Google has enhanced its search engine to allow users to check their cryptocurrency wallet balances directly by entering the wallet’s address, supporting various blockchain networks including Bitcoin, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Polygon, and Fantom. This feature not only shows the native token balance of a wallet for each supported network but also indicates the last time […]
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The Economic Engine of War — Tracing Fiat Currency’s Role in Global Conflicts
When Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, many viewed it as a solution to the drawbacks of fiat money. Historically, about 800 fiat currencies have come and gone, with many ultimately failing. Intriguingly, the fundamental reasons for establishing the fiat system remain elusive to many. Some argue that it was designed by governments to perpetuate corruption and fund endless global conflicts. In a nutshell, most fiat currencies have either supported military pursuits or protected financial magnates who benefit from such endeavors.
Unraveling the Shadows: The War-Driven Legacy of Fiat Currencies
Notably, U.S. presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy Jr. recently remarked, “fiat currency was invented to fund the cause of war.” A bold claim, but history does lend credence to Kennedy’s assertion. Ages ago, people traded with commodities and precious metals fashioned into coins. This practice shifted during the Yuan Dynasty in China (1271-1368 AD) under Kublai Khan.
Fiat currency, in essence, is government-issued money not anchored to a tangible commodity like gold or silver. Its worth stems from the citizens’ trust and faith. Unlike commodity money, grounded in its material, or representative money, signifying a claim on a commodity, fiat money gains its value through government backing. The Yuan Dynasty’s “Jiaochao” was one of the earliest instances of fiat.
Did Jiaochao finance wars? Absolutely. The nascent fiat system backed significant military campaigns until 1368. Jiaochao notes funded ventures like the Song Dynasty conquest and invasions of Japan, Southeast Asia, and Java. Centralized monetary control gave the Yuan leaders enhanced fiscal power, often channeled towards its military operations. Yet, like other early Chinese paper money, Jiaochao suffered from overproduction, resulting in soaring inflation.
Following the Yuan, the subsequent Ming Dynasty revived metal coins, emphasizing silver. However, they also reintroduced fiat currency. Due to challenges reminiscent of the Yuan era, such as rampant inflation, Ming’s “Da Ming Baochao” paper currency lost favor. These notes primarily financed the Great East Asian War (1592-1598) or the Imjin War. Fast forward to 1656, Stockholms Banco in Sweden, recognized as the world’s first central bank, also used its fiat money, “Stockholms Banco sedlar,” to fund wars.
This Swedish fiat currency powered wars like the Thirty Years’ War, the Second Northern War, and the Scanian War. But this fiat model wasn’t sustainable and eventually faltered, plunging Sweden into its first banking crisis. In the U.S., fiat money backed both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. While the Continental Currency crumbled, Greenbacks, which backed the Civil War, depreciated markedly.
The U.S. once adhered to the gold standard, but the narrative shifted with the Bretton Woods conference and the 1971 Nixon Shocks. The U.S. dollar, or Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs), saw gold convertibility halted that year. Since then, the U.S. has been embroiled in an unbroken chain of conflicts. Many speculate Nixon’s move aimed to support the Vietnam War after France doubted the U.S.’s gold reserves.
History shows that fiat currencies often intertwine with war and malfeasance. Some contend that fiat played a role in events like the 2007-2008 mortgage crisis, the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, and numerous financial bailouts. Instead of reducing metal content as the Romans did, modern fiat central planners exert vast control via money printing and interest rate adjustments. Kennedy’s observation rings true for many alternative currency proponents, sparking calls for a division between state and currency, echoing sentiments for separating church and state.
Governments can manipulate fiat currencies to bolster the military-industrial complex in various ways. Central banks can print more money, directly funding defense projects, while also setting low interest rates to stimulate borrowing and military spending. By engaging in deficit spending, governments can issue bonds, effectively borrowing to finance their military ambitions. A strong currency, boosted using foreign exchange reserves, can make defense-related imports more affordable.
