The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week raises serious issues far more significant than the obvious ones cited by the financial press and a broad range of Washington politicians.

Chief among these are bank loans against dubious assets. That's not getting much if any attention in the news or from Washington and is likely to soon be swept under the rug, allowing needlessly risky banking practices to continue.

Before its collapse last week, SVB made loans against Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The question: why is any bank anywhere allowed to accept crypto as collateral for loans?

Bitcoin and its imitators are not money. They are not currency. They're hardly used to buy and sell, an unsurprising fact given that by design the Bitcoin system canprocess only seven transactions per secondcompared to many thousands of transactions per second for credit cards.

Indeed, except for laundering proceeds from drug trafficking as well as hiding assets from creditors, estranged spouses, and the tax police, cryptocurrencies have no use.

High-tech Ponzi Scheme

Cryptocurrencies and their cousins, Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTsare just a high-tech Ponzi scheme. Instead ofCharlie PonziorBernie Madoffpersonally running the con, the crypto scam relies on decentralized computer blockchain and "mining" of mathematical solutions.

Bitcoin's supposed inventor, who went by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, hasnever been identified. He or she has since vanished, leaving holders with a digital string worth only as much as the next fool, or crook, will pay for this imaginary asset.

Early participants in Ponzi schemes profit mightily if they cash out while the gullible souls who get sucked in later wipe out. That is what happened to SVB, America's 16thlargest bank, which was big on crypto loans.

Many Bitcoin "investors" have already been wiped out as the "market cap" of Bitcoin plummeted from nearly $1.3 trillion in 2021 to about $389 billion on Friday,down almost 70%.

Why do banking regulators allow our federally insured and regulated banks to make loans using magic internet money as collateral? That's a crazy policy, no different than allowing banks to accept buckets of ice cubes in winter as collateral, even though they melt come spring and evaporate in summer

Silicon Valley Bank is just one of many federally insured financial institutions that accept crypto currency as collateral for loans. Some banks will loan you 90% of the seemingly value of your crypto, though 50% loan-to-value is more common and that appears to be the standard at SVB based on its web pages.

Zero Interest Crypto Loans

All sorts of financial news outlets offer advice on borrowing against crypto. These includeNerdWallet, and the increasingly nave and unreliableForbes.People with crypto can evenborrow at zero interest. Gadzooks!

For a sober look at the big risks of crypto loans readInvestopedia's essay.

In the wake of the second largest bank failure in history, you should be deeply concerned that for more than four decades we have failed miserably at regulating banks. That history contrasts with the period from 1935 until voters abandoned the moderating and successful New Deal banking rules in favor ofReaganomics.

We took a wrong turn when theprudent New Deal banking regulationsin effect from 1935 were killed by Reaganomics, which re-regulated banks to reduce regulations and increase the risk of financial institutions failing. (There is no such thing asderegulation, only new regulation, which in our time on terms typically means regulations favoring corporations, including banks, over customers, financial prudence, and public safety.)

Congress's Role

What we need now are Congressional hearings to examine the reasons that cryptocurrencies can be collateral for bank loans.

Contactthe White Housein writing via the hypertext link or call 202-456-1111 to demand a ban on crypto as loan collateral. Call 202-456-1111.

Even if you don't own Bitcoin or its growing list of alternatives this story matters to you for multiple reasons.

Your money is only insured up to $250,000. Any money above that isn't insured. That means if you're a trustee of a nonprofit, for example, and it's got $1 million in the bank you or the organization you help lead is at risk of being wiped out in a bank failure.

The federal government is covering all deposits for SVB and atSignature Bank in New York, which failed Sunday. But that doesn't mean it always will. During an earlier banking crisis nonprofits with more than the guarantee then in effect of $100,000 lost their deposits above that sum, which got very little news coverage at the time.

If people want to buy crypto, they should be free to do so. But they should not be allowed to put our bank deposits and investments at risk by using these digital tokens as collateral for loans. After all, it's your, and my bank deposits, along with those of businesses, nonprofits, and our governments that the banks use to make loans, so it's not like we don't have a deep interest in blocking crypto of any kind as collateral for loans.

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How Bitcoin and other magic internet money loans endanger your ... - Salon

Bitcoin created its business late in 2019 with its automatic networking on the internet with the introduction of blockchain technology. Satoshi Nakamoto decided to engage with the investors by identifying the markets needs.

The digital currency-oriented unit is stored in the blocks of Technology for the ordinary individual who struggles to visit the banks. The option of cryptocurrency needed to be prepared for the affluent investors who can significantly profit from the currency.

Bitcoin was more of a comfortable unit that entered the market to provide more significant assistance to thousands of middle individuals. Immediate Edge the unit is sufficient to make their astonishing journey in digital money seamless.

However, today the currency is more known for having a balanced reform in the market. It is a functional unit purchased and exchanged due to its repetition. The continuous investment allows the other investors to focus on the unit and the currency from the safe digital platform.

The units storage is quickly done with 200 percent of the authentication, providing a perfect mixture of storage and supply. In the central time, some people want to know about the original way and ideology for a solid investment.

Cryptocurrency becomes a part no for an extended period if purchased from a platform that provides investment benefits and a safe opportunity to sell the currency in the future.

A few interesting points require a knowledgeable understanding to minimize the risk and buy the currency. The manual classification is vast, but the digital comes out as an alternative with a better way to turn the bright table and provide sufficient funding.

The Paramount advantage of having a risk-free investment is the easy storage and Purchase. A currency that is associated with the digital wallet of any user requires exploration of different options.

Usually, only some individuals have the details about the investment and the strategies data reformed. The essential part of cryptocurrency depends on how the investor looks toward the effectiveness of the Purchase of the unit.

Therefore, knowing about every part of the unit and the stages to build successful steps helps generate belief in the profits. The digital coin protects the individual from Bureaucracy and provides the entire ecosystem with protection.

