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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Says He’s Optimistic on Crypto Regulation ‘Breakthrough’ in 2023
The CEO of blockchain-based cross-border payments network Ripple is expecting the US to see positive developments in crypto regulation this year.
As the 118th Congress opens on Tuesday, Brad Garlinghouse enumerates the key reasons why he thinks 2023 will be a breakthrough year for crypto regulation.
He says that the push to regulate the digital assets industry has support from both Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate, naming Representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Boozman (R-AR) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) as among those who recognize the need for clarity in the space.
“We’re not working with a blank slate. Prior bills have tried to address everything from stablecoins and CEXs (RFIA and DCEA); clearer definitions of what constitutes a digital asset security (Securities Clarity Act); safe harbors (Clarity for Digital Tokens Act) and more.”
He says that bills on crypto regulation may not get the nod of everyone but these proposals can serve as a starting point for debate in congress. Read More
Australian Bitcoin ATMs Demonstrate Lightning Network
The city of Coolangatta is now home to Australia's very first Bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM), which also comes equipped with capabilities that are compatible with the Lightning Network.
At this time, members of the general public are permitted to start utilizing the brand-new automated teller machine (ATM) that has just been placed at The Strand shopping mall in Coolangatta.
The functioning of a Bitcoin Lightning ATM is generally similar to that of a traditional Bitcoin ATM; however, customers are able to save a significant amount of time as a result of the layer-2 Lightning solution's speedy transaction capabilities.
In addition to this, it makes it possible to buy very tiny amounts of bitcoin, most of which are priced in satoshis. Satoshis are the smallest unit of money that can be purchased with bitcoin; one satoshi is equal to 0.00000001 bitcoin.
Automated teller machines that accept bitcoin settle transactions directly on the blockchain at the moment; however, this comes with its own unique set of restrictions. Read More
ChainSafe & Aztec Network’s integration proposes to solve ENS privacy issues
ChainSafe Solutions takes the opportunity of sharing the proposal that it has forwarded at the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) DAO weekly ecosystem meeting on the 8th of December, 2022. The prime issue that the company was dealing with and seeking solutions for ENS privacy issues. It was a detailed proposal on how exactly to address the important and significant matter.
ChainSafe Solutions, on its part, happens to be actively involved with the carrying out of bringing all of their collective areas of skill together, along with all of their gained knowledge and experience gathered over the period of time. They also happen to be constantly following the path of research. All of this is then targeted towards the deliverance of the creation of fresh outlooks pertaining to important issues at hand, along with the proper solving of complicated factors.
The ultimate aim and intention behind all of these activities are to provide an enormous amount of boost to the connected communities to carry innovations forward. The proposal that has been delivered by them outlines a plan of action for the merging of ENS with Aztec Network in order to arrive at a solution for the effective delinking of received and sent addresses. Read More
Uniswap awards DeFi auditor £33k for finding smart contract exploit
Uniswap may have saved itself from being exploited for millions of pounds thanks to an auditor that identified a smart contract vulnerability on the decentralised exchange.
Dedaub, a smart contract security and auditing firm, revealed Uniswap has paid it $40,000 (£33,500) for flagging a potential weakness in the exchange’s Universal Router smart contract. The weakness could have enabled hackers to drain users funds in the middle of a transaction.
Uniswap launched its bug bounty programme at the end of 2022, promising anyone up to 2.25 million USDC (£1.88m) for identifying possible vulnerabilities in the protocol’s smart contracts.
The program launched in November alongside two new smart contracts on the exchange. The one where an exploit has been identified, Universal Router, combines ERC-20 and NFT swapping into a single transaction, allowing for multiple tokens and NFTs to be swapped at once.
The second, Permit2, lets token approvals be shared across a variety of different applications. Read More
REFER THREE TO MARKETHIVE TO RECEIVE BONUS AIRDROPS AND ACTIVATE MICROPAYMENTS
As Markethive continues to gain traction with new members joining daily, Markethive is steadfast and in preparation to take a large share of the new Market Network that is the next generation following the social media craze of Web 2.0. Markethive is a Social Market Broadcasting Network. It sounds like a mouthful, and it is!
Markethive is an all-encompassing platform that has integrated;
As Markethive’s foundation is Blockchain-driven, it has its consumer coin, currently named Markethive Coin (MHV), but soon to be renamed Hivecoin (HVC - the Ticker Symbol). It is fully integrated into the system and has created an Ecosystem for all Markethive members, free and upgraded Entrepreneurs.
