According to Odaily, Taiko has announced significant progress in optimizing its protocol since the mainnet launch. The team has successfully reduced L1 gas costs by over 30% while maintaining contract upgradability. As they continue to refine gas optimization strategies, the focus is now shifting to new features and improvements. Key development areas identified include enhancing L2 EIP-1559, introducing transaction preconfirmation, implementing new transaction types such as Sponsored Transactions, supporting Cancun EVM, enabling contract use of calldata as DA, and improving minimum tier selection. Additionally, the Ontake upgrade will incorporate these features and improvements, with testing on the Hekla testnet planned before October and a mainnet upgrade scheduled for Q4 this year.

According to Odaily, leading Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital has been fined $138 million for violating confidentiality or non-circumvention agreements. Michael Ho, the former co-founder of US Bitcoin Corp and current Chief Strategy Officer of mining company Hut 8, won a unanimous jury verdict in a breach of contract lawsuit against Marathon Digital Holdings.

According to Odaily, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) has revealed in its annual analysis of the latest cyber threats to the EU that the number of AI-driven cybercrimes is expected to increase. In the '2024 Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment' (IOCTA), Europol highlighted how artificial intelligence tools are enabling non-technical individuals to orchestrate complex online crimes. AI-generated deepfakes and fake advertisements are being widely used by malicious actors globally to target potential victims. The emergence of these tools is actively lowering the entry barriers for cybercrime. Consequently, Europol emphasizes the necessity of equipping tools to combat the misuse of technology and protect the EU's financial system.

According to CryptoPotato, the XRP rally has resumed this week with buyers continuing to dominate the market. The key support level is identified at $0.54, while the key resistance level is at $0.68. XRP bounced back from the 54 cents support level after buyers rushed in, leading to a price increase of over 10% since that level was tested. As long as this support is defended, the bullish bias remains intact. However, since XRP reached a local high of nearly 64 cents, the trading volume has been decreasing. While this is not currently a major concern, it could become problematic if the trend continues. A decrease in volume could provide an opportunity for sellers to push against the key support level again. A second test of this support level could be interpreted as a bearish signal. Despite the volatility observed in lower timeframes, the weekly MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) remains strong, showing a clear bullish trend with higher highs on the histogram. As long as this bullish momentum continues, XRP has the potential to aim for new highs and challenge the resistance level at 68 cents.