The number of unregistered cryptocurrency-related businesses continues to outweigh those signed up with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority. Crypto.com became the latest business from the cryptocurrency ecosystem to register with the FCA, joining a list of a confirmed 37 companies with the green light to offer services in the country. Just seven businesses have gone through the registration process in 2022 to achieve Money Laundering Regulations approval, which includes eToro UK, DRW Global Markets LTD, Zodia Markets (UK) Limited, Uphold Europe Limited, Rubicon Digital UK Limited and Wintermute Trading LTD. Crypto.com is the seventh, registered under FORIS DAX UK …

The Ethereum ecosystem continues to witness a flurry of activity that has individuals and organizations deploying token contracts, adding liquidity to pools and deploying smart contracts to support a wide range of business models. While notable, this growth has also been riddled with security exploits, leaving decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols vulnerable to hacks and scams. For instance, recent findings from crypto intelligence firm Chainalysis show that crypto-related hacks have increased by 58.3% from the beginning of the year through July 2022. The report further notes that $1.9 billion has been lost to hacks during this timeframe — a figure that …

Although there is still an apparent lack of women in the Web3 sector, blockchain-based games geared toward women may help drive inclusivity. A recent report from the Entertainment Software Association found that 48% of gamers in the United States identify as female. It has also been noted that nearly half of all gamers in the world are women. The interest that women have taken in the billion-dollar gaming sector is notable. This, combined with the massive growth being projected by the GameFi industry, is a key reason why a number of Web3 games are being built specifically for female users. …

Is there a possibility of a refund like traditional banks? If an ETH transaction fails or someone mistakenly sends it a wrong address, is there a provision of a refund? Ethereum does not refund gas costs for failed transactions. The fundamental design of an open blockchain like Ethereum renders such a provision improbable. Fees paid by the sender for adding transactions to blocks are paid directly to miners on Ethereum network, the status of the transaction as successful or failed notwithstanding. In case of a failed transaction, the Ether the person attempted to send is returned to the wallet. However, …

On Friday, August 19, the total crypto market capitalization dropped by 9.1%, but more importantly, the all-important $1 trillion psychological support was tapped. The market's latest venture below this just three weeks ago, meaning investors were pretty confident that the $780 billion total market-cap low on June 18 was a mere distant memory. Regulatory uncertainty increased on Aug. 17 after the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced that they were "deeply concerned" that proof-of-work mining could increase demand for fossil fuels. As a result, U.S. lawmakers requested the crypto mining companies to provide information on energy consumption …

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. This past week, Celsius’s financial troubles mounted further as a new coin report showed the company had a balance gap of $2.85 billion, more than double what it had shown in the bankruptcy filing. Aave (AAVE) called upon community members to commit to the Ethereum proof-of-stake (PoS) Merge. Coinbase CEO said the exchange would rather wind down its staking services than implement on-chain censorship in the form of regulatory compliance. The crypto market saw …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins witnessed a sharp sell-off on Aug. 19, but there does not seem to be a specific trigger for the sudden drop. The sharp fall resulted in liquidations of more than $551 million in the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinglass. Barring a V-shaped bottom, other formations generally take time to complete as buyers and sellers try to gain the upper hand. This tends to cause several random volatile moves that may be an opportunity for short-term traders, but long-term investors should avoid getting sucked into the noise. Glassnode data shows that investors …

The Ethereum blockchain is all set to make its highly anticipated transition from its current proof-of-work (PoW) mining consensus to proof-of-stake (PoS). The Merge date is officially scheduled for Sept. 15–16 after the successful final Goerli testnet integration to the Beacon Chain on Aug. 11. At present, miners can create new Ether (ETH) by pledging a huge amount of computing power. After the Merge, however, network participants, known as validators, will be required to instead pledge large amounts of pre-existing ETH to validate blocks, creating more ETH and earning staking rewards. The three-phase transition process began on Dec. 1, 2020, …

Merkle trees vs. Verkle trees There are many differences between both types of trees, particularly in providing Merkle proofs and Verkle proofs. The whole set of sister nodes in a Merkle tree, including Merkle Patricia trees, constitutes evidence of a value. The proof must include all nodes in the tree with any parent node in common with the node you are attempting to prove. On the other hand, in a Verkle tree, you only need to supply the path plus a tiny bit extra as proof—you don't even need to add sister nodes. The Verkle tree's main idea is that …

Cryptocurrency lending firm Hodlnaut has cut most of its workforce and has applied to be placed under judicial management due to bleak financial circumstances. Hodlnaut, which offers interest-bearing cryptocurrency investment options in vetted institutions, confirmed the dire state of affairs on Aug. 19. The company’s poor financial position has been put down to losses suffered by its Hong Kong subsidiary during the infamous TerraUSD crash, high volumes of withdrawals and the general downturn across cryptocurrency markets. The company opted to apply for judicial management, which will see the Singaporean Court appoint a manager to review its accounts and activities as …

Bitcoin (BTC) fell rapidly on Aug. 19 as the culmination of a week’s sideways action ended in disappointment for bulls. New lows "just a matter of time Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it dropped 6.2% in a single hourly candle. Reacting, traders hoped that a rebound could allow for consolidation higher than current spot price levels, which were under $22,000 at the time of writing. “Well, hopefully that was liquidity seeking, otherwise it's over,” a gloomy Crypto Chase told Twitter followers. Fellow account Il Capo of Crypto, who had long forecast a return to lower …

Ksenia Malik, the wife of Tornado Cash creator Alexey Pertsev Wife has lashed out at Dutch authorities for treating her husband like a "dangerous criminal" following his arrest last week. The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) arrested Pertsev on Aug. 12 over an alleged use of the Ethereum-based privacy tool to launder money and conceal criminal financial flows. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Malik confirmed that Pertsev remains in the hands of Dutch authorities and has not had the chance to contact him since he was put behind bars. “He’s kept in prison as if he were a dangerous criminal,” …