| Hey Cryptonews, here's our curated daily bundle of crypto news. | | CME Group to expand BTC, ETH Options with daily expiries |  | | On 17 April, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group announced it would expand its cryptocurrency offerings by adding new choices to its standard and micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether contracts. These new contracts will be accessible from 22 May, subject to regulatory approval, with the expiries available every business day from Monday to Friday.
As Options will now expire daily, traders have more flexibility in managing short-term price risks. The new expiries will add on to the existing monthly and quarterly expiries available across all Bitcoin and Ether options on Futures contracts.
According to the CME Group, the change intends to give market players greater precision and variety in managing short-term Bitcoin and Ether price risk. These changes come at a time when market volatility in the digital asset industry is at an all-time high. | | | Learn More | | Is ETH a security? Patrick McHenry directs questions at SEC Chair |  | | Ethereum is back in the headlines on the question of whether or not it is a security. This time around, the chair of the United States House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry, carried the baton.
Notably, the question was directed towards the chairman of the U.S Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) – Gary Gensler. McHenry initially probed whether an asset could be a commodity and a security. The question was challenged by the Attorney General of New York (NYAG), Letitia James, claiming that Ether is a security based on the Howey Test.
However, replying to the Congressman, Gensler stated that the Commodities Act defined securities as excluded commodities. He further asserted that an asset cannot indeed be an included commodity and an excluded commodity. Finally, speaking about whether or not there is a lack of clarity in the marketplace, Gensler claimed that the "law is clear." | | Learn More | | Binance to retire old ETH deposit addresses
|  | | Binance is disabling multiple old deposit addresses as part of its infrastructure upgrade. In an announcement on 18 April, Binance claimed it would retire select deposit addresses and memos in batches on multiple blockchains, including Ether, Tron, BNB, and Stellar.
The retirement of old addresses is a routine part of enhancing security and efficiency for users. Binance also strongly encourages all impacted users to obtain a new address and memo upon receiving a notification about the expiry date of any outdated deposit addresses.
To obtain a new deposit address, users must log in to their Binance account and follow the instructions mentioned in their email notification. The migration will take place between April and June 2023.
The crypto exchange also noted that payments made to addresses that have already expired cannot be immediately reimbursed. | | Learn More | | Kyber Network's Kyberswap Elastic reports potential vulnerability in smart contracts
|  | | The developer of the Kyberswap Elastic decentralized crypto-exchange has reported a possible vulnerability in the exchange's contracts. The developer stated that no funds have been lost, but liquidity providers have been advised to withdraw their funds as a precautionary measure.
The vulnerability reported in the Kyber Network's contracts only affects Kyberswap Elastic, and not Kyberswap Classic smart contracts. The developer has assured the community that funds can be placed back into the protocol soon and it will provide an update for the same.
In another announcement, the team declared that farming incentives have been temporarily suspended and will remain so until a new smart contract can be implemented. Notably, any rewards obtained before 11:59 p.m. (GMT+7) on April 18 have already been distributed and were not impacted by this suspension.
| | Intel to discontinue manufacturing Bitcoin mining chips |  | Firm to prioritize manufacturing of certain chips to outside customers This, while reducing overall costs
Intel, a major U.S technology company, plans to discontinue its line of Blockscale Bitcoin mining chips to cut costs. The company will stop taking orders for the Blockscale 1000 Series ASICs by October 20 2023, and end shipping by around April 2024. Intel's decision is part of a strategy to prioritize the manufacturing of certain chips to outside customers and reduce overall costs.
In April 2022, Intel introduced Blockscale mining chips with a hash rate of up to 580 gigahash per second, which could be merged into a single mining unit. Several mining firms, including Argo Blockchain, Block, Hive Blockchain Technologies, and GRIID Infrastructure, integrated the technology into their operations.
Notably, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger took a 25% pay cut in February as part of the company's cost-cutting initiatives. These are expected to result in annual savings of up to $10 billion by 2026. Intel also stated that it would continue to monitor market opportunities in the crypto-space, despite discontinuing its mining chips. | | Kraken's Irish subsidiary authorized as VASP in Ireland |  | | Payward Europe Solutions, a Kraken subsidiary based in Ireland, was authorized as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) by the Central Bank of Ireland on April 18. This authorization comes at a crucial time as the European Union is about to conduct its final vote on the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation.
Kraken's Irish subsidiary, Payward Europe Solutions, has received VASP authorization, making it the third cryptocurrency outlet to be registered in the EU, after Gemini and Coinbase. This authorization comes ahead of the expected passing of MiCA legislation, which had received overwhelming bipartisan support in preliminary voting and will require all CASPs in the EU to register with one of the union's authorized regulators.
In a blog post, Kraken's head of European operations, Mark Jennings, praised the Bank of Ireland's decision, emphasizing that effective regulation is crucial for cryptocurrencies to be adopted on a mainstream level. Jennings also highlighted that the authorization was a testament to Kraken's legitimacy.
| | Gnosis Chain launches $5M initiative to increase validator count |  | Network currently has 100,000 validators in 60 countries Initiative aims to increase the number of countries to 180
Gnosis Builders, the developer of the blockchain network Gnosis Chain, has announced a $5 million initiative named "Gnosis VIP" to incentivize and increase the number and diversity of validators on the Gnosis Chain network. This includes a "Geographic Diversity Program" aimed at boosting the number of countries where validators are located.
The Gnosis Chain network currently has 100,000 validators in 60 countries, and the initiative aims to increase the number of countries to 180 by year's end. The program offers an incentive of 388 meta Gnosis (worth $1,368.18) over six months for the first ten validators in each of the 90 listed countries, which can be redeemed for 1/32 GNO.
The first payment of 38 mGNO ($134) will be disbursed after the first 30 days of operating the node, with subsequent monthly payments increasing in size until the final payment of 98 mGNO ($345.57). In an email statement, Gnosis CEO Martin Köppelmann expressed hope that the program will improve both the security and performance of Gnosis Chain.
| | Top cryptos turn turtle… |
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