Month: March 2023

Crypto Custody Firm Copper Drops Enterprise Business: Source

• London-based cryptocurrency custody firm Copper has given up its enterprise business.
• This decision was made to focus more on the Clear Loop custody and settlement business.
• There will be some job losses within Copper’s enterprise division.

Copper Shelves Enterprise Business

London-based cryptocurrency custody firm Copper has decided to give up its enterprise business in order to focus more on its Clear Loop custody and settlement business, resulting in some job losses within the company’s enterprise division.

Reason Behind Decision

Copper made this decision due to the present challenging conditions in the digital assets space, an uncertain US regulatory environment, as well as a desire to focus on strategic offerings.

Background Information

Copper’s enterprise division was focused on securing digital asset custody and infrastructure solutions for banks and funds. It is one of the leading crypto custody providers, securing billions of dollars in digital assets using multi-party computation (MPC). They have also been working with well-known firms such as State Street.

Security Issue Raised In December 2020

In December 2020, Copper was alerted to a security issue involving their GitHub repository which contained a blueprint for how they secure customers’ assets. The entire code base was made vulnerable and downloaded at that time.

Conclusion

To conclude, Copper has decided to give up its enterprise business in order to focus more on its Clear Loop custody and settlement business, resulting in some job losses within the company’s enterprise division due to present challenging conditions in the digital assets space and an uncertain US regulatory environment.

Hut 8 Mining Talks Operational Issues and U.S. Bitcoin Corp. Merger

• Hut 8 Mining (HUT) faced operational issues across its bitcoin mining sites, including an ongoing dispute with its energy provider and electrical issues in its Drumheller site.
• Management spoke to investors following the release of the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results.
• Hut 8 is currently assessing opportunities to energize miners and attempting to complete a merger with U.S. Bitcoin Corp.

Issues Facing Hut 8 Mining

Hut 8 Mining (HUT) has been facing operational issues across its bitcoin mining sites, including an ongoing dispute with its energy provider in North Bay, Ontario, and electrical issues at the Drumheller site in Alberta. The company’s shares are down 8% on Thursday as bitcoin slides to its lowest level in a month at $21,450.

Fourth Quarter Results

Following the release of the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results, management spoke to investors during an earnings call on Thursday morning. During this call it was revealed that mining profit plummeted from $39.2 million (US$28.4 million) during the same period last year to CAD$3.33 million (US$2.4 million).

U.S Bitcoin Corp Merger

The company also received a letter of no action from the Canadian competition authority for its proposed merger with U.S Bitcoin Corp., meaning that they don’t plan to challenge the move according to CEO Jaime Leverton who said on the call that their main focus is on completing this merger which will give them access to additional power for mining rigs.

Mitigating Challenges

At its Drumheller site in Alberta, Hut 8 has been facing “electrical issues” that have hit operations – however they are exploring options to mitigate these challenges so they can hopefully have a more definitive plan soon for how they will tackle these matters moving forward according reports from Chief Financial Officer Shenif Visram during the conference call as well as statements from Leverton on Thursday morning .

Conclusion

In conclusion it appears that Hut 8 Mining is doing all it can do attempt to mitigate challenges at current sites while continuing their pursuit of merging with US Bitcoin Corp which would provide them access additional power sources needed for future operation needs – however given recent share price drops due likely deriving from dropping BTC prices investors remain cautious over when or if any form of resolution will be met soon by HUT8 management moving forward .

Speed Up App Deployment: Swing Platform Launches No-Code Product

• Swing, a cross-chain liquidity protocol, has released a new “no-code” product to reduce the time needed to deploy and update decentralized applications across multiple blockchains.
• The product, called Swing Platform, will be provided during ETHDenver conference for Ethereum developers.
• This product could help respond quickly to security incidents and make deploying and maintaining cross-chain applications easier.

Swing Launches ‘No-Code’ Product

Swing, a cross-chain liquidity protocol, has released a new “no-code” product that it says will reduce the time needed to deploy and update decentralized applications across multiple blockchains. Called Swing Platform, the product is being provided to developers during ETHDenver, a major conference for Ethereum developers.

Benefits Of No Code Product

The main benefit of this no code product is that developers can update configurations and deploy updates without changing the code. This could be especially useful in ‘critical scenarios’ when it’s necessary to disable a particular token or bridge due to a security flaw. It could also speed up the response time if something happened outside of ordinary working hours.

Cross Chain Applications Becoming More Common

Decentralized applications that straddle multiple blockchains are becoming more common but the cross-chain “bridges” used to move digital assets back and forth between networks are often targeted by hackers. Chainalysis reported that hacks and other thefts from these bridges cost $2 billion during just the first eight months of 2022 alone.

Making Cross Chain Apps Easier To Manage

Viveik Vivekananthan from Swing said: “Launching and maintaining a cross chain application is generally fraught with risk and off limits to all but best funded teams.” The aim of this product is to make launching and maintaining these types of apps easier so they become accessible for everyone regardless of resources or coding skillset they have available.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Swing’s no code product could provide significant benefits in terms of speeding up deployment times as well as making it easier for nontechnical team members to respond quickly in critical situations when it comes to managing distributed applications on multiple blockchains.