Staking – the practice of providing one’s tokens to help operate and secure a network, usually in exchange for rewards – is rapidly becoming a substantial ecosystem of its own as the number and market capitalization of cryptocurrencies using a “proof of stake” (PoS) consensus mechanism to verify transactions continues to grow (in contrast to electricity-intensive “proof of work” chains like Bitcoin). Staked / Kraken’s State of Staking Q2 report cataloged a number of impressive growth stats. While proof of stake’s share of the total crypto market cap increased only 2% quarter over quarter to 23%: The value of staked assets rose 61% to $68 billion Market cap of the…
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On Eve of SBF Trial, Stolen FTX Funds On the Move
FTX hacker transfers funds for first time since weeks after the November 2022 exploit
As Sam Bankman-Fried, disgraced founder of crypto exchange FTX, sits in a jail cell in Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center awaiting the start of his trial on Tuesday for seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, funds that were stolen from FTX in a hack hours after the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last November have moved for the first time in more than 9 months. Not only was the FTX collapse already one of the most stunning debacles in the long history of financial disasters, the siphoning of $600 million in funds from the company’s crypto wallets added insult to injury and led to speculation that company insiders were absconding…
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Could Quantum Computing Mean the Death of Crypto?
Interest is growing in cryptography resilient to quantum attacks
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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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…
