Archive for the ‘Decentralization’ Category

Vitalik Buterin Highlights Ethereum DApp Innovations – Crypto Times

The founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin explains several decentralized applications (DApp) that demonstrate principles of privacy and decentralization in the cryptocurrency market, indicating a continued focus on improvement and the core principles of Ethereum even as meme coins gain more attention.

Buterin described Farcaster as a social network that relies on the Optimism protocol. Farcaster still enjoys relatively low usage, but the platform still offers relatively high decentralization for users. Buterin spoke about the Lens Protocol, a decentralized application where users own their content, which speaks volumes about Ethereums vision of bringing decentralized interaction online.

Buterin highlighted the importance of quadratic funding for the Gitcoin Grants as a fairly fresh concept of community funding for projects. This means they can fund different projects depending on what the community wants, thus, funding moves in the direction of accomplishing collective will.

He also mentioned that post-launch funding encourages schemes that have already proved useful and effective in practice, thus helping developers engage in more meaningful, effective project development.

Privacy improvements are also important according to Buterin in future Ethereum development. Buterin mentioned using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and zero-knowledge voting as critical innovations that allow verification of transactions and votes that occur in a black-box fashion while preserving privacy in the blockchain ecosystem.

While meme coins have surged in popularity, often overshadowing more substantial, utility-driven projects, Buterin acknowledges this trend but contrasts it with the significant developments in decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized social networks.

Also read: Vitalik Buterin Backs TiTok AI: A Leap in Blockchain Image Storage

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Vitalik Buterin Highlights Ethereum DApp Innovations - Crypto Times

Bitcoin is King, the Rest is Just Hot Air – Cointribune EN

Sun 16 Jun 2024 3 min of reading by Evans S.

Bitcoin continues to make headlines. Recently, Pablo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, called Bitcoin the only true decentralized currency, praising its uniqueness and unassailable status. With this bold statement, Ardoino highlighted what sets Bitcoin apart from other cryptos, emphasizing its immutability and the purely mathematical governance that underlies it.

According to Pablo Ardoino, Bitcoin is a unique example of a currency governed solely by maths, a fact that makes it inherently decentralized.

During his interview with Cointelegraph, he emphasized that Bitcoin fundamentally cannot be modified, which sets it apart from other digital currencies.

With other currencies, you see that there is a group of developers who come every month. They release a new software version, they can change the monetary policy, inflationary, deflationary, and they keep changing things, said Ardoino. In contrast, Bitcoin offers rare certainty and stability, making it a trusted currency for investors and users.

Decentralization is one of BTCs most valuable features. Unlike other digital assets that undergo constant updates and modifications by groups of developers, Bitcoin remains unchanged.

Indeed, this stability is due to its robust infrastructure and secure protocol, which are designed to withstand sudden changes.

The CEO of Tether noted that Bitcoins true decentralization makes it unique and practically impossible to replicate in the current crypto landscape. This quality of rarity and stability explains why BTC has stayed at the top of the market for so long, even in the face of growing competition.

Bitcoin has proven its resilience and ability to maintain its leadership position in the crypto universe. In March 2024, it reached an all-time high of $73,000, once again demonstrating its robustness and popularity.

Pablo Ardoino also pointed out that it is unlikely that another digital asset will surpass BTC, due to the strength of its infrastructures and the trust it inspires.

Despite the numerous attempts by other cryptocurrencies to compete with Bitcoin, none have managed to achieve the same level of decentralization and stability. This reality reinforces Bitcoins position as the undisputed king of cryptocurrencies, a position it seems poised to hold for years to come. Meanwhile, Tron dethrones Ethereum.

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Fascin par le bitcoin depuis 2017, Evariste n'a cess de se documenter sur le sujet. Si son premier intrt s'est port sur le trading, il essaie dsormais activement dapprhender toutes les avances centres sur les cryptomonnaies. En tant que rdacteur, il aspire fournir en permanence un travail de haute qualit qui reflte l'tat du secteur dans son ensemble.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

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Bitcoin is King, the Rest is Just Hot Air - Cointribune EN

Bitcoin is the only decentralized currency, Tether CEO says – Cointelegraph

According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, Bitcoin is unique among the more than 14,000 various cryptocurrencies because it is the only one that is not centralized.

Bitcoin (BTC) is the only decentralized currency, Ardoino said in an interview with Cointelegraph on June 13 at the Bitcoin-only conference, BTC Prague.

