Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Since November 9, 2021, or 46 days ago, transaction fees on the Ethereum network have been cut by more than half the rate they were on that day. At the time, the average fee to move ethereum was $62.84 per transfer and since then, the fees have dropped 62.85% to $23.34 per transaction. From $62 to $23 per Transaction, Ethereum Fees Have Been Cut by More Than 62% Just over a month ago, it was a lot more expensive to transfer ethereum ( ETH ) onchain, let alone move an ERC20 token, swap tokens, or interact with a smart contract. On December 25, metrics show the average fee spent on the Ethereum network is $22.80 or 0.0056 ether per transaction. The day prior it was $23.34 per transaction, which is 62.85% lower than the fees recorded on November 9. A 62% savings per data transfer cost is considerable and the median ether fee is even cheaper. Statistics from bitinfocharts.com indicate that on November 9, the median ether fee was $34.28 per transaction and today, the fee is 0.0032 ET...

While blockchain monitoring has increased a great deal during the last few years, cryptocurrency mixers have seen significant use from those who don’t want their financial transactions tracked. Meanwhile, two mixing applications, Tornado.cash and Cashfusion, have helped crypto owners make their ethereum and bitcoin cash less traceable. The two applications combined recorded more than $8 billion in crypto transactions that have been purposely obfuscated. Over $4.8 Billion in Ethereum Processed via Tornado.cash Digital currency privacy is a big deal to a lot of people. To some people, it’s not and they have no issues transacting on transparent ledgers that are monitored by blockchain surveillance firms. Privacy advocates, on the other hand, use a number of methods like leveraging a VPN, using the Tor browser, and accessing token mixers. As the end of 2021 approaches, the two crypto asset mixing applications Tornado.cash and Cashfusion have processed over $8 billion in digital assets...

Since December 8, the stablecoin economy has grown 3.59% in 17 days as numerous stablecoin market valuations have issued more fiat-pegged tokens this month. On Saturday, December 25, the stablecoin economy’s $167 billion market valuation represents 6.68% of the entire $2.49 trillion crypto market economy. Stablecoin Issuance Jumps 3.5% There’s a great number of stablecoins in existence today that are pegged to the value of fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar is the most common stablecoin peg today, but there are others that represent the euro and the Swiss franc. On Saturday, the total value of all the stablecoins in existence is $167 billion, up 3.59% since our newsdesk’s last stablecoin report . The most dominant stablecoin today is tether ( USDT ) with a market valuation of around $77.7 billion spread across various blockchains. Tether’s sizable market capitalization is 46.52% of the entire stablecoin economy today. Usd coin (USDC) is the second largest stablec...

According to the Dogecoin Foundation, the organization is working with Vitalik Buterin on constructing proof-of-stake (PoS) capabilities for the Dogecoin network. The “uniquely Doge proposal” is aimed at bolstering a “community staking” version of the protocol. Dogecoin Foundation Discusses the Project’s ‘Trailmap’ On December 23, the Dogecoin Foundation’s official Twitter account tweeted about the digital currency network’s “ Trailmap ,” a set of initiatives that essentially detail the proposed direction of the Dogecoin blockchain and ecosystem. The Dogecoin Foundation says that a traditional crypto “roadmap” is a rigid summary of a cryptocurrency network’s direction and usually it’s “led by a single company or ‘lead.’” The foundation behind the Dogecoin blockchain protocol says Dogecoin has always been “community-driven” with “many individual and organisational contributors.” “Dogecoin is a community-driven, consensus-based open-source project and its direction is formed by the ...

Tanzanians are embracing cryptocurrencies but more work still has to be undertaken in order to reduce the number of scams in the industry, a blockchain educator has said. In much of the year 2021, blockchain entities and proponents of the technology in Tanzania did much to bring this fintech to ordinary folks in that country. This has been either through roadshows or investment commitments. These efforts have also been bolstered by President Samia Suluhu Hasan’s apparent embrace of the technology. As a result of such efforts, more Tanzanians are becoming acquainted with cryptocurrencies than in the past. On the other hand, increased cryptocurrency trading activities have also forced the Bank of Tanzania to once again warn residents of the risks they face each time they trade. However, as Sandra Chogo — a Tanzania based blockchain educator — suggested to Bitcoin.com News, more work still needs to be done to ensure Tanzanians are aware of the risks involved in crypto trading. She...

Marathon, one of the leading bitcoin mining companies in North America announced it has entered a new purchase agreement with Bitmain, a bitcoin mining machine manufacturer. This deal would allow them to acquire an undisclosed number of Antminer S19 XP models, an ASIC capable of delivering 140 TH/s while being more efficient than its previous iterations. Marathon hopes to host 199,000 miners by early 2023. Marathon Keeps Buying Miners Marathon Digital Holdings, one of the largest bitcoin mining companies in the world, announced today it entered a new purchase agreement with Bitmain. The agreement will allow the company to get ahold of a number of mining machines to expand its hashrate capacity next year. The machines purchased are Antminer S19 XPs, one of the newest miners developed by the Chinese manufacturer, able to deliver 140 TH/s of mining power while being more energy-efficient than its predecessors. While the manufacturer did not explain how many miners were ordered in thi...