DeFi News Official TheBitTimes.com

On October 31, 2023, The Open Network Foundation (TON) set a new world record by achieving an impressive high of 104,715 transactions per second, completing 107,652,545 transactions within 25 minutes during its first public performance test.  Monitored and confirmed by CertiKCommunity, this feat establishes TON as the world ’s fastest and most scalable blockchain , outperforming the processing speeds of all L1 blockchain s and famous centralized payment networks such as PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard. The key to TON’s excellent performance is its unique composition using horizontal sharding. This design significantly increases transaction speed while also strengthening decentralization and security.  This record highlights TON’s potential and capabilities for supporting a TON-based Web3 ecosystem in Telegram, transforming the messenger into a global decentralized SuperApp, and putting crypto in every pocket.  What is The Open Network Foundation? Crypto...

The days of wasting hundreds of hours on a game and receiving almost nothing in return are over — and it's all thanks to NFTs and blockchain technology. Blockchain gaming is going from strength to strength — underpinned by the explosion of nonfungible tokens, which continue to achieve mainstream adoption. The FRUITS Eco-Blockchain Project is building on this momentum by allowing NFTs to be redeemed for a coveted, real-world object: a physical golden egg. First came the console, then the humble PC. Smartphones soon came along and transformed the entertainment industry entirely — making games free to play, and putting them in the hands of consumers in emerging economies. Now, blockchain technology and nonfungible tokens (NFT) are ushering in the next wave of innovation. Once, in-game assets couldn't be transported from one title to another, traded freely with others, and sold on secondary markets. Web3 makes this possible — all while allowing avid players to receive recognition...

Fantom Foundation's wallet was reportedly drained of funds by a “Fake_Phishing” account. Fantom Foundation, developers of the Fantom network, have reportedly been hacked for over $6.7 million worth of cryptocurrency.  Blockchain data shows that an address labeled “Fake_Phishing188024” was sent over 2,000 Convex (CVX) tokens and other cryptocurrencies from a known Fantom Foundation wallet. On-chain sleuth Spreek reported the attack on X (formerly Twitter) and estimated losses at $6.7 million. Security platform CertiK has estimated losses at only $657,000. The Foundation has yet to confirm the attack. total attacker profit (may not all necessarily be from fantom or related wallets) seems to be ~$6.7m pic.twitter.com/0rkDHULsdI — Spreek (@spreekaway) October 17, 2023 The Fantom Foundation is the developer behind Fantom network, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible smart contract platform. The network has over $45 million in assets locked within its contracts, according ...

The orders to pass the pending motion come just a day before the key hearing between Binance and the SEC on Oct. 12. United States District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District Court for the District of Columbia has reportedly signed multiple orders to clear pending motions in the ongoing lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against crypto exchange Binance ahead of a crucial hearing. Among the key orders, Jackson cleared an amicus brief filed by USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle before the key hearing on Oct. 12. Circle filed a court motion on Sept. 29 in the ongoing SEC vs. Binance lawsuit, arguing that assets pegged to the U.S. dollar, such as USDC, are not securities. Circle, at the time, Circle said that buyers of these stablecoins do not expect any profit from acquiring them. According to Circle, payment stablecoins do not have the “ Features of an investment contract” on their own. Jackson accepted Circle as amicus curiae in support of neither Bi...

A fault in the Stars Arena price function allowed hackers to escape with roughly $2,000, however the vulnerability has since been patched. The team behind the new friend.tech-inspired protocol Stars Arena has dismissed what it called “coordinated FUD” after patching an exploit that saw attackers escape with $2,000 from the Avalanche-based decentralized social media platform. In an Oct. 5 post on X (Twitter) the Stars Arena account said the exploit was fixed, adding "don’t get this wrong, we are at war.” THE EXPLOIT HAS BEEN FIXED. BUT DON’T GET THIS WRONG WE ARE AT WAR. We’re being targeted by malicious actors in the space that want to steal your money. The little guy is under attack. You are under attack. Your right to platform diversity is under attack. Don’t get it… pic.twitter.com/DmbMdf9cAq — Stars Arena (@starsarenacom) October 5, 2023 Pseudonymous X user “0xlilitch” took a swipe at Stars Arena saying its "noob devs" missed patching a vulnerability in the pla...

