For all its claims of promoting decentralization, Binance runs two “blockchains” that are not just highly centralized, but regularly alter history, undermining one of the core tenets of the blockchain — immutability. — ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the chain not a glitch or a hiccup, no transaction in vain, the blockchain hummed, as if nothing was wrong when in reality ’twas never a blockchain all along

The near-collapse of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD is just one more example of crypto-based financial alchemy doomed to failure and why DeFi returns are anything but “riskless.” — There are no two more sexy words to an investor than “passive income,” except perhaps for “risk-free returns,” though technically the latter is three words (to be pedantic). Which is why Luna, UST and Anchor Protocol rode a wave of speculation to become multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency projects with marquee backers.

Every decade or so, a catalyst is provided for a major economic crisis. The nineties had the dotcom bubble, the noughties had the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the twenties will have cryptocurrencies. — Living on the banks of the mighty Mekong River that flows from the Tibetan Plateau across thousands of miles through Indochina and into the South China Sea, Tran Nguyen knows how high his home needs to be built above the banks.

What happens if the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange with around 75% of global market volume goes under? — To be perfectly clear, while there are plenty of issues at Binance, from its regularly undercollateralized stablecoins and mixing of user funds with its pegged wallets, to alleged money laundering, it’s not at all clear that the cryptocurrency exchange will collapse in a manner similar to FTX (if at all).

Further investigation into Binance’s pegged-token “scheme” has revealed an alarming gap between the amount of tokens circulated on Binance’s BNB Smart Chain and the amount of actual tokens that they’re backed by. — One of the earliest criticisms leveled against Bitcoin when it started making the rounds in investment circles, was that it wasn’t “backed” in the traditional sense. Why would anyone buy Bitcoin?

If a blockchain is meant to keep a permanent, immutable record of transactions, shouldn’t it do so? Except that some transactions are more traceble than others, especially on BNB Chain. — TLDR: US$6.2 billion of BNB tokens “magically” appear in a Binance Chain (BNB Beacon Chain) wallet without any transaction reflecting their transfer in. Token movements between the Binance Chain (BNB Beacon Chain) and Binance Smart Chain (BNB Smart Chain) have periodically not had transaction hashes to identify such transfers.

While history may not repeat itself, it often rhymes and if the cryptocurrency industry is to persist, then the necessary reforms will help pave the way for a more sustainable rally in the long run. — Jacob Felder fiddled with the key fob of his brand new Lamborghini, somewhat still in disbelief at his fortune, and remembering that no so long ago he was foaming lattes, working as a barrista at his local coffeeshop.

Traders use it, exchanges love it, and users, well, use it. But the tango with Tether is about to come to an abrupt halt, not because Tether isn’t fully backed, that’s not the right question, but because it’s backed by the wrong sort of dollars. — Eric Nguyen is busy at his computer, sending his Tether ERC-20 address so that a small business owner in Wilmington, Virginia, can send him 500 USDT as payment for website development.

There is every reason to be pessimistic on the world’s second largest economy, China. Size does not guarantee greatness, and a generation scarred by an increasingly assertive Communist Party will lay the groundwork for an active search for alternatives like cryptocurrencies. — Summer in Dali, China, is a portrait of idyllic bliss. Away from the hustle and bustle of China’s “hot pot” cities, nestled among 13,000 foot peaks in China’s southwest, the city of Dali represents a sanctuary of comfort and expanse.