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Businesses are facing a new kind of decision that’s becoming increasingly crucial as Web3 influence starts to spread: picking the right Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) provider.  Magic, a leading Web3 WaaS provider, released a comprehensive guide aimed at aiding businesses and individual users in selecting the most suitable WaaS provider. According to the information shared with Finbold, this WaaS guide equips businesses and users to choose the right WaaS for their needs, focusing on security, implementation, and essential services.   This release comes at a time when the significance of digital wallets transcends mere asset storage, becoming instrumental in executing secure and efficient transactions. As the digital landscape evolves with Web3, the decision to choose the right WaaS provider has emerged as a strategic and crucial one, going beyond the boundaries of technology. The WaaS guide by Magic emphasizes the importance of security and integration capabilities in a Wa...

Liquidity protocol Aave’s parent company has been rebranded to Avara as it looks to streamline its suite of infrastructure products to attract a broader Web3 user base. Decentralized finance (DeFi) group Aave Companies has been rebrand ed to Avara as it looks to broaden its user base across the Web3 ecosystem. Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Avara (formerly Aave Companies), tells Cointelegraph that the company’s growing number of offerings, including liquidity protocol Aave, the GHO stablecoin, Lens Protocol and Sonar, necessitated an umbrella brand with broader Web3 appeal. “We will continue to innovate in DeFi and build tools for developers while creating new, intuitive and compelling products that attract mainstream people” Kulechov adds that the broader industry has focused on building infrastructure to enable the development of products that appeal to a wide user base. The rebrand marks the beginning “of a new era” where blockchain technology becomes more “accessible, usable...

Sandbox co-founder Sebastian Borget says the metaverse sector is thriving in Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan. The metaverse might feel like it's “dead” for users living in the United States but the industry is thriving throughout Asia, says The Sandbox co -founder and COO, Sebastien Borget. Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Asian Blockchain Gaming Alliance's Web3 Summit in Singapore on Sept. 12, Borget said that over the last year, roughly 50% of Sandbox’s business has come from several countries in Asia. “If you don't focus on Asia, you will think the metaverse is dead from the North American and the Western side,” said Borget. “But it's so hot in Asia. Hong Kong and Korea are the top two markets followed by Japan.” Meanwhile, Borget noted that he is soon to announce the launch of Lion City on stage at Token 2049 in Singapore, a new neighborhood of 512 virtual land plots in the Sandbox metaverse, that aims to showcase Singapore’s culture through a partnership with a num...

Even if the filings for Bitcoin spot ETFs are rejected, Lee predicts Bitcoin’s halving event will still push up BTC's price — but not to six figures. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) will surge past an eye-watering $150,000 by the end of 2024, as long as the current slew of United States spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are approved , according to investment research boutique Fundstrat. In an Aug. 16 interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Fundstrat’s managing partner and head of research Tom Lee predicted that a bundle of successful Bitcoin spot ETF applications will shift Bitcoin’s supply-demand dynamics towards considerable price appreciation. When asked what the price of Bitcoin could be by the end of next year, Lee didn’t hold back: “If the spot Bitcoin (ETF) gets approved, I think the demand will be greater than the daily supply of Bitcoin, so the clearing price [...] is over $150,000, it could even be like $180,000.” Lee clarified that this could be the case so long as it is a...

BitGo’s Series C funding featured entirely new investors based in the United States and Asia, CEO Mike Belshe said. Cryptocurrency custody platform BitGo has raised fresh capital after facing a series of terminated deals involving firms such as Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. BitGo has raised $100 million in a Series C financing round bringing the company’s valuation to $1.75 billion, the firm announced to Cointelegraph on Aug. 16. The newly raised funds will be deployed to make strategic acquisitions and expand BitGo’s secure and regulated custody, wallet and infrastructure solutions globally. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe noted that the new funds will help the firm to meet the growing demand for custody and provide institutions and companies with tools to participate in the crypto industry. So far in 2023, BitGo has seen a 60% increase of new clients and 40x growth in staked assets, the firm said. Belshe added: “Not only are we seeing growing demand for regulated custody solutions in t...

Binance’s depleting USDC reserves has become a hot topic in the crypto ecosystem, especially after Coinbase CEO’s quip during the company’s Q2 earning call. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance released its latest proof-of-reserves (PoR) on Aug. 1, offering transparency into its crypto reserves. However, the movement of its USDC reserves at the time of Silvergte's collapse caught many people’s attention and became a topic of discussion on X. The latest reserve audit suggests Binance holds more than enough crypto and cash to cover the user funds. The ratio of Binance's net balances to its customers' net balances is more than 100% for all its assets as shown in the snapshot below. Binance asset reserve ratio to customer funds. Source: Binance While the report presents a healthy financial situation for Binance, its USDC reserve movements post-Silvergate collapse and the depeg of the stablecoin was the main topic of discussion. The PoR shows that Binance’s USDC balance decreas...

