Technology is a powerful force that has significantly influenced the future. It has enriched our lives in innumerable ways, from boosting productivity and efficiency to bridging geographical distances. Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), robotics and 5G networks are reshaping industries, opening up new applications, and altering our way of life. For instance, precision medicine is enabling patient-specific therapies, and driverless vehicles promise to decrease traffic accidents and increase mobility. However, technology poses new problems such as employment displacement and cybersecurity concerns, but with good planning and management, technology can continue to advance and help create a better future for …

While cryptocurrencies have been quite the rage over the past couple of years, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have risen as an alternate asset class within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This ecosystem is revolutionizing the world of art and gaming, among a host of other industries. Serving as a digital certificate that proves a collectible’s authenticity, NFTs also provide investors with proof of ownership and utmost security, aspects that have been instrumental in their proliferation as the future of representing real-world objects in the virtual world. As a result, NFTs are gaining increasing popularity among crypto investors looking to invest in metaverse platforms, …

Developers of one of the earliest Android-based mobile browsers are working to bring online communication to the next level by introducing it to Web3. Sending Labs, a new startup focused on decentralized communications protocol, has secured $12.5M in seed funding to launch the Web3 communications stack. The new platform takes on the mission of building accessible and secure infrastructures for Web3 communication for developers and the community, applying end-to-end decentralization of core of its products. With the new offering, Sending Labs aims to enable privacy-preserving communications and guarantee ownership and transfer of digital assets within community chats. The seed funding …

The city of Dubai has been very welcoming to the crypto space, providing the much-needed regulatory clarity to help the industry thrive. While this attracts native Web3 and crypto businesses to the emirate, even non-crypto businesses started integrating technologies like crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and even the metaverse into their operations. Cointelegraph went to explore various parts of Dubai to find out how crypto and Web3 technologies have been integrated within some businesses in the emirate. Ordering groceries with cryptocurrencies Day To Day, one of the popular and most affordable grocery chains in Dubai, announced that it started to accept …

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), the financial regulator funded by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), is pushing international regulations for decentralized finance (DeFi). The FSB on Feb. 16 issued a report on the financial stability risks of DeFi, highlighting major vulnerabilities, transmission channels and the evolution of DeFi. Despite providing many “novel” services, DeFi “does not differ substantially” from traditional finance (TradFi) in its functions, the authority said in the report. By trying to replicate some functions of TradFi, DeFi increases potential vulnerabilities due to the use of novel technologies, the high degree of ecosystem interlinkages and the lack …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants to sue Paxos for issuing and listing stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) to the benefit of its top-rival stablecoin Tether (USDT), whose market capitalization has risen to multi-month highs. BUSD market cap drops by $2 billion The SEC asserts that BUSD, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, is a security, noting that Paxos has violated investor protection laws by white-labeling it. Related: Paxos ‘categorically disagrees’ with the SEC that BUSD is a security Since Feb. 13 when the news broke, the BUSD market cap has lost roughly $2 billion, down to around $14 billion as …

The European Union is famous for its ambivalent relationship with privacy — on the one hand, it was the first place in the world to apply strict data protection regulations. On the other, its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project lacks the anonymity standards of private cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, last week the EU lawmakers made a vital step to embrace privacy in the space of citizens’ digital identities. On Feb. 9, the Industry, Research and Energy Committee included the standard of zero-knowledge proofs in its amendments to the European digital identity framework (eID). The latest update was voted in by 55 …

The Bitcoin (BTC) price rose to a new six-month high of $24,800 on February 16, registering a double-digit surge of 15%. The prolific single-day Bitcoin price surge took many by surprise, given February has been historically bearish for the top cryptocurrency. BTC price rose by $1,820 in a single day, making it the biggest green day for the top cryptocurrency in six months. Many people attributed the BTC price surge to a number of factors, including a rise in dollar value and declining inflation. On-chain data indicates the current price momentum can be traced back to a mysterious fund that …

Binance, the world's leading crypto exchange by trading volume, will temporarily suspend bank transfers in U.S. dollars. The exchange stated in a tweet on Feb. 6 that no other trading methods would be affected. The announcement came with no explanation. However, exchange CEO Changpeng Zhao noted in a tweet that only 0.01% of the exchange’s total users will be affected by the suspension while assuring that they are looking to resolve the issue soon. Recently, Binance encountered related financial issues in the U.S. On Jan. 21, its SWIFT transfer partner, Signature Bank, announced that, as of Feb. 1, it would …

The alleged exploiter of the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Mango Markets, Avraham Eisenberg, is seeking to keep his share of crypto gained from his so-called “highly profitable trading strategy.” On Feb. 15 attorneys for Eisenberg filed an opposition in a New York District Court to a lawsuit from Mango that asked for $47 million in damages plus interest starting from the time of Eisenberg’s October 2022 attack that drained around $117 million from the protocol. The lawyers argued that Eisenberg shouldn’t need to pay back any more funds to the DeFi platform due to a settlement agreement he reached with …

Wyoming lawmakers have passed a bill that will prohibit courts in the state from forcing someone to disclose their digital asset private keys, with one minor exception. The bill was passed through the Wyoming House of Representative in the state’s 67th general session of 2023 on Feb. 15. The law will officially come into effect on Jul. 1, 2023. “No person shall be compelled to produce a private key or make a private key known to any other person in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative or other proceeding[s]” in the state of Wyoming, the incoming law reads. The law includes …

The former dean of Stanford Law School who co-signed Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail said he considered Bankman-Fried’s parents “the truest of friends” who helped his family through a “harrowing battle with cancer.” In an emailed statement to Cointelegraph on Feb. 16, Larry Kramer said he co-signed Bankman-Fried’s bail as a way to return the favor. “Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried have been close friends of my wife and I since the mid-1990s,” said Kramer. He said that over the past two years, Bankman-Fried’s parents Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, provided food and moral support while “frequently stepping in at moment's notice …