Category: Blockchain

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Blockchain Crypto News Ethereum

Wall St Prevails as ConstitutionDAO Fails in Bid to Buy US Constitution

Crypto group and decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) ConstitutionDAO has been outbid in its effort to buy a rare, first-edition copy of the United States Constitution at auction house Sotheby’s, as announced on Twitter. The community had pulled together US$47 million worth of ether (ETH) but was ultimately beaten by Citadel founder Kenneth Griffin.

Wall Street Wins Again

ConstitutionDAO was born less than two weeks ago yet managed to raise over US$47 million from its 17,000 contributors. Griffin, however, won ownership of the historic document after a successful bid of US$43.2 million, a Sotheby’s record. Griffin intends to lend his newly won copy to an Arkansas art museum.

Although the group had come in on a bid of US$41 million, it was unable to beat Griffin’s bid due to hidden expenses such as transport and preservation costs, and a Sotheby’s auction fee of 13.9 percent. Still, the loss has not overshadowed the on-ramping of swaths of people into crypto.

DAOs were recently legally recognised as business entities in the US state of Wyoming. The ConstitutionDAO not only managed to raise an astronomical amount of money in a very short timespan but also took the internet by a meme storm:

But What About the Money?

Although it lost the bid, the question now stands, what happens to the money? Since its inception, ConstitutionDAO has maintained that if it lost the auction, contributors would be refunded if they had so requested. However, many of the donors were new to the Ethereum ecosystem and did not realise the network’s high gas fees meant that nobody would have their full donation returned.

The community announced it would give donors a choice – either receive refunds or remain in the DAO and receive a new “We The People” governance token, or make a decision later. Donors choosing to remain can vote on governance matters in the future.

The Community Stands Together

This is a prime example of what the crypto community can do when it stands together. When popular Tezos-based marketplace Hic et Nunc discontinued its services last week and its founder stepped back, the community banded together to transition the marketplace into a DAO.

As it stands, in Australia DAOs are currently construed as partnerships or unincorporated associations, but The Digital Law association is looking to change that. Despite DAOs gaining traction in Australia, they are not recognised as legal entities as they have been elsewhere.

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Blockchain Crypto News Industries Tokens

AVAX Soars on News of Partnership with Deloitte, World’s Biggest Accounting Firm

Deloitte, one of the world’s top-ranked and most valuable accounting firms, has partnered with Ava Labs, the team behind Avalanche (AVAX), to leverage blockchain technology for its new cloud-based platform.

According to its press release, the partnership will see Deloitte leveraging the Avalance blockchain to “enable a new disaster recovery platform that uses the Avalanche blockchain to help state and local governments easily demonstrate their eligibility for federal emergency funding”.

Avalanche Utilised to Provide a Secure Environment for Federal Disaster Claims

The new Close As You Go (CAYG) platform was developed with help from first responders, public works departments, finance authorities and grant-making agencies to help simplify and streamline disaster reimbursement applications to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Close As You Go features a user-friendly interface backed by the cutting edge of blockchains, helping state and local governments focus on their recovery, rather than extensive claims processes.

John Wu, president, Ava Labs

By using Avalanche’s eco-friendly blockchain technology, these critical documents can be quickly gathered, processed and authenticated. CAYG’s cloud-based platform provides state and local officials with a decentralised, transparent and cost-efficient system that empowers grant-makers and funding recipients while minimising fraud, waste and abuse.

Our new Close As You Go platform can play a critical role in helping these leaders be prepared to aggregate and validate the documentation necessary to demonstrate eligibility for funding and reduce the risk of adverse audit findings down the road.

Alex Haseley, principal, Deloitte & Touche LLP, also Deloitte’s government and public services crisis management portfolio leader

AVAX Price Soars

The Avalanche (AVAX) ecosystem has seen exponential growth during the past year, and the native currency AVAX is up 2,618 percent year-to-date. During the past week, the AVAX price reached a little over US$110 after rising 16 percent, with its circulated market cap hitting US$23.76 billion, almost 1 per cent of the total crypto market cap.

In contrast, other leading cryptos, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), fell by over 13 percent and 12.50 percent respectively week-to-date. According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, 76 per cent of people believe crypto will be a strong alternative to fiat money within the next decade.

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Australia Blockchain Crypto News

Aussie Government Includes Blockchain in its ‘Blueprint for Critical Technologies’

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the federal government’s Blueprint for Critical Technologies, a strategy aimed at protecting and promoting critical technologies, including blockchain.

Protect and Promotes 63 Technologies

According to the Prime Minister:

The blueprint sets out a vision for protecting and promoting critical technologies in our national interest. It aims to balance the economic opportunities of critical technologies with their national security risks. And it gives us the right framework to work domestically and with like-minded countries to support the further development of these technologies.

