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The IOTA Foundation has continued to expand its market footprint with new initiatives such as the launch of the Shimmer network. However, the IOTA community has been eagerly looking forward to the launch of ShimmerEVM along with the launch of IOTA 2.0 in the latter half of the year.

On the other hand, new players within the ecosystem continue to build new stuff for Shimmer and IOTA. Tanglechains.org is one such interesting new platform from SPYCE.5 that exclusively lists and shows EVM and smart contracts chains built atop the Shimmer blockchain.

It serves as an easy-to-use platform for developers to showcase their projects as well as connect with other developers within the Shimmer ecosystem. As we know, the Shimmer network is a high-performance, feeless, and scalable DAG-based ledger which serves as a testnet for the IOTA ecosystem. Unlike other blockchain networks, the good thing about Shimmer is that it can handle transactions in parallel.

Tanglechains.org is a Shimmer-dedicated platform due to its unique characteristics and advantage for developers. The official announcement from SPYCE.5 notes:

Tanglechains.org serves as a hub for information on smart contract chains, offering details on their RPC endpoints, one-click wallet connect and other key information. It is fully open source and we invite and encourage developers from the ecosystem and the community to enhance the platform with their own ideas, utility and functionality.

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Over the last year, there have been several hacks with other blockchain ecosystems due to faulty implementation of bridges leading to the loss of several hundred million dollars.

The IOTA team has designed the Shimmer network in such a way that it allows bridgeless asset transfers and composability without relying on any untrusted relays and bridges. Every chain listed with Tanglechains will be able to exchange tokens and digital assets natively with other chains present on the Shimmer network.

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Thus, it will make it extremely easy for developers to create decentralized applications that are more secure, faster, and more easily accessible than ever before. Tanglechains.org will make it extremely easy to find chain partners, interact with them natively, and create a streamlined customer experience. The other key benefits involve:

Crypto News Flash does not endorse and is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, or other materials on this page. Readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to cryptocurrencies. Crypto News Flash is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, or services mentioned.

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Discover Tanglechains.org: Your go-to source for EVM and Smart Contract Chains on Shimmer and IOTA - Crypto News Flash

Blockchain technology has taken the world by storm, transforming various industries by offering decentralized and transparent solutions. At the heart of this technology are smart contracts, which have garnered a lot of attention for their ability to automate processes and increase efficiency. But are smart contracts integral to blockchain? This question has been the subject of debate, with some arguing that smart contracts are a necessary component of blockchain, while others believe that they are merely useful tools.

To truly understand the role of smart contracts in blockchain technology, it is important to first grasp what smart contracts are and how they work.

Smart contracts are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. These contracts contain rules and regulations that are automatically enforced, removing the need for intermediaries and reducing the risk of fraud.

Imagine you are buying a car from a seller, and you want to use a smart contract to ensure a secure and transparent transaction.

First, you and the seller agree on the terms of the sale, such as the price of the car and the conditions of the sale. These terms are then coded into a smart contract using a programming language.

Next, you and the seller both deposit funds into an escrow account that is managed by the smart contract. They held the funds in the account until they meet certain conditions.

You can configure the smart contract to release the funds to the seller you received and have confirmed that it is in good condition. The smart contract could be set up by you to release the funds if they do not deliver the car within a certain timeframe or if it does not meet the agreed-upon conditions.

The smart contract releases the funds from the escrow account to the third party, with no intermediaries, such as banks or lawyers, once its conditions have been met.

One of the key benefits of smart contracts is their ability to automate processes, which can increase efficiency and reduce costs. For example, in the case of a supply chain management system, smart contracts can be used to automate the process of verifying and tracking shipments, eliminating the need for manual checks and reducing the risk of errors.

Another benefit of smart contracts is their ability to execute complex business logic in a trustless and decentralized environment. This means that they can conduct transactions with no intermediaries, such as banks or lawyers, reducing costs and increasing transparency.

Smart contracts are also an essential component of decentralized applications (DApps), which are built on top of the blockchain. They design these applications to operate in a trustless and decentralized environment, with smart contracts for the infrastructure to facilitate transactions and enforce rules.

However, it is important to note that smart contracts are not infallible and can be vulnerable to bugs and vulnerabilities. This is why it is important to thoroughly test and audit smart contracts before they are deployed.

Smart contracts are a relatively new concept in the world of blockchain technology, having emerged in 1994 with the publication of a paper by computer scientist and cryptographer Nick Szabo titled Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets.

Szabo defined smart contracts as a set of promises, specified in digital form, including protocols within which the parties perform on these promises. However, it wasnt until the emergence of blockchain technology in 2009 with the creation of Bitcoin that smart contracts began to gain traction as a viable solution for various industries. The Bitcoin blockchain was primarily designed to enable secure peer-to-peer transactions, but it also enabled the creation of programmable contracts through the use of scripts.

In 2013, Ethereum, a new blockchain platform, was created with the primary goal of enabling the development of decentralized applications (DApps) through the use of smart contracts. Ethereum was designed to be a more flexible and programmable blockchain than Bitcoin, allowing developers to create and execute more complex smart contracts.

Ethereums introduction of smart contracts paved the way for a new era of blockchain technology, enabling the creation of decentralized applications with programmable contracts that can execute automatically when certain conditions are met. These applications are built on top of the blockchain and are designed to operate in a trustless and decentralized environment, with smart contracts providing the necessary infrastructure to facilitate transactions and enforce rules.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger system that allows for secure storage and transmission of information without the need for intermediaries. One of the key features of blockchain technology is decentralization. Unlike traditional systems, where data is stored on centralized servers, blockchain technology allows data to be distributed across a network of computers. This makes it extremely difficult for any single party to manipulate the data or corrupt the system.

Another key feature of blockchain technology is transparency. The data stored on the blockchain is visible to all participants in the network, providing a clear and transparent record of all transactions. This transparency ensures that all participants in the network are held accountable and reduces the risk of fraud.

Immutability is another critical feature of blockchain technology. Once data is stored on the blockchain, it cannot be altered or deleted. This ensures that the data remains tamper-proof and provides a clear and verifiable record of all transactions.

Blockchain technology has numerous applications in various industries, from financial services to supply chain management. In finance, blockchain technology can be used to facilitate cross-border payments, reduce the risk of fraud, and increase transparency. In supply chain management, blockchain technology can be used to track and verify the origin and authenticity of goods, reducing the risk of counterfeit products.

Smart contracts and blockchain technology are closely intertwined, with smart contracts playing a critical role in the functioning of the blockchain. Smart contracts are stored and executed on the blockchain, which provides the necessary infrastructure to facilitate transactions in a decentralized and trustless environment. The blockchain serves as a ledger of all transactions, with each block containing a record of all the transactions that have occurred.

When a smart contract is deployed on the blockchain, it becomes part of the distributed ledger and is executed according to the terms and conditions set out in the contract code. The contract code is stored on the blockchain and cannot be altered, ensuring that the contract remains immutable and tamper-proof.

Smart contracts are particularly useful in industries that require transparency and accountability, such as finance and supply chain management. By using smart contracts, businesses can reduce the risk of fraud and increase transparency by providing a clear record of all transactions.

One of the most exciting applications of smart contracts is in the area of decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi is a new and rapidly growing sector of the blockchain industry, which uses smart contracts to automate financial transactions and eliminate the need for intermediaries. DeFi applications include lending and borrowing platforms, decentralized exchanges, and prediction markets, among others.

Smart contracts are a natural extension of blockchain technology, enabling the execution of complex business logic in a trustless and decentralized environment. They offer numerous benefits, including automation, increased efficiency, and reduced costs. However, smart contracts are not infallible and are vulnerable to bugs, errors, and security vulnerabilities. Despite the potential drawbacks, smart contracts have enormous potential to transform various industries, from finance to healthcare. The rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) is a testament to the power and potential of smart contracts in the blockchain industry.

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Are Smart Contracts Integral to Blockchain or Just Useful Tools ... - Cryptopolitan

In recent years, the world of cryptocurrency has been revolutionizing the way we conduct financial transactions. Since then, Bitcoin has been the face of the crypto movement.

Bitcoin was created as a digital currency, designed to act as a decentralized alternative to traditional currencies. It was primarily developed as a medium of exchange, and its main use case is for peer-to-peer transactions. Very much different is the approach of other projects such as Ethereum. Ethereum was created as a platform for building decentralized applications. It offers more advanced features and capabilities, including the ability to execute smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code.

Ethereum 2.0 Merge: Price, Impact & Outlook

Now, Stacks would like to combine both worlds. Stacks is a decentralized computing platform that has gained traction in the crypto community.

Stacks is expected to bring scalable transactions and useful smart contracts to Bitcoin without changing the underlying blockchain itself.

The project chose Bitcoin as it is the first and most secure blockchain. Bitcoin offers potential not only as a cryptocurrency but also as a general transaction protocol. The team assumes a similar development for cryptocurrencies as in the competition for Internet protocols back in the days. The TCP/IP protocol was the only version that became the standard. All others were then built on this protocol.

Stacks, formerly known as Blockstack, is a unique project that uses the Bitcoin blockchain to build decentralized applications (dApps). This platform leverages the security and stability of the Bitcoin network while adding new functionalities to the blockchain. Unlike other blockchain-based projects, Stacks focuses on empowering developers to build scalable, decentralized apps that can run on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has a limited capacity to process transactions, which can cause delays and high fees. Stacks addresses the scalability issue through a combination of Layer 2 scaling, dApp scaling, the PoX consensus algorithm, and support for sidechains. By leveraging these strategies, Stacks can improve the speed, efficiency, and scalability of its network, while also providing a secure and decentralized platform for building decentralized applications.

The Stacks platform offers several benefits to its users, including enhanced security, transparency, and decentralization:

One of the primary advantages of Stacks is its focus on empowering developers to build decentralized applications. The Stacks platform provides developers with all the tools they need to build and deploy dApps, including a suite of developer tools, a robust smart contract language, and comprehensive documentation. This makes it easier for developers to build and deploy decentralized applications, even if they have limited experience with blockchain technology.

Stacks also offers several unique features that set it apart from other blockchain-based platforms. For example, Stacks allows for the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin blockchain, which has been a highly anticipated feature in the crypto community. Additionally, Stacks offers a Stacking feature that enables users to earn Bitcoin by holding and locking their Stacks tokens.

Stacks operates using its unique programming language Clarity and development environment Clarinet.

Clarity, a novel language that brings smart contracts to Bitcoin, is designed to prevent the many bugs and exploits prevalent today.- Predictable- Decidable- Secure- Security into Bitcoin stacks.co

The Stacks blockchain enables users to write smart contracts, build apps, issue nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and participate in decentralized finance (DeFi) backed by the BTC Blockchain at all times. By using Stacks apps, creators can also have a share of the value that they help create

The Stacks Blockchain provides a direct connection to the Bitcoin Blockchain using a hybrid consensus mechanism, the Proof-of-Transfer (PoX). This ensures that every transaction executed on the Stacks Blockchain can also be verified and traced on the Bitcoin Blockchain.

Stacks is not the only second-layer solution for Bitcoin.

The Lightning Network, for example, is a second-layer network built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. The network enables fast and economically efficient off-chain processing of transactions, contributing to Bitcoins scalability. The second-layer solution, in which Bitcoin transactions are processed off-chain until they are settled, is an increasingly important pillar for BTC payment transactions.

Read more: Lightning: The Upgrade That Bitcoin Needs

However, there are several key differences between Stacks and Lightning. While both platforms are built on the Bitcoin network, Stacks focuses on empowering developers to build decentralized applications, while Lightning is primarily focused on enhancing the payment capabilities of Bitcoin. Additionally, Stacks offers more comprehensive smart contract capabilities than Lightning, making it a more flexible platform for developers.

The platform Cake DeFi provides an easy and user-friendly way to generate passive cash flow on your crypto portfolio. This is done in three different ways, called lending, staking, and liquidity mining. All you have to do is to sign up for the platform, top-up money via credit card, or transfer cryptocurrencies and put your assets to work. Read more.

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On the official site of Stacks, there are already several decentralized apps that you can use with the STX Hiro Wallet. Meanwhile, you can find more than 400 apps developed on the Stacks ecosystem by independent developers and entities.One of the main reasons why Stacks has recently attracted so many investors might be related to the release of several NFT projects.

City Coins are cryptocurrencies that can be issued by communities to improve their cities. They can be mined by anyone, with 70 percent of the profits going to the miners and 30 percent of the mining proceeds going to the respective city. The mined city coins, in turn, can be staked on stacks, thereby accumulating Bitcoin.The first coin of this kind is the MiamiCoin (MIA), which was released by the US city in the state of Florida. Miami is considered a crypto hotspot worldwide. Mayor Francis Suarez even wants to make Miami the Bitcoin capital of the world. So far, everything seems to be going according to plan on this mission. Since August, the Miami City Wallet has raised over 17 million US dollars.

In den letzten Wochen sind immer mehr NFT-Projekte auf Stacks gestartet. Beispielsweise wurden Anfang dieser Woche die sogenannte Bitcoin-Birds-Kollektion binnen weniger Stunden komplett ausverkauft. Die erhhte Nachfrage nach den Bitcoin NFT hat dazu gefhrt, dass auch die Nachfrage nach STX angestiegen ist.

Stacks STX token is at the center of the ecosystem and is used to execute smart contracts and process transactions on Stacks.STX coins are mined by holding bitcoin. In addition, Stacks also offers the opportunity to earn bitcoin by staking STX. The cryptocurrency STX is thereby required to operate the networks smart contracts.

Stacks enables the creation of smart contracts that are secured by the Bitcoin blockchain. This has opened a new door for making NFTs and DeFi products that have high security provided by Bitcoin. With its focus on empowering developers to build decentralized applications, Stacks has the chance to become a relevant player in the world of blockchain technology. While it does face competition from other projects like Lightning, its unique features and comprehensive smart contract capabilities set it apart from other blockchain-based platforms. As the world of cryptocurrency continues to evolve, it will be exciting to see how Stacks and other promising projects shape the future of decentralized computing.

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What Is Stacks? Smart Contracts on Bitcoin[Outlook &Upate] - DataDrivenInvestor

To understand how the Travel and Hospitality industry can benefit from blockchain, it is appropriate to focus on two fundamental points: immutability of the data written on the distributed ledger and programmability of the data itself. On a blockchain, the dispersion of the ledger is such as to guarantee to everybody, and in a transparent manner, the possibility of verifying the validity of a transaction from its origins and to ensure that once it has been approved in a blockchain, it can no longer be disallowed.

By 'transaction' I mean a complex concept that joins both the data (i.e., the information) and the rules that manage it; we call this conceptual set 'Smart Contract'. A Smart Contract is - thus - the 'translation' into computer code of a contract, which allows for the automatic verification of the occurrence of certain conditions and the automatic execution of actions when the conditions determined between the parties are reached and ascertained.

Disintermediation and decentralisation, together with the immutability of the data written on the distributed ledger and the distributed computational capacity, can thus benefit the Travel and Hospitality Industries in terms of, for example: efficiency in the management of supply chains, optimisation of processes (especially the more repetitive ones) to the benefit of the traveller, and the lowering of barriers to entry for small realities and operators who can promote valuable initiatives linked to their territories (e.g. wine, food, wine and culture initiatives).

The possibility offered by blockchain to support the creation and management of NFTs is a further opportunity for the travel and hospitality sector.

An NFT is a digital token that allows whoever owns it to claim the availability of an asset (tangible or intangible), while also being able to exploit the rights associated with it or related to it. To give a very simple example, let us think of a digital voucher that allows access to a particular site, or to take advantage of a preferential route, to unlock an experience and witness its authenticity. Despite being digital, our token is immune to the risk of replication, and thus cannot be cloned, thanks to the very blockchain on which it was minted or exchanged.

With NFTs, therefore, travel coupons can be tokenized, by giving them an outlet in secondary markets, characterised by the traveller's particular needs (last minute, last chance, best-fit-opportunity, ...). In addition (and here I raise my eyes a little, suggesting the exercise of 'lateral' thinking), the use of NFT can be extremely functional in supporting experiential tourism, enabling a sharing of the story of the journey, the places visited and the relationships with destinations and territories that can be put to value. The "tokenization of emotions" (to use a term I coined and explained in my last book "All about NFTs", Hoepli pubblisher), makes it possible to represent an authentic value, in a reputational key, that can be "spent", for example, for story-telling at the return of the trip or after the experience, to the benefit of the destination, the operator and the tourist.

Finally, NFT and blockchain can also find an important use in business travel by streamlining certain processes. I am thinking of the benefits that companies and employees could have in the booking and reporting of expenses, in compliance with company policies: notarisation of expenses/travel contracts, smart contracts for control and compliance with rules, the advantage offered to corporate payments where fungible tokens are used - a sort of branded currency that can be spent on the basis of established rules -, which are controlled at the very moment the expenditure takes place).

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Revolutionizing the Travel and Hospitality Industry with Blockchain ... - Hospitality Net

Blockchain will simplify the travel industrys complex web of fragmented technologies in much the same way as Tesla has simplified the motor vehicle, the Travolution Summit was told.

Anke Hsu, head of business development at Chain4Travel, said one connection to a single network can supply retailers with all the product and content they need while verifying each transaction.

Chain4Travel is building the Camino blockchain network specifically for the travel industry and aims to launch its main net within weeks following the successful introduction of a test net last year.

Hsu said blockchain has the potential to do away with the many product APIs and aggregators travel firms have to integrate with which add costs to the distribution and retail of travel products.

And she said it will support new business models like C2C where consumers can trade products stored on the network as immutable digital assets, opening new revenue opportunities to suppliers.

Today we talk about B2B, and we know and B2C, but now we can talk about C2C and secondary markets.

Customers that cannot travel can sell their trip to another customer or even back to the original company. With smart contracts you can define the conditions about how that can be sold.

This is possible now with the enablement of blockchain and digital assets that are protected.

Web 3.0 is all about read, write and own and blockchain is the enabling technology because for the first time you can actually protect digital assets with a smart contract.

In the travel industry we have a lot of data. Every trip is a digital asset until departure. For us its very important that we can protect those digital assets.

Why is that important? We can trade. And we can actually decide whether we want to share anything of our identity.

What was missing in Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is the ownership of our contributions. The big platforms [like Twitter, Google and Facebook] they make the money with our data.

Hus added: In tourism everything is on a leash, we have a lot of APIs a lot of data going to different pools, to different distribution systems a lot of ways to connect, a lot of aggregators.

Mostly aggregators dont have all the content you want to have. Its impossible to sell, for example, small ancillaries because its too complex to connect.

With blockchain it could be very different. You have, in the network, the possibility to connect with your offers.

Imagine a lake where you throw your offers in and everybody can fish for the offers they want as a tour operator with just one connection to the network. Sell to may or buy to many.

Chain4Travel has won the support of 120 travel companies including major players like Lufthansa, Tui and Der Touristik.

But Hsu said the concept is to give sector players of all sizes equal say on how the network develops and the transactions it validates.

We have designed the blockchain so the smaller and medium sized companies have the same voice, the same vote on decisions as the big companies. Unique for the whole industry, she said.

Hsu added: Its not another app, its an endeavour to actually move away from the legacy systems we have and establish a joint shared infrastructure where every travel company can take part in.

With blockchain and smart contracts travel will be able to react instantly to disruption with any delay sparking the terms in a smart contract and initiating a rebooking.

It will also mean compensation for delays can be paid directly and instantly to the customer improving service and satisfaction levels.

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Travolution Summit 2023: 'Blockchain will... - Travolution