The following is a guest post from Rob Viglione, CEO at Horizen Labs. If we had stopped at dial-up internet, we’d never have gotten Netflix, real-time gaming, or cloud computing. The evolution of internet infrastructure paved the way for mass adoption. In the same way, Layer-3s are an inevitable evolution of blockchain infrastructure—removing friction, lowering […]

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A technology investor who backed ridesharing app Uber in its early days has sparked backlash from the Bitcoin community after claiming Bitcoin will inevitably be replaced by something better.

“Bitcoin has been a wonderful game, but with a couple giant players cornering the market, the timing is right to “build a better Bitcoin” — restarting the game,” prominent angel investor and internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis told his 981,600 X followers on March 14.

Calacanis, an early investor in Bitcoin-related companies like online trading platform Robinhood and Bitcoin startup Keza, said, “All technology gets replaced over time… and Bitcoin will be no different.”

Opportunity presents for Bitcoin layer-2 projects

Bitcoin (BTC) co-founders and executives were quick to push back, arguing that Bitcoin will not be replaced, though there’s still room for a dominant layer-2 protocol to emerge on top of the Bitcoin network.

Swan Bitcoin co-founder Brady Swenson said, “Winning protocols don’t get replaced; they are built upon.” 

“Bitcoin will never be replaced as a protocol for value transfer. The race is still on for the winning second layer protocol,” Swenson said.

Swan’s other co-founder, Cory Klippsten, said, “Bitcoin is a technological revolution changing all industries, not following the adoption curve of a single technology like an iPad.”

Echoing a similar sentiment, Lightspark CEO David Markus said, “What it lacks in functionality can be built on L2s.” 

“Trying to build a better Bitcoin is a fool’s errand.”

Meanwhile, ShapeShift CEO Eric Voorhees said Bitcoin’s limitations can be solved “on other chains.”

The bigger Bitcoin grows, the “less likely” it is to be replaced

Many in the industry have emphasized the importance of layer-2s for Bitcoin, as they provide use cases that the Bitcoin network cannot support, such as deploying smart contracts.

However, Muneeb Ali, co-founder of Stacks, recently told Cointelegraph that more than two-thirds of existing Bitcoin layer-2 projects will not exist within three years as their initial excitement will fade.

Bitcoin advocate Wayne Vaughan said people wrongly assume Bitcoin is easily replaceable because they see it as just an asset, application, or platform.

“I think of Bitcoin as a network. The larger the network gets, the less likely it is for something else to replace it,” Vaughan said in a March 15 X post. 

Related: Strategy’s Bitcoin stash still up over $7B despite market downturn

Strive Funds CEO Matt Cole said, “There will not be a “better” Bitcoin. I do think we will get occasional alt seasons of ever diminishing strength that will continue to make insiders money. Most people will end up with less Bitcoin by going to that casino.” 

This is not the first time that Calacanis’ comments have caused debate in the crypto industry.

In June 2020, Calacanis said that nearly all of the crypto projects around the world are under the control of “unqualified idiots” or “grifters” with below-average skills.

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Learn MoreUber angel investor stirs Bitcoin debate with 'build a better Bitcoin' remark

Clearstream introduces Bitcoin and Ethereum custody services, aiming to simplify crypto adoption for banks and large institutions. …

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The following is a guest post from Rostyslav Bortman, Founder at Ethereum Ukraine. If you’re planning to launch a stablecoin or preparing for a token generation event (TGE), your choice of blockchain likely comes down to two major contenders: Ethereum or Solana. At first glance, the decision seems straightforward—Solana is faster and cheaper, while Ethereum’s […]

The post Fixing Ethereum’s biggest problems appeared first on CryptoSlate.

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Kaito AI, an artificial intelligence-powered platform that aggregates crypto data to provide market analysis for users, and its founder Yu Hu, were the victims of an X social media hack on March 15.

In several now-deleted posts, hackers claimed that the Kaito wallets were compromised and advised users that their funds were not safe.

According to DeFi Warhol, the hackers opened up a short position on KAITO tokens before posting the messages in the hopes that users would sell or pull their funds, which would have crashed the price and created profits for the threat actors.

