Paxos has secured full approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer digital payment token services, positioning Singapore as a key player in Paxos’s global stablecoin operations. The approval permits the issuance of stablecoins compliant with MAS’s forthcoming regulatory framework. DBS Bank Named Main Banking Partner as Paxos Secures MAS Approval Paxos, a […]
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EigenLayer Makes A Big Splash With EIGEN Token Launch And Major Airdrop Plan, Get The Full Scoop!
EigenLayer, a decentralized restaking protocol built on Ethereum (ETH), has made significant announcements, paving the way for new developments within the crypto ecosystem.
The protocol unveiled its native token, EIGEN, which the newly formed Eigen Foundation will distribute. Alongside this, EigenLayer introduced a major plan for an airdrop and released a comprehensive new Whitepaper.
EigenLayer Unveils EIGEN With Novel Mechanism
According to the protocol’s announcement, the introduction of the EIGEN token brings forth a complementary mechanism designed to address “intersubjective” faults, which cannot be resolved through ETH restaking alone.
By expanding ETH restaking, EigenLayer positions ETH as the Universal Objective Work Token, while the universality of EIGEN makes it the Universal Intersubjective Work Token. EIGEN’s universality is reportedly aimed at allowing it to fork and slash for intersubjective errors committed by EIGEN stakers in any AVS (Automated Verification System) within the protocol.
To ensure widespread adoption of EIGEN across applications, EigenLayer has designed an application-independent mechanism to maintain the system’s cryptoeconomic security.
In EigenLayer, EIGEN staking and ETH restaking play complementary roles. EIGEN addresses safety properties through objective slashing, and ETH restaking ensures liveness and censorship-resistance properties dependent on stake decentralization.
The launch of EIGEN also introduces intersubjective staking, marking a significant milestone for the protocol and the Ethereum ecosystem. However, due to its newly introduced design, the concept requires widespread adoption and discussion among ecosystem participants.
At launch, the Eigen token will have a total supply of 1.67 billion tokens, with the Foundation allocating 45% of the tokens to the community. This allocation is further divided into staked drops, community initiatives, and ecosystem development.
Investors will reportedly receive almost 30% of the tokens, while early contributors will receive over 25%. Both these groups are subject to a three-year lockup period for their allocations.
A complete lock will be in place during the first year, followed by a gradual release of their total holdings at a rate of 4% per month over the subsequent two years.
EIGEN Token Launches Meta-Setup Phase
While the initial implementation of intersubjective staking at launch mirrors only a limited extent of the full protocol, several parameters still need to be determined for its full actuation.
To address this, EIGEN is being launched in a meta-setup phase, serving as a call to action for researchers, experts, and the broader community to engage in public discourse.
As EigenLayer announced, this collaborative effort aims to help define the necessary parameters to make the protocol and its interaction with the rest of the Ethereum ecosystem as effective as possible.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin Whales Enter Full Accumulation Mode: Here’s How Much BTC They Pulled From Exchanges
The Bitcoin price movement last week revealed a series of ups and downs, from starting the week at a new all-time high of ,780 to crashing 12% in the days after to reach below ,000. Crypto data analysts have spotted massive amounts of Bitcoin being withdrawn from major exchanges during the period of uncertainty, indicating that large investors anticipate further price appreciation.
According to a social media post by crypto analyst Ali Martinez, the total BTC balance on crypto exchanges fell by over 21,400 in the past week, with the creation of 13 new whales, each holding over 1,000 BTC.
BTC Withdrawal From Exchanges
Bitcoin crossed over ,700 last week to register a new all-time high but has struggled to gain a footing above the price level. Interestingly, it would seem the new all-time high sparked a wave of profit-taking from some investors. However, on-chain and exchange data indicate Bitcoin is still undergoing a bullish sentiment from some investors, particularly large investors.
Crypto analyst Ali Martinez noted this bull accumulation pattern in a post on his social media platform X. According to a Glassnode chart shared by the analyst, the total amount of BTC on exchanges has been on a free-fall since the middle of January. Notably, the total BTC balance saw a brief increase in the first few days of March before resuming a free-fall on March 5. In the past week alone, 21,401 BTC were moved off crypto exchanges.
