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Swiss non-profit organization NEAR Foundation has launched Chain Signatures, enabling users to sign transactions on supported blockchains from a single NEAR account.

Chain Signatures enables accounts and smart contracts on NEAR to sign transactions for different chains. At launch, this will include Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cosmos network chains, as well as DogeCoin and XRP Ledger. It will soon support Solana, TON Network and Polkadot, according to the team.

By enabling Chain signatures, DeFi protocols can utilize assets from other chains without requiring a cross-chain bridge. This is possible because Chain Signatures are designed to be account-based rather than bridge-based.

Read more: NEAR Foundation applies for .near top-level domain

According to Kendall Cole, director of research and development company Proximity Labs which supports projects on NEAR and Aurora Chain Signatures can potentially unlock new use cases for DeFi protocols.

Users can use XRP as collateral to borrow USDC, or trade DOGE for SOL. This is particularly innovative for non-smart-contract chains like Bitcoin, DogeCoin and Ripple because none of the major bridges support these chains today, Cole said.

NEAR protocol documents show that Chain Signatures link NEAR account addresses to other blockchains using an Additive Key Derivation. This mechanism enables the single master key to be derived into multiple subkeys.

When a user wants to transact between different blockchains, a deployed multichain smart contract will make a signature request for the transaction on the target blockchain network, and a Multi-Party Computation (MPC) service will sign the transaction.

Read more: MPC wallets have a trade-off. Is it worth it?

Once the signature is obtained, the smart contract will return it to the user, allowing the user to send the signed transaction to execute it on the target blockchain.

Smart contracts on NEAR will be able to custody assets on any chain (since they can sign transactions on any chain via chain signatures), and maintain user balances similar to how single chain lending protocols or DEXs do now, Cole explained.

The Chain Signatures MPC network will be launched in partnership with EigenLayer, which will secure the network using its restaked ETH. At launch, there will be ten node providers, including a handful of Actively Validated Services (AVS) infrastructure providers.

Post-launch, EigenLayer will be used to provide economic security to the network and transition the MPC network to a permissionless version. To participate in the MPC network, prospective node operators will need to re-stake their ETH and will be penalized if they maliciously authorize any transactions that did not originate from a NEAR account, Cole explained.

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NEAR launches tool for signing transactions on Bitcoin, Ethereum and more - Blockworks

Bitcoindoes not use centralized accounts to keep track of information, and this is important. Instead, developers can build layered services that put users back at the center of everything, allowing them to choose who can access that information and when. This also needs to work across different applications. In his recent presentation at thesCrypt Hackathon 2024event in San Francisco, Project Babbage founderTy Everettsays theres a need to look at the first principles of contracts and trade.

The full afternoon session of Day One is available at thislink, and you can catch the entire two-day series of sCrypt Hackathon 2024 presentations on theCoinGeek YouTube channel. The presentations showcase blockchains basic features before going into more technical detail about how sCrypts TypeScript-based environment makes it easier for developers to turn their visions into working products.

Why digital smart contracts are so powerful

Were going to zoom all the way out and talk about why were here, Everett said.

He begins by explaining why digitizing contractsoften called smart contracts for convenienceis so useful. The much older concepts of people making an agreement they understand with others they can identify are still very relevant. Computers simply add value to the process.

Digitized,blockchain-recorded contractsare useful for keeping records of everything and automating certain steps (e.g.,payments). Bitcoin in 2009 made it possible to transfer a digital record from one owner to another, but without the sender retaining an exact copythis was much more of a breakthrough than it would appear to those who havent considered the problem before.

Identity is fragmented on theInternet, and communication is often private. There should be a way to own a unified ID across platforms, allowing other people and apps to tap into that information when needed. Theprivate keyyou use to sign digital records should link to that identity and others should be able toeasily verify it.

Bitcoin was the missing piece that made these ancient economic concepts possible in the digital world, Everett said, adding that it does so without the need for trusted/centralized third parties.

Its going to bring down the cost of doing business digitally, its going to give people the power to exchange, and its going to put people at the center of those equations. Its going to move across platforms without needing to update their accounts on many different systems because Bitcoin isnt an account-based system. The users themselves transact and track their own information. Every app that uses Bitcoin is going to plug into the user at the center.

