Pudgy Penguins is the latest hit in the NFT world. It’s closing the gap between digital collection and real-world business. It’s blending the tangible and intangible, making it more accessible and easier to monetize. They’ve created opportunities for NFT holders to get a tangible slice of physical merchandise sales bridging Web3 communities and technologies with the real world.
Pudgy Penguin & NFTs
NFT or Non-Fungible Tokens are digital assets that prove ownership through a publicly viewable ledger called a Blockchain.
So how does this relate to the Pudgy Penguins? These Pudgy Penguins are 8,888 unique collectable Penguins that are linked to the Ethereum Blockchain. Each Penguin design comes with a unique identifier that is publicly listed in the Ethereum Blockchain and can be traced to the original artist. Using this, the company creates physical merchandise with the designs that are on the blockchain and the artists are paid royalties on their designs.
Backed by MDEC (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation) and Asia Huddle PLT, these waddling birds are officially making their Malaysian debut. You will start seeing Pudgy Penguins soft toys and collectables in retail stores such as FamilyMart, myNews, Bila Bila Mart, emart24 and CU Malaysia across the country. In conjunction with the launch, there will be a special three-day event called “Pudgy Boleh” which will showcase their journey from digital animations to toys and collectables.
Tangible Economic Opportunities from the Blockchain
Pudgy Penguins looks to unlock more economic opportunities through its Web3 ecosystem. This comes on the heels of a successful foray into the United States which proves that blockchain innovation can be blended into tangible business opportunities.
With their launch in Malaysia, the company coordinated a special three-day event called “Pudgy Boleh” to showcase their works from digital photos to live cuddly toys.
Cheryl Law, the Pudgy Penguins Business Development Lead of Asia, sees a great future for the company to grow and have a positive impact on Malaysian Businesses and companies. The sentiment is shared by CEO, Luca Netz. Luca believes that everyone should be able to have a bridge between real life and their digital presence. Using these commodities, everyone can contribute to Malaysians’ economic landscape through inclusivity and art.
Telegram is still one of the most popular messengers in the world alongside WhatsApp and Signal. It is simple to use, you can have access to a single account via multiple smartphones or even PC devices at the same time, and you do not even have to back your data up periodically. Telegram automatically saves your chat via the cloud and allows you to access it instantaneously when you sign into your account from anywhere in the world, as long as you can remember the phone number you signed up with Telegram. WhatsApp only allows you to hold your account on a single device at a time. Your WhatsApp back up data is strictly stored inside your smartphone, Google Drive, or Apple Cloud; even WhatsApp cannot access your data, apparently.
There is a common denominator when it comes to the popular messengers you see across the globe too. For all the major platforms, you need to share your phone number to get an account. Telegram sees that as one point of failure in terms of your privacy and cyber security, so they look to do away with phone number.
Telegram’s more recent updates has done away with just that. Recently Telegram has started auctioning and selling off rare usernames for their new platform based on the TON Blockchain. TON also features their own cryptocurrency, the Toncoins. Buying the unique username allows users to sign up to an anonymous account without ever giving away your phone number. You can even do that yourself on Fragment. You get your verification code on Fragment as well, of course.
You are not getting something as unique as a codename or the regular usernames though. You are getting a bunch of random numbers that resemble a phone number. That unique number will be tied to your Fragment account so any verification that is needed for your Telegram sign ins will go to Fragment. This also eliminates the need for you to sign up and use Telegram via your own phone number to make it even more secure, and more anonymous in some sense.
The new update also brings a whole host of improvements largely aimed to make Telegram more secure and private. Users should already be familiar with self-destruct messages, where users can delete their messages without leaving so much as a trace in their chats. They can set a delete timer for their chats or messages too on the platform. Telegram is now expanding the feature from 2013 and give you more control over your digital footprint.
You can now automatically delete your messages in all your new chats with any user, regardless of who starts the chat. In some ways, it allows you to keep your inbox tidy by keeping it up to date. In private groups, users who have the authorization can also set timers to their messages to be deleted after some time.
Telegram also allows you to sort your messages and groups using via Topics. Instead of looking for names or specific chat groups, you can sort your messages on Telegrams like you see forums. Now it is more powerful than before because you can sort out messages from groups with more than 100 members. They also added a new two column mode for the feature for an even more streamlined navigation than before allowing you to quickly go from one topic to another.
They even updated the anti-spam filter to be even more aggressive than before allowing your chats and groups to be a lot cleaner than before. If you do not feel comfortable giving away your phone number to other people to add you on Telegram, they have included a temporary QR code generator for you to show to others, when you need it. The people adding you will not even get to see your phone number. If you want to know how Telegram uses your smartphone’s storage, there is an even more detailed view of it now on Telegram itself.
