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US Homeland Security Challenges Freelancers to Design It a Digital Wallet
DHS officials are putting up $25,000 in cash prizes to designers who win the month-long competition.
By Danny Nelson
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 9:57 a.m. Published Sep 17, 2020, 4:32 p.m.
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U.S. Homeland Security’s moonshots division, the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), is trying to crowdsource a digital wallet.
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- Directorate officials are putting $25,000 up for grabs in their new digital wallet challenge, a user interface design competition to pair with DHS’s work in the blockchain and decentralized identity space.
- Finalist wallets must demonstrate “ease of use and visual consistency, while supporting interoperability, security, and privacy,” said Anil John, technical director of S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP).
- Winning wallets could find a home inside DHS’ growing blockchain project portfolio. John mentioned how one DHS customer is implementing a decentralized credentialing system for issuing digital Green Cards.
- Though S&T has been finding and funding blockchain companies through SVIP for years, it has never taken a design challenge to the public like it's doing now, Kathleen Kenyon, S&T prize program manager told CoinDesk.
- “We’re trying to reach that freelance designer,” Kenyon said. She noted that while S&T has plenty of contacts within software development, it has less of a foothold in the graphic design community.
- For a freelance target audience, S&T is offering a freelancer’s stipend: $5,000 to the three finalists and an additional $10,000 to the competition winner.
- Kenyon said the rather low trove is sort of the point; it will appeal more to the community-level designers than it might to big corporations, and it also will let S&T run these kinds of competitions more often, she said.
- Applications are open through Oct. 15 and the stage one finalists will be announced at a virtual SVIP event on Oct. 27. Judges will announce the winner sometime in December.
Read also: US Homeland Security’s Tech Scouts Reissue Call for Blockchain Startups
Higit pang Para sa Iyo
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
Ano ang dapat malaman:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Bitcoin’s weakness versus gold and equities puts quantum computing fears back in focus
Some investors have revived concerns that quantum computing could threaten bitcoin, but analysts and developers say recent price weakness reflects market structure.
O que saber:
- Bitcoin’s recent price stagnation has sparked a renewed debate over quantum-computing risks, with investor Nic Carter arguing that quantum fears are already shaping market behavior.
- On-chain analysts and prominent investors counter that the slowdown is better explained by large holders taking profits and increased supply hitting the market around the $100,000 level.
- Most bitcoin developers still view quantum attacks as a distant, manageable threat, noting that proposed upgrades like BIP-360 provide a path to quantum-resistant security and are unlikely to explain short-term price moves.
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