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Copyright: © Richard Jacobs
There are several ways of acquiring cryptocurrency. One way is to buy it, though with recent price fluctuations, this may be difficult for some. The other way to mine it. Though this is less expensive option for acquiring crypto, many people don't have room for the hot, noisy equipment that it takes. The solution? Giga-watt. Giga-watt offers a simple process for mining your own crypto. First, visit their website to purchase at least 1 miner from a reputable supplier, and it will be shipped to their specialized facility in Wenatchee, Washington. Giga-watt sets up the equipment, configures the crypto you want to mine (bitcoin, Ethereum, or lite-coin) and assigns you a dashboard. Now, watch as your crypto comes rolling in. You only pay for the power that you use, and many people see a return on investment in under 9 months. If you ever want to visit your personal miner, they offer an open house every 2 weeks. In the future they hope to add more cryptocurrency, the ability to switch miners between currencies, and leverage their unique power structure to positively impact supercomputing. To learn more, or to get started mining your own cryptocurrency, visit www.giga-watt.com.
Crypto token exchanges are still centralized markets – decentralization has not yet come to exchanges. Each user must send their tokens to an exchange, and then withdraw their new crypto back into their own wallets. This creates a vulnerable point for outsiders to attack, and users have to rely on this centralized authority to allow them to access their crypto after an exchange has been made. Ark Project believes that simpler is better. Their goal is to allow different blockchains to communicate directly with each other, without having to go through a centralized authority. This keeps transactions simpler, so that there is less opportunity for something to go wrong, and even lowers transaction costs. However, this technology isn't just for cryptocurrency. Ark Project sees their platform being used in smart home features, car-sharing, Airbnb, or any other organization that matches providers with users.
Currently, in order to distribute your original digital content, creators have to give large amounts of their profits to the website that hosts them–YouTube alone takes 45% of the revenue from digital content. The solution? A YouTube without Google. LBRY is a decentralized, open-source protocol that facilitates the discovery, distribution, and purchase of digital content, where 100% of the revenue goes back to content creators. In less than a year since it was founded, LBRY has thousands of creators, and hundreds of thousands of users, and are working to create a user-driven community with content from Hollywood movies to PDFs, and everything in between. Tokens allow users to purchase content, and creators to reserve space in the content catalog. For more information or to get involved, visit lbry.io.
In May 2016, then-Governor of Delaware Jack Markell proposed the Delaware Blockchain Initiative, in order to make Delaware a more welcoming place for blockchain businesses of all types. This legislation, which amends Delaware's general corporation law, has just been signed into law by Governor John Carney, Jr. It provides for a descriptive approach to blockchain technology legislation, rather than a proscriptive approach, and creates a state blockchain ombudsperson to help welcome blockchain businesses to the state. Many corporations are taking note of this new law, and changes to government efficiency, public ledgers, and federal regulations, and more interest and collaboration from other states and jurisdictions may be possible in the future.
With so many other tokens in the cryptocurrency space, why is there such a buzz surrounding the recent Bitcoin Cash hard fork? A high-energy climate seemed to immediately surround it, but why? David Johnston from Factom believes it has to do with the existence of three distinct communities: "First, there are those that absolutely are ardently opposed to SegWit. For whatever reason, they believe it's different from the original vision of Bitcoin….and then you've got a community that's very dedicated to avoiding hard forks and taking what they see as risky behavior, and I would say that's the Bitcoin Core folks. But there's another community that people don't talk about, and I believe when Eric Voorhees says this is the silent majority." Johnston argues that this silent majority favorably views both SegWit and bigger blocks, making them less "emotionally or ideologically consumed with one particular solution being the be-all and end-all." However, not everyone agrees. Johnston is joined by fellow Factom associates Brian Deery and Paul Snow for a lively and in-depth discussion on this topic and many more. Deery, Johnston and Snow also discuss: The effect of the split between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, and what it might indicate about the split between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash The prospect of North Korea or Russia mining Bitcoin for hard cash, and the problems that could ensue The distinction and significance of two fundamentally different definitions of Bitcoin Speculation on how Bitcoin's hash rate will be allocated (if 95% of the hash power doesn't go with Bitcoin Core, will mining power be lost?)