Another affected part of the Purchase or trade of cryptocurrency is the availability of the exchange, which is a wise option for beginners. The unit is a resource for many people, and reputable companies work as an agency for the investors to provide security and measures to diffuse all the barriers.

The critical system of cryptocurrency depends on the percentage of investment the investor makes. Typically, people buy the unit from an online exchange, which is a more comfortable option for networking.

However, the exchange reputation and the rates are essential because they can increase the expense and make the entire cost of the digital Purchase expensive.

Another point that requires attention for the investor is knowing about the wallets available for the exchange in integration with digital security.

Money becomes a part of individual life when it is floated in the most comfortable place and available in a seamless wallet to utilize anywhere. Bitcoin wallet is available online and offline, connecting users as per their requirements to the internet.

Another essential thing that comes to every individuals mind before the Purchase is the amount to be transferred from one account to another to buy the unit.

The currency becomes part of your digital wallet by reading the currency and providing the bank details to the online support system. The units ownership is granted once the amount is deposited and the landing company receives the notification.

Once all the steps are prepared in the proper process, it becomes easier for the investor to become the owner of an actual unit with value in the market. Bitcoin marketing depends upon the individuals profile; people usually can afford the minor risk.

The main goal of each digital purchaser should depend upon their available funds and efficiency in the forecast of the future in cryptocurrency. Apart from this, there is nothing the individual has to worry about in digital currency.

Please note that this website does not give financial advice. This contributed article is offered for information purposes only.

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Effective Methods to Buy and Trade Bitcoin - Robotics and Automation News

Cryptocurrencies have taken the world by storm, disrupting traditional financial systems and providing a new way to transact value.

The idea of a decentralized digital currency that could bypass financial institutions and enable people to send and receive payments without the need for a middleman was revolutionary.

It promised a future where individuals had control over their financial transactions, free from the constraints of government and central banks. However, despite the potential of cryptocurrencies, it took a few years before they gained mainstream acceptance.

That all changed on May 22, 2010, when a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz made a bold offer on a Bitcoin forum. He said he would pay 10,000 Bitcoins to anyone who would order him two pizzas from Papa Johns.

Yes, you heard that right!

10,000 Bitcoins, which today is worth over 700 million dollars.

Join us as we delve into the story of Bitcoin Pizza Day and its significance in the world of cryptocurrency.

To understand the significance of Bitcoin Pizza Day, lets first take a closer look at Bitcoin itself.

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that allows for secure and peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries like banks. It was created in 2009 by an unknown person or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

One of the key features of Bitcoin is that it operates on a blockchain, which is a public ledger that records all transactions in the network. Each transaction is verified by a network of users who use complex algorithms to solve mathematical problems, and once verified, it is added to the blockchain, making it immutable.

Bitcoin was primarily used by tech enthusiasts and libertarians who embraced the idea of a currency that was not subject to government or central bank control.

However, it wasnt until May 22, 2010, that Bitcoin gained its first real-world use case when a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz made a bold offer on a Bitcoin forum.

Getting back to the story of Bitcoin pizza day, in 2009, the first successful Bitcoin transaction was done, which was 10 Bitcoin transfers to Hal Finney from the account of the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

A computer programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz from Florida decided to put Satoshis creation to the test. He wanted to see if it could be used as a real mode of payment, just like any other currency.

And he figured, why not try to buy a pizza with it?

On May 18, Hanyecz posted on the Bitcointalk.org forum expressing his interest in utilizing bitcoin to purchase pizza. To anyone who was prepared to place an order, pick them up, and deliver them to him,

And he was happy to find someone willing to trade their pizzas for 10,000 BTC. Somebody made the observation that he may sell the bitcoins for $41 on a particular exchange website, where BTC was valued at less than 0.5 cents per coin.

On May 21, Luckily, someone accepted his offer the following day, a decision that would subsequently be remembered in history.

Laszlo responded to the delivery on BitcoinTalk.org by saying, That pizza looks delicious!

I would like to inform you that, I was able to exchange 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas, worth $40. The pizzas were prepared by Papa Johns, but Hanyecz purchased them secondly from Jeremy Sturdivant, who was 19 years old.

On the same thread, he stated, My 1-year-old daughter really enjoys pizza too! She just smears it all over her face if you give her a whole slice, but she does eventually manage to get most of it in her mouth. Laszlo took a family photo after the delivery marking one of the biggest milestones in the Bitcoin story.

At the time, 10,000 Bitcoins were worth around 40 dollars.

But Hanyecz could have profited about $690 million if he had sold all of his bitcoins at their all-time high price of $68,990, which would have bought 46 million large Papa Johns pizzas at a price of $15 each.

The incredible growth in Bitcoins value showcases its potential and the blockchain technology it is built upon.

Well, Now the question arises how did Laszlo Hanyecz make 10K Bitcoins?

Lets unfold the layers.

In the early days of Bitcoin, a group of pioneering miners worked tirelessly to extract new coins from the network. Among them was a man named Laszlo, who had been mining for an entire year before making history with a single transaction.

For creating a new block, every successful miner received 50 BTC prior to the first bitcoin halving in 2012

This means that in order to earn 10,000 BTC, one just needed to mine 200 blocks, which wasnt too challenging given that there werent enough people trying to generate them at the time.

But this isnt just a story about the rise of innovative technology and a landmark in the financial world, its a story about the power of community, the potential of a new economy, and the limitless possibilities of the future.

However, Bitcoin Pizza Day also highlights the volatility and unpredictability of cryptocurrencies. The fact that 10,000 Bitcoins were worth only $41 in 2010 and millions of dollars today is a testament to how quickly the value of cryptocurrencies can rise and fall.

It also serves as a cautionary tale for those who see cryptocurrencies as a get-rich-quick scheme.

