Tag: Decentralization

Block’s 5nm Bitcoin Mining Chip Prototype

by Blockchain News

The financial services and technology business Block, which is controlled by Jack Dorsey, has just finished the prototype design of its new 5nm Bitcoin mining chip. This was done with the intention of decentralizing the supply of Bitcoin mining rigs. The business noted that the development of Bitcoin mining ASIC rigs is both financially and technically hard, which has led to an excessive concentration of the ownership of specialized mining silicon in the hands of a few number of enterprises. It is believed that miners and the Bitcoin network as a whole would suffer from the negative effects of this concentration.

In response, Block intends to make Bitcoin mining technology open source wherever it is feasible by selling standalone ASICs and other hardware components. This move is intended to enhance the size of the Bitcoin mining hardware ecosystem while also maximizing the amount of innovation that may occur inside it. Because of the actions taken by the firm over the previous few months, it will now be able to experiment with new designs, which will help the company bring Bitcoin mining chips to market that are both more efficient and less expensive.

As a means of accelerating this development drive, Block has made a significant purchase of ASIC chips from Intel, prompting the latter to stop accepting new orders for its Blockscale 1000 Series ASICs. This move was made in order to shorten the development cycle. Block expects that by purchasing these ASICs from Intel, it would be able to speed up the development of its own 3nm chip, which, upon its eventual release, the company says will be the most technologically sophisticated semiconductor to date.

The significance of ASIC development to the Bitcoin mining process is reflected in Block’s concentration on the development of these devices. ASICs are computerized devices that are tailored to accomplish a particular computational function. They are commonly used for mining proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which need a specific computational task to be completed. When individual components of a chip get smaller, it becomes possible to pack more transistors into a silicon die of the same size. This results in increased overall efficiency and a reduction in the amount of heat that is generated.

Although 5nm ASIC chips have been available for some time, the first 5nm ASIC was not released until 2021 by the Chinese mining company Canaan. Despite this, no company has yet made the ASIC chip designs that they produce open source. It is anticipated that Block’s dedication to open source technology will have a substantial influence on the Bitcoin mining business. This will result in additional alternatives being available to miners and will contribute to the network’s efforts to become more decentralized.

Source

Tagged : / / / / /

Vitalik Buterin Proposes Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines on Ethereum Layer 1

by Blockchain News

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has suggested implementing zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines (zk-EVMs) on the Ethereum base layer to accelerate the verification process on the blockchain. Buterin’s proposal seeks to solve “The Verge,” a part of the Ethereum roadmap that aims to make verification at the base layer easier.

In a post on March 31, Buterin explained that it is possible to integrate a zk-EVM on the base layer without compromising on decentralization and security. The technology enables Ethereum Virtual Machines to execute smart contracts on the blockchain with ZK proofs. Ethereum was developed with a “multi-client philosophy” to ensure decentralization at the protocol level. By integrating zk-EVMs at the Ethereum layer 1, it would be the third type of client, along with the consensus and execution clients.

Buterin considered the advantages and drawbacks of treating the layer 1 as a “clearinghouse” by pushing almost all activity to layer 2. He concluded that many layer 1-based apps would become “economically nonviable” and that small funds worth a few hundred dollars or less may get “stuck” in the event that gas fees grow too large.

Buterin prefers the zk-EVM approach because it wouldn’t abandon the “multi-client” paradigm, and an open zk-EVM infrastructure would ensure that new clients could be developed, which would further decentralize Ethereum at the base layer. In his post, Buterin explained that zk-EVMs would need to be “open” in that different clients each have different zk-EVM implementations and each client waits for a proof that is compatible with its own implementation before accepting a block as valid.

The implementation of zk-EVMs at the Ethereum layer 1 could cause data inefficiency and latency issues, but Buterin believes these challenges would not be “too hard” to overcome.

In conclusion, Buterin’s proposal for zk-EVMs on the Ethereum base layer seeks to accelerate the verification process while maintaining decentralization and security. The integration of zk-EVMs at the Ethereum layer 1 would be the third type of client and ensure that new clients could be developed, further decentralizing Ethereum at the base layer. The proposal is not without its challenges, but Buterin believes that they can be overcome.

