While it is largely associated with cryptocurrency, blockchain is a powerful technology that can increase security, as well as trust and transparency in business and government. Based on principles of decentralization and cryptography, blockchain is an inherently secure technology that creates records that are unable to be altered, thus preventing fraud and other unauthorized activity.  

Once a fringe technology, blockchain is now used by four-fifths of the world's top companies, according to Blockdata research. There are also several conferences and seminars focusing on the technology, including the DC Blockchain Summit, which was attended by more than 800 people at Capital Turnaround in May 2022.  

Hosted by the Chamber of Digital Commerce 

The 2022 DC Blockchain Summit was the first edition of the annual event since 2019 and the largest since its inception. Whereas past events were co-sponsored by Georgetown University, the one-day conference in 2022 was hosted by the Chamber of Digital Commerce, which represents blockchain companies. It was the largest event the trade association ever hosted and had a much different feel than in year's past. 

"We've gone from 'Is this magical Internet money for real?' to 'No question, this is definitely a thing,' " noted Perianne Boring, the Digital Chamber's founder and president, during the opening address.  

Speakers and Agenda 

The speakers list for the 2022 DC Blockchain Summit highlights the shift in perception, especially in Washington, of crypto and blockchain. This year's event featured 18 speakers in government, including senators Cory Booker (NJ), Steve Daines (MT), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), and Cynthia Lummis (WY). Notable industry speakers included Roger Brown (Chainalysis) and Brian Dixon (Off the Chain Capital). 

Following the opening address, U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, led a session titled, "Congress Can't Ignore Crypto." Other sessions included, "Can Regulation and Innovation Coexist?" and "Crypto Consensus: Bringing Bipartisanship to Blockchain." 

Supportive Senators 

There's already at least some sense of bipartisanship in blockchain. At the 2022 summit, Lummis, a conservative, and Gillibrand, a progressive Democrat, spoke about the crypto bill they're leading: the Responsible Financial Innovation Act.  

The bill, introduced in the Senate in June, intends to grant the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) crypto jurisdiction. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is hoping to handle crypto regulation, but hasn't been as favorable toward the decentralized currency as the CFTC. Speaking to the crowd at the summit in May, Lummis noted she doesn't want to "over-regulate" crypto as it may hinder further innovation. 

The Responsible Financial Innovation Act has to go through oversight hearings with four committees before it can pass the Senate and move on to the House. The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held hearings in July and September. 

While cryptocurrency has the potential to transform society, it has been the subject of criticism due to its dramatic energy requirements. Bitcoin, the most well-known of more than 19,000 cryptocurrencies, consumes approximately 150 terawatt-hours of electricity per year—more than many countries.  

Crypto miners, which use a computing system known as proof-of-work to essentially "mint" new coins, could increase energy demand by as much as 6 gigawatts by mid-2023. This would be like adding another Houston, a city of 2.3 million people, to the grid. 

Fortunately, some crypto and blockchain companies are working to find alternative ways to mine coins that will promote a sustainable future for the relatively new monetary system—and the planet. HIVE Blockchain, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, is a Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto mining company which has had a committed environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy since its inception. Moreover, all of its mining activities are powered by clean energy. 

Here are three things you need to know about HIVE Blockchain: 

1. It Has Operations in Sweden, Canada, and Iceland 

HIVE operates crypto mining facilities in Canada, Iceland, and Sweden. One of its flagship facilities in Sweden is an 86,000-square-foot warehouse in the military town of Boden. All of its 15,000 crypto mining computers are powered by a nearby hydropower plant. The HIVE facility utilizes excess clean energy that otherwise would have been wasted. 

In 2021, HIVE announced it had purchased a 4.6-megawatt facility in the Swedish town of Robertsfors. The company, which began operations in Sweden in 2018, has more than 33 MW of capacity in the European country, and more than 130 MW of clean energy capacity worldwide. 

2. It Is the First Publicly Traded Crypto Miner 

HIVE became the first publicly traded crypto mining company when it was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) in 2017. The company was listed on the Nasdaq's Capital Markets Exchange (Nasdaq) in 2021. As of August 15, 2021, it was trading at $9.15 and $7.18 on the TSX and Nasdaq, respectively. 

3. It Had Record Annual Revenue in the Most Recent Fiscal Year 

HIVE has proven that a clean energy crypto mining company with a committed ESG policy can thrive financially. The company recently announced it achieved a record annual revenue of $211.2 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022. This was up 212 percent from the year prior. It also reported a record net income of $79.6 million, up from $24.1 million at the end of previous fiscal year. Basic income per share and gross mining margin also grew considerably. 

