It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that our industry is facing tough times. We’ve been in the midst of a “crypto winter” for some time now, with the prices of mainstays, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), tumbling. Likewise, monthly nonfungible token (NFT) trading volumes have fallen more than 90% since their multibillion dollar peak back in January of this year. Of course, these declines have only been exacerbated by the numerous black swan events rocking the crypto world, such as the FTX and Three Arrows Capital meltdowns. Taken together, it shouldn’t be a surprise that crypto is facing a …

The app that produces stablecoin Vader Protocol US Dollar (USDV) will be shut down, according to a Dec. 29 announcement from its developers. We are sunsetting Vader Protocol: https://t.co/C3AKHo9URj Existing $VADER and $USDV holders, please visit the webapp to redeem the treasury: https://t.co/SnRlvpXnaQ For all technical issues related to the claim, please check in at the <vader> channel on Discord. — Vader (@VaderProtocol) December 29, 2022 Vader protocol was an algorithmic stablecoin network similar to the failed Terra network. It was supposed to encourage arbitrages to keep USDV always equal to $1. When Terra assets depegged in May from the …

The FTX-owned Japanese crypto exchange Liquid has announced plans to begin the process of returning customer assets in 2023. According to the Dec. 29 statement issued on its blog, the exchange is preparing to return assets entrusted by both customers from FTX Japan and Liquid Japan, and is working on a report for January 2023 that would further outline the details. A statement from the team read: “For the assets entrusted to us by our customers at FTX Japan and Liquid Japan, we are proceeding with system development so that withdrawals will be possible from the Liquid Japan web version.” …

On Dec 29, the state-owned China Academy for Information and Communications Technology, or CAICT, published a document titled "2022 Blockchain Whitepaper." According to the paper, more than 1,400 blockchain firms are currently based in Mainland China. Together with the U.S., the two countries represent a 52% market share in terms of global blockchain enterprises. The CAICT also disclosed that around 48 post-secondary institutions across China have introduced "blockchain engineering" related degrees and certifications. In the report, the institution detailed four types of blockchain technologies with high application potential. First, "settlement chains" would allow transparent publication of telecom fees for firms …

According to a report published by state-owned daily news program Xinwen Lianbo on Dec. 29, Xiao Yi, former Communist Party Secretary of the City of Fuzhou, pleaded guilty to corruption charges in the Zhejiang Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court. During his tenure as director from 2008 to 2021, Yi was accused of accepting over 125 million CNY ($18 million) in bribes related to construction programs and illicit promotions. In addition to the aforementioned counts, Yi also pleaded guilty to charges related to business transactions between himself and Bitcoin (BTC) miners from 2017 to 2021. It is unclear if the series of …

When someone wants to buy Bitcoin (BTC), they usually take the route of a cryptocurrency exchange. Newbies may buy BTC on just any exchange they come across, while those with some sort of experience may opt for a reputable one. The exercise though bears little fruit as most exchanges function almost identically as centralized entities, often working as custodians of the crypto assets of the buyers. The security factor is generally limited to passwords and 2-factor authentication (for the buyers who have opted for it). Customer support, wallet support and ease of use are other factors that buyers might consider …

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 …

Gold has been an outperformer in 2022 compared to the United States equities markets and Bitcoin (BTC). The yellow metal is almost flat for the year while the S&P 500 is down more than 19% and Bitcoin has plunged roughly 64%. The sharp fall in Bitcoin’s price has hurt both short-term and long-term investors alike. According to Glassnode data, 1,889,585 Bitcoin held by short-term holders was at a loss as of Dec. 26 while the loss-making tally of long-term holders was 6,057,858 Bitcoin. In spite of gold’s good showing and Bitcoin’s dismal performance in 2022, billionaire investor Mark Cuban continues …

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) …

Cryptocurrency mining giant Canaan continues to generate significant revenues from crypto operations despite the ongoing crypto mining crisis. Canaan’s total revenue for the first nine months of 2022 was roughly 4 billion Chinese yuan (RMB), or about $573 million, a spokesperson for Canaan told Cointelegraph. As the firm expects to generate another 310 million RMB ($46 million) in Q4, the total annual revenues is expected to amount to 4.3 billion RMB ($619 million). The amount is down around 14% from Canaan’s RMB-denominated revenue of 4.9 billion RMB last year. In USD, the total revenues were down about 21% from $783 …