crypto blog
Point of no return? Crypto investment products could be key to mass adoption
The first Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) was launched in the United States back on October 19, 2021. Since then, a number of other cryptocurrency investment products have been launched in various markets. That first ETF, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, quicklybecame one of the top ETFs of all time by trading volume on its debut, and soon after, several other Bitcoin futures ETFs were launched in the United States, providing investors with different investment options. To Martha Reyes, head of research at cryptocurrency trading platform Bequant, these options are important. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Reyes pointed out that in traditional finance, ETFs have “proved to be incredibly popular in recent years, with ETF assets expected to reach $14 trillion by 2024.” Reyes s...
Indian PM calls for cryptocurrencies to ’empower’ democracy at global summit
Cryptocurrency made an appearance at a global online summit for world leaders in a speech from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At Friday’s events for the Summit for Democracy hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden, Modi said India would be willing to offer other countries “innovative digital solutions” to facilitate free and fair elections and governance. In addition, the Prime Minister called for a global standard on cryptocurrencies and major social media platforms, likely referring to the impact some have had on politics in India as well as many other countries: “We must also jointly shape global norms for emerging technologies like social media and cryptocurrencies so that they are used to empower democracy, not to undermine it […] By working together, democracies can meet...
6 Questions for Jane Thomason of Kasei Holdings
We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and we throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Jane Thomason, an entrepreneur and thought leader in technological innovation, fintech and blockchain for social impact. She is also the founder of Supernova Data, co-founder of the British Blockchain and Frontier Technologies Association, and chairperson of Kasei Holdings, an investment company specializing in the digital asset ecosystem. I have always believed we can change the world! For most of my life, I tried that in an analog way. In 2016, I discovered blockchain, and I realized it was a game-changing technology for social impact. I needed to be part of making that happen, so I left my da...
Inside the blockchain developer’s mind: Proof-of-stake blockchain consensus
Cointelegraph is following the development of an entirely new blockchain from inception to mainnet and beyond through its series Inside the Blockchain Developer’s Mind. In previous parts, Andrew Levine of Koinos Group discussed some of the challenges the team has faced since identifying the key issues they intend to solve and outlined three of the “crises” that are holding back blockchain adoption: upgradeability, scalability and governance. This series is focused on the consensus algorithm: Part 1 is about proof-of-work, Part 2 is about proof-of-stake and Part 3 is about proof-of-burn. This article is the second in my series about consensus algorithms, in which I leverage my unique perspective to help the reader gain a deeper understanding of this often misunderstood concept. In the...
Bitcoin Core developer Samuel Dobson decides it is ‘time to go’
Developer Samuel Dobson announced via a series of tweets on Thursday night that he is stepping down as a Bitcoin Core maintainer after three years as he “can no longer dedicate the time required, as I approach the end of my Ph.D.” I am officially stepping down as a maintainer of Bitcoin Core. Serving as the wallet maintainer for the past three years has been an absolute privilege, and I want to thank my incredibly generous sponsor John Pfeffer (@jlppfeffer) for his support throughout. /1 — Samuel Dobson (@meshcollider) December 9, 2021 As a Bitcoin Core wallet maintainer, Dobson had direct access to the cryptocurrency’s code on GitHub, with permissions to approve changes and make improvements to the Bitcoin software. He was also responsible for ensuring the security of the protocol. ...
Indian prime minister Modi’s hacked Twitter account attempts BTC scam
The official Twitter account of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got compromised earlier today, which was then used to share misleading information about the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) and redistribution of 500 BTC among the Indian citizens. On Dec. 10, Modi said in a virtual event virtual summit hosted by US President Joe Biden that technologies such as cryptocurrencies should be used to empower democracy and not undermine it: “By working together, democracies can meet the aspirations of our citizens and celebrate the democratic spirit of humanity.” While the long-awaited Lok Sabha Winter Session, a parliamentary meetup intended to discuss the legality of cryptocurrencies in the region, did not conclude the government’s stance on crypto, hackers from unknown origins man...
