A new Instagram feature that lets people post NFTs minted on the Flow blockchain saw the value of the FLOW token surge over 50 percent within 24 hours.
FLOW rose from less than US$2 on August 4 to US$2.98 the following day after social media giant Meta announced its support for digital collectibles minted on the blockchain.
So far, the rally has been sustained, with FLOW’s price sitting at US$2.89 at the time of writing – however, it’s still down over 93 percent from its all-time high of US$42.40 in April 2021.
Expanded NFT Integrations on Instagram
Meta began testing a feature to let Instagram users in the US upload NFTs at no cost in May, with support for crypto art minted on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains. Meta said that being able to showcase NFTs would help creators build a broader audience and more monetisation opportunities.
The company’s latest announcement opens up the feature to users in 100 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas, as well as adding support for the Flow blockchain.
Digital wallets that can be connected to Instagram now include Coinbase, Dapper, Rainbow, MetaMask and Trust Wallet. Once a user has connected their wallet, they can share NFTs on their Instagram profile and public information will also be drawn in and displayed – such as a description of the NFT and the Instagram usernames of the creator and collector (unless accounts are private).
An investigation by CoinDesk has revealed that by collectively misrepresenting themselves, Ian and Dylan Macalinao created the identities of 11 independent developers who appeared to be working on a variety of projects. In so doing they created the illusion of an active developers’ community on the Saber protocol, thereby artificially stimulating investment demand for it and the entire Solana ecosystem.
Ian Macalinao, coding as 11 independent developers, created a vast web of interlocking DeFi protocols that projected billions of double-counted value onto the Saber ecosystem. That, in turn, temporarily inflated the TVL on Solana, which became a problem as DeFi regards TVL as a barometer for on-chain activity.
‘Army of Anons’ Lent Credibility to the Project
By posing as collective developers, Ian Macalinao was able to artificially inflate Solana’s TVL by up to US$7.5 billion of Solana’s US$10.5 billion TVL. As the TVL of a DeFi platform rises, its liquidity, popularity and usability also increase, making it an important metric for investors.
Macalinao admitted to creating the false TVL in an unpublished blog, writing: “If an ecosystem is all built by a few people, it does not look as authentic. I wanted to make it look like a lot of people were building on our protocol, rather than ship 20+ disjoint[ed] programs as one person.”
Dylan Macalinao added in another blog post:
There’s only one way to build a strong moat in crypto: have so many other protocols/apps/layers depend on your protocol that its failure would lead to the entire system going down.
In response to the investigation by CoinDesk and the implications of inflated TVL, crypto data website DefiLlama has changed the way it presents TVL. By switching off its default display of protocols’ double-counted crypto-assets, it has lowered some blockchains’ TVL by billions of dollars. As a result, users must manually activate the double-counted value.
Melbourne’s Monash University has been named one of 10 global winners of the Algorand Centres of Excellence (ACE) Program. The prize is a shared US$50 million funding boost to drive eco-friendly blockchain technology, education and innovation.
@MonashUni together with partners from Australia and the Pacific region has secured a huge grant from #Algorand and is one of the ten global winners of Algorand Centres of Excellence (ACE) program! Lots of great opportunities coming up! Congrats to all!https://t.co/M2JkgqSXgw
Monash’s Blockchain Technology Centre will partner with the Singapore-based Algorand Foundation to jointly develop two applications: a blockchain-as-a-service app for academic credentialing, as well as a prototype for blockchain as a pharmaceutical supply chain provider.
Joseph Liu, associate professor and director of the Monash Blockchain Technology Centre, has expanded on the future functions of these apps. The academic credentialing app aims to develop and explore a blockchain-enabled trusted credential issuance and verification system, while the second project will navigate the possibilities of leveraging blockchain technology to provide a robust, transparent, and accountable pharmaceutical supply chain.
Though associated primarily with cryptocurrency, blockchain technologies can actually be used in diverse sectors such as strengthening renewable energy optimisation, providing a fair platform for carbon trading, creating robust supply chains for food and agriculture, securing financial technologies, and ensuring cultural sustainability for heritage art and music.
