BLOCKLANTIS � BLOCKCHAIN NEWS

Home
BLOCKLANTIS � BLOCKCHAIN NEWS

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from BLOCKLANTIS � BLOCKCHAIN NEWS, Media/News Company, .
(446)

08/08/2024

Sonic’s testnet has surpassed one million monthly active users in a testament to the growing adoption of Web3 games.

Sonic, the first gaming-focused Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) layer 2, generated over 600 million transactions from over one million users during its testnet.

The user surge was largely due to the Odyssey testnet campaign, which offered users rewards for playing and transacting on the testnet, according to Chris Zhu, CEO of Sonic SVM.

Zhu told press:

“Users are rewarded ‘rings’ for transacting on the testnet and completing certain tasks. The tasks also include things like completing actions within our ecosystem games.”
The testnet offered users eight games to play, including the more popular Rage Effect, LowLifeForms and JogoJogo, with the latter’s prediction-based game receiving over 250,000 registrations.

Sonic is part of a new paradigm called play-to-earn or Web3 gaming that aims to reward users for their time and create player-owned economies with real-world value. However, Web3 gaming is struggling to attract mainstream users due to a lack of quality games.

Looking at Web3 game development, the lack of “soft” infrastructure is currently the biggest challenge for builders.

Essential “soft” infrastructure includes go-to-market strategy support, project bootstrapping services, and post-launch marketing tactics, according to Sonic’s Zhu:

“We recognize that what makes a game successful is not only determined by its technicalities — the ‘soft’ infrastructure we provide is designed to enhance and raise awareness for not just our individual games, but Web3 gaming on Solana as a whole.”
Sonic SVM closed a $12 million Series A funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures at the end of June, bringing its total capital raised to $16 million.

Sonic’s Zhu believes education is a bigger challenge for mainstream Web3 gaming adoption. He said:

“The biggest issue for mainstream adoption is an inherent difference in the economies created in Web2 games vs. Web3 games. A lot more education needs to be done regarding Web3 games, as well as building interesting and engaging platforms that gamers will enjoy.”

06/08/2024

Indian law enforcement agencies have demanded 722 crore Indian rupees ($86 million) in unpaid taxes from crypto exchange Binance.

Binance, along with numerous other offshore crypto exchanges, was banned in India in January 2024 for noncompliance with local regulations. However, in April, Binance revealed its intent to restart its crypto trading operations in the region after paying pending taxes.

On Aug. 6, the Directorate General of Goods and Service Tax Intelligence (DGGI) — an Indian law enforcement agency — demanded 86 million from Binance under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), according to The Times of India. A local source cited in the report said:

“Binance reportedly earned at least Rs 4,000 crore from transaction fees charged to Indian customers. Detailed investigation revealed that the earnings of these fees were credited to the account of a Binance Group Company — Nest Services Limited — based in Seychelles”
The DGGI notice to Binance is the first tax demand levied by the Indian government on any crypto exchange.

Additionally, Indian authorities sent email notices to Binance offices in Seychelles, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, which the crypto exchange ignored. However, Binance later appointed a local counsel to officially resolve its tax obligations.

Indian law requires all crypto service providers and investors to pay a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on every crypto transaction, irrespective of its value. In addition, all profits booked on crypto investments attract a 30% tax.

While Indian crypto exchanges, such as WazirX and CoinDCX, had implemented internal systems to simplify tax obligations for their user base, offshore exchanges failed to enforce the requirement at the time.

Binance had initially planned to pay a $2 million fine for noncompliance and restore its services to India. However, the $86 million fine was imposed to recoup the “fees” Binance collected from Indian users while it was operational in India.

02/08/2024

Earn Network has integrated the Aleph Zero blockchain, providing a seamless, no-code solution to start staking tokens and NFTs in minutes. The platform supports both project involvement and user benefits by offering easy setup, multichain rewards, and various incentives.

Aleph Zero is the first WASM blockchain to be integrated into the Earn Network, enhancing its multichain capabilities. This allows projects to offer rewards via EVM chains under pools on Aleph Zero, facilitating broader interoperability.

Learn more at earn.network and explore the benefits of staking on Earn Network.

*This is a sponsored post*

02/08/2024

The “makenowmeme” account on X purportedly provided a way for X users to create memecoins on Solana with a simple post.

Elon Musk’s social media platform X has suspended an account that enabled users to create memecoins with a single post.

An account called “makenowmeme” with 15,000 followers has been suspended for purportedly violating its rules, users on X discovered on Aug. 2.

On its website, the purported owners of the account stated that they are now looking to restore it, and minting is paused.

The system provided a way for users to post on X using a set format. The post just needs to include a ticker with the token name, a description of the coin, and then tag with the option to attach an image or video.

It explained that when enough people bought on the bonding curve, liquidity was deposited on the Solana decentralized exchange Raydium and then burned. It uses a similar mechanism to the pump.fun Solana memecoin generator.

According to the site, the top token called "Dogs” had a market capitalization of $184,000. The platform also offered an airdrop of MNM tokens when the memecoins reached certain market cap and volume milestones.

According to Lookonchain, degens trading these memecoins hav already made considerable profits. One trader made 4,721 worth around $800,000 on a makenowmeme token called CTO in just one hour.

The trader spent 50 SOL to buy 257 million CTO and was the third address to buy the memecoin. They then sold 228 million CTO for 4,771 SOL realizing a profit of 4,721 SOL, reported the onchain analytics platform on Aug. 1.

Even the CEO of onchain analytics platform Nansen, Alex Svanevik, got in on the action, launching a memecoin called IQ on makenowmeme on July 31. At the time, he said he was “testing some tech a friend built,” urging followers not to ape into it.

The token’s prices and market cap surged on the day of launch, according to DEXScreener.

According to CoinGecko, memecoins currently account for 2% of the total crypto market capitalization with $48 billion.

01/08/2024

In a recent development aimed at improving the safety and transparency of artificial intelligence, Google has introduced three new generative AI models. The models, part of Google’s Gemma 2 series, are designed to be safer, more efficient and more transparent than many existing models.

A blog post on the company’s website states that the new models — Gemma 2 2B, ShieldGemma and Gemma Scope — build upon the foundation established by the original Gemma 2 series, which was launched in May.

Unlike Google’s Gemini models, the Gemma series is open source. This approach mirrors Meta’s strategy with its Llama models, aiming to provide accessible, robust AI tools for a broader audience.

Gemma 2 2B is a lightweight model for generating and analyzing text. It is versatile enough to run on various hardware, including laptops and edge devices. Its ability to function across different environments makes it an attractive option for developers and researchers looking for flexible AI solutions, according to Google.

Meanwhile, Google said the ShieldGemma model focuses on enhancing safety by acting as a collection of safety classifiers. ShieldGemma is built to detect and filter out toxic content, including hate speech, harassment and sexually explicit material. It operates on top of Gemma 2, providing a layer of content moderation.

According to Google, ShieldGemma can filter prompts to a generative model and the content generated, making it a valuable tool for maintaining the integrity and safety of AI-generated content.

