Crypto NFT Today: The Latest Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and NFT News: April 19 – 25
Welcome to another edition of Crypto NFT Today! If you enjoy cryptocurrency, NFTs, and riding emotional, and sometimes sketchy, roller coasters, you’ve come to the right place. So put on some soothing music and let’s go!
Binance Exchanges ETH Addresses of Depositors – Do It Now!
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, will deactivate several existing deposits
blockchain addresses to upgrade their digital infrastructure.
The April 18 announcement, Binance said, to upgrade security and efficiency, would “retire select deposit addresses and notes on multiple blockchains, affecting Ether (ETH), Tron (TRX, BNB and Steller (XML).
Users of affected addresses will be notified via e-mail, and the exchange encourages affected users to immediately obtain new addresses and notes. The email will contain expiry dates for the old addresses. When users get new deposit addresses, the old ones will no longer be valid.
Users must log into their Binance accounts and follow the instructions on the alert. The migration schedule is set to be completed in June. Binance assured users that no funds will be lost if funds are mistakenly sent to expired addresses.
However, payments to expired addresses will not be credited immediately. Instead, users must manually credit any deposits from their old address with a “transaction history” page.
Congressman introduces legislation to fire SEC chief over crypto stocks
On April 15, US Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) announced legislation to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.
In response to Coinbase’s legal counsel, the crypto-supporting congressman tweeted his intention to remove Gensler after the SEC said it would revise the definition of an “exchange.”
“To correct a long list of abuses, I am introducing legislation to remove the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and replace the role with a CEO who reports to the Board (where the authorities reside),” Davidson tweeted.
On April 14, Gensler said the proposed redefinition would benefit markets and investors by regulating brokers and “modernizing” what constitutes an exchange. In January 2022, similar changes were proposed, but crypto advocates insisted that the SEC was excessive and could hinder markets.
Pro-crypto SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, affectionately known as “Crypto Mom,” rebuked the proposed rule changes, declaring, “stagnation, centralization, expatriation, and extinction are the watchwords” behind Gensler’s move.
Intel Discontinues Production of Bitcoin Mining Chip Series
On Tuesday, chip-making titan Intel ( INTC ) stated that it is discontinuing production of its Blockscale bitcoin mining chip.
“As we prioritize our investments in IDM 2.0, we have discontinued the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC [application specific integrated circuit] as we continue to support our Blockscale customers,” an Intel spokesperson said.
It was about a year ago that Intel announced its entry into bitcoin mining, selling the first chipsets for Argo Blockchain (ARBK), Block (SQ), Grid Infrastructure and Hive Blockchain (HIVE).
However, only Hive confirmed the activation of mining rigs powered by the Blockscale chip. ePIC Blockchain promotes its bitcoin mining rigs that use Intel CPUs.
Bitmain and MicroBT chips dominate the bitcoin mining market that Intel intended to disrupt. Asked whether it will replace the Blockscale chips with other bitcoin mining chips, a spokesperson said Intel will continue to “monitor market opportunities.”
Google One users can get a top VPN at no extra cost
Google One just got a lot better at protecting users’ privacy. The company just announced that it will offer a VPN and dark web monitoring, at no additional cost, in its $1.99 base plan.
The extended plans will be available in 22 countries and will be introduced in the coming weeks. In addition to Android and iOS, the new tools will be available on Windows and Mac desktop computers.
Subscribers will be allowed to share the VPN with up to five others if they are on the Google One plan. The move is a big advantage for users with a basic plan. Previously, VPN was limited to Google One $10 per month / 2TB plans.
However, unlike many VPNs, Google’s VPN is not designed to bypass geo-restrictions. In addition to end-to-end encryption, it masks the user’s IP address from networks and third parties.
The new service will also monitor the dark web for your personal information such as name, address, email, phone numbers and SSN, which Google said will be “handled in accordance with Google’s privacy policy and you can delete all information from your profile or stop monitoring anytime.”