Joseph Liu, associate professor and director, Monash Blockchain Technology Centre
The Algorand Foundation seeks to develop a global blockchain ecosystem, and its Grant and Development Award funding mechanisms have supported other education and research projects in academia. Monash is only one branch of Algorand’s endeavours; not only will it connect Australia with Pacific communities through consultation and training workshops, competitions and community meetups, it will also provide support, opportunities and resources to ensure long-term community sustainability beyond the lifetime of the ACE Program.
Algorand and Blockchain Emissions
This isn’t Algorand’s first notable partnership. In May 2022, $ALGO, the company’s native currency, spiked after the announcement of an International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) sponsorship and technical partnership deal. As FIFA’s official blockchain platform, Algorand will provide a blockchain-supported wallet, develop FIFA’s NFTs, and help implement further blockchain tech. On the day following the announcement, $ALGO jumped from US$0.58 to $0.73, a 25 percent gain.
Last month saw the National Australia Bank (NAB) announce its participation in a new project alongside several overseas banks to use blockchain technology to offset carbon emissions. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the UK’s bank and insurance company NatWest, and Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco will join NAB to launch Project Carbon – a voluntary pilot that will enter the carbon marketplace.
Rumours circulated some six months ago that BlackRock, one of the world’s most influential fund managers, was moving to offer its institutional clients access to crypto trading. Now, it’s become official:
BlackRock is partnering with Coinbase to increase the institutional adoption of bitcoin.
It is not often that you live through the birth and scaling of a new multi-trillion dollar asset class.
The news broke on August 4 when Coinbase announced it had partnered with the US$10 trillion financial heavyweight to offer crypto trading to its institutional clients, starting with bitcoin.
Following the alliance, BlackRock’s proprietary wealth management platform, Aladdin, will integrate directly with Coinbase Prime, such that clients will have access to trading, custody, prime brokerage and reporting capabilities. Aladdin is the gold standard of institutional fund manager platforms, suggesting that the partnership is likely to have far-reaching consequences:
In the true spirit of Bitcoin, it’s worth noting that BlackRock’s move to offer bitcoin arose from the bottom-up, rather than top-down:
Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets and are focused on how to efficiently manage the operational lifecycle of these assets. This connectivity with Aladdin will allow clients to manage their bitcoin exposures directly in their existing portfolio management and trading workflows for a whole portfolio view of risk across asset classes.
Joseph Chalom, global head of strategic ecosystem partnerships, BlackRock
This represents a dramatic change of tone from years gone by, a fact that didn’t escape Bitcoin Twitter:
Blackrock changes its tune. Source: Bitcoin Archive
Coinbase Soars on the News
Shortly after the partnership announcement, Coinbase stock, which recently suffered a 20 percent drop amid an unregistered securities probe, rose by close to 40 percent.
Unsurprisingly, the company has not been spared from this year’s bear market of “historic proportions“, impacting both digital assets and related firms alike. For the year to date, Coinbase stock remains down over 63 percent, even after this most recent rally:
Coinbase stock YTD. Source: Google Finance
While bitcoin’s price remains supressed against a challenging macro backdrop, it’s telling that financial giants such as BlackRock continue with plans to move forward, proving that this asset class is here to stay.
Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.
1. Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum ETH is a decentralised open-source blockchain system that features its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH works as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, as well as for the execution of decentralised smart contracts. Ethereum’s own purported goal is to become a global platform for decentralised applications, allowing users from all over the world to write and run software that is resistant to censorship, downtime and fraud.
ETH Price Analysis
At the time of writing, ETH is ranked the 2nd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$1,775.14. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
ETH is retracing its April to June decline. So far, it’s retraced approximately 25% of the drop in anticipation of September’s Merge.
A broad area of inefficient trading on the monthly chart, from $1,972.58 to $2,709.26, is likely to provide resistance. The upper half of this zone, beginning near $2,145.29, may provide stronger resistance. Here, inefficient trading on the weekly chart, old swing lows and the 50% retracement of H2 2022’s drop converge.
