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Maker Co-Founder Proposes Future Protocol Implementation on Solana Fork
Rune Christensen, a cofounder of Maker, the stablecoin protocol behind dai, has proposed reimplementing the protocol on top of a fork of Solana, updating it to manage possible problems derived from technical failures or governance attacks. The move would be part of Maker’s roadmap evolution, called “Endgame,” designed to “enhance efficiency, resilience, and participation” around the Maker protocol.
He defended the creation of a blockchain used only to run the backend of Maker, stating that it would “deal with the eight years of technical debt in the protocol.” This would imply each component would be redesigned and custom-built for its exact function. However, Christensen stated that this change would take at least three years.
Solana, according to Christensen, presents three significant advantages over other chains. Read More
Changing Realities of Crypto Mining – Alternative Solutions To Integrate
At the end of July 2023, the Bitcoin network passed its 800,000th block.
While this marks a major milestone in the blockchain’s history, it also reminds us that only eight months are left until the next BTC halving event, which is set to take place on April 26, 2024.
Similar to major Ethereum hard forks, Bitcoin halving is among the cryptocurrency industry’s highest-profile events.
On the one hand, acting as a potential catalyst for future bull runs, they bring good news for investors.
But the next halving’s impact on the mining industry is a more complex matter, seeing as how miners will need to adjust their strategies to make up for the reduced rewards that the halving will bring. Read More
Coinbase CEO Proposes Web3 Version of LinkedIn
Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, took to Twitter on September 6, 2023, to share that the company has received over 150 applications for its inaugural Coinbase Ventures Summit. The summit, scheduled for October in Malibu, California, aims to bring together a select group of crypto entrepreneurs and builders. Armstrong also introduced a novel concept: a Web3 version of LinkedIn.
A Web3 LinkedIn: The Future of Professional Networking?
In a tweet, Armstrong outlined the idea of a decentralized LinkedIn platform built on Web3 technology.
It would be great if companies could issue soulbound NFTs to verify employment or credentials,
Armstrong tweeted. He also suggested building a front-end interface to explore both employee and employer profiles and emphasized the need to "develop a way to bootstrap the network effect." Read More
Windows tool targeted by hackers deploys crypto-mining malware
Software installers affected are mainly used for 3D modeling and graphic design, with French being the most frequent language used in the malware campaign.
Hackers have been using a Windows tool to drop cryptocurrency-mining malware since November 2021, according to an analysis from Cisco’s Talos Intelligence. The attacker exploits Windows Advanced Installer — an application that helps developers package other software installers, such as Adobe Illustrator — to execute malicious scripts on infected machines.
According to a Sept. 7 blog post, the software installers affected by the attack are mainly used for 3D modeling and graphic design. Additionally, most of the software installers used in the malware campaign are written in French. The findings suggest that the “victims are likely across business verticals, including architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, and entertainment in French language-dominant countries," explains the analysis.
The attacks predominantly affect users in France and Switzerland, with a few infections in other countries, including the United States, Canada, Algeria, Sweden, Germany, Tunisia, Madagascar, Singapore and Vietnam, the post notes based on DNS request data sent to the attacker’s command and control host. Read More
Markethive Leading The Way In Web 3 Social & Market Media
Web 3.0 is the next generation of the internet which people envision will be more decentralized and permissionless. One that's built on decentralized protocols, where users help with content creation and the governance of the web itself. They also have the ability to own a part of the network, so you can think of it as a Read-Write-Own Internet.
There are already several technologies that could serve as the backbone for a Web 3 world. Most point to blockchains like Elrond, Cardano, or Ethereum, for example, but other distributed technologies like IPFS can also be used to decentralize networks.
Thousands of dApps (decentralized applications) are already being built in the Web 3 environment. These often include native tokens to add value to the application to those who hold the tokens. These native crypto assets allow those who participate in the network to share in the value generated from it.
