DeFi News Today TheBitTimes.com

Despite the extended bear market, Dogecoin (DOGE) has been able to keep its position among the 10-largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with a total speculative value of $8.75 billion and an inflating circulating supply of 141.22 billion DOGE. However, the Dogecoin price forecast is still challenging for the end of 2023. Even with a reported dilution of around 13.7% in the last three years, the leading memecoin and favorite cryptocurrency of the richest man on earth, Elon Musk, continues to offer an interesting opportunity for crypto traders and investors around the world. As we approach the final quarter of the year, Finbold has turned to CoinCodex ‘s AI-powered price prediction algorithms to gauge Dogecoin’s price trajectory by December 31, 2023, and January 31, 2024, especially given its current year-to-date gain of 2.5%. In which the artificial intelligence predicts the Dogecoin price to be at $0.150189 per DOGE, representing gains of 150% from the end of 2023’s

Ethereum core developers convened yesterday for a progress report on pivotal network upgrades and new privacy functionality. The biweekly All Core Devs call highlighted testnet advances and demonstrations of zero-knowledge technology to enable confidential transactions of Ethereum. First, developers celebrated last week’s successful launch of the Holesky testnet after an initial failed attempt. Holesky replaces the aging Goerli testnet to support more robust testing of planned improvements like sharding. Also read: SEC Charges Ex-Goldman Sachs Employee With Insider Trading With Holesky now live, the focus shifts to Devnet 9 and Devnet 10—short-term test environments—to stress test upgrades ahead of mainnet deployment. The temporary testnets will validate the Dencun hard fork, which implements proto-danksharding to improve Ethereum’s scalability. .@ ETH ereum ACDE 171 happened earlier today, covering Dencun devnets, 4788 audits, Holesky's launch, a new private ET

Although the courtroom battle between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not yet officially over, the blockchain company has decided to throw a party commemorating the (partial) legal victory secured on July 13. Indeed, ‘The Proper Party,’ which celebrates Judge Analisa Torres’s ruling that retail XRP sales did not constitute securities sales, will take place on September 29 in New York City and has already garnered massive interest on a dedicated website for party registrations launched by Ripple. Save the Date We’re hosting a community celebration on September 29 in New York City! Stay tuned for more details to come later this week. pic.twitter.com/PlaqPoQcte — Ripple (@Ripple) August 28, 2023 As it happens, the attendance of Ripple’s ‘The Proper Party,’ for which the RVSP window is now closed as of press time, requires a valid government-issued identification card and only accepts individuals aged 21 and above. Proper Party and potential

Tech giant Meta recently introduced new AI-enabled experiences for its apps and devices. Meta plans to make artificial intelligence products for businesses and creators over time. Meta is also planning to unveil a sandbox which will eventually be brought to the metaverse. California-based Meta (formerly Facebook) recently announced new artificial intelligence-powered experiences available across all of its applications and devices. The new suite of AI products includes stickers, conversational assistants, and other services. Meta is looking to develop AIs for businesses and creators over time. According to a recent press release by Meta, the AI stickers rolled out on the Meta-owned social media platform Instagram will allow users to edit and even co-create with friends via new AI editing tools, restyle, and backdrop. Additionally, Meta will also be introducing an AI-enabled conversational assistant. The assistant will be made available on Instagram, Whats

Former head of IcomTech, Marco Ochoa, finds himself in the latest legal entanglement involving cryptocurrency fraud. On September 27, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Marco Ochoa pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by IcomTech. Notably, Ochoa held the position of CEO at IcomTech from its inception in 2018 until 2019. According to an official statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, IcomTech enticed investors with the promise of daily returns on investment products. These products were purportedly linked to a crypto mining and trading enterprise. To attract customers, promoters of IcomTech organized extravagant expos and various community events on a global scale. Additionally, the company introduced its proprietary token, referred to as the “Icom.” However, it has come to light that the company did not engage in cryptocurrency mining as claimed. Furthermore

A congressman likened Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler to infamous figure skater Tonya Harding for ”kneecapping” the crypto industry with a blizzard of regulation and lawsuits and another said he he should be fired. The comments came as Gensler appeared before the House Financial Services Committee yesterday. Rep Andy Barr likened him to Harding, who paid an attacker to assault main rival Nancy Kerrigan in 1994  to prevent her competing in the Winter Olympics, while Rep. Warren Davidson accused him of abusing his power and said he should be dismissed. “If the U.S. capital markets are a gold medalist, you are the Tonya Harding of securities regulation because you are kneecapping the U.S. capital markets with the avalanche of red tape coming out of your commission,” Barr said. Mr. Barr to Gensler: “If the US capital markets are a gold medalist, you are the Tonya Harding of securities regulation because you are kneecapping the US capital markets…” 😂 pic.