"Despite the effects of COVID-19, such as global logistics and inflation, we have achieved record results on a per share basis and continued to increase our Ethereum and Bitcoin mining capacity, without taking risks to stake our BTC or ETH to earn a yield on our assets," commented HIVE executive chairman Frank Holmes. "We are also proud that during the year we were able to pay down our debt by over $5.5 million." 

The non-fungible tokens (NFTs) market exploded in 2021 as art enthusiasts and crypto investors alike rushed to acquire the intellectual property (IP) rights for unique digital collectibles. Functioning in a similar way to car titles and house deeds, an NFT represents ownership of a digital asset (i.e., a music clip, GIF image, NBA highlight reel, or a randomly generated avatar). 

While it wasn't the first avatar-focused NFT initiative, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is one of the most popular and pricey NFT series. Justin Bieber famously spent $1.3 million on a pair of BAYC NFTs, while other celebrity owners include Shaquille O'Neal, Mark Cuban, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Yuga Labs, the BAYC parent company, cemented its status as a leader in the NFT market in March 2022 by acquiring the IP of Larva Labs' CryptoPunks and Meebits collections. 

Financial Figures 

While the exact terms of the deal weren't disclosed, Yuga Labs controlled roughly $5 billion in digital art market capitalization following the merger. Specifically, it acquired 1,711 Meebits and 423 CryptoPunks. Both are unique computer-generated avatars stored on the Ethereum blockchain. Around the time of the deal, Meebits and CryptoPunks were selling for an average of $16,100 and $177,420, respectively. The entire Meebits collection has facilitated $7.54 billion in sales since its inception, while CryptoPunks has $4.2 billion in lifetime sales. 

Transferring IP Rights to Buyers 

Despite CryptoPunks' waning popularity in recent months, one sold for almost $24 million in February 2022, and Visa purchased one in August 2021, signaling somewhat of an embrace of the decentralized finance space by traditional financial service companies.  

Yet, Larva Labs has been hands-off in its management approach to CryptoPunks, and avatar holders have been increasingly critical of the management team. Conversely, Yuga has found ways to keep buyers engaged with rewards such as access to exclusive real-life events. 

Larva Labs was also reluctant to grant buyers the IP rights to individual NFTs, but Yuga Labs announced that it will do this following the merger. 

What is the Bored Ape Yacht Club? 

The BAYC is composed of 10,000 unique digital collectibles with ownership signified by NFTs. The computer-generated apes were sold for an original price of 0.08 ETH, or the equivalent of about $244 as of April 11, 2022. Today, avatars can be sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars on OpenSea. 

In addition to being the sole owner of the unique digital asset, buyers receive access to a collaborative graffiti board known as THE BATHROOM as well as other members-only perks. 

The rise of cryptocurrency has been well-documented. The digital currency became part of the cultural zeitgeist with the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009 and—combined with blockchain technology—has transformed into a multi-purpose currency with the potential to transform the economy and society as a whole. 

Despite its benefits, critics of cryptocurrency are concerned with the amount of energy required to mine coins, or digital tokens. More than 2,264 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity (enough to boil 1,500 kettles) is required to power one Bitcoin transaction. Moreover, Bitcoin production alone generates roughly 22 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. 

The crypto industry will need to enact widespread changes to the way in which it mines coins and processes transactions to alleviate these environmental concerns. Some developers are already making strides in that regard. 

Chia 

Cryptocurrencies that require substantial energy input for mining coins typically employ a proof-of-work approach that relies on computer processors. Chia, however, utilizes a proof-of-space approach that depends on hard drives to "farm" its digital tokens. Each transaction on the Chia blockchain consumes only 0.023 kWh and the crypto itself consumes 0.16 percent of the yearly energy consumption of Bitcoin. 

Beyond being more Eco-friendly in its operational processes than traditional cryptocurrencies, Chia supports the Circular Drive Initiative, which strives to lower e-waste by promoting the reuse of storage hardware. 

Cardano 

Created by Charles Hoskinson in 2017, Cardano is among the most popular eco-friendly cryptocurrencies. It is approximately 1,290 times more energy efficient than Bitcoin and, like Chia, employs a PoS-powered blockchain. It is also associated with additional efforts to improve the environment. 

The Cardano Foundation, which functions as custodian of the blockchain, formed a partnership with Veritree in 2021. As part of the agreement, the worldwide tree planting verification and land restoration company agreed to plant one tree for every Cardano token (ADA) it received from donors. It had already planted more than 165,000 trees as of September 2021. 

Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard believes blockchain, if utilized correctly, could actually promote environmental stewardship and drive efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions worldwide.  

"Blockchain can enable carbon accounting and other sustainability programmes by allowing companies to collect and track reliable data," he told Capital.com. 

BitGreen 

 A purpose-built blockchain built on top of the Polkadot Network, BitGreen was created to serve as an eco-friendly alternative to Bitcoin and is used to encourage individuals to exhibit positive environmental behavior. For instance, users can receive tokens for carpooling or drinking sustainable coffee. These tokens can then be used to purchase products from BitGreen's partners or traded on exchanges. 

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets stored on the blockchain to signify ownership of a specific asset, e.g., a piece of art or music album. Buyers purchase a token that gives them ownership of the asset, although the original artist or creator maintains its copyright. Although NFTs have been around for less than a decade, the market reached a valuation of $250 million in 2020 and has continued to grow with the involvement of corporations and sports leagues. For instance, Burger King launched an NFT campaign in September 2021, while the NBA is selling highlight clips as NFTs. 

Similar to the cryptocurrency space, there are several slang terms and definitions commonly used in the NFT ecosystem. The following is a look at four key terms. 

1. 10k Project 

The CryptoPunks collection, released in 2017, popularized a specific type of NFT focused on unique art and avatar character renderings. CryptoPunks involve 10,000 uniquely generated characters, each of which are stored on the Ethereum blockchain and owned by a single individual. Each character can be purchased on Ethereum's embedded marketplace for a specific price as listed by the owner. As of February 2, 2022, the lowest price for a CryptoPunk was 78.95 ETH, which, at the time, was equal to around $211,000. 

The success of CryptoPunks led to several other art projects involving 10,000 unique avatars, now known as 10k projects. The Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of many popular ape-themed 10k projects. Others include Cool Cats, CrypToadz, and CyberKongz. Not all of these have 10,000 generative NFTs, however. 

2. Burn 

The aforementioned 10k projects are among the most popular of the NFT subset and have sold tokens/avatars for thousands of dollars. Others, however, may have fallen short in selling their desired amount of NFTs in a specific collection and essentially choose to destroy those NFTs. This is known as burning. Alternatively, some projects allow owners to "burn" a pair of NFTs to earn a single, rarer NFT.  

3. Gas 

Gas, essentially, is a tax placed on all transactions across the blockchain network. Fees vary based on supply and demand. Ethereum, which is easily the most popular NFT blockchain, usually has gas fees exceeding $50 for each transaction. Consumers can find cheaper alternatives on less congested networks like Tezos and Solana. 

4. Mint 

Mint is used to describe the creation and circulation of assets on a blockchain. On Ethereum, digital assets are minted and traded as ERC720 Tokens. While the process can be confusing for those unfamiliar with the NFT ecosystem, platforms like Rarible and OpenSea make it relatively easy. Creators need to pay a gas fee to mint their NFTs.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have exploded in popularity. The market for ownership of the unique digital items reached $22 billion in 2021, up from just $100 million in 2020. The NFT Everydays: The First 5000 Days, a digital collage created by artist Mike Winkelmann under the pseudonym Beeple, sold for $69.3 million in March 2021. 

Despite the boom in interest in 2021, the concept of NFTs actually dates back to 2012. The following is a look at four key points in the history of digital assets. 

Origins on the Bitcoin Blockchain 

Meni Rosenfeld is credited with laying the groundwork for NFTs with his concept of Colored Coins. The mathematician introduced the idea in a December 2012 paper as a means of authenticating ownership of real-world assets such as cars and real estate through the Bitcoin blockchain. Rosenfeld, along with authors Yoni Assia, Vitalik Buterin, and Lior Hakim, further explored this idea the following year in the paper "Colored Coins - BitcoinX." While the Colored Coins concept never came to fruition, it prompted others to experiment with the idea of NFTs. 

Quantum: The First Known NFT 

Digital artist Kevin McCoy minted the first-ever NFT on May 3, 2014. The one-of-a-kind artwork, known as Quantum, is an entrancing pixelated octagon filled with a variety of shapes. It sold for more than $1.4 million in a November 2021 Sotheby’s auction. 

Growth on Ethereum 

Bitcoin 2.0, also known as the Counterparty platform, provided a market for NFTs as it allowed users to create unique digital assets. Spells of Genesis later pioneered the use of video game assets as NFTs. However, the Ethereum blockchain, which went live in July 2015, pioneered additional opportunities for creators and was home to early success projects like CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties. Activity for the latter, a virtual game in which players can breed and trade virtual cats, facilitated a sixfold increase in pending transactions and clogged the Ethereum blockchain upon its release in December 2017. 

