In the US, books are always published on Tuesdays, and around my house, the Tuesday of a new Michael Lewis book brings heated anticipation. And not just cuz we own a bookstore. Liar’s Poker, Money Ball, The Big Short, Flash Boys and Next are all key books in our household. And even the misses — The Blind Side and Trail Fever come to mind — offer a few insights and some great turns of Crawfish phrase. So a book by a gifted storyteller about crypto’s most impossible to ignore character is naturally of great interest to Modern Consensus. But Lewis’ appearance last night on 60 Minutes to promote his book…
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Harnessing AI’s Limitless Potential
Head of Machine Learning at Iterate.ai Calls for Less Hysteria, More Nuance
The recent op-ed published by The New York Times, “The AI Duopoly: Microsoft and Google’s Stranglehold on Our Future,” makes clear that a more balanced discourse around artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on society is warranted. While Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson present a dire and pessimistic view of AI as a tool wielded primarily by Big Tech, the reality is that AI holds vast potential for diverse actors and contexts. Like all technological advancements, AI is not solely the domain of a few tech giants but a catalyst of innovation for businesses of all sizes. With a thoughtful approach and careful implementation, AI can help level the playing field, enabling…
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Crypto’s Illness: Regulatory Reluctance
Pending court decisions challenge SEC’s failed ‘regulation by enforcement’ strategy
The U.S. crypto industry has been learning a rough lesson in regulatory compliance in the past few months. With fines, cease and desist orders, agency warnings, and traditional finance counterparties withdrawing from the industry, it is becoming increasingly apparent that crypto has a compounding problem. Press play to hear a narrated version of this story, presented by AudioHopper. The origin of this isn’t FTX, Voyager Digital, Terra Luna, or any other of the business failures or frauds of 2022. Those are symptoms of another disease. The sickness that’s causing crypto to fumble in front of U.S. regulators and counterparties goes all the way back to the founding principles of Bitcoin…
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How the Lessons of Enron and Theranos can Inform Crypto Investors
Luna Terra / UST scandal proves we’ve still got plenty of hubris
Business leaders and investors are naturally drawn to the next big thing. Being an early investor in an exciting project can bring not only massive returns, but it can also bring much needed innovation and credibility to your investment portfolio. What if you are the first to see promise in the next Bitcoin? However, for every exciting new venture, there are just as many fraudulent companies. The collapse of Enron, the mortgage-backed security failures, Theranos, and the massive swings in the crypto market are the direct consequence of ignoring the fundamentals and riding the hype, greed, and ignorance train. Despite the naysayers and FUD surrounding it, blockchain technology and crypto…
