According to a regional report, Sony Bank of Japan is currently exploring the potential of a stablecoin tied to the yen that could be utilized by Sony Group along with its associated entities. Insiders revealed that this endeavor’s testing phase employs the Polygon blockchain, with the crypto firm Settlemint lending its support. Polygon and Settlemint […]
Source link
PRESS RELEASE. According to community volunteers, CharityDAO will launch a large-scale airdrop event on February 29th. It is estimated that 76 million CHD tokens will be distributed to participating users. The current method of interaction is not yet known. This is another popular Social-Fi project announcing an airdrop following friend.tech’s high-profile announcement last week. Benefiting […]
Source link
According to the country’s government, Belgium plans to accelerate the development of a European blockchain infrastructure during its presidency of the Council of the European Union in early 2024.
The proposal aims to facilitate the secure storage of official documents like driving licenses and property titles.
The development of a public blockchain for pan-EU infrastructure is among the four priorities of Belgium’s upcoming presidency, the country’s Secretary of State for Digitization, Mathieu Michel, told Science|Business on Nov. 21. The remaining three initiatives will take on the matters of artificial intelligence (AI), online anonymity and the skills necessary for the digital economy.
Related: German parliament member ’staunch opponent’ of digital euro, all in on Bitcoin
Michel suggests rebooting the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) project, which was established by the European Commission in 2018 in collaboration with the European Blockchain Partnership, comprising the 27 EU member states plus Norway and Liechtenstein:
“That is a technical project. If we want to build a common infrastructure, it has to become a European project and a political project.”
The renewed EBSI would be renamed Europeum and used for public administration tasks, such as verifying driver’s licenses and other documents across the EU. According to Michel, the project could also support the digital euro infrastructure.
The official said it is important to use a public blockchain developed by EU member-states, not private alternatives:
“In terms of security, transparency, and privacy, the blockchain can give control back to the citizen of the data that belongs to them.”
At the moment, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Luxembourg, and Romania have already signed up for the Europeum plan. The head office of the project will be in Belgium.
The process of regulatory consolidation around crypto and blockchain is moving steadily. In early November, 47 national governments issued a joint pledge to “swiftly transpose” the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) — a new international standard on automatic exchange of information between tax authorities — into their domestic law systems.
Magazine: Breaking into Liberland. Dodging guards with inner-tubes, decoys and diplomats
Taproot Wizards seeks to bring together developers to build different applications and solutions on top of the Bitcoin Base layer that will maximize the potential of the Taproot upgrade carried out in 2021
To strengthen the innovations in the world of Bitcoin, Taproot Wizards secured new funding to further develop the BTC ecosystem. The successful raise shows increasing momentum and interest in expanding Bitcoin’s capabilities beyond being only a store of value.
HOLD ON TO YOUR WIZARD HATS!
Today we are announcing a $7.5M seed round, led by @standardcrypto, to Make Bitcoin Magical Again
We broke the chain, we danced on stage, we took showers
We heard about bitcoin 10 years ago. And WE’RE HERE TO FIX IT
More in the thread below 🧙♂️ pic.twitter.com/xoNho6EKhs
— Taproot Wizards (@TaprootWizards) November 16, 2023
Taproot Wizards has been burdened with moves encouraging innovation in the Bitcoin protocol since its inception. The project’s NFT collection features whimsical wizard characters as a nod to the early “magic internet money” meme from Bitcoin’s cypherpunk days. The just-concluded $7.5 million funding round was led by Standard Crypto, a venture capital firm focused on Bitcoin development. Several other leading crypto investors, including StarkWare, Collider Ventures, and UTXO Management, also participated in it.
Taproot Wizards seeks to bring together developers to build different applications and solutions on top of the Bitcoin Base layer that will maximize the potential of the Taproot upgrade carried out in 2021 to enhance BTC’s privacy, security, and efficiency. Taproot introduces the ability for complex smart contracts to execute on the Bitcoin blockchain in a privacy-preserving manner.
