To understand the complexity of digital rights management, or DRM, one must first understand the DRM challenges of current systems and then the challenges (and opportunities) presented by blockchain technology that prides itself on transparency, data linkage and immutability as some of the main characteristics that lends itself to the trust systems. With Web 2.0, content creation and dissemination are via a platform that acts as an intermediary and, like any intermediary, has developed business models that monetize the avenues of content distribution, resulting data and metadata. Digital content (movies, images, music, etc.) can be replicated easily, and the platforms …

On Monday, distributed domain protocol Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, launched its own governance token in an effort to distribute voting rights for its new decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, to active users of the ecosystem. Cointelegraph spoke with Brantly Millegan, ENS’ director of operations, to learn more about the nonprofit’s decision to shift to a DAO model and his thoughts on the power of the ENS community: “ENS is an open public protocol. The core components of ENS are decentralized and self-running (e.g., no one can take away another person’s .ETH name), but there are a few things that …

In a blog post published on Sunday, Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin voiced his support for utilizing the cryptocurrency phenomena to serve the interests of local governments and their citizens. Specifically, Buterin discussed the formation of city tokens and decentralized autonomous organizations, known as DAOs. DAOs are self-governing organizations where users draft and enforce rules themselves, such as voting on protocol amendments based on the amount of the underlying crypto tokens they hold. The idea is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, Buterin claimed that city tokens should satisfy at least three of the following five objectives: Act as a sustainable …

The new era of blockchain-based games involves more than advanced graphics and sophisticated gameplay. Through the advent of technologies that enable decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), in-game incentives can turn into real-life financial rewards. Dragon Mainland is a play-to-earn game that combines PvP (player vs player) and PvE (player versus environment) warfare, breeding dragons, free commerce and collecting NFTs. By absorbing other dragon skulls, players can level up their own dragons and earn cryptocurrency in the game. The platform takes the experience one step further by offering players the opportunity to earn more by trading NFTs collected in-game …

A new decentralized autonomous organization is determined to become the DAO that serves all other DAOs. Looking at it narrowly, the goal of SubDAO Labs is to provide small to mid-size organizations with the tools they need to move beyond centralized governance models and form feature-rich, effective, and sustainable decentralized autonomous organizations. Arguing that the DAO governance model “has gone from obscurity to the preferred form of governance for most blockchain projects,” SubDAO believes one of the biggest stumbling block to its widespread adoption is that “it is not practical for smaller organizations or those without sufficient fund to develop …

Online communities, those that share a common interest on the internet, can range from social networks, grassroots organizations and customer communities. We, as a society, are naturally communal, so it makes sense to engage in ideas and interests with others online. Whether we build relationships with people directly or indirectly, communities are built. However, how we do so differs. In 2006, web expert Jakob Nielsen proposed a 90-9-1 rule based on participation inequality in social media and online communities. According to Nielsen, in most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers, i.e., those who observe, but don’t contribute, nine percent …

On Oct. 20, the Australian Senate Committee delivered a groundbreaking report calling for a complete overhaul of crypto legislation and licensing in the country. But, will it achieve its aim of transforming Australia into an international blockchain hub and providing a model for other countries to follow? Top-down governmental responses to innovation have always been questioned by entrepreneurs. Right now in crypto land as institutional investment flows steadily in and decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases and products have continued to flourish over the past 18 months, many crypto companies are begging for further regulatory clarity. The original Australian Senate Select …

PleasrDAO has revealed itself to be the new owners of Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind unreleased album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. The 74 members of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) now share collective ownership of the album. The group purchased the sole copy of the album from the United States federal government for $4 million at the end of July, collected it in September, and moved it to a vault at an undisclosed location in New York. PleasrDAO has minted the ownership deed as a nonfungible token (NFT) with the help of crypto-savvy attorney Peter Scoolidge. A collective of decentralized …

The rapidly evolving realm of decentralized finance (DeFi) has brought a new level of utility and value to the cryptocurrency ecosystem in 2021 but has also provided nefarious actors with numerous exploits in siphoning profits and tokens away from unsuspecting investors. In the past few days, KeeperDAO (ROOK), a DeFi protocol that allows participants to trade, borrow and stake assets with protection from miner value extracted (MEV) bots that front-run transactions, has rallied 118%. Data from TradingView shows that since trading at a low of $124.70 on Oct. 12, the price of ROOK has rallied 118% to a daily high …

Non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift has burned hundreds of themed collectible “cards” from the blockchain-based mobile game Spells of Genesis. The team said that the remaining cards in its possession will be placed under the control of its new decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, and unlocked in limited tranches over the coming two years. According to on-chain data, parties including ShapeShift have burned at least 817 of the digital cards titled “ShapeShift the Wanderer” — originally minted in June 2015. This news followed an Oct. 12 announcement that the exchange intended to destroy 649 cards to make those in circulation “among …

The rapidly evolving world of blockchain technology offers a wide range of approaches and tokenomic models aimed at solving the blockchain trilemma of creating a decentralized, stable and secure network. One tokenomic model that has seen several variants over the past year is the 'rebase' model, which is designed in a way so that token balances can fluctuate over time depending on changes in the token price and the supply in circulation. Olympus (OHM) is a rebase project that has caught the attention of many in the crypto space over the past six months — in large part thanks to …

Volatility continues to be the name of the game for nonfungible tokens (NFT) amid the rollercoaster valuations and volume surges, but a new trend appears to be emerging in the sector. Aesthetic appeal aside, for many investors, buying an NFT is akin to casting a bait-laden hook into an opaque body of water and hoping that a fish bites. Sure, when the Bored Ape Yacht Club was listed, some buyers thought “They look cool” and “The community is really strong and dedicated,” but these aren’t really hard valuation metrics that can be backtested and applied across most assets in the …