Tag: Blockchain

State of Crypto 2023 by Andreessen Horowitz

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There has been so much happening in the crypto scene. There has been a fluctuation in the prices, wrangles in regulation, etc. This inspired the crypto VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, AKA a16z, to give a crypto market report early this month.

The report started with an overview of the current state of the crypto market, which is characterized by crypto companies collapsing, crypto cycle, crypto regulation, and decentralization.

According to the report, most of the setbacks in the industry are caused by centralization. Centralization happened for selfish reasons, as some entities wanted to maximize the crypto market cycle gains. The solution to this is decentralization.

The second part of the report talks more about crypto market cycles. A positive feedback loop causes crypto market cycles. When the prices go up, it increases the interest rates, which leads to new ideas and projects, making the price go up again. There have been four crypto market cycles so far. The crypto market cycles happen every four years, just like Bitcoin halving.

The report’s authors talk about the different layer cryptos and how to layer two cryptos are gaining a lot of traction. Almost seven percent of all Ethereum fees are on L2s.

Ethereum was highlighted for reducing its energy use by 99.9% by changing its consensus from proof of work to proof of stake.

They reviewed the rising popularity of zero-knowledge proofs, NFTs, and the growth of web3 gaming which has yet to be nearly as impacted by the crypto bear Market. Participation in DAOs has also steadily increased, but this might not necessarily be a bullish sign.

The report discusses the three proposed crypto regulations, including the bipartisan crypto bill by Senator Cynthia Lamas and Kirsten Gillibrand, seven pending crypto cases, including the SEC’s case against Ripple, and three proposed crypto rules, including the SEC’s crypto custody rule.

In the report, there was a highlight on crypto market metrics. It includes the number of active developers, smart contracts, the number of crypto-related academic publications, and the number of people looking for crypto-related jobs.

Crypto adoption indicators include the number of active crypto wallet addresses, the number of crypto transactions, the number of transaction fees paid, the number of mobile crypto wallet users, the amount of trading volume on decentralized exchanges, NFT buyers, and stablecoin trading volume.

What is next?

According to the report, crypto adoption may be likened to internet adoption in the mid-90s. If it takes the same path, crypto will hit 1 billion users in 2031. This will, however, be dependent on crypto regulation and education. Some of the expectations the authors of the report have include:

1. Web 3 will grow. They expect the best web3 products and protocols to be developed during the remaining part of the crypto bear market.

2. Smart contract security will improve. This will lead to more crypto development.

3. Zero-knowledge proofs will continue to become more popular. This makes sense considering institutional investors require Financial privacy, which is something that zero-knowledge proofs can provide.

4. Big Tech will continue to take greater control of the Web 2 internet, and this will highlight the importance of Web 3.

5. Web3 gaming will become more popular. People adopt crypto for speculation, necessity, or entertainment. The entertainment part is growing.

6. There will be more crypto-specific hardware, particularly for zero-knowledge proofs.

7. Decentralized social media will become popular due to issues with centralized social media.

8. Light clients will enable mobile devices to become more involved in crypto infrastructure. This will mean bringing more crypto to mobile devices.

9. There will be new kinds of community governance in DAOs.

10. Governments will pass bipartisan crypto regulations. The crypto regulations will not only be in the US but in other countries too.

11. Non-speculative crypto use cases will emerge.

12. Hiring treasury management and sustainable funding will be a focus for DAOs. This is a subtle reference to a new crypto niche called ReFi or Regenerative Finance, which involves investing in tokenized carbon credits.

What does the a16z report mean for the crypto market?

The report gives a lot of insights into what institutional investors think of the crypto market. Since they are the dominant share, they impact the market. Factors such as crypt regulation and decentralization are important to investors, affecting the entire market. This can help us know what to expect in the future and plan accordingly.