On top of these security updates, Telegram also added a few new features that has to do with emojis. Users of Telegram Premium gets access to new interactive emoji with full screen effects and everything. All Telegram users get access to all the security features that Telegram has introduced so far though, so if you have not spent a single dime on Telegram, you still do not have to. Telegram is available for free on Google’s Play Store and Apple App Store. For more information on Telegram’s update, you can visit their website.
*This article is contributed by Myles Hosford, Head of Security Architecture, ASEAN, AWS*
As the world
becomes more interconnected, opportunities for companies and individuals to
interact and transact across borders, time zones, and channels grow quickly. To
make sure that these transactions run smoothly, proactive management –
specifically to ensure the minimization of cost, lowering of risk, and the
elimination of inefficiencies – is needed.
Distributed
ledger technology (DLT) such as blockchain helps simplify transactions and
conduct efficient, secure interactions with multiple independent parties around
the globe. All without the need for a third-party intermediary. These
transactions can vary from sending anything from farm data, to banking and
contract transactions.
Use case: Empowering farmers to sell field data
transparently
Farmers collect
large volumes of data with each step in the planting and harvesting process.
Licensed data – data that qualifies as intellectual property of the farmer such
as which crops to plant or how many seedlings – can be anonymized, sold to
third parties and offer the agricultural industry with real-time insights on
farms across the world. However, farmers are unsure how to monetize this crop
data.
As farmers are
unsure how to monetize their crop data, Farmobile addresses these challenges through a
blockchain-based exchange, built on AWS. The solution empowers farmers to licence
data to approved buyers and includes account set up, creation, confirmation,
execution of the offer, and delivery of the digital asset. They can seamlessly
sell single-use licenses while keeping their farm’s identity completely
anonymous. However, farmers have full visibility into the identities of
potential data buyers, such as agronomists, equipment producers, and retailers,
and are free to decline offers.
Use Case: Boosting financial inclusivity
Another case
study for Blockchain technology is the financial sector in the Philippines.
Here, rural banks lack the resources of larger banking institutions, making it
nearly impossible for them to thrive or survive. This has left a large majority
of rural-based Filipinos with little or no banking access.
Photo by David McBee from Pexels
UnionBank,
a pioneer in its use of blockchain technology, joined forces with ConsenSys,
an AWS Partner , to build a blockchain solution that would resolve this issue.
The new, blockchain-based solution created a decentralized, cost-efficient, and
near real-time network, allowing for the execution of domestic payments without
relying on existing banking infrastructure and intermediaries.
The blockchain
solution introduced means that rural banks no longer have to shoulder the
burden of manually processing back-office transactions, freeing up staff to
serve more customers. As such, the technology not only increased banking access
and inclusivity but drove sustainable, future banking practices.
Use case: Limiting contract disputes in the oil and gas industry
Another example
comes from the oil and gas industry. Moving resources through the oil and gas
supply chain involves many stakeholders, including landowners, governments, oil
and gas company operators, surveyors, and financial institutions. One critical
step occurs between those mining the oil and royalty owners on whose land the
oil is mined. Checking royalty transaction payments is a lengthy, manual
process where stakeholders must agree to contract terms upfront. However, those
terms are often interpreted differently on either side, often leading to
disputes.
GuildOne,
believed companies needed more efficient, secure, and cost-effective ways to
execute a royalty contract transaction. They developed a solution through which
contract terms are capable of being replicated, and consensus agreed using
blockchain technology. By doing so, they mitigated the possibility of disputes
and eliminated a large chunk of the expense of contract administration.
To build its
royalty ledger and to meet the stringent privacy and security needs of its
stakeholders, GuildOne chose to use R3’s Corda — a blockchain platform built for
business and longevity — on AWS. Believing that the security capabilities
gained would be vital in enabling rapid adoption of the royalty ledger solution
in the oil and gas industry.
The future of blockchain technology solutions
Blockchain
solutions are transforming the ways companies and individuals do business,
locally and globally, by simplifying transactions and increasing their
efficiency. Those looking to take advantage of the technology should partner
with cloud providers capable of scaling up while delivering cybersecurity controls
and standards to protect from external attacks. With Amazon Managed Blockchain,
it eliminates the overhead required to create the network and automatically
scales to meet the demands of thousands of applications running millions of
transactions. Once a network is up and running, Managed Blockchain makes it
easy to manage and maintain the blockchain network
by managing its certificates and letting customers easily invite new members to
join the network.
