crypto blog
THORChain token price up 16% following mainnet launch
The price of THORChain’s token RUNE is up 16% since the project announced the official launch of its mainnet on June 22. The team announced the mainnet launch on Wednesday, alongside the rollout of a “Rune in a Million Campaign” on Binance that contains a total of $1 million worth of RUNE rewards for users of the exchange. The announcement has been followed by a 16% bump for RUNE to $2.18 at the time of writing, and the price is up 31.6% over the past seven days. The surge has provided some much-needed relief for RUNE, though the price is still down 31% from $3.21 at the start of June. THORChain is a cross-chain exchange and proof-of-bond network that enables users to swap assets by liquidity pools across various networks such as Binance Smart Chain, Ethereum, Dogecoin and Bitcoin. The exc...
Eminem and Snoop Dogg turn into BAYC chars in new music video
It was only a year and a half ago that there appeared to be bad feelings between Snoop Dogg and Eminem, both of whom are Dr. Dre’s proteges. Now, the legendary rappers have a new music video where they are featured as Bored Apes. Eminem tweeted on June 24 that a new song called “From The D 2 The LBC” would be released. The post included the song’s single art, which was a comic book style with two cartoon monkeys representing both Snoop Dogg and Slim Shady and their connection to Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). He followed up swiftly with another tweet advertising the video. [embedded content] The two hip-hop legends have reunited to release a new music video for their followers. This time, they’ve featured the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), a nonfungible token (NFT) colle...
Solana smartphone Saga triggers mixed reactions from crypto community
The Solana (SOL) team has brought mobile phones to Web3 after revealing Saga, Solana’s Android mobile device that will go out with the project’s latest stack for Web3 developers, the Solana Mobile Stack. The community welcomed the new development with various reactions from comparing the project to Apple and Ethereum (ETH) to bringing up concerns over Solana’s network outages. Vinny Lingham praised the move and called it Web3’s very own “iPhone moment” and thanked Solana Co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko for making it possible. Meanwhile, David Ticzon was also impressed, calling Solana the “Apple of Web3” in a tweet. Some community members also took this opportunity to compare SOL’s progress to the ETH network. Twitter user Thesolmane pointed out that while Solana launched a Web3 phone, E...
Weekly Report: India mulls 28% GST on crypto, Tether to launch Pound Sterling-backed stablecoin, FalconX secures $150M raise and more
Here are all the exciting headlines you missed in the NFT, DeFi and crypto niches across regulations and business verticals. Crypto broker FalconX raises $150 million, reaching an $8 billion valuation US-based firm digital assets brokerage on Wednesday disclosed it had raised $150 million in the latest financing round led by Singaporean wealth group GIC and Swiss firm B Capital. Other investors that took part include private equity firm Thoma Bravo, Tiger Global Management, and investment manager Adams Street. Notably, the series D funding round comes when crypto entities suffer losses and try to stay afloat. Falcon X’s total funding now stands at $430 million, having secured a massive $210 million from its Series C funding. Its valuation has more than doubled from $3.75 billion to $8...
Chainalysis tips Australia will crack down on misleading crypto ads
Chainalysis’ head of international policy Caroline Malcolm expects Australia’s new rules governing crypto advertising, promotion and consumer safeguards to follow a similar path to the United Kingdom when they come into place within the next year. “I think we’re more likely to see something along the lines of the UK model which is really focusing on a crackdown on misleading advertising or advertising which doesn’t present the risks alongside the opportunities.” During the Chainalysis Links event in Sydney on June 21, Malcolm told Cointelegraph that this meant treating crypto products and services in a similar way to financial products and services when it comes to advertising and promotion. In March, U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) released new guidanc...
Breaking: Harmony’s Horizon Bridge hacked for $100M
The Horizon Bridge to the Harmony layer-1 blockchain has been exploited for $100 million in altcoins which are being swapped for Ether (ETH). The hack may vindicate previously raised community concerns about the robustness of the two of four multisig that reportedly secures the bridge. Starting at about 7:08 am until 7:26 am ET, 11 transactions were made from the bridge for various tokens. They have since begun sending tokens to a different wallet to swap for ETH on the Uniswap decentralized exchange (DEX), then sending the ETH back to the original wallet. 1/ The Harmony team has identified a theft occurring this morning on the Horizon bridge amounting to approx. $100MM. We have begun working with national authorities and forensic specialists to identify the culprit and retrieve the stolen...
