Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Elon Musk, Mark Cuban Discuss Using Dogecoin to Solve Twitter Spam Problem

Elon Musk Optimistic About Mark Cuban‘s Dogecoin Idea　　Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been discussing on Twitter how to solve the platform’s spam bot problem. He has promised to solve the spam problem “or die trying.” Twitter agreed to sell the company to Musk for about $44 billion last week.　　One suggestion came from American billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. He is a star in the business reality television series Shark Tank and the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks.　　In a tweet early Sunday morning, Cuban suggested that everyone puts up one dogecoin (DOGE) for unlimited posts on Twitter. If anyone flags a post as spam and a human confirms that it is, that person gets the spammers DOGE. He further explained that spammers have to post 100 times more dogecoin. However, if the post is not spam, the flagger loses his dogecoin.　　At the time of writing, Cubans tweet has been liked more than 9K times. Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus said, “I like this.” Musk replied, “Not a bad idea.”　　Many dogecoin supporters think that Cubans suggestion is a good idea, noting that it is very bullish for DOGE. However, some people are skeptical about its viability, with some questioning the requirement to

2022-05-03Deep Dive

Wikipedia Stops Accepting Cryptocurrency Donations Citing Community's Environmental Concerns

Wikipedia Discontinues Accepting Bitcoin, Crypto Donations　　Wikimedia Foundation has announced its decision to “discontinue direct acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of donating.” The foundation began accepting bitcoin in July 2014.　　“The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia and our other free knowledge projects,” its website details. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia with over 200K volunteer contributors, according to the foundation.　　The organization posted an update on its Wikipedia page on May 1, stating:　　We began our direct acceptance of cryptocurrency in 2014 based on requests from our volunteers and donor communities. We are making this decision based on recent feedback from those same communities.　　“Specifically, we will be closing our Bitpay account, which will remove our ability to directly accept cryptocurrency as a method of donating,” the update continues.　　Molly White, a Wikipedia editor, explained Sunday that the decision came out of a three-month-long discussion which she started on Jan. 10. The discussion wrapped up on April 12. “400 users participated in total, though some were single-purpose accounts created just for the discussion (mostly to try to sway the RfC [Request for Comments] against making this request),” she noted.　　The Wikimedia community‘s request for comments page explains that common arguments in support of

2022-05-03Deep Dive

Crypto.com slashes rewards to ‘ensure long-term sustainability’

Crypto.com has announced changes to its CRO Card rewards program, effective from June 1, 2022.　　The changes include a reduction in cashback, a monthly cap on the cashback receivable, and a phasing out of CRO staking rewards. The firm also recently changed its Crypto Earn program by cutting staking rewards.　　The community has expressed disappointment over the changes, with many social media users signaling their intent to move on. However, Crypto.com says the changes are necessary to ensure “ensure long-term sustainability.”What happened to Crypto.com？　　Crypto.com was called the worlds fastest-growing cryptocurrency platform last year. This can be attributed to a global ad campaign fronted by Matt Damon, but most of all, its generous rewards program.　　The firm operates a tiered card system, starting with a free Midnight Blue card going up to the Obsidian card, which is obtainable by staking $400,000 of CRO for 180 days.　　The higher the card tier, the more generous the rewards on offer. Obsidian cardholders count 8% cashback on card spending, reimbursement on subscription services from Spotify, Amazon Prime, and Netflix, and the highest staking reward percentages, among their benefits.　　But from June 1, 2022, the firm will cut many benefits. For example, a Jade Green/Royal Indigo cardholder (with an active

