Interest Protocol’s tokenomics is crafted to enhance engagement, governance, and the protocol’s overall sustainability. As with any DeFi protocol, tokenomics plays a vital role in ensuring the protocol’s success by aligning incentives for all stakeholders and encouraging user involvement.

The protocol’s native token is not only a medium of exchange but also a governance tool that allows users to shape the protocol’s future. Token holders have the power to vote on interest rates, risk management strategies, and even upgrades to the protocol itself. This ensures that the community plays an active role in the decision-making process, making Interest Protocol a truly decentralized project.

Staking is another crucial element in Interest Protocol’s ecosystem, where token holders are rewarded for participating in governance or contributing liquidity. By staking their tokens, users can earn a portion of the protocol’s earnings, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that rewards long-term participation and investment.

Interest Protocol’s tokenomics is designed to prioritize sustainability and community involvement, fostering a platform where every decision benefits users while maintaining long-term growth.

IntroductionThe potential for blockchain technology to represent tangible assets like real estate and commodities is massive. However, challenges remain in securely and effectively integrating these assets. Xebra and Movement are bringing real-world assets to the blockchain in a way that maximizes value and security.

Why Tangible Asset Integration MattersRepresenting real-world assets on the blockchain can reduce fraud, streamline transactions, and increase transparency. However, traditional methods often struggle with the complexity of verifying ownership and transferring physical assets digitally.

Xebra’s Unique Asset Representation ProtocolXebra has developed a robust smart contract system that facilitates secure asset integration. These contracts are tamper-resistant and designed to handle the intricacies of real-world asset verification, from ownership proof to transaction history.

The Role of Movement’s InfrastructureMovement’s infrastructure provides the support needed for high-volume asset transactions, ensuring reliability and scalability. By using Movement’s secure network, Xebra can offer a seamless experience for managing tangible assets on-chain.

ConclusionThe partnership between Xebra and Movement is bringing us closer to a future where blockchain powers real-world economic interactions. Their approach to asset integration has the potential to revolutionize industries such as real estate, finance, and asset management.

The official provided remarks on cryptocurrency regulation in Hong Kong during an online investment committee meeting on Oct. 6, the local news agency Ming Pao reported.

Cryptocurrency service providers have been broadly using stablecoins like USDT as a major trading asset because their value is designed to be stabilized by the peg to United States dollars or assets like gold, Hui said. However, some stablecoins have faced serious volatility issues or even collapsed in the past, the secretary noted, adding that reserve management of stablecoins highly affects the price stability of investors’ rights to redeem fiat currencies.

Considering these risks, retail trading of stablecoins will not be allowed until Hong Kong officially regulates stablecoins, Hui reportedly declared.

Hui also mentioned that the shuttered local crypto exchange JPEX — which was allegedly promoting its services in the region without a license —  was involved in a serious fraud case, reflecting the need for higher supervision of the cryptocurrency market.

Cointelegraph has reached out to Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission to ask about stablecoin trading rules in the country. This article will be updated pending new information from the regulator.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/retail-stablecoin-trading-in-hong-kong-not-allowed-yet-official-says

At its meeting on Oct. 4–5, the committee looked at the causes behind the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank of New York and First Republic Bank, as well as the near-failure of Credit Suisse, which was later bought by its competitor UBS.

Related: Crypto acted as safe haven amid SVB and Signature bank run: Cathie Wood

According to the committee’s report, three structural trends may have indirectly contributed to the banks’ failures: the increasing role of nonbank intermediation in recent years, crypto assets concentrated in a small number of banks and the ability of customers to move their funds faster due to increasing digitalization.

The report also examined policy issues in detail.

Signature was closed by the New York State Department of Financial Services on March 12. The regulators stated at the time that crypto was not behind its decision.

The discussion is not an indication of planned revisions to the Basel Framework, the report said. In January, the committee amended its framework to limit crypto assets in bank reserves to 2%.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/basel-committee-disclosure-requirements-banks-crypto-assets

A subsequent rebound saw bulls recover those losses, with $27,700 — the area of interest from before the data release — now back in focus.

The volatility came thanks to U.S. non-farm payrolls (NFP) jumping to almost double the number expected for September — 336,000 versus 170,000.

Demonstrating the labor market’s ongoing resilience to the Federal Reserve’s counterinflation measures in the form of interest rate hikes, the implications of the September result were nonetheless viewed as bad for risk assets — including crypto.

