Chinese city implements plan for blockchain digital infrastructure system by 2025

July 31, 2023 Coin Telegraph

China

The government of Shanghai has implemented its strategic plan for the development of its urban blockchain digital infrastructure system between the years 2023-2025.

The government in the Chinese city of Shanghai issued an implementation plan on July 31 for promoting the development of its urban blockchain digital infrastructure system in the time frame of 2023-2025, according to an update on the government’s webpage.

The update says that the plans have been formulated in order to serve the “strategic goal” of Shanghai’s urban digital transformation, along with strengthening the application of blockchain in the economy, public service and urban governance.

It reads that, "breakthroughs in blockchain core technology and standard system construction have been made, leading to the formation of an industrial ecology with strong innovation momentum, and nurturing a group of leading and innovative companies with industry influence.”

When the urban blockchain digital infrastructure system is completed, it should support municipal affairs, public services and applications in various industries in the region.

According to the announcement, it will also help with the coordination of blockchain network resources in the Yangtze River Delta region of China and create an international blockchain exchange hub.

Related: Hong Kong would not go crypto without China’s approval — Animoca exec

China is currently in the midst of preparing various cities around the country to take on and implement emerging technologies.

Back in May, the city of Nanjing, the capital city of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, introduced the China Metaverse Technology and Application Innovation Platform as an effort to advance the country’s metaverse research and development nationwide.

Around the same time, the Chinese city of Zhengzhou announced a number of proposals that would support the operations of metaverse companies in the region.

Along with developments in blockchain and the metaverse, China has also been aggressively pushing forward with the development and deployment of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan across various cities in the country.

Earlier in July, the Chinese city Jinan began to encourage the digital yuan’s adoption by introducing payments across all its bus routes.

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US debt ceiling, declining trust in banks send ETH staking to record highs

June 2, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The record surge in Ethereum staking in May was attributed to the ongoing U.S. debt ceiling saga, confidence in the U.S. dollar, bank collapses and the high APR offered on ETH staking.

The number of staked Ether (ETH) in May reached a new all-time high of 2.96 million ETH, approximately 2.46% of the total supply.

The amount of ETH staked in May does not include withdrawals and is more than twice as big as the second-highest amount registered in February 2022.

*Monthly amount of staked Ether since November 2020. Source: Dune*

The significant surge in staked ETH comes within a month of the Shapella upgrade on April 12, allowing validators to withdraw their staked ETH after two years. Many then believed the heavy unstaking of ETH could be a bearish event for the Ethereum network. However, an estimated less than 1% of all staked ETH was sold after Shapella.

In the week after Shapella, nearly a million ETH were withdrawn by validators from the Beacon Chain. However, with the start of May, the number of staked ETH already surpassed the number of withdrawals. At present, almost 18% of all ETH staking was done in May.

*Monthly ETH deposits by staking entities. Source: Twitter*

The record surge in Ethereum staking in May was attributed to several factors, the most prominent being the United States debt ceiling saga, confidence in the U.S. dollar, bank collapses and the high annual percentage rate (APR) offered on ETH staking. According to research analyst Brian McColl:

“The U.S. Debt ceiling saga and the earlier events with banks going bankrupt surely affected Ether’s popularity, and more and more users prefer to stake their money in ETH rather than keep them in the bank.”

The debt ceiling in the U.S. is a statutory cap on the total amount of national debt the U.S. Treasury may incur, limiting the amount of money that the federal government may borrow to pay off its existing debt.

As Cointelegraph reported earlier, President Joe Biden and U.S. House majority leader Representative Kevin McCarthy agreed to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. However, financial pundits, including BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink, have warned that the drama around the debt ceiling could deteriorate global trust in the U.S. dollar.

McColl also noted that the current APR is approximately 5.4%, which offers better deposit conditions than most banks around the world, making Ethereum staking a popular choice.

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ETH staking passes withdrawals for the first time since Shapella upgrade

April 18, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Over 1 million ETH has been withdrawn since the Shapella hard fork on April 12. However, a significant number of addresses have restaked their ETH.

The Ethereum blockchain underwent a successful Shapella upgrade on April 12, allowing validators to withdraw their staked Ether (ETH) from the Beacon Chain after three years. After seeing over 1 million ETH in withdrawals in the first week, the amount of staked ETH has now surpassed the number of ETH being withdrawn for the first time since the Shapella upgrade.

Data from the on-chain analytics firm Nansen suggests that more ETH is currently being staked than withdrawn. As of April 17, the ETH staking volume of 124,000 ETH exceeded the withdrawal volume of 64,800 ETH for the first time. In the last 24 hours, the amount of staked ETH was 94,968 against 27,076 in withdrawals. The first round was primarily partial withdrawals from Lido and old validators. It takes approximately three days to get into the withdrawal queue.

*Volume of staked ETH vs withdrawals. Source: Nansen*

The Shapella upgrade was projected as a make-or-break situation for the Ethereum blockchain as millions in unlocked ETH posed a risk of mass selling. However, the majority of the validators are restaking their unlocked Ether. Crypto exchange Binance will open withdrawals on April 19.

Out of the 1 million withdrawn ETH, three addresses restaked a total of 19,844 ETH. Three addresses transferred ETH to centralized exchanges (CEXs) after withdrawal, with 71,444 ETH sent to different exchanges. Other whales did the same, with some sending it to Huobi staking addresses and a few others to CEXs, according to data shared by Lookonchain.

Most early withdrawals are staking rewards, and a few validators, like Kraken, had to exit to comply with a United States Securities and Exchange Commission ruling. Currently, 22,231 validators have signed up for a complete exit out of 574,624, while 910,930 ETH of the 18.6 million staked ETH is slated to be withdrawn.

