Hype does not always equate to greater adoption, as the on-chain data from the second quarter of 2022 shows Solana (SOL) surpassing Ethereum (ETH) in users’ daily transactions despite various drawbacks from both macroeconomic conditions and network outages. Throughout the second quarter, Solana’s daily transactions consistently increased, ending with more than 40 million daily transactions compared to Ethereum’s 1 million daily transactions between April and June, confirmed Nansen’s State of the Quarter Report. Solana’s significant increase in daily transactions was observed on daily non-vote transactions when compared to Ethereum — despite sporting higher volatility. On-chain data revealed that decentralized exchanges …

How exactly does Eurus work? This is a Layer 1 blockchain that is based on sidechain technology — by using an interoperable bridge protocol able to connect the Eurus mainnet with Ethereum or other networks. The founders of Eurus say their goal is to deliver faster crypto transactions and payments, ensure major blockchains can communicate with one another, and tackle some of the common pitfalls that have been identified with major networks — slow transaction speeds and high gas fees among them. This is set to be crucial in tackling the big hurdles surrounding the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, all …

Arbitrum is one of Ethereum’s layer-2 scaling solutions designed to improve smart contracts’ efficiency and transaction execution on the network while reducing fees drastically and adding extra privacy features. L2 networks are software that sit on top of the base layer of a blockchain like Bitcoin or Ethereum to boost the platform’s efficiency and offer inexpensive transactions. In recent years, Ethereum’s surge in the development and adoption of Web3, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized applications (DApps) has resulted in the platform’s excessive congestion leading to skyrocketing fees. Different solutions have been explored to resolve Ethereum’s scalability, including layer-1 dedicated upgrades. …

A recent report from the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA) highlights how the Ethereum ecosystem has matured to a point where the network can be used by businesses to solve real-world problems. From supply chain management use cases to payment solutions utilized by companies like Visa and PayPal, the report demonstrates how the Ethereum network has grown to become one of the most valued public blockchains. Although notable, the EEA report also points out that the rapid growth of the Ethereum ecosystem has created a number of challenges for companies, specifically regarding energy consumption, scalability and privacy. For example, the document …

Law enforcement in Australia is working to boost cryptocurrency expertise and trace crypto transactions by setting up a dedicated police group. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has established a new cryptocurrency unit to focus on monitoring crypto-related transactions, The Australian Financial Review reported on Monday. Stefan Jerga, the national manager of the AFP’s criminal asset confiscation command, said that the use of crypto in criminal activity had significantly increased since the AFP made its first crypto seizure in early 2018. In response to this, AFP decided to set up a dedicated crypto team in August, Jerga noted. The increased focus …

Network outages continue to be the Solana network’s biggest challenge, according to its co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko. Launched in 2020, the Solana network has suffered a number of network outages, which have come from a number of different congestion and spam events, according to Yakovenko. In a Sept. 2 interview with Real Vision co-founder Raoul Pal, Yakovenko said the network outages had been Solana’s “curse,” but said the outages have resulted because of the network's low-cost transactions. "That's been, I guess, our curse, but it's because the network is so cheap and fast that there are enough users and applications that …

What happens with unreported cryptocurrency? Not reporting Bitcoin despite the obligation to do so may have severe consequences for individuals’ lives and finances. The fine for making an incorrect declaration can be substantial and can even be considered a felony in certain circumstances. Individuals may wonder whether centralized cryptocurrency exchanges actively report to the IRS. Centralized exchanges do issue tax forms to the IRS. Likewise, the IRS has issued so-called John Doe Summons to exchanges, including Coinbase, to request people’s information and catch those who try to cheat on their tax obligations. But, such summonses are not the only law …

Should I share my Bitcoin address publicly? It is not a problem to share public keys, but make sure the private key cannot be found by third parties. Transactions can be sent to the public key, which is completely secure. It is safe to share your Bitcoin address publicly. This way, it is possible to safely complete donations or payments. No cryptocurrencies can be stolen through a public address. The only way by which stealing crypto is possible is if someone has managed to get hold of the private keys. Bitcoin wallets always make a difference between public keys and …

Ahead of the rapidly approaching Ethereum (ETH) Merge on Sept. 15, Ethermine, the world’s largest Ethereum mining pool has unveiled a new staking pool for users. Notably however, it is not available to U.S. miners The new service offers Ethermine members a chance to collectively stake their ETH and earn interest on top of their deposits. As little as 0.1 ETH ($159) required to enter. However the smaller the holding, the greater the fee. The platform is currently offering stakers an annual ETH interest rate of 4.43%. At the time of writing, 393 Ether worth roughly $626,000 at current prices …

Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Arbitrum is set to undergo one of its most significant upgrades on Wednesday, set to increase transaction throughput, slash transaction fees and simplify cross-chain communication between Arbitrum and Ethereum. Referred to as the “Nitro” upgrade, Arbitrum reconfirmed the date of the upgrade in a Twitter post on Aug. 29, confirming that the upgrade will take effect on Aug. 31 at 10:30 AM Eastern Time, while noting a two to four hours of network downtime period is to be expected. Reminder — Arbitrum One is upgrading to Nitro on Wednesday 8/31. There will be 2-4 hours of …

What are some of the best platforms available on the market today? Modern exchanges are aggregating deeper liquidity to ensure sufficient funds in pools. The number of modern platforms is rising, making it hard for a user to choose the most suitable option. KyberSwap is one competitive DEX on the market, operating with the ability to aggregate liquidity from over 80 exchanges across 11 chains extending from Avalanche to Aurora. Working hand in hand with a Dynamic Trade Routing platform, traders are guaranteed optimal trade routes and prices with an algorithm that automatically splits trades across these exchanges. The DEX …

Is there a possibility of a refund like traditional banks? If an ETH transaction fails or someone mistakenly sends it a wrong address, is there a provision of a refund? Ethereum does not refund gas costs for failed transactions. The fundamental design of an open blockchain like Ethereum renders such a provision improbable. Fees paid by the sender for adding transactions to blocks are paid directly to miners on Ethereum network, the status of the transaction as successful or failed notwithstanding. In case of a failed transaction, the Ether the person attempted to send is returned to the wallet. However, …