Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon, joined hands with Xternity, a Web3 gaming development platform, to migrate and onboard a multiplayer Web3 game — Synergy Land — to the Polygon network from Solana. As blockchain platforms, Solana focuses primarily on scalability and cost-cutting, while Polygon allows for seamless interaction with the Ethereum ecosystem. To help transfer Synergy Land’s resources onto the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chain, Xternity proposed a process — via its network migration tool — that can be used to migrate games or projects across chains. Speaking about Xternity’s goal to accelerate Web3 game development, co-founder and CEO Sagi …

Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon will undergo a hard fork on Jan. 17 in order to address gas spikes and chain reorganizations issues that has affected user experience on the Polygon proof-of-stake (POS) chain. Polygon officially confirmed the hard fork event in Jan. 12 a blog post, which came after weeks of preliminary discussion on Polygon Improvement Proposal (PIP) forum page in late December. GET READY FOR THE HARDFORK The proposed hardfork for the #Polygon PoS chain will make key upgrades to the network on Jan 17th. This is good news for devs & users -- & will make for …

Ethereum layer-2 scaling protocol Polygon (MATIC) is carrying out performance testing of zero-knowledge rollup (zk rollups) technology ahead of full integration with its mainnet. The development of the technology, called Polygon zkEVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), has been ongoing for over three years by the Polygon Hermez team. The team has already confirmed that zero-knowledge proofs are possible on Ethereum, by generating over 12,000 zk-proofs in a primary version of the zkEVM testnet. David Schwartz, project lead of Polygon zkEVM and PolygonID, unpacked the development of the functionality in correspondence with Cointelegraph. Layer-2 platforms have continued to evolve and improve functionality …

Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $19,000 on Jan. 12, the highest level since Nov. 8. Although a bull market may not start in a hurry, Glassnode data suggests that the foundation for a macro bottom in Bitcoin may be in place. The on-chain analytics firm tweeted on Jan. 12 that “13% of the Circulating Supply” returned to profit when Bitcoin rallied to $18,200. This suggests a large phase of accumulation took place in the $16,500 to $18,200 range. Along with Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) is also witnessing signs of accumulation. The number of Ethereum sharks, holding between 100 and 10,000 Ether, has …

Crypto and stock markets are usually forward-looking. Meaning, traders tend to ignore the near-term negatives and focus on the positives down the line. With Bitcoin’s (BTC) next halving in 2024, analysts are shifting their attention to this event. Independent market analyst Rekt Capital highlighted this unique market dynamic in 2015 and 2019, a year before halving, Bitcoin rallied 234% and 316% respectively. If history repeats itself, Bitcoin’s price action may spring a surprise in 2023. However, the near term remains uncertain and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on Jan. 12 may lead to a sharp uptick in volatility. Some …

Investors across asset classes have been keeping a close watch on the United States Federal Reserve’s monetary policy because that sets the stage for a risk-on or a risk-off environment. The strong rally in the U.S. stock markets on Jan. 6 and in cryptocurrencies over the weekend suggests that market observers anticipate the Fed to slow down its frantic pace of rate hikes. The optimism was fuelled by the greater-than-expected slowdown in wage gains in the December jobs report and the first contraction in U.S. services industry activity since May 2020. The next trigger that may influence the markets could …

Global payments giant Mastercard is ramping up its exposure blockchain tech yet again, after announcing a Polygon-based accelerator program to help musicians build their careers via Web3. The firm announced the "Mastercard Artist Accelerator" program via a Jan. 7 blog post, outlining that from this spring, it will connect five emerging musicians from across the globe with mentors that will help them set up their brand in the Web3 music space. "The artists will gain exclusive access to special events, music releases and more. A first-of-its-kind curriculum will teach the artists how to build (and own) their brand through Web3 …

The team behind y00ts and DeGods were paid $3m to move their collections off Solana and onto Polygon, according to a January 6 announcement from the company. The statement was made on Discord and copied to Twitter by Frank III, founder of the two projects. Here is a screenshot of our latest @y00tsNFT Discord announcement. pic.twitter.com/qWxjBsexv6 — Frank III (@frankdegods) January 6, 2023 The developers had previously announced on Dec. 27 that the projects would be moving to Polygon. This was widely seen as a possible death blow to the Solana network, as the network was already under pressure due …

The United States December nonfarm payrolls report showed a growth of 223,000 jobs, above the market's expectation of an increase of 200,000 jobs. While this shows that the economy remains strong, market observers shifted their focus to the slower wage growth of 0.3% for the month, below economists’ expectation of 0.4%. In addition, the euro zone’s headline inflation dropped from 10.1% in November to 9.2% in December. Both economic data boosted hopes that the central bank’s aggressive rate tightening may slow down. This triggered a rally in the U.S. and European stock markets. However, the reaction in the cryptocurrency space …

Gold made a strong start to the new year and is trading close to a seven-month high on expectations that the United States Federal Reserve may slow down and hike rates only by 25 basis points in its next meeting on Feb. 1. Cryptocurrency markets have also shown a mild uptick but are yet to make a decisive move higher. One of the reasons could be renewed fears regarding Digital Currency Group’s liquidity issues, which again came into focus after Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss penned an open letter to DCG CEO Barry Silbert on the alleged $900 million that Genesis …

It’s no secret that the crypto market was gripped by bearish pressure for the entirety of 2022. However, amid all the volatility and chaos, many positive news stories appeared as well — especially regarding the global adoption of digital assets and crypto-related technologies in general. Looking back at 2022, here are some key adoption-related events that helped drive the industry last year. Polygon accrues 200 million addresses despite challenging 2022 Even though an air of financial uncertainty has shrouded the crypto market since the end of 2021, Polygon — a layer-2 scaling solution running alongside the Ethereum blockchain, allowing for …

The S&P 500 index (SPX) fell 19.4% and the Nasdaq nosedived 33.1% in 2022, recording the worst performance since 2008. The crypto markets also had a horrendous year with Bitcoin (BTC) falling roughly 65% in 2022. In comparison, the United States dollar, which is perceived to be a safe haven, rallied nearly 9%, its best year since 2015. There are several green shoots visible for the cryptocurrency sector for 2023. The U.S. dollar index (DXY), which usually moves in inverse correlation with Bitcoin may have topped out. This increases the likelihood that select cryptocurrencies may be close to forming a …