According to Mai Fujimoto, a Japanese crypto influencer and co-founder of Intmax, the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4844 – also known as proto-danksharding – have emerged as a solid solution for addressing the Ethereum network’s scalability challenges. The EIP 4844 is also significant for scaling solutions such as zero-knowledge rollups (zkrollups) and Layer 2 chains […]
Bitcoin News
Complaints From Crypto Users Can Be ‘a Goldmine for Improvement’ Says Tom Blok
The number of user complaints received by crypto and blockchain entities has been on a decline since August, the latest Complains.Biz data has shown. The data shows that in just 28 days, Complains.Biz’s sentiment meter detected a 29% decline in the number of complaints. According to company founder Tom Blok, platforms that deliberately ignore user complaints are often shady platforms or outright scams.
Shady Crypto Businesses Do Not Prioritize Customer Complaints
According to Complains.Biz’s Dec. 15 data, user complaints and queries related to crypto have declined by 29% in just 28 days. The data indicates that complaints against decentralized finance, crypto, and blockchain platforms in 2023 have generally trended downwards since their August peak.
Explaining why the complaints sentiment meter has turned positive, Tom Blok, the founder of the crypto-related complaints tracking site Complains.Biz, suggested that this could be tied to crypto firms’ changed attitudes towards user complaints. Leading in this race to minimize user complaints are the so-called legit companies, Blok added.
Still, in his written answers sent to Bitcoin.com News, the Complains.Biz founder concedes that not all crypto or blockchain firms prioritize addressing user complaints. According to Blok, platforms that deliberately ignore user complaints are often shady platforms or outright scams.
User Complaints ‘a Goldmine for Improvement’
Besides functioning as an alert system, user complaints often help crypto firms debunk myths and build trust, Blok argued. In addition, when used correctly, the data gleaned from complaints can be an important treasure trove.
“Data derived from customer complaints can be a goldmine for improvement, something we’ve seen firsthand on our complaint platform. In the crypto world, systematically addressing and learning from user complaints can not only counter false narratives but also guide the industry towards better practices and innovations,” Blok explained.
The founder also argued that learning from customers’ or users’ feedback is even more critical in the fast-paced world of crypto, where perceptions are ever-changing.
Meanwhile, when asked about what crypto firms, particularly centralized and decentralized exchanges, should do to protect themselves from scammers, Blok said the key is monitoring and responding to alerts raised by users. Since users are often the first to notice or detect suspicious activity, listening or relying on their feedback often turns out to be “a formidable line of defense” against scammers.
Concerning pig butchering scams, which are identified as one of the most sophisticated scams that trended in 2023, Blok said the key to avoiding prey is trusting one’s gut.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” the Complains.Biz founder added.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Cardano To Increase Block Size By 10%, Can ADA Benefit From This Network Improvement?
Via an official post, Cardano developer Input Output Global (IOG) confirmed the approval and implementation of a proposal to increase the network’s block size. Currently standing at 80 kilobytes (KB), the mainnet will see a 10% increase to 88 KB.
Related Reading | Cardano (ADA) Is One Of The Worst Performing Crypto In Terms Of Profit
Set to roll out today April 25 at 20:20 UTC, at the boundary of epoch 335, as confirmed by the company. IOG called this proposal a “significant network enhancement” set to increase Cardano’s throughput and the performance of its decentralized applications (dApp).
As the company reiterated, Cardano has been experiencing a series of network upgrades that will allow it to improve its scaling capabilities in 2022. As the block size increase, IOG added, they will keep a close eye on it for future changes:
Once deployed, we shall monitor network performance and behaviour closely over at least one epoch (5 days) to determine the next increment. Cardano has seen phenomenal growth in recent months, with performance improvements to match.
Furthermore, the company claims that Cardano has been experiencing a “huge recent rise in transaction volume”. In that sense, with the addition of more improvements, they expect this trend to continue.
IOG is focused on optimizing Cardano as it prepares for its next Hard Fork Combinator (HFC) event set for around June this year. IOG added:
Cardano is one of the most decentralized blockchains in the world, built for correctness and security. As the ecosystem grows, we’re focused on delivering the scaling phase of our roadmap; improving speed and network capacity while maintaining security and decentralization.
As NewsBTC reported, the network seems to be experiencing an increase in institutional demand, per data from IntoTheBlock.
On-chain transaction volume for ADA appears to be in an uptrend since the start of February. This data seems to match with IOG’s statements about Cardano’s growth.
