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Cointelegraph Accelerator welcomes Web3-friendly fintech platform Renegade to its program. As the crypto industry continues to grow, it becomes increasingly intertwined with traditional finance (TradFi) to the benefit of end users. TradFi is notoriously slow, inefficient and expensive. International wire transfers, which take days and double-digit dollar fees in most cases, are a perfect embodiment of the current state of traditional finance. By comparison, decentralized finance (DeFi) has the potential to provide similar services, including fund transfers, payments and storage, much quicker and at lower costs. However, the majority of financial technology (fintech) applications offered by TradFi services win the users in terms of user experience and simplicity, leaving the unnecessarily complex and obscure DeFi apps with limited adoption. Mainstream users require a friendly experience and easy-to-use applications to dip their toes in decentralized waters before becoming full-fledged ...

Gro DAO, a defi protocol , has voted to dissolve its decentralized autonomous organization and protocol in response to mounting challenges plaguing the platform. A snapshot of the proposal detailed the issues challenging the protocol . Over the past three years, contributors and members have committed time and resources to build the community and its flagship product, the Gro protocol .  However, the protocol has faced persistent issues, including extended periods of underperformance and key departures within the Groda Pod, the primary product pod of Gro DAO. To navigate these challenges, Gro DAO sought an objective analysis of potential pathways from web3 studios, with the findings documented in the Gro DAO Strategic Path Forward. You might also like: Rook DAO proposes dissolution, treasury distribution to token holders Community members were presented with four distinct voting options. The first option is to unwind the protocol and the DAO. This path seeks to diss...

International crime-fighting agency Europol has praised blockchain’s security, but also highlighted high criminal activity in decentralized finance. Europol, the EU law enforcement organization, has published its first European Financial and Economic Crime Threat Assessment. It describes an in-depth assessment of the threats posed by cyber criminal s at the European level. Besides financial crimes in traditional finance, Europol also addressed in the document the illicit use of cryptocurrencies. Although the agency praised blockchain for its independence and security, Europol criticized decentralized finance (DeFi). The agency believes the lack of crypto regulation “leaves openings for economic crime since criminal s hold illicit assets on DeFi platforms.” “The use of cryptocurrencies for criminal schemes is also increasing in line with their overall adoption rate.” Europol You might also like: DeFi group urges UPSTO to protect crypto from ...

Patrick Hansen, a Circle executive, is concerned that entities involved in Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) activities on Ethereum and other smart contract platforms might be banned from operating in the European Union (EU) once the Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) regulation comes into effect MiCA, adopted by the European Parliament on April 20, 2023, marks a significant milestone as the first clear legislation governing the issuance and provision of services related to crypto-assets and stablecoins. Its enforcement is scheduled between mid-2024 and early 2025. You might also like: MiCA explained: What does the EU’s first crypto regulation mean for the industry? Although progressive, MiCA’s Article 92, which aims to prevent and prohibit market abuse involving crypto-assets, is particularly interesting. Specifically, lawyers and industry stakeholders have drawn attention to this provision, as it holds potential implications for MEV participants operating within the EU. ...

DeFi protocol Arcadia Finance has alerted users that it lost $455,000 in a hack, which blockchain security firm PeckShield says was made possible due to vulnerabilities in Arcadia’s code. Non-custodial, permissionless protocol Arcadia Finance launched on Ethereum and Optimism in March. It allows users to trade spot with leverage and boost staked ether. PeckShield flagged the exploit on Twitter early Monday morning. “Our analysis shows that the [Arcadia Finance] hack is due to the lack of untrusted input validation,” the blockchain security firm posted, “which is exploited to drain funds from both darcWETH and darcUSDC vaults.” PeckShield says that the exploiter on Optimism transferred 180 ether ($305,000) and washed most of it through Tornado Cash. The exploiter on Ethereum took roughly $100,000, which remains in the wallet at press time. Arcadia Finance’s total value locked (TVL) has sharply dropped by 77% since the protocol hack, from $605,000 to $140,000 at press time. Acc...

The wallet developer also raised $4.5 million from HackVC and other firms to further advance ZK-based enterprise solutions. Demox Labs has debuted a new wallet for the privacy-oriented Aleo blockchain network, according to a June 1 announcement. Called “Leo,” the wallet allows users to generate zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs within their browsers, letting them interact with Aleo’s ZK-based apps. Aleo is in its testnet phase but expects to launch a mainnet later this year. According to the announcement, Demox also raised $4.5 million from investors to further develop ZK-proof technology through Aleo and other networks. Over 40,000 users signed up for the Leo wallet waitlist in the period leading up to its debut. Congratulations to Demox Labs, creators of @theLeoWallet for securing $4.5m in funding. We are proud to have a top-notch team building the future of privacy on @AleoHQ https://t.co/4P5bNVx4Ea — Aleo (@AleoHQ) June 2, 2023 The funding round was led by venture capital firm ...