The Gemma Scope model allows developers to gain deeper insights into the inner workings of Gemma 2 models. According to Google, Gemma Scope consists of specialized neural networks that help unpack the dense, complex information processed by Gemma 2.

By expanding this information into a more interpretable form, researchers can better understand how Gemma 2 identifies patterns, processes data and makes predictions. This transparency is vital for improving AI reliability and trustworthiness.

30/07/2024

Trust Wallet, a self-custody Web3 wallet provider, has partnered with The Open Network (TON) to increase the adoption of blockchain technology.

Through the collaboration, Trust Wallet will be able to tap Telegram’s user base to focus more heavily on gaming finance (GameFi) and decentralized applications (DApps).

According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, the integration will allow the Web3 wallet provider to offer its 100 million users the ability to send and receive Toncoin (TON) tokens.

In a written Q&A with Cointelegraph, Nate Zou, head of product at Trust Wallet, explained that the wallet provider plans to “provide more access to [the] Ton ecosystem” for users.

“For example, single chain and cross-chain swaps and potentially supporting TON NFTs.”

The integration promises to improve how users interact with TON’s blockchain technology and plans to enable TonKeeper wallet imports into Trust Wallet “in the coming weeks.”

The wallet provider also plans to add further functionality “in the coming months” with the integration of TON Connect and TON DApps.

According to the press release, Nate Zou, head of product at Trust Wallet, explained that the partnership was a “natural progression” for the firm.

“Our values have always been aligned with TON’s community-driven and user-friendly approach.”

On May 29, the Web3 wallet provider released an open-source solution called Barz, an ERC-4337-compatible smart wallet.

The solution was released to help developers bypass wallet challenges and limitations to further blockchain and Web3 adoption through account recovery, flexible key management and signature migration.

Luis Ocegueda, head of engineering at Trust Wallet, explained that “open source gives other developers a chance to do things that we may or may never had even an idea that can do.”

30/07/2024

More than 25 years after its series premiere, the animated series Futurama, known for its “shut up and take my money” and “not sure if” memes, has gone after non-fungible token (NFT) fans in its latest episode.

In the Futurama episode “The One Amigo,” released on Hulu on July 29, the characters based in the year 3024 struggle to understand the concept of NFTs after selling a series featuring different looks for the robot Bender. The show parodies the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection with the aptly named “Apathetic Fish Society” and explains how one might hypothetically steal an NFT using magical code from an ancient robot civilization.

“You can’t just delete an NFT. There are billions of copies stored all over the universe [...] But only the museum has access to a hashcode on the blockchain that authenticates ownership,” said children in the latest Futurama episode.

Jokes in the episode included the older characters literally pulling their hair out trying to understand NFTs, the differences between an image, non-fungible tokens, and digital art, and dozing off at the very mention of the word “blockchain.” The show aired a similar episode in 2023, poking fun at Bitcoin by having people mine the cryptocurrency in a Wild West setting.

Futurama aired in 1999, roughly ten years before the first BTC transaction. It had been off the air for more than ten years before the show’s most recent iteration, starting in 2023. Set in the 31st century, the series rarely, if ever, mentioned crypto or blockchain before its episode on Bitcoin mining.

Digital assets have steadily become part of entertainment and pop culture, with one of the first mentions of Bitcoin appearing in a 2012 episode of The Good Wife. Hollywood movies like Money Plane have also used the technology as a central plot point.

27/07/2024

The State of Michigan Retirement System reported investments in a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, offered by ARK 21Shares.

In a June 30 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Michigan’s state pension fund disclosed holding 110,000 shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF under the ticker ARKB. The approximate value of the shares at the time of filing was roughly $6.6 million — a small percentage of the fund’s billions of dollars in assets.

The filing suggested that Michigan was the third US state to explore allocating a part of its pension fund to crypto through exchange-traded funds since Bitcoin ETFs were approved in January. In May, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board reported a $164 million investment in spot Bitcoin ETFs offered by Grayscale and BlackRock. On July 25, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop hinted at a 2% investment in Bitcoin ETFs by the city’s pension fund.

The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, which opened for listing and trading on the Cboe BZX Exchange in January, had a net asset value of $64.68 as of July 25. This suggests that the Michigan investment could be worth more than $7 million if it maintained its holdings. The fund manages roughly $3.2 billion in assets under management.

21Shares and ARK Invest initially collaborated to apply for listing and trading a spot Ethereum ETF on a US exchange, but the latter ended the partnership in June. The announcement followed the SEC approving spot Ether ETFs for the first time in May, with BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust and others going live on July 23.

27/07/2024

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has been in exile in Russia since 2013, warned attendees at the Bitcoin 2024 conference about politicians trying to woo them over crypto.

In a July 26 speech held virtually at the crypto conference, Snowden said many lawmakers were trying to earn the “love” of Bitcoiners, hinting at those attending the Nashville event. He did not explicitly refer to United States or international politicians, though US Senators Bill Hagerty, Cynthia Lummis and Tim Scott addressed attendees in different panels shortly before Snowden spoke.

“Cast a vote, but don’t join a cult,” said Snowden. “They are not our tribe. They are not your personality. They have their own interests, their own values, their own things they’re chasing. Try to get what you need from them, but don’t give yourself to them, even if you have to vote for them.”

From exile in Russia, Snowden has often spoken virtually at crypto-related events and through social media to express his opinions on Bitcoin and financial privacy. Though many supporters have called for US Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden to pardon the NSA whistleblower while they were in office, as of July 2024, there was no plan to do so.

Trump, who won the Republican nomination for US president in 2024, is expected to speak at the Bitcoin conference on July 27. In 2020 during his last year in office, he said he would “start looking at” pardoning Snowden, but he did not follow through before leaving in January 2021.

25/07/2024

Meta on Tuesday announced Llama 3.1 405B, a large language model designed to rival the biggest models from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI.

Meta has made its models freely available for others — with some limits — and now aims to show it can compete with the largest LLMs.

The release is Meta's largest text-based language model to date. The company is adding support for eight languages and larger context windows (the amount of information that can be considered as part of the user's prompt).

The new languages include French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, with more to come, Meta said.

In a change, Meta said its licensing terms now allow Llama's outputs to be used to help improve others' models.

The company is also updating the smaller versions of Llama 3 to version 3.1, with additional language and context capabilities.

The new models will be immediately available from Meta and Hugging Face. Individuals can also test Llama 3.1 through WhatsApp and at Meta.ai; the company encourages people to try it with difficult math or coding problems.

"Our experimental evaluation suggests that our flagship model is competitive with leading foundation models across a range of tasks, including GPT-4, GPT-4o, and Claude 3.5 Sonnet," Meta said in a blog post. "Additionally, our smaller models are competitive with closed and open models that have a similar number of parameters."

In an open letter on Tuesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the case for the company's decision to continue making its models widely available, saying it's good for the ecosystem as well as for Meta.

He compared it to the way Linux changed the corporate computing world, which had been previously dominated by custom, closed versions of Unix.

