Blockchain mining networks are often victims of their success. The two contemporary realities that demarcate the mining landscape and cause blockchains to fall short of what they promise are 1) the ongoing technological arms race driven by inherent competitive greed; and 2) the rising energy costs associated with proof-of-work (PoW) mining. Blockchains built on the PoW consensus have become highly unequal and increasingly centralized in terms of their hash rate. This concentration of mining power in fewer and fewer hands is an attack on the fundamental requirement for distribution and decentralization that blockchains possess. In addition, the motivation to ramp up mining power has a knock-on effect in terms of runaway energy costs, which have the potential to cause irrevocable environment...
With thousands of Afghans currently being accepted as refugees in different countries following the Taliban’s takeover of many highly populated areas, many nonprofit organizations are accepting donations in cryptocurrency. Thousands, if not millions, of Afghans are attempting to or are in the process of fleeing their home in fear of what the Taliban may do now they are largely in control of the country. Organizations helping refugees and those on the ground have put the word out: They need funds to support Afghans arriving on foreign soil with often little more than the clothes on their backs. Hearts & Homes for Refugees, a New-York based grassroots nonprofit, is currently calling for donations to assist the roughly 20,000 Afghans still in the country waiting for United State authoriti...
Layer-one blockchain networks like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) form the foundation of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and enable smart contract functionality that has allowed the creation of new industries like decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFT). Avalanche (AVAX) is a relatively new layer-one solution that has recently seen a significant increase in price and adoption as the dominant smart-contract platform (Ethereum) continues to struggle with high transaction costs and slower processing times than its competitors. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $12.24 on Aug. 3, the price of AVAX rallied 205% to a multi-week high at $37.42 on Aug. 20 as its 24-hour trading volume surged to more than $1.4 billion. AVAX/USDT 4-...
The mayor of Cool Valley, Missouri said he was exploring giving more than $1 million in Bitcoin to the city’s 1,500 residents. In a Thursday interview with St. Louis news outlet KSDK, Mayor Jayson Stewart said he wanted to see “every single household in my city receive some level of Bitcoin.” Stewart said the funds would likely come from some “very supportive donors” but did not rule out using money from the government’s pandemic relief response to launch the venture. The mayor did not specify how much Bitcoin (BTC) the city would be able to distribute to each resident, but suggested it could be any amount up to $1,000 — roughly $1.5 million, or more than 30 BTC at the time of publication. However, he also hinted the funds could require Cool Valley residents to HODL for five years. “...
The nonfungible token (NFT) sector of the cryptocurrency ecosystem has made waves that splashed across the headlines of even mainstream news outlets in 2021. Celebrities, musicians, sports teams, established auction houses and even fast-food restaurants got involved with the creation and/or sale of one-of-a-kind digital items. With the top NFT marketplaces like OpenSea seeing record-breaking trading volumes as projects like CryptoPunks and Pudgy Penguins see tens of millions of dollars in value exchanged daily. However, it can be challenging to know which projects have the ability to hold or increase in value long-term and which ones are likely to fizzle out once the hype dies down. NFT projects that fit into the growing crypto metaverse and offer multiple ways to engage and earn a y...
The conversation occurred before a concert in a city that Smith could not recall, but said he was instructed to book a flight after the show. With bodyguard Tyree Jameson along, Smith said, “As soon as the show was over, we got in the car and went to the airport.” Kelly was quiet in the limo, Smith recalled, and once they were on the plane, Kelly paused for a really long time with his eyes closed before making the revelation. “R. Kelly said, ‘Aaliyah, man. She think’s she’s pregnant,'” Smith testified. “It was a shock.” Smith said Kelly told him that his business manager and accountant Daryl McDavid was already making arrangements for Kelly and Aaliyah to get married. The two were later married in Cook Coun...
The crypto market has been surging recently and there’s one cryptocurrency — Bitcoin (BTC) — leading the way. After having suffered through volatility for the better part of the last 60-some days, the flagship crypto has showcased a high level of recovery, even breaking past its 200-day moving average earlier this month, suggesting that a move to the $50,000 psychological barrier may be in the cards soon. To really put things into perspective, over the last month alone, BTC has registered gains of more than 55%, helping to take the total market capitalization of this relatively nascent space back beyond the $2 trillion threshold. These startling figures can, in large part, be attributed to increased institutional adoption that has been witnessed in relation to this industry in the recent p...
Bitcoin (BTC) climbed to new multi-month highs later on Aug. 20 as an extended rebound took hold of crypto markets. BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Daily close “most important” for Bitcoin Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed that BTC/USD hit its highest level since mid May during Friday After daily gains of almost 7%, Bitcoin saw a sudden surge to hit $48,630 on Bitstamp at the time of writing, with bullish momentum still in action. The move meant the largest cryptocurrency took its best swipe yet at a large sell wall that had been in place for much of August. Beyond it, little stands in the way of upside beyond $50,000, Cointelegraph reported. “Daily Close is most important now,” trader and analyst Rekt Capi...
If you thought remote work was game-changing, wait until video game work gains traction. Blockchain-based NFT games such as Axie Infinity and Splinterlands have demonstrated that a play-to-earn business model has the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry. Pandora’s box has been opened, so to speak, and play-to-earn is here to stay. There are already people logging on to an online video game to spend their days earning a living. In this piece, we will explore what a world where earning income through video games is the norm will look like. After Venezuela endured cataclysmic hyperinflation, it left individuals working minimum wage jobs and earning an unsustainable $5 dollars a month. However, in the wise words of Jeff Goldblum, “life finds a way.” Individuals had devised a means to...
A recent price rally in the market of Polygon’s native MATIC token pushed its prices above $1.56 for the first time in more than two months. The MATIC/USDT exchange rate rose 20.65% in just two days to reclaim its June 17 high. Traders raised their bids for the pair after Polygon announced that it would create a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) for its community members while focusing specifically on the booming decentralized finance (DeFi) space. Polygon, which offers layer-two scaling solutions for Ethereum projects, allocated $100 million for the DAO creation — and also to bring DeFi projects into its interoperability pool. The team also announced that it would airdrop new DAO governance tokens to existing Polygon users — i.e., free tokens for people who hold ...
Wells Fargo – one of the oldest banks in the United States – has registered a new, pooled investment fund that offers its wealthy clients indirect exposure to Bitcoin (BTC). Fargo’s filing of a “Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities” — also known as a Form D — with the United States Securities Commission (SEC), reveals that the fund is called “FS NYDIG BITCOIN FUND I,” reflecting the fact that it is being incorporated as a limited partnership with investment services company NYDIG and alternative assets manager FS Investments. The notice indicates that Wells Fargo Clearing Services will receive placement and servicing fees for all clients it refers to the fund. It also shows that the fund’s first sale is yet to occur and that Fargo expects the offering to last more than one year. NYDIG, ...
Cardano’s native token ADA ignored a serious price crash warning to rally to a new all-time high. The ADA/USD exchange rate reached $2.56 for the first time on Aug. 20, following a 154.54% price boom that started on July 20. In doing so, the pair also ignored veteran trader Peter Brandt’s 60-90% price crash warning, which was based on a classic bearish pattern called the Head and Shoulders. I remember being scoffed at unmercifully when I identified this top in $LTCUSD back in mid 2018 Hey Cardano trolls $ADAUSD , take aim… pic.twitter.com/3gytNHW4cR — Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) July 30, 2021 But a flurry of bullish fundamentals assisted Cardano to ignore bearish technical setups. Capital rotation At first, ADA/USD’s upside rally in the early days appeared largely ...