Mediaboss Marketing

Optical computers work through photonic transfer. They could be fast, with minimal heat loss during transfer. Theres controversy over the promises of photonic technology.

Optical computing is fast becoming a major player, especially in the realm of AI. Youd be forgiven for never having heard of it, but it involves lasers and light-speed, so why not find out more?

Optical computers, also known as photonic computers, perform digital computations using you guessed it photons. Light waves produced by lasers or incoherent sources are used as a primary means for carrying out numerical calculations, reasoning, artificial intelligence, data processing, data storage and data communications for computing.

Like any computer, an optical computer needs three things to function well:

The history of optical computing is interlinked with the development of radar systems. In the 1960s, the invention of the laser saw the first schemes for an all-optical computer proposed, and since the 1990s, the emphasis has shifted to optical interconnection of arrays of semiconductor smart pixels.

Traditional computers use electrons to carry out calculations, but photons have the capacity to enable a higher bandwidth; visible and infrared (IR) beams flow across one another without interacting, unlike electrons, so they can be constrained to what is effectively two-dimensional computing.

Three-dimensional wiring is necessary in traditional computers to direct electrical currents around one another. So, a photonic computer can be smaller than its more common counterpart. Like traditional computing, optical computers use logic gates and binary routines to perform calculations, but the way these calculations are performed differs.

Optical computing can achieve similarly efficient and reliable computation to the silicon channels and copper wires that enable electronic computers to function, by using plasmonic nanoparticles. Further, the absence of physical wires means that optical computers are less prone to damage from heat or vibrations.

Because photons can be easily manipulated and controlled, photonic computers are faster and more efficient. Photon movements can be guided and controlled in such a way that they can turn corners and carry on without a significant loss of power. Light can be easily contained and loses less information during travel, which is especially useful in situations where the interconnects might heat up, which slows electrons movement.

Photonics have a high throughput of >1TB/s per channel (of which there can be many in close proximity), compared to copper wires capability of 1GB/s per channel.

The hope is that the use of light or information shuttling will result in the development of exascale computers. Exascale computers could perform billions of calculations every second, 1000x faster than the current fastest systems.

So, we can weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of this alternative mode as follows:

Advantages of optical computing:

The disadvantages are:

There are disagreements among researchers when it comes to the capabilities of optical computers. Whether or not they can compete with semiconductor-based electronic computers in terms of speed, power consumption, cost, and size is an open question.

Critics argue that real-world logic systems require logic level restoration, cascadability, fan-out and input-output isolation, all of which are currently provided by electronic transistors at low cost, low power, and high speed. For optical logic to be competitive beyond niche applications, major breakthroughs in non-linear optical device technology would be required, or even a change in the nature of computing itself.

Another option would be creating a hybrid system that integrates optical solutions into digital computing. However, there are impediments to the use of optics in digital computing that perhaps demand a much more guarded view of the ability of optics to compete with digital electronics.

Digital computing requires nonlinear elements to process digital data. The required functionalities of nonlinear elements are all delivered by transistor circuits in electronic computing. For large scalable logic circuits, no optical element or circuit, active or passive, can do all that and also compete with transistors in the metrics of energy consumption and small device footprint.

In digital communications, fiber optic data transfer is already prevalent. Fiber optics use light for data manipulation. This is the area in which optical technology has advanced the most: its used enough that its already common in the lexicon of data transfer.

Fiber optic cables can contain a varying number of glass fibers, along which information is transmitted as light pulses. Fiber optic cables have advantages over copper cables, including higher bandwidth and transmit speeds. You might have noticed that these pros echo those of optical computing.

However, making the switch is much simpler when it comes to fiber optics cables, which are already used for internet, television and telephone connections.

Areas of active research aiming to overcome some of the current limitations of photonic computing include:

A spinout of MIT, Lightelligence is developing the next generation of computing hardware. Founded in 2017, the company claims to have transformed the cutting-edge technology of photonics into groundbreaking computing solutions, which not only bring exponential improvements in computing power, but also dramatically reduce energy consumption.