Such fiscal levers, while potent, come with risks. As history shows, prolonged reliance on these strategies can lead to inflation, eroding public purchasing power and potentially shaking confidence in the currency. Over time, unchecked manipulation can jeopardize the overall economic health of a fiat currency, leading it to ultimately fail.
What do you think about the ties fiat currencies have with war and corruption? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Introducing Presearch: The Decentralized Search Engine
PRESS RELEASE. La Jolla, California – September 18th, 2023 – Presearch is a revolutionary platform that is changing the way people search the internet. Presearch is a decentralized search engine designed to empower users, respect their privacy, and provide a better search experience. It is powered by almost 70,000 user computers (nodes) in more than 100 countries.
In a world where Big Tech search engines dominate the web with monolithic force, Presearch stands apart as a user-centric, privacy-focused, and community-driven alternative.
Why Presearch Matters
Traditional search engines are subject to censorship, collecting vast amounts of user data, invading privacy, tracking and profiling users for profit, while controlling the world’s access to information.
“The world needs a search engine that is created by the people, for the people, in a way that protects privacy, can’t be censored and runs on decentralized infrastructure to provide resilience. That’s what we’re building here with Presearch,” said Colin Pape, founder of Presearch.
What is Presearch?
Presearch is a blockchain-based search engine that respects user privacy and choice while providing rewards. Unlike conventional search engines, Presearch does not track your online activity or sell your data to advertisers. Instead, it lets you control your search experience by allowing you to choose your preferred search engine and customize your search results.
With centralized search engines, the users are the product, being bought and sold to the highest bidder. With Presearch, it’s the opposite: Presearchers own the value of their web searches through something called Search Staking, which enables you to earn PRE tokens, the currency that powers Presearch.
These PRE tokens are also used to reward people from all over the world who run Presearch’s node software, which powers the search engine with decentralized computing resources rather than huge data centers like those powering other search engines.
Advertisers pay for ads in PRE, completing the value circle for the project. The goal is to have Presearch be a platform that is censorship-resistant, independent and antifragile – similar to Bitcoin.
Key Features of Presearch
- Privacy: Your searches on Presearch are private and not tracked. Your data is not used to create personalized profiles or target ads.
- Choice: Presearch allows users to choose from more than 100 different search providers with a single click, giving you the flexibility to find the results you want.
- Rewards: Presearch rewards users with PRE tokens for participating in the platform. These tokens can be staked, traded, or used to access other perks in the ecosystem like AI search.
- Community: Presearch is crowd-funded, community-driven and is implementing community governance through the Presearch Foundation.
- Decentralization: Presearch uses blockchain technology and user nodes to power its decentralized infrastructure and will be fully open sourced as the project evolves.
Latest Presearch Innovations
- PreGPT AI: The current version of PreGPT is powered by OpenAI, but the project is building out a decentralized AI offering that will run on Presearch nodes.
- Search API: The Search API enables other search engines, applications and AI experiences to be powered by Presearch results.
- Search Staking: Search staking allows you to earn increased rewards for searching with Presearch. You stake at least 1000 PRE to earn elevated rewards for up to 25 searches per day.
- Keyword Staking: Keyword staking is a concept by Presearch that allows companies to gain website traffic by staking their PRE tokens. Whichever advertiser stakes the most tokens has their ad displayed when their keyword of choice is searched. Advertisers can withdraw their PRE tokens at any time, making traffic almost free!, The minimum amount for keyword staking is 100 PRE.
- Node Staking: Nodes provide the computing resources that power Presearch search results. Node staking allows individuals to help process requests within the Presearch ecosystem and earn rewards in exchange for their work running nodes. The minimum amount to stake nodes and obtain rewards is 4000 PRE per node.
How to Get Started
- Sign up: To begin using Presearch, visit [https://www.presearch.com] and create a free account.
- Customize: Choose your preferred search providers, customize your settings, and make Presearch your own.
- Search and Earn: Start searching with Presearch and earn PRE tokens for your searches. The more you search, the more you can earn.