@Cardano is experiencing increasing institutional demand
The volume of on-chain transactions >0k has increased by 50x just in 2022
Yesterday, a total of 69.09b $ADA were moved in these large transactions, representing 99% of the total on-chain volumehttps://t.co/8ME8STvRSF pic.twitter.com/aqH7hYIPiV
— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) March 29, 2022
What’s Wrong With Cardano (ADA)?
Data from Token Terminal paints a different picture. As seen below, ADA’s trading volume saw a massive increase in late 2021 as the cryptocurrency began a persistent downside price action.
ADA’s price trends to the downside with its trading volume. Source: Token Terminal
This suggests investors started taking profit on ADA at that time. Since that period, the cryptocurrency saw an uptick in trading volume during January which led to further losses for ADA.
Only the increase in trading volume for March and April has led to profits for this cryptocurrency. Remains to be seen if the network improvements, as IOG claims, will be effective at bringing more users into the Cardano ecosystem which could result in sustainable price recovery.
Related Reading | New Wallets Surge On Cardano, What’s Behind This?
CEO at IOG Charles Hoskinson addressed ADA’s recent price action. In response to a holder’s concerns about the cryptocurrency’s recent downtrend, and what are the possible factor behind it, Hoskinson said:
Nothing. Markets move up and down. Cardano is stronger and more useful as an ecosystem than it’s ever been.
At the time of writing, ADA’s price trades at .8 with a 2% loss on the 4-hour chart.
ADA’s price is on a downtrend on the 4-hour chart. Source: ADAUSDT Tradingview
NewsBTC
Coincheck Q3 Finance Report Shows Twofold Improvement Since Trading Resumed
n Coincheck halved its losses in Q3 of fiscal year 2019, as compared with the preceding quarter Monex reportn
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Ripple Exec: Crypto Technology Needs Improvement Before Adoption
This year’s bear market has seen most of the top cryptocurrencies hemorrhage over 80% as they plummet from those lofty heights made almost a year ago. Some have fared better than others and Ripple’s XRP token has been one of them. Crypto technology, however, is still in need of vast improvement, at least according to the chief technology officer at the fintech firm.
Technology Before Adoption
Ripple has been one of the most pro-active blockchain companies during the downturn as it continues to sign up banking and finance partners to RippleNet and offer services based on XRP. The token itself may well be down 90% from its peak at over .50 but it has managed to usurp Ethereum and is now the second largest cryptocurrency on the planet.
Many have asserted that greater adoption will be the catalyst to reverse the trend and send crypto markets on the road to recovery. Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, however believes that the technology needs improving before that can happen.
The 2017 bull run saw crypto prices surge thousands of percent in a short space of time which led to their store of value being far greater than their potential for use. This catalyzed the inevitable selloff as adoption of a new method of money movement never actually happened.
According to Forbes some fear that the current problems cryptocurrencies face such as centralized exchanges, security and hacking concerns, and lack of regulation could put people off using them for their intended purpose.
“I don’t want the adoption to get ahead of the technology. It took a long time for the internet to get to the point where it was suitable for anybody to use it and you didn’t have to really understand the technology in great detail in order to be able to get it to work,” Schwartz said on a recent podcast.
Difficulties using cryptos such as setting up wallets and navigating often clunky exchanges may be holding back that adoption that the industry so badly needs. On the flip side, crypto offerings from the institutional heavyweights such as Bakkt and Fidelity could be the on-ramp for greater adoption.
True global adoption will only really take off when the volatility is tempered. Using a digital token to buy a coffee where the price can change by several percent by the time it is poured is not practical by any means.
Image from Shutterstock
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ING Bank Launches Open Source Privacy Improvement Add-On for Blockchains
n Dutch banking giant ING targets enterprise blockchain anonymity with open source privacy tooln
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Major US Crypto Exchange Gemini to Expand to UK, Improvement For Europe
For many years, the crypto exchange market of Europe has lagged behind the US, Japan, and South Korea in terms of infrastructure, regulation, security, and liquidity.
According to FT, two sources close to Gemini have stated that the major US-based crypto exchange has hired advisers to consult the company in the process of expanding into the European market.
Gemini said:
“Gemini continues to explore potential jurisdictions around the globe to provide a best-in-class digital asset exchange and custodian which will enable growth and infrastructure to the entire digital asset community. Although we have no immediate plans, we … will always evaluate opportunities that allow the global economy to buy, sell, and store digital assets in a regulated, secure and compliant manner.”
