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Joseph O'Neill

Joseph O'Neill

Joseph O'Neill has a background in writing and translation and has been interested in Bitcoin and blockchain since 2018. His experiences living internationally have convinced him of the value of global, decentralized financial systems. Disclosure: He owns Bitcoin, Ethereum, some altcoins, and one or two NFTs he has largely forgotten about.

Stories by Joseph O'Neill

  • What Are Wrapped Tokens? How They Work and What They’re Used For

    One way to understand blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is as separate distributed databases. As blockchains are separate, they can’t communicate easily with each other.  You can’t use your Bitcoin directly on the Ethereum blockchain, because only the Bitcoin blockchain “knows” that you hold Bitcoin.  Wrapped tokens were created as a solution to this problem. With wrapped tokens, you can effectively move assets between blockchains and use them across the crypto ecosystem. What are wrapp...

  • What is Bitcoin Cash?

    Bitcoin was designed so that no one group or person could control it. Bitcoin’s decentralized design has many advantages, but things can get tricky when there are disagreements with the community about the best way forward. Such disagreements have led to more than 100 Bitcoin forks. Not all of those forks have led to new networks, but of those that have, Bitcoin Cash is probably the best known. What is Bitcoin Cash? Bitcoin Cash is a modified version of Bitcoin that runs on its own blockchain ne...

    ExplainersThe Coins
    4 min read
    Joseph O'Neill, Matt Hussey
  • Image: Decrypt

    What Are Decentralized Apps (Dapps)?

    The promise being offered by dapps, or decentralized apps, is that it might reduce the need for a middleman. What is a dapp (decentralized application)? Dapps are decentralized apps. They are like normal apps, and offer similar functions, but the key difference is that they are run on a peer-to-peer network, such as a blockchain, using smart contracts. As dapps are decentralized, they can’t be controlled by a single person or entity. Dapps also often have the following features: They are open-s...

    Courses
    5 min read
    Joseph O'Neill, Scott Chipolina, Matt Hussey
  • NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are cryptographically unique digital assets. Image: Decrypt

    What Are Utility NFTs? Unique Tokens Offering Real-World Benefits

    The total trading volume of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) went from $200 million in 2020 to over $12 billion in the first quarter of 2022. For that value to be sustainable, there needs to be more to NFTs than just market hype and FOMO. It’s still very early days as far as discovering real-world use cases for NFTs goes. But the cryptographically unique tokens have the potential to be more than just JPEGs on a blockchain. Utility NFTs—NFTs with actual use cases—could yet be the driving force that tr...

  • Bitcoin defi image

    What is Bitcoin DeFi, and How Does It Work?

    Since decentralized finance (DeFi) first exploded in 2020, the majority of DeFi projects have been built on the Ethereum blockchain. Bitcoin holders who want to access DeFi have often chosen to use wrapped versions of Bitcoin such as WBTC. This has allowed them to use tokens pegged 1:1 to Bitcoin. But in 2021 and 2022, there have been big changes in the world of DeFi. Not only have potential “Ethereum killers” such as Solana taken DeFi market share away from Ethereum, there has been increasing...

  • Image: Decrypt

    What are Decentralized Apps (Dapps)?

    It’s time to cut out the middleman. Why pay for a company to provide a ride-sharing service when you could use an app that connects drivers directly with riders and doesn’t take a cut? That's the promise being offered by dapps, or decentralized apps. Read on for an overview of what they are, how they work, some of the opportunities they present, and and the challenges these new types of applications face. What is a dapp (decentralized application)? Dapps are decentralized apps. They are like no...

    ExplainersThe Landscape
    5 min read
    Joseph O'Neill, Scott Chipolina, Matt Hussey