The Kaito AI team regained access to the accounts and reassured users that Kaito token wallets were not compromised in the social media exploit.

“We had high-standard security measures in place to prevent [the hack] — so it seems to be similar or the same as other recent Twitter account hacks,” the Kaito AI team added.

This recent exploit is the latest in a growing list of social media hacks, social engineering scams, and cybersecurity incidents plaguing the crypto industry.

Related: Kaito AI token defies influencer selling pressure with 50% price rally

Vigilance is key: some of the latest scams and exploits to impact crypto

Pump.fun’s X account was hacked on Feb. 26 by a threat actor promoting several fake tokens, including a fraudulent governance token for the fair launch platform called “Pump.”

According to onchain sleuth ZackXBT, the Pump.fun incident was directly connected to the Jupiter DAO account hack and the DogWifCoin X account compromise.

On March 7, The Alberta Securities Commission, a Canadian financial regulator, warned the public that malicious actors were using fake news articles and fake endorsements featuring the likeness of Canadian politicians to promote a crypto scam.

The scam, known as CanCap, played on fears of a trade war between Canada and the US to lure unsuspecting victims into investing in the project, which the scammers claimed had the support of Canadian leader Justin Trudeau.

Crypto executives are also sounding the alarm on a new scam from the state-sponsored Lazarus hacker group, where the hackers pose as venture capitalists in a Zoom meeting.

Once the target is in the meeting room, the hackers would claim they were experiencing audio-visual issues and redirect the victim to a malicious chat room where the user is encouraged to download a patch.

The patch contains malicious software designed to steal crypto private keys and other sensitive information from the victim’s computer.

Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis

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Learn MoreKaito AI and founder Yu Hu's X social media accounts hacked

The following is a guest post from Shane Neagle, Editor In Chief from The Tokenist. Since the introduction of altcoins, after Bitcoin paved the road for them, we have seen many projects give 10x gains in relatively short periods. It has also been accepted that the crypto space oscillates between altcoin and bitcoin seasons, suggesting […]

The post Crypto shakeup: How to view the crypto space moving forward? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

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Rachel Maddow recently ran a Bitcoin FUD segment comparing BTC tokens to Beanie Babies. But literally everything the MSNBC host said about cryptocurrency was wrong. …

Learn MoreMaddow Slams Trump and Calls Bitcoin ‘Scam’ – She Got These 5 Facts Wrong

The Open Network (TON) Society released a statement on March 15 celebrating the return of Pavel Durov’s passport as a win for freedom of speech, online privacy, and innovation.

According to the AFP news agency, Durov left France and headed to Dubai on the morning of March 15 after gaining permission from French officials to depart the European country.

“We have stood behind Pavel since his arrest on August 24, 2024,” the TON Society wrote. The group added:

“Pavel’s unwavering commitment to freedom of speech and transparency, despite facing the most challenging of circumstances, is a powerful reminder of the importance of standing by your principles, even when it is politically and personally detrimental to do so.”

The TON Society previously penned a letter condemning the French government for detaining Durov and urging the country to release the Telegram founder.

“The arrest of the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, is a direct assault on a basic human right — the freedom of expression of everyone,” the TON Society’s August 27 letter read.

At the time, the organization also called on the United Nations, the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the European Union (EU) to intervene and push for Durov’s release.

Free speech advocates in the crypto industry sounded the alarm over Pavel Durov’s arrest, citing the troubling implications for privacy and decentralized technologies in the face of state pressure to censor the internet and the potential for regulatory capture.

Emmanuel Macron denies political motivation for Durov’s arrest

Shortly after French law enforcement officials detained the Telegram founder, President Emmanuel Macron denied the arrest was politically motivated and claimed that France was committed to free speech.

In a subsequent press conference, Macron also denied inviting Durov to France amid a torrent of backlash from the crypto community and free speech advocates.

Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of the free-speech video platform Rumble, announced that he safely departed Europe shortly following the detention of Pavel Durov.

In an August 25 X post, the CEO said that the French government threatened Rumble and condemned state authorities for the crackdown on free speech.

Magazine: Did Telegram’s Pavel Durov commit a crime? Crypto lawyers weigh in

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Learn MoreTON Society celebrates Pavel Durov leaving France as free speech win