Cryptocurrency

In a tweet, Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo revisited a pivotal statement made by Bitcoin’s enigmatic creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, exactly 14 years ago. The statement, which explained the promise of Bitcoin when it was valued at just $0.07, has resurfaced, shedding light on the visionary thinking underpinning the creation of the world’s first cryptocurrency.Rizzo shared a quote that was believed to have been made by the Bitcoin founder, explaining Bitcoin’s unique value proposition with a powerful analogy.Satoshi’s message was: “Imagine there was a base metal as scarce as gold but with the following properties: 1. boring grey in color. 2. not a good conductor of electricity. 3. not particularly strong but not ductile or easily malleable either. 4. not useful for any practical or ornamental purpose and one special magical property: it can be transported over a communications channel.”According to the quote, Satoshi highlighted one “special magical property” of this metal: “it could be transported over a communications channel.” This unique characteristic encapsulated the revolutionary potential of Bitcoin, distinguishing it from traditional assets and currencies.At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $63,705.This leaves only approximately 1.26 million BTC to be issued. With the current block reward of 6.25 BTC, the remaining supply might take over 100 years to mint fully, according to estimations. Experts predict that 99.9% of all Bitcoin will have been mined by 2140, with miners receiving fees rather than subsidies.This controlled supply schedule is an important part of Bitcoin’s value proposition. As issuance slows and demand soars, Bitcoin is designed to become scarcer over time, an appealing quality against unlimited fiat money printing and currency debasement.This article was originally published on U.Today More

Specifically, the unknown whale started showing activity by transferring 25,015 BTC from the old address “1MVvvtH” to the new address “bc1qvfz.”Purchased almost 11 and a half years ago for $686, this volume of cryptocurrency is now valued at $1.59 million. We can see that this old, long-time Bitcoin (BTC) holder has made a whopping 231,778% profit. If you break that down to the entire period since 2013, you get 20,154.6% per year – an incredible result. It is unknown what caused the long-inactive wallet to come back to life. Maybe someone remembered their seed phrase. Or maybe it is the willingness to transfer funds to the new standard wallet, as bc1 addresses are preferable to 1 addresses in Bitcoin because they offer improved error correction, smaller transaction sizes, compatibility with SegWit and are more future-proof. It is also no exception that the unknown investor decided to cash out after holding on to their Bitcoin holdings. That is why it is perceived as a rather negative bearish event. And while one may be happy to hold on to a 231,778% profit, it should be perceived as not so positive for the BTC price. Bitcoin continues to trade mostly sideways at around $63,000 per BTC. As the summer comes to an end, it will be interesting to see what happens to the price of the leading cryptocurrency in the coming months.This article was originally published on U.Today More

Bitcoin reached $65,000 for the first time in almost three weeks, buoyed by renewed demand for U.S. exchange-traded funds amid concerns that the Federal Reserve is preparing to ease monetary policies.The largest digital asset reached highs of $65,050 in Sunday’s trading session before retreating below $64,000 on Monday. Bitcoin has risen over 10% since the past week, the largest increase since mid-July.Saylor declared in an X post, “Four years on the Bitcoin Standard, and you would have outperformed every company in the S&P 500.”Accompanying his tweet was an image that showcased MicroStrategy’s stock performance compared to other S&P 500 companies since the firm adopted its Bitcoin strategy in August 2020. The data highlighted MicroStrategy’s remarkable outperformance, surpassing notable companies such as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO).MicroStrategy, one of the first public companies to adopt Bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset, has reaped significant rewards since embarking on its Bitcoin journey.Saylor’s tweet alongside the image demonstrated how MicroStrategy’s stock has significantly outperformed major players like Nvidia, Marathon Oil and other S&P 500 companies over the last four years, bolstered by its Bitcoin strategy.Bitcoin prices soared following Powell’s speech, reaching highs of $65,050 in Sunday’s trading session. At the time of writing, Bitcoin had fallen 0.06% in the previous 24 hours to $63,930.Powell’s signal resulted in a $252 million net inflow into a group of a dozen U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs on the same day, the largest in more than a month, according to Bloomberg data. The funds have received inflows for seven consecutive days.This article was originally published on U.Today More

