Category Archives: Decentralization
What are the pros and cons of crypto investing – The Financial Express
By Edul Patel
their financial future. For many years, traditional investment options such as stocks, mutual funds, and fixed deposits have been the go-to choice for investors. However, with the rise of digital currencies and the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency, a new type of investment has emerged. Investing in cryptocurrencies has become a hot topic in the world of finance, offering the potential for high returns and the benefits of decentralization and transparency. But with any investment, there are pros and cons to consider before making a decision. Lets delve into the advantages and disadvantages of crypto investing.
What are the Pros of Crypto Investing?
High Potential for Profit: One of the most significant advantages of investing in cryptocurrencies is their potential for high returns. Many cryptocurrencies have experienced significant growth in recent years. However, it is also important to consider the reasons behind it too.
Decentralized and Secure: Another advantage of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized, meaning they are not controlled by a single entity. Additionally, blockchain technology ensures that transactions are secure and cannot be altered, providing an added layer of security for investors.
Transparency: The blockchain technology used by cryptocurrencies allows for complete transparency, making it easy for investors to track their investments and see where their money is going.
Accessibility: Unlike traditional investments, which often require a large amount of capital to get started, cryptocurrency investments can be made with relatively small amounts of money. Additionally, many platforms allow for easy and convenient buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, making them accessible to a wide range of investors.
What are the Cons of Crypto Investing?
High Volatility: One of the most significant drawbacks of cryptocurrency investing is its high volatility. Cryptocurrencies can experience significant fluctuations in value, sometimes within just a few hours. This makes them a high-risk investment, particularly for those who are risk-averse.
Regulatory Uncertainty: The regulatory environment surrounding cryptocurrencies is still largely undefined, leading to uncertainty and potential risks for investors. Additionally, some countries have banned cryptocurrencies altogether, making it difficult or impossible for investors to participate. However, there are also some countries taking progressive moves towards regulations to boost technological innovations.
Lack of Tangible Value: Unlike traditional investments, such as stocks or real estate, cryptocurrencies have no tangible value. Instead, their value is largely determined by market demand and speculation, making them more susceptible to hype and manipulation.
Security Risks: While blockchain technology provides added security for transactions, it is not foolproof. Hackers have targeted cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets, resulting in millions of dollars in losses for investors.
Conclusion
Investing in cryptocurrencies can be a high-risk, high-reward proposition. While they offer the potential for significant profits and the benefits of decentralization and transparency, they also come with significant drawbacks, such as high volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and security risks. Ultimately, it is up to each investor to weigh the pros and cons and determine whether cryptocurrency investing is right for them. As with any investment, it is essential to conduct thorough research and understand the risks involved before making a decision.
The author is co-founder and CEO, Mudrex
Follow us onTwitter,Facebook,LinkedIn
See the original post:
What are the pros and cons of crypto investing - The Financial Express
Unleashing the power of Web4.0: An intelligent and decentralised web ecosystem – The Financial Express
By Anndy Lian
The internet has transformed the way we live, work, and connect with each other. From the early days of the World Wide Web to the rise of social media and e-commerce, the internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. However, it is clear that the current internet infrastructure has its limitations, including issues related to centralization, data privacy, and lack of intelligence. Enter Web4, a new vision for an intelligent and decentralized web that addresses these challenges and unlocks a world of new possibilities.
Understanding Web4:
Web4 represents a paradigm shift in how we envision and interact with the internet. It builds upon the principles of Web3 (decentralization) and integrates advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to create a more intelligent and decentralized web ecosystem. Web4 aims to empower individuals, enhance privacy, and foster innovation while leveraging the potential of AI to provide personalized and context-aware experiences.
Key Features of Web4:
Decentralization: Web4 embraces the core tenets of Web3, ensuring that power and control are distributed across a network of interconnected nodes. By moving away from centralized entities and adopting decentralized architectures such as blockchain, Web4 reduces the risk of single points of failure, censorship, and data breaches. This decentralized approach fosters trust, transparency, and resilience in the web infrastructure.
Artificial Intelligence: AI is at the heart of Web4, enabling intelligent automation, data analysis, and decision-making. Through machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, Web4 systems can understand and interpret user data, preferences, and behavior. This allows for personalized recommendations, intelligent assistants, and context-aware applications that adapt to individual needs and provide a more intuitive and efficient user experience.
Enhanced Privacy and Security: Web4 prioritizes user privacy and data security. It leverages cryptographic techniques and decentralized identity systems to empower individuals with greater control over their personal information. With Web4, users can choose how their data is shared and accessed, reducing the risks associated with centralized data storage and surveillance. This focus on privacy strengthens user trust and encourages widespread adoption.
