Lưu trữ cho từ khóa: data

Công nghệ

Sui’s Mysten Labs launches Walrus Protocol public testnet for decentralized storage

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Mysten Labs has launched the public testnet for Walrus Protocol, a decentralized storage network designed to store large data files such as videos, audio, and images.

The testnet, built on the Sui (SUI) blockchain, introduces several key features, including the ability to delete stored files, a staking system, and an explorer tool for users to search and manage data, according to a press release.

Decentralized storage distributes files across multiple independent storage nodes rather than relying on a single company to store data (as with traditional cloud services), providing better security and resilience.

Walrus Protocol uses a method that breaks large files into smaller pieces, distributing them across different locations. Even if some pieces are lost, the entire file can still be reassembled, ensuring users maintain continuous access to their data.

Walrus on Sui  

The Walrus testnet is powered by Sui, a blockchain that helps manage the storage system efficiently. It also supports a testnet token called WAL, which allows users to stake tokens (temporarily lock them in the system) and earn rewards for helping run the network.

The protocol aims to make decentralized storage fast and reliable for applications that store rich media.

Two notable partners, Akord and Decrypt Media, are joining Walrus. Akord is moving its secure storage platform to Walrus from Arweave, and Decrypt Media is integrating to store its media files on the network, according to the release.

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Theo Crypto News

Công nghệ

Hyve launches data availability protocol, promises high throughput

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Hyve, a blockchain infrastructure company, has introduced its new data availability protocol, HyveDA, after operating in stealth mode for over a year.

The company claims HyveDA can achieve a throughput of 1 gigabyte per second, a speed it says is 100 times faster than current data availability solutions on the market, according to a press release shared with crypto.news.

This launch follows a $1.85 million pre-seed funding round led by Lemniscap, with participation from Paper Ventures and Frachtis.

Data availability protocols like HyveDA play a key role in blockchain systems by ensuring that data necessary for decentralized applications is accessible and secure. In decentralized networks, users often need to verify transactions or other actions without relying on a central authority, which can create data bottlenecks.

HyveDA aims to address these challenges by providing a system that can handle large volumes of data more efficiently.

Improved throughput 

The company plans to scale its throughput to 50 GB/s as the network grows, according to the press release. HyveDA is designed to be permissionless, meaning anyone can join the network without needing approval. This aligns with the broader principles of decentralization, which seek to eliminate centralized control over data and transactions.

Hyve’s protocol is also built to handle data-heavy applications, such as artificial intelligence, decentralized order books, and Web3 games requiring significant data processing power. The funds from its recent investment round will be used to expand the company’s team and support partnerships with Layer 2 solutions, decentralized finance platforms, and gaming developers.

HyveDA is part of Symbiotic’s ecosystem, a restacking protocol that provides additional security and flexibility for operators. By combining Symbiotic’s staking model with HyveDA’s high data throughput, the company aims to handle even the most data-intensive blockchain applications.

While the protocol offers promising performance benchmarks, its scalability in real-world environments will be critical to its success.

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Theo Crypto News

Công nghệ

Nansen integrates token and wallet tracking tools into Solana

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Nansen has announced a new integration into Solana. This integration will provide advanced token and wallet tracking tools to analyze the Solana ecosystem.

In a press release sent to crypto.news on Oct. 17, blockchain analytics firm Nansen announced a new integration into the Solana(SOL) Network which will enable Nansen to offer comprehensive wallet attribution and data analysis previously untouched upon by the protocol.

The Nansen platform will include features such as a Wallet Profit and Loss or “Wallet PnL”, designed to track portfolio management and “Signals” that identify market trends using on-chain AI. Nansen also provides “Token Screener” to give performance insights on current tokens and “Smart Money” which can track the movements of investors and whales within the Solana ecosystem.

By integrating these features into Solana, Nansen will be able to bridge the gap between existing Solana data analysis tools and those found within other ecosystems.

Now, Nansen can provide much more comprehensive and deeper token and wallet analytics that bring clarity to the complex and ever-evolving Solana ecosystem

CEO of Nansen, Alex Svanevik, stated that the integration between Solana and the Nansen platform is a crucial steps towards advancing the blockchain analytics market.

 “By offering in-depth token and wallet-level data, we’re giving investors the tools they need to navigate Solana with confidence. This launch marks a pivotal moment for Web3 analytics,” said Svanevik.

