• Image from Etcher's The Halvening: an interdisciplinary collaboration between artists from around the globe
    Bitcoin,  Innovators,  Technology

    Beyond Overpriced JPEGs

    The hottest new NFT projects are on Bitcoin?

    November 29, 2023 /

    “The nature of Bitcoin is such that once version 0.1 was released, the core design was set in stone for the rest of its lifetime… I don’t believe a second, compatible implementation of Bitcoin will ever be a good idea.” The creator of Bitcoin, known by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, wrote these words in a forum post on June 17, 2010, and they set the tone for the protocol’s slow evolution in the 13 years since. Bitcoin’s deliberate approach to change and innovation is rooted in a commitment to security, stability and decentralization. Developers and thought leaders in the Bitcoin community have emphasized the importance of maintaining a slow and…

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  • Ethereum,  Innovators,  Technology

    Crypto Start-up Profile: Superfluid

    Upgrading payroll, vesting and airdrops via continuous asset streaming

    November 28, 2023 /

    Ever wonder why our paychecks typically come twice a month or bi-weekly, in some cases weekly? In the 19th century it was common for workers to be paid monthly, at the end of a season – or in the case of seamen, at the end of a voyage when profits were divided. Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein traces the modern pay cycle to World War II, when the U.S. Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1942 to increase revenue to fund the war effort and introduce the country’s first tax withholding system. Given the complexities of calculating pay rates, tax, healthcare and other deductions, as well as managing a company’s human…

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  • Stay order from Judge Jones, downloaded from PACER
    Cryptocurrencies,  Innovators

    Judge Keeps CZ in U.S. Pending Review

    Following last week’s landmark settlement, prosecutors argue flight risk

    November 27, 2023 /

    As we noted two days ago in Will Congress Finally Do Its Job?, the operator of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance,  pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4.3 billion to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation into violations related to the Bank Secrecy Act, failure to register as a money transmitting business, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Additionally, Binance’s founder and CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao also pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program, resigned as CEO of Binance and personally paid a $50 million fine to the Commodity Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) for “intentionally sabotaging and subverting Binance’s superficial compliance controls, including controls designed…

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  • Image by travis1776 from Pixabay
    Cryptocurrencies,  Regulation,  Technology

    Will Congress Finally Do Its Job?

    The executive and judicial branches have filled the legislature’s crypto void – but this could end in 2024

    November 24, 2023 /

    Congress seems drugged and inert most of the time. Even when the problems it ignores build up to crises and erupt in strikes, riots, and demonstrations, it has not moved. Its idea of meeting a problem is to hold hearings or, in extreme cases, to appoint a commission. – Representative Shirley Chisholm, writing in her book Unbought and Unbossed   The U.S. Constitution vests in Congress the power to create laws and in the executive branch the responsibility of implementing and enforcing those laws, while the judicial branch interprets laws and assures they do not violate the Constitution. This vaunted system of checks and balances is designed to ensure a…

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