Renee Francis, Take3: The transformative potential of Web3

The Block caught up with Renee Francis, Founder and Director of Take3, to discuss the transformative potential of Web3.

With a background in marketing and extensive experience with platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google, Francis offers a unique perspective on the issues that Web3 aims to address.

In this interview, she shares insights into the benefits of Web3, the challenges it faces, and her excitement for various projects in the space.

Data...

US Congressman: Blockchain is ‘the authenticator’ in the AI era

In an address at the Permissionless II conference, US Congressman Tom Emmer urged the blockchain industry to shift its focus towards innovation—asserting that the technology is key to authenticating content in the AI era.

Emmer's remarks come in the wake of recent legal victories for Ripple and Grayscale, with the prospect of an upcoming Supreme Court ruling that could reshape the regulatory landscape.

During a panel discussion, Congressman Emmer began by acknowledging...

Coinbase’s CEO shares his top 10 most exciting Web3 ideas

Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong is basking in the glow of a successful week as the value of his company's stocks soared, riding on the rising hopes for a Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF).

Armstrong kept the good vibes going by sharing the 10 ideas he’s “most excited about” in the Web3 space.

"We're actively developing numerous projects at Coinbase, but considering the vast landscape, it's not possible to tackle everything. Therefore, I thought...

OKX DEX Integrates with Linea Bridge and Orbiter

Vitalik Buterin calls Craig Wright a fraud

OKX has integrated Linea Bridge and Orbiter to provide better cross-chain trading for users.

By automatically finding the best trading route and cross-chain bridge, this integration allows OKX to provide industry-leading low prices and ease of use when swapping ETH to Linea.

Linea is a network that scales the experience of Ethereum. Its out-of-the-box compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine enables the deployment of already-existing applications, as well as the...

Celo touts Google Cloud win, confirms move to Ethereum layer-2 solution

Google bans cryptocurrency

The Celo Foundation, provider of a carbon-negative, Ethereum virtual machine-compatible (EVM) blockchain ecosystem, has announced that Google Cloud is running a validator on its network.

A validator participates in the running of the blockchain and helps maintain its security by staking their own crypto to support the network, and validating new transactions. Google Cloud joins contributors such as Deutsche Telekom – T-Systems is ranked as one of the top 10 validator groups –...

Chainlink CCIP launches on Mainnet

The Space Shuttle Challenger launching from Complex 39.

Chainlink, the industry-standard Web3 services platform, has revealed that the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has entered the Mainnet Early Access phase on the Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon and  Avalanche blockchains.

Leading DeFi protocols are adopting CCIP to power cross-chain smart contracts, including Synthetix, which is live on CCIP mainnet, as well as Aave, with BGD Labs now integrating CCIP on mainnet into the protocol. On July 20, CCIP will become...

House of Lords approve UK crypto bill

UK parliamentarians have taken a significant step towards recognising cryptocurrencies as a regulated activity with the approval of the Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB) by the House of Lords.

The move brings the bill closer to becoming law, marking an important development in the country's approach to digital assets.

Anto Paroian, CEO at ARK36, said:

"At ARK36, we feel the news that the UK parliament has just voted through a new bill which could...

a16z’s first global office will be in London due to ‘predictable’ environment

Renowned venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is opening its first global office in London due to a “predictable” regulatory environment.

The decision to expand comes in the wake of growing regulatory challenges faced by crypto firms in the United States. Chris Dixon, a16z's crypto founder and managing partner, highlighted the importance of a predictable business environment as a key factor behind the...

Coinbase wants inflation-pegged flatcoins on layer-2 ‘Base’ network

Inflation

US crypto exchange Coinbase wants inflation-pegged “flatcoins” to be one of four “critical” innovations it hopes to see on its newly launched layer-2 network, Base.

The company also wants developers to explore an on-chain reputation system, an on-chain limit order book (LOB) exchange, and tools to improve safety in decentralised finance (DeFi).

Coinbase announced the four areas in a ‘Request for Builders’ post, published a month after launching Base – a...

Ethereum Shanghai hard fork set to launch 12 April

Ethereum

Ethereum’s much anticipated Shanghai hard fork is set to go live on 12 April, bringing several upgrades that complete the network’s transition to a proof-of-stake consensus.

The mainnet upgrade includes five Ethereum Improvement Proposals, most notable of which is EIP-4985, enabling staked Ether to be withdrawn on the Beacon Chain.

This will finalise Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

Ethereum...