Decentralized finance, better known as DeFi, may not be “decentralized” enough as attackers exploited centralized weak points to drain users of billions of dollars in 2021, according to research from blockchain security firm CertiK. In a new report on the state of DeFi security in 2021, CertiK researchers said “centralization issues were the most common attack vector” within decentralized finance. The blockchain security firm cited 44 DeFi hacks totaling $1.3 billion in lost funds in 2021. That’s an increase of over $500 million compared with 2021. “This underscores the importance of decentralization and highlights the fact that many projects still …

The Human Rights Foundation announced on Jan 4 that it intends to distribute 425 million satoshis — the smallest divisible unit of a Bitcoin — to various contributors as a part of its ongoing Bitcoin Development Fund. Launched in May 2020, the Bitcoin Development Fund launched with a primary focus on improving the Bitcoin network’s privacy, usability and security. The foundation said that it will focus this particular round of grants on expanding Bitcoin education and translation as well as Bitcoin core, lightning, and wallet development. According to the organization’s press release, it will divide these grants between a number …

Less than 1% of the biggest Bitcoin (BTC) hodlers are allegedly controlling more than a quarter of all BTC in circulation, according to a new study. The National Bureau of Economic Research, an American private nonprofit research organization, released a study claiming that 10,000 Bitcoin accounts, or 0.01% of all BTC holders, own 5 million BTC, or 27% of all 18.9 million coins in circulation. The amount of BTC held by the “one percent” is equivalent to approximately $232 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 20. Conducted by finance professors Antoinette Schoar at MIT Sloan School of Management …

New research by consumer data aggregator CivicScience has found that a growing number of investors are selling their shares to purchase more crypto. The research questions were sent to people over 18 years old in the U.S. at varying times during 2021. The results were weighted by U.S. census data. Each question had between 1000 and 40,600 respondents. Out of 3,700 respondents surveyed, the number who said they would be more likely to invest their money in cryptocurrency than traditional stocks increased 140% in just five months. Back in June, only 10% of respondents said they would be more likely …

More than 80% of all nonfungible token (NFT) transactions were worth less than $10,000 in 2021 according to Chainalysis which categorized them as "retail" in recent research. A Dec. 6 report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis titled “The 2021 NFT Market Explained” detailed NFT transaction trends throughout 2021. Researchers at Chainalysis studied on-chain data between January and October 2021. While retail transactions accounted for more than 80% of all NFT transactions on any given day in 2021, collector-sized transactions rose from 6% in March to 19% by Oct. 31 indicating an increase in larger collectors as the year progressed. Institutional-sized …

The 2021 Independent Reserve’s Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) survey of more than 2,000 people found that the percentage of Australians surveyed who own or have owned crypto has reached 28.8%, up from 18.4% in 2020. The results suggest that growth in the sector is being driven by the positive experience of those who own crypto, with 89% of those surveyed saying they have made money or broken even, up from 78% in 2020. Independent Reserve CEO Adrian Przelozny told Cointelegraph that these results didn’t come as a surprise to him, due to an environment in which it has become “very difficult …

A new survey shared with Cointelegraph has found that the proportion of Australian women who own crypto assets has doubled in the last year. The 2021 Independent Reserve’s Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) of 2000 Australians found that the number of women who currently or have previously invested in crypto rose from 10.3% in 2020 to 20% in 2021. The percentage of female Bitcoin owners also rose from 8.3% to 14.8% according to the survey. Independent Reserve is an Australian-based cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2013, it has more than 200,000 users. Karen Cohen, Deputy Chair for the Board of Blockchain …

When Tony Richards, the Head of Payments Policy at the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), read the recent survey results from Finder’s Crypto Report saying that almost one in five Australians owned crypto, he didn't believe it for a second. However, the results had already been widely published around the country, gracing headlines for weeks. They even made their way into the recent Senate Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Center’s final report in October. Welcome to the statistically dubious world of cryptocurrency surveys — an easy way for companies to get publicity by hawking survey results, but …

In 2010, if someone had told you that Internet memes, digital artwork and Twitter avatars would sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, would you have believed them? Well, these are nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in a nutshell. NFTs are driving blockchains toward uncharted territory on the backs of cute kitties and pixelated punks. What may appear to be a shroud of speculation over pointless collectibles is actually the clouded horizon of fintech innovation. NFTs represent a turning point. Blockchain technology is now being used to represent assets beyond the chain. In order to understand the thriving and intriguing world …

A survey released by the Pew Research Center on Thursday found that roughly 16% of Americans have invested, traded or used some form of cryptocurrency. The number jumps to 31% for people aged 18-29, and even higher to 43% for specifically males in the same age bracket. Black, Hispanic, and Asian participants in the study were also each more likely to have invested in crypto than those who identified themselves as white. There seems to have been no disparity by income. Pew Research Analyst Andrew Perrin said: “We do see now that a large share of the American public has …

Researchers have found that roughly 11,000 entities are responsible for more than half of Bitcoin’s on-chain volume. According to a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on Oct. 21, 11,043 on-chain entities represent 55% of volume on the Bitcoin network. Cryptocurrency exchanges were estimated to account for three-quarters of on-chain volume. The report found that the top 1,000-largest investors control roughly 3 million BTC or 15.9% of circulating Bitcoin, while the next 9,000-largest investors hold roughly 2 million BTC combined or 10.6% of circulating Bitcoin. The report’s authors conclude that the network remains highly centralized despite …

Investors who study Bitcoin (BTC) carefully are eventually convinced to own a stake in the cryptocurrency, according to SkyBridge Capital CEO and founder Anthony Scaramucci. In a Monday interview with CNBC’s Capital Connection, Scaramucci — who also served a 10-day stint as President Donald Trump's communications director — urged investors to “do the homework on Bitcoin” and “understand what it is.” He also suggested that investors read the white paper written by anonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Understanding Bitcoin inevitably leads to growing adoption as many prominent investors around the world realize the potential of the cryptocurrency, Scaramucci said: “Anybody …