Payverse

payverse

A Provably Secure Cross-Chain Infrastructure, helping DApps go Omnichain

More than a century ago, the French colonialists decided to modernize the French Indochina, especially its capital, Hanoi. Large areas of Hanoi were cleared to accommodate French-style districts with boulevards, bridges, palaces, villas and gardens. This major infrastructure project was supposed to transform Hanoi from a cramped and narrow city into a symbol of France’s “civilising” mission in Indochina. A sign of cleanliness and civilization was the installation of toilets in these new buildings. And with toilets is where the story truly begins. The sewer network built by colonialists became a rats’ paradise, as there were no predators. Also, rats could easily invade the luxurious residences through the subterranean highway when they got hungry. This caused massive concerns for the French as just a few years earlier, in 1894, Alexandre Yersin discovered the link between rats and the bubonic plague. Something had to be done. Municipal rat hunters were employed, and although they killed thousands of rats daily, the rat population didn’t seem to shrink. So, the French administration decided to implement a bonus program for the general public, depending on how many rats each person killed. As the government didn’t want to take care of eliminating the corpses of the rodents, they asked the hunters to provide only the tail of the killed rat as proof. The program seemed to be a success. Until rats without tails were spotted through Hanoi. It turns out that the rat catchers only cut off the rats’ tails and then let them go so they can reproduce and generate more profits. Some even bred rats for the sole purpose of cutting their tails and taking the reward. After all, obtaining a homegrown rat’s tail was much safer and easier than going on a hunt in the sewers. In the end, the French government abolished the program, but it was too late. An epidemic of bubonic plague broke out in the city, causing almost three hundred deaths. Then we have the cobras in colonial India. As cobras caused many deaths, the British government implemented a bounty program for dead cobras. Locals started breeding cobras to kill them and get the money. When the authorities realised this, they stopped the program. The cobra farms closed, and the farmers released the cobras into the wild, exponentially increasing the cobra population and, consequently, the deaths they caused. Although the rat massacre was documented by historian Michael Vann, who published a graphic novel about it, , the cobra story doesn’t seem much more than . Still, economist Horst Siebert used the cobra narrative to coin “the Cobra Effect” (perhaps it should have been named “the Rat Effect” for a more accurate historical representation), an example of perverse incentives. reward people for making an issue worse. The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt an anecdote Perverse incentives The Cobra Effect is also a variation of ( ): “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” Goodhart’s Law adversarial Goodhart Consider how software applications would perform if software developers were paid for the number of lines of code they wrote daily. When measures are set from an ivory tower, people often gamify the rules to reach that specific objective. Once upon a time, there was a factory in the Soviet Union that made nails. Unfortunately, Moscow set quotas on their nail production, and they began working to meet the quotas as described, rather than doing anything useful. When they set quotas by quantity, they churned out hundreds of thousands of tiny, useless nails. When Moscow realized this was not useful and set a quota by weight instead, they started building big, heavy railroad spike-type nails that weighed a pound each. Image credit: sketchplanations Once we open our eyes to perverse incentives or targets as measures, we recognize them everywhere. Tests based on rote memory as targets to prove someone’s education level or school’s access to funds (better schools getting more money). Does anyone wonder how many of us spent our school years memorizing lessons for tests, quickly forgetting them so we can prepare for the next test? Approval ratings show a politician should make short-term indulgent decisions rather than painful long-term strategies. In cash-for-poppies programs, Afghan poppy farmers planted as many poppies as possible to get more money for destroying their crops. , where people turned their cheap weapons and used the cash reward to buy better and more expensive guns. Gun buyback programs to battle extreme air pollution. Based on the last digits of the license plates, cars were not allowed on the roads on specific days. Some people did carpool or took public transportation on the days they were not allowed to drive their vehicles, which was the law’s intent. Others bought second cars with different license plates and drove those cars on the day they were not allowed to drive their regular cars. And it is no surprise that people bought the cheapest cars, producing much more polluting emissions. The Hoy No Circula law from 1989 in Mexico City And then, . The Belgian authorities authorized unrealistic rubber collection quotas on plantation workers. Failure to comply with quotas was punishable by death. The guards were required to show the hand of their victims as proof of killing (eerily similar to rats tails) as it was believed they would otherwise use the highly-priced imported munition from Europe to hunt or stockpile it for mutiny. But as the collection quotas were so extreme and the guards would still be paid if they provided hands instead of rubber, most forces would cut off hands instead of gathering rubber. we have the horrifying example of Leopold II’s rule in Congo In many situations, incentives work. To give another historical example, consider towards the end of the 18th century. Many convicts died during these transports, causing outrage to the public, as these transports were publicly funded, and people believed that exile to Australia shouldn’t be a death penalty. Then, another approach was introduced. The government decided to pay a bonus for each convict that arrived in Australia alive. Convicts’ lives suddenly became valuable, and miraculously, more passengers survived the harsh transport conditions. the convicts’ transportation from England to Australia The carrot and stick provide functioning societies as the threat of fines keep us in line, and incentives reward us for being good citizens. Unfortunately, atrocities happen when hunting for incentives, and humans manipulate the rules, ravaging natural, moral, or cultural ecosystems. We should become a bit nervous when we see incentives for specific measures as sometimes, we get exactly what we paid for and not what we truly needed. “It’s sort of a morality tale for the arrogance of modernity, that we put so much faith into science and reason and using industry to solve every problem,” Vann [the historian who investigated the rats’ massacre] says. “This is the same kind of mindset that lead to World War I — the idea that the machine gun, because it kills so efficiently, is going to lead to a quick war. And what that actually lead to is a long war where many people lost their lives.” So what does he think the lesson is instead? “To watch out for programs being created in situations where the arrogance is so strong and the power differential is so intense that evidence can be ignored.” Atlas Obscura article about The Great Hanoi Rat Massacre Also, remember that if you want fewer rats, don’t pay for dead rats. Previously published at https://www.roxanamurariu.com/when-incentives-fail-a-story-about-rats-cobras-nails-and-atrocities/

Perverse Incentives: A Story About Rats, Nails, and Atrocities

Incentivos perversos: una historia sobre ratas, clavos y atrocidades

Incitations perverses : une histoire de rats, de clous et d'atrocités

विकृत प्रोत्साहन: चूहों, नाखूनों और अत्याचारों के बारे में एक कहानी

ひねくれたインセンティブ: ネズミ、釘、残虐行為についての物語

Incentivos perversos: uma história sobre ratos, pregos e atrocidades

Khuyến khích sai lầm: Câu chuyện về chuột, móng tay và hành vi tàn bạo

不正当的激励：关于老鼠、钉子和暴行的故事

photo: 2015, Holden Warren, Liberian Bush Meat (in this case bats). Limited access to protein makes bush meat a high-value frontier commodity. On the , value can be assigned to anything at any level; this will lead to a new global era of value creation. This new system of value creation and documentation will provide a mechanism where Africans can pay taxes; ushering in a new standard of accountability for African leaders. The inability to pay taxes leaves the average African politically mute and reliant on labor strikes, demonstrations, riots and revolution as the primary means to gain a political voice. Blockchain Without organic means of revenue generation, African governments seek funding from international aid organizations. A major downside to international aid; is it creates governance system dedicated and dependent on securing more and more international aid money — it would be idiotic not to, considering the dire needs. Naturally, these political systems create entrenched culture and procedures to fund functions. From Colombia, through Iraq and Afghanistan to Africa whenever there is a need for infrastructure or any training program my first thoughts are what international funding source can I find to support this effort? I first look to international funding sources, in part because I know that will be the first thought of every local leader involved. Secondly, international money has more controls and accountability mechanisms attached — offering international monies some protections against pilfer. Unfortunately social justice is dependent on social contribution and under this paradigm, foreign tax revenues set the conditions for foreign interests to enjoy disproportionate influence in many African governments. government Any government that factors the Blockchain into its tax collection strategy will open up an enormous source of funding and more importantly will refocus their political systems back to serving the people. Paying taxes is a form of political participation — participating in a nearly universal tax system will allow tax burdens to remain low, while providing the needed revenue for needed civic functions. What will this look like? Factoring that the Blockchain can assign value to anything — value can be assigned to the production of renewable energy or proper management of wastewater. New economies will rise in these fields, turning local communities into revenue generators for doing nothing more than properly cleaning their surroundings and producing electricity from sustainable sources. Using Decentralized Applications (DApps) and Smart Contracts local community members can earn and trade value in the pursuit of a green energy future; a future where access to sustainable power and potable water is no longer a dream. If I had to make a prediction — the Blockchain will reinforce sub-national governance. As developing economies grow from the bottom-up a renewed rise in the city-state is likely to emerge — bolstering new levels of community resiliency and more localized decision-making. Decentralizing through the Blockchain will bring a new efficiency to economies and governance systems. Localizing systems doesn’t inoculate us from the ills of corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies, however it does reduce the scale and impact of these evils. Transparent documentation of value creation and trade the Blockchain offers will quickly create a path to building a tax paying culture in developing economies. As things stand presently, the idea of a mass popular tax base isn’t even a viable dream in many places around the world. Communities can start creating, trading, and retaining of sustainable energy production and wastewater management. A currency — a measure of value that is based on the process of turning waste to electricity and clean drinking water, creates a path that is both environmentally conscious and socially beneficial for ALL people to generate value. the quantifiable value photo: 2015, Holden Warren, Liberian Bush Meat (in this case bats). Limited access to protein makes bush meat a high-value frontier commodity.

