Unlike bull markets where traders can basically throw a dart at a list of coins to pick one that will go up, bear markets require much more effort to find projects that could perform well over the long-run. One project that has continued to show signs of mainstream adoption despite the onset of a crypto winter is Polygon (MATIC), a layer-2 scaling solution for the Ethereum (ETH) network that is looking to build a sustainable Web3 infrastructure on the top smart contract platform. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low of $0.316 on June …

The much-anticipated Vasil hard fork has been completed on the Cardano testnet, bringing it one major step closer to becoming a reality on the mainnet and promising broad performance upgrades. Project developers, stake pool operators (SPO) and exchanges are now encouraged to deploy their work on the testnet to ensure integrations run smoothly when the mainnet gets the Vasil treatment in about four weeks. We’re happy to report that today at 20:20 UTC the IOG team has successfully hard forked the #Cardano Testnet. This is an important next step in the journey towards the Vasil upgrade on mainnet. 1/10 pic.twitter.com/9F9vzec0pK …

Unsecured lending protocol TrueFi has become the latest project to launch on Optimism, Ethereum’s popular layer-2 scaling solution, in a move that’s expected to boost demand from non-institutional lenders. By launching on Optimism, TrueFi’s lender community will have access to a faster and cheaper user experience, as well as gain exposure to a wider pool of retail lenders. “TrueFi users can now lend, borrow and launch portfolios on Optimism to enjoy dramatically reduced transaction costs and network speeds,” Rafael Cosman, co-founder of TrustToken, told Cointelegraph in a written statement. He further explained: “Since Optimism transactions are on average 77x cheaper …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is booming. But despite the fact that Ethereum (ETH), arguably, the main accelerator of DeFi, achieved its goal of becoming the world’s most programmable blockchain, its widespread usage has also highlighted the network’s greatest weakness –– scalability. Congestion has become commonplace on the network, resulting in high gas fees, making it impossible for projects to run microtransaction payments on Ethereum. Recognizing the limitations this presents, the DeFi space has actively sought out alternatives, with a direct correlation seen in the rising adoption of on-chain bridge technology. With this model, transactions on an expensive network like Ethereum could …

Like most new-age networks, Solana was developed to resolve major issues confronting the blockchain industry. While the network has addressed some of these issues by its very nature, it has also encountered a few unique problems. From resource exhaustion to a halt in block confirmation, the Solana network has suffered a number of setbacks that resulted in repeated power outages, causing the network to shut down for hours on several occasions. The network went down on December 4, 2020, about three years after Solana was introduced, causing confusion in the community. The chain appears to have stopped validating new blocks …

Hop Protocol, a cross-chain bridge designed to facilitate the quick transfer of tokens between different Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions, has unveiled a new governance model alongside an airdrop that will see early users receive 8% of the total supply of soon-to-be-released HOP tokens. Similar to Optimism, which recently unveiled a new governance structure that will see early users airdropped 5% of the total supply of the HOP token. Because of this, Hop Protocol is aiming to create a community-oriented decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called Hop DAO that seeks to aid layer-2 scalability. An official date for the airdrop has yet …

Ethereum has proven to be a formidable force. While its major issues have spawned other coins aimed at addressing them, Ethereum looks to shed its old skin with the release of Ethereum 2.0. Despite the fact that Ethereum was created six years after Bitcoin (BTC) and the introduction of blockchain technology, the digital asset Ether (ETH) has grown to be the second most valuable cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, surpassing coins such as Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Dash (DASH) and Monero (XMR), which were launched before it. The technology behind the Ethereum blockchain is the primary reason for its …

The Optimism Foundation has unveiled a new governance structure and token as part of its ongoing efforts to bring scalability and cost efficiency to Ethereum (ETH), the world’s largest smart contract platform. The “Optimism Collective” was introduced Tuesday afternoon in a lengthy post that outlined its mission and governance mandate. Described as a “large-scale experiment in digital democratic governance,” the Optimism Collective essentially comprises a band of communities and stakeholders committed to improving Ethereum’s technical capabilities. According to the details, the Optimism Collective will be governed by two components: the Citizens’ House and the Token House. The Citizens’ House will …

Arthur Breitman, the co-founder of layer-1 protocol Tezos (XTZ), spoke with Cointelegraph's Jackson DuMont at the Paris Blockchain Week Summit (PBWS) last week about what it would take to unlock the true potential of decentralized finance, or DeFi. Breitman delivered a keynote speech following this interview about the company's strategy. Related: Paris Blockchain Week, April 14: Latest updates from the Cointelegraph team on the ground According to Breitman, "people haven't really tapped into DeFi for real-world assets being tokenized." When he says real-world assets, he means stocks, real estate, digital art or "anything you can think of." While calling for …

A new report highlights how the Lightning Network has grown in popularity as a way of transferring digital assets quickly and efficiently around the globe. CNBC today told the story of Alena Vorobiova, a Ukrainian refugee currently seeking sanctuary in Poland. Vorobiova used Lightning to transfer $100 worth of Bitcoin from Miami, where it was then withdrawn from an ATM in the equivalent Polish currency — all within the space of three minutes. That’s the sort of low cost, high speed transaction that has seen the Layer 2 scaling solution for Bitcoin grow 410% in payment volume over the past …

It’s a great time to move Bitcoin (BTC) between wallets and exchanges. Bitcoin transaction fees have hit all-time lows in BTC, according to research by Galaxy Digital. #bitcoin fees are at all-time lows. the craziest thing? fall 2021 was the first bull run not accompanied by a major spike in fees. how is that possible? what does it mean? here's a thread explaining the most confounding (and awesome) chart in bitcoin. (remember june 2021) pic.twitter.com/gnWssTckX2 — Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) April 5, 2022 As shown on the graph below, the Bitcoin mean transaction fee has plummeted to 0.00004541 Bitcoin ($2.06) in …

Hybrid computing platform Boba Network has joined the “crypto unicorn” rankings after raising $45 million in Series A funding, underscoring the investment appeal of Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions. The funding round had participation from several crypto-focused venture funds including Infinite Capital, Hypersphere, 10X Capital, Hack VC, GBV, Sanctor Capital, Shima Capital, Kinetic Capital, IOST and ROK Capital. Contributions also came from the Will Smith-led Dreamers VC, Paris Hilton’s M13 and several crypto industry founders from projects such as Origin Protocol, The Graph, FEI Labs and exchange giants Crypto.com and Huobi. The Series A valued Boba Network at $1.5 billion, giving …