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The POSA updated its staking principles to say that providers should communicate clearly and should not control the amount of liquidity a user must provide. The Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), a non-profit organization that represents firms in the crypto staking industry, published an updated version of its “ staking principles” on Nov. 9. The new principles are supported by Ava Labs, Alluvial, Coinbase, Lido Protocol, Paradigm, and ten other staking industry firms. Previous version of the POSA staking principles. Source: POSA. POSA represents 15 different firms in the staking industry, including Alluvial, Ava Labs, Blockdaemon, Coinbase, Credibly Neutral, Figment, Infstones, Kiln, Lido Protocol, Luganodes, Methodic, Obol, Polychain, Paradigm, and Staking Rewards. The staking principles were first published in 2020. According to the blog post that announced them, the POSA staking principles are meant to be “a set of industry-driven solutions” that provide rs can implement to addr...

China has launch ed its first industrial park dedicated to developing and applying the digital yuan, or e-CNY, in the city of Nanjing, Jiangsu province. The park, which covers an area of 10 square kilometers, aims to attract more than 100 enterprises and institutions related to the digital currency ecosystem, such as financial technology, blockchain, big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. The park was officially opened Oct. 12 by signing a strategic cooperation agreement between the Nanjing municipal government, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank’s Nanjing branch and the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone. The agreement outlines the park’s vision, goals and plans, which will serve as a platform for innovation, experimentation and promotion of the e-CNY. You might also like: People’s Bank of China Pledges to “Accelerate” Blockchain Development, Boost Local Industry The park will also host several pilot pr...

Bitcoin developer Eric Wall has described the recent BitVM research paper as both “mindblowing” yet ultimately a “technological dead end” for Bitcoin smart contracts. The BitVM paper covered in an Oct. 9 crypto.news report, proposes a method for executing complex computations and smart contracts on Bitcoin without modifying its consensus rules. This is achieved using a prover-verifier model, where the prover makes a claim about the result of an off-chain computation, and the verifier can succinctly check its validity on-chain. In a Twitter thread, Wall described two perspectives on BitVM. On one hand, he says the idea that Bitcoin can “do general purpose computation…no matter how impractical , burdensome, or janky that is…is kind of mindblowing.” He states that being able to verify arbitrary logic on Bitcoin “with no changes” is impressive. You might also like: Binance’s CZ expects Bitcoin to hit new all-time high in 2025 However, Wall al...

Crypto projects experienced a significant increase in financial losses during Q3 2023, amounting to $685.5 million, driven largely by major exploits on key cross-chain protocols. The third quarter of 2023 saw a significant financial setback for the crypto industry, with reported losses amounting to $685.5 million. According to a study released today from web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi, these Q3 losses have surged by 59.9% compared to the $428.7 million recorded in Q2. Year-over-year, incidents rose by a staggering 153%. Of the Q3 setbacks, notable exploits on cross-chain protocols – Mixin Network and Multichain – constituted almost half the total losses . These two incidents led to a loss of $326 million, with Mixin Network’s unfortunate $200 million exploit in September and Multichain’s loss of $126 million in July. Mitchell Amador, Immunefi’s CEO, highlighted that this quarter marked the highest loss for the year, accentuating the influence of state-back...

Rupert Schaefer, the executive director of strategy, policy, and control at BaFin, the German financial regulatory authority, emphasized the significance of establishing a unified global regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency sector. Drawing a comparison to aviation, Schaefer likened regulators to air traffic controllers while comparing certain crypto assets and decentralized finance projects to unidentified aircraft abruptly turning up on a radar. “There should be no white spots in the flight radar: the global rules should also apply to niche financial centers,” Schaefer wrote in a Sept. 18 blog post. “Some crypto assets and decentralized finance  projects certainly resemble unidentifiable flying objects . It would be negligent to simply ignore them. As financial regulators, we are sitting in the tower. We must know their characteristics, understand them, know their route and intervene if necessary. This is the only way we can...