This week’s Crypto Biz explores Elon Musk’s plans for X, the Italian central bank’s take on DeFi, PacWest’s merger with Banc of California and more. Social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — may soon advance plans to add financial services to its users, hoping to become the American equivalent of the Chinese super-app WeChat. The concept of super-apps isn’t new. Tech giant Tencent, the company behind WeChat, has been refining the model since 2011. Like Twitter, it began as a social networking platform but quickly became the go-to app for everything in China, from shopping to filing for divorce with one click. Musk believes that, if executed correctly, X could capture “half of the global financial system.” To accomplish that and keep his promise of delivering an “entire financial world” on the platform, the executive might include cryptocurrencies in its plans. There was even a hint that Dogecoin (DOGE) would be a part of it. As the “global town square” where most crypto ...

The cryptocurrency exchange claims its total proof-of-reserves ratio has reached 223% in its latest July report. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget says its total proof-of- reserve s ratio has reached 223%. In a July 13 announcement, Bitget revealed that its total reserve currently stands at $1.44 billion spread across 31 different crypto assets. Reserve ratios for Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), Ether (ETH), and USD Coin (USDC) stand at 454%, 135%, 171% and 2,604%, respectively. In an interview, Bitget executives told Cointelegraph that the exchange “operates without relying on debt or users’ funds for its transactions or investments,” and that the company is “proud to be debt free.“ The firm wrote: “Bitget has no outstanding debts or liabilities and is not listed as a creditor for any recently bankrupt companies.“ When asked about the high collateral for select coins, the exchange explained that the money comes from profit through transaction fees, and returns through investments and acq...

The acquisition was called off two weeks after BitGo publicly disclosed its non-binding letter of intent to acquire Prime Trust. On June 22, wallet infrastructure provider and digital asset custodian BitGo announced on Twitter that it had decided to cancel its acquisition of fintech infrastructure provider Prime Trust. According to BitGo, “This decision was not made lightly.” The full announcement read:  “After considerable effort and work to find a path forward with Prime Trust, BitGo has made the hard decision to terminate its acquisition of Prime Trust. This decision was not made lightly and BitGo remains committed to our mission to deliver trust in digital assets.” BitGo’s deal cancellation comes merely two weeks after it shared its non-binding letter of intent to acquire Prime Trust. Although the specific details of the agreement were not disclosed, the potential acquisition between BitGo and Prime Trust was poised to provide BitGo with access to Prime Trust's payment rail...

Su Zhu and Kyle Davies originally purchased ‘The Goose’ digital artwork in August 2021 for roughly $5.8 million in Ether. Sotheby’s auction house has sold a piece of digital artwork from the collection of collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) for more than $6 million. According to auction records updated June 15, Dmitri Cherniak’s artwork ‘The Goose’ sold for roughly $5.4 million in addition to Sotheby’s premium fees, totaling just over $6.2 million. The nonfungible token (NFT) artwork was part of 3AC’s digital portfolio assembled in 2021. Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, 3AC's co-founders,  purchased ‘The Goose’ in August 2021 for 1,800 Ether (ETH), roughly $5.8 million at the time. Thesis: we like the Goose. pic.twitter.com/RBI9Axuvac — 朱溯 (@zhusu) August 27, 2021 Other pieces in the collection   auction ed by Sotheby’s included CryptoPunks #291, #6574 and #8950, as well as Autoglyph #218 from Larva Labs. Reports on social media suggested the Punks sold for betwee...

Floating Point Group informed customers that withdrawals had been halted after experiencing a security breach on Sunday evening. Cryptocurrency brokerage firm Floating Point Group (FPG) has confirmed it has halted trading, withdrawals and deposits on its platform after falling victim to a cyber attack on June 11. FPG estimates the attack resulted in a total loss of between $15 million and $20 million. According to a June 15 tweet from FPG’s official twitter account, upon discovering the security breach FPG locked all third party accounts and migrated wallets. It later halted trading, deposits and withdrawals out of “an abundance of caution.” 1/5 On Sunday, we experienced a cyber security incident. Upon discovery, we locked all third party accounts and migrated and secured all wallets until we better understand the scope and circumstances of this incident. — Floating Point Group (@fpgcrypto) June 14, 2023 Additionally, the firm noted that its account segregation “limited the...

Reddit communities unanimously decided to go private or in read-only modes between June 12 – June 14, protesting against the upcoming change that would prevent users from freely accessing APIs and tools. Numerous sub-communities on Reddit – including popular crypto subreddits – unanimously decided to go private for 48 hours as a way to protest against new company policies that prevent the use of third-party applications. In April, Reddit announced plans to modify the way users can interact with Reddit Data API, a seven-year-old application that enabled developers to create tool and utilities for moderation and other activities. Most subreddits retaliated the move as Reddit’s intention to build native moderator tools directly impacts the community ’s ability to create and use third-party tools – predominantly used for moderating the content and interactions. As a result, communities decided to go private or in read-only modes between June 12 – June 14, protesting against the upcoming c...

