π¨ Leading NFT marketplace OpenSea has unveiled a new security feature. It implies the introduction of a 3-hour waiting period for tokens received on the account. Users will not be able to stake and therefore redeem NFTs, which will reduce the risk of them being stolen.
To interact with its own accounts and hardware devices, OpenSea has integrated the DelegateCash service, which will allow transactions between trusted addresses.
β The marketplace also announced a new phase of the Drops program.
To interact with its own accounts and hardware devices, OpenSea has integrated the DelegateCash service, which will allow transactions between trusted addresses.
β The marketplace also announced a new phase of the Drops program.
π Binance Agrees on the Implementation of Educational Initiatives with the Georgian Authorities
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA) to implement blockchain initiatives.
Cooperation under the agreement will include various educational and charitable initiatives from Binance Academy and Binance Charity, as well as local events and hackathons from BNB Chain.
π¬ βThrough this collaboration, Binance will facilitate the generation of new startup ideas and the implementation of projects focused on commercialization,β said GITA Chairman Avtandil Kasradze.
This is not the exchange's first educational initiative in the country. Last month, Binance signed a memorandum of cooperation with the University of Business and Technology of Georgia. Together with Binance Academy, the platform will provide teaching materials to teach students the basics of blockchain, Web3, NFT, and cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA) to implement blockchain initiatives.
Cooperation under the agreement will include various educational and charitable initiatives from Binance Academy and Binance Charity, as well as local events and hackathons from BNB Chain.
π¬ βThrough this collaboration, Binance will facilitate the generation of new startup ideas and the implementation of projects focused on commercialization,β said GITA Chairman Avtandil Kasradze.
This is not the exchange's first educational initiative in the country. Last month, Binance signed a memorandum of cooperation with the University of Business and Technology of Georgia. Together with Binance Academy, the platform will provide teaching materials to teach students the basics of blockchain, Web3, NFT, and cryptocurrencies.
The Wall Street Journal revealed the owners of Tether
Four people owned 86% of Tether Holdings, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. Documents confirming the information are dated 2018.
The publication noted that the USDT stablecoin operator with a market value of $68 billion still does not disclose information to the same extent as the corresponding traditional institutions.
The company was founded by former plastic surgeon Giancarlo Devasini and Brock Pierce, an entrepreneur and crypto evangelist. The company was registered in the British Virgin Islands in September 2014.
βThe United States would be better off if patriotic Americans like me still owned the business. The share capital I turned down was probably $6-10 billion. Was it the right choice? I don't know," the WSJ quoted the entrepreneur as saying.
He also helped develop and launch the Bitfinex crypto exchange. Both companies have a lot of overlap in management. However, according to the WSJ, Devasini makes the key decisions.
Four people owned 86% of Tether Holdings, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. Documents confirming the information are dated 2018.
The publication noted that the USDT stablecoin operator with a market value of $68 billion still does not disclose information to the same extent as the corresponding traditional institutions.
The company was founded by former plastic surgeon Giancarlo Devasini and Brock Pierce, an entrepreneur and crypto evangelist. The company was registered in the British Virgin Islands in September 2014.
βThe United States would be better off if patriotic Americans like me still owned the business. The share capital I turned down was probably $6-10 billion. Was it the right choice? I don't know," the WSJ quoted the entrepreneur as saying.
He also helped develop and launch the Bitfinex crypto exchange. Both companies have a lot of overlap in management. However, according to the WSJ, Devasini makes the key decisions.
Bitfinex, Keet, Synonym and Tether Pledge 5 Million TRY for Turkiye Earthquake Recovery
Bitfinex, Keet, Synonym and Tether would like to express our sincerest condolences and sympathy to the people of Turkiye, following the devastating earthquake to hit the country today. It is clear that the scale of the disaster has been both widespread and catastrophic. Our hearts go out to the people of Turkiye, and our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected.
It is absolutely essential at a time like this that we come together to support the citizens of the region in the wake of this tragedy.
On behalf of Bitfinex, Keet, Synonym and Tether, we are pledging 5M TRY towards immediate humanitarian relief and recovery efforts and will seek ways to provide continued support towards helping Turkiye rebuild for the future.