One-quarter of asset managers and hedge funds in the US and Europe have recruited senior executives to oversee digital asset strategies, according to a recent report. Based on the findings of a market intelligence firm, an increasing number of investment firms in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe are appointing senior executives to lead digital asset investment strategies. According to a recent Amberdata report titled 'Digital Assets: Managers' Data Infrastructure Fuel,' 24% of asset management firms have adopted a digital assets strategy, with an extra 13% planning to do so in the next two years. “These roles are being staffed up, with almost a quarter of firms with a senior role dedicated to digital assets, reflecting seriousness about implementation as well as senior management buy-in.” Organizations with a senior role dedicated to dedicated asset strategy implementation. Source: Amberdata The report surveyed 60 investment professionals across the United St...

The global DeFi total value locked (TVL) has been struggling since April, and with the recent bear storm , it has dropped to a 31-month low. According to data provided by DeFi Llama, the total decentralized finance (DeFi) TVL has been constantly dropping since April from a local top of around $52.9 billion. Consequently, the TVL has dropped to $37.6 billion, last seen in February 2021. DeFi TVL – Sep. 5 | Source: DeFi Llama Moreover, the TVL of the top 12 DeFi protocols dropped by 0.92% in the past 24 hours on average, with the top loser spot going to Curve Finance, which fell by 2.1%.  Per DeFi Lama, the leading decentralized protocol remains Lido with a $14 billion TVL. Data shows that Lido has accumulated roughly $1.5 million in fees in the past 24 hours. You might also like: USDT’s market cap drops for the first time in 2023 The recent drop in the global DeFi TVL comes as the total crypto market capitalization saw a 0.8% decline over the past day. According to ...

The crypto wallet wallet linked to 1inch Investment Fund currently holds around $80 million in various digital assets. A crypto wallet belonging to the 1inch Investment Fund has bought huge amounts of Ether (ETH) a month after recently cashing out on its dollar-cost averaging (DCA) buys throughout the first quarter of 2023.  Blockchain analysis platform Lookonchain, which follows and posts smart profitable trades, flagged the transaction. According to the firm, the 1inch-affiliated wallet bought a total of 6,088 ETH at the price of $1,655, which means that the company spent over $10 million on the purchase. 1inch Investment Fund wallet spent $10M to buy 6,088 $ETH at $1,655 6 hrs ago. The wallet bought a total of 17K $ETH($26.8M) at an average price of $1,569 on Jan 13, Feb 9 and Mar 14. Then sold 11K $ETH($21M) at $1,906 on July 5, making ~$3.7M.https://t.co/QhEm3M9Mm7 pic.twitter.com/JUxzA8hFom — Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 28, 2023 The trade comes after the company ...

The two networks will share profits and governance using multi-signature wallets, and a ‘Security Council’ will be formed as the ecosystem grows. Developers behind the Base and Optimism networks have jointly announced a revenue -sharing and governance -sharing agreement. Coinbase, the parent company of Base, has also published a list of “principles of neutrality” it will follow to prevent Base from becoming centralized. This announcement was made through three separate blog posts on Aug. 24; one from the jointly-controlled Optimism Collective, one from Base, and one from Coinbase. According to the jointly-controlled Optimism Collective’s post, Base’s smart contracts can only be upgraded via a 2/2 multi-signature wallet account. One signature is controlled by Base and the other by the Optimism network’s team (called the “Optimism Foundation”). This means that Base cannot be upgraded without the consent of the Optimism team. As more chains opt to use the OP Stack and become part of the ...

