Reviews of BitDAO's $100 million token buyback plan are mixed.

The leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), was easing a little bit into the morning Asian trading session, although it was still up 0.6% over the previous 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency overall, Ether (ETH), which is the native currency of the Ethereum network, increased 1.4%.  Technology platform markets are in bleakness as the crypto industry recuperates from Sam Bankman-FTX Frieds exchanges shocking collapse earlier this year. At the same time, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, and other central banks are continuing to tighten monetary conditions despite mounting evidence that the U.S. economy may enter a downturn next year.    “Bitcoins rally is somewhat unimpressive as crypto traders continue to remain in wait-and-see mode over what will be the next big crypto domino to fall or if we get any clearer guidance over the regulatory front,” Senior marketing expert Edward Moya from the foreign currency firm Oanda wrote on Tuesday.  Arca Funds chief investment manager, Jeff Dorman, stated in his email this week that  “While I do think the bottom is in, I dont know what sends us higher.”  Growing rumors suggest that the largest cryptocurrencies, primarily bitcoins and ether, may profit from the market slump as investors move into fortified lines.  “We expect digital asset selection

2022-12-21Deep Dive

BlockFi confirms move to allow wallet users access to funds

On December 20, BlockFi issued a statement confirming a motion filed in respect to BlockFi wallet customers accessing funds.  The company is most recognized for its yield-bearing service, BlockFi Interest Accounts; nonetheless, a custodial crypto wallet was a crucial product inside the BlockFi ecosystem. BlockFi said that because the wallet was not susceptible to loan services, “it is our conviction that clients unambiguously control these assets.”  The wallets terms of service (ToS) declare unequivocally that ownership of the cryptocurrency held therein remains the property of the individual, not BlockFi.  “The title to the cryptocurrency housed in your BlockFi Wallet shall remain with you at all times and shall not be transferred to BlockFi.”  The announcement comes just hours after a leaked email revealed that clients may soon be able to retrieve funds.  Deposited funds were transferred to the BlockFi wallet. Users might invest their digital assets in one of the companys yield-bearing services to earn up to 10% interest on stablecoins and other assets.  The wallets terms of service also state that it is a “non-interest-bearing” account.  “Our BlockFi Wallet is a non-interest-bearing cryptocurrency account that lets you to store, transfer, and manage your bitcoin.”  BlockFi got into difficulty earlier in 2022 owing to liquidity issues. It reported

2022-12-21Deep Dive

The Gemini Customer Data Leak was made available for purchase on hacker forums for 30 BTC

On December 14, 2022, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini disclosed that some of its customers had been the victim of phishing scams that the company believes were caused by a vendor leak from a third party. In spite of allegations claiming that “5,701,649 lines of information related to Gemini clients” were exposed by Gemini, the company declined to say how many customers were impacted. Additionally, according to Ionut Ilascu, a cybersecurity writer for Bleeping Computer, client information from Geminis data breach has already been offered for purchase on hacker forums beginning in September 2022.        Leak of Gemini Customer Data Found on Several Hacker Forums  Three days ago, Bitcoin.com News published a story on the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini after learning that a database containing the contact information for 5.7 million Gemini members had been compromised. Zhiyuan Sun, a crypto reporter, reported that he saw records including “5,701,649 lines of information belonging to Gemini consumers.”  In a blog post on December 14, 2022, Gemini addressed the problem and said that a third-party vendor was probably to blame for the breach. The exchange made no mention of the number of compromised client accounts, and Gemini made no mention of which third-party vendor was in charge of the

2022-12-21Deep Dive

FTX issues a warning that it will recoup political spending and donations.

The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has stated that it is contemplating using lawful methods to recoup any payouts or donations made by its affiliated companies and former executives, which may include the thousands of dollars donated to political causes by the companys former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.  In a press release on December 19, FTX stated that it had previously “been approached by a number of receivers of contributions or other payments” given by, or at the instruction of, Sam Bankman-Fried or other executives, and that these companies had requested “directions for the return of such monies.”    Following Bankman-arrest of Frieds and conviction just last week, three illustrious Democratic organizations vowed to repay more than $1 million in campaign donations.  When questioned on Dec. 13 about whether the Biden government will return the $5.2 million in campaign contributions originally provided by Bankman-Fried, a press secretary for the White House chose not to respond.  In a latest comment, FTX asked recipients of monies to “make arrangements for the return of such payments,” admonishing them that the market would initiate legal proceedings to recover the funds with interests if they were not surrendered freely.  Legal professionals earlier issued a warning that up to $73 million in political donations

2022-12-20Deep Dive

Visa suggests using Ethereum to automate payments

The credit juggernaut Visa has proposed a plan that would enable Ethereum users process transactions without the need of a middleman. They have access to use their own purses for self-custodial transactions.  These payments using Visa will probably be done using Account Abstraction, a capability of Ethereum that is currently being reviewed, for direct deposits. Customers will be able to pay regular bills, which Ethereum does not now permit at the most fundamental level.  How will the integration with Ethereum function?  Visa emphasized that by using profile abstractions, it was capable of combining the functionalities of user profiles and blockchain based into a single product of Ethereum accounts. The company alluded to the resultant entity as a “delegable account.”    A retailer can create a smart agreement for automatic payments using this technique. When a customer with a delegable profile authorizes permission, the retailer can start a transaction by using the charging feature of the automatic payment agreement. The users delegable profile also adds the auto-payment agreement to a whitelist for upcoming repayments.  This functionality was developed by the company as a part of its 2022 Crypto Hackathon Challenge. The client must explicitly initiate and carry out the trade under Ethereums features. Bank balances and custodial