Source

Tagged : / / / / /

White House Report Casts Doubt on Cryptocurrencies

by Blockchain News

The White House’s recently released Economic Report of the President includes a chapter questioning the benefits of cryptocurrencies. This is the first time the White House has included a section on digital assets since it began issuing the annual economic policy report in 1950. The report includes 35 pages dedicated to debunking the “Perceived Appeal of Crypto Assets,” along with a short section on the FedNow payment system and central bank digital currencies.

The report argues that crypto assets fail to deliver on their touted benefits, such as improving payment systems, financial inclusion, and creating mechanisms to transfer value and intellectual property. It also argues that cryptocurrencies fail to perform the functions of sovereign money, as their prices fluctuate too wildly to be a stable store of value, nor can they function as a unit of account or medium of exchange. Stablecoins are also criticized, as they are subject to run risks and are therefore too risky to satisfy their role as a “fast payment” instrument.

Crypto executives have expressed frustration over the report, with the co-founder of digital asset investment firm Paradigm, Fred Ehrsam, remarking that 15% of the Economic Report was dedicated to “crypto FUD.” Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, called the report “disappointing,” stating that it shows some in the government appear “increasingly allergic” to the burgeoning crypto industry.

The report also takes aim at decentralization, arguing that blockchain-based applications are in practice neither decentralized nor trustless. Users access crypto assets by going to a limited set of crypto asset platforms, while a small group of miners performs the majority of mining in most crypto assets, it argues.

The latest annual economic policy report was published shortly after the collapses of Silvergate, Silicon Valley, and Signature banks, all of which had served aspects of the crypto industry. Dan Reecer, chief growth officer at decentralized finance platform Acala Network, claims that the report comes “just days” after Operation Chokepoint 2.0 was executed on crypto-friendly banks. He also noted an “obvious early warning” of an upcoming United States central bank digital currency, referencing a section of the report that seemingly touts the benefits of a U.S. central bank-controlled currency.

Despite the criticism, it is worth noting that the report is not a policy statement, and it remains to be seen how the Biden administration will approach the regulation of cryptocurrencies and digital assets in the coming months.

Source

Tagged : / / / / /

Alexis Ohanian bought 50000 ETH

by Blockchain News

According to reports, Alexis Ohanian, one of the co-founders of the social media website Reddit, purchased 50,000 Ether (ETH) coins during the presale of the cryptocurrency in 2014 for only $15,000, which works out to a price of about 30 cents per coin.

Ohanian, who had left the social media giant in 2020, stated in an interview with Forbes on February 21 that he found the concept of a decentralized store of value to be very appealing, in part due to his Armenian heritage. This led him to take an early gamble on Ethereum. Ohanian left the social media giant in 2020.

“Any group of people who have in their consciousness or in their collective history some idea of persecution, especially by a state, makes the idea of a store of value that is not controlled by any one state very attractive.” [Citation needed] “Any group of people who have in their consciousness or in their collective history some idea of persecution, especially by a state.” And so, in some respects it was ingrained in me at the time, and this made me open to the concept of a decentralized currency in a manner.

According to CoinMarketCap, the value of this investment has skyrocketed to an astounding $82.5 million at today’s rates, marking a growth of 549,589% from its initial value.

He went on to describe how Turkish forces had taken the ancestral carpets that had been passed down through his family during the Armenian genocide that occurred during World War I. This is what sparked his interest in “unseizable property.”

Ohanian is a strong supporter of self-custody, perhaps as a result of his distaste to having his property seized. He keeps some of his most valuable crypto-related assets off exchanges, which makes them less susceptible to the prying eyes of governments. He is in charge of managing the secret keys to these investments.

Ohanian said that he recognized the possibility for developers to construct a broad variety of possibly unseizable assets on top of Ethereum when he first heard about it during a meeting with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Some examples of these types of assets include nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

As a direct consequence of this, he made his first investment in Ether; nevertheless, he later said in an interview that “in retrospect, I didn’t invest nearly as much as I should have.”

Ohanian used the money he made from his early investments in Ether and Coinbase to launch his own venture capital company, which he called 776, in the year 2020. The company has financial stakes in 29 cryptocurrency-related firms, and in February 2022, it successfully secured $500 million to fund more investments of a similar kind.

Following Ohanian’s line of thinking that investors may take advantage of the opportunity to purchase assets at lower prices during a bear market, the company has seen the most recent market slump as the ideal moment to place long-term bets on the cryptocurrency business.

