The creation of a United States digital dollar would “crowd out” the cryptocurrency ecosystem and protect the national security of the U.S. according to a former top advisor in president Joe Biden’s administration. Daleep Singh — a former Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics in the Biden administration — made the comments at a Feb. 28 Senate Banking Committee hearing, suggesting that cryptocurrencies facilitate ransomware attacks and contribute to the evasion of U.S. sanctions. Singh believes the U.S. government embracing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) “is the single best step that we could take [to protect national interests] …

The first critique of centralized authority was introduced by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in 1848, a few years after publishing his now-classic book What is Property?, calling for the abolition of property and the state. As per Proudhon's view, without economic change, any political change would be limited. His work is at the heart of anarchism, "a political theory that is skeptical of the justification of authority and power," according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Almost two centuries later, Proudhon's thoughts about economics and power still echo in society, with encryption tools paving the way for parts of the ideal society …

Developers of one of the earliest Android-based mobile browsers are working to bring online communication to the next level by introducing it to Web3. Sending Labs, a new startup focused on decentralized communications protocol, has secured $12.5M in seed funding to launch the Web3 communications stack. The new platform takes on the mission of building accessible and secure infrastructures for Web3 communication for developers and the community, applying end-to-end decentralization of core of its products. With the new offering, Sending Labs aims to enable privacy-preserving communications and guarantee ownership and transfer of digital assets within community chats. The seed funding …

The European Union is famous for its ambivalent relationship with privacy — on the one hand, it was the first place in the world to apply strict data protection regulations. On the other, its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project lacks the anonymity standards of private cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, last week the EU lawmakers made a vital step to embrace privacy in the space of citizens’ digital identities. On Feb. 9, the Industry, Research and Energy Committee included the standard of zero-knowledge proofs in its amendments to the European digital identity framework (eID). The latest update was voted in by 55 …

Cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Huobi have again frozen accounts linked to the $100 million Harmony Horizon bridge attack on Jun. 24, 2022. Around $1.4 million worth of crypto frozen by the trading platforms came from accounts linked to the notorious Lazarus Group operating out of North Korea. The investigation was carried out by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, according to a report shared by the firm on Feb. 14. However, the firm didn’t state what coins or tokens were frozen. Exchanges @binance and @HuobiGlobal today froze accounts containing $1.4 million stolen by North Korea’s Lazarus Group. This was made possible thanks …

The metaverse, a virtual environment that simulates reality, offers complex moral dilemmas regarding privacy, ownership and control. These consist of: Privacy: Who has access to and how is personal information used within the metaverse? Ownership: Who owns the digital assets and real estate in the metaverse, and what rights do they have over it? Control: Who oversee activities in the metaverse, and what rules and regulations will be implemented to guarantee fair use and equal treatment for all participants? These are crucial issues to think about as the metaverse expands and is utilized more frequently, and they will probably have …

Censorship resistance is the foundation of crypto, so for many cryptocurrency purists, the Nov. 23 announcement by ConsenSys, the New York-based company behind the leading Ethereum browser wallet, informing its 20 million MetaMask users that their IP and wallet addresses would be collected was simply a gross violation of the crypto spirit. In the weeks that followed, ConsenSys first reacted by saying the data collected would only be retained for seven days and then that it had updated the MetaMask features to allow users to opt out of Infura. However, the question remains: Have they done enough to establish crypto …

The DAO that governs privacy-focused blockchain Secret Network (SCRT) has voted to restructure its Secret Foundation as a non-profit with a “transparent operation,” according to the proposal’s official page. Congrats to the #SecretNetwork community! The Secret Foundation has been restructured as an NPO, with a community-elected board & amendments requested by the founder. #blockchain #cryptocurrency — Krypton AI (@KryptonAi) February 10, 2023 The proposal stated that the new foundation “will be registered as an NPO [non-profit organization] and provide an annual account of its activities, including key performance indicators (KPIs), budgets, and goals.” The foundation will be run by a …

How to protect yourself in the metaverse To protect yourself in the metaverse, use strong passwords, be cautious of suspicious activity, and limit the amount of personal information shared online. Here are some ways to protect yourself in the metaverse: Use strong and unique passwords: Create secure passwords utilizing a variety of letters, numbers and symbols and steer clear of using the same one for many accounts. When disclosing personal information, exercise caution: Be cautious when sharing information online and be on the lookout for unauthorized requests for personal information. Utilize two-factor authentication: To further secure your accounts, use two-factor …

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are becoming an increasingly popular solution to serving defendants in blockchain-based crimes that would otherwise be unreachable, according to crypto lawyers. The last year has seen an increase in litigation delivered over NFTs in cases where those accused of blockchain crime wereuncontactable through traditional methods of communication. In November 2022, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted a United States law firm The Crypto Lawyers its request for its client to serve a defendant via NFT. While the defendant's identity was unknown, the plaintiff accused the defendant of stealing cryptocurrency to the …

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has shared a possible solution to what he describes as the “largest remaining challenge” on Ethereum — privacy. In a blog post on Jan. 20, Buterin acknowledged the need to come up with a privacy solution because by default, all information that goes onto a “public blockchain” is public too. He then arrived at the concept of “stealth addresses” — which he said can potentially anonymize peer-to-peer transactions, nonfungible token (NFT) transfers, and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) registrations, protecting users. An incomplete guide to stealth addresses:https://t.co/21Q18BrD30 — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 20, 2023 In the blog post, …

The cryptocurrency community has a tendency to fixate on a new issue every few weeks and then promptly forget about it. The limited attention span of this community misses the ultimate resolution of important issues. Over the Thanksgiving holiday in November 2022, ConsenSys released a disclosure about a privacy policy affecting MetaMask users that sent “Crypto Twitter” into a firestorm. My first reaction was also negative. That’s what a sly fox would say isn’t it? pic.twitter.com/PfKMTiNHoR — J.W. Verret, JD, CPA/CVA (@JWVerret) November 25, 2022 The MetaMask browser extension wallet uses a node called Infura. That node is owned by …