What USDCs diminishing dominance on Ethereum means for the stablecoin – AMBCrypto News

According to a new Messari report, USDC was observed to be losing traction in the stablecoin market. BUSD on the other hand, was witnessing some growth. With new coins entering the stablecoin market and the ever-growing competition, it may become difficult for USDC to maintain its standing in the market.

One indicator of things not going USDCs way would be its dominance on Ethereum [ETH]. USDCs dominance on the ETH network fell 5% since July. Meanwhile, BUSDs dominance over the same network increased by the same 5% in the same time frame.

The USDC dominance, in early July 2022, had peaked and captured 44% of the Ethereum network. However, it slipped down to 39% at the time of press according to Messari. However, despite losing out on its dominance on the Ethereum network, the stablecoin managed to perform relatively well on Layer2 chains.

As can be seen from the image below, USDC grew significantly on L2 rollups, such as Arbitrum and Optimism. USDCs dominance on the OP network stood at 58%, while on Arbitrum stood at almost 75%.

Even though there was high dominance of USDC observed on both of these protocols, one of the reasons for the growth in the protocol could be attributed to the fact that simply fewer stablecoins were used on these L2s.

Taking a look at USDCs network growth on multiple networks could also give us an insight into the stablecoins future. As can be seen from the image below, the network growth on all three networks (Blue: Ethereum, Green: Optimism and Red: Polygon) declined over the past month.

This indicated that the amount of new addresses that transferred a USDC for the first time declined. This implied that new addresses were losing interest in the stablecoin.

However, over the past few days, there was an uptick in USDCs network growth on the Polygon network a good sign for USDC.

Despite USDCs fluctuating dominance, it was observed that it still maintained lead in terms of transfer volume. As can be seen from the image below, USDC accounted for 54.5% of the stablecoin transfer volume at press time.

At the time of writing USDC also stood second in terms of market capitalization at $45 billion. Its volume also registered a growth of 10.39% in the last 24 hours.

Even though BUSD showed some improvements, the stablecoins market cap was at 21 billion and still had a long way to go to catch up with USDT and USDC.

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What USDCs diminishing dominance on Ethereum means for the stablecoin - AMBCrypto News

Ethereum PoS: the SEC wants to enforce Know Your Customer on staking – The Cryptonomist

After the move to PoS, the SEC wants to impose the Know Your Customer practice on Ethereum staking.

Over the past two years, the cryptocurrency industry has had to endure numerous attacks both from the US political world, but especially from the SEC, the US financial market regulator led by Gary Gensler, which has put many cryptocurrency companies under fire.

The sensitive issue revolves around treating cryptocurrencies as securities, which, since they are not regulated, would violate the SECs own established principles for securities.

Clearly, the most striking case is the one in which the SEC is engaged in a trial, which has been going on for about two years now, against Ripple, accused of having sold in 2020 securities without having the authorization to do so. The case finally seems to be coming to a head, considering that Ripple has asked the court for an abbreviated judgment, after having achieved a series of trial successes, which seem to have put the SECs back against the wall.

But Ripple is only the most sensational case, but there are many other instances in which the SEC has tried to put a spoke in the wheels of the development of the crypto sector in the world of finance, such as when it continues to ban the issuance of spot ETFs, and that is, directly parameterized on the prices of the underlying Bitcoin.

In this regard, in recent months Grayscale has sued the Gensler-led exchange authority, challenging the latters decision to deny its request to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Just as some exchanges such as Binance had to undergo investigations again by the SEC for an alleged violation of the regulatory regime on the sale of unauthorized tokens. Similarly, the SEC sued the company BlockFi for selling a crypto lending product. In February, the company settled the dispute by paying a $100 million fine.

But now the indiscretion coming from some industry observers and analysts is that the US authoritys next target could be Ethereum after its new Merge update, which could pose some issues again on the selling side of securities.

Immediately after the new update went live that initiated the Proof of Stake consensus system instead of the Proof of Work system, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said that these types of cryptocurrencies that use this system should be considered securities for all intents and purposes and should be treated as such from a regulatory perspective.

Gensler pointed to the profit that would be derived from PoS, which would be a profit made from the effort. This fact would be one of the crucial points of the famous Howey test, used by the SEC to determine whether an asset is an investment product, and therefore must be subject to the rules set by the SEC.

Staking, according to the SEC Chairman, would be for all intents and purposes comparable to lending services, and therefore should be carefully subjected to the strict rules set by the financial authorities to avoid risks of fraud and criminal acts.

And that is why the US authorities would like all Ethereum validators to be subject to Know Your Customer (KYC) and AML regulations, which would be the anti-money laundering regulations.

The large presence of Ethereum blockchain nodes on US soil would also bring Ethereum under US jurisdiction, which is why it is very likely that the authorities will soon require all companies and developers working on the blockchain to comply with the rules set forth by KYC, which is designed to protect financial institutions from fraud, corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. Know Your Customer involves several steps to

It may be very complicated that companies such as crypto companies can easily fulfill such procedures, considering the nature of disintermediation and decentralization that characterizes them.

Then again, once crypto companies manage to comply with these rules, it will become much easier for some institutional investors to approach the cryptocurrency market.

But going back to the SEC in recent months, they seem to be very concerned about the development of DeFi, which in large part makes use of Ethereums very own blockchain, and here the change made by Ethereum could offer the US authority the casus belli to attack the sector and succeed in regulating it to avoid distortions that could, in its view, jeopardize the stability of the traditional financial system.

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Ethereum PoS: the SEC wants to enforce Know Your Customer on staking - The Cryptonomist

This Bored Ape NFT Just Sold For $107,412 in ETH – Ethereum (ETH/USD) – Benzinga

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is an exclusive community for holders of the ape and mutant themed NFT collections on Ethereum's blockchain. Commonly referred to as the Bored Apes, only 10,000 generative art pieces will ever be in existence.

What happened: Bored Ape #7250 just sold for 82.00 ETH ETH/USD ($107,412 USD). The value of Bored Apes is typically determined by the Ape's attributes, with the laser eyes, crown, and golden fur traits being the most coveted.

Here are a list of its attributes and how many others have the same trait:

Why it Matters: Bored Apes are the ultimate store of culture for NFT collectors. The NFT collection has gained huge influence in 2021, with an ever growing list of top tier celebrities making apes their profile pictures on Twitter. With the recent explosion in popularity surrounding the Metaverse, rare blockchain-based avatars are all the rage for those looking to flex online.

