oday I dissect margin trading in both centralized and decentralized finance. I note how market participants have sought to use such offerings in the past and present, their comparative advantages and limitations, and how they are likely to evolve in the future.
More on Deribit Insights• 2020-09-04
Bitcoin holders who don’t want to transfer their tokens to the Ethereum blockchain can now get in on the DeFi yield action, albeit in a somewhat complicated way. OpenDEX, a new decentralized exchange protocol released today, allows holders of Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum-based tokens to provide liquidity for exchanges without transferring the value of their assets off of their native blockchains.
More on Decrypt• 2020-09-03
Ethereum miners are gaining big as transaction costs or gas fees continue to rise amid decentralized finance (DeFi) boom. According to The Block Research, Ethereum miners generated all-time high fee revenue of $17 million on September 1. The figure is 3.7 times higher than the previous highest amount recorded during December 2017 and January 2018 when crypto prices went through the roof.
More on The Block• 2020-09-02
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has reportedly seized South Korea's largest crypto exchange Bithumb for alleged fraud. South Korea's oldest newspaper, the Seoul Shinmun, reported the news on Wednesday, saying that Bithumb's offices have been raided. The exchange is reportedly accused of pre-selling native BXA tokens worth about 30 billion won (~$25 million) to investors and then not listing the token, which has allegedly led to losses to investors.
More on The Block• 2020-09-02
CipherTrace, a self-described “Blockchain Forensics Team,” reportedly created “Monero tracing” tools for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. With 45% of darknet markets now using Monero—the second-favorite cryptocurrency of choice among criminals just behind bitcoin—law enforcement interest in Monero tracing has soared.
More on Darknetlive• 2020-09-01
Miners on the Ethereum blockchain have set a new record by earning half a million dollars in transaction fees in just one hour, according to crypto analytics platform Glassnode. While record revenues are an undoubtedly welcome achievement for miners, the Ethereum community has been raising concerns over steep—and constantly growing—transaction fees for some time now.
More on Decrypt• 2020-09-01
After integrating with OMG Network, stablecoin issuer Tether is now planning to add support for another Layer-2 scaling solution — ZK-Rollups. ZK-Rollups is a technique that helps rollup or bundle many transactions into a single transaction, and therefore, helps reduce pressure on Ethereum.
More on The Block• 2020-09-01
Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has acquired popular crypto price tracking app Blockfolio for $150 million in one of the largest acquisition deals in the digital asset space this year.
More on The Block• 2020-08-25
Popular city tabloid Apple Daily took out a front-page Bitcoin ad after its founder was arrested earlier this month by authorities.
More on Decrypt• 2020-08-24
Sina Nader, the former head of crypto at brokerage firm Robinhood, has joined FTX.US exchange as COO, The Block has learned. FTX.US founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried confirmed the news, telling The Block: "We're really excited for Sina to join — he brings a ton of experience, energy, and vision for the exchange, and in general for the U.S. crypto market."
More on The Block• 2020-08-20
Law enforcement in Ukraine has announced today the arrest of a cybercrime gang who ran 20 cryptocurrency exchanges where they laundered more than $42 million in funds for criminal groups
More on ZDNet• 2020-08-18
“These innovations could include, for example, alternative means to pay for in-app purchases of in-app content—which Apple does not offer—such as billing to the customer’s cellular carrier, using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, offering rewards points to customers, or providing more than one in-app payment processor. Apple’s anti-competitive conduct eliminates all of these innovations and alternative payment options.”
More on The BTC Times• 2020-08-14