Crypto Mining Company EZ Blockchain creates Immersive Liquid-Cooled Data Center, Simultaneously Unveils Newest Product for Cooling Crypto Mining Containers, SmartBox 1500i.
EZ Blockchain has been committed to solving the global waste energy problem and using sustainable energy to connect the blockchain ecosystem.
EZ Blockchain said its latest product, the SmartBox 1500i, has a 20-foot container footprint while being a lightweight data centre capable of running up to 288 latest-generation cryptocurrency miners,
The electrical infrastructure configured with this device can increase the hash rate by up to 40% while also providing significantly lower noise, lower operating costs, longer device life, and ten times the cooling capacity.
Sergii Gerasymovych, CEO and co-founder of EZ Blockchain, said that:
” Our team of engineers has spent a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure out how to make this immersion cooling mobile data centre efficient, affordable, operationally seamless, and scalable. Finally, we can not only grow our operations in hot climates such as Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma but also provide a viable solution to other market participants”.
The product has already started mass production, and it has launched a mobile data centre worth 10-15 MW to the market.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission（SEC) said cryptocurrency-related U.S.-listed companies should associate with those assets to arsenic liabilities and disclose the potential risks to investors, Reuters reported.
These listed companies include cryptocurrency exchanges and related arsenic retail brokers and banks.
The SEC announcement reads：
“The technological mechanisms supporting however crypto-assets are issued, held, oregon transferred, arsenic good arsenic ineligible uncertainties regarding holding crypto-assets for others, make important accrued risks…including an accrued hazard of fiscal loss.”
Relevant listed companies should also make abstract disclosures to the public about the “quality and quantity” of their crypto assets.
The SEC explained that to protect crypto assets and arsenic-related “significant” technologies, companies should reflect arsenic as a liability connected to companies’ equilibrium sheets to effectively control the associated non-compliance and regulatory risks that could result from protecting crypto assets,
The Ronin Network has suffered what is being tagged as the largest hack in the history of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), which funds over $625 million carted away by the hackers this week.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) announced through Twitter that its Discord server was hacked.
However, BAYC said that the hack was immediately detected and asked users not to mint and NFT using a link posted on its Discord.
“STAY SAFE. Do not mint anything from any Discord right now. A webhook in our Discord was briefly compromised. We caught it immediately but please know: we are not doing any April Fools stealth mints/airdrops etc. Other Discords are also being attacked right now,” BAYC, the largest non-fungible token (NFT) collection, tweeted.
Further details have yet to be released but it is known that a hacker was able to gain access to the official Discord server that hosts members of Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Kennel Club – the three NFT collections from Yuga Labs.
According to security firm PeckShield, the hacker was able to steal Mutant Ape Yacht Club #8662 after posting a phishing link in the Mutant Ape Kennel Club channel, disguised as a ‘stealth NFT mint’.
According to The Block, reports suggest the hacker may have carried out the attack via Ticket Tool – a Discord bot that generates support tickets automatically.
Discord server of NFT platform Doodles has faced a similar crisis, Twitter users have warned. The Block said that Doodles has yet to release a statement about it.
Phishing attacks on NFT collectors via exploiting Discord accounts have become a customary route for hackers. In a recent phishing attack, assets worth $790,000 were hacked from members of a freshly launched NFT collection Rare Bears.
In BAYC’s recent developments, it announced the release of the crypto token ApeCoin ($APE).
According to a report from Blockchain.News, ApeCoin was unveiled in the official BAYC Twitter account, which detailed initiatives planned by creator Yuga Labs.
The initiative also included a planned token tied to gaming and virtual experiences.
The underlying key feature of the token is a dedicated decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and a supporting foundation, the report added.
One of five Americans has used, traded, or invested in cryptocurrency, according to a poll by NBC News.
These statistics show that cryptocurrencies continue to gain steam despite lawmakers warning about the risks involved as they craft measures to regulate the sector.
Out of the 1,000 Americans polled from March 18 to March 22, 20% of them have dabbled in crypto, showing how the industry has soared in recent years despite being relatively young.
Half of the men surveyed between 18 and 49 years acknowledged that they had entered the crypto space, representing the largest share of all demographic groups.
In addition, per the report:
“40% of Black Americans said they have traded or used crypto, while 42% of all people between the ages of 18 and 34 years said the same.”
Crypto advocates have opined that digital assets like Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), and stablecoins render security, privacy, lower costs, better transaction speeds, and give the underbanked financial services.
These are some of the factors that have triggered interest in cryptocurrencies on American soil.
The crypto market in the United States has grown to the extent that President Joe Biden signed an executive order last month, directing relevant authorities to scrutinize the benefits and risks.
This move marked the first step toward regulating how crypto assets are traded.
