Binance will temporarily suspend ETH and related Layer 2 token transfers on May 7 to support Ethereum’s upcoming Pectra Upgrade. This pause is scheduled to maintain smooth operations while technical adjustments are made to the Ethereum network.
The suspension will begin at 09:45 UTC, which is about 20 minutes before the upgrade time of 10:05 UTC. Binance stated that the trading of all unaffected tokens will continue as usual during this window, and no user action is required.
ETH and L2 Token Transfers Temporarily Suspended
The pause will affect deposits and withdrawals of tokens on Ethereum and popular Layer 2 networks. These tokens include Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync Era, Base, Manta, Starknet, Polygon, Metis, Scroll, and Celo, among others. This is a routine safety measure to make sure that users’ funds are not at risk during changes to the network infrastructure.
The exchange has mentioned that it will handle all technical requirements associated with the upgrade and will reopen withdrawals and deposits once the networks are stable. No additional announcement will be made as and when the services resume.
What the Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Brings
The Pectra Upgrade is one of Ethereum’s most anticipated updates since the Merge. It merges changes from both the Prague and Electra development tracks to improve usability, scalability, and Layer 2 efficiency. Among the major changes are cheaper Layer 2 transactions, increased validator caps, smarter wallet interactions, and improvements to developer tooling.
The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade brings lower L2 fees, smart wallets, and a lot to the network. Ahead of the update, Ethereum’s price resilience is near $1,800 and has created speculation about a bullish breakout following the upgrade. Analysts suggest that if the Pectra hype delivers, ETH could retest $2,000 levels.
Three projects are launching enticing crypto airdrops this week, offering investors a chance to get in on the ground floor without any initial financial investment.
Airdrop farmers can capitalize on the following participation opportunities with renowned investors backing these three projects.
Chaos Labs
Chaos Labs is a blockchain risk management and optimization platform. It is one of the key players in DeFi protocol security and has raised $79 million across two funding rounds. Key backers include Galaxy, Coinbase Ventures, and HashKey Capital.
According to data on Cryptorank.io, Chaos Labs confirmed its airdrop. It offers participants a chance to join its whitelist while the project is still on the ground floor. While the reward date is pending, Chaos Labs announced a new AI model built for the crypto community. Users can already sign up on the waitlist and get early access to the product.
“Built on years of proprietary data from securing trillions in trading volume, Chaos AI transforms fragmented market data into institutional-grade financial intelligence,” Chaos Labs shared.
Airdrop farmers should focus on interacting with Chaos Labs’ tools, such as its risk dashboards or simulation platforms, if accessible via testnets or partnerships. Joining their Discord or Twitter communities is critical to staying updated on whitelist opportunities or tasks, considering social engagement is often a prerequisite.
Given its $20 million seed round in 2023 led by Galaxy Digital, Chaos Labs might retroactively reward users of supported protocols like Aave or Uniswap. Farmers should diversify activity across these ecosystems, track announcements, and be cautious of scams—only official channels should be trusted for task details.
Monad
Monad, an EVM-compatible Layer-1 (L1) blockchain, launched its testnet on February 19, 2025. It is a hot prospect for crypto airdrop farmers. With $244 million raised from Paradigm and others, Monad’s anticipated mainnet (potentially Q1 2025) could include a token drop for early adopters.
Farmers must join the Monad Discord, as securing the “Full Access” role earns 5 MON test tokens. Meanwhile, holding 0.01 ETH on the Ethereum mainnet nets two tokens. Testnet participation, like minting NFTs on monadverse.land (200,000 supply) or completing tasks on layer3.xyz is key.
Users should also regularly check Magic Eden’s Monad testnet for new mints and use Talentum.id (code NS12G) for ecosystem tasks. Activity level determines rewards, so consistent engagement is essential. Farmers should monitor official updates for mainnet and token launch timelines, as early participation often correlates with bigger airdrops. Wallet setups such as Metamask and testnet activity tracking are imperative.
“Also pay attention to these projects from the Monad ecosystem, which we added in a separate guide: Kintsu, Magma, and FastLane,” Cryptorank.io highlighted.
For farmers, the focus is on earning points via the Voltix browser extension before the Token Generation Event (TGE) date. Install the extension, contribute computing resources, and complete social tasks to rack up points, which are convertible to VOLT at TGE.
More CPU uptime and better hardware boost rewards mean running Voltix on multiple devices can help maximize gains. Farmers should log into the Voltix dashboard regularly for new tasks and join community channels for bonus opportunities.
The airdrop favors early adopters, so starting early is critical. No exact distribution timeline exists yet, meaning vigilance on official Voltix announcements is necessary.
Airdrop farmers should act swiftly, diversify efforts, and stay informed via official sources to capitalize on these opportunities. Nevertheless, they must also conduct their research.
The crypto market continues to move sideways due to macroeconomic fears caused by the trade war between China and the US. However, the sentiment might shift if President Trump manages to make changes at the Federal Reserve in a bid to lower interest rates. This article looks into Trump’s potential pick for the next Fed Chair and the top altcoins to buy if the appointment ends up being a crypto-friendly one.
Altcoins to Buy If Trump Picks Kevin Warsh as Next Fed Chair
Speculation is rife that President Trump will replace Jerome Powell with a new Fed Chair. According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump will likely pick Kevin Warsh as the next chair, and given his crypto-friendly remarks in the past, traders are already seeking the best altcoins to buy.
The speculation about Warsh’s appointment is surging after Trump criticized Powell over his decision on interest rates. Trump accused the current Fed Chair of “playing politics” by failing to lower rates like other central banks had done.