Being a member of the Bored Ape Yacht Club is not just about flexing online. Yuga Labs, the creators of the Bored Apes throw exclusive parties often with free private performances from members of the club such as Lil Baby. Other notable celebrities in the club include Post Malone, Stephen Curry, Dez Bryant, and Jimmy Kimmel.

Yuga Labs also created another NFT collection known as the Mutant Apes, which also provides membership to the elusive club. There are a total of 20,000 Mutant Apes, and the price floor is historically lower than the Bored Apes.

See Also: NFT Release Calendar and Best NFT Projects of 2021

Data provided by OpenSea.

Checkout the full Bored Ape Yacht Club collection

You can learn more about this NFT here.

This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

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This Bored Ape NFT Just Sold For $107,412 in ETH - Ethereum (ETH/USD) - Benzinga

Frax Finance To Launch Liquid Staking Protocol on Ethereum – Coin Culture

Within two weeks, decentralised stablecoin issuer Frax Finance will make its liquidstakingtechnology on Ethereum publicly available.

The launch will enable users to stake ether (ETH) and get Frax Ether (frxETH), a liquid derivative token designed to unleash the value of staked tokens. The derivative will reflect ethers price and be freely transferable on other DeFi protocols.

Frax Ether is a liquid ETH staking derivative. Image: Frax Finance

Everything will be fully available publicly within two weeks, barring anything unforeseen, but the full system is already live, and is already proposing blocks, Frax core developer Jack Corddry told The Block.

Frax has completed a security audit of its liquid staking token in preparation for its mainnet launch. The project has also installed a Curve pool, allowingfrxETHto be exchanged for ETH with minimal or no slippage.

Frax Finances stablecoin relies on collateral and algorithmic techniques to maintain a 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar. Dollar. Its stablecoin is partially supported by hard collateral, notablyUSD Coin (USDC), and partially by FXS, Frax Finances native governance token.

Fraxs decentralised liquid staking product will compete with protocols like Lido Finance and RocketPool. The Frax team stated, Get ready for the most interesting ETH liquid staking derivative released by a major stablecoin issuer.

Additionally, Frax Finance operates the decentralised exchange Fraxswap and the financing platform Fraxlend.

First, customers stake their ETH using Frax ETH Minter, a function that mints the liquid derivative related to the deposited ETHs underlying value.

Frax will leverage its customers ETH to generate and distribute a staking income via spinning Ethereum validators. By allowing individuals to delegate their assets to the protocol, this method aims to simplify the process of establishing validators.

Users must swap the first derivative token (frxETH) for Staked Frax Ether (sfrxETH), a second token that will accrue staking yield from Fraxs Ethereum validators.

This second token will earn interest and increase in value over time relative to ether. The interest can be collected by the conversion of sfrxETH tofrxETH.

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Frax Finance To Launch Liquid Staking Protocol on Ethereum - Coin Culture

Why Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano All Plunged Today – The Motley Fool

What happened

The news in the crypto market continued to get worse after Tuesday's de-peg of TerraUSD (UST 14.19%) from the U.S. dollar, as well as the drop in Bitcoin (BTC -11.41%). This has effectively caused a cascade of selling and has led to outright panic in some circles. And even the most useful crypto assets are down big Wednesday.

At noon ET, the value of Ethereum (ETH -18.91%) had fallen 3.6% in the prior 24 hours, Solana (SOL -31.57%) had dropped 19.9%, and Cardano (ADA -29.73%) was down 13.2%.

Image source: Getty Images.

The biggest news of the day was that the TerraUSD stablecoin lost its peg to the dollar. That token's value fell to as little as $0.30 or so, and as of late Wednesday afternoon, was still only at $0.63. This crisis in what was viewed previously as a safe asset has created a cascade of impacts and drops in the prices of nearly all major tokens. According to Coinglass.com, $859 million worth of cryptocurrency positions have been liquidated in the last 24 hours alone, and if prices continue to fall, that number will likely go higher.

When such big tumbles occur, broad panic can set in. That's what we're seeing Wednesday with relatively smaller market cap tokens, like Solana and Cardano. Selling leads to more selling, and because those tokens have no tangible assets to fall back on, there's no clear floor underneath their prices.

Ethereum, which is a top token for use in smart contracts, was actually holding up relatively well, which shows some of the strength in leading cryptocurrencies on a relative basis.

It doesn't help that the stock market is also dropping this week. The quarterly earnings reports that companies have been delivering haven't been as strong as some investors expected, and that's leading to a further "risk off" trade in the market. Cryptocurrencies are highly risky, so in this environment, there are naturally going to be a lot of sellers.

It certainly looks like all-out panic is setting into the crypto market. Investors are getting liquidated in some cases, and some of the investment theses behind cryptocurrencies are falling apart.

What's special about Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano is that they're all utility tokens, allowing developers to build applications on top of their blockchains. And billions of dollars are flowing into the cryptocurrency development ecosystem, which will lead to innovations over the next decade or more. In time, that should drive values higher, although we don't know when those upsides might be seen.

I think we're starting to see the panic in the market reach a peak, and similar moments have typically been buying opportunities for great long-term assets. In cryptocurrency, I think the lasting tokens and blockchains will be those that developers use most to provide digital or real-world utility for users. These three cryptocurrencies are on the top of that list.

That said, there's likely to be more volatility ahead, and this may not be the bottom. So, investors buying now should be prepared, because these are long-term investments, and in the near term, trading in crypto can be unpredictable, as was demonstrated again this week.

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Why Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano All Plunged Today - The Motley Fool

Ethereum and Bitcoin Prices Are Tanking. Heres Why One Expert Thinks Bitcoin Could Drop Even Lower – NextAdvisor

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Bitcoin and ethereum have dropped more than 10% over the last 24 hours, with bitcoin falling near $29,000 for the first time since December 2020 and ethereum trading near $2,200. And one expert warns bitcoin could drop even further.

Bitcoin could potentially get a mini-bounce at $35,000, but unless we break the trend line at approximately $37,000, Im calling for $29,000 in the coming weeks or week, says crypto expert Wendy O in a recent TikTok video.

Its been a shaky start to the week for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, largely driven by ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. Bitcoin, the largest crypto, dipped below $36,000 Saturday and continued to nosedive throughout the weekend, hitting its lowest point in over a year Monday.

The crypto markets have been increasingly tracking the stock market, which has been trading in the red recently. Stocks fell sharply Monday, as the market sell-off continued after the Federal Reserve announced its biggest interest rate increase in over 20 years last week.

