Author: José Oramas

José is a journalist and translator with a keen interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

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Crypto News Ethereum

Ethereum ‘Difficulty Bomb’ Delayed as ETH Tumbles Briefly Below $1,100

The Ethereum difficulty bomb – a crucial step toward Ethereum’s long-awaited Merge – has been delayed, according to core developer Tim Beiko:

The news comes days after Ethereum developers successfully merged the Ropsten testnet with the new proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain.

The Ethereum difficulty bomb is a special code in the Ethereum blockchain and is an essential part of its major upgrade, the Merge, which will turn the network into a PoS ecosystem.

The difficulty bomb is designed to intentionally increase block difficulty (the amount of time it takes to produce a new block) exponentially over time. After a certain period, it becomes nearly impossible for validators to mine a new block, thus discouraging miners from remaining in the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus.

This Won’t Delay the Merge – Hopefully

Ben Edgington, another Ethereum core developer, also tweeted about the bomb difficulty delay, saying: “It won’t delay the Merge. I sincerely hope not.”

Despite the current bloodbath in the crypto market (ETH dropped briefly below US$1,100 on June 13), Ethereum has managed to sustain its user base throughout the past couple of months. According to data from Etherscan, daily transactions have stayed above 1 million and the number of unique addresses is still growing every month.

Number of daily transactions. Source: Etherescan

Ethereum’s hashrate has increased in the past six months, reaching an all-time high in February. As per data from Etherscan, the current rate sits at 1.04 PH/s:

Ethereum hash rate. Source: Etherscan
Categories
Crypto News DeFi Ethereum Optimism

‘Optimism’ Hacker Returns 17 Million Tokens Worth $11 Million

Last week, Optimism – a rollup solution for the Ethereum network – lost US$15 million worth of Optimism (OP) tokens after launch partner Wintermute transferred the tokens to the wrong wallet address. On Monday, the attacker returned 17 million OP tokens, worth roughly US$11 million.

Hacker Returns Majority of Funds, Keeps 2M as Bounty

As per a tweet from Optimism, the address returned the majority of funds but kept 2 million tokens as bounty:

Optimism is designed to alleviate congestion on the Ethereum network and provide users with faster and cheaper ERC-20 transactions.

Wintermute is Optimism’s partner and market maker, providing liquidity services. Problems began when Wintermute accidentally sent the wrong address to Optimism’s team. “We made a serious error,” it has since conceded.

Hacker Sends 1M OP Tokens to Ethereum Co-Founder

According to on-chain data, the attacker cashed 1 million OP tokens and then sent 1 million tokens to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The attacker left an on-chain message for Buterin, stating:

Hello, Vitalik, I believe in you, just want to know your opinion on this. BTW, help to verify the return address and I will return the remaining [tokens]. And hello Wintermute, sorry, I only have 18M and this is what I can return. Stay Optimistic!

Etherscan data

The reasons for sending Buterin 1 million OP remain unclear. Crypto Twitter, Wintermute and Optimism are speculating on the possible motives. In a blog post, Wintermute said it might have been the work of a white-hat hacker:

We are open to see this as a white hat exploit. Moreover, the way the attack has been performed has been rather impressive and we can even consider consulting opportunities or other forms of cooperation in future. We are also content with the scenario where the remaining 19 million tokens are returned to Optimism wallet.

Wintermute blog post
Categories
Australia Crypto News ETFs

3iQ Launches Australian Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs

Digital asset investment fund manager 3iQ has announced the launch of a Bitcoin and Ethereum feeder exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Australia, allowing investors to gain exposure to both cryptocurrencies.

Both ETFs launched on the Cboe Australia exchange on June 6. Investors will be able to buy units of both ETFs directly with Australian dollars at the lowest fees available in the country. The total management expense ratio is 1.20 percent.

The ETFs feed from the firm’s Canadian-based underlying ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX): the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF and iQ CoinShares Ether ETF.

