Decentralized app (DApp) MetaMask is facing fresh problems from cryptocurrency scammers after malware impersonating the tool appeared on Google Play, cybersecurity company Eset reported on Feb. 8. The malware, which replaces computer clipboard information in an attempt to steal cryptocurrency, was removed by Google at the beginning of the month after a tipoff from Eset researchers. Known as a “Clipper,” the malware replaces copied cryptocurrency wallet addresses with an address belonging to an attacker in the hope that funds will be sent elsewhere without the user noticing. The discovery marked the first time such malware had made it past Google’s …

Decentralized data aggregator Fluence Labs highlighted user uptake as the number one problem facing decentralized app (DApp) developers in a new survey released on Jan. 29. The DApp industry, which began using the Ethereum blockchain in 2017, has since grown to number around 1,800 products, according to listing resource DappRadar. Fluence notes that of the 900 projects they found that had contacts available, 160 projects filled out their survey. EOS and TRON have since risen to compete with Ethereum as host blockchains, the latter nonetheless still being home to 87 percent of DApps, Fluence says. More broadly, the climate for …

Free products and services on the internet are a hit with the public, but a new blockchain-based ecosystem believes that most consumers are unaware of the risks of using such companies for distributing their content. The team behind Phantasma Chain says they were motivated to act after watching the world freely share their data and content on third-party platforms, even though they run the risk of losing full control over this valuable information. Following the mantra of “there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” the company argues that the public has been misled – with many now mistakenly regarding …

Blockchain protocol TRON (TRX) has passed one million user accounts, data revealed Dec. 23, as executives continue their criticism of rival Ethereum (ETH). Statistics from the TRON blockchain uploaded to social media by Misha Lederman, cofounder of the cryptocurrency’s spin-off project IAmDecentralized.org, confirmed that the network now features over one million addresses. TRON, which launched its mainnet earlier this year, seeks to become the go-to ecosystem for developers seeking to create decentralized applications (DApps). Known for publicly chiding Ethereum, which constitutes TRON’s main rival, CEO Justin Sun this week predicted a “slow implosion” for the altcoin. Commenting on the address …

Opera has launched its “Web 3-ready” browser for Android, with crypto wallet integration, support for Ethereum (ETH) and interactions with decentralized applications (DApps). The launch was announced at the Hard Fork Decentralized event in London Dec. 13, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph. Charles Hamel, product manager of Opera Crypto, has outlined that the new product aims to remove the “friction” involved in “using cryptocurrencies online and accessing Web 3 via special apps or extensions,” in a bid to make the emerging technologies more “mainstream.” Hamel explained Opera’s choice to support Ethereum and the Ethereum Web3 API as …

Decentralized apps (DApps) based on the EOS blockchain have lost up to $1 million to hacks since July, Chinese crypto media Blockchain Truth reports Tuesday, Dec. 4. The report cites data by PeckShield, a blockchain security company that monitors different ecosystems. According to the report, the DApps on EOS have seen 27 breaches from July to late November, losing up to 400,000 EOS, or 8 million yuan. As of press time, the amount hacked was worth $800,000 according to the EOS price chart on CoinMarketCap. Nonetheless, Guo Yonggang, an expert cited by Blockchain Truth, believes that most of the attacks …

Decentralized Internet project TRON (TRX) is launching a $1 million accelerator program to support developers building DApps and products on the TRON protocol, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph Nov. 16. The initiative aims to facilitate consumer adoption of blockchain technology through TRON’s ecosystem following the recent acquisition of peer-to-peer file sharing service BitTorrent, Project Atlas, and payment service Poppy app. TRON’s protocol currently processes more than one million transactions and 600,000 wallets. The startup will purportedly accept submissions to its accelerator through December, while the winners will be announced at TRON’s first international summit in January. In …

A new project from Dubai, HetaChain, is developing a universal blockchain platform with “industrial scale computational capabilities.” The project is intended to make blockchain more easy-to-use and flexible for regular users and developers. HetaChain aims to help governmental services, businesses, and organizations create decentralized applications (DApps) and integrate them into different industries, such as banking, e-commerce, robotics, and healthcare. Solving blockchain issues The new Heta Blockchain 3.0 Platform, launched in 2018 by Relam Investment and its founder, Sultan Ali Rashed Lootah, runs a hybrid of the Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) and a Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) consensus mechanisms which are designed …

Decentralized liquidity network Bancor announced it had completed its partnership with EOS to provide cross-blockchain token swaps in a press release shared with Cointelegraph Nov. 5. Originally announced in September, Bancor has now expanded to the EOS blockchain, using its decentralized application (DApp) BancorX to allow users to convert between Ethereum and EOS-based tokens, without exchanges. The move is the first of its kind, Bancor says in its press release, and paves the way for “vastly more blockchains” to be included in such cross-blockchain trading. “The ability to easily convert assets cross-chain points to a future in which token projects …

Dapper Labs, developer of the world’s most used blockchain app CryptoKitties, has received $15 million in another financing round, global news agency PR Newswire reported on Nov. 1. The new funding will help the Canada-founded Dapper Labs to expand it services on a local and global scale, as well as to address infrastructure issues and to boost mainstream adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT). According to the press release, the company is planning to set up a subsidiary in the U.S. headed by execs from video gaming firms Unity and Disney. Led by Venrock, the official venture capital arm of …

The mobile app version of the currently most-downloaded Ethereum Chrome browser extension MetaMask was revealed during Ethereum’s annual Devcon conference Oct. 31, according a tweet from the CEO of ConsenSys Joseph Lubin. Lubin, whose New York-based Ethereum blockchain software firm and incubator ConsenSys has been working on MetaMask since 2016, stated in the tweet: “Everyone's favorite Ethereum browser extension is coming to your phone. The team is focusing on not being ‘just a wallet,’ but a portal to the world of all things blockchain.” MetaMask, an extension available for Chrome, Firefox and Brave with more than one million downloads in …

On Nov. 1, 2018, iExec, a decentralized marketplace for computing power based in Lyon, France, released its end-to-end trusted execution environment. The developers of iExec describe the technology as “the first Intel SGX scalable solution for businesses to achieve privacy and security in blockchain-based computing.” What is Intel SGX? Intel SGX, or Software Guard Extensions, is a popular architecture extension, introduced in 2015. It was designed to increase the security of application code and its data. As described on Intel’s website, Intel SGX makes protection possible through the use of “enclaves”, which are isolated regions of memory built into the …