Data transparency has been a focal point for the crypto industry, but the FTX fiasco has shown that centralized exchanges (CEX) are not transparent enough. So far, crypto analytics firms are apparently not capable of tracking transactions to prevent collapses like FTX. All Bitcoin (BTC) transactions are available publicly on-chain, which enables tracking such transactions when sending crypto from one address to another. However, this is not the case when it comes to interacting with a centralized crypto exchange. Cointelegraph spoke with executives at blockchain intelligence firms, including Chainalysis, Nansen and Whale Alert, to learn more insights about tracking illicit …

German car manufacturer BMW plans to integrate blockchain technology into its daily operations and create a blockchain loyalty program for its customers in Thailand. The popular carmaker has onboarded blockchain infrastructure firm Coinweb as its decentralized architecture provider and BNB chain for settling transactions. The integration of blockchain technology into BMW’s workflow will take place in two phases. First, the decentralized tech will be integrated into BMW’s daily operations with the goal of automating time-consuming manual processes and streamlining the company’s automobile financing services. The second phase of the project would see Coinweb develop a customized Web3 application for BMW’s …

30 cryptocurrency wallets linked to Alameda Research, the bankrupt sister company of crypto exchange FTX, became active on Dec. 28 following four weeks of inactivity. These wallets swapped and mixed over $1.7 million worth of crypto assets through various crypto-mixing services. Crypto mixers are often used by market exploiters and criminals to obscure the transaction path so that the funds cannot be traced to the original source. As Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 28, the sudden movement of funds from Alameda wallets just days after Sam Bankman Fried was released on bail raised suspicions across the crypto community. Nearly 24 hours …

MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor has shared his firm’s plans to release Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered software and solutions in 2023. In a recent Twitter Spaces on Dec. 28, Saylor shared that the company is exploring software and solutions that utilize the Lightning Network, such as solutions that “support” enterprise marketing as well as a cybersecurity solution aimed at corporate websites. The Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment protocol layered on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain that allows for off-chain transactions, raising payment throughput and lowering transaction fees. The business intelligence and tech company, known for its massive Bitcoin holdings, has been …

Cryptocurrency had its Lehman moment with FTX — or, perhaps, another Lehman moment. The macroeconomic downturn has not spared crypto, and as November rolled around, nobody knew that we were in for the collapse of an empire worth billions of dollars. As the rumors of bankruptcy began to take hold, a bank run was inevitable. Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, the once effective altruist now under house arrest, continued to claim that assets were “fine.” Of course, they were not. From Genesis to Gemini, most major crypto organizations have been affected by the contagion effect in the aftermath. The problem with exchanges …

The crypto world is still developing at lightning speed. The adoption of projects built on blockchain technology has increased tremendously in 2022, and this is partly due to the celebrities who have contributed to it. Thanks to these well-known people, crypto-related projects have reached a large audience, through their social media accounts and the many news outlets that wrote about them. The developments in cryptocurrencies, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and metaverse platforms have led to new ways people can make money and alternative methods to consume art and entertainment. They have also led to innovative ways people can communicate and interact …

According to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, software analytics firm MicroStrategy said that it acquired 2,395 Bitcoins (BTC) at an average price of $17,181 for a total of $42.8 million during the period Nov. 1 and Dec. 21. Subsequent to the development, the company sold 704 BTC at $16,776 per coin for a total of $11.8 million on Dec. 22. On Dec. 24, MicroStrategy acquired approximately 810 BTC for $13.6 million in cash, at an average price of $16,845 per coin. In a Bloomberg interview published earlier this year, CEO and blockchain personality Michael Saylor …

According to a report published by local news outlet Sina News on Dec 28, China will launch its first regulated platform for nonfungible tokens (NFT) trading on Jan 1, 2023. The entity, which acts as a secondary market for the exchange of NFTs, was created by the state-owned Chinese Technology Exchange, the state-owned Art Exhibitions China, and Huban Digital Copyrights Ltd, a private corporate entity. In addition to NFTs, the platform will also facilitate the trading of copyrights related to digital assets. The project aims to "regulate and avoid the excessive speculation in secondary [NFT] markets," as told by a …

Once assumed to be extinct until its unlikely return in the latter part of 2017, browser-based cryptocurrency mining dates back to 2011 when BitcoinPlus.com launched its then-innovative service. Of course, back when Bitcoin was fairly new and mining was cheap, the idea of using a website to do the work for miners was quite popular. Thanks to a surge in the cryptocurrency market circa 2017, browser-based cryptocurrency mining has made a resurgence in certain circles today. The technology’s evolution is also due in part to the advent of blockchain-based coins that are mineable with easy-to-use JavaScript application programming interfaces (APIs) …

Collective action, labor struggle and protest go hand in hand, and it’s no secret that unionizing and organizing to fight for workers’ rights is a tedious task. But is there a way to simplify and boost the efficiency of the process? On this week’s episode of the newly launched podcast The Agenda, Cointelegraph senior copy editor Jonathan DeYoung and head of markets Ray Salmond sit down with Larry Williams Jr., co-founder of TheLaborDAO, and Daniel Carias and Dustin Tong, co-founders of theCaféDAO, to discuss the state of workers’ rights in the United States and how blockchain can strengthen labor movements. …

The FTX collapse shook up the crypto market, and billions of dollars are currently locked up in the now-defunct crypto exchange. On top of that, FTX was such a big player that the contagion spread to other crypto players, including several trading powerhouses, popular DeFi protocols, and decentralized exchanges. Trust in the crypto ecosystem is at its lowest level. Investors are withdrawing funds from major centralized exchanges while the sales of cold wallets are up. Despite an overall gloomy mood in crypto space, one form of crypto investment remains at the height of popularity, and this is staking. Staking is …

The crypto wallets associated with now-bankrupt trading firm Alameda Research, the sister company of FTX, were seen transferring out funds just days after the former CEO Sam Bankman Fried was released on a $250 million bond. The transfer of funds from Alameda wallets raised community curiosity, but more than that, the way in which these funds were transferred grabbed the community’s attention. The Alameda wallet was found to be swapping bits of ERC20s for ETH/USDT, and then the Ether (ETH) and USDT (USDT) were funneled through instant exchangers and mixers. For example, a wallet address that starts with 0x64e9 received …