Features / 303 posts found
Pioneering Artist Gossamer Rozen On Identity and the Only Way to NFT Success
To quote a meme, we live in a society. But the multidisciplinary artist Gossamer Rozen gets this better than most. A seeming jack-of-all-trades, the path to notoriety for the transgender, nonbinary, femme, Filipino/Black fine-art creator has been very complicated. But, despite nearly a decade of not making money from their art, Rozen continued creating, not in the hopes of acquiring greatness, but to achieve a different kind of success, through being true to who they are. “Growing up with a lot of different mental health issues and having come out as transgender when I was 24, art really helped me […]
The Merge Came with a Lesson We Can’t Afford to Ignore
Society has never been very good at dealing with the emergence of new technologies. Even a cursory look at history reveals some of the usual suspects: the discovery and harnessing of electricity, the advent of the world wide web, and the birth of artificial intelligence, for a start. In every case, people met these technological advancements with a mix of fear, optimism, caution, and even indifference. In the 1920s, the New York Edison Company had to advertise in the newspaper to convince the public of electricity’s utility. Shortly after the British scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web (as […]
NFTs and the Environment: Why the Anger Is Unjustified
Despite still being in their infancy, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have already helped a variety of people accomplish amazing things. The blockchain-based technology has given artists a new way to create and sell their work, allowed researchers to raise money for scientific institutions, and even aided Ukrainians during the Russian invasion (in a number of ways, in fact). NFTs are also at the center of a rather serious controversy regarding climate change and the environment. Specifically, some allege that NFTs increase the already exorbitant carbon footprint of blockchains like Bitcoin and, as a result, significantly contribute to an already worrying climate […]
The Meaning of NFTs: It’s About More Than Money or Art
What are non-fungible tokens (NFTs)? It seems like a simple question that should have a simple answer. As we outlined in our guide, an NFT is a unique unit of data on a blockchain that can be linked to objects to provide proof of ownership. But that’s just the literal definition of the technology. To really understand NFTs, we need to go beyond that. We need to understand their meaning, i.e., how they are valued and used. The two most common answers when discussing the value and use of NFTs are as follows: 1) NFTs are digital assets that let […]
A Guide to Dogechain: The Next Evolution of Dogecoin
What was once just a joking paraphrase of one of the many meme-worthy lines inspired by a 2015 clip of Shia LaBeouf can now be read as an assessment of the sheer potential of NFTs: “Don’t let your memes be dreams” — and we saw it come to fruition when an NFT based on Nyan Cat sold for $600,000. And now it’s happening again as the Dogecoin continues to develop as a platform for decentralized finance, blockchain gaming, and of course, NFTs. At the center of the further legitimization of the OG meme coin is Dogechain — which was recently […]
Next Up: Five Ones to Watch in September 2022
In 2021, we witnessed the birth of a new creator economy on the blockchain. Since NFTs took center stage, artists have achieved NFT superstardom, billion-dollar brands have been forged in just a few months, and lives have been utterly transformed time and again. Yet, the most inspiring thing about the NFT space is the number of artists of all creeds and mediums who have found community and support by embracing this technology. In keeping with our mission to empower creators, we present Next Up — our monthly franchise dedicated to showcasing rising artists. In our September edition, we’ve curated a […]
How The Rebels Beat Censorship and Built an NFT Community
In the fall of 2012, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Robert Kalinkin Fashion House released an ad campaign that featured a man and a woman posing as Jesus and the Virgin Mary wearing jeans and a dress from the company’s then-upcoming clothing line. “Jesus, what trousers!” one of the taglines read, along with “Dear Mary, what a dress!” and “Jesus, Mary, what are you wearing?” The campaign ran on the company’s website and on prominent billboards in the Lithuanian capital ahead of a fashion show that brand co-founders Robert Kalinkin and Indre Viltrakyte were organizing at the time. “It was a play […]
Ethereum Merge: Here’s What to Expect From the Groundbreaking Move
The mythical merge is finally coming to fruition. And, after a rough-and-tumble year for the crypto world, Ethereum’s long-awaited software update could inject some much-needed energy into the Web3 space while scoring a significant win for the environment. The transition, years in the making, is technically sophisticated, controversial, and likely to be the biggest event in the crypto space for some time to come. So, let’s break down what the merge is, why it’s essential, and what it means for the future of the crypto and NFT space. What exactly is the merge? The Ethereum blockchain is the technical infrastructure […]
Blockchain Gaming Needs Triple-A Titles to Truly Go Mainstream
For better or for worse, one of the buzziest words in the gaming landscape is now “blockchain.” Blockchain gaming, crypto games, NFT games — whatever feels most apt works. While the Web3 community believes gaming may be the biggest driving force in onboarding the mainstream into Web3, gamers themselves have long resisted the idea. In the wider gaming community, blockchain games don’t receive the highest respect. But why? For most gamers, the problem might not have anything to do with environmental concerns or the looming threat of bad faith actors licking their paws at any mention of the word “blockchain.” The […]
A World Baseball Champion Is Using NFTs to Help Save Lives
When World Series champion Matt Szczur joined a bone marrow registry in 2007 as a freshman in college, he didn’t think much of it. At the time, Szczur (pronounced like “Caesar”) was playing football for Villanova University. His coach, the legendary Andy Talley, encouraged him to get involved with an organization called Be The Match. As its name implies, the group matches bone marrow donors with recipients and raises money to help those suffering from life-threatening blood cancers, like leukemia and lymphoma, to provide necessary treatment. “I thought I’d test [to be a match], and if I get a call, […]