Bitcoin is the only example of a currency that is only ruled by math that basically cannot be changed, Tether CEO stated. Apart from Bitcoin, some cryptocurrencies are a bit more centralized, or others are a bit less centralized, Ardoino believes.

With the other currencies, you see that there is a group of developers that come every month. They are coming out with a new software release, they change the monetary policy, inflationary, deflationary, and they keep changing things, the executive noted.

On the other hand, with Bitcoin, there will always be 21 million BTC, and there will be a halving once every four years until all 21 million Bitcoin is mined. Ardoino stated:

In the interview, Ardoino admitted that his opinion on Bitcoins exclusive level of decentralization might be controversial. The CEO also mentioned that he openly said that Tether is centralized, unlike Bitcoin.

Additionally, Ardoino expressed skepticism about the record-breaking industry of memecoins, which is a type of cryptocurrency inspired by internet memes or trends. I like memes, but not memecoins, Ardoino said, adding that Bitcoin and memecoins are completely at the opposite parts of the spectrum.

Related: DeFi may struggle to stay decentralized after new EU law

One may indeed argue with Ardoino about the decentralization of Bitcoin versus other assets in the cryptocurrency market, as there is a whole sector in crypto dedicated to decentralized finance, or DeFi.

In the crypto industry, decentralization refers to the transfer of control and decision-making from a centralized entity to a distributed network. While the DeFi industry gives high promises on financial decentralization, some people in the industry, like Jan3 CEO Samson Mow, believe that DeFicannot compete with Bitcoin.

Ardoinos remarks on the decentralized nature of Bitcoin came amid the opening of BTC Prague 2024, where he is a speaker alongside major industry figures like former MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, Blockstream co-founder Adam Back, Bitcoin author Jimmy Song and others. Unlike many industry events, BTC Prague is dedicated exclusively to Bitcoin.

Magazine: Bitcoin layer 2s arent really L2s at all: Heres why that matters

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Bitcoin is the only decentralized currency, Tether CEO says - Cointelegraph

Waterfall Becomes First Proof-of-Stake Network to Pass the Test with 1.5 Million Validators – GlobeNewswire

Zug, Switzerland , June 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Waterfall Network,the first layer one(L1)decentralized and scalable ledger, today announced it has passed success testing with a record 1,573,892 validators on its network. Waterfall now was tested with more validators than any other Proof-of-Stake network andall the popular Proof-of-Stake networks combined*, expanding the reach of decentralization to more places than it has ever been. By comparison, Ethereum recently passed 1 million validator nodes, and proof-of-stake network Solana only has approximately 1,600 validators.

The servers for the testing were located on 5 continents - South and North America, Australia, Africa, and Eurasia (both in Europe and Asia) - and the islands of Great Britain, Japan, and Taiwan. A total of a half a million transactions were processed.

"We have proven that our network will work on the scale of millions of validators, preserving the low requirements for each of them at a scale no one has ever achieved. This milestone is a testament to the strength of Waterfall as the most decentralized distributed ledger technology currently available," commented Sergii Grybniak, Blue Wave CTO and Waterfall Head of Research. "Waterfall is the future of decentralized computing and the proof is in the numbers."

Waterfall conducted much of its testing through its participation in the Google Cloud Web3 Startup Program, which provided invaluable resources supporting Waterfall test the strength of its validators and network.

Waterfalls protocol also incorporates an innovative Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)-based technology that allows for virtually unlimited scalability and portability of decentralized applications (dAPPs), combining scalability and decentralization to the levels which has not been reached before. For more information about the future of decentralized computing, and the Waterfall network, please visithttps://waterfall.network/or follow us onhttps://t.me/waterfall_network,https://twitter.com/waterfall_dag orhttps://discord.gg/Nwb8aR2XvR

*for comparison were taken the number of validators at the moment of writing on Ethereum, Gnosis, Elrond, Cardano, Algorand, Avalanche, Solana, Sui, Cronos, Tezos, Polkadot, Near, Cosmos, Everscale, Aptos, Polygon, Fantom, Sei, Hedera, Tron, EOS

About Waterfall Waterfall is the leading layer one (L1) architecture to solve decentralization, security, and scalability. Waterfalls Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) achieves and allows parallelism on multiple levels pushing further the boundaries of combination of scalability and decentralization. Waterfall is Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible, allowing for portability of decentralized applications (dAPPs), and has very low entry requirements for the participants to become validators.

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Waterfall Becomes First Proof-of-Stake Network to Pass the Test with 1.5 Million Validators - GlobeNewswire

Privacy expert slams WhatsApp and Telegram, touts decentralized messaging as future – crypto.news

In an exclusive interview with crypto.news, Kee Jefferys, CTO of Session, discussed the inherent risks to privacy with centralized messaging platforms.

