When this “truly decentralized” blockchain launched on May 7, 2020, it had not sold a single token. A year later, Free TON still hasn’t — and won’t — TON Labs CTO Mitja Goroshevsky said on a May 3 Cointelegraph AMA. That’s unique for a proof-of-stake blockchain, which generally relies on validators who stake a fair amount of a project’s tokens to ensure good behavior. But then, very little is normal about the Free TON project, which arose from the ashes of Telegram messaging service’s Telegram Open Network blockchain. In that incarnation, Telegram presold $1.7 billion worth of tokens to investors. …

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin thinks that crypto is in a bubble and that the energy debate swirling around Bitcoin (BTC) mining requires the blockhain to embrace technological change. Buterin spoke with CNN on Tuesday, noting that "We've had at least three of these big crypto bubbles so far." He added that it could have ended already, or it could end months from now. i like this kid https://t.co/4wRBuwSObQ — Dmitry ButΞrin (@BlockGeekDima) May 20, 2021 The 27-year-old didn’t comment on whether the recent crash that sent Bitcoin down to around $30,000 was an indicator of the crypto bubble ending, but …

The impressive 816% gain of Cardano's ADA coin in 2021 catapulted the smart contract platform's market capitalization to $61 billion. To fully grasp how far this third-generation protocol has gone, the absolute leader, Ether (ETH), held the same valuation just six months ago. As AD's price evolves, so do its derivatives markets, and the nearly $1 billion in futures open interest poses both an opportunity and a threat for the price. Cautious investors will now question whether the $200 billion in potential liquidations are around the corner, drawing similarities to the 23% crash that occurred on April 17. DeFi is …

The number of Ethereum addresses that hold more than or equal to 32 Ether (ETH) has been declining, pointing at a possible lack of interest among traders and investors to become “full validators” for its upcoming proof-of-stake blockchain. At the same time, the price of ETH has rebounded back above $4,000 on Friday, while Bitcoin (BTC) tries to reclaim $51,000 following this week’s “Elon candle” plunge. Eth2 validators wanted? On-chain data analytics platform Glassnode revealed that the number of externally owned Ethereum addresses (EOA) fell to its lowest levels in the last 17-months — to 108,915. As of November last …

Bull market cycles in the cryptocurrency market can be exhilarating for day traders and long-term investors alike, but the speed at which the prices move can make it a challenge for promising new projects that are looking to catch the momentum before the cycle plays itself out. This reality has led to some projects listed on exchanges in the form of token IOUs so that interested parties can get in on the trading action before the token is officially released. Polkadot (DOT) is one of the most well-known examples of a token that went through this process. Casper (CSPR), a …

As the blockchain sector continues to evolve, occasional protocol updates are needed to ensure projects stay up to date with the latest developments and provide users wit the best user experience possible. Since May 5, EOS price has rallied more than 100% following a recent protocol upgrade that increases the project's inflation rate. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $6.18 on May 5, the price of EOS has catapulted more than 100% to a mid-day high of $12.85 on May 6 thanks to a record $15 billion in 24-hour trading volume. Protocol …

Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of the world’s most popular smart contract platform, the Ethereum blockchain, has officially become a crypto billionaire. Buterin’s public Ether address, which he described as his main wallet back in 2018, has hit $1 billion on its balance following Ether’s meteoric rise above a $3,000 price mark on Monday. At the time of writing, the address holds around 333,500 Ether (ETH) now worth $1.029 billion, according to on-chain data from Etherscan, as ETH more than quadrupled in value from around $700 at the beginning of 2021. At publishing time, the world’s largest altcoin is trading at …

After a recent slump across cryptocurrency markets, Ether has surged to new all-time highs off the back of a number of important events and metrics. Overall, 2021 promises to be a crucial year for the Ethereum blockchain as developers continue to work toward the network’s integration with Ethereum 2.0, which will see the blockchain part ways with its original proof-of-work consensus algorithm in favor of the touted energy- and cost-efficient proof-of-stake consensus. While the technical details may not concern many day-to-day Ether (ETH) users and traders, the recent price action of ETH, coupled with a number of significant events, suggests …

In the latest Cointelegraph Crypto Duel, founder of Digiconomist Alex de Vries and CEO and founder of Blockchain for Climate Joseph Pallant debated the intensity of Bitcoin’s footprint and possible paths forward to reduce it. As pointed out by de Vries, Bitcoin’s energy consumption has been increasing together with its network. The analyst predicts its carbon footprint could increase tremendously as Bitcoin gets closer to mass adoption. “I fear that this will quickly get completely out of control if adoption increases a lot more”, he said. According to de Vries, as long as Bitcoin functions with a proof-of-work system, bringing …

The University of Wyoming is allocating $4 million to running nodes and staking at least three cryptocurrencies. The news was shared to Twitter on April 28 by Caitlin Long, a Wyoming Blockchain and Fintech Select Committee appointee and founder of Avanti Bank & Trust — a local bank servicing the digital asset sector. NEWS NOT REPORTED YET: State of #Wyoming appropriated $4m for nodes/staking in at least 3 cryptocurrencies, run by Univ of Wyoming. This kickstarts program where gains from this pool, if matched by private donations, go to fund UWyo! @rothfuss https://t.co/LDul3iGtS4 pic.twitter.com/KxFVm5YhLp — Caitlin Long (@CaitlinLong_) April 28, …

A blockchain financial services provider now offers an Ethereum 2.0 validator node hosting service that does not charge fees or take a cut of the staking rewards. Abyss Finance promises to make earning rewards for validating transactions on the in-development Ethereum 2.0 proof-of-stake blockchain as cheap and safe as possible. To begin with, Abyss Finance moves beyond the usual methods by which validator node hosts earn money. Some staking services demand a 10% to 15% cut of the rewards generated, while others charge a hosting fee for virtual nodes. In exchange for locking into a staking contract with an unlock …

A blockchain-based travel booking site has teamed up with a leading online travel agency in a deal that could bring its consumer-focused hotel and airfare reservation marketplace before a global audience. Australia-based Webjet has invested $4.1 million into LockTrip with a view toward integrating the consumer travel site and its LOC blockchain into the Webjet OTA platform — an industry leader in its home country and New Zealand. In addition, Webjet will explore migrating its own enterprise blockchain project, the Rezchain booking verification system, onto LockTrip’s decentralized, proof-of-stake Hydra Chain. That would be a big step towards LockTrip’s ultimate goal …