Europe Clamps Down on Blockchain Privacy as UN Warns of Crypto Crime Surge

Europe is tightening its grip on blockchain privacy, MicroCloud Hologram is redefining crypto security, the UN is sounding alarms over criminal blockchain empires, Analog is breaking barriers in cross-chain liquidity, and Qubic has shattered speed records with a live mainnet performance. This press review delivers the latest breakthroughs, regulatory shifts, and controversies shaping the future of blockchain and digital finance.

Europe Introduces New Privacy Guidelines for Blockchain Data

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has published draft guidelines to regulate how personal data is stored and accessed on blockchains, aiming to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The EDPB ratified these rules in April and has opened them for public comment until June 9. The guidelines emphasize the need for "Data Protection by Design and by Default" and recommend that storing personal data on-chain should be avoided if it risks breaching core data protection principles.

Organizations are advised to implement technical and organizational measures early in the design stages of data processing. The guidelines also stress the importance of transparency, rectification, and erasure of personal data, and recommend conducting Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) before processing any personal data using blockchain technology, especially if the processing is likely to result in a high risk to individuals' rights and freedoms. The EDPB warns against making personal data available to an "indefinite number of persons by default."

Bryn Bennett, Senior BD at Hacken, stated, "The EDPB’s guidelines are a timely reminder that decentralization doesn't mean deregulation. Projects that treat user data casually risk both legal blowback and security breaches. Privacy-by-design, off-chain storage, and proper governance aren't just best practice—they're survival tools."

Harry Halpin, CEO of Nym Technologies, commented, "It's a mistake to put personal data on the blockchain. The use-cases I have seen, such as digital identity systems, or worse, COVID passports, inherently violate privacy and lead to authoritarianism. Personal data should use zero-knowledge proofs off-chain and have network privacy via mixnets, as we use with payment information on Nym."

Halpin further argued that applying data protection laws to blockchain data could undermine the immutability and censorship-resistance of decentralized blockchains, suggesting that centralized databases would be more appropriate if mutability is required.

EDPB draft guidelines align blockchain data practices with GDPR.
Storing personal data on-chain is discouraged if it conflicts with privacy principles.
Experts are divided: some see overdue regulation, others warn of threats to decentralization.

Key Crypto Prices (as reported by Decrypt)
BTC: $93,698.00
ETH: $1,802.01
XRP: $2.27
BNB: $611.55
SOL: $152.48

Source: Decrypt

Summary: The EDPB's new guidelines mark a significant step in aligning blockchain technology with European privacy standards, sparking debate among privacy experts about the future of decentralization and data protection.

MicroCloud Hologram Unveils Blockchain Reconstruction Solution

MicroCloud Hologram Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLO) has announced the development of an innovative blockchain reconstruction solution designed to enhance the security and resilience of crypto systems. The solution leverages verifiable secret sharing (VSS) technology, which allows a private key to be split into multiple shares distributed among participants. The original secret can only be reconstructed when a certain number of shares are combined, ensuring that users can recover their blockchain data even if some nodes are compromised.

The system also employs redundant storage on distributed nodes, meaning each node stores not only its own ledger copy but also parts of other nodes' ledger information. This redundancy allows for data recovery even if some nodes are damaged. Dynamic participant selection and verification ensure that only trusted nodes can participate in blockchain maintenance and data reconstruction, reducing the risk posed by malicious actors.

Verifiable secret sharing (VSS) protects private keys and enables secure data recovery.
Redundant storage on distributed nodes increases fault tolerance.
Dynamic participant selection and verification enhance trust and security.
Reward and punishment mechanisms incentivize honest participation and penalize malicious behavior.

Unlike traditional reconstruction mechanisms, HOLO's solution allows users to independently reconstruct their data without relying on potentially untrustworthy parties. All operations are transparent and traceable, ensuring data integrity and consistency. The company believes this approach will have a far-reaching impact on the blockchain industry as technology adoption grows.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Summary: MicroCloud Hologram's new solution introduces advanced cryptographic and organizational measures to strengthen blockchain security and resilience against attacks, setting a new standard for data recovery and integrity in the crypto sector.

UN Warns of Crime Syndicates Expanding Use of Crypto and Blockchain

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has issued a warning that organized crime syndicates are increasingly utilizing cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to power their operations. According to a new UNODC report, criminal groups in Southeast Asia are developing their own financial ecosystems, including unlicensed exchanges and stablecoins, to evade detection and launder illicit funds.