Dubbed "Synapse," the platform will accelerate trades placed by international investors for Mainland Chinese stocks. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), the operator of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Futures Exchange, and London Metal Exchange, is launch ing a novel equities settlement acceleration platform . Dubbed "Synapse," the platform will utilize smart contracts in the DAML programming language to streamline post-trade flows and enhance operational efficiencies, according to the October 4 announcement.  Synapse will be deployed on Stock Connect, an HKEX channel that enables international investors to access more than 1,000 Mainland Chinese stocks through routing in Hong Kong. "Average daily turnover of Northbound Stock Connect totalled RMB109.3 billion in the first half of 2023, up 5 per cent from a year earlier, and a 50 per cent increase from 2020 levels," developers wrote. HKEX will be linked to Hong Kong's Depos...

In a recent Pantera survey, less than 2% of respondents said they worked full-time in an office setting, with the rest working remotely. A typical Web3 developer has a median salary of $128,000 in 2023. According to a recent survey by Pantera Capital, the highest Web3 engineer salaries were reported in North America at $166,610, followed by $102,226 in Europe, Middle East and Africa, $90,559 in Latin America, and $75,000 in the Asia Pacific Region. The survey featured over 1,600 respondents across 77 countries; 40.1% of respondents worked in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, followed by centralized finance (26.1%) and blockchain infrastructure (15.2%).  Less than 2% of developer s surveyed said they worked in a physical office space full-time, while 10.6% said they worked in a hybrid in-person/remote work environment. The remaining 87.8% said their work was fully-remote. In the U.S., junior and intermediate-level Web3 developer salaries fell by 4-8% within the past year to ...

Proof of Play raised $33 million to create fully on-chain games that “quickly immerse players in fun gameplay.“ Proof of Play, a company led by Farmville co-creator Amitt Mahajan, raised $33 million to create Web3 games, according to a Sept. 21 announcement. Majahan is the CEO of Proof of Play, and Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear is a board member. The funding was co-led by Chris Dixon at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Neil Mehta at Greenoaks. Investors Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan and the founders of streaming platform Twitch also participated, as well as Web3 firms Anchorage Digital, Mercury, Firebase, Zynga and Alchemy. Proof of Play released a closed beta of its first game, Pirate Nation, in December 2022. Pirate Nation Web3 game. Source: Proof of Play In its announcement, the company claimed it can overcome many roadblocks players commonly encounter when attempting to play Web3 games . It stated that it possesses “a set of technological and product innovations” that will “qu...

The network saw over 1 million unique active wallets accepting or sending ETH, the second -highest amount in the asset’s history . The Ethereum (ETH) network registered a spark of activity on Sept. 13, as the number of unique active wallets (UAW) connected to the network hit 1,089,893. In an X post, Blockchain analysts at Santiment said this was the second -highest amount of UAW in Ethereum’s 8+ year history , suggesting that such spikes “could be the capitulation signal needed for prices to rebound.” Daily active addresses interacting with ETH (orange) vs Ethereum price (green) | Source: X The last time the Ethereum network witnessed a spike in on -chain activity was on Dec. 9, 2022, when the amount of UAW set an all-time high at 1.42 million, with ETH trading at around $1,265, according to data from Santiment. Daily active addresses interacting with ETH (black) vs. Ethereum price (green) | Source: Santiment FTX liquidations as a possible trigger Alt...

This week's Crypto Biz explores the latest on Binance's global on-ramps and off-ramps, Coinbase-Circle re -alignment , Shopify's take on USDC and China's blockchain data exchange. Global regulatory landscapes are once again proving to be a turning point for crypto companies, demanding constant adaptation to navigate shallow regulatory waters across the world, particularly in the United States. In the latest developments, Coinbase and Circle decided to dissolve the Centre Consortium in a strategic realignment driven by demand for regulatory clarity on stablecoins, possibly as an anticipation of upcoming legislation coming from the U.S. Congress. A legal alternative to remaining operational was also sought by Binance.US this week. The exchange announced a partnership with MoonPay featuring the dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USDT) as its new “base asset” for all transactions, allowing a path for users to transact in U.S. dollars while possibly sidestepping potential re...