2022-05-03Deep Dive

SEC looks to prevent Ripple from getting vital document about its case

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is unwilling to produce documents that show its former finance director, William Hinman, stated that Bitcoin and Ethereum were not securities, according to a tweet from James Filan, a lawyer representing Ripple.SEC files motion to protect Hinman‘s speech　　In a 2018 speech, William Hinman said that he doesn’t think that Ether sales would constitute the sale of a security.　　Ripple had filed for the document containing this speech as part of its defense, but the SEC is banking on the “attorney-client privilege” to prevent the crypto company from getting it.　　According to SECs motion　　“The privilege applies because these documents, in whole or in part, reflect communications between Director Hinman and SEC attorneys requesting and providing legal advice about a matter under the SECs purview – when an offer or sale of a particular digital asset constitutes an investment contract and thus a securities offering as defined in the federal securities laws – and, correspondingly, what Director Hinman could say about this matter in the Speech.”Hinmans unique role in the legal battle　　William Hinman holds a vantage position in the ongoing legal battle between the SEC and Ripple. The regulator has constantly sought to prevent the crypto

2022-05-03Deep Dive

Warren Buffett thinks he could own 100% of Bitcoin

Notorious investor, Warren Buffett, reaffirmed during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder meeting on Saturday that he would not even pay $25 for all the Bitcoin in the world.　　Talking via a live stream of the meeting, Buffett believes “there are all kinds of people watching this that are long Bitcoin, and theres nobody short.” There is plenty of markets, derivatives, and strategies to short Bitcoin.　　Exchanges such as Binance have their BTCSHORT token, you can buy put options or short futures positions on platforms such as Deribit, or you can borrow Bitcoin, sell them, and wait to buy back at a lower price to repay the loan. It seems unlikely that Buffer is unaware of all the platforms worldwide that allow you to short Bitcoin, but perhaps he is.Generational misunderstanding　　Arguably, Buffett, 91, and his partner, Charlie Munger, 98, are not a generation that can understand what Bitcoin means to Millennials and GenZ. Grimes, the artist and former partner of Elon Musk, recently defined humanity as having evolved from “homo-sapien to homo-techno” with no sense of irony. She claims that “our brands are fundamentally changed, everyone who grew up with electronics, we are fundamentally different.”　　Whether the science backs this up, it highlights a

2022-05-03Deep Dive

Ethereum burning spikes to new high on Yuga Labs’ NFT hype

Otherdeed NFTs top the “burn leaderboard” over the past seven days at roughly 55,816 ETH, or 56% of all burns during that period.　　The burning rate of Ethereum has spiked to new all-time high (ATH) levels following the heavily anticipated sale of tokenized land plots in Yuga Labs upcoming Metaverse project the “Otherside.”　　Yuga Labs, the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), sold 55,000 virtual land nonfungible tokens (NFTs) dubbed “Otherdeeds” on Sunday. The overwhelming demand for the tokens saw Ethereum gas fees shoot up so high that a handful of users paid as high as 2.6 Ether (ETH), or $7,400 at the time of writing, to 5 ETH, or $14,270, just to get their transactions through.　　A base fee of ETH is burned during each transaction on the network following the implementation of the London hard fork, or EIP-1559 upgrade, last year.　　According to data compiled from Glassnode and Data Always, nearly 70,000 ETH was burned on Sunday, which is more than triple the previous ATH of around 20,000 in mid-January.　　This is approximating the rest of the day as normal burn. We could easily see the number go above 70k as other transactions need to catch up on missed blockspace. Its

2022-05-02Deep Dive

Germany is the number one tax haven for crypto investors with 0% tax rates

Germany has recently made news for being a crypto-friendly nation that encourages citizens to hold their cryptocurrency. The German Federal Central Tax Office regards cryptocurrencies as private money for tax reasons. This means that cryptocurrencies are neither regarded as legal tender, a form of foreign currency, nor a form of property.　　The concept is straightforward: if you want to benefit from cryptocurrencies, you must keep them for a full 365 days. If you subsequently convert them back into fiat money, all gains you make are tax-free.　　Anyone who sells their cryptocurrency before the end of the holding term (formally known as a speculative period) must pay capital gains tax on the whole profit if it exceeds 600 euros.　　This scenario sparked an idea among some investors. Throughout the year, they merely utilized their cryptocurrency for staking or lending. As a result, the cryptos were able to create extra money passively during the specified time period.　　Because of a specific piece of law, there has been debate on whether the holding time should be raised to 10 years in some instances. Such a problem may have developed as soon as a coin is used for staking or lending. However, a tweet by German MP Frank