The overall market has noticed the high correlation to Bitcoin prices and the general equities markets, says Armando Aguilar, head of alternative strategies and research for Ledn, a digital asset savings and credit platform. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ have had the largest correlations to Bitcoin with 0.88% and 0.91%, respectively. A correlation of one means that they move equally one to the other.

For weeks, the crypto market like the stock market has also been under pressure as investors grapple with continued surging inflation, the ongoing swirl of economic events stemming increasingly from Russias invasion of Ukraine, and tighter U.S. monetary policy by the Fed.

The leading crypto continues to have a shaky week, trading at $29,500 Wednesday, down nearly 24% over the last week. This is Bitcoins lowest point since December 2020.

Bitcoin began to descend at the end of last week and continued to fall throughout the weekend, trading between a relative range of $33,000 and $37,000. Bitcoins big drop Monday is just the latest reminder for investors that crypto assets come with extra risk and volatility, especially in times of economic and political uncertainty like were in now.

Bitcoin is breaking below some key technical levels as the never-ending selloff on Wall Street continues. The institutional investor is paying close attention to bitcoin as many who got in last year are now losing money on their investment, Edward Moya, senior market analyst at foreign-exchange brokerage Oanda, wrote in a market analysis. If the USD 30,000 level breaks, that could trigger a flash crash environment if several whales unload.

But Bitcoins new low doesnt come as a surprise to Wendy O, who in April predicted Bitcoin would hit $33,000 sometime before July, based on her technical price charts.

I tweeted this April 17, 2022: I am getting 2021 April-May vibes, which means potential bearish until July. Things Im watching [include] price action, inability to effectively breakout, NFTs go off. O says.

Even with the big drops, Wendy O is still bullish on bitcoin in the long run.

Bitcoins high point of the year so far remains in the earliest days of January, when it nearly hit $48,000. In that same month, bitcoin also dipped below $34,000. Bitcoin has lost more than 50% of its value since its Nov. 10 all-time high above $68,000.

Ethereums price has been rapidly declining over the last few days, trading at $2,200 Wednesday. Ethereum is down 22% over the past week amid a big retreat in Bitcoin and the stock market.

Like all cryptocurrencies, Ethereum tends to follow Bitcoins lead. If Bitcoin is falling in price, ethereum is likely falling, too. But ethereum has also been grappling with anticipation for its massive software upgrade.

Over the next few months, ethereum is planning to move from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), also known as The Merge. Its a big deal because itll change how transactions on Ethereum are ordered, making it more efficient and sustainable for widespread use.

Ethereum developer Tim Beiko recently revealed that The Merge wont happen in June as previously forecast, though its set still to happen sometime before the end of 2022. No firm date yet, but were definitely in the final chapter of PoW on ethereum, Beiko tweeted on April 11.

That, along with several other macroeconomic factors, has made for a shaky start to the year for ethereum, which in January dropped below $2,200 the lowest ethereums price had been since July 2021. As of Monday, Ethereum is inching closer to its January low.

The prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile. That means they are just as likely to fall down as they are to climb, and experts say thats something crypto investors will have to continue dealing with.

As long as youre only investing what youre OK with losing and have a long-term investment strategy in place, there shouldnt be cause for concern with bitcoin and ethereums recent drops.

Most financial experts recommend investing less than 5% of your total portfolio in crypto. You should also make sure youre prioritizing other aspects of your finances ahead of investing in crypto, such as saving for an emergency, putting money away in a retirement account, or paying off high-interest debt.

If it seems like the crypto market has been acting increasingly like the stock market lately, its because it has been. Increased institutional adoption of crypto has made its market more intertwined with the stock market, which in turn, has been largely impacted by the war in Ukraine, surging inflation, and the Feds tightening monetary policy, experts say.

In the short term, these macroeconomic factors have created some noise and extra volatility in the crypto and stock markets, but this is usual during times of uncertainty.

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Ethereum and Bitcoin Prices Are Tanking. Heres Why One Expert Thinks Bitcoin Could Drop Even Lower - NextAdvisor

Doge gets more love on Twitter and Ethereum gets more hate: Data analysis – Cointelegraph

Ethereum has taken out the top spot on Twitter as the most hated of five cryptocurrencies studied, while the meme-token Dogecoin is the most liked.

The findings emerged from a new report by TRG Datacenters that analyzed a year's worth of tweets between Jan. 2021 to Jan. 2022, concerning five of the most popular cryptocurrencies to figure out which digital assets were the most emotionally stirring on Twitter.

According to the analysis which looked at Bitcoin (BTC), Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) Ethereum was firmly the most negatively associated with 29% of all tweets containing a negative sentiment. (The decision not to include Ripple, which has ardent fans but also very passionate critics, probably makes the study less comprehensive than it should have been.)

The bulk of the criticism leveled at Ethereum concerned its speed compared to other Layer 1 alternatives, as well as its energy costs. Peak Ethereum negativity from Crypto Twitter occurred when a bug caused Ethereum to briefly split into two chains in late Aug. 2021.

Bitcoin was the second-most hated on Twitter with a 27% total negativity score. Cardano followed a distant third with a 16% negative association, while Litecoin sat in fourth place with just 8% of all tweets having a negative angle.

The report collected data in such a way that negative sentiment tweets were analyzed based on the inclusion of the following phrases and the name of each cryptocurrency; "Hate," "is a scam," "disappointed with" / "disappointed," "dip in," "bad," "lost money with"/ "loss on."

Dogecoin was the crowd favorite on the social media platform, with just 6% of all tweets concerning the popular memecoin containing some form of unfavorable sentiment. This means that 94% of all tweets concerning DOGE contain a positive slant, displaying the strength and cohesiveness of the token's community on Crypto Twitter.

Dogecoins popularity was closely linked to the tokens healthy relationship with the social media platforms new owner, Elon Musk. Musks public decision to accept DOGE as payment for Tesla merchandise drove sentiment to all-time-highs.

Chris Hinkle, the Chief Technology Officer at TRG Datacenters drew attention to the different types of influence that Twitter has on the price of crypto assets.

[This] means that small cap stocks and coins in general are experiencing a very real phenomenon of price fluctuations led by retail investors, Hinkle added.

Related: Ice Cube backs DOGE and an incredible and historical transaction

Hinkle went on to explain that the recent acquisition of Twitter by Musk may lead to a more retail-driven crypto market, claiming that Musks newfound influence may perhaps pave the path for less algorithmic manipulation and the beginning of a new era of retail investors.