Going Mainstream in 2021 

In 2021 there was a massive shift in the NFT industry as athletes, celebrities, and major brands including Nike and Adidas began issuing their own NFTs. Coca-Cola, meanwhile, generated more than $575,000 through the sale of NFTs such as a custom jacket for use in the metaverse world of Decentraland. 

George Monaghan, a data analyst at the research firm GlobalData, is one of many experts who believe these unregulated and expensive NFTs are risky assets. He expects the NFT market to eventually become more stable and risk averse, but not in the immediate future. 

Cryptocurrency is still in its infancy (Bitcoin, the first-ever crypto was launched in 2008), but it has already become a useful resource with real-world applications. Many businesses accept Bitcoin and other digital currencies as payment for products and services. As of November 2021, Bitcoin had a market cap exceeding $57 billion. Several other cryptos, including Ethereum, Maker, and Kusama, were worth more than $300 million.  

The following are three reasons why proponents of crypto are excited about its potential to not only improve economic conditions but society as a whole. 

Reduce Fraud and Corruption 

In 2020 American consumers reported to the Federal Trade Commission more than 2.1 million instances of fraud totaling losses of more than $3.3 billion. Imposter scams and online shopping were the two most common sources of fraud. Scammers can set up unsecured sites through which they can steal an individual's credit card number and other personal information. 

Crypto, however, has the potential to reduce fraud, as it is a decentralized form of payment that isn't associated with a banking account. Instead, transactions are facilitated electronically and securely via blockchain technology. Moreover, transactions are permanently stored and cannot be altered in the ledger. This visibility makes it easier to detect fraud if it does occur. 

Encourage Scientific Advancements 

Governments and corporations don't always share important data and information, and, as such, can impede potential scientific advancements. Crypto and blockchain technology will allow for more transparency and real-time data sharing that could be useful for innovation in all aspects of society. 

NanoVision is one company that is working to deliver on this promise through its Cure Platform. The platform incentivizes the collection and sharing of real-time biological data and empowers science enthusiasts, or "global citizen scientists," to be involved in research and conduct their own trials. 

Empower People in Poorly Banked Countries 

According to the World Bank, more than 1.6 billion adults worldwide are considered unbanked, meaning they have no access to checking or savings accounts as well as financial products such as insurance and loans. Morocco, Egypt, Mexico, and Peru are among the 10 countries in which more than 50 percent of adults are unbanked. Crypto and blockchain technology allow individuals in these countries to transfer and receive money without relatively high banking fees via mobile applications. 

While two-thirds of those who are unbanked have smartphones, there are other options for those who don't. Bitcoin ATMs, of which there are thousands worldwide, allow individuals to exchange cash for crypto. The majority are in the US, but countries like Nigeria, Dominican Republic, Lebanon, and Argentina have multiple Bitcoin ATMs. 

In November 2021, the management of the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles announced the venue’s renaming as Crypto.com Arena, for at least the next 20 years. The move caps an agreement between AEG Worldwide, owner of the center, and the fast-growing cryptocurrency trading platform Crypto.com.

Crypto.com reportedly paid $700 million for the privilege of seeing its name in lights at the center. Experts say this is likely the most expensive naming rights deal in sports history. 

Three decades of sports and entertainment 

For more than 30 years, the Staples Center has served as a premier destination for hundreds of high-profile events, including NBA All-Star Games, Disney on Ice events, the World Figure Skating Championships, and numerous Grammy Award productions. Musical acts that have performed at the center over the decades include U2, Paul McCartney, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, and many other top names. 

But the Staples Center is perhaps even better known as the permanent home of four of the country’s most popular professional sports franchises: the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers teams, the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.

The official renaming event and revelation of the center’s new logo was set to take place on Christmas Day at a match-up between the Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets. The fanfare is all in keeping with Los Angeles’ position in the entertainment and sports industries as well as the Staples Center’s role within such a company town. 

That was fast

For being at the center of such a big deal in 2021, Crypto.com emerged from humble beginnings. In 2017 the URL referred solely to a personal blog, the project of a professor of computer science at the University of Pennsylvania. The then-obscure company that took over the professor’s blog transformed the web address into a buy-sell-trade extravaganza for the emergent crypto community. It now offers debit cards backed by cryptocurrency, digital wallets, and other financial products. 

Crypto.com was originally established in 2016 under the name Monaco and is still privately held, having yet solicited zero dollars in institutional funding. It maintains a head office in Singapore with branches in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Malta. 