Taproot Wizard co-founder Udi Wertheimer, commented about the move as he said:
“We went for a larger seed round of $7.5 million because we feel time is of the essence. We’ve been bullish on bitcoin for a decade, but we genuinely believe that the best time to build in bitcoin is now. We’re focusing on adopting the best breakthroughs in broader crypto research to advance bitcoin and ordinals, for example, the open-source rollup work we’ve shared a couple of months ago, and will use this funding to build a team of top-notch bitcoin builders.”
A key focus area for this project is enhancing scalability and privacy for the Bitcoin network using innovations like zero-knowledge proofs and layer-2 rollups. These solutions can carry out private and complex transactions on Bitcoin without burdening the base layer. Taproot Wizards has already released open-source rollup code to advance scalability.
Additionally, the project aims to foster an ecosystem where Bitcoin developers can freely collaborate to push the boundaries of what’s possible on the blockchain. They view the early Ordinals movement as having reignited innovation in Bitcoin, which had stagnated recently as Bitcoin focused mostly on its “digital gold” narrative.
While some criticize Ordinals and NFTs as unnecessary congestion on the Bitcoin network, supporters of the move see them as a way to expand the crypto’s utility and showcase its possibilities beyond just storing value. Beyond this, Taproot Wizards also seeks to continue building new Bitcoin applications, ranging from NFTs and decentralized identities to private payments and smart contracts.
With its strong technical team and good funding, Taproot Wizards is ready to accelerate innovation on Bitcoin. As the protocol continues to mature and more developers build on the blockchain, the next phase of Bitcoin’s evolution may be driven by builders expanding its utility beyond just a digital asset.
next
When did these serial defaulters become bastions of economic resilience? writes Kenneth Rogoff.
Source link
On Oct. 10, the development team for gaming project FinSoul carried out an alleged exit scam, siphoning away $1.6 million from investors through market manipulation, according to a recent report from blockchain security platform CertiK shared with Cointelegraph.
The FinSoul team allegedly hired paid actors to pretend to be its executives, then raised funds for the sole purpose of developing a gaming platform. However, instead of actually creating the platform, the FinSoul team allegedly transferred $1.6 million in bridged Tether (USDT) from investors to itself. Blockchain data indicates developers then laundered the funds through cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. Surprisingly, this was not the first allegation of misconduct against FinSoul’s developers.
On May 23, decentralized finance (DeFi) project Fintoch published a press release claiming it had adopted “advanced technology to develop the FinSoul U.S.-based metaverse platform” and had gone “live.” The announcement stated that the company was using “advanced technologies such as Unreal Engine 5 and Cocos 2D” to develop “sandbox worlds, multiplayer sports, leisure experiences, player socializing, MMORPG” and other types of gaming content.
The same day, on-chain sleuth ZachXBT reported that the original Fintoch DeFi project had performed an exit scam. The team had seemingly stolen $31.6 million and bridged it to Tron blockchain in an attempt to launder the funds, ZachXBT claimed.
In response, CertiK claims that the team “rebranded” in August, changing its name and social channels. “Fintoch” became “Standard Cross Finance (SCF).” CertiK produced an image showing the key executives of both Fintoch and Standard Cross Finance, who appear to be identical.
CertiK claims to have verified the real names of the persons listed as the CEO, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the project. According to it, these “executives” are actually actors who work in the entertainment industry. In addition, CertiK claims that the project’s chief technology officer was listed on a promotional poster for an entertainment company, providing evidence that he is also a paid actor. It could not determine the identities of the other two people claimed to be “executives.”
The rebranded “Standard Cross Finance” team continued to promote FinSoul on YouTube and Telegram, the report states. Its marketing efforts included a video depicting an alleged “R&D Headquarters,” later revealed to be an office building on East Hamilton Avenue in Campbell, California. It also produced a video of an alleged promotional event in Vietnam.