We are delighted to launch the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin Feeder ETF and the 3iQ CoinShares Ether Feeder ETF on the Cboe today. Our ETFs give retail and institutional investors regulated access to the digital asset market, providing a safer alternative to a direct investment in cryptocurrencies.

Fred Pye, chairman and CEO, 3iQ

Australia Officially Has 3 BTC ETFs

While the US Securities and Exchange Commission is rejecting crypto ETF applications left and right, Australia officially has three Bitcoin ETFs:

The news comes after Crypto News Australia reported a month ago that the first Australian BTC and ETH ETFs, also listed on Cboe Australia, had gone live.

However, the launch of the ETFs didn’t go as expected as on their first day of trade, none of the funds was able to reach A$1 million in trading volume.

Categories
Crime Crypto News DeFi Hackers

97% of Crypto Hacks Were Against DeFi Projects, Chainalysis

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has published a new report about criminal activities in the cryptocurrency space, stating that 97 percent of crypto hacks have targeted DeFi projects since the beginning of 2020.

North Korean Hacking Groups Largely Responsible

According to the report, DeFi protocols accounted for 97 percent of the US$1.68 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen. Most of the stolen funds, approximately US$840 million, have gone to hacking groups associated with the North Korean government, the report says.

On March 30, Axie Infinity lost over US$600 million in the biggest DeFi hack on record. The US government linked the heist to a notorious North Korean-based hacking group called Lazarus.

Source: Chainalysis

Another recent incident occurred on May 3 when a hacker stole US$80 million from DeFi platform Rari Capital.

DeFi-Based Money Laundering on the Rise

DeFi protocols have also seen an uptick of illicit funds coming into their networks. According to the report, 69 percent of all funds in DeFi were sent from addresses linked to criminal activity.

DeFi protocols allow users to trade one type of cryptocurrency for another, which can make it more complicated to track the movement of funds – but unlike centralised services, many DeFi protocols provide this ability without taking KYC information from users, making them more attractive to criminals.

Chainalysis report

Another key finding of the report was the incidence of NFT wash trading. This practice consist of artificially inflating the price of an asset by buying and selling the same instrument at the same time.

Chainalysis put up as an example two wallets that generated over 650,000 WETH in transaction volume by selling the same three NFTs back and forth to one another. The wash trade was done in the same marketplace, as it rewards transactions on its marketplace.

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Coinbase Crypto News Gemini

Coinbase to Downscale, Announces Hiring Freeze and Rescinds Accepted Offers

US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently announced it would extend its hiring freeze “for the foreseeable future” as a response to current market conditions. Additionally, the company intends to rescind accepted offers from candidates who had taken employment positions but had yet to start in their roles.

Coinbase Responds to Crypto Market Conditions

As per a blog post written by chief people officer L.J. Brock, Coinbase is looking at implementing cost-cutting measures as a response to “current market conditions and ongoing business prioritisation efforts”.

Moreover, Brock said the exchange would have to rescind “a number of outstanding offers for people who have not started yet”.

This is not a decision we make lightly, but is necessary to ensure we are only growing in the highest-priority areas.

L.J. Brock, chief people officer, Coinbase

In February, Coinbase announced it was on a hiring spree for 6,000 new employees. Less than a month ago, Brock published a tweet saying the firm was actively hiring, though shortly after it was announced that Coinbase had halted the process.

It seems the company is now taking a more severe turn. Naturally, the decision has impacted a vast number of candidates who had been accepted for roles within the company – some of them had pinned their hopes on a position to stay in the US legally:

On May 26, Crypto News Australia reported that Coinbase had entered Fortune 500, a list ranking the 500 top US companies by revenue. However, the firm’s Q1 financial results for 2022 weren’t so encouraging as it suffered a US$430 million loss:

Exchanges Feeling Pain of a Bearish Market

It seems exchanges are feeling the pain of a bearish crypto market, and Coinbase has been one of the most affected firms. As Crypto News Australia reported last month, a lot of retail investors are leaving the crypto market.

