Hello friends,
Since readership is light due to the holidays, we can take a break from the usual press releases disguised as news announcements and Cointelegraph paid editorials to bring you my personal flashback on perhaps knowing Satoshi Nakamoto.
In the last few days, Elon musk has hinted that he knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is, something that a lot of tech folks agree with along with a big chunk of the crypto community. Hint: it’s not Craig Wright. I will link to this news below.
Back in the 80s, as a newly minted second lieutenant in the US Army military intelligence branch, I was stationed at Fort Huachuca, home of the US Army intelligence center and school going through my office basic course.
One of my fellow officers going through the course was named Nick Szabo. All my classmates and I held top-secret with SCI clearances from the US government, and as far as I know the highest clearance you can get. Nick was well liked and pretty smart. We nicknamed him “Philby” as a joke because he was of 1st gen Eastern European descent and we jokingly considered all our classmates as potential moles. (The USSR was still around and we still had 2 Germanies)
Nick was a quiet guy, and he resembled the pile character in full metal jacket. There was no inkling that he was a computer science guy but his age and education fits the profile of what we know about the Crypto Nick Szabo. Military Nick is descended from Hungarian immigrants much like crypto Nick. This was 1989 and crypto currencies were still 20 years away. However, we were learning real crypto, as in cryptography and tradecraft. So it’s not far-fetched to think that he may have found his love of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts from his days in the intelligence branch.
I would go on to live most of my adult life in former communist and post communist countries in Asia and Europe before coming back to the US in 2015. I asked one of my former classmates, who had retired from the CIA as chief of counterterrorism, if he thought that our classmate Nick Szabo was the Crypto Nick Szabo. He replied “ I was wondering about that myself.” I thought to myself, “Dude you work for the CIA, couldn’t you have found out?”
So yeah I like to think that back in the day I met Satoshi Nakamoto and I can tell you, he was pretty easy to beat in trivia pursuit.
Elon Musk thinks he knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is
Elon Musk seems to agree with many that hyper-secretive cryptocurrency expert Nick Szabo might be Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of digital currency bitcoin.”
IN THE NEWS
NFTs made the number one rank in 2021 most useless trends
“The beauty, and the humor, of the NFT ecosystem, is that anyone can screenshot or photograph the media you “own,” as one Twitter user pointed out. So is it really yours to keep?”
If you really think about it, the whole concept of collectible NFTs is quite funny. However, utility NFTs are another matter entirely.
Axie Infinity, Ronin blockchain see declining daily transaction volumes, sales
“As per data from Nansen, the daily transaction volume of Axie Infinity, and Ronin blockchain fell. Moreover, Axie NFT’s daily sales declined to mid-July levels. Wu further pointed out that the daily active addresses were less than 300,000, a drop of more than 70% since the peak.”
One thing I have seen in the space is that money making opportunities are fads that rise and fall very quickly so one needs to always keep learning.
GameStop is inviting NFT creators to come onto their platform
The form additionally asks the applicant whether they have created any NFTs in the past and whether they have plans for NFTs to be created in collaboration with GameStop.
I have learned not to trust GameStop because of their aggressive sales tactics and because some of their employees put me on their service agreement contract without asking for consent.
Bored Ape mutant serum fetches $3 million
“On the other hand, the Mega Serum tier gives its users a surprise as to how their Bored Ape will transform, leaving the possibilities endless. Thus, this version of the serum has been sought-after and heftier in price as well.”
If you ever seen what a mutant bored ape looks like, you will agree that they look absolutely Fugly.
The top collectibles of 2021 both physical and NFTs
“Nothing was hotter than NBA highlight NFT digital collectibles from Dapper Labs in the beginning of the year. In February and March, $432 million worth of Top Shot NFT’s transacted.
The final nine months of the year combined? $350 million.
While Top Shot was the initial NFT with all the buzz, it got overtaken by Cryptopunks and Bored Apes…”
I collect Supreme and Obvious Plant collectible crap, so who am I to judge.
How discord, which started out as a crappy game became a social hub for crypto and NFT gatherings
“The platform has more than 150 million active users each month — up from 56 million in 2019 — with nearly 80 percent logging in from outside North America. It has expanded from gamers to music aficionados, students and cryptocurrency enthusiasts.”
For anyone who has experienced the user hostel nature of the discord interface, the fact that it used to be a game gives some insight as to why you feel like it’s an RPG.
What metaverse and NFT projects to look forward to in 2022
“2022 is gearing up to be an even bigger year for these types of projects. While 2021 was about establishing a presence among consumers, 2022 is about building on this. As we enter the oh-so-important year, here are the top metaverse, gaming, and NFT projects to watch”
2022 will be like 2021 but more.
How much of my wealth should I invest in crypto (Fungible and non Fungible)?
“So how much is too much, if you are going to invest? We asked five financial advisors to weigh in on what they’re telling clients”
TLDR all say less than 5%, more like 1-2%.
COOL LINKS
What if you combined the Bored Ape Yacht Club with Cryptopunks? – This project is a derivative of a derivative of a derivatively inspired project
A 2021 Cutie NFT items market overview – Yes I asked the same question, what is the Cutie NFT Blockchain? Now I know.
