BITCOIN

Bitcoin’s Better Half?

Early next week, bitcoin will go through a process known as the halving (or halvening, if you’re fancy). It’s an epochal event in cryptocurrency circles that cuts new bitcoin creation by 50%. 

For the uninitiated nocoiners

Bitcoin miners earn new tokens by completing complex cryptographic math problems. After a halving event, they receive fewer bitcoins in reward for helping create new blocks. Currently, when miners produce a new block, they receive 12.5 BTC. After the halving, they’ll receive 6.25 BTC.  

The backdrop: In 2009, mining rewards started at 50 BTC. The first halving brought rewards down to 25 BTC on Nov. 28, 2012, when bitcoin’s price was near $13. The second took place on July 9, 2016, when bitcoin was around $660. 

• The calibration occurs every 210,000 blocks. Don’t hold your breath for the last halving, which will take place well after 2100. 

True to BTC form, there isn’t a central authority pulling a lever to initiate the halving. The process was put into motion when Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, released the protocol in 2009.

What’s the point?

As opposed to fiat currencies, whose supply governments can increase by making money printers go brrr, bitcoin was designed to be deflationary. Halvings help control the rate of inflation so bitcoins don’t lose their purchasing power over time. 

Bitcoin’s total supply is capped at a fixed 21 million, making bitcoin somewhat like gold—there’s only so much you can mine. 

Looking forward

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts, traders, and analysts debate whether the halving is already “priced in.” Prior halvings don’t really provide the answer: Bitcoin was a lesser-known asset and adoption was much lower than it is today. You can see how awareness has surged with “bitcoin halving” Google search history. 

Google

Regardless of what happens with bitcoin’s price, the halving will likely wipe out smaller miners whose operations become unprofitable. Larger mining farms, which pool processing power and can achieve economies of scale, are better equipped to stay online.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Alphabet’s smart city division, Sidewalk Labs, is walking away from its Toronto waterfront redevelopment initiative. CEO Daniel Doctoroff said the project’s financial viability was threatened by “unprecedented economic uncertainty.” 

What could’ve been: Sidewalk Lab’s proposed "Idea District" in Quayside, Toronto, was a proof of concept for futuristic urban living, weaving data-harvesting digital infrastructure into a mixed-use neighborhood. Toronto and Sidewalk Labs negotiated the deal last November after the Alphabet unit agreed to concessions on privacy, prices, and real estate. 

From the Toronto project’s ashes comes a similar-sounding Alphabet offshoot: Sidewalk Infrastructure Partnership (SIP). With two Google vets as co-CEOs, SIP announced a $400 million Series A yesterday, led by Alphabet and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan.

• Structured as a holding company, SIP will invest in startups focused on tech infrastructure issues, the “circular economy,” and mobility. 

Bottom line: While this is a huge setback for Sidewalk Labs, don’t expect tech companies to stop thinking about how to build the future of cities.

SPONSORED BY NOTION

No-Nonsense Ad for No-Nonsense Productivity

The following is a no-nonsense ad for Notion, the all-in-one workspace:

With Notion, you can plan, think, write, and get organized, on your own or with your team. 

The product is free to use solo for whatever you have in mind.

Notion combines the functionality of dozens of other tools into one so you can manage your life and work in the same place.

See for yourself, then bring it to work to see what it can do for your team.

You’ll be hailed as a productivity hero.

Do you want to be a productivity hero?

Then use Notion.

INFLUENCERS

Ready or Not, Here Come the Virtual Influencers

In a plot twist I wasn’t expecting this soon, automation is fast encroaching on the influencer economy. 

The world’s most prominent virtual influencer, Miquela, has signed with CAA as the talent agency’s first virtual client, Variety reported Wednesday. If you’re not familiar with her, Miquela (aka “Lil Miquela”) is a CGI digital avatar with 2.2 million Insta followers and 550,000 TikTok followers. 

• Miquela has already partnered with Samsung, Prada, Calvin Klein, and YouTube.
• In 2018, Time named her one of the internet’s 25 most influential people. 
• The self-proclaimed “change-seeking robot with the drip” has used her platform to advocate for social causes.

Miquela is the product of LA startup Brud, which bills itself as “a transmedia studio that creates digital character-driven story worlds.” She’s got competition: With 1 million Insta followers, fellow virtual influencer Knox Frost recently partnered with the WHO to raise donations for the coronavirus battle. 

Zoom out: Generative AI could enable more interactive, conversational virtual influencers.

BITS & BYTES

Stat: E-scooter company Lime raised $170 million from Uber, Alphabet’s GV, and Bain Capital. As part of the deal, Lime will take control of Jump, Uber’s scooter/bike-sharing business. The deal values Lime at $510 million, a 79% drop from its last valuation. 

Quote: “The megatrend after smartphones will be mobility, and we will contribute to its evolution from the perspective of safety, security, and entertainment"—Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida to Nikkei Asian Review. Sony has a sizable business selling sensors to auto suppliers.  

Read: Bloomberg Businessweek has a great feature on how the coronavirus catapulted Instacart’s business and created new challenges for the service. 

SPONSORED BY COINDESK

Fulfill your dream of attending a cryptocurrency conference in your pajamas. Coindesk’s Consensus: Distributed is a free five day networking conference that starts May 11th. The virtual experience will feature speakers, interactive keynotes, and presentations from key influencers in finance, crypto, blockchain, government, and more. The best part? You can participate from home. Register here. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Zoox is weighing a sale, The Information reports. The self-driving unicorn has raised $1 billion in its short life. 
• The Libra Association named Stuart Levey, a former U.S. Treasury undersecretary, as its first CEO.
• Facebook named 20 experts to its oversight board, the company’s new content moderation “Supreme Court.” 
• Wink, a smart home supplier, will require users to pay a $4.99 monthly subscription or their house will turn dumb.  
• The health arms of Chinese giants Ant Financial, Baidu, and Meituan Dianping want to have 450 million users on new care plans within five years.
• Stanford researchers published a study about highway technology that could lead to “wireless” EV charging on the go.

GOING PHISHING

We’re back to the virtual aquarium. Three of the following news stories are real; one is fake. Can you spot the odd one out?  

1. Black Mirror’s creator isn’t working on a new season because of the world’s current situation. 
2. Silicon Chauffeur has completed 5,000 rides in its high-tech Bentley taxis.  
3. X Æ A-12 may not be a legal name.
4. A Mars rover found signs of ancient life in Australia.

TECH THROWBACK

Giphy

If you’re pining for the days of yore, here are 15 computer sounds that take you back to the ‘90s. I, for one, do not miss the dial-up jingle.

TECH THINGAMABOBS

For a field that (especially) needs it: IBM published its annual “Women leaders in AI” list. 

For situational awareness: Foursquare breaks down traffic patterns for nonessential businesses in Georgia after the state reopened. 

For nature fans: Here’s what happens when a whale, a drone, and a paddle boarder get up close and personal.

GOING PHISHING ANSWER

There is no Silicon Chauffeur with high-tech Bentley taxis.