Day: January 5, 2022

Kazakh government resigns, shuts down internet amid protests, causing Bitcoin network hash rate to tumble 13.4%

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On Wednesday, Kazakhstan, the second-largest country in the world when it comes to Bitcoin (BTC) mining hash rate, experienced unprecedented political unrest due to a sharp rise in fuel prices. As a result, the country’s presiding cabinet resigned, but not before the state-owned Kazakhtelecom shut down the nation’s internet, causing network activity to plunge to 2% of daily heights. The move dealt a severe blow to Bitcoin mining activity in the country. As per data compiled by YCharts.com, the Bitcoin network’s overall hash rate declined 13.4% in the hours after…

Bitcoin Falls to 1-Month Low as Fed Minutes Reveal Talks to Shrink Balance Sheet

Bitcoin tumbled to its lowest price in a month as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting in December showed officials discussed whether to start shrinking the U.S. central bank’s swollen $8.3 trillion balance sheet. Prices for the cryptocurrency rallied in recent years as a growing number of investors bet that more than $4 trillion of money printing by the Fed to support the coronavirus-racked economy and markets would spur faster inflation – and that bitcoin could serve as a hedge against rising prices. So a move to shrink the…

We’ve Come a Long Way Since “What the Hell’s an NFT?”

This episode is sponsored by Nexo, Abra and FTX US. Download this episode  On today’s episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the latest news out of NFTs, including: Samsung’s NFT TV announcement OpenSea’s fundraise at a $13.3 billion valuation Bored Apes flippen CryptoPunks A South Korean presidential candidate is giving away NFTs to donors “The Breakdown ‘’ is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and Michele Musso, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine…

Celebrities who embraced crypto in 2021

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Though the crypto space has seemingly moved beyond the endorsements many minor celebrities bestowed on token projects during the 2018 initial coin offering boom, its growing popularity and acceptance now has professional sports players, Hollywood elites and politicians backing major companies dealing with digital assets. In June 2021, Kim Kardashian promoted EthereumMax (EMAX) via an Instagram story shared with her more than 200 million followers. The token, which was used as payment for online ticket purchases for some pay-per-view events, gained 116,000% in just one week following the celebrity’s activity before…

3 key metrics show DeFi’s TVL on the verge of a new ATH

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As 2022 gets underway, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector of the cryptocurrency ecosystem appears to be gaining momentum in what could be an echo of the bullish market seen in seen in early 2021.  Data from crypto market intelligence firm Messari shows that over the past 30 days, five out of the top 10 DeFi protocols have seen their tokens post double-digit gains. This is in spite of the struggles that Bitcoin has faced, a dynamic that usually places bearish pressure on the wider crypto market. Top 10 DeFi assets.…

Bitcoin Steady Near $45K Support; Resistance at $53K

Bitcoin (BTC) is holding steady around $45,000 – a key support level, near the bottom of a month-long price range. Buyers will need to clear $47,000 to yield a short-term upside target toward $53,000 this week. If support does not hold, a pullback will likely stabilize around $42,000, which is near the Dec. 5 crash low. For now, the relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart remains in an oversold range, which typically precedes a short-term price bounce. Still, the recent decline in upside momentum is a concern. There…

Your First Crypto Wallet: How to Use It and Why You Need One

Crypto wallets are like online bank accounts for your cryptocurrencies but with a few key differences: cryptocurrency wallets are not backed by government deposit schemes, they only hold cryptocurrencies (no regular money here) and, crucially, you are in control of your funds at all times. Non-custodial is the term given to cryptocurrency wallets, like MetaMask, Rainbow Wallet or Trust Wallet, that are separate from the accounts you may have on cryptocurrency exchanges. When you hold money on a crypto exchange, like Binance, Kraken or Coinbase, those companies are in control…

President Biden is considering economists to fill Fed seats as leadership nominations move to Senate: Report

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The White House is reportedly considering an Obama-era economic adviser and former Fed economist to fill the empty seats on the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System in 2022.  According to a Wednesday report from the Washington Post citing people familiar with the matter, U.S. President Joe Biden is still considering Duke University law professor Sarah Bloom Raskin to join the group of seven governors serving at the Federal Reserve this year, in addition to economists Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson. Cook teaches at Michigan State University and…

Crypto Browser Brave Passes 50M Monthly Active Users

Crypto-centric browser firm Brave announced it had passed 50 million monthly active users, doubling growth on a year-over-year basis for the fifth year in a row. Daily active users averaged 15.5 million during December. Brave Search, the privacy-preserving search engine launched last year, had 2.3 billion annualized queries. Other products launched in 2021 were crypto wallet Brave Wallet and private video call solution Brave Talk. “We’ve spent a successful year expanding our product range and our ecosystem, engaging with partners who share our vision for a Web free from Big…

Facebook, Walmart and How Companies Shouldn’t Set Up in the Metaverse

CryptoX – Cryptocurrency Analysis and News Portal On the surface, the entire premise of this sort of nonsense is that people will enjoy and use inferior metaverse applications just because … 3D is cool, I guess? Certainly, there’s no attention paid to what users actually want or need out of an online shopping experience. On the most basic level, why would you go to the trouble of designing a virtual Walmart that looks … exactly like a physical Walmart? Shopping in a real Walmart is fairly awful. If you’re in…