Cryptohunt it dead - Episode 373 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 06, 2023

Cryptohunt it dead

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Cryptohunt is dead.

There, we said it. We promised you some big news throughout the week and this is it.

But here’s the deal: Bad news, it is not. At all.

Cryptohunt has evolved and we are excited to share our new name with you:

Learn.xyz

We will reveal more in the coming weeks, but you can already point your browser to it and try it out.

But why the change? Well, most of you have told us that they like all the new content: AI, quantum computing, or how to use Discord. But as a small team, we have a hard time covering it all. Or we should say “had” - because we have a new team mate.

Her name is LUMI.

Lumi is not what you think. Lumi is an artificial intelligence, and dare we say, much smarter than us. Type anything into learn.xyz and Lumi will create the a fun learning course for you.

Want to know why Bitcoin is doomed? Why bananas are bent? What the future of space travel is? Any topic, any language, Lumi got you.

It’s quite magical, so play around with it. And as far as this podcast is concerned, we are taking a break for the rest of the week to figure out what is the best format going forward.

But if you think you’ll miss this, email podcast@learn.xyz with two simple words: Miss you.

This podcast was produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Thank you all, thank you more than 55k listeners. I myself learned something new for every one of the 373 episodes until hear.

Copywriting of all but 2 episodes was done by the phenomenal Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and now learn.xyz and I was your host of this daily show. We ill be back.

How ERC-4337 will put an end to forgotten crypto keys - Episode 372- by cryptohunt.it Mar 03, 2023

How ERC-4337 will put an end to forgotten crypto keys

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

A new, and as is typical, unpronounceable technology is in crypto town. It is called ERC-4337. But despite the awkward name, this one is paradoxically meant to improve your life a ton.

The problem it tackles? That it is currently way too easy to lose your crypto forever.

As things are today, every crypto wallet on all the major blockchains is protected by a secret key only you have. This key is so complicated that you can’t possibly remember it - and not surprisingly this leads to many people losing it. Ever heard of those people who lost millions in Bitcoin? They didn’t lose the money, they lost their keys. The result? The same.

ERC-4337 puts an end to this by allowing other means of accessing wallets - for example by assigning people you trust as those who can trigger a recovery. Another option is to have multiple owners of a wallet, so there is always someone who has access.

And as bad as that name is, this could be a major step towards making crypto go mainstream because handling those keys is such a bad experience with such potentially dire consequences.

Might we just suggest a better name so the world will understand? How about “recoverable wallet”? As always, you’ll be the judge!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

What is Eth Denver, and why are all the crypto enthusiasts going there? - Episode 371 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 02, 2023

What is Eth Denver, and why are all the crypto enthusiasts going there?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Today, the main event of one of crypto’s largest conferences is kicking off. We are, of course, talking about Eth Denver.

So what is it and why all the fuzz?

EthDenver, as the name gives away, is an event that originally focused on the Ethereum blockchain, and – you probably didn’t see that one coming – happens every year in Denver.

But it’s unlike traditional conferences or conventions that tend to just be in one building complex. Instead, the events of Eth Denver are spread all over town, and organized not by a single team, but anyone who wants to participate.

In a way, that captures the spirit of decentralization that many blockchains try to achieve on a technical level. But it also allows for a really diverse event: Anything from tech talks to meeting investors is part of people’s agenda. To stay entertained and relaxed, there are DJ chill lounges, food trucks, and even a child care center.

And it is thanks to this wide range of things happening organically, and all over the literal map, that Eth Denver has become much more than just about Ethereum. Many other blockchains and their fans attend and enjoy spirited exchanges – definitely something the crypto space could use more of if you ask us.

It is an event true blockchain enthusiasts don’t usually miss out on. We are saying usually, because we are also going through a crypto winter, and it remains to be seen just how many enthusiasts are still flocking to Denver. But however many there end up being: expect it to be a great event. And of course, we also have boots on the ground. If you want to say hi, email us at podcast@cryptohunt.it.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

What’s up with all these .xyz domains? - Episode 370 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 01, 2023

What’s up with all these .xyz domains?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

If you’ve been surfing the internet at all these days, you’ll come across a new trend: Companies using .xyz as their domain endings. But what’s up with that?

Traditionally, you would expect a website to use a .com – after all, that’s where the first wave of internet companies was born… hence the name dot-com-boom. And this one is no different.

But dot-XYZ has turned into the new wave of dot-coms, ever since it was launched in 2014. It all started with crypto companies eyeing the new ending because they could still find easily memorable website names there. But what was once just for rebels, misfits, and innovators, has since turned so cool that it attracts the mainstream: Jack Dorsey’s Block, which is the parent company of payments giant Square, uses it now, for example. Google parent Alphabet resides at ABC.xyz too.

But, popularity among all sizes of businesses aside – what do people associate with .xyz, in a world where .com stands for established internet businesses?

Many think of a new wave of innovating tech companies - the new kids on the block, ready to disrupt tomorrow, those building on new technologies like Web3 and artificial intelligence. And simply those companies who want to show they are not the establishment.

It sure is hip to be square again. We are in exciting times, and it feels like a new wave of transformative technologies is coming our way. And keep an eye out for big news from us as well: Like we promised last week, we’ll reveal a secret we’ve been working on for the last few months.

And it is not to late to tell a friend about this podcast, so that they hear about this secret, too. Tanks so much for spreading the word for us! My name is Christian Byza, and I am the host of this daily show.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

What are Bitcoin Ordinals? - Episode 369 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 01, 2023

What are Bitcoin Ordinals?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

It’s that time again. Here’s yet another new, complicated word for crypto enthusiasts to throw at you: Ordinals. Bitcoin Ordinals to be precise.

And if you don’t know what’s going on, we think you should: Because they’ve been pushing Bitcoin’s price back up quite a bit.

To understand ordinals, we’ll have to make a quick trip down the memory lane of this podcast and look at NFTs, non-fungible tokens. In a nutshell, they are the blockchain version of a digital collectible, like a baseball card, but in the cloud. And because each NFT unique, they are non-fungible, or not interchangeable.

Ok. Back to ordinals. They are a way to achieve the same with Bitcoin. The reason it has taken years longer than on other blockchains to achieve this, is that Bitcoin can’t do anything other than move Bitcoin money around. In the words of the crypto crowd: it only supports fungible tokens - meaning that each is exchangeable for the other. Think of dollar bill and another one - completely exchangeable. Same with two Bitcoins.

The trick here is that the digital collectible is saved in the transaction memo of a Bitcoins transaction itself. Originally, the intent was to put the purpose of the transaction there - like “this Bitcoin is for the pizza you paid for”. The interesting thing here is that ordinals can even save the entire collectible itself, for example a photo, which makes them more powerful than the king of NFTs, Ethereum.

But the usual downsides are still there: You can only have a limited amount of Bitcoin transactions to carry those ordinals, and when you spend the money your ordinal is tied to by accident, they are gone. And don’t get us started on the environmental impact on Bitcoin – it’s not great.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Why did Coinbase invent BASE, its own blockchain? - Episode 368 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 27, 2023

Why did Coinbase invent BASE, its own blockchain?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Last week, crypto exchange giant Coinbase announced that they are launching BASE, which is their own blockchain. So what is BASE, and why did Coinbase think it was necessary to create yet another blockchain?

Let’s dig in.

BASE is what is commonly referred to as a Layer 2, or L2 blockchain. This simply means that it exists on top of an established blockchain, Ethereum in this case. These L2 chains are complicated solutions for an unfortunate problem: Ethereum is way too slow and expensive to be considered usable in most cases.

The way this works is a bit like elevators. Think of Ethereum as an elevator that stops at every level of a skyscraper. At the end, you are certain you didn't skip a floor because you saw that door open and close many times, but it takes a long time to get all the way to the top. Level 2 chains skip a bunch of floors instead, taking you up more quickly. The tradeoff is that you can't really verify how far you actually went until you look out of the window.

But what Coinbase is doing here is nothing new. People have been trying to mitigate Ethereum's problems for a long time now, for example, the popular Polygon blockchain. So why is Coinbase seemingly reinventing the wheel here?

We suspect this is about having a shot at directing where the industry will go. Coinbase has been under a lot of pressure lately. Most of its customers are using Coinbases' accounts to store their crypto - which means it could be gone in case of bankruptcy or hacks. Coinbase likes it this way, but sees the writing on the wall - as everyone is moving their money into wallets they control themselves, Coinbase needs another way to stay relevant. And what's more relevant than building the highway people drive on?

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. We are back here tomorrow.

The future of voice - How AI will change the things you listen to - Episode 367 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 24, 2023

The future of voice - How AI will change the things you listen to

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Have you ever watched Jim Carrey imitate another star’s voice and were amazed by it? Then get ready to be wowed by a revolution in synthetic voices created by artificial intelligence.

It used to be that voices are somewhat of a person’s fingerprint: You will always recognize your parents speaking, even over the worst phone connection.

But things are changing big time: AI can now imitate anyone’s voice almost instantly. And the applications are endless - you could listen to your favorite podcast in the voice of Barbara Streisand, George Clooney’s voice could be used in every language his movies are released in, and maybe - but just maybe - Siri might finally be able to hold a decent conversation while sounding like you.

At the heart of it is a process called machine learning. It analyses voice samples from real people, figures out what makes them unique, and builds a profile that can be applied to any voice or read any text. This is something that only recent evolutions in computer processing power enabled.

You know, we may even try it out for this podcast, just to see if you can tell the difference. Because if it gets this voice and pronunciation right - then anything is possible!

And that concludes our week on all the amazing things AI can do and will change. Let us know how you like these mini series… And next time we’ll talk about a secret project we’ve been working on.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman and design is done by Carmen Rincon. And the voice in between was generated by AI. Happy weekend!

How generative AI will create never-ending stories - Episode 366 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 23, 2023

How generative AI will create never-ending stories

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Today, we’ll touch on another area that generative AI will change entirely: How we experience stories in books, video games, and even TV shows. But before we dive in: If you are new here, make sure to start a few episodes back in 363 where this mini-series begins.

You’ve done it hundreds of times: Start a book, read it all the way through, and finally close it after the last page. Or you’ve played a video game and eventually reached every possible corner of its world.

That’s because stories eventually end. They are written by humans, and those humans move on to the next thing. Even Game of Thrones eventually ended.

With AI, things are entirely different. By its very definition, “generative” AI can generate content instantly, taking into account the context you provide.

So how could this look like? Let’s say you love the Sherlock Holmes books - if AI were to write them, you could get a new one basically whenever you wanted. Or you play a game, and AI creates the world and storyline automatically - meaning you could play forever. Even for TV this is possible: Really like Breaking Bad and never want it to end? Well, AI is here to help.

And while some - us included - prefer change and don’t think things ending is a bad thing, we bet many folks out there will love this new world… So much so, that you’ll begrudgingly have to be part of it. What do you think about all this?

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

How the future of music will look like with AI - Episode 365 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 22, 2023

How the future of music will look like with AI

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

The future is almost here, and it could mean big changes for how we create music, too.

If you’ve heard anything about AI, it’s probably related to its ability to create text, for example as a chatbot. But did you know that there are AIs that can express themselves in other ways, such as creating music?

One of them is called MusicML and was developed by Google. You can simply describe to it in words what you’d want it to compose, and it’ll spits out its version of that.

This is quite amazing on a conceptual level if you think about it - you don’t have to be able to play an instrument, you don’t even need to understand music theory. And yet, you can become a musician.

Do you find that thought upsetting? Do you think it should be harder to create something, or else all things we create lack value?

Maybe so - which is a general debate we should all have, because like it or not: AI is coming in hot. But we think there is something heartwarming about allowing anyone to create beauty - especially if it’s music.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

How a future with AI will look like: No more “Googling” things - Episode 364 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 21, 2023

How a future with AI will look like: No more “Googling” things

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Yesterday, we talked about AI and how it will most likely allow for completely personalized movie and TV content that is incredibly realistic, but generated just for you. And honestly, looking at the stuff we see in our Netflix account right now, that future can’t come fast enough if you ask us.

But for today, on to something that you can already experience yourself: The replacement of search engines like Google.

To understand the incredible shift we are about to witness there, let’s first look at why Google exists. There are billions of websites out there, and each has some sort of information to offer. You would never be able to find it, so Google reads all of them for you, and with just one search, shows just the few that are most relevant.

And this is where the trouble starts. Now it’s on you to click link after link in the search results, doing your own work to figure out the solution to your question.

With AI, on the other hand, technology can now do the reading and summarizing for you. Say you are looking for a new toaster. You type in “best toasters” and it’ll start having a quick conversation with you: How many slices do you want to toast? How much do you want to spend?

And then the magic happens: It’ll create a completely personalized recommendation. No further research needed.

And if you think this won’t work, or only work with specific types of questions like the toaster purchase - well, we challenge you to try the new Bing which will come out any day now. Microsoft has built exactly AI to replace search and it is incredible how well it responds to you.

As always - you’ll be the judge. But we think this is Google 2.0 - the question is just: Will Google miss the boat?

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

How a future with AI could look like for movies - Episode 363 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 20, 2023

How a future with AI could look like for movies

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

This week, we have a special mini series for you - how our future will likely look like, thanks to AI.

Today: What you watch on TV will change big time.

You may have stumbled across videos of a fake Tom Cruise or Paris Hilton on TikTok. Or you don’t remember, because you thought they were real. That’s how far we’ve come already: we can simply generate fake celebrities and you wouldn’t know it.

But what applies to celebrities also applies to the rest of film production: Why rent a studio, when it can all be done with AI in a computer?

This just makes sense, because it makes things easier. But also think of it from Tom Cruise’s perspective: Why only do a movie or two a year if he can sell his face for 100 movies, never show up, and rake in the cash anyhow?

But the real twist will be that AI can now generate entire stories, based on personal preferences. ChatGPT can already write movie scripts, and plugging those into another AI to make the actual movie is not a hard-to-imagine next step.

So, when you watch something ten years from now, it could be tailor made for you; a plot the way you like it, with your favorite stars; just for you.

Crazy right?

But what’s even crazier is that we are almost there.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. And if you like this or other episodes - please do us a favor and recommend us in your next lunch break with a friend! Thanks so much.

A brief update on FTX - Episode 362 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 17, 2023

A brief update on FTX

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

It’s been pretty quiet around FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried, hasn’t it? But don’t let the silence fool you: The real work is just getting started behind the scenes. So let’s catch you up on where things are because it’s still quite a while until Bankman-Fried’s trial starts on October 2nd this year.

Right now, FTX lawyers are incredibly busy behind the scenes recovering as much money as they can. What separates a great bankruptcy team from a bad one is basically just one skill: How much money they are able to claw back to give to those that the bankrupt company owes.

With FTX, they have their work cut out for them. You may remember that SBF was once called crypto’s white knight because he bailed failing crypto companies out with billions in investments.

One of the more interesting cases is that of Modulo capital, a tiny hedge fund that somehow got a $400 million investment from SBF.

Now, you are probably asking yourself: If SBF invested that money long before he got into trouble, doesn’t it belong to the hedge fund then, fair and square?

Yes, in theory, but things are complicated. The fact that Modulo is negotiating the return of the money probably means that they suspect that Bankman-Fried got it illegally in the first place. And instead of ending up entangled in endless legal fights with all the people who got hurt by FTX, the Modulo team probably decided to give it back in return for a legal agreement that FTX’s new bankruptcy management won’t come after them.

And if you think $400 million is a good chunk of money, hold your breath – word on the street is that the bankruptcy lawyers are trying to recover over $4bn, which is a crazy 10 times that. You can see, a lot is indeed going on behind the scenes. We’ll keep you updated.

I hear you back here next Monday. 5 times a week, like every week!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Could stablecoins allow the entire world to switch to the US Dollar? - Episode 361 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 16, 2023

Could stablecoins allow the entire world to switch to the US Dollar?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Say you are the president of a country that has struggled to keep its own currency stable. Your people are suffering from hyperinflation, businesses are dying, and naturally, you are not winning any popularity contests right now.

But you also notice something: Many citizens have started using the US Dollar as an alternative currency on the street. They like it because its value is stable and they’ve started to accept it universally. The only problem: There are only so many dollar bills you can import – and certainly not enough of them to support your entire country.

But this gives you a clever idea: What if you just made a stablecoin, such as Tether or USDC, the official currency of your country, you’d have all the benefits and none of the drawbacks, right?

Well - let’s look into that!

Your first problem: You’d have to find a place that has that many stablecoins available for sale. There are only about $70bn Dollars worth of Tether, the largest stablecoin, in circulation for example. Sounds like a lot, but is not really if we are talking about an entire economy. The reason for that is quite simple: In order to buy them, you have to trade an equivalent amount of something else for them.

But in theory that could be solved. You’ll work closely with the Tether company, and over time convert your own volatile currency into Tether.

But now you have a second problem on your hands, and this is a big one. For a quick second, think about where the stability of the US Dollar comes from: It comes from the US economy. But the US economy has a fixed size, and the more outside economies cling onto the US Dollar, the more these countries introduce their own economic instabilities - like the ones in your imaginary country - into the actual US Dollar.

And that is a problem we can’t overcome and is also why stablecoins will never be able to replace an entire country’s currency. It’s a nice idea but fails pretty quickly in practice.

If you enjoy episodes like this one - why don’t you refer a friend to it. It would mean the world to us.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and your host of this daily show.

Why is the US government attacking stablecoins? - Episode 360 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 15, 2023

Why is the US government attacking stablecoins?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

New York officials just told a crypto company to stop listing one of the largest stablecoins, Binance’s BUSD. And to make things even more interesting, the Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to sue the same company for violating securities laws.

That’s a lot to unpack, so let’s start from the beginning.

This crypto company, called Paxos, is letting its users buy BUSD on their platform. BUSD is a stablecoin, which means that 1 BUSD tries to be almost exactly 1 US Dollar at any given time.

So far, this seems like a really solid idea – so why would governments object to this?

It helps to understand that their actions are well-intended: They are trying to protect average consumers from falling into investment traps or taking risks they don’t fully understand. The fact that they are starting with stablecoins is no coincidence: Those are not as stable as the name may suggest. \

We’ve covered all the problems in past episodes, but in summary, there are two main concerns: Either the issuer of the stablecoin does not have the money to back it all up – as may be the case with Tether, and even BUSD – or the technology may not be able to handle a run on the bank, which brought down TerraUSD for example.

And now the government is starting to wake up, and its attacking the weakest link in the chain: The companies that let people buy and sell those stablecoins. Because the stablecoins themselves live on blockchains, which are by their very nature basically impossible to shut down.

And if you’ve always wondered: If a stablecoin is following a currency like the US Dollar closely, could the entire world move to the US Dollar thanks to them? Stay tuned for tomorrow, where we’ll talk about that.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. And if you do not want to miss tomorrow’s episode - subscribe now - wherever you listen to your podcast. I hear you back here at 11am CET or 2am PST.

What is ERC-20 Recovery? - Episode 359 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 14, 2023

What is ERC-20 Recovery?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Coinbase recently launched a new tool that helps customers recover funds - so-called ERC-20 tokens that have been lost in transfer.

But how could something go lost in transfer in the first place? Well, let’s imagine your good old leather wallet for a second. You are at home, put in a few dollars, go to the supermarket, and use them. No problem.

But now let’s imagine you also have a few Euros from your last trip. You put them in a separate compartment of your wallet because that’s just the place where any money goes. But because they are Euros, you can’t use them at the local supermarket. So eventually you just forget and that’s the end of that.

In crypto, things are a bit like that. You can send money, which crypto people call tokens, to a crypto wallet. But when those tokens are not officially supported by your wallet, you can’t use them, and in many cases, they won’t even show up. They are there though, just tugged away invisibly.

That’s an inconvenience. The real problem is this: When you don’t actually own the wallet, but your exchange, such as Coinbase does, you can’t send it back. It’s stuck because they don't support moving that kind of token around.

That's pretty annoying, and people make this mistake a lot. So often, in fact, that Coinbase created that tool we mentioned. It can reverse those transactions so you can finally access that unsupported money.

Sounds pretty useful, but don't think for a second that there isn't a catch - Coinbase will charge you a fat 5% of anything you recover over $100. Your misfortune, their business opportunity.

Oh, and more more thing: Of course you can find the link to the Coinbase Asset Recovery tool in the shownotes.

Tool: https://www.coinbase.com/asset-recovery

Help center: https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/trading-and-funding/sending-or-receiving-cryptocurrency/lost-assets

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Is the US banning staking? - Episode 358 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 13, 2023

Is the US banning staking?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Today, back to some hot crypto and finance news: The US government may be banning the practice of staking.

If you don’t remember what it is, we recommend you skip back to episode 27 where we have a simple explanation. But for now, you just need to know the basics - staking is when a crypto holder invests their crypto to help validated transactions. In return, they get paid by those users who transact, effectively turning staking into a form of passive income.

And now - according to Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong – the SEC, a US agency overseeing certain financial markets, might be making staking entirely illegal.

Just to understand how hard of a hit that would be to crypto, let’s look at a similar example. When you put money into a savings account, the bank pays you interest on it. Or if you buy stocks that pay dividends, the company provides that kind of passive income. Staking is effectively the equivalent of those in the crypto world. Or in other words: Making it illegal is like telling you that you can’t generate interest payments from your savings anymore.

But before you get too upset, consider the SEC’s perspective. Ever since crypto emerged, it has been playing catch-up with little to no actual oversight. People have been ripped off or lost money because they didn’t understand the risks. While this move may be a very aggressive one, it underlines that the agency is starting to take its job of consumer protection seriously.

But is it overstepping? Let’s wait and see what actually happens - and until then you can now, as always, make up your own mind.

And before we end today - thanks so much for tuning in every day. It means the world to us.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

How AI will revolutionize the way you learn - Episode 357 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 10, 2023

How AI will revolutionize the way you learn

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

We all ask ourselves dozens of questions everyday: “How do I cook the best possible steak?”, “How do I score a free upgrade to a hotel suite?”, or maybe even “Why is this airplane actually flying?”

Whatever it is, your first instinct is probably just to grab your phone and Google it. And then you realize that there are literally millions of articles on each topic and learning the details that matter is a crazy annoyance, even today in 2023.

Well, thanks to AI, we are witnessing a fundamental change you will feel for decades: Artificial intelligence can now ingest the world’s entire information, make connection between all those pages, and distill things the way you want them.

Want a podcast about that steak? At your fingertips, instantly. A nice little fun Duolingo-style set of learning cards about why airplanes fly? You name it, AI can produce it once companies build great products around it.

This is as big a change for the world as the invention of the internet. Think about it - first there was Yahoo, a single page with a few links. Then Google made billions of websites searchable, but you still have to deal with those individual pages. Now, suddenly everything gets served up on whatever silver platter you like.

You can probably tell we are really hyped about this - and we better be, since we are all about learning. But there is more to it and we have something incredibly exciting cooking. But it’ll remain a secret for a few more weeks… Until then, stay tuned here, as we’ll drop hints left and right on this podcast.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Google’s $100bn AI whoopsie - Episode 356 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 09, 2023

Google’s $100bn AI whoopsie

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Google just wiped $100 billion – yes that is billion as in nine zeros – off its market capitalization with a botched AI demo.

If you had any doubt that everyone thinks AI is the future, look no further than today’s demonstration of Google’s new AI chatbot. As you know from yesterday’s podcast episode, the company has been racing to catch up with archrival Microsoft, who owns almost half of the company that makes popular AI ChatGPT.

The problem? It seems like Google doesn’t have it figured out yet. The AI made a factual mistake in a promotional video, which is not only embarrassing because they could have just created a better video, but also shows just how much behind ChatGPT Google must actually be.

And the stock markets didn’t take kindly to it: They fear that Microsoft will eat Google for lunch. The stock price fell a crazy 8% after today’s demo. And those fears are not unfounded - Microsoft is already embedding AI chat into Bing, the search engine you may have almost forgotten about. If people were to stop Googling things, it’d game over the tech legend, because all their money comes from ads, and most of those ads are shown through Google Search.

We live in amazing times. Just a few months ago, people would have seriously wondered how anyone on earth could survive without searching on Google multiple times a day. And now we are already talking about that being a thing of the past. Quite exciting if you ask us, and about time that Google gets some real competition.

We can’t wait to see what will unfold. And Google - we know you feel the pressure, but maybe next time you’ll do things the Apple way and show products when they are done. An extra day or two of video-editing wouldn’t have hurt, especially if it could determine the future of your company.

And for me: I just installed bing on my Google pixel phone and used my skype longin from the early 2000 to get started. How things changed.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. And if you like stories like this - why don’t you tell a friend or two about us. It would mean the world to us.

Microsoft and Google are taking the gloves off - Episode 355 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 08, 2023

Microsoft and Google are taking the gloves off

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Do you enjoy watching a good fight from the comfort of your living room? Then get ready, because old competitors Microsoft and Google have stepped into the Artificial Intelligence ring.

Those two have fought each other plenty of times. Microsoft Office vs. Google Docs: We'd say Google won that by technical knockout, but it took years. Microsoft Phone vs. Android: Well, that's a clear one, making that a 2 to 0 for Google if you are counting.

And the list goes on, and we can now add artificial intelligence to it.

You've certainly heard about ChatGPT, the AI chatbot by a company called OpenAI. What you probably didn't know is that Microsoft struck a deal to eventually own 49% of that company.

This was such a big threat that Google called an internal "code red". You can easily see why: ChatGPT can combine the knowledge of millions of websites into a single human-like answer to any question you may have. That experience beats Googling stuff by a mile.

And not googling would be Google's death. So they didn't wait too long and just announced "Bard", their awkwardly named conversational AI competitor. We haven't seen it in action yet, but apparently, they've been working on it for years. And if anyone has scraped and indexed all the web pages in the universe, it's Google - a big advantage.

And if you want to try the power of AI to learn new things, here's a little secret: We've been working on a prototype you can play around with. Go to cryptohunt.it/magic, type in what you want to learn about, and lean back. It's really a bit like magic.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. And if this was the first time that you listened to this podcast: Thanks for joining - hope you like it. Don’t forget to subscribe so you do not miss tomorrows episode. My name is Christian Byza and I am your host of this daily show.

How AI can fight discrimination online - Episode 354 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 07, 2023

How AI can fight discrimination online

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Yesterday, we talked about how AI has schools and universities in full panic mode since artificial intelligence has been used to write essays and take exams…in place of the student who’s supposed to be tested on what they’ve learned.

While AI used to do someone’s homework is not a great use of AI…what about a positive use for the groundbreaking technology?

One of our picks: Content moderation.

Rather than having a team of individuals reading through pages of flagged posts, what if a platform installed a stellar AI to analyze the language used in posts?

In theory, this could be an insanely good use of the technology. Why?

AI models, like GPT3, are master analyzers of language. They have to be. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to produce those fantastic responses to the simplest of questions.

If someone is harassing another user with blatant discriminating language…an AI can be geared to remove the post and (if needed) the person who posted it.

Here’s the catch. AI isn’t great at moderating yet. It’s full of unfair biases and mistakes that could get the wrong person kicked off of a social media platform.

We’re not ones to shy away from a civilized, well-reasoned debate, and we’d hate to see someone who is respectfully voicing their opinion get unfairly locked out from a profile.

That said, with more training, you could see fewer of those toxic arguments fill your timeline thanks to the hard work of an AI.

I hear you back here tomorrow. As always at 11am CET, 2am PST. Thanks for listening!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Why schools and universities are freaking out over ChatGPT - Episode 353 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 06, 2023

Why schools and universities are freaking out over ChatGPT

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

This week, we’ll do a deeper dive into some of the surprising things AI can already be helpful with… or too helpful like is the case in today’s episode.

Doing homework has been a dreaded task since the beginning of education. And students have always been creative about finding ways around it. Who here hasn’t quickly copied a classmates math homework 5 minutes before the lesson? We are certainly guilty of that.

But now, the game has changed. And schools are freaking out.

We are, of course, talking about generative AI. It is capable of creating entirely unique text outputs from short requests. You can copy-paste your homework assignment, and it’ll do it for you. The same in online exams - just paste the question, and it’ll tell you which answer is the right one.

No wonder schools don’t like that. The entire idea of education is that YOU learn something. And in university, it is for you to produce something that is entirely new and adds to the body of knowledge of the human race.

So, what will schools do? Likely play cat-and-mouse games by trying to use AI to detect AI, until that no longer works. Ultimately, we predict they will embrace AI and teach you how to use it for what it is: A super sharp tool that needs to be handled with care and consideration.

Until then… everyone’s going to spend a lot less time doing homework and more time outside. Also not that bad!

And before we end - new week, new attempt to get you to refer one friend to this daily podcast. We would appreciate it a lot! Message us once you did and we send you a few fun Cryptohunt stickers as a reward!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

How exactly is artificial intelligence threatening my job? - Episode 352 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 03, 2023

How exactly is artificial intelligence threatening my job?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

If you are tuning in just now and missed yesterday’s episode, we suggest you listen to that first - because we explain what this new generation of AI is all about and why we should all be paying attention.

But the big question - and yes, we left you hanging there a little - is: Is this tech gunning for my job?

And the answer is: If you are a desk worker, then most likely. But hang in there, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Let’s remember what this AI does: It’s like an assistant who can write, program, and generate art or photography. So if your job is to write the same thing over and over again, like sales emails, or even shooting catalog images for GAP, it’ll replace you in no time.

But that’s also where things get quite exciting: This is an opportunity for those using this for what it is: A very smart and capable tool. Meaning, if you are in sales and jump on this train early, you’ll crush it. If you are a writer, why NOT let it do the heavy lifting and then come in and refine with your one style?

One thing is sure: The nature of work is about to change big time. So stay tuned for Monday’s episode, where we introduce you to the job skill of the future: Prompt engineering, or how to talk to an AI.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Generative AI: What is it and is it coming for your job? - Episode 351 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 02, 2023

Generative AI: What is it and is it coming for your job?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

AI is all the rage right now, and this time around, things are a little different. We have played around a good amount with the latest technologies and “impressed” isn’t even a good word to use: our jaw has dropped to the ground many times.

So, let’s enjoy this multi-episode special and start today by explaining what it does.

Imagine a librarian with access to the internet: But she is also the smartest person on earth, with a photographic memory. She reads everything there is, with no exception, and can recite any facts you ask her. She was even banned from Jeopardy because she couldn’t lose.

That basically describes Google, a company that has mapped the world’s digital data and makes it accessible via search.

There is one problem though: It can’t think. And so one article contradicting another one online doesn’t raise an eyebrow - they just both show up.

AIs have gotten increasingly better at closing that gap. The most popular one, ChatGPT, can actually make logical connections and produce its own documents from that - this is called generative AI.

The kicker - with so much information, and the insane computer power and data storage we have today, it has kind of broken free: You can ask it to program computer code for you, write essays, come up with business plans that have never existed before.

And this is probably really bad news for us - no matter what your job is, if it involves a desk, it can at least help.

But should we fear it coming for our jobs entirely? Well - that’s today’s cliffhanger! We’ll see you again tomorrow to dive into that question in the next episode of Crypto in Plain English.

And just so that you do not forget to listen to that next one - subscribe so you get the push for the next episode at 11am CET or 2am PST right to where you listen to this show.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Porsche's botched NFT - how to do it better next time - Episode 350 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 01, 2023

Porsche's botched NFT - how to do it better next time

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Let's face it: It's always easy to criticize, but doing better takes some real ideas. And if you've left yesterdays episode about Porsche's botched NFT rollout feeling that something was missing - you are right.

So, with that: How could Porsche roll out the next NFT collection more smoothly?

But before we start, a little secret about us. Here at Cryptohunt, we are obsessed with Porsches. We even each have a model Porsche on our desks - so we know: There is no reason that digital collectibles shouldn't work with that strong of a fanbase.

They just have to be done right, so let's dive into four recommendations we have from having seen many NFT releases in the last two years.

Number one - and the most important one - a collectible needs to actually be collectible. Simply designing one car and only changing the license plate in Photoshop basically screams: We just want your money and don't care. It’s lazy and bad for the brand. We hope that Porsche puts a lot more work into the next one - with all that history and special models, there sure is a ton of potential for great artwork that differs from NFT to NFT.

Second, NFTs are special because they are digital, which can open the doors to great experiences. The Bored Ape Yacht Club did it right: That NFT collection was the ticket to an exclusive community which many enjoy, much beyond just looking at an ugly monkey picture. Porsche, with all of its events, magazines, and stores could cook up something so unique that buyers would be willing to pay a ton to be part of it. They already do - it's just not connected to an NFT.

Third, it's an NFT. Naturally, it attracts a different audience. This is Porsche's chance to get a new audience interested in its cars. And did you know that Porsche also has all kinds of other products sold under the Porsche Design label? Connect NFTs with exclusive access or discounts, and we think you have a winner.

Lastly, the age-old advice: Communicate well. Be vocal about where and what will come out, explain how NFTs work, and how to verify the original source. And maybe use your real company Twitter account next time if you truly believe in the project.

In the end: We can't wait for a really cool Porsche NFT. Maybe a reference to a Carrera RS or a 993 RSR? Exclusive meetups? A secret website section? A Twitter space with the CEO? Fans can only dream! All the best next time, Porsche, and we hope you didn't lose faith. Come knock on our door, we'd be happy to nerd out together.

And until then - we do this podcast every day, or at least 5 days a week. Maybe share it with your colleagues that also think about their next marketing hack in web3. They might learn something or get inspired when they spend the 2-3 min a day listening to us.

As always - this podcast produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. And thanks for the referral - every single new listener counts. And if this was the first time listening to us - welcome to the show!

How NOT to release an NFT – The Porsche disaster - Episode 349 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 31, 2023

How NOT to release an NFT – The Porsche disaster

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

You know that here at Cryptohunt what interests us most is where new technologies meet everyday life. And especially NFTs are fascinating to watch, because they seem to be the new way that brands build a devoted audience.

But just because you can, doesn't mean you should, especially if you don't know how. So today, let's look at the avoidable disaster that Porsche's NFT rollout created.

So - Porsche decided to step into Nike's footsteps... With the release of it's own NFT. You may remember, Nike had previously released multiple digital, and collectible sneakers of which each had a unique design.

But while Nike spent a ton of time designing things, Porsche had the guts to simply release a $1500 image of the same car and just alter the license plates.

No surprise then: Once launched, nobody wanted those NFTs. Only 20% got sold before Porsche ended the sale. They were so unpopular in fact, that you could immediately get one on the open market for under the issuing price.

And to add insult to injury: Scam sites popped up all over the place, looking like Porsche's NFT site but stealing wallet information. Well, no wonder. Even Porsche itself doesn't make it easy to know what's real and what is not - their own Twitter account for the NFTs is different from the actual company account and uses the strange handle "porsches_eth". Not even the account name looks real, using a strange character for the E in the company name.

And there you have it - our take on Porsche's attempt at tapping into a trend. You can probably tell, but we think they could have thought that one through a touch more - it turned from branding exercise to brand embarrassment.

Keep tuning in to hear more about the intersection of tech and your world.

Every day at 11am CET and 2am PST. We are back here tomorrow.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Why are crypto taxes still so complicated? - Episode 348 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 30, 2023

Why are crypto taxes still so complicated?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

The new year is well underway and many people who were dabbling in crypto last year are already dreading THAT moment: When they have to file the hated tax return. The reason: Crypto taxes are still super complicated.

In fact, the rules are seemingly different country by country, and - in some cases like the US - even state by state. And while we are not here to explain them all to you – you’ll have to hire a duly licensed professional for that – we can shine a little light on why things are such a mess.

And there are two reasons, actually.

The first is that many tax authorities have no real idea on how to treat anything from cryptocurrency purchases to NFT flipping. They don’t even know what these things are - property like real estate, securities like stocks, or commodities like gold. And so - with a lack of clarity and regulation, it’s often up to you to decide how to treat these things.

Secondly, and this is somewhat worse, even if you had clear rules, the way that crypto works can create massive headaches. The goal, of course, is to create alternative financial systems. But that also means that money moves much faster, and more often. Some people can find themselves accidentally creating hundreds or even thousands of separate taxable transactions because code traded on their behalf.

Writing all that down, and filing reports can be a nightmare. Luckily, there are tools out there that can automate the job for you. And while they usually cost a little money, it may be worth knowing that you can sleep tight instead of turning over paperwork for days.

And before you listen to the next podcast after this: Why don’t you recommend this podcast to one of your friends. It helps us a lot and maybe your friends thank you later as well!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

What is Dollar-Cost-Averaging? - Episode 347 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 27, 2023

What is Dollar-Cost-Averaging?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where you learn – in just a minute or two a day – what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Today, let’s talk about Dollar-Cost-Averaging, a popular passive investment strategy often used to build a crypto portfolio.

Have you ever heard the saying 'buy low and sell high'? Well, the problem is that timing lows and highs is very hard - if it wasn’t, we would have all bought Bitcoin in 2010. But Dollar-Cost-Averaging can help avoid buying at the worst time.

Before we dig in here, just a word of caution: This is not investment advice. We are simply here to explain interesting concepts - what you do with those is at your own discretion.

With that, let’s get to learning: We’ve all seen egg prices make crazy swings in the last few weeks. Imagine you're at the grocery store and want to buy eggs. You are thinking: “Should I buy a ton of them now and hope prices don’t go down? Or should I wait for a dip?”

But instead of doing any of that, you decide to simply spread the purchases out in even amounts over time. One pack of eggs every week. That way, you protect yourself from accidentally buying a ton of eggs when their price is at the peak. And while it would have been best to buy them at their lowest, the thing is this: you just never really know when or if that comes around.

Dollar Cost Averaging in investing is the same. Instead of trying to time the market and buying all of your investments at once, you spread out your purchases over time. By using Dollar Cost Averaging, you're taking a disciplined approach to investing and reducing the risk of buying in at a high point in the market. It can also help you avoid the emotionas of trying to time the market, which can be frustrating, because it’s so hard to do.

And that's why many crypto investors use Dollar-Cost-Averaging - they are trickling their money into the market over time, under the assumption that it will go up over a longer period of time, without having to bet on exact timing.

Todays episode is sponsored by the Cask Protokol, and they are experts in Dollar-Cost-Averaging - or in short: DCAing. Cask is application that helps you to automate crypto transactions and keep those in your own wallet. If you want to learn more about DCAing or Cask - we will release a fresh new course on the topic tomorrow on Cryptohunt.it - just look out for the new course email. Or just check out www.Cask.Fi.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Why do crypto bridges keep getting hacked? - Episode 346 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 26, 2023

Why do crypto bridges keep getting hacked?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

In yesterday's podcast, we told you about the state-run North Korean hacking group that stole over $1.2 billion dollars from crypto bridges.

But why is it, exactly, that these crypto bridges keep getting hacked? Well, let's dig in.

The problem with having thousands of different cryptocurrencies is that you can't use them interchangeably. You can't pay with Bitcoin when someone wants Ethereum, just like you can't pay with Euros in the United States, where only the US Dollar is used.

This is why crypto bridges were invented. They operate like those currency exchange booths at an airport - give them your Euros, and they'll put those in a safe and hand you back Dollars. Crypto bridges do all this electronically, but the idea is the same.

Which also explains why hackers target them. Stealing money from each travelers' wallet one wallet at a time might work, but is not efficient. But remember all that cash sitting in the exchange booth? If you manage to get in, the payout is much larger.

More so, some currency exchange booths have weak points - a lock that can be picked, or a safe that's easy to crack, or a door that is wide open. In crypto, this happens too – and more often than you think. Poorly written code allows hackers in, and they've already stolen billions.

So now you know why crypto bridges get hacked so often - so be careful when you use them.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. And I hear you right back here tomorrow. Always at 11am CET, 2am PST, 5 days a week.

How North Korea stole $100m in crypto - Episode 345 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 25, 2023

How North Korea stole $100m in crypto

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

You may have heard a lot of things about North Korea, but did you know that the little country has a secretive state-run hacking operation, called Lazarus Group?

And news just broke confirming yet another hack they pulled off in 2021, stealing $100 million dollars worth of crypto from Harmony, a US based blockchain.

And if you think that’s a decent chunk of money - it’s not. This is following multiple other hacks, including one for $622 million dollar in April 2022, bringing their total loot to an estimated whopping $1.2 billion dollars.

It’s even more interesting if you put that into context: North Korea only has a population of 25 million people. That means the country’s hackers stole enough money to give each citizen $50, which is the equivalent of almost half a months’ salary.

But you probably guessed it - the already impoverished people of North Korea will probably not see a single cent. More likely, the money is going to finance the development of intercontinental missiles and nuclear weapons. Not exactly what we all wanted crypto to be used for.

And tomorrow, we’ll look into just how these hacks keep happening and - spoiler alert - it has to do with something called a crypto bridge.

And since I bet you have some Whatsapp or Telegram Group with friends that might be interested in daily stories like this - why don’t you share today’s episode with them. It helps us, your friends and also makes you a great early adopter of interesting content. Triple win. We thank you a lot.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3

A brief history of Gemini and its founders, the Vinkelvoss twins - Episode 344 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 24, 2023

A brief history of Gemini and its founders, the Vinkelvoss twins

Good morning, Cryptohunt community, to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Today, we are waking up to news of yet another layoff in the crypto space. This time, it is struggling crypto lender Gemini that is sending another 10% of their workforce home.

And while that may unfortunately sound like business as usual these days, Gemini has a very unique story.

It was founded by the Winkelvoss twins, brothers Tyler and Cameron who, a long time ago, had the idea for the first social network for students at Harvard. They enlisted a young programmer to help them build it - Mark Zuckerberg.

And so, Facebook was born. At least according to the twins, who later sued Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their idea. After four years, they settled out of court and got $65 million.

What followed then was probably mostly luck but certainly paid off: They put $12 million of that money into Bitcoin when it was trading at just about $100 dollars. It was then when they also took on more and more risky bets: From trying to bring an extinguished species of the wooly mammoth back, to starting crypto lender Gemini.

Gemini, which was founded in 2014, became a place where people could lend their crypto and, in return, get high interest payments back. But that meant that Gemini would have to use the borrowed crypto in even riskier investments to make those payments.

Of course, things went the predictable way once crypto prices collapsed. Like many others playing it a little too fast and loose, Gemini had heavy ties to Genesis, which went down thanks to the FTX domino effect.

And here we are - from Facebook twins to crypto magnates and back: The interesting story of the Vinkelvoss twins and Gemini. We keep our fingers crossed that Gemini customers will see at least some of their money back.

And since it is Tuesday - at least here in the here in San Francisco - why don’t you leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts. It would help us a lot! Thanks for those that make the extra hop right now.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. And thanks again for that review.

What is a short squeeze, and why Bitcoin is over $23,000? - Episode 343 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 23, 2023

What is a short squeeze, and why Bitcoin is over $23,000?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

The markets have been good to Bitcoin recently. Despite multiple bad news, such as the bankruptcy filing of crypto lender Genesis, it has shot up past $23,000.

Markets bad, crypto up? Sounds illogical? A so-called "short squeeze" may be responsible.

But how does this work? Let's look at an example. Say you think the housing market is about to collapse. You decide to sell your house, rent for a few weeks, and then buy back in when prices are down.

Turns out though, you were wrong. Prices don't collapse, and instead – for a day or so – they look like they are going up. You panic, fearing to miss out, and buy back in, pushing the neighborhoods prices up with you.

That's what likely happened to Bitcoin according to market observers. Investors bet against the Bitcoin price in what is called a short sale, and when prices didn't drop, they panicked and tried to buy the Bitcoin they owed. This pushed prices up despite everyone betting against them.

And now you know what a short squeeze is. This actually happens all the time in crypto - because it is still so small in comparison, that even smaller bets against it can make the market move.

And if you like to learn bite sized content like this: Why don’t you share this podcast with a friend. I bet they appreciate a good recommendation from you. Thanks for getting the word out for us! I see you back here tomorrow.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

SBF wasn't lying for once, and FTX customers in the US may actually get their money back - Episode 342 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 20, 2023

SBF wasn't lying for once, and FTX customers in the US may actually get their money back

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Remember how Sam Bankman-Fried has taken it upon himself to put his version of the FTX story out there... by blogging long posts, full of financial data he suddenly found somewhere?

Well, now he says that FTX isn't actually bankrupt. The US part of it to be precise - and according to his numbers, they even have enough money to pay everyone out and then some.

And then shortly after SBF hit the publish button, FTX’s new boss, John Ray, who oversees the exchange's bankruptcy says he’s indeed looking into resuming the US business.

If this all sounds confusing: It'll make more sense when you understand that FTX operated two, in theory at least, fully separate exchanges - one registered in the US, serving US customers, and one registered in the Bahamas, serving the rest of the world. This was set up to meet - or as some would argue exploit - regulations.

If you were in the US, you could only use the US exchange, which was like a smaller sibling to the international one. So this could be good news for US customers… and SBF.

Because if true, this plays right into his hands: His defense will argue that he didn’t harm any US customers.

We may never know, but doesn't the timing of that blog post look just a little bit too perfect?

As always, you'll be the judge. And we'll see you next time, right here on the podcast.

We at Cryptohunt produce this podcast 5 days a week - also consider signing up to the free Weekly Hunt, our Friday morning briefing newsletter where we cover the most important news of the week - an extension to our offerings to be the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

This new type of supercomputer will eventually break Bitcoin... and all kinds of other technology - Episode 341 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 19, 2023

This new type of supercomputer will eventually break Bitcoin... and all kinds of other technology

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

If you are a big fan of Bitcoin, don't get mad at us – but we are here to tell you that supercomputers will eventually break it.

But how is this possible, when nobody has broken Bitcoin so far?

Well, it all comes down to an emerging type of supercomputer called the quantum computer. In theory, this computer can solve certain tasks several billion times faster than even the most expensive computer we have today.

Bitcoin, and this is the problem, relies on cryptography to work. Say your name is Samantha, but you introduce yourself to others by randomly scrambling the letters, for example to Mansatah or Natahasm. Without telling people the exact order of the letters, it'll take them a while to figure it out, and they have to rearrange letters many times over until it clicks.

That is, in an simplified way, how most cryptography works. That order of letters you kept a secret is also called the key. With that key, it's easy to decrypt something. Without that key, you can still figure it out by trying all possible combinations, but in practice this guessing-game takes way too long to make sense. And for Bitcoin, that cryptography is so strong that even all the computers in the world together would have to guess for a far longer time than our entire universe has existed.

Which is - you know - just a little bit too long for our taste.

But as crazy as that sounds, you've probably guessed it: A breakthrough in computing power would get us much closer to trying all the possible combinations in the Bitcoin cryptography in reasonable time. Even if it takes an entire year, it’s worth waiting for. And that's exactly what quantum computers could eventually do.

They are still experimental, not nearly powerful enough, and only work in a handful of expensive, secret labs, but the idea works in theory. A few more years, and things may look very different.

And that's why people are both worried and excited - far beyond just Bitcoin and cryptography.

If you want to learn more about this game-changing tech, sign up at cryptohunt.it and keep an eye on your email - because we are going to drop an entire course on the subject later this week – as always: easy to understand, just like this podcast - which is also produced by Cryptohunt.it. My name is Christian Byza, and I am the host of this daily show - see you tomorrow.

Can Sam Bankman-Fried actually get a fair trial? - Episode 340 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 18, 2023

Can Sam Bankman-Fried actually get a fair trial?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Sam Bankman-Fried has published his second blog post since he was put under house arrest, awaiting his trial in October.

But why is he actually speaking at all instead of letting the lawyers handle it?

Well, it all boils down to one question: Can he get a fair trial?

Let's be honest: What do you think about SBF? Probably nothing too good. And while we are on the same page as you, that's actually a huge problem.

Like any civilized legal system, US law assumes that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. Furthermore, the burden of proof is on the accuser, in this case the government, to show the person actually did something wrong.

But here in the United States, we also have jury trials. This means that a panel of 12 regular citizens decides the fate of the accused. And herein lies that problem: Like you, they've all been exposed to the overwhelmingly negative news about FTX. Rightfully so or not, the media has largely already declared Bankman-Fried guilty.

This is also known as "trial by media" and when October comes and the court opens its gates, SBF's reputation will be fully destroyed. No matter how hard those 12 jurors try, their judgement will be influenced.

Now, this is often the case - take popular murder cases as another example - and won't lead to a dismissal of the case for SBF. Which means, he really only has one choice - start advocating for himself since nobody else will.

He still gets a ton of attention, so this strategy might be worth trying - and that's most likely why he started blogging. In those posts, he can lay out a lot of detail to sway public opinion at least a little bit.

Whatever both sides report, we'll promise to take a deeper, and fair look at each. So stay tuned, because it looks like SBF is just getting started. Tomorrow, we'll look about his latest post that claims FTX customers in the US can get their money back.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. And I hear you right here tomorrow. Always at 2am PST, 11am CET, 5 days a week.

Amazon and Avalanche team up - Episode 339 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 17, 2023

Amazon and Avalanche team up

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

AVAX, the crypto token behind the Avalanche blockchain, is up almost 50% in the first weeks of this year. The reason? An announcement that Amazon will partner with them.

Let's understand what the two companies are up to.

Avalanche currently sits at position #17 of all blockchains if you order them by money invested. To put that in perspective, it is still a whopping 80x smaller than Bitcoin, but the project has big ambitions.

So what makes Avalanche special? In a nutshell, it tries to replicate all the things we can do with traditional money – like send it around, create financial contracts, and replace the traditional banking system. But it aims to do that at much higher potential speeds than the competition. If you think about it, that goal does make a lot of sense: In a potential future where all payments run over blockchains, those blockchains have to handle a lot.

However, in case you didn't know, the elephant in the crypto nerd room is that most blockchains, even Bitcoin and Ethereum, are painfully slow and could never handle such future demand. It's so bad actually, that executives at Visa are probably giggling every day when they see those numbers.

Enter Avalanche: It is already much faster than the competition, and wants to become the one blockchain ready for primetime.

At the core of this is Avalanches technology, this bits and bites you don’t see - and this is where Amazon comes in. They have a division called AWS, which provides computers for rent. For that, they operate massive warehouses stuffed to the ceiling with technology. Want to hear a crazy fact? Every third app or website you use runs on those Amazon computers and you’d never know it.

Going forward, Amazon will make it very easy for people to operate an Avalanche computer in those warehouses. The more computers, the more transactions Avalanche can crunch. The easier it is to set them up, the faster the number can grow.

And that's exactly why investors are so excited: Because running a fast blockchain for everyone needs a lot of blockchain computers. And Amazon happens to have the most computers and is now throwing their weight behind Avalanche.

So, if anything, this is great PR for Avalanche. But before you get too excited, remember that people will have to want to use blockchains in the future, otherwise this is all just empty excitement without future customers. And only time will tell how fast that will happen.

Until then - enjoy it when the market goes up. The crypto community needed a good moment.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Oh, and welcome to all the new listeners we got from those nice referrals from you - in the last few days! Thank you so much - and please: Keep them coming

SBF is blogging now - Episode 338 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 16, 2023

SBF is blogging now

It’s Monday, Jan 16th - Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining what is happening in crypto and other game-changing ideas. As always: In plain English.

Sam Bankman-Fried is back! This time with a blog post, detailing his version of what led to FTX's collapse.

Let's take a quick, and critical look.

This post, which SBF published on the blogging site Substack, is astonishing for multiple reasons.

For once, it is very unusual that a defendant in a major fraud case says anything at all before their trial. Talking rarely helps, and can be used against them. Lawyers usually do the talking, because they are trained in not getting their client into more trouble.

SBF? Doesn't care. He's blogging away, including spreadsheets and data to make his case.

And what is that case? Essentially that the market wiped out FTX, and he did nothing wrong.

Well, for the sake of it, let's follow along: SBF explains how Alameda Research, the trading firm he funded before FTX, had significant bets riding on crypto last year. According to his calculations, those bets were covered if the value of the crypto they were trading would decline by up to 94%.

And they did, in fact even more than that. When FTX declared bankruptcy, those assets were down 96% - which SBF blames on the crypto market and a targeted PR attack from rival Binance.

But how does that affect FTX? Well, to make those bets, Alameda borrowed money from their sister company - money that was then wiped out, leaving customers unable to withdraw their balances from FTX.

The way SBF lays this out is that this is just business, a bad market, and a coordinated rush of withdrawals. The perfect storm, but not his fault.

We have a feeling the prosecution is seeing this very differently - because why was Alameda allowed to dip into customer deposits on FTX in the first place? Why have Alameda's execs already pleaded guilty and are collaborating?

Stay tuned, it'll get more interesting we bet. SBF, he blogs, has a lot more to say. Well, at least it keeps us entertained, because the trial is not set to start until October 2nd.

And before we end - just like last Monday - a small question: Do you mind sharing this podcast with someone you like or that you think would like our content? Referrals mean the world to us.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

McDonalds is hungry for NFT attention - Episode 337 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 13, 2023

McDonalds is hungry for NFT attention

It’s Friday, Jan 13th - Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

Whether you love McDonalds or would never go to one of their restaurants, the power of the brand is undeniable.

And like many, at the hype of the crypto boom, McDonalds jumped onto the NFT bandwagon and released their own collection of 10 digital collectibles. So, what were they thinking... and how has that worked out?

You know by now that we are obsessed with the way brands are using Web3 to engage with their audiences - some are very smart and innovative, like Nike and Netflix for example, and others are simply trying to capitalize on a trend.

But back to McDonalds. If you are a fan, (like me) you will immediately know what the McRib is - the famous sandwich that had rib meat on it instead of a traditional burger patty. The main complain about it: McDonalds didn't make it any longer. And so, when McDonalds announced the limited return of the McRib in late 2021, fans went completely wild.

And unfortunately, we think, so did McDonald's marketing team. Anything that grabbed attention was on their whiteboard. Ultimately, they decided to do what seemingly everyone back then was doing: create an NFT. In this case, 10 MacRib NFTs actually, digital collectibles with the image of a sandwich rotating on your screen. Not exactly creative if you ask us. And McDonalds plan? Probably the most overused trick in the marketing-for-social-media-beginners handbook: Ask people to tweet about it in order to enter the raffle to win one of these NFTs.

So how did the McDonalds campaign do? Hard to say if it got more people to try out the real McRib, but the Tweet was seen by over 2m people. But with 4.7m followers on McDonalds’ Twitter account, that may not actually be that great of a result.

And as far as those NFTs go? They seem to have a hard time changing hands as collectibles. No wonder, because owning them doesn't give you any benefits.

Well, McDonalds, maybe next time you do something interesting, like taking a page out of Nike's playbook. How about a lifetime of free real McRibs for each lucky NFT holder? Because just hijacking a trend for attention isn't as interesting as creating an experience that connects fans with your brand in a meaningful way.

And that was McDonalds - or how to not use NFTs to promote a product. And next week we’ll pick this right up and talk about other interesting Web3 experiments from major brands. Stay tuned and enjoy the weekend! I am hungry now and know what I will have for lunch today.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

What does Netflix have to do with NFTs? - Episode 336 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 12, 2023

What does Netflix have to do with NFTs?

It’s Thursday, Jan 12th - Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

Today: A look at Netflix's NFT campaign to promote a movie – and why it worked.

We've been talking a lot about blockchains, and what YOU may - or may not - get out of them. But there is an entire different perspective: What companies get out of it.

And, let's be honest, for the most part it has simply been a way for them to blatently tap into a well-to-do audience. Remember, for example, how Tiffany's suddenly sold “NFTIFFs”, which were just diamond-studded jewelry copies of some expensive NFTs to open the wallets of their rich owners?

Well, let us tell you the story of Netflix then, who thought about something a little different: Using NFTs as a way to promote a new film.

In 2021, Netflix was finalizing the release of it's documentary called "This is a Robbery". It chronicles one of the largest art thefts in history, one where 13 famous paintings were stolen and only the frames left at the scene.

To promote the documentary, Netflix did something clever: They collaborated with 13 smaller influencer artists to create their version of these 13 stolen paintings. Then they launched these as 13 surprise NFTs in parallel with the movie.

Interestingly though, Netflix didn't want to make any money from those like most other brands who dabble in digital art. Instead, the streaming giant sent people directly to the artists' pages, where they could bid on the NFTs. This meant: The artists made 100% of the money, and Netflix none.

So why do this in the first place? Because it created a huge buzz for Netflix. The crypto community is very active on social media and immediately took a liking to the idea, especially BECAUSE it was helping those artists directly instead of enriching a middleman, which is one of the ideas behind Web3. And mainstream media thought the concept was clever too - suddenly all the big newspapers wrote about the project.

And this is how Netflix elevated a documentary that could have gone unnoticed to something that got global attention - all by tapping into the power of the crypto community and hijacking the NFT trend in a positive way.

We think this is very clever. And best of all? Everyone is happy, and nobody got cheated. And that's quite rare these days.

And if you like stories like this at least 5 days a week - please do us a favour and leave a review of this podcast - this will help us a lot. Thanks so much.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Thanks again for that review!

What's next for ChatGPT? - Episode 335 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 11, 2023

What's next for ChatGPT?

It’s Wednesday, Jan 11th - Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

Remember our episode about ChatGPT, that almighty chat robot that can answer practically any question you throw at it? The one that could trick most people into thinking they are talking with a human? The one that helped millions of people create Christmas cards, love poems, and computer code?

If you don’t - you should absolutely know about it. It’s some of the craziest tech we’ve seen. We have a class about it on www.cryptohunt.it.

But for now, buckle up. Whatever your feelings about the existing version may be: impressive, creepy, or downright Terminator-style dangerous: Apparently a new, even more powerful version is already being shown to people behind closed doors.

It's based on version 4 of its core engine, called GPT, which is the computer code that can process language like a human with the knowledge of a librarian.

What's different about the new version? It can do the same impressive tasks as before, but create much more comprehensive outputs. Sounds like nothing, but think about it this way: Where you previously could make it write a page-long essay based on your sentence-long request, it can now write a 600-page book with the same input. Or what previously created 10 lines of computer code do program something very specific, and now build an entire application. Error-free, in mere seconds, and just based on a simple verbal description of what it should do.

“ChatGPT, can you build me an Airbnb competitor?”

Imagine the possibilities: A single person could write hundreds of books in a day. You could simply request a library of personalized short stories. Or instead of slowly building something like Facebook over a decade, now you could simply throw that out there to test in mere minutes.

In other words: What seemed like hard work in the past, could get so easy that we'll start living in a world of complete abundance. Maybe the skill of the future is not to know how to create something, but how to ask AI to do it best.

Honestly, we don't quite know how to feel about that.

But what we do know: This is one of the most game-changing technologies in a long time. And we'll keep bringing you the latest thoughts and developments here in this podcast and on cryptohunt.it.

This podcast is also produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

What is the Bonk token - Episode 334 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 10, 2023

What is the Bonk token

It’s Tuesday, Jan 10th - Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

If you've recently thought: I haven't heard much about one of those crypto dogs in a while, then we have some news: A new puppy is in town, and it is called BONK.

But first: What’s up with all those dog cryptocurrencies?

These are called meme coins, meaning they are crypto coins that don't aspire to have any special utility. Mostly, they are just built to entertain the community.

It all started with Dogecoin, which was created as a joke by copy-pasting most of Bitcoin's source code. Fast forward a few years, and Elon Musk is regularly talking about it, and a close cousin called Shiba made some people astronomically rich.