Blockstream intends to buy and store ASIC mining hardware ahead of Bitcoin’s halving in 2024. Blockchain technology firm Blockstream is looking to raise up to $50 million to purchase and store mining equipment that it perceives to be undervalued on secondary markets. Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph, Blockstream mining sales head James Macedonio unpacked the company’s plans to take advantage of a “huge separation” in the value of Bitcoin (BTC) and ASIC mining equipment. Blockstream is partnering with Luxembourg-based digital securities marketplace STOKR to launch the Blockstream ASIC (BASIC) Note. Macedonio said that blockstream will look to initially secure $5 million for its Series 1 BASIC Notes, each valued at $115,000, to buy ASICs at scale, store and then sell them back to the market as demand for hardware picks up into 2024. The 24-month investment note is set to be available to accredited international investors, while Macedonio said that the firm anticipates seeing retu...

Binance’s BNB Chain is set for two upgrades that are aimed at improving finality of the network and compatibility with other EVM blockchains. Binance’s proprietary BNB Smart Chain (BSC) is set to undergo two hard forks through August 2023 that are aimed at reducing the possibility of a malicious block chain reorganization and increasing the compatibility with other EVM block chain networks. The Plato and Hertz upgrades are scheduled for Aug. 10 and Aug. 30 respectively, following extensive testing. The Plato upgrade, which has already taken place, introduces BEP-126. The latest evolution proposal implements a fast finality mechanism that is expected to rule out the ability for blocks to be reverted. The Plato upgrade and hard fork was carried out Aug. 10 at block height 30724096. Source: bscscan.com Arno Bauer, Senior Solution Architect at BNB Chain, unpacked the specifics of the network upgrades in conversation with Cointelegraph. The fast finality mechanism is expected to reduce...

From real estate to franchising, and from renewable energy to Hollywood, tokenization has the potential to transform the way we do business. Asset tokenization has long been regarded as one of the most compelling applications of blockchain technology. Back in June 2019, the United States investment banking giant BNY Mellon declared it has the potential to “dramatically change the dynamic” for investors and unlock opportunities that were previously out of reach.  Real estate is an inevitable place to start. Tokenizing properties can open the door to fractional ownership, enabling individuals to purchase a small chunk of a building. The volatility of global markets has shown why diversification is crucial — but until now, the sheer cost of real estate has made it inaccessible for many. The benefits might not stop here, either. It can take up to six months to close a purchase on a home, all thanks to a process that is time-consuming, agonizing and surprisingly paper-based. Tokenization h...

Claims can be converted into collateral to trade crypto futures on the exchange. OPNX, an exchange dedicated to the trading of bankruptcy claims against fallen crypto firms, has listed FTX and Celsius claims. According to the July 14 announcement, FTX claims specifically can be immediately onboarded and converted into collateral in the form of OPNX's native reborn OX (reOX) tokens or oUSD, its credit currency. Users can then trade crypto futures using reOX as collateral. The claims are tokenized in partnership with Heimdall, which also handles onboarding and user verification. Developers wrote: "Claims will initially be converted into reOX tokens at a 100% bonus of the market price, which will converge to 0% bonus over a period of 50 weeks. This means, during Week 1, users will receive double the market price for their FTX claim." In an illustrative example by OPNX, a $1 million FTX claim with a claim price of 30 cents on the dollar would receive $600,000 in equivalen...

Through the collaboration, Axelar will be the first cross-chain protocol to join Microsoft’s Azure marketplace. On July 11, cross-chain protocol Axelar and tech giant Microsoft announced a partnership to bridge public and private blockchains. The collaboration will see Axelar joining Microsoft’s Azure marketplace, becoming the first cross-chain protocol listed on the developer’s online store. Galen Moore, Axelar’s spokesperson, told Cointelegraph that the initiative would enable Axelar to reach tens of thousands of companies that use Azure, Microsoft’s cloud service. “This has tremendous potential for products that integrate established internet technology with public blockchain s in ways that are meaningful for users,” Moore stated. In the marketplace, developers will have access to tools via the AxelarJS software development kit (SDK), as well as Axelar’s general message passing, which helps developers integrate functionality independently of blockchain s and databases. The companie...

