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The technology known as blockchain, one of the foundations of Web3, a third generation internet that is more decentralized, transparent, and inclusive, has an intriguing backstory. This narrative starts with a scientific article that was released in 2008 under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

The paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" outlines a digital payment system that does not rely on a central authority or middleman but rather relies on a peer-to-peer network of computers that communicate with one another and use cryptography to verify transactions. The first cryptocurrency in the world is this one, which goes by the name of Bitcoin.

But Bitcoin is more than simply a virtual currency. Additionally, Bitcoin is a protocol, which is a set of guidelines governing how the network functions. The blockchain, a digital ledger that chronologically, openly, and irreversibly records all transactions that take place on the Bitcoin network, is also a key component of the Bitcoin protocol.

Blockchain is a ground-breaking invention because it addresses the double-spending issue, which has long impeded the development of decentralized digital payment systems. By cheating the network or creating duplicate data, double-spending is a phenomena where someone can use the same digital currency more than once.

Through adopting a consensus mechanism, which is a procedure through which network participants (referred to as nodes) concur on the state of the ledger and legitimate transactions, blockchain avoids double-spending. Proof-of-work (PoW), one of the consensus methods employed by Bitcoin, requires nodes to carry out challenging mathematical calculations in order to add new blocks to the blockchain. Successful nodes are referred to as miners, and they are rewarded with more Bitcoins.

By doing this, the Bitcoin blockchain transforms into a single source of reality that can't be hacked or fabricated by bad actors. The Bitcoin blockchain is also a platform that displaces the need for traditional financial institutions like banks or governments by enabling anybody to engage in the global economy.

The Bitcoin blockchain, however, is not flawless. It has some drawbacks, including poor scalability, high transaction costs, high energy usage, and little flexibility. Many programmers and academics began developing various blockchains that provide additional or substitute functionality, such as proof-of-stake (PoS), smart contracts, tokenization, and others, in order to overcome these problems.

Ethereum, which was introduced in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and his colleagues, is one of the most well-known and significant blockchains. In order to build and run decentralized applications (dApps), users can use Ethereum, a distributed computing platform. Smart contracts are computer programs that automatically carry out business logic and agreements between participants.

Additionally, Ethereum has its own money called Ether (ETH), which is used to pay for network transaction and computation costs. Ethereum also enables the development of alternative tokens, such as NFT (non-fungible token), DeFi (decentralized finance), DAO (decentralized autonomous organization), and others, that can stand in for digital or real assets.

Blockchain technologies like Ethereum and others give developers, businesspeople, creatives, activists, and other people new chances to innovate and work together across a range of industries. They also question the previous paradigm and status quo, which were dominated by centralized authorities and were frequently ineffective, unfair, or opaque.

Blockchain is thus a tale of how technology may make the world a better place by enabling individuals to be more autonomous, creative, and connected. Blockchain tells the tale of Web3, a more democratic, inclusive, and varied version of the internet in the future. You can participate in the ongoing tale of blockchain technology.

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The Story of Blockchain. Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash ... - Medium

The year 2022 was not a very good year for Cosmos and its vision of inter-blockchain communications (IBC). The collapse of the Terra Luna ecosystem (the biggest protocol on Cosmos at the time), tension between co-founders and a fall in the tokens price all cast a shadow on its future prospects. That said, projects such as dYdX and cross-chain oracle protocol Seda continue to call the network home and are adamant about its IBC vision.

Currently, Seda says it enables over 12 million data feeds across 24 networks. In an interview with Cointelegraph at EthCC Paris, Jasper de Gooijer and Peter Mitchell, co-founders of the Seda protocol (formerly known as Flux), discussed the importance of oracles in cross-chain bridges and how they protect the value they enable.

Cointelegraph: How do oracles add value to IBC?

Jasper de Gooijer: The current problem is that smart contracts can only query data outside of blockchains themselves, right? That greatly limits the amount of use cases that smart contracts have, such as in lending markets. So in those markets, if you want knowledge on price on, say, six chains at once, you need six oracle providers, and that's when you need multichain oracles.

CT: What is the biggest accomplishment or technological breakthrough thus far in the Seda ecosystem?