Bitcoin Pizza Day is a significant event in the history of cryptocurrencies that should be celebrated by all crypto enthusiasts. It marks the beginning of a new era, where cryptocurrencies could be used for real-world transactions, and not just as a speculative investment vehicle.

However, it also serves as a reminder of the volatility and unpredictability of cryptocurrencies, and the importance of caution when investing in them.

So, next time you order a pizza, remember the story of Laszlo Hanyecz, and how a simple craving for pizza led to a significant moment in the history of cryptocurrency.

And also think about, would you have made the same decision if you were in Hanyeczs shoes?

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The Million-Dollar Pizza: An Interesting Story of Bitcoin Pizza Day - Coinpedia Fintech News

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Bitcoin has become the most well-known currency around the globe as the popularity of Bitcoin has inspired many other developers to develop cryptocurrencies just like Bitcoin. None of them got as high as Bitcoin has become the largest market capitalization cryptocurrency in the world. It is nothing more than a form of currency that does not have any control over the government. The transactions of Bitcoin are recorded on an independent and decentralized base known as the blockchain. All the monetary transactions of Bitcoin are recorded and stored on the blockchain network, and it also provides security to transactions through cryptographic nodes. The currency was introduced in 2009, and whoever created Bitcoin is still anonymous. A name added by other cryptocurrency developers is satoshi nakamoto. But later, he left the project in between, and some of the other developers developed Bitcoin and introduced it to the public interest. In addition, if you are looking for a reliable trading platform, you can visit BITCOINPRIME.SOFTWARE.

Bitcoin attracts many new investors and traders to join the virtual market due to its uncertain hype and regular volatile prices. You cannot predict Bitcoin prices because it is highly flammable and not regulated by any regulatory authority. The absence of government authority makes Bitcoin transactions reliable, cost-efficient, time efficient, transparent and secure as the cases of cyber hacks and frauds are regularly coming to news headlines through centralized means. But till the present time, we do not have any complaints about Bitcoin fraud or cyber hacks. Bitcoin provides security that any traditional financial institutional security system cannot challenge. Bitcoin offers several advantages if it is accepted as a medium of exchange by businesses and companies. It will take time for Bitcoin to become legal tender as the currency is still new to the market.

The top attraction of Bitcoin

Privacy

You can use Bitcoin to transfer funds anonymously from one source to another without involving intermediaries or government bodies in monetary affairs. All the Bitcoin honors are provided with multiple public keys, usually the address of the Bitcoin wallet and the information needed to execute transactions to transfer Bitcoin from one account to another. Unlike credit and debit cards, they do not require complete information about the wallet owners common name, billing and address, which means they do not need any personal information about the wallet holder to transfer funds. The only thing required to receive payments from Bitcoin is a wallet address.

Decentralization

Due to Bitcoins decentralized nature, it does not allow the government to interfere in its monetary affairs. Also, some of us prefer to avoid 3rd party interference in economic matters to transfer funds from one server to another. Also, this is an excellent choice for people who are against the system and looking forward to extra privacy. In traditional payment systems, there is always a chance of information hacks and fraud due to the presence of financial records with banks and exchanges. Also, fraudulent transactions can occur with the name of traditional trades and institutions. However, Bitcoin is a decentralized body and does not allow this kind of fraudulent transaction to take place with the help of blockchain technology.

Bitcoin value

As we all know, Bitcoin has gained hype in the last few years and is continuously gaining advertising with increasing prices. Bitcoin can be chosen over other currencies as the best or excellent store of value. There is no government rule that you cannot convert Bitcoin into something different than feet currencies. There is complete control of your Bitcoin holdings in your hand.

Low transaction fees

Whether you are investing or using Bitcoin to make and receive payments, the transaction fees of Bitcoin transfers are relatively lower than a traditional transfer. And one of the biggest problems with centralized transfers is that it takes too long to transfer funds. Using Bitcoin can help you to transfer funds in around 10 minutes which is a relatively low time. The use of Bitcoin by small-scale businesses is beneficial because they pay high fees for minimum transfers. And this leads to an increase in companies costs of up to 10%.

Security

You cannot question Bitcoin security as it uses peer-to-peer transactions, meaning no 3rd parties are involved in completing payment transfers. Only the parties involved in payments are the receiver and payment maker. Every transaction of Bitcoin is recorded on an open distributed Ledger system known as blockchain with the security of cryptographic Nodes Once the transaction is recorded on a blockchain network, the transaction cannot be altered or changed manually without private keys.

Conclusion

These are some of the top attractions of Bitcoin that lures people to invest money in Bitcoin. Also, Bitcoin has high price volatility, which gives you the opportunity to earn maximum profit out of volatility. It is possible to make maximum profit in intraday trading without holding Bitcoin overnight. On the other hand, you must be aware of Bitcoins other drawbacks, like the prices can show a bearish trend, and within a few minutes, it concerns a bullish market. Get the required knowledge before investing your money in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, as it can save you from bearing losses and maximize your profit on your investments.

This post was published on March 15, 2023 7:25 pm

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What is the attraction about Bitcoin? - Star of Mysore

Bitcoin (BTC 0.68%) has been a hot topic in the financial world for years, with opinions about the cryptocurrency running the gamut from a "revolutionary new asset class" to a "dangerous speculative bubble." One thing that most experts can agree on, however, is that its volatility has historically made it a less-than-ideal safe-haven asset. But recent market movements seemed to have changed that tune. There are fewer sad trombones and more sparkly vibraphone grooves in the Bitcoin canticle nowadays.

But is the cryptocurrency really ready to serve as a long-term vault for your hard-earned wealth? Let's look closer at Bitcoin's suitability for that august role in light of recent data and expert analyses.

