{"id":7576,"date":"2018-06-05T18:04:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-05T18:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=7576"},"modified":"2018-06-06T19:21:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T19:21:19","slug":"news-me-in-york-this-saturday-bitcoin-unpopular-kik-not-so-keen-on-blockchains-sec-vs-titanium-request-and-wikipedia-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/06\/05\/news-me-in-york-this-saturday-bitcoin-unpopular-kik-not-so-keen-on-blockchains-sec-vs-titanium-request-and-wikipedia-update\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Me in York this Saturday, Bitcoin unpopular, Kik not so keen on blockchains, SEC vs Titanium, Request and Wikipedia update"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>I&#8217;m in a panel discussion this Saturday, 9 June, at the York Festival of Ideas: <a href=\"http:\/\/yorkfestivalofideas.com\/2018\/talks\/cryptocurrency\/\">&#8220;Cryptocurrency: Hype or technological revolution?&#8221;<\/a> \u2014 it&#8217;s free, but you&#8217;ll need to register. I&#8217;m also doing one on Monday 2 July at Intelligence Squared <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intelligencesquared.com\/events\/blockchain-quantum-leap-forward-or-digital-snake-oil\/\">&#8220;Blockchain: Quantum leap forward or digital snake oil?&#8221;<\/a> in London \u2014 \u00a330 full or \u00a315 student, tickets still available.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/08\/30\/kiks-ico-for-a-completely-centralised-cryptocurrency-in-a-desperation-move-at-the-venture-capital-drying-up\/\">Kik raised $100m in its ICO.<\/a> The founder now calls blockchain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ccn.com\/months-after-raising-a-100-million-ico-kik-founder-calls-blockchainunconvincing\/\">&#8220;unconvincing&#8221; for non-cryptocurrency uses. <\/a>&#8220;Unless you\u2019re trying to build one of the most-used cryptocurrencies in the world, it\u2019s very low odds that blockchain is going to create value for you.&#8221; Apparently the genius of cryptocurrencies is their &#8220;scarcity,&#8221; because people can&#8217;t just go around, er, starting an ICO to start a private currency, like Kik did.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The SEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/press-release\/2018-94\">shut down Titanium Blockchain,<\/a> and yet again the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sec.gov\/litigation\/complaints\/2018\/comp-pr2018-94.pdf\">complaint<\/a> is pretty much a fill-in-the-blanks template for how to prosecute ICOs going forward. It&#8217;s well worth a read. Did you know that if you do things on the public Ethereum blockchain &#8230; the SEC can see them too?<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>A blatant Ponzi scheme ICO: <a class=\"twitter-timeline-link\" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"https:\/\/xerxescontract.io\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Yq6Xuofi6a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-expanded-url=\"https:\/\/xerxescontract.io\"><span class=\"js-display-url\">xerxescontract.io<\/span><span class=\"tco-ellipsis\"><span class=\"invisible\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/a> is a high-yield investment programme, literally promising 200% annual returns. Where do they get these remarkable sums of money? Vague and nonspecific &#8220;arbitrage&#8221;, which was literally what Pirateat40 claimed for his 2012 Bitcoin Ponzi (see <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/table-of-contents\/\">chapter 4<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/book\/\">the book<\/a>). They have an ICO for initial buy-in. I searched on the names and photos in the white paper and was actually surprised not to find the usual string of prior fraud convictions.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/04\/27\/no-wikipedia-is-not-partnering-with-the-request-network-dont-believe-the-hype\/\">Request Network ICO<\/a> and Wikim\u00e9dia France <a href=\"https:\/\/lists.wikimedia.org\/pipermail\/wikimedia-l\/2018-May\/090360.html\">update:<\/a> &#8220;Since Request Network were so slow and reluctant to change their delusive communication into a fair and clean information, Wikim\u00e9dia France broke the agreement with them. Thus, this partnership is over &#8230; no other cryptocurrency donations project is planned.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/lists.wikimedia.org\/pipermail\/wikimedia-l\/2018-May\/090383.html\">Also,<\/a> &#8220;The French Chapter does not use any crypto money at all right now.&#8221; Request Network has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/RequestNetwork\/comments\/8mxdxh\/clarification_on_wikimedia_france\/\">also posted.<\/a><\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Even CNBC admits the shine is off the Bitcoin bubble \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2018\/06\/04\/google-searches-for-bitcoin-nosedive-75-percent-this-year.html\">searches for &#8220;bitcoin&#8221; are down 75%.<\/a><\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">advertising nocoiners in Times Square to own the nocoiners <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NBFfZqK7TC\">pic.twitter.com\/NBFfZqK7TC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1002782995139452928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Remember that time wall street traders got really defensive about people who didn&#39;t own stocks and started taking out passive aggressive time square adverts calling them &quot;no stockers&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1003002996832329733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An <a href=\"http:\/\/sustainabilityzero.com\/bitcoins-energy-abuse-smells-like-dung-horse-dung\/\">interview with me in Sustainability Zero<\/a> about Bitcoin&#8217;s stupendous power waste.