‘Louis: The Game’ Hits 2... Cardano’s EMURGO Ventures Joins Forces With Blockchain Protocol Partisia By CoinEdition - May 03, 2022 1 EMURGO Ventures has joined hands with Partisia Blockchai

Cryptocurrency News

Blockchain Expo Istanbul 2023 will be a defining milestone in the world of technology and innovation. headtopics.com Partisia Blockchain Unveil the Future of Web3 with MetaMask SnapsPartisia Blockchain is proud to announce the launch of a pioneering ...

Haliç Welcomes the Future: Blockchain Expo Istanbul

Partisia Blockchain is proud to announce the launch of a pioneering integration with MetaMask, the leading self-custody Web3 platform developed by Consensys, opening untapped opportunities for ...

Partisia Blockchain unveil the future of Web3 with MetaMask Snaps

Partisia Blockchain is proud to announce the launch of a pioneering integration with MetaMask, the leading self-custody Web3 platform developed by , opening untapped opportunities for more than 100 million users. With the introduction of MetaMask Snaps ...

Partisia Blockchain Unveil the Future of Web3 with MetaMask Snaps

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has taken the technology world by storm. However, this can benefit every sector and industry. The global pandemic revealed the importance of the rapidly evolving healthcare industry. Now, AI has the potential to ...

Why the market is excited about these two growth stocks?

Partisia Blockchain is proud to announce the launch of a pioneering integration with MetaMask, the leading self-custody Web3 platform developed by Consensys, opening untapped opportunities for more than 100 million users. With the introduction of MetaMask ...

Chainwire Partisia Blockchain is proud to announce the launch of a pioneering integration with MetaMask, the leading self-custody Web3 platform developed by Consensys, opening untapped opportunities for more than 100 million users.

The ultimate impacts of CBDCs on the crypto industry may be a mixed bag of positives and negatives, and insiders need to monitor developments. In June 2023, the Atlantic Council, based in the United States,

11 potential impacts on crypto and the market from the rise of CBDCs – Cointelegraph

The more data a company collects, the more liabilities it has. This time, I spoke to Kurt Nielsen, the co-founder of the Partisia Blockchain Foundation, which has received several grants from different European institutions to help develop privacy-based ...

Tech giants endlessly exploit our data. Who will put an end to it?

Partisia

partisia

Hailed by some as a crucial piece of infrastructure for our multi-chain future, cross-chain bridges are seeing their fair share of controversy. It all started with Ethereum’s own Vitalik Buterin warning about their potential for . The fact that a range of major breaches of such protocols recently brought hackers about worth of funds will hardly prompt more confidence in the technology. enabling 51 percent attacks $1 billion That said, even though today’s bridging solutions are not without their shortcomings, cross-chain bridging is a mandatory feature for ensuring multiple blockchains can co-exist in one larger ecosystem. It transforms the zero-sum game of networks competing for nodes, developers, and users into a more collaborative spirit of a diverse economy. Empowering users to move their assets between networks brings them more versatility and value, while also offering every up-and-coming protocol a wider audience and breaking up innovation silos. Bridging is crucial for the Internet’s future as a decentralized, user-owned Web3, we just need to build our bridges differently—and all of the pieces are already in place. Protecting the Bridge In the simplest terms, a typical cross-chain bridge incorporates smart contracts on two blockchains, Chain A and Chain B, with a middleman — an Oracle — passing data from one chain to the other and allowing users to exchange different cryptocurrencies directly between the two chains. When transferring tokens from Chain A to Chain B, the bridge locks the token on Chain A, minting a new token on Chain B. In so doing, the total number of tokens in circulation remains constant, divided across the two chains. This allows the owner of the newly minted tokens to burn them, and redeem the originally locked tokens, at any time. This means that when we engage in cross-chain transactions, the bridges built between the specific blockchain often hold collateral of millions locked in them; and are therefore a constant and lucrative target for hackers and other malicious actors. Since bridges often hold millions locked into them, they do make for a lucrative target for hackers and other malicious actors. Their developers usually realize that and use various security solutions to keep criminals at bay. The most popular and cryptographically advanced option is using multi-party computation (MPC) based to receive, protect, burn, and mint tokens as part of the bridge’s operations. wallets An MPC-based wallet breaks the key down into multiple pieces—key shares—stored on different machines. To sign off a transaction from an MPC wallet, the user needs access to a threshold number of key shares (two out of three, for example). From a hacker’s perspective, this means having to compromise multiple machines instead of just one to be able to tamper with the system. It is indeed a solid and reliable technology. Still, though, the bridge connecting Axie Infinity’s Ronin sidechain with the Ethereum main net was MPC-based, requiring the signatures of five out of nine validator nodes. But when a malicious actor managed to five of those nodes, they were able to drain more than $600 million from the bridge, resulting in one of the worst Defi hacks on record. As solid as the technology is in itself, this specific MPC implementation was not enough to protect the assets locked into the bridge—and that’s why we need to do things differently. compromise Interoperability by Design The sad tale of the Axie hack is a case study of everything that is wrong with today’s prevalent cross-chain bridge design. While having only nine validators is hardly the pinnacle of decentralization, the fact that one and the same entity controlled reveals an even more clear-cut central point of failure. four of the five hacked ones The same flaw plagues most other bridge solutions where a single entity is in control of most of the MPC nodes and works as the Oracle enabling cross-chain communication between smart contracts. The core premise behind MPC—forcing the hacker to go after multiple high-security targets—never really comes into play here. By the same account, the system is no longer decentralized, as anyone using it has to trust that the centralized entity will indeed hold their tokens in custody instead of running off with them. At the same time, though, MPC is one of the only viable options for securing the cross-chain wallets, as putting those in the hands of a centralized entity once again creates a centralized point of failure. Security takes scale, and for cross-chain bridges to be secure, they must be as decentralized and trustless as the blockchains they bring together. New-generation blockchains must rethink the basic design of bridging both to avoid the accumulation of technical and financial risk and to aim for the largest security model in a blockchain i.e. the threshold built into the consensus model as the core components of their design philosophy. The blockchain space must embrace decentralized Oracles operating in what is effectively the industry’s rendition of double-entry bookkeeping, the venerable and time-honored system of accounting where every transaction appears on at least two accounts as debit or credit. Such Oracles would be enabling data exchange between different blockchain networks, making sure that cross-chain transactions are correctly recorded in both decentralized ledgers and are open for anyone to audit. To take part in facilitating the cross-chain communications, nodes would have to tokens as collateral for guaranteeing their integrity, much as they do in a Proof-of-Stake protocol. The process would work on a rotational basis, with new nodes selected and signed with the highest security threshold for every epoch from a larger pool of bridging nodes to widen the scope of participation and make the system more decentralized. This is where tailored large-scale MPC protocols come into play. Orchestrated the right way, this enhances the scale of the network and reduces the risk in a way that hardly impacts processing time, as it grows through scalable parallelization. assign, not only stake, Moving forward, true decentralization is the only way to keep cross-chain bridges secure—and true decentralization demands replicating a lot of blockchain’s design principles when building them. So all the pieces are indeed there, as we’ve now had more than a decade to experiment with blockchain and MPC, and now it’s time to marry them.

True Decentralization is the Key to Cross-chain Bridge Security

The Next Frontier of Play-to-Earn is Cross-Chain Gaming In the alien world, the metaverse is the cosmic reality. Sidus Heroes, one of the first WebGL, AAA-Level, Play-to-Earn and MMORPG Game is exploring and experimenting with cross-chain gaming possibilities with Partisia Blockchain. Partisia Blockchain is a fully functional, public blockchain and a transparent platform for orchestrating and delivering ZK computations on-chain, off-chain and cross-chain. It can function as a regulatory compliant privacy layer for existing large blockchains like Bitcoin and small specialized blockchains. The solution can be used in a number of crypto subdomains, such as decentralized finance and wallets. The organizations’ collaboration allows them to investigate the myriad possibilities that a fast Layer 1 blockchain might provide to the NFT gaming industry. Dan Khomenko, CEO of SIDUS HEROES, said: We see great potential in in-game transactions being finalized in 500 millisecond time frames and adding an extra layer of security to them. We will maintain strong ties with the Partisia Blockchain team and are excited to see where this partnership will take us! The game will take place in a space metaverse when advancements in technology have progressed to the point where they have merged with all living things. Several play settings are available in Sidus Heroes, including interplanetary exploration, battles, settlements, and political, social, and economic development. The game relies on a closed economic system with resource-constrained emissions. It uses a two-token structure and includes a ‘play-to-earn’ approach to all its in-game products. Partisia Blockchain is a zero-knowledge (ZK), Layer 1 blockchain protocol. By merging blockchain technology and ZK computations, it has managed to build a more secure digital infrastructure that can finalize transactions within 0.5 seconds, making it competitive amongst the fastest in the industry and attractive for high-throughput applications and NFT based games. What is the P2E blockchain gaming model? The gaming sector has a massive infrastructure, which is not unexpected. However, while it has traditionally been top-heavy, with enormous wealth and opportunity for people at the top, it may be on the verge of change. We could see a more equitable distribution of possibilities if concepts like Play to Earn are included. All players have the opportunity to earn money on Play to Earn platforms. The combination of blockchain and DeFi technology has revolutionized various industries, from finance to art, and gaming is no exception. It is upending conventional economic beliefs. Non-Fungible Tokens, which are used in Play to Earn games, are based on blockchain technology (NFTs). An NFT is a one-of-a-kind token that represents ownership of a digital asset. They can take numerous forms in-game, including people, items, and assets. The concept is that the more you play, the more NFTs you will accumulate. These NFTs can also be exchanged for real money. There is a new edition of the play-to-earn (P2E) paradigm emerging within the blockchain gaming ecosystem. We’re calling it P2E 2.0. In contrast to past P2E games, when just the most aggressive professional players could profit from their devotion, every gamer may profit in the forthcoming crypto-powered version of P2E. P2E 2.0 may be able to reach a wider crowd by incorporating crypto coins into fundamental game mechanics. This is accomplished mostly through linking the game’s economics to real-world money and making in-game assets ownable and transferable on a blockchain. The distribution of Play to Earn games varies, but the premise stays the same – these games’ pay’ consumers to play. Payment is usually made in cryptocurrencies or NFTs. Users who play regularly can amass a collection of digital items, which can be traded beyond the game in certain situations. What makes the P2E concept, so groundbreaking is that, for the first time, crypto ownership is being made available to a far larger group of people. The use of blockchain technology ensures the collectability of these assets while also enabling fully functional digital markets. The marriage of blockchain and gaming will give birth to the next billion-dollar gaming industry. The question for Play-2-Earn 2.0 Economic is which blockchain will support games of the future? Catch all the breaking news, and Don’t forget to like the story!

