According to a new page added to its support section on Oct. 25, Cash App — a mobile phone payment processing app created by Block Inc. — has added support for transactions via the Bitcoin Lightning Network. The new feature allows Cash App users to send and receive Bitcoin (BTC) on the faster, more efficient layer-2 protocol. Lightning is ideal for small transactions, with near-instant processing times, compared with the minutes to hours required on the Bitcoin blockchain. Cash App had already supported Bitcoin transactions on the Lightning Network in a limited capacity, with users limited to paying for invoices …

There’s no denying that the world is currently facing an unprecedented energy crisis, one that has compounded severely in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic so much so that countries across the globe — especially across Europe and North America — are witnessing severe shortages and steep spikes in the price of oil, gas and electricity. Limited gas supplies, in particular, stemming from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, have caused the price of essential commodities like fertilizer to shoot up dramatically. Not only that, but it has also resulted in the heightened use of coal and other natural resources. Coal consumption …

Technology heavyweight Apple has clarified its App Store rules around nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency exchanges marking the first time its codified specific rules for NFTs. The new rules confirm how NFT purchases will be taxed and what they can and can't be used for, while also clarifying rules around when a crypto exchange app can be listed. The Oct. 24 update to its App Store guidelines saw language added that allows fo in-app purchases of NFTs, but bars any NFTs acquired elsewhere to be used for anything other than viewing. It also allows applications to use in-app purchases to …

Ethereum went through a key network upgrade on Sept. 15, shifting from its proof-of-work (PoW) mining consensus to a proof-of-stake (PoS) one. The key upgrade is dubbed the Merge. The Merge was slated as a critical change for the Ethereum network that would make it more energy efficient, with later improvements to scalability and decentralization to come. A little over a month later, however, some industry observers fear the PoS transition has pushed Ethereum toward more centralization and higher regulatory scrutiny. The Merge replaced the way transactions were verified on the Ethereum network. Instead of miners putting in their computational …

Crypto platform Freeway has halted some of its services, citing "unprecedented volatility" in the foreign exchange and cryptocurrency markets in “recent times.” In an Oct. 23 post, the platform announced they are halting buys, deposits and will "not be buying Supercharger simulations until our new strategies are implemented." According to the Freeway website, their "Superchargers" product can offer up to 43% annual yield rewards. Users can deposit fiat currencies and crypto, which are placed in regulated brokerage accounts which are leveraged for returns. A centralized platform, Freeway advertises itself as combining the best of traditional finance with the best of …

Contrary to popular belief, a bear market provides ideal conditions for startup founders and developers to work on technological innovations. The absence of market frenzy and speculative investing helps startups to focus on the fundamentals, which are beneficial in the long run. However, bear markets dry up capital sources, and liquidity becomes the proverbial mirage of an oasis in the desert sand. Thus, startups turn toward incubators who become messiahs with their network of angel investors and venture capitalists. As incubators hold the key to funding, they are powerful enough to make or break a crypto startup. And, as Marvel’s …

Modern decentralized exchanges (DEXs) mainly rely on liquidity providers (LP) to provide the tokens that are being traded. These liquidity providers are rewarded by receiving a portion of the trading fees generated on the DEX. Unfortunately, while liquidity providers earn an income via fees, they’re exposed to impermanent loss if the price of their deposited assets changes. Directional liquidity pooling is a new method that is different from the traditional system used by DEXs and aims to reduce the risk of impermanent loss for liquidity providers. What is directional liquidity pooling? Directional liquidity pooling is a system developed by Maverick …

Self-regulation will be critical in governing the rapidly changing landscape of the cryptocurrency industry in order to preserve its autonomous, decentralized nature. Months after the collapse of the Terra ecosystem that propelled crypto’s market capitalization below $1 trillion, the industry is beginning the long process of rebuilding not only retail trust but also faith in itself. Current market conditions are in part due to structural weaknesses in smart contracts, models and governance processes. This is made evident by the many hacks and exploits that have taken place this year and the ballooning of projects with flawed tokenomics and that are …

On Thursday, developers of popular decentralized exchange, or DEX, PancakeSwap proposed to deploy its mainnet on layer-one blockchain Aptos. Currently, PancakeSwap is based on BNB Chain and processes about $47 million worth of trading volume each day. However, its developers have introduced the DEX's first multichain migration proposal after the launch of Aptos on October 17, writing: "Aptos is a next-generation L1 with low transaction costs, high transaction throughput, and fast transaction speeds, utilizing a novel and developer-optimized approach to parallel execution. PancakeSwap has developed a strong relationship with the Aptos team, and a large number of its developer ecosystem …

On this week’s episode of Market Talks, we welcome Muneeb Ali, co-founder of Stacks — a Bitcoin layer for smart contracts — and the CEO of Trust Machines, which is building the largest ecosystem of applications for Bitcoin and their underlying technologies. Ali has been working on internet protocols and distributed systems for over 15 years and received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton University, where he occasionally gives guest lectures as well. We first get some basics out of the way and ask Ali to explain what it means to build on the Bitcoin network and how it …

Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto wing of $4.5 trillion asset manager Fidelity Investments, is set to offer Ether (ETH) custody and trading services to its institutional clients later this month. According to an email to Fidelity’s customers shared on Twitter, the crypto arm announced new “Institutional Ethereum capabilities” for institutional investors starting on Oct. 28, 2022. Fidelity Digital Assets just sent an email to customers announcing that Ethereum will be available for purchase this month. pic.twitter.com/3V0GCrOt5z — Bruce Fenton (@brucefenton) October 19, 2022 The post states that investors will be able to buy, sell, and transfer ETH, "using the same …

According to a new report by crypto data aggregator Token Terminal, approximately 50% of exploits in decentralized finance, or DeFi, occur on cross-chain bridges. In two years' time, more than $2.5 billion have been stolen by hackers from exploiting vulnerabilities on cross-chain bridges. The amount is enormous comparison to other security breaches, such as DeFi lending hacks ($718 million) and decentralized exchange exploits ($362 million) in that period. Bridge exploits account for ~50% of all DeFi exploits, totaling ~$2.5B in lost assets These hacks can typically be attributed to smart contract loopholes (e.g. Wormhole & Nomad) or compromised private keys …