2024-08-01 14:07

Sitting on the sidelines during the democratic process means you can't complain about the result, the CEO and co-founder of a DAO vote-counting protocol said. It's hypocritical to accuse parties of running a "governance attack" against a DAO when voter participation is low, the co-founder and CEO of Tally Protocol said. In order to create a better DAO governance environment, stakeholders need to be incentivized, just like in the traditional finance world. You can't blame people for playing by the rules. And the recent resolutions by a group of governance-token holders to create a yield-bearing product on the Compound lending protocol were not a "governance attack," according to Dennison Bertram, CEO and co-founder of Tally Protocol. Just because other COMP token holders responded with apathy doesn't make Humpy and the Golden Boys' proposal an attack, he said. Smart contracts were not exploited, and the actions taken were within the rules of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that runs the protocol. What it shows is that the democratic process of governing a DAO is imperfect and needs improvement. "Someone had a really strong opinion that was outside social norms, and they did the requisite legwork necessary to get it to pass," Bertram said in an interview. "Many of the people that you should expect to vote no on something like this didn't show up." Take, for example, the latest proposal from pseudonymous Humpy, the Golden Boys' ringleader. The proposal to create goldCOMP – which they agreed to cancel as part of a resolution – garnered only a 49% participation rate in the voting process. This lack of participation has been noticed by many observers of the DeFi industry. Bertram said the recently announced Tally Protocol, which will be in testnet within the next couple of weeks, is an attempt to address the low participation and attention in DAO governance by creating incentives for active engagement. Tally has previously raised two rounds in 2021 in order to build out DAO governance dashboards and tooling. Through a process called governance staking and restaking, the protocol allows users to mint Tally Liquid Staked Tokens (tLSTs), which are tokens that earn passive, auto-compounding yield while maintaining governance rights for DAO participants, Tally explained in a post. By staking governance tokens with Tally, users receive tLSTs that earn passive yield and can still vote back at the DAO. This mechanism ensures token holders are rewarded for their participation rather than just holding tokens passively and waiting for the price to hit the right amount so they can exit. "People need to be paid to run these billion-dollar organizations," Bertram said. "Not only do you not get paid to participate in these organizations ... you actually have to spend your free time reading the forums, digesting these posts, understanding what they mean, auditing the code, showing up, and actually paying your own money to vote." Bertram points out that swings in token prices can result in misaligned incentives. "DAOs fail at both ends of the spectrum. If the token price of a DAO goes to zero, it's dead. If it goes to infinity, everybody sells their token because that's the maximum financial opportunity," he said. That behavior underlines the need for participants to be compensated proportionally for their contributions. The program also differs from a dividend, which is given out to any shareholder, even completely idle ones. To separate DAO tokens from securities – which the SEC often accuses them of being – DAO token holders must be rewarded in proportion to their efforts. "By attaching an economic incentive that's proportional to performance, you drive towards more sophisticated, more attention-paying, more driven participants," he said. After all, nobody is doing all this work in TradFi organizations with the market cap of Compound for free. The COMP token has a market cap of about $450 million, according to CoinGecko data. "What the Tally Protocol does is really say the quiet part out loud: The people who operate protocols need to have value returned to them in proportion to their contributions to the organization." https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/08/01/golden-boys-move-on-compounddao-wasnt-a-governance-attack-tally-protocol-ceo/

2024-08-01 11:15

Bitcoin's Bollinger bandwidth has narrowed to levels that have historically preceded volatility explosions. The gap between bitcoin's volatility bands has narrowed to 20%. A similar reading preceded Bitcoin's late 2023 surge. Traders bored of bitcoin (BTC)'s range-ridden days might want to return to their computer screens. An indicator called "Bollinger bandwidth" that successfully predicted the late 2023 volatility boom is glowing brightly again. Bollinger bands are volatility bands placed two standard deviations above and below the 20-day/week simple moving average of an asset's price. The bandwidth, an unbound oscillator, is derived by dividing the spread between the volatility bands by the 20-period SMA. Bitcoin's Bollinger bandwidth has declined to 20% on the weekly chart, a level last seen days before BTC exited its then multi-month trading range of $25,000 to $32,000 in late October. Prices topped the $40,000 mark by year-end and rose to record highs above $70,000 in March this year. The latest reading of 20% follows four months of trading between $60,000 and $70,000, barring occasional brief dips to $55,000. The bandwidth flashed a similar reading ahead of the volatility explosions in November 2018, October 2016, mid-105 and mid-2012, as CoinDesk discussed in October. Volatility is said to be mean-reverting. So, a narrower bandwidth, representing price stability, often precedes a breakout in either direction or burst of volatility. On the flip side, high bandwidth indicates a cooling period on the horizon. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/08/01/bitcoin-indicator-that-forewarned-late-2023-volatility-explosion-is-lighting-up-again/

