According to @bubblemaps, the crypto landscape is undergoing significant technical and strategic shifts with major implications for traders. Polygon (MATIC) is executing a major pivot, with co-founder Sandeep Nailwal taking over as CEO of the Polygon Foundation to spearhead a new focus on the AggLayer cross-chain liquidity protocol while retiring its zkEVM network, according to a press release. In the competitive Layer-2 space, Ripple has officially launched an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain for the XRP Ledger, enabling Ethereum-based dapps to deploy within its ecosystem and using XRP as the native gas token. The Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem is also expanding, with the launch of Botanix, an EVM-compatible Layer-2 mainnet that drastically cuts block times, and a confirmed plan for the Bitcoin Core 30 release to increase the OP_RETURN data limit, potentially boosting data-embedding applications on the network. Amid these developments, Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin issued a warning that decentralization must become a concrete user guarantee rather than a hollow catchphrase to ensure the ecosystem's health. Further bridging traditional finance and crypto, Plume has launched its mainnet for real-world assets (RWA), and major financial players like Robinhood and Deutsche Bank are deepening their crypto involvement with new layer-2 networks and custody services, respectively.