BlockchainGandalf

Keir Finlow-Bates

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TECHNOLOGY
UPDATED DAILY

This channel features regular updates devoted to explaining issues surrounding blockchain, from the technical through to economics and philosophy. I also look at tech startup issues, innovation, and the patenting process. You can get a copy of my book at http://mybook.to/moveover or read more about it at http://www.thinklair.com/

08/11/2023

Computer security: more carrots, less sticks

When you have to perform the same stupid tedious complicated task every day, eventually you don't even notice how stupid, tedious, or complicated it really is.Online #security is seriously hampered by the fact that a lot of the requirements put on users seem stupid, tedious, and initially also complicated.In this article, Luis Lubeck and I look at ways in which security for users can be made more bearable, or even ... fun, dare I say.

8 min
05/29/2023

Ten unmissable and essential insights into entrepreneurship

☢️ 🦴 🎯 You should seriously consider if you want to be a successful #startup #founder! Going into business is not for the faint of heart, and being prepared is important. So is critically analyzing any and all advice you read or are given. Reminder: just because someone has tens of thousands of followers and lots of positive comments doesn't mean they are automatically right or an expert. And yes, that applies to me too. Think before you act.

3 min
10/19/2022

Xen and Sybil Attacks

Well, that didn't take long. A day after my previous video there was a Sybil attack on the XEN cryptocurrency. Except, the attack was really on an exchange - FTX, which offers free crypto withdrawals, and didn't check the maximum gas it allocates to this. As a result someone found an arbitrage opportunity. Use smart contracts to spawn off lots of Ethereum addresses, deposit small amounts of ETH in the exchange, then withdraw and in the same transaction claim XEN crypto, with FTX paying for it. A day later, mint the XEN and immediately sell on a DEX. More on that in this episode.

8 min
10/19/2022

XEN and the art of cryptocurrency distribution

The last week has seen the XEN ERC20 token taking up the largest share of Ethereum transactions. So why should a humble token with no defined utility or extra whistles and bells be achieving that? The answer is that: 🆓 the token is free to mint (except for gas) 💰 there's no pre-mint, 📉 for an added dash of FOMO, the first people claiming it get the most, 🏦 it has staking (🚩), with a lot of provisos and some untested tokenomics behind it. In this video, I go through what XEN is, why it's different most of of the tokens out there, who is behind it, and how it implements a novel distribution mechanism. I only spent a morning investigating the contract, looking into the main founder, and playing with some of the tests to see if I could engineer any attacks on the contract (I couldn't). It's not a thorough audit, but it's more than most of the reporters out there commenting on this token will have done. In summary, I'm cautiously optimistic about the safety of this token (but use a new address if you interact with it, just to be sure). And as for whether it has legs? No idea. I only give technical and sometimes sociological explanations, not financial advice.

13 min
10/07/2022

Revenue streams for P2E games

Investors bring in money for P2E projects, but they expect to take out more in the long run. That includes most players, who typically expect to invest time to extract money. So how is a P2E game supposed to build a proper revenue stream and become sustainable? The P2E angle may be great initially for raising capital and attracting a particular type of user base, but in the long run you need more. The obvious answer is to look at traditional game revenue strategies, of which there are three main ones: 1. charge per copy (or subscription) 2. in-game items 3. advertising or brand promotions More on that in the episode.

5 min
10/07/2022

The zeroth law of P2E games

What's the most important rule for play to earn games? In the previous episode I talked about what could be called "the first law of P2E games", or perhaps "The fundamental theorem of P2E economics", but Mark Skinner pointed out to me that there is a more important one: The zeroth law of P2E games. And it doesn't just apply to P2E. What that is, is revealed in the episode. It's so obvious a lot of people forget about it.

3 min
10/05/2022

On the sustainability of P2E games

The problem with most P2E games is that they are not sustainable. Why would that be? It turns out that the answer is very simple: the amount of value being put in by players over time is less than the amount the players want to take out. More on that in the episode.

4 min
09/30/2022

Blockchains are not immutable

There are a number of myths about blockchains that keep getting repeated. For example, that proof-of-work is a "cryptographic puzzle", that blockchains "build trust", and the most insidious of all: that blockchains "are immutable". In this episode, I explain why blockchains are not immutable. With the aid of not one, not two, but three examples.

5 min

This channel features regular updates devoted to explaining issues surrounding blockchain, from the technical through to economics and philosophy. I also look at tech startup issues, innovation, and the patenting process. You can get a copy of my book at http://mybook.to/moveover or read more about it at http://www.thinklair.com/

Creator

Keir Finlow-Bates
Years Active

2021 - 2023
Episodes

136
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Keir Finlow-Bates
Show Website

BlockchainGandalf