Month: May 2023

Crypto Media Company Blockworks Raises $12M at $135M Valuation

“For the past year, we’ve been building Blockworks Research, a powerful investment platform that brings together data, analytics, research, governance, and real-time news,” Blockworks co-founders Jason Yanowitz and Michael Ippolito wrote in an announcement post. “Financial institutions and deeply crypto-native investors rely on Blockworks Research to make better decisions. This investment allows us to double-down on this effort to bring better information to the industry.” Source

Tether (USDT) Emerges as Prefered Stablecoin amid US Banking Crisis with Over $86B in Total Supply

The stablecoins market is expected to significantly grow amid the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin and other digital assets globally. The rise of the Tether (USDT) stablecoin has been undisputed for several years. The Tether (USDT) stablecoin runs on more than 10 blockchains including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, and Tron, among others. On the Ethereum network, Tether (USDT) has more than $36 billion in supply with about 4.3 million holders. The Tron network holds a vast amount of Tether (USDT) with about $46 billion. On the Solana blockchain, Tether (USDT)…

12 factors VCs should focus on when vetting crypto and blockchain companies

Venture capitalists may be wary of the crypto and blockchain industry at the moment, and it’s not without reason. However, the highly publicized bad actions of a few shouldn’t keep VCs from spotting the real potential that well-run businesses in the sector can offer. As with investments in any industry, conducting thorough research and asking smart questions can help VCs ensure they’re backing reputable companies poised to make a positive (and profitable) impact in the market. Here, 12 members of Cointelegraph Innovation Circle share tips for a VC who’s considering…

Binance Unveils Plans to List Bitcoin Ordinals on Its NFT Marketplace

Binance has been aggressively growing its NFT marketplace in a variety of ways in order to become a top platform for buying, selling, and trading NFTs. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange has expressed interest in adding Bitcoin Ordinals to its Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace by the end of May. According to the announcement, Binance will also offer royalty support and additional revenue-generating opportunities for Bitcoin NFT creators. Bitcoin Ordinals are becoming popular and unique in the NFT ecosystem thus fueling the push by Binance to add it to its…

Africa Moves to Lighting, Stablecoins as Bitcoin Transaction Fees Soar

Users of the Muun wallet, which utilizes both the bitcoin and lightning layers to process transactions, have been charged high fees, particularly those employing it for payments at South African retail chain Pick N Pay, said Kgothatso. Congestion on the mempool has meant that swaps in the Muun wallet are expensive, with users having to foot the bill, Kgothatso added. Source

Crypto Security Firm Dfns Adds Biometric Support to Wallet Development Toolkit

According to Clarisse Hagège, CEO of Dfns, which has raised $15 million of funding: “The first place a new user may start their Web3 journey is by opening a wallet, and if the UX feels foreign, cumbersome, or unfamiliar, the likelihood of conversion and retention drops precipitously.” UX stands for “user interface.” Source AddsBiometricCryptoDevelopmentDfnsFirmSecuritySupportToolkitWallet CryptoX Portal

How a $60M Ethereum Attack Shaped Crypto History

“I think the people from the [Ethereum] Foundation were not happy with what was going on at the DAO, even prior to the hack,” says Igor. “Because they thought it was way too early. And that was one of the main reasons for the rollback – it was very early.” Shockingly early, in fact: The DAO had been proposed, launched, funded, and hacked by June of 2016, less than a year after Ethereum went live. Source

Digital Asset to Start Global Blockchain Network with Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, BNP and Others

The network combines applications designed with Daml, Digital Asset’s smart contract language. Digital Asset, which is a financial technology firm, plans to introduce a global privacy-enabled interoperable blockchain network curated to offer a decentralized infrastructure for institutional clients, the announcement for which was made on Tuesday. Participants of the network, which is also called the Canton Network, include companies like BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Cboe Global Markets, Goldman Sachs, Broadridge, S&P Global, and Microsoft among others. According to Chris Zuehlke, partner at DRW and global head of Cumberland, the Canton Network…