A sublime sunset enveloped Biarritz Casino on Aug. 27, bringing France’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) conference to a close. Located in southwest France and organized by French Bitcoin exchange Stackin Sat, Surfin Bitcoin assembled a host of Bitcoin OG’s, newbies and no coiners, those yet to buy or earn crypto, in a setting that would rival any Hollywood film set. Bitcoiners networked in the hope of learning more about the Lightning Network, landing jobs at one of the many French Bitcoin companies present — from Galoy Money to Découvre Bitcoin — or simply rubbing shoulders with fellow Bitcoin believers. In a …

The first known case of a nonfungible token (NFT) created and shared by a “terrorist sympathizer” has come to light, raising concerns that the immutable nature of blockchain tech could help the spread of terrorist messages and propaganda. In a Sept. 4 article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), intelligence experts said the NFT could be a sign that Islamic State and other terror groups may also be using blockchain technology to evade sanctions and raise funds for their terrorist campaigns. The NFT in question was reportedly discovered by Raphael Gluck, co-founder of the U.S.-based research firm Jihadoscope, who discovered …

In an ironic twist, Rug Pull Finder (RPF), a nonfungible token (NFT) watchdog focused on identifying Web3-based fraud has fallen victim to a smart contract exploit of its own. According to the NFT investigator’s post on Twitter on Sept. 2, two people exploited a technical flaw in the project during the free mint stage — pilfering 450 NFTs out of a possible 1,221 which were intended to be limited to one per wallet. As discussed on our Twitter space's earlier today - We messed up. We messed up big. Our contract had a flaw that allowed 2 people to scoop …

The crypto winter has pumped new life into the adage “Not your keys, not your coins,” particularly after the collapse of some high-profile enterprises like the Celsius Network, whose funds were frozen in June. Just last week, Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier hammered home the point further, warning: “Don’t trust your coins and your private keys to anyone because you don’t know what they’re going to do with it.” The basic idea behind the adage, familiar to many crypto veterans, is that if you don’t personally hold your private keys (i.e., passwords) in an offline “cold wallet,” then you don’t really …

At the end of August, a digital platform called ECOS Free Economic Zone delivered good news from a country that rarely sparks on the global crypto map — Armenia. ECOS reported adding 60 megawatts (MW) of capacity to its power plant-based facility, operating since 2018. Situated at one of the hydroelectric plants on the Hrazdan river, the mining facility gets its electricity supply directly from the high-voltage grid and uses the site’s infrastructure to power containers. The platform’s representatives noted that ECOS could expand to an additional 200MW of clean electricity. For comparison, the Berlin Geothermal plant in El Salvador …

What is a gold-backed cryptocurrency? A gold-backed cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency that is backed by physical gold. The currency’s value is based on the current market price of gold and can be used for transactions just like any other type of cryptocurrency. Some cryptocurrencies are backed by gold in order to tie the derivative asset (crypto) to a tangible asset (gold), thereby preventing excessive fluctuations in price. Thus, gold-backed cryptocurrency is often more stable than other digital currencies. This is because the price of gold is generally less volatile than the prices of other assets, such as …

USDT-issuer Tether wants law firm Roche Freedman “terminated” as counsel from the Bitfinex and Tether class action lawsuit following a motion from Kyle Roche to be removed as counsel in the case. In an Aug. 31 court order request by Elliot Greenfield of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, the law firm representing Tether and Bitfinex requested that Roche’s law firm be removed from the case entirely and to certify that they’ve returned or destroyed all defendant-issued documents and have not shared them with any third-party, including Ava Labs. The request follows shortly after Roche submitted a Notice of Motion to Withdraw …

A new NFT and metaverse project is being built on the Ethereum blockchain — with a cutting-edge difference that could set it apart from rivals. Astral Pioneers says it will enable players to own their own land, mine it for resources, and start building across 30 different planets. But it's the in-game governance mechanism that sets this project apart, as it's going to use soulbound tokens to represent and ensure citizenship. SBTs are a new approach to cryptoassets that has been championed by Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum. He was inspired by a feature found in World of Warcraft …

Over the past few decades, the inequality of wealth distribution globally has become all the starker. For example, as of 2022, the top 10% of Americans hold nearly 70% of US wealth. This means that 90% of the country only takes home 30% of the wealth. South Africa is another example, with the top 10% taking home 65% of the wealth. Many citizens also lack access to general banking as well as high-class financial services (i.e., services limited to accredited investors) that are readily available to the more well-off residents. Cryptocurrency can help to reduce wealth disparity by providing users …

After forging a minor recovery of sorts earlier this month, the crypto market has returned to exhibiting high levels of volatility over the past two weeks. This trend has pervaded the market since late last year, with the total market capitalization of the digital asset industry having dipped from an all-time high of $3 trillion back in November 2021 to its current levels of $1.08 trillion, representing a drop of over 65%. This then begs the question: “How long is this volatility going to last?” especially since the macroeconomic conditions surrounding the global finance sector have continued to deteriorate steadily …

Leveraged trading of cryptocurrencies — i.e., trading crypto with borrowed funds — comes with significant risks. This is mainly due to the capricious nature of the market. In May, the cryptocurrency market, which had grown significantly over the past couple of years, recoiled violently following a cascade of negative market events, losing over 50% of its market cap. The pullback, which caused a jarring $2 trillion market wipeout, also exposed some of the market’s biggest weaknesses. One of them was the reckless use of leverage in a market that is historically mercurial. This aspect was recently affirmed by billionaire investor …

Nonfungible token (NFT) analyst and blockchain detective "OKHotshot" has highlighted his picks for 18 of the most “uncomfortable truths” about the NFT industry. In a lengthy 20-part thread to his 45,000 followers on Twitter on Aug. 27, OKHotshot laid bare many of the issues currently plaguing the NFT industry, including irresponsible celebrity endorsements, hacking, and the kinds of projects that are almost always destined to fail. The analyst made his name in the industry as a full-time on-chain analyst specializing in NFT audits and Discord security operating under as @NFTheder on Twitter. Most NFT investors will lose money One of …