- Search staking: Stake at least 1000 PRE to start earning increased rewards for your searches.
About Presearch
Presearch was founded in 2017 with the mission to provide a user-focused, decentralized search engine that respects privacy, enables choice, and rewards community participation. It is powered by blockchain technology and a passionate global community of users and developers.
For media inquiries or more information, please contact:
Justin Dyczewski
Head of Public Relations
To start your decentralized search journey, visit presearch.com today.
Please join the community using the links below:
Twitter | Telegram | Discord | Reddit | YouTube | Facebook
This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.
Unity Gaming Engine Launches Blockchain and Web3 Integration Options
Unity, a gaming engine development company, has announced the introduction of several blockchain-based integration options to its platform. The new options offer opportunities for developers, that will be able to take advantage of digital identity, tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other technologies with direct integration into the Unity engine.
Unity Reveals New Decentralization Push in Its Gaming Engine
Unity, one of the biggest companies in the gaming industry, has announced support for a number of new blockchain technologies in its engine. The options, which are developer-focused, will allow users to obtain real ownership of their in-game assets, as well as manage tokens and digital identity solutions that can be exported to the real world.
This means that developers will be able to take advantage of and integrate these technologies in their games in a streamlined way, focusing on building experiences instead of the technical issues that derive from complex blockchain implementations. This includes the design of play-to-earn model-based games and also NFT-focused experiences.
The “verified solution” technologies include 13 different software development kits for integrating blockchain services. Aikon Ore ID, Algorand, Altura, Aptos Labs, Dapper Labs, Immutable X, Infura, Metamask, Nefta, Pocketful of Quarters, Solana, Tezos, and Truffle are the decentralized solutions available for different purposes.
Some of these tools include token management wallets, others are focused on easing the handling of digital identity processes in virtual worlds, and others offer metaverse creation options.
These “verified solutions” are available free from the Unity Asset Store, meaning that even small developers can use them for training and to build small apps that integrate blockchain, lowering the bar for accessing such tools.
Unity, Metaverse, and Web3
Unity is already being used in metaverse gaming powerhouses like The Sandbox and Decentraland, which are two of the most well known blockchain-powered experiences on the market.
John Riccitiello, CEO of Unity, has declared his optimism regarding the adoption of these technologies in the not-so-distant future. In June, Riccitiello stated that his vision included the transformation of the internet into a series of interconnected metaverse sites by 2030.
At that time, Riccitiello stated that more than 50% of the real-time experiences available in the gaming market are built using Unity tools, making this move even more significant for the integration of these technologies in already existing games.
What do you think about the inclusion of decentralized tools in Unity? Tell us in the comments section below.
Russia’s Yandex Search Engine Adds Cryptocurrencies to Its Converter
Yandex, the largest Russian search engine, has updated its currency converter, adding cryptocurrencies. The widget now shows the rates of these coins in a number of fiat currencies, with plans to introduce crypto-to-crypto pairs in the future as well.
Yandex Integrates Leading Cryptocurrencies Into Its Currency Converter
Users of Russia’s leading search engine, Yandex, can view information about over 140 most popular cryptocurrencies, besides the data for the national currencies of various countries. The crypto rates have been added to the latest version of its currency converter, the company announced.
The widget, which features a price chart and a quick conversion tool, is located right above the search results, the Russian Rb.ru news outlet reported, quoting Yandex. The software recognizes standard keywords and even slang or imprecise language in the query.
The value of the coins and tokens of interest can be displayed in Russian rubles, U.S. dollars, euros, and other fiat currencies. More pairs will be added in the future, as well as the option to see the price of a given digital asset in another cryptocurrency.
Yandex sources market data from Coingecko, one of the largest aggregation portals in the crypto space, the report noted. According to the Russian search engine’s own statistics, bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, dogecoin, and solana have been the most popular cryptos by number of search queries in 2022.