A closely followed crypto strategist believes that the decentralized oracle network Chainlink (LINK) is poised for continued rallies. In a new video, analyst Kevin Svenson tells his 70,700 YouTube subscribers that LINK may be on the verge of reversing its multi-year downtrend after moving above a key long-term indicator. “We also have the 500-day SMA (simple moving average). This is the longest moving average that we have just recently crossed above. Chainlink is breaking the 500-day SMA. Getting above these longer-term SMAs is usually a sign of a macro shift taking place.” With Chainlink flashing a potential reversal signal, Svenson says that he sees a scenario where the Ethereum (ETH)-based altcoin sustains its bullish momentum in the short term and rallies toward its macro resistance. However, the analyst notes that LINK likely needs more time before entering bull territory. “ And this macro downward slipping resistance line comes in at about $10.90 right now

About 88% of employees working in the broader blockchain industry work remotely. However, only 3% receive their compensation in digital assets.  According to Pantera Capital research, one in five of the 1,600 respondents had ever accepted payment in crypto. The majority preferred stablecoins like tether (USDT) or USD Coin (USDC), only 13% chose bitcoin (BTC). There are approximately 21,300 jobs in the crypto industry. The bulk of crypto employees live in the United States (35%), Latin America is in second place (29.7%), and Europe and the Middle East are in third place (23.5%). Asia-Pacific came in last with 11.6%. The company’s survey involved 1,046 respondents from 77 countries. Most of them work in engineering. 40.7% are involved in decentralized finance (defi), 26.1% in centralized finance (cefi), 15.2% in infrastructure. You might also like: U.S. government shutdown looms, creating uncertainty in crypto market Moreover, among the companies in which respondents wor

Brian Armstrong publicly criticized Chase for its recent policy change that prohibits customers from using crypto. Chase explained that the reason behind its policy update is to protect customers from fraud and scams. Brian Armstrong pointed out a contradiction between Chase’s policy and the views of UK leaders. CEO of Coinbase Brian Armstrong addressed the policy change at Chase, JP Morgan UK bank, which prohibits customers from using crypto. Armstrong called the update “inappropriate behavior.” Totally inappropriate behavior from @Chase UK (this is their UK bank only is my understanding)@RishiSunak @griffitha It appears @Chase UK does not respect your policy goals – thoughts? UK crypto holders should close their @Chase accounts if this is how they're going to be… https://t.co/n8OBxhtpcg — Brian Armstrong ️ (@brian_armstrong) September 26, 2023 Chase recently changed its policy, banning any type of payment that could be related to crypto assets. In

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on an Ethereum (ETH) wallet tied to alleged Sinaloa cartel money launderer Jimenez Castro. The action aims to crack down on cartel crypto operations. According to OFAC’s updated sanctions list, the Ethereum address received around $740,000 worth of deposits on Binance. The deposits happened within a two-month period, starting in January 2022. Also read: Kraken Expands European Footprint: Secures Regulatory Approvals in Ireland, Spain Source: CNBC US Treasury accuses Castro of funneling funds using crypto The Treasury alleges Castro runs an organization that utilizes cryptocurrency and bank transfers to funnel proceeds from U.S. fentanyl sales back to Sinaloa leaders in Mexico. In addition, he is one of 10 new Sinaloa-linked names sanctioned in a counter-narcotics push. The Sinaloa cartel is considered among the world’s most dangerous and prolific drug traffickers, responsible for much of the

The non-custodial wallet will continue MoneyGram’s remittance focus allowing users to easily convert their digital assets to fiat. Payment processing giant MoneyGram is all set to launch its own non-custodial crypto wallets, the company’s chief executive officer, Alex Holmes, announced during the Stellar Development Foundation annual Meridian conference. The non-custodial crypto wallet will be built on the Stellar network and hit the market in the first quarter of 2024. The wallet was created in partnership with the Cheesecake Labs, and will make use of the Stellar network and MoneyGram's fiat on and off-ramp services to facilitate instant transactions. There will be no charge to use it until June 2024. The wallet will allow users to leverage stablecoin technology to move between fiat and digital currencies, and is intended to strengthen the company's focus on its core competence of cross-border remittance and payment settlements. Wallet users will be able to send digital ass

