Cryptocurrency users are once again reminded about the importance of using only authentic hardware wallets.

Japan has emerged with the highest losses worldwide from North Korean cyberattacks targeting crypto exchanges, as recent reports indicate that Japans financial institutions and individuals incurred approximately 30% of the total losses attributed to North Korean crypto hacking.

The Japanese government has been particularly vocal about the need for enhanced cybersecurity measures to combat these malicious activities. But despite ongoing efforts to bolster their defenses, Japanese exchanges have been a primary target, suffering substantial financial losses and tarnishing the countrys reputation as a secure hub for digital assets.

Japans 30% Crypto Losses

The Elliptic report from a leading blockchain analytics firm, Nikkei, reveals that Japan suffered a staggering $721 million in losses, accounting for about 30% of the total amount hacked globally. 

The numbers were culled from hacks that occurred between 2017 and 2022, reaching a total amount of $2.3 billion. Notably, in 2022 alone, the digital asset ecosystem lost an estimated $640 million worth of cryptocurrency.

A Reuters report from the United Nations revealed that digital currency theft exploits in North Korea hit a new high in 2022. The report also showed that the second most-attacked nation was Vietnam, losing approximately $540 million within the same period.

The United States was the third nation on the list, and Hong Kong came out in fourth place, with $497 million and $281 million losses, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Elliptic findings shed light on the vulnerability of the Japanese cryptocurrency market, including that of the Vietnamese.

It noted that both markets have lax security measures, making it an attractive target for hackers seeking to exploit weaknesses and gain illicit access to digital assets.

The significant losses incurred by Japan reflect the growing threat posed by North Korean hacking groups, which have increasingly targeted cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms worldwide.

Notable Exploits From North Koreas Lazarus Group

The Lazarus Group is believed to act on behalf of the North Korean regime to bypass international sanctions and fund illicit activities.

This group has orchestrated some of the most significant exploits in the cryptocurrency world, with the Ronin Bridge exploit and the...

Justin Sun (CoinDesk)

(Getty Images)

(Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

In this market, it's hard to tell where the bitcoin price and ether price will head next. (Shutterstock)

The EU flag (Christian Lue/Unsplash)

LDO price is well-positioned to gain another 50% by June based on a classic bullish reversal setup after Lido DAO rebounds 40%.

After a disastrous week, the digital currency market , including the top 5 cryptos, is ready for a recovery. According to CoinGecko, the crypto markets total market cap increased by nearly 2% in the past 24 hours.

Although the broader financial market is still closely monitoring the US debt ceiling crisis, Bitcoin and Ethereums recent localized rallies, along with the strong performances of the top 5 cryptos, pulled the market upward.

Top 5 Cryptos Expected To Pad Investors Portfolio With Gains 

KAVA

Although last week was painful for investors, KAVA saw gains in both TVL and price. According to DefiLlama, the Kava ecosystems TVL grew by over 3% in the past 24 hours with steady gains since last week. KAVA itself is experiencing bullish pressure, with the token up more than 43% in the past seven days. 

The tokens current momentum seemed to be slowing down, showing signs that KAVA may face losses in the short term. However, a rebound from $0.782 will open the path to $1.46 as investors gain confidence along with the general market rebound. 

LDO 

After implementing Lido V2 in February, Lido has exempted itself from the general market downturn in the past few weeks. According to CoinGecko, the price of LDO rose by nearly 23% since last week. This shows investors strength along with a strong strategic partnership to ensure Lidos dominance in the DeFi industry. 

Calling all...

Heres how the growth in PEPE has so far compared with that of its predecessor meme coins: Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE).

PEPEs Peak Trading Volume Hasnt Been Near DOGE Or SHIBs Yet

Pepe Coin, a token based on the popular internet frog meme avatar, suddenly burst into the scene last month. The coin has enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity, with its best period coming in the first week of this month, where it registered a price increase of more than 1,000%.

Since this amazing rally earlier in the month, however, the cryptocurrency has seemed to have run out of steam. Nonetheless, market participants have still been wondering about the long-term prospects of the coin, as the meme coin has been looked at as the next big thing after DOGE and SHIB.

But cab PEPE really compare with these top two meme coins by market cap?

In its latest insight, the on-chain analytics firm Santiment has compared a couple of metrics between these three assets, to see where PEPE stands against them.

The first indicator of interest here is the trading volume, which is a measure of the daily total amount of a given cryptocurrency thats being transacted on the blockchain.

Here is a chart that highlights how the trading volume for PEPE has looked recently, as well as the behavior the indicator showed during the respective peaks of Dogecoin and Shiba Inu:

As displayed in the above graph, PEPE has observed a peak trading volume of $2 billion so far, which is quite sizeable in isolation, but when compared to what Dogecoin and Shiba Inu saw during their best periods, the spike appears very small.