Bitcoin has been on a tear since the beginning of 2023, rising 45% since the start of the year. On the other hand, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.41%) index is up by a mere 0.8% over the same period, and gold has gained 2.6%.

Zooming out to a three-year view, you'll find that Bitcoin has outperformed the traditional safe havens of gold and broad stock market indexes again. This time, gold is up by 19%. The S&P 500's dividend-adjusted total return stops at 49%. Over the same span, Bitcoin soared 367% higher.

And if you allow me to go back six years instead, incorporating the surge of 2017 and the 2018 crypto winter into the data, we can see how a $10,000 investment in Bitcoin has performed against gold and the S&P 500 since the spring of 2017:

Bitcoin Price data by YCharts

Of course, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, and its value could plummet just as quickly as it has risen. The chart above, impressive as it is, also shows many dramatic price drops over the years.

But it seems that Bitcoin has finally established itself as a contender in the category of safe-haven assets. As investors seek out alternatives to traditional value stores, like precious metals or diverse stock market indexes, Bitcoin's unique characteristics and limited supply could make it an attractive option for those looking to protect their wealth against inflation and currency fluctuations.

And that's right in line with the original intentions of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin's unknown inventor (or group of inventors). The cryptocurrency was designed to resist inflation through a lifetime maximum of 21 million digital coins, and 19.3 million of them are already minted. This capped long-term supply is similar to the limited amount of gold on the planet, which is why Bitcoin bulls often refer to it as "digital gold."

Despite its volatility, some market experts believe that Bitcoin could continue to serve as a safe-haven asset in the future. Beyond the gold-like supply-and-demand equation, some Bitcoin gurus point to the growing interest from institutional investors and large corporations. As a result, the cryptocurrency may be becoming more mainstream and accepted as a legitimate asset class.

In fact, companies like Tesla (TSLA 2.39%) and Block (SQ 1.54%) have even added Bitcoin to their balance sheets, further signaling their confidence in the cryptocurrency. Taking that idea to its next logical step, business software builder MicroStrategy (MSTR 5.01%) has converted most of its cash reserves into Bitcoin -- and keeps buying more coins financed by a combination of cash flows, loans, and stock sales.

deVere Group CEO Nigel Green calls the current banking crisis a "springboard event" for Bitcoin as traditional-minded investors start to treat the digital asset as a safe port in the storm. The financial shake-up may inspire others to follow in the steps of Tesla, Block, and MicroStrategy. Massive long-term inflation of the U.S. dollar is a critical part of this scenario: "Investors are therefore looking for alternative currencies, such as cryptocurrencies," Green writes in a recent press release. "Moving forward, these will increasingly compete with traditional, fiat ones, and this will help trigger the decreasing dominance of currently leading international currencies."

Nobody knows for sure where Bitcoin is going next. The crypto winter may be thawing as we speak, or another cold snap could bring Bitcoin prices down again in 2023.

But I think it's abundantly clear by now that cryptocurrencies are here to stay, and that Bitcoin will probably be a reliable store of wealth for many years. MicroStrategy chairman Michael Saylor may be onto something after all. Truly committed Bitcoin bulls with diamond hands should see stellar results a few years down the road.

That being said, I still don't want to convert my entire net worth into Bitcoin and take out loans to buy more. Leave that to the professional risk-takers for now. Instead, I'm happy with a modest Bitcoin position that could serve me well in the long run without adding much short-term risk. It's a good place to park cash you won't need for at least a year or two, allowing Bitcoin to get over speed bumps and challenges on the road to sustained wealth. In fact, that's how I think about all investments. Saintly patience is arguably the best quality an investor could have. Just ask Warren Buffett or Peter Lynch.

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Is Bitcoin a Safe-Haven Asset Now? Recent Data and Market ... - The Motley Fool

The launch of the DAO Governance marks a significant milestone in the decentralization of the Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova networks, becoming the first EVM rollup technology to achieve Stage 1 decentralization

NEW YORK, March 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Arbitrum Foundation today announced the launch of DAO governance for the Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova networks, a massive leap forward in the decentralization of the two networks. Alongside the DAO governance structure, The Arbitrum Foundation also announced an upcoming drop of $ARB to users of the Arbitrum ecosystem on Thursday, March 23.

Arbitrum Foundation (PRNewsfoto/Arbitrum Foundation)

Late last year, Vitalik Buterin proposed a 3 stage schema for decentralizing rollups, and with today's announcement Arbitrum has now become the first EVM rollup ever to achieve Stage 1. The milestone signifies an important achievement for both Arbitrum networks and for the state of Ethereum scaling more broadly.

The $ARB token will facilitate the decentralization of the Arbirum network, and the $ARB airdrop will place the governance token in the hands of the users who are actively participating in the Arbitrum ecosystem. Users can visit gov.arbitrum.foundation and follow the prompts for eligibility details and to claim their share in governance. The majority of the $ARB supply will be under the control of the Arbitrum community via The Arbitrum Foundation, accelerating growth of the ecosystem organically. $ARB token holders will govern The Arbitrum Foundation through the Arbitrum DAO.

Steven Goldfeder, CEO and Co-Founder of Offchain Labscommented: "We are extraordinarily excited for the official launch of The Arbitrum Foundation and DAO governance and to see Arbitrum One become the first EVM rollup to advance to Stage 1 decentralization, a tremendous milestone for both Arbitrum and Ethereum. Through the community airdrop, the delegation process, and the introduction of the Security Council, community participation and control is at the forefront of today's announcement, and the requirements for receiving a share of Arbitrum governance have been crafted meticulously, optimizing for the longevity of the ecosystem and community. Looking ahead, we're moving closer and closer toward a decentralized financial system, with the Arbitrum technology at the very forefront of that.."

