The Shanghai upgrade is a set of changes to the Ethereum protocol that will allow users to unstake, or withdraw, their staked ether (ETH). Before the Shanghai upgrade, any ETH dedicated to staking remained locked within the Ethereum blockchain. The Shanghai upgrade will include a...
There was once a time when displaying an image of your real face on social media was standard practice. A holiday photo, a mugshot, a pic of you and your pug; these were all commonplace ways of showcasing yourself to the world. But that time...
Humanity has long relied on physical currency as a medium for representing and transferring value. Some of the earliest examples of coinage date back many thousands of years. The Mesopotamian shekel is widely believed to be the oldest coin. Western Asian tribes first minted the...
Representing real-world assets on the Bitcoin blockchain is nothing new. Over a decade ago, projects like the Colored Coin protocol and Counterparty exchange proved Bitcoin could track items, not just units of currency, in a decentralized way. However, consensus issues prevented either project from gaining...
A blockchain consensus mechanism is a type of automated system that aims to accomplish two objectives: Provide a distributed, leaderless way to unanimously agree on data stored on a blockchain ledger. Make sure all network validators follow the rules of the protocol and perform their...
For the uninitiated or crypto-curious people out there, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represent one of the more colorful sectors of the cryptocurrency industry. How is it that duplicable, oftentimes wacky pieces of digital artwork can fetch extraordinarily high prices, and why are people flocking to buy these intangible...