Crypto

MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen has published an essay outlining measures that could be taken to make the protocol a vehicle for addressing climate change. In a lengthy Oct. 5 post published to the MakerDAO governance forum, Christensen asserts that MakerDAO should strive to ensure that all of its collateral comprises “sustainable and climate-aligned assets that consider the long-term impacts of financial activity on the environment.” Christensen asserts that the protocol’s collateral should be invested into sustainable real-world assets (RWAs) through senior credit positions in projects that build “solar farms, wind turbines, batteries, recharging stations and other cost-efficient renewable energy solutions, as well as their supply chains, sustainable resource extraction and recycl...

Pat Toomey, a Republican member of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, is attempting to pressure the nominee to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) into handing over her 1989 university honors thesis about Karl Marx. The Biden administration formally nominated Kazakh-born attorney Saule Omarova — who has been characterized by critics as both anti-bank and anti-crypto — to head the financial regulator on Sept. 29. In vague echoes of McCarthyism, Toomey believes the thesis may show that Omarova has sympathies toward Marxist views. While Omarova has lived in the US since 1991 and previously served as an advisor to George W. Bush, she previously attended Moscow State University during 1988 and 1989 on The Lenin Personal Academic Scholarship. In an open letter to Omarova pub...

Eth2 staking provider Rocket Pool has postponed its launch after a possible exploit was identified in the protocol’s code. On Oct. 6, Rocket Pool announced the postponement while the team implements a fix for the bug. Rocket Pool tweeted that “relatively minimal” changes are required to patch the vulnerability and that a new launch date will be announced soon. 1/ Yesterday our bug bounty program helped discover an exploit that also affected other staking providers, as a result we are postponing launch to implement a fix. We would like to extend our warmest thanks to @tsudmi for raising the exploit. — Rocket Pool (@Rocket_Pool) October 5, 2021 Rocket Pool was alerted to the vulnerability by Dmitri Tsumak, the founder of rival staking provider StakeWise.. After Rocket Pool confirmed the bug ...

A crypto hodler is outraged after allegedly copping a $954,135 fee from centralized exchange FTX. The trader claims the fee was charged over a mistaken deposit they believe was the exchange’s fault. On Oct. 6, the Rekt Blog published screenshots of correspondence that suggest the problems began when the customer deposited around $6.3 million in USDP, the stablecoin token for DeFi borrowing platform Unit Protocol, in late September. Unfortunately, the Paxos stablecoin has also rebranded to USDP and the exchange changed the PAX ticker to USDP in late August. So the user apparently deposited $6.3 million of unsupported USDP tokens into the exchange’s address for the Paxos stablecoin. This is a customer service announcement. Will FTX please comply with their own terms and conditions? An unhapp...

Following an overwhelmingly positive response to a Twitter poll on Sept. 21, CEO of AMC Theater Adam Aron announced Wednesday that the chain would officially accept Dogecoin payments for digital gift cards via BitPay Wallet.  The Dogecoin community — notoriously passionate for adoption initiatives — tweeted in droves to advocate for the asset’s integration within the theater’s payment options. Following their success, users can now purchase up to $200 worth of digital gift cards per day. These cards can then be redeemed by theatergoers in cinemas across the United States. Aron was pleasantly surprised by the mass attention, reporting over 6 million views and 140,000 votes on his post, including distinguished Doge fanatics Elon Musk and Mark Cuban. He also claimed that the ...

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has purchased cybercrime investigative company Excygent for an undisclosed amount, hinting that the two will continue to work together to help “dismantle ransomware operations.” In a Tuesday announcement, Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager said the firm had collaborated with Excygent on the seizure of cryptocurrency connected to the now-defunct darknet market Silk Road, shutting down a major child abuse website, disrupting campaigns related to the financing of terrorism and other projects. Gronager said staff from Excygent would join the firm’s Investigations and Special Programs team to support investigations of thecryptocurrency used in cybercrimes. “Following the flow of ransomware payments on the blockchain is instrumental for law enforcement to unde...

Protocol upgrades are one of the biggest drivers of momentum because they show developers’ dedication to fixing bugs, incorporating user requests and adding new features that make the protocol competitive and shore up the token’s value. One project that has seen its token price rally to a new all-time high following the launch of a highly anticipated upgrade is Terra (LUNA), a blockchain protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins like TerrUSD (UST) to create a global payments system. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $23.81 on Sept. 21, the price of LUNA surged 108% to establish a new record high at $49.55 on Oct. 4 as its 24-hour trading volume spiked to $2.5 billion. LUNA/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView Three reasons f...

EOS (EOS) began a descending trend 53 days ago and despite the recent 27% weekly gain, the altcoin is not showing any signs of a reversal. As a result, investors are questioning whether the former top-5 cryptocurrency has what it takes to turn around after Daniel Larimer, CTO of the development company behind EOS, resigned in late 2020. EOS price at Bitfinex in USD. Source: TradingView The emergence of competing proof-of-stake smart contract platforms like Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT) and Avalanche (AVAX) possibly weighed on this 2017-era project. One potentially bullish catalyst could be the fact that Block.one, the company responsible for the EOS token launch, owns over 160,000 Bitcoin (BTC), according to data compiled by BitcoinTreasuries.net. EOS might not be the preferred smart c...

Consumer entertainment products giant MGA Entertainment is moving into the nonfungible token (NFT) industry by turning its best-selling toys into digital collectibles on blockchain. The American toy giant is preparing to roll out an NFT functionality for its world-famous brand L.O.L. Surprise, allowing fans to mint NFTs, display their character collection, and buy, sell and trade digital collectibles online. To enable the new feature, MGA has partnered with Ioconic, a London-based partnership business for brand owners, offering exposure to the NFT and digital asset industry. The startup will enable an online gaming hub for the L.O.L. Surprise trading card game, letting fans and collectors replicate physical purchases using QR codes. Ioconic CEO Jamie Lewis told Cointelegraph that the start...

Bitcoin (BTC) surged even higher on Oct. 6 as its spot price saw a sudden surge upward to over $55,000, its highest since May 12. BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Bitcoin fully cancels out China mining rout Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows BTC/USD hurtling to $55,500 on Oct. 6. The level beats a previous line in the sand for bulls at $53,000, which Bitcoin reached and then reversed nearby during its previous uptick in early September. We are less than $15 billion away from Bitcoin crossing the $1 trillion market cap milestone again. — Pomp (@APompliano) October 6, 2021 Amid various calls for $57,000 to be hit in the short term, however, futures markets fluctuated in step with aggressive volatility. CME Group Bitcoin futures, previousl...

Dapper Labs targeting DAO’s with Brud acquisition Dapper Labs, the $7.5 billion team responsible for NBA Top Shot and Flow Blockchain, acquired virtual influencer start-up Brud this week. In the Monday announcement, CEO Trevor McFedries announced a new initiative titled Dapper Collective, which will aim to support communities in building decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, through the Flow blockchain. Brud is infamous for its creation of social media avatars, most notably Lil Miquela, a fictional 19-year-old Robot living in Los Angeles with three million Instagram followers. The avatar influencer has intrigued social viewers with her fashion and beauty sponsorships, dramatized lifestyle with family and friends, and release of a nonfungible token (NFT) image series. Brud ...