Crypto
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Business – Crypto
Bitmart hacked for $200M following Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain exploit
Crypto exchange Bitmart lost nearly $200 million in a hot wallet compromise hosted over the Ethereum (ETH) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchains. The $200 million Bitmart hack was first revealed by Peckshield, a blockchain security and data analytics company, who initially identified a transfer of roughly $100 million over the Ethereum blockchain. Further investigation from the team revealed a concurrent hack of $96 million over the crypto exchange’s BSC reserves: Total estimated loss: ~200M (~100M on @ethereum and ~96M on @BinanceChain ). (Previously we only counted the loss on @ethereum). And here is the list of affected assets/amounts on @BinanceChain pic.twitter.com/cXXApDFtd7 — PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) December 5, 2021 The hackers made away with a mix of over 20 tokens that i...
It’s time for the philanthropic sector to embrace digital currencies
The amount of cryptocurrencies on the market has skyrocketed from 500 in 2014 to nearly 7,000 only seven years later in October 2021. A reported 14% of people in the United States — which roughly equals 21.2 million people — have purchased some form of cryptocurrency, with more than 300 million crypto owners estimated worldwide. It’s clear: Cryptocurrency is here to stay, and its path to global recognition and success has only just begun. I have shared before how and why innovative sectors of longevity and biotech should cooperate with digital currency visionaries to future-proof their work. Crypto founders, CEOs and purchasers are already breaking down barriers and contributing to a more decentralized future in their everyday lives. By empowering individuals with access to diverse a...
VRJAM Launches Public Token Sale to Revolutionize Metaverse Music Experiences
The concept of the metaverse and speculation about its impact on the future of the music industry have been buzzworthy topics throughout 2021, and those conversations are only just beginning. According to EMERGEN Research, the current $47 billion metaverse sector is expected to continue growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 43.3% through 2028. And with a long runway of upside ahead, VRJAM is wasting no time in an effort to become an early frontrunner in the emerging metaverse concert space. In partnership with Enjin.io, VRJAM is taking a multi-faceted, artist-first approach in delivering turnkey-style NFT solutions and providing a platform for virtual concerts that are easily monetized by performers. VRJAM seeks to bring artists closer to their fans by providing the...
Edward Snowden says gamers could be vulnerable to exploitation using NFTs
National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden said he was concerned with how some privileged individuals or firms in the digital space might be able to use nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in the gaming industry. Speaking with Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood at the BlockDown DeData online conference on Friday, Snowden said though he had seen some use cases for nonfungible tokens to raise funds for causes, he is concerned with the technology “creeping into gaming.” The whistleblower described certain aspects of the metaverse as “horrible, and heinous, and tragic” for aiming at capitalizing on users’ virtual escapes. “We have people that are trying to [inject] an artificial sense of scarcity into a post-scarcity domain,” said Snowden. “I think the community should very much be trying to b...
Bitcoin could ‘consolidate until 2022’ after mass wipeout sends BTC price to $41K
Bitcoin (BTC) traded near $47,000 on Dec. 4 after a sudden crash confirmed bulls’ worst nightmares with 22% daily losses. BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Crypto liquidations pass $2.5 billion Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting local lows of $41,960 on Bitstamp — its lowest since Sep. 30. As panic set in, leveraged positions unwound and traders capitulated, 24-hour cross-crypto liquidations passing $2.5 billion. Crypto liquidations chart. Source: Coinglass “$50k is likely to be resistance for a decent amount of time now unless stonks to incredible things,” filbfilb, co-founder of trading platform Decentrader, summarized in a fresh synopsis after the move. “Size of dump & distribution likely t...
Blockchains need to move toward standards for interoperable asset transfers
Cross-chain asset transfer has been around for several years. The concept developed almost as soon as multiple blockchains were developed and began to gain adoption. In its initial application, the transfers focused on swaps between the chain’s native assets and tokens, which led later to several decentralized exchanges. While exchange of assets has its utility, pure transfer and movement of assets and other data easily across blockchains without changing their identities is just as important, and is becoming more frequent. Currently, 400,000 Bitcoin (BTC), and increasing, exist and are used in transactions outside of the Bitcoin blockchain. A good amount of Ether (ETH) has also been ported to other networks. Some of these are referred to as wrapped tokens to differentiate them from ...
