One of the developers working on “BitVM” — a Bitcoin-based virtual machine — reiterates the tech is intended to scale Bitcoin rather than launching Ethereum-like decentralized finance applications on the network. BitVM’s whitepaper was released by ZeroSync’s project lead Robin Linus on Oct. 10 with technical support provided by pseudonymous developer “Super Testnet” — implementing BitVM’s…

Headlines predicting the death of Bitcoin are nothing new. Over the past decade, we’ve seen every permutation of why “Bitcoin is dead” imaginable, yet the current crypto winter has brought very few of these dire proclamations. It seems a little different this time. Maybe it’s hard to pen such a eulogy with Bitcoin hovering around $28,000,…

In a world increasingly anxious about privacy and exploitation of one’s personal data by governments, corporations, social media platforms and banks, zero-knowledge proofs may offer some relief.  Indeed, this emerging cryptographic protocol could partially remedy two rapidly growing global deficits: privacy and truth. ZK-proofs have already found a home within the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector — enabling scaling…

FTX’s sister hedge fund, Alameda Research, lost at least $190 million of its trading funds due to arguably avoidable scams, according to a former engineer at the firm. In an Oct. 12 post to X titled “The Hacks,” former Alameda Research engineer turned whistleblower Aditya Baradwaj claims that the firm’s “breathtaking” agility led to “major…

JPMorgan’s Onyx Coin Systems has scored another win in the Middle East with the completion of a blockchain-based cross-border payments pilot project with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). The pilot phase was “executed seamlessly with satisfactory response times,” according to a statement. The FAB pilot wound up weeks after a similar test in Bahrain, where Bank ABC had…

The United States economy seems like it is refusing to be derailed. It added a staggering 336,000 jobs in September, defying most expectations. This achievement becomes all the more remarkable against the backdrop of soaring yields on longer-term Treasury bonds and surging mortgage rates. The message embedded in the job data is crystal clear: the world’s…

Bitcoin’s layer 2 Lightning Network has seen an estimated 1,212% growth in two years, with around 6.6 million routed transactions in August, a significant jump compared to August 2021’s 503,000 transitions, according to data from the Bitcoin-only exchange River. In an Oct. 10 report, River research analyst Sam Wouters explained the jump in routed transactions —…

Mainstream Bitcoin adoption won’t happen until it bridges to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) — the first point of entry for many real-world assets moving on-chain, a Web3 executive argues. Speaking to Cointelegraph, the founder of cross-chain infrastructure firm Botanix Labs, Willem Schroé, claimed Bitcoin “needs to start playing in the EVM world” for it to…

Digital asset investment products continued to see significant inflows in the past week, reaching the highest volume levels since July 2023, according to a new report. Crypto investment products saw inflows for the second consecutive week, totaling $78 million, crypto asset management firm CoinShares reported in its weekly analysis report on Oct. 9. According to CoinShares, the…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called Bitcoin a “super logical” step on the tech tree, which is free of government control and helps to fight corruption. “I’m excited about Bitcoin,” Altman told Joe Rogan during an Oct. 6 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “I think this idea that we have a global currency that is outside of the…