2021 was a rollercoaster ride for many projects in the cryptocurrency market but as is the nature of crypto, many tokens hit new all-time highs and then spent the following months drifting lower as the hype surrounding the project faded and traders moved into greener pastures. This is exactly what happened with Theta, a decentralized broadcasting platform that allows users to earn rewards by contributing their computing resources toward the health of the network. Theta token kicked off its run on Dec. 11, 2020, when it rose 2,468% from a price of $0.621 to a new record high at $15.90 …

Jack Dorsey, co-founder, and CEO of both Square and Twitter, released a white paper Friday detailing plans for Square's decentralized Bitcoin (BTC) exchange tbDEX. Unlike most decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, tbDEX will not utilize a trustless model, and therefore will not feature its own governance token. Instead, it is a message protocol designed to facilitate trust relationships without relying on a federation to control access. The tbDEX also intends to include many features that make it far less decentralized than a DEX in the truest sense of the word. For starters, the protocol requires that all participants to pass background …

A new project calling itself the first of the fourth generation blockchains says it has solved the “blockchain trilemma” with a new approach to decentralization and an identity-based approach to security. The MetaMUI Blockchain is a “self-sovereign, identity-based meta blockchain” Seokgu (Phantom) Yun, founder and CEO of Sovereign Wallet Network (SWN) told a live ask-me-anything session held on Cointelegraph's YouTube channel. “MetaMUI Network is the permissioned public blockchain SovereignWallet Network is building with central banks, commercial banks, financial institutions, and other blockchain companies around the world.” The blockchain trilemma, posited by Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, is that full decentralization, scalability, …

Alexei Navalny is a noted leader of the Russian opposition. His “Anti-Corruption Foundation” (FBK) has been a thorn in President Vladimir Putin’s side for many years. Though the FBK has been locked out of mainstream politics — much as Navalny has been blocked from running in recent elections — its investigations have managed to garner an audience that Putin has found stubbornly difficult to disperse. That audience has transformed into protests across the country. On top of it all, Navalny’s story highlights an important use case for Bitcoin in a country that effectively sanctions media that don't toe the official …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor's note “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” begins the most famous English-language story of the French Revolution. Though many would disagree with me, I would argue that neither is true of today. Maybe that’s why what passes for revolutions these days is so dependent on memes and lunatic viral conspiracy theories. That same memetic energy has brought together an unholy matrimony of anarchists, leftists, populists, jilted investment bros, Boogie boys and survivalists, AOC stans, …

The United States Treasury Department's now-infamous proposal to require information on crypto transfers from exchanges to self-hosted wallets is back in motion. Per a Tuesday announcement from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, stakeholders will have another 60 days to respond to the proposal. While a marked improvement from the 15-day comment period of the original proposal, unfortunately for the crypto industry, it doesn't look like the actual terms of the proposal have changed along with the administration. The news follows Janet Yellen's confirmation as secretary of the Treasury last night. Shortly after his inauguration, President Joe Biden ordered …

Mitsubishi Electric has teamed up with researchers from the prestigious Japanese university, Tokyo Tech, to jointly design a blockchain-based trading system that can support more flexible, peer-to-peer energy trading. Announced on Jan. 18, the new system is intended to support the efficient use of surplus electricity that is generated from renewable energy sources. In particular, it is hoped that the trading system can ensure that at any given moment, there will be the maximum available amount of surplus electricity accessible on the market for consumers. Peer-to-peer energy trading set-ups allow consumers and prosumers to engage in direct trading as buyers …

In response to a deluge of comments, the United States Treasury Department's Anti-Money Laundering office is slowing its roll on a rushed proposal to monitor a whole new range of cryptocurrency transactions. On Thursday, the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, announced that it was extending the window on comments in response to a rule originally announced two days before Christmas and less than a month before a new administration takes over. The rule as originally proposed sought to add new thresholds for registered money services business — i.e., crypto exchanges — transacting with self-hosted wallets, which are only …

IMVU's new fiat-convertible VCOIN goes live on the social network. Per a Jan. 12 company announcement shared with Cointelegraph, VCOIN is available for users of IMVU, starting today. IMVU already hosts over 27 million transactions a month using its non-blockchain-backed credits. VCOIN aims to give users involved in those transactions the opportunity to convert their earnings into value that they can use off the platform, both in peer-to-peer transactions and in conversion to fiat, integrating the game's virtual economy into the rest of the economy more tangibly. Regarding the hoped-for boost to the virtual world's economy, IMVU's chief strategy and …

The Treasury has released its long-awaited proposal to restrict money services businesses, including U.S.-registered crypto exchanges, from dealing with self-hosted wallets. In a Friday evening announcement, the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, announced proposed rules requiring registered crypto exchanges to verify the "identity of their customers, if a counterparty uses an unhosted or otherwise covered wallet and the transaction is greater than $3,000." The rule is currently just a proposal. The Treasury has given stakeholders 15 days to respond with comments. Rumors of the proposed rules have been circulating for the past month. With Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin …

Paxful, a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplace, has successfully defended against a number of serious threats, including 220,000 bot attacks and a variety of social engineering ploys — all in the span of two months. During the same time period, hackers managed to steal around $200 million worth of cryptocurrency from the KuCoin exchange, and another unconnected attack saw $5.4 million stolen from Eterbase. Paxful said that its alleged attackers attempted to use automated bots to brute force their way into accounts belonging to the project's users: “Bots, which are reported to generate about a quarter of global Web traffic, are de …

Back in April 2018, the Reserve Bank of India decided to go ahead and issue a notice prohibiting all of India’s banking and financial institutions from offering their services to crypto exchanges, companies operating within the space, and individuals seeking to explore the nascent asset class. Following the ban, India’s crypto ecosystem was brought to its knees, with a majority of operational exchanges either folding up completely or relocating to other nations with more hospitable regulations. Additionally, the notice resulted in digital currencies being maligned across India’s investment landscape, with many casual enthusiasts starting to view the overall sector with …