If you are wilfully violating securities law, I have some advice: do not put “we are operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange” in a message to another party, and if you absolutely must do so, do not say “bro” at the end. Sadly this advice came too late for Binance and their founder Changpeng Zhao (aka CZ), who were charged with a “variety of securities law violations” by the SEC earlier this week. The SEC also cited the above quote (from a message sent in 2018 by Binance’s Chief Compliance officer)
The same sleight of hands seems to be occurring with AI, though the gap between hype and reality is blindingly obvious at this point.
Long-term discrete applications of AI will provide remarkable value, but the nonsense of 'push-button AI for every job and all societal issues' is beyond ludicrous.
It feels as though SV's sheen has been tarnished by lack of innocation for decades, monopolization, mass layoffs, cryptocurrency evangalizing, and the desperate hype around AI.
Good post. It's high time to draw the curtain on the Wizard of Oz - tech reshuffling and incessant nudging. We should however never ignore the larger stake or the political economy of the latest cycle of crypto/blockchain hypes backed by agorist ideology canticles recited by online bot armies.
Also there's a spillover onto and from other cherished areas, including pop culture-such as the comics world. Somewhat belatedly Comics Journal- published an 1 year old exchange btw Alin Răuțoiu (comic critic) and publisher Tom K. regarding the pitfalls of NFTizing and crypto titillation. An important debate about cryptocurrencies and comics https://twitter.com/Engineeredd/status/1669653309198684163
My oldest interned for a life sciences startup 2 years ago & they “paid” him (& all interns) in an invented cryptocurrency. The funny thing was they could only realize it’s “value” on a foreign exchange but the exchanges wouldn’t allow my then 18 yo kid to register because he couldn’t provide a bill in his name at his address. I told him to think of it (& treat it) as an unpaid internship. It was all a scam from top to bottom.
“They are slower than real currency.” More expensive, too -- much more expensive!
I really don’t understand the appeal of stable coins. If you want something tied to the dollar, you can use ... a dollar? Unless you’re under sanctions or afraid of the US government catching you.
I wonder if part of the reason for the crackdown on cryptocurrencies isn’t to attack the business models (like ransomware) that it makes more efficient.
Cryptogeddon
The same sleight of hands seems to be occurring with AI, though the gap between hype and reality is blindingly obvious at this point.
Long-term discrete applications of AI will provide remarkable value, but the nonsense of 'push-button AI for every job and all societal issues' is beyond ludicrous.
It feels as though SV's sheen has been tarnished by lack of innocation for decades, monopolization, mass layoffs, cryptocurrency evangalizing, and the desperate hype around AI.
The smiling man's secret is... he's always smiling
This is a brilliant article. Just wish you’d dealt the Winkelvosses a death-blow, too
in fairness, Binance actually employs a guy called Alvin Bro. Not clear if that's who the message was addressed to.
Good post. It's high time to draw the curtain on the Wizard of Oz - tech reshuffling and incessant nudging. We should however never ignore the larger stake or the political economy of the latest cycle of crypto/blockchain hypes backed by agorist ideology canticles recited by online bot armies.
Also there's a spillover onto and from other cherished areas, including pop culture-such as the comics world. Somewhat belatedly Comics Journal- published an 1 year old exchange btw Alin Răuțoiu (comic critic) and publisher Tom K. regarding the pitfalls of NFTizing and crypto titillation. An important debate about cryptocurrencies and comics https://twitter.com/Engineeredd/status/1669653309198684163
"Process Crimes" is David Cronenberg's next movie
When will Bitcoin finally die
My oldest interned for a life sciences startup 2 years ago & they “paid” him (& all interns) in an invented cryptocurrency. The funny thing was they could only realize it’s “value” on a foreign exchange but the exchanges wouldn’t allow my then 18 yo kid to register because he couldn’t provide a bill in his name at his address. I told him to think of it (& treat it) as an unpaid internship. It was all a scam from top to bottom.
“They are slower than real currency.” More expensive, too -- much more expensive!
I really don’t understand the appeal of stable coins. If you want something tied to the dollar, you can use ... a dollar? Unless you’re under sanctions or afraid of the US government catching you.
I wonder if part of the reason for the crackdown on cryptocurrencies isn’t to attack the business models (like ransomware) that it makes more efficient.
Co-brothers!
Outstanding piece