Partisia Blockchain Brings Cross-Chain's Gaming to the Play-2-Earn 2.0 Economy with Sidus Heroes 

Attending Token2049 in Singapore was an illuminating experience for anyone involved in crypto, blockchain, or decentralized finance (DeFi). The conversations, debates, and innovative ideas shared across the event provide insight into the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital economy. At Token2049 Singapore, the DeHealth team had the opportunity to present our cutting-edge blockchain protocol designed to empower users with full control over their medical data. Our decentralized storage solution ensures that users can securely store, access, and manage their health information while maintaining complete ownership and privacy. By utilizing private keys, our technology not only guarantees data confidentiality but also enables seamless integration with eHealth applications. With this protocol, we aim to set a new industry standard for data security and user control, paving the way for widespread adoption in the healthcare sector. In this article, I’ll break down some of the most impactful themes and conclusions from the conference—particularly in regard to the challenges and opportunities facing both public and private markets and the key takeaways that all innovators in this space need to be aware of. The Shift from Public to Private Markets One of the most profound insights from Token2049 was Santiago R Santos’s assertion that “there’s little money in public markets, but plenty in private ones.” It’s a sentiment that reflects the current state of the crypto sector, where early-stage venture capital (VC) investment is robust, but liquidity in public markets is increasingly scarce. This imbalance leads to inflated valuations in early rounds that deflate quickly upon token unlocks and release to the public. The challenge now is to stimulate liquidity in public markets, but the strategies being used—primarily through increasing user activity and total value locked (TVL)—are short-term solutions. As we’ve seen with airdrops, meme coins, and token-based incentives, these mechanisms can initially draw in users, but they fail to establish long-term sustainability. Eventually, projects fall into a “death spiral,” especially when driven by unsustainable APY (annual percentage yield) races. Crypto: The Next Evolution of Financial Instruments There’s a prevailing belief that crypto is pushing the boundaries of financial efficiency at a “supra-national” level. Similar to how developed countries have succeeded by creating transparent systems of property rights that accelerate capital markets, crypto projects are building autonomous systems of digital ownership that expand capital markets for online assets—everything from digital currency to art and intellectual property. These projects are also developing infrastructure that can function independently from state-level risks. Layer-1 (L1) and Layer-2 (L2) networks with varying balances of transparency and privacy are solving different business problems. Simultaneously, bridges, wallets, and decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructures aim to scale and simplify user experiences while attempting to address the growing market fragmentation. The “East vs. West” Divide in Crypto Projects One fascinating theme at Token2049 was the cultural and operational divide between crypto projects originating in the West versus those in the East. Western projects tend to be tech-heavy but struggle with user adoption, whereas Eastern projects attract massive user bases but often lack cutting-edge technological innovation. As a result, both sides remain somewhat insular, each orbiting within its own ecosystem. One interesting case is the growing trend around Telegram Mini Apps (TMA), which allow the release of meme coins and other high-traffic, low-tech initiatives in the Eastern market. While this strategy brings millions of users, the sustainability of these users—who are often chasing quick financial rewards—is questionable. The Rise of Real-World Assets (RWA) in Crypto Another hot topic at Token2049 was the rise of real-world assets (RWA) in the crypto space. Despite stablecoins being the most practical RWA use case (with 75% of daily transactions on the crypto market linked to them), the potential for tokenizing real-world assets like treasury bills and commercial obligations is massive. Yet, legal and regulatory hurdles remain significant barriers to scaling this segment. Privacy vs. Transparency: An Ongoing Debate A major point of contention at the conference was the balance between privacy and transparency in blockchain. Representatives from projects like Arbitrum, Solana, and Partisia agreed that it’s nearly impossible to fully combine both. You’re either private and non-transparent (which introduces regulatory risk, as we’ve seen with Tornado Cash) or transparent and, therefore, vulnerable to regulation targeting project founders. The Growing Fragmentation of Crypto Infrastructure The rapid growth of L1 and L2 networks has led to significant fragmentation, which has become a critical challenge for the sector. Liquidity is being split across multiple platforms, making it difficult for users to navigate different networks without complex bridges, wallets, and protocols. This not only makes the user experience more cumbersome but also introduces additional risks—particularly around security and liquidity. The DeFi Renaissance DeFi projects were some of the most discussed at Token2049. Despite challenges around TVL (Total Value Locked) and yield generation, DeFi remains one of the few segments within crypto where real business models, internal economies, and decentralization are actively developing. However, these projects are also starting to position themselves more like centralized finance (CeFi) entities to avoid regulatory scrutiny, which could eventually force many DeFi protocols to adopt more traditional financial obligations. The Future of Ethereum and Solana Lastly, much attention was paid to the future of Ethereum and Solana. Ethereum’s growth continues, but liquidity and fees are being siphoned off to Layer 2s, which are now essential to the network’s future. Solana, on the other hand, is advancing rapidly, attracting both mass users and corporate players like PayPal. Both ecosystems have their strengths—Ethereum’s being its established user base and developer support, while Solana is faster, cheaper, and has the potential to scale more broadly. How these platforms evolve will play a key role in shaping the broader crypto landscape over the next few years. As we continue to monitor the development of crypto, DeFi, and tokenization, the key themes from Token2049 Singapore highlight the necessity for both innovation and sustainability. Crypto is no longer just about creating technology for the sake of technology. The focus is shifting toward building practical, scalable systems that can integrate into the global financial ecosystem, all while addressing the unique challenges of privacy, transparency, and regulation. It’s an exciting time to be at the forefront of this transformation! Attending Token2049 in Singapore was an illuminating experience for anyone involved in crypto, blockchain, or decentralized finance (DeFi). The conversations, debates, and innovative ideas shared across the event provide insight into the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital economy. At Token2049 Singapore, the DeHealth team had the opportunity to present our cutting-edge blockchain protocol designed to empower users with full control over their medical data. Our decentralized storage solution ensures that users can securely store, access, and manage their health information while maintaining complete ownership and privacy. By utilizing private keys, our technology not only guarantees data confidentiality but also enables seamless integration with eHealth applications. With this protocol, we aim to set a new industry standard for data security and user control, paving the way for widespread adoption in the healthcare sector. DeHealth In this article, I’ll break down some of the most impactful themes and conclusions from the conference—particularly in regard to the challenges and opportunities facing both public and private markets and the key takeaways that all innovators in this space need to be aware of. The Shift from Public to Private Markets One of the most profound insights from Token2049 was Santiago R Santos’s assertion that “there’s little money in public markets, but plenty in private ones.” It’s a sentiment that reflects the current state of the crypto sector, where early-stage venture capital (VC) investment is robust, but liquidity in public markets is increasingly scarce. This imbalance leads to inflated valuations in early rounds that deflate quickly upon token unlocks and release to the public. The challenge now is to stimulate liquidity in public markets, but the strategies being used—primarily through increasing user activity and total value locked (TVL)—are short-term solutions. As we’ve seen with airdrops, meme coins, and token-based incentives, these mechanisms can initially draw in users, but they fail to establish long-term sustainability. Eventually, projects fall into a “death spiral,” especially when driven by unsustainable APY (annual percentage yield) races. Crypto: The Next Evolution of Financial Instruments There’s a prevailing belief that crypto is pushing the boundaries of financial efficiency at a “supra-national” level. Similar to how developed countries have succeeded by creating transparent systems of property rights that accelerate capital markets, crypto projects are building autonomous systems of digital ownership that expand capital markets for online assets—everything from digital currency to art and intellectual property. These projects are also developing infrastructure that can function independently from state-level risks. Layer-1 (L1) and Layer-2 (L2) networks with varying balances of transparency and privacy are solving different business problems. Simultaneously, bridges, wallets, and decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructures aim to scale and simplify user experiences while attempting to address the growing market fragmentation. The “East vs. West” Divide in Crypto Projects One fascinating theme at Token2049 was the cultural and operational divide between crypto projects originating in the West versus those in the East. Western projects tend to be tech-heavy but struggle with user adoption, whereas Eastern projects attract massive user bases but often lack cutting-edge technological innovation. As a result, both sides remain somewhat insular, each orbiting within its own ecosystem. One interesting case is the growing trend around Telegram Mini Apps (TMA), which allow the release of meme coins and other high-traffic, low-tech initiatives in the Eastern market. While this strategy brings millions of users, the sustainability of these users—who are often chasing quick financial rewards—is questionable. The Rise of Real-World Assets (RWA) in Crypto Another hot topic at Token2049 was the rise of real-world assets (RWA) in the crypto space. Despite stablecoins being the most practical RWA use case (with 75% of daily transactions on the crypto market linked to them), the potential for tokenizing real-world assets like treasury bills and commercial obligations is massive. Yet, legal and regulatory hurdles remain significant barriers to scaling this segment. Privacy vs. Transparency: An Ongoing Debate A major point of contention at the conference was the balance between privacy and transparency in blockchain. Representatives from projects like Arbitrum, Solana, and Partisia agreed that it’s nearly impossible to fully combine both. You’re either private and non-transparent (which introduces regulatory risk, as we’ve seen with Tornado Cash) or transparent and, therefore, vulnerable to regulation targeting project founders. The Growing Fragmentation of Crypto Infrastructure The rapid growth of L1 and L2 networks has led to significant fragmentation, which has become a critical challenge for the sector. Liquidity is being split across multiple platforms, making it difficult for users to navigate different networks without complex bridges, wallets, and protocols. This not only makes the user experience more cumbersome but also introduces additional risks—particularly around security and liquidity. The DeFi Renaissance DeFi projects were some of the most discussed at Token2049. Despite challenges around TVL (Total Value Locked) and yield generation, DeFi remains one of the few segments within crypto where real business models, internal economies, and decentralization are actively developing. However, these projects are also starting to position themselves more like centralized finance (CeFi) entities to avoid regulatory scrutiny, which could eventually force many DeFi protocols to adopt more traditional financial obligations. The Future of Ethereum and Solana Lastly, much attention was paid to the future of Ethereum and Solana. Ethereum’s growth continues, but liquidity and fees are being siphoned off to Layer 2s, which are now essential to the network’s future. Solana, on the other hand, is advancing rapidly, attracting both mass users and corporate players like PayPal. Both ecosystems have their strengths—Ethereum’s being its established user base and developer support, while Solana is faster, cheaper, and has the potential to scale more broadly. How these platforms evolve will play a key role in shaping the broader crypto landscape over the next few years. As we continue to monitor the development of crypto, DeFi, and tokenization, the key themes from Token2049 Singapore highlight the necessity for both innovation and sustainability. Crypto is no longer just about creating technology for the sake of technology. The focus is shifting toward building practical, scalable systems that can integrate into the global financial ecosystem, all while addressing the unique challenges of privacy, transparency, and regulation. It’s an exciting time to be at the forefront of this transformation!

