Crypto Currency

A proposed U.S. national defense bill could subject stablecoins issuers to KYC and AML requirements they would be unable to comply with, said Berenberg analyst Mark Palmer. Circle’s USD Coin ( USDC ) and other stablecoins could potentially face a compliance nightmare if a new national defense bill that passed in the United States Senate makes it all the way. In a July 31 investment note seen by Cointelegraph, Berenberg analyst Mark Palmer explained that a recent amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), could potentially introduce new KYC and anti-money laundering measures that stablecoin issuers will be unable to comply with. “The amendment would require the U.S. Treasury Secretary to ‘establish examination standards for crypto assets’ that would help regulators to ensure compliance with money laundering and sanctions laws,” wrote Palmer, adding: “We believe this amendment, if it remains in the final version of the NDAA, could be problematic." Palmer...

Due to regulatory and transparency risks, CZ says that spreading risk across different stablecoins is the key to longevity. Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao is looking to bring smaller algorithmic stablecoins to the market, in a bid to offer investors options other than the current global stablecoin giants. Speaking in a July 31, ask me anything (AMA) session on Twitter, CZ cited risks associated with large stablecoins such as Tether ( USDT ) and Binance USD ( BUSD ), saying that while Tether is by far the largest stablecoin by market cap, he remains cautious of the asset due to its lack of transparency: “I personally have not seen any audit reports of USDT. I don't think most people I spoke to have not seen that either. So it's kind of a black box because we just don't know.” Even supposedly well-regulated and fully audited stablecoins such as Binance USD come with their own set of unforeseeable risks, he added. And we're live! Tune in to our Twitter Space with...

Smart contracts should be viewed as “proof-of-concept” rather than as critical for universal adoption. That may mean exploring alternatives. Smart contracts have reshaped the possibilities of what blockchain and crypto can achieve, and we can all acknowledge that. That doesn’t mean they’re the be-all-end-all solution to widespread adoption. Being overzealous about any kind of innovation can also contribute to its stalling, or even failure if other factors don’t align. The mentality of assuming new technology is perfect and wondering why everyone hasn’t caught up to its genius is outdated. Not only does it create an adversarial relationship when inevitabilities, such as regulation, arise, but it also diminishes the motivation to improve on new applications to maximize their value. Smart contracts and companies building their products around their implementation are now nearing this impasse. So, what can be done to close these gaps and potentially set the stage for an alternative? T...

Binance is now officially allowed to offer crypto services to institutional and qualified retail investors in Dubai. Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reached another milestone in relationships with regulators in the United Arab Emirates by winning a new license in Dubai. Binance’s Dubai-based subsidiary, Binance FZE, has obtained an operational minimum viable product (MVP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the company  announced on July 31. The new license officially allows Binance to operate cryptocurrency exchange and virtual asset broker-dealer services. The services enabled by the license are currently limited to institutional and qualified retail investors in Dubai, Binance noted. Eligible investors in Dubai can now access authorized services like crypto-to-fiat exchanges compliant with the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF). “Institutions and residents that qualify to use the services provided by the Operational ...

Zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs allow for proving a statement’s truth without revealing any information beyond its validity. What are the disadvantages of zero-knowledge proofs? ZK-proofs provide privacy and security benefits, but they can be computationally intensive and complex to implement.  Developing and verifying ZK-proofs can be resource- and computationally intensive, particularly for more complicated proofs. This can result in longer processing times for transactions and more computational work, which might make blockchain systems more difficult to scale. Furthermore, ZK-proofs might add a layer of complexity that might make the protocol more difficult to audit and verify, sparking worries about potential security flaws or bugs. Furthermore, while ZK-proofs improve privacy by hiding information, they may also facilitate illegal activity in some situations, creating difficulties for regulatory compliance. ZK-proofs might also not be appropriate for all use cases or sectors...

The highest recently generated block reward was 584 ETH, created by a MEV bot front-running transactions during the DeFi chaos. The recent Curve Finance exploit has reportedly led to one of the largest ever maximal extractable value (MEV) reward blocks of 584.05 Ether (ETH).  On July 31, Ethereum core developer “eric.eth” reported that “today has produced some of the largest MEV reward blocks in Ethereum’s history,” adding it was caused by the exploit of Curve Finance stable pools on July 30. Data shows a larger MEV reward block of 692 ETH was recorded in March. “A bot notices an incoming hack in the mempool, reproduces the tx [transaction] and front runs it”, he explained before adding, “To do so they pay the block producer a lot of ETH to be front of the line.” Today has produced some of the largest MEV reward blocks in Ethereum’s history. Slot 6,992,273: 584 ETH Slot 6,993,342: 345 ETH Slot 6,992,050: 247 ETH Slot 6,993,346: 51 ETH — eric.eth (@econoar) July 30, 2...

