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Morgan Creek’s Mark Yusko Says There’s No Chance Government Can Ban Bitcoin (BTC) – Here’s Why
Morgan Creek Capital CIO Mark Yusko says that a US government ban on Bitcoin (BTC) would not stop the king crypto in its tracks.
In a new interview with Paul Barron, the crypto veteran says people are wrong when they suggest the government could ban Bitcoin.
He argues that US Bitcoin holders are just a small portion of global BTC holders and the leading crypto would continue to thrive if the federal government prohibits it.
“People forget 80% of Bitcoin is held outside the United States. Americans only own 20% of it. And if Americans owned zero of it, it would still function every single day. If there were no nodes in the United States. If they made it illegal to run a node. If they made it illegal to move your money in and out through fiat on ramps and off ramps, Bitcoin wouldn’t care.”
Yusko also says that Bitcoin is popular in a country like Nigeria because its native currency is losing value against gold and BTC.
“[Bitcoin’s] the most popular currency in Nigeria today, because the Nigerian naira is going into the toilet like the Turkish lira and the Argentinian peso and the Venezuelan bolivar. So all of those assets are deteriorating in value relative to things like gold and Bitcoin.” Read More
How to mitigate the security risks associated with crypto payments
There are various security vulnerabilities associated with using cryptocurrencies as payment methods, including the possibility of theft, hacks and fraud. For instance, hackers can take advantage of flaws in exchanges, wallets and transactions. Additionally, consumers who are the targets of scams or fraudulent transactions have little redress because cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible.
The possibility of loss or theft is one of the biggest worries. Digital wallets, where cryptocurrencies are kept, are susceptible to hacking attempts, phishing scams and other cyberattacks. The money kept in a compromised wallet may be taken, and it can be difficult to get it back. Additionally, because cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, the funds cannot be recovered if they are sent to an incorrect address or the wallet is compromised.
The possibility of fraud is another security issue concerned with cryptocurrency payments. In order to deceive consumers into sending money to what seems like correct addresses, hackers can make phony websites or copy trusted websites. This is a phishing attempt, and because the false website is identical to the real one, it can be difficult to spot. Moreover, hackers have the ability to fabricate fake cryptocurrency exchanges or wallets in order to steal money from unwary customers.
To steal a user’s digital assets, cybercriminals may try to use flaws in their computer or smartphone. To access a user’s digital wallet, they can employ a variety of techniques, such as phishing emails, spyware, ransomware and other cyberattacks. Read More
Meet commercial NFTs: The next step in Web3 evolution
A new survival MMORPG PvP enables players to set up shop within the game and become a core part of the blockchain economy.
The blockchain-based economy in Gold Fever is based on two pillars: The in-game currency NGL, the play-to-earn pillar, and commercial NFTs, the trading pillar. The NGL token has a familiar mechanic for P2E gamers: Players can do certain activities within the game to earn it. What sets Gold Fever apart from other games is the concept of commercial NFTs. The game lets players start their own businesses from within its virtual world with commercial NFTs as the product, bringing the metaverse one step into real life.
In Gold Fever, players can own in-game businesses as commercial NFTs. The scope of commercial NFTs ranges from transportation vehicles, like boats, carts or airplanes, to buildings like bars, blacksmiths and hotels. Any player who owns a commercial NFT becomes a business owner and thus is a part of the game economy effectively. The revenue generated via the operations of a specific business goes directly to the owner of the commercial NFT associated with that business. Read More
Why Web3 gaming is becoming the new hype for serious gamers
Prior to the introduction of P2E gaming, the average gamer would say that they enjoy playing video games simply because they're fun. Now, Web3 adds a completely new dimension to their original experience.
As Web3 gaming continues to evolve, more and more people are shifting to innovative models like play-to-earn games (P2E). In fact, the main hook for seasoned gamers is their ability to merge the thrill of playing and winning with earning money.
With the new Web3 landscape, the entire gaming dynamic is shifting: from one that was purely creator-focused to being player-focused. For the first time ever, gamers now have opportunities to own in-game assets that later can be sold for profit, while earning real rewards for their success within the game.
Play-to-earn is a perfect example of the tremendous value blockchain can bring to traditional gaming. Simply put, Web3 is packed with new innovative technologies unlike anything we have ever seen before, and it feels like another big leap for humanity. I’ve been working on a Web3 gaming platform that aims to become a hub for players to own in-game assets in the form of NFTs. Here’s what that experience taught me about the potential of Web3 in the gaming community. Read More
Because of Solana’s POH method, it can horizontally scale the rest of the blockchain, the same way that operating systems and databases scale their software. Each Solana team member has over a decade of experience working in operating systems GPU acceleration. Compilers, networks, etc., giving them extensive and deep experience optimizing software.
Solana is based on scaling software with hardware, with the vision of building the world's largest decentralized, single-chart blockchain. The only way to do that is by scaling all the core technologies with hardware.
Scaling the Blockchain in this way delivers a cheap cryptographic base for financial transfers and, more importantly, outside of finance. It is a way for Solana to build a better web experience for social media communities regarding micropayments.
