Everything web3, crypto, defi, degen
Guest blog by Nathaniel Whittemore (NLW)NLW is the host of Coindesk’s The Breakdown – the fastest-growing podcast in crypto. Whittemore has been a VC with Learn Capital and was on the founding team of Change.org The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views…
IRS tax season is officially open in the United States. April 15, 2024 is the deadline for crypto holders to report their 2023 transactions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The 2023 tax year includes any activity between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. Late filings, failure to pay taxes owed and crypto tax…
So as Sam Bankman-Fried stands trial for wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations, let’s remember one thing above all else: crypto itself is not on trial. Bitcoin is a technological fortress built to endure, and no amount of speculative narratives or individual fallibility could ever change that. After FTX’s…
Representing real-world assets on the Bitcoin blockchain is nothing new. Over a decade ago, projects like the Colored Coin protocol and Counterparty exchange proved Bitcoin could track items, not just units of currency, in a decentralized way. However, consensus issues prevented either project from gaining widespread adoption in the market. Ethereum quickly took over as…
A blockchain consensus mechanism is a type of automated system that aims to accomplish two objectives: Provide a distributed, leaderless way to unanimously agree on data stored on a blockchain ledger. Make sure all network validators follow the rules of the protocol and perform their roles honestly. While it may be tempting to trust a…
In 2008, an anonymous researcher (or team of researchers) called Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-page research paper entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” The document, known as the Bitcoin white paper, presented a new type of digital currency that users could use to transact without relying on financial intermediaries. Soon, people around the world discovered that blockchain…
Bitcoin is an invention that, for the first time in history, enabled a group of software users to create and manage a digital money supply outside the control of any government or bank. It helps to think of Bitcoin as a software protocol like those you interact with everyday – think SMTP (which helps route…
On January 3, 2009, the anonymous creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, launched the Genesis Block – the first block in the Bitcoin Blockchain. The event at the time wasn’t celebrated – it was arguably considered a blip in the long history of cryptography and digital currency – but today we know the Genesis Block was…
If you’ve ever tried to explain cryptocurrency to your relatives, you might have found it can be as difficult as trying to teach rocket science to a toddler. Most folks react with skepticism, ridicule or scorn when you try to explain the utility of decentralized digital currencies that have limited supplies and aren’t controlled by…
Bitcoin’s appetite for energy needs little discussion. For years it’s been a top-of-mind topic for regulators, a major concern among critics, and a frequently misreported feature of the protocol. The specific point of contention lies with bitcoin mining — a resource-intensive, cryptography-based competition that repeats approximately every ten minutes. Each winner is rewarded with transaction…
