The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce, released an initial public draft highlighting the various security considerations in relation to the architecture and implementation of stablecoins. Based on the study of the top 20 stablecoins over the past year, NIST found that the top five coins that retained their peg represented 87 % of the total top 20 market capitalization. Out of the lot, the top 5 stablecoins based on market capitalization that managed to maintain their pegs are listed below. Coincidentally, all five tokens are pegged to the …

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week. The TranitSwap hacker that got away with $23 million has returned 70% of the stolen funds. The return was possible due to quick actions from on-chain data analytic firms who managed to find the hacker’s IP address and other personal details. Another research report from Elliptic suggests that DeFi bridges and decentralized exchanges (DEX) have become a new frontier for crypto laundering. Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis believes that Bitcoin can be a bridge that …

MetaMask is arguably one of the most well-known self-custodial Ethereum software wallets in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, with its signature Orange Fox avatar plug-in acting as a portal to the world of Ether (ETH)-based tokens, decentralized applications (DApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi). The retail browser plug-in wallet surpassed 30 million users worldwide in 2022 and has slowly turned its attention to serving a growing number of institutional users that have looked to gain exposure and manage assets in the growing DeFi space. Cointelegraph caught up with Elizabeth Mathew, head of growth and partnerships at MetaMask Institutional (MMI), at the firm’s stand …

The innovation and, as a result, the booming popularity of social media started at the beginning of the century with the concept of the online social graph. This specific data structure draws a line between social networks’ users and the people, places and things with which they interact. However, time has shown that the major social media platforms have several disadvantages related to centralization. The flagships of the change are likely to be sprouts of current Web3 projects. What is Lens Protocol? Lens Protocol is a blockchain-based open-source social graph created to reshape the future of social media concepts in …

Followers of the Ethereum Classic Twitter account may have found themselves the unintended fans of an entirely new crypto project after Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson turned the account into the new community page for the Ergo community. The Ethereum Classic account had built up over 600,000 followers since its inception in July 2016, and up until Sept. 15, has been used to post about Ethereum Classic. However, as of Oct. 6, the Twitter page now reflects the Ergo Platform, a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain capable of facilitating smart contracts, similar to Ethereum, with links to Cardano. In a lengthy thread pinned …

One of the biggest Merge staking providers, Lido Finance has launched on two layer-2 networks Arbitrum and Optimism, a move it says further improves accessibility to Ethereum staking while reducing gas fees. The plan to expand to L2 was first unveiled in July when the team acknowledged that several layer-2 networks had “demonstrated economic activity,” with the new deployment to L2 networks Arbitrum and Optimism launched on Oct. 7. Lido provides liquid staking, which allows more flexibility for stakers as they can withdraw their funds at any time as opposed to staking Ethereum directly and having it locked up. Industry …

MakerDAO, the governing body of the Maker Protocol, has taken the first step of its plan to reallocate $500 million of its stablecoin Dai (DAI) collateral reserves into short-term United States Treasuries and corporate bonds. The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) voted on Oct. 6 to approve a pilot transaction of $1 million following an executive vote from Maker (MKR) token holders, with the rest of the funds soon to be reallocated following confirmation from the community. A majority, 80% of the $500 million, will be invested in short-term U.S. Treasuries, with $160 million allocated to the 0-1y US Treasury iShares …

By 2030, Web3 is expected to reach a market size of $81.5 billion, according to Emergen Research, but the industry still has challenges to overcome, including security and interoperability, said players interviewed by Cointelegraph. Interoperability, in short, provides communication between blockchains, aiming to offer a similar experience to users as Web2, hiding infrastructure complexity away and ensuring they don't have to know what solution is powering the mobile app they use, explained Derek Yoo, CEO of PureStake, a development team for the layer-1 blockchain Moonbeam. However, interoperability also brings more moving parts to any system, and security is one of …

A third quarter industry report from DappRadar citing on-chain metrics suggests cryptocurrency markets are showing signs of recovery from ongoing bearing market conditions. A number of factors played their part in a busy third quarter of 2022, with Ethereum’s Merge marking a successful shift to proof-of-stake having a notable influence on layer two activity before the event. The report also highlights a slight recovery in the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization which still sits below the $1 trillion mark. Quarter three data reflected an 8.5% increase in the total crypto market cap from July to the end of September 2022. The …

As the decentralized finance (DeFi) space remains plagued with hacks, people have become less interested in jumping in and engaging with DeFi. But according to Dennis Jarvis, the CEO of Bitcoin.com, there is a way for DeFi adoption to move forward through Bitcoin (BTC). In a keynote speech at the Blockchain Economy Dubai Summit 2022, Jarvis pointed out that massive losses of investor funds like the collapse of Terra and the Axie Infinity Ronin hack have made DeFi unappealing to potential users. However, the executive believes that by using Bitcoin as a hook, DeFi can overcome the onboarding crisis brought …

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) has been established to serve as an ally for every project and business that's embracing Web3. ThreeOh DAO says the next generation of the internet can bring entrepreneurship, wealth and opportunities to communities around the world — and it wants to represent the interests of Web3 and DeFi users when regulations and policies are being decided. Those behind the DAO say they have the necessary infrastructure in place to engage with policymakers and make an impact — amplifying the voices of everyone in this nascent industry on national and international stages. Crucially, this organization says …

New research from blockchain analytics and crypto compliance firm Elliptic has revealed the extent to which cross-chain bridges and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have removed barriers for cybercriminals. In an Oct. 4 report titled “The state of cross-chain crime,” Elliptic researchers Eray Arda Akartuna and Thibaud Madelin took a deep dive into what they described as “the new frontier of crypto laundering.” The report summarized that the free flow of capital between crypto assets is now more unhindered due to the emergence of new technologies such as bridges and DEXs. Cybercriminals have been using cross-chain bridges, DEXs, and coin swaps to …