Polkadot Decoded Asia is a key event for the Polkadot community, focusing on the vibrant Asian market while drawing a global audience. It gathers developers, investors, enthusiasts, and industry leaders to explore the latest in blockchain advancements.Attendees can look forward to a diverse program with talks, panels, workshops, demos, fireside chats, and more. The event will span five stages, with a networking area, dedicated breakout rooms, and showcase stations where ecosystem teams and builders can promote their tech offerings.The conference will feature high-level speakers, including Polkadot founder Dr. Gavin Wood, and key figures from the Web3 Foundation and Parity Technologies. The lineup also includes industry leaders from Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Cloud, Pantera Capital, and more.Polkadot Decoded Asia 2024 is organized in collaboration with MetaEra and sponsored by Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Cloud. The event is expected to attract over 100 speakers and 2,000 participants. It will include side activities like NFT claims and a DJ party, providing a platform for networking and knowledge exchange.The conference will take place during the lively Singapore Token2049 week, offering insights into the latest blockchain advancements within the Polkadot ecosystem.Despite market challenges, developer activity in the Polkadot ecosystem remains strong. Per its recent statistics, the network now hosts 29,917 repositories, with weekly commits exceeding 5,500. Around 900 developers contribute each week as well, keeping the ecosystem’s momentum active.The upcoming Polkadot Mobile App, teased at Polkadot Decoded by Parity CEO Bjorn Wagner, is expected to roll out to select users in September 2024.The app will reportedly offer new features like onboarding without passwords or seed phrases, the ability to fund wallets with DOT or stablecoins, and the option to make purchases at over 1 million stores, with staking functionality on the way soon. More

A hard fork or network-wide consensus would be needed for a split, which would be practically impossible given Bitcoin’s decentralized structure. Nevertheless, the post was rapidly exposed as a joke because BTC obviously does not have a centralized board.By tagging Tuur Demeester, a passionate Bitcoin maximalist renowned for his unshakable devotion to Bitcoin’s fundamental principles, well-known trading veteran Peter Brandt added some fuel to the fire. In a lighthearted gesture to the ridiculousness of the proposal, Brandt asked for opinions. For a number of reasons, the idea of a Bitcoin split is absurd. First off, because Bitcoin is a decentralized network, such a change would require broad agreement from miners, developers and nodes.The value proposition of Bitcoin as a scarce deflationary asset, which is essential to its allure and usefulness, would also be drastically altered by changing its supply in this way. Since failing to break through the $70,000 barrier, the price of Bitcoin has been fluctuating recently, trading at $63,757. There has been a small retreat as the price action indicates that traders are not as confident.One way or another, a little trolling for Bitcoin newbies never hurts, as it quite often pushes people into educating themselves about the foundations of the digital assets market.This article was originally published on U.Today More

Warden, the sovereign AI execution network, announced the alpha release of its new artificial intelligence product – the Artificial Intelligence Blockchain Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) (AIBI). AIBI brings AI on-chain with an intuitive interface for developers to integrate AI into their applications. Inspired by proof-of-computation and computational pipelines, AIBI allows inference endpoints to create cryptographic proofs that verify that an AI model produced a specific prediction. These proofs are then verified on Wardens’ blockchain through a cutting-edge consensus mechanism, ensuring AI outputs are not just delivered, but can be trusted. AIBI enables a new class of AI applications. To kickstart this new era, Warden is organizing a series of hackathons throughout Q4 2024, designed to inspire and reward developers who create groundbreaking AI-driven experiences using AIBI. Whether it’s dynamic pricing algorithms, sophisticated matching engines, or personalized recommendation systems, the potential applications are limitless. Since its inception in March 2024, Warden has experienced exponential growth, now processing over one million transactions per month. Warden’s sovereign AI execution engine connects to more than 100 blockchains, enabling any smart contract, protocol, or platform to leverage AI predictions. Warden is set to pioneer a new category of applications at the intersection of AI and web3, while also extending its services to web2 AI use cases.For more information, users and builders can visit wardenprotocol.org, or can follow on X at @wardenprotocol.ContactPRAndrei S.Warden Labs Ltdpr@wardenprotocol.orgThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

