Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash predicted the Metaverse in 1992. This cult book has the amusingly-named Hiro Protagonist running around in an artificial cyber world, trying to stop a virus that wipes minds, aided by his hacker friend Y.T. Reality is a place to escape from, a neoliberal future wrecked by hyperinflation and […]
Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash predicted the Metaverse in 1992. This cult book has the amusingly-named Hiro Protagonist running around in an artificial cyber world, trying to stop a virus that wipes minds, aided by his hacker friend Y.T. Reality is a place to escape from, a neoliberal future wrecked by hyperinflation and inequality and run by corporations and gangsters and insane bureaucracy.
In many ways, the book is horribly prescient. (It’s also horribly written in places, more like an info dump than a novel.) The Metaverse was a place where people had digital avatars, where they hung out with friends, went shopping and attended concerts. It was full of ads, the infrastructure was owned by a billionaire, and a virus was wreaking havoc on society. It all sounds familiar.
It wasn’t COVID-19 of course. The Snow Crash virus caused the infected to lose the ability to think for themselves, and they start speaking in tongues.
“Obviously, at the time, we didn’t have social media,” Stephenson told The Washington Post, but added, “I was writing about just a long-standing human trait, which is this tendency for the mind to get hijacked by ideas.”
The metaverse can’t enslave you, yet, but the addictive nature of social media suggests it’s possible you might get hooked on a better virtual world, where your hotter-looking avatar interacts with people from all over the planet and has adventures that are not possible in reality.
Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash predicted the Metaverse in 1992. This cult book has the amusingly-named Hiro Protagonist running around in an artificial cyber world, trying to stop a virus that wipes minds, aided by his hacker friend Y.T. Reality is a place to escape from, a neoliberal future wrecked by hyperinflation and inequality and run by corporations and gangsters and insane bureaucracy.
In many ways, the book is horribly prescient. (It’s also horribly written in places, more like an info dump than a novel.) The Metaverse was a place where people had digital avatars, where they hung out with friends, went shopping and attended concerts. It was full of ads, the infrastructure was owned by a billionaire, and a virus was wreaking havoc on society. It all sounds familiar.
It wasn’t COVID-19 of course. The Snow Crash virus caused the infected to lose the ability to think for themselves, and they start speaking in tongues.
“Obviously, at the time, we didn’t have social media,” Stephenson told The Washington Post, but added, “I was writing about just a long-standing human trait, which is this tendency for the mind to get hijacked by ideas.”
The metaverse can’t enslave you, yet, but the addictive nature of social media suggests it’s possible you might get hooked on a better virtual world, where your hotter-looking avatar interacts with people from all over the planet and has adventures that are not possible in reality.
Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash predicted the Metaverse in 1992. This cult book has the amusingly-named Hiro Protagonist running around in an artificial cyber world, trying to stop a virus that wipes minds, aided by his hacker friend Y.T. Reality is a place to escape from, a neoliberal future wrecked by hyperinflation and […]
The online community has expressed bewilderment over how China’s crypto ban aligns with the United States’ proclaimed principles of freedom.
Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash predicted the Metaverse in 1992. This cult book has the amusingly-named Hiro Protagonist running around in an artificial cyber world, trying to stop a virus that wipes minds, aided by his hacker friend Y.T. Reality is a place to escape from, a neoliberal future wrecked by hyperinflation and […]
Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash predicted the Metaverse in 1992. This cult book has the amusingly-named Hiro Protagonist running around in an artificial cyber world, trying to stop a virus that wipes minds, aided by his hacker friend Y.T. Reality is a place to escape from, a neoliberal future wrecked by hyperinflation and […]
The online community has expressed bewilderment over how China’s crypto ban aligns with the United States’ proclaimed principles of freedom.
Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash predicted the Metaverse in 1992. This cult book has the amusingly-named Hiro Protagonist running around in an artificial cyber world, trying to stop a virus that wipes minds, aided by his hacker friend Y.T. Reality is a place to escape from, a neoliberal future wrecked by hyperinflation and inequality and run by corporations and gangsters and insane bureaucracy.
