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How Bitcoin Impacts the Fintech Industry and Wider Economy
The adoption of blockchain technology has increased prevalence. Some people think of blockchain as a network of nano-bots, but it is basically a set of codes that record the events in an unalterable format.
Fintech is an industry dependent on calculation and analysis, while blockchain is all about efficiency and effectiveness.
This brings a complete revolution of fintech, as users worldwide opt for cryptocurrency transactions that optimize their payment and transaction processes. Read More
Why a gold rush for inscriptions has broken half a dozen blockchains
Some suggest EVM inscriptions are the latest way for retail traders to access low-cap coins, while others argue it’s an over-hyped fad. Whatever it is, it’s clogging up the blockchain.
The latest degen “gold rush” to inscribe everything from profile pictures to memecoins has led to at least half a dozen blockchain networks cracking under pressure over the past week.
Arbitrum, Avalanche, Cronos, zkSync and The Open Network have all experienced partial or full outages recently due to inscriptions, with modular data availability network Celestia the latest to cave, according to industry researchers who posted a screenshot of its block explorer on Dec. 18.
Videos have also been posted of mass minting on the Celestia network.
“The team is actively investigating, but we can confirm that a sustained surge of inscriptions triggered the sequencer to stop relaying transactions properly,” Arbitrum confirmed on Dec. 16 amid a 78-minute outage. Read More
A closer look at Unstoppable Domains’ .com integration
Unstoppable Domains recently integrated .com domains into its platform. What implications could this move have?
Unstoppable Domains — a prominent provider of Web3 domains — recently expanded its offerings by incorporating traditional “.com” addresses.
This move marks the first instance of merging conventional Web2 domains with the evolving Web3 domain space. This integration aims to seamlessly connect the existing web infrastructure with the new, allowing users to engage with both types of domains on a single platform.
Integrating .com domains with blockchain technology goes beyond a technical achievement; it’s an effort to enhance user adoption and streamline the overall user experience.
The well-established familiarity of .com domains, deeply rooted in internet history, serves as a bridge for users transitioning into the blockchain realm, making adopting blockchain technology more accessible and inviting for a broader audience. Read More
Bitcoin Fees Continue to Surge Thanks to Ordinal Mania
It’s again very expensive to make a transaction on Bitcoin’s blockchain.
Bitcoin fees have continued to soar, with the average cost to send the cryptocurrency now at the highest in over two and a half years.
Bitinfocharts data shows that it today costs on average $37.58 to make a transaction. The last time it was that high was back in April 2021. Fees have been exploding since May this year ever since interest in Ordinals took off. At one point they reached $31.14 per transaction.
Ordinals—Bitcoin’s answer to non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—are simply assets, such as pictures or art, that can be stored on Bitcoin’s blockchain.
Investor interest in Ordinals means that more are being minted and taking up blockspace that might have otherwise been used to process image-less BTC transactions. Since miners, who confirm transactions, have more work to do, they can—and are—charging more for people who want to send or receive BTC. Read More
HVC is poised to triumph in the crypto economy.
Markethive is a monolithic blockchain project currently operating as a social network, an entire inbound marketing platform with email, blogging, and digital media capabilities that broadcast to the vast internet. It’s a complete Market Network and the first of its kind.
Markethive is predominantly a free system where users can access a platform that can cost more than $2,500 offered by other marketing platforms. There are, of course, upgrades that open up more tools and monetization opportunities, the first being the Entrepreneur One Loyalty Program, and coming soon is the Premium Upgrade.
The many domains Markethive has and its autonomous cloud systems that ensure its sovereignty and longevity make it untouchable and immune from the tech giants’ rule and biased agenda. But can still remotely infiltrate the social media platforms and reach the multitudes either locked in or looking for an alternative meritocratic medium.
In other words, wherever you go, Markethive is there, anywhere and everywhere, delivering its message via its community of entrepreneurs to a far-reaching audience. This next-generation social market media is poised in the wings, and when the time is right, it will emerge as a shining light to lift people up and bring financial sovereignty and hope in this gloomy and uncertain world.
The video platform, conference rooms, the unique four specific news feeds currently in development, and many other projects and incentives add to the credibility and need for an ecosystem in the social media and digital marketing space. Read More
Unofficial Arweave forking plans draw community controversy
A hard fork proposed by Arweave’s largest layer-2 solution, Irys, is allegedly in the making.
