Fujitsu launches Web3 acceleration platform for startups and partner companies

February 8, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Fujitsu’s Web3 Acceleration Platform promised to provide blockchain-based service APIs, high-computing technologies, simulations, and AI, for developers building Web3 applications and services.

The Japanese-based multinational tech company Fujitsu announced the launch of a new platform on Feb 8, designed to support Web3 developers worldwide.

According to a report by the Fintech Times, Fujitsu’s Web3 Acceleration Platform seeks to provide a development environment, blockchain-based service APIs, high-computing technologies, simulations, AI, combinatorial optimization, for start-ups, partner companies, and universities building Web3 applications and services.

The company said its platform aims to support the creation of a diverse ecosystem of Web3 applications across a range of use cases, such as digital content rights management, business transactions, contracts, and processes. It will also offer free access to select participants in its global partner program, the Fujitsu Accelerator Program for CaaS. From March 2023, program partners can access the platform in Japan, while the company plans to expand its availability globally later in the year.

Fujitsu outlined three key themes for its Web3 platform, including "the realization of a co-creation society through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), rights management and utilization of digital content, and the realization of digital trust." To support the development of its new platform, Fujitsu plans to hold a global planning and development contest, aimed at building and implementing DAO communities and creating new Web3 services.

Web3-based accelerator programs have grown over the past year. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Web3 accelerator Beacon recently completed its first cohort with 13 companies graduating and showcasing their blockchain-based startups. The cohort, named "Cohort 0", began in October with 15 companies across the DeFi, gaming, and infrastructure subsectors of cryptocurrency.

On Jan 31, Cointelegraph also reported that blockchain startup accelerator Cronos Labs had announced the opening of applications for its second cohort of the $100 million-backed Cronos Accelerator Program.

Cointelegraph reached out to Fujitsu for a comment, but has not receive a response at time of publication.

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69% users bet metaverse entertainment will reshape social lifestyle: Data

January 23, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

A new survey from CoinWire revealed that the majority of users believe the metaverse will reshape their social life and interactions.

Last year the crypto and Web3 saw a dichotomy between extremely turbulent markets, yet high prospects for the future of the space. Both users and investors alike have continued to pile into the industry, especially in areas concerned with the metaverse.

A new survey from CoinWire, which surveyed over 10,000 investors in the crypto space in December 2022, found that user sentiment towards the metaverse has digital reality poised to influence all areas of social life. 69% of respondents have placed their bet on the metaverse to reshape social lifestyle with a new approach to entertainment, while 65% believed in metaverse's new approach to social activities.

Sentiments on how it will affect finances, business and education were also high at 61.2%, 49.6% and 45%, respectively. Over the last five years, Microsoft secured 158 metaverse-related patents, overshadowing Big Tech firms such as Meta, Tencent and Epic Games.

As the metaverse continues to develop, it will have the possibility to impact social life in a more tangible manner. For example, new metaverse features that included touch and smell were recently revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show 2023.

Additionally, the survey pointed out that over half (53%) of respondents who are invested in the metaverse own a form of cryptocurrency.

According to the survey, the United States comes in the top spot for metaverse innovation. However, China and India take the top spots for positive sentiment toward daily metaverse use, 78% and 75%, respectively, as shown above.

The report further revealed that while almost 9 out of 10 respondents have heard the term Web3, 52% retain some sort of uncertainty as to what it actually entails when something is termed “Web3.”

In line with the uncertainty that many investors feel, more than 60% said they want more regulations applied to the industry. Over the last year, regulators across the globe began to adopt and discuss new rules for the industry.

Nonetheless, areas of Web3 like the metaverse remain high on the priority list for many countries. Recently the South Korean government opened up its pilot metaverse city to the public.

A report from McKinsey forecasted that the metaverse will generate a $5 trillion value in the next 7 years.

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Are we still mad at MetaMask and ConsenSys for snooping on us?

January 18, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

ConsenSys, the developer behind MetaMask, isn’t the only one snooping on our transactions, but they’ve taken the most heat for it.

The cryptocurrency community has a tendency to fixate on a new issue every few weeks and then promptly forget about it. The limited attention span of this community misses the ultimate resolution of important issues. Over the Thanksgiving holiday in November 2022, ConsenSys released a disclosure about a privacy policy affecting MetaMask users that sent “Crypto Twitter” into a firestorm. My first reaction was also negative.

