The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, has approved PHPC, a stablecoin pegged to the Philippine peso, aimed at facilitating cost-effective remittances. Crypto exchange Coins.ph, the stablecoin issuer, plans to attract 20,000 to 30,000 users in the first month. The PHPC will be the first peso-backed stablecoin available for retail use, […]
Bitcoin News
Aligned Layer Secures $2.6M in Funding to Become a Faster and Cheaper Settlement Layer for Validity Proofs on Top of EigenLayer
PRESS RELEASE. April 15th, 2024 –– Aligned Layer has successfully raised .6 million in a funding round led by Lemniscap, a VC firm specializing in emerging crypto assets and early-stage blockchain startups. The round also won investment from Paper Ventures, Bankless Ventures and industry angels. The raise marks a significant milestone in Aligned Layer’s mission […]
Bitcoin News
Ripple Partners With Onafriq to Enable Faster Cross Border Payments to Africa
Ripple and the Africa-focused payment fintech startup Onafriq recently said they are collaborating to enable crypto-based cross-border payments between Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the U.K., and Australia. Using Ripple’s platform helps Onafriq achieve its goal of making borders “matter less when it comes to payment within, to, and from Africa.”
Accelerating Financial Inclusion
Ripple, a provider of crypto solutions for businesses, and the Africa-focused payment fintech firm Onafriq recently said they are collaborating to enable crypto-based cross-border payments between Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the U.K. and Australia. Their collaboration not only brings faster and more efficient international money transfers to Africa but it also accelerates financial inclusion across the continent.
According to a press release, this partnership arrangement makes it possible for Payangel customers in the UK, Pyypl clients in the GCC, and Zazi Transfer users in Australia to send remittances to recipients across 27 countries. Commenting on his firm’s partnership with Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa), Aaron Sears, the Global Customer Success at Ripple, said:
For a number of years, Ripple has supported crypto-enabled, cross-border payments to individuals and businesses, and we are particularly excited to expand the reach of our solution into Africa thanks to our Onfriq partnership.
Dare Okoudjou, the founder & CEO at Onafriq, said using Ripple’s platform helps his firm achieve its goal of making borders that separate countries “matter less when it comes to payment within, to, and from Africa.” He also characterized the partnership, which has already enabled new connections, as the “bold first step for our crypto strategy to leverage blockchain technologies to amplify our impact on people and businesses on the continent.”
As per the press release, Onafriq has one of the largest mobile money movement footprints across Africa and this is evidenced by the fintech startup’s connection to some 500 million mobile wallets across 40 African countries. In addition, it boasts over 1,300 payment corridors on the continent.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
UK Researchers Claim New Tech Supercharges Bitcoin Mining With 260% Faster Hash Detection, Slashes Energy Use
Quantum Blockchain Technologies (QBT), a research firm hailing from the U.K., purports to have spearheaded a revolutionary leap in bitcoin mining tech. They’ve unveiled certain methods that reportedly enhance the chances of pinpointing a winning hash. One such strategy, dubbed “Method B,” asserts it elevates the likelihood by a remarkable 260% compared to traditional mining searches, simultaneously slashing energy use by 4.3%.
QBT’s Innovation Claims to Find Hashes Faster
The crypto sphere is abuzz over a freshly uncovered research firm, Quantum Blockchain Technologies (QBT). For over two years, they’ve been diving deep into BTC mining and the intricacies of the SHA256 algorithm. QBT boasts a breakthrough: using machine learning to predict blockchain movements, allowing for advanced block computations. Their claimed cutting-edge research taps into quantum computing, cryptographic enhancements, deep learning, AI, and the design of FPGA and ASIC, among other innovative methods.
In a recent conversation with Thomas Warner, QBT’s chief Francesco Gardin shed light on this groundbreaking tech shortly after the U.K. patent filing. Gardin is confident that their insights surpass the prevailing wisdom in today’s mining sector, thanks to collaborations with North American experts. Their patent unveils a novel strategy named “MSFCA” or “ASIC Enhanced Boost,” enabling miners to commence work on upcoming blocks even before wrapping up the current one. QBT insists this forward-thinking approach conserves both time and computing power, particularly for application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
QBT believes this innovation tackles a significant hiccup in bitcoin (BTC) mining: the waiting period between blocks. While MSFCA doesn’t turbocharge the primary SHA256 computations, it greenlights some preemptive work, optimizing energy and resources. The trick? Minimizing the use of specific components (logic gates) on the ASIC chip. Gardin shared with Warner that QBT’s innovation might slash logical gates, potentially whittling circuits down by 8%. Researchers say while some extra gear is required for this anticipatory work, its footprint remains negligible.
