Bitcoin trading above Rs 23 lakh

Major cryptocurrencies traded in the red early on May 27 as the global crypto market cap decreased 5.41 percent to $1.20 trillion over the last day. On the other hand, the total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours rose 42.35 percent to $100.83 billion. The total volume in DeFi stood at $8.08 billion, 8.01 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stable coins was $87.48 billion, which is 86.76 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. Bitcoin traded above Rs 23 lakh. The market dominance of the world's largest cryptocurrency rose 1.38 percent to 46.13 percent over the last day. Read full here

Bitcoin options show investors becoming anxious about declines

Bitcoin might be registering tepid moves as of late but that doesn’t mean investors have become less anxious about the largest cryptocurrency’s prospect for further declines. The put-to-call ratio on the coin hit a 12-month high at 0.72, meaning that many traders are loading up on hedges in the event it embarks on another leg lower and its losses deepen. The ratio hit a high of 0.96 April last year before prices plunged roughly 50% the following month, according to option Skew data compiled by Babel Finance. It “signals cynicism in the markets with rising bearish sentiment,” said Josh Olszewicz, head of research at Valkyrie Investments. “Given the macro situation globally, and the near uniform risk-off trade currently dominating most asset classes, traders have followed suit with their Bitcoin strategies.” Read details here

Crypto scammers pose as journalists, NFT projects on Twitter

Internet scammers are using hijacked accounts on Twitter Inc. to promote dubious cryptocurrency platforms that, once installed, enable them to compromise victims’ sensitive data, according to new findings provided exclusively to Bloomberg News. Since March, fraudsters have impersonated journalists, crypto apps and a variety of nonfungible token (NFT) projects on Twitter in order to steal users’ virtual currency, usernames and password credentials, according to research from Satnam Narang, a staff research engineer at the cybersecurity firm Tenable Inc. Many of the targeted accounts are verified, an indication to investigators that scammers are either hacking specific pages, paying for illicit access, or both. Take a look

Crypto tax firm CoinTracker forays into India

Crypto tax firm CoinTracker on May 25 announced its foray into the India market with an official product launch. The company's entry comes at a time when the crypto industry is grappling with 30 percent tax on virtual assets and additionally will start paying 1 percent TDS, starting July 1. The firm said that starting Wednesday, its tax compliance and portfolio tracking products will be available to all crypto users across the country. While the base product will be free, its other products will be charged Rs 699 and Rs 2,499 a year. It also has an 'unlimited' offering but the price differs individually. These offerings can be used for both centralised and decentralised exchanges. Read more here

Music NFT marketplace FanTiger bags $5.5 million from Multicoin Capital, Krafton, others

FanTiger, a music non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, on May 25 announced that it has raised $5.5 million in seed funding led by Multicoin Capital, an investment firm focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain companies. The round also saw participation from investors such as South Korean gaming giant Krafton, Polygon Studios, Pravega Ventures, Woodstock Fund, GAMA and IOSG Ventures as well as individuals such as Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, DoorDash executive Gokul Rajaram, CRED executive Miten Sampat and Tykhe Block Ventures founder Prashant Malik. Take a look

Crypto Conversations: Consensus mechanisms beyond Proof of Work and Proof of Stake

Blockchain technology has changed the world in unprecedented ways. Extending beyond the scope of cryptocurrencies, blockchain is now disrupting sectors all around the world.    Consensus algorithms are one of the most important components in understanding everything about blockchain. Everything from network security and confirmation speed to environmental friendliness is determined by it. Although Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake are the most well-known consensus mechanisms, the blockchain ecosystem is powered by a variety of different consensus methods. Let’s take a closer look at what exactly are consensus mechanisms? And how far does their potential extend beyond PoW and PoS? Read more here