Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Elrond Becomes First Carbon-Negative European Blockchain

Elrond, a leading blockchain company in the industry of highly scalable and energy-efficient blockchain solutions, has become carbon negative by offsetting more CO2 than their network accounts for, according to a press release.　　Elrond CEO Beniamin Mincu expressed his feelings about current environmental issues concerning climate change that become a serious challenge that can only be solved by immediate action.　　Unfortunately, even though blockchain technologies can solve many complex economic problems, most of the implementations involve large-scale solutions that can only work with proactive mining processes that are energy inefficient. During periods of high network congestion, some crypto blockchains consume more electricity than a medium-sized country.　　Elrond blockchain network is currently working at a capacity of 15,000 transactions per second with an ability to work with 100,000 TPS without spending as much energy as traditional cryptocurrencies. The energy that is required for Elrond to process a transaction is up to six million times lower.　　Elrond is committed to ensuring that its technology is making a positive contribution to the planet and has partnered with Offsetra to permanently stay ahead of the blockchains carbon footprint.　　The company is constantly offsetting more CO2 than its blockchain is responsible for. Experts from Offsetra have analyzed Elrond blockchains carbon

2021-08-06Deep Dive

EIP-1559 Has Already Burned $1 Million Worth of ETH

Key Takeaways　　Ethereum has burned more than $1 million worth of ETH within the first three hours of EIP-1559 going live.　　The price of Ethereum has reacted quickly, jumping 6% in the last hour.　　While not deflationary yet, ETH will see a significant decrease to the growth of its supply.　　$1 million worth of ETH has been burned in under three hours since the London hardfork and the implementation of EIP-1559 earlier today.　　EIP-1559 Adds Deflationary Pressure on ETH　　Ethereums EIP-1559 update has already burned $1 million worth of ETH.　　With the new update, the base fee from each Ethereum transaction gets burned, deflating the supply of ETH. In the meantime, the price of ETH has jumped more than 6% in the last hour.　　A few deflationary blocks have already been added to the chain, with the amount of ETH burned higher than the block rewards (2 ETH).　　Source: ultrasound.money　　At the time of writing, Ethereum has burned 408.84 ETH—about $1.1 million at current market prices.　　According to data from ultrasound.money, some of the biggest ETH burners so far have been Uniswap, OpenSea, and Tether. The first on the leaderboard, though, is a mysterious “$LONDON Gift” project that seems to be dedicated to celebrating the London hardfork.　　To understand how EIP-1559

2021-08-06Deep Dive

Cardano (ADA) Receives Approval To Be Listed In Japan

Cardano (ADA) has recently secured another win in its long repertoire of wins lately. The native coin of Cardano, ADA, has now been approved to be listed in Japan, which features one of the hardest listing requirements in the world. Only a handful of coins have been able to receive approval to be listed on exchanges in Japan, and ADA just became one of them.　　Japan has always been crypto-friendly right from the beginning. But that does not mean they have lax laws when it comes to cryptocurrencies. The coins that are listed on exchanges in Japan are carefully screened to make sure that they are good projects for its citizens. This means ADA getting approved makes the coin even more valuable now.　　Sebastien Guillemot, CTO and Co-Founder of dcSpark made the announcement on his Twitter profile, outlining that Japan has extremely strict rules for getting listed on crypto exchanges.　　A Very Important Listing　　Listings like these do not happen all the time. Cardano (ADA) now joins the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin to be amongst coins allowed to be traded on Japanese exchanges. The importance of this listing cannot be overemphasized in the growth of Cardano (ADA) going forward.　　Guillemot went on to

