The Disrupt

“The Ethereum blockchain has deployed a feature known as “account abstraction,” seen as a key enhancement that could make it easier for users to recover crypto if they lose private keys to an online wallet.

Account Abstraction is a concept that turns users’ wallets into smart contract accounts, in order to make Ethereum wallets more user-friendly and to prevent any loss of crypto keys. Contract Accounts (CA) are accounts controlled by code – not private keys – so they cannot initiate transactions themselves.

The Ethereum Foundation, which helps to fund and steward development on the blockchain, is expected to announce the development later Wednesday at the ETHDenver conference. Once the announcement is made, several infrastructure providers will announce plans to support ERC-4337 through their services.

This upgrade was seen as a major milestone that would be years away, but the fact that it is already working on the Ethereum blockchain means that making crypto more user-friendly is here. Part of the reason why ERC-4337 was so easy to deploy is because the upgrade was made via the addition of a smart contract, so it didn’t require any changes to Ethereum’s underlying programming. The contract can be used on all EVM chains.”

See Also: Crypto Wallet Provider Safe Launches Developer Stack Enabling Account Abstraction
See Also: Upcoming Upgrades That Will Shape the Ethereum Ecosystem
See Also: Lido Community Conducting Snapshot of V2 Upgrade Design Approval

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“Polygon said Wednesday it launched a new Polygon ID product based on Zero-Knowledge (ZK) technology that will allow users to verify their identities or credentials without revealing sensitive information.

Under Polygon ID’s design, a person or entity known as the “identity holder” has “claims” stored in a wallet. “Verifiable credentials” are cryptographically signed and issued to the identity holders by an issuer who is a “trusted and reputable party.” Then a verifier checks the proof presented by a holder.

The Polygon ID toolset can be used by developers to unlock features such as an enhanced signup user interface, assist in regulatory compliance, help verify user identities and restrict access control to certain areas or features via token-gating.

The simplest example of a Verifier is a Bar that wants to verify if you are over 18. In the real world, the Identity Holder would need to provide an ID and show all their personal information. With Polygon ID they only need to pass a proof. Proofs can be done either off-chain or on-chain via smart contracts.

According to the Polygon website, there is a Polygon ID wallet app and wallet software development kit.”

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“Chainlink has released a platform that will enable developers to connect data to smart contracts. Chainlink Functions will allow any smart contract to connect to any Web2 application programming interface (API).

Until now, Web3 developers couldn’t connect their smart contracts to existing Web2 APIs to access social-media signals, AI (artificial-intelligence) computation, messaging services and more.

The beta version of Chainlink Functions is live on the Ethereum Sepolia and Polygon Mumbai test networks.”

See Also: 0x’s Token Surges 20% on Pact to Build Relay Network With Robinhood Wallet, Polygon

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“Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange by volume, will soon launch bitcoin (BTC) volatility futures, offering digital asset investors a simpler way than options to hedge against market volatility.

With the new offering, traders can bypass complexities involved in setting up options strategies and directly buy and sell volatility. The product may attract more institutional and retail investor participation. Futures tied to Deribit’s forward-looking bitcoin volatility index (DVOL) will be available to Deribit under the ticker BTCDVOL from the end of March.

DVOL futures are an exciting new product that will allow traders to hedge their positions & general risk management.

DVOL, launched in early 2021, measures bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility calculated using Deribit’s options order book. Implied volatility refers to the options market’s expectation for price turbulence over a specific period.”

See Also: Bitcoin Jumps 4% as Upbeat China Manufacturing Data Improves Risk Appetite

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“Participants in the pilot projects include a wide array of industry representatives, from “smaller fintechs to large financial institutions.” The projects will look at use cases ranging from offline payments to bond settlement to securities trading, among others.

Another project will look at using the dollar-pegged USDC stablecoin to streamline foreign exchange trades and remittances.

The pilot and broader research study that will be conducted in parallel will serve two ends – it will contribute to hands-on learning by industry, and it will add to policy makers’ understanding of how a CBDC could potentially benefit the Australian financial system and economy.

Australia’s central bank is looking to complete its central bank digital currency pilot – which kicked off last August – by mid-2023.”

See Also: Nigeria Picks Bola Tinubu as President Amid Cash Shortages

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“Reuters two weeks ago reported Binance (global) had access to Binance.US’ Silvergate bank account and moved millions to a trading firm owned by Binance (global) CEO Changpeng Zhao without the Binance.US’ CEO’s knowledge. A Binance spokesperson did not deny the story when contacted.

There are or will be important factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to … restrictions on the Company’s business, resulting from various litigation (including private litigation) and regulatory and other inquiries and investigations against or with respect to the Company, investigations from our banking regulators, congressional inquiries and investigations from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The impact of these events could affect the ability for the company to “continue as a going concern,” Silvergate added.”

See Also: Silvergate Uncertainties May Put TradFi Heavy Hitters’ Stakes in Jeopardy
See Also: Binance Can’t Keep Its Story Straight on Misplaced $1.8B USDC

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“Twitter rival Bluesky has begun rolling out to users in private beta mode, showcasing the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized social network for the first time.

According to an October blog post, the Authenticated Transfer Protocol, or the AT Protocol, is a federated social network. This means many sites run the network, and businesses and individuals can choose to self-host if they want. The Bluesky app is the first to be built on top of the protocol. Preview images on the app store show an interface similar to Twitter.

The launch of the Bluesky app comes just a month after another Dorsey-backed project, Nostr, went live with its first app, Damus. The app is one of several projects being built on Nostr, an open-source protocol based on cryptographic keypairs.”