Scott Morrison, Australian Prime Minister

He continued:

Australia is already a global leader in several aspects of quantum technology. We have some world-class research capabilities and scientists, and strong foundations for a thriving quantum industry. Now, we need to take it to the next level.

Scott Morrison, Australian Prime Minister

The blueprint sets out four goals for Australia, which include:

  • having access to critical technologies and secure systems;
  • being recognised as a trusted and secure partner in relation to critical technologies;
  • preserving the integrity of local research in order to maximise its sovereign IP; and
  • supporting regional resilience and shaping an international environment that enables open, diverse, and competitive markets and secure and trusted technological innovation.

Part of the blueprint is an action plan, defining critical technologies as “current and emerging technologies with the capacity to significantly enhance or pose risk to our national interest”.

Blockchain’s Role

Blockchain is among the technologies listed in the action plan, which also includes AI, cybersecurity technologies, robotics and quantum computing.

Specifically, the document makes reference to “distributed ledger technology”, referring to “digital systems for recording transactions, contracts and other information across multiple systems or
locations”.

It also recognises the power of distributed consensus mechanisms as being capable of reducing the risk of fraud and cyber-attacks, since the need to maintain a central database is eliminated.

Blockchain, it goes on to describe, is an example of a distributed ledger technology that can be used for “verification of supply chains such as for product provenance and emissions monitoring and verification, tracking recoverable and recyclable product content, land records, and share trading”.

Australia is certainly on the front foot when it comes to embracing technology and, specifically, blockchain. As practical use cases continue to grow, it is likely that blockchain will increasingly become part of how everyday Australians engage with government. As the techno-democratic state becomes a modern-day reality, it will be interesting to see how concerns around privacy are accommodated in this brave new world.

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Blockchain Crypto News NFTs Tezos

Shutdown Tezos NFT Marketplace Revived by Its Community, Begins Transition to DAO

After popular Tezos non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Hic et Nunc shut down its services last week, founder Rafael Lima stepped back and the community banded together to transition the marketplace into a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO).

Community Bands Together

Lima took to Twitter to explain that the marketplace’s services were now “discontinued” and a message sharing Hic et Nunc’s smart contract was posted to social media, fuelling speculation among users.

Only days later, the Hic et Nunc marketplace community has banded together around a clone of the original marketplace named “Hicetnunc.art”, after its founder opted to leave the project in the hands of the community. As it stands, Hic et Nunc is again fully operational and the community is transitioning the marketplace to a DAO.

The ecosystem is forging into the future in a transparent, open process, and is in a first-of-its-kind Web3 transition from platform ownership to community ownership.

When Hic et Nunc discontinued its services, it did not entirely go away. The ecosystem is built in open source by default, and metadata, sale data and image files were stored on the Tezos blockchain and InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) directly, not on the marketplace’s website.

Hours after the website was discontinued, over 50 mirror sites went live where artists were able to continue browsing, minting and collecting NFTs on Hic et Nunc.

Fees Lowered to the Limits

Following the speculation surrounding the entire ordeal, Lima lowered the platform fees to one percent. Although he remains the founder and developer, Tezos infrastructure-provided TezTools has become the caretaker of the original Hic et Nunc smart contract until a DAO is set to take over the operations.

Although Hic et Nunc is still a very contentious topic of conversation, and it is now a community-driven project, many believe a name change would be appropriate if Lima were to leave the project completely.

Would you agree?

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Blockchain Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs

Collectibles Giant Topps Releases ‘Mars Attacks’ NFT Collection

Sports and entertainment collectibles platform Topps has announced the launch of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on the company’s vintage science fiction-themed trading card series, Mars Attacks. Hosted on the NFT platform Curio, the limited-edition collection heralds Mars Attacks’ introduction into the blockchain.

Mars Invades the Blockchain

Topps’ Mars Attacks collection recaptures all the glamour of the original set of cards launched by Topps back in 1962. The card series, created with illustrations by artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders, follows Topps’ original science-fiction plot of a Martian invasion of Earth, depicting battle scenes between aliens and humans.

Ira Friedman, vice-president of global licensing at Topps, notes that the longevity of Mars Attacks would have been unimaginable at the time of its creation back in 1962:

It demonstrates that a classic story accompanied by extraordinary art can remain relevant while embracing advancements in technology and the new ways in which consumers experience content. Curio has been an incredible partner with its deep understanding of the entertainment industry and belief in the evolution of storytelling through NFTs.