2024-08-01 10:44

This is part of a larger fund that Ripple will allocate to tokenized T-bills provided by OpenEden and other issuers. Ripple will allocate $10 million in tokenized U.S. Treasury bills on the XRP Ledger, marking the first issuance of such tokens on the platform. The initiative is part of a broader trend in the crypto industry, where tangible real-world assets and traditional financial securities are being tokenized, enhancing efficiency and attracting major participants like BlackRock. Payments network Ripple will allocate $10 million to a tokenized version of U.S. Treasury bills (T-bills) that will become available on the XRP Ledger for the first time. The short-term U.S. government debt is being issued as TBILL tokens by the tokenization platform OpenEden, according to a Thursday release. Assets backing the tokens will be invested in short-dated U.S. Treasuries and reverse repurchase agreements (repos) collateralized by U.S. Treasuries. Repos are securities sold with an agreement to repurchase them at a higher price at a specified future date. The tokenization of tangible real-world assets and traditional financial securities is a growing sector of the crypto industry. It allows traditional assets, especially private and alternative assets, to be issued, managed, and distributed in a way that is considered more efficient than their off-chain counterparts. There are big players involved. In March, BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager by assets under management, released its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund on the Ethereum blockchain, backing it with U.S. Treasury bills, repo agreements and cash. Ripple's allocation is part of a larger fund the company will allocate to tokenized T-bills provided by OpenEden and other unspecified issuers. Neither OpenEden nor Ripple Labs specified dates for the fund's allocation in the release. XRP Ledger (XRPL) is an open-source blockchain that uses the cryptocurrency XRP to facilitate global financial transfers and currency exchanges. As of Thursday, there are over $780 million worth of funds locked in tokenized versions of U.S. treasuries, as per tracking site rwa.xyz. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/08/01/ripple-to-allocate-10m-to-tokenized-us-treasury-bills-on-xrp-ledger/

2024-08-01 09:16

The most expensive bright orange, high-top sneakers are already sold out and being relisted on eBay for as high as $2,500. A Trump-linked website is offering several ranges of bitcoin-themed sneakers with prices of as high as $500 a pair. The most expensive range has already sold out, and is being relisted at five times that price on eBay. U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump made his support for bitcoin (BTC) clear when he addressed more than 3,000 Bitcoin Conference attendees on Saturday. Now he's selling shoes to reiterate the message. Trump Sneakers, a Trump-owned website that sells themed footwear and perfumes, earlier this week started listing a range of limited edition sneakers including a Bitcoin-themed, high-top version that costs $499 a pair on pre-order. There are just 1,000 pairs of the bright orange version, and they've already sold out. “These exclusive sneakers celebrate the future of finance and the leadership of President Trump, boldly emblazoned with a prominent Bitcoin symbol,” a descriptor for the product reads. “Perfect for crypto enthusiasts and Trump supporters alike, these limited-edition shoes are a must-have.” Another 1,000 pairs of low-top sneakers in bright orange and 1,000 in black are listed for $299. Orange is a color associated with support for the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap. High-tops and low-tops describe where the shoes reach on the wearer's ankle. The high-top, bright orange range had sold out by Thursday morning. Some pre-order purchases are already being advertised on eBay for as high as $2,500. The Trump Sneakers website is owned by CIC Ventures LLC, a company that Trump declared fully owned on his 2023 financial disclosure. The site mentions it has nothing to do with Trump’s political campaign and says the sneakers are not designed, sold or manufactured by Trump or related associates. The Bitcoin sneaker went live on the site shortly after Trump's speech at the conference in Nashville. In it, he promised to fire SEC head Gary Gensler and create a strategic bitcoin reserve if elected. He said he would be a "pro-Bitcoin" president and not allow any of the 213,239 BTC seized by authorities and held in U.S. government wallets to be sold. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/08/01/donald-trump-site-lists-limited-edition-bitcoin-sneakers-for-as-much-as-500-a-pair/