Resources of every kind are needed at a time like this and we can only hope that our support will help towards these efforts. We stand in solidarity with Turkiye.
Bitfinex, Keet, Synonym and Tether would like to express our sincerest condolences and sympathy to the people of Turkiye, following the devastating earthquake to hit the country today. It is clear that the scale of the disaster has been both widespread and catastrophic. Our hearts go out to the people of Turkiye, and our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected.
It is absolutely essential at a time like this that we come together to support the citizens of the region in the wake of this tragedy.
On behalf of Bitfinex, Keet, Synonym and Tether, we are pledging 5M TRY towards immediate humanitarian relief and recovery efforts and will seek ways to provide continued support towards helping Turkiye rebuild for the future.
Resources of every kind are needed at a time like this and we can only hope that our support will help towards these efforts. We stand in solidarity with Turkiye.
π¬ Changpeng Zhao: I am a very boring guy who spends time on books, not people
The CEO of Binance revealed his recipe for time management, advising not to trade time for anything other than knowledge. A key skill for CZ is being able to say no. His credo is that what you don't do is more important than what you do.
He prefers to start any meetings with a warning about the limit of 15 minutes. Zhao doesn't like shopping. He prefers shopping online in batches of ten wardrobe items in the first five positions, which the algorithm offers him.
At home, in the office and in the suitcase, CZ is a mess. He does not waste time organizing space. The CEO of Binance does not cook food (no talent), he chooses one of the three positions he sees on the menu - what will be on the table faster. French dinner is not for him.
CZ listens to books at 2.5x under almost any circumstance when not at work. Especially appreciates flights, when he can absorb 2-3 books per flight. Zhao spent over 600 hours on board last year.
The CEO of Binance revealed his recipe for time management, advising not to trade time for anything other than knowledge. A key skill for CZ is being able to say no. His credo is that what you don't do is more important than what you do.
He prefers to start any meetings with a warning about the limit of 15 minutes. Zhao doesn't like shopping. He prefers shopping online in batches of ten wardrobe items in the first five positions, which the algorithm offers him.
At home, in the office and in the suitcase, CZ is a mess. He does not waste time organizing space. The CEO of Binance does not cook food (no talent), he chooses one of the three positions he sees on the menu - what will be on the table faster. French dinner is not for him.
CZ listens to books at 2.5x under almost any circumstance when not at work. Especially appreciates flights, when he can absorb 2-3 books per flight. Zhao spent over 600 hours on board last year.
Justin Sun announces payment system for ChatGPT in Tron ecosystem
A decentralized payment system will appear in the Tron ecosystem, focused on various AI services like ChatGPT from OpenAI. This was told by the founder of the project Justin Sun.
π¬ βThe structure includes a system of smart contracts placed on the blockchain, a payment protocol, a basicSDKand an AI-centric payment gateway. The smart contract system is used to store user requests and AI results in a decentralized file storage system onBTFSfrom BitTorrent,β he wrote.
According to Sun, the payment protocol will provide support for βstable currency settlementsβ on the blockchain. At the same time, the βinteractionβ level of the structure will provide AI services with access to standard calculation methods and relevantAPI.
The founder of Tron explained that the structure he described will allow the implementation of a secure and censorship-resistant payment system integrated with projects based on artificial intelligence.
A decentralized payment system will appear in the Tron ecosystem, focused on various AI services like ChatGPT from OpenAI. This was told by the founder of the project Justin Sun.
π¬ βThe structure includes a system of smart contracts placed on the blockchain, a payment protocol, a basicSDKand an AI-centric payment gateway. The smart contract system is used to store user requests and AI results in a decentralized file storage system onBTFSfrom BitTorrent,β he wrote.
According to Sun, the payment protocol will provide support for βstable currency settlementsβ on the blockchain. At the same time, the βinteractionβ level of the structure will provide AI services with access to standard calculation methods and relevantAPI.
The founder of Tron explained that the structure he described will allow the implementation of a secure and censorship-resistant payment system integrated with projects based on artificial intelligence.