Closer to the current price, $1,784.79 to $1,859.84 may provide the next speedbump for bulls. This level is near the low of previous inefficient trading on the weekly chart in March 2021. It’s also just above more recent inefficient trading on the weekly and a recent daily swing high.
A pocket of inefficient trading on the daily chart, from $1,685.26 to $1,662.79, may provide the closest support. Here, the 9 EMA and the midpoint of late July and early August’s bearish move converge. If the price continues to rally, the level may move higher midweek.
If this possible support fails, the next support might be near the 40 EMA, from $1,570.48 to $1,493.11. Old swing lows, previous inefficient trading on the weekly chart, and inefficient trading on the daily chart add confluence to this level.
A steeper drop may be aiming for stops under the daily swing low near $1,356.17. From $1,336.07 to $1,197.79, bulls may find support inside accumulation preceding inefficient trading on the weekly chart.
If the price drops below this level, it may be aiming for stops under June’s low. If so, bears may be targeting an area from $881.56 to $758.74. This zone marks the low end of inefficient trading on the monthly and weekly charts.
2. Monero (XMR)
Monero XMR allows transactions to take place privately and with anonymity. Even though it’s commonly thought that BTC can conceal a person’s identity, it’s often easy to trace payments back to their original source because blockchains are transparent. On the other hand, XMR is designed to obscure senders and recipients alike through the use of advanced cryptography. The team behind Monero says privacy and security are its biggest priorities, with ease of use and efficiency coming second. It aims to provide protection to all users, irrespective of how technologically competent they are.
XMR Price Analysis
At the time of writing, XMR is ranked the 29th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$166.39. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
XMR is rallying to fill in pockets of inefficient trading left during its June decline. The closest resistance is at $167.80. This area of inefficient trading on the weekly and daily charts is near the 61.8% retracement of June’s move. It rejected the price on August 7, but the price is rechallenging it.
If it breaks, the next pocket of inefficient trading from $178.60 to $182.10 may be the next target. This zone is also near the high of inefficient trading on the weekly and the 78.6% retracement of June’s move.
In the longer term, bulls could be targeting bears’ stops above the significant weekly swing high near $204.50. This zone also shows inefficient trading on the monthly chart. If this resistance breaks, the next bullish target may be another area of inefficient trading on the weekly chart from $233.50 to $229.80.
The closest support could be near the current price, from $166.40 to $162.03. This area is at the end of July’s accumulation high.
If this level breaks, a drop under the August monthly open may find more buyers near $152.30. This area shows accumulation, would run bulls’ stops under recent swing lows, and fill in a tiny pocket of inefficient trading. It also has confluence with the high of previous inefficient trading on the weekly chart.
A steeper drop may reach inefficient trading on the weekly chart, from $135.70 to $133.80. This zone is also near the bottom of previous inefficient trading from June and lines up with old swing lows from Q1 2022.
3. World Mobile Token (WMT)
The World Mobile Token WMT is a digital token issued with the purpose of allowing participants to provide a service on the network and be rewarded accordingly for it. The primary role of WMT is to incentivise token holders who want to support the operation of the network by way of delegating their WMT stake to a node operator (stakers), as well as node operators who operate their own node. WMT is the utility token at the heart of World Mobile Chain, a solution developed in partnership between Input Output Global and World Mobile to democratise access to digital, financial and social services in Africa, the first of its kind to go the extra mile and connect the unconnected.
WMT Price Analysis
At the time of writing, WMT is ranked the 385th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.2242. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
WMT has been consolidating since its 81% drop from March until mid-May. Currently, it is challenging resistance near a zone of inefficient trading on the daily chart from $0.2448 to $0.2389. This zone is near the July monthly open.
The price may be reaching for swing highs near $0.2724. Above these highs, several pockets of inefficient trading on the daily chart could continue drawing the price upward between roughly $0.2724 and $0.3186. Bulls may remain cautious about entering longer trades until they reclaim the high of this zone.
On a reclaim of this zone, bulls may aim for the swing high near $0.3548. This level, up to $0.3956, shows inefficient trading on the monthly and weekly charts that the price may want to fill.