Peter Mitchell: We launched Seda about a year ago. And within eight weeks, we became the second-largest oracle, securing over $2.7 billion in total value locked. And then we realized that we couldnt monitor and scale this into something like 200 chains, right? It would be impossible to have robust monitoring of price feeds.

So the innovation weve built on Seda is that the main chain aggregates the data and then pushes the smart contracts to the subchain. And so, rather than deploying the oracle contract on every new chain, we just deploy this single smart contract.

CT: In light of recent high-profile oracle exploits, what are some ways of keeping the technology secure?

JG: The main point is really just education. People should know that they should not build a bridge with hundreds of millions of total value locked if the [underlying] token only has like $10 million of liquidity on decentralized exchanges. The second thing is building smart price data modules, so you can swap tokens for something like time-weighted average price, which makes it less likely to slip in volatile environments.

PM:Like Jasper was saying, if you have a token that's being borrowed against $100 million, and you only have, lets say, $10 million in liquidity on-chain, then you cant really liquidate $100 million or $50 million positions against that kind of liquidity. So setting up metrics like liquidation thresholds and collateralization ratios beforehand can really set up the protocol for success.

This interview has been edited from its original format for clarity.

Magazine:Tokenizing music royalties as NFTs could help the next Taylor Swift

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Seda co-founders discuss intersection of oracles and multichain - Cointelegraph

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Now that the metaverse has mostly come and gone, it looks like the key pillars of Web3 are recalibrating back to reality. Even Vision Pro, Apple's virtual reality proposition, is a lot more about answering emails or watching films than living full-time in a neon cyberpunk wonderland.

Crypto, Web3's most important tenet, is also seeing some use cases come back down to Earth. And while this course correction to nearly mundane functionality is overdue, we've seen few tangible ways to make that happen. Many crypto projects set lofty and unattainable goals to transform the financial industry completely. But harsh regulatory conditions, shaky market climates and no shortage of scandals illustrate why that probably isn't going to happen.

That being said, if crypto can't be a worthy adversary to the world of traditional finance (TradFi), it certainly could be complementary. What's preventing that from happening?

If you ask this question to most crypto enthusiasts, you're likely to hear a tirade about regulatory persecution, the evils of the SEC, and a million other external factors preventing crypto from reaching its full potential. In some cases, they're right. But it's easy to thrust the blame onto regulators or "bad actors" in the industry for putting crypto into an unsavory position and it's not entirely accurate.

Related: Bitcoin as Currency Triggers Our Fear of Missing Out. Can It Be Fixed?

Of course, regulation and legislative misunderstandings are major obstacles that are slow to overcome due to the red tape involved with setting fair and comprehensive rules in crypto. And if crypto is to exist as a functional tool and currency in the real world, as significant industry outsiders say it will, you can't really get around regulation to prevent exploitation and full-fledged industry meltdowns.

If regulators do have a general distaste toward crypto, they can't entirely be blamed for it based on the number of scandals the industry has faced in this past year alone. If anything, it's more about companies not being able to get their act together rather than governments completely writing off crypto as a concept. But that's still not the only factor.

Across the crypto and blockchain sectors, projects tend to latch onto one specific application, trend, or use case and never ease their grip on it until it's too late. Even if it might not be the best thing for the project or the industry, it's difficult to deviate from the rest of the crowd in a sector where everyone is still trying to figure out what clicks.

This isn't an anomaly either we've seen it happen with centralized exchanges, NFTs and depending on who you ask, smart contracts.

As much as crypto companies now preach against the doctrine of FOMO (fear of missing out), there is an unmistakable undercurrent of it throughout new industry developments. When a new technology, especially one with a financial aspect inherently attached, does have so much potential, no one wants to get left behind. That's partly why we notice so much theorizing and abstract blockchain-AI integrations, despite most of them not making much practical sense.

There are, of course, many practical applications of AI in the blockchain and crypto. But when projects, or an entire industry, get attached to one thing, it's hard to put down the blinders and shift focus to other options. Instead of exploring concrete ways to boost functionality for the average person, projects shoot for the moon instead. And ultimately, when each company is trying to one-up the other in scope and adoption, you're bound to have function fall by the wayside.

