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Congress Explores Blockchain Energy Usage From Mining

Andrew Orr ·

On January 20, the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the U.S. Congress House Energy and Commerce Committee discussed blockchain energy usage and other concepts related to mining and consensus.

Representatives then took to the floor with statements and questions. A few used their time for partisan attacks and political grandstanding, yet most made an honest effort to ask questions that either tackled the energy-related issues at the core of the hearing or sought broader context on the uses and potential applications of blockchain technology.

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Federal Reserve Releases Paper on Digital Dollar, Seeks Public Comment

Andrew Orr ·

The Federal Reserve has released a 40-page paper [PDF] on its study of a digital dollar. It seeks public comment as it takes no position at this time.

Instead, it provides an exhaustive look at benefits such as speeding up the electronic payments system at a time when financial transactions around the world already are highly digitized. Some of the downside issues the report discusses are financial stability risks and privacy protection while guarding against fraud and other illegal issues.

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Peloton Pauses Production of Bikes, Treadmills Over Decreasing Demand

Andrew Orr ·

Peloton is pausing production of its bikes and treadmills in February-March, according to internal documents obtained by CNBC.

Peloton has essentially guessed wrong about how many people would be buying its products, after so much demand was pulled forward during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s now left with thousands of cycles and treadmills sitting in warehouses or on cargo ships, and it needs to reset its inventory levels.

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Twitter NFT Profile Photos Roll Out to iOS Subscribers

Andrew Orr ·

Twitter NFT profile photos are rolling out to members of the Twitter Blue subscription in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

At launch, Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow, MetaMask, Ledger Live, Argent, and Trust Wallet are supported. After authenticating, you’ll select the NFT you want to showcase. Twitter says that, currently, JPEG and PNG NFTs minted on the Ethereum (ERC-721 or ERC-1155 tokens) can be used as NFT Profile Pictures.

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Court Rules Blocking Ads is Not Copyright Infringement

Andrew Orr ·

Publisher Axel Springer claimed that blocking ads is copyright infringement, but a German court disagreed.

The Court notes that ruling otherwise would represent a “disproportionate encroachment” on users’ freedoms to make various choices, including not to load images to save bandwidth, to deactivate Javascript, or block pop-ups or tracking elements. It would also render translation tools and aids for visually impaired people as copyright infringing.

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Instagram Subscriptions New Way to Support Your Favorite Users

Andrew Orr ·

Instagram Subscriptions, launching on Wednesday, is a way for people to support their favorite profiles. TechCrunch reports:

Through the Subscriptions product, creators can choose their own price point for access to their exclusive content. There are eight different price points to choose from, starting at $0.99 per to month to as much as $99.99 per month, depending on how much a creator believes their content is worth. Most creators will likely start towards the bottom of that range, at price points like $0.99, $1.99, $2.99, $4.99, or maybe even $9.99 per month, before experimenting with higher pricing like $19.99, $49.99, or $99.99 per month.

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'Cash App' From Block Now Supports Bitcoin Lightning Network

Andrew Orr ·

Block, formerly known as Square, has added support for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network upgrade. This lets users send bitcoin to anyone around the world within seconds.

The Lightning integration is made possible by the Lightning Development Kit created by Spiral, which is funded by Block. Cash App customers will also be able to send bitcoin to any compatible wallet that accepts Lightning Network payments, without being charged fees.