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Blockchain audits: The steps to ensure a network is secure
The last few years have seen blockchain platforms becoming the centerpiece of many tech conversations across the globe. This is because the technology not only lies at the heart of almost all cryptocurrencies in existence today but also supports a range of independent applications. In this regard, it should be noted that the use of blockchain has permeated into a host of novel sectors, including banking, finance, supply chain management, healthcare and gaming, among many others. As a result of this growing popularity, discussions pertaining to blockchain audits have increased considerably, and rightly so. While blockchains allow for decentralized peer-to-peer transactions between individuals and companies, they are not immune to issues of hacking and third-party infiltration. Just a ...
What is a seed phrase and why is it important?
A seed phrase might be confusing and probably you might be wondering how a seed phrase looks and maybe how it is created. The seed phrase is generated by a cryptocurrency wallet and the user has no way of customizing it. The words generated are derived from a list of 2048 words. So, how many words is a seed phrase? A seed phrase is made up of a long string consisting of a group of random words. The words on a seed phrase are simplified so that the user can remember them, unlike if the seed phrase consisted of long numbers or special characters. The recovery phrase consists of 12 to 24 words like energy, road or open. To avoid errors, these randomly generated words do not include pairs like “man” and “men” in the same seed phrase. Bitcoin im...
Bandcamp Fridays to Return in September
Bandcamp Fridays are making a return. The popular monthly promotion, during which the platform waives its usual revenue share and gives all proceeds straight to artists and labels, is making a comeback on September 2 after a several-month hiatus following the company’s acquisition by Epic Games in March. Historically, Bandcamp Fridays have taken place on the first Friday of every month, and, according to a blog post from Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond, the promotion will resume this fall. In addition to the September date, Bandcamp Fridays are scheduled for October 7, November 4 and December 2. Since launching Bandcamp Fridays, the company claims the promotion has ceded more than $78 million from over 800,000 fans to artists and their teams over a total of 21 days. On promotion ...
Hawkish Fed comments and Bitcoin derivatives data point to further BTC downside
A $750 pump on Aug. 26 took Bitcoin (BTC) from $21,120 to $21,870 in less than two hours. However, the movement was completely erased after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the bank’s commitment to contain inflation by tightening the economy. Following Powell’s speech, BTC price dropped as low as $20,700. Bitcoin/USD 30-min price. Source: TradingView At Jackson Hole, Powell specifically mentioned that “the historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy.” Right after those remarks, the U.S. stock market indexes reacted negatively, with the S&P 500 dropping 2.2% within the hour. On the Bitcoin chart, the affable “Bart candle,” a reference to the shape of Bart Simpson’s head, and a descriptor of BTC’s up and down...
3AC’s Zhu was in Bangkok, disputed liquidator’s court filing in Singapore: Report
According to a document seen by Bloomberg, Zhu delivered the affidavit in person on Aug. 19. In it, Zhu states that Teneo “had not provided an entirely complete or accurate version of events” to the Singapore court, which granted Teneo’s request for access to 3AC records in Singapore on Aug. 22. Teneo, an advisory firm, was appointed in June to liquidate 3AC assets by a court in the British Virgin Islands, where Singapore-based 3AC had moved its registration. The fund had also announced its intention to move its headquarters to Dubai. According to the affidavit, Teneo misrepresented the operations and relationships between 3AC-related entities, as well as the timeline of events. Zhu stated that Three Arrows Capital Pte Ltd (TACPL) was registered in Singapore until July 31, 2021. It was rep...
Hetzner anti-crypto policies: A wake-up call for Ethereum’s future
Just when the Ethereum ecosystem reached its final stages in preparing for the much-anticipated upgrade, The Merge, german cloud provider Hetzner, reiterated its stance against allowing mining operations for both proof-of-stake (PoS) and proof-of-work (PoW) applications. Hetzner, a private, centralized cloud provider, stepped in on a discussion around running blockchain nodes, highlighting its terms of services that prohibit customers from using the services for crypto activities. However, the Ethereum community perceived the revelation as a threat to the ecosystem as Hetzner’s cloud services host nearly 16% of the Ethereum nodes, as shown below. Ethereum Mainnet Statistics. Source: ethernodes.org In crypto, the reliance on centralized service providers has been historically perceived...