π³ Visa confirms plans to integrate settlements in stablecoins
Payments company Visa aims to build the βmuscle memoryβ for settlements that will allow converting digital assets into fiat currencies on its platform.
π During the StarkWare Sessions 2023 conference in Tel Aviv, the head of Visa's cryptocurrency division, Kai Sheffield, confirmed that the company was testing the possibility of conducting settlement transactions in the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin on Ethereum.
π¬ βThis is one area where we want to build muscle memory. Just as we can convert dollars and euros in a cross-border transaction, we need to be able to exchange between digital tokenized currencies and traditional ones,β Sheffield said.
He recalled that the Visa platform fully works on top of the SWIFT interbank system. Due to restrictions in the latter, the company cannot make payments as often as it would like, Sheffield stressed. Therefore, the firm is exploring the possibility of incorporating blockchain into its existing network.
Payments company Visa aims to build the βmuscle memoryβ for settlements that will allow converting digital assets into fiat currencies on its platform.
π During the StarkWare Sessions 2023 conference in Tel Aviv, the head of Visa's cryptocurrency division, Kai Sheffield, confirmed that the company was testing the possibility of conducting settlement transactions in the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin on Ethereum.
π¬ βThis is one area where we want to build muscle memory. Just as we can convert dollars and euros in a cross-border transaction, we need to be able to exchange between digital tokenized currencies and traditional ones,β Sheffield said.
He recalled that the Visa platform fully works on top of the SWIFT interbank system. Due to restrictions in the latter, the company cannot make payments as often as it would like, Sheffield stressed. Therefore, the firm is exploring the possibility of incorporating blockchain into its existing network.
π±Binance Launches Crypto Trading Tax Calculation Tool
Bitcoin exchange Binance has introduced a free service for tax calculation and reporting - Binance Tax.
According to the statement, the platform allows you to βone-clickβ to import your transactions on the exchange into a calculator in order to estimate possible fiscal payments.
The company noted that Binance Tax is at an early stage of launch and does not yet support all types of transactions. Transactions with a number of products such as futures and NFTs are not available for processing. The team acknowledged that users will have to manually adjust their tax reports because of this in the near future.
Binance Tax allows you to load 100,000 transactions into the calculator at no additional cost. According to the developers, this amount is enough "even for fairly active traders."
π¬ βWe created Binance Tax so that our users can spend less time worrying about taxes and instead use it to explore the limitless possibilities of Web3 ,β the post reads.
Bitcoin exchange Binance has introduced a free service for tax calculation and reporting - Binance Tax.
According to the statement, the platform allows you to βone-clickβ to import your transactions on the exchange into a calculator in order to estimate possible fiscal payments.
The company noted that Binance Tax is at an early stage of launch and does not yet support all types of transactions. Transactions with a number of products such as futures and NFTs are not available for processing. The team acknowledged that users will have to manually adjust their tax reports because of this in the near future.
Binance Tax allows you to load 100,000 transactions into the calculator at no additional cost. According to the developers, this amount is enough "even for fairly active traders."
π¬ βWe created Binance Tax so that our users can spend less time worrying about taxes and instead use it to explore the limitless possibilities of Web3 ,β the post reads.
π Vietnam, the Philippines, and Ukraine are leading countries endorsing the concept of metaverses . This is reported in the report of the CoinKickoff website based on the analysis of 1.6 million tweets on this topic.
In 56.8% of posts, Vietnamese users are positive about the new type of digital platforms. In the Philippines, this figure reaches 56.2%, in Ukraine - 54.9%.
Filipinos are the most likely to search Google for metaverse-related terms, with 2,421 searches per 1,000 people in the country. Users from Ukraine have 252 search queries.
It is Western countries that are most resistant to the introduction of metaverses, the researchers added. Among them are Denmark, New Zealand, the USA and Canada.
Among Americans, Florida residents show the greatest interest in the topic - 670 search queries per 1,000 people.
In 56.8% of posts, Vietnamese users are positive about the new type of digital platforms. In the Philippines, this figure reaches 56.2%, in Ukraine - 54.9%.
