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Showing posts from September, 2023

FTX Hacker Awakens: Transfers 2,500 Ethereum After Almost a Year

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Roughly $4 million worth of Ethereum connected to last November’s FTX exchange exploit began moving again . The movement happened nearly 11 months after the breach. Blockchain data shows the funds tied to FTX ’s collapse moved Thursday for the first time since being drained in the wake of the company’s bankruptcy. Around 2,500 Ethereum from the hack were divided into multiple transactions. The hacker utilized privacy tools like the Thorchain router and Railgun wallet. The transfers indicate the exploiter is now accessing the long-dormant funds nearly one year later. The million-dollar FTX hacker identity remains hidden The perpetrator and exact m ETH od behind the multimillion-dollar FTX breach last year still remain unclear. But accounts linked to the exchange and its FTX US affiliate were suddenly drained on November 11th. The exploit occured as founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigned amid bankruptcy. At the time, about 21,500 Ethereum worth $27 million were taken from FTX

PayPal’s Blockchain Foray: Layer-2 Solutions and NFTs in Focus

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Financial payments behemoth PayPal is venturing deeper into the blockchain realm with a keen eye on Layer 2 solutions and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In recent developments, PayPal’s research and development endeavors have come to light through many patent applications, offering intriguing glimpses into the company’s evolving blockchain strategy. One such patent application, originally filed in March 2022 but recently unveiled to the public, delves into the meticulous validator and miner selection process for blockchain transactions. This document introduces novel techniques that could steer blockchain requests toward specific groups of miners or validators, enhancing transaction efficiency. Moreover, three additional patent applications, dating back to March 2022 but unveiled on September 21, have captured the attention of the BLOCKCHAIN community. The first patents explore innovative methods and systems to facilitate off-chain transactions within NFT marketplaces. This paves the w

Solana (SOL) breaks above key level but can bulls take advantage?

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Solana (SOL) price traded to above $20.00, hitting $20.50 after bouncing off $18.40 earlier this month. Can bulls take advantage of positive sentiment for Solana to break higher? Solana price has reached a key technical level , with the 24-hour upside to $20.50 retesting a 10-day high that’s an area of a previous support and resistance. With nearly 4% increase in the past 24 hours, Solana is outperforming all the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap except XRP. Bitcoin is back below $27k after latest SEC delays of decisions on multiple spot ETF applications, including that of BlackRock. Ethereum, buoyed by news of listing of the Valkyrie ETH futures ETF to near $1,700, has bounced lower too even as whales position themselves for a likely upswing. What’s the outlook for Solana, an altcoin with a market cap of $8.3 billion?  SOL price: what next for bulls? SOL price’s uptick today comes as SOL bulls plot to stay above an ascending trendline support that’

SEC Delays Decision On Spot Bitcoin ETF Applications Again Despite Mounting Pressure to Approve

The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has again pushed back the deadline to approve or deny spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications made by Blackrock and several other fund managers. Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval Faces Further Delays According to separate filings made on September 28, the SEC has delayed the decision on proposals made by Invesco, Bitwise, Valkyrie, and Blackrock. The notice of delay was announced earlier than expected with the SEC having until mid-October before needing to approve or delay the applications. NEW: 🇺🇸 SEC delays BlackRock, Valkyrie, and Bitwise spot #Bitcoin ETF application decisions. Also expected to delay WisdomTree, Vaneck, and Fidelity's applications. 🤨 pic.twitter.com/HXx7RSWobu — Bitcoin Archive (@BTC_Archive) September 29, 2023 Of the seven proposals expecting a decision in October, Fidelity, VanEck and WidsomTree are yet to hear from the commission. But yesterday’s decision suggests that those applications may al

Top 2 Cryptocurrencies To Watch in October 2023

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October is just around the corner. People from the cryptocurrency industry are eagerly waiting for this historically bullish month. In 2021, the crypto market initiated its ‘double peak’ rally during this month only, and by November, several assets had clinched new highs. The sentiment has been improving recently, and analysts expect the tides to turn around in the bulls’ favor. So, in this article, we will analyze the top cryptocurrency assets to look out for in October 2023. Cryptocurrency: Two Tokens To Watch Out in October 2023 Bitcoin Since 2013, Bitcoin has fetched investors negative returns only twice in October, once in 2018, and the other time in 2014. Other than these two instances, investors have only relished gains during this month. Three crucial indicators currently point out that Bitcoin might be out of the bearish woods. Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin’s Reserve Risk is currently hovering around historical lows. For context, during a period of low market prices, lo

Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, intends to enter the US stock market: Report

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Reports indicate that the firm has successfully obtained a broker-dealer license from the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as part of its expansive strategic vision. Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is purportedly gearing up to introduce trading services to its users, encompassing U.S.-listed stock s and exchange -traded funds (ETFs). According to a report from Bloomberg dated September 27th, the U.S.-based exchange is gearing up to unveil its trading services in both the United States and the United Kingdom sometime in 2024, and this initiative will be carried out through a specialized division known as Kraken Securities. It’s worth noting that Kraken’s endeavor to diversify its investment offerings beyond cryptocurrencies necessitates obtaining licenses from both the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the regulatory authorities in the U.K., a feat that the exchange has reportedly already accomplished. This move by the CRYPTOCURRENCY exchange

