Solend is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol built on Solana. It is lauded for expanding the methods available for Solana users to boost financial gains. Filling a large gap in the Solana ecosystem, Solend drew a staggering $100 million in deposits in just over a month post-launch. Related: DeFi lending and borrowing, explained Solend rode the high scalability of the Solana blockchain, which had built its reputation for being fast and with low transaction fees. The arrival of Solana meant users could use their capital efficiently by lending and earning interest, using the funds lying idle to earn profits …

According to a new social post on Feb. 1, Maker decentralized autonomous organization, or MakerDAO, has approved the creation of a new fund dedicated to expenses related to legal defense. MakerDAO is the issuer of the DAI United States dollar stablecoin. As told by developers, Maker will allocate 5 million DAI to "reimburse legal defense expenses in case of legal or regulatory action against specific participants of MakerDAO." The post further explained: "Initially, the coverage will be provided to Recognized Delegates, Core Unit Facilitators, Core Unit permanent contributors, and active MKR holders. The legal action against the beneficiary must be …

As a language model, ChatGPT is primarily used for natural language processing tasks such as text generation and language understanding. While it can be used to generate code samples, it’s not designed to help improve coding skills. However, here are a few ways ChatGPT can be used to help improve coding skills. Practice explaining coding concepts Use ChatGPT to explain coding concepts and algorithms to help solidify one’s understanding of them. This can also help users identify areas where they may need to study further. For instance, when using ChatGPT to practice explaining coding concepts, one can input a prompt …

Blockchain use cases continue to surface as the technology becomes more accessible. In the case of already-known use cases, such as blockchain-based messaging applications, mass adoption is on the horizon. According to a new report from Grand View Research, the global blockchain messaging application market size is forecasted to hit a valuation of $536.5 million by 2030. The report, released on Feb 1. highlights this as a 43.6% compound annual growth rate in the 7-year timespan. In 2021, the market valuation for blockchain messaging applications was around $22.2 million. At that time, North America dominated the market and accounted for …

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology found no mention in India’s union budget for the year 2023, bringing down the hopes of millions of crypto holders in the country. Many in the Indian crypto community were hoping for some reduction to the high crypto tax, implemented in March 2022. Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget on Feb. 1, announcing key changes to the income tax slabs, but didn’t mention crypto or central bank digital currency or blockchain tech during the session. Last year, India levied a 30% tax on crypto profits and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) …

Automotive giant Toyota is delving deeper into blockchain use cases through its involvement with a Web3 hackathon for decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) developers. On Feb. 1, multi-chain smart contract and decentralized application (dApp) network Astar announced its inaugural Web3 hackathon. The news of note, however, was that it's being supported by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Founder of the Astar Network, Sota Watanabe, commented on the significance of Toyota’s involvement in the initiative: “During the event, we aim to develop the first PoC (Proof of Concept) DAO tool for Toyota’s employees. If a good tool is produced, Toyota employees will interact …

Damus, a so-called “Twitter killer” built on a decentralized network has been approved on the Apple App Store. The Damus team confirmed the approval to its 11,500 Twitter followers on Jan. 31, following what it claims was at least three rejections from the Big Tech player. Shortly after, Twitter co-founder and Nostr contributor Jack Dorsey shared the news with his 6.5 million followers, with the entrepreneur labeling it as a “milestone” moment for open source protocols: a milestone for open protocols...#nostr is now officially on the Apple App Store with @damusapp:https://t.co/GQmvPE5nfX — jack (@jack) January 31, 2023 The app dubs …

Blockchain solutions provider SIMBA Chain has been selected for a $30 million Strategic Technology Focus Initiative (STRATFI) by the United States Air Force (USAF). The initiative is focused on identifying and advancing technologies that could secure the future dominance of the U.S. Air Force. According to the announcement, the investment will be used to develop blockchain applications in supply chain management and programs that will be used by several government organizations, including the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, the USAF, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army and the Defense Logistics Agency. SIMBA Chain has a …

There are rumors that Dogecoin could switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (PoS). Do I know if Dogecoin is switching to PoS? No. Do I think it’s going to PoS? Probably not. But I love the “what if” game. As a person who works in the crypto mining industry, I do my best to gauge where the market and mining industry are going, along with how that could play out. If Dogecoin makes a change to PoS or some other change to how new blocks are created, it would have massive ramifications for the mining industry. Here’s a look at a …

Blockchain startup accelerator Cronos Labs has announced the opening of applications for its second cohort of the $100 million-backed Cronos Accelerator Program. The program, which begins on April 24, 2023, will last for 12 weeks and provide selected projects with upfront seed funding of $30,000. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to secure up to $300,000 in seed funding from Cronos Labs and receive mentoring, masterclasses and support from industry experts. The program is focused on the decentralized finance (DeFi), GameFi, SocialFi, and Infrastructure verticals and will accept applications until March 24, 2023. The selection of projects for the …

According to a Jan. 31 post by Ethereum Foundation developer Parithosh Jayanthi, the "Zhejiang" public withdrawal test net will launch on Feb. 1 at 15:00 UTC. Six days after Zhejiang, the Shanghai and Capella testnets will also be triggered at epoch 1350. Jayanthi noted: "This is also a great opportunity for all tools to test out how they want to collect, display and use the withdrawal information. You can attempt to convert 0x00 credentials to 0x01 and set a withdrawal address. You can test partial withdrawals and full withdrawals by exiting your validator." The Shanghai upgrade, when fully implemented, will …

According to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 31, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla disclosed that it recorded a $204 million gross impairment loss during 2022 on its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings. Simultaneously, Tesla recorded a gain of $64 million from converting BTC into fiat currency at various points during the year, resulting in a net loss of $140 million from its cryptocurrency trading activities. The filing further explained the impact of volatile crypto prices on Tesla's bottom line: "Digital assets are considered indefinite-lived intangible assets under applicable accounting rules. Accordingly, any decrease in their fair …