That’s what a sly fox would say isn’t it? pic.twitter.com/PfKMTiNHoR
— J.W. Verret, JD, CPA/CVA (@JWVerret) November 25, 2022

The MetaMask browser extension wallet uses a node called Infura. That node is owned by ConsenSys, the same company that develops MetaMask. The press release reminded users that Infura collects the internet protocol (IP) addresses and wallet addresses of users who connect their MetaMask wallet to Infura. It also reminded them that MetaMask users don’t have to use Infura, which is only a default, and that MetaMask allows connection to other public node providers such as Alchemy or Ankr.

When you send or receive crypto, your wallet interacts with the blockchain. But wallets don’t download the blockchain; that’s too cumbersome for a wallet on your phone. Instead, when your crypto wallet sends a transaction, most wallets use a public node to request that new transactions be added to the blockchain via the mempool.

(You could set up your own node. In fact, for better privacy and speed, you probably should. More private nodes also mean a more decentralized network. But I’ve tried and I don’t have sufficient technical skills to do so. Maybe you will have better luck.)

Now, let’s remember that blockchains like Ethereum aren’t private. If you want privacy, you need to use a privacy coin like Monero (XMR), which leaks some information about the sender, or Zcash (ZEC)-shielded transactions, which leak no sender information. Or you need a privacy tool, but unfortunately, the feds sanctioned Tornado Cash, which was the most reliable privacy tool on Ethereum.

Regardless, if you are using a public node or any other central service to transact in crypto, you need to use a virtual private network (VPN) or Tor (easy to use with the Tor browser) to mask your internet service provider (ISP) address. Is anyone out there using Ledger Live to transact in crypto using your Ledger hardware device? Ledger Live tracks ISPs too, and apparently keeps that information for up to five years.

Privacy is a personal responsibility. No one will protect it for you. Crypto users need to learn to use privacy tools like VPNs, Tor, privacy coins, etc. The day will soon come when governments send blanket “John Doe summonses” to public node providers to get those ISPs, just like the Internal Revenue Service did to central crypto exchanges in the early days of crypto. And those intermediaries will undoubtedly comply.

There are legitimate reasons remote procedure call providers may want to retain ISP information. Some node users who are Infura clients may want ISPs tracked because it could help to hunt down hackers.

So, back to the question: Are we still mad at MetaMask? Foxes are known for being clever. However, less known is that they’re also loyal, as both males and females care for a tight-knit family unit. Was the MetaMask fox too clever, or was he loyal to core blockchain principles?

What sparked the outrage was public disclosure about changes to their privacy policy. Transparency is a good thing — or should be unless Crypto Twitter erupts violently in response to those disclosures. And they further refined their privacy policy in response to the criticism. Read the new Infura privacy policy for yourself here. It seems straightforward and attempts limited privacy protection.

Para los que se preocupan por su IP en MM recuerden que pueden cambiar el RPC de Infura en 4 pasos de la siguiente manera:
— . | (@ancestral_alien) November 25, 2022

Except you do, you have, you will always bc there is no way not to. Dont disrespect your users like that.

You send every users various onchain addreses, IPs, info to mewapi (you), blockchain info, moonbeam network, on and on.

The ONLY diff is that YOU blatantly lie abt it.
— Tay (@tayvano_) November 24, 2022

Infura competitors like Alchemy and MyEtherWallet took this opportunity to throw shade Infura’s way. One MetaMask developer hit back. Read Alchemy’s privacy policy, which uses legalese to reserve the right to collect and use data however Alchemy chooses. Alchemy’s privacy policy gets a negative recommendation from Chainlist for its poor privacy practices. Not cool.

In crypto, as with life, privacy is a personal right and responsibility. Energy spent on momentary outbursts is better spent learning about privacy technology to protect yourself.

J.W. Verret is an associate professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He is a practicing crypto forensic accountant and also practices securities law at Lawrence Law LLC. He is a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Advisory Council and a former SEC Investor Advisory Committee member. He also leads the Crypto Freedom Lab — a think tank fighting for policy change to preserve freedom and privacy for crypto developers and users.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

90% of businesses adopting blockchain technology, data

January 12, 2023 Coin Telegraph

China

A new survey from CasperLabs found that despite education gaps, enterprise adoption of blockchain technology in the U.S., U.K. and China is set to increase in the next year.

