Bitcoin Price: US$ 26,574.53 (-6.51%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 1,434.96 (-6.39%)
Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity charges through 4,000 BTC
- The layer-2 technology built on Bitcoin now has 4,000 Bitcoin or $120 million locked up allowing for near-instant payments around the world.
- The Lightning Network first broke the 1,000 BTC barrier in August 2020 and the 2,000 BTC barrier in July 2021. The capacity has doubled in the space of 18 months.
- CoinCorner CEO Daniel Scott told Cointelegraph that “we had slow and steady growth with Lightning capacity to begin, but since Jan[uary] 2021, the uptick has been strong.”
- Danny Brewster, CEO of United Kingdom-based Bitcoin exchange Fast Bitcoins told Cointelegraph that Lightning Network capacity “likely passed 4K a long time ago with private channel metrics not being publicly available.”
- “With that being said, the constant growth has been a great start for the Lightning Network and I foresee it continuing into the future, as long as all stakeholders, from developers to entrepreneurs building businesses continue to push forward.”
Swedish central bankers snipe Bitcoin mining, cite rampant energy use
- Another day, another environmental attack on proof-of-work (PoW) mining. A report shared by the Swedish central bank argued that energy-intensive Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency mining should be banned.
- The Swedish central bank, known as the Riksbank, is the oldest central bank in the world. In a damning report entitled, “Cryptocurrencies and their impact on financial stability,” the bank had a crack at PoW cryptocurrency mining. PoW mining employs energy-guzzling data centers that solve puzzles to secure blockchains. The report stated:
- “Recently, some extraction of crypto assets has been established in northern Sweden, where it consumes as much electricity as 200,000 households do on an annual basis.”
- For Knut Svanholm, a Bitcoin author who recently penned “∞/21M,” told Cointelegraph, “A central bank has no business telling people what they can and cannot do with their electricity.”
- “If they really cared about the environment, they’d shut their own operation down for good tomorrow morning.”
Huobi Global launches $1B investment arm focused on DeFi and Web3
- Digital asset exchange Huobi Global has spun out a new investment arm focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 projects, further highlighting venture capital interest in the blockchain economy.
- Dubbed Ivy Blocks, the new investment arm has over $1 billion in crypto assets under management to deploy, a spokesperson for Huobi confirmed. These funds have been earmarked for “identifying and investing in promising blockchain projects,” the company said.
- In addition to financing, Ivy Blocks will offer various services to selected projects, including an asset management platform, a new blockchain incubator and a dedicated research arm. The firm’s asset management department will provide “liquidity investments” to help DeFi and Web3 projects get up and running, according to Lily Zhang, Huobi Global’s chief financial officer.
- Ivy Blocks on Friday also announced that Capricorn Finance, an automated market maker built on the Cube blockchain, was the first project to receive funding.
MoneyGram’s USDC transfer service launches in several countries
- Cross-border transfer service MoneyGram officially launched its stablecoin-powered payment channel on Friday, giving users the ability to send USD Coin (USDC) payments worldwide that can be withdrawn as cash by recipients.
- The service is being rolled out across several key remittance markets, including Canada, the United States, Kenya and the Philippines, Circle and MoneyGram announced Friday. Global cash-out functionality will be available by the end of June. To encourage adoption, the USDC transfer service will carry zero fees for the first 12 months.
- As Cointelegraph reported, MoneyGram’s new transfer service was built on the Stellar (XLM) blockchain and allows Stellar wallet users to send USDC to recipients around the world. The service is intended to bridge the gap between digital assets and physical cash currency, as well as demonstrate the utility of crypto payments.
Bitcoin, altcoins sell-off on record-high inflation, but traders still expect BTC to consolidate
- Global financial markets once again find themselves trending lower on June 10 after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in at a blistering 8.6% year-over-year increase, the highest print since 1981.
- The hotter-than-expected CPI print resulted in a collapse of the $30,000 support and Bitcoin (BTC) price sold off to a daily low of $28,852 before dip buyers managed to bid the price back above $29,000.
