On Friday, Tornado Cash announced that it was using oracle contracts from Chainalysis to block wallet addresses sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC. The move comes after the U.S. Department of the Treasury linked North Korean cybercriminal Lazarus Group as an alleged perpetrator for the recent $600 million+ Ronin Bridge exploit. As told by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the hackers have sent approximately $80.3 million worth of Ether (ETH) through Tornado Cash. "Maintaining financial privacy is essential to preserving our freedom; however, it should not come at the cost of non-compliance," said the Tornado Cash …

You’ve probably already heard of the nonfungible tokens (NFTs) craze as these colorful, almost cartoon-like pictures. And, when you think of the Metaverse, you already see a bright and virtual world viewed from your avatar. With NFTs, most people think of Bored Ape Yacht Club or the famous CryptoPunks. But, what we all want to know: How to get metaverse photos? Or, maybe you’re wondering how to get NFT images? Here’s how to brighten up your virtual life. Do you want to buy, download or create metaverse images? First of all, you need to decide if you want to download …

Speaking during an interview with CNBC after releasing his first shareholder letter as the new CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy said that while he does not own any cryptocurrencies or nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, he is optimistic about the outlook of the industry. Jassy stated: "We're not probably close to adding crypto as a payment mechanism in our retail business, but I do believe over time that you'll see crypto become bigger. I expect that NFTs will continue to grow very significantly." Specifically, regarding the sale of NFTs by Amazon, Jassy claimed that "it's possible down the road on the …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have diversified investment opportunities in the crypto industry by facilitating novel and innovative passive income generation schemes. Delving a bit into how they work, DeFi systems are based on blockchain technology and run on programmable chains such as the BNB Chain and the Ethereum Network. The chains use decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) finance architectures to cut out the middleman and enable lending, borrowing and liquidity provision. This leads to higher interest rates compared to those provided by regulated financial institutions such as banks. For perspective, many regulated banks provide interest rates of less than one percent per …

According to a report published by Bloomberg on Thursday, Ava Labs is en route to raising a new round of funding for $350 million at a valuation of $5.25 billion. Details of the agreement have not been made public. Ava Labs is the lead developer of the Avalanche (AVAX) blockchain. The total value locked, or TVL, on AVAX currently sits at $14.6 billion, according to data from DeFi Llama. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, borrowing and lending protocol Aave accounts for 33.72% of the market share on the blockchain. AVAX has become one of the most popular blockchains, surpassing a market …

The world’s energy market is rapidly evolving, moving from hydrocarbon plants to a future centered around clean energy enabled by wind and solar power. As such, today’s energy market is shifting to an increasingly decentralized, real-time model based on distributed energy resources (DERs) including battery energy storage systems, solar arrays, natural gas generators and more. Recent findings from Allied Market Research show that the global distributed energy generation market size was valued at $246.4 billion in 2020, yet this number is predicted to reach $919.6 billion by 2030. Web3 technologies for managing energy assets Given today’s advancing energy market, Jesse …

Bridging assets could help solve issues like scalability, speed and high fees. Bridging means users can move their tokens between blockchain networks quickly and cost-effectively. The Polygon Bridge is used for cross-chain transactions between the Polygon (MATIC) and Ethereum (ETH) blockchains. It allows users to transfer ERC tokens and NFTs to the Polygon sidechain through smart contracts. This guide will show you how to bridge Polygon with other blockchains. However, given that Ethereum is the platform most often used for decentralized finance (DeFi), nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, we’ll be looking at how to bridge tokens from the Ethereum …

Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum (ETH) developer has been sentenced to 63 months in prison and will pay a fine of $100,000 for attending a conference and assisting North Korea use blockchain technology in contravention of economic sanctions imposed by the United States. On Tuesday, April 12, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York handed down the decision. Judge Castel stated that “what you see here is intentionality, a deliberate, willful intent to violate the sanctions' regime,” adding that the crime was made worse because Griffith had a “desire to educate people on how to …

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has taken aim at Meta in a new interview, suggesting that its version of the Metaverse will simply repeat all of its past mistakes. In an interview with Politico, Haugen said: "They've made very grandiose promises about how there's safety-by-design in the Metaverse. But if they don't commit to transparency and access and other accountability measures, I can imagine just seeing a repeat of all the harms you currently see on Facebook." In 2021 Huagen leaked thousands of internal documents from Facebook to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal. Her experience working …

“The Market Report” with Cointelegraph is live right now. On this week’s show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss the worst mistakes you should avoid making in crypto. But first, market expert Marcel Pechman carefully examines the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down. Next up: the main event. Join Cointelegraph analysts Benton Yaun, Jordan Finneseth and Sam Bourgi as they talk about the worst crypto mistakes to avoid making in 2022. First up we have Bourgi, who thinks …

The EU Blockchain Observatory published its fifth report under the headline “Blockchain Applications in the Healthcare Sector.” The document highlights the importance of distributed ledger technology for the European healthcare sector, which faces a number of challenges on its route to the “Healthcare 4.0” revolution. The 66-page document was announced on the EU Blockchain Observatory's Twitter on April 11. Its authors take an optimistic perspective on the implementation of blockchain technology in healthcare, noting its compatibility with the core principles of “Healthcare 4.0”, such as interoperability, virtualization, decentralization, real-time capability, service orientation and modularity. Below are 7 key takeaways from …

The COVID-19 pandemic had a deleterious effect on the returns from the conventional instruments of investments such as stocks, gold and real estate, driving investors in hordes toward crypto. Individuals and institutionalized investors alike have tried their luck in the industry that has rolled out decent returns even during the worldwide economic slump that horrified many investors. Despite an intense debate raging about cryptocurrency offering a great window to grow wealth with alacrity and its extremely volatile ways, there is no denying the fact the industry has grown rapidly over the last two years. It is still innovating, trying different …