March 2023 – Liquid Staking Derivatives
Introduction The Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism provides a better scaling solution, energy efficiency and increased speed over the earlier Proof-of-work mechanism. PoS requires validators to validate the transactions on the blockchain. To become a validator, one must pledge some cryptocurrency for the vesting period. The validator is then not allowed to take the cryptocurrency out for
February 2023 – RWAs: The Bridge to Crypto for the masses
Introduction DeFi yields have fallen by over US$120B since November 2021, closely correlating with two-year lows in transaction volume and investor participation. To address this, Real World Assets (“RWAs”) are being tokenized and brought on-chain to be used as a source of yield within DeFi. RWAs can represent many different kinds of traditional assets such
January 2023 – Year 2022 in Review
Introduction The crypto market entered a deep bear market in 2022 as global liquidity constricted and the Federal Reserve kept raising interest rates. The market was in a state of upheaval as many projects failed. As a result, governments all over the world started to intervene and control the cryptocurrency sector. To safeguard investors, control
November & December 2022 – The fall of CeFi and the rise of DeFi
Introduction Ever since the emergence of cryptocurrencies and the encompassing ecosystem, there has been a consistent debate regarding the optimal degree of decentralization. Decentralization is among the most fundamental tenets of blockchain technology, but achieving a highly secure and scalable system is difficult as advocated by the blockchain trilemma. Various projects within a similar domain
October 2022 – Welcome to the Metaverse
Introduction to the Metaverse In Oct 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms and promised to invest $10 billion in its Reality Labs operation. In Jan 2022, Microsoft made a $69 billion bet with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Since then, Metaverse as a keyword on Google searches is used very often, often without
September 2022 – Bridge Attacks
From the conception of Bitcoin in 2009 to the multi-chain environment we observe today, the crypto space has come a long way, and as the industry developed, so did the spectrum of means to exploit it. Every so often, the industry has suffered from major attacks draining the ecosystem of millions of dollars, and in
August 2022 – Web3 Storage
Web3 storage is the next evolution of the storage system – distributed blockchain storage. The evolution of the storage systems started with the development of computers enabled with remote data storage, which later evolved into instant centralized cloud storage. We are currently in times where the next version of the storage systems are being developed
July 2022 – Ethereum Front-running
Born out of information asymmetry and a commonplace in traditional finance, Front-running is the illegal practice in which market makers engage in security trades to exploit confidential knowledge of significant pending transactions to generate supernormal profits. One might think such practices cannot exist in the blockchain ecosystem based on the principles of transparency, eliminating the
June 2022 – Ethereum Merge: Past, Present, Future
Since the announcement of the tentative roadmap of Ethereum during the 2022 Ethereum Community Conference (ETHCC) and the Merge right around the corner, the forums have ignited discussions on the evolution of Ethereum. In this edition of our newsletter, we will be covering the metamorphosis of Ethereum from a PoW to a PoS consensus mechanism.
May 2022 – The Three Pillars of Web3 Growth
Blockchain technology is progressively permeating various aspects of the global economy and society, propelling the development of Web3 as adoption rates across numerous domains increase. In this newsletter, we cover the 3 main aspects depicting the growth and adoption of blockchain technology. Retail The use case and influence of a subversive technology can only be
April 2022 – Stablecoins and CBDCs
Terra’s downfall aroused a bag of questions about Stablecoins – the haven of digital assets during periods of high volatility. From El Salvador adopting $BTC as a legitimate currency to countries embracing blockchain with the creation of CBDCs. We can see a large-scale usage of blockchain in enhancing the current financial structure across multiple monetary
March 2022 – Zero Knowledge
Blockchain is moving towards mainstream adoption. But it is limited because of the inherent architecture, where privacy and scalability are a concern. The increasing demand for throughput by dApps, and DeFi protocols, forced the web3 ecosystem to look for better alternatives. The exploration led back to the 1980s, when Goldwasser, Micali, and Rackoff developed an
