The Ethereum blockchain has implemented the Shapella hard fork on its mainnet, allowing for fund withdrawals for those who have staked the network’s Ether (ETH) asset. Within the first hour of the hard fork, 12,859 ETH were unlocked in 4,333 withdrawals. A day after the upgrade, ETH surpassed the $2,000 mark. Meanwhile, crypto exchange FTX’s legal team has said the company had recovered around $7.3 billion in liquid assets and was considering a comeback. FTX token (FTT) surged over 112% after the news broke.
Artificial intelligence (AI) firm, OpenAI has found fresh support from Japan following bans relating to cybersecurity and privacy. CEO Sam Altman aims to build technology for the country. Amazon, Alibaba, and Twitter are also working on their own AI initiatives. Twitter is reportedly planning to introduce a new feature that lets users trade cryptocurrencies and stocks, and Mastercard has launched an NFT-gated artist accelerator program in partnership with Polygon.
Bitcoin surged through the $31,000 mark this week, as the Ethereum blockchain’s ETH enjoyed positive action. Hacker exploited an old Year Finance contract and created a massive amount of the stablecoin yUSDT tokens, worth $11.6 million, while Bitrue experienced a $23 million hack due to an exploit, but compensation will be given to affected users. Meanwhile, the SEC issued a summons to Tron’s Justin Sun over the “unlawful touting” of Tron TRX as a crypto asset security.
ZK-rollups are proving to be the endgame for scaling blockchains; Miden founder is heading up Polygon’s ZK project Miden, gaming guilds help to create better blockchain games, and pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton is optimistic about the asset’s future if Ripple wins its SEC lawsuit. Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation, said that if people want a strong US dollar globally, a US dollar stablecoin is one way to make that happen. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, called Bitcoin a “gambling token” with no intrinsic value.
