Contained in the bizarre world of quantum mechanics—where physical matter has properties of both particles and waves, and subatomic particles exist in multiple states at one time until observed—may lie the key to unparalleled computational speed. While still highly experimental, governments have been investing in research into “quantum computing” for years, and a recent article in Wired notes that last year venture capitalists “plowed a record $1.8 billion into companies working on quantum computing hardware or software worldwide…nearly five times the amount invested in 2019.” Whereas the basic unit of information in traditional digital electronics is the bit (a logical state with two possible values, typically expressed as 0 and…
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Backing Centigrade, Ripple Tries to Save Mother Earth
Fintech company bets on blockchain for carbon offsets
In the wake of Ripple’s historic David-versus-Goliath near-total victory over the SEC in July, those who follow the company are excused if they missed its announcement about its investment in Centigrade. But this move, seeking to establish an open data platform serving the market for global carbon offsets, sets a goal even more ambitious and improbable than prevailing against a government agency with infinite resource: Saving the planet. According to Centigrade, the new platform “will provide developers of carbon and nature credits with a low-barrier, intuitive way to bring their projects to market, providing full data transparency and traceability for the entire lifecycle of credits.” Carbon markets allow organizations to…
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Crypto & AI: Competition, Convergence or Both?
Part two: Smart Contracts, Fraud Detection & Portfolio Management
Blockchain is increasingly presenting new opportunities for applications in combination with AI. In fact, Future Market Insights estimates that the global market for blockchain AI will skyrocket to $3.5 billion by 2032, with a 23% CAGR from 2023 to 2033 driven in part by small and medium enterprises adopting AI-based blockchain platforms to enhance smart contracts, payment systems and more. “Reaching consensus on reality” Paul Brody, Global Blockchain Leader at consulting powerhouse Ernst & Young (which has also become a blockchain powerhouse owing in large part to Paul’s thought leadership the last 7 years—including his early advocacy of Ethereum as the platform of choice for enterprise), has a characteristically nuanced…
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Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO of MoonPay, speaks with Michael Gronager, CEO of Chainalysis, November 17, 2022. (Photo: Village Global/Flickr)MoonPay Founder Revealed as Mystery Suarez Funder
Ivan Soto-Wright gave half mil to Miami Mayor’s presidential PAC
Ivan Soto-Wright is capable of excellent timing. The cherubic, celebrity-adjacent founder and CEO of crypto payment app MoonPay moved to Miami just before Covid shut down most of the country. And also before Florida’s hands-off approach to the pandemic attracted a wave of liberty-loving crypto enthusiasts. And then, in a further burst of excellent timing, he and other top MoonPay executives sold $150 million in shares of the company at the end of 2021, near Crypto’s mid-pandemic sugar high. But he’s also displayed some less fortunate timing. In April 2022, just as NFTs were ending their brief and idiotic reign as the flavor of the month, Soto-Wright told the audience…
