ChainCatcher news, Cointelegraph posted on the X platform revealing that MetaMask has expanded its cryptocurrency payment card pilot program in the United States, allowing users to pay directly from their wallets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, the metaverse game developer Gamefam has released the annual report on the "State of Brands in Roblox and Fortnite." The report predicts that by 2030, the global metaverse gaming market will reach $168.4 billion, with the number of users reaching 900 million, indicating that the industry still has strong growth potential.The report reveals significant changes in usage habits among the younger generation: Generation Z and Generation Alpha spend 39% more time on Roblox and Fortnite than on TikTok and YouTube. This trend has attracted well-known brands, including Disney, Mattel, and FIFA, to collaborate with Gamefam to reach younger audiences. Ferencz stated that although the term "metaverse" has been influenced by the NFT craze, unlike NFTs and other pure collectibles, gaming entertainment has lasting intrinsic value because "people need entertainment, they need joy."

ChainCatcher news, Web3 payment infrastructure company MoonPay announced on the X platform that it now supports users to purchase PENGU globally.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptoslate, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has called for the Cardano Foundation to relocate to a jurisdiction that allows users to elect board members. He raised this issue in a post on social media platform X on December 18, while encouraging the Cardano community to inquire about the foundation's board structure and decision-making processes.The Cardano founder expressed concerns about the current arrangement, where board members are appointed by the Swiss government without community input. He also urged the community to ask questions about individuals related to the foundation's past decisions and its relationship with Intersect. In light of this, Hoskinson criticized the foundation for remaining in Switzerland instead of moving to regions like Abu Dhabi or Wyoming, which support more inclusive governance models. According to Hoskinson, this move would enable the community to collaborate with the foundation to establish a new structure that promotes transparency and member participation.The Cardano Foundation was established in 2016 and operates under Swiss law, which does not allow for community-based board elections. Meanwhile, as Hoskinson made his latest remarks, the organization continues to face criticism over governance issues, internal conflicts, and the marginalization of major donors.

ChainCatcher message, Binance Wallet posted on social media that Binance Alpha has entered the countdown, and users need to prepare the corresponding assets on the chain. Binance Wallet recommends users update the Binance App to the latest version (2.93.0 or higher).To access the Binance Alpha page, users can navigate to: Binance Wallet → Market → Alpha.

ChainCatcher message, Binance announced that due to a delay in updating the token information of Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) by the data provider CoinMarketCap, the market capitalization and fully diluted valuation (FDV) of the project were not updated in time when it was listed on Binance spot.As a gesture of goodwill, Binance has reserved 135,000,000 PENGU tokens, which will be allocated to eligible users who purchase PENGU between 2024-12-17 14:00 (UTC) and 2024-12-17 14:37 (UTC). The airdrop allocation will be credited to the accounts of eligible users within 72 hours.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Lido announced on Monday that it will stop Polygon staking services and informed users that they can withdraw funds before June 16, 2025. The announcement also stated that after June 16, 2025, users will withdraw through a browser tool.The announcement indicated that multiple factors prompted Lido to reassess and ultimately exit the staking service on the Polygon PoS chain, including limited user adoption, insufficient rewards, resource-intensive maintenance requirements, and changes in ecosystem dynamics.

ChainCatcher message, initiated by Multiple Network in collaboration with TON Society, UxLink, and Airdrop2049, the MultiWave TON Year End Rewards Gala large TON ecosystem airdrop event has been online for 5 days, attracting over 100,000 visits globally, with the first batch of launched projects gaining over 20,000 new users.More than 20 popular Web3 projects, including IoTex and Autonomys Network, are participating, with a total prize pool of up to $500,000. The event will last for 1 month, and participating users can earn task rewards, invitation rewards, ranking rewards, and airdrops from over 20 project parties.It is reported that Multiple Network completed a $2 million seed round financing led by OKX Ventures in August, aiming to provide efficient and secure anonymous communication and data transmission services for global AI companies. Currently, Multiple Network is in the public testnet phase, with 35,000 relay nodes participating in the test network, and the Multiple Telegram Miniapp has already been launched.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinGecko, the CEO of the NFT project Pudgy Penguins, Luca Netz, stated that they plan to airdrop about 25% of the PENGU token supply to the Solana ecosystem. Therefore, active users in the Solana ecosystem, using decentralized applications like Phantom wallet and Jupiter, will have the opportunity to receive some PENGU tokens even if they do not hold Pudgy.