Jack Dorsey is building ‘Web5’ powered by Bitcoin
- Block subsidiary TBD has announced plans to build a new decentralized web centered around Bitcoin (BTC), underscoring founder Jack Dorsey’s belief that the largest blockchain network will play a major role in the internet’s evolution.
- The new project, called “Web5,” represents the latest Bitcoin-centric endeavor to be pursued by Dorsey since stepping down as CEO of Twitter in November 2021.
- Whereas Web3 incorporates blockchain technology and tokenization to decentralize the internet, Web5 is being envisioned as an identity-based system that only utilizes one blockchain: Bitcoin. Twitter user Namcios broke down the concept of Web5 in a series of tweets that described several software components working together to enhance the user’s experience and enable decentralized identity management.
- According to Namcios, Web5 utilizes ION, which they describe as an “open, public and permissionless DID network that runs atop the Bitcoin blockchain.”
- Web5 is essentially a decentralized web platform, or DWP, that allows developers to create decentralized web apps via DIDs and decentralized nodes, according to TBD’s prototype documents. Web5 will also have a monetary network centered around BTC, which mirrors Dorsey’s belief that the digital asset will one day become the internet’s native currency.
Do Kwon’s alleged $80 million withdrawals before Terra fallout triggers mixed reactions
- Reports that Terra (the new LUNA orLUNA2) founder Do Kwon allegedly withdrew $80 million monthly before the project crashed surfaced Friday, leading members of the community to voice their opinions on the matter.
- In a tweet, crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe said that Kwon deserves imprisonment. He compared the Terraform Labs CEO to the infamous fraudster Bernie Madoff. “Honestly, he deserves jail,” Van de Poppe wrote.
- Twitter user DaisiObanla also agreed with Van de Poppe. According to DaisiObanla, he wants to hear the news that Kwon is sentenced to 150 years in prison without any parole. Moreover, football player Nicolas Boulay also chimed in, writing that the Terra executive “needs to feel the wrath of the community.”
Coin Center takes US Treasury to court over alleged financial spying
- Coin Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit blockchain advocacy group, filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of the Treasury for allegedly provisioning an unconstitutional amendment in the controversial infrastructure bill.
- In the first claim of the lawsuit, Coin Center alleged that the 6050I provision is not aimed at collecting information about the third parties but rather focuses on the information about the general public participating in crypto transactions.
- “The second claim is about our freedom of association,” the company added as it pointed out a Supreme Court ruling that forbids the government from forcing organizations to keep and report lists of their members.
- On an end note, Coin Center reached out to the crypto community for support, stating that:
- “We are considering adding additional co-plaintiffs to this suit, so if you might fit this description and are interested, please get in touch.”
Do Kwon dismisses allegation of cashing out $2.7B from LUNA, UST
- Do Kwon, the CEO and co-founder of the infamous Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) ecosystems, refuted the claims of cashing out $80 million every month for nearly three years.
- Numerous unconfirmed reports surfaced on Saturday, claiming Kwon’s participation in draining liquidity out of Luna Classic (LUNC) and TerraUSD Classic (USTC), before the crash to purchase United States dollar-pegged stablecoin such as Tether (USDT).
- Rumors about Kwon cashing out LUNA and UST reserves surfaced after a Twitter thread by FatManTerra shared the alleged details on how Kwon, along with Terra influencers, managed to drain funds while artificially maintaining the liquidity.
- However, the entrepreneur advised the crypto community to steer away from fueling the rumor until it was proven true:
- “This should be obvious, but the claim that I cashed out $2.7B from anything is categorically false.”
- Sharing his side of the story, Kwon stated that the recent rumor of cashing out $80 million per month contradicts the claims that he still holds most of his LUNA holdings, procured during the airdrop. Moreover, Kwon further reiterated that his income over the past two years has only been a cash salary from TerraForm Labs (TFL).