Naturally, these humongous spikes in DOGEs and SHIBs trading volumes occurred only later in the lifetimes of the assets, while the frog is still very much in its infancy.

Although PEPEs trading volume is significantly lower, it leaves room for growth and untapped potential, explains Santiment.

However, it also means that the liquidity and retail participation in the market for PEPE is far less than what DOGE and SHIB experienced in previous years. In fact, it seems the retail landscape has changed dramatically, with retail participation appearing nearly nonexistent, the on-chain data aggregator added.

The other metric of relevance here is the ...

While DeFi may be the wave of the future, the industry can still learn smart practices from leading CeFi companies.

(Bitski)

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Ripple, David Schwartz, has provided valuable information about the ongoing debate surrounding the burning of XRP tokens.

The debate about burning XRP tokens has been hot within the XRP community, and Schwartzs insights shed light on the XRPLs governance structure and the decentralized nature of the network.

The discussion primarily revolved around the authority and decision-making process concerning the XRP held in escrow and the role of validators on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

Burn Debate Insight From Schwartz

Schwartz highlighted the importance of understanding the fundamental principles and mechanisms behind the XRPL. He explained that the XRPL operates on a consensus protocol where validators, distributed across the network, play a crucial role in maintaining the ledgers integrity. And validators are responsible for verifying transactions and reaching a consensus on the XRPL.

Regarding the burning of XRP tokens, Schwartz emphasized that the XRPLs design does not include a built-in mechanism for burning XRP.

The CTO also stated that changes to the XRPLs code are governed by a decentralized process, ensuring that all participants have a voice in determining the networks future.

So altering the XRPLs code to incorporate such a feature would require extensive consensus and agreement from the majority of validators, around 80%.

One of the key points raised during the conversation was the claim made by an XRP community member, suggesting that the XRPL would become a permissioned network if validators had the power to determine the fate of the XRP in escrow.

This statement sparked a significant amount of discussion within the XRP community, as the decentralized nature of the XRPL has always been a critical aspect of its design.

Regarding that, Schwartz clarified that while validators play a crucial role in the XRPLs consensus process, the networks nodes can accept or decline amendments voted into effect by validators.

This system ensures that the power to influence the fate of the XRP held in escrow is not concentrated solely within the validators hands.

Instead, it allows for a decentralized decision-making process that considers the perspectives and interests of various participants.

XRP Price Dips In Recent Days

Amid the discussion in the community, the tokens price has experienced a minor decline in recent trading sessions. Over the past seven days, XRPs price has seen a marginal decrease of 0.56%, indicating a relatively stable trend.

Were seeing another wave of Bitcoin interest, largely driven by business and institutional adoption, says Alex Leishman, River CEO. Its not fueled by hype.

Bitcoin technology and financial services company, River, has announced a successful $35 million equity round in its Series B fundraising effort. Led by Kingsway Capital, the round also saw participation from notable investors such as Peter Thiel, Cygni, Goldcrest and Valor Equity Partners. The company provides a range of Bitcoin services, including zero-fee recurring orders, full-reserve custody, mining and a Bitcoin wallet that supports both on-chain and Lightning Network transactions.

Alex Leishman, the CEO of River, highlighted the growing interest in Bitcoin driven by business and institutional adoption. He emphasized the importance of Bitcoin as a secure path to a stronger and more transparent global economy, especially in light of recent bank failures and bailouts. Leishman stated, "Adopting Bitcoin with a trusted partner is no longer the speculative choice, but rather the prudent one."

According to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine, River has experienced significant growth in demand for its enterprise Lightning API, River Lightning. This API enables companies to integrate with the Lightning Network and facilitate instant Bitcoin payments. Notably, El Salvador's Chivo wallet relies on River Lightning for Lightning transactions. The surge in demand for Lightning transactions, driven by rising on-chain fees, has prompted River to expand its B2B River Lightning segment.

Leishman emphasized River's commitment to responsible and reliable practices, setting the company apart from others in the crypto industry. He noted, "We have not taken shortcuts or reckless risks with our regulatory strategy and product offering. We're a mission-driven company with full-reserve Bitcoin custody, and will continue to play our part in moving society towards a brighter economic future powered by Bitcoin."

A look at the role of central limit order book DEXs in DeFi.

River Financial CEO Alex Leishman at BTC 2022. (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel sits on the Auradine board of directors (CoinDesk)

In a dynamic move towards digital transformation, BNY Mellon, one of the oldest banks in the United States, is pushing forward with its initiatives focused on distributed ledger technology, tokenization, and digital cash.

Roman Regelman, the CEO of securities services and digital, revealed in a recent interview that the bank has been prioritizing digital assets for the past two years in response to increasing client demand.

This latest disclosure comes amid the US banking crisis and United States regulators continuous crackdown on the crypto industry, a sector of the global digital asset market.