As the #Bitcoin bull run momentarily pauses, it’s noteworthy that 21,401 #BTC have been moved off crypto exchanges over the past week, and the network has welcomed 13 new whales, each holding over 1,000 $BTC. pic.twitter.com/oSXaKBR4Z1
— Ali (@ali_charts) March 16, 2024
Similarly, the crypto analytics platform IntoTheBlock noted this outflow pattern during the week. According to ITB, BTC withdrawal from crypto exchanges reached its highest point this year on March 15. Interestingly, 0 million worth of Bitcoin was withdrawn on this day, the highest since May 2023.
Over 0m $BTC was withdrawn from exchanges yesterday, the highest since May 2023. The majority of these withdrawals originate from Bitfinex (4m) and Kraken (0m) pic.twitter.com/8d3eIJROhv
— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) March 15, 2024
What Does This Mean For Bitcoin?
The Bitcoin ecosystem has witnessed serious money on the move since the beginning of the year, leading to a strong price surge for the cryptocurrency. However, this rally has since slowed down to spark a price correction, with market sentiment reaching the most negative sentiment toward BTC since December 2023. Bitcoin is currently trading at ,201, down by 3.44% in the past seven days.
After such a strong surge in price, it’s normal for the momentum to slow down as the market consolidates and decides on the next move. While momentum has slowed, the overall trend for Bitcoin remains bullish.
Judging by the massive amounts of Bitcoin pulled from exchanges recently, it looks like whales are gearing up for a continued rally. Bitcoin is now showing signs of a rally, and is now up by 5% in the past 24 hours.
LBank Labs Invests in QED: Unleashing Bitcoin’s Full Potential with Zero-Knowledge Proofs
PRESS RELEASE. LBank Labs has achieved a new milestone by participating in the million funding round for QED. This innovative venture is poised to revolutionize the Bitcoin ecosystem with its groundbreaking zk-Native blockchain protocol. The funding round, spearheaded by Arrington Capital, saw contributions from renowned venture capital firms such as Starkware, Draper Dragon, Blockchain […]
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Coin-for-Coin Payback — Gemini Announces Full Recovery of Crypto Assets for Earn Users After Genesis Settlement
Gemini has reached a settlement with Genesis and other creditors within the Genesis bankruptcy proceedings, promising a full in-kind return of digital assets to Earn program users. This resolution, pending bankruptcy court approval, signifies a major victory for users, with over .8 billion in assets set to be returned. Potential Full Crypto Asset Recovery for […]
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Expert Calls for Full Cryptocurrency Regulation in Nigeria to Mitigate Digital Asset-Related Financial Crimes
Nigeria must fully regulate crypto activities if it wants to curb financial crimes associated with digital assets, a forensic expert has said. The co-founder of A&D Forensics also called on Nigeria to enact laws that would mandate banks to vet service providers before granting them account access. Curbing Crypto-Related Financial Crimes According to a blockchain […]
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From Outage To Recovery: Solana Breaches $100 Barrier With Network Restart In Full Swing
Solana, the ambitious blockchain ecosystem, showcased its resilience in the face of adversity, experiencing a significant network outage that temporarily impacted its cryptocurrency value. The recent dip in SOL’s price, dropping to .36 during the outage, highlighted a challenging moment for the blockchain platform. However, the subsequent rapid recovery, with SOL currently trading at 1.80, reflects the network’s ability to bounce back, marking a notable 6.6% increase in the past 24 hours.
Solana: Price Stagnation, Surge, Outage Recovery
Amidst weeks of relative price stagnation, where SOL fluctuated between and , Solana’s recent surge contrasts sharply. This period of minimal price change mirrored a cautious sentiment prevailing in the cryptocurrency market, contributing to a 10% correction in Solana’s value, painting a tentatively bearish picture.
The network faced a four-hour and 46-minute outage, causing considerable disruption. Despite the setback, Solana’s developers swiftly addressed the issue by implementing a new software patch from Solana Labs. The recovery process involved mainnet validators restarting their nodes with the updated software, emphasizing the platform’s commitment to stability.
Block production on Solana mainnet beta resumed at 14:57 UTC, following a successful upgrade to v1.17.20 and a restart of the cluster by validator operators. Engineers will continue to monitor performance as network operations are restored.
The outage began at approximately…
— Solana Status (@SolanaStatus) February 6, 2024
Though the Solana Foundation has not issued a formal statement regarding the outage’s cause, a tweet by VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets Research, Matthew Sigel, suggested a potential bug identified and patched on Solana’s testnet might be responsible. This tweet gained traction as Solana’s co-founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, and other notable developers reshared it, underlining its significance.
