Stories by Adriana Hamacher
How are Users Incentivized to Secure Flare Network?
“Well-designed incentives can spark public interest and drive long-term value,” notes Flare, which bills itself as the "blockchain for data." This ethos informs Flare’s strategy—empowering users to actively contribute to blockchain security and scalability while they reap tangible rewards. In total, 58.3% of the genesis Flare token supply is allocated to community incentives, including its rFLR Emissions Program. Here’s how Flare incentivizes active contributions to its fast-growing, data-centri...
DeFi Opportunities on Flare
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is transforming how assets are traded, staked, and utilized, but its full potential depends on the infrastructure supporting complex, scalable, and interoperable applications. Flare is meeting this challenge by combining advanced data capabilities with opportunities for users and developers. From liquid staking, which unlocks the value of staked assets for use as collateral, to cross-chain connectivity and perpetual trading , Flare is laying the foundation for a con...
What is the Flare Data Connector Oracle and What are its Use Cases?
Blockchains are digital islands; their isolation makes it hard to connect with external data. As these networks evolve to support increasingly complex applications, they need oracles to integrate verified, off-chain data securely. The Flare Data Connector (FDC) is a decentralized oracle that bridges the gap by securely reading the state of other chains and providing data proofs from Web2. It provides developers with the necessary infrastructure for advanced decentralized finance (DeFi), cross-ch...
Trust-Minimized Bitcoin DeFi: What Is the FAssets System?
The future of decentralized finance (DeFi) holds enormous potential for Bitcoin (BTC) and non-smart contract tokens, but there’s a catch: a significant proportion of blockchain assets can’t interact directly with DeFi protocols due to a lack of smart contract support. Enter Flare’s FAssets system, designed to unlock this value by enabling tokens like Bitcoin, XRP, and Dogecoin to participate in DeFi on Flare and beyond. Developed by Flare Labs, FAssets convert cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin into...
The Flare Time-Series Oracle: Why Decentralized Data Matters
Connected to real-world data, blockchains transform from static ledgers into powerful, adaptive systems that can respond instantly to external events. But to truly live up to their decentralized promise, without risk of compromising security and autonomy, they need oracles that can supply decentralized data. Isolated from real-world data, blockchains are closed systems reliant on oracles to bridge the information gap. Yet existing oracles can struggle with high costs, transparency or security ri...
Introduction to Flare: The Blockchain for Data
Today’s top apps, like Instagram and Apple Music, run on vast data streams and powerful processing that blockchains can’t yet match without compromising decentralization. As a result, decentralized apps (dapps) are forced to either compromise on their feature set, or leverage oracles that rely on centralized off-chain data streams. Flare introduces a new approach, incorporating data oracles into its blockchain, so that the data is provided by the validators who secure the network. This integrate...
What Are Meme Coins and Tokens?
Memes have always been part of crypto culture—so it was perhaps inevitable that they would be financialized using the same technology that birthed cryptocurrencies. Initially, meme coins like Dogecoin were created as a joke, poking fun at cryptocurrencies—but, in true decentralized fashion, they’ve evolved beyond their creators’ original intentions. With their highly volatile prices shaped by influencers and rapidly moving news cycles, meme coins have become a growing sector of the crypto econom...
What Are Meme Coins and Tokens?
Influencers have always featured prominently in cryptocurrency culture, but never more so than recently. When Elon Musk threw his weight behind the original meme cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, it sparked a wave of imitators, promoted by influencers on social media platforms such as TikTok. Some call investing in meme coins insanity, others think of it as a cheap bet with the potential to realize 1000% profits. Whoever’s right, interest in meme coins or tokens has surged in recent months. Here's the l...
What Is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)?
Decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, have no company HQ, replace traditional hierarchies with flat management structures, are governed by crypto holders, and are built on rules that are automatically enforced on a blockchain. Advocates of DAOs claim that they'll radically alter the way businesses are run. They're already hard at work; several DAOs have already been launched, and they've created some pretty cool things. What is a DAO? A DAO is an organization where control is spread o...
Binance Urges Industry-Wide Action to Boost Trust in Crypto
There’s no doubt that the crypto industry is at an inflection point. In the past months, a series of scandals—including bankruptcy, insider trading, and unorthodox withdrawals—have rocked fragile confidence in its ecosystem. Rana Kortam, global policy lead at Binance, told Decrypt that “the challenges have definitely underscored the need to do more,” and insists that “we all have a part to play,” to provide further protections for users and investors, and build for the long term. In the U.S. and...
