China may be behind a large spike in new Bitcoin (BTC) addresses as authorities launch a “targeted marketing campaign” — in favor of crypto. In a series of tweets on Oct. 5, analyst and market cyclist Cole Garner highlighted a two-year record increase in new BTC addresses last week. Using data from on-chain monitoring resource Glassnode, Garner noted that around 22,000 new Bitcoin “entities” appeared on one day alone. The normal level is between 5,000 and 10,000 per day. “New #bitcoin addresses were absolutely off the charts last week,” he summarized in comments. Garner was building on other recent insights …

MetaMask, the Ethereum (ETH) browser wallet developed by ConsenSys, has surpassed one million monthly active users for the first time. The milestone comes roughly seven months after the wallet first surpassed one million users in total, suggesting the parabolic rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) in 2020 has driven the surge in MetaMask’s user base. In an announcement, MetaMask notes top DeFi protocols Uniswap, Yearn Finance, Curve, MakerDAO, and Aave among those favored by its users, highlighting its commitment to supporting the growth of DeFi moving forward: “Over the last twelve months, significant growth in the adoption of DAOs, Web3 games, …

INX, a cryptocurrency firm holding the first-ever token initial public offering approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, has chosen a digital asset custody provider. According to an announcement Thursday, INX has enlisted Israeli crypto startup GK8 for digital asset custody for its upcoming crypto exchange. INX tweeted that the platform will use GK8's end-to-end platform for managing and safeguarding digital assets. The platform includes GK8’s patented “air-gapped vault that can create, sign, and send blockchain transactions while staying 100% offline,” INX noted. Based in Gibraltar, INX is planning to raise $117 million from its ongoing security token IPO targeting …

Popular hardware wallet company Ledger added Algorand's ALGO token to the list of wallet-compatible assets available on its desktop app, Ledger Live, allowing holders to store and stake the asset. “The integration with Ledger Live will provide users with additional opportunities to earn passive income, ensuring the highest level of control and flexibility," Ledger's CEO, Pascal Gauthier, explained Tuesday in a statement provided to Cointelegraph. The addition also means storage compatibility for tokens built on Algorand's blockchain, known as Algorand Standard Assets. Assets built using proof-of-stake technology mean holders can earn passive income by helping to provide consensus for the …

An Indian startup has built a decentralized notification protocol dubbed Ethereum Push Notification Service (EPNS) allowing DApps to send push notifications to Ethereum wallet users. Speaking to Cointelegraph, EPNS founder Richa Joshi said that they developed the protocol after finding a striking similarity between how applications operated in the early days of the internet and how they operate on Web 3.0. She explained that Gmail or Orkut did not send notifications in their early days as they do now. Users would have to check back every time to see if they received any new emails or messages. That changed when …

Crypto.com is adding Chainlink’s price feeds to its decentralized finance wallet as it begins expansion into the booming space. The company's chief operating officer, Eric Anziani, told Cointelegraph: “I would say with the partnership with Chainlink is kind of our first integration with a DeFi protocol, it brings value to our customers in terms of providing transparency in the prices that we're giving them in our DeFi wallet and also making sure our ecosystem token CRO can be integrated into the external protocol by building a price feed for CRO specifically thanks to the Chainlink architecture.” Chainlink integration. Source: Crypto.com. …

In his college-aged days, Chris Maurice, the CEO of African crypto exchange Yellow Card, said he put his life savings into Bitcoin (BTC), finding it stolen shortly after. "Bitcoin was about $200 at the time, and I decided basically I was just going to dump my entire savings account into into it," Maurice told Cointelegraph in an interview. Maurice said he had approximately $5,000 in his savings back then, with which he bought roughly 21 BTC. "I was holding it all on LocalBitcoins, because that was the wallet that I used at the time and I didn't really know any …

Popular Ethereum (ETH) browser wallet MetaMask has launched a mobile application for both iOS and Android. MetaMask users can now manage their cryptocurrency wallets, store non-fungible tokens (NFTs), sign messages, and play blockchain-powered games from their mobile devices. Users of the wallet’s desktop browser extension can import their entire transaction history into MetaMask Mobile by scanning a QR code. MetaMask, which was developed and released by ConsenSys, has exclusively been a Chrome and Firefox extension since launching in 2016. It has been downloaded more than four million times. ConsenSys describes MetaMask Mobile as “simplifying” the process to begin using decentralized …

Details of a previous Electrum wallet hack surfaced following the massive 1,400 Bitcoin (BTC) theft that hit headlines a few days ago. "I had a similar situation 2 months ago," a Github user named Cryptbtcaly posted on the social media platform on Aug. 31. The user claimed someone pilfered 36.5 BTC from one of their wallet addresses. The BTC reportedly ended up spread across five different addresses. "Some of the stolen Bitcoin went to Binance, but they ignore my appeals and do not return," cryptbtcaly added. Details of a larger hack surfaced on Aug. 30, when a different Githubber reported …

Cryptocurrency wallet platform Klever will allow users to stake Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tron (TRX) and other cryptocurrencies in Cred’s staking programs from within the wallet. Cred is a cryptocurrency staking and lending platform that allows users from across 190 countries to lend their cryptocurrency funds in return for monthly rewards in stablecoins, cryptos and fiat currencies. The new feature will allow Klever users to opt for any of the staking programs listed on Cred in return for monthly rewards. Once the in-app staking goes live, it will allow users to stake Bitcoin, Ether, and Tron without having to hold …

Cryptocurrency firms in the United Kingdom could soon be faced with more extensive Anti-Money Laundering (AML) reporting requirements. In a consultation paper published this month, the Financial Conduct Authority proposed broadening annual financial crime reporting obligations to include all crypto asset exchange and custodian wallet providers. The regulator says that by extending its reporting rules to a wider range of firms, it will be able to deepen its understanding of which firms may have intrinsic money laundering risks due to their activities. The paper claims that the information provided through more inclusive annual reports will help the FCA’s supervisory approach …

Although the privacy-focused Bitcoin (BTC) wallet Wasabi Wallet recently dismissed allegations that its anonymity features may be compromised, a third-party expert disagrees. In an Aug. 19 blog post, Wasabi competitor Samourai claimed to have “discovered two potential privacy vulnerabilities in the Wasabi Wallet software.” Per the announcement, the company also found numerous issues with the anonymity of Wasabi Wallet’s CoinJoin Bitcoin mixer. Mário Havel, co-founder of crypto-and-privacy non-profit Paralelni Polis, said that Samourai’s allegations seem credible and can be verified in Wasabi’s code. He explained: “Disclosed vulnerabilities [...] are not affecting the security of the wallet. [Instead they] affect only …