But it's been a while since then. Now, a small community run team on Solana, a blockchain that has lost massive amounts of value recently as it got caught up in the FTX collapse, decided to create some joy in tumultuous times and released BONK, yet another Shiba Inu themed token. They gave away 50% of the coin to the community on Christmas day and the total value has reached $77m at its peak.

And since it’s a meme coin, that’s really all there is to it. But all in all, we think that’s a fun holiday surprise and proof that the crypto community can still have a good time.

And before we end today I want to let you know about a two new fun courses we just released last weekend - as every Saturday: One on our teams predictions and what we are bullish on for 2023 and then a second one that takes on the critical side: The case against crypto. Just head over to www.cryptohunt.it - you will find both of these in the most recent courses section on the homepage.

And I am back with another story tomorrow - it’s never getting boring!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Sam Bankman-Fried pleads “not guilty” - but why? - Episode 333 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 09, 2023

Sam Bankman-Fried pleads “not guilty” - but why?

It’s Monday, Jan 9th - Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

After a relatively quiet holiday, Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, appeared in court and did something that may shock you: He pleaded “not guilty”.

Let’s unpack that, and dive into the little oddities of the US justice system.

Remember, the US government is accusing Sam Bankman-Fried of eight different crimes. In essence, they are saying he lied to investors and stole customer funds - and those charges could add up to a maximum of 115 years in prison for the now-30 year old.

How much time he will serve, if found guilty, depends on many factors and one of them is what sentence the prosecution recommends to the judge. It is very common that guilty people strike a deal right away: I’ll admit what I did to save us all the time, and in return you recommend a lesser sentence.

So why didn’t SBF do that? We can only speculate, but likely because of two reasons.

First, the prosecution might have such strong evidence, that they feel confident enough to not make a deal. The public pressure is high, and they will try to make an example of him instead of looking lenient.

Secondly though, this seems to be part of SBFs larger defense strategy: From the beginning he has projected the image of the nice guy from next door who accidentally managed his business really badly. He has nothing to loose, so he is taking his chances with a jury - best case they believe him, worst case he’ll be in jail for the time he would have spent there anyhow.

So - now you know part of the chess game being played. This will remain really interesting. Stay tuned for more, as we will keep you in the loop.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3.

Why banks fear crypto so much - Episode 332 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 06, 2023

Why banks fear crypto so much

Ever wondered why banks never really talk about crypto publicly? Because they are afraid of it.

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

You know that we are big fans of the ideas behind blockchains and cryptocurrencies, and see huge technological potential. But we've also been vocal about using common sense to see through all the talk - because for the most part, crypto is still a solution in search of a problem.

Except for one area, where it's becoming a clear thread to the existing system: And that is banking.

Gatekeepers and intermediaries have existed as long as humans have traded: Want to cross this river? Pay the guy who owns the property in front of the shallow part. Buy fruit? Pay the merchant who has an exclusive deal with the farmer.

Banks are no different. They funnel money from one place to another, and take a cut. A huge cut, in fact, if you look at Wall Street salaries.

What makes banks special though, is that moving money is one of the easiest things on the planet. It just involves simple calculations and contracts. And nothing is better at executing those than computers.

Which is to say: Theoretically, we don't actually need most of the bankers, and since computers don't want to drive Ferraris or drink champagne, they are also much cheaper to keep happy.

Up until now, banks also controlled the money itself, which is why they are so powerful still. But that changed with crypto. It literally lets us program the bankers’ jobs into computer code, and execute it without having to pay them their salaries. This is called a smart contract, and is already happening at scale. Of course, there are painful downsides - like a lack of regulation and oversight - but those could be solved if we all worked together.

And that's why banks fear crypto more than anything. Because it's the more efficient way to get an already simple job done. And while they are doing everything to hold on to their power, eventually crypto will eliminate large amounts of their business.

It will take a while: But you have a front row seat to see it all happen in real time.

And before we let you go into the weekend - we ask for one little favor. If you like this podcast please tell your friends about it and leave a review. This will help us a lot.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

A critical look at decentralization: Part 3 – Maybe not a good idea after all? - Episode 331 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 05, 2023

A critical look at decentralization: Part 3 – Maybe not a good idea after all?

Welcome to a new year and to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we continue to spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

In the last two episodes, we've explored why some people have lost trust in our organizations and institutions and how some think decentralization is the key to solving that issue. And we took a deeper look at a rallying cry that's getting louder in Silicon Valley these days: To decentralize Twitter.

But does that really make sense? Today, a critical look in the third and last part of our series.

Imagine Twitter was run by its users in a true decentralized democracy. Its future determined by one majority vote at the time.

But are we really solving a problem here? Instead of the opinion of a random billionaire owner, now its the group of most active users who make decisions, or don't if they are not interested. And when they do, they may not have the full picture, nor may they have a long term vision for the company. Hard and fast decisions need to be made sometimes - and maybe our sometimes-not-so-favorite space rocket billionaire is still better at that than a crowdsourced opinion.

And now to the boring stuff: Renting offices, buying software licenses, and getting the plumber if the toiled is clogged: Will we all decide each thing together?

Of course not, so a person will get appointed, maybe a manager for that person - and suddenly we are walking a line between centralized and decentralized again.

You get our point: Just because something is the latest buzzword in tech, that idea may not actually make sense when applied. As long as there is no real functional benefit, such as owning your data and being able to move between social networks, its a solution in search of a problem.

Ultimately, the markets will speak. If Musk screws up Twitter more, a competitor like Mastodon will rise and people will move. Even Google isn't untouchable. Decentralized or not.

This was part 3 of our critical look at the idea of decentralization. As always - sometimes it makes sense, often not - you decide.

And tomorrow, we'll continue this thought with an area that could truly see disruption by blockchains - the banking system. Stay tuned!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

A critical look at decentralization: Part 2 – In defense of giving power to the people - Episode 330 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 04, 2023

A critical look at decentralization: Part 2 – In defense of giving power to the people

Welcome to a new year and to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we continue to spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

Let's kick this year off asking the tough questions - and today is about the promise behind decentralization. If you are just jumping in, start with the previous episode - because this is a three part special.

By now, we've established that some people have started to lose trust in our system – rightfully or not – and are proposing that the products and institutions they deem critical should become decentralized.

So let's spend this episode in defense of that argument - and take a simple example that is top of mind: Twitter.

The social media company has had its fair share of trouble after Elon Musk took over. Like what he did or not, the fact is that he has alienated users and advertisers alike. And he has crossed some lines, like temporarily banning journalists and not allowing people to link to other social media.

“Out with the crazy billionaire”, some say, “and power to the users. Decentralize it all”!

The idea sounds tempting and powerful: Users would collectively make decisions about the future of the company. They could vote on who to ban and what to build. True democracy in a sense, with no single person being able to upset everyone. This could go as far as Twitter making open how their feed works, and why you get recommended certain content.

Proponents of decentralization argue: We can't trust Musk to keep Twitter great, so let's all take over and build it as a community. A social network as a social experiment.

We think that is a wonderful idea. But if you think it through, it may not actually make a ton of practical sense. So - next episode is exactly about that: Why decentralization may not be a good idea after all.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

A critical look at decentralization: Part 1 – The erosion of trust - Episode 329 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 03, 2023

A critical look at decentralization: Part 1 – The erosion of trust

Welcome to a new year and to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we continue to spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

Whether you are familiar with crypto, or have been following the latest Twitter debacle: You'll surely have heard the calls for complete decentralization.

But what do people actually mean by that? In the next three episodes of this podcast, we'll dive in deeper, a minute or two a day.

Today, let's take a look at the history of decentralization, and how we ended up not trusting each other anymore.

Think back a couple of decades - people worked normal jobs at the same company for their entire careers, saved money, and moved their families to the suburbs. Having a car was the coolest thing, and you could still smoke on airplanes.

If you wanted to put money into your account, you'd go to your local bank. They knew you, and you knew them. Problems could be figured out between people.

Now step forward to today, and many people see the world a little differently. Anonymous, outsourced call-centers that don't know you, mega corporations that will do anything for shareholder profit, and politicians that can only agree with each other when lobbyists buy them nice lunches.

Sounds a little too grim maybe, and while you may not see it the same way, some people certainly do: In a world where they will not trust organizations and governments to do what seems right, those people look for alternative ways.

Their solution? Often a call for “decentralization” - taking the power away from a single person, company, or government and giving it to the people. Think about Twitter for example, but controlled by the users and not just a flip-flopping Elon. Or money, printed by the people, not the government - rings a bell?

Great - but does that actually make sense? Hear the arguments for and against decentralization in our next two episodes. Stay tuned for tomorrow.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Did Trump just make millions off an NFT collection? - Episode 328 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 02, 2023

Did Trump just make millions off an NFT collection?

Welcome to a new year and to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we continue to spend a minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

Former US-president Donald Trump just released his own NFT collection. It's a set of 45000 NFTs, digital images showing the man in all kinds of heroic costumes. Why 45000? Most likely a play on him being the 45th president.

The collection works like most others: Trump makes money from people buying an original NFT from him. Some of those are considered more rare than others. This is because of so-called traits: Certain NFTs may feature the same clothing and background as others, while others may be more unique. The more rare an NFT, the more expensive, in theory at least.

So - why did he do this? Almost certainly for the money. Financially, he's had a pretty rough time it turns out. According to recently released tax returns, the former president was most successful at inheriting money - not making it himself. But things turned a corner with his rising popularity after the election, with him being able to cash in on his personal brand. Now, he seems to capitalize on it a bunch more with those NFTs.

Further proof? A single wallet address immediately minted 10,000 NFTs out of the collection. Probably no coincidence, but that address also snagged most of the rare collectibles. So who does it belong to? Well, hard to say definitively, but we'll let you take a super wild guess here.

But you know what? The Obamas likely made triple-digit millions from selling books. Bill and Hillary Clinton made over $150m from public speaking gigs, and that's even before Hillary ran for President. So who are we to judge? The job is hard, let them have some fun too.

Fact is, though, that the Trump NFTs have created a significant amount of volume on Polygon, the blockchain they are using. And arguably, many of these users might be new to blockchains. In our mind that is a win - regardless of politics.

Wait, a win, regardless of politics? That's still a thing? Cheers to more of that in 2023. Happy New Year!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

This blockchain is crushing it behind the scenes - Episode 327 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 30, 2022

This blockchain is crushing it behind the scenes

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

Have you been thinking lately: "All dreams of crypto ever becoming something other than just a playground for nerds are crushed"?

Well, the team at Polygon, a blockchain you may have never heard about, seems to prove you wrong. Over and over again. In short, they are crushing it.

Let's dig in!

So, Polygon: It’s a blockchain. There is a little more going on here behind the technical scenes of course, but it doesn't really matter for you and us. And it shouldn’t - and that’s exactly the point they are making recently.

Why? Because their team has been crushing it to get real brands signed up to build crypto experiences for the masses. While you barely hear anything about Bitcoin or Ethereum anymore, it's been raining announcements from Polygon.

Starbucks uses Polygon for their new rewards program. Nike is building an NFT marketplace with them. Warner Music is creating a Polygon-powered music store. Mastercard is building a crypto debit card using their tech. Even Trump's new NFT collection uses it.

Apparently Polygon made it a priority to attract a specific kind of project, because the theme is always the same: Major brand builds a new mainstream product, but happens to use blockchain technologies powered by Polygon. Users don’t need to know it’s on the blockchain, and can just use it.

We think this strategy is clever, and working well. We won't get to mass crypto adoption by building finance apps only 0.1% of the world want to use. But collectible sneakers and exclusive concert access? Yeah, bring it on.

So that's an update on Polygon. And because we are as intrigued as you are, we'll take a very brief look at that Trump NFT collection we just touched upon… In the next episode. Hear you in the new year!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Starbucks is going crypto… but why? - Episode 326 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 29, 2022

Starbucks is going crypto… but why?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining the intersection of exciting new technologies and your world. As always: In plain English.

Grab a cup of coffee and relax... because today's episode will be right in your wheelhouse. And if you've just pulled out the Starbucks app to see if you have points to redeem while listening to this episode: What a coincidence! Because today is about Starbucks... going crypto.

Hard to believe but true: The coffee shop giant is adopting blockchains to build the next version of their rewards program. If that comes as a shock to those who thought crypto wasn't mainstream yet - trust us, we feel the same.

Why would they shake it up when things have been working just fine without the extra topper of cutting-edge tech? Let's dig in, because it might not be as crazy as it sounds.

The whole thing is called Starbucks Odyssey and will launch sometime in 2023. On paper, it sounds like a rewards program on steroids: Sure, you can collect points. But you'll also get digital collectibles for your loyalty, and can access a members-only experience where you can play games and tackle challenges - whatever that actually means. And don't worry, Starbucks aficionado! The existing program isn't going away either.

Ok - you probably have a couple of doubts: Why create this whole experience in the first place? They are a just a coffee shop, right? And why would any of this have to be on the blockchain if they already have a working rewards program?

Well - Starbucks thinks of itself as your "Third Place", between home and work. Their words, not ours. In essence, they want you to think of Starbucks as a place you WANT to spend time at. And guess what? Buy coffee.

And what do brand managers do to imprint their logo in your brain? They trick you into interacting with it more. An interactive, loyal-members-only experience is Starbucks' way to control your mind. But, by the way, they do tons of non-digital things to make you like them, like paying college tuition for their "partners" - which is their fancy word for employees.

Ok, you say, got it. Brand marketers trying to make me love their brand. But why on the blockchain?

Well - we can only speculate. But Starbucks has always been about attracting the young generations as they come and go. It started with syrups and sprinkles years ago. Now their bet is most likely that NFTs and crypto are the perfect cool new thing the new kids will like.

So that's Starbucks' new blockchain loyalty program. And there is something interesting happening here behind the scenes that we'll cover next: It's powered by Polygon, a name you may have heard a ton lately. Stay tuned to hear why in the next episode.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Do Kwon and where is he? - Episode 325 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 28, 2022

Who is Do Kwon and where is he?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto… and now also some other cutting edge news. As always: In plain English.

Avid listeners of this podacast will notice: We really like to keep you up-to-date on things and often follow up on a previous feature. Today is no different, because we are looking into the whereabouts of Do Kwon.

If the name means nothing to you: You are not alone. What you will remember though is the collapse of TerraUSD, the not-so-stable stablecoin that wiped out at least $62bn dollars. Do Kwon is the founder of Terra. If you haven't listened to those episodes, they are quite popular - go back all the way to 167, we promise it's worth it.

But back to Do Kwon: He was born in South Korea, and later got his computer science degree from the prestigious Stanford University. After short stints at Microsoft and Apple, he went on to found Terra Labs in 2018. They launched TerraUSD in 2020.

Fast forward to now: Terra Labs has been under investigation by numerous government agencies, from anything like false advertising to investment fraud. And many individuals felt the same and started suing Do Kwon - who disappeared quickly.

To this day, he remains unfindable, despite claiming that he is not on the run. Dubai, Serbia, new locations pop up all the time. By now, he is wanted in his home of South Korea, and even Interpol has a red notice out on him.

We'll see how it plays out - but eventually he'll be found and will have to answer to the authorities. But it might be a while, because he's sitting on tens of millions of dollars in crypto.

As always, we'll keep you in the loop.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is this new Chat AI trying to kill you? The dangers of ChatGPT - Episode 324 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 27, 2022

Is this new Chat AI trying to kill you? The dangers of ChatGPT

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto… and now also some other cutting edge news. As always: In plain English.

Last episode, we looked at ChatGPT, a mindblowing new, AI-powered chatbot that answers any text input with incredible responses: The bot seems to know basically anything, can respond just like a human, and isn't shy to have an opinion if you ask for it.

Scary right? Well, let's take a look at the potential dangers of such a powerful AI, one we've never seen before.

The first, of course, is a new form of plagiarism. Students, for example, will surely discover how easy it is to create really decent essays without doing the work. And while that is true, it'll be short-lived: New tools are already popping up everywhere, using AI to detect if something was created by AI... strange new world, isn’t it?

What's more worrysome though: ChatGPT can only use the knowledge is has previously pulled out of the web. And if we all were to use it for everything we write, we'd never create a single new idea and just rehash the old ones. That would be a very sad thing.

Another danger is one we already know well-enough: People write all kinds of stuff on the internet, and not all of it is true. Even today, most people trust what they read on Google blindly. Now we have an AI, that states things with absolute conviction, not knowing they are wrong, because it too, takes things for granted.

And lastly, the big question. Will it take over, conquer the world, determined to kill all humans? How would we even know? Well, we decided to go bad cop and just interrogate the thing: "Will you destroy us?"

"No, I am just a computer program designed to assist with answering questions", it claims. But it took the know-it-all AI an unusually long time to to send an answer to this one… Ooough! But we’ll let you be the judge as always.

And one more plug for our free course about ChatGPT on Cryptohunt. We ask it to write poems, have a conversation beetween Jimmy Henrix and Mozard and a lot of other really interesting things as well. Check it out yourself before I reveal too much here. But one thing is for certain, ChatGPT writes amazing poetry.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is behind the AI chatbot that everyone is talking about? - Episode 323 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 26, 2022

What is behind the AI chatbot that everyone is talking about?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto… and now also some other cutting edge news. As always: In plain English.

Today, a topic that is - refreshingly if you ask us - less related to crypto, but still one of those cutting edge technologies you should know about: A new, intelligent chat bot called ChatGPT.

You may have seen people post conversations on LinkedIn and Twitter they had with ChatGPT: And for the most part they are incredible to read. This bot, based on an artificial intelligence created by a company called OpenAI, responds to prompts better than many of us could.

What OpenAI did is quite astonishing: Their computer programs read billions of internet pages, categorized their content, and built algorithms that understood what they are about. The outcome is a simple text chat that accepts any input - such as "Create a cover letter for an egineering job" or "tell me why the sky is blue". Whatever you ask it, it has a well-written response. You can even tell it to change its tone of voice, the length, whatever - its like talking to someone who is really good at writing and knows everything.

And this scares people, rightfully so: Teachers fear that students will use it to write their essays for them. Content writers fear that they'll be out of a job soon. Or even worse, will this AI take over and become Skynet soon?

Well - we have some thoughts on that. Stay tuned until next episode for those. Until then, trust noone, they could be an evil bot.

Just kidding! Until next episode! Ah, and we also just released our first non crypto related course on ChatGPT on Cryptohunt.it. So if you want some inspirations on what to ask - just take it. It definitely blew my mind.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Paypal collaborates with Metamask: Why this is a big deal - Episode 322 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 23, 2022

Paypal collaborates with Metamask: Why this is a big deal

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto… and now also some other cutting edge news. As always: In plain English.

Crypto just went a little bit more mainstream with another interesting announcement by Paypal: They have created a deep integration with a popular crypto wallet called Metamask.

Let's unpack this, and talk about why that is an important milestone.

Crypto kindof exists in its own universe. It's hard to get into, hard to use, and there are not many things you can really DO withit, other than speculate on price swings.

The first problem, getting into crypto, is something insiders call the "onramp" problem. You need to use real world money to buy crypto to play around with it in the first place. Several places obviously exist, like exchanges such as Coinbase, but they are not something lots of people are familiar with or comfortable.

Enter Paypal - the company has already been allowing people to use their regular Paypal app to buy crypto. But thus far, it lacked a good way to use it somewhere other than for payments. And this is where Metamask, the most popular crypto wallet in the world, saw an opportunity. Together, the two companies built an integration that allows people to use Paypal to buy crypto inside the Metamask app.

To understand just why that is so important, you need to understand how people use Web3. In this alternative world, log ins happen with your wallet - such as Metamask. Having your log in and your crypto funds in one place makes things so much easier.

And if this all excites you and you are in the process of opening up your Paypal app right now, hold on, at least for just a quick moment: Crypto is still dangerous and hard to use, so take a deep breath before you dive in.

But don't worry - we got you covered. I recommend to get certified in Crypto over the holidays or between the years - when you maybe have a bit more time at hand. We created a great course on cryptohunt.it to get started the safe way and you even get a personalized NFT in the end of it.

And with that - for the ones that spend the next few days with friends and family - happy holidays. And no worries, we will already be back on Moday!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Could Twitter have been the killer app to make blockchains go mainstream? - Episode 321 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 22, 2022

Could Twitter have been the killer app to make blockchains go mainstream?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto… and now also some other cutting edge news. As always: In plain English.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter's famous founder and multiple-times CEO, hasn't been sitting quietly on the sidelines of the company's struggle under Elon's new ownership.

In fact, he's layed out a vision for what he hopes social media would become... and it would have been great news for blockchain enthusiasts. Let's dig in.

Dorsey argues that no company or government should have control over social media. According to his ideas, it should be owned and controlled by the people using it, and those people should determine how it looks like. This is the way he sees true freedom of speech happening. And instead of building strong content moderation teams inside of Twitter, he says, he should have focused on giving strong tools to the community to do that job and truly democratize decision making.

Sounds famililar? It is, because that is the idea behind blockchains, such as Bitcoin. Dorsey is, in fact, a huge Bitcoin fan and has started funding projects that use blockchain technology or similar ideas to power the next Twitter.

Find it interesting that the Twitter Dorsey describes has absolutely nothing to do with the one that Musk is creating? So do many others - and we'll see what happens. But it could be good news for blockchain fans, as a blockchain Twitter would finally serve as a real killer use case.

And next time - another popular app embraces crypto even more: Paypal. Hear you then and here.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Mastodon… and will it kill Twitter? - Episode 320 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 21, 2022

What is Mastodon… and will it kill Twitter?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto… and now also some other cutting edge news. As always: In plain English.

There's been a lot going on over at Twitter in the last few weeks - Musk took over and users as well as advertisers have not been happy.

Musk, you have to understand, said he acquired Twitter to protect free speech. But his actions seemed to contradict that - within days of each other, he blocked popular journalists' accounts and then forbid anyone to link out to other social media services.

That was the last straw for many users, including such popular people as tech investor Paul Graham, who's been singing Elon's praises until then. The rallying cry to move to a Twitter alternative has been getting very loud.

That alternative? It's called "Mastodon", and it's principles are inspired by blockchains. And, maybe not surprising to you... it kindof looks and feels just like a clunkier version of Twitter. What's different though, is how it works under the hood.

Mastodon is actually not operated by a single company, like Twitter, but is essentially just a computer program anyone can run on their own computer. In doing so, they spin up their own Mastodon space using their own internet connection and users can freely roam between those spaces.

The Mastodon everyone is talking about is actually one of those spaces, and you can find it at Mastodon.social.

This operating principle is called decentralization, and has the same goals as Bitcoin and co: To let the community operate the service, so that the community is in control. Nobody can just ban users or change rules - unless the majority decides.

Kindof cool right? We think so, and 2 million monthly active users seem to agree. Still a far cry from Twitter’s 450 million, but who knows? Things have just started to happen.

And tomorrow, we'll talk about what Twitter could have been - according to the dreams of its founder, Jack Dorsey.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn all about Web3. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the "Clawback process" and could it add to Binance's troubles? - Episode 319 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 20, 2022

What is the "Clawback process" and could it add to Binance's troubles?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Today, in yet another episode about the shaky ecosystem of cryptocurrency exchanges and related companies, we take a look at the process of "clawback" and what impact it could have on Binance.

When a company files for bankruptcy, the goal is to hand the business over to independent leadership so that they can make sure that the money the company owes is paid back.

But a bankrupt company is rarely in trouble because it still has lots of money in the bank - and so, in practice, the bankruptcy administrators' main job is to figure out what's left, and pay down the debts according to a priority list. They are essentially just trying to pay back as much as they can.

That's where the clawback comes in. It's a legal way to demand money back from those that a bankrupt company may have recently paid. Makes sense if you think about it: Say you just bankrupted a company: You could just wire yourself or those companies you like money right before declaring bankruptcy, instead of doing the right thing.

And that's where Binance comes in: You may remember that it was FTX's first investor. Eventually they got out because FTX turned into a major competitor - and Binance got paid partially in FTX's now-collapsed FTT cryptocurrency. Now there is talk that $2.1 billion dollars of that may be demanded back. Listeners of the previous episode will realize: That's even more of a hole in Binance's accounts than they may already have.

So yes - there is more trouble on the horizon for Binance! We'll keep you updated as things develop.

But in the spirit of the holidays, we'll spend this week talking about some cool blockchain apps that are doing their job better than their old-school counterparts... First up: Mastodon, a Twitter killer.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is Binance the next FTX? - Episode 318 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 19, 2022

Is Binance the next FTX?

What’s worse - lying or simply not mentioning important facts?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English - so that you can form your own opinions to be safer out there in the wild crypto space.

Last time we talked about the dangers of having your money parked in a crypto exchange like FTX or Binance: You don't know what the heck they are really doing with your money, and when enough people rush to withdraw, it might turn out that they may have stolen or gambled away some of it.

That's what happened to FTX - but is Binance, the world's largest exchange - next?

Trouble has been on the horizon for Binance: Data shows that customer withdrawals are at a record high. It makes sense: In the wake of FTX, people are realizing that they just can't trust these companies absent of real proof that they actually still have the money.

So - the big question is, does Binance still have all the customers' funds, or did they play with those like FTX did?

Well, it's unclear - and in our book unclear is just not good enough. Binance is using an accounting firm called Mazars to show that they have the appropriate reserves. If the name sounds vaguely familiar - it's the same firm that represented Donald Trump's businesses and had to admit that they can't stand behind decades worth of audits because they never asked the tough questions. Mazars is saying something similar for Binance: That they only did the audit, but can't verify the accuracy of the sources. To which we can only say: What's the damn point then?

And even worse: At least to date, the audit only looks at Binance's Bitcoin holdings, but that's far from all that customers have trusted the exchange with. How much more is there? Well, we don't know. And to make matters downright insulting to you and us, they are using a complicated cryptographic method called Merkle Tree to show those reserves exist - "show" in quotation marks.

And as if this is all not enogh - they also took their audit of Binance offline and announced that they would not work with any crypto company for now. Good thing we downloaded the report before - message us if you want a copy.

You know we don't mice words around here. Do we trust Binance at this point? You can bet your bootie we don't, at least right now. If you have nothing to hide, it's as simple as this: Show us the money. Which they won't. Let's just hope for the best.

And because all this is, honestly, quite discouraging, we’ll turn our attention to some real-world use cases of crypto that are actually a net positive. Because the technology holds so many promises, so let’s not let the news of greed and betrayal drown out our optimism!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a bank run, actually? And is that really what killed FTX? - Episode 317 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 16, 2022

What is a bank run, actually? And is that really what killed FTX?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English - and this is another special to explain what happened at FTX and if we can avoid it.

In the aftermath of FTX, many people have compared what happened to FTX to what they call a "bank run". So, what is a “bank run”, and is that actually what happened? Stay tuned, the answer may surprise you.

Imagine you are inviting people over to your house to watch the world cup finale together. Argentina vs. France - of course it ends up being packed in your living room.

You've decided to serve snacks and put out a big bowl of chips. But the match is such a nail biter that your friends are going through all of them before the first team even scores. You have enough to feed everyone, but the rest are in your basement behind some stuff. You go downstairs, dig around, and eventually, a good 25 minutes later, you are able to fill up the bowl. Not ideal, but it all worked out in the end.

That's what happens in a bank run as well. People, often in situations where they worry that their money may not be safe, rush to withdraw it from their bank. Meanwhile the bank, which didn't expect this to happen, has parked a part of the money somewhere else - some in investments, some simply in savings accounts they can't access in that very moment. The problem: For a short time, the bank is out of actual money it can hand out and needs a while to catch up by converting those parked funds back. Also - not ideal, but the money was still there.

But is this really what happened to FTX? No.

It is true that, once the news of problems at FTX emerged, people rushed to withdraw their funds. The problem was that FTX hadn't simply parked it somewhere else like a bank would. Instead, Sam Bankman-Fried and his gang took it without customer’s permission and gambled it away, betting billions while crypto was crashing. It's as if you went to the basement to get those bags of chips and discover that the rats got in and ate them all.

And there we have the big difference between banks and crypto companies like FTX: Banks are regulated and have strict rules and oversight, especially since 2008 when they caused the banking crash and lawmakers put safeguards in place. In all fairness it should be said that banks can gamble, too. But only a little and not secretly.

This means: Right now, your crypto just isn't safe with crypto exchanges, especially those overseas. Who knows what they are up to. And with that in mind, we'll take a closer look at the largest one of them: Binance, because trouble may be on the horizon there too.

See you next time to investigate: Is Binance the next FTX?

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Should I use crypto to send money internationally? - Episode 316 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 15, 2022

Should I use crypto to send money internationally?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English - so that you can form your own opinions to be safer out there in the wild crypto space.

Ever sent money to friends and family in another country? Then you'll have suffered from the sky-high fees that banks and transfer companies charge. Crypto is often said to be the answer you're looking for – make international payments in minutes, with fees that usually much lower than traditional methods. It's supposed to be a magic wand for your money!

But, as with any magic trick, not all is perfect. There are drawbacks to using crypto for international transactions. For one, it can be highly volatile, which makes it risky to send. Additionally, the legal and regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency is still evolving, so it can be difficult for you to know if you are braking a law simply by sending your cousin some Bitcoin.

Still, the benefits of using cryptocurrency for international transactions are significant. Not only can it save you money on fees, but it can also enable faster and more secure payments that can't be stopped at random by banks or governments. And as the technology and infrastructure around crypto continue to improve, these benefits are only likely to increase.

So, as always, be sure to do your research and carefully weigh the pros and cons. And who knows, maybe you'll be able to wave your magic wand and make all your international payment woes disappear!

~~And tomorrow back to another topic of international debate: An update on FTX, because Sam Bankman-Fried will testify in front of the US Congress today.~~

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does SBF’s arrest mean for crypto? - Episode 315 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 14, 2022

What does SBF’s arrest mean for crypto?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English - and this is another special on FTX.

So: Sam Bankman-Fried got arrested in the Bahamas. The US government is trying to extradite him. Yet again, he's on the cover of every news outlet in the world - it's not looking great for him.

But forget SBF for a second… what does all this mean for crypto in general - and is there a silver lining?

Well, first the bad news, depending on where you stand: More money will likely flow out of crypto markets, because their reputation has suffered immensely... and not unfairly if you ask us. Everyone should have realized by now: Crypto is still a very volatile investment and the risks don't stop there: SBF will surely not be the last fraudster we'll have to talk about. All the great projects out there will be overshadowed by the negative headlines for a while.

And when the government presents its case, we suspect many news documents will be made public that reveal all the other companies that are on shaky ground - because they got a loan from FTX or because FTX lent them money. That'll make even more dominoes fall.

But deep breath… hard to believe, there is a silver lining here. Ever wondered why SBF is in the Bahamas, and prior to that in Hong Kong in the first place? That's because in the US, there are no clear regulations around crypto businesses. And that’s actually preventing businesses from starting there. Sounds paradoxical? Well - think of it this way: You could start a crypto exchange today, and do everything right because no rules exist, but tomorrow's laws could make everything you do in good faith illegal.

Keen observers will notice that Sam wasn't charged with securities fraud - because then the US government would have to take a side and categorize crypto as securities, meaning existing laws can apply. But they have avoided that for the longest time now, and you can bet that SBF's lawyers will not miss out on a single chance to get the SEC to take a side in court. The result, hopefullly? We might be able to avoid the next FTX by creating companies that operate under laws and have real oversight.

Here's to that! We'll keep you in the loop as things are happening every hour right now.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Sam Bankman-Fried was just arrested - Bonus Episode 314 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 13, 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried was just arrested - Welcome to a special bonus extra Episode

We usually just do one episode per day of the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English. But today is different - we need to cover the most recent events right now.

Remember our recent podcast about Sam Bankman-Fried, and how we already assumed that his interviews were not the last thing we'd hear of him?

Well, suddenly it all happened very quickly: Monday morning, the cuffs clicked on his wrists and he was arrested in the Bahamas.

The warrant for his arrest is coming from the US government though, and they filed for extradition back home as well. That means it's all or nothing for SBF, as he is often called. But what exactly is he accused of?

The legal papers, released yesterday, are full of scathing allegations. He is indicted on eight different charges, but they basically all say the same: He lied wherever he could.

Using falsified information, he schemed over $2bn Dollars from investors, stole customer funds he said he would never touch, and oversaw insider trading of his second firm Alameda research on FTX. He is even accused of braking election laws by funneling his money to politicians in a way that it evades legal donation maximums.

And if you thought, like most of us, that SBF went down the deep end when crypto collapsed late last year in an effort to save FTX or Alameda research - well, you'd be wrong it seems. The US government's charges are going all the way back to 2019.

Shocking? We'll let you be the judge.

And tomorrow, we'll talk about what this all means for crypto in general... with an interesting take you'll hear here first. Until then - stay safe!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is “Proof of Time” (PoT)? - Episode 313 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 13, 2022

What is “Proof of Time” (PoT)?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English - so that you can form your own opinions to be safer out there in the wild crypto space.

Today, we're introducing you to the concept of "proof-of-time", or PoT in short.

Proof-of-time is a way to prove that a certain amount of time has passed, kind of like how you can prove that you're old enough to ride a roller coaster by showing your ID.

It is used in some blockchains as a way to prevent cheating.

Here's how it works: Imagine you and someone random are playing a game of chess, and you want to make sure that neither of you cheats. To do this, you could use proof-of-time.

To begin, each of you would show how many hours of chess you have each played at your respective local chess clubs leading up to now. The more time played, the better - because at the club, cheating will be detected quickly and your clock reset if you are found out.

In essence, in proof-of-time, you prove your trustworthiness by creating a reputation for yourself.

When computers crunch numbers to see who sent whom how much crypto, they need to be able to trust each other. Otherwise someone could just make up money they never had. Proof-of-time helps create that trust without producing unnecessary extra work.

Proof-of-time is still not used in many blockchains, as intriguing as the concept may be. It's main competitor is proof of stake, where a financial penalty gets imposed instead - and that is so popular that even Ethereum switched to it.

Will it ever take off? Only time will tell... see what we did there?

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Just how big if the “FTX Domino Effect”? - Episode 312 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 12, 2022

Just how big if the “FTX Domino Effect”?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English - so that you can form your own opinions to be safer out there in the wild crypto space.

A few episodes back, we introduced the idea of the “FTX Domino Effect”. It describes the nuclear fallout from the FTX collapse: Companies that were financially entangled with FTX are falling one by one, like domino stones.

But just how big is the FTX Domino Effect, actually? Soon, we may find out, at least as far as publicly traded companies and the United States go. Here’s why.

Over the weekend, the SEC, short for “Securities and Exchange Commission”, sent out a note to all of the companies it oversees. The agency’s job it is to ensure that these stay in compliance with laws and regulations to remain transparent about their business to investors. And the SEC takes their job very seriously - in this case demanding all companies to publish if and what exposure they had to FTX’s downfall.

To understand just how important that is, you have to understand how most of the companies that fell like dominoes in the wake of FTX, actually mishandled the situation. Just like FTX itself, they didn’t tell anyone about their troubles, hoping that they would secretly be able to turn things around without you ever noticing. But a turnaround rarely happens as the examples of BlockFi and Genesis show: They either disabled customer withdrawals or went bankrupt.

The real problem here is that they give customers no choice to withdraw before it is too late. By the time things are too bad to turn around, your money is gone. They want to hold on to your money: It’s selfish, and in most cases likely criminal.

And that’s why the SEC is becoming proactive, reminding at least the companies it oversees to play by the rules and of the consequences they face if they don’t. We think it’s the right move, but only affects a subset of companies in the United States.

The only way to protect yourself is to go through the hassle of managing your own wallets - we have a course on that at www.cryptohunt.it and a weeklong special starting with episode 295 on this podcast.

I see you tomorrow, stay safe out there!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

An Update on Ukraine and Crypto - Episode 311 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 09, 2022

An Update on Ukraine and Crypto

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

When the war against Ukraine broke out, we shared stories about crypto enabling donations to help the country's citizens. Today, 9 month and almost 200 episodes later, an update.

Back then, in March, individuals were rushing donations to help the Ukrainian government raise money for humanitarian aid and defense. Crypto was and remains the best option, as international money transfers are slow, costly, and can get stuck. And the government has since stepped up their game further and operates a variety of official wallets to accept different crypto currencies. The sum of everything donated? An estimated $120 to $150 million USD Dollars.

But with the Ukrainian economy under attack as part of the war, citizens have also moved to using crypto in their every day lives. Ukraine is, according to a payments company's report, the number 2 country in the world in crypto transactions, following only the much larger United States. Monthly transactions have risen from 1 to 1.5m since we touched on the topic last time.

But the free movement of money means it can go to either side. Russian militia groups have been very successful in raising crypto - through Telegram of all places. Massive campaigns to target users on the messaging platform have put over $4m dollars into their wallets - at least that we know of.

The silver lining, if there is any in this unfortunate situation, is that blockchains create transparency. You can trace back every transaction, and sum up what has been sent where. We'll keep an eye on this topic, and you in the loop - until then, think about the people in Ukraine who are heading into a harsh winter with critical infrastructure like water and power grids largely inoperative. “Donating crypto to Ukraine” remains a popular search on Google, and if you plan on doing so, there is an article on Time.com that we fact-checked so you know your money is going to the right place.

Soon, we’ll all wish each other Happy Holidays – but don’t forget there are people out there who are struggling right now.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What if you got paid for surfing the web? An explanation of BAT (Basic Attention Token) - Episode 310 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 08, 2022

What if you got paid for surfing the web? An explanation of BAT (Basic Attention Token)

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Today, we'll present you with an intriguing new way to look at the internet: What if YOU got paid for surfing the web?

Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? In a world where big tech companies not only steal your data, but also make money selling it to advertisers, you never see a single cent. In fact, they do all that to sell YOU something.

Yet there is browser that promises the opposite: Brave. It looks and feels just like Chrome or Safari, but with a twist: At its core, it wants to protect your privacy by aggressively blocking trackers and advertisements. And there is a big twist: You can get paid in Brave's "Basic Attention Token", short BAT, when you accept ads. You are literally getting paid for your attention, hence the name.

It's the dream of Web3 proponents: Turn the business models of big tech on their heads. But is it going to work in the long run?

We think there is a good chance. Ad blockers, VPNs, and consumer laws are already aggressively clamping down on ads, giving big tech less access to your data whether they want it or not. And when you look at Brave's business model, it is really not so different from Google: Brave sells their advertisers access to your screen instead of just being the browser in between. The difference? You control the show and get in on the action.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why are brands like Nike getting into Web3? - Episode 309 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 07, 2022

Why are brands like Nike getting into Web3?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

In yesterday’s episode, we took a deeper look at Nike’s upcoming digital collectibles marketplace called .Swoosh. But we left you hanging a bit: Because it’s still not clear why traditional brands would get into NFTs and Web3.

You might think: It’s all about the money. And sure, there is some money to be made, but Nike is also doubling down in times that crypto markets are crashing. Plus, in the grand scheme of things, the NFT revenue is still very small compared to their massive business.

So what’s the real reason? They want to have a better relationship with you. Yes, seriously, you - and of course all the other consumers who like their products.

The old way of doing that was to follow you around the web with ads, and send you tons of emails, because admittedly that’s really all a brand could do. But privacy concerns have spawned software and laws that are reducing the effectiveness of advertising. And do you really read all the email in your promotional folder?

Looking for alternatives, some companies have discovered that Web3 may come to the rescue. An NFT is sort of a VIP pass: Not only do you own a product, but it might also give you access to as many experiences as you can dream up: Maybe a sneaker-owner-exclusive chat with your favorite sports star. Or early access to a limited edition collection. Or it opens the doors to a fan-only online community.

There are tons of really smart marketers at the companies you already love who understand that including you in a community will keep you a fan of theirs for a long time. And that’s exactly why they are all so interested in Web3. Executives around the world are probably looking at Nike at this very moment, ready to follow them into the world of NFTs.

So keep an eye on things: Crypto speculation may be a thing of the past, but the experiences it’ll allow companies to craft will be the future. And here’s something else to consider: Brands have money to spend, and that’s a spark that may ignite the fire.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is .Swoosh by Nike? - Episode 308 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 06, 2022

What is .Swoosh by Nike?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Why is Nike, the popular brand, even a topic on this podcast? Well - you may not have heard, but Nike has actually created a very popular NFT collection. And now they are doubling down to build their own store in collobration with blockchain company Polygon.

Sounds strange? It’s actually quite logical. Let’s dig in together!

You will know Nike mostly as a sports apparel brand. But for decades, their products have also created devoted fans, especially of their sneakers. And it’s not just to wear them - collectors think of them as a rare piece of art, many just buy them to put them on the shelves, unopened. And like other collectibles, many of these sneakers have gone through the roof in price, creating a whole industry around them.

In that context, you’ll see why Nike got into NFTs. Because those are simply digital collectibles, it wasn’t a stretch for Nike to release digital sneakers. The first release, called “Cryptokicks”, took the NFT space by storm and brought new people into the world of crypto. Think this couldn’t have been THAT successful though? Well, collectors have already traded those digital sneakers back and forth for a total of $1.3 billion dollars. Holy kicks!

Ok, you say, and we know you are thinking: Why release just one run of NFT sneakers if people love them? So did Nike: .Swoosh is going to be an NFT marketplace where Nike will drop many more collections over the years, including virtual shirts and more sneakers. Their partner to get this off the ground is Polygon, which is a blockchain that allows fast and cheap transactions. When you want to reach the mass market as a brand, that is really important.

And if all that didn’t sound like a lot of news coming from an apparel company, hold your breath: Owning one of the digital collectibles will also give you access to exclusive communities and access to real-world collectibles and events.

So you see: where traditional brands intersect with Web3, things can get interesting. In tomorrow’s episode, we’ll dive deep into their minds: What do Nike and co get out of it?

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why are blockchains used for IDs? - Episode 307 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 05, 2022

Why are blockchains used for IDs?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

If you haven’t heard of IDs on the blockchain, that’s because it’s still a relatively new use case.

South Korea is already paving the way here. First, they equipped their military with blockchain-powered ID cards, and then a large university followed step.

If you used them, you wouldn’t know anything is different. You tap your card or scan a code on your phone, and that identifies you - maybe to access a building, to drive a military vehicle, to borrow books, or to take an exam.

So what exactly is the point then if it all seems the same?

Well, remember that a blockchain is essentially nothing other than a large digital file cabinet. But instead of being operated by one computer or one person, it is decentralized - meaning many computers have a copy of it and they all work together to store and retrieve data. This makes it much more resilient to attacks. And that’s a big deal in the military, where that kind of redundancy is important.

But blockchains also allow for privacy - a university test center doesn’t have to know a students birthday and address to let them take a test.

It will be interesting to see how these things develop: But as you can see, there are real reasons we would prefer blockchains to more traditional technologies. Of course that is not always the case - and we are here to help you figure out what’s useful, and what is just smoke and mirrors, just like we’ll do in the next episode where we’ll ask ourselves why Nike is launching an NFT store.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Proof of Reserves (PoR)? - Episode 306 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 02, 2022

What is Proof of Reserves (PoR)?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Have you heard about the latest wrinkle in the stable coin space? Our old nemesis, the Tether stable coin, has reportedly been up to no good, yet again: Instead of keeping one real dollar on hand for each Tether they issue, apparently at least every 10th Tether is back by unstable crypto loans. And as is usual for Tether, they told nobody about it.

Sounds like a bad idea, especially in times of tokens collapsing left and right? Well, it doesn’t have to be this way: “Proof of Reserves” to the rescue: This process creates an independent audit proding proof that a company’s money reserves are what they claim them to be. Essentially, Proof of Reserves creates transparency so you know where your money is invested.

And if you think: “Hey, why wouldn’t anyone want such a report, especially for something that calls itself a stablecoin?” - then you’d obviously be right. But it is not mandatory because there are no government rules yet in most of the world.

But think of it this way: You don’t have to wait for governments to step in. If a financial institution holds your money, but doesn’t have such a report, you can already ask yourself why. Most likely, they have something to hide. Laws or none - it would be a reason to be skeptical.

We’ve called out Tether multiple times in this podcast and hope they change their approach - but it looks like they are only doubling down on intransparency. But now you know what to look for and make up your own opinion.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why is Sam Bankman-Fried still giving interviews? - Episode 305 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 01, 2022

Why is Sam Bankman-Fried still giving interviews?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

For today’s episode, we’ll stick with our topic from yesterday: FTX and the curious stories that are unfolding.

You, just like us, have not been able to read the news without stumbling into Sam Bankman-Fried every single day. So, you’ll remember, but just to recap: SBF, as he is widely known, was the CEO of now-collapsed crypto firms FTX and Alamada Research.

At this point, it is widely understood that SBF tried to cover massive speculative trading losses from bad investments by stealing customer deposits from his exchange business. Sounds bad to you? Your gut got that right, and very likely it is a serious crime.

Yet, SBF keps tweeting, texting with journalists who have his personal number, and even just gave a live video interview to the New York Times that was seen by millions. Shouldn’t he best stay quiet and let his lawyers handle things?

That’s what you’d think, but it all starts making sense if you understand the interesting history of SBF and how he crafted a public image to manipulate decisions and get an in with the highest circles.

After FTX’s collapse, stories came to light that’ll make you scratch your head. Allegedly, he grew his hair out to create a deliberately disheveled look to give himself the appearance of a crypto wunderkind. He would sleep in his office, on a bean bag, in front of a conference room and have potential investors walk past him on their way in, just to slowly rise and show up in the meeting impressing them with a coherent pitch.

All of that seem to have been tactics to build a brand around himself to manipulate people’s opinions. And that’s likely what is going on now as well. In fact, in the NYT interview, he comes across as charming, relatable, taking responsibility, and trying to right a wrong.

But remember, this is still the same guy who stole your money – to plug a hole HE created by taking insane financial risks. So, mark our words - this is going to get interesting. We are sure this is just the beginning of an interesting PR strategy.

Keep an eye on future SBF appearances: And remember this episode, because it’ll help you make your own informed judgement.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

BlockFi and the “FTX Domino Effect” - Episode 304 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 30, 2022

BlockFi and the “FTX Domino Effect”

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

You heard the term here first: The “FTX Domino Effect”. It's time we coined the term, because one by one, crypto companies affiliated with the now collapsed exchange FTX are falling.

This week's victim: BlockFi, a crypto trading and lending firm. At the core, BlockFi didn't do anything too different from your average bank: You could put your crypto in their savings account, and they'd pay you interest on it.

But it helps to understand how that worked: Like a bank, they would take your money and invest it somewhere else. That strategy works well, but only if those investments pay off. Which they never do forever, and BlockFi took risks that were much higher than a normal bank.

So BlockFi was hit hard. First, it got into trouble by having invested in Luna, the stable token that famously crashed over night. And then, as crypto winter unfolded, FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried bailed them out. But instead of giving them actual money, they gave BlockFi their FTT token... which, as we all know by now, recently collapsed when FTX went down.

In the end, BlockFi ended up owning everyone money, with no way to pay it back, and had to file for bankruptcy. The saddest part for sure: That consumer probably thought that their money was safe.

Now you see why we call it the FTX Domino Effect. We sincerely hope you are not affected by the latest domino falling, and maybe this podcast is giving you a reason to evaluate all the places you have your money parked. There will be more dominos to fall.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Changpeng Zhao (CZ)? - Episode 303 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 29, 2022

Who is Changpeng Zhao (CZ)?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Changpeng Zhao, in crypto circles also known as CZ, has been making the news lately. He is the founder and CEO of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. But there is much more to him and you should definitely know about him!

CZ was born in China, but his parents - both academics - got in trouble with the government for voicing their opinions. Quickly, the family emigrated to Canada, where CZ went to school and university. He became a computer scientist and started working on stock exchanges for Bloomberg.

Eventually though, he found his way back into China, and started working in the crypto space. He got so fascinated by it in fact, that in 2015, he sold his apartment in Shanghai and put everything into Bitcoin. Way back then, he already showed his knack for timing trends well.

Not much later, in 2017, CZ founded Binance, which quickly became a household name in crypto trading. What did he seemingly do better than anyone else? Work with or around regulations, which allowed him to expand quickly. He also understood the power of building up others around him - and so he launched the Binance Coin, which became its own blockchain quickly. Thousands of projects build on it today.

At the same time he started Binance, he also rose to Twitter fame and has since become one of the most prolific crypto evangelist out there, never shy to criticize what he doesn’t agree with. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and he did exactly that, but with extreme consequences: When he called out the house of cards that FTX and sister company Alameda Research had built. He even put in an offer to save FTX, but quickly withdrew it realizing the troubles ran really deep.

Compared to Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s larger-than-life, now former CEO, Changpeng Zhao was always the quieter, less in-your-face voice of crypto… and in the end that prevailed. And although crypto isn’t doing too hot in the markets right now, his share still puts him among the richest people in the world.

Not a bad move, selling his apartment for Bitcoin, don’t you think? And now you know who CZ is, because he will certainly make waves again.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What’s the difference between a Centralized Exchange (CEX) and a Decentralized Exchange (DEX)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 302 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 28, 2022

What’s the difference between a Centralized Exchange (CEX) and a Decentralized Exchange (DEX)?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

By now, you’ll have heard this in every corner of the internet: Leaving your money on a so-called centralized exchange could end badly, and if everything were decentralized, the FTX collapse wouldn’t have happened.

But is that actually true? Let’s start by understanding the differences between both concepts.

Think of exchanges as places that let you buy and sell something. Like your farmers market for example - where demand and supply come together. If there are too many merchants with too many eggs, they’ll decrease prices to get rid of them. Too many people want to buy turkeys? Prices shoot up.

A crypto exchange is no different, just that it operates online, and deals with - obviously! - crypto. Traditionally, these exchanges are “centralized”, meaning they operate as the middleman between buyers and sellers. They keep a list of who wants to buy or sell crypto, and at what price. When there is a match, they make the transaction happen by taking money from the buyer, and crypto from the seller, and if all looks good, send each to the opposite party.

In order for that to happen though, they need access to your funds. This is important to understand: For that to happen, you need to deposit those in their account. The downside is obvious: Your money is not yours to control anymore.

A decentralized exchange replaces the company in the middle with computer code. Insiders call this a smart contract - an emotionless piece of software that does only one thing: trade crypto. And even more importantly, it doesn’t do anything else - so it can’t just decide to take your money for other reasons. This makes it unnecessary to have a middleman, which is why it is called a decentralized exchange.

Crypto proponents are fast to call out that your money is safe with those decentralized exchanges because you never entrust someone else with it in the first place. And to a certain extent, that’s true - when you control the keys to your fortune, nobody else can take it.

But programs are known for one nasty little thing: Bugs. And these smart contracts can have a ton. This is where most crypto hacks happen, actually. Say you are participating in a decentralized exchange, for example, to earn interest. While your money is with the smart contract, that contract could be hacked.

So now you know the difference between centralized and decentralized exchanges. As always, don’t just trust what people claim - the truth is usually somewhere in between and crypto is still just a baby.

We are grateful you are here to learn and will see you in tomorrow’s episode.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, design is done by Carmen Rincon, and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Crypto Contagion? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 301 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 23, 2022

What is a Crypto Contagion?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

You’ve seen the news: People fear a so-called "crypto contagion", which could cause the collapse of more crypto companies as a result of FTXs downfall. But what does the word mean, and why isn’t something like the FTX collapse more contained?

The word contagion comes from the world of biology: it describes that a disease spreads from one person to another.

And that’s exactly what we’ve seen happen in crypto markets a lot lately: One company goes down, and like they are infected by the same virus, others follow one by one.

This is because they are tightly financially entangled. Unlike product or service companies, in the world of finance the core business is moving money around. And when the source of that money goes bankrupt, it’s a big problem.

In the case of FTX, there are two such problems actually: First, it owes significant sums to other companies, and they simply won’t get it back. That debt can cripple them. And second, FTX was paying everyone with their FTT token, which went down to zero in value. So these companies made financial bets assuming their FTT holdings were worth enormous sums, and in the end they just weren’t.

That's why it is called a contagion. It’s bad all around. And in the end the buck stops with you, the little investor. So make sure to take control of your crypto before its too late. Tune back to last week’s episodes where we explained the process in depth.

And enjoy the Thanksgiving holidays, and keep an eye out for a little Cryptohunt surprise: We are launching a crypto certificate for you to take over the long weekend. You'll find it at www.cryptohunt.it. Have fun!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why we believe in the future of web3 - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 300 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 22, 2022

Get Crypto Certified Here!

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

… But today, we mix it up again. It’s a special episode. For 1 and a half years I have been recording an episode every day of the week here in my garage studio… and today we are at number 300.

And with everything happening in the crypto market, this episode is long overdue. If you’ve been sitting out there, asking yourself if it’s all still worth it despite all the bad news, we got you covered.

That’s why today’s format will be a little different!

We will talk about why we are still so bullish on web 3 despite the current news in a bear market

Here is a new idea, called Web3, that really gets us, and many others, excited.

🔭 Web3 is the future of the internet
- Giving people the power to shape the internet, and controlling the flow of their money will create incredible momentum. Web3 is inevitable and we are at an inflection point.
And it’s important to understand, that companies will want to be in it too. 🍪 and Tracking are dead: Web3 is the future of how brands engage audiences
- Old, Web2 technologies like cookies and tracking are dying. Brands need new ways to build lasting relationships with audiences.
- Web3 and smart contracts are how they will accomplish this. Buying a sneaker online will give you access to an exclusive community of owners. An NFT ticket for a concert will give you first dibs on buying the artist’s new album.
🚧 Web3’s biggest roadblock is how hard it is to use
- Web3 is happening all around us already. But it’s still for an exclusive club of people who’ve figured out the very technical landscape of wallets, keys, onramps, offramps, degens, frens, and whatever strange language they throw at us.
- Education and easier-to-use products will be the catalyst for the mass adoption of Web3. The power behind the idea of Web3 will drive their development.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

FTX - The incredible revelations we just heard about - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 299 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 21, 2022

FTX - The incredible revelations we just heard about

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Just when you thought the drama around FTX, the recently collapsed crypto exchange, is over, a court filing has brought to light, just how shockingly bad the situation was. You may have seen the early warning signs: When rival Binance made a takeover bid, they walked away in less than a day.

The process Binance went through is called due diligence, and it involves going through the accounting books, employee records, legal documents, and so on to get a complete picture.

And this week we found out why Binance ran far away quickly: Through a filing in bankruptcy court.

Just so you understand what happens when a company goes down: It files for bankruptcy, which is a legal process to put it into a sort of deep sleep, while control gets transferred to new management. Their job is only one thing: Find where the remaining money is, get as much of it back, and then pay off the debt as much as they can.

It’s a dirty job. Bankruptcy managers see some really bad stuff and debtors rarely get all their money back. But this one was even worse: The guy they brought in had previously overseen some of the worst corporate scandals in America, including Enron. And in his first days at FTX, he flat-out said: I have never seen something as bad as this mess.

FTX had no good record of who its employees were. Passwords were exchanged through a shared email account. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder, got a personal loan of over a billion dollars. There was no trustworthy accounting. In fact, the firm in charge of bookkeeping prides itself on being the only one with a headquarter in Decentraland - a virtual world. What could possibly go wrong?

But the worst part was how SBF handled customer money. When Alameda Research, his closely entangled trading firm made some really bad choices and owed billions of dollars to outside lenders, guess what he did? Stuck his hands into the customer funds and just paid Alamada’s debt off from there.

Yes… It was bad. But hang in there. There is more to crypto and Web3. So in the next episode, we’ll lift you up. Because we really think this world is quite amazing and can be the future of your internet. Stay tuned for a special tomorrow, when we celebrate episode 300!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How to create a crypto wallet and take control of your funds - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 298 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 18, 2022

How to create a crypto wallet and take control of your funds

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

In light of FTX’s collapse, the amount of money people have pulled out of centralized exchanges has never been higher. For good reason as you know by now: A bankrupt exchange will take your money down with them and not even care one bit about you.

If you are just tuning in, go back a couple of episodes where we explain the concept, but in a nutshell you will need to create your own wallet to do that.

Before you get started though: There is no single wallet supporting all blockchains. In fact, most wallets are specific to just one. So you may need several wallets depending on what you hold. Sorry! Crypto is still pretty annoying to use.

The way to find those is to Google for “non-custodial wallet for Bitcoin” for example - “non-custodial” just means you are the master of your keys, not Sam Bankman-Fried. Read reviews first though to make sure your choice is legit!

Once installed, you’ll want to back up your secret key to a safe place, like those that we detailed in yesterday’s episode. In your wallet, look for the word “seed phrase”, “recovery phrase” or “private key”. Copy or print it and put it somewhere safe. And never share it with anyone!

Lastly you’ll move your funds out of the exchange, and into your wallet. Look for the “wallet address” in your newly created wallet, often that is near a QR code, and put it into the withdrawal feature of your exchange. It’ll look strange, made up from numbers and characters, so copy-paste is the safest way to get it right. Always send yourself a small test transaction first to make sure it all works.

And that’s it. Your funds are now yours again. If you’ve saved your key in a good place, all you have to do now is wait. And if you haven’t moved your funds yet, strongly consider it: With the recent crypto turmoil, seemingly every day a new exchange or crypto bank freezes customer funds.

We hope you found this week-long special helpful! And make sure to sign up at www.cryptohunt.it because we are launching a crypto beginner certification over the Thanksgiving week - so you can stuff yourself with turkey and new knowledge!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How to save crypto keys for the long run - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 297 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 17, 2022

How to save crypto keys for the long run

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Remember yesterday's episode about those pesky, hard to memorize crypto keys? By now you know that there is unfortunately no way around them if you want control over your funds, so let's learn how to save those keys so you can't lose them.

There are a few ways crypto keys can vanish: You can simply lose them, because you never wrote them down or that piece of paper you printed disappeared years ago. They could also be destroyed - rain through an open window made your documents illegible, or your dog ate them. Often times the material they are on won't last through many common situations. Or, worse case, someone steals them.

With all that in mind, it's clear: You want them on a medium that lasts, in a location that is safe. Let's look at a few options we like.

The simplest is to print them out and putting them in a safe place. Bonus points if you protect the paper some more, like laminating it. Water damage is no joke. There are also water and fire resistant document pouches you can buy online. But things can still happen to printed documents, regardless of where they are.

Another interesting example is a metal card that you engrave with your key or passphrase. That'll last much longer and even water and fire will do limited damage to it. Some, like the SteelWallet, come with letters you can insert. Be aware though: Making a mistake in copying over your key manually could be costly!

Last, and most expensive, are so-called hardware wallets. They are small USB-like devices made by companies like Trezor and Ledger that save your keys and let you access your wallets through their software. The trick is that the software is on the device, and entirely isolated from the internet. This is almost like the best of both worlds. Just make sure you have a backup - because if the device refuses to power on, you'll otherwise be in a bad place.

Whatever they are on, make sure they are in a safe place as well. Like a safety deposit box or your safe at home. You are unlikely to throw them away if they are in there, and they protect against the elements reasonably well.

