Seven times Bitcoin miners made the world a better place

April 9, 2022 Coin Telegraph

BTC mining and the miners, themselves, seem to be doing more than just securing the Bitcoin network.

What do a swimming pool, beef jerky, a caravan, timber, animal waste, a Guatemalan lake and a high school have in common?

They’ve all been saved by Bitcoin (BTC) mining. From reusing “waste” heat to getting the job done — to receiving a cool blast of air to dehydrate meat, to cleaning up pollutants, Bitcoin mining does more than just secure the network.

Here’s a round-up of seven times Bitcoin mining lent a hand or simply made the world a better place.

Free Bitcoin mining education in Washington

Sustainable Bitcoin mining company Merkle Standard has taken Bitcoin mining education into its own hands. In partnership with Bitmain, they recently gifted the latest in Bitcoin mining technology to Newport High School, a high school in Washington state.

Plus, they donated $10,000 and are promoting education about Bitcoin in the hope that it will, “plant a seed that encourages lifelong interest in blockchain and digital mining.”

Along with the check, Ruslan Zinurov, Merkle Standard's CEO, told Cointelegraph that they will also invite students to their “data center to check on their machine that is hashing to their school’s wallet.” Zinurov told Cointelegraph:

“It is our top priority to get the community excited about Bitcoin and we can't think of a better way to do this than to educate the local students.”

Adam Delderfield, business development manager at Bitmain — the holding company for the Antminer Bitcoin miners — told Cointelegraph, “Digital currency mining proceeds from this gift will go directly to education,” adding that “Bitcoin mining and proof-of-work represent an exciting new industry that opens up numerous new opportunities.”

*Adam Delderfield from Bitmain in the suit, and Monty Stahl from Merkle Standard with the students. Source: Bitmain*

Bitcoin miner beef jerky cooked up by the Business Cat chef

Bitcoiner Business Cat, who wishes to remain nameless, uses the heat vented by Bitcoin mining to dry out meat to be made into beef jerky. They told Cointelegraph, “Bitcoin miners have one hell of an excess of supply of dry, heated air,” so it makes sense to funnel that heat over strips of beef to make jerky.

Good temps for jerky so far #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/0WPnTuNwnF
— ₿usiness Cat (@_business_cat) April 4, 2022

Similar to Merkle Standard, for the Business Cat, the jerky cooking process is not about making money: “My normal food dehydrator uses much less energy than an S9, but hashpower dried jerky just tastes better.”

They told Cointelegraph that “the support of the plebs on Bitcoin Twitter” persuaded them to try out the idea. They joked that “most of us [Bitcoin plebs] are natural loners, so a few words of praise or support from others on the path goes a long way.”

The Bitcoin community is increasingly supportive of ideas that promote Bitcoin philosophy and Bitcoin-only ideas, from a Bitcoin hostel in Portugal to a Bitcoin lake project in Guatemala.

*The modified Bitcoin miner that cleans the air while funneling it for use on food. Source: Twitter*

Business Cat is delighted with their experience and suggests others take up home mining. They combined life advice with Bitcoin mining advice explaining to Cointelegraph:

“Should you mine Bitcoin at home? Yes. Should you learn to be a better chef? Also yes.”

Bitcoin heats my swimming pool

Bitcoin enthusiast Jonathan Yuan found a cheaper, faster and more stable way of heating his swimming pool in Minnesota, all thanks to Bitcoin mining.

Thanks to immersion heating, Bitcoin now powers up his pool. Even though Yuan doesn’t care for swimming, his kids are happy to swim in the pool while he secures the Bitcoin network.

*Yuan's Bitcoin miner heated pool. Source: Twitter*

Yuan told Cointelegraph that the whole experiment went so swimmingly that he’s now planning on heating “the whole house.”

Propane gas tank heater broke down? Bitcoin miner to the rescue!

Michael Schmid is a well-traveled, savvy Bitcoiner. When his caravan’s propane gas heater broke down, he refitted the vehicle to be warmed by the “waste” heat from an S9 Bitcoin miner.

Schmid told Cointelegraph that he saves “around 50% of the propane costs, which is around $2.7 per day.”

“Now the fun part, the miner produces around 0.00006259 BTC per day (with the current difficulty and 13 TH/s) on the current price of 38 thousand. This is $2.40 per day, so we technically heat the airstream for free.”

*Schmid's airstream kept warm with a Bitcoin miner, in a box just behind the wheel. Source: Schmid*

Plus, a kick in the teeth to the anti-Bitcoin environmentalists — heating the Schmid family airstream with Bitcoin rather than propane gas is better for the planet.

“Our Airstream has solar panels on top of it that can generate up to 400W of energy, so technically of the 1400W that the miner uses, 400W of them are self-generated and fully renewable.”

Bitcoin miner waste heat dries out timber

Kryptovault is a Norwegian Bitcoin mining company with arguably the greenest credentials among any industry. Powered by 100% hydropower, the energy it uses solves valid blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain and the heat generated by the miners blows over damp logs from a local timber mill.