Chainalysis policy lead Chengyi Ong warned crypto users may eventually have no choice but to deal with offshore unregulated exchanges. Australia’s Bendigo Bank has become the fourth major bank in the country to announce blocks for “high-risk crypto payments,” citing the need to protect customers from investment scams. The bank said on July 31 it implemented new rules on instant payments to crypto exchanges which adds “some friction to certain genuine payments,” explained its head of fraud Jason Gordon. It cited combatting fraudulent payments and enhancing protections for its 2.3 million customers as reasons for the blocks. Screenshot of Bendigo Bank's warning about investment scams. Source: Bendigo Bank A Bendigo Bank spokesperson told Cointelegraph that certain instant crypto transactions that it identifies as higher risk will be blocked, but the bank is not disclosing further details at this time. The spokesperson said it identifies high-risk transactions by employing “a...

While Ethereum-based protocols have been hit with the majority of the exploit activity, BNB Smart Chain has also seen similar "copycat" exploits, according to BlockSec. The BNB Smart Chain ( BSC ) has reportedly suffered copycat attacks due to a vulnerability in the Vyper programming language, following a similar vein to the exploit on the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Curve Finance. Amid the exploits carried out on Ethereum, Blockchain security firm BlockSec tweeted on July 30 that around $73,000 worth of cryptocurrencies on BSC across three exploits had also been stolen. It comes as  similar exploits targeting liquidity pools on Curve Finance have racked up losses exceeding $41 million according to current BlockSec estimates. The sheet updated. Losses have already ~$41m! https://t.co/lCaS4uEPzm https://t.co/stQYNJFS7y pic.twitter.com/P7jG8NHnV4 — BlockSec (@BlockSecTeam) July 30, 2023 The vulnerability was caused by a malfunctioning reentrancy lock on Vy...

Today marks eight years since the Ethereum Foundation first announced the rollout of its network. The crypto community has come together to celebrate the 8th birthday of the Ethereum network, marking eight years since when the Ethereum Foundation first sent the network live. On July 30, 2015, former Ethereum Foundation CCO Stephan Tual penned a blog post, officially announcing that the network had been rolled out. "The vision of a censorship-proof ‘world computer’ that anyone can program, paying exclusively for what they use and nothing more, is now a reality," he wrote.  Screenshot of blog post from Stephan Tual. Source: Ethereum Foundation Eight years later, Ethereum and its native currency Ether ( ETH ) has grown to become the second largest crypto asset in existence, boasting a market capitalization of $225 billion and more than 1,900 monthly active developers . 8 years of growth Community members marked the occasion by sharing fond memories and looking back a...

The popularity of liquid staking tokens could usher in a new age for Ethereum and the rest of cryptocurrency — and play a key role in the new bull market. Before we know it, liquid staking tokens (LSTs) are going to replace Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, Ether ( ETH ). The LST market is already worth approximately $17 billion, and it has grown continuously since Ethereum’s Merge. While LSTs are just beginning to hit their stride, their advantages over traditional ETH will soon become clear to liquidity providers (LPs), toppling ETH from its throne and ushering in a new era of LST domination. Since the Merge, ETH can now be staked to produce a roughly 4% annual yield, depending on factors of network activity, total ETH staked, number of validators and the value captured by maximum extractable value . This development is significant because of the nature of ETH as a generally stable asset. Many cryptocurrencies are more volatile, so owners have to consider both yield and whether ...

During a recent interview with Bloomberg Wealth, Novogratz touched on topics ranging from investing to Ripple's case and Larry Fink. Galaxy Digital's founder Mike Novogratz shared what an ideal investment portfolio would look like for a young and high-risk tolerance investor during an interview with Bloomberg Wealth, saying that he'd invest in the Chinese giant Alibaba, silver, gold, Bitcoin ( BTC ), and Ethereum ( ETH ). “If they were young and had a high-risk tolerance, I’d be buying Alibaba stock. I’d be buying silver, gold, Bitcoin and Ethereum. That’d be my portfolio,” he said in allusion to someone investing $100,000. For those with lower risk tolerance, he recommended allocating only 30% of a portfolio in the example, with the remaining 70% in bonds and perhaps index funds. Novogratz's bullish stance on Bitcoin received a boost from BlackRock's application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in June. In his opinion, the application was the big...