“Good news is bad news since the FED wants the labor market to lose strength,” popular trader CrypNuevo wrote in part of a response on X (formerly Twitter).

“Given this increase, it surprises me that the unemployment rate stayed the same (3.8%). So I believe that the data will be revised down and it’ll be much lower.”

Like others, CrypNuevo nonetheless eyed the increasing likelihood of another rate hike from the Fed at the November meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

“The market understands this data as a new threat for a potential new 25bsp hike in November 1st (25% probabilities given yesterday vs 31.3% probabilities today),” he continued, referencing data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-dives-us-jobs-data-fed-rate-hike

ETH

$1,635

in the last 24 hours amid the ongoing court trials of the defunct crypto exchange’s ex-CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).

Accounts linked to FTX and FTX.US were drained of $600 million on Nov. 11, 2022, hours after the crypto exchange had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the time, FTX general counsel Ryne Miller informed traders about the hack caused by malware:

“FTX has been hacked. Chat is open. Please don’t go to the FTX site, as it might download Trojans. Note that some funds were retrieved.”

After nearly 10 months of silence, the FTX exploiter began siphoning out the stolen funds, starting with a transfer of 10,250 ETH worth $17.1 million via four addresses between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, confirms data from Spot On Chain.

The exploiter initially held 175,496 ETH ($294 million). However, the current balance in their portfolio has come down to $196.014 million, as shown below.

Out of the lot, 64,948 ETH ($108 million) was transferred through the THORchain router and 52 ETH (worth $84,000) to the Railgun contract. The remaining 2,500 ETH ($4.19 million) was swapped for Bitcoin (tBTC).

Related: September becomes the biggest month for crypto exploits in 2023: CertiK

The trial of SBF in connection with the collapse of FTX began on Oct. 3. The entrepreneur has pleaded not guilty to all seven counts of fraud and money laundering charges.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/ftx-exploiter-moves-36-8-m-ether-sam-bankman-fried-trial

In correspondence with Cointelegraph, Nodle co-founder Garrett Kinsman outlined the firm’s upcoming software development kit (SDK) for its ContentSign solution that will look to prove the integrity of data from its moment of capture using blockchain.

Nodle is bringing ContentSign to the Content Authenticity Initiative, a project led by Adobe and the Linux Foundation, to create a future standard for media attestation.

Related: Blockchain IoT firm Nodle goes open source with Web3 Bluetooth ‘nanocomputer’ sticker

“As the video is recorded, ContentSign ensures it is stamped and signed with a unique private key exclusive to that specific camera.”

The footprint of the video is then minted as a nonfungible token on the Nodle blockchain. The signature validates that the content originates from a genuine source and hasn’t been manipulated or artificially generated.

Kinsman adds that the current iteration has the service emulated on a mobile phone through ContentSign’s SDK but future implementations could mirror technology found in cryptocurrency hardware wallets:

“In the future, the camera will embed a secure element, similar to what you can find on a Ledger hardware wallet.”

As Cointelegraph previously explored, its main offering is a network leveraging smartphone Bluetooth connectivity to rent computing power, storage and the Bluetooth capability of devices to broaden the footprint of Internet of Things networks.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-to-verify-real-world-media-authenticity-nodle

‘[W]e have identified and blocked over a dozen virtual currency wallets associated with these actors,” said Adeyemo. “The blocked wallets, which received millions of USD funds over hundreds of deposits, illustrate the scope and scale of the operation targeted today.”

Justice Department Announces Eight Indictments Against China-Based Chemical Manufacturing Companies and Employeeshttps://t.co/f37okHaa6z

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) October 3, 2023

Related: Crypto and psychedelics: Clarifying regulations could help industries grow

Many lawmakers have urged action on cracking down on the distribution of fentanyl in the U.S., where the drug was estimated to be responsible for more than 67,000 deaths in 2021. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren — an outspoken critic of digital assets — called out potential links between crypto payments and drug trafficking in a May hearing.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-treasury-sanctions-crypto-wallets-fentanyl

Milei previously referred to Bitcoin as a reaction against “central bank scammers” and said that the Argentine peso allows politicians to scam Argentines with inflation.

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried began on Oct. 3 with jury selection. Bankman-Fried is charged with seven counts of conspiracy and fraud in connection with the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case is being heard by Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has presided over a long list of other high-profile cases, including ones involving detainees at Guantanamo Bay, the Gambino crime family, Prince Andrew and Donald Trump.

