A forensic researcher has suggested that Chinese investors may well own the vast majority of ether (ETH) in circulation via a raft of agents, LLCs, directors, advisors, and corporate structures.

As detailed by @BoringSleuth (aka TruthLabs), Ethereum was one of the first coins to distribute its initial supply through a pre-mine. Rather than a Bitcoin-like fair launch distributing coins via mining rewards through the public operation of a blockchain Ethereums co-founders pre-mined the majority of their currencys supply at genesis.

The idea of a pre-mine allocated for early investors and project developers was highly controversial when Ethereum held its initial coin offering (ICO) and it remains so today.

Ethereum has been famously tight-lipped about the owners of most of its earliest wallets. Although Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation happily disclose some of their stash, most co-founders and pre-ICO team members received large allocations into anonymous wallets. To this day, most decline to publicly identify their wallets.

Any sophisticated investor would have found it relatively easy to contribute bitcoin to Ethereums ICO through anonymous wallets that allowed them to obfuscate their identities and total holdings. In fact, during the ICO, it was extremely simple to contribute bitcoin via multiple wallets in order to hide ones total ownership as well as circumvent Ethereums poorly-enforced ICO contribution limits.

ICO thresholds per participant proved unenforceable. Indeed, Nansens analysis indicates that just 100 of the 8,800 accounts contributing to Ethereums ICO received a staggering 40% of that ETH sold.

Despite all of these limitations, researchers have made substantial progress in deanonymizing wallets and providing probabilistic estimates for the supply distribution of ETH.

In a previous article, Protos detailed Ethereums ties to China, including ex-Alibaba partners, a director who worked on Chinese-language apps, interest from the Bank of China, and a unique translation of the ETH whitepaper into Mandarin. Chinese individuals also had an influence on controversial matters like Ethereums rollback of The DAO hack in June 2016.

Christine Kim at Galaxy Digital conducted a detailed analysis of ETH supply distribution in June 2022. According to this research, 60% of Ethereums total supply was allocated to users before the networks official launch while 60 million ETH, or about 50% of the total current supply, was allocated to ICO investors.

Read more: Was FTX funded by Chinese capital flight?

Co-founders allocated another 10% (12 million ETH) to early team members and the ostensibly non-profit Ethereum Foundation.

Since then, recipients of the pre-mined supply have sent 10.3 million ETH to exchanges. This means that just 1.3 million ETH havent moved.

But how does this relate to the issue of potential Chinese ownership? Although its impossible to quantify the exact amount owned by Chinese investors, its undeniable that throughout Ethereums history, Chinese investment has always been a top priority.

While raising money for Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin placed great emphasis on courting Chinese investors. For example, he flew to China for a meeting with a number of them, including Wanxiang Group investment manager Deng Chao. Buterin once served as chief scientist at Wanxiang.

Fellow Ethereum Foundation board member Shen Bo apparently told Hashkey Group chairman Xiao Feng that the team worried it might not have enough money to launch the mainnet. The team held at least one all-night meeting about the problem. According to Xiao Feng, that was the moment he suggested contributing $500,000 to Ethereum development under Wanxiang Blockchain Labs name.

Every $1,000 invested into Ethereums ICO is now worth over $6 million.

As described in Laura Shins book The Cryptopians, Buterin tolerated and supported former executive director Ming Chan for far longer than his co-founders wanted, even after shed stirred up drama involving members of the Ethereum Foundation board of directors. His motives for keeping her around for so long were unclear, even with her previous work on online Chinese-language projects.

Buterin also showed an obsession with learning the Chinese language, even letting it cut into his social life and work on Ethereum for weeks. By 2016, his mastery of Chinese was good enough for him to write and present a keynote address for the Shanghai Wanxiang Blockchain International Week.

Buterin and fellow Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio also joined the ChinaLedger initiative as advisors in May 2016. Supported by the Internet Securities Commission of the Securities Association of China, ChinaLedger aimed to research the creation of Internet of Everything applications that could support businesses working within the Chinese regulatory environment.

Its interesting to note that Ethereums early marketing included the concept of a World Computer that developers could use to build nearly any blockchain-based app. Chinese entrepreneurs like Jeff Yang were already working on smart contract templates for Ethereum and Polygon. Yang was quoted as saying that China lacked a real code dev force hinting at the possibility that, as early as 2017, China recognized that it needed Ethereums developers as much as Buterin had needed Chinese investment money in 2015.

