
Move over, bitcoin. Ether is back and nipping at your heels
CNN
Bitcoin has rocketed to an all-time high of nearly $70,000. But investors are even more excited about ethereum, which is now the world's second most valuable cryptocurency.
Ethereum, or ether for short, is also trading at record levels. It's now hovering around $4,850, having soared more than 560% this year, compared to the "mere" 135% pop for bitcoin. Crypto investors are betting that ether will continue to be used as the backbone for even more non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, as well as so-called smart contracts.
Experts predict that this wave of decentralized finance (DeFi) will become more prevalent in banking. That could be great news for ether, as well as solana, another crypto that has blockchain technology used in DeFi applications.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.











