Ethereum completes Istanbul hard fork...
One week in review: Dec. 2–8 We've selected the hottest materials of the past week for you to stay up to date with the latest crypto news: | | #1 Ethereum completes Istanbul hard fork | | It happened! Ethereum's much-anticipated shift to Istanbul has been completed, and the system-wide update came into effect when the network passed block #9069000 late on Saturday night. Vitalik Buterin claims the capacity now has the potential to reach 3,000 transactions per second. Istanbul is designed to deliver interoperability with the privacy token Zcash and make it cheaper to use zero-knowledge technologies that enhance privacy. | | #2 "Hodlers are insane" — 64% of Bitcoin supply has not moved since 2018 | | New research has suggested that a whopping 60% of BTC in circulation hasn't left its wallet in more than a year. This is particularly telling since BTC/USD ballooned from lows of $3,100 last December to $13,800 just six months later. Markets subsequently reversed downward, shaving 52% off their highs. Rhythm, the analyst who uploaded the statistics, didn't mince his words by saying: "Hodlers of last resort are insane." | | #3 Deutsche Bank research: Crypto to replace fiat currencies by 2030 | | New research by Deutsche Bank has revealed what the future might look like for crypto in just 10 short years. Its report suggests that digital currencies could eventually replace cash one day, as demand for anonymity and a more decentralized means of payment grows. Hurdles do lie in the way: The authors say digital assets will need to gain legitimacy in the eyes of governments and regulators before wider acceptance can be achieved. | | #4. Prediction of the Week Halving will be "non-event" for BTC price, Morgan Creek Digital exec says | | "The halvening" in May 2020 — when the reward paid to miners falls from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC per block — is widely regarded as an event that will catalyze a bull market. But according to Jason Williams, the co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital, these expectations might be overblown. He believes that the halving will have no impact whatsoever on BTC prices, describing it as a "non-event." | | #5. FUD of the Week Canada-based crypto mining firm Great North Data files for bankruptcy | | Great North Data, a crypto mining company based in Canada, has filed for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy documents show that it had $13.2 million in liabilities but just $3.5 million in assets. Reports suggest that the company owed six-figure sums to government bodies. It's been a difficult time for mining companies, with Washington-based Giga Watt closing down in January because it was "insolvent and unable to pay its debts when due." | | #6. FUD of the Week Researchers detect new North Korea-linked MacOS malware on crypto trading site | | Security researchers have uncovered cryptocurrency-related macOS malware that is believed to be the work of North Korean hackers known as the Lazarus Group. It is believed that the malware can retrieve a payload from a remote location and run it in memory — something that is not common for macOS. As a result, this means it can be difficult to detect the malware and carry out forensic analysis — with only 10 antivirus engines actually flagging it as malicious. | | Feel free to explore the most important news with Hodler's Digest by Thomas Simms: | | | |