And those are some more popular options to make sure you never lose your crypto again. And tomorrow, we'll talk about how to set up a wallet and move your funds there.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Crypto keys: Dos and donts - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 296 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 16, 2022

Crypto keys: Dos and donts

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Today, we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday. Remember that our goal is to get your crypto funds off centralized exchanges that control your money, and into your own crypto wallet. And also recall that anyone who has the key to your wallet controls access. Likewise, because these keys can look so complicated, forgetting them means you’ll never get your money back.

Ready then? Let’s get started and talk about things to do and things not to do with your keys.

Obviously, the biggest thing to do is to make sure you can always remember the key when you have to.

We’ll go into more detail tomorrow, but this is not as easy as writing it on a piece of paper, because that can be stolen or destroyed and misplaced.

The list of dont’s is much longer: And it starts with the way you write down the key. Try to avoid copying it manually if you can. Lower and upper case matter, and it’s easy to make a mistake because it’s so complicated. And who knows if you’ll still be able to read your handwriting in a few years?

Secondly, don’t share it with anyone. Nobody who asks you for the key has anything good in mind, they are, without exception, scammers. Don’t write it down on a place where people can find it either.

And lastly, make sure it can stand the test of time. How you write it down will impact how long you can keep it. And tomorrow, we’ll talk about places to store that secret key of yours safely.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why crypto keys are necessary, but so hard to remember - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 295 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 15, 2022

Why crypto keys are necessary, but so hard to remember

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

This week, we’ll host several episodes to help you move your crypto into wallets only you control, so you can’t fall victim to a collapsing exchange. We’ll start today by explaining why crypto keys are the literal key to achieving that.

Remember: When you have your money parked with an exchange, like Binance, Coinbase, or the now collapsed FTX, you don’t own it. They do.

But crypto was invented to avoid this ownership problem. Crypto wallets on every blockchain can only be accessed by the owner of the wallet’s key - so our goal is to make you one.

Here’s why it works that way. Think of crypto wallets as safes, made from indestructible glass, on display in a public place. Everyone can see what’s in them through that glass, yet only the person who knows a safe’s combination code can unlock it.

But the safe was constructed by engineers. They are really good programmers, so good in fact that it is virtually impossible for anyone to guess a safe’s password. But engineers rarely make things very usable, and the same is the case here: The tradeoff is, that the password is so hard to remember, that you’ll want to write it down. It’s a mess: random characters and numbers, and lots of them.

This is the reason why you hear about people in the news who lost a fortune in an old crypto wallet: They didn’t make a note of the password way back in the early days, and now they are locked out forever.

So: Now that you understand all of that, you are thinking: I want my money in a safe that I control, not someone else or a company I don’t fully trust. But how do I make sure I don’t lose that stupidly complicated password?

Don’t worry. We are here to help. Tomorrow we’ll discuss how to set up a wallet, and then we’ll talk about options to keep the key safe.

Also: We’ve collaborated with my old friend Alex Valaitis from Web3 Pills on a course about Solana! Be sure to check out the new course on Cryptohunt and make sure to subscribe to the outstanding Web3 Pills newsletter at Web3Pills.com. He covers crypto news every day. So if you are ready to go deeper into crypto and web3 Alex has the right content for you.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why exchanges like FTX lose customer funds and how you can protect yourself - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 294 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 14, 2022

Why exchanges like FTX lose customer funds and how you can protect yourself

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Just when you thought the drama around FTX was over, things keep getting worse. The collapsed exchange just announced that they lost between $500m and an entire $1bn of customer funds due to an alleged hack. Nobody really knows what’s going on, only one thing is for sure: People who had money in an FTX account will have a really hard time getting it back.

But how is that possible? Afterall crypto was supposed to be decentralized, meaning no single person or company can control where the money flows?

Well, the problem is that exchanges like FTX operate as so-called custodians of your funds, meaning they have the keys to it.

Think of it as parking your car: If you drive it into your own garage, and never give your car keys to anyone, chances of it being stolen are slim. But if you drive up to a restaurant, give the key to the valet, anything can happen. They might take it out for a spin, or someone might steal the key from them and then your car.

That’s how a lot of exchanges work. Because creating your own crypto wallet, and making sure you don’t lose the password is annoyingly complicated even to this day, many exchanges just manage all that for you. But that also means that when they go under, your money could go with them. And it does so more often than not actually.

There is a saying in crypto: “Not your keys, not your money”. So while creating wallets and protecting your keys is annoying, you probably guessed it: it’s the only way to keep your funds safe from bankruptcies, crooked players, and hackers. That's why we’ll walk you through it in the episodes this week, step by step, so you don’t become that gal or guy who lost their fortunes when the market peaks the next time.

Maybe some day there will be a better way. Until then, don’t worry. It’s actually not that complicated. See you tomorrow to get things started!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Bubble Token and why do these things keep bringing down crypto companies? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 293 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 11, 2022

What is a Bubble Token and why do these things keep bringing down crypto companies?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Today, let’s talk about “Bubble Tokens”, a very dangerous kind of crypto token that has brought down many crypto companies. Never heard of those? That’s because we coined the term - pun intended!

Why invent a new word? Because nobody wants to talk about these tokens, yet they are the elephant in the room and we need to have a conversation about them. But let’s dig in!

Bubble tokens are crypto tokens that are artificially inflated in value. And when they pop, they can bring down entire ecosystems. A great example is the role of FTX’s bubble token, called FTT, in the collapse of the popular exchange.

Let’s say your local sandwich shop creates a new incentive: For every sandwich you buy, you get 1 point. 10 points can be redeemed for a $10 discount on your next purchase. So far, so good, we’ve all seen this before.

But let’s say this store becomes very successful. The owner buys every business in your town and allows you to use the discount everywhere. Now, the points have real value to people, they become a sort of currency.

And this is where things go wrong: The owner gets greedy. He decides: I’ll just sell the points for cash - points are now everywhere in your small town. And he buys more businesses, but instead of paying for them with cash, he convinces the bank to give him a loan that he can pay off with his own points.

You probably see it coming: The owner keeps printing points until someone realizes what’s going on. Everyone rushes to exchange their points at his stores and the whole system collapses.

That’s what happened with FTX. They created that kind of bubble token, hyped it, borrowed against it, and ultimately had nothing left to show for when people started questioning the system. Whenever a company or ecosystem builds on an asset that is already inflated, it is easy to pop the bubble.

So how do we avoid those? We’ll talk about it in the next episode!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The full "behind the scenes" of what (probably) happened at FTX (part 2 of 3) - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 292 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 10, 2022

Welcome to the Cryptohunt jam, where we spend one minute ...

… actually, today we are breaking with the format and will dig deep into what happened with FTX, and the nuclear bomb it set off in crypto land. But as always: In plain English.

You've certainly heard it in the news: One of the largest crypto exchanges, called FTX, went insolvent literally over night. Shortly after, their competitor Binance entered into a takeover agreement to save FTX, only to back out of the deal in the most spectacular way: By accusing FTX of mishandling customer funds and being under investigation by regulators.

....

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it, the easiest place to learn crypto. This masterpiece was written by my co-Founder Arndt Voges, like almost all of the 292 episodes we produced to date, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am - just the voice - and your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

A crypto nuclear bomb just went off - Binance buys FTX (part 1 of 3) - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 291 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 09, 2022

A crypto nuclear bomb just went off - Binance buys FTX (part 1 of 3)

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Today, a bomb of nuclear proportions went off in crypto land, and you probably saw the result all over the news: Crypto exchange Binance has agreed to buy competitor FTX. Crypto prices tanked like we haven’t seen in a while, and the internet was buzzing.

So - what makes this event so special? Let’s dig in over the next three days. Today: A quick recap of what happened.

In case you are not familiar with either one: Both Binance and FTX are large centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. They bring buyers and sellers together to make a transaction happen, in return for a fee. They are basically the online versions of the New York Stock Exchange, just for crypto.

The founders of both exchanges are somewhat famous among enthusiasts and come close to Elon Musk in Twitter fame. Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, founded Binance. Sam Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, started FTX. Although Binance was the first investor in FTX years ago, the two of them have often gotten into public arguments on Twitter.

Just like they did the day before the big news dropped. Everything seemed fine, until it became clear that FTX was unable to process customer withdrawals, a problem called liquidity crunch. FTX simply didn’t have enough money to pay users who wanted out. Within a short amount of time, Binance’s CZ announced on Twitter that they entered into an agreement to buy FTX to help save customers’ deposits.

And if you think that seems sudden, we are right with you. Very few people saw this coming. And because of that, a ripple effect kicked in: FTX’s own token started to tank, and soon after the entire crypto market followed.

Sounds like a true crime story to you? To us it does. That’s why we’ll do some good old detective work and return tomorrow to explain what happened behind the scenes!

So, don’t forget to subscribe so you do not miss this series!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Where does the crypto in cryptocurrency come from? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 290 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 08, 2022

Where does the crypto in cryptocurrency come from?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

We talk about crypto all day, but have you ever wondered what exactly it has to do with cryptography, if anything?

Cryptography, of course, means to hide and conceal a secret by writing it down in a way that only a trusted receiver can decipher it.

And yet, every transaction anyone has ever done on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is visible to the public. So, where does the crypto come in?

Well, let’s take your good old checkbook as an example. When you write a check, only you should be allowed to sign it. And any receiver should be able to verify that you, and not a scammer, has signed the check.

That’s actually cryptography at work. You have a public signature, which is yours on a check. Everyone can read and verify it. And you have your hand, which is the only hand that is allowed to sign a check. In crypto, your hand is a private key.

Cryptography uses complex math to ensure that it always works like this in both directions, but nobody can steal your private key just by observing your handwriting.

And that’s why you can’t just unlock an old Bitcoin wallet whose key you lost, and why you should never share a private signature with another person. Because cryptography is only as good as the weakest link in this chain: Us humans.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Gitcoin and how does it use Quadratic Funding? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 289 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 07, 2022

What is Gitcoin and how does it use Quadratic Funding?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Today, we take a short look at Gitcoin, which aims to solve the problem of funding opensource projects.

If you are not familiar with opensource: It is when developers write computer programs and make their code available for anyone else to use for free. This is so common, in fact, that every device you use and every single website you browse would not work without code that was opensourced.

There is just one problem: Those developers don’t make any money. That’s where Gitcoin comes in. It creates a marketplace, where donors can reach developers and pay them for contributions to opensource. The idea is to create more common goods, meaning things that help a large number of people. By its very definition, opensource does just that because anyone can reuse it for free.

But it goes even further: Gitcoin also has a grants program handing money to those opensource projects that the community feels are worth funding.

But who decides what is getting a grant, and how much? In true Web3 fashion, this is done by a vote of the community. But there is an interesting, important twist: The votes are counted differently, in a process called “Quadratic Funding”.

Votes on Gitcoin are cast in the form of individual donations to a project. The grant matches those donations, meaning that for every dollar donated, the grant puts something on top. The trick is that the formula favors individual donations. So a project that got $100 from one donor will get less grant money than a project that got $1 each from 100 individual donors.

So - why make it more complicated in the first place? Well, think about it this way: Gitcoins goal is to create moore public goods. By making sure that the projects with the most contributing people, and not with the richest donors get more funding, it strikes that balance.

We like the idea. Hope you got inspired as well – this is one of those examples where blockchains have a real-world impact by programming the flow of money.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are Radical Markets and what do they have to do with blockchains? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 288 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 04, 2022

What are Radical Markets and what do they have to do with blockchains?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Have you ever looked around and noticed all these economical problems that society seems to face? We are sure you did, and you likely even started to think about solutions.

Let's take inequality as an example, the gap in distribution of wealth between the rich and the poor.

Your intuition would probably be to say: We have let free markets go way too far. Governments should regulate them and redistribute wealth. We could impose fairer taxes and new laws.

It may come as a surprise to you then, as much as it did to us, that there are people who suggest the exact opposite: Truly free markets, so-called Radical Markets.

Think that makes no sense? Because free markets have pushed us to where we are? Let’s explore the idea together then!

The idea is that we have a simple set of rules that govern our market, but within those, participants can all make equal decisions without restrictions.

Let's take the example of property. Inequality exists, because some people have a lot, and some people have almost nothing. One idea of radical markets is to force property to always be for sale to the highest bidder, and those who own it, to pay taxes on it. Let's say you own land, you'd have to sell it to anyone who's offering you more than you are willing to pay tax on. And when property can pass hands freely, it will most likely be utilized to be productive - someone may build a factory on the land they bought from you for example.

So: Radical Markets are not about creating unfair markets, they are about creating rules that force everyone to always be IN the market.

So – what does that have to do with crypto? Well, for the first time in a very long time, blockchains are a technology that allows new experiments like Radical Markets to be implemented. This is because blockchains are not controlled by governments and companies, who have little interest in those idea, and thus are a great way to try more radical ideas. In fact, blockchains have attracted a lot of free thinkers that constantly ask themselves: Now that we can program the way money flows, how can we use that power to create a better society?

And on Monday, we'll continue this topic with the related idea of quadratic voting, but bring it back into reality a notch by looking at a project called Gitcoin.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does the US government think about crypto as a payment system? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 287 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 03, 2022

What does the US government think about crypto as a payment system?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

We’ve talked a lot about government’s basic role in our economic system, and how it affects crypto prices. But what does the US government actually think about crypto as a payment system?

Quite a lot it turns out. In September 2022, Presiden Biden signed an executive order asking key government agencies to write reports on various blockchain-related topics. The goal was to recognize that crypto is here, and that the government will have to have an official reaction to it.

A lot of the order was focused on keeping people safe from bad investment decisions and fraud - because let’s be honest with each other, crypto isn’t a safe place yet.

But one particular part of the order instructed the Federal Reserve to publish their thoughts on a Central Bank Digital Currency, which could replace the Dollar as we know it, with something crypto-like.

So, what was in that report? Mostly an assessment of pros and cons to digital money that teach us quite a bit about the worries of Fed officials.

On one hand, they acknowledge that the traditional payments system is somewhat inefficient and unsafe. Read between the lines, and you’ll see they are talking about the high credit card fees we pay to Visa and MasterCard for example, fraud, money laundry, and generally limited payment options that are controlled by closed conglomerates. Something like a blockchain could eliminate many of those.

On the other hand though, it’s all about control. The government has an interest in executing monetary policy, which they could not do if we just switched to Bitcoin and co, which are decentralized. Another issue is privacy, which many blockchains have no good solution for.

So, what’s the takeaway? The US government is clearly seeing the wave of a new financial technology from far away and worries about not reacting quickly enough. But we’ll likely never see a truly decentralized system replace the Dollar. Makes sense to us: The government will still want to at least try to do it’s job to serve and protect us.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How does raising interest rates reduce inflation? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 286 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 02, 2022

How does raising interest rates reduce inflation?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

When the economy cools down, crypto prices usually drop, so it’s important to get an understanding of the forces at work here. In the last two episodes we explained what money actually is, and how inflation works.

Today, let’s talk about what central banks do to bring inflation back down and why it’s hurting crypto so much right now.

You’ve probably heard this a million times: central banks are raising interest rates to reduce inflation. But how does that work… and does it actually work?

Think of central banks like these really big lenders and borrowers. They lend commercial banks incredibly large sums of money, and those pass them on to you. And because central banks control the money, they can set their own interest rates it charges to your bank.

When the central bank decides to raise those, your bank passes that increase on to you as well. Borrowing money is getting more expensive. And not just for you, for everyone - people and companies. Take the housing market for example: Mortgage rates increase, less people buy houses, real estate agents make less money, and go out for dinner less. Now the waiters are getting less tips. Everyone is becoming a little poorer.

And that suffering is by design: Because when people buy less, demand drops, and so do prices. In theory, at least, inflation falls.

You will have noticed though: That’s not working right now. Strange right? Well, remember from last episode: Demand isn’t the only thing affecting prices. We are also having large issues with the cost of goods, caused by the energy crisis and pandemic supply chain issues. Manufacturers simply can’t sell them for much less.

And so it seems, at least for now, that central banks are causing pain to fix the wrong side of the problem. Well intended, but ineffective, because that’s all they can do. But what they are certainly achieving: Getting people to pull investments out of crypto, making those prices come down along with the markets.

And that’s how it’s all connected. And tomorrow, we’ll take a look at what the central bank thinks about crypto… because they have thought about it a lot recently.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What causes inflation, and what does it have to do with crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 285 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 01, 2022

What causes inflation, and what does it have to do with crypto?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Inflation is a hot topic these days, but do you actually know what causes it? And did you know that crypto's birth story is deeply linked with inflation?

Well then, let's dig in!

Inflation it the rising cost of goods and services in an economy. It's quite simple - if a loaf of bread costs $5 today and $6 next week, then that is inflation.

And as scary as that sounds, mild inflation is quite normal. When grandpa tries to give you 25c to buy an ice cream cone, he's not trying to be stingy. That's just what it cost back then and he hasn't adjusted. Economies grow, people make a little more money every year, so they can afford higher prices. The US Central Bank has a stated goal of keeping inflation around 2% per year for example.

But other things than economic growth can cause inflation, and often too much of it. The prices of things you buy are also affected by material costs. Like during Covid when things couldn't be made, their prices shot up.

Another is governments printing money. Many governments around the world created massive amounts of money just during the pandemic - and where there is more of something, people value it less.

But have governments taken it too far, with inflation reaching double-digits? Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin, likely thought so even way back in 2008. Bitcoin is widely thought to be a reaction to governments' power to control their currencies, which is why blockchains were invented to be decentralized.

And now you know what blockchains and inflation have to do with each other... Think about it next time you get gas or go grocery shopping. And tomorrow, we’ll dig into the opposite: How governments intend to get us out of this mess by raising interest rates.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is money, actually? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 284 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 31, 2022

What is money, actually?

We talk a lot about money, cryptocurrencies, tokens, and all that: But have you ever asked yourself what money actually is?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Money is a genius invention. Intuitively you fully understand WHAT you can do with it, but what is behind the idea may sound surprising.

Because money is really nothing more than a promise.

Let’s take a step back to understand. Imagine a world where there is no money. There, people will have to barter - which means exchanging items for each other. You may have a jug of milk and exchange it for a loaf of bread from someone else.

The problem is pretty obvious: It’s impractical. You may not have the right item to exchange on hand. What if you have beautiful flowers, but they don’t want them? No deal.

And this is a really big problem for any economy because markets can't be efficient - you both WANT to make a deal, but can’t do it.

So someone invented money, which is like a contract written on a piece of paper: I will always exchange this paper for a jug of milk for example. Or a loaf of bread. Now you can swap your milk into a paper, and the paper into that bread you wanted.

Usually, governments promise the value of this magic paper. They are huge economic players that can make or break markets with their promises. In crypto, governments have no say, and that is partially why crypto prices fluctuate so much: Instead of a guaranteed means of payment, they become an investment speculation.

And that is money: Just the promise of a really powerful entity, our government. And tomorrow we’ll talk about when that promise breaks, and why inflation happens.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 283 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 28, 2022

What is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

If crypto ever goes mainstream as a currency, it’ll have to compete with government issued money like the US Dollar - that is, unless the government creates their own crypto based currency.

And that is the idea behind a Central Bank Digital Currency, also called CBDC. Many suspect that eventually governments won’t be able to compete with the advantages of crypto, and the best way to get around that is simply use the technology themselves.

But is that really crypto? Let’s dig in.

Remember that Bitcoin was invented in 2008 as money that is not under the control of a single entity - for example a government or corporation. Governments, of course, would likely not find this an appealing concept - the whole point of having a government currency is to exercise control over it. And that can be for good reason - monetary policy steer economies the right way if done well.

So it is safe to assume governments would likely just use the technology behind blockchains, but remain in charge. It’s still crypto - just not decentralized in the way that crypto proponents would like it to be.

Good or bad? We’ll leave you to judge as always. But sometimes a comprise is already a step forward.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

This is the easiest way to get your first NFT… for free!- Crypto in Plain English - Episode 282 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 27, 2022

This is the easiest way to get your first NFT… for free!

The link for today’s episode: https://www.cryptohunt.it/lessons/example-wallet-valora

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Ever wondered how getting your first NFT actually works? Where does it come from? Where do you view it? Can you hang it on the wall?

Just like mastering arts and crafts, speaking a new language, or getting really great at throwing basketball hoops – learning is done best by just doing it. That’s why we’ve created our own Cryptohunt NFT, which we’ll send it to you for free, so you can get the hang of it.

Here’s how it works… Ready to get started?

First, you need a wallet. Think of it as your good old real-life wallet. Somewhere between those credit cards and coins, and maybe some real money bills, there may be a photo of your family or your loved one.

That’s exactly how it works for NFTs as well. Wallets can hold virtual money, but they also hold NFTs. They are usually phone apps or browser extensions. Some are really bad, some are pretty good. For our NFT, you’ll need one called “Valora”. We think it’s pretty good, and if you’ve used Paypal or Venmo before, you’ll feel right at home.

There is an easy lesson on how to install Valora on www.crypothunt.it. Go there next, and find a course called “How do I install and use a crypto wallet?”. In it, there is a lesson to help you add Valora to your phone. We’ll post the direct link in the podcast description as well, so don’t worry.

And the rest is really easy: Send us an email to podcast@cryptohunt.it with your wallet address. You’ll find that in Valora’s menu. There is a neat “Copy Address” button to copy and paste it easily. Then, again, just send it to podcast@cryptohunt.it.

Then, we’ll send you your NFT. And you can do with it what you want. We just like to look at ours, but you are free to sell it if you don’t. Or print it out and hang it on the wall. Or just tug it away like that sandwich reward card you only used once and never pulled out of your wallet. The choice is - as always - yours!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is crypto winter actually a good thing? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 281 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 26, 2022

Is crypto winter actually a good thing?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Crypto winter, meaning a significant downturn in the crypto markets, is here: Total market capitalization has been under $1 trillion US Dollars for months now, down from twice that.

The reason, of course is two-fold. The global economy is cooling off and people are pulling their money into safer investments. But confidence in crypto is also fading in parallel.

And that is, we think, paradoxically a good thing.

How? Let's get into it.

You may remember our past episodes about scams, frauds, and other letdowns that have plagued crypto during its recent bull run. NFTs copied, pasted, and illegally resold. Pump and dump schemes. Illegal ICOs. Collapsing stable coins and funds. Fake accounts. Users playing super boring games to generate crypto earnings. The list goes on.

It seems that the crypto space has had many, many more negative headlines than positive ones. Where there is an abundance of money, and people playing the crypto casino in hopes of making a quick buck, there are also scammers and grifters.

That seems to have changed, now that the market crash has pushed the majority of investors away. Take Decentraland, the virtual world previously valued at a billion Dollars by investors. Allegedly there are less than 10 daily active users left these days. Same with OpenSea, the NFT marketplace - it crashed from over $300 million in monthly revenue to just $9 million last month. Still impressive, but you get the point.

This all may turn out to be a good thing: Games will have to be entertaining again. NFTs will have to be traded between people who appreciate the art. And blockchains will have to prove harder - and rightfully so - that they have a real killer use case.

Agree or disagree? Come find us on Twitter at cryptohunt_it and let's get into it!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How Reddit became the largest NFT creator in the world... by not talking about NFTs - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 280 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 25, 2022

How Reddit became the largest NFT creator in the world... by not talking about NFTs

Today we look at the incredible story of how Reddit become the largest NFT creator in the world - and why you've probably never heard about that before.

If you don't know Reddit, it is a network of message forums, also called Subreddits, where people can discuss practically anything they are interested in. Through a clever system of moderation and user voting, Reddit is known for its high quality content of anything you could think of. No surprise then that there are almost half a billion active users on the platform.

Now Reddit has entered the NFT space, by - listen to this! - never actually talking about NFTs. That's the secret: They call it a collectible avatar and it's usable on the platform without you knowing even a thing about crypto. Clever, right?

Very clever actually, and it exploded in use: Once you realize that NFTs are just digital goods that can be transferred or sold, you'll discover that there is a mind-blowing amount of activity going on. There are almost 3 million collectible Reddit avatars, out of which over 20,000 have already changed hands. On good days, $2.5 million dollars worth of avatars get traded. Fun fact? Reddit just completely destroyed former NFT king OpenSea, the marketplace which now has less NFT holders than Reddit.

And heavy users are benefiting too. Reddit has long had a system of so-called "Karma Points" that users get for posting content that gets upvoted by the community. People with a lot of Karma got those collectible avatars for free.

So: Becoming the #1 player in the NFT market by not saying "NFT"? We applaud you, Reddit! Right up our alley - and if you think crypto and co should become easier to understand, you've come to the right place - subscribe to the podcast and check us out at www.cryptohunt.it!

We also produce this podcast and try to create the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is “Play to Earn” (P2E) - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 279 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 24, 2022

What is “Play to Earn” (P2E)

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Today, we’ll talk about a crypto concept that has it’s rapid ups and downs, called “Play to Earn”, or P2E in short.

Play to earn is exactly what it sounds like: Play a game and make money in return. Sounds too good to be true? We agree, so let’s take a deeper look together!

During the hight of the crypto craziness late last year and earlier this year, games like Axie Infinite made a lot of headlines. Seemingly out of nowhere, millions of players were making often valuable crypto incomes just by participating. People even quit their day jobs to go all in.

But with everything in life, you have to ask yourself: If someone is making money, who’s paying the bill? And that was the problem with all of these games: You had to buy into the games - so in reality it was more pay to play and then maybe earn. And as speculators piled more and more money into these games in hopes of all being able to generate returns, the undelying tokens shot up in value, making everyone richer on paper.

But that was just it – as soon as the trend reversed, and money got pulled out of crypto, these games collapsed. Suddenly everyone is losing money. There were 2.8 million people playing Axie Inifite in January, today there are only 700,000 left and the numbers keep dropping.

What makes things even more complicated is that virtually every crypto game is a horrible game, worse than the worst smartphone games. People weren’t playing for fun, they were participating to make money. And that right there is another big problem: If you don’t have an underlying product that people use because they want to, a monetary incentivize is guaranteed to be short-lived.

And Axie Infity? They have quietly changed the concept name from Play to Earn to Play AND Earn… A small, yet big difference.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The Aptos token debacle: Have we reached peak craziness? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 278 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 21, 2022

The Aptos token debacle: Have we reached peak craziness?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

This weeks’ favorite crypto media punching bag is Aptos token. The project rose from the ashes of the Facebook’s canceled Libra Coin - actually one of our earliest episodes on this podcast if you want to catch up on that. And the news was a doozie: They raised $150m in their initial token sale, valuing the project at $2bn market value.

But on the first day of trading, things immediately crashed. Over the course of a day, that value shrank to half, and original investors were left with large losses.

And on the face of it, we should have seen this coming. The project promised to build a lightning fast blockchain with 100s of thousands of transactions per second, but was only able to deliver 4. That’s even slower than Bitcoin, putting it right into the last place here. And there was more: The company didn’t even say how tokens were allocated before the sale, and just 1 day before it became clear that they would keep almost 50% to themselves.

This all sounds bad, and like a money grab, right? So why were investors piling in money anyways?

Well, let’s not be so fast to judge. The team had a rocket scientist track record of working on some pretty remarkable stuff way back when Facebook poured endless amounts of money into the project. And an early investor’s bet is as much on people as it is on the product itself. Investing in crypto is risky in the first place, but doing it at launch can be even more unpredictable. Many companies with good ideas need that capital to at least have a shot at the goal, and investors know the risks are high.

So - have we reached peak crypto investment craziness yet? You’ll be the judge as always, but we like to know more about projects than Aptos had revealed to the public. But hey - valuation is just one thing, the people behind it might still make something great of it. We keep our fingers crossed, more people working towards something in this space is a good thing.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Crypto.com and the Dotcom bubble: What we can learn from the past - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 277 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 20, 2022

Crypto.com and the Dotcom bubble: What we can learn from the past

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

One of the more prominent companies in the crypto market, the exchange Crypto.com is seemingly in deep trouble. It has laid off thousands of people and dramatically cut back on marketing spending. Reports are now facing that raise doubts about the company’s ability to even survive.

And it’s not like other companies haven’t struggled a lot - notably, publicly traded crypto exchange Coinbase has seen big drops in revenue, since people are not trading as actively anymore.

But is Crypto.com just another big blockchain business hit by the crypto winter? Let’s take a look!

Crypto.com has a long history of attention-grabbing marketing deals. It paid a mindnumbing $700 million to put its name on the former Staples Arena, a big sporting arena in downtown Los Angeles where the Lakers play. There were Formula One sponsorships, and high-interest rates paid on deposited funds. And the biggest one of them all - you probably at least heard about it, was that now almost famous Superbowl ad with Matt Damon. A reported $6.5 million later, that ad was mocked for its script - things took off so much in fact that Southpark devoted an entire episode to make fun of it.

But big, bold bets are fine, if they work, right? Always easy to criticize them after they’ve taken their shot? Fair point, but let’s take a look a little over 20 years back when the Dotcom bubble was just about to burst.

Back then, companies were also piling millions into Superbowl ads. The most famous one was Pets.com, an online pet store, that had a sock puppet with a microphone as their mascot in the ad. The crazy thing? Worldwide internet adoption hadn’t even passed 8% of the population yet. Shortly after the ad aired, the entire Dotcom bubble burst and Pets.com collapsed as well. It was liquidated in 2001 and never reborn.

Seeing similarities? Interestingly, crypto is even earlier on the curve: It’s only at the same level of adoption as the internet was in 1998, suggesting that it’s still a baby. We may get there eventually, but it’s probably much too early to spend millions on marketing when there are just not enough users to make that money back. We are looking at you, Crypto.com, but are rooting for you - sometimes we all just get a little too excited, don’t we?

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why is Walmart interested in crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 276 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 19, 2022

Why is Walmart interested in crypto?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

You’ll find very few large retailers even talk about crypto, let alone give customers the option to pay with it. That just changed this week, when Walmart’s Chief Technology officer alluded to a future where customers would be able to check out with crypto.

But why? Especially why Walmart, one of the largest American retail companies?

It helps to understand that Walmart is on an aggressive roadmap to go online with its business. They acquired innovative online store Jet.com a few years ago and have since built a sizeable and - if you ask us - impressive alternative to Amazon.

And the crypto connection makes sense too if you read between the lines. First, Walmart’s CEO sees a lot of disruption happening in the payments space - by which he means alternative ways to pay with digital currencies. Supporting crypto simply means reaching more wallets.

And this is where it gets a little crazy, but we suspect that Walmart will ultimately not want to miss the boat on selling digital items. Avid listeners of this podcast will remember that brands are already selling collectibles in virtual worlds for virtual money, for example through stores like Nike’s Nikeland inside of Roblox. It’s a small market today, but if it becomes mainstream, Walmart does not want to be unprepared.

Isn’t it interesting to look at the innovation of dinosaurs like Walmart? It might just tell us where the future may be going!

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How is ImpactMarket solving poverty with Universal Basic Income (UBI)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 275 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 18, 2022

How is ImpactMarket solving poverty with Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

As you know, we are huge fans of the potential that blockchain technology has in solving some of the world's biggest problems.

Today, we talk about ImpactMarket, a blockchain project that is tackling one of those problems: Providing financial access and support to the communities that need it the most.

ImpactMarket is most known for providing universal basic income - short UBI - to those in need. By our estimates, it may actually be the largest UBI project in the world, having distributed about $3 million dollars to over 40000 people. Using those $3m, their recipients have generated over $7 million in total monetary movement - this is because money changes hands multiple times as economic activities happen.

But you'll ask, and rightfully so: do we really need a blockchain to do this?

Well, we don't. Except that our system is broken. For every dollar you give to a traditional charity, double digit percentages end up in executive salaries, marketing, and the like. Take the Red Cross for example: Both CEO and COO made over $700,000 (!) dollar each per year. The Salvation Army, as another example, downright refuses to detail exactly how much money reaches people in need.

Don't get us wrong, these organizations do good things. But you can judge those numbers yourself, because we certainly do. Either way, fact is: A large organization has overhead.

Enter blockchain technology, like the one used by ImpactMarket: It puts most of the administrative effort into computer code, making it mostly overhead free. And because everything is on the public record, you can see where your money went.

And there is more: Donors get the PACT token, and can use that to vote on the communities who are applying to join the universal basic income program.

We hope you are as excited as we are about projects like this one, because it gives us an opportunity to solve problems in better ways. Check them out at ImpactMarket.com.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 274 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 17, 2022

What is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

If you have been around in crypto land, you have certainly heard of the SEC. Likewise, if you’ve ever invested in stock in the US or in a US-headquartered company, the SEC will have had a huge influence on your investment without you even noticing.

The SEC, which is short for Securities and Exchange Commission, is a US government agency that has the purpose of protecting investors and making sure markets works well and without interruption or interferrence.

It has a very interesting history! Let’s go all the way back to 1929, when the first massive stock market crash happened, bringing down the worldwide economy and causing a huge recession that caused poverty and pain for many ordinary people.

Things were so bad, in fact, that the US government looked at many options to avoid future crashes of those proportions. The result is the creation of the SEC in 1933.

Today, it still has the same job: It makes sure that companies present investments honestly, and give potential investors fair warning about risks and downsides. And it makes sure that those selling those investments - like banks and brokers - also treat investors fair and truthfully.

And that is a really big deal, because swindlers will tell you anything to make you buy their investment scams. Crypto is a great example: There is someone at every corner trying to sell you their token, lying about it just to run away with your money. Remember last week’s episode about Kim Kardashian promoting a really scammy token? Exactly.

But with laws in place, and the SEC cracking down on these things, bad actors are deterred, because the penalties can be dramatic: Jail time and large fines are very common.

We still have ways to go though: Officially, the US government hasn’t decided yet who’s going to oversee the crypto markets. And while the SEC is getting involved here and there, we have no clear rules and frameworks that honest companies can follow.

We’ll get there eventually - until then keep an eye on the news. And next time you know exactly what the SEC is.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the “2% for Web3 Impact” pledge? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 273 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 14, 2022

What is the “2% for Web3 Impact” pledge?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Happy Friday – and welcome to another episode about the one topic that excites us the most here at cryptohunt: How blockchains can make our world a better place.

Today, we’ll talk about the “2% for Web3” initiative, a project that aims to pump over $20 billion dollars into efforts to combat climate change, poverty, and lack of financial access.

But we need talk about how we got here in the first place. If you look around carefully, you see a lot of pressing issues in the world - we are destroying our planet even faster than predicted, the gap between rich and poor is getting wider, and despite the internet bringing access to information everywhere, some people don't even have basic financial tools like bank accounts, making any progress out of poverty impossible.

But it gets more frustrating: While most of us agree that those are problems, our system fails to bring the change we want. Banks invest your money where it profits them the most, and that happens to include oil, gas, and defense companies. Governments pledge to keep Co2 emissions low and miss targets every year.

Feeling powerless? Not so fast, because for the first time in decades there is hope on the horizon: The immense power of blockchain technology can provide the building blocks to recreate our financial system from scratch - because governments and companies won't. We might be able to turn this ship around after all.

Which brings us back to the “2% for Web3 Impact” pledge: Created by the Celo Foundation, its goal is to bring investors with very deep pockets from all industries together. This is also known as "impact investing" and is already happening. Currently, over 1 trillion dollars are invested with impact in mind - and the plan is to redirect 2% towards impactful Web3 projects, hence the name.

This is really smart if you think about it: Money talks, so just use that money to move mountains. Projects like the “2% for Web3 Impact” pledge are fighting the system with its own weapons, and use the power of technology that governments and companies can’t influence.

We are definitely excited about it and keep our fingers crossed that the initiative exceeds their $20 billion dollar target by far.

And with that, we wish you a happy weekend, and leave you with this one thought: Maybe changing the world is not just possible, but as simple as thinking about where you invest your money.

This podcast is produced by Cryptohunt.it the easiest place to learn crypto. Copywriting is done by Arndt Voges, Social Media is done by Brett Holleman, Design is done by Carmen Rincon and my name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt and I am your host of this daily show.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why did Kim Kardashian pay a $1.2 million penalty for promoting crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 272 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 13, 2022

Why did Kim Kardashian pay a $1.2 million penalty for promoting crypto?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Have you heard the news that Kim Kardashian had to pay a whopping $1.2 million (!) dollar penalty for promoting a crypto token in one of her social posts?

Here’s what happened: Kardashian had been paid $250,000 for a single post about a token called EthereumMax. Not a bad payday if you ask us. But here’s the problem: She didn’t tell anyone that it was a promotional post, and instead suggested that friends told her about it. Easy to see how people could have thought they stumbled into the next big thing, now that Kardashian is talking about it.

But because celebrities have large social media followings, there are strict rules on labeling these kinds of posts for what they are: blatant ads. The SEC, which controls how financial assets are treated in the US didn’t think Kardashian followed those - and the fact that she paid a $1.25 million dollar penalty for a $250,000 post suggests that she was well aware and just wanted this to go away.

This story is as old as the proverbial snake oil and all too common in the crypto world. A made-up crypto currency enlists celebrities to prompte it, unknowing users buy into it, the price goes up, and the scammers dump their holdings for a profit.

So, how do you know what project is legitimate? Use common sense and follow a few simple rules: If it smells rotten, it probably is. Never heard of something and suddenly a busy celebrity magically discovered it? Red flags everywhere.

And even more important: Always do your independent research - once you read up on a token you’ll spot a bad one from a mile away. Think all the resources you can find are dry and technical though? Well - we have great news… You probably saw it coming, but give Cryptohunt a try at www.cryptohunt.it. We’ll brake it down in really easy to understand terms.

Oh, and what about that EthereumMax token she promoted? It was a scam, it had nothing to do with Ethereum, and had no utility. The only thing worth remembering: it has lost over 98% of its value since Kim Kardashian posted about it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Cryptohunt Rewards program? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 271 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 12, 2022

What is the Cryptohunt Rewards program?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Did you know that you can earn tokens and other rewards, all while just learning about crypto? Well, we are excited to tell you: We have a whole new rewards program on Cryptohunt now!

Maybe you only know us through this podcast, but we actually spend most of our time working on our core product, which you can find at cryptohunt.it. Here, you can learn the building blocks of web3, DeFi and crypto. It’s just like this podcast, in plain English, and at your own speed.

And now we’ve stepped it up a notch by introducing rewards for avid learners. Introduce others to Crytohunt, and we’ll give you rewards - the more you share, the more you get.

Prizes range from exclusive CryptoBlub NFTs, over stickers, T-Shirts, and hoodies, all the way to a Meta Quest 2 VR headset so you can see what that Metaverse is all about. And if you enjoy getting rewarded for learning - we have that covered too. Invite 3 people and you unlock our Learn and Earn courses, where you get crypto when you ace a quiz.

But we are most excited about the Crypto raffle. If you refer 25 people you get a mystery token out of a large bag of all kinds of crypto. This goes all the way up to 1 ETH, which is currently worth almost $1300 and goes to one lucky winner.

Intrigued? We hope you are! Head over to www.cryptohunt.it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Green Liquid staking? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 270 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 11, 2022

What is Green Liquid staking?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Cryptohunt has its office in the heart of San Francisco in the Celo Community center where we sit next to other startups in an amazing co-working space.

One of those startups is “Spirals”, a team dedicated to offsetting carbon emissions through a process called “green liquid staking”.

You may remember: Staking is the process of locking up your crypto assets in order to validate transactions. People who stake crypto get rewards - similar to interest on a savings account.

Liquid staking is the same process but you do not have to lock up your assets. Instead, you get another token in return, which symbolizes your staking investment. Anyone can always exchange that back - making it as valuable as the original crypto you staked. This is as if you took a loan against your savings account, all while still earning interest.

But what makes it green liquid staking? Our friends from Spirals offer liquid staking but instead of paying you interest, they use that income to do something for the planet. Every dollar your money earns goes into offsetting CO2 by planting trees or supporting other climate initiatives - based on how you vote. We think that’s really awesome and if you do too, check it out at spirals.so.

So: if you have some crypto lying around, think about staking - ideally in a green liquid form so you can save the planet while you are out there enjoying all it has to offer.

And if you are wondering why your bank doesn’t offer this: Because they play with your money for their own benefit, often investing in oil and gas industries without telling you. We say: No more. Green liquid staking is one of those things that clearly show how crypto will empower us to change the world.

Learn more about Spirals: https://www.spirals.so/

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Rollup? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 269 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 10, 2022

What is a Rollup?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Today, we talk about Rollups. Don’t roll your eyes - this is a very important concept to understand today’s state of blockchains.

Even as a casual listener of this podcast, you’ll have realized by now: Blockchains are not yet ready for prime time. In an ideal world, they would be fast enough, secured against fraud, and not controlled by just a few people or companies. But just like balancing your work, your life, and getting a decent amount of sleep, those three can be competing priorities.

Today’s blockchains achieve some of those tradeoffs, while they struggle with others. Ethereum, for example, has stayed safe and out of the hands of single actors who could have an overly strong influence, but this is at the cost of efficiency. Transactions are still slow and expensive.

Rollups are a practical interim solution to those tradeoffs. Let’s say you are buying a few dozen apples at a farm, but they all come loose. With your own hands, there are only so many you can carry at a time, so things become cumbersome pretty quickly.

But suddenly you have an idea: Why don’t I just get a box and carry them in batches? You find one in the corner, transfer your apples from the pile to the box, carry the box to your car, and take them out.

That’s how rollups work too. They find ways to process transactions more efficiently than today’s big blockchains like Ethereum can. They are secondary blockchains, in nerd-talk also called Layer 2 blockchains, that communicate with Ethereum but get the job done outside of it.

One such example is Optimism. To make things fast, it will process transactions in batches outside of Ethereum. So, why is it faster than Ethereum in the first place? Because it makes some deliberate tradeoffs. Instead of validating all transactions, it just accepts them, assuming they can be trusted. This is why this process is also called “optimistic rollup”. If things are disputed later, it will then make corrections. In essence, it compromises on security for the benefit of speed and cost.

Sounds like we are not quite there yet? You are right about that. But until Ethereum and co solve all trade-offs, rollup blockchains like Optimism are a good alternative.

And If you want to learn more about Ethereum or Optimism you can also head over to the respective project pages on Cryptohunt.it where we give you even more insights and you can leave a review about them. Find direct links in the shownote of this podcast:

https://www.cryptohunt.it/projects/optimism

https://www.cryptohunt.it/projects/ethereum

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Interplanetary File System (IPFS)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 268 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 07, 2022

What is the Interplanetary File System (IPFS)?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Today, let’s talk about something you’ve definitely encountered, but probably never heard of: The Interplanetary File System, or most commonly known as IPFS.

Interplanetary? Sounds exciting right? So let’s dig in and explain that spaceship.

So, by now you’ve heard of NFTs about a million times, and they are a great example of why IPFS exists. Imagine looking at one of them on your computer screen right now: It’s usually just an image.

But that image needs to be stored somewhere. On the traditional internet, it would be uploaded to someone’s website and live there… until… and that is the problem: They delete it.

But remember, the world of blockchains is all about decentralization, meaning you don’t have to trust a single person or computer to do the right thing and remain online to keep your precious NFT available to look at.

You probably saw it coming: IPFS solves this problem. Instead of saving your image in one place only, it saves it in many places at the same time. Just like a blockchain record, copies live on many computers that are connected to form this IPFS network. Now, if someone decides to turn their IPFS computer off or just delete everything, you still have a copy in many other places.

The genius about IPFS is that you don’t have to think about it. The address of that image will always be the same and IPFS makes sure to serve you a copy, regardless of where it is.

And that’s IPFS: Practically every NFT you’ve ever looked at is safely stored there. And the name? We don’t really know, but aliens certainly had nothing to do with it.

And if you are interested in getting your own NFT, head over to www.cryptohunt.it, where we are about to launch a new program and give away NFTs starting next week. Make sure to sign up now to not miss out.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a crypto protocol? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 267 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 06, 2022

What is a crypto protocol?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Often, you hear the terms blockchain and protocol used interchangeably - but they are really something different.

Welcome to today’s episode, where we’ll explain what a protocol actually is!

A protocol is the actual program, the computer code, that determines how a blockchain operates at its core.

Think of it like the laws of physics in our real world. We all do vastly different things all day long, but we can’t break those laws.

Or like the rules of a sports game. Baseball has its own set of rules, or protocol, so does Volleyball. These games can only be played within their respective restrictions.

The same goes for blockchains. Bitcoin has its own protocol, so does Ethereum. Not unlike cricket and baseball, they operate similar in many regards, but also very differently in others.

And that is the difference between a blockchain and a protocol! We’ll see you next time! And until then, why don’t you take a free course on Cryptohunt.it. We just released a new one called “How people generate passive income with crypto”.

And remember, This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Liquidity? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 266 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 05, 2022

What is Liquidity?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Today, we talk about something that is important even outside of the crypto space: Liquidity. It is so important, in fact, that every purchase and sale of anything you can think of are affected by it. But before we dive into why that matters for crypto, let's find out what liquidity actually means.

An asset, meaning something that can be bought and sold, is liquid if there are enough of it to trade freely.

Let's take a famous painting to explain this: The Mona Lisa. It is, you guessed it, not very liquid, because there is only the one. Imagine your job is to find out at what price it should be insured. You’ll realize quickly: Giving it a value is really, really hard.

One thing: You could look at price history. But she’s never been sold, so there is no history to take into account. Even hypothetically, someone would have to be willing to actually sell it, and someone to buy it. And still, agreeing on a price is completely arbitrary. So, what is it? One billion dollars, 100 million, 10 million? We will probably never find out.

So, you see, lack of liquidity can lead to price uncertainty. Luckily, the opposite is true with liquid assets. Let's say you walk into your favorite furniture store to buy one of those framed photographs. Millions were made and they sell for $9.99 there, and if you look at eBay, there are hundreds for sale for a similar price, depending on condition. The value fluctuates very little, because there are many. We call that an efficient market.

But Cryptohunt! Get to the point! What does that have to do with crypto? Well, a lot actually. There are a ton of cryptocurrencies, most of them relatively small. Even worse, the majority can't be traded on big exchanges - Coinbase, for example, only has around 150 of the over 10,000 we know about.

All this means: Smaller cryptocurrencies are hard to buy, and even harder to price correctly. And even if you wanted to buy them, there may not be enough sellers, leading to temporary spikes or drops in prices.

Think this is not a big problem? Well, next time you buy something at the peak of those wild ups and downs, you might remember today's topic: Liquidity.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is “Rebasing”? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 265 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 04, 2022

What is “Rebasing”?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Today we talk about Rebasing, a clever mechanism that makes stablecoins stable. So how does it work?

It’s all about taking advantage of a little, yet powerful psychological trick that drives almost every major economic trend: Creating abundance and scarcity.

But let’s take a step back and think ahead: Thanksgiving will be here soon. Now - imagine sitting down for dinner with your entire family, and the turkey comes out: Juicy, deliciously smelling, and ready to serve. And it’s a big bird – you’ll gladly pass it around the table, because clearly there is food in abundance for everyone. Take a slice more, who cares.

But then the inevitable happens: It turns out everyone’s appetite was large, and at the end of the meal there is only a single slice left. And even after countless slices of turkey, suddenly the thought creeps into your head: I hope I am the lucky one who gets it.

That’s abundance and scarcity at play. And they work the same with assets, such as Gold: There more there is, the less the market values it. The less there is, the more it is worth to people.

Stablecoin that use Rebasing make use of that trick. They target a specific value, for example that each coin is always worth $1, and have the ability to create and destroy some of their own supply. These two processes, which crypto people call minting and burning are controlled by the stablecoins’s code.

When the market price is too high, more coins get created and the price adjusts. When it is too low, coins are burned and the price increases.

Thinking about Thanksgiving again: It’s almost as if someone had the ability to magically make turkey appear on your dinner table. For the destruction of it, we are sure, you can think of more traditional means.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Sidechain? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 264 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 03, 2022

What is a Sidechain?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Ever wondered why there are blockchains like Polygon, that magically work on top of larger ones like Ethereum? Welcome to the world of Sidechains, an important new concept you should know about. Let's break it down together!

Imagine you are going on vacation, and you are asking your best friend to water the plants. You trust her 100% - nothing will happen to your plants when she is in charge.

The problem though is: She lives far away, and needs to take the bus to your house. That's slow, and costs a lot of effort each time.

So she does what any smart friend would do: She asks one of HER best friends, who she also trusts 100%. And that friend happens to live much closer to you and gets the job done. Beautifully, in fact, because when you return, the plants look amazing!

That trusted friend of yours who lives far away is one of the larger, established blockchains like Bitcoin or Ethereum: It works well, but it's incredibly slow to use.

The second friend who lives closer is a Sidechain like Polygon: It is much faster and more modern, and gets the job done. Yet, it communicates with the main blockchain to let it know when the work is done, giving us the best of both worlds: The ability to use those older, bigger chains, while taking advantage of the faster, cheaper, and more modern Sidechain technology.

And now you know what a Sidechain is, and how it complements Ethereum, Bitcoin, and co. In fact, next time someone says that Ethereum is slow and expensive, you can tell them what you’ve just learned: That Sidechains can already solve these problems by working in tandem.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Utility Token? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 263 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 30, 2022

What is a Utility Token?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Let’s talk about a special kind of token today: The utility token. What is it and do we really need another kind of token?

But first, a little detour into the world of tokens: A token is generally any crypto asset, and there are countless of them. Bitcoin is a token, so is Ethereum. Those two, specifically, are so-called native tokens. They act like the primary money on a blockchain. So just like the US Dollar is the native money in the United States, Bitcoin is the native token on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Utility tokens are different. Their purpose is NOT just to pay and get paid, or to incentivize people to operate the computers that are necessary to run blockchains. Their purpose is to provide a specific utility for a project.

Say, for example, you created a blockchain version of Instagram. People who get likes on their posts get tokens, and they can spend the tokens by liking other people’s stuff. Very simple, but it provides a utility by making social interaction reciprocal.

So - that’s a utility token. And sometimes things get complicated. What if someone bought your tokens from that Instagram clone to give their posts more likes? Suddenly you have a mini economy and utility blends into money.

You see: The lines get blurred in crypto, just as they do in the real world. But now you know what people mean, when they call something a utility token.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Solidity? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 262 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 29, 2022

What is Solidity?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Today’s episode is about Solidity, which is a programming language invented by the Ethereum creators. And you don’t have to be a programmer to understand why it is so useful.

Ethereum was the first blockchain to introduce what we call “programmable money” - the ability to write your own logic into the blockchain. Before Ethereum, all you could do with crypto was to move money around. With Ethereum, you could suddenly make that money flow based on your own conditions.

And that’s really important if you want to rebuild the traditional financial system on a blockchain. Because paying each other is just a small part. We do all kinds of other, more complex things: from getting interest on savings accounts to trading stocks.

Solidity was invented to make all that happen. Developers use it to write code that decides where and how blockchain money moves. You could, for example, write a program that pays interest on people’s deposits.

Now you will ask: Aren’t there already enough programming languages? Did they really have to invent yet another one? Kind of, yes, actually. The issue with generic programming languages is that they are just that, generic. Which makes them powerful, but big and slow.

But with Ethereum and similar blockchains, you have tens of thousands of computers independently running the same code to make sure they all come to the same conclusion, so nobody can cheat. And at that scale, every little bit of efficiency counts.

And that’s why Solidity exists, and is so important. You don’t see it, but next time you look at an NFT or buy Ethereum: It’s the programming language of money that makes it all happen.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a mnemonic phrase? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 261 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 28, 2022

What is a mnemonic phrase?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

When you create a new crypto wallet, you’ll often be asked to write down a mnemonic phrase. Well, isn’t that a mouthful?

As usual, crypto people make easy things complicated, and the term mnemonic phrase is no different. It’s actually really simple. This phrase is just a bunch of ordinary, short words in a particular sequence, for example: “disagree”-”jealous”-”apple”.

It may sound stupid at first, but those mnemonic phrases are a simple, yet effective solution to a common problem: Complex passwords are too hard to remember or even write down without making mistakes.

But remember our phrase “disagree”-”jealous”-”apple”? By now, you can probably remember it, because that’s how your brain works.

In crypto wallets, these phrases also act as your key to unlock everything and are usually either 12 or 24 words long, and each come from a list that contains just over 2000 possible words in total.

So: You must be thinking now - 3 words are easy to remember! So it might be easy to guess my mnemonic phrase? Well, do we have a surprise for you! There are almost 9 million possible phrases for just 3 words. For 12 words, which is the minimum in crypto wallets, the number is so large, you’d have trouble counting the zeros. For 24 words, it’s astronomical.

So let’s do this one more time, together:

“Disagree”

”Jealous”

”Apple”

Funny, how our brain sometimes works, isn’t it? So next time you see a phrase like that, think of this podcast and give us a smile!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Discord? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 260 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 27, 2022

What is Discord?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

It seems that almost all the crypto insiders are hanging out on Discord. But what is Discord and why is everyone there?

Discord is a messaging app where communities of all kinds can connect with each other in real-time. What makes Discord special is that chats don’t just happen in one place, they are split across so-called “channels”.

Think of it like a house party. Different groups of people are in different rooms, and each group has their own topic of conversation. At a Discord-style crypto house party, people in the kitchen would talk about NFTs and those in the living room about the recent market crash.

Discord communities are usually open for anyone to join. Unfortunately, that also means they are full of scammers. They will pretend to have an amazing investment opportunity, be there to help you figure out how to use a wallet, or impersonate someone. You should simply assume that you can trust noone - it’s really that bad unfortunately.

Sounds intimidating? We agree, and that’s why we built cryptohunt, a trusted source of crypto knowledge. But if you want to dive deep into the world of Discords, stay safe - and check out our course: “How to buy, sell, and hold crypto”. You’ll learn all about how to keep your crypto safe for the long run. As always, it’s completely free.

Head over to cryptohunt.it and get started today!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a whitepaper? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 259 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 26, 2022

What is a whitepaper?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Let’s say you want to learn more about a new crypto currency that was recently in the news.

Quickly, all signs will point towards a so-called whitepaper. The official site will link to it from the very top, and people will tell you to read it.

And then you realize: This whitepaper is confusing, and full of jargon, code, algorithms, and math.

So… what is going on here?

A whitepaper is meant to be a scientific, detailed document explaining in great detail how something complex works.

When Bitcoin came out in 2008, there was just that one whitepaper to explain what it does. But back then, the audience was a different one too: Cryptographers, mathematicians, computer scientists. For them, it made sense to have that level of technical detail.

But why is it that, even today, everyone still points to whitepapers that you and us can’t possibly understand? Part of this is tradition, and part of it is to give the impression of credibility. Because how, after all, could something possibly be bad if it’s got a document full of impressive formulas?

Well, it still can, and those rarely help. In fact, many bad projects hide behind complicated whitepapers.

Next time, give us a try a Cryptohunt instead - where we’ve gone through the trouble of looking at many projects already and break it down the best we can with an independent, critical perspective - just like in this podcast!

You’ll find us at www.cryptohunt.it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What exactly is a middleman and why does everybody hate them? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 258 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 23, 2022

What exactly is a middleman and why does everybody hate them?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

You’ll often hear that crypto cuts out the middleman, and somehow that is better. But what does that actually mean? Let’s take a quick look at what this means and why this sentiment is so prevalent in the crypto space.

In centralized systems, large players - such as banks and governments - naturally aggregate power. They sit between the interacting parties. That’s what we call a middleman.

To make things more efficient, these middlemen bundle transactions and services under one company or administration. And this often works really well: For example, well-designed laws can protect consumers from bad investment decisions. Or an efficient fraud detection algorithm can save you from the worst when your credit card gets stolen.

But it can go the other way: Governments can decide to act in a way that it harms you. In 2008, during the financial crisis, governments printed money and caused inflation. Or companies can simply decide to take your data and sell it to the highest bidder, like Facebook did.

Decentralization is essentially about cutting out the middlemen to avoid concentration of power. The distrust in these institutions led Satoshi Nakamoto to invent Bitcoin for example. And we can see how that is a tempting world view with everything that is going on.

But always ask yourself: How bad are these middlemen really? And what real value do they provide? We’ll let you be the judge, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is TradFi? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 257 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 22, 2022

What is TradFi?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

If you hear enough crypto talk, eventually someone will mention “TradFi”, often looking down on it as something yucky.

So… What is TradFi? Well, another one of those terms crypto people made more complicated than it has to be. It stands for “Traditional Finance” and simply refers to existing mainstream financial system: Banks, Central Banks, Governments - all the things you’ve lived with your entire life.

Why give it a new name then? Because it feeds the “us vs. them” narrative. Traditional Finance is evil, crypto is coming to your rescue.

If you ask us – and you know we are not shy to give you a more balanced view – that’s really the wrong way to look at it. The financial system we grew up in works for a majority of people. Sure - it has shortcomings, especially those disproportionately impact the financially less fortunate. But we will not take crypto mainstream, if we don’t all work together.

So, here’s to TradFi just being Fi and all of us getting along to solve problems together!

Oh, and one more thing: You might not know but we release new fun courses about all things crypto, web3 and defi on cryprohunt every week. Last weekends course about DAOs is my favorite one so far. If you always really wanted to understand what a DAO is - we got you covered now. Just go to www.cryprohunt.it, sign up and do the latest course - it’s all for free.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the meaning of “fungible”? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 256 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 21, 2022

Are YOU a crypto normie? If so, welcome! CLICK HERE to start (or continue) learning about everything crypto!

What is the meaning of “fungible”?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

You’ve heard the term before NFT: Non fungible token. And just when you thought that crypto people couldn’t make even more simple concepts sound complicated, here we are…

So: What does fungible actually mean, and how does it fit into this context?

Being fungible just means that something is exchangeable for an identical item of the same utility. For example, if a recipe calls for two lemons, and you have a bunch laying around, either two of them can be used in it - doesn’t really matter which.

Another very common example of something completely fungible is a dollar bill. There are billions of those in circulation, and even though they are technically all different items, even with an individual serial number, they are completely exchangeable in practice because all have the same utility: Whether you pay for your ice cream with one or the other doesn’t matter.

You probably saw this transition coming: But crypto currencies are also fungible. One Bitcoin is completely exchangeable for the other.

Which leads us to NFTs… Why are they “non” fungible? Well, because each represents something unique. Out of the 10,000 existing Cyberpunks for example, each is unique, and has a unique value.

We don’t know what’s up with crypto people hiding behind complicated jargon - but let them just feel smart about it. You, meanwhile, can have a good laugh about it knowing that it’s really dead simple afterall.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a "pump and dump"? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 255 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 20, 2022

Are YOU a crypto normie? If so, welcome! CLICK HERE to start (or continue) learning about everything crypto!

What is a "pump and dump"?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

A "pump and dump" is a type of common crypto scam that preys on people who fall for big promises.

Here's how it works: Someone, or most often a coordinated group of scammers, create or pick a coin they want to make money off.

They all buy in very, very early, and often very few people own most of the coin.

Then the real work starts: They craft sometimes incredibly genius campaigns to convince others to buy in after them. It's not unusual for them to make wild and false claims, promise guaranteed returns, and even enlist or pay celebrities to promote the coin.

As more people buy in, the price goes up. Everyone feels great about it, telling their friends, and more buyers push it even higher.

Once the price hits a certain amount though, the scammers dump their entire holdings of that coin. Within a short period of time, the price collapses. The money essentially just changed hands - from the investors to the scammers.

