Cryptocurrencies and the wider blockchain ecosystem are helping change the status quo of how we conduct our day-to-day lives. With these emerging technologies, Web3 is being ushered in as a permissionless and open innovation using middleware blockchain protocols. By doing so, they’re replacing middlemen software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies by capturing value at a greater level. Middleware protocols are by no means new. After all, Web2 is supported by middleware applications, the main one being HTTP. Middleware is what enables users to interact with each other and with applications in a computing environment. And with Web3, there are a variety of protocols …

In a period of market downturns, rumors of crypto bans, and decentralized finance, or DeFi scams, blockchain enthusiasts can be sensitive to the smallest abnormalities within projects they follow and sometimes erroneously fear for the worse. The day prior, CertiK, a leading cybersecurity ranking platform in the blockchain space, issued a warning via Twitter regarding CryptoCars, alleging that it was a "rug pull." However, the staff quickly deleted the post as it was a false alarm. Via a series of Twitter screenshots obtained by Cointelegraph, CertiK first claimed that the website and Telegram for CrytoCars were down. However, users quickly …

On Friday, credit rating agency Fitch published a research piece about Russia's proposed ban on cryptocurrencies. Although the report agreed with the Central Bank of Russia's (CBR) position that the ban would limit its financial system's exposure to risks, it also cautioned that such proposal could "hold back the diffusion of technologies that could improve productivity." In addition, Fitch warned: Suppose this slows the spread of crypto-driven innovations that, for example, improve the speed and security of payments or asset liquidity via tokenization. In that case, it could over time weaken this aspect of the Russian banking sector's operational environment …

In a Tweet posted by user @cryptotutor Friday, a screenshot appears to show a 27% spread between stablecoin Magic Internet Money (MIM) and USD Coin (USDC) trading pair on decentralized exchange, or DEX, Uniswap (UNI). Both have a theoretical peg of 1:1 against the U.S. Dollar. "Magic Internet Money," joked cryptotutor, as he attempted to swap approximately $1 million in MIM but received a quote for only 728.6k USDC. Others quickly took to social media to complain as well. In another screenshot, user @DeFiDownsin allegedly received a quote to swap $984k worth of MIM for just 4,173 in USDT on …

In a press release published Friday, three-time NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will partner with digital currency exchange Crypto.com to support educational and workforce development opportunities focused on Web 3.0. Specifically, as told by local news outlet Akron Beacon Journal, the partnership will help 1,600 kids in LeBron James' hometown of Akron, Ohio about the technology behind cryptocurrencies and how it will benefit their career paths in the future. "Blockchain technology is revolutionizing our economy, sports and entertainment, the art world, and how we engage with one another. I want to ensure that communities like the …

According to both Cardano Blockchain Insight and pool.pm, the Cardano (ADA) network has maintained record capacity for nearly two weeks due to the launch of decentralized exchange, or DEX, SundaeSwap; the first of its kind to go live on Cardano. At the same time, the total value locked for the ADA blockchain reached a record of approximately $80 million, despite the recent fall in the token's price from the ongoing down market. The current average blockchain load of the network hovers at 93.19%, which means that 93.19% of its blocks are being filled. In context, the metric amounted to only …

In a blog post published Wednesday, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), expressed his wishes to make nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, soulbound as with the namesake item class in popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, or WoW. In outlining his reasons, Buterin explained that if someone shows they own an NFT that is obtainable by doing X, such as attending an auction, it is not possible to tell if the person actually obtained it from the auction themselves in attendance or simply bought the NFT via the secondary market. An example of a soulbound item in WoW | Source: Blizzard Watch …

Anchor, the flagship savings protocol of the Terra Luna (LUNA) ecosystem, has seen its reserves decline by 35.7% in the past seven days according to Terra.Engineer. Since the beginning of December, the amount of Terra USD Stablecoin (UST) held in the "terra1tmnqgvg567ypvsvk6rwsga3srp7e3lg6u0elp8" smart contract has declined by over 50%, with only $35.7 million remaining. As a savings protocol, users deposit their UST assets via their wallets and earn up to 20% yields as their principal is lent out to borrowers, who pay interest on the loan amount. Borrowers must deposit collateral to ensure the lender can get their money back …

On Thursday, Sky Mavis, the creator of monster-battle game Axie Infinity, released its much-anticipated RON governance token. The token is based on its Ethereum (ETH) sidechain Ronin Network. Its purpose includes paying for transactions on Ronin, staking, and participating in community proposals. According to its developers, Ronin has over 250,000 unique daily active addresses. When ranked by the number of weekly active users, Katana, Ronin's decentralized exchange (DEX), is the No. 2 largest DEX. In addition, the blockchain surpassed $5 billion in deposited value, with 15% of all NFT transactions occurring on the network in 2021. In total, there have …

Storytelling is a part of being human. Once originating in cave paintings and oral stories around the fire, and later evolving to radio, internet and now entire brands leading the world by an account that rallies real passion and like-minded communities into cult status. With the power of the story running so deep, it is no wonder that the growing popularity behind nonfungible tokens (NFTs) seeks the same path for project differentiation. News of NFTs like an EtherRock selling for 1.3 million makes it hard for users to identify one project from the next, especially when some seem to only …

On Thursday, a proposal to fund decentralized autonomous organization zkDAO passed via treasury protocol BitDAO with close to 200 million votes cast. The proposal was authored by Matter Labs — the organization behind Ethereum scaling protocol zkSync — and Mirana Ventures. Utilizing zk-Rollups, zkSync and its family of technologies will build layer-2 infrastructure capable of returning succinct proofs to the Ethereum network without sending the entire data. The result, if implemented, would mean a vastly speedier network. Zero-knowledge-based solutions have attracted much attention in recent months due to recurrently high levels of congestion on Ethereum, as well as exuberant gas …

On Tuesday, Ryan Wyatt, head of gaming at YouTube, announced he would be leaving the video-sharing platform in February. Partly due to his leadership, YouTube Gaming sees over 250 million daily logged users per day with hundreds of billions of watch time each year. Wyatt cited his passion for blockchain and Web 3.0 development in explaining his resignation. H will soon join Polygon Studios as its CEO. Polygon Studios is the gaming and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, arm of the namesake layer two Ethereum (ETH) scaling network (MATIC). Polygon plans to commit $100 million to projects led by its subsidiary …