Notably, yesterday, the US Securities Exchange and Commission (SEC) responded to Coinbases complaint saying crypto rulemaking may take years and that it is in no rush.

BNY Mellon Embraces Digital Asset Including Crypto?

While BNY Mellon did not explicitly mention cryptocurrencies as part of its digital asset focus, the American Banker reported on the banks prudent motion into the crypto-verse. CEO Robin Vince, during the banks first-quarter earnings call, highlighted the banks meticulous and methodical approach, characterizing their progress as being exceptionally slow.

To demonstrate its commitment to digital assets, BNY Mellon is actively pursuing three key initiatives. This includes actively expanding its services to include custody and clearing solutions for digital assets, with the aim of diversifying its offerings and accommodating a wider range of asset classes.

Regelman revealed the banks vision for digital assets going forward, saying that Everything that we do, we want to do for digital assets.

BNY Mellon is also placing significant emphasis on the adoption of blockchain technology and other innovative advancements to modernize its infrastructure. This decision is aimed at improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and enabling real-time capabilities across the banks systems.

Another initiative the 240-year-old...

Deluged by NFTs and memecoins, Bitcoin has suddenly become a fix it.

Pepecoin (PEPE) has been exhibiting a surprising level of calm in its price movement lately. However, contrary to what many may assume, this could be a red flag for Bitcoin (BTC) and the entire cryptocurrency market.

According to a Bloomberg report, when an asset experiences an extended period of calm, it can be a sign of market euphoria and an overheated market.

This raises concerns about the sustainability of the current market trend, especially in the context of the cryptocurrency landscape.

Lets dive deeper into what an overheated market means and how it could impact the king of cryptocurrencies and the market as a whole.

PEPE And The Implications Of An Overheated Market

As reported by Bloomberg, the current market behavior of PEPE is causing concerns for the broader cryptocurrency landscape, particularly for Bitcoin.

This is due to the fact that the rise of PEPE was accompanied by a surge in speculative trading and a frenzy of buying activity, which could indicate market euphoria. 

Coinciding with this, the alpha coin has experienced a drop in value and a period of consolidation.

When the market becomes overheated, it means that the prices of assets have risen to an unsustainable level, fueled by excessive optimism and speculation.

In such a scenario, investors tend to overlook the fundamental value of the assets and focus more on the potential for quick profits. 

This results in a significant increase in demand, which drives up the prices further, creating a bubble that is bound to burst at some point.

In an overheated market, the prices of assets are often overinflated and do not reflect their true value.

This creates a risk of a sharp correction, which could result in significant losses for investors who have overvalued their investments. 

Moreover, such a correction could lead to a chain reaction that could affect the entire market, causing panic selling and further price drop...

(Shutterstock)

The Asymmetry safETH token represents a basket of liquid staking derivatives. (Bartolomeo Cavarozzi/Metropolitan Art Museum, modified by CoinDesk)

The vulnerability was located in a file that translates human-readable code into machine language for storage.

Youth-led Climate Justice by Global Fund for Children (GlobalGiving)

Drew Austin (Red Beard Ventures)

One community member expressed their decision to part ways with the party, arguing that the Democratic Party is playing god with the future of American innovation.

Ledger, the hardware wallet provider, recently upgraded its called the Ledger Recover that the crypto community is vehemently rejecting.

While upgrades are critical considering the fast-paced nature of cryptocurrencies, Ledger is now being criticized after offering an option for users to store their seed phrases online. The hardware wallet manufacturer said this feature makes it easier for users to quickly recover their seed phrases in case they misplace them.

The Ledger Recover Feature Rejected

The subscription-based service called Ledger Recover effectively grants the manufacturer access to clients seed phrases; defeating the purpose of using a cold wallet in the first place.

Related Reading: DOJ Crypto Task Force Goes After DeFi Hackers As Illicit Activity Soars

The platform says Recover is an ID-based key recovery service that provides backup for seed phrases for coins like Bitcoin.

Earlier, Ledgers co-founder said Recover will split a seed phrase into three shards. A section is distributed to Ledger, Coincover a crypto custody firm, and EscrowTech, a company that escrows codes. Therefore, if a user loses access to their cold wallet by misplacing their private key, two of the three custodians can combine their code to recover the wallets contents.

While this could help, as it is designed, a cold or hardware wallet is non-custodial. Technically, it should be delinked from the internet. By default, Ledger wallet holders should always be responsible for their seed phrases.

Seed phrases allow users to sign transactions confirming that they are the true owners. Whenever they are misplaced, the token owner losses access to all their coins. 

Although the Ledger Recover feature is a precaution, some even claim this move makes Ledger a hot wallet. A hot wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet connected to the internet and is often the target of nefarious agents. Whenever hackers strike, they aim to wipe clean assets stored in hot wallets like MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet.

KYC Requiremen...

