Crypto exchange Binance announced the launch of a new data feed network — Binance Oracle — that allows blockchain smart contracts to connect with real-world data, starting with its in-house blockchain offering, BNB Chain. For starters, Binance Oracle will allow existing decentralized applications (DApps) and Web3 ecosystem partners on BNB Chain to access existing data sources and advanced computations. “Over ten BNB Chain projects have already integrated with the Binance Oracle network,” confirmed Binance. The ability to connect smart contracts with off-chain data will be made available for other blockchains in due time. Explaining the network’s importance, investment director at …

Ethereum (ETH) blockchain-based Metaverse projects Decentraland (MANA) and Sandbox (SAND) have hit back at reports suggesting low daily user activity on platforms, arguing a “misinformed” metric was used to measure each of the platforms' Daily Active Users (DAU). The controversy appears to have come from data originating from DappRadar, with observers suggesting the Decentraland metaverse sees 30 Daily Active Users despite having over $1.2 billion in market cap. Decentraland ( $MANA ) has 30 Daily Active Users and a $1.2 Billion Market Cap pic.twitter.com/u4MBNsWvwk — SHAKE (@0x_shake) October 6, 2022 However, Decentraland said in an Oct. 8 tweet that “some …

Public blockchains can be accessed and read by anyone but creating meaningful insights from this data is no mean feat. Millions of transactions are recorded across a variety of chains and layer-2 protocols, creating petabytes of data daily. Services like Google transformed the early internet, accomplishing a significant engineering task by structuring and curating millions of websites to serve simple user queries. A handful of blockchain analytics platforms are looking to do the same, with Nansen distinguishing itself by processing on-chain data into a growing database of wallet labels. Cointelegraph visited the Singapore office of the growing firm during Token2049 …

Minor inflows for digital asset investment products over the last few weeks suggest a “continued hesitancy” towards crypto amongst institutional investors amid a slowdown of the U.S. economy. In the latest edition of CoinShares’ weekly “Digital Asset Fund Flows” report, Coinshares head of research James Butterfill highlighted stand-offish institutional sentiment towards crypto investment products, which saw "minor inflows" for the third week in a row. “The flows remain low implying continued hesitancy amongst investors, this is highlighted in investment product trading volumes which were US$886m for the week, the lowest since October 2020.” Between Sept. 26 and Sept. 30, investment …

Ganesh Swami, CEO of blockchain data aggregator Covalent says there continues to be an “intense demand” for on-chain data analysts, that is yet to be satisfied. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Swami said that analysts are in “intense demand” as there’s a “real need” for data experts to “make sense” of on-chain data, explaining: “There is an unresolved backlog of unfilled data-driven roles. This demand is a testament to how eager blockchain and non-blockchain companies alike are to make sense of their own and competitors’ on-chain data.” Swami explained that while the demand for on-chain data analysts has yet to eclipse their …

Uber is a staple of the gig economy, for better or worse, and a disruptor that once sent shockwaves throughout the mobility space. Now, however, Uber is being taken for a ride. The company is handling a reportedly far-reaching cybersecurity breach. According to the ride-hailing giant, the attacker has not been able to access sensitive user data, or at least, there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. Whether or not sensitive user data was exposed, this case points to a persistent issue with today’s apps. Can we continue to sacrifice our data — and thereby our privacy and security — …

Human rights investigators appointed by the United Nations (UN) have confirmed war crimes have been committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. A report developed by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine was created in March 2022 to provide a framework for UN human rights investigators to report war crimes in the region. Erik Møse, chair for the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, stated in the UN’s article that “investigators visited 27 towns and settlements and interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses.” Møse also noted that “sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture, as …

Web3 is the buzzword that's on everyone's lips — but when you put the mania aside for a moment, there's a burning question that needs to be asked: Can these projects fully replace Web2… and what stands in the way of this happening? The likes of Google and Facebook have made a killing during the Web2 era, amassing billions of dollars in profits and a profound influence over the shape of the internet. But their continued influence is far from guaranteed. The 30-year history of the web is littered with the collapses of once-indestructible companies… MySpace being a notable example. …

Over the past two years, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) gave the crypto ecosystem the boost it needed to grab mainstream attention — owing to the involvement of prominent artists and celebrities. However, despite the enormous losses suffered by NFT investors following the ongoing, 10-month-long bear market, the ecosystem showed sustainable signs of a comeback in the last two weeks. Since Sept. 12, the performance of blue-chip NFT collections witnessed a steady growth, inching back toward the 10,000 Ether (ETH) that was lost in mid-August 2022, according to data by NFTGo. On Sept. 20, the market capitalization, which is derived from the …

Coming up with a good name is often one of the most challenging decisions one needs to make when launching a new service or business. Historical data of domain name purchases suggest that Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin (BTC), had an alternate naming option in mind that did not make it to the whitepaper. Bitcoin.org, the website domain linked to the original Bitcoin, was created on Aug. 18, 2008, under AnonymousSpeech, a service in Japan that allowed users to buy domain names anonymously. Domain purchases under AnonymousSpeech around similar timelines revealed the creation of Netcoin.org on Aug. 17, 2008 …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) may be the biggest driver of crypto adoption in Central, Southern Asia, and Oceania (CSAO), a new report has found. According to a Sept. 21, Chainalysis post titled “Crypto Adoption Steadies in South Asia, Soars in the Southeast,” NFT-related actions accounted for 58% of all web traffic going to cryptocurrency services from this region in the second quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, another 21% of traffic in the quarter went to websites of play-to-earn (P2E) blockchain games, with majortitles including Axie Infinity, STEPN and Battle Infinity. Chainalysis noted that P2E blockchain games are “intimately related” to NFTs, as …

NFTs are a game-changing technology, providing ownership for digital assets and serving as certificates for holders or access keys for the underlying content, which could be music, movies, art, real estate, and a lot of other stuff. However, what makes nonfungible tokens (NFTs) useful in real terms is metadata. It may not be a buzzword exactly but it ensures the user is able to make out what the NFT is all about. Metadata is information about the content that an NFT represents. As large files cannot be stored on the blockchain for the simple reason that they become too expensive, …