Interoperability and Open Standards: Web4 promotes interoperability and open standards, allowing different applications and platforms to seamlessly communicate and share data. By embracing common protocols and APIs, Web4 enables the creation of a vibrant ecosystem where innovative solutions can easily integrate and collaborate. This fosters competition, diversity, and rapid technological advancements, benefitting users and driving innovation forward.
Democratization of Innovation: Web4 empowers individuals and small businesses by reducing barriers to entry and enabling participation in the digital economy. Through decentralized platforms and smart contracts, Web4 enables peer-to-peer transactions, crowdfunding, and new funding models such as initial coin offerings (ICOs) and decentralized finance (DeFi). This democratization of innovation ensures that the benefits of the web are accessible to all, irrespective of geographical location or financial resources.
Potential Applications:
Web4s intelligent, decentralized nature opens up a wide range of potential applications across various sectors:
Governance and Democracy: Web4 can facilitate transparent and decentralized governance models, enabling citizen participation, voting systems, and smart contracts that automate governance processes. This can lead to more accountable and inclusive decision-making at local, national, and global levels.
Supply Chain and Logistics: Web4 can revolutionize supply chain management by providing real-time tracking, transparency, and traceability. By leveraging blockchain and IoT technologies, Web4 enables secure and efficient supply chain operations, reducing fraud, improving product authenticity, and optimizing logistics processes.
Healthcare and Telemedicine: Web4 can transform healthcare by enabling secure and interoperable health records, personalized medicine, and telemedicine services. AI-powered diagnostics, remote monitoring, and decentralized data sharing can improve patient outcomes, facilitate research, and enhance collaboration among healthcare providers.
Smart Cities and Sustainability: Web4 can contribute to the development of smart cities that optimize resource usage, enhance energy efficiency, and improve urban planning. Through intelligent sensor networks and data analytics, Web4 can enable real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and sustainable infrastructure management.
Conclusion:
Web4 represents a bold vision for the future of the internet, one that embraces decentralization, artificial intelligence, and user empowerment. By combining these elements, Web4 has the potential to revolutionize various industries, enhance privacy and security, and democratize access to innovation. However, realizing the full potential of Web4 requires collaboration, standardization, and ethical considerations to ensure that the benefits are accessible to all while safeguarding user rights and societal values. As we embark on this new era of the web, let us envision and build a future that empowers individuals, fosters innovation, and creates a more inclusive and intelligent digital world.
The author is an intergovernmental blockchain expert
Follow us onTwitter,Facebook,LinkedIn
View post:
Charles Hoskinson touts Cardano decentralization as ‘wake-up call’ for other cryptos – Finbold – Finance in Bold
In his most recent Cardano (ADA) update, the blockchain companys founder Charles Hoskinson has informed the public about the networks progress so far and touted the efforts of its team toward decentralization as a future standard to be used in cryptocurrency sector regulation.
Indeed, Hoskinson stressed the platforms advancement in the face of criticism, as well as detailing the plans for this year, such as global workshops on Cardano Improvement Proposal CIP-1694, writing a ton of really great code, with a special emphasis on decentralization efforts, as he explained in a video shared on May 25.
My belief is that well actually be substantially more decentralized than all cryptocurrencies on the market, which is one of the primary goals of these types of protocols.
Specifically, he argued that criticism is always going to be there, but in the long run, I think were going to win because we are winning together as opposed to a particular company, a particular agenda, or particular person. In his view:
Theres no greater example for that than when we have our moment where we get to measure Cardanos decentralization against the rest of the cryptocurrency space, and I think its going to be a wake-up call for all of them.
In Hoskinsons words, while Bitcoin (BTC) maximalists and others might dismiss it at first as academic waste, the decentralization metrics will probably make their way into regulatory standards, and when people start saying things like sufficiently decentralized and () what regulations should apply to cryptos based on their decentralization level, it will have a significant impact:
Those who are more decentralized will be treated like commodities and like protocols like TCP, and those who are more centralized are going to be treated unfavorably from that perspective.
Finally, the Cardano co-founder highlighted the importance of self-sovereignty, as well as pushing power to the edges and putting you in control of everything () as opposed to some of us as the entire point of the crypto sphere, which has also been the main driver for progress behind the Cardano project.
Meanwhile, the price of Cardano at press time stood at $0.36, recording a slight decline of 0.07% on the day and dropping 3.30% across the previous week, adding up to the 13.78% losses on its monthly chart, as per data retrieved by Finbold on May 26.
Watch the entire video below:
Read the original here:
Decentralization Revolution: TMS Network (TMSN) Projected to Lead Over Litecoin (LTC) and Cardano (ADA) | – Bitcoinist
The dawn of blockchain technology has propelled cryptos to newer heights. Litecoin (LTC) and Cardano (ADA) have stood out due to their groundbreaking innovations. However, TMS Network has emerged as the next prominent opportunity with its innovative decentralized platform.
