This week is considered as the Bitcoin Week owing to the Bitcoin Conference - here's a glimpse

Bitcoin conference is the world's largest Bitcoin event and the week is usually full of excitement among bitcoin enthusiasts since it often brings together the most important players working in the industry for discussions surrounding reflections from the past and ideas for the future. The conference has also marked important announcements in the past like Nayib Bukele announcing that he is sending a bill to the El Salvadorian Congress that would make bitcoin legal tender in the state, Jack Dorsey announcing Lightning integration in Cash App, and um.. alright there's not much and I might've hyped it up like they do.

They do get big names to talk about bitcoin nevertheless that's enough to generate dozens of news items that create buzz in this week and the days after. The week of bitcoin conference has also marked bullish price action in its recent history. It could've been a coincidence, but the week of the conference in 2021 marked the local bottom around 30k and we started our second run up to the 69k mark.

Banner by Bitcoin Magazine

The speaker list for this year's conference includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vivek Ramaswamy (both are US Presidential candidates), Tulsi Gabbard (former US Presidential candidate), Patrick Henry (Congressmen and Chairman of the Financial Services Committee who grilled Gensler real good), Cynthia Lummis (Senator), Adam Back (inventor of Hashcash), Jack Mallers (CEO @ Strike), Elizabeth Stark (CEO @ Lightning Labs) and Michael Saylor (obviously) among many others. The Bitcoin Week is flagged off today (Sunday, 14 May) with a Bitcoin Brunch in Miami which is a local meetup for bitcoiners and here's a page that details all the events of the week.

A life-changing event for many this year (x-post from /r/Bitcoin)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/13gxqwd/a_lifechanging_event_for_many_this_year/

Binance announces withdrawal from Canada due to new regulations.

Binance will exit the Canadian market, the cryptocurrency exchange announced on Twitter on May 12. The exit is described as "preemptive" as the new enforcement guidance issued by Canadian regulators continues to take a toll on the country's crypto industry. As such, Binance is joining some of its smaller competitors in a massive exit from Canada prompted by the introduction on Feb. 22 by Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA ) rules that require them to file new pre-registration commitments and comply with additional restrictions. While Binance has reportedly filed a new pre-registration pledge, it has announced on Twitter that it is withdrawing from the Canadian market. “Unfortunately, today we are announcing that Binance will be joining other well-known crypto companies in actively withdrawing from the Canadian market. We would like to thank those regulators who have worked together with us to meet the needs of Canadian users,” Binance said (@ binance) on May 12, 2023 Amid this news, Bitcoin's market capitalization dropped sharply for a short time. The decline was from $509 billion to $501 billion. However, the market capitalization quickly recovered, again exceeding $510 billion.

The new CSA rules prohibit firms from "permitting Canadian clients to enter into crypto contracts to buy and sell any crypto assets that are themselves securities and/or derivatives" and define stablecoins as securities. OKX announced back in March that it was pulling out of the Canadian market. It was followed in April by decentralized exchange dYdX and later by stablecoin issuer Paxos. Binance has operated in all Canadian provinces and territories except for Ontario, from which it withdrew in March 2022 following a protracted dispute with that province's regulators.

Binance sent an email to its Canadian users instructing them to close their positions by September 30, 2023. "From October 1, 2023, Canadian customers will be placed in liquidation-only mode," the letter warns. “Unfortunately, the new guidance regarding stablecoins and investor limits set for crypto exchanges currently makes the Canadian market unacceptable for Binance,” the exchange said in a statement. “While we do not agree with the new guidance, we look forward to continuing cooperation with Canadian regulators.” All is not lost for Canadian crypto enthusiasts, however. Kraken filed a new pre-registration application in March and stated its intention to remain in Canada. doing business with Canadians."

The Ethereum network appeared to be running into another technical issue that prevented the completion of a transaction from happening for an hour on Friday. The issue raised new concerns about the stability of the network as it occurred less than 24 hours after a similar event a day earlier. As on Thursday, Ethereum network activity data sources show that validators have run into trouble, offering attestation as transactions are processed by the network. Ethereum epochs 200,750 to 200,758 saw a significant drop in the number of attestations received, according to data provider Beaconcha. “The Beacon Chain Ethereum network stopped finalizing transactions for about an hour,” said Block Research Director Steven Zheng. “It is currently unclear what the reason for the stops is, but some people think it was due to some bugs in client staking or the MEV infrastructure. "Even though transactions on Ethereum didn't stop, they didn't finalize, which meant that transactions were more likely to be canceled than if everything was working as intended."

Will Bitcoin Fall? Are These Temporary Dips?

The world of cryptocurrencies is known for its volatility, and Bitcoin, being the most prominent player, is no exception. Periodic price fluctuations and market corrections are common occurrences in the cryptocurrency space. However, it is important to approach such situations with a broader perspective and consider the long-term trends and underlying fundamentals.

