BItcoin (BTC) is beginning its “seventh bull cycle” and investors should not be scared of crypto post-FTX, Pantera Capital believes. In its latest “Blockchain Letter” on Feb. 8, the asset management firm’s CEO, Dan Morehead, predicted that 2023 would be a “year for rebuilding trust.” Morehead: Cryptoassets have "seen the lows" this cycle With BTC price action retracing slightly after gaining 40% in January, some market participants still insist that new macro lows are due across crypto assets. While the timing for such a scenario varies, consensus remains absent when it comes to how the market will rebound. For Morehead, …

Blockchain interoperability is one of the most important goals to ensure that the industry becomes future-proofed. Smooth cross-chain communication and flow of value are essential for efficient transactions and use cases. By addressing the fragmentation of Layer-1 networks, the blockchain industry can improve user experience, open new opportunities for collaboration, overcome its speed and scalability limitations, and accelerate the adoption of the technology across all major industries. The problem of cross-chain solutions While blockchain market participants realized the importance of interoperability long ago, we still don’t have decentralized systems that can work together smoothly, securely, and on a large scale. …

The Ethereum Foundation team announced another milestone on the road to the Shanghai upgrade, with the Shapella fork on the Zhejiang testnet moving into the final pre-launch sequence, according to a blog post on Feb 10. The Shapella transition includes "many features," and "most importantly to stakers and the consensus-layer, is the enabling of withdrawals," notes the post, adding that: "Full withdrawals will be available for exited validators, whereas partial withdrawals will be available for active validator balances in excess of 32 ETH." As per the announcement, validators to participate in withdrawals must have a 0x01 execution-layer withdrawal credential. "If …

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week. In the aftermath of a deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southeastern Turkey, the Web3 community has come together to raise awareness and aid for disaster victims. Stablecoins could prove to be a critical factor in larger DeFi adoption, says Aave founder Stani Kulechov. According to the Aave executive, building the “payment layer,” which involves stablecoins, can potentially hook regular people into the space, eventually introducing them into DeFi. On the other hand, S&P Global Ratings …

The DAO that governs privacy-focused blockchain Secret Network (SCRT) has voted to restructure its Secret Foundation as a non-profit with a “transparent operation,” according to the proposal’s official page. Congrats to the #SecretNetwork community! The Secret Foundation has been restructured as an NPO, with a community-elected board & amendments requested by the founder. #blockchain #cryptocurrency — Krypton AI (@KryptonAi) February 10, 2023 The proposal stated that the new foundation “will be registered as an NPO [non-profit organization] and provide an annual account of its activities, including key performance indicators (KPIs), budgets, and goals.” The foundation will be run by a …

On Feb 10, Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced a major upgrade to its Proof of Reserves Verification system to include zk-SNARKs — a cutting-edge technology that Binance says will allow it to verify its reserves in a more secure and transparent manner. 3. Product and Service. Plus transparency. The #Binance Proof of Reserve system has now integrated with zk-SNARK, a zero-knowledge verification method. It will also be made open source. We hope this would help the entire industry benefit. https://t.co/ijVVeF8iFT — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) February 10, 2023 After the FTX incident in 2022, Proof of Reserves Verification became a crucial aspect …

What captivates many creators in the realm of blockchain and Web3 is the possibility to create, own and earn without intermediaries, and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have emerged as a catalyst in how it could be possible. On this week’s episode of NFT Steez, co-hosts Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond chat with Justin and J.P. Alanis, the co-founders of StoryCo — an open media platform — on the prospect of creators co-creating and franchising intellectual property through their storytelling and the integration of soulbound tokens — but how? Create-to-own and fandom trends emerging in Web3 As creators themselves, the Alanis brothers …

In the latest episode of NFT Steez, Thomas Webb, the founder of the interoperable avatar game Worldwide Webb, discusses the integration of interoperability in Web3 and the Metaverse. By definition, interoperability is a feature of Web3 whereby a product or system can work seamlessly across platforms with other products or services. Webb defines interoperability simply as "creating a token— a nonfungible token (NFT)" since, at its most basic level, no one can control it besides the creator. But how does interoperability function presently in Web3, and what is its potential impact? Executing interoperability the "right" way When discussing how interoperable …

How coinbase transactions are structured Coinbase transactions are structured as the first transaction in a block, where the miner includes a newly minted amount of BTC as a reward for their effort in solving a complex mathematical problem to validate transactions and create a new block on the blockchain. Coinbase transactions have a special format. Compared to a regular transaction input, a coinbase transaction has a different set of values that do not represent unspent transaction output (UTXO). As such, in place of a transaction hash, a coinbase transaction will have 32 bytes, all set to zero. The output index …

Mining is the process of extracting valuable minerals, metals and other resources from the earth. This may entail extracting minerals from underground deposits or from the earth’s surface. The minerals and resources extracted through mining are used for a wide range of purposes, including energy production, construction and manufacturing. Mining can take many forms, including underground mining, surface mining and placer mining. The specific method used depends on the type of resource being extracted and the location of the deposit. Moreover, the mining process typically involves several stages, including: Exploration: To locate a deposit. Extraction: To remove the minerals or …

Despite its ongoing crackdown on crypto, China continues to embrace blockchain technology — up to the point of launching the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center in the capital city of Beijing. According to the China Daily’s report from Feb. 8, the Center will create a research network with the local universities, think tanks and blockchain businesses to carry out the inquiries into core blockchain technologies. The fruits of this research will be used for further digitalization of China and, as emphasized in the report, its industry in particular. In charge of the new institution is the Beijing Academy of Blockchain …

The sudden collapse of what was once the second-largest crypto exchange in the world has accelerated the migration from centralized exchanges (CEXs) to decentralized exchanges (DEXs). The now-bankrupt FTX still owes the equivalent of billions of dollars to users across the globe, and this is not the only instance of traders losing their funds with CEXs. The benefits of self-custody wallets and the use of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications have become more evident. However, once retail traders set foot in DeFi, they may be perplexed by the complexity of decentralized applications and the wide range of options, which adds to …