United States President Joe Biden’s executive order on digital assets has kickstarted an interagency mission to support financial innovation while protecting American consumers and interests. While many industry leaders welcome the constructive tone, some critics hope for a crackdown. We don’t blame them. Many cryptocurrency projects operate behind thin veils of decentralization. In public, they’re sold on the premise that they distribute power. Behind the curtains, leaders pull the strings. In the recent case of Wonderland, a serial scammer and felon directed a $1 billion treasury. Many projects secretly pay influencers to shill their tokens. The price pumps. Insiders dump. …

Blockchains have relied on proof-of-work (PoW) validation since their inception. Yet the PoW consensus proved to be unsustainable with its high energy usage and its need for fast, powerful hardware creating high barriers to entry. That’s why blockchains are adopting proof-of-stake consensus algorithms (PoS), where those wanting to earn rewards don’t have to compete against other miners, but can simply stake part of their crypto for a chance to be chosen to be a validator — and reap the returns. Everyone who owns crypto on PoS blockchains must want to take advantage of the opportunities staking provides, right? Actually, according …

The common narrative around the prevailing threats to mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies is that regulators will put the kibosh on their legality, it has to get much easier for “ordinary” people to use, and the magnitude of its volatility has to be tempered. All of these are true. But there’s something perhaps just as consequential: scams, hacks, fraudulent exchanges, dumps and the like. Why? Every attack leaves a scar. And the scars are mounting fast. According to a study by Chainalysis, scammers got away with $14 billion worth of crypto in 2021, which represents hundreds of thousands — maybe millions …

Last summer, Polkadot made its own little bit of history after confirming the first five projects to occupy parachain slots on its canary network Kusama. Disparate blockchains that bolt onto Polkadot’s main Relay Chain for security, yet are otherwise independent, parachains represent a new way of doing business in blockchain, a maximalist vision aimed at enhancing scalability and governance while permitting the possibility of forkless upgrades. The five projects were Karura, Moonriver, Shiden, Khala and Bifrost. Fast-forward to today, and the first batch of parachains are set to expire, releasing over 1 million locked Kusama (KSM) tokens into the market. …

TerraUSD (UST) is an algorithmic stablecoin that is pegged at $1.00. But, on the evening of May 19, it was trading for $0.083. This isn’t supposed to happen, of course, but last week UST, along with its affiliated coin Terra (LUNA), performed a sort of death spiral that “wiped nearly $50 billion of investor wealth in a few short days,” according to NYDIG’s May 13 newsletter. The crash shook the crypto sector, but it also raised some questions: Is this about a single flawed project or is it also about an entire class of cryptocurrencies — algorithmic stablecoins — which …

Indian crypto businesses are struggling with the new tax policies as trading volumes have dried up and many established crypto firms are looking to relocate to more crypto-friendly jurisdictions. While many developed countries and even several of its Asian counterparts are actively studying and formulating better crypto regulations, the Indian government has maintained a “blockchain, not crypto” stance. It might seem like the government is taking a cautionary step to focus on the underlying technology while keeping its distance from the volatile and risky crypto market. However, going by the recent policies and statements from the finance minister as well …

Sorare is where fantasy soccer and cryptocurrency meet. For soccer fans, this is a way to be competitive off the field and invest heavily right away. Users can play the game online in their browser or download the Sorare app. In this article, you will read all about what exactly Sorare is and how it works. What is Sorare? Sorare is a blockchain-based fantasy soccer game adored by many soccer fans worldwide. The founders of the platform want to give fans the opportunity to develop and play the game, even when they can’t play it on the field. Users can …

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups with a focus on Web3, saying it believes “Games infrastructure and technologies will be key building blocks of the Metaverse.” Dubbed Games Fund One, the fund will invest in three main areas: game studios, consumer applications — which support player communities, with Discord used as an example — and gaming infrastructure providers. The a16z team said “The coming Metaverse will be built by games companies, using games technologies” and that the industry has already “solved many of the problems that need to be solved …

Currently, trialogue for the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) and Transfer of Funds (TFR) regulations is underway in the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, which will be concluded in a few weeks. If adopted, the TFR would, according to experts, impose a vast financial surveillance regime on the European decentralized finance (DeFi), nonfungible token (NFT) and metaverse spaces. This could then lead to companies in those sectors moving elsewhere to avoid regulation. The German DeFi community has not remained silent and has written an open letter to EU decision-makers, which supporters can sign. One of …

What is peer-to-peer (P2P) trading? Peer-to-peer (P2P) trading is a type of cryptocurrency exchange method that allows traders to trade directly with one another without the need for a centralized third party to facilitate the transactions. Unlike traditional Bitcoin (BTC) exchanges, which typically have strict regulations and require users to go through a verification process before they can access and use the platform, P2P trading platforms tend to be much more relaxed in terms of their requirements. In P2P trading, you can select your preferred offer and trade directly with a counterparty rather than using an automated engine to execute …

On Monday, Do Kwon, co-founder of the troubled Terra Luna blockchain, announced a revised plan to restore the ecosystem after a combination of significant market volatility and inherent protocol design flaws wiped out a vast majority of the blockchain's market cap. As told by Kwon, Terraform Labs will put forth a new governance proposal on May 18 to fork the Terra Luna blockchain called Terra (token name: LUNA). However, the new chain will not be linked to the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin. Meanwhile, the old Terra blockchain will continue to exist with UST and will be called Terra Classic (LUNC). Under …

B3, the Brazilian Stock Exchange, confirmed that within six months it intends to launch its first official product aimed at the cryptocurrency market — Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading. The group's chief financial officer, André Milanez, made the announcement during a conference call on Monday. Milanez did not provide many details on how the product will work. It is not yet known if B3 will form a partnership or if it will offer Bitcoin futures trading directly, but the timeline for launching this product was stated to be relatively short. "We plan to launch bitcoin futures in the next three to …