The team page on the Fintoch website names “Bobby Lambert” as the CEO when in reality he does not exist and is a paid actor.
Previously both the Singapore Government and Morgan Stanley issued warnings about this investment scheme. pic.twitter.com/SLxvOCPj1s
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) May 23, 2023
According to blockchain data, the project deployed its token contract to the BNB Smart Chain network on Oct. 10. At the time of deployment, 100 million FinSoul (FSL) tokens were minted and transferred into the deployer account. The deployer then sent 3 million FSL to other accounts through multiple transactions, leaving 97 million remaining in its possession. One of the transfers was for 210,000 FSL to an address that subsequently used the tokens to create a liquidity pool for FSL on PancakeSwap. From that point on, this pool was used by traders to buy and sell FSL.
Related: Cardano stablecoin project gambled away investors’ money before rug: Report
Data from DEX Screener shows that the price of FSL was initially set at $0.3911 per token on Oct. 10 at 6:30 am UTC. Over the next few hours, it rose to $17.5774, then retreated from this peak and came to stabilize at around $5 for the next few hours. Then, between 4:30 pm and 5:00 pm UTC, the price suddenly collapsed, falling from approximately $5 to near zero.
The two events appear to have occurred between 4:25 pm and 4:35 pm UTC on Oct. 10, which may explain the sudden price decline. At 4:25 pm, the FSL deployer account transferred the remaining 97 million FSL to another address. At 4:35 pm, this account sold all 97 million tokens into the liquidity pool, moving $1.6 million worth of Binance-pegged USDT from the liquidity pool into this account. This sale represented 32.33x the amount of FSL coins that had previously been circulating. This account subsequently transferred the drained funds to Tornado Cash through a series of transactions.
According to CertiK, the Standard Cross Finance team has managed to convince investors to once again invest in its project, despite twice draining funds from investors. It has now relaunched FSL with a new token contract. At the time of writing, DEX Screener shows that the new version of FSL is valued at $1.29 per coin.
Cointelegraph contacted the Standard Cross Finance team but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The story of FinSoul serves as a cautionary reminder that crypto investors should investigate new projects before committing funds to them. If CertiK’s report is to be believed, it implies that a scam team was able to trick investors, not just once, but twice, and is currently attempting a third fraud. Investors should remember to exercise due diligence before investing in projects that do not have a functioning blockchain project.
Related: Pond0x DEX claims $100M in trading volume as critics allege it’s a scam
“Rug pulls,” or exit scams, have posed a continuing problem in the world of decentralized finance. Arbitrum-based protocol Xirtam allegedly stole over $3 million from investors using a token sale over the summer. In this instance, Binance managed to freeze the funds and return them to users via a smart contract beginning on Sept. 6.
However, most rug-pull victims are not so lucky. In June, DeFi project Chibi Finance removed over $1 million of its users’ funds through a “panic” function, and these funds have yet to be recovered. In 2021, the PopcornSwap exit scam resulted in over $11 million in losses to investors and led to criticism of the BNB Chain development team that still continues to this day.
Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.
Bitcoin’s valuation, often viewed as speculative, can be dissected more accurately through the lens of the ‘realized price‘ metric.
This measure, reflecting the average cost at which all current Bitcoin holders purchased their coins, negates the impacts of volatility, thus offering a more realistic view of Bitcoin’s value over time.
Historical data reveals distinct cycles wherein Bitcoin’s market price traded beneath its realized price, as shown by the blue boxes in the chart below.
Specifically, it saw significant drops in value during the following periods:
Following these periods, Bitcoin has consistently traded above the realized price, illustrating a robust rebound pattern.
As of 2023, Bitcoin’s price at $26,800 is considered fair against the realized price of $20,300. This continual pattern of ‘higher highs’ demonstrates the inherent resilience of this digital asset.
Projecting the next bottom cycle based on Bitcoin’s realized price presents an intriguing thought experiment. While historical performance cannot conclusively predict future price action, understanding cycle patterns allows for a more holistic view of the Bitcoin market.