So, keep an eye out for those. The signs are often obvious: Glitzy marketing sites, big social promotions, etc. When it sounds too good to be true, and there isn't anything obviously useful behind it, it probably is a scam.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a "bag holder" in the crypto scene? - Episode 254 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 19, 2022

Are YOU a crypto normie? If so, welcome! CLICK HERE to start (or continue) learning about everything crypto!

What is a "bag holder" in the crypto scene?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Last week we spent every day on the Etherium Merge - if you did not listen to it - I think you should - we tried to make the best explanation out there! Now, back to explaining some jargon since we did not do this for a while!

A "bag holder", is someone figuratively "holding the bag" when investments go down. It's someone who didn't get out of the market in time and is now stuck with an investment that is worth much less.

Like many crypto insider terms, this one is also one to talk down to people who had the wrong market timing. You'll see it thrown around on social media all the time.

Think of that what you want, but one thing is sure: Investing in crypto is very risky. Markets are volatile and it's easy to lose money. Timing things perfectly is probably just a matter of sheer luck, regardless of what some people claim in hindsight.

So, next time you think about that shiny Lambo you see some crypto influencer drive on TikTok: There are just as many bag holders out there who just don't talk about it. It's a zero-sum game.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Ethereum Merge Deep Dive: What happens after the Merge? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 253 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 16, 2022

Are YOU a crypto normie? If so, welcome! CLICK HERE to start (or continue) learning about everything crypto!

Ethereum Merge Deep Dive: What happens after the Merge?

Welcome to the final episode of this week’s Cryptohunt Jam Ethereum Merge special where we spend a bit more than a minute each day this week to explain crypto - in plain english! And now that the Merge has succeeded, let’s take a look at Ethereum’s future together!

With the Merge, Ethereum’s energy just dropped by a crazy 99.95%. To us, who firmly believe that protecting our planet should be the first priority, that reduction itself is amazing progress.

But Ethereum has two other big, intertwined problems, which have yet to be addressed. It is still slow, and transactions are expensive. So let’s find how and what Ethereum is doing to fix those.

Remember that blockchains like Ethereum process transactions in blocks - hence the name. Blocks are just several transactions bundled together so a computer can process them more efficiently. Before the Merge, Ethereum processed a block every 13 seconds. After the Merge, it’s every 12. You can easily see: That’s not exactly a game changer.

That still means that Ethereum only supports an average of around 30 transactions per second. Imagine that - more are happening every second in a single shopping mall. Visa alone processes almost 2000 per second and can likely process many more if they happened. If Ethereum wants to become universal money, it will need to catch up big time.

The second problem? Costs per transaction. Ethereum allows people to jump ahead in line if they pay more in transaction fees than others. And since those 30 transactions per second isn’t a lot, people bid like crazy: Currently, fees per transaction are sitting around $1, but during times of high demand they have been over $50. Either one is not feasible for everyday purchases.

And that’s why Ethereum is addressing the amount of transactions it can comfortably handle: An upcoming update will bring a strangely named feature called “sharding” sometime next year. This will vastly increase Ethereums throughput. And that, in turn, will reduce transaction fees dramatically as well.

We hope you enjoyed our week on Ethereum’s Merge… Drop us an email at podcast@cryptohunt.it to let us know - we love feedback!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Ethereum Merge Deep Dive: Why is Ethereum suddenly more efficient? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 252 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 15, 2022

Ethereum Merge Deep Dive: Why is Ethereum suddenly more efficient?

Are YOU a crypto normie? If so, welcome! CLICK HERE to start (or continue) learning about everything crypto!

Welcome to another Cryptohunt Jam Ethereum Merge special, where we spend one minute a day, every day of this week, to explain what the Merge is. In plain English.

Woohoo! Big news! The Ethereum Merge just happened: And if computers and graphics cards could talk, you'd hear a big, worldwide, collective sigh of relief: "Aaaaaaaahhhh".

Before the Merge, those computers had to crank to the limit to process transactions. Now, they just do it like it's nothing and things have become a breeze.

But why is that? Let's take a trip back in history.

When Bitcoin, the first successful blockchain, was invented, the world was a different place: Nobody really thought that crypto would become this big. And nobody envisioned that we'd be using it – not only to move money around – but also to build a new financial system from the ground up.

And so, a method to validate transactions was born that sounded smart at the time: "Proof of Work". It forces computers to solve complex math puzzles - this means operating a Bitcoin computer costs a lot in energy bills, which prevents even the richest of people from operating a majority of them and taking over Bitcoin.

Ethereum also used this method. But over the years, we all realized: This sounds clever, but is actually a pretty bad idea. It doesn't scale up to the millions of transactions humans do every second, and is really, really bad for the environment.

So people said: Processing transactions is a low effort, but the puzzles themselves are the problem. Can we get rid of the puzzles and still keep someone evil from taking over?

And one of those solutions is the method that Ethereum just switched to. It's called "Proof of Stake". Validators, as they are called, have to put up their own money to validate. That also makes it very expensive for someone to take over, with none of the useless puzzles.

And it's good news all around: Energy consumption on Ethereum just dropped by 99.95%. And what about those computers and graphics cards that all just said "aaaaaahhhhhhh"? Well, they just got a lot cheaper, because nobody needs them for Ethereum anymore. And most importantly: A step forward for the planet. We hope for many more of those.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Ethereum Merge Deep Dive: Will my money be safe? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 251 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 14, 2022

Are YOU a crypto normie? If so, welcome! CLICK HERE to start (or continue) learning about everything crypto!

Ethereum Merge Deep Dive: Will my money be safe?

By the time you listen to this, the Merge is less than a day away. And you might suddenly start to freak out: What if things go wrong - will my Ethereum be gone?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. And today, in part three of our week-long Ethereum Merge special, we’ll help you put your mind at ease: Your money is very likely to be safe - even if the worst case happens.

As we explained yesterday, the Merge is designed to be seamless. Most likely, you won’t even notice that it happened. That’s thanks to the secret double life that Ethereum has been living: Your money existed on the “new” Ethereum all along, and with the Merge, things will just be official.

If you hold your money in an exchange account like Robinhood or Coinbase, don’t panic if you can’t withdraw or trade for a short period: Out of caution, they will pause Ethereum activities on their accounts. It’s all to make sure things are fine before going back to business as usual.

But what if things go horribly wrong: Some glitch in the Matrix, a wrinkle in the Ethereum code? Well, even then you should be ok. It helps to remember the fundamentals: Blockchains are nothing but glorified history books that record every transaction that ever happened on them. And millions of computers hold a copy of Ethereum’s history, right up to the time of the Merge. If stuff goes wrong, that history can be rolled back to what it was before the error and we can all move on.

So – sit back and enjoy this historical moment. If you want to follow it live, just type into Google “Ethereum Merge” and it’ll show you a cool countdown. And most likely, you guessed it, you’ll just sit there and won’t even notice anything happening. And that’s a good thing.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Ethereum Merge Week: What exactly is a Merge? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 250 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 13, 2022

Are YOU a crypto normie? If so, welcome! CLICK HERE to start (or continue) learning about everything crypto!

Ethereum Merge Week: What exactly is a Merge?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Welcome to day 2 of our Ethereum Merge week special! Today: What exactly are we merging here anyway?

Generally speaking, merging is the process of combining several things into one. But what does that mean in the context of Ethereum?

Well, what if we told you that Ethereum has been living a secret double life? There hasn’t been just the “official” Ethereum, but a secret sibling has been working alongside the older brother.

This sibling is called the “Beacon Chain”. It’s essentially a copy of Ethereum, but one that uses a different method to validate transactions. And it does so completely in parallel. Both always end up having the same transaction record at the same time.

This is a genius trick the Ethereum developers pulled off, because at the time of the Merge, things can simply switch over to the Beacon chain and the older brother ceases to exist. Because they ran in parallel this entire recent time, they could make sure that things work and that switching over is seamless.

And that’s why it’s called the Merge: Two separate ways to validate Ethereum come together to replace the older one.

But how risk free is that actually and is your money safe? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s special on that.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The Ethereum Merge is coming: Why it's such a big deal - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 249 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 12, 2022

The Ethereum Merge is coming: Why it's such a big deal

The so-called Ethereum Merge is coming this week! And because that's a huge deal, we'll cover the topic this entire week. We promise: You'll learn a lot!

To kick things off with today's episode, let's recap what the Merge actually is. The Merge is the name of a major update to Ethereum, one that will make Ethereum vastly more efficient.

This is all necessary because Ethereum is really struggling as it is: It might be the largest blockchain by transaction volume thanks to it being like programmable money, but it is also very slow, and really bad for the planet.

What is to blame? A method of validating transactions called Proof of Work. This method has major downsides, most importantly that computers have to waste a lot of energy to operate it. And that's not only bad for the planet but slows Ethereum down so much that it won't be usable at scale.

Things have to change, and that change is the Merge! In a nutshell, Ethereum will switch to a new method called Proof of Stake. That’s it - but this one change will reduce its energy consumption by over 99.95 percent. And as a nice side effect, things are also going to get much faster.

This Merge is happening any day now. By the time you year this, it's probably just a day or two away. So, next episode, let's explain what exactly is getting “merged” and how that all works.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Crypto Normie? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 248 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 09, 2022

Are YOU a crypto normie? If so, welcome! CLICK HERE to start (or continue) learning about everything crypto!

What is a Crypto Normie?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

"Normies" are what crypto insiders call those people who haven't had exposure to crypto yet.

Often, the term is with a slightly negative connotation: They are the enlightened ones, while we just haven't figured it out yet.

You might be surprised, but here at Cryptohunt, we are a team of proud Normies. Terms like this one are exactly why we got into the crypto space: To get past insider talk and cryptic language and learn things together. With an open, but critical mind.

Whether you consider yourself a normie or not: Let's celebrate the term instead. You'll have to start somewhere, and blindly following a tribe of enthusiasts is certainly not the best way. We believe in learning one step at a time, to build your crypto knowledge easily.

Because in the end, not everything that shines is gold. You have to learn to look past the noise and make your own decisions. For that, check out our learning courses and coin descriptions on cryptohunt.it - they are made by proud normies, for proud normies! We hope you enjoy them!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Crypto Szn? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 247 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 08, 2022

What is a Crypto Szn?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

Crypto "Szn", spelled S-Z-N, refers to a "season" that crypto goes through. The idea is that crypto value goes through cycles.

Right now we are in what people call "crypto winter", meaning that prices are down and it's chilly. "crypto spring" is when things start to pick up and they peak in "crypto summer".

The fundamental believe behind the term "szn" is that things come in cycles. This has largely been true for stock markets - you may be familiar with bull and bear markets.

But does it actually apply to crypto?

In short: We can't say. We've been through two major bull runs so far, and who knows if what goes down will come up again. So be careful. Another important thing to consider is that the past is not an accurate predictor of the future - just because it happened once or twice before, doesn't mean crypto will ever come back.

But let's be honest: Many of these crypto terms out there were invented to manipulate public perception for someone else's gain. So: Just be careful and don't buy into the narrative blindly. Do your own thinking. Things may very well explode again, but you need to understand the risks.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is "Crypto IRL" and Bright Moments? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 246 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 07, 2022

What is "Crypto IRL" and Bright Moments?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

If you've spent any time thinking about crypto, you'll realize that almost everything happens online. Crypto art is digital, blockchains run on computers, people communicate via social media, and identities are hidden behind synonyms and strange profile pictures.

Think that feels empty and something is missing? You are not alone.

There is another side of the crypto world, and it is called "IRL" - short for "In Real Life". It is when crypto enthusiasts come together in person and engage with the technology in the real world.

One such example is Bright Moments, an NFT art show that moves from city to city. They display the digital art pieces in the physical world - printed on canvas or displayed through animated art displays in an actual gallery. And they have events where they create NFTs - also called minting - in real life, in front of an audience.

Projects like Bright Moments are great, because they connect our real world with the culture of crypto in a way that it includes everyone. It may be hard to understand what on earth those crypto people are talking about on Twitter, but it's easy to walk into a gallery and experience it yourself.

We love projects like this, because we are all about educating everyone about crypto. Bright Moments are going to be in Mexico City next, check it out "IRL" if you happen to be close.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is "Crypto Twitter"? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 245 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 06, 2022

What is "Crypto Twitter"?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

If you've spend any time on Twitter, you'll notice that it's full of crypto conversations. In fact, this is where most people discuss, debate, fight, and promote things.

"Crypto Twitter" just refers to that subsection of Twitter that encompasses all the crypto people, talking about crypto things.

If you haven't dug in yet, we highly recommend it. Not because you will get good information - most of the time people have an agenda, so be careful. But because it's a fascinating world, that gives you a deep look into a fascinating subculture.

And if you think that all sounds pretty lame - well, hang in there for the next episode where we'll talk about crypto in real life. And do not forget to follow us on Twitter - you find us as cryptohunt_it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What do "GM" and "GN" mean? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 244 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 05, 2022

What do "GM" and "GN" mean?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

One of the most interesting aspects about crypto is the subculture it created. Weather it's on Twitter, Discord forums, or even Linkedin - you'll find anything there from camaraderie to peer pressure.

"GM", which stands for "good morning", and "GN", which stands for "good night" is one of the nicer examples of that subculture.

When people wake up, they'll tweet a simple "GM" to their followers, and the followers respond back. Likewise for "GN" when everyone goes to bed.

Kind of nice if you ask us. Among all the noise, crazy insider talk, and negativity amongst crypto people, those two really stand out. More of that, we say!

And one more thing as always on Mondays: If you want to listen to all podcast episodes of this coming week already - check out our parteon account to get early aceess under patreon.com/cryptoinplainenglish. Thanks so much already if you end up supporting us that way!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does "FUD" stand for? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 243 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 02, 2022

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

"FUD" a term you'll often find used by crypto people on social media, is an abbreviation of "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt".

It would be easy to think that this is meant to be a good thing - after all you'll want to be careful in a market so full of speculators and scammers.

But it is used as a negative call out by crypto people talking down to those who sold because they got what others consider cold feet.

Why? It helps to understand the general sentiment in crypto. As the market is largely driven by speculation, it only grows on the believe of people that it will grow more. That's why the community has developed elaborate ways to put peer pressure on those who disagree and get out. "FUD" is one of those.

We say: Who cares what other people say, especially if they have ulterior motives. Make up your own mind, gather your own knowledge. For an unbiased view on crypto, check us out at cryptohunt.it - we'll never talk down to you, promised!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is FOMO and why is it so important to understand? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 242 - by cryptohunt.it Sep 01, 2022

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

FOMO - short for “Fear of missing out” is one of the most important terms to understand crypto markets.

In the context of blockchain investments it refers to people looking at others making money, and fearing that they’ll miss out if they don’t put money in now.

And that’s understandable: It’s one of humanity’s most basic emotions. The neighbor suddenly drives a Lamborghini, so clearly you can make it too, right?

Arguably, FOMO has impacted crypto markets more than anything. Absent of solid fundamentals, meaning large real world use cases and mature technologies, crypto has remained mostly an asset for speculators. And speculators benefit most, if everyone gets in on something.

So next time your 60 year old aunt is talking about Bitcoin, ask yourself: Is it maybe time to get out because FOMO has already gotten to everyone?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does “WAGMI” mean? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 241 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 31, 2022

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English. My name is Christian Byza, Co-Founder of Cryptohunt.it and I am your host of this daily show.

WAGMI is a popular rallying cry often used by crypto enthusiasts and is an abbreviation of the grammatically incorrect phrase “We All Gonna Make It”.

It encapsulates the belief that you can’t lose in crypto if you hold on long enough, because no matter how much prices fall, there will be the next bull run.

That of course, may not actually be true, and deep down you know that WAGMI proponents know this. But as a rallying cry it helps to get social confirmation from others, making it easier to stick to the strategy.

And there you have it - what is your opinion? Hold on for dear life, or try to outsmart the system? And in case you disagree, there is always "NGMI": "Not gonna make it".

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are Tokenomics? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 240 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 30, 2022

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Tokenomics refer to the internal economics of a cryptocurrency or token.

You have to understand that each of those have very individual mechanics. There may or may not be an upper limit of coins, miners get a certain amount, rewards may be given to holders, or some coins might even be destroyed over time.

Tokenomics is a term that describes all of those dynamics and many investors believe that understanding them improves their decisions. Bitcoin, for example, has a supply maximum of 21 million Bitcoins, and some investors believe that this creates scarcity that will continue to push the price up. Others think it doesn’t matter.

So - in our opinion, it’s good to know each tokens Tokenomics, but at the end of that day that is just one way to look at things.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does “apeing crypto” mean? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 239 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 29, 2022

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Bored Apes, Ape Coin… What’s up with all the monkeys in crypto?

Well, they are all named after a crypto term called “apeing”.

Apeing means taking an abnormally large and risky position in a crypto investment. If someone says: “I just aped into Bitcoin”, they mean that they just bought an irrationally large amount of it, hoping their speculation will work out.

It’s not entirely clear where the word comes from, but we ensure you that apes are probably smarter than some of those investors. Apeing is nothing other than gambling, and seeking public attention while doing it.

We prefer doing your own research and making smart decisions that play out in the long term - but in the end it’s really up to you!

Talking about smart decisions - if you want to listed to all 5 episoded of this week already - check out our parteon account to get early aceess under www.patreon.com/cryptoinplainenglish. Thanks so much already if you end up supporting us that way!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why are wallet sanctions a problem for blockchains? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 238 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 26, 2022

CLICK HERE to level up your knowledge on Web3 through our FREE course!
Why are wallet sanction a problem for blockchains?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Yesterday, we talked about Tornado Cash, a service that was sanctioned by the US government because it allowed money laundering on the Ethereum blockchain. With that also came sanctions of 45 specific wallets.

What that means is: No US company or individual can do business with, or interact with those wallets.

Sounds easy enough? Actually, this makes things pretty complicated.

You see - these wallets are still recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. By design, a blockchain’s history can’t be altered. And they will likely move money again, and there is nothing the US government can do about that.

When transactions happen, a blockchain validates those. That means it has to interact with the wallets by checking and updating their balance. And this could potentially violate sanctions, putting Ethereum miners at risk whether they want it or not if they operate out of the United States - which the majority do.

It also creates issues for anyone operating any software connected to Ethereum: They will have to make sure to ban wallets associated with Tornado Cash, but due to the nature of the service, it will be impossible to know which ones are.

There you have it - this is the first time sanctions like this have been put in place. Keep an eye on the news, because this might get interesting.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Tornado Cash and why was it sanctioned in the US? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 237 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 25, 2022

CLICK HERE to learn more about Ethereum through our FREE course!
What is Tornado Cash and why was it sanctioned in the US?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Today we are going to take a quick look at Tornado Cash, a so called mixer or tumbler for crypto.

This service allows crypto holders to hide the true origin of their funds.

Remember that sending crypto is usually simple and traceable: One address sends a specific amount to another and anyone can see that transaction because the history is public.

Some people, however, want to stay not only anonymous, but move around money in a way that origin, destination, and amount are all untraceable.

Tornado Cash does that. It works a bit like a bucket. It combines incoming funds from all kinds of senders before it sends them to destinations in random amounts - hence the term blender. That way, it’s near impossible to figure out who sent what where, even though we have the transaction history.

Think no good can come of that? So does the US government which says that Tornado has been involved in money laundry with North Korea. It just sanctioned the use of the service and 45 associated wallets.

And next time we’ll talk about why those sanctions could pose a real practical problem for blockchains like Ethereum, even if they didn’t necessarily do anything wrong.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs) and why are they not everywhere? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 236 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 24, 2022

CLICK HERE to start learning about crypto and blockchain technology! (It's beginner friendly!)
What are Bitcoin ATMs and why is it likely that you have never seen one in your life?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Bitcoin ATMs are machines you can withdraw cash from, and often deposit it as well. But unlike traditional ATMs, they accept Bitcoin and - despite the slightly misleading name - often other crypto.

The idea is pretty simple: Send a certain amount of Bitcoin to the ATM to withdraw cash, or deposit cash to be sent to your Bitcoin address.

Sounds useful, right? So why are there only 25,000 of those worldwide despite the crypto craze of the last few years? The answer is: Criminals.

Governments aim to prevent money laundry, and unfortunately those Bitcoin ATMs are excellent for that. Here is how it works: Say you got paid for illegal activities, and want to deposit that cash somewhere. Traditional banks will need you to identify yourself before you can do that, and the money becomes traceable.

With Bitcoin ATMs, you deposit to a blockchain wallet, which will be anonymous as long as nobody knows who’s behind it.

And that’s why you have likely never seen one in the wild: Most local and federal governments don’t allow them to operate unless the user is identifiable, which makes the process so much harder that most people won’t bother using them.

But keep your eyes open - there are more and more out there regardless. And if we peaked your curiosity, get closer and inspect how they operate.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is FDIC insurance, and what does it have to do with crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 235 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 23, 2022

What is FDIC insurance, and what does it have to do with crypto?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Today, let's talk about a major regulatory rule in the United States, the FDIC insurance, and what it has to do with crypto.

Personal bank accounts in the United States are usually protected by this deposit insurance. It is a government operated, bank funded protection against the failure of your bank. In the unlikely event that your bank collapses, your deposits are usually covered up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The reason why this matters for crypto investors in the United States, is simple: That insurance doesn't exist for them. Many assume that the same protections apply across different financial organizations, but the reality is that the bankruptcy of a crypto exchange or DeFi company may simply cause your funds to disappear over night.

Think that's a hypothetical risk? Not so fast. Celsius, which marketed itself as the anti-bank, recently collapsed and owes people $5.5 billion US dollars. Three Arrows Capital, a crypto hedge fund, owes $3.5 billion - meanwhile the founders are building a $50 million dollar yacht. And it took crypto brokerage Voyager down with it, which in turn lost $1.3 bn in customer assets.

So there you have it - governments often step in to help people avoid total loss. If you are in the United States, always consider that trusting a crypto firm with your money means you get none of the protections a traditional bank would give you.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What’s going on with Canada’s 30k CAD crypto limit? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 234 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 22, 2022

FREE COURSE: Ready to start diving deeper into the world of crypto? CLICK HERE to begin our Introduction to Crypto and Blockchains course!
Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Canada might have just become one of the most restrictive countries when it comes to buying crypto: A new limit introduced by several crypto exchanges means that Canadians can now only buy 30,000 Canadian Dollars worth of alt coins per year.

What does that mean exactly, and why have they done that? Let's dig in together!

Strictly speaking, an Altcoin is any crypto currency that is not Bitcoin. But that definition is somewhat outdated given the dominance of alternatives such as Ethereum. For Canadians, four cryptocurrencies are excluded from the purchase limitation: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, and Litecoin.

This abrupt change comes as major Canadian exchanges are trying to get regulatory approval from Canada's Ontario Securities Commission, short OSC.

The OSC's intention is to protect consumers from speculating on or becoming victims of scams in lesser known Altcoins. And if you look at the history of the crypto market, this is understandable: Many people have recently lost money they couldn't afford to lose by betting too much on the crypto market, specifically Altcoins that promised everything and delivered nothing.

And this change also comes with a mandatory questionnaire that explains the risks to prospective traders.

If you ask us, we have split opinions on this: On one hand, we are all for consumer protection, especially through education. That's why we have built cryptohunt.it - to give you a place where you can build your own knowledge. But limiting things to an arbitrary set of 4 crypto currencies is debatable: Why not include something like Solana, which is in the top 10 by market cap, but Litecoin which is not even in the top 20?

As always, things are more complicated in practice than they seem. We'll let you be the judge on this one!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How to start a career in crypto: A brief overview - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 233 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 19, 2022

Spoiler: Our FREE Intro to Blockchains course is the best place to start!
How to start a career in crypto: A brief overview

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Today, let's talk about careers in crypto. This space is new and different, so how do you even get started?

We'll break it down into two basic steps: How to find interesting companies, and how to get ready to WOW them.

There is something distinctly different about crypto projects: They are all experimenting with innovative organizations. Weather that is not having bosses, or no office at all, it can be hard to find where they are, and who to talk to.

A good start is to learn the blockchain basics, and then start exploring projects. There are so many, you should first find out what drives you. Do you want to create a better bank? Help people who are struggling? Save the planet? Your choice will narrow it down.

The next step is to find where they are hanging out. More often than not, they won't have an email or a careers page, but you'll have to join their online hangouts, which are on apps like Discord or Telegram.

Once you've found your dream company, have started chatting with their team online, get ready to apply - but show up prepared. Dive deep into their product, and learn a lot about crypto in general. Figure out what it is that the competition is doing well too.

And this was just a brief overview. To get started, deep dive into projects, and find their (sometimes hidden) Discord and Telegram hangouts, visit us at www.cryptohunt.it - where we have it all in one place, as easy to understand as possible.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a crypto validator? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 232 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 18, 2022

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What is a crypto validator?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

We've talked a lot about Ethereum lately, for good reason: It is going through open heart surgery and getting a new method to validate transactions.

So lets dig deeper: What does a validator actually do?

For this, it helps to understand what validation is. It is the process of making sure nobody cheats on a blockchain. Remember, with the invention of blockchains, things became decentralized. This means: No banks, no governments, no powerful individuals. But the problem is: Who is keeping an eye on things for us instead?

Enter our validators. They come together and each look at all the new transactions. Like a team of referees in a sports game, they will talk and come to a conclusion as a team: Do things look correct or is someone trying to sneak in a wrong number?

Of course, they are not actual people, but internet connected computers doing this through code. But the idea is still the same. On less efficient blockchains, like Bitcoin, these computers even have to do extra work, that's why they are called miners. On more modern blockchains, they can focus their computing power on just the validation, hence their name validators.

With Ethereum switching from miners to validators, you'll sure hear the term more often now - and now you can tell your friends what's behind it!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What if the Ethereum Merge goes wrong? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 231 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 17, 2022

What if the Ethereum Merge goes wrong?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

In a previous episode, we discussed the upcoming Ethereum Merge: This is when Ethereum switches to a much more efficient way to validate transactions.

We are very excited about it, because it will reduce Ethereum's energy consumption by over 99.9 percent. Better for the planet? Better for us!

But why did it take Ethereum's team years of planning and building? It all has to do with the big risks that come with the Merge.

Think of it as performing an engine replacement on a running car that is driving down the freeway at high speed. There are over 1 million Ethereum transactions per day. The Ethereum developers have to perform close to a miracle: With the switch of a single button, start processing those on the other engine - without any interruption.

What if this goes wrong? It wouldn't be good. At best, transactions would not process and get queued up, causing Ethereum to grind to a halt for a while. And that would likely have more consequences: A loss of investor confidence, price drops, and possibly developers moving on to other, stable blockchains.

But that being said, we have high confidence in things working out. Not only has this been planned for years by very smart people, but this Merge is actually just the first of three big Ethereum improvements that will happen separately to minimize chances of things failing.

So, keep an eye on it. And now - if someone asks you about the Merge - you have some interesting context to share.

You can learn more about all of this in our Ethereum course on www.cryptohunt.it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is Staking worth it? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 230 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 16, 2022

Is Staking worth it?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

You’ve probably heard this question from friends: Should I stake crypto?

We’ve talked about what staking is previously, but just as a reminder: It’s like depositing crypto in a savings account and getting paid interest.

So, your crypto works for you, and you have to do nothing? Sounds great then, right? Well, let’s talk about the risks.

First, you have to understand that you stake crypto. And that’s quite different from putting cash into a savings account. As the crypto market moves up and down, your staked crypto may lose significant value, negating any interest you may earn.

Now, you may say: Why not just stake stablecoins? But even that is risky, because they may not actually be as stable as they promise, and stories of people losing life savings in staked stablecoins that collapsed are cautionary tales you’ll find all over the internet.

And then there is another risk: You deposit your staked crypto with a third party. If they go under, so goes your money. If they get hacked: Poof, the same. And this is not just hypothetical, these stories hit the news almost every day now.

In addition, the interest you earn may not be worth the risk. Compare it to interest on your savings account or government bonds: If the staking interest is very low, it may not offset the risks of owning volatile crypto. If the number is to high, something fishy may be going on.

And lastly, consider that interest is almost never paid in actual cash. Most staking protocols pay you back in crypto, and the crypto you get may become worthless quickly.

There you have it: Staking is riskier than it seems. Is it worth it? You decide – as always – but make sure you do your research thoroughly.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Ethereum Merge and when is it happening? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 229 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 15, 2022

What is the Ethereum Merge and when is it happening?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

The so-called Ethereum Merge has been all over the crypto news lately - but what is that and why are people so excited?

The Merge is the name of a major update to Ethereum, and it looks like that is going to happen around the middle of September.

And this update is a really significant one: It makes Ethereum much more energy efficient, and with that, much better for the environment.

Let's take a step back and see what makes that work: Up until now, Ethereum is using the same method to validate transactions as Bitcoin does, called Proof of Work. This method has major downsides, most importantly that miners have to waste a lot of energy. That's so bad for the planet that even governments have been thinking of banning it.

At the time of the Merge, Ethereum will switch to Proof of Stake. This alternative method to validate transactions is a big deal, because it reduces its energy consumption by over 99.9 percent. And as a nice side effect, things are also going to get much faster.

So, keep an eye on this - with Ethereum being the second largest crypto currency, the Merge is an important event. We are all for making our planet a bit healthier.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Decentraland... and what does it have to do with NFTs? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 228 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 12, 2022

What is Decentraland... and what does it have to do with NFTs?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Ever wondered what people actually refer to, when they talk about interacting with each other in virtual reality?

It takes many forms, and one of them is Decentraland. It's a virtual world that you can log in from your browser. Your can create your own avatar, and walk around, check out the entire world, and interact with other people's avatars.

It's a surprisingly rich experience actually. There are virtual concerts, art shows, and homes you can live in and decorate.

What makes Decentraland special is that it operates on the blockchain. Ownership of items and your avatar is recorded onit. The users own all the things and the world they live in.

And that's where NFTs come in. People want to make their avatars special, and for many that means showing off what items they can afford. An interesting way that Decentraland catered to that was a virtual fashion show, where brands like Dolce Gabbana or Tommy Hilfiger were selling their clothes as NFTs.

Playing it is free though - but you do have to connect through a crypto wallet. Check out course 6 on cryptohunt.it for a detailed tutorial.

We hope you enjoy the experience - VR might be here to stay!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Barbie is now an NFT - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 227 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 11, 2022

Barbie is now an NFT

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Barbie, the iconic plastic doll that lives in hundreds of millions of kids' toy collections is now also an NFT.

What the heck? Has Barbie's maker, Mattel, completely forgotten who their target audience is?

Not so fast! Like any iconic brand and product, Barbie has evolved in the last couple of years to somewhat of a collector's item. Vintage barbies are scoring record prices, and Mattel has tapped into the market by releasing high-end barbie versions in collaboration with fashion brand KITH, which were sold for hundreds of dollars each.

Makes sense now? Every luxury and collectible item brand these days is trying to get into the well-funded crypto space. And so Barbie was reborn as an NFT collection designed by French luxury brand Balmain, who provided the digital clothing which looks like something you'd otherwise only expect at a fashion show.

And of course: People paid tens of thousands for those. We've come far from Barbie just being a normal toy.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How Ray Ban is betting on the Metaverse with virtual sunglasses - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 226 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 10, 2022

How Ray Ban is betting on the Metaverse with virtual sunglasses

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Remember the sunglasses Tom Cruise wears in his role as Maverick in Top Gun or those that President Biden sports when he's out and about?

Those are Ray Ban's famous Aviator model. And now the company has gone digital: Last year they were the first to sell a virtual version of the popular Aviators as an NFT.

Sounds silly? Not so fast, this is part of a larger strategy. Ray Ban, who've also partnered with Facebook, is betting heavily on virtual reality - makes sense if you think about it: If people hang out more in VR, they'll want to show off the brands they wear just as they do in real life. And there are a few things more iconic than those sunglasses.

Certainly a long shot, but we think they are onto something.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are "NFTiffs", the crypto-related jewelry from Tiffany? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 225 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 09, 2022

What are "NFTiffs", the crypto-related jewelry from Tiffany?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

Luxury jewelry brand Tiffany just released real jewelry that is inspired by Cryptopunks, the famous NFT collection.

You may remember these Cryptopunks: They were the first NFT collection that became popular, because the 10,000 pixelated images resembling punk faces became a cultural phenomenon... and very expensive.

Now Tiffany is making up to 250 jewelry pieces, each looking like its corresponding Cryptopunk. The twist? Only a Cryptopunk's owner can order them.

Why is that? Well, the thing is that those owners technically own the copyright to their punks. So Tiffany can't just sell them to anyone. And priced at $50,000 each, the NFTiffs are definitely not cheap. And as you may have guessed already - they sold out all of them immediatly and made a sweet $12.5M in revenue.

Of course, you've also likely noticed what is really going on here. Tiffany is trying to sell to an audience that has money and is motivated to show it off. It's all just clever marketing.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are the Nike’s Cryptokick sneakers? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 224 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 08, 2022

What are the Nike’s Cryptokick sneakers?

Welcome to the Cryptohunt Jam, where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain English.

This week, we are taking a deeper look at how brands are tapping into crypto culture. First up: Nike and their Cryptokicks.

Cryptokicks were a collection of 20,000 virtual sneakers that Nike sold earlier this year. You heard that right - not actual sneakers you can wear, but digital sneakers.

So why would anyone want those? It helps to understand the collectible sneaker market a little bit. For years, people have been collecting real Nike sneakers - not to wear them, but to own them as collectibles.

As the sneaker market heated up, so did the NFT market. And Nike saw an opportunity to combine the two. After all, why not go all digital if the sneaker wasn't going to be worn anyhow?

And it worked. One of Nike Cryptokicks was sold for $134,000.

That was Cryptokicks! And tomorrow we'll talk about crypto-inspired jewelry that Tiffany recently released.

And if you want to hear all 5 episodes for this week already now: Consider supporting us on Patreon where you get early access - check out patreon.com/cryptoinplainenglish

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is "Flippening"? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 223 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 05, 2022

What is "Flippening"?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Ever hear a crypto enthusiast get excited about an event they call "flippening"? Let us break it down for you!

Flippening simply refers to a possible time in the future when Ethereum will overtake Bitcoin in total market capitalization.

Right now, the total amount of money invested in Ethereum is roughly half of that invested in Bitcoin. And so the question is: Will that actually ever happen?

It looks like it might, but it's a long road for Ethereum as an incumbent. Bitcoin dropped from dominating 70% of the crypto market share in early 2020 to just 45%. Meanwhile, Ethereum went from 8% to about 20%.

But there are a lot of other projects that may nib at both their heels. Things are going up and down constantly - but keep an eye on this. It'll give you an understanding of how much the market values each cryptocurrency in relation to all the others.

Let’s say the Flippening does happen… When would that be: Your guess is as good as ours! It’s very hard to predict, but send us your thoughts to podcast@cryptohunt.it if you want to make a guess and we’ll feature you in future episode.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Howey Test? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 222 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 04, 2022

What is the Howey Test?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

You've probably just listened to yesterday's episode on Uniswap, the decentralized crypto exchange that is looking into paying the holders of their UNI token a portion of their earnings.

Enter the "Howey test"! Named after the defendant in a United States Supreme Court case from 1946, it is a set of questions that determines if a transaction is an "investment contract".

And that is a very important classification. One of the governments' jobs is to keep its citizens safe, and that includes safety from investment scams. They do this by forcing those offering investments to disclose a lot of information and register their business with the authorities.

As you know, we are a huge fan of learning and doing your own research, and that's exactly what these rules help with, making it harder for people to hide important information. It also forces them to comply with the law.

The technical term is "security". Once such an investment has been classified as a security by applying the Howie test, there is a lot that has to be done and provided by the issuer.

And that's exactly at stake here with Uniswap. As soon as they hand out money to token holders, the US government is almost certainly going to classify the UNI token as a security and enforce all the requirements that come with that. For Uniswap, that may be impossible, or just not worth doing and for that reason alone they might decide to cancel this proposal, at the risk of angering their token holders.

And now that you understand the background, keep an eye on the story in the coming days! It'll get interesting!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Uniswap (UNI) and why has it been in the news lately? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 221 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 03, 2022

What is Uniswap (UNI) and why has it been in the news lately?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Lately, one company was in the news quite a bit. And that is Uniswap. Why is that and what do they do?

Uniswap is a decentralized crypto exchange. That means you can swap one cryptocurrency for another, hence the latter part of the name. And "uni"? Well, that comes from unicorn, the brand animal of the company.

And it's not really a traditional company, it is governed by its users through a DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization.

Let's break it all down!

When you go to Uniswap, the site lets you connect your wallet to exchange one crypto for another. It is a decentralized exchange, because there are no middlemen. Code on the blockchain executes all the trades for you.

Uniswap takes a small fee, but in total that made the company a whopping $40m in 2021.

And the future of what happens with that is now under discussion. Uniswap gives the holders of their UNI token voting rights in company decisions, and a new proposal to distribute the companies income to those token holders has just been released. This would be similar to what a dividend does for stock.

Sounds great for the token holders? Yes and no - because there are legal consequences. That's why Uniswap is in the news, and we'll dive into that in tomorrow's episode about the ominous "Howey test"

Oh, and in case you missed it yesterday - we just started a Patreon account for this podcast so you can get tomorrow’s "Howey Test" Episode already now! If you enjoy this show every day please consider supporting us on patreon.com/crytptoinplainenglish.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Episode 220: How many active wallets are there on Bitcoin and Ethereum? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 220 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 02, 2022

Episode 220: How many active wallets are there on Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Last time we tried to answer the question of: How many people are actually using Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest crypto currencies?

We did that by looking at daily transactions. Today, we'll continue, and we are looking at something a little different: How many daily active wallets there are.

Think about it this way: You have a real wallet, and you use it to buy things once a day, let's say lunch. That's one wallet and one transaction. But your neighbor eats out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner - three transactions, but still just one wallet.

That's why daily active wallets are an interesting perspective to take, because they represent more accurately how many actual users there are on these blockchains.

And the story is interesting: Ethereum was lagging behind Bitcoin in the beginning, but shot up like a rocket almost immediately. It has since caught up with Bitcoin, and has roughly the same 800,000 daily active wallets now.

So, to summarize today and yesterday - Ethereum caught up in numbers of wallets, but has 5x more transactions. People are using it more actively, building decentralized apps, buying NFTs, etc. - all which is not possible with Bitcoin.

Now go out and do your own research! Just keep in mind one little caveat: While you and your neighbor will probably not carry around more than one wallet, creating those on a blockchain is easy and can be automated. So not every wallet also means there is a new individual behind it.

And one more thing: We just started a patreon account for this podcast. If you enjoy this show every day consider supporting us on patreon.com/crytptoinplainenglish.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How many people actually use Bitcoin and Ethereum daily? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 219 - by cryptohunt.it Aug 01, 2022

How many people actually use Bitcoin and Ethereum daily?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Sure - many people may buy and hold Bitcoin and Ethereum as an investment, but how many people actually use it every day to move money around? One way to approximate is to look at how many transactions there are

Bitcoin averages about 250,000 daily transactions right now. How many of those are just for investment vs. using it as a digital currency is very hard to tell.

But what is very telling is the comparison with Ethereum: It sits at around 1.2 million per day, almost 5x more than Bitcoin.

And that's an interesting difference. Think about it: There is about half as much money invested in Ethereum, yet much more is happening.

The key - as avid listeners to this podcast will know by now - is that Ethereum is much more versatile, thanks to being programmable money.

And if you are comparing blockchains, transactions per day is certainly a metric that should be in your toolbox. It puts things into perspective and gives you a perspective on how actively something is used.

And tomorrow, we’ll look at a different metric trying to answer the same question: Daily active wallets. But for now, why not go out there and compare a few more blockchains' daily transactions?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 218 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 29, 2022

What is the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine - EVM in short - is Ethereum's secret sauce. But what does it actually do?

The Ethereum Virtual Machine is the software that runs Ethereum's smart contracts. And because that explanation isn't all that helpful, let's use an analogy.

Take the game of football. Football has specific rules, and - within those - you can play the game in any way you want. But there are things you need, most notably a playing field.

Those fields can be anywhere, and you can play your games on any of them as long as they are of the right size, have the right markings, etc. In other words, they have to meet a certain standard.

Those football fields are like the Ethereum Virtual Machine. The EVM is a standardized environment that allows smart contracts to run on any Ethereum computer. The smart contracts are like your football game: Computer programs that say: If this happens, do that. For example: If someone sends money here, send half of it to this other wallet that belongs to a charity.

Standardization is the magic ingredient: Just like you can play football on any standard field, the smart contracts will run on Ethereum, no matter what computer is processing them.

And that's really what made Ethereum special when it came out: The ability to do more with money than just move it from A to B. And thanks to the EVM and smart contracts, this works all the time.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is crypto shilling? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 217 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 28, 2022

What is crypto shilling?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Where there is a lot of money and a lot of desire to make it, there are always scams. And crypto is one of the most scammed areas right now.

That's why people are "crypto shilling". Shilling means that they talk well about a project to get others to buy into it. The goal is almost always to pump up the value and for them to dump their holdings, making sometimes large amounts of money.

But you won't find people just saying: "Buy my crypto". Shilling is usually much less obvious and more crafty. Influencers and celebrities may just casually talk about a coin, giving it the allure of popularity. Or people are starting to talk about how something is about to break out.

You get the point - and that's why we always say: Do your own research. You can not trust other people, no matter how much you think of their reputation.

Stay safe out there and have fun researching! Give us a visit at cryptohunt.it/projects to start.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Blockchain As A Service? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 216 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 27, 2022

What is Blockchain As A Service?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Imagine you want to create your own blockchain, one that will change the world.

And remember that blockchains are decentralized, meaning many computers participate in validating all of the transactions independently.

That means you will need to operate a bunch of your own computers until you find others to help with that.

Where do you put them? In your bedroom? Your friends' garages? All of those locations?

Well, lucky for you, big cloud computing providers like Amazon and Microsoft have anticipated your needs. They are providing "Blockchains As A Service" where you can rent and manage those resources virtually, all with the click of a button.

And that is Blockchain as a Service. Next time you run into someone dreaming of their own blockchain, tell them about it. Your friends' garage spaces will thank you.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a crypto oracle? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 215 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 26, 2022

What is a crypto oracle?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Today: Let's understand what a crypto oracle is.

Imagine you had a bet with your friend: If the temperature goes above 100 Fahrenheit next week, you get $20 from them. If it doesn't, they get $20 from you.

And you decide to do this with blockchains, so you set up a smart contract. This is a simple program, and both of you deposit $20 worth of crypto into it. It will pay the winner $40 when the time comes.

There is only one problem: The program doesn't know what temperature it is outside, because blockchains are designed to work entirely by themselves.

That's where an Oracle comes in: It is a third party data source that your smart contract can get the current temperature from.

So there you have it: An oracle is just an external data source, and hopefully one that you can rely on. And guess what - you were right, and it got really hot - and the smart contract worked. Congrats, you made $20!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Golden, and how is it trying to catalog the world’s knowledge? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 214 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 25, 2022

What is Golden, and how is it trying to catalog the world’s knowledge?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Let's end this special about Proof of Physical Work with Golden, a "decentralized canonical knowledge graph".

Is your head spinning already? Hang in there, we'll break it down.

You see, all knowledge can be broken apart into smaller pieces, and we can describe how these pieces relate to each other. That's what a canonical graph is.

For example: A banana. Banana is a thing and a type of fruit. It has certain properties, such as taste being sweet and color being yellow. You could describe every fruit using those properties and slowly build a database. And fruits are connected to other types of things - a banana grows in certain regions for example. Now you'll start describing the regions according to their properties - where they are, what their climate is, etc.

This way, we can create a connection between the entire world's knowledge and structure it in a way that is much more usable than freeform text like Wikipedia. We could find all the yellow fruits that grow in a certain climate for example.

Golden is trying to build this knowledge graph. They will reward editors with tokens whenever they add a piece to the puzzle. And you can see that there are endless amounts of those pieces - anything you can think about can be described as knowledge. And because it's on the blockchain, changes can be made and are documented openly.

Such a database doesn't exist today at scale, and hopes are that it'll fundamentally change the way we can access and process knowledge.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Pollen Mobile, and how does it try to replace wireless phone carriers? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 213 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 22, 2022

What is Pollen Mobile, and how does it try to replace wireless phone carriers?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Two episodes ago we talked about Helium, which tries to create an alternative wireless data network for internet connected devices.

Today, let's talk about Pollen, a project that is quite similar, but tries to replace the actual wireless phone carriers. Don’t confuse that with Pollen DeFi, which we covered last time!

Pollen Mobile creates network coverage through so-called flowers. Those are essentially 5G antennas that connect to your home or office internet. When someone uses your flower, you get rewarded in Pollen tokens.

And the connection couldn't be easier: Simply add or replace the SIM card in your existing phone with their "Hummingbird" SIM, and you are ready to use Pollen Mobile.

But to verify that these flowers are working well, the project has a trick up its sleeve: So called Bumblebees. Those are small devices that community volunteers use to measure signal strength and speed of the 5G "flowers" out there.

Using blockchains and tokens has a few advantages according to the company: Lower costs, because you don't have to pay for overhead like marketing and executive compensation. You might also get coverage, where traditional cell phone companies don't - simply because they decide the location is too expensive, but volunteers can easily set up antennas.

And there you have it: Blockchains might do more in the future than just move money around… They may end up replacing Verizon and AT&T.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How can blockchains democratize investment strategies? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 212 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 21, 2022

How can blockchains democratize investment strategies?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

What if you could simply tap into the investment knowledge of other crypto experts?

That's what Pollen DeFi, a community driven approach to investing is trying to do.

The idea is pretty simple: If you are great at investing, why not share your portfolio and trades with the community so they can do the same?

In return, you get rewarded with the Pollen token. That token comes from those who are subscribing to you, because you help them make trades. They convert their money to Pollen, and put it into your trading strategy.

The project is still relatively young, and of course there are very high risks involved with just blindly letting someone else invest the money for you. But we think it's a great example of how blockchains and community can come together.

Just always remember: Never invest into something you don't fully understand. As tempting as it seems, investing in crypto can mean that you lose all of your money.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How can blockchains help map out the world? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 211 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 20, 2022

How can blockchains help map out the world?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

You probably take great maps for granted: All you have to do is hop into your car, turn on Google Maps, and off you go.

There is a problem though: There are only a few companies that own all of the data. What if Google decided that navigation would suddenly cost everyone $9.99 per month?

And that's not hypothetical: If you want to use maps in your own product, Google is charging an arm and a leg, up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year even for startups.

Enter blockchains, and a project called Hivemapper.

Hivemapper's community buys a dashcam from the company, and when they are driving around to collect map data, they get rewarded with the Honey token.

And the blockchain is smart enough to increase or decrease those rewards based on where mapping is most needed.

Companies that want to use the maps buy Honey tokens and essentially send them to the mappers. And even more interesting: If there is a region they want mapped, they can pay a little more to give people a reason to drive around in it.

So - why not just have Hivemapper pay people? Why do we need a blockchain? Because it sets the rules of the game in stone, so everyone is on the same page. It also prevents the company to go the same way that Google did: Change their mind and start charging an arm and a leg.

And tomorrow, we'll talk about how this concept of rewarding community can be applied to crypto trading.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Helium (HNT) and what makes it special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 210 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 19, 2022

What is Helium (HNT) and what makes it special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

You know that we really love when blockchains actually solve a real problem. Today, let's talk about Helium!

What if, instead of using an expensive cellular plan to connect all of your devices to the internet, you could use a cheaper alternative provided by the community?

That’s the idea behind Helium, a network of everyday folks worldwide who plug Helium-compatible transmitters into their home or business internet.

Whoever wants to use that community internet connection simply needs to have a Helium-compatible device and some Helium tokens, to pay for the data they use.

The hotspot’s host then gets those "HNT" tokens as a reward for transmitting that data. They can sell those on an exchange for cash, or apply them towards their own data usage.

This also incentivizes hosts to put Hotspots where there is no coverage yet: Because if you are the first one in that location, all data goes through you, and you earn more.

That's an example of how blockchains solve a real problem and create useful incentives. And while this will not replace your cell phone provider anytime soon, it is already used in devices like Lime scooters all over the world.

And tomorrow we'll look into a similar project that wants to use blockchains to create an alternative to Google Maps.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Proof of Physical Work? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 209 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 18, 2022

What is Proof of Physical Work?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day explaining crypto. In plain English.

Today, we'll look into a relatively novel concept: Proof of Physical Work.

If you've been listening to this podcast, you have a pretty good understanding of what Proof of Work is - and don't worry if you are just tuning in now. Proof of work refers to a complex computation that crypto miners need to perform when they process transactions. In turn, they get rewarded with crypto.

But what is Proof of Physical Work then? It means that someone has to perform actual work to get rewarded, not just computations. Let's look at an example: Helium.

Helium is a blockchain that powers thousands of tiny wireless access points. Their purpose is to provide cheap and reliable internet connections to devices around the world. If you've ever zipped around a city on one of those scooters - many actually use Helium to connect to the internet, because it's much cheaper than having each equipped with a 5G phone.

Here's where Proof of Physical Work comes in: People who provide those connections attach a little box to their home network, that allows these scooters to dial into the internet. And when their connections get used, they make crypto money.

That's what Proof of Physical Work does: It incentivizes people to do physical work: Like providing internet access, or driving around and mapping out areas.

And in the next few episodes, we look at some really cool use cases in depth. Stay tuned, and until then!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why are all these crypto companies declaring bankruptcy? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 208 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 15, 2022

Why are all these crypto companies declaring bankruptcy?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

The latest crypto company to declare bankruptcy is Celsius, putting almost $5bn dollar of user deposits at risk. You may remember the name because we talked about their crumbling business a while back.

But what is happening here in general? Don’t these companies have at least enough money to weather through a crypto storm?

No, because their business models never worked. Especially those promising high returns to lenders have been playing a very dangerous game.

Here’s how they operated: They borrow money from you and promise you high returns. Then they take that money and put it in the market, say into Bitcoin. And it’s easy to promise you 20% interest if the price of Bitcoin goes up by 40%.

But that’s exactly the problem. It only works as long as prices shoot up and people keep piling money into the lending platforms. As soon as prices go down, and too many people want their money back, companies like Celsius don’t have enough money because they lost much of it in a crash: The hole is at least $1.2 billion dollars deep in their case.

So: As always - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We think a lot more companies will crumble. Be safe out there and remember yesterday’s podcast about regulations? We might need some of that!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the role of regulation in crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 207 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 14, 2022

What is the role of regulation in crypto?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

As crypto becomes more and more popular with every boom cycle, the calls for more regulation have also become louder.

But what is regulation and what influence does it have on crypto?

Regulations are laws and directives that governments put in place to influence a certain industry or section of the economy.

"But wait", you say! Crypto was supposed to be something governments can't mess with! Clearly, rules must be a bad thing!

But things are always more nuanced than they seem. Sensible regulation can be a very good thing.

Imagine laws that force the issuers of tokens to be more transparent, or force exchanges to educate people about the risks of a crypto investment. Those could prevent a lot of crypto-novices who are blinded by the potential for a quick profit from losing money.

Likewise, regulations could increase innovations. The status quo is, that many countries simply don't have any crypto regulations yet. And that means companies who want to build something in the space run the risk of being shut down or even be criminalized in the future. One example is crypto exchange FTX which relocated to Hong Kong from the United States.

Of course, regulations must still allow innovation. If they are so strict, that they simply make using or building blockchains impossible, that would swing the pendulum the other way.

And there you have it: As always, it depends. But in either case - we are sure to see much more talks about regulations in crypto.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Saga, the crypto phone? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 206 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 13, 2022

What is Saga, the crypto phone?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, the world has gone mobile. There are phones with great cameras, phones that survive even construction work, phones with large screens... and now there also is a crypto phone.

Announced by the makers of Solana, the popular blockchain, the phone goes by the name of Saga and is purpose-built to make crypto easier and safer on phones.

At first, it looks like any other higher-end Android smartphone: Big display, fast hardware, and all the features you'd expect.

But it also comes with a feature that makes it safer for crypto users: A special hardware component can securely store your crypto keys and guard access to those. In theory, creating a hardware store like this will provide an extra layer of security that is very hard to breach as a hacker.

But before you get too excited, here are a few things to consider: The phone isn't shipping until at least early 2023, and it's not uncommon for projects like these to be announced under a lot of fanfare, only to quietly die.

It's also very expensive, costing $1000 dollars.

And then there is always the elephant in the room: What happens to your crypto if the phone gets destroyed or stolen, and with it your keys? We'll hold our breath on that one until the makers explain it in more depth.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why Bitcoin will never change - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 205 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 12, 2022

Why Bitcoin will never change

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Bitcoin has been one of the most influential technologies we've seen in a long time. And despite being the very first cryptocurrency, it has a surprisingly complex set of features as well.

But there are problems too. If you've followed this podcast, you know that we don't like how Bitcoin's "Proof of work" destroys the planet and makes it too slow for everyday transactions.

But every tech product changes, right? Over time, programmers figure out better ways of running things, and so even the most inefficient blockchain can evolve, no?

Unfortunately, Bitcoin is very unlikely to change. Let's find out why it's different from all the other software out there.

It's not that Bitcoin as a technology couldn't evolve in theory. The answer lies in the economics, as always. Bitcoin mining requires special hardware investments that miners have made in hopes of returning a profit. Shaking up the way Bitcoin works - for example by using a less energy-consuming method of mining - would mean they paid money for nothing.

And there you have it: Because a lot of people are way to invested in Bitcoin the way it is, they will very unlikely allow it to change for better.

Unfortunately, we think. Bitcoin has the potential to be much more, but likely never will.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How an exchange bankruptcy can wipe out your crypto portfolio - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 204 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 11, 2022

How an exchange bankruptcy can wipe out your crypto portfolio

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Do you have crypto sitting in your account with a crypto exchange? It may not be as safe there as you think it is.

That comes as a surprise to you? No wonder, because until recently, exchanges weren’t required to highlight this type of risk. So let’s understand what is going on.

There are two ways to own crypto. Traditionally, you would have your own wallet, and manage the private keys to it directly. Without those, nobody can touch your holdings.

But those keys are a pain to deal with. They are impossible to memorize and easy to lose - and many fortunes have indeed been lost. That’s why many companies, such as exchanges said: Let’s just manage those for you. All you need is an account with us, and we save the private keys.

There is one big problem though: That means they are in possession of your crypto. In the case of an exchange going bankrupt, that has big consequences. Bankruptcy is a process meant to protect those, that a failing company owes money to. When it is initiated, all operations and funds are frozen, with the goal to repay debts.

But there is a pecking order - first, banks and other institutions will get money back… and you are at the very end of that list. By the time they get to you, your crypto will very likely have gone to satisfy a debt to someone much higher on the list. No more money for you.

There you have it - “not your keys, not your crypto” as they say. But the good news is that many exchanges offer wallets that you truly own, and money transfers are very easy. Check those out, you might thank us later!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Regenerative Finance applied: Carbon Credits on the blockchain - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 203 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 08, 2022

Regenerative Finance applied: Carbon Credits on the blockchain

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Last episode, we introduced you to the concept of Regenerative Finance: Trying to use money as a tool to do good, rather than just make amassing it the ultimate goal. When money flows, it can move things, when it sits in someone’s account, it won’t.

It's an ambitious and grand idea, but some projects are already trying to make it happen. One such area is carbon credits.

Carbon credits have existed for a long time. The idea is that anyone, usually a company, can make the deliberate decision to be greener than they need to be. For example, they could invest in solar, and go above and beyond to be green. The company can then certify their action as a carbon credit and sell it to, say, Shell. That makes Shell feel a little better about destroying our planet, and they get to tell the media a nice story.

What is happening here is essentially that carbon credits wrap positive impact into financial incentives that have an open market. This makes it attractive for companies to do good.

Enter blockchains: For the first time in history, we, the people and builder, have control over the flow of money. This is significant, because we don't need to wait for governments to slowly take action, assuming they ever will. A project called Toucan for example, helps create carbon credits as tokens - and anyone who's moving money around blockchains or building Web3 apps can decide to put money there.

Yes - carbon credits are a complex thing, and we agree with you: Maybe Shell shouldn't get away with polluting our planet in the first place. But we are where we are, so it's great to see how blockchain technology puts the action back into our hands.

And with that, we wish you a great weekend! Go and participate in a project like Toucan!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Regenerative Finance (ReFi)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 202 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 07, 2022

What is Regenerative Finance (ReFi)?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's talk about Regenerative Finance and what it has to do with crypto.

The term Regenerative Finance refers to a set of ideas that look at money as a tool to drive positive change rather than something to accumulate.

Let us explain: Traditionally, money in capitalism has always played the role as the ultimate reward, the outcome one strives for. Companies optimize for profits, people for wealth. And that has led to a world where money accumulates with fewer and fewer people, and companies will do anything to make a buck.

Regenerative finance is trying to turn this on its head: Money's job is only to get circulated to achieve something, and the ultimate goal is to create sustainable systems.

Take investing for example. Regenerative Finance investment funds would not invest in a company that makes a lot of money, they would invest in the company that plants the most trees or employs the most people.

Sounds very idealistic? It certainly is a new idea, but that's where crypto comes in. If you want to shape how money gets used, it makes sense to create that money to set incentives. And that's exactly why certain blockchains exist: To use the capital they created to foster outcomes that are non-monetary.

Thanks for taking a step into new ideas with us - and we'll be right back tomorrow!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why can you trade crypto 24/7? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 201 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 06, 2022

Why can you trade crypto 24/7?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you’ve ever traded stock, you’ve likely encountered an interesting phenomenon: The markets are only open during weekdays at business hours.

Crypto on the other hand is traded 24/7, no interruptions at all.

Why is this? Let’s dive into some of the history.

In the past, stock markets like the New York Stock Exchange, were operated by people, not computers. And people need to go home for dinner and spend weekends with their families. That’s why trading hours existed originally.

But even now, with software doing all the work, those trading hours remain. Part is tradition, but part is also that it reduces crazy price swings as investors react to news. Companies usually announce big things after hours, and the stock market can take a little bit of time to think about those before opening. That helps calm minds.

The reason this doesn’t apply to crypto is easy to understand: Crypto is entirely more modern. It is all just technology that operates anytime. And because things are just a few lines of code away, anyone can create trading platforms and decide to be open for business 24/7.

So there you have it - the stranger thing is actually that stock markets open and close - because it seems natural nowadays that any market would be open 24/7.

Happy trading!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is Bitcoin a hedge against inflation? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 200 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 05, 2022

Is Bitcoin a hedge against inflation?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you've thought recently that everything is getting more expensive, you are not wrong: Inflation - which is the loss of purchase power of your real-world currency, is at decades-long high.

One often heard claim is that an investment in Bitcoin can offset those losses. But is that really true?

First, let's see where this claim comes from. The year was 2008, and governments were printing money to bail out big banks. That drove inflation up high, and Bitcoin was most likely conceived in protest of governments having that ability.

But it wasn't created to defend the Dollar or Euro against inflation. Instead, the idea was to inflation-proof Bitcoin itself by giving it a limited amount of Bitcoins that could ever exist - and no government could mess with that.

That might have worked in a hypothetical world where Bitcoin became the main currency. But the reality is: All of crypto together doesn't even make up for half the value of Apple. Bitcoin isn’t used like money.