Blockchain: creating African tax payers

Interview with Dr. Yonatan Sompolinsky of Kaspa

Ping Ping Ping That is the sound of my phone alerting me to overnight snowfall at the various Hokkaido ski resorts I monitor. While this sound brings me immense joy in January and February, in March, it brings only FOMO. I decamped from Hokkaido in early March for the past few ski seasons. My recent experience taught me that Mother Nature turns on the heat circa March 1st. I’m a primadonna skier who only likes the driest and deepest pow. However, this season, Gaia changed up big time. There was a brutal warm spell in February that rekt the snow back. The cold weather only returned towards the end of the month. But frigid temperatures came back in March, accompanied by 10 to 30cm dumps of freshie pow pow every night. Hence, the reason why my phone was blowing up. Sitting in various South East Asian hot and humid countries throughout March, I kept foolishly checking the app and ruing my decision to leave the slopes. The April thaw finally occurred in earnest, and with it, the end to my FOMO. As readers know, my ski experiences act as metaphors for my macro and crypto trading book. I previously wrote that the cessation of the US Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) on March 12th would cause a global market rout. The BTFP was cancelled, but a vicious sell-off in crypto specifically did not occur. Bitcoin broke $70,000 decisively and topped out around $74,000. Solana kept pumping alongside various doggie and kitty meme coins. My timing was wrong, but like the ski season, the unexpected favorable March conditions will not be repeated in April. While I love winter, summer brings joy as well. The onset of northern hemispheric summer brings sporting bliss as I reorient time towards playing tennis, surfing, and kiteboarding. Summer will usher in a renewed gusher of fiat liquidity due to the policies of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and Treasury. I will briefly outline my mental map on how and why April will experience extreme weakness in risky asset markets. For those intrepid enough to short crypto, the macro setup is favorable. While I will not outright short the market, I have closed in profit several shitcoin and memecoin trading positions. From now until May 1st, I will be in a no-trade zone. I hope to return in May with dry powder ready to deploy to position myself for the bull market to begin in earnest. Tricksters The Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) ended a few weeks ago, but no US, non-Too-Big-to-Fail (TBTF) banks have subsequently faced any real stress. That is because high priests of fugazi finance have a bag of tricks they will use to surreptitiously print money in order to bail out the financial system. I will peek behind the curtain and explain how they are expanding the USD fiat money supply, which will underpin the general rise of crypto and stonks until the end of the year. While the end result is always money printing, the journey is not without periods where liquidity growth slows, providing a negative catalyst for risk markets. By going through the bag of tricks and estimating when the rabbit will be pulled from the hat, we can guestimate when there will be periods where the free market is allowed to operate. The Discount Window The Fed and most other central banks operate a facility known as the discount window. Banks and other covered financial institutions who are in need of funds can pledge eligible securities to the Fed in exchange for cash. By and large, the discount window, for now, only accepts US Treasuries (UST) and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Assume that a bank is fucked because a bunch of Pierce & Pierce boomer muppets runs it. The bank holds a UST that was worth $100 when purchased but is currently worth $80. The bank is in need of cash to satisfy deposit outflows. Rather than declaring bankruptcy, the dogshit insolvent bank can tap the discount window. The bank swaps the $80 UST for $80 of dolla dolla bills because under the current rules the bank receives the market value of pledged securities. To deprecate the BTFP and remove the associated negative stigma without increasing the risk of bank failures, the Fed and US Treasury now encourage troubled banks to tap the discount window instead. However, under the current collateral terms, the discount window is not as attractive as the recently expired BTFP. Let’s go back to our example above to understand why. Remember that the UST’s value declined from $100 to $80, which means the bank has an unrealized loss of $20. Initially the $100 of UST was funded with $100 of deposits. But now the UST is worth $80; therefore, the bank would be short $20 if all the depositors fled. Under the BTFP rules, the bank receives par for underwater USTs. That means a UST worth $80, when delivered to the Fed, is swapped for $100 of cash. This restores the solvency of the bank. But the discount window only gives $80 for a UST worth $80. The $20 loss is still there, and the bank remains insolvent. Given that the Fed can unilaterally change the collateral rules to equalize the treatment of assets by the BTFP and discount window, by greenlighting the use of the discount window by the insolvent banking system, the Fed continued the stealth banking bailout. Therefore, the Fed has essentially solved the BTFP problem; the entire UST and MBS balance sheet of the insolvent US banking system (I estimate at $4 trillion) will be supported when needed by money printed to finance loans through the discount window. This is why I believe the markets haven’t forced any non-TBTF banks into bankruptcy post-March 12th, when the BTFP ended. Bank Capital Requirements Banks are often called upon to finance governments who offer bonds at yields less than nominal GDP. But why would private for-profit entities buy something that features a negative real yield? They do it because the banking regulators allow banks to purchase government bonds with little to no money down. When the banks, who hold an insufficient capital cushion against their government bond portfolio, inevitably blow up because inflation appears and bond prices fall as yields rise, the Fed allows them to use the discount window in the manner described above. As a result, banks would rather buy and hold government bonds than lend to businesses and individuals in need of capital. When you or I buy anything using borrowed money, we must pledge collateral or equity against potential losses. That is prudent risk management. But the rules are different if you are a vampire squid zombie bank. After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the world’s banking regulators attempted to force banks globally to hold more capital, thus creating a more robust and resilient global banking system. The system of rules that codified these changes are called Basel III. The problem with Basel III is that government bonds are not treated as riskless. Banks must put a small amount of capital behind their gargantuan portfolio of sovereign bonds. These capital requirements have proven problematic during times of stress. During the COVID March 2020 market crash, the Fed decreed that banks could hold USTs with no collateral backing. This allowed banks to step in and warehouse trillions of dollars worth of USTs in a riskless fashion … at least in terms of their accounting treatment. When the crisis abated, the supplemental leverage ratio (SLR) exemption for USTs was reinstated. Predictably, as UST prices fell due to inflation, banks went bust due to an insufficient capital cushion. The Fed rode to the rescue with the BTFP and now the discount window, but that only covers losses from the last crisis. How can banks step up and slurp down