Creating a cryptocurrency from scratch isn’t easy. It requires extensive knowledge of various programming languages and knowledge of blockchain use cases, among other things. Instead of going through that effort, those newer to the crypto space wanting to build their own project tend toward tokens. Tokens are a crypto asset that exists within an ecosystem, like a project built on Ethereum. A token may be compatible with all Ethereum-based assets sharing the same token standard but wouldn’t be compatible with cross-chain cryptocurrencies. Essentially, tokens enable one to build their blockchain-based business or idea without the massive effort required to build …

The United States military continues to explore blockchain technology to improve its processes. The U.S. Navy has signed a $1.5 million contract with Consensus Networks to develop a blockchain-enabled logistics system named HealthNet back in May. The project, built on IoT-focused blockchain IoTeX, is halfway complete, counting the days for its pilot scheduled for early 2022. According to the information shared with Cointelegraph, Consensus Networks aims to provide real-time monitoring and logistics for nearly 700,000 sailors and marines via the HealthNet platform. The developer picked the IoTex blockchain to meet the security and scalability requirements of the Navy. Nathan Miller, …

Welcome to the latest edition of Cointelegraph’s decentralized finance newsletter. Read on to discover why almost half of the liquidity providers on Uniswap v3 are losing capital due to impermanent loss. What you’re about to read is the smaller version of this newsletter. For the full breakdown of DeFi’s developments over the last week, subscribe below. Acala wins Polkadot’s debut parachain auction Decentralized finance protocol Acala was announced as the winning project in Polkadot’s inaugural parachain auction this week, beating fellow competitor Moonbeam to the finish line with a seismic total of 32.5 million DOT ($1.28 billion) raised from 24,934 …

Avalanche (AVAX) rose to a new price high on Nov. 18 and posted weekly gains after its developer, Ava Labs, entered a partnership with "Big Four" accountant firm Deloitte. The AVAX price reached a little over $110 after rising circa 16% week-to-date (WTD), with its circulated market cap hitting $23.76 billion, almost 0.93% of the total crypto market cap. In contrast, AVAX's top rival tokens, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), fell by over 13% and 12.50% WTD, respectively. AVAX adoption FOMO AVAX picked its bullish cues from Deloitte's decision to use the Avalanche blockchain for building a disaster relief …

Decentralized mortgage lender Bacon Protocol has minted its first seven mortgages as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, offering investors and borrowers new options for accessing the residential mortgage market. The interest rate for each NFT mortgage ranges from 1.5% to 3.1% on properties in four U.S. states, the company disclosed Wednesday. That’s the interest rate borrowers pay after minting their mortgage through Bacon Protocol. By comparison, the average mortgage rate in the United States ranged from 2.27% to 2.98% for the week ending Nov. 10, according to Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage peaked at 3.14% on Oct. 28. Bacon’s decentralized …

The Bitcoin (BTC) network successfully activated the Taproot soft fork following a 90% lock-in consensus from miners and mining pools between blocks 709,488 and 709,632. The milestone signifies the first major upgrade for Bitcoin since August 2017, which saw the launch of Bitcoin’s leading layer-two solution, the Lightning Network and Segregated Witness (SegWit). The Taproot upgrade aims to improve the scripting capabilities and privacy of the Bitcoin network. To do this, the soft fork introduces the concept of Merkelized Abstract Syntax Tree (MAST). According to a Taproot-dedicated website run by prominent Bitcoin developer Hampus Sjöberg: “[MAST] can help make smart …

Ether (ETH) bulls seem excited with the recent $4,870 all-time high that was hit on Nov. 10. While it was a new high in USD, ETH price is still 51% below June 2017’s price in Bitcoin (BTC) terms but it’s entirely possible that the 0.155 BTC level reached in the previous cycle reflected the overzealous expectations that were rampant during the initial coin offer (ICO) frenzy. The Ethereum network’s own success caused congestion and high fees, bringing the competition closer. For example, in mid-2017, the leading “competitors” would have been Ethereum Classic (ETC) and NEM (XEM) and combined, those represented …

Visa’s head of crypto Cuy Sheffield said that investing in cryptocurrency has become a lot cooler thanks to an influx of creative types drawn in by the booming NFT sector. Sheffield was speaking on day one of the Singapore Fintech Festival on Nov. 8. He said that a “whole new class” of mainstream users are flocking to crypto and that NFTs ar attracting people with a broad range of interests such as music, art and culture who are “setting up crypto wallets in waves.” “Crypto is becoming cultural, it’s becoming cool,” Sheffield said, and added that: “It used to be …

The NYCCoin is set to launch on Nov. 11 with the community-led proposal endorsed by New York City’s Mayor-elect Eric Adams. The NY-focused cryptocurrency is being launched by CityCoins, the same firm that provides the MiamiCoin. The project utilizes the Stacks Protocol built atop of the Bitcoin blockchain to enable smart contracts and issue its coins. CityCoins tweeted on Nov. 9 that it was activating NYCCoin mining this week after Adams stated on Nov. 4 that he wanted to have a “CityCoin for NYC” like in the case of Miami City. Adams followed that up earlier today by posting that …

Proof-of-work (POW) blockchain networks were all the rage in the early days of cryptocurrency when Bitcoin (BTC) set the standard for security and other projects followed suit in various attempts to offer a robust, scalable network that would either support payments of efficiently transmit data. Most protocols have now shifted to proof-of-stake but Kadena (KDA), a scalable layer-one blockchain protocol is still operating on the old proof-of-work model. According to the project, the network is capable of processing up to 480,000 transactions per second thanks to the use of “braided chains”. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that …

On Nov. 2, award-winning writer and director Quentin Tarantino announced he would auction off seven uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, built on the Secret Network (SCRT). The digitized assets will include the first uncut scripts of the movie, as well as secrets about the film and its creators. While the NFTs will feature public metadata, acting as a sort of front cover of the underlying digitized asset, only the NFT owner will have access to the never before seen content — a unique feature of the Secret Network. Regarding the drop, Tarantino said "Secret Network …

The total value secured by the Chainlink network has officially surpassed $75 billion, marking a new milestone for the decentralized oracle solution that has become synonymous with price data services for the rapidly growing DeFi sector. With the milestone, Chainlink has become “one of the most value securing forms of decentralized consensus on the planet,” according to protocol co-founder Sergey Nazarov. Chainlink is also one of the fastest-growing networks in all of crypto, with smart contract value secured growing by a factor of ten since last year. 2020 was a year of record growth for the #Chainlink Network. Here’s an …