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Gulf Congress 2023: A Must-Attend Event for Tech Professionals

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The 6th Edition of the Gulf Congress on Cybersecurity is an invite-only event that seeks to bring industry professionals together to discuss the opportunities and challenges around cybersecurity. This event is organized by Agora Group, an international company that connects firms to African and Arab markets. The Gulf Congress is a melting pot for CEOs, CIOs, COOs, and key decision-makers across governments, where they meet, brainstorm, and learn about emerging trends on cyber security.

Over the years, the Gulf Congress has morphed into a global event that is a must-attend for policy-makers across industries and governments. It continues to attract top professionals from industries such as finance, tech, oil and gas and healthcare. Some of the benefits of attending this event are: you get a chance to meet and interact with the movers and shakers of global trade. Secondly, since it is an invite-only event, attendees get a chance to have one-on-one meetings. Finally, buyers and sellers get a chance to have meetings that have been pre-arranged.

Discussion topics for this year’s congress will include the following: Supply Chain Risks and Cloud Security Challenges, Forensic and Cyber Crime, Virtual Reality, and DeepFake. This year’s event is scheduled to be held on the 9th of May 2023 in Dubai, UAE. It’s a one-day event that will include multiple activities that will start in the morning, with registrations and key presentations, and end in the evening with a training session.

Mehran Muslimi to Speak

Notable speakers who will grace this year’s event are: Anett Numa, a defense advisor to the Ministry of Estonia, Dr. Hoda AlkhZaimi, Co-chair of the World Economic Forum, and Mehran Muslimi, a world-renowned Fintech, and Blockchain Consultant. Mr. Muslimi is a senior tech consultant, angel investor, and entrepreneur with interests in blockchain, cryptocurrency, and cyber-security. Mehran has worked on multiple IT projects, with the most notable one being the development of a mobile VOIP application 9 months before the development of Viber. He is currently actively involved in blockchain space with multiple ongoing projects in the fintech ecosystem.

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Mehran Muslimi to feature as Speaker at the 6th Gulf Congress on Cyber Security

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One of the largest tech events in the Gulf, the 6th Gulf Congress on Cyber Security, is set to be held on May 9th, 2023, in Dubai, UAE. The event is expected to attract a large number of participants from various industries, including banking, finance, insurance, healthcare, and technology. This global event provides a platform for participants to share their experiences and insights on different aspects of cybersecurity, including challenges, best practices, and emerging trends.

The event will have several keynote speakers who are experts in the field of cybersecurity. Some previous speakers who have graced this event include Hamad Al Khatheri, who is the Chief Cyber Security Officer in the Saudi Government and H.E. Dr. Mohamed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, the head of Cyber Security in the UAE. This year’s speakers include notable figures like Tony Hasek, Goldilock CEO, Hesham Saad from Microsoft and Mehran Muslimi, a renowned fintech and blokchain consultant.. Mr. Muslimi is a well-known name in the fintech industry and has been instrumental in the development of several blockchain-based financial solutions. His talk is expected to cover the latest developments in blockchain-based cybersecurity solutions and their potential to address the growing threat of cybercrime.

The event will have several panel discussions where experts will discuss topics such as supply chain and cloud security, virtual reality, deep fake, and forensic and cybercrime. The panel discussions will provide a platform for participants to ask questions and engage in discussions on various cybersecurity-related topics.

Overall, this congress is a melting pot for top companies and professionals who have an interest in cybersecurity. Some of the global companies that have actively supported this congress are General Electric, Huawei, IBM, and Armis. The 6th Edition of the Gulf Congress is set up by Agora Group, a company based in the UAE, which focuses on connecting companies to the Arab and African markets.

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14 Big Ideas for 2023: Crypto is here to stay

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Ark Invest is an investment management firm focused on innovative technologies and disruptive trends. In its 2023 report, Ark Invest outlines its views on the 14 sectors it believes will experience exponential growth in the coming years. The 14 big ideas, according to the report, are:

  1. Technological convergence

Multiple technologies interact with each other to bring exponential growth. The report states they are in five categories and will be worth $200 trillion by 2030. The tech that will converge are cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, genetic sequencing, robotics, and energy storage. The most significant part of those technologies is neural networks, also known as AI.