Ira Friedman, vice-president of global licensing, Topps

Below are two examples of the NFTs available in the series:

The cards are available for purchase in different packs colour-coded as Red, Yellow and Green across a variety of rarity levels – ranging from US$49 per pack for 11 cards to US$199 for a pack of 55. Each pack will contain a random story card, with randomly assigned variants.

Exciting Developments in the World of NFTs

Meanwhile, Toys “R” Us has partnered up with NFT platform Ethernity to release the brand’s first NFT collection of beloved giraffe mascot Geoffrey. The NFTs will be available for sale on OpenSea and will feature six separate editions of “Geoffrey Through the Years”. Exciting developments are also taking place for meme avatar projects, with five new projects launching soon.

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Blockchain Crypto News Events NFTs

CoinGecko’s Virtual NFT Conference to Host 200+ Speakers from Nov 17-19, 2021

CoinGecko is hosting GeckoCon NFTs Gone Wild, the first NFT conference of its kind. The three-day virtual conference will cover a “kaleidoscope of NFT themes ranging from art, music, collectibles, gaming, sports, monetisation and more”.

GeckoCon welcomes guest speakers specialising in all things NFT who will cover topics in the NFT space and enlighten enthusiasts on the now and future of all things non-fungible.

NFTs Gone Wild: Key Speakers

The three-day conference will bring together the who’s who in the blockchain and NFT space. Key speakers at GeckoCon include musicians such as Linkin Park frontman Mike Shinoda and Akon; Roneil Rumburg, co-founder of blockchain music platform Audius; gaming CEO Michael Wagner from Star Atlas; Axie Infinity co-founder Aleksander Larsen; ChainGuardians co-founder Robbie Cochran; Enjin co-founder Witek Radomski; co-founder of Rarible, Alexei Falin, and even Crypto.com’s global head of NFT, Joe Conyers III, plus many more.

Register now

General tickets are US$49, VIP tickets US$99. Click here to register for GeckoCon now.

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Blockchain Crypto News NFTs Tezos

Mystery Surrounds Abrupt Tezos NFT Marketplace Shutdown

Users have been left puzzled after the front-end of Tezos-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Hic et Nunc disappeared last week. The marketplace’s Twitter biography was updated with only the word “discontinued”, and the marketplace tweeted its own smart contract shortly thereafter:

Users Left in the Dark

The front-end for Hic et Nunc went offline on November 11 after its Twitter bio was updated to “offline”. Reasons for the exit are still unclear, but users are speculating that it may be linked to competitor NFT minting marketplace “objkt.com” launching the day before.

However, outside of the Twitter update, no formal explanation has been offered as to the marketplace’s sudden disappearance.

According to crypto artist @MrRudemanners, the marketplace’s developer “Raf” may have made the decision on the spur of the moment, based on the negative messages being posted.

Tezos Remains Immutable

Despite the complete disappearance of Hic et Nunc’s front-end, smart contracts for the NFTs that were listed are immutable, and the NFTs can be seen on objkt.com. Having only launched in March this year, the platform has surpassed OpenSea as the biggest NFT platform based on daily active user count.

Built upon Tezos’s open-source proof-of-stake blockchain, the marketplace has boasted far cheaper minting fees and higher energy efficiency than Ethereum. Although users are left reeling from the sudden loss of Hic et Nunc, its cleaner, cheaper ethos lives on. Once Ethereum 2.0 is launched, it will have a much lower carbon footprint along with lower gas fees.

Tezos Surges in Value

Earlier this year, Tezos surged in value when it was chosen by a Swiss banking consortium to develop regulatory-compliant digital financial products. Along with Tezos, Swiss entities – IT company Inacta, fintech specialist Crypto Finance Group, and Incore Bank, based in Zurich – will partner to power smart contracts for a range of on-chain digital financial products.

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Blockchain Crypto News Digital Asset Mining

Decentralised WiFi Token Helium Up 81% Following First Governance Vote

Helium (HNT) is in the process of building “the world’s first peer-to-peer wireless network” by utilising blockchain technology. The community has recently started participating in its first governance vote, spurring the token price to new all-time highs.

The altcoin project Helium (HNT) has opened its first on-chain vote, allowing community members to nominate Helium Improvement Protocols (HIPs) that let the community decide on some of the project’s governance mechanisms.

The explosive price movement also follows an announcement from DISH Network late last month detailing a new partnership with Helium, stating that “DISH will be the first major carrier to utilise the Helium Network’s unique blockchain-based incentive model with customers deploying their own 5G CBRS-based hotspots”.

Helium HNT/USD price chart.

Helium (HNT) shot from a low of US$29.60 on November 4 to US$54.05 in just seven days, an explosive 81 percent rally and a 150 percent total gain over the past two weeks.

