Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Next Earth NFT Project Donates Additional $64,260 to Charity

One of the latest new NFT projects, Next Earth, was created with a dual purpose in mind: To create the first blockchain-based replica of our planet, and to contribute to the environment in the process.　　Next Earth is making strides on both ends, having sold over $1.3 million in the worlds first Initial Tile Offering, of which over $130,000 was donated to The Ocean Cleanup and Amazon Watch. In that initial donation, a simple Discord-based poll was used, in which community members voted on the allocation of proceeds to each charity.　　Now, Next Earth has taken it up a notch with their charity DAO, or Decentralized Autonomous Organization.Whats the Next Earth DAO？　　The Next Earth DAO was recently used to determine the allocation of new funds across four charities: The Ocean Cleanup, SEE Turtles, Kiss the Ground, and Amazon Watch. In September, Next Earth sold around $640,260 worth of virtual real estate, 10% of which is pre-allocated for charitable contributions. With the Next Earth DAO, virtual landowners decided how that 10% would be split up.　　These landowners decided that The Ocean Cleanup would receive the largest share of the proceeds, at 86 BNB, followed by SEE Turtles receiving 24.57 BNB, Amazon Watch receiving 18.25

2021-10-17Deep Dive

THE PANDORA PAPERS REVEAL WHAT BITCOINERS ALREADY KNOW

The shocking, or not shocking, revelations given by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, known as the Pandora Papers, has revealed the truth in what Bitcoiners have been saying for years: The current system is broken.　　Over 600 journalists, from 100 countries and an equal number of news outlets, came together for two years to deliver information on the financial secrets of the powerful. As the subtitle reads: “the Pandora Papers reveal the inner workings of a shadow economy that benefits the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.”　　For those unaware, this is a trove of over 11 million documents detailing the wealth management of current and former heads of state, public officials, sports athletes, celebrities and more. Around $11 trillion dollars was revealed to be hidden in tax havens across the world, nearly 10 times bitcoins entire market capitalization, which skeptics would have you believe is the main arena for this type of activity.　　To highlight the issue, it‘s important to point to a few stories, and a notable — but not unique — one from Lebanon. Riad Salameh, former head of the Lebanese Central Bank, and Marwan Kheireddine, Lebanon’s former minister of state and chairman of Al-Mawarid Bank,

2021-10-17Deep Dive

Over $5 Billion In BTC Paid In Top 10 Ransomware Variants, Says U.S. Treasury

Ransomware attacks in the U.S. have been on a rise since late 2020, but it is particularly booming in 2021. This year, hackers have hit numerous U.S. companies in large-scale hacks. One such attack on pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline led to temporary fuel supply shortages on the U.S. East Coast. Hackers also targeted an Iowa-based agricultural company, sparking fears of disruptions to grain harvesting in the Midwest. Schools, insurance companies, and police departments have also suffered from these attacks.　　In response to this, the U.S. Treasurys Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), charged with safeguarding the financial system from illicit use, released a Financial Trend Analysis. FinCEN published the report on Friday, October 15, 2021.　　The report analyzed the considerable growth in ransomware payments in the first six months of 2021 and the relative difference from last year.Ransomware Attacks In The U.S.　　U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen recently noted, “Ransomware and cyber-attacks are victimizing businesses large and small across America and are a direct threat to our economy.” According to the report, FinCEN analysis of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed during the first half of 2021 indicates that it is an increasing threat to the U.S.　　Between January 1 and June 30, 2021, 635

2021-10-17Deep Dive

The crypto industry is still waiting for its ‘iPhone moment’

This year, a great crypto cycle has played out with new all-time highs, euphoria and mainstream media paying lip service to the crypto trend du jour. However, the uncomfortable truth for us in the industry is that crypto is no more present in most peoples daily lives than it was in 2017. Four years have passed — what stalled its progress？　　2017 marked my first professional foray into the blockchain space when I joined Crypto.com (then known as Monaco) as its first chief marketing officer. The company grew to become one of the largest crypto service providers and fiat-to-crypto gateways in the world.　　During that time, the crypto space changed. Payments are much less of a focus and many of the projects aimed at crypto adoption have been sidelined. Decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have taken the spotlight, but theyre ultimately focused on crypto trading and unable to help the real world in any meaningful way — at least, for now.　　The situation reminds me of the mobile industry before the advent of the iPhone and the revolution spearheaded by Steve Jobs. Technology and features were being stacked on top of each other but with no additional impact for the end-user,

2021-10-17Deep Dive

COULD ADVANCED QUANTUM COMPUTING POSE A RISK TO BITCOIN SECURITY?

Rapid progress in quantum computing is predicted by some to have crucial ramifications in domains using public-key cryptography, such as the Bitcoin ecosystem.　　Bitcoin‘s “asymmetric cryptography” is based on the principle of “one-way function,” implying that a public key can be easily derived from its corresponding private key but not vice versa. This is because classical algorithms require an astronomical amount of time to perform such computations and consequently are impractical. However, Peter Shor’s polynomial-time quantum algorithm run on a sufficiently-advanced quantum computer could perform such derivations and thus falsify digital signatures.POTENTIAL RISKS POSED BY QUANTUM COMPUTING　　For a better understanding of risk levels introduced by advanced quantum computing, we restrict ourselves to simple person-to-person payments. These can be divided into two categories, each affected differently by quantum computing:　　Pay to public key (p2pk): Here, the public key is directly obtainable from the wallet address. A quantum computer could potentially be used to derive the private key, thus allowing an adversary to spend funds at the address.　　Pay to public key hash (p2pkh): Here, the address is composed of a hash of the public key and hence, is not directly obtainable. It is revealed only at the moment of initiation of a transaction. Hence,

2021-10-17Deep Dive

COULD ADVANCED QUANTUM COMPUTING POSE A RISK TO BITCOIN SECURITY?

Rapid progress in quantum computing is predicted by some to have crucial ramifications in domains using public-key cryptography, such as the Bitcoin ecosystem.　　Bitcoin‘s “asymmetric cryptography” is based on the principle of “one-way function,” implying that a public key can be easily derived from its corresponding private key but not vice versa. This is because classical algorithms require an astronomical amount of time to perform such computations and consequently are impractical. However, Peter Shor’s polynomial-time quantum algorithm run on a sufficiently-advanced quantum computer could perform such derivations and thus falsify digital signatures.POTENTIAL RISKS POSED BY QUANTUM COMPUTING　　For a better understanding of risk levels introduced by advanced quantum computing, we restrict ourselves to simple person-to-person payments. These can be divided into two categories, each affected differently by quantum computing:　　Pay to public key (p2pk): Here, the public key is directly obtainable from the wallet address. A quantum computer could potentially be used to derive the private key, thus allowing an adversary to spend funds at the address.　　Pay to public key hash (p2pkh): Here, the address is composed of a hash of the public key and hence, is not directly obtainable. It is revealed only at the moment of initiation of a transaction. Hence,

2021-10-17Deep Dive

Bitcoin ETF Check, What’s Next For BTC

The approval of a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in the U.S. has come true. Different actors in the crypto space have tried to receive the greenlight from that countrys regulator (SEC) for little less than a decade.　　Major achievement for the crypto industry, there is a sensation of euphoria in the market with Bitcoin reaching a 24-hour high of around $63,000. There has been some retracement since that peak, but BTCs price continues to trade north of $61,000, at the time of writing.　　Investment firm QCP Capital commented on the BTC ETF approval. As reported by NewsBTC, the investment products will track the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin futures. Thus, some have argued that itll be a poorly execute product to benefit Wall Street and institutions. QCP Capital said:　　The approval of a Bitcoin ETF is a positive development. Whatever the case may be, a progressive step from the regulator is good for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market at large.　　Opposite to the opinion of those against the Bitcoin ETF approval, QCP Capital believes this product will “sideline institutional” investors due to its characteristics. Thus, the U.S. retail sector could become the predominant player.　　A BTC ETF based on CME futures will most likely

2021-10-17Deep Dive

Think $60K is the top? This Bitcoin fractal suggests it’s the next bear market bottom

Bitcoin (BTC) may have hit highs of $60,000, but calculations suggest that the price level will matter much more to bears, not bulls.　　In a tweet on Oct. 14, popular Twitter account TechDev again highlighted historical data that has so far accurately tracked Bitcoins highs and lows.How about an 80% BTC price crash to... $60,000？　　While BTC/USD is tipped to retake all-time highs and climb to six figures this year, investors attention is already turning to how far Bitcoin will fall after its next blow-off top.　　The idea that BTC price action moves in cycles — with a bearish phase and a bottom of 80% of the blow-off top — has become widely accepted.　　What is much harder to believe in current circumstances, however, is that $60,000 may just be the price floor of that potential 80% correction.　　Using Fibonacci sequences, TechDev showed that each Bitcoin bear bottom fell within an identical range. This accounts for both the sub-$200 lows in 2014 and the roughly $3,200 floor in December 2018.　　Given Bitcoins cyclical metamorphoses, the next logical retracement, therefore, has anywhere from $47,000 to $60,000 as a target.　　“I know no one cares about macro during a pump. But the last two BTC bear markets bottomed in

2021-10-15Deep Dive

THE NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS (NFTs) BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

This technological phenomenon, Non-Fungible Tokens, was first created by Kevin McCoy on May 3rd, 2014. He minted his non-fungible token “Quantum”, way before the crypto art market exploded.　　Quantum is a pixelated image of an octagon filled with denoting circles, arcs or other shapes which share the same center, with larger shapes surrounding smaller ones and hypnotically pulsing in fluorescent hues. As of today, the one of a kind “Quantum” art piece (2014-2021) is on sale for seven million dollars.　　To understand NFTs, it is important to understand what is meant by “fungible”. Fungible is derived from the Latin verb fungi, meaning to perform. In the broader context, this means interchangeable and relates to whether something can be exchanged.　　Money is fungible, in the sense that you can buy a commodity worth $15 with any $15 note; it doesnt matter which one you use. On the other hand, NFTs cannot be exchanged like for like with another. They are each one of a kind, or one of a limited edition.　　Content sold as NFTs can be created in many ways. It can be computer-generated, which was the basis for the production of 10,000 unique CryptoPunks in 2017.　　NFTs first captured the public imagination when a

2021-10-15Deep Dive

THE NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS (NFTs) BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

This technological phenomenon, Non-Fungible Tokens, was first created by Kevin McCoy on May 3rd, 2014. He minted his non-fungible token “Quantum”, way before the crypto art market exploded.　　Quantum is a pixelated image of an octagon filled with denoting circles, arcs or other shapes which share the same center, with larger shapes surrounding smaller ones and hypnotically pulsing in fluorescent hues. As of today, the one of a kind “Quantum” art piece (2014-2021) is on sale for seven million dollars.　　To understand NFTs, it is important to understand what is meant by “fungible”. Fungible is derived from the Latin verb fungi, meaning to perform. In the broader context, this means interchangeable and relates to whether something can be exchanged.　　Money is fungible, in the sense that you can buy a commodity worth $15 with any $15 note; it doesnt matter which one you use. On the other hand, NFTs cannot be exchanged like for like with another. They are each one of a kind, or one of a limited edition.　　Content sold as NFTs can be created in many ways. It can be computer-generated, which was the basis for the production of 10,000 unique CryptoPunks in 2017.　　NFTs first captured the public imagination when a

2021-10-15Deep Dive