Token2049 Singapore: Key Takeaways from the Future of Crypto and DeFi

Back in February at ETHDenver 2024, Decentralised Confidential Computing (DeCC) emerged from a grassroots movement to become a new Web3 category through a coalition of more than twenty privacy-focused blockchain networks. After several weeks of open discussion, the group moved to a formal vote, in which the overwhelming consensus was to adopt the term DeCC as the broad category name for all projects that operate in the space. DeCC projects take the concept of privacy to new levels. Previously, Web3 projects working in the area of data protection and confidential execution of smart contracts were often labeled as “privacy coins” or “privacy chains.”  This bundled these organizations into early generations of solutions focused solely on transactional privacy, like Monero or Zcash. However, DeCC projects provide the ability to create smart contracts with encrypted data, which is far more powerful than simply sending a token privately. Lisa Loud, executive director of Secret Network Foundation, one of the founding projects, explains: “Ethereum changed the world when it introduced the concept of smart contracts running on a blockchain. This made it possible to not only create decentralized payment systems like Bitcoin, but also decentralized computing applications. However, since that time, most blockchain technology has required all data to be fully transparent and public. While this is fine for some applications, it’s a massive limitation for others. “DeCC solves this, unlocking new possibilities for Web3 by enabling smart contracts to utilize encrypted data, paving the way for mainstream adoption. Secret Network aims to provide DeCC to all of Web3,” she says. “For the first time in Ethereum's history, we have practical and easy privacy solutions. No new languages for developers to learn. No new tooling required. The work done by DeCC projects will set a new standard for Web3 applications," said Gavin Thomas, co-founder of Obscuro Labs and contributor to TEN "The TEN team, like the other DeCC projects, have worked tirelessly to bring this innovation to life, and we're excited to see how it will empower developers and users alike." In another analogy, DeCC members compare Bitcoin to Ethereum. Bitcoin provides a ledger of token transfers, but Ethereum can provide that and far more through the use of smart contracts. DeCC is addressing the whole privacy issue. Alessandro De Carli, Co-Founder of Acurast, says: “Centralized trust is ubiquitous in today's interconnected world, from computational resources to data storage and its underlying infrastructure. Large-scale data leaks and breaches have shed light on these implicit trust assumptions and highlighted the need to evolve toward a permissionless, confidential, and universally decentralized cloud future, powered by blockchains. “One major challenge facing blockchains of today is the effectiveness and confidentiality of the execution layer, and DeCC is the solution to this,” says De Carli. The projects involved in the movement so far include (in alphabetical order): Acurast, Aleo, Aleph Zero, Anyone Protocol, Arcium, Automata, Aztec, COTI, Fairblock, Fhenix, iExec, Inco, Integritee, Intmax, Marlin, Mind Network, Oasis, Partisia Blockchain Foundation, Phala, Secret Network, Sunscreen, Swisstronik, TEN, Ternoa, and Zama. Additional projects are welcome to contact this organization and add their voices and resources to the effort. IExec CEO Gilles Fedak adds, “In most platforms, data is processed out of reach of its owners. Those who truly own the data are not the ones who get to decide how it is protected, used, or who benefits from it. iExec Dev Tools use privacy-enhancing technologies like confidential computing to solve this problem, making it easy to leverage the power of DeCC without the complexity. iExec is proud to be a pivotal force in DeCC by allowing users to maintain complete ownership of their data, encrypting it end-to-end, and benefiting from the value their data creates.” DeCC encompasses multiple types of encryption technologies and solutions aimed at improved data protection, secure and confidential calculations, and verifiable computing. Some of the technologies used by the companies in the field include TEE (Trusted Execution Environment), ZKP (Zero-Knowledge Proofs), MPC (Multi-Party Computation), Garbled Circuits (GC) and FHE (Fully Homomorphic Encryption). Many DeCC projects share the overarching goal of making blockchains more suitable for conducting business by ensuring confidentiality and protection of sensitive or owned data. In contrast, most leading blockchain networks today are radically transparent, making mainstream adoption difficult to achieve. Jernej Kos, Director of the Oasis Foundation, shares his perspective on why privacy is important to Web3 and how the Oasis Network plays a strategic role in reshaping a more privacy-centric digital future. “Decentralized Confidential Computing (DeCC) represents a significant evolution in blockchain technology, moving beyond mere transactional privacy to enable secure, confidential execution of smart contracts. Oasis Foundation is proud to be part of this pioneering coalition, as we believe DeCC will revolutionize data protection and computation in the Web3 space, allowing us to engineer more sophisticated smart contracts, expand to new use cases, and create better user experiences. This initiative underscores our commitment to advancing privacy technologies and fostering innovation that can drive mainstream adoption of blockchain solutions.” he says. The DeCC Alliance plans to raise awareness of this technology through “DeCC Day” events at major blockchain conventions worldwide. They have already hosted events at Futurist, NFT.NYC, Consensus, EthCC, and are now planning for Token2049, DevCon, and others. DeCC Alliance projects are also working together to further develop their associated technologies through research and collaboration. Mike Antonuk, Founder of Swisstronik, points to compelling cost reduction in DeCC:  “Most Web3 product builders find it hard and costly to keep up with the ever-changing, fragmented crypto regulations. Moreover, they’re forced to choose between user privacy & decentralization and compliance. App users also have a hard choice to make. They have to either rely on centralized parties and risk their personal data while passing identity checks, or stay in the gray area of the crypto industry, which is filled with fraudsters and numerous risks. Swisstronik solves this through DeCC, providing a set of tools that strike a balance between user privacy, regulatory compliance, and decentralization.” Back in February at ETHDenver 2024, Decentralised Confidential Computing (DeCC) emerged from a grassroots movement to become a new Web3 category through a coalition of more than twenty privacy-focused blockchain networks. After several weeks of open discussion, the group moved to a formal vote, in which the overwhelming consensus was to adopt the term DeCC as the broad category name for all projects that operate in the space. Back in February at ETHDenver 2024, Decentralised Confidential Computing (DeCC) emerged from a grassroots movement to become a new Web3 category through a coalition of more than twenty privacy-focused blockchain networks. After several weeks of open discussion, the group moved to a formal vote, in which the overwhelming consensus was to adopt the term DeCC as the broad category name for all projects that operate in the space. DeCC projects take the concept of privacy to new levels. Previously, Web3 projects working in the area of data protection and confidential execution of smart contracts were often labeled as “privacy coins” or “privacy chains.”  This bundled these organizations into early generations of solutions focused solely on transactional privacy, like Monero or Zcash. However, DeCC projects provide the ability to create smart contracts with encrypted data, which is far more powerful than simply sending a token privately. Lisa Loud, executive director of Secret Network Foundation, one of the founding projects, explains: “ Ethereum changed the world when it introduced the concept of smart contracts running on a blockchain. This made it possible to not only create decentralized payment systems like Bitcoin, but also decentralized computing applications. However, since that time, most blockchain technology has required all data to be fully transparent and public. While this is fine for some applications, it’s a massive limitation for others. Ethereum changed the world when it introduced the concept of smart contracts running on a blockchain. This made it possible to not only create decentralized payment systems like Bitcoin, but also decentralized computing applications. However, since that time, most blockchain technology has required all data to be fully transparent and public. While this is fine for some applications, it’s a massive limitation for others. “ DeCC solves this, unlocking new possibilities for Web3 by enabling smart contracts to utilize encrypted data, paving the way for mainstream adoption. Secret Network aims to provide DeCC to all of Web3 ,” she says. DeCC solves this, unlocking new possibilities for Web3 by enabling smart contracts to utilize encrypted data, paving the way for mainstream adoption. Secret Network aims to provide DeCC to all of Web3 “ For the first time in Ethereum's history, we have practical and easy privacy solutions. No new languages for developers to learn. No new tooling required. The work done by DeCC projects will set a new standard for Web3 applications, " said Gavin Thomas, co-founder of Obscuro Labs and contributor to TEN For the first time in Ethereum's history, we have practical and easy privacy solutions. No new languages for developers to learn. No new tooling required. The work done by DeCC projects will set a new standard for Web3 applications, "The TEN team, like the other DeCC projects, have worked tirelessly to bring this innovation to life, and we're excited to see how it will empower developers and users alike." "The TEN team, like the other DeCC projects, have worked tirelessly to bring this innovation to life, and we're excited to see how it will empower developers and users alike." "The TEN team, like the other DeCC projects, have worked tirelessly to bring this innovation to life, and we're excited to see how it will empower developers and users alike." In another analogy, DeCC members compare Bitcoin to Ethereum. Bitcoin provides a ledger of token transfers, but Ethereum can provide that and far more through the use of smart contracts. DeCC is addressing the whole privacy issue. Alessandro De Carli, Co-Founder of Acurast, says: “Centralized trust is ubiquitous in today's interconnected world, from computational resources to data storage and its underlying infrastructure. Large-scale data leaks and breaches have shed light on these implicit trust assumptions and highlighted the need to evolve toward a permissionless, confidential, and universally decentralized cloud future, powered by blockchains. “Centralized trust is ubiquitous in today's interconnected world, from computational resources to data storage and its underlying infrastructure. Large-scale data leaks and breaches have shed light on these implicit trust assumptions and highlighted the need to evolve toward a permissionless, confidential, and universally decentralized cloud future, powered by blockchains. “One major challenge facing blockchains of today is the effectiveness and confidentiality of the execution layer, and DeCC is the solution to this,” says De Carli. “One major challenge facing blockchains of today is the effectiveness and confidentiality of the execution layer, and DeCC is the solution to this,” The projects involved in the movement so far include (in alphabetical order): Acurast , Aleo , Aleph Zero , Anyone Protocol , Arcium , Automata , Aztec , COTI , Fairblock , Fhenix , iExec , Inco , Integritee , Intmax , Marlin , Mind Network , Oasis , Partisia Blockchain Foundation , Phala , Secret Network , Sunscreen , Swisstronik , TEN , Ternoa , and Zama . Additional projects are welcome to contact this organization and add their voices and resources to the effort. Acurast Acurast Aleo Aleo Aleph Zero Aleph Zero Anyone Protocol Anyone Protocol Arcium Arcium Automata Automata Aztec Aztec C OTI C Fairblock Fairblock Fhenix Fhenix iExec iExec Inco Inco Integritee Integritee Intmax Intmax Marlin Marlin Mind Network Mind Network Oasis Oasis Partisia Blockchain Foundation Partisia Blockchain Foundation Phala Phala Secret Network Secret Network Sunscreen Sunscreen Swisstronik Swisstronik TEN TEN Ternoa Ternoa Zama Zama contact contact IExec CEO Gilles Fedak adds, “In most platforms, data is processed out of reach of its owners. Those who truly own the data are not the ones who get to decide how it is protected, used, or who benefits from it. iExec Dev Tools use privacy-enhancing technologies like confidential computing to solve this problem, making it easy to leverage the power of DeCC without the complexity. iExec is proud to be a pivotal force in DeCC by allowing users to maintain complete ownership of their data, encrypting it end-to-end, and benefiting from the value their data creates.” “In most platforms, data is processed out of reach of its owners. Those who truly own the data are not the ones who get to decide how it is protected, used, or who benefits from it. iExec Dev Tools use privacy-enhancing technologies like confidential computing to solve this problem, making it easy to leverage the power of DeCC without the complexity. iExec is proud to be a pivotal force in DeCC by allowing users to maintain complete ownership of their data, encrypting it end-to-end, and benefiting from the value their data creates.” DeCC encompasses multiple types of encryption technologies and solutions aimed at improved data protection, secure and confidential calculations, and verifiable computing. Some of the technologies used by the companies in the field include TEE (Trusted Execution Environment), ZKP (Zero-Knowledge Proofs), MPC (Multi-Party Computation), Garbled Circuits (GC) and FHE (Fully Homomorphic Encryption). Many DeCC projects share the overarching goal of making blockchains more suitable for conducting business by ensuring confidentiality and protection of sensitive or owned data. In contrast, most leading blockchain networks today are radically transparent, making mainstream adoption difficult to achieve. Jernej Kos, Director of the Oasis Foundation, shares his perspective on why privacy is important to Web3 and how the Oasis Network plays a strategic role in reshaping a more privacy-centric digital future. “Decentralized Confidential Computing (DeCC) represents a significant evolution in blockchain technology, moving beyond mere transactional privacy to enable secure, confidential execution of smart contracts. Oasis Foundation is proud to be part of this pioneering coalition, as we believe DeCC will revolutionize data protection and computation in the Web3 space, allowing us to engineer more sophisticated smart contracts, expand to new use cases, and create better user experiences. This initiative underscores our commitment to advancing privacy technologies and fostering innovation that can drive mainstream adoption of blockchain solutions.” he says. “Decentralized Confidential Computing (DeCC) represents a significant evolution in blockchain technology, moving beyond mere transactional privacy to enable secure, confidential execution of smart contracts. Oasis Foundation is proud to be part of this pioneering coalition, as we believe DeCC will revolutionize data protection and computation in the Web3 space, allowing us to engineer more sophisticated smart contracts, expand to new use cases, and create better user experiences. This initiative underscores our commitment to advancing privacy technologies and fostering innovation that can drive mainstream adoption of blockchain solutions.” The DeCC Alliance plans to raise awareness of this technology through “DeCC Day” events at major blockchain conventions worldwide. They have already hosted events at Futurist, NFT.NYC, Consensus, EthCC, and are now planning for Token2049, DevCon, and others. DeCC Alliance projects are also working together to further develop their associated technologies through research and collaboration. Mike Antonuk, Founder of Swisstronik, points to compelling cost reduction in DeCC: “Most Web3 product builders find it hard and costly to keep up with the ever-changing, fragmented crypto regulations. Moreover, they’re forced to choose between user privacy & decentralization and compliance. App users also have a hard choice to make. They have to either rely on centralized parties and risk their personal data while passing identity checks, or stay in the gray area of the crypto industry, which is filled with fraudsters and numerous risks. Swisstronik solves this through DeCC, providing a set of tools that strike a balance between user privacy, regulatory compliance, and decentralization.” “Most Web3 product builders find it hard and costly to keep up with the ever-changing, fragmented crypto regulations. Moreover, they’re forced to choose between user privacy & decentralization and compliance. App users also have a hard choice to make. They have to either rely on centralized parties and risk their personal data while passing identity checks, or stay in the gray area of the crypto industry, which is filled with fraudsters and numerous risks. Swisstronik solves this through DeCC, providing a set of tools that strike a balance between user privacy, regulatory compliance, and decentralization.”