A growing number of Aussies are also helping to set up a network of Helium wireless hotspots that reward their owners in Helium Network Tokens (HNT).

What Is Helium About? 

Helium is a decentralised internet network that currently has over 300,000 hotspots worldwide. These 5G hotspots are the backbone of the network the team is trying to establish, and it also has capabilities for creating distributed IoT networks of smaller devices connected to the network.

By connecting to the Helium network, connectivity costs are a fraction of those associated with cellular without the restrictions. Unlike cellular, Helium companies never have to pay for SIM cards, worry about data caps, or be charged for overage fees since users use a p2p network and not a cellular network.

At this stage, there are only a few nodes in major cities in Australia where people generate HNT for sharing their WiFi.

Helium coverage of Australia.

By using Proof-of-Coverage, a unique work algorithm that uses radio waves to validate hotspots is providing legitimate wireless coverage, where miners get compensated for verifying network transactions, adding new blocks to the blockchain, and performing other tasks.

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Blockchain Crypto Art Crypto News Gas NFTs

NFT Marketplace Rarible Inks Deal to Reduce High Gas Fees

Earlier this week, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Rarible.com and Rarible protocol announced it would be integrating with the Flow blockchain. The announcement means that Rarible users are now able to create, list and trade Flow-based NFTs on the Rarible marketplace.

Lower Gas Fees, Faster User Experience

The integration with Flow – a fast, decentralised, and sustainable blockchain – now allows users to create, list and trade Flow-based NFTs on the marketplace, ensuring lower gas fees and a swift user experience. As it stands, the most expensive type of transaction on Flow costs about US$0.0001, while the throughput on the blockchain is designed to scale to millions of active users.

Flow’s low gas fees and ability to scale many transactions is akin to what the popular project Sorare is achieving at the moment. A blockchain specifically tailored for optimal gaming and NFT experiences, Flow was originally created by Dapper Labs, which brought us CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot.

Since Flow was created with both end-users and developers in mind, it will also integrate with the Rarible Protocol, meaning that users can now make use of fully open-source infrastructure to create NFT projects with Flow’s refined developer ergonomics.

Rarible Makes Strides in the NFT Game

Rarible recently also announced that it would partner up with Adobe to enhance the attribution of NFTs on the Rarible marketplace. Adobe will soon launch a “prepare as NFT” option to its Photoshop software in an attempt to counter an otherwise highly exploitable market. The system to be built into Photoshop can assist in proving that the person selling an NFT is the one who made it.

The software will allow NFT sellers to link the Adobe ID with their crypto wallets, thereby allowing compatible NFT marketplaces, such as Rarible, to show verification certificates to prove the art is authentic.

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Blockchain Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

Rolling Stone Magazine Enters NFT Market in Partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club

As the vintage song by Dr Hook said, “Gonna see my picture on the cover / wanna buy five copies for my mother / gonna see my smilin’ face / on the cover of the Rolling Stone …”

And now, almost 50 years later, it has come to pass – for the glazed-eyed primates of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, at least, and while they’re not exactly smiling, they’re surely celebrating on the inside.

Rolling Stone has added to its presence in the non-fungible token (NFT) market by auctioning two of its digital magazine covers created in partnership with the simian-themed art collection that has so far generated around US$1 billion in secondary trading volume.

The collaboration debuted in physical form last week, with the instant sale of 2,500 limited-edition Rolling Stone magazines featuring a Bored Ape on the cover.

Bids Push Toward $50,000

That same magazine cover is now on auction as an NFT, with bidding live on the SuperRare marketplace. Set to last five days from November 11, the auction initially attracted bids beyond 10 ETH, or around US$47,000 at the time of writing. Bidding for another Rolling Stone magazine cover NFT featuring a “Mutant Ape” went live on SuperRare at the same time, and will also last five days.

Five More Pieces to Come

The covers are the first of seven planned NFT releases by Rolling Stone in collaboration with Bored Ape creators Yuga Labs. The remaining five digital pieces, to feature signature Bored Ape characters, will be created by various NFT artists.

In July, Australian pop artist Tones and I featured on Rolling Stone‘s first NFT magazine cover. Four months earlier, Playboy magazine began issuing NFTs that chronicled nearly seven decades of photography and art from the magazine, including pictures of classic centrefolds.

Around the same time, TIME magazine issued three 1966 covers minted as NFTs, but when it announced a new collection offering “unlimited access” to its website throughout 2023, the resultant sale rush clogged the Ethereum blockchain, sending gas fees through the roof. And last month, Playboy magazine staged its first NFT exhibition after inviting submissions from digital artists.