Autor Cointelegraph By Prashant Jha

New York State Senate passes Bitcoin mining moratorium

New York State Senate passes Bitcoin mining moratorium

Uverejnil používateľ | jún 3, 2022 |

The New York State Senate approved a controversial proof-of-work (PoW) mining ban bill that would prohibit any new Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations in the state.The PoW mining ban bill was first passed by the state assembly in April last month. It aims to prohibit any new mining operations in the state for the next two years. Now, the bill is headed for the governor’s office, which once approved, would make New York the first state in the United States to place a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining.Status of the bill as of June 3. Source: New York State SenatePoW mining consensus is predominantly used by Bitcoin miners and is considered one of the safest and most decentralized ways of mining. However, the practice is controversial as it requires an incredibly high amount of energy.The vote on the bill saw many senators flip from undecided to in favor, claiming they are concerned about carbon emissions. The bill would not only prohibit new mining operations but also refuse the renewal of licenses to those who are already operating in the state. Any new PoW mining operation in the state could only operate if it uses 100% renewable energy.Bitcoin’s mining consensus mechanism has been one of the hottest topics of debate among policymakers aided by environmentalist and billionaire lobbies supporting proof-of-stake mining consensus, which is far less energy intensive. Greenpeace, as well as Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen have been campaigning for a change of the Bitcoin code.Policymakers often only focus on the high energy consumption by Bitcoin miners, ignoring the fact that a significant chunk of this energy comes from renewable sources, especially in New York where 50% of the energy is produced from renewable sources.Related: NY State Supreme Court dismisses petition against crypto mining companyCriticism of PoW mining gained steam last year at the peak of the bull run. However, by the end of the last year, a MicroStrategy-led Bitcoin mining council report highlighted that more than 60% of the electricity consumption by the BTC network comes from clean sources.Sustainable energy usage by Bitcoin vs other industries. Source: BMCThe European Parliament proposed a similar PoW mining ban, however, it amended the proposal to remove the ban amid growing public scrutiny.Experts believe New York’s decision to ban PoW mining would create a domino effect and other states might follow. The U.S is currently the world leader in Bitcoin mining hash rate, accounting for 38% of the network’s mining power.

Čítaj viac
South Korean government becomes an early investor in metaverse

South Korean government becomes an early investor in metaverse

Uverejnil používateľ | jún 2, 2022 |

South Korea, a nation known for its strict crypto regulatory stance, is betting big on the metaverse. The government will invest over 223.7 billion won ($177.1 million) directly in various metaverse projects.The decision to invest in the nascent metaverse tech makes South Korea one of the first national governments to do so. The investment came under the ‘Digital New Deal’ program set up to invest in emerging technologies.The program is headed by the country’s science and information and communication technologies ministry led by Lim Hyesook. Hyesook called the metaverse “an uncharted digital continent with indefinite potential,” indicating the government’s interest in taking lead in the metaverse tech.The national fund would be first utilized to build a metropolitan level metaverse platform that would allow citizens to access various government schemes and services virtually, reported CNBC. The South Korean government’s investment in metaverse projects could prompt other nations to follow the suit. The reports about the South Korean government’s rising interest in the metaverse first came in February when two major retailers launched metaverse and artificial intelligence integration for their platforms to enhance customer experience. Related: South Korea embraces the proto-metaverseSouth Korea has been known to be a technologically progressive nation and it has taken proactive steps to promote the nascent technology of blockchain. It was among the first governments to introduce blockchain use cases for government offices, which set the precedent for other countries to follow.Metaverse is a virtual reality setup with a nonfungible token acting as a commodity ( a piece of land, cloth, avatar, etc.). Although the concept is quite new, it has generated the biggest hype in the crypto world after NFTs. All major mainstream tech firms, be it Facebook, Google or even Apple have shown great interest in the concept. Facebook went as far as changing its whole brand to Meta.Metaverse was one of the key topics of discussion during the recently concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) 2022, where experts predicted that metaverse would help in various fields especially medical and rescue operations where at times it becomes impossible for humans to carry out tasks in person, and a virtual reality set-up can help immensely.