Search interest, a proxy for retail engagement, has dropped significantly. After a brief resurgence, Google search volumes for both Bitcoin and Ethereum have retreated to near-recent lows.Network activity, a key measure of the underlying blockchain utilization, has also been declining. Ethereum, despite seeing a peak in activity following the recent Dencun upgrade, has experienced a sharp drop in transaction fees and active addresses. Despite this, unique daily users on the Ethereum network are up around 34% across layer-1 and layer-2 chains compared to the 2023 averages. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin network bottomed in June, “though it still sits ~29% below its 2023 average,” Citi notes.Another concerning sign is the low futures funding rates, which briefly dipped into negative territory in August. This is in addition to declining Bitcoin volumes after a sharp rise during the early August risk-off episode.The decline in trading activity underscores the broader trend of reduced demand across the crypto ecosystem. Spot ETFs for both Bitcoin and Ethereum have seen net outflows over the past month. Analysts believe these subdued metrics may persist until there is greater clarity on the broader economic outlook, particularly concerning a potential soft landing or further guidance from the Federal Reserve on monetary policy.In contrast, stablecoin market caps are continuing to rise, showing resilience despite broader market downturns. Hash rates have also been increasing, analysts highlight, rebounding after some volatility following the recent halving. More

Broader crypto prices also retreated after logging strong gains since Friday, following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the bank was gearing up to cut interest rates. Weakness in the dollar, which sank to a 13-month low, also aided crypto prices.Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $63,737.0 by 09:08 ET (13:08 GMT). But further gains in the token were somewhat stymied by persistent strength in the Japanese yen. A sharp appreciation in the yen earlier this month had rattled risk-driven markets and also unwound a carry trade favoring speculative assets such as crypto. The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose sharply in the past two days following Powell’s comments, which suggested that an interest rate cut was imminent. Markets are now positioning for a September interest rate cut, but are split over a 25 or 50 basis point reduction, according to CME Fedwatch.PCE price index data- which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge- is due this Friday, and is likely to determine the path of any rate cuts. Lower rates bode well for speculative assets such as crypto, given that they free up more liquidity for investing in the sector. Independent presidential candidate Robert. F. Kennedy Jr, who has maintained a pro-crypto platform, suspended his campaign and threw his weight behind Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has also maintained a pro-crypto stance. The move sparked gains in crypto markets amid increased speculation that Trump could clinch a victory against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris- a scenario that presents friendlier regulations for crypto.Trump has maintained a largely pro-crypto stance in his campaigning, and had recently appeared as a keynote speaker at the Bitcoin conference. Among broader crypto markets, most altcoins retreated as a weekend rally cooled and as markets sought more cues on U.S. interest rate cuts. World no.2 token Ether slipped nearly 1% to $2,732.90, while SOL, XRP and ADA moved in a flat-to-low range.MATIC lost 3.8%, while among meme tokens, DOGE fell 1.7%.Crypto demand has notably “dried up in recent weeks,” Citi analysts said in a Friday note.Spot BTC and ETH ETFs have experienced net outflows over the past month, which has coincided with lower search interest and subdued network activity.Moreover, weaker crypto demand is evident in futures funding rates, which briefly dipped into negative territory during August.The analysts suggest that ETF flows may continue to struggle until there is greater clarity on the soft-landing versus hard-landing outcome for the US economy. However, they add that “should soft-landing conviction rise, we would likely start to see flows pick up.”As of August 22, spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded net inflows of $17.3 billion, accounting for nearly 40% of the variation in weekly Bitcoin price movements since their launch in January. In contrast, ETH ETFs, which were introduced in July, have experienced net outflows of $460 million, Citi notes. Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.  More