ChainCatcher news, according to the deep report on the Aptos ecosystem released by OurNetwork, this public chain has achieved significant growth in 2024. Data shows that the total value locked (TVL) in Aptos has increased nearly 20 times to reach $1.2 billion, daily active addresses have risen from 70,000 in January to a peak of 1.2 million in November, and monthly active users are close to 9 million. The platform has currently attracted over 330 projects. In the stablecoin sector, Aptos's market capitalization has exceeded $320 million, accounting for more than 25% of the overall TVL, with USDT having completed native integration and USDC set to launch soon.In the DeFi ecosystem, major protocols have all reached new highs. Amnis Finance, as the largest liquid staking protocol on Aptos, has a TVL of $390 million, with the number of independent active wallets skyrocketing from 15,300 to 134,200, a growth of 770%. Echo Bridge has become the third-largest protocol by TVL within three months of its launch, breaking through $250 million in TVL in December by introducing BTC. Kana Labs has nearly 3 million monthly independent active users, and its Paymaster feature has processed over 70 million transactions. Thala has become the first DEX on Aptos to accumulate spot trading volume exceeding $3 billion, with a TVL of $220 million.

ChainCatcher message, SolTradingBot issued a statement regarding the rumors of an attack event, stating: "All malicious rumors are false. We have received allegations that STBOT is invading user wallets and draining their SOL. However, after a thorough investigation, we confirm that this is entirely a fabricated post aimed at damaging our reputation. The investigation results show that the so-called 'hacker wallet' is actually controlled by users holding the private keys. We are still investigating the motives behind these funds, but it is likely related to malicious actions intended to discredit and harm us. SolTradingBot remains firmly supportive of our users. We are always ready to address and clarify any issues. Please be vigilant against wrongdoers and their harmful intentions."

ChainCatcher news, according to Forbes, security company ESET has just released its latest threat report, which examines the threat landscape trends from June to November 2024. The number of password theft attacks targeting cryptocurrency wallets has increased, with the most significant rise occurring among macOS users.The report states: "According to ESET's telemetry data for the second half of 2024, the number of password-stealing software across multiple platforms (especially Windows, macOS, and Android) has increased," but compared to the first half of the year, the detection of password-stealing software targeting cryptocurrency wallets on macOS has more than doubled. Meanwhile, the number of password-stealing software on the Windows platform grew by 56%, while financial threats on the Android platform, including password-stealing malware, increased by 20%.ESET's analysis shows that the number of password-stealing software targeting the macOS platform (especially those related to cryptocurrency wallet credentials) surged by 127%. Security researchers noted: "Although these threats cannot be simply classified as password-stealing software just because they have broader functionalities, they do reveal a significant upward trend in password theft activities on the macOS platform." From a geographical perspective, ESET's analysis indicates that attacks on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies targeting macOS are mostly aimed at the United States, followed by Italy, China, Spain, and Japan.

ChainCatcher message, the "DePIN Super Season" event initiated by the DePIN ecological project IoTeX in collaboration with the OKX Web3 wallet is now live on the OKX Mini wallet, achieving full connectivity through the OKX Connect communication protocol. The rewards for this event include 100 million IOTX (worth approximately 5 million USD) and a joint prize pool from over 30 DePIN and DeFi projects. Users can share the rewards by completing designated tasks for the event. Additionally, users participating through the OKX Web3 wallet can receive a 20% reward bonus.It is reported that OKX Connect is an innovative communication protocol launched by OKX Web3, providing seamless interaction between wallets and Mini APPs, supporting features such as red envelopes, and empowering the growth of Mini APPs. IoTeX has become the first DePIN infrastructure project to access OKX Connect, and will collaborate deeply with the OKX Web3 wallet in the future to provide comprehensive support and services for the development of the DePIN ecosystem. Furthermore, the trading section of the OKX Web3 wallet now supports trading of IoTeX mainnet assets, allowing users to select the IoTeX network and trade related assets in the Swap product of the OKX Web3 wallet.