Bankman-Fried was ordered to be jailed on Aug. 11 after Kaplan found that his sharing of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s personal papers amounted to witness intimidation. Alameda Research was a trading house also founded by Bankman-Fried. Previously, he had been under house arrest in his parents’ home in Stanford, California on a $250-million bond.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-trial-updates

Hughes, an attorney who allegedly laundered approximately $18 million in AirBit Club fraud proceeds, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Millan, a senior-level promoter of AirBit Club, was sentenced to five years in prison. Chairez, another senior-level promoter of AirBit Club, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

Additionally, Hughes was sentenced to three years of supervised release. Millan and Chairez were also sentenced to three years and three months of supervised release, respectively.

The AirBit Club scheme was launched in late 2015 and was promoted as a “multi-level marketing club” in the cryptocurrency industry. The defendants provided promising presentations to trick investors into thinking that AirBit Club had guaranteed daily returns from crypto mining and trading. But instead of funding AirBit’s promoted crypto operations — which in fact had never been the case — $100 million of investors’ money went to the pockets of its founders and promoters.

Despite some users complaining about withdrawal delays and hidden fees in early 2016, AirBit Club managed to maintain its fraudulent activity until 2020.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-ponzi-airbit-three-sentenced-prison

A report by Allied Market Research revealed that the blockchain finance market players are heavily exploring collaborations and acquisitions as a top strategy. COVID-19 pandemic-induced disruptions in traditional finance, coupled with the promise to reduce operational costs, set the stage for mainstreaming the digital ecosystem.

are some of the prominent crypto ecosystems that use public blockchains. Public blockchains come with numerous upsides, as explained in the report:

“Public blockchains leverage significant computational power, making them ideal for maintaining large distributed ledgers associated with financial transactions. These factors are anticipated to boost the blockchain finance market.”

When it comes to the applications of blockchain finance, cross-border payments and trading are two of the largest sub-segments, driven by the rising demand from individuals, enterprises, merchants, industries and international development groups.

As shown above, the trend is expected to continue as users seek cheaper alternatives to move their savings worldwide. North America dominated the blockchain finance market in 2022 and is expected to maintain its lead for adoption.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-finance-grow-79-3-b-market-by-2032

The joint announcement of the CBDC pilot by the BOK, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) was published on Oct. 4. According to the announcement, the project will assess the viability of a future monetary system grounded on “wholesale CBDCs.“

The pilot will include private banks and public institutions, while the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) will provide expert technical support. The BOK is going to test both retail and wholesale CBDCs. Within the experimental framework of a wholesale CBDC, the banks will tokenize their deposits and circulate them in the network monitored by the BOK, the FSC and the FSS. Live testing of the retail CBDC should begin after the system setup in Q4 2024.

Related: Crypto makes up 70% of South Korea’s reported overseas assets

As it usually goes with the CBDC tests, the BOK notes that the pilot trial doesn’t mean the inevitable implementation. However, Lee Myung-soon, the first deputy governor of the FSS, called the pilot a step to the future monetary system:

“The BOK has persistently pursued technological research related to CBDC. This test, building upon past achievements, represents a significant step towards creating a prototype for the future monetary system.“

https://cointelegraph.com/news/cbdc-bank-of-korea-to-start-infrastructure-pilot

Ether futures ETFs track the prices of ETH futures contracts — agreements to trade the asset at a specific time and price in the future. Essentially, they allow investors to be involved in ETH trading without having to actually hold any of the cryptocurrency.

Related: SEC continues to delay decisions on crypto ETFs: Law Decoded

Volatility Shares was previously positioned to be the first firm to offer an ETH futures ETF. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission was expected to approve the first such product on Oct. 12, but concerns over the previously impending Oct. 1 U.S. government shutdown reportedly prompted the SEC to move the timeline for approval up.

As of Oct. 2, several firms have begun trading ETH futures ETFs, including Valkyrie, VanEck, ProShares and Bitwise.

In a twist, the U.S. government managed to avoid the shutdown by passing a stopgap measure to keep services funded through Nov. 17, with the Senate voting 88-9 to pass the measure. U.S. President Joe Biden signed it into law immediately.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/volatility-shares-cancels-etheruem-eth-etf-futures-launch

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has reduced its headcount by another 15% this week, citing the need to reduce expenses due to continued bear market blues.