Shiba Inu Burn Rate Surges: New Whales Emerge Amid BONE Developments

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Shiba Inu Burn Rate Surges: New Whales Emerge Amid BONE Developments: On Wednesday, Shiba Inu (SHIB) witnessed a remarkable 1000% spike in its burn rate. Consequently, a whopping 164 million SHIB tokens were eradicated from the supply, as confirmed by Shibburn, the dedicated burn tracker for Shiba Inu. Significantly, fresh data from Etherscan unveils an intriguing move. Two hitherto inactive crypto wallets, tagged “0x6ab” and “0xA75,” have seen vast SHIB withdrawals from renowned exchanges like Binance and MEXC. Specifically, these withdrawals total a staggering 61 billion SHIB. Hence, the market speculates about the advent of new Shiba Inu whales. Moreover, at prevailing market rates, the holdings of these new whales surpass $500,000 in SHIB. ShibaSwap’s gas token, BONE, has made headlines in related developments. The Shiba Inu development squad has proclaimed that the BONE minting procedure is on the brink of culmination. Additionally, this notable move traces its origins to the

SHIB price prediction for Halloween 2023

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With the month of September almost over, Halloween enthusiasts have already started picking out decorations for the scariest holiday of the year, but cryptocurrency traders have other things on their minds, such as prediction s of the future price of Shiba Inu (SHIB). As it happens, the largest part of the crypto market is back in the sideways trading mode, and Shiba Inu is no exception. However, machine learning (ML) algorithms indicate a strong chance for the meme crypto asset to be trading at a slightly lower price than at press time, September 28. What machine algorithms say Indeed, the self-learning machine algorithm used by the cryptocurrency tracking platform CoinCodex suggests that SHIB could reduce its price by 1.62% by October 31, 2023, from its current situation, which means it would end up trading at the price of $0.000007133 on the holiday of Halloween. SHIB 3-month price prediction. Source: CoinCodex Ghosts of Halloween past In terms of SHIB price during past

ChatGPT Can Now Browse The Internet

The conversational AI system and chatbot ChatGPT have an upgrade with new capabilities. ChatGPT can now browse the internet to deliver up-to-date information to users. Developer OpenAI announced that Plus and Enterprise tier users of ChatGPT now have access to an integrated web browsing feature via Microsoft’s Bing search engine. This enables the bot to go beyond the fixed dataset it was initially trained on up to September 2021. Also read: BIS Calls for Robust Legal Frameworks to Enable CBDC Adoption ChatGPT can now browse the internet to provide you with current and authoritative information, complete with direct links to sources. It is no longer limited to data before September 2021. pic.twitter.com/pyj8a9HWkB — OpenAI (@OpenAI) September 27, 2023 ChatGPT can now search for up-to-date information on the Internet With browsing capabilities, ChatGPT can provide assistance with research, product comparisons, travel planning, and other tasks requiring current da

Ethereum’s Legal Game Changer: The Mysterious ‘Paper’

Ethereum advisor Steven Nerayoff’s posts on X raised concerns about legal improprieties in Ethereum’s early days. Tweets make mention of a mysterious “piece of paper” that Joseph Lubin claimed provided legal clearance for the Ethereum ICO Lawyer Bill Morgan theorized that the document could be a “no-action” letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A series of provocative posts on X (formerly Twitter), from Ethereum advisor Steven Nerayoff has stirred speculation about potential legal improprieties in Ethereum’s early days. Nerayoff vaguely accused Ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin of regulatory transgressions regarding the project’s 2014 initial coin offering (ICO). The posts reference a mysterious “piece of paper” that Lubin claims provided legal clearance for the Ethereum ICO, which raised over $18 million. While the document’s nature remains unknown, lawyer Bill Morgan theorized it could be a “no-action” letter from the

Ethereum OFAC compliance dips to 45% post-Merge upgrade

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The list of top censorship offenders is populated by popular platforms such as Binance, Celsius Network, Bitfinex, Ledger Live, Huobi (HTX) and Coinbase. The historic Merge upgrade from Sept. 2022 — which marked Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) — resulted in the overall decline in compliance with standards laid down by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  Ethereum blocks adhering to OFAC compliance censor certain transactions, which has a negative impact on the neutrality of the Ethereum ecosystem. In early August 2022, OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash and several Ethereum (ETH) addresses associated with it due to its ability to mask and anonymize transactions. Prior to the Merge upgrade, Ethereum’s OFAC compliance increased exponentially as entities such as crypto exchanges opted to run censoring MEV-Boost relays on their validators. The list of top censorship offenders is populated by popular platforms such as Binance, Celsius Network, B

Do Bitcoin halvings spark BTC price rallies, or is it US Treasurys?