In basic terms, its research uses a silicon fabrication platform used for traditional semiconductor chips, but in a novel way. In the optical domain, arithmetic computations are done with physics instead of with logic gate transistors that require multiple clocks.

Yichen Shen, co-founder and CEO of Lightelligence, said that because the system its developing generates very little heat, it has a lower power consumption than electron-powered chips.

Were changing the fundamental way computing is done, and I think were doing it at the right time in history, says Shen. We believe optics is going to be the next computing platform, at least for linear operations like AI.

Yes like all of the tech world at the moment, optical computing has a vested interest in AI. However, instead of thinking about how artificial intelligence could help it, photonic computing might facilitate the further development of AI.

For example, self-driving vehicles rely on cameras and AI computations to make quick decisions. The conventional chip doesnt think fast enough to make the split-second decisions necessary, so faster computational imaging is needed for quick decision making. Thats what Lightelligence says its achieving using photonics.

We couldnt talk about radical changes to computational systems without touching on quantum computing. Due to the unique properties of quantum mechanics, quantum computing can solve problems beyond the capabilities of the most advanced computers, including photonic.

The area in which optical computing is ahead of quantum is the speed at which (simpler) calculations can be performed. In some cases, optical computing is faster than quantum. In many cases, optical computing is being researched for use in tandem with quantum computers. Both have the potential to revolutionize computation and data processing.

Weve yet to see an optical computer, but were at the frontier of developments. Since 2012, Moores law (that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years) has been defunct: AI compute doubles every 3.4 months. Weve come incredibly far, incredibly fast.

Photonic computers might be closer than we think.

Read more from the original source:
Optical computing: the power of light - TechHQ

Core DAO is merging proof-of-work (PoW) and delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) with the hope of solving the blockchain trilemma.

The blockchain trilemma refers to the trade-offs layer-1 solutions must make when building a blockchain network. Between optimal security, scalability and decentralization, networks must only choose two out of the three elements.

Ethereum, for example, prioritizes security and decentralization, but is not extremely scalable. For this reason, with more users on the network, gas prices increase and transaction speeds slow down. The network has since introduced sidechains layer-2 solutions to resolve this issue.

Core DAO has taken a different approach by using its Satoshi Plus Consensus. This consensus mechanism bridges PoW and DPoS, Rich Rines, an initial contributor at Core DAO, told Blockworks.

You get traditional DPoS elements on one side, then the other part that is quite unique is the proof-of-work part or delegated hash, Rines said. We have an actor in our system called relayers, and what they do is run an on-chain light client for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin block headers get transmitted to the Bitcoin light client through these relayers, Rines explained. Miners who are securing the Bitcoin network will have the ability to opt into having their hash power the Satoshi Plus consensus meaning they must delegate their hash to a validator run by themselves or a third party.

It is important to note that this type of delegation will simply repurpose miners work without them having to choose between securing two different networks. This way, the network can remain decentralized through Bitcoin computing power and scalable through DPoS.

Its very hard to be as decentralized as Bitcoin, we idolize Bitcoinand part of our reward mechanism is those rewards that come to the delegated hash, which goes to mining pools and sent to the miners directly allow Bitcoin security to increase, and there is no additional energy expenditure, Rines said.

By combining Bitcoin computing power for decentralization, DPoS leadership that enables scalability and the entire network operations to maintain security, Rines notes that Core DAO is able to create a layer-1 solution that combines the three core elements of blockchain technology.

Core DAO has recently launched a $200 million ecosystem fund to grow the Satoshi Plus Consensus. The project will use the fund to grow projects in the ecosystem, funding marketing, research and recruiting programs.

Unlike other projects, were looking at it a little differently, the question we always want answered is, is this good for our users, we want to give them unique experiences that they cant get anywhere else, and we want to continue to double and triple down on that, Rines said.

Get the days top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.Subscribe to Blockworks free newsletternow.

Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, cant-miss tweets and more fromBlockworks Researchs Daily Debrief.

Cant wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.Join us on Telegram and follow us on Google News.