Despite facing a few tech hurdles, such as memory chip constraints, QBT is bullish on MSFCA’s prospects. Their “Method B” rapidly runs myriad terahashes within the typical ten-minute block window, expertly steering the hunt to zones where winning hashes might lurk. By blending machine learning with mathematical techniques, this approach cherry-picks hashes from the most promising sectors, eliminating redundant calculations.
Lab tests by QBT indicate that Method B spots winning hashes a staggering 260% faster than conventional methods, cutting energy use by roughly 4.3%. This tech revelation coincides with Bitcoin’s hashrate soaring to record-breaking levels, nearing an impressive half zettahash. As of today, Friday, August 18, 2023, the total network hashrate stands at 358.58 exahash per second (EH/s). Mining manufacturing bigwigs like Bitmain, Microbt, and Canaan are in a race, crafting rigs equipped with ultra-efficient chips.
Microbt’s newest unit churns out 320 terahash per second (TH/s), rumored to harness Samsung’s 3-nm GAA semiconductor. Bitmain just unveiled a rig set to revolutionize energy efficiency, dipping below the 20 joules per terahash (J/T) mark. Meanwhile, Canaan is teasing a game-changing product set to debut in September, aligning with Bitmain’s latest launch.
What do you think about the technology QBT says it has created? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Rocket Pool to Integrate With Zksync Era, Offering Faster Speeds and Lower Transaction Costs
According to Rocket Pool, a liquid staking derivatives provider, users will have the ability to liquid stake their ETH using the Layer 2 (L2) Zksync Era network. The company clarified that Rocket Pool liquid stakers utilizing Zksync Era will enjoy faster speeds and lower transaction costs.
Liquid Staking Protocol Rocket Pool Joins Forces With Zksync Era
The liquid staking protocol Rocket Pool, ranked third in size, is set to integrate with Zksync, as announced on Twitter. Statistics reveal that Rocket Pool currently holds 733,575 ether, equivalent to .3 billion, within its liquid staking protocol. On Thursday, the team tweeted, “Rocket Pool is coming to Zksync Era. You’ll soon be able to liquid stake your ETH on Zksync Era by simply holding rETH in your wallet. Just like on mainnet and other L2’s, rETH will continue to accrue staking rewards automatically.”
Liquid staking has gained popularity in recent years, and this year has witnessed a significant surge in the number of ETH staked in these protocols. Nearly 10 million ETH are currently locked in the leading liquid staking protocols, with Rocket Pool capturing 7.72% of the market share. Zksync, an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) solution akin to Arbitrum and Optimism, introduced Zksync Era in March, just two months ago. Rocket Pool has outlined that stakers utilizing Zksync will enjoy faster confirmation times and reduced network fees.
“Liquid stakers will benefit from faster speeds [and] lower transaction costs, secured by Zksync Era’s zero-knowledge proofs,” Rocket Pool said. “Another step in our mission to reduce barriers to entry [and] ensure everyone can participate in Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system.” According to data, the present transaction cost on Zksync stands at .10 for sending ether and .24 per coin swap. In contrast, an onchain ETH transaction incurs a cost of .54, while a high-priority token swap onchain transaction costs .91.
Rocket Pool has experienced notable activity in the past two months, and seven-day statistics indicate a 4.87% increase in its total value locked (TVL). Over the previous 30 days, Rocket Pool’s TVL has risen by 25.68%. Despite holding the third-largest amount of ETH among liquid staking protocols, Rocket Pool falls behind Lido Finance, which commands an impressive 73.90% of the entire Ethereum-based liquid staking market share. Out of the current 9.49 million ETH held, Lido’s protocol accounts for 7.01 million ether.
What are your thoughts on the future of liquid staking and its potential impact on the Ethereum ecosystem? Share your views and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Fed Chair Warns of Higher Interest Rates Than Previously Anticipated, Faster Hikes
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has warned that “the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated.” In addition, if faster tightening is warranted, the Fed “would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes,” Powell said.