The 9, 18 and 40 EMAs converge near $0.2238. This area may also show inefficient trading on the daily chart after Monday’s close and could provide the closest support for a rally.
Slightly lower, an area from $0.2106 to $0.2060 may also provide support. It’s near the current swing’s initial accumulation on the daily chart and the high of accumulation on the weekly chart.
If this level breaks, it could signal a more significant drop. No historical price action exists under July 13’s low, which may be the first target. Beyond this low, recent price swings’ 50% extensions align near $0.1250 and may provide the next downside targets.
These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.
Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.
1. Quant (QNT)
Quant QNT launched with the goal of connecting blockchains and networks on a global scale, without reducing the efficiency and interoperability of the network. It is the first project to solve the interoperability problem through the creation of the first blockchain operating system. The main aim of Quant – using Overledger – is to bridge the gap that exists between different blockchains. The backbone of the project is the Overledger network, which Quant bills as the ecosystem on which the future digital economy ecosystem will be built.
QNT Price Analysis
At the time of writing, QNT is ranked the 43rd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$127.72. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
Q3 marked a turning point for QNT, with the price gaining almost 65% from its lows to probable resistance beginning near $140.30.
The price is currently struggling with the area between $128.80 and $110.33. This region could provide support after a close above, or resistance after a close below.
A retracement could reach into the daily gap and possible support around $105.41. A more bearish shift in the marketplace will likely aim for the relatively equal lows near $97.65, and the potential support just below that begins around $90.34.
Continuation to the upside will likely target the monthly high near $136.19. However, probable resistance beginning at $150.77 and $162.30 could cap or slow down this move.
2. Decentraland (MANA)
Decentraland MANA defines itself as a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to create, experience, and monetise content and applications. In this virtual world, users purchase plots of land that they can later navigate, build on and monetise. Decentraland uses two tokens: MANA and LAND. MANA is an ERC-20 token that must be burned to acquire non-fungible ERC-721 LAND tokens. MANA tokens can also be used to pay for a range of avatars, wearables, names and more on the Decentraland marketplace.
MANA Price Analysis
At the time of writing, MANA is ranked the 36th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$1.07. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
MANA dropped 80% from Q1 to Q2 and made a low near $0.7800. It has consolidated above this low since June.
The price may find support between $0.9508 and $0.9037. This level saw accumulation on July 17, contains the 9 and 18 EMAs, and borders the July monthly open.
A deeper retracement could reach near $0.8790. A drop to this level would rebalance more inefficient trading on the daily chart. It could also run bulls’ stops below today’s opening price and July 16’s swing low.
The price is testing the closest resistance, at $1.18. Bears entered shorts here before last week’s drop. It’s also near the 40 EMA.
If this resistance breaks, $1.25 to $1.32 may provide the next resistance. This area is between the 61.8% and 78.6% retracement of the last month’s downtrend. Bulls also rejected bulls here in late June on the weekly chart.
A more significant rally might reach an area of inefficient trading on the monthly chart from $1.36 to $1.40. This move would sweep most bears’ trailed stops above relative equal highs up to this level. Yet, bulls aiming for this level may want to be cautious since the overall trend is still bearish.
3. PancakeSwap (CAKE)
PancakeSwap CAKE is an automated market maker (AMM) – a decentralised finance (DeFi) application that allows users to exchange tokens, providing liquidity via farming and earning fees in return. PancakeSwap uses an automated market maker model where users trade against a liquidity pool. These pools are filled by users who deposit their funds into the pool and receive liquidity provider (LP) tokens in return. PancakeSwap allows users to trade BEP20 tokens, provide liquidity to the exchange and earn fees, stake LP tokens to earn CAKE, stake CAKE to earn more CAKE, and stake CAKE to earn tokens of other projects.
CAKE Price Analysis
At the time of writing, CAKE is ranked the 72nd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$4.40. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
CAKE‘s 80% decline after Q2 created relatively equal lows near $3.05 before bouncing over the local range’s midpoint near $4.60. A bullish altcoin market could help CAKE bulls regain a stronger bullish trend.