*Timber waiting to be dried by Bitcoin miner's waste heat at Kryptovault's mining facility. Source: Kryptovault*

In a video made by the company, Sveni Bjerke, CEO of local firewood company Varma, which receives the miner-dried logs, says that they are “only using excess heat from the data center.”

The environmental success of the project has spurred further partnerships. Kjetil Hove Pettersen, CEO of KryptoVault, told Cointelegraph that drying out seaweed for local companies is coming soon, and they are “constantly looking for new ways of utilizing our waste heat.”

Pettersen explained, "Approximately 99% of our electric energy turns into thermal energy."

“ As we know, energy is never truly lost, it only changes form. So this is a way of us to utilize this energy twice and support other local industries in the process. I can’t think of any better industrial use-cases than what we are doing.”

Promoting financial and energy autonomy in Guatemala

In south Guatemala, a team of Bitcoin miners donated an S9 to the local mayor and the mining proceeds are being used to repair a wastewater treatment plant.

*Bill Whittaker and Patrick Melder, on the right, installing the Bitcoin miner. Source: Twitter*

Bitcoin mining in the economically disadvantaged region has boosted incomes while improving the air quality.

Plus, as Bill Whittaker, a co-founder of Bitcoin Lake, told Cointelegrpah, the team is “self-funding carbon-negative Bitcoin mining R&D.” Two high school students, Madaket and Kate, are planning a trip down to “LakeBitcoin in early May to deliver the S17s they have been working on.”

The Bitcoin miners they bring will join the first Bitcoin miner, and naturally will be powered by renewable energy — in this case, biogas. Biogas is growing in popularity as an energy source for Bitcoin mining.

*Madaket and Kate posing with their Bitmain miner under a solar panel. Source: Whittaker*

Bitcoin mining grows flowers and food

A greenhouse in the Netherlands is heated by Bitcoin miners rather than natural gas. That's according to Bert de Groot, founder of Bitcoin Bloem.

*The Bitcoin miner camouflaged among hydrangeas. Source: Twitter*

In partnership with a large greenhouse, they "placed a Bitcoin miner to reduce the use of natural gas, the prices of which have skyrocketed, and heat the greenhouse with miner heat instead." De Groot continued:

“The family that owns the greenhouse first put electric heaters because of the 6x cost of natural gas, they now get paid for their electricity, which is used for mining, and receive the heat for free.”

It's a win-win situation. After all, who can say no to flowers?

*One of the Bitcoin flowers. Source: Twitter*

Asked about the electronic waste issues that the mainstream media associates with Bitcoin mining, de Groot said, “A miner should last for at least five years. We don’t know of any ASIC (S9) that has been turned to e-waste yet.”

Plus, they're also fans of delivering flowers to their local community.

We just delivered the flowers to the elderly home. Suus of @BrabantZorg received them. By coincidence the garden was renewed and they will put them for the 50 elderly outside in the new garden. They didn’t have money for the plants so they were really happy with the donation. pic.twitter.com/7CivmZxyjo
— BitcoinBloem (@BloemBitcoin) April 6, 2022

NFT LA: Attract the mainstream, focus on Web3 and use cases

April 6, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Panelists who spoke at NFT LA shared their thoughts on Web3, innovative use cases and the future of nonfungible tokens.

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have generated mainstream interest over the last year. A yearly market report from NonFungible found that the total value of all NFT transactions worldwide surpassed more than $17 billion in 2021, up from $82.5 million in 2020. The report also pointed out that “NFT” was selected as Collins Dictionary’s word of the year for 2021.

Given the increasing amount of interest NFTs create, a number of events dedicated entirely to nonfungible tokens are also taking place, attracting a mix of both crypto enthusiasts and non-crypto natives. This was recently seen during NFT LA, a four-day-long conference that took place in downtown Los Angeles from March 29 to April 1, 2022. The organizers behind NFT LA told Cointelegraph that the event attracted over 3,500 people.

Web3 education and onboarding were major themes

While NFT LA featured a number of panels on different topics from over 250 speakers, there was a large focus on Web3 education and ways to onboard new users into the space. For example, Johnna Powell, global co-head of ConsenSys NFT — the NFT wing of Ethereum software developer ConsenSys — told Cointelegraph that the organization is particularly focused on enabling users to easily utilize a MetaMask wallet. Powell explained that she spoke about ways to ensure that Web3 resonates with the mainstream during her panel discussion at NFT LA:

“When people get excited about NFTs, it’s not necessarily because they are thinking of Web3 or crypto. Rather, people are thinking about collectibles like stamps or trading cards. When NFTs are purchased through our platform, we want to create an easy user journey that introduces individuals to Web3.”

Powell noted that ConsenSys NFT works with large brands and IP owners to enter the NFT space. In turn, these organizations are able to drive users to the ConsenSys NFT platform. “We then ease individuals into Web3 wallets like MetaMask,” said Powell. Once non-crypto natives become comfortable using a Web3 wallet, Powell believes that newcomers will eventually start to collect more NFTs.

