Crypto
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Polygon users suffer failed NFT transactions as the network experiences downtime
The network has had an issue affecting one of its two Polygon PoS chain layers, Heimdall Polygon’s deployment on OpenSea was affected, making users unable to complete NFT transactions Speed and cost-focused Ethereum layer two scaling solution Polygon overnight suffered a recent outage. The network was down for more than 13 hours, leaving users worried and wondering why it was taking the developers so long to fix the said bug. The Issue The Polygon team informed users yesterday at 4.20 pm UTC that it anticipated the network would be down starting around 5:50 pm UTC, as one of its three consensus layers needed maintenance. It noted that the proof of stake users would be the casualties. Also, since the last time Polygon had a major bug, $24 billion of user funds were left at risk, the P...
Bitfinex refuses to freeze crypto belonging to non-sanctioned Russians
Amid global businesses boycotting the Russian residents over military conflict in Ukraine, some companies in the cryptocurrency industry stand up for the rights of non-sanctioned Russian citizens. Bitfinex, an affiliate firm of the world’s largest stablecoin provider, Tether (USDT), will not unilaterally freeze the accounts of ordinary Russian customers as part of the global sanctions unless it’s forced to do so, a spokesperson for Bitfinex told Cointelegraph on Thursday. The representative emphasized that Bitfinex has taken appropriate action against the accounts of Russian users who have been sanctioned. “As with all our customer accounts, we work to ensure that there are no irregular movements or measures that might be in contravention of applicable international sanctions,” the s...
Bitcoin spikes above $40K as Russia sees ‘positive shifts’ in Ukraine war dialogue
Bitcoin (BTC) saw instant volatility on March 11 amid hope that the Russia-Ukraine conflict could find a diplomatic solution. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Hope rises — but so do Bitfinex shorts Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD briefly surging $1,400 before reversing to consolidate below $40,000 Friday. The move followed fresh comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in a meeting with Belarusian counterpart Aleksandr Lukashenko said that there had been “positive shifts” in the Ukraine dynamic. “There are certain positive shifts, negotiators on our side tell me,” he said, quoted by Reuters and others. Bitcoin, already known for not “liking” escalations in armed conflicts, imme...
Celo foundation proposes to deploy Uniswap V3 on its native blockchain
A new community proposal was introduced in the Uniswap governance forum to deploy the protocol on the Celo blockchain, which is a mobile-first, carbon-negative and Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible network. The new proposal was created on behalf of Blockchain at Michigan, and in partnership with the Celo Foundation and the Celo Climate Collective. Once passed, Uniswap will be accessible to nearly six billion mobile phone users. Currently, MetaMask mobile app enables using Uniswap or other decentralized exchanges via an in-app browser. The Celo foundation will commit $10 million of CELO in Uniswap-specific user incentives and grants along with $10 million in financial incentives for Uniswap specifically, The main focus of deployment would be the introduction of green asset liquidity pools...
Stacks price plunges hard after rallying 70% in a day — more STX losses ahead?
Stacks (STX) pared a considerable portion of the gains it made on March 10 as the euphoria surrounding its $165 million pledge to support Bitcoin (BTC) projects showed signs of fading. STX’s price dropped by over 30% to reach a level as low as $1.33 on Friday when measured from its week-to-date high of $1.94. The selloff, in part, appeared technical as the $1.94-top fell in the same range that served as solid support between October 2021 and January 2022, only to flip later to become a resistance area. STX/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView It also appears that traders spotted selling opportunities due to STX’s long wick candlestick on March 10. Stacks rallied by as much as 73% into the day while forming a disproportionally long bullish wick on the daily chart that hint...
LA Token launches LACHAIN to bridge Ethereum-based networks
Crypto platform LA Token has become the latest exchange to launch its own blockchain with the LACHAIN network which it hopes will give its users access to decentralized finance (DeFi) products and a bridge between other networks. The layer-1 Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible and WebAssembly (WASM)-compatible LACHAIN went live on Mar. 10 to help LA Token capitalize on expected future growth in demand for token bridges between networks. LA Token was launched in 2017 in the Cayman Islands. It has had $281.6 million in trading volume over the last 24 hours according to CoinGecko. EVM compatibility allows tokens on the proof-of-stake LACHAIN to transfer seamlessly between other Ethereum-based networks such as Polygon (MATIC) and others including BNB Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain)....