Čítaj viac
Goldman Sachs reportedly eyes crypto derivatives markets with FTX integration

Goldman Sachs reportedly eyes crypto derivatives markets with FTX integration

Uverejnil používateľ | jún 1, 2022 |

Goldman Sachs, one of the leading investment banks in the United States is reportedly trying to onboard some of its derivatives products into FTX.US crypto derivatives offerings.Goldman Sachs has been in talks with FTX over regulatory and public listing help, and aims to expand into crypto derivatives offering by leveraging some of its own derivatives tools and services, reported Barron’s.FTX.US, the U.S. subsidiary of global cryptocurrency exchange FTX is currently seeking to offer brokerage services for its derivatives offerings. This would allow the crypto exchange to handle the collateral and margin requirements internally rather than depending on “futures commission merchants” (FCMs). FTX.US president Brett Harrison said:“We have multiple FCMs already committed to integrating technologically with the exchange. There are several large ones you can probably name.”The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sought public comments on the requested amendment from the crypto exchange. The chief regulatory body also believes that FTX’s proposal warrants scrutiny as it would lead to a monopoly by large investment banks such as Goldman.Related: FTX executive Wetjen calls CFTC application an opportunity for the agency to innovateAccording to people familiar with the matter, the integration of Goldman Sachs derivatives services would offer “trading futures directly, introducing clients and acting as an on-ramp to the exchange, or providing capital top-ups for clients.” FTX has argued that an integrated brokerage model would help in making the market more stable and free. In a recent roundtable discussion with the CFTC, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried fielded several questions about crypto derivatives and FTX’s proposal to integrate its own FCM.Crypto derivatives trading has been a topic of debate for quite some time, with many European and even the U.S. prohibiting most of the crypto exchanges from offering leveraged trading. Binance had to shut its derivatives offerings in several European countries post regulatory interventions.On one hand, CFTC has called for greater scrutiny of FTX’s amendment demand, while on the other, FTX argues that an integrated brokerage model would help them calculate calculates margin requirements every 30 seconds, rather than waiting until the next day to liquidate positions.

Čítaj viac
Gov't says crypto miners consume 2% of total electricity in Russia

Gov't says crypto miners consume 2% of total electricity in Russia

Uverejnil používateľ | máj 30, 2022 |

Crypto miners account for two percent of the total electricity consumption in Russia, according to the latest government estimate.The energy consumption share of the crypto mining industry has exceeded the country’s agricultural sector, showing signs of recovery after Russia fell out of the top three in the global Bitcoin (BTC) mining hash rate share.Russia’s deputy minister of trade and industry Vasily Shpak called for bringing the mining industry under the purview of law in the wake of the recent mining estimate. He said:”Do you know how much mining accounts for in the overall map of electricity generation in our country? And I’ll tell you: more than 2%. This is more than the cost of electricity for agriculture. We cannot but recognize mining in this sense as an industrial activity or industry.”Crypto mining in Russia falls under the “gray zone‘ where even though it is not banned, it is not regulated either, which creates a risk for those involved in the industry. The deputy minister also assured that once the crypto mining industry is regulated, it would move toward more energy-intensive methods.Related: Amid sanctions, Russia weighs crypto for international payments: ReportThe calls for regulating the crypto mining industry come just days after legislators in the country introduced an updated version of the crypto mining bill. The updated bill removed two sub-sections – the obligation for mining operators to join a special registry and a one-year tax amnesty for all those who’ve registered.Apart from the deputy minister of trade, the country’s prime minister Mikhail Mishustin has also batted for looking into the crypto mining industry, In April Mishustin has said:”We also think that in order to stimulate investment, primarily in fixed capital, we can discuss mining issues, this is the creation of data centers and related infrastructure,”The Russian central bank on the other hand continues to call for a blanket ban on mining operations in the country.Bitcoin mining hash rate share. Source: CBECIRussia’s BTC mining hash rate share dropped to 4.55% behind Kazakhstan, China and the United States in the latest report from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI).