Cointelegraph senior reporter Rachel Wolfson sat down with Johnna Powell, global co-head of ConsenSys NFT at NFT LA. Photo Credit: Larry Wong

Powell also explained that ConsenSys NFT is working on NFT use cases that will resonate with the mainstream. For example, she said that ConsenSys NFT recently partnered with MAC Cosmetics on its first-ever NFT collection featuring the work of the late artist and activist Keith Haring.

While Powell discussed ways to get the mainstream involved with Web3, Monica Long, general manager of RippleX — Ripple’s innovation arm — told Cointelegraph that she spoke about the evolution of Web2 to Web3 during her panel at NFT LA:

“I talked about the role big tech companies play in the Web3 world. Overall, I think moving from Web2 to Web3 won’t happen overnight. We will see a blend of centralized and decentralized finance. I also talked about OpenSea and their role to make NFTs more user friendly.”

According to Long, while NFTs are attracting mainstream interest, there are still a number of challenges that exist in terms of self-custody and user-friendly interfaces. “Web2 developers are great at ensuring user-friendly experiences, which we urgently need in the NFT space,” she remarked.

Echoing Long, Matt Mason, chief content officer at Palm NFT Studio — a technology firm that partners with artists, creatives, IP owners and entertainment companies to onboard them into Web3 — told Cointelegraph that he spoke about how to launch NFT drops at scale, noting that user experience must be seamless.

The Bat Cowl Collection NFT preview. Source: Palm NFT Studio

Palm NFT Studio recently launched an NFT project with Warner Bros. Consumer Products’ DC Comics. Known as “The Bat Cowl Collection,” the drop featured 200,000 unique 3D-rendered Batman cowl NFTs.

When launching an NFT project this large, Mason explained that both consumers and intellectual property holders need to have a user-friendly experience:

“For fans, it’s about thinking about how to ensure they have a good experience with NFTs from the start. To ensure this, we’ve created a custodial wallet inside our platform where consumers only have to click a button to get their NFTs. This provides a better experience.”

Mason added that as time progresses, consumers will become more interested in nonfungible tokens, which will eventually allow them to move assets around on the Ethereum network. “Roadmapping third-party wallet integrations are down the line for Palm NFT as we scale but, we have a large mainstream audience, so we need to make the NFT process as easy and as seamless as possible.”

Regarding intellectual property holders like DC comics, Mason explained that many of these companies require conservative approaches to NFTs centered around compliance and regulations. “We stay close to what the Securities and Exchange Commission is doing and thinking, so compliance is a major aspect for us,” said Mason. As an example, Mason shared that The Bat Cowl Collection will be the first major NFT collection with sales tax built in. Specifically speaking, Mason explained that if users in Europe purchase one of these NFTs, they will be required to pay a value-added tax (VAT), while United States users will pay a sales tax:

“We know sales tax is coming to the NFT space — by next year everyone will be doing this. If you are a brand as large as Warner Brothers, for instance, doing anything in the space dings your brand in terms of tax, compliance and regulation. Everyone in the NFT space talks about scale, but none of that will happen without regulation.”

Use cases today and in the future

While education was a major topic of discussion at NFT LA, the event also allowed for the exploration of current use cases today while providing a glimpse into the future.

Alex Salnikov, co-founder and head of product at NFT marketplace Rarible, told Cointelegraph that the NFT space is currently undergoing a massive market shift:

“The year 2020 was all about crypto art, which is still generating about the same amount of volume this year. But, now profile picture NFTs like Bored Apes and CryptoPunks are skyrocketing. PFP NFTs are responsible for 90% of volume across the NFT space.”

According to Salnikov, PFP NFTs are serving as aesthetically pleasing tickets to exclusive clubs and communities. “This is an entirely new concept,” he remarked. Salnikov added that NFTs also function as important assets in metaverse environments, acting as land, digital fashion for avatars and much more. “NFTs represent the ownership of goods in the digital universe we are building,” he remarked.

Cointelegraph senior reporter Rachel Wolfson sat down with Alex Salnikov, co-founder and head of product at Rarible at NFT LA. Photo Credit: Larry Wong

In addition to PFP NFTs, enterprise-focused NFTs are also coming to fruition. For instance, Long explained that Ripple is seeing interest in real-estate NFTs or carbon credit marketplaces that use nonfungible tokens. “Ripple has spent years working on the enterprise side, so we have operations skills to serve this area,” she mentioned.

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) — a member-led organization focused on enterprise Ethereum use cases — has also started to pay close attention to enterprise NFTs. Dan Burnett, executive director of the EEA, told Cointelegraph that Palm NFT Studio recently joined the EEA board, representing the first NFT-focused participant:

“We’ve definitely been paying attention to NFTs for a long time, but we’re really pleased to have experts joining the board who can help us make sure that we are providing the information background that businesses, individuals and solo entrepreneurs need in order to operate in this space. We’re not here for speculation. We’re here for real business.”

