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Asia’s Bitcoin supply soars amid shifting regulatory landscapes
Bitcoin supply held by entities in Asia increased by 9.9% in 2023, as the region begins introducing crypto-friendly regulation and U.S. tightens its regulatory stance.
As U.S. regulatory pressures continue to bear down on the cryptocurrency industry, a fresh trend is beginning to take shape, altering the dynamics of Bitcoin’s global demand.
The U.S. political environment seeks to tighten the regulatory noose around the neck of the crypto and mining sectors, causing traders within its borders may be losing faith in Bitcoin’s resilience.
This shift is evident through Glassnode’s Bitcoin year-over-year (YoY) supply change, which tracks the amount of Bitcoin held by regional entities. Read More
Cumberland Labs unveils SaaS API for public blockchains and DeFi protocols
When Cumberland Labs looked for a gateway between blockchains and DeFi protocols, it came up with its own universal API service.
Cumberland Labs, the incubator arm of Chicago-based crypto trading company Cumberland, has launched the beta version of a new API tool that could simplify the arduous task of connecting to blockchain and decentralized finance protocols.
Cumberland Labs told Cointelegraph that the Cumberland, the trading unit of DRW Holdings LCC, used to invest considerable time connecting to various protocols manually, and one at a time.
The firm couldn’t find a tool to simplify these tasks and ultimately created its own API service, expand.network, using its own developers and engineers from its incubator arm. The tool has been in testing since November and is available to the public in beta.
An API stands for application programming interface and is used when one type of programming needs to communicate with another. Read More
Will crypto remittances be the future of global money transfers?
Cryptocurrencies are challenging the status quo of remittance services. Will they also shape the future of cross-border payments?
Unlike traditional remittance services, cryptocurrencies offer a compelling alternative that overcomes many of the limitations of traditional methods.
First, cryptocurrencies are available worldwide because they operate on the internet and can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection, regardless of geographic location. This accessibility empowers individuals in underprivileged countries to receive remittances seamlessly, without the need for complex documentation or access to traditional banking services.
Another significant advantage of crypto remittances is the speed of transactions. While traditional methods can take several days for funds to reach recipients, crypto transfers are typically faster, even during times of high network congestion. This is because cryptocurrencies bypass intermediaries and rely on blockchain technology for instant transaction processing, ensuring that funds reach those in need quickly. Read More
Circle is latest recipient of Major Payment Institution license in Singapore
The stablecoin issuer is the second crypto company to receive Singapore’s MPI license this month, following Crypto.com.
Circle’s Singapore affiliate, Circle Internet Singapore, has received a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Circle Singapore received in-principle MPI approval from MAS in November and opened its office in the city-state in May.
An MPI license allows Circle to offer digital payment token services and domestic and cross-border money transfer services, according to a statement released by the fintech firm, which is the issuer of the USD Coin USDC and Euro Coin (EUROC) stablecoins.
Circle has identified Singapore as its principal hub in Asia, according to the statement. Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said:
“Singapore is integral to Circle’s global expansion." Read More
A democratic society values a free-flowing media ecosystem. A healthy media ecosystem is one of the characteristics of a democratic society. Mass media outlets such as newspapers and cable TV networks were prominent in the past. Today, the internet and social media platforms allow for greater communication across society.
Journalism, investigative correspondents, and even freelance writers are essential to that ecosystem. High-quality reporting revealing brutal truths and users' scope and exposure on social media to either create or access information are forces that can drive genuine societal change. And even keep the power structures in check.
Despite the positive aspects mentioned above, harmful practices and negative external forces related to the media ecosystem often eclipse them. These issues are usually easy to recognize once they’re identified. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge them and spread awareness about their potential risks.
Doing so will help you make informed decisions about how you use media and how it can impact your life and the lives of others. The following are a few issues pervasive in many digital news sites, forums, and social media platforms. Read More
Markethive Media has embraced blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, building an ecosystem that belongs to “we the people,” eliminating many of the issues plagued by media outlets today. With its meritocratic culture, dynamic social media interface, and growing community, Markethive is enhancing and bringing the platform into the future internet with new technology and interfaces, but still in keeping with the human touch.
