Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, have been dominating the crypto market this year. With sales topping over $2.5 billion during the first half of 2021, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that both the crypto community and mainstream creators are launching NFTs in hopes of driving revenue and engagement. The rise of the Metaverse has also pushed the adoption of NFTs, demonstrating the value of nonfungibles for major brands and social media platforms alike. While NFT sales soar, the Ethereum blockchain continues to rule the space. For instance, a recent report from Cointelegraph Research found that Ethereum represented at least 97% …

Cointelegraph team members and leadership joined major media companies and tech figures this week at the three-day Web Summit 2021 in Lisbon. The issues surrounding social media giant Facebook were the focus for many at the largest tech conference in the world. The company has been the subject of intense media scrutiny following the release of internal documents by whistleblower Frances Haugen, in addition to its decision to enter the metaverse with its rebrand to Meta. Facebook investor Roger McNamee said he believed executives at the social media firm should face criminal charges due to their alleged role in pushing …

Although the price of Bitcoin (BTC) continues to hover around $30,000, industry experts are noting that there is a bullish long-term view. To put this into perspective, Alex Mashinsky, chief executive officer and co-founder of Celsius – the centralized cryptocurrency lending platform – told Cointelegraph at Bitcoin 2021 in Miami that he sees Bitcoin reaching $160,000 this year, or possibly a bit lower. “We haven’t seen the highs yet for 2021,” Mashinsky said. Mashinsky further remarked that the crypto market was bound for a correction, following Bitcoin’s recent all-time high of over $63,000: “When you go too high, too fast, …

As nonfungible token (NFT) art continues to develop as an industry, a new trend is quickly emerging: physical NFT galleries featuring digital, nonfungible pieces of unique artwork. Most recently, the largest Bitcoin (BTC) event in history — the Bitcoin 2021 conference — featured a peer-to-peer pop-up NFT art gallery with artwork from over 30 different crypto artists. Teodora Atanasova, VIP relations manager and founding team member of Nexo — the company that backed the Bitcoin Art Gallery — told Cointelegraph that over 100 pieces of art were sold during the two-day conference: "This demonstrates the impact physical NFT galleries can …

While countries like El Salvador have welcomed Bitcoin with open arms, other regions are pushing to legally ban the digital currency. Although this may be, some industry experts believe that Bitcoin (BTC) is here to stay — for good. For example, during an exclusive interview at Bitcoin 2021 in Miami, Yoni Assia, CEO of eToro, told Cointelegraph that he considers Bitcoin to be the “king of crypto,” noting that the most popular digital currency is here to stay: “I'll be surprised if we don't see a significant rise in the price of Bitcoin over the next three to five years, …

Dubbed as “the largest Bitcoin event in history,” Bitcoin 2021 consisted of 12,000 attendees from across the globe. Undoubtedly, Bitcoin (BTC) adoption is growing at an impressive rate. Yet judging by the attendance at Bitcoin 2021, men still appear to be the primary audience for Bitcoin. While the lines to the bathroom made it obvious that there were nowhere near as many female attendees as there were males, there were also fewer women speakers than men at Bitcoin 2021. For example, only 27 women are featured on the Bitcoin 2021 website, which consists of over 150 speakers in total. Although …

As part of the most recent edition of Cointelegraph Talks on May 5, Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino, TradeBlock director of institutional research John Todaro, and Poolin mining pool VP Alejandro De La Torre came on today's panel, bringing a bevy of insights on Bitcoin's (BTC) upcoming halving, the COVID-19 pandemic and more. The current pandemic causes uncertainty Although Bitcoin largely lies outside the mainstream financial ecosystem the asset has still reacted to COVID-19 and its related mayhem. "COVID-19 has definitely had an impact on the space," Todaro said of crypto on May 5, noting the presence of uncertainty and increased …

On April 29, Cointelegraph participated in a fireside chat event organized by the Webit Foundation. The panel, with the title of “Can blockchain be a solution for the upcoming economic crisis,” featured Roger Ver from Bitcoin.com as the main speaker. Like all events during the Coronavirus pandemic, the panel was held virtually, with its participants dialing in via video conference. The talk was hosted by Dr. Plamen Russev, executive chairman of Webit Foundation. The chat featured Roger Ver, Bitcoin.com’s executive chairman, and Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr, managing editor at Cointelegraph, as a Q&A moderator. Ver’s answers at the panel can be …

Last week saw a whole host of world leaders — including United States President Donald Trump and Prince Charles of Wales, along with a number of other prominent dignitaries — come together to attend the 2020 iteration of the World Economic Forum that was held in Davos, Switzerland Jan. 20–24. As part of the five-day event, the WEF announced its decision to establish a global consortium for governing digital currencies — including stablecoins. Following the news, the price of Bitcoin proceeded to swiftly rise from around the $8,200 mark to $8,455 within an hour’s time. The consortium will consist primarily …

If you wanted to go deep on blockchain at the World Economic Forum, you needed to attend the conference’s side events. Perhaps the largest of these crypto-friendly events was CV Summit, an all-day conference organized by CV Labs. The Switzerland-based organization (operated by CV VC) endeavors to offer crypto entrepreneurs whatever resources they need to succeed, from fundraising help to coworking space. On Thursday, January 23, that meant offering a full agenda of speakers and panel presentations to crypto-hungry Davos attendees. The docket was loaded with speeches by high-profile crypto people, from MakerDAO’s Rune Christensen to IOHK’s Charles Hoskinson and …

“Travel rule” was a term frequently heard at the V-20 Summit, which took place in parallel with the G-20 meeting in Osaka, Japan from June 28 to 29. Regulators and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) — such as exchanges from different countries — met in Osaka for two days and discussed how to implement the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) latest guidance on how to prevent cryptocurrencies being used for money laundering. The travel rule requires VASPs to collect and transfer customer information during transactions. While its objective is to protect consumers, it is controversial from both technological and philosophical …

Last week, an annual forum featuring Russia’s top people from the economic sector was held in St. Petersburg, and cryptocurrencies were a hot topic there. Notably, government agents and state-controlled businesses were vocal about their interest in blockchain, but seemed to distance themselves from digital tokens. Meanwhile, the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is still missing in the country, despite the fact that local authorities have been tasked to prepare the needed amendment a while ago. So, where is Russia heading in terms of crypto and blockchain? Brief introduction to Russia’s relationship with cryptocurrencies Russia’s stance on cryptocurrencies has been mixed …