As our world becomes increasingly connected, privacy has transformed from a luxury into a necessity. Every click, every message, every digital interaction is a potential leak, spilling secrets into a sea of data ready to be harvested.

Messaging apps, which are integral to our daily communication, are facing growing scrutiny over their privacy practices.

Yet, incidents like those involving WhatsApp and Telegramwhere breaches and metadata mishaps have eroded trustspotlight the fragile nature of privacy in traditional platforms.

Such episodes constantly remind us of the vulnerabilities that users face daily, exposing them to potential profiling and surveillance, undermining trust.

Enter web3, a beacon of hope, promising a paradigm shift towards decentralization. This new technology framework seeks to dismantle the centralized powers that traditionally govern our data, proposing instead a system where privacy is inherent, not optional.

Jefferys, through his work with Session, champions this vision, employing a network of community-run nodes to safeguard user interactions without the need for a central authority.

He believes that a decentralized approach is crucial for creating a new trust model. One that doesnt rely on centralized entities but distributes responsibility across a network of independent operators.

With the recent security breaches and metadata collection issues in messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, what are the risks currently plaguing users in the traditional messaging app sector, particularly in terms of privacy?

Traditional messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram are inherently centralized, creating honeypots of sensitive metadata, such as phone numbers, IP addresses, and profile images. This data can be linked with other metadata, like message timing and group membership, to create detailed profiles of users, their habits, and relationships. Although these services claim not to engage in such profiling, they possess the data and access to do so, and this data could be leaked or accessed by hackers or compelled by authorities. To enhance privacy, we need systems that minimize data collection and centralization.

Law enforcement agencies access user data from secure messaging apps through metadata and cloud backups. How would web3 address this? Do you expect a potential backlash from regulators as these solutions surface?

Cloud backups are a convenient feature usually facilitated by device manufacturers like iCloud for iOS and Google One/Drive for Android. Messaging app publishers can mitigate risks created by these cloud backup services by opting out of automatic backups and instead using custom-built decentralized storage networks like Arweave or Filecoin, which dont implement regulatory backdoors for mandated access. Regulators and law enforcement typically focus on device seizures during investigations, which would reveal similar content to what could be obtained from cloud backups, so this shift may not cause significant regulatory issues.

How does the decentralized nature of web3 technologies specifically address the privacy and trust issues that traditional messaging apps struggle with?

In the most fundamental way, decentralization creates a new trust model that shares the burden and responsibility of trust among thousands of parties instead of a single entity and creates a rules-based system to govern this new trust model. It eliminates centralized honeypots of user metadata and instead distributes user data, making it nearly impossible to gain a global view of the network. This means that instead of compromising a single entity, one would need to compromise thousands of individual operators to access user data.

What do you see as the future of secure messaging in the context of increasing government surveillance and cyber threats?

Most efforts in the secure messaging space have focused on securing the contents of messages via more advanced end-to-end encryption schemes, often at the expense of user experience. I think in the next 10 years, the space as a whole will focus more on metadata protection as end-to-end encryption becomes a more solved problem and governments move to even wider-scale metadata collection. The name of the game will no longer be content, it will be context.

How can web3 and decentralized technologies overcome the existing flaws and shape a more secure future for messaging apps?

Web3 and decentralized technologies can overcome flaws by breaking the trust assumptions of centralized messengers and proving that usability does not need to be sacrificed for privacy or decentralization.

Session claims to offer a trustless messaging environment. Could you explain how Sessions architecture addresses the specific privacy flaws found in traditional messaging apps, ensuring that user data remains private and secure without requiring users to place their trust in a central authority?

Instead of relying on a centralized server, when a user sends a message on Session, they interact with a network of community-run nodes called the Service Node network. This network has over 2,000 nodes, which store and route the encrypted data of Session users. This architecture ensures that user data remains private since theres no central location to collect user messages. Trust is maintained purely between the network and its users without any central authority or middleman to govern this process.

What mechanisms does Session use to protect user privacy?

Theres 4 main things Session does to protect user privacy; No phone number or personally identifiable information is required to sign upjust generate a Session ID and start messaging. All messages are end-to-end encrypted using an audited encryption protocol and open-source clients. Session uses onion routing to hide users IP addresses while using the service. A decentralized network is used for temporary storage, eliminating the need to trust a central service provider.

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Privacy expert slams WhatsApp and Telegram, touts decentralized messaging as future - crypto.news