more bonds at the current unattractively high prices? The US banking system loudly proclaimed in November 2023 that due to Basel III forcing them to hold more capital against their government bond portfolios, Bad Gurl Yellen could not stuff them with more bonds. Therefore, something had to give because the US government has no other natural buyers of its debt at these negative real yields. Below is the polite way the banks phrased their precarious situation. Demand for US Treasuries may have softened among several traditional buyers. Bank security portfolio assets have been declining since last year, with bank holdings of Treasuries down $154 billion compared to one year ago. Source: Report to the Secretary of the Treasury from the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee Again, the Fed – led by Powell – saved the day. Out of nowhere, at a recent , Powell proclaimed that banks would not be subject to higher capital requirements. Remember that many politicians called for banks to hold more capital so that the regional banking crisis of 2023 would not repeat itself. Obviously, the banks lobbied hard to nullify these higher capital requirements. They had a good argument –  if you, Bad Gurl Yellen, want us to buy dogshit government bonds, then we can only do it profitably with infinite leverage. Banks around the world run every flavour of government; the US is no different. US Senate Banking hearing The icing on the cake was a recent letter from the International Swaps Dealer Association (ISDA) advocating for an exemption of USTs from the SLR I spoke about earlier. In essence, banks can only hold USTs in the trillions of dollars needed to finance the US government deficit on a go-forward basis if they are required to put no money down. I expect as the US Treasury ramps up debt issuance, the ISDA proposal will be accepted. This excellent chart from clearly shows how wasteful the US Government is, as evidenced by the record-high deficit. The two recent periods where deficit spending was higher were due to the 2008 GFC and the boomer-led COVID lockdowns. The US economy is growing, but the government is spending money like it's an economic depression. Bianco Research Taken together, the relaxation of capital requirements and a likely future exemption of USTs from the SLR are a covert way of money printing. The Fed doesn’t print the money, rather the banking system creates the credit money out of thin air and purchases the bonds which then appear on their balance sheet. As always, the goal is to ensure that government bond yields do not rise to a level above the nominal GDP growth rate. As long as real rates remain negative, stonks, crypto, gold, etc., will continue advancing in fiat currency terms. Bad Gurl Yellen My essay “ ” spoke in depth about how the US Treasury, led by Bad Gurl Yellen, increased the issuance of short-term Treasury bills (T-bills) in an effort to drain the trillions of dollars locked in the Fed’s Reverse Repo Program (RRP). As expected, the RRP decline coincided with a rip higher in stonks, bonds, and crypto. But now that the RRP is down to $400 billion, the market is wondering what the next source of fiat liquidity will be that bolsters asset prices. Don’t you worry, Yellen ain’t done yet, shout ‘bout to booty drop. Bad Gurl RRP Balance (white) vs. Bitcoin (yellow) The flow of fiat funds I will discuss focuses on US tax payments, the Fed’s Quantitative Tightening (QT) program, and the Treasury General Account (TGA). The timeline in question is from April 15th (the day tax payments are due for the 2023 tax year) to May 1st. Let me provide a quick guide on their positive or negative impact on liquidity to help you understand the implications of these three things. remove liquidity from the system. That is because payers must remove cash from the financial system by selling securities for example, in order to pay their taxes. Analysts expect tax payments for the 2023 tax year to be on the high side because of the large amounts of interest income received and a solid performance in the stock market. Tax Payments removes liquidity from the system. As of March 2022, the Fed allows roughly $95 billion worth of UST and MBS to mature without reinvesting the proceeds. This causes the Fed’s balance sheet to fall, which we all know reduces dollar liquidity. However, we are not concerned about the absolute level of the Fed’s balance sheet but the pace at which it declines. Analysts, like Joe Kalish of Ned Davis Research, expect the Fed to reduce the pace of QT by $30 billion per month at its May 1st meeting. The reduction in the pace of QT is positive for dollar liquidity as the Fed’s balance sheet rate of decline slows. QT When the balance rises, it removes liquidity from the system, but when it falls, it adds liquidity to the system. When the Treasury receives tax payments, the TGA balance rises. I expect the TGA balance to swell well above the current ~$750 billion level as tax payments are processed on April 15th. This is dollar liquidity negative. Don’t forget it's an election year. Yellen’s job is to get her boss, US President , reelected. That means she must do all she can to juice the stock market to make voters feel rich and ascribe this great outcome to the slow “genius” of Bidenomics. When the RRP balances finally go to zero, Yellen will spend down the TGA, releasing, most likely, an additional $1 trillion of liquidity into the system, which will pump markets. TGA Jeo Boden The precarious period for risky assets is April 15th to May 1st. This is when tax payments remove liquidity from the system, QT rumbles on at the current elevated pace, and Yellen has yet to start running down the TGA. After May 1st, the pace of QT declines, and Yellen gets busy cashing checks to jack up asset prices. If you are a trader looking for an opportune time to put on a cheeky short position, the month of April is the perfect time to do so. After May 1st, it’s back to regular programming … asset inflation sponsored by Fed and US Treasury financial shenanigans. Bitcoin Halving The Bitcoin block reward is forecast to halve on April 20th. This is seen as a bullish catalyst for crypto markets. I agree that it will pump prices in the medium term; however, the price action directly before and after could be negative. The narrative of the halving being positive for crypto prices is well entrenched. When most market participants agree on a certain outcome, the opposite usually occurs. That is why I believe Bitcoin and crypto prices in general will slump around the halving. Given that the halving occurs at a time when dollar liquidity is tighter than usual, it will add propellant to a raging firesale of crypto assets. The timing of the halving adds further weight to my decision to abstain from trading until May. To date I took full profit on these positions, MEW, SOL, and NMT. The proceeds were placed into and staked to earn that phat yield. Before Ethena, I would have held USDT or USDC and earned nothing while Tether and Circle captured the entire T-bill yield. Ethena’s USDe Could the market defy my bearish inclinations and continue higher? Fuck yeah. I’m perennially long as fuck crypto, so I welcome being wrong. Do I really want to babysit my most speculative shitcoin positions while I’m two-stepping at Token2049 Dubai? Hell no. Therefore, I dump. There is no need to be upset. If the dollar liquidity scenarios I discussed above come true, I will have that much more confidence to ape into all manner of dogshit. If I miss a few percentage points of gains but definitely avoid losses for my portfolio and lifestyle, that is an acceptable outcome. With that, I bid you adieu. Please remember to put your dancing shoes on, and I will see you in Dubai for a celebration of the crypto bull market.

