Facebook announced today the details of its cryptocurrency project: a financial services offering called Calibra. This “newly formed Facebook subsidiary” is launching in 2020 and will be a digital wallet to store and send Libra, a new cryptocurrency. It will initially be integrated directly into WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, before eventually branching out as a standalone app for iOS and Android. Calibra will let its users send Libra to each other “as easily and instantly as you might send a text message, and at low to no cost.” The company hopes “to offer additional services for people and businesses, such as paying bills with the push of a button, buying a cup of coffee with the scan of a code, or riding your local public transit without needing to carry cash or a metro pass.” Read more for a video of the wallet in-action and additional information.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, better known as the Winkelvoss twins, may not have been given an ownership stake inn Facebook, but they became billionaires anyways. For those who don’t know, they officially launched ConnectU, a social networking website, on May 21, 2004, and users could add people as friends, send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. They were also placed in networks based upon the domain name associated with the email address they used for registration. As you already know, that didn’t quite work out. Read more for a recent interview on their journey.
For the 2019 Evolo Skyscraper Competition, one team of designers submitted “Crypto-Park,” which is exactly as it sounds, a water park sksycraper that doubles as a cryptocurrency mining tower. Standing 1,837-feet tall, it boasts a semi-exposed glazed façades that enables spectators to look in and see a theme park, while hidden beneath this infrastructure is a high-tech server farm designed to mine cryptocurrencies. Read more for additional pictures and information.
Photo credit: The Fabricant
We have seen the future of fashion, and it’s digital. The Fabricant, Dapper Labs and artist Johanna Jaskowska teamed up to create a digital dress, called Iridescence, that recently sold for $9,500 on the blockchain. Unlike in-game costumes and other video game items, this digital couture will be custom tailored based on a photo you submit, and since it’s a blockchain asset, its value may actually increase, like cryptocurrency. Read more for a video and additional information.
Unlike other cryptocurrency, Burstcoin (also called Burst) is a digital cryptocurrency and payment system based on the blockchain technology that are mined using an algorithm called proof-of-capacity (PoC) in which miners use computer storage instead of the more common energy-expensive method proof-of-work (PoW) which involves permanent computational operations. The main difference between Proof of Work and Burst’s Proof of Capacity is that instead of needing ever more expensive, power hungry processors and graphic cards, it uses inexpensive, low-power hard drives. Plus, Proof of Capacity is inherently more secure, and trimmed versions of the blockchain are easier and more secure as well. The energy requirement for Burstcoin mining is minimal compared to most other cryptocurrencies, making Burstcoin one of the most energy efficient within the field of proof-based cryptocurrencies. Click here to view the first image in today’s viral picture gallery. Continue reading for the five most popular viral videos today, including one of some insane boomerang trick shots.
France-based Qarnot reveals the QC-1, the world’s first “crypto-heater,” or one that not only warms your home, but can also mine cryptocurrency, thanks to two 8GB Sapphire Nitro + Radeon GPU RX 580 GPUs. It utilizes the heat released from the GPUs during mining to warm the living space, and by default, the heater is programmed to mine Ethereum. You can set it up in just 10 minutes, as all it needs is an ethernet connection and a downloadable app that can be used to control various functions of the crypto heater, entering your Ethereum wallet address, and viewing real-time details of the cryptocurrency mined. Continue reading for more pictures and information.
Kodak announced today that it’s getting into the digital licensing and cryptocurrency market as part of a collaboration with WENN Digital. The two companies are launching blockchain – a ledger where transactions of digital currencies, like bitcoin, are recorded – technology with KodakOne and KodakCoin. The Kodak systems will enable photographers to easily register work that they can license and then receive payment. The company plans to launch the initial coin offering on January 31. Continue reading for another video (plus a bonus video) and more information.