Buterin announced the reboot of Ethereum. Banking cryptocurrency trading will be launched in Belgium. The crypto card market showed record growth. Crypto scammers stole $14 billion in 2025
Buterin: 2026 will be a turning point for Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, said that in 2026, the network will return to its core principles of self-governance and privacy. The main focus is on decentralization and real user control over their assets.
Buterin listed the key vectors of development and explained how it will work in practice:
- Full nodes (programs that fully verify the network's operation) — thanks to ZK-EVM (a technology that simplifies verification), running the software will once again be possible on a regular home computer.
- Privacy — ORAM and PIR technologies (ways to hide what data you are requesting) will allow you to use DApps (decentralized applications) so that no one can see your actions. Private payments are also planned — hidden transfers will become as easy as regular transactions.
- Crypto wallets — social recovery (access to your wallet through trusted people) and time locks (delays on withdrawals) will help protect your money if your seed phrase is lost or stolen.
- Application interfaces — more DApps will work through on-chain UI (interfaces stored directly on the blockchain) and IPFS (decentralized file storage), without dependence on centralized servers.
In January 2026, Ethereum shows a sharp increase in activity. Analysts reported a record number of new addresses — an average of 327,000 per day. The growth was driven by the Fusaka update, a boom in transfers in stablecoins, and improved market sentiment. At the same time, transaction fees fell to $0.15, whereas a year ago, they exceeded $11. The cost of Ethereum as of January 19, 2026, is $3,202 (+2% over the last 7 days).
EU bank to launch regulated trading with Bitcoin and Ethereum
Customers of KBC, Belgium's largest bank, will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum. Trading will be available from February 16, 2026, through the bank's internal platform, Bolero.
The service will be provided in accordance with the pan-European MiCA rules. This is the first time in Belgium that retail investors will have access to cryptocurrencies in a fully regulated banking environment. KBC notes high demand for digital assets among the population. According to research, about 45% of citizens aged 30-40 own cryptocurrency.
The Bolero platform offers a self-investment model: the bank does not provide financial advice, and the responsibility for decisions lies entirely with the clients. Before starting to trade, it is necessary to pass tests on knowledge and understanding of risks.
To protect against fraud, the platform uses a closed system: crypto transactions are only possible within Bolero after passing KYC (identity verification) and AML (anti-money laundering control).
The crypto card market has grown by 1400% in two years
The global market of crypto cards has shown explosive growth of 1400% over the past two years, reaching $18 billion by the end of 2025. While monthly payment turnover was around $100 million in January 2023, by December 2025, it had increased to $1.5 billion. In terms of transaction volume, the segment has almost caught up with the P2P transaction market in stablecoins, which is estimated at $19 billion.
Experts note that crypto cards have become one of the main channels for introducing digital assets into everyday payments. Their main advantage is the ability to pay with stablecoins where businesses do not accept cryptocurrency directly. This has been made possible by cards operating on the Visa and Mastercard infrastructure, which automatically exchange digital assets to fiat at the time of the transaction.
For exchanges and DeFi projects, cards have become a way to retain customers, with some offering cashback in fiat or native tokens. Similar solutions are offered by Gemini, Coinbase, Bybit, Ether.fi, MetaMask, and others.
The greatest demand for crypto cards is observed in India, Argentina, and other developing countries, where stablecoins help the population protect their savings from inflation. In the US and the EU, crypto cards are mainly in demand among crypto investors, freelancers, and entrepreneurs.
In 2025, crypto scammers stole a record $14 billion
Damages from cryptocurrency fraud reached $14 billion at the end of 2025 and could grow to $17 billion as data is refined. This was reported by Chainalysis analysts.
For comparison: initially, the estimate for 2024 was $9.9 billion, but later, the figure was revised to $12 billion. On average, each victim lost about $2,764 in 2025, which is 2.5 times more than a year earlier.
The most popular scams:
- Identity and voice impersonation (AI scams) — scammers use AI to copy the voices and images of company employees, government officials, or acquaintances. Damage from such scams has increased by 1400%.
- Phishing via SMS and clone websites — fake messages sent on behalf of official services with links to fake websites. Fraudsters conducted a large-scale SMS campaign against users of the E-ZPass toll road system. The attackers disguised their messages as traffic ticket notifications — up to 330,000 SMS messages per day during peak periods. Over three years, the scheme brought in about $1 billion, and the number of victims exceeded 1 million people in 121 countries.
- Social engineering involves pressuring victims through fear, urgency, or authority to force them to transfer money. Increasingly, scammers are working through crypto ATMs — under the guise of urgent situations, victims are persuaded to withdraw cash and convert it into cryptocurrency, which is immediately sent to the scammers' addresses.
East and Southeast Asia have become the center of global crypto fraud. Their share has grown from less than 1% in 2022 to 10% in 2025. Criminals are adapting to pressure from the authorities and actively entering new markets.
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