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Interesting Engineering: <a href=\"https:\/\/interestingengineering.com\/why-a-blockchain-powered-world-is-still-a-long-way-away-11-blockchain-experts-on-the-challenges-ahead\">Why a Blockchain-Powered World Is Still a Long Way Away: 11 Blockchain Experts on the Challenges Ahead<\/a> \u2014\u00a0 with section from me (and a great big photo).<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Alphr: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alphr.com\/technology\/1009462\/pessimist-VR-AI-driverless-cars-bitcoin-blockchain\">The pessimist\u2019s guide to the future, from virtual reality to driverless cars<\/a> \u2014 including me on cryptocurrency and blockchains.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Extended quote from me in TechCrunch: <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/06\/02\/not-just-another-decentralized-web-whitepaper\/\">Not just another decentralized web whitepaper?<\/a> about MaidSafe&#8217;s new white paper. Answering this question prompted <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/06\/01\/the-mathcoins-decentralised-cryptocurrency-without-the-blockchain\/\">my post about mathcoins.<\/a> I&#8217;ve had the tweets from aggrieved MaidSafe fans upset at being put in the same box as IOTA, which, to be fair, nobody would want to be.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Blog book reviews: <a href=\"http:\/\/biglychee.com\/?p=19735\">Big Lychee: Recommended Books<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 including a nice word for <em>Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain<\/em><\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Step 1: You have a problem<br \/>Step 2: You introduce a blockchain  to solve problem<br \/>Step 3: You now have an incentives problem, a trust distribution problem, a community management problem, a regulation problem, a speculation problem, an upgrade path problem&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sarah Jamie Lewis (@SarahJamieLewis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SarahJamieLewis\/status\/981000490937757696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">bitcoin stock photos are weird even by stock photo standards. <\/p>\n<p>this is like a weird sequence to summon Great Satoshi to finally unhinge his jaw and devour the world <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bpXhr0lA59\">pic.twitter.com\/bpXhr0lA59<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1003137774839574529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;I want to abolish every function of government, except I want it to remain in existence solely to ban bitcoin.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1003670176687063041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I&#39;m now being assured by various very knowledgable people that blockchain:<br \/>&#8211; is provably secure for all applications; and<br \/>&#8211; is comparable in importance to the discovery of fire.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe we should just vote with fire.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; matt blaze (@mattblaze) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mattblaze\/status\/1002966528659218432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/stephendpalley\/status\/1002917214452887552<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Of course, the REAL explanation for Melania Trump&#39;s disappearance is that SHE is Satoshi Nakamoto, has conned Hubby into starting a trade war to trigger a stampede into Bitcoin, and when it peaks she&#39;s going to cash in her 1M BtC wallet  and become the world&#39;s richest woman.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Charlie Stross (@cstross) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cstross\/status\/1002866113024331776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Returning to feudalism to own the statists <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/watJ5pDY44\">pic.twitter.com\/watJ5pDY44<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1002359437967937537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Satoshi once said to his disciple &quot;Find me a nonce that will make this value hash to zero.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The disciple toiled for a long time. Eventually they returned to Satoshi and presented what they had found.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Fool!&quot;, said Satoshi. &quot;You are the nonce.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The disciple was not enlightened.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Benno (@jeamland) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jeamland\/status\/1002652326824300544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Great Satoshi&#39;s wings retract protectively. The light of his monitor reflects dimly off his large teeth that never stop growing. He sighs deeply as steam rises from his thick bear like pelt and a gnarled claw reaches to tap out his message<\/p>\n<p>&quot;actually, it&#39;s ephebophilia&quot; he begins<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1002425965698535425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plus adventures in blockchain punditry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30,6,611,33,691,610,209,692],"class_list":["post-7576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-kik","tag-links","tag-request-network","tag-sec","tag-titanium","tag-wikimedia-france","tag-wikipedia","tag-xerxes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7576"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7646,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7576\/revisions\/7646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}