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Ethereum's Pectra Upgrade to Enhance Wallet Functionality and User Experience

With the introduction of its Pectra update in late 2024 or early 2025, Ethereum hopes to significantly enhance cryptocurrency wallets by adding new features and improving user experience. Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074, one of the main recommendations of the update, would allow regular cryptocurrency wallets to operate like smart contracts, including transaction bundling and sponsored transactions .

Improved Crypto Wallet Usability and Functionality

A number of improvements to cryptocurrency wallets will be brought forth by the Pectra update, giving consumers a more streamlined and effective experience. Users will benefit from transaction bundling—which enables many transactions to be bundled together and processed as a single transaction—with the addition of EIP 3074. This function can lower transaction costs and boost productivity.

The update will also make sponsored transactions possible, enabling users to store assets in wallets that aren’t Ethereum-based yet still have access to the Ethereum network’s features. With the help of this functionality, users will be able to engage with dApps and take advantage of Ethereum’s ecosystem without having to physically own Ether. Security Points to Remember

Even though the Pectra update has several interesting new features, users should still be cautious and alert to any security concerns. Users should take the necessary precautions to safeguard their wallets and valuables since there is always a danger of financial loss while completing financial transactions. Using trustworthy wallets and adhering to recommended security procedures for wallets—like creating strong passwords, turning on two-factor authentication, and updating hardware and software—are essential. Additionally, users should exercise caution while using unidentified dApps or participating in sponsored transactions, since these activities may provide extra dangers.

Anticipated for deployment in late 2024 or early 2025, the Ethereum Pectra update will significantly enhance cryptocurrency wallets by adding new capabilities and improving user experience. With the addition of EIP 3074, standard cryptocurrency wallets will be able to perform the functions of smart contracts, including sponsored transactions and transaction bundling. To reduce any dangers, users should prioritise wallet security and exercise caution.

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Malaysian Authorities to Extend Crypto Regulations to Wallet Providers

The Malaysian Securities Commission (SC) has announced that it plans to extend additional regulations to cover both old and new wallet providers in the country. The new regulation will be infused into the existing regulations governing cryptocurrencies related activities in Malaysia. The new regulations are expedient owing to the important role of cryptocurrency wallet providers in safeguarding digital assets. While the Securities Commission did not offer details on what the new framework would look like, it sure has invited stakeholders for an engagement session on or before August 14.

Malaysia Seeks Industry-Wide Inclusion for its Crypto Regulation

Following the impending financial crises owing to the coronavirus pandemic, there have been calls for stricter regulations in the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem. With visible cryptocurrency activity history, the Malaysian approach to crypto regulation can be described as dual-faced: both friendly and stern. Despite its conspicuous presence in Asia, the Securities Commission of Malaysia recently declared Binance as being unauthorized to operate in the country. The country’s published cryptocurrency regulations have a comprehensive guideline and requirements bordering on digital token offerings and the registration of IEO operators.

On the requirements for digital token offerings, the Securities Commission seeks to help develop home-grown cryptocurrency firms and mandates that such companies must have an innovative value proposition before being granted a license to operate. The guidelines also come with an exposition giving IEO operators the leverage to act on behalf of the SC in registering companies seeking to embark on digital token offerings. The 46-page guideline has obvious lacunas which the SC is hoping to fill once its deadline for open engagement has elapsed.

The Role of Wallet Providers

The role of wallet providers in the cryptosphere cannot be over-emphasized. With the susceptibility of crypto assets to cyber thefts, the wallet providers provide a secure option for safeguarding digital assets. Wallet providers also bring additional values beyond their core responsibilities of asset safekeeping, some provide the gateway to let users earn additional income through strategic integrations with DeFi platforms

Crypto Wallets Holding More Than 10,000 Bitcoin Hit a 2020 Record High

Santiment, an on-chain analytics provider, has revealed that Bitcoin whales still have confidence in the digital asset because crypto wallets holding at least 10,000 BTC have reached a record high of 111 so far in 2020.

Confidence in Bitcoin soars

Bitcoin (BTC) has been on a price rally lately, surpassing the $16,000 resistance this week for the first time since 2017. Though Bitcoin has slightly fallen back since its price surge this week, there has been a continuous increase in the crypto’s value since it reached a rock-bottom of around $3,800 in March, amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) resurgence.

