The revolution will not be televised — it will be minted. Earlier this year, we saw the meteoric rise (and fall) of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in mainstream media and popular culture. We all heard about them, but was the hype real? Top businessmen and media moguls, such as Mark Cuban and Gary Vee, still strongly advocate NFT use and the role smart contracts will play in the near future, while each week new NFT exchanges and drops continue to roll out. Jay-Z’s Twitter profile picture is an NFT CryptoPunk. With or without the buzz, one of the most powerful …

A new artist-focused NFT trading platform has unveiled a $20 million fund to help artists tokenize and sell their works. In the first week since launch, Revival NFT Marketplace has exploded in popularity, achieving total weekly transaction volumes of $1 million. The first artist to be featured on Revival was Edison Zhang, a well-known Chinese street artist, muralist, and graphic designer. The NFT of his artwork Crowded sold for 255 million LOL tokens — equivalent to $71,135. Another, The Beauty and Pain of Pangolin, sold for almost one million IOST. The IOST-powered Revival NFT platform has been built to be …

The non-profit arm of decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch plans to give away more than $23 million to users starting September 1. In an announcement on Tuesday, the 1inch Foundation said it would begin distributing 10 million of its native 1INCH in an effort to refund gas costs for users who stake the tokens. The foundation intends to issue monthly refunds for those who stake the token anytime between the first swap in a given month and the day it distributes 1INCH. At the time of publication, the price of 1INCH has risen more than 15% in the last 24 hours …

Global payments giant Visa will continue to support the development and adoption of the cryptocurrency industry as part of its business, the company said in its latest crypto update. In an official statement on Wednesday, Visa announced that its crypto-enabled cards processed more than $1 billion in total spending in the first half of 2021. The company noted that Visa is partnering with 50 major companies in the crypto industry as well as crypto card programs enabling users to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants worldwide. Given the size of spending on Visa crypto-linked cards, the company …

Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has already started losing its market dominance to Ether (ETH), according to Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky. In a Monday interview with Kitco News, Mashinsky argued that the Ether “flippening,” or the hypothetical scenario in which Ether overtakes Bitcoin as the world’s most valued cryptocurrency, is already happening right now. Mashinsky said that the flippening has already happened on Celsius. “We manage about $17 billion in deposits, or in customer coins, and the number one coin held in dollar terms is Ethereum,” he said. Mashinsky also predicted that Ether will have completely …

Alex Mashinsky, the CEO of centralized crypto money market Celsius, has revealed that a share of profits from the company's recent $200 million investment into Bitcoin mining infrastructure will be redistributed back to depositors. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Mashinsky stated the firm's mining expansion has added a fifth stream of yield generation for its crypto depositors — alongside lending funds to institutional investors, leveraging DeFi protocols, retail lending, and market making on centralized exchanges. In early June, Celsius announced it had invested more than $200 million into North American Bitcoin mining infrastructure and positions in Core Scientific, Rhodium Enterprises and Luxor …

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank and a major financial regulator, is challenging fintech companies to pitch solutions for a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. On Monday, the central bank officially announced a global challenge that seeks new retail CBDC solutions which enhance payment efficiencies and promote financial inclusion. As part of the initiative, the MAS is planning to distribute 50,000 Singapore dollars, or $37,000 USD at time of publication, to each of three challenge winners. They will also provide expert mentorship to 15 finalists in an effort t encourage rapid development of digital currency solutions. …

An app says it offers crypto rewards for shoppers who make purchases at some of the world’s best-known e-commerce platforms — including eBay, Amazon, Lazada, Best Buy and Nike. Inevitably, one of the downsides of indulging in a little bit of retail therapy every now and again means that you’re left with less cash after splashing out on a brand-new pair of jeans or some headphones. Social Good Foundation Inc., the operating company behind SocialGood, says that it aims to change the status quo — and end a vicious cycle that means many everyday consumers struggle to amass savings, irrespective …

Decentralized finance liquidity hub Kyber Network is set to become the next DeFi protocol to enter the expanding Polygon ecosystem. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Kyber announced the launch of Rainmaker, a liquidity mining program on the platform’s Dynamic Market Maker protocol that will commence on June 30 to mark Kyber’s expansion to Polygon. According to the announcement, the Rainmaker program will distribute $30 million in rewards to liquidity providers on the Kyber DMM across both Polygon and Ethereum. Of the total reward pool, 12.6 million Kyber Network Crystal (KNC) — about $25 million — will be distributed to …

Famous pizza chain Papa John’s has begun giving away cryptocurrency rewards for customers in the United Kingdom. According to the online offers of Papa John’s in theU.K., pizza lovers can receive 10 euro ($12) worth of Bitcoin (BTC) by spending 30 euro ($36) or more at select locations in the U.K. and Ireland. Users can claim the coins through cryptocurrency exchange Luno before Sunday. Though it was not specified why the BTC offer is available now, the franchise has a notable history with cryptocurrency. On May 22, 2010 — known as Bitcoin Pizza Day — Laszlo Hanyecz became the first …

Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, aims to fight intellectual property infringement in the space industry with blockchain technology. Roscosmos started testing an IP protection solution based on the Waves Enterprise blockchain platform, a hybrid blockchain platform developed by the eponymous local blockchain firm. Dubbed IP Guard, the blockchain-based tool detects violations of IP belonging to Roscosmos and other industry organizations. Using the tool, Roscosmos can reportedly maintain and verify a database of IP data objects as well as coordinate IP experts, such as lawyers, patent specialists and auditors. Waves Enterprise chief commercial officer Igor Kuzmichev said: “The most notable properties of …

A project will be distributing nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in the gift bags of 25 actors, actresses, and directors nominated for their roles in feature films. According to Nomine(eth), a project formed in partnership with online marketplace Rarible, Metaversal, and AdVenture Media, 25 people from the 115 nominated in this year’s Academy Awards ceremony will receive three nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in unofficial gift bags. The project will gift the NFTs to Hollywood insiders nominated in the best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best director categories. All the digital pieces designed by artists Jon Noorlander, …