🗓 It’s Compliant Wednesday: the latest regulatory updates from around the globe!

This week:
🇺🇸 Wisconsin senators file bill to fight crypto ATM fraud
🇯🇵 Japan rolls out long-awaited crypto tax overhaul
🇪🇺 MiCAR-compliant crypto fundraising launches in EU
🇺🇦 Ukraine to vote on comprehensive crypto regulation in August

…and more in our full summary here!

🗓️ It’s Glossary Monday! Term of the Day: NFT 🗓️

NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is a type of digital asset that represents ownership of a unique item or piece of content on the blockchain. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum — which are fungible (each unit is identical and interchangeable) — NFTs are non-fungible, meaning each token has distinct attributes and cannot be replaced on a one-to-one basis.

🧩 How NFTs Work

NFTs are powered by smart contracts, most commonly on blockchains like Ethereum (ERC-721, ERC-1155 standards), Polygon, Solana, or BNB Chain. Each NFT contains metadata that describes the asset it represents — such as an image, video, 3D object, or even a domain name.

Key characteristics of NFTs:

- Uniqueness: Each NFT has a unique identifier and metadata, making it one of a kind.
- Provenance: Ownership history and origin are recorded on the blockchain, ensuring authenticity.
- Interoperability: NFTs can be traded across marketplaces and integrated into games, metaverses, and apps.
- Programmability: Smart contracts can define royalties, unlockable content, or usage rights.

📚 Examples of NFTs in Web3

🎨 Digital Art:
Collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club or CryptoPunks are high-profile examples of NFTs as digital collectibles.

🎮 Gaming Assets:
In games like Axie Infinity or Illuvium, NFTs represent characters, weapons, or land plots.

🌐 Metaverse Items:
Virtual real estate in platforms like Decentraland or The Sandbox is tokenized as NFTs.

🎟️ Tickets & Memberships:
NFT-based tickets can prevent fraud and grant holders exclusive access to events or services.

🛡️ Swisstronik and NFTs

Swisstronik enables the creation and management of privacy-preserving, compliance-ready NFTs by combining EVM compatibility with its Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs). This means NFT projects on Swisstronik can issue tokens with verifiable ownership and provenance while protecting sensitive user data. Through the Decentralized Identity (SDI) module, NFT issuers can enforce KYC/AML or age-gating when needed — all without storing or exposing personal information. This opens the door for regulated NFT use cases such as tokenized real-world assets, secure ticketing, or enterprise-grade collectibles, bridging the gap between creativity, compliance, and privacy.

🗓️ It’s Glossary Monday! Term of the Day: DEX 🗓️

DEX (Decentralized Exchange) is a blockchain-based platform that allows users to trade cryptocurrencies peer-to-peer, without relying on intermediaries like centralized exchanges (CEXs). DEXs operate through smart contracts, giving users full control over their funds and enabling permissionless, transparent trading.

🧩 How DEXs Work

DEXs come in two main forms:

1. AMMs (Automated Market Makers): These use liquidity pools instead of traditional order books. Users trade against a pool of tokens, and prices are determined by mathematical formulas (e.g., Uniswap, PancakeSwap).
2. Order Book DEXs: These function similarly to traditional exchanges, matching buy and sell orders. Some operate fully on-chain, while others use hybrid models (e.g., dYdX, IDEX).

Most DEXs are non-custodial — users retain control over their private keys, and trades are executed through self-custody wallets. This enhances security and transparency but can limit compliance and user protection without additional layers.

📚 Examples of DEXs in Web3

🔄 Uniswap (Ethereum):
The most widely adopted AMM, supporting permissionless token swaps and liquidity provision.

📉 dYdX (Cosmos):
A decentralized order book exchange focused on derivatives and advanced trading tools.

🌐 Osmosis (Cosmos):
A cross-chain AMM DEX leveraging IBC for interoperability across Cosmos-based networks.

🛡️ Swisstronik and DEX Integration

While Swisstronik is not a DEX itself, it provides the infrastructure for building privacy-preserving, compliant decentralized exchanges. Thanks to its EVM compatibility, existing DEX protocols can be deployed seamlessly, with the added benefit of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP)-based KYC/AML checks via Swisstronik’s Decentralized Identity (SDI) system. Combined with Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) for secure processing, this enables DEXs to meet regulatory requirements without exposing user data — paving the way for compliant, scalable, and privacy-first DeFi.

🗓️ It’s Glossary Monday! Terms of the Day: L1 / L2 🗓️

L1 (Layer 1) and L2 (Layer 2) refer to different layers in the blockchain architecture that help address scalability, cost, and performance challenges. Together, they define how blockchains scale — balancing decentralization, security, and speed (also known as the Blockchain Trilemma).

🧩 What Is Layer 1 (L1)?

Layer 1 is the base blockchain protocol — examples include Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, and Cosmos. It handles everything from consensus, data availability, transaction validation, and security. However, high activity on L1 chains often leads to network congestion, slower throughput, and high gas fees.

To improve scalability, L1 networks may implement updates like sharding, proof-of-stake (PoS), or native data compression. Still, scaling solely at Layer 1 often compromises either decentralization or security.

🧩 What Is Layer 2 (L2)?

Layer 2 is a secondary framework built on top of an L1, designed to offload computation and reduce congestion on the base layer. L2s inherit security from the underlying L1 but process transactions separately — often batching them before submitting a final state back to L1.

Types of L2s include:

- Rollups (Optimistic / ZK-Rollups): Bundle many transactions into one, verified on-chain.
- State Channels: Off-chain interactions between parties with on-chain settlement.
- Plasma / Validiums: Use sidechains or separate data availability layers for off-chain computation.

🛡️ Swisstronik and L1 / L2 Architecture

Swisstronik is a Layer 1 blockchain built to deliver privacy and compliance natively, without relying on external L2 solutions. It integrates Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) directly into its core, enabling private, compliant smart contracts on-chain. With EVM compatibility and support for Cosmos IBC, Swisstronik combines the independence of an L1 with seamless interoperability — offering L2-like privacy and scalability features in a unified, protocol-level design.

🗓 It’s Adoption Friday: the hottest blockchain updates from around the globe!

This week:
🇻🇳 Vietnam deploys national blockchain for identity
🇭🇰 Solana brings Pokémon to Web3 amid stablecoin pushback
🌏 Asia’s OSL Group raises $300M for global crypto expansion
🇺🇸 Franklin Templeton expands BENJI to VeChain for enterprise payments

…and more in our full summary here!