mark your calendars, Pectra is slated to go live on Hoodi on March 26th, and if testing proceeds smoothly, this highly anticipated upgrade is expected to roll out to Ethereum's main network roughly 30 days later, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byrC-fdTOvE">according to</a> the core development team. Hoodi's creation comes after some hiccups during Pectra testing on Ethereum’s existing testnets, Holesky and Sepolia. These networks unfortunately ran into finalization issues due to configuration problems. Test networks like Holesky, Sepolia, and now Hoodi play a crucial role – they provide a safe space that mirrors the main Ethereum network, allowing developers to thoroughly test code changes and major upgrades like Pectra before deploying them to the live environment. <em>— Margaux Nijkerk</em> <a href="#">Read more.</a></p><p><strong>MICROSOFT RAISES ALARM OF MALWARE TARGETING COINBASE, METAMASK WALLETS:</strong> Tech giant Microsoft recently <a target="_blank" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2025/03/17/stilachirat-analysis-from-system-reconnaissance-to-cryptocurrency-theft/">published a report</a> with a serious warning: malware is targeting 20 of the most popular cryptocurrency wallets used with Google Chrome extensions.  Incident Response researchers at Microsoft are raising concerns about a new remote access trojan (RAT) named StilachiRAT. This sophisticated malware employs “advanced techniques to avoid detection, maintain a foothold in the target system, and steal sensitive information,” as the team <a target="_blank" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2025/03/17/stilachirat-analysis-from-system-reconnaissance-to-cryptocurrency-theft/">detailed in their blog post</a>. Discovered in November 2024, StilachiRAT is capable of pilfering users' cryptocurrency wallet details, along with any stored credentials like usernames and passwords from the Google Chrome browser.  It's targeting a wide range of 20 crypto wallets, including widely used names such as MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Phantom, OKX Wallet, and BNB Chain Wallet. While the malware hasn't been widely distributed yet, Microsoft has admitted they haven't pinpointed the entity behind this threat and have provided mitigation advice for potential targets, including the recommendation to install robust antivirus software. <em>— Margaux Nijkerk</em> <a href="#">Read more.</a></p><p><strong>HALLIDAY RAISES $20M FOR AI PROTOCOL TO ELIMINATE WRITING SMART CONTRACTS FOR DEFI:</strong> Halliday, a blockchain protocol focused on artificial intelligence (AI), announced a successful $20 million funding round. This investment will fuel the development of their Agentic Workflow Protocol (AWP), an ambitious project aimed at accelerating the development of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and removing the traditional need for programmers to manually code smart contracts.  The Series A funding was spearheaded by Andreessen Horowitz's (a16z) crypto division, a major player in the venture capital space.  In an emailed announcement Halliday stated their vision: "Our mission is to lead the software revolution in blockchain, empowering developers to create applications in hours, not years. With Halliday, you’ll truly be able to say goodbye to writing smart contracts from scratch." — <em>Jamie Crawley + AI Boost</em> <a href="#">Read more.</a></p><p><strong>SAM ALTMAN’S WORLD NETWORK AND RAZER WANT TO DEFEAT GAMING’S BOT PROBLEM:</strong>  World Network, the blockchain project spearheaded by Sam Altman, is joining forces with gaming hardware giant Razer to tackle a major headache in video games: bots. Their collaboration centers on a suite of features designed to identify and eliminate bots.  “Razer ID verified by World ID” is set to be a streamlined single sign-on system that will verify genuine human gamers, distinguishing them from automated bots.  Built upon Razer ID, Razer's existing login infrastructure, this new system aims to ensure "a real person is behind every Razer ID account,” according to a joint statement from Razer and World. This partnership arrives as artificial intelligence (AI) tools become increasingly prevalent across all aspects of online life, including video games. These virtual worlds have been struggling with the issue of non-human AI "bots" for years, long predating the emergence of Altman's popular ChatGPT. — <em>Margaux Nijkerk</em> <a href="#">Read more.</a></p><hr/><h3 class="font-headline-sm font-medium">In Other News</h3><ul class="unordered-list"><li>EOS Network, known for its scalable blockchain technology, is embarking on a rebranding journey to become Vaulta, signaling a strategic shift towards Web3 banking. This transition includes a token swap, tentatively scheduled for the end of May.  Accompanying this change is the formation of the Vaulta Banking Advisory Council, a collective of financial and blockchain experts dedicated to bridging the gap between traditional banking and decentralized systems.  The council includes leaders from Systemic Trust, Tetra, and ATB Financial, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk. <em>- Francisco Rodrigues</em> reports.