Heatwave

তাপপ্রবাহ

Hitzewelle

Ola de calor

Vague De Chaleur

हीटवेव

熱波

폭염

Onda de calor

Волна тепла

Sıcak hava dalgası

Đợt nắng nóng

热浪

USA v. Samuel Bankman-Fried Court Filing, retrieved on March 15, 2024 is part of . You can jump to any part in this filing . This part is 26 of 33. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here III. A Very Significant Sentence Is Necessary for General Deterrence A very significant sentence of imprisonment is also necessary in this case to afford adequate general deterrence to criminal conduct. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(B). “Considerations of (general) deterrence argue for punishing more heavily those offenses that either are lucrative or are difficult to detect and punish, since both attributes go to increase the expedited benefits of a crime and hence the punishment required to deter it.” United States v. Heffernan, 43 F.3d 1144, 1149 (7th Cir. 1994); see also United States v. Martin, 455 F.3d 1227, 1240 (11th Cir. 2006) (“Because economic and fraud-based crimes are more rational, cool, and calculated than sudden crimes of passion or opportunity, these crimes are prime candidates for general deterrence.” (quotation marks and citation omitted)); United States v. Mueffelman, 470 F.3d 33, 40 (1st Cir. 2006) (deterrence of white-collar crime is “of central concern to Congress”). Here, a sentence of 40 to 50 years is necessary to serve that purpose. The enormity and audacity of Bankman-Fried’s crimes has understandably captured the attention of both the public, generally, and those involved in cryptocurrency or finance specifically. Thus, the deterrent message and effect of the sentence imposed by the Court in this case will resonate significantly with any individual or institution tempted to engage in conduct similar to that of the defendant. This need for deterrence is especially important in the area of cryptocurrency, where some individuals have operated under the misimpression that they are unregulated, not subject to criminal laws, or can avoid scrutiny or significant jail time. Bankman-Fried contends that the loss of his reputation and finances is sufficient to deter him (and others who have seen what has happened) from further misconduct. (Def. Mem. at 66- 69). But that is simply not the case. As Judge Swain cogently explained in sentencing Peter Madoff: The Court is also very much aware that [the defendant] and his family have lost the assets, reputation, financial security and social position that they had enjoyed.… That punishment while indisputably severe is not alone sufficient to effect a punishment that is just, given the nature, magnitude and context of the crimes for which [the defendant] is being sentenced today. Many people and institutions have suffered the same fall from wealth, privilege and in many cases even basic levels of financial security as a result of the massive fraud. Ordinary wage-earning people who had planned for ordinary comfortable retirements are among the victims here too…. Proper punishment also requires a lengthy term of imprisonment, the punitive loss of [the defendant’s] personal freedom. Such a sentence is also necessary to serve the deterrence function of sentencing…. the world in which [the defendant’s] conduct took place is full of many temptations and opportunities to breach trust relationships for personal gain. The consequences of such behavior must be harsh to help deter others from taking the path of dishonesty and theft. United States v. Peter Madoff, No. 10 Cr. 228 (LTS) (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 20, 2012) (Sent. Tr. at 28- 29). That reasoning applies with greater force to this defendant. The studies cited by the defendant, on the other hand, are wrong, or at least do not apply here. (Def. Mem. at 66). The prospect of punishment, and not the severity, may be enough in some cases to deter. But not here. This case presents an appropriate opportunity for the Court to send a strong signal to market participants. See, e.g., United States v. Ulbricht, 858 F.3d 71, 94 (2d Cir. 2017) (affirming district court’s sentence which took into account, among other things, general deterrence and the fact that the sentence imposed “could have a powerful general deterrent effect because the case had attracted an unusually large amount of publicity”). A sentence of the length proposed by the defendant would have the perversely opposite effect: it would send the message that “the defendant’s crime is not so serious,” “the punishment is not so severe,” “it is not like the major frauds of the past.” Especially in light of the publicity to which the defendant points, an unjustifiably lenient sentence would encourage others who might be tempted to engage in fraud that the rewards of such wrongful activity may be worth the price. Bankman-Fried also argues that the negative publicity from the prosecution is enough of a deterrent. But simply because a case has been widely reported on and drawn notoriety does not suggest that imprisonment is not required to promote deterrence. As the Second Circuit has explained: [T]he circumstances referred to by the district court do not constitute punishment. The public nature of criminal prosecutions is part of our constitutional fabric; the public humiliation suffered by one prosecuted and convicted of a crime is an ordinary consequence of his conduct, not a condition imposed by the criminal codes or the judicial process. These circumstances, though adverse, are not what § 3553(a)(2)(A) means by “punishment.” Hence they cannot properly be viewed as fulfilling the need for the imposition of just punishment. And given that the more massive a fraud, the more likely it is that the prosecution will generate publicity, the logical extension of the district court's view—i.e., that Freedman’s public humiliation and the public nature of his prosecution were punishment enough—would mean that the more flagrant the crime, the less actual statutorily prescribed “punishment” it would require. And of course, the less punishment that is meted out, the less deterrent effect the sentence will have on others contemplating similar crimes. United States v. Cutler, 520 F.3d 136, 171 (2d Cir. 2008). Here, general deterrence is of the utmost important in this case, and that is why a lengthy term of imprisonment in line with other defendants who embezzled hundreds of millions or billions in customer funds is necessary. Continue Reading . Here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on March 15, 2024, from is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. storage.courtlistener

SBF lengthy Jail Time to Serve as Financial Crime Deterrent 

What would you do if insurance claims disappeared? Not just for days, but for weeks? More than are asking this question after the cyberattack on Change Healthcare. 25% of American physicians Change Healthcare is America’s largest healthcare payer system, handling more than 15 billion healthcare transactions per year. After the ransomware attack on February 21, 2024, thousands of providers woke up to failing systems — including the inability to submit insurance claims. As more and more systems become operational, thousands of healthcare organizations are finding their footing. And yet, the ramifications of an attack this size may impact the industry for years on end. The Real Impact of the Change Healthcare Attack The Change Healthcare cyberattack has continued to make waves for physicians and patients. Estimates calculate for America’s affected healthcare providers. Thousands of patients have also been caught in the crossfire, with many unable to purchase much-needed medication. a loss of $100 million per day Physicians have accumulated a backlog of claims worth millions of dollars overall. Even nonprofit health plans have been asked to front advance payments on the long road to recovery. Fortunately, there is a tentative end in sight: Change Healthcare has announced electronic payment functionality . Connectivity testing with its claims network software should come a few days later on March 18. as soon as mid-March It’s clear the healthcare industry has been flipped upside down, and the unfortunate reality is, it’s likely to happen again. This isn’t just a one-off incident — it may be our new normal in the age of cyberattacks. Where We Go From Here The Change Healthcare cyberattack highlights an important reality for the healthcare industry. No payouts provider is immune from ransomware, and with , avoiding risk is all-but impossible. a growing number of cyberattacks But the silver lining to this situation is that we can learn from the past to inform the future. What do healthcare providers need to consider in the new age of cyberattacks? This is a Systemic Problem There is no single solution to outages and downtime. Everyone is at risk for cyberattacks, especially sensitive industries such as healthcare. The smartest way to avoid the heaviest hits is to decentralize risk as much as possible. Traditional healthcare systems rely on consolidated clearinghouses, which in the case of Change Healthcare, could expose businesses to huge financial risks. The best course of action is decentralization, which de-risks your business by a greater degree. Decentralization = De-Risking Variety is an essential consideration for insurance clearing houses. This is especially true of healthcare organizations relying on a single payer. is an efficient solution to traditional methods of claims submission. Payer Gateway connection redundancy Implementing this now could save many headaches in the future, especially when pitted against situations similar to this. Redundancy Matters More Than Ever In the new era of cyberattacks and ransomware, redundancy is key for long-lasting protection. Flexible systems and adaptable software ensure a seamless transition between payers and organizations. Working with newer, more modernized systems may hold the key for navigating future threats. For now, decentralization will be key for de-risking, both for healthcare businesses and the patients they serve.

Lessons Learned From the Change Healthcare Cyberattack

Playing Checkers With Genetic Algorithms: Evolutionary Learning in Traditional Games

জেনেটিক অ্যালগরিদম দিয়ে চেকার খেলা: ঐতিহ্যগত গেমে বিবর্তনীয় শিক্ষা

Dame spielen mit genetischen Algorithmen: Evolutionäres Lernen in traditionellen Spielen

Jugar a las damas con algoritmos genéticos: aprendizaje evolutivo en juegos tradicionales

Jouer aux dames avec des algorithmes génétiques : apprentissage évolutif dans les jeux traditionnels

जेनेटिक एल्गोरिदम के साथ चेकर्स खेलना: पारंपरिक खेलों में विकासवादी शिक्षा

遺伝的アルゴリズムを使用したチェッカーのプレイ: 従来のゲームにおける進化的学習

유전 알고리즘으로 체커 게임하기: 전통 게임의 진화 학습

Jogando Damas com Algoritmos Genéticos: Aprendizagem Evolutiva em Jogos Tradicionais

Игра в шашки с использованием генетических алгоритмов: эволюционное обучение в традиционных играх

Genetik Algoritmalarla Dama Oynamak: Geleneksel Oyunlarda Evrimsel Öğrenme

Chơi cờ đam bằng thuật toán di truyền: Học tập tiến hóa trong các trò chơi truyền thống

用遗传算法玩西洋跳棋：传统游戏中的进化学习

178 Stories To Learn About Essay

103 Stories To Learn About Banking

Carbon Aware Computing: Next Green Breakthrough or New Greenwashing?

কার্বন সচেতন কম্পিউটিং: পরবর্তী গ্রিন ব্রেকথ্রু বা নতুন গ্রিনওয়াশিং?

CO2-bewusstes Computing: Nächster grüner Durchbruch oder neues Greenwashing?

Computación consciente del carbono: ¿próximo avance ecológico o nuevo lavado verde?

Informatique respectueuse du carbone : prochaine percée verte ou nouveau greenwashing ?

कार्बन अवेयर कंप्यूटिंग: अगला ग्रीन ब्रेकथ्रू या नया ग्रीनवाशिंग?