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To facilitate effective community governance, users will be able to delegate voting power to individuals they view as effective stewards of their values. Delegates will be expected to vote on proposals that pass through the Arbitrum DAO in a way that represents the token-holders who have assigned their voting power to them. The Arbitrum DAO will have the power to control key decisions at the core protocol level, from how the chain's technology is upgraded to how the revenue from the chain can be used to support the ecosystem. Those interested in becoming a delegate are encouraged to visit the governance forum and apply.

Crucially, Arbitrum's governance will be self-executing, meaning that the DAO's votes will directly have the power to effect and execute its on-chain decisions, and not rely on an intermediary to carry out those decisions. Self-executing governance is a critical milestone for decentralization and giving the community the power to govern the chain, and Arbitrum is leading the way as the first L2 to launch self-executing governance.

The Arbitrum Foundation also announced the creation of the Arbitrum Security Council, a 12-member multisig of highly regarded community members designed to ensure the security of the chains and be able to act quickly in the event of a security vulnerability. The decision-making powers of the Security Council are determined by a smart contract that will require multiple secure signatures by its members in order to implement any changes to the protocol. In case of emergency, the Arbitrum Security Council will be able to act quickly but this will require participation from 9 of the 12 members. The Arbitrum DAO will be the ultimate governing body over the Arbitrum Security Council, with elections for the Council being held twice annually.

The introduction further reinforces Arbitrum's focus on decentralization by giving the community the ability to play a more active role in Arbitrum governance and have a say over what occurs within the ecosystem.

Arbitrum is the leading Layer 2 (L2) scaling solution for Ethereum, boasting the highest Total Value Locked (TVL) across all L2 networks with approximately $3.61B, 55% market share across all rollups, and the Arbitrum One network recently surpassed Ethereum daily transactions on two occasions.

For more information, please visit the Arbitrum blog: http://arbitrumfoundation.medium.com/

About Offchain LabsOffchain Labs is a venture-backed and Princeton-founded company that was the initial developers of Arbitrum, a suite of secure scaling solutions for Ethereum. Arbitrum's technologies instantly scale dApps, significantly reducing costs and increasing speed, without sacrificing Ethereum's security. Porting contracts to Arbitrum requires no code changes or downloads as Arbitrum is fully EVM compatible. Offchain Labs also maintains Prsym, the leading Ethereum consensus client.

About The Arbitrum FoundationThe Arbitrum Foundation has a mission to help support and grow the Arbitrum network and its community while remaining at the forefront of blockchain adoption. The Foundation oversees the $ARB token and governance structure as well as the Arbitrum Security Council, a 12-member multisig of well regarded community members designed to ensure the security of the chains.

Media contact: Dillon Arace, arbitrumpr@mgroupsc.com

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The Arbitrum Foundation Announces DAO Governance for the Arbitrum One and Nova Networks and Airdrop of $ARB Token to Arbitrum Users - Yahoo Finance

Kyiv, Ukraine --News Direct-- Blaize Technology

By Jad Malaeb, Benzinga

Every few years, a form of technology arises that reshapes how humans view and interact with the world. In 1983, that technology was the internet; today, many say its the blockchain.

A blockchain is a distributed ledger that stores data and validates transfers across an interconnected network. All information placed into a blockchain is first formulated into a block.

Blocks are added to the blockchain only after theyve been validated by network nodes. The requirement for a consensus between the nodes before a block is placed ensures that the information is accurate and trustworthy. Additionally, any modification to an existing block would trigger a change in all the blocks preceding it, making all information on the blockchain immutable.

With the advent of complementary technologies like smart contracts and cryptocurrencies, blockchain became the foundation of a $3 trillion cryptocurrency value and the cornerstone of the broader decentralization movement. According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the blockchain market is expected to be worth $67.4 billion by 2026. The question on the minds of investors, entrepreneurs and spectators now is: What will blockchain look like in that time?

Currently, blockchains are divided into three domains and four types.

Public blockchains, like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Litecoin (CRYPTO: LTC), belong to the permissionless domain, a class of blockchains that has no central authority and is dependent on the cooperation of independent nodes for consensus.

Public blockchains are the main propagators of the decentralized movement, and theyre by far the most well-known blockchains. Permissionless blockchains typically sacrifice transaction speed for security, as more nodes mean safer but slower data transfer.

Private and consortium blockchains, like Ripple and Hyperledger respectively, belong to the permissioned domain, a class of blockchains that has one or more central authorities dictating node accessibility and functionality within a blockchain network. Private blockchains control who is allowed to be a node, and what functions these nodes have.

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Private blockchains represent the individualization of blockchain. These blockchains tend to be specific to the central authoritys purpose. For example, private blockchains are popular for supply management functions and insurance claims, two industries where the networks function is improved by the restriction, rather than popularization, of information.

Hybrid blockchains reside in the middle of these two classes and represent the third domain of blockchains. As more Web3 projects aim to improve security while keeping decentralization an option, hybrid blockchains are quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of blockchain technology, and they could very likely be the next evolution of blockchains.

Most of the blockchains discussed above are layer-1 blockchains.

Layer-1 blockchains set the groundwork for the way users can expect the network to operate. They not only provide the base on which all data transfer is made but also define the rules, outlining how consensus is achieved, how nodes operate and other essential requirements.

Achieving a high level of decentralization and security while maintaining efficiency is one of the great challenges of layer-1 networks. In May 2021, for example, the average transaction fee rose to $69 on the Ethereum network as a result of an overload of transaction requests. Bitcoin transaction speed, which reached a low of 4.6 transactions per second compared to Visas 1,700 transactions per second, is another template of layer-1s scalability issues.

Layer-2 blockchains help take the workload off of layer-1s. If the crypto industry were a kitchen, layer-1 blockchains are the chefs and layer-2s are the sous-chefs. The primary function of layer-2 blockchain is to improve the transaction speed and reduce gas fees of layer-1 blockchains while layer-1 maintains the security and integrity of the overall system.