By 2017, Wanxiang had become known as a leading promotor of Ethereum adoption in China something it would have been unlikely to do if it didnt have a significant stake in ETH and Ethereum-based apps.

Some people theorized that Wanxiang was one of several fronts that made it possible for Chinese investors to buy up a majority of the ETH supply without raising suspicion. Again, TruthLabs has theorized that Chinese investors, through their various agents and companies, could control up to two-thirds of the ETH supply.

TruthLabs also found evidence that Wanxiang and its subsidiary, Fenbushi Capital, set up and funded wallets owned by Buterin.

Fenbushi Capital was founded in 2015, the same year that the Ethereum network launched. Buterin had a part-time position at Fenbushi until 2018 and even after leaving the job, retained a position as an advisor.

As major (and possibly majority) token holders, Chinese investors, including Wanxiang and HashKey, may still strongly influence ETHs development. And while much of Ethereums blockchain is impossible to deanonymize, Wanxiangs continued support and Buterins pro-China behavior throughout history could certainly lend a degree of credence to this theory.

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Do Chinese investors own the majority of ETH? - Protos

What are Bitcoin Ordinals?

If youve asked yourself this question in the past six months, youre not alone. The rapid rise of the Bitcoin Ordinals ecosystem has enthralled developers, divided the Bitcoin community, and reintroduced the original blockchain to a new generation of users.

In May, Bitcoin became the second-largest blockchain for NFTs with sales volume passing the likes of Solana and Polygon. Even Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has hailed Ordinals as an organic return of builder culture to Bitcoin.

Ninjalerts CEO Trevor Owens has been a fixture on the movements frontlines, investing in Bitcoin projects as a GP for Bitcoin Frontier Fund and covering all things Ordinals as a co-host for nft nows Not Financial Advice Twitter Space every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 pm ET.

In an informative nft now podcast interview, Owens breaks down what Ordinals are, why they matter, and what hes building using the protocol.

Matt Medved: Everyone has a unique story about how they got into the space. Whats yours?

Trevor Owens: Ive been a founder for a decade and a developer in the web2 space. I became interested in Bitcoin in 2013, but I was more enthusiastic about blockchain technology than necessarily the coin itself. Im very practical, and my specialty is go-to-market strategies. I spent a decade coaching founders in the lean startup methodology. I worked with Eric Reese; youll see my name in the thank you section of his book.

The space took a long time to mature, and it wasnt until 2021 that I noticed a tipping point where I saw Metamask, OpenSea, and Uniswap. At this point, I recognized that the technology that I always thought was promising was here in full force.

Id known the founders of Stacks for a long time, being one of their first advisors. When they launched Stacks 2.0, I connected with them. They wanted me to manage their ecosystem venture fund. So, I raised a small fund of four million. Recently, we closed a second round, raising about six to seven million. To date, weve made 50 investments across the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Im also an angel investor in a bunch of different various startups like nft now and others on the ETH side as well. Ive spent a lot of time working with zero-to-one companies, and now I do that professionally at the Bitcoin Frontier Fund. Our focus has expanded from Stacks to Ordinals more broadly.

Im also the CEO of Ninjalerts, an Ethereum analytics trading tool for NFT users that gives you the best push notifications and alerts when things happen on the blockchain. Im living the dual life of a builder and an investor.

Lets jump right into Ordinals. Its been amazing to watch the growth of that ecosystem in such a short amount of time. People are still trying to wrap their heads around it. How would you explain Bitcoin Ordinals to your grandmother?

I would describe it to my grandmother as a way to permanently record data in any form and also a way that makes a certificate of authentication similar to NFTs for that data to track ownership on Bitcoin.

The really innovative thing about Ordinals is that all data is on-chain, and its much less expensive than having a smart contract. Which is important for a chain like Bitcoin, where it is very expensive and block space is limited.

The really innovative thing about Ordinals is that all data is on-chain, and its much less expensive than having a smart contract.

Its a way to record any type of media, and you can also build new kinds of Web3 applications that are also different from how Ethereum applications are structured.That leads to some interesting use cases and ergonomics that actually make decentralized coordination a little bit easier.

