The quest for enhanced privacy and security continues to drive some of the most tech intense innovation in crypto. It’s important to remember that crypto once started as what was basically a science fair project wedding cryptography and a financial transaction platform. The rise in popularity of technology like FHE and ZK is a callback to the roots of blockchain. As the L2 ecosystem on Ethereum reaches maturity and consumer applications become scalable, the focus of developers is now shifting...

The quest for enhanced privacy and security continues to drive some of the most tech intense innovation in crypto. It’s important to remember that crypto once started as what was basically a science fair project wedding cryptography and a financial transaction platform. The rise in popularity of technology like FHE and ZK is a callback to the roots of blockchain. As the L2 ecosystem on Ethereum reaches maturity and consumer applications become scalable, the focus of developers is now shifting...

Novel standards and new combinations of tokens always seem to energize digital assets. ERC-721s achieved mainstream attention shortly after the 2017 release and trickled into the NFT mania of 2021, ERC-1155s enabled a more semi-fungible experience and encouraged “casual” minting with open editions..etc. Just a few months ago, we explored 404s as they revealed a blend of ERC-20 and ERC-721 features. As it becomes clear that both NFTs and memecoins are the in-game currencies of the internet, ex...

Novel standards and new combinations of tokens always seem to energize digital assets. ERC-721s achieved mainstream attention shortly after the 2017 release and trickled into the NFT mania of 2021, ERC-1155s enabled a more semi-fungible experience and encouraged “casual” minting with open editions..etc. Just a few months ago, we explored 404s as they revealed a blend of ERC-20 and ERC-721 features. As it becomes clear that both NFTs and memecoins are the in-game currencies of the internet, ex...

Community-based businesses aren’t a new concept, but their trajectory over the past few years feels notable. Many companies today, both in crypto and elsewhere, are tapping into communal / social networks to shape (or in some cases replace) their product offerings. This approach leverages the built-in trust and communication within these groups, allowing businesses to grow organically alongside the communities they’re tailored towards. Companies gain loyal customers, and community members fin...

Community-based businesses aren’t a new concept, but their trajectory over the past few years feels notable. Many companies today, both in crypto and elsewhere, are tapping into communal / social networks to shape (or in some cases replace) their product offerings. This approach leverages the built-in trust and communication within these groups, allowing businesses to grow organically alongside the communities they’re tailored towards. Companies gain loyal customers, and community members fin...

Accurately valuing NFTs is a feat many claim to understand but few, if any, can reliably perform. Many blog posts and user surveying try to grasp these allusive appraisals, but some fall short of the systematic appraisal processes established in traditional art industries. The draw of generative art and the democratization of culture through NFTs have indeed been revolutionary, but the steady pursuit of profit remains a powerful undercurrent. Championing the intrinsic value of NFTs has quiete...

Accurately valuing NFTs is a feat many claim to understand but few, if any, can reliably perform. Many blog posts and user surveying try to grasp these allusive appraisals, but some fall short of the systematic appraisal processes established in traditional art industries. The draw of generative art and the democratization of culture through NFTs have indeed been revolutionary, but the steady pursuit of profit remains a powerful undercurrent. Championing the intrinsic value of NFTs has quiete...

As Apple embraces OpenAI's ChatGPT, the landscape of artificial intelligence is entering a pivotal stage. The partnership not only signifies a massive leap forward in Apple’s ML capabilities, it solidifies a powerful partnership between the AI behemoth and the world's largest consumer brand and tech company leading many to wonder what this could mean for OpenAI’s dominance going forward. Meanwhile, global competitors are not just watching from the sidelines. Tech giants and startups...

As Apple embraces OpenAI's ChatGPT, the landscape of artificial intelligence is entering a pivotal stage. The partnership not only signifies a massive leap forward in Apple’s ML capabilities, it solidifies a powerful partnership between the AI behemoth and the world's largest consumer brand and tech company leading many to wonder what this could mean for OpenAI’s dominance going forward. Meanwhile, global competitors are not just watching from the sidelines. Tech giants and startups...

The concept of 'retail' in the crypto world is as multifaceted as it is elusive. As the ecosystem matures, pinpointing the arrival of retail investors becomes obscured by a broadening horizon of behaviors and values. The days when crypto could be seen as a monolithic 'we', united by a singular vision, are gone. The growth in adoption has led to a splintering of ideals, with some championing crypto as a vessel for digital freedom, advocating for products that uphold civil l...

The concept of 'retail' in the crypto world is as multifaceted as it is elusive. As the ecosystem matures, pinpointing the arrival of retail investors becomes obscured by a broadening horizon of behaviors and values. The days when crypto could be seen as a monolithic 'we', united by a singular vision, are gone. The growth in adoption has led to a splintering of ideals, with some championing crypto as a vessel for digital freedom, advocating for products that uphold civil l...

