Weekend Recommendation:
Editor: Cora
This Week's Focus
"AI Once Again Becomes a 'Decent Excuse': Looking at Web3's Real Predicament Through Coinbase's 14% Layoffs"
In retrospect, Coinbase's latest round of layoffs is merely a microcosm of the Web3 winter in 2026. The phenomenon of packaging unavoidable layoffs due to poor management and a cold market as an inevitable outcome of technological progress has been given a satirical term by the industry: AI-washing.
"AI Infrastructure Is Booming, But Data Centers Are Burning Through Cash; The Debt Bubble Begins to Burst"
In the past many years, these tech giants accumulated massive free cash flow through their "asset-light" business models. But now, the situation has quietly reversed. Free cash flow data from Amazon and Meta shows that both companies are approaching or have fallen into negative territory. What does this mean? Simply put: they are running out of money and have to borrow. Especially under the premise that these companies must maintain stock buybacks and dividends, new capital expenditures can almost only be supported by issuing debt.
Featured Picks
"In a Multi-Track Era, the Boundaries and Evolution of Cross-Border Payment PSPs"
This article focuses on Payment Service Providers (PSPs), which have evolved from simple collection tools into core infrastructure layers for governing fund flow, settlement, and bookkeeping. They were originally designed for a simpler era: single-track systems, linear transaction processes, and highly bundled infrastructure.
"a16z Advises CFTC: Time for a Regulatory Breakthrough, Prediction Markets Are Poised for Takeoff"
Establishing a "prohibited trader list" is a powerful tool for maintaining market integrity. Such a list can be built through Customer Identification Programs (CIP) and KYC checks. Meanwhile, prediction markets can leverage the auditability of on-chain transactions to monitor suspicious trading activity in real time. Additionally, the committee is advised to consider cross-market surveillance arrangements and collaborate with specialized organizations such as sports integrity monitoring groups.
"From General-Purpose L2s to Application Chains: The Incremental Multi-Chain Competitive Landscape of Ethereum Scaling"
The trend of evolution is that, aside from a few general-purpose L2s like Base and Arbitrum, the future may see more application-chain L2s, such as Lighter and Ronin. This will also prompt Polymarket to choose the Ethereum L2 path.
Ten Must-Read News Items This Week
Weekend reading recommendation:
Compiled by: Cora
This Week's Focus
Featured Recommendations
Ten Must-See News Stories This Week
Weekend Recommendation:
Editor: Cora
This Week's Focus
"Exclusive Interview with Fu Peng, Chief Economist of New Huo Group: Interpreting Bitcoin's Asset Attributes, Hong Kong's Property Market, and Financial Advice for Ordinary People — A Techub News Dialogue Transcript"
In this exclusive interview, Fu Peng clearly defines Bitcoin's asset attributes, breaks down its core differences from AI assets and gold, and analyzes the key supporting factors of Hong Kong's property market and the role of the digital asset space.
"Base Releases Its First Independent OP Stack Framework Network Upgrade, Azul — Is This the Beginning of Autonomous L2 Iteration?"
In short, increased competition ultimately benefits end users. Base's independent upgrade forces other L2s to accelerate iteration speed, enhance security and performance, and lower the barrier for developers. For developers, this means more choices, better toolchains, and lower multi-chain adaptation costs; for users, cross-chain experiences, withdrawal speeds, and transaction fees will continue to improve.
"Hong Kong SFC's Latest Framework Takes Effect: Tokenized Secondary Market Trading Opens — Is a New Era Coming?"
The SFC's release of this new regulatory framework marks a key step for Hong Kong's tokenized product market, moving from a "one-way channel" (primary market subscription and redemption only) to a "two-way circulation market" (free trading among investors). Previously, only primary market transactions were allowed; now, secondary market trading of tokenized products on licensed platforms is officially permitted, significantly enhancing product liquidity.
"The Rollup Talks with Dragonfly Partner Rob Hadick: After the Crisis Weekend, Where Is DeFi Heading?"
From mainstream coins to any narrative at the time, every AMM, every lending protocol, and every gaming protocol rose. Whether you held the biggest one or not, it would rise along with them. However, that era is over. Investing and trading in this space will be harder. It's no longer about finding beta (what everyone was essentially doing before), but about finding more alpha.
"Solana Q1 Ecosystem Panorama: All Data Declines, Entering a 'Cooling Down' Phase — 5 Key Pillars May Determine the Success of the Next Expansion"
Over the past year, Solana has been the go-to platform for speculation in the cryptocurrency space. This positioning provided an invaluable "stress test" for its network. As a result, its user activity, fees, developer count, and investor attention have all exploded.
Editor's Picks
Top 10 News Stories Not to Miss This Week
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