"I believe that AI will develop in a similar way," Zuckerberg said. "Today, several tech companies are developing leading closed models. But open source is quickly closing the gap."

Meta said it will bring its AI capabilities to its Meta Quest headset starting next month as an experimental feature, offering it as a replacement for the VR headset's existing voice commands feature.

25/07/2024

AtariX, the Web3 initiative of video game pioneer Atari, will bring its classic titles to the blockchain through a collaboration with Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 scaling blockchain.

The collaboration starts with the classic arcade game Asteroids, a space-themed multidirectional shooter released in 1979. In the game, the player controls a spaceship and aims to shoot and destroy asteroids while avoiding them.

With the initiative, players can compete and rank up in a global leaderboard to gain prizes like a $1,000 Atari gift card.

Through an onchain arcade, Atari is making classic games playable through Base. Users must connect their wallet and mint a non-fungible token (NFT) access pass. They will use the pass to play and record their scores on the blockchain.

Players can mint up to 1,000 NFT passes per wallet. However, the site says owning more than one NFT will not affect their scores in the game. The access pass costs 0.0015 Ethereum to mint (about $5).

Asteroids can be played for free on various websites and retro game compilations. However, on the AtariX platform, the fee allows players to compete against other players, potentially win Atari gift cards, and participate in its ecosystem of games.

This is not the first time the space has seen games go on the blockchain. On Jan. 8, developers at the Bitcoin Ordinals portfolio tracker Ninjalerts inscribed the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator on a satoshi. This allowed the community to play classic SNES games on the Bitcoin network.

On Jan. 25, a pseudonymous developer called Mini Doge did the same thing on Dogecoin using the Dogecoin Ordinals protocol called “Doginals.”

The developer inscribed the 1990s first-person shooter game Doom on the network, allowing users to play the classic game on their computers and mobile phones by accessing the Dogecoin blockchain.

On Feb. 22, Ninjalerts inscribed a Nintendo 64 emulator on the Bitcoin blockchain. Ninjalerts CEO Trevor Owens told Cointelegraph that putting game emulators on Bitcoin is part of their effort to preserve critically endangered games. Owens believes there is no better place to immortalize data than on Bitcoin.

22/07/2024

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder, has described blockchain as a "truth machine" as it gives detailed information on time stamps of messages. Buterin’s statement on social media platform X was inspired by a poster from another user who asked, "Then what is a global universal blockchain?"

In essence, Buterin clarified that a blockchain presents information as it is entered into the system without falsifying or giving room for manipulation of the data entered. The Ethereum co-founder, however, alluded to the limitations of blockchains when he stated that they are not built for fact-checking a query.

“A blockchain is a ‘truth machine’… It doesn't tell you ‘was the moon landing real’?" Buterin wrote. Notably, Buterin believes a system should be developed to serve as a support structure for blockchains that can assist in the verification of facts beyond just data entry storage. According to him, the current organization of blockchains limits how much it can be attacked and serves as a strength. However, it is necessary to build “truth-finding” models into the blockchain system.

Some tech experts are divided on the sentiments expressed by Buterin. While a group of these tech enthusiasts agree that blockchains are only able to provide short temporal consensus and more tools will be required for truth verification and emphasized the roles artificial intelligence and decentralized systems could play in the broader digital space, others consider having a central truth-seeking platform unnecessary.

The Ethereum co-founder is used to putting out his ideas on how to make the broader crypto ecosystem better. He recently opined that forming political allegiances based on who is “pro-crypto” was not the best for the sector. This statement drew strong reactions from Charles Hoskinson, as reported by U.Today. Lately, Buterin has been busy pushing for adoption of new token standards, ERC-3770 and ERC-7683, as he believes this will improve users’ experiences as regards making payments across Layer-2 networks.

22/07/2024

Tech giant Samsung is reportedly looking at ways it could change the form factor of its smartphones to be better suited for generative AI apps and functions.

In a recent interview, the president of Samsung’s Mobile Experience unit, Roh Tae-moon, told the Australian Financial Review that a new generation of “AI phones” would look “radically different” from standard phones.

A successful implementation would make the “AI phones” more “mobile” and could have more sensors and bigger screens than the phones available today.

Roh also told the AFR that a “lion’s share” of Samsung’s mobile phone research and development is now directed at these phones, but didn’t share what form factors the company was looking at specifically.

The form factor is a hardware design aspect that defines and prescribes the size, shape, and other physical specifications of components.

Since the invention of Apple’s iPhone, most smartphones have adopted a slim rectangular form factor in various sizes.

Roh’s comments come months after Samsung rolled out its “Galaxy AI” system to several Samsung phones in May. The system aims to streamline existing features, add new tools for users and improve Samsung phones' overall functionality.

Meanwhile, a few other market participants have attempted to create their own line of AI devices with their own unique form factors — though they’ve failed to hit mainstream so far.

Rabbit R1 captured considerable hype when it launched in March 2024, promising to offer an AI device where users could interact with it through voice and have tasks performed on their behalf.

However, commentators such as popular tech reviewer Marques Brownlee have slammed it as “borderline non-functional” with terrible battery life and isn’t very good at answering questions.

19/07/2024

Chainbase, a blockchain data network developer, has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round.

Tencent Investment Group and Matrix Partners China co-led the round, Chainbase said Thursday. Other investors included Folius Ventures, Hash Global, JSquare, Mask Network and Bodl Ventures.

The round was structured as equity with token warrants and closed in the fourth quarter of last year, Chainbase co-founder and chief operating officer Chris Feng told The Block. He declined to comment on the valuation.

As part of the deal, Tencent Investment Group and Matrix Partners China have each received a board seat at Chainbase, Feng said. The round brings Chainbase's total funding to $18 million, following a previous $3 million raised in seed and angel rounds, Feng added.

Chainbase describes itself as an omnichain data network that consolidates all blockchain data into a single platform, making it easier for developers to access and use for building and maintaining applications.

"Our innovations include a real-time data lake for blockchain-generated data flow and 'manuscripts,' the crypto industry's pioneering data format standard," said Feng. "Leveraging petabyte-level data within our network, we're pioneering purpose-designed foundational models for crypto. This initiative transforms static on-chain data into dynamic, intelligent models, unlocking substantial new value and expanding the market's potential."

Chainbase said its data network supports over 15,000 developers and 8,000 projects and manages over 500 billion data calls. Currently, the network is available for projects with a whitelist, while the decentralized version is in the testnet phase, Feng said.

Harry Man, partner of Matrix Partners China, said in a statement that with the rise of artificial intelligence, Chainbase's years of accumulated on-chain data "can significantly contribute to high-quality models, acting like alchemists to bring intelligence to the crypto space."

17/07/2024

The assessment of the policies guiding the implementation of the Nigeria Blockchain Technology Policy began on July 17, as confirmed by the Chairman of the steering committee, Chimesie Chuta.

Chuta took to the X social platform to announce that the Steering Committee began its work on reassessing the policies guiding the implementation of the country’s National Blockchain Policy.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Nigeria revamped the National Blockchain Policy Steering Committee (NBPSC) on Tuesday, May 21, during a three-day co-creation workshop in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to reevaluate and refine the regulatory framework governing the nation’s blockchain strategy.

