IOBC Capital

In the digital age, data privacy protection is more important than ever. With the rapid development of big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things, the collection, storage and analysis of personal information have become increasingly common. However, this also brings the risk of data leakage and abuse.

FHE stands for Fully Homomorphic Encryption, which allows calculations to be performed directly on encrypted data, and the calculation results obtained are consistent with the results of the same calculations performed on the original data. This means that we can process and analyze data without exposing the original data, which provides a new solution for protecting data privacy and integrity.

Web3, as a decentralized, open, and transparent new paradigm of the internet, has an inherent synergy with AI. Under the traditional centralized architecture, AI computing and data resources are subject to strict control, facing numerous challenges such as computational bottlenecks, privacy breaches, and algorithmic black boxes. On the other hand, Web3, built on distributed technologies, can infuse new vitality into AI development through shared computing networks, open data markets, and privacy

When Huang Renxun gave a speech at WGS in Dubai, he proposed the term "sovereign AI". So, which sovereign AI can meet the interests and demands of the Crypto community?
Maybe it needs to be built in the form of Web3+AI.
In his article “The promise and challenges of crypto + AI applications”, Vitalik described the synergy between AI and Crypto: Crypto’s decentralization can balance AI’s centralization; AI is opaque, Crypto brings transparency; AI requires data, blockchain facilitates data storage and tracking. This synergy runs through the entire industrial landscape of Web3+AI.

Looking back on the past 2023, the total market value of Crypto has returned to US$1.7 trillion, with an annual growth of more than 110%. Cryptocurrency has passed the cold winter of the cycle.
During this year, the cryptocurrency industry mainly had the following impressive events:
1. Binance reached a settlement with US regulators, and Crypto corporate compliance has gradually become a mainstream trend;
2. The Bitcoin ecosystem leads the new paradigm of Fair Launch, mainly due to the feasibility brought by Taproot upgrade.
3. Ethereum’s LSD/LSDFi defines “risk-free returns” in the cryptocurrency industry, and ETH Staking returns are positioned similar to “Crypto Treasury Bond returns”;

DePIN, Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks, decentralized physical infrastructure network.
DePIN is a paradigm innovation in physical infrastructure deployment and maintenance. DePIN is built in a distributed fashion by individuals and companies around the world and can be used by anyone. In return, contributors to these physical infrastructure nodes receive financial compensation and token incentives for the network they are building. By leveraging Crypto, Internet, IoT and blockchain technologies, DePIN enables a more efficient, decentralized and fair way to deploy infrastructure.

The large-scale adoption of a new technology takes a long time. In the United States, it took 78 years for cars to reach 92% penetration, 48 years for household electricity to reach 100% penetration, and 26 years for the Internet to reach 88% penetration.

The time required for large-scale adoption of these technologies is getting shorter and shorter, but why is it that the concept of blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and Crypto has successfully penetrated into the global public consciousness, but most people have never actually used Crypto? service? There may be five main reasons: first, there are no channels for institutional funds to enter; second, there are no channels for ordinary users to enter; third, there is a lack of investment targets that meet public taste; fourth, it is inconvenient for most developers to enter the industry; fifth, Infra cannot support large-scale application.

Imagine this scenario: If you own 1,000 USDT on the Ethereum mainnet and want to buy $OP on the DEX of the Optimism second-layer network, what should you do?

First, you need to choose a wallet that supports Optimism and add the corresponding network settings; then, through a secure cross-chain bridge, you can bridge 1000 USDT and some ETH used for gas fees to Optimism, and then connect the wallet on the corresponding DEX and Execute the transaction. The entire process, while intuitive, involves multiple interactions and wait times for confirmations, as well as uncertainties such as potential network fees and transaction slippage. For newcomers to on-chain transactions, every step may be a challenge, which also limits the large-scale promotion of on-chain applications. So, can the complexity of on-chain interactions be reduced to the same level of simplicity as centralized exchange (CEX) operations?

In the first half of this year, the innovative narrative of the Bitcoin ecosystem—BRC20, Ordinals NFT, and Bitcoin Layer2—became one of the major topics in the industry. More and more people are paying attention to the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem. In the article "Narrative Innovation: A Brief Analysis of Recent Bitcoin Ecological Experiments", we outline the development status of BRC20, Ordinals NFT and several leading Bitcoin Layer2.

Ideological struggles have broken out in the Bitcoin community more than once around the development path of Bitcoin. In the process of divergent development, the Bitcoin ecosystem has gradually revealed a huge opportunity: decentralized social payment combining Lightning Network and Nostr.

The Bitcoin spot ETF is expected to be approved, triggering heated discussions in the market. According to the timetable of the 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, perhaps the first Bitcoin spot ETF will be born on August 11. However, some people believe that the SEC may be more willing to allow BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust to become the first approved Bitcoin spot ETF.

1. What is an ETF?

ETF, that is, Exchange-Traded Fund. An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an investment vehicle that tracks the price of an asset, security, or index. ETFs pool investors' money and aim to achieve the same returns as the underlying assets.

preface:

With the rapid development of digital technology, AI and Crypto have become the two hottest topics. As a technological revolution, AI represents the most advanced productivity; Crypto is based on blockchain technology and represents the fairest production relationship. AI and Crypto are constantly changing the way we live and work. This article will explore the convergence of AI and Crypto and how together they will shape our future.

AI: state-of-the-art productivity

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a technology that enables computer systems to imitate human intelligence and perform intelligent tasks. It covers several sub-fields including:

Bitcoin’s Sustainability Narrative

The industry has always regarded Bitcoin as "digital gold" and Ethereum as the "world computer". People's optimistic judgments on the long-term rise in Bitcoin prices mainly come from "constant total volume", "value storage", and "cyclical production reduction".

Under this rule, the foreseeable future of Bitcoin is: block rewards are reduced to zero, and on-chain transaction fees will become the only security budget of the Bitcoin blockchain. The block reward (ie Coinbase reward) is halved every four years and will eventually be reduced to zero. This is an established fact in the future that cannot be changed. By then, Bitcoin’s on-chain transaction fees will be the only source of income miners can think of at the moment.

MEV (Miner/Maximum Extractable Value) refers to the potential value that miners or verifiers can obtain in blockchain transactions. It is the profit generated by the transaction sequence and packaging selection method. The sources of MEV include Front Running, Back Running, Sandwich Attack, etc. For more information about the concept of MEV, please read "A Brief Analysis of the Development Status and Trends of MEV".

Flashbots has launched a series of MEV solutions and is committed to establishing a fair, transparent, and secure trading environment. This article will take stock of Flashbots’ efforts to decentralize MEV.