(Pixabay)

This is an opinion editorial by Heritage Falodun, a Bitcoin consultant and computer scientist based in Nigeria.

On May 3, 2023, during a federal executive council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the council chamber in Abuja, the Nigerian government approved the official use of blockchain technology in the country.

Nigerias minister of communications and digital economy, professor Ali Isa Pantami, disclosed the official approval of The National Blockchain Policy For Nigeria, stating that the the new policy was a product of consultations with 56 institutions and personalities whose end goal is to institutionalize blockchain technology in Nigerias economy and security sectors.

Nigerias History With Bitcoin Regulation

Taking a deep dive into understanding the disposition of the Nigerian government toward blockchain-dependent innovations over the years will paint a clear picture of how crucial and important this recent policy and federal approval is for the Bitcoin space in Nigeria and Africa at large.

On January 12, 2017, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular which cautioned financial institutions and the general public about the risks associated with blockchain-dependent technologies, such as Bitcoin. Building on that previous warning and directive, on February 5, 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria officially prohibited banks from facilitating any Bitcoin- and crypto-related transactions by reissuing the circular a ban that remains unreversed as at the time of writing.

This restrictive policy come at a time when adoption of Bitcoin and shitcoin-related activities was on the rise in Nigeria, and it was a restriction that...

1,032 addresses control over 51.2 million Litecoin (LTC) in circulation, on-chain data from BitInfoCharts on May 15.

Litecoin Under Siege?

Records from the Top 100 Litecoin Rich List show that 7,355,585 LTC in circulation worth $639,814,097 are controlled by 8.78% of all registered addresses. At the same time, 26,526,499 LTC worth over $2.3 billion is managed by 111 addresses, while 17,993,930 LTC exceeding $1.5 billion are held by 918 addresses.

As of May 15, there were 72,924,127 LTC in circulation. So this concentration alone means over 60% of all LTC in circulation are controlled by 1,032 addresses. Furthermore, the network will only dispense 84,000 LTC to miners as block rewards. 

Litecoin is a proof-of-work network like Bitcoin. It relies on a community of special nodes called miners to validate on-chain transactions and add them to the longest chain. For their participation, the lucky miner is rewarded 12.5 LTC per block every 2.5 minutes.

Based on the above statistics, whats notable is that the $2.3 billion of LTC at spot rates owned by 111 addresses represents the biggest concentration compared to any other range by address count.

To illustrate, 794,934 addresses holding between 0.01 and 0.1 LTC cumulatively own 29,508 LTC. With 794,934 addresses in this range, they are the highest number of LTC owners by wallet address count. 

However, considering their total holdings, these addresses are a minority since whales currently hold over 60% of the total circulating supply. Specifically, there are three whales with over 2 million LTC as of writing on May 15.

The largest LTC whale holds 2,504,667 LTC worth over $217 million. This address is active and constantly accumulates. Of note, the largest LTC whales began accumulating within the last five years from 2018. 

According to on-chain data by BitInfoCharts, the last time this address deposited LTC was on May 10, 2023. Meanwhile, the last withdrawal was in early January 2023.

For instance, the second largest LTC whale, with over 2.47 million coins, started depositing coins in mid-June 2022. He withdrew a por...

This is an opinion editorial by Nozomi Hayase, Ph.D., who has a background in psychology and human development. Disclaimer: Bitcoin 2023 and Bitcoin Magazine are both operated by BTC Inc.

With rising inflation and a growing number of bank failures, the dysfunctional nature of the fiat system becomes more apparent day by day. In the midst of this chaos, Bitcoin enthusiasts are staying calm, even generally hopeful about their futures.

As public trust in institutions weakens, governments around the world are gearing up for

central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a means of reasserting their authority over peoples money.

Thank God, we have Bitcoin!

Those of us who are fortunate to have found it are relieved that Bitcoin exists. As Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank once acknowledged, Bitcoin is an escape hatch from the financial surveillance state.

Bitcoin, the hardest money ever created, presents a real alternative to both current fiat currencies and CBDCs. Now, those who so choose dont have to go down the path leading toward a dystopian society. This might make us feel at ease. Some of you might think we can just HODL and maybe orange pill newcomers here and there, and simply wait for hyperbitcoinization. But I say, Not quite yet. We cant just sit back and relax.

We Bitcoiners have important tasks ahead: Bitcoin's battle against the fraudulent banking system is far from over. It is really only just beginning.

The Battle Is Beginning

Bitcoin, over the 14 years since its creation, has been slowly unveiling its revolutionary potential. Bitcoin is a form of digital gold that cannot be confiscated. As a saving technology, it provides inflation proofing, allowing us to store value securely. Its core feature of censorship resistance has also helped it to gain popularity, since the importance of having freedom money has become clearer to political dissidents and the oppressed the world over.

Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has wound down, and the...