TMS Network (TMSN) has made exceptional progress, with its token value skyrocketing by an astounding 4300% in its public presale phase. With such remarkable progress, TMS offers more excellent prospects ahead.
TMS Network is a pioneering decentralized trading platform that seeks to redefine the traditional trading sector. The platform offers an all-in-one solution to derivatives trading, enabling users to connect their wallets and trade any asset class. Furthermore, TMS Network (TMSN) provides a price aggregation feature that seamlessly pairs the best prices at execution.
TMS Network (TMSN) offers standout features such as non-custodial portfolio management, granting traders unwavering authority over their assets. This negates the need to rely on a third party, establishing security. With TMS Networks copy trader, investors can eliminate uncertainty and capitalize on the expertise of professionals.
TMS Network (TMSN) also offers MT4 And MT5 Compatibility Bridge, enabling TMSN traders to enhance their trading experience by integrating expert advisors and trading robots. In addition, traders can amplify their profitability by leveraging the on-chain analysis.
Moreover, TMS Network offers distinctive features of straight-through processing (STP). With TMS Network (TMSN), the orders made by traders are transmitted directly to liquidity providers, bypassing any involvement of a dealing desk. STP also eliminates price manipulation while accelerating transaction speeds.
TMS Network (TMSN) also rewards its token holders through commission revenue sharing. Token holders earn a share of the earnings generated from any trading activity on the platform. Also, TMSN token holders have a direct say in the platforms development, creating a strong incentive to drive up trading volume.
In its public presale phase, TMS Network (TMSN) has witnessed a significant surge in trading price for its native token, skyrocketing by 4300% from its initial value. Analysts highlight a remarkable upswing for the TMSN token, now trading at a discounted price of $0.097, projecting a potential jump of up to 100 times its current value by the end of 2023.
Litecoin has witnessed a slight bearish momentum in the last 24 hours, with the LTC price dropping to $92.43. This could be linked to price correction and uncertainty in the financial market.
In recent weeks, however, there has been a significant upswing in the value of Litecoin (LTC) due to increased transaction volumes. Litecoin (LTC) has also made continuous strides in becoming a viable payment method, fostering increased adoption of its blockchain infrastructure by businesses.
A favorable shift in investor sentiment has also proved beneficial for Litecoin (LTC). Confident investors perceive cryptos as a speculative hedge against inflation. Moreover, the Federal Reserves measures to curb inflation could weigh on the broader crypto sector, further pumping the value of Litecoin. Recently, Litecoin (LTC) benefited from the network congestion on Bitcoin caused by a surge in Bitcoin requests for BRC-20 tokens.
Experts indicate that Litecoin (LTC) can experience a bullish sentiment in the coming months, rising to $98.54 by the end of 2023 and possibly $121.34 in 2024. Analysts have pointed out the optimism surrounding the upcoming halving of Litecoins issuance rate to miners as a primary catalyst for Litecoin (LTC) gains.
On the other hand, critics have pointed out that Litecoin (LTC) lags in scalability, privacy, and transaction speeds. Decentralized networks such as TMSN offer a more competitive edge, offering unique features such as faster execution and commission revenue sharing.
The price of Cardano (ADA) took a nosedive over the past 24 hours, dropping to $0.3714. The unexpected plunge could be understood as a market correction coupled with a low TVL.
On a more positive note, investors remain confident in Cardanos fundamentals. Cardano (ADA) recently unveiled Ouroboros, a groundbreaking PoS consensus protocol hailed as a significant advancement for the blockchain industry. Furthermore, Cardano (ADA) has integrated smart contracts into its blockchain, empowering developers to build many DApps on the platform.
Experts suggest that Cardano (ADA) is poised for bullish dominance, with its price surging to $0.5317 in the coming months and possibly $0.6925 by 2024. Reports indicate that ADAs development team remains focused on granting Cardano full autonomy by introducing Votaire, bolstering the networks functionalities.
ADA plans to introduce Hydra, a revolutionary feature that pushes the boundaries of scalability and efficacy. Furthermore, various institutions and partners extensive adoption of Cardano (ADA) adds to its allure.
Notably, consumers have voiced their discontent with ADAs absence of voting rights, opting to transition to TMS Network (TMSN) for a more inclusive experience.
Presale: https://presale.tmsnetwork.io/Website: https://tmsnetwork.io/Telegram: https://t.me/tmsnetworkioTwitter: https://twitter.com/tmsnetwork_io
Disclaimer:This is a paid release. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily represent those of Bitcoinist. Bitcoinist does not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of information available in such content. Do your research and invest at your own risk.