‘Bad’ crypto projects should not be bailed out says Binance founder CZ
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao argues that “bad” crypto projects should be left to fail and not receive bailouts from crypto firms with healthy cash reserves. In a June 23 blog post, CZ said that firms that have been poorly operated, poorly managed or have released poorly designed products shouldn’t receive bailouts — and should instead be left to crumble: “In short, they are just ‘bad’ projects. These should not be saved. Sadly, some of these ‘bad’ projects have a large number of users, often acquired through inflated incentives, ‘creative marketing, or pure Ponzi schemes.” “Further, in any industry, there are always more failed projects than successful ones. Hopefully, the failures are small, and the successes are large. But you get the idea. Bailouts here don’t make s...
Moody’s downgrades Coinbase due to bear: Warns it may not be the last
Credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded the Corporate Family Rating (CFR) and guaranteed senior unsecured notes of crypto exchange Coinbase, and stated that both ratings have been placed under review for further downgrade. The CFR, a rating assigned to reflect Moody’s opinion of a company’s ability to honor its financial obligations, was downgraded from Ba2 to Ba3 which is considered as below non-investment grade. Senior unsecured notes are a type of debt a company holds that is not backed by any assets and in the event of bankruptcy must be repaid before any others. Moody’s downgraded Coinbase’s from Ba1 to Ba2. Earlier in May, Cointelegraph reported Coinbase’s junk bonds tanked in response to an underwhelming first quarter and since the report, the bonds have continued to fall a fur...
Nonfungible airdrops: Could NFA become the next big acronym in the crypto space?
Airdrops have become the bread and butter of the crypto world — for good reason. They’re an indispensable marketing tool for up-and-coming projects that want to create a buzz around their ecosystems. Done right, distributing free tokens to the public can help elevate demand — and unlock big benefits for recipients. After all, if these altcoins end up being listed on major exchanges at a later date, their value could explode. Unfortunately though, downsides have started to emerge. These campaigns aren’t just reaching enthusiasts who passionately believe in what a project has to offer, but “airdrop hunters” who are merely scouring for ways to turn a quick profit. Airdrop hunters typically want to sell off the tokens they’ve received for free — as soon as they ca...
‘Foolish’ to deny Bitcoin price can go under $10K — Analysis
Bitcoin (BTC) preserved $20,000 for another day on June 23 with calls for another 20% drop still surfacing. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Bitcoin under $10,000 not impossible Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD ranging just above the $20,000 mark over the 24 hours to the time of writing. As ever, the behavior reflected moves in United States equities markets, which stayed flat on the day. Remarks by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell had provided only brief volatility. Cointelegraph noted that Powell’s Congress testimony provided no new information regarding macro policy. As such, crypto commentators stuck to previous assertions — the outlook was uncertain, they said, but a potential fresh drawdown may only involve a ...
Voyager Digital cuts withdrawal amount as 3AC contagion ripples through DeFi and CeFi
The Singapore-based crypto venture firm Three Arrows Capital (3AC) failed to meet its financial obligations on June 15 and this caused severe impairments among centralized lending providers like Babel Finance and staking providers like Celsius. On June 22, Voyager Digital, a New York-based digital assets lending and yield company listed on the Toronto Stock exchange, saw its shares drop nearly 60% after revealing a $655 million exposure to Three Arrows Capital. Voyager offers crypto trading and staking and had about $5.8 billion of assets on its platform in March, according to Bloomberg. Voyager’s website mentions that the firm offers a Mastercard debit card with cashback and allegedly pays up to 12% annualized rewards on crypto deposits with no lockups. More recently, on June 2...
The community-centered approach to Web3 — Aave founder and CEO
Aave founder and chief executive officer Stani Kulechov said the firm was continuing to develop its decentralized social media platform, with Web3 potentially changing the way many view ownership. Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Collision conference in Toronto on Thursday, Kulechov said Web3 — a buzzword often thrown around which generally describes the next evolution of an internet based on blockchain technology — could impact how people use social media in much the same way cryptocurrency changed perceptions on finance. The Aave CEO remarked how developers had adapted protocols to handle custody, and the rise in nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, seemed to point to a community-centered approach. “I think Web3 is quite a lot related to the concept of ownership,” said Kulechov. “As we have owne...