How to create a $100M memecoin with ChatGPT, $50K portfolio handed over to AI targeting 500% return, and will writers have a job in future?

Data shows there has been a large spike in interest around stablecoins recently, a sign that investors of Bitcoin and other assets may be looking to exit.

Stablecoins Have Observed A Sharp Rise In Social Volume Recently

According to data from the on-chain analytics firm Santiment, there has been a major uptick in the social volume of the stablecoins recently. The social volume refers to an indicator that measures the total number of social media text documents that are talking about a certain topic or term.

The social media text documents here have been collected by Santiment and include a variety of sources like Reddit, Twitter, Telegram, and other internet forums.

Something to note about the metric is that it only tells us about the unique number of such posts that are mentioning the given term at least once. This means that even if a thread includes several mentions of the topic, its contribution towards the social volume will still remain only one unit.

The social volume can provide insight into the degree of attention any particular coin is getting on social media platforms. Whenever this indicators value goes up, it means that the general interest in the asset among investors is rising currently.

Now, here is a chart that shows the 7-day change in the social volume for the various assets in the cryptocurrency sector (including the stablecoins):

As displayed in the above graph, the social volume of a lot of the volatile assets has registered a negative 7-day change, implying that there is a lesser amount of discussion happening related to them right now as compared to a week ago.

Some of the assets like Bitcoin have seen a positive 7-day change in the metric, but the increase has only been minuscule for them, implying that their social volume is relatively unchanged.

Interestingly, while the volatile assets may have seen decreasing or sideways-moving social volumes, the stablecoins have seen a completely different trend with the metric; their social volumes have sharply surged in the past week.

USD Coin (USDC), which is the stablecoin second only to Tether (USDT) in terms of market cap, has seen an extraordinar...

The number of on-chain Ripple (XRP) transactions on the XRPL is down 65% from 2.5 million on March 19 to less than 900,000 on May 14, 2023.

XRP Transactions Crashing

As of May 14, 2023, 852,000 transactions were processed by the XRPL, a decentralized blockchain network by Ripple Labs curated for fast value transfer. This represents a 65% drop from March 19 peak when the total number of transactions on the XRPL stood at over 2.5 million.

Notably, there has been no solid technical reason, such as blockchain or node vulnerability in the XRPL, during this period to explain the contraction in transaction count.

However, whats evident is that the crypto market has been under pressure in the last two months from March to May 2023. This might have contributed to the drop in the number of on-chain transactions.

On March 29, XRP prices peaked at around $0.58. This was 10 days after the XRP transaction count surged to the highest level on March 19. From the second half of March, however, transaction count and XRP prices have been falling.

XRP prices are down 27% to $0.42 as of writing on mid-May, down from $0.58 registered on March 29. However, whether XRP prices will continue to track lower, mirroring the number of XRPL transaction count, remains uncertain.

Overall, the number of on-chain transactions can directly influence transaction fees and prices. Moreover, it can provide insight into the level of demand for the cryptocurrency and the blockchain network. The more demand for the underlying networks token, the higher the trading volumes, and this upsurge can influence prices. 

On the XRPL, users pay fees using XRP. Therefore, the higher the demand for XRP in transaction settlement, the more upward pressure there will be for the native currency. 

The contraction in the number of XRP transactions is at the back of declining prices. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the drop in XRP prices wasnt an isolated event. Like the other crypto prices, XRP and top coins, including BTC and ETH, have been retracing from recent peaks registered in March and April 2023. 

As an illustration, after surging to as high as $31,000, BTC prices have since dropped, falling to as low as $25,800 on May 12.

Meanwhile,  XRP is currently trading at $0.41, down from $0.58 posted in late March 2023.

The SEC-Ripple Case

The drop in XRP transaction count can also be due to market sentiment as the community monitors the ongoing SEC-Ripple case which might end this year.

The advantage of Web3 is that it grants users ownership of their data. Creators will be able to treat their data as their own personal property and be paid for whatever content they create, and others consume.

The export privilege ban comes from Griffiths conviction and further impacts his involvement in international trade and transactions.

Fans help the flow of air so that Bitfarms mining rigs can stay cool. (Eliza Gkritsi/CoinDesk)

Eun Young Choi (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

The G-7 summit is set to take place in Hiroshima, Japan this year. (Getty Images)

Celsius ETH staking with Figment (Arkham Intelligence)

Doge CEO, the cryptocurrency inspired by Dogecoin, has witnessed an extraordinary surge, skyrocketing nearly 200% in the face of an ongoing mania surrounding meme coins. 

As investors continue to embrace the eccentricity and unpredictability of the crypto world, Doge CEO has emerged as a captivating contender in the market. 

Fuelled by the same irreverent spirit that propelled Dogecoin to unexpected heights, Doge CEO has managed to capture the attention of investors searching for the next big hit in the realm of meme-inspired cryptocurrencies.