Nansen offers a set of token and wallet tracking tools that can track balances in real-time and follow wallet movements within Solana’s ecosystem, so that users can follow the movement of assets and identify trends, risks, and opportunities.

Additionally, Nansen provides millions of wallet labels such as “Memecoin Whale” and “Token Deployer” used to identify key players, including whales and investors.

Finally, Nansen recognizes the distinction between Solana Virtual Machine and EVM. Therefore, the integration with Solana offers tailored solutions for EVM and non-EVM views across 16 different blockchains which include all major Ethereum Layer 2s.

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Pháp Lý

The rise of privacy coins: We only care when privacy is at risk | Opinion

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Summer. The sunlight filters through my curtains. The forecast predicts one of the hottest days of the year, but I remain frozen in bed, reluctant to move, the weight of the world pressing me down. My phone screen lights up, and the first headline catches my eye: “29-year-old Bitcoiner robbed and murdered in Kyiv for $200,000 in Bitcoin.” The heat outside feels distant compared to the chilling realization that danger hides in plain sight in a world where privacy is increasingly elusive.

The story offered no insight into how the offenders discovered the man’s Bitcoin (BTC) holdings. However, the alleged attackers have been charged with premeditated murder, robbery, and concealment, suggesting that they managed to track and know sensitive information about the victim’s BTC.

Privacy is not just a convenience; it’s a fundamental right

After reading the news article, I was reminded of a guest article by Neeraj Agrawal in Bankless, titled “Crypto Privacy Is Humanitarian.” Agrawal argues persuasively for the critical role of privacy tools in today’s world, highlighting how “crypto privacy can be a matter of life and death” for individuals living under repressive governments. He gives various examples where the ability to maintain privacy through cryptocurrency has provided a vital means of escaping oppressive financial restrictions enforced by powerful intermediaries.

His examples include protestors in countries like Belarus and Nigeria, political opposition in Russia, resistance fighters in Myanmar, Afghan civilians struggling under sanctions, and a Chinese artist avoiding censorship.

Agrawal’s points highlight that privacy is not merely a convenience but a matter of survival for many people worldwide. However, focusing solely on these extreme cases can create the misconception that privacy is only essential in dire situations. In reality, privacy is a fundamental right that should not need justification. This narrative also reinforces the idea that those who seek privacy or resist Know Your Customer protocols must be hiding something illicit, further stigmatizing the pursuit of personal privacy.

The prevailing narrative tends to position privacy concerns on a spectrum: on one side are criminals hiding illegal activities, while on the other side, activists and freedom fighters evading persecution. Both are seen as operating outside the law, but one is villainized while the other is celebrated, even though the laws may be oppressive or unjust. Yet, this dichotomy overlooks the vast majority of people in between—the average individuals who value their privacy without a dramatic backstory to justify it or anything to hide. 

Privacy is like oxygen: Its value becomes apparent only in its absence 

The rising popularity of privacy coins seems to be closely linked to the increasing number of central banks exploring central bank digital currency. According to a Bank for International Settlements survey, 94% of the 86 participating banks said they were looking at a digital version of their national currencies. That’s up from 90% of 81 respondents in a 2021 survey conducted by the BIS, an umbrella organization for the world’s central banks. In response to rising concerns over the erosion of financial privacy, privacy coins have emerged as a potential solution.

Furthermore, privacy coins mainly gain media attention only when our privacy is infringed. For instance, Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasized the need for privacy in cryptocurrency transactions following reports that he used the privacy tool RailGun to obscure the transfer of 100 ETH. According to Wu Blockchain, which cited data from Arkham Intelligence, Buterin had been gradually interacting with the privacy tool over the past six months, using smaller amounts of ETH.

Following the news of Buterin’s actions, privacy-focused digital assets such as Monero (XMR) saw an immediate spike in value, with an average price increase of more than 5%. Despite their critical role in ensuring financial privacy, advocates of privacy protocols are often stigmatized and viewed as paranoid conspiracy theorists or extremists. 

Society becomes suspicious of anyone who doesn’t conform to the norm of transparency. This shaming of privacy-conscious individuals serves as a subtle tool for social control, normalizing complacency. From there, it’s a slippery slope into a surveillance-driven society, where personal data is easily harvested, manipulated, and used as a means of control. 

How big is crypto crime, really?

Illicit activity remains a concern within the crypto world, with some harmful to honest users—such as scams and hacks—while other actions, like circumventing government-imposed capital controls, may seem to challenge unfair systems. Critics of privacy coins often focus on their use in illicit activities, but they fail to put this issue into a broader context. Blaming the tools rather than addressing the underlying human behaviors misses the point. 