See the original post here:
Cardanos Decentralization Will Be Wake-Up Call for Other Coins, Hoskinson Says – U.Today
Alex Dovbnya
Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, recently addressed the cryptocurrency community, predicting that Cardano's increasing decentralization will send a wake-up call to the entire industry
Read U.TODAY on
Google News
In a recent YouTube address from Colorado, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano (ADA), stated that Cardanos increasing decentralization will serve as a wake-up call for the entire cryptocurrency industry.
Hoskinson underscored the project's relentless commitment and progress despite criticism, emphasizing that Cardano is becoming more decentralized and impactful by the day. As an ecosystem built entirely from scratch, he touted the Cardano project as an entity that continues to grow and strengthen each month, a development that other cryptocurrencies should take note of.
Elaborating on the implications of Cardano's robust decentralization, Hoskinson speculated that this development could eventually be institutionalized within cryptocurrency regulation. Decentralization metrics, he suggested, could become a core component of regulatory standards, serving as a litmus test for assessing the legality and regulatory treatment of various digital assets.
He further warned of a potential regulatory divide, where more centralized digital assets could face unfavorable conditions under the law.
Cardano's founder concluded by emphasizing the importance of self-sovereignty in the cryptocurrency space. This principle, he insists, has been the driving force behind the Cardano project.
His statement stands as a stark warning against the potential centralized control that could come with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and reaffirms his commitment to the principles of sound money and liberty.
Originally posted here:
Cardanos Decentralization Will Be Wake-Up Call for Other Coins, Hoskinson Says - U.Today
DAO communities we need to talk about decentralization – Forkast News
A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is, by its very definition, decentralized. The authority it wields over a given treasury is spread out over a number of actors, rather than concentrated or centralized in one pair of hands.
At least, thats the idea.
For the many advocates of the DAO organizational model there were some 6.9 million DAO governance token holders globally as of May 23 that ideal makes DAOs the perfect operational medium for achieving the decentralized financial goals underpinning the digital economy.
But for Pat Rawson, co-founder of innovation network Curve Labs, todays DAOs continue to bump up against one glaring contradiction.
Namely, they fail to live up to the decentralized ideal contained within the name particularly when held up against the examples of genuine decentralization found in a number of the worlds biggest transnational corporations (TNCs).
I like to go back to the example of Toyota, said Rawson. We think of Toyota as this monolithic brand, right? But really, Toyota is eight different mother nodes. And those nodes sit at the very top of a flowing system of ownership with hundreds of child nodes that emerge from them and exchange with each other.
The vast web of child nodes making up the wider Toyota Group includes an estimated 2,239 subsidiary enterprises active across 125 different countries.
The Tokyo-headquartered giant is the worlds largest automaker by vehicles sold. It can also be considered an example of the Japanese keiretsu business model.
As such, its eight principle mother nodes which include parts manufacturers Denso and Aisin, alongside Toyota Motor Corporation itself form a conglomerate of largely autonomous entities linked together via cross-shareholding agreements.
These agreements signal the long-term reciprocal commitment between each firm. Therefore, despite the degree of indirect control exerted over entities at often considerable geographical and operational distances from group headquarters, they all weave together as a tightly interconnected whole.
Rawson argues that the joint ventures and complex intertwined business relationships connecting firms in TNC structures like Toyota Group are largely absent from todays DAOs a problem for any claims of decentralization.
Compared to a TNC like Toyota, there is no comparably fractalized control network in blockchain today, he wrote in a 2021 blog post. Few DAOs spin ownership and significant financing out of themselves into their local organizational neighborhood.
The post offered the example of cryptocurrency trading protocol Uniswap as an apples and oranges comparison with TNCs.
The exchange operates as a decentralized financial platform through smart contracts. These facilitate trades of crypto tokens without recourse to a centralized market maker, such as the Nasdaq and other forms of stock exchange.
It also operates as a DAO, meaning that governance over decision-making processes is decentralized and spread out among a community of Uniswap token holders.
Yet structurally, as Rawson points out, the platform remains centralized.
In terms of Uniswaps control network, it boasts only three independent operational nodes the business itself, a grant-giving council and a governance DAO managing a significant treasury, which as of May 23 stood at US$2.15 billion.
This organizational structure therefore runs contrary to todays corporate control networks, as TNCs tend to wheel and deal with a diverse range of shareholding organizations and individuals, Rawson wrote in the blog post.
Conversely, contemporary DAOs in the Uniswap mold lack the means to distribute ownership effectively or at all, frankly. They have money to put to use but little on-chain means to use it.
Uniswap has, for its part, attempted to use its treasury to support products capable of filling out its ecosystem and thereby expand its decentralized control network. But the avenues for growth are so far limited.