Historical data shows that in 2011, the bottom realized price was $4.50, which surged 55x to $250 in the 2015 bottom cycle.
Subsequently, the bottom in 2019 saw a 22x increase to $5,500.
The 2022 cycle bottomed at $20,000, marking a 3.6x increase.
If we follow this pattern of halving the multiplier with each cycle, the next bottom, hypothetically, could be around $36,000, reflecting a 1.8x increase compared to the 2022 bottom.
Ultimately, this exercise allows us to envision what Bitcoin’s valuation could look like should it follow similar patterns as previous cycles after the upcoming 2024 halving. While the future remains uncertain, contextualizing Bitcoin’s current position relative to past realized price data provides a more explicit framework to anticipate possibilities.
The post Next cycle’s hypothetical $36k Bitcoin floor, exploring historical data to project future benchmarks appeared first on CryptoSlate.
The United Nations and the Dutch government announced plans to create a framework for the ethical supervision of artificial intelligence (AI).
On Oct. 5, the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially launched the project called “Supervising AI by Competent Authorities,” which will gather data on how European countries supervise AI.
The project has financial support via the European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI), and information collected by the project will result in a list of “best practice” recommendations.
Gabriela Ramos, the assistant director-general for social and human science at UNESCO, said this discussion is not a technological but societal.
“We are talking about the kind of world we want to live in. To shape the technological development of AI, we need effective governance frameworks underpinned by the ethical and moral values we all hold dear.”
Along with best practices, the information gathered will assist in creating future training sessions to improve “institutional capacity” on the topic.
UNESCO has already played a large role in creating ethical guidelines for AI in November 2021, which all its member states adopted.
Related: NFTs to help brewers and farmers preserve UNESCO Belgian beer heritage
These moves from UNESCO come after the European Union’s AI Act was passed in parliament in June 2023. The AI Act is a comprehensive set of rules for AI development within the EU. The bill was proposed by the European Commission in April, and after parliament overwhelmingly voted in its favor, member states will hold negotiations with the parliament to finalize details.
Since passing the bill in parliament, the EU has also introduced an initiative for AI startups in the region, which will fast-track access to supercomputers.
Individual European countries have also been considering AI regulation and development strategies. On Aug. 25, Spain announced its plans for a local AI regulation agency and a national strategy to ensure AI development in the country is “inclusive, sustainable, and citizen-centered.”
Meanwhile, in Germany, politicians and digital experts are fractured in their ideas of how to best manage and implement the technology.
Magazine: The Truth Behind Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution: An on-the-ground report
The company initially planned to test its internet satellites aboard ULA’s new Vulcan rocket earlier this year. However, the e-commerce giant faced an unforeseen setback when the rocket experienced an explosion.
Amazon is set to take its internet satellite “Project Kuiper” on its first mission to space on Friday, October 6. In a recent announcement on Tuesday, the company said that Project Kuiper will be taking a “protoflight” mission into space with the launch of two test satellites, KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2.
The e-commerce giant aims to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink by creating a constellation of over 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit, providing high-speed internet connectivity to remote and underserved areas. The move has placed the company in direct competition with other key players in the field, including HughesNet, EarthLink and Viasat.
The launch of the satellites in space signifies an important milestone for Amazon, as it is its first time engaging in such a venture.
Rajeev Badyal, the vice president of technology for Project Kuiper, acknowledged that it’s the company’s first time putting satellites into space. He also disclosed that Amazon has completed the testing of Project Kuiper at the laboratory and is now set to embark on its first mission to space.
“We’ve done extensive testing here in our lab and have a high degree of confidence in our satellite design, but there’s no substitute for on-orbit testing. This is Amazon’s first time putting satellites into space, and we’ll learn an incredible amount regardless of how the mission unfolds,” Badyal said.
