Microsoft just patented a way to let you mine cryptocurrency with your mind
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Exponential technologies are helping us realise the dream of being able to create money with our minds. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Not much has happened in the payments space for a while now, that is unless...
Sweden starts breaking up with cash as government starts trials of digital E-Krona
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Cash use is falling in many countries, so governments are now starting to trial fully digital alternatives. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Cash is dying as more and more people use contactless payment systems and digital cash,...
Futurist Keynote, Brussels: Innovation Shouldn’t Cost The Earth, AccountancyAge
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today we can see technologies that will help us eliminate up to 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, so now it’s down to us to embrace change. Firstly, a big thank you to the team at AccontancyAge for asking me to be this year’s...
Experts warn Facebook’s cryptocurrency could help it become a virtual nation
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As more of us become a part of online communities we are seeing the rise of the world’s first virtual nations, nations without territory or borders that can threaten the status of sovereign nations. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore...
An Instagram blogger just bought a custom digital dress for $9,500
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Having that special fashion item in the real world can put someone in the spotlight, and now that applies online to. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. A lot is changing in the fashion world – and in...
Blockchain startups are trying to break big tech’s hold on AI
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Companies with better brand recognition, and deeper pockets, are cornering the market for AI talent, but now companies want break that hold, and they have a way to do it. Despite how easy the combination is to mock, the idea of applying the Blockchain...
Ownerless companies on the rise as startups experiment with new business models
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Blockchain will let us build new types of companies in new ways, including ownerless companies where funds and profits are divided automatically between individuals. Slowly, very slowly, we’re seeing the emergence of the world’s first fully autonomous companies, from small hedge funds in Hong...
Dutch firm unveils the world’s first autonomous self-balancing energy grid for EV’s
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF New powerful technologies are letting us revolutionise how we generate and deliver electricity, and autonomous, self-balancing energy grids are now a thing. A little while ago I wrote about the US Department of Energy’s plans to create the world’s first autonomous energy grid, but...
JP Morgan becomes the first major US bank to roll its own crypto coins
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Bitcoin may have its critics, but noone can argue the impact that cryptocurrencies have had on the world, and now one of the US’ biggest banks is jumping on the bandwagon. With talks of China creating the first blockchain based national cryptocurrency and Ohio...
US military identifies virtual nations as a potential security threat to US sovereignty
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The internet means citizens can now become part of large, virtual collectives, or nations, and there are fears these nations, with their own rules, welfare and support systems, could threaten the power and influence of sovereign nations. When is a nation not a nation?...
Futurist Keynote, Germany: Life in 2030, RWE
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A lot has changed in the last ten years, and even more will change in the next ten. Are you ready? Firstly, a big thank you to Kathrin and the team for inviting me to be the keynote at this years RWE Leadership meeting...
Ohio becomes first US state to let people pay business taxes in Bitcoin
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many investors have said Bitcoin will take off when you can pay your taxes with it, well that time might be getting closer. There’s a lot of legal uncertainty in the US surrounding cryptocurrencies, and many other investors, like Kevin O’Leary ABC show Shark Tank fame,...
Decentralised hedge funds take aim at Wall Street elite
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Services and industries are increasingly becoming decentralised, and the financial services industry is no exception. A little while ago I discussed how one hedge fund, Aidyia, is now fully autonomous, a decentralised autonomous organisation run by an AI without humans, and how another, Numerai,...
Bangkok residents cut out the energy companies and trade energy over the blockchain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the number of small renewable energy installations around the world grow individual communities are increasingly cutting out the energy companies and trading energy directly with one another. Residents in a Bangkok neighbourhood in Thailand are trying out a new blockchain based peer to...
DeepFake busting app spots even a single pixel out of place
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Increasingly most people don’t believe the news they’re seeing is real, this new technology helps news organisations and outlets regain that trust. Falsifying photos and videos used to take a lot of work – either you used CGI to generate photorealistic images from scratch,...
The web is broken so it’s founder is re-inventing it
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The internet was supposed to empower people, but so far most of that power is being concentrated in big centralised platform companies instead. The founder of the World Wide Web thinks it’s broken and has a plan to fix it. Tim Berners-Lee, the British...
IBM breakthrough uses AI to make blockchain more energy efficient
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Mining blockchain uses up an extraordinary amount of electricity, equivalent to an entire country, so companies are trying to fix the issue. Proof of Work (PoW), the common consensus mechanism that secures Bitcoin and numerous other cryptocurrency blockchains, has given the technology a reputation for...
Estonia becomes the world’s first virtual nation capable of rebooting itself
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technology is showing us how ancient the concept of the traditional nation state is, and as virtual nations take shape being able to reboot them in times of war is crucial. How do you reboot an entire country? It’s an odd question, but in...
Blockchain startups are lining up to decentralise and revolutionise the internet
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We think the internet is already decentralised, but the internet as we know it is evolving, and tomorrow’s internet will be truly decentralised. An increasing number of people want to fix the flaws of the internet by decentralizing it, including Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the father...
Microsoft gets rid of blockchain miners with new Ethereum blockchain service
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Mining blockchain has become a contentious issue because of the amount of energy it uses and its speed, Microsoft are trying to solve both problems. Hot on the heels of its interest in Iota, a blockchain-like peer to peer cryptocurrency that does away with...