Irys, a prominent layer-2 network within the Arweave ecosystem, allegedly has plans to fork the Arweave network with the intent to “drop the dataset and reset the token supply,” according to a Dec. 17 post by Arweave founder Sam Williams.
He alleges that despite the existence of a safe upgrade mechanism with Arweave, Irys developers plan to proceed with a hard fork that “appears to be a play motivated by greed.” The Arweave founder wrote:
“Given this situation, Arweave intends to remove the Irys bundlers from the trusted set on the main Arweave gateways. This will lead to significant delays before user data is available.” Read More
Revolut Business reportedly cuts crypto services ahead of new UK rules
The neobank will halt crypto purchases by businesses while it sorts out new ad requirements.
Neobank Revolut will temporarily halt cryptocurrency purchases on its business platform in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the new year, according to a media report. An email informing customers of the decision mentioned only purchasing, implying holding crypto and selling it could go uninterrupted.
Revolut said the pause was needed to give it more time to comply with new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules on promoting crypto that come into force on Jan. 8, 2024. Revolut Business will halt crypto purchases on Jan. 3, it said. In a message reproduced in an X (formerly Twitter) post, Revolut Business told customers:
“We’ll need to adjust our current Business crypto offering to make sure all of the new requirements are met.”
Revolut is the latest of several firms impacted by the FCA rules, which the regulator itself described as “tough.” The rules were announced in June and were intended to bring crypto advertising into line with other high-risk investment products. Read More
Bitcoin miner Cipher buys 37K Bitmain Antminers for $99.5M
The new crypto mining equipment to be bought by Cipher is expected to deliver 7.1 EH/s of self-mining capacity by the first half of 2025.
Publicly traded Bitcoin mining firm Cipher Mining is scaling operations with a new mega purchase of cryptocurrency mining devices.
Cipher will buy 37,396 units of Antminer T21 miners from the Chinese crypto mining giant Bitmain under a new agreement, the firm announced on Dec. 18. The new mining equipment to be bought is expected to deliver 7.1 exahashes per second (EH/s) of self-mining capacity by the first half of 2025, the announcement notes.
According to Cipher CEO Tyler Page, the purchase will allow Cipher to build its first 135 megawatts (MW) at its newly acquired Black Pearl site. Cipher has also secured the option to acquire an additional 45,706 miners, representing 8.7 EH/s, in 2024.
The purchase allows Cipher to lock the price for mining rigs at a “very attractive” price of $14 per terahash (TH), the CEO noted, adding:
“We are controlling our biggest potential capital expense and locking in favorable terms ahead of what we believe will be a bull market for Bitcoin.” Read More
Ubisoft's 'Champions Tactics' Ethereum NFTs Generate Millions After Free Mint
Following a drop that minted out in under 20 minutes, Ubisoft’s Warlords NFTs for Champions Tactics are reselling for $600 or more.
Ubisoft’s upcoming battler game Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles sold out of its free Warlords NFTs within minutes—and has seen over $2 million in sales within a couple hours of its public mint, per CryptoSlam data.
After a limited presale for select fans, the pixelated profile picture-style Warlords minted out in less than 20 minutes during the collection’s free public mint that occurred at 4pm ET Monday.
The NFTs are now trading on secondary marketplaces like OpenSea for roughly $600 each, or about 0.27 ETH, at the time of writing. Only 7% of the 9,999 NFTs are currently listed for sale—a stat that suggests most collectors plan to hang onto their Warlords so they can use them to unlock the game’s next free mint for its in-game characters. Read More
Your Wallet, Your Watch – Protecting Your Crypto From the Inside Out
“Not your keys, not your crypto” – FTX really brought that one home.
Alameda Research misappropriated $8 billion of assets stored on FTX. It was a bitter object lesson in the value of custodying your own tokens.
The question is – are your tokens actually safer in your wallet than on an exchange?
Here’s the other side of the coin – your keys and your crypto are your problem. If you sign the wrong smart contract, you could lose everything instantly with no easy path to recovery.
And while most of us regard ourselves as too sophisticated to fall for a scam, the numbers don’t lie. 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.
