Ethereum Foundation Developer Introduces Fe Programming Language To Create Smart Contracts
Most Ethereum applications today are written in the Solidity language. Providing developers with a wider choice of languages will help develop the Ethereum ecosystem more efficiently.
Fe is a reworked version of the Vyper language that is used to work with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Therefore, at the initial stage, the differences between Fe and Vyper will be minimal. In the future, Fe will borrow the syntax of the Rust programming language. The developers explained that the name "Fe" is directly related to the designation of iron in the periodic table. They associate this chemical element with the strength and stable functioning of the compiler.
Fe was built to perform the same tasks that Vyper already solves, which include more accurate calculation of transaction fees. Over the past month, the developers have accelerated the creation of Fe, so it is likely that by the end of this year it will have all the functions necessary to work with contracts of ERC-20 tokens.
At this stage, it is too early to use the Fe language to create such contracts, but the developers will be ready to demonstrate its capabilities in practice. In the future, Fe will be able to support Ethereum WebAssembly (eWASM) and Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM), a virtual machine for scaling smart contracts on Ethereum.
Schnorr / Taproot major update included in Bitcoin Core Github repository
The implementation of the Schnorr / Taproot Consensus Rules has been included in the Bitcoin Core Github repository today, signaling an imminent update. The method to activate it has not yet been determined.
The pull request was originally filed by a Bitcoin Core contributor
Peter Wülle on 13 September and has been studied by interested community members ever since. During this time, more than 150 developers managed to get acquainted with the proposal.
The update has been nurtured by developers for a long time and is expected in the community of the first cryptocurrency due to the benefits it will give in the context of privacy and opportunities for working with smart contracts.
In particular, Schnorr signatures will allow the creation of complex transactions, the execution of which will depend on various factors, while reducing their size and increasing privacy. Taproot is an extension of this concept. Former Blockstream CTO Gregory Maxwell was the first to suggest the upgrade. Since then, several variations have been considered leading to today's inclusion of Vülle's proposal.
Community members now need to decide how to activate the update. The process is not devoid of pitfalls, and different models have their own advantages and disadvantages. The timing of the update has not yet been determined and will largely depend on the method chosen.
VeChain breaks out in the top 20 of the cryptocurrency market, adding 50% per day
The current growth is observed without any visible news prerequisites. Some suggest that insiders are moving up VET in anticipation of the announcement of VeChain's cooperation with a large company that will use its logistics services on the blockchain.
The World Conference on Artificial Intelligence will be held on July 9-11. It is organized by the Shanghai authorities in an online format, and in addition to VeChain, Amazon, Alibaba and Microsoft are announced as its participants. A potential VeChain partner may not be on this list.
Critical bug fixed in Tendermint consensus algorithm
Bluzelle reported that a Tendermint bug was discovered during a "race" of 220 validators on a testnet using Tendermint. At some point, the network went down completely due to a bug that allowed validators to suggest incorrect block signatures.
The validators participating in the competition were unable to resume work even after restarting the network. Bluzelle provided Cosmos with a detailed report on the issue in June. By July 2, the defect was fixed, information about it was published on July 6.
“The error discovered could have thwarted the validator competition, but they have gained valuable experience. Initially, the competition meant that validators would receive rewards for staking and participating in the consensus. But suddenly it turned into an impromptu bounty program with rewards for finding bugs. Together, we managed to find the problem and solve it, ”said Neeraj Murarka, co-founder and CTO of Bluzelle.
Bluzelle CEO Pavel Bains clarified that Bluzelle is not a Cosmos sidechain. The testnet was created using the Cosmos software suite, so the Tendermint algorithm was used by default. Baines added that after the successful launch of the Cosmos protocol, Bluzelle will use it to interact with other blockchains.
The defendant in the case of Crypto Capital is ready to admit guilt, but not to part with $ 371 million
Reginald Fowler, the former owner of a stake in the American football club Minnesota Vikings, is ready to plead guilty to providing shadow banking services in the Crypto Capital case. The defense side insists that the terms of the transaction with the investigation should not include the confiscation of property.
The withdrawal of funds from Crypto Capital accounts in various countries of the world was the primary reason for the prosecution of Bitfinex by the New York prosecutor's office due to the exchange concealing the disappearance of $ 850 million. According to the exchange, it transferred these assets to Crypto Capital, after which they did not return to it.
Fowler's lawyers say that in January, negotiations on the plea of their client with the US authorities failed because of the condition that $ 371 million was to be collected from him. Fowler is accused of bank fraud, illegal money transfers, fraud using electronic communications and colluding as part of Crypto Capital's shadow banking activities.
The investigation estimated the proceeds from Fowler's criminal activities at the indicated amount. The defense claims that his actions did not result in losses for the victims, and on this basis asks to withdraw the claim for recovery.
The judge said that Fowler could make a deal with the investigation, and the issue of recovery will be considered separately. Otherwise, the next meeting on this case will take place in January 2021.
Coinbase Receives Nearly 2,000 Inquiries From Law Enforcement In The First Half Of 2020
The American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase today published the first-ever report on calls to it by various law enforcement agencies. The company was previously criticized by human rights activists for not publishing such reports.
According to the exchange, in the first half of 2020, it received 1,914 requests. About 90% of them came from three countries: USA, UK and Germany. US departments sent 1,113 requests, or 60%. Of these, the FBI was the most active with 340 inquiries.
In September, the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged Coinbase to start publishing reports to improve transparency. Many tech companies follow this practice, including the Kraken exchange.
Coinbase says it receives inquiries from law enforcement on a regular basis, usually in the form of subpoenas. Sometimes they are accompanied by search warrants, court orders and other procedural documents.
“When these requests comply with financial regulations and other applicable laws, Coinbase is required to respond,” the exchange writes. "At the same time, we do not hesitate to refuse when it is appropriate, even if it is inconvenient or entails additional costs."
Henceforth, Coinbase promises to regularly publish such reports, but does not specify how often.
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