The Metaverse will bring unbridled evolution to NFTs
Even as nonfungible token (NFT) transactions have taken off and made headlines, to most people outside the crypto world, they’re just a gimmick. The metaverse will change that. There’s always a tipping point when new technologies go from incomprehensible fringe interest to, suddenly, part of life. That point usually comes from the confluence of a number of drivers and, right now, we’re experiencing what happens when two such trends hit the inflection point together. Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to rebrand Facebook to Meta was enough to propel the metaverse into major headlines around the world, although the concept has been around for at least three decades. It is this apparent sudden emergence of the metaverse that provides the escape velocity for the rehabilitation of NFTs’ image as a spec...
AscendEX loses $80M following ERC-20, BSC, Polygon hot wallet compromise
Crypto trading platform AscendEX suffered a loss of $77.7 million in a hot wallet compromise that allowed hackers to access and transfer tokens hosted over the Ethereum (ETH), Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Polygon (POLY) blockchains. Soon after realization, AscendEX proactively warned its users about the stolen funds, confirming that the hackers were not able to access the company’s cold wallet reserves. 22:00 UTC 12/11, We have detected a number of ERC-20, BSC, and Polygon tokens transferred from our hot wallet. Cold Wallet is NOT affected. Investigation underway. If any user’s funds are affected by the incident, they will be covered completely by AscendEX. — AscendEX (@AscendEX_Global) December 12, 2021 According to PeckShield, a blockchain security and data analytics company, around $60...
Metaverse opens the gateway for luxury NFTs to become a multi-billion market
The nonfungible token (NFT) market is hot right now, and the future forecasts that it will only be getting hotter. The creation of the Metaverse opens the gateway for NFT luxury brands to reach $56 billion by 2030. As the production of NFTs continues to create new forms of fashion consumption, more and more premium brands are jumping on this fast-moving train, investing in their new digital collectibles businesses. As more aspects of people’s lives are moving online, the demand for digital fashion and goods will increase significantly in the coming years. The Metaverse, virtual spaces where people can interact with each other and with digital objects through personalized avatars, is a groundbreaking concept currently being developed and built. Yet, it still has a long way to go. Stil...
Enterprise blockchain to play a pivotal role in creating a sustainable future
Bitcoin (BTC) is often used to criticize all blockchain-based projects. This is understandable since Bitcoin was the first project to use a blockchain, is arguably the most recognizable and is the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. In the first half of this article, I will use Bitcoin as a proxy for all blockchain-based projects because most people associate blockchain with Bitcoin. Anything environmentally positive that can be said about Bitcoin will be doubly true for the vast majority of newer blockchain-based projects since Bitcoin uses the oldest version of blockchain technology. Blockchain energy consumption Bitcoin has been attacked for high energy consumption. Headlines pointing out that Bitcoin’s electricity usage is comparable to a country’s total consumption is a popula...
From NFTs to CBDCs, crypto must tackle compliance before regulators do
Each year that we get a little further away from Satoshi Nakomoto’s whitepaper, crypto becomes more popular than ever, breaking more barriers — not just in sheer enthusiasm, but in mainstream acceptance. From nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to the Metaverse, 2021 was the year of crypto, even following a decade where just about every other year could make the same claim. Despite that peak enthusiasm and excitement though, we shouldn’t be blind to the fact that there are still fundamental issues that must be solved before crypto truly becomes the dominant “coin of the realm” across the globe, along with the backbone of the next industrial revolution. Prime among these issues are Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) protections that en...
Vitalik Buterin outlines path to ETH 2.0, Visa launches crypto advisory, Biden’s anti-crypto nominee for Comptroller withdraws: Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 5-11
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 Vitalik Buterin outlines ‘endgame’ roadmap for ETH 2.0 With the long-awaited transition to Eth2 coming closer to fruition, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined an “Endgame” roadmap on Monday to finally achieve the landmark upgrade. While Buterin did not address the centralization issue with block production as the network works towards scalability, the 27-year-old essentially solved everything else to do with block validation. He suggested the idea of implementing “a second tier of st...