And so, instead of becoming our money, Bitcoin is just another very risky asset. And when inflation is high, central banks raise interest rates, which in turn destroys the value of the riskiest assets the most.

You see: Bitcoin and crypto in general aren't just bad at protecting anyone from inflation, recently they would have even accelerated one's losses.

It turns out, the claims are not true - and people just misunderstood why Bitcoin was created in the first place.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a zk rollup? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 199 - by cryptohunt.it Jul 01, 2022

What is a zk rollup?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today we’re going to talk about zk rollups, which several blockchains use to solve the problems of slow speeds during heavy usage.

So, what is zk or zero-knowledge? Let’s start with an analogy first.

Let’s say that you’re sending applications to multiple universities. Each requires a unique essay for each university.

You’re running close to the application deadline, so you quickly seal each envelope and rush out the door to get to the mailbox.

And then it hits you, did you put the correct essay for each college in the right envelope?

You don’t have time to double-check, but what if you could verify that each essay is in the correct envelope without opening it?

And that is what a zk-rollup, or zero-knowledge rollup, can do on a blockchain. It packages up a large amount of transactions into a verifiable envelope.

This one “envelope” makes it possible for that large group of transactions to be added all at once on a blockchain, like Ethereum.

That reduction in the amount of pending transactions frees up space for other transactions, saves money since less transactions need to be validated and this also leads to faster transaction times, even when a network is slammed with activity.

And what about those application envelopes? We are sorry but there is no other way than just opening each one to check if you made things right.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What do you want to learn? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 198 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 30, 2022

What do you want to learn?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today we do something different. After 197 episodes we would love to ask you three questions?

Number 1: How do you like this podcast? Did you learn some basics? Did you sign up for cryptohunt our "duolingo style" learning plattform for crypto? We would love to hear from you either per email at podcast@cryptohunt.it or even better with a little review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

This would help us a lot and would mean the world to us!

And then 2nd - what would you like to hear us break down for you? Is there a term that you do not understand, is there a concept that you would like to learn more about? Send us an email also to podcast@cryptohunt.it and we can discuss in a future episode!

And then last but not least: It would be just awesome if you could press pause right now and share this crypto in plain english podcast with one of your friends or friends groups on Whatsapp, Telegram or SMS. Thanks in advance!

And with that: We will come back to the regular programming tomorrow - until then, keep learning - in plain english!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Ethereum’s upcoming Beacon Chain? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 197 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 29, 2022

What is Ethereum’s upcoming Beacon Chain?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

This time, we’re going to talk about Ethereum’s Beacon Chain. Sounds funny, but it’s serious business - it is supposed to help solve the scalability problems Ethereum suffers from.

Right now, Ethereum is like a busy airport with millions of travelers arriving. Those travelers, which are the equivalent of blockchain transactions, are all crowding up in front of a single customs agent. Even worse, the agent takes bribes, so whoever pays most, gets to go first. This is what makes Ethereum’s transactions so expensive in addition to being slow.

But now, let’s say you’ve recently returned from traveling internationally, and you need to get through the very busy customs section at that airport. Suddenly, over the noise of the crowd, you hear a new customs supervisor start organizing everyone.

The supervisor divides the crowd into groups and then points each group to the shortest line in front of other agents in booths on the other side of the room.

This agent is doing the job of Ethereum’s Beacon Chain, which is designed to route transactions between Ethereum’s upcoming “shard chains”. Think of those as Ethereum going from one customs agent to many.

And that’s what the Beacon Chain does. When in effect, it may actually solve the things we criticize so often about Ethereum: Slow and expensive transactions that are only for the wealthy.

And when will that happen? Unfortunately, your guess is as good as ours. The date has been pushed out so many times, we can’t even count anymore.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Sharding? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 196 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 28, 2022

What is Sharding?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about “sharding”, which is one way that blockchains are looking to solve scalability issues.

High scalability allows a blockchain to efficiently process transactions, even when its number of users increases.

Sharding is one way to do this. Instead of relying on a single blockchain to process all transactions at once, transactions are divided among several chains, or “shards”, that process smaller batches of transactions at the same time.

Think about sharding like checkout lines at a grocery store. If there was only one cashier and hundreds of customers, many of those customers would have to wait forever and get frustrated.

Sharding allows blockchains to have multiple cashiers, or chains, available to process those transactions. Each register is also connected to a central system that coordinates and records the transactions from the individual cashiers.

In practice, a user’s transaction will be processed automatically on the least busy shard while still getting the benefits of using that blockchain through the central system. Think of it like standing in the shortest line.

The best thing: To the user, this all happens transparently. All they notice is that things are transacting very fast.

This is exciting news for blockchains like Ethereum, which will soon transition to a sharding system run by “The Beacon Chain”. The Beacon Chain will coordinate and combine the transactions between Ethereum’s shard chains when they are hopefully released sometime in 2023.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 195 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 27, 2022

What is POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol)?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take a look at POAPs - what they are and why they were invented.

POAP stands for “Proof of Attendance Protocol” which is a technology that was created to give badges to people who attend a conference. Those badges are recorded on the blockchain, which makes them verifiable for everyone.

Why would anyone want such a thing? Well, think of the bigger picture. Having attended a conference, webinar, or university class may signal that you have a certain expertise. But people often claim they attended something, when in fact they didn’t.

POAPs make that impossible because the blockchain record can’t be faked and only be created by the organizer.

Technology in search of a problem or the future of credentials and diplomas? As always, we’ll let you be the judge.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a crypto “degen”? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 194 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 24, 2022

What is a crypto “degen”?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

“Degen”, short for “Degenerate” was originally used as a negative term describing inexperienced gamblers who’d bet large amounts of money on single bets in the hope of striking it big.

You may have also come across it browsing Reddit’s “Wallstreetbets”, the social media forum where people talk about risky investments in the stock market.

In the crypto scene though, this term has actually become a positive one: It celebrates those people who make wild bets on crypto markets and getting rewarded for the risk they took with large payouts.

And now that you know what a “Degen” is in the crypto context, we should look a little into the culture surrounding the term. A lot of crypto’s value explosion, especially for meme coins like Shiba Inu, can be traced back to influencer marketing. Celebrating risky investments is part of that narrative - and remember: This only works as long as things go up.

Ask yourself: Why do people praise me for taking a win-or-lose position? What do they have to gain?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is CeFi (Centralized Finance) and does it exist in crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 193 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 23, 2022

What is CeFi (Centralized Finance) and does it exist in crypto?

Welcome to our cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

CeFi, short for “Centralized Finance”, refers to a form of banking or trading where your money is either held by a centralized organization, or passes through it.

Traditionally, this concept obviously applies to the existing financial system: Banks, stock exchanges, etc. are all centralized. But you’d be surprised to hear: It also exists in a world that strives to be decentralized: Crypto!

The thing is: When you buy crypto through an exchange like Coinbase, that’s CeFi, because there is still a company aggregating all the business and doing all the work. The same for stable tokens that have a reserve managed by a single entity, like USDC. Or those lending portals like Celsius that made negative headlines recently.

And, ideology aside, that isn’t a bad thing per se. Coinbase can offer you free token swaps because they technically don’t buy or sell anything. They just move things around in an internal account. And managing a stablecoin reserve through a single entity allows that company to do all the regulatory and compliance work that helps with building consumer trust.

But it could be a bad thing when that organization doesn’t mean well or is incompetent. In the case of Celsius for example, they locked all customer withdrawals. So you are exposed to arbitrary decisions those companies make about your money.

As you see… there are pros and cons. Is CeFi good or bad then? As always, it depends!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Celsius Network and why did it freeze user withdrawals? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 192 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 22, 2022

What is the Celsius Network and why did it freeze user withdrawals?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's take a quick look at the Celcius Network, a crypto lending company that promised high returns on deposits… until they froze customers’ withdrawals.

So, what happened? Let’s look at how their company worked to understand what is going on here.

In a way, Celsius worked like a regular bank. If you put money into a normal checking account, it’s only there on paper. The bank actually takes that money and invests it, making a profit with the money you thought was just sitting there. Governments, however, limit what percentage banks can invest, and how much risk they can take, to protect you, the customer – at least to some extent.

Celsius did all of these things, without any of the limitations. Returns were abnormally high, driven by borrowers who speculated on increasing crypto prices.

But Celsius also offered special deals: If you bought their Celsius token, they would often give you much higher rates of return. That also only worked as long as people kept buying in, inflating the token’s value.

In the end it all collapsed, driven by falling crypto prices. It is unclear, if customers will see the whopping $8bn of their money back.

So consider this: Is government intervention such a bad thing in these cases? Do we need a little more balance? As always, we’ll let you be the judge.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Could stablecoin Tether (USDT) collapse? And how? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 191 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 21, 2022

Could stablecoin Tether (USDT) collapse? And how?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Could Tether, the most popular so-called stablecoin, collapse? It's possible! Let's see how this would go down.

In order for Tether to "de-peg", meaning to drop significantly below the stabilized price of $1, two things would need to happen.

First, a run on the "bank": If enough people lose trust in USDT and want to exchange it back to US Dollars, Tether, the company behind it, would have to sell their significant reserves to make that happen.

Now, if people still don't trust that Tether has enough money to convert it all back to real, hard Dollars, step 2 kicks in: They will dump USDT on the open market for a discount, hoping to avoid the worst.

So, here's the big question: Why would people think Tether can't pay? Don't they claim to be over-collateralized, meaning they have more in the reserve than there are USDTs out there?

Allegedly, but nobody really knows the details. In fact, they have been sued by the US government for shady reporting multiple times. You'll have to assume that many of their assets are volatile in value – such as stocks and crypto. And with the recent wider market crash, Tether reserves might reach a tipping point.

So, will Tether collapse? Your guess is as good as ours. It might take another black swan event to make it trip, but there have been a few of those lately.

Regardless of where you stand on that: always think about the risk/reward of owning something that will never go over $1, but could lose peg and fall way below.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is “fiat” 🚗? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 190 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 20, 2022

What is “fiat” 🚗?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

The crypto community often speaks of “fiat”, and no - they don't mean the Italian car maker, although we also think that is a cool company.

So what is “fiat” in the context of money?

Fiat is simply a government issued currency. The US Dollar is a great example, or the Euro.

What's more interesting though is, why fiat plays such an important role in the crypto world.

Everyday transactions anywhere in the world still require fiat. Crypto hasn't even made a dent yet – we are still very far away from a world of decentralized payment systems that were envisioned ever since Bitcoin launched over 13(!) years ago.

That also means that crypto has mostly been used as a means to speculate. And when you speculate, the value of your crypto portfolio is worth nothing in practice, if you don't cash out into fiat, that hard government backed cash.

And there you have it, that’s why fiat is so important - but maybe someday we'll all pay with crypto, or maybe fiat will even be blockchain-based. Interesting times ahead!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Jack Dorsey’s “web5”? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 189 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 17, 2022

What is Jack Dorsey’s “web5”?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Just as you thought you finally understand roughly what web3 means, Jack Dorsey – the co-founder of Twitter – is here to confuse you some more by introducing web5.

That’s right. Nevermind web4, we are jumping right to web5. And to make things worse, he’s releasing under a company called “TBD” - which usually stands for “to be determined”. But don’t worry, we are here to untangle his confusingly named new ideas.

His web5 wants to be a combination of web2, which represents the existing “big company controlled” internet and web3, the new wave of community owned and operated organizations. 2 + 3 equals 5. Yeah… we didn’t giggle either.

The greater idea is to give people control over their identity and data back.

Consider this example: If you sign up with Facebook, your account and all the content you post is stuck inside Facebook. You can only use it there. They can do with it what they want. If Facebook wants to go through your messages to target ads, they can and will do that.

Web5, in contrast, would provide an open service that allows you to keep those all in one place, and only you control them. Like we showed in yesterday’s episode, this is similar to crypto wallets, which also let you log into websites, or store credentials such as proof of ownership of digital art, on them. Those sites could then build traditional products like Facebook, making this the “2+3=5” hybrid approach.

And that’s also where our questions are about web5: What is it actually trying to do that wallets don’t already promise? We guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

And lastly, Dorsey and the web5 creators are big Bitcoin fans and propose to use it as the underlying technology to verify data. And you know how much we always bash Bitcoin for its energy footprint: We don’t think we really need another projects contributing to the destruction of our planet.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Can blockchains do more than just handle money? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 188 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 16, 2022

Can blockchains do more than just handle money?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you’ve followed this podcast closely, you will have likely asked yourself: If blockchains are giant decentralized databases, why’s everyone just trying to move money around?

And that’s a really great question. It is true: Crypto currencies, stable coins, smart contracts. Even NFTs - it’s all about money or some sort of asset representing value.

But we are here to tell you: Blockchains that can be programmed, such as Ethereum, can do anything the programmer wants. Think of it as simple logic: If this, then that.

They can replace your username and password for example. A wallet app lets you log into websites that support it. Your wallet becomes your online identity.

And there is more that you can do with that concept: You could record personal accomplishments, such as a learning credential, and attach it to your wallet. Because it is on the blockchain, anyone can verify it, and nobody can steal it.

And the possibilities are much larger. In fact, Jack Dorsey thinks that this type of use is going to be where blockchains really break free. And that’s why we’ll look into his idea of web5 in the next episode.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How large is the crypto market really? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 187 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 15, 2022

How large is the crypto market really?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, crypto winter, boom, crash. Crypto is in the news cycles all day long. So it should be reasonable to assume that everyone has a little crypto and it’s a massive market?

Surprisingly, not quite. Let’s take a deeper look at how much money is really floating around.

The best way to do this is to look at total market capitalization, which refers to all the money market value of all the traded crypto assets in the world.

As of today, there are around $1 trillion dollars worth of crypto assets out there. That’s a lot of money! But if you put it in perspective, you can see how early we still are if you believe that crypto is going to eventually take off.

Apple for example, the famous iPhone maker, is worth double of ALL of crypto as a single company. So is Saudi Aramco, the oil company. Microsoft is pretty close as well. And there are a whopping 2000x more US dollars in circulation than crypto.

So there you have it. You may think crypto is massive, or that a crypto winter would be a huge blow to any economy. But in reality, it still pales in comparison.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Staked Ethereum (stETH)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 186 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 14, 2022

What is Staked Ethereum (stETH)?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

You may have heard the name “Staked Ethereum” in the news, as yet another crypto product is at risk of collapsing.

Staked Ethereum, also known as stETH is a token that solves a simple problem: How to participate in the Ethereum 2 transition and not lock up your funds.

Sounds more complicated than it is, so let’s take a step back.

At some point in the future, Ethereum will move to “proof of stake” which means that people who deposit money can take part in validating transactions and getting rewards for it. To get enough people to help validate in the future, the blockchain allows people to put their current Ethereum into an escrow, where it is locked up until the move, but earns interest.

The problem for many: It’s locked up, and nobody knows for sure when the move to Ethereum 2 happens.

That prompted a company called Lido to come up with a solution: They will take your Ethereum and put it in the escrow on your behalf, and give you their own token in return which you can use just like the real Ethereum. On top of that, they are paying you staking rewards, which are like interest. Once Ethereum 2 launches, it all gets exchanged back.

So, in theory - because one stEth will be exchanged back to one Ethereum, both will always have the same price. But if people start to doubt that they will get their money back, or think Ethereum 2 will take longer, they may start selling at a discount - and that is exactly what happened last week.

Currently, stEth is trending 5% under the actual value of Ethereum - so beware, those staking rewards may not be worth it!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Bitcoin Lightnig network and why does it exist? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 185 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 13, 2022

What is the Bitcoin Lightnig network and why does it exist?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

By now, you’ve heard many times over that Bitcoin, the original blockchain, struggles with various problems, such as low transaction volumes, expensive transactions, and a tremendous negative impact on the environment.

And that’s why the Lightning Network was invented. It is a separate fast lane, trying to make Bitcoin more usable. If you think about it, it makes sense: Why invent all these hundreds of other blockchains when you can just fix Bitcoin’s problems?

So, let’s take a quick look at how it works. The lightning network essentially keeps transactions off the main record of the Bitcoin blockchain, and hence it doesn’t need to process them.

Say you are at a birthday party and someone bought a gift. They are collecting money from everyone. In the traditional Bitcoin world, everyone would have to leave, go to the bank, and send the person the money. They can then confirm the money has arrived and a few days later, you could finally gift the present.

In the Lightning network world, you would simply give them cash at the party, maybe even exchange something for smaller bills with another person. In the end, only the person who bought the gift would have to go to the bank.

And this is taking off by storm. Thanks to Jack Dorsey’s Cash App alone, there are already 80m people on the Lightnig network. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How do I create my own coin? And should I? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 184 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 10, 2022

How do I create my own coin? And should I?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

How do I create my own crypto coin, and should I? Today, let's look at it: Is that possible? And is it worth it?

Yes, it is absolutely possible! Anyone can do it nowadays. So let's talk about the reasons you'd want to, how to do it, and why it's probably not worth it.

There are a few reasons people want to mint their own token. It could be just to learn, for fun, or because they hope it'll be worth something one day.

Well, let's say: You just feel like it - a fun project to teach you something new. There are a few steps to jump through.

You see, your own coin is basically a computer program on the blockchain. You could write it yourself, or copy a template and fill in the blanks. But you can also easily Google many tools that get this done for you if you want to take the easy route.

And that leads us to the next topic; Anyone can practically do this now. There are 10,000 traded coins alone that have some sort of market value, and yours isn't even among them. It's very unlikely your coin will be worth something, especially if there is nothing different about it. So you’re not really doing it for the money. On top of that, fees for some blockchains. Those can be tremendous, easily in the hundreds of dollars.

But you may decide that you can’t go wrong learning something, and we’d be with you on that one. So: A fun project to dig deeper into blockchains, or a colossal waste of money? You decide.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Soul Bound Token? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 183 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 09, 2022

What is a Soul Bound Token?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: What is an SBT, which is short for Sould Bound Token?

The idea of the soul bound token is relatively new, and was proposed by three authors: Glen Weyl, Puja Ohlhaver, and none other than Ethereum co-founder Vitalki Buterin.

In short, it describes a record of your accomplishments on the blockchain.

You’ll remember that blockchains are really nothing more than databases, with the twist that anyone can verify a record's correctness. And the idea here is to record your achievements on it, and record them in a way that only your wallet can hold them. They can never be transferred, hence the name soul bound - bound to you.

Sounds abstract? It is, but think about it this way: If you play a video game online and earn a badge, or do a workout with your AppleWatch and get a virtual medal - those are all digital recognitions of something you accomplished, they are just not recorded on a blockchain.

But the blockchain does make sense if you take the concept further: Your university could issue you an SBT that undeniably verifies your degrees. A former employer could do the same for a reference. And whoever you show it to, can trust them instantly.

We’ll see where this goes. But we think it’s one of the few practical applications where the idea of a blockchain provides extra value.

What do you think?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Cryptohunt is going live! - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 182 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 08, 2022

Cryptohunt is going live!

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today is a special day for us. Today, we are launching cryptohunt to the public after working very hard on it for the last 6 months.

It may sound a little cheesy, but cryptohunt is a product that is trying to give you the same joy as we have when learning about crypto.

What you don’t know: Every day, my co-founder Arndt writes one of these podcast episodes during the day, And after dinner, excited like a child on Christmas morning, I sneak into the garage and learn something new while recording it.

That’s what cryptohunt aspires to do, but as a product. If you go to www.cryptohunt.it, you’ll find dozens of little classes that’ll teach you crypto from the ground up. Our goal is to make you giggle and laugh, and have fun. This stuff is technical sometimes, so we made it light and enjoyable - earn badges, and share lessons with friends.

So, that is cryptohunt. Check it out at cryptohunt.it! We hope you have as much fun using it as we have building it for you.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What’s the best way to learn about crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 181 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 07, 2022

What’s the best way to learn about crypto?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about the best way to learn all about crypto and blockchains. And stay tuned for the end of the episode, where we have exciting news: This podcast is getting a big upgrade!

Crypto can be complicated. It’s a very technical topic, and we are still in the beginning stages. That means most people you’ll hear from are early adopters and builders who tend to talk in complex terms or assume you know the basics.

But here’s the secret: We were beginners too, 6 months and 180 episodes ago. And our biggest insight was: Crypto is like a new language. You can learn it one step at a time, by understanding the core concepts.

So here’s the big reveal: We are launching cryptohunt tomorrow, and with it a fun, and entertaining learning experience where we have engaging classes for all of those fundamentals. It’s like Duolingo, but for crypto.

By the time you hear this, we are probably already live, so give it a try at www.cryptohunt.it! And don’t worry, this podcast isn’t going anywhere!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Elon Musk’s history of hyping crypto - can you trust him? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 180 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 06, 2022

Elon Musk’s history of hyping crypto - can you trust him?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take a look at one of the most popular crypto influencers ever - none other than Tesla-founder Elon Musk. And the question is: Should you listen to him?

Musk has a long history of hyping crypto, in particular Bitcoin and Dogecoin. He tweeted about Bitcoin first in 2014 and has since raved about Dogecoin quite often as well. He’s also made some big moves with Tesla: The company bought $1.5bn dollars worth of Bitcoin in 2019 and even said customers would soon be able to buy cars with crypto.

But here is the strange thing about Musk: What he claims and what is actually happening are often two different things. Tesla ditched their Bitcoin holdings quickly thereafter, and the only thing Dogecoin buys to date are Tesla T-shirts.

You see, Musk has one of the most followed Twitter accounts on earth and seems to rarely filter his tweets. That’s why we wouldn’t give them too much weight; we would rather suggest you do your own research. Bitcoin and Dogecoin for example are both bad for the planet - strange for an electric car guru to promote.

Best to ignore the opinions of influencers, and develop your own! Stay tuned for our launch on Wednesday, because we’ll help you do exactly that!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does DYOR mean? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 179 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 03, 2022

What does DYOR mean?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

“DYOR”, you might sometimes hear it in the context of investment forums and the like. It stands for “Do Your Own Research” and simply reminds you that you should always understand what you invest in.

If you think about it, that’s really solid advice. First, you are less likely to get scammed by someone if you independently research and verify their claims.

Second, it helps you figure out which things are something you want to invest in instead of just blindly following market trends. Warren Buffet famously follows this approach: He and his investment partners at Berkshire Heathaway only take long term bets in companies that they think have a fundamentally solid business model and leadership team.

And lastly, it is easy to get lured by the promises of making a quick and easy return. We’ve all told about the friend who got a Ferrari after she made a lucky investment in some crypto coin. But what they made, someone else lost because they bought into the same buzz, just later. Do your research to understand the risks.

With cryptohunt, we are building a learning platform that will teach you the fundamental building blocks of how crypto works. So you can make your own decisions and don’t need to follow someone else’s advice. Whether you are interested in personal finance or simply want to understand this new technology that is lurking around the corner.

We hope you enjoy this content - and next time we’ll talk about one of those people who’ve fueled a lot of uninformed crypto purchases: Elon Musk.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a public ledger? And why may you not want to send money via crypto if you care about your privacy? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 178 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 02, 2022

What is a public ledger? And why may you not want to send money via crypto if you care about your privacy?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Here’s a thing most people won’t tell you about crypto: Every blockchain is really nothing other than a giant notebook, stored in the cloud.

That notebook is often referred to as the public ledger. So let’s explain what the ledger is, and then look into the implications of it being public.

Think of your own bank account: Money goes in, money goes out. The result is your account balance. Your bank keeps track of your transactions, and everyone else’s.

A blockchain ledger is the same: It’s one big history of all the transactions. Nothing more, it’s really that simple. But instead of being saved on your bank’s server, an identical copy is saved on many computers that are connected peer-to-peer.

Why many computers? The point here is to eliminate the middle man, your bank. But trusting a single random person to keep this important history of transactions is problematic. They could alter it and steal your money. So many copies exist, and they are publicly accessible. If someone cheats, anyone with a separate copy can quickly find out by doing some simple math.

But that has downsides for consumers like you. By design nothing is private on a public ledger. So when you send money, anyone can see how much and where. And of course, anyone can see how much you have in your wallet as well.

So think about that as one of the downsides of using crypto. Everything is always a tradeoff.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How to avoid problems with those stupid wallet addresses that most blockchains use - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 177 - by cryptohunt.it Jun 01, 2022

How to avoid problems with those stupid wallet addresses that most blockchains use

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Last time we showed you how to send money via stablecoins. But in the process we noticed something super annoying: These wallet addresses.

They are a frustratingly cryptic string of numbers and letters… and easy to get wrong. Uppercase and lower case matter, they are seemingly randomly mixed, and are pretty long. In other words: They are user hostile and unfortunately you have to deal with it.

But there are a few ways to avoid trouble.

First, make sure everyone handling them always just copy-paste them through their computers or phones, By avoiding to manually write them down, lots of those potential errors can be eliminated.

Second, make sure you know the difference between your wallet address - which is also called public address and your private key. Both look the same, but you never want to share the private key with others. It unlocks full access to your wallet and anyone asking is likely trying to scam you. What you can share is usually called wallet address, or public address.

Lastly, if you are sending larger amounts, make sure to do a small test transaction and confirm the amount with the recipient before you send the rest.

And yes, we are sorry we have no better news for you. One day we’ll laugh about how stupid this all is, but for now we are stuck with it. But hope is on the horizon: There are blockchains, like Celo, that allow you to use email addresses or phone numbers instead, making it more like Paypal.

And next time, we’ll talk about the public ledger and why you may not want to send money via crypto if you care about privacy.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How to send money to friends and family with stablecoins - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 176 - by cryptohunt.it May 31, 2022

How to send money to friends and family with stablecoins

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we explain how to use crypto to send money to friends and family, regardless of where they are.

To be precise, we are going to talk about using stable coins. So before we dive in here, let’s clarify a few things as always!

First: Why bother? Because sending money across borders and between currencies can be hard to do, cost ridiculous amounts of fees, and is very slow. Crypto is instant and in many cases much cheaper.

Second, for those of you just tuning in, stable coins are closely following a government-backed currency in value. For example, 1 USD Coin should always be worth very close to 1 real US Dollar. Unlike Bitcoin, for example, this makes stable coins great for sending money to others because their value doesn’t change while you are transferring.

But, third, the word stable coin is a bit misleading. Not all stable coins are really stable, do you research before you choose one, and listen to episode 111 of this podcast.

Ok, let’s get to it then. Here is what’s required: You need a crypto account that allows you to buy that stable coin, and your friend needs one that allows them to receive and sell it, and both of you will likely have to go through some required checks while opening those.

Once you are sure your stable coin of choice is accepted by both wallets, it’s as simple as using Paypal: You exchange your own currency for the stable coin, and send it to the recipient, who can exchange it back into their local currency.

And there you have it. You just sent money, possibly across the entire planet, without paying your bank a single cent in fees. Neat, isn’t it?

And next time, we’ll talk about those annoying wallet addresses you still have to deal with.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does KYC stand for and why is it so hard to create a crypto account? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 175 - by cryptohunt.it May 30, 2022

What does KYC stand for and why is it so hard to create a crypto account?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you’ve ever signed up for a crypto account with one of the big exchanges you will have noticed: The process was really hard – all kinds of questions asked, some you probably didn’t even know the answer to. Maybe you even gave up and said: “Too complicated, what do they want from me!”

We are here to tell you, those companies don’t actually WANT you to do this. They HAVE to make you do it. But why?

The requirements are different in different countries, but at the core of it is a requirement known as KYC - short for “know your customer”. Governments actually require that companies make sure to verify who you are.

There are a few reasons, but governments want to make it harder for bad players to use crypto for bad things. Because once your money is in an anonymous wallet, it’ll be hard for them to tie it back to someone. Money laundry, tax evasion, financing terrorism - you name it. There are some really bad things money can do, and of course governments try to make them as hard as possible, rightfully so.

But now you know: Because a few bad people do a lot of very bad things, you have to suffer through a long signup process.

And next episode, we show how stablecoins can help you send money to friends and family in even the most remote of places.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are on-ramps and off-ramps? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 174 - by cryptohunt.it May 27, 2022

What are on-ramps and off-ramps?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

You’ve likely heard the terms on-ramp and off-ramp in the crypto context before. And of course you figured out that we are not talking about actual ramps leading on and off freeways.

But those on- and off-ramps serve a similar purpose in the crypto world: They describe the process of buying into crypto and selling out of crypto for real-world money.

How does it work? Very simple.

To on-ramp, you use a provider, for example a crypto exchange like Coinbase or Binance, that will connect with your bank account or credit card. Then they charge you real-world money, such as Dollars or Euros, and give you crypto in exchange.

Off-ramp is exactly the opposite. Sell crypto for money, send the money back to your account.

And you can see why both are essential. Without people on-ramping into crypto, blockchains would have no value. And if you couldn’t sell again, there wouldn’t be many reasons to buy into it in the first place, given that paying for everyday purchases with crypto is still not really a thing at all.

And if you’ve ever gone through the process yourself, you will know that these providers ask for a ton of personal information: They don’t exactly make it easy to buy in and out. In the next episode we’ll talk about why: A little acronym called KYC is at fault.

Stay tuned until then! We are thrilled you are listening to this podcast!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a zero-sum game and why should you care about it with crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 173 - by cryptohunt.it May 26, 2022

What is a zero-sum game and why should you care about it with crypto?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: What are zero-sum games and why should you care?

In the context of financial systems, zero-sum games describe a market where someone’s gain is someone else’s loss.

Let’s take a look at a slot machine in the casino. When you win, your wins are only possible because numerous other people have lost at that machine in the past.

Crypto is the same: When hedge funds invested a few million dollars in Terra Luna, and exited with hundreds of millions before the collapse, that money came from the other people who put their money in after them, which pushed Luna’s price up. A plus for hedge funds, a minus for everyone else: Makes zero in sum.

But why should you care? Because when things look too good to be true, they probably are. Always do your own research on things you are interested in investing in. Ask yourself: If everything is a zero-sum game, who stands to benefit from me putting money here? And if you don’t like the answer, walk away.

Come visit us at www.cryptohunt.it if you are interested in learning more. We have dozens of small, easy to understand lessons to empower you to make your own decisions. No crypto knowledge required!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Where do those high interest rates and yields in crypto come from? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 172 - by cryptohunt.it May 25, 2022

Where do those high interest rates and yields in crypto come from?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Last time we layed out how stable coins are risky, without the benefit of potential rewards. But by now you will have probably screamed: “Not so fast, what about those interest rates I can make?”

And we’ll give it to you: All over the crypto world, projects are paying out crazy high interest rates just for depositing your stable coin. What could possibly go wrong?

Let’s look at the Anchor Protocol, the project that brought down the entire Terra Luna blockchain and ultimately destroyed $80-100 billion dollars in investments. They promised you 20% returns - but let’s look at how that worked.

First, they would loan out your TerraUSD to others, where they asked for 10% interest. You were the one eating the risk that those borrowers won’t return the money. They would also ask the borrowers for collateral - other types of crypto, which they lend out again for interest. Fine, as long as prices increase. Once they decrease, everyone is losing. And lastly, a large part of the remaining interest was given back to you in ANK tokens, their own native asset which fluctuated wildly in value.

Sounds a bit like someone was trying to obfuscate things? We think so.

And that’s why it is important to realize that financial systems are zero-sum games. Someone gains what somebody else loses. And in the next episode, we’ll look into that more and why it is a dangerous game to play.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why Stablecoins are almost always a bad investment - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 171 - by cryptohunt.it May 24, 2022

Why Stablecoins are almost always a bad investment

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

As an avid listener of this podcast, you will have noticed: We have spent a lot of time explaining stable coins. This is somewhat of a passion for us: We love the idea, but we think the risks are not clearly communicated.

So, what makes stable coins so risky? They are, after all, stable right?

And that’s the problem. In theory they do represent a value that only fluctuates minimally. But many stablecoins have fundamental flaws: They may not be fully backed. Or their algorithms don’t hold up under pressure.

Whatever the risk, the most important thing to realize is that there is no reward by design. You will never get MORE for them than you paid. But they can collapse, like TerraUSD did. And let’s take another look at Tether USD: The company refuses to tell you where the money is parked, yet it is the third largest cryptocurrency in the world.

We want you to consider this: Risk with no reward. Is it worth it? We think maybe, for temporary money transfers or payments, but not to hold. But as always, do your own research - we are not here to give you investment advice, we want to teach you the basics to make the best decisions possible.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

TerraUSD meltdown, part 6: What’s next for Terra, Luna, and the world of stable coins? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 170 - by cryptohunt.it May 23, 2022

TerraUSD meltdown, part 6: What’s next for Terra, Luna, and the world of stable coins?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Remember the last episode, a chilling history of mass withdrawals of Terra triggering the Terra and Luna coin collapses? Welcome to the last part of our one-week special. Today: What will happen now?

First, let’s speculate about the future of the Terra Luna blockchain. The organization running it has spent billions of their reserve, trying to stabilize the system, and it was all for nothing. They have no more powder left and it is safe to assume that the blockchain is dead forever, as public confidence is destroyed.

Second, let’s talk about stable coins in general. As a frequent listener of this podcast, you remember that not all stable coins are as stable as they claim to be. Yet, many investors put their life savings into them because they trusted the claims. It’s likely that governments will crack down and put a lot of pressure on those instruments.

There will also be a wave of other collapses as investors are withdrawing from stable coins. If you have money parked in them, consider one thing: By definition, stable coins don’t appreciate in value. But if they collapse, you could lose everything. It’s a very single-sided risk.

And lastly, this is a great reminder for us all: Knowing the history and understanding the complicated inner workings of crypto is really crucial to making good decisions. We hope that this podcast is giving you the inspiration to learn and the confidence to choose wisely.

Thanks for listening to this special, and if you have any feedback or questions, email us at podcast@cryptohunt.it. We would love to answer your questions!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

TerraUSD meltdown, part 5: Who killed TerraUSD: Malicious attack, or simply a weak design? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 169 - by cryptohunt.it May 20, 2022

TerraUSD meltdown, part 5: Who killed TerraUSD: Malicious attack, or simply a weak design?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Welcome back to part five of our one-week special on the TerraUSD collapse. Today: What caused the stable coin algorithms to stumble and lose the peg? If you haven’t followed from the beginning, please jump back a few minutes of listening time to episode 165.

Last time we talked about the magic machine that exchanges eggs for dollar bills to stabilize egg prices. And we learned that this is exactly how TerraUSD worked - using a fixed exchange rate for Luna, it guaranteed the price of Terra.

But we also said: A machine has its limits.

And so did the Terra Luna stablecoin rubber band: A black swan event, one where many things happened at once, gave it a mighty kick and it lost balance.

One major contributor was a project called Anchor Protocol. There, you could deposit Terra stablecoins for a crazy 20% interest, but as that became impossible to maintain, the project slashed interest rates overnight. People made a run for the 14 billion dollars parked there and flooded the Terra Luna stablecoin algorithm. As the machine couldn’t keep up, people were willing to take a discount on their stable coins to get out of the market, and that snapped the rubber band.

But even worse: Now there was a ton of new Luna, printed by the machine when it exchanged Terra for it. The more Luna it created, the more the Luna price drove down. Eventually the panic crept into the general crypto market and everything dropped. In total, the market wiped out over $80bn dollars.

And while there have been speculations about foul play, none of them have been proven. Some say it was a bad actor holding a massive short position. Others claimed popular hedge funds have something to do with it. But either are just conspiracy theories at this point.

And it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that many investors had money in an ecosystem without knowing the real risks. So, in the next final episode, let’s talk about what’s next for Terra Luna, stablecoins, and what we can learn from it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

TerraUSD meltdown, part 4: TerraUSDs Fatal Flaw - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 168 - by cryptohunt.it May 19, 2022

Episode 168: TerraUSD meltdown, part 4: TerraUSDs fatal flaw

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Welcome to part four of our one-week special on the TerraUSD collapse. Today: How did TerraUSD collapse?

Remember last episode, where we explained how an algorithmic machine can create a stable price for eggs between you and your friends? If not, jump back one episode to 167 because you’ll need the background.

So now we understand that through the process of guaranteeing a stable exchange rate between eggs and dollars, and creating or destroying each in that exchange, we can stabilize prices.

And that’s exactly how Terra worked. It has a sister currency called Luna and the two work just like those eggs and dollars. Get it? Terra - earth, grounded, stable. Luna - moon, space, volatile in value.

The algorithm, just like your magic egg-dollar machine, is the rubber band between the two: It exchanges Terra for Luna and vice versa for a fixed rate, while destroying either one of the other in the process.

But what could possibly go wrong? The system seems solid, doesn’t it?

Well, say the unthinkable happens in our egg market: Overnight everyone turns into a vegan and wants to sell their eggs immediately. That machine would have to act very fast. Destroy egg! Print dollar! Destroy egg! Print dollar!

But every machine has its limits. So did the Terra Luna exchange algorithm. It collapsed under the weight of too many requests to exchange.

In the next episode: Let’s look at the history of what exactly happened on May 9th 2022, and why the Terra Luna machine was flooded with withdrawal requests.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

TerraUSD meltdown, part 3: How TerraUSD worked - the story of the magic egg-dollar machine - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 167 - by cryptohunt.it May 18, 2022

TerraUSD meltdown, part 3: How TerraUSD worked - the story of the magic egg-dollar machine

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Welcome to part three of our one-week special on the TerraUSD collapse. Today: How did TerraUSD actually work before it collapsed?

The people behind Terra wanted to create a stable coin for easy online payments. And a decision was made: Let’s use a self-stabilizing algorithm instead of central reserves.

So, let’s look under the hood and explain how that works… with an analogy as always. Let’s go!

Say that you and your friends agree that – from now on – one egg is always worth one dollar. You all keep your promise for a while and trade happily, until one friend gets tired of eggs and wants to dump them all for 80 cents a piece. Suddenly, the entire market adjusts, and egg prices aren't stable anymore.

So you invent a really powerful machine: It can create eggs, destroy eggs, print dollar bills, and burn dollar bills.

And the machine operates by two basic laws:

Law one: If you give it a dollar, it burns it and creates you an egg.

Law two: If you give it an egg, it destroys it, and prints you a dollar.

Immediately, everyone would see the opportunity: Buy those cheap eggs directly from your friend for 80 cents, and exchange them for a full dollar through the machine. They just made 20 cents, a 25% profit!

Bankers call this arbitrage and they love it. Once they are in on the action, there are soon only eggs worth $1 left for sale. And whenever a small discount pops up again, the bankers will make sure to close that.

Your magic machine just created stable-eggs. And it’s exactly like that algorithm that powered TerraUSD.

And in the next episode, we’ll look at the machine's fatal flaw.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

TerraUSD meltdown, part 2: What is an algorithmic stablecoin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 166 - by cryptohunt.it May 17, 2022

TerraUSD meltdown, part 2: What is an algorithmic stablecoin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Remember the last episode about a peg, the rubber band that keeps a stablecoin stable? Welcome to part two of our one-week special on the TerraUSD collapse. Today: How does an algorithmic stablecoin actually work?

Let’s remember the rubber band analogy. If the value of a stable coin moves too high, the rubber band has to snap back, and the same happens in the opposite direction.

There are two types of stable coins: Collateralized and algorithmic. Collateralized coins are easy to understand: There is real money in a central reserve backing them, and whenever someone wants to exchange a stablecoin back, the real money gets taken from the reserve.

Algorithmic stablecoins are different. They use computer code to balance their price automatically. The most simple ones just create more of their own coins - which decreases the price - or invalidate existing ones - which increases the price.

But since computer code can do much more complicated things, people have also built far crazier mechanisms into stable coins. The problem is that these work in 99.9% of the real-world use cases, but in those rare moments of extreme tension, the rubber band tears and the system collapses.

And that’s exactly what happened with TerraUSD. The algorithm tripped, fell on its nose, and kicked off a snowball that turned into an avalanche. So, in the next episode, let’s look behind the curtains of how TerraUSD was working to understand what went wrong.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

TerraUSD meltdown, part 1: What is a peg? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 165 - by cryptohunt.it May 16, 2022

TerraUSD meltdown, part 1: What is a peg?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

What is a peg and what does it do for stablecoins? Welcome to part one of our one-week special on the TerraUSD collapse.

You probably heard about the crypto meltdown of the not-so-stable stablecoin TerraUSD. And it all started with it losing its “peg”. But what is a peg anyhow, and what does losing it do?

A peg describes a very close relationship in value between two financial instruments. The price of one always follows the other’s very closely, something finance called “peg”.

In this case, TerraUSD was pegged to the US Dollar, which is just a fancy way of saying that its own value is always very close to one actual US Dollar.

Unlike other crypto currencies which fluctuate a lot in value, one TerraUSD should have always been worth one US Dollar.

But the system isn’t perfect, think of the peg like a rubber band between the two. In normal times, a TerraUSD could be worth 99c, or a dollar and a cent. The rubber band keeps them close enough for those differences to be very, very small and not matter in practice.

Until it lost the peg. That rubber band snapped, and the stablecoin lost its value and plummeted. It currently sits at just 17c, a total loss of 9 billion dollars which makes this one of the largest crypto meltdowns ever.

So: How on earth did that happen? Let’s dig into the inner workings of TerraUSD’s rubber band in the next episode.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why does crypto go down when interest rates go up? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 164 - by cryptohunt.it May 13, 2022

Why does crypto go down when interest rates go up?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s try and understand the recent events in the stock and crypto markets.

You’ve seen the news: The US Federal Reserve is raising interest rates and suddenly the markets freak out. What does one have to do with the other?

When a governments’ central bank raises interest rates, it means that they will guarantee a certain amount of return on investment to anyone. For you, that means you will soon get more interest for money in your savings account, thanks to the government.

But more money in savings accounts also means that more people will take money out of risky investments, such as stock and crypto, and put it back into savings. The reason is simple: It’s much safer, and will now make them enough to be happy with.

And because those people sell that stock and crypto, it drives prices lower. And suddenly other people get worried and also sell, causing a downward spiral.

So, why on earth would governments want this? Right now, it helps reduce high inflation: People lose some money in their investments, they spend less, prices have to go down. And it gives them another powerful tool: When central banks need to, they can now lower interest rates to induce the opposite effect: Increase stock prices when markets need stimulation.

Now you know why investments have lost value recently. Hang in there and keep learning!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Are there 19 million Bitcoins or 21 million? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 163 - by cryptohunt.it May 12, 2022

Are there 19 million Bitcoins or 21 million?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

You and us, we’ve talked about this a few times now. Theoretically, there could be 21 million Bitcoins out there, but only 19 million are actually in circulation. Why is that?

Let’s take a step back in history! The year is 2008. Investment banks are collapsing under the load of their own bad financial products, and governments are bailing them out. And people are mad: The governments are printing money to do it, which is creating inflation. You, the normal citizen who caused no harm, suddenly see prices increase everywhere around you.

Bitcoin, which came out shortly after in 2009, is believed to have been created in response to these policies. The idea was: What if we created a new type of money that nobody can mess with, not even the government?

To make that happen, it was written in code that there can only ever be a maximum of 21 million Bitcoins. But things started out much more moderately than that - only 1m were in circulation. The rest is set aside as rewards for mining, the process that validates transactions. It costs money to operate the hardware, and so this reward was made part of Bitcoin.

Which brings us to today. 18m or the 19m existing Bitcoins have all been earned through mining, and 2m are left until the maximum of 21m is reached. Sounds like a small amount, but it will likely take another 50 years to get there thanks to a process called Halfing. Go check out episode 50 for that.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is diluted market capitalization? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 162 - by cryptohunt.it May 11, 2022

What is diluted market capitalization?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let us explain diluted market capitalization, a term any crypto investor should understand.

But first, jump back one episode where we explain market capitalization itself. A cryptocurrency’s market capitalization is the total amount of money in circulation of that cryptocurrency. Let’s take Bitcoin as an example. Currently priced at around $30,000 per Bitcoin, there are 19 million of them. In total they are worth 590 billion dollars.

That’s a lot of money, but it doesn’t actually include all of the possible Bitcoins. Eventually, there will be up to 21 million Bitcoin in circulation. The difference, a whopping 2 million, is just being held back as rewards for those operating the network, also called miners.

Fully diluted market capitalization refers to the theoretical value of all possible Bitcoins in circulation. If you add those 2m yet-to-be-mined coins to the market cap, you get a total diluted market cap of 650 billion at the current price, a 60 billion US dollar difference.

Head buzzing? Let’s recap. Market cap refers to all the actual money that is currently floating around in a cryptocurrency. Fully diluted market cap is the higher, theoretical value of the maximum possible number of coins.

And in the next episode we’ll explain why the inventors of Bitcoin set a limit at 21 million of them and how you could get some of the ones being held back today.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is market capitalization? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 161 - by cryptohunt.it May 10, 2022

What is market capitalization?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let us explain market capitalization, a very basic term any investor should be familiar with.

Market capitalization simply refers to the amount of money all the shares of a company are worth when taken together. Let’s take an example: Coca Cola, the company. Right now, a single share is worth about $65 dollars, and there are about 4.4 billion shares in circulation. Multiply the two, and you will see that Coca Cola has a market cap – short for capitalization – of 281 billion US dollars.

That value helps you compare companies. Pepsi for example, has a market cap of 240 billion US dollars, slightly less than Coca Cola. That means that investors think that Coca Cola has a little more business potential than Pepsi.

The same applies to blockchains. A cryptocurrencies market cap is the amount of coins that exist, multiplied by the value of each. Is your head buzzing? This example will make more sense: A single Bitcoin is currently worth about $30,000. There are roughly 19 million Bitcoins. Add all those zeros and you will see: All of the Bitcoins together are worth 600 billion dollars in market cap, almost three times as much as Pepsi and more than double that of Ethereum.

And now that you understand market cap, go browse the web and compare: How much larger is Apple than Microsoft? How many car companies could you buy with all of the Bitcoins? We are sure you’ll find tons of interesting comparisons, whether they are useful or just fun.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How the NSA helped create Bitcoin - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 160 - by cryptohunt.it May 09, 2022

How the NSA helped create Bitcoin

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

You’ve heard it everywhere: most governments are really cautious about cryptocurrencies, some even feel threatened by the new technology. It will come as a surprise to you then that the NSA, America’s National Security Agency and one of the largest intelligence agencies in the world, actually created the technology that Bitcoin is based on.

How is this possible? Let’s dig in.

It is the year 1993! The internet is just at the brink of mass adoption, very exciting times! And the military had been using it for a while already, and so have universities, and the US government started to think about security: What if someone figured out a way to listen in?

The problem at the time was that security was based on encryption algorithms that kept getting cracked by talented hackers and mathematicians. So the NSA decided: Let’s create our own and make it available to everyone. A secure internet for all is better than one everyone can hack. They called it SHA, for “secure hashing algorithm” and it took off like crazy: Everyone uses a version of it today. In fact, even the data transferring my voice to you is encrypted by it right now.

And ironically, the very thing the US government aims to regulate also uses the same algorithms. Bitcoin would not be possible without SHA, and thanks to the NSA anyone can use it for their project. In fact, SHA is so good that Bitcoin was never hacked.

So, next time the topic at the family dinner table turns to the government, you can point out that our internet would not be the same without the NSA.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a hash used for? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 159 - by cryptohunt.it May 06, 2022

What is a hash used for?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

No doubt: You’ve heard the word hash thrown around by crypto enthusiasts. Strap in, this is a complicated one, but we’ll break it down. And hey - we guarantee you that lots of those crypto folks don’t actually know what it means either and are just trying to impress you, so here’s your chance to get ahead!

First, let’s talk about the purpose those hashes solve: Simply said, they help prevent fraud in blockchains.

Here’s how that works: Remember that blockchains are nothing other than long lists of transactions, stored as separate copies on many different computers. Altering the history of that blockchain is attractive to hackers, because they could create a different record that suddenly shows them as having lots of crypto.

When people pay with crypto, each group of payments gets summarized as a hash after they have been recorded. The hash is a math function which takes all of those transactions, and that could be a lot of information, and compresses them into a really short, but unique text. It is very easy for a computer to summarize things into a hash, but almost impossible to turn a hash into the original data.

It’s like your fingerprint: All of your genes come together when you are born, resulting in hands with a unique fingerprint for each finger. It works in that direction for every human being, every time. Even identical twins don’t have matching fingerprints. But nobody can take your fingerprint and recreate your DNA from it.

But what does it do for a blockchain? Well, in one direction it makes it very easy to verify that all transactions in a blockchain are correct, but in the other it makes it super hard to unwind them and create an altered history.

And now that we at least know what hashing is used for, let’s look into the role the NSA played in enabling Bitcoin. It’s a pretty big one! Stay tuned for the next episode.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Gwei? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 158 - by cryptohunt.it May 05, 2022

What is Gwei?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you have used Ethereum, you have likely encountered the term “Gwei” (Christian: Gu-uei). And if you haven’t – tune in, because it’s one of the core things to learn when using Ethereum or similar blockchains.

A Gwei is simply the smallest possible fraction of an Ethereum. While you can certainly send around whole Ethereums, you don’t have to. In fact, an entire Ethereum is worth several thousand dollars, and if you wanted to buy ice cream with it, you would need to send a small fraction of one - otherwise, that would be a very expensive frozen treat!

A Gwei is very similar to a Dollar or Euro Cent. Those cents are also the smallest possible fractions of that currency. When you buy something, the price always comes out to something rounded to the nearest cent. No store will ever charge you 1 dollar and 95.3 cents. It’ll just be 1.95.

And a Gwei is really, really small actually. It’s one billionth of one Ethereum, which is currently worth one 30.000th of a US dollar cent.

But where does the name come from? It is named for Wei Dai, one of the pioneers of the crypto technology that is powering many of today’s blockchains.

And now that you know what a Gwei is, keep an eye out for other names of the same concept. In Bitcoin, it’s called a “Satoshi”, in Cardano a “lovelace”, and Stellar calls it a “stroop”. But now you know: It’s all the same idea.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Jack Dorsey? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 157 - by cryptohunt.it May 04, 2022

Who is Jack Dorsey?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about another prominent person in the crypto space: Jack Dorsey.

Jack Dorsey: Isn’t that the Twitter guy, you ask? What does he have to do with crypto?

Yes, that Jack Dorsey, co-founder and long-time CEO of Twitter is also a big player in the crypto space. Let’s dig in, and as always, start at the beginning.

Dorsey, an American born in St. Louis dropped out of college to pursue the idea of what later became Twitter. It took a while and some strange turns - from taxi dispatching to sharing messaging app statuses with friends - for the actual Twitter product to emerge, but the rest is obviously history.

But you may not know that he also started Square, a payments company that helps merchants accept credit card payments on their phone or point of sale terminal. The company has become very successful as well, and for a long time Dorsey was CEO of Square and Twitter at the same time.

If you are thinking: come on, what about crypto, here we go: Dorsey had long been interested in crypto and eventually even renamed Square to Block, with a roadmap to accept crypto at all payment terminals. He also sold his first tweet as an NFT for $48m, is a proponent of Bitcoin, and has publicly criticized Ethereum many times.

Dorsey recently left his CEO job at Twitter, to focus full time on Block. So keep an eye on that - we’ll likely see some interesting blockchain announcements from them soon.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Gary Vee? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 156 - by cryptohunt.it May 03, 2022

Who is Gary Vee?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you have been around crypto and NFTs, you might have heard of Gary Vaynerchuck, who is best known by his online name Gary Vee.

And if you haven't heard of him, stay tuned - because Vee is an interesting person. Most recently for example, he made a reported $90m with VeeFriends, his own NFT collection.

Vaynerchuk is an entrepreneur, investor, and influencer. Born in Belarus in the mid-seventies, Vee emigrated to the United States where he developed a knack for innovative marketing while helping his parents grow their East Coast wine business.

But how exactly did he become this immensely popular Web 2 influencer, who is making waves in crypto?

It was that wine store experience that inspired him to start a Youtube channel about wines, which quickly evolved into an increasingly successful channel about everything online marketing.

Nowadays, he's a big influencer, who can fill stadiums with people who want to hear him speak. And on top of that, he's been very successful with early bets on startups like Facebook and Coinbase.

And where do influencers go these days to make another buck? Crypto of course. He's been interested in it since 2014 and invested in projects like the Bored Ape NFTs.

And that led him to create his own NFT series. Although criticized as "childish" art, he was able to market a series of his own drawings as NFTs and make a reported $90m off those. Vaynerchuk disagrees – of course. To him those pieces of art are true to themselves because they came out of his own hand.

And that's just what it is - art is subjective and we'll let you judge as always. But keep in mind: Where influencers meet crypto, there might not be long term value for the buyer.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Charles Hoskinson? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 155 - by cryptohunt.it May 02, 2022

Who is Charles Hoskinson

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

This episode is about Charles Hoskinson, who you may know as the founder of Cardano. So let’s dig in, because there is a lot of history here.

Hoskinson isn’t only the founder of Cardano, he was also among the original five co-founders of Ethereum. We already talked about two of the technical brains behind Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood, but Hoskinson was more on the business side of things. He helped the young team raise money through a so-called ICO, short for initial coin offering. That’s when a company sells their own token to the public instead of old-school shares.

Eventually, Hoskinson was fired by Vitalik Buterin over a disagreement about the vision of the company. Hoskinson wanted to make Ethereum a commercial project, raise VC money, and build revenue streams. Buterin wanted to keep it a non-profit which it remains till this day.

Hoskinson went on to start Cardano, a direct competitor to Ethereum. And that’s really where the most interesting part of the story lies – the crypto world is quite small if you look closely. Three of the largest blockchains have all been started by people who met on the original Ethereum team.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Gavin Wood? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 154 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 29, 2022

Who is Gavin Wood?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we want to introduce you to yet another cofounder of Ethereum - Gavin Wood.

Gavin Wood is an interesting person to know because he developed some of the core technologies that power today’s blockchains.

But let’s start at the beginning! Wood was born in the UK, where he attended the University of York and got a Masters in Software engineering and later on a PhD. He then went on to work as a research scientist for Microsoft.

But his most fundamental contributions started when he joined Vitalik Buterin as one of the Ethereum Co-Founders at the very beginning in 2013. Remember that Ethereum’s goal was to create a blockchain that allows people to build all kinds of financial applications on, as opposed to just functioning as a means to move around money, like Bitcoin did at the time.

To achieve that goal, a lot of completely new fundamentals had to be invented. It can get a little technical, but all you need to know is that he programmed many of them and it would be fair to say that Ethereum wouldn’t be the same without him.

Eventually, he left Ethereum in 2016 and founded another blockchain you may have heard about: Polkadot. Remember how he created all those fundamental technologies to let people create cool things on Ethereum? Well, with Polkadot his plan was even more ambitious - why have just one blockchain that serves all purposes like Ethereum? What if we created a technology allowing anyone to create their own blockchain, fully customizable to their own needs?

But you may have also heard Wood’s name pop up in mainstream media for another reason: He’s the single largest contributor of crypto donations to support Ukraine: He donated $5.8 million dollars to their government… all over the DOT, Polkadot’s native token, of course.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why is Facebook now called Meta, and what does it mean for crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 153 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 28, 2022

Why is Facebook now called Meta, and what does it mean for crypto?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

So, you’ve heard the news. Facebook, the company, is no longer called Facebook. They renamed themselves to Meta, a new company with a focus on virtual reality.

Sounds crazy? Well it is! No wonder that the reactions ranged from disbelief to making Meta the topic of many jokes. But let’s break it down and take a really good look. It might actually make sense!

But first things first - Facebook, the product you know, isn’t going away, and neither are Instagram and all the other things the company operates. They will keep their names as well.

But here’s the deal: Facebook as a company has long seen the writing on the wall. User growth hit its limits, and a younger generation prefers TikTok over Facebook and Instagram. And then there are the issues of free speech vs. misinformation, privacy concerns, and potential government regulations. These are, let’s be clear, very hard problems to solve even for a company like Facebook.

So, what do you do then if you are Mark Zuckerberg: Work even harder and fight the slow death, maybe turn Facebook into something different and risk losing a money-printing business?

Absolutely not, said Zuckerberg, and instead figured he could use all that sweet money to build an entirely different empire: One that owns virtual reality. It’s a crazy gamble on a specific version of the future, but let’s look at it: Virtual reality technology is already getting so good, people fly realistic airplanes, play games, and design cars in it. Plus, Facebook already owns Oculus, one of the dominant makers of VR headsets.

It may sound distopion to you now, but is it such a stretch to assume that spending time in VR and interacting with others will be an experience many people prefer? Heck, what if we all end up spending most of our time there - working, hanging out, all the things you do.

Let’s assume that happens: Then, suddenly people will want to own things to use and show off there. Humans are humans after all. And what is better suited than crypto to pay for virtual things?

So keep an eye on it: It could be the killer use case for crypto, taking it from concept to essential. Whether Facebook will dominate the space or not, that is to be seen. But the strategy, although very bold, makes a ton of sense. If Zuckerberg succeeds, this could become the single most important turnaround any company has ever done. So, next time someone jokes about Meta, tell them there is something to this whole idea.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Sam Bankman-Fried? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 152 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 27, 2022

Who is Sam Bankman-Fried?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s get to know the creator of crypto currency exchange FTX, a person by the name of Sam Bankman-Fried, who - despite being a billionaire - still prefers to live with roommates and sleep in his office.

Bankman-Fried was born in Stanford, California as the son of two Standford University Law professors.

Being talented at math, he became interested in economics and started working as a funds trader while attending MIT. This turned into a full-time position, which he quit after a few years to start his own algorithmic trading firm – that means the business uses computer code to trade, not human decision.

He realized there was money to be made in Bitcoin trading at slightly different prices in different places. By buying it a fraction of a dollar cheaper in one place, and selling it for a tiny profit somewhere else using nothing but computers, he managed to grow into $25m of trading volume every single day.

Fascinated by crypto trading, he later founded FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. He moved to Hong Kong, where laws are more favorable for his business.

And if you are wondering: How do you achieve all of that? Apparently Bankman-Fried always works, never takes vacations, and sleeps on bean bags in his office. He likes them so much that he has one in every room.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Chris Dixon? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 151 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 26, 2022

Who is Chris Dixon?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, in our little mini series about popular blockchain people let’s introduce you to Chris Dixon, general Partner at the famous venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz, often abbreviated as A16Z.

What makes Dixon interesting to know about is that he is one of the most prominent voices about Web 3 and crypto, which also turned him into one of the most successful investors in the space.

Dixon came to Andreesen Horowitz after a successful Silicon Valley career: MBA, then Venture Capital, two-times successful founder with exits to McAffee and eBay.

He got interested in crypto early, when Twitter shut down its app marketplace way back in 2008. This made it clear to him that the future of the internet shouldn’t be in the hands of just a few companies.

And his bets paid off very handsomely. He was a very early investor in Coinbase for example, and now leads Andreesen Horowitz’s crypto team.

You can find Dixon talking about crypto on Twitter, where he has a large following and regularly shares his thoughts on the future of the industry. Go check it out, he often breaks things down for the rest of us!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who is Vitalik Buterin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 150 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 25, 2022

Who is Vitalik Buterin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we start our little mini series about popular blockchain people you should know about… and the first one is: Vitalik Buterin.

So who is he and why is he an interesting person?

Vitalik Buterin is best-known as the co-founder of Ethereum and, with the exception of the mysterious Bitcoin founder Sotoshi Nakamoto, is probably the best known person in the entire crypto community.

