Igloo Inc., the team behind the Pudgy Penguins non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has announced the acquisition of Frame, aiming to enhance the consumer crypto experience by developing Abstractchain. This move is expected to address limitations in current layer two (L2) solutions and expand cultural and community-driven crypto adoption. Igloo Expands Crypto Infrastructure With Frame Acquisition Igloo […]
Bitcoin News
Hybrid L2 Build on Bitcoin Launches Mainnet; US Users Face Geo-Blocking
The layer-two initiative known as BOB, short for ‘Build on Bitcoin,’ has declared its mainnet operational with over 40 apps launching in the initial phase. Notably, the BOB application that facilitates bridging and access to the ecosystem is geo-blocked in the United States. BOB Mainnet Activates, Project Expects a ‘Bitcoin-Driven Defi Summer’ On May 1, […]
Bitcoin News
Animoca Brands Joins Forces With Opal Foundation to Build Expansive Web3 Ecosystem on Bitcoin
Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based game software company, has announced its partnership with the Opal Foundation to enter the Bitcoin ecosystem, leveraging the Opal Protocol to develop the largest Web3 ecosystem encompassing gaming, Defi, entertainment, education, and culture. The initiative, backed by the BLIF token and propelled by the recent introduction of NFTs via ordinals […]
Bitcoin News
‘Build on Bitcoin’ Startup Secures $10M in Seed Funding to Advance Hybrid L2
The layer-two (L2) initiative BOB, an acronym for ‘Build on Bitcoin,’ successfully secured million during its seed funding round, led by Castle Island Ventures. The financial boost is set to advance the deployment of a Bitcoin L2 that is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), aiming to spur creativity across the network and […]
Bitcoin News
Upland Introduces Token Reward System With ‘Share and Build’ Airdrop Series
Upland, a popular Web3 metaverse and crypto game, unveiled the inaugural chapter of its “Share and Build” airdrop series on Friday. This initiative is designed to reward players with tokens for their participation. Upland’s Airdrop Series Rewards Community Participation At its essence, Upland is a Web3 metaverse platform dedicated to virtual land ownership and fostering […]
Bitcoin News
Polymer Labs Secures $23 Million to Build Ethereum’s ‘Interoperability Hub’
Polymer Labs, the inter-blockchain communication (IBC)-based networking layer two (L2), recently disclosed that it had raised million via a Series A funding round. Polymer said only Ethereum and all chains under the IBC control will initially be compatible with its interoperability solution.
‘Connecting Billions of Dollars in Value Across Rollups’
Polymer Labs, one of the first modular Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC)-based networking layer two (L2), recently announced that it had closed a million Series A funding round. The funding round was co-led by Blockchain Capital, Maven 11, and Distributed Global, with the participation of Coinbase Ventures, Placeholder, Digital Currency Group, North Island Ventures, and Figment Capital.
According to a statement, Polymer Labs will use the funds raised to further develop the L2, which serves as an Ethereum Interoperability Hub. The L2, which is yet to be launched, seeks to connect billions of dollars in value across rollups. Polymer said it is hopeful that this solution will not only bring scalability benefits but will also prove to be reliable and less susceptible to hacking attacks.
“Polymer’s mission is to establish the next generation of the internet by ensuring that the interoperability layer connecting all blockchains is neutral, open, modular, and permissionless across ecosystems,” Peter Kim, a Polymer co-founder said.
Meanwhile, Yuan Han Li, an investor with Blockchain Capital, has said that his organization now supports Polymer’s goal of bringing interoperability standards to Web3. However, the statement said only Ethereum and all chains under the IBC control will initially be compatible with Polymer’s solution.
Commenting on the partnership between his organization and Polymer, he said: “We are really excited that Polymer is bringing the generalized IBC primitive into the Ethereum rollup landscape by building a versatile transport hub, and thrilled that we at Eigenlayer have the pleasure of partnering with the passionate team at Polymer.”
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Ghana’s Securities Regulator Creates Taskforce to Build Capacity for Crypto Asset Oversight
The Ghanaian securities regulator has established a task force which is expected to help it boost its capacity to regulate crypto assets. Ghanaian residents have continued to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies and this has forced the regulator to think of ways to protect crypto users.
