The Protocol: Ledger customer data breached from Global-e platform

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk.

In this issue:

• Crypto wallet firm Ledger faces customer data breach through payment processor Global-e
• Starknet hit by four-hour outage, warns some transactions may be affected
• Vitalik Buterin on the two goals Ethereum must meet to become the ‘world computer’
• Ethereum’s staking queues have cleared and that changes the ETH trade

Network News

LEDGER FACES CUSTOMER DATA BREACH: Hardware wallet giant Ledger is grappling with a data exposure incident, this time linked to its third-party payment processor, Global-e. An email notification sent to customers by Global-e and initially shared by pseudonymous blockchain sleuth ZachXBT on X said the breach involved unauthorized access to Ledger users' personal details like names and contact information from Global-e's cloud system. The email did not disclose the number of clients affected or specify when the exploit occurred. In 2020, Ledger experienced a data breach that exposed information of 270,000 customers through e-commerce partner Shopify. In 2023, Ledger was hacked for nearly $500,000, affecting several decentralized finance applications. Global-e said it detected unusual activity and swiftly implemented controls while launching an investigation, which verified the improper access."We retained independent forensic experts to conduct an investigation into the incident and we were able to determine that some personal data including name and contact information were improperly accessed," it said in the email. — Omkar Godbole Read more.

STARKNET GOES DOWN FOR A FEW HOURS: Starknet said service was fully restored following a four hour outage, adding that some transactions submitted during a narrow window may not have been processed correctly. “Starknet is back online and fully operational,” the team behind the Ethereum layer-2 network posted on X. The team warned that transactions sent between 09:24 and 09:42 UTC could have been affected, and said a full retrospective, including a detailed timeline, root cause analysis and long-term prevention measures, will be published at a later date. Downtime can have knock-on effects across decentralized finance and other onchain applications, including stalled swaps, delayed withdrawals and difficulty updating positions. It can also disrupt sequencer-based networks, where transaction ordering and block production depend on a smaller set of operators than on Ethereum itself. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

VITALIK BUTERIN’S TWO GOALS FOR ETHEREUM: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin used a New Year’s message on Thursday to reflect on a year of major technical progress — and to argue that the network’s real test lies in fulfilling its original mission, not in chasing the latest crypto narratives. In his New Year’s post on X, Buterin said Ethereum made meaningful progress in 2025 by becoming faster, more reliable and better able to handle growth without sacrificing its decentralized design. He pointed to improvements that allow the network to process more activity, reduce bottlenecks and make it easier for people to run the software that keeps Ethereum operating. Taken together, he said, those changes move the blockchain closer to becoming a new kind of shared computing platform rather than just another blockchain. But Buterin was clear that technical milestones alone are not the end goal. “Ethereum needs to do more to meet its own stated goals,” he wrote, cautioning against what he described as efforts to “win the next meta,” whether through tokenized dollars, political memecoins or attempts to artificially boost network usage for economic signaling. Instead, Buterin returned to a long-standing vision of Ethereum as a “world computer” — a shared, neutral platform for applications that can operate without reliance on centralized intermediaries. That vision, he writes, centers on applications designed to function without fraud, censorship or third-party control, even if their original developers disappear. Buterin pointed to the “walkaway test,” the idea that systems should continue running regardless of who maintains them, as a core benchmark. He also emphasized resilience, arguing that users should not notice if major infrastructure providers go offline or are compromised. — Siamak Masnavi Read more.

ETH STAKING QUEUES CLEAR UP: Ethereum’s staking queues have emptied out and the network can now absorb new validators and exits almost in real time. This means the rush to lock up ETH has faded for now and staking is settling into a steady-state instead of a scarcity trade. Queues are simply the time spent to start or stop staking on the Ethereum network, acting as a sentiment gauge and a measure of liquidity. In one sense, the lack of queues is a feature, not a bug, as these are proof Ethereum can handle staking flows without locking up liquidity for weeks. At the same time, staking rewards have compressed toward 3% as total staked ETH grew faster than issuance and fee income, limiting incentives for renewed surges in either direction and leaving queues near zero even as overall staking participation remains elevated. Lower yield can reflect crowding, but also a higher ‘trust premium’ — more ETH is choosing to sit in staking rather than on exchange order books. What this means is that “staking pressure” is no longer a daily narrative. When queues are long, ETH supply is effectively being locked faster than the network can onboard validators, and that can create a sense of scarcity. When queues sit near zero, the system is closer to neutral. People can stake or unstake without waiting weeks, which makes staking feel less like a one-way door and more like a liquid allocation. This changes the psychology around the ether trade. — Shaurya Malwa & Sam Reynolds Read more.