The crypto and blockchain space has had a turbulent past year, but that is not stopping users and enterprises from looking into the industry.

A new survey from CasperLabs and Zogby Analytics revealed that the sentiment around blockchain adoption is especially positive among enterprises. The poll was conducted via 603 business enterprise “decision makers” in the United States, the United Kingdom and China.

Nearly 90% of the businesses surveyed reported deploying blockchain technology in some capacity, with 87% saying they plan to invest in blockchain in the next year. This is particularly pronounced in China, where over half of the respondents plan to invest in blockchain in 2023.

Ralf Kubli, a board member of the Casper Association, said that despite the recent turbulence, companies continue to turn to blockchain for solutions:

“It’s hugely encouraging to see businesses understanding that blockchain is not a competitor but a solution.”

Businesses that are already utilizing the technology are benefiting from two of its main capabilities: security (42%) and copy protection (42%). Those in IT-based operations are using blockchain for things such as internal workflows (40%), supply chain efficiency (34%) and software development (30%), among others.

Kubli commented that 2023 will be a consequential year for the adoption of blockchain technology, “especially in providing real solutions for real-world problems and creating long-term value.”

However, an important finding was revealing where enterprise leaders fall short. Despite the majority feeling confident in their knowledge of blockchain technology (73%), 54% of the respondents still see the terms “blockchain” and “crypto” as interchangeable.

In the same vein, it was reported that the biggest hurdles to adoption are limited developer knowledge, lack of tools, interoperability and cynicism toward the industry. Nonetheless, nearly all of the respondents said they would be more likely to adopt with more understanding and insight into how peers are utilizing blockchain.

Education, along with accessibility, has been a long-standing challenge and barrier for those outside the space wishing to interact with the technology and communicate with clients.

Bitcoin nodes data: Frankfurt houses the largest city-wide network

January 11, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Distributed across 5,773 cities worldwide, over 60% and 14% of the Bitcoin nodes run on IPv4 and IPv6 protocols, respectively, while more than 25% run anonymously on .onion.

While the United States holds the biggest share of Bitcoin (BTC) hash rate contribution and ATM network, the city hosting the most reachable Bitcoin nodes — a crucial pillar of the Bitcoin network — is Frankfurt, Germany.

Bitcoin nodes are a distributed network of computers that run the Bitcoin software and accept a set of proof-of-work (PoW) consensus rules to validate and broadcast transactions on the blockchain. Of the 43,706 nodes hosted across 134 countries, the U.S. hosts 9,999 (30.53%), while Germany ranks second with 4,529 (13.83%) nodes, according to data from Bitnodes.

*List of top 10 countries with most number of Bitcoin nodes. Source: Bitnodes*

However, when it comes to the contribution of individual cities, Frankfurt was found to host the largest number of IPv4/IPv6 Bitcoin nodes at the time of writing. Nearly 2%, or 652 nodes, remain active in Frankfurt. The U.S. city of Ashburn takes the second spot with 517 (1.58%) nodes, as shown below.

*List of top 10 cities with most number of Bitcoin nodes. Source: Bitnodes*

Due to factors such as internet service provider firewalls and private networks, nearly 18% or 5,865 Bitcoin nodes were not attributed to any specific location — aiding Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision for a truly decentralized payments system. The top 10 cities with the highest Bitcoin nodes include Helsinki, Toronto, London, Amsterdam, Moscow, Tokyo, Dublin and Nuremberg.

Distributed across 5,773 cities worldwide, over 60% of the nodes run on IPv4 protocols, 14% run on IPv6 protocols and more than 25% run anonymously on .onion.

Amid skyrocketing hash rates and increased adoption, the growth of the Bitcoin ATM network seemed stagnant over the past six months.

*Chart showing the number of crypto ATMs installed over time. Source: CoinATMRadar*

Just 94 Bitcoin ATMs were added to the global network between July and December 2022, with a modest 4,169 ATMs added during the year’s first six months.

Data

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