A big roadblock towards crypto ubiquity and functionality stems from communication. Since many major crypto advancements develop in parallel, getting networks and currencies to communicate requires much more effort. Transferring cryptocurrencies often becomes more troublesome than needed and typically requires using relatively unsafe methods.

Smart contracts are a godsend for certain crypto functions. But they've proven time and again to be insecure and unreliable as they keep getting plagued by hacks. For someone looking to transact using crypto regularly, that creates a real risk to their security. Some projects have deviated from smart contracts too. Companies such as Kima, for instance, are developing protocols and settlement layers to facilitate crypto and fiat transfers without relying on them.

Kima's also eschewing smart contracts to help solve the convoluted mess of international crypto transfers, a facet that crypto should inherently be able to do to function as currency. Not that international transfers are so simple using fiat currency or TradFi methods, but I don't have to worry about committing international securities fraud for using PayPal.

Crypto's philosophy from the beginning was to remove intermediaries and bureaucratic stopgaps that prevent unrestricted financial activity. While certain factors are beyond the control of industry builders, there could certainly be a lot more effort put into finding creative solutions to the sector's inherent problems.

So what is stopping me from using crypto to buy groceries? Quite a few things at this point, and they're mainly interwoven. But reinforcing steady and tangible development into interoperability and streamlined everyday use can make crypto's future less daunting to reach.

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I Want To Buy My Groceries With Crypto So What's Stopping Me? - Entrepreneur

The Data Act has achieved consensus among the legislative representatives of the European Union.

The regulations will establish controls on how Big Tech and other businesses operating within Europe utilize corporate and consumer data.

The legislative representatives of the European Union have reached a consensus on new regulations referred to as the Data Act. This development follows apprehensions the crypto and web3 community voiced regarding the potential negative impact of the regulations on smart contracts, raising concerns that the sector could be adversely affected. Nevertheless, the act has proceeded despite these concerns, incorporating the contentious smart contract kill switch provision.

Following the passage of the Data Act by the European Parliament on March 14, negotiations have been underway among EU lawmakers to finalize the bill.

The primary objective of the act is to ensure the equitable utilization of industrial data and eliminate obstacles that hinder the fair sharing of data generated by various data-centric services, including the Internet of Things (IoT).

The regulations will establish controls on how Big Tech and other businesses operating within Europe utilize corporate and consumer data. This alteration forms part of a broader overhaul of internet-connected devices data regulations.

The existence of decentralized transactions, such as those occurring in the crypto sphere, which is governed by unchangeable code, raises concerns for many. The agreement has been confirmed by Thierry Breton, the commissioner responsible for the EUs internal market.

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The conclusive legal document of the agreement has not yet been released to the public. Nonetheless, reports indicate that the initial proposals regarding smart contracts have undergone tighter revisions. These modifications are intended to enhance individuals authority over their data.

As per lawmaker Damian Boeselage, With the adjustments made to the text, we are no longer addressing smart contracts. Additionally, the regulation applies specifically to the execution of contractual clauses in the context of data sharing.

On the other hand, an alternate source asserted that the laws final version still employs the term smart contracts. In response to concerns raised by the blockchain industry, the commission addressed them by stating that the new regulation would not render existing smart contracts null and void.

Additionally, the commission emphasized that the practical implementation of the high-level requirements outlined in the regulation should not pose significant challenges for vendors.

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether the ultimate agreement will address concerns regarding the feasibility of implementing the measures on open and permissionless blockchains where there is no central authority to enforce regulatory limitations.

According to an open letter signed by several crypto groups, the Data Act could conflict with the recently implemented MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) regulation. The letter highlights that licenses will be granted to cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet providers to operate throughout the European Union under the regulations. The implementation of MiCA is scheduled for 2024.

However, the Data Act still needs to achieve the status of a law. The approval of the wording reached by negotiators for the Data Act to be recognized as the law requires the endorsement of the European Parliament and Council, representing the 27 European Union nations.

Crypto News Flash does not endorse and is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, or other materials on this page. Readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to cryptocurrencies. Crypto News Flash is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, or services mentioned.

