Nonfungible tokens appear to be an idea whose time has come. Originally developed for use with collectible trading-card games, NFTs can represent almost any unique asset. Outside of the gamer context, the first NFT to gain widespread popularity was probably CryptoKitties, which were released back in 2017. Related: CryptoKitties’ Dieter Shirley on breaking Ethereum and NFTs CryptoKitties became so popular that at one time, CryptoKitty trading clogged the Ethereum network, setting records for transaction volume. NFTs have only grown in popularity since then, and have now been developed for a range of in-game assets, digital collectibles, unique artworks and more. …
An ecosystem that allows nonfungible tokens to be backed by physical items has entered into a partnership with Enjin. Uniqly describes itself as a “bridge between virtual nonfungible tokens and real-world goods” — and aims to solve one of the last hurdles that the NFT sector faces. CryptoPunks, FC Barcelona fan tokens and $70 million Beeple collages are strictly digital, meaning you can’t hang them on a wall, wear them on your chest, or display them in a museum. But the NFTs on offer from Uniqly can be redeemed for something tangible, meaning these digital assets can be materialized and …
Hester Peirce, commissioner for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, explained during an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph that decentralized finance, also known as DeFi, has created new challenges for the SEC. Peirce, nicknamed “Crypto Mom” for her interest in digital-asset innovation, mentioned that the quickly rising DeFi sector has resulted in a number of unresolved legal issues: "DeFi has posed a challenge for the SEC in a similar way that the ICO boom did in 2017. What is different here is that the pace of DeFi has actually been much faster. I also think that the legal issues are …
When Gavin Wood co-founded Ethereum, he stated that it would “allow people to interact in mutually beneficial ways without anyone needing to trust each other.” In theory, such a platform would pave the way for Web3, characterized by decentralized or distributed network architectures, that would lay the groundwork for a truly open internet where we would not have to blindly entrust our data to monopolistic corporations or get permission from them in order to participate. Since its inception in 2015, however, Ethereum has simply failed to adapt fast enough and keep up with the pace. Transactions costs for decentralized applications …
Ethereum went through a key network upgrade on Sept. 15, shifting from its proof-of-work (PoW) mining consensus to a proof-of-stake (PoS) one. The key upgrade is dubbed the Merge. The Merge was slated as a critical change for the Ethereum network that would make it more energy efficient, with later improvements to scalability and decentralization to come. A little over a month later, however, some industry observers fear the PoS transition has pushed Ethereum toward more centralization and higher regulatory scrutiny. The Merge replaced the way transactions were verified on the Ethereum network. Instead of miners putting in their computational …