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Why are Ethereum (ETH) and Calyx Token (CLX) so exciting right now? – Deccan Herald

Today, cryptocurrency may appear to be dangerous territory. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), the two most popular cryptocurrencies, have both dropped more than 20% since the beginning of the year. Concerns about inflation, the war in Ukraine, and regulatory uncertainty in the crypto industry have pushed some investors toward lower-risk assets.

However, keep in mind that these factors are currently weighing on the industry. However, they have no bearing on the prospects of individual players. For example, a blockchain that is attracting an increasing number of projects now may thrive in the future. And today is a great time to get in on the action for a low price. Of course, it's best to be selective, especially in these trying times.

Ethereum (ETH) and Calyx Token (CLX), a new liquidity protocol that recently entered presale, are two projects that have been stirring up excitement in the crypto industry. Keep reading to find out why.

Buying the dip

I'm referring to Ethereum (ETH). When is a better time to buy a market leader than when its on the decline? Ethereum (ETH) isn't immune to the bearish sentiment that has gripped the crypto market. However, there is reason to be enthusiastic about Ethereum (ETH) right now because the blockchain is undergoing a major upgrade.

The upgrade is being carried out in stages. The first part, dubbed "the Beacon chain," was already released by Ethereum (ETH). This is the first step in changing Ethereum's (ETH) consensus mechanism from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. Validators must solve complex computations to approve a transaction using proof of work. Proof of stake empowers those with Ethereum (ETH) holdings to validate transactions. This is both faster and more environmentally friendly because it uses less energy.

The main net will then be merged with this proof-of-stake chain. That is when Ethereum (ETH) will officially switch to proof of stake. This has been postponed recently, but it should happen in the third or fourth quarter of this year. Ethereum (ETH) also plans to introduce shard chains next year. These distributed the workload across new chains.

This is why everything is so crucial. This upgrade addresses Ethereum's (ETH) major issue: network congestion, which has resulted in long transaction times and high transaction fees.

Paving the way for dApps and NFTs

Despite this issue, Ethereum (ETH) has already established itself as a major player. According to the State of the dApps website, Ethereum (ETH) is home to over 2,900 dApps.

According to CryptoSlam data, it's also the most popular blockchain for non-fungible token (NFT) sales by volume. The strength of Ethereum (ETH) is also demonstrated in a report by Electric Capital, a firm that invests in blockchain technology. Last year, the number of Ethereum (ETH) developers increased by 42%. In terms of tools, apps, and protocols, Ethereum (ETH) remains the dominant player.

The first-mover advantage belongs to Ethereum (ETH). Growth could take off in the coming years as a result of the upgrade. Naturally, all cryptocurrencies carry a high level of risk. That's because the industry is still young, and it's unclear whether the rest of the world will embrace it.

Calyx Token (CLX) wants to shake things up

Calyx Token (CLX), the most recent liquidity protocol to hit the market, uses cutting-edge technology to help users avoid the long processing times and exorbitant gas fees common across crypto exchange platforms.

Calyx Swap, the platform's exchange solution, will pool liquidity from multiple sources across multiple DEXs belonging to various blockchain networks such as Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), Binance (BNB), and Avalanche (AVAX) to provide users with the best rate for any swap on any supported blockchain network.

In addition, Calyx Token (CLX) intends to be permissionless and decentralised. Users will not have to go through the extensive security checks required by centralised exchange platforms, nor will they have to register to use the swap. This is expected to significantly increase Calyx's (CLX) popularity, potentially driving up the token's price.

Calyx Token (CLX) is currently in the presale stage, so early adopters are likely to profit handsomely when the token goes live. CLX holders believe the presale will allow them to profit from the platform's expected success, as the platform's White Paper promises to bring revolutionary changes to the crypto market.

Final Thoughts

Judging by the upcoming developments that Ethereum (ETH) and Calyx Token (CLX) have planned, they appear to be strong long-term investments despite the markets bearish sentiment. Calyx Tokens (CLX) presale might offer investors the chance to explode their returns, considering the ongoing hype around its swap.

Never put more money into something than you can afford to lose. If you want to try crypto, investing in presales or the market leader is a good place to start.

Enter the Calyx Token (CLX) presale now:

https://presale.calyxtoken.io/registerhttps://calyxtoken.io

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Why are Ethereum (ETH) and Calyx Token (CLX) so exciting right now? - Deccan Herald

Coinbase Stock Crashes As Value of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Other Cryptocurrencies Hit New Lows – HYPEBEAST

Coinbase stock is plummeting amid the ongoing Bitcoin crash. What was once known as one of the highest-value cryptocurrencies has decreased in price by almost 20% over the past ten days. Having fallen below $30,000 USD, the cost of Bitcoin is now 50% lower than its record high of nearly $69,000 USD, per CNN. The price of Ethereum has similarly fallen, down more than 35% since the start of the year.

As a result, shares in Coinbase, the United States largest crypto exchange, are down by more than 75%, currently priced at about $54 USD per share, and are trading at 85% below their all-time high price from November, per CNN.

In its first-quarter earnings report, published on Tuesday, Coinbase reported a quarterly loss of $430 million USD and a sharp decline in overall users and trading volume.

Whats even more alarming is that in the event that Coinbase declares bankruptcy, users may lose access to their assets. In the report, Coinbase noted that in the event it declares bankruptcy, the crypto assets we hold in custody on behalf of our customers could be subject to bankruptcy proceedings. Per these proceedings, Coinbase users would be treated as general unsecured creditors and unable to lay claim to specific properties. In other words, users would be blocked from their accounts and funds.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong attempted to reassure the platforms users in a series of tweets posted Tuesday evening.

Your funds are safe at Coinbase, just as theyve always been, he wrote. Armstrong went on to assert that Coinbase poses no risk of bankruptcy but included its bankruptcy risk factor message due to a disclosure required by the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) for public companies that hold crypto-assets for third parties.

Armstrong conceded, however, that it would possibly be left up to a court whether to decide to consider customer assets as part of the company in bankruptcy proceedings.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency, Stripe has partnered with Twitter to offer Global Cryptocurrency payouts in USDC. And for more Web3 content, visit Hypemoon.com.

