The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues with its attempts to create its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, but this time it’s calling in for backup. In a Bloomberg report on Feb. 21, the CBN is in talks with new “technology partners” for the development of a new and improved system to manage the eNaira. The Nigerian financial authority has discussed these plans with the New York-based technology firm R3, according to sources close to the matter. New software for the eNaria will be created with the intention for the CBN to keep full control over the initiative, …

What is a market maker, and how do they differ in the crypto and traditional finance markets? At the European Blockchain Conference in Barcelona, Cointelegraph discussed the topic with key market makers in the crypto industry on one of the conference’s first panels. Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall drew up the analogy that crypto market makers are much like cool bartenders at a very high-tech and unashamedly nerdy cocktail party. Their job is to keep the drinks flowing, i.e., provide liquidity and ensure everyone's having a good time while maintaining order in the market. Cointelegraph's @JoeNakamoto hosting the "Why Market Making …

Since its inception, blockchain technology has found diversified and valuable applications to help boost efficiency and incentivize community participation in different areas and industries. Farming is a sector that can benefit from comprehensive blockchain technology solutions, specifically when it comes to assembling actionable data and making it work to improve small businesses’ operations across several financial and sustainability metrics. By 2050, it is estimated that 10 billion people will inhabit the earth, and agricultural development will be a powerful mechanism to end extreme poverty, facilitate shared prosperity and feed the overall global population. The global agri-food industry is worth an …

In January 2023, during the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8, a crypto mining entity that trades as a public company, sat down with me for a fireside chat at the Crypto Summit on the Promenade. Leverton outlined some of her views on the recent shakeout in the cryptocurrency market and reflected on how Bitcoin (BTC) mining fares during the current turbulent period for the industry. Throughout 2021 and 2022, the crypto industry experienced significant growth, followed by bear market struggles, bankruptcies and job cuts. Leverton took on the position of …

The local bureau of Interpol detained a British national charged by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) in Moscow. He’s being alleged of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on North Korea. As reported by the local media on Feb. 21, Christopher Emms has been arrested in Moscow upon the “red notice” from Interpol. A 31-year-old British citizen was detained in the hostel where he was staying. In April 2022, alongside the Spanish national Alejandro Cao De Benos, Emms was alleged of providing instructions on how the DPRK could use blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to launder money and evade sanctions. …

Prospective users of an Arbitrum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) project have been left out of pocket following a $2 million exploit. Web3 security firm CertiK flagged the incident on Feb. 21, following an announcement from the Hope Finance Twitter account notifying users that they had been scammed. #CommunityAlert @hope_fin have announced the community has been scammed for ~$2m making this the largest #exitscam on Arbitrum in 2023. $1.86m was transferred to @TornadoCash. Hope_fin have posted steps for user's to withdraw their staked LPhttps://t.co/hJbFXiKujt — CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) February 21, 2023 Details of the project are difficult to come by. The platform’s …

While other hedge funds decided to close down operations after being hit by the FTX debacle, some managed to survive and stay afloat after navigating the challenges brought about by the collapse of the exchange. In its fourth-quarter report for 2022, institutional crypto fund manager CoinShares highlighted that the firm managed to remain “financially robust” despite dealing with the FTX collapse at the end of the year. The fund also presented its wins, such as its graduation to Nasdaq Stockholm’s main market and strong levels of inflow into CoinShares physical ETPs. 1/ Amidst difficult market conditions, CoinShares has remained financially …

India’s national payment network, called the unified payments interface (UPI), is expanding its services beyond Indian borders to Singapore. The cross-border connectivity between Singapore and India via their respective rapid payment systems, namely PayNow and the UPI. Shri Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank, and Mr Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, launched the facility through token transactions using the UPI-PayNow linkage. The UPI-PayNow integration will allow users of the two nations to send money across borders quickly. It is possible to send or receive money from India using only a UPI-id, cellphone number, or …

Bitcoin (BTC) matched six-month highs on Feb. 21 as the latest attempt to flip $25,000 to support ended in failure. Bitcoin unsettled before Wall Street open Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $25,250 on Bitstamp. A firm rejection on hourly timeframes then saw the pair return below $24,750, maintaining a trading range in place throughout the weekend. With Wall Street on holiday on Feb. 20, Bitcoin faced three days of “out-of-hours” trading featuring thinner liquidity and more risk of volatile moves both up and down. These to some extent came to pass, with efforts to beat …

Grid trading is a quantitative trading strategy that involves placing automated buy and sell orders in an attempt to profit from the volatility of cryptocurrencies. Grid trading is a style of algorithmic trading that automates order execution by utilizing grid trading bots. To create a grid of orders that covers a range of potential market movements, this method entails placing numerous orders at incremental price levels above and below the present market price. Generally, the trading bot places buy/sell orders between a predetermined price range, constructing an automated trading grid. This automation allows crypto traders to benefit and make profits …

‘Less interest than anticipated’ — PROOF cancels NFT event Kevin Rose, the co-founder of the nonfungible token (NFT) collection Moonbirds has confirmed that their flagship conference “Proof of Conference” scheduled for May has been canceled, citing “less interest than anticipated.” We made a tough decision today, I want to apologize to everyone that planned on making the trip out. Full ETH refunds have been processed, hotels are refundable, and contact us about flights. (details below) https://t.co/tV4ba85648 — KΞVIN R◎SE (,) (@kevinrose) February 20, 2023 The conference was first announced in early November. It was scheduled to run on May. 11 …

Blockchain security firm Peckshield has raised the alarm after finding dozens of tokens purporting to be related to artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbot ChatGPT. In a Feb. 20 post, the firm revealed at least three "BingChatGPT" tokens appear to be part of honeypot schemes — a smart contract that tricks a user into sending Ethereum (ETH), which the attacker then traps and retrieves. According to Peckshield, at least two of the tokens identified have already lost nearly 100% of their value, while a third is at a 65% loss — in what is often referred to as a “pump and …