x
Image Source: Pixabay
NFTs bridge music communities across genres and blockchain ecosystems
A new NFT drop featuring music industry icons such as Snoop Dogg and Billy Ray Cyrus is bringing together music communities from across the genre spectrum, as well as blockchain networks.
Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are stepping into the next wave of Web3 with utility capabilities and community building at the forefront. A new collection from the Mint NFT marketplace and metaverse entertainment platform Animal Concerts does this across the musical genre spectrum and blockchain networks.
The collection, “A Hard Working Man,” features the crypto-savvy hip-hop star Snoop Dogg in combination with country music icons Billy Ray Cyrus and the Avila Brothers. The collection features highlight phygital experiences with digital artwork alongside in-person concert perks.
Colin Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO of Animal Concerts, highlighted the “major existing fan bases” of all three artists involved in the collection and how Web3 provides these existing communities with the tools to evolve.
The cross-genre collaboration will premiere on the new Minted Launchpad platform.
Minted Launchpad falls in line with the idea of cross-genre collaborations, as it allows users to mint, purchase and trade NFTs native to both the Ethereum and Cronos blockchains. Additionally, a select number will also be able to mint on Crypto.com NFT at the end of Q4 2022. Read More
New oracle system to help DApps retrieve millions lost to MEV
OEV-enabled oracles auction off the right to extract on-chain value to the same third-party searchers who used to bid for the blockspace.
A new oracle system aims to retrieve the additional fees paid by decentralized application (DApp) users to miners called maximal extractable value (MEV). It is the maximum value a miner can extract from moving-around transactions when producing a block on a blockchain network.
MEV can be defined as the maximum value that can be extracted from block production in excess of the standard block reward and gas fees. The MEV comprises arbitrage and liquidation fees, among others, that could amount to millions and are often extracted by block producers.
A new oracle system called oracle extractable value (OEV) claims to change that and return the extra revenue back to the DApp instead of third parties and block producers. Web3 decentralized oracle service provider API3 has come up with the concept of OEV, which claims to offer an additional revenue source for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Read More
South Africa Retailer Pick n Pay Now Accepts Payment in Bitcoin at 39 Outlets
Pick n Pay, the South African retailer, has revealed that some of its grocery stores are now accepting bitcoin payments. To ensure payments are affordable, Pick n Pay reportedly uses the Bitcoin Lightning Network which is said to be suitable for “high volume, low-value transactions.”
2017 Trial Served as Proof of Concept:
The South African grocery retail giant, Pick n Pay, announced on Nov.1, 2022, that some of its stores — about 39 — are now accepting bitcoin (BTC) payments. The retailer also said it plans to enable crypto payments in all its stores “in the coming months.”
According to a Business Insider report, Pick n Pay’s decision to expand bitcoin payments to 39 outlets followed the success of a pilot phase that commenced more than four months earlier. Before that, Pick n Pay tested bitcoin payments at a staff canteen and even though the technology seemed expensive at the time (2017), it nonetheless served as a proof of concept, the report added. Read More
Why The DAO Is The Future For A User-Centric Approach To Business
The decentralized industry was intended as a user-centric environment, one that was postulated by the creator of Bitcoin – Satoshi Nakamoto. Idealistic as it may have seemed then, his vision was eventually commercialized and turned into the ‘decentralized’ industry we know today, one that is excessively centralized.
Be it a decentralized application catering to a marketplace, or a cybersports platform, the issues of modern projects are the same – the user has little involvement in the happenings of the venue, instead taking on the role of a passive spectator who pays for the privilege of watching traction unfold on a centralized roadmap basis.
Every project starts with an idea in the mind of the entrepreneur who has the courage to take the next step and develop a product. However, what the vast majority of project founders and management teams forget is that they are operating in a decentralized industry, which is supposed to uphold the principles of a peer-to-peer interaction model. Read More
A democratic society values a free-flowing media ecosystem. A healthy media ecosystem is one of the characteristics of a democratic society. Mass media outlets such as newspapers and cable TV networks were prominent in the past. Today, the internet and social media platforms allow for greater communication across society.
Journalism, investigative correspondents, and even freelance writers are essential to that ecosystem. High-quality reporting revealing brutal truths and users' scope and exposure on social media to either create or access information are forces that can drive genuine societal change. And even keep the power structures in check.