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Coinbase Stock Crashes As Value of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Other Cryptocurrencies Hit New Lows - HYPEBEAST

Here’s Why Bitcoin, Ethereum Look Ready To Bounce – Benzinga – Benzinga

Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD were trading over 4% and 5% lower, respectively, on Monday. The move lower is the continuation of a downtrend, which escalated on May 5.

Since that date, Bitcoin has plunged over 18% and Ethereum has plummeted about 19%, as fear of a recession has gripped traders and investors, causing an accelerated move to the downside.

A recession takes place when economic activity begins to decline due to people deciding to spend less money and save more. Rising inflation and the Federal Reserves decision to continue hiking interest rates contributes to the cycle because purchasing everyday items becomes too expensive and investing cash becomes more lucrative.

The cryptocurrency sector is highly susceptible to a possible recession because its utility is entirely dependent on traders and investors using coins and tokens to pay for items.

No stock or crypto ever goes straight down, or up, and although Bitcoin and Ethereum could see more downside in the immediate future, at least a bounce is likely to eventually come.

Want direct analysis? Find me in the BZ Pro lounge! Click here for a free trial.

The Bitcoin Chart: On May 5, Bitcoin broke down bearishly from a falling channel pattern on higher-than-average volume, which caused extreme fear amongst traders and investors. The crypto has since fallen off a cliff, continuing to slide without bouncing up on the daily chart to form a higher low.

The Ethereum Chart: Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum hasnt yet broken bearishly from its own falling channel, which the crypto has been trading in since April 5. On Monday, Ethereum was testing the bottom descending trendline of the pattern and holding above the level, which is a positive sign for bullish traders.

See Also:How to Read Candlestick Charts for Beginners

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Here's Why Bitcoin, Ethereum Look Ready To Bounce - Benzinga - Benzinga

Ethereum, the movie – EL PAS in English

It was nootropics the early 21st-century Silicon Valley tech workers drug class of choice for boosting their productivity that led hedge fund manager Francisco Gordillo to the crypto world.

Gordillo explains that, as he was researching the potential of the new industry in so-called smart drugs, then illegal, he discovered bitcoin (and the blockchain system through which it operates), a new concept for me which was used as a means of payment for these illegal substances.

Then an investment banker who worked on mergers and acquisitions at Banca Rothschild and Credit Suisse, Gordillo says this first encounter with bitcoin was a kind of epiphany. He is now co-founder and co-investment director of Malta-based hedge fund Avenue Investment Crypto, serving professional investors with a minimum worth of 100,000 ($105,100). Avenue Investment had a return of 257% in 2021, although it has had a 15.8% drop through March this year.

Gordillo acknowledges that the hyperactive world of cryptocurrencies, of which bitcoin is one of around 18,000, has certainly attracted its critics. The possibility of making a lot of money very quickly is a kind of drug, and there are a lot of snake-oil merchants about.

Further, there is quite a bit of speculation, as in any new market.

But I dont see a bubble, he continues, saying that crypto overall has a deep and powerful long-term uptrend, with speculation and scammers a logical by-product of an innovative concept that confronts the status quo.

For Gordillo, who is from a well-known family of artists and art dealers in Spain, dealing in cryptocurrencies and using blockchain is not just a technology but an approach to life that is based on principles of decentralized decision-making and the defense of individual sovereignty. He believes that the system will ultimately help us to build a better world.

More than making money with cryptocurrencies, Gordillo says he is dedicated to evangelizing their benefits. He began by making documentaries to fight against the misinformation that surrounds this technology, and is now making a film based on Camila Russos book The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto Hackers is Building the Next

Internet with Ethereum (Harper Collins, 2020). Ethereum is an open source platform used for cryptocurrency transactions, which Gordillo says is explained very well in Russos book. Both will be executive producers on/of the film.

After convincing Russo to bring the text to the big screen, the two set to work looking for finance. They found a perfect match in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), a type of digital asset.

We put together a group of emerging artists to create a collection of NFTs, explains Gordillo.

Some of the money will go to find the film and some will be cashed in by the artists.

They have already raised $1.5 million in a presale of the digital works.

The next step was to find an industry expert to bring the idea to the screen: We proposed it to Ridley Scott.

Scott, says Gordillo, is the ideal partner, having put so much on screen related to technology and science fiction.

Scott liked the project from the beginning, and will participate as a producer; the creator of Alien also found the team a director in Shyman Madiraju.

For now, Gordillo and the team are adapting the book to script and will then begin casting actors. The film will be called The Infinite Machine, like the book, with release anticipated for the end of 2023.

English version by Ann Deslandes

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Yieldstreet’s Crypto Wallet Helps Investors Store and Convert Bitcoin and Ethereum – Business Wire

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yieldstreet, an alternative investment platform that has funded more than $3 billion in private market opportunities since inception, is launching a crypto wallet, a tool that allows investors to deposit Bitcoin and Ethereum with the option to seamlessly convert them into fiat currency to invest in Yieldstreets offerings.

Yieldstreets crypto wallet can allow you to safely store and - most importantly - to swiftly convert cryptocurrency. At Yieldstreet, we believe investors who own Bitcoin or Ethereum1 - and potentially some additional cryptocurrencies in the future - should have the flexibility to deposit them just as they would fiat currency and should not have to go to third parties for conversion if they decide to diversify away from crypto and invest in other alternative assets, said Michael Weisz, Founder and President of Yieldstreet.

Investors who want to deposit their Bitcoin or Ethereum on Yieldstreet can create a specific crypto wallet and use their Yieldstreet wallets address to transfer funds from other exchanges or from their personal crypto wallets, a widely-used industry protocol. The currency will be stored in a custodian-managed secured account.

The wallet can be utilized to invest in Yieldstreets offerings, across a wide array of alternative asset classes, including opportunities for exposure to digital assets through third-party funds. Subject to the approval of an investment request, Yieldstreet will automatically convert to USD via a trusted third party.

About Yieldstreet

Yieldstreet is reimagining how wealth is created by providing access to alternative investments previously reserved only for institutions and the ultra-wealthy. Yieldstreets mission is to help millions of people generate $3 billion of income outside the traditional public markets by 2025. Its award-winning technology platform provides access to investment products across a range of asset classes such as Real Estate, Commercial, Consumer, Art, Legal Finance, Venture Capital, and Private Equity. Since its founding in 2015, Yieldstreet has funded over $3 billion of investments and is committed to making financial products more inclusive by creating a modern investment portfolio. The company, headquartered in New York City with offices in Brazil, Greece, and Malta, is backed by leading venture capital firms. Join the movement at http://www.yieldstreet.com.