Doge CEO: Investor Optimism In The Meme Coin Revolution

The remarkable growth and upward trajectory of Doge CEO token exemplify the continued enthusiasm among retail investors for the burgeoning meme coin revolution. 

In an astounding turn of events, the price of DOGECEO on CoinGecko has reached an infinitesimal value of $0.000000000007182, marking a surge of 4.9% in the last 24 hours and a staggering rally of 196.7% over the past week.

The Dogecoin clone has garnered attention from experts who consider it an opportune moment to establish significant holdings. Nevertheless, it is important to exercise caution, as the inherent volatility within the meme coin landscape warrants prudence.

The increasing popularity of the Doge CEO token demonstrates the lasting appeal of meme coins to individual investors. As these investors actively engage in the market, their strong inclination towards meme coins continues to be apparent.

With its status as a low-cap meme coin, DOGECEO has become a focal point for those seeking potentially lucrative opportuniti...

(Getty Images)

A daily newspaper in Ireland released a statement saying it was deliberately deceived into believing the identity of a guest writer, which turned out to be AI.

This is an opinion editorial by Robert Hall, a content creator and small business owner.

If you follow U.S. politics, you understand that the country is on the brink of defaulting on its massive $31 trillion debt.

At the crux of the issue is that there are Republicans in one corner, who control the House of Representatives with a slim 222 to 213 majority. In the other corner, the U.S. Senate and the White House, under Joe Biden, are controlled by Democrats.

Both parties are diametrically opposed to what the other wants. Republicans want to significantly cut spending in order to raise the debt limit for a year. Democrats want a clean debt ceiling bill passed without strings attached. As you can see, both parties starting positions are nowhere near each other. Ultimately, this has turned into a game of chicken based on who will blink first. Its all very tiring.

Is this the way a government should be run? It is absolutely crazy that these leaders would risk defaulting on money that has already been spent. This is like if you or I whipped out a credit card, went crazy buying all kinds of stuff, and did not make the monthly payment at the end of the month.

The government has been able to run up the debt for a long time because it has had willing participants, such as pension funds, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and regular joes who lent them money by buying treasury bills because they believed they would be paid back with interest.

This has been the case for a long time, but now this arrangement is being called into question with the will they, wont they bull going on in Congress right now.

Seriously Broke

Are these politicians so detached from reality to think that, once the debt limit is breached and people stop getting paid what is owed to them, people will go right back to loaning them money?

If they do, they will demand even higher interest rates. The government cant even afford the rates we have now! What happens if the borrowing cost for the government goes to 10...

The Bitcoin Inscriptions craze is spreading to Dogecoin. The number of transactions that the Dogecoin blockchain has had to process in the last few days have risen to an all-time high, mainly due to the new DRC20 token standard.

DRC20 tokens on Dogecoin are an experimental token standard that works similarly to the minting and transfer of fungible tokens via the Ordinals protocol on the Bitcoin blockchain. Technically, this is possible because Dogecoin was created by inventor Billy Markus forking Lucky Coin, which is itself a fork of Bitcoin.

Dogecoin Transactions Surpass All-Time High By 3x

In the last 7 days, the number of transactions recorded on the Dogecoin blockchain have skyrocketed. Before the DRC20 token standard was created, the Dogecoin network recorded no more than 23,754 transactions per day throughout May, according to data from BitInfoCharts. Last Saturday, May 13, Dogecoin saw a staggering 628,209 transactions.

To put that in perspective: The highest number ever recorded before this new alltime-high was on December 20, 2013, when the network processed just 201,440 transactions. In comparison, the total number of transactions that took place on Saturday (628,209) is more than three times the historic high from 2013.

The madness first started rolling on Tuesday, May 9, when the transaction count doubled to over 40,000 and remained at that level over the next three days. On 11 May (Thursday) the Cambrian explosion occurred when the number of transactions rose above 450,000 for the first time. The sudden surge in transactions is mainly due to the registration process used to create the Doginals and DRC20 tokens.

#Dogecoin transactions are skyrocketing. New ATH is 3x the previous (Dec. 2013)

Why? The new DRC20 Tokens and "Doginals" pic.twitter.com/20DXWjYGTh

Jake Simmons (@realJakeSimmons) May 15, 2023

DRC20 And Doginals Spark Controversy

In response to the emergence of DRC20 tokens, many members of the community enthusiastically began exploring and minting these tokens. However, Dogecoin core maintainer Patrick Lodder has little enthusiasm for the new trend. Json doginals minting scams,...

A lawmaker allegedly sold over $4 million in cryptocurrency prior to the countrys enforcement of the Travel Rule from the Financial Action Task Force.

Zero-knowledge proofs could be a viable means to address recent network congestion and high fees on the Bitcoin blockchain.

trading data (AhmadArdity/Pixabay)

Pepecoin (PEPE) has recently gained significant attention on social media platforms, outperforming Bitcoin in terms of buzz and hype.