カーボン アウェア コンピューティング: 次のグリーン ブレークスルーか、それとも新たなグリーンウォッシングか?

탄소 인식 컴퓨팅: 차세대 친환경 혁신인가 아니면 새로운 Greenwashing인가?

Computação Consciente do Carbono: Próximo Avanço Verde ou Nova Lavagem Verde?

Вычисления с учетом выбросов углерода: следующий «зеленый прорыв» или новое «зеленое отмывание»?

Karbon Farkında Bilgi İşlem: Bir Sonraki Yeşil Atılım mı, Yeni Bir Yeşil Yıkama mı?

Máy tính nhận biết carbon: Đột phá xanh tiếp theo hay tẩy xanh mới?

碳感知计算：下一个绿色突破还是新的绿色清洗？

301 Stories To Learn About Cryptocurrency Top Story

183 Stories To Learn About Crypto Exchange

Note: a SWOT analysis is an evaluation of the fundamental, operational, technical, social, economic, and even to some degree administrative elements of a project. This is not a model to be used for trading purposes. (NFA, DYOR) Composed of four elements, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, a SWOT analysis framework provides excellent insight for establishing a high-level understanding of the state of a project's well-being through the lens of a birds-eye view. It can help formulate decisions around which areas require more attention, set performance goals, and organize a foundational understanding of where a project is headed. Rarely (if ever) used in crypto, it is time to apply this timeless method of evaluation to the digital asset space. Today, , the alternative, new generation layer one born from the ashes of Meta's DIEM, will get a SWOT. Aptos (APT) 💪 Strengths (Internal) (Helpful) 1. Flywheel of Innovation Aptos is consolidating the best of all worlds by applying some of the most cutting-edge designs across every element of the project. From governance optimizations that allow delegating actors the right to post independent votes, transactional optimizations separating gas payers and transaction senders, allowing sponsored/subsidized activity, functional optimizations splitting consensus away from data dissemination, improving efficiency, alongside the MOVE language, MOVEVM, AptosBFTv4, Block STM, and an ever-expanding set of AIP (Aptos Improvement Proposals), the project is in a neverending cycle of self-improvement. Obviously, many projects can lay claim to their innovations, but the reasoning behind why this is highlighted for Aptos specifically has to do with how openly available all of the information is and how relatively easily it can be accessed. 2. Derived from Meta Aptos is the result of the research and development conducted by (formerly Facebook) during their attempt to launch the cryptocurrency projects Diem and Novi. After the regulatory heat against Meta became too difficult to deal with, the infrastructure was spun off into Aptos. Inheriting all of the knowledge, corporate support, and intellectual capital, Aptos was able to raise a cool USD 400 million in 2022 on the back of its reputation/merits. Having the notoriety and prestige of association with Meta gives Aptos potentially unlimited capacity for fundraising and networking. Moreover, given the extent of private deals that take place in crypto land, it is not impossible to rule out some kind of shadowy/indirect affiliation between Meta and Aptos. Meta 3. MOVE Programming Language Originally developed by Meta for its Diem crypto project, MOVE is a functional language based on , which has become one of the most promising up-and-coming languages in the Web3 space. Avidly explored by new-generation teams today, including SUI, there is an entire ecosystem of projects now contributing to the progression and growth of MOVE. By leveraging MOVE for its architecture Aptos is building an army of powerful, specialty engineers and distinguishing itself from nearly every other project. Moreover, if the primitives that MOVE provides truly result in a user/developer experience that penetrates the mass markets, Aptos would be the thought leader in the space whom everybody else would refer to. RUST 4. Intuitive Learning Modules Developer onboarding has by far been the most critical bottleneck facing Web3 as a whole. New virtual machines, data structure, and logic already present an intellectual hurdle for devs to conquer; the onslaught of new languages has only further muddied the waters and made it that much less appealing for new programmers. Perhaps due to their experience and understanding of the Web2 world, Aptos has provided not just excellent documentation of its information but has gone beyond with tutorials in a highly comprehensive, inviting format. By reducing the friction associated with the Web3 learning curve, Aptos becomes a desirable place for new Developers to arrive. 5. Decent Decentralization With over 125 validators currently active and a Nakamoto coefficient ranging from 15–17, Aptos deserves credit for achieving a notable level of decentralization, given how still young the project is. The decentralization is achieved through coordinated efforts between early-stage participants with locked tokens and a lot of delegating power and the Aptos foundation itself, diligently spreading their votes to maximally optimize for a more even distribution. This movement (no pun intended) is counterintuitive to the centralized-overlord image many degens paint about Aptos; even if the current levels of decentralization stay steady, Aptos would be more decentralized (at the validator level) than the vast majority of the projects on the first 10 pages of CoinMarketCap. 6. Staking Ratio Over >83% Of the roughly 1,070,000,000 APT tokens in existence, there are 892,118,332 APT tokens, or just over ~83.37%, currently staked. While the caveat here is that the locked tokens belonging to early-stage investors are also staked, that remains among the highest of any tier-one staking crypto project. At this level, the staking ratio becomes a leading correlational (delayed) indicator that can be used to gauge the macro state of the network at a given moment. Based on how this metric fluctuates over time, it becomes possible to evaluate the level of conviction of the current stakeholder set and even model how the supply will flow. The most exciting change to observe will be how the unlocks impact it. 😞 Weaknesses (Internal) (Harmful) 1. Vicious APT Unlocks Upcoming Starting in December of 2023, the rate of "genesis" tokens (those allocated to early participants) coming into circulating supply will increase, set to double the total supply in 2024 alone. With roughly 300 million tokens (~30%) already in circulation, the relative amount of new tokens making their way into the marketplace will potentially result in suppressed prices during upcoming rallies as earlier investors look to offload their positions. 2. Locked Supply Staking Aptos allows for the tokens that are locked away to be staked. The tokens earned are immediately liquid, creating a conflicting set of interests between user groups. The motivation behind such a decision is understandable: to entice early-stage participants with all the more economic incentives; however, allowing for this to take place creates a closed environment where only deep-pocketed, resourceful participants amplify their control over the network. Given how disproportionately large the amount of locked tokens being staked versus free-floating tokens is, the locked staking supply makes Aptos a "Rich get Richer System." 3. Low Stablecoin Interest Stablecoins are a direct expression of a network's retail/commercial adoption. Coming in sub $50 million (USDC dominating >75% of the stable supply) and the presence of just a single project currently working within the Stablecoin segment, that is Thala with the MOD (Move Dollar), Aptos is very behind on this front. 🧐 Opportunities (External) (Helpful) 1. Pipeline of Megalodon Partners Already locked in a deal with Microsoft that brings Aptos Move to the GitHub Co-Pilot and the Microsoft AI to the Aptos community. With its strong emphasis on gaming and NFTs, Aptos has been able to secure a multitude of partnerships with prominent organizations around the world, including NeoWiz, Marblex, Lotte Group, and others. Outside of gaming, areas such as ticketing with KYD Labs and collectible community Art with NBCUniversal have also caught some recognition. Moving forward, it seems that the pace of new partnerships and their significance will only continue to increase. 2. Chingari Application Integration Ranked third by gross income and boasting over 100 million downloads from the Google app store, Chingari is considered to be one of the underdogs on the Web2 social media scene. Integrating Aptos sometime in the second half of 2023, Chingari empowered users with the ability to mint and transact in Aptos native digital assets. This single application, with its limited utilities and limited audience awareness, resulted in a quadrupling of on-chain activity. 3. Synergies with Eastern APAC Region The eastern APAC (Asia Pacific) region is a massive, developing market that has just begun to enter the crypto economy. Countries such as China, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc., are home to highly digitized societies with a historical inclination towards gambling as a vehicle to escape their economic circumstances. Aptos has been putting forth much more effort to win the hearts of the APAC communities while the US has been stuck in regulatory limbo. If the next crypto cycle is led by non-US countries, Aptos is positioned well to capture that influx. 4. DEFI Growth Sitting at around ~80 million USD in TVL across its DEFI platforms, Aptos has a tremendous runway for new capital. Both legacy DEFI projects as well as newly built ones, stand to benefit from extending services to the Aptos Network. The lower the starting point, the greater the impact of inflows; moving TVL from ~80m to ~380m is a 375% increase, and moving it from ~380m to ~680m is 79%. 5. Integrations with External OG Protocols Alternative networks (including Ethereum, Solana, Binance, and others) have already established superiority in the degree of applications built on them. Meanwhile, Aptos is still severely behind in terms of the number of protocols in its ecosystem; there are still no EVM projects on Aptos, but SushiSwap has already announced its intentions to become the first one. 😳 Threats (External) (Harmful) 1. Layer 1 Competition Layer 1's are easily the most contended sectors of the crypto economy. Their foundational nature to the establishment of a digital financial system has attracted competition from the world's brightest and best-funded teams around the world. Putting Ethereum aside, there has been an onslaught of new generation Layer 1's, from Solana to Near to SEI, SUI, and beyond, that provide superior technological capabilities over the preceding generation projects. Moving forward, the competition that Aptos faces will continue to become more sophisticated, forcing the project to stay at the bleeding edge (or become the focal point) in order to remain relevant. Takeaway: Aptos is a serious force to be reckoned with. Positioning itself as a very smooth, no-hype, no BS, technologically heavy project, Aptos is building a professional environment catering to a unique culture. Not wasting its resources trying to battle other communities, Aptos moves forward with big, peaceful, focused strides. Conclusion: There was a lot not mentioned in this coverage, including the suave, quixotic images and qualities of technical cofounders Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching. The deep ties to Venture Capital. The social strategy. The Supply policy. Perpetual Supply inflation is an element that is economically impossible to ignore, and Aptos has it. Usually, this would be deeply scrutinized; however, at a modest 7% tapering off to 1.5% by 2032 and a minuscule burning mechanism applied to all transaction fees, this seems to be a more balanced long-term approach. In the middle of experiencing its first full cycle in crypto, The nascency of Aptos holds much promise for future waves of projects that grow the ecosystem with retroactive airdrops, potentially resulting in recursive wealth effects that spill over into the token. Thank you so much for reading, I hope this serves you well on your journey. Live long and prosper 🥂 Also published here.

