Tag Archives: bitcoin

Smart piggy bank concept brings the Bitcoin feeling to physical coins

Posted on by

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and its cousins were supposed to revolutionize the way the world sees and uses money, but it will take more than just a few revolutionary ideas to change a system that has been in place for centuries, even millennia. That said, the craze did reveal a few advantageous features, particularly the handling of money through digital wallets. Of course, the latter only makes sense for the money you’ve already “digitized” through banks, digital or otherwise, not so much for the money you still have at hand. That’s especially true for coins that are often chucked into containers, presuming they don’t get lost, and are almost forgotten. This concept design for a “smart piggy bank”, however, gives importance to every dime and penny, allowing you to really see where your money is going, even if still exists in physical form.

Designer: Guilherme Ferreira, Pietro Vitelo, Gustavo Billo (Breathe Design & Strategy)

Digital wallets that let you monitor the flow of your money have been around for a long time now, but it wasn’t until the cryptocurrency craze became mainstream that people started to realize the benefits that such a system has to offer. In particular, it gave people more direct control over the money they have in their accounts, especially when it comes to monitoring how much goes in and out of their savings. Real physical coins, however, aren’t as easy to handle and they often get dropped anywhere and lost, money that could have added up to big savings over time.

1

Smart Piggy is a concept that upgrades the iconic pink piggy bank into something fit for the 21st century. In a nutshell, sensors on the slot at the top of the pig-shaped device detect when a coin is inserted and pass this information to a connected smartphone. The mobile app, which is actually the center of the whole experience, is where users get to monitor the comings and goings of their savings, particularly those from the Smart Piggy. It’s a simple feature that has a significant impact on user behavior, encouraging people to actually pay attention to where those coins go.

The concept does leave a few details open to interpretation, like how the system will be able to identify different coin denominations. It also doesn’t mention anything about taking out coins from the piggy bank, so presumably, the coin detection and monitoring is a one-way street. Still, it touches on the possibility of an implementation that can take into account both cash flows, so to speak, giving people not only the tools they need to keep track of those coins but also the motivation to actually pay attention to where they go.

The post Smart piggy bank concept brings the Bitcoin feeling to physical coins first appeared on Yanko Design.

Bitcoin City in El Salvador takes the Metaverse in the opposite direction

Posted on by

We’ve all heard about bringing cities into the Metaverse, but this city will bring a part of the Metaverse to the real world instead.

AR, VR, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the lot are the usual culprits cited when talking about the Metaverse. Built on already existing and slightly unrelated technologies, this concept and buzzword is supposed to meld physical and virtual worlds together in an almost seamless fashion. In most cases, it involves recreating many physical things in a digital form, from avatars of ourselves to real-world cities and locations. There’s also a part that will bring digital artifacts into our world, mostly as overlays that can only be seen through screens or headsets. The Metaverse and its friends are already influencing changes in the real world, but perhaps none more daring and a teeny bit bewildering than an entire city founded upon the concept and the “image” of Bitcoin.

Designer: Fernando Romero

It’s not hard to imagine walking into a virtual city whose layout happens to be inspired by the design of a coin. After all, it’s pretty trivial to mold 3D spaces to one’s liking, whether or not they actually conform to the laws of physics. But doing it the other way around and building a real-world city patterned after a digital currency sounds a tad “out of this world,” to put it mildly. And yet that is what El Salvador is embarking on if the construction of this vision actually begins.

Announced late last year by El Salvadorian president Nayib Bukele, the “Bitcoin City” will be built on the side of the Conchagua volcano, which has thankfully never erupted in a very long time. The general layout of the city will be in the shape of a coin, as much as the terrain would allow it to be round, with a central plaza that bears the Bitcoin logo. At least based on the model that was recently unveiled, even the pattern of buildings and roads will give the city a remote semblance to the digital bits that make up all of the digital world as we know it.