Dan Heyman, Palm NFT Studio CEO and EEA board member, further told Cointelegraph that he has recently been seeing every enterprise with a consumer presence have discussions around NFTs. “Even the companies that haven’t done anything with NFTs yet are talking about what value they can bring.” Although this may be, Heyman pointed out that the efforts in the NFT space from large IPs have only gone so far, yet he referenced the recent DC Comics NFT collection as one of the first to demonstrate a long-term commitment to engage with consumers and fans through NFTs.

What to expect moving forward

With education and innovative use cases in mind, NFT LA presented attendees with a better idea of where the NFT space currently stands. While adoption is well underway, much work needs to be done in order to really bring use cases to the mainstream. For instance, Salnikov believes that the industry is still very much in the ideation stage:

“Everyone is excited about NFTs being applied to everything right now. Part of these use cases will prove to be valuable and drive the market forward, and others will prove otherwise.”

In terms of what to expect moving forward, Salnikov mentioned that the rise of PFP NFTs is resulting in community-led marketplaces versus traditional NFT marketplaces. “Every community wants their own marketplace now to ensure a seamless user experience.”

Salnikov elaborated that today, when a PFP collection launches, there is typically a website where users can mint, connect their wallets and buy items. There is usually a Discord group as well and a secondary marketplace where NFTs can be traded. “Secondary marketplaces break the customer journey,” Salnikov stated.

He added that communities want users to stay on their website for secondary trading, which is why the space will see an influx of community marketplaces in the future.

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are also becoming more common with community-focused NFT projects. Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands — a Hong Kong-based gaming and venture capital company — told Cointelegraph that DAOs will start to govern NFT communities moving forward.

Another interesting trend the NFT sector can expect to see is stories being woven into nonfungible tokens. Mason explained this in detail, noting that The Bat Cowl NFT collection will soon appear in comic books. “We have a director of storytelling working closely with the DC Comics editorial team.” According to Mason, NFTs will pave the way for decentralized storytelling. “Transmedia is about telling stories across different platforms — NFTs are built for that.”

Although it’s hard to predict the future, Salnikov added that he believes the NFT industry is moving toward a trillion-dollar market in the next 10 years, or even sooner. “This wouldn’t be possible without the ideation stage we are currently in.”

What is augmented reality and why is it important for the Metaverse?

April 2, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

What is augmented reality and why is it important for the Metaverse? Find out how AR can enrich your life, now and in the future.

How can augmented reality be used in a classroom?

How do teachers use augmented reality? As a teacher, you can enrich the curriculum and provide children with a valuable learning experience.

Teachers can make the curriculum more engaging by using augmented reality, or mixed reality. Interactive experiences will help students maintain focus and improve their motivation. Student outcomes will also improve by applying AR and maybe even the Metaverse in the classroom.

For teachers, it’s important to keep the “why” in mind. Why do we want to make AR part of the curriculum? How will augmented reality change education? There are multiple ways to implement the technology of AR in the classroom:

Change the way students engage by working with stories and puzzles. Bringing stories to life has never been as easy as it is today;
Taking a look inside the human body sounds vague, but thanks to AR, students can really see what the inside body looks like during health classes;
Google’s SkyMap is an interesting platform for exploring our solar system. By tilting your device upwards, you can immediately learn about all the planets, stars and constellations that are up there.

The role of augmented reality in learning and education

You can introduce people to methods or objects or just train them in a specific field, like healthcare.

Augmented reality is mostly used for e-commerce or gaming purposes, but it is much more than that. Just think of the application in education — the possibilities are endless. Let’s explore a few of them.

For starters, residents and surgeons could use AR technology to perform virtual operations. The professionals are gaining hands-on experience without risking other people’s lives.

Second, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a low point in face-to-face encounters for obvious reasons. Real estate agents found a great way to teach people about the opportunities of properties. When face-to-face interactions are a challenge, AR allows you to explore the options of a property without leaving your home.

How does augmented reality benefit society?

Augmented reality can make life a lot easier. It can help you identify and recognize items or be informed by digital information.

We’ve talked a lot about the application of AR technology in the Metaverse and what these developments mean for the upcoming years. But, where does this leave us now? How does augmented reality benefit society in 2022/2023?

This innovative technology is great for integrating digital information into your physical environment. You can visualize the walking route in public organizations to avoid ambiguities and uncertainties for your customers. Or, think of an emergency when no healthcare professionals are in sight. Thanks to AR, it’s possible to not only look up first aid treatments, but also learn how to perform them correctly. It could save a life.

Augmented reality for visually impaired people is also emerging. Think about the simple things in life, like getting on the bus. But, how do you find the bus stop if you cannot see it? With your AR/VR headset, you can recognize and identify objects and even use text recognition. This prevents you from waiting by a tree instead of at the bus stop.

The future of augmented reality

The future of AR is promising. It’s convenient and challenging for consumers and a new source of income for entrepreneurs.

Augmented reality is still fairly new at the moment, but it will reach maturity in the coming years. It’s an innovative technique that will also add value to everyday life. The global AR market is expected to grow in the coming years, with a projected market capitalization of close to $300 billion in value by 2024.

