We live in houses that are capable of monitoring and controlling a wide range of internal processes — from heating and cooling to security and surveillance mechanisms. Our cars keep track of external conditions and are well on their way to driving themselves. Our phones are constantly gathering valuable data and recording our activities — both on our devices and in real life. Smart homes, smart cars, smartphones — all of these and much more are part of the rapidly expanding Internet of Things (IoT), which serves as the foundation of the machine economy. The IoT is what connects all …

The cryptocurrency sector is the Wild Wild West in comparison to traditional finance, yet a number of banks are showing interest in digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi). This year in particular has been notable for banks exploring digital assets. Most recently, JPMorgan demonstrated how DeFi can be used to improve cross-border transactions. This came shortly after BNY Mellon — America’s oldest bank — announced the launch of its Digital Asset Custody Platform, which allows select institutional clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The Clearing House, a United States banking association and payments company, stated on …

The FTX debacle sparked an increase in calls for crypto self-custody this week, including Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao describing it as a “fundamental human right.” However, some warn that there are still risks involved when opting to hold your digital assets on your own. Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, highlighted on Twitter that while the decentralized finance (DeFi) and self-custody ethos were popular this week, there are still risks involved. According to the Ethereum co-founder, bugs in smart contract code are some of these risks. To avoid the risks, Buterin also mentioned some tips such as keeping code simple, …

It's barely been a decade since the launch of Web3, and some are already talking about the next generation of the web — Web5. The concept of Web5 first emerged earlier this year with Jack Dorsey’s announcement about plans to build a decentralized web on Bitcoin's blockchain through Block subsidiary TBD. According to Dorsey's TBD white paper, Web5 will be “a trustless, decentralized internet platform where users own their data” as opposed to Web3, which is mostly centered around Ethereum and a select few centralized blockchain networks. It's easy to see why there is a need for change, but is …

Ever since his childhood years, Adam Back, now CEO of Blockstream, would spend his time fidgeting with programming code to look for encryption keys embedded in the software. Born in 1970, the London native completed his A-levels in mathematics, physics, and economics before focusing on computing science and earning a Ph.D. from the University of Exeter. Having devoted his career to applied cryptography, Back invented HashCash in 1997, a proof-of-work system used to limit email spam and denial-of-service attacks that later became more renowned for its use in Bitcoin. In fact, Back was one of the few people to be …

In the South Pacific, the island nation of Tuvalu decided to turn to Web3 technology in order to make sure its culture and society are preserved in the future. On Nov. 15 the country’s foreign minister, Simon Kofe, told the COP27 climate summit that it is looking for alternative ways to protect the county’s heritage against rising sea levels brought on by climate change. One of those ways is through recreating itself in the metaverse. As highlighted by Minister Hon @Simon_Kofe in his speech to leaders at #COP27 we have had to act. As rising sea levels threaten to submerge …

According to 1inch, users' gas costs for swaps will be at least 10% lower than its previous offerings in the DEX segment, thereby, making swapping activity on the Ethereum network more profitable for its users. In the Router v5, 1inch estimated that swaps will be approximately 5% more gas efficient than in the previous version, and 10% more gas efficient, compared to the second best performing player in the DEX segment. New features and improvements made to the Router v5 from previous routers include; a new interaction logic, pre-/post-interactions, and an improved smart contract error processing system. The new edition …

Nike's "Dot Swoosh" platform lands Footwear and apparel giant Nike has unveiled its latest foray into the non-fungible token (NFT) and Metaverse space with the launch of an NFT marketplace named “.Swoosh” While .Swoosh is still in the beta phase, Nike announced that its “first digital collection” is set to launch on the eb3 platform in 2023, with the rest of 2022 devoted to growing the platform and user base. ✅ About .SWOOSH ‍♂️ .SWOOSH is a platform for @Nike's virtual creations, for them to be more accessible and to onboard the next millions into the wonderful world of web3 …

Pundits are calling the collapse of the FTX exchange the end of cryptocurrency and venture capitalism related to it. But it’s not. Some of them anointed Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried “The King of Crypto” — and then summarily killed the king. But, in reality, crypto never had a king. The end of FTX may mark the end of Americans using unregulated exchanges, and it certainly is the end of exchange-native tokens, but crypto itself hasn’t changed one bit. In reality, the FTX collapse is a symptom of a deeper problem, which is traditional finance’s “profit at any cost” mentality. For all …

Users losing funds due to malicious activity is hardly unknown on Ethereum. In fact, it is the very reason researchers recently developed a proposal to introduce a type of token that is reversible in the event of a hack or other unsavory behaviors. Specifically, the suggestion would see the creation of an ERC-20R and ERC-721R, which would be modified versions of the standards that govern both regular Ethereum tokens and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The premise goes like this: this new standard would allow users to make a “freeze request” on recent transactions that would lock those funds until a “decentralized …

Genesis trading announced on Nov. 10 that it will receive an additional equity infusion of $140M from its parent company, Digital Currency Group. According to the company, this decision was made to “strengthen its balance sheet” and boost its “position as a global leader in crypto capital markets”. Genesis said it also hopes that the equity infusion will put its company in a position to support its clients and “the growing demand” for its services. This is according to a snapshot of a letter sent to their clients, as shared by Wu Blockchain on their Twitter account. Genesis sent letters …

The MakerDAO Risk Core Unit, a key group within the MakerDAO governance system, submitted an urgent request today to change collateral parameters for the DAOs stablecoin, DAI. Primoz, a member of the Risk Core Unit team, posted the request to the MakerDAO Forum. “In light of recent events in the crypto ecosystem and surrounding uncertainty regarding financial stability and asset liquidity of various entities and their possible relations with token governed protocols, we are proposing following temporary emergency measures” The message proposed that the debt ceiling for MATIC, LINK, YFI, renBTC vaults should be reduced by the following amounts: MATIC: …