consumer

Q&A: How Blockchain Could Transform the Art Industry

The art world has had a tough time lately. The coronavirus pandemic has forced many galleries and museums to close, with sales of premium pieces also affected.But there could be a solution that helps the industry get back on its feet and achieve much-needed digitization: blockchain. Here, we talk to Niko Kipouros, founder and CEO of 4ARTechnologies, about how this technology could transform the way we purchase and own artwork — and even ensure that the provenance and authenticity of masterpieces are never doubted.1. What are the biggest challenges facing

UAS: The First Government to Bring Blockchain Development to The Masses

What constitutes development? Would one know it when they saw it? More importantly, why should it matter whether or not a nation attains it? Answers to these seemingly simple questions are as varied as people are. However, simply put, development is the expansion of a nation’s economy, complemented with a significant rise in its citizens’ living standards. From this, it is apparent that development is visible—additionally, its attainment matters. Africa, compared to other regions, is underdeveloped, albeit resource-rich. Ironically, incomes continue to rise across the continent while a majority of

Mobile DeFi and the Shift Toward Self-Sovereignty

Many speculate that mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency is dependent solely on improving ease of access and user experience. In reality, there’s an even bigger obstacle: a mentality shift. Self-sovereignty and personal autonomy are the endgame of this technology, and with that goal comes a significant increase in personal responsibility for one’s funds. This is totally at odds with people’s traditional financial experience so far; the legacy system takes away your autonomy and replaces it with convenience, offering useful tools related to fraud protection and password management. By comparison, cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance

The Bulls Are Back in the Digital Asset Market

Hope you had an excellent weekend. It’s become a bit of a rarity lately while bitcoin was sitting flat, but now that crypto is in a bull market again, I suppose it makes sense to see some volatility over the weekend. Hope it’s not surprising to anyone. Stocks are moving up, precious metals are marching higher, and capital is flowing toward new age financial technology in a way that we’ve never really seen before. There’s a lot more liquidity these days, and it has been floating into all sorts of

Visa And MasterCard Taking Big Steps For Mass Crypto Adoption

Visa and Mastercard stand as global leaders in the payment services industry, and have been taking steps to accelerate crypto payment processor support. They did this through opening up new options for its global user base in regard to payment. Both Visa and MasterCard announced their own projects and collaborations for the use of cryptocurrencies back in July, which is driving crypto adoption to new heights. The Giants Starting To Take Notice With two of the world’s largest traditional payment processors holding a positive sentiment for crypto payment platforms and

Blockchain Intelligence Firm Chainalysis Seeks New Partners to Extend Its Reach

New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis is launching a major partnership program to expand its operations and broaden its intelligence capabilities.As one of the highest-profile analytics firms in the blockchain intelligence industry, Chainalysis develops investigative tools that enable firms, governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor blockchain transactions and track suspected illicit activities.Speaking to Cointelegraph on April 9, Chainalysis chief revenue officer Jason Bonds explained that the program would be dedicated to collaborations with several categories of partners.The first, key crypto infrastructure providers, will help Chainalysis and the wider industry

Interchain Data Hosting Project Combines Edge Computing With DLT

Interchain decentralized data hosting project Bluzelle (BLZ) announced the launch of its mainnet which aims to combine the advantages of edge computing with distributed ledger technology (DLT).According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on April 9, Bluezelle will host a network stress test dubbed “Swarm of Duty” which will be incentivized with $30,000 worth of tokens for developers, token holders and validators. The company says that this test is “the last step before Bluzelle’s mainnet launches” and is meant to ensure that the network can manage real-world usage.Bluzelle’s team claims that

BIS Calls for Central Bank Digital Currencies Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has issued a report arguing in favor of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and digital payments amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The bulletin published by the BIS, a 600-member international financial institution representing the central banks of 60 countries, urges central banks to consider developing CBDCs in light of concerns regarding the spread of coronavirus through existing payment methods.BIS warns of COVID-19 transmission via credit card terminalsThe report notes a significant negative change in consumer attitudes regarding the use of cash in response to the World Health