Were seeing things that people tried to do on Ethereum that I think are objectively good ideas but were limited by the structure of having smart contracts and a solidity EVM. By just inscribing the raw data, its a little bit easier, and thats the fascinating thing.

Its been interesting to see the various types of inscriptions, whether its a photo, music, or something else, directly on Bitcoin, which wasnt possible before. How did we get here, and why do you think this is so transformative?

We got here kind of by accident. In 2017, SegWit was introduced, which was an upgrade to Bitcoin that created something called the segregated witness. A normal Bitcoin block has something like a one-megabyte limit, but in the witness area of the transaction, you can fit up to an additional three megabytes. So, In total, you can have four megabytes per block.

And in addition, that area of the inscription is actually discounted by 75 percent. It still ends up fitting one megabyte within the Bitcoin block, but since its a total of four, 75 percent is like one megabyte. So, the data is actually stored differently than the rest of the transaction.

That kind of opened up this avenue for really inexpensive permanent data storage in a way that, if you do the math in terms of how much it would cost you to have a Dropbox account for life or run an Amazon Web Services Server for life, theres no way you can get data storage this cheap in a permanent way.

An amazing Bitcoin dev named Casey Rodarmor was a contributor to Bitcoin core over the years, and hes considered one of the top Bitcoin developers in the world. He was working on this project for two years. Casey is a very unique individual. He was born from the Bitcoin community and fits in with some of the laser eye maximalists we like to dunk on.

He was always an instigator and liked to break the rules, and he had development skills and a deep understanding of how Bitcoin works. He spent two years working on Ordinals and Inscriptions. Ordinals refers to Ordinal theory, which is the way that we actually turn Bitcoin or pieces of Bitcoin, Satoshis, into non-fungible tokens that are trackable and tradable throughout the blockchain.

While many of the Bitcoin Maxis tried to cancel Ordinals, it only made it stronger.

On January 20 this year, it just took off like a rocket. It was also the perfect timing. We were just coming back from FTX, and that cascade and we were at a low in the market. It was something that violated all the narratives in the space.

Then you had Udi Wertheimer dropping a four-megabyte Bitcoin block, which was the largest Bitcoin block ever done. I think the real reason it succeeded among the Bitcoin community. Where other innovations have failed or have been attacked by the immune system, so to say, of the Bitcoin Maxi community was because Ordinals are not only a cool use case for a lot of users, but it increased the fees on Bitcoin.

When you have two people fighting for moral authority, in Bitcoin, whoever pays is in the position of superior moral authority. The idea is, if you dont like it, you should pay more. Paying directly to the miners is contributing to the security of Bitcoin. Eventually, the security subsidy on Bitcoin is going to be gone, and it will need to survive the security budget generated by fees.

But historically, fees have been so low on Bitcoin that its been an open-ended question. How are we going to make sure Bitcoin is viable in the long term from people paying enough to support the security and decentralization of the network? Ordinals kind of came in and provided that answer.

While many of the Bitcoin Maxis tried to cancel Ordinals, it only made it stronger. We have had hundreds of developers pour into the space. Weve had a ton of infrastructure, like marketplaces, wallets, explorers, and other tools, developed that just didnt exist four months ago.

I think whenever theres a new and exciting ecosystem, theres a perceived barrier to entry. How can people get started with Bitcoin Ordinals?

The first step would be to get a Bitcoin web wallet similar to Metamask. The most popular one right now is Xverse. Im an investor. You can also check out Hiro, which is an investor in my fund, and UniSat. Those are the top three.

They offer a few different things, but theyre pretty similar. And then, theres multiple marketplaces. So theres Magic Eden, Gamma, Ordinals Wallet, and Ordswap. And go and get an Ordinal. Or inscribe. One of the coolest things about Ordinals is that you dont need to launch a smart contract to make an Ordinal.

The whole system is easier than any NFT marketplace storefront. Some of the wallets have their own inscription service embedded in them, and you can just drag and drop a file, like a JPEG or an MP3, pay a Bitcoin fee, and boom, its forever recorded on Bitcoin. As long as Bitcoin survives, its going to be there.

There are already some quite notable Ordinals projects that have launched. In your view, what are some that the average Web3 lover should have on their radar?