While Bitcoin may experience temporary dips in its price, it is crucial to understand that these fluctuations do not necessarily indicate a permanent downfall. Bitcoin has faced numerous challenges and price corrections throughout its history, yet it has consistently demonstrated resilience and bounced back stronger.

The cryptocurrency market is influenced by various factors, including market sentiment, regulatory developments, macroeconomic conditions, and technological advancements. It is a dynamic ecosystem that reacts to both positive and negative news and events. Therefore, it is not uncommon to witness short-term price volatility driven by market sentiments or speculative trading activities.

It is worth noting that Bitcoin's value is also influenced by its limited supply and growing adoption. The scarcity of Bitcoin, with only 21 million coins ever to be mined, coupled with increasing interest from individuals, institutions, and even governments, suggests a promising future for this digital asset.

Moreover, Bitcoin has established itself as a store of value and a hedge against traditional financial systems. As more individuals and institutions recognize its potential and seek exposure to the cryptocurrency, it further strengthens Bitcoin's position and contributes to its long-term growth.

In summary, while Bitcoin may experience temporary price drops, it is essential to view them within the broader context of its historical performance and the overall cryptocurrency market. The volatility should not overshadow the potential and resilience of Bitcoin as a transformative technology and an evolving asset class. As with any investment, it is advisable to conduct thorough research, assess the market conditions, and make informed decisions based on one's risk tolerance and long-term investment goals.

Announcing Emerald DAO v2.1.0 NFT Series

Emerald DAO is a simple Bitcoin Cash DAO template which acts as a fixed-term deposit savings vault with optional crowdfunded rewards scheme. Each depositor interacting with the DAO will be creating a time-locked safebox UTXO and a matching keycard NFT UTXO. Upon expiry of the time-lock, user will have the option to burn the keycard NFT UTXO to open the safebox and access the deposited BCH + holding reward, or he may keep the keycard NFT indefinitely as a collectible.

The DAO's code is here: https://gitlab.com/0353F40E/emerald-dao/-/tree/main

How it works?

Unlike other NFT mints where minters pay the creator, here the users will "pay" everyone simply by having their 0.1 BCH locked in a contract and removing it from circulation! They can get it back after time-lock and only if they burn the NFT. You can't have both! On top of that, the DAO holds a rewards pool, and I funded it with 2.15 BCH so it will distribute a +0.01 BCH airdrop into user's locked holding!

Basically: you put 0.1 BCH in, you mint the NFT, and on next upgrade you have the option of burning the NFT for 0.11 BCH. The 0.11 BCH will be stored in a "safebox" UTXO with a time-locked contract coded to the particular NFT, and the NFT can be freely passed around in the meantime.

Idea is to see whether people will hold on to the NFT for collectible value even when the time-lock expires, because claiming the 0.11 BCH will burn the NFT.

Main DAO parameters:

• Minimum lock-up: 0.1 BCH
• Max. number of NFTs: 2000
• Minting possible at least until: June 15th 2023 (or max. number minted)
• Locked BCH can be redeemed after: May 15th 2024

How to mint?

Install Paytaca wallet, the mint will be done with a click of button, through an extension created by /u/mainnet_pat (thanks, pat!) that knows how to interact with the DAO "vault" contract (which holds the rewards pool and oversees correct creation of NFTs and matching safeboxes).

Your 0.11 BCH will be held in a contract, but you will get a normal NFT which you can then pass around, trade, or w/e. The holder of each NFT will have the option (after the time-lock expires) to burn the NFT and access a dedicated safebox UTXO with 0.11 BCH in it.

How to withdraw?

Same, there will be a "withdraw" function that spends from the DAO "safebox" contract (which will hold your 0.11 BCH).

Will I be locked into Paytaca wallet?

No, it's an open on-chain contract, anyone that knows how to build the correct kind of TX can interact with it, and Paytaca extension will do that for you for smoothest UX. I will provide a bitauthIDE template later, which allows "manual" operation as a fallback method.

The flow:

1. DONE - Funding the DAO "blueprint" address
2. Genesis - I'll try to do it in the 1st post-activation block!
3. Minting - it can start as soon as the genesis TX will be in the mempool
4. Burning the NFT for 0.11 BCH - option available after MTP 1715774400 which is UTC 12:00 May 15th 2024

What about the art?

I'm no artist. This is not about the art, it's about demonstrating Bitcoin Cash smart contract capabilities. However, all NFTs will have the same pic, this little guy, he is the DAO manager :D

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FvR6S5LXsAEnpHo

Disclaimer

I did my best to ensure the contract will work as intended and someone can't cheat it, but still, a disclaimer is in order:

DISCLAIMER: THE DAO CONTRACT, THE DAO CONTRACT INSTANCE(S), AND RELATED SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.