The price of Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH), has surged by more than 40% year-to-date to around $1,750, the highest level in seven months. However, ETH price is not out of the woods yet despite several bullish cues such as the Shanghai upgrade in the pipeline. Ethereum price bull trap? Ether's rise has appeared primarily in the wake of similar upside moves elsewhere in the crypto market, responding to lowering inflation that reduces the Federal Reserve's likelihood of raising interest rates aggressively. At the same time, warnings about an imminent bull trap in the risky markets have emerged, which may …

Crypto exchange Binance has launched a new update to its fan token platform that focuses on helping sports teams engage with their fans by offering various rewards to token holders. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, the crypto exchange said that its fan club program will now let fans gather points that they can exchange for rewards that range from getting tickets to games, having access to meet and greets, receiving video clips from their favorite players and participation in exclusive dinners with the athletes. Participants can collect points by participating in various fan token activities like voting in polls …

The crypto community is continually looking for ways to bridge the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and fiat currencies with decentralized financial (DeFi) tools. Crypto onramp platforms are a primary way users are able to cross between these two financial ecosystems. However, a new report from Cointelegraph Research and Onramper, a crypto-based financial services provider, revealed that 50% of fiat-crypto transactions fail, even after KYC completion. Moreover, due to difficulties in the transaction process, transaction abandonment during the purchase flow can be as high as 90%. The survey looked at 9 of the largest fiat-crypto onramps including Coinify, Moonpay, Transak …

A new study by DECTA highlighted the importance of embedded finance features in today's fintech world. With online shopping and digital payments becoming a norm, the study pointed towards some of the key drivers for a seamless experience for customers. Embedded finance is a new type of software distribution that works with financial infrastructure providers to include financial services in the ecosystems of already-existing products. The most common embedded finance offerings include banking, lending, insurance, payments and branded credit cards. According to the study, quick payments and the availability of a selected payment option are the most crucial elements for …

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) calls for public feedback on its newly proposed licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges set to take effect from June 2023. A key consideration of the public consultation window is whether to allow licensed exchanges to serve retail investors in the country and what measures should be implemented to provide a range of ‘robust investor protection measures.’ The SFC announced the consultation process on Feb. 20, outlining a new licensing regime for the industry which proposes that all centralized cryptocurrency trading platforms operating in Hong Kong must be licensed with the regulatory body. The …

Hedge fund Galois Capital, one of the victims of the FTX collapse, has thrown in the towel after half of its assets got trapped in the bankrupt exchange. The fund has finally decided to shut down and return its remaining assets to investors. On Nov. 12, the hedge fund admitted in an announcement from its official Twitter account that it had significant exposure to the FTX exchange. For the record, yes we did have significant funds stuck on FTX. No, we did not use any Bahamian method to move funds out. — Galois Capital (@Galois_Capital) November 11, 2022 According to …

Supernets enable communication among distinct blockchain networks, considerably improving the usefulness of the overall system by enabling the transfer of assets and data among different blockchains. Furthermore, shared infrastructure and resources can be made possible by interconnected networks, which can lower costs and boost overall effectiveness. By making assets accessible across numerous networks, they can significantly improve their liquidity, which will raise the assets’ value. This article will discuss the concept of a supernet, how to implement supernetting, the advantages and disadvantages of supernetting, and how it’s different from a subnet. What is a supernet? A supernet, also known as …

Bitcoin (BTC) starts the last week of February in a volatile mood as a crucial area of resistance fails to break. After a classic “fakeout” during low-volume weekend trading, BTC/USD is back below $25,000 with bulls still lacking momentum. The largest cryptocurrency saw what looked like the next stage of its 2023 recovery last week, making swift gains and even tapping new six-month highs. The good times were not to continue, however, and February’s progress has been much slower and hard won than January’s 40% gains. How will the rest of the month pan out? A critical monthly close is …

South Korea’s "Kimchi premium" has flipped to a discount again, meaning cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are now cheaper to buy on South Korean exchanges. The phenomenon is named after the Korean dish kimchi. The Kimchi premium refers to when the price of Bitcoin (BTC) trades higher on South Korean exchanges than in other markets. According to data from blockchain analytics provider CryptoQuant, the Korea Premium index has been shifting between the -0.24 and 0.01 range between Feb 17 and 19. As of writing, data on CoinMarketCap shows BTC is trading at roughly $24,464 on Coinbase and $24,487 on Binance. In …

A recently introduced Illinois Senate Bill has been ridiculed by the crypto community over its "unworkable" plans to force blockchain miners and validators to do "impossible things" — such as reversing transactions if ordered to do so by a state court. The Senate Bill was quietly introduced into the Illinois legislature on Feb. 9 by Illinois Senator Robert Peters but appears to have been only recently noticed by Florida-based lawyer Drew Hinkes who discussed the bill in a Twitter post on Feb. 19. The bill titled the “Digital Property Protection and Law Enforcement Act,” would authorize the courts — upon …

Decentralized finance yield platform Stablegains has been sued in a Californian court for allegedly misleading investors and failing to comply with securities laws. On Feb. 18, plaintiffs Alec and Artin Ohanian filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the central district of California. In it they alleged that Stablegains, a DeFi platform launched in August 2021, diverted all of its customer funds to the Anchor Protocol without their knowledge or consent. Anchor Protocol offered yields of up to 20% on the Terraform Labs algorithmic stablecoin, Terra USD (UST). “As an early supporter of and investor in TFL [Terraform …

New logo slated for Yuga’s dog-themed NFT collection The logo for the Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC) from nonfungible token (NFT) conglomerate Yuga Labs is getting a refresh after recently surfaced allegations of intellectual property theft. Yuga co-founder, Greg Solano, more widely known as “Garga” tweeted on Feb. 18 that the BAKC logo would be changing and the project would “debut the new logo soon.” Saw the claims today about the BAKC logo. This was news to us and we're still investigating the situation. Have reached out to the freelancer we hired for that design and Easy Drawing Guides. We’ll …