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The shift from centralized exchanges to DEXs
The growth of DeFi has happened in spite of the CEXs' stranglehold, with users relying on non-custodial wallets to access even the most basic of DeFi products.
Centralized exchanges have been the dominant force on the cryptocurrency landscape for over a decade, acting as the primary method of transferring value between blockchains and serving as a gateway into crypto for the masses. They have been instrumental in the early development of the nascent crypto sector, with many reaping substantial profits. Binance’s revenue, for example, hit $12 billion in 2022, a ten-fold increase in just two years.
However, the success of centralized exchanges has come at a cost. Not only has their dominance placed an unnecessary financial burden on users, but I would argue that the custodial nature of CEXs has hindered the development of the Web3 ecosystem. The growth of DeFi has happened in spite of the CEXs’ stranglehold, with users relying on non-custodial wallets to access even the most basic of DeFi products.
Fortunately, the shift from centralized exchanges to DEXs is gaining momentum. In the immediate aftermath of the SEC’s crackdowns on Binance and Coinbase, DEX trading volumes surged 444%. Even without such seismic events, users are increasingly seeing the value of DEXs. Uniswap trading volume has consistently outpaced that of Coinbase so far in 2023 before the SEC formally announced proceedings against the centralized exchange. Read More
Lone Star State ‘Will Be Silicon Valley’ of Crypto: Texas Blockchain Council President
With the latest legislative session in Texas done and dusted, Bitcoin miners in the Lone Star state have struck digital gold.
Texas’s 88th legislative session has been an especially productive one for local Bitcoin miners.
Advocates celebrated the blocking of one state bill, and the passage of several others, that will likely ensure the state remains attractive for miners.
"The microchip was invented in 1958 but that technology was monetized in California,” Lee Bratcher, President of the Texas Blockchain Council, told Decrypt via email. Texas is not going to let that happen again. Texas will be the Silicon Valley of the Digital Asset industry."
For one, Senate Bill (SB) 1751, labelled an “anti-mining” bill in the industry, never made it to the Governor’s desk. The bill sought to curb lucrative energy credits that local miners have been enjoying, including Riot, which raked in $9.5 million in credits last July. Read More
Robinhood Moves to Cut Support for Cardano, Polygon and Solana
Robinhood opted to axe three tokens after the SEC listed them as unregistered securities in their lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance.
The popular trading app Robinhood is ending support for three cryptocurrencies in Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL) from June 27, 2023.
"We regularly review the crypto we offer on Robinhood," the firm shared in an update. "Based on our latest review, we’ve decided to end support for Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL) on June 27th, 2023 at 6:59 PM ET."
Users have to withdraw or sell these assets for fiat or other eligible assets on Robinhood by the deadline.
Post that, these assets will be sold at market prices with the sale proceeds going toward the users. Read More
What is the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), and how does it work?
As implied by its name, the IPFS protocol is designed to establish a fully decentralized system capable of functioning across places as disconnected or as far apart as planets.
IPFS was introduced in 2015 by computer engineer Juan Benet and maintained by the Protocol Labs team who also created Filecoin (FIL), a cryptocurrency and cooperative digital storage and data retrieval method based on blockchain technology.
Basically, IPFS is a peer-to-peer (P2P) distributed system for storing, accessing and sharing files, websites, applications and data. IPFS builds upon the decentralized environment and incorporates distributed and bandwidth-saving techniques from torrents.
The key distinction between the centralized and decentralized web lies in how data is identified and retrieved. In the centralized web, people depend on trusted entities to host their data and access it using location-based Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). Read More
What Does The Wallet Do? What Does It Mean For You?
The launch of the Markethive wallet is approaching, so it’s time to start beating the proverbial drum. It is the start of an exciting time with the advent of many integrations to follow the release of the wallet that will bring Markethive into prominence as an unprecedented platform. The combination of inbound marketing, social media, digital broadcasting, video, conference rooms, e-commerce, gamification, etc.
Markethive is a blockchain-driven crypto economy, all-inclusive, with a distributed database system required for this decentralized, monolithic global project. We’re almost there with the release of the wallet that will initiate entrepreneurial sovereignty and open the floodgates of this divine enterprise with its plethora of systems and services, including the new interface and dashboard.