Member of St. Maarten’s Parliament Launches Bid to Adopt Tron as Legal Tender
Tron-based cryptocurrency could become legal tender in the Caribbean nation of St Maarten, after pro-crypto member of parliament Rolando Brison initiated legislation to begin the process in January, according to local news outlet SMN-N. The move to adopt Tron as legal tender in the Dutch-governed part of the territory, Sint Maarten, “marks another achievement for our push [toward] worldwide blockchain adoption,” tweeted Tron founder Justin Sun. Last Fall, St Maarten’s Caribbean neighbor Dominica...
From USDD Stablecoin to Dominica: Tron's Road Ahead
In the decade since he discovered crypto and stocks, Justin Sun has come a long way. The China-born tech entrepreneur is the founder of Tron, a smart contract network that has doubled its market share in recent months. He owns the world's largest distributed storage system, BitTorrent, among other enterprises, and is an alumnus of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list—with a talent for publicity that’s made him a household name in crypto circles. Famously, in 2019 he paid $4.5 million for a charity dinner...
Justin Sun: Tron’s USDD Is Taking Stablecoins to ‘The Next Level’
For a stablecoin launched amid the fallout of the Terra UST collapse last spring, Tron’s USDD is faring remarkably well. The success of Tron’s over-collateralized, decentralized stablecoin has helped the smart contract blockchain to double its market share. Tron has jumped from seventh to third place behind market-leaders Ethereum and BSC in total value locked (TVL), with the TVL across Tron’s various apps now standing at $5.2 billion. Speaking to Decrypt from his base in Singapore, Justin Sun e...
Chainlink Announces Staking Plans, Aiming to Be AWS of Web3
Chainlink, which uses oracle networks to provide secure access to real-world data for Web3 apps, has unveiled that its long-awaited staking rewards are set to go live in December, together with two new programs designed to increase the economic sustainability of its services. Chainlink Co-founder Sergey Nazarov made the announcement at SmartCon 2022, the network’s first IRL conference. Ex-Google chief Eric Schmidt, now a Chainlink advisor, is a speaker along with other luminaries including FTX’...
DexGuru Hands Power to its Users With ‘Bootstrap’ DAO Launch
The grand vision for Decentralized Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) is of industrious, utopian communities owned and managed by their members, with each individual having a voice in how assets are allocated and how things are run. But the sad truth is that DAOs often start out centralized; in many cases, key decisions have already been made by the DAO’s core team well before the bulk of its members even join. But there’s a change in the air. One soon-to-be-launched DAO is determined to remedy the...
Boss Cat Rocket Club Builds First All-Inclusive Metaverse on Cardano
Boss Cat Rocket Club, a collection of algorithmically generated, space-bound kitties, launched last year, is one of the most successful non-fungible token (NFT) projects on the Cardano blockchain. Now, BCRC is building out Boss Planet, its own metaverse with a difference. Founded by Blue Magic, a member of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) community (and the proud owner of Ape #4064), Boss Planet is pursuing an inclusive metaverse, in which other Cardano projects can collaborate and hang o...
NFTs Started ‘a Digital Art Renaissance.’ It’s Far From Over
Digital art was born in the 1960s, but the 2020s will surely go down as the era when the medium came into its own, and turned the art industry upside down in the process. Technology, in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) such as CryptoPunks, has played a key role in disrupting traditional art-market dynamics. Online marketplaces and platforms have enabled artists to dispense with gatekeepers, birthing a billion-dollar business that favors creators. “The art landscape changed when CryptoPunks...
Why NFTs Need an 'Airbnb of the Metaverse' to Flourish
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have gone from niche to mainstream in the past year, with explosive growth in sales volume accompanied by innovative use cases for the cryptographically unique tokens. Vibrant new communities have emerged around NFTs linked to sports, digital art, music, and film. Yet even as new brands, game experiences and metaverses are being built, a corresponding financial layer remains underdeveloped. This is the area to watch, and it’s replete with derivative options for NFT fra...
How David Chaum Went From Inventing Digital Cash to Pioneering Digital Privacy
It all started in a hot tub at the University of California, Berkeley at the tail end of the 1970s—that’s where David Chaum, cryptography pioneer and eCash creator, came upon the idea for his Masters thesis, he told Decrypt on a recent call from Los Angeles. It was a vibrant period at the university. “My officemate was Eric Schmidt, and Bill Joy was down the hall,” he says; the two went on to found, respectively, Google and Sun Microsystems, which helped shape industry perceptions of open comput...
2022 Crypto and Bitcoin Tax Guide For U.S. Taxpayers
Tax season is upon us, which means that it's time to trawl through your finances and get your incomings and outgoings in order. Tax liability is a thorny area when it comes to Bitcoin and other digital assets. The truth is that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reporting guidelines on crypto are still evolving. This, combined with the frequency with which transactions may take place, can make filing crypto taxes seem like a daunting task for investors and traders alike. Fortunately, new tools like...
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