According to NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, the committee’s restructuring will tap into the expertise of seasoned professionals and renowned thought leaders in the blockchain industry. Their collective insights will play a crucial role in developing a comprehensive strategy for effectively implementing the National Blockchain Policy.

The reassessment aims to integrate cutting-edge technologies and evolving economic landscapes, broadening its scope to encompass land registration, healthcare, and education sectors. The policy’s implementation will favorably impact Nigeria’s public and private sectors.

The National Blockchain Policy, approved in May 2023, aims to develop a blockchain-driven economic framework that facilitates trusted transactions, seamless data sharing, and efficient value exchange across the ecosystem involving individuals, businesses, and government agencies.

Industry stakeholders in Nigeria’s blockchain and fintech sectors have advocated for the government to introduce supportive regulations, paving the way for the widespread adoption and effective implementation of the national blockchain policy.

Nigeria has shown increasing interest in blockchain technology through its policies and support. Recently, NITDA announced its intention to set up specialized research hubs dedicated to cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain strategically located across the country’s six geopolitical zones.

17/07/2024

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released their conclusions on creating local stablecoin-related legislation.

On July 17, the two financial institutions followed up on an initial legislative proposal to create a regulatory framework for fiat-referenced stablecoin (FRS) issuers in Hong Kong.

This follows a two-month public consultation period that ended in February, which saw 108 submissions from various stakeholders, including market participants, industry associations, and professional organizations.

The majority of submission respondents were in agreement that a regulatory regime is necessary for FRS issuers, in order to manage potential monetary and financial stability risks, while also ensuring transparent and effective oversight.

Overall, the proposed regulatory requirements and implementation arrangements garnered general support from respondents, as well as additional suggestions.

Christopher Hui, the secretary for the FSTB, noted that the new licensing regime for FRS issuers would complement the existing regulatory measures for virtual asset (VA) trading platforms.

Hui said it would “further strengthen” the VA regulatory framework in Hong Kong in line with international standards and help mitigate financial stability risks associated with stablecoin issuance.

Eddie Yue, the CEO of the HKMA, expressed appreciation for the feedback received and emphasized the strong support for the proposed regulatory regime, which is expected to promote a sustainable and responsible stablecoin ecosystem in Hong Kong. He said:

“We believe that a well-regulated environment is conducive to the sustainable and responsible development of the stablecoin ecosystem in Hong Kong.”
The FSTB and the HKMA said they will incorporate the feedback into the final legislative proposal, aiming to present a bill to the legislative council soon.

Additionally, the HKMA said that it is reviewing applications for a stablecoin issuer sandbox and will publicize the list of participants in the near future.

Hong Kong regulators have been proactive in keeping an eye and tight reign over the digital asset industry.

Address

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when BLOCKLANTIS � BLOCKCHAIN NEWS posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Videos

March 25 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said on Monday customers would no longer be able to deposit and withdraw the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC using the Tron blockchain network. Stablecoins are digital tokens that are designed to keep a constant value and are backed by traditional currencies. A stablecoin can be based on various different blockchains. Last month, Boston-based crypto firm Circle said it would no longer create its USDC tokens on the Tron blockchain, a decision it said "aligned with its efforts to ensure that USDC remained trusted, transparent and safe". Binance said it would end support for the stablecoin via the Tron blockchain from April 5 at 0200 GMT. Users can continue trading USDC on Binance, while deposits and withdrawals of USDC via other supported networks will not be impacted, Binance said in a blog post. Tron did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Tron founder Justin Sun, a prominent crypto entrepreneur, was sued last year by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly artificially inflating trading volumes and selling Tron tokens as an unregistered security. Sun said the SEC charges "lack merit". With around $32.1 billion in circulation, USDC is the eighth largest cryptocurrency and second-largest stablecoin, after Tether. Most of the USDC in circulation is based on the Ethereum blockchain, according to Circle's website. In February, before Circle ended support for Tron-based USDC, there was around $335 million USDC hosted on Tron. In November, Reuters reported, citing interviews with financial crime experts and blockchain investigation specialists, that Tron had overtaken Bitcoin as a platform for crypto transfers associated with groups designated as terror organisations by Israel, the United States and other countries. In response to that article, a Tron spokesperson said it did not have control over those using its technology, and that it was not linked to the groups identifi

Cryptocurrencies started the week strong, shrugging off their recent corrective period with bitcoin once again trading near its 2021 peak prices. Bitcoin {{BTC}} surged past $70,000 Monday during U.S. trading hours, surpassing the level for the first time in ten days and gaining over 7% through the past 24 hours. Ether {{ETH}} was up 6% during the same period, while tokens of major layer 1 networks Solana {{SOL}} and Avalanche {{AVAX}} advanced more than 10%. The rally extended to virtually all digital assets, with all constituents of the broad-market CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) being in the green and the gauge up 6.1% on the day. The sudden resurgence liquidated $195 million of leveraged derivatives positions across all crypto assets, some $129 million of them being short positions seeking to profit from lower prices, CoinGlass data shows. Bitcoin short liquidations reached $53 million, less than the average daily figure of the recent period. The amount of short liquidations was below with the average, suggesting that there weren't many market participants betting with leverage on continued weakness. Source: Yahoo Finance

Lawmakers eye crypto law success before Nov, spurred by leadership shifts US lawmakers are hopeful about approving crypto regulations before the upcoming November elections. Congressman Patrick McHenry and Senator Cynthia Lummis, speaking at a Coinbase event, shared their positive outlook for passing significant crypto laws this year, following leadership changes in the House Republicans. McHenry noted that the transition from Kevin McCarthy to Mike Johnson as House Speaker has spurred legislative advancements, highlighting Johnson's capability to enact laws, including a critical spending deal to avoid a government shutdown. This shift presents rare opportunities for passing crypto-related laws during an election year. McHenry is particularly optimistic about two bills: the Keep Innovation in America Act and the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act. The first focuses on crypto market reforms, and the second addresses stablecoin regulation, which the Biden administration has previously supported through a 2022 executive order emphasizing the need for such regulations. Similarly, Senator Lummis highlighted the increased likelihood of bipartisan agreement, especially with the Democratic party's openness to discussing stablecoin legislation. She sees stablecoin regulation as the most feasible area for legislative action, aligning with the Biden administration's willingness to address this issue. Both McHenry and Lummis, Republicans, believe their efforts in crypto regulation could bridge the partisan divide, underscoring the bipartisan nature of the issue. Their joint stance suggests a growing agreement on the importance of establishing clear regulations for the cryptocurrency industry. Source: CoinPaprika

