
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for the most populous state in the US is placing its vast and complex vehicle registration system on the blockchain. According to a new announcement from Ava Labs, the development firm behind Avalanche (AVAX) the State of California is using the chain to update its title transfer system. “What […]
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Ava Labs founder Emin Gün Sirer said that while there were challenges, it was “worth it” because of the energy the crypto community brought.
Despite the difficulties faced by crypto community members who flew to the United Arab Emirates because of the Token2049 event, the number of attendees who persevered surprised community leaders who came to the event.
On April 18, the attendees were met with blocked roads and challenges that could make many people just turn around and fly away from the country.
Leaders in the space who were scheduled to have interviews with Cointelegraph were stuck in different airports and had to turn back because of the situation.
Prominent layer-1 blockchain and Ethereum (ETH) rival Avalanche (AVAX) has suffered a five-hour network outage. According to Avalanche data-tracking platform Avalanche Status, the blockchain went through an outage that prevented blocks from being accepted on its primary network. “Developers across the community are currently investigating a stall in block finalization that is preventing blocks from […]
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The POSA updated its staking principles to say that providers should communicate clearly and not control the amount of liquidity a user must provide.
The Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), a nonprofit organization that represents firms in the crypto staking industry, published an updated version of its “staking principles” on Nov. 9.
POSA represents 15 different firms in the staking industry, including Alluvial, Ava Labs, Blockdaemon, Coinbase, Credibly Neutral, Figment, Infstones, Kiln, Lido Protocol, Luganodes, Methodic, Obol, Polychain, Paradigm, and Staking Rewards.
The staking principles were first published in 2020. According to the blog post that announced them, they are meant to be “a set of industry-driven solutions” that providers can implement to address the concerns of regulators and encourage responsible practices in the industry.
The old version of the principles says staking providers should not give investment advice, guarantee the amount of staking rewards that can be obtained, or imply that they have control over a protocol in their marketing materials. Instead, they should advertise that their products provide access to a protocol and allow users to enhance security. In addition, the principles state that staking providers should use non-financial terminology such as “staking reward” in their marketing materials instead of financial terms like “interest.”
The Nov. 9 announcement says three new principles will be added. First, staking providers will be encouraged to provide “clear communication […] to ensure users have all the information necessary to make informed decisions.” Second, users should be able to decide how much of their assets they want to stake, as this will promote “user ownership of staked assets." Third, staking providers should have “explicitly delineated responsibilities” and “should not manage or control liquidity for users.”
The crypto staking industry has been criticized by some regulators, who claim it’s a cover for issuing unregistered securities. Kraken’s staking service was shut down by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 9, and the exchange was ordered to pay $30 million in damages for allegedly violating securities laws. However, other staking providers have claimed that their services are not securities. For example, POSA member Coinbase argued that its service is “fundamentally different” from Kraken’s and does not violate securities laws.
Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer however stressed the firm is well-positioned with significant runway and resources at its disposal.
Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche Blockchain, has confirmed it laid off 12% of its employees in a recent wave of staff cuts, citing the need to reallocate its resources.
The firm’s founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer confirmed the news on Nov. 7 after several former Ava Labs employees announced on X (formerly Twitter) they had been laid off.
“This reduction in force affected 12% of Ava Labs, and allows us to reallocate resources to double down on the growth of our firm and the Avalanche ecosystem,” Gün Sirer said.
Gün Sirer acknowledged that bear markets can be tough to navigate but iterated Ava Labs is well-positioned with significant runway and resources at its disposal.
Today we parted ways with some of our Ava Labs team members. We are no longer a 12 person startup, but we strive to capture the speed and energy of a small, nimble team.
— Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) November 7, 2023
This reduction in force affected 12% of Ava Labs, and allows us to reallocate resources to double down on the…
Ava Labs has 335 employees, according to LinkedIn, which suggests around 40 people were impacted.
Ava Labs vice president of growth and strategy Garrison Yang hinted that many of the layoffs came from the firm’s marketing team.
In an Oct. 6 post on X, former game growth marketing team-member Zach Manafort was among those revealing he was laid off. His departure comes despite being active in the Avalanche community since 2020.
It looks like my time at @AvaLabs has come to its end. Despite the recent layoffs, my time here has been filled with invaluable experiences and growth.
— Trading Aloha (@TradingAloha) November 6, 2023
As I transition forward, I am open to explore opportunities in marketing or operations.
My passion for these fields combined…
The layoffs came as a surprise to Manafort who thought “things were just getting started.”
Brandon Suzuki, who also previously worked in Ava Labs’ marketing unit, similar confirmed that he was laid off on Oct. 6.
Unfortuantely, I was let go from @AvaLabs this morning. If anyone has resources for web3 marketers, please let me know!
— Brandon Suzuki (@BrandonSuzuki_) November 6, 2023
The most recent round of layoffs comes only days after a 50% staff cut by nonfungible token marketplace OpenSea on Nov. 3.
Neil Dundon, founder of CryptoRecruit, told Cointelegraph that job openings are still hard to come by in the crypto industry, despite a recent uptick in crypto market cap.
“The Crypto market is still very tough unfortunately right now. Money is tight. VC has dried up.”
Dundon said there needs to be more signs pointing to a bull market before there’s any meaningful uptick in hiring again.
“This is how it has always behaved and it’s no different this time around.”
On the other hand, Kevin Gibson and Daniel Adler, the founders of Proof of Search and Cryptocurrency Jobs, both told Cointelegraph that they have seen a slight increase in hiring over the last few weeks.
Related: Searches for ‘AI jobs’ in 2023 are 4x higher than ‘crypto jobs’ when BTC hit $69K
Gibson attributed this to cryptocurrency firms acting under the impression that they may lose out on the talent pool when market conditions improve in 2024. He added:
“It is still an employer's market so we are encouraging companies to take advantage of this to keep building as it will be very different in 2024.”
Gibson noted that some of these positions were only 2-3 day per week roles as opposed to full-time positions.
Adler shared a similar sentiment:
“As we're approaching the end of the year, teams are doing a final hiring push and following through on their hiring plans and roadmap.”
Magazine: How to protect your crypto in a volatile market — Bitcoin OGs and experts weigh in
The president of the Avalanche (AVAX) development firm Ava Labs is issuing his crypto predictions for 2024. In the interview with CNBC, Ava Labs president John Wu talks up the Friend.tech challenger Stars Arena, a decentralized social finance application (SocialFi) that launched on the AVAX blockchain in late September. “We just talked about Stars Arena, […]
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