Santiment echoes the Bitcoin whales’ positive sentiments, sharing data that showed that Bitcoin’s price surge has made addresses holding between 1,000-9,999 BTC are nearing its all-time high (ATH) of 2,135 wallets. The analytics provider tweeted:

“Looking for validation that Bitcoin whales are confident in their assets? The number of addresses holding at least 10,000 BTC has just matched a 2020 high of 111. Additionally, those with 1,000-9,999 BTC are now just 6 below the ATH of 2,135 wallets.”

Price rally towards $20,000 on the horizon

Mike McGlone, a senior commodity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, recently revealed that Bitcoin could be on track to reach $20,000 by 2021. He referenced his analysis on refreshed bull markets in the quasi-currencies, with improving fundamental and technical underpinnings. This bullish price forecast from McGlone is in line with other analysts’ recent projection of an uptrend in Bitcoin’s price.

Therefore, Bitcoin whales are keeping a keen eye on this price rally, as depicted by Santiment’s data of an unmatched number of wallets holding more than 10,000 BTC.

Recently, the outgoing senator for South Australia, Cory Bernardi, disclosed that he too had joined the Bitcoin bandwagon. He deemed BTC as the millennial’s version of gold, and his inclination towards this digital asset was propelled by its growing demand. He added that Bitcoin was prone to risks, just like other asset classes based on factors such as demand and confidence.

Crypto Wallets Holding More Than 1 ETH Break the Record as Ethereum Surges Past $500

New data from Glassnode reveals that crypto wallets holding more than one Ethereum (ETH) have hit a record high of 1,170,598 addresses. The on-chain market analytic firm suggests that the previous high of 1,170,508 was smashed on Nov 19.

ETH surpasses the $500 mark

Ethereum has been on a price rally because its network is continuously being adopted in the booming decentralized finance (DeFi) sector and other projects like smart contracts and decentralized applications (dapps).

For instance, data acquisition and analytics company DappRadar recently disclosed that the top 10 decentralized applications (dapps) on the Ethereum network made a milestone of hitting 1,017,760 daily active wallet users in the last one month.

These factors, therefore, allude to the fact that the number of addresses holding ETH is growing by the day. As a result, Ethereum is making notable strides in the market because it has been on a bull run as its price recently smashed the $500 mark, which was last seen in July 2018.

Confidence in Ethereum soars

Ethereum is no longer in oblivion as signaled by its bulls, which are not in the mood of being below the $500 price range. The record-breaking number of addresses holding at least one Ethereum shows that traders are shifting their funds from centralized exchanges to smart contracts.

These insights correlate with a study by analytics provider Santiment which revealed that ETH stored on crypto exchanges have sunk to a two-year low. Precisely, the number stood at 13.35% of Ethereum’s total circulation supply, and this is a trend not seen since November 23, 2018.

The growing number of wallets holding more than one ETH could be interpreted to mean that the confidence of Ethereum holders is rising based on the long term value of this cryptocurrency. Furthermore, these statistics uncovered by Glassnode align with insights shared last month by EthHub co-founder Antony Sassano that indicated that 60% of Ethereum supply had been at a standstill for more than a year.

Active Bitcoin Addresses Hit Third-Highest Level in November

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls have been continuously trying reach the $20,000 price, falling just shy of what would have been a new ATH price by getting to $19,832 in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has since nosedived and recovered to $19,268 at press time.

At the time of the Bitcoin price rally, the number of active BTC addresses was at its third-highest level, according to on-chain metrics platform Glassnode. The blockchain data provider noted:

“Almost 19.6 million Bitcoin addresses were active in November sending or receiving BTC. That is the third-highest value in Bitcoin’s history – only topped in December 2017 and January 2018.”

The rollercoaster ride experienced by Bitcoin price in November made BTC addresses either sending or receiving BTC to hit nearly 19.6 million, making the on-chain transaction volume to rise by 47%.

The number of active Bitcoin addresses broke the record in December 2017 by surging to 21.64 million, followed by January 2018, where they rose to 19.67 million, meaning that these numbers have not been seen in the recent past. November 2020, therefore, serves as a reminder of the notable levels the leading cryptocurrency can go.

The high number of active BTC addresses correlates with the fact that Bitcoin withdrawals from crypto exchanges surged to a 17-month high in November at 2,288.125. These record-breaking withdrawals were linked to investors either cashing in their profits after the BTC price hit a new all-time high of more than $19,800 on Nov 30 or others holding in cold storage wallets.

