Archive for the ‘Ethereum’ Category

Ethereums ERC-4337 Standard: A Game-Changing, User-Friendly Innovation – Decrypt

Ethereum is one of the most popular and widely-used blockchain protocols. While its native coin ether (ETH) can be used to make payments like cryptocurrencies such as litecoin (LTC) or bitcoin cash (BCH), Ethereum was designed to be a far more flexible and feature-rich blockchain protocol. Ethereum allows for the execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). It also allows for tokens to be built on top of its core protocol.

One of the most innovative ERC standards to date is the ERC-4337 standard. Like earlier token standard releases, it was designed to enable additional features and options that werent possible using the previously available token options. Ethereums tokens are one reason it has garnered such a sizeable share of the crypto market. These Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC) tokens create concrete rules and frameworks that allow ERC tokens to be sent and received on the Ethereum blockchain. One of the most popular token standards is ERC-20, which allows you to issue new fungible tokens on the Ethereum protocol. Another popular option is the ERC-721 token standard, which allows for the issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This is one reason why many of the most popular NFT collections and fungible tokens are found on Ethereum.

There are a number of ERC token standards (ERC-777, ERC-2222, and more) on Ethereum, with new suggestions called Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) continually being proposed and discussed. Some EIPs are ultimately rejected, while others end up being released on Ethereum. Once an EIP is improved and implemented, it becomes an ERC (ERC-4337 was previously EIP-4337).

Funded through Ethereum Foundation grants, the launch of ERC-4337 was announced at WalletCon 2023. Lets discover what ERC-4337 enables on the Ethereum protocol and why the community decided it needed to be approved.

ERC-4337 makes enhanced crypto transaction options possible. To differentiate it from standard crypto transactions, these ERC-4337 transactions are referred to as UserOperations. This sort of blockchain enhancement would typically be done through a blockchain update and not through a new ERC standard release (more on that later).A core new feature is that it allows for account abstraction on Ethereum in a decentralized manner (more on that below). Additionally, it allows for dApp developers to partially or fully subsidize transaction fees for users; on many dApps the user must pay these fees. ERC-4337 also allows users to pay fees with ERC-20 tokens (as opposed to ETH). This should create a decentralized fee market for smart contract operations. On top of that, it enables some privacy-preserving features and supports the use of aggregated signatures. ERC-4337 is also available on networks compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) such as Polygon, Avalanche, Arbitrum, and several others.

For sending transactions, ERC-4337 enables you to bundle (combine) multiple transactions to save time and lower transaction fee costs. You will also be able to pre-approve transactions in an automated way. Most current wallets require you to manually approve every transaction. Now, you can create review processes that require additional manual approval only for certain transactions such as transactions that send over a specified amount of crypto (more than $1,000 USD equivalent, for example).

Through a process known as account abstraction, ERC-4337 allows for the use of smart accounts that are expected to be more user friendly for beginners. This update is expected to catalyze crypto adoption as technical barriers to entry are continually being lowered or removed. While somewhat technical, in essence, account abstraction turns a users crypto wallet into a smart contract-enabled account. For this reason, many dont call ERC-4337 a token standard and simply call it an ERC standard; it doesn't really fit categorically with the previous ERC token standards.

One core benefit is how account abstraction simplifies both the use and creation of wallets. Prior to ERC-4337, users generally had to memorize a seed phrase (or store this phrase offline) to create a backup of their crypto wallet. Through abstraction, a crypto wallets private keys can be stored on a smartphones standard security module. This would create what some would consider a hardware wallet within their phone although some express concerns about a smartphones vulnerabilities through the touchscreen or some other avenue.

ERC-4337 allows for the use of smart accounts that are expected to be more user friendly for beginners.

ERC-4337 allows you to sign transactions biometrically through a fingerprint or face scan as an additional safety measure. Should you lose your phone, you could regain access to your account through the use of time-locked social recovery. This requires multiple users to sign a recovery transaction through a multi-signature (multi-sig) wallet. You could give a group of trusted friends or family the ability to regenerate your account. If that doesnt suit you, you could pay a commercial third-party service to recover your account should the need arise.