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An intriguing chart shows a close relationship between U.S. 10-year Treasurys and Bitcoin halving price rallies. The relationship between Bitcoin’s price and U.S. Treasury yields has long been considered a strong indicator due to historical data and the underlying rationale. Bitcoin halvings vs. 10-year Treasury yields In essence, when investors turn to government-issued bonds for safety, assets like Bitcoin (BTC), which are considered risk-on, tend to perform poorly. A noteworthy chart shared by TXMC on X (formerly known as Twitter) makes the argument that Bitcoin halvings have coincided with “relative local lows” in the 10-year Treasury yield. Despite the questionable use of the term “relative,” which doesn’t precisely match a three-month low, it’s still worth examining the macroeconomic trends surrounding past halvings. #BTC halvings have coincidentally arrived at local lows in treasury yields each of the first 3 times. After these moments, risk assets rose broadly while growth ex

Concerns grow over U.S. crypto market losing ground

SEC lawsuits, ambiguous taxation rules, and strict regulations are stirring unease in the American crypto community, possibly endangering the U.S. dominance in the crypto realm. In the heart of the financial world, a significant discussion is unfolding regarding cryptocurrency’s position in the United States. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking a prominent role, focusing on lawsuits and regulation enforcement that could influence the direction of the growing American crypto sector. This situation might lead to a potential exodus of crypto CEOs who are growing disillusioned with the strict regulatory environment on home soil. Many are now exploring opportunities overseas. For instance, Brad Garlinghouse from Ripple is contemplating expansion into places like Dubai, attracted by the region’s unique and transparent crypto ecosystem. They have preached (and demanded) transparency from those they regulate, but fight tooth and nail when held to the same standar

Tether Alters Terms in Singapore, Banning Local Shareholders

Tether has modified its terms of service, prohibiting Singapore residents’ shareholding in USDT exchanging. Julian Hosp, the CEO of Cake DeFi, disclosed an email from Tether outlining the policy change. Some speculated that this could be related to the recent money laundering case in Singapore. Tether has reportedly updated its terms of service in Singapore, which include banning shareholders residing in Singapore from exchanging USDT for USD. The CEO of Cake DeFi shared an email that shows the update. Julian Hosp, the CEO of Cake DeFi, a finance protocol, shared the email he received from Tether that said: Tether has changed its terms of service to, among other things, restrict its onboarding standards. Corporates controlled by other entities, directors, and shareholders residing in Singapore are no longer permitted to be Tether customers. Furthermore, the email added that Cake DeFi is controlled by another corporation that resides in Singapore, w

ChatGPT analyzes XRP price as Ripple v. SEC set post BTC halving

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Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are expected to engage in additional courtroom battles during the second quarter of 2024, subsequent to the occurrence of the Bitcoin (BTC) halving event. What implications may this have for the price movement of XRP? Although the court has ruled in favor of Ripple Labs in ‘a partial victory,’ it is important to note that the legal dispute is still ongoing. The attainment of a resolution seems to be a distant prospect, with indications suggesting that it is probable to occur only in the second quarter of 2024. A prospective trial date is being established in the continuing legal dispute between Ripple and the SEC. Given that the available days of both sides do not coincide prior to the period above, it is very probable that the trial will be scheduled between April 22 and 26, shortly after the occurrence of the Bitcoin halving event. Aug. 9 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Moonbeam (GLMR) token rallying on news of listing on Upbit

At press time, the Moonbeam (GLMR) token was trading at $0.2601, up 56.29% in a day. Moonbeam’s trading volume has also surged by 1937.22% over the last 24 hours. Upbit Exchange has announced that it will list the GLMR token. Moonbeam’s native token , GLMR, has surged by an impressive 56% in the last 24 hours, currently trading at $0.2601 on various spot trading platforms. This remarkable price action is generating significant buzz within the altcoin market. What’s driving this surge is the recent announcement that GLMR is set to be listed on Upbit, one of South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, known for its pivotal role in token expansion. Upbit to list Moonbeam (GLMR) token Upbit’s decision to list GLMR has far-reaching implications, given South Korea’s stature as a major hub in the digital currency trading world. This listing has ignited excitement across the crypto industry, as it opens doors to a vast and influential market. Moonbeam, as a

How is DeFi margin trading getting safer with this cross-chain protocol?

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DeFi margin trading can’t reach its full potential due to overcollateralization and drastic liquidation conditions. This platform aims to change the space. DeFi margin trading is hindered by persistent problems like overcollateralization and risk of liquidation. Some decentralized apps are managing to address these challenges. Decentralized finance (DeFi) reinvents financial services by relying on decentralized and trustless networks to cut intermediaries and give full control to users. This emerging blockchain sector is a powerful alternative to traditional finance. A popular use case in DeFi is lending, which accounts for about 25% of the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols. Margin trading in DeFi One of the reasons why DeFi lending is attractive is because it facilitates on -chain margin trading , enabling crypto holders to seek higher returns by taking more risk. This involves leveraging crypto assets to potentially amplify gains. Margin trading is an essential feature in