Coinbase isn’t the only cryptocurrency exchange that seems compelled to downscale its headcount. A few days ago, Winklevoss-led Gemini announced it would part ways with 10 percent of its workforce due to market conditions.

Categories
Crypto News Ethereum

Ethereum’s Oldest PoW Testnet Ready for Merge ‘Dress Rehearsal’

Ethereum’s oldest testnet, Ropsten, is ready to run through The Merge, a major upgrade that will turn Ethereum into a proof-of-stake (PoS) network.

As per a recent blog post from Ethereum.org, Ropsten will have its own Merge, which will give developers the first insights into how the real Merge will look on the Ethereum mainnet.

The Ropsten testnet launched its beacon chain on May 31, according to a tweet from Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko:

Progress Slow But Steady

The Ropsten testnet will use valueless ETH to run transactions, smart contracts and applications during its time on the PoS ecosystem. This will allow developers to have a broader notion of the possible results and assess potential problems for Ethereum’s mainnet:

However, Beiko said that developers and nodes will need to wait for two things: for Ropsten’s beacon chain to activate the Bellatrix upgrade, and that the Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) is chosen to trigger the transition.

If you run a node, are a validator, or an infra/tooling provider, this is the time to familiarise yourself with the transition and (better late than never!) what a post-merge node is like.

Tim Beiko, core developer, Ethereum

Ethereum’s Merge Getting Closer

Ethereum’s transition from PoW (Proof-of-Work) to PoS has been slow but steady, and developers are now getting closer to making the dream a reality. A month ago, developers created a shadow fork to test the effects of the transition under Ethereum’s current mainnet conditions.

While many in the ETH community consider this a step closer to reaching a PoS ecosystem, a lot of people remain demotivated due to the constant delays in Ethereum’s transition, which was supposed to have been ready years ago.

Categories
Ethereum Gas

Ethereum Gas Fees Sink Below $3, Its Lowest Level in 10 Months

Ethereum gas fees are really low in the past few weeks, singing below US$3 per transaction, according to recent data by market intelligence firm Santiment.

ETH Gas Fees Reach July 2021 Levels

Gas fees on the Ethereum have been at their lowest levels since July 2021, when fees would cost around $3 to $5 per transaction for a few days. As such, gas fees have been declining since mid-February of 2022.

Santiment said that low gas fees correlate to lower network activity. A median-size transaction can reach a high of just $4 in gas fees. This is a notable drop considering five months ago we were used to seeing three or four-digit transactions costing 20, 50, and even 100 USD in gas fees.

Source: Santiment

Santiment also tapped into DAI, an Ethereum-backed and second-largest stablecoin in the crypto by market, saying that DAI’s currently velocity supports the notion of market participants having “little interest to do anything.”

Gas fees for NFT sales on OpenSea are also significantly lower —the cost of an OpenSea sale could reach a maximum of $10.63, and $10.20 on the lower end. Gas fees on Ethereum-linked protocols such as Uniswap are also on the same level.

Layer-2 Solutions Battling For Lower Transaction Fees

Before reaching these levels, Ethereum layer-2 solutions were already offering cheap gas prices. Over a month ago, Arbitrum, Ethereum’s largest rollup solution introduced Nitro, a major update that seeks to reduce gas fees by half on the Arbitrum network.

Meanwhile, StarkNet, another rollup solution announced lower gas fees through the use of Zero-Knowledge rollups, making transaction costs 100x lower than Layer-1s

Categories
Crypto News Polygon Tether

Tether’s USDT Launches on Polygon To Support 19,000 DApps

Tether recently announced that USDT has been integrated into Polygon, one of the largest Ethereum sidechains. This means that more than 19,000 decentralised applications (DApps) on the Polygon ecosystem will be able to use USDT.

According to a May 27 announcement by Tether, the addition of USDT to the Polygon ecosystem is a “milestone moment” for the company, as it will allow investors to use the stablecoin for transfers and generate yield.

