One consists of an entire runtime environment: an application, plus all its dependencies, libraries and other binaries, and configuration files needed to run it, bundled into one package. By containerising the application platform and its dependencies, differences in OS distributions and underlying infrastructure are abstracted away.
…The other keeps my lunch fresh.
If I was the leader of a sovereign state hearing about China banning BTC mining and only considered the economic incentives – I would entice the 360k TH/s Dalian hydro-powered operation to set up shop on my turf. That’s 750 BTC ($40m) a month added to GDP.
We’d take it from there:
– strategic placement of operations to warm buildings with output heat
– non-zero sum flowing into the community via payroll and expanding the tech-focused labour pool
– partner with miners to invest in the energy infrastructure, nudged towards sustainable options
Note that this is possible from indirect miner involvement, imagine what happens when actively partaking in the Web3 movement to build decentralised, democratised, and far more resilient and inclusive platforms. Now consider, 750 BTC is only 3% of block subsidies per month (in this halving interval). The game-theoretical properties of the protocol makes it difficult to ignore.
That’s it. That’s the post. It’s already a lot. Tech is blindingly fast and branches out like a merkle tree. I’m trying to keep up.
It’s a Japanese term. It defines the sad beauty of seeing time pass – the aching awareness of impermanence. The fact that we’ll return to some of these moments, but only through our memories.
I’ve been thinking about Facebook. Has it had a net positive effect on society? Have the negative aspects been disproportionately amplified, compared to how they helped connect the world?
Perhaps it’s yes to both, but there’s no denying that its business systems are built to get maximum engagement from users. Nudging folk into echo chambers was always bound to have some catastrophic implications.
Will Team Zuckerberg find a conscience? Or will regulators install one instead?
If we assume that WWW has revolutionised information and Web2 revolutionises interactions, Web3 has the potential to revolutionise agreements and value exchange.
However, nothing will change on the surface of the Internet for the average user, while Web2 is a frontend revolution, the Web3 is a backend revolution.
It’s a leap forward to open, trustless and permissionless networks.
• ‘Open’ in that they are built from open source software, built by an open and accessible community of developers, and executed in full view of the world.
• ‘Trustless’ in that the network itself allows participants to interact publicly or privately without a trusted third party.
• ‘Permissionless’ in that anyone can participate without authorisation from a governing body.
The ultimate outcome of these new open, trustless and permissionless networks is the possibility to coordinate & incentivise the long tail of work, service, data and content providers, to the worlds disenfranchised backdrop facing acute challenges such as health, food, finance and sustainability.
If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless you return it to its rightful owner in the same year. Source.
To understand front-running blockchain bots, it helps to understand traditional front-running in equity markets. It’s similar to insider trading.
1. You know a big order for Apple stock is about to occur
2. This will drive the price higher (temporarily at least)
3. You buy some Apple stock for £100 before the big order (AKA front-running)
4. The big order occurs, sending Apple stock to £105
5. You sell yours. Pocketing a gain of £5
Insider trading is illegal and unethical. Front-running operates in a grey area. The two are similar concepts but not the same.
…This then takes us to front-running run by machines, otherwise known as High Frequency Trading (HFT). A very good book on this is Flash Boys by Michael Lewis. I recommend it.
Side note: Although HFT machines can decide faster than humans on matters, they’re still competing with other HFT machines. This kicked off a race to have the fastest connections, to shave milliseconds. There were HFT firms buying offices as close as they could to stock exchanges. They were investing in having the straightest and shortest fibre-optic connection possible, so they could gather information about trades sooner than anyone else.
…If the above makes sense to you, you’ll be glad to know front-running bots on blockchain are exactly the same premise. N.B. The bots take the form of smart contracts.
To keep it simple:
• The bots are like HFT machines, programmed to front-run your trade
• A mempool is a public register of pending blockchain trades, like a stock exchange
ELI5 – You can already see how the recipe unfolds like non-blockchain front-running. You have a smart contract bot that can see what’s being bought, buy it first, sell it higher, then pocket the difference. The question is, why does this happen on blockchains?
1. Thin liquidity
If a bot is scanning a niche DEX liquidity pool such as SNX/BAT for orders, 1 front-running trade can create significant price fluctuations in that pool. This works if the purchaser allows for wide slippage (an acceptable price range, rather than a fixed price).
2. Miners like it
Since the bot front-runs your trade by submitting the same trade but offering a higher gas price to get it fulfilled first…miners will happily allow this activity because it means they get to collect those gas fees created by front-running bots.
3. Breaking news! Public blockchains are public!
Thinking out loud:
• ETH’s EIP 1559 doesn’t really stop front-runners, high-tipping bots are given priority.
• Proof of stake emulates conventional wealth inequality traps, it compounds with those who already have wealth – is PoS a good structural change when excluding the matter of carbon emissions?
• Proof of humanity works to filter bots if trading, for example, via Metamask on a DEX. However can’t one directly plug into liquidity pools via a private node and a bespoke WalletConnect config? Captcha probably won’t stop the more intelligent front-running attempts
• Is there an opportunity to integrate zk-SNARK tech somewhere in the flow?
The world will continue to overflow with innovation, but it’ll remain short on the flourishing of human beings as a whole.
Brunch is a few taps on an app away, meanwhile demand at food banks are increasing each year.