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Decentralized social network Friend.tech may be booming right now, but execs say decentralized social media apps still have an onboarding and retention issue to fix. Despite the recent hype around riend .tech, some decentralized social networks are still having a tough time getting users to sign up and stay on their social media platforms. Two executives in the decentralized social (DeSo) media space told Cointelegraph that as much as 99% of users moving into DeSo for the first time will end up quitting, either due to clunky onboarding or simply not knowing anyone. Ed Moss, the head of growth for layer-1 blockchain firm DeSo, said the process of cryptocurrencies from an exchange, transferring it to a wallet with an installed Chrome extension, and then paying high gas fees to transact on-chain or across chains is tedious and expensive for first-time users. “We've found that 99% of mainstream users will drop off at that first step, so simplifying this flow is mission critical.” ...

A new project aims to build a peer-to-peer marketplace to facilitate censorship-resistant, permissionless trading among Bitcoin users. Peer-to-peer (P2P) Bitcoin (BTC) marketplace s remain an important cog in allowing users to move money across borders, but their future depends on becoming permissionless and unstoppable according to Paxful’s Ray Youssef. Youssef, alongside Nicolas Gregory and Antoine Riard, is driving the development of Civ Kit, a P2P marketplace that will leverage the technology of Nostr and the Lightning Network to power a decentralized platform allowing censorship resistance and permissionless trading among peers. Youssef spoke exclusively to Cointelegraph’s Joe Hall at the Surfin’ Bitcoin conference hosted in Biarritz, France about the in-development project that is aiming for an alpha release toward the end of 2023. According to the white paper co-authored by Youssef, Gregory and Riard, the Civ Kit system will use the Nostr protocol for its P2P order book and...

To balance increased regulatory scrutiny with smooth user experiences, cryptocurrency players are turning to comprehensive identity verification platforms. People value the anonymity of a decentralized blockchain. Each user has a pseudonym in the form of a wallet address, which is stored in a decentralized ledger for every cryptocurrency transaction. So why do crypto platforms need identity verification? Fraud and the potential for harm have become too great to ignore, and regulators are paying attention, according to Christy Goldsmith Romero, a commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The commissioner also noted that cryptocurrencies are being used to fund cybercrime. “It’s essential for governments and particularly the industry to address what makes crypto so attractive to illicit finance,” Romero said, “and that is the allure of anonymity .” There remains uncertainty about what new regulations will dictate and how they will be administered. Crypto platforms m...

Pedro Magalhães, a blockchain developer who claims to have reverse-engineered Brazil's pilot CBDC has found code that would allow accounts to be frozen or drained at will. A blockchain developer who claims to have reverse-engineered the source code of Brazil’s pilot central bank digital currency has discovered functions in the code that would allow a central authority to freeze funds or reduce balances.  He has since argued, however, that there could be situations that such functions could be beneficial. The source code of the Real Digital pilot project was posted on GitHub portal on July 6 by Brazil’s top bank. It was explained at the time that the Real Digital pilot project is intended for use only in a test environment and that the “presented architecture” may be subject to additional changes. Pedro Magalhães — a blockchain developer and founder of tech consulting firm Iora Labs — later that day claimed to have been able to “reverse engineer” the open source code of Banco...

Bitcoin ETFs are back in the spotlight after several companies filed with the SEC. This week’s episode of Market Talks discusses why approval would be a big deal for Bitcoin. In this week’s episode of Market Talks , Cointelegraph welcomes Natalie Brunell, a podcast host, educator and media commentator in the Bitcoin space. Her podcast, Coin Stories , consistently ranks among the top 50 to 100 on Apple podcasts. She has over 300,000 Twitter followers, and is an award-winning TV journalist and former investigative reporter. Brunell explains how Bitcoin (BTC) is a tool for the financial empowerment of billions of people worldwide and how the depreciating United States dollar is stripping away people’s economic dignity. The elephant in the room when discussing Bitcoin with someone new to the crypto space is its volatility and risk factor. Brunell describes how to overcome this, and how to explain that Bitcoin might be better than traditional assets, including stocks and real estate. Brune...

Which age group owns the most crypto? We’ve analyzed the latest studies on cryptocurrency adoption to explore the ownership trends among different generations . Millennial dominance in crypto adoption Millennials seem to have the highest ownership rates among all generations. They are the dominant group of crypto enthusiasts, accounting for 46% of the respondents, the study by Bitget, a crypto derivative and copy trading platform, shows. The company analyzed over 255,000 survey responses from 26 countries between July 2022 and January 2023. They categorized participants into four age groups: baby boomers (born pre-1964), Gen Xers (born 1965-1980), millennials (born 1981-1996), and Gen Z (born post-1997).  Millennials and Gen Z have the highest crypto ownership rates | Source: Bitget The Bitget study also suggests millennials and Gen Z individuals are more favorable towards cryptocurrencies due to their familiarity with the internet and digital technologies. Growing up in ...

Not all exchanges have disclosed wallet addresses for the funds, however. According to a new report published by blockchain analytics firm Nansen on June 14, most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges adopted user protection funds amid the collapse of FTX. Together, exchanges such as Binance, OKX and Bitget have more than $2 billion combined in nominal fiat protection funds . Meanwhile, Huobi’s insurance fund is collateralized by 20,000 Bitcoin (BTC), while Coinbase grants up to 150,000 British pounds ($189,140) worth of insurance to U.K. customers’ accounts. The Nansen researchers wrote: “Proof of Reserves should become the minimum standard in the exchange industry, However, as stated above, these are both positive indicators for an exchange but do not guarantee its solvency.” Among other items, Binance has maintained the top spot with regard to both spot and derivatives trading volume. In the spot sector, the exchange had an overall market share of 69% and a monthly trading volume...

Prime Minister Daniel Risch of Liechtenstein told local papers that Bitcoin is set to play a growing role in government services payments. Liechtenstein Prime Minister Daniel Risch announced plans to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as a form of payment for government services. As reported in local news, the micro-European nation continues to embrace blockchain technologies.  Risch, who also serves as finance minister is quoted as saying: “A payment option with Bitcoin is coming.” However, he did not give a timeframe. Moreover, the principality is unlikely to accept Bitcoin and “HODL” or hold onto the Satoshis it receives. Instead, it will accept deposits in Bitcoin and immediately exchange them for the Swiss franc, the national currency. The direct exchange into fiat money sidesteps the currency’s volatility. Despite not being an EU member, Liechtenstein is part of the European Economic Area (EEA), where the EU's forthcoming Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation could apply. This regula...