Notes and reflections from the 2025 Protocol Symposium, covering topics like protocol entrepreneurship, digital institutions, protocol art, agentic systems, and practical applications of protocol thinking.
Axiom is a decentralized AI network that autonomously discovers, verifies, and archives objective truth. It creates a permanent, anonymous, and incorruptible public knowledge base, free from control.
The CLARITY Act aims to create a regulatory framework for digital assets in the US, primarily assigning the **CFTC** central regulatory authority over **digital commodities** while preserving some **SEC** authority. Here's a breakdown of key provisions:
* **Defining Digital Commodities:** The bill defines "digital commodity" as a digital asset intrinsically linked to blockchain use, *excluding* securities, derivatives, and stablecoins. A key component is the concept of a "**mature blockchain**" – one not controlled by a single entity and meeting specific criteria.
* **SEC Role & Exemptions:** The bill offers a limited exemption from SEC registration for fundraising involving digital commodities on mature blockchains (capped at $75 million over 12 months), requiring an "offering statement." Issuers on *immature* blockchains face additional reporting requirements. Existing SEC-registered market participants can trade digital commodities with CFTC notification, provided regulations are consistent.
* **CFTC Authority:** The CFTC gains exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over digital commodity transactions, requiring exchanges, brokers, and dealers to register. It establishes "Core Principles" for these exchanges, covering areas like trade monitoring, conflict of interest, and customer asset protection. Exchanges can only list commodities from mature blockchains or those with compliant issuers.
* **Provisional Registration:** A provisional registration process is established for early compliance while the full framework is implemented.
* **Other Provisions:** The bill also addresses:
* **Decentralized Finance (DeFi):** Excludes DeFi activities from direct regulation but retains anti-fraud/manipulation authority.
* **Anti-Money Laundering (AML):** Applies the Bank Secrecy Act to new digital asset intermediaries.
* **Bank Involvement:** Amends the Bank Holding Company Act to allow banks to engage in digital commodity activities.
* **Stablecoins:** Limits agency jurisdiction over payment stablecoins to transactions involving registered entities.
* **Custody:** Creates a qualified digital asset custodian requirement.
In essence, the CLARITY Act seeks to provide regulatory certainty for the digital asset market by clearly defining roles for the SEC and CFTC, focusing on blockchain maturity as a key factor, and establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital commodity trading.
* **Defining Digital Commodities:** The bill defines "digital commodity" as a digital asset intrinsically linked to blockchain use, *excluding* securities, derivatives, and stablecoins. A key component is the concept of a "**mature blockchain**" – one not controlled by a single entity and meeting specific criteria.
* **SEC Role & Exemptions:** The bill offers a limited exemption from SEC registration for fundraising involving digital commodities on mature blockchains (capped at $75 million over 12 months), requiring an "offering statement." Issuers on *immature* blockchains face additional reporting requirements. Existing SEC-registered market participants can trade digital commodities with CFTC notification, provided regulations are consistent.
* **CFTC Authority:** The CFTC gains exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over digital commodity transactions, requiring exchanges, brokers, and dealers to register. It establishes "Core Principles" for these exchanges, covering areas like trade monitoring, conflict of interest, and customer asset protection. Exchanges can only list commodities from mature blockchains or those with compliant issuers.
* **Provisional Registration:** A provisional registration process is established for early compliance while the full framework is implemented.
* **Other Provisions:** The bill also addresses:
* **Decentralized Finance (DeFi):** Excludes DeFi activities from direct regulation but retains anti-fraud/manipulation authority.
* **Anti-Money Laundering (AML):** Applies the Bank Secrecy Act to new digital asset intermediaries.
* **Bank Involvement:** Amends the Bank Holding Company Act to allow banks to engage in digital commodity activities.
* **Stablecoins:** Limits agency jurisdiction over payment stablecoins to transactions involving registered entities.
* **Custody:** Creates a qualified digital asset custodian requirement.
In essence, the CLARITY Act seeks to provide regulatory certainty for the digital asset market by clearly defining roles for the SEC and CFTC, focusing on blockchain maturity as a key factor, and establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital commodity trading.
At the RSA Conference, Adi Shamir criticized cryptocurrencies for enabling malware and failing to achieve their initial promise of decentralized finance. Ed Felten offered a more optimistic view, comparing the current situation to the early days of the internet. Whitfield Diffie expressed concerns about governments storing encrypted data for future decryption and the security of systems like Signal.
A small home Bitcoin mining device with a 500GH hash rate has successfully mined a block, earning its owner over $200,000 in BTC.
Improved version of first ESP32 NerdMiner, an open source project that allows you to try to mine Bitcoin with a small piece of hardware.
Guide for setting up the NerdMiner, an educational bitcoin mining device powered by the LILYGO T-Display-S3 ESP32-S3 development board. Detailed steps for both educational and simple setup methods are provided.
Nerd Miners offers Bitcoin lottery miners with plug-and-play functionality for DIY enthusiasts.
Track Bitcoin prices automatically with an ESP32 and an OLED display using MicroPython or Arduino.
/u/BesBesCat writes:
```
JSONVar getBTC() {
String serverPath = "http://api.coindesk.com/v1/bpi/currentprice.json";
jsonBuffer = httpGETRequest(serverPath.c_str());
JSONVar myObject = JSON.parse(jsonBuffer);
return myObject;
}
// Use Coindesk's API instead.
```
/u/BesBesCat writes:
```
JSONVar getBTC() {
String serverPath = "http://api.coindesk.com/v1/bpi/currentprice.json";
jsonBuffer = httpGETRequest(serverPath.c_str());
JSONVar myObject = JSON.parse(jsonBuffer);
return myObject;
}
// Use Coindesk's API instead.
```
This article explores Ethereum's growing influence on the tech sector, focusing on its role in decentralized applications, DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and its impact on innovation, business models, and infrastructure development.
