Innovative cities across America are racing to become the next hot spot for cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. Miami was the first city to adopt its own part of CityCoins last year, allowing it to implement its own cryptocurrency called “MiamiCoin” to be used for civic engagement. New York City has also made a name for itself as a crypto-friendly city by implementing educational initiatives and with Mayor Eric Adams receiving his paycheck in Bitcoin (BTC) in January this year. Austin takes a strong stance Most recently, Austin — the state capital of Texas that goes by the slogan “Keep Austin …

Cointelegraph is following the development of an entirely new blockchain from inception to the mainnet and beyond through its series, Inside the Blockchain Developer’s Mind, written by Andrew Levine of Koinos Group. Scalability is a popular topic in blockchain, but few ever explain what we mean by that term. When we at Koinos Group talk about scaling what we mean is scaling to the masses. Creating a blockchain that everyone on Earth can use. That means the blockchain network has to be able to support that level of load, which is typically what people mean when they refer to scalability. …

Since their explosion last year, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have shown their appeal to collectors, investors and traders alike. They have especially gained attention in the art world, where an item’s provenance is everything, and owning the official, unique version of an item is much more valuable than a copy or duplicate. Some have postulated that artists creating and storing pieces on-chain can use the technology as proof of ownership for popular art forms. Among the various artforms to take advantage of NFTs, photography has also found its place, but what is the immediate value it brings for artists and consumers? …

Recent geopolitical events have polarized the world. Partisanship and the ideological divide have further balkanized the internet, whose gatekeepers have trampled upon the rights of millions to access financial services. Nations are gradually waking up to the reality of having neutral protocols and national stacks. Hailed as the next generation of the internet, Web3 will be sanction-resistant and free of data silos. Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum and creator of Polkadot and Kusama, coined the term Web3 in 2004. Five years later, the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper was released in 2009, which further cemented the imperative of decentralization. Is the …

What is an NFT? NFTs are nonfungible tokens. The adjective “nonfungible” is often used in economics to represent features such as uniqueness and non-interchangeability. In the crypto space, nonfungibility simply indicates that one item cannot be exchanged for another. A “token” as a unit of account is basically a certificate of validity stored on the decentralized blockchain, making digital assets traceable and accessible to everyone. As a result, NFTs are a one-of-a-kind virtual currency that can fall into pretty much any category and usually take the shape of paintings, videos, music, collectible items in video games or any other type …

What we call Web3 will be centered on an ecosystem of technology products that are decentralized, based on blockchain networks, interoperable, and without a traditional trusted validator (such as corporations, institutions and government bodies). But exactly what does this mean? What is Web3? Web3, a term coined by Gavin Wood, Web3 Foundation president, is the next phase of the internet and, perhaps, of organizing society as a whole. Web1 was the era of open, decentralized protocols, where most online activity involved browsing individual static pages. Web2, which we are now experiencing, is the era of centralization, in which a large …

In the newest episode of Cryptopedia, Cointelegraph's Jackson DuMont dissects Web3 and gives an insightful overview of how the next generation of the internet works. DuMont discusses the basics of Web3 and how it’s different from its predecessors Web1 and Web2. Web1 was the first version of the internet that occurred from 1991 to 2003. It involved static and read-only HTML web pages with simple design, and DuMont described Web1 users as only "consumers of content." On the other hand, Web2 brought innovations like images, videos, applications, games and ads. The second iteration of the internet relied on the exchange …

The Central Bank of Jamacia recently announced that it would be launching its central bank digital currency (CBDC), dubbed the Jamaican Digital Exchange, or Jam-Dex, in the first quarter of 2022. According to the Jamaican government, the national digital currency will help to lower transaction costs while allowing the unbanked to access financial services. It is estimated that over 17% of Jamaicans are unbanked, but it is feared that many more are underbanked. This is largely due to systemic financial sector impediments. High transaction costs, in particular, are a huge limitation. Consequently, many Jamaicans believe that banks are a preserve …

South Korean tech giant LG Electronics has officially added blockchain and cryptocurrency as new business areas in its corporate charter. According to a local South Korean news report, LG added two distinct crypto-related objectives during its annual general meeting on Thursday, March 24. The objectives include “the development and selling of blockchain-based software” and “the sale and brokerage of cryptocurrency,” which led to conjecture whether LG would establish some form of crypto exchange. When asked about the company’s intention to start its own exchange or platform, an LG spokesperson tempered any speculation, stating, "Nothing has been decided yet. We just …

Meta, formerly Facebook, has filed eight trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, relating to blockchain technology and its proposed metaverse. The applications and their fields of interest are as follows, organized by serial number: 97320155: Online social networking and dating services, including a specific branch tailored for networking between cryptocurrency investors. 97320153: Design and development of computer hardware and software relating to Web 3.0, including gaming, e-commerce, blockchain transactions, etc. 97320149: Entertainment and electronic publishing services, partly within virtual reality. 97320147: Telecommunication services for electronic assets held on its platform. 97320146: Financial transaction processing …

“The Market Report” with Cointelegraph is live right now. On this week’s show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss which are the top coins to buy in a bear market. But first, market expert Marcel Pechman carefully examines the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down. Next up, the main event. Join Cointelegraph analysts Benton Yaun, Jordan Finneseth and Sam Bourgi as they debate which are the top coins to buy in a bear market. Going up first will …

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has received an electronic money license from the Central Bank of Ireland. It was the 18th organization to receive the license, and the first since October 2020. Gemini joined such license holders as Coinbase, Stripe, Square and Meta. The e-money license, which Gemini applied for in early 2020 and received March 14, will allow it to issue electronic money, provide electronic payment services and handle electronic payments for third parties. It will also enable the company to passport those services to European Economic Area countries, which are European Union members, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Gemini already provides …