Author: Damocles
Damocles
Damocles is a self-imposed web3 nomad with a background in journalism and education. Having served as a freelance writer for three years, he decided to focus on one area he loves: the blockchain industry. He enjoys the drama, controversies, and pleasant surprises of this growing arena, pumping him to write more daily. To this day, he still considers himself a newbie who is dead set on honing his skills and being more involved in web3 projects.
The amount of articles created by blogs and independent journalists that attack NFTs based on their environmental impact is at an all-time high, most of which contain a mix of correct data, wrong assumptions, and poor insights. Unfortunately, many of them don’t even understand how blockchains work, which makes them prone to misinterpret data and make conclusions that have no basis in reality. First of all, most of the referenced data around these topics were published in early 2021, back when the crypto market was near peak exuberance, even on recently-published articles. Here is The Verge explaining the environmental impact…
Pak is currently one of today’s high-profile NFT artists and an attention magnet mainly because of his mysterious persona and, above all, his record-breaking NFT sales. Despite his anonymity, we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to take a peek at his mind’s depth through his creations, including his art pieces, platforms, and unique selling philosophies. Let’s take a deep dive into what imPak does the artist has created so far in the NFT realm 一 and how we can learn and take inspiration from it. Who is Murat Pak? Pak is an anonymous digital artist, programmer, and cryptocurrency investor…
With Meta’s big metaverse bet, web3 proponents have called out CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the centralized nature of Meta’s platform, which undermines their envisioned utopian metaverse that would empower the common user and be built with decentralized technologies. But considering Zuck’s latest press comments, this begs the question, if not Meta, which company poses the biggest threat to a decentralized metaverse? Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive officer (CEO), might have a short, sweet answer to this question: Apple, if his latest statement is any indication. Apple’s absence from the newly-formed Metaverse Open Standard Group, a collaborative initiative comprising multiple large companies…
Sui, the hottest new proof-of-stake (PoS) and general purpose layer 1 (L1) blockchain, has finally rolled out its Incentivized Testnet, which will offer developers, validators, and Sui supporters an opportunity to be its early participants. If you’re not familiar with the protocol, check our full guide on the Sui blockchain. Through this testnet, Sui will finally start selecting and building its foundation of validators and full node operators in order to become one of the most secure platforms in the web3 industry. Testnet Rewards One of the main attractions of this testnet, aside from being spearheaded by a promising blockchain,…
An opportunity to win more than $100,000 might be the best news that crypto natives need to hear right now, especially since the “NFT winter” is still ongoing, dragging down non-fungible tokens (NFTs) prices along the way. Solana Winter War is a tournament that pits 16 Solana NFT decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), including Cets on Creck, Famous Foxes, and many more against each other. The tournament will be commence today, August 22, via a browser-based ‘Plants vs. Zombies’-inspired game made possible by Communi3, a web3 platform that provides solutions that enhance online communities of companies and organizations. The looming global…
Imagine playing Super Smash Bros but with your NFTs. That loosely sums up BitBrawl’s gameplay. Many blockchain games that have come out from 2021 to 2022 never amounted to anything. We’ve seen in-game tokens crash to extremely low levels that it becomes nearly impossible for players to make a decent income. But we also know that the GameFi industry is still early and that the best is probably yet to come. True “degens” know that the world of non-fungible token (NFT) games are a mixed bag of treasures and junk, and it’s their task to plow their way through these…
Meet Beeple, the man who went from drawing crude sketches to creating the most expensive single NFT artwork ever sold and becoming the second highest-selling digital artist in the world, next to Pak. Who knew that sheer determination and consistency could thrust a digital artist into becoming one of the most respected and wealthiest figures in the art world? By now, you’ve probably heard of him or his works, but his decade-and-a-half journey started with nothing. He appears to be very critical of himself and even calls his artworks “crap”, most of which barely sold for a thousand dollars in…
Degen Coin Flip is a project hailing from Solana that aims to be a force for fairness and transparency in the crypto gambling world. Warning: some say it is quite addictive. Crypto investing has been, on more than one occasion, compared with casino gambling due to the speculative nature of these assets. And there may be some truth to that as blockchain has essentially helped boost the iGaming industry with crypto bets seeing a 100% growth over the past year, according to Softswiss data. It appears that many crypto hodlers have a taste for betting. And with the rise of Solana,…
Google’s Street View has found a strong competitor in India with MapmyIndia’s Mappls, the country’s first map with 100% 360-degree panoramic street view with 4D Metaverse Maps Service. After a decade of absence in the country, the internet giant has offered its Google Maps service again, but the company may now face a more challenging landscape in the digital maps service. Cutting-Edge Metaverse Mapping Mappl enables the generation of high-resolution geometries, road surfaces, traffic signs, and other objects with photo-realistic precision that allows for realistic simulations for driving. The tool essentially enables builders to create testing environments with real-world driving…
Magic Eden (ME) appears to have allegedly abandoned its permissionless ethos by quietly upgrading its smart contracts to require its signature for every transaction that occurs on the platform, which could cause adverse network effects across the Solana web3 ecosystem, according to NFT analyst Pland. The move has stirred controversy that rippled throughout the web3 space, as it basically drives ME closer to web2. The marketplace that once carried the banner of decentralization is now under threat with this new policy, which may very well introduce a single point of failure. Who Will Be Affected The Most? For third parties,…