The Fed Anticipates Higher Rates, Faster Hikes
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell presented the Fed’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Tuesday and the House Committee on Financial Services on Wednesday.
“My colleagues and I are acutely aware that high inflation is causing significant hardship, and we are strongly committed to returning inflation to our 2% goal,” Powell said in his identical remarks to both the Senate and House committees. He detailed:
Over the past year, we have taken forceful actions to tighten the stance of monetary policy. We have covered a lot of ground, and the full effects of our tightening so far are yet to be felt. Even so, we have more work to do.
“The data from January on employment, consumer spending, manufacturing production, and inflation have partly reversed the softening trends that we had seen in the data just a month ago,” Powell continued.
Citing inflation well above the Fed’s 2% goal and an “extremely tight” labor market, he noted the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting raised interest rates by 4-1/2 percentage points over the past year. “From a broader perspective, inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of last year but remains well above the FOMC’s longer-run objective of 2%,” Powell described, emphasizing:
We continue to anticipate that ongoing increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2% over time.
While acknowledging that “inflation has been moderating in recent months,” the Federal Reserve chairman stressed that “the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go and is likely to be bumpy.”
Cautioning that restoring price stability will likely require the Fed to “maintain a restrictive stance of monetary policy for some time,” Powell concluded:
The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated. If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes.
What do you think about Fed Chair Powell’s statements? Let us know in the comments section below.
Trezor Takes Control of Chip Production for Enhanced Security and Faster Production Time
Trezor, the manufacturer of crypto hardware wallets, has announced that it will take control of its wallet chip production process by producing its own silicon chips. The company states that the newly designed “chip wrapper” will enhance device security and considerably shorten lead times for mass production.
Trezor ‘Unpacks Process’ and Produces Its Own Silicon Chip
On Feb. 27, 2023, the Prague-based cryptocurrency hardware wallet company Trezor announced that it is now responsible for its own silicon chip-making process. According to Trezor CFO Štěpán Uherik, the new “chip wrapper” enables the company to have more design freedom for future products. Last year, Trezor’s parent company Satoshi Labs revealed its support for a startup called Tropic Square to produce an open-source silicon chip called “TROPIC01” for use in crypto hardware wallets.
The new chip-making process enhances security significantly by eliminating third-party chipmakers and associated vulnerabilities. Trezor also noted that it will significantly reduce lead times by bypassing supply chain issues. In a press release sent to Bitcoin.com News, Uherik further explained that the company is collaborating with Stmicroelectronics, a manufacturer of microcontrollers and semiconductor technologies.
“By unpacking the process, identifying areas where we could take control, and collaborating with our partner [Stmicroelectronics] in new ways,” Uherik said in a statement, “we’ve managed to make the manufacturing as agile as it can be. This means we can respond quickly as the cryptocurrency market shows signs of recovery. It also adds more design freedom for future products, helping us to sustain our leadership in the increasingly competitive hardware wallet space,” the Trezor CFO added.
Hardware wallets have experienced substantial demand since the collapse of FTX, as crypto enthusiasts have transferred billions of dollars worth of crypto assets from centralized trading platforms. In addition, several companies have unveiled new hardware wallet models, such as the Ledger Stax, a device developed by Tony Fadell, the creator of the iPod. Furthermore, the decentralized exchange aggregation service 1inch Network has launched a hardware wallet, and Coinkite has introduced a new product called the Coldcard Q1.
The new chips developed by Trezor will be utilized in the Trezor Model T hardware wallet. Trezor first announced its Tropic Square project and its intention to take over chip production on May 11, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic caused supply chain disruptions, especially in the silicon chip sector. “The demand for hardware wallets and the supply chain disruptions in the silicon industry that we have experienced in recent years have been issues we needed to address,” Uherik stated in the announcement on Monday.
What are your thoughts on Trezor’s decision to produce its own silicon chips for its hardware wallets? Do you think this move will improve device security and lead times for mass production? Let us know in the comments section below.
Bitcoin Falls Back To $40,000 As Fed Mulls Faster Rate Bumps
Cryptocurrency markets were sluggish Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that interest rate hikes should be made “more quickly.”
