Crypto_NFT

2022-10-06 10:41:47 ​​Mike Novogratz: Bitcoin will resume growth amid Fed policy easing

The first cryptocurrency will rise in price if the Fed refuses to aggressively raise rates to fight inflation. This was stated by the head of the Galaxy Digital cryptobank Mike Novogratz.

“When [Fed chairman] Powell started hitting inflation with a sledgehammer over the head, of course, bitcoin pulled back, like many assets. If he gives up this fight […] the quotes of the first cryptocurrency will immediately turn around,” the expert explained.

The head of Galaxy Digital said the Fed's rate hike campaign has stripped bitcoin of its status as a "powerful hedge against rising consumer prices." The Fed's policy had a greater impact through correlation with traditional financial assets than inflation itself, he added.

The head of SkyBridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci, doubted that bitcoin should generally be seen as a hedge against inflation. According to the expert, to gain this status, the first cryptocurrency needs to attract a billion users.

Recall that in August, the ex-manager of the hedge fund Cramer & Co. and CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer said the Fed's monetary tightening will "wash out" speculative assets like cryptocurrencies.

In September, former Quantum associate George Soros, billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, predicted a resurgence in digital assets amid the collapse of the fiat-based economy.

Earlier, Grayscale analysts allowed the completion of the crypto winter by the end of March 2023. Open / Comment

2022-10-05 12:54:58 ​​The Fed pointed to the risks of stablecoins for financial stability

Stablecoins add "new vulnerabilities" to the cryptocurrency market and financial stability in general. This conclusion is contained in a study by the New York Fed.

The document talks about the growing risks of the mass conversion of "stable coins" like USDC into fiat against the backdrop of the rapid development of the DeFi sector.

The reverse is also true – forced sales of US Treasury-issued debt instruments could weaken the backing of stablecoins. In particular, these reliable assets have shown significant volatility recently.

Experts touched upon the situation of a decrease in USDT capitalization by $7 billion amid the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. Part of the funds settled in USDC ($4 billion), they indicated.

“The case is of great concern – sustainable stablecoins may increase the risks of loss of liquidity of riskier competitors due to the psychological comfort provided [in conditions of turbulence],” the experts wrote.

Analysts have pointed to “negative feedback loops” that result from the tight integration of stablecoins with DeFi protocols.

“Stablecoins are considered the safest asset in the industry. Problems with them pose the greatest systemic risk,” the document says.

The experts proposed that regulators should be empowered to implement standards that promote interoperability between stablecoins. As an example for the implementation of the latter, they cited the use of bridges, which at the same time can become a “transmission channel for market stress” and a target for cyber attacks.

Analysts have also proposed legislation that would oblige stablecoin issuers to limit their affiliation with commercial entities.

“Congress may also consider other standards for custodial wallet providers, such as […] the use of user transaction data,” the report says. Open / Comment

2022-10-05 12:51:21 ​​White House unveils non-binding AI Bill of Rights

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has published a draft AI Bill of Rights designed to "protect the American public." Engadget writes about it.

According to the press release, the document advocates five principles:

-safety and efficiency of systems;
-algorithmic security against discrimination;
-data privacy;
-notification and explanation of the purposes of using AI systems;
-human alternatives, consideration and rejection of the use of algorithms.

“To put it simply, systems must work, they must not discriminate, they must not use data indiscriminately. They should be visible and understandable, and they should not exclude human interlocutors,” wrote co-author of the project Suresh Venkatasubramanyan.

According to him, at the development stage, more than a thousand edits and comments were made to the document.

“The AI ​​Bill of Rights reflects a consensus, a broad and deep American vision of how to manage the automated technologies that affect our lives,” Venkatasubramanian added.

Dr. Alondra Nelson, Associate Director for Science and Society of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the project is aimed at everyone who interacts with technology.

“The methods outlined in the AI ​​Bill of Rights are not just desirable, they are achievable and essential to create technology and a society that works for all of us,” she said.

The administration spent more than a year developing the project. During this time, the authors of the document organized panel discussions, public hearings, as well as a number of meetings with entrepreneurs, activists and corporate directors.

In addition to the project itself, OSTP has released a companion paper, From Principles to Practice, which details specific steps to implement the AI ​​Bill of Rights.

“The effective implementation of these processes requires collaboration between industry, civil society, researchers, policy makers, technologists and the public,” the document says.

The AI ​​Bill of Rights is not mandatory. US Chamber of Commerce spokesman Joran Crenshaw welcomed the initiative. However, he believes that turning the recommendations into law will harm the artificial intelligence market in the US.

"If politicians make the rules mandatory, they could limit America's ability to compete on the world stage," he said. Open / Comment

2022-10-05 12:42:15 ​​Peter Schiff accuses Michael Saylor of "pumping" bitcoin

Gold advocate Peter Schiff criticized former MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor and CNBC for advertising Bitcoin, accusing them of pumping the first cryptocurrency.

