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 …

During Solana's Breakpoint conference in Lisbon, Portugal, executives at Brave and Solana Labs announced that the Brave browser would integrate with the Solana (SOL) blockchain and feature Solana decentralized applications, or dApps, on its browser. Simultaneously, Solana will promote the adoption of Basic Attention Tokens (BAT), the native digital currency of the Brave Browser, among its dApp users. We've partnered with @solana to integrate it into the browser and make it the default for DApp support. We will soon bring best-in-class wallet features for the Solana blockchain into our desktop & mobile browsers. #BreakpointLisbon https://t.co/tTB7NXKWjI — Brave Software (@brave) November …

The team behind interoperable blockchain network Cosmos (ATOM) recently hosted the Cosmoverse Conference live from Lisbon, Portugal. ‍‍Cosmonauts, #Cosmoverse it’s LIVE! This event is 100% from the community to the community, and we are proud to have our Cosmos Hub Community Pool as the main sponsor! Tune now to the livestream and prepare yourself to dive into cosmos’s wonders https://t.co/OzyD3bSdqB pic.twitter.com/QFXHu5l3B6 — Cosmos - Internet of Blockchains ⚛️ (@cosmos) November 5, 2021 Kicking off the two-day event, Zaki Manian, co-founder of Decentralized finance, or DeFi, project Sommel and former lead developer at Cosmos and Tendermint (Cosmos network's core contributor), discussed …

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 …

Facebook's decision this Thursday to rebrand itself to Meta—to indicate its plans to build an avatar-filled metaverse—helped spark a speculative rally across cryptocurrencies that belong to similar virtual world projects. Decentraland, a virtual place with its own economy, currency (MANA), and social events, accessible to anyone with a web browser, saw its market valuation exploding from $1.44 billion to $2.08 billion in the previous 24 hours. That happened as its native token MANA jumped circa 45% to $1.14 in the same period. At its intraday best, the Decentraland cryptocurrency was changing hands for $1.227 Friday, its highest level since May …

Calls for an altseason continue to grow louder as the price action in the altcoin market has been on the rise for a few days. Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues to consolidate below its all-time high near the $62,000 support level. Oftentimes, moves in altcoins center around one specific sector of tokens such as meme coins or decentralized finance protocols, but the current market is seeing rises across all sectors, which is possibly a sign that altseason is in fact heating up. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Secret (SCRT), Curve …

Privacy-focused blockchain file storage service Internxt has a lofty vision: leverage decentralized technology to break Big Tech’s monopoly over user data. Its first product, Internxt Drive, aims to compete as an alternative to Google Drive and Dropbox — without compromising personal privacy and data ownership. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Internxt CEO Fran Villalba Segarra described the core technology behind his product and explained why privacy should be considered a fundamental human right. He also explained the perils of centralized architecture, why Big Tech constantly violates user privacy and what’s in store for internet users in the era of …

The majority of blockchain applications are still yet to be widely used in everyday life, despite the technology's ability to provide advanced safety and privacy through encryption. For this reason, adoption of the technology is often placed at a standstill due to the inability of everyday users to see blockchain benefits as more than what cryptocurrencies provide. Across all industries, information security is becoming an essential consideration, as more and more applications are enabled to help people exchange personal and financial information. Many users have begun raising the question, "Is my data secure?" The blockchain has already proven that data …

Manta Network, a privacy layer project for the Polkadot ecosystem, has completed a new funding round to continue scaling decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases by boosting blockchain privacy. Announced Tuesday, Manta Network’s latest $5.5-million funding round included participation from more than 30 venture funds, including crypto hedge fund CoinFund and alternative investment firm ParaFi Capital. Other investors included Web 3. investment fund LongHash Ventures, CMS Holdings, Divergence, Spartan Group, Global Coin Ventures, SkyVision Capital, Zee Prime and SNZ. The funding has also featured some of the industry’s prominent individual investors from major cryptocurrency companies such as Digital Currency Group, Consensys …

Is anyone doing it yet? ArpaChain, a secure computation network compatible with blockchain, uses an MPC protocol that creates ways for multiple entities to collaboratively analyze data and extract data synergies while keeping each party’s data input private and secure. Earlier this year, Arpa joined the commission on Blockchain technologies and the crypto economy of Russia. The development team also engaged in a large-scale test for preserving privacy. ARPA’s team is currently focused on architecture design for Randcast. The project proposes a blockchain-based secure computation network of multi-party сomputation (MPC). ARPA cryptographically enables private smart contracts, unprecedented data-at-use privacy protection, …

Privacy is a complicated topic. Few would argue that privacy is not important. It’s generally more interesting to talk about things that are disputable. So, the limited arguments against privacy actually make it somewhat boring to discuss and easy to take for granted. As Edward Snowden famously said: “Arguing that you don't care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is like arguing that you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” However, what if your privacy is not a priority? What if your privacy is not guaranteed? What if everything you do is under …

Traders and the market are showing extreme optimism on Oct. 15 after rumors and an assortment of documents suggest that the path toward a Bitcoin ETF approval has fewer obstacles lying ahead. Following the positive news, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to nearly $63,000 for the first time since April and multiple altcoins saw their prices book triple-digit gains. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24 hours were NuCypher (NU), Keep Network (KEEP) and Orchid (OXT). NuCypher partners with Keep Network NuCyper is a protocol focused on creating decentralized encryption, …