Buterin grew up in Russia as the son of computer scientists, and his family emigrated to Canada when he was six. He ended up being placed in classes for gifted children, because he was exceptional at math, and started enjoying programming and economics.

But he also liked gaming, and spent countless hours playing World of Warcraft. Coincidentally that put him on the path to create Ethereum, because the game publisher took away his character’s main abilities in a single software update. At that very moment, Vitalik Buterin realized that centralized services have a lot of power over their users.

This eventually motivated him to start working in Ethereum, which he first described in a paper in 2013. At the time, he was the publisher of Bitcoin Magazine, and liked the idea of Bitcoin, but wanted it to be more flexible than just do payments. Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal, took notice and convinced Buterin to take a $100,000 investment to drop out of school.

And the rest is history. Obviously, Ethereum has become the most important blockchain for anything related to decentralized apps and finance, and Buterin is at the helm of its foundation.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does “Immutable” mean? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 149 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 22, 2022

What does “Immutable” mean?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Are you also tired of hearing those technical, hard to understand terms that blockchain insiders use all the time? So are we. And one of those often mentioned terms is “immutable”. Insiders will say things like: a blockchain is a so-called “immutable ledger”.

But don’t get frustrated. It’s very easy to translate: Immutable just means that something can not be changed.

Think of blockchains like a transaction history that is saved on thousands of computers. Because of that, and because blockchains have mechanisms in place to prevent bad actors from altering them, they are essentially unchangeable.

This means: You can see every single thing that ever happened, and you can trust that the information is correct. Refreshing in times where we seemingly can’t agree on all that many things these days, isn’t it?

And why don’t crypto insiders just say “unchangeable”? Beats us too. Maybe it makes them feel smarter. But don’t be frustrated – a lot of the tech talk is easier to understand than it seems, and we are here to teach you. One building block at a time!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Genesis Block? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 148 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 21, 2022

What is a Genesis Block?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we explain in simple terms what a Genesis Block is.

A Genesis block is the first block to exist in a blockchain. But let’s take a step back and revisit the concept of blocks to fully understand what that actually means.

Think of a blockchain as nothing more than a long history of financial transactions, saved indestructibly on many computers at the same time.

If you know the history of who sent whom how much, you can easily determine what is in each person’s wallet. It’s like a family tree: History is represented by generations – parents have kids, and kids have grandkids. If you know that Peter is Christian’s son, and Audrey is Christian’s daughter, you can determine that Christian has two kids.

But back to transactions now! Blocks are groups of those transaction records, and they simply exist to make it easier for computers to process many of them at the same time.

A Genesis block gets its name from the biblical story of God creating the world out of nothing. That’s kind of what is happening with crypto too: Someone just decides to start somewhere - for example 50 Bitcoins. It’s an arbitrary starting point, and the amount is set by the inventor of that blockchain. Everything after then is up to the users of the blockchain.

There you have it. All history has to start somewhere, including that of blockchains. And sometimes, there are some interesting nuggets to be found: Bitcoins Genesis block for example contained the headline of an article about banks being bailed out in the financial crisis of 2008. This led many to speculate it was invented as a currency that can’t be controlled by governments.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Can you really make crypto while running? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 147 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 20, 2022

Can you really make crypto while running?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s look into a new trend: Apps that give you free crypto as a reward for being active: Run a mile, get a token. Get out of the house for a walk, get another one.

But how does that work, are those tokens even worth collecting, and why would someone do this?

You may have heard about “play to earn” games where you get crypto as rewards for participating. A new kind of app that works similarly, is getting popular: But this time it’s about “move to earn”.

The idea is simple: You get rewarded with an app’s own token for exercising, and because the token can be traded on crypto exchanges, that reward may be exchanged for money. Sounds strange that someone would just give you money? You are not wrong - so let’s look into how those economics work.

First, there are simply games that give you a token they invented and that token doesn’t have real value. It’s just a fun game to keep you on your toes - pun intended. And in some cases, even though those tokens are just like Yelp badges or Reddit Karma, speculators show up and pump the value up.

But there are also cleverly disguised schemes that are influenced by popular play-to-earn games: Those “move to earn” games require you to buy in first. STEPN, the most popular one, forces you to buy a “sneaker NFT” for over $1000 before you can earn the token. They don’t say it, but the economics are simple: You buy in, so someone else can cash out. If total users are growing, everyone makes money - until people want to get out. Ponzi scheme, or just skin in the game… you’ll be the judge.

And that’s it on “move to earn” - we will say: Get out of the house no matter what, but if you are intrigued, go do some more research! Maybe there is one you find fun to play.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a custodial wallet? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 146 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 20, 2022

What is a custodial wallet?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about a different type of wallet. The so-called “custodial” wallet.

You may have never heard the term before, but it is the most common form of wallet. And if you have a crypto account with Coinbase, Binance, or other exchanges, you might actually have your crypto in a custodial wallet without knowing what it is.

Remember that on a blockchain, each bank account is represented by a wallet. That wallet has an address, like your bank account number, and a secret key. Without the key, nobody has access.

And managing that is cumbersome. You have to write down the keys somewhere, make sure you don’t lose them and keep others from stealing them. Countless amounts of crypto have simply been lost because people misplaced their secret key and will never be able to access their wallets again.

Enter those “custodial” wallets. Instead of making you manage all those keys, they are simply managed by someone else, for example Coinbase. You may have noticed that once you are signed up, those services simply work - no need to write any special passwords down for each blockchain.

This has huge usability advantages for you as a user of course. But at the same time, you have to trust those services not to lose your password or let hackers in. It’s a tradeoff, and some people who want to keep crypto for a very long time opt for cold storage instead - saving those passwords somewhere offline in a nearly indestructible form.

There you have it: Custodial wallet just means someone else is keeping your funds in a wallet they have custody over. You don’t have to worry about keys and such, but have to trust them to do the right thing.

The decision, as always, is yours.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How can your crypto wallet also be your password to Web3? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 145 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 19, 2022

How can your crypto wallet also be your password to Web3?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you’ve ever come across one of those “Web 3” websites, you will have noticed that they don’t operate like normal websites: Instead of asking you to create an account with username or password, or log in through Google and Facebook, they simply connect to your wallet.

But what does that do? And is it safe?

Connecting with a crypto wallet really means nothing other than letting the website know that you own that particular address on the blockchain in that case. Think of it like buying a car on a financing plan: The dealer needs to know you actually have control over the money, they don’t really care about the sound of your name as long as you can pay. That’s why they do all these identity and credit checks.

With blockchains, it’s much easier: You are the owner of your account because only you have the key. All your history is right there for everyone you let in. Like the car dealer, those sites don’t really need to know your name or email address to allow you to use a service, for example to exchange one token for another. And because your blockchain account is tied to you and you only, it can serve a double purpose as your login.

Neat, isn’t it? But be careful - these web apps can ask for anything, including permissions to transfer things in and out of your wallet. Whatever they ask for, a dialog pops up. Always - and we mean this - always read very carefully what they are asking for. Confirming your identity is one thing, but there are plenty of scam websites out there: They will tell you it’s just a login, but hope you don’t read the dialog and just click “OK” when they are trying to clean out your wallet instead.

And there you have it: Logging in with a wallet - kind of convenient, but still a little scary, so be careful. Things will surely get better over time, but keep your guards up for now.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Does Bitcoin have to be a Planet Killer? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 144 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 15, 2022

Does Bitcoin have to be a Planet Killer?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

We’ve covered and complained about Bitcoin’s energy consumption in this podcast a bunch, but let’s face it: Bitcoin makes up over 40% of the money, putting it far ahead in the first place. Clearly, Bitcoin is attractive to investors despite the carbon emissions problem.

So, the question is: Does Bitcoin HAVE to be a planet killer? Or can it be changed?

Unfortunately, it’s a little bit of both and the answer is: It’s complicated. So let’s break it down!

At the heart of Bitcoin’s wasteful nature is “proof of work”, a mechanism to validate transactions that burns energy by design. The thought is: Someone could take over the network by owning more than 50% of the mining capacity - which is called the 51% attack. So, let’s make it expensive for them to try, and introduce arbitrary energy intensive tasks each miner has to solve to participate.

This mechanism has been really effective at preventing a 51% attack. But Bitcoin doesn’t have to be this wasteful. The technology could be advanced to use more modern methods, like “proof of stake”. There, miners lock up funds in an escrow account in return for mining rights, and would lose them if they did bad things. Proof of stake blockchains are not only extremely fast, but also need just minimal amounts of energy.

But there is a catch, and it’s not technology, it’s human behavior. You see, mining is a HUGE business. Miners have invested millions into highly specialized Bitcoin computers, which are good at one thing, and one thing only: Solving those Bitcoin puzzles. Take the puzzles away, and the investment becomes useless.

The problem? You need more than half the actors on the network to agree to that change and they have deep financial incentives to dislike that change.

There you have it: It’s very unlikely that Bitcoin will ever become an energy friendly blockchain unfortunately. But as they say: stranger things have happened! Maybe we’ll all come to our senses one day and make the leap forward.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Block Time? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 142 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 14, 2022

What is Block Time?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s explore another one of those cryptic blockchain terms: Block Time. What is it and why does it matter?

Remember that blockchains are just long historic records of every transaction that ever happened. It’s like a family tree - a historical representation of an evolving document.

Computers do the hard work of validating those transactions. They need to make sure that nobody tried to sneak a fake transaction in to inflate their wallet balance - just like you want to make sure that your prankster uncle doesn’t change your grandmother's name on your family tree. In blockchains, when enough computers come to the consensus that the record of transactions up to this point is correct, the network approves it.

Now, this may take a little while to do. Bitcoin is famously slow because it forces computers to solve arbitrary puzzles to deter the bad guys from spamming the network with fake transactions. And because that is a known problem, transactions get bundled in so-called blocks. Instead of doing a puzzle for every single transaction, the puzzle is per block.

And there you have it: Block time is the time it takes for such a block to be fully verified. For example, Bitcoin’s block time is about 10 minutes. And if you know that Bitcoin is limited to about 1500 transactions per block, you can quickly calculate that it can only handle 2.5 transactions per second.

And those 2.5 transactions per second are not a lot at all, but you need to realize 10 mins block time in itself is also a very long time. Standing in line for ice cream and waiting that long for every single person ahead of you to pay would be absolutely no fun!

So, you see - Block Time matters, because even thousands of transactions per second won’t solve a problem if you have to wait for a long time for YOURS to process.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Blockchain Bridge? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 142 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 13, 2022

What is a Blockchain Bridge?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: What does a blockchain bridge do, and how does it work?

The problem those bridges are trying to solve is almost as old as money itself. Imagine traveling to a different country and trying to spend the bills in your wallet at a restaurant. It will most likely not accept it and demand payment in their own local currency.

That's why you can exchange money, say from your US Dollars to Euros or the other way around. But how does this work?

It's all about collateral, or creating a reserve. An exchange kiosk at the airport would take your US Dollar and put it in the vault, then give you Euro in exchange. Your dollars are now the reserve that backs the Euros you've been given.

Of course, because there are many people going to the same kiosk every day, your exact Dollar bill may end up in a different person's wallet, but the principle remains the same.

Crypto bridges do the same thing. Because blockchains are separated, normally there would be no way to use, just as an example, Bitcoin on Solana. But people may want to do that, because they like Bitcoin, but want to take advantage of faster transactions on the Solana technology.

The bridges will take your Bitcoin, and put it in a sort of digital vault. The technical term is literally "locking them up". In return, they'll create a new token that operates on Solana, representing the value of a Bitcoin. Let's call it SolanaBit. Anyone with a SolanaBit can go back to the bridge and free their Bitcoins in exchange for letting them invalidate the SolanaBit.

And there are billions of coins locked up in vaults because they have been transferred over to other blockchains. But before you do that, know that there are big risks too - like any vault, if the bridge has security flaws, someone could break into it. The Wormhole Bridge lost $325m Ethereum in a hack just recently for example.

And that's what a blockchain bridge does! If you use then, use them with caution!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why is the European Union trying to ban Bitcoin and Ethereum? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 141 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 12, 2022

Why is the European Union trying to ban Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about a recently proposed law that would have made it illegal to use blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum in the European Union.

So! Why would anyone want to do that?

Because of big concerns about the environment. The EU has ambitious climate goals, and some blockchains consume excessive amounts of energy.

At the heart of the proposal was banning those chains that use “proof of work”, which is how some blockchains verify transactions.

This process is, in fact, MEANT to WASTE energy BY DESIGN. This is to deter bad actors from trying to overtake the network with fake requests, as every one of those would cost them restrictively high energy bills.

Of course, although cleverly conceived with good intentions by the inventor of Bitcoin, this turned out to be a catastrophic idea for the planet: Bitcoin alone consumes more energy than Norway.

And nowadays, there are alternatives that use massively better methods, all the way to carbon NEGATIVE blockchains.

But making Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others that use “proof of work” illegal would have cut millions of crypto investors in the EU out of their investments. And so the law was changed to not include this provision - at least for now.

What do you think? Should we have laws that force blockchains to become planet friendly?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Biden's Executive Order on Crypto about? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 140 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 11, 2022

What is Biden's Executive Order on Crypto about?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's take a deeper look into US President Biden's executive order on crypto and what it means.

An executive order is a written instruction the US President can give to all of the federal agencies he has control over. It's called an executive order, because it is not a law - but it instructs agencies to interpret existing laws in certain ways, which can have significant impact in practice.

One such area is cryptocurrencies. In its order, the Biden administration made a first attempt to clear the path for rules around when and how they are legal to use.

And that is important. To date, rules mostly exist around taxation, but not around how to build and market crypto projects. But the crypto industry might become a major economic factor in tech, and without clear rules, companies may decide to go elsewhere. Large exchanges like FTX have already left the US and gone to Hong Kong for example. Other companies like Coinbase have long advocated for clear laws and rules instead of unknowns.

So what exactly does the order include?

First, it acknowledges that crypto is a major trend. But as a government, a balance has to be found between allowing legal innovation and protecting consumers. Take stable coins as an example - many are not as stable as they promise, and there is nobody to protect you from that today. Another important factor mentioned is the protection of the environment.

Second, the order encourages the agencies to continue their research into a "digital dollar" - which could be a sort of crypto currency controlled by the US government.

And lastly, because crypto can be so complicated, it also asks the attorney general to determine if the existing agencies are actually capable of handling a crypto future - or if the creation of a new entity, entirely focused on the topic, is necessary.

All this is encouraging for crypto innovation in the United States. But remember - this is only an exploration of what could be. Laws will still have to be written and passed.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Consensus Mechanism in blockchains? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 139 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 08, 2022

What is a Consensus Mechanism in blockchains?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's talk about consensus mechanisms in blockchains and why they are one of the most important concepts to understand.

But first, let's quickly revisit how blockchains memorize transactions.

Imagine blockchains are like your family history. Many members of your family have a copy of your family tree, but when you compare notes at your reunion, suddenly your uncle has a strange version where a few names are very different.

So: If there are two or more copies of something, and they are not all exactly the same, who decides which one is the right one?

That's where those consensus mechanisms come in. Consus here means agreeing how to validate information. Your family could decide: Any version of your family tree that has the most identical copies is the correct one. Or you can say: We designate a person we always trust to maintain our family history, because we know they are great at that stuff.

Blockchains are the same, but deal with financial transaction history. Much like your family tree is in multiple peoples' hands, the blockchain is copied onto multiple computers, sometimes even thousands.

Without a well-designed consensus mechanism anyone could just make up new information and assign their wallet money they never had. These rules are designed to make that as hard as possible. And quite successfully actually - Bitcoin and Ethereum have never been tricked into accepting fake information.

And about that uncle - turns out he was just pranking everyone. Good that you had a working consensus mechanism in place!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Store of Value? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 138 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 07, 2022

What is a Store of Value?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

You've probably heard the term "store of value", which is usually used in reference to Bitcoin. But what does that actually mean?

Store of value simply means that an asset is seen as one created to park money in.

The most famous store of value is physical gold. People have long invested in it to diversify their portfolio in hopes of steady and relatively stable value increases over time. And there was more to it: throughout history owning gold showed: I am wealthy, and I am powerful.

The idea itself is interesting if you think about it some more: While it finds application in products like electronics and jewelry, the amount of money parked in Gold is much higher than it should be if you just think about its practical use.

You can already see the parallels to Bitcoin. Because it was a proof of concept from the early crypto days, the technology can not keep up with today's demand for speed, transaction volume, and programmability. It does, however, have a place in many investment portfolios with the intention to treat it as a kind of digital gold.

Calling it a store of value though is a pretty large misnomer. Due to the volatility of the crypto markets, Bitcoin's price shoots up and down violently, much more than Gold does.

So: As always, you'll be the judge. Digital gold or simply another speculative asset?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why is a big Hedge Fund betting against a stable coin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 137 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 06, 2022

Why is a big Hedge Fund betting against a stable coin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

A short seller called Fir Capital is making huge bets against Tether. A hedge fund betting on the decline of an investment wouldn't be newsworthy under normal circumstances, but this is different.

Tether is a stable coin, and as such you'd expect it would always be the same value as the US dollar. And hedge funds speculate on huge price changes, not stability... So, what is going on here?

Essentially, Fir Capital is saying they don't believe the coin is stable. In fact, they are so sure that they bet $4bn on the collapse of Tether.

How does this make sense at all? Well, unlike other stable coins, Tether is not transparent about the investments they have made with the money put into their stable coin. Their reserve, also called backing, is suspected to be tied up in large Chinese real estate companies, and the hedge fund thinks those will lose a lot of value soon. This would make Tether unable to repay a larger amount of users who may want to exchange their USDT back into dollar.

It's the perfect bet if you think about it. Tether is never going to be worth over $1, representing almost zero risk for the hedge fund. And if things do go wrong for Tether, they may win big time.

A Hedge Fund betting against a crypto project for lack of transparency – ironic, but probably a good thing for consumers in the end. Just don't get caught in the middle. Goes to show: Always do your research and fully understand what's going on under the hood.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is “Transactions per second” (TPS) and why does it matter? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 136 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 05, 2022

What is “Transactions per second” (TPS) and why does it matter?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's look into one the most fundamental requirement any blockchain will have to meet: That it can process enough transactions to handle the intended use cases.

Transactions per Second, or TPS in short, is a measure of that capability. Why does it matter?

Let's assume you create a new, amazing blockchain. Your goal is ambitious: It will be one global currency, poised to replace traditional payments entirely.

Now, that would be a lot of payments. VISA, for example, processes a few thousand transactions every second, and that is only one credit card company in a few countries. Just how many your blockchain would really need to support is hard to guess, but we can safely assume it's hundreds of thousands of TPS.

And guess what? Others have also tried and failed miserably. Bitcoin can handle only 7 TPS, a number that doesn't even support a single large supermarket. Ethereum does 14, so people pay to jump in front of the queue, and transaction fees become astronomical and impractical for smaller payments.

You see, it sounds easier than it is, and any blockchain that wants to have a real shot will need to support massive TPS, and they need to be cheap as well. When you evaluate a project, keep an eye on it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a governance token? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 135 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 04, 2022

What is a governance token?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

By now, you know that there are many different kinds of tokens: for example regular cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, and stable coins like USD Coin.

But you’ve probably also heard the term “governance token”. So what’s up with that?

A governance token represents the right to vote on the future of the crypto project that it was created for. Think of it like a decision in your local sports club - everyone who is involved gets a say in key decisions.

Here’s how that works: A new wave of companies, called Web 3 organizations, are starting to democratize ownership and influence over their decisions. They mint a crypto token and give that away to whoever they feel like. Usually that is active or early users, collaborators, and the like. That token then allows the holder to propose changes, or vote in proposals from others. Any proposal that passes will be implemented.

But because the governance token is nothing other than a small computer program on the blockchain, this process is always going to work. Nothing can really interrupt it, and nobody can steal control. Unlike your local sports club, where the elected president can just decide to change the color of the building against the majority decision, here the code determines the rules.

An interesting example of this is AAVE. This blockchain based borrowing and lending system has over 100,000 governance token holders. They use a forum to exchange ideas, such as making a new crypto currency available for users to borrow or lend on their platform.

So, you see, decentralizing control actually happens in practice. There is more to crypto than just trading.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What the meow are Cryptokitties? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 134 - by cryptohunt.it Apr 02, 2022

What the meow are Cryptokitties?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: What the meow are Cryptokitties?

CryptoKitties are one of the first crypto based games. The game lives on the Ethereum blockchain and the goal is to breed the most unique CryptoKitten.

It starts like this: You enter the game with a virtual cat, and the cat has various traits, such as mouth shape, what kind of fur, etc. In total, 12 different traits exist.

Then you can breed your kitten with that of another player or one of your own. It works like evolution - the traits mix and create new unique kittens. Yellow and Brown fur could create red fur for example.

Kittens are represented as images with the images showcasing those unique traits. And the more unique a CryptoKitten is, the more expensive you can trade it for.

And that’s Cryptokittens. A fun game or just another crazy crypto ponzi scheme? As always, we’ll let you judge!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Wrapped Bitcoin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 133 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 31, 2022

What is Wrapped Bitcoin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take a look at a really interesting crossover of the two most popular blockchains: Wrapped Bitcoin.

Also found under its ticker WBTC, this token isn’t really it’s own currency, but in fact Bitcoin, but traded on Ethereum.

Sounds confusing? We are here to help. Each wrapped Bitcoin represents the value of one actual Bitcoin, but is tradeable on the Ethereum blockchain. You see, while Bitcoin is really just a currency, Ethereum is like a bank and you can transact any financial instrument there, thanks for its smart contracts.

But why would you want to do that in the first place? To get the best of both worlds. Bitcoin is the largest crypto currency by far, and people want to hold it as a store of value, similar to gold. But Bitcoin’s blockchain technology is very outdated at this point: It’s slow, and very expensive to operate. And we haven’t even talked about the climate impact yet!

That’s why the investors of Wrapped Bitcoin thought: What if we can trade Bitcoin on Ethereum, allowing us to own Bitcoin without dealing with its old technology. And it seems like that was a good idea - about 1.5% of Bitcoin are wrapped, a current total of $13bn dollars.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Binance USD (BUSD) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 132 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 30, 2022

What makes Binance USD (BUSD) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take a look at yet another stablecoin, Binance USD.

Binance USD is the third largest stablecoin on the market with almost $20 billion US dollar exchanged for it. The price of Binance USD is linked to the US Dollar, making it yet another potential candidate to use for everyday payments as that gets rid of price volatility of traditional crypto.

Fans of this podcast will know that we’ve spent a few episodes on stable coins already - how they work, and analyzing just how stable they really are – or are not. So what makes Binance USD special next to the others we have talked about, like USDC and Tether?

Binance USD is actually very similar to USDC, as it is fully audited and regulated by a government. In this case, the New York State Department of Financial Services has given its seal of approval.

And also just like USDC, Binance USD is 100% backed by real dollars: When you buy one BUSD, the company puts aside that one US Dollar you purchased it with, meaning you can always exchange USDC back fully. Remember! That isn’t always the case for stablecoins, Tether for example is notoriously intransparent about its backing.

One notable difference that BUSD has going for itself is that it can operate on the Binance smart chain, which is cheap and fast. USDC in contrast, when used over the Ethereum blockchain, suffers from high transaction costs that reach $20-30 dollars easily.

And that is it on Binance USD! We hope you enjoyed this episode. Learn more and come see us for a first glimpse into cryptohunt at beta.cryptohunt.it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Near (NEAR) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 131 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 29, 2022

What makes Near (NEAR) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about NEAR.

The Near protocol is a blockchain that allows developers to build products and services on top of it, similar to how they might use Amazon's or Google's servers to create a website.

Near brands itself as a community as well as a platform, bringing together community members who maintain the network and developers who use it to build. It's a little bit like a community garden - there is something to do for everyone.

But besides the technical advantages of high speed and lower transaction costs than it's biggest competitor Ethereum, Near also wants to solve other problems a real-world user might not want to deal with.

First, it gets rid of those cryptic wallet addresses nobody can remember and replaces them with something much more useful. Those Near addresses look very similar to websites addresses, for example jonsmith.near. That makes them easy to remember and share. You might remember: Celo is another blockchain with the same idea, but they use phone numbers or emails instead.

Second, Near makes a deliberate effort to be a green blockchain and it is carbon neutral certified. Their approach is two-fold: They constantly look at their software to eliminate any wasteful code, and they offset carbon emissions by donating to the planting of trees.

And that is Near, another example of a blockchain that is trying to solve not only technical challenges, but also the human side of being able to use it, and use it responsibly.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes HEX special? - Episode 130 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 28, 2022

What makes HEX special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take a closer look at HEX, a crypto token that is specially designed to perform lending and borrowing.

The makers of HEX took a look at the traditional financial markets and realized that there is a very popular form of borrowing and lending, called a certificate of deposit. In short also called CD, its idea is really simple: A bank would pay you a higher interest rate on cash that you deposit for a fixed amount of time. That’s because it helps the banks plan ahead better, something worth a premium to them. They take the money out of your account, and you get the CD. It simply says: The bank now owes me money and I’ll get it back at a set point.

HEX does all of that, but without banks in the middle. You can put money into Hex by buying it, and when you lock it up for a period of time, it starts paying additional Hex in interest.

Interestingly, that is the only use case it has: To buy and hold, like digital gold. That is why many critics say Hex is essentially a big ponzi scheme - it can only continue to grow in value if more people buy in. Proponents, on the other hand, liken it more to Bitcoin as an investment vehicle, but with built in interest.

And that’s it on Hex – what do you think? 30 billion dollars invested well, or just a big ponzi scheme?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 5: How Ethereum almost died because of a hack - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 129 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 25, 2022

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 5: How Ethereum almost died because of a hack

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day on crypto and its history. In plain english.

Today's episode is about another kind of hack, one that targeted weaknesses in blockchain technology to steal a lot of Ethereum.

It started with an ambitious idea in 2016. A group of coders from Germany came up with the idea of the DAO, a decentralized organization that would act like a venture capital firm, but without employees. Instead, anyone who sent Ethereum to the DAO would in turn get partial ownership of it, and voting rights to determine which investments were to be made.

And it exploded. Over just a month, the DAO raised $150 million dollars from over 11,000 investors. The creators were proud, especially because most money came from a bunch of smaller investors, truly democratizing venture capital.

The DAO’s operation was controlled by computer code, meaning the rules are set in stone and in theory nobody could mess with that. Unfortunately, the code had bugs though, and hackers were able to siphon off $40m of the funds.

The entire young Ethereum community was fighting over what to do. In the end, two sides existed: One which wanted to just move on, and the other, which wanted to roll back the history of the blockchain, restart from before the incident, and operate in that alternative reality.

The fight was so strong that Ethereum almost fell apart. In the end, two Ethereums came out of it: The one we know today altered the blockchain’s history. The other, called Ethereum Classic, kept history as it was and moved on.

And there you have it – many hacks can come from within. Blockchains are just computer programs, and they can have problems too.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 4: How Bitconnect’s ponzi scheme turned out to be a $4.5 billion dollar scam - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 128 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 24, 2022

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 4: How Bitconnect’s ponzi scheme turned out to be a $4.5 billion dollar scam

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day on crypto and its history. In plain english.

Today's episode is another cautionary tale: When things sound too good to be true, and scammers hope you don’t fully understand how a system works, bad things will happen.

Bitconnect itself was a cryptocurrency released in 2016. Remember, this was when crypto had its first bull run, and everyone wanted to get in on it.

That context is important to understand Bitconnect. You could buy it for Bitcoin and were promised a daily interest of around 1% from a secret algorithmic trading bot, 50x more than the stock market.

On Bitconnects exchange, you could then swap between Bitcoin and Bitconnect. But the bot wasn’t actually doing anything, it was made up. And that meant that the system only worked as long as more people bought into it than cashed out. It’s called a Ponzi Scheme - that means those buying in pay for those exiting the system. When government agencies took note in 2018, Bitconnect shut down and the token plummeted in value by over 90% in a single day. Investors lost over $4bn dollars.

This story is a great reminder, because crypto is not easy to understand. People want to invest, because they see others make money, but ignore that they don’t know why. Especially crypto, which is complicated with few resources that make it easier to understand, is susceptible to those frauds.

But we hope that this podcast is changing that for you, and bit by bit, you learn the building blocks to make up your own mind. Check out cryptohunt.it as well, where you can read reviews on every project soon.

And next time: How Ethereum almost died because of a hack.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 3: Drug dealers, black markets, Secret Service Agents, and a ton of stolen Bitcoin - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 127 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 23, 2022

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 3: Drug dealers, black markets, Secret Service Agents, and a ton of stolen Bitcoin

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day on crypto and its history. In plain english.

Today's episode is wild: Get ready for a story about drug dealers, black markets, Secret Service Agents, and a ton of stolen Bitcoin.

It all started with Silk Road, the infamous online drug marketplace operating in the dark shadows of the internet. Operated by Texas native Ross Ulbricht between 2013 and 2015, Silk Road connected drug dealers with over 100,000 buyers.

The kicker? Payments were in Bitcoin, a fact that still gives the crypto currency a bad reputation to this day.

A joint task force eventually found and arrested Ulbricht. And over years of meticulous detective work, they got their hands on over $1 billion worth of Bitcoin connected to Silk Road.

But soon after Ulbricht’s arrest, another suspicion cropped up: It seemed as if some of the sized funds were suddenly missing. And in fact, 1500 Bitcoin, today worth over $60 million, were removed from some wallets. How did this happen with Ulbricht in prison?

Turns out: The government had a bad apple within their own ranks: Secret Service Special Agent Shaun Bridges had transferred the crypto to his own wallets, presumably thinking that nobody would notice the comparatively small amount.

Bridges got sentenced to jail time after trying to flee the country. But it doesn't stop there. Prosecutors uncovered that he actually tried to steal even more Bitcoin after his first sentencing.

What Bridges probably didn't think about: It's hard to hide your tracks, if all the evidence is on the public blockchain. But the damage is long done: The argument that crypto is only for criminals can be heard everywhere. We'll let you be the judge on that one. ;)

And tomorrow: How a fake public offering turned into a $4 billion scam.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 2: How investors put $4bn into OneCoin, a coin that didn’t even exist - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 126 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 22, 2022

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 2: How investors put $4bn into OneCoin, a coin that didn’t even exist

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

This week we will take a look at the fascinating stories behind some of the largest crypto hacks and scams.

Today, let's investigate OneCoin – a coin that never even existed. Nonetheless, investors lost over $4bn dollars in the scheme.

OneCoin was founded by Dr. Ruja Ignatova, who is still running from the authorities, and Sebastian Greenwood, who's now in jail in the United States.

The promise was simple: OneCoin was a new, revolutionary crypto currency that could initially only be minted by insiders, potentially making them very rich. To become an insider though, you'd have to become an affiliate and the more new affiliates you bring in yourself, the more extra tokens you can mint.

The company armed its affiliates with marketing material and even created an internal exchange where tokens could be swapped for cash with other members. In order to use the exchange though, you'd have to buy a higher level of membership.

Smells like fraud to you? Not to many others, as the scheme was going on for years. In the end, and in hindsight obviously, there was no cryptocurrency and the two founders ran away with all the money.

The sad thing is: Where there is money, there are scams. And the promise of getting rich quickly blinds a lot of people's common sense. Keep your eyes open and always ask yourself: Why does someone want my money before I see anything in return for it? If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

And tomorrow: The case of a Secret Service Special Agent, who stole millions from an online drug marketplace.

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 1: How Mt. Gox lost $50bn in a Bitcoin hack - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 125 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 21, 2022

The craziest crypto scams and hacks: Part 1: How Mt. Gox lost $50bn in a Bitcoin hack

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

This week we will take a look at the fascinating stories behind some of the largest crypto hacks and scams.

Today, let's talk about one of the craziest of them all: How Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox lost almost 7% of all Bitcoins, which would be over $54 billion US dollars today.

It all started harmlessly. In 2006, Jed McCaleb, who later become the cofounder of both Ripple and Stellar, created a website to exchange online fantasy game cards. He called it Mt. Gox. The project never went anywhere, but after getting interested in Bitcoin in 2010, he repurposed the domain and created one of the first crypto exchanges, allowing users to buy and sell Bitcoin online.

McCaleb soon sold the site, citing a lack of time to make it better. The new owner, a french developer by the name of Mark Karpelès, saw the potential and quickly turned it into the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world. At one point, a whopping 70% of all Bitcoins changed hands through Mt. Gox.

And that's where the troubles started. One security breach after the next eventually forced Mt. Gox out of business in 2014, and the system was so vulnerable, that the company lost 850,000 (!) Bitcoins in total. Many users never got their money back, and Karpelès was found guilty on several charges in Japan, where Mt. Gox operated.

So, what was the problem and could this happen again? For the most part, Mt. Gox held all funds in so-called hot wallets. Those wallets are connected to the internet and therefore more accessible by hackers. And while hackers are of course still a concern, nowadays many exchanges like Coinbase are holding over 90% of all funds in cold wallets to minimize your risk. But it is still a good reminder: always consider who you trust with the keys to your holdings!

And next time – how investors lost $4 billion on a coin that didn't even exist.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Does the world need crypto? Part 4: The ingredients of the perfect blockchain - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 124 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 18, 2022

Does the world need crypto? Part 4: The ingredients of the perfect blockchain

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Welcome back to our mini-series on: Does the world need crypto? This is the final part, so make sure you start from the beginning.

By now you know: Bitcoin was born out of idealism – but it's taken a very long time for crypto to finally catch up with real-world use cases. And still, Bitcoin is limited in functionality, slow, and a planet-killer. Ethereum could do it all, but is expensive to operate and slow.

So, today: Let's talk about the making of a perfect blockchain, one that solves real problems, and solves them efficiently.

First: speed and throughput. Just VISA alone can process around 10,000 transactions per second. The true amount of times money changes hands every day is impossible to estimate, but for context: Ethereum currently processes only about 15.

Second: Decentralization - is a blockchain really free from the influence of a few? While many claim they are decentralized, they are actually under the control of a few who hold a lot of voting power. And others like Ethereum have the opposite problem: They can't seem to adapt quickly, because there are so many moving pieces.

Third: Is it easy to use? Can you imagine paying with crypto at the gas station, if you have to exchange things and then fumble for a strange wallet ID? Of course not. How blockchains think about the end user experience will determine how popular they become.

And last: Does it accomplish all of this while doing good? We here at cryptohunt are very critical about Bitcoin and Ethereum's energy usage, when faster carbon neutral or even negative alternatives already exist. Is it limited in growth because it only helps rich people trade expensive NFTs or does it enable billions of small payments in places where people don't have fair access to bank accounts?

All these should give you a great starting point to do your own research into what may succeed in the long run. And of course it is no coincidence we care about that - you'll find answers to all of these on cryptohunt.it when we launch next week!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Does the world need crypto? 123 – Part 3: DeFi to the rescue? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 123 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 17, 2022

Does the world need crypto? 123 – Part 3: DeFi to the rescue?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english. Let’s continue our mini-series on: Does the world need crypto? This is part 3, so make sure you start from the beginning.

In the past two episodes, we've discussed how anger about banks and governments started the crypto trend. Yet, crypto hasn't gone mainstream and Bitcoin itself has become what it wanted to prevent in the first place: Another speculative asset with zero consumer protection.

But Bitcoin can also be seen as an outdated proof-of-concept. A great first idea, with as many flaws as promises. But all that changed with Ethereum, which aims to take crypto from just one use – in Bitcoin's case being a payment method – to virtually any finance application you can think of.

So: Is Ethereum finally solving real problems then? Crypto is actually useful?

Arguably, yes, we are seeing some real uses. Stable coins for example, like Tether and USDC. By being pegged to a real currency, they fix the price fluctuation issue of Bitcoin. The complicated logic behind stabilizing them can only exist on a programmable blockchain like Ethereum. And they are being used – Ukraine's call for donations is a great example. While traditional banks are slow and charge high fees to send money across borders, people could suddenly help quickly and efficiently with crypto.

Other uses exist too, like lending and borrowing money, or using crypto as an alternative to bank accounts. You may not realize this, but most of our world is "underbanked", meaning people don't have fair access to bank accounts and stable currencies, making their life a mix of uncertainty and high fees. Crypto projects like Celo are already in wide use there, leapfrogging inefficient governments or traditional finance systems.

You see: The world does need crypto. Slowly, the technology is catching up with real needs. It just took a really, really long time. And suddenly, does it seem unrealistic that Visa and Mastercard will also be disrupted by crypto?

But we are not there yet. Even Ethereum and many others are flawed. So, tomorrow we'll look into what makes a perfect blockchain, one that could disrupt them all.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Does the world need crypto? Part 2: Replacing the banking system - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 122 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 16, 2022

Does the world need crypto? Part 2: Replacing the banking system

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Welcome back to our mini-series on: Does the world need crypto? This is part 2, so make sure you start from the beginning.

Last time, we learned about the history of Bitcoin, and how it was born out of the 2008 financial crisis as a digital currency that is not centrally controlled by a government, with wallets that are like bank accounts without having banks involved.

The content of the bank account, of course, is crypto and not real money... and do we really need all that?

And it does sound like a compelling argument: Cut out the government and the banks, who all messed up in 2008 and didn't protect us enough in the first place.

But it has been 14 years since then and Bitcoin has only turned into a speculative asset, and ironically has almost no practical use as a currency. Structural problems, like slow speed and high energy consumption make it suited at most as a store of value, not a real payment method.

Meanwhile, Visa, Mastercard and co are still charging multiple percent from every person buying something, and Bitcoin didn't address the problems with financial institutions themselves. You still have a regular bank account and tolerate the outrageous fees without complaints.

So, where are the real-world use cases of crypto helping us avoid the next financial crisis?

Enter Ethereum, and the power of decentralized finance, a world of applications that aim to replicate what only banks are able to do. And they promise to perform it transparently on the blockchain, for everyone to participate.

Will they be the real breakout case for crypto? Let's dive into it next time and see what is already happening and where defi still falls short.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Does the world need crypto? Part 1: Decentralization - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 121 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 15, 2022

Does the world need crypto? Part 1: Decentralization

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

The reason Bitcoin exists in the first place is widely assumed to be Satoshi Nakamoto’s disagreement with fiscal policies around the 2008 crash.

This week, let's have a brief look at history and the discussions around crypto: Is it really necessary?

The 2008 crash was a direct consequence of big banks placing increasingly risky bets on ever rising housing prices. When the bubble popped, most of them got bailed out by governments which printed massive amounts of money to do so, causing inflation.

Many people were unhappy with this; they found it unfair that these banks would get saved at the expense of everyone else; after all they caused the mess.

Bitcoin attempted to change the game by creating a system of money that is decentralized, meaning no single player has the power to change it. It, in fact, was even built to be deflationary: There can never be more than 21 million Bitcoins, meaning nobody can print it.

But do we really need such a self-policing system?

Critics will argue that governments' ability to react to market conditions is a great thing. This way we can proactively step in and help the economy.

And they will rightfully argue that we have replaced something simple and effective - a centralized system, with something complicated that only insiders understand. While a company like VISA can run the world’s payments out of a single data center, we burn through a household's energy just for a few Bitcoin transactions.

You see, what it comes down to is this: Do you think the financial system as it is has been serving society well? Or do you think power should shift away from governments and big corporations so everyone can participate at their own risk?

Next time we'll look into those questions in more depth. Until then – happy learning!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

cryptohunt is launching! How to get a spot - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 120 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 14, 2022

cryptohunt is launching! How to get a spot.

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we have something exciting to cover. After a long time of building cryptohunt, we are finally launching into beta by the end of March.

So, what is cryptohunt in the first place? Fair question! We have been hard at work building a website where you can learn from the ground up about crypto and all the projects that exist.

Don't know anything about crypto yet? Come on in, we are making it easy for you to get started. Already deep into it? Go ahead and read our opinions on many of the existing cryptocurrencies to help you make up your mind.

Cryptohunt is going to be the place where you will review, discuss, and explain what it is really about.

But we need your help in the beginning, and that is why we are launching in closed beta on the 25th of March. The rules are simple: If you want to start learning and even making some money with the classes we offer, we ask you to give us feedback in return.

So... Join the waitlist at cryptohunt.it. That'll get you a place in line. We can't wait to hear from you.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a 51% Attack? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 119 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 11, 2022

What is a 51% Attack?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s dig into the topic of 51% attacks.

Remember: One of the core ideas of blockchains is to get rid of a central authority for checking payments for fraud. This is different from traditional finance, like credit card company VISA, where a single organization controls the entire flow of money, and thus can easily check every transaction.

But how exactly do you decentralize such a system? It's easy actually: You have many actors who validate independently.

Say you write the word "cryptohunt" on 20 pieces of paper, which you then distribute to 20 people in a room. Someone could walk into that room and ask any honest person for the word, and they'd get the right answer. But what happens if someone starts to mess with your guests, and tells them the wrong word on purpose?

Blockchains like Bitcoin have a simple rule for this: At least 50% of the people in the room have to confirm the word, otherwise you can't trust it.

And that's where the 51% attack comes in. What if more than half of the people in our room conspired to change the word? Then their fake truth becomes the real truth.

In crypto, what's validated are of course transactions and account balances, and the people are computers. But there is always a fear that someone could get enough computers together to take over a blockchain – this is the 51% attack.

In reality though, that has never happened for Bitcoin and co, thanks to proof-of-work and proof-of-stake. We highly recommend to listen to those episodes to dig a little deeper.

And next time we talk about cryptohunt's upcoming launch and how you can get exclusive early access.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Dash special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 118 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 10, 2022

What makes Dash special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about Dash, another crypto currency that was built with privacy in mind.

Dash was invented as an alternative to Bitcoin and Litecoin, and is based on a modification of their original computer program. The name Dash is a word mix of “digital” and “cash”. Live since early 2014, it is one of the oldest altcoins.

To ensure privacy, dash uses a mechanism that is often referred to as a “tumbler”.

Imagine your friend wants to pay you $5 dollars, and she drops the amount into a bucket, but does that by first putting $2 dollars in, and a few minutes later $3 dollars.

Meanwhile, other people have also put money into the bucket for their own transactions. Now, you pull out your $5 dollars, but at five separate times for $1 each. At this point, the money has been mixed up with everyone else's: It has been tumbled.

If there are enough transactions, it becomes impossible to say who sent what to whom and how much exactly, thus making the system more private – and that’s exactly how Dash works.

But Dash isn’t just used for privacy reasons. Despite being an older altcoin, it’s actually quite useful in real life. The makers have an app, for example, where you can get discounts at a ton of big retailers. It works by buying a discounted gift card with Dash first, and then using that at the counter. A little clunky :), but it works with thousands of stores and still beats most other cryptocurrencies that have near zero real-world application.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes ZCash special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 117 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 09, 2022

What makes ZCash special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

A common misperception about crypto is that all blockchains provide perfect anonymity. Because wallets are only identified by a cryptic key, owners assume it is easy to hide their real identities.

But in practice, everyone leaves traces behind when using crypto. And with that, scientists, hackers, and governments alike have demonstrated that re-identifying people is much easier than often assumed, especially with big data and ever increasing computing power.

That brings us to ZCash! ZCash was founded by researchers who saw these anonymity problems as a fundamental flaw of Bitcoin, and they improved its code to be privacy focused.

While Bitcoin, like most other blockchains, keeps a public, easily readable record of all transactions, ZCash does not. Instead, it encrypts the transaction details, and only the owner of that transaction can decrypt it.

Think of it like giving a friend a key to your house in case you lock yourself out. With ZCash, you would put that key in a lockbox, pick a code only you know, and only then hand it over. When you need to get into your house, only you can get the contents of the lockbox in the first place.

ZCash comes with drawbacks though. Because it is based on Bitcoin, a now arguably outdated technology, it is also slower and less planet friendly than newer blockchains. In addition, the creators pay themselves an automatic 20% of all new mined coins, which some think is unfair.

That’s ZCash! Next up tomorrow: Dash!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Monero special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 116 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 08, 2022

What makes Monero special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you’ve listened to our explanation of what a blockchain is, and remember from last episode that every transaction and account balance on a blockchain are public, then you probably think: What about privacy then? I don’t have to tell my neighbor how much is in my real bank account either.

That’s where so-called privacy coins come in, and today’s episode is about Monero, a popular one.

Monero attempts to make that public record less useful for those trying to trace back the history of it. It has a few tricks up its sleeve to do that.

First, it uses a “stealth address” for each public transaction. Think of it similar to creating many temporary email addresses that all forward to your real inbox. If you never used the same temporary email twice, to the outsider it would be very hard to summarize what you actually sent and received.

Another clever mechanism is called “ring signature”. Imagine you had a bunch of friends, and you all send around a bunch of different amounts of money, carefully making sure that in the end everyone retained their exact wallet balance. Just by looking at all the transactions, you could never tell which ones were intentional, and which ones were just made to obfuscate things. Monero does this all the time, by design.

And it is actually quite effective at solving the anonymity issue this way. Because strictly speaking, all transactions are publicly visible because that’s how blockchains just work - but just can’t make much sense of them because of the way Monero obfuscates them. In fact, it is so effective that US tax authorities put out a bounty to whoever can crack the system.

But, of course privacy is not just for people who want to hide things, privacy is an expectation you have, just like your neighbor has no business knowing how much money you have. That’s why there are more of those privacy coins, and next time, let’s look at another example called ZCash!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Can anyone see what’s in my crypto wallet? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 115 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 07, 2022

Can anyone see what’s in my crypto wallet?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

One of the features of blockchains is that all transactions are recorded publicly - that way, the system is very hard to cheat because there are thousands of copies of its history on thousands of computers that can be compared for accuracy.

But did you know: This also means that you can easily see what anyone has sent, to whom, and even how much money is in their wallet?

So how does it work?

Every wallet has an address, which is like your bank account number. The blockchain is like a long diary, recording transactions between wallets and their balances every time they happen. You can see this yourself with just your web browser, by going to pages like blockstream.info for Bitcoin or etherscan.io for Ethereum. They contain the entire history of those blockchains, readily searchable.

Of course, you may not know who’s behind these addresses, but true anonymity is impossible by design. Whoever knows your wallet address can also see everything else.

But whatever you think about that, it’s also useful. For example , you’ll always know if someone got the money you sent for example. Or you can see how much an NFT sold for. Or if your donations have been used or are just sitting unused in an account.

And next time, we talk about Monero, a blockchain that tries to bring anonymity back to virtual money.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Celo and what makes it special? (Part 2 of 2) - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 114 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 04, 2022

What is Celo and what makes it special? (Part 2 of 2)

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, welcome to part two of our two part series on Celo, a blockchain near to our heart as they are investors in cryptohunt.

To recap – Celo tries to solve two problems: Reduce the technical knowledge typically needed to use crypto, and avoid crypto’s strong value fluctuations. And it does all that while being carbon negative.

Last time, we explained how Celo uses your phone number or email to make sending money much easier than is usually the case with crypto.

But what good is that if you have to pay with a currency that gains or loses value every day, like non-stable coins such as Bitcoin do? Imagine getting paid for work one week and the next week your groceries are twice as expensive.

Celo powers a couple of stable coins, currently one tied to the US Dollar, one tied to the Euro, and one tied to Brazil’s Real. One Celo USD is always worth one real US Dollar, for example. Same idea with the Euro and Real varieties.

That allows users to pay for things without having to worry about the fluctuating value of their crypto wallet.

And in case you were wondering, yes there is also CELO itself, the native currency that does fluctuate in value and rewards those who validate the transactions. That means: If the Celo blockchain becomes more popular, the CELO token increases in price too.

And lastly, but important to many of us, Celo offsets more carbon emissions than it causes, making it one of the few carbon negative blockchains. It uses a method of validating transactions that doesn’t need a lot of computing power. For comparison: Bitcoin only processes 2 transactions per ton of CO2, while Celo crunches up to 7 million. And even then, the Celo Foundation is making regular contributions to Project Wren, which plants trees to offset carbon emissions.

Those features have led to CELOs adoption across the world. Even Kickstarter announced in 2021 that they will pivot to a blockchain powered company and build on CELO. It currently ranks in the top 75 blockchains by market cap and has attracted large investments from Andreessen Horowitz, T-Mobile, and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey among many others.

And that’s it on Celo! We hope you enjoyed our two part series!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Celo and what makes it special? (Part 1 of 2) - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 113 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 03, 2022

What is Celo and what makes it special? (Part 1 of 2)

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, welcome to part one of our two part series on Celo, a blockchain near to our heart as they are investors in cryptohunt.

The name Celo means "purpose" in Esperanto, and hints at the project's bigger vision. Launched publicly in 2020 after four years of development, the blockchain wants to bring digital money to everyone, regardless of the tech they use or the sophistication of the banking system they live in.

For that, Celo tries to solve two problems: Reduce the technical knowledge typically needed to use crypto, and avoid crypto’s strong value fluctuations. And it does all that while being carbon negative.

So how does it work?

To make Celo easier to use it does something unique: Instead of those complicated wallet addresses and keys you may have seen, wallets on Celo are simply tied to phone numbers or email addresses. Through their app Valora, you can even send money to someone who isn’t on Celo yet by using their phone number and they can claim it later.

Celo’s idea here is: Nobody wants to use something complicated. But If crypto is as easy as Venmo, it’ll reach wide adoption. And it seems to work: There are currently over 600k wallets that use Celo every month.

And that was part one - stay tuned for tomorrow, where we’ll talk about how Celo solves the strong price fluctuations of crypto and why it’s a green alternative to those many energy-hungry blockchains.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why crypto is great for donations - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 112 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 02, 2022

Why crypto is great for donations

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

You may have seen the Ukrainian government tweeting out wallet addresses for donations, and at the time of recording receiving over $34m dollars worth of contributions within a few days.

So why is crypto so useful in this case?

First, sending money internationally is a huge pain through traditional banks. It is complicated, takes a long time to arrive, and the fees are outrageous. Crypto, on the other hand, is instant and cheap, and you don’t have to worry about local currency conversion.

Second, there is a lot of money in crypto and people may feel more generous since they already made good returns. Gavin Wood for example, former co-founder of Ethereum and creator of the blockchain Polkadot, donated almost $6 million dollars to the Ukrainian government.

And last, and this is something you probably don’t think about much, it’s easy to audit. Everything is visible on the blockchain - so you can see how much was sent and how much was withdrawn.

So, next time you donate to something, maybe it is in crypto. Just make sure you verify the receiving address really belongs to the correct recipient as there are scams everywhere.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Can you really trust stablecoins? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 111 - by cryptohunt.it Mar 01, 2022

Can you really trust stablecoins?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take another look at stablecoins – and why you shouldn’t trust all of them with your money.

Remember the concept of stable coins: One coin is always worth the equivalent of one real currency. So, for example, 1 stablecoin would be worth $1.

This is achieved by something called collateral. It’s very similar to getting a mortgage - your house is the collateral. The bank knows that if you can’t pay your debt, they can always take the house.

When you buy a stable coin from the creator, they take your money and put that aside as collateral. In the best case, it just sits in a savings account and whenever you want to exchange it back, the whole exchange happens in reverse.

The problem is that many stable coins don’t actually put your dollar into savings. Some of them invest your money in other crypto currencies, some of them only save part of the money and pay themselves with the rest. All this becomes a problem as soon as more people want to exchange their stable coins back than there is collateral left to pay them.

Two great examples are Tether, which we covered last time, and USDC. Tether, on one hand, is intransparent about what your money actually gets invested in. USDC, on the other hand, has 100% of the money parked in Dollars in an account, is government licensed in the US, and gets audited every month.

And that’s why you can’t trust every stable coin. Some are audited and 100% collateralized, and some are not. Always do your research before you assume that your money is safe.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is Tether as stable as they claim? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 110 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 28, 2022

Is Tether as stable as they claim?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take a critical look at Tether, the largest stablecoin. Or at least that’s what it is marketed as - but what’s behind those claims?

Remember that stable coins are usually backed by a real world asset. That means, for example, that for each stable token worth $1 Dollar, there should be a reserve of real money worth the same. This way, if all stable tokens are exchanged back for cash, everyone would get their money back.

In reality though, stable coins are never fully exchanged back at any given point, and that allows operators to get away with backing them only partially without having liquidity problems in most scenarios. And that’s what Tether did.

The problem is that nobody really knows how much money is actually in their reserve. That is because Tether simply doesn’t give details. And you’d be surprised that after getting sued by the US government, the company had to admit that only 3% of reserves are in actual cash, and almost all of it is in what they call “commercial paper”, which critics say can’t be audited properly.

How’s that a problem? Consider a case where 10% of Tether owners suddenly want to withdraw for cash. The company may not be able to sell their “commercial paper” fast enough, or might not even have enough in the first place.

So, next time you need to use a stable coin, consider what it is backed by. There are fully government audited alternatives, like USDC – so you have the peace of mind to know what is actually keeping them stable.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why do crypto people say “to the moon”? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 109 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 25, 2022

Why do crypto people say “to the moon”?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

What exactly does it mean when crypto people say "to the moon"? It's simply an expression of confidence that their coin of choice will see astronomical gains in value.

It's not entirely clear where the phrase comes from, but it likely originates from a 1950s sitcom called The Honeymooners, where it was often used.

In crypto, it has even taken on a literal meaning. The Dogecoin community raised money for Elon Musk's SpaceX to send a satellite called DOGE-1 towards the Moon. Besides scientific equipment, it'll also carry one Dogecoin aboard. No exact date is set for when it's flying "to the moon" just yet, but since Musk is involved... that isn't all too surprising.

But back to planet earth – always take things with a grain of salt. In pursuit of profit, people will say anything to pump their coin. So: take “to the moon” as a fun meme, not investment advice.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a “crypto whale”? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 108 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 24, 2022

What is a “crypto whale”?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's talk about those so-called "crypto whales": What they are and the dangerous influence they can have.

Crypto whales are holders of large amounts of a cryptocurrency's supply. They could be institutional investors - meaning banks and other investment funds - or individuals. But they all have the same in common: They hold enough crypto to influence markets with their decisions.

And that's where the term comes from too. Think of an actual whale letting their gigantic tale dance - the ripples created from the large creature can be felt by all the smaller fishes.

And that's what worries those small fish, which are the smaller investors. They fear that whales pump a market for their own gain, and then suddenly dump everything and leave everyone else with prices that are in free fall. That is because of the supply those whales control, they are able to manipulate prices quite easily. A whale starting to sell large amounts could cause price collapses for example.

But however YOU feel about crypto whales, looking at their actions closely is always a good thing to know what's going on in the market.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What does “HODL” mean? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 107 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 23, 2022

What does “HODL” mean?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Let’s take a look into those strange terms that crypto fans often use. Today's word? HODL - spelled H-O-D-L.

To "hodl" means nothing other than to hold a crypto currency, especially during a downturn when the market is selling off.

The term originated on a Bitcoin forum in late 2013, when a user simply made a typo. They wrote "I am hodling" during one of the earlier Bitcoin bear markets, likely hoping to inspire others to do the same to stop the price from going down further.

The word “hodling” stuck around as a joke - first at the expense of the original author, later in general crypto culture. Eventually, it started to refer to the strategy of buying and holding, no matter what, in hopes for crypto’s takeover of traditional finance.

Although it may have started as a joke at the expense of someone who simply mistyped something way back in 2013, who's got the last laugh now? At the time, Bitcoin was only $600. We hope they "hodled" indeed, because at its peak it was more than 100 times more valuable.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What do you really own with an NFT? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 106 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 22, 2022

What do you really own with an NFT?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's look at what exactly you get when you purchase digital artwork on the blockchain.

Because it is strange – paying for something you can just have for free. The New York Times turned existing articles into an NFT. Jack Dorsey sold one of his first tweets. And everyone can simply download the digital artwork behind any NFT. So what exactly is the point of buying one?

Besides bragging rights, the point is legal ownership of an asset you want to use – say as a profile photo, or just because you think it’s a good investment. Purchasing an NFT means that you become the owner of it.

Think of it like owning an expensive painting, like the Mona Lisa. You own the original, but anyone can print a copy of it, and you can give it to a museum to display. NFTs are not that different, only that the internet is the museum.

And you may also get other rights, meaning a say in who can reproduce your painting or make money off it. While that differs from legal system to legal system, generally speaking the owner of an NFT has the right to make those decisions, just as you would be able to forbid people to make money with copies of your Mona Lisa. You can download any cryptopunk, but it is likely illegal to use someone else's as your Twitter profile picture, for example.

Lastly, a few special NFTs give you access to perks. The Bored Ape Yacht Club comes with exclusive access to a members-only community and NFT airdrops.

Still find the concept strange? You are not alone, but at least now you know what exactly people get with NFT ownership.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Can Ethereum survive? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 101 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 21, 2022

Can Ethereum survive?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we'll look at another flip side of the crypto world - and talk about Ethereum, so you can get the full picture.

Ethereum is almost half as big as Bitcoin in market capitalization, which is in large parts because it allows people to build an entire financial system on the blockchain. It’s seemingly endless ability to program anything into it, has created the most vivid ecosystem in the space.

But Ethereum is also incredibly expensive. Anything, like simply sending money or just bidding on an NFT costs hundreds of dollars. How come? Well, it uses "proof of work", an arguably outdated validation method, that requires energy intensive computation for simple transactions.

The cost problem is so bad, that buying anything in a reasonable price range is pointless – why buy a $10 dollar NFT if your fees are $200 dollars? Might as well go to cheaper blockchains, like Solana.

Ethereum, in fact, has started to transition to Ethereum 2.0 to solve this very issue by switching validation methods. But due to the blockchains size, the process is moving so slowly that it will take years, because everyone will have to move their money and applications over. And when the next problem comes along, critics worry it'll take years again to solve that, eventually making Ethereum impractical.

So – can Ethereum survive because of its massive size? Or because it'll overcome slow progress? Your guess is as good as ours, but it never hurts to know about the downsides of things!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What's wrong with Bitcoin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 104 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 18, 2022

What's wrong with Bitcoin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we'll look at another flip side of the crypto world - and talk about what's wrong with Bitcoin. We think the pros and cons matter – so you can make up your own mind.

Bitcoin! The most famous cryptocurrency and also the oldest kid on the block. Almost 1 trillion US dollars are invested in it right now, an amount larger than the values of Facebook, Tesla, or Visa.

So all that money can't be wrong then, right? Well, let's take a critical look.

First - functionality. While Bitcoin paved the road for blockchains in general, its use is strictly limited to sending payments around. It can't do more and can't be expanded in functionality. Ethereum, on the other hand, runs circles around Bitcoin, powering an entire virtual financial system.

Second - its impact on the planet. While using energy-consuming computations to prevent fraud, many eco-conscious critics rightfully point out, that it has a huge negative effect on the environment. It uses almost $200 worth of power for a single transaction, all of which is generated somewhere blasting smoke into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, technology has solved the computation problem, and some blockchains are actually carbon negative.

Third - adoption in general. 13 years into its existence, and yet you can't pay with it anywhere with some very obscure exceptions. It is simply too slow and too expensive to compete with Credit Cards.

Of course, proponents always point to Bitcoin as a store of value, or digital gold, and it has a lot of good things going for it. But having the full picture is always best to make your own decisions!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How NFTs can actually hurt artists - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 103 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 17, 2022

How NFTs can actually hurt artists

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Buckle up! We'll be spending the next few episodes analyzing the downsides of this new crypto world, starting with NFTs.