What Every Blockchain Needs: Confidentiality

Blockchain technology started off with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies before evolving into additional use cases, from NFTs and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and the Metaverse. This article looks at some exciting new events in the blockchain industry for 2022. Blockchain Domains as a Practical Use Cases for NFTs As an alternative to bitcoin addresses, blockchain domains have just come into existence. These domains work as on the Ethereum network. The main purpose of a blockchain domain is to make it easier for users to transfer cryptocurrency. Regular crypto addresses are a long string of alpha-numerical characters, while blockchain domains are simple usernames with an identifier (i.e., ETH) at the end. ERC-721 tokens Because crypto wallet addresses are almost impossible to remember, we have to copy and paste them when sending or receiving crypto. This process can be tedious since users need to find their address every time and copy it instead of sending it by memory. Blockchain domains were developed to simplify the transfer process for users. Blockchain domain names, in contrast to traditional ".com" domain names, are not used in the hosting of websites. Instead, these tokens function as placeholders for wallet addresses, so users can easily transfer tokens. Consider the following scenario: Jason wants to request $500 worth of cryptocurrency from Jessica. If Jason did not have a blockchain domain name, he would have to access his cryptocurrency wallet, copy his address, and send it to Jessica. For Jessica to successfully execute the transaction, she would then need to copy and paste the address into her cryptocurrency wallet. On the other hand, blockchain domains simplify this process. Jason can save himself the trouble of locating his address and sending it to Jane by mentioning that he is the owner of the Jason.ETH domain. From that point forward, Jessica would be able to transfer the sum of $500 directly to Jason's NFT domain name, which would then deposit the sum of $100 into Jason's wallet. Partisia Blockchain Integrates Mainnet With Polygon, Enabling Unified Smart Contracts Partisia Blockchain Foundation, an independent non-profit supporting the development of the world’s ultimate blockchain, has completed integrating its Mainnet v3.0 aka “ ” into , an Ethereum scaling protocol onboarding millions to web3. The integration unlocks Partisia’s privacy-preserving computation infrastructure and a new type of smart contract — allowing Polygon developers to build use cases that require data confidentiality and privacy while using a public blockchain. zero-knowledge ZEUS Polygon Since the launch of the first smart contract in 2009 with the launch of Bitcoin, the siloing of the two different kinds of smart contracts—public and private—has stifled the expansion of blockchain applications. Public, or visible, smart contracts provide weaker privacy posing a problem for use cases that require maintaining discreet health or financial records. Meanwhile, private smart contracts protect against outside interference or malicious activity but cannot be easily audited or verified by third parties. Zero-knowledge proofs have proven themselves in terms of security, yet they are not without disadvantages, from vulnerability to security breaches and even necessitating a significant amount of computations. Yet, the hurdles are removed when coupled with MPC’s ability to allow multi-user interactions. Furthermore, the combination facilitates the unification of private and public smart contracts to increase efficiency and introduce arbitrary confidentiality. By leveraging zero-knowledge multi-party computation and the unified public and private smart contracts from the Partisia Blockchain, developers gain the potential to build hundreds of Polygon-powered use-cases, including: Decentralized search engines Today, advertising-based search engine models expose users to a bad experience and risk falling victim to clickbait, fake news, scams, and other malware. As an alternative, the “ ” initiative has integrated Partisia Blockchain’s unified smart contract to serve a new, ad-free experience and produce search results without collecting users’ private data. Encrypted data never gets decrypted, and any product information provided has been computed with MPC to be as relevant to the user’s experience without personal data ever being decrypted – this is the power of zk computation. Better Internet Search Monetizable data on decentralized social networks In the short run, the better data protection of zero-knowledge MPC makes use of users’ most valuable but sensitive data in a sound and regulatory-compliant way. In the long run, this has the potential to change the power structures operating in today's internet economy and allow for more competition on the application and service levels. A good example is the “ ” platform designed to allow anyone to donate data without disclosing personal information, using MPC and blockchain to strike the right balance between confidentiality and transparency. Data for Good Trade Finance industry and decentralized exchanges The first large-scale and commercial use of MPC was a decentralized exchange conducted in 2008 by the team behind Partisia Blockchain, followed by several MPC based auctions within energy, finance, and telecoms. Partisia’s initial focus is bridging different blockchains and allowing users to seamlessly move data and tokens from one blockchain and security paradigm to another. The aim is to increase participation in existing DeFi solutions and to lower the barrier to bringing DeFi to traditional markets. Private Auctions With increasingly complicated supply chains and niche products, price setting and auctions are becoming an integrated part of many markets. A unified smart contract can keep track of buyers and sellers and the resulting trades while the bids remain confidential. Furthermore, the privacy aspect of zero-knowledge MPC brings can also assist in eliminating the possibility of , artificially boosting an item's price through dishonest bids. shill bidding Management of private documents and contents The ability to keep aspects of the contract private while still allowing for public verification is crucial in cases such as medical and health data, financial identity or credit scores, etc. “We are excited to bring the potential that unified smart contracts offer to fruition,” says Brian Gallagher, Co-Founder of Partisia Blockchain. “We are confident that this technology will drastically transform the way businesses and individuals interact with each other, and we are excited to see how it will be used in the future.” “The integration of Partisia Blockchain’s unified smart contracts based on zero-knowledge, multi-party computation opens up countless new and exciting possibilities for all Polygon developers,” says Antoni Martin, Polygon Enterprise Lead. “We are always excited to see what new innovations and use cases can benefit blockchain technology, and our partnership with Partisia opens up the door for new possibilities.” The Metaverse Still Has Room to Grow in 2022 The metaverse is growing in 2022, with Bloomberg estimating the market to be worth billion by 2024. The term "metaverse" describes online worlds where people can interact with each other. The massive popularity of the metaverse came shortly after Facebook to rebrand itself as "Meta" and release its own metaverse. $783.3 announced its decision Ownership is one of the benefits of the metaverse, with blockchain technology making it possible for users to own and exchange digital assets. If blockchain technology did not exist, the metaverse, as it is now understood, would be inadequate since everything would be stored in a single centralized place. This would render the metaverse insufficient. Because of this, the metaverse would no longer be functional. In recent years, the introduction of cryptocurrencies has made decentralization a technically viable option. Because the blockchain is capable of functioning as a global digital source, this is now within reach of being realized. This metaverse provides a virtual reality experience in 3D with additional functionality added by the Ethereum blockchain. On the other hand, using cryptocurrency would make it possible for people to trade products inside the metaverse. In addition, users would benefit from increased safety and protection provided by decentralization and the capacity to transact with each other via a peer-to-peer network. Conclusion The blockchain space has seen some exciting new innovations over the years, and 2022 sees continued growth in the industry.