What is Project Babbage and sCrypts role in all this?

Put simply,Project Babbagestask is to make these processes easier and user-friendly for everyone. Like sCrypt, its job is to provide the key tools and foundational pieces the underlying layer that other apps can tap into in a way thats accessible to developers. Everetts presentation also features a Q&A and technical demonstrations of Project Babbagesapps/services.

The layered approach to technology is important, Everett added, since tech companies and the platforms they build tend to come and go. Users need to have protocols that still work even if a particular service is superseded or goes out of business and maintain access to their data.

He describes thecurrent Internet and digital economy as a dystopia of sticky apps and deliberately addictive platforms. Everett added that we may only have about three to five years to find ways to make it work properly.

How does Project Babbage work with sCrypt? If sCrypt is the smart contracting platform, then Project Babbage is the pens and paper. It puts the user back in control at the center of things by defining a standardized wallet containing identity, keys, and assets and creating the interface and mechanisms for external apps to access it all.

And sCrypt is the best way for creating smart contracts, by far, he said.

If youre a developer and all this sounds interesting, check out the other Hackathon presentations or take a look atsCrypts body of work. If you miss out on participating in the 2024 Hackathon, sCryptswebsiteis open any time as a resource for people to find out more.

Watch: Bringing applications to the new world of blockchain

New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeeks Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.

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sCrypt Hackathon 2024: Project Babbage on why users should be at the center of digital economy - CoinGeek

In the dynamic world of blockchain technology, Cardano (ADA) has maintained its innovative edge. Gaining recognition as a forward-thinking pioneer, this proof-of-stake blockchain platform is now teetering on the precipice of significant expansion, all thanks to extensive technological development steered by Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the frontrunner engineering firm managing the Cardano blockchain.

A recent statement from IOHK gives us a tantalizing glimpse into fresh enhancements across many key facets of the platforman underpinning promise of continued expansion and evolution for Cardano.

Lets look first at the essential realm of smart contract optimization. Sources reveal that substantial progress has been made within the ledger team, especially concerning the test frameworks and data quality in the Newconstraints phase3. This was accomplished by the introduction of constraints and size-related types including Size, SizeSpec, and Sized.

Moreover, IOHK has reported advancements in wallets and services. The much-anticipated release of Lace v.1.9 from the Lace team is now brewing excitement among Cardano enthusiasts, promising new features and enhancements.

In the intricate sphere of smart contracts, the astute minds of the Plutus team have unraveled a guide in the documentation. This new guide aims to demystify the method of utilizing the AsData functionality to streamline scripts. This isnt all. The team has brought to life a UPLC optimization pass to shrink the number of forces and delays in the scripta significant stride indeed.

The Mithril team has also been extraordinarily instrumental, rolling out a major update, namely, the Mithril distribution 2412.0. This update encompasses critical enhancements and upgrades. Some noteworthy points include the support for the Prometheus metrics endpoint in signer, deprecation of the snapshot command in the client CLI, and compatibility with the Cardano node v.8.9.0.

Updates extend to token trading volume where ADA has been drawing attention. Data from DeFiLlama shows Cardanos total value locked (TVL) at a staggering $422 million, boasting a market capitalization of $23.3 million in terms of stablecoin.

Break down of data from the Token Terminal reveals key market signals for Cardano, including a fully diluted market cap of $29.20 billion, reflecting a commendable 4.9% increase over the past month. Simultaneously, active circulating market cap stands robustly at $22.88 billion, borne on a 5.2% growth rate.

Now lets consider the long-term outlook for ADAit remains bullish as ever. Depicting the pulse of the crypto market, Trend Rider, a seasoned crypto analyst, recently shared an assessment of ADAs current price action.

As per the given analysis, after achieving a yearly high of $0.811 on March 14, ADAs price dipped and is now oscillating between the parabolic red line of resistance and the rider band of support. While some see this as a sign of ADA taking a breather before its next major rally, others perceive it as a slowdown in the upward momentum, which could lead to a period of consolidation or sideways trading.

