More stories

  • in

    Cardano Founder Stuns ADA Community With Bitcoin Meme: Details

    The meme shared by Hoskinson depicted the resilience and determination of early Bitcoin enthusiasts despite major setbacks such as Silk Road and Wikileaks. In contrast, it highlighted the modern-day Bitcoin community’s preoccupation with issues such as ETFs, JP Morgan’s involvement and the debate over self-custody.Alongside the image, Hoskinson added a light-hearted remark: “This captures my feelings perfectly. I sadly lost the abs.” The comment not only added a personal touch to the tweet but also hinted at the shift in the cryptocurrency space over the years, and also in the mentality among Bitcoin holders.Fast forward to 2024, and Bitcoin has grown into a globally recognized asset, with institutional investors and a much larger diverse community.However, this growth has come with a new set of challenges and concerns. The issues highlighted in the meme, such as the impact of Bitcoin ETFs, the involvement of major financial players like JPMorgan and debates over self-custody, reflect the complexities that have emerged as Bitcoin has moved further into the mainstream.Hoskinson, known for his efforts in Cardano creation and development, has a long-standing involvement with Bitcoin and has frequently expressed support for the cryptocurrency. His early efforts in the cryptocurrency space include substantial contributions to Bitcoin education.This article was originally published on U.Today More

  • in

    Michael Saylor Issues Bitcoin Message Amid Current Market Uncertainty

    Saylor’s statement comes at a time when Bitcoin has seen significant volatility. BTC fell for two days straight before rising in today’s trading session.Much of the decline occurred after the latest (July) U.S. consumer price index (CPI) data was released late Wednesday. Net outflows from U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs partly contributed to the price drop, with Grayscale’s GBTC the most affected.At the time of writing, BTC was up 0.43% in the last 24 hours to $58,423, recovering to highs of $58,633 after its dip to lows of $56,120 in Thursday’s trading session. This rebound demonstrates Bitcoin’s potential to regain strength even in the face of market uncertainty, which Saylor has frequently emphasized in his support for Bitcoin.In a recent tweet, Saylor stated that “Bitcoin’s volatility is a feature, not a bug.”A rate cut in September, when the central bank next meets, was strongly factored in by markets, supported by inflation statistics revealed earlier this week. The consumer price index gained 0.2% monthly in July, as expected, and was up 2.9% year-on-year, which was lower than projected.This remains crucial as cryptocurrencies have been “sensitive” to U.S. economic data in recent months.The market is currently looking ahead to comments from Federal Reserve officials in the coming weeks to evaluate the perspective on the economy and interest rates – especially next week’s Jackson Hole symposium.This article was originally published on U.Today More

  • in

    Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies are ‘losing their luster’: Wolfe Research

    The report highlights a clear divide between cryptocurrencies and equities, with equities outpacing cryptos since March. Wolfe points out that while Bitcoin has held steady in absolute terms, it’s stuck in a downward trend, with the easiest path likely being further decline. “There are a number of factors at play, and at the moment all seem to be working against Crypto. This is a much different backdrop than years past when excess liquidity and sky-high enthusiasm sent Crypto prices soaring to new highs,” the report added.While Wolfe Research remains neutral on Bitcoin until a decisive move occurs, it expects range-bound trading to continue until there’s a decisive breakout in either direction. After reaching a record high of $73,798 in March, Bitcoin has pulled back, with repeated attempts to rally back to that peak falling short. Events that once sparked enthusiasm, like inflows into US Bitcoin ETFs or hopes for future Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, now seem to have less impact.“Price has chopped around and worked incrementally lower since peaking in March. Strong conviction lacks in either direction, but as trend followers, it is becoming clear to us that the path of least resistance is to the downside,” Wolfe Research analysts explain.The analysis also highlights the struggles of Ethereum, which saw a breakdown last week, suggesting further downside is likely. Moreover, Wolfe Research’s outlook suggests that the crypto market may face more challenges ahead, with key assets showing signs of weakening momentum.“Much like the Ai trade, which we also think has seen its best days for now, Crypto looks to have run out of steam. We only anticipate this trend continuing as Alt coins across the board break down to fresh lows,” the report reads. More

