Duplex Democracy

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“Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.”

― H.L. Mencken

Voting is sometimes fake, sometimes real. Elite coalitions gather behind the scenes and what you see in front of the camera is a complicated narrative dance measuring popular sentiment, which is sometimes aligned with reality and often isn’t.

As the electoral engine of the United States purrs to life, many are questioning the point of it all. Events in the 21st century have shattered the delicate notions of fairness in the halls of power, or the assumption that the organs…

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Crypto still has a long way to go to live up to Coinbase’s latest ad

Crypto has a terrible track record when it comes to ads. Coinbase clearly isn’t phased.

The most awkward ads of recent memory — Matt Damon’s Super Bowl spot for Crypto.com and FTX’s anti-ad starring Larry David — played up a fear of missing out.

“Fortune favors the brave,” Damon said, so you’d better buck up and buy bitcoin before that fortune runs out. 

A time-traveling Larry meanwhile missed out on groundbreaking technologies like the wheel, forks and toilets, and now doesn’t get the big fuss about crypto. 

Don’t be like Larry, FTX said, invest in digital assets while they’re still the next big thing. FTX went bankrupt one year later under the weight of Sam…

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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Tells Congress He'd "Close Down" Bitcoin And Crypto

Testifying before the U.S. Congress today, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, stirred controversy by expressing his negative opinions on the Bitcoin and crypto market. The renowned banking executive stated that if he held a position in the government, he would “close down” Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Dimon, who has been historically critical about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, reiterated his concerns regarding how the assets can be used. He emphasized that the government has the power to enforce strict regulations or even shut down the entire crypto space.

“I’ve always been deeply opposed to crypto, Bitcoin, etc,” said Dimon. “The true use case for it is criminals, drug traffickers,…

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Spot bitcoin ETF would be ‘final seal of approval’ for institutions: Cathie Wood

The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the Securities and Exchange Commission could serve as “the final seal of approval” for institutions considering involvement in the crypto space, according to Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood.

Ark Invest, in partnership with 21Shares, has a live filing in front of the agency for such a product. The deadline for the SEC to rule on the proposed Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) is Jan. 10.

The SEC allowed bitcoin futures ETFs to start trading in October 2021. Wood said during a Wednesday webinar those approvals were “interesting” given the counterparty risk for those funds — compared to a spot product backed by bitcoin held in cold storage. Most…

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Moody’s launches quantum-as-a-service platform for finance

According to the Moody’s Analytics website, QFStudio is a software-as-a-service offering that will serve as “a continuous integration, benchmark, and delivery platform” for quantum computing solutions.

Quantum computing for finance

The burgeoning quantum computing sector is expected to experience steady growth over the next few decades. A recent forecast predicted that quantum computing technologies would grow from a market capitalization in the U.S. of about $138 million in 2022 to $1.2 billion by 2030.

Currently, most of the focus in quantum computing is on research and development. Companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Google, D-Wave, and Rigetti have quantum, cloud-based quantum,…

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A16z’s crypto ideas list for 2024 spotlights AI, gaming

The tech-focused venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz released its “big ideas” list for 2024. For the second year in a row, the list was capped off with insights from a16z’s crypto arm.

A16z crypto’s set of big ideas show multiple references to artificial intelligence (AI), gaming and digital security. The 2024 list contains no mentions of “zero knowledge” technology; a stark contrast to last year’s list, where it was the highlight of the first two points.

A group including general partner Ali Yahya wrote about the potential for crypto to “democratize” AI innovation. Decentralized markets can let anyone contribute and be compensated for working on artificial…

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LATEST: Dogecoin Co-Creator Billy Markus’s Roadmap to Bitcoin Millionaire with 0.006 BTC in His Wallet

Billy Markus, co-creator of Dogecoin and a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency world, recently revealed his aspiration to become a millionaire by banking on Bitcoin. Markus, who currently owns 0.006 Bitcoin, expressed his ambition for each Bitcoin to reach a staggering $166.6 million in value. This bold move has garnered attention in the crypto community, as the innovator behind the lovable Shiba Inu-themed coin sets his sights on a massive fortune in the ever-volatile world of digital assets.

Satoshi's Mistake

Satoshi Nakamoto is God and Bitcoin’s design is perfect. Or is it? There’s one feature of the protocol that keeps bugging me: the Halvening (halving, whatever). I’m sure Naka thought this over. His first Bitcoin must have had an incremental reduction of the supply per block. But the final design, the one we know, cuts the block reward in half only after every 210,000 blocks (every four years). Obviously, this decision had a tremendous impact on price action, volatility, and adoption. Unfortunately, it’s not the best supply scheme. Let’s explore.

Halvings

Bitcoin, as we know it, has a supply schedule adhering to the following hard coded rule:

The… Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Hong Kong regulator blocks access to two crypto entities, warning of fraud

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has issued a warning related to suspected fraud involving crypto entities Hong Kong Digital Research Institute and BitCuped.

In a Dec. 6 notice, the SFC said the Hong Kong Police Force had blocked access to the websites of BitCuped and Hong Kong Digital Research Institute — also known as HongKongDAO — claiming users could be fooled into making illegitimate investments. The regulator also issued cease and desist letters to the firms’ website operators.

“The SFC suspects HongKongDAO may be disseminating false and misleading information about itself and its business through online channels,” said the Dec. 6 notice. “The SFC…

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