The popular layer-2 project Bitcoin Lighting Network, for example, makes Bitcoin transactions faster and less costly by executing Bitcoin orders through their network. This helps Bitcoin achieve its promise as a medium of exchange. Similar layer 2s are available for Ethereum, including Loopring, Optimism and Ethereum Plasma. While many see the necessity of layer-2 blockchains for scalability as a shortcoming of layer-1 blockchains, others argue that theyre a necessary ingredient in the recipe for global decentralization.

A layer-1 blockchain that can fulfill scalability, security and decentralization functions without a layer-2 could have a huge competitive advantage; it ranks highly in the category of the next best thing.

The importance of blockchain software developers like Blaize.Tech cannot be overstated in the pursuit of the next evolution of blockchain technology.

Behind Ethereum, Avalanche and Cardano is an army of talented blockchain developers working together with a singular purpose. Nothing large in blockchain happens without developers. Blaize has already had a head start on its competitors, deploying over 400+ smart contracts and completing over 70+ successful blockchain projects.

Developers like Blaize help companies create blockchain systems, decentralized applications, smart contracts and enterprise solutions. Blaize specifically has all these capabilities and even provides developer tools like software development kits, allows non-blockchain projects to integrate the technology into their business and provides blockchain-specific services like security audits and technical due diligence.

If youre interested in any form of blockchain technology integration, Blaize.Tech is a go-to destination.

In many ways, decentralized finance (DeFi) is the reason for blockchains popularization.

Blockchains first public triumph was Bitcoin, a DeFi solution that allowed regular people to send and receive currency without the need for central authorities. The current examples of DeFi projects all reflect the financial decentralization concept, but express it in different ways.

Aave (CRYPTO: AAVE), for example, is a DeFi project that allows the lending and borrowing of currency without the need for a central authority. Aave achieves this by using smart contracts, which are programs that automatically run on the blockchain when certain conditions are met. The automatic execution of smart contracts is what enables all DeFi services, including trading, investing, lending and borrowing.

Smart contracts have been central in the creation of decentralized exchanges like Uniswap (CRYPTO: UNI), decentralized oracle services like Chainlink (CRYPTO: LINK) and inter-blockchain communication platforms like Polkadot (CRYPTO: DOT). As a result of smart contracts and blockchains, the DeFi industry is expected to be worth $231 billion by 2030 according to a report by Grand View Research, but hacking, safety and trust issues must be addressed before the industry can advance.

Similarly, NFTs are currently awaiting a renaissance of their own after their fall from grace in 2022. Last year, it became clear that the majority of the value perceived by NFT traders was a result of one of the greatest bull markets of all time. As soon as the curtains receded, NFT valuations reverted to sane valuations, leading many to believe they had no value to begin with.

The conversation around NFTs is now changing. A growing number of NFT advocates contend that NFTs value can extend beyond speculation, and advocates have begun to test this idea with the launch of utility NFTs. Utility NFTs grant their purchasers something more than just an ownership stamp; they grant owners access to perks and rewards. Utility NFTs have been embraced by some of the biggest brands from Nike and Dolce and Gabanna to Adidas and the Premier League. Many posit that NFTs will play a major role in broader-themed movements like Web3 and the metaverse.

Safe, secure and user-optimized DeFi services and utility-based NFTs have a strong argument for a place in the future of blockchain.

One exciting domain of exploration for the future of blockchain is in on-chain analytics.

In traditional markets, investors have access to very limited information, and they must make predictive assumptions with a lot of missing variables. In an environment as complicated as the financial markets, acting on limited information only makes the process of investing harder.

The breadth and availability of information that crypto investors can glean from on-chain analytics is changing the investing landscape. In essence, on-chain analysis is the process of monitoring the flow of money into and out of crypto assets. Because of the sheer quantity of available information, many crypto investors are capable of making decisions with a much larger set of facts and information than their traditional counterparts.

On-chain analysis can involve a number of different ratios, calculations and observations. Some of these include monitoring central exchange flows, which could depict large-scale entry or exit from certain assets by examining exchange-based information. Others could include whale watching (i.e. monitoring large-scale orders), while others could take a more granular approach and record active addresses, supply distribution, miner revenue and realized profit or losses.

The use of on-chain analytics is considered by many the rise of blockchains own fundamental analysis. Despite all of blockchains potentially life-changing qualities, investing and trading remain two of the largest areas of interest in this industry. On-chain analytics represent the first clues of the emergence of educated speculation, and it, too, can play a large role in the future.

As discussed, there are many potential avenues blockchain technology could take, and none are mutually exclusive.

On the private scale, blockchains have already been implemented in governments and corporations, but this avenue has the lowest potential to influence the world. Public blockchains, while the most problematic of the bunch, bring about a whole new ecosystem of products that are independent of central authorities.

There are suspicions that blockchain, as a peer-to-peer network, may have too many faults, and that these decentralized approaches could be better achieved through alternative systems like Urbit or Hedera. Nonetheless, thousands of entrepreneurs are pushing to improve blockchains trust and automation issues in order to take it to the next level, and there are plenty of promising avenues of exploration.

This article was originally published on Benzinga here.

Blaize is a software company providing blockchain development outsourcing solutions for different types of businesses. Blockchain ecosystem creation and decentralized application development are our core specializations. We have vast expertise in building DeFi applications, decentralized exchanges, DAO, smart contract development&deployment, blockchain nodes development, and creation of staking platforms.

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.

Pasha Bergman CBDO

pasha@blaize.tech

Blockchain development company

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The Next Big Thing In Blockchain And Crypto? (Hint: Its Not NFTs) - Yahoo Finance

Servers support decentralized social media. dpa/picture alliance via Getty I

Meta is in the early stages of developing a text-based social media app that could rival Twitter, MoneyControl reported yesterday (March 9). Unlike its other social media platforms, Facebook and Instagramand unlike Twitterthe app will reportedly be decentralized. Meta didnt clarify what this would mean, but other decentralized apps like Mastodon, a Twitter rival, support independent servers where users create their own rules about content moderation.

