2024

Bitcoin

PlayDapp

<h2 id="solana-well-positioned-to-be-a-big-3-crypto-franklin-templeton">Solana ‘well positioned’ to be a big 3 crypto: Franklin Templeton</h2>
Solana (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index">SOL</a>) — once thought “dead or forgotten” — is in a good place to become the third-largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) and Ether (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price">ETH</a>), says investment manager Franklin Templeton.
Solana has dominated “in capturing the surge of activity in crypto from 2023 to 2024” and is “well-positioned to capture the next wave of crypto adoption, solidifying itself as the third major crypto asset,” the firm said in a May 2 market <a href="https://twitter.com/FTI_DA/status/1786049586152255659" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">note</a>.
Franklin Templeton pinned memecoins like Bonk (BONK) and Dogwifhat (WIF) along with “major airdrops” like Jito (JTO) and <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/may-crypto-vesting-sui-pyth-network-unlock-tokens">Pyth Network</a> (PYTH) as kicking off a “wealth effect” on Solana which pumped token prices and boosted decentralized exchange volumes.
More expected airdrops over the next months and memecoin trading showing “no signs of slowing down” are set to keep that wealth effect in motion, the firm believes.
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-05/e1e543f8-cf2a-4c07-9e55-332095e613cd.png">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/FTI_DA/status/1786049586152255659" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Franklin Templeton Digital Assets</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The “next wave of adoption” is likely decentralized physical infrastructure networks (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/decentralized-physical-infrastructure-network-depin-explained">DePINs</a>), <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-reveals-cost-cutting-solution-for-on-chain-storage">compressed nonfungible tokens</a> (NFTs), centralized limit order books (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-role-of-central-limit-order-book-dexs-in-decentralized-finance">CLOBs</a>) and payments — “especially micropayments” — which Solana is “uniquely qualified” to tackle, the firm wrote.
Franklin Templeton noted the blockchain’s congestion issues, saying current activity had “pushed Solana to its limit” but added its developers are working a fix with the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-flip-ethereum-needs-chatgpt-moment-analysts">Firedancer update</a> slated for later this year.
“Crypto enthusiasts are wondering what the next big thing in crypto will be,” it wrote. “While we don’t know the precise answer, we’d argue there is a strong chance it happens on Solana.”
SOL is currently the fifth largest cryptocurrency with its market capitalization at $65.3 billion, <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/solana" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">according</a> to CoinGecko. It is the fourth-largest blockchain with a total value locked of $3.99 billion, <a href="https://defillama.com/chains" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">per</a> DefiLlama.
<h2 id="fat-fingered-bitcoin-user-seemingly-pays-100k-fee-by-mistake">Fat-fingered Bitcoin user seemingly pays $100K fee by mistake</h2>
A Bitcoin user appears to have accidentally paid a nearly 1.6 BTC transaction fee, worth over $100,000, to send less than $6.50 worth of the cryptocurrency.
On May 4, blockchain tracking X account Whale Alert posted about the likely fat-fingered error, writing “100,254 USD has just been paid for a single transaction.”
In all, the user <a href="https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/transactions/btc/4cb2055f051f20bc97e0e06bff2061a4f0ce15d888cc4e40093d2b9d1ca14b4c" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">spent</a> 1.59 BTC to send 0.0001 BTC.
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-05/f8999c00-dcd9-43eb-b09f-583967dacb44.png">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/whale_alert/status/1786619655420846568" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Whale Alert</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
It’s unknown who owns the transacting and receiving wallets — Blockstream’s <a href="https://blockstream.info/tx/4cb2055f051f20bc97e0e06bff2061a4f0ce15d888cc4e40093d2b9d1ca14b4c" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">analysis</a> put that the transaction was “possibly self-transfer.”
Some wallet apps allow users to denote the transaction fees they wish to pay. Higher fees mean faster processed transfers with the opposite true for lower fees for those happy to wait.
If this was a case of a self-transfer it’s likely the user erroneously swapped the input amounts in whatever wallet they used — putting nearly 1.6 BTC they wanted to send in the “fee” area and the $6.50 worth of BTC fee they wanted to pay in the “send” area instead of the other way around.
<h2 id="former-la-mayor-biden-adviser-joins-as-coinbase-advisers">Former LA mayor, Biden adviser joins as Coinbase advisers</h2>
Former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former Atlanta mayor and President Joe Biden adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms have joined paid positions on crypto exchange Coinbase’s advisory council.
Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad said in a May 2 X <a href="https://twitter.com/faryarshirzad/status/1785680450410750328" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">post</a> that Villaraigosa and Bottoms’ council roles are meant to help with “bridging the gap between policymakers and the American people.”
