The Metaverse and Web3 dominated discussions on the fifth day of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF). The panel discussion “The Possibilities of the Metaverse” featured Philip Rosedale, co-founder of High Fidelity; Pascal Kaufmann, founder of Mindfire Foundation; Peggy Johnson, CEO of Magic Leap; Hoda AlKhzaimi, assistant research professor at New York University, Abu Dhabi; and Edward Lewin, vice president of Lego Group. The main discussion revolved around the building blocks and prospects of the Metaverse. The panelists discussed the technical aspects, security and role of human sentiments in building a sustainable, augmented reality-based digital world. Responding to a question …

Asia-based genomics firm Genetica and Web3 data management firm Oasis Labs have partnered to tokenize genomics profiles with the aim to enhance genomics-based precision medicine. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, the firms noted that Genetica will migrate 100,000 genomic data profiles to the Oasis Network. These profiles will allow the data owners to have full control and knowledge of how their genetic data is being used. The partnership is also backed by Vietnamese government officials who are very supportive of Web3 technologies and data rights. According to Nguyen Chi Dung, who is from the Ministry of Planning and Investment …

The Russian government has cracked down on foreign social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, banning them for extremist activists. For protestors, activists and local civilians, these actions have resulted in a significant barrier to communication with the outside world. Furthermore, they have also raised the question of just how easy of a target these apps are for state authorities. With citizens unable to access these platforms, they have little choice but to flee to the next-best still active platforms. However, it isn't just Russian activists who have taken to alternatives. Consider, for example, Telegram, a cloud-based instant …

Innovations in the crypto space appear daily. Whether through decentralized applications or new ways to implement and use nonfungible tokens (NFTs) within decentralized finance, blockchain technology is innovating at the speed of light. The only thing missing? Widespread adoption. One thing holding this back is the very public nature of the blockchain. DeFi, as it operates now, lacks meaningful privacy. In order to catalyze broad adoption for businesses, governments and individuals, those executing blockchain transactions should expect regular, consistent privacy. First, we need to define what privacy means. It does not mean pseudonymity, which cryptocurrency purports to have now. Meaningful …

The European Central Bank (ECB) continues pushing its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project despite Europeans apparently not feeling too positive about a digital euro. The ECB released another working paper on the digital euro, providing an extensive technical analysis of a potential European CBDC and its position in the existing financial system. Issued on May 13, the working paper aims to study issues like financial intermediation, payment choices and privacy in the digital economy, providing a large number of related algebra-based conclusions. The study suggests that a “CBDC with anonymity” is preferable to traditional digital payments like bank deposits …

Monero (XMR) has shown a surprising resilience against the United States Federal Reserve’s hawkish policies that pushed the prices of most of its crypto rivals — including the top dog Bitcoin (BTC) — lower last week. XMR price closed the previous week 2.37% higher at $217, data from Binance shows. In comparison, BTC, which typically influences the broader crypto market, finished the week down 11.55%. The second-largest crypto, Ether (ETH), also plunged 11% in the same period. While the crypto market wiped off $163.25 billion from its valuation last week, down nearly 9%, Monero’s market cap increased by $87.7 million, …

Next to the fears of government overreach that the European Union’s ambitious digital euro project stirred, the main concern of the public is the prospective currency’s privacy framework. It appears that this worry might not be overblown after all, as the European Central Bank’s (ECB) latest presentation hints that user anonymity is not a desirable design option. On Tuesday, crypto venture adviser and European digital asset regulation whistleblower Patrick Hansen drew public attention to the ECB’s presentation titled “Digital Euro Privacy options.” The document is relatively short and contains nine slides that lay out the possible options for user privacy …

Swiss privacy startup Nym Technologies announced it has secured $300 million in commitments from venture capital partners in support of the NYM Innovation Fund. Nym intends to issue grants to developers and incentivize them to build on top of Nym's decentralized infrastructure. This funding comes a couple of weeks after its native token NYM launched on major crypto exchanges, including OKX and Huobi. At the time of publication, the NYM token traded at an average price of $0.92, and its 24-hour trading volume has witnessed a spike since the fund's announcement. The day that NYM was first listed on April …

The recent European Union proposal requiring centralized crypto exchanges and custodial wallet providers to collect and verify personal information about self-custodial wallet holders shows the dangers of recycling traditional finance (TradFi) rules and applying them to crypto without appreciating the conceptual differences. We can expect to see more of this as countries look to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Travel Rule, initially designed for wire transfers, to transfers of crypto assets. The (missing) link between self-custody, control and identity The aim of the proposed EU rules is “to ensure crypto-assets can be traced in the same way as …

We have all been there. You see something, hear something, or feel something, and want to share that feeling or observation with someone else. Do you pick up the phone? Send over a text? Record a voice note? Humans thrive in our shared experiences: a captivating concert, the winning goal of a sports match, waking up to watch the sunrise. There's something fulfilling about having an experience and being able to share it with someone in real time. And due to technology, we can do that, even if another person, call them our counterpart, is halfway across the world. So …

Cybersecurity poster boy and government surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden has revealed he played a pivotal role in the creation of privacy token Zcash (ZEC). A video from Zcash Media featured an interview with Snowden where he outlined his involvement as one of the six individuals who had a piece of the Zcash multisignature private key to launch the project on October 23, 2016. In the video, Snowden stated: “My name is Edward Snowden. I participated in the Zcash original ceremony under the pseudonym John Dobbertin.” Edward Snowden is the whistleblower who revealed United States government surveillance tactics and went into …

If you’re into cryptocurrency or blockchain, there’s a good chance I don’t have to spell out the benefits of decentralization. You’re a first-generation user of a technology that will increasingly define the future of the internet, and you have front-row seats to the world premiere of Web3. The internet’s use and control were always as centralized as we see now. In the early days, under the stewardship of the United States Department of Defense, the network needed not to rely on one core computer. What if a terrorist attack or missile strike took down the principal node? Individual network parts …