Austria has been actively transforming into an attractive location for providers of blockchain-based products, with the government itself experimenting with the technology and trying to create a legal basis upon which companies can use it. With regard to blockchain-based applications in the economy, however, Austria is still in the experimental phase, with most firms still running pilot projects. Still, politicians and economists alike see potential for select industries. Public administration reform via blockchain The Austrian government is quite open to blockchain innovations, cryptocurrencies aside, and has supported various projects in the public and private sectors. In 2019, a consortium of …

Recent geopolitical events have polarized the world. Partisanship and the ideological divide have further balkanized the internet, whose gatekeepers have trampled upon the rights of millions to access financial services. Nations are gradually waking up to the reality of having neutral protocols and national stacks. Hailed as the next generation of the internet, Web3 will be sanction-resistant and free of data silos. Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum and creator of Polkadot and Kusama, coined the term Web3 in 2004. Five years later, the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper was released in 2009, which further cemented the imperative of decentralization. Is the …

What we call Web3 will be centered on an ecosystem of technology products that are decentralized, based on blockchain networks, interoperable, and without a traditional trusted validator (such as corporations, institutions and government bodies). But exactly what does this mean? What is Web3? Web3, a term coined by Gavin Wood, Web3 Foundation president, is the next phase of the internet and, perhaps, of organizing society as a whole. Web1 was the era of open, decentralized protocols, where most online activity involved browsing individual static pages. Web2, which we are now experiencing, is the era of centralization, in which a large …

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, protocol Synthetix (SNX) has announced that the deployment of their Debt Pool Synthesis feature will occur on Thursday 9pm through 11pm UTC, expected to impact staking participants in two distinctive categories: SNX inflationary staking rewards and Debt Hedging. Currently, Synthetix operates debt pools across two chains, Ethereum mainnet and layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution Optimism, which have amassed an accumulative total-value-locked of $930 million and $157 million, respectively. The company have stated their intention to transition into an "Optimism-native protocol", with one of their council members kain.eth advocating this route by stating the vast growth potential …

On its own, a blockchain is a type of technology. But, like all great technology, when put into application, it is an enabler, helping people to drive business and economic results through real-world use cases. To drive these results, an ecosystem that allows for the creation and development of apps, services and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms must exist. For example, consider Ethereum (ETH), an ecosystem that creates a basis for thousands of DApps, and a place for millions of users to interact. While Ethereum has introduced the world to some of the initial use cases of blockchain, resulting applications could …

Stargate Finance, a cross-chain protocol designed to assist users in transferring assets between different blockchains, has accrued over $1.9 billion in total value locked (TVL) in less than a week after launching. Stargate markets itself as a liquidity transport protocol that allows users to transact native assets cross-chain, offering decentralized finance (DeFi) users the option of staking stablecoins in pools where they are paid out in the native Stargate token (STG). The rapidly growing TVL is probably down to the "up to 26% APY" being offered farming stablecoin deposits. By attracting nearly $2 billion in TVL at the time of …

In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. The White House came out with an executive order on regulating crypto recently. Across the sea, European legislators defeated a legislative push that could have spelled major trouble for proof-of-work networks. These developments should be ringing a bell that most crypto aficionados have long grown used to: Regulation is still very much on the agenda, and even though the blockchain community is now way more …

“The Market Report” with Cointelegraph is live right now. On this week’s show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss which are the top coins to buy in a bear market. But first, market expert Marcel Pechman carefully examines the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down. Next up, the main event. Join Cointelegraph analysts Benton Yaun, Jordan Finneseth and Sam Bourgi as they debate which are the top coins to buy in a bear market. Going up first will …

Web 3.0 presents a new future for the internet, giving the world access to the decentralized version of the virtual world. With blockchain technology, this web evolution will provide a more user-centric environment, thereby eliminating the power currently held by corporations. By giving the control back to those engaging in online interactions, data monetization will be minimized, personal details will be protected, and trust will begin to replenish. Conceptually, Ethereum (ETH) was designed to solve these concerns. Unfortunately, in practice, the platform has become subject to expensive and overly-sluggish transactions. Although Ethereum may not have the right capabilities at present, …

Cointelegraph is following the development of an entirely new blockchain from inception to mainnet and beyond through its series, Inside the Blockchain Developer’s Mind, written by Andrew Levine of Koinos Group. We recently released the third and final version of the Koinos testnet, which is why I want to talk about something few projects like to talk about: Building blockchains is development hell. In this article, I’ll explain why and how other developers can avoid getting stuck in it. At first blush, building a blockchain doesn’t sound so hard. A blockchain is just a combination of well-established cryptographic primitives, which, …

South by Southwest — commonly referred to as “South By” or “SXSW” — has returned to Austin, Texas this year to showcase the latest trends in interactive media, music, art, film and technology. While SXSW runs through March 20, 2022, the entertainment and technology festival kicked off its first weekend with a large focus on Web3 and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). NFT activations and panels SXSW’s attendees’ interest in NFTs and the future of the internet was particularly evident at the venue hosted by Blockchain Creative Labs (BCL) — a business and creative unit formed by FOX Entertainment in 2021. On …

Australian fintech company, Block Earner, has officially gone live, offering everyday investors a 7% fixed rate investment product by utilizing decentralized finance (DeFi) technology. Block Earner has already attracted attention from big names in the crypto industry, finalizing a $6.4 million seed funding round in December last year. It was led by Framework Ventures and joined by Coinbase Ventures, DeFi Alliance, LongHash Ventures, as well as crypto veteran Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix, an Australia-based crypto derivatives exchange. Jordan Momtazi, the co-founder of Block Earner, said in an interview to Cointelegraph that Australia’s current economic climate makes products that …