BTC price action is "slower than ever" this weekend, but Bitcoin market participants are keenly waiting for a monthly MACD cross to confirm. Bitcoin ( BTC ) further reduced volatility ahead of the July 30 weekly close as traders eyed an exciting long-term bull signal. BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView BTC price makes weekend "slower than ever" Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed sideways BTC price action over the weekend, with BTC/USD sticking in a tiny $150 range. #Bitcoin Trading within a $10 range for the past 1.5 hours. Weekends are slower than ever lately. pic.twitter.com/FmZLL82wrk — Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) July 29, 2023 Conditions throughout the week had remained calm, despite a slew of macroeconomic data events, leading some to assume that a breakdown would come next . With hours until the weekly close, however, there was still no sign of volatility returning. #BTC exhibiting impressive price sta...

Python libraries that can interpret and explain machine learning models provide valuable insights into their predictions and ensure transparency in AI applications. Understanding machine learning models’ behavior, predictions, and interpretation is essential for ensuring fairness and transparency in artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Many Python modules offer methods and tools for interpreting models . Here are five to examine: What is a Python library? A Python library is a collection of pre-written code, functions and modules that extend the capabilities of Python programming. Libraries are designed to provide specific functionalities, making it easier for developers to perform various tasks without writing all the code from scratch. One of Python’s advantages is the wide variety of libraries it provides, which may be used to address multiple application areas. These libraries address various topics, including scientific computing, web development, graphical user interfa...

John Deaton believes the unequal treatment raises concerns about the regulatory body’s effectiveness and fairness, as well as the overall framework for digital assets. Pro-XRP lawyer, John Deaton, has said that the actions taken by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the crypto industry are driven by a broader motive to safeguard corporate capitalism rather than prioritizing the protection of investors. Deaton highlighted what he views as an assault on cryptocurrencies, particularly in relation to the SEC’s actions targeting Coinbase and Ripple. In his remarks, he touched on several aspects, such as the accredited investor rules, the SEC’s approach to regulating cryptocurrencies and its position concerning retail investors in the Ripple case. On X (Twitter), Deaton expresses his conviction that the U.S. operates within a framework of corporate capitalism rather than a genuine capitalist system. He highlights various facets of the present financial la...

The letter revealed that on Jan. 15, 2023, the defendant reached out to the current general counsel of FTX US, who could potentially serve as a witness in the trial. In a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sought the revocation of Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) bail, accusing him of attempting to tamper with witnesses, including leaking his ex-girlfriend's diary entries to the New York Times (NYT). These actions, connected to the FTX case, have raised concerns about witness interference. In the letter dated July 28, the DOJ noted that SBF was released on a bond on December 22, 2022, but later requested multiple bail modifications. The letter revealed that on January 15, 2023, the defendant reached out to the current General Counsel of FTX U.S., who could potentially serve as a witness in the trial. According to allegations, SBF purportedly reached out to the FTX U.S. lawyer through the encrypted messaging application Signal and email. In...

Michael Saylor, Layah Heilpern and Steven Lubkha were among those in the crypto community that took an interest in what Australian actress Margot Robbie had to say about Bitcoin. Australian actress Margot Robbie, who is playing the lead in the new Barbie movie, has caused quite a stir within the crypto community after stating that simply talking about Bitcoin ( BTC ) gives off Ken vibes. In the last 24 hours, the crypto community on Twitter, including Microstrategy's Michael Saylor and prominent Youtuber Layah Heilpern, showed a mixed response to Robbie’s statement about Bitcoin that she made in an interview with Fandango on June 22. #Bitcoin is Big Ken Energy. pic.twitter.com/ExFOGXsuJ9 — Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) July 28, 2023 Robbie revealed that every time she overheard her husband Tom Ackerley and television producer David Heymen discussing Bitcoin on set, it brought to mind the traits of Ken, the fictional co-star character in Barbie, portrayed by Ryan Gosling.  ...

Among the 300 payment leaders surveyed across 45 countries, 97% believe that blockchain will play a crucial role in faster payment systems within the next three years. Blockchain has the potential to save financial institutions approximately $10 billion in cross-border payment costs by the year 2030, according to a recent report. Published by digital payment network Ripple, in collaboration with the US Faster Payments Council (FPC) on July 29, the report surveyed 300 finance professionals across 45 different countries, from various sectors, such as fintech, banking, media, consumer technology and retail. Results show that global payments leaders are dissatisfied with legacy rails for cross-border payments. Learn why 97% believe #blockchain and #crypto will transform the way money moves in our latest whitepaper with @Faster_Payments . https://t.co/qacuAAzZrR pic.twitter.com/ForjM05Wbb — Ripple (@Ripple) July 28, 2023 Among 97% of those surveyed, who range from analysts to ...