Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has recently published an alternative proposal for an early transition to Ethereum 2.0. In a Dec. 23 post on the ETH Research forum, Buterin has set out an “accelerated schedule” for the transition from Ethereum 1.0 to Ethereum 2.0 through a new type of ETH validator referred to as “eth1-friendly validators.” According to Vitalik, this new alternative proposal will require less “rearchitecting” in the network. He wrote: “Specifically, it requires stateless clients, but NOT stateless miners and NOT webassembly, and so requires much less rearchitecting to accomplish.” At the same time, the proposed alternative transition would …

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) focused firm BitcoinBCH has potentially misled the public into believing that Bitcoin (BTC) double spends can be easily carried out. On Dec. 18, BitcoinBCH’s CEO Hayden Otto published a video on YouTube allegedly showing how TravelByBit’s Bitcoin Point of Sale (PoS) wallet misleads merchants into believing that they were paid before a transaction is actually concluded. Hayden Otto also runs a competing BCH-based PoS solution called Hula. Countering the claims In a recent interview, a TravelByBit representative said that merchants using its service are insured against fraud and will not lose money. The firm’s founder Caleb Yeoh …

Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has announced the latest version of its Ledger Live application, adding support for Tezos (XTZ) and Tezos staking. Unveiled last year, Ledger Live is a software solution that allows Ledger hardware wallet users the ability to manage their digital assets via a smartphone or computer. Ledger Live lets users check their cryptocurrency balance and send or receive tokens, while maintaining control of their private keys. Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier told Cointelegraph: “Ledger aims to combine security with a seamless user experience. The announcement with Tezos is exactly part of this mission. Ledger Live makes it easy …

The Italian Society of Authors and Publishers (SIAE) has teamed up with Algorand to develop a new ecosystem for copyright management, based on Algorand’s recently launched blockchain platform. SIAE had already started to develop the project – with the help of “La Sapienza” University of Rome and consulting company Blockchain Core. SIAE has now decided to focus on the Algorand platform for its by design public nature and its high performance. Algorand uses a pure Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol that guarantees decentralization, scalability and security, making it particularly suitable for handling the swarm of metadata and transactions necessary in copyright management. …

The centralization of EOS has again emerged as a contentious issue within the cryptocurrency community, with the firm that created the EOSIO software, Block.One, participating in electoral procedures to choose the Block Producers for the EOS blockchain. On Nov. 28, EOS Block Producer EOS New York tweeted screenshots of Whois search results that suggest that six of EOS’s total pool of Block Producers are managed by just a single entity, intensifying criticism of the network’s centralization. EOS’s blockchain is secured using a delegated proof-of-stake model, with 21 Block Producers elected to operate EOS token holders to exclusively operate the network’s …

The institutional asset custody arm of United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase has announced it is transitioning to an internationally-based staking service as of Nov. 21. In rolling out its staking services to a global investor base, Coinbase Custody appears to be leveraging its brand recognition to promote staking as a key emergent investment strategy for the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. The announcement states the custodian intends to offer all of its global clients “appropriate access to crypto first features like staking.” Coinbase Custody has been offering an institution-grade staking service for Tezos (XTZ) as of March 2019 — subject to …

Earlier this month, the Ethereum Foundation team lead Péter Szilágyi confirmed the date of the network’s upcoming upgrade, Istanbul. Ethereum’s eighth hard fork overall and the second one this year was due to take place on Dec. 4. However, on Nov. 20, per the official announcement, the date estimate was moved to around Dec. 7. Istanbul will introduce a number of improvements such as interoperability with Zcash, cheaper zero-knowledge layer two scalability solutions, and adjusted gas price for certain operations, marking another milestone along the road to Ethereum 2.0, a highly anticipated “ultimate” version of the network. How exactly does …

While the proof-of-authority consensus algorithm is turning into perhaps one of the most mature versions of blockchain technology. It is faster than other algorithms, more scalable, and does not depend on mining. Market leaders Walmart and GE Aviation are using PoA to track supply chains, and Microsoft has created a whole line of PoA-based enterprise products. Nevertheless, there is something in this innovative mechanism that contradicts the basic principles of cryptocurrencies — decentralization and anonymity. Cointelegraph talked to technology companies to find out how PoA products work, and what benefits the use of this algorithm brings them. How it differs …

Switzerland’s main stock exchange SIX has listed a Tezos-based exchange-traded product (ETP) that enables investors to generate passive income. Traded under the symbol AXTZ, the product is issued by fintech Amun AG in partnership with the Tezos Foundation. It went live for trading on Nov. 5. Passive yield According to an overview of the instrument, the ETP’s investment objective is both to provide exposure to the performance of Tezos while generating additional yield for investors through so-called “baking rewards.” Similarly to other proof-of-stake (PoS)-based blockchains, Tezos investors are able to passively earn a form of “interest” by staking — depositing …

Team lead at the Ethereum (ETH) Foundation Péter Szilágyi has confirmed Dec. 4 as the expected date for the network’s forthcoming Istanbul hard fork. In two tweets posted on Nov. 7, Szilágyi indicated that Istanbul will commence at block 9069000. He provided Geth mainnet node operators with a link to a new maintenance release designed to begin the hard fork’s initialization. Geth is the name given to one of the two most popular clients used to operate nodes on the Ethereum network — the other being Parity, which will update upon the activation of Istanbul but is now in the …

The world’s 3rd largest crypto exchange OKEx has announced it will be listing Tezos (XTZ) later this week. In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on Nov. 4, OKeX said that XTZ deposits will be available as of 09.000 UTC on Nov. 6, with XTZ spot trading against Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) to launch at 9.00 UTC on Nov. 7. XTZ withdrawals will be functional from 09.00 UTC on Nov. 8. Driving participation Tezos — founded by former Morgan Stanley analyst Arthur Breitman and Kathleen Breitman — is a multi-purpose blockchain platform that supports decentralized applications and smart contracts. The …

Ethereum development firm CasperLabs announced “Highway,” allegedly the first correct-by-construction Casper Proof of Stake (PoS) implementation that is provably live and safe. Provably safe and live According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Nov. 1, a protocol is safe if it is consistent in its decision and live if it guarantees a decision. CasperLabs claims that both those features are part of Highway and that their presence is provable. The firm also released a full research paper concerning the project. Casper is the name given to Ethereum’s PoS implementation and Highway — this particular version — has been …