Illicit activities have been happening for centuries and are not specific to any particular technology. While crypto may be used for unlawful purposes, these actions would persist with or without it. The focus should be on addressing the root causes of these problems, not demonizing the tools themselves.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, traditional financial systems are responsible for as much as $2 trillion annually in money laundering, a figure comparable to almost the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. Additionally, over 99.9999% of Bitcoin transactions occur on exchanges that adhere to anti-money laundering regulations.

In January 2023, Chainalysis reported that cryptocurrency transactions tied to illicit addresses totaled $24.2 billion, making up just 0.34% of the total crypto transaction volume for that year. This marked a decline from 2022, when illicit activity accounted for $39.6 billion, or 0.42% of transactions. 

One challenge in analyzing the extent of illicit activity is the distinction between crypto holders and those actively using it for transactions. Many users acquire BTC simply to hold for long-term investment, meaning a higher percentage of active users may be involved in illicit transactions. This discrepancy adds complexity to the ongoing debate on crypto regulation. 

However, it’s ludicrous to argue that the majority of privacy coin holders are engaged in illegal activities. This narrative undermines the core principles driving many web3 natives: The freedom of essential human rights, and privacy being one of them. For these individuals, privacy is not just a shield against bad actors or invasive authorities; it is a form of liberation, a way to reclaim autonomy over their personal data and transactions. They are not hiding illicit behavior but standing firm in their belief that privacy is a fundamental human right—one that should not be compromised or criminalized.

The idea that seeking privacy implies wrongdoing is a dangerous oversimplification. Just as free speech and the right to assembly are protected regardless of how they are used, privacy deserves the same unconditional respect. 

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Theo Crypto News

Công nghệ

Decentralized AI: leveraging blockchain for a more equitable future | Opinion

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly advancing, yet its development and deployment are largely controlled by a few powerful entities. This concentration of power raises significant concerns about privacy, security, and fairness. As AI continues to transform industries and societies, it is crucial to explore solutions that can democratize its benefits and mitigate its risks. Blockchain technology offers a promising path forward by enabling decentralized, transparent, and secure AI systems.

Large corporations with access to vast amounts of data and computational power dominate the current AI landscape. This centralization presents several problems. Privacy concerns arise as users’ personal data is often collected and used without explicit consent, leading to potential misuse and breaches. Monopolization of power by a few entities stifles innovation and limits diverse contributions. Additionally, centralized AI systems are vulnerable to being manipulated for harmful purposes, such as spreading misinformation or conducting surveillance.

The reality of AI development today is that it is not solely the result of autonomous machine learning but rather a blend of reinforcement learning and human intelligence. A striking example of this was when details of Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology came to light. Instead of technology alone tallying customers’ purchases, about 1,000 real people manually checked the sales. This collaboration between human intelligence and AI systems is often overlooked, but it underscores the significant human element in AI processes.

Decentralized artificial intelligence

Blockchain technology, with its decentralized and transparent nature, can address these challenges effectively. It enhances security and privacy by enabling secure data sharing and storage through cryptographic techniques, ensuring that users maintain control over their information. By distributing power across a network, blockchain reduces the risk of monopolization and fosters a more collaborative AI development environment. It can also track the provenance of data, ensuring its integrity and legitimacy, which is crucial for training reliable AI models.

Decentralization in AI can mitigate several risks associated with the current centralized model. The Center for Safe AI identifies four broad categories of AI risk: malicious use, AI race, organizational risks, and rogue AI. Malicious use includes intentionally harnessing powerful AIs to cause widespread harm, such as engineering new pandemics or using AI for propaganda, censorship, and surveillance. The AI race risk involves corporations or nation-states competing to quickly build more powerful systems, taking unacceptable risks in the process. Organizational risks encompass serious industrial accidents and the potential for powerful programs to be stolen or copied by malicious actors. Finally, there is the risk of rogue AI, where systems might optimize flawed objectives, drift from their original goals, become power-seeking, resist shutdown, or engage in deception.

Regulation and good governance can contain many of these risks. Malicious use can be addressed by restricting queries and access to various features, and the court system can hold developers accountable. Risks of rogue AI and organizational issues can be mitigated by common sense and fostering a safety-conscious approach to using AI. However, these approaches do not address some of the second-order effects of AI, such as centralization and the perverse incentives remaining from legacy web2 companies.