The role of blockchain in combatting fraud and revolutionizing the gaming industry
Blockchain's transparency is another key weapon in the fight against fraud.
A new dawn is breaking in the gaming industry, driven by the transformative power of blockchain technology. As this industry — expected to hit $200 billion in 2023 — continues to grapple with the scourge of fraud, blockchain is emerging as a potent ally, armed with its inherent traits of decentralization, transparency and immutability. Moreover, blockchain is not merely a tool to combat fraud but also an innovation set to revolutionize the gaming experience itself.
A decentralized defence against fraud:
Central to blockchain’s appeal is its decentralized nature. In contrast to traditional systems that rely on a single central authority for validation, blockchain operates on a network of computers, or nodes. Each node on the network holds a copy of the entire blockchain, which significantly enhances system security. This decentralized model thwarts hackers by requiring them to simultaneously breach the majority of nodes to execute a fraudulent act — a feat virtually impossible with current technology. Read More
On the horizon: The creator economy is moving to Web3
Blockchain projects continue to innovate and experiment in a number of industries and formats.
Though it is beginning to recede in memory, the bear market of 2022 dealt a major blow to public confidence in blockchain technology’s potential for practical use and mass adoption. The collapse of blockchain platform, Terra, and the dissolution of crypto hedge fund, Three Arrows Capital and global exchange, FTX, damaged the financial well-being and reputation of the entire ecosystem.
Nonetheless, during these challenging times, projects with real substance and use cases have continued to build and develop, and Web2 giants, such as Amazon and Mastercard, have been quietly establishing key infrastructure and partnerships in the space. As 2023 progresses, we are seeing new ideas and approaches begin to truly flourish.
While novelty and exploration marked the rise of crypto in 2020 and 2021, the next great wave will likely be focused on sustainable solutions to real-world problems and could feature tighter connections to traditional companies, who have now become more established and connected in Web3. That’s why the content creator economy, with its highly developed Web2 infrastructure, presents one of the most promising and lucrative areas of interest for blockchain developers, users and investors. Read More
Tether’s game plan in El Salvador: Why invest in Volcano Energy?
Stablecoin issuer Tether is making a strategic investment in energy production and Bitcoin mining to support El Salvador’s adoption of BTC.
Stablecoin issuer Tether has dipped into its war chest to invest in El Salvador’s $1 billion renewable energy project to help drive Bitcoin BTC adoption in the Central American nation.
The Tether USDT issuer is one of a handful of companies investing in El Salvador’s renewable power generation project. Volcano Energy is set to generate electricity from solar and wind energy in El Salvador to power future Bitcoin mining operations in the country.
The planned 241-megawatt (MW) renewable energy park is the latest move in El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption drive after the country made BTC legal tender back in 2021.
Cointelegraph caught up with Tether’s chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino during Money 20/20 in Amsterdam. Ardoino — who is attending the renowned finance and payments convention promoting Bitfinex Pay and the Lightning Network — delved into several topics concerning Tether, Bitfinex and the wider cryptocurrency space. Read More
Lens Protocol Raises $15 Million to Expand Decentralized Social Media
Built by the creators of Aave, Lens allows users to own their online presence as part of the decentralized protocol.
Decentralized finance leader Aave has raised $15 million to fund Lens, its NFT-powered protocol for decentralized social media platforms, the company announced Thursday.
Lens is a protocol built atop Polygon, the Ethereum scaling solution. Social media platforms built on Lens can use smart contracts and NFTs to tokenize social data—making a user’s posts, preferences, and network both proprietary to that user, and transferable to any other social network built on Lens.
“Users can have ownership of their profiles, of the presences they create, and of the audiences they build,” Stani Kulechov, Aave’s founder and CEO, told Decrypt.
Kulechov is betting that users of traditional social media platforms will want to cash in on— and exercise ownership over—their creative labor, something mainstream Web2 social media platforms currently do not provide. As Lens emerges from a year in beta, the protocol aims to onboard a mass usership, extending beyond Web3-native privacy and decentralization advocates. That niche crowd has historically comprised the main audience for Web3 alternatives to Web2 products. 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.
