On July 24, 800,000 blocks were mined in the Bitcoin network
On July 24, a significant milestone in the history of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency was reached - the network crossed the mark of 800,000 blocks. This event confirms the approach of the next halving, which is expected in 40,000 blocks. In the specified block, 3721 transactions were processed, occupying a volume of 1.64 MB, and this despite the fact that the cost of bitcoin at that moment was $29,815. T. The average speed of generating a new block in the network is 577 seconds.
The next halving event, which involves halving the reward of miners, is scheduled for April 16, 2024. This important milestone in the development of the crypto market is repeated every four years or after every 210,000 blocks and is traditionally accompanied by an increase in prices in the market. At the moment, the reward for miners is 6.25 BTC. After the next halving, it will decrease to 3.125 BTC, which reflects the constant dynamics of the reduction of new currency issuance and maintains its deflationary nature.
Optimism overtook Arbitrum in terms of the number of transactions per day
On July 27, an important event took place in the Ethereum ecosystem: the number of daily transactions in the Optimism second-level network increased to 944,000, which allowed it to bypass its direct competitor Arbitrum, which recorded 658,000 transactions on the same day. For the first time since January of this year, Optimism has been in the lead, and this success may be due to the recent launch of Sam Altman's Worldcoin (WLD) project.
In May of this year, Worldcoin startup announced that it was moving its key products World App and decentralized identity protocol World ID from the Polygon environment directly to the Optimism ecosystem. This move resulted in a significant increase in activity, with the number of unique addresses on the Ethereum scaling network rising from 4 million in early June to 7 million today.
However, one cannot discount Arbitrum, which still leads the way in certain areas. Arbitrum holds the lead among all Tier 2 solutions with a total value locked of $2.1 billion. By comparison, Optimism's figure is $917 million. In addition, Arbitrum continues to outperform the competitor in terms of active addresses per day, with 154,000 and 102,000, respectively. This data highlights the dynamic competition between the two platforms, highlighting the different strengths of each and demonstrating how complex and multifaceted the modern crypto landscape can be.
Polygon enters into partnership with the Central Bank of Italy
The Central Bank of Italy, through its innovation center Milano Hub, has opted for an ambitious project in the field of decentralized finance (DeFi). This project is presented in collaboration with Ethereum scalable network developer Polygon Labs and leading crypto infrastructure provider Fireblocks. The initiative aims to create a bridge between the traditional financial world and the new opportunities offered by DeFi and tokenized assets.
According to the press release, Milano Hub will actively contribute to the development of an institutional DeFi ecosystem for security tokens over the next six months. This platform promises to be a unique tool for traditional financial institutions looking to explore and experiment with tokenized assets. All transactions will be carried out in accordance with security and regulation standards, which should ensure the trust and transparency of the interaction.
Worldcoin attracted the attention of regulators
The French computer science and freedom regulator, CNIL, has raised concerns about the legality of biometric data collection by the Worldcoin project, founded by Sam Altman, the famed founder of ChatGPT.
The Worldcoin startup was officially launched on July 24, and its key product is the World ID protocol, which uses zero-knowledge proofs. This technology allows people to be identified by scanning the retina or phone number, while maintaining privacy. According to the Worldcoin official website, over 2.1 million users have registered with the system in the past two years.
However, questions of the legitimacy of this approach to the collection and processing of personal data are of concern to regulators. In addition to the CNIL, the Office of the UK Information Commissioner has also announced its intention to look into the user verification process carried out by Worldcoin.
Twitter is now X
On July 24, there was an unexpected brand change for one of the world's leading social networks, Twitter. The familiar blue bird, which has been the symbol of the platform for 11 years and has been used as a talisman even longer - more than 15 years, has been replaced with the letter "X". The move marked a major shift in the company's identity, with Elon Musk even saying he was saying goodbye to the iconic brand. Innovations affected not only the visual aspect of Twitter, but also its main concept. The company took the drastic step of dropping the word "tweet" itself, suggesting that posts be referred to as "x" instead.
These changes caused a wide reaction among users and journalists. Many critics called the rebranding rash, illogical and trivial, and the process of its implementation as sloppy and spontaneous. Feedback on Twitter's new look ranged from bewilderment to outright outrage.
Binance Provides Official Response to CFTC Lawsuit
The major cryptocurrency exchange Binance filed a lawsuit with a request to dismiss the lawsuit filed against it, substantiating its position with the following arguments. According to the exchange, the CFTC is trying to overstep its legal limits by filing charges against Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao. Binance also claims that it does not operate in the US, and Changpeng Zhao is not a resident of this country. Therefore, American laws cannot be applied to them. The exchange believes that the charges are not in line with international legal standards and cannot be extended to foreign entities. Binance states that even within the US, the CFTC has no authority to regulate spot trading of cryptocurrencies, let alone regulate trading abroad.
User lost BTC due to key generator
One user, r/jdmcnair, lost $3,000 in BTC that was stolen from his paper wallet. He talked about how he generated his private key using an online generator, then printed it out on a separate computer without an internet connection and kept it in a safe place. The user himself explained that he used the services of the site walletgenerator.net to generate the key. In response to his post, other members of the community pointed out that concerns had already been raised about the potential vulnerabilities of this generator.
This incident was a clear reminder of the risks associated with using online services to create cryptocurrency wallets. Security experts expressed their concern and called for vigilance when choosing such tools. Recently, there has been a trend towards the use of fake or compromised generators as a means of fraud.