Fairness has become an increasingly touchy point for many in the crypto industry. While the concern has been at the back of mind of many retail investors, it recently spilled into the public conversation with the release of Cobie’s substack article, uproar around token distribution models from protocols like Renzo, and the overall positive sentiment towards fair memecoin launches. As traditional projects often lean heavily on VC backing, a growing sentiment among retail investors has sparked ...

Fairness has become an increasingly touchy point for many in the crypto industry. While the concern has been at the back of mind of many retail investors, it recently spilled into the public conversation with the release of Cobie’s substack article, uproar around token distribution models from protocols like Renzo, and the overall positive sentiment towards fair memecoin launches. As traditional projects often lean heavily on VC backing, a growing sentiment among retail investors has sparked ...

Family offices are typically known for their cautious and strategic approach to investments, often balancing traditional assets with other novel opportunities. Recently, however, an interesting trend is emerging: family offices are increasingly curious about, and in some cases actively investing in, crypto. This shift in perception, if persistent, is poised to alter the landscape of both traditional and digital investments. It’s clear that the massive uptick in interest is partially driven by...

Family offices are typically known for their cautious and strategic approach to investments, often balancing traditional assets with other novel opportunities. Recently, however, an interesting trend is emerging: family offices are increasingly curious about, and in some cases actively investing in, crypto. This shift in perception, if persistent, is poised to alter the landscape of both traditional and digital investments. It’s clear that the massive uptick in interest is partially driven by...

Data is the lifeblood of artificial intelligence. As LLM models grow exponentially in size, with newer models like GPT-4 having been trained on approximately 13T tokens, the need for training data is continuously growing. We understand that the “world model” we all possess so clearly as humans may still be out of touch for current AI models, whether that be due to a lack of high quality data, architectures, training strategies, or some combination of these. Even so, researchers remain fixated...

Data is the lifeblood of artificial intelligence. As LLM models grow exponentially in size, with newer models like GPT-4 having been trained on approximately 13T tokens, the need for training data is continuously growing. We understand that the “world model” we all possess so clearly as humans may still be out of touch for current AI models, whether that be due to a lack of high quality data, architectures, training strategies, or some combination of these. Even so, researchers remain fixated...

Tokenized stocks are revolutionizing finance by turning traditional shares into highly fungible, extensible, and interoperable digital tokens with utility across the DeFi ecosystem. This shift promises greater accessibility, faster transactions, and lower fees. With the tokenization market projected to hit $24 trillion by 2027, the future of equity investment seems poised for a major transformation. As blockchain technology becomes more integrated into our financial systems, the concept of tr...

Tokenized stocks are revolutionizing finance by turning traditional shares into highly fungible, extensible, and interoperable digital tokens with utility across the DeFi ecosystem. This shift promises greater accessibility, faster transactions, and lower fees. With the tokenization market projected to hit $24 trillion by 2027, the future of equity investment seems poised for a major transformation. As blockchain technology becomes more integrated into our financial systems, the concept of tr...

Music collectibles, or more generally value capture around audio, hasn’t quite found footing in crypto. Recent insights hit the nail on the head: the initial visual NFT craze set expectations sky-high, with early adopters reaping outsized rewards, but this has led to a lopsided market where success stories on the music side of things are scarce and liquidity is tight. Here, Nick Tomaino notes artists should release thousands of NFTs at low prices to stoke widespread ownership and fan investme...

Music collectibles, or more generally value capture around audio, hasn’t quite found footing in crypto. Recent insights hit the nail on the head: the initial visual NFT craze set expectations sky-high, with early adopters reaping outsized rewards, but this has led to a lopsided market where success stories on the music side of things are scarce and liquidity is tight. Here, Nick Tomaino notes artists should release thousands of NFTs at low prices to stoke widespread ownership and fan investme...

The concept of “intent” has shifted from a crypto buzzword to a pillar of AI. LLMs and advancements in natural language processing have unlocked unprecedented opportunities for interaction, offering users the ability to naturally convey desires and the set of conditions for AI to navigate. We have detailed how intent frameworks stand to abstract user interactions across decentralized networks in this blog, but recent developments in AI have illustrated how intents and natural language process...

The concept of “intent” has shifted from a crypto buzzword to a pillar of AI. LLMs and advancements in natural language processing have unlocked unprecedented opportunities for interaction, offering users the ability to naturally convey desires and the set of conditions for AI to navigate. We have detailed how intent frameworks stand to abstract user interactions across decentralized networks in this blog, but recent developments in AI have illustrated how intents and natural language process...