2024-08-01 08:00

The fund will be used to develop an accelerator program for projects built on Aptos. Aptos is a layer-1 blockchain that uses Facebook's Move programming language. One of its goals is to bridge the gap between DeFi and institutions from the worlds of traditional finance and business. The venture arm of cryptocurrency exchange OKX and the Aptos Foundation, which supports the development of the Aptos protocol, set up a $10 million fund to encourage the growth of the Aptos ecosystem and broader adoption of Web3. The accelerator fund, named Ankaa, will be used to develop projects built on Aptos, according to an emailed announcement. Ankaa will be run by Aptos, OKX Ventures and Alcove, Aptos' accelerator established last November. The fund's main focus will be on projects around decentralized finance (DeFi), real-world assets (RWA), gaming, social and AI. Aptos is a layer-1 blockchain that uses Facebook's (META) Move programming language to execute transactions on-chain in an easy and reliable way. One of its goals is to bridge the gap between DeFi and institutions from the worlds of traditional finance and business. In April, the Apotos developers said they were working with Microsoft, Brevan Howard and South Korean wireless telecommunications operator SK Telecom to offer institutions an entry point to DeFi. Read More: Aptos Integrates Chainlink's CCIP and Data Feeds to Boost Decentralized App Development https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/08/01/okx-ventures-aptos-foundation-initiate-10m-fund-for-the-move-based-layer-1-ecosystem/

2024-08-01 06:18

Large holders resorted to bargain hunting in July as the cryptocurrency experienced two-way price volatility. Large bitcoin holders added over 84,000 BTC in July, the highest since October 2014, per IntoTheBlock. The accumulation was characterized by bargain hunting during the early July price dip. In a display of confidence, large bitcoin (BTC) holders, often adept at timing market moves, boosted their coin stash in July at the fastest pace in years, capitalizing on the two-way price volatility. Large holders, or addresses owning at least 0.1% of BTC's circulating supply, snapped up over 84K BTC, worth $5.4 billion at the current market price, according to data tracked by blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock and TradingView. That's the biggest single-month tally in BTC terms since October 2014. The accumulation was characterized by bargain hunting during the early July price dip to under $55,000 and brief pauses in the subsequent recovery to $69,000. BTC ended July with a meager 3% gain, according to CoinDesk data. The strategic accumulation likely indicates a strong belief that the prolonged consolidation phase between $50,000 and $70,000 will eventually end with a bullish breakout, extending the initial rally from $16,000. Analysts are optimistic about bitcoin's price prospects. "A rate cut in September, would provide a sense of bullishness and could generally increase liquidity in the market, which will be positive for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as investors seek higher returns outside traditional assets. This could lead to upward pressure on Bitcoin's price and increased ETF inflows as investors look to capitalize on a more favorable environment for risk assets," Jag Kooner, Head of Derivatives at Bitfinex said in an email. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that interest rates could be cut as soon as September, emphasizing that the economic data needs to back up the potential renewed liquidity easing. The central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady in the 5.25%-5.50% range, maintaining a status quo as expected. "The Fed has been striving for a 'soft landing,' and if the data allows them to cut, and it is certainly moving in that direction relative to their forecasts, then we think they will seize the opportunity. We expect officials to start moving monetary policy from 'restrictive' territory to "slightly less" restrictive policy from September with additional cuts in November and December," ING said in a daily note to clients. The bullish sentiment also stems from renewed capital inflows via stablecoins or digital assets with values pegged to external references like the U.S. dollar. Per CCData, the total market capitalization of stablecoins rose 2.11% to $164 billion in July, the highest since April 2022. "This is the highest monthly rise in the stablecoins market capitalization since April, suggesting inflows of new capital into the markets as reflected by the positive price action of digital assets in July," CCData said in a report shared with CoinDesk. Kooner said the diminishing impact of negative news is assuring to the bulls. "There is a lot of confidence in the market at the moment particularly as even potentially negative news like the Mt. Gox Distribution, German Government selling and a lot of recent significant on Chain movements have not been able to substantially impact the Bitcoin price to the downside," Kooner said. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/08/01/large-bitcoin-holders-added-54b-in-btc-in-july-data-show/