How coinbase transactions are structured Coinbase transactions are structured as the first transaction in a block, where the miner includes a newly minted amount of BTC as a reward for their effort in solving a complex mathematical problem to validate transactions and create a new block on the blockchain. Coinbase transactions have a special format. Compared to a regular transaction input, a coinbase transaction has a different set of values that do not represent unspent transaction output (UTXO). As such, in place of a transaction hash, a coinbase transaction will have 32 bytes, all set to zero. The output index …

The price of Litecoin (LTC) could skyrocket by up to 200% by July 2023, coinciding with its halving event, reducing miner block rewards by 50%. Litecoin has bottomed out? Litecoin has undergone two halvings since its launch in October 2011. The first one occurred in August 2015, which reduced its block reward from 50 LTC to 25 LTC. The second happened in August 2019, which slashed the 25 LTC reward to 12.5 LTC. Interestingly, each Litecoin halving event occurred after a volatile LTC price cycle, namely an enormous price pump, followed by a similarly massive correction, a price bottom, and …

How does the hash rate affect Bitcoin price? The main drivers of Bitcoin’s price include computational power, mining profitability and network difficulty. Since miners are compensated in Bitcoin while incurring costs in local currencies, the hash rate follows the price. That said, the more computational power the Bitcoin network employs, the higher its value is. Moreover, rational miners are only willing to mine BTC if it is profitable, which implicitly means that any other cryptocurrency with no demand for it would have zero value and miners would redirect its resources elsewhere. Additionally, the network difficulty can be used as a …

A new bill demanding a congressional notification prior to payments of the United States Department of State (DOS) rewards using cryptocurrencies surfaced as the U.S. Congress raised concerns about the evasion of sanctions. The Rewards for Justice Program, a counterterrorism rewards program run by the Secretary of State, offers rewards for information that prevents international terrorism. Citing examples of Russia and Belarus as previously sanctioned regimes that have used cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions, the bill H. R. 7338 demands that: “The Secretary of State shall notify the appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 days before paying out a reward …

Are there any other limitations to consider? Yes — as your funds may need to be locked up in order for rewards to be generated. With some non-custodial staking providers, you need to delegate a minimum of 120 DOT in order to stake — that's worth about $840 at the time of writing. Worse still, failing to withdraw rewards regularly can mean they vanish after just 12 weeks. In some cases, you can lose your rewards and end up paying punishing fees if you try to redeem your DOT early, too. XGo does things differently and says it offers staking …

After moving away from Bitcoin (BTC) payments years ago, online forum Reddit now seems to be inching closer to embracing cryptocurrency payments via a new partnership with the FTX exchange. Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX and Reddit announced in a joint statement on Tuesday that the platform intends to integrate Reddit’s Community Points in the United States, the European Union, Australia and other markets. The partnership features the integration of FTX Pay as a payment and crypto exchange solution to unlock new crypto-enabled perks for Reddit Community Points. Introduced in May 2020, Reddit Community Points are a measure of reputation …

In a small coastal town just north of Brisbane, Queensland, 20 members of the Coolum Surf Club have been taking part in an initial trial of the Erth Point System, a crypto rewards platform from the Australian company Rewards4Earth. Doug Flockhart, former CEO of Clubs Queensland, the body for community clubs in the state, spoke to Cointelegraph about how his goal is to integrate the system through over 1,000 community clubs across Australia. Flockhart said the top professional rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL), “are very keen” on the idea and for Flockhart, it “confirms the capacity of …

Members of the crypto community on Twitter have been left bewildered by the beleaguered Celsius Network continuing to pay weekly rewards despite pausing withdrawals two weeks ago. As previously reported, crypto lending platform Celsius paused withdrawals on June 13 after citing extreme market conditions amid the current bear market. Reports soon followed that the firm was undergoing liquidity issues and may be heading toward insolvency, potentially putting users’ funds at risk. Why is @CelsiusNetwork still paying rewards if apparently they are talking bankruptcy? Why not pause rewards and set a low withdrawal limit? Is it me or does that make …

Airdrops have become the bread and butter of the crypto world — for good reason. They're an indispensable marketing tool for up-and-coming projects that want to create a buzz around their ecosystems. Done right, distributing free tokens to the public can help elevate demand — and unlock big benefits for recipients. After all, if these altcoins end up being listed on major exchanges at a later date, their value could explode. Unfortunately though, downsides have started to emerge. These campaigns aren't just reaching enthusiasts who passionately believe in what a project has to offer, but "airdrop hunters" who are merely …

Solana-based move-to-earn application STEPN has reported multiple distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in the aftermath of the platform proceeding with a major anti-cheating upgrade. STEPN took to Twitter on June 5 to report that the platform had suffered a number of DDoS attacks that have caused recovery maintenance and associated improper performance. 1/2 We have been under multiple DDOS attacks in the past hours. Securing the servers and recovery may take anywhere from 1 to 12 hours. We recommend you take some rest during the maintenance or otherwise the work-outs may not be recorded properly. — STEPN | Public Beta Phase …

Financial companies in Israel are increasingly moving into cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), with two competing credit card firms working on BTC investment and cashback features. Two Israel-based credit card companies, Max and Isracard, have inked partnerships with crypto-related platforms in order to allow cardholders to purchase Bitcoin, the local news agency Calcalist reported on Tuesday. Max announced a collaboration with the local crypto broker Bits of Gold to launch a crypto-enabled card called MaxBack Crypto. According to Max's official website, the card will offer cashback opportunities in BTC as well as the option to buy Bitcoin through a clearing agreement …

Crypto exchange Crypto.com announced severe reductions to Cronos (CRO) staking rewards for most tiers of its VISA prepaid card, which has forced the token price to fall around 30% in less than a week. Its Sunday blog post explained that card rewards will be reduced by an average of 69.5% and 100% on its lowest tier Midnight Blue card “to ensure long-term sustainability.” On its highest tier Obsidian card, which requires at least $400,000 in CRO to be staked, rewards will drop from 8% to 5%. Changes to the rewards schedule will begin on June 1. However, cardholders who had …