BitKeep Changes Name to Bitget Wallet Following Acquisition

Coins.ph, the leading crypto exchange in the Philippines, has announced its support for BRC-20 tokens. As part of that move, the exchange has successfully integrated the ORDI token, thereby becoming the inaugural platform in the country to embrace the BRC-20 standard. The platform clarified its support for BRC-20 in a recent blog post, which it published to its website. Coins.ph revealed its intention to expand its services further by adding support for additional BRC-20 tokens, showcasing a forward-looking approach to cater to the evolving needs of its user base. BRC-20 is a standard facilitating the creation of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. The inclusion of this technical standard allows for the minting of tokens with unique features, introducing a new dimension to the capabilities of the world's flagship cryptocurrency.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashORDI memecoin additionORDI stands out as one of the most popular BRC-20 tokens, gaining traction and reaching an all-time high above $81 earlier this week. This surge in value followed the addition of trading support by crypto exchange Binance in early November, underscoring the influence of strategic partnerships and market dynamics on token performance. Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, expressed the company's commitment to staying at the forefront of digital asset innovation through this strategic move. Highlighting the remarkable growth in BRC-20 activity since its launch earlier in the year, Zhou emphasized the importance of enabling users to participate in these opportunities. He mentioned the recent listing of $ORDI and hinted at future product offerings enabled by the BRC-20 standard. Industry trendWhile coins.ph may have been the first exchange in the Philippines to introduce BRC-20 support, it's not the first mover in the broader Asian region. Back in May, leading crypto exchange OKX decided to support the BRC-20 standard through its OKX Wallet product. The company’s support of the standard was validated more recently when it emerged that BRC-20 support played a large role in OKX NFT Marketplace taking top rank as the NFT marketplace with the greatest trading volume earlier this month. Seychelles-based crypto derivatives platform Bitget has also identified the associated growth potential. Earlier this week, the platform unveiled a plan to support development within the Bitcoin ecosystem, inclusive of BRC-20. The fusion of ordinals and BRC-20 enables users to embed images, texts or audio, among other data, into satoshis—the smallest units of BTC. Bitcoin community controversyAmidst these developments, concerns have been raised by Bitcoin core developer Luke Dashjr. On Dec. 6, Dashjr disclosed that developers are working to remove Bitcoin inscriptions before the v27 update scheduled for the next year. This would imply the elimination of ordinals and BRC-20 from the Bitcoin landscape. Dashjr clarified that Bitcoin Core has allowed users to set limits on extra data size in transactions since 2013 through the "datacarriersize" setting. Despite this, inscriptions have found a way to bypass the limit by obfuscating their data as program code. He reassured the community that a recent bug in Bitcoin Knots v25.1 has been fixed, addressing concerns about vulnerability.

