Labor market strength continued in a big way in January, with the U.S. adding 353,000 jobs versus economist forecasts for 180,000 and against December’s 333,000 (revised from an originally reported 216,000), according to the government’s nonfarm payrolls report released Friday morning. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% versus expectations for a rise to 3.8%. Original
“When I read the press release and the filing my initial thought was, Interesting. Maybe this will turn out to be a net positive for the industry,” Bent wrote. However, after digging deeper, he called the survey “one of the more Orwellian things I’ve seen come out of this Administration,” as it requires very granular data, such as specific information about mining fleets and hash rate data. Source
Analysts at blockchain forensic firm PeckShield say the crypto industry witnessed over 600 hack incidents over the past year. In an X post on Jan. 29, PeckShield released an infographic highlighting the extensive scale of hacker attacks targeting the crypto sector in 2023. According to their data, crypto investors faced losses amounting to $2.6 billion due to illicit activities, with a recovery of nearly $675 million. PeckShield’s findings reveal that investors suffered losses of over $1.5 billion from hacks and an additional $1.1 billion from scam schemes, reflecting a 27.78%…
The Information Commissioner’s Office is partnering with education, law enforcement and social service organisations to raise awareness about responsible data sharing to protect children from harm. The data protection regulator has launched a myth-busting campaign called ‘Think. Check. Share.’ which demonstrates how data protection law can help organisations to share personal information when required to safeguard children and young people. The National Day Nurseries Association, the Early Years Alliance, the College of Policing, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Confederation of School Trusts are among the first organisations to work…
“While bitcoin ETFs have seen net inflows of $820M, bitcoin whales have seen an increase of ~$3B (76,000 BTC) so far in 2024,” IntoTheBlock said in a weekly newsletter. “Whales include any entity, individual, or fund (including the ETFs) holding over 1,000 BTC.” Original
Axiom, a smart contract platform, has successfully secured $20 million in a Series A funding round, according to official blog. The funding round was led by prominent crypto-focused venture firms Paradigm and Standard Crypto, with additional investments from Robot Ventures and Ethereal Ventures. This milestone marks a crucial step in Axiom’s mission to revolutionize the accessibility of authenticated data on blockchain networks. At the core of Axiom’s strategy lies the innovative use of zero-knowledge cryptography. Unlike traditional consensus mechanisms that require all nodes to agree on a state of data,…
“At the end of the day, a zero-knowledge proof is basically a computer that can provide a receipt for what it did,” said Alok Vasudev, the co-founder of Standard Crypto, in an interview with CoinDesk. “In Axiom’s case, I think now we’re starting to really uncover new areas and think about new markets that can be opened up by this same core technology.” Source
A wallet associated with the defunct crypto lending platform Celsius deposited $30.34 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) to Coinbase on Monday, according to the crypto tracker Lookonchain. Lookonchain also notes that Celsius deposited $5.13 million worth of ETH to the crypto exchange FalconX. Celsius’ two staking wallets still hold a total of 557,081 Ethereum worth around $1.3 billion. Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 after its native token, CEL, plummeted by 99% and it was unable to fulfill withdrawals. In July, the project’s founder, Alex Machinsky, was arrested and…
Bitcoin traded at a fat premium on Bitfinex compared to the global average price over the weekend, hinting at bargain hunting by whales. Original
“With Stork’s real-time pricing data, trading venues can manage their perpetual swaps and options books with greater accuracy, reducing the risk of loss related to liquidations when a customer’s positions are undercollateralized,” said the press release. Source