Hacker tries to exploit bridge protocol, fails miserably: Finance Redefined
Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week. This past week, there were some major developments in the run-up to the upcoming Ethereum Merge slated for Sept. 15. Bitfinex became the latest crypto exchange to throw its support behind the chain split token. While DeFi bridge hacks have become a norm this year, developers behind Rainbow Bridge managed to foil an exploit attempt within seconds, leading to the hacker losing their safety deposit. The Tornado Cash developer who was arrested last week was sent to 90-day judicial custody awaiting charges. It didn’t go down well with the crypto community, who have actively rallied behind the developer and have accused...
Twitter Adds Podcasts to Live Audio Tab
Twitter will start recommending and streaming podcasts directly to users as part of a redesigned hub that groups live and recorded audio content by category. The podcast integration, which signals Twitter’s continued expansions into audio, launched Thursday to a select group of English-speaking iOS and Android users via the Spaces tab on Twitter’s mobile app. Categories in the redesigned tab include news, sports and music; each category will include live audio rooms, replays of recorded rooms and popular podcast episodes from those categories that will be personalized based on user interests. To bring the podcast episodes onto the platform, a Twitter spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the company is pulling from existing RSS feeds and will tailor the recommendations based on the...
Crypto Biz: Step aside, Warren Buffett; stablecoin issuers hold more US debt than Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett raised eyebrows this week when his firm, Berkshire Hathaway, upped its exposure to United States Treasury bills. If you’re one of the few remaining bulls out there, Buffett’s flight to safety is concerning because it signals that the Oracle of Omaha would rather get a 3% yield instead of playing the stock market. If equities go belly-up in the fall, as I’ve been predicting for months, expect Bitcoin (BTC) to follow. Looking at the numbers, Berkshire’s T-bill exposure grew to $75 billion at the end of June, up from $58.5 billion at the beginning of 2022. But, even with the 28% spike, Berkshire doesn’t hold as many T-bill investments as the leading stablecoin issuers. Stablecoins presently command a market capitalization of $153 billion, and a large percentage of their b...
Price analysis 8/26: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, DOGE, DOT, SHIB, MATIC
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that the central bank will continue to use the “tools forcefully” to bring down inflation, which is close to its highest level in 40 years. He cautioned that the restrictive policy may remain for some time and warned that it could “bring some pain to households and businesses.” The United States equities markets reacted negatively to Powell’s comments with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping more than 600 points. The cryptocurrency markets also witnessed sharp selling with Bitcoin (BTC) and most altcoins threatening to break below their immediate support levels. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 Along with a not-so-supportive macro environment, Bitcoin’s historical data for September also presents a negative picture...
Binance froze $1M corporate account due to law enforcement request
Major crypto exchange Binance has confirmed it restricted account access to $1 million in crypto for a Tezos tool contributor after being called out on social media. In a Thursday Twitter thread, Binance said it had restricted the account of Tezos staking rewards auditor Baking Bad “as the result of a law enforcement request.” The Tezos contributor alleged that the crypto exchange had blocked access to its corporate account containing Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Polgyon (MATIC), Tether (USDT) and other tokens since July 1 “without any explanations” — a claim Binance denied. “BakingBad is well aware of [Binance’s actions], as he was already advised of this multiple times and provided the LE contact form through our support chat system on 7/6, 7/12, and 7/22,” said Binance. “Attempting to mi...
Coinbase says it will ‘evaluate any potential forks’ following the Merge
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has updated its information related to Ethereum transitioning to proof-of-stake to include forks that could arise. In a Thursday update to an Aug. 16 blog post, Coinbase said it would evaluate any potential forks in the Ethereum blockchain on a “case by case basis.” The crypto exchange previously said it planned to ‘briefly pause’ Ether (ETH) and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals during the Merge, expected to occur between Sept. 10 and 20. “Should an ETH PoW fork arise following The Merge, this asset will be reviewed with the same rigor as any other asset that is listed on our exchange,” said Coinbase. Rest assured, all potential forked tokens of Ethereum, including PoW forks, will go through the same strict listing review process that is do...