1 Combined, Bitcoin and Ethereum amount to 70% of the cryptocurrency market, as of November 2021.

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Yieldstreet's Crypto Wallet Helps Investors Store and Convert Bitcoin and Ethereum - Business Wire

Pallapay Offer Buy and Sell USDT, Bitcoin, Ethereum and 200+ Cryptocurrency with Cash in Dubai UAE Now – GlobeNewswire

Dubai, May 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Pallapay Offer Buy and Sell USDT, Bitcoin, Ethereum and 200+ Cryptocurrency with Cash in Dubai Now

Dubai Branch of the Pallapay USDT Shop

Pallapay has been providing cryptocurrency exchange services in Dubai since 2015.

Over those years, the agency has proven itself as a reputable exchange where thousands buy and sell bitcoin in Dubai, along with a host of other cryptocurrencies.

The new policy is expected to spur a huge demand for the variety of cryptocurrencies services in general.

Pallapay Bitcoin shop is fully ready and well-equipped to assist prospective clients looking to exchange Bitcoin to cash in their offices in the city center.

The agency boasts years of experience and a retinue of professional employees who can cater to both experienced crypto customers as well as beginners new to the digital currency revolution.

The agency has received among numerous recognition's, the award from the largest Crypto Expo Dubai . With a wide range of crypto services, Pallapay has established a solid reputation as a leading brand when it comes to buying and selling Bitcoin in Dubai UAE, and many other countries.

About Pallapay USDT Shop

Pallapay is an international brand providing cryptocurrency exchange services.

Currently, it operates in four (4) different countries and major cities: Dubai, USA, Singapore, and Istanbul. Since 2015, thousands of people have relied on Pallapay to exchange their cryptocurrencies for cash and vice versa. The most demanded services, however, are to sell bitcoin in Dubai, sell USDT (Tether) in Dubai, and sell Ethereum in Dubai.

Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies can be bought and sold at Pallapay.

When it comes to selling bitcoin in Dubai, Pallapay offers competitive pricing, provision of exchange of big amounts, and instant transactions for its teeming clientele, putting it one step above the other exchanges in Dubai.

Besides selling Bitcoin in Dubai, Pallapay also allows anyone to exchange 2000+ cryptocurrencies for cash or bank transfer and cash to crypto.

Pallapay Also Provides Crypto to Fiat POS Machine System For The First Time in Middle East. Hotels, Restaurants and Shops Can Now Use Crypto POS Machine From Pallapay, Charge The Client With Crypto and Receive The Fiat in Their Bank Account Easily Without Having Any Knowledge of Crypto.

Buy USDT Tether in Dubai with Cash.Sell USDT Tether in Dubai with Cash.https://www.pallapay.com/index.php/buy-sell-bitcoin-tether-dubaihttps://www.pallapay.com/buy-bitcoin-dubai

Address: The binary By Omniyat, Office P402, Business Bay, Dubai, UAEEmail: info@pallapay.com

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Pallapay Offer Buy and Sell USDT, Bitcoin, Ethereum and 200+ Cryptocurrency with Cash in Dubai UAE Now - GlobeNewswire

Crypto Whale Just Moved $24M Worth Of Ethereum (ETH) Off Bitfinex – Benzinga – Benzinga

What happened: An Ethereum ETH/USD whale sent $24,134,942 worth of Ethereum off Bitfinex.

The ETH address associated with this transaction has been identified as:

0x84b38bc60f3bd82640ecefa320dab2be62e2da15

Why it matters: Whales typically send cryptocurrency from exchanges when planning to hold their investments for an extended period of time. Storing large amounts of money on an exchange presents an additional risk of theft, as exchange wallets are the most sought-after target for cryptocurrency hackers.

Ethereum whales that run their own validator nodes (costing 32 ETH each) must send their Ether to the Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain, which is then locked up until the launch of Ethereum 2.0 in 2022.

According to Glassnode, only 17.16% of the total supply remains liquid across all centralized exchanges.

The removal of ETH from an exchange reduces potential sell side pressure, allowing the price of Ether to increase more easily.

See Also: Best Crypto Apps 2021 and Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers

Price Action: Ethereum is down 0% in the past 24 hours.

See Also: How To Buy Ethereum

Public Blockchain data sourced from Whale Alerts Twitter.

This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

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Crypto Whale Just Moved $24M Worth Of Ethereum (ETH) Off Bitfinex - Benzinga - Benzinga

Cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic Falls More Than 16% In 24 hours – Benzinga – Benzinga

Ethereum Classic's ETC/USD price has decreased 16.58% over the past 24 hours to $20.63, continuing its downward trend over the past week of -26.0%, moving from $28.25 to its current price.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Ethereum Classic over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are Bollinger Bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.

Ethereum Classic's trading volume has climbed 150.0% over the past week, moving in tandem, directionally, with the overall circulating supply of the coin, which has increased 2.56%. This brings the circulating supply to 134.72 million, which makes up an estimated 63.94% of its max supply of 210.70 million. According to our data, the current market cap ranking for ETC is #32 at $2.89 billion.

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This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

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Cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic Falls More Than 16% In 24 hours - Benzinga - Benzinga

Ethereum Towers: Is the Metaverse just for Gamers? – GlobeNewswire

Tortola, BVI, May 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire) Its impossible to escape the recent explosion of discussion about what and where the Metaverse will be in the future. With many established brands such as Meta (formerly Facebook), Adidas and Nike making strategic moves into the space it is plain to see that something is coming over the horizon. Even though its a clich, anyone that is here now is still most definitely early. But the question we are looking into today, is whether or not the Metaverse is solely for the gaming community or is there other utility that will be discovered by non-gamers too?

There is obviously a shortcut in thinking that if it is designed by gaming developers, uses a VR headset and has graphics that it is a game and it is aimed at gamers. Yes, its true that those already indoctrinated to the gaming world that own and regularly play on consoles will understand the technology quicker than those that do not already, but are gamers the only ones who will inhabit the Metaverse or will be there be room for everyone, and importantly will they want to?

Meta reportedly spent over $10 billion on its Metaverse division in 2021 which means that Mark Zuckerberg definitely believes that there is a digital future for social interactions beyond the headline grabbing name change. From the promotions that Meta have already released it is obvious that they are looking to normalize and demystify the emerging technologies for non-technical and non-gaming audiences. The problem at the moment is that the Metaverse is so loosely defined and strung together with various technologies that it has the feel of an unfinished product waiting for a purpose, rather than a box fresh packaged product you can take off the virtual shelf with a click of a button.

