Aurelia Butler

More stories

  • 150 Shares129 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Ethereum Developers Postpone Difficulty Bomb – the Wait for the Merge Continues

    The Difficulty Bomb was planted in the code back in 2015, and is intended to increase the difficulty of block production. The code extends the time validators need to verify transactions, or send new ones to the blockchain. Indeed, it is crucial for the Difficulty Bomb to be completed at the right tim, as executing it too soon could result in huge financial losses and immense damage to the blockchain’s infrastructure.A Crucial Process for ETH 2.0The Difficulty Bomb was coded and implemented into Ethereum’s blockckain to circumvent any possible refusal of validators to switch to the Proof of Stake (PoS) model. Near infinite block difficulty ultimately prevents validators from mining new transactions. As it stands, Ethereum (ETH) is the largest smart contract blockchain network, using the same validity checks as Bitcoin (BTC). This soon will change, however, with the advent of the forthcoming ETH 2.0. The new model means that each validator must stake ETH in order to validate transactions and make new ones. In the event that not everyone agreed to the new model, the network’s developers programmed in the Difficulty Bomb.As the turmoil of the crypto markets drags on, the second largest digital asset in the crypto game has gone through massive losses. At press time, Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $1,242.65, which is 15.4% less than 24 hours ago. Furthermore, the figure puts the leading Altcoin 31.9% in the red for the last 7 days. Has the delay to Ethereum’s upgrade plans caused the decline in price? It could be a contributing factor, but it has been heavly compounded by the shocking inflation of U.S. dollar, which saw an 8.6% increase in May alone, and the disturbance caused by the Celsius crypto exchange.Continue reading on DailyCoin More

  • 125 Shares199 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Texas Energy Hits All-Time High, BTC Miners Help Stabilize Grid

    Michael Saylor, the CEO and founder of MicroStrategy Incorporated, said Bitcoin miners acted decisively over the week to stabilize the Texas power grid, which yielded excellent results. He made the statement via a tweet early today, June 13, 2022.Saylor also noted that despite the searing heat wave, the grid operated optimally and that there were ample supplies to meet demand.Several Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) users reacted to Saylor’s claim. They argue that his claim was bogus without anything to show for proof, though Saylor quoted a report from Bloomberg.From the report, it was not clear whether any Bitcoin mining firm actively took part in Texas’ power grid stabilization. Nonetheless, CQNews reported last week that Jason Les, the CEO of Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT), said their Bitcoin mining facility could stabilize the power grid problems in Texas by powering up when there is an excess capacity and down when there is high usage.According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), electricity use in Texas reached an all-time high amid the intense heat wave. The demand on the power grid topped 74.9 gigawatts on June 12, 2022, which exceeds a record set in August 2019. Yet one gigawatt was enough to power about 200,000 Texas homes.According to a report from Bloomberg, ERCOT remains under scrutiny after the Texas electric grid collapsed during a winter storm. The storm left much of the state without power for days and more than 240 people died. Officials enacted a raft of reforms following the crisis. However, critics warn the system remains vulnerable, says Bloomberg.Continue reading on CoinQuora More

  • 150 Shares119 Views

    in Economy

    Retail fuel market faces probe by UK competition watchdog as prices soar

    The UK competition watchdog will open an investigation into competition in the retail fuel market amid soaring petrol prices.The move by the Competition and Markets Authority comes after business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng called on the regulator to conduct an urgent review into whether a cut in fuel duty was being passed on to drivers and to examine variations in the cost of fuel across the country.A pledge on Monday by the CMA to carry out a “short and focused review” of the market comes as consumers face a surge in petrol prices. Last week the average cost of filling a 55-litre family car with a tank of petrol or diesel hit £100 for the first time, up from £71 a year ago, according to breakdown assistance group RAC.A financial squeeze for drivers at the forecourt is deepening a cost of living crisis that has already left consumers facing higher energy bills and is slowing the economy. Inflation hit a 40-year high of 9 per cent in April.In a letter to the CMA, Kwarteng said there remained “widespread concern about the pace of the increase in prices at the forecourt”, and urged the regulator to see if there were steps that would increase the transparency for consumers over why prices were rising. Chancellor Rishi Sunak cut fuel duty by 5p a litre in March, but that move made little dent as oil prices have continued to rise.Forecourt operators set their own prices after buying petrol or diesel from suppliers, with smaller rural locations typically charging higher prices. Supermarkets tend to be cheaper as they use fuel as a means to entice consumers into their stores.The sector is dominated by brands like BP and Shell, many operated by independent franchisees, as well as by large supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda. Motoring campaign groups have long argued for more transparency in the way pump prices are set. About 45 per cent of petrol and diesel prices are a form of tax, whether fuel duty or VAT. Petrol forecourt owners are not obliged to pass on fuel duty cuts to consumers. “We need more fuel price transparency, people don’t understand what the price should be,” said Edmund King, president of the AA.However, the Petrol Retailers Association said forecourt owners “had been unfairly scapegoated”, adding that they expected the CMA probe to find that “competition between forecourts remains vigorous and that our members are operating on razor-thin margins” and that the fuel duty cut had been passed on.Gordon Balmer, the head of the PRA, said he is meeting Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, on Tuesday to discuss the issue of fuel prices. Forecourt owners have faced significant cost increases, including higher staff wages and energy bills, which have fed into higher prices at the pump for drivers, he added.The toll that higher inflation is having on the wider UK economy was underlined on Monday when official figures showed that gross domestic product fell between March and April.King said Northern Ireland publishes local fuel prices, allowing consumers to shop around and has cheaper fuel than the rest of the UK. The price rise over the past year means the government at present collects about 9p per litre of VAT more than a year ago, he added.In a letter to Kwarteng on Monday, CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli said it would “provide advice to government on steps that might be taken to improve outcomes for consumers across the UK”.Government ministers have previously asked the watchdog to intervene in markets including PCR travel tests during the coronavirus crisis. More