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining firm Bit Digital has announced earnings of $44.9 million for 2023 — up 39% from 2022. Bit Digital said it earned 1,507.3 BTC in 2023, which represents a 21% increase compared to 2022. The BTC amount reported by the mining firm is worth around $97 million at current market prices. Bit Digital said this growth was driven by a “higher active hash rate” but was partially offset by increased network difficulty. The mining company added that as of Dec. 31, 2023, its total assets were $189.3 million. In addition, shareholders’ equity was $152.7 million. Meanwhile, the company reported its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $12.4 million and an adjusted earnings per share of $0.12. The company said in the report that it had enacted many changes to its mining hosting portfolio in 2023. Bit Digital said it ended 2023 with six hosting partners and seven sites across three countries. The firm wrote: “Notably, we expanded our operations into Iceland during 2023, providing Bit Digital with geographic diversification outside of North America and into a region with abundant clean energy and supportive government policies.” The mining firm also mentioned that it will continue to focus on expanding into areas that provide cost-effective, carbon-free energy sources. “The year began with the price of Bitcoin near cyclical lows and ended on a trajectory that would propel the asset to new all-time highs in 2024,” they wrote. Despite the market volatility, the firm said its goal is to withstand all phases of the Bitcoin price cycle. The company also announced its venture into artificial intelligence technology besides digital assets. Bit Digital said its new business will provide digital infrastructure services to clients. This includes rental services for graphics processing units. The company said that the business had already started to contribute significant revenue, reporting $4 million in e

United States-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded one of their lowest net inflow days of just $132 million on March 14 — the lowest level in the past eight trading days and an 80% fall from March 13. The Thursday drop marked the second consecutive day of decline. On Wednesday, inflows hit $684 million, a 38.3% drop from the March 12. Tuesday saw record-breaking single-day inflows of $1.05 billion. The total flow of funds into the ETFs stood at $390 million on March 14, with the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) seeing another $257 million in outflows, bringing net inflows to $132 million. On the same day, the VanEck Bitcoin Trust ETF and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund recorded inflows of $13.8 million and $13.7 million, respectively. Despite a significant outflow from GBTC, net flows remained positive on Thursday. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF recorded the largest inflows at $345 million. The cumulative net inflows into the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF remain significant, nearing the $12 billion mark after 44 days of trading. The change in investor sentiment comes amid a broader downturn in the crypto market as the BTC price dropped below $69,000. The impact of declining ETF inflows correlated with fluctuations in the BTC price. After bullish price action on Wednesday, March 13, BTC posted a new all-time high above $73,000 before reversing course on Thursday. The price dipped lower on Friday, March 15, to around $66,000 as millions in leveraged positions were liquidated. According to data from CoinGlass, 193,431 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with a total liquidation of $682.14 million. Market pundits suspect the current market volatility, regulatory uncertainties and macroeconomic factors have made investors cautious. #blocklantis #cryptoarts #boredapes #nftsanimation #boredape #rariblenft #raribleart #nftgame #nftmarket #openseanftart #nftsale #nfty #nftg #aave #nftcollectible #nftdrops #cryptoartists #nftph

Bitcoin mining difficulty reached a new historical high of 83.95 trillion hashes on March 14. The new difficulty high was set on the same day as a new all-time-high Bitcoin price of $73,835 amid increased investor sentiment ahead of the April Bitcoin halving. Mining difficulty is a measure of how difficult it is to “mine” bitcoin by solving cryptographic puzzles that increase or decrease in challenge based on the number of miners on the network. Bitcoin reached the new difficulty high of 83.95T hashes, up 5.8% from the previous measurement of 79.35T, on Feb. 29. It was set at a rate of 613.94 exahashes per second (EH/s), up 1.96% over last cycle’s 602.14 EH/s. As reported, mining difficulty surpassed 80T just shy of a month ago on Feb. 15 before dipping again at the Feb. 29 update. According to projections from BTC.com, difficulty is expected to increase slightly to 84.17T at the next difficulty check set for March 27. Meanwhile, Bitcoin price action has continued its upper momentum and miners are benefiting. Mining rewards spiked to $78.89 million on March 11 surpassing the previous rewards high of $74.4 million set in October 2021. This occurred as bitcoin hit $72,953 on March 12 before retreating back to $69.655. March 14 movement shows a similar push to a new ATH followed by an immediate retreat, with the day’s rally pushing BTC to $73,835 before falling back to $69.813. As of the time of this article’s publication, BTC has regained $70K. Analysts and pundits throughout the cryptocurrency sector have attributed Bitcoin’s steady growth throughout Q4 2023 and extending, so far, through Q1 2024 to the upcoming halving event slated for mid April. #blocklantis #jpegs #meebits #foundationnft #nonfungibletokenart #nftturkey #cryptoartgallery #tradingcryptocurrency #nftmarket #rariblecom #nftthai #nftsystem #nftg #nftinvestor #augmentedrealityart #nftdrops #cryptoartists #nftthailand #nonfungibletokens #nftmagazine #smartcontracts #raredigitalart #nf

The Dencun upgrade was successfully rolled out on the Ethereum mainnet at 1:55 pm UTC on March 13. Dencun is the most anticipated hard fork since the Merge and is expected to significantly reduce the transaction fees of layer-2 networks and enhance Ethereum’s overall scalability. While the Dencun upgrade is a step in the right direction, it won’t improve all the shortcomings of layer-2 solutions, according to Arthur Breitman, the co-founder of the Tezos blockchain. He said: “The Dencun upgrade does the bare minimum to extend the data usable by rollups on Ethereum, which should lower transaction costs in these L2 solutions. This is a step in the right direction, but ultimately, rollups built on top of Ethereum remain very throughput constrained and are forced to adopt extreme centralization measures.” Dencun’s launch comes nearly a year after the Shanghai upgrade in April 2023, which enabled network participants to unstake their Ether for the first time after the network transition to a proof-of-stake network following the Merge. The Dencun hard fork incorporates nine different Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). The upgrade’s name combines the Cancun upgrade of Ethereum’s execution layer and the Deneb upgrade on its consensus layer. The first part, Cancun, focuses on improving how transactions are managed and processed on the execution layer, while the second part, Deneb, aims to improve the consensus layer, which refers to how network participants agree on the state of the blockchain. The introduction of data blobs via EIP-4844, also known as proto-danksharding, is among the most notable features of the upgrade, according to James Wo, the CEO and founder of Digital Finance Group. #blocklantis #investinnfts #nftsold #foundationnft #cryptopunksart #nftartfinance #raribleart #nftcreation #artblocks #nftgames #boredapeyachtclub #nfty #nftshill #aave #nftcollectible #nftdrops #axieinfinity #nftthailand #smartcontract #nftgallery #smartcontracts #

