A deep dive on Andreessen Horowitz's latest "State of Crypto" report. In short: they want people to keep buying crypto, and are not above publishing blatant falsehoods to convince them to do so.
The report itself is 60 pages long, so this is a long one.
Seeing talk of chrome orbs that will give you crypto in exchange for your biometrics? That's Worldcoin, and and these are some of the risks we would need to consider if it became widespread.
Review: In "Read Write Own", the Andreessen Horowitz general partner and web3 superfan Chris Dixon lays out an unconvincing argument that blockchains are what it will take to fix the web.
New report out from the Bank of International Settlements: "cryptoassets have so far not reduced but rather amplified the financial risks in less developed economies."
It’s nauseating that the hyperscalers are crankin’ the carbon to inflate the AI bubble like there’s no tomorrow (which there won’t be, for my children, if we don’t cut back) but hey, don’t forget that Bitcoin is still in the running for the single most dangerous-to-the-planet use of computers.
#Anchorage City Commissioner Charged With Fraudulently Obtaining $1.6 Million in #COVID Relief Funds for Her #Charity
Despite a history of #fraud allegations, Rosalina Mavaega and her husband received one of the city’s largest awards under the American Rescue Plan Act.
Prosecutors say the couple spent the funds buying #cryptocurrency and on other personal uses.
A service called Spy Pet is scraping Discord servers, archiving and tracking users' messages and activity, and then selling access to that data.
Spy Pet scrapes more than 10,000 Discord servers, and besides selling access to anyone with cryptocurrency, it offers the data for training AI models or to assist law enforcement agencies, according to its website.
Spy Pet claims to be tracking more than 14,000 servers, 600 million users, and includes a database of more than 3 billion messages.
An independent examiner will be appointed in the #FTX bankruptcy case after all, thanks to a Third Circuit decision overturning the bankruptcy judge's decision not to appoint one.
This is the very same issue I urged more attention to in my op-ed for the New York Times back in November. Really glad to see it being recognized by the courts!
This week: the aftermath of the #Bitcoin ETF approval, #Coinbase tells a judge that crypto's kind of like beanie babies, and an e-pastor says the Lord told him to run a crypto scam.
The government is alleging that Sam Bankman-Fried shared diary entries by Alameda CEO and former girlfriend Caroline Ellison with the NYT. They describe this as "selectively sharing" documents in an attempt to portray her as a "jilted lover who perpetrated these crimes alone".
If a #cryptocurrency was more, not less energy efficient than the incumbents, faster and able to handle transactions at scale with less cost, would that make it desirable?
Another way of asking this is whether you see any other significant problems, with the principle rather than the #Bitcoin implementation?
I have long criticised Blockchain but am not opposed to decentralised electronic cash, and interested to learn if those critical of #Blockchain are fundamentally opposed.
Disgraced former billionaire and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud. Decrypt looks at how many years he might actually serve in prison.
As Use of "AI" Soars, So Does the Energy and Water It Requires
"Generative "artificial intelligence" uses massive amounts of #energy for computation and data storage and billions of gallons of #water to cool the equipment at data centers. Now, legislators and regulators — in the U.S. and the EU — are starting to demand accountability."
"#Cryptocurrency Companies Must Now Report Their Energy Use to the Government
The Biden administration announced the new requirement last week, citing concerns over what the energy-intensive industry could mean for #ClimateChange and energy security."
Welchen Browser ihr am besten für mehr Sicherheit und Privatsphäre nutzen solltet, könnt ihr auf @privacytests herausfinden. Geschmackssache und Argumente sind nicht das selbe und helfen selten für eine korrekte technische Entscheidung. Nicht nur Privat sondern hoffentlich auch innerhalb von Firmen.
The Brave web browser has carved out a niche over the past few years as an alternative to Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and other mainstream web browsers. Some of that has come from its marketing as a privacy-preserving web browser, and it has also been repeatedly evangelized by cryptocurrency enthusiasts.