Multiple brands are working on AR solutions for their customers. For example, Apple is developing an AR/VR headset. At first, the production date was pushed back from 2020 to 2022, but rumors suggest that they finished its key production tests.

The role of augmented reality in the metaverse

AR and the Metaverse is like a good marriage. You can use them apart from each other, but they’re better together.

The Metaverse is a digital landscape that participants can use to build their own virtual environments. It’s a network of different virtual worlds that you can enter through by wearing VR goggles. But, here’s a question: Can you tell why augmented reality is important for the Metaverse? What is the role of AR in the Metaverse?

Even though you can’t change the world you’re living in, augmented reality makes it possible to give your surroundings an extra dimension. By using images, sounds, texts or even GPS data, you can enrich the place you’re in. It is key that these elements are presented spatially to affect your depth perception.

The AR technique has a certain degree of power, convincing your brain that those elements really exist in your environment. And, that’s the moment your current world becomes a lot more interesting.

So, for anyone wondering: Is the Metaverse the same as augmented reality? It isn’t. According to Mark Zuckerberg, the Metaverse is a type of “embodied internet.” “You can deliver it to your reality by using AR.”

Augmented reality vs. virtual reality

Virtual reality is entirely virtual, whereas augmented reality uses a real-world context.

Both virtual and augmented reality are essential technologies to shape and access the Metaverse. Virtual reality, or VR, is an experience where you can replace current surroundings with a simulated environment.

AR is basically our everyday reality, but with an extra layer of information on top. A great augmented reality example is the tool from beauty brand L’Oréal that allows you to test different makeup types on your face. The important thing about AR is that almost anyone can experience it since all you need is a smartphone. The purpose of augmented reality is to magnify the value for its users, which we will now dive further into.

What is augmented reality used for?

Augmented reality can be used for a lot of different purposes. You can enrich daily activities or innovate your services as an entrepreneur.

Augmented reality, or AR, is a technique that adds layers to the world as we are used to it. These layers could be visual, auditory and sensory information to intensify your experience. Companies use augmented reality techniques to promote their products, collect significant data and launch marketing campaigns. In everyday life, Pokémon Go is probably one of the best-known AR examples.

Think about those really awesome sneakers you want to buy. Local shops don’t have the items you’re looking for, so you buy online. But, will they match your favorite outfit and will you still like them once they’re on your feet? With AR technology, you can try the sneakers on at home. Problem solved.

NFT Project Spotlight: Edenhorde, the NFT-Based Immersive World

March 31, 2022 The Crypto Briefing

Visa launches immersion program to help creators build their business with NFTs

March 30, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Visa Creator Program is the latest in a string of initiatives that Visa has carried out as it targets the digital creator economy.

Visa announced the official launch of the Visa Creator Program, a one-year product strategy and mentorship program for entrepreneurs working in art, music, fashion and film who seek to accelerate their small business through nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. According to Visa, the goal of the Creator Program is to bring together a global cohort of digital creators and empower them via education of blockchain technology and NFT commerce.

Originally announced in October, 2021, the program's first Visa Creator is Micah Johnson, creator of the Aku World NFT community. Johnson is a former professional baseball player who retired after multiple injuries to become a visual artist in 2018. The NFT character Aku is a young Black astronaut who has grown to ink his own film and TV deal and is considered the the first NFT art piece to digitally travel to the International Space Station.

Johnson's art has sold for a total value of 6,178 ETH, or approximately $20.9 million, according to CryptoArt at the time of publication. He joins the global payments giant's inaugural class of content creators and gig economy workers who are already engaging with NFTs. Prospective candidates must apply and be selected to partake.

Creators like @Micah_Johnson3 are at the forefront of NFTs. His work with Visa is an exciting introduction to the Visa Creator Program, a global opportunity for digital creators & artists looking to deepen their understanding of NFT commerce. Learn more: https://t.co/oAQknwPdB4 pic.twitter.com/E6B9QVTyDl
— Visa (@Visa) March 30, 2022

Cuy Sheffield, Visa's head of crypto, said in a statement that “NFTs have the potential to become a powerful accelerator for the creator economy.” He added that the Visa Creator Program is their way of helping "this new breed of small and micro businesses tap into new mediums for digital commerce.”

Besides mentorship and the community aspect of the program, other perks according to Visa are the opportunities to engage with Visa’s network of clients and partners, as well as the access to thought leaders in the Web3 space. Participants will also receive a one-time stipend to help kick-start the next phase of the company's business plan.

The Visa Creator Program demonstrates the company's commitment to Credit card giant following its $150,000 acquisition of a CryptoPunk in August, 2021 the launch of its Universal Payment Channel interoperability project and the success of its crypto-enabled cards.

Dubai school will welcome tuition payments in Bitcoin and Ethereum

March 29, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Citizens School said it also intends to integrate blockchain technology into several aspects of its academic and administrative operations in the future.

