Five Minute Blockchain - Newsletter No. 33: In defence of crypto • Research paper examines how Bitcoin leaves traces • DALL-E text to image AI software • Jay-Z starts bitcoin academy in Brooklyn • Mastercard extends NFT services
10.06.2022 • Newsletter • Issue No. 33
Five Minute Blockchain
Updates from the intersection of trust, content and blockchain. The main goal of these collected links and quotes is to provide a quick overview and relevant information about developments in the field.
This newsletter is brought to you by TruBlo. We are funding 45 early-stage blockchain ideas to explore new options for "trusted content on future blockchains". A list of all TuBlo projects is here: https://www.trublo.eu/projects/.
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Updates this week
Estimated reading time: 5 mins 55 seconds
TRUST
IN DEFENSE OF CRYPTO
Article by Professor Matthew Green, a cryptographer and professor at Johns Hopkins University:
Last week a group of technologists, including Bruce Schneier, sent a letter to Congress outlining their concerns around cryptocurrency and urging Congress to regulate the space. Now let me be the first to say that I broadly support this goal. I have no problem with the idea of legislators (intelligently) passing laws to regulate cryptocurrency. Indeed, given the level of insanity and the number of outright scams that are happening in this area, it’s pretty obvious that our current regulatory framework is not up to the task. If the recent letter simply asked for intelligent regulation, I’d gladly sign onto it. Unfortunately that’s not at all what this letter says. Instead, it argues that the entire technology field is worthless and cannot be used for any practical purpose.
NEW RESEARCH PAPER EXAMINES HOW BITCOIN LOOSES ANONYMITY DUE TO DATA TRACES
In myth, the cryptocurrency is egalitarian, decentralized and all but anonymous. The reality is very different, scientists have found.
TODAYS CEOs DON'T JUST LEAD COMPANIES, THEY LEAD ECOSYSTEMS
If CEOs are to deliver against their new job description, they must become a different type of CEO: an enterprise leader who also stewards the ecosystem in which their business operates, including customers, suppliers, partners, competitors, governments, and their local community.
COINBASE EMPLOYEES PETITION TO REMOVE MANAGERS
We the employees at Coinbase believe that the executive team has recently been making decisions that are not in the best interests of the Company, its employees, and its shareholders.
CONTENT
DALL-E: TEXT TO IMAGE AI TOOL WITH IMPRESSIVE RESULTS
Version 2 of this text-to-image AI tool from OpenAI creates creative images based on a short text instruction. The software entered private beta in April of 2022. The output is astonishing.
Casey Newton writes:
It’s often the case that, when a new technology emerges, we focus on its happier and more whimsical uses, only to ignore how it might be misused in the future. As thrilled as I have been to use DALL-E, I’m also quite anxious about what similar tools could do in the hands of less scrupulous companies.
There is a video showing the software in action.
Platformer: How DALL-E could power a creative revolution
Stratechery: DALL-E, the Metaverse, and Zero Marginal Content
SHARP DECLINE IN NFT SALES
Sales of NFT (non-fungible tokens) have declined by over 70% since the beginning of the year 2022. In January nearly a million NFTs were sold, in May 2022 that number went down to about 250.000, according to data compiled by The Block. The decline has "grown in severity in recent weeks. This development is viewed as another indicator that the crypto/web3 market is in a period of correction or a "winter".
HOW A FORMER US-BASEBALL PLAYER CREATED A CONTENT BUSINESS INCLUDING NFTs
Once of the LA Dodgers, Micah Johnson has built an entire universe with his character Aku, a young boy wearing an astronaut’s helmet. Trevor Noah, Pusha T and Tyra Banks are fans.
NEIL STEPHENSON LAUNCHES BLOCKCHAIN PROJECT CALLED LAMINA1
Stephenson is a popular speculative fiction author who explored the concept of a virtual reality world called the Metaverse in his sci-fi novel Snow Crash in 1992.
"CHECK MY ADS" INITIATIVE STARTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST FOX NEWS WEBSITE
A group of activists aims to reduce the advertising income for mis- and dis-information websites.
BLOCKCHAIN
JACK DORSEY AND JAY-Z START BITCOIN EDUCATION PROJECT IN PUBLIC HOUSING COMPLEX IN BROOKLYN
Quote:
The initiative aims to provide financial education with an emphasis on Bitcoin as a path to financial freedom, featuring free in-person and online classes taught by Lamar Wilson, who runs content site Black Bitcoin Billionaire, and Najah J. Roberts, founder and CEO of event and education space Crypto Blockchain Plug. The program will run twice per week in late June through September, and program participants will be provided smartphones, MiFi devices and a one-year data plan. There’s even a weekend program aimed toward children.
News articles about the project already ask: "Is billionaire-funded crypto education really what low-income people need?"
MASTERCARD EXTENDS NFT PAYMENT SERVICES
Mastercard has announced plans to widen access to the non-fungible token (NFT) market through the use of card payments.
The Block Crypto
HOW CHAINANALYS AIMS TO MAKE CRYPTO EASIER TO ADOPT FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Through robust crypto data collection and analysis software, Chainalysis is equipping financial institutions and government agencies with the information they need to make data-driven decisions on how to best enter the crypto arena.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT FINALIZED NEW LEGISLATION FOR TOKENIZED SECURITIES
Last week the European Parliament and Council finalized the legislation for the EU’s pilot regime for tokenized securities. These are defined as crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments, such as stocks, bonds, money market securities and funds. That’s in contrast to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins covered by the EU’s MiCA legislation. The size limits for stock issuance mean this program won’t be suitable for unicorns to raise funds other than through bonds. The new law comes into force on 23 March 2023 for three years, with the possibility of another three-year extension.
SHORT NOTES
Benedict Evans on Twitter: "Perhaps the most basic mistake in looking at new tech is to ask ‘does this work?’, ‘is this useful?’ or ‘is this better?’ instead of ‘could this work, and when, and what could it be worth if it did?’" LINK
Blockchain.com CEO on crypto winter: "We are now entering despair". LINK
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