The company now has more than 750 million dollars’ worth of assets under management.

Ohanian made the observation that while cryptocurrencies are incredibly unpredictable, “there are enough of individuals who have the generational awareness of experiencing enormous inflation,” which makes the volatility of cryptocurrencies much more tolerable.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / / /

Bitcoin Flips Visa Again

by Blockchain News

Since the beginning of the year, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has increased by 48%, which has caused its market valuation to once again surpass that of the payment processing behemoth Visa.

According to CoinMarketCap, with the price of Bitcoin sitting at $24,365 at the moment, its market size of $470.16 billion is now only slightly more than that of Visa, which has a market cap of $469.87 billion at the moment.

Companies Market Cap reports that this is the third time Bitcoin has “flipped” Visa’s market cap, meaning that Bitcoin’s value has exceeded Visa’s value.

The first occasion was in late December 2020, coincidentally coinciding with the first time that BTC reached $25,000 in value.

This was accomplished during a price rise that saw BTC climb from $10,200 in September 2020 to $63,170 seven months later in April 2021. The price increase lasted for seven months.

BTC was able to take the lead over Visa for a very short period of time on October 1 before the payments business was able to reclaim their position as the market leader. Visa regained the lead between June and October 2022.

This advantage was further extended when, between November 6 and 10, 2022, the failure of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX took off more than $100 billion from the value of BTC in only four days.

However, since that time, BTC has had a complete recovery and has added an extra $65 billion to its market valuation of $408 billion as of November 6. This has allowed it to surpass the payment processing behemoth.

Because of the relatively tiny gap in their respective market caps, Bitcoin and Visa are now trading places on an hourly basis, which is something that should be taken into consideration.

Regarding the remarkable beginning that Bitcoin had in 2023, its third “flipping” of Visa occurred on the heels of a run of 14 days in a row during which the price increased. This run lasted from January 4 through January 17.

According to Google Finance, the market capitalization of Mastercard, the world’s second-largest payment processing network, is now $345.24 billion. BTC, on the other hand, has a significant lead over Mastercard.

However, Bitcoin is still trading at a discount of 63% compared to its all-time high of $69,044 that it hit on November 10th, 2021.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / / / / / /

The DeFi space is on a path of steady recovery as good actors

by Blockchain News

The harm that was inflicted by the collapse of major cryptocurrency ecosystems in the previous year is on its way to making a gradual comeback as positive actors take aggressive initiatives to reestablish investors’ faith. Principal participants from the ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi) got together to discuss the benefits of running trustless, interoperable, and permissionless systems.

Over thirty DeFi protocols participated in an endeavor to “permissionlessly” distribute tweets from other protocols for a period of twenty-four hours, beginning on February 6 and continuing until February 7. This served to showcase the permissionless and interoperable nature of Web3.

This campaign has contributions from a number of different projects, some of which include Yearn.finance, MakerDAO, SushiSwap, and Aave.

Despite the fact that DeFi has gained widespread recognition and big institutions have made their entry into the field, its image is still fragile owing to the numerous exploits that it has participated in.

The chief marketing officer of MakerDAO, Mamun Rashid, said that in order to fulfill the “full potential” of DeFi, there has to be a partnership between the ideas and the talent that is present in the field.

“By working together, we will be able to push the limits of conventional banking and create a financial system that is more welcoming and accessible thanks to decentralized money.”

The “spirit” of DeFi was characterized as a more collaborative environment, rather than a more competitive one, by the projects that were working together on the campaign.

According to Jared Grey, CEO of SushiSwap, the goal of the construction of DeFi is to disrupt the status quo of recognized financial frameworks, which have traditionally been known to impose hurdles and decrease economic freedom.

“By using the modularity of this cutting-edge technology, we are able to democratize the financial industry and provide tools and services that are more egalitarian, safer, and more transparent to an audience on a global scale.”

According to what Grey stated, the obligation to represent the genuine meaning of Defiantly Fiction begins in the space itself. Therefore, the initiative taken by more than 30 builders inside the area and the unity shown by those builders came at a crucial moment.

The DeFi domain has been a primary focus of adventures throughout the course of the last year. According to a study that was compiled by Beosin in 2022, the greatest number of assaults were launched against DeFi-based initiatives.