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-05/92fb4b6d-d2e9-4b0f-a2de-71ca1c8a6903.jpg">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Biden (middle) and Bottoms (middle right, to Biden’s left) at a January 2023 service in Atlanta for Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Source: The White House
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Coinbase <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-establishes-advisory-council-with-former-us-lawmakers">spun up</a> its Global Advisory Council last May to bolster its political lobbying efforts, or as it put it, to “strengthen relationships with strategic stakeholders.”
A month later the Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/john-deaton-brief-coinbase-sec-appeal">sued Coinbase</a> alleging it operated as an unregistered securities exchange — a lawsuit the exchange is fighting.
Villaraigosa <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-30/antonio-villaraigosa-coinbase-cryptocurrency-adviser" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">told</a> the LA Times on April 30 that he won’t lobby for Coinbase but will advise it on how to lobby for a “robust, fair regulatory framework.”
The same day, Bottoms <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/business/keisha-lance-bottoms-joins-crypto-firm-coinbases-global-advisory-council/2B76CQYIGRALVC232YQVOIGMM4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">told</a> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she’d help Coinbase with being a voice to lawmakers about crypto.
<h2 id="web3-publishing-site-paragraph-takes-over-rival-mirror">Web3 publishing site Paragraph takes over rival Mirror</h2>
Blockchain publishing platform Paragraph is taking over rival Mirror and is putting focus on a new Web3 social media app — “Kiosk.” 
“Paragraph will take over stewardship of the Mirror product, design system, and brand,” Mirror said in a May 3 blog <a href="https://dev.mirror.xyz/_JH3B2prRmU23wmzFMncy9UOmYT7mHj5wdiQVUolT3o" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">post</a>.
It added Paragraph founder Colin Armstrong will take over as CEO and Mirror founder — and now former CEO — Denis Nazarov will take an adviser role.
Paragraph also said it raised $5 million from Union Square Ventures and Coinbase Ventures in a fundraising round. It didn’t say how it’d use the money and didn’t immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s comment request.
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-05/b60b4574-a762-449a-9f2e-20d5e3c9e19d.png">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/viamirror/status/1786063341078917300" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Mirror</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Launched in 2020, Mirror allowed writers to monetize their work by offering articles up as NFTs. Paragraph was launched two-years later and did a similar thing but focused more on newsletters.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/future-of-publishing-ai-blockchain-booksie-sol-nasisi">Blockchain and AI: Redefining authorship in publishing</a>
Meanwhile, the firm backing Mirror, the fittingly named Reflective Technologies, Inc., <a href="https://kiosk.mirror.xyz/iyIIjU14A2c50rK00-O8Ic0TR6kV8bsPxd9flWAsb_0" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">said</a> the same day that it's launching Kiosk — a client for the decentralized <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/farcaster-daily-active-users-warpcast-frames">social media protocol Farcaster</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
 Introducing Kiosk, a new Farcaster client where social meets onchain. <a href="https://t.co/lgoWBoERpr">pic.twitter.com/lgoWBoERpr</a>— Kiosk (@KioskSocial) <a href="https://twitter.com/KioskSocial/status/1786062025275437348?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2024</a>
</blockquote> 
The Kiosk team added it “recently raised” $10 million to build the client and hire its founding team in a raise led by Electric Capital with Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Variant also pitching in.
<h2 id="other-news">Other news</h2>
A class group of Coinbase customers <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-faces-new-lawsuit-over-alleged-investor-deception">sued the crypto exchange</a> alleging it deceived them into buying securities and claims the firm’s business model is illegal.
Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/grayscale-gbtc-inflows-record-bitcoin-exchange-traded-fund-etf">saw its first-ever inflows</a> of $63 million on Friday, May 3 since it converted from a trust in January.
Web3 Gamer: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/web3-gaming-term-crypto-pitch-australia-crypto-con-web3-gamer/">Web3 gaming won’t exist in 5 years, $656K for best crypto game pitch</a>

Weekend Wrap: SOL set for bronze, Bitcoiner fat fingers $100K fee and more

Table of Contents

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Feb 12, 2024

Drexel’s Robotics and AI Fusion Sets New Benchmark in Structural Integrity Assurance

Botswana bans Starlink, imposes consequences for violators

Philippines to launch wholesale CBDC in the next two years

Bitcoin Vs. Fiat: New Zealand’s Top Banker Questions Crypto’s Credibility

What’s Behind the Bitcoin Price’s Recent Rally? Where Is the Uptrend Coming From?

Google’s 25M Euro AI skill boost for Europe unveiled

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!