Chain News by Thebittimes.Com

AVATARA launches on Klaytn,  an open-source public blockchain for all who wish to build, work, or play in the metaverse. AVATARA is a free-to-play top-end action MMORPG. The game boasts a P2E system completed within the blockchain ecosystem, providing a new, higher level of entertainment like never before. The AVATARA platform is a cross-platform MMORPG that supports PC and mobile at the same time. Inside the game, you will be able to hunt various bosses with your friends and battle to become the strongest server through “Base Battle” and “Siege Wars”. In addition, you can also freely trade items acquired from in-game and Web-App, NFTS (Avatars), and also characters that are grown or built by other players. Minting and Mining of NFTs through Web-App In the Web App, you can perform functions such as minting and mining of NFTs, which are important keys to gameplay. The processes carried out in the Web App will affect the user’s in-game character and will also have a great impact on ...

Despite the rally in Bitcoin that has seen prices jump around 27% since the start of the year, on-chain data suggests that Bitcoin whales are not using the pump as an opportunity to sell their holdings. According to some analysts, this is a sign of confidence that the recent rally signals the start of a longer-lasting bull market. According to data from crypto analytics firm Glassnode, the number of Bitcoin addresses holding between 1,000 to 10,000 Bitcoins (or so-called whale addresses) has remained broadly steady at just above 1,900 since the start of December. Shark bitcoin addresses, which hold anything between 100 to 1,000 Bitcoins, have also held steady in number in recent weeks. According to Glassnode, there was last around 14,000 of them. The Fish and Crabs Have Been Accumulating Bitcoin bulls will be pleased to know that two important address cohorts have continued to accumulate the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization in recent week...

Coinbase crypto exchange originally started planning its Japanese expansion during a bear market of 2018. Despite Bitcoin (BTC) returning to pre-FTX collapse price levels, the contagion still affects the industry, forcing Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange to close operations in Japan. Coinbase officially announced on Jan. 18 that the firm will be terminating operations in Japan and conduct a complete review of its Business in the country due to market conditions. All Coinbase Japan customers will have about a month to withdraw their fiat and crypto holdings from the platform by Feb. 16. After Feb. 17, the remaining crypto assets held by Coinbase Japan customers will be automatically converted to the Japanese yen (JPY). Fiat currency deposits will not be available from Jan. 20. The firm noted that clients will be able to move the assets to any other virtual asset service provider, a self-custodial wallet as well as Coinbase Wallet. Customers can also liquidate their portfolio and withd...

Just like other top coins from the market, even memes like Shiba Inu and Dogecoin have fared substantially well in 2023. Since the beginning of this year, the former has appreciated by 31.6%, while the latter has inclined by 22.1%. Source: TradingView However, the tale is slightly different for the newest meme coin in town. Solana based Bonk was launched towards the end of last year. During its initial days, it rapidly ascended on its charts and went on to create a high of $0.00004575 on January 5. Right after, the downtrend was initiated and price of the asset ended up adding a couple of zeros. By sliding down, BONK defied broader market trend. Well, this doesn’t essentially come as a surprise. Meme coins usually pump when the community hype peaks. In fact, they are known for creating their own decoupled, standalone rally phases. Likewise, when the euphoria fizzles out, the rags to riches tale flips to riches to rags. Source: CMC Les Borsai, Co-Founder of Digital A...

In 2023, GameFi developers should focus on building out quality more than quantity. 2022 was a huge year for the play-to-earn (P2E) gaming scene. An influx of capital and users was followed by a sharp downturn in Blockchain Game token prices and a decrease in players — and the market is still reeling. And, with fallout from the FTX disaster reaching into every corner of the industry, play-to-earn’s prospects seem bleak on the surface. But peeking under the hood, the numbers tell a different story: Strong funding this year has set the stage for serious “buidling” in 2023.  A consistent flow of strong raises for Web3 gaming studios has been silently infusing the market with funding for months. In August, UnCaged studios raised $24 million, contributing to nearly $750 million raised by Web3 gaming studios in that month alone. The momentum continued through September when Revolving Games raised $25 million, and October, when Odyssey Interactive, Stardust and SkyWeaver pulled in $19 milli...

The ghost of FTX haunts the crypto industry, but Bitcoin is attempting to leave it behind as BTC price gains endure. Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week at new 2023 highs but still dividing opinion after a blistering price rally. In what is shaping up to be the antidote to last year’s slow bleed lower, January has delivered the volatility Bitcoin bulls were hoping for — but can they sustain it? This is the key question for market participants going into the third week of the month. Opinion remains divided on Bitcoin’s fundamental strength; some believe outright that the march to two-month highs is a “sucker’s rally,” while others are hoping that the good times will continue — at least for the time being. Beyond market dynamics, there is no shortage of potential catalysts waiting to assert themselves on sentiment. United States economic data will keep coming, while corporate earnings could deliver some fresh volatility to stock markets this week. Cointelegraph takes a look at five potentia...

Polygon told Cointelegraph that the hard fork will take effect at block 38,189,056, which will be initiated without the influence of centralized actors. Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon will undergo a hard fork on Jan. 17 in order to address gas spikes and chain reorganizations issues that has affected user experience on the Polygon proof-of-stake (POS) chain.  Polygon officially confirmed the hard fork event in Jan. 12 a blog post, which came after weeks of preliminary discussion on Polygon Improvement Proposal (PIP) forum page in late December. GET READY FOR THE HARDFORK The proposed hardfork for the #Polygon PoS chain will make key upgrades to the network on Jan 17th. This is good news for devs & users -- & will make for better UX. You will NOT need to do anything differently. Details:https://t.co/RaBWDjEGrI pic.twitter.com/nipa15YQdZ — Polygon (@0xPolygon) January 12, 2023 A Polygon spokesperson also provided Cointelegraph with additional details of the h...