According to a recent report by Hash Rate Index, publicly-listed Bitcoin (BTC) miners took on more than $4 billion worth of debt during the run-up to the crypto bull market. Mesmerized by rising prices, industry rushed hand over fist to purchase Bitcoin application-specific integrated circuits miners on easy credit. However, in today's context of Bitcoin price collapse, skyrocketing electricity prices, lower market prices for mining rigs, and record-level mining difficulty, 2022 became an extremely difficult year for sector players. That said, some are holding on better than others. Top 10 publicly-traded Bitcoin miners by liabilities | Source: Hashrate Index On …

There is little agreement among Bitcoin’s commentators over the last few weeks, with crypto execs, research analysts and billionaire investors offering wildly different takes on what's in store for Bitcoin for the year ahead. One crypto exchange founder expects Bitcoin (BTC) to spike to $40,000 by the “summer” of 2023, while a Bitcoin billionaire has renewed his bullish $250,000 BTC price prediction for the year. Erik Voorhees — $40,000 by the “summer” Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, was optimistic about a potential recovery of Bitcoin’s price during an interview with Bankless on Jan. 2, stating he …

The new year is a fresh start for malicious actors in the crypto space and 2023 won’t likely see a slowdown in scams, exploits and hacks, according to CertiK. The blockchain security company told Cointelegraph its expectations for the year ahead regarding bad actors in the space, saying: “We saw a large number of incidents last year despite the crypto bear market, so we do not anticipate a respite in exploits, flash loans or exit scams.” Regarding other ill-natured incidents the crypto community might face, the company pointed to the “devastating” exploits that took place on cross-chain bridges in 2022. …

Circle's chief strategy officer and head of global policy, Dante Disparte, believes that the turmoil in the crypto sector over the last year could mark the handover of crypto technology to more durable companies and "steadier hands" in 2023. In a Jan. 2 post for The World Economic Forum (WEF), Disparte highlighted the growing use of crypto in the financial services sector and opined that the ongoing bear market and exchange collapses may ultimately be a boon for the industry, paving the way for "responsible, always-on internet finance." "Just as it took the dot-com bubble bursting in the early 2000s …

On its surface, Andy Greenburg’s new book, Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency, is a standard crime story. Fans of true crime podcasts will enjoy the crypto version and get a seat in the Federal Bureau of Investigation van as United States federal agents track down criminals through their crypto transactions. The first story recounted is that of a crooked Drug Enforcement Agency agent who stole funds from the online drug market Silk Road. It also addresses the hunt for Dread Pirate Roberts, aka Ross Ulbricht — Silk Road’s founder. Ross’ operational security …

Days before the year's end, Italy's Senate approved its budget for 2023 on Dec. 29, 2022, which included an increase in taxation for crypto investors — a 26% tax on capital gains on crypto assets trading over 2,000 euros (approximately $2,131 USD at time of publication .) The approved legislation defined crypto assets as "a digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred and stored electronically, using distributed ledger technology or similar technology." Previously, crypto assets were treated as foreign currencies in the country, with lower taxes. As reported by Cointelegraph, the bill also established that taxpayers will …

Türkiye, formerly known as Turkey, plans to use blockchain technology for online public services logins. e-Devlet, Türkiye’s digital government portal used to access a wide range of public services, will use a blockchain-based digital identity to verify Turkish citizens during login. Cointelegraph Turkey reportedFuat Oktay, vice president of the Republic of Türkiye, announced during the Digital Türkiye 2023 event that citizens will be able to use blockchain-based digital identity to access e-wallet application, Cointelegraph Turkey reported. Oktay called the blockchain-based application a revolution for e-government efforts, adding that online services will be more secure and accessible with blockchain. Users will …

The Dogecoin Foundation announced a new fund for Dogecoin Core developers to promote the Dogecoin ecosystem further in the new year. On Dec. 31, the foundation stated that it is allocating 5 million Dogecoin (DOGE), which is around $360,000 at the time of writing, to the new fund to support the development of the Dogecoin platform. According to the Dogecoin foundation, the fund will be held in a new multi-signature wallet managed by its members and needs three out of five signatures from Dogecoin Core developers chromatic, Marshall Hayner, Michi Lumin, Patrick Lodder and Ross Nicoll. These custodians will not …

New reports into Sam Bankman-Fried and his collapsed exchanges revealed that Alameda Research, the now-bankrupt crypto trading firm, almost collapsed in 2018, even before FTX was in the picture. A report published in The Wall Street Journal citing former employees revealed that Alameda incurred heavy losses from its trading algorithm. The algorithm was designed to make a large number of automated and fast trades. However, the firm was losing money by guessing the wrong way about price movements. In 2018, Alameda lost nearly two-thirds of its assets due to the price fall of the XRP token and was in a …

Liquid staking protocol Lido Finance appears to have benefited most from the Ethereum merge in September, with its total value locked (TVL) now sitting at the top position among other decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. According to data from DeFiLlama, Lido’s liquid staking protocol now commands $5.9 billion in TVL, compared to MakerDAO's $5.89 billion and AAVE’s $3.7 billion. Lido now has the highest TVL of any DeFi protocol. pic.twitter.com/2xsM3lVGVl — Patrick | Dynamo DeFi (@Dynamo_Patrick) January 1, 2023 According to Lido Finance’s website, as at Jan. 2 had $5.8 billion Ether (ETH) staked. Meanwhile, there was around $23.2 million staked …

On the back of the worst year for crypto hacks and exploits, the crypto community has given some advice to newbie investors going into 2023 — check your smart contract approvals and revoke access regularly. Reddit user 4cademy posted their advice to the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit on Jan. 1, noting that they had approved a slew of smart contracts over a two-year period and “thought it was time to check my approved smart contracts.” They found “nearly all” of their approvals were for “unlimited amounts," which spurred them to revoke approvals for all smart contracts in their wallet as it was …

2022 was supposed to be the year crypto went mainstream, with a significant chunk of traditional venture capital firms betting heavily on the ecosystem in 2021. However, with one disaster after another, 2022 turned out to be a catastrophic year for the nascent crypto ecosystem. Some of the biggest names touted as pivotal to taking the crypto ecosystem forward turned out to be the orchestrators of its worst year in recent memory. That said, quite a few protagonists rose to the occasion. These winners proved that crypto is not just about a few select individuals and companies but a vibrant …