BEST OF THE BEST CNBC: Blockchain technology is set to
transform the U.S. job market, especially the freelance workforce, suggests a piece from CNBC. This is mainly for two reasons: the transparency offered by the tech, and faster payments.
For example, a freelancer that contributes to a project for a client could have his or her specific contribution to the project recorded immutably on the blockchain. This would not only help freelancers verify their skills and experience, but would also give companies an easier way to find the best freelancers for their teams.
Blockchain also enables faster, more reliable payments, the article says, avoiding freelancers either missing out completely or facing delays to their income.
THE REST THINKPROGRESS: A scientific study
published in Nature yesterday that was widely reported in the media has been
heavily criticized in a piece by ThinkProgress.
For one, the study claims that "Bitcoin emissions alone could push global warming above 2°C" within the next 11-22 years. However, the cryptocurrency only uses 0.1 percent of global power as of 2018, according to the article, which spoke to three experts on energy use in IT.
Given how complex it is to analyze bitcoin's use of energy, it is “reckless” to extrapolate the data in the way seen in the paper, said one.
Another said, “we can debunk their analysis pretty handily by pointing to three egregious flaws.” These include the fact that the IT industry is moving away from fossil fuels, and so too is the crypto mining industry. Thirdly, the study is based on “inflated and dubious estimates of future carbon emissions,” according to the piece.
FORBES: In its latest crypto feature, Forbes looks back at 10 major initial coin offerings (ICOs) from 2017 and asks, “
Where did the money go?”
The 10 ICOs examined raised a hefty combined total of $840 million. "Surprisingly," the magazine says, the projects still hold at least the amounts received in their token sales in both fiat and cryptocurrency.
The piece explains that bigger projects like Tezos were largely funded in bitcoin. At the time of that particular sale, bitcoin was worth around half its valuation today. Others, it continues, exchanged their crypto into cash at the peak of the crypto bull market in December 2017, making big profits. Three of the ICOs actually hold more in crypto and cash than they took in their original sales.
That being said, six of the projects have negative returns over the past year, and "one has mysteriously vanished."