Cartesi Launches Inaugural dApp on Ethereum MainnetSingapore-based Cartesi, the app-specific roll-up protocol with a virtual machine running Linux distributions, has introduced its inaugural dApp.The decentralized application, aptly named Honeypot, has been designed to serve as a platform for developers and ethical hackers to rigorously scrutinize the security of the Cartesi protocol’s underlying codebase, all in exchange for lucrative bounties.Photo by Michael Förtsch on UnsplashHoneypot deploymentAccording to a press release published on Tuesday, Honeypot is set to fulfill the vital role of stress-testing Cartesi’s foundational code on the Ethereum mainnet. The successful deployment of Honeypot will pave the way for Cartesi’s technology to be employed in a multitude of other dApps. Notably, a unique aspect of Honeypot is the tempting incentive it offers. The first individual to successfully hack it will be entitled to drain the sum of 1.77 million Cartesi tokens, equivalent to $220,000, after one year without any constraints.Embedded within the Honeypot dApp’s backend code is an algorithm that only permits the Cartesi Foundation’s depositor account to make fund withdrawals. Participants who dare to take on this code-breaking challenge must successfully navigate the intricacies of the algorithm to claim the reward.Developer Advocacy contributor to Cartesi, Gabriel Barros, stated: “We want to welcome all developers to test Cartesi’s Rollup infrastructure — but in a gamified challenge.”Aiding dApp developmentCartesi stands as a Layer 2 network specifically designed to streamline the development of intricate and powerful dApps. Its mission is to bridge the gap between conventional development practices and blockchain-based solutions, attempting to offer a seamless transition for developers.At its core, Cartesi introduces a mechanism that enables dApps to execute resource-intensive computations off-chain within a Linux environment. Crucially, these off-chain computations are verifiable by the blockchain, ensuring that the final results remain consistent across all nodes. This approach empowers developers to harness existing software and tools while ensuring compatibility with the blockchain.Linux insideThe choice of a Linux environment is pivotal to Cartesi’s framework. Linux enjoys widespread usage worldwide, particularly in server environments, making it a familiar and well-adopted platform. This familiarity extends to the extensive array of tools and libraries available within the Linux ecosystem, which are leveraged by developers for a myriad of traditional web applications.Gabriel Barros underlined Cartesi’s mission, stating:“Cartesi’s goal is to eliminate the limitations Web3 developers face by enabling them to import decades of familiar programming tools, libraries, and languages to the blockchain. By doing so, Cartesi unlocks a new realm of possibilities, allowing developers to surpass what was previously imaginable with earlier web3 applications.”Cartesi’s introduction of the Honeypot dApp on the Ethereum mainnet signifies a significant step towards ensuring the security and robustness of its protocol. Furthermore, it demonstrates Cartesi’s intentions in attempting to foster a vibrant and innovative ecosystem for developers in the blockchain space.

Global crypto exchange platform OKX has announced that it has relaunched its exchange services and Web3 wallet within the U.S. market. In a press release published on April 15, the company said that customers can now access the platform in the United States, “with existing customers migrating seamlessly and new customers gradually gaining access ahead of a full nationwide launch.”Photo by Danny Burke on UnsplashOnboarding OKCoin usersIn terms of existing customers, the company is referring to users of OKCoin, the former name of OKX, who will now be onboarded onto the newly launched OKX exchange service. The Seychelles-based company, which was originally founded and operated in China, has established its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California. The company has appointed Roshan Robert, formerly an executive at Morgan Stanley and Barclays, as its U.S. CEO. Commenting on the U.S. market relaunch, Robert stated: "With the US advancing crypto regulatory clarity, we see tremendous opportunities to build trust and deliver secure, compliant digital asset solutions.” Inflection pointIn a blog post published to the firm’s website, Robert said that he had been watching the development of the industry since its earliest days, but that he thinks that the crypto sector has now reached “a critical inflection point.” He added that more so than ever before, the crypto sector is currently interacting more directly with traditional finance and capital markets.  Referring directly to what platform users can expect from the relaunched service in the U.S., the OKX U.S. CEO said that the firm plans on rolling out new features throughout the year as part of its vision to build a crypto super app. Rollout of the platform’s services in the U.S. will be carried out on a phased basis. The firm also intends to offer integrations with local banks, together with full support for major assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC and USDT.The OKX Wallet will be made available to U.S. users, supporting a range of digital assets across 130 blockchain networks. The wallet will enable users to access a number of Web3 dApps, facilitate the movement of digital assets between blockchain networks and include a number of tools to assist platform users with their trading activities. Entering a ‘new era’It’s likely that a change towards a more positive outlook where the crypto sector is concerned at government and regulatory levels in the U.S., together with a settlement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), has influenced OKX in relaunching its service stateside.  The DOJ had opened an investigation into the company on the basis of allegations that it was operating a money-transmitting business on an unlicensed basis. In its settlement, the company paid fines and penalties totaling $500 million. With that settlement behind it and a more enlightened climate for digital assets having emerged in the U.S., OKX described the service relaunch as “a new era for OKX in the U.S.”Yves La Rose, CEO of Web3 banking project, the Vaulta Foundation, said that OKX’s U.S. expansion is a signal, indicating that “a new era of compliant, wallet-led Web3 innovation is underway.” Diana Pires, an executive at crypto payments firm Beam, expressed a similar take, stating on X that OKX was relaunching “because the world’s largest economy is finally ready for crypto,” adding that “the floodgates are now open for international crypto companies.”