Of course, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies don’t exactly have a defined form, despite the “coin” in their names, so this is pretty much an artist’s interpretation of what a city built on it should look like. The designer also opted to paint the model in gold, almost giving it a Game of Thrones opening sequence vibe, but President Bukele assures that the actual city won’t look so pretentious. It will be a mix of greens from trees and blues from the nearby sea, so its associations with Bitcoin can really only be seen from high above. Fortunately, there are also plans to have a viewing deck over the volcano for that very purpose.

Bitcoin City, which might be its actual name, isn’t just a tribute to the first cryptocurrency that made it big. The whole city will be built on Bitcoin, or rather its construction will be funded by the sale of Bitcoin bonds. The city will also be powered by geothermal energy from its neighboring volcano. Of course, that energy will also be used to mine bitcoins, which became El Salvador’s official currency last year, the first and so far only country to adopt a cryptocurrency in this manner.

The city’s design is admittedly enthralling, but its concept and execution will most likely leave many scratching their heads. Basing an economy and an entire city on cryptocurrency is a huge leap of faith, and there have already been signs of trouble even before sales of those bonds have started. Bitcoin City wouldn’t be the first bold enterprise to capitalize on new technological trends, but it is definitely one of the more ambitious ones. One could almost say it is Bitcoin-crazy, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration, especially considering how the city is designed around a Bitcoin.

The post Bitcoin City in El Salvador takes the Metaverse in the opposite direction first appeared on Yanko Design.

Minted NFT coins turn Ether cryptocurrency into a collectible art

Posted on by

As if cryptocurrencies weren’t confusing enough, here’s something that mixes it up with NFTs and the Metaverse, too.

The Metaverse might be the big buzzword right now, thanks to many companies like Meta, formerly Facebook, trying to push their vision to the masses, but there was a time not too long ago when there was a different tech craze gripping the world. Cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, hit mainstream media hard to the point that even lawmakers were starting to scramble and struggle to make sense of it all. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, a cousin of these blockchain-based digital entities, also took the world by storm, particularly in art and design circles where this new kind of ownership still remains a bit controversial. Almost cooking up a perfect storm, a designer and artist duo are bringing all these together into an NFT that almost makes cryptocurrencies a bit more approachable or at least more visible.

Designers: Ben Vessey and Mark Jenkins of Minted

Although they are always associated with money, cryptocurrencies are difficult for most people to grasp, particularly because these aren’t exactly represented as anything but incomprehensible numbers and letters. When people think of money, they will at least think of figures separated by commas or dots. Most will even think of paper bills and coins to make the connection to something familiar that has been around, even going back to the ancient Greeks. Cryptocurrencies have thrown all preconceived notions out the window, but NFTs and the Metaverse present an opportunity to turn things around a bit.

An NFT is a form of blockchain, but unlike cryptocurrencies, each one is non-interchangeable. That means it can be sold and traded, like digital equivalents of physical goods, but they’re often associated more with supposedly rare digital artworks that sell for thousands to millions of real-world dollars. NFTs don’t always have to be artwork, though, and can actually be used for anything that has a digital representation, including, in this case, NFT coins.

Minted was conceptualized as an answer to the question of what Ether, the currency for the Ethereum platform, would look like if it were an actual coin. Just like an NFT, however, a Minted coin is going to be a one-of-a-kind digital artifact, though they would have fixed Ether values. The coins will be available in Ether denominations of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 5. Each coin, however, will be “handcrafted” and unique, so they still retain the unique value, even if they just look like digital coins. And, of course, these will only be circulated via Ethereum since that’s the only place where Ether will have any value.

 

Of course, Minted doesn’t exactly make “crypto,” as they are called, suddenly more approachable and more understandable. They do, at least, give them a more visible form that could help lead towards a better comprehension of these newfangled technologies and concepts. It is also an attempt to beat governments to the punch in creating NFTs that will be associated with blockchain currencies. After all, if cryptocurrencies are designed to decentralize the distribution of assets, it would be ironic if a single entity like a government would co-opt that to become the new centralized bottleneck of these new systems.