Own your data

For too long, we have traded our private information for access to tools. While opting out is possible, it is often inconvenient for most users. AI, like any other algorithm, produces results directly tied to the data it is trained on. Massive resources are already devoted to cleaning and preparing data for AI. For example, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is trained on hundreds of billions of lines of text from various sources but also relies on human input and smaller, more customized databases to fine-tune its output.

Creating a blockchain layer in a decentralized AI network could mitigate these problems. We can build AI systems that track the provenance of data, maintain confidentiality, and allow individuals and enterprises to charge for access to their specialized data using decentralized identities, validation staking, consensus, and roll-up technologies like optimistic and zero-knowledge proofs. This could shift the balance away from large, opaque, centralized institutions and provide individuals and enterprises with an entirely new economic system.

On the technological front, ensuring the integrity, ownership, and legitimacy of data (model auditing) is crucial. Blockchain can provide an immutable audit trail for data, ensuring its authenticity and enabling fair compensation for data providers. Techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs and decentralized identities allow users to contribute data without compromising their confidentiality. Decentralized AI networks enable diverse stakeholders to participate in AI development, from data providers to infrastructure operators, creating a more equitable ecosystem.

A better solution 

In addition to enhancing data integrity, decentralized AI systems offer improved security. Cryptographic techniques and security protection certification systems ensure that users can secure their data on their devices and control access to their data, including the ability to revoke access. This is a significant advancement from the existing system, where valuable information is merely collected and sold to centralized AI companies. Instead, it enables broad participation in AI development.

Individuals can engage in various roles, such as creating AI agents, supplying specialized data, or offering intermediary services like data labeling. Others might contribute by managing infrastructure, operating nodes, or providing validation services. This inclusive approach allows for a more diversified and collaborative AI ecosystem.

Decentralized AI also addresses the issue of job displacement caused by AI advancements. As AI systems become more capable, they are likely to impact the labor market significantly. By incorporating blockchain technology, we can create a system that benefits everyone, from data providers to developers. This inclusive model can help distribute the economic benefits of AI more equitably, preventing the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few large corporations.

Furthermore, the integration of blockchain and AI can foster innovation by promoting open-source development and collaboration. Decentralized platforms can serve as a foundation for developing new AI applications and services, encouraging a diverse range of contributors to participate in the AI ecosystem. This collaborative environment can lead to the creation of more robust and innovative AI solutions, benefiting society as a whole.

In conclusion, the fusion of blockchain and AI represents a significant advancement in how we approach technology development. It shifts the balance of power away from centralized entities and towards a more distributed and collaborative model. This transition is essential for ensuring that AI serves the broader interests of humanity rather than the narrow goals of a few powerful organizations. The future of AI lies in its decentralization, and blockchain is the key to unlocking this potential. By leveraging the inherent security, transparency, and trustlessness of blockchain technology, we can build a more equitable, secure, and innovative AI ecosystem that benefits everyone.

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Theo Crypto News

DeFi

Space and Time debuts sub-second ZK prover

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California-based crypto startup Space and Time has released a new high-performance ZK prover to improve on-chain transactions and defi growth.

Space and Time (SxT), a custom-built compute layer, granted public access to its sub-second zero-knowledge (ZK) prover stack, dubbed Proof of SQL. The ZK-proof system was previously made available to a few SxT clients in alpha last August.

ZK provers were necessitated by privacy needs, a cornerstone of cryptographic technology. The fundamental thesis of ZK models allows users to demonstrate that data or transactions are valid or true without revealing additional information. 

Several web3 developers, including Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, have stressed the role of ZK stacks in building reliable decentralized finance (defi) ecosystems. The technology is viewed as crucial for ensuring safe on-chain interactions for smart contract protocols and end-users. However, ZK proofs have been known to sometimes slow down execution. 

SxT co-founder and head of research Jay White, PhD, said his team developed the Proof of SQL program “so that smart contracts and AI agents can ask questions about a chain’s activity, as well as off-chain data, and receive back trustless SQL query results on-chain during a transaction without having to wait for 30 minute proof times.”

The web3 data warehouse said its Proof of SQL delivers better-optimized processing architecture for large-scale operations compared to generalized zk-Virtual Machines and co-processors. 

According to SxT and White, the ZK prover executed queries for over 100,000 row tables in under one second on a single GPU united. The model can be integrated into zkVMs on blockchains like Ethereum (ETH) for faster speeds and bigger tasks.

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