Top Crypto News Of The Day Curated by CoinChapter.com Taiwan Plans CBDC Prototype Test
Taiwan’s central bank aims to test a central bank digital currency (CBDC) prototype by late 2024 or early 2025. The CBDC will not use blockchain or smart contracts, instead leveraging the government’s upcoming digital voucher system.
Central Bank Governor Chin-Long Yang announced plans to collaborate with the Digital Affairs Ministry on integrating the CBDC into the digital voucher platform. This system, potentially launching in October 2024, could serve as a precursor to CBDC implementation.
The digital ministry will manage voucher distribution, while the central bank will oversee payment and settlement after users spend vouchers from digital wallets. Government agencies could issue digital vouchers through this system in the future.
While no fixed timeline exists for full CBDC deployment, the digital voucher system may begin testing in August 2024. Industry sources suggest this could be a “warm-up” for eventual CBDC pilots.
Crypto News: CoinStats Hacker Transfers Nearly $1M to Tornado Cash
An exploiter linked to the June CoinStats hack has moved approximately $959,000 worth of Ethereum to Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service. Blockchain security firm CertiK reported that two wallets associated with the exploit transferred a total of 311 ETH to the mixer.
Source: X
Crypto mixers like Tornado Cash anonymize transactions by combining funds from multiple sources, often used by hackers to launder stolen assets.
You May Also Like: CoinStats Security Breach Affects 1,590 Wallets
Elliptic Uncovers $11B Scam Network
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has revealed that Huione Guarantee, an online marketplace run by Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group, facilitated over $11 billion in transactions linked to money laundering and cyber scams in Southeast Asia.
The platform, operating primarily in Chinese, offers services crucial for cyber scams, including personal data sales, money laundering, and scam website development. It also provides tools used in scam compounds for worker imprisonment and torture.
While the marketplace uses various payment methods, it predominantly relies on Tether for transactions. Elliptic’s co-founder Tom Robinson noted that blockchain transparency allowed for quantification of these cryptocurrency transactions, making them more traceable than traditional financial flows.
Crypto News: Bitcoin Transaction Fees Hit Four-Year Low
On July 7, 2024, Bitcoin transaction fees dropped to their lowest level since 2020, averaging $38.69 per transaction. This decrease resulted from lower demand for block space and reduced data volume.
Cost per Bitcoin transaction, 1-day average. Source: B lockchain.com
Miners processed 673,752 transactions that day, with Bitcoin transactions accounting for 89.7% of network activity. The remaining bandwidth was used by protocols like Ordinals, BRC-20, and Runes.
Despite lower average transaction costs, miners benefited from reduced network difficulty, allowing for more efficient transaction processing.
Starknet to Launch Staking on Mainnet in Q4 2024
StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson announced at EthCC that Starknet plans to introduce staking by the end of 2024 through a Starknet improvement proposal (SNIP). If approved, staking will launch on testnet before going live on mainnet in Q4.
The staking feature aims to allow tokenholders to participate in core network activities, with responsibilities and rewards gradually increasing over time. Users can become stakers by meeting a minimum staking amount or by delegating to existing stakers.
Rewards will follow the previously proposed minting curve, which aims to balance participation incentives with inflation control. The staking mechanism is designed to encourage network participation while ensuring sufficient STRK tokens are available for other activities.
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