The rest is here:

Core DAO Is Using Bitcoin to Solve the Blockchain Trilemma - Blockworks

Investing in bitcoin comes with its share of rewards and risks, and understanding these is key to making an informed decision. As Sciberras puts it: Investing in bitcoin isnt a straightforward yes or no. It depends on many factors, including the global economic climate, regulatory landscape, technological developments and your own personal situation.

In scenarios where there is large-scale money printing or loosening of monetary policy by the US and other nations, bitcoin could fare well. Sciberras explains: bitcoin was created as an alternative to the current system during the 2008 GFC. If we return to these conditions, bitcoin could perform well in such an environment.

Bitcoins halving, a preprogrammed event that decreases the reward for mining new blocks, could potentially drive prices higher, as it has done in previous cycles. With the next halving fast approaching in April 2024, there is a significant catalyst for positive price action which investors should be aware of. If bitcoin follows a similar trend to past market cycles, the upcoming halving could drive prices higher as the market adjusts to the new decreased block reward, says Sciberras.

The continued development of scalability solutions such as the lightning network could also boost bitcoins value. Sciberras believes that if we see businesses creating Lightning Network or Bitcoin-focused products, we could see an expansion of its use as payment, increasing adoption and possibly price.

However, bitcoins future isnt without potential hurdles. If bitcoin continues to be (targeted) by governments and its energy consumption is further politicised, then it could put pressure on bitcoins long-term sustainability, warns Sciberras.

One of the significant long-term concerns for bitcoin is its security in the face of a decreasing block reward. If there is lacklustre adoption and demand for Bitcoin or fee revenue is inadequate to incentivise miners to upgrade their hardware and mine new (less) bitcoins, security could decrease and threaten the network. While this is unlikely to be an issue in the next decade, it does remain an unanswered question for Bitcoins future in the long term.

Sciberras reminds us of an often overlooked possibility: Bitcoin can go to zero, just like any innovation surpassed by a newer incumbent or a combination of the above, reducing trust, accessibility, or demand for bitcoin.

Featured Partner Offer

Invest with a crypto brand trusted by millions

Buy and sell 70+ cryptoassets on a secure, easy-to-use platform

Crypto assets are unregulated & highly speculative. No consumer protection. Capital at risk.

View post:

Bitcoin Price Prediction Forbes Advisor Australia - Forbes

Among the crowds at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami last week were pockets of Ethereum developers, drawn to the world's biggest and oldest cryptocurrency by Ordinals.

Several developers with roots in Web3 attended Bitcoin 2023 because of Ordinals, the protocol launched earlier this year thats taken Bitcoin by stormsparking a wave of innovation, hype, and experimentation.

OrdinalSafe, a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet built for Ordinals, was among the startups present with Ethereum in its veins. The majority of its development team has experience working with the second-largest token by market capitalization.

The startup participated in Bitcoin 2023s Pitch Day, and it ultimately won second place in the competitions infrastructure category. The endeavor was a notable achievement and memorable experience, said OrdinalSafe CEO Esad Yusuf Atik.

It's your first time on that stage, and you're trying to sell the vision of your product to other people, so you want to do a good job, he said. I was really nervous, but going to the stage for the prize, it felt great.

Atik, a 22-year-old developer from Turkey, first caught the Web3 bug when he attended a hackathon in 2020. He, along with a couple of other members from the OrdinalSafe team, previously developed a protocol called Proof of Innocence under the firm Chainway.

Built for Tornado Cashan Ethereum coin mixer sanctioned by the U.S. last summerProof of Innocence is designed to help users prove they didnt deposit funds into the privacy tool from a sanctioned wallet address.

The project got really good attention, Atik said, adding he and developers that worked on the protocol recently got to meet Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in Montenegro. He added that Buterin talked about Proof of Innocence on stage at the Community Ethereum Development Conference.

But, in February, Atik learned about Ordinals on Twitter and became transfixed. So, he and his fellow developers dove head-first into creating OrdinalSafe, ultimately leading the crew to Miami.

Not all Bitcoiners see value in Ethereumor any other coin, for that matter. At Bitcoin 2023, a few vocal conference-goers booed BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes on stage when he told author Michael Lewis he absolutely owns Ethereum and other tokens.

