Crypto Mining

The most significant event in the short history of Web3 will most likely occur on September 15, 2022. That’s when Ethereum, the largest smart contract blockchain (with the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap), is now scheduled to enact an existential operational change. If it fails, “The Merge,” as it is colloquially called, is almost sure to take the crypto markets down with it. But even if The Merge is 100 percent successful, it will come with profound implications regarding censorship, regulation, and the future of money. Continue Reading →

Ethereum is a few days away from "The Merge," its transition from Proof of Work (mining) to Proof of Stake (staking). The promised benefits of Proof of Stake (PoS) include a significantly higher number of transactions per second (tps), reduced environmental impact (PoS requires far less energy than mining), and greater scale. Where mining rigs are expensive, require a lot of electricity, and require specialized skills to efficiently operate, PoS rigs only require average hardware, a static IP address, and the ability to read and follow directions. So, should you stake ETH? And, if so, should you do it in a pool or solo? Continue Reading →

On July 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced "insider trading charges against a former Coinbase product manager, his brother, and his friend for perpetrating a scheme to trade ahead of multiple announcements regarding certain crypto assets that would be made available for trading on the Coinbase platform." Continue Reading →

As we enter another crypto winter, it has become de rigueur for tech types to go on record espousing that Web3 is nonsense, that blockchain is a terrible technology, and that cryptocurrencies (all of them) are Ponzi schemes. There is seemingly no end to the tweets and blog posts from highly credentialed people about tulips and "The Emperor's New Clothes" and greater fool theory. It's as if the technocrats want to make sure that they know that you know that they know that all things Web3 are technologically inferior to all things Web2. Are they right? Continue Reading →

Greetings from NYC and happy Summer Solstice (to those who celebrate). NFT.NYC is in town this week, and to say that a "hard dose of reality" has hit the faithful would be to mischaracterize the vibe. People in the business know that the current market conditions are universal. They know that the underlying technology and associated business models are evolving, and they also know that – most importantly – the shakeout, while painful, is a required growing pain. Continue Reading →

What’s the best cryptocurrency to invest in? Will the value of this NFT go up? Is the DAO I’ve been thinking about worth joining? How much BTC should I buy? Is this stablecoin really stable? How much can I really earn from this Web 3 or metaverse “play to earn” game? After you get excited about a project, your next step should be a deep dive into its tokenomics – it’s the key to understanding the true value of any token-based investment. Continue Reading →

In 2000, almost $8 trillion of wealth vaporized when the dot-com bubble burst. It was a tough year for Wall Street, venture capitalists, and average retail investors. Why? The pundit parade did its best to explain the crash, but markets are complex systems (which makes them computationally unpredictable). So, in the end, the only thing we could be sure of was that $8 trillion had gone missing. What did we learn? Continue Reading →

It's the end of an era: New York City removed its last public payphone on Monday. The city began removing street payphones in 2015, replacing them with kiosks that offer free phone calls, Wi-Fi, and device charging. The boxy enclosures were once an iconic symbol across the city, but the rise of cellphones made the booths obsolete. Continue Reading →

I’m thrilled to announce the public beta launch of Metacademy: a free-to-use, risk-free, hands-on website that will teach you about blockchain, cryptocurrency, NFTs, smart contracts, Web3, and other associated technologies. You’ll learn about the world of Web3, decentralized finance (DeFi), the correct way to set up a crypto wallet, how to mint your own NFTs, and how to buy and sell them. Continue Reading →

This is a tale of two letters addressed to Michael S. Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Continue Reading →