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Unofficial Arweave forking plans draw community controversy

A hard fork proposed by Arweave’s largest layer-2 solution, Irys, is allegedly in the making.

Irys, a prominent layer-2 network within the Arweave ecosystem, allegedly has plans to fork the Arweave network with the intent to “drop the dataset and reset the token supply,” according to a Dec. 17 post by Arweave founder Sam Williams.

He alleges that despite the existence of a safe upgrade mechanism with Arweave, Irys developers plan to proceed with a hard fork that “appears to be a play motivated by greed.” The Arweave founder wrote:

In a rebuttal post the same day, Irys developers stated, “Are we developing new provenance tech? You bet your ass we are,” accusing Arweave developers of “active censorship” in response to alleged efforts to “deplatform Irys from Arweave.” Developers added, “Stay tuned to this space; we have plenty of powerful new features we’re thinking through, and we can’t wait to share them.”

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Bitcoin miner Cipher buys 37K Bitmain Antminers for $99.5M

The new crypto-mining equipment to be bought by Cipher is expected to deliver 7.1 EH/s of self-mining capacity by the first half of 2025.

Publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Cipher Mining (CIFR) is scaling operations with a new mega-purchase of cryptocurrency mining devices.

Cipher will buy 37,396 units of Antminer T21 miners from the Chinese crypto mining giant Bitmain under a new agreement, the firm announced on Dec. 18. The new mining equipment to be bought is expected to deliver 7.1 exahashes per second (EH/s) of self-mining capacity by the first half of 2025, the announcement notes.

According to Cipher CEO Tyler Page, the purchase will allow Cipher to build its first 135 megawatts (MW) at its newly acquired Black Pearl site. Cipher has also secured the option to acquire an additional 45,706 miners representing 8.7 EH/s in 2024.

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Hut 8 signs deal to develop new mining site to build equity with Celsius creditors

Hut 8’s new mining site in Cedarvale, Texas, will house almost 66,000 miners and will be powered by more than 215 MWof energy.

The Canadian Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 has signed an interim agreement to launch a new mining site in Cedarvale, Texas, in connection with the Celsius Network bankruptcy proceedings.

Announcing the news on Dec. 18, Hut 8 said that the mining site will house almost 66,000 miners and will be powered by more than 215 megawatts (MW) of energy.

Hut 8 president Asher Genoot said that the agreement targets a “twofold” goal, which is to build equity with creditors of Celsius while also growing the strength of the managed services business. “We anticipate having more than 895 MW of infrastructure under our umbrella once the site is up and running,” the executive noted.

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Spot Bitcoin ETF will be ‘bloodbath’ for crypto exchanges, analyst says

Spot Bitcoin ETFs could trigger unwanted consequences for crypto exchanges like Coinbase due to lower transaction fees, according to ETF analysts.

While the crypto community eagerly awaits the possible approval of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, some analysts are warning this could potentially trigger unwanted consequences for cryptocurrency exchanges.

Several industry observers have predicted that a spot BTC ETF could start trading in early 2024, in an event that, when paired with Bitcoin’s upcoming block reward halving expected in April, Blockstream CEO Adam Back believes could propel BTC to $100,000.

Bitcoin proponents such as Jan3 CEO Samson Mow have said that approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. could even drive Bitcoin as high as $1 million in the “days to weeks” following.

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Palau advances CBDC with Ripple in Phase 2 of PSC program launch

Phase 2 of the PSC program will prioritize the development of a digital ecosystem and increased user engagement, emphasizing adherence to regulatory compliance.

The Ministry of Finance in Palau officially launched the second phase of the Palau Stablecoin (PSC) Program. Jay Hunter Anson, a cybersecurity consultant in Palau, confirmed the initiation of the country’s CBDC pilot program in a post. 

Anson expressed that Palau aims to extend its partnership with Ripple in this next stage, allowing the PSC team to leverage Ripple’s CBDC platform and technical expertise.

PSC is a digital currency pegged to the U.S. dollar at 1:1. The USD-supporting PSC is stored in a commercial bank with FDIC insurance. The Palau government issues the PSC on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

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Who is Javier Milei, Argentina’s market-friendly president?