On Oct. 3, Chainalysis confirmed to Cointelegraph that it had made the difficult decision to part ways with 15% of its employees, amounting to approximately 135 staff.

“While Chainalysis continues to be well positioned for long-term success as a consistently top-performing software company, we are very focused on growing efficiently and, due to market conditions, believe it necessary to reduce our expenses at this time,” said Chainalysis vice president of communications, Madeleine Kennedy.

We remain committed to our mission to build trust in blockchains among government agencies, financial institutions, and cryptocurrency businesses,” she added.

A spokesperson for Chainalysis confirmed the firm had around 900 employees before the most recent cuts.

It’s the second round of cuts for the company this year, as the ongoing crypto bear market has reduced the demand for commercial products. In February, Chainalysis cut around 40–50 jobs as part of a reorganization in light of worsening market conditions.

Digital asset market capitalization has fallen by 64% from its peak level almost two years ago. This year, markets have remained mostly flat, with volatility, liquidity and trading volumes dwindling. Moreover, Bitcoin

BTC

$27,496

has failed to break resistance above $30,000 several times and has remained range-bound for the past six months.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-firm-chainalysis-layoff-15-percent-staff-citing-market-conditions

The pair unwound overnight, descending from six-week highs near $28,600 to bounce at $27,335 before stabilizing.

Despite the risk of the October opening move becoming a form of “fakeout,” market participants kept their cool.

“Yesterday’s breakout did not instantly send us to $30k. I consider this a good thing, because those vertical moves often retrace,” popular trader Jelle wrote in part of an X (formerly Twitter) reaction.

Daan Crypto Trades likewise argued that a “slow grind back up to the highs” would be the best scenario for Bitcoin bulls.

“Need longs to chill out and spot bid to step back in for this to happen. Let’s see if the Asia session is bullish again or not,” he added about trader behavior.

Analyzing the conditions around the BTC price reversal, meanwhile, popular trader Skew highlighted spot traders facing selling pressure.

“Spot takers did try to push higher around $28.5K & were sold into -> led to the sell off,” part of the day’s X content explained.

Continuing, on-chain monitoring resource Material Indicators warned over downside signals on its proprietary trading tools on daily timeframes.

Related: Price analysis 10/2: SPX, DXY, BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, SOL, ADA, DOGE, TON

While “indicating a continuation of the down trend,” a return past $26,800 would give cause for a rethink, it wrote in accompanying X commentary.

“Also, keep in mind, the exact same range we’ve been trading in for months is still intact until something breaks,” it concluded.

“Bid depth is returning a bit here I think, however overall liquidity still remains pretty wide.”

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-slow-grind-up-btc-price-drops-over-4

“It would be short-sighted to believe that regulating and supervising these global risks and international players at the national level will suffice.”

Speaking of crypto assets and decentralized finance, Centeno mentioned the “undeniable risk” of their inviability in the long run. The official expressed his disbelief in the democratizing potential of digital assets and even their ability to ultimately survive:

“These volatile products experienced an enormous surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic but proved to be unsustainable and, unsurprisingly, culminated in the collapse of several products.”

Centeno praised the European Union’s first comprehensive crypto framework, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations, but insisted on further international consolidation of regulatory efforts under the principle of “same risk, same regulation.”

Related: Brazil’s crypto surge prompts central bank to tighten regulation

Roughly the same sentiment was recently expressed by the executive director of strategy, policy and control at the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. In a blog post, Rupert Schaefer acknowledged the apparent progress in regulating crypto with MiCA adoption in the EU but prompted about the inconsistencies existing on a global scale.

In August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called for global collaboration on formulating crypto regulations during the annual G20 summit.

Collect this article as an NFT* to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.*

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-unsustainable-portugal-central-banker

— LAMINA1 (@Lamina1official) September 29, 2023

The Canadian startup Tenstorrent, which builds artificial intelligence (AI) processors among other things, revealed a new partnership with Samsung’s chip manufacturing department.

On Oct. 2, the startup announced the partnership with Samsung saying it will use the partnership to bring the, “next generation of AI chiplets to market.” Tenstorrent manufactures chips and intellectual property (IP) for data centers.

The deal includes the use of one of Samsung’s advanced manufacturing processes, the SF4X process and 4nm architecture, to produce its next-gen chips. According to the announcement the product to be developed with Samsung will be a chiplet, to be paired with other chiplets in one package.