The Aptos (APT) SWOT Analysis

isn't just about mashing buttons or slaying dragons anymore. We're discussing a digital playground where gamers are viewers, creators, and buyers. Video games are weaving their pixel magic into everyone's lives, from your tech-savvy nephew to your grandma who still thinks 'Nintendo' is a new type of pasta. Games are becoming the new crossword puzzles, book clubs, and even yoga sessions for all ages. Gaming Note: Gen Alpha (born 2010 or later / 10-13 y.o.) Gen Z (born 1995-2009 / 14-28 y.o.) Millennials (born 1981-1994/29-42 y.o.) Gen X (born 1965-1980 / 43-58 y.o.) Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964 / 59-65 y.o.) Gaming's popularity Gaming's popularity isn't just growing. It's skyrocketing. Younger generations, in particular, choose gaming as their go-to form of entertainment, often even over traditional options like TV and movies. Not just a hobby. It's a cultural phenomenon, a way of life. As younger generations grow with gaming and technologies like cross-platform play and high-quality mobile games become more accessible, we will see even more inclusivity. Believe it or not, 40% of Baby Boomers also dive into gaming. The generation that brought us rock'n'roll is now leveling up in the virtual world. Not bad at all! But what with the Gen Alpha, the rising stars? A mind-blowing 94% of them are already game enthusiasts. This isn't just about playing. Now, it's more about being part of a gaming culture that's as natural to them as scrolling through a phone is to us. They're playing, watching, owning, and socializing in the gaming world. Multiplatform growth Get this: about half of Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials are instantly hopping from one platform to another. Mobile gaming? Check. PC battles? You bet. Console showdowns? Absolutely. Meanwhile, older generations are taking a different route. They're the laid-back, casual gamers who find joy in games that are like a relaxing Sunday afternoon. There is no need for epic quests or high scores. It's all about unwinding and having a good time. The trend of multiplatform gaming isn't just a fleeting fad. It’s gearing up to be the future of gaming. Money Regarding spending, about 60% of Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials have opened their wallets for video games in the past six months. The younger generations love to splash their cash (or their parents) on playable characters, seeking a deeper personal connection with the games. Whether for that shiny new sword or a snazzy space suit, Millennials are on top here to spend and spruce up their virtual experiences. But it's not just Millennials. Gamers from every generation are smoothly transitioning to payers. Of course, mobile gaming tops the charts in terms of paying players. In-game spending patterns reveal much about what each generation values in their gaming lives. While in-game currencies are a universal favorite, Gen X and Baby Boomers tend to invest more in utilitarian items like gear and content packs, reflecting a more practical approach to their gaming experience. The free-to-play model reigns supreme across all platforms and generations. However, console gaming sees a more even split between free-to-play and pay-to-play, especially among Gen Z and Millennials, likely due to the rise of subscription services. Baby Boomers, meanwhile, stick primarily to free-to-play, aligning with their preference for casual games. But we talk about that a little bit later. Video games and gaming platforms are the new hotspots for brands to strut their stuff. Over 50% of Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennial players discover new brands while gaming. Here's the unexpected part! Gamers across generations tend to have a more positive attitude toward those brands. It could be the thrill of discovery or the joy of finding something new in a familiar game, but brands are making friends in the gaming world. Streaming As newer generations join the party, they bring in a wave of diverse engagement. We're talking about watching game streams, joining gaming communities, socializing in virtual worlds, tuning into podcasts, and integrating gaming into every aspect of life. Amidst all these engaging activities, viewing has emerged as a superstar. The gaming video boom is accurate, and it's spectacular. When old-school gamers prefer to play, 70% of Gen Alpha are not just about gaming. They're also avid viewers. This generation seamlessly switches between controller and spectator mode. Younger generations are all about the whole experience – playing the games, kicking back, and enjoying game streams and videos. They are all about the laughs and the highlights. Comedic gaming videos and compilations are their new 'must-watch TV.' Also, more social projects like Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite are the hubs, creative studios, and adventure parks all in one for new gamers - that's gaming for Gen Alpha. Over half of the Millennial generation follows suit, balancing playing games and watching gaming content. They are the bridge generation, comfortably settled in both the active and passive realms of gaming. Gen X gamers also play and view but with a slight twist. While they enjoy gaming videos, their primary love remains the gameplay itself. And Baby Boomers, on the other hand, are the purists of the gaming world. They typically lean towards playing games exclusively, preferring the direct experience of the game over watching others play. Identity, similarities, and differences between gaming generations Starting with baby boomers, only 12% of men and 8% of women in this generation call themselves “gamers.” Forward to Generation X, and the numbers start to change. Here, 29% of men and 19% of women consider themselves like this. From the millennial generation, gaming has become an essential part of the lifestyle for many. 54% of men and 39% of women proudly wear the gamer badge. Here, gaming is already the culture, way of life, and community they actively identify with. And yeah, on top is Generation Alpha, where 66% of men and 45% of women identify as gamers. Games for them are an integral part of their growing up, social interaction, and self-identity. Mobile gaming stands as the great unifier across all generations. Its low barriers to entry make it the most accessible platform, with 70% of Baby Boomers and a soaring 81% of Gen Alpha engaged. The younger generations will rule the roost in console and PC gaming. These platforms are prevalent among Gen Alfa (50%), Gen Z (43%), and Millennials (44%), offering a richer, more immersive gaming experience. Motivations to play games vary significantly across generations Starting with our Baby Boomers, their gaming motivation leans heavily towards mastery (17%). They're not as hooked on the social aspects. Instead, they find satisfaction in conquering challenges and mastering skills. Conversely, Gen Alpha gamers thrive on social interaction (48%) and immersion (46%). For them, gaming is a playground for making friends and diving into exciting worlds. But demonstrating your achievements is also essential for Baby Boomers (19%) and Gen Alpha (46%). For Gen Z and Millennials, Immersion is the biggest deal (44% for both generations). These generations seek experiences that envelop them in alternative realities, offering escape and excitement. Genres and gameplay preferences When it comes to genre preferences, there's a clear generational divide. Older gamers, including Baby Boomers, often gravitate towards puzzles (41%) and match games (28%). Meanwhile, Gen Alpha (42%), Gen Z (43%), and Millennials (41%) are Adventure genre seekers, often venturing into titles that offer expansive narratives and worlds to explore. Gen X combines two worlds and plays in Puzzles (36%), Matching (31%), and Adventure games (27%). The younger crowd also strongly prefers multiplayer genres like Battle Royale and Racing. This underscores their desire for socializing within games, turning each gaming session into a social event. Millennials have a special place in their hearts for narrative-driven games. Growing up in the '90s and 2000s, when story-rich games were in their prime, they craved games with compelling plots and rich exploration. Conclusion As we wrap up this exploration into the dynamic and diverse gaming world, a few key themes emerge, painting a vivid picture of how gaming has evolved and continues to shape our digital culture. 1. Baby Boomers and Gen X find solace in puzzles and mastery, while Millennials immerse themselves in narrative-driven adventures. On the other hand, Gen Alpha and Gen Z blend gaming with social interaction, thriving in a world where playing, watching, and creating content go hand in hand. Each generation brings its unique perspective to gaming. 2. With technological advancements and a shift in gamer preferences, , especially among younger generations. Gen Alpha, in particular, demonstrates a remarkable fluidity in moving between consoles, PCs, and mobile devices, reflecting a broader trend towards more integrated gaming experiences. multiplatform gaming has become increasingly prevalent 3. , from comedic sketches to in-depth reviews, caters to various tastes and preferences across age groups. This trend has transformed how players interact with games and opened new avenues for developers and publishers to engage with their audience. The explosion of gaming-related video content 4. in their gaming experiences. Younger gamers lean towards cosmetic or character-related purchases, reflecting a desire for personalization and representation, while older gamers invest in utilitarian items, emphasizing functionality and enhancement of gameplay. In-game spending habits reveal much about what different generations value More than just a pastime, gaming has become a significant part of our social fabric. For many, especially younger generations, it is a key component of identity and community, transcending traditional boundaries of entertainment.