Solana outage, what happened?
BPF loader, the “Berkley Packet Filter,” which is the mechanism to deploy upgrade and execute programs on Solana, failed. This seems to relate to a previous SMID (Solana Improvement Proposal) that altered some of the features including the adding a…— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) February 6, 2024
This incident isn’t the first time Solana faced prolonged network issues; approximately a year ago, a 19-hour blackout occurred after a network upgrade. The Solana Foundation attributed the problem to the extensive use of “custom block-forwarding software” by various applications.
Despite occasional outages, Solana has experienced a surge in activity. Token trading volume on its decentralized exchanges recently surpassed that of Ethereum, signaling growing interest and adoption. The recent network outage may have impacted investor sentiment, but the dynamic nature of the cryptocurrency market means that situations can evolve rapidly.
Solana: Price Projections, Stability Concerns Persist
Based on the latest price predictions, Solana’s price is expected to fluctuate between and 9 in February 2024. The price is predicted to rise to 0 in 2025 and reach an all-time high of 5 in 2027. Market analysts and experts predict that Solana is expected to cross a price level of 7 in 2029. However, it is important to note that these predictions are subject to change and may not be entirely accurate.
Investors and enthusiasts are closely watching Solana’s trajectory as it strives to establish itself as a mainstay in blockchain ecosystems. The forthcoming root cause report from the Solana Foundation is eagerly anticipated, offering insights into the outage and potentially addressing concerns about the network’s stability.
As Solana navigates through these challenges, its ability to recover and sustain an upward trajectory will be closely monitored, playing a pivotal role in shaping its future amid the competitive cryptocurrency landscape.
Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin CDD Shows Bullish Breakout, Rally Returning In Full Flow?
On-chain data shows a bullish breakout brewing in the Binary CDD indicator for Bitcoin, a sign that a strong price rise could be ahead for the asset.
Bitcoin Binary CDD Is Breaking Out Of Accumulation Zone
As pointed out by an analyst in a CryptoQuant Quicktake post, the Binary Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) appears to be forming a pattern for the cryptocurrency that has usually been the starting point of a bullish trend.
A “coin day” refers to a quantity that 1 BTC accumulates after staying dormant on the blockchain for “1” day. When a token that had been dormant for some number of days finally moves on the network, its coin days counter naturally resets back to zero.
The coin days that this token was carrying are thus said to be “destroyed.” The CDD keeps track of the total number of such coin days being reset through transactions across the network.
The Binary CDD, the actual metric of interest here, compares the current CDD against its historical average to tell us whether the CDD is higher or lower than the norm right now. As its name suggests, it can only assume one of two values: 0 or 1.
Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Binary CDD over the last few years:
From the graph, it’s visible that the Bitcoin Binary CDD didn’t register a value of 1 too frequently between the end of the 2021 bull run and the final parts of 2023. Since around November of last year, though, the density of instances where Binary CDD observed 1 has grown stronger.
When the Binary CDD is 1, it means that the CDD is greater than its historical average currently. This implies that old coins are observing more movement than usual right now.
The “long-term holders” (LTHs) are investors who carry large amounts of coin days at any given point, as they tend to keep their BTC dormant for long periods (the cutoff for a holder to be included in the cohort is 155 days).
As such, spikes in the CDD tend to signal that these HODLers are on the move. “In an upward cycle, the movement of long-term holders increases as the price rises (orange boxes), and in a downward cycle, it decreases (blue boxes),” notes the quant. “This pattern has been repeating since the previous cycles.”
Since the LTHs have started to move now, it’s possible the market is now in the same phase as during the previous bullish periods, highlighted with the orange boxes by the analyst.
A similar pattern is also visible in the 182-day moving average (MA) of the Binary CDD, as the chart below shows.
As is apparent from the graph, the 182-day MA of the Bitcoin binary CDD is beginning to break out of the accumulation zone, which is something that has historically led to sustained price surges for the cryptocurrency.
“It’s still worth monitoring, but finally, it has broken out of this range,” says the quant. “If it strongly surpasses this range, there is a high possibility that a full-fledged upward price cycle is beginning.”
