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Yet another central bank is coming after Bitcoin – this time for its oft-criticized proof of work (POW) consensus mechanism. It  recently suggested that POW mining consumes too much energy, and ought to be banned in favor of “less energy-intensive methods.” As the central bank tweeted on Friday, energy consumption has increased sharply in recent years – especially for Bitcoin. According to estimates from Cambridge University, the network currently consumes around 128 TWh of electricity per year. That’s more than…

In a Twitter post, layer-2 blockchain protocol Optimism shared that the hacker who exploited a transfer error has refunded most of the stolen OP tokens as promised. This comes two days after the attack and less than a day since the attacker awarded 1 million coins to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Hacker Withholds 2 Million OP Tokens The hacker returned only 17M tokens, worth roughly $15 million; this falls 3M short of the stolen 20 million. According to information on…

In a recent press release, leading payments network Mastercard disclosed plans to bring its services into the NFT industry. The company is joining forces with a string of NFT marketplaces to introduce “simple and secure” NFT commerce.  Buying NFTs Without Getting Crypto Mastercard's new partners include The Sandbox, Mintable, Nifty Gateway, Candy Digital, and other platforms. Together, they will provide Mastercard holders with the option to acquire non-fungible tokens using their credit or debit cards. Prospective buyers from Mastercard's 2.9B…

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has settled on a ruling regarding the subpoena Terraform Labs (TFL) received last year. The court found the serving legitimate, and TFL and Do-Kwon are now obligated to cooperate as the SEC probes into the company. Do Kwon’s Appeal and Rejection The US Securities and Exchange Commission slammed Terra with a subpoena during the Messari Mainnet Conference in September last year. Do Kwon initially attempted to evade compliance, even denying entirely that…

A new Deloitte study suggests American businesses are interested in crypto now more than ever.   Within the past couple of years, the crypto space has evolved remarkably. The structures supporting its operation have become more advanced, drawing the attention of business owners in traditional finance. Consumers Hold Significant Interest in Crypto Payments On June 8, accounting giant Deloitte released a survey called “Merchants getting ready for crypto”.  The survey functioned as a research vehicle to reveal the general sentiment…

1inch – the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator platform – has announced an integration with the defi derivative platform Opium. The integration will allow 1inch users to access Opium’s derivatives pools directly from within the 1inch app. In a press release shared by 1inch, the company stated that all derivative pool transactions will be conducted through Opium’s smart contract. Opium facilitates the trading, creation, and settlement of decentralized derivatives. It’s based on open-source smart contracts within the Ethereum network. The…

Under the DFS’ regulatory guidance, stablecoin issuers will have to fully back their tokens with reserve assets like U.S Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has announced new regulatory guidance for the issuance of stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar in the state, a press release unveiled. These guidelines will apply to all DFS-regulated stablecoin issuers. At the moment, these include Gemini Trust Company, Paxos Trust Company, and GMO-Z.com Trust Company. The…

Rostin Benham – Chairman of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) – is happy with the landmark crypto regulation bill that went public on Tuesday. He said he’s happy with the regulatory guardrails the bill provides and agrees with the designation of Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities. Long-Awaited Legislation In conversation with Washington Post Live on Wednesday, Benham said he was “thrilled” by yesterday’s Responsible Financial Innovation Act. He showed excitement over the steps taken to concretely regulate digital…

Despite the bear market, Michael Saylor still believes Bitcoin is virtually guaranteed to reach a one million dollar price tag. He thinks that Bitcoin has already “crossed the chasm” of answering the two most critical questions surrounding it, making its success inevitable. Bitcoin is Really Happening In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday, the MicroStrategy CEO was challenged on his bullish Bitcoin thesis. The interviewer posited that Bitcoin’s regulation and “maturity” could see significant “flush cash” and “leveraged…