Čítaj viac
Finance Redefined: Uniswap breaches $1T volume, WEF 2022 discussion on Terra, and more

Finance Redefined: Uniswap breaches $1T volume, WEF 2022 discussion on Terra, and more

Uverejnil používateľ | máj 28, 2022 |

The decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem continues to struggle with the ongoing market volatility and after-effects of the Terra ecosystem collapse. Over the past week, major DeFi protocols showed signs of increased trading activity, with Uniswap breaching the $1 trillion trading volume mark.Terra remained the focus of most of the discussions around blockchain and crypto at the World Economic Forum (WEF), with analysts suggesting Terra was offering unsustainable yields. DeFi insurance protocol to pay out millions after Terra collapse, while interest in Ethereum Name Services (ENS) shattered new records.Top DeFi tokens by market cap had a mixed week of price action, with several tokens in the top 100 registering double-digit gains over the past week, while many others continue to trade in the red.WEF 2022: Terra was offering unsustainable yields and DeFi can support financial inclusionReporting from the inaugural day of the Blockchain Hub Davos 2022 conference, Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief, Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr, hosted a panel discussion centered around DeFi titled “Programmable Money is Here — and It’s Changing the World as We Know It.”Coral Capital’s Horsman shared that the Terra crisis partly occurred because “they were essentially offering yields that were unsustainable, and [that] there were venture capital firms that were bootstrapping those yields in order to bootstrap an ecosystem.” He noted that his firm decided to withdraw funds from the project in November–December 2021 after their reserve modeling data predicted worrying calculations for the future.Continue readingInsurAce says it will pay millions to claimants after Terra’s collapseDeFi insurance protocol InsurAce says it was well within its rights to reduce the claims period for people affected by the TerraUSD (UST) depegging event from 15 days to seven — but added it has already processed nearly all 173 submitted claims and will pay out $11 million.InsurAce (INSUR) is the third-largest insurance provider for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, with a market cap of $15 million. On May 13, InsurAce caused a stir when it announced it had shortened the claims window for those with cover related to Anchor (ANC), Mirror (MIR), and stablecoin UST following the collapse of the Terra layer-1 blockchain.Continue readingUniswap breaks $1T in volume — but has only been used by 3.9M addressesDecentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap has topped $1 trillion in total trading volume since launching on Ethereum in late 2018.That comes from a relatively small user base, however, indicating that there is a lot of potential growth to come. According to data from Uniswap Labs, which are major contributors to the development of the protocol and ecosystem, the DEX’s number of cumulative addresses hit around 3.9 million this month after just over three years.Continue readingInterest in Ethereum Name Service reaching ‘critical mass’The Ethereum Name Service is having its best month on record for new registrations, account renewals and revenue, thanks to community awareness and low gas fees.Lead developer at ENS Nick Johnson tweeted on Monday that the metrics for the Web3 domain service through May so far. He noted that numbers were poised to shatter existing records because they were already at all-time highs, “and there’s still a week of May left.”Continue readingDeFi market overviewAnalytical data reveals that DeFi’s total value locked continued to show outflow in the past week as well, falling to $79 billion, a $5 billion decline over the past week. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView reveals that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization registered a week filled with volatile price action and constant bearish pressure.Majority of the DeFi tokens in the top-100 ranking by market cap traded in red, barring a few. Aave (AAVE) was the biggest gainer with a 15% surge, followed by Loopring (LRC) with 14%. Tezos (XTZ) saw an11% price rise while Kava (KAVA) grew by 10%. Before you go!Do Kown’s Terra revival proposal finally got approved. Kwon’s “Terra Ecosystem Restoration Plan” is to create new coins and give them out to investors who lost money. “Let’s call the existing Terra blockchain network ‘Terra Classic,’ and the present Luna blockchain, ‘Luna Classic,’ and create a new Terra blockchain,” CEO Kwon tweeted on May 18.Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us again next Friday for more stories, insights and education in this dynamically advancing space.

Čítaj viac

Získaj BONUS 8 € v Bitcoinoch

nakup bitcoin z karty

Registrácia Binance

Burza Binance

Aktuálne kurzy