Filipinos are the most likely to search Google for metaverse-related terms, with 2,421 searches per 1,000 people in the country. Users from Ukraine have 252 search queries.
It is Western countries that are most resistant to the introduction of metaverses, the researchers added. Among them are Denmark, New Zealand, the USA and Canada.
Among Americans, Florida residents show the greatest interest in the topic - 670 search queries per 1,000 people.
π Tether Continues To Demonstrate Strength Of Reserves, Reveals $700m Profits For Q4/2022 In Latest Attestation Report
Tether Holdings Limited made available its December 31, 2022 assurance opinion completed by BDO, a top five-ranked global independent public accounting firm. The attestation re-affirms the accuracy of Tetherβs Consolidated Reserves Report (CRR), which breaks down the assets held by the Group as of Dec 31, 2022. The CRR shows that, in addition to reducing its secured loans as committed, Tether ended 2022 with zero commercial paper and at least $67 billion in consolidated total assets and excess reserves of at least $960 million.
π The Management of the Company asserts the following as of 31 December 2022:
πΉThe Groupβs consolidated total assets amount to at least US$ 67,044,148,175;
πΉThe Groupβs consolidated total liabilities amount to US$66,083,530,757, of which US$66,057,260,169 relates to digital tokens issued;
πΉThe Groupβs consolidated assets exceed its consolidated liabilities.
Tether Holdings Limited made available its December 31, 2022 assurance opinion completed by BDO, a top five-ranked global independent public accounting firm. The attestation re-affirms the accuracy of Tetherβs Consolidated Reserves Report (CRR), which breaks down the assets held by the Group as of Dec 31, 2022. The CRR shows that, in addition to reducing its secured loans as committed, Tether ended 2022 with zero commercial paper and at least $67 billion in consolidated total assets and excess reserves of at least $960 million.
π The Management of the Company asserts the following as of 31 December 2022:
πΉThe Groupβs consolidated total assets amount to at least US$ 67,044,148,175;
πΉThe Groupβs consolidated total liabilities amount to US$66,083,530,757, of which US$66,057,260,169 relates to digital tokens issued;
πΉThe Groupβs consolidated assets exceed its consolidated liabilities.
π₯ The Optimism team announced the second OP airdrop
The developers of the Optimism L2 protocol will distribute 11.7 million native OP tokens among more than 300,000 unique addresses.
π During the first airdrop in May 2022, 232,000 users received a total of almost 232 million OPs.
This allowed to begin the formation of a decentralized project management system, the team noted. Since then, 88,000 addresses have voted on over 90 proposals to distribute 50M OP across the ecosystem. In February 2023, the community will make a decision regarding the first update of Optimism , Bedrock.
π¬ βAt the same time, the core network is turning into a booming economy. More than 1.5 million addresses have sent 64 million transactions since the first airdrop, spending about $15 million in fees,β the statement said.
The developers of the Optimism L2 protocol will distribute 11.7 million native OP tokens among more than 300,000 unique addresses.
π During the first airdrop in May 2022, 232,000 users received a total of almost 232 million OPs.
This allowed to begin the formation of a decentralized project management system, the team noted. Since then, 88,000 addresses have voted on over 90 proposals to distribute 50M OP across the ecosystem. In February 2023, the community will make a decision regarding the first update of Optimism , Bedrock.
π¬ βAt the same time, the core network is turning into a booming economy. More than 1.5 million addresses have sent 64 million transactions since the first airdrop, spending about $15 million in fees,β the statement said.
π¦ Voyager customers will refund funds to Binance.US accounts
π Voyager Digital users will be able to recover some of their funds through the accounts of Binance.US, the winner of the auction for the bankrupt lender's assets. This follows from the documents for the court, writes Decrypt .
The partners expect the deal to close and payouts to begin in March.
The registration period for Voyager customers on Binance.US started last week. The Platform will create new or link existing accounts before resolving claims.
π» Affected users must provide an email address, social security number, and date of birth. The functionality of the corresponding portal demonstrates to clients the value of their assets.
π¬ "The actual amount of the refund will be a percentage of the amount of your claim, as determined by the Voyager rebalancing," the statement said.