Come on, guys. Yall know you trade some PepeCoin, Hayes said in response to the boos, referring to Ethereums amphibious meme coin du jour. Dont sit here like that.

Along similar lines, a company called LayerTwo Labs invited attendees to smash piatas resembling Ethereum, Solana, and Shiba Inu symbols at its booth. People urged Bitcoiners to smash a shitcoin like carnival barkers.

But despite any sense of BTC superiority permeating the air at Bitcoin 2023, Atik said that the conferences crowd was welcoming.

Even though we came from an Ethereum background, it felt like home, Atik said. If you're developing on Bitcoin, you're part of the community, right?

Whether Ordinals itself is accepted by the Bitcoin community is entirely up for debateas evidenced by tension on stage during The Great Ordinal Debate.

The conversation touched on whether Ordinals could be considered an attack on Bitcoin, as some critics say. Their argument: Experimental BRC-20 tokens, built using Ordinals, have put an enormous strain on Bitcoins network and driven up transaction fees. BRC-20 tokens, pioneered in March, are fungible tokens that exist on Bitcoincomparable to ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, like PepeCoin.

There was also discussion about projects that could potentially be built on Bitcoin using Ordinals, like a decentralized exchange. Matt Corallo, an Open Source Engineer at Spiral, expressed concerns during the panel that new innovations with Ordinals could push Bitcoin miners more toward MEV to stay competitive and introduce centralization or censorship issues if not managed effectively.

MEV, or maximal extractable value, refers to the value that miners or validators can derive from changing the sequence of transactions in a block as its being added to the ledger. While developers on Ethereum and other chains have spent years figuring out how to mitigate MEVs negative aspects, its potentially a new hurdle for cryptos oldest coin, said Corallo.

The Ethereum space has spent a lot of time doing this, Corallo said, in terms of addressing MEV. We do need to learn from that world, in so far as were building protocols that start to look more like that world. We absolutely do.

Udi Wertheimer of Bitcoin Wizards said its noteworthy that well-established Web3 tech and concepts have worked their way into Bitcoin-related dialogue, contrasting it with events held by Bitcoin Magazine in years past.

This year, were on [...] the main stage of Bitcoin Magazine talking about rollups, were talking about MEV, were talking about decentralized exchanges on Bitcoin, Wertheimer said. I dont have the answers [...] but I think the culture is getting there.

Before Bitcoin 2023, OrdinalSafe didnt have any investors. But after the teams performance during Pitch Day, its already got significant commitments from investors, CEO Atik said.

But the OrdinalSafe team was not the only group represented by developers with an Ethereum background, using Ordinals to find their footing in the Bitcoin community.

Eril Ezerel is the founder of Subjective Labs. His team of crypto-natives has been building BestinSlot.xyz, an Ordinals explorer that lets people track inscriptions, NFT-like assets on Bitcoin, as well as BRC-20 tokens.

The service currently tracks over 1,100 Ordinals collections, with names like Bitcoin Frogs, DogePunks, and BTC Virus. It also collects data on the more than 28,000 BRC-20 tokens.

Ezerel described Ordinals as a hornnow that its been blown, people are coming back to cryptos oldest coin en masse. A lot of people in his projects Discord server are approaching Bitcoin with limited knowledge of how to use the network, he said, but theyre still passionate about the prospect of digital art and collectibles.

All day in Discord, we're dealing with NFT degens from Solana and Ethereum, Ezerel said. Theres been a bit of a learning curve, he said: Lots of people have been asking for help buying Bitcoin inscriptions.

Ordinals is in its infancy, and where the protocol goes is anybodys guess, as people from throughout Web3 enter the Bitcoin fold. And even if Ordinals has its critics, many approve of the experimentation, Ezerel said.

He put forth the idea that Bitcoin miners are on board with Ordinals because of the increased transaction fees they receive for validating transactions. There are also major developers and Bitcoin owners that are supportive of the protocol, he noted.

Everybody's excited about it, Ezerel said. The Bitcoin maxi stuff, it's mostly in our heads.