Global online platforms support similar functions but the access to some of them has been restricted for Russians. As noted by RBC Crypto, a feature allowing the tracking of cryptocurrency prices was launched by Twitter in December, last year, but the social media platform is blocked in Russia.
A law “On Digital Financial Assets” entered into force in Russia in January, 2021 but the government is yet to properly regulate transactions with decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. According to statements by officials, this should happen in 2023.
A bill designed to legalize crypto mining was submitted to the Russian parliament in November, 2022. The legislation aims to also regulate the exchange of the mined cryptocurrencies on trading platforms abroad or under special legal regimes in Russia.
Do you think Yandex will introduce more crypto-related features in the future? Tell us in the comments section below.
Meet Ordinals, the New Bitcoin NFT Engine, and the Drama Surrounding Them
Ordinals, a new way of using and getting content using Bitcoin, are enabling creators to harness the utility of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) directly from the blockchain, essentially creating native Bitcoin NFTs. This has stirred the pot in some circles, which are now discussing if this is the way in which Bitcoin’s blockchain should be used, and how this new use case will affect bitcoin nodes and fees in the future.
Ordinals Enable Bitcoin NFTs Courtesy of Taproot
A newfound use case for the Bitcoin chain is now being tested by individuals that have found a way of getting content directly to the blockchain. The project, called Ordinals, and launched just a few days ago, has enabled anyone to create Bitcoin NFTs (called inscriptions) as part of its functionality. This opportunity was inadvertently opened by the Taproot upgrade that the network underwent in November, which extended the length of Bitcoin transactions to almost the whole size of a block.
This has been key for what’s currently happening. Before Taproot, transactions could only be 80 bytes in size, limiting the usability of what was stored in the block space. Now, Bitcoin NFTs are being saved directly on the chain, enabling the benefits of portability, durability, and decentralization that characterize Bitcoin.
This could present unique benefits for content creators and users, given that each piece of content stored on the blockchain via Ordinals will have to be synced by each node out there, giving them the longevity of the blockchain itself. Most NFT projects that harness other chains, Ethereum included, just store pointers to the information, that does not reside directly on the blockchain.
Controversy Behind the New Functionality
While there are some ostensible advantages surrounding the adoption of Bitcoin NFTs, the rise of this new feature has awakened an old debate about the true function of the network and what constitutes an attack against the Bitcoin ecosystem. There are already two groups in this public debate: those who support this new face of Bitcoin, and those who believe this is a spam attack that should be avoided and even censored.
The first group alleges that this is a net positive for the chain and that it will contribute to bringing more fees and uses cases for the chain. This is the case of known bitcoin-influencer Dan Held, who believes that each transaction paying its fee is not spam and that the chain is permissionless for anyone to build on top of it.
The second group states that, even if there is nothing that they can do to stop it, this will hurt Bitcoin’s financial and transactional use case. Blockstream CEO Adam Back, believed by some to be Satoshi Nakamoto, is part of this faction, stating that bitcoin users can “educate and encourage developers who care about bitcoin’s use-case to either not do that, or do it in a prunable space-efficient eg time-stamp way.”
Luke Dashjr, a bitcoin developer, called this an “attack” on the protocol and asked for “spam” filters to be developed to counter ordinal functionality. Another Twitter user called “Bitcoin is saving” criticized this from another point of view, explaining that this would affect the viability of marginalized people in developing countries for running Bitcoin nodes and sending transactions.
What do you think about Ordinals and Bitcoin NFTs? Tell us in the comments section below.
The World’s First Decentralized Search Engine for Web3 to Be Launched at the Blockchain Conference in Lisbon
The content-based search engine built on the Cyber protocol is designed to operate with a new type of web interaction. The launch of the genesis ceremony of a bootloader network Bostrom is planned for November 5th at 13:00 GMT. Online translation will be available at cyb.io/genesis and held at the conference Cosmoverse in Lisbon.
In contrast with centralized search engines like Google, in the decentralized search engine Cyber, the links to the content are presented in the global knowledge graph where peers exchange information in a pure p2p fashion.