Exciting New Events That Are Happening in the Blockchain Space 2022

Blockchain technology is a form of distributed ledger technology, and it works by recording every transaction that takes place within its network. For the purpose of assisting users in keeping track of transactions and avoiding the need for a centralized record of transactions, every transaction involving cryptocurrency is recorded and maintained in chronological order. These transactions are visible for anyone to see on the public ledger. In particular, anyone can see transaction amounts, wallet addresses, wallet balances as well as pending and complete transactions. Essentially, it's like having a burner account on a social network, your personal details are not visible to others, instead, you work with a pseudonymous identity. However, a user's identity can be found out by savvy third parties if they are not careful. Since all of your interactions are public, anyone can trace your payments and create a trail that follows all of your activities. This in turn can reveal the wallets you have used, protocols and dApps you've interacted with as well as the centralized exchanges you use to cash out. This can pose a problem for the wide-scale adoption of blockchain technology, especially when it comes to corporate entities who may wish to keep their user’s data private. In this post, we'll look at the relationship between user privacy and blockchain technology. Privacy and blockchain technology, is it a compatible match-up? Data privacy has become an increasingly important topic for regulators in the past few years. I'm sure you've all grown tired of the GDPR pop-up notices that appear on every site, blocking out a substantial amount of the screen saying "We value your privacy". You then have to choose to either accept or reject the site’s tracking cookies, with some sites restricting your access if you reject their cookies. These cookie pop-ups are due to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) framework that was passed by the European Union (EU) in 2016 and has been enforced since 2018. The aim of this law was for websites to let their users know what the cookies on the website are used for, if the data will be shared and who it will be shared with. This regulation was passed to safeguard the citizens whilst dealing with corporations that operate with EU member state nations. personal information of EU Europe isn't the only place that has seen new data protection laws, the California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) came into effect in as well as additional laws in other US states. 2020 How Partisia Aims to Bring Privacy and Interoperability to Web3 Partisia Blockchain Foundation, an independent non-profit, announces the launch of its mainnet. The network's privacy-focused, high-scalability layer-1 genesis block was established on May 31, 2022, and it presently has 89 validator nodes throughout the globe. Partisia plans to employ blockchain technology to promote economic development, wellness, and sustainable ecosystem usage. A privacy-first Web search engine, a decentralized social network, and a medical counterfeit monitoring system were created on Partisia Blockchain. Lack of anonymity and privacy hinders institutional and general adoption of legacy public blockchains. Partisia Blockchain aims to tackle the privacy challenge by employing Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology, which it has pioneered since 2008 as a founding member of the . MPC enables multiple participants to calculate a function with zero-knowledge. Partisia Blockchain uses this technology to provide privacy-first interactions and unique services. MPC Alliance Partisia Blockchain uses MPC to support universal privacy-preserving computing and decentralized cross-chain bridges. Partisia Blockchain's native interoperability solution lets users transact in $ETH while staking $MPC. With Bring Your Own Coin, it may act as a privacy layer for other blockchain networks while utilizing its own token as payment. Partnerships to this aim were announced in May with Emurgo's Cardano and Polygon. So, how does this relate to blockchain technology? Well, at this point only personally identifiable information is subject to data privacy laws. Varying legal systems have different definitions for this, but generally speaking, it does not refer to business commercial information, trade secret information, or intellectual property. These are not the types of data that raise privacy issues, despite the fact that they are sensitive and may be covered by a variety of legal and contractual safeguards. Instead, the kind of information that does raise data privacy issues includes data such as a person's name, address, area of residence, etc. If the data does not include or cannot be connected to personally identifiable information, then blockchain technology may not necessarily entail data privacy problems. This is especially the case when it comes to peer-to-peer wallet transfers, where only the wallet, wallet balances, and transfer amounts are made public. Simply put, blockchain technology won't raise any data privacy issues if it just includes hashed information about transaction specifics and is not otherwise connected to a person. However, data privacy issues will be raised if personally identifiable information is made public or used to identify a specific person. Still, blockchain technology has the potential to compromise privacy depending on the use, despite its seeming promise of anonymity. A common misconception is that cryptocurrencies enable anonymous transactions by default. However, blockchain technology by its very nature is pseudonymous. As mentioned at the beginning of this story, the blockchain does not fully anonymize a user since their transactions and wallet balances are made public. A malicious actor could be able to dox (or disclose the identity of) a person based on their transaction history if they are able to obtain transactional information connected to a user (i.e., by tracing their transaction history on a block explorer). Although a person's identity is somewhat obscured via blockchain technology, it is not entirely hidden. Smart contracts operate similarly when it comes to transactional information. Smart contracts allow users to see all of the information related to a transaction. This information can be used to determine a user's identity by locating the relevant information in the public domain. For example, NFT owners and crypto project founders have been doxxed by users comparing their alleged wallets to the timing of their on social media. tweets Private blockchains, which are only accessible by a select group of users, can lower the risks of being doxxed, compared to public blockchains. By leveraging information from the public domain, private blockchains reduce the possibility that a node operator would be able to access and find private identifying information. However, private blockchain applications could still pose a risk. For instance, an insurance provider may utilize a private blockchain to manage insurance records, which include a client's personal data. By giving those with access (the insurer and the provider) simple access to the chain of information in a client's history, a private blockchain might significantly boost productivity. However, the sensitive nature of such data would include a lot of regulatory frameworks and need strong security to guarantee privacy. Enterprises will need to weigh the benefits against the risks when deciding to integrate blockchain technology into their systems. The decentralized nature of the blockchain can provide benefits such as increased trust, but this mainly comes from the transparency that distributed ledger technology provides. We will need to find a balance between this transparency and fully protecting user data. In Closing... Despite being over 10 years old, blockchain technology is still in its infancy and there are more growing pains that this emerging technology will have to experience as it matures. As privacy becomes more and more important, corporations need to find a way to use blockchain technology whilst maintaining the privacy of their users.

Is Blockchain Technology Compatible With True User Privacy?

