Decentralized solutions are gradually removing control from Big Tech companies and returning it to developers and users.
Marc Andreessen's seminal 2011 essay, "Why Software Is Eating the World," was well-regarded even at the time it was written and has since shown to be even more prescient than it seemed. Andreessen stated that every firm was now ostensibly a software company, whether the company wanted it or not, at the beginning of a decade in which software would prove invaluable to almost every facet of modern life.
His ideas eventually applied to businesses that either hadn't fully defined their markets or didn't even exist yet but would go on to generate billions in market share, including Uber, Lyft, TikTok/ByteDance, Robinhood, and Coinbase, to name a few. He adapted his argument to many of the market leaders at the time. Software was probably going to be a crucial component in becoming a unicorn in the twenty-first century.
The rise of actual cloud computing and cloud giants, an industry in which Andreessen himself had been a pioneer at a time when many within and outside computers were scoffing at the notion, was the covert force behind this entire transformation of modern economies and life.
But making so many aspects of life so simple came at a high price.
They had stopped scoffing entirely by the second decade of the twenty-first century. Global spending on cloud computing increased by more than quintupling in the 2010s, going from $77 billion to $411 billion. The computer in our pockets relied on it to make everything available at the touch of a button.
As with anything else, the mobile-powered software revolution had trade-offs even if it made life as simple as pressing a button. Software has taken over the globe, making very few, very huge cloud hosting firms the dominant force. Currently, 65% of the market for cloud hosting is dominated by Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.
By using cloud hosting, this established a monopoly of sorts. For instance, hosts can remove services from clouds when using cloud hosting, like Amazon did with the infamous social media service Parler. The Apple App Store likewise prohibited Parler from using it.
Whether or not you concur with a service like Parler doesn't matter when it comes to the bigger issue at hand. The episode proved that, in the post-software world, it just takes two corporations—Amazon and Apple—to totally shut down a service, effectively forcing it out of existence.
What happens if a developer or service violates a less serious Amazon policy or term of service? The internet has been forced into a corner where it can no longer fully function as a marketplace for open ideas and growth, especially if that development is in some way seen as a threat by businesses like Amazon and Microsoft.
Creating a new world is possible with Apple nodes.
Newer blockchain protocols have the potential to "break" data in a world where software and oligopolistic firms have taken over, just as Bitcoin "broke" money and allowed people to think about the exchange of value in new ways. Web3 and the initiatives it will spawn promise to fundamentally alter how information lives and is transmitted via the internet in a transparent and self-sufficient manner. Ecosystems that prioritise decentralisation and community promise to return control to creators and users. This will make it possible to create a common framework that supports best practises and economies of scale and can compete with the biggest centralised internet corporations. Ecosystems that prioritise decentralisation and the community offer to return control to programmers and, by extension, the users of their decentralised applications (DApps) and software.
An increasing number of cryptocurrency service providers are closing their doors permanently in the midst of the bear market, including the German crypto bank Nuri.
Three Arrows Investment. Celsius. Voyager Electronics In 2022, the number of cryptocurrency bankruptcies, closures, and trade freezes seemed never-ending. The year is still not over. Nuri, a German cryptocurrency bank, asked users to withdraw money this week in advance of the company's anticipated liquidation in December. At least users of Nuri received adequate notice.
The market has been mercilessly purified of excess, leverage, bad risk management, and outright scams by the cryptocurrency bear. If business forecasters are to be believed, the market may experience one more surrender before things start to get better.
The closure of Nuri, the most recent drama involving Voyager Digital, and Silvergate Capital's challenging quarter are all covered in this week's Crypto Biz.
500K consumers are advised by the German cryptocurrency bank Nuri to withdraw money before the closure.
Nuri informed its 500,000 subscribers this week that it would suspend operations on December 18 after citing liquidity concerns in August. Users have two months to withdraw their money before the business closes the shop as a result of the bear market. Users were given the reassurance that all assets in their Nuri account are safe and untouched by Nuri's insolvency by Nuri CEO Kristina Mayer. Although the industry wasn't helped by Nuri's collapse, Celsius handled its insolvency far worse by locking user withdrawals.
Voyager Digital won't sue its executives for negligence and will instead make a claim against its insured.
This week, the story of Voyager Digital took another unexpected turn when the business decided against suing its management for negligence for their part in enabling the Three Arrows Capital disaster (and Voyager's in the process). For those who are not familiar with the drama: Without conducting adequate due diligence, Voyager provided Three Arrows Capital with a $675 million loan. This loan was never repaid, and it played a significant role in Voyager's bankruptcy. Why then don't the executives face legal action? They reportedly got immunity from the lawsuit when FTX US purchased the assets of Voyager through an auction in late September.
Crypto-to-fiat transactions at Silvergate Capital fell by $50 billion from the 3rd Quartile of 2021 to the 3rd Quartile of 2022.
Silvergate Capital's crypto-to-fiat transfers are among the statistics that best illustrate how severe the crypto winter has been. This week, the company revealed that transfers on its network fell by $50 billion year over year in Q3, which is worrying news for those hoping for widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies by financial institutions. However, there was a bright spot: Silvergate's profits increased by 84% to $43.328 million from the previous year. In response to the announcement, investors sold off Silvergate shares, which fell 20% on October 18.
Cryptocurrency miners can now apply for $500 million loans from Binance.
Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, has announced the launch of a new $500 million financing programme to assist struggling Bitcoin miners during the current bear market. By putting up physical or digital assets as collateral and paying 5% to 10% in interest, miners will have access to loans with terms of 18 to 24 months through the new Binance Pool. For the financing, only "blue-chip" miners are eligible. A spokesman for Binance informed Cointelegraph that one of the requirements is that the applicant is a Binance VIP member and connects at least 500 PH/s to the Binance Pool for at least 24 months after the loan is provided.
When will the crypto market bear market end?
Are you over the bear market in cryptocurrencies? How much time is left before the market turns? Even though no one has a crystal ball, I am still adamant that Bitcoin will most likely reach a cyclical bottom in the coming months, which will be followed by a protracted accumulation phase. I sat down with fellow analysts Marcel Pechman and Benton Yaun to talk about the near-term forecast for cryptocurrencies in this week's Market Report. Every Thursday, Crypto Biz is a weekly email that gives you a pulse on the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries.