For ten years, Ben Joakim worked in the international development sector. During that time, he saw recurring international transactional inefficiencies accompanied by unnecessary banking fees, and complications arising from poor exchange rates and currency fluctuation. It seemed that international transactions were unavoidably subject to long transactional chains with no transparency. But in a developmental humanitarian context, "Transparency is really important, and without it, we know that a significant proportion of funds are lost either to mismanagement, misuse or fraud and corruption," says Joakim. Knowing this, how can individuals or institutions ensure that their donations are going where they are supposed to go? In essence, they can't, which may help to explain the current decline in public donations within the international development and humanitarian sector. So, what's the solution? Joakim believes it's Disberse: "A fund management platform that drives the transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of development and humanitarian finance." Press play to hear the details. Joakim also discusses: How exactly Disberse allows for transparency and efficiency in foreign aid transactions The drawbacks and potential dangers of complete public transparency, and how Disberse can mitigate these dangers by controlling who has access to the blockchain on which the transactions occur The core business model of Disberse How Disberse's token negates any potential issues involving volatility
Conor Liston, Asst Professor at Cornell and head of the Liston Laboratory, discusses how targeted treatments for mental illnesses are possible, why they are necessary, and the future of these treatments. Currently, mental illnesses are diagnosed through the use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM. Unfortunately, many diagnoses rely on self-reported symptoms by patients–and because symptoms can be subjective to each patients, ultimately these may not lead to the most accurate diagnoses. Conor Liston, and his team at the Liston Laboratory, believe that by using brain scans, we can not only more accurately diagnose mental illnesses, but ultimately predict which treatments a person will most likely respond to. Already, their research has uncovered some fascinating discoveries about mental illnesses, in particular depression, and paves the way for new advances in treatment.
Jessica VerSteeg, CEO of Paragon and ParagonCoin, discusses how blockchain and crypto-currency can positively impact the legal cannabis industry. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. For Jessica VerSteeg, necessity first came in relation to AuBox, her monthly cannabis subscription box available in San Francisco. She needed a way to provide efficiency, transparency, and trust in the cannabis industry for her customers, while also maintaining compliance with government regulations. Already a believer in blockchain and crypto-currency, she created her own offline ecosystem that can verify patient's medical marijuana cards, and provide verification of ingredients in edibles and other products she sells, and much more. Though government regulations currently only allow medical marijuana to be purchased with cash, the ecosystem also has the functionality to use crypto-currency as a payment method. While the cannabis industry waits for these regulations to change, she has created an online community for the cannabis industry and cannabis users to work towards their goals.
"Really, our tagline is connected industry growth partners," says Ed Maguire. Maguire is principal partner at Momenta Partners, a VC firm focused on cultivating connected industry: the industrial Internet of Things market. Like any VC firm, Momenta identifies promising companies and invests in their growth—in Momenta's case, from C to A level funding. More than anything else, as a firm, Momenta is focused on solving business and technology problems. Take Rev2 for example. Rev2 is a startup developing an approach to using A.I. to automate tier 1 and tier 2 support. The whole point is to get to the core operational data of industrial machines. To learn more about Momenta, hit play. Subscribe, review, and if you can, consider donating some Bitcoin to the podcast. Every little bit helps.
"The strategy of NextBlock is to give our investors exposure to this ecosystem that we believe is the next version of the internet," says Charles Morris, speaking as the Chief Investment Officer and Co-founder of NextBlock Global. The ecosystem that Morris refers to is that of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, and the next version of the internet, he says, is the "internet of value." NextBlock Global not only invests in current cryptocurrencies, but also in new teams and projects, both pre and post-ICO. With particularly strong global connections at their disposal, NextBlock Global is well-positioned at the forefront of global expansion and the development of regional blockchains. Morris sees three potential futures for blockchain platforms, and by planning for each, NextBlock Global is already ahead of the game. Tune in to hear the details, as well as Morris' insight on a variety of related topics. Morris discusses: The ways in which the accessibility of cryptocurrency-based investment opportunities can be increased for the ordinary investor The potential (if not imminent) convergence between the "blockchain world" and the real world His thoughts on public awareness of Bitcoin, Ethereum and blockchain technology, including what he believes will represent a turning point in the industry
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