2022-12-20Deep Dive

Visa proposes Ethereum auto-payment scheme

Visa has proposed a blockchain account architecture that would enable Ethereum users to set up auto-payments from their own wallet.  The payments giant described its approach in a blog post on Monday, Dec. 19. That post summarized an earlier research paper that was published in August.  To accomplish automatic payments, Visa suggests leveraging Account Abstraction, an Ethereum feature that is presently being considered by core developers.  According to the corporation, this allows consumers to set up recurring bill payments. At the most basic level, Ethereum does not permit this since automated smart contracts cannot request transactions. User accounts must instead start and send transactions manually.  Although bank accounts and custodial crypto wallets can be easily utilized to set up auto-payments, Visa warned that this form of payment is “not as straightforward to execute on a blockchain.” As a result, implementing the feature in a self-custodied wallet — one where the user has entire authority over their cash — is difficult.  The company revealed that it studied a possible solution as part of its internal Crypto Hackathon challenge this year.  Visa claimed that it was able to merge the functionality of user accounts and smart contracts into a single type of Ethereum account by employing account abstraction.

2022-12-20Deep Dive

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, lists three "major" potential for cryptocurrencies in 2023.

Three “massive” prospects in cryptocurrency have yet to be achieved, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin: widespread wallet usage, inflation-resistant stablecoins, and Ethereum-powered site login details.  In response to Hoffmans expressed concern that the “adoption wave” for decentralized applications has now passed and that there was “less opportunity” for designers to come inside and generate fresh decentralized applications, Buterin discussed his viewpoint for the cryptocurrency industry in 2023 during a question and answer session with Bankless co-owner David Hoffman.    Instead, Buterin downplayed the “limbo moment” Hoffman pointed to, first arguing that far more advancements in pocket networks are required to make cryptocurrency simpler for casual users to employ and to assure that it can support billion monthly active users.  “If you can make a wallet that a billion people will use — thats a huge opportunity,” the co-founder of Ethereum remarked.  Second, Buterin asserted that the development of a virtual currency capable of withstanding any circumstances, both on-chain and in the broader macroeconomy, will be ground-breaking for the sector:  “If you can make a stablecoin that can actually survive anything up to, and including, a U.S. dollar hyperinflation thats a huge opportunity as well if you can create something that will feel like a lifeline

2022-12-20Deep Dive

After a chaotic day in the Bahamas court, Sam Bankman-Fried decides to be extradited to the U.S.

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, besmirched FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has consented to be charged with a crime from the Bahamas to the United States to face a number of criminal charges related to fraud allegations. This comes just hour shifts after he suddenly withdrew his support for extradition throughout a contentious court session.  According to the New York Times, Bankman-Fried has willingly accepted to be transported to the United States by the “strongest possible legal advice,” according to his Bahamas-based lawyer Jerone Roberts.    Bankman-Fried had scheduled his consent to be extradited in court on Monday, but things quickly turned chaotic when Roberts expressed disbelief that Bankman-Fried was present and said the session had been scheduled without his consent.  Bankman-Fried originally told the court on Monday he was ready for extradition but later changed his mind and said he needed to view a file of his American accusation first.  Just ten minutes into the session, the presiding judge issued an order to return Bankman-Fried to custody.  Later this week, Bankman-Fried is anticipated to show up in court once more to finalize the extradition.  Key Background  Bankman-Fried has spent the vast majority of the previous week at Nassaus infamous Fox Hill Prison, which has

2022-12-20Deep Dive

Sam Bankman-Fried, who is incarcerated, might give up the fight for extradition.

Shamed FTX founder Sam-Bankman Fried is anticipated to change his mind about attempting to resist extradition from The Bahamas, days shortly after it was heavily publicized that he was “in good spirits” at Fox Hill jail.  In Bahamian court on Monday, the former execs legal team is anticipated to dismiss its previous notification, which was issued after bail was rejected and an extradition trial was scheduled for February 8. Reuters reported the story first, and a number of media sources independently verified it after that.  Sam Bankman-Fried is accused of at least eight crimes in the United States, involving conspiracy to commit financial fraud and wire fraud. He was accused of coordinating a conspiracy to defraud stockholders in FTX by the Securities and Exchange Commission.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, extraditing someone who is overseas can take many months or perhaps years to accomplish. “Even if there are no immediate legal impediments to extradition, it may take many months or even many years for the extradition request to be heard by the courts,” it mentioned.   Bankman-Fried was described as “a little arrogant” but “a lovely person” who has been “awfully afraid” by a jail official, according to the Washington Post, who

2022-12-19Deep Dive

Nigerian Crypto traders Using the Stablecoins to hedge against the Naira Inflation

By: Damian Okonkwo  The steady devaluation of the Naira has caused many crypto traders in Nigeria to switch over to using the stablecoins as a means of hedging against the Naira inflations. The survey from traders using Binance crypto which has been the most popular crypto exchange in the country today showed that the number of Crypto traders in Nigeria who have never traded crypto with the exchange but are found holding the stablecoins in their wallet addresses was on a high increase during the Q3 and Q4 of 2022.  The most popular stablecoin used today by Nigerians to hedge against the Naira inflation was USDT. This stablecoin has the same value as the US dollar as it has been pegged to it.  Crypto traders in Nigeria today are now able to convert their Naira into USDT using the Binance P2P platforms today. Binance has further made it possible for Nigerians to deposit into the exchange directly from their bank accounts through the merchants.  The discovery also showed that many Nigerian youths today have formed their own mini crypto exchange companies where they specialize in buying and selling USDT and other stablecoins to beginners who are not yet familiar with using the Binance P2P

2022-12-19Deep Dive
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