Read this article:

Ordinals Is Drawing Former Ethereum Devs to Build on Bitcoin - Decrypt

The United States is barreling toward a date that could have historic consequences for global markets, running the risk of its first-ever debt default. It's a potential black swan event that could have an outsized impact on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the rest of the crypto market.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned weeks ago that the government would soon run out of funds if the debt ceiling isnt suspended or raisedpossibly as early as June 1. If lawmakers remain deadlocked and cant come to an agreement on spending, Washington wont be able to pay its bills, she said.

Similar standoffs over the debt ceiling have rattled markets in the past, like a prolonged disagreement over the debt ceiling that sent the S&P 500 tumbling 16% in 2011, startling investors before a resolution was reached.

This time around, Wall Street has yawned. The S&P 500 is down less than 1% since Yellen issued her sobering remarks on May 1. However, Bitcoin has fallen more than 7% and Ethereum is down nearly 3% during the same period, according to CoinGecko.

Typically, debt ceiling debacles create more noise than market-moving news, Amberdatas Director of Derivatives Greg Magadini told Decryptbut he acknowledged that a U.S. debt default is far from off the table.

It feels like a pretty intense game of chicken right now, he said. And given how crazy things have gone in the past couple of years, I think anything is possible.

In the event that the government defaults on its debts, risk assets like stocks and crypto would face short-term pain, Magadini said. He explained thats because a drop in the quality of government-backed debt would likely raise borrowing costs, counterintuitively increasing its yield and strengthening the dollar compared to other assets.

Similarly, the dollar could strengthen during a U.S. default as American traders tend to onshore their dollarsswapping foreign currencies and assets for the greenbackduring risk-off events, CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill told Decrypt.

Technically speaking, the dollar should sell off in the event of a default, but it won't because people tend to onshore their dollars in periods of market stress, he said. The dollar might actually strengthen, perversely, because people are getting worried, and that actually wont be so great for Bitcoin.

Butterfill envisions the dollar will strengthen and Bitcoin will slide as the U.S. approaches what the White House has described as America's X-date, the official date at which the government can no longer pay its bills.

This is a really complicated scenario, Butterfill said, noting he doesnt think a default is likely. Its not that obvious what exactly will happen.

Bitcoin and Ethereum could react differently in the event of a default, Amberdatas Magadini said. Bitcoin may bounce alongside gold after an initial slideas a check on government-issued currencywhile Ethereum would likely remain depressed alongside tech stocks, he said.

The sentiment was echoed by Genesis Co-Head of Trading Gordon Grant, who told Decrypt that Bitcoin has more upside than Ethereum if the government can no longer meet its debt obligations, but both coins would face pressure initially.

Maybe there's an initial wick down, as risk assets get absolutely trounced, because the stock market is going to get decimated, he said. But Bitcoin is probably going higher.

For Ethereum, Grant said that the second largest crypto by market cap is often tied to indexes tracking tech stocks like the NASDAQ, making it likely to underperform compared to Bitcoin if a default takes place.

It doesn't matter whether I think that that's a fair comparison, he said, noting that thats how certain models trade the relationship between things like the NASDAQ and Ethereum. So, we would tend to expect underperformance of Ethereum.

As an example of how crypto has performed during recent risk-off events, Grant pointed to Bitcoins outsized gains compared to Ethereum in the wake of several bank collapses in March, including Silicon Valley Bank. However, he noted that theres zero data to suggest how cryptocurrencies could react if the government defaults for the first time in history.

Both Grant and Magadini highlighted increased activity in the options market for Bitcoin as a potential default draws closer, saying it suggests that tradersmostly institutional onesare betting the coin will see increased volatility.

At the end of the day, Grant said hes confident that lawmakers will exhaust their differences on Capitol Hill and reach an agreement like they always have. But, pointing to the logic of Bloombergs Tom Keene, Grant said the bigger question is whether events like these become more common in an ever-more-polarized political climate, and if theyll ever go away.

We can ruminate and pontificate, but the real story is this phenomenon of the US government, as a debtor nation, bumping up against a debt ceiling, Grant said, adding its become how the sausage gets made in the 21st century.

Continue reading here:

What Happens to Bitcoin and Ethereum If the US Defaults on Its Debt? - Decrypt