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Decentralized Twitter alternative goes live on Apple’s App Store
The Damus app is powered by Nostr, which uses decentralized relays to distribute end-to-end encrypted messages, and has a powerful backer in Jack Dorsey.
Damus, a so-called “Twitter killer” built on a decentralized network, has been approved on the Apple App Store.
The Damus team confirmed the approval to its 11,500 Twitter followers on Jan. 31, following what it claims were at least three rejections from the Big Tech player.
Shortly after, Twitter co-founder and Nostr contributor Jack Dorsey shared the news with his 6.5 million followers, with the entrepreneur labelling it as a “milestone” moment for open-source protocols:
The app dubs itself the “social network you control” and is a messaging service built on Nostr — a decentralized network enabling encrypted end-to-end private messaging, among other things.
It plans to become a social media platform with uncensored content. It also has built-in payments through the Bitcoin layer-2 Lightning Network, according to a Jan. 27 post from Protos. Read More
Crypto scammers abuse ‘lax’ UK company laws to fool victims: Report
A report suggests companies are able to register in the U.K. very easily, making them appear more credible to potential scam victims.
The United Kingdom is host to at least 168 companies accused of running fraudulent crypto or foreign exchange (forex) scams, according to an independent analysis.
A joint investigation by media firms the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Observer published on Jan. 29 found that organized crime groups are using the U.K. as their base due to its “lax regulation.”
The actual number of U.K.-based crypto or forex companies involved in scams is likely far greater than 168 as the number was calculated by reviewing lists of suspected shell companies and cross-referencing them with reports of fraudulent activity on various websites.
Around half of the companies found were linked to so-called “pig-butchering scams.”
A pig-butchering scam is an insidious scheme where the scammer builds trust with the victim — often incorporating romance — before convincing them to deposit money or crypto onto a trading platform or virtual wallet that the scammer controls. Read More
Toyota to explore blockchain use cases via DAO hackathon
The automotive giant is exploring DAO tools and blockchain integration to improve company operations.
Automotive giant Toyota is delving deeper into blockchain use cases through its involvement with a Web3 hackathon for decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) developers.
On Feb. 1, multichain smart contract and decentralized application (DApp) network Astar announced its inaugural Web3 hackathon. The news of note, however, was that it’s being supported by the Toyota Motor Corporation.
Astar Network founder Sota Watanabe commented on the significance of Toyota’s involvement in the initiative:
“During the event, we aim to develop the first PoC (Proof of Concept) DAO tool for Toyota’s employees. If a good tool is produced, Toyota employees will interact daily with products on Astar Network.”
It’s Toyota’s first Web3 event as the multinational vehicle company looks to emerging technology to “support its vision of improving the company’s operations,” the announcement noted. Read More
Cardano's New Algorithmic Stablecoin DJED
Since the crash of the TerraUSD (UST) algorithmic stablecoin in May 2022, many users in the crypto ecosystem have acquired weariness against that specific asset class. The market for algorithmic stablecoins has plummeted 10x from its all-time high before the Terra crash.
However, this has not prevented Cardano network engineers from going through with the introduction of the ecosystem’s overcollateralized stablecoin on Jan.31. The new algorithmic stablecoin, Djed (DJED), released on the Cardano mainnet and is tied to the United States dollar and backed by Cardano’s native cryptocurrency, ADA. It employs the Shen (SHEN) token as its reserve currency.
The release states that the new token has only just passed a security assessment and that it has been in development for more than a year. As a method for the creation of new decentralised finance (DeFi) and payment possibilities, DJED is a product that was developed by Coti, a developer of DeFi solutions that runs on the Cardano blockchain.
The concept of bringing into existence yet another algorithmic stablecoin produced tremors among members of the online cryptocurrency community prior to the debut of the brand-new Cardano stablecoin. Read More
What Does The Wallet Do? What Does It Mean For You?
The launch of the Markethive wallet is approaching, so it’s time to start beating the proverbial drum. It is the start of an exciting time with the advent of many integrations to follow the release of the wallet that will bring Markethive into prominence as an unprecedented platform. The combination of inbound marketing, social media, digital broadcasting, video, conference rooms, e-commerce, gamification, etc.
Markethive is a blockchain-driven crypto economy, all-inclusive, with a distributed database system required for this decentralized, monolithic global project. We’re almost there with the release of the wallet that will initiate entrepreneurial sovereignty and open the floodgates of this divine enterprise with its plethora of systems and services, including the new interface and dashboard.
