DeFI News by Thebittimes.Com

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has seen a surge in trading volume over the past few months, with more than $30 billion worth of bitcoin traded daily. This has led many investors and traders to question where the price of bitcoin is headed and what the future holds for this highly volatile asset. Bitcoin 's price has been soaring lately amid weakness in the US dollar, but now it's trading in a narrow range of $22,740 to $23,350. Inflation Control: Fed Chairman's Comments Cause Short-Lived Bitcoin Price Spike Bitcoin's price was affected by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's recent remarks on inflation control. While Powell expressed his confidence in bringing inflation under control, he also stated that it will be a long and challenging process. During a speech at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Powell stated that there's no guarantee that inflation will go away easily. However, he also m...

Source: Pixabay/geralt The cryptocurrency market is down by 0.5% in the past 24 hours, with its total cap dipping to $891 billion overnight. This level represents a 2.3% rise in the last seven days, yet the market remains down by 15% in a month, by 31% in the past six months, and by 62.6% in a year. There's no escaping the fact that crypto remains in a bear market, with platforms such as Terra and FTX collapsing this year, and with trading volumes declining from over $300 billion per day in early 2021 to around $50 billion (and lower) in the latter half of 2022.  However, while bearish conditions mean that the chances of easy and big gains are significantly diminished, traders and analysts have increasingly been offering tips to their followers on how to survive the crypto bear market. From spreading risk/opportunity across a diversified portfolio to dollar-cost averaging, they decrease the chances of the average trader losing during the downturn, while also inc...

Over the last few years, numerous new smart contract-enabled public blockchains have come online, creating the need for cross-chain interoperability in the crypto space. As it stands, developers in the space are working hard to build out cross-chain architecture that facilitates communication between different blockchains.  In this guide, we will explain what cross-chain bridges are, how they work, and list the most popular ones.  What Are Cross-Chain Bridges? Cross-chain bridges, also known as blockchain bridges, are infrastructure protocols that connect independent blockchain networks, allowing the seamless transfer of digital assets from one blockchain to another blockchain, thus powering interoperability.   The blockchain ecosystem is increasingly becoming multi-chain, with dApps operating across a score of different blockchain networks, each with a unique approach to trust and security.  However, this development creates a problem for the ove...

A brand new eco friendly crypto called IMPT has now raised $11m for its platform, in the mission of redefining the market of carbon credits for the better.  Making carbon credits more transparent  The carbon credits markets are notoriously difficult to navigate and extremely opaque. This means that it is very difficult for them to be easily traded, which opens the door for large market inefficiencies.  Blockchain means that NFTs can be traded in a seamless manner 24/7, without relying on counterparties in order to facilitate the trades themselves, since smart contracts can do this.  Not only does this make the entire process more efficient, but it also means that it is more transparent.  When one shops through the IMPT shopping platform with ESG friendly brands (of which more than 25,000 have now onboarded via the IMPT affiliate programme), they are rewarded for cash back in IMPT tokens.  The level of cash back will vary from brand to...

Source: AdobeStock / piter2121 Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news . __________  Legal news Three Indian cryptocurrency companies are being investigated by several agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate and the income tax department, following an alert by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) about their alleged role in illicit drug transactions worth ₹28,000 crore, according to The Economic Times. The agencies identified some 200 transactions using digital currencies. The US Trustee overseeing the Celsius Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, William Harrington, has objected to the lender’s motion that would see 62 of its 275 employees paid a retention bonus totaling $2.96 million. “It defies logic, not to mention the Bankruptcy Code, that a company where the majority of its functions are no longer providing services...

  This week in crypto: Kevin O'Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, argued that if a US stablecoin bill passed, the bull market would restart, Michael Saylor pitched bitcoin to American investor Ray Dalio, and John Mack suggested that crypto may become a part of the increasingly digitized world of trading. Meanwhile, Bitcoin earned several Guinness World Records titles, 77% of surveyed El Salvador citizens said the country&rsquo ;s bitcoin adoption strategy has ‘ failed&rsquo ;, a Bank of America survey found that Americans aged between 21 and 42 are 7.5 times more likely to hold crypto, Brazil’s eighth largest city is set to allow residents to pay taxes in crypto from next year, and Fidelity decided to enable ETH trading starting October 28.  South Korea could roll out digital IDs as banks push for blockchain driver’s licenses, and Walmart-backed Indian commerce giant Flipkart will allow customers to buy items in the metaverse. As that was happening...

The pseudonymity of Bitcoin made it appealing to many new users, especially in its early days. However, its pseudonymity has become strained over the years as it began being surveyed by blockchain analysis firms and government agencies. As a result, privacy coins like Monero emerged, with embedded privacy protection at the base layer through the use of ring signatures.  Read on to find out what ring signatures are, how they work, and how they provide privacy for Monero users. What Are Ring Signatures? A ring signature is a privacy-enhancing , cryptographic digital signature used to protect any information on signatures made by Monero users when they want to make any transaction. Ring signatures are one of the earliest cryptographic creations ever to be made, and they remain effective to date. A ring signature typically involves a group of users who all own keys. When using a ring signature , it’ll appear as though a group of users have merged together (f...