According to local news outlet Arabian Business, Citizens School, located in Dubai, will accept tuition payments denominated in Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH). Payments using digital assets are facilitated via an unnamed processing platform and are automatically converted into United Arab Emirates Dirhams (AED). Dr Adil Alzarooni, founder of Citizens school, commented:

"We look forward to enhancing the role of young generations in achieving the UAE's digital economy. As more people embrace the era of digitalization, today's children will become the entrepreneurs and investors of tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Hisham Hodroge, CEO of Citizens School, added: "Introducing the ability to pay tuition fees through cryptocurrencies goes beyond just providing another payment option. It is a means to drive further interest in the applications of blockchain — a technology that Citizens School intends to deploy, in time, across several aspects of its academic and administrative operations."

The school, set to open in September of this year, is located at the heart of Dubai and appears to be structured as an international school. It is available to students ages from 3 to 11. On its website, Citizens School lists its tuition cost as 45,000 AED to 65,000 AED per year ($12,250 to $17,700) before VAT, school lunches, a mandatory iPad for learning, field trips, extracurricular activities, and transport.

The UAE has become a digital asset proponent in the Middle East with an increasing number of crypto friendly regulations. Both Binance and FTX have recently received their operational licenses in Dubai. Meanwhile, regulators in Abu Dhabi are rolling out draft recommendations for the trading of nonfungible tokens.

How Can You Stay Private in Crypto Today?

March 20, 2022 The Crypto Briefing

Metaverse for education: How virtual reality can help schools and colleges

March 20, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

The metaverse can present a new era for education, enabling decentralized classrooms and immersive learning.

Disadvantages of metaverse learning environments

While learning how the metaverse can help students and teachers showcases the benefits of metaverse education over traditional schooling, the virtual world has its downsides to consider.

While virtual reality classrooms sound fantastic on paper, there are some downsides as well. For instance, children with disabilities such as hearing and vision problems would need special accommodations they might not be able to receive. If a hearing-impaired child from China wants to attend a metaverse class hosted by an American school, it’s unlikely that the American school would be willing or able to cater to the student.

In this case, catering to a child’s disabilities would fall upon the parents and not the school. This is an unfortunate circumstance, considering that most schools provide options for disabled children.

All of this goes to show that metaverse addiction is a real possibility for children and adults. If a student utilizes their virtual reality headset both for education and entertainment, they’ll be clocking dozens of hours a week in the digital world and might be neglecting their life in the real world. More time in a virtual world requires a balance with the real one — a balance that might not be easily achieved.

Finally, there’s the case of accessibility. For metaverse education to thrive and proliferate, it must become easier for families worldwide to acquire virtual reality headsets. Otherwise, such education will be limited to a select few and not to the majority.

Benefits of metaverse learning environments

Learning how to use virtual reality in schools presents various benefits over traditional models, allowing children to “visit” places from the past or conduct dangerous experiments in a safe, virtual environment.

While Roblox and similar titles present a current way to get virtual online learning experiences, these games lack what the metaverse can provide in a few key ways.

For one, metaverse environments aren’t bound to a graphical style. Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite all have cartoonish visual aspects to them, which can distract from the learning and remind students that they’re playing one of their favorite games.

A metaverse environment, however, can be designed to look quite realistic. Depending on their metaverse of choice, educators will have the capabilities to design an environment that’s truly stunning and bound to captivate students old and young.

This isn’t to mention that metaverse environments can replicate real-life locations, bringing the immersion to a whole new level.

Aside from visual immersion, metaverse worlds can also offer more physical interaction. Virtual reality headsets and controllers are designed to feel natural and can replicate hands and fingers while the student is wearing the gear.

As a result, educators can design learning experiences that utilize the nuanced movement of hands, like teaching students how to write or showing them sign language. Once the children are out of the virtual world and back in the real world, they’ll have the muscle memory in place, and reliving their learned experiences won’t feel any different.

Metaverse learning environments can also promote safety in a way that real-world teaching simply cannot. In the metaverse, educators will have complete control over student interactions and can limit bullying or separate children for disciplinary purposes by simply changing some permissions in the virtual space. This way, children can focus on learning instead of worrying about bullies or other distractions.

Digital environments can also prevent devastating scenarios like school shootings, as children will be spread out in their homes rather than grouped in one area.

Teaching and learning in the metaverse

Teachers can build virtual landscapes based on their lesson plans, enhancing a child’s learning with experience as opposed to reading from a book.

Teaching and learning in the metaverse may sound like a far-off concept possible only in our dreams, but similar situations already exist in our current landscape.

Take a game like Roblox, for example. Roblox enables anyone to build and share their virtual worlds akin to Minecraft and Fortnite. While this world-building concept was originally used for user creation purposes, the feature has been expanded upon to include Roblox classrooms.

Roblox classrooms consist of private servers for an educator and their students to log into, and can take place in real-world or virtual scenarios. For instance, kids can sit in a computer lab at school and all log into the same world with their teacher.

In this case, the teacher might use the virtual world to show a historical landmark through the computer monitors, but the actual communication between teacher and student will happen in the real world.

Roblox virtual learning experiences, however, are a prime example of the educational potential of metaverses. Virtual learning experiences take place over millions of user-generated worlds, and students log in at home via their devices rather than at a school.