According to the company’s announcement, the launch window for Project Kuiper is scheduled to open at 2 PM ET, with the Atlas V rocket deploying the satellites at an altitude of 311 miles at approximately 500 kilometers, placing them in a low Earth orbit.
Amazon said the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V rocket will carry the two satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at the scheduled time tomorrow.
During the mission, the team behind the project will conduct a series of critical tests. These tests include establishing initial contact with the satellites, deploying solar arrays to generate power, and ensuring the proper functioning of onboard electronics.
Once the satellites are connected to the internet, the team will also test data transfer capabilities between the satellites and Earth-based customer terminals.
As part of its commitment to space safety, Amazon said it plans to deorbit both satellites after the mission before they ultimately burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
The company initially planned to test its internet satellites aboard ULA’s new Vulcan rocket earlier this year. However, the e-commerce giant faced an unforeseen setback when the rocket experienced an explosion.
The company responded to this challenge by changing its plans and opting to use the ULA’s reliable Atlas V rocket as an alternative satellite launch vehicle.
Despite the initial challenges, Amazon remains resolute in its commitment to Project Kuiper’s ambitious timeline.
The company said the satellite could still launch during the first quarter of next year. If successful, the move will mark a significant step toward making high-speed satellite-based internet connectivity a reality for users worldwide.
“Our first production satellites are on track for launch in the first half of 2024, and we expect to be in beta testing with early commercial customers by the end of 2024,” wrote Amazon.
next
Chimamanda is a crypto enthusiast and experienced writer focusing on the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies. She joined the industry in 2019 and has since developed an interest in the emerging economy. She combines her passion for blockchain technology with her love for travel and food, bringing a fresh and engaging perspective to her work.
Being the largest US retailer, Walmart will boost the popularity of Pudgy Penguins by offering a variety of 16 Pudgy Toys, priced from $2.99 to $11.97.
The weekly trading volume of the prominent NFT project, Pudgy Penguins, experienced a significant surge after its collaboration with the retail giant Walmart. Between September 24 and October 1, Pudgy Penguins recorded a trading volume of $3.32 million, marking a remarkable 241% increase compared to the previous week. This weekly volume represents the highest figure for Pudgy Penguins since July of this year.
On September 26th, Walmart unveiled plans to stock Pudgy Penguin-branded toys in 2,000 of its stores. The purchase of one of these 26 toys grants customers access to a digital gaming platform called Pudgy World, where they can engage in games and craft a “Forever Pudgy” avatar. These Pudgy toys have a maximum price tag of $12.
While these toys have been available online since May, their appearance in Walmart stores is expected to significantly increase their visibility. Each Pudgy Toy will be accompanied by a unique birth certificate, allowing owners to claim exclusive attributes for their digital ‘Forever Pudgy’ character within Pudgy World. Users can unlock these attributes in an online virtual environment based on the zkSync Era blockchain by scanning a QR code.
Brittany Smith, vice president of merchandising – toys, Walmart US stated that “Pudgy Penguins is bridging the gap between our physical and digital worlds of play for kids in a really engaging way.”
Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the US. Besides, it is sure to amplify the collection’s appeal well beyond the crypto community.
Pudgy World, an immersive multiplayer digital realm, offers users the chance to explore, partake in games, and entirely personalize their Forever Pudgy character.
Since its launch in 2021, Pudgy Penguins has amassed an impressive $400 million in sales. The brand’s triumph can be credited to its adept utilization of social media and experiential marketing strategies. This set it apart from other NFT collections that grappled to gain traction.
While mainstream media often downplay NFTs due to their volatile price fluctuations and perceived lack of demand in a competitive market, the integration of physical products into established platforms creates an avenue for NFT collections to connect with a broader audience and cultivate stronger brand identities.
Walmart will offer a variety of 16 Pudgy Toys, priced from $2.99 to $11.97. PMI Kids’ World, a well-known brand renowned for crafting toys based on popular cartoons and shows such as WWE, is behind producing the Pudgy toys.
next
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.