Losing their wallet and the associated crypto and being unable to recover it is one fear people have when it comes to using non-custodial crypto wallets. There are horror stories of people losing large sums of crypto in this way. This safeguard is designed to give you some of the features and peace of mind you may have when using a bank without having to trust a bank thus preserving the core crypto ethos of trustlessness and permissionlessness.In general, the implementation of account abstraction is intended to provide two benefits for wallets:

For many blockchain protocols, changes require a code update to the blockchain that is called a fork. Oftentimes, there is heated debate about whether to implement changes to a blockchain. These updates sometimes lead to a blockchain splitting into two separate networks. Called a hard fork, this has led to the 2017 Bitcoin fork that created Bitcoin Cash and even a previous splitting of Ethereum (which created Ethereum Classic). The other fork option is a soft fork. Soft forks are backwards compatible giving users and validators the option to implement an update or not.

With the time and work that has gone into transitioning Ethereum from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network (known as The Merge), the proposal for ERC-4337 noted that it may be some time before Ethereum goes through another significant update. For that reason, ERC-4337 was implemented as a way to enable updates that dont change the core Ethereum protocol. Taking this innovative approach has ostensibly saved a lot of time and effort. In addition, ERC-4337 will not create compatibility issues in the way some blockchain forks have.

By taking these changes to a higher-abstraction layer (the ERC-4337 standard itself), it negates the need to implement changes to the core Ethereum protocol (the Ethereum blockchain). While this has sped up the implementation of account abstraction on Ethereum, the goal is to eventually implement this feature into the primary Ethereum protocol.

What ERC-4337 Means for Ethereum Adoption

With its notable medley of ERC-20 tokens, the popularity of ERC-721 NFTs, and the outsized presence of Ethereum within decentralized finance (DeFi), ERC-4337 will likely help Ethereum remain one of the premier blockchains as the enhanced functionality will benefit all of these disparate but connected niches within the wider Ethereum ecosystem.

With crypto wallet security and user friendliness at the forefront of the ERC-4337 update, we may end up seeing newcomers to the crypto space choose to start with Ethereum (and EVM-compatible blockchains) as opposed to other blockchain ecosystems. Enticed by the core benefits and ease of use enabled by ERC-4337, this may allow Ethereum to keep or grow the already sizable market share that it occupies within the wider crypto market. For other blockchains to remain competitive and gain market share, they may need to incorporate their own versions of higher-level account abstraction. This will let them appeal to new crypto users that want to experience Web3 with the ease of use and simplicity more commonly found in the Web2 experience.

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Ethereums ERC-4337 Standard: A Game-Changing, User-Friendly Innovation - Decrypt

MATIC and MINA protocol ride the zk hype ahead of major Ethereum upgrade – FXStreet

MATIC network and MINA protocol are two projects that recently rolled out upgrades and a roadmap to boost scaling and decentralization through the zero-knowledge (zk) hype. A major Ethereum upgrade is slated to occur on April 12, this is a driver for narratives surrounding Ethereum scaling and the zk hype.

Polygon recently forayed into a zero-knowledge solution zkEVM and MINA protocol published its roadmap, boosting faster and low-latency transactions through zero-knowledge programmability.

Also read: Ethereum (ETH) price volatility increases with upcoming Ethereum token unlock

MINA protocol, one of the lightest blockchains in the world, announced its roadmap. The zero-knowledge Layer 1 blockchain MINA is focused on developing systems with trust minimization, ZK-Programmability, and enhanced performance.

MINAs roadmap for ZK Programmability is focused on boosting scalability and privacy for the project.

ZK Programmability

MINAs roadmap launch failed to trigger a recovery in the protocols native asset. MINA is exchanging hands at $0.72, yielding 4% losses for holders over the past week.

The protocol intends to capitalize on the zk hype and bring their zk programmability solution to mainnet in 2023.

