x
Image Source: Pixabay
Siemens issues $64M digital bond on a public blockchain
Siemens shared that the process of issuing digital bonds is much faster and more efficient than traditional bond-issuing methods.
German engineering and technology giant Siemens has become one of the first companies in Germany to issue a digital bond on a public blockchain. It’s worth 60 million euros ($64 million) and has a maturity of one year, in accordance with Germany’s Electronic Securities Act.
According to the Feb. 14 announcement, the bond was sold directly to investors such as DekaBank, DZ Bank, and Union Investment, without the need for central clearing and paper-based global certificates. Siemens noted that the process enabled transactions to be executed much faster and more efficiently than traditional bond-issuing methods.
Siemens emphasized the benefits of using digital bonds over traditional bond-issuing methods in the announcement. According to the company, “issuing the bond on a blockchain offers a number of benefits compared to previous processes. For instance, it makes paper-based global certificates and central clearing unnecessary. What’s more, the bond can be sold directly to investors without needing a bank to function as an intermediary.” Read More
What Happens When the Bitcoin Blockchain Produces an Empty Block
Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital currency that is renowned for its durability, security, and dependability. A new block is added to the network on average every ten minutes, and the miner who successfully creates the block is rewarded with 6.25 Bitcoin, which is equivalent to almost $130,000.
On the other hand, the Bitcoin blockchain is known to sometimes spring a surprise on both watchers and players.
Nodes around the network confirmed the existence of a totally empty block at the height of 776,339 blocks. The fact that the block was uploaded to the Bitcoin network with no transactions included caused considerable consternation among those involved in the cryptocurrency industry. What precisely is meant by the term "empty block," and how does this phenomenon occur?
To begin, while the presence of an empty block on the network may at first seem peculiar, this kind of thing is really rather common. Block 774486 was the location where it happened a little more than two weeks ago to the day.
Miners are encouraged to mine blocks as rapidly as possible, and as a result, they may mine a block even if they have not yet received any transactions that they may include in the block. When this occurs, the block will continue to be empty. Read More
How Web3 gaming can reach mainstream adoption
Web3 gaming is growing fast, but it still has to address several challenges to reach mainstream adoption.
Web3 gaming is growing fast, but it still has to address a few aspects to target the mainstream audience. Previously, blockchain games that implemented the play-to-earn (P2E) model made waves, but the latest bearish market and a series of token price crashes showed that they might not be as sustainable as initially thought. The next generation of Web3 games has to focus on other economic models that empower players.
The problem with P2E games is that the majority of them are not oriented toward gamers and rarely integrate fun gameplay to engage more casual players. The model puts great emphasis on making profits while ignoring the fun part.
A 2022 report released by the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) showed that industry professionals found poor gameplay and complex onboarding as the main challenges that hinder mass adoption. Read More
Polygon sets late March launch date for its zkEVM mainnet beta
The Ethereum scaling solutions provider is preparing to launch its long-awaited Ethereum Virtual Machine roll-up technology.
The long-awaited scaling upgrade from Ethereum layer-2 solution provider Polygon has been announced, with the beta launch of its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) mainnet slated for March 27.
In a Feb. 14 blog post, Polygon said that after three and a half months of “battle testing,” the system will be ready for the mainnet launch next month.
It's been touted as “seamless scaling for Ethereum,” and was launched as a testnet in December last year.
The development of the zk-rollup scaling technology has been ongoing for the past three years. During that time, the Polygon zkEVM system has hit several milestones noted by the team.
These include the deployment of more than 5,000 smart contracts, the generation of over 75,000 zk-proofs, more than 84,000 wallets and two public third-party audits. Read More
Also, Updates On New Integrations And The Markethive Wallet
As the bear market continues with its crypto-cleanse and traders bemoan the adverse price action, some industry leaders opine these conditions will eradicate bad actors and create more significant opportunities for upcoming projects and future participants. Several leading crypto analysts and engineers embrace the idea that this is the time to engage in moves leading to the loftiest gains when the bull cycle returns.
Markethive stands firm with these sentiments and continues to build its next-generation entrepreneurial platform and be ready for the market-cleansed bull run. Those on the Markethive journey may be aware that new features are being integrated into the newsfeed in preparation for the five-channel dashboard housing various feeds.
The innovative five-channel dashboard integration will consist of five newsfeeds—the general newsfeed, the blog, the video channel, curation, and surveys.
It will significantly streamline your activities and business facilitation and will include a search engine so you can build your personal algorithms. This will save time and effort by eliminating what you don’t want to see in your newsfeeds, be more intuitive, and enhance the user experience.