Another prominent reason for the diminishing withdrawals could be ETH’s price, as the average price of staked ETH is about $2,137.

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Over $1,800,000,000 in Ethereum Waiting To Be Unstaked Following Shapella Update: IntoTheBlock

April 17, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Less than 1% of staked ETH estimated to be sold after Shapella: Finance Redefined

April 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The top 100 DeFi tokens surged along with the broader crypto market as the total value locked peaked at a new yearly high of over $54 billion.

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

The past week in DeFi was filled with anticipation leading up to the Shapella upgrade on the Ethereum mainnet. The hard fork was successfully completed on April 12, allowing validators to withdraw their staked Ether (ETH) after three years. However, only 253 validators have signed up to fully exit their staked Ether position, with analytics firm Glassnode predicting that less than 1% of the staked ETH will be withdrawn.

Amid all the rejoicing post-Shapella upgrade, an Ethereum researcher has revealed that staking Ether could become a privacy concern, as he had “internally” discovered that staking Ether shows a user’s IP address information.

A hacker minted 1 quadrillion Yearn Tether (yUSDT) after exploiting an old Yearn.finance contract, and then swapped the yUSDT to other stablecoins, allowing them to take hold of $11.6 million worth of stablecoins.

DeFi-based financial inclusion serves to increase liquidity and earning opportunities for African micro-entrepreneurs through Fonbnk’s partnership with Tanda.

The top 100 DeFi tokens had another bullish week, thanks to a late surge in the crypto market after Ethereum’s much-awaited upgrade. Most DeFi tokens traded in green along with the rest of the market.

Less than 1% of staked ETH estimated to be sold after Shanghai upgrade: Glassnode

Just 170,000 Ether of the 18.1 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain will be unlocked within the first week of the Shanghai hard fork being executed on Ethereum, Glassnode has predicted.

The figure comprises 100,000 Ether ($190 million) worth of staking rewards and 70,000 ETH worth of staked Ether ($133 million), the on-chain intelligence platform predicted in its April 11 report.

Continue reading

Ethereum researcher says staking reveals IP address, sparking privacy concerns

A researcher at the Ethereum Foundation (EF) showed that the IP addresses of ETH stakers are monitored as part of a broader set of metadata, causing the cryptocurrency community to flag Ethereum for privacy concerns.

In an April 12 interview on the crypto podcast Bankless, EF researcher Justin Drake revealed that he learned this information “internally.” The metadata Drake referred to tracks a wide range of information.

Continue reading

Web3 economy to gain more traction in Africa through DeFi-based financial inclusion

Web3 in Africa began with cryptocurrency, with blockchain technology bringing a lot of transformation regarding transparency and people’s control over their finances. The Web3 economy in Africa continues gaining traction with decentralized finance-based financial inclusion.

Fonbnk, the Web3 on-ramp that allows Africans to obtain cryptocurrency assets by exchanging their airtime credits, has partnered with Tanda, a merchant network platform in East Africa, to launch an airtime trading marketplace across Tanda’s network of agents.

Continue reading

Hacker mints 1 quadrillion yUSDT after exploiting old Yearn.finance contract

Blockchain security firm PeckShield recently detected a hack that allowed the attacker to mint over 1 quadrillion yUSDT from $10,000 in the latest DeFi exploit.

According to the security firm, the hacker then swapped the yUSDT to other stablecoins, allowing them to take hold of $11.6 million worth of the tokens. This includes 61,000 Pax Dollar (USDP), 1.5 million TrueUSD (TUSD), 1.79 million Binance USD (BUSD), 1.2 million Tether (USDT), 2.58 million USD Coin (USDC) and 3 million Dai (DAI).

Continue reading

DeFi market overview

Analytical data reveals DeFi’s total market value crossed $54 billion this past week. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization had a bullish week, with most of the tokens trading in green, barring a few.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education in this dynamically advancing space.

How on-chain data can make you a better trader

April 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Join us as we discuss the potential for on-chain data and how it can make you a better trader.

In this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Miguel Morel, CEO of Arkham Intelligence — a blockchain intelligence company that has built a platform that provides information on real-world entities and individuals behind crypto market activity.

In today’s discussion with Morel, we will explore how and why on-chain data is useful and perhaps some ways that technical traders should be using it. We will also talk about what might be next for the Ethereum network now that withdrawals are activated after the successful implementation of the Shanghai upgrade, and how on-chain data can help traders navigate this phase.

We kick things off with the latest major event in the crypto space, the Ethereum Shapella hard fork, which went down without a hiccup. We ask Morel what the primary takeaway is that the crypto industry and investors should focus on and what the data says about Ether (ETH) liquid staking derivatives.

A lot of folks have said the Ethereum upgrade would be a buy-the-rumor, sell-the-news event, but we haven’t seen too much selling of ETH yet. We get Morel’s opinion on how traders could use on-chain data to develop a strategy on how to analyze and possibly invest in Ether.

Most traders and analysts rely too heavily on the same skillset, tools and approach to the market that were the go-to strategies in 2017. Are these still as relevant today as they were back then, and how has on-chain data changed the game? We also ask Morel what some might consider a controversial question: Is technical analysis dead? He gives us his honest, data-backed opinion.

We cover all this and more, so make sure to stay tuned until the end. Market Talks airs every Thursday. Each week, it features interviews with some of the most influential and inspiring people from the crypto and blockchain industry. So, head on over to Cointelegraph Markets and Research’s YouTube page and smash those Like and Subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

Shanghai