These syndicates have expanded their activities beyond physical scam centers to include online gambling platforms, unlicensed payment processors, cryptocurrency exchanges, encrypted communications platforms, and illicit online marketplaces. The report notes that these developments have enabled crime groups to scale up their profits and influence, generating billions in illicit capital reserves in both fiat and cryptocurrency. These funds are then reinvested into further expansion and used to service the money laundering needs of other criminal organizations globally.

“…Many of the region’s largest criminal groups that have expanded within Southeast Asia and a growing number of jurisdictions in other parts of the world have rapidly diversified their business lines towards the development of key infrastructure. This has extended far beyond the construction and management of physical scam centers to include online gambling platforms and software services, unlicensed payment processors and cryptocurrency exchanges, encrypted communications platforms and, most recently, stablecoins, four blockchain networks, and illicit online marketplaces, often controlled by the same criminal networks.”

Crime syndicates are building unlicensed exchanges and stablecoins to launder money.
Billions in illicit capital reserves are being generated and reinvested.
UNODC calls for international cooperation and stronger regulatory frameworks.

Source: The Daily Hodl

Summary: The UNODC highlights the growing sophistication of organized crime in leveraging blockchain and crypto technologies, urging global regulatory action to counteract these multibillion-dollar operations.

Analog Raises $15 Million to Advance Blockchain Interoperability

Analog, a blockchain project focused on improving unified liquidity across different networks, has raised $15 million through a token sale. The investment was completed by digital asset financier Bolts Capital, bringing Analog's total backing to $36 million. The funds will be used to develop interoperability tools such as the Omnichain Analog Token Standard (OATS) and the RWA marketplace Firestarter.

OATS is designed to enable the transfer of both fungible and non-fungible assets across multiple blockchains, addressing the challenge of fragmented liquidity that has hindered broader adoption of blockchain technology by traditional financial institutions. Firestarter, the upcoming real-world asset (RWA) marketplace, aims to tokenize assets like real estate, collectibles, and revenue-producing items.

Analog Funding Overview
Latest Raise	$15 million
Total Backing	$36 million
Key Products	OATS, Firestarter

OATS enables cross-chain transfer of assets.
Firestarter will tokenize real-world assets for broader market access.

Source: CoinDesk

Summary: Analog's latest funding round supports the development of tools to unify liquidity across blockchains, aiming to remove barriers to adoption for traditional finance and expand the use cases for tokenized assets.

Qubic Sets New Blockchain Speed Record at 15.52 Million TPS

Qubic has achieved a historic milestone by reaching 15.52 million transactions per second (TPS) on its live Layer 1 mainnet, making it the fastest blockchain in history. This performance was independently verified and published by CertiK, a leading blockchain security and auditing firm. Unlike previous tests conducted in isolated environments, Qubic's achievement was accomplished live on mainnet, with no rollups, no gas fees, and no Layer 2 dependencies.

The live stress test, using Qubic's native tick-based architecture, resulted in 1.518 billion transfers during the 10 peak ticks verified by CertiK. For comparison, other leading networks have achieved significantly lower speeds: TON reached 104,715 TPS in a simulated testnet burst, Solana achieved approximately 65,000 TPS under ideal conditions, and Sui, Aptos, and Arbitrum all remain under 1 million TPS.

Blockchain	Peak TPS
Qubic	15,527,637
TON (testnet)	104,715
Solana	~65,000
Sui, Aptos, Arbitrum	<1,000,000

Qubic's tick-based architecture delivers atomic consensus, execution, and finality in a single synchronized cycle, enabling use cases such as AI compute, DePIN networks, and real-time DeFi logic with instant finality. The test results are fully auditable and available via Qubic Explorer and the full CertiK report.

Qubic achieved 15.52 million TPS on mainnet, verified by CertiK.
1.518 billion transfers were processed during the test.
Qubic's architecture supports advanced use cases in AI, DePIN, and DeFi.

Source: Morningstar

Summary: Qubic's record-breaking mainnet performance sets a new benchmark for blockchain speed and scalability, with independent verification from CertiK and potential applications in high-demand computing environments.

Einschätzung der Redaktion

The introduction of the EDPB's privacy guidelines for blockchain data represents a pivotal moment for the European digital economy. By explicitly requiring "Data Protection by Design and by Default," these guidelines force blockchain projects to confront the longstanding tension between immutability and privacy rights. This regulatory clarity will likely accelerate the professionalization of the sector, compelling projects to adopt robust privacy architectures and off-chain data management from the outset. However, the insistence on rectification and erasure of personal data could challenge the core principles of decentralized systems, potentially stifling innovation or pushing sensitive use cases out of the EU. Ultimately, these guidelines will serve as a litmus test for the blockchain industry's ability to adapt to stringent privacy standards without sacrificing its foundational values of transparency and decentralization.