Aggressive bulls could look for entries in the daily gap starting near $4.30. The monthly open aligns with more probable support near $3.22.
A stop run below the monthly open near $3.15 might provide a more favourable entry. A more substantial bearish move – perhaps from a sharp drop in Bitcoin’s price – could challenge support near $3.00, just above the equal lows.
Resistance rests just above, with the zone from $4.75 to $4.90 likely to provide a short-term ceiling. A break through this level may target resistance just under the cluster of relatively equal highs near $5.12.
Beyond these highs, resistance near $5.28 provides a final challenge before attacking an old daily swing high near $5.43.
These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.
The cryptocurrency market has been rocked in the past couple of months due to several key factors within the industry but also by events at a macroeconomic level.
And according to on-chain data from blockchain intelligence firm Glassnode, the current bear market could last longer than others:
Bullish Weeks Not Strong Enough
As per the Glassnode report, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies failed to reaffirm a bullish retracement last week, and the market is instead heading towards a harsher downturn that could last several months or even years.
Bitcoin, for example, last week hit a high above US$24,000 shortly after the US Federal Reserve increased interest rates by 75 basis points. However, the father of all cryptos lost momentum entering the new week, falling below the US$23k level.
Glassnode’s report notes that BTC’s on-chain demand remains “lacklustre at best”.
Source: Glassnode
With the exception of a few activity spikes higher during major capitulation events, the current network activity suggests that there remains little influx of new demand as yet.
Glassnode report
The report also observed certain similarities between the current network demand and those from 2018 to 2019. After BTC hit its all-time high in April 2021, the asset has been in a macro-decline despite regaining momentum throughout that year:
#Bitcoin balance on exchanges continues its macro decline, reaching 12.6% of the Circulating Supply (2.4M $BTC).
Exchange balances have now seen a macro outflow of over 4.6% of the circulating supply since the March 2020 ATH.
Bitcoin’s volatility is the most frequently cited criticism of El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender. To address this legitimate concern, Bitcoin Beach wallet developer Galoy has released a new feature called “Stablesats”, enabling users to send synthetic US dollars over the Lightning Network.
Game-Changer for Developing Nations
Developing nations are often argued to be those that stand to benefit most from bitcoin adoption. The harsh reality, however, is that the asset’s volatility presents a material obstruction to adoption as a medium of exchange, simply because the majority of potential users don’t have the financial legroom to withstand its unpredictable price moves.
In response, Galoy has created “Stablesats” to enable users to save in BTC and spend in USD, all through the Lightning Network:
With Stablesats-enabled Lightning wallets, users are able to send from, receive to and hold money in a USD account in addition to their default BTC account. While the dollar value of their BTC account fluctuates, $1 in their USD account remains $1 regardless of the bitcoin exchange rate.
Nicolas Burtey, chief executive officer, Galoy
Importantly, what makes it different from other stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) is that there is no token; it is simply bitcoin stabilised into a dollar balance:
See how users send and receive to the USD Account and convert sats to (synthetic) USD. pic.twitter.com/TzBB8SyABc
The company also announced that it had raised US$4 million to develop GaloyMoney, an open-source Bitcoin banking platform, a versatile application programming interface (API) and an enterprise-ready Lightning gateway offering organisations access to Lightning payments.
Mechanics and Risks
Stablesats is able to offer a US dollar balance underpinned by bitcoin through a mechanism know as inverse perpetual swaps. It works by pledging the user’s bitcoin as collateral to an exchange to purchase derivative contracts that are used to hedge the BTC underlying the US dollar value.
Inverse perpetual swaps are denominated in fiat, with any gain or profit priced in bitcoin. Accordingly, the user’s dollar account incurs unrealised BTC gains if the bitcoin price drops, or unrealised BTC losses if the bitcoin price increases. At a high-level, this is what enables Stablesats to retain a stable dollar balance without interfacing with the traditional banking sector.
