Bitcoin

June 19, 2022

What the bitcoin price drop reveals about ‘crypto’

One of the definitive downsides of cryptocurrencies raised its head this week when the nosediving price of bitcoin – brought on by the Luna/Terra crash and subsequent cascading effects – rendered bitcoin mining less profitable. One bitcoin today costs $19,410, so it’s hard to imagine this state of affairs has come to pass – but this is… Continue reading

Analysis

Bitcoin, bitcoin price, computing power, cryptocurrency, permissioned blockchain, permissionless blockchain, Ponzi scheme
February 13, 2022

Crypto: Climate change means new tech has less time today to prove itself

I spent this weekend reading about permissioned and permissionless blockchain systems. If you want to get in on it, I can’t recommend this post by David Rosenthal enough. Much of the complexity of executing transactions of the major extant cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether, arises from the need for these systems to ensure they are permissionless from… Continue reading

Analysis, Tech

Big Tech, Bitcoin, blockchain, carbon dioxide concentration, carbon emissions, cryptocurrencies, David Rosenthal, decentralisation, Ethereum, Molly White, non-fungible tokens, proof of work, web2, web3
March 23, 2021

On crypto-art, racism and outcome fantasies

If you want to find mistakes with something, you’ll be able to find them if you tried long enough. That doesn’t inherently make the thing worthless. The only exception I’ve encountered to this truism is the prevailing world-system – which is both fault-ridden and, by virtue of its great size and entrenchment, almost certainly unsalvageable.… Continue reading

Analysis, Op-eds, Tech

art criticism, art patronage, Beeple, Big Tech, Bitcoin, bitcoin mining, blockchain, capitalism, Christie's, consensus algorithms, crypto-art, cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, Everydays, financial transactions, Metakovan, Metapurse, NFT, non-fungible tokens, power consumption, proof of stake, proof of work, racism, settlement finality, Silicon Valley, Sybil attack, The First 5000 Days, Tim Swanson, Twobadour

About Me

I’m a science editor and writer in India, interested in high-energy and condensed-matter physics, research misconduct, pseudoscience, science’s relationship with society, epic fantasy, open source/access/knowledge systems, H.R. Giger’s art, Goundamani’s comedy, Factorio, and most things that require a lot of time to get the hang of.

Root Privileges

Bitcoin

What the bitcoin price drop reveals about ‘crypto’

Crypto: Climate change means new tech has less time today to prove itself

On crypto-art, racism and outcome fantasies

About Me

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