blockchain
Blockchain technology is all about decentralization and virtualization. So it’s a little ironic that humans love to come together in person at big blockchain events. Such was the case last…
Telegram has had a tough few weeks. The messaging app’s founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested in late August and later released on a €5 million bail in France, charged with…
Aptos CEO Mo Shaikh shares his journey to web3 and market opportunities in Asia and Middle East
TechCrunch sat down with Shaikh this week at the Korea Blockchain Week 2024 conference in Seoul to talk about Aptos’ expansion; its partnerships with major Asian web2 companies; and how…
Many tech companies are expanding their reach into the web3 market, integrating blockchain and web3 technologies into their products and services. In the latest development, South Korean internet giant Naver…
There’s a lot of hype about the promise of AI agents today, but payments are a huge limiting factor. Today, an AI agent might be able to plan a vacation…
Accurate weather forecasts are critical to industries like agriculture, and they’re also important to help prevent and mitigate harm from inclement weather events or natural disasters. But getting forecasts right…
With U.S. regulators continuing to ramp up their scrutiny of crypto, startups and founders in the space are looking overseas to find friendlier climates to support their growth. One such…
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Vana plans to let users rent out their Reddit data to train AI
In the generative AI boom, data is the new oil. So why shouldn’t you be able to sell your own? From Big Tech firms to startups, AI makers are licensing e-books, images, videos, audio and more from data brokers, all in the pursuit of training up more capable (and more…
Kiki World, a beauty brand that uses web3 for customer co-creation and ownership, raises $7M from a16z
If you think that choosing a nail polish color or which ingredients go into your face cream can’t have anything to do with blockchain, think again. Kiki World, a beauty…
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Nine crypto VCs on why Q1 investments were so hot and how it compares to previous bull market
If the 2023 crypto venture landscape was an ice-cold pot of water, the first quarter of 2024 is the part where the bubbles start to form right before water boils, Tom Schmidt, a partner at Dragonfly Capital, said to TechCrunch. And he’s not wrong: $2.52 billion in total capital has…
As the crypto space heats back up, so has funding for new startups. 0G Labs, a web3 infrastructure firm,” has raised $35 million in a pre-seed round, the team exclusively…
A new web3 network is being built right now that wants to end Big Tech’s control of your data
Many of the people building web3 feel like the traditional web ecosystem has taken advantage of users and their data. While it benefits a number…
Former web3 gaming founders raise $2.5M for their NFT marketplace to retain users even when there ‘isn’t money to be made’
Even though NFT sales volume is still down 88% from 2022 all-time highs (and down 38% year-to-date), Pallet Exchange is building a new type of NFT marketplace focused on user…
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Solana’s price rises to $160, highest level since January 2022 as memecoin mania rises
The token behind Solana, a layer-1 blockchain that’s competitive with the Ethereum blockchain, has been through the wringer after it plummeted from a high of about $260 in late 2021 to a low around $8 in early 2023. But like every good movie with a character redemption arc, Solana has…
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Blockchain startup Sei Labs creates an interesting solution to make Ethereum faster
Sei Labs, a startup co-founded by a former Robinhood engineer and a former VC from Coatue, has launched a new open sourced project that offers a novel and exciting approach to make Ethereum faster and less expensive for developers. On Wednesday, Sei launched The Parallel Stack, a public good project…
Earlier this year, Readyverse Studios — co-founded by blockchain tech company Futureverse and Ernest Cline, the mind behind the sci-fi franchise Ready Player One — announced “The Readyverse,” an interactive…
Homomorphic encryption, a complex technique that uses cryptographic algorithms to keep data secure as it travels around networks and to third parties, continues to elude mass-market scalability and thus adoption…
The NFT sector has not yet returned to the glory of its 2022 heyday, but that hasn’t stopped the evolution of the tech. For instance, OpenSea has partnered with the…
It’s been a busy year so far for bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and it’s only March. The digital currency hit a new all-time high for the first…
Amid the speculation and volatility in the casino-like crypto land, there remains a subset of individuals who espouse blockchain’s potential to decentralize various aspects of human activities for the greater…
Ever since Hong Kong legalized cryptocurrency trading last June, blockchain projects from the West have been paying more attention to the Asian financial hub. Aptos, the a16z- and Tiger Global-backed…
It’s hard to keep track of crypto’s technical development, but one thing hasn’t changed much: blockchain applications are notoriously hard to build. This stems in part from their decentralized nature,…
Before the world became fixated on artificial intelligence, thanks to generative AI’s advances, cryptocurrency was the darling of many investors. So when some venture capital firms started swiftly switching their…
It’s been almost 3 years since SEC commissioner Hester Peirce released her updated Token Safe Harbor Proposal 2.0, but she isn’t giving up.
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a16z’s Chris Dixon thinks it’s time to focus on blockchains’ use cases, not speculation
“I’m not anti-speculation, but I think it’s a question of priorities… It’s putting the cart before the horse.”
Polygon Labs, the team focused on building the layer-2 blockchain Polygon, has laid off 60 employees, or about 19% of its staff, according to a post published Thursday by CEO…
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Ethereum developer interest hit new all-time highs in 2023 despite a bear market
Last year, 2023, was especially a home run for Ethereum, which saw SDK installs increase 31% year-over year.
Last year wasn’t the best year for crypto companies. According to PitchBook data, VC investments in crypto companies are down by 68% in 2023 compared to 2022. To be fair,…
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Number of monthly active crypto devs fell 25% in 2023
Developers with more than two years of experience in crypto are at an all-time high.
It’s not news that crypto mining takes a lot of energy. Bitcoin alone is estimated to consume 127 terawatt-hours a year. If Bitcoin was a country, it would slot in…