Gaming Across Generations—A Comparative Study 

জেনারেশন জুড়ে গেমিং—একটি তুলনামূলক অধ্যয়ন

Gaming über Generationen hinweg – Eine vergleichende Studie

Juegos entre generaciones: un estudio comparativo

Le jeu à travers les générations : une étude comparative

पीढ़ियों तक गेमिंग-एक तुलनात्मक अध्ययन

世代を超えたゲーム—比較研究

세대 간 게임 - 비교 연구

Jogos entre gerações – um estudo comparativo

Игры разных поколений — сравнительное исследование

Nesiller Arası Oyun Oynama—Karşılaştırmalı Bir Araştırma

Chơi game giữa các thế hệ—Một nghiên cứu so sánh

跨代游戏——比较研究

Proposing a departure from prevailing cryptoeconomic theories that govern blockchain ecosystems, this series aims to establish a novel framework for decentralized consensus protocols. 1. Market Incentives and Adverse Effects is the use of game theory, cryptographic proofs, and computer science to guarantee future economic outcomes. Most of the top protocols in the blockchain ecosystem, such as , , and others, apply cryptoeconomics, for example in describing the fault tolerance of a protocol through the , which is a problem, but also when incentivizing the systems, such as proof-of-work mining rewards, proof-of-stake validator rewards, and making it very costly to perform attacks against the networks, eg 51% attacks. Cryptoeconomics Bitcoin Ethereum “Byzantine Generals Problem” coordination game The problem with cryptoeconomics today is that it has been used to theorize protocol development and user experiences in ways that assume that people are profit-maximizing individualists and that, by seeking their self-interest, this behavior is rational. For example, individual stakes 32 ETH to become a validator, and there are validator rewards -- which is why anyone would become a validator -- and they are expected to behave accordingly (eg not maliciously) otherwise they face penalties and their ETH is slashed. In this cryptoeconomics, self-interest is the invisible hand that makes everyone behave according to the rules of the game, but there are adverse effects. For example, when trading crypto pairs it is natural to buy cheap and sell dear for as low as personal risk as possible. This helps enable perverse market incentives where opportunities for and generate externalities and occur at the expense of the rest of network and community wellbeing. For example, the Flashbots team revealed that 'maximal extracted value'(MEV) accounted for through exploiting MEV frontrunning, arbitrage, and other strategies. arbitrage frontrunning ~900 million USD in 2021 2. Token Economics and Profit-Driven Abstraction Another example is “Token economics”, which is a form of cryptoeconomics that abstracts away protocol considerations, and is driven by the desire to tokenize everything. Distributed ledger technologies and decentralized consensus protocols are too important for people and the planet to leave to the interests of self-interest and profit maximization. An intervention is needed to promote an alternative so that protocols and applications can be built which promote better values. 3. Capitalist Framework and Bias in Development That the assumptions underlying today's cryptoeconomics have biased the evolution of distributed ledger technology and decentralized consensus protocols towards self-interest and profit maximization is no surprise. This is consistent in a society based on capitalism and markets where buyers and sellers fleece one another to gain wealth and power while the vast majority struggle to survive. The profit-maximizing individualist, today's proponent of cryptoeconomics, might roll their eyes before countering that the individual's struggle for personal wealth has reduced poverty overall and so profit maximization has done more good than harm. This is a basic liberal view consistent with social contract theory. For example, John Rawls' theory of justice envisioned a just outcome being one that raised the position of those least well-off in society to one that is better. He did so through a where an individual is asked to imagine the principles they would use to guide a basic structure of society, without knowing ahead of time what position they would hold in that society. The choice is made behind a “veil of ignorance” which prevents them from knowing their own race, class, gender, ability or decision-making status and also without knowing anyone else's. “veil of ignorance” thought experiment The idea is for an individual to imagine guiding principles for a just society. But this is not enough. That's because in Rawls' formulation, you can both improve the position of those least well off in society and -- at the same time -- increase the gap between the rich and poor, the powerful and the powerless, etc. and that is why self-seeking profit maximization is a poor argument for making societies more equal. 4. Toward a Post-Capitalist Cryptoeconomics The goal of a new post-capitalist cryptoeconomics is to increase the wellbeing of those less well-off and minimize the gap between rich and poor, the powerful and powerless, incentivized overall to drive society towards solidarity, classless, self-managing, directly democratic, and diverse outcomes. The post-capitalist cryptoeconomics spelled out in this series does not believe you can use game theory to program people or their behavior. That's because this theory abandons the outdated assumption that people are , the profit-maximizing individualist that haunts the crypto scene today. Instead, this effort aims to apply game theory, cryptography, and computer science to promote different values, however gently and non-deterministically, with an understanding that we cannot force people to behave the way we may want to. The forthcoming segments in this series will explore these issues in more detail. “homo economicus” delegat0x is a libertarian anti-capitalist R&D Engineer in the crypto space. They write about the intersections between philosophy, politics, media, alternatives to capitalism, social movements and collective autonomy. Also published here. “Cryptoeconomics” image produced by delegate0x using stability.ai

