Attention Economy


Friday, April 8, 2022

Cryptocurrencies and NFTs


Can an Art History Frame Help Expand the NFT Market?
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/arts/design/nft-art-market-sothebys.html

Can you truly own anything in the metaverse? A law professor explains how blockchains and NFTs don’t protect virtual property
https://theconversation.com/can-you-truly-own-anything-in-the-metaverse-a-law-professor-explains-how-blockchains-and-nfts-dont-protect-virtual-property-179067

El Salvador town embracing bitcoin as currency

Crypto Industry Helps Write, and Pass, Its Own Agenda in State Capitols
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/politics/crypto-industry-states-legislation.html
In the absence of federal regulations, crypto lobbyists and executives are going state by state to get favorable rules enacted. Many lawmakers have been willing partners. 


Remarks from Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen on Digital Assets
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0706
New technologies build on older ones and a chain of innovation has transformed financial services over time. Seventy years ago, most Americans used coins, cash, and checks to manage most aspects of their financial lives. Then, in the 1960s, an engineer from IBM attached a magnetic strip to a plastic card and sparked a new category of payment products: credit and debit cards. Those innovations facilitated the growth of other technologies, like ATMs, which made cash available 24/7. More recently, computers, the internet, and mobile phones have driven the explosive growth of electronic payments and online commerce.
Although new technologies have made our financial system more efficient for most Americans, many transactions still take too long to settle. A combination of technological factors and business incentives have produced a common frustrating experience shared by tens of millions of Americans every week: their employer sends their paycheck, but it takes up to two days for the check to hit their bank account.  The delay contributes to the use of high-cost check cashers or ‘pay day’ lenders to get their money in time to pay their bills. Some are forced to draw against already low balances and are charged overdraft fees. Estimates suggest Americans spend $15 billion or more each year on such fees and services – essentially a tax of about $100 dollars per working American, due mostly to inefficiency, and disproportionately borne by people with lower incomes.