</li><li>Raydium, the popular decentralized exchange based on Solana, is gearing up to launch its own token issuance platform in the coming weeks. This move aims to boost revenue for the already successful trading platform. Raydium's LaunchLab will initially share similarities with the popular token launch platform Pump.Fun, as <a target="_blank" href="https://blockworks.co/news/raydium-launching-pumpfun-version">Blockworks first reported</a>. However, developers have indicated that LaunchLab will incorporate several additional features intended to make it even more appealing for new token launches. <em>- Shaurya Malwa</em> reports.</li><li>In a significant development in the long-running legal battle between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple, the SEC is reportedly set to withdraw its appeal against Ripple. This would effectively end the four-year legal saga, according to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.  The XRP token, closely linked to Ripple, saw a 10% surge on Wednesday morning in the U.S. after Garlinghouse <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/bgarlinghouse/status/1902345706636992720">announced the news</a> on X. - <em>Krisztian Sandor and Helene Braun</em> report.</li></ul><hr/><h3 class="font-headline-sm font-medium">Calendar</h3></div><script>self.__next_f.push([1,"lySetInnerHTML":{"__html":"$f"}}]}],["$","$L10",null,{"suppressHydrationWarning":true,"id":"Cookiebot","src":"https://consent.cookiebot.com/uc.js","data-cbid":"0eadae03-33f1-4a15-97c4-7f82433a6838","data-framework":"TCFv2.2","strategy":"beforeInteractive"}],["$","$L10",null,{}],[["$","$L10",null,{"data-cookieconsent":"ignore","id":"freestar-init","children":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twindow.freestar = window.freestar || {};\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twindow.freestar.queue = window.freestar.queue || [];\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twindow.freestar.config = window.freestar.config || {};\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t"}],"$undefined",["$","$L10",null,{"async":true,"id":"freestar-pubfig","src":"https://a.pub.network/coindesk/pubfig.min.js","strategy":"lazyOnload"}]],["$","$L10",null,{"id":"JWPlayer","src":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/libraries/6amZaWBZ.js","type":"text/javascript","data-cookieconsent":"ignore"}],["$","$L10",null,{"id":"cookie-consent-fix","type":"text/javascript","dangerouslySetInnerHTML":{"__html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(() =u003e {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (typeof Cookiebot !== \"undefined\" u0026u0026 Cookiebot.regulationRegions?.gdpr) {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCookiebot.regulationRegions.gdpr.push(\"ch\");\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} else {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, 100); // 100ms delay\n\t\t\t\t\t\t"}}],["$","$L10",null,{"id":"google-recaptcha-v3","src":"https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?render=6LdD_vElAAAAAC4MH8sVjuaAFGSN1fmOs8QJv8jW","data-cookieconsent":"ignore","defer":true,"async":true}],["$","$L12",null,{}],false,["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://www.google-analytics.com"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://consent.cookiebot.com"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://consentcdn.cookiebot.com"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://cdn.sanity.io"}],[["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://adservice.google.com"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://a.pub.network/","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://b.pub.network/","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://c.pub.network/","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://d.pub.network/","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://c.amazon-adsystem.com","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://s.amazon-adsystem.com","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://btloader.com/","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://api.btloader.com/","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://confiant-integrations.global.ssl.fastly.net","crossOrigin":"anonymous"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preload","href":"https://a.pub.network/coindesk/pubfig.min.js","as":"script"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"stylesheet","href":"https://a.pub.network/coindesk/cls.css"}]],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://connect.facebook.net"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"preconnect","href":"https://downloads.coindesk.com"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"icon","sizes":"any","href":"https://coindesk-next-gbqs0gryv-coindesk.vercel.app/favicons/production/favicon.ico"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"icon","type":"image/svg+xml","href":"https://coindesk-next-gbqs0gryv-coindesk.vercel.app/favicons/production/favicon.svg"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"icon","type":"image/x-icon","href":"https://coindesk-next-gbqs0gryv-coindesk.vercel.app/favicons/production/android-chrome-192x192.png"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"icon","type":"image/png","sizes":"16x16","href":"https://coindesk-next-gbqs0gryv-coindesk.vercel.app/favicons/production/favicon-16x16.png"}],["$","link",null,{"rel":"icon","type":"image/png"])</script>

Source: coindesk.com