As the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve rapidly, the power of social media in driving prices and market sentiment cannot be underestimated. 

With Pepecoin generating a surge of interest and excitement among investors and traders, the question now arises: could this trigger a renewed bullish run for PEPE?

Pepecoin, named after the popular Pepe the Frog meme, has emerged as a promising new player in the cryptocurrency space. Its community-driven approach and unique branding have attracted a loyal following, which has helped it gain traction on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit. 

Pepecoin (PEPE) Emerges As A Social Media Darling

Pepecoin (PEPE) has taken the cryptocurrency world by storm, surpassing Bitcoin and other popular digital assets in terms of social media buzz. This newfound attention has triggered a surge in discussions and mentions of PEPE on various social media platforms, as tweeted by LunarCrush, a leading social analytics platform. 

TRENDING

$pepe is now leading social engagement activity, even higher than #bitcoin at the moment.

This metric indicates extremely heavy community participation in social posts, measured by likes, retweets, comments, bookmarks, influential account participation, and more. pic.twitter.com/5omzcenzKN

LunarCrush (@LunarCrush) May 13, 2023

The platforms data reveals that PEPE has emerged as the frontrunner in social engagement activity, outperforming even Bitcoin and Shiba Inu (SHIB) in this metric. While Bitcoin claimed the second spot, Shiba Inu lagged behind in seventh place.

With millions of users actively discussing and sharing information about digital assets, social media platforms have become breeding grounds for hype and speculation. 

LunarCrushs data indicates that PEPE has managed to capture the attention and enthusiasm of crypto enthusiasts, generating a significant level of social engagement. This surge in online activity suggests that investors and traders are closely monitoring PEPE and may be considering it as a potential investment opportunity.

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Data from BitcoinInfoCharts, an analytics platform, shows that there are far more tweets about Bitcoin than Dogecoin despite the spike of meme token activity in the past month.

Tweets About Bitcoin Exceed Those Of Dogecoin

As of May 14, there were over 200,000 tweets related to Bitcoin. In contrast, users only posted roughly 4,800 tweets about the first meme coin, Dogecoin. Whats interesting is that this trend has been constant even with the spike in meme token activities over the past month.

Bitcoin is the first blockchain project and the most valuable cryptocurrency that some governments have adopted. Trading at over $27,000 as of May 15, the coin dominates the crypto scene. It has remained resilient even in the recent crypto winter. 

As dominance data shows, Bitcoin is preferred by traders despite the rise of meme tokens like Pepe Coin (PEPE) and Dogecoin.

For context, after rising to as highs as $0.70 during the last bull cycle, Dogecoin prices plunged by over 90% throughout 2022, falling to as low as $0.05. 

During the last Bull Run, between April and May 2021, there were more tweets about Dogecoin than Bitcoin. For instance, as of April 16, 2021, there were 3,000 tweets about Dogecoin than Bitcoin. However, this was the last time there were more tweets about Dogecoin than Bitcoin.

Since then, the number of Dogecoin tweets has fallen, following DOGE prices which also began crashing in May 2021. And although Bitcoin prices peaked at over $69,000 in November 2021, they also contracted in subsequent months, dropping to as low as $16,000 in late 2022. Still, there were more tweets about Bitcoin than Dogecoin throughout the bear market of 2022.

Fortunately, DOGE and BTC prices have since recovered from the pits of 2022. DOGE prices rose 115% from H2 2022 lows to $0.105 in April 2023. At that time, BTC rallied from below $16,000 to as high as $31,000.

Tweets Arent Everything

Typically, the number of tweets about a cryptocurrency project can be used to measure popularity. The more there are tweets related to a crypto project, the more likely that it could be trending and that the crypto community is engaging with the platform. 

Even so, in most cases, considering the misuse of bots, the credibility of those tweets should be questioned. Depending on the popularity of projects, some rogue actors can be paid to spam the platform, incre...

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Bitcoin bulls and bears battle for control of a key area on the BTC chart, with network fundamentals due new all-time highs.

(Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock)

Shiba Inu is causing significant losses for its investors. Recent data reveals that the hype surrounding SHIB, the once darling of the meme coin industry, may have led many investors astray.

At the time of writing, a staggering 80% of all Shiba Inu token address holders are experiencing losses on their holdings, a fact that is causing concern among cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investors alike.

Despite the initial excitement surrounding Shiba Inu, it appears that the reality of the situation is starting to set in for many investors.

With such a high percentage of token holders not expected to make any kind of money as of yet, it is clear that the hype train may have been running a little too fast.

This sharp downturn in the market has left many crypto capitalists wondering what happened and whether their investments will ever recover.

Shiba Inu Token Holders Suffer Losses, Data Shows Addresses Unprofitable

New data from IntoTheBlock indicates that the majority of Shiba Inu token holders are experiencing losses on their holdings.

