Taproot Wizards, a collection of 2,108 JPEGs inscribed on Bitcoin using the Ordinals protocol, headed into 2024 on the heels of a $7.5 million seed funding round, which was promptly exceeded by the sale of Quantum Cats, a digital art collection of brightly-colored felines. The sale of 3,000 NFT-like collectibles netted 300 BTC, worth around … Read more
After eight long, harrowing months locked up in a Nigerian prison, Tigran Gambaryan is finally back home in Atlanta, recovering from his ordeal. The Nigerian government finally agreed to release Gambaryan on humanitarian grounds in October to allow him to return to the U.S. to receive medical care for a host of conditions he developed … Read more
“Crypto + AI” is personified by Erik Voorhees. His career has spanned the eras. In 2012, when Voorhees launched the blockchain-based gambling game “Satoshi Dice” — which once accounted for half of all Bitcoin transactions — he pioneered a novel use case for cryptocurrency. The founder of the decentralized exchange ShapeShift is now applying the … Read more
Evan Cheng didn’t just build another blockchain when he created Sui. He engineered a paradigm shift. Over the past year, Sui, one of the darlings of the bull market, has blown past $1.5 billion in total value locked (TVL), up from just over $200 million at the start of the year, thanks to the market’s … Read more
Here’s the new political calculus for a U.S. congressional candidate: You nod to crypto and say you’re on the pro-innovation side, and chances are, a million dollars (or more) could drop from the sky to pay for TV spots that highlight your strengths or pillory your opponent. In any of hundreds of lesser known districts … Read more
Early traders of NFT marketplace Magic Eden’s new token ME had a lot to be thankful for – if they could access their airdrops, that is. In the first minutes of trading Tuesday, the token’s fully diluted valuation hit $15 billion. But as more claimants managed to process their airdrops – and in some lucky … Read more
As (literally) a thousand DePIN projects bloomed in 2024, they could thank one decentralized physical infrastructure network in particular for showing the way: Helium. The original DePIN (before DePIN was a word), Helium was started by Amir Haleem, Shawn Fanning, and Sean Carey all the way back in 2013. It took until 2019 for the … Read more
XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) network, surged during the U.S. afternoon hours on Tuesday as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the company’s much-anticipated stablecoin obtained regulatory approval from the New York Department of Financial Services. “This just in…we have final approval from NYDFS for RLUSD! Exchange and partner listings will be … Read more
El Salvador and Argentina are partnering to help develop the crypto industry in Latin America. Juan Carlos Reyes, El Salvador’s top crypto regulator and president of the Comisión Nacional de Activos Digitales (CNAD), and Roberto Silva, the president of the Comisión Nacional de Valores of Argentina (CNV), on Tuesday signed an agreement for the two … Read more
Howard Lutnick’s firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, is a prominent Wall Street bond broker and a member of an exclusive club: It’s a primary dealer that gets to trade directly with the Federal Reserve. So when Lutnick — Tether’s U.S. Treasuries dealer — said this year that Tether actually has the money it says is backing its … Read more