This weakness was the root cause of a 47.4% increase in security losses in 2022 when compared to the previous year’s total of $3.64 billion in losses, which came to a total.

Additional research from the industry has shown that it is reasonable to anticipate that the current trend of DeFi exploits will continue into this year owing to the introduction of new products to the market and the development of more skilled cybercriminals.

According to a research published by DappRadar, despite this, the industry saw strong growth to begin the year. To encourage more people to use DeFi and Cosmos, the company Injective established a new ecosystem fund in the amount of $150 million in January.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / / /

Billionaire Ray Dalio believes that fiat is in jeopardy

by Blockchain News

Although the billionaire Ray Dalio feels that fiat currency is in danger, he is also of the opinion that neither Bitcoin (BTC) nor stablecoins are the solution to the problem. As a kind of reaction, individuals of the cryptocurrency community have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter.

During a recent appearance on the show Squawk on CNBC, Dalio was asked about his thoughts on Bitcoin as a possible solution to the issues that are caused by fiat money. The billionaire claimed that it would not be useful as a means of commerce or as a place to keep riches. In addition to this point, Dalio emphasised that stablecoins are only imitations of state-backed currencies and hence would not be an efficient form of currency.

Bitcoin users were quick to reply to the interview, stating that Dalio’s definition of what money should be is already reflected in Bitcoin. Additionally, a Twitter user identified many intrinsic properties of Bitcoin and pointed out that it provides the answer Dalio is seeking for. A member of the community tweeted: One member of the community believes that Bitcoin is the solution to the monetary issue that Dalio outlined because of the cryptocurrency’s resilience to censorship, neutrality, openness, limited supply, and freedom from control.

While this was going on, a different member of the Bitcoin community said that Dalio had “orange pilled” them with his views on the history of money. The opinion of the Twitter user is that the interview demonstrates that the billionaire is getting closer and closer to “really understanding Bitcoin.”

His view on Bitcoin has traditionally shifted back and forth between bullish and bearish for Dalio. In 2021, he moved from characterising Bitcoin as “one heck of an innovation” to adopting a more pessimistic storyline, during which he discussed the possibility of a ban on Bitcoin being enacted in the United States and said that he would prefer gold over Bitcoin as a medium of exchange.

In 2022, the billionaire advocated for an allocation of between one and two percent of investor portfolios to Bitcoin. Back then, Dalio lauded Bitcoin for its resistance to hackers and said that there is no other cryptocurrency that can compete with it on the market.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / /

The Bank for International Settlements Introduces the DeFi Stack Reference

by Blockchain News

In a recent working paper, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) examined the inner workings of decentralised finance (DeFi) and created the DeFi stack reference (DSR) model to highlight the capabilities of the technology as well as the potential hazards associated with it.

The research offered some suggestions as to how the risks associated with the integration of DeFi with conventional finance might be evaluated. It also explored this integration.

In the study, a substantial amount of technical depth was devoted to analysing the architecture, technical primitives, and functions of DeFi protocols. According to what the authors noted, “a comprehensive grasp of DeFi is still missing in many circles,” and because of this, “a specialised framework for an enhanced working knowledge of the technology” is required.

Despite this, we believe that DeFi is an important development since it makes use of cutting-edge technology that has the potential to influence the future of the financial sector.

” The areas of algorithmic automation, “competitive financial engineering,” and transparency “are of interest far beyond cryptocurrency markets,” “according to the report.

The writers meant composability when they referred to competitive engineering. Composability is the process of integrating smart contracts to construct complicated and one-of-a-kind financial solutions.

The DSR model separates DeFi into three levels: the interface, the application, and the settlement. Within each of these layers, there are sublayers that allow for the variety of DeFi technologies.

In order to illustrate its points, the study employed many distinct types of tokens, blockchains, and financial services.

The authors went into great detail on the run on Terra (LUNA) because of its informative worth and because it served as an example of how successful their inquiry approach was.

This working paper was published during the same week as an overview of decentralised autonomous organisations was made available by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Because the WEF publication was similarly thorough but lacked a technical focus, the two publications are extremely complimentary to one another.

Research on digital currencies is routinely conducted by central banks, in which the BIS participates.

It has adopted a very conservative posture towards cryptocurrencies.