CEO of Markethive, Thomas Prendergast, and the team of engineers have made substantial headway with the wallet. It is all but done, and the release is imminent. It’s not a simple wallet that just transfers coins. It is a complete portfolio and accounts of all your transactions, payments, and affairs, including your ILPs. The wallet comprises fourteen major foundational processes and is your internal wallet on the Markethive database. Read More
Wyoming lawmakers pass bill to prevent forced disclosure of private keys
If Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signs the bill, from July 1 individuals in Wyoming will be protected from being forced to divulge their private keys, with one limited exception.
Wyoming lawmakers have passed a bill that will prohibit courts in the state from forcing someone to disclose their digital asset private keys, with one minor exception.
The bill was passed by a vote of 41-13 in the Wyoming House of Representatives on Feb. 15, a day after passing 31-0 in the Wyoming Senate.
If the bill is approved by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, the law will come into effect on July 1.
“No person shall be compelled to produce a private key or make a private key known to any other person in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative or other proceeding[s]” in the state of Wyoming, the incoming law reads.
The law includes any private keys associated with digital assets, one’s digital identity or any other interests or rights to which the private key provides. Read More
‘You Are the Art’: Chainspace NFT Portals Connect Bitcoin and Ethereum
Like a Web3-native Snapchat filter or ASCII-based video feed, this experimental art project is minting NFT-based apps across chains.
The sudden and explosive rise of Bitcoin NFTs via the new Ordinals project has sparked plenty of creativity from Web3 builders. Chainspace is one of the most vibrant examples to date—an experimental art project that connects Bitcoin and Ethereum through a lo-fi video rendering app that’s tied to both chains.
The project spans 800 total on-chain apps, each a unique portal that pseudonymous co-creators Timshel and el-ranye describe as a “digital object that emits infinite art.” Put simply, each web app—which lives entirely in an Ordinals inscription on the Bitcoin blockchain—is like a Snapchat filter that manipulates the image coming from your computer or device camera.
Essentially, it takes your detailed selfie cam footage and renders it like old-school ASCII art, using letters and symbols to depict your real-time video view in a more abstract, stylized manner. Each Chainspace portal gives a different effect, and some are inspired by the look and vibe of notable Web3 projects like Loot and Terraforms. Read More
Ordinals Support Comes to Bitcoin-Based Web Wallet Xverse
With Hiro also prepping Bitcoin NFT support in its wallet, Ordinals' place in blockchain history seems secure.
Xverse, billed as a “Bitcoin wallet for Web3,” just rolled out support for Ordinals, the newly popularized protocol allowing users to inscribe NFTs onto the Bitcoin blockchain.
“Today, we’ve launched first-class support for Ordinals,” tweeted the wallet team on Wednesday. The company explained that inscribing NFTs through its software involves “no need to run a node, complex software, or anything else,” merely some Bitcoin to pay a transaction fee, which can be bought directly through the app.
Inscriptions are made via Gamma.io, a Bitcoin NFT marketplace that rolled out “no-code ordinal inscriptions” last week. According to Xverse, roughly 5% of Bitcoin inscriptions so far have been made using Gamma’s tool.
After uploading an image and sending a transaction to their provided Ordinals address, users can find their inscriptions inside their Xverse NFT collection within 20 to 30 minutes—and embedded in the blockchain forever. Read More
Napster Expands Into Web3 Music Space With Acquisition of Mint Songs
On Wednesday, Napster, the music streaming service originally launched in 1999, announced that the company has finalized a deal to acquire the Web3 music startup Mint Songs. Napster’s CEO, Jon Vlassopulos, insists that “we are in an unprecedented era of innovation in the digital music space,” and he believes Web3 innovations can help musicians find new ways to connect with their fans.
Napster Ventures Sets Its Sights on Web3 Music Startups:
After its Hivemind and Algorand acquisition in May 2022, Napster has reignited its focus on the Web3 space by purchasing Mint Songs, a Web3 music startup. The startup had previously raised $4.3 million from firms including Freestyle Capital and Castle Island Ventures. The Mint Songs platform gives musicians the ability to mint non-fungible token (NFT) items and songs via the Polygon and Ethereum blockchains.
Mint Songs has worked with artists such as Gramatik, Black Dave, and Mark de Clive-Lowe to release exclusive non-fungible token (NFT) memorabilia. When Napster’s CEO, Jon Vlassopulos, joined the company last year, he revealed plans to acquire companies in the music and Web3 space. Napster announced on Wednesday that the acquisition of Mint Songs is the first of many with a focus on Web3 features and related services. Read More
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