Coinbase’s Base network began onboarding end users through a bridge UI, and the team announced Aug. 9 as the platform's official launch date. Coinbase’s Base network has released a user interface (UI) for its official bridge, allowing end users to onboard for the first time without relying on developer tools, according to an Aug. 3 announcement. The team has set Aug. 9 as Base’s “official” release date. The team will award over 100 Ether (ETH), worth approximately $184,000, in grants to developers and content creators as part of a month-long launch event called the “Onchain Summer.” Base is now open for bridging Base opens for everything on August 9 We’re helping throw an onchain festival to celebrate ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴏɴᴄʜᴀɪɴ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ https://t.co/p8KTcnkbbx — Base ️ (@BuildOnBase) August 3, 2023 The Base mainnet launch ed for builders on July 13, but it lacked a functioning UI for its bridge from Ethereum. At the time, the only way to use the network was to employ command-line develop...

Cointelegraph Accelerator participants will get a headstart with Consensys’ Web3 solutions, including MetaMask, Infura and Linea zkEVM. The transition from Web2 to Web3 is reshaping the technology landscape and attracting the attention of developers. Despite the challenges faced during the current crypto winter, the Web3 ecosystem continued to onboard new developers, with many thousands of developers making the jump from Web2 to Web3. However, developers working with Web3 and blockchain technology can face numerous issues if they lack the proper knowledge, infrastructure and tools. Web3 teams need assistance developing in a complex environment without introducing vulnerabilities into their smart contracts that could lead to security breaches, such as hacks and exploits. The number of active Web3 developers is rising. Source: Electric Capital. To avoid these potential setbacks, Web3 startups are seeking support from established industry players. Blockchain and web3 software company Con...

MKR looks primed to continue the rally given its recent buyback mechanism and two other key metrics that impact Maker’s price. Maker has gained 53.5% over the past month, and the cryptocurrency witnessed a remarkable 28.1% surge between July 15 and July 22, achieving its highest daily close in nearly a year. While the gains are impressive, the real question is: Can the cryptocurrency sustain its current trajectory, or were short-term factors behind the price pump? Average Maker (MKR) price at Coinbase, Binance and Bybit. Source: TradingView MakerDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) responsible for the Dai (DAI) stablecoin and the governance token Maker (MKR), unveiled a five-phase roadmap in mid-May. Dubbed “Endgame," the upgrade plan includes a new blockchain, a rebrand and the introduction of two tokens featuring updated functionalities. Rune Christensen, co-founder of MarkerDAO, revealed that the primary component of “Endgame” entails developing incentive prog...

Traders have top assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum on their radar at the moment. Even though other cryptos like Dogecoin have been rallying, they have seemingly “ignored” them. Solana , however, continues to be keenly discussed by community members. Tremors of the Robinhood and Revolut’s delistings were felt within the Solana ecosystem. Nevertheless, SOL has managed to put that behind already. Owing to its 20% appreciation in the last 7 days, SOL was the sixth largest gainer on the weekly at press time. On the NFT front, Solana has been putting its best foot forward. Data from CryptoSlam indicated that Solana dethroned Bitcoin on NFT sales volume this week. Owing to the Ordinals’ mania, Bitcoin displaced Solana and other blockchains to stand next to Ethereum a couple of weeks back. However, with the help of its 271% sales uptick, Solana currently holds the 2nd spot. Over the past week, $41 million worth of NFTs were settled on its blockchain, with a mere ...

A total of 517,000 token votes favored the proposal, with none opposing it. The governance tokenholders of Tornado Cash will soon regain control over the protocol’s operations, thanks to an unexpected proposal put forward by the attacker. This development allows the community to regain authority and steer the protocol toward recovery and improved security measures. On May 26, the proposal to restore control to the original governance tokenholders of Tornado Cash passed successfully. A total of 517,000 token votes favored the proposal , with none opposing it. This resolution brings a swift conclusion to a governance takeover that, fortunately, did not impact the protocol itself, but did lead to the theft of specific governance tokens. A screenshot showing the voting results. Source: Tornado Cash By successfully orchestrating a takeover of the protocol’s governance system, the attacker maneuvered a malicious proposal that granted them 1.2 million votes. Leveraging this significant...