One of the first notable ones, I think, was Bitcoin DeGods. That was a very successful mint where what was originally a popular community on Solana that moved to Ethereum and Polygon inscribed a percentage of their art onto Bitcoin.

There are a lot of projects under the 1,000 mark. The earlier the Ordinal, the earlier and a little bit the more attractive they are. Theres Ord rocks, which were actually like Ether Rocks. Theres Ord Punks, which was using some of the traits of CryptoPunks, but some other traits as well, to make a bunch of CryptoPunk-like PFPs in the sub-1,000 range.

You have a higher barrier to entry, which I think means that you see a lot fewer low-effort projects launched on Ordinals.

I have a colleague who has an Ordinals collection called Diamond Fingers, which is sub-10,000, which are these like 3D middle fingers that say, You cant censor my transactions, and NFTs are fun. Theres Ordinal Maxi Biz, which is one of the most recently successful and hyped projects. Theres On-Chain Monkey, which is another really good one.

And, of course, were doing our own project here for Ninjalerts, which is 1,500 ninja PFPs inscribed on rare pizza sats. So, theres a lot going on. The pace of projects is not like Ethereum, though. You have a higher barrier to entry because, most of the time, the cost of putting Ordinals on the blockchain is held by the project creator.

On Ethereum, usually you just launch the smart contract, and that costs around an ETH to do. But then all of the people who mint pay the cost of gas to mint the NFT. On Ordinals, its the opposite; the creator has to do all of the inscribing. So you have a higher barrier to entry, which I think means that you see a lot fewer low-effort projects launched on Ordinals.

Pizza Ninja is the project that youre launching with Ninjalerts. Its built on rare Satoshis from the Bitcoin Pizza transaction. Tell us a little bit about the project.

Trevor: I think the cool thing about rare sats is that it allows you to do more creative storytelling. So, project creators are now able to combine the medium with which theyre doing their art, the Satoshi, with the art or the story of the art that theyre trying to do.

Pizza sats are not as rare as the uncommon or rare sats. However, its a very historic transaction. It goes back to the first verified Bitcoin transaction ever to buy anything, which is also the first physical item. A guy named Laszlo paid somebody 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa Johns pizzas.

Its like a holiday every year in the Bitcoin community, the day when that transaction happened. And for people who want to get rare stats, its a really good entry rare sat to get. I love pizza. If you go back to like the history of civilization, a lot of historians say bread is the most important invention in human history in terms of how it formed the basis of the societal construction of families, breaking bread for reconciliation and peace.

So, with an NFT project, I think the most important thing that you want to do is try to create meaningful experiences that can bond together your community. Having a theme to tie people together. I think pizza is universally loved across all cultures. I was thinking about Ninjalerts and pizza sats. And then, of course, the next thing you think of is Ninja Turtles.

So, we just went on this path to try and create a unique project with some amazing art that could bring together our community and also the launch of Ninjalerts on Ordinals on Bitcoin. On Ninjalerts, we provide some of the best NFT analytics and alerts for Ethereum. Of course, we want to move into Ordinals. So, we decided to do this project to help curate our community and help get the word out.

Weve been asking people to make videos on Twitter where they will record themselves eating pizza while wearing a Ninja costume. This is like a hat tip to Udi Wertheimer, who did this with Taproot Wizards.

Were getting videos every single day. Its just been a super fun experience. The way you actually try to distribute the opportunity to participate to those early holders is one of the most important decisions that you have. Being able to select the people who care the most, I think, is going to be the most important sign of long-term health for a project.

This interview transcript has been edited for concision and clarity.

For the full and uncut interview, listen to ourpodcast episodewith Trevor Owens.

Read more here:

How to Explain Bitcoin Ordinals to Your Grandmother - nft now

As developers pitch radical long-term scaling upgrades, Ethereum infrastructure builder ConsenSys has announced the alpha testing phase for a new zero-knowledge Layer 2 ZK mainnet, Linea.

According to the MetaMask operator, the Linea network has processed $46 million worth of transactions involving 5.5 million unique wallets.

The new ConsenSys Linea network is a so-called zero-knowledge rollup that performs calculations on batches of transactions before posting data to the main Ethereum chain. The network confirms a transactions validity without showing details to the Ethereum base layer.

Moreover, developers on Ethereum can port their applications directly to Linea without code changes. The alpha includes deep integration with MetaMasks Bridge, Swap, and Buy features.

ConsenSys will onboard launch partners onto its Layer 2 before officially launching the network during next weeks ETHCC conference. Even at the launch, ConsenSys will impose withdrawal limits to protect users for 90 days. It warns users to be aware of airdrop scams since the L2 has no native token.

Notable players in the zkEVM space are Polygon, zkSync, LoopRing, and StarkWare. Starkwares zk-STARK solution has been favored by the Ethereum Foundation for its scalability over the technology backing Linea, known as zk-SNARK.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said rollups solve Ethereums low transaction throughput while developers create a long-term solution.

The upcoming Cancun upgrade will include building blocks for danksharding, Ethereums long-term scaling upgrade after Shapella.

The latest all-core developers meeting in June focused on Ethereums Deneb upgrade, which will happen simultaneously with Cancun. In addition to pushing Ethereum toward higher throughput, the developers discussed a proposal to include changing the maximum Ethereum validators can stake from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH.

Node operators currently stake 32 ETH on a smart contract on Ethereums Beacon Chain to become validators.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not list Ethereum in its latest list of crypto assets it considers securities. A recent research paper by JPMorgan suggested that Ethereum is neither a security nor a commodity and may require a separate US regulator.

The SEC sued crypto exchange Kraken for offering US customers its Ethereum staking product as an unregistered security.

Got something to say about the Linea ZK Mainnet or anything else? Write to us or join the discussion on ourTelegram channel.You can also catch us onTikTok,Facebook, orTwitter.

In adherence to the Trust Project guidelines, BeInCrypto is committed to unbiased, transparent reporting. This news article aims to provide accurate, timely information. However, readers are advised to verify facts independently and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.

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Will ConsenSys' Linea Mainnet Win the ZK War? - BeInCrypto

Cryptocurrencies are just one type of Blockchain-Powered Digital Assets.

"A digital asset is anything that exists only in digital form and comes with a distinct usage right or distinct permission for use." - Wikipedia

Digital assets include videos, pictures, audio, Apps, Software, Documents, and anything that is stored or will be in circulation in digital hardware like phones, computers, servers, etc. Generally, they are any form of digital possession that gives value to the owners, creators, and users.Cryptocurrencies, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Soul-Bound Tokens (SBTs), Stablecoins, Pegged Assets, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are referred to as digital assets because there are stored and transferred using Blockchain networks, and these digital networks are accessed and managed using digital hardware. Blockchain and its Digital Assets are revolutionalizing the face of money, transactions, business, and systems completely. Having a background in these Assets will aid your adventure across the XRPL and Crypto space in general.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralized system using cryptography, rather than by a centralized authority. This is to say Cryptos, as they are famously called, are native to Blockchain Networks. They can be transferred, utilized, and exchanged for one another within the Network. Cryptocurrencies are meant to be used as a medium of payment in a Decentralized Protocol and/or can be utilized for a particular means as well. Cryptocurrencies can be categorized into the following Assets:

We will discuss the five categories below to build an individual insight into how they are utilized on the Blockchain.

Native Tokens

Native Tokens are the foundational digital currencies of every Blockchain Network. Every blockchain network has its native coin used to reward miners and validators, adding blocks to the blockchain ledger and for payment. These are also known as base or intrinsic tokens because a blockchains design functions with a particular token. In essence, these tokens are the working currency on the Blockchain; they also represent the value of the Blockchain ecosystem, just as Ripple Coin (XRP) represents the value of the Ripple Ledger ecosystem. They are used to carry out different activities on the Blockchain, like paying for transactions and gas fees, and to reward validators/Nodes on the Blockchain. Other types of Cryptocurrencies or tokens like NFTs, Stablecoins, governance, and Utility Tokens require the Native Token to thrive because they are derivatives of the Blockchain, just as SOLO and CSC values increase in XRP.

Utility Tokens

Utility Tokens are a type of tokens that are used to access a particular product or service within a blockchain-based ecosystem. Utility Tokens do not provide any ownership or investment stake in a project. These digital assets are used within the ecosystem for various purposes, such as paying transaction fees, accessing premium services, and participating in governance and decision-making processes. Good examples in the XRPL are RPR for Reaper Financial Ecosystem, SOLO for Sologenic DEX and Marketplace, RDX for Radical-X Marketplace, and CSC for the Casino Coin platform.