  • in

    Polkadot to attend Web3 Summit after five-year break

    Web3 Summit makes its return after a five-year break. Hosted by the Web3 Foundation, the event will take place at the historic Funkhaus Berlin, attracting over 60 speakers and more than 40 talks.Per its official agenda, the Web3 Summit will center around key developments in blockchain, decentralized technologies, and Web3 innovation. Notable speakers include Gavin Wood, Ethereum co-founder, and Juan Benet, the creator of IPFS and Filecoin, who will offer their perspectives on the future of the decentralized web.Participants can look forward to an array of activities, including workshops, presentations, and a 72-hour hackathon, the Blockspace Symmetry Hackathon. This hackathon offers developers the chance to compete for top grants via a two-milestone prize structure.In addition to the main events, the Web3 Summit will host community-driven activities such as an opening party on August 19 and a happy hour on August 20. Attendees can also claim their Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) badges, which are powered by dynamic NFT technology on Polkadot.According to its recent treasury report, Polkadot allocated $87 million worth of DOT to various initiatives in the first six months of 2024. Marketing and outreach activities took the largest share of spending, with over $36 million allocated to advertisements, events, meetups, conference hosting, and other initiatives. Doubling the pace of the previous six months, these expenses were justified to attract new users, developers, and businesses to the Polkadot ecosystem.After wrapping up Polkadot 1.0 in July 2023, the blockchain community is now preparing for Polkadot 2.0, which is supported by advanced technologies like Async Backing, Elastic (NYSE:ESTC) Scaling, and Agile Coretime. These upgrades allow Polkadot to function similarly to cloud services like AWS or Azure. High-demand projects will benefit from increased transaction throughput, while early-stage projects can control costs by only paying for the coretime they actually need. More

  • in

    Bitcoin price today: edges lower to $58k amid Mt Gox, regulatory jitters

    The world’s biggest cryptocurrency fell 1.2% to $58,201.0 by 08:33 ET (12:33 GMT), remaining squarely within a trading of $50,000 to $60,000 seen through most of the year. Bitcoin was pressured by a brief rebound in the dollar on Thursday. Crypto markets took little support from improving sentiment across risk-driven markets amid easing fears of a U.S. recession and persistent bets on interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Global stocks marked strong gains this week, with Wall Street indexes surging to two-week highs as increased volatility seen last week now appeared to be clearing.Strong U.S. retail sales data and softer inflation readings helped inspire confidence in the U.S. economy and spruced up bets on a 25 basis point rate cut in September. While lower interest rates do bode well for Bitcoin and crypto, the sector was pressured by reports that Mt Gox was planning to mobilize more Bitcoin to return to its clients after a 2014 hack.A wallet linked to Mt Gox, which holds $2 billion of Bitcoin, was seen initiating test transactions this week, which usually heralds a sale event. Uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election also factored into caution towards crypto, as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were seen polling neck-and-neck in the 2024 race. So far, only Trump has presented a pro-crypto stance. Data earlier this week also showed traders pulling out over $1 billion of USDT from crypto exchanges, potentially heralding a risk-off event. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds also continued to see sustained outflows this week.Broader crypto markets also tracked weakness in Bitcoin, with sentiment towards the sector showing few signs of improvement.World no.2 token Ether lost 2.3% to $2,578.18 and was set to lose 1.7% this week- its fourth straight week of losses. XRP, ADA and SOL moved in a flat-to-low range, while among meme tokens, DOGE slid 3.5%.The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has withdrawn its application to list and trade options tied to the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, as revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.The SEC had extended its review period several times after opening the NYSE proposal for public comment in February 2024 and formally began proceedings in April. However, the NYSE retracted the proposal before the SEC reached a final decision.Meanwhile, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), which hosts several Bitcoin ETFs, also withdrew its application but has since re-submitted a more comprehensive proposal, according to information noted by Bloomberg’s James Seyffart.The SEC has not issued any public statements or feedback on the matter.The NYSE announced plans to list index options that track Bitcoin prices in May. More