Positive For Europe
Since 2014, Gemini has built a reputation as a trusted crypto exchange in the US that is fully compliant with state and federal regulations. The exchange has always prioritized compliance, working with regulators to establish better regulations to govern the global cryptocurrency exchange market.
In May of this year, with the approval of the New York Department of Financial Services, Gemini integrated Zcash, extensively cooperating with local regulators to understand the anonymity of the cryptocurrency and its use case in the broader financial market.
The integration of Zcash by Gemini was monumental because of the reputation of the exchange as the most heavily regulated digital asset exchange in the global market. The listing of Zcash demonstrated the possibility of working with regulators in integrating anonymous cryptocurrencies, which previously were considered as money laundering tools for criminals.
“As a New York trust company, Gemini is, arguably, the most regulated digital asset exchange and custodian in the world. It is subject to rigorous regulatory oversight by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), is held to the highest level of fiduciary obligations and banking compliance standards, and must adhere to all anti-money laundering (AML) laws, know your customer (KYC) requirements, and consumer protections set forth by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the New York Banking Law, and the NYDFS,” Zcash Chief Executive Officer Zooko Wilcox wrote.
The reported expansion of Gemini into the UK market is beneficial for the cryptocurrency market of Europe because of the well-regulated and robust infrastructure of the exchange. Currently, apart from Coinbase, there exists no alternative cryptocurrency exchanges that handle crypto-to-pound (fiat) trades in the UK.
Competition: Gemini, Coinbase, Bithumb
Coinbase recently entered the UK market earlier this month, after obtaining an e-money license from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. Gemini will also have to file for an e-money license with the FCA in the weeks to come.
Given the company’s strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) systems implemented in one of the strictest markets in the world, Gemini is expected to not face hardships in the process of securing a license from the FCA.
Bithumb, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly preparing to launch Bithumb UK by the end of 2018. By next year, Gemini, Coinbase, and Bithumb will likely compete in the UK sector to gain dominance over the local exchange market.
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Tether (USDT) Hires Bank of Montreal Executive, Improvement in Transparency and Compliance
The primary provider of fiat backed digital tokens, Tether, has brought on a Leonardo Real, the former AML quality control manager at the Bank of Montreal, as Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). The hire was reportedly made “in order to create the gold standard for regulatory compliance” in the cryptocurrency sector. Real joins Tether as the company continues to face questions over its accounting practices.
Leonardo Real Joins Tether as CCO
Real is a seasoned professional in the traditional financial industry. His background includes not only his position at the Bank of Montreal but also Bridgeforce Financial, one of Canada’s leading Managing General Agents (MGA). He is an experienced stocks and futures trader and co-wrote the 2016 ACAMS Today Article of the Year, which focused on money laundering risks associated with cryptocurrencies.
In August of 2016 he organized a blockchain, cryptocurrency, and AML event held in Toronto, Canada. The event brought together regulators, bankers, law enforcement professionals, and companies in the space to discuss the future of responsible cryptocurrency management.
Jean-Louis van der Velde, Chief Executive Officer of Tether released a statement about the companies most recent high profile higher, saying, “We are all very excited to introduce Leonardo as Chief Compliance Officer at Tether, as he joins us on what has already been a remarkable journey to date disrupting the legacy financial system. His depth of experience managing AML risk in capital markets, as well as the wealth management and commercial banking sectors, combined with his proven expertise in quality control management and strategy formulation will make him an invaluable asset to our company. All of us at Tether have every confidence in his ability to oversee and manage all relevant compliance issues as we continue to move forward and grow,”
Tether launched in 2014 as the first blockchain enabled platform to pair digital tokens at a 1:1 ratio with fiat currencies. The company contends that it reserves currency to match every contract it generates. A total list of balances issued for all Tether contracts is meant to be available to any interested parties at any time.
Real’s Hire May Put to Bed Questions of Manipulation
Questions about Tether’s reported 2.54 billion worth of backing funds have plagued the company which engaged Freeh, Sporkin & Sullivan LLP (FSS) earlier this year to review bank account documentation and to perform randomized inspections on it’s USD currency reserves. A move which did not quash allegations, as a paper from the University of Texas titled “Is Bitcoin Really Un-Tethered?” in June, and more recently a report by Bloomberg have both accused the company of price manipulation and fraudulent transactions, as reported by Sludgefeed.
Tether has denied all such claims, and by adding an industry expert on regulatory compliance to its officer ranks sending a strong message to both regulators and investors that they are operating with full disclosure.
Featured Image From Shutterstock
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