Bitcoin code contributors need to consider a move away from the cryptocurrency’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen argued. In a Wednesday blog post, Larsen outlined major PoW-related vulnerabilities, noting growing concerns over Bitcoin’s carbon footprint. According to the executive, PoW-based coins like Bitcoin (BTC) should consider a code change to carbon-neutral validation methods like proof-of-stake or federated consensus, or something yet to be developed. “I would argue that such a change is critically important for Bitcoin to remain the world’s dominant cryptocurrency. PoW’s current energy demands and carbon footprint are already unsustainably high, with Bitcoin alone consuming an …

Ubisoft, the video game studio behind popular titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia and the Tom Clancy series, will become a corporate Tezos baker, or validator node. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Ubisoft announced its partnership with Tezos-backed Nomadic Labs that will see the latter creating a validator node on the Tezos network. @Ubisoft is exploring #Tezos technology by becoming a corporate baker. Welcome to the ecosystem! Read the announcement: https://t.co/ZM1IzBTVCM#blockchain #DigitalTransformation #crypto #Ubisoft pic.twitter.com/6wKCQIFAOJ — Nomadic Labs (@LabosNomades) April 20, 2021 As a Tezos baker, Ubisoft via its Strategic Innovation Lab will join the group of …

Cryptocurrency mining rig manufacturer Bitmain announced the pending release of a new Ether (ETH) miner on Friday. The Antminer E9 model is an application-specific integrated circuit chip that will run on the Ethereum blockchain’s Ethash algorithm. No official release date has been announced for the E9 yet, however, the machine’s arrival may not be as impactful as first suspected. The rig faces competition in the form of Nvidia’s CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor) range of GPUs designed specifically for crypto mining. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s scheduled move away from proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism could mean the E9’s utility will be short-lived. …

With adoption accelerating, blockchain’s potential to transform life in every way — from how business is conducted to labor division, operating systems and methods of collaboration — comes closer to fruition every day. If blockchain is the foundation to a truly digital model, then governance is the key to linking together the on and off-chain worlds. Governance itself encompasses and dictates the functionality of blockchain, from its organization structure to workflow execution, voting and incentives. Conceptually, governance can be understood as on and off-chain; the former being divided into protocol and contract levels. With the blockchain space rapidly diversifying, governance …

Breaking new all-time highs, the recent price action of Ether (ETH) took the crypto market by storm and signaled an official start to alt season. Several analysts are predicting that Ether will surpass its previous all-time high of $2,130 and continue to outperform Bitcoin in the foreseeable future. Price predictions aside, Ethereum is undeniably leading the charge in crypto, being home to flagship decentralized finance and nonfungible token projects. However, this move comes at a time when the network is at a major crossroads. Although many layer-one projects have been labeled as “Ethereum killers” over the years, Ethereum is only …

Blockchain security provider Sigma Prime has announced its first merge transaction between the two Ethereum networks. The transaction was made by its Lighthouse client using only Proof of Stake validators, it stated in a March 25 tweet. It added that this was a step towards a 99.98% drop in Ethereum energy consumption, deriving that figure from calculations that compare the current Proof of Work Eth1 with the much more efficient Proof of Stake Eth2. Sigma Prime stated that it is an exciting achievement but still far from production as it is still a prototype with much more work to do, …

Cashback rewards for purchases have long been a popular tactic used by banks and credit card companies to entice consumers to use their services. Several cryptocurrency companies like BlockFi and Coinbase have revealed future plans to offer cryptocurrency-backed debit and credit cards that offer cashback rewards in Bitcoin and StormX (STMX) has joined the crowd. StormX (STMX) is a gamified marketplace that allows users to earn STMX as well as other cryptocurrencies for shopping at one of its online network partner stores or by completing micro-tasks through its app. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of …

That’s about 10 times more hopefuls than are likely to secure tokens in the sale. It’s the first of three phases to Casper’s token sale and commenced on March 23 at midnight UTC. Investors are competing for 800 million CSPR tokens at prices of $0.015, with the tokens subject to a 12-month lock-up. Participants are limited to purchasing between $100 and $1,000 worth of tokens each. If every investor invests the full $1,000 allocated to them, only 12,000 investors will be able to participate. With 15% of tokens already sold and more than 100,000 people queued up, the only way …

Though Ether’s (ETH) value has continued to showcase increasing signs of stability around the $1,800 range over the past fortnight or so, users of the premier altcoin’s network have been faced with rising gas fees as well as increasing network congestion issues. To put things into perspective, since summer last year, a time when the DeFi boom was starting to peak, Ethereum’s network fees have more than doubled. While this fee increase quite directly relates to ETH’s increasing value, there is no denying that it also clearly shows growing demand for ERC-20 tokens, stablecoins, as well as various decentralized finance-based …

Ryan Watkins, a senior research analyst at crypto analysis firm Messari, has speculated that Ether (ETH) could overtake Bitcoin (BTC) as the largest crypto asset once its Eth2 and proof-of-stake overhaul is complete. Appearing on YouTube show FinTech Today on March 18, Watkins noted that while he does not know “if or when” Ether will flip Bitcoin, he does believe Ether could emerge as the leading crypto asset in the future, due to Eth2, stating: “The selling point of Bitcoin over Ethereum as a store of value asset boils down its monetary policy being very predictable and the Bitcoin blockchain …

The EIP-1559 is a network upgrade that seeks to send a small fraction of the fee associated with all ETH transactions directly to the network. The tokens will be subsequently burned, thereby reducing the overall number of coins in circulation at any given point. As a result of the proposal, many expect Ethereum’s existing scalability issues and transaction fees to be largely mitigated. Also, if EIP-1559 does go live, it stands to have a significant impact on the overall revenue of Ether miners. It is being said that as a result of the proposal, miner profits may drop by a …

A new entrant climbed into the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization on Tuesday, after a 75% overnight surge compounded 700% weekly growth for blockchain enterprise project Orbs. The day prior, the project's ORBS token had been announced as the latest addition to Moonstake’s staking wallet, which returns interest to users who stake their cryptocurrencies. The partnership between Orbs and Moonstake will also see the pair combine to increase the adoption of blockchain technology in the banking and finance industry, according to a Monday announcement. From a starting price in the $0.168 range, the value of the Ethereum-based ORBS token …