Things to know (and fear) about new IRS crypto tax reporting
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) put crypto in the crosshairs, where Congress and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) hope to scoop up enormous tax dollars. This reporting regime is projected to rake in an astounding $28 billion over the next ten years. No other provision in this massive recently enacted federal law is supposed to produce tax dollars that are even close. If you don’t think that means the IRS is coming for your crypto in a very big way and that Congress is trying hard to facilitate it, think again. The crypto community was outraged when the measure was first proposed and tried to push back hard. That effort resulted in some narrowing, but the provisions were enacted anyway. Some people are still talking about a repeal effort, but that could prove to be ...
2021 ends with a question: Are NFTs here to stay?
In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain. On Nov. 14, Tezos-based nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Hic Et Nunc — which in Latin means “here and now” — abruptly shut down. Artists became worried about their NFTs on exhibit at the Hermitage Museum’s first-ever NFT exhibition, “Ethereal Aether” (Nov. 10 to Dec. 10), as well as Art Basel Miami’s first-ever NFT exhibition, “Humans + Machines: NFTs and the Ever-Evolving World of Art” (Dec. 2 to 4). Diane Drubay, founder of We Are Museums and a minter of NFTs on Hic Et Nunc — who curated a panel discussion ...
Without staking, institutional crypto investors cannot escape inflation
By 2021, proof-of-stake (PoS) anchored itself as the consensus mechanism of choice for new and innovative blockchains. Ethereum 2.0, Cardano, Solana, Polkadot, Terra Luna — five out of the top 10 base layer blockchains run on PoS. It’s easy to see why PoS blockchains are popular: The ability to put tokens to work — verifying transactions and earning a reward in the process — allows investors to earn a passive yield while improving the security of the blockchain network they’d invested in. While blockchains make incredible progress, the financial products and services available to institutional investors struggle to keep up. Of the 70 crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the market, for example, 24 represent ownership of staking tokens, but only three earn a yield from staking. Not onl...
Ethereum acts as a ‘hedge’ in Bitcoin price crash as ETH/BTC hits 3-year high
Ethereum’s native token Ether (ETH) plunged alongside other cryptocurrencies on Dec. 4. Still, its move downside did not deter it from hitting a three-year high against Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s leading crypto by market capitalization. The ETH/BTC exchange rate jumped a little over 11.50% to hit 0.0835 BTC for the first time since May 2018. The pair’s price rally appeared in contrast to Ether’s 15% price drop against the U.S. dollar on Saturday, which appeared in the wake of a market-wide selloff that saw Bitcoin plunging by as much as 21% intraday. ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView The ETH vs. BTC “hedge” narrative emerges While Ether’s losses were substantial, they were relatively milder compared to Bitcoin in USD terms as the ETH/B...
Gold, Bitcoin or DeFi: How can investors hedge against inflation?
Bitcoin (BTC) was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and planned to solve the problems created by loose monetary policies. The cryptocurrency’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, said in late 2008 that the cryptocurrency’s supply increases “by a planned amount” that “does not necessarily result in inflation.” The cryptocurrency’s inflation rate has been fixed and its circulating supply is capped at 21 million coins, expected to be mined by 2140. By then, BTC’s inflation rate will drop to zero. In contrast, fiat currencies have no finite supply and can be printed to adjust monetary policy. An expansionary monetary policy, such as the one that has been pursued over the last few years by most countries throughout the world, aims to expand the money supply by lowering interest rates...
Price analysis 12/3: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, ADA, XRP, DOT, DOGE, LUNA, AVAX
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) have turned down from their respective overhead resistance levels, suggesting that bears continue to sell on rallies. New research in Australia suggests that the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559 upgrade has turned Ether into a better store of value than Bitcoin. The report said the annual rate of increase in Ether’s supply since EIP-1559 is 0.98% compared to an increase of 1.99% in Bitcoin’s supply. Demand for Ether has been on the rise following the surging popularity of nonfungible tokens, decentralized finance and Metaverse-related altcoins. Several analysts remain bullish on Ether and anticipate it to rally to the range between $6,000 and $10,000. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said t...
