Remember your first username? If you were anything like me in the early 2000s—too young to surf the web but excited about the possibilities of connecting with the rest of the world—your username probably makes you cringe today.
When blockchain technology was first introduced a decade and a half ago, it made the possibility of a decentralized web seem viable to a mass audience. Since then, blockchains have proven themselves to be a poor solution to the majority of data storage problems outside of bearer assets - i.e. Bitcoin - because blockchains grow continuously without any ability to delete data, which just doesn’t make sense for things like personal data. But ‘blockchain’ isn’t synonymous with decentralization, and just because a blockchain isn’t the best solution for personal data storage doesn’t mean your app can’t be decentralized.
The first major version of tbDEX, an open source liquidity and trust protocol, has been released! 🎉 SDK implementations of the protocol are available in TypeScript/JavaScript, Kotlin, and Swift enabling integration with Web, Android, and iOS applications.
Digital identity shapes every facet of our online interactions. The quest for a system that balances decentralization, scalability, security, and user experience has been relentless. Today, I'm thrilled to share that TBD has birthed a new solution: the DID DHT method. This leap forward is not just a technical achievement; it's a foundational component for the more inclusive and trust-based digital world we want for tomorrow.
For many years, artificial intelligence primarily piqued the interest of academic researchers and enthusiasts within niche technological sectors such as robotics. Although respected, AI presented little practical application for the average person. That changed in June 2020 with the debut of a Large Language Model (LLM) called GPT-3. GPT-3 inspired organizations and individuals to use AI to accelerate their workflows, from coding and blogging to planning itineraries. Today, the potential of AI is so immense that Simon Westh Henriksen, the CTO of Kin, believes personal AI will be one of the most valuable digital assets we own in the future.
"Our current credit system says, 'Saddle yourself, so we can give you more to saddle.'" Eric Lapin, President of FormFree, stated during a recent TBD live stream. His comment sheds light on a fundamental paradox of the U.S. credit system: it often requires you to accumulate debt as a prerequisite for obtaining loans, leading to more debt. This systemic issue is underscored by recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which reveals that 1 in 5 applicants for mortgages, car loans, or other types of loans were rejected — the highest rate in five years. This trend disproportionately impacts Black and Latino applicants. Guided by their slogan, 'Democratizing lending for all people without bias,' FormFree developed a platform built with Web5 and AI to address these issues.
As we wrap up our very first self-hosted hackathon, we're thrilled to announce that out of 1,681 participants we have our top 8. These three hackathons have been a great learning experience, and an amazing opportunity to see what unique projects developers can build with Web5. In hopes of keeping the Hackathon open we came up with 6 categories, FinTech, Health, Music and Arts, Personal Data,and Empowerment & Enablement applications. Join us in celebrating our top 3 and best application per category.👏
It's winner announcement time! We're thrilled to have been a part of DevCareer's first-ever hackathon. DevCareer's mission is to cultivate new talent and make a difference in Africa through tech, and having that talent play around with our Web5.js SDK was an invaluable experience. The level of creativity resulted in us having not 3 but 5 winning projects! 🚀
The results are in! Out of 418 participants we have our top 3 projects! We were honored to sponsor a Web5 challenge with DIF Foundation. DIF (Decentralized Identity Foundation) is an engineering-driven organization focused on developing the foundational elements necessary to establish an open and interoperable ecosystem for decentralized identity. The challenge given was to build a decentralized web app utilizing Web5.js and Decentralized Web Nodes.
It was Friday night in New Orleans, and I was ready to kick off the weekend in true local style with a drink. I ordered my favorite wine on a food delivery app, but before the sale could be finalized, the wine store needed to verify my age. Seamlessly, they connected to my digital LA Wallet, and without sharing any extra details, my wallet confirmed I was 21+. Within 30 minutes, I was sipping my wine, in awe of the blend of tradition and cutting-edge technology - technology that I'm fortunate to work on, and also enjoy the convenience of.