Metas new app, codenamed P92, will reportedly integrate ActivityPub, the set of rules that allow networks to communicate. ActivityPub is what allows for decentralization, or interconnectedness between social platforms. Users will be able to engage with content across the platforms that support ActivityPub without having to make accounts for each one. Mastodon supports ActivityPub, and Tumblr announced in November it is adding the protocol. Flickr, an image and video hosting platform, is considering adding it as well.

The increasing integration of decentralization capabilities like ActivityPub could change the social media landscape. The movement is intended to give more control to users rather than social media corporations and the billionaires that own them. No one company will be able to control data and content in the decentralized servers. Third parties wont be able to collect user data, which could change how companies advertise to consumers.

The popularity of decentralized social media platforms is a response to calls for more ethical social networks and an increasing focus on user privacy, inspired in part by the prevalence of Covid-19 digital contact tracing that some felt violated their privacy. Privacy advocates like Netherlands-based Advocacy Unified Network have written in support of decentralization.

PeerTube, a video hosting platform similar to YouTube, and Pixelfed, which is similar to Instagram, also have ActivityPub capabilities. When social media platforms integrate ActivityPub, the walls between platforms are taken down. Right now, if a Twitter user wants to share a video they created on YouTube, they have to tweet the link. With ActivityPub capabilities, a Tumblr user could follow a Mastodon user from within the Tumblr platform. They could see posts originating on PeerTube, Pixelfed and Metas P92in their Tumblr feed.

Meta could create greater synergy between its platforms if it adopted ActivityPub across Facebook, Instagram and P92. But it would also lose some control over content moderation. Its advertising sales could also suffer, so it is hard to imagine Meta adopting a fully decentralized approach.

ActivityPub was authored by Christine Lemmer-Webber, Jessica Tallon, Erin Shepherd, Amy Guy and Evan Prodromou. Prodromou previously started Wikitravel and StatusNet, a microblogging platform similar to Twitter.

The World Wide Web Consortium, a group that sets internet standards, endorsed ActivityPub in 2018, which is a step towards normalizing the protocol. Other protocols similar to ActivityPub include Diaspora, Scuttlebutt and Atom.

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ActivityPub Is Changing Social MediaHeres Why - Observer

Made famous by her love of innovation, Cathie Wood's Ark Invest is naturally a fan of Bitcoin (BTC 0.51%). Every month a team of Ark analysts explore statistics on the Bitcoin blockchain and other economic trends in an effort to gauge Bitcoin's overall position in the market and where it might be headed.

This month's report looked back on February. It was full of valuable information for investors and highlighted why Bitcoin will likely remain at the top of the cryptocurrency asset class for years to come.

Despite retreating more than 14% at the beginning of March, likely due to uncertainty in the crypto landscape as talks of regulation heated up and more crypto-related businesses went bankrupt, Bitcoin has actually had a great start to 2023. Since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin is up nearly 50% and looks to be the most resilient as it is one of the most resistant and resilient to regulation. This comes from a combination of its vast decentralization and high levels of security.

After a successful January, its price climbed further in February thanks to a new technology called Ordinals, which was introduced to make the Bitcoin blockchain non-fungible token (NFT) compatible. Before Ordinals, only blockchains with smart contracts could host NFTs.

With the introduction of Ordinals, the average block size of Bitcoin hit a new all-time high. Ark analysts believe this is a bullish sign as they view the limited space in each block as being similar to real estate. The less block size available, the more valuable the space becomes as demand increases.

Although still in their infancy, Ordinals could prove to add even more pressure to block space demand. While the launch of Ordinals and a stellar February were a bit of good news for Bitcoin, it seemed to be short-lived.

While there is reason to be optimistic about Bitcoin's future, Ark believes there are two unknown factors that could dampen growth -- looming regulation and an uncertain macroenvironment.

As a result of multiple catastrophes in 2022, politicians and legislators seem to be turning up the heat in the regulatory environment. Just three months into the year, there have been multiple examples of fines and penalties being levied against crypto-related businesses by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

This is likely due to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's beliefs that a majority of cryptocurrencies are actually securities and therefore fall within reach of the commission's jurisdiction.

To start off 2023, the SEC has already announced a settlement with the cryptocurrency exchange platform Kraken to suspend its staking product. The agency also sent a warning to the stablecoin issuer Paxos, which stated that its products also met the criteria of a security and to cease its offering.

Ark believes that these efforts by the SEC and other government agencies will only pick up in 2023 and could prove to be detrimental for the majority of cryptocurrencies.

However, it also believes that Bitcoin is different from other cryptocurrencies due to its high levels of decentralization. This opinion has been reaffirmed as chairman Gensler is on record saying multiple times that he considers Bitcoin a commodity and, therefore, outside of his commission's control.

Adding to potential regulation, Ark views the current macroeconomic environment as being less than ideal for more-risky assets like Bitcoin to grow. Analysts pointed to a handful of metrics like the monetary velocity, trends in consumer spending, and patterns in the 10-year Treasury yield as a reason to believe that not only will riskier assets continue to struggle but that a recession might even be looming.

While it remains unknown as to whether our worst fears come to be, Ark analysts painted a clear picture that in the current economic and regulatory landscape, Bitcoin is the safest option for those looking to invest in cryptocurrency. It reiterated this stance with a variety of supporting statistics, such as mining difficulty and the long-term holder supply, which show that even in the depths of a bear market, Bitcoin's blockchain is still relatively healthy.