In Other News

• Morgan Stanley (MS) stepped deeper into the crypto, filing a registration statement for an Ethereum trust with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The move follows filings submitted for spot bitcoin and solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which followed a rapid expansion of crypto ETFs in the U.S. over the past two years. Morgan Stanley’s expanding route into crypto demonstrates a broader trend among traditional financial (TradFi) institutions, which are increasingly seeking to offer digital asset products through familiar, regulated vehicles. — Oliver Knight Read more.
• Shares of Strategy (MSTR) rose nearly 6% in post-market trading on Tuesday after MSCI said it would not move forward — for now — with plans to exclude digital asset treasury firms from its indexes. The move eases immediate pressure on companies like Strategy, which hold large amounts of bitcoin on their balance sheets but don’t directly operate in the blockchain sector. A formal exclusion from MSCI indexes could have pushed institutional investors to divest, reducing demand for the stock. Still, analysts say the development may not be the end of the story. “Consistent with what we've written previously, we are surprised by this clearly positive development,” wrote Lance Vitanza of TD Cowen. “What remains to be seen is whether this represents a victory for the defense or merely a stay of execution.” Vitanza rates MSTR stock a buy with a price target of $500, according to FactSet data. — Helene Braun & Will Canny Read more.

Regulatory & Policy

• The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is inching closer to agreement on a bipartisan crypto market structure bill, with a vote next week, its chairman said, as industry insiders prepare for a blitz of the Senate offices on Thursday. Republicans on the committee are exhibiting confidence that the finish line is near on the lengthy negotiations over a bill to set up regulated crypto markets in the U.S. However, Democratic negotiators haven't broadly weighed in on the rapid timeline that committee Chairman Tim Scott said will conclude with a Jan. 15 markup hearing. A document that emerged from the meeting, first reported by Politico, shows that while the main sticking points are still in place between the parties, numerous Democratic requests have been incorporated. Many of the key issues Democrats had with the market structure bill as far back as last spring, when lawmakers were negotiating stablecoin legislation, still seem to be under discussion, including ethics, how yield is treated, how money transmitters are addressed, the role of the U.S. Treasury Department in policing crypto and developer protections.— Jesse Hamilton Read more.
• Mindex, the export center of Iran's Ministry of Defense, is accepting cryptocurrency payments for advanced weapons systems as a means of bypassing international sanctions that the country faces. Prospective customers can buy weapons such as missiles, tanks and drones using crypto, amongst other accepted payment methods including Iranian rials or bartering, according to the center's website. Mindex is responsible for Iran's overseas defense sales and claims to have clients in 35 countries. No prices are displayed for the available items. The offer is among the first known instances of a country accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment for military equipment, according to the Financial Times, which reported the news earlier. — Jamie Crawley Read more.

Calendar

• Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
• Feb. 17-21, 2026: EthDenver, Denver
• Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
• Apr.15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
• May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
• Nov. 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai

• KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
• This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
• Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
• Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
• Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

• Ledger, the maker of one of the most popular hardware wallets in crypto, confirmed Monday that a trove of customer data was exposed in a breach linked to its third-party e-commerce partner, Global-e, sending fresh waves of concern through the crypto community.
• While Ledger says private keys, wallet funds and payment information were not accessed, the incident exposed the names and contact details of users who purchased devices through its online store, reigniting long-standing fears about recurring data leaks and the real-world risks they can create.
• Security researchers warn that similar campaigns following past Ledger leaks have led to wallet takeovers, financial losses and, in some cases, concerns about physical targeting in so-called “wrench attacks.”

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