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Are Ethereum and Polygon's Smart Contracts Soon to Be Forbidden ... - Crypto News Flash

BlockEstate, a new player in the RWA area, is going to make waves with its innovative use of staking smart contracts. These contracts are a cornerstone of the BlockEstate ecosystem, enabling users to stake their $BEH tokens and earn rewards in $USDC. This article will delve into the mechanics of these staking smart contracts, illustrating their functionality with practical examples.

Staking in the context of blockchain technology usually refers to the process of actively participating in transaction validation on a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain. On these blockchains, anyone with a minimum-required balance of a specific cryptocurrency can validate transactions and earn staking rewards.

BlockEstate has adopted this concept and integrated it into its real estate project, allowing users to stake their $BEH tokens. Since BlockEstate is not a blockchain, but a protocol on the Arbitrum Blockchain, its staking mechanism does not validate transaction on the Blockchain, but solely gives $BEH token holders the ability to participate in governance and receive their slice of protocol profits.

The staking process on BlockEstate is governed by smart contracts. A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. It is stored and replicated on the blockchain, and its execution is supervised by the network of computers that run the blockchain. This ensures that the contract is executed exactly as written, providing a high level of trust and security.

BlockEstates staking smart contracts work in a straightforward manner. Users who wish to stake their $BEH interact with the contract by sending a transaction to it, indicating the amount they wish to stake. The smart contract then stores these tokens. In return, the staker receives rewards, which are also defined and automatically distributed by the smart contract. BlockEstate will use $USDC rewards, which are distributed by the staking contract over the course of three months. Every three months the contract is refilled with new $USDC. But, where does the USDC come from?

The rewards for staking come from one source: Real World Assets, or more specific, the underlying real estate portfolio of BlockEstate. There will therefore never be token inflation, as seen with multiple projects in the past, which used their native tokens as emissions, effectively diluting token holders. The BlockEstate reward system incentivizes users to stake their tokens, as it provides them with a steady income stream in $USDC. A $BEH holder will not be forced to lock their tokens. Once your tokens are staked, you will see continous reward emissions. You can ALWAYS withdraw your tokens, whenever you want! Just keep in mind, as soon as you do, the rewards stop coming in!

To illustrate, lets consider an example.

Toki, a BlockEstate user, decides to stake his 50.000 $BEH. He interacts with the staking smart contract, which stores his tokens until he withdraws them. During this time, the projects generates quarterly revenues of 35.000 $USDC. Toki, along with other stakers, receives a portion of these 35.000 $USDC proportional to his staked amount of $BEH. If Tokis stake represents 1% of all staked tokens, he would receive 350 $USDC as his reward, given he stakes his tokens for the full three months time period.

The staking smart contracts of BlockEstate also include considerations to ensure fairness and security. For instance, there is a NO minimum staking period or amount to prevent users from constantly staking and unstaking to game the system. However, the system is ungameable in this regard, because the staking rewards are distributed over the course of three months. Users that want to receive their whole respective share of these rewards, need to stake their $BEH tokens for the full duration of three months. Each day the $BEH tokens remain staked, the rewards will acrue the token staker. Users that unstake their tokens earlier, will receive less. If we use our example from above: If people withdraw their $BEH (the total amount of staked $BEH decreases), the remaining stakers will receive more rewards, as the total reward pool is divided by less stakers.

Additionally, the contracts are public, constantly tested and will be audited by a third-party security firm to ensure they are free from any vulnerabilities.

Right now, the staking contract is live on a forked mainnet for a controlled testing environment, named BEH Testnet. We welcome everyone to participate in beta testing our staking contracts! Hop on our Discord server, navigate to the #dev-updates channel and follow the instructions!

At this point, we would like to thank our developer Niera, who wrote the BlockEstate staking contracts from scratch and happily answers questions about the technical details in our Discord server!

Check out his work at https://github.com/BlockEstate

TL,DR

BlockEstates staking smart contracts provide a secure and efficient way for users to earn rewards by staking their tokens. They are a key component of the BlockEstate ecosystem, incentivizing user participation and contributing to the platforms overall security.

The rest is here:

Understanding the Smart Contracts of BlockEstate: A Deep Dive into ... - Medium