The investor recalled that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently fined model Kim Kardashian for illegally promoting the altcoin EthereumMax (EMAX).

According to Schiff, the regulator should pay attention to completely different influencers.

“The SEC fined Kardashian $1.2 million for pumping cryptocurrencies. But what about real “pumps”? Sailor got a lot more from pumping crypto than Kim. Or CNBC, which was paid millions to advertise crypto companies? And then he pumped bitcoin non-stop, providing industry representatives with airtime, ”wrote Schiff.

Saylor countered by saying that bitcoin is a commodity, not a security, and its advertising is as legal as promoting “steel, aluminum, concrete, glass or granite.”

“The BTC network is an open protocol that offers utilitarian benefits like freeways, railroads, radio, telephone, television, internet, or English,” he added.

His opinion was supported by the co-founder and CEO of Blockstream Adam Back. He noted that the regulator recognized the token advertised by Kardashian as a security according to the Howie test.

“Bitcoin is like digital gold, not a security. Sailor can talk about it the same way you talk about physical gold for decades,” he told critics.

Schiff questioned the correctness of the classification of the first cryptocurrency by regulators. According to him, bitcoin “does not have any of the characteristics of a real commodity.”

Already at the end of the discussion, the investor again turned to criticism of the first cryptocurrency:

“Markets are starting to price the Fed’s pivot point and Bitcoin can’t even hold above $20,000. In contrast, Gold is up 6%, Silver is up 15%, VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF is up 24%. Bitcoin is everything. It is not a hedge against inflation and will not rise when the Fed rolls [rate hikes],” Schiff said. Open / Comment

2022-10-04 16:07:36 ​​Mastercard will implement a tool to check for bitcoin fraud

The Mastercard payment network will launch the Crypto Secure tool. It will allow banks to identify and stop transactions from crypto exchanges subject to fraudulent practices, writes CNBC.

Crypto Secure was developed by the CipherTrace team, which became part of Mastercard in 2021.

The software uses "complex" AI algorithms, data from the blockchain and other sources. Users are shown a dashboard with risk ratings for a particular transaction. The decision to approve/deny it is made by the payment network partner.

Mastercard uses similar technology to prevent fiat fraud.

Mastercard's president of cybersecurity, Ajay Bhalla, declined to disclose exact data on cryptocurrency-related transactions. He noted that their number per minute is already in the "thousands".

Earlier, Visa reported that users of cryptocurrency cards based on the payment system conducted transactions in the amount of $2.5 billion in October-December 2021. Open / Comment

2022-10-04 16:05:13 ​​The US will expand restrictions on the export of AI chips to China

The administration of US President Joe Biden plans to introduce a new set of restrictions aimed at cutting off China's access to AI chips. The New York Times writes about it.

According to the sources of the publication, the main efforts of the government are aimed at preventing the Chinese military from accessing technologies related to high-precision computing and artificial intelligence.

As of today, they include notification letters to chip and tool manufacturers reporting restrictions. The administration plans to expand the range of policies, including export controls, presidential executive orders, and a "foreign direct product rule."

The interlocutor of the publication claims that the US government plans to ban Chinese enterprises, government research laboratories and others from buying American-made technology.

In addition to chips, the administration is considering blocking the export of certain types of memory. Among the technologies being considered are high-bandwidth storage devices used to train large AI models. At the moment, it is not known whether the new list will include restrictions on the sale of memory.

According to media reports, the document will be presented within a week.

The US Department of Commerce declined to comment. The White House also did not respond to requests from reporters.

In August, Nvidia and AMD received an order from the US Department of Commerce prohibiting the export of AI chips to China and Russia.

That same month, industry experts said that US government restrictions would only speed up the development of local companies. Open / Comment

2022-10-04 15:56:59 ​​McDonald's starts accepting bitcoin payments in Lugano, Switzerland

Fast food restaurant chain McDonald's has begun accepting bitcoin payments in the Swiss city of Lugano.

A video with food ordering through an electronic kiosk and subsequent payment in cryptocurrency through a mobile application was published by Bitcoin Magazine.

On the terminal, in addition to the bitcoin symbol, there is the logo of the stablecoin Tether (USDT).

Back in March, Lugano authorities announced they would make digital gold, USDT, and the city's LVGA token "de facto" legal tender in the city. This became known during the Plan ₿ conference with the participation of Mayor Michele Foletti and CTO Tether Paolo Ardoino.

The decision was the development of a joint initiative to turn Lugano into the “European capital of bitcoin”, which the parties announced in February.

As part of the cooperation to develop the blockchain hub, Tether announced the allocation of at least 100 million Swiss francs (~$107 million) to a specialized fund. Local authorities allocated 3 million Swiss francs (~$3.21 million) for this purpose.