Powell also indicated that a rate hike of 0.5 percentage point was “on the table” for next month.
James Bullard, President of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, said Tuesday that he expects interest rates to reach as high as 3.5 percent by the end of the year.
Bitcoin fell to ,586 on Friday, down from a daily high of ,965 at noon, while the whole cryptocurrency market retreated to .88 trillion.
Tuesday morning, Bitcoin’s price fell below the ,000 mark before regaining a few hours later. Bitcoin hovered just above ,000 on Thursday.
Make Or Break For Bitcoin
The ,000 barrier has emerged as a make-or-break point for Bitcoin, market observers say, as its performance from there could set the tone for whether the market reaches another bullish or bearish phase.
With inflation surging, stocks collapsing, and investors clueless on how rapidly the central bank will hike interest rates, many would argue that now is the optimal time to invest in Bitcoin.
Suggested Reading | Metaverse Tokens On Overdrive, Outpace Bitcoin And Ethereum
Nonetheless, the world’s most valuable digital asset has shed almost 20% of its value thus far this year, dipping as low as ,000 on January 25 before recovering. Bitcoin reached an all-time high of roughly ,000 on November 8, last year, just over three months ago.
BTC total market cap at 5.76 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com
Bitcoin’s trading history has been turbulent and volatile from its inception. Cryptocurrency as an asset class continues to evolve in lockstep with the forces that impact its prices.
Cryptocurrencies have continued to track the tech industry’s recent decline, as the Nasdaq fell 2% Friday, the most since middle of March.
Rate Hike To Contain Inflation
Interest rates are being raised in order to counteract rising inflation, which reached 8.5 percent last month. High-growth investments, on the other hand, such as technology, are appraised using a discounted cash flow concept.
Investors have been grappling with rising inflation, geopolitical issues, and concerns about the central bank tightening monetary policy.
The Fed’s March meeting minutes released last week revealed its intention to cut its balance sheet by billion each month to contain inflation.
Meanwhile, in another development, Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla is hodling Bitcoin.
On the company’s balance sheet, digital assets total .261 billion. Since the first three months of last year, the Austin, Texas-based EV giant has neither purchased nor sold any crypto assets.
Suggested Reading | Crypto Quick Look: BTC Touches ,000, ETH Notches 10-Day Peak
Featured image from Investors King, chart from TradingView.com
NewsBTC
Stablecoin Supply Near $200 Billion, Faster Growth Than Rest of Crypto
Stablecoin supply shows significant growth during the year. The market cap of the top stablecoins is roughly 1 billion, over 11% of the total crypto market, which is now at ,6 trillion after shedding over 0 billion in the past two days over geopolitical concerns. Consequently, data shows that stablecoins are growing at a much faster pace than the crypto market this year.
Crypto total market cap at ,6 trillion in the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com
Faster Than The Crypto Market
Having significantly accelerated their pace since 2020, data from Arcane research shows that stablecoins like USDT, USDC, BUSD, UST, and DAI are growing faster than the crypto market.
Tether (USTD) still takes the lead of all stablecoins with a 44% market share and a billion market cap at the time of writing. USD Coin (USDC) follows reporting a market share of 29% and a capitalization of over billion. Binance USD (BUSD) takes third place with a 20% share and billion market cap. The following chart shows the total circulating supply near 0 billion.
The circulating supply of top stablecoins growing exponentially fast since 2021 | Source: The Arcane Research Weekly Update – Week 7
However, the stablecoin USDT has not reported a very active growth since the summer of 2021, growing merely 1% in 2022. On the other hand, USDC has been growing extremely fast since last year, reporting a 20% growth in 2022 alone.
By the end of 2021, Arcane Research had projected the fast growth of USDC to outshine USDT and eventually take its crown. Given the previous numbers, they are now projecting for USDC to become the largest stablecoin by market cap at the end of June.
Moreover, the algorithmic stablecoin Terra UST (UST) has seen a 19% growth over the year and DAI 9%.
Furthermore, while the crypto market’s Fear and Greed Index has sunk to the extreme fear area again, trader Byzantine General had noted that “Historically when tether dominance reaches 4.5% to 5% it marks a bottom on $BTC. Seems like sentiment reaches peak fear around that level.”