This approach deprives traditional search engines of their power over the search results: in Web3 there will be no place for opaque search index algorithms, there will be no need for web crawlers that collect information about content changes, censorship or the vulnerabilities that are connected to the potential loss of confidentiality.
“Web3 architecture assumes the links are direct to the content itself and not to the IP address or domain where the content is stored. Cyber is the response to the unfair domination of several major corporations that occupied the web searching niche. Users of the decentralized search engine will be able to search for the content by hash. After a user finds the content and it has been downloaded, the user becomes another node that distributes the content. It all resembles how Torrent networks work”, shared the team of the project Cyber.
The content becomes registered in the knowledge graph of the Cyber protocol via the transaction with the Cyberlink. Unlike hyperlinks that link servers, cyberlinks are links between data. Thereupon, the transaction is validated with the Tendermint consensus algorithm and the Cyberlink is included in the knowledge graph. Every five blocks Cyber ranks the content in the knowledge graph based on the CyberRank algorithm that successfully stands against spam and Sybil attacks.
To get V tokens (volts) that allow indexing the content and A tokens (ampers) for ranking, it is necessary to store for some time in the wallet the H tokens (hydrogen) which are the products of the liquid staking of the main token of the network (BOOT for Bostrom and CYB for Cyber). In that way, by having a network token, Cyber users will be able to access the knowledge graph resources and get staking income similar to the ones that are implemented in such networks as Polkadot, Cosmos, and Solana.
Cyber’s mission is to create the Superintelligence.
Search Engine Marketing Data Reveals Highest Retail Interest In Bitcoin Ever
Bitcoin is nearly at ,000 once again and to the surprise of the crypto community, Google Trends search data now still doesn’t anywhere nearly compare to the search interest back then. However, digging deeper into search engine volume using a plethora of search engine marketing tools, there’s a very different “story” to be told.
Here are the reasons why search volume and related terms suggest that there is far more interest now in Bitcoin than there was at the height of the crypto bubble.
Bitcoin Blows Up But Fails To Boost Google Trends Search Interest
The latest price action is giving crypto investors a flashback of what it was like the last time Bitcoin was trading at these prices.
It was also around Thanksgiving 2017, and the first-ever cryptocurrency had just surpassed ,000 for the first time, piquing the curiosity of average Joes who were left wondering what the heck a Bitcoin even was.
Related Reading | Bitcoin Approaches Top Of Accumulation Zone, Parabolic Phase Begins With Breakout
To find out, before clicking that buy button on their Coinbase app, they turned on Google to take in all the info they could find.
Bitcoin took off on Google Trends as sharply as its parabolic price pattern, and just as fast, crashed back down to previous lows. And as the Google Trends chart below shows, superimposed over the current BTCUSD price chart, interest just still hasn’t returned. Or has it?
Google Trends data layer behind a Bitcoin price chart | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
SEMRush SEO Tools Tell A Different Story, According To eToro Exec
Marketing is a broad term used to define various strategies for driving sales, visibility, traffic, or conversions of any kind. Without marketing, it is challenging to let the world know something exists.
That’s part of what makes Bitcoin so magical. It has corporate backing, and no marketing department to help spread the word – yet its users are more than happy to handle that for the cryptocurrency.
The tools such marketing departments use to drive traffic and conversions on the web include cost-per-click search engine marketing or focus on search engine optimization. SEO is essentially the practice of trying to get picked up on Google organically, while SEM is when marketing departments pay for the reach instead.
Related Reading | Bulls In Control: Total Bitcoin Market Cap Achieves New All-Time High
These marketers use these tools to specifically target certain subsets of users or behaviors – “cryptocurrency users”, for example.
According to eToro marketing exec Brad Michelson explains that SEMRush – one of the analytical services markets rely on for search engine dominance – paints a lot more bullish of a picture about Bitcoin than Google does.
He claims the total monthly global volume of related Bitcoin search terms, is more than three times as much as the December 2017 figure. The volume is spread across a variety of terms, which could suggest that there’s no need to search just Bitcoin now, and people are instead digging deeper into it.