ESPN’s baseball reporter’s Twitter account hacked by NFT scammers
In what ESPN Major League Baseball reporter Jeff Passan called the “biggest news day” of his life, scammers hijacked his Twitter account to promote an NFT giveaway. With the MLB and the Players Association (MLBPA) engaged in a long-winded deadlock over a labor deal that resulted in canceled games, Passan had just broken news regarding an important agreement between the two parties concerning the international draft. hey remember that time i got hacked on the biggest news day of my life — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 10, 2022 However, with eyeballs waiting on the next development from Passan, his account suddenly started promoting giveaways for the Skulltoons NFT project. His username was also changed to “Jeff.eth” while his profile picture depicted artwork from the NFTs and his bio read...
US Labor Dept warns of crypto risks in retirement plans
The US Department of Labor (DOL) has told 401(k) investors to “exercise extreme care” when dealing with cryptocurrencies and other digital assets citing fraud, theft, and financial loss as “significant risks”. In a compliance report, released on Thursday, the DOL offered a stark warning to employers that seek to increase their 401(k) exposure to cryptocurrencies, stating that any significant crypto investments within company-sponsored retirement accounts may attract legal attention. A 401(k) is a retirement savings plan offered by most American employers that extend tax advantages and long-term financial security to those that opt-in. Regarding the legislation surrounding 401(k) investments, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) does not specifically...
Polygon network suffers from extended service outage after upgrade
Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution Polygon has not produced a new block for over 11 hours, with developers attributing the issue to a technical upgrade on the network. On March 10 at 4:20 pm UTC, Polygon (MATIC) network developers notified users on the project’s forum that there would likely be downtime starting at about 5:50 pm UTC due to maintenance required on one of the network’s three layers. A recent upgrade is thought to have caused an error in the network’s ability to achieve consensus. “We suspect there may have been a bug in the upgrade which affected consensus and caused different Heimdall validators to be on different versions of the chain, thereby not reaching 2/3 consensus.” As expected, the outage began at about 5:54 pm UTC. The Polygon team issued an update at about 1:30 am ...
Dovu leads HBAR Foundation’s $100M charge into climate conservation efforts
The HBAR Foundation was created last year by distributed ledger firm Hedera Hashgraph Dovu will be the first entity to receive capital from the Fund The HBAR Foundation, a charitable and independent affiliate of distributed ledger network Hedera Hashgraph has received a $100 million boost aimed at climate-focused initiatives as the firm aims to achieve sustainability. The Foundation explained that the Fund launched as there is a massive “need for greater transparency, auditability, and efficiency of industry impact on the global environment.” A climate-focused fund The Sustainable Impact Fund (SIF) will promote environmental consciousness by developing initiatives to work around carbon removal and offsets, carbon emissions, and other environment conservative activities. “We are excited to ...
FBI director: Russia overestimates its ability to bypass US sanctions using crypto
Christopher Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said that fiat was a more likely avenue for Russia to explore in circumventing sanctions, given the United States’ ability to block efforts using crypto. In a Thursday hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich asked the FBI director if Russia might respond to the economic impact of the United States banning imports of the country’s oil and gas by using reserves of gold, China’s currency or cryptocurrency. Director Wray said the FBI and its partners had “built up significant expertise” on digital assets, citing the department’s recent work in seizing large amounts of tokens as evidence there were vulnerabilities in using crypto to get around sanctions. “The Rus...
Report: Axie Infinity accounted for nearly two-thirds of blockchain-game NFT transactions in 2021
According to a recent report curated by NonFungible, players of the monster-battle nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, game Axie Infinity transacted nearly $3.5 billion worth of NFTs in 2021. This accounts for almost two-thirds of all NFTs transacted in the entire blockchain gaming industry in 2021. In second and third place were sports highlights marketplace NBA Top Shot with $827 million and community gaming platform Loot with $242 million, respectively. Created by Vietnamese video game developer Sky Mavis in 2018, the game contains creatures called “Axies” that players collect and use to complete daily quests, duel other players, etc. Every Axie is an NFT minted on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. Completing tasks with Axies rewards players with Smooth Love Potions (SLPs), which can ...
