Trust

NFT Floodgates Open With Impressive Lineup of Blockchain Games in 2020

Blockchain in the gaming industry is one of the space’s hot topics of 2019. This year is catching the interest of both young independent developers and large corporations. Conferences and hackathons are periodically held around the world for developers to search for new ideas for integrating blockchain into games.The main advantages of blockchain are its decentralization and open-source nature, which can significantly change the gaming market. The technology is taking trust between developers and players to a new level, and users can now own and freely exchange in-game assets without

Secure, Controllable, Decentralized Data Sharing: An Interview With bitYoga CEO Antorweep Chakravorty

Beyond its primary use case of powering cryptocurrencies, there’s no denying the priceless possibilities embedded in the underlying blockchain technology.  Coinfomania recently spoke to bitYoga CEO Antorweep Chakravorty. The Norway-based startup is a member of the EU-H2020 ARTICONF project and is piloting the adoption of blockchain technology for decentralized and secure data file sharing for the next generation of internet applications. He first spoke to us about how bitYoga got started. Antorweep was an associate professor of the University of Stavanger, Norway along with co-founder, Chunming Rong who was also

Notable Dark Web Marketplace Bans All COVID-19 Vaccine Sale 

In a rare move that has perhaps never been seen before, a marketplace on the dark web has banned the sale of a self-proclaimed vaccine for the coronavirus pandemic. According to a tweet from noted tech author Eileen Ormsby, Monopoly Market, a popular platform on the dark web, has banned the sale of purported vaccines for the coronavirus for Bitcoin.Darknet market Monopoly has taken a more responsible approach to touting #COVID19 "cures" on their #darkweb site pic.twitter.com/uWFLx75deQ— Eileen Ormsby (@EileenOrmsby) April 1, 2020Honor Among Criminals As the tweet showed, the market’s administrator pointed

Introducing the new Blockchain.com monthly newsletter — April Edition: “After the Dust Settles”

The quality of information and data in crypto has improved in recent years, so you may be asking why another monthly newsletter?There are still some big data and analysis gaps in crypto. Crypto markets are nowhere near as widely served with reliable research and data as traditional markets. Indeed, the March 12–13th crypto stress test demonstrated there are also still some very significant issues with the state of crypto exchange infrastructure.What you can expect from our monthly newsletterOur intention with this newsletter is to avoid repeating what you can find

Darknet Market to Permanently Ban Vendors Preying on COVID-19 Fears

Dark web marketplace, Monopoly Market, has taken a stand against scammers claiming to sell cures and treatments for COVID-19 on its platform.On other darknet platforms, listings are rife with coronavirus keywords — with vendors selling everything from narcotic cocktails marketed as ‘coronavirus vaccines,’ to coronavirus-infected blood and saliva.Monopoly Market to ban vendors using coronavirus as ‘marketing tool’On April 2, dark web journalist, Eileen Ormsby, tweeted a screenshot posted by Monopoly Market’s operator that threatened permanent bans against vendors “caught flogging goods as a ‘cure’ to Coronavirus.”“We have class here,” the

Cryptocurrency News From Japan: March 29 – April 4 in Review

This week’s headlines from Japan included the country’s Financial Services Agency revealing feedback from the public on recent regulation, the Cabinet Office Ordinance announcing regulatory changes, Zaif exchange removing three crypto assets, BitBank’s COO predicting crypto exchange mergers, and Nomura Research Institute issuing Japan’s first blockchain-based bond. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan.Japanese FSA receives comments on new regulationsThe Japanese Financial Services Agency, or FSA, unveiled 172 comments from citizens and groups, pertaining to recent crypto asset laws taking effect on May

Retail Bought $3.7K Bitcoin Price Dip on Record $76B Volume: Report

Although the Coronavirus pandemic has led many brick and mortar industries to close operations, cryptocurrency exchanges seem to have had their best month in a long time. According to an exchange report released by CryptoCompare, Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume saw record-breaking numbers throughout the month.Cryptocurrency market daily view. Source: Coin360The March 13 market crash that brought the Bitcoin price from $8,000 to a low of $3,800 in 24 hours registered the biggest day for crypto in terms of trading volumes registered at Bitcoin spot markets. On March 13 alone, total daily volumes

Staking, Consensus and the Pursuit of Decentralization

Oh, the wonders of decentralized consensus — that dream of permissionless blockchains to be censorship-resistant, trustless, collaborative and egalitarian for a potentially global community of users. While lofty in ideals, consensus is foundational for each crypto network, which must agree upon that most basic question of who decides what on the network.Decentralized consensus in the form of a proof-of-work mechanism was at the core of Satoshi Nakamoto’s innovation when creating Bitcoin — all additional protocol elements stem from PoW’s ability to reach consensus regarding the digital ledger through the computational work

Blockchain Experts Weigh in on Russia’s Controversial Coronavirus Tracking App

Experts suggest that blockchain technology could have been a better solution for handling coronavirus-related data in Russia.Moscow’s COVID-19 App is pulled from Google PlayOn March 25, an app called “Social monitoring” appeared in Google Play store. According to the app’s description, it was designed for social monitoring as well as for providing access to emergency services.Users soon noticed that the app required many sensitive permissions, including geolocation, bluetooth pairing, biometric data, and calls. Notably, the data was also being openly transmitted without encryption. The backlash against the app led to

Crypto Community Largely Approves of Binance Acquiring CoinMarketCap

Despite markets all over the world facing ever-worsening economic troubles amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it seems as though the crypto industry has been able to weather the storm, at least thus far. In this regard, Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange — has recently reached an agreement to acquire CoinMarketCap, one of the most prominent crypto data websites.The official announcement was made by both companies on April 2, with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao telling Cointelegraph that CMC and Binance have from the very start been working to make

Talking Digital Future: Smart Cities

My journey into smart cities and their future development was a really big surprise, as the way I arrived there was not something that I had planned. I was working as the chief information officer for a company in Northern California called O'Reilly Media when I got a call from a headhunter who asked if I would consider being the chief information office for the City of Palo Alto. I can vividly remember — it was only about eight years ago — my feeling when she asked the question. The

South African National Blockchain Alliance Holds Online Launch

The South African National Blockchain Alliance carried out an online livestream launch while the country is in the midst of a 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The organization was due to be launched at the beginning of April in Johannesburg but had to be taken online as South Africa and the world tackles a global health crisis.The launch happened during a livestream on YouTube on April 3, which included a panel of speakers elaborating on how SANBA will help nurture blockchain-focused startups and companies that