Specific values ββwill depend on market conditions. The lender has a relatively high percentage of altcoins that have performed worse than BTC/ETH.
π Voyager Digital users will be able to recover some of their funds through the accounts of Binance.US, the winner of the auction for the bankrupt lender's assets. This follows from the documents for the court, writes Decrypt .
The partners expect the deal to close and payouts to begin in March.
The registration period for Voyager customers on Binance.US started last week. The Platform will create new or link existing accounts before resolving claims.
π» Affected users must provide an email address, social security number, and date of birth. The functionality of the corresponding portal demonstrates to clients the value of their assets.
π¬ "The actual amount of the refund will be a percentage of the amount of your claim, as determined by the Voyager rebalancing," the statement said.
Specific values ββwill depend on market conditions. The lender has a relatively high percentage of altcoins that have performed worse than BTC/ETH.
π΅ PayPal customers purchased $604 million worth of cryptocurrencies
The value of digital assets purchased by customers on the balance sheet of PayPal at the end of 2022 was $604 million. Such data are contained in the annual report of the payment company for SEC.
Of this amount, $291 million came from Bitcoin, $250 million from Ethereum, and the remaining $63 million from Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. The company did not disclose specific numbers in the latter case.
At the end of September, the total volume of positions in cryptocurrency amounted to $690 million.
Disclosure of such information became mandatory from March 2022.
The value of digital assets purchased by customers on the balance sheet of PayPal at the end of 2022 was $604 million. Such data are contained in the annual report of the payment company for SEC.
Of this amount, $291 million came from Bitcoin, $250 million from Ethereum, and the remaining $63 million from Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. The company did not disclose specific numbers in the latter case.
At the end of September, the total volume of positions in cryptocurrency amounted to $690 million.
Disclosure of such information became mandatory from March 2022.
π¦ Vitalik Buterin donated 99 ETH to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sent 99 ETH (~$152,000 at the time of writing) to Ahbap, a non-profit organization that raises money to help earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
The wallet, labeled Ahbap YardΔ±m / Earthquake Support by USDTSCAN, accepts donations in ERC-20 standard tokens . At the time of writing, the address holds assets valued at ~$2.2 million.
Most of the proceeds come from USDT ($890,650), Ethereum ($618,000) and USDC ($410,000).
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sent 99 ETH (~$152,000 at the time of writing) to Ahbap, a non-profit organization that raises money to help earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
The wallet, labeled Ahbap YardΔ±m / Earthquake Support by USDTSCAN, accepts donations in ERC-20 standard tokens . At the time of writing, the address holds assets valued at ~$2.2 million.
Most of the proceeds come from USDT ($890,650), Ethereum ($618,000) and USDC ($410,000).
βΌοΈ The MetaMask team warned users about phishing
The developers of the non-custodial crypto wallet MetaMask warned users about phishing attacks through a third-party email service.
π¬ "MetaMask does not collectKYC-information and will never send you an email about your account! NEVER enter your recovery passphrase on a website. If you receive an email from MetaMask, Namecheap, or anyone else, please ignore it and do not click on the link,β wrote the MetaMask team.
Email service provider Namecheap has confirmed that malicious messages were sent through its service. According to the statement, email systems were not hacked and user data was not affected.
Teams are continuing to investigate the incident and are warning users to double-check links from MetaMask or Namecheap. The developers of the latter noted that they cannot yet prevent the sending of fraudulent emails. They took the problem to the upstream service provider.
The developers of the non-custodial crypto wallet MetaMask warned users about phishing attacks through a third-party email service.
π¬ "MetaMask does not collectKYC-information and will never send you an email about your account! NEVER enter your recovery passphrase on a website. If you receive an email from MetaMask, Namecheap, or anyone else, please ignore it and do not click on the link,β wrote the MetaMask team.
Email service provider Namecheap has confirmed that malicious messages were sent through its service. According to the statement, email systems were not hacked and user data was not affected.
Teams are continuing to investigate the incident and are warning users to double-check links from MetaMask or Namecheap. The developers of the latter noted that they cannot yet prevent the sending of fraudulent emails. They took the problem to the upstream service provider.