2022-05-02Deep Dive

Bitcoin ATM installation slowdown continues for 4th month in 2022

The evident reduction in the installations of crypto ATMs could result from the regulators hesitance to adopt the Bitcoin ecosystem.　　April 2022 marked the fourth consecutive month of a slowdown in the installation of Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs, ever since the slowdown began at the start of the year.　　BTC ATMs serve a crucial purpose for the Bitcoin economy, helping users physically retrieve or deposit BTC holdings against the corresponding cash reserves.　　Net change of cryptocurrency machines number installed and removed monthly. Source: Coin ATM Radar　　Based on the data provided by Coin ATM Radar, the year 2021 saw the highest global increase in the BTC ATM installations, with August witnessing its peak of 2,037 ATMs net change. Starting in January 2022, the crypto ATM net change fell down to 1,687 from Decembers high of 1,969 ATMs.　　Ever since, the net change in crypto ATM has maintained a downward trajectory, recording three-digit changes across the following months in February (970), March (757) and April (739).　　Last years explosive growth in crypto ATMs was a direct result of jurisdictions like El Salvador embracing Bitcoin as legal tender, which currently hosts the third-largest network of BTC ATMs after the United States and Canada.　　To highlight the highly untapped market for

2022-05-02Deep Dive

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Set To Slump Below $32K Level

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has failed to surpass the $40k level as sentiment remains weak in the crypto market. Traders’ confidence in the crypto market continues to drop amid the ongoing market-wide correction. Veteran trader Peter Brandt expects Bitcoin (BTC) price to test below $32,000.　　Moreover, the on-chain data is also not looking good for bitcoin as transactions in profit have increased. It means profit booking might be happening at higher levels.Bitcoin (BTC) Price May Plunge Below $32,000　　Despite whale buying at lower levels around $38k, the Bitcoin (BTC) price has failed to surpass the $40k level in the last week. The price continues to move in the $38k-$40k range.　　Veteran trader Peter Brandt has said in a tweet regarding the completion of a bearish channel by Bitcoin as it plunged below the $38k level in the last 24 hours. He expects a test of $32,000 soon. However, his guess of the $28,000 level is more disturbing for Bitcoin.　　Peter Brandt also opposed speculation over Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy buying at dips as Saylor will have massive redemptions before this cycle is over.　　“The completion of a bear channel typically results in a decline equal to the width of the channel, or in this case a hard

2022-05-02Deep Dive

Attackers Steal $80 Million From Rari Capital's Fuse Platform, Fei Protocol Suffers From Exploit

$80 Million Swiped from Rari Capital　　· Another decentralized finance (defi) protocol attacker has managed to siphon millions of dollars worth of crypto from a defi project. On Saturday, the blockchain and smart contract audit firm Blocsec revealed Rari Capitals Fuse platform suffered a loss of $80 million.　　· “Our monitoring system detected that multiple pools related to [Rari Capital] and [Fei Protocol] were attacked, and lost more than 80M US dollars,” Blocsec tweeted. “The root cause is due to a typical reentrancy vulnerability.” Blocsec also shared a picture of the exploit and said: “One picture worth a thousand words.”　　· This is not the first time Rari Capital has been attacked. The project revealed on May 8, 2021, that $11 million worth of ethereum was stolen. “These funds were extracted from Rari Capital‘s Ethereum Pool before the attacker was stopped when the contracts were paused,” Rari said at the time. “This loss equates to 60% of all users’ funds in the Rari Capital Ethereum Pool.”　　· The attack on Saturday was also confirmed by Fei Protocols official Twitter account. Fei Protocol also offered the attacker a bounty to return the stolen funds.　　· “We are aware of an exploit on various Rari Fuse pools.

2022-05-01Deep Dive

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