From art pieces like EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS by Mike Winkelmann to cryptopunks and memes like Side-eyeing Chloe, the popularity of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) has been on the uptick. They have also been blowing up in value in 2021. NFT sale volumes have surged eightfold, reaching US$10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021.
Earlier this year, climate activist Greta Thunberg called out fast fashion consumers during an interview with a fashion magazine. She said, “If you are buying fast fashion, then you are contributing to that industry and encouraging them to expand and encouraging them to continue their harmful process.”
Women’s needs have been largely neglected for years. They get fewer job opportunities, excessive household work, subpar pay and little healthcare attention. Well, no more. The rise of FemTech startups (largely women-run) is changing the healthcare landscape for women. As per a report by CBInsights, FemTech will be worth US$50 billion by 2025. So, what is FemTech, and how can you get started?
As of October, Tether, the largest stablecoin in the world, is the fifth largest cryptocurrency in the world. As of October 18, Tether has a market capitalization of over US$69 billion. However, to make sense of this development, let’s break down what a stablecoin is, and then look at the various kinds of stablecoins and what the future holds for them.
The NFT craze does not seem to be going away anytime soon. The global hype around immutable digital assets has only gone up as TikTok hops on the bandwagon, allowing fans to “own a moment that broke the internet”.
From Facebook to Adobe, we often hear about data breaches in the news. In today’s digital world, data breaches can affect hundreds of millions of users simultaneously. By definition, a data breach means an incident in which secure or private data is released intentionally or unintentionally into an untrusted environment.
It’s finally happening. Flying cars—a concept we saw in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Back to the Future—are becoming a reality. While many people might scoff at the idea of flying cars—“What’s next? Teleportation? Pfft”—investors are all about taking the chance. So much so that they have set aside US$4.3 billion to meet the requirements.
After over a year of working from home and attending online classes while in lockdown, many are feeling the brunt of the increased screen time. The recent rise in the popularity of audio media, like podcasts and audiobooks, can be attributed to screen exhaustion.
On September 27, 2021, Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchange platforms, announced that its Singapore users would no longer be able to buy and trade cryptocurrencies on its global platform starting from October 26 this year.
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng Robotics revealed its newest invention–the world’s first intelligent robot unicorn–in early September this year.
The robot Xiaobailong (a small, white dragon in Chinese) resembles a tiny unicorn. It has a yellow horn on top of its head, a black screen on its face, and attached to its sleek torso are hip, elbow and knee joints for rotational and lateral movements.
Green smoothies, spontaneous getaways and jade rollers have grown into “essentials” for those looking to boost their life. On TikTok, there’s the “that girl” routine urging women to wake up at 5am, do yoga, make an iced coffee and read a book. Over the past year, we have all become projects of self-care. We are all trying to become better versions of ourselves, whatever that may entail. That’s what brands have made note of and are using to their advantage.
Anyone who has heard about NFTs will marvel at the astonishing prices people are willing to pay for them. Recently, the “Side-Eye Chloe” meme sold as an NFT for US$76,377.50, joining many other legendary meme NFTs. But what are NFTs? And why are people willing to bear such an expense to own them?
In a recent valuation, the Australian graphic designing website, Canva, was valued at a whopping US$40 billion. This cements its place as one of the largest privately-owned companies in the world. The company is now the fifth most valuable startup worldwide, closely following SpaceX, Stripe, ByteDance and Klarna.
Influencer marketing is the shiny new gem in the crown jewels of digital marketing. We have previously discussed the differences between traditional and influencer marketing, as well as the latter’s advantages in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
With the massive media buzz the South Korean series “Squid Game” has been getting, you would have to live under a rock to not know about it. It is so popular that a South Korean broadband firm has sued Netflix over the surge in network traffic.
On September 28, 2021, streaming service Netflix announced its first game-related acquisition: Night School Studio. The studio is best known for its game “Oxenfree”, which is a supernatural teen thriller. In a bid to diversify its offerings, Netflix has also released five mobile-friendly video games in Europe (i.e. Spain, Italy and Poland).