Kusama is a platform that acts as a test environment, or a so-called “canary network,” for developers to experiment and determine the efficiency of their blockchain code and applications prior to their official release on the Polkadot network. Due to the trial-and-error nature of Kusama, developers can benefit from a less stringent governance framework, as well as lower staking requirements than they would experience on Polkadot. Following the debut success of its parachain auctions back in June of this year, the Kusama Council is set to approach a further five auctions scheduled for the coming weeks. Parachain auctions on Kusama …

Christie’s upscale building located in New York City’s Rockefeller Center, Midtown Manhattan. The organizers were exhibiting a 3D frame, which allows a hologram of oneself to be remotely projected elsewhere, and discussing how animated interactive collectible cards will change over time based on the real-life performance of the displayed athletes. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, Canadian artist Mad Dog Jones, head of global marketing at TikTok Nick Tran, co-creator of CryptoPunks Matt Hall, co-founder of Tezos Kathleen Breitman and president of TIME Keith Grossman — all movers and shakers in the art and tech space gathered (some of them virtually) …

A crypto user was able to net roughly $80,000 in less than a day after purchasing a CryptoPunk for less than a penny. According to blockchain records made available through Larva Labs, an unknown user purchased CryptoPunk number 3860 for 99 wei — worth next to nothing — earlier today after the artwork featuring a male character smoking a cigarette had sold for 30 Ether (ETH) on Thursday — roughly $69,369 at the time. The user was then able to resell the figure for 52 ETH, or $136,675 at the time of the sale. According to Float Capital's co-founder, Jonathan …

A crypto entrepreneur is planning to gauge whether interest in a collectible from deceased Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is directed more towards the digital space or the physical world. In an announcement today, Winthorpe Ventures’ Olly Joshi said software company Snoofa would be auctioning off a 1973 job application from Jobs before he joined video game company Atari as a technician. At the same time, digital marketplace Rarible will be auctioning a tokenized version of the paperwork to test which version — a nonfungible token, NFT, or the real thing — will attract more bidders, higher bids, and …

American Express (Amex) has teamed up with popular neo-soul singer and songwriter SZA to enter the nonfungible token (NFT) market. The duo partnered to drop a set of 14 one-of-one edition NFTs, dubbed “Amex Unstaged x SZA: The Collection,” that depict moments from one of SZA’s recent concerts. Participation in the NFT sale was made available only to Amex users, with the first 10 dropped on Monday, and concert-goer's were given exclusive access. The remaining four were dropped earlier today and were made available to all Amex users. Each NFT was priced at $100 and all were sold out within …

Art and jewelry brokerage Sotheby’s put a 101 carat diamond up for auction, fetching over $10 million in crypto for the rock on Friday. The diamond “sold for $12.3 million to an anonymous buyer last Friday at Sotheby’s Hong Kong,” MarketWatch reported on Monday. “It’s the most expensive gem ever purchased with cryptocurrency, according to Sotheby’s,” MarketWatch added. News of the crypto-friendly diamond auction surfaced in the second half of June, with estimates forecasting the diamond to hit prices somewhere in the ballpark of $15 million. Called The Key 10138, the diamond’s name reportedly pays homage to the crypto industry …

My colleague, Elias Simos, likes to say we're living through a digital asset renaissance, including the digitization of non-digital asset value. Decentralized solutions to a myriad of financial and peer-to-peer obstacles are flourishing, but many innovators and entrepreneurs are still tied to old models of building the projects. Some platforms, such as Polkadot and Cosmos, are establishing new startup models suited for Web 3.0. They make it easier to create and connect decentralized applications and to empower innovators to build better solutions. Acting like a startup accelerator, these multichain protocols present a mechanism to launch and naturally scale hundreds of …

Eleven projects joined the race when Kusama parachain auctions started on June 15. A few more got in during the latter auctions of the first batch. With impressive gains to the tune of 900,000 KSM (approximately $180 million, at the time of writing), are Kusama auctions still fair and democratic, or is everything already decided by whales? Let’s analyze the available data and attempt to illuminate the current standings. Where we are now As announced on June 8, the first batch of parachain auctions on Kusama includes five events, each of them one week long. During the auction, projects are …

Due to the past nonfungible token (NFT) boom, the crypto and art communities have been collaborating closely — maybe for the first time in history. In both industries, there is a lot of skepticism and misunderstanding. As we make our way out of the NFT bubble, what is expected to come next? This deep dive describes a long-term vision of the NFT and art market development that could appeal to both worlds. Stereotypically, crypto people discuss deals on Twitter and Discord, communicate through memes or abbreviations and challenge old school models with agonistic antipathy (Okay, Boomers!). In contrast, the so-called …

Karura network has emerged as the winner of the maiden Kusama parachain slot auction. According to an announcement issued on Tuesday, Karura pulled support from over 15,000 entities who staked Kusama (KSM) tokens in favor of adding the decentralized finance hub as the first Kusama parachain. In total, Karura locked up over 500,000 KSM currently valued at $90 million based on the Kusama market price as of the time of writing. Earlier in June, United States crypto trading platform Kraken launched a parachain auction platform for users to support bids for Karura. The first-ever @kusamanetwork parachain slot auction has been …

Luxury auction house Sotheby’s will accept bids in crypto for a massive diamond scheduled to be auctioned in Hong Kong next month. According to a Monday Reuters report, Sotheby’s will offer a 101.38-carat pear-shaped diamond for bids in crypto and fiat starting on July 9. Buyers are expected to bid up $118 million HKD — roughly $15 million — for the stone. This amounts to more than 454 Bitcoin (BTC) at the time of publication at a price of $32,974. Sotheby’s has also accepted Ether (ETH) in previous auctions. The auction house seems to be marketing to crypto users in …

CNN has followed Fox and Time Magazine into the NFT market, announcing the launch of collectible historic moments from the news. CNN’s NFT project is dubbed “Vault by CNN: Moments That Changed Us” and includes a series of tokenized iconic moments from its 41-year history, along with a vault to purchase, store and display the NFTs. The news organization has not revealed which specific historic moments will be tokenized, however, it noted that themes including CNN exclusives, notable firsts, world history, and presidential elections, will be covered. The initial launch will include six weekly drops starting from late June, with …