Whereas Toyota Group, founded in 1926 as Toyota Industries, has almost 100 years of growth and partnership-building experience, Uniswap founded in 2018 is only five years old. It is also operating within a nascent industry that currently has far fewer potential contributors than the global auto industry.
So how to effectively build out a decentralized control network? For Rawson, the answer is right in front of us.
Im not saying that the global corporate order that we have today is a good system, but I would say that this is the dominant financial system that we have, he said. The complexities of that system, its reach and its intertwined relationship with the state can serve as a model for DAOs to incorporate and improve upon.
But where the global corporate order, despite its geographic diversity and structural decentralization, still often operates what Rawson calls a very totalitarian, top-down system of control, DAOs have a built-in mechanism for bottom-up power distribution.
If harnessed effectively, that mechanism could lead to rapid growth and the proliferation of a genuinely decentralized system of global corporate governance built around DAOs in a manner reminiscent of the cross-shareholding agreements between entities in the Toyota Group.
To illustrate how that might happen, he again uses Uniswap as an example.
In the example, the Uniswap DAO decides to create a joint venture with another DAO. The rights to govern that new organization are split 33% to the Uniswap DAO, 33% to the other DAO and then 33% to be held by a new token holder class for the new joint venture.
Now, if you do that once, thats still a pretty centralized system, said Rawson. But if you do that 100 times and you get each node in the system to do that as well, what you start to have is a system that begins to resemble the global corporate order that we have today.
From there, real-world corporate expansion begins to happen and DAOs genuinely decentralized autonomous organizations deserving of the name usher in an era of more equitable control networks that, like Toyota and other TNCs, can achieve a global reach, he added.
Excerpt from:
DAO communities we need to talk about decentralization - Forkast News
How the Decentralization of Clinical Trials Can Transform Health Care – Pharmacy Times
As we get better at medical science, we need to be able to run more clinical trials to keep up. Yet trial delays continue to pose significant challenges. Most trials are held in academic medical centers, which are very centralized and may not be easy for large chunks of the population to access. Furthermore, not all trials are run at all hospitals, so a trial may not be near a qualifying patient, which is a huge barrier to care.
Image Credit: Adobe Stock - wladimir1804
As a result, 85% of all clinical trials fail to recruit enough patients and 80% are delayed due to recruitment problems, creating potential losses of $600,000 to as high as $8 million per day, according to a CenterWatch study. This already painful bottleneck will become even worse over time if we dont do something about it. McKinsey notes: Trial decentralization has emerged as a critical tool in this pursuit. It involves bringing an increasing proportion of a trials activities to the patients rather than using the traditional paradigm of bringing patients to a trial site.
Decentralization has already been shown to streamline clinical trials, but it also has the potential to improve the broader health care ecosystem, including the patient and physician experience.
Decentralization in clinical trials aims to make participation more accessible and convenient for patients by reducing the need for extensive travel to specific trial sites. Although terms such as virtual, remote, home, and siteless are used to describe this process, it's important to note that decentralization does not eliminate the involvement of health care professionals or physical contact with patients in most cases. Here are some clarifications:
Virtual trials leverage digital technologies and telemedicine to conduct certain trial activities remotely. Patients may interact with study coordinators, physicians, or nurses through video calls or secure online platforms. This approach allows for remote monitoring, data collection, and patient support, reducing the need for frequent in-person visits. However, physical contact with health care professionals may still be required for certain procedures, such as blood tests or imaging studies, which can be conducted at local health care facilities.
Remote trials involve conducting trial activities outside of traditional trial sites, typically in patients' homes or local health care facilities. Patients may receive study medications, perform self-assessments, and collect data using remote monitoring devices or digital platforms. Health care professionals remain involved in the process, providing guidance, support, and monitoring remotely. However, occasional in-person visits may be required for certain assessments or procedures.
Home trials take place primarily at the patients' homes, minimizing the need for travel. Patients may receive study medications, perform self-assessments, and collect data as guided by health care professionals through remote communication channels. Home health care providers or visiting nurses may also play a role in supporting patients during the trial and conducting necessary procedures or assessments in the home environment.
Siteless trials go a step further in decentralization by eliminating the requirement for a physical trial site altogether. Instead, trial activities are conducted using remote and digital approaches, and patients engage with health care professionals primarily through virtual means. Data collection and assessments may occur in patients' homes or local health care facilities, with the support of health care professionals.
Decentralized trials still involve health care professionals who provide guidance, oversight, and support to patients throughout the study. While physical contact with health care professionals may be reduced, it is not completely eliminated, especially for procedures that require in-person assessments or interventions. The primary goal of decentralization is to make trial participation more convenient and accessible while maintaining the necessary oversight and care provided by health care professionals.