Ethereum was upgraded to allow withdrawals on April 13, but Lido had not previously integrated with the new feature. The Lido liquid staking protocol has enabled Ether withdrawals for the first time, according to May 15 data from Parsec Finance. Over 260 Lido Staked Ether (stETH) was redeemed for its underlying Ether (ETH) in the first three hours, worth about $500,000. stETH withdraw als dashboard: - individual & aggregate withdraw al requests. - current withdraw al queue. - stETH large balance changes.https://t.co/HxZc2Izfax@parsec_finance @wilburforce_ pic.twitter.com/2ZBZWzcrTZ — mhonkasalo.lens (@mhonkasalo) May 15, 2023 Lido is a liquid staking derivatives (LSD) protocol that allows ETH holders to stake their coins with participating validators and earn additional ETH as a reward. When users stake their ETH with Lido, they receive stETH in return. As users earn ETH from staking, their stETH increases in quantity to reflect the additional rewards. However, before the A...

The co-founder of Polygon and other decentralization proponents said the move sets a bad precedent. Tether, the issuer behind the leading stablecoin USDT has blacklisted an address that drained Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bots for $25 million last week.  The address in question exploited a bug in MEV-boost-relay to outsmart the MEV bots trying to execute a sandwich trade. Sandwiching occurs when one order is placed immediately before the trade and another immediately after it. In essence, the trader will front-run and back-run at the same time, sandwiching the original pending transaction in between. In this case, the rouge validator address swooped in to back-run the MEV’s transaction, leading to losses of nearly $25 million in various digital assets, making it the largest MEV exploit to date. Etherscan has already flagged the address with a warning of its involvement in the exploit. Rouge validator address. Source: Etherscan The USDT address held about $3 million in USDT at ...

The US Treasury Department has released a press release on the 2023 DeFi illicit finance risk assessment. The report was released after a proper Analysis of the decentralized finance sector. Additionally, the report speaks about how the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), cybercriminals, thieves, scammers, and ransomware attackers use DeFi services to launder and move their illicit proceeds. Also read: India’s CBDC Rollout Strategy: Target One Million Users, Prioritize Offline Transactions The Treasury has stated that decentralized crypto currency markets are threatening national security. Perhaps the US Treasury also mentioned that it needs greater oversight against money laundering activities. JUST IN: US Treasury says decentralized # crypto markets threaten national security. — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 6, 2023 US Treasury highlights how DeFi is used by illicit actors Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence,...

Despite the ongoing tumultuous market conditions, VC investments in European crypto startups hit an all-time high of $5.7 billion in 2022. 2022 was a turbulent year for the crypto space, to say the least; from an ongoing bear market and crash for LUNA to the downfall of FTX one of the industry’s most prominent players. Despite the setbacks, VC investors continued to show support for crypto startups. According to a new study released by European investment firmRockawayX, VC investment in crypto startups based in Europe reached its all-time high in 2022 with $5.7 billion invested European DeFi Startups hit $1.2 billion in 2022, which is a 120% increase from the previous year’s Investments of $534 million Viktor Fischer, the CEO of RockawayX, pointed out that the crypto market is cyclical and during the 2018 winter, “the total digital asset market cap fell by 80%, but startup funding activity held steady.” “Investments made when digital asset prices were depressed materialized in tech ...

Proving their supremacy when it comes to investor security and prioritizing investor interests is where decentralized finance has the ability to shine. For most retail crypto investors, centralized digital marketplaces like Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and many more have been the preferred gateway to the world of cryptocurrency trading. However, as leaked customer data like the recent Gemini case and misappropriated funds like the FTX debacle continue to plague the space, crypto investors have been looking into alternatives. According to a Delphi Digital analysis following the FTX crash, DEX tokens saw a 24% uptick, and CEX tokens saw a 2% decline. The lack of transparency in how CEX operations are run has become a major driver for this trend shift. What’s more, a lot of platforms claim complete Decentralization when in fact, there’s a centralized element to them. But do DEXs have what it takes to take over the crypto exchange space? Are DEXs better than CEXs? The centralized control ov...