Galoy provides a basic video to outline the mechanics behind its synthetic USD:
The current Stablesats implementation uses the bitcoin derivatives market, specifically an instrument called perpetual inverse swap to create synthetic USD.
From a risk perspective, the main concern is naturally a counterparty risk, since the derivatives trade necessarily takes place with a centralised exchange, which also retains custody of the bitcoin. In recent times, it’s become all too familiar to see exchanges hacked, or otherwise freeze user withdrawals.
Assuming the risks can be properly contained, this exciting innovation by Galoy has the possibility to facilitate widespread bitcoin adoption. Simple, user-friendly consumer applications drove the adoption of mobile applications, and there’s no reason to believe it will be different in the case of bitcoin.
Blockchain security and data analytics company PeckShield detected the initial return of stolen funds to Nomad, primarily in the form of USDC alongside USDT and other altcoins.
Then, on August 3, Nomad posted a tweet requesting the return of the remainder of the funds:
Nomad Bridge Funds Recovery Process
Dear white hat hackers and ethical researcher friends who have been safeguarding ETH/ERC-20 tokens,
Please send the funds to the following wallet address on Ethereum: 0x94A84433101A10aEda762968f6995c574D1bF154 pic.twitter.com/UF623JSZ8u
Nomad is a protocol that allows users to transfer tokens from Ethereum to other chains. The August 1 exploit appeared to be the outcome of a flaw in its smart contract. This means a multitude of users, with no technical knowledge, were able to find a transaction that worked, modify the target address with their own, and rebroadcast it.
Some of the users who raked in the stolen funds were, in fact, trying to assist the project by preventing the crypto from falling into the wrong hands. Nomad is appealing to these “ethical researchers” and “white hat hackers”, and has provided a crypto custodian (Anchorage Digital) to handle and safeguard the returned assets.
The Kindness of (Some) Hackers
In February this year, one white hat hacker chose a mere US$2 million bug bounty over the option of “printing unlimited ETH”. The hacker reportedly decided to warn the Optimism team of an issue rather than take the opportunity to print the ETH.
In June, another vigilante hacker was paid US$6 million for preventing a US$330 million hack. Two months earlier, the bug had been reported to Aurora via ImmuneFi, a leading Web3 bug bounty platform. All that is known about this hacker is their Ethereum domain name: pwning.eth.
Solana users this week reported that their funds had been drained from more than 8,000 internet-connected “hot” wallets, including Phantom, Slope, and TrustWallet, amassing losses exceeding US$5 million according to blockchain auditing firm OtterSec:
No evidence was found that the Solana protocol or its cryptography were compromised, nor were its hardware wallets. According to a Solana Status Tweet, engineers from across several ecosystems, in conjunction with audit and security firms, were continuing to investigate the “root cause” of the attack:
Engineers from across several ecosystems, in conjunction with audit and security firms, continue to investigate the root cause of an incident that resulted in approximately 8,000 wallets being drained. 1/2
Blockchain investigation firm PeckShield posted on August 2 that the hack was most likely due to a “supply chain issue”, which was exploited to steal user private keys behind the affected wallets. The exact cause of the attack remains unclear, although it appears that mobile wallet users were impacted most. The attackers were able to sign transactions on behalf of users, suggesting that a trusted third-party service might have been compromised.
The Solana Status Twitter account shared its preliminary findings via developers and security auditors, saying that “it appears affected addresses were at one point created, imported, or used in Slope mobile wallet applications”:
After an investigation by developers, ecosystem teams, and security auditors, it appears affected addresses were at one point created, imported, or used in Slope mobile wallet applications. 1/2
The thread continued: “This exploit was isolated to one wallet on Solana, and hardware wallets used by Slope remain secure … While the details of exactly how this occurred are still under investigation, private key information was inadvertently transmitted to an application monitoring service.”
Yet Another Setback for Solana
Over the past nine months, Solana has suffered some severe downtime on its network caused by “excessive duplicate transactions” and “high levels of congestion”. It also suffered a distributed denial-of-service attack in December last year that jammed the network and led to huge delays, leading many to question the security of the network.