Recently, it put a 2% cap on the total value of crypto assets that may be held in reserves by globally operating banks. This cap will take effect on January 1, 2025.

Source

Tagged : / /

Validator Infrastructure Developer Launches New Fund to Support Ethereum Proof-of

by Blockchain News

ssv.network, a provider of validator infrastructure, has announced the introduction of a new ecosystem fund to assist Ethereum proof-of-stake decentralisation. The business said that this step will foster innovation around Ether (ETH) staking technology. The business made the announcement on January 19 about the ecosystem fund, which has a value of fifty million dollars and would help companies creating apps employing distributed validator technology, or DVT.

The primary purpose of the fund is to provide financial support for DVT use cases that contribute to Ethereum’s efforts to decentralise the platform over the long run.

DVT is a protocol that is open-source and has the capability of distributing the tasks of a validator over a number of different nodes.

Because more DVT implementation results in increased decentralisation, the protocol was an essential part of the roadmap that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin developed for Eth2.

SSV made notice of the fact that a number of venture capital investors, including as Digital Currency Group, HashKey, NGC, Everstake, GSR, and SevenX, have advocated for Ethereum’s use of DVT.

SSV said that it had already contributed $3 million toward developer awards and that $1.2 million had been distributed to over 20 proof-of-stake projects. Some of these projects include Blockscape, ANKR, and Moonstake.

“Ethereum is now protected by a tiny set of corporations,” claims Alon Muroch, the core development lead at SSV. “When you bring all of these companies together, they control the whole blockchain.”

According to what he stated, the objective of the DVT technology is “to share Ethereum’s security by enabling rapid and simple access to an open-source, public good that will totally revolutionise the way that staking is done today.”

The switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake on Ethereum will take place in stages, and each one will be intended to improve the scalability, security, and decentralisation of the network.

The change led to the implementation of ETH staking, in which users take an active role in the validation of transactions.

On Ethereum, the minimum amount of ETH that must be staked in order to qualify as a validator is 32.

According to recent reports, the demand for liquid ETH staking was reportedly on the increase as of the beginning of December.

Staked ETH was characterised to as the “first yield-bearing instrument to attain considerable size in DeFi” by the blockchain analytics company Nansen.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / /

Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake

by Blockchain News

ssv.network, a provider of validator infrastructure, has announced the introduction of a new ecosystem fund to assist Ethereum proof-of-stake decentralisation. The business said that this step will foster innovation around Ether (ETH) staking technology. The business made the announcement on January 19 about the ecosystem fund, which has a value of fifty million dollars and would help companies creating apps employing distributed validator technology, or DVT.

The primary purpose of the fund is to provide financial support for DVT use cases that contribute to Ethereum’s efforts to decentralise the platform over the long run.

DVT is a protocol that is open-source and has the capability of distributing the tasks of a validator over a number of different nodes.

Because more DVT implementation results in increased decentralisation, the protocol was an essential part of the roadmap that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin developed for Eth2.

SSV made notice of the fact that a number of venture capital investors, including as Digital Currency Group, HashKey, NGC, Everstake, GSR, and SevenX, have advocated for Ethereum’s use of DVT.

SSV said that it had already contributed $3 million toward developer awards and that $1.2 million had been distributed to over 20 proof-of-stake projects. Some of these projects include Blockscape, ANKR, and Moonstake.

“Ethereum is now protected by a tiny set of corporations,” claims Alon Muroch, the core development lead at SSV. “When you bring all of these companies together, they control the whole blockchain.”

According to what he stated, the objective of the DVT technology is “to share Ethereum’s security by enabling rapid and simple access to an open-source, public good that will totally revolutionise the way that staking is done today.”

The switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake on Ethereum will take place in stages, and each one will be intended to improve the scalability, security, and decentralisation of the network.

The change led to the implementation of ETH staking, in which users take an active role in the validation of transactions.

On Ethereum, the minimum amount of ETH that must be staked in order to qualify as a validator is 32.

According to recent reports, the demand for liquid ETH staking was reportedly on the increase as of the beginning of December.

Staked ETH was characterised to as the “first yield-bearing instrument to attain considerable size in DeFi” by the blockchain analytics company Nansen.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / /
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 25,778.91 3.95%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,816.35 3.01%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 87.59 6.16%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 109.40 4.16%