RenQ Finance (RENQ), the highly anticipated decentralized finance (DeFi) project, is gearing up for its official launch on May 22nd, 2023. With the countdown underway, analysts and industry experts are closely monitoring the project’s potential for exponential growth and predicting easy 5x gains for investors. In this article, we will explore the key factors driving the positive sentiment surrounding RenQ Finance and delve into the analysts’ predictions for its future performance. Overview of RenQ Finance (RENQ) RenQ Finance (RENQ) is a decentralized finance (DeFi) project that aims to provide a unified platform for connecting isolated blockchains and establishing a cross-chain asset exchange network. The project focuses on bridging the gap between different blockchain ecosystems and providing users with a comprehensive solution for decentralized trading and asset management. The project’s token, RENQ, serves as the governance token within the RenQ Finan...

With 70% of the Southeast Asian population under/unbanked, DeFi solutions have positioned themselves as catalysts for financial transformation. In one of the more striking early scenes from P.T. Anderson’s 2007 film, There Will Be Blood, there is a gas explosion that destroys the drilling rig set up by oil tycoon Daniel Plainview. Noticing one of his employees observing the situation dejectedly, Plainview rebukes the man, saying: “What are you looking so miserable about? There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet. No one can get at it except for me!” Access to and possession of that oil would catapult Plainview, like it did many of his real-world counterparts, to the highest stratosphere of wealth. These days, rather than turning paupers into princes, oil more often serves as a means of transforming princes into the owners of the world’s biggest sports teams. But one can be forgiven for seeing parallels in the mania of that time and today’s focus on what is currently one of the most ...

The Ethereum ecosystem is edging closer to its latest milestone as the Shanghai upgrade draws near. The Ethereum ecosystem will continue its ongoing metamorphosis as the highly anticipated Shanghai upgrade draws near. The latest preeminent smart contract blockchain protocol improvement will activate Ether (ETH) withdrawals from Ethereum’s Beacon Chain. The Merge marked a significant milestone for the Ethereum network in 2022, with the blockchain platform shifting from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus. That change introduced validators as the new “miners” of the network, with staking ETH becoming a key component in maintaining the network. While full validators were required to stake 32 ETH to process transactions and add new blocks to the network, the broader ecosystem could stake smaller amounts of ETH to earn a share of rewards — much like an investor that puts capital into interest-bearing accounts. Those that locked up ETH to become validators have been unable to withdraw...

Opportunity cost is the potential benefit that is missed out on when choosing one option over another. Opportunity cost, explained Opportunity cost is a concept in economics that refers to the value of the next best alternative that is forgone when making a choice — i.e., the cost of the best alternative that is not chosen. Consider the scenario when you have a limited budget and are debating between buying a new laptop or going on vacation. The value of the vacation you could have taken with the same amount of money would be the opportunity cost if you decide to buy the laptop. Similarly, if you decide to take the vacation, the opportunity cost would be the laptop you could have purchased with the same amount of money. Everyone is gambling, all the time. The "risk takers" have the courage to attempt something and gamble with the possibility of failure. The "risk averse" avoid failure, but gamble with the opportunity cost of what they could have achieved—had they...

Universities in the U.K., including Cambridge, Imperial, Edinburgh, Oxford and University College London, offer blockchain-related programs. Universities in the United Kingdom have started offering cutting-edge research programs, courses and practical experience in various aspects of blockchain technology, including cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, privacy, security and scalability. Students who graduate from these programs will be well-equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to become leaders in the field of blockchain technology and drive innovation and adoption in various industries. Here are top five universities to study blockchain in the United Kingdom. University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, and its Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) is a leading research center in the field of alternative finance, which includes research on blockchain and cryptocurrencies.  The CCAF conducts research on ...

Blockchain security firm Peckshield on Twitter said it has found dozens of pump-and-dump tokens purporting to be related to ChatGPT. Blockchain security firm Peckshield has raised the alarm after finding dozens of tokens purporting to be related to artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbot ChatGPT. In a Feb. 20 post, the firm revealed at least three "BingChatGPT" tokens appear to be part of honeypot schemes — a smart contract that tricks a user into sending Ethereum (ETH), which the attacker then traps and retrieves. Some of the addresses reportedly associated with the BingChatGPT tokens. Source: PeckShield According to Peckshield, at least two of the tokens identified have already lost nearly 100% of their value, while a third is at a 65% loss — in what is often referred to as a “pump and dump” scheme or “rug pull.” A pump-and-dump scheme typically involves the creators orchestrating a campaign of misleading statements and hype to persuade investors into purchasing tok...

Ethereum co-founder and Consensus founder Joe Lubin says ETH’s relatively stable value through crypto winter is reason to be bullish about Ethereum’s future. With Ethereum showing resilience through the latest cryptocurrency winter, Consensus founder Joe Lubin says he’s ‘bullish’ over Ether's (ETH) relative stability through compounding macro events.  Cointelegraph Magazine editor Andrew Fenton spoke to Lubin at the Web3 event Building Blocks 23 in Tel Aviv, Israel, for an all-encompassing interview around the current state and future of the Ethereum ecosystem landscape. The co-founder of the preeminent smart contract blockchain protocol touched on a number of subjects, including ETH’s market performance over the past year. A myriad of macro events, including the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin Terra/LUNA and the demise of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, played their role in what Lubin described as a blow off top for the ecosystem: “We do this thing as you know, where we get irrat...