Some of these worlds are based on physics simulations to teach students about the subject in a safe virtual environment, while others might be role-playing simulations of historical events. Such experiences represent a new form of learning in lived experiences, rather than simply reading about subjects in a book.

Of course, a virtual learning environment allows for anyone to log in from anywhere — an advantage shared by current metaverse learning environments. The difference, however, between Roblox and metaverse environments is that the latter can be much more immersive.

Metaverse opportunities for education

Students and teachers alike can meet up in the digital space via their virtual reality headsets regardless of their real-life location. Such functionality can lead to enhanced education for those willing to seek it.

A persistent alternate reality presents endless possibilities, with an especially large potential impact on education. Let’s envision one of the possible virtual reality classrooms.

Imagine a classroom full of students eager to learn about history. These students are based in various countries around the world, and their teacher lives a traveling lifestyle — constantly visiting new areas to increase their historical knowledge.

Thanks to the metaverse, both teacher and student can meet regardless of their real-world location. From there, teachers can call upon their traveled knowledge to accurately inform their students.

Then comes the visual possibilities of a metaverse school. Not only can the teacher talk about their discoveries, but they can also show students in an immersive 3D environment.

At any point, desks and chairs can give way to an in-person recreation of a historical landmark. Students can explore as they wish, asking questions and supporting their learning with first-person experiences. No longer will inquiring children have to sit bored in a sterile classroom. Instead, they can get excited about learning, thanks to the power of virtual worlds.

What is the metaverse?

The metaverse is a digital landscape that participants can use to build their own virtual environments. It’s also a space for users around the world to connect in a more human way than other methods.

The metaverse presents a brilliant method of virtually interacting with others all around the world. Anyone, anywhere can put on a virtual reality headset or utilize their web browser to log in to a virtual space and communicate with others face-to-face.

It’s best to think of the metaverse as a virtual recreation of the real world, one that users and developers can customize to their heart's content, building anything from a metaverse school to virtual sports arenas on properties that they own. And in a world that’s becoming geographically divided due to pandemics and other disasters, it represents a way for families and friends to interact in ways unlike anything seen before.

‘How I met Satoshi’: The mission to teach 100M people about Bitcoin by 2030

March 18, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Books

A Bitcoiner from Slovakia is on a quest to educate 100 million people by 2030. He shares the story of how he met Satoshi and other remarkable Bitcoin enthusiasts.

Dušan Matuska is, among many other things, a Bitcoin educator and consultant. The Slovak’s dream is to educate 100 million people about Bitcoin (BTC) by 2030 through talks, podcasts, webinars, workshops and even a Bitcoin education center in a far-flung destination (plans are currently under wraps).

Alongside his Bitcoin teaching aspirations, he helps out at a small-scale Bitcoin mining facility in Slovakia, co-founded a crypto cafe known as Paralelni Polis in the capital city of Bratislava, and has translated well-known Bitcoin books into his native tongue, Slovak.

But, how did he get here? And, what does meeting Satoshi Nakamoto have to do with it?

It starts with Bitcoin, which he first heard about in 2015. But like many people, “I didn’t take a lot of notice. I thought it was a scam, it was a pyramid scheme and all these kinds of things,” he told Cointelegraph.

Nonetheless, equipped with a background in mathematics and buoyed by the enthusiasm of a tenacious friend fascinated by open-source technologies, Matuska didn’t so much fall but swan dive down the rabbit hole during the 2017 bull run.

He suddenly realized, “Oh my God, this Bitcoin thing is something really amazing.”

*Matuska in his trademark Bitcoin sweater. Source: Dušan Matuska*

He took time off his teaching and consulting jobs to study Bitcoin. Within months, he had deployed his public speaking skills to give the first free talks of many about Bitcoin. At his first “open workshop, where 40 or 50 people came” in early 2018, something began to click.

“Teaching something that I have a passion for feels natural to me. I gave webinars, consultations, free talks, all these kinds of things related to Bitcoin. Then, we founded Paralelna Polis in Bratislava.”

The crypto cafe, as it’s also known, is the baby brother to the Paralelni Polis cafe in Prague. It’s a cafe rooted in alternative learning, or “parallel education,” which harks back to when Czechoslovakia was a communist country.

*The Paralena Polis, or “crypto cafe,” coffee shop and meeting space. Matuska is on the right, crouching with glasses. Source: Dušan Matuska*

It is an apt epithet for a safe space to learn, tinker with and eventually use cryptocurrency. “No fiat is allowed,” Matuska added.

The parallels of teaching about restricted worlds during communist rule and learning about an alternative financial world where fiat currency is surplus to requirements are clear-cut at the cafe. Matuska explained:

“So, the idea was not to fight against the system but to build up a parallel system. The same as Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a peaceful protest against the system. It‘s not going to break things, but slowly it will make them obsolete.”

While helping out as a barista at the cafe, Matuska spoke to unassuming crypto enthusiasts, from 73-year-old former bankers to senior citizens curious about transacting with crypto.