Security Tokens

Security Tokens represent rights of ownership, transfer of value, or promise of returns that are tokenized on a blockchain. It is intended to be treated as an investment instrument. In other words, security tokens are the digital form of traditional investments like stocks, bonds, or other securitized assets. These assets must be approved by the Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC) before their issuance. Security tokens and cryptocurrencies are nearly identical. They are created by and stored on a blockchain. They are both tokens, but the crucial difference lies in their purpose, intended use, and actual use. Cryptocurrencies are designed as a currency, money, or payment medium on a Blockchain network. A security token is utilized as a stock, bond, certificate, or other investment asset.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is tied to a reference asset, which is either fiat money, exchange-traded commodities (such as precious metals or industrial metals), or another cryptocurrency.The theory is to back each unit 1:1 with the reference assets, and the Stablecoins have a pegg on the assets that allow it to follow the price of that asset and are fairly exempted from various volatility of crypto assets. Stablecoins are either fiat-backed, commodity-backed, Cryptocurrency-backed, or algorithmic Stablecoins. Examples of Stablecoins are USDT and USDC as Fiat-backed, nUSD, and HAV (Haven) and CDP and MKR (DAI) for Cryptocurrency-backed, the fallen UST and USDD for algorithmic Stablecoins, digital gold, and Silver for commodity-backed Stablecoins.

Bonded/Pegged Assets

Bonded/Pegged Assets are tokens tied 1:1 to a Cryptocurrency and have a pegg on that asset to track its price. While Stablecoins are Pegged Assets, they are not the only types available. The Bonded Assets Concept is used within a Blockchain and for Inter-Blockchain Bridging or transfer of tokens. This process requires an oracle for price tracking and a bridging protocol for token transfer to the new Blockchain. An example of a Blockchain-based pegged Asset is wrapped XRP (WXRP), which is a token on the XRPL Ledger pegged to the XRP, and of Inter-Blockchain Tokens are BTC and ETH Tokens on the XRPL that are bridged and Issued to the XRPL using Bithomp platform.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are digital assets that are issued by the Central Bank of a country. They are a digital representation of a countrys fiat currency. Other forms of digital assets are prone to price volatility, while CBDCs are of a fixed valuation. Fiat currency is a legal tender issued by the government. It is for debt settlement and the exchange of goods and services. CBDCs are also legal tenders.

The main goal of CBDCs is to provide businesses and consumers with privacy, transferability, convenience, accessibility, and financial security. This digital asset will help to increase transaction efficiency and reduce transactions and processing costs once implemented. It will also increase the speed of cross-border transfer and mitigate the transfer cost.

There are two types of CBDCs, which are Retail and Wholesale CBDCs. CBDCs wholesaling is keeping a CBDCs reserve in the bank, and CBDCs Retailing involves spreading the currency for users and citizens to engage in transactions with it. Generally, you can access CBDC as a Retailer through token-based access that requires a wallet (public & private keys) or account-based access that requires digital identification. It is beneficial to have wholesale and Retail CBDCs in the same economy.

It is important to note that CBDCs are similar to Cryptocurrencies, but it doesnt require Blockchain technology or a consensus mechanism to operate. CBDCs operate on centralized technologies to allow the government to manage and regulate the currency, as Cryptocurrencies are known for price volatility and other decentralized risks. CBDCs are in the Development phase currently. Good examples are the ENaira for Nigeria, the Digital Dollar for the USA, and the Digital Euro for the Euro Zone.

Non-Fungible Tokens are unique assets tokenized on the Blockchain. They have a Unique identity code and metadata that distinguishes them from every other NFT and asset. NFTs are indivisible and held in units of 1.Money and cryptocurrencies are used to acquire NFTs and even other NFTs. These Assets are not exchangeable in the conventional DEX trading model and require the buyer or seller to set an asking or bidding price like an auction. The platform for NFTs sales is called Secondary Marketplaces, and we have a few in the XRPL, Sologenic, XMart, Radical-X, Onchain marketplace, and XRP Cafe are the notable. NFTs help tokenize music, Pictures, Art, Documents, identity, intellectual property rights, Real estate, Avatars, and many more. NFT Tokenization allows easy sales and ensures the security of the assets from fraudulent actors.Generally, NFTs require a protocol for them to operate. Ethereum Network uses ERC-721 and ERC-1115 standards for its NFTs operation, while the Ripple Ledger uses XLS-14 and XLS-20 protocols.Minting is a process used to create NFTs, which involves uploading the image or whatever information on the Blockchain. It represents assigning the information a unique ID and assigning it to a wallet using smart contracts.Soul-Bound Tokens (SBTs)

