Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), the top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalization have always been pitted against each other. With the start of the new year, the first debate has surfaced comparing BTC’s capped supply of 21 million and ETH's deflationary supply and which of the two qualifies as more sound money. An Ethereum-focused Twitter handle called ‘ultra sound money’ compared the issuance supply of both crypto and suggested that “if capped-supply BTC is sound then decreasing-supply ETH is ultrasound.” if capped-supply BTC is sound decreasing-supply ETH is ultra sound pic.twitter.com/L2tsFzPQ7q — ultra sound money (@ultrasoundmoney) January 15, 2023 The …

Ethereum layer-2 scaling protocol Polygon (MATIC) is carrying out performance testing of zero-knowledge rollup (zk rollups) technology ahead of full integration with its mainnet. The development of the technology, called Polygon zkEVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), has been ongoing for over three years by the Polygon Hermez team. The team has already confirmed that zero-knowledge proofs are possible on Ethereum, by generating over 12,000 zk-proofs in a primary version of the zkEVM testnet. David Schwartz, project lead of Polygon zkEVM and PolygonID, unpacked the development of the functionality in correspondence with Cointelegraph. Layer-2 platforms have continued to evolve and improve functionality …

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. The DeFi ecosystem started 2023 on a bullish note, similar to the broader cryptocurrency market. However, the bullish start to the year didn’t diminish the damage caused by vulnerabilities and attacks in 2022. A new research report has highlighted that DeFi was the most vulnerable crypto ecosystem, at the receiving end of 113 exploits out of the total 167. On top of that, blockchain security experts have warned the trend could continue in 2023. …

In many countries, millions of people clack basic equitable access to the financial services that would allow them to meet their daily needs. On this week’s episode of NFT Steez, hosts Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond meet with Mashiat Mutmainnah to discuss how regenerative finance (ReFi) can provide more accessibility and inclusivity to blockchain technology. Mutmainnah explained that as a “mission-driven movement,” ReFi enables users to redefine their relationship with the current financial system and their relationship with finance and wealth. What if there were newer models that could sustainably alleviate this? According to Mutmainnah, ReFi can redefine what money …

MetaMask users are set to have access to Ethereum liquid staking providers Lido and Rocket Pool courtesy of a new integration unveiled by ConsenSys. MetaMask Staking will unlock the ability for users to stake Ether (ETH) through the Lido and Rocket Pool protocols, touting the service to improve the security and decentralization of the Ethereum blockchain. Users will be able to compare reward rates, network control and popularity of different liquid staking providers, providing additional information to inform staking solution choices. The service begins with a public beta through the MetaMask portfolio decentralized application (DApp). Users will be able to …

Ether (ETH) price technicals suggest that 35% gains are in play by March 2022 due to several bullish technical and fundamental factors. Ethereum price rises above two key moving averages On Jan. 8, Ether's price crossed above its 21-week exponential moving average (21-week EMA; the purple wave) and 200-day simple moving average (200-day SMA; the orange wave). Historically, these two moving averages have separated bull and bear markets. When ETH price trades above them, it is considered to be in a bull market, and vice versa. The last time when Ether crossed above its 21-week EMA and 200-day SMA was …

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood believes that digital wallets and blockchain tech were among “game-changing innovations” that the equity markets largely ignored in 2022. In a Jan. 12 blog post on the ARK Invest website, Wood suggested that the equity market faced a “wall of worry” in 2022, caused by fears of entrenched inflation and higher interest rates, and largely ignored a number of innovative technologies. Wood highlighted that digital wallets are “replacing cash and credit cards,” noting that they overtook cash as the top transaction method for offline commerce in 2020. Further arguing that digital wallets should not be …

Crypto investors have been urged to keep their eyes peeled for "deepfake" crypto scams to come, with the digital-doppelganger technology continuing to advance, making it harder for viewers to separate fact from fiction. David Schwed, the COO of blockchain security firm Halborn told Cointelegraph that the crypto industry is more “susceptible” to deepfakes than ever because “time is of the essence in making decisions” which results in less time to verify the veracity of a video. Deepfakes use deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) to create highly realistic digital content by manipulating and altering original media, such as swapping faces in …

Ava Labs, developer of the Avalanche network (AVAX), has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to implement new features intended to make running a node easier, according to a January 11 blog post from Ava Labs. The new features include one-click node deployment through the AWS Marketplace, AWS GovCloud integration for Dapp developers concerned about compliance, and the ability to create Avalanche subnets with just a few clicks. It’s official! @Amazon #ChoseAvalanche to bring scalable blockchain solutions to enterprises and governments #AWS fully supports Avalanche’s infrastructure and dApp ecosystem, including one-click node deployment, offering the best tooling for these high …

Ethereum price (ETH) gained 10.2% from Jan. 4 to Jan. 10, breaching the $1,300 resistance without much effort, but has the Ether price move cast a light on whether the altcoin is ready to begin a new uptrend. Will Ethereum’s former resistance level turn to support? After testing the $1,200 support on Jan. 1, the eight-week ascending channel has displayed strength, but Ether bulls fear that negative newsflow might break the pattern to the downside. Despite the positive price trend, the sentiment around Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies hasn't been very enticing. For example, on Jan. 8, Xiao Yi, the former …

Bitcoin (BTC) staged a brief but promising return to $17,500 overnight on Jan. 11 as newfound strength lingered. Bitcoin fails to win over skeptical traders Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting new local highs of $17,504 on Bitstamp. Almost tying with the peak from Dec. 16, the pair displayed rare upside momentum against a backdrop of some of the lowest volatility ever seen over the holiday season. Now, traders and analysts anticipate an erratic reaction to upcoming macroeconomic data from the United States. Due Jan. 12, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) print is expected to bolster …

Ethereum Layer-2 (L2) on-chain activity has been increasing to the extent that the leading two networks now process more transaction volume than the Ethereum network. Layer-2 networks Arbitrum and Optimism have seen an increase in transactions over the past three months. Comparatively, aside from a few spikes, transactions on the Ethereum network have declined by around 33% since late October according to Etherscan. This has enabled the two L2s combined to flip Ethereum for this metric, according to Dune Analytics data. The chart shows Ethereum processed over 1.06 million transactions on Jan. 10 whereas Arbitrum and Optimism combined processed over …