Author: Coindesk
Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Marc Hochstein, CoinDesk’s deputy editor-in-chief for features, opinion and standards.In this issue:Solana was the biggest draw for new crypto developers in 2024No wonder: Solana’s transaction volume is off the chartsCoinbase alums take next step toward no-code blockchain developmentKraken’s ‘Ink’ layer-2 goes liveAvalanche activates biggest-ever upgradeEthereum’s ENS picks Consensys’ tech for its L2Bitcoin’s Stacks L2 gets an automated market maker for RunesMost Influential 2024: EigenLayer’s Sreeram KannanThis article is featured in the latest issue of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind…
BOB, the “hybrid layer-2” network seeking to make Bitcoin the center of the decentralized finance (DeFi) universe, has taken a step toward that goal by integrating with BTC restaking protocol Babylon.An abbreviation of “Build on Bitcoin,” BOB’s aim is to establish Bitcoin as the foundational network for DeFi by creating bridges between itself and other blockchains, using Bitcoin as the anchor chain to finalize transactions.Integrating with Babylon forms part of BOB’s roadmap by giving it “Bitcoin finality,” the point at which a transaction is permanent and irreversible on the oldest blockchain. Assets deposited from other chains on BOB would be…
As 2024 draws to a close, cryptocurrency stands at a turning point. Bitcoin has crossed the $100,000 mark and digital assets have solidified their place in investment portfolios of all sizes. Yet, amid these milestones, a critical, yet overlooked issue remains: the estate planning challenges unique to cryptocurrency and other digital assets.A Looming Crisis: Estate Planning in a Digital EraUnlike traditional assets, cryptocurrencies and digital assets operate outside established estate planning frameworks. Their decentralized nature, reliance on private keys, and pseudonymity make them revolutionary. Butwithout proper planning, crypto holdings can be lost forever, become embroiled in legal disputes, or heavily…
When Michael Saylor announced MicroStrategy’s conversion of $250 million in Treasury reserves to bitcoin in August 2020, Wall Street analysts dismissed it as a reckless gamble. “Superior to cash,” Saylor declared of bitcoin at the time, drawing skepticism from traditional banking circles.Yet today, those same banks that sneered at bitcoin’s corporate adoption are now scrambling to participate in bitcoin-collateralized lending as they race to capitalize on its superior characteristics as institutional-grade collateral and a thriving product-market fit.Traditional collateral, such as real estate, requires manual appraisals, subjective valuations and complex legal frameworks that vary by jurisdiction. Bitcoin, by contrast, offers instant…
Kraken, the seventh-largest crypto exchange, said its layer-2 rollup network, built on top of the Ethereum blockchain, has gone live.The network, called Ink, is based on the OP stack, a customizable framework that lets developers build their own rollups using Optimism’s technology. The team had originally planned for Ink to go live in early 2025, so the launch of its main network is ahead of schedule.We’re excited to announce Ink is live on mainnet!Months ahead of schedule, we’re officially launching as part of the Optimism Superchain. This is just the beginning of our journey to bridge the gap between users…
No one can argue with 2024 being a breakthrough year for crypto. BTC and ETH ETFs launched, BlackRock spearheaded bitcoin adoption, a pro-crypto president was elected and BTC broke the 15-year all-time-high, to name a few. But the inflection point for crypto still awaits. Here are three predictions for 2025 that can help spark it:You’re reading Crypto Long & Short, our weekly newsletter featuring insights, news and analysis for the professional investor. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.1. DeFi is about to skyrocketDeFi is becoming more complex, much like traditional finance, in terms of its…
CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 3834.16, down 2.9% (-116.36) since 4 pm ET.One of 20 assets is trading higher.Leaders: HBAR (+0.8%) and BTC (-1.6%).Laggards: LTC (-7.6%) and FIL (-6.2%).The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally. Read the full article here
Solana’s network activity lit up on Tuesday as the Pudgy Penguins NFT project debuted its native token, PENGU, on the programmable blockchain.The layer 1 blockchain, considered a cheap alternative to Ethereum, registered a total transaction tally of 66.9 million, the highest since its inception in 2020, according to data source Artemis. To highlight how busy it was, Solana’s transaction count eclipsed the total of all other major chains combined.Solana also led other blockchains in terms of daily decentralized exchange trading volume and daily active addresses but lagged Base, Ethereum and Tron in the stablecoin transfer volume.Since the dawn of the…
Earlier this year, some users of wrapped bitcoin wBTC were dismayed to find its issuer BitGo was sharing custody of their bitcoin (BTC) with BiT Global, a Hong Kong-based crypto custodian partly owned by TRON founder Justin Sun.The episode “reopened old wounds inflicted by previous centralized custody failure,” even though it did not expose any novel flaws, the Bitcoin Builders Association (BBA) said in a report on Wednesday.”These wounds cause BTC holders to be unwilling to trade off their self-custody for trusted solutions,” the report said.The BBA noted that there’s been signs of growing distrust toward centralized entities. WBTC’s supply…
Patchwork, a startup focused on simplifying blockchain and smart-contract development founded by former Coinbase employees, has released the next version of its low-to-no-code tools for building decentralized applications (dapps).Currently linked to Coinbase’s popular Ethereum layer-2 network Base and backed by Coinbase Ventures, the “Create-Patchwork” picks-and-shovels approach lowers the barriers to building blockchain applications and attaching data to them.Following the trend toward easily generated content, the complex world of blockchains and smart-contract design is on a path to no-code applications, or “text-to-app” experience.Create-Patchwork is the first of several features the team plans to roll out in early 2025 and a foundational…