Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryCryptocurrency

block-chain-concept-chain-of-network-connections-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock
Block chain concept - Chain of network connections . 3d rendering
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post
Author
News
Date
September 7, 2022
Categorized
Cryptocurrency
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What Would a Financial System Based on Blockchain Look Like?

Adam Goad talks about key differences between banks and blockchains in what creates trust and privacy
News
September 7, 2022
15
Cryptocurrency

Could blockchain could decentralize finance by establishing trust and security without government regulations? In “What Is Decentralized Finance?” (September 1, 2022), computer engineers Adam Goad and Austin Egbert are back with Walter Bradley Center director (and computer engineering prof) Robert J. Marks to discuss how such a system might work. Or maybe not. It didn’t work with decentralized autonomous organizations… But then again, this might be simpler. A partial transcript, notes, and Additional Resources for the first half follow. What difference would decentralized banking make to the average customer? Robert J. Marks: When you pay Uber for a ride, you use a bank or a third party like PayPal, or Visa, or MasterCard, or something. Decentralized banking, hopefully, will let Read More ›

web-30-abstract-sign-with-blockchain-3d-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock
WEB 3.0 abstract sign with blockchain 3d illustration
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post
Author
News
Date
August 24, 2022
Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency
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Why Didn’t Decentralized Organizations Work in the Crypto World?

DAOs broke down when people tried to make them interact with the outside world
News
August 24, 2022
14
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency

Here’s the second part of Episode 3 of the discussion between computer engineering prof Robert J. Marks and computer engineering grad students Adam Goad and Austin Egber on the wild new online world. They’ve been talking about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and what sort of NFTs survived the crypto crater: Now, in the second part of “The NFT Anti-bubble” (August 18, 2022), they look at what happened to the decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) that grew up along with crypto and NFTs: https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/08/Mind-Matters-200-Adam-Goad-Austin-Egbert.mp3 A partial transcript, notes, and Additional Resources follow. Austin Egbert: Could you give an example of what one of these DAOs was maybe trying to do? What service were they providing? Or what was their business output, so to Read More ›

metaverse-world-nft-art-gallery-avatars-and-vr-glasses-3d-illustrations-stockpack-adobe-stock
Metaverse world NFT Art Gallery Avatars and VR Glasses 3D Illustrations
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post
Author
News
Date
August 23, 2022
Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics
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Are NFTs a Bubble That Has Just Plain Popped for Good?

Despite the crypto crash, they seem to be developing a life of their own — in ticket sales, for example
News
August 23, 2022
12
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics

Here’s the first part of Episode 3 of the discussion between computer engineering prof Robert J. Marks and computer engineering grad students Adam Goad and Austin Egbert on that wild new online world. They’ve been discussing what gives NFTs (non-fungible tokens) their value. Now, in “The NFT Anti-bubble” (August 18, 2022), they are looking at how NFTs are faring in the vast crypto crater. What still sells?: https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/08/Mind-Matters-200-Adam-Goad-Austin-Egbert.mp3 This portion begins at 00:15 min. A partial transcript, notes, and Additional Resources follow. Robert J. Marks: We have talked about non-fungible tokens kind of hitting the skids. Is this a bubble pop? Are non-fungible tokens going to disappear as kind of an interesting thing in history? Or are they going to Read More ›

nft-non-fungible-tokenscrypto-art-on-colorful-abstract-background-pay-for-unique-collectibles-in-games-or-art-3d-render-of-nft-crypto-art-collectibles-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
NFT non fungible tokenscrypto art on colorful abstract background. Pay for unique collectibles in games or art. 3d render of NFT crypto art collectibles concept
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post
Author
News
Date
August 18, 2022
Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics
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What Gives NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) Their Value?

But first, a tour through the seamier side of the internet, supported in large part by the very blockchain that mints NFTs
News
August 18, 2022
16
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics

Here’s the second part of Episode 2 of the discussion between computer engineering prof Robert J. Marks and computer engineering grad students Adam Goad and Austin Egbert on the wild new online world of digital money, fan gear, contracts, and art. In the first part, Adam and Austin explained how digital collectibles — non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — work (or don’t). In this second part, What are NFTs?, they look at how people use them, with a sidestep into the swashbuckling world of crypto crime: https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/08/Mind-Matters-199-Adam-Goad-Austin-Egbert.mp3 A partial transcript, notes, and Additional Resources follow. The discussion continued with the NBA’s use of NFTs as the new “trading cards.” How are NFTs like or unlike the iconic cards? Adam Goad: That one Read More ›

crypto-virtual-museum-and-metaverse-internet-nft-display-as-a-futuristic-streaming-media-symbol-as-augmented-reality-and-computer-media-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Crypto Virtual Museum and Metaverse internet NFT display as a futuristic streaming media symbol as augmented reality and computer media concept.
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post
Author
News
Date
August 16, 2022
Categorized
Cryptocurrency, Economics, Law
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When You Buy a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), What Do You Own?

You are buying someone’s digital idea. Just what legal rights that NFT confers is an open question. But the NBA is now selling them…
News
August 16, 2022
14
Cryptocurrency, Economics, Law

In the first episode of the discussion between computer engineering prof Robert J. Marks and computer engineering grad students Adam Goad and Austin Egbert (here and here), the discussion started with the projected metaverse and slowly turned to the wild world of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens — like Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet. What’s worth knowing about this burgeoning digital world? Here are Bob, Adam, and Austin again in Episode 2, What are NFTs?, Part 1: https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/08/Mind-Matters-199-Adam-Goad-Austin-Egbert.mp3 This portion begins at 00:10. A partial transcript, notes, and Additional Resources follow. Robert J. Marks: We have been talking to Adam Goad and Dr. Austin Egbert both at Baylor University about Web3. Web3, which uses distributed computing, is the tool that’s Read More ›

computer-engineer-working-with-laptop-at-cryptocurrency-mining-farm-stockpack-adobe-stock
computer engineer working with laptop at cryptocurrency mining farm
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post
Author
News
Date
August 5, 2022
Categorized
Cryptocurrency
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What’s Really Happening With Bitcoin and Other Cryptos?

News
August 5, 2022
13
Cryptocurrency

In the first part of this week’s podcast, “Web3: The next generation of the internet” (August 4, 2022), Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks talked with graduate student Adam Goad about Web3, the coming internet of more privacy on the one hand and a metaverse of avatars on the other. So, only as wild as you want it to be, maybe. Now, postdoc Austin Egbert joins the discussion as they continue with how, at worst, Web3 could be a bit like sci-fi film Ready Player One. (2018). Note: Re the metaverse, this week’s news reveals that Facebook executives are deserting Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse in droves: “ … recent retreats point to deeper turmoil inside Meta. Some suggest it lies Read More ›

bitcoin-and-cryptomoney-stockpack-adobe-stock
Bitcoin and cryptomoney
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
July 25, 2022
Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency
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Just As Cryptocurrencies Went Mainstream — a Huge Collapse!

A central weakness is that investors must go through exchanges which have none of the safeguards established for the blockchain itself
Jonathan Bartlett
July 25, 2022
4
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency

The cryptocurrency markets have been in total upheaval for the last several months. The blowup essentially started when the stablecoin UST (provided by Terra) suddenly lost its peg to the US dollar. A stablecoin is supposed to maintain a 1:1 trading match to an underlying currency, so 1 UST is supposed to be worth $1. Most trading in crypto is trades between stablecoins and other coins rather than actual cash transactions using stablecoins. Due to some unforeseen (but not necessarily unforeseeable) issues, UST lost its peg; between May and June its value dropped from $1 to just over two pennies. This near erasure of value affected Terra’s other cryptocurrency, LUNA, which dropped from $80 to effectively zero over the same Read More ›

crypto-currency-and-cryptocurrency-questions-and-investing-uncertainty-as-a-virtual-blockchain-money-investment-risk-with-a-golden-coin-representing-bitcoin-stockpack-adobe-stock
Crypto currency and cryptocurrency questions and investing uncertainty as a virtual blockchain money investment risk with a golden coin representing bitcoin
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post
Author
News
Date
April 15, 2022
Categorized
Cryptocurrency
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The Great Paradox of Cryptocurrency: Is It Freer or Not?

Many insist it is freer but, as a new book reveals, that’s not clear
News
April 15, 2022
4
Cryptocurrency

In a prepublication review of Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency, Wired’s top editor Gideon Lichfield comments on the big crypto paradox: Its transactions are anonymous, but since every single one is public, stored on a blockchain that (by design) anyone can look at, they are like the broken stalks left by a thief fleeing through a wheat field—a bounty of data for experts in digital forensics, who can piece together identifying patterns. As Andy has previously written, this supposedly untraceable and secure form of money is in fact notoriously hard to launder and easy to steal, and the digital paper trails created by inexperienced criminals using it carelessly for more than a Read More ›

shopping online at home concept.Cartons in a shopping cart on a laptop keyboard
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post
Author
News
Date
March 10, 2022
Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics, Surveillance
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Government Control of What You Buy Grows More Popular

With governments, that is. You’d be surprised at how far along they are with digital currency and how detailed the control could be
News
March 10, 2022
6
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economics, Surveillance

Recently, we looked at a new idea governments are looking at — programmable digital currency. It’s all digital, issued by government, constantly trackable, and can’t be spent on items not approved by government (or only with penalties). The Federal Reserve Board (the United States’ central bank) explains, bureaucratically, Potential benefits of the “digital cash” model using programmable UTXOs are the ability to specify spending constraints on any discrete amount of value and a greater facility to trace the provenance of any particular “virtual banknote.” Alexander Lee, “What is programmable money?” at FEDS Notes (June 23, 2021) In other words, the two benefits of these central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are that the government can potentially control what the money is Read More ›

big-red-semi-tractor-trailer-room-for-copy-stockpack-adobe-stock
Big red semi tractor trailer room for copy
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 21, 2022
Categorized
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency
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Trudeau’s Truckers Reveal Problems with Banking Infrastructure

And crypto isn't the solution you might think it is
Jonathan Bartlett
February 21, 2022
6
Business and Finance, Cryptocurrency

On February 14th, Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, invoked the Emergencies Act in order to stop the flow of funding to the truckers who were protesting vaccine mandates in Canada. This order allows and encourages banks to freeze the accounts of anyone suspected of involvement with the protest. The Canadian use of the Emergencies Act in this way has been widely criticized for its draconian and expansive overreach of governmental authority. However, that hasn’t stopped the Canadian government from moving forward with the plan, and they have said that they have already begun freezing accounts. Even before this, though, a Canadian judge had halted access to funds donated to the truckers through the GiveSendGo website. Additionally, GoFundMe, of Read More ›

bitcoin bag
Gold coins in the form of bitcoin on a bag with dollars
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 10, 2022
Categorized
Cryptocurrency, Law
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DOJ Arrests Couple for Huge Bitcoin Heist — Who Are They?

Cryptocurrency doesn’t depend only on technology; it depends on trust, and trustworthiness
Jonathan Bartlett
February 10, 2022
4
Cryptocurrency, Law

On the morning of February 8, DOJ announced that they had made an arrest in the $3.6 billion Bitcoin heist from Bitfinex from 2016. They arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan. However, little information was conveyed about the pair. Some digging, however, revealed two individuals by those names who worked together in a variety of technology startups, at least one of which is cryptocurrency-based. While we don’t know for certain if these are the same individuals, the profiles are very similar, and other media seem to be reporting that they are the same. The profile here is on the two individuals we were able to identify, and have not confirmed they are identical to the ones in the Read More ›