After another jump in the price of major cryptocurrencies at the end of 2020, crypto enthusiasts began to mine, sell and buy currencies with renewed vigor — which means that nowadays, the topic of custodying cryptocurrencies is more relevant than ever. But unlike the past bullish waves, this time many users are also concerned with how to protect their assets. The blockchain industry is developing, and traders have become noticeably smarter, but scammers and thieves have also become much more agile. This is also indicated by the period appearance of news related to exploits and rug pulls, not only regarding …

One of the biggest trends in recent months has seen Bitcoin flow out of exchanges into wallets. Generally, this is interpreted as a bullish sign — indicating that investors are optimistic about further growth in cryptocurrency prices. But delve deeper, and there’s more to this than meets the eye. The crypto industry has grown immeasurably over recent years — making stars out of a number of exchanges. Platforms such as Binance and Coinbase now handle billions of dollars in trading volumes every day. With this come concerns that centralization is creeping in — and fears that major exchanges are becoming …

A French project is building “The Internet of Trust” — and says decentralized identifiers will be a crucial part of Web 3.0. XSL Labs is developing a Secure Digital Identifier (otherwise known as SDI for short) that’s designed to ensure users have full control over their private information. In time, it’s hoped this approach will diminish the power of tech giants such as Facebook and Google. SDI aims to limit the amount of data that is shared about ourselves online, without impeding access to goods and services. The project intends to ensure zero-knowledge proofs are utilized wherever possible, which add …

Crypto-powered web browser, Brave, has unveiled its “Roadmap 2.0” — laying out plans for an integrated DEX aggregator and non-fungible tokens support.. Brave’s new roadmap highlights the company’s desire to integrate DeFi functionality in its wallet and explore scaling solutions for the project. Brave’s new Ethereum-native wallet will support “DeFi and NFT use-cases,” in addition to introducing mobile support and enhanced API functionality. The planned DEX aggregator will seek to reward BAT token holders, offering discounts to users that pay for transaction fees in BAT or hold the token in their wallets. Brave is targeting support for assets across multiple …

Users can send cryptocurrencies virtually anywhere globally via the blockchains on which they are based. By sending crypto assets, however, fees are incurred. Transactions may take longer for certain assets, depending on their related blockchains. Certain crypto wallets and platforms give users the option to choose a transaction fee. Higher fees typically result in faster transactions. Over the years, however, some asset holders have put their coin or token values into the wrong fields, resulting in exorbitant, albeit accidental, fee payments. For example, a holder might intend to send 12 Bitcoin (BTC) at a fee of 0.01 BTC, although they …

According to analysis by Mark “Murch” Erhardt of Chaincode Labs, 88% of all Bitcoin transaction inputs pay higher fees than are necessary. Erhardt bases his conclusion on data showing just 12% of transaction inputs use the SegWit format, which is less fee intensive than transacting with legacy inputs. Erhardt believes that a reliance on legacy transaction fees keeps Bitcoin blocks smaller than they could otherwise be, contributing to a seemingly growing backlog of unconfirmed transactions. A clogged up Bitcoin mempool containing 107 blocks worth of transactions at one point yesterday serves as a reminder that it is possible to save …

Uphold, an American digital wallet and trading platform, has acquired European card issuer Optimus Cards UK Limited to launch a cryptocurrency-enabled card on the continent. According to a Feb. 2 announcement, Uphold is planning to roll out its crypto-powered debit card in Europe starting in April 2021. Uphold CEO JP Thieriot said that the launch in Europe follows a successful roll out in the United States: “From April, we plan to start rolling out the world's first, multi-asset, crypto-enabled debit card on the Optimus platform in Europe. The card has already proved a hit with our U.S. customers offering a …

Bitcoin’s smart-contract-enabled sidechain RSK is introducing the concept of meta-transactions, which allow third parties to pay for a user’s transaction fees. Announced on Thursday, the “RIF Enveloping” solution enables wallet providers to pay for their users’ transactions. Paying transaction fees is currently a major bottleneck in the adoption of smart contract platforms. Users wishing to trade tokens must always have some units of the blockchain’s native currency — for example, Ether (ETH) for Ethereum and Smart Bitcoin (RBTC) for RSK. RIF Enveloping introduces meta-transactions to enable greater flexibility for decentralized application developers. Smart contracts using the technology can choose to …

Trezor, a major hardware cryptocurrency wallet supplier, has warned its users about a fake Trezor application on Google Play. According to Trezor, the fake app is malicious and has no relation to Trezor or SatoshiLabs, a company that created the Trezor wallet. Announcing the news on Jan. 18, Trezor asked its clients to not install the malicious application, reminding users that they should never share their seed phrase with anyone. Warning to all Trezor owners using Android devices! This app is malicious and has no relation to Trezor or SatoshiLabs. Please, don't install it. Remember that you should never share …

Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million, but a significant proportion of that total sum is likely lost forever. This situation is due to a variety of reasons such as lost private keys and discarded storage devices containing substantial amounts of Bitcoin (BTC). When Bitcoin owners are not being careless with their wallet passwords, they can sometimes be targeted by hackers looking to steal their precious crypto. Those who utilize third-party custodial solutions place their Bitcoin fortune at the mercy of the security protocols adopted by such services. Indeed, several attack vectors are constantly being utilized to try and gain …

Popular wallet provider and crypto trading platform Blockchain.com has announced it will be delisting XRP and suspending its trading next week, following in the steps of Coinbase, Binance.US, OKCoin and others. Although as of press time on Wednesday Blockchain.com's information on supported crypto assets continues to feature XRP, a blog post published on Monday informed users that: "Blockchain.com will halt XRP trading beginning Thursday, January 14th at 11:59pm GMT. For all customers who have XRP balances, you will continue to have access to your XRP to send after we halt trading, but we will no longer support receiving more XRP …

Major venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, is the latest crypto-related form to oppose a recently proposed regulation in the United States. According to a blog post by a16z general partner Kathryn Haun, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued "a rushed, non-vetted rule under the cloak of the holidays that violates the government’s own established rulemaking procedures." FinCEN, which operates under the purview of Steven Mnuchin's Department of the Treasury, introduced a proposed regulation late last month that would restrict money services business, as well as U.S.-registered cryptocurrency exchanges, from transacting with so-called "self-hosted" wallets. Effectively, …