crypto / 62 posts found
Memecoin Mania: 10 of the Most Popular Memecoins of 2023
The cyclical nature of the blockchain has been on full display as of late. While, in the past, market change may have been triggered by generative avatars, major innovations, or even catastrophic events, the recent resurgence of memecoins has inspired a major shift in the day-to-day operations for those in the NFT space. In early 2023, open editions seemed to be the savior of a waning NFT market. But now, the trading volume of memecoins has continued to far surpass that of NFTs. Similarly, the amount of crypto enthusiasts who hold memecoins has continued to chart new all-time highs month […]
How a Digital Artist Used Chat GPT to Create a $50M Meme Coin
Anything can happen in Web3. In fact, one of the most alluring aspects of the crypto and NFT space is its Wild West-like nature; play your cards right, and you might stumble into generational wealth in a way that just isn’t possible anywhere else. And while scams, fraud, and ruin certainly rank among the seemingly endless possibilities the space has to offer, it’s important to remember that innovation and even altruism do, too. One of the more encouraging stories Web3 has seen in the last few days is the rise of $TURBO, a meme cryptocurrency created as both an experiment […]
$LMWR? LimeWire Is Back From the Dead As a Web3 Brand
Who remembers LimeWire, the now-defunct peer-to-peer file-sharing service that ruled the early 2000s? Back in its heyday, Limewire had more than 50 million monthly active users. But things changed in 2010, when the filesharing website was shut down by U.S. federal court after a four-year legal battle. For those who are still nostalgic about the place you downloaded your first MP3, you’re not alone. Considering the rebellious nature of the platform, perhaps it makes perfect sense that LimeWire is now being resurrected on the blockchain. And after months of teasing a tokenized offer, the new iteration of the iconic peer-to-peer […]
Everything You Need to Know About NFTs and Taxes in 2023
Tax season is finally upon us, with April 18 marked as the official due date for U.S. federal individual income tax returns. Sadly, it’s a day that brings confusion for just about everyone. But over the last year, it’s become especially hard for people reporting gains from NFTs. Don’t let the nerves get the best of you, though, because tax professionals have sought to ready themselves (and those in the NFT space) to tackle a broad variety of 2023 crypto tax needs. Hopefully, this year, those making last-ditch Google searches for “NFT tax loopholes” have already found a wealth of […]
Blur’s Token is Live: Here’s Everything You Need to Know
$BLUR is finally here. After delaying the launch of the platform’s native token in January, the NFT marketplace officially began letting users redeem care packages for the token at 1:30 p.m. ET on February 14, 2023. The run-up to the launch has been marked by much anticipation, with popular exchange Coinbase tweeting that it would list the token if liquidity conditions are met and Blur’s trading volume surging in the last month, cementing its spot as one of the top ten NFT marketplaces in existence. How did Blur manage to do all of this in such a short time? And […]
Is Bitcoin a Religion? A Scholar of Religion Explains
Read enough about Bitcoin, and you’ll inevitably come across people who refer to the cryptocurrency as a religion. Bloomberg’s Lorcan Roche Kelly called Bitcoin “the first true religion of the 21st century.” Bitcoin promoter Hass McCook has taken to calling himself “The Friar” and wrote a series of Medium pieces comparing Bitcoin to a religion. There is a Church of Bitcoin, founded in 2017, that explicitly calls legendary Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto its “prophet.” In Austin, Texas, there are billboards with slogans like “Crypto Is Real” that weirdly mirror the ubiquitous billboards about Jesus found on Texas highways. Like many […]
DOJ Accuses Bitzlato Crypto Exchange of Money Laundering, Arrests Founder
The Alpha: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) just announced an “international cryptocurrency enforcement action,” according to a live broadcast on the DOJ’s website. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced that the DOJ arrested Hong Kong-registered crypto exchange Bitzlato founder and majority stakeholder Anatoly Legkodymov in Miami last night, according to a press release. Legkodymov, a Russian national who resides in Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China, has been accused of enabling more than $700 million of crypto transactions with Hydra, the world’s largest darknet market. The announcement has the crypto market concerned, with Bitcoin and Ethereum dipping sharply in the […]
Blockchain 51% Attacks: What to Know to Stay Safe
While undoubtedly complex and necessary for the world of crypto and NFTs, the ideas that underpin and connect to blockchain technology are relatively simple to understand. One of its most important concepts is the so-called “51 percent attack:” an almost unrivaled threat to decentralized technology (and the crypto industry it supports). To understand what that is and its potential wide-reaching implications for Web3, we need to look at the fundamentals of the blockchain itself. The blockchain is a distributed digital database that moves and tracks data in blocks that link together to form a chain-like record of information flow. The […]
Behind the Crypto Hype Is a Mentality of Extreme Social Change
Ads for blockchain, NFTs and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin seem to be everywhere. Crypto technologies are being promoted as a replacement for banks; a new way to buy art; the next big investment opportunity, and an essential part of the metaverse. To many, these technologies are confusing or risky. But enthusiasts ardently promote them. As a cybersecurity and social media researcher, I’ve found that behind the hype is an ideology about social change: Hardcore enthusiasts argue that crypto will get people to trust in technology rather than government, which they see as inherently untrustworthy. This ideology leads people to encourage its […]
FTX Changed Crypto Regulation. Here’s What 2023 Has in Store
There was a time in 2022 when it looked like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might pull back from its shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach to crypto regulation. After months of aggressively pursuing and investigating crypto exchanges for allegedly breaching existing securities law in the U.S. at the behest of crypto-critic and SEC Chair Gary Gensler, at least one of the regulatory body’s commissioners expressed discontent with how Gensler was wielding the organization’s mandate. While speaking to nft now in the summer of 2022, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce made clear her view that the body should be working with crypto exchanges collaboratively […]