The more websites that relate to a keyword, the higher the SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) will be for those keywords. It’s basically the number of search results that Google shows for a search term.
They also include the the "featured" results, like the screenshot below.
/6 pic.twitter.com/abTuP4gotJ— Brad Michelson (@BradMichelson) November 19, 2020
Terms more common now include the root Bitcoin keyword plus other terms like “mining,” “price,” and “news.” There are also nearly three times as many website pages indexed by search engines.
For whatever reason, Google Trends isn’t picking this up. But there’s also no denying that something is going on with Bitcoin that’s causing the sudden increase in price.
And if it isn’t the retail investors that drove up prices that last time around, then they’ll soon be here after Bitcoin sets a new all-time high – which at this point could be any day now.
Featured image from Deposit Photos, Chart from TradingView.com
‘Libra vs Alipay, WeChat’ Trending High on Chinese Search Engine
Since Facebook announced its new cryptocurrency “Libra,” it has faced resistance from global regulators and financial sectors. The People’s Bank of China, which in 2017 banned the use and trading of cryptocurrencies, has also expressed skepticism, believing that the US-controlled digital currency would circumvent its financial sovereignty.
But that is not stopping consumers in China from exploring Libra’s potential against leading regional payment services like WeChat and Alipay. Crypto news portal cnLedger reports that the keyword ‘Libra will compete with Alipay and WeChat’ is trending on the number 2 position on Weibo, China’s equivalent to Google.
China is paying attention – "Libra will compete with Alipay and WeChat" is now the 2nd hottest search on Weibo (Chinese Twitter). pic.twitter.com/nsMJ4kvHvC
— cnLedger (@cnLedger) July 18, 2019
Libra against Capital Control
The trend emerges as China continues to clamp down on funds leaving the country. According to EUSME, the Chinese government has imposed a string of measures to curb capital outflow, which includes higher scrutiny over Merge & Acquisition transactions, limitations on forex transfers, buying limits, and reporting of overseas transactions that exceed 200,000 RMB.
Facebook’s Libra, on the other hand, proposes to offer a global payment network pegged to a pool of convertible fiat currencies. The project has received backing from leading payment processing firms like Visa and MasterCard, meaning it could practically become a de facto online currency in the future.
Libra aims to make cross-border payments more comfortable, which could subvert Beijing’s efforts to enforce capital controls. The people in the country, meanwhile, have already discovered bitcoin, a decentralized cryptocurrency that became the inspiration for Facebook to launch Libra. Despite an ongoing ban, investors continue to use bitcoin as a tool against capital controls via peer-to-peer methods.
Up until May, both WeChat and AliPay had become an alternative payment system to settle cryptocurrency-related trades. The state-regulated apps, in response, updated their payment policies that now prevent merchants from trading/dealing in bitcoin-related activities.
The surge in Libra’s trend in China appears to come partially from people looking for non-Chinese payment alternatives. On Monday this week, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Facebook cryptocurrency is open to get misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers. That further applies to people looking to bypass capital restrictions.
Libra is Important in China
Wei-Tek Tsai, the chief scientist at Chinese blockchain firm, Tiande Technologies, believes Libra is essential in China despite the political and regulatory hurdles it might face. The expert said stablecoins represent a new financial frontier in the new currency competition. Excerpts:
“Some people may think it’s just a US company launching a stablecoin, not a fiat currency, and this company cannot operate in China, so Libra is not important. Is it? Now that the government and central banks from the US and Europe are all in on this, even though they may disagree on their positions. It has become a national-level public debate. How could it not be significant?”
The post ‘Libra vs Alipay, WeChat’ Trending High on Chinese Search Engine appeared first on NewsBTC.
Coinbase Closes Chicago Office and Scales Down Work on Matching Engine
n Coinbase, a U.S.-based crypto exchange, has scaled down the development of its matching engine and shut down its Chicago officen
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