We now have a complete working wallet with the Solana Network, and we also have a fully functional crypto merchant account. The Markethive wallet is being polished with the finishing touches, keeping mindful that it’s not just a simple wallet but a comprehensive, dynamic engine centralized for you that powers your platform and business.
Markethive is fundamentally a sophisticated inbound marketing and storefront platform, integrated with a social network, and not just another social media platform you see popping up to counter the media tech giants we’ve come to know as oppressive, censoring you and using your personal data for their own gain. Read More
What is Solend and how does it work
Solend is a DeFi lending and borrowing protocol on Solana, noted for its high scalability and composability.
Solend is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol built on Solana. It is lauded for expanding the methods available for Solana users to boost financial gains. Filling a large gap in the Solana ecosystem, Solend drew a staggering $100 million in deposits in just over a month post-launch.
Solend rode the high scalability of the Solana blockchain, which had built its reputation for being fast and with low transaction fees. The arrival of Solana meant users could use their capital efficiently by lending and earning interest, using the funds lying idle to earn profits from a plethora of opportunities. In line with the philosophy behind decentralization, Solend is a community-driven project where voters collectively make decisions.
This article explores Solend and its workings, including lending and borrowing, earnings and rewards, creation of pools, associated risks, the whale issue and other related concepts. Read More
Web3 could seize on the decades-old software-as-a-service business model
Web3 needs to set off toward new horizons to continue disrupting traditional industries, and B2B SaaS can enable that.
In the era of services like Netflix, Dropbox or Amazon Prime, it’s quite easy to forget about the times when customers were getting in line to acquire boxed digital products, like software or entertainment media, with one-time purchases. The age of annual fees started when consumer products turned into subscription-based services.
The same transformation happened approximately a decade ago in the enterprise world when businesses reimagined age-old solutions like enterprise resource planning or customer relationship management as ongoing services monetized via recurrent billings. Hence, the business-to-business (B2B) software-as-a-service (SaaS) model was born in the 2000s and disrupted the way enterprise technologies have worked over the last two decades.
B2B SaaS was left largely untouched by the thriving blockchain and crypto ecosystem until last year, but a long-running bear market made the Web3-first startups realize that they should leave no stone unturned in order to survive the harsh market conditions and tackle increasing competition. Read More
State of play: Decentralized domain services reflect on industry progress
Major decentralized domain services weigh in on the state of the industry and the potential for future growth.
The rise of Web3 functionality has been a boon for decentralized domain name services over the past two years, with millions of blockchain-based domains registered to date. Challenging market conditions may have hampered exponential growth, but industry leaders believe that utility-driven adoption will continue in the future.
Web3 is fundamentally changing how businesses, brands and retailers serve customers, who are taking full control of their data, wallets and online identity courtesy of blockchain ecosystems like Ethereum.
Decentralized domain names are valuable tools for users and businesses to integrate with Web3 functionality. From providing human-readable names that replace numerical wallet addresses to serving as a decentralized profile across the Web3 ecosystem, decentralized domains offer an alternative to conventional domain services.
Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Unstoppable Domains are the two most prominent platforms serving the space, having a combined six million-plus domain registrations since their respective inceptions. Both services saw significant increases in newly minted domains through 2021 and 2022. Read More
MetaMask Launches 'Learn' Web3 Education Initiative
Web3 wallet project MetaMask has launched MetaMask Learn, a Web3 education initiative that offers a full introductory course on Web3 and general crypto use and concepts.
The ConsenSys-backed wallet project has shot to industry recognition and widespread use ever since its launch in 2016. During its inception, it was initially designed to be a wallet that would directly interact with Ethereum and decentralized applications built on top of the proof of work iteration of this blockchain.
Later developments in 2019 led to the wallet opening support for various other blockchains and cryptocurrencies. In 2021, MetaMask introduced its first builds for mobile devices, further widening its reach among users trying to interact with decentralized apps (Web3) or those simply wanting. To date, the wallet also has a built-in DEX aggregation tool and token-swapping utility.
The launch of MetaMask Learn marks a significant effort on the part of ConsenSys to support and create better learning opportunities for new users, as well as provide a proper avenue for learning what Web3 is all about, where it's going, and what all of it means for the future of the crypto and blockchain industry.
"Our world is increasingly digital and interconnected. It’s taking place on devices: our screens are our windows, our data is our identity, and more and more of our lives take place online," says a description from the platform's introductory course dubbed 'The Web3 101 Course'. 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.
