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The exchange's share in crypto spot trading was slashed by one-third over the past year. Crypto exchange Binance's market share in spot trading has fallen to 40% in late 2023, compared to 62% a year ago. According to the November 6 report by blockchain analytics firm 0xScope, the exchange has lost one-third of its market share in the past 12 months. "Binance's spot trading volume has seen a significant decline in the past year, perhaps due to its listing strategy," researchers wrote, "Most popular coins experienced a downturn immediately after being listed on Binance." At the same time, Korean crypto exchange Upbit saw the most significant increase, with its spot market share increasing from 5% to 15.3% during the same period. When all crypto trading volumes, including both spot and derivatives, are included, Binance's market share came at 51.2% in October 2023. This was followed by OKX (13.4%), Bybit (9.6%), Bitget (7.0%), and MEXC Global (6....

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.” ...

The venture firm has introduced its crypto fund for Web3 infrastructure and applications, promising a collaborative approach with startup founders. Venture capital firm Vessel Capital has announced a $55 million fund to invest in Web3 infrastructure and applications, TechCrunch reported. According to the founders, their goal is not to scale, but rather to assist crypto founders working on early-stage startups to launch and grow their projects. “Crypto has become more global, so it’s not the same circle and group you might have seen in 2018-2020, and we want to be able to help more people,” Mirza Uddin, one of the co-founders, said. Aside from Vessel, Uddin is also head of business development at Injective Labs. Other co-founders include Eric Chen, CEO of the Injective protocol, and Anthony Anzalone, co-founder of Burnt (formerly Burnt Finance), a Web3 firm building XION, a layer-1 blockchain for consumer adoption. 1/ I'm excited to announce the public launch of @VesselVC, the o...

Play-to-earn projects live and die based on whether they have an influx of new users or the means to continue rewarding existing ones. All of this lacks sustainability in the long run. Web3 game development company QORPO says there are significant shortcomings in the play-to-earn space — and a drastically different approach is needed to create games that retain users and achieve sustainable tokenomics. Ever since the heady days of 2021 — when play-to -earn games reached their peak — Web3 has been in a period of reckoning. At its height, Axie Infinity was helping players in emerging economies like Ghana and the Philippines earn substantially more than the minimum wage. A crushing token bridge hack and a cooling market later led to rewards being cut considerably. When you zoom out, only a small handful of projects have achieved sustainable growth — and this relates to inherent flaws in the concept of play-to-earn. Entry costs can be high, with players sometimes having to splash out hun...

Layer-1 block chain Terra has shut down its website to protect its users from hackers and phishing attacks. The company said it’s better for its users to avoid accessing their website until a new announcement is made. 1/ Update: The terra(dot) money domains have successfully been frozen to prevent further user phishing scams, but a full resolution is still underway. Please read the following for more information — Terra Powered by LUNA (@terra_money) August 22, 2023 Shutting down the website comes from hacking attacks the company suffered during the weekend. On Aug. 19, Terra posted a warning announcement, telling its users not to interact with the Terra Money website until new updates about its status were published. To all Terra users, Please do not interact with any sites with the terra(dot)money domain until we put out another update. Although sites are coming back online, the team is still working to secure full access to the domain. During this time,...

Find out why it’s crucial for peer-to-peer (P2P) payment networks to be able to operate offline. What is a peer-to-peer payment protocol, and how does it work?Is Bitcoin truly a peer-to-peer protocol?Why did Satoshi Nakamoto describe Bitcoin as “peer-to-peer electronic cash”?What about other digital payment systems?What would it take for CBDCs to be considered peer-to-peer?What is machine-to-machine commerce, and how can it benefit from P2P payments?Do we even need these peer-to-peer protocols?Is there a true peer-to-peer payment solution available? What is a peer-to-peer payment protocol, and how does it work? Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment protocols are sets of rules and standards that enable transactions directly between two parties without intermediaries like banks or payment processors. P2P payment protocols increase security with cryptographic encryptions and provide lower transaction fees, as there are no intermediaries involved. Blockchain-based P2P protocols are widely used in th...

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...

Although utilization rose, protocol and supply revenue declined, as more providers slashed fees to incentivize adoption. According to a July 13 report by Messari, Filecoin currently averages 954.2 pebibytes (1.07 billion gigabytes) worth of storage deals on its network, compared with 12.2 exbibytes (14.1 billion gigabytes) worth of raw storage capacity. Until recently, uptake had been sluggish due to high storage costs compared with centralized alternatives such as Amazon Web Services. During the most recent quarter, the protocol generated 2.5 million of its own Filecoin (FIL) in revenue, amounting to $11.5 million, representing a decline of 40.7% compared to last year’s second quarter in dollar terms. However, the decline was partly due to a sharp drop in the price of FIL tokens due to the 2022 cryptocurrency bear market, which was somewhat offset by the sharp increase in active storage deals. The price plunge also affected supply-side revenue, or money earned from block rewards...

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...

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...

According to Elliptic, a blockchain analysis company, an estimated 5,500 crypto wallets have been affected by the attack. Atomic Wallet, a noncustodial decentralized wallet, has been hit by a staggering exploit, leading to users reporting losses of their entire cryptocurrency portfolios. This unforeseen breach has sent shockwaves through the crypto community, as Atomic Wallet's fundamental premise relies on users assuming full responsibility for storing their assets securely.  The losses from the Atomic Wallet heist have now skyrocketed to over $100 million, according to Analysis conducted by Elliptic. This alarming figure highlights the severity of the attack, which compromised an estimated 5,500 crypto wallets. Despite the magnitude of the incident, Atomic Wallet has yet to provide any explanation regarding the root cause of these substantial losses. This has led to mounting concerns from frustrated users who anxiously await clarification and reassurance from the company. Mea...

The firm aims to fund startups building infrastructure for Web3 and other decentralized technology projects. Early-stage venture capital firm Dispersion Capital recently exited stealth to launch a $40 million fund for startups working on infrastructure for Web3 projects.  Per an announcement, Dispersion Capital has already invested in 20 companies, “with a majority receiving follow-on financing.” Dispersion Capital is a global early stage web3 VC fund. We invest in the disruption of the blockchain technology emerging from the web3 infrastructure reinvention which we are calling the “Dispersion Economy”. Dispersion specializes in web3 infrastructure and platforms. — Dispersion Capital (@DispersionVC) May 11, 2022 The firm aims to invest in startups working to “advance cutting-edge infrastructure needed for a multichain, multi-currency, and multi-platform world,” with a particular focus on Web3 and decentralized platforms. Dispersion Capital’s backing comes from several high-profil...

The UK Treasury is seeking input on taxing the DeFi space, and on provisions around staking and lending. 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 taxation arm of His Majesty’s Treasury in the United Kingdom has proposed new regulatory changes to simplify how DeFi returns are taxed and reduce the “administrative burden” for taxpayers. A DeFi options protocol has raised $17 million for a buy-side marketplace and an expanded number of listed tokens. USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle launched a cross-chain USDC transfer protocol between Ethereum and Avalanche. Ordinals Finance, an Ethereum-based DeFi protocol, allegedly rug-pulled its users for over a million dollars and erased its presence from all social media platforms as news about the same broke out. The top 100 DeFi tokens by market capitalization had another mixed week in terms of price ...