Warsh may be a good pick for the crypto industry as he has made several crypto-friendly remarks in the past. In 2021, Warsh told CNBC that Bitcoin was an ideal investment plan. At the time, he said,
“I think that Bitcoin does make sense as part of a portfolio… I think of Bitcoin as a lot of things, but it’s certainly with every passing day, getting new life as an alternative currency.”
Additionally, Warsh is named as an advisor and investor to the Bitwise digital asset management firm. Bitwise is among the firms that offer spot crypto ETFs.
Considering these factors, if Trump picks Warsh as the next Fed Chair, it may trigger moves across the crypto market. Therefore, traders should seek the best altcoins to buy in case the market rallies.
3 Altcoins to Buy Now
The best altcoins to buy now amid growing speculation that President Trump could pick Warsh Warsh as the next Fed Chair are Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA). These altcoins have a bullish technical outlook that may spark rallies.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple (XRP) is one of the best altcoins to buy now. The altcoin is surrounded by catalysts like spot ETF approvals, possible integration with the Federal Reserve and SWIFT, which may support a bullish breakout.
Additionally, XRP price also has a strong technical outlook. This altcoin is attempting to break the upper trendline of a descending parallel channel. If it is successful in doing so, it may stir an uptrend. Additionally, the ADX line is dropping, which is an indication that the downtrend is weakening. This paves the way for a recovery.
XRP/USDT: 1-day Chart
Solana (SOL)
The other altcoin to buy now is Solana. According to one top analyst who shared a bullish Solana price forecast, the altcoin has formed a falling wedge pattern, whose bullish breakout will be confirmed if the altcoin can overcome resistance at the upper trendline. If Solana does this, it may spark a rally to $250.
Solana Price Chart
Besides the technical setup, Solana is also awaiting the approval of a spot SOL ETF in the US. If this product is approved under a pro-crypto Fed Chair, it may spark inflows, which will bode well for the price.
Cardano (ADA)
Lastly is Cardano (ADA), which also ranks among the top altcoins to buy. Popular analyst Ali Charts has shared a bullish Cardano price prediction, stating that the altcoin is on the verge of a 30% upside move if it breaks out of a symmetrical triangle pattern.
Cardano Price Chart
Cardano is also a US-made altcoin that will benefit greatly from having a crypto-friendly Treasury Secretary. The other bullish fundamental that may also spark a rally is the approval of a spot Cardano ETF.
Summary of Top Altcoins to Buy
President Trump is considering picking former Fed governor Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair. This appointment could spark volatility in the crypto market, and investors are looking for the top altcoins to buy to secure gains. These altcoins include Ripple, Solana, and Cardano, and they have a bullish technical outlook and positive catalysts that may spark a rally.
Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a comprehensive roadmap to enhance user privacy on the blockchain.
The plan envisions creating a world where private transactions are the default, and users can interact across applications without publicly linking their activities.
Buterin shared the roadmap on April 11 on the Ethereum Magicians forum. It outlined practical, incremental improvements to make private transactions and anonymous on-chain interactions more accessible for everyday users without requiring major changes to Ethereum’s core consensus protocol.
“This roadmap can be combined with a longer-term roadmap that makes deeper changes to L1, or privacy-preserving application-specific rollups, or other more complex features,” Buterin stated.
The roadmap addresses four key privacy forms by implementing various short-term and long-term solutions. These are focused on improving on-chain payment privacy, partial anonymization of in-app activity, privacy of on-chain reads, and network-level anonymity.
Firstly, he advocated for integrating privacy tools into wallets. This would enable features like default “shielded balances,” allowing users to keep transactions private. The idea is to enhance privacy without requiring users to switch to a separate privacy-focused wallet.
“This is a major step, and it entails significant convenience sacrifices, but IMO, this is a bullet that we should bite because this is the most practical way to remove public links between all of your activity across different applications,” he said.
Additionally, Buterin proposed making “send-to-self” transactions privacy-preserving by default. According to him, this is necessary for the address-per-application design to function effectively.
He also focused on using Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) in the short term for RPC privacy. Buterin added that Private Information Retrieval (PIR) could be used in the future.
“If we also add security armoring to RPC nodes (ie. light client support), it becomes practical for a user to trust a much larger set of RPC servers. This reduces metadata leakage,” Buterin remarked.
The roadmap outlined deeper changes for the long term, such as EIP-7701 (account abstraction) and FOCIL (Fork-Choice enforced Inclusion Lists) implementation. This would allow privacy protocols to operate without centralized relays, making them more resilient to censorship. That’s not all. It would also contribute to increased privacy.
Buterin’s roadmap has generated substantial traction from the community, with many expressing optimism. The Ethereum ecosystem has long been calling for improvements in user privacy, and this new plan seems to resonate with those concerns.
“Vitalik’s finally giving privacy the attention it deserves, this roadmap looks like a solid step toward making Ethereum more user-friendly without messing with consensus,” an analyst posted.
Nonetheless, not all feedback was unequivocally positive. Some in the community remain cautious about the potential challenges involved in implementing such ambitious changes.
“Vitalik’s roadmap is solid but execution risk is high. Adopting zk tech is key if they want real privacy without bloating L1,” another analyst cautioned.
The proposal comes as the Ethereum ecosystem prepares for the Pectra upgrade. While Pectra focuses on performance and usability, Buterin’s privacy roadmap complements these efforts by addressing a critical user need. If executed, these changes could position Ethereum as a more privacy-conscious blockchain, potentially driving greater adoption as the network evolves.