2. Artificial Intelligence/AI

This will increase productivity as workers rely on AI to help with repetitive tasks. Companies like Microsoft and Google could be big players in AI as they can access large amounts of data.

3. Digital consumers

People will spend more time online, assumingly consuming short-form content. Gaming will be more popular due to immersive gaming experiences. NFT will increase in popularity due to gaming.

4. Digital wallet

According to the report, 65% of the planet’s population will use digital wallets by 2030 compared to the 40% who use digital wallets today. The numbers started rising during the pandemic and are going up. Digital wallets enable direct payments by eliminating intermediaries. This will create high profits for digital wallet providers at the expense of traditional finance. Closed-loop transactions are already common in China and will be worldwide with time.

5. Public Blockchains/cryptocurrencies

The crypto Market has lost a significant percentage of its market cap due to calamities such as the collapse of FTX.

Three technological revolutions are driven by cryptocurrency; the money revolution, the financial revolution, and the internet revolution. The report predicts that the total market cap of cryptocurrency will be $25 trillion in 2030.

6. Bitcoin

The report’s authors predict that one BTC will be worth $1 million by 2030 if we go by the total crypto market cap predictions.

They also highlight that BTC’s fundamentals are better than ever, e.g., institutional investors’ adoption, etc.

7. Smart contracts

Smart contracts are the ideal alternative to all the centralized intermediaries in crypto that failed last year. It is hard for decentralization to work without smart contracts. Smart contracts act as a hedge in different activities such as DeFi, decentralized borrowing, lending, decentralized exchanges, etc.

8. Precision Therapies

Precision therapies are different as they are patient-centric and target the root cause of disease, not symptoms. This does not mean root causes like poor lifestyle but technologies like artificial intelligence, AI, DNA and RNA sequencing, CRISPR Gene editing, and laboratory automation. It involves giving recommendations that are specifically tailored to your genetics. The authors reveal that Gene editing is close to going mainstream.

9. Molecular cancer diagnostics

Early diagnosis means early treatment, which means a lower chance that people die from cancer.

Advances in molecular technology also mean you can test someone for cancer using non-invasive means. These advancements in testing will also make it easier to detect cancer recurrence. It could lead to 20% year-on-year profits for cancer-related Industries until 2030.

10. Electric Vehicles

The report suggests that supply constraints could make it hard for the EV market to grow beyond a certain point.

Global automakers have investment plans to introduce EVs. If petrol cars are outlawed, a disconnect in supply and demand could make the costs of producing Evs high.

So far, sales of EVS have been exponential compared to expectations.

11. Autonomous ride-hail or autonomous Transportation

In the report, statistics show that the cost of traveling one mile has stayed the same in 100 years when adjusted for inflation. The costs will finally come down with autonomous vehicles. It will be an excellent alternative for those who cannot afford EVs.

Autonomous taxis are already here, and their numbers are growing with time.

12. Autonomous Logistics

It means automated delivery. Drones and robots will increase in numbers making everything cheaper. Autonomous trucks will eventually become cheaper than trains for supply chain purposes.

13. Robotics and 3D printing

These industries could grow from 70 billion to over 9 trillion by 2030.

Amazon is leading when it comes to 3D printing. 3D printing will be used in every industry but is currently facing setbacks due to the cost of materials, a shortage of qualified personnel, and design issues.

14. Orbital Aerospace

It means all space-related technology. There are reusable rockets that will rapidly reduce space exploration costs, courtesy of companies like SpaceX.

Reusable rockets will also reduce the cost of sending satellites to space for global networks. The cost of space-based global networks will continue to fall, making the internet affordable for everyone. Reusable Rockets will make hypersonic flight more affordable.

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