Crypto adoption continues to gain steam across the globe. According to a recent study by Arcane Research and Ernst & Young (EY), 10% of Norwegian adults own crypto, double the rate recorded in 2018.
Furthermore, a survey by crypto exchange KuCoin revealed that 44% of Germans see crypto as part of the future of finance, Blockchain.News reported.
According to Cityam.com media outlets, European Union lawmakers on Thursday voted in favour of new proposals that seek to outlaw anonymous crypto transactions.
Two parliamentary committees – the EU Committees on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) – yesterday voted to extend the anti-money laundering requirements that currently apply to traditional fiat payments over EUR 1,000 ($1,115) to the crypto sector.
However, the new rules scrap one of the fundamentals of crypto payments, so payers and recipients of even the smallest cryptocurrency transactions would need to be identified. The legislation also cracks down on transactions with unhosted or self-hosted wallets (wallets whose private keys are held by the funds’ owner, popularly referred to as self-hosted or self-custody wallets). Furthermore, the new rules require cryptocurrency companies to identify the parties involved in transacting cryptocurrency beyond their customers. The measures could see unregulated cryptocurrency exchanges cut off from the conventional financial system.
The proposals are set to proceed to the trialogue stage, which will see the rules debated by the EU parliament, Commission, and Council.
The report shows that more than 90 lawmakers voted in favour of the proposals, a move that various stakeholders have described would invade privacy and stifle innovation.
Major players in the crypto industry have opposed the proposals. Last night, Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase crypto exchange, expressed his concerns about the new rules ahead of the vote, calling it an anti-law enforcement, anti-innovation, and anti-privacy proposal. The executive warned that the proposal will create a “new crypto surveillance regime” in Europe.
“Any time you receive 1,000 euros or more in crypto from a self-hosted wallet, Coinbase will be required to report you to the authorities. This applies even if there is no indication of suspicious activity,” Armstrong stated, criticizing the rules for treating crypto customers more harshly than fiat users.
Paolo Ardoino, the Chief Technology Officer at Bitfinex digital asset trading platform, echoed Armstrong’s comments, stating that the rules entail heavy security risks and privacy violations.
Combating Financial Crime
The debate about new rules for using cryptocurrencies has been going around for some time. In June last year, the EU Commission proposed that future transactions of crypto assets must be able to be tracked and assigned to individuals as part of efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to KYC guidelines, businesses that provide crypto services would then have to identify users, such as using ID cards.
A new draft for crypto regulation in the EU is currently causing unrest in Brussels (the administrative centre of the European Union). The new draft states that there should be an identification requirement for crypto-asset transactions in all amounts. The EU Committees on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE) have spoken out in favor of the complete anonymity of crypto payments.
Chiliz has announced the launch of the Scoville testnet for the newly established Layer 1 blockchain network Chiliz Chain 2.0 (also known as CC2).
Chiliz (CHZ) is a blockchain-based sports platform that aims to provide blockchain-based solutions for the sports industry and help fans participate in the token economy.
The Chiliz Chain 2.0 will focus on Web3 capabilities in the sports and entertainment fields, and build NFT and game-to-earn (P2E) games while accelerating the development of fan tokens and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications
Chiliz Chief Strategy Officer Max Rabinovitch explained that:
“Approval of the validators must go through our governance process, with validators voting to approve any new validators. Voting power will depend on the amount of $CHZ stacked by each validator.”
Chiliz Labs has also established an accelerator program to provide infrastructure services, technical assistance, and funding for developers building on-chain applications on the CC2 network.
The sports-focused digital trading platform has previously extended its entertainment services and partnered with renowned “big names” in the sports industry, notably FC Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, among others. Not only are their $CHZ tokens used in soccer-related sports entertainment, but in May, Chiliz has also partnered with UFC.
Rostin Behnam, the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), was at a hearing tagged “The State of the CFTC” with the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday, March 31, and one of the core subjects of discussion was a proposal from FTX Derivatives Exchange.
Per the proposal, the trading platform requested to float a new means of clearing derivatives without the involvement of the accredited futures commission merchants. Drawing on this, the Chairman of the committee, David Scott (D-GA), pointed out that he is “very concerned” about “a proposal pending at the CFTC by a cryptocurrency exchange that is seeking approval to operate a new and untested system of clearing derivatives trades.”
In response, Behman noted that the commission is cautiously considering the proposal so that it can foster innovation in the derivatives market.
“I would just assure you and this committee that as we are considering and contemplating the FTX proposal that, we are doing it cautiously, we are doing it deliberately and patiently,” Behnam said in a detailed response. “Despite the novelty, as chairman, I feel I have the responsibility to give every stakeholder and every market participant an opportunity to share their views and to present their ideas that they have to the market.”
