THE bitcoin boom spawned new billionaires and videos of beach parties and Lamborghinis. The crypto crash brought devastation for small investors and bankruptcy for many companies.
Blockchain technology underpins crypto and has been hailed as a world-changing innovation, but does it have any use beyond creating speculative financial instruments?
AFP asked crypto critic Stephen Diehl, author of recently published "Popping the Crypto Bubble", to run the rule over some of the most popular claims made for blockchain technology.
- More secure voting? -
As tension and confusion engulfed the United States after the 2020 election, Changpeng Zhao, billionaire founder of crypto firm Binance, had a suggestion.
A "blockchain-based mobile voting app", he tweeted, would mean "we won't have to wait for results, or have any questions on its validity".
Fellow crypto billionaire Vitalik Buterin replied that there were "significant challenges" but he thought it was "directionally 100 percent correct".
So far, experiments have been very small scale.
For Diehl, blockchain was more likely to introduce problems than solve them.
"From the American perspective, every single district runs its own voting programme," said.
"This is seen as a feature because to corrupt any one election you would have to corrupt many, many civil servants.
"Centralising the voting system in one digital place would be pretty risky -– then all you have to do is corrupt the blockchain and you could corrupt democracy."
- Automated house buying? -
Blockchain at heart is a ledger, a way of storing transactions that is -- according to fans -- secure, transparent and permanent.
Those qualities have led countless enthusiasts to propose that the technology could in effect replace paper contracts for things like house buying.
Diehl said it was "absurd" that the blockchain was "going back to things that were solved a millennium ago to justify its own existence".
"This is the system we've had since the Middle Ages -– you have a government registry of land, a title and deed that get transferred when the ownership changes," he said.
"The blockchain isn't solving anything here."
- Payments without banks? -
The blockchain emerged from a 2008 white paper on bitcoin, which was conceived as an alternative to fiat currency.
The opening line reads: "A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution."
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency. There are now more than 10,000 others sitting on many different blockchains.
Big firms have been desperate to find ways to accept payments in crypto.
Diehl pointed out that cryptoassets are speculative instruments not suitable for payments.
"When was the last time you paid for your coffee with Apple stocks," he asked.
"It just doesn't happen. You want something that's going to be stable so the price of your coffee is the price of your coffee next week."
- Supply chain tracking? -
Want to know where your mango came from? Some supermarkets believe the best way for you to find out is to access a blockchain-based system capable of tracking the fruit from the tropics of Central America to your cornerstore.
Walmart and Carrefour are among the firms trumpeting blockchain systems.
Carrefour told AFP earlier this year that shoppers would be able to scan a QR code and discover the provenance of an array of products.
The shops hope the blockchain will provide security, certainty and transparency.
Diehl pointed out that digital supply chain management has been around for years and is perfectly adequate without blockchain.
"Blockchain is not adding any incorruptability to the system," he said, pointing out that people in the supply chain could tell lies on the blockchain as easily as on any other platform.
"If I have a carton of apples and report that I put 100 percent of them on the truck, but then I skim off 50 percent for myself, the blockchain is not going to prevent that."
ETX Studio
Sat Aug 20 2022
Blockchain technology underpins crypto and has been hailed as a world-changing innovation, but does it have any use beyond creating speculative financial instruments? - ETX Studio
Johor sasar jumlah ternakan cecah 200,000 ekor pada 2027
Johor menyasarkan jumlah ternakan di negeri ini mencapai hingga 200,000 ekor pada 2027 setelah berjaya mencapai jumlah pengeluaran ternakan sebanyak 152,000 ekor hingga bulan lepas.
Hargai warga emas melalui penjagaan, hormat dan penglibatan - Lee Lam Thye
Lee Lam Thye menekankan keperluan mendesak untuk menghargai warga emas melalui penjagaan, hormat, dan penglibatan yang lebih baik.
Malaysia perlu bersedia penuhi keperluan TBB yang semakin meningkat - Fadillah
Keperluan tenaga boleh baharu (TBB) di negara ini semakin meningkat seiring dengan keyakinan pelabur asing khususnya untuk mewujudkan pusat-pusat data.