*Elderly women learning about Bitcoin at a bazaar run by the crypto cafe in Slovakia. Source: Dušan Matuska*

“I often use the example of the 73-year-old man when educating people about Bitcoin. If he can learn how to use a Bitcoin wallet and how to pay with Bitcoin, anyone can.”

Better yet, the reason why the septuagenarian transacted via Bitcoin is that it was “easier for him than it was to use online banking.” Matuska confirmed to Cointelegraph that the elderly man was not, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto.

While, sadly, the Bratislava crypto cafe closed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prague cafe lives on. Plus, the foundations were laid, and Matuska had two epiphanies: Bitcoin is for everyone, and Bitcoin solves problems.

For Matuska, whether it’s sending money to a cousin in the United States, bequeathing money to grandchildren or simply “helping people save money to fight inflation,” it’s not just some cool tech or “number-go-up technology.”

One day, his girlfriend asked, “My teaching colleagues are asking about how to educate kids about Bitcoin. Is there a book for them?” After that, Matuska shifted his focus from teaching adults to teaching children as well.

Thanks to the help of other Bitcoin educators in the space, as well as a successful crowdfunding campaign, Matuska has sent over 2,000 Bitcoin-related books to schools across Slovakia, translated into Slovak by himself and his team.

*Slovakian schoolchildren reading “Bitcoin Money.” Source: Dušan Matuska*

Expanding his Bitcoin education aspirations into schools was a deft move. He‘ll need all the help he can get to reach his goal of educating 100 million people about Bitcoin by 2030. To keep track of the numbers, Matuska used to maintain “an excel spreadsheet. Then I used to count YouTube video views. but there was too much overlap.”

He’s now working on a series of metrics to reach his goal, undoubtedly tracking the number of downloads on the Bitcoin-focused podcasts he records.

In the podcast series, Matuska answers common questions and explores thought experiments he was exposed to during his Bitcoin teaching. One of the most popular thought experiments is a riff on Satoshi Nakamoto’s anonymity and is actually from the first podcast he recorded.

It’s called “How I met Satoshi,” and it refers to a theoretical meeting with the creator of Bitcoin. Matuska explained:

“Just like Pythagoras and his theorem, we don’t actually need to know if he was a good guy or a bad guy, or if he was orange, blue, yellow or black, whatever. The key thing is that the Pythagorean theorem works again and again.”

It is possible to mathematically prove that the Pythagorean theorem works thousands of years after his death. “It will be the same for Satoshi‘s calculations.”

While Matuska “meets” with Satoshi, it‘s more about the real “meeting” that occurs when you begin to engage with the works of a genius, whether it‘s Albert Einstein, Michelangelo or Aristotle.

Ultimately, for the founder of Bitcoin, Matuska shared that we “should be happy that we don‘t know who this person is.”

“The best thing that Satoshi did was to create Bitcoin. The second best thing Satoshi did was to evaporate.”

Paxful partners with Miami mayor to give away 500 tickets to Bitcoin 2022 conference

March 17, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The giveaway is part of a broader strategy to promote financial literacy and Bitcoin education in the City of Miami.

Digital payment platform Paxful has partnered with nonprofit organization Built With Bitcoin Foundation and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez to advance a new education initiative centered around Bitcoin (BTC) and financial literacy.

The initiative will disburse free tickets to the Bitcoin 2022 conference to local colleges and universities as part of a broader effort to enhance financial literacy among the minority and underserved communities in Miami. Up to 500 students and local residents will receive a ticket to attend the conference, which is scheduled for April 6–9 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Currently, general admission tickets for the event are being sold for $899.

I just know that @nayibbukele, @jackmallers, @allenf32 and I are all trying to outdo each other for big surprises at @TheBitcoinConf.
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) March 16, 2022

Recipients will have access to the conference’s full agenda, which was unveiled on March 15. Notable speakers at this year’s event include Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, United States Senator Cynthia Lummis, entrepreneur Peter Thiel and Cathie Wood of Ark Invest. Dozens of other Bitcoin influencers, entrepreneurs and investors will also headline the three-day event.

The ticket giveaway is being spearheaded by Venture Miami, a portfolio team that was assembled by Mayor Suarez to promote innovation, job creation and diversity in high-growth sectors such as information technology.

After learning about Bitcoin from crypto influencers like Tyler Winklevoss and Anthony Pompliano, Mayor Suarez has made BTC adoption a top priority in his second term. Suarez, who already receives a portion of his salary in BTC, announced in December that he plans to take a part of his 401(k) payout in the flagship cryptocurrency as well.

I’m going to take my next paycheck 100% in bitcoin…problem solved! @Sarasti can you help? https://t.co/v4YdPZ0tYc
— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) November 2, 2021

Suarez has also set up a program where Miami residents can earn a Bitcoin dividend. The program is being facilitated by the MiamiCoin cryptocurrency, which helps fund municipal projects by generating yields. As of January 2022, MiamiCoin had generated more than $21 million in excess yields for the city.

Education