In the year leading up to its acquisition of naming rights at the Staples Center, Crypto.com concluded a string of other high-profile sports sponsorships, including partnering with the Montreal Canadiens and purchasing naming rights to the Philadelphia 76ers’ uniform patches. 

Since vaccinations against COVID-19 became available at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, governments around the world have taken more or less proactive steps to ensure vaccination protection for their citizens. The resulting success rates are correspondingly uneven in terms of driving down rates of infection, serious illness, and death. 

The Challenge of Getting the World Vaccinated

As of late October 2021, experts estimated that only about 3 billion—out of a total of 7.9 billion—of the world’s people are fully vaccinated. (About 3.85 billion people have received at least one dose of vaccine.) Getting the pandemic under control will require immunizing a larger percentage of the world’s population in order to reach the required critical mass. 

The major challenges remain: “vaccine hesitancy,” the logistics of production and distribution, and the fact that wealthier nations still hold the edge in a world of limited vaccine supplies. 

Overall, experts note that relative national wealth, a strong public health infrastructure, and a population well-educated on the benefits of vaccines are leading factors predicting success. For many African nations, vaccine rates remain in the single digits, for example, and India has achieved only about a 22 percent full vaccination rate. 

Most Vaccinated Nations Tend to Be Smaller, Compact

According to an October 6, 2021 article in U.S. News & World Report, the governments that have achieved the highest percentages of vaccinated people aren’t necessarily the most wealthy, although they do tend on the whole to be more compact geographically. Gibraltar topped the list, with more than 97 percent of its residents fully vaccinated. The countries with above-80-percent full vaccination rates also include Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, the Cayman Islands, and Iceland. Those coming in above 70 percent include Singapore, Spain, Chile, Cambodia, Qatar, and Israel.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a figure of only 57.4 percent of United States residents fully vaccinated as of October 25, making the country an outlier among wealthier Western nations. 

Success Even in the Face of Delta

Looking at individual national success stories, Chile stands out. Public health authorities note the country’s history of pro-vaccine policies, carefully strategized vaccine rollout campaigns, and an easy and accessible system for obtaining vaccination. Similar factors are in play in nations like Israel and Iceland. 

Driven by the more contagious delta variant, COVID infections in even these well-vaccinated countries have seen upticks over the summer and fall of 2021. Even so, as data emerged, it clearly showed significant reductions in cases of severe illness and death among people fully immunized with one of the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna). 

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislative package making its way—in fits and starts—through Congress over the summer and fall of 2021 was written to include funding for numerous improvements of national importance. These include repairs and upgrades to roads, highways, and bridges; expansion of the electrical grid; and the reach of broadband Internet into underserved communities. But the bill also has a provision that encompasses tighter regulation of cryptocurrency markets, drawing attention from the fintech sphere. 

Regulating crypto brokers

Through a provision of the bill designated “Information Reporting for Brokers and Digital Assets,” regulators hope to enhance the ability to enforce tax laws on the cryptocurrency industry while generating additional income to support spending plans for the rest of the bill. 

Experts noted that on passage of the bill, the United States Department of the Treasury would gain the ability to impose new requirements for tax reporting on crypto transactions. What regulators like Securities and Exchange Commission head Gary Gensler are ultimately going for is a more systematized way of identifying and rooting out fraud and money laundering in the historically under-regulated industry. 

Specifically, the bill would require brokers in crypto to report any type of transfers of digital asset classes to accounts where users’ names and addresses are unknown. This provision, which would take effect in 2023, would place significant burdens on brokers already subject to the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement. To keep its volume of required reporting low, a crypto brokerage would need to operate within a well-honed system for identifying client accounts that receive transfers. 

Broad regulatory reach

For a large portion of the crypto trading community, one part of that original provision cut particularly deep. It defined a “digital-asset broker”—in what some saw as overly broad terms—as “any person” who, in exchange for “consideration,” regularly supplies “any service” that facilitates the transfer of “digital assets on behalf of another person.”

The central concern here was that miners, or even software developers, could be ensnared in the reporting requirement. In this view, imposing these stringent requirements on such frontline actors—many of whom are freelancers—would impede future innovation and potentially drive many people working in this sector to relocate outside the US.

A responsive fix

The crypto industry protested, and Congress inserted an amendment that seems to have addressed these concerns. The language of the amendment states that the tax-reporting requirements as applied to brokers specifically exclude miners, developers, node operators, and other like categories of workers. 

As of mid-October, the bill’s passage in any form still hung in the balance as Congress and the White House continued negotiations.