Author: Decrypt

From virtual makeup to digital hamburgers, some of the biggest brands are looking to cement their Web3 status. Since Facebook changed its name to Meta, there’s been a lot of discussion about the metaverse—spaces where virtual reality, gaming, and avatars collide. It’s part of Web3, the next iteration of the Internet focused on user ownership of one’s data or digital assets, and some of the world’s biggest companies are taking note. Notable apparel and restaurant brands recently committed to VR integrations in blockchain-based digital worlds like The Sandbox and Decentraland. Some have bought virtual plots of land for hundreds of thousands of dollars. And NFTs are…

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The founder of the Forward Party has a new project, Lobby3, and he’s not afraid for people to use it. Andrew Yang, a former candidate for U.S. president and New York City mayor, is on a barnstorming tour of… Denver. Long an advocate of tech innovation, Yang stopped by the ETHDenver conference and hackathon to pitch his latest project: Lobby3 DAO. Speaking directly to the audience, many of whom have only recently gotten a taste of crypto, Yang urged them to get politically active. “We need you to lean in and help lead,” he said. His preferred mechanism for doing so…

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OpenSea says it is “actively investigating rumors of an exploit” that occurred on the popular Ethereum NFT marketplace Saturday. Users reported that digital assets, including NFTs from the Cool Cats and Doodle collections, had been stolen. But co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer tweeted that the exploit likely didn’t hit OpenSea at all—but instead targeted the people who rely on the marketplace to trade and maintain their digital assets. “As far as we can tell, this is a phishing attack,” he tweeted midway through the investigation. “We don’t believe it’s connected to the OpenSea website. It appears 32 users thus far have signed…

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Will a state launch its own stablecoin by the end of the year? It could happen if legislation proposed in Wyoming this week ultimately passes. On Thursday, lawmakers proposed the Wyoming Stable Token Act (SF0106), which paves the way for the crypto-friendly state to launch its own dollar-pegged token. The proposed bill is sponsored by state senators Chris Rothfuss and Tara Nethercott, along with state representatives Mike Yin and Jared Olsen. The act would allow Wyoming treasurer Curtis Meier Jr. to create a state stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. The token would be redeemable for a single dollar held in trust by the state. If…

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Copyright and intellectual property issues are moving front and center in Web3 as more and more non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) spring up around brands, books, movies, and consumer products. In December, Hermes, the creator of the Birkin Handbag, called the MetaBirkin NFT collection an infringement on the manufacturer’s trademark. Last month, Quentin Tarantino said he planned to move forward with a line of NFTs based on his hit 1994 film “Pulp Fiction,” even after Miramax filed suit against the director, citing copyright. But it’s not just handbag makers and movie studios taking issue with NFTs—Wizards of the Coast, publishers of the popular…

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The Canadian rapper won big, with one winning wager coming thanks to a fellow Bitcoiner. Canadian rapper Aubrey “Drake” Graham made a killing betting on Super Bowl LVI, netting $381,000 in Bitcoin as the L.A. Rams battled back to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. Leading up to the big game, Drake made three major bets using Bitcoin holdings, a sum of $1.6 million CAD. In a moneyline wager, he bet $600,000 that the favored Rams would triumph over Cincinnati. That winning bet netted $306,000—about 5.65 BTC at today’s price. Drake’s other bets were a little more interesting. According to a post from…

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At a Gala Music event, the veteran DJ and producer said royalties don’t even come close to paying musicians’ bills. Steve Aoki is no stranger to NFTs. As an artist, Aoki has been in the NFT space for a few years and wants to see these unique assets transform the music industry. Aoki also is a fan of Gala Games and its latest offshoot, Gala Music. He gave the opening talk at a private Gala Music event at the Forum in Inglewood, California, on February 10, which began with one-on-one Q&As. Gala Games COO Sarah Buxton spoke about gaming and music,…

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Bitcoin has surged 4.7% in the last 24 hours, hitting an intraday high of $44,207 in the early hours on Tuesday, as the overall market recovered nearly $90 billion over the past 24 hours. As data from CoinGecko shows, the leading cryptocurrency is now up 14% over the last two weeks, helping the broader market recovery. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap, has posted 8.2% gains over the day, trading hands at $3,104 at press time. Other major coins are on the rise as well. Binane Coin (BNB) has spiked 8.5% over the last day to the current value of $428,…

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Layer 1 blockchains took a beating this week, with several major networks down double-digits over the last seven days, including Solana, Cosmos, Polkadot, and NEAR Protocol.  Each of these networks purports to improve on the shortcomings of more popular crypto networks by improving either throughput, security, or decentralization. Solana is the eighth-largest crypto with a market cap of roughly $29.5 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The network can reportedly process 65,000 transactions per second (TPS) – significantly higher than the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, which handles 15 TPS. Over the last seven days, Solana dropped by more than 20% and trades for $92.77 at writing. Listen to…

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The launch of Samsung’s flagship devices is accompanied by a commemorative NFT from Theta Network for consumers who pre-ordered in South Korea. Here’s one way to max leverage publicity around the launch of your keystone product: Throw in an NFT. And that’s just what Samsung has done, at least for consumers in South Korea. In partnership with crypto project Theta Labs, the electronics company will dole out commemorative non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to people who have pre-ordered either the Galaxy S22 smartphone or the new Tablet S8. The NFTs reportedly come equipped with “ongoing membership benefits and privileges,” according to CEO…

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