The march toward blockchain and cryptocurrency mass adoption has made significant strides in 2021 as the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFT) thrust crypto into the mainstream media spotlight on a daily basis. From the rise of meme coins such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) to the breakout popularity of the play-to-earn gaming model and popular protocols like Axie Infinity, 2021 has been about showing the world the income-generating opportunities that exist within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. And it’s not just engagement from the average Joe and Jane providing hints that the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies …

In an email quoted by Reddit users, Kraken, the world's eight largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced it would be delisting privacy coin Monero (XMR) in compliance with regulations in the United Kingdom. The platform will cease all XMR trading activities, set XMR wallets to withdraw-only, and force-liquidate any existing XMR margin positions after the 26th of November. Through advanced cryptography, privacy coins like Monero obscure participants' public wallet addresses and payment amounts when their transactions appear on the blockchain, making it improbable, in the context of current technology, for forensic entities such as Chainalytics to digitally trace the …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent foray back below $56,000 sparked a wide-ranging sell-off across the cryptocurrency ecosystem and talks of the price hitting $100,000 by the end of the year quickly morphed into concerns about an impending bear market that could thrust prices into the doldrums for a year or longer. While there appeared to be absolute carnage in the markets judging by peoples' reaction to the BTC pullback, not all tokens were negatively impacted and gaming tokens focused on the emerging Metaverse have managed to stay in the green. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that while the price …

Bloktopia is a virtual skyscraper in the Metaverse comprised of 21 levels to pay homage to the 21 million total maximum supply of Bitcoin (BTC). Owners of its BLOK tokens will be known as Bloktopians. Users will be able to buy and sell nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, purchase digital ad venues, own real estate, and more in the Bloktopia virtual reality. Meanwhile, Bloktopians can also earn revenue by selling or leasing virtual property in the skyrscraper to interested buyers. Bloktopia in-game footage | Source: Bloktopia The project, set to launch sometime next year, is built on the Polygon network, a …

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $56,000 on Nov. 19, completing a near 20% correction from the all-time high. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which remained in the greed zone for most of the past two months, has plummeted into the fear category with a reading of 34. Cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital said in a recent report that the sell-off in Bitcoin was “largely driven by a wave of liquidations rather than a fundamental shift in narrative,” and the analysts expect the drawdown to be “relatively short-lived.” The recent correction does not seem to have shaken the long-term holders. According …

Meme-cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB) has lost more than 50% of its market valuation in three weeks since its all-time highs in late October. SHIB price dropped to as low as $0.00004251 on Nov. 19 after correcting by almost 55% from its all-time high of $0.00008854. Its price recovered a small portion of its losses on Friday, but the move looked indecisive due to weaker trade volumes, i.e., not many traders supported the rebound trend. Some analysts noted that a sharp pullback in the Shiba Inu market was unavoidable after its price skyrocketed by more than 1,100% since Oct. 1. For …

The online group, ConstitutionDAO, has failed in its bid to purchase the last privately owned, 1st edition print copy of the U.S. Constitution at public auction at Sotheby’s on Thursday. "The 'Official Edition' of The United States Constitution" was instead won by an unknown bidder for $43.2 million, meaning the DAO failed in its historic attempt to put it “in the hands of The People.” The news broke in an announcement on the official Discord. "While this was not the outcome we hoped for we still made history tonight," the post read. This specific copy is one of just thirteen …

Five to six-figure-size airdrops have become the new norm in the crypto sector and a growing number of analysts believe there are more to come. In September dYdX distributed a massive airdrop to early users and last week the Ethereum Name Service gave out roughly $17,000 to $30,000 in ENS tokens to platform users. Anticipation of additional "helicopter money" has also led to a flurry of airdrop hunters seeking out the next big score. The mad dash to engage with protocols and qualify for possible token drops led to an uptick in activity on Polygon, a popular layer-2 platform, and …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have gained significant traction in the cryptocurrency sector, with a total value locked surpassing $271 billion, based on data from DefiLlama. One exceptionally popular category of DeFi services is that of decentralized borrowing and lending, where users can pledge their crypto as collateral and take out stablecoin loans (or vice versa) to pay for everyday expenses while their investment continues to grow. Such protocols typically charge a spread or difference between deposit and lending rates as a service fee. But then there are protocols like Minterest that seek to distribute a vast majority, if not all, …

On Thursday morning, Acala, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol operating on the Polkadot (DOT) network, announced it had won the first-ever Polkadot parachain auction. Acala raised a total of 32.5 million DOT, worth roughly $1.28 billion, from 24,934 contributors via an initial coin offering (ICO) structured as a crowdloan. As the proceeds are classified as 'crypto debt,' Acala would eventually need to pay back the DOT it had solicited from investors. Users' DOTs are locked for the duration of the rental agreement for Polkadot's parallel chains up for sale. It’s a testament to the strength of @Polkadot that so many …

Avalanche (AVAX) rose to a new price high on Nov. 18 and posted weekly gains after its developer, Ava Labs, entered a partnership with "Big Four" accountant firm Deloitte. The AVAX price reached a little over $110 after rising circa 16% week-to-date (WTD), with its circulated market cap hitting $23.76 billion, almost 0.93% of the total crypto market cap. In contrast, AVAX's top rival tokens, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), fell by over 13% and 12.50% WTD, respectively. AVAX adoption FOMO AVAX picked its bullish cues from Deloitte's decision to use the Avalanche blockchain for building a disaster relief …

Join Cointelegraph host and analyst Benton Yaun alongside resident market experts Jordan Finneseth and Marcel Pechman as they break down the latest news in the markets. Here’s what to expect in this week’s markets news breakdown: With Bitcoin (BTC) retesting major support and resistance zones, some analysts believe this might be a good time to stack more BTC before the next uptrend. With Ether (ETH) dropping 10% to about $4,100 due to the ongoing market correction led by Bitcoin, is there an increased chance it could fall below the $4,000 mark? Much to the delight of the “SHIBarmy,” Shiba Inu …