So Markethive has established its niche as the only Social Market Broadcasting Network with an infinity Airdrop and a system that rewards the users for engaging on the platform and learning how to use it with ongoing, real-time micropayments, otherwise known as a Faucet.
Markethive has the combined power of Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketo, and Amazon, with the real advantage of deriving income within the Markethive system while promoting your business and enjoying the social media interface. Read More
Proof-of-stake vs. proof-of-work: Pros, cons, and differences explained
Though Bitcoin's (BTC) transaction history is securely sequenced using proof-of-work (PoW), it consumes a lot of electricity and the number of transactions it can handle at once is limited. As a result, new consensus mechanisms focusing on the less energy-intensive method have emerged, with the proof-of-stake (PoS) model being one of the most prominent. These consensus mechanisms enable computer networks to collaborate while remaining secure.
Blockchain networks need to resolve several issues in order to function effectively. For instance, without a central authority like banks or FinTechs (e.g.PayPal) in the middle, decentralized cryptocurrency networks must ensure that no party in a network spends the same money multiple times. Furthermore, the consensus mechanism prevents the network from being derailed through a hard fork.
However, in a centralized organization like a bank, the board of decision-makers or regulators control such activities. Whereas crypto is based on a community, so the blockchain must reach a consensus to verify the transactions and blocks. Read More
Mastercard Taps Polygon for Web3 Artist Accelerator
Mastercard plans to leverage Polygon to help guide musical artists into the Web3 space, including minting their own NFTs.
Mastercard announced Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, that it will use the Polygon blockchain to launch its Mastercard Artist Accelerator.
The program is designed to help musical artists learn how to expand their brands through minting NFTs, building an online presence, and establishing a community. While Mastercard has not yet said who will participate in the accelerator, the company said the accelerator will end later this year with a live-streamed artist showcase.
Mastercard says the aim is to create a space for music content creation, collaboration, and ownership, using the accelerator to connect artists worldwide with mentors in Web3.
"Kicking off in spring 2023, the Mastercard Artist Accelerator will prepare five emerging artists—such as musicians, DJs, producers—with the tools, skills, and access to forge their own musical paths in the digital economy," Mastercard said in a press release. Read More
Can real-time transaction simulations prevent scammers from stealing crypto assets?
A better insight into wallet permissions and transaction flow can protect crypto users from phishing scams.
As things stand today, the inner workings of the crypto space remain a mystery to many users, despite the growing popularity of digital assets. Smart contracts, access permissions, transaction details and how the blockchain actually works are still shady areas for many.
This lack of education and understanding on the part of investors is where hackers and malicious actors find a weak point to target their attacks. They create fake websites to lure investors looking for the next hot NFT collection or send shiny spam emails urging users to sign up Scammers are everywhere. Regardless of the medium used, phishing attacks are the most common way that crypto investors lose their digital assets for good.
The best way to protect users from phishing attacks is to give them the information they need to understand what happens with their wallet during any given interaction. One company working on bringing this insight to users is Web3 Antivirus. The team allows users to scan all websites and Web3 platforms before allowing them to interact with their wallets. What's more, the W3A team is now working on introducing even more detailed reports and additional functionalities like transaction simulations. Read More
Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade could supercharge liquid staking derivatives — Here’s how
Traders are contemplating what will happen to ETH price and staked Ether derivatives after the next network upgrade opens withdrawals for stakers.
Liquid staking protocols like Lido and Rocket Pool let Ether holders stake without running a validator node. Since Ether is pooled, a single user doesn’t have a minimum threshold of 32 ETH (worth around $40,000) for staking. People can stake fractions of Ether, reducing the entry barrier for staking.
The protocols also enable liquidity provision for staked assets, which would otherwise be locked in the staking contracts. The DeFi contracts give a derivative token (for instance, Lido’s stETH) in exchange for staked Ether on the proof-of-stake (PoS) network. A user can trade with stETH while earning yields from the staking contract.
As Ethereum’s staking ratio increases after March’s update, the use of liquidity staking protocols will likely increase with it. Currently, the liquid staking protocols account for 32.65% of the total staked Ether. Due to the benefits mentioned above, their market share should remain near or above current levels after the Shanghai upgrade.
The governance tokens of liquid staking protocols could also benefit from their increased locked value, similar to DeFi tokens, which benefited from a rise in total locked value (TVL) in the latest bull run. 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.