Gaining Crypto Asset Owners’ Confidence
According to Daniel Ogbamey-Tetteh, the Director General of the Ghanaian Securities and Exchange Commission, the commission has established a task force to help it build its capacity to oversee and regulate crypto assets. The establishment of the task force is in line with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)’s call on members to take steps to protect digital asset consumers.
Ogbamey-Tetteh made these remarks at an event marking the commission’s 25th anniversary. As per a report by BFT Online, the Ghanaian regulator has also been working on boosting capital and crypto asset owners’ confidence in the commission.
Interestingly, the SEC through its deputy director general, has previously advised Ghanaian residents to stay away from crypto assets because they are not regulated by the commission. However, despite this admonishment, Ghanaian residents have continued to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies, forcing the regulator to think of ways to protect crypto users.
SEC Implementing a Digitalization Program
To achieve this, the Director General revealed that the SEC is prioritizing developing human capital and the digitalization program. He said:
We are investing in developing the human capital of SEC as well as implementing a digitalization program. We have started implementing a Risk-Based Supervision framework as we seek to migrate from the compliance-based supervision mode.
Ogbamey-Tetteh added that his organization’s pursuit of regulatory technology (regtech) and supervisory technology (suptech) solutions is an attempt to strike a balance between supporting financial innovation and maintaining market integrity and stability.
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Cardano Founder Courts OpenAI’s Sam Altman – What Does He Want To Build?
OpenAI recently announced a shocking leadership change with Sam Altman being ousted as CEO. After five years of being at the helm of taking OpenAI from a to billion valuation, the AI company is now at a crossroads with Altman departing and former Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Mira Murati taking over as interim CEO.
Altman hasn’t provided specifics of his next actions; however, he has posted on social media that he “will have more to say about what’s next later.” In light of this, Charles Hoskinson, the creator of Cardano, sees a window of opportunity. Hoskinson gave the former CEO a bold proposal on social media platform X to join hands in establishing a decentralized language learning model in partnership with the Cardano blockchain.
Sam @sama since you have some free time now. If you are interested in doing a decentralized LLM, then hit me up. Would be a fun Cardano Partnerchain
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) November 18, 2023
Hoskinson Wants To Build A Decentralized Language Learning Model
Charles Hoskinson has a vision for AI that embraces decentralization and openness. As the founder of Cardano and a former co-founder of Ethereum, Hoskinson knows a thing or two about building decentralized networks. Hoskinson’s vision of a decentralized language learning model is ambitious, but promising.
On the other end, if there’s anyone who knows anything about language learning models, it is definitely Sam Altman. The former CEO is known for being one of the architects of the language models that power ChatGPT, which has gained widespread adoption since its launch in November 2022.
If Altman takes Hoskinson up on his offer, it could mark a turning point in how AI models like ChatGPT are built and how they serve users. A decentralized LLM would essentially be available to everyone and resistant to censorship, tampering, and monopolization by governments and large corporations, which is one of the concerns being raised regarding existing LLMs.
Aftermath Of Sam Altman’s Removal As CEO
Altmann’s removal as CEO sent ripples around the AI and crypto industries. Greg Brockman, president and one of the co-founders of OpenAI, also announced his departure from the company.
As one would expect, WorldCoin reacted negatively to the news. According to data from Coinmarketcap, Worldcoin (WLD) dropped by 12.75% in the hours following the news of the CEO’s removal. However, the crypto has since recovered and is now trading at .38.
According to OpenAI’s announcement, the decision to fire Altman was made by the board of directors, as they’ve lost confidence in his ability to continue his duties as CEO due to his lack of transparency in his communications. However, rumors are that OpenAI investors are looking to reinstate Altmann into his job as CEO.
Cardano ADA is trading at .375 at the time of writing. According to a crypto analyst, ADA could spike to the .78 mark if it is able to break out of the current falling wedge pattern.
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Near Foundation and Polygon Labs Partner to Build Zero-Knowledge ‘Prover’ for WASM Chains
Near Foundation and Polygon Labs recently announced that they would build “a zero-knowledge (ZK) prover for WASM blockchains.” For WASM chains using the zkWASM prover, settling transactions will be more efficient and cost-effective with maximum security guarantees.
