crypto blog
The UK cannot afford to send mixed messages on crypto
The United Kingdom is paving the road for cryptocurrency services, courting startups and established players alike while leading the way in pioneering regulation on stablecoins and nonfungible tokens. But a lot has changed. After two years of deliberations, European Union lawmakers achieved agreement on the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, marking a pivotal moment for harmonized supervision of the sector on such a scale. This followed United States President Joe Biden’s executive order recommending a whole-of-government approach toward the responsible development of digital assets within the United States. The U.K. has also seen major political shifts during this period, including the resignation of Treasury Minister John Glen, whose April speech supporting the industry represen...
Elon Musk: US ‘past peak inflation’ after Tesla sells 90% of Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) is in short supply at Tesla, even as its CEO predicts that United States inflation has already peaked. Speaking at Tesla’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on Aug. 5, Elon Musk predicted that an upcoming United States recession would only be “mild to moderate.” Musk on costs: “The trend is down” After recently selling almost all of its $1.5 billion BTC holdings, Tesla is seeing the emergence of exactly the kind of economic landscape in which risk assets thrive. During a Q&A session at the Annual Meeting, Musk revealed that six-month commodities pricing for Tesla parts is already getting cheaper, not more expensive. Commodities, he said, are trending down, providing a hint that inflation has already hit its highest levels. “We sort of have some insight ...
Experts find private keys on Slope servers, still puzzled over access
Blockchain auditing firms are still trying to figure out how hackers gained access to about 8,000 private keys used to drain Solana-based wallets. Investigations are ongoing after attackers managed to steal some $5 million worth of Solana (SOL) and Solana Program Library (SPL) tokens on Wednesday. Ecosystem participants and security firms are assisting in uncovering the intricacies of the event. Solana has worked closely with Phantom and Slope.Finance, the two Solana-based wallet providers that had user accounts affected by the exploits. It has since emerged that some of the private keys that were compromised were directly tied to Slope. Blockchain audit and security firms Otter Security and SlowMist assisted in ongoing investigations and unpacked their findings in direct c...
Argo Blockchain keeps cashing out BTC to pay the debt to Galaxy Digital
Cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain continues to sell its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to cut its debt to Michael Novogratz’s crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital. Argo sold another 887 Bitcoin in July to reduce obligations under a BTC-backed loan agreement with Galaxy Digital, the firm announced on Friday. With the average BTC price of $22,670, the sales totaled $20.1 million, accounting for a significant part of the maximum outstanding loan balance of $50 million in Q2 2022. As of July 31, 2022, Argo held an outstanding balance of just $6.72 million under the BTC-backed loan, the announcement notes. The latest sale comes shortly after Argo sold another 637 BTC in June 2022 for $15.6 million. The firm reported that by the end of June 30, Argo had an outstanding balance of $22 million on...
Binance Card users now have access to XRP, SHIB and AVAX
Binance announced on Friday that its Binance Card now supports three new altcoins. Card users can now access their holdings of Ripple (XRP), Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Avalanche (AVAX). The Binance Card allows its holders to “convert and spend cryptocurrencies in over 60 million online and physical stores.” However, the card is only available to European citizens and, according to the website, Ukrainian refugees. Prior to the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, Binance had intentions of expanding its card reach into Ukraine by sometime this year. With the latest addition, the card now supports 14 cryptocurrencies, including Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), BNB, Bitcoin (BTC), Binance USD (BUSD), Polkadot (DOT), Ether (ETH), S.S. Lazio Fan Token (LAZIO), FC Porto Fan Token (PORTO),...
Decentralized finance faces multiple barriers to mainstream adoption
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a growing market popular with experienced crypto users. However, there are some roadblocks regarding mass adoption when it comes to the average non-technical investor. DeFi is a blockchain-based approach to delivering financial services that don’t rely on centralized intermediaries but instead use automated programs. These automated programs are known as smart contracts, enabling users to automatically trade and move assets on the blockchain. Protocols in the DeFi space include decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending and borrowing platforms and yield farms. Since there are no centralized intermediaries, it’s easier for users to get involved in the DeFi ecosystem, but there are also increased risks. These risks include vulnerabilities in a protocol’s co...