Polygon network recently launched zkEVM, the layer 2 protocols take on scaling the Ethereum blockchain with higher efficiency. Polygons zkEVM has a Total Value Locked (TVL) of $1.1 million, according to data from DeFi aggregator DeFiLlama.

Total TVL in Polygons zkEVM

Data from Nansen shows a consistent decline in the daily active users and activity on both Polygons zkEVM and zkSync. However, in terms of market dominance, zkSync controls 57.7% of all activity on zkEVM networks.

DAU and market share of zkSync, StarkNet and Polygon zkEVM

StarkNet is second to zkSync, coming in at second place with 25% of market share in the zk ecosystem. MATIC network lags behind and is limited to less than 2% of the zk market share.

Crypto Twitter is filled with speculation from analysts predicting an airdrop in zkSync. The zk narrative has gained traction, driving users and higher TVL to the ecosystem, as noted above. Projects like MINA protocol are working on launching roadmaps and capitalizing on the zk narrative to gain higher market share and users. Ethereum's upcoming upgrade Shanghai hard fork has fueled the hype surrounding the altcoin blockchain's scalability. This supports the narrative of zk projects and scalability of the ETH blockchain.

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MATIC and MINA protocol ride the zk hype ahead of major Ethereum upgrade - FXStreet

Swiss Bank PostFinance to Roll Out Bitcoin, Ethereum Services for Clients – Decrypt

PostFinance, the financial services firm fully owned by the Swiss government, will offer its customers a range of regulated crypto services delivered through Sygnum's B2B banking platform.

Thanks to the partnership with digital assets bank Sygnum, its customers will now be able to buy, store, and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), according to an announcement. PostFinance is Switzerlands fifth-largest financial services firm boasting more than 2.5 million customers.

"This partnership illustrates how digital assets are now an integral part of the financial landscape in Switzerland. In this sense, the PostFinance and Sygnum partnership represents an important, and fully regulated step, towards increased asset class adoption," Sygnum's chief B2B officer Fritz Jost told Decrypt. "Switzerland as an investment ecosystem offers a number of strategic advantages, including regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies and off-balance sheet segregation of crypto assets which eliminates credit risks."

A PostFinance spokesperson told Decrypt that its "analyses show that our customers want access to the crypto market. The past few months have shown that customers want more security, regulation, and trust. We can offer this. Our top priority is to offer trading and safekeeping within a secure framework for our customers and to ensure the highest level of regulatory compliance."

Sygnum's B2B banking solution lets existing financial institutions crypto products and services, with PostFinance joining more than a dozen of the platforms other banking partners.

Digital assets have become an integral part of the financial world, and our customers want access to this market at PostFinance, their trusted principal bank, PostFinance's CIO Chief Investment Philipp Merkt said in a statement. A reputable and established partner like Sygnum Bank with an excellent service offering is more important than ever.

PostFinance did not respond immediately to Decrypt's request for comment.

The new partnership also enables PostFinance to provide revenue-generating services such as crypto stakinga process of locking crypto assets for a set period of time to help secure a blockchain network in exchange for rewards on users holdings.

Sygnums staking offerings include Ethereum, the industrys second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Cardano (ADA), Internet Computer (ICP), and Tezos (XTZ).

"Our continually expanding B2B offering, which currently includes 25 leading cryptocurrencies including DeFi-focused, 60+ trading pairs, and four leading fiat currencies, is available for deployment by PostFinance on a flexible basis. Additional details about the token and staking offering roadmap will be communicated by PostFinance in the lead-up to launch," Jost told Decrypt.

In June 2021, Sygnum also launched institutional-grade custody and trading services for the USDC stablecoin, as well as for a portfolio of decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, such as Aave (AAVE), Aragon (ANT), Curve (CRV), Maker (MKR), Synthetix (SNX), Uniswap (UNI), and 1inch (1INCH).

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Swiss Bank PostFinance to Roll Out Bitcoin, Ethereum Services for Clients - Decrypt

Cardano and Solana Can Take the Fight to Ethereum, Big Eyes … – Analytics Insight

The US has been cold to the cryptocurrency industry since the collapse of the Signature, Silvergate, and Silicon Valley Banks. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet attributes this failure to the instability of crypto.

