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Decrypt's Coin of the Year: Solana (SOL)
Solana (SOL) mooned in 2021 and its ecosystem saw massive development, making SOL our Coin of the Year.
It’s been a wild year in crypto. The surging popularity of NFTs, the maturing DeFi landscape, and new all-time highs for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies dominated headlines and captured a great deal of attention in 2021.
Yet one project managed to wade through the noise and emerge as our pick for Coin of the Year: Solana.
The title is based on a combination of price performance and ecosystem growth, and this post is not investment advice. Decrypt is not suggesting anyone buy SOL—after all, in the crypto market, things can go south very quickly. SOL could tank in 2022. We're simply saying that no crypto project had a year like Solana had.
Solana, which only just launched in March 2020, is a decentralized blockchain network that is technically still in beta. It’s billed as a more scalable, faster, and cheaper alternative to Ethereum, which remains the leading network for all things Web3. The Solana network is fueled by its eponymous native cryptocurrency SOL, which has taken the crypto industry by storm in the last 12 months. Read More
Robinhood Turns to Chainalysis to Boost Compliance Ahead of Crypto Wallet Launch
Popular trading platform Robinhood has partnered with blockchain data platform Chainalysis to meet compliance requirements. Robinhood is preparing to launch its wallet, which has a waitlist of more than 1.6 million users.
Blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis announced Monday “an integrated partnership with online brokerage app Robinhood Crypto.” The company explained:
Robinhood will leverage Chainalysis data and tools to meet compliance requirements and provide Robinhood customers with the confidence they need to trade cryptocurrency safely. Read More
AccuWeather Connects to Chainlink to Broadcast Weather Data
The partnership will make weather data available to blockchain applications.
AccuWeather's Node will broadcast data across blockchains, cryptographically signing it, allowing users to know that it came from them.
It's December, but things are looking sunny for Chainlink use cases.
Weather data provider AccuWeather announced its node on Chainlink went live today. It joins the growing list of organizations using Chainlink's oracle network.
First announced in August 2021, the partnership will make weather data available to blockchain applications. AccuWeather says this will allow developers to create new products like weather predictions, hedging markets, and dynamic NFT art and games based on current weather conditions. Read More
HSBC and Wells Fargo using blockchain to settle forex trades
HSBC and Wells Fargo, two of the world’s largest financial institutions, have started using blockchain technology to settle foreign currency trades.
The distributed ledger technology is being provided by Baton Systems with the aim of increasing settlement speed and efficiency.
Through Baton’s platform, the two banks are settling FX trades with real currencies and real accounts in less than three minutes.
It avoids passing the trades through CLS, a third-party bank widely used in the sector for settling FX trades, Baton said, adding that such rapid settlement directly between the two banks cuts exposure and settlement risks.
Bypassing the need to use CLS, a third-party bank used widely in the settlement of FX trades, both banks are able to cut exposure and settlement risks by using blockchain technology. Read More
Markethive is a monolithic blockchain project currently operating as a social network, an entire inbound marketing platform with email, blogging, and digital media capabilities that broadcast to the vast internet. It’s a complete Market Network and the first of its kind.
Markethive is predominantly a free system where users can access a platform that can cost more than $2,500 offered by other marketing platforms. There are, of course, upgrades that open up more tools and monetization opportunities, the first being the Entrepreneur One Loyalty Program, and coming soon is the Premium Upgrade.
The many domains Markethive has and its autonomous cloud systems that ensure its sovereignty and longevity make it untouchable and immune from the tech giants’ rule and biased agenda. But can still remotely infiltrate the social media platforms and reach the multitudes either locked in or looking for an alternative meritocratic medium.
In other words, wherever you go, Markethive is there, anywhere and everywhere, delivering its message via its community of entrepreneurs to a far-reaching audience. This next-generation social market media is poised in the wings, and when the time is right, it will emerge as a shining light to lift people up and bring financial sovereignty and hope in this gloomy and uncertain world. Read More
GameFi hackathon set to reward the brightest gaming developers in blockchain
GameFi is DeFi’s vital next step. One project understands this and is funding a hackathon to prove it.
While decentralized finance (DeFi) is on the up, a specific sector within seems to be making more noise than most. That section is GameFi, and everyone wants in.
At its core, GameFi is a space where players earn from playing their favorite games. They acquire characters in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and develop those NFTs through gameplay, only to sell them later on for profit. It’s a natural evolution of the current gaming industry, and developers are eager to capitalize on it. aelf is a project looking to help. Read More
Platform proposes a quick, scalable, and familiar solution for the future of decentralized applications
With major growth ahead for DeFi, projects must consider the transition from layer-one to layer-two solutions.
With the combination of crypto adoption verging on mainstream, a chase for double and even triple digital earnings, and solutions providing real utility to a centralized industry, DeFi (decentralized finance) is positioned to outpace its growth from the 2021 year significantly.
Unfortunately, this growth, although unprecedented, has also proven to raise some causes for concern. Already congested networks like Ethereum (ETH) are being pushed to their limits with an increasing number of applications and users transacting on them. Since the capacity of Ethereum is limited, users are forced to face the realities of shower transaction times and rising gas fees as senders must continuously outbid one another.
To provide users with an alternative, many projects are adopting both layer-one and layer-two solutions to alleviate some of the burdens on the chain. At its core, layer-two solutions move transactions off the chain to be dealt with before transferring the information back onto the chain. Read More
Gravity Bridge brings Ethereum to the multichain
"An open and interoperable bridge between Ethereum and Cosmos has long been a shared vision of a fully connected Interchain," said Althea CEO Deborah Simpier.
On Wednesday, the Interchain Foundation, a Swiss non-profit serving as a steward of the Cosmos (ATOM) ecosystem, announced the launch of Gravity Bridge as built by decentralized internet service provider Althea. Gravity Bridge enables the transfer of ERC-20 tokens between the Ethereum (ETH) and Cosmos blockchains. During its initial stages, Gravity Bridge will operate as a standalone chain before migrating to Cosmos Hub early next year. Its key technical features include interchangeable token issuance across both chains and the support of Ethereum to Cosmos oracles.
Simpier issued the following statement regarding the launch:
In this interoperable ecosystem, Gravity Bridge’s place is a foundational piece of infrastructure, available to all Cosmos chains openly, purpose-built to update and iterate quickly, and facilitate the bridge needs of the chains that interact with it. Open markets and frictionless trading unlock liquidity for all. This is the future that uplifts all in the Cosmos network and supports the ATOM value and ecosystem for the Internet of Blockchains. Read More
Michael Jordan Jumps Into Web3 via Solana App for Athletes
The NBA legend and son Jeffrey Jordan are launching HEIR, a fan engagement platform built on the Solana blockchain.
Michael Jordan and son Jeffrey have revealed HEIR, a Web3 fan engagement platform built on Solana.
HEIR has raised $10 million in seed funding and will launch in 2022.
Six-time NBA champion and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan is the latest celebrity to see potential in how crypto and Web3 technology can connect athletes and entertainers with fans. Today, Jordan revealed plans to launch a fan engagement app platform built on Solana.
The platform, HEIR, is designed to link professional athletes with their most ardent supporters. It will feature an HEIR token minted on the Solana blockchain and will showcase NFT assets along with community-building features that let fans join an athlete’s limited-capacity “huddle” for exclusive access and benefits. 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.