Also, advertising-based revenues can be relinquished for social networks, leading communities to generate value by self-expression, creating their own content, and growing the network and the connections within the community, creating a better world for all. Read More
Polygon to help fight NFT scams with Web3 infra protocol partnership
Polygon partners with Wakweli, a Web3 infrastructure protocol that issues certificates of authenticity for NFTs to certify originality.
Wakweli, a Web3 infrastructure protocol that issues certificates of authenticity for nonfungible tokens (NFT), has officially partnered with layer-2 scaling platform Polygon to make NFT authentication possible.
The partnership between Polygon and Wakweli means all digital assets on Polygon will be compatible with Wakweli’s certification system. According to the announcement, every NFT project holder on the Polygon chain can request authenticity certificates for each asset. The collaboration generally aims to enhance the security of the digital ecosystem.
In response to the cost of the certificate authentication for users, Antoine Sarraute, co-founder of Wakweli, told Cointelegraph that staking WAKU — Wakweli’s utility token — is necessary to create a certificate request. The amount to stake in a request is dependent on and linked to the level of trust needed for each case.
The partnership agreement negotiations between the two companies began in August 2022, with the final details of the agreement concluded this March. Read More
Beyond bridges: A look at the next generation of multichain communication
Achieving interoperability between different layer-1 networks is crucial for the growth and adoption of blockchain technology.
Bridges have done a great job at showing the way, but they’re not the ideal solution to achieving interoperability. Most bridges employ the so-called notary model to facilitate communication between two different chains. This model implies a trusted third party to handle cross-chain transactions by verifying and forwarding them. While multi-signature notaries should be more secure than single-signature notary solutions, they are still vulnerable to hacking attacks.
The industry needs to come up with better alternatives, and many developers are prioritizing security. One of the projects that can achieve layer-1 interoperability without compromising security is the Ferrum Network. Its mainnet is being built using Substrate, an open-source software development kit (SDK) that was also employed by Polkadot. In fact, Ferrum itself will be deployed as a parachain within the Polkadot/Kusama ecosystem. Ferrum also recently had its official whitepaper released, detailing the project’s foundation, fundamentals and future goals.
A main aspect of Ferrum is its multichain messaging engine known as Quantum Portal, which enables Ferrum smart contracts to be deployed on multiple chains to conduct multichain transactions or queries.
The Ferrum team hopes that its Quantum Portal will help the industry create an environment in which smart contracts and DApps are built just once and easily deployed on multiple chains. Read More
Controversial 'Tiktok Ban Bill' Sparks Concerns Among Cryptocurrency and Technology Advocates
Cryptocurrency and technology proponents have recently been discussing a new bipartisan bill called the “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT)” Act. In addition to targeting firms such as Kaspersky, Huawei, and Tiktok, opponents of the bill believe one of its provisions will punish ordinary Americans for leveraging a virtual private network (VPN). However, a spokesperson for Democratic senator Mark Warner insists the “legislation is aimed squarely at companies” and “not at individual users.”
Concerns Over the RESTRICT Act’s Potential Impact on Cryptocurrency and VPN Use:
Since the bill was introduced in March, the RESTRICT Act, sponsored by over a dozen bipartisan politicians and initiated by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), has been the center of controversy. A great deal of attention has been focused on the bill targeting Tiktok, and several reports say the legislation could be used to ban the app in the United States. The act would give the U.S. president and secretary of commerce the ability to regulate technologies that can be tied to nations such as Russia, China, Venezuela, North Korea, Cuba, and Iran. Tech advocates and cryptocurrency supporters are concerned about the bill and have been discussing its implications on forums and social media. Read More
Gnosis launches Hashi bridge aggregator to help prevent hacks
Bridge protocols LayerZero, Celer, Wormhole, LiFi, and others have already committed to implementing the new protocol.
Gnosis, the team behind Gnosis Safe multi-sig and Gnosis Chain, has launched a hash oracle aggregator for blockchain bridges, according to an announcement from the company. In a conversation with Cointelegraph, Gnosis CEO Martin Köppelmann stated that the new aggregator should make bridges more secure by requiring more than one bridge to validate a withdrawal before it can be confirmed.
Multiple bridge protocols have already committed to integrating with Hashi, including Succinct Labs, DendrETH, ZK Collective, Connext, Celer, LayerZero, Axiom, Wormhole and LI.FI, according to the announcement.
Over $2 billion was stolen from bridges in 2021 and 2022, according to a report by Token Terminal. Bugs in the code have caused some bridge hacks, whereas others have been caused by the attacker taking over a multi-sig governance wallet.
According to Köppelmann, Hashi can provide the first step towards making these cross-chain transactions more secure throughout the blockchain ecosystem, by requiring withdrawals to be validated by multiple bridges instead of just one:
“Hashi is about essentially creating this aggregator that can use different bridges and basically say they all need to agree to the same message [...] If they do, great, then we can be really, really certain that this message is actually real and if they disagree [...] Then we know we need to escalate to governance, we need to halt the bridge.” Read More
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
