Over the last year, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) continued to play an important role in the growing Web3 industry. NFTs initiated a shift away from hype-based drops, to utility-centric projects with long-term value. A new DappRadar report on blockchain and decentralized application (DApp) adoption in 2022 revealed that the NFT sale count last year reached 101 million. This is a 67.57% increase from the previous year. According to the report, the Ethereum ecosystem holds the top spot in the NFT ecosystem, holding 21% of the market share and over 21.2 million transactions processed. It is followed by Wax (14.5 million), Polygon …

If the foreign exchange market starts using DeFi protocols instead of the current centralized systems, the cost of remittances could be reduced by “as much as 80%,” according to a Jan. 19 paper jointly published by researchers at Circle and Uniswap. On-chain foreign exchange (FX) is a new model of global value exchange that offers a faster, cheaper, and more efficient alternative for cross-border payments. Our recent research paper with @circle has it all https://t.co/NGniRo8yrp — Uniswap Labs (@Uniswap) January 19, 2023 The paper, titled “On-chain Foreign Exchange and Cross-border Payments,” was written by Uniswap Data Scientist Austin Adams, Circle …

Avalanche (AVAX) came into the spotlight early at the beginning of 2023 by adding its blockchain support to Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. However, empirical and on-chain analysis suggests that Avalanche’s price surge is likely due to a broader cryptocurrency market pump which will likely end with the rest of the market. Is Avalanche’s Amazon news exaggerated? While integration with the world’s largest blockchain service is a positive step for Avalanche, the hype around its implications might be exaggerated. The evidence lies in a similar move that Avalanche’s team made in December 2022. Avalanche’s team established a deal with Alibaba’s …

On this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Grant Shears, founder of Blocmates — an educational and consultancy company that aims to create crypto, DeFi and Web3 content that anyone can understand. This week, to kick things off, we take a look at the emerging trends of 2023 and what people should look forward to. What industries could really take off this year, and which sector could have the most potential to grow? It’s no secret that 2022 was not a great year for DeFi, an industry that arguably imploded on itself by offering unsustainable high yields that eventually …

In the wake of an eventful 2022 for the crypto space, many investors are now wondering what the future holds. Early this year, the crash course the Terra ecosystem went on sent the space into a downward spiral, sinking millions in investor funds in mere days. Most recently, one of the biggest centralized exchanges, FTX, filed for bankruptcy, also dragging down millions in customer assets. Such disastrous events have led a lot of crypto investors to start seeking protection and security, in the form of regulation. The crypto space is notoriously unregulated, but investors are suffering the consequences with losses …

In an alert, blockchain security firm CertiK reported that the Raydium protocol exploiter had sent 1,774.5 Ether (ETH) to the mixer. The amount is worth around $2.7 million at the time of writing. While security teams from various exchanges continue to combat the efforts of hackers, funds continue to flow to the sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. #CertiKSkynetAlert We are seeing ~1,774.5 ETH (~$2.7M) being deposited into @TornadoCash from the Raydium exploiter 0xb98ac as labeled on https://t.co/lb2v6r8c4s. Stay vigilant! pic.twitter.com/JVqWAw9MVO — CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) January 19, 2023 The attack on the Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol occurred back on Dec. …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is on its way from becoming a small niche within the financial industry to something traditional finance (TradFi) is trying to incorporate. In an interview with Cointelegraph at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Emin Gun Sirer, the co-founder and CEO of Ava Labs, spoke on DeFi’s role in TradFi ecosystems and what users can expect in a future where both are on center stage. Sirer stressed that the purpose of DeFi is not to attack or be an enemy to TradFi, but rather complement it, at least initially. “I don’t think DeFi is meant …

The notion that bear markets are good for builders appears to be true with the total number of monthly active Web3 developers increasing 5.4% to more than 23,300 over the last 12 months despite a near 70% drop in crypto prices. According to a Jan. 16 report from Electric Capital, “full-time” developers — categorized as those who contribute to 76% of Github commits — also increased 15.2% to over 7000, while “one-time” builders fell 6.2% to over 3,500 during the same time period between December 2021 and December 2022 Despite the crypto market capitalization beginning its long plunge from from …

The cryptocurrency community has a tendency to fixate on a new issue every few weeks and then promptly forget about it. The limited attention span of this community misses the ultimate resolution of important issues. Over the Thanksgiving holiday in November 2022, ConsenSys released a disclosure about a privacy policy affecting MetaMask users that sent “Crypto Twitter” into a firestorm. My first reaction was also negative. That’s what a sly fox would say isn’t it? pic.twitter.com/PfKMTiNHoR — J.W. Verret, JD, CPA/CVA (@JWVerret) November 25, 2022 The MetaMask browser extension wallet uses a node called Infura. That node is owned by …

Masa Finance has launched the first soulbound identity protocol for the Ethereum mainnet, according to a Jan. 17 press release shared with Cointelegraph. The protocol will allow for standardized soulbound tokens to be minted on Ethereum for Know Your Customer verification, credit scores and other use cases. Soulbound tokens are tokens that cannot be transferred from one wallet to another. The concept was popularized via a blog post from Vitalik Buterin, who argued that these tokens could be used to signify governance rights for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols or to prove that a person has attended an event. Speaking to …

What is the future of Bitcoin DeFi? The effectiveness of Bitcoin DeFi platforms and protocols will be determined by their long-term sturdiness and security, level of innovation, as well as the incentives provided to investors. With Bitcoin scaling solutions like Rootstock, Stack, Liquid Network and more, it is evident that DeFi is flowing into the Bitcoin network. However, DeFi on Bitcoin is less approachable than on the Ethereum blockchain and other smart contract platforms. That said, if developers want to opt for the Bitcoin blockchain to develop DApps or mint NFTs, they need to rely upon layer-1 or layer-2 solutions, …

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized finance (DeFi) are redefining how charities raise donations and distribute funds to those most in need. Through ever-evolving crypto and blockchain-related technology, crypto philanthropists told Cointelegraph that they've witnessed “new wealth distribution mechanisms" never seen before. “Philanthropy has traditionally been seen as a high-cost-of-entry, individualistic activity but with web3, collective decision-making bodies like DAOs can use tools that streamline financial coordination and encourage more participation,” explained Omar Antila, Product Lead at Crypto for Charity. “Crypto enables new innovative fundraising strategies, like charitable NFT-drop campaigns, or allowing people to pool their crypto …