We now have a complete working wallet with the Solana Network, and we also have a fully functional crypto merchant account. The Markethive wallet is being polished with the finishing touches, keeping mindful that it’s not just a simple wallet but a comprehensive, dynamic engine centralized for you that powers your platform and business.
Markethive is fundamentally a sophisticated inbound marketing and storefront platform, integrated with a social network, and not just another social media platform you see popping up to counter the media tech giants we’ve come to know as oppressive, censoring you and using your personal data for their own gain. Read More
Polygon 2.0 introduces upgrades to tap into ‘Value Layer’ of internet
According to Polygon Labs, Polygon 2.0 will enable users to create, exchange and program value on the internet.
On June 12, Polygon Labs announced “Polygon 2.0,” a set of upgrades that seeks to establish the “Value Layer” of the internet, which the company says will allow users “to create, exchange, and program value.”
According to an announcement shared on Twitter, “Polygon 2.0 is a set of upgrades that radically reimagine almost every aspect of Polygon, from protocol architecture to tokenomics to governance. It is a roadmap for how Polygon will become the Value Layer, offering unlimited scalability and unified liquidity via ZK [zero-knowledge] tech.”
Polygon 2.0 is setting out to be a network of interconnected chains powered by ZK technology, a cryptographic technique that allows one party, called the prover, to prove the validity of a statement to another party, known as the verifier, without revealing any additional information beyond the statement's validity. According to Polygon Labs:
“The network can support a practically unlimited number of chains and cross-chain interactions can happen safely and instantly, without additional security or trust assumptions. Unlimited scalability and unified liquidity." Read More
Ripple expands Canadian engineering activities with U of Toronto XRP validator
Canada’s largest university is the third in the country to partner with Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative.
The University of Toronto plans to launch an independent XRP Ledger (XRPL) validator, Ripple announced June 12, as the university will become part of Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI). The partnership will support blockchain and crypto technology research at the university.
The partnership will also advance Ripple’s XRPL Campus Ambassador program, which “aims to elevate the impact of college students” by helping "educate other students about crypto and how to start building on the XRPL.” University of Toronto professor Andreas Veneris commented:
“Hosting an XRP Ledger validator matches our goals in both promoting education around the XRP Ledger […] but also the public’s trust in scholars for their long-standing ethos to advance social wellbeing.” Read More
Polygon Introduces Version 2.0
Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution Polygon (MATIC) has unveiled its Version 2.0, the blueprint for which will be revealed over the next few weeks.
The layer-2 scaling solution is calling its latest iteration the “value layer of the internet.”
The Blueprint For Polygon 2.0:
According to a blog post published by Polygon, it will be revealing the blueprint over the next few weeks. It would also address several topics, including the future of the Polygon Proof-of-Stake chain, the utility and evolution of Polygon’s token, and the transition to greater community governance and involvement when it comes to the protocol and treasury. The blog post stated,
“Over the coming weeks, we will detail each component of Polygon 2.0, addressing topics like the future of the Polygon PoS chain, the utility and evolution of the Polygon token, and the transition to greater community governance of the protocol and treasury. We will lay out a roadmap for how Polygon will become the Value Layer of the Internet, offering unlimited scalability and unified liquidity via ZK technology.” Read More
How Much Energy Does Bitcoin Really Use? Less Than You Might Think
The study uses ASIC model "fingerprints" to understand Bitcoin’s energy use, saying it's wrong to assume the same efficiency across mining rigs.
Crypto intelligence firm Coin Metrics released a report on Tuesday outlining how Bitcoin’s energy usage can be measured by scanning the blockchain for clues—linking activity on the network to specific, high-powered machines.
For years, Bitcoin’s electricity usage has been a contentious topic, as critics point to the energy-intensive nature of validating transactions on proof-of-work networks. By continuously crunching complex calculations in hopes of solving Bitcoin’s next block, thousands of machines make guesses on networks like Bitcoin in hopes of a reward.
As government organizations such as the White House put pressure on digital asset mining firms, mainly through its proposed 30% excise tax, the report aims to establish a more accurate approach to determining Bitcoin miners’ overall power consumption and builds on the methodologies of studies conducted by other institutions in the past. 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.