ChainCatcher message, Slow Mist's Chief Information Security Officer 23pds posted a reminder that recently, the well-known cryptocurrency theft Trojan MacOS Stealer has been suddenly open-sourced.Previously, its attack source code was sold for 1 BTC, and now the open-sourcing means that more malicious attackers can easily access this tool. This not only potentially allows attackers to have "one tool per person" for attacks but may also give rise to more covert and complex attack methods, posing greater challenges to the security of cryptocurrency assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to SBS Biz, the Korea Digital Asset Protection Foundation has officially begun operations, responsible for receiving, safeguarding, and managing user deposits and virtual assets held by virtual asset companies that have ceased operations, and returning them to users. Customer deposits held by trading companies in some virtual currency markets will also be transferred to the protection foundation.The protection foundation stated today that it has transferred the assets of approximately 40,000 users from five defunct virtual asset exchanges: Apro Korea, Ten and Ten, Hanbitco, Qbit, Pay Protocol, and AG to the foundation.Since the establishment of the protection foundation on September 26, the foundation has held individual meetings with the defunct companies to verify the status of the assets to be transferred, ensured the actual possession certification of user assets under custody, and conducted necessary procedures such as asset reviews and test transfers to ensure the safe transfer and management of user assets.The protection foundation plans to complete negotiations regarding the transfer of user assets with up to eight defunct companies by the end of this year, with five companies being the first to transfer assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, Russia has begun testing a new system capable of cutting off global internet access, with early reports indicating that even virtual private networks (VPNs) cannot bypass these restrictions. This marks a significant escalation in the country's efforts to establish a so-called "sovereign internet."The Russian Ministry of Digital Development plans to allocate nearly 60 billion rubles (660 million dollars) over the next five years to enhance its internet traffic censorship system. This system, known as TSPU, uses domestically developed traffic management tools created, distributed, and controlled by the national communications regulator Roskomnadzor.According to researchers from the project Censored Planet, which tracks global internet censorship, TSPU represents a sophisticated method of internet control. The system allows Russian authorities to inspect and filter internet traffic, potentially blocking access to specific websites and services while maintaining access to approved domestic resources.

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, Network3 has upgraded its reward program for physical miner users: the first 20,000 N3 Edge V1 miners will receive an additional batch of token airdrop rewards based on the users' pre-mined N3E situation. Furthermore, the project token N3 is expected to be listed for trading by early January at the latest.Previously, Network3 launched a points redemption and staking activity for N3 Edge V1 miner users, allowing users to exchange points for N3 tokens at the real-time price of N3E, and receive additional rewards upon choosing to stake. Additionally, Edge V1 miner users were allowed to choose to exchange up to 60% of their N3E for $IOTX once the points redemption was opened.With this new reward mechanism, miner users can not only profit from daily mining but also benefit from Network3's continuous incentives for the community ecosystem. The official announcement stated that the specific airdrop timing and details will be released through official social media, and users can stay updated on the latest developments at any time.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Defiant, Token Terminal data shows that daily active crypto users reached 18.7 million in December, a 143% increase from 7.7 million at the beginning of the year.

ChainCatcher news, Interface News reported that Musk's xAI announced on December 13 local time that it will begin to roll out the new Grok-2 model for free to all users on the X platform.In the past few weeks, the company has been testing the new version of the Grok-2 model, which has tripled its speed and improved accuracy, instruction following, and multilingual capabilities.