In December 2021, a new contender entered the cryptocurrency market. Going by the name PLC Ultima (PLCU), the currency was just valued at US$0.10 when it first came into existence. To put this into perspective, 6000 cryptocurrencies had been launched in 2021, taking the total number of cryptos in the market from 10,000 to 16,000.
From over 200,000 in September 2021 to just about 20,000 in May 2022—NFT sales have taken a significant hit, falling by 92 percent worldwide. Though the space is familiar with instability, this time, it appears to be more worrying than usual. NFTs are data-driven digital tokens representing ownership stored on a blockchain. From music and art to films and more, nearly anything can be an NFT.
Imagine a player who has just downloaded a new game that you spent months developing. They got past the initial set-up and tutorial, only to find that every time they make an in-game purchase for new skins or content, they will need to input their card details and wait for the transaction to process. Will the player still feel motivated to continue investing time in the game?
If you haven’t been living under the proverbial rock in the crypto universe, you must have heard of DAOs, i.e. decentralized autonomous organizations. The majority in the community drives these organizations, and it has become a preferred way for startups and institutions to raise money and reach investors globally. However, with the growing number of DAOs, as a potential investor or community member, you might be confused about which one you should join.
India’s FinTech industry has been booming over the last several years, with the highest adoption rate in the world, at 87% in 2020. During the same year, the Indian FinTech market was valued at INR 2.3 trillion (approximately US$30 billion), and estimates predict a 24.56% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2021 and 2026.
By 2027, businesses and people alike are expected to lose US$40.62 billion in payment fraud. The solution to this problem? Tokenization. It refers to the replacement of sensitive data with unique identifiers that retain the length and format of the original data without having any relationship with it.
That the metaverse is taking the world by storm is no news. As per a Bloomberg report, the global metaverse market could be worth US$800 billion by 2024. With more and more companies and individuals flocking to this new, virtual space, there’s a growing demand for services within the metaverse.
One of the main concerns that every single crypto publication highlights about popular cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, is that they adversely affect the environment. The proof of work (PoW) model of cryptocurrency mining followed by Bitcoin and Ethereum (till they finally switch to proof of stake, or PoS) consumes a lot of electricity. In fact, Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity than the entire country of Finland.
“I love chaos”, tweeted Terra Founder, Do Kwon, just a few days before his crypto crashed to zero. For him, watching companies crumble during the crypto crash was “entertaining”…until his own did, leaving him “heartbroken” and broke. Whether he jinxed or calculatedly brought this misery upon himself is yet to be ascertained.
Billionaires, including Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, have waxed eloquent about meme coins. These are digital tokens that started as jokes but have since taken off in value. Some even credit meme coins for helping cryptocurrencies, in general, reach a larger audience.
With more and more people holding cryptocurrencies today, the crypto crash of May 2022 has had severe financial consequences. Reliable currencies, including Bitcoin and Ether, met a terrible fate, as did stablecoins, amounting to losses of over US$300 billion.
At a time when meme coins, like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, are enjoying immense popularity, another cryptocurrency has been laying the groundwork to compete with them: CateCoin.
When it comes to financing and budgeting, most of us have to learn everything all by ourselves. From figuring out the right kind of investments to learning how to manage your spending habits, we all need to know more about handling our personal finances.
Smart contracts are the digital replacement for the middleman. They are decentralized digital agreements between two parties without any intermediaries. Previously, you would require a third party to create and oversee an agreement; now, with some blockchains, you require none.
If you trade in crypto frequently, then you understand how important it is to keep your digital assets safe. One way to do this is by using a hardware wallet. As per a report, the crypto hardware wallet market is set to be valued at US$877.69 million by 2026.
Ethereum is the second biggest cryptocurrency, both in token price and market capitalization, on the market today. It is widely used because, unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum is a network that has massive utility. NFTs and the entire space of decentralized finance (DeFi) were ushered in by Ethereum.
