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Showing posts from April 2, 2021

Music Company Founded by Dr. Luke Enables Bitcoin Payments for Songwriters and Producers

Bitcoin mainstream adoption is not limited to celebrities endorsing the cryptocurrency via social media or interviews on TV. The music industry is also interested in joining the bandwagon, with an independent publishing company recently enabling bitcoin payments. Bitcoin Adoption Comes in Response to the Requests of Prescription Songs Creators According to Variety , Prescription Songs, founded by Dr. Luke (Lukasz Sebastián Gottwald), is now offering its roster of producers and songwriters the option to send payments in bitcoin ( BTC ). The feature is possible thanks to a partnership signed with crypto payments provider Bitpay. Dr. Luke is a well-known hitmaker in the industry, whose publishing company’s catalog includes hits such as “Say So” by Doja Cat, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa, Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone,” Miley Cyrus’ “Party In The U.S.A.,” “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5, “Starboy” by The Weeknd and “Juice” by Lizzo. In the words of ...

Abkhazia Plans to Criminalize Crypto Mining as Energy Crisis Deepens— Extends Temporary Ban

Crypto mining in Abkhazia is still a hot potato for the de facto state government, which is now determined to criminalize such activities. Continuous massive power disruptions, in parallel, are fueling the anger of the people towards crypto miners. Public Officials to Face Bigger Penalties According to a report published by E Daily, the Abkhazian government revealed that it’s due to present a proposal to fine miners and also file criminal charges against them. The plan is to set fines up to $8,000, which is a considerable amount of money, as it is the same yearly average income per individual in the de facto South Caucasus state, equal to 20 minimum national wages. But such punishments are the lowest ones considered in the proposal. In fact, the government seeks to hit back with even more significant penalties against public servants who are caught in crypto mining activities, as well as companies running rigs, with up to 5,000 minimum national wages. However, the report detail...

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Sets New Records, BTC Miners Capture $1.5 Billion in Revenue Last Month

On Friday, April 2, 2021, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is the highest it has even been in its lifetime but bitcoin miners still captured record revenues last month raking in $1.5 billion in coinbase rewards and transaction fees. Today, the blockchain’s hashrate is around 160 exahash per second (EH/s) with 17 pools dedicating hashpower to the network. $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin Rewards and Fees, Difficulty Ramps Up to 23 Trillion With a 5% Increase on the Way The price of bitcoin has been consolidated just under the $60k region and at 10:30 (EST) on April 1st, BTC jumped over the $60k handle to $60,103 per unit. The price has been driving the hashrate higher as miners are dedicating a lot of resources toward finding bitcoin blocks. On March 27, 2021, the Bitcoin hashrate spiked to 195 EH/s coming awfully close to the 200 EH/s zone for the first time ever. The continuous rise in hashrate has also pushed up the crypto network’s mining difficulty which is currently at 23.14 trillion. Mi...

Chainlink releases native Substrate module to bring its oracles to Polkadot

Polkadot parachains can now choose to add Chainlink price feeds to their runtime. Polkadot and Chainlink have announced the release of Chainlink’s Price Feeds as a module, or “pallet” in Polkadot terminology, for the Substrate blockchain framework. The release means that any project building on the Substrate framework — which includes Polkadot and Kusama parachains, as well as independent blockchains — can integrate Chainlink oracles through a simplified library. The announcement comes as the latest result of a long-standing collaboration between Chainlink and Polkadot , now offering a tangible product that can enable a number of DeFi-centric use cases on Polkadot. The integration as a Substrate pallet means that it is up to each individual parachain to integrate and enable Chainlink oracles. This is a significant change from the architecture used on Ethereum, where Chainlink nodes regularly publish price data on each block, which smart contracts can then choose to reference or ig...

Ethereum season? ETH options traders are placing big bets for June

Ethereum options traders are placing big bets on an ETH rally in June as EIP1559 approaches. The price of Ethereum ( ETH ) is continuing to rally, reaching $2,000 on April 2 on the back of strong technical momentum following a high-profile announcement from Visa. As Cointelegraph previously reported on March 29, Visa will allow its partners to use USDC on the Ethereum blockchain network to settle transactions. ETH futures total open interest. Source: Bybt.com Since then, the interest in Ethereum across both futures and options markets is seeing an uptick, with the former approaching $7 billion, the highest in over a month. The options market for Ethereum is particularly optimistic According to Cantering Clark, a cryptocurrency trader and analyst, the Ethereum options market shows big bets heading into June. Ethereum options expiration. Source: Cantering Clark The strike price with the highest open interest is $3,200. Although this does not necessarily mean tha...

NFTs: Overpriced crap or new art history?