As the future remains unclear, Bitcoin offers crypto investors a refreshing sense of hope that no matter what happens, it can still continue on its path of price appreciation.

RJ Fulton has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Here's What 1 of the Smartest Investors on the Planet Is Saying ... - The Motley Fool

On March 10, after days of uncertainty spurred on by $1.8 billion in surprise bond losses, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed, sending a tidal waves worth of ripple effects throughout the financial industry. The event quickly prompted the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and the FDIC to step in to effectively circumvent catastrophe and assure depositors of access to all of their funds, whether insured or not.

While the situation is still developing, the seeming fiasco has left those in traditional finance to shudder in remembrance of the 2008 financial crisis. Yet, the context of the collapse that SVB was a significantly popular choice for venture capitalists and tech startups has urged more contemporary investors (like those in Web3) to remark about the potential of decentralization in eschewing central bank issues.

But even so, in the days since the debacle, its become clear that the NFT space mightve actually dodged a bullet itself with help from regulators. Because while Web3 staunchly purports to be decentralized, some of the most prominent players seemingly only narrowly escaped being caught up in the debacle.

How did the 16th largest bank in the United States become the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history? To summarize, the collapse came down to two major factors.

The first is that, within the last year, the Federal Reserve has raised the Federal funds rate by nearly five percentage points in an attempt to tame inflation. These higher interest rates significantly chipped away at the value of long-term bonds that SVB and many other banks took on previously when interest rates were next to nothing.

The second factor concerns the quick and broad decline in tech revenue and venture capital experienced within the U.S. In response to the wane, startups had opted to withdraw funds held in SVB, meaning that the bank was facing significant unrealized losses in bonds while simultaneously, customer withdrawals were escalating. This, in turn, caused a run on the bank where customers panicked and all attempted to withdraw their money at once.

Only two days after the SVB closure, the Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve, and FDIC released a joint statement saying that depositors will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13, and that no losses associated with the resolution of SVB would come from taxpayer dollars.

The statement also mentioned that regulators took these unusual steps because SVB presented a significant risk for the U.S. economy. While regulators continue to look for a buyer for SVB and the uncertainty for what comes next is mounting, HSBC has acquired SVB UK for a symbolic 1.

Outside the traditional finance world, those in the blockchain industry are doing their best to understand how the situation might have, and could still, affect their stomping grounds.

Not to be confused with the fall of FTX, this latest three-letter acronymous fiasco had a significantly less detrimental effect on the NFT space than the aforementioned failed crypto exchange. Thanks to the actions of the Federal Reserve and FDIC, the many accounts housed under SVB which included consumer accounts as well as those of high-profile companies like Roblox, Buzzfeed, Etsy, and more were made whole as of March 13.

But the fact remains that the SVB collapse couldve very significantly affected the blockchain industry. Because apart from crypto companies like Avalanche, BlockFi, Ripple, Pantera, and others that had funds locked up in the SVB debacle, numerous NFT adjacent entities wouldve been in for a world of hurt as well. Here are a few examples.

One of the most immediate and impactful concerns arose from the untethering of the USDC stablecoin. USDC lost its 1/1 peg to the U.S. dollar only hours after SVB was closed, and Circles $3.3 billion cash reserves (about eight percent of the funds backing USDC) went into limbo. Although the situation has since been rectified, USDC has yet to return to the $1 peg as Signature Bank (another institution critical to USDC holdings) was seized in the wake of a similar bank run.

The Proof Collective which has grown increasingly in popularity over the past few years thanks to the success of projects like Moonbirds,Oddities,and Grails became an immediate concern for the NFT community in the aftermath of the SVB news. Addressing the Proof community via Twitter, the project team confirmed that Proof held cash in SVB, although they didnt state how much. Further, they noted that they had diversified assets across ETH, stablecoins, and fiat.

When word first came down about SVB, many also looked to the popular PFP project Azuki (helmed by ex-big tech entrepreneur Zagabond) to see if it was affected. Yet, Zagabond quickly dispelled worry, stating to the projects thousands of Discord members that SVB was only one of their many banking partners and that the bank held less than five percent of project funds.

NFT community members also quickly voiced concern for Yuga Labs following SVBs closure. Yet, similar to Azuki, the brand made it clear that the fiasco wouldnt affect their business or plan in any way. Yuga founder Greg Solano announced via Discord that the company had super limited financial exposure to the situation.

Memeland, the Web3 venture studio created by Hong Kong-based meme-centric entertainment website 9GAG, was similarly minimally affected by the SVB collapse. Taking to Twitter, Ray Chan, CEO and Co-founder of 9GAG, shared that Memeland had only around $40,000 held in the bank, with no plans of withdrawing. He went on to voice his lack of concern about the fiasco as well, stating, when SVB falls down as quickly as FTX did, crypto and NFT dont look so risky at all.

Its no stretch to say that the implications of the SVB closure mightve been significantly worse had regulators not stepped in to guarantee deposits. Even considering the minimal exposure that most major NFT players had to the bank, Web3 wouldve surely felt ripples from the Circle situation alone, as USDC is a highly popular stablecoin to those in the NFT space.

Yet, a few key takeaways have emerged in response to the near-catastrophic experience. The most prominent of which has everything to do with the already widely held Web3 ethos: decentralization. Of course, this goes far beyond advocating for decentralization and keeping funds out of the central banking system (as many already do). Because the major lesson learned from the SVB fiasco is that to mitigate crypto and NFT risk, users should absolutely not keep all their assets in one place.

Surely, NFT-native users will have heard this warning time and time again. Aside from following the best practices in Web3 security, locking up assets for safekeeping or even simply spreading assets throughout multiple secure wallets and accounts could help mitigate risk significantly.

So goes the adage: Dont put all your eggs in one basket.

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A Web3 Cautionary Tale: The Biggest NFT Brands Had Funds in SVB - nft now