  • 113 Shares129 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Meta Makes Way for the Metaverse Academy in France

    Meta, formerly known as Facebook (NASDAQ:META), partners with Simplon.co, a French social and solidarity company dedicated to digital training, to launch ‘Metaverse Academy’, a free school exclusively for metaverse, in France for the forthcoming academic year.The two organizations announced the launch of this project in a joint press release issued on Sunday. The Metaverse Academy plans to train around 100 students in its first year from cities including Nice, Lyon, Marseille, and Paris, along with others. The training will mainly be for two roles — Specialist Immersive Technology Developers and Assistance and Support Technicians.Laurent Solly, Meta’s vice president from Southern Europe, assured that the future of schooling will be “free, territorial, innovative and focused on employability.” He further added:The co-founder of Simplon, Frederic Bardeau, stated that the pedagogy will be face-to-face and projects will focus on 3D and immersive virtual world interactions. The project will particularly focus on diversity, with Solly’s goal to have 30% of the first cohort as women, and Bardeau’s approach encourages positive discrimination by not looking at job applicants’ CVs.Both Meta and Simplon highlighted the need for such training programs in this era since 80% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have not yet been invented. They also emphasized how the upcoming generation needs to be aware and employable for the future workforce.However, Meta and Simplon are not the first to embark on a project to train trades related to the metaverse. Earlier this year, a Metaverse College was launched by Ridouan Abagri in France, which is the first school dedicated to the creation, structuring, and development of 3D universes via augmented and virtual reality.Meanwhile, Meta is embracing the metaverse with every passing day. Last week it announced integrating a feature for users to socialize in the metaverse, titled Horizon Worlds, through an update to its VR headset, Oculus Quest 2.Furthermore, Meta plans to enable a smart screen device that will be an enterprise-exclusive product, named Portal. Project Nazare is another ongoing development in the Zuckerberg-owned company.Continue reading on CoinQuora More

  • 125 Shares179 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Funding Rate for Shorting Justin Sun’s TRX in the Negative

    Justin Sun, founder of the blockchain DAO ecosystem TRON and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the WTO, recently shared that the annual percentage rate (APR) of the funding rate for shorting TRX on Binance is minus 500%. Sun added that the TRON DAO Reserve has allocated $2 billion that will be used to fight them.His guess, however, is that they won’t even make it through the first day. He expects a short squeeze soon. The reserve has already made a deposit of 100 million USDC to Binance in order to acquire more TRX.TRX is valued at $0.06365, down 16.32% in the past 24 hours and 24.7% in the past seven days. In less than 24 hours, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) saw a precipitous decline, falling from 54.34 to 14.49. It seems as if the RSI will remain in the oversold range for the foreseeable future. After flashing a number of green bars, the Awesome Oscillator (AO) also began illuminating descending red bars below zero in an ascending pattern.However, in light of the current harsh conditions of the market, TRON DAO Reserve has allocated 700 million USDC to protect the USDD peg. At this time, the collateralization rate for USD is close to 300%.Despite this, the USDD’s peg has been tripping over the course of the last several hours as the whole cryptocurrency market has been thrown into disarray. According to the data provided by CoinGecko, the value of the algorithmic stablecoin has decreased to $0.99.Continue reading on CoinQuora More

  • 100 Shares139 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Binance Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals ‘Due to Stuck Transactions’

    Binance, the world’s largest exchange, is pausing its Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals today, June 13, due to a backlog caused by a stuck transaction.The announcement was made by Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, through his Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) account. He says that the issue is already being addressed and that it “should be fixed in 30 minutes.”The CEO, also known as CZ, assures that all funds in the exchange are safe and that he will share updates with the crypto community.Zhao’s assurance seems to be heeded by the crypto-Twitter community, with users telling the CEO and Binance to take their time to deal with the backlog. Meanwhile, a user with a Twitter handle, Tajo Crypto, commended Zhao’s immediate update to the community, saying, “CZ and Binance always updating [its] users promptly. Great customer experience.”Despite Zhao’s commitment, some members still appear to be in a panic, with one sharing a meme of an in-denial cartoon character inside of a burning house.Meanwhile, other users are seen suggesting some updates for Binance, such as disabling the sell button and canceling shorting and selling options.This update comes on the heels of Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, plummeting below $25,000. BTC’s 12.03% dip in the past 24 hours has caused the whole crypto market to bleed red.Regardless of the current bear market, user Syed Raza Shah replied to Zhao’s BTC withdrawal update with optimism.At press time, BTC trades at $24,140, with a 24-hour trading volume of over $61.9 billion. Its price is down by 23% in the past week.Continue reading on CoinQuora More

  • 150 Shares159 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Old Bitcoin mining rigs risk 'shutdown' after BTC price slips under $24K

    The profitability of many Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) machines has dropped into the negative zone after Bitcoin’s fall below $24,000 this June 13, data fetched by F2Pool shows. Those machines include Antminer S11 and AvalonMiner 921, which are now close to their “shutdown price.”Continue Reading on Coin Telegraph More