We’re excited to launch USD₮ on Polygon, offering its community access to the most liquid, stable, and trusted stablecoin in the digital token space. The Polygon ecosystem has witnessed historical growth this year and we believe Tether will be essential in helping it continue to thrive.

Paolo Ardoino, CTO, Tether

The news comes shortly after Terra relaunched its blockchain and ditched its old UST token, which this month experienced one of the worst meltdowns in crypto history, raising concerns about the legitimacy of stablecoins worldwide.

Tether Also Launches Mexico Stablecoin MXNT

In other news, Tether has also pivoted into the Latin American market after launching a Mexican peso-pegged stablecoin, which will be initially available on Ethereum, Tron and Polygon.

The new stablecoin, dubbed MXNT, becomes the fourth stablecoin rolled out by Tether. Besides USDT, they are the Euro-pegged EURT and the Chinese Yuan-pegged CNHT.

So far, Tether has maintained its status as the leading stablecoin in the market. However, the company has not always been keen to open its reserves books. Tether periodically releases assurance opinions instead of full audits to disclose its reserves to the public, something that has raised suspicions within the crypto community.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions

Ray Dalio Warns of 1930s-Style Currency Devaluation

Billionaire hedge fund manager and crypto advocate Ray Dalio, who claimed to own some Bitcoin, has warned about a 1930s-style currency devaluation phase in relation to goods and services, and that Bitcoin remains a valuable instrument against this scenario.

‘Cash is Trash’

During an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Dalio talked about his current stance on Bitcoin, stating that he still holds a small amount of BTC on his portfolio.

Dalio went on to say that fiat currency is trash, explaining what he meant by this is that major currencies such as the euro or the yen will eventually “go down in relationship to goods and services”:

Dalio added that Bitcoin, given current economic conditions, remains a useful tool for investors looking to protect themselves against fiat hyperinflation.

Bitcoin has made a tremendous achievement over the last 11 years … I think the Bitcoin people get too preoccupied with it … the gold bugs get too preoccupied with it, and … you have to look at the broader set of assets that serve that purpose.

Ray Dalio, hedge fund manager and crypto advocate

However, Dalio wasn’t always a Bitcoin advocate. He changed his mind back in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic started bruising global economies, and he now considers BTC a store of value.

The New ‘Digital Gold’

Given the economic scenario that has been developing in the past few years in the US, more American hedge fund billionaires and institutional investors have turned their eyes to cryptocurrencies as the new “digital gold”.

While Dalio holds a “small amount” of BTC, another hedge fund manager, Bill Miller, isn’t quite as diversified. Crypto News Australia reported in January that Miller had gone big on his BTC investment, with half of his portfolio now tied up in the flagship cryptocurrency.

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Coinbase Crypto News

Coinbase Enters Fortune 500 List of Top US Companies

Coinbase has become the first crypto company to enter Fortune 500, a list ranking the 500 top US companies by revenue.

The San Francisco-based exchange ranked 437th on the list thanks to a record of US$7.8 billion in revenue for the 2021 fiscal year, which represents 514 percent annual growth:

Coinbase ‘Thrived’ Despite Covid

Fortune’s editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell noted that Coinbase and Moderna were among the few companies that “thrived under the freakish circumstances of Covid”.

However, Coinbase’s Q1 financial results for 2022 weren’t so encouraging. According to a shareholder letter, the exchange suffered a US$430 million loss.

In April last year, Coinbase registered as a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq offering the COIN stock, which has since plummeted more than 80 percent from its all-time high of US$368.90 in November 2021:

CEO Remains Upbeat

CEO Brian Armstrong is nonetheless optimistic, believing that bearish market periods provide the company with opportunities to focus on product development:

These periods of low volatility can provide the opportunity to focus more intently on product development (as opposed to peak periods, when we are more focused on meeting high demand). We approach the opportunities ahead with confidence and [a] steady hand.

Brian Armstrong, CEO, Coinbase

A month ago, Coinbase launched its own NFT marketplace that features social tools to help connect users and creators in what it describes as a sort of “Web3 social marketplace”.