BITCOIN

Zooko Wilcox, the CEO of Electric Coin Co., revealed on Dec. 18 that he is ending his eight-year association with the entity which is behind the privacy coin zcash. Despite leaving his role as the company’s top executive, Wilcox said he remains committed to anything focused on human freedom. Wilcox’s Continued Reign Not Good for Himself or Zcash On Dec. 18, Zooko Wilcox, the CEO of the Electric Coin Co. — the entity behind the privacy-focused crypto asset zcash — announced his resignation and revealed that Josh Swihart is set to become the new public face of the privacy coin. While he admitted to butting heads with Swihart in the past, Wilcox nonetheless expressed confidence in his successor’s ability to steer the Electric Coin Co forward. In a statement explaining his decision to leave Zcash after eight years, Wilcox suggested that his continued presence would not bode well for his or Zcash’s health. “…I had the opportunity to live out one of my science fiction dreams in reality...

Prominent crypto companies and leaders have contributed to a war chest to support pro-crypto candidates in the 2024 elections, amassing $78 million to date. “The U.S. cannot afford to continue taking a back seat on the global stage. Regulatory overreach (esp from the SEC) is actively moving the U.S. in the wrong direction,” said Ripple’s CEO. “The crypto industry has a large war chest now to elect pro-crypto candidates in 2024,” stated the CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase. The U.S. Cannot Afford to Continue Taking Back Seat on Global Stage Fairshake, a federal independent expenditure-only political action committee (super PAC), announced Monday that crypto and blockchain leaders have amassed $78 Million “for Fairshake Super PAC and its affiliates to support pro-innovation and pro-crypto leadership going into 2024 congressional elections.” Fairshake is registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and supports candidates solely through its independent activities. The announcem...

Grayscale Investments expects the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow the $30 trillion advised wealth market to gain exposure to bitcoin. “I do think there is a lot of optimism in the market,” said the crypto asset manager’s chief executive. “I think a lot of investors are adding bitcoin to their portfolios.” Grayscale’s CEO Sees Much Optimism in the Market The CEO of crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments, Michael Sonnenshein, discussed his perspective on bitcoin and the market’s expectations regarding the potential approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in an interview with CNBC and Bloomberg on Monday. “If you look back at this year, the price appreciation you’ve seen in bitcoin has really been driven by both the macro and micro forces,” he told CNBC. “On the macro front, inflationary pressure [and] rising rates have caused inves...

The Ethereum Proof of Work (ETHW) core development organization has been dissolved to help the protocol achieve full autonomy. In late November, the ETHW team pleaded for $200,000 in funding to maintain servers and recruit part-time engineers. ETHW Core team’s development approach has been criticized. Upholding PoW as the Chain’s Consensus On Dec. 18, the Ethereum Proof of Work (ETHW) core development organization was dissolved to help the protocol achieve full autonomy. A statement released by an ETHW core team member said the decision, which allows ETHW to operate independently without the Core’s support, followed “in-depth discussions and [was] based on a majority consensus.” Explaining the rationale behind the decision, the ETHW core team claimed that this has been its commitment since forking from the Ethereum blockchain in September 2022. Besides the dissolution, the core team also resolved to uphold proof of work “as the underlying consensus for the chain” as well as mainta...