BTC Price
After its dip towards the ,200 mark over the weekend, Bitcoin appears to have kicked off the week with a return back above ,000.
Supreme Court Ruling Bolsters Australian FTX Creditors’ Prospects for Full Recovery
The prospects of Australian creditors of the crypto exchange FTX getting all their money back recently received a boost after a judge ruled that only those who initiated Australian dollar withdrawal requests are entitled to a share of the million recovered. Australian investors with crypto-to-crypto withdrawal requests will have to wait for the completion of bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S.
Australian Dollar Withdrawal Requests
A recent ruling by the Victorian Supreme Court in January has increased the likelihood of Australian creditors of the crypto exchange FTX getting all their money back, a report has said. In his ruling, Judge Patricia Matthews clarified that only those who initiated Australian dollar withdrawal requests — about 747 investors — qualify for full reimbursement.
According to a report in the Australian Financial Review, the million collected by the advisory and investment firm Korda Mentha is sufficient to pay back all the 747 investors. The suggestion that Australian investors are set to be made whole follows reports that FTX has prioritized repaying creditors over reviving the platform.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court judge ruled however that Australian investors with crypto-to-crypto withdrawal requests will have to wait for the completion of bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. FTX lawyer Andrew Dietderich said he is optimistic that all creditors will be made whole.
“There is still a great amount of work, and risk, between us and that result. But we believe the objective is within reach, and we have a strategy to achieve it,” Dietderich reportedly told a U.S. judge.
In another development, the FTX creditor committee lawyer, Kris Hansen, reportedly emphasized that all reimbursements will be calculated based on prices prevailing at the time of the bankruptcy filing. This stance means that the remarkable surge in the value of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) — which has soared by more than 600% since November 2022 — will not directly translate into higher payouts for creditors.
While this decision has frustrated some creditors, a U.S. judge has ruled that FTX’s reimbursement proposal adheres to legal standards and is above board.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Ledger Commits To Full Restitution For Victims Of $600,000 ConnectKit Attack
Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has responded to a recent security breach resulting in the theft of 0,000 worth of user assets.
The company has pledged to enhance its security protocols by eliminating Blind Signing, a process where transactions are displayed in code rather than plain language, by June 2024.
Ledger Takes Responsibility For ConnectKit Attack
In a statement, Ledger emphasized its focus on addressing the recent security incident and preventing similar occurrences in the future.
The company acknowledged the approximately 0,000 in assets that were impacted by the ConnectKit attack, particularly affecting users blind signing on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) decentralized applications (dApps).
Furthermore, Ledger pledged to make sure affected victims are fully compensated, including non-Ledger customers, with CEO & Chairman Pascal Gauthier personally overseeing the restitution process.
According to the statement, Ledger has already initiated contact with affected users and is actively working with them to resolve their specific cases.
In addition, by June 2024, blind signing will no longer be supported on Ledger devices, contributing to a “new standard of user protection” and advocating for “Clear Signing,” which refers to a process that allows users to verify transactions on their Ledger devices before signing them across dApps.
On this matter, Ledger’s CEO Pascal Gauthier stated:
My personal commitment: Ledger will dedicate as much internal and external resources as possible to help the affected individuals recover their assets.
Heightened dApp Security Measures
According to an incident report released by the hardware wallet manufacturer, the attack exploited the Ledger Connect Kit, injecting malicious code into dApps utilizing the kit.
This malicious code redirected assets to the attacker’s wallets, tricking EVM dApp users into “unknowingly signing transactions” that drained their wallets.
Ledger addressed the attack by deploying a genuine fix for the Connect Kit within 40 minutes of detection. The compromised code remained accessible for a limited time due to the nature of content delivery networks (CDNs) and caching mechanisms.
Ledger acknowledged the risks faced by the entire industry in safeguarding users and emphasized the need to continually raise the bar for security in dApps.
The company plans to strengthen its access controls, conduct audits of internal and external tools, reinforce code signing, and improve infrastructure monitoring and alerting systems.
Additionally, Ledger will educate users on the importance of Clear Signing and the potential risks associated with blind signing transactions without a secure display.
Notably, with Clear Signing, users are presented with a clear and readable representation of the transaction details, enabling them to review and validate the transaction before providing their signature.
This added layer of transparency and verification helps users mitigate the risks associated with front-end attacks or malicious code injected into decentralized applications
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com