As of now, four out of five SHIB investors are holding unprofitable addresses, equating to 991,440 addresses with 497 trillion tokens valued at around $4.4 billion. This leaves only $668.4 million worth of SHIB that is currently profitable to its holders.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that many of these unprofitable addresses purchased SHIB at the $0.000009 to $0.000014 price range.

According to data, there are 348,170 such addresses, holding an enormous volume of 281.12 trillion SHIB. 

At present, the Shiba Inu token is ranked sixth among the largest cryptocurrencies in terms of the ratio of loss-making addresses to profitable ones.

Recent SHIB Prices Raise Concerns About Long-Term Holding

The current price of Shiba Inu token, listed at $0.00000892 per token on CoinGecko, is drawing attention due to its recent pricing history.

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The legal battle between Ripple Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US District Court of Southern New York is still awaiting a ruling from Judge Analisa Torres. Just last week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse downgraded expectations, stating that a ruling would likely come in two to six months rather than the first half of 2023.

However, this is not stopping Ripples Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty from continuing to attack the SEC and expose its unlawful legal practices. Via Twitter, Alderoty shared a court decision over the weekend that shows just that.

Ripple CLO Exposes Unlawful Guidance By SEC

Specifically, it concerns the common enterprise issue that is a component of the Howey test. The Ripple CLO writes that in the 1946 Supreme Court case Howey, the SEC unsuccessfully tried to pull off a trick that it is unpacking again today. At the time, the SEC wanted to enforce that an investment in a common enterprise was not required as long as there was a common interest.

The SEC was wrong then and it is wrong now. Common Interest Common Enterprise, wrote Alderoty, who also shared the text of the writ. XRP community attorney John E. Deaton added that the SECs framework for digital assets ignores just that:

The SEC is so arrogant that it ignores the law and brags about it.

The SECs website, where the Framework for Investment Contract Analysis of Digital Assets can be found, states that in order to satisfy the common enterprise aspect of the Howey test, federal courts require that there be either horizontal commonality or vertical commonality (Revak v. SEC Realty Corp.).

The Commission, on the other hand, does not require vertical or horizontal commonality per se, nor does it consider a common enterprise to be a distinct element of the term investment contract.

On that basis, Alderoty said in a follow-up tweet:

The Revak case exposes yet another SEC sleight of hand. Without a common enterprise it matters not whether the fortunes of investors are tied to the efforts of others. The Howey test is not so easily satisfied.

Whether Judge Torres will agree and rule in Ripples favour remains to be seen. The pressure on the judge is likely to be int...

Bitcoin would be a more popular safe haven than the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen or the Swiss franc, according to a new survey.

There's a one-month wait before ether holders can stake their tokens on the network. (Markus Winkler/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Explore how to use a VPN for enhanced online security and privacy using step-by-step instructions.

Eun Young Choi, the first director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), has told reporters that crypto-related crimes have risen significantly in recent years. Through her team, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) now plans to go after rogue exchanges that knowingly allow criminals to launder money.

NCET Wants Exchanges To Be Compliant

The Financial Times reports that Choi is concerned about the spike in crypto-enabled crimes and is setting their eyes on cryptocurrency exchanges, mixers, and tumblers. 

Open-source token mixers such as Tornado Cash, a protocol that United States authorities have already sanctioned, are widely used by criminals to launder stolen assets. Because they make it hard for authorities to trace transactions on public ledgers, hackers are actively exploiting these tools to obfuscate transactions and evade justice.

NCET and the DoJ will go after crypto companies that, though compliant with existing laws on paper, have allowed themselves to be used by criminals; a development that Choi says is problematic.

By targeting these rogue agents, the director said they would send a deterrent message and hope their involvement would have a multiplier effect. 

Specifically, NCET seems to have a problem with cryptocurrency exchanges that skirt anti-money laundering rules and those which dont comply with know-your-customer (KYC) laws. The enforcement team says going after them could make them invest more in risk-mitigation procedures and comply more with existing rules.

Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly one of the exchanges on the radar of the DoJ. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the DoJ, among other agencies, including the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is investigating the Changpeng Zhao-led exchange for violating established rules.

US Governments Position On Crypto

President Joe Bidens administration has taken a relatively tough stance on cryptocurrencies. Regulators in the United States have been in recent months going after companies they deem to be non-compliant, especially after the collapse of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange.

The position adopted in the United States, especially on regulation and enforcement, could be one of the strictest in the world. Several officials and policymakers in the country strongly believe cryptocurrencies can pose a significant risk to the stability of their financial infrastructure, which could also impact national security.

In that regard, steps have been taken to increase overs...

The collaboration will have both parties researching the offline capabilities of the CBDC issued by South Koreas central bank.

Various Money Cash Dollar Bills Currency (Unsplash)