As McKinsey also points out: The opportunities for decentralizing clinical trials also bring new challenges to an industry often characterized by long cycle times and conservatism.
Getting enough people enrolled and completing a trial is a huge pain point and bottleneck for moving life-saving drugs to market. Biopharma companies spend more than $70 billion annually running trials globally, yet patient enrollment is slow and almost always behind expectations.
In the typical ecosystem scenario, sponsors run clinical trials by selecting research clinics (sites) around the world and hoping these sites can find and enroll appropriate patients. There are 2 major challenges: eligible patients often dont have access to the sites and ineligible patients are enrolling at the sites. Making clinical trials completely predictable and accessible is the key to eliminating these challenges.
The key is to broaden the pool of patients by creating a vast network of sites that can recruit/bring the trial to them. Tools are being created to get in front of more patients using digital channels so acquisition is, in many ways, being solved; however, there are several additional hurdles. First, patients need to be comfortable with this new paradigm. Second, smaller practices need to understand how to think about recruiting (a new workflow).
The decentralization of clinical trials improves the health care ecosystem by enhancing patient-centered care, expanding access to experimental treatments, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among health care providers, generating real-world data and evidence, streamlining processes and reducing costs, and promoting innovation and technology adoption. By bringing trial activities to patients' local health care settings, decentralization prioritizes convenience, inclusivity, and personalized care, resulting in an improved health care experience. It allows a broader range of patients to participate in trials, increasing diversity and generalizability of results.
Collaboration among health care providers is enhanced, leading to knowledge sharing and improved quality of care. Real-world data collected in decentralized trials offer insights into treatment effectiveness in real-life scenarios.
Streamlined processes and cost savings benefit both patients and sponsors, enabling resources to be directed towards further research. The integration of innovative technologies in decentralized trials fosters their adoption in routine health care, leading to improved health care delivery and patient outcomes.
In summary, decentralization of clinical trials positively impacts the health care ecosystem through patient-centeredness, increased access, collaboration, real-world evidence, efficiency, cost savings, and technological advancement.
About the Author
Vignesh Ravikumar joined Sierra Ventures in 2013 and focuses on investments in Enterprise SaaS, Vertical SaaS, and Digital Health/Healthcare IT. Vignesh has a background in M&A transactions for enterprise software companies, having worked at AGC Partners, a Boston-based investment bank. Vignesh holds a BS in Management Science (cum laude) and a Minor in Math from UC San Diego. Outside of work, he is an avid golfer and a big Golden State Warriors fan.
Read more here:
How the Decentralization of Clinical Trials Can Transform Health Care - Pharmacy Times
Decentralization: Future of creator economy? Expert insights – CryptoTvplus
Everyone, consciously or not, has a personal brand due to their online presence, thus the growing importance of personal branding in the digital age. Zuby, an online host, author, and rapper, at Bitcoin 2023 Miami acknowledged the increasing significance of ones digital footprint and believes that individuals, including entrepreneurs and everyday people, need to recognize the value of their reputation in the online space.
Layah Heilpern, an author and content creator and panelist at the event shared her perspective, which is focused on decentralization as the future of the creator economy. She expressed concerns about censorship and stressed the need for alternative platforms that offer creators more freedom to express their views without fear of censorship. Further, there are worries about the consolidation of power and the potential for corruption when platforms are controlled by individuals or entities, she said.
The adoption of decentralized social media platforms would likely happen out of necessity, Heilpern also mentioned. She drew parallels with the adoption of Bitcoin, where people turned to alternatives due to limitations and censorship. Also, she emphasized that improved user experience and ease of use would be key factors driving adoption of decentralized platforms
Platform moderation is a complex issue, influenced by different countries laws and societal norms, Zuby mentioned. Zuby stated that the emergence of alternative platforms could be a response to concerns about censorship and centralization. He expressed optimism about the market they create and their potential to challenge mainstream platforms.
He mentioned examples such as Rumble and TruthSocialMinds.com, which aim to provide more freedom of expression. Zuby predicted a more decentralized future for content creation and mentioned the significance of platforms like Zion that allow users to own their digital identity and maintain their audience regardless of platform changes.
There are also challenges in shifting business models away from the ad-based approach dominant in existing platforms. Zuby explained that established platforms have relied on advertising for decades, making it a safe and familiar revenue model. He highlighted the difficulty for large corporations to take risks and change their monetization strategies due to shareholder expectations. In contrast, he emphasized the opportunity for young entrepreneurs and startups to experiment with new models.
Read also;
Celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day: 13 Years of Revolutionizing the Crypto Industry; Vitalik warns about Ethereum & NairaCoin
What do you think of this article? Share comments below.