2021-08-06Deep Dive

Coinbase Consumers Can Now Buy Crypto Using Apple Pay

The crypto space giant, Coinbase Global Inc, announced the integration of additional payment methods available to its customers today. Per the announcement, the trading platform now enables iOS users to purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin or any other supported crypto asset using Apple Pay. According to sources, Coinbase may also release Google Pay integrations very soon.　　Furthermore, the exchange has explained that consumers who have MasterCard or Visa debit cards linked to their Apple Pay accounts can instantly sell as much as $100,000 assets per transaction 24/7.　　Coinbase Addresses Withdrawal Issues　　Coinbase is on track to expand its Apple Pay Services for iPhone users worldwide. While the exchange already enabled consumers with a Coinbase Debit Card to purchase cryptocurrency via Apple Pay since June 2021, the functionality is now extended to all the MasterCard or Visa Debit card holders. Apple Pay support will enable the consumers from registered bank accounts to trade crypto at Coinbase.　　The exchange also addressed issues concerning withdrawals. At present, the transactions from Coinbase to bank accounts take five-six days to complete.　　The system deploys ‘Automated Clearing House transfers’, i.e. Electronic money transfer between banks, which holds an identity of being too lengthy. However, the new system will deploy Real-Time Payments (RTP),

2021-08-06Deep Dive

Xiaomi Starts Accepting Bitcoin, Ethereum and Other Cryptocurrencies in Portugal

While Amazon recently shut down rumors about accepting cryptocurrencies, Xiaomi picked up the slack.　　Mi Store Portugal, the official retailer of the Chinese tech behemoth, recently moved to enable cryptocurrency payments.　　It is now possible to buy smartphones, vacuum cleaners, smartwatches, electric scooters and other Xiaomi devices with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and Dash.　　In order to add support for digital assets, Xiaomi has partnered with Swiss cryptocurrency payment service provider Utrust, whose native token is also accepted by Mi Store Portugal.　　Pedro Maia, head of marketing at Mi Store Portugal, says that Xiaomi—which recently surpassed Apple in the smartphone market—strives to live up to its motto of delivering “innovation for everyone” with its move into crypto:　　We are a technological, innovative and disruptive brand. Thats why we always want to be one step ahead. We want to give the possibility to all true technology fans to buy their favorite gadgets with what is currently “the most technological money.”　　It is not surprising that Xiaomi has picked Portugal as a testbed for digital asset payments given that it is considered to be the most crypto-friendly nation in Europe because of its tax policy.　　Samsung, the leader in the smartphone market, debuted a blockchain wallet in early 2019, but

2021-08-06Deep Dive

Venezuela to launch CBDC in October — and cut six zeros from its currency

The Central Bank of Venezuela will launch a CBDC in October alongside a monetary redenomination that will cut six zeros from the currency due to raging inflation.　　As of Oct. 1, the digital bolivar will begin circulation in the economy. Its cash equivalent will get a new 1-bolivar coin, along with banknotes ranging from 5 Bs. to 100 Bs. as part of the six zero readjustment of the currency,　　The Central Bank of Venezuela made the announcement on Aug. 6. The CBDC will be accompanied by an SMS-based exchange system to facilitate payments and transfers between its users. The bank claimed that the CBDC and redenomination of the currency will have no effect on the bolivars value and that the overhaul is part of a move to simplify the use of the currency.　　“The bolivar will not be worth any more or any less, in order to facilitate its use, it is being taken to a simpler monetary scale,” the central bank said.　　Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro first teased the idea of a digital bolivar back in February, as he outlined the issuance of CBDC as one of the actions the government was taking to modernize and rebuild the economy.　　The president is no stranger

2021-08-06Deep Dive

London Activated: Ethereum Kicks Off New Journey On Transforming Network

Ethereum London upgrade is now live. The price is also headed north, now 8% up, in the wake of the EIP-1559 upgrade. At the same time, the upgrade is being greeted with optimism across the Ethereum community, though that reaction could be mixed among miners. Even the searches for Ethereum just hit a new all-time high following the successful upgrade. So far, a total of 2315 ETH have been burned as per the burner tracker.　　ETHUSD Chart by TradingView　　The upgrade, through another proposal, EIP-3554, will also pave way for Ethereum 2.0, which, starting this coming December, will be a staking system, not the energy-intensive proof of work system as we know it.　　Todays upgrade is significant. Although itself one of a series of other upgrades, is supposed to encourage low fees. Although Ethereum has been relying on a bidding auction method to decide on gas price, it ended up with gas fees spiraling to $71 per transaction in May this year. The bidding action required the user to send a transaction to determine how much they are willing to pay to have their transaction confirmed within a preferred timeline.　　Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559 upgrade will solve the problem by algorithmically implementing a

2021-08-06Deep Dive

Richard Heart addresses the controversies surrounding HEX token

Love him or loathe him, one thing that can‘t be denied is Richard Heart’s willingness to defend Hex from accusations of being a scam token.　　December 2021 will mark two years since Hexs launch. To this day, it continues to divide opinion with media outlets generally holding a negative view.　　Heart is an active participant in the crypto space and is willing to show his face on camera to discuss the issues. Generally speaking, these are not the actions and behaviors of scammers, especially over a nearly two-year period.　　Nonetheless, with seemingly unreal gains to be had, the controversy surrounding Hex will not die down.　　Heart explains why Hex is the opposite of a Ponzi scheme　　Speaking to Kitco News, Heart likened the scam accusations against Hex to what happened with Bitcoin, especially during the early days of its launch.　　In addressing concerns over Hexs “Certificate of Deposit” mechanism, and the unsustainability of high payouts it generates, Heart said reliance on third parties to generate yield is how people lose money. Adding that this concept is counter to the essence of cryptocurrency.　　“… if you get yield from like you said, some of these people, you give them your coins you hope they pay you back some

2021-08-05Deep Dive

Just-In: JP Morgan to Offer “In-House” Bitcoin Fund to Wealthy Clients

JP Morgan, the investment banking giant is reportedly pitching a Bitcoin fund to its private bank clients this week, as per a report in Coindesk. The banking giant had announced its Bitcoin fund in partnership with NYDIG back in April but didnt start offering it to clients until now. The fund was advertised as the safest and cheapest investment option for the clients.　　This also marks a change in strategy from JP Morgan towards Bitcoin who have downplayed its demand on several occasions. Now the American banking giant is all set to offer a private Bitcoin fund. The news also comes just weeks after JP Morgan started offering crypto funds to retail wealthy clients.　　The CEO of the company Jamie Dimon is a known Bitcoin critic and maintains he is not a big fan of the top cryptocurrency, but at the same has accepted that if clients want to invest in something they would offer it. The wealth management CEO at the bank had recently said that clients see Bitcoin as an asset class.　　The megabank had also shown a great interest in Ethereum and Defi market claiming the ETH 2.0 staking could become a multi-billion dollar industry and even suggesting that Ethereum

2021-08-05Deep Dive

Google Bans DeFi From Advertising On Its Platform, What Now?

DeFi is set to be hit the hardest by Googles new advertising policy which went live on the 3rd of August.　　The new policy embraces advertisers promoting cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets, provided that they meet certain criteria.　　This new development might have grave implications for small DeFi startups looking to reach a wider audience.　　A major reason for the ban may be the vastly unregulated scene of decentralized finance and the resulting prevalence of scams.　　Beginning on August 3rd, Google‘s new advertising policy came into effect. The new policy changes the landscape for cryptocurrency adverts on the world’s biggest search engine. Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets now may advertise on Google but they must first meet several requirements to be able to do so.　　DeFi protocols are having advertisements banned away from them by Google, together with ads on token liquidity pools. This move puts new DeFi protocols in a difficult spot and older protocols will themselves have to deftly navigate the new regime of regulations.　　The Google DeFi Ban　　Google has opened its doors to the gamut of cryptocurrency adverts with its new policy on Financial products and services. However, theres a catch as it requires ads for exchanges and wallets to meet certain criteria.　　The exchange or

2021-08-05Deep Dive