Vladimir Okhotnikov

  Metaverses: Is the Future Here? I was into the idea of ​​metaverses before it became mainstream! Back then I already saw the problem that people are only now facing. It would seem that we have everything to create virtual worlds. Imagination? Yes, please. Powerful computers? Sure. But here's the problem - this year, interest in metaverses has fallen. Even Zuckerberg's Horizon Worlds project hasn't taken off as expected. Do you know how many active users they have? Only 200,000 per month. For comparison, Facebook has 1 billion! I think it's all about uncomfortable helmets. Who wants to wear a brick weighing 500+ grams on their head? For example: Oculus Quest 2 weighs 500 grams - not at all comfortable. I dream of the day when lightweight, compact VR glasses appear, like in the movies. And so that the battery lasts not a couple of hours, but a whole day. We are waiting for VR glasses to become more affordable. Now the average price is about $400. But soon they will beco

  The Wall Street Journal decided to please us with another "sensation" about Tether. The title of the article is really eye-catching: "The Shadow Dollar Feeding the Financial Underworld." While we were sleeping, Tether, it turns out, created an entire "parallel economy" that the long arms of American law enforcement cannot reach. Although, you know who took everything that is possible and impossible: they even reached Durov through the French. And Russia, Venezuela, along with Iran, are like a bone in the throat of the United States, allegedly using USDT to bypass sanctions. Well, of course, because before the advent of cryptocurrencies, sanctions worked perfectly, and no one bypassed them. Tether, it turns out, prevents the United States from fighting arms dealers and scammers. Because crime did not exist at all before these damned tokens appeared. But in fairness, we can say that Tether prevents buying and selling weapons for real, not crypto dollars. U

  The End of Diseases and Aging: What's in Store for Us in the 2040s? Recently, Ray Kurzweil, a renowned futurist and former Google researcher, made a stunning prediction. According to him, as early as the 2040s, we will be able to merge with AI, creating a true superbeing. And this is not just a fantasy - Kurzweil outlined his ideas in his new book "The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI". Just imagine: a world without diseases, where people live longer and perhaps even forever. It sounds like science fiction. But what if this is our near future? To be honest, I partly agree with Ray Kurzweil. The pace of AI development is simply astounding, and achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) by 2029 seems quite realistic to me. We are already seeing how technology is penetrating our lives more and more deeply, and the next step - closer integration with our body and mind - seems like a logical continuation. The most important thing is the huge potential for so

Bullish Trump, Bearish Harris: Bernstein Predicts Bitcoin's Fate After the Election The U.S. Presidential race has captured the attention not only of political enthusiasts but also the crypto world. Though crypto wasn’t mentioned at the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, all watched it with intense interest since its outcome is important.  According to Polymarket, Harris outperformed expectations during the debate, with rumors of her using "audio earrings", forbidden by the rules, adding fuel to conspiracy theories. Despite all that, Harris managed to deliver an impactful performance. As a result, Harris-themed tokens surged, while Trump-themed political tokens suffered considerable double-digit losses and plunged deep into the red. Interestingly, Kamala Harris previously expressed her support for crypto and was ready to improve the industry. Yet Bitcoin price dipped after the debate..  This raises questions: Does it mean that the crypto community is actually

Crypto enthusiasts celebrated the flawless performance of blockchains after the chaos of Windows' infamous blue screen crash. However, the vulnerability of submarine internet cables has revealed a bigger threat. What happens if the internet goes down? Fortunately, there is a solution! Read more about a unique radio wave technology and its huge potential  👉 https://teletype.in/@vladimirokhotnikov/NLyP30b1Uph #Blockchain #Crypto #DeFi #IoT #Innovation #RadioWaves #OfflineTransactions #DigitalFinance #Internetless

  Digital Megacities: A Revolution in Education, Tourism and Business The largest cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Seoul are looking to move their processes into virtual space. Many people are wondering: why is this necessary? Imagine being able to apply for a residence permit in the Emirates without leaving your home, or attend a business conference in Seoul and then immediately open a company there - all in virtual space. Digital twins of cities open the door to innovative tourism. You will be able to explore the sights before a real trip or visit places that are physically inaccessible. Education is also reaching a new level. For most, it will become possible to attend lectures at the best universities in the world without leaving their hometown. In the metaverse, language barriers are erased, time zones and distances become insignificant. Yes, there are skeptics who consider these projects utopian and expensive. But I am convinced - this is the future. Metaverses will not replace r

Welcome to the Recession: New Reality, Old Tricks Didn't you know that the recession in the US has already begun? And it started back in July! There is a soup set of indicators that the Fed regularly feeds to the average person (for example, GDP data). Such statistics only partially reflect reality: all this data has already been taken into account by the market, so they are useless for an investor or trader. But there are also leading indicators that are unfamiliar to the general public. One of them is the Sahm rule [Sahm Recession Indicator] , named after a smart lady from the Fed who developed it. Here's the gist of it : If the three-month moving average expressing the unemployment rate is more than 0.5% higher than the minimum value of this indicator over the past year, then the recession is already built into the market structure . ” By the way, the rule has always worked like a Swiss watch. So, everything is lost? The world is about to fall into the abyss of the Great De

  Emotional AI Is a New Trend in Technology Imagine an artificial intelligence that not only responds to your requests, but also understands your emotions! "Emotional AI" may become a new trend in the world of neural networks. Why is this necessary? Think about it: there is a huge difference between an angry and an indifferent message with the same text: "Does this make sense?!" An ordinary bot may not catch this difference, but emotional AI can do it easily! How does it work? The technology uses a camera, microphone and other tools to "read" your mood. Imagine how much more natural communication with virtual assistants will become! Interestingly, giants like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services are already offering developers access to such technologies. And OpenAI recently announced a version of GPT-4o that can recognize emotions and even breathing rhythm! Do you think we are ready for AI that will be not only smart, but also emotionally sensitive? #A

