The promise and challenges of crypto + AI applications
Many people over the years have asked me a similar question: what are the intersections between crypto and AI that I consider to be the most fruitful? It's a reasonable question: crypto and AI are the two main deep (software) technology trends of the past decade, and it just feels like there must be some kind of connection between the two. It's easy to come up with synergies at a superficial vibe level: crypto decentralization can balance out AI centralization, AI is opaque and crypto brings transparency, AI needs data and blockchains are good for storing and tracking data. But over the years, when people would ask me to dig a level deeper and talk about specific applications, my response has been a disappointing one: "yeah there's a few things but not that much".
Mintellectual Property
Copyright is dead, long live copyright.
Two things are changing quickly for brands around the world: media creation and IP ownership. Media creation is being rapidly innovated thanks to AI models like MidJourney, Runway, and DALL·E. Powerful models mean everyday creatives can make market grade assets and seemingly authentic versions of critically acclaimed artwork, corporate advertisements, influencer content, or other viral materials.
Multi-Hit Wonders: Embracing Apps With Short Shelf Life
The rise of scaled social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok has made it increasingly challenging for newcomers to compete directly.
GCR Market and Investment Trends Review – Q4 and 2023 Annual Overview
At GCR, our mission is to create a community-driven investment DAO where the best Web3 investment opportunities are brought in by the community for the benefit of the community.
Since this new initiative’s inception in March 2022, we have experienced unrivaled success:
Indonesia's Crypto Tax Revenue Falls Despite Bitcoin's 159% Jump in 2023
Indonesia's Ministry of Finance has reported that the total tax revenue from cryptocurrency in 2023 was $31.7 million. However, the country's tax revenue fell by 62% last year compared to the partial collection period in 2022, when the tax regime was introduced. Crypto transactions in Indonesia are subject to dual taxation, which includes a 0.1% income tax and a 0.11% value-added tax, while local crypto exchanges must contribute around 0.04% tax to the national crypto bourse. Despite bitcoin's 159% increase in 2023, Indonesia's crypto tax revenue experienced a downturn, paralleling a 51% decrease in the country's crypto transaction volumes during the same period. Local exchanges have protested the high tax rates and suggested that crypto transactions should only be subject to income tax, not VAT.
MicroStrategy vs Bitcoin: the gap is closing
Since 2020, MicroStrategy has primarily been a Bitcoin holding company. Yes, they engage in other activities, but the bulk of their business value stems from the Bitcoins they possess.
During this period, MicroStrategy's stock (MSTR) has frequently outperformed Bitcoin (BTC).
Game Theory and Consumer Crypto
One question that I often get when discussing consumer app ideas leveraging crypto is “does this really have to be in web3”? This often leads to an exposition on how building a web2 counterpart would be substantially difficult or simply not work. The intention of this post is to provide a comprehensive analysis on game theory and its applications in web3. Game theory is a more generalized approach and covers governance, token models, decentralization et al. I believe this new framework can be leveraged to build powerful applications. The right incentives can propel the society in a good direction.
Incentives Are Not Enough
Imagine a billionaire kidnapped a random person and said:
Here is a camera, banana, bicycle, sundress, and porcupine; you have one day to make a funny video using them all. I’ll upload it to YouTube, and if it gets “enough” views in the first day, I’ll give you $10B. If not, I’ll kill you and your closest twenty relatives. No, I’m not going to tell you my “enough” threshold. Go.
On Hardness and The Social Institutions of Crypto
In crypto, there’s often what Toby Shorin, Laura Lotti, and Sam Hart from Other Internet calls a “regression to the code”.
Why most crypto assets are grotesquely overvalued
Crypto has found a vast majority of its product-market fit by $ value from being alternative or speculative store-of-value. This is why BTC is still dominant, 15 years in. ETH has also found monetary properties circa 2020. Both combined command over 75% of the market excluding stablecoins, and even higher in terms of liquidity. Tokens such as XRP and ADA have also found not-insignificant lasting demand.