Major financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon and Cboe Global Markets, have completed a large-scale pilot test using blockchain technology. According to a March 12 Bloomberg report, institutional investors executed over 350 simulated transactions via distributed ledger technology in areas such as tokenized assets, fund registry, digital cash, repo, securities lending and margin management on the Canton network, which was launched in May 2023 by startup Digital Asset Holdings. The pilot test included 15 asset managers, 13 banks, four custodians, three exchanges and the stablecoin issuer Paxos Trust. In its announcement the same day, the Canton Network said that 155 participants from 45 major organizations have since demonstrated settlement across 22 permissioned blockchains connected to its ledger. The firm stated: “Over a four-day period, participants were invited to try 22 dApps comprising five fund registries, five cash registries, three bond registries, three trading, four margin, and two financing apps, to exchange tokenized securities, money market funds, and deposits across applications.” The Canton Network is a privacy-enabled interoperable blockchain network designed for institutional investors. In part, the blockchain allows financial institutions to move regulated assets, data and cash between each other in real time. “With the Canton Network, a digital bond and a digital payment can be composed across two separate applications into a single atomic transaction, guaranteeing simultaneous exchange without operational risk,” according to a press release from Canton. It added, “Likewise, a digital asset could be used in a collateralized financial transaction via connection to a repo or leveraged loan application.” Current participants of the Canton Network include Deloitte, Deutsche Börse, Microsoft, Moody’s and S&P Global. #blocklantis #investinnfts #nftsold #foundationnft #cryptopunksart #nftartfinance #raribleart #n

In a news that flew under the radar, the Dubai Police has announced a pioneering pilot project that leverages the Cardano blockchain to ensure the security and integrity of sensitive data from criminal investigations. The announcement was made during the prestigious World Police Summit in Dubai from March 5-7, underscoring the city’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge technologies into its policing efforts. Dubai Police Utilizes The Cardano Blockchain Alexander E. Brunner, Principal of Brunner Digital and President of Blockchain.swiss, offered insights into the project’s mechanics and objectives via a LinkedIn post. Brunner announced, “Criminal investigations secured by the Cardano blockchain,” and elaborated, “Today the Dubai Police presented at the World Police Summit in Dubai an exciting blockchain-based pilot project. The project will showcase how sensitive data from criminal investigations can be shared securely with authorities such as Interpol.” He further explained the practical application of this technology: “Concretely, bullet scans done by a highly sophisticated scanner are shared among international stakeholders on the Cardano blockchain. The blockchain ensures that the data is not tampered with and can be tracked among various stakeholders.” Highlighting the broader implications of blockchain adoption, Brunner emphasized, “Making sure that data can be securely shared and managed in a decentralized network of stakeholders is becoming more and more relevant in industries from energy, defense to IoT. Blockchain technology can be one of the enabling tools for that.” Chris O, founder of the ADA Ghost Fund and co-host of Investing Broz on Discord, also weighed in on this development through X (formerly Twitter). He accentuated the project’s significance for the Cardano community and the blockchain landscape at large. #blocklantis #openseanftartist #meebits #solananft #boredape #rariblenft #nftour #tradingcryptocurrency #nfttoke

Local cryptocurrency stakeholders have lamented the current ban on Binance naira operations in Nigeria, stating it will affect the livelihoods of many Nigerians and could increase youth unemployment in the country. In separate interviews with Cointelegraph, local crypto stakeholders said the delisting of Nigerian naira-related services from Binance will lead to the rise of new crypto exchanges, which will fill the vacuum created by Binance’s exit by complying with local regulations. Nathaniel Luz, the CEO of Flincap — a liquidity platform for crypto exchanges — said that several Nigerian traders who make a living from trading peer-to-peer on Binance are now affected. However, Luz said that some are trading on WhatsApp and Telegram groups. According to the chief marketing officer of Flincap, Oladotun Wilfred Akangbe, the continuing uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrency regulation in Nigeria and the decision to halt Binance operations can undermine the confidence of many people in the space. He added that it could lead to massive fear, uncertainty and doubt in Nigeria’s crypto space. In an official statement on its website, Binance said it would automatically convert naira balances to Tether from March 8 at 8:00 am UTC and cease support for naira deposits from March 5 at 2:00 pm. Withdrawals have not been allowed since March 8 at 6:00 am, and the conversion rate is 1 USDT for 1,515.13 naira. Binance’s peer-to-peer platform delisted all naira trading pairs in late February. On Feb. 27, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria argued that crypto exchanges in Nigeria were suspected of handling illicit transactions, pointing to “suspicious flows” of funds at Binance. #blocklantis #openseanftartist #nftbrasil #solananft #tokensale #nftartfinance #raribleart #nftime #nftmarket #rariblecom #boredapeyachtclub #nbatopshot #nftcrypto #nonfungible #cryptokitties #nonfungibletoken #ethereumnews #nftmarketplace #nftnews #cryptoartwork #smartcontracts #rare

The demand for Bitcoin is fueling sentiment around the crypto industry, driving the capital locked on-chain to over $100 billion on March 9. According to data from DefiLlama, the global total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols reached $100.1 billion, with more than $10 billion in volume in the past 24 hours at the time of writing. However, these figures still fall short of the $189 billion record set in November 2021. Liquid staking protocol Lido is leading the charts with $38.7 billion locked on-chain, followed by the staking ecosystem EigenLayer and the Aave protocol with over $11 billion locked, respectively. This is the first time in nearly two years that DeFi TVL has exceeded the $100 billion mark. The increase appears to be due to a return of positive sentiment to the crypto markets since the launch of spot Bitcoin BTC tickers down $68,529 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January. The institutional demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs drove the cryptocurrency to new all-time highs this week, topping $70,000 on March 8. According to BitMEX Research, assets in Bitcoin ETFs surged to $28 billion on March 8. The analysis excludes assets from Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, which was converted to an ETF in January from an over-the-counter (OTC) product. Rumors have circulated on social media platform X about OTC trading platforms running out of Bitcoin and turning to public exchanges to fulfill orders from clients. OTC desks typically cater to large-volume traders, such as institutional investors. Several centralized crypto exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and Bybit, experienced outages after Bitcoin reached $60,000 due to increased trading volume. Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said the exchange hired 480 more customer representatives to handle the surge in demand. #blocklantis #virtualland #nftbrasil #solananft #tokensale #nftfashion #raribleart #nftgame #cryptoartinvestment #nftgames #boredapeyachtclub #nbatopshot #nftg #nfta

Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings have become a topic of discussion in the crypto community again after cryptocurrency data analytics platform Arkham Intelligence added Tesla’s Bitcoin wallet tracking feature to its dashboard. Tesla’s wallet now holds about 11,509 BTC at the time of writing, 1,789 more than the 9,720 BTC it reported during its last earnings report. The Elon Musk-led Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in February 2021, near the peak of the last bull run, and it announced plans to accept Bitcoin payments for its cars. However, the firm’s Bitcoin adoption was short-lived, with the company first selling about 10% of its holdings in March 2021. In the second quarter of 2022, the electric car maker sold approximately 75% of its Bitcoin reserves. A timeline of Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings and sales: - February 2021: Bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin - March 2021: Sold 4,320 BTC - 2022: Sold 29,160 BTC - 2023: There was no change in the balance of 9,720 BTC Musk has had a love/hate relationship with Bitcoin. In 2021, he expressed optimism about BTC, announcing plans for Tesla to store its own Bitcoin using on-chain wallets. However, within weeks, Musk dropped plans to receive BTC for Tesla cars, citing environmental concerns about Bitcoin mining. One user on X was curious whether Tesla has started repurchasing Bitcoin or whether the recent change in figures is due to an accounting error. Another user suggested that the company might have started buying BTC after the last earnings call and could report the newly purchased BTC in its next call. Tesla and Musk have yet to comment on whether Tesla is buying BTC. Besides Tesla, Musk’s other company, SpaceX, also holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet after MicroStrategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor convinced Musk to add Bitcoin to his company’s balance sheet. #blocklantis #virtualland #nftbrasil #solananft #tokensale #nftfashion #raribleart #nftgame #cryptoartinvestment #nftgam