In addition to funding local blockchain startups, the funds are intended to support businesses integrating plan-related tools into day-to-day operations.

Recall that in September 2021, McDonald’s establishments in El Salvador began to accept bitcoin as payment after the law on the legalization of the first cryptocurrency in the country came into force. Open / Comment

2022-10-03 14:59:50 ​​The community complained about the difficulty of staking Ethereum

After the transition of Ethereum to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm, users faced the difficulty of launching independent ether staking. They discussed the topic in a thread on Reddit.

The community member who opened it noted that, with sufficient experience in technology, he spent the weekend installing a validator node on his own device. Those with tighter work schedules will find it difficult to do so, if only because of the lack of time, he said.

“The Ethereum community loves to sugarcoat usability, but it’s more helpful to just admit that [staking] isn’t for everyone yet,” he said.

Many agreed with his opinion. One commenter stressed that setting up a node requires “more effort than you would expect from the average person.”

Users also drew attention to the existing, at least in the United States, restrictions by Internet service providers on bandwidth and data transfer limits.

The huge number of writes to solid-state drives (SSDs) during the operation of the Ethereum node leads to their rapid wear, noted one of the community members. According to him, two 512 GB SSDs failed in a few months of operation of the Geth client. At the same time, a similar device has been involved in Dash staking since 2017 and remains operational, he stressed.

Another community member stated that staking was never meant to be public and requires a fair amount of knowledge.

“People keep referring to staking as getting free money when it's not. You are actually paid to do the job and it takes a certain amount of knowledge and effort,” he wrote.

Some noted that the complexity of the process of launching a validator node is added by the realization that we are talking about blocking more than $40,000 - 32 ETH.

"This is true. Holding ETH is quite risky, the addition of staking makes me nervous. And that's a lot more than $40,000 for anyone who bought last year," admitted one commenter.

The community noticed that problems with running a validator node on their own lead to the fact that many prefer to use centralized services like Binance, Coinbase or Kraken. This negatively affects the decentralization of the network, users say.

According to Merkle Science lead researcher Koby Morgan, the migration of Ethereum to PoS could make the blockchain more vulnerable to government interference and censorship. Open / Comment

2022-10-03 14:57:10 ​​Bitcoin exchange WazirX cut staff by 40%

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has laid off 50 to 70 employees, or about 40% of its staff. This is reported by CoinDesk, citing three informed sources.

According to the publication, employees were promised severance pay equal to 45 working days' pay. Representatives of the platform confirmed the reduction in staff without specifying the specific number of layoffs.

“The crypto market is in the grip of a bearish trend due to the current global economic downturn. The Indian crypto industry has faced unique challenges with regards to taxes, regulation and banking access, resulting in a sharp drop in trading volumes across all local platforms,” WazirX said in a statement.

The company prioritized "financial stability and continued customer service", which led to a reduction in employees in the context of the crypto winter.

“The crypto industry works in cycles, and a bear market is inevitably followed by an impressive bull market. We will continue to evolve and focus on the needs of our customers,” WazirX added.

One of the sources noted that the reductions affected several departments, including the help desk, human resources department and others.

In August, the Indian authorities suspected WazirX of laundering money in the amount of more than $350 million. At the same time, the head of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, denied the purchase of the exchange - his company announced the deal in 2019.

WazirX co-founder Nishal Shetty disputed a number of statements by the head of Binance regarding the relationship of the platforms. Open / Comment

2022-10-03 14:53:30 ​​Alex Mashinsky withdrew $10 million before blocking Celsius operations

The CEO of the cryptolending platform Celsius Network, Alex Mashinsky, withdrew $10 million a few weeks before the freezing of client accounts. About this with reference to unnamed sources writes the Financial Times.

According to the publication, this happened in the midst of a wave of sales in May, caused by the collapse of the Terra ecosystem.

Celsius is expected to provide details of CEO transactions as part of its broader financial disclosures.

A representative of Mashinsky said that the head of the service and his family members had $ 44 million in Celsius accounts after the blocking of operations.

A spokesman for the company said that the CEO "withdrawn a certain amount, most of which was used to pay taxes." It cost $8 million, according to one source. The remaining $2 million was related to a planned property management operation.

The publication recalled that, according to US law, the company's payments for 90 days before its bankruptcy can be returned in favor of all creditors.

Recall that on June 13, the cryptolending platform suspended the withdrawal of funds, exchange and transfers between accounts.

A month later, Celsius and some of its affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The platform's liabilities exceeded its assets by $2.85 billion.

In August, the US Office of Trustees said there were "numerous questions" for the firm's management. Prior to this, the FT reported on Mashinsky's intervention in the implementation of the trading strategy of the crypto-lending platform, which cost "millions of dollars."

In September, the CEO unveiled a plan to bail out Celsius from bankruptcy, according to media reports. Mashinsky later resigned from his post. Open / Comment