  Scam-as-a-Service: Why Many Users Give Green Light to Scammers When we sign approvals entering services we are often less vigilant than we should be. Meanwhile, malicious actors work hard to lull our attention. Inferno Drainer, a phishing tool surging now in popularity, is being used by over 40,000 dApps. Users sign permissions, allowing the tool to access and control their tokens. The result? An alarming scale of theft.  Many dApps (decentralized applications) require authorization to interact with your wallet. They may offer rewards for staking, entice you with better token swap percentage, or provide services that seem beneficial to you. These services need your permission to manage and transfer your tokens. And you grant this permission without a second thought since you believe it’ll bring you rewards. You don’t even realize that this seemingly harmless transaction is an open door for scammers. The Inferno Drainer tool is waiting for the moment to exploit your trust.  The issue

  Why Bitcoin Has Fallen in Price The leading cryptocurrency has fallen in price from $60,000 to $59,200 at the end of August. And not only Bitcoin. Of the top ten largest cryptocurrencies, Solana (SOL) and Dogecoin (DOGE) have fallen the most — by 8% and 6%, respectively. Some analysts believe that this is a natural process: August and September are historically weak months for the crypto market, and growth should not be expected during this period. However, it seems to me that it is difficult to call the reasons that caused the fall of the cryptocurrency market natural. Among the main theses, one can only highlight the bankruptcy of FTX. Now we are reaping the fruits of investor mistrust. Another reason is the US Federal Reserve's announcement to raise interest rates by 0.75%. This led to an increase in government bond yields and a decrease in investor interest in cryptocurrencies, traditionally considered risky assets. At the end of September, we are expecting events that will v

  Prediction markets work better than experts  In a world filled with experts of all kinds, prediction markets have suddenly emerged as a powerful tool for forecasting the future.  A week ago, Bloomberg integrated Polymarket election data into its Terminal. This is the most popular financial data platform for institutions with about 350K subscribers throughout the world. This move revealed a surprising truth. It turned out that prediction markets are more accurate than experts. How can that be? I was very surprised to hear that.   The reason is that experts rely on their specialized knowledge to make forecasts. Though experts can provide valuable insights, their predictions may not be that accurate. Actually, they perform even worse as they are heavily biased. Sometimes overconfidence is in the way. It clouds their judgment. Even statistical methods work better. What’s bad is that they create a false sense of security since you think you are protected by their level of expertise. They

An Unusual Twist in the Challenge of Mass Crypto Adoption It’s hard to break old habits for people. Change often meets resistance, even when it’s positive. This resistance is deeply rooted in human nature, a reluctance to step into the unknown. What is this? Fear? This hesitation persists even in the face of financial hardships. Even when people see that those who embrace change find more opportunities for growth and success, they still resist. It’s hard for me to understand.  This is what I think when I read about the disappointment of El Salvador’s head of state, Nayib Bukele. He admitted in the interview: "Bitcoin has not experienced the widespread adoption we had hoped for." The global community rejoiced when El Saldavor made Bitcoin legal tender. They hoped it would be an ideal example for other countries. Now it’s time to look back and draw conclusions from this experience. As a reminder, the country started buying bitcoin on a daily basis in 2022. The timing was perfec

 AI and Reality  The IT community is buzzing about Metaverses, WEB3, and AI. Soon, we'll see major technological changes, with full-fledged AI likely having the biggest impact on our lives. Current AI, while impressive, isn't truly intelligent yet. However, it's rapidly improving. In a few years, AI might outperform humans in intellectual and creative work, potentially replacing programmers, designers, writers, and artists. This technological leap could cause significant social upheaval. What will happen to millions of "extra" people whose jobs are taken by more efficient AI? Ironically, those now celebrating AI's advancements may soon find themselves jobless. #AIandReality #AIRevolution #FutureTechChanges

  Sony joins the blockchain trend with the Sonerium project  The renowned Japanese corporation Sony, an electronics and gaming giant, is now making strides into the blockchain space. It announced the creation of a global incubator called Sonerium Spark to support Web3 startups. It also launched the Sonerium Minato public testnet designed to become a hub for startups deploying their solutions on it.  The company provides robust infrastructure for building DeFi apps, grants expert mentorship, and strategic industry partnerships. The criteria for future participants haven’t been disclosed. However, we know of its focus on gaming and entertainment. The first companies to join the program are its own subsidiaries such as Sony Pictures and Sony Music. They will pilot and test it before opening the platform to startups.  I think it's a significant shift in Sony’s strategy, which demonstrates a forward-thinking approach. Tech companies will compete soon in the blockchain space, so the earl

The crisis is coming. Or not? It is not surprising that problems of such magnitude have emerged, but rather that they have been overlooked for so long. When someone tried to say that they consider a growing debt as a threat, serious financiers patted him on the back and explained that he was wrong. There was a paradigm of the invulnerability of the American economy. It was believed that it is so global that it could absorb any debt. And indeed, such a strategy worked, however, not because of economics, but because of politics. Investments in US debt were considered safe, given the undeniable power of the borrowing country. All of this worked perfectly until America’s debt became so high that its repayment prospects disappeared. At the same time, rival countries have called American credibility into question.  As a result, the debt became extremely toxic. In fact, the debt problem is not the root cause of the crisis. Such a crisis lies at the very foundation of our centralized financial