Corporate Bitcoin investor MicroStrategy is seeking to sell $700 million in convertible notes, up from $600 million announced just days prior, amid an ongoing cryptocurrency bull market. According to details disclosed on March 6, the 2030 MicroStrategy convertible notes will bear an interest rate of 0.625% per annum with a conversion price of $1,497.68 per share, representing a premium of 21% compared with its current trading price of $1,234.48 at the time of publication. “Holders of notes may require MicroStrategy to repurchase their notes on September 15, 2028, or upon the occurrence of certain events that constitute a fundamental change under the indenture governing the notes at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be repurchased, plus any accrued and unpaid interest,” the firm said. The notes are only available to accredited or institutional investors. MicroStrategy may redeem the notes for cash after March 22, 2027, if its common stock is trading consistently above 30% of the set conversion price. MicroStrategy expects to raise $684.3 million net from the sale, or $782.0 million if purchasers exercise their options, and use the proceeds to purchase additional Bitcoin or for corporate expenses. The company currently holds 193,000 BTC acquired at an average price of $31,544, representing a balance of $12.9 billion and a return of 112% since inception. Simultaneously, the company’s stock has returned 429.2% as part of the broader Bitcoin bull market. Michael Saylor, chairman and co-founder of MicroStrategy, is an avid Bitcoin enthusiast who first incorporated the digital asset into the firm’s corporate asset allocation strategy in August 2020. Since then, MicroStrategy has consistently added BTC to its corporate treasury every quarter. #blocklantis #investinnfts #meebits #foundationnft #nonfungibletokenart #nftfashion #axieinfinityscholarship #nftcreation #artblocks #openseanftart #nftsale #nbatopshot #nftathome #

Major stablecoin issuer Tether has launched a recovery tool to migrate its Tether stablecoin between different blockchains amid USDT hitting a $100-billion market capitalization. Tether announced the launch of a blockchain recovery plan on March 4 to ensure stable access to USDT in case of disruptions faced by one of multiple blockchain networks used for USDT transactions. According to data from Tether, USDT resides on 14 blockchains as of March 4, including Tron, Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Omni. Tron and Ethereum are the two largest blockchains for USDT, accounting for 51% and 43% of all issued USDT, respectively. Despite relying significantly on blockchains like Tron and Ethereum, USDT exists “independent of blockchains,” Tether’s latest announcement stated, stressing that the blockchains are used “only as a transport layer.” To address the risk that a blockchain could become unresponsive, unreliable or unusable, Tether has established its official recovery tool, which would allow users to migrate USDT between blockchains. The firm noted: “Users would be able to verify ownership of their addresses on an unresponsive blockchain and a recipient address on another supported blockchain, and Tether will transfer the USDT between them.” According to the announcement, affected USDT users will be able to initiate the migration process using the web interface or command-line tools. The process involves cryptographically signing a request for migration to verify ownership of Tether tokens, which are available with browser extension wallets like MetaMask and hardware wallets such as Ledger or Trezor. Additionally, a command-line interface allows users to input their private key directly, enabling them to sign the necessary message using an open-source script on their local machine, the announcement notes. #blocklantis #investinnfts #nftsold #nftsanimation #cryptopunksart #nftfashion #axieinfinityscholarship #nftcreation #nfttoken #rariblecom #nfttha

The memecoin frenzy has seen trending memecoins, such as Pepe, Floki, Bonk and others, record a massive rally over the past week. The memecoins have recorded a price surge of over 500% and a nearly 3,000% surge in trading volume. According to data shared by Santiment, on average, Pepe, Floki (FLOKI), Shiba Inu and Bonk (BONK) have seen their volumes rise over 3,000% in the past week as public interest and prices have moved significantly, with many memecoins recording new all-time highs (ATH). Along with trading volume and a price surge, the memecoins have also registered a massive swell in social activity. Ethereum-based Pepe has seen a price increase of over 370% in the past week. At the time of writing, it trades at 0.00000682 with volume in the billions. While the token is ranked 44th in terms of market cap, the trading volume of Pepe currently ranks it eighth. Pepe’s market cap has doubled from $1.5 billion to $3 billion in just two days. Solana-based Bonk has seen a 190% price surge over the past week, trading near its ATH of 0.0000345. Floki has recorded a 350% surge on the weekly price charts, ranking 16th in trading volume. Memecoins that have recorded triple-digit growth over the past week are relatively new compared to more established memecoins, such as Dogecoin and SHIB. Those leading memecoins from the past cycle also showed bullish growth, with DOGE recording a 90% weekly gain, while SHIB is up 175%. The memecoin frenzy is similar to the last bull run in 2021 when Dogecoin led the bull rally with the backing of Elon Musk. Memecoin cycles and their price volatility have helped some investors make a hefty return on their investment over a short time period. However, many others often lose a fortune. Some crypto veterans believe memecoins reflect poorly on the crypto market in general. #blocklantis #virtualland #nftbrasil #nftsanimation #cryptopunksart #rariblenft #nftpixelart #tradingcryptocurrency #artblocks #minting #nftsale #nbatopshot #nftg

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, might not be faring as well as its $80 billion valuation would lead most analysts to believe, according to some artificial intelligence (AI) experts. Carlos Perez, author and founder of Intuit Machines, expressed his suspicion that “OpenAI is in a precarious position in its perceived leadership in the AI space” in a March 1 post on the X social media platform. He went on to opine that “there are several indicators that show that their execution is unraveling.” In explaining his position, Perez cited numerous possible impact factors, including uncompetitive pricing, the potential for diminishing returns, the perceived absence — or apathy — of company co-founder Ilya Sutskever, employee turnover and “piss poor execution.” Perez’ comments come on the heels of reports that Elon Musk has filed suit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. Musk’s lawsuit, as Cointelegraph recently reported, claims that OpenAI, a company he co-founded, has broken its promise to stay “open” — a term referring to developing technology solutions that are then made available to the open-source community. According to the suit, OpenAI “deviated from its foundational principles of advancing open-source artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of humanity” when it collaborated with Microsoft. The next WeWork? New York University’s Gary Marcus, a bestselling author and AI expert who recently gave testimony before the United States government on the dangers of AI, weighed in on Perez’ sentiments with a cheeky comparison to WeWork. WeWork, a unicorn startup once valued at nearly $50 billion, ultimately declared bankruptcy. Many experts attribute the company’s fall to the fact its growth was largely fueled by taking on debt. OpenAI’s growth has, arguably, been fueled by its ChatGPT service and cash injections from its corporate partner, Microsoft. #blocklantis #openseanftartist #boredapes #nftforsale #nonfu