In many ways, the book is horribly prescient. (It’s also horribly written in places, more like an info dump than a novel.) The Metaverse was a place where people had digital avatars, where they hung out with friends, went shopping and attended concerts. It was full of ads, the infrastructure was owned by a billionaire, and a virus was wreaking havoc on society. It all sounds familiar.
It wasn’t COVID-19 of course. The Snow Crash virus caused the infected to lose the ability to think for themselves, and they start speaking in tongues.
“Obviously, at the time, we didn’t have social media,” Stephenson told The Washington Post, but added, “I was writing about just a long-standing human trait, which is this tendency for the mind to get hijacked by ideas.”
The metaverse can’t enslave you, yet, but the addictive nature of social media suggests it’s possible you might get hooked on a better virtual world, where your hotter-looking avatar interacts with people from all over the planet and has adventures that are not possible in reality.
Crypto tax-loss harvesting is a strategy used by investors to offset capital gains in their crypto investments by selling losing positions at a loss.
Filing crypto taxes can be complex, especially for those exploring the decentralized finance world. Here’s what to keep in mind.
Filing crypto taxes can be complex, especially for those exploring the decentralized finance world. Here’s what to keep in mind.
Blockchain courses and certifications help individuals understand the underlying principles and applications of blockchain technology.
Stablecoins may have suffered an identity crisis in 2022, but Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino is bullish about the utility the sector provides.
Stablecoins have been under much scrutiny after the implosion of the third-largest stablecoin by market cap, TerraUSD (UST), in May 2022. The UST saga led to a lot of skepticism that caused consumers to question the safety of stablecoins.
In the seventh episode of Hashing It Out, Cointelegraph's Elisha Owusu Akyaw (GhCryptoGuy) interviewed Paolo Ardoino, Tether's chief technology officer, about how stablecoins work alongside a discussion on frequently asked questions about stable tokens.
Fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) rocked the boats of stablecoin issuers after the third most popular stablecoin, TerraUSD, depegged in 2022. Tether was one of such issuers at the receiving end of the FUD. Paolo Ardoino claimed that some of the FUD was being spread privately and publicly by competitors. Nevertheless, the Tether CTO said that the FUD only served to improve trust between consumers and the company.
"I like the FUD so much because we can respond to it with facts."
One such fact was the ability of the company to withstand the pressure that came as a result of panic in the market. Ardoino points out that Tether was able to process $7 billion in redemptions in 48 hours, which was 10% of the company's reserves. According to him, it is an achievement that will be recorded in the history books of global finance.
Reliance Retail has implemented support for the digital rupee in its gourmet store line Freshpik.
The current crypto ban in China is beneficial in the short term, but there are big opportunities that can be missed in the long run, the economist argued.
The economist argued that the current crypto ban in China is beneficial in the short term, but big opportunities can be missed in the long run.
Bitcoin’s bullish surge in January has helped the Nasdaq Crypto Index to register its third-highest monthly gain, with a 38% surge. The cryptocurrency market started the year on a bullish note, defying major bearish market outlooks. Bitcoin (BTC) and a number of altcoins touched new multi-month highs as inflation cooled off.
Nasdaq Crypto Index monthly price chart Source: GoogleNCI recorded its third-biggest monthly gain since its inception in February 2021. The crypto asset index was launched by Brazilian asset manager Hashdex in partnership with the United States stock exchange. The index consists of eight cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink's LINK, and Stellar's Lumen (XLM), among a few others.
BTC has the highest weightage in the index, with 69.8%, followed by ETH (27.08%). The rest of the other altcoins have a weightage of less than 1%. Thus, the subsequent rise of BTC and ETH, which have surged over 35% in the past month, reflected on the index as well. The index weightage refers to the share of stocks invested in a particular digital asset.
Related: Bitcoin bulls must reclaim these 2 levels as 'death cross' still looms
With a prolonged crypto winter throughout 2022, Bitcoin ended the last year at around $16,500 and the majority of the altcoins also tested their yearly lows towards the end of the last year. Many market pundits had warned that the bearish sentiment might continue into the new year owing to the FTX saga folding out on a daily basis. However, the crypto market showed resilience and started the year on a bullish note and registering a market-wide double-digit gain for the past month.
The bullish rise of Bitcoin and other altcoins in January helped the Nasdaq Crypto Index to register its third-highest monthly gain.
