Cointelegraph is following the development of an entirely new blockchain from inception to mainnet and beyond through its series, Inside the Blockchain Developer’s Mind. In previous parts, Andrew Levine of Koinos Group discussed some of the challenges the team has faced since identifying the key issues they intend to solve and outlined three of the “crises” that are holding back blockchain adoption: upgradeability, scalability, and governance. This series is focused on the consensus algorithm: part one is about proof-of-work, part two is about proof-of-stake and part three is about proof-of-burn. In this article, I want to leverage my unique perspective …

Cross-chain asset transfer has been around for several years. The concept developed almost as soon as multiple blockchains were developed and began to gain adoption. In its initial application, the transfers focused on swaps between the chain’s native assets and tokens, which led later to several decentralized exchanges. While exchange of assets has its utility, pure transfer and movement of assets and other data easily across blockchains without changing their identities is just as important, and is becoming more frequent. Currently, 400,000 Bitcoin (BTC), and increasing, exist and are used in transactions outside of the Bitcoin blockchain. A good amount …

By 2021, proof-of-stake (PoS) anchored itself as the consensus mechanism of choice for new and innovative blockchains. Ethereum 2.0, Cardano, Solana, Polkadot, Terra Luna — five out of the top 10 base layer blockchains run on PoS. It’s easy to see why PoS blockchains are popular: The ability to put tokens to work — verifying transactions and earning a reward in the process — allows investors to earn a passive yield while improving the security of the blockchain network they’d invested in. While blockchains make incredible progress, the financial products and services available to institutional investors struggle to keep up. …

In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain. On Nov. 14, Tezos-based nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Hic Et Nunc — which in Latin means “here and now” — abruptly shut down. Artists became worried about their NFTs on exhibit at the Hermitage Museum’s first-ever NFT exhibition, “Ethereal Aether” (Nov. 10 to Dec. 10), as well as Art Basel Miami’s first-ever NFT exhibition, “Humans + Machines: NFTs and the Ever-Evolving World …

Many exciting developments are coming to the space of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, ranging from Metaverse NFTs to fantasy soccer digital collectible cards and up to monster-battle NFT games. In fact, Cointelegraph Research predicts NFT sales will hit a record high of $17.7 billion this year. But one French startup is taking more of an ambitious approach with wine NFTs. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Samuel Balthazard and Yacin Kharroubi, the chief executive officer and chief product officer of World Wide Wines, respectively, discussed the logistics of making French wine available on the blockchain. Samuel is the descendant of …

Cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius has reportedly lost over $50 million in the exploit of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol BadgerDAO. As reported by Cointelegraph on Dec. 2, the attack targeted the protocol on the Ethereum network, reaping an unconfirmed $120 million in assets. According to one Redditor, the biggest alleged victim of the hack was an address that lost 896 Wrapped Bitcoin ($51 million). The address is supposed to be owned by Celsius “since it has interacted with other addresses known to be owned by them.” The address regularly transacts with an address that has a $67 million balance, $40 million …

On Thursday, registered investment adviser and fintech firm Defiance announced it has launched the first NFT-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the New York Stock Exchange Arca. The fund is listed under the ticker symbol NFTZ and has a management fee of 0.65% per year. The fund does not directly buy and hold NFTs to store in wallets. Instead, it tracks an index of companies operating or intending to venture into the NFT space, as well as the Metaverse. The BITA NFT and Blockchain Select Index, which the fund intends to mirror, is maintained by Germany-based fintech company BITA. Notable holdings …

On Thursday, Adidas announced it was entering the Metaverse in collaboration with Bored Ape Yacht Club, gmoney NFT, and PUNKS comic. In an article posted on the Adidas mobile app, the developers behind the initiative said the following: This autumn, Adidas, known for celebrating ideas at the bleeding edge of originality, it settling in at the frontier of creativity: The Metaverse. Our goal there? To see every one of its inhabitants thrive. The Metaverse is where anyone can express their most original ideas and be their most authentic selves, in whatever form they might take. And thanks to the blockchain …

The BadgerDAO decentralized finance protocol appears to have suffered from a cyber attack leading to the loss of a reported $10 million at the time of writing. The attack, which was made public at about 2 a.m. UTC on Dec. 2, targeted the protocol on the Ethereum network at contract address 0x1fcdb04d0c5364fbd92c73ca8af9baa72c269107. FYI, nasty frontend attack on Badger, looks like ~10m taken out of people's wallets using rug approval. If you've interacted with anything badger related in last few weeks, check and revoke asap https://t.co/vJPMmBZ3af — Spreek (@spreekaway) December 2, 2021 Users that have interacted with this contract are urged …

There has been no shortage of people and institutions that woefully underestimated the potential of cryptocurrency. Among the ranks of once-were Bitcoin naysayers is Wired, which destroyed the private key to a Bitcoin (BTC) wallet holding 13.34623579 BTC back in 2013 in order to make the point the cryptocurrency was nothing more than an “abstraction”. The Bitcoin in the now inaccessible address is now worth $761,000. Author Robert McMillan (who now is a reporter with the Wall Street Journal) set up a Butterfy Labs Bitcoin mining rig in the corner of his office at Wired to see what all the …

The rise of the Metaverse and Web 3.0 are set to disrupt multiple sectors including the billion-dollar global fashion industry. As the world moves from physical to digital, traditional fashion design can transform into virtual wearables that can be leveraged in both augmented reality (AR) and in real life. Megan Kaspar, managing director at Magnetic Capital and member of Red DAO — a fashion-focused decentralized autonomous organization — told Cointelegraph she believes that digital fashion nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, will be the largest NFT category of Web 3.0: “Digital fashion NFTs include clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories and more that can …

In a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, Adit EdTech Acquisition Corp, announced it would merge with Cincinnati-based Bitcoin (BTC) miner Griid at a $3.3 billion enterprise valuation. SPACs are blank check companies created for the sole purpose of acquiring other firms. After the deal consummates, Griid will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GRDI. The deal is expected to close by the first quarter of next year. According to its investor presentation, Griid expects to mine 637 BTC this year with a total …