But wait – didn't we say they can be great for artists? After all, it gives them access to a worldwide audience and a whole lot of newly made crypto wealth.

And while that is true, where there is money, there are scams. One of them in particular is making life for legitimate artists very annoying.

It's very simple and goes like this: A scammer wants to create and sell an NFT, but they are not an artist. In fact, they are lazy and simply download another person's art from somewhere. Then that gets uploaded to NFT auction sites like OpenSea, and the unsuspecting buyer pays for something that wasn't the sellers' to sell in the first place.

It is so bad that online art gallery Deviant Art has started to scan the web and sent out more than 100,000 notices to their members about art that was plagiarized from them.

You could, of course, argue: Those marketplaces should not allow stolen art, NFT or not! And you'd be right, but since NFT fraud is as easy as copy-and-paste, computer programs have taken over. One NFT gets taken down, another one gets created in its place.

Keep that in mind when you look at NFTs next time, and stay tuned for the flip side of Bitcoin in tomorrow's episode.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Did someone draw every single one of the 10000 cryptopunks? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 102 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 16, 2022

Did someone draw every single one of the 10000 cryptopunks?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Have you ever asked yourself how it is possible that there are 10,000 cryptopunks, or 10,000 bored apes? Is there someone out there, creating every single NFT, day in day out, until they are finally done?

Welcome to the strange new world of NFTs, where the traditional rules of art creation are challenged constantly.

You might have already guessed, but the answer is: Of course not. That would be an awful lot of work, even for just 100 of them.

Your keen eye will have noticed something though: These cryptopunks all look strangely similar. And that’s right! The secret method used by NFT artists is called permutation, where a computer program mixes various different parts of the artwork in many combinations.

Let’s say you wanted to dress differently for an entire week. Strictly spelling, all you would need, are two different t-shirts, two sets of pants, and a pair of glasses. But how is that possible? Those are only five items and anyway, you can’t just wear your t-shirt as pants!

The key is in combining them uniquely. Monday: Blue pants, white shirt. Tuesday, blue pants, blue shirt. Wednesday, blue pants, blue shirt, glasses. And so on. You can actually squeeze eight combinations out of those original 5 items. Add an extra shirt, and it’s 12. Another set of pants, 24.

In NFTs, the pants or shirts are called traits. All traits combined can be mixed into a full picture: For example: mustache or no mustache. Different pants. Zombie head or normal head, various hairstyles.

A simple computer program overlays all of these, and the more traits you have, the easier it is to get to 10000 or even way more NFTs in no time. All it takes then is the click of a button and a few seconds.

Mind blown? Add three pairs of shoes to our example – how many combinations do we get? Send us an email to podcast@cryptohunt.it and we’ll send 100,000 Lizard Coins to the first correct answer.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who builds cryptohunt? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 101 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 15, 2022

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you have just a minute or two, save this episode for your next run because this is a 10 min special. This is our 101st episode and today, we’ll tell you the story of what we are working on.

In the last 100 episodes our goal was to introduce you to the world of crypto and give you the knowledge to dig deeper and make your own decisions, regardless of how much you already know or how technical you are.

And that's what cryptohunt is going to be about, so today, we are going to introduce it to you in more in depth.

Arndt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arndtvoges/

Christian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianbyza/

Sign up on our waitlist: https://www.cryptohunt.it/?grsf=mup9my

Please consider reviewing our podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crypto-in-plain-english-by-cryptohunt-it/id1588763088

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is cryptohunt? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 100 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 14, 2022

What is cryptohunt?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto – and can you believe this is already episode 100?

Today, to celebrate the milestone, we’ll talk about a crypto project that is near and dear to our hearts – our very own cryptohunt! What is it, and who is behind it?

My name is Christian Byza, and together with my co-founder Arndt Voges and the team, we are trying to make crypto accessible for everyone.

But why? Like most of you, we always felt that getting started with crypto is really hard: All those technical descriptions meant nothing to us, and most information isn’t simply in one place - in fact, searching the web for understandable content is a pain.

At the same time, there are amazing projects out there that have the potential to change the world. But they have a hard time telling everyone about it - because they don’t have a good place to reach you and us, and because they struggle expressing what makes them special in a way that we all understand.

That’s why we are building cryptohunt, and we are almost ready to show it to everyone. It’ll be a website where every crypto project is explained, ranked, and reviewed by us and the community. And to make easy learning a priority, we’ll also offer small courses about the great currencies and tokens out there, teaching you what makes each of them special. And if you ace a mini quiz, you’ll even earn a few dollars in their tokens.

So, what’s next? First, we are launching with limited access to learn from early feedback. If you want to participate, join our waitlist at cryptohunt.it. We hope to see you there!

And tomorrow, we we release our first interview between my cofounder Arndt and myself - so you get to know us a little better - and we do an exception and will speak more than just a minute.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

NFT Deep Dive: What does minting an NFT mean? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 99 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 11, 2022

NFT Deep Dive: What does minting an NFT mean?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Welcome to our last episode in the mini series on NFTs. Today, we’ll explain what minting an NFT means and how you can do it too.

Minting means nothing more than creating an NFT. The word stems from old German and means making a coin - and in fact, central banks use it to describe the process of literally printing money.

When an NFT is minted, it is simply created on the blockchain. Nothing complicated: it just includes a link to the original JPG or GIF and other optional information, such as residuals that you, the creator, might get from every subsequent sale.

So, you have that amazing idea and some clever art that’ll make for a hopefully very successful NFT collection? The easiest way to get started as a creator is to use a marketplace like OpenSea.com to mint your NFTs and list them for sale.

It is almost as easy as posting on Twitter, and each marketplace has great tutorials. But there is one caveat that is not intuitive: some blockchains have very high fees, and those also apply to minting NFTs. Ethereum is the current standard, but transaction costs of hundreds of dollars per NFT may make it useless for your project.

Luckily there are alternatives. OpenSea itself let’s you choose Polygon as an alternative with no fees. And Solsea.io or Solanart.io operate on Solana, which will only cost you cents in minting fees.

And with that we say: Best of luck! Let us know if this inspired you to create the next cryptopunks, we’d love to podcast about it!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

NFT Deep Dive: How did some NFTs become so crazy expensive? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 98 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 10, 2022

NFT Deep Dive: How did some NFTs become so crazy expensive?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today we look at the reasons that some NFTs have become so crazy expensive, with the example of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is an NFT collection created by four founders going by the synonyms of Gargamel, Gordon Goner, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and No Sass. The collection contains 10,000 NFTs of cartoon apes and is valued at almost $4bn in total.

But how did that even happen? It’s all about the right concept, the right timing, and great marketing.

The creators realized that the world was suddenly full of people who got rich through early investments in crypto currencies, called “apes” among insiders. And those so-called apes were sitting there, ready to invest in something new. Hence the name “Bored Apes”.

And so the concept was born. Combine that with an exclusive online community for members, and you have the perfect status symbol for the rich.

But things didn’t take off immediately - first apes sold for less than $200 a piece. But over time, famous people started to buy them, among them Eminem and Jimmy Fallon. And at that point things started exploding, and you can’t get one for under $250,000 anymore.

And now that you know how some NFTs have become so popular, maybe it’s time to make your own for fun? Next time we’ll walk you through that process, called minting.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

NFT Deep Dive: What are NFT collections and how are they created? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 97 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 09, 2022

NFT Deep Dive: What are NFT collections and how are they created?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Bored Ape Yacht Club or Cryptopunks: You might have heard these collection names in the news. But what exactly are those and how do they work?

Welcome to the strange new world of NFTs which we'll cover in more depth in this week's mini series.

NFT collections are a group of digital artworks based on the same concept, with each of them distinguished by specific traits. Let’s unpack that!

It helps to look at traditional art. Picasso and Warhol for example, two of the most influential modern artists, created collections long before NFTs were a thing. They created a series of paintings in one run, all focused around a specific subject. Or a series of numbered prints, where things like colors varied from piece to piece.

NFT collections are like that too, but they accomplish it with computer aided design, cranking out not 10, but often thousands of slightly different art pieces per collection. Cryptopunks, for example, are all pixelated images of cartoon faces. But when they were created, variations were made with a computer program: There are zombie faces for example, ear rings, hair styles, and many more. And because that scales easier than painting by hand, the program could spit out 10,000 cryptopunks into the collection.

Once minted, those are all on the blockchain, you can actually compare those so-called traits within a collection - how many have a Zombie face for example, and how rare one with a hat is. And the more rare the combination, the more collectible they tend to be.

So collectible in fact, that those Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs combined are worth $3.6bn dollars right now, and the Cryptopunks $2.4 billion.

And next time we take a deeper look at the history of how they became so expensive.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

NFT Deep Dive: Where do I browse and buy NFTs? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 96 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 08, 2022

NFT Deep Dive: Where do I browse and buy NFTs?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

By now, you’ve probably asked yourself: Everyone’s talking non-stop about NFTs, but where can I actually see one with my own eyes?

Welcome to the strange new world of NFTs which we'll cover in more depth in this week's mini series.

A great place to start are NFT marketplaces. You’ll see what’s popular, and can sort by price, just for fun. The largest of the marketplaces is “OpenSea.com”, “sea” spelled like the ocean. There, NFTs are usually organized by collections of similar artwork from the same creators.

Spend some time on it and you’ll notice a couple of strange things – because NFTs are publicly accessible, an NFT doesn’t have to be listed for sale to get bids. For example, you can see all 10,000 cryptopunks, and if you have the spare change, even try and snag one.

Before you do that though, notice the little diamonds in front of the prices? That’s right - the prices are in Ethereum, not Dollar… And each Ethereum is worth over $3000 right now.

But even if you found something affordable you like – keep in mind every bid costs you a few hundred dollars in Ethereum transaction fees, whether you win or lose that bid.

That’s why buying NFTs on Ethereum is only useful for very expensive items, where a few hundred for fees don’t matter. Other blockchains are more efficient. For example, take a look at Solsea.io, a similar marketplace for Solana-based digital artwork.

With that – happy NFT browsing! And stay tuned for the next episode tomorrow, where we dig deeper into NFTs.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

NFT Deep Dive: Why pay millions for a simple JPG that anyone can just download? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 95 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 07, 2022

NFT Deep Dive: Why pay millions for a simple JPG that anyone can just download?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you are new to the world of NFTs, you have likely asked yourself: Why does anyone even pay for something they don’t physically own? And why even pay at all, when anyone can just download the same JPG for free and look at it all they want?

Welcome to the strange new world of NFTs which we'll cover in more depth in this week's mini series.

There are of course the obvious reasons to pay for an NFT that we touched upon before, like investment speculation and wanting to support artists. But there is more to it, and to understand that we have to look at a shift away from physical to digital ownership.

While previous generations wanted to own houses, cars, and boats, the younger tech-natives tend to care less about those. Instead, they live their social life increasingly online, and status symbols are moving there too.

Owning an NFT in itself is what creates the pleasure, and the ability to share it with the world is a big bonus. An expensive cryptopunk NFT for example makes for the perfect bragging rights on Twitter. It's like owning your own Picasso, but instead of hiding it in a vault, you can safely and proudly show it to the entire world.

And that's what matters to a new generation, many of whom have made very good money in the crypto market. Showing off ownership is important, exclusive access is not. And with that much crypto money floating around, you can see how NFTs have filled that void.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Facebook’s crypto currency Libra and what happened to it? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 94 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 04, 2022

What is Facebook’s crypto currency Libra and what happened to it?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Did you know that Facebook was working on their own crypto currency? Let’s dive deeper into that project and the reason why it is now shut down.

The project was initially launched in 2017 with the goal to bring digital payments with very low fees to everyone, especially the underbanked. Depending on where you are tuning in from, you may not be aware: But many people do not have access to dependable bank accounts and have to waste billions of dollars in fees on services like Western Union.

Facebook, together with a consortium of payment providers such as Square and Visa and large merchants such as the Bookings group, set out to change that.

Libra, or Diem as it was rebranded to, had the goal of creating a digital stable coin backed by real world currency to guarantee its value. For every Diem you would exchange, the operators would buy a real world asset of that value.

To keep complexity low, the decision was made to centralized control. While Diem was technically supposed to be on a blockchain, only a few approved partners would be able to mine it… and pocket the transaction fees.

The project was troubled from the beginning though. Very quickly, the largest partners all left the consortium. The US government was also getting worried about Facebook's market power in creating an unregulated de facto US dollar alternative.

Under the pressure, Facebook eventually scrapped the plans earlier in 2022, citing regulatory hurdles.

But that doesn’t mean nobody is solving the original problem though. Stablecoins like USDC already exist, and blockchains like Celo are tackling the problems of the unbanked world, and in a decentralized way as well.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Will quantum computing break crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 93 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 03, 2022

Will quantum computing break crypto?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll take a deeper look at an existential threat to blockchains called quantum computing.

Quantum computing is an experimental, fundamentally different way of building the brains of computers. These machines promise to solve complicated math problems in fractions of seconds, when even currently available supercomputers would take decades.

Quantum computers also happen to be really good at solving the kind of puzzles that cryptography is based on. And that’s a real problem for blockchains and many other applications.

Remember that losing the private keys to your crypto wallet will result in you never having a chance to reuse that wallet? The reason is that it would take hundreds of thousands of years for a traditional supercomputer to try all possible combinations. Quantum computers promise to do that in an instant, meaning nobody’s wallets would be safe anymore.

Should we be worried? Not yet at least. While very basic quantum computers have been proven to work in well-funded labs, it’ll take years until they have the scale they need to crack your wallet. And in the meantime, everyone is racing to develop quantum computing safe crypto methods, and blockchains like Ethereum already have their use on the long term roadmap.

Also: Realize that these machines would cause far more damage than just to blockchains. Your browser connection wouldn’t be safe anymore, and neither would be your bank login, among basically every other form of encrypted communication. So rest assured that smart people will work very hard to find ways around this problem while we still can.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the dark web and what does crypto have to do with it? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 92 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 02, 2022

What is the dark web and what does crypto have to do with it?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today’s episode explains what the dark web is, and what crypto can possibly have to do with it.

Dark web - that sounds dangerous and mysterious! What it really refers to is the part of the internet that search engines like Google don’t easily reach. That means getting a peek into them is much harder.

Oftentimes this could simply be because Google can’t see it all. One example are websites that need you to log in as a user to see the content, which is something Google can’t do with their computers that analyze a page. Lots of Facebook could be considered the dark web for example, despite it being just a social network.

But there are also dark web pages that want search engines to stay out. A famous example is the illegal drug marketplace Silk Road, where one was able to buy drugs in exchange for crypto currency.

So, what does crypto have to do with it? Well, in some peoples’ opinion, crypto is the payment method of choice for criminals, and by that logic the dark web must be powered by it. According to Coinbase though, less than a percent of crypto transactions have actually been found to be illegal though, which makes it much cleaner than good old fashioned cash.

And because crypto has a transaction trail that everyone can see, only dumb criminals should prefer it over cash, since the latter is mostly untraceable.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What happened to Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 91 - by cryptohunt.it Feb 01, 2022

What happened to Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today’s episode about Satoshi Nakamoto sounds like a mystery novel - but it really happened. And stay tuned until the end for some interesting numbers on how rich they would be today.

We don’t actually know much about the inventor of Bitcoin, only that she or he went by the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. They anonymously proposed the idea of Bitcoin in 2009. After its release, they went on to be the first to use and mine it.

What happens after is like an unsolved detective story. The first person known to use Bitcoin was a cryptography programmer called Hal Finney. He had email contact with Nakamoto and became the first recipient of Bitcoin. Although suspected to be them, he denied it until his tragic death from ALS in 2014.

After many years of speculation, a reporter found that a man named Dorian Satoshi Nokamoto lived in the same town as Finney. Case closed? Far from it. He also denied the connection vehemently, saying it was a coincidence.

To this day, the real identity of the inventor of Bitcoin is still unknown, and many more people have been suspected of it. What is fact though, is that they never withdrew a single Bitcoin from their numerous wallets, which at the peak would have made them the 15th richest person in the world with over $70 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin. Wow!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a crypto winter? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 90 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 31, 2022

What is a crypto winter?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we explain what insiders mean when they speak of a crypto winter.

Surely, you have heard the term a lot lately, and that is no coincidence. It refers to a prolonged period of time during which prices across the wider crypto market drop significantly and stay at much lower levels than they used to be.

The first real crypto winter happened after Bitcoins ran up to $20,000 dollars in December 2017.To put that in perspective, just a year earlier it was still under $1000. After all the way down to $3500, it took Bitcoin a full 3 years to get back to the previous record.

And the winter was definitely over, followed by prices going over $60,000 frequently until recently. Then in January 2022, Bitcoin halved in price and investors are still worried about a crypto winter.

But should you? It’s impossible to predict the future, but keep in mind that Bitcoin recovered last time too, it only took a really long time. And maybe a crypto winter isn’t the worst thing, so innovators focus on bringing crypto to the mainstream instead of making a quick buck.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is cold storage? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 89 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 28, 2022

What is cold storage?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Last time, we discussed how moving crypto keys into a hardware wallet can provide additional protection against hackers. A term commonly used for that practice is cold storage… but what does that actually mean?

Cold storage originally referred to the practice of freezing something, with the goal of preserving it for a very long time.

In crypto, the goal is the same. By storing the password to a wallet offline, the risk of its exposure through a hack is greatly reduced.

Do people print out passwords and put them in the freezer then? Probably not, but they do get pretty clever!

Hardware wallets are just one way to do it. But the hardware can malfunction. Printing is another way, but paper isn't protecting well against the elements. That's where products like the Cryptotag come in: it is a bulletproof titanium plate that you inscribe with a special tool for forever storage.

Interestingly, large exchanges such as Coinbase say that 98% of all customer funds are actually stored offline in cold storage. They only keep on hand what they actually need to operate with, while the rest is tucked away safely. How? They won't say for security reasons, but maybe there is a secret underground vault somewhere under the Arctic with a ton of titanium plates in it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a crypto hardware wallet and should I have one? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 88 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 27, 2022

What is a crypto hardware wallet and should I have one?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s understand what a crypto hardware wallet is and who should have one.

Remember, that in order to have control over your crypto wallet, you need a so-called private key. Just like your house key, it unlocks everything inside. Unlike your house key though, it’s quite clunky to use because it is usually a long string of characters and numbers nobody can remember.

If you’ve traded crypto on places such as Coinbase or Robinhood, your funds get managed by them directly and you never even have to think about that private key. They are called “custodial” wallets, because they have custody over your funds, not you.

That’s easy for beginners, but you are placing all your trust in the company’s ability to secure and protect your holdings.

In comes the hardware wallet. At the core, all it does is save your wallet address and private keys on the device. But unlike your computer for example, it is entirely disconnected from the internet when unused, requiring anyone to have physical access to it. And unlike a simple USB stick, it is also hardware protected with an access code you have to enter on the device.

Hardware wallets like the Ledger or Trezor even have an intuitive interface to manage your crypto which can connect to your smartphone for ease of use. They also support almost 2000 crypto currencies and provide secure cloud backups should you lose it.

So what are the downsides? If you actively trade crypto, it is inconvenient to move funds between your exchange and the hardware wallet, and high transaction fees may apply depending on the blockchain. But if you are in it for the long haul, consider a hardware wallet and find a very safe place for it, just don’t forget your password.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How many Bitcoins have been lost forever (and where did they go)? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 87 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 26, 2022

How many Bitcoins have been lost forever (and where did they go)?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about lost Bitcoins – how many have been lost, who lost them, and why most people can never get them back.

You’ve probably seen news articles about some of those unfortunate cases: Someone invested a few dollars into Bitcoin early on, not thinking much about it, and fast forward a few years and they are suddenly millionaires. On paper only though, because they can’t find the keys to their wallet.

Researchers estimate that a whopping 25% of total Bitcoins, which is little under 5 million of them, may have gone lost that way. That would equal roughly 200 billion dollars, 70% of which is estimated to belong to early adopters such as the infamous Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto himself who never cashed out a single Bitcoin, despite sitting on 40 billion dollars worth of them.

So, what’s actually going on here? The problem is that Bitcoins, and most other cryptocurrencies, can only be moved with the key to the wallet that holds them. That key is a cryptographic code, a long string of random numbers and letters, which is impossible to remember. Most people don’t even know they have one, because their apps or wallets take care of those in the background.

And that’s the reason most people lost them in the first place. The early wallets and keys were all stored on the owners’ computers, and those old hard drives have long gone bad or went to the trash. And guessing a lost key is impossible due to the amount of possible combinations to try.

Frustratingly, all those lost Bitcoins have actually gone nowhere. They still sit in the same wallets, for everyone to see but no one to claim. Let that be a lesson: No matter how little you think your crypto investments are worth today, make sure you have them in a safe place.

Next time, we’ll talk about such a thing: Hardware wallets and how they work.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why does every blockchain need its own token? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 86 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 25, 2022

Why does every blockchain need its own token?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Have you always been curious why every blockchain has their own token, often called the “native token”, governance token, or rewards token?

You’ve probably seen it in many places: Ethereum has Ether, Polygon has Matic, Celo had Celo Gold but renamed it to Celo. But why?

The reason lies in the way it all works. A decentralized blockchain needs to operate across a large network of independently operated computers, known as nodes. These nodes perform all the work that keeps the blockchains going: They validate transactions, record their history, and execute smart contracts.

But all of that isn’t free. There are people who buy those computers, hook them up to the internet, and pay the power bills. That’s why fees exist, usually called transaction fees or gas fees. Whoever wants to do something on the blockchain has to pay those fees with each transaction. Want to buy an NFT on OpenSea? Pay the price plus fees. Send someone some Lizard Coin? Pay a little in fees.

And that’s exactly what those native tokens like Ether are for. They are a universal currency within that blockchain to pay fees to others for doing the work for you. Using a single such currency for fees keeps things simple across all participants.

So next time someone says they own Ethereum, feel free to correct them. Because really what they own is Ether, Ethereum’s native token.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why do crypto markets crash? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 85 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 24, 2022

What causes crypto markets to crash?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Recently, you probably asked yourself - why are crypto markets so volatile and what causes the price crashes when they happen?

To understand in more detail what is going on, we need to understand two things: Why crypto markets are more volatile in general, even in good times, and secondly, what triggers the bad times.

So, first: Why is crypto one of the most volatile assets? While not always the case, it tends to move up and down in price more extremely than other investments, such as stock. The reason is because it’s a purely speculative investment - crypto is still not adopted widely in real life, and investors simply hope for its future success. That means any doubt in crypto has big impacts. Contrast that with an investment in a company like Microsoft, that makes real products, owns real stuff, and has an established business - their price moves less because there is at least some guaranteed value there.

So, now that we understand that crypto generally swings more wildly in price, what actually causes the bigger crashes? Usually that is driven by the larger economy. When the stock market has a bad day, investors will generally try to sell things they own. And since crypto is the riskiest investments they have, it’ll usually go first. Combine lots of sellers with few buyers and things go down quickly.

And there you have it - when things are not well with crypto prices, take a look at the general economy. It’s likely the culprit.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What blockchains are eco-friendly? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 84 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 21, 2022

What blockchains are actually eco-friendly?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Do you like the idea of blockchains, but love the planet too?

Well, it’s true what you’ve heard. Bitcoin uses an incredible amount of energy, and Ethereum isn’t much better.

If you’ve followed this podcast, you know the problem is their method of transaction validation, called proof of work. It forces validators to waste resources.

Good news, green blockchains are possible. Among the more popular are Solana, Algorand, and Avalanche, for example. But the list is led by IOTA, which consumes very little energy.

And some take it even further by actively donating towards green causes. Algorand and Celo for example don’t JUST use a couple of million times LESS energy than Bitcoin, but they donate towards causes like planting trees, which makes their impact carbon negative - and net positive for our environment.

See? It is possible to have it all: blockchains and a healthy planet. We cross our fingers to see many more pop up in the near future.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What can you actually buy with Bitcoin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 83 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 20, 2022

What can you actually buy with Bitcoin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take a quick look at all the things you can actually buy with Bitcoin.

First, understand that accepting Bitcoin is complicated for merchants as its value fluctuates so much and as a result the list of things you can buy with Bitcoin is actually very short - but let’s dive in!

Overstock, an online furniture retailer, has been accepting Bitcoin for a while. It makes sense – allowing it for payments attracts wealthy early adopters, who are a great audience for more expensive items like furniture.

Another example are VPN services. They allow users to anonymously browse the internet. It seems obvious then that ExpressVPN, one of the largest providers, lets users pay anonymously with Bitcoin.

You can even buy a Domino’s pizza that way, but you have to go through a third party called Lightning Pizza. You send crypto to them, and they will then place an order on your behalf. Not exactly convenient, but it supposedly works!

Other famous examples include the claim that Tesla also accepts Bitcoin. That’s not true though - although publicly announced, it never happened, and Tesla backtracked and sold all of their Bitcoin holdings if Elon Musk’s tweets are to be believed.

But hope is on the horizon for this list to get larger. Paypal already allows you to buy and hold crypto through their app, and they promised that you will soon be able to use your Bitcoin balance anywhere Paypal is accepted.

But the real question is: Should you use Bitcoin to pay for things? Definitely a “no” if you care about the planet: Every Bitcoin transaction consumes the equivalent of two entire months of energy of a US household.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 82 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 19, 2022

Is Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Have you come across the claim that crypto is just a Ponzi scheme meant to make the creators rich? What is behind that and is it true?

A Ponzi scheme is a type of investment fraud where someone promises you certain returns, but instead of generating them through a legitimate strategy like stock trading, pays you with the money of future investors until the scheme collapses.

Let’s take Bitcoin as an example and see if it is such a scheme.

First, owning Bitcoin – like any other speculative asset – does not guarantee returns. There is no single authority controlling it and making promises. It's volatility is high and many people have lost money.

US authorities classify it as a commodity, similar to Gold. Bitcoin’s value can only rise further if more people buy into it and hold, like a savings account. Unlike other commodities such as oil, which powers engines, it functions mostly as a store of value because it has not reached mass adoption as a payments system. The investment assumption is that people hold on to it for savings.

Other blockchains, such as Ethereum, are a little more complex. They hope to provide massive utility in the future - replace today’s payment systems, or even the entire financial system. They are more like stock, where you speculate on the potential utility of your investment.

You probably see that legitimate crypto projects like Bitcoin don’t look like a ponzi scheme, they are simply not built to steal your money. Everything is transparent on the blockchain and determined by supply and demand.

But just because hype around an investment is not fraud, you need to keep in mind that crypto is one of the riskiest investments you can make. It’s an unregulated market, big market participants can easily affect the price, and fraud is a real problem, especially with lesser known coins. So do your homework, every time.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

A brief history of cryptocurrencies - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 81 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 18, 2022

A brief history of cryptocurrencies

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s take a brief look at the history of crypto, why it was invented, and how it evolved.

It all started in 1983, when a researcher called David Chaum imagined digital money, and his idea slowly started to resonate with the cypherpunks movement. This group was interested in ways to preserve anonymity through cryptography in the early days of the internet, and an anonymous digital payments system was eventually outlined by one member, Wei Dai, in 1998.

But the internet was young, and that idea remained dormant until 2009, when an anonymous programmer under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin.

In the first transaction ever, Satoshi referenced an article about a bank being bailed out by the British government after the 2008 financial crisis, leading people to believe that Bitcoin was a protest against government controlled financial systems.

Bitcoin became popular quickly and in May 2010 someone made the first real world transaction – he paid another person 10,000 Bitcoins in exchange for two pizzas. It may sound silly in retrospect, but this was significant: Bitcoin suddenly had a value.

The year after, the first major alternative blockchain was launched: Litecoin was a Bitcoin clone, aimed at improving upon it. Many more so-called altcoins followed it.

At this point, crypto was only used to store value or send money around. But a young computer programmer called Vitalik Buterin wanted to replace the entire financial system: Smart contracts would turn crypto into programmable money with infinite potential.

His vision was called Ethereum and caught the attention of Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder, who gave him $100,000 dollars to drop out of college and pursue the idea. Ethereum was launched in 2015 and took the world by storm. By mid 2017 it already overtook Bitcoin in transactions per day.

Later that year, Bitcoin itself touched $20000 - making that original pizza purchase worth $200 million dollars.

The markets pulled back, and Bitcoin dropped to around $4000 before starting a meteoric rise again in 2020. Today, there are almost 10000 traded tokens, and Bitcoin is still the largest cryptocurrency.

We hope you liked this brief trip down memory lane. And next time we discuss the claim that crypto is really just a ponzi scheme.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are the differences between Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Ethereum 2.0? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 80 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 17, 2022

What are the differences between Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Ethereum 2.0?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s dig into the history of Ethereum and understand why there are several different versions of it.

At first, there was only one Ethereum - the original blockchain that is able to execute smart contracts. But it suffered a very costly hack in 2016: About $50m dollars worth of Ethereum were stolen by a single hacker.

The Ethereum community was looking at two paths forward at the time: Just move on and accept the hack, or roll back the blockchain to revert it. Think of it as going back in time in your bank account history, as if nothing new happened.

Ultimately, both options happened simultaneously in a so-called “fork”. The original Ethereum lived on after rolling back and restoring the balances to before the hack, and a copy was split off that did not roll back. That copy is known as Ethereum Classic, and the modified original is today’s well-known Ethereum. They have operated completely separately since the split despite their shared origin.

That brings us to Ethereum 2. It is an upcoming, major update to Ethereum, which will bring much faster and more affordable transactions to the blockchain. And again, the blockchain will split in two - Ethereum and Ethereum 2. The creators assume though that most, if not all, participants will simply transition over to Ethereum 2, this time without fighting over the future.

And next time we take a brief look at the entire history of crypto.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Litecoin and what makes it special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 79 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 14, 2022

What is Litecoin and what makes it special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about Litecoin, one of the earliest altcoins.

Litecoin was developed in 2011 by a Google Engineer. At the time, Bitcoin was the only established blockchain and just started getting recognition among insiders. But already, some people saw its disadvantages in scaling to real-world usage and started thinking about alternatives.

Litecoin is one of those first altcoins. The developer, Charlie Lee, took Bitcoin’s open source code and modified it to make Litecoin more usable for every-day transactions.

While it still uses the same fundamental working principles, Litecoin has a few advantages over Bitcoin: It is much faster and the fees are so low, that it can be used for small transactions. It also made Litecoin less vulnerable to hacking attacks.

And indeed, when Litecoin launched, it quickly became very popular but never actually ended up taking over Bitcoin despite its improvements upon it. But it still sits in the top 25 cryptocurrencies and has remarkably wide adoption: It is one of the very few coins actually used in the real world: Thousands or merchants accept it and even Paypal lets users pay with it – making it the only other coin besides Bitcoin and Ethereum to have that honor.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Are Bitcoin’s best days over? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 78 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 13, 2022

Are Bitcoin’s best days over?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's talk about the future of Bitcoin – is it outdated and will soon make room for a modern successor, or will it forever stay the number 1 cryptocurrency by market capitalization?

Surely you know by now that everything started with Bitcoin. It has revolutionized the way we think about digital money and the entire financial system. But it is also the oldest technology and the vision of crypto has expanded a lot since then. So what does that mean for its future?

First, we need to understand that there are two different ways to think about Bitcoin – to some people, it is simply a great store of value, like digital gold. And with a limited supply by design, people like it as an alternative to savings in traditional currency, because that can be printed and de-valued by governments as they please.

On the other hand you have those who want to use crypto as digital money. They pump money into crypto to bet that it will someday be the only way we send currency around, pay for things, and invest. And arguably Bitcoin just can’t handle real-world use. The amount of transactions it can process at a time – which is currently just 7 per second – and how quickly it takes for them to be confirmed - which is around 10 minutes – is a real problem. Imagine buying ice cream like that - it would be impossible.

That’s why newer technologies have popped up, like Ethereum which still has similar problems but is fully programmable, and more recently Solana, Avalanche, Celo, etc. And they start to eat away at Bitcoin. But who knows - real Gold still has the highest market cap of all assets, with almost 12 trillion dollars it is worth 4x more than Apple, the most expensive company in the world. Never underestimate the potential of digital gold.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Bitcoin Cash and what makes it special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 77 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 12, 2022

What is Bitcoin Cash and what makes it special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let's talk about one of the first altcoins, Bitcoin Cash.

Bitcoin Cash is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies and goes all the way back to 2017. At the time, it became clear that Bitcoin itself could not handle high transaction volumes and the crypto community started fighting over its future.

There were two factions: Those that saw Bitcoin purely as a store of value – such as Gold – were happy. But those that saw it as a means to send payments around, noticed that Bitcoin was hitting its limits. But to make Bitcoin handle more transactions required deep technical changes and so the decision was made to go separate paths and create Bitcoin Cash as an alternative and keep the original Bitcoin running as a separate blockchain.

Bitcoin Cash improves upon Bitcoin by allowing miners to validate many more transactions in one computation. Remember that mining is the process of validating recent payments, and in order to qualify for doing that, each computer has to solve a very complicated puzzle first, which takes time before the work can even start. With Bitcoin cash, more transactions can be validated together after each puzzle, and the complexity of the puzzle can be lowered if there is high demand.

The effort was only a partial success though: Bitcoin Cash just wasn’t adopted widely as an alternative. Today, years after the separation, Bitcoin’s market capitalization is over 100 times larger than BitCoin Cash’s… and the gap is growing.

And next time we stay on the topic and discuss if Bitcoin’s best times are over - see you then!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Worldcoin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 76 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 11, 2022

What is Worldcoin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about a crypto project that has gotten a lot of attention lately: Worldcoin.

The idea behind Worldcoin is to get a majority of the world population to use cryptocurrencies. According to the project’s estimates, only 3% have used a cryptocurrency so far, and it aims to change that by distributing its Worldcoin to billions of people, giving everyone an initial amount.

No small task, especially considering that not everyone has access to smartphones and the internet. And how the company plans to do this is where things get really interesting.

Faced with the challenge of letting people own and use Worldcoin without specific technology, they invented a device called “the Orb”. Operators, people who travel around with those Orbs, use it to scan a person’s eye to convert the data into a unique code. From that point forward, your eye becomes your key to your Worldcoin.

This also attempts to solve the challenge of fraudulent claims: The problem with giving away a set amount of free Worldcoin to each person is that someone will always try to game the system and get more. And since a human’s eye is unique, the Orb device will prevent that in theory.

But so far, this is all just an ambitious idea with a lot of funding. A few Orbs are allegedly already being tested in the field, but the project admits that it needs to build at least 50000 per year to scan enough people. And you should know that the creators and investors plan on keeping 10% of all Worldcoin to reward themselves.

And that is Worldcoin! And next time we’ll continue our series on fascinating new crypto currencies.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are crypto games? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 75 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 10, 2022

What are crypto games?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about crypto gaming: what it is and why it has become so popular recently.

In short, crypto gaming tends to be a combination of online gaming and speculating on crypto currencies.

Let’s unpack those two things one at a time.

Online gaming can take many forms, such as apps like FarmVille where you have to make sure your farm is running well, to world of warcraft, which is a virtual reality game where you build your character over a long time and explore a massive world with thousands of other people.

Traditionally these games have their own economies, so you pay the actual company directly for in-game things like extra water for your crop or new items for your avatar.

And that’s where crypto comes in. Crypto games also have these economies, but they are crypto currency based. Instead of paying a company to play, you buy into the game’s token, and might even make money participating. Some games even have such vivid economies that people turn gaming into a full time job. An example of that is Axie Infinity, a game where you can battle against other players’ creatures. It has 2 million active users, and each player has spent roughly $400 to get started.

But it’s always a speculation on the game’s cryptocurrency retaining its value - because if it doesn’t, many players may turn around and play something different.

And that is crypto gaming. And next episode we will continue our deep dive on interesting crypto currencies.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How you can make money by learning about crypto - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 74 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 07, 2022

How you can make money by learning about crypto

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll talk about the world of Learn and Earn, where you can make crypto money just by learning about new projects.

Remember from last episode, that many crypto projects – for example new blockchains or tokens – have a cold start problem. It means that they have a hard time finding people at first, who want to buy in.

That works out to your advantage though, because there are small learning courses that try to solve this problem. Since many legitimate new projects have an interesting way to solve existing problems, they bet that if you know about it, you are interested in investing. So they are actually willing to give you some of their crypto currency in exchange for your time.

How do you find those classes. The two largest exchanges for example, Binance and Coinbase, let you take those courses for a handful of projects. It’s as simple as signing up and navigating to the tab, and if you pay attention and get the answers right, you get a few dollars in the respective currency.

We hope you like those courses and learn a thing or two that’ll make you crypto smarter. We certainly do, and that’s why we’ll have a lot of those classes on cryptohunt.it shortly after we launch. Head on over to join the waitlist.

And next time, we’ll talk about crypto games: What they are and how people even make money with them.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The crypto cold start problem: How new projects gain traction - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 73 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 06, 2022

The crypto cold start problem: How new projects gain traction

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll talk about the cold start problem all crypto projects face: How to grow even the most promising project when nobody knows about it yet.

Imagine the situation: You just created the first version of an incredible blockchain. It solves all the problems, and it should take the world by storm. But then you realize that there are over 8000 traded cryptocurrencies, and you are not one of them.

So, how do blockchains like yours do to get attention then? First, they set aside a large amount of their coins to give away. They create airdrops, for example, to distribute them to early fans, and they give them to partners to help spread the word in return. If enough people like the coin, they might buy more, and the price increases from zero to something.

But establishing value beyond market dynamics is the second, and most important step. And this is where it gets interesting – many coins also act as rewards on their blockchain, such as validating transactions. Ethereum is a good example - after people saw the value in the technology and built dapps on it, they were willing to pay for Ether so that they can pay for transactions. Or take a freelance marketplace that uses their own coin as currency - a job that has a real dollar value suddenly has an equivalent value in the marketplace’s coins and they become interchangeable.

And that’s why it is easy to create a token, but very difficult to make it worth something unless it has real application value and a user base.

And next time, we’ll talk about how Learning about blockchains can make you free money. Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How does crypto trading work and who determines prices? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 72 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 05, 2022

How does crypto trading work and who determines prices?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll talk about the primary mechanism that drives pricing in just about any market, including stocks and crypto: The “auction” You’d be surprised, but it actually originated on real markets thousands of years ago.

So-called market makers, like the New York Stock Exchange or crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase, bring together supply and demand – meaning those who want to sell and those who want to buy.

When you click the buy button on your brokerage or crypto account, you submit what is called an order. It states what you want to buy, how much of it, and at what price. On the other side are sellers - they do the same - what they sell, how much, and what price.

The exchange knows all open orders and matches the two of you, but only when your buy price works out for the other seller. Say you are willing to buy a coin for up to $5 per coin, and a seller submits a wish to sell for $4.99. The exchange will then make the trade between you happen at $4.99 and both parties are happy. That becomes the new official price until a new trade gets made.

And because for popular crypto, there may be many orders active at any given time, making trades happen multiple times a second, which leads to the price changing just as quickly.

There you have it – this is how crypto trading usually works and how prices get set. And next time, we talk about the cold-start problem: How cryptos that are not yet traded on exchanges gain traction and how you can find them before they blow up.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Who or what sets the price for crypto currencies - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 71 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 04, 2022

Who or what sets the price for crypto currencies

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Have you ever asked yourself how Bitcoin prices get set? How is it possible that they follow seemingly random patterns - up and down and impossible to predict? Is it a conversation between a few secretive people, smoking cigars behind closed doors? Is it all random?

Of course not 😃, so today, let’s talk about why crypto has value in the first place.

But before we dive in, let’s look at the bigger picture. How does anything get value at all? That only happens through trust we have in those things to be freely exchangeable. Take a dollar bill for example, the paper alone is not worth the money it represents, yet we believe in its value. And that is, because we can take that bill into any store and can exchange it for something else.

Let’s take that concept one step further: Stocks in publicly traded companies represent a percentage of ownership. Yet, if you divided only the measurable value of a company – like real estate, money in the bank, products on shelves – between all shareholders, that wouldn’t come even close to actual stock prices. What explains the difference is our belief in the future value of those shares – if I believe Apple will continue to grow in the future, I am willing to pay more today.

Crypto works the same way. Investors believe in its future potential. And they believe in it so much that they are excited about the prospects of replacing the entire financial system. And that’s why cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are worth a lot of money, yet they don’t actually do much yet.

And next time, we’ll talk about how crypto markets work, the mechanisms that set prices using supply and demand so that we don’t need those people smoking cigars behind closed doors.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

A beginners guide to investing your first $10 in crypto - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 70 - by cryptohunt.it Jan 03, 2022

A beginners guide to investing your first $10 in crypto

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s go step by step through the process of putting your first $10 into crypto. But before we start, as always, this is not investment advice. Only invest what you can afford to lose.

But if you have decided that you want to dabble in crypto… how do you actually start?

First, understand that you’ll need to go through a few steps – those are exchanging real money into crypto, finding a wallet to keep that, tracking your investment, and eventually selling it if you want.

The easiest way to solve all of these problems is to trade through a public exchange, the largest two being Binance and Coinbase, but there are many more. Those handle all of the steps above in one simple app.

But which exchange is right for you? Generally consider that the larger ones tend to be more reliable, but also see if they operate where you live. There is also a difference between the cryptocurrencies each supports. Ask your friends too - often they can generate a referral link for you, and you both get something for free.

Once you’ve chosen your exchange, simply download their app, open it, and create an account. It will very likely want to see a government ID or other things to prove your identity, so be prepared for that.

Inside the app, you’ll also need to connect a bank account or another form of payment. Keep in mind that buying crypto with credit cards is usually more expensive due to fees.

And lastly, you’ll need to make your crypto purchase right from the app. And voila! In just a few minutes, you’ve become a proud owner of crypto and can see the value of your portfolio right there in your app.

And next time, we’ll talk about who or what actually sets the price for crypto currencies.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the difference between public and private keys in crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 69 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 31, 2021

What is the difference between public and private keys in crypto?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about crypto keys. More specifically, what public and private keys are and why you should absolutely know about them if you have any crypto.

Let’s take the example of sending old school mail, where you have a mailbox outside your house.

The public key is like your mailbox address. Anyone can send you a letter to your address, the postal service will put it through the slot, and it sits there safely until you retrieve it. It works the same for crypto. You can safely share your address with anyone, as they can only send you something, and never take something.

The private key is the one you need to guard closely. Like your mailbox key unlocks your mailbox, the private key unlocks your wallet and allows you to take the money out of it. If you have your own wallet, for example Metamask, the wallet will make sure to manage that key for you. If you are using an exchange like Coinbase, they will manage the key in the background and you’ll actually never see it nor would you need to.

But regardless of where the private key is, don’t give it to anyone. Whoever is asking, the only reason they need it is to transfer money out of your account. And don’t lose it either, because that’ll lock you out of your wallet forever.

And now that you know what public and private keys are, next time we’ll talk about how to invest your first $10 in crypto. End to end, in about a minute.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is ERC-20? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 68 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 30, 2021

What is ERC-20?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s learn about a powerful, yet technical concept that makes Ethereum so special, called ERC-20. You probably heard it and wondered what it is. It might sound intimidating, but don’t worry, we’ll break it down for you!

ERC-20 is simply the blueprint that makes all coins and tokens work on Ethereum. But how does that work and why is it important?

Standardizing how tokens work is important because it allows third parties to build wallets and other programs that can send, receive, and keep a balance of any token based on Ethereum. That is as important to crypto as inventing the credit card was for traditional money. Think about it: By defining the size and shape of the card, and how the magnetic stripe works, anyone with a reader can accept it.

ERC-20 does exactly that. It creates standardized ways in which tokens are created, sent between wallets, and how balances are reported. It’s a basic rulebook that let’s developers define what has to happen in each of these standardized events.

And while that sounds like engineering talk at first, it is what allows wallets like Metamask to exist, and let’s you transfer Ethereum based coins seamlessly between your various exchanges or among friends. Just like we have agreed on a system to mail letters – put them in a standard envelope, put postage and address in opposite corners, and drop them into the mailbox, ERC-20 does this for sending all kinds of money around.

And next time, we’ll talk about what public and private keys are.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Lizard Coin (LIZ$) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 67 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 29, 2021

What makes Lizard Coin (LIZ$) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about Lizard Coin!

Never heard of it? You are not alone… That’s because we created Lizard Coin to prove that anybody can make up a crypto project, and it is hard to find the few projects that have good intentions AND future potential.

But what is Lizard Coin actually? It’s just a simple cryptocurrency that allows you to hold and transfer so-called LIZ dollars between wallets. It’s basically like Bitcoin, but without any users, value, or fame.

So what makes it special? In fact, nothing. And it took us just a few minutes and a few dollars to create. The lesson: Always consider that anyone can create something similar, and indeed many coins out there are just created to make the developer some money. Learn from Lizard Coin that taking your time to research a project is well worth it.

And when we launch cryptohunt.it, that research will become much easier. We predict that Lizard Coin won’t get great reviews, and we won’t be mad about it.

Until then, go grab some free Lizard Coin for fun. Just email us at lizard@cryptohunt.it and we’ll send you instructions.

And next time we’ll talk about ERC-20, the blueprint for decentralized finance.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes SHIBA INU (SHIB) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 66 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 28, 2021

What makes SHIBA INU (SHIB) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll talk about yet another dog themed coin, Shiba Inu.

Shiba Inu, with its ticker SHIB, was created as a Dogecoin equivalent on the Ethereum blockchain. It’s a great example of a meme coin that doesn’t have much of a special purpose.

Created by anonymous people in late 2020, the coin gained popularity as Elon Musk’s Tweet about the bigger brother Dogecoin drove attention to dog-themed crypto currencies. It has been riding that wave of investor enthusiasm and speculation ever since, exploding in value and making a lot of people very rich.

So, why did all those people buy Shiba Inu in the first place? Most likely because those who missed out on the meteoric rise of Dogecoin were hoping for another similar coin to do the same. And they got lucky! Despite having very little practical use over other coins and blockchains, SHIB sits in the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization today.

And that’s Shiba Inu! And next time, we’ll get back to blockchains with actual innovation as a goal and talk about Polygon.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Dogecoin (DOGE) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 65 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 27, 2021

What makes Dogecoin (DOGE) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s dive into the phenomenon of Dogecoin – how it started, why it’s so popular, and if it has any real world use.

Dogecoin was released in 2013 as a project to poke fun at the very technical crypto scene back then. The two founders felt that crypto insiders were taking themselves too seriously, and scaring non-technical people away. To get everyone else interested, they created a coin themed like a Shiba Inu dog, hoping to break down some of those barriers.

And indeed, a vivid community of hundreds of thousands of DOGE fans has formed on Reddit, where great posts get rewarded with Dogecoins between members. That community is known to be welcoming and happy to explain crypto to newcomers.

Dogecoin itself was simply created as a clone of LiteCoin with little extra development effort at first. But thanks to its roots, it is actually relatively usable in comparison to Bitcoin - transactions are decently fast and cheap, and an unlimited supply of Dogecoin helps its value to be relatively stable.

There aren’t many real-world examples of Dogecoin use though. But for unknown reasons, Tesla founder Elon Musk has hyped the coin many times, and has recently announced that Tesla will accept it as a payment method… for swag only.

And that’s Dogecoin, the best known meme coin. Next time, we’ll talk about its recent offspring, Shiba Inu.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Polkadot (DOT) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 64 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 24, 2021

What makes Polkadot (DOT) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll talk about Polkadot, a technology introduced in 2020 to make creating entirely new blockchains easier.

You’ll start seeing a theme here: Polkadot ist yet another crypto project aiming at solving the problems with Ethereum. In fact, Polkadot is co-founded by Ethereum’s old Chief Technology Officer.

Think of Ethereum as a single highway; and of the transaction fees as tolls. Every time any transaction happens on Ethereum, it gets put on the same road – this could be someone sending a token, the sale of an NFT, or the creation of a new smart contract. Quickly, that highway gets congested, tolls go way up, and there is just not enough space for everyone to get to their destination.

Polkadot takes a novel approach to solving this problem. Instead of creating more lanes on that freeway, which is a common solution other blockchains try, it allows for the creation of entirely new, separate freeways. In other words, it allows the creation of new blockchains. Those can be used separately with less congestion, and can be built for a special purpose. And there are also ramps connecting those freeways, so exchanges are possible.

All that has led to Polkadot being a scalable, and fully customizable alternative to Ethereum.

And next time, we’ll talk about the opposite of a purposeful blockchain: The popular meme coin Dogecoin.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Avalanche (AVAX) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 63 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 23, 2021

What makes Avalanche (AVAX) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we talk about Avalanche, a relatively new blockchain technology that launched in late 2020 and has already made it into the top 10 earlier this year.

Like other projects, Avalanche’s main goal is to provide the same capabilities as Ethereum, but solve its main problems. If you’ve listened to this podcast, you will recognize them quickly: Ethereum allows for the creation of an entirely digital financial system through smart contracts, but can’t currently handle a lot of transactions and the fees are very high.

Avalanche tries to solve this problem in a couple of ways. First, it splits the three core jobs – transaction validation, exchanging money, and executing smart contracts – and operates three separate computer networks to run them. This allows it to process thousands of transactions per second as opposed to around 17 for Ethereum, and Avalanche has fees that can be thousands of times lower.

The other way Avalanche attempts to replace Ethereum is by simply being compatible with it. Computer code written to build smart contracts on Ethereum can be reused on Avalanche. That means, programmers can move over very quickly and take advantage of fast, cheap transactions, which has helped Avalanche gain rapid adoption since it’s launch.

And that’s why Avalanche is becoming so popular and starting to compete with Ethereum. And next time, we’ll talk about Polkadot.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Terra (Luna) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 62 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 22, 2021

What makes Terra (Luna) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we talk about Terra, a blockchain that aims to make payments as easy as Paypal or Venmo for a worldwide audience.

Terra has only been around since 2019 and was created specifically with stable coins in mind. The idea is to provide numerous such stable coins, one for each major real world currency to make online payments easy. Those stable coins are all exchangeable on the blockchain, making buying something in one of the other stablecoins very simple without having to exchange currencies manually.

The Terra founders have the larger vision of making online payments with crypto extremely easy. Having started very large e-commerce websites in Asia, their hope is to get people to turn Terra into a widely accepted alternative payment method online. For that vision to come true, the Terra team created payment apps for mobile and desktop and are giving their Luna token to people for using it.

Another interesting feature of Terra is also how it creates stable coins. Instead of holding a reserve – like most stable coins – they algorithmically create and destroy coins to keep the market price balanced. In other words, the stable coins themselves adjust supply and demand.

And that’s Terra. And next time, we’ll talk about Avalanche.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Ripple (XRP) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 61 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 21, 2021

What makes Ripple (XRP) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we dive into Ripple, one of the earliest cryptocurrencies out there.

Ripple is a virtual currency that targets banks and payment networks as clients. The idea behind Ripple is to replace the antiquated inter-bank payments systems. It is not designed for consumers like us.

And that differentiation makes it one of the most adopted crypto projects out there. Major commercial banks like Santander use the technology to move money around for example.

But note how we haven’t said a word about blockchains yet? That’s because Ripple doesn’t operate on blockchain technology. Instead, the Ripple company provides validation of transactions, meaning Ripple isn’t decentralized and the company is the sole entity that has full control over its future. There is still a permanent record of all transactions though, much like Bitcoin. All that makes Ripple extremely fast with very low fees for those banks.

Another thing to know about Ripple is that major exchanges in the US have halted trading of its token. That is because Ripple is currently being sued by the security exchange commission, the US agency that oversees the stock market. They allege that Ripple sold their tokens illegally to the public. So if you decide to trade Ripple, just understand it might be hard to sell in the US.

And that’s Ripple! And next time, we’ll talk about Terra Luna.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What make Cardano (ADA) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 60 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 20, 2021

What make Cardano (ADA) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we talk about Cardano, one of the most popular blockchains out there.

Cardano was created in 2017 by a former founding member of the Ethereum team and it aims to solve the problems that Ethereum has with low transaction volumes and high transaction prices.

From a technological point of view, Cardano is not unlike other projects who have the same goal. It does, however, have a couple of unique ideas.

First, changes to the blockchain don’t just get voted on, they also get peer-reviewed. The idea of peer reviews comes from the science community, where ideas can only get published if they have been reviewed in detail by other scientists. The founder of Cardano, who happens to be a mathematician, hopes that peer-reviews will bring a more solid long-term approach to the blockchain’s development.

Second, Cardano also separates the basic layer of sending and receiving money from the smart contract layer. Think of it like going to the DMV to pay for the renewal of your car registration. Instead of waiting in line with everyone else until your number is called, there is an express lane for payments and you are in and out in no time. That also means that when major functional updates happen, the transaction layer of Cardano can keep working without interruptions.

And that’s what makes Cardano special! And tomorrow, we’ll talk about Ripple.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the Blockchain Trilemma? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 59 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 17, 2021

What is the Blockchain Trilemma?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll talk about the three big problems every blockchain tries to solve at the same time. This is also called the “Blockchain Trilemma”. Knowing about this concept is important, because it’ll help you evaluate a blockchain’s future potential.

The three problems in the Trilemma are security, scalability, and decentralization. Achieving all of them at the same time is the holy grail that no technology has fully achieved today. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Security is the first problem, and in this context it simply means making sure that nobody can fake transactions.

Scalability is a blockchain’s ability to cheaply process so many transactions at the same time that it could replace everything from credit cards to banking – and that’s a lot.

Decentralization is about making sure that no single actor has control over the entire system, so that it is not influenced by an individual or an organization alone.

The problem is that each of those creates a tradeoff. For example, security for Bitcoin is ensured through proof-of-work, a process that slows things down deliberately, making Bitcoin too slow for real world use.

Ethereum is fully decentralized and secure, but transactions are slow and cost hundreds of dollars.

The Binance Smart chain is fast and cheap, because the company behind it chooses the few actors who can validate, but that also violates the principles of decentralization.

So you see where this is going.

But what does that mean for you? Simply use the Blockchain Trilemma to evaluate any blockchain you are researching - that’ll be a very good way of checking if something has future potential.

And next time, we’ll talk about popular blockchains again, taking a deeper look at Cardano.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How safe are stable coins actually? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 58 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 16, 2021

How safe are stable coins actually?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll talk about how stable those Stable Coins actually are.

Remember from previous episodes: Stable coins are cryptocurrencies that track a real world currency in value, for example the US Dollar. That means 1 stable coin is always traded for 1 US Dollar. That protects the holder against the wild market swings in crypto like Bitcoin.

But how safe is your money in stablecoins like Tether or USDC actually? To get to the bottom of that question, first we need to understand how stablecoins work.

Imagine you collect shells on the beach. They are worthless by themselves. But let’s say you offer your friends a deal: Buy a shell from me for 1 dollar and I guarantee that I will always exchange that shell back for a dollar. In theory your friends could now buy bread with those shells, if the baker is willing to exchange them back for real dollars with you.

That’s how stable coins work too. You buy them from the issuer, and in theory the issuer creates a reserve of real currency, guaranteeing the value.

Ok! Back to your shells. Now, what happens if you had spent the money your friends gave you and suddenly they all come back, trying to exchange their shells? You wouldn’t be able to pay them. Good luck to them, finding someone on the open market to buy some useless shells.

And that’s the risk with stable coins too. Some don’t have enough reserve to cover a major exchange back to dollars. Tether for example was sued by the US government because it allegedly made misleading claims about the amount of reserve they hold. USDC went the other way and created a fully audited and regulated reserve to create trust.

So be careful and do your research. Some tokens may be less stable than you think.

And next time we will talk about the Blockchain Trilemma, the three big problems all blockchains struggle to solve.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes USD Coin (USDC) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 57 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 15, 2021

What makes USD Coin (USDC) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today is about yet another popular stable coin: USD Coin, also called USDC.

If you are just tuning into our podcast now: Stablecoins are special types of crypto currencies that follow a real world currency in value. USDC is just like that, and it follows the US Dollar, making 1 USDC always worth 1 actual US dollar. That makes it, like other stablecoins, very usable for real-life transactions.

What makes USDC special is not the technology, but who backs it and how they do it.

USDC was created in a joint venture of Coinbase, the popular crypto exchange, and Circle, a finance company based in Boston. Coinbase is a publicly traded and officially regulated exchange, Circle’ backers include big institutions, like Goldman Sachs.

Knowing that, you can easily see that credibility is the main goal here with those big names behind USDC. But the way it is backed also aims to create trust in the cryptocurrency: Every dollar of USDC in circulation is backed by the equivalent of real dollars in a reserve. And that reserve is officially regulated by the US government, and audited by a top 10 accounting firm.

So what are the downsides? Mostly transaction costs, as USDC is built on top of Ethereum. But that should be solved soon, as support is planned for competing blockchains like Algorand, Stellar and Solana.

And since we are on the topic, next time we’ll take a break from new coins and will talk a little more about how stable those stable coins actually are.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

056 - What makes Solana (SOL) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 56 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 15, 2021

What makes Solana (SOL) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about Solana!

Solana is a blockchain technology that allows developers to build so-called decentralized apps, or financial systems, on its infrastructure. That could be anything from currencies, to loans, to NFTs. As such, it has very similar goals to Ethereum and Binance Coin, which we’ve discussed in previous episodes.

So what makes Solana special then? Founded in 2017, but only recently released in 2020, Solana has the goal to handle massive transaction volumes without compromising security and decentralization. In other words, it wants to replace Ethereum with none of the bottlenecks.

And to achieve that, Solana invented a few unique tricks. But the primary innovation is a process called “proof of history”. This allows for many computers in its network to validate blocks, which are groups of transactions, in parallel. In contrast, Bitcoin for example, can only validate one block at a time before all the computers have to communicate and catch up on the latest data again.

And in fact, Solana has been tested with up to 100,000 transactions per second, and transactions cost a fraction of a cent. Compare that to the roughly ten thousand transactions per second going through traditional Credit Cards, all of which cost a few percent in fees, and you see why people think Solana could be a leading technology in the future.

And that’s Solana! And tomorrow, we’ll talk about USD Coin.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes Tether (USDT) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 55 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 13, 2021

What makes Tether (USDT) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Before we start today, we want to share some exciting news. We just closed a financing round with amazing investors like Coinbase Ventures to bring you cryptohunt.it, a website where we’ll make crypto learning and discovering easy for everyone. Stay tuned and share the news and this podcast with your friends if you want to help us out!

Now, let’s get to it and talk about Tether, specifically USDT. Tether is a stable coin, meaning that its value closely follows that of a real-world currency. That means 1 Tether is always worth 1 US Dollar. This makes it a very useful crypto currency to do everyday transactions with, because it doesn’t fluctuate in price.

Tether achieves that by holding the real-world money equivalent of all Tethers combined in a reserve, and guaranteeing the value of a Tether through that. In other words, the company will always buy a Tether back for one Dollar, and in doing so, creates a stable price.

But Tether is not the only stable coin, so what made it so popular that it currently is the fourth largest crypto currency? It is the ability to operate on multiple different blockchains at the same time, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. That means it has a much larger potential user base and payments work between blockchains. It’s like sending money directly from your Paypal to a friend’s Venmo.