Transaction Settling More Efficient and Cost-Effective
Near Foundation, the organization supporting the development of the NEAR ecosystem, has partnered with Polygon Labs to “build a zero-knowledge (ZK) prover for Webassembly (WASM) blockchains or zkWASM for short.” According to a joint press release, the two entities’ zkWASM prover, which is set to be launched in 2024, is positioned “to lead the market among other wasm provers.”
For WASM chains using this prover, the settling of transactions will be more efficient and cost-effective with maximum security guarantees. Commenting on Polygon Labs’ decision to partner with Near Foundation, co-founder Sandeep Nailwal said:
“We are proud to collaborate with NEAR on this exciting research initiative to further drive the development and adoption of ZK technology. The zkWASM prover maximizes developer customizability, which means projects will be able to select from a number of provers when building with CDK, whether that’s launching or migrating an EVM [Ethereum Virtual Machine] chain, or building a WASM chain for closer Ethereum alignment and access to liquidity.”
Bringing Zero-Knowledge Proofs to Web3
As explained in the press release, the availability of a zkWASM prover means NEAR validators will significantly simplify validator requirements which in turn leads to “better scalability and increased decentralization for the NEAR Protocol.”
Illia Polosukhin, a co-founder at NEAR Protocol, said her organization is thrilled to collaborate with Polygon Labs and is hopeful this will bring the advantages of zero-knowledge proofs to Web3.
Through the zkWASM prover, the NEAR Protocol is brought closer to Ethereum which in turn makes it possible for WASM networks to access liquidity. Eventually, chains will also have access to shared liquidity in a single ecosystem of Cloud Development Kit (CDK)-deployed chains through “an in-development interoperability layer.”
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Can PEPE Build On Its 60% Rise? Here’s What On-Chain Data Says
PEPE has observed an impressive 60% rally recently. Here’s what on-chain data says regarding whether this rise can continue.
PEPE Has Seen Some On-Chain Metrics Light Up Recently
In a new post on X, the market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock has discussed how PEPE is looking in terms of its on-chain indicators currently. The first metric of interest here is the profit/loss breakdown of the memecoin’s user base.
As displayed above, about 35% of the holders/addresses of the cryptocurrency are carrying their coins with some net unrealized profit right now. On the other hand, the loss investors amount to 51% of the network’s user base, meaning that the majority of the holders are in the red currently.
The remaining 14% of the addresses are breaking even at the current price levels of the asset. Generally, the investors carrying profits are more likely to sell their coins to harvest their gains, which means that if there are many holders in profit, significant selling pressure could arise in the market.
In the current scenario, however, more than 50% of the investors are still carrying their coins at a loss despite the recent 60% surge that PEPE has enjoyed. Thus, the potential selling pressure in the sector may not be too much yet. This could certainly be a positive sign for the rally’s sustainability.
Next, IntoTheBlock has pointed out how the address activity related to PEPE has observed a significant boost recently.
According to the analytics firm, the active addresses jumped 372% between October 19th and 25th, while the new addresses increased by 440% in the same period.
The “active addresses” metric keeps track of the daily number of addresses participating in some transaction activity on the blockchain. In contrast, the new addresses indicator measures the daily number of wallets coming online on the network for the first time.
The sharp growth in these indicators would imply that network activity has been high recently, both in terms of usage and adoption. Historically, rallies have thrived in such conditions, as a large number of active traders is what such moves require to be sustainable.
Lastly, IntoTheBlock has pointed out that while the PEPE whales haven’t shown concrete signs of accumulation yet, they have been potentially becoming active recently.
From the chart, it’s visible that the “large transactions volume” has observed some rise recently. The large transactions refer to transactions worth at least 0,000 in value, usually made by the whales and institutional entities.
While the uptick in the activity of these humongous investors hasn’t been that much, it’s still an optimistic sign that these investors have been showing at least some interest in PEPE during this rally.
PEPE Price
Since its sharp rise, PEPE has gone stale in the last few days as its price continues to trade around .0000011672.