Polygon Acquires Mir Protocol in $400M Deal in Order to Bolster ‘Groundbreaking ZK Rollup Tech’

On December 9, Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic announced that the project has acquired the Ethereum scaling startup Mir in a $400 million deal. The Mir team of cryptographers and engineers are joining Polygon in order to create a “highly-scalable, Ethereum-compatible ZK rollup” called Polygon Zero. Mihailo Bjelic: ‘Polygon Is Focused on Zero-Knowledge Cryptography as the … Read more

Digital Ruble to Help Curb Use of ‘Money Surrogates,’ Russia Says in Financial Strategy Document

The launch of a digital ruble will be among Russia’s key priorities of digitalization this decade, the country’s financial market development strategy has confirmed. The document claims the issuance of a digital national fiat will help the central bank to prevent Russians from using “money surrogates” as officials have previously called cryptocurrencies. Bank of Russia … Read more

Total Value Locked Across Defi Nears $200 Billion, Non-Ethereum Projects Gather Steam

At the time of writing, the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (defi) is around $176 billion across various blockchains like Ethereum, Binance, Terra, Polygon, Solana, and Avalanche. While Ethereum commands $130 billion of the aggregate total locked, a myriad of other defi-fueled blockchains continue to see TVLs steadily rise. Total Value Locked Across … Read more

The Crypto Economy’s Biggest 12-Month Gainers Outshined Bitcoin and Ethereum by a Long Shot

2021 has been an incredible year for bitcoin, ethereum, and a great number of the world’s most popular digital assets. While bitcoin has gained around 300% during the last 12 months and ethereum has risen by 630%, a large swathe of crypto assets saw much larger gains. 12-Month Stats Show a Slew of Relatively Unknown … Read more

Bank of Russia to Study Risks of Crypto Investing With Banks and Payment Providers

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has set out to examine the risks associated with cryptocurrency investments. The regulator is going to conduct a dedicated study with the participation of major banks and payment processors operating in the Russian market. CBR Adds Crypto to Its Survey Program for 2021 Russia’s central bank, known as Bank … Read more

Turkey Throws Another Wrench Into the USD’s Works and Joins Russian Swift

The dominance of the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency is being robustly challenged on all fronts. Other geopolitical powers and smaller but important players are unwilling to accept the political influence Washington exerts through its fiat money. And in times of trade wars, sanctions, and even tensions between allies, the push to dethrone … Read more

Bitcoin in Brief Thursday: OECD Explores Cryptocurrencies, Central Asian Powerhouse Calls for UN Crypto Rules

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we’re focusing on developments in the realm of international politics and economics regarding cryptocurrencies. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development is looking into the possible uses of digital coins and the associated technologies. Kazakhstan is calling for the adoption of common crypto rules by the United Nations, … Read more