Nonetheless, ADA appears resilient, with the current prediction indicating sustained long-term bullish momentum, potentially laying the groundwork for a bright panorama ahead for ADA. The token trades at $0.652, displaying sideways price action. Regardless, ADA has proven its mettle, pulling through previous losses over the last week and posting a 5.4% gainan undeniably promising sight for its community.

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Cardano Gains Momentum: Innovative Developments Promise Continued Expansion and Evolution - West Island Blog

It was a very Good Friday for Mayor Adams, who was baptized with inmates on Rikers Island in what he said was a recommitment to the city and to his faith.

This is Resurrection Sunday coming up, Adams told the Daily News just two days before Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar. We should all look at not only how we can resurrect our city, but how we can resurrect our own personal spaces.

Adams was joined at the jail by the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, pastor of Brooklyns House of the Lord Pentecostal Church, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network.

The two ministers baptized Adams and 11 inmates Adams had met with through a prison ministry program called Fatherless No More, which focuses on rehabilitating incarcerated men.

Adams stressed the importance of mentors in the lives of young black men, and credited Daughtry for steering him in the right direction.

Rev,. Daughtry really put me on this pathway to be a police officer and a mayor, said Adams, a former NYPD captain. He said you need to funnel all that energy you have in a real direction.

The mayors Good Friday visit was his second trip to Rikers this week. After witnessing inmates get baptized on his visit Tuesday, he promised he would be back, and do the deed himself.

COVID restrictions forced Rikers to shut down the baptismal pool in the prisons chapel.

Mayor's Office

To baptize Adams and the others, Sharpton and Daughtry leaned them back, poured water on their heads and then washed their feet, as Jesus, according to the Bible, washed the feet of his disciples.

Its a symbol of cleaning your pathway from where you were to where you are going, Adams said I could have done it in any church in the city. But I wanted to do it on Rikers Island. I wanted to send a message that they are not forgotten by this mayor.

Adams, who said he was first baptized 40 years ago, said the ceremony was very moving.

We sat side-by-side as we took our shoes off to have our feet washed together, Adams said. Youd have to see the faces of those inmates seeing the mayor right in the pews with them looking at them and not down at them.

Adams said the rehabilitation of Rikers inmates is just as important to him as the safety of the citys correction officers.

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Mayor Adams, Rikers Island detainees baptized by Rev. Sharpton on Good Friday - New York Daily News

Heres a bizarre occurrence that no one had on their bingo card in 2024: Rev. Al Sharpton baptized New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Good Friday (March 29). Whats even weirder is that it occurred alongside a group of eleven male inmates at Rikers Island.

NYPD Using Zombie Warrants To Skip The Courts and Lock People Up, Lawsuit Says

The jail complex is notorious for its putrid conditions and prisoner deaths, yet the highly scrutinized politician looked at it as an opportunity to change its narrative as well as his own.

I recommitted myself to my faith, to our city, and to our shared efforts to give all New Yorkers a chance to succeed. You know my journey. I went from being arrested to being elected mayor, Adams wrote on X/Twitter. I used that story to remind these young men that where they are is not who they are.

He continued: And that for the first time in their lives, they had a mayor who does not look down on them but rather sat side-by-side with them as we recommit ourselves to the right path.

Top to it off, the mayors offices provided photos from the baptism which seemingly show Adams holding hands with Sharpton, the reverend washing Adams feet and Adams being baptized.

Adams is infamously pro-law enforcement, was the center of a donor scandal (which led to the FBI seizing his phones) and has come under fire for his leadership. Just last week, criminal lawyer and activist Olayemi Olurin called out the mayor on The Breakfast Club for sensationalizing crime in New York City while stating its one of the safest places in the country.

In response to critiques of placing an extra 2,000 cops in the citys subway system, Adams offered a glib response. Now you may say, Eric, I dont want to see a visible presence of uniformed officers. And thats cool. Thats not what the overwhelming number of New Yorkers are saying, he said during the interview. His latest stunt is definitely garnering attentionbut maybe for all the wrong reasons.

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Al Sharpton Baptizes NYC Mayor Eric Adams at Rikers Island and There Are Photos - The Root