A Post-Capitalist Critique of Cryptoeconomics

ক্রিপ্টোইকোনমিক্সের একটি পোস্ট-পুঁজিবাদী সমালোচনা

Eine postkapitalistische Kritik der Kryptoökonomie

Una crítica poscapitalista a la criptoeconomía

Une critique postcapitaliste de la cryptoéconomie

क्रिप्टोइकोनॉमिक्स की एक उत्तर-पूंजीवादी आलोचना

仮想通貨経済に対するポスト資本主義批判

암호경제학에 대한 후기자본주의적 비판

Uma crítica pós-capitalista da criptoeconomia

Посткапиталистическая критика криптоэкономики

Kriptoekonominin Post-Kapitalist Eleştirisi

Một phê bình hậu tư bản về kinh tế học tiền điện tử

对加密经济学的后资本主义批判

If you're looking for a real challenge, look no further than the world of programming languages. Sure, you could play it safe and stick with the likes of Python or JavaScript, but where's the fun in that? If you're a thrill seeker and up for a challenge, you're in luck because I'm here to give you a rundown of the top most mind-bending languages out there. programming But remember, learning these languages is not for the faint of heart. You need to be ready for some brain exercise! Table of Contents What Are The Hardest Coding Languages? C++ Malbolge Haskell INTERCAL BrainF**k COW Whitespace Want To Learn Some Real Programming? Frequently Asked Questions Is C++ the hardest programming language? Which is harder, C or C++? Which is harder, C++ or Python? Which is the most difficult programming language? Learning the hardest programming languages in the world is similar to art in certain aspects. You begin with a blank canvas and basic raw materials. By combining science, art, and craft, you decide what to do with them. You sketch an overall form, paint the background, and then fill in the details. You continuously take a step back and look at what you've done with a critical eye. But then, you'll toss aside a canvas and start over. In simple words, the hardest programming languages to learn leave your brain in stubborn nodes and intricate code. However, learning any programming language, no matter how basic or complicated, requires time and effort. As a result, it is necessary to undertake significant research and choose a programming language suitable for the desired career route. In addition, a programming language's market value and usefulness have nothing to do with its complexity or convenience. Your final decision should depend on the usability of the language. The ability to make logical decisions using a query language and serial statements is analogous to computer programming languages, which is an advantage. What Are The Hardest Coding Languages? When we talk about c, c++, Java, Python, and other programming languages, there are some that are not only tough but completely unintelligible to most software engineers. They have built a reputation as esoteric programming languages (or esolang). Here is a detailed list of the top hardest programming languages to learn in 2023: C++ Bjarne Stroustrup developed , a general-purpose programming language,  as an extension to the C computing language. Development teams frequently utilize it in in-game and online development, as well as machine learning and data mining applications. C++ However, high-level languages like Python, Java, and JavaScript appear to have surpassed C++ in popularity and usage in recent years. This prompts developers to wonder: Is C++ hard to learn? The quick answer is yes! Because of its multi-paradigm nature and more complex syntax, C++ is difficult to master. While it is well renowned for being particularly tough for novices, it is equally challenging for programmers with no prior expertise with low-level languages. Malbolge Malbolge programming language robbed the mental peace of many developers, ingraining its name in the list of the hardest programming languages to learn. Ben Olmstead invented this language in 1998, and the first program took nearly two years to build so that you can appreciate the intricacy of this language. Malbolge's complexity stems mostly from (a) restricted instructions, (b) instruction substitution after execution, and (c) loadable data restrictions. To this end, coding in this language appears to be garbage or malfunctioning. As a matter of fact, many believe that Ben Olmstead never developed a single program in this language. However, Hisashi Lizawa proposed obfuscation in software protection by providing a programming guide in Malbolge. For example, unreadable programs are resistant to alteration. Assume Alice wishes to transmit a program (or binary code) to Bob, who will run the application. Even if it is an encrypted code, Bob needs authorization to decrypt it for it to be executed. As a result, Bob has the opportunity to change it. However, an unreadable program, written in the toughest programming languages to learn, layers the code and functions as encrypted data. Now, that is a significant advantage. Equally important, the language earned its name after the eighth circle of hell in Dante's Inferno, namely reserved for those guilty of fraud. To put it differently, Malbolge is "A programming language that came from HELL." Haskell You will fail to learn this toughest programming language at least 3 to 4 times before finally grasping it. But needless to say, it will ruin other programming languages for you! Haskell is a fully functional programming language. In imperative languages, you accomplish things by assigning tasks to the computer, which then performs them. It may change state while performing them. However, it is lazy. Unless explicitly instructed differently, Haskell will not perform functions or compute anything until compelled to offer you a result. This is consistent with referential transparency because it allows you to think of programs as a sequence of data transformations. INTERCAL Jim Lyon and Don Woods created INTERCAL, one of the hardest coding languages to learn, in 1972 as a satire of several computer languages. 'Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym.' was the first moniker given to it. INTERCAL includes various features that aim to frustrate programmers. For example, it employs modifiers such as "PLEASE". The compiler may reject it if the word "PLEASE" is not used frequently in the code. The program is deemed 'insufficiently courteous' by the organization. On the other hand, if the modifier 'PLEASE' is used too many times, the compiler rejects the code as 'excessively courteous.' BrainF**k A Swiss physics student called Urban Müller developed Brainfuck, in 1993 as an attempt to design a language with the smallest feasible compiler. Müller got the idea for Brainfuck from FALSE, a "perverse" programming language created earlier that year by Wouter van Oortmerssen, a Dutch software developer currently working at Google, with the purpose of producing a confusing Turing-complete language with the smallest feasible compiler. While modern programming languages like C++ may require a 2.6 Mb compiler, FALSE's compiler was just 1,024 bytes or nearly 2,600 times less. Because of the language's extraordinary simplicity, Brainfuck's compiler ended up being an order of magnitude smaller than FALSE at just 240 bytes. Brainfuck comprises only eight commands:, >, +, -, [,], and,. Despite its simplicity, the Brainfuck vocabulary is one of the most perplexing and difficult programming languages available owing to the large amount of code required to run a basic program. When a programmer wishes to learn a new language, for example, one of the first programs they normally teach themselves to create in that language is to print the word "Hello, World!" on the computer screen. The code for this application in a standard programming language like Python looks like this: However, the same program implemented in Brainfuck might look something like this: ++++++++++[>+++++++>++++++++++>+++>+<<<<-] ++.>+.+++++++..+++.>++.<<+++++++++++++++.>.+++.------.--------.>+.>. COW The name gives hundreds, if not thousands, a wrong impression. We are not indicating a technology that will help you talk with a cow. Nor do we plan to fabricate a Google Translate interface to uncover the hidden meaning of “MOO.” We are talking about one of the world’s top 6 hardest coding languages to learn in 2023, i.e., COW. It came into being in early 2013 and has received little attention from the development community. Later, it built a reputation as the most complex programming language in the world. Brainfuck is a bad influence on the COW, yet developers playfully built it with Bovine in mind. Cow contains 12 instructions, four more than Brainfuck, and is Turing complete. All 12 instructions are just variants of the word "MOO." Source: Cow Commands Whitespace Chris Morris and Edwin Brady created Whitespace at the University of Durham. The language debuted as one of the hardest languages to learn programming on April 1, 2003. The term "Whitespace" comes from the fact that it only employs three white characters: space, tab, and newline. As a result, the source code of programs written in Whitespace is rendered invisible. To make the code visible, three characters are commonly used: S for space (Space), T for tabulation (Tab), and L for new line (Line feed). Non-whitespace characters are ignored by the Whitespace interpreter and are treated as code comments. For example, a sequence of spaces might represent a single command, and a tab followed by a space might represent a different command. Because whitespace characters are not used to separate keywords or identifiers, like traditional programming languages, the source code written in whitespace looks like plain text with no distinguishable programming language syntax. Here's some code to display 'Hello, World!' in Whitespace. Want To Learn Some Real Programming? Mainstream programming needs the user to think in a specific way. However, esolangs encourage the user to think in ways that are useless and time-consuming yet nevertheless logical enough to develop complicated software. Therefore, we recommend skipping the hardest programming languages to learn as breakfast in 2023. But if you want to capitalize on real programming to retain your customers in this smart era, of InvoZone to bridge the gap in your company's talent pool! hire dedicated developers Frequently Asked Questions Is C++ the hardest programming language? It is difficult to say whether C++ is the hardest programming language, as the difficulty level can vary depending on the person learning the language and prior experience with programming. However, C++ is generally considered a more difficult language to learn than other popular programming languages, such as Python or , due to its complex syntax and steep learning curve. JavaScript Which is harder, C or C++? C and C++ are considered relatively low-level, systems-level programming languages, and both have a reputation for being difficult to learn. C is considered to be a relatively simple and minimalist language. It's often used as an introductory language to programming and computer science and gives you just what you need to get the job done. On the other hand, C++ is a more complex and feature-rich language, which has a steeper learning curve than C and adds several additional features such as object-oriented programming (OOP) support, templates, and a standard template library (STL).

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