Ep. 161 Activating ManMeat
In this episode of the Unhashed Podcast, we talk taproot activation, our new international standard for weight measurements, man meat, and the latest China FUD.
Coinbase missed analysts' revenue estimates on Tuesday after reporting its third-quarter earnings. Following, the stock sank more than 13% in extended trading. The cryptocurrency exchange also said its monthly transacting users fell to 7.4 million from 8.8 million in the second quarter. In addition, trading volume fell from $462 billion to $327 billion in the previous quarter.
Taproot, a highly anticipated upgrade to bitcoin, went into effect on Sunday at block 709,632. This is bitcoin's first major upgrade since 2017, and it will impact the blockchain in a number of ways. First, by obfuscating the kind of bitcoin transaction being made, Taproot makes it possible for smart contract transactions to hide amongst the “regular” ones and the others disguised as regular ones. Taproot also enables some transactions to take less block space than was possible previously. Taproot achieves these aims through what are called Schnoor Signatures (which allows all signer of a multisig to create a single signature to be included in the transaction) and Merklized Abstract Syntax Trees (or MAST) which hashes potential routes for complex redeem conditions in a smart contract.
And on the topic of taproot, the now infamous udi wertheimer tweeted “many high profile people and companies promoting the taproot activation in ways that are scammier than most shitcoin marketing. Honest tldr on the benefits taproot brings to the average bitcoin user: there are none. still think it’s a good upgrade but it’s highly technical and the benefits will take years to be meaningful and even then most people won’t care.” he then hosted a spaces called “taproot is a scam.”
President Biden will sign the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law on Monday. The legislation includes tax reporting provisions that apply to digital assets like cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. Cryptocurrency ""brokers,"" which are mainly exchanges, will be required to issue a 1099-like form disclosing who their customers are. Businesses and exchanges will also be required to report each time they receive over $10,000 in cryptocurrency. Many lobbyists within the cryptocurrency community believe more clarity in the definition of ""broker"" is needed. They also argue that requiring disclosure of transactions over $10,000 is unconstitutional.
Chinese authorities are ramping up a crackdown on crypto mining, calling it an ""extremely harmful"" practice that threatens to jeopardize the country's efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The National Development and Reform Commission spokesperson Meng Wei blasted bitcoin mining during a press conference Tuesday in Beijing. She said that activity ""consumes lots of energy"" and ""produces lots of carbon emissions."" Meng said that the NDRC — the country's top economic planner — will launch a ""full-scale"" clampdown on cryptocurrency mining by focusing on commercial mining and the role of state-owned businesses in the industry. She also said that crypto production and trade produces ""prominent risks,"" and blasted the industry as ""blind and disorderly."" As part of its new push, the NDRC said it would raise electricity prices for any institution found to be abusing its access to subsidized power to participate in crypto mining. Authorities have traditionally offered schools, community centers, or other public welfare institutions lower prices for electricity.
Raxom asked us to talk about PrivacyProsUSA.com so we will do that now