Decred (DCR) prices soared by as much as 45% on April 18 before paring some gains as traders bet on a major hard fork that aims to prevent pump-and-dump schemes by miners. Key Decred network upgrade in three weeks DCR rallied by nearly 45% to over $86 in one day, its highest level in four months. Moreover, the massive upside move accompanied a similarly huge spike in its trading volumes, confirming that most traders backed the intraday bullish momentum. Traders flocked to buying Decred ahead of a key upgrade slated for early May that would reduce the DCR mining reward …

Over the course of 2020, numerous countries across the globe raced toward their own digital versions of their currencies, known as central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. The crypto industry still has its selling points, however, even if most countries launched CBDCs, according to Jake Yocom-Piatt, co-founder of crypto project Decred. “I expect many nation states will create their own CBDCs in the not-so-distant future, but there is a key differentiator between CBDCs and cryptocurrencies,” Yocom-Piatt told Cointelegraph. “Cryptocurrencies, e.g. Bitcoin and Decred, are fundamentally fairer systems than fiat currencies, so while CBDCs may adopt many cryptocurrency features, they cannot …

Since breaking through the critical psychological resistance at $20,000, Bitcoin (BTC) price has moved even higher. In the early trading hours, the top-ranked digital asset pushed as high as $23,800 before pulling back to $23,000 but the trend of investors purchasing each dip appears to still be in play. Although Bitcoin is clearly in a bull phase, many investors are wary to buy at the current levels due to fears of a sharp reversal taking place. Therefore, they are on the lookout for other 'less expensive' tokens that are backed by strong fundamentals and also look attractive on the charts. …

Since its launch approximately 12 years ago, Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a number of bull and bear cycles, each greater than the last. What drives these cycles, however? Decred co-founder Jake Yocom-Piatt has claimed that the answer lies within the human brain. “Bitcoin’s bull and bear cycles are functions of generic human psychology, attention spans, and its deterministic and diminishing issuance,” Yocom-Piatt told Cointelegraph. Over the years, various parties have argued different cases for Bitcoin’s cycles, including PlanB’s stock-to-flow model, which projects future Bitcoin prices based on its programmed halving events every four years. Bitcoin is unlike any asset before …

As a burgeoning industry less than 13 years old, cryptocurrency has seen its fair share of regulatory crackdowns and changes, especially in the United States. Jake Yocom-Piatt, co-founder of Decred, however, sees the nation as the most crypto-friendly. “Cryptocurrencies are treated as personal property in most jurisdictions, so their tax treatment is relatively uniform,” Yocom-Piatt said. He continued: “Cryptocurrency transactions are a form of speech, so states where free speech is protected are the least likely to restrict cryptocurrencies. While the U.S. currently suffers from many substantial sociopolitical problems, the combination of its freedom of speech with protections against forced …

PayPal could be gearing up to work with crypto assets, according to recent rumblings, although Decred co-founder Jake Yocom-Piatt is unsure of those rumors' validity. “It's hard to say whether these are rumors or not regarding PayPal accepting cryptocurrencies soon," Yocom-Piatt told Cointelegraph via email correspondence when asked about the rumors. The pairing does not seem like a fit Recent news showed PayPal seeking to fill crypto and blockchain-related job positions, while rumors circulated of the platform listing crypto assets. Although the addition would bring digital assets greater availability, Yocom-Piatt added that the move would not line up with PayPal's …

As Bitcoin (BTC) continues to pick up mainstream traction, the asset's blockchain scalability remains an issue, according to Decred co-founder Jake Yocom-Piatt. "There is enough demand for on-chain Bitcoin transactions during peak demand times to completely fill blocks and drive fee rates up substantially," Yocom-Piatt told Cointelegraph, noting the struggles Bitcoin's network may face during times of increased activity, given the number of interested parties. Bitcoin scaling has been an issue for years When it comes to mass adoption, Bitcoin's ability to work effectively under high traffic conditions has been in question for a number of years. The debate caused …

The cryptocurrency industry was initially headlined as anonymous digital cash. While experts were keen to point out that this was not exactly the case, Bitcoin (BTC) found initial popularity in darknet markets such as Silk Road, where merchants sold illegal goods ranging from light drugs to, allegedly, hitman services. Founded in 2011, Silk Road thrived for the next two years until the Federal Bureau of Investigation shut it down in 2013. Authorities later revealed that completely free blockchain explorers aided their investigative efforts. Bitcoin’s transaction ledger is completely open for the public to view. What the blockchain does lack is …

This is the first of two articles providing a deeper dive into the eternal debate between the proof-of-stake and proof-of-work consensus algorithms. This part will focus on the basics, while also discussing the issue of wealth concentration and inequality, which is often at the center of any community argument. Bitcoin (BTC) and many of the original cryptocurrencies were born as pure proof-of-work systems. Proof-of-stake was first pioneered in 2013 by Peercoin, a project that exists to this day. Peercoin’s contribution to the popularity of PoS is likely dwarfed by Ethereum (ETH) and its goal to transition from PoW — which …

On Aug. 28, cryptocurrency project Decred announced that it is adding a few new privacy-focused features to its cryptocurrency DCR. According to Decred’s official blog, the goal of these new features is to be “simple, adaptable, and creative.” The post explains: “Decred has implemented a variant of CoinShuffle++ in its wallet. Although it is possible to perform this process in an entirely peer-to-peer (“P2P”) fashion, that overlooks constraints that come from routing over the public internet, so we have created both a server, csppserver, and integrated the client into dcrwallet. [...] It is expected that roughly 12.5% of all decred …

Blockchain platform Qtum is introducing Bitcoin (BTC) atomic swaps to its mainnet infrastructure, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph Jan. 9. Atomic swaps are a technology that enables the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another without the need for a trusted third party or centralized exchange infrastructure. The implementation of Qtum-to-BTC atomic swaps has been achieved with the use of the Hash Time-Locked Contracts (HTLCs) technology and is based on the code of the open-source cryptocurrency Decred. HTLC — according to Qtum’s announcement — are the most secure way of implementing the swaps. The team has also announced …

Since Bitcoin’s introduction in 2009, there have been several attempts to include a decision-making process as part of the rules of a blockchain. This is called on-chain governance, a formalized way in which a group of people can make changes by voting through the protocol. The purpose behind it is to provide a clear-cut path to consensus. What are some examples of people using on-chain governance? It can include — but is not limited to — the following three topics: Changes in the existing protocol and parameters of a blockchain. Retroactively make changes to the state of the blockchain. Distribution …