Bitcoin BRC-20 token standard becomes a new destination for meme tokens

Bitcoin’s BRC-20 token standard has become the latest trend in the crypto ecosystem, especially after the Pepe (PEPE) memecoin rise in recent months. A total of 8,500 different tokens have been minted using the BRC-20 standard, with the majority of these BRC-20 tokens being memecoins, such as PEPE and Memetic (MEME). BRC-20 is an experimental token standard on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain modeled on Ethereum’s ERC-20. It allows programmers to create and send fungible tokens via the Ordinals protocol. Although modeled after ERC-20, the BRC-20 token standard fundamentally differs from…

Blockstream Developer Neigut Expects ‘Cambrian Explosion’ of Bitcoin Layer 2 Protocols

Ryan Gentry, director of business development at Lightning infrastructure firm Lightning Labs, said during his own presentation at Consensus that Lightning is the only network of its kind in crypto. “Lightning is unique,” Gentry said. “There is not, to my knowledge, another widespread payment channel network in the whole crypto space. Lightning is the only one and it’s scaling really well.” Source

Coinbase Launches International Exchange with BTC and ETH Futures for Non-US Institutional Clients as SEC Crackdown Continues

The Coinbase International Exchange will provide institutional clients outside of the US with BTC and ETH contracts and up to 5x in leverage. Crypto exchange Coinbase has launched an international exchange to offer its teeming institutional clients an expanded portfolio of crypto services. According to the company, the new Coinbase International Exchange lists contracts for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) perpetual futures. In an official announcement, Coinbase said it received a regulatory license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA). The company said Coinbase International Exchange’s perpetual futures trading is available in eligible…

PacWest Leads Crash in Banking Stock Falling 28% as Others Follow Suit

PacWest and Western Alliance banks recorded heavy losses on Tuesday as the market is still reeling from problems caused by recent collapses. Shares of bank holding company PacWest (NASDAQ: PACW) led a heavy crash in bank stocks on Tuesday. The stock tumbled nearly 28% as the general banking clime continues to sour following bank failures plaguing the sector. PacWest stock closed at $6.55 after falling 27.78% on the day. In addition to PacWest, Arizona-based Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL) also crashed yesterday. WAL fell more than 15% and lost nearly…

Bitcoin miners earned $50B from BTC block rewards, fees since 2010

Bitcoin (BTC) miners have profited roughly 37% from mining Bitcoin since its inception, new data reveals. Calculations from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode suggest that since 2010, fees and block reward subsidies have netted miners over $50 billion. Bitcoin miner revenue passes $50 billion mark Amid an ongoing debate over miner costs and susceptibility to Bitcoin price dips, new figures suggest that miners are firmly in the black in the long term. According to Glassnode, miners’ total all-time income is almost 40% higher than their estimated costs, coming in at $50.2 billion…

Russian Banks Set for Record Profits This Year, Central Bank, Rating Agency Say – Finance Bitcoin News

Bank of Russia raised its forecast for the profits of Russian banks in 2023, expecting results that may break the 2021 record. This year’s high numbers are coming after 2022 became the worst annual period in seven years for the sanctioned Russian banking sector in terms of financial outcome. Banks in Russian Federation Headed for at Least $23 Billion in Profits in 2023 Data from the first months of 2023 give the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) reason to believe that by the end of the year Russian banks can…

Crypto.com launches ChatGPT-based AI user assistant Amy

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues its pervasive entry into industries worldwide. The latest crypto industry adoptee is Crypto.com after it announced its new generative AI user assistant. Crypto.com announced “Amy” on May 2. It is the new AI companion of the crypto exchange built to inform users with information on the industry, including real-time token prices and projects, historical events and more. According to the announcement, Amy, which uses ChatGPT as its base, is currently in the pilot phase to “gather learnings” before future expansion. Abhi Bisarya, the executive vice president…