Signature Bank failed, and almost a fifth of its deposits came from crypto, he said, adding, Theyre not allowed to do anything with marijuana, but they can lay 20% of this on crypto a notoriously unstable thing that nobody here even understands and where the value of the assets can soar and collapse.

Ambre Soubiran, CEO of Paris-based crypto market data provider Kaiko, says the United States crackdown on crypto could ultimately see the industrys shift towards Hong Kong. The US being more stringent these days than ever on crypto and Hong Kong regulating more favourably is going to shift the centre of gravity of crypto assets trading and investments towards Hong Kong, she said.

Despite US frostiness towards cryptocurrencies, Hong Kong remains committed to its goal of becoming a crypto hub. More than 80 virtual-asset firms have set up shop on the Fragrant Harbour, and 23 crypto firms plan to establish their presence soon.

In 2021, China effectively banned financial institutions from providing cryptocurrency services. Under this ban, banks and online payment channels cannot provide trading, settlement, clearing, and registration of cryptocurrencies.

In contrast, Hong Kong has been committed to re-affirming itself as a global crypto hub. That same year, Hong Kongs Securities and Futures Commission announced that Hong Kong is willing to distinguish its crypto regulation approach from the blanket crypto ban in mainland China.

Xiaoba, a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur moving startup to Hong Kong, said, It is a grey area in the mainland. There is clarity and a sense of safety in Hong Kong that would allow me to flourish.

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Cryptocurrencies are largely unregulated, which means they can be used for scams, money laundering, and tax evasion. The instability of cryptos also has broader implications for the overall financial market.

In conclusion, while there are many negatives associated with the crypto market, it is still a very new form of currency, and its potential has yet to be realised.

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Cardano and Solana Can Take the Fight to Ethereum, Big Eyes ... - Analytics Insight

Why these social cues could be forecasting a local top for Ethereum and the broader crypto markets – FXStreet

The crypto markets, like the traditional finance world, are due to the behavior of thousands, if not millions, of investors making individual decisions. These seemingly unrelated and unconnected decisions, when looked at from a bigger-picture perspective, start to form a pattern. This is the reason why fractals occur in nature, this is the reason why history rhymes and sometimes repeats itself.

Hence, paying close attention to social cues could be a powerful tool in the hands of the right investor. As the second quarter of 2023 kickstarts, certain repetitive behaviors are beginning to resurface that could indicate that a local top for the 2023 bull rally might be around the corner.

While the crypto market and stock market happen to be starkly different from each other, in some ways, they share a lot of similarities. The changes in prices due to market events are both cyclical in nature, i.e., they follow a pattern of highs and lows and form tops and bottoms over time.

In the case of the crypto market, year to date, digital assets have noted significant increases. Bitcoin price since the beginning of 2023 has risen by over 70%, and Ethereum price similarly over the last three months has increased by 58%. Other altcoins have also noted massive gains, which indicate an active bullish narrative.

However, certain recent events suggest that a top could be forming.

Over the last few months, the crypto market has noted instances suggesting a local top, such as:-

But this is not the first time this has been observed, as in the past, similar events have occurred that led to the formation of a local top.

IMX social sentiment

Although it is premature to predict a local top, investors need to be cautious regardless, as the aforementioned signs are usually signals of a top and can trigger a drop in price at any time.

As for now, Bitcoin investors need to watch out for a rise to $35,000 and $38,500, as these would mark key levels for taking a profit. At the same time, should corrections arrive and Bitcoin price fall below the key support level of $24,736 to $17,600, selling pressure could rise.

For more information on potential corrections or retracements in the future where investors can accumulate, refer to the article attached below.

Bitcoin Weekly Forecast: Breaking down key BTC levels to accumulate for Q2, 2023

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Why these social cues could be forecasting a local top for Ethereum and the broader crypto markets - FXStreet