Coinbase hit with 2 fresh lawsuits amid SEC probe
Coinbase is now facing increased scrutiny from regulators, with the company now becoming the target of multiple lawsuits. The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange, which is presently being investigated by the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), now faces two additional legal claims from two law firms. On Thursday, New York-based legal firm Bragar Eagel & Squire revealed that it would be suing Coinbase for making deceptive claims about its business practices. Pomerantz LLP has also filed a claim against the exchange, alleging that it is entitled to compensation for any losses incurred as a result of the defendant’s violations of federal securities laws. This lawsuit was filed to compensate the plaintiffs. In both complaints, plaintiffs claim that Coinba...
VC Roundup: Lightning Network payment rail, DeFi trading platform and blockchain security firm raise millions
Even with the onset of crypto winter, 2022 has been a watershed year for venture capital funding. Crypto and blockchain companies collectively raised $30.3 billion in venture capital in the first half of 2022, exceeding all of last year’s totals. While the number of deals has declined in recent months, startups at the intersection of blockchain payments, decentralized finance (DeFi) and cybersecurity are still attracting sizable interest from the VC community. The latest edition of VC Roundup highlights some of the most intriguing funding deals of the past month. Related: The risks and benefits of VCs for crypto communities ZEBEDEE closes $35M Series B ZEBEDEE, a Bitcoin (BTC)-powered payment processor for the gaming industry, has raised $35 million from several investors i...
Amid miner capitulation, Hut 8 maintained BTC ‘HODL strategy’ in July
Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) miner Hut 8 Mining Corp. added to its massive BTC reserves in July, as the firm maintained its long-term “HODL strategy” in the face of market volatility. The Alberta-based company generated 330 Bitcoin in July at an average production rate of 10.61 BTC per day, bringing its total reserves to 7,736 BTC. Its monthly production rate was equivalent to 113.01 BTC per exahash, the company disclosed Friday. Hut 8, which trades on the Nasdaq and Toronto stock exchanges, is one of the largest public holders of Bitcoin, according to industry data. As part of its ongoing HODL strategy, Hut 8 deposited all of its self-mined Bitcoin into custody, bucking the growing industry trend of miners selling portions of their reserves during the bear market. As Cointelegraph reported, Tex...
Crypto VC funding hits $30.3B in H1, Michael Saylor steps down as MicroStrategy CEO, and Voyager to return $270M worth of customer assets: Hodler’s Digest, July 31-Aug 6
Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Crypto fundraising hits $30.3B in H1, outpacing all of 2021: Report A report from crypto analytics firm Messari on Tuesday showed that the crypto sector has raised $30.3 billion in funding this year, already outpacing the total for all of 2021, which was $30.2 billion. The figure was achieved via 1,199 funding rounds in the first half of the year, with $10.3 billion, more than a third of the capital, going towards the centralized finance sector. Notably, the NFT gaming sector raised more than all of decentrali...
Ethereum price rises by 50% against Bitcoin in one month — but there’s a catch
Ether (ETH), Ethereum’s native toke, has been continuing its uptrend against Bitcoin (BTC) as euphoria around its upcoming network upgrade, “the Merge,” grows. ETH at multi-month highs against BTC On the daily chart, ETH/BTC surged to an intraday high of 0.075 on Aug. 6, following a 1.5% upside move. Meanwhile, the pair’s gains came as a part of a broader rebound trend that started a month ago at 0.049, amounting to approximately 50% gains. ETH/BTC daily price chart. Source: TradingView The ETH/BTC recovery in part has surfaced due to the Merge, which will have Ethereum switch from proof-of-work (PoW) mining to proof-of-stake (PoS). Ethereum’s “rising wedge” suggests sell-off From a technical perspective, Ether stares at potential interim loss...
What is a decentralized money market and how does it work?
The seamless flow of capital between borrowers and lenders is a key aspect of a vibrant economy. Anyone with an extra asset can lend it to put their idle capital to work, while people needing it to grow business or meet operational costs can easily access it. Money markets are the platforms where borrowers and lenders can meet. Throughout history, money markets have been generators of economic activities. Though the structure of money markets has altered with time, their role has remained unchanged. How does the money market work? Conventionally, money markets were centralized structures facilitating the deals between lenders and borrowers. Borrowers would approach money markets to get a short-term loan (under a year) that might be collateralized. If the borrowers can’t pay back their loan...