EIP-7281 will allow token issuers to list official bridges and limit the rate at which they can mint tokens, potentially limiting losses from bridge hacks. An Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) made on July 7 seeks to standard ize how tokens are bridged between networks. The “Sovereign Bridged Token” standard , or EIP-7281, allows token issuers to create canonical bridges across multiple networks.  The proposal was co-authored by Arjun Bhuptani, founder of the Connext bridging protocol. In a July 7 social media post, Bhuptani claimed the protocol would help prevent issues like the July 6 Multichain incident , which some experts have described as a “hack.” Today's @MultichainOrg hack is a sad reminder of the systemic risks tokens face from bridges. We believe these risks stem from a single underlying problem: Token Sovereignty We're proposing ERC-7281 (aka xERC20) - an open standard to fix this.https://t.co/k9Vyd55Eb5 1/x — Arjun | ERC-7281 arc (@arjunbhuptani) July 7,...

Multichain has suspended its operations after an unexplained transfer of crypto assets worth millions of dollars took place on July 6. Stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether have frozen over $65 million in assets tied to the suspected exploit of cross- chain router protocol Multi chain . The move follows unexplained large outflows from the Multi chain MPC bridge on July 6.  According to the knowledge graph protocol 0xScope, three addresses that received at least $63.2 million in USD Coin (USDC) from Multi chain are now frozen. Another report from the Fantom Foundation notes that more than $2.5 million in Tether (USDT) had also been frozen from two addresses listed by Etherscan as "Multi chain Suspicious Addresses". Over $125 million worth in cryptocurrencies were withdrawn from multiple wallets on July 6, affecting Multichain’s Fantom bridge, as well Dogechain, Moonriver, Kava and Conflux's ecosystems. The cause of the abnormal transfer of assets remains unclear. Upd...

The move provides PAX coin access to Mexico’s 3.1 million-plus cryptocurrency users. Blockchain fintech company Paxos and online marketplace MercadoLibre have entered a partner ship to bring the Pax Dollar (USDP) stablecoin to Mexico via the MercadoPago payment service on June 28.  According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, USDP will be available to all MercadoPago customers throughout Mexico. While the company is based in the United States — with offices in New York, London and Singapore — more than 60% of its active wallets support customers throughout Latin America. Mexico currently boasts a 9.3% penetration rate for cryptocurrency use, with more than 12 million users, per a report from Statista. By 2027, analysts estimate more than 20 million people in Mexico will hold crypto, bring ing the total penetration to 14.6%. The introduction of USDP to the MercadoPago payment ecosystem adds stablecoin access to the service’s options in Mexico, a feature that could provide m...

The company expects to raise another $20-$30 million when the full round closes in the coming months. Game publisher Mythical Games has secured $37 million in Series C1 funding, with plans to launch a new marketplace and pursue other revenue-generating initiatives. With this funding, Mythical will continue to hold the unicorn status with a valuation of over $1 billion. “Our focus is optimizing our business to get to profitability by year's end, and the funds will primarily be used in our efforts to achieve that," told John Linden, co-founder and CEO of Mythical Games speaking to Cointelegraph. The round was led by Scytale Digital with ARK Invest, Animoca Brands, MoonPay, PROOF VC, and Stanford Athletics, alongside previous investors Andresseen Horowitz, WestCap, Gaingels, Signum Growth, and Struck Capital. Mythical expects an additional $20-$30 million raise in the coming months, when the full round is expected to close. The publisher plans to release in a few months its n...

Security teams are investigating the cause of the attack. Reports have surfaced of tokens being lost, transaction data being erased, and even entire crypto portfolios being lost. At least $35 million worth of crypto assets have been stolen from Atomic Wallet users since June 2, according to an Analysis from on -chain sleuth ZachXBT. The five largest losses account for $17 million. According to Atomic Wallet on Twitter, the cause of the attack is being investigated. Reports have surfaced of tokens being lost, transaction histories being erased, and even entire crypto portfolios being stolen. An independent investigation carried out by pseudonymous Twitter ZachXBT, known for tracing crypto stolen funds and assisting hacked projects, has found the largest victim lost $7.95 million in Tether (USDT). "Think it could surpass $50m. Keep finding more and more victims, sadly," commented ZachXBT. Screenshot: ZachXBT's investigation into Atomic Wallet's hack. Source: ZachX...