Web 3 promises a decentralized alternative where we are all users, owners, and developers. This quote from Fabric Ventures sums it up beautifully,
“Web 3.0 enables a future where distributed users and machines are able to interact with data, value, and other counterparties via a substrate of peer-to-peer networks without the need for third parties—the result: a composable human-centric & privacy-preserving computing fabric for the next wave of the web.” Read More
How Bitcoin Miners in Texas Are Making Millions Without Mining at All
Miners “either mine BTC or curtail energy when prices are high to sell it back to the grid,” Compass Mining told Decrypt, giving them a better return than mining.
A sizzling Texas has turned its power grid into overdrive recently, enforcing emergency procedures into action–affecting first and foremost, Bitcoin miners.
Due to the excessive heat the lone star state suffered, several mining outfits were pushed to turn down their mining operations, albeit temporarily. Riot platforms made news today that it “had been paid” to shut down, along with Marathon Digital, who reported a 9% drop in Bitcoin productions.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) was forced to implement emergency procedures during August to ensure that customers were never without energy as a heatwave scorched the state. ERCOT supplies power to roughly 25 million Texans, translating into 90% of the state’s grid load.
Emergency procedures refers to specific power consumers, such as Bitcoin miners, curtailing their energy needs (effectively, shutting off machines). Read More
Security platforms warn about hidden phishing and wallet drainer links
Cybersecurity professional Christian Seifert gave an example on how Discord’s measures against malicious links can be abused by scammers.
With millions of dollars worth of assets being lost to phishing attacks after signing malicious permissions, the threat of losing crypto assets to questionable links is very real. When these are paired with platforms that allow hidden links, users are subjected to a different kind of risk.
On Sept. 4, Web3 security provider Pocket Universe shared how scammers are able to hide wallet drainer links in any text on the instant messaging platform Discord. While some users report that the feature has only been enabled for Discord users recently, the ability to embed links in any text has been available on many different social platforms for a while now.
Cointelegraph reached out to several cybersecurity professionals to learn more about how users can protect themselves from such attempts and how platforms can improve their security so that users are not subjected to such attacks.
Christian Seifert, who works as a researcher in residence at Web3 security firm Forta Network, said that this type of attack has been the bread and butter of hackers since the internet was created. Read More
Decentralized Infura launch within months, Web2 cloud giants may join: Consensys
Decentralized Infura will consist of Infura and a decentralized market of other third-party data providers.
A decentralized version of Infura will launch by the end of the year, with major Web2 cloud providers set to become part of the network, the chief strategist of ConsenSys says.
“We’re looking to launch something later this year, but then there’s going to be what they call a federated phase that they’re expecting to like to last of the order of six months,” ConsenSys Head of Strategy Simon Morris told Cointelegraph at Korean Blockchain Week, referring to a trial period while the network was still under centralized control.
Infura is the access point for most DApps to access real-time on-chain data from the Ethereum blockchain, but given it is controlled solely by ConsenSys, it provides a single point of failure. In November 2020, the MetaMask wallet stopped working when Infura went down, and centralized exchanges and DeFi projects were affected too. Infura also came under fire from some users for complying with U.S. sanctions against Tornado Cash, but as a U.S.-based company, there is little else ConsenSys could do. Read More
Bitcoin Witnesses Second-Highest Daily Ordinal Inscription Count as Inscriptions Near 30 Million
While Bitcoin-based nonfungible token (NFT) sales have declined, and the network has dropped to seventh out of 23 blockchains in sales this past month, Ordinal inscriptions continue unabated. The number of inscriptions linked to the Bitcoin blockchain is nearing 30 million. On September 3, a record 418,240 inscriptions were minted, marking the second-highest daily rate to date.
Bitcoin’s Ordinal Inscriptions Hit Second-Largest Daily Total:
As of 10 a.m. Eastern Time on September 7, 2023, at block height 806,606, there are about 29.48 million Ordinal inscriptions tied to the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin miners have to date received an estimated 1,976.62 BTC, valued at $50.85 million at current exchange rates, from Ordinal inscriptions. Daily inscriptions continue at a rapid pace, with September 3 seeing the second-highest number at 418,240. 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.