SBTs are Non-Transferable and publicly verifiable NFTs.These NFTs represent an individuals credentials, affiliation, accomplishments, and commitments on the Blockchain. Soul-Bound Tokens are untradable and untransferable from the wallet that holds the Token. The wallets that issue and receive an SBT are known as Souls. The process of minting Soul-Bound Tokens is reversible in terms of loss of wallet as there are ways to verify ownership of the SBT from the issuing Soul. The Issuing Soul can revoke the SBT from the receiving Soul wallet.SBTs are a very Lucrative asset and have some applications in real life and on the Blockchain. A few are listed below:

So far, XRPL hasnt issued Soul-Bound Tokens, but we hope to see it in play soon.

Smart contracts are transactional protocols that automate the execution, control, and documentation of events and actions based on the terms of a contract.Smart contracts mitigate the need for intermediaries, arbitration costs, fraud losses, and the reduction of malicious exceptions during multiple transactions. Smart contracts are commonly associated with Blockchain technology, created by Vitalik Buterin, the Founder of the Ethereum Network.Writing smart contracts requires a programming language for identifying conditions for the Smart Contract to implement; good examples of smart contract languages are Solidity for EVMs, Moove for Aptos & Sui Blockchains, and Scrypto for Radix DLT. The protocol is different from other software programs due to their immutable, self-governing, and Blockchain executable nature. They are Decentralized types of Software or applications; Smart contracts are deployed on the Blockchain for use by sending a transaction for the Blockchain; the compiled code for the Smart Contract is written on the executed transaction alongside a special receiver address. Byzantine fault-tolerant algorithms secure the smart contract in a decentralized way from attempts to tamper with it.Smart contracts aid decentralized transaction automation. Notable areas of Smart application are in AMMs, Asset minting, Bridging, Pegging, and every other decentralized process.

Hooks

The XRPL is a value layer Blockchain and is not smart contract Compactable. The dynamic nature of the Federated consensus protocol allows for code Amendments to the Blockchain. Especially for the Ripple Ledger is a transaction automation protocol known as Hooks.

Hooks add smart contract functionality to the XRP Ledger: layer one custom code to influence the behavior and flow of transactions. Hooks are small, efficient pieces of code being defined on an XRPL account, allowing logic to be executed before and/or after XRPL transactions.XRPL Foundation.

These Hooks can be really simple, like: reject payments < 10 XRP, or for all outgoing payments, send 10% to my savings account or more advanced.

Hooks are used to effectively manage incoming and outgoing going transactions through logic processing and counter transactions when the logic is unsatisfied. The XRPL has been able to effect multi-sign, escrow, payment channels, NFT Protocols, and DEXs without smart contracts. Hooks will achieve a lot on the Ledger despite its Turing incompleteness; the protocol is currently on public testnet and will soon start mainnet operations in the XRPL L2 Blockchain known as Hooks Sidechain, awaiting the XRPL Hooks mainnet Amendment.

Blockchain-Powered Digital Assets are Cutting edge solutions of Distributed ledger technology; Cryptocurrencies have seen applications in multiple sectors of life and different forms.Smart contracts and Hooks are revolutionary approaches to transaction automation seen in their addition of Decentralization and immutability to the process. XRPL is a unique technology infrastructure that uses Hooks over Smart contracts and has the ability to create escrows, multi-signs, DEXs, and do many more without it.

Cryptocurrencies are volatile assets, and it is important to do your research and due diligence before making any investment decisions, as the Author of this series will not take responsibility for any loss of funds due to wrong investments. This article is for education and information purposes. Thus, it should not be seen as financial advice.

Marvin Sunday

You can access the Article Series here and you can also reach out to the author here

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XRPL DECYPHER Chapter 3: Introduction To Blockchain-Powered ... - Medium