Blockchain technology has recently become a phenomenon in various areas of the economy, driving innovation, fostering growth and bringing added value. Among the most noteworthy of these sectors is the gaming industry. Gaming is a use case that drives true adoption of blockchain technology by taking the incentive for the user from pure speculation to transactions on a blockchain platform. This drives innovation in development as well as consumer adoption. The first true blockchain gaming application was Cryptokitties. While the platform itself is a technology demonstrator for collectible items, it quickly rose to prominence as the application representing the majority …

For years, tribalism has plagued the blockchain industry. Developers align to specific consensus protocols and defend technologies that use them, regardless of their limitations. These deeply rooted divisions are slowing the innovation needed to scale blockchain for future adoption. The enterprise market is only beginning to understand the promise of blockchain, and that promise will be difficult to achieve until blockchains can communicate and cooperate with each other. To achieve this, developers, companies and hobbyists alike must be able to leverage every platform without being locked into one simply because the platform developers are not working together. Blockchain can bring …

Speaking on a Unitize digital conference panel about proof-of-work, or PoW, attacks, James Lovejoy of MIT's Digital Currency Initiative, or DCI, said 51% attacks might not be evident, despite blockchain's public nature. Blockchains do not always show 51% attacks at first glance, Lovejoy explained on the July 9 panel. "You need an active observer to be monitoring the network to check whether or not an attack occurs," he said. Lovejoy has a blockchain reorganization tracker For his DCI master's thesis, Lovejoy spun up a blockchain reorganization tracker, or reorg tracker, that examines 51% attacks, he detailed on the panel. The …

Bittrex Global, one of the world’s most popular platforms for trading cryptocurrencies, is about to become the first crypto exchange to list a token by JPMorgan’s blockchain spin-off Kadena. Kadena token (KDA), is finally getting its first official listing on June 25. While token deposits on KDA wallets on Bittrex are available immediately, the trading is set to open on June 26 at 10:00 a.m. EST. At the initial launch, KDA will be trading against two cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin (BTC) and major USD stablecoin, Tether (USDT). Trading on Bittrex Global isn’t available in the U.S. and some sanctioned countries By …

Most people in the cryptocurrency world are aware that network validation often comes in one of two forms: proof-of-work or proof-of-stake. There are others, but these systems are common and power many of the most popular blockchains. They take the same basic problem — verifying transactions — and solve it in unique ways. However, both offer different solutions to the ongoing debate over scaling. Does one have a true advantage over the other, or are they just different philosophies? We’ll take a look at both. Proof-of-work, explained Most people have heard of Bitcoin (BTC) “miners,” but just what do they …

As Ethereum is finally set to launch its Ethereum 2.0 upgrade later this year, putting an end to a long streak of delays, the network will start moving toward a proof-of-stake model. Consequently, the network will abandon the proof-of-work consensus algorithm, leaving Ether (ETH) miners with very few options. Since their equipment will become obsolete, they will be forced to start mining altcoins, or recertify as ETH stakers. So, what is the current state of ETH mining, and what exactly will happen to the industry as a result of the upcoming transition? GPU v. ASIC The Ethereum consensus is currently …

Bitcoin (BTC) is the largest decentralized digital currency in the world, with an estimated market capitalization of around $169 billion. In the nearly 12 years since the publication of Satoshi Nakamoto’s famous white paper in 2008, Bitcoin has become the most well-known example of a cryptocurrency, and it is responsible for sparking the blockchain revolution. More than half a million peer-to-peer transactions have been recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain, a public and verifiable distributed ledger. The network’s proof-of-work consensus algorithm confirms transactions and produces new blocks without needing a third party. Bitcoin is a revolutionary technology, but the network's massive …

As the Ethereum community anticipates the long-awaited launch of Ethereum 2.0, users are also bracing themselves for a major systematic shift from a proof-of-work model to a proof-of-stake. As a reminder, in PoW networks, miners have to compete with one another to solve complex mathematical problems to validate a block. The first miner to solve the problem is rewarded with the block reward. Whereas in PoS networks, token holders (validators) need to “stake” or risk their tokens to validate transactions. Validators who verify honest transactions are rewarded with newly “minted” tokens but are punished (“slashed”) for allowing false or incorrect …

There are more than 5,000 diverse cryptocurrencies being traded with a total market cap of nearly $250 billion. As much as 95% of those cryptos are nothing but scams, according to the creator of the world’s first proof-of-work, or PoW, crypto. Emin Gun Sirer, the creator of the first PoW-based crypto, the Karma System, is confident that the vast majority of cryptos do not represent any tech advancement and only exist to grab people’s money. Bitcoin did it first In an April 29 AMA session with Equilibrium EOSDT, Sirer slammed crypto projects like Facebook’s Libra for wanting to compete with …

Ethereum 2.0 has dragged its feet. But when it does finally ship, it could provide the “largest economic shift in society” — or so it’s believed. The launch of ETH 2.0 is tentatively penned for July, transforming Ethereum from a no-frills proof-of-work protocol to a fully fledged staking platform. After that, instead of competing against each other to solve puzzles, users who accrue the most wealth, or stake, will be in charge of validating transactions. It’s this fundamental development that some experts believe could catalyze a bull run for Ether (ETH). Among them is partner at MetaCartel Ventures DAO, Adam …

The number of smart contracts deployed on the Ethereum network reached 1,971,632 in March, hitting a new all-time high and marking a 75% increase from the previous month. Dune Analytics, an online analytics platform, recorded the number of contracts deployed on Ethereum over the last 12 months with the average only registering around 670,000 contracts per month. Notably, this peak coincided with the cost to deploy on Ethereum being at one of the lowest points, with developers spending an average of $11,600 to do so. This suggests that the adoption of the Ethereum platform is on the rise, signaling strong …

Privacy-focused altcoin, Beam (BEAM), will soon execute its second hard fork. This fork will upgrade its Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm and activate new network features. According to an April 22 blog post, Beam’s second fork will occur at block 777,777, shifting the network’s PoW algorithm from BeamHash II to BeamHash III. The new PoW algorithm is expected to be a major improvement to the Beam mining network, and will enable fuller GPU card capabilities. Additionally, the firm said that the hard fork is designed to unlock some new features like confidential assets, one-sided payments, and the support of privacy protocol, Lelantus …