Category: Blockchain

Lightning Network, a Layer 2 payment network built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, has reached an all-time high in terms of capacity, or the amount of bitcoin (BTC) locked in payment channels. The payment channel capacity on the Lightning Network has grown 63% since the beginning of last year, according to data from The Block Research. Currently, the network has over 5,490 BTC ($128 million) in capacity, up from 3,350 BTC on Jan. 1, 2022. This is being seen as a positive sign for the adoption of Bitcoin transactions.…

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Technology company Digby has partnered with American furniture brand Heller to launch a tool for establishing the authenticity of physical design products using the blockchain. Named Digby Design Authenticator (DDA), the system allows designers and brands to link each of their products to a non-fungible token (NFT), which effectively acts as a digital certificate of authenticity. Recorded on a blockchain, this provides an unchangeable, decentralised log of the product’s origin and ownership to prevent counterfeits. The first product to use DDA is Heller’s Vignelli Rocker, a plastic rocking chair designed…

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The popular messaging app Telegram announced on Oct. 26 the official launch of its new marketplace built on the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain. The marketplace will serve as an auction platform on which rare Telegram handles will be up for grabs. The idea was first mentioned back in August on app founder Pavel Durov’s Telegram channel after the TON Foundation successfully auctioned off TON DNS domains. Telegram will start with auctions of four- and five-letter handles, with this being the first time shorter handles will be made available to…

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Apple released a new set of rules for crypto apps in the App Store that reflects the company’s stance on NFTs, crypto and payment. Considering the size of the iOS applications market, it will certainly have an enormous effect on the development path that decentralized applications will choose for the foreseeable future. Enabling NFT buying From now on, developers will be able to leverage IAP to sell NFTs or offer services tied to non-fungibles like minting, listing and transferring. Technically, Apple officially created a gateway into crypto for mobile users.…

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Solana SOL/USD is a blockchain platform that made a reputation for itself due to its high speed as well as efficiency. The SOL token is the native cryptocurrency used to pay for the transaction fees on top of the network, and ever since the launch of the project in 2017, Solana has grown into one of the largest projects that facilitate non-fungible tokens (NFTs), among decentralized applications (dApps). Solana has become the go-to blockchain network for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) throughout the past few years due to the fact that it…

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Italian carmaker Alfa Romeo has unveiled its latest vehicle, the Tonale SUV. The firm claims that it is the first in the industry to connect each vehicle to its own blockchain-based token, which can keep track of the car’s whole life cycle. One of the most distinctive features of this SUV is that each car is linked to an accompanying nonfungible token (NFT). The Tonale NFT, according to Alfa Romeo, certifies a car upon purchase and then simply records and keeps data during the vehicle’s lifespan. Francesco Calcara, head of…

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Recent Chainalysis data showed that users moved over $40 billion worth of crypto to Ethereum’s nonfungible token (NFT) smart contracts in 2021. While this reflects the rapid growth of NFTs, there are still many obstacles when it comes to minting these tokens, and one startup is addressing this problem by doing all the behind-scene processes. NFTs have been all the rage during the last few months, and most experts agree that the trend is here to stay given the transformative potential for a lot of industries, from digital art to…

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The partnership will see Coinbase expand on purchasing options for Coinbase NFT — its upcoming NFT marketplace. At present, to purchase an NFT, users require a Web3 wallet and a cryptocurrency such as Ethereum, and must then spend those on NFTs in an online marketplace. By teaming up with Mastercard, the exchange hopes to reduce friction in the NFT buying process. “Coinbase wants to simplify the user experience to allow more people to join the NFT community. Just as we helped millions of people access Bitcoin for the first time…

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Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter will be launching a new company that will eventually see its website move to a blockchain-based system on Celo. In a Wednesday blog post, CEO Aziz Hasan and co-founder Perry Chen said Kickstarter would be developing an open-source protocol that will live on the Celo blockchain. The two execs cited the blockchain’s efforts in minimizing its environmental impact — being carbon negative — in addition to the fact it was open source. “We are entering a significant moment for alternative governance models, and we think there’s an…

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Although the project was a success, the central banks warned that significant rulebooks, contingency procedures and monitoring capabilities were needed to ensure the success of a CBDC. On Wednesday, the Banque de France (BdF), the BIS Innovation Hub (BISIH) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced the success of a pilot run of a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC), titled Project Jura. The project, which aimed to investigate cross‑border settlement with euro and Swiss franc wCBDCs, was launched on a third‑party distributed ledger technology platform. The experimental technology explored…

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The Australian government has opened applications for grants up to $3 million each in funding to blockchain projects targeting supply chain tracking in the minerals industry and tax tracking in the food and beverage sector. Applications are open until April 29, with any sole trader, partnership, publicly-funded research organization, or entity incorporated in Australia that possesses an Australian Business Number eligible to apply. The money will be used to fund two distinct pilots. The Food and Beverage Provenance pilot hopes to support a team addressing the complexities associated with spirits…

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The NFT exhibition will be part of the “Hermitage 20/21” project. Russia’s State Hermitage Museum, the second-largest art museum in the world, is preparing to host a digital art exhibition involving non-fungible tokens. Scheduled to take place in 2021, the Hermitage’s NFT project will be Russia’s first exhibition in the field of NFT art, the museum officially announced Thursday. The Hermitage’s contemporary art department is organizing the exhibition, which will be part of its “Hermitage 20/21” project. The announcement read: “Non-fungible tokens have become a new form of securing rights…

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