Its been a heady few weeks for commerce and art. Surely a revolution is afoot and were too mired in the hot mess to see it right. With that proviso, here are two notes from the front lines. NFTs are cutting-edge, digital art aint Some folks say the non-fungible token (NFT) that allows a digital artwork to be possessed exclusively by a purchaser is traceable to the creation of Colored Coins in 2012 or to CryptoPunks in 2017 even though the this market exploded just the other day. A page from Jules Antoine Lissajouss A Study of the Optical Representation of Sound Vibrations , 1957 But digital art (DA) itself has an older pedigree. As early as 1857, the Frenchman, Jules Antoine Lissajous (18221880) published images of mathematically-designed Lissajous Figures by capturing lines created by sound harmonies with a camera. These figures had been identified 42 years earlier by the American, Nathaniel Bowditch (1773 -1838) its just that Bowditch didnt render the...

Stratis Partners With World’s Largest .NET Development Community to Expand Developer Community

PRESS RELEASE.   Stratis, the Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) platform , expands developer reach by collaborating with C# Corner, the largest, most active group of C# developers in the world. 2nd April 2021, London, United Kingdom -    Stratis  achieves another milestone as it partners with  C# Corner , a 3M+ member community that works towards the advancement of knowledge and software technology. Stratis’ focus on leveraging Microsoft technologies, specifically the C# programming language, means a plethora of programmers worldwide will now be developing and supporting one-another to build with Stratis Blockchain Technologies. The partnership will influence several activities being performed in the coming months, starting with a dedicated Stratis Blockchain Development Team focussed on developing practical use cases utilizing Stratis. C# Corner’s development team will commit to delivering multiple solutions, ultimately demonstrating the power of the platform developed by Stratis.  ...

Study Highlights the Most Common NFT Scams Amid the Current Mainstream Hype

As non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are becoming a global phenomenon increasingly due to their mainstream adoption, there are also concerns about the surge of related scams. A recent study revealed the most common NFT scams that are spreading on the net. Suspicious Domain Registrations With ‘NFT’ Word Surged 250% in March 2021 According to the research conducted by security experts of Bolster, replica stores are on a bullish trend, as the recent figures show a boost in the number of domain registrations. Scammers have been actively setting up replica stores with suspicious-looking domains with names such as “rarible,” “opensea,” and “audious.” Per the study, such domain registrations have skyrocketed nearly 300% in March 2021 when compared to previous months. The replica stores or phony copycats, says Bolster, often rely on using the same design of legitimate NFT stores, even replicating their logos. Similarly, fake NFT stores are considered a variant of the replica NFT stores, with ...

Bitcoin 'on brink of strong breakout' says analyst ahead of Coinbase IPO

$60,000 may soon go the way of $20,000, filbfilb believes, but a potential sell-off around the Coinbase IPO means April could yet spark problems for bulls. Bitcoin ( BTC ) is primed for a price breakout after beating out volatility, but April may still produce a surprise sell-off. In his latest market update on April 2, filbfilb, co-founder of trading suite Decentrader, said that he now expects upside to take over on BTC/USD. BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: Tradingview BTC "threatening a breakout" Bitcoin has recovered from its flash crash earlier in the week and briefly hit $60,000 overnight on Friday. With seven-day gains still at 13%, there are plenty of reasons to be bullish in the short term now that consolidation looks set to conclude, filbfilb argues. "With the weekend looming amidst a buoyant week; it’s difficult not to be optimistic," he summarized. "I’m not thinking we will break out with as much ferocity, but I do think th...

Former Apple Music exec joins crypto firm Ledger as head of NFT division

In his new position as Ledger’s vice president of NFTs, Brooks will be responsible for bridging the platform with the artistic community. Apple Music veteran Parker Todd Brooks is leaving the company to join Ledger, one of the biggest providers of cryptocurrency hardware wallets. According to a Friday announcement, Brooks will now head Ledger’s non-fungible token, or NFT, division as the company expands its support for the storage, display, management and security of NFT pieces. Brooks is joining Ledger after spending the last seven years with Apple Music, helping launch Apple Music and music radio station Beats 1 after Beats Music was acquired by Apple in 2014. Prior to his role at Beats Music as director of artist integrations, he worked at Topspin Media, leading its integration into Beats Music and Spotify. In his new position as Ledger’s vice president of NFTs, Brooks will be responsible for bridging the platform with the artistic community and developing NFT management produc...

Ethereum’s return to all-time high accompanied by 77% rise in transaction fees

A 31% price surge was accompanied by a 77% rise in the cost of transacting on Ethereum. Ether ( ETH ), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, returned to an all-time high on April 2 when the spot price for each unit of ETH exceeded $2,000. Meanwhile, the ominous spectre of Ethereum’s unwieldy transaction fees made itself felt once more, as the cost of using the blockchain rose 77% across the past few days, in line with a 31% increase to the ETH coin price. Ether recorded green candles for eight of the past nine days, as the coin price rose from a recent bottom of $1,530 on March 26, to the $2,009 valuation witnessed at time of publication. Transaction fees summarily jumped 77% across the same time period, as the average cost of transacting on Ethereum rose from $12.96 to $22.97, according to data from Bitinfocharts.com. Average fee figures often paint an inaccurate picture of the fees being paid most often on-chain, due to high-value outliers. The median tra...

Filecoin Foundation donates $10M in FIL tokens to Internet Archive

The Internet Archive’s founder Brewster Kahle has joined the boards of advisors for the Filecoin Foundation and the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web. The Internet Archive, an American nonprofit behind major digital archive Wayback Machine, has received a $10 million cryptocurrency donation from the Filecoin Foundation. According to a Friday announcement , the Filecoin Foundation has donated 50,000 Filecoin (FIL) tokens to the Internet Archive, worth more than $10 million at the time of writing. The grant is designed to help the Internet Archive increase access to its online library including books, data, web pages, music and software. In addition to the donation, the Internet Archive’s founder Brewster Kahle and director of partnerships Wendy Hanamura have joined the boards of advisors for the Filecoin Foundation and the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web. A digital librarian and a computer engineer, Kahle founded the Internet Archive back in 19...

Bank of Thailand to begin central bank digital currency tests in 2022

Thailand’s central bank is calling for public comments on its proposed plan to launch a sovereign digital currency within the next five years. The Bank of Thailand has set its agenda for a retail central bank digital currency with preliminary testing protocols scheduled to begin in Q2 2022. Thailand’s central bank made this known in a press release issued on Friday calling for public comments on the proposed CBDC roadmap. As part of its plans, the central bank published a preliminary report detailing its CBDC thesis. Explaining its motivation for creating a CBDC, the Bank of Thailand argued that the success of private stablecoins poses risks to “monetary sovereignty and financial stability.” Indeed, back in March, Thailand’s apex bank deemed Thai Baht Digital (THT) — a stablecoin issued by Terra — to be illegal . At the time, the central bank cited the country’s law prohibiting any other entity save the central bank from issuing currency in Thailand. According to the Bank of Th...

Bitcoin beats out final resistance as Ethereum returns to $2K

The two largest cryptocurrencies revisit significant price levels with sellers rapidly disappearing from exchange orderbooks. Bitcoin ( BTC ) briefly hit $60,000 on April 2 in the latest installment of its slow grind back to all-time highs. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: Tradingview BTC price taps $60,000 Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed bullish tendencies remaining overnight for BTC/USD, with local highs of $60,110 on Bitstamp. A correction brought the pair down nearer to $59,000, circling $59,500 at the time of writing. The sustained higher levels mean that Bitcoin has effectively canceled out the flash crash from earlier this week, while still continuing to trade in a defined corridor. For popular trader Crypto Ed, the outlook was for $60,000 to disappear as resistance based on fading selling pressure on exchanges. Higher than $70,000, however, may have to wait longer. "I mentioned BTC target $73k and ETH $2300," he wrote on...

Bitcoin surge could be driving digital yuan interest, says People’s Bank of China

The central bank says strong interest in its CBDC project is partly being driven by Bitcoin's recent surge, despite cryptocurrency still being banned in China. The cryptocurrency space may be helping to spawn its own competitors after a representative of the People’s Bank of China said Bitcoin’s ( BTC ) recent surge had caused renewed interest in the nation’s digital yuan project. The digital yuan is China’s central bank digital currency, and like all CBDCs its foundational principles are completely antithetical to those of the cryptocurrency space. Core crypto concepts of decentralization and autonomy are dispensed with in favor of centralization and oversight, in an effort by government authorities to more easily control the flow of money. The digital yuan is also expected to be central to China’s smart city ambitions, which would see entire cities made cashless in the coming years. But the PBoC believes the “very strong” interest that the digital yuan is receiving is a res...

Binance Abruptly Delists South African Rand Trading Pairs After Currency Fails to Meet ‘High Level Standard’

In an abrupt move, Binance South Africa announced on March 31 that all South African rand (ZAR) trading pairs will be delisted on April 2. The crypto exchange adds in a statement that “all trade orders will be automatically removed after 10.00 UTC on April 1” in each respective trading pair. Binance concludes by requesting users to withdraw all funds before the 10.00 UTC deadline. ZAR No Longer Meets the Standard In justifying the decision , Binance South Africa states that it “periodically reviews each digital asset we list to ensure it continues to meet the high level of standard we expect.” The email goes on to add that when “a token no longer meets this standard or when the industry changes,” a decision will be made to remove such a digital asset. Meanwhile, in a strong hint that ZAR trading pairs had failed the in-depth review, Binance said: Based on our most recent reviews, we have decided to delist and cease trading on all ZAR trading pairs at 10.00 UTC on April 1, 2021. ...