PostFinance’s parent firm Swiss Post is known for its pro-crypto stance, working on its own crypto custody services and issuing crypto stamp collectibles. PostFinance, a retail bank fully owned by the Swiss government, is preparing to offer cryptocurrency trading and storage services to its customers. The PostFinance bank has partnered with the local cryptocurrency bank Sygnum to offer its customers a range of regulated digital asset banking services, the firms announced on April 5. The partnership will specifically allow PostFinance customers to buy, store and sell major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The crypto services are enabled through Sygnum’s institutional business-to- Business offer ing that provides Banks with market entry to regulated and compliant digital products. The B2B network includes more than 15 partner Banks and supports a “range of cryptocurrencies,” also featuring revenue-generating services like staking. PostFinance’s move into cry...

Kevin O'Leary believes U.S. Senators are “fatigued” and “pissed” at the cryptocurrency industry for having to deal with one blowup after another. Shark Tank investor and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary has urged crypto exchanges to “get on board with regulation” if they want to “stay out of the way” of Gary Gensler and the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). In a Feb. 20 interview with TraderTV Live, O’Leary said that U.S. lawmakers are “fatigued” over crypto collapses and that they’re only going to get more ruthless if companies continue to not comply: “You got to get on board with regulation, you got to stay out of the way of Gensler at the SEC and other regulators. Those hombres [men] in Washington are not happy. FTX poked the bear, the bear is awake, and it is pissed.” “These senators are really fatigued, they’re really tired of gathering every six months when the next crypto company blows up and goes to zero,” he said, adding “because they’re totally unregu...

According to Binance CEO ‘CZ’, Binance is working on more efforts to help The devastating earthquake that hit Turkey on Feb 6 has left a trail of destruction in its wake, affecting numerous communities and individuals. In response to the tragedy, cryptocurrency exchangeBinance has announced that it will airdrop $100 USD worth of BNB tokens to all Binance users residing in regions hardest hit by the earthquake. The process of identifying eligible users will involve checking Proof of Address (POA) submissions made before February 6th in ten cities affected by the earthquake, including Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Şanlıurfa, and Osmaniye. Time to take care of our users. ️#Binance to Airdrop $100 USD in BNB to Users in Turkey Earthquake Regions. Total roughly $5m USD (94m TRY). More efforts still being worked on.https://t.co/Z4uACsf5Xe — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) February 7, 2023 Although the POA method may not be 100% accurate, Binan...

ChatGPT can generate code snippets and solutions to coding problems quickly and efficiently. Here’s how. As a language model, ChatGPT is primarily used for natural language processing tasks such as text generation and language understanding. While it can be used to generate code samples, it’s not designed to help improve coding skills. However, here are a few ways ChatGPT can be used to help improve coding skills. Practice explaining coding concepts Use ChatGPT to explain coding concepts and algorithms to help solidify one’s understanding of them. This can also help users identify areas where they may need to study further. For instance, when using ChatGPT to practice explaining coding concepts, one can input a prompt that describes a specific coding concept or algorithm, such as “Explain how a hash table works” or “How does the quicksort algorithm work?” ChatGPT will then generate a response that explains the concept in a clear and concise manner, using natural language. This can h...

The exchanges are yet to finalize a potential merger, with WonderFi releasing a public statement in response to market speculation and a surging share price. Crypto exchange WonderFi, which is backed by crypto investor and billionaire Kevin O’Leary, has confirmed it is in preliminary discussions with fellow Canadian crypto exchange Coinsquare for a possible merger. In a statement on Jan. 12, WonderFi responded to a Bloomberg report suggesting the two exchange s were in "advanced merger talks " to "create a Canadian crypto giant." WonderFi clarified that the discussions were "preliminary" at this stage, adding that it cannot guarantee that an agreement will be reached. Cast your vote now! "In response to the press speculation, the Company acknowledges that it has held preliminary discussions with various third parties with respect to both potential acquisitions and the Company being acquired, which is consistent with past practice and the Company...

Argo Blockchain mined less Bitcoin than expected in December due to the firm curtailing mining operations at Helios amid extreme weather conditions. Publicly-listed Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Argo Blockchain saw a significant drop in mining activity in December due to a winter storm in Texas. On Jan. 11, Argo released its first operational update since selling its flagship Mining facility Helios to Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. The company said it mined 147 Bitcoin or BTC equivalents in December, compared to 198 BTC in November 2022. As of Dec. 31, Argo held 141 BTC, with its December Mining revenue amounting to $2.49 million, the firm said. Argo’s total debt was approximately $79 million, and its bank balance was about $20 million. According to the announcement, the decrease in the amount of mined BTC was mainly due to Argo curtailing mining operations at Helios in response to a major winter storm in Texas. Cast your vote now! In late December, the United States Energy Departm...