Just as Art Basel has expanded beyond its initial gallery showcases in Switzerland, where the international art fair was conceived, the pursuit of longer and more fulfilling lives has grown from the subject of science fiction novels to real, viable science. Now the evolution of art is being leveraged as the Longevity Science Foundation’s partnership with Triptych and digital artist Nikita Replyanski leveled up during Art Basel in Miami Beach. The partnership to launch a collection of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) was announced during the summer. The “Longevity Volumes” will help fund LSF research grants for longevity projects. Replyanski said he …

According to a discussion at the 151st Ethereum Core Developers Meeting on Dec. 8, core programmers set a tentative deadline of March 2023 for the Shanghai hard fork. In addition, developers will aim for May or June 2023 to launch Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP) 4844 upgrade that will introduce proto-danksharding to the network. Although the much-anticipated proof-of-stake Merge upgrade was completed on Sept. 15, staked Ether (stETH), are currently locked on the Ethereum Beacon Chain. The token is created by decentralized finance protocol Lido with close to 3.5 million stETH ($4.48 billion) in circulation. After the Shanghai upgrade, stETH users …

Algorithmic stablecoins have had a rough year, starting with UST de-pegging to zero and the subsequent blow-up of Terra’s LUNA token which was used for the asset’s backing. Algorithmic stablecoins are not fully collateralized and rely on different mechanisms to maintain the peg, making them inherently fragile to market conditions. The UST implosion created a domino effect that caused another stablecoin, Magic Internet Money (MIM) to de-peg. Despite the fragility of algorithmic stablecoins, new projects like Djed by Cardano (ADA) are still planning on launching, but that doesn’t mean that the concept has improved since the crises seen earlier in …

American fintech company ZELF has introduced an anonymous Visa debit card to be accepted at any of Visa’s 80 million locations worldwide. ZELF’s latest initiative will allow users to open up a U.S. dollar checking account with only their name, email, and phone number, sparing them from having to provide documentation such as a social security number and proof of address. According to the fintech company, prospective clients can open a checking account and have an anonymous virtual debit card, which works with Apple and Google Pay, within 30 seconds. ZELF is LIVE on @ProductHunt with the ultimate in payment …

While censorship resistance and privacy are not the same thing, they are closely intertwined. When the government or another entity, such as an advertiser, can track everything you do, they can also sanction you for bad behavior. Instead of working backward to try and cover up seismic cracks in Web2 with duct tape, it may be time to move full speed ahead on ensuring these same mistakes don’t happen in Web3. By being proactive, the purported internet of the future could actually protect our private information and prevent overzealous or oppressive censorship before these issues become unmanageable. Using crypto to …

Crypto asset provider Zodia Custody has launched a new service to help protect its clients from exchange insolvency. According to the company, its new service, Interchange, will provide an alternative to the pre-funding and margin models of exchanges. The service is set to allow users to keep their assets with Zodia Custody while mirroring holdings in exchanges, thereby protecting clients’ digital assets in the event that an exchange becomes insolvent. Based in London, Zodia Custody is backed by financial institutions Standard Chartered and Northern Trust. Introducing our new service: Zodia Interchange in collaboration with @zodiamarkets. You can now actively trade …

E-commerce and interactive platform builder LGND.io has announced a multi-year partnership with blockchain network developer Polygon and global entertainment company Warner Music Group to create a Web3 music platform called LGND Music. LGND Music, scheduled to launch in January 2023, is designed to be a music and collectibles platform that supports “digital collectibles from any blockchain in a proprietary player,” thereby making it possible for users to play their digital collectibles on the go. The partnership will allow select Warner Music Group artists to launch digital collectibles on both the app and desktop platforms. Creators will also be able to …

Digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification company Animoca Brands has secured a majority stake in the Los Angeles-based music metaverse gaming platform Pixelynx. Animoca Brands expects its acquisition will expand on the integration between gaming and Web3 technologies and communities, the company announced on Dec. 6. The financing terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Animoca implied that it would continue to invest in and acquire digital studios that would aid in its effort to integrate the music industry with Web3 — a broad umbrella term that refers to some future iteration of the internet powered by blockchain technology. Pixelynx already …

In a privacy update published Dec. 6, ConsenSys, the developer of the popular MetaMask browser wallet, said it would reduce its retention of user data such as wallet addresses and IP addresses to seven days. Previously on Nov. 24, ConsenSys updated its privacy policy to clarify how Infura, or MetaMask's default Remote Procedure Call (RPC), works with user data such as including IP addresses. The revelation sparked controversy in the crypto community regarding privacy concerns, leading the firm to clarify that IP addresses collected through MetaMask will not be monetized or "exploited." We are committed to protecting the privacy of …

According to a new proposal dated Dec. 6, Jared Grey, CEO of decentralized exchange Sushiswap (SUSHI), disclosed that the project's Treasury has less than 1.5 years of runaway left, and the "significant deficit in the treasury threatens Sushi's operational viability, requiring an immediate remedy." Grey explained that Sushiswap's annualized operating expenses amounted to roughly $9 million in October, however, that has since been reduced to around $5 million. "We made the reduction possible by renegotiating infrastructure contracts, scaling back underperforming or superfluous dependencies, and instituting a budget freeze on non-critical personnel and infrastructure." To remedy the situation, Grey proposed setting …

The crypto community appears to be having a ball with ChatGPT, a recently launched Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot created by research company OpenAI — using it for a multitude of applications including a trading bot, a crypto blog, and even an original song. The bot is a language interface tool that OpenAI says can interact “in a conversational way” and can be used to answer questions or assist in making almost anything it’s prompted to create, with some limitations. A user on Twitter posted their interaction with ChatGPT showing that from a simple prompt the tool created a basic trading …

Ripple’s chief technology officer has responded to a conspiracy theory fabricated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT, which alleges the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is somehow being secretly controlled by Ripple. According to a Dec. 3 Twitter thread by user Stefan Huber, when asked a series of questions regarding the decentralization of Ripple’s XRP Ledger, the ChatGPT bot suggested that while people could participate in the governance of the blockchain, Ripple has the “ultimate control” of XRPL. Asked how this is possible without the consensus of participants and its publicly-available code, the AI alleged that Ripple may have “abilities that are …