44,000 startups. 4,553 cities. “4 billion votes” It was such a blessing to get to know so many of your ideas and innovations from every corner of the world in 2021. The startup community amazed all of us with your hard work and persistence despite all of the challenges that we faced globally throughout last year. Not gonna lie, the competition got our hearts racing like Eurovision. We won’t let you wait for much longer, below are long-awaited results! ✨✨✨ To see who is a winner in each respective city, visit and pick a city. The name at the top of the list is the winner. (Compromised awards are under review.) startups.hackernoon.com The will announce the winners per region in their respective cities. Startups Winners Announcement Series 🔥 Central Europe Central Europe has always caught our attention with the talented pool of people in tech community. But were they able to get through 2021 despite the pandemic? Let’s cheers to the most outstanding amongst 4,500+ startups who have been working hard this year: Basel, Switzerland An overwhelming vote for ~ in their mission of helping machinery companies drive more service revenues from their installed base MachiQ Software Berlin, Germany We have with a whooping 538 votes! Let’s support Plan A with its mission to help companies to measure, monitor and reduce their environmental footprint. Plan A Düsseldorf, Germany It doesn’t get any easier with Kicking off in helping people organize online schedules more easily. EasyWeek! Geneva, Switzerland Manage code quality? We have to give props to for their startup! SonarSource Hamburg, Germany Taking over Hamburg is , an acoustic device to reduce noises in vehicle cabins. No more annoying sounds on the road 🚗 ReCalm Köln, Germany Small business? Hoping to manage your marketing campaign? is winning the vote! rankingCoach Lausanne, Switzerland is a Swiss-based company focused on cryptocurrency management solutions built for financial institutions. Metaco Leipzig, Germany empowers companies to operate and utilize drones for the most effective industrial data applications. FlyNex Mainz, Germany is growing sustainable digital mobility startups! Next Mobility Labs Munich, Germany wins for top-line, high-security international Identity Management! ORY Stuttgart, Germany Remote desktop application? Ask anywhere. AnyDesk Vienna, Austria , an IT company enabling privacy-preserving big data applications in the digital age. Mostly AI Zug, Switzerland Way to go 1762 votes for the first provably live pure Proof-of-Stake (PoS) CBC-Casper blockchain designed for real-world applications. CasperLabs! Nyon Calling for robust data solutions for impact-driven organizations! Havuta LLC Zürich is revolutionizing small business lending to give easy access to capital to those who need it most: SMEs ✨ Teylor Heidelberg, Germany is an innovative HR startup providing a solution for fast and efficient recruiting of employees with simple job profiles. Talk'n'Job Stuttgart, Germany Congratulations for winning this title! AnyDesk Moving on to our buddies in... 🔥 Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is home to many familiar big names in our start-up world. Trace history for Miro, Telegram, and Grammarly and you know where they are from. Who is the next generation for Eastern European startups? Budapest, Hungary is a platform for mobile app development, enabling tens of thousands of developers to automate integration, testing, and deployment. Bitrise I__ __ stanbul, Turkey Leading here is - a brand new software intelligence platform- helps organizations deliver faster, high-quality products by connecting their DevOps tools. Oobeya Kraków, Poland is a human cloud platform that connects global enterprises with European software houses, offering tech talent as a service. Talent Alpha Kyiv, Ukraine 281 votes for , an AI powered app where people can swap faces in the videos, GIFs and images in just a few seconds. Reface Sofia, Bulgaria 387 votes for __ __378, leading Blockchain and DLT solutions company that specializes in helping enterprises and blockchain startups design, build and scale innovative solutions using Blockchain & DLT! LimeChain Warsaw, Poland is a next-generation blockchain document management software (DMS). DoxyChain Yerevan, Armenia Whoever clicked to vote for was sure a vote, because it ended up winning as a full-service software provider delivering Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning solutions for businesses. SmartClick smart Almaty Just like the name suggested, provides one pass to dozens of gyms and studios. 1FIT Debrecen got all the coders ranked figured out! CodersRank Kharkiv is complete solution digital assets management! Pics.io Minsk, Belarus with 243 votes is the first blockchain-powered sports media platform. Scorum Moscow, Russian Federation 1 e-grocery company in Russia with 26 votes and #1 on our HackerNoon board for Minsk. SberMarket Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation leads this area as a personal finance application that rewards responsible spending and savings. CoinKeeper Kazan, Russian Federation Smelling a sweet victory? 3d App designers for flower bouquets is in the house! Flowito Western Europe 🔥 Brexit? Pandemic? It seems like startups in Western Europe still keep their spirits regardless. Startups in Western Europe that stood out in votes this year go to: Antwerp is on a streak! As a bug bounty platform, it ensures online security through a crowd-sourced platform for computer experts. intigriti Belfast A record-breaking 10,003 votes? is an independent coffee shop. Come grab a coffee! Bobs & Berts Birmingham What’s happening in Birmingham? We have , an innovative UK-based advanced lithium battery developer aiming to accelerate the global shift to cleaner. Aceleron Bordeaux 30 is an open-source web framework for building modern apps and websites with Vue.js. NuxtJS Boulogne-billancourt is a software company that provides an in-store analytics platform to optimize operations. DiGEiZ Brighton In for some jam? offers musical education services. BIMM Bristol Another tasty victory for Western Europe is enabling the strongest digital encryption on the internet. KETS Quantum Security Brussels A fashionable win for , a social fashion network. You scan barcodes in fashion shops and see every influencer wearing those outfits! Share your wishlist with your friends and earn cashback. SCANDALOOK Cardiff is a technology company developing end-to-end digital connectivity for the point-of-care diagnostics market. Bond Digital Health London A whooping number of 1085 vote__ __ offers hardware based cyber-security solution for authentication and encryption in a wired local network. Crypto Quantique Edinburgh Hopping up on the crypto movement, just launched last year but they are already rocking it at making crypto accessible to everyone. Zumo Ghent 5379 votes for ! A Belgian InsurTech startup that helps insurance providers all over the world to better connect with their digital customers. WeGroup Glasgow specializes in single-cell analysis transforming the life sciences. Biomage Paris Show some love in the city of love for , a sports platform that is connected to a mobile sports coaching application. AirFit Aberystwyth enables artificial intelligence, data science & digital innovation solutions for the agriculture, biotech & life sciences industries. Agxio Norwich Congratulations for the amazing win of 1124 votes! WATR Charleroi Congratulations for your amazing win! Hirering Gibraltar Give a round of applause to Fortknoxter! Waltham Abbey is ruling the area with its amazing 72 votes! RPAIR Antwerpen Rocking up Antwerpen area is the rising startup ! Willow Egham What’s happening in Egham? Proudly announcing winning the Noonies this year! ATA.ONE Leicester Leicester is calling the name of as the winner for the region! DeadHappy Macclesfield Who else but ? Congratulations on dominating the award! AeroCloud Northern Europe 🔥 Want to listen to some music? Spotify. Need some games to kill time? Candy Crush. What about a quick call to someone you haven’t seen in a long time? Skype. These are all startups that originated from Northern Europe! Noonies, let’s take a look at the upcoming generation of startups from Northern Europe that hopefully will see an even bigger and brighter future. Gothenburg, Sweden Shipping was never made for small shippers, so took on the mission to built an end-to-end logistics platform to empower small businesses to spend less time and money on shipping and more time on growing their businesses. Sendify The Netherlands provides a virtual platform for many kinds of conferences and events. Let's Get Digital Helsinki, Finland A curated collection of public basketball courts in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area called . Everyone is welcome to submit to their local court. Koripallopaikat Lund, Sweden develops an antibiotic-free, safe and effective treatment of vaginal fungal infections. Gedea Biotech Luxembourg, Luxembourg 🚀 is a job-matching platform that connects developers and tech experts with CTOs and team leads from the best tech companies across Europe. 👾 nexten.io Malmö, Sweden Feeling studious, Noonies? __ __e is a tool for Google Classroom, that enables formative matrix assessment towards course learning objectives directly. StudyBe Oslo, Norway is the platform supports a unified API across all connected device categories, removing significant friction for app developers. Domos Labs Reykjavík, Iceland __ __s is a mobile-first technologically advanced neo-bank. Indo service #S__ __ tockholm, Sweden is the biggest blockchain start-up in Sweden. Double winner of the most prestigious nomination in Nordics 'NyTeknik 33-listan', winner of the Deloitte Fast 50, and now Noonies Award! ChromaWay AB T__ __ allinn, Estonia Passing 1000 votes is a fully digital and decentralized ecosystem for all actors in supply chain. OBORTECH Vilnius, Lithuania is an easy-to-use money app for cards and accounts. Via Genome, users can open a business or a merchant account or a personal one with dedicated IBANs, access transfers, exchange currency, process payments, and manage the funds. Genome Aalborg Digura A legaltech offering tenants fast, digital and reliable legal assistance Aarhus Partisia Market Design provides secure, simple, efficient solutions for auctions and exchanges realizing the potential of the market. Helsingborg is a hi-tech company developing cardiac occlusion devices and other vascular implants. Occlutech Tallinna is an AI-powered system for marketing automation in social networks. POSTOPLAN 🔥 Southern Europe Southern Europe’s economy went through a hard time this year due to a huge reduction in tourism. But our startups are of course always headstrong, from Spain to Italy and all the way through Greece. Who are the heroes rising amidst changes of Southern Europe? Skopje is a versatile software development company that solves the business challenges of SMBs, big brands, and brave hearts with awesome ideas. CodeChem Sliema Sounds like just a relaxing exhale. is a holistic health and wellbeing app built to allow users work on the development of their physical, mental and spiritual health Few Tajonar is a company of experienced business & industry entrepreneurs offering solutions to industries based on cutting-edge technologies. das-Nano Tarragona is a technology-based company focusing on the production of integrated microsystems. IMICROQ Terni is an ICT-based integrated solution that is able to modulate, respond, assist and learn to control most home activities. Mind Tirana is a video content and e-commerce platform for the Balkans built on top of an Albanian language specialized search engine. Gjirafa Torino develops and commercializes algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence to increase the autonomy of small satellite missions. AIKO T__ __ orres Buy online groceries like you would buy offline with personalized picking as fast as in 4 hours with Vedras 360hyper! Trento is a music-based platform built around streaming platforms that allow users to discover new emerging artists and make new friends. Brots 2021, what a YEAR. Congratulations to all of the startups that made it to the top winning list for Europe! Stay tuned for Startup awards in 2022 and let’s cheers to a new year of more innovative ideas, bold innovations, and robust creations from you, Europe 🌷 More Information: If you’re a winner, please answer ! If you’re a reader, participant, just a curious individual, consider answering one of our interviews . this interview here Read the FAQs about or . Startups here here To see all of the winners you may visit , pick any city and view the name that appears at the top. this site If you’re interested in partnering with us, we invite you to look through some of these or reach out to our business department. unique sponsorship options Perhaps creating your very own tickles your fancy or maybe you have a whole new idea for how we can partner! writing contest Thank you to all of our sponsors! We truly appreciate your contribution to the tech world and thus the future! The Startups Awards are sponsored by: , , , , , , , , , , Blockster Brex FreeCodeCamp LaunchDarkly Coil Udacity Udemy Vercel Asia Pacific Transgender Network Bybit Everscale Network This post was written by An Le and edited by Natasha Nel. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to report a discrepancy please email ellen@hackernoon.com.