The post Minted NFT coins turn Ether cryptocurrency into a collectible art first appeared on Yanko Design.

Crypto Wallet fob concept gives digital currency a physical form

Posted on by

Bitcoins, dogecoins, and NFTs all live exclusively in the digital realm, but designers are now pushing back to make these virtual entities more tangible and, ultimately, more humane.

We live in a world that’s increasingly becoming more reliant on digital objects. A lot of work files today are digital, and much of our entertainment and communication happens over digital lines. Although it merges with the physical realm, the Metaverse aims to make our world half digital as well. Humans, however, are not just their eyes or ears. They have even more senses that get neglected, like smell and, most importantly, touch. It’s for that reason that designers are coming up with ideas to pull these digital artifacts into the real world, including the most perplexing one of them all: cryptocurrencies.

Designers: Giorgio Mastropasqua, Ivan Vecchia

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum aren’t going to replace conventional money anytime soon, and not just because they’re still too young. They are often considered to be distinct from traditional currencies, running in their own decentralized world. More importantly, the concepts and processes behind this kind of digital currency are so alien to most people that they approach it with fear, uncertainty, doubt, and even ridicule.

Even with many transactions and purchases happening online, people still find some comfort knowing that their money has some physical representation somewhere. They also take comfort in having a physical wallet to keep their money in, and wallets have become one of the most popular expressions of product design across all ages and genders. That’s the kind of comfort and familiarity that this Auroom Crypto Wallet tries to bring for digital currency owners.

The Crypto Wallet admittedly doesn’t look like a conventional wallet or plastic card, and it really doesn’t need to since it’s not storing conventional money. That frees it to take any form that is appropriate to the digital currency or brand. In this case, the designers opted to let it resemble the iconography of the fictional Auroom logo while still leaving some room for color options.

The most eye-catching part of this “wallet” is the screen that not only informs the owner about the state of a transaction but also authorizes it. A fingerprint scanner is presumably hidden beneath, just like on some smartphones today, to authenticate the owner before a transaction is completed. Given how cryptocurrencies depend heavily on security-related technologies, such a feature would be a necessity for any crypto wallet.

The one drawback with such a brand-specific wallet is that it might not be compatible with other cryptocurrencies or brands. That would mean you’d have to carry different fobs and keys with you, almost like carrying different cards that take up more space. Then again, cryptocurrencies are still in their infancy, even after so many years, so there’s no telling yet if there will be a unified system or wallet for all of them in the future.

The post Crypto Wallet fob concept gives digital currency a physical form first appeared on Yanko Design.

This tiny IoT ticker-meter turns your tabletop into a miniature stock, forex, and crypto market!

Posted on by




Think of the TickrMeter as a real-life widget for your real-life desktop. Equipped with an e-ink screen that doesn’t demand too much energy while still providing easy-to-read high-contrast text, the TickrMeter displays any ticker-count by connecting to the internet. If you’re a stock-market watchdog, the ticker displays any stock value you assign to it. If you’re someone who works with international currencies, you can track daily fluctuations in international currency values against your own currency… and if you’re a crypto-enthusiast, the TickrMeter can be your own personal cryptocoin value-tracker, giving you updates in realtime!

Click Here to Buy Now: $93 $116 (20% off) Hurry! Only 2 days left!

The nifty little gadget sits ambiently on your desk, giving you a real-time reflection of financial data of your choice. Configurable through the TickrMeter app, you can track stocks, currencies, or even crypto-values with an impressively low 20ms latency, giving you the latest updates AS they happen. The app allows you to configure the data in a way that benefits you the most. You can either use a single TickrMeter to display a single value, or have the same display alternate between all your portfolios, sort of like a slideshow. The data displayed on the e-ink screen is accompanied by the date and time mentioned at the top, the percentage increase/decrease at the bottom, and even your profit/loss if you input the investment amount into the app. You can even choose your own time-frame, tracking growth by the day, week, month, or year, and a small backlit color-bar on the side turns either green or red, depending on a bull or bear moment.

