Blockchain (Technology)
How ‘Trustless’ Is Bitcoin, Really?
In the same spirit, he wondered what treasures might be submersed in Bitcoin’s data lake. “We literally have a record of every single transaction,” he said. “These are remarkable economic and sociological data sets. Clearly, there’s a lot of information in there, if you can get at it.” Getting at it proved nontrivial. Ms. Blackburn […]
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Cryptocurrencies Melt Down in a ‘Perfect Storm’ of Fear and Panic
Cryptocurrency prices also dropped precipitously. The price of Bitcoin fell as low as $26,000 on Thursday, down 60 percent from its peak in November, before rising somewhat. Since the start of the year, Bitcoin’s price movement has closely mirrored that of the Nasdaq, a benchmark that’s heavily weighted toward technology stocks, suggesting that investors are […]
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Jordan Belfort, Still the Wolf, Likes Crypto Now
To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. MIAMI BEACH — Jordan Belfort was lounging by the pool on a sunny April morning, sipping Red Bull and sharing a cautionary tale. Not the usual one about his imprisonment on 10 counts of securities fraud and […]
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The NFT Has Changed Artists. Has it Changed Art?
And then there’s the even more slippery genre known as “relational art,” whose goal is to cast light on human interactions by triggering new ones. Back in 1992, the Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija crafted the classic example: He began to cook and serve curry to museumgoers, not for the sake of gastronomy — he started […]
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Anonymity in Crypto Raises Alarm
At work, he makes one exception to the secrecy. On calls with clients, he often uses his actual first name to introduce himself, concerned that traditional business executives may be uncomfortable working with someone known simply as Legend. Over the last year, the venture capital firm Paradigm has also hired engineers and researchers who operate […]
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Russia Could Use Cryptocurrency to Mitigate U.S. Sanctions
When the United States barred Americans from doing business with Russian banks, oil and gas developers and other companies in 2014, after the country’s invasion of Crimea, the hit to Russia’s economy was swift and immense. Economists estimated that sanctions imposed by Western nations cost Russia $50 billion a year. Since then, the global market […]
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After Pak and Beeple, What’s Next for NFT Collectors? Art Made With a Paintbrush
Felix Xu started his NFT art collection by purchasing a Chromie Squiggle, generated by an algorithm. Today, Xu, a 29-year-old Chinese tech executive, has more than 3,000 blockchain-based collectibles. But there is a hole burning in his crypto wallet that he would like to fill with real paintings. His budget stretches toward $500,000 and he […]
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It’s Hard to Tell When the Crypto Bubble Will Burst, or If There Is One
Despite their volatile and occasionally inscrutable nature, cryptocurrencies are becoming more widely traded, used and held — El Salvador recently started accepting Bitcoin as legal tender, the Federal Reserve is studying whether to issue its own digital coin, and wealth managers are encouraging clients to explore crypto assets. So how does a new investor make […]
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The Rise of the Crypto Mayors
For now, most crypto-enthused officials are focused on comparatively modest projects. Mark Wheeler, chief information officer for Philadelphia, became fascinated with crypto in 2018 after hearing about an effort in Cook County, Ill., to list property records on a decentralized database. “Improving the quality of property-data management inside city government is like the white whale […]
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