The near-record highs of active BTC addresses in November could prove to be a trigger of what awaits the leading cryptocurrency. For instance, an on-chain analyst who previously predicted the Bitcoin and stock market decoupling, Willy Woo, recently revealed a new model suggesting BTC will reach $200,000 by the end of 2021 at least, if not $300,000.

He expounded that the current re-accumulation phase coincides with the spot market inventory depletion, and is roughly two times longer and deeper than the last cycle, which could lead to Bitcoin’s price climbing higher.

Google To Allow Crypto Exchange & Wallet Advertisements in August

Google Inc is expanding the scope and content of its cryptocurrency-related advertisement policy.

The corporation published an updated policy statement on Wednesdays, June 2, starting from August 3; advertisers providing crypto exchanges and wallets targeting the US may advertise such cryptocurrency-related services and products when certified by Google and meet the requirements stated below.

To qualify crypto exchanges and wallets need to be duly registered with the FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) as a money services business and registered with at least one state as a money transmitter. Alternatively, they can be a state or federally chartered bank entity.

Google also stated that advertisers must meet all relevant legal requirements and state, local, and federal laws. They must also ensure that their landing pages and advertisements comply with all Google ads policies.

However, Google’s new ad policy will not allow advertisements for DeFi trading protocols, initial coin offerings, or ads promoting the trade, sales or purchase of crypto-related products. The internet giant further said that ads that compare or aggregate providers of cryptocurrencies and related products are not allowed.

The new policy also implements a series of prohibition of advertisements, including “ICO pre-sales or public offerings, cryptocurrency loans, initial DEX offerings, token liquidity pools, celebrity cryptocurrency endorsements, unhosted wallets, unregulated Dapps, cryptocurrency trading signals, cryptocurrency investment advice, aggregators or affiliate sites containing related content or broker reviews.”

It is important to note that the new cryptocurrency ads policy will also apply worldwide to all accounts that advertise crypto financial products.

Google Reversed Crypto Ban

In March 2018, Google updated its financial services policy concerning a complete ban of crypto-related advertisements for its search engine. Facebook also made such a move later by initiating a similar policy shift during that year. However, Google was determined to reverse the ban in September 2018 partially and reopened its advertising doors to regulated cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan and the United States.

While the ban remained primarily in place, cryptocurrency-related businesses outside Japan and the US were still unable to use Google ads.

With the crypto industry showing no signs of slowing down, Google has finally reviewed its policy and eventually opens doors for all crypto advertisers worldwide.

Although the ban adversely affected crypto marketers worldwide, Google’s move is helpful to stop criminals from reaching online consumers with fraudulent and misleading pop-up ads.

The introduction of the new policy hints that Google now has unique capabilities to address crypto-related ad scams.

Israeli Court Orders Seizure Of 150 Banned Crypto Wallets

Because to a ruling reached by a court in Israel, more than 150 bitcoin wallets that have been deemed to have potential links to the funding of terrorist groups will likely have their entire balances wiped out as a consequence of this verdict.

It has been reported that the Magistrate Court in Tel Aviv has handed down a judgement that grants the Israeli government permission to confiscate all of the cryptocurrency that is stored in the more than 150 digital wallets that it has banned due to the suspicion that they are aiding terrorist organizations. The reasoning behind the ban is that the government believes that these wallets are providing support to terrorist organizations.

On the 18th of December, local Israeli media reported that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz stated that the court’s order from the 15th of December has already enabled police to take an additional $33,500 from digital wallets that are related to the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas. This information was reported by the Israeli Defense Minister.

Prior to the verdict of the court, the only digital assets that the Israeli police were legally entitled to gather were those that had direct linkages to terrorist operations. They did not have the authority to confiscate any more cash that could have been included in the same wallets.

The authorities seized hold of the wallets in December of 2021 and withdrew $750,000 from each of them at that time.

Gantz issued an order on July 9, 2021, that permitted security personnel to seize bitcoin accounts that were suspected of having ties to the militant wing of the Hamas group. Gantz’s order authorized the seizure of cryptocurrency accounts.

In addition, Israeli detectives were successful in seizing 30 bitcoin wallets and 12 exchange accounts tied to Hamas in the month of February.

After the seizure, the true market worth of the cryptocurrency assets that were stolen was not disclosed to the public.

It has been shown that the use of cryptocurrencies in the process of funding terrorist groups is quite little. [C]ryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum play a very small role.

Early in 2022, the business that specializes in blockchain analytics known as Chainalysis came to the realization that just a minuscule portion of crypto currency was being used for illicit activities.