Bitcoin Makes Progress in Clearing Backlog, but Lightning Network Capacity and Channels Dropped Amid Congestion

In the past week, the Bitcoin network has made progress in resolving its congestion issues. On May 7, 2023, the number of unconfirmed transactions reached an all-time high of over 500,000 transfers, causing a major backlog. However, as of today, that…

Over 440,000 Ethereum Added to Liquid Staking Derivatives in Two Weeks

In less than two weeks, the total value locked (TVL) in liquid staking derivatives has increased by 441,110 ether, worth roughly $793 million. While Lido Finance dominates the market with 74.35% of the TVL, competing liquid staking protocols Rocket Pool and…

Binance Launches Ether-Based Liquid Staking Product WBETH to Rival Liquid Staking Competitors

In an announcement made on April 24, Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange with the largest trade volume, unveiled its latest staking product, wrapped beacon eth (WBETH). This new addition to Binance’s staking solutions is built on the Ethereum network, joining the ranks…

Economist and Political Scientist Refute Claims of US Dollar’s Demise Despite Trend of De-Dollarization News

This year, there has been a flurry of news reports and opinion editorials discussing an alleged de-dollarization trend amid a wave of disclosures associated with the BRICS bloc. In a recent article, the American political scientist and author Ian Bremmer insisted…

ECB Board Member Warns EU’s New Crypto Rules Not Sufficient

A European Central Bank Supervisory Board member has warned that the crypto rules in the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) bill “will not be sufficient on their own.” While emphasizing that “MiCA will set out important safeguards to prevent incidents similar…

Bitcoin Halving Approaches: Less Than 400 Days Until Block Reward Subsidy Is Cut in Half

According to current statistics, the Bitcoin network is fewer than 56,000 blocks away and less than 400 days away from the next reward halving. After the next halving, the block reward will be reduced by 50%, and the current block subsidy…

US Government Remains a Top Bitcoin Holder With Seized Stash Valued at $5.6 Billion

As of March 25, 2023, the U.S. government held 205,515 bitcoins worth $5.6 billion, which is approximately 1.06% of the circulating supply, according to current statistics. The cache of bitcoins is a result of three forfeitures that began in 2020. Glassnode’s…

Bitcoin Network Preps for Another Difficulty Spike as Hashrate Remains Strong and Miners Profit Amid Price Surge

Following the last two difficulty increases on the Bitcoin network, another rise in difficulty is expected to take place on March 24, 2023. Statistics show that Bitcoin’s hashrate has remained high despite the last two adjustments, and block times have been…

Citizens Trust Bank to Hold $65 Million in USDC Reserves as Circle Expands Bank Partnerships

On Friday, the cryptocurrency firm and stablecoin issuer Circle announced that the financial institution Citizens Trust Bank will hold $65 million in usd coin cash reserves. Circle said the move is part of the company’s plan to allocate shares of the…

Nearly 3 Billion BUSD Stablecoins Have Been Removed From the Market in 6 Days

Six days ago, a few hours before the blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos announced it would no longer mint BUSD stablecoins, $2.86 billion worth of BUSD were redeemed. Currently, Binance is the most active exchange trading BUSD tokens, and the stablecoin still…