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The European Parliament approved its slate of commissioners on Wednesday, including the individuals who will be responsible for monitoring regulations around digital assets.In September, European Parliament President Ursula Von der Leyen proposed a list of commissioners. While crypto did not stand out as a core topic amongst the roles, this group will be responsible for ensuring digital asset rules are implemented.The European Union (EU), a bloc of 27 nations, was the first major jurisdiction in the world to establish a bespoke crypto legislative package last year, otherwise known as the Markets in Crypto Assets legislation (MiCA). Stablecoin rules came into force in June, while the rest of the rules are expected to come in force by December."I don't expect a...

Bitcoin miner IREN (IREN) rose nearly 30% on Wednesday after executives said the company had received interest from an artificial intelligence (AI) firm and mentioned a potential dividend in BTC during an earnings conference call.The Sydney-based company has been approached by a hyperscaler firm (large cloud service provider) for potentially hosting computing infrastructure at IREN's Sweetwater mining site in Texas, co-CEO and co-founder Daniel Roberts said on the call."Two hours ago, we got an email from a trillion-dollar hyperscaler that said they weren't interested in Sweetwater, and now they are," Roberts said without giving out too many details."We will continue not to provide guidance on specific terms or timing, given the uncertainties. Given the nature that we are dealing with...

Solana was trading at 97% discount to ether’s market cap in January of 2023 – a clear market dislocation that has closed significantly over the last two years.Today the gap has closed to a 70% discount.However, solana is starting to challenge ether in terms of on-chain activity and important network usage KPIs.Which begs the question: Is the market still dislocated?In this short piece, we explore this key question with relative analysis across four key data points. Let’s dive in.Network FeesData: Artemis, The DeFi Report, Gas Fees Only (does not include MEV). Please note that we’ve included the following L2s in the comps data: Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Blast, Celo, Linea, Mantle, Scroll, Starknet, zkSync, Immutable, and Manta Pacific.L2s create new demand...

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated 320 ether — worth over $1 million — to crypto think tank Coin Center on Tuesday night, according to blockchain data.Buterin’s donation came mere hours after a U.S. appeals court overturned U.S. sanctions against embattled crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, ruling that Tornado Cash’s smart contracts “are not the property of a foreign national or entity” and thus cannot be blocked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). By imposing sanctions on Tornado Cash, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) “overstepped its congressionally defined authority,” the court ruled.Read more: Tornado Cash Sanctions Overturned by U.S. Appeals CourtCoin Center has been a key player in the crypto industry’s fight against the U.S....

The bitcoin (BTC) bull market has further to run, and the world's largest cryptocurrency is expected to punch through the $100,000 level in the near term, Galaxy Research said in a note on Tuesday.Galaxy said bitcoin will continue to rise for several reasons. Increasing institutional and corporate adoption, the potential for the creation of bitcoin nation-state reserves, and a new pro-crypto U.S. administration all point to a move higher in the near and medium term, the report said.It may not be all plain sailing, as "there could even be some twilight regulatory or law enforcement actions from the outgoing Biden administration that jitter markets," wrote Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy.Still, the bitcoin setup over the next two years...