NYT takes a newbie-friendly look at Ethereum’s Merge
#Web3Weekly: Aug. 21–27, 2022
This post is adapted from a recent edition of my newsletter #Web3Weekly. If you’d like to receive it in your inbox every Sunday, subscribe here.
Ethereum’s hotly anticipated network upgrade just got some welcome mainstream attention from the New York Times, which published a handy explainer Friday.
If you’re just learning about web3, the Times article by David Yaffe-Bellany gives a thorough, layman-friendly overview of Ethereum’s pending change to a new method for verifying transactions, dubbed the Merge, and why it matters.
And if you’re not a web3 newbie, I’d argue articles like this are still worth your attention. They do a lot to improve the general public’s awareness of blockchain technologies, and they help dispel the unfortunate perception among many normals that the industry is all about currency scams and short-term speculation.
Say what you will about the Merge, which has certainly generated its share of controversy, especially among miners whose business models are about to be upended. But the intent behind the Merge is clearly to build something of real, lasting value.
It may ultimately fail at that goal, or it may succeed, as with any stab at true innovation. But I believe the attempt is always worth celebrating.
The week’s other notable headlines:
- Crypto, stocks, and other risky assets tumbled after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks Friday at a conference signaled the U.S. central bank will maintain its aggressive anti-inflation stance awhile longer. Bitcoin tumbled 4% to wipe out gains earlier in the week, recently trading around $20,000, near its lowest price since mid-July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,000 points on Friday, off more than 3%, and the Nasdaq Composite suffered its worst daily drop since mid-June.
- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued cease-and-desist letters to five crypto companies, including FTX, telling them to stop making “misleading” claims about the protection they offer for customers’ crypto balances. Unlike conventional bank accounts, crypto accounts are not FDIC-insured.
- Politico reports that the Department of Justice is preparing an antitrust case against Apple, with an eye toward filing suit by the end of the year. The U.S. watchdog is focused on possible anticompetitive behavior by Apple toward app developers and rival hardware makers, according to Politico.
- Open source is beautiful. Uniswap community members voted overwhelmingly to form a new foundation to support open development of the decentralized finance protocol’s software. Separately, my former colleagues at Capsule Social announced they’ve open sourced several components of the software for their decentralized writing platform Blogchain. Additional releases are planned soon covering backend functionality. Congrats!
- An important domain for the Ethereum Name Service is now in limbo because the former Ethereum Foundation employee who registered it with GoDaddy is in prison, unable to renew the address. Virgil Griffith, is serving a 63-month sentence for helping North Koreans use cryptocurrencies to evade U.S. sanctions.
- A recent study of Google search data by CoinGecko found that Nigeria has the most interest in cryptocurrency of any country on Earth. Author Isaiah Jackson hosted a panel discussion for CoinDesk to discuss the African nation’s growing crypto community.
- Nichelle Nichols’ ashes are headed to space. The pioneering Star Trek actress, who played Lieutenant Uhura, died in July at 89. Now her remains are scheduled to travel more than 150 million miles into space on a rocket to be launched later this year by Celestis, a private spaceflight company that works with NASA.
That’s it for now. Thanks for spending some time with #Web3Weekly today! If you would like to receive these updates in your inbox, please subscribe here.
As ever, a quick disclaimer: This content is intended for journalistic purposes only, not as investment advice. For the latter, please DYOR and consult appropriate financial pros to make the most suitable choices for your needs.
Best wishes for a healthy and productive week ahead.