  • in

    Pichi Finance Launches PCH Token on Gate.io and MEXC, Boosts Ecosystem Growth

    Token Generation Event (TGE) will soon offer a revenue sharing mechanismPichi Finance, a trustless points trading protocol offering price discovery to tokens Pre and Post-TGE, has announced the launch of its utility token, PCH, on Gate.io and MEXC and is available for trading from August 19, 2024, 16:30 UTC. This Token Generation Event and CEX listing follows the conclusion of the token’s public sale on Dao Maker.The TGE is a key component of Pichi Finance’s comprehensive roadmap to enable users to earn points securely while gaining access to a liquid market for trading these earned points.The Pichi (PCH) token will allow holders to take part in potential revenue sharing with the project. The protocol’s main revenue stream is through transaction fees and DeFi Integrations on Pichi, and positions the protocol at the forefront of building points infrastructure for users and projects alike.Milestone TGE Follows Successful Completion of $2.5M Seed Fund RaiseOn August 1, 2024, Pichi Finance announced the completion of a USD$2.5 million Seed Funding Round, led by UOB Venture Management, Signum Capital and Mantle Network.The investors shared Pichi Finance’s vision to enable trustless points trading through the ERC-6551 standard, to unlock the secure trading of points across protocols and to bring another layer of liquidity to the ecosystem.The investment enables Pichi Finance to target new points programs to enable trading on day 1, to create vaults which can allow users to earn yield and points together, and to expand to other EVM Chains.As part of Pichi Finance’s extensive roadmap, the protocol is also set to launch on Arbitrum, the leading Layer 2 technology that empowers users to explore and build in Ethereum, and the Mantle Network, the Layer 2 rollup that combines Ethereum’s security with cheaper gas fees and higher throughput. Offering Price Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) to Tokens Pre and Post-TGEPichi Finance is the first trustless points trading protocol, enabling users the ability to trade points from their preferred protocols like EigenLayer, Ether.Fi, and HyperLiquid before TGE. Points are incentives in blockchain protocols for participating in activities like staking, farming, and voting to track a user’s loyalty to the project, in which the points can be converted into their share of the project’s airdrop upon TGE. Conventionally, points are stored off-chain and tied to wallet addresses, limiting their tradability on an open market.Pichi provides significant design improvements to the process of trading points by leveraging ERC-6551 Accounts. These are wallets owned by NFTs and selling the NFT entails transferring ownership of the associated wallet along with any accrued points.Users can create a Pichi Wallet and deposit tokens that can earn points into the associated ERC-6551 wallet. Once points accumulate in the wallet, users have the ability to withdraw the points-earning tokens and sell the Pichi Wallet, effectively selling the accrued points. By leveraging ERC-6551 accounts, Pichi Finance aims to unlock tradability by providing a trustless, transparent, and secure method for users to be able to trade points before and after the TGE. About Pichi FinanceRevolutionizing the way users can earn and trade rewards in the DeFi space, Pichi Finance introduces the innovative ERC-6551 account solution. Their trustless points trading protocol enables price discovery for tokens both pre- and post-token generation event (TGE), empowering users to have the ability to seamlessly trade points from their preferred protocols.Website | Twitter | Discord | MediumContactAimee HillmanPeninsula PR for Pichi Financeaimee.hillman@peninsula-pr.comThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

  • in

    Gold Crashes, Bitcoin Rockets, And Peter Schiff Is Not Happy About It

    Gold is traditionally seen as a safe-haven asset in volatile economic times and tends to rise when inflation rises. However, the latest CPI data has changed market sentiment, and many market participants now believe that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates. This has made gold less attractive, leading to a sharp sell-off.On the other hand, Bitcoin (BTC) and other riskier assets rose sharply in response to the same data. Cryptocurrency is generally seen as a more speculative investment and tends to do well during periods of economic optimism. Peter Schiff, prominent supporter of gold, said he was unhappy with the way the market reacted. He believes that investors have misread the inflation data, which as he says led to an unwarranted sell-off in the precious metal. However, Schiff has always said that gold is a more stable store of value than Bitcoin, which he believes is just a “bubble.”In addition, the crypto skeptic found reason to rejoice, stating that the rise of BTC against the backdrop of metal’s decline in current conditions proves once again that cryptocurrency is the anti-gold, not gold 2.0, as many claim.Gold or anti-gold, the cryptocurrency rally shows how the market feels right now, as investors turn their attention to assets that could benefit from potential interest rate cuts and an improving economic outlook.This article was originally published on U.Today More