USDT records new all-time high against Russian ruble as inflation hits

U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USDT) witnessed a spike of over 30% in five days against the Russian ruble — highlighting the negative and immediate impact of the ongoing war on the traditional financial system. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and crypto exchange Binance show that the ruble (RUB) is undergoing inflation as the USDT/RUB trading pair — for the first …

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Building a free-to-use social DApp

Cointelegraph is following the development of an entirely new blockchain from inception to mainnet and beyond through its series, Inside the Blockchain Developer’s Mind, written by Andrew Levine of Koinos Group. In my first article in this series, I explained why Ethereum and Steem haven’t been able to deliver a mainstream social decentralized application (DApp). In my second article, I …

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EU Commission to remove Russian banks from SWIFT cross-border network

The European Commission announced to remove a number of Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging system, aimed at hindering Russia’s capacity to carry out cross-border payments.  In a joint statement released by the European Commission, leaders from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States highlighted their shared interest in defending …

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Blockchain forensics is the trusted informant in crypto crime scene investigation

The seizure by the U.S. Department of Justice of $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) lost during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex’s cryptocurrency exchange has all the ingredients of a Hollywood film — eye-popping sums, colorful protagonists and crypto cloak-and-dagger — so much so that Netflix has already commissioned a docuseries.  But, who are the unsung heroes in this action-packed …

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DOJ indicts BitConnect’s Indian founder for $2.4B crypto Ponzi scheme

The founder of the infamous crypto exchange BitConnect, Satish Kumbhani, has been charged for allegedly misleading investors globally and defrauding them of $2.4 billion in the process. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), a San Diego-based federal grand jury specifically charged Kumbhani for orchestrating the alleged Ponzi scheme via BitConnect’s “Lending Program”: “BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scheme by …

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European Parliament postpones crypto bill vote over proof-of-work

The parliament of the European Union is delaying a vote on a framework aimed at regulating cryptocurrencies amid concerns over proof-of-work mining. In a Friday Twitter thread, European Parliament economics committee member Stefan Berger said the government body had canceled a vote on the Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, framework scheduled to take place on Monday. Berger said parliament …

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‘Bitcoin makes no sense for blockchain developers,’ says 1inch Network co-founder

Anton Bukov, the co-founder of 1inch Network, thinks that Ethereum will likely become the main settlement layer for a multi-chain decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.  “There is like a high chance that most of the chains will try to commit their states to Ethereum as a higher layer,” Bukov said in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph. Bukov, who is number 39 …

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Trudeau revokes emergencies act powers but the case for crypto grows

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has announced he will repeal emergency powers used to freeze $8 million from 210 bank accounts connected to Canadian ‘Freedom Convoy’ protestors, according to CBC news. On Feb. 24, Trudeau stated in a televised press conference that “we’re ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency” and said that his special …

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Security firms seek to make it more difficult for scammers to get away with DeFi project hacks

The rise of community-oriented blockchain security companies may be making it more difficult for alleged bad actors to get away without a trace. Early Wednesday, CertiK issued a community alert regarding Flurry Finance, where its smart contracts were allegedly breached by hackers, leading to $293,000 worth of funds being stolen. Shortly after the incident, CertiK published the wallet addresses of …

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