Meet the Winners of Startups in Europe

Blockchain technology and the systems that surround it have seen incredible progress over the last few years. From something that few people were familiar with to a common point within world-wide news networks, the blockchain has taken incredible strides. But, as with every major technology, the applications of blockchain have shifted and morphed over time. As we continue to move further into 2022, several core trends are emerging, each one using blockchain technology in an exciting and innovative way. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the top trends that are currently emerging within the blockchain space, touching on the companies that are at the forefront of these developments. We’ll be discussing: Social Trading - NAGAX Community Scholarships - UniX Play2Earn - Jelurida Content Creation - Creaton Improving Security - Partisia Comprehensive Regulation - Alkemi Entertainment - Banger Games Community Voting and further NFT functionality - iZUMI Let’s get right into it. Social Trading - NAGAX While other trading communities that focus on stock or commodity trading are solitary pursuits, cryptocurrency and NFTs have a thriving community that rallies around them. This is especially the case thanks to the development of social trading within the blockchain space. , a web 3.0 social investing platform set to release in March 2022, will allow users to gain access to a community of like-minded traders. NAGAX Users of this platform are able to see exactly what other people are trading in the world of crypto, either clicking on their profile and copying them or watching them from afar. With active discussions on the NAGAX social feed, users are interested in learning more about how to trade cryptocurrencies and what key trades are currently going on. Within this more social community, NAGAX has further added to the blockchain trend of copy trading and social trading. Instead of having to muddle through the complicated world of crypto by yourself, you’ll be able to join this platform and find a whole community of people looking to actively help you. When you copy someone else’s trades, you pay a small fee, which is then given to the creator. This creates a symbiotic system within which both the expert and the beginner traders get something from social trading. With strong ideas driving this platform, this innovative form of social trading is an exciting prospect for 2022 that the blockchain community is closely watching. Community Scholarships - UniX , one of the first play2earn gaming guilds, has the ambitious goal of providing a method for individuals from around the world to leverage the platform in order to build a living for themselves. UniX Based on P2E, with users being able to rent from UniX, they allow gamers from around the world to make the most of these earning structures. Especially focusing on underrepresented communities, UniX provides scholarships to their gamers. These scholarships lease valuable NFTs to gamers around the world, allowing them to perform well in their matches and produce an income for themselves. This concept has taken the world by storm, allowing people around the world to actually make a living off play2earn gaming. Their community has grown, now representing the world’s largest gaming community on the blockchain, with over 190,000 users, 5,000 students (that have received a scholarship), and over 10 million views. Their recent partnership with The Sandbox, which is one of the larger Metaverse gaming projects, represents a further avenue through which UniX users can develop their own income streams. Although play2earn is a competitive arena that is notoriously hard to get into, UniX provides an accessible stream for individuals around the world, affording people from developing countries the opportunity to create full-time incomes with impressive figures. This people-first approach is an impressive and innovative application of the blockchain that we’re excited to follow in 2022. Play2Earn - Jelurida Gamification is a strong aspect of any platform, enticing players and ensuring that everyone has a good time. Yet, blockchain has taken this even further over the last few months, with 2022 shaping up to be the year where play2earn gaming really makes it big. One of the leading play2earn gaming platforms that uses blockchain is , which runs on Ardor. Jelurida This system has launched a range of play2earn games where users can earn and trade NFTs as a reward for playing. The largest of these games is , which centers around card collection and battling. Mythical Beings Different cards, which can be unlocked by playing, trading in repeated cards, and beating other players, have a range of different functions in the game. Each of these cards acts as a unique NFT, giving them inherent value and further increasing players’ desire to collect them. Within the game, users are able to have fun while also earning these NFTs. By trading, selling, or exchanging their cards, users are then able to actively generate an income through this play2earn blockchain scheme. While play2earn gaming has already started gaining steam, 2022 will be the year where this system is taken to the next level. Content Creation - Creaton Content creation and digital influencers are a niche that has been growing in popularity consistently over the last ten years. Of course, with the innovation that blockchain continually brings, this, too, has seen a promising new trend emerging. , a platform that allows content creators to make subscription-based content portals, uses the concept of NFTs in order to monetize their content. Creaton A content creator can make a post, video, or artwork and place it on this platform. Instantly, the post will be minted as an NFT. Their fans can then pay to access these posts, with the blockchain allowing for real-time calculation of time spent on a page, rather than monthly fees. That means that users can access the content for the amount of time that they want, paying only for the time they spend on the page. This innovative format for content creation and sharing will give even more power to creators, letting them craft monetizable content hubs that their fans can access. Creaton recently raised , further demonstrating the excitement that follows this project. $1.1 million dollars with their idea As 2022 continues onwards, we’re likely going to be seeing a new form of content creation, one that is driven by NFTs, the blockchain, and user-forward services. Improving Security - Partisia Blockchain As the online world becomes more complicated, the need for digital security has never been more apparent. Although many security platforms use the blockchain to grant a higher level of decentralized security, they do so by compromising the safety of data in this public access system. That’s where comes in, effectively solving this problem with an innovative use of combined security features. Partisia Blockchain Founded by world-leading cryptographers, entrepreneurs, and developers with extensive experience in commercial-grade security software, Partisia Blockchain has taken the security world by storm. This technology creates a unique security experience, combining blockchain technology with multi-party computation ( ). MPC This combination allows businesses to benefit from decentralized technologies while also ensuring that their data is confidential, secure, and blocked from public access. As this is an incredibly stable and efficient security process, Partisia Blockchain could very easily represent the next step in safety protocol, crafting an innovative security solution that makes the most of what the blockchain has to offer. As the world seeks more comprehensive security solutions for Web 3.0, Partisia Blockchain presents itself as a unique answer. Regulation Compliance - Alkemi Network Over the past few years, billions of dollars have been put into the DeFi industry, with the total market cap now resting around . $117 billion USD While many institutions have already turned to this innovative system, organizations that rely on legacy infrastructure have yet to take the plunge. Especially relating to banking institutions, one of the main preventative factors that stops mass-adoption of DeFi is regulation issues. That’s where comes in, acting as an institution-grade liquidity network. Alkemi In short, the tools that Alkemi offers creates a seamless pathway that will allow financial institutions to get involved with complaint DeFi. Additionally, with specialized User Interface and , the institutions can now access DeFi liquidity without worrying about the regulatory ramifications, further facilitating the movement. advanced reporting tools One of the ways that Alkemi brings centralized systems on-chain is through their partnership with , with its global verification features helping to streamline the onboarding process for individuals and financial institutions alike. KYC-Chain By running KYC/AML permissioned liquidity pools, alongside customer due diligence, Alkemi fulfills the compliance regulations that financial institutions have been waiting for. With regulation compliance, centralized financial institutions can now move to DeFi without risk. With this alternation, Alkemi has paved the way for 2022 to be the year that CeFi moves to DeFi solutions. Entertainment - Banger Games Although many play2earn games have come out in the blockchain space over the last 18 months, many face a similar issue - they’re boring to play. Considering these are games, their central purpose should still be entertainment, something many are completely missing the mark on. attempts to shift the blockchain gaming industry back onto the right path, adding blockchain elements onto games that are already blockbuster titles. Banger Games Instead of creating games from scratch and hoping that people enjoy them, Banger Games adds a layer of blockchain functionality on top of already famous games. One example of this is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is the most played game on STEAM. Integrating NFTs and other play2earn aspects into these games will cause a further uptake of them while also simultaneously bringing millions of gamers on-chain. Typical examples of earning opportunities include completing in-game objectives, winning SMART tournaments, and eventually earning through lending out your idle computing power to enable others to play with. Converting winnings into Banger Coins as well as XP, users are granted multiple reasons to keep grinding their favourite games. Bringing entertainment back to the play2earn industry, this gaming opportunity is one that everyone should be closely following within 2022. DAO Governance with veNFT’s - iZUMi Finance In February of 2022, Finance released an announcement that spoke about its decentralized autonomous organization (DOA). iZUMi This DOA aims to incite a new method of governance, with a quadratic voting system that is based on veNFTs. In short, these veNFT governance tokens will allow community voting to be taken to the next level. While still using the industry-standard ERC271 token, these veNFT tokens will allow users to vote, return staking rewards, and boost proposals. Representing a major step forward for NFT utilization, this DOA governance voting system allows a whole new method for conducting any form of voting. Not only will this additional application reduce the number of iZi in secondary markets, boosting the token’s value, but it will also allow any holders of these NFTs to gain staking rewards each month. As these tokens can be traded on mainstream NFT platforms like OpenSea, there is also no danger of losing liquidity on iZi locked into veNFTs. As community has always been a core aspect of the blockchain, the new community voting system that veNFTs enable will further drive this feature of blockchain. In 2022, we’re likely to see community participation become even more important in blockchain. Final Thoughts Blockchain is a technological ecosystem that’s seeing new developments rise up every single day. The eight companies on this list represent trailblazers in their industry, pushing the bounds of what people thought was possible with decentralized systems. Whether you’re looking to follow exciting gaming projects, social activism, financial movements, or social trading opportunities, these blockchain platforms provide unique solutions to a plethora of distinct problems. As we continue to move further into 2022, we’re excited at the new opportunities that we’ll see a rise within the blockchain ecosystem.

8 Prominent Blockchain Trends You Should Know About In 2022 

For the 24th version of Unhashed, I reached out to Kurt Nielsen, the Co-Founder & President of , a Web 3.0 public blockchain built for trust, transparency, privacy, and lightning speed finalization. So, let’s dive straight into the interview. Partisia Blockchain Q1. Welcome to Unhashed. What’s your crypto story, and how did you get started with Partisia Blockchain? Answer: I was working on a Ph.D. in market design and game theory when I first heard about distributed cryptography and secure multiparty computation (MPC). MPC is a perfect match to the theory I was buried in at the time. My friend introduced me to one of the most prominent researchers in the field, Ivan Damgaard, and we hit it off. This was the beginning of a long collaboration about bringing MPC into commercial use. I have been working with MPC and distributed cryptography since 2004, first as a researcher and then as co-founder of Partisia since 2008. The first product was a DEX - a decentralized exchange with no single point of trust - built on MPC. I later co-founded Sepior, a pioneer in MPC-based key management, which is booming these days with larger players like SBI Holding, Paypal, and Coinbase buying into the technology. In 2017, we started to build blockchain applications and, more importantly, to merge blockchain and MPC technologies, which are two technologies that are destined to melt together. Partisia Blockchain is the result of this effort. Q2. "True sense of privacy and ownership," how do you define this? What are the most overlooked parts of how our money works? Answer: Let me break this question into two relatively short answers to what I would consider two very different but important questions. First, “true sense of privacy” is when the user controls who gets to see and use the user’s data. It is this level of control that defines ownership, although I don’t usually use the term “ownership” as it has different legal ramifications. This level of control needs to include the service providers as well; otherwise, the service provider can unilaterally profit by accumulating data across users - as we all know, this is the current dominating business model on the internet but not a fair one. Establishing a “true sense of privacy” is a difficult problem that is not at all solved by traditional blockchain technologies. Second, while blockchain provides real decentralized control of money, private money is a different matter. As mentioned, traditional blockchain is, in fact, orthogonal to a true sense of privacy as discussed above. For this discussion, it is important to distinguish between confidential data and anonymous users. For the most part, the current blockchain technology provides full transparency about transactions and some sort of anonymity about the users. While the lack of “private transactions” may prevent more mainstream and corporate adoption, introducing “private transactions” is a delicate matter. A much larger privacy problem is privacy around the data used prior to a transaction as opposed to the transaction itself. As an example, it may require the use of private data across hundreds of potential buyers and sellers to get to a single transaction. It is this massive use of private data that is our primary focus. Q3. ZKP is one of the highly idealized cryptographic tools. How do you explain its utility with regards to privacy and security for the layman? Also, please shed light on the need for standardizing ZKP computations. Answer: ZKP is a short form of zero-knowledge proof and the first step towards ZK computation. Consider the children’s game “Where's Wally,” and now try to prove that you found Wally without revealing Wally’s position in the picture. If you can do that, you actually practiced zero-knowledge proof. A straightforward and very tangible ZKP is for the “prover” to use a large cover paper and cut a hole that exactly captures Wally and nothing else, then put the cover paper on top of the “Where’s Wally” picture. Now the “verifier” can see Wally and the “prover” didn’t reveal anything but the image of Wally. This article provides the full story. Medium The above analogy also hints that ZKP is limited to two players and to binary results (true or false). ZK computation is, on the other hand, a generic distributed privacy-preserving computer that can compute any computations with arbitrary private input and output. ** Q4. Please brief us all about the proof of finalization and justification. How does it fare in comparison to resource-friendly consensus mechanisms like proof of stake? Answer: The consensus protocol on Partisia Blockchain is environmental-friendly and similar to Proof-of-Stake, except that the individual node’s vote will be weighed with a node-specific “trust score” as opposed to the node’s relative token holding. In the initial version of Partisia Blockchain, however, all nodes have equal voting power. The Proof-of-verification, -Justification, and -Finalization are components of the improved consensus model. Proof-of-Verification is a node-specific proof of the actual construction of the block in question. As such, this prevents nodes from blindly signing blocks without proper verification. Hereby it compensates for the concept of the “longest chain,” which is a very important property of Proof-of-Work i.e., that if you do not work on the longest chain, rewards are lost. The Proof-of-Justification is a single node’s proof of having received signatures from 2/3 or more nodes on the block in question. The Proof-of-Finalization is the first Proof-of-Justification of the next block, which indirectly proves that 2/3 or more of all nodes hold 2/3 or more signatures on the previous block. The provides a more thorough presentation of the consensus model. yellow paper Q5. 'Privacy-preserving' transactions are also safe havens for fraudulent activities and scams. How does Partisia Blockchain sustain the balance between transparency and privacy? Answer: This is an important balance, as discussed in Q2. Partisia Blockchain consists of a fully transparent blockchain, and dedicated ZK nodes run a privacy-preserving computation in a separate second layer. The transactions on Partisia Blockchain belong to the transparent blockchain, and the privacy-preserving use of data is kept confidential forever. This provides a balance between transparency and privacy. However, since Partisia Blockchain is a generic network for the coordination of public and private information, it is possible to implement the auditability needed to justify any level of privacy. Concerning anonymity and identification, Partisia Blockchain provides an alternative as a platform for privacy-preserving self-sovereign identity. This is already tested in collaboration with three Swiss cantons. Concerning transactions and privacy, Partisia Blockchain makes it possible to create a fully compliant “private coin” by using Partisia Blockchain to audit the private transactions and run all the required fraud detection. This has already been developed for potential use as private cash for humanitarian aid. Q6. We now know that multiparty computation facilitates privacy-preserving computations. How does this layer of decentralization impact operational efficiency? Answer: Distributed computation requires more coordination as the nodes/servers involved need to agree on the state of a given operation. This is a common challenge for traditional blockchain and for MPC. The design of Partisia Blockchain, however, ensures that MPC does not slow down the blockchain part and vice versa. Also, Partisia Blockchain comes with so-called sharding or scalable parallelization of the entire blockchain. This means that congestion is solved by spinning up a new shard as opposed to a market that uses price to prioritize transactions. Disclaimer: The sole purpose of Unhashed is to unhash (decode) information about projects innovating using blockchain and cryptocurrencies and share it with the community. The does not have any vested interest in any of the projects covered herein. Not that this article shares any, but still, taking investment advice from strangers on the internet is not a wise thing to do. writer