See the rest here:
Decentralization: Future of creator economy? Expert insights - CryptoTvplus
Web3 Has an Identity Crisis on its Hands – Blockworks
Anyone who has interacted with ChatGPT has experienced this unsettling question: Is this thing human or not?
That question is, in essence, the long-awaited failure of the Turing Test.
Weve been unwittingly using the Turing Test as a proxy for online identity for decades now. Over time, it would become clear whether we were interacting online with a person or a machine.
With the advent of ChatGPT and generative AI, however, we can no longer rely on the Turing Test as a proxy for Im human. And digital personhood ultimately requires some way of knowing whether or not we are dealing with a real person.
Web3s vision of digital personhood has relied on both decentralization and the Turing Test to be able to say, Im human and I control these digital assets. When ChatGPT broke the Turing Test, it showed us that decentralization alone is insufficient for digital personhood.
If were serious about digital personhood, then its time to get serious about digital identity.
We have to architect Web3 to support identity from the top down.
Many may be surprised to learn that the digital identity movement has its own Satoshi-like figure who authored the definitive white paper on digital identity a full seven years prior to Satoshis famous Bitcoin white paper.
In 2005, Kim Cameron brought the stone tablets of identity management down from the mountaintop when he published his landmark paper, The Laws of Identity.
While Kim may not have been as mysterious as Satoshi, his work on digital identity was as definitive as Satoshis work on decentralization.
Kim put forward a problem statement for digital identity that was as simple, clear, and concise as Satoshis problem statement for decentralization.Its instructive to look at them both together.
Kims identity problem statement (2005): The Internet was built without a way to know who and what you are connecting to.
Satoshis decentralization problem statement (2012): Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments.
While these two problems are distinct, they are inextricably intertwined. We have to know who and what we are connecting to online (Kim/identity), and we have to be able to do so peer-to-peer, without an intermediary (Satoshi/decentralization). This is just as true in the digital world as it is in the real world.
In a post-Turing Test world, however, the problem of identity has taken on a new urgency because machines are increasingly able to spoof people.We will not enjoy the full fruits of decentralization without also making digital identity a top priority.
Toward the end of his life, Kim gave us yet another way to think about the challenge of digital personhood. He gave a talk where he said that, when it comes to our online lives, Content is what we are, aspects of our identity, but we dont own it, we dont keep it, we cant control it. Basically, we lack a digital shelter that would offer the same fundamental privacy as a home.
In short, we are digitally homeless.
Just as personhood is impaired by homelessness in the real world due to lack of privacy, digital personhood is similarly impaired by digital homelessness in the digital world.
Digital personhood requires a digital home a digital place where we have the power to decide what parts of our digital selves we share with others and when and how we do so. That digital home is inseparable from our digital identity.
Decentralization isnt a sufficient principle for overcoming our digital homelessness. If we dont also architect for digital identity, we will never know who or what we are connecting to online and AI bots will overwhelm human beings.
Up until now, weve been able to skirt the architectural demands of digital identity because when push came to shove, we could lean on the Turing Test as a proxy for our humanness and we could manage our dispersed digital selves without ultimately requiring a centralized digital home. With the advent of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, those days are gone.
Kim Cameron, unfortunately, is gone too, but his Laws of Identity live on. All those who aspire to true digital personhood would do well to remember that Kim came before Satoshi, and identity comes before decentralization.
As Kim said, in the online world, content is what we are. Now that generative AI has rendered human-quality content virtually free, we should make sure that we have an alternative method to value and recognize personhood in the digital world.
Dr. Richard Smith Berkeley Mathematician and PhD in System Science is a fintech entrepreneur, the CEO of The Foundation for the Study of Cycles, and the author of The Risk Rituals newsletter. He has built a reputation as The Doctor of Uncertainty amongst his academic peers and has helped government agencies and Fortune 500 companies alike make sense of complex sets of data. In his upcoming book, The Risk Manifesto, Dr. Smith will aim to further educate investors on how to circumvent self-destructive instincts and adopt a systematic way to manage their fear of risk. With his background in mathematical theories of uncertainty combined with his investing and trading experience,Dr. Smith is a regular speaker and lecturer and particularly enjoys opportunities to share his knowledge and help others gain an edge in the market.
Get the days top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.Subscribe to Blockworks free newsletternow.
Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, cant-miss tweets and more fromBlockworks Researchs Daily Debrief.
Cant wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.Join us on Telegram and follow us on Google News.
Follow this link:
Bitcoin Miami: 2024 Candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Gabbard Defend Bitcoin and Decentralization – Yahoo Finance
Bitcoin Miami: 2024 Candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Gabbard Defend Bitcoin and Decentralization
US Democratic presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard came out in a vigorous defense of Bitcoin and its ideals of decentralization and privacy. Speaking on the second day of Bitcoin 2023 in Miami, the pair delivered a strong rebuke of the United States current lack of clear crypto guidance for investors and entrepreneurs and stifling incoming regulations.