One such hopeful in the race to the Metaverse is Ethereum Worlds, a self-styled high end Metaverse that has community centricity at its heart. Centered around two professionally designed, identical towers dubbed Ethereum Towers. The Towers contain 4,388 apartments that can be owned by purchasing one of their access card NFTs. The apartments are fully customizable and there are 3 different types; standard, luxury and penthouse. The gameplay (there we go again) or look and feel is that of an almost real reflection of real life, though without the inconvenient things like litter and weather.

The organization states that you can use your apartment for many of the things that you would in a real life residence; you can relax, entertain and even do business there if you so wish. This parallel reality paradigm shift could see a step change in how people do everyday things. It may see non- gamers purchasing VR headsets in order to do virtual business or take in the scenery of a different location. The added bonus to the Ethereum Worlds ecosystem is a feature called engage to earn or E2E, this is where residents and visitors have the chance to earn rewards in the form of the in-world utility token $TWR just for being there, imagine being paid for turning up to your real life!

It is probably safe to say that projects like Ethereum Worlds will eventually attract wider audiences than the gaming community in the future. However, it might need the gamers to forge the way until the concept is less abstract and the interfaces/ technology are more accessible to those new to the experience. The fact that projects such as Ethereum Worlds are a reflection of reality rather than a dystopian fantasy adventure game, might eventually lead to higher adoption rates and real life business moving there in the future. For more information on Ethereum Towers and Ethereum Worlds you can check them out at https://ethereumtowers.com

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As Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits 5% ATH, Majority Of Miners Shift To Ethereum | Bitcoinist.com – Bitcoinist

The mining difficulty for Bitcoin (BTC) has reached an all-time high, reducing the already diminishing profit margins of miners.

The new development could be catastrophic for crypto miners. As it also appears that the price of BTC is declining, Bitcoin miners may be going into a storm.

According to data from btc.com, a company that monitors BTC mining performance, Bitcoin mining difficulty has increased dramatically.

As noticed on Twitter by renowned cryptocurrency reporter Wu blockchain, the difficulty of mining the crypto has increased by approximately 5 percent to 31.25T.

This increase follows a roughly 5.6% increase two weeks ago, when the networks difficulty surpassed the 29T area for the first time ever.

Suggested Reading | BTC Is Being Pummeled Will Tesla And MicroStrategy Sell Their BTC?

Bitcoin mining is the process of confirming and adding a new transaction block (set) to the blockchain. The level of difficulty measures how complex it is to vie for mining payouts.

Network users that engage in the mining process (known as validators or miners) are rewarded with a fixed number of BTCs for each transaction block they successfully validate and add to the blockchain.

In contrast, Bitcoin hashrate, or the networks computing capacity, has remained virtually unchanged.

During the same two-week period, however, the profitability of Bitcoin mining decreased by approximately 13 percent.

During this time span, the price of Bitcoin decreased by 23 percent. The price decreased from approximately $39,390 on April 27 to the current level of $29,310, a Coingecko chart shows.

According to analysts, Bitcoin mining companies will be in significant danger if the cryptocurrency hovers below $30,000 for an extended period of time.

However, the greatest fear is not the BTC price falling below $30,000, but rather the duration of the slide, or how long the crypto will continue falling.

Based ondata releasedby ByteTree, miners have spent much more of their newly created BTC than they held over the past weeks.

Suggested Reading | Bitcoin City Layout Unveiled: Will Crypto Metropolis Help El Salvadors Ailing Economy?

Meanwhile, the majority of Bitcoin miners are currently shifting to Ethereum because of a higher return on investment as the network suffers significantly as BTC mining difficulty rises.

In 2021, when ETH broke through the $4,000 resistance, mining Ethereum got even more profitable. Moreover, as the launch of ETH 2.0 nears, the most sought after crypto asset is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain its dominant position.

With these developments coming up,an increasing number of miners are shifting to the Ether network and steer clear from unexpected crashes in the middle of their transactions.

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As Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits 5% ATH, Majority Of Miners Shift To Ethereum | Bitcoinist.com - Bitcoinist

Heres Why Solana (SOL) Is Still the Number One Ethereum (ETH) Competitor, According to InvestAnswers – The Daily Hodl

A popular crypto analyst is highlighting the reasons why he believes Solana (SOL) is still the top Ethereum (ETH) challenger.

The anonymous host of InvestAnswers tells his 436,000 YouTube subscribers that his Day One Thesis was that SOL was his Ethereum hedge as he considers Solana the only potential ETH killer.

He notes that SOL has less than 1/12th the market cap of ETH but its doing a lot of stuff.

The analyst also outlines Solanas potential advantages over Ethereum.

The strength of Solana, and the reason why I still like it, is that they have the most breadth of DApps [decentralized applications] of any chain out there. They have exponential adoption. Fast, inexpensive, scalable. Despite the outage

It also has Rust, the most preferred developing language thats driving the most development activity on any chain. 65,000 [transactions per second]. No need for layer-2s, and SOL DApps have more daily active users than Ethereum DApps, which is kind of staggering, because Ethereum has about 3,000 DApps and SOL has about 750.

The analyst does note that Solanas outages are a potential issue. Solana suffered a network outage in late April when the projects mainnet beta cluster ceased producing blocks as a result of stalled consensus, according to Solana Labs.

The outage came after Solana alreadydealtwith publicized network and performance problems in December and January, as well as a previousoutagelast September.

The InvestAnswers host also notes that Solana has higher inflation than Ethereum.

He notes Ethereums advantages include its larger size, earlier launch date and higher adoption rate. He adds that Ethereum also has the most validators, and it is more decentralized and deals with less regulatory risk.

Solanas native asset, SOL, is trading at $65.51 at time of writing. The seventh-ranked crypto asset by market cap is down more than 14% in the past 24 hours.

I

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Bruce Rolff

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Heres Why Solana (SOL) Is Still the Number One Ethereum (ETH) Competitor, According to InvestAnswers - The Daily Hodl

The Top Cryptocurrencies to Keep Your Eyes on This Year: Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and Logarithmic Finance (LOG) – The Portugal News

One of the most perplexing aspects of investing in cryptocurrencies is deciding which currency to choose.

There are hundreds of feasible possibilities, each of which operates distinctively and has its own micro-market that reacts differently. Aside from the fact that most tokens vary in value in comparison to others in terms of price, there are other characteristics and attributes to consider when investing in cryptocurrencies. Features like scalability, and security, are essential when choosing your preferred token.

However, some cryptocurrencies have surpassed expectations, standing the test of time while introducing more and more exciting features into their ecosystem. Cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), which is set to upgrade to its higher version, Ethereum 2.0, Cardano (ADA), and the newly launched token Logarithmic Finance (LOG), which is currently in its presale stage. In this piece, we shall explore the features of these tokens and how they are set to take the crypto world by storm.

Ethereum (ETH) is a smart contract framework for developing decentralized apps. It was the first platform to introduce smart contracts, programmable agreements that can work similarly to legal contracts and are automatically executed whenever certain circumstances are satisfied.

Ethereum (ETH) shares many of the same qualities as previous blockchains, such as being an immutable public database of transactions, resisting censorship thanks to a decentralized consensus method, and delivering a secure network using proof-of-work hashing.

Users on Ethereum (ETH) can send financial transactions using Ether, the network's native coin (ETH). They can also use any of the network's decentralized applications (dApps), including decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, and blockchain-based games.

Ethereum aims to reach higher in the crypto world by introducing an advanced version of itself, Ethereum 2.0. The upgrade intends to improve the Ethereum network's speed, efficiency, and scalability to handle more transactions and reduce congestion. This is one cryptocurrency you want to watch out for.

Claiming to be an upgrade of Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA) intends to enable its native ADA cryptocurrency to be acceptable in a wide range of transactions. Cardano's development is driven by academic and scientific research, and some believe that because its code is mathematically proven to be more effecient, the Cardano (ADA) network will gain increased adoption.

Cardano (ADA), like Ethereum, allows developers to write smart contracts and build decentralized applications.

However, whereas Ethereum deals with development issues as they emerge, Cardano (ADA) aims to anticipate difficulties. It has a scientific research mindset when planning network upgrades. Cardano (ADA) users can also utilize the network's native cryptocurrency, ADA, to send financial transactions.

The Logarithmic Finance (LOG) protocol is a layer-3 switching protocol which will allow a bridge for the technology divide between investors and innovators. The developers hope to change the way people interact with the cryptocurrency industry. Because token holders will be able to exchange their LOG tokens for NFTs, they will have access to various digital assets. As a result, LOG creates an environment in which investors, fintech innovators, and artists can easily connect.

This initiative by LOG developers will increase access to the crypto platform and may even increase new investor interest in DeFi currencies.

Logarithmic Finance (LOG) is developing a multi-chain cross-chain solution that will enable investors to create funds on several decentralized blockchain networks, including the Binance Smart Chain (BNB), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and others. As this token is presently in its presale phase, now is the best time to hop on this bandwagon.

For more information about Logarithmic Finance (LOG) and its presale, visit:

Presale: https://presale.logarithmic.finance/register

Website: https://logarithmic.finance/

Telegram:https://t.me/LOGARITHMIC_FINANCE_OFFICIAL

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LOGARITHMIC_FI

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/logarithmic_finance

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The Top Cryptocurrencies to Keep Your Eyes on This Year: Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and Logarithmic Finance (LOG) - The Portugal News

Crypto VC Jill Gunter on what it will take to beat Ethereum – TechCrunch

Jill Gunter is no stranger to crypto shes seen the market through its ups and downs, conducting research on blockchain protocols, working at multiple crypto startups and co-founding her own, and investing as a crypto VC at Slow Ventures. Gunter first started following the crypto space in 2011, when she was working in the traditional finance world as a derivatives trader at Goldman Sachs and when Bitcoin was the only major layer-one blockchain.

Since then, Gunter told TechCrunchs Chain Reaction podcast, shes been able to witness three distinct phases of development within the industry that have led it to this moment of heated competition between multiple established blockchains, and even more new protocols entering the fray.

The first phase is what Gunter called the era of altcoins. Protocols like Litecoin, Dogecoin and ZCash were born in this era, when developers sought to tweak the Bitcoin protocol in specific ways, such as changing the block size to change the throughput of the system, she explained.

What you came out with was a lot of blockchains and a lot of tokens that had a lot of the same properties as Bitcoin, but changed the feature set, Gunter said.

The next phase of the development of new blockchains came with the creation of Ethereum in 2015, according to Gunter. Ethereum brought a sea change in terms of what one could do with a blockchain by introducing the concept of programmability.

The modern era of layer-one blockchains, she continued, can be understood as a period of developers trying to tweak the feature sets of programmable blockchains to address some of the issues with Ethereum that exist today. Developers are trying to lower fees, boost usability and add privacy features to applications on the blockchain that the layer-one Ethereum chain itself doesnt have.

Ethereums high transaction costs and low throughput have continued to plague the network with issues, frustrating users. Yuga Labs recent metaverse land sale grabbed headlines last week when people trying to buy NFTs were faced with exorbitant gas fees and failed transactions because of the popularity of the drop.

While alternative blockchains such as Solana and Avalanche offer lower costs and can process transactions much faster than Ethereum, Gunter said these other chains have not been fully put to the test that Ethereum has been because they havent had to process as many users at once.

Whats more, these newer chains have all centralized something in some way, Gunter continued.

For the most part, these things have on their roadmap ways of continuing to decentralize over time, but again, we have yet to see those put to the test. We also have yet to see in what ways decentralization really matters to users in terms of the architecture of these things, Gunter said.

These different blockchains are increasingly having to compete to attract developers to their ecosystems. As co-founder of privacy-focused layer-one blockchain Espresso Systems, Gunter knows firsthand how challenging it can be to get engineers to invest time in developing projects on a specific chain when theres so much competition.

Personally, I dont think its good enough anymore to just wave around a white paper that says, oh, were actually going to be more scalable and more decentralized than anything else, Gunter said. I think that you need to have truly differentiated features from what already exists. And I think that neither is good enough without the other I think you do need to make a case for why your system is going to be the most popular and the most sound going forward over time.

Admittedly, she added, all the layer-one projects out there are making the right noises, but have yet to be put to the test by users. Especially if crypto continues to experience a market downturn, the winners and losers in the fight between layer-one blockchains may be separated faster than the industry had expected.

You can listen to the entireinterview with Gunteron our podcast, Chain Reaction. Subscribe to Chain Reaction onApple,Spotifyor your alternative podcast platform of choice to keep up with us every week.

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Crypto VC Jill Gunter on what it will take to beat Ethereum - TechCrunch