Cryptocurrency trading platform Binance has removed the Nigerian currency, the naira, from its peer-to-peer (P2P) service as the Nigerian government seeks $10 billion in compensation amid a crackdown on the crypto exchange. In a BBC interview on March 1, Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu's special adviser, revealed the update about the compensation demand as part of efforts to stabilize the local currency. Onanuga said Binance would destroy the Nigerian economy if not stopped because it arbitrarily fixes foreign exchange rates. The P2P feature allows users, buyers and sellers to trade without involving a third party. It became popular in Nigeria in 2021 following the government’s ban on its thriving crypto industry during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Due to the rapid decline of the naira and the resulting almost three-decade-high inflation rate of 29.9%, the government turned its focus to platforms providing cryptocurrency services. These websites have become famous for trading and establishing an informal value for the naira. Crypto users in Nigeria had earlier reported difficulty accessing different crypto exchange websites, including Binance, OctaFX and others. A few days later, Binance set a limit on the selling price of Tether tokens on its P2P platform, leaving traders unable to sell USDT above 1,802 naira per USDT. However, contrary to speculation by the local crypto community, the exchange explained that the price peg was due to an automatic system pause. Binance is under increased scrutiny in Nigeria as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) expressed concerns about “suspicious flows” of funds through Binance Nigeria in 2023. CBN head Olayemi Cardoso highlighted that $26 billion had passed through Nigeria via Binance in 2023 from unidentified sources and users. #blocklantis #jpegs #meebits #nftsanimation #tokensale #nftfashion #cryptoartgallery #nftcreation #nfttoken #altcoindaily #nftthai #nftsystem #nftathome #aave #nfta

Solana’s SOL has become the latest altcoin to hit new yearly highs amid a wider crypto rally, with activity on the blockchain spurred by a scramble to buy up the Dogwifhat (WIF) memecoin. In the last 24 hours, SOL has posted a 13.3% gain, rising rapidly from $108 to reach a new yearly high of $124.17 at the time of publication, per CoinGecko data.Preceding the Solana rally was a frenzy of buying activity for the Solana-based memecoin Dogwifhat (WIF), which has seen its price rise 55% from $0.52 on Feb. 27 to $0.82 at the time of publication. Launched on Dec. 14, 2023, WIF is a memecoin that features a picture of a Solana developer’s dog wearing a knitted hat. Since its inception, WIF has gained more than 50,000%. SOL, however, still remains down 52% from its all-time high of $259.62, which it reached on Nov. 6, 2021. Solana wasn’t the only large-cap cryptocurrency to reach new highs for 2024, with both Binance’s BNB and Dogecoin notching respective highs of $427 and $0.12 roughly two hours before Solana. Bitcoin has been leading the market’s gains as institutional inflows into the recently approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to strengthen following their approval on Jan. 11. The 10 ETFs generated a record-breaking $7.7 billion volume on Feb. 28. On the same day, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF attracted more than $612 million in inflows, the largest single-day inflow of any ETF to date. Bitcoin is currently changing hands for $62,413, up 21% in the last week and 44% in the last month. Ether has also posted its highest price of 2024, reaching a local high of $3,492 on Feb. 28. Several market pundits are looking to the upcoming spot Ether ETF as a catalyst for its growth in the coming months, with many predicting that ETH’s price action could chart a similar path to Bitcoin in the lead-up to its spot ETF products being approved. #blocklantis #jpegs #meebits #nftsanimation #tokensale #nftfashion #cryptoartgallery #nftcre

OpenAI has asked a federal judge to dismiss parts of The New York Times’ copyright lawsuit against it, arguing that the newspaper “paid someone to hack ChatGPT” and other artificial intelligence (AI) systems to generate misleading evidence for the case. In a Manhattan federal court filing on Monday, OpenAI stated that The NYT caused the technology to reproduce its material through “deceptive prompts that violate OpenAI’s terms of use.” OpenAI didn’t identify the individual it claims The NYT employed to manipulate its systems, avoiding accusations of the newspaper violating anti-hacking laws. In the filing, OpenAI said: “The allegations in the Times’s complaint do not meet its famously rigorous journalistic standards. The truth, which will come out in this case, is that the Times paid someone to hack OpenAI’s products.” OpenAI’s claim of “hacking” is, according to the newspaper’s attorney Ian Crosby, merely an effort to use OpenAI’s products to find evidence of the alleged theft and reproduction of The NYT’s copyrighted work. In December 2023, The NYT filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its leading financial supporter, Microsoft. The lawsuit alleges the unauthorized use of millions of NYT articles to train chatbots that provide information to users. The lawsuit pulled from both the United States Constitution and the Copyright Act to defend the original journalism of The NYT. It also pointed to Microsoft’s Bing AI, alleging that it creates verbatim excerpts from its content. The New York Times is among many copyright holders suing tech firms for supposedly misusing their content in AI training. Other groups, like authors, visual artists and music publishers, have also filed similar lawsuits. #blocklantis #cryptoarts #boredapes #nftsanimation #nonfungibletokenart #nftturkey #nftour #tradingcryptocurrency #nfttoken #rariblecom #nftgaming #nftsystem #nftathome #cryptopunk #augmentedrealityart #nftdrops #axie #ethereumtrading #nf

Decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap is launching a web extension for its native wallet. According to the Feb. 27 announcement, a waitlist is currently available for users who have claimed a uni.eth username. “We will be sharing access to the Uniswap Extension Beta in the order of username claims," the DEX said. As with current self-custody wallets such as MetaMask, the Uniswap Wallet extension will allow users to send, receive, buy, and swap various tokens and altcoins directly from their web browsers. The uni.eth domain is based on the Ethereum Name Service and allows users to convert their 0x addresses into usernames. Over 100,000 uni.eth subdomains have been claimed as of February 25. In the past month, the DEX's namesake token has surged over 80% in value amid a recent proposal that calls for protocol fee rewards for users. According to the proposal submitted by Uniswap Foundation's governance lead, Erin Koen, the upgrade "would reward UNI holders who have staked and delegated their tokens." On Feb. 27, Koen said in a follow-up post that the proposal would maintain the immutability of the Uniswap DEX, optimize security, and preserve its ability to experiment in the future. "An additional benefit we get from immutability is removing the risk of bugs being introduced, and user funds being hacked in the future," the developer wrote, adding: "When you look at major protocols which have been hacked in the past, many have occurred due to bugs which have been introduced during protocol upgrades. While there are certainly tradeoffs to this approach, by removing setOwner we are optimizing for future security of stakers." #blocklantis #cryptoarts #meebits #nftforsale #nonfungibletokenart #nftweets #cryptoartgallery #nftgame #cryptoartinvestment #nftgames #nftsale #nfty #nftcrypto #cryptopunk #nftcollectible #makersplace #nftgram #nftthailand #nftnews #nftmagazine #solana #nftartgallery #openseanft #coolcats #ether #cryptoart #ethereum #investing

Shortcuts

Address
Alerts
Videos
Claim ownership or report listing
Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?

Country:

City: