Jacquelyn Melinek, Author at TechCrunch

Blockchain tech could be the answer to uncovering deepfakes and validating content

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 19:26:17 +0000

Two months ago, media giant Fox Corp. partnered with Polygon Labs, the team behind the Ethereum-focused layer-2 blockchain, to tackle deepfake distrust. Fox and Polygon launched Verify, a protocol that aims to protect their IP while letting consumers verify the authenticity of content. And since then, government regulatory committees, publishers and others have seen this […]

Bitcoin hits new high, Solana price jumps as memecoins mania rises and Worldcoin faces heat in Spain

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 19:00:47 +0000

Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction -- it was an eventful week in the crypto world.

Former web3 gaming founders raise $2.5M for their NFT marketplace to retain users even when there ‘isn’t money to be made’

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 13:00:13 +0000

Even though NFT sales volume is still down 88% from 2022 all-time highs (and down 38% year-to-date), Pallet Exchange is building a new type of NFT marketplace focused on user retention. And it’s doing it on a blockchain less known for NFT trading: Sei. Co-founders Kelvin Wang and Davy Li have convinced investors that there’s […]

Solana’s price rises to $160, highest level since January 2022 as memecoin mania rises

Jacquelyn Melinek — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 20:23:06 +0000

The token behind Solana, a layer-1 blockchain that’s competitive with the Ethereum blockchain, has been through the wringer after it plummeted from a high of about $260 in late 2021 to a low around $8 in early 2023. But like every good movie with a character redemption arc, Solana has one too. The cryptocurrency passed […]

Blockchain startup Sei Labs creates an interesting solution to make Ethereum faster

Jacquelyn Melinek — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:00:59 +0000

Sei Labs, a startup co-founded by a former Robinhood engineer and a former VC from Coatue, has launched a new open sourced project that offers a novel and exciting approach to make Ethereum faster and less expensive for developers. On Wednesday, Sei launched The Parallel Stack, a public good project — meaning free for any […]

Bitcoin hits new all-time high of $72,700 but one index warns we’re in ‘extreme greed’ territory

Jacquelyn Melinek — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 16:28:04 +0000

The crypto scene continues to remain so hot that bitcoin is hitting one new high after another. It surpassed $72,700 on Monday. This was initially driven by the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, but is now being pushed higher ahead of a “halving” event, which will limit the amount of new supply put into circulation […]

NFT platform Zora is offering a novel way for AI model makers to earn money

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 21:03:37 +0000

Zora, an NFT-based social network platform, is continuing its expansion beyond the crypto-sphere into the hot artificial intelligence market, Dee Goens, the startups’ co-founder, said on Chain Reaction. Not to be confused with Sora, the text-to-video tool offered by OpenAI, Zora aims to help creators, brands and artists better monetize their content through NFTs. Last […]

Bitcoin hits highs, Binance launches a crypto perfume and Coachella partners with OpenSea

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 20:00:59 +0000

Welcome back to TechCrunch Crypto. It was an eventful week: bitcoin’s price hit a new high, Spain’s data protection authority banned Worldcoin and Binance raised eyebrows after making perfume.

OpenSea’s partnership with Coachella is a sign that NFTs can be more than profile pictures

Jacquelyn Melinek — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 18:00:10 +0000

The NFT sector has not yet returned to the glory of its 2022 heyday, but that hasn’t stopped the evolution of the tech. For instance, OpenSea has partnered with the music and arts festival conglomerate Coachella to release three NFT collections that offer both virtual and tangible real-life VIP experiences and merchandise. The partnership will […]

Bitcoin hits new all-time high passing $69,000 for first time since November 2021

Jacquelyn Melinek — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 15:21:40 +0000

It’s been a busy year so far for bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and it’s only March. The digital currency hit a new all-time high for the first time since November 2021 when it passed $69,000 on Tuesday morning, as demand surged in recent weeks following the spot bitcoin ETF approvals in the […]

Karma3 Labs raises $4.5M to improve trust in web3 with ratings and recommendations

Jacquelyn Melinek — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:00:03 +0000

There’s no reputation system in the decentralized world of web3, so it’s hard to figure out which entities and individuals to trust and depend on.

Bitcoin jumped and Coinbase’s app crashed, while Aptos eyes Hong Kong and Telegram rolls out rewards with TON

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 20:00:43 +0000

Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto. Here’s the biggest news this week: bitcoin’s price jumped and Coinbase’s app crashed, Telegram rolled out a plan to pay out rewards using toncoin and more.

Asymmetric Financial has a plan to unlock Bitcoin’s trillion-dollar potential with dedicated DeFi fund

Jacquelyn Melinek — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 13:00:20 +0000

As the digital asset industry picks up steam again, some crypto funds are looking to home in on specific sectors. Crypto fund Asymmetric Financial is creating its Bitcoin DeFi Venture Fund I to focus on investing in the blockchain’s nascent space with a target raise of $21 million. The fund will be spearheaded by general […]

Starbucks Odyssey’s community lead sees NFTs as the best way to build brand loyalty

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 17:15:37 +0000

The NFT space may be down substantially from all-time highs, but brands and loyalty programs looking to reach fans in new ways can still find value, said Steve Kaczynski, co-author of the book “The Everything Token” and community lead for Starbucks Odyssey. “Brand anchors” to gated areas like reward programs are something that companies will […]

Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu sees NFTs as a way to protect ownership in the age of AI

Jacquelyn Melinek — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 17:32:13 +0000

NFTs don’t always get taken very seriously, particularly now that AI and content creators are hogging the spotlight, but not everyone is so quick to discount crypto’s oft-derided younger sibling. According to Animoca Brands’ chairman and co-founder, Yat Siu, the growing influence of artificial intelligence and content is exactly why there is a growing need […]

Coinbase cites stablecoins, Base as key 2024 priorities after crushing Q4 estimates

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 22:10:02 +0000

After disclosing better-than-expected financial results in its fourth-quarter earnings report, U.S.-based Coinbase has big plans. The second-largest crypto exchange told its investors that it intends to lean heavily on its work with the popular USDC stablecoin this year, lever its recently launched layer-2 blockchain Base as a way to experiment with and improve blockchain utility […]

Crypto VC exits were low in Q4 2023, Phantom MAU’s reach new highs and spot bitcoin ETF volumes are still rising

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:00:20 +0000

Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. This is our fifth edition with of course, regularly scheduled news bits, but also some recurring segments and features.

Crypto exits remain low but investors remain unfazed

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 05:01:52 +0000

New PitchBook data makes it clear that if the larger startup market is suffering from an exit-drought, crypto startups are possibly even more parched.

Solana-based DeFi, airdrops propel crypto wallet Phantom’s user base to new heights

Jacquelyn Melinek — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 19:51:12 +0000

Phantom, a crypto wallet heavily used in the Solana ecosystem, has seen its user base more than triple over the past year.

As spot bitcoin ETF volumes continue to rise, Bitwise Asset Management predicts a high ceiling for growth

Jacquelyn Melinek — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 21:31:51 +0000

Bitwise runs the Bitwise Bitcoin ETP, currently the fourth-largest spot bitcoin ETF by market cap. But the road to this point wasn’t easy.