The British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC] released a documentary a few hours ago revolving around the rise and fall of crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried [SBF]. The ‘Downfall of the Crypto King’ assesses how SBF’s $40 billion company, which is currently bankrupt, blew its own trumpet in order to make crypto more mainstream. However, a series of events resulted in the collapse of the firm, snatching away funds from over a million customers. Tonight on Panorama… the rise and sensational fall of $40bn company FTX, which tried to take crypto mainstream but crashed, leaving more than a million customers with nothing Downfall of the Crypto King is on @BBCOne at 8pm and on @BBCiPlayer now https://t.co/BfztifhHPS pic.twitter.com/WRpZRYc2Z6 — BBC Panorama (@BBCPanorama) September 25, 2023 Also Read: Japan: Binance to Launch Dollar, Yen, Euro Stablecoins in 2024 The documentary went live on Sept. 25, 2023, at 8:00 PM. According to details from the airing platform, the duration

HTX crypto exchange has been hacked, but it claims to know the identity of the attacker. Huobi Global’s HTX crypto exchange was hacked on Sept. 24, according to a report from blockchain analytics platform Cyvers. A total of $7.9 million of crypto has been drained in the attack. A known Huobi hot wallet posted a message to the attacker in Chinese. According to the message, the exchange knows the identity of the attacker and has offered to let them keep 5% of the drained funds as a “white-hat bonus,” but only if the attacker returns the remaining 95%. Red CodeYesterday, our ML-powered system detected a suspicious transaction involving @HuobiGlobal and @HTX_Global. Despite our attempts to reach out, we received no response. An EOA received 5K $ETH $7.9M from @HuobiGlobal's hot wallet. This morning, we spotted… pic.twitter.com/3oqHhAVi8P — Cyvers Alerts (@CyversAlerts) September 25, 2023 On Sept. 24 at 10:00 am UTC, the suspected Huobi hot wallet 0x2Abc22eb9A09EbBE7b41737CCde14

An analyst predicted that the next black swan even in the cryptocurrency market may be the downfall of Ethereum. The analyst predicted that people might then turn to XLM and XRP for utility. XRP’s price could start climbing if it can break out of the consolidation channel it has been trading in over the past couple of weeks. Ripple (XRP) enthusiast and cryptocurrency analyst EDO FARINA, predicted in an X post yesterday that the next black swan event may be Ethereum‘s (ETH) downfall. According to the analyst, all ERC-20 tokens could fall together, after which Stellar (XLM) and XRP will be ready to absorb all the real world utility. Next black swan event is the #ETH downfall. All ERC-20 tokens together. Stellar and #XRPL are ready to absorb all the real world utility — EDO FARINA 🅧 XRP (@edward_farina) September 24, 2023 Farina included in his post a theory that Ripple’s upper C level was responsible for the creation of Bitcoin (BTC) as a test before int

Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to the author and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news’ editorial. Ten years ago, blockchain was a novelty technology that appealed to few beyond Bitcoin’s small community of “magic internet money” users. That coterie of supporters grew after the creation of a distributed smart contract framework called Ethereum. But even then, most of the world dismissed it as a solution in search of a problem: slow, energy-hungry, and difficult to scale.  The story is very different today. Mainstream interest is burgeoning, with PayPal among the latest in a slew of household names adopting blockchain-powered solutions that are being seamlessly integrated into our everyday lives. The venerable London Stock Exchange Group jumped on the bandwagon in early September, announcing plans to launch a blockchain-powered digital asset trading platform.  You might also like: The rise of CBDCs is inevitable but not

The crypto community awaits SEC approval of Bitcoin spot ETF in the coming weeks. Influential figures have argued for the SEC’s eventual approval. Prominent institutional plan to fight fiercely for market share upon greenlight. The crypto community is speculating that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States will approve the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) within the coming weeks. In a recent tweet, prominent crypto influencer Crypto Rover argued that the SEC chairman Gary Gensler has no option but to approve more than one of the Bitcoin spot ETFs that have been filed. In his words, “Gary Gensler will eventually have to approve Spot Bitcoin ETFs.” Gary Gensler will eventually have to approve Spot Bitcoin ETFs. In 23 days the SEC needs to review the next round of #Bitcoin ETFs. pic.twitter.com/0jS3fR3ApC — Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) September 23, 2023 Notably, Rover reached this conclusion based on the timelines a

Bitcoin and the leading alternative cryptocurrencies have experienced declines from their recent weekly peaks. However, there are indications of bullish sentiment attempting to establish a higher support level, which suggests a propensity for purchasing during dips. During its meeting on September 20th, the Federal Reserve chose not to implement an interest rate increase. Nevertheless, they hinted at the possibility of maintaining elevated rates for an extended period. During the post-meeting press conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell emphasized that achieving sustained inflation reduction to the 2% target is a protracted process. This situation may have initiated the downturn observed in both the United States equity markets and cryptocurrency. Risk-associated assets often struggle to perform satisfactorily in environments characterized by elevated interest rates. As of this week, the S&P 500 index has incurred a decline of over 2%, while the Nasdaq