Javier Milei, also known as “El Loco,” has proposed dissolving Argentina’s central bank and envisions a society in which contracts will replace governments.

Argentina welcomed a new president on Dec. 10, pledging profound economic reforms in the country, including the dissolution of the central bank along with a number of other measures aimed at reducing government size and spending.

President Javier Gerardo Milei is also known as “El Loco” (the crazy one), a nickname he earned at school due to his explosive personality. During his campaign, Milei pushed his “crazy” persona onto the stage, proposing disruptive measures to a population heavily burdened with a 161% annual inflation rate as of November.

His economic proposals are based on his decades of experience as an economist, ranging from advising Argentina’s dictatorship (1976–1983) to working on private pension funds and banks, and as a professor of macroeconomics and microeconomics, having published several books and papers about economic growth.

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SEC faces accusations of contradiction in Coinbase rulemaking dispute

XRP holder’s lawyer, John Deaton, stated that the SEC’s stance in the Coinbase rulemaking dispute directly opposes the SEC Chairman’s statements during his congressional testimony earlier this year.

In the ongoing legal dispute between Coinbase Global Inc. and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the XRP holder’s lawyer, John Deaton, has accused the SEC’s top official, Gary Gensler, of ‘gaslighting’ the public and disagreed with his stance on cryptocurrencies.

The development in Coinbase’s rulemaking request occurred when the SEC rejected the trading platform’s petition based on three reasons.

These reasons encompass applying current securities laws to cryptocurrencies, the SEC’s engagement with the crypto securities markets through rulemaking, and the significance of preserving the Commission’s discretion in establishing its rulemaking priorities.

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Ripple’s Legal Chief predicts crypto landscape shifts in 2024

Stuart Alderoty predicts the possible resolution of Ripple’s SEC lawsuit in 2024 and lawmakers on Capitol Hill agreeing on the need for crypto regulations.

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, has shared insights on the future of the cryptocurrency landscape, specifically in 2024. He discussed predictions about Ripple’s legal dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the judiciary’s influence on crypto regulations, and potential legislative challenges in Congress.

In his prediction, Alderoty foresees the possible resolution of Ripple’s SEC lawsuit in 2024. He cautions against the SEC’s persistent “regulation by enforcement” strategy, highlighting potential consequences for significant players in the crypto industry.

Alderoty predicts a significant role for the judiciary in curbing SEC overreach, suggesting that ongoing legal conflicts could escalate to a Supreme Court confrontation.

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Ledger vulnerability put entire DApp ecosystem at risk: Finance Redefined

The Ledger connector vulnerability put the entire DeFi ecosystem at risk, with market experts asking users to remain cautious of using DApps even after Ledger released a patch.

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.

The past week in DeFi saw an unprecedented chain of events unfold on Dec. 14 when a malicious actor exploited a vulnerability in the Ledger hardware wallet’s connector library. The exploit put the entire decentralized application (DApp) ecosystem at risk. On-chain analysts and DApps like SushiSwap and MetaMask advised users not to interact with their wallets at all.

Ledger released a patch within hours to contain the vulnerability, but the exploiter drained over $650,000 in assets from multiple victims. However, considering the number of wallets and DApps at risk, the drained amount was considerably lower than it could have been.

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Bitcoin ecosystem reinvigorated by memecoins, new protocols

Bitcoin miners’ revenue has reached all-time highs in part due to increased on-chain fees.

The Bitcoin ecosystem has witnessed a dramatic recovery as the market cap of BRC-20 tokens surpassed $4 billion shortly after their invention in January.

According to a Dec. 15 research report by cryptocurrency exchange Bitget seen by Cointelegraph, Bitcoin (BTC) miners’ earnings from on-chain fees have surged from 1.7% in August to 19.57% by November. Meanwhile, daily mining revenue from block rewards surged past $40 million in November. The namesake digital asset has gained 161% year-to-date.

Invented by Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor in January, BRC-20 tokens have surged in popularity as one of the largest technological advancements in a 15-year-old blockchain. Bitcoin Ordinals is a numbering system that assigns a unique number to each satoshi, or 1/100 millionth of a Bitcoin, enabling tracking and transfer. Combined with the inscription process, which adds a layer of data to each Satoshi, users can mint unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain.

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