Despite the positive aspects mentioned above, harmful practices and negative external forces related to the media ecosystem often eclipse them. These issues are usually easy to recognize once they’re identified. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge them and spread awareness about their potential risks.
Doing so will help you make informed decisions about how you use media and how it can impact your life and the lives of others. The following are a few issues pervasive in many digital news sites, forums, and social media platforms. Read More
Markethive Media has embraced blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, building an ecosystem that belongs to “we the people,” eliminating many of the issues plagued by media outlets today. With its meritocratic culture, dynamic social media interface, and growing community, Markethive is enhancing and bringing the platform into the future internet with new technology and interfaces, but still in keeping with the human touch.
Traditional firms likely won’t be leading the charge in the next generation of Web3 games — WAX CEO
“I actually think the first big games that have multimillion persistent users daily — those will come from new startup studios,” said William Quigley.
Traditional ideas about gaming, coming from both the firms developing the games and the players themselves, could slow down the adoption of Web3 games, according to WAX co-founder and CEO William Quigley.
Speaking to Cointelegraph at a Web Summit panel in Portugal on Nov. 3, Quigley said “trying to build a video game using a blockchain is a pain in the ass,” clarifying that many of the products on the market are based on browsers but utilize in-game digital assets on the blockchain. The WAX CEO added that nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, had given independent developers an edge in gaming, allowing them to conduct presales and raise needed funds.
“For the most part, the people who are building [blockchain-based games] today are independent game developers,” said Quigley. “Big, triple-A title video game companies haven’t yet embraced it, and probably for good reason — they’re not sure what the revenue model’s going to be; they’re not sure how it’s going to change their game.”
He added:
“I actually think the first big games that have multimillion persistent users daily — those will come from new startup studios. I doubt they will come from the traditional video game market.” Read More
Is Solana Decentralized? Cloud Provider Hetzner Ban Raises Questions
The blockchain network depended heavily on the company, which banned all Solana activity on its servers.
Hetzner Online GmbH, a German cloud service provider, moved to block all Solana activity on its servers Wednesday, instantly taking over 1,000 Solana validators offline. While the affected nodes are largely back online, the action triggered a broader discussion in the crypto community about the increasing influence of centralized service providers in controlling the fate of supposedly-decentralized blockchain networks.
Approximately 40% of the Solana network’s validators—and 20% of the network's total stake—were housed on Hetzner as recently as August, according to an independent analysis by Google Cloud engineer Sam Padilla.
While the event did not crash Solana—that would have required taking 39% of the network’s total stake offline, halting its consensus mechanism and cutting off all network activity—it did highlight the increasing dependence of networks like Solana on individual service providers like Hetzner.
Hetzner, along with centralized cloud services providers Equinix and Amazon Web Services (AWS), hosted a whopping 65% of Solana’s stake in August, according to Padilla. A decision by those companies to deny service to Solana validators would instantly derail and offline the network—which touts itself as “the most censorship-resistant blockchain network in the world.” Read More
Payments Giant Visa Partners With Crypto.com for New NFT Collection
Digital payments company Visa is auctioning soccer-themed non-fungible tokens (NFT) on digital asset exchange Crypto.com ahead of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
The payments giant is holding the Visa Masters of Movement auction to benefit Street Child United, a charity working to change the negative perceptions of street children.
During the auction period from November 1st to 8th, fans can bid on the dynamic NFTs that feature the World Cup goals of five legendary footballers, namely Jared Borgetti of Mexico, Tim Cahill of Australia, Carli Lloyd of the US, Michael Owen of England and Maxi Rodriguez of Argentina.
Says Visa senior vice president and head of sponsorships Andrea Fairchild,
“As FIFA World Cup 2022 approaches, we want to celebrate football, art and technology through the lens of what makes the FIFA World Cup so special – wildly impassioned fans, legendary athletes and for a few short weeks, the ability to bring the world together in a uniquely connected way.” Read More
Why Do Solana DeFi Protocols Keep Getting Exploited?
Low liquidity across the Solana DeFi ecosystem has made it easy for unscrupulous individuals to manipulate prices.
Solend, another Solana DeFi protocol, has been exploited through a price oracle attack for $1.26 million.
The attack follows last month's Mango Markets exploit that saw $100 million stolen.
Protocols letting users deposit illiquid tokens as collateral and low liquidity on Solana have made the attacks possible.
Solana’s Mango Markets and Solend have both come under attack in recent weeks. 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.