True Privacy is When Users Decide Who Sees and Uses Their Data: Unhased #24

Next week, the US will hold a presidential election. At that time, we will vote not for a presidential candidate but for an impression of the candidate we see on TV and at campaign events, read about in newspapers and blogs, and hear about from our friends and family. Like Plato’s shadows on the cave wall, our impressions will reflect only whatever somebody chooses to show us. Modern politics overwhelms us with images crafted and cultivated to fit what we want to see rather than the truth. We latch onto the fragment of reality that we perceive. We never see the full picture. Outside of a few insiders, nobody has enough information to make an informed decision about anybody they vote for. I certainly don’t. Who’s good? Who’s bad? You may think the answers are obvious. Often, it’s not so easy to tell. The devil you don’t know or the other devil you don’t know For example, Congressman Tom Emmer, one of crypto’s most powerful advocates in Congress. He’s the guy who yelled at SEC Chairman Gary Gensler for missing the FTX fraud, among other grievances. Did you know FTX was one of the biggest donors to Tom Emmer’s campaign and gave almost $3 million to the GOP’s Congressional Leadership Fund while Emmer was in charge of it? Did you also know that Emmer was one of several Congresspeople who wrote a letter to Gensler asking him to stop investigating FTX (among other crypto entities)? If you support crypto and politicians, have you ever asked Emmer how he feels about protecting a scam? Taking money from a fraudster? Did he give the money back? Or, do you not care because Emmer says nice things about crypto and criticizes people you dislike? Because he shares your views? If you don’t support crypto and politicians, do you support Gensler’s nonsensical application of obsolete financial rules to stifle a new technology with arbitrary lawsuits and bizarre standards? Or, do you not care about people trying to build or use crypto, so you ignore it? Presidents don’t matter for your financial markets Why does market performance always seem disconnected from politics? The crypto market crashed more than 50% several times under Biden. It crashed more than 70% several times under Trump. Obama was even worse — multiple crashes of 80% or more. On the flip side, it went up 100% after Biden took office, 2,500% after Trump took office, and 5,500% after Obama took office. Seems fishy until you compare that with legacy assets. People make a big deal about the economy under one party or the other, but the economy — like crypto — seems to do whatever it wants regardless of who’s in office. Look at the stock market performance under Republicans and Democrats, adjusted for GDP. Red is Republican, blue is Democrat. Can you see any trend? Neither can I. You can extend this to the wider economy. Let’s do GDP. I counted the number of negative half-years in white: What about inflation? Same. What about employment? Same. What about budget deficits? For statistical consistency, we’ll calculate it as a percentage of GDP. Same. What about oil prices? Same. From a purely investing perspective, you get no advantage or disadvantage under Democrats and Republicans. On the whole, the US economy and its major assets perform as well or as poorly under one as the other. You can take these charts and move the boxes one or two years forward to account for the lag between a change of party and the results of their actions. You’ll get the same result. Know what matters Am I saying presidential elections don’t matter? No. They matter a lot. Every election carries high stakes for your business, employment opportunities, living standards, moral or religious beliefs, mental health, and many aspects of your life. But presidents can’t save your marriage, get you to lose that extra 10 pounds, or fix your financial problems. For people who work in crypto, you won’t find a better friend than Trump. That’s important for people trying to run businesses, build crypto apps, and create new tokens. What about the rest of us? Doesn’t matter. Sure, government policies can tinker around the edges, but crypto is a global asset. Prices come from buyers, sellers, and circumstances beyond any president’s control. The past two years saw a wave of innovation from non-US talent and US companies working abroad. Thousands of new projects have been launched. Hundreds more are waiting for market conditions to improve. Oddly enough, crypto is bigger under Biden now than Trump and Obama. Bitcoin’s hit three new all-time highs! For all those reasons, vote your conscience, not your crypto portfolio. If neither presidential candidate resonates with you, write somebody in. You can scribble “Bitcoin” on your ballot. Most likely, you live in a state where your presidential vote doesn't matter — any of the 43 states painted red or blue in the image below. Partisanship has already made your decision irrelevant. Why not vote for somebody or something you want? You have nothing to lose. I dive more deeply into this topic in a recent post, The US Presidential Election Matters for You, Not Your Crypto Portfolio. https://cryptoiseasy.beehiiv.com/p/the-us-presidential-election-matters-for-you-not-your-crypto-portfolio?embedable=true Mark Helfman publishes the Crypto is Easy newsletter. He is also the author of three books and a top Bitcoin writer on Medium and Hacker Noon. Learn more about him in his bio and connect with him on Tealfeed. Next week, the US will hold a presidential election. At that time, we will vote not for a presidential candidate but for an impression of the candidate we see on TV and at campaign events, read about in newspapers and blogs, and hear about from our friends and family. Like Plato’s shadows on the cave wall, our impressions will reflect only whatever somebody chooses to show us. Modern politics overwhelms us with images crafted and cultivated to fit what we want to see rather than the truth. We latch onto the fragment of reality that we perceive. We never see the full picture. Outside of a few insiders, nobody has enough information to make an informed decision about anybody they vote for. I certainly don’t. Who’s good? Who’s bad? You may think the answers are obvious. Often, it’s not so easy to tell. The devil you don’t know or the other devil you don’t know For example, Congressman Tom Emmer, one of crypto’s most powerful advocates in Congress. He’s the guy who yelled at SEC Chairman Gary Gensler for missing the FTX fraud, among other grievances. Did you know FTX was one of the biggest donors to Tom Emmer’s campaign and gave almost $3 million to the GOP’s Congressional Leadership Fund while Emmer was in charge of it? Did you also know that Emmer was one of several Congresspeople who wrote a letter to Gensler asking him to stop investigating FTX (among other crypto entities)? If you support crypto and politicians, have you ever asked Emmer how he feels about protecting a scam? Taking money from a fraudster? Did he give the money back? Or, do you not care because Emmer says nice things about crypto and criticizes people you dislike? Because he shares your views? If you don’t support crypto and politicians, do you support Gensler’s nonsensical application of obsolete financial rules to stifle a new technology with arbitrary lawsuits and bizarre standards? Or, do you not care about people trying to build or use crypto, so you ignore it? Presidents don’t matter for your financial markets Why does market performance always seem disconnected from politics? The crypto market crashed more than 50% several times under Biden. It crashed more than 70% several times under Trump. Obama was even worse — multiple crashes of 80% or more. On the flip side, it went up 100% after Biden took office, 2,500% after Trump took office, and 5,500% after Obama took office. Seems fishy until you compare that with legacy assets. People make a big deal about the economy under one party or the other, but the economy — like crypto — seems to do whatever it wants regardless of who’s in office. Look at the stock market performance under Republicans and Democrats, adjusted for GDP. Red is Republican, blue is Democrat. Can you see any trend? Neither can I. You can extend this to the wider economy. Let’s do GDP. I counted the number of negative half-years in white: What about inflation? Same. What about employment? Same. What about budget deficits? For statistical consistency, we’ll calculate it as a percentage of GDP. Same. What about oil prices? Same. From a purely investing perspective, you get no advantage or disadvantage under Democrats and Republicans. On the whole, the US economy and its major assets perform as well or as poorly under one as the other. You can take these charts and move the boxes one or two years forward to account for the lag between a change of party and the results of their actions. You’ll get the same result. Know what matters Am I saying presidential elections don’t matter? No. They matter a lot. Every election carries high stakes for your business, employment opportunities, living standards, moral or religious beliefs, mental health, and many aspects of your life. But presidents can’t save your marriage, get you to lose that extra 10 pounds, or fix your financial problems. For people who work in crypto, you won’t find a better friend than Trump. That’s important for people trying to run businesses, build crypto apps, and create new tokens. What about the rest of us? Doesn’t matter. Sure, government policies can tinker around the edges, but crypto is a global asset. Prices come from buyers, sellers, and circumstances beyond any president’s control. The past two years saw a wave of innovation from non-US talent and US companies working abroad. Thousands of new projects have been launched. Hundreds more are waiting for market conditions to improve. Oddly enough, crypto is bigger under Biden now than Trump and Obama. Bitcoin’s hit three new all-time highs! For all those reasons, vote your conscience, not your crypto portfolio. If neither presidential candidate resonates with you, write somebody in. You can scribble “Bitcoin” on your ballot. Most likely, you live in a state where your presidential vote doesn't matter — any of the 43 states painted red or blue in the image below. Partisanship has already made your decision irrelevant. Why not vote for somebody or something you want? You have nothing to lose. I dive more deeply into this topic in a recent post, The US Presidential Election Matters for You, Not Your Crypto Portfolio . The US Presidential Election Matters for You, Not Your Crypto Portfolio The US Presidential Election Matters for You, Not Your Crypto Portfolio The US Presidential Election Matters for You, Not Your Crypto Portfolio https://cryptoiseasy.beehiiv.com/p/the-us-presidential-election-matters-for-you-not-your-crypto-portfolio?embedable=true https://cryptoiseasy.beehiiv.com/p/the-us-presidential-election-matters-for-you-not-your-crypto-portfolio?embedable=true Mark Helfman publishes the Crypto is Easy newsletter. He is also the author of three books and a top Bitcoin writer on Medium and Hacker Noon . Learn more about him in his bio and connect with him on Tealfeed . Crypto is Easy Crypto is Easy Crypto is Easy Medium Medium Medium Hacker Noon Hacker Noon Hacker Noon bio bio Tealfeed Tealfeed

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