Byzantine General explained that “It’s considered bearish when USDT dominance goes up because it means people want to get out of coins and flee to something more stable.”
The chart shows Tether’s dominance at 4.5 on February 21 | By trader Byzantine General on TradingView
He further pointed out that “Some people think a high tether price and dominance is bearish. Some think the market cap increasing (because of new prints) is bullish .”
Related Reading | Stablecoins Total Market Cap Breaches 9 Billion Mark – Can It Go Higher?
Are Authorities Ready For A Giant Stablecoin?
Meanwhile, The Biden administration, the Federal Reserve System, and the Financial Stability Board have taken an unsurprisingly skeptical stance on stablecoins. They were right in the spotlight of the report Assessment of Risks to Financial Stability from Crypto-assets published on February 16.
In this report, the authorities claimed that “Crypto-assets markets are fast evolving and could reach a point where they represent a threat to global financial stability due to their scale, structural vulnerabilities and increasing interconnectedness with the traditional financial system.”
“The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (CPMI-IOSCO) are coordinating with the FSB to determine regulatory approaches for GSCs, including those intended for use in mainstream payments.”
However, some experts believe that if stablecoins continue the fast pace of growth, they might become too big to fail thus proving concerns by the FED and FSB wrong.
Related Reading | Fed Chair Jerome Powell Argues Private Stablecoins Can Co-exist with US CBDC
Faster Transactions, Lower Fees: New Cross-Chain Solution
The crypto industry is experiencing a massive upswing. With assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum hitting new all-time highs, and other cryptos following in their wake, it seems like a matter of time before mass adoption is imminent.
However, the industry needs some technological improvements before it can be broadly accepted by the rest of the world. Namely, it needs cross-chain capabilities.
The Cross-Chain Problem
With so many crypto projects launching on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, Solana, and other decentralized networks, users will want to experiment and interact across the different chains. However, cross-chain activity in the current industry is quite cumbersome, expensive, and technologically challenging.
As of now, swapping an asset from one chain to another is costly, time-consuming, and a bit of an overwhelming process for those new to crypto. If the crypto industry plans to support the mass adoption it so very much needs, it must solve interoperability. Fortunately, current blockchain projects are working on just that: a solution to the blockchain industry’s rampant interoperability problems.
One such project is FibSwap, a multi-chain decentralized exchange (DEX) providing lower fees and faster transaction speeds to users swapping between networks.
FibSwap’s Multi-Chain Solution
By utilizing a unique technology called the Interoperable Multichain Bridge System (IMBS), FibSwap builds bridges across blockchain networks for near-instant swapping. Considering that FibSwap technology is built with cross-chain interoperability in mind, swapping becomes as easy as pressing a button.
All token swaps are managed via the project’s native $FIBO governance token. By holding $FIBO, traders will know precisely how much their swaps will cost, preventing hidden fees and saving them money in the long run. As $FIBO is used to swap between chains, swaps will reduce the overall amount of $FIBO over time, potentially increasing the asset’s value in the long term if demand remains constant or rises.
Current blockchain bridges exist, but they’re not optimized for an ideal user experience. Network swaps can take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, and users regularly spend hundreds of dollars on trading fees if they’re frequently swapping.
By building on a multi-chain basis from inception, no project is better suited than FibSwap to facilitate such swaps. While bridges between Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum exist right now, they’re nowhere near ready to facilitate trading on a mass scale.
The Future of FibSwap
To prep itself for crypto’s impending mass adoption, FibSwap plans to integrate $FIBO tokens on various blockchain networks before listing them on decentralized exchanges like PancakeSwap. From there, FibSwap hopes to provide users with additional services, such as FibSwap Farming and FibSwap Staking methods.
Of course, these developments are up to the community. $FIBO is a governance token, after all. Users holding the $FIBO token have a say in upcoming network developments, such as which features are implemented and when. The more $FIBO one holds, the more weight their word holds within the community.
Conclusion
With hundreds of billions of dollars invested into the DeFi ecosystem and trillions in the crypto market overall, it makes no sense to leave these funds isolated from blockchain to blockchain. Understanding how interoperability is vital to the future success of crypto, FibSwap hopes to lead the charge into multi-chain project development. In doing so, FibSwap will build a healthier crypto ecosystem for all traders, both new and experienced.