Hacking in Web3 is easy because it uses the same pattern that’s been used since the inception of the internet — pretending to be someone else. Due to the complexity and the “cool factor” of Web3 projects, one can easily — and mistakenly — assume that it takes Mr. Robot level of advanced hacking techniques to pull off a successful attack. In truth, however, it only takes a sinister ad placed on Google search results, an impostor Telegram group or a deviously-crafted email to break the security barriers of the Web3 ecosystem. Blockchain projects can use top-notch smart contracts, securely …

On the back of the worst year for crypto hacks and exploits, the crypto community has given some advice to newbie investors going into 2023 — check your smart contract approvals and revoke access regularly. Reddit user 4cademy posted their advice to the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit on Jan. 1, noting that they had approved a slew of smart contracts over a two-year period and “thought it was time to check my approved smart contracts.” They found “nearly all” of their approvals were for “unlimited amounts," which spurred them to revoke approvals for all smart contracts in their wallet as it was …

Cointelegraph looks back on the best and worst-performing cryptocurrencies of 2022 among the top 100 assets by market capitalization. We used the highest and the lowest year-to-date (YTD) returns through the close of Dec. 25, 2022. Overall, Cryptoindex.com 100 (CIX100), an index that tracks the 100 best-performing cryptocurrencies, fell nearly 68% YTD, suggesting most top coins underperformed in 2022. Stablecoins are naturalomitted from the list below. Similarly, coins tracking the value of gold and similar mainstream assets have also been ignored. Instead, the coins mentioned below include decentralized currencies, smart contract tokens, exchange tokens, and others. Top five crypto of …

As hacks and exploits continue to go rampant within the crypto industry, the importance of finding vulnerabilities to prevent potential losses becomes of utmost importance. However, a Web3 developer highlighted that it’s not rewarding to do so. In a tweet, a Web3 developer claimed that he found a vulnerability in a Solana smart contract that would have affected several projects and around $30 million in funds. According to the dev, he reported and helped patch the vulnerabilities. However, when it was time to ask for a reward, the projects just started to ignore him. The developer noted that this sends …

Crypto-users may one day be able to automatically pay their electricity and telephone bills through their self-custodial crypto wallets, according to payments giant Visa. In a Dec. 20 blog post, Visa’s crypto thought leadership team proposed a solution that would allow providers to automaticall “pull” funds from users’ Ethereum-powered crypto wallets, without requiring the user to manually sign off on every transaction. Auto-payments for recurring bills are commonplace in the traditional banking world, giving users the ability to permit certain service providers to draw from their chosen bank accounts to pay off bills — such as a Netflix subscription or …

With the many possibilities opened by ChatGPT, executives within the Web3 space predicted how the artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by OpenAI would make its impact on the industry. From using the bot for smart contract auditing to enhancing user interactions with AI, various executives gave their thoughts on how the new AI tool will have an impact on the Web3 industry. Dmitry Mishunin, the CEO of the smart contract auditing firm HashEx, believes that ChatGPT will have an influence on the security of smart contracts. Mishunin told Cointelegraph that while the future is unsure, it can go both ways. …

More than 350 fraudulent cryptocurrency tokens were created per day this year, defrauding millions of investors, according to blockchain risk monitoring firm Solidus Labs. From the start of the year to Dec. 1, 117,629 “scam tokens” were deployed according to Solidus’ 2022 “Rug Pull Report.” That’s a 41% increase from the nearly 83,400 scam tokens Solidus detected in 2021. It marks the largest year on record for fraudulent tokens since the firm began monitoring in Sep. 2020. The report cited the BNB Chain as harboring the greatest number of scam tokens, claiming 12% of all BEP-20 tokens are scams. The …

After a spectacular run in 2021, almost everyone at least superficially knows what nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are. Although not many people are aware that NFTs constantly get new entrancing functionality and use cases. This article will highlight the role of an exciting feature: unlockable content in NFTs. We will break down for you its advantages and use cases and show how to add unlockables to your NFT collection. What is an NFT? Traditionally, NFTs are described as unique cryptographic digital assets on a blockchain that can be bought and sold online. They could be nearly anything, including digital pictures, songs, …

Chainlink has a busy start to December when it comes to development launches. The Chainlink (LINK) staking program opened up for early access on Dec. 6 and will expand access on Dec. 8. According to Chainlink, staking will further secure the project’s node ecosystem and alerting mechanism: “Stakers gain access to staking rewards for securing the network through timely and valid alerts, and in the future, for slashing and loss protection.” Historically, mainnet launches and staking incentives stir up a flurry of blockchain activity and data from on-chain analytics firm Arkham shows a sharp uptick in activity. Chainlink Staking went …

The metaverse platform Decentranland announced a new platform feature which allows its users who own virtual LAND to essentially become landlords. Owners can now officially rent out their property to other users on the platform for predefined periods of time. This allows users to earn passive income off of their metaverse assets. Decentraland classifies LAND owners as accounts or wallet addresses which own the smart contract for LAND, whether it be “a Parcel, an Estate, or both." All LAND rentals are performed in (MANA), the native token of Decentraland and paid upfront in total. The platform gave examples of digital …

Digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification company Animoca Brands has secured a majority stake in the Los Angeles-based music metaverse gaming platform Pixelynx. Animoca Brands expects its acquisition will expand on the integration between gaming and Web3 technologies and communities, the company announced on Dec. 6. The financing terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Animoca implied that it would continue to invest in and acquire digital studios that would aid in its effort to integrate the music industry with Web3 — a broad umbrella term that refers to some future iteration of the internet powered by blockchain technology. Pixelynx already …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) markets may have cooled down over the past year, but the technology powering these applications continues to advance. In particular, smart contract platforms that enable transactions to take place across DeFi applications are maturing to meet enterprise requirements. While it’s notable that enterprises have previously shown interest in DeFi use cases, smart contract limitations have hampered adoption. A report published by Grayscale Research in March puts this in perspective, noting that “Despite handling millions of transactions per day, smart contract platforms in their current state would be incapable of handling even 10% of the worlds’ internet traffic.” …