Data collection, aggregation and analysis have become some of the largest profit generators for companies like Facebook and Google who have designed an array of algorithms purposed with harnessing user data in order to better optimize the user interfaces of their applications and their online marketplaces. While collecting the data is the ultimate objective, the events of the past few years have also shown that securing it and ensuring that the privacy of customers and users is protected is imperative. Combining data collection with the ability to securely store it on a distributed ledger seems like a natural fit, and …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have rapidly become the new hot topic in the cryptocurrency sector, as evidenced by Litecoin (LTC) creator Charlie Lee comparing the current spike in NFT interest to the ICO mania of 2017. The recent pullback in the cryptocurrency market hit decentralized finance tokens (DeFi) pretty hard, but as Bitcoin's (BTC) price recovered the $50,000, DeFi and NFT tokens bounced back rapidly. One project that has successfully capitalized on the DeFi and NFT boom is Aavegotchi. The project benefits from its association with Aave, while also focusing on the creation of value-infused NFTs that are limited in minting. …

The CBOE has filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to list the Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund proposed by asset manager Van Eck. If the Bitcoin ETF receives a green signal from the regulators, it could boost market sentiment and attract several new investors to the crypto space. A strong bull run usually results in pockets of excesses. During the 2017 crypto bull run, the initial coin offerings had witnessed a bubble. Litecoin (LTC) creator Charlie Lee believes that the current nonfungible token mania has many similarities with the ICO boom. Lee is not alone, several …

The start of a new month has brought renewed fervor from the cryptocurrency market as Bitcoin's (BTC) price steadily climbed from a low of $43,537 on Feb. 28 to a high of $49,200 during Monday's early trading hours. As traders get excited about positive moves in the market and look to reenter positions, the increasing use of decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to drive fees on the Ethereum network higher, shining the spotlight on the top layer-two protocols that offer working solutions. Three protocols that have emerged as top layer-two contenders with working platforms are Polygon, xDai and Loopring. Each offers …

Coinbase’s IPO announcement has been hailed as “a milestone for the crypto industry” by Fortune Magazine. Similar to the Netscape IPO announcement that signaled the legitimacy of the internet, Coinbase’s impending public offering signals to the public at large that cryptocurrency trading is legitimate, legal and secure in the eyes of the Securities and Exchange Commission. And now, investors have an opportunity to own stock on the largest crypto trading platform in the United States. As a result, many see an investment in Coinbase as an investment in the future of crypto trading. It is the highest volume U.S. crypto …

The latest “evil contract” exploit has netted an attacker over $14 million in stolen funds. Furucombo, a tool designed to help users “batch” transactions and interactions with multiple decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols at once, fell victim to the attack at roughly 4:45 pm UTC, which centered on token approvals from users. The attacker’s address currently has $14 million worth of various cryptocurrencies, but the attack appears to be larger as they have been transferring ETH to privacy mixer Tornado Cash in batches over the last hour. This attack is conceptually similar to the $20 million “evil jar” attack that struck …

DeFi has steadily grown in prominence over the past year thanks in large part to the strong foundations established by decentralized exchanges (DEX) that enable easy access to the latest tokens and projects. While there have been previous iterations of DEX user interfaces, such as IDEX or Etherdelta, it wasn’t until Uniswap launched that trading in the DeFi network really took off and facilitated the launch of the finance tokens. Here are six of the top-performing tokens in the decentralized finance sector. UNI/USDT Uniswap has risen from the humble beginnings of a simple user interface that allowed for a token …

Alpha Finance Lab (ALPHA) experienced a price breakout on Feb. 25 as a series of significant partnerships has brought renewed interest in the cross-chain DeFi platform. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that following the announcements, ALPHA price surged to $1.78 but Bitcoin's recent struggle to hold $50,000 as support led to a sell-off among altcoins and ALPHA currently trades at $1.31. One of the reasons for the sudden surge was the Feb. 25 announcement of a partnership with Compound Finance (COMP) that will allow Compound users to integrate with Alpha Homora and lend assets across platforms. Due to …

The Komodo project launched on Friday the stable beta of its latest product, AtomicDEX. The platform seeks to enable trustless atomic swaps between different blockchains, currently connecting Ethereum and its tokens to blockchains like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Qtum. Using atomic swaps allows users to trade directly with the native tokens. Someone buying Ether (ETH) with Bitcoin (BTC) would just exchange ownership of the respective coins on their blockchains, without having to use intermediary tokenized representations. The integration comes within a dedicated multiblockchain wallet built by Komodo, which includes the atomic swap feature. The beta of the trading system officially …

Mettalex, a spinoff project of Fetch.ai, announced Friday that it has officially launched a decentralized exchange for commodities trading, offering another compelling use case in how blockchain technology is disrupting traditional finance. The new exchange aims to disrupt the commodities market through blockchain applications and other emerging technologies, such as machine learning and the Internet of Things. Mettalex has been designed to improve upon existing automated market makers and blockchain oracles. The company has said its automated market markers act as a party to all trades and ensure that the platform is fully collateralized. Initially, the exchange will provide access …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) strong bull run and the immense popularity of the decentralized finance space have attracted several new investors to cryptocurrencies. A report from Crypto.com shows a massive increase in crypto users as the figure rose from 66 million in May 2020 to 106 million by January this year. Contrary to the popular notion that new crypto users are mostly speculating on the price, data from Unchained Capital shows that investors who bought in the past three to five years are still holding and are not yet tempted to book profits. Unlike the 2017 bull market where many low-cap altcoins …

Ethereum-powered decentralized exchanges, or DEXes, continue to surge despite high transaction fees — with DEXes processing more than $120 billion in 2021 so far. According to Ethereum market analytics platform Dune Analytics, combined DEX volumes posted a new record of $63 billion in January. February's volume currently sits at $59 billion and is on track to hit $67 billion at the month’s end. DEXes have already processed more volume in the first two months of 2021 than during all previous years combined. The Ethereum-powered DEX sector is still dominated by Uniswap and Sushiswap, who account for 65% of February’s trade …