Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH), saw its worst daily performance of the year as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stopped Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, from offering crypto staking services. On Feb. 9, Kraken agreed to pay $30 million to settle the SEC's allegation that it broke securities rules by offering crypto staking services to U.S. retail investors. The news pushed down the prices of many proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain project tokens, in particular. Ethereum, which switched to a staking-based protocol in September 2022, also suffered as a result. On Feb. 9, ETH's price plunged nearly 6.5% to around $1,525, …

Members of the crypto community are seemingly outraged over the recent charges laid against crypto exchange Kraken in relation to its staking-as-a-service program in the United States. On Feb. 9, the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had settled charges with Kraken over “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program,” which it claims is qualified as securities under its purview. Kraken agreed to settle the charges by paying $30 million in fines and to immediately cease the staking services to U.S. retail investors, though it would continue to be offered offshore. The …

According to data from DeFiLlama, Ethereum staking service Rocket Pool reached $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) on Feb. 9. The move comes less than two years after the decentralized finance (DeFi) launched its mainnet on Nov. 9, 2021. Dubbed a liquid staking solution for Ethereum (ETH), Rocket Pool allows users to join an Ethereum decentralized node operator or run their own node. Unlike conventional staking solutions, the capital requirements are far less as users can run their own node with just 16 ETH as opposed to the network specified 32 ETH, with another 16 ETH coming from a …

In this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Average Joe’s Crypto, a research analyst and writer. He authors his own blog, which focuses on all things crypto, Web3 and decentralized finance (DeFi). Without wasting any time, we jump straight into why artificial intelligence (AI) tokens have been going parabolic recently. Why have tokens that use artificial intelligence in some way been having their moment in the sun, and is this a trend that will continue into the future or is it just a passing fad? There have recently been a number of memecoins that have been moving upw, too. …

As the crypto industry attracts more users, developers are laser-focused on improving user experience, a major pain point for most new users. Artificial Intelligence has often been seen as a technology that could improve how people use and interact with crypto. In the latest episode of Hashing It Out, the integration of AI with crypto is discussed at length. Cointelegraph’s Elisha Owusu Akyaw (GhCryptoGuy) interviewed Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik about the importance of on-chain data and the use of artificial intelligence in crypto in Episode 8 of Hashing It Out. The narrative that artificial intelligence is taking over has intensified …

Five years on from its inception, fan token platform Chiliz has launched its own layer-1 Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible blockchain ecosystem to support its growth. Chiliz’s fan token ecosystem has long been powered by Ethereum-based ERC-20 tokens, but the validation of the Chiliz ‘2.0’ Blockchain genesis block sees the ecosystem shift to its own layer 1. The new blockchain uses a system of 11 active validators with Proof of Stake Authority (PoSA) consensus, which is touted to provide faster block times, lower fees and energy usage. According to the project’s documentation, Chiliz Chain 2.0 is a hard fork of …

Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and even nascent altcoins are a solid “buy,” a previously risk-off investor says. In a blog post released Feb. 8, industry stalwart Arthur Hayes announced a U-turn on his current crypto investment plans. Hayes changes tune on "risky assets" Current macroeconomic conditions stemming from the United States Federal Reserve previously made Arthur Hayes keen to avoid what he calls “risky assets.” As inflation slows and the Fed’s rate hikes with them, multiple new storms are brewing in the U.S., and the Fed, as well as Congress and the Treasury, will all steer the economy as they …

The CEO and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, believes that banning retail crypto staking in the United States would be a ‘terrible’ move by the country's regulators. Armstrong made the comments in a Feb. 9 Twitter thread which has already been viewed over 2.2 million times, after noting they've heard “rumors” that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission “would like to get rid of crypto staking” for retail customers. “I hope that's not the case as I believe it would be a terrible path for the U.S. if that was allowed to happen.” Armstrong did not share where …

It is no secret that the global economy has continued to weaken over the course of the past year. To this point, on Jan. 19, the United States government hit its “debt ceiling,” i.e. the total sum of money that the U.S. Treasury can borrow to fund its ongoing federal operations, leading to renewed concerns that more financial pain and the economic slowdown could be incoming. Similarly, on the other side of the Atlantic, the United Kingdom has been struggling as well. This is made evident by the fact the number of company insolvencies registered in 2022 hit 22,109 — …

As Uniswap DAO’s vote to deploy to BNB chain continues, LIFI CEO Phillip Zentner argued in a February 6 forum post that the current proposal is flawed. According to him, the plan to use Wormhole as the sole governance bridge for Uniswap should be abandoned. Instead, he claimed that Uniswap researchers should work on a standardized system for using multiple bridges to handle governance decisions. The ongoing discussion on @Uniswap's forum is critical for the multi-chain ecosystem in 2023. TL;DR: Uniswap's model for x-chain governance will likely become industry standard. As an unbiased member of the community, @lifiprotocol is rooting …

The United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Feb. 7 that the “disinflationary process, the process of getting inflation down,” has started but it is still in its very early stages. He cautioned that strong data would be met with more rate hikes. Though the comments are mixed, they triggered buying in the S&P 500 and Bitcoin (BTC) on Feb. 7 as investors speculated that the Fed may soon end its rate hikes. Bitcoin’s strong rally in January and signs of ebbing inflation seem to have turned around investor sentiment. CoinShares data on Jan. 30 shows that institutional …

With Ethereum showing resilience through the latest cryptocurrency winter, Consensus founder Joe Lubin says he’s ‘bullish’ over Ether's (ETH) relative stability through compounding macro events. Cointelegraph Magazine editor Andrew Fenton spoke to Lubin at the Web3 event Building Blocks 23 in Tel Aviv, Israel, for an all-encompassing interview around the current state and future of the Ethereum ecosystem landscape. The co-founder of the preeminent smart contract blockchain protocol touched on a number of subjects, including ETH’s market performance over the past year. A myriad of macro events, including the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin Terra/LUNA and the demise of cryptocurrency exchange …