Something Interesting

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Even more things that happened

All the news I didn't have space to print

KF
Jun 23, 2022
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Even more things that happened
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In this issue:

This issue is a grab-bag of extra stories and news scraps that I thought were interesting but didn’t *quite* make the cut into the main newsletter for whatever reason. This post was initially available only to paid subscribers, but has now unlocked for everyone.

Paid subscribers get access to occasional behind-the-scenes posts like this one, the Something Interesting archive and the community discord, where I spend most of my days lurking and will usually share rough drafts of posts for feedback before they are published. Studies show that paid subscribers are also smarter and more respected by their peers.

If any of that sounds interesting or if you just want to help support the content, consider becoming a subscriber! An annual subscription is less than $5/month.


Other things that happened:

  • This BIS video about how central banks are the only institutions that can be trusted with the power of money features a literal money printer running endlessly in the background. Unintentional self-parody?

Twitter avatar for @BIS_org
Bank for International Settlements @BIS_org
Coming soon: the BIS Annual Economic Report 2022 will outline a future monetary system which serves the public interest. Special chapter to the pre-released on 21 June #CentralBanks #BISAnnualEconReport bit.ly/3b6SDFh
10:00 AM ∙ Jun 19, 2022
327Likes149Retweets
  • Web3 influencer Packy McCormick struggled to justify how web3 could actually improve real life transactions like real estate markets and the video clip is being shared to dunk on web3. It’s obvious that McCormick doesn’t have a great handle on the arguments but I do actually think real estate genuinely could benefit from market liquidity improvements brought about by decentralized ledgers, even if translating from deed to property still needs to be backstopped by physical courts. Reducing the bureaucratic cruft of real estate markets is a genuine opportunity — it may not actually require a blockchain, but it’s not crazy to think that a blockchain could help.

Twitter avatar for @liron
Liron Shapira @liron
Yesterday @packyM was asked to explain a Web3 use case. I clipped this gem from 8:40 of @loganbartlett's latest @cartoonavatars podcast episode with co-host @zachweinberg. Highly recommended...
10:30 PM ∙ Jun 4, 2022
4,524Likes748Retweets
  • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing is the well meaning but naive belief that you can couple two profoundly complex systems (morality and the economy) and somehow the result will be sensible and predictable. It’s deeply foolish. Economic decisions are so multi-variate and chaotic that we can barely predict their consequences let alone grapple with their moral weight. To wit, weapons manufacturers are now seeking ESG classification. Weapons are ESG assets as long as they are pointed at the right people.

Twitter avatar for @business
Bloomberg @business
With a Russian invasion right on its doorstep, Europe now finds itself discussing whether weapons should be listed as ESG assets, to grant them more favorable access to financing
trib.alBloomberg - Are you a robot?
1:47 AM ∙ Mar 1, 2022
1,383Likes451Retweets
  • Lars is like Diogenes with his lantern, searching for an honest blockchain game. Dark Forest is an interesting zero-knowledge PvP strategy game. It uses zero-knowledge proofs to create a cryptographic "fog-of-war" where no one knows the entire game state but players can still trust the rules. Neat!

Twitter avatar for @larsiusprime
Lars "Totally Texas" Doucet @larsiusprime
Okay, the day has finally come. I am forced to grudgingly admit that I have found a blockchain game that legitimately does something with Blockchain that is genuinely new, innovative, and that you can't do with a centralized service. That game is Dark Forest.
9:14 PM ∙ Jun 15, 2022
2,657Likes401Retweets
  • Kraken CEO Jesse Powell started a culture war in corp Slack just for funzies and then blamed "the wokes" for creating a distraction. I’ve talked about this before but the idea of politically neutrality is a fiction spread by the powerful to silence dissent. If you think other people’s politics are intruding on your politically neutral space you are both privileged and blind to your own privilege. That’s an especially dumb belief to hold at a crypto exchange, given how explicitly political cryptocurrencies are by nature.

Twitter avatar for @justinbaragona
Justin Baragona @justinbaragona
Here's the New York Times article about the culture war that Jesse Powell ignited within Kraken. It points out that he's also questioned employees' uses of preferred pronouns and led a discussion about “who can refer to another person as the N word.”
nytimes.comInside a Corporate Culture War Stoked by a Crypto C.E.O.Jesse Powell, who leads the crypto exchange Kraken, has challenged the use of preferred pronouns, debated who can use racial slurs and called American women “brainwashed.”
4:22 PM ∙ Jun 17, 2022
201Likes20Retweets
  • Don’t click this thread. There is nothing good on this thread.

Twitter avatar for @ThatsTheGwei
🕷️🕸️SPXDΞR🦇🔊 @ThatsTheGwei
Must I do everything myself? NFT NYC cringe thread. Will be compiling whatever cringe I find as a reply to this tweet.
12:00 AM ∙ Jun 22, 2022
1,546Likes223Retweets
  • The price of Bitcoin is too volatile to allow a spot Bitcoin ETF but the SEC did manage to approve an ETF for shorting Bitcoin. So that’s nice.

Twitter avatar for @SamRo
Sam Ro 📈 @SamRo
ProShares to Launch the First U.S. Short Bitcoin-Linked ETF on June 21 proshares.com/press-releases…
Image
1:40 PM ∙ Jun 20, 2022
13Likes2Retweets
  • Presented without comment:

Twitter avatar for @ercwl
Plan E 🌈 @ercwl
This will go into a monetary policy history book some day (most searched term in every state) March 4, 2021: Stimulus Check April 29, 2021: Dogecoin
Image
Image
5:19 AM ∙ Jun 9, 2022
961Likes186Retweets
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