Belanjawan 2025: Kesalinghubungan internet di sekolah, kampus jadi keutamaan - Fahmi
Fahmi berkata ia termasuk isu Internet di kawasan terpencil, pedalaman dan pulau-pulau dalam memastikan akses Internet berkelajuan tinggi lebih meluas.
Pelajar tahfiz perlu teroka bidang teknologi
Kira-kira 200,000 pelajar tahfiz di negara ini, perlu dipastikan untuk mempunyai kemampuan dan peluang menjadi tenaga penggerak kepada umat Islam Malaysia dalam meneroka bidang yang dahulu dilihat sebagai asing., tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Perpaduan rakyat prasyarat ekonomi mampan
Tidak semua negara Islam mempunyai ruang dan kesempatan untuk terus aman dan damai, dan mempunyai peluang untuk menikmati ekonomi yang kukuh dan berkembang seperti Malaysia, tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Tidak perlu tergesa-gesa tukar ke lesen B - JPJ
Pemegang Lesen Memandu Malaysia (LMM) Kelas B2 dan B1 tidak perlu tergesa-gesa mendaftar Program Khas Peralihan LLM Kelas B2/B1 Kepada LMM Kelas B kerana tiada had masa ditetapkan untuk permohonan.
KPWKM teruskan lapan inisiatif bantu warga emas
Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat (KPWKM) akan terus menggerakkan lapan inisiatif utama dalam memenuhi keperluan jagaan dan sistem sokongan terhadap warga emas.
Warga emas maut ditikam anak kandung yang berhalusinasi
Seorang pesara guru maut ditikam anak kandungnya sendiri di sebuah rumah dekat Kampung Senaling, di sini, petang Sabtu.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Sabtu, 5 Oktober 2024.
Imigresen tumpaskan sindiket Bitcoin didalangi warga China tanpa dokumen
Jabatan Imigresen telah menumpaskan sindiket aktiviti perlombongan wang digital (Bitcoin) yang didalangi dua lelaki warga China dalam satu Operasi Khas yang dijalankan pada 19 Jan (semalam) di kawasan
Mata wang kripto: Bank di AS terima amaran daripada agensi monetari negara
Bank di Amerika Syarikat (AS) menerima amaran pertama daripada agensi monetari negara mengenai risiko penularan berkaitan mata wang kripto yang telah bertukar daripada perdagangan sangat menarik lebih
Curi elektrik oleh pelombong Bitcoin meningkat lebih 400%, kata TNB
Rekod menunjukkan sejumlah 7,209 kes dikesan sepanjang empat tahun telah menyebabkan kehilangan lebih 4.5 bilion kilowatt jam.
Bursa AS tinggi, Dow Jones cecah paras rekod
Saham di Wall Street mencatat peningkatan selari dengan saham global susulan peningkatan vaksinasi dan jangkaan Pelan Rangsangan Amerika semakin hampir diluluskan.
Bursa global naik, optimis peningkatan vaksinasi
Peningkatan disokong sikap optimis susulan pelaksanaan lebih banyak program imunisasi COVID-19 dan harapan pelan rangsangan baru di Amerika.
Polis serbu lapan premis 'melombong' Bitcoin di Seri Kembangan
Bunyi bising dan pelik serta bayangan jingga membawa kepada penemuan bilik kedap bunyi yang dijadikan markas perlombongan haram Bitcoin atau wang kripto.
Pelaburan Bitcoin: Dua didakwa tipu tiga wanita RM150,000
Redzuan Ismail dan Adan Ibrahim mengaku tidak bersalah selepas kesemua pertuduhan terhadap mereka dibacakan di hadapan Majistret Noor Azreen Liana Mohd Darus.
Lebih 10 akaun Twitter individu, organisasi terkemuka digodam
Jumlah akaun yang terbabit dalam godaman ini menjadikan ia insiden security breach terbesar dalam sejarah Twitter.
Kegiatan curi bekalan elektrik premis bitcoin masih berleluasa?
Sebanyak 10 premis bitcoin diserbu di One Kesas, Klang setelah dikesan melakukan kegiatan mencuri bekalan elektrik secara haram sehingga menyebabkan kerugian puluhan ribu ringgit.
Lebih banyak platform pertukaran mata wang kripto dijangka dibenarkan untuk beroperasi
Luno merupakan platform pertukaran mata wang kripto pertama yang mendapat kelulusan penuh untuk beroperasi di Malaysia.