The mini-device is a neat addition to any tabletop, bringing the thrill of a stock market to your desktop. Its relatively rectangular design can be magnetically stacked too, allowing you to build out an entire stock market on your desk, turning you into a Wolf of WFH Street. For added effect, the app lets you even program events/alerts (causing the backlit color-strip to turn blue) when a stock hits a certain price, and the TickrMeter comes with a toggleable bell sound that chimes like the bell on Wall Street!

While the device does run on a relatively low-energy e-ink screen, the TickrMeter needs to be constantly plugged in to work (the developers are working on a battery variant that unlocks as a funding goal). For now though, each TickrMeter comes with a USB cable and if you buy multiple units, you can daisy-chain them to connect all of them to a single power source. The tickers run directly off data from the internet too, so they connect directly to your WiFi for the fastest results, instead of sending and receiving data through your phone (which can cause a significant lag). The TickrMeter receives real-time professional-grade financial data directly from the best resources, including the NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, and Toronto Stock Exchange. For now these nifty little widgets track Stocks, Forex, and Crypto, although future updates could allow them to gather and display any sort of information – like potentially YouTube views, Spotify plays, or Instagram/TikTok followers!

Designer: TickrMeter Team

Click Here to Buy Now: $93 $116 (20% off) Hurry! Only 2 days left!

The CORAZON is a high-end titanium crypto wallet that securely stores all your Dogecoin

Posted on by




Partnering with Trezor over the technology, luxury brand GRAY has recently unveiled the CORAZON, a hardware crypto wallet made from robust materials while boasting of an incredibly secure internal software that lets you store your cryptocoins offline in a practically impervious digital vault.

Named after the Spanish word for the heart, CORAZON comes almost in an abstract heart-shaped design machined from aerospace-grade 6Al4V titanium. The strategic partnership between GRAY and Trezor has allowed the product to rely on the expertise and experience of both companies. The wallet’s secure software is based on the Trezor Core Firmware of the Trezor Model T, while its components sit perfectly within a tamper-resistant outer-casing manufactured by GRAY.

The CORAZON puts the digital equivalent of Fort Knox in the palm of your hand. The CORAZON is your wallet, your security keychain, and your digital safe, with support for over a 1000 cryptocurrencies. Moreover, it also serves as a password manager for your digital accounts, and a U2F hardware token to aid in authentication requests, fulfilling the role of a hardware wallet as well as a hardware key for your digital accounts. A USB-C port on the wallet’s base allows you to connect it to a computer to have it serve as a hardware authenticator. The same USB-C port even lets you charge your CORAZON.

While being secure, Trezor’s technology is open-source and gets frequently audited by security researchers. According to CORAZON’s website, “Anybody can verify its integrity, look for vulnerabilities and suggest improvements.”

The hardware comes hermetically sealed within two robust CNC-machined titanium halves. The two halves of the wallet are first closed with a screw, before a resin is used to seal the joint. The resin is hardened with UV light, creating a device that can no longer be opened without compromising its physical integrity. The high-end materials and secure backend mean CORAZON comes with a pretty heavy price tag. The Titanium variant retails for $999, while a slightly cheaper Aluminum version of the same device costs $599. The CORAZON definitely isn’t for everyone. Although if you’re Elon Musk or one of those recent Dogecoin millionaires, you could easily grab yourself one of these without breaking a sweat.

Designers: GRAY and Trezor

NFTs are both priceless and worthless

Posted on by
It is no longer possible to ignore NFTs, the crypto off-shoot that can tie intangible assets to specific, unalterable tokens. Interest in NFTs (non-fungible tokens) has spiked over the last year, and is now breaking into the mainstream with several h...

Europol takes down hackers who allegedly stole over $100 million in crypto from celebs

Posted on by
Eight men have been arrested in the UK for their role in a spate of hacks on US celebs, per Europol, after the criminals broke into the victims’ phones to steal over $100 million in cryptocurrencies. The suspects, aged 18 to 26, were part of a larger...