Jim Keller, the CEO of Tenstorrent, said the goal is to develop “high performance compute” and to deliver these solutions to “customers around the world.”

In August Tenstorrent closed a $100 million funding round led by both Samsung and the automotive manufacturer Hyundai. At the time Tenstorrent said the funds would go towards acceleration of product development and design, AI chiplets, and a roadmap for machine learning software.

Related: AI tech boom: Is the artificial intelligence market already saturated?

This development comes in the heat of the race to develop the most powerful AI chips to create high-level AI systems.

Currently, Nvidia is the market leader when it comes to chip development and the strength of the chips they have made available. Earlier this year the company briefly tipped $1 trillion value amid the AI frenzy.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/samsung-ai-chips-canadian-startup-tenstorrent-nvidia

Not all altcoins are expected to blast off to the upside. The cryptocurrencies that are showing strength are the ones that may lead the recovery higher. Let’s study the charts of the top-5 cryptocurrencies that could outperform in the near term.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has been trading above the moving averages since Sep. 28, which is a positive sign. This shows that the advantage is gradually tilting in favor of the buyers.

The bears are trying to stall the rally near $27,500 but the bulls have not given up much ground. This shows that every minor dip is being purchased. This increases the odds of a break above $27,500. The BTC/USDT pair could then retest the crucial overhead resistance at $28,143. This level may again attract aggressive selling by the bears.

If the price turns down sharply from $28,143, the pair could retest the 20-day exponential moving average ($26,630). A strong bounce off this level could kick the price above $28,143. The pair may subsequently climb to $30,000.

This bullish view will be negated in the near term if the price turns down and dives below the solid support at $26,000.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/will-bitcoin-uptober-bring-gains-for-mkr-aave-rune-and-inj

Within the report, CertiK highlighted 184 security incidents in July, August and September 2023, with over $699 million in crypto assets lost in the quarter, surpassing first-quarter losses of $320 million and second-quarter losses of $313 million.

Among the exploits that led to the losses, private key compromises have been listed as the most damaging, taking over $204 million across 14 incidents. According to the report, the Multichain incident — where private keys were under the exclusive control of the project’s CEO — led to a loss of $125 million. The incident highlighted that centralized control of private keys for businesses could lead to a vulnerability, which, in Multichain’s case, led to a ceasing of its operations.

Aside from private key exploits, exit scams and oracle manipulation have also been prevalent in the quarter. The report highlighted that there were a total of 93 exit scam incidents in the quarter, taking more than $55 million in digital assets. Meanwhile, 38 oracle manipulation incidents took over $16 million in crypto.

Related: Exploits, hacks and scams stole almost $1B in 2023: Report

When it comes to crypto hacks, the exploit of the cross-chain protocol Mixin Network contributed the most to making September the biggest month for crypto exploits in 2023. On Sept. 25, Mixin Network suspended all withdrawals and deposits after the incident. The company later confirmed that $200 million worth of assets were drained from its mainnet.

CertiK’s quarterly report also highlighted that North Korea’s state-affiliated hacking group Lazarus was still a “dominant threat actor” in the quarter. The report noted that the group was responsible for at least $291 million in confirmed losses in 2023 and continued its activities in the third quarter.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/700-m-loss-crypto-hacks-exploits-scams-q3-certik

After mixed BTC price action in September, market participants were prepared for a potentially volatile monthly close, but in the end, this ended up in the bulls’ favor.

With October frequently the sight of tangible BTC price gains, excitement is brewing over what might happen in the coming weeks.

Macro triggers may not hold the answer immediately, as October begins with a quiet phase for United States macro data and the government averting a shutdown at the last minute.

Bitcoin fundamentals are not yet echoing the spike in spot price, with mining difficulty due to decrease at its next automated readjustment on Oct. 2.

Cointelegraph looks at these topics and more in the weekly digest of BTC price catalysts lying in wait.

Bitcoin bulls acknowledge BTC price reversal risk

In the run-up to the Oct. 1 weekly close, Bitcoin had already cleared the end of the September monthly candle with little overall volatility.

That all changed as the week ended, with a sudden growth spurt taking BTC price action to just shy of $28,000. In the hours that followed, new local highs of $28,451 appeared on Bitstamp.

Since the start of Oct. 1, the largest cryptocurrency is up over 5%, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirms.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/btc-price-uptober-up-5-things-bitcoin-this-week