Behnam also acknowledged that:
“In many respects, this proposal could be a turning point or an inflexion point for market structure. I don’t know that. I don’t believe that right now, necessarily, but I do think I have to consider the proposal in case there is a possibility for a new market structure that could provide innovation, provide more efficient markets, better pricing, better hedging tools.”
As a way of doing its own due diligence on the proposal, and in line with its practice, the CFTC sent out a request for comment from the public with respect to the proposal, and it has extended the comment period to 90 days from the initial 30 days. With the committee fixing another hearing to discuss more on the subject later in May, the proposal has further re-established the position of FTX exchange whose CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried once joined a host of crypto executives to attend a hearing with the Congress late last year.
Binance cryptocurrency exchange has been named as the official marketing partner of the Recording Academy, the organization in charge of the Grammy Awards.
As announced by Recording Academy, Binance will be joined by other prominent companies, including IBM, Mastercard, and OneOf amongst others.
The Binance partnership will come off as the very first of its kind for cryptocurrency exchange with the Recording Academy and the trading platform is billed to bring Web3 technology solutions to the Academy.
“We are excited to be working alongside these industry-leading brands for the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards,” said Adam Roth, Senior Vice President of Partnerships & Business Development at the Recording Academy. “Music’s Biggest Night wouldn’t be possible without each and every one of our partners. With their participation, we are able to celebrate the music community and its creators in a new and exciting way that’s never been done before. We hope fans watching the show in person and at home can join in on the celebration as we know this will be a night to remember.”
While the deal valuation remains undisclosed, a Binance spokesperson confirmed that the partnership will last for at least a year. Besides Binance, OneOf, a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform is also one of the partners in this year’s Grammy.
The OneOf platform “launched the first GRAMMY NFTs for the 64th GRAMMY Awards featuring collections from renowned artists Emonee LaRussa, Andre Oshea, and ThankYouX.” The collection from the OneOf and Grammy are dropped each week leading up to the GRAMMY Awards beginning March 7 with the free 64th GRAMMYs NFT.
It is delightful to see digital currency trading platforms ink high-profile sponsorship deals with prominent traditional companies. The partnership with Grammy will further set Binance on a new pedestal that will see the trading platform gain additional recognition on the global scene.
As part of a campaign to showcase security, innovation, and communication values, the Dubai Police has rolled out a set of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) comprising 150 free digital assets, according to local media outlet Khaleej Times.
Khalid Naseer Al Razooqi, Director of the General Department of Artificial Intelligence at Dubai Police, noted:
“All those interested have to do is share the announcement of Dubai Police Value NFT post with their friends and send a direct message with their names, emails, and NFT wallet addresses to Dubai Police on their social media platforms.”
The NFTs will be rolled out for free as long as the public, both inside and outside the nation, participates in the campaign.
As the first government entity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop its digital assets, the Dubai Police seeks to enhance policing.
Al Razooqi pointed out:
“NFT related Information documented on a blockchain cannot be falsified or copied at all.”
NFTs continue taking the world by storm based on some of their traits like limited supply and proof of ownership.
Having set its eyes on becoming a blockchain and crypto capital, the UAE is setting the ball rolling by establishing various initiatives.
For instance, crypto companies got the green light to set up business in the Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre (DMCC) free zone last year.
Likewise, Citizens School, Dubai educational institution, recently announced the acceptance of Bitcoin and Ethereum payments for tuition, Blockchain.News reported.
The institution partnered with a digital currency platform to process the crypto payments by automatically converting them to dirhams (AED). Therefore, the crypto-friendly approaches being adopted in the UAE have made nearly 67% of residents to be interested in crypto investments, according to data analytics firm YouGov.
Following successful stints at crypto firms Coinbase and Dharma, Max Bronstein has joined DeFi-focused company Synapse Protocol.
Bronstein will be part of the C-suite of the core team at Synapse.
Bronstein said in a Twitter post that he is “joining the Synapse Protocol core team in their mission to build the most widely-used and built upon cross-chain communications network.”
“I’ll be joining as COO to head up growth, strategy, and operations,” he added.
In Bronstein’s previous stints, he helped build some of DeFi’s first lending markets at Dharma. He was also part of the team that helped in growing Coinbase Institutional’s platform in its infancy, while also investing in early-stage opportunities at Coinbase ventures.
According to The Block, Synapse’s team has helped in the growth of a number of cross-chain protocols which aid in linking disparate blockchains and allow users to transact between them. Synapse supports cross-chain swaps between 15 blockchains.
“Cross-chain swaps are complex to stage-manage, owing to varying consensus mechanisms, transaction speeds and varying coding languages. In sum, there are numerous moving parts,” The Block said.
Bronstein said in his Twitter thread that “the Synapse team has built what I regard to be one of the best user experiences in crypto. Multi-chain engineering is extremely complex, but Synapse users wouldn’t know that.”