And before we close, it is worth noting that Tether has been sued by multiple US government agencies for allegedly misrepresenting how much they actually hold in reserve. If true, that would mean the company could run out of money if many people want to withdraw Tether.

And that’s Tether! And next time we talk about Nr. 5 on the list: Solana!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes the Binance Coin (BNB) special? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 54 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 10, 2021

What makes the Binance Coin (BNB) special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

We talked about Bitcoin and Ethereum, number 1 and 2 in market cap, extensively. Let’s spend some time exploring the rest of them! Today: Binance Coin, which currently is number 3 in market capitalization!

Binance Coin is a token that was originally issued as an alternative payment method on the parent company’s crypto exchange. The Binance exchange simply offered lower transaction costs to anyone using their token.

As Binance grew into one of the largest exchanges in the world, the vision for the token expanded. It eventually morphed into an alternative to Ethereum, meaning that it lets developers build Decentralized Finance products – short: DeFi – with smart contracts. Make sure to check out our episodes on Defi and Smart Contracts.

While both have the same goal, the Binance blockchain wants to solve the key problems that Ethereum still faces: Low transaction volume and high transaction costs. And it does so in a unique, and sometimes criticized way: It centralizes control.

The company itself chooses who gets to validate transactions, giving that privilege to only a handful few. That makes transactions fast and cheap in theory. In fact, they are about a whopping 80 times cheaper than Ethereum right now. In addition, Binance also has the power of blocking smart contracts to decrease fraud.

But is it too risky to trust a single company with managing almost 100 bn dollars in circulation? We’ll leave that judgement up to you. But it certainly makes Binance Coin unique among many others.

And next time, we’ll talk about Tether, which currently sits at #4 in market capitalization.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are the economics of mining Bitcoin? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 53 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 09, 2021

What are the economics of mining Bitcoin?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about what it takes to make money mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

You have probably heard of those large warehouses, filled with computers, that do nothing else than mine Bitcoin all day long. How do they actually make money?

Remember, mining is like making computers solve very, very complicated puzzles. With that in mind, consider three factors: The cost of computers, the cost of energy, and the price of the cryptocurrency they get rewarded with.

Sounds easy, but it’s actually quite difficult to even get started with mining. You will need special power-efficient computers to make it work. Those “ASICs” – short for “application specific integrated circuits” – are expensive and hard to get because of high demand and chip shortages.

Once you have the hardware, the next thing to consider is the cost of energy. A single block of Bitcoin, for example, uses the equivalent of a US household’s annual power bill.

And lastly, mining rewards get paid in the blockchains’ native crypto currency, for example Bitcoin. That works in a miner’s favor when prices are up, but when they suddenly drop, they are stuck with an expensive machine that doesn’t make enough money.

So, how much does a single mining machine make? It obviously depends, but can currently be up to $200 per day after paying for power bills. But that’s on a machine that’ll set you back over 75,000 dollars used on eBay right now, meaning it’ll take a year to turn a profit with no room for price drops.

And that’s how people make, or lose, money with mining. And next time we’ll start talking about a specific cryptocurrency per episode to discuss what makes each of them special.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Coin Burning? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 52 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 08, 2021

What is Coin Burning?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

In the last two episodes we explained how halving slows down the rate at which new Bitcoins get put into circulation.

Halving, however, is very specific to just a few blockchains, the most popular ones are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.

Other blockchains use a mechanism called burning to achieve the same: It takes coins of circulation. But how do they do that and why?

Many crypto currencies are built with the idea of deflation in mind. Deflation simply means that the supply of available currency decreases over time which can in turn increase the value of those coins by creating scarcity over time.

Deflation could be by design for currencies that are explicitly set up to do this, or by personal motivations of large holders.

Burning is one way to achieve deflation. While it sounds dramatic, in most cases coins just get sent to a special wallet that doesn’t have an owner. Nobody has the key to it, so they can never be used again.

Who burns these tokens? Often, burning is built into the protocol of a blockchain itself. Set in code, it happens whenever the conditions are met. Ethereum for example burns some of the fees whenever a transaction happens.

In other instances, developers behind the tokens, or just owners decide to burn their holdings. The inventor of Ethereum famously burned almost $7bn in Shiba Inu, which he got sent without being asked for permission, because he felt it was unfair to have that many.

And that’s it on Burning and Deflation! And next time we’ll talk about the economics of mining Bitcoin!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is Bitcoin Halving a good thing? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 51 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 07, 2021

Is Bitcoin Halving a good thing?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk more about Bitcoin Halving: Why it was likely made part of Bitcoin, and if it is a good thing. But listen to our previous episode first for an explanation of halving.

Now we know that Halving is necessary because there can only ever be 21 million bitcoins. All currently unmined Bitcoins go to miners as rewards and they would be gone quickly if those rewards didn’t get cut in half every so often.

But why is there a hard limit on the amount of Bitcoins in the first place? We can’t know for certain, but it looks to be a response to the 2008 financial crisis. Governments print their own money as they see fit, and did so heavily back then, causing inflation. Bitcoin is designed to be the opposite, with money getting created at decreasing speeds thanks to Halving.

So, is Halving a good thing then? Depends on who you ask.

Now, for those people who hold Bitcoins, Halving means that less newly mined Bitcoins are coming into circulation over a certain period of time, and lower supply generally means higher prices. And in fact, anticipation of Halving has driven up Bitcoin prices a ton whenever it happened in the past.

But consider things from a miner’s perspective - suddenly you get half the rewards for the same amount of power used and hardware operated. That will only make sense, if the price increase of your Bitcoin rewards makes up for it.

But maybe that’s actually a good thing, forcing everyone to use more energy efficient-ways to mine. We can only hope!

And next time: Do other blockchains also use Halving?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Bitcoin Halving? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 50 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 06, 2021

What is Bitcoin Halving?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about Halving of Bitcoin.

“Bitcoin Halving” refers to specific events where the reward for mining Bitcoins is cut in half. Let’s unpack that a bit.

Transacting with Bitcoin is only possible, because so-called miners run complicated computer algorithms to validate every transaction. This process is called proof of work, and we recommend you listen to our episode on that. But in summary, you need to understand that it takes a lot of energy and hardware to mine Bitcoin. That’s why the system has to pay rewards to miners. Those rewards currently pay 6.25 Bitcoins for validating a chunk of transactions, also called a block.

When halving happens, the reward per block gets cut in half. At that point it will be half of the current 6.25 Bitcoins, dropping it to 3.125 Bitcoins, hence the name. Halving happens every 210,000 mined blocks, meaning the next halving will happen sometime in 2024.

So, why is Halving built into Bitcoin? Because, by design, the blockchain has a total amount of 21 million Bitcoins that can ever be created. But not all of those are in circulation, currently about 2 million are still set aside for mining rewards. Now, imagine you would keep giving miners the same rewards forever - eventually you’d run out of rewards. Halfing slows this process down.

And that’s halving! And in the next episode we’ll talk about why Bitcoin was designed that way and if halving is a good or a bad thing.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Layer 2? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 49 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 03, 2021

What is Layer 2?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s understand what Layer 2 is.

Layer 2 refers to blockchains that build on top of an existing one to improve them without having to replace them.

To understand why that is necessary, let’s take a look at Ethereum: It is the most popular blockchain supporting Smart Contracts - or “programmable money”. But transaction costs are often in the hundreds of dollars and it still only does less than 50 transactions per second. That makes it impractical for smaller purchases, for example a 10 dollar NFT.

At the same time though, it’s great to have everything happening inside the Ethereum ecosystem itself - tokens are easily exchangeable and once you buy into it, your money can move around freely. But it does so slowly and expensively.

That’s where Layer 2 comes in. Those blockchains operate “off-chain” by processing transactions more efficiently thanks to more modern concepts. To do that, they transact using their own tokens. But you can freely exchange those tokens back into Ethereum as well, because that’s what they are built and traded on. It gives you the latest technology, all while money can easily be swapped back to the token of an established blockchain.

It’s kind of like a decentralized version of putting money into your Venmo account. Once it’s there, you can send it around between Venmo users for free. And if you choose to, you can also pull it back out and send it back to your bank account.

And next time, we’ll talk about Halving and why that is a big deal for Bitcoin.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What’s different between investing in crypto versus investing in stock? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 48 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 02, 2021

What’s different between investing in crypto versus investing in stock?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about the big differences between crypto and stock investing. But before we dive into that, please take a moment to understand that this is not investment advice, we are only explaining the concepts behind crypto. Always do your own research!

So, you’ve been asking yourself what the differences are between crypto and stock trading. Both go up and down, people make money or lose money.

So, let’s talk about three main differences: Accessibility, backing, and volatility.

Accessibility is an obvious one: Creating a Robinhood account is very easy, and the app gives you access to thousands of stocks and options right away. With crypto, things are still much harder - oftentimes you have to go through multiple steps to buy the lesser known coins.

Backing, so what’s behind your investment, is also important. When you buy Apple stock for example, you own part of the company with all of its assets: Those include buildings, real money, inventory, patents, and more. And Apple produces real goods that generate revenue. Crypto on the other hand is mostly a bet on the future - blockchains that people speculate will take over the world. In most cases, there are no hard assets behind them and things could fall apart entirely in a black swan event.

Lastly, consider volatility. That term refers to the amount of swings the price goes through. Established, big companies that are exchange traded have a much LESS volatile price than crypto. In contrast, it’s common to lose a lot of money in a crypto trading day, and then gain it back the next. But things are never guaranteed, and the higher the volatility, the higher the risk of getting burned.

We hope those are some good insights to consider when comparing stocks to crypto. And next time, we’ll talk about what Layer 2 is.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is Miami Coin and why was it created? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 47 - by cryptohunt.it Dec 01, 2021

What is Miami Coin and why was it created?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s talk about Miami Coin: What it is and why the city created it.

The city of Miami has long been trying to position itself as a major hub for crypto innovation. It hosted a huge blockchain conference and creating Miami Coin has surely helped to keep Miami in the news. But what is it?

The coin, which has the ticker MIA, is a token that was created and sold by the city of Miami. Its value was simply set by supply and demand, with people hoping to be part of an experiment that would make them money.

What’s particularly interesting about Miami coin are two aspects though: It is one of the first official government uses of a crypto currency, and it creates a stream of income for the city as well as the owners of the coin.

You can generate money through Miami Coin by mining or staking it – meaning you help run computers to validate transactions, for which you’ll get additional Miami Coins. But only 70% of those rewards go to you, and this is where it gets interesting. 30% goes to the city, which has already made them over 20 million real dollars. The city is now deciding what to use the money for.

And while this all sounds like a great new idea, critics point out serious flaws: First, the value of Miami Coin is based entirely on the speculation of buyers and sellers. Aside from mining it, there isn’t a whole lot of things you can actually do with it for now - like paying for things at the supermarket for example.

The other problem is that its value isn’t stable when compared to the US Dollar. Things might crash tomorrow and Miami Coin owners may lose a majority of their investment.

That’s Miami Coin! And next time, we’ll talk about the differences between investing in crypto versus stocks.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is crypto going to replace real money? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 46 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 30, 2021

Is crypto going to replace real money?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we discuss if crypto will ever replace traditional money like the US dollar. Listen to episode 45 first, where we highlight the differences between both.

There are two ways that crypto can replace traditional money: Either by governments making it their official currency, or by crypto simply overtaking traditional money in terms of usage. So, how likely is either scenario?

In some countries, like Venezuela, crypto is already officially adopted. But will larger economies like the United States ever change over to crypto? Interestingly, some cities are paving the way - Miami recently launched its own Miami Coin for example. If that trend continues, it is very possible that the United States would move the traditional Dollar to the blockchain – but it will likely still be fully controlled by the US government, making it a mix of both worlds: New technology, but old ways to centrally manage it.

Now, let’s say the government sticks with the traditional US dollar: in that case, will we ever see a fully decentralized blockchain take over anyhow? Probably, but it may take a while. The advantages of lower transaction costs over Credit Cards may be enough to convince people to mostly use crypto. Or it could be the ability to build entire financial systems without having to pay the bankers on Wall Street handsome salaries. But it will take a clear regulatory framework that outlines what can and can’t be done, so developers can build with confidence.

And next time, we talk about Miami Coin – what it is and why the city created it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the difference between crypto currencies and real money? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 45 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 29, 2021

What is the difference between crypto currencies and real money?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we point out the biggest differences between crypto and real currencies.

Let’s ignore the short-term challenges like blockchain transaction costs and lack of ways to pay with crypto in real life, because those will be solved eventually. But there are actually a number of inherent differences, and real money still has big advantages. Let’s dig in!

One important difference is that a currency like the US Dollar is backed by the entire power of the US government. The government has massive buying power, in turn creating a high degree of stability that is backed by the world's largest reserve.

Crypto currencies on the other hand, even stablecoins, are not backed by a system with that much power. It’s easier for those currencies to lose backing and collapse, and there is no central force to actively help avoid that should it become reality.

Another fundamental difference is how quickly decisions can be made. By design, the US Dollar is controlled by the US government, and it can decide what to do with it in somewhat arbitrary ways. But that power means that it can make quick decisions to react to real world scenarios like inflation or a weak economy because it has central control.

Crypto currencies on the other hand are decentralized, and their operating principles are set in code. Scenarios that were not foreseen by their makers could be impossible to respond to and cause economic trouble.

So there you have it. And with all that in mind, next time we’ll ask ourselves: Is crypto ever going to replace real money for good?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Is crypto just for criminals? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 44 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 26, 2021

Is crypto just for criminals?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

So you talked about crypto with someone and they scoffed at you and said: That’s only good for criminals – drug deals, money laundry, and tax evasion.

Today, let's debunk that myth and in the process learn about the power of a permanent, public record of transactions.

Put yourself into the mindset of a criminal - money is best kept hidden from the authorities. If they don't know what was sent, where it was sent, and to whom it was sent, your life becomes much easier.

And there lies the problem with crypto for most criminal activity. Let's take Bitcoin as an example. A permanent record of every Bitcoin transaction, also called the ledger, is saved on millions of computers. Everyone can see it, and nobody can fake it. Tracing back transactions is as easy as it could possibly be for law enforcement, even easier than tracing traditional wire transfers because the information is available publicly without the need for formal requests. And yes, people can hide behind anonymous Bitcoin wallets, but turning crypto into real cash almost always requires an exchange that is highly regulated and verifies your identity.

And that's why you should not listen to people saying crypto is just for criminals, in fact it is pretty useless for them. Instead, help your friends understand the great impact crypto already has: Helping people access higher returns on their investments, creating stable currencies that anyone can use where those didn’t exist before, sending money across borders, and many, many more.

And while we are on the topic: Next time we will explain what the difference between real money and crypto actually is.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are smart contracts? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 43 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 25, 2021

What are Smart Contracts?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we talk about Smart Contracts: What they are and how they work.

Remember that blockchains like Ethereum are “programmable money”. They allow makers to create their own financial instruments, for example crypto currencies.

Smart contracts are the blockchain equivalent to real world laws, but they are impossible to violate.

In order to achieve that, these blockchains define what the functional building blocks are, so that the computers executing them are all talking the same language. Think of it like Lego: You can build anything with it, but the Lego company provides you with a bunch of literal blocks that you can put together any way you want.

A smart contract takes these building blocks and builds with them whatever the developers want to achieve. That could be simply moving money around between wallets, or also creating new money, or destroying some. A smart contract defines exactly how a crypto currency or any other financial instrument work.

And because the smart contract is executed on the blockchain, all instructions it carries are public and readable by anyone. They are also set in stone by design, meaning that everyone executing a transaction on a specific smart contract can expect the correct outcome.

So, that’s what a smart contract does. And next time we’ll debunk the myth that crypto is great for criminals, and you might be surprised to hear why.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are gas fees and why are they sometimes so high? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 42 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 24, 2021

What are gas fees and why are they sometimes so high?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

If you’ve followed this podcast, you’ll know by now that crypto has the potential to improve the efficiency of our financial system by a lot – so why are there transaction fees, and why are they so high for some blockchains, like Ethereum?

First, let’s revisit why we will always need transaction fees, regardless of how advanced blockchain technology becomes. We need independent participants to verify transactions to ensure that none can be faked. Those people operate computers, and those computers cost money and eat energy.

Many networks pay for those validation costs with so-called “gas fees”, which is crypto talk for an extra fee on top of every transaction that those operators earn.

Ok, you say. So far, so good – pay a little money for a few seconds of some computer operating somewhere. But why does it cost over $200 sometimes to do just about anything on Ethereum for example?

There are two reasons: Blockchains like Ethereum and Bitcoin have to solve complicated puzzles in a process called proof-of-work. Check out our episode on that topic, but it means that a simple task now needs a lot more energy to compute.

But the main problem is another one... demand. The more gas fees someone is willing to pay, the faster their transaction gets validated. You can essentially pay to jump the queue. And when people are willing to pay millions of dollars for a single NFT, they don’t really care to bid a few hundred over average gas fees to get the deal done asap.

That’s why there are many projects that focus specifically on making transactions fast, and affordable.

And next time, we will talk about smart contracts and how they work.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Real world use cases for blockchains - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 41 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 23, 2021

Real world use cases for blockchains

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s stop exploring the theory, and instead talk about ways that blockchain technology is already used to solve real problems.

But first, remember what blockchain technologies actually do very well: They create a decentralized system of record, one that can not be falsified or altered without consent.

Arguably the most popular use cases are NFTs. Those non-fungible tokens are used to sell ownership of digital art. Without the need for commission-hungry art galleries or auction houses, artists get access to a worldwide audience to sell their art. Talented teenagers make life-changing money, and known artists expand their audience.

Another great use of blockchains are stablecoins. Those crypto currencies are tied to the price of a stable currency, for example the US dollar, and are already being used as payment methods in places where people don’t have easy access to bank accounts, and will likely never need those either thanks to crypto.

Those stablecoins are also really practical if you need to pay someone abroad. Before crypto, it required high transaction fees and an complicated wire transfers to send money to a worker or family member in a different country. Now, things are instant with almost zero fees.

And there are tons of other uses - hundreds of billions of dollars are tied to lending and financing on the blockchain for example. So! Next time, someone tells you there are no real world uses for crypto, you have some examples to share.

And next time we dive deeper into gas fees and why there are still some transaction fees when you use crypto.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the metaverse and why could it become the killer use case for crypto? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 40 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 22, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, let’s explore what a “metaverse” actually is and how it could become the killer use case for crypto.

Remember the movie “The Matrix”? In it, protagonist Neo discovers that he had been living in a computer simulation his entire life – a fake, but incredibly realistic world made up by evil machines to keep humans alive to harvest their energy.

That Matrix is the movie depiction of a metaverse, which is a virtual reality you immerse yourself in, interact with others, and you can do whatever that world allows you to.

Sounds futuristic? It is. But Virtual Reality – or VR – is getting better every day. You can already take a rollercoaster ride with a VR headset that is so realistic that you’ll scream in fear. Pilots train in VR and auto makers design cars with it. And because technology is advancing so quickly, companies like Facebook are betting that we will spend most of our time in VR in the not so distant future. They want YOU to escape reality and use THEIR metaverse.

Let’s say that reality becomes true. Why would that be good for crypto? Because in an entirely digital world, blockchains are ideal for payments, to document ownership of digital items, and to keep a permanent record of anything. We simply can’t use a real dollar bill in a virtual world. And if you spend most of your time in VR, you spend most of your money there too, creating huge potential for crypto.

And next time, we are stepping back into reality, showing you real world uses of crypto.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is an ICO? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 39 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 19, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: What are ICOs and what are they used for?

An ICO, which is short for “Initial Coin Offering”, is a way to raise financing for a crypto project.

You may already be familiar with IPOs - “initial public offerings”. This is when companies issue shares to be traded in public stock exchanges like Wall Street. In contrast, In an ICO, instead of shares, companies issue tokens as a representation of partial ownership.

Why do they do that? To raise good, old-fashioned, hard cash. Remember: Just creating a token or coin is easy and doesn’t do much by itself. The creators have to convince the public that their project has value in the first place, and get the tokens into peoples’ hands so that they can establish a market.

An ICO accomplishes just that. By putting their token up for sale publicly, those creators allow investors to buy a stake of their token in return for real money. If investors buy those tokens, the creators get to keep that money to work with. If things go well, it could be lucrative for investors to have gone in early, as they could potentially sell their holdings for gain.

But be careful, because the potential for abuse is high. With speculators rushing into crypto, hoping to ride a wave, lots of ICOs are just a scam. The creators never intended to build a real product and just take the money and run. Always do your own research and don’t trust any single resource.

And next time we’ll talk about what a Metaverse is and how it could become the killer use case for crypto.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is DeFi? Part 2 of 2 - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 38 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 18, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

This is the second of our two episodes on decentralized finance, or just “DeFI” in short.

If you are just jumping in here, we recommend you listen to the previous episode where we explain why traditional financial products are nothing more than contracts traded and executed through banks.

DeFi gets rid of those banks, who act as a powerful middleman. But how does that work? Let’s dig in.

Remember that blockchains like Ethereum are “programmable money”. Crypto developers can just write any financial contract in computer code. That’s called a “smart contract”.

That could be a simple financial instrument like stock or options. And there are real advantages to doing it on a blockchain: First, since the contract is written in plain code and stored on the blockchain, anyone with the skills can read it, which creates full transparency.

Second, and most importantly, you don’t need banks facilitating these contracts anymore. Two parties can enter into those contracts directly through the power of a decentralized blockchain.

So, what are some popular examples? Take lending: You could lend someone Ethereum, and the smart contract determines how much interest you get, when you get the money back, and gives you a token in return that represents what you lent so ownership is documented.

Or ownership in a company: If you own what’s called a “governance token”, which represents a stake in the company or project that issued it, you have verifiable ownership, and may even get voting rights. It’s just like real stock, but on the blockchain.

And next time, we’ll spend more time on the subject of stock on the blockchain, and will explain what an ICO is!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is DeFi? Part 1 of 2 - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 37 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 17, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today and tomorrow, we’ll dive into the world of DeFI, short for “decentralized finance”, where blockchains are used to replace the world of traditional banking.

In this episode, we’ll explain how the world of traditional finance works, so you understand where things are coming from.

Imagine sitting on the busy trade floor of an investment bank. What is actually going on here? People are busy on the phones, looking at screens, taking orders and placing orders on behalf of clients everywhere.

It might sound crazy simple, but those financial instruments being traded are all just contracts: Promises to get or give something in return for a payment, often at a specific date. Take stocks for example. If you buy one Apple stock for $150 dollar, in return you get to vote on shareholder proposals - it’s nothing more than a controlling interest in a company. It just happens to fluctuate in price, so you might make money holding it.

Or take options as another example: Those are contracts to agree to buy or sell stock for a predetermined price at a later date. It’s essentially a gamble on the future value of that stock.

Those traders on the trade floor, what do they do? They sit in the middle, matching buyers with sellers, to make transactions happen, and then collect a fee. In other words, they are a centralized institution.

And that’s the whole point of DeFi, to create a decentralized system that can do all of that, cheaper and better. And next time, we’ll explain how traditional contracts work in the DeFi world.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What are Crypto ETFs? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 36 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 16, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: What are crypto ETFs?

You always know that things are going more mainstream when the media talks about it. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about those “crypto ETFs”. But what are they?

In simple terms, crypto ETFs make crypto investing possible through a regular stock portfolio. To understand how that works, we first need to understand how ETFs work.

ETF means “exchange traded fund”. ETFs have been around since the seventies. They are financial instruments that are traded just like stock. They have a price, a ticker, and you buy them through your traditional brokerage account.

But instead of representing a direct investment in just one company, ETFs allow you to invest in a portfolio. ETF managers buy and sell several individual stocks, balancing out their portfolio constantly, and you don’t have to worry about trading each of these yourself. Are you familiar with popular funds like Vanguard tracking the SP500 here in the US, or the DAX index in Germany? Those are ETFs.

Bitcoin and crypto ETFs give you the same convenience, but instead of investing in publicly traded companies, the funds invest your money in – you guessed it – crypto.

There are a few reasons why that’s useful: First, it’s much easier to get crypto exposure through your existing portfolio than having to set up a separate crypto exchange account. Second, some ETFs track a portfolio of different crypto, meaning you just have to buy one ETF and they do the work for you. And third, without those ETFs you might not be able to trade crypto directly sometimes, say through a retirement account that only allows you to trade traditional equities.

And now that we have talked about the bridge between the old and the new trading world, next episode we’ll talk about financial innovation that happens entirely in the world of DeFi and what that means.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How do crypto scams work? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 35 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 15, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: How do crypto scams work?

Whenever there is money involved, scammers are not far away. In crypto, people use the term “rug pulled” - which means someone pulled the rug from under you and your investment tanked. But how does that work?

It’s easy to create your own coin and hype it. In fact, don’t trust anyone promoting a crypto currency on TikTok and the like – people pay tens of thousands of dollars to those influencers to create a fake image of popularity for a specific coin. It works like this: Scammers buy a large amount of a very low value coin for next to nothing. Then they pump a ton of money into promotions, and if people start buying into the scam, prices shoot up. Suddenly the scammers' holdings are worth a lot more than they spent on promotions and they will sell it all. And because they own so much, the minute they sell it, your value plummets.

That’s called a “pump and dump”. So be on the lookout for anything that looks fishy and only trust third party resources. Anyone can create a coin, a website, and pay influencers.

It’s tempting to make a quick buck and seemingly everyone does these days. But always ask yourself: Does that all actually make any sense?

And next time we’ll explain what Crypto ETFs are.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How do you know if a token is a good investment? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 34 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 12, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: How do you know if a token is a good investment

First things first! This is not investment advice, and crypto is massively volatile. Do not invest what you can’t afford to lose entirely. Always do your own research. In fact, today, we’ll talk about some of the things you might want to look for when doing exactly that.

So, you’ve found this coin and consider investing some money. What should you take into consideration?

We would ask ourselves two things: Is this a legitimate project with good intentions? And does the technology have future potential?

The first is pretty clear: There are a lot of scams out there and we’ll talk about them in more depth next time. But there are warning signs you can listen to: How much is owned by just a few people? How long has a project been around? What do people say about it in forums? Are decisions made through the community or by an anonymous few?

Also important: Market capitalization, meaning how much money is invested in a coin. While getting in early may pay off, consider that a young token with little money behind it is more likely to be a scam.

Secondly: Does this solve any problems that existing technologies don’t? The fundamentals are that transactions are fast and cheap, and a blockchain can handle many of them at the same time. But also consider if it solves a new use case that could make it very popular. A good way to think about it is: Will a lot of people likely still use this in 10 years?

That’s just a small list and you will add your own ideas to it over time. And next time we’ll talk about the making of bitcoin scams, so you can spot those from a mile away.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How to learn more about Crypto - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 33 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 11, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: How to learn even more about crypto.

This is episode 33 of “Crypto in plain English” and if you’ve followed us this far, congratulations! You have a very solid crypto knowledge now. And don’t worry, we are going to produce many more episodes, but you are ready now to learn about the resources the professionals use.

The first thing we recommend is to sign up for crypto newsletters. Here at cryptohunt, we really like reading “Bankless”, which can be found at Banklesshq.com. It’ll try and trick you into a paid subscription - so make sure you click on the free version on the left to get started.

Ready to dive deeper? Welcome to the world of Discords. Discord is a chat app similar to Slack that almost every crypto project uses. Once you’ve identified projects you want to do more research on, find their Discord and join it. We know, it’s pretty intimidating at first and noisy in there, but right now that is your best bet to dive deep.

And because we agree that the world of crypto learning is such a pain to deal with, we are working to make cryptohunt the one hub you’ll need for all the insights with none of the noise. But until then, dive a little deeper with those resources we just mentioned.

And next time we will talk about things to look out for when researching crypto projects.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a fork? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 32 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 10, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today we tell you what a fork is.

You might have heard the term “fork” recently, especially since Ethereum is about to undergo such a “fork” to Ethereum 2.

But what does that actually mean?

Just like reaching a literal fork in a road, from which your path could go into two totally separate directions, a crypto fork splits a blockchain into two versions going forward - the original one and the new fork. This is necessary, because blockchain technology evolves, and sometimes does so to the extent that it is not backwards compatible anymore.

In the case of Ethereum 2, it switches to proof of stake, which is a different form of transaction validation. Any computer that validated the original Ethereum transactions will no longer be able to apply the same logic to Ethereum 2. The owners will have to decide whether to stick with the old, or move to the new.

When that fork happens in 2022, Ethereum 1 and 2 will coexist. They are, however, different blockchains at that point and the aspiration is to make Ethereum 2 the new standard and slowly reduce reliance on the old one.

But forks don’t have to be that disruptive. There are many blockchains, like Celo for example, which started with the Ethereum open source code, forked it, improved it, and launched their own blockchain, and in doing so, brought innovation to the ecosystem.

And in the next episode we talk about other great sources for crypto knowledge.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Crypto Faucet? - Crypto in Plain English - Episode 31 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 09, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we explain crypto faucets.

Crypto faucets are wallets that automatically give away small amounts of a token for free. You simply plug in your address and they'll send you some.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, there is a reason.

Most blockchains have transaction costs, so-called "gas fees". Those fees pay the people who run the infrastructure to validate transactions.

But when a blockchain is young, and getting a token through an exchange isn't easy, it's very hard to get started. Say you want to create a token, it will cost you gas fees you don't have. Or you want to create an NFT, same problem.

That's why many blockchains start out giving their currency to anyone who wants it. They put a little money in your pocket, so you can build on top of them.

On cryptohunt, we'll include public faucets so you don't have to stumble through the web to find them.

Now you know what faucets do. And next time we'll explain forks!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is an Airdrop? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 30 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 08, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we explain airdrops.

It's quite literal - airdrops happen when owners of a token distribute it for free to a larger number of recipients.

But why would anyone do that? Well, there are several reasons. Let's dig in.

First, the owners of a token might simply want to get it into circulation. It is no good to them if nobody owns it, puts a price on it, and trades it.

Second, they might want to incentivize their community. Compound, a crypto lending platform, has recently given away a lot of their token supply to early active users, having made some quite rich in the process.

And third, it might be by design. Imagine you create a product and you want it to be owned and controlled by the users - you'd find a set of rules under which you airdrop all of it fairly.

And because airdrops can happen for any reason, we'll include an upcoming airdrops section on cryptohunt when we launch.

And next time: Another way to get free crypto - so called "faucets".

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a DAO? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 29 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 05, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today we explain what a DAO ("D-A-O") is.

You may remember our episode on Web 3 and its core promise to give control over the web back to its users.

A DAO - short for "Decentralized Autonomous Organization" is what makes that possible.

Traditional companies make decisions in arbitrary ways - maybe the boss didn't like a certain person and fired them, or the agency wanted to change the logo.

In a DAO however, rules about who makes decisions and how they are being voted on are set in computer code and executed on the blockchain. Usually, there are no hierarchies nor bosses.

In fact, users are in control. They hold a product's token and are thus part of its DAO. They all have the right to bring forth proposals and vote on them. Those decisions are then transparently recorded on the blockchain. And everyone has an incentive to make good decisions – because the value of their token goes up if they do and make a product better.

That's DAOs in a nutshell. And next time we talk about how to get in on DAOs by explaining Airdrops.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Yield Farming - or how to generate passive crypto income - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 28 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 04, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today we explain what Yield Farming is or how to generate passive income with crypto.

Yield farming is a popular term these days, and it simply means trying to maximize passive income from crypto.

But what ways to generate interest with crypto are there to begin with?

First, there is “staking”, which we talked about in a previous episode. In summary, you get a return for locking your token into a blockchain to validate transactions.

Then there are “liquidity pools”, where you provide tokens for others to enable swapping, and get a cut of the transaction fee. We explained that last time.

And then there is simple “lending”, where you lend someone else your crypto for an interest rate.

Yield farmers will try to use all these methods to squeeze out maximum profit. They constantly move tokens around to where returns are the highest, or even combine methods. For example, you could add tokens to a liquidity pool, get the pool’s token in exchange, and lend that to others.

Now that you understand yield farming, always remember: This may sound tempting, but do your own research. This is not investment advice.

And next time we’ll talk about what a DAO is.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What the heck is staking? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 27 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 03, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: What the heck is staking?

Staking is the process of locking up tokens you own within a blockchain network, and getting rewards in return. It's an easy way to generate passive income with your crypto holdings.

Staking is similar to putting money into a savings account and earning interest.

The concept is crucial in blockchains that use "proof of stake", because only participants with staked tokens are trusted to validate transactions, and then allowed to collect the associated rewards.

If you don't want to run a validator yourself, which often involves installing software on a server, you can delegate your tokens to those who are. In return, you'll still get proportional interest payments.

But there is risk! You often have to stake your tokens for a specific amount of time, which means you can't take them out to sell or swap. If the token price decreases while you are staking, you might end up losing more money due to that, than the interest can make up for. On the flip side, if you intended to hold the token, that may not be a problem for you.

And next time we'll give you an overview of the most popular ways to create more passive income with crypto.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a Liquidity Pool? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 26 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 02, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: We explain liquidity pools.

If you want to exchange one token for another, you have to have a market, meaning you'll have to find another person to swap you at the rate you both agree to.

Remember: Centralized exchanges like Binance have enough users to match them directly when they want to swap – for a fee.

Liquidity pools take this concept and decentralize it, so that you don't need a massive amount of users on centralized exchanges anymore.

For that to work, people who hold both tokens of a pair you'd like to swap, send those to a liquidity pool. The tokens then disappear from their wallet and get transferred over to that pool, and in exchange they get a third token that proves ownership over the amount they committed. They can exchange that back at any time.

That's how the pool is getting filled.

But back to you: if you want to exchange two tokens and the corresponding liquidity pool is full enough to fulfill your swap, it'll do that using those tokens that are already in it. You exchange for the token you wanted and pay a fee. That fee is then distributed to the people who originally funded the pool, letting their money work for them. And those rewards can add up quickly if a pool has a lot of activity.

And next we explain staking - in plain English, like always. Hear you then!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How does swapping tokens actually work? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 25 - by cryptohunt.it Nov 01, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: How you exchange one token for another.

Let’s say you own a significant amount of one coin, and want to swap some of it for another coin – for example exchange Ethereum for Bitcoin.

How does that actually work?

Think of it like trying to swap Amazon Gift cards for Apple Gift cards – you will have to find someone on the other end of that trade who's interested in it.

That's what large exchanges help with. They have so many users that a lot of those swaps – called “trade pairs” by the insiders – are possible, because there is always someone interested in any of the many different combinations. What exchanges do here is called "market making" - they bring people together to facilitate a swap.

But what if you want to trade a very exotic pair, say Lizard Coin for Doge Coin? Then your best bet is to go through "fiat", meaning real currency or well-known crypto. First, you'll have to exchange Lizard Coin for US Dollar or Bitcoin, and then take those and exchange them for Doge Coin. That's what we call an imperfect market and the two step process is often more expensive.

And now that you know the basics of how markets are made, we'll talk about liquidity pools next time.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a dApp? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 24 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 29, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we explain dApps (“d-a-p-p-s”), short for decentralized apps.

Unlike traditional apps that run on your smartphone or a web server somewhere, decentralized apps run on the networks that power blockchains. They are decentralized, because each of these networks can have many so-called nodes, which are computers running these dapps. Remove one of them, and the blockchain with its dapps is still fully functional.

But what exactly does a dapp do? It’s just a small computer program, often called smart contract, that executes in the background on these nodes when a transaction happens. Say, for example, you send someone Ethereum. The Ether dApp will run, check your wallet balance, remove the amount, and add it to the receiving wallet balance.

But the clever thing is that these dapps can do anything you can program a computer to do. Say you want 5% of that transaction to go to charity, you would program your smart contract to do that. Or you want an NFT to only be able to sell once? Same thing.

And that’s how a single blockchain like Ethereum can power so many different tokens - they are all just dapps, implementing many different ideas.

And next time we talk about swapping – how it’s possible to exchange one token for another and where to do it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a blockchain? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 23 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 28, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, we’ll explain what blockchains are.

Blockchains are the underlying concept of all cryptocurrencies and tokens. It’s actually as easy to understand as it is useful: Think of a blockchain as an electronic book that records every transaction that ever happened in chronological order, without ever missing one.

Now, each page in that book is called a block, and each block contains several transactions. That is because it is more efficient for computers to crunch multiple transactions in a block rather than one at a time.

So there you have it - a chain of blocks, or pages in a public book, are what makes a blockchain.

And that concept is very useful: An up-to-date copy of a blockchain is saved on millions of computers, that’s why we call blockchains decentralized. It can’t be deleted, and is openly accessible to everyone to see the entire history of transactions. In fact, you can still look up the very first time Bitcoin changed hands.

And next time we’ll talk about what dApps are.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What’s the difference between crypto and credit card payments? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 22 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 27, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

You’ve probably asked yourself - now that you understand crypto, how does “old school” credit card money actually work differently?

Let’s look behind the scenes of credit card payments. When you swipe your card buying something, your card info gets transmitted to the “network” - for example VISA - which in turn communicates with your issuing bank to check that you have money. This happens on closed channels only they have access to. When the payment processes, everyone in that chain takes a fee - usually close to 3%, and the merchant has to pay for that. Credit card companies can charge that, because they have no competition. And they can change their terms whenever they want to: Higher annual fees, or more interest - it’s outside of your control.

You see: While crypto has the potential to remove the middle man, save everyone a bunch of high fees, and create a fair system where you set the rules, Credit Cards - at least in many developed countries are still often the better or easier alternative because they are accepted everywhere and can process thousands of transactions per second, something most blockchains still struggle with.

But that’s also why we are building cryptohunt.it - to help everyone understand crypto, and for crypto to become mainstream.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The Pros and Cons of “Proof of work” and “Proof of Stake” - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 21 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 26, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today we talk about the pros and cons of ““Proof of work” and “Proof of Stake”

There are a few things that you’d want from a payment method and amongst them are quick processing, and low transaction costs.

Imagine buying a coffee on your break and the line is out the door, because everybody has to wait at the counter for 5 minutes before their credit card transaction goes through. And when it goes through, you end up paying 60 dollars in processing fees for a 3 dollar coffee.

The disadvantage of “proof of work” is exactly that. The network is less likely to handle lots of transactions at the same time, because those math puzzles require time and energy to solve. Currently, Bitcoin can only process 7 transactions per second for example, and likewise paying 50 dollars for one on Ethereum isn’t unusual.

“Proof of work” solves that. No puzzles to solve means just crunching transactions, and computers are really good at that because it is so simple. The only downside here is that you won’t be able to mine coins – meaning validate in this case – if you don’t have a substantial amount in your holding already.

And next time, we’ll talk about these differences between paying with crypto and your good old Credit Card.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is “Proof Of Stake”? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 20 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 25, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Last time, we explained how time-consuming puzzles are one way to solve the problem of cheating on the blockchain. That was called “proof of work”.

Today, we talk about “Proof of stake”, the other way that crypto technologies solve fraud.

Remember: Multiple computers on a blockchain validate one transaction, and if they agree, the transaction gets approved. But that also means: in theory, it would be easy to spin up thousands of fake validators and take over a network.

So how DO you make sure you trust the computers in the network? With “proof of stake” that simply happens by trusting those who actually own a lot of the token itself.

That’s like trusting a veterinarian who has 5 dogs, and not trusting another who doesn’t have any.

This makes cheating very expensive, because you’d have to hold a large portion of tokens to do so. And even if you try, other validators still have to agree with your results of the transaction, making it almost impossible for you to trick the system because they will see that your numbers are different. And to deter you even more, in many blockchains, you may lose some of your tokens if you produce wrong results.

And next time, we talk about the pros and cons of “Proof of work” and “proof of stake”.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is “Proof Of Work”? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 19 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 22, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today we explain how “Proof of Work” works.

First, remember that cryptocurrencies validate transactions by checking each transaction with multiple decentralized computers. And if enough of those all come to the same conclusion, they move on to the next transaction.

This is like asking a room filled with accountants to check your credit card statements. If they all have the same final balance, you trust the result.

But there is one problem - because things are decentralized, anyone can mine a blockchain, or become an accountant. Say I send a bunch of friends into your room and tell them all to cheat on the numbers, then you wouldn’t know which result to trust.

Proof of Work reduces the incentive to do that. Here, the accountants all have to solve the same math puzzle and the quickest of them gets to work on my credit card statements and collect a reward for doing so. But if someone cheated, the results wouldn’t add up, they would have wasted a lot of time on the puzzle, and everybody has to start over without getting a reward. What was a simple cheat before, now becomes so time consuming that I can’t convince my friends to help.

And that’s how proof of work also works in cryptocurrencies, only that the accountants are computers, the puzzle is an algorithm, and the statements are transactions.

And next time, we’ll talk about “Proof of Stake” in more detail, which is the alternative to “proof of work”.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How crypto wallets work and which one is best for you - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 18 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 21, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: How crypto wallets work and which one is best for you.

Although they are called wallets, crypto wallets are more like your bank account. And like that bank account, they allow you to accept transactions from anyone using the same blockchain, meaning you will need a different wallet for Bitcoin than Ethereum and so on.

Let’s understand what these wallets actually do: They are essentially nothing more than what is called a public address and a private key. Think of those as the same as your account number, and your online banking password: People can send money to your address or account number without your permission, but in order for funds to leave your account, you’ll need your private key or password.

Ever heard of those people who lost Bitcoins worth a fortune? You guessed it: They lost their wallet, and in it their private key.

So how do you choose a wallet you can’t lose? There are many options.

You could simply print out your address and private key and put it into a safe location - that’s called a paper wallet, but isn’t very practical for most people and the information is easy to steal if you leave it out in the open.

A variation of the paper wallet is a hardware wallet: A little USB device that saves those keys, but can be locked with a password or fingerprint. But you have to carry that with you wherever you want to use it.

Another option is a little program, such as Metamask, that works directly in your browser. It’s a good middle-ground: Operated by you, but on your computer and ready to use when you need it.

And lastly, the most popular wallet is the online wallet, often provided by an exchange. They will create and operate your wallet on their servers. That’s very convenient, but the risk is that they can get hacked, or even just take your money and run.

And now you know more about wallets: Just make sure you don’t lose them!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The dark (climate) side of crypto - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 17 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 21, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: Crypto’s impact on climate change.

Blockchain technologies – to the enthusiasts, they promise endless financial freedom and the ability to finally take part in the web economy. But does all that come at the expense of our environment?

Yes, for some blockchains, it really does. Bitcoin is probably the largest offender. Never built with energy efficiency in mind, a single transaction on the largest cryptocurrency uses as much power as 700 thousand Visa card transactions or 55 thousand hours of watching Youtube. And that won’t change, because Bitcoin’s technology is locked in place.

And similarly, an Ethereum transaction is estimated to use a week’s worth of energy for an average US household.

But not all is lost. The problem is that those two examples use “proof of work” - meaning the solving of complex computer problems - as a way to validate transactions. Climate-friendly approaches favor “proof of stake” - meaning that owning a large stake gives validators the power to approve transactions nearly instantly.

Ethereum will actually switch to “proof of stake” in early 2022, likely reducing energy consumption by 99% in the process. Called Ethereum 2, this update is the most important it has ever gone through.

And now you know why crypto can be bad for the planet if done wrong.

And tomorrow, we’ll talk about what a wallet is and how it works.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How to create your own Web 3 product - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 16 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 19, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: Together, we are creating our own fictional Web 3 product

An example teaches more than a thousand words! So – let’s say you decided to create a new social network called BetterBook, and it will be Web 3, decentralized and inclusive. How would that look like?

First, you’ll likely create your own token, which will do two things: It’ll give people an ownership stake in BetterBook, and they also get the right to vote on what you should build or change.

Then you’ll set out to build the initial product and attract a whopping 1000 people in the first few days. Things are going well and you give them tokens for joining early.

Someone in the user community then has the idea to give tokens to everyone who invites new users - clever! They submit their proposal visible for everyone and the token holders can vote to implement it.

A few months later it turns out: That was an amazing idea. BetterBook has millions of users now, all have some sort of ownership in the company, and the token started trading and gaining value. Now users are actually making money by growing the community. People buy BetterBook tokens to become part of setting the direction. Users who don’t agree sell, keeping the power in balance.

And that’s how you would build a Web 3 product - one that works for everyone, not just the company itself and has the potential to outlast Web 2 companies.

And tomorrow: We’ll take a deeper look at the dark side of crypto: Energy Consumption and Environmental Impact.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is the web 3 movement about? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 15 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 18, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: We explain why everyone is excited about Web 3

To understand Web 3, let’s first talk about what got us here: Web 1 and Web 2

Web 1 refers to the early “read-only” web. Sites like Yahoo that served static content to you or businesses like Amazon that moved physical businesses to a web page.

Web 2 was when users like you started interacting with sites, creating content. These were entirely new business concepts, like Facebook.

But there are problems: Companies need to make money for their shareholders and suddenly, you BECOME the product. They own YOUR content, and YOUR data, and can decide what they want to do with it. They have centralized control, even though YOU made them happen.

Web 3 turns that idea on its head: It DEcentralizes ownership and control. Imagine a new kind of Facebook: That project could issue a token instead of shares and users earn it for participating. Also that token gives them the rights to vote on future plans. If things are going well, more people will buy that token, driving the price up. And if they decide it’s going the wrong way, they can just sell, driving the price down.

And because everything is on the blockchain, every decision and vote are public and fully transparent.

We just scratched the surface here, but we hope that gives you a general idea of Web 3 and why people are excited about it.

And tomorrow: We’ll go through an example together for a deeper dive.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why everyone has their own token - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 14 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 15, 2021

014 Why everyone and their grandma have their own token

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: We explain why there are thousands of different coins and tokens.

You have heard of Bitcoin and Ethereum, but there are 8000 others listed on Coinmarketcap alone. Why are they there? Let’s dive into the three reasons.

First – functionality. When Bitcoin couldn’t be changed to do more than just transfer money in a very specific way, Ethereum – the programmable money we created an episode about – came about. And then, building on Ethereum and other networks, many more were created to cater to different use cases.

Second – a token could be used to power a specific community. Imagine a social network that, instead of selling your data to advertisers, rewards you for participating with their own token. It’s like Reddit Karma points, but you can sell them.

Third – greed, scams, and jokes. Sad to say, but look out for those. There is a lot of money in crypto, and that attracts a lot of bad players. Creating a coin is easy, finding a celebrity to hype it too – and often it’s just to make the creator rich.

And now you know why we are building cryptohunt: A place that will help you discover what actual problems projects are solving, and if there are red flags, so you can make up your mind about those 8000 tokens out there.

And tomorrow: We explain the amazing idea behind the Web 3.0 movement.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The most expensive NFTs sold to this date - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 13 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 14, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: Let’s look at some examples of NFTs that sold for millions and speculate why.

One to make mainstream media news was a digital collage called “Everydays: the First 5000 Days”. Interestingly sold by old-school auction house Christie’s, this piece by digital artist Beeple went for almost 70 million dollars. Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, has since sold a few more NFTs for millions each. He is a well known artist and star in the NFT world, and thus his pieces have become highly collectible. Beeple is bullish on NFTs. He believes artwork will be consumed entirely on screens and NFTs are ideally suited for that.

Now a completely different example: Charity auctions. Edward Snowden’s “Stay Free” sold for about $5.5 million. It is an image showing the text of a court decision ruling that the NSA's mass surveillance violated the law. So what makes that artwork so valuable? People’s willingness to give to a charitable cause. Whistleblower Snowden didn’t pocket the money himself, but gave it to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which he is the president.

And - yes, we’ve talked about them before - we can’t end without mentioning those cryptopunks again. With current offers reaching over a 100 million dollars on some, they are one of the most prolific NFT collections ever, attracting speculators who can afford them. Listen to our previous podcast for more details on those.

We hope those examples illustrate a few reasons that NFTs change hands for a lot of money.

And tomorrow we talk about why there are so many different cryptocurrencies and tokens out there instead of just one or two.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Are NFTs actually useful for artists? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 12 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 13, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: Are NFTs just good for speculation, or are they a new way of helping artists?

Last time we discussed how NFTs get so valuable, but we didn’t talk about their real world use. Clearly, you’ve asked yourself: Does this actually solve any problems for artists?

Yes it does! Let’s dive in!

First, selling artwork as NFTs opens up a whole new market for artists who were traditionally constrained to selling locally - through galleries for example, which can also want a big commission. With NFTs, artists can theoretically reach the entire world through websites like OpenSea.

Second, some NFTs also allow artists to make a commission every time their artwork changes hands. Imagine you create a painting, sell it as an NFT for a few bucks, but it takes off - like those cryptopunks. With physical art, you’d never see any money after the initial sale. With NFTs, you could.

Third, NFTs allow artists to sell rights to the same artwork more than once. It’s like Picasso using print techniques to create a series of the same painting – it allows for more people to own and enjoy the same piece, and potentially more revenue for the artist.

And tomorrow we’ll wrap our series on NFTs with a look into the most unique, valuable, and bizarre NFTs that exist out there.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What makes NFTs so valuable? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 11 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 12, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: Why people are spending millions of real dollars on NFTs.

Last episode, we discussed what NFTs are and how they differ from cryptocurrencies. But like us, you have probably also wondered: Why do people spend all that money on them? Let’s dive into the two main reasons: Uniqueness and speculation.

You might have heard of the so-called cryptopunks. They are 10,000 NFTs of the same series of artwork: A pixelated illustration of a person’s head. But while they all share common traits (for example a picture background or hair), the style of that trait can be unique. Orange hair, called “crazy hair” for example, is only worn by 414 of the 10,000. Combine that with the green “Zombie” face, which only exists 88 times, and suddenly that specific cryptopunk is really unique among the others.

It’s just like art in real life. People adjust their price accordingly, comparing NFTs, and giving more unique ones a higher valuation.

But why did someone just offer a staggering amount of 111 million dollars for an alien-headed cryptopunk they can’t do anything special with? Blame speculation. See, that same cryptopunk was sold for $7.5m in March and has since received offers up to 126m. Whoever offers this much money simply hopes to ride the wave and sell even higher.

Cryptopunks are extreme examples of this market, but they show you nicely how NFTs get their value.

And next time: How NFTs can actually be useful for artists.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a NFT? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 10 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 11, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: An easy explanation of NFTs.

To explain NFTs, let’s first remember how cryptocurrencies work: Every Bitcoin has the same value and utility: Meaning I can give you one of my Bitcoins, you give me one of yours in return, and we’d still have the same value. They are completely exchangeable by design. Another word for that is fungible.

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are the opposite. They represent a group of assets that are not all the same. In fact, they are all different and one isn’t just like the other. Let’s take two digital images for example - both unique. They could be traded as an NFT. And just like with Bitcoin, the blockchain would record transfers to verify ownership.

So the difference between cryptocurrencies and NFTs is quite simple: While both can be traded on the blockchain, one represents an exchangeable value like a dollar bill, the other something that is uniquely valuable, like a collectible coin that is valued by its own rareness and unique condition.

If you want an NFT, consider signing up at www.cryptohunt.it where you can win one of 100 when we launch.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

What is a stable coin? - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 9 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 11, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: How crypto becomes usable with stable coins

The biggest problem with making cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin usable as payment methods is that their price fluctuates heavily. Imagine you feel like eating a steak, there is just enough Bitcoin in your wallet, but you fall asleep on the couch. The day after, you walk into the restaurant and all you can get for your bitcoin is a cup of soup.

That’s why stable crypto coins were invented. They are stable relative to a real-world currency. Celo USD is a great example: 1 Celo USD is always very, very close to 1 actual dollar. That means your steak would always have a stable price.

Stable coins actually exist for many currencies and are actively used as payment methods. Celo USD for example allows merchants in sub-saharan Africa to accept payments from anyone, without either party having to have a bank account, which is hard to get.

And on Monday we talk about another blockchain asset type, that is very popular: NFTs.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How to get free Lizard coins into your Metamask - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 8 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 07, 2021

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: Put some Lizard Coin into your Metamask for free

Now that you have Metamask installed, it’s time to learn how to accept Altcoins and hold them there. We created Lizard Coin for fun, which has no monetary value but makes for a really good example to teach you the ropes.

It’s important you understand two concepts: The “network” vs “token” or “asset”. Metamask can be configured to support a large variety of both.

Network refers to the blockchain a specific token is based on. You have likely heard of Ethereum - it has its own network and many tokens build on top of that.

Tokens are that asset on top of the network. For example, Lizard Coin is a token operating on the Avalance network. So you need to add the network to Metamask first, then the token.

Go to Twitter.com/lizard_coin - the first tweet has detailed instructions. Don’t worry if they look technical right now, once you’ve mastered those, you are ready for anything.

And don’t forget to DM our lizard coin twitter with your wallet address so we can give you those sweet coins for free.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why you should know Metamask - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 7 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 06, 2021

CLICK HERE to learn more about crypto wallets through a FREE course by cryptohunt.it!

007 Why you should know Metamask

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today: How you can hold most Tokens in a single wallet and much more

Metamask is a browser extension and mobile app that acts as a wallet for Tokens that are based on Ethereum or compatible protocols. In plain English, that means you can accept, hold, and send almost everything in it.

But what’s even cooler? Many websites, for example Uniswap, directly integrate with it, so as soon as you want to, say, swap a Token, a dialog pops up to connect Metamask. No need to deal with weird addresses.

Set it by going to metamask.io and following the instructions. Make sure you print out your recovery phrase and put it in a safe place - don’t be one of those people who lost their crypto passwords.

If you want to add an altcoin, simply Google its name and metamask and you’ll likely find easy descriptions of how to add support.

Then you could send yourself tokens from your Coinbase account for example, so the wallet is funded. And then the crypto world is your oyster!

And next time we’ll fund your Metamask with some of our own free Lizard Coin, so you learn the basics.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Why you cannot counterfeit Bitcoin - Crypto in Plain English – Episode 6 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 05, 2021

Counterfeit currency has been around for as long as we’ve had money. The Secret Service was famously created to investigate paper money forgery. But with blockchains like Bitcoin, that is no longer necessary. So why is that?

The key is that blockchains validate every transaction in a decentralized way. Every time you send someone else some Bitcoin, they check what your balance was before and what it should be after, and do the same for your recipient. Think of a stadium full of accountants, all checking the same transactions, and only if they are all in agreement on the outcome, it will be marked verified and added to the transaction history of the entire blockchain.

And that’s why it’s impossible to just make up fake account balances and send money you don’t have - your entire history lives on the blockchain and every accountant will see it, validate it, and make sure they are in consensus.

You just learned one of the most important things that make the blockchain a blockchain….

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Ethereum and why everyone talks about it. Crypto in Plain English – Episode 5 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 04, 2021

CLICK HERE to learn more about Ethereum through a FREE course by cryptohunt!
Today: Why the world can’t stop talking about Ethereum

Ethereum has recently passed Bitcoin in transaction volume, and that is no surprise to many - it enables a much wider range of uses. But how?

It’s easiest to compare it to Bitcoin. Both are blockchain technologies, but Bitcoin has just one use: A currency you can use to send Bitcoin between wallets. Which is huge in itself, but that’s it.

Ethereum on the other hand is “programmable money”. Insiders call what’s built on top of it dApps - “dee a pee pee as”. What that means is that people can create any type of crypto contract on it, as they can set the terms of how transactions work. Want to make a currency that sends 5% of all transactions to charity? Want to sell the rights to your artwork as an NFT? Want to create an insurance product? All possible.

And that’s why Ethereum is getting all the rage, because it has the potential to disrupt the entire financial system without anyone having central control over the awesome things people will do with it.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

How do I buy altcoins? Crypto in Plain English – Episode 4 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 01, 2021

Today: A guide to buying that obscure altcoin everybody goes crazy about.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Last time we talked about altcoins. Buying those is not always easy, but can be very rewarding. But before we dive in: This is not investment advice and you need to do your own research.

The trick is swapping between tokens. A common method is to buy a well established token on a large exchange with cash, say Ethereum on Coinbase. Then you use a swapping site like uniswap to exchange that into a coin you are interested in.

You also need to make sure you can hold that coin somewhere, a place called a wallet. One of those wallets is called Metamask and is gaining a lot of popularity recently because it supports a wide array of altcoins.

Lastly, make sure you understand that some blockchains like Ethereum have high transaction fees - so you could easily lose $20 just by swapping things. As you start to experiment more, you’ll find the so-called swapping “pairs” that are cheapest.

And next time: We’ll dive much deeper into Metamask.

What is an Altcoin? Crypto in Plain English – Episode 3 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 01, 2021

CLICK HERE to learn more about altcoins through a FREE course by cryptohunt.it!

Today: What is an Altcoin?

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Altcoins are strictly speaking any coin or token other than Bitcoin. Let’s expand that definition to be more useful though: Altcoins are simply the lesser known coins and tokens.

Some of these are already traded on exchanges like Coinbase, so buying them is as simple as creating an account, connecting your bank, and clicking a button. One such example would be Celo Gold, which is already one of the largest tokens out there, but some may still consider it an altcoin.

But others are much harder to get your hands on. Currently, there are about 7000 of them listed on Coinmarketcap that are traded or swapped somewhere. Some of these have meteoric rises in prices in their early days, but only 100 of them are listed on Coinbase today, so many investors ask themselves: How do I get in on that?

And now that you know what altcoins are, next time we are going to talk about exactly that: how do I buy altcoins?

What is mining? Crypto in Plain English – Episode 2 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 01, 2021

CLICK HERE to take the free course "Why bitcoin is REALLY BAD for the environment" from cryptohunt.it!

Today: Mining and why people do it

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

When you mine actual Gold you have to use very complicated and expensive tools and it becomes progressively harder to get more because you exhaust your source. Similar to Gold, Bitcoins also need to be mined, but with very high powered computers that are specialized in solving complicated math problems.

Today, it takes about 86k kWh to produce one bitcoin which is roughly 8x the amount of energy a single family home in the US consumes per year and while these computers are fast, it takes one computer 3 years of calculation for one bitcoin.

That is why the space got very sophisticated with huge bitcoin farms where many computers work in parallel. Energy and hardware cost together result in about $20k per bitcoin - plus miners currently receive 6.25 bitcoins for every new bitcoin mined as a reward.

That’s why at the current bitcoin value of $42k it is still a very profitable business.

And tomorrow we learn what an Altcoin is.

What is Bitcoin? Crypto in Plain English – Episode 1 - by cryptohunt.it Oct 01, 2021

"Why was crypto invented?" Take the FREE, beginner-friendly lesson from cryptohunt! CLICK HERE to get started!

cryptohunt presents "Crypto in Plain English". Today: Bitcoin.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

The first and today's most valuable cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, launched in 2009. Right after the economic recession it was initially created by an anonymous figure or group called Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 but no one knows its real identity. The initial idea was to create a cash alternative to pay each other with digital money without the need for a bank. From day one the supply was set to be a finite number of 21 million bitcoins. Because of that scarcity it is often compared to gold. Bitcoin attracted the crypto-curious investor as a store of value and because its digital nature it can only be stored digitally.

Bitcoin is volatile and the idea to use it as cash failed. Similar to gold, people buy Bitcoin “not because they expect to be able to go to the store and spend it, but because they expect it to hold its value".

Tomorrow we learn how bitcoins are created.

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