Kennedy is currently trailing President Joe Biden with 19% of votes vs 62% in the race for the Democratic Partys nomination in next years election according to early polls. He had a particularly warm reception to his keynote speech on the first day.
The US has displayed a particular affinity for the Kennedy clan over the years, and its latest political candidates stellar environmental law and civil rights track record, and strong views on individual freedom, environmental protection, and the right to refuse vaccinations, also resonate strongly with a big contingent of the Bitcoin community,
In his first public appearance as a presidential candidate, Kennedy laid out a supportive vision for Bitcoin ownership and mining in the States, and warned against the dangers of governments utilizing technology to control their citizens. The civil rights activist and lawyer also announced that he would accept Bitcoin donations for his campaign, thereby becoming the first presidential candidate to greenlight the reception of crypto for a run to the Oval Office.
Kennedy noted that he first realized the importance of Bitcoins ability to circumvent government intervention after he witnessed Canadas handling of the trucker protests last year. In his eyes, the protests were peaceful without violating any laws, yet protesters couldnt access their money and bank accounts in order to support their families.
In what he deemed as a devastating use of government repression, Kennedy said he saw for the first time how free money was equal in importance to free speech, and made a few key promises to the crypto space, saying he would:
Story continues
1. Defend the right to self-custody Bitcoin and other digital assets in the US
2. Uphold the right to run a node at home
3. Defend use-agnostic and industry-neutral regulation of energy
4. Make sure that the US remains the global hub of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and reverse the governments growing hostility toward the industry
5. Review whether individuals like Ross Ulbricht were prosecuted for actual crimes, or as a means to crackdown on crypto. In the case of the latter, he would consider swiftly pardoning them.
Kennedy also took a shot at incumbent president Biden and his 30% energy tax on Bitcoin mining:
President Biden's 30% tax on energy for Bitcoin miners requires an invasive surveillance apparatus to monitor what is happening in individual computers. It sets a terrible precedent in which everything that you do requires electricity and must now be monitored by the government. That's why I also support people's rights to refuse smart meters in their homes.
While he stated that he doesnt own any Bitcoin, Kennedy underscored its importance in a world of new threats to democracy such as increasing governmental interference:
...we are now living in this age of turnkey totalitarianism with this emerging technology, which can empower totalitarian regimes. And our job is to try to build and fortify democratic institutions at the same rate as totalitarian instruments are being expanded in their power.
Kennedy also touched on the malicious use of artificial intelligence:
For things like AI which really are going to threaten democracy at its base, we need to not be chipping away at our democratic institutions. We need to fortify the ones that exist and build new ones and the biggest most important one on the horizon is Bitcoin because it can't be manipulated.
Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii, came out eloquently against the direction of her party as well as the implementation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
She said she related to Kennedys speech earlier, as she knew a little bit of something about this:
They make an example of those of us who dare to speak the truth and call out what is common sense and obvious to the rest of us about their hidden insanity and hypocrisy. Hoping that by making an example of us, they will then cause the rest of us to self-censor ourselves to fall in line and to comply.
The ex-congresswoman aired her dissatisfaction with the current state of the Democratic Party and its leadership, arguing that the party has become elitist and intolerant of dissent, seeking power at any cost.
She criticized the mainstream media, big tech, and the national security state for working together to silence those who challenge the party's narrative.
Gabbard also highlighted the weaponization of federal agencies and law enforcement against political opponents, as revealed in the Durham report. She also expresses concerns about the Biden administration's push for a CBDC, seeing it as a threat to privacy and economic autonomy.
The presidential hopeful warned that the current power holders prioritize control over people's lives and suppress freedom of speech and emphasized the importance of active citizenship and defending freedoms to counteract this oppression. Gabbard concluded her keynote by urging people to protect democracy and preserve the vision of the country's founders.
Bitcoin Miami 2023 played host to a string of prominent pro-crypto political speakers such as Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a venture capitalist and anti-woke activist, Wyoming senator Cynthia Lummis, Governor Ridwan Kamil from West Java, Indonesia; North Carolina congressman Patrick McHenry, who last month memorably grilled SEC chair Gary Gensler in Congress; Congressman Byron Donalds, representing Florida; and David McIntosh, a former Congressman and White House Senior Staff member.
Organizers BTC Media previously said that the flagship global Bitcoin conference aims to provide a platform for the discussion of diverse perspectives and ideas. By engaging politicians open to Bitcoin and deepening their understanding of the cryptocurrency, the conference seeks to foster support for the industry in Washington and beyond.
Originally posted here: