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In the latest episode of Edge of NFT hosts Richard Carthon and Joshua Krieger discuss significant developments in the tech and crypto sectors, including Google's unveiling of a powerful quantum supercomputer, which raises questions about future threats to Bitcoin's security. They also cover Microsoft's recent rejection of a proposal to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet, reflecting ongoing tensions between traditional corporate strategies and cryptocurrency adoption, alongside a creative treasure hunt blending Web3 and finance that offers hidden treasures across the U.S.
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Key Topics Covered:
- Quantum Computing and Crypto Security: Google's unveiling of the quantum supercomputer Willow raises concerns about its potential future threat to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency security, prompting discussions on the need for quantum-resistant algorithms to safeguard blockchain systems.
- Microsoft’s Rejection of Bitcoin Proposal: Microsoft shareholders voted against a proposal to add Bitcoin to the company's balance sheet, reflecting a divide in traditional corporate attitudes towards cryptocurrency, with concerns over volatility influencing their decision.
- Web3 Treasure Hunt Initiative: A unique treasure hunt blends fantasy and finance, where a Bitcoin investor has hidden $2 million in treasures across the U.S., including Bitcoin and rare collectibles, enticing participants to buy a book for clues to find these treasures.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let us know in the comments on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@edgeofnft/
Episode Highlights:
- "Quantum computing doesn't pose a theoretical threat to the cryptographic algorithms underpinning Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies... but it could be in the future" - Richard Carthon (Timestamp: 00:06:20).
- "Nobody that's had Bitcoin under balance sheets for four years or more has ever regretted doing that compared to dollars or really just about any other type of investment" - Wayne Marcel (Timestamp: 00:19:15).
For the full transcript, see further below.
People and Resources Mentioned:
- Wayne Marcel LinkedIn
- FIO Protocol LinkedIn
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About Our Guest:
- Bio: Wayne Marcel is the Head of Growth at FIO (Foundation for Interwallet Operability) and a passionate advocate for Web3 adoption. He has extensive experience in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, emphasizing the importance of security and innovation within the industry. Wayne is known for his insights on the implications of emerging technologies, such as quantum computing, on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
- Website: FIO Protocol
- Twitter: blockchaynwayne
- Instagram: @blockchainwayne
- LinkedIn: Wayne Marcel
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Full Episode Transcript:
Richard Carthon: Welcome to hot topics on the edge of NFT. I'm Richard Carthon and I'm here with my co host, Joshua Krieger. And today we're joined by Wayne Marcel, head of growth at FIO and a passionate advocate for web three adoption.
Wayne Marcel: Hey, thanks for having me.
Josh Kriger: Great to have you on the show, Wayne. Coming up today, Google Quantum Chip, Microsoft Bitcoin Rejection, Web3 Treasure Hunt, and FIO's
Richard Carthon: Big Milestone. It's another production of Edge of Company, a rapidly growing media ecosystem empowering the pioneers of Web3 tech and culture.
Josh Kriger: Let's get started. So first, Google has unveiled a quantum supercomputer called Willow. This chip is so powerful that it can perform tasks in five minutes that would take a classical supercomputer. Get this. music ends 10 septillion years. To put that in perspective, that's way longer than the universe has existed. So naturally, everyone's asking, what does this mean for Bitcoin and crypto security? We know Bitcoin relies on algorithms like the SHA 256 for mining. And the ECDSA for digital signatures, but could quantum computing break these?
Richard, what's your take on this big development?
Richard Carthon: Let's just first start with quantum computing. It doesn't pose a theoretical threat to the cryptographic algorithms underpinning Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. But Willow is not an immediate threat. But it could be in the future because basically quantum decryption is far from being practical but we're already seeing crypto researchers beginning to work on quantum resistant algos to future proof blockchain systems.
But, you know, essentially what this super chip could do they always talk about, you know, the 51% takeover something like could happen in theory, if this supercomputer is able to. actualize it's full ability. But you know, Wayne you know, you've been in space for a while.
What's your perspective on this?
Wayne Marcel: Yeah. I mean, two different ways to look at this in the short term. It's definitely not a threat. It's just being available. And there's a long time before this thing would actually hit mainstream use where it's available really to anyone outside of the company. You know, that's unveiling it.
And really there's a lot other, there's a lot of other low hanging fruit than the try to hack, you know, the cryptographic algorithms that whether it's Bitcoin or some other cryptocurrencies, there could be some very centralized blockchain networks, you know, there's a sliding scale of, you know, decentralization and all networks.
I think it's like zero to Bitcoin and somewhere along the way, you know, there's a lot of networks that could be easily brute force, but there's a lot of other use cases that you could see a lot more low hanging fruit. I think actually the banking industry needs to work on this more than the crypto and blockchain, the whole, you know, industry, including worrying about Bitcoin.
So it's a long way from fruition unveiling to getting to the market. This thing's going to have probably only, I think, institutional use in the beginning. So we'll see what happens when it goes to market. But I just think there's so much other low hanging fruit, but everybody needs to focus on upping their security methods.
Protocols. There's really nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with being too prepared. I know personally, I've just switched some of my individual wallets over to multi SIG, which means you know, I have to access multiple devices, just about a sign, a transaction now. And it's just another point of friction.
For hackers anyone that may want to use this technology in the future, but it's always about just even right now when people get hacked, people are going after low hanging fruit. You know, they're going to have people like my parents that would probably use the same password on everything, right?
So if you take steps to make yours significantly harder to crack, then that's where the most people are at risk. So practice good digital security. And other than that, all we can do is watch it. I think a lot of developers will keep an eye on it to see. And you'll probably see some security enhancements come along the way, but those are going to happen a lot quicker than the actual threat of quantum computing.
Josh Kriger: Interesting perspective, Wayne definitely wished I had a product like this around when I lost my Tezos key from that ICO. But the flip side of course, is that, you know, someone else could use this to get into someone else's crypto, right? I do think that this will expedite more aggressive security measures.
It's always sort of this, um, it's an arm wrestling match. A tug of war, if you will, between the security sort of standards and those out there that want to get into one stuff I think as we're, you know, on a, in a bull market cycle, I think this is definitely a word of caution, not only to consumers to tighten up their security.
But to all the Layer 1s, the Layer 2s, the DAPs, the exchanges, you know, close look at security measures and up their games as well. Richard, what else is next?
Richard Carthon: All right, it's time to talk about Microsoft. Microsoft shareholders recently voted against a proposal to allocate Bitcoin to the company's balance sheet.
The resolution, backed by the National Center for Public Policy Research, argued that Bitcoin could be a strategic move to diversify and enhance shareholder value. However, Microsoft Board pushed back, citing Bitcoin's volatility and emphasizing the need for stable investments for corporate treasury management.
Josh, it feels like a tug of war going back with innovation and caution. What's your perspective?
Josh Kriger: Yeah, it would have been awesome to have Microsoft on, on the Bitcoin train. But I guess not yet. I think the vote highlights an ongoing divide in sort of how traditional institutes perceive Bitcoin.
On one hand, you've got proponents like NCPPR and Michael Saylor claiming that Bitcoin is the next big wave. And then on the other hand, you know, Microsoft's board has, you know, their current financial strategies and they feel you know, They're already doing the right things. I do think that this type of conversation within a big company is an interesting signal of more folks joining the train this year. I would anticipate a safe stream of announcements of pro Bitcoin sort of policies in the corporate world and in more countries coming along for the ride as well.
During this next cycle. That's my take at this point. Wayne, what do you think?
Wayne Marcel: Yeah, it's not surprising to me. I mean when you think about microsoft shareholders I think they're I think one of the one of the analogies I use earlier like dinosaurs. There's legacy shareholders Who control the majority of the voting and Microsoft doesn't really have a good track record of picking tech winners.
I mean, I hate to say that when Microsoft, but they passed on initially on the web browser and now, and then they tried to play catch up. They passed on the cell phone technology and then they tried to play catch up and launch a windows phone too little too late. So this is just another misstep I think of.
Bitcoin, the point of volatility. I mean, anybody can zoom out. Nobody that's a corporation or an individual, nobody that's had Bitcoin under balance sheets for four years or more has ever regretted doing that compared to a dollar or really just about any other type of investment. And I think companies need to take note that the whole point of this is if you're holding a majority reserve of your treasury and Dollars or fixed assets with slight gains that are, you know, mostly pegged to the dollar.
Maybe, you know, that doesn't outpace inflation, then you're using, you're losing treasury value. Every month, every year. So not a surprise for Microsoft. I think a lot of companies that are more in the cutting edge are really going to start to take note and add it to their treasury balance sheet.
And you're going to see, I mean, Michael Saylor, you listen to him talk. I mean, he's very convincing about why, but to me, just anybody that looks at it without a biased view of Bitcoin. And once they truly understand Bitcoin, the economics of it, the supply and look at the history. It's just, for the vote, no, it's gotta be either ignorance or, you know, they're just against what, whatever Bitcoin stands for in general.
But it wasn't surprising. And Microsoft has had many missteps along the way. You know, they gave us windows and everything else. It seems like they've been trying to play catch up in a sense.
Josh Kriger: For our listeners at home, Wayne is wearing a Bitcoin Jersey. So clearly there is a personal opinion involved in his commentary here.
That I happen to sort of agree with in this occasion for short hair thoughts.
Richard Carthon: Yeah, I'm not shocked by Microsoft's decision. As Wayne said, they have a lot of huge history of not picking winners early and then playing catch up. As Wayne said a lot of the traditional companies who did put Bitcoin on their sheets, had they waited They ultimately would have made money and they'd be looking very smart.
But at the same time, the challenge that I think Microsoft is facing, and even a lot of these traditional companies, is that they're playing the quarter game. They have to continuously win each quarter. They don't have, let me make sure they have a long term vision, but they're constantly having to explain to their shareholders on a quarterly basis.
And yes, although Bitcoin is on the up and up with it, it's upswing. Hey , when it's a bear market and it's time to pull back, the pullbacks are very hard. Like for example, you know, Elon with Tesla put Bitcoin on its books and in the short term, if you're having a look at it from a quarterly standpoint when Bitcoin went all the way down to, you know, below sub 20, 000 didn't look great for shareholders and didn't look like a great idea.
But had he held it the entire time would look like a genius now. So the only problem with these traditional companies having to play the quarter game aka you have these numbers that you have to be hitting each quarter. It is a little bit more risky. Now, I don't, but I don't think that's going to deter other large corporations from starting to get Bitcoin on their sheets.
I think they probably don't do a huge amount, but I think they start to slowly accumulate over time. And I also think that it's going to be interesting to see the first companies that do it because They are going to be seen as innovators, right? They're going to be seen as you know, when people are first investing in like them.
com. com moments and got into some of these earlier companies, though, they all don't make it. The ones that got in early were right. And, you know, as you're looking at all of crypto Bitcoin, Isn't going anywhere. And I think that's just apparent. Again, not shocked. I think other companies will come in, but this is the thing to keep in mind with these larger corporations.
They're playing the quarter game, not the long game.
Wayne Marcel: One of the things you also want to look at when you, you know, outside of, yeah, I'm biased for Bitcoin, but when you look at the, how many people you think are actually holding Microsoft shares. In their own personal stock accounts versus how many are managed by large hedge funds and others where they're you know, it's and most of these people they have it within those funds They're not the individuals aren't the ones that are voting They're basically if there's any votes to be had they're delegating votes to that And so I think that's another thing to think about some of these larger companies that, you know, most of their shareholders are a ton of individuals that are grouped into individual hedge funds or retirement funds or other types of funds.
You know, those people may still see Bitcoin as a threat in terms of investment vehicles and maybe even lost some clients to that. So I think when we get more curious voting in terms of the actual individual shareholders and a lot of which will be a lot of these newer companies where people have shares in those companies individually held privately.
And then I just allocated some retirement funds somewhere.
Josh Kriger: Very cool. Appreciate your perspective on that, Wayne. And speaking of innovators that are sort of taking things to the next level, there's a Web3 Wonka who has hid two million dollars of Bitcoin in five treasure chests. So this story blends fantasy and finance.
These chests are not just packed with Bitcoin. They also contain rare Pokemon cards, historical shipwreck artifacts, sports memorabilia, and even gold. Let me redo that because I said 2 million of Bitcoin. I got it wrong. So I'm going to start over. Um, appreciate everyone's perspective. And speaking of folks that are actually pushing innovation, there's a new web three Wonka in the house.
A Bitcoin investor has had 2 million of treasure and five different treasure checks. So this is a little bit of fantasy and finance blended together. These two million dollars of treasures are hidden across the USA. These chests aren't just packed with Bitcoin. They also contain rare Pokemon cards.
historical shipwreck artifacts, sports memorabilia, and even gold. So what's the catch? To join the hunt, you'll need to buy the investor's book, which provides clues to the treasurer's location. Richard, this kind of feels like a modern day Willy Wonka meets Web3 story that reminds you a little bit about, you know, Gary Vee's book and how he had some incentives on buying it around an NFT drop, but let's take it to the next level.
What do you think about this creative fusion of treasure hunting and blockchain culture?
Richard Carthon: Yeah, it's very interesting right from a marketing standpoint. It's a great way to capture people's attention, it's another way to get people interested and It feels like a fair game for everyone right as long as you basically get the keys to The steps to finding the treasure.
But I feel like, you know, there's probably some influences from anime, like One Piece or 100 X Hunter or some other things out there. I would like to pull some of these different elements together to make this quest, if you will, I think is very clever and fun. I get the people talking, but again, if.
If you go and do the things, and now you have an opportunity to go find a couple million dollars, that sounds like a really great time for some people that would be willing to go do that. I think it's fun.
Josh Kriger: Am I the only one of you guys thinking about using one of these new supercomputers to actually let's redo that.
So am I the only one of you guys thinking about using one of these supercomputers to, to hack this and sort of figure out how to solve this treasure as quickly as possible? I feel and I'm not, Wayne, what are your thoughts here?
Wayne Marcel: I mean, it'd be possible if we can get it at all. It all depends on factoring in the cost of the supercomputer versus the What the prize would be.
But yeah, I mean, I mean, you could probably take the transcript of that book and plug it into some AI tool right now and maybe get some better hints than having to sit down and read the book, right?
Josh Kriger: My thoughts exactly. But you know, maybe he's thought about that and maybe these are just really tough clues.
Fun, fun story anyways. And now to a big milestone, Richard, what's next?
Richard Carthon: So for our final story, we're going to talk about 2 million FIO handles registered on chains. This recently just happened and those who are unfamiliar with FIO protocol, it's all about making blockchain transactions more user friendly and replacing complex wallet addresses with easy to read handles.
This milestone shows a growing interest in simplifying crypto for everyday users. Wayne, we went way back and for everyone listening to this, I interviewed Wayne. All the way back in 2018, he was the very first one to tell me about NFTs and tell me about all these other things happening in crypto.
So Wayne is an OG, knows his stuff about crypto onboarding new users. Dude, always love having you on the show, but given your experience in making blockchain more accessible, what do you think this achievement says about the broader adoption of Web3?
Wayne Marcel: Thanks Richard, first of all.
It definitely, for me, shows that there's a need for people to simplify that user experience. There is, you know, and as we bring more people into it, I don't really have to convince people to use our protocol if it's available within certain wallets and we're in some of the major wallets right now.
It's just a simple adage. I mean, one of our partners has a very large wallet and we've done zero marketing about it yet. We haven't really liked press releases coming in a few weeks and it's been live actually since may, we've been working out some other things, some other features, and it's just users are looking for that simple experience.
And it's funny, it was, it came up as an analogy. On an x space I was on today where someone was like, we've got to hide the wires and you think about a user experience. If it's clunky, if it's hard, people are just going to pull back. And I see every day people talking about sending crypto to the wrong address, sending crypto to the wrong network just over the weekend.
Had somebody I met at a Bitcoin meet up a while back, reach out because they sent a good piece of Bit of money on the wrong network, and they needed some help tracking it. So building these interfaces. It's been my theme for the last year and a half is every talk I've given us talked about the user experience, simplifying that user experience.
And I think people are ready to use these technologies. They're just if they do use it, it's clunky. The experience can be hard unless we have Features that make it simple. And, you know, also there's others that are just, they're going to stay away until it gets easier. They're the iPhone people that are like, you know, they, you know, when early cell phones came out, I was one of the first ones to get one, especially the smaller ones, right?
Not the big clunky ones, but it took a while and it was, and even smartphones. It took a while for many people to adopt it. And it was when that user experience just got super simple and that's where we've got to get with crypto web three. So we're doing our part when it comes to crypto transactions, sending, receiving, requesting, or invoicing cryptocurrency.
But my challenge to anybody listening is if you're working in the industry, there's a ton of other features that we have to come out with that kind of hide all the complexities from the user. And just make it a simple experience.
Josh Kriger: Yeah. Kudos Wayne for you and to the whole FIO team for reaching this milestone.
I really do feel you know, transacting. Crypto has to be as easy as sending an email. And you guys are sort of making that possible. And we've talked earlier about sort of nefarious actors and preventing it. You know, I think this sort of also goes in the direction of simple and, you know, it's not that easy to get into someone's email and.
What you guys are doing also sort of follows that same spirit. Anything else you want to share about exciting roadmap items or milestones coming up for feel next along with this. Or are you guys still just busy celebrating this big milestone?
Wayne Marcel: I mean, we're celebrating, but we're already moved on.
We've got quite a few other things on the roadmap that we're looking to add additional features. Our integration into MetaMask continues to get more and more in depth since they enabled snaps. So we've been working with the MetaMask team quite a bit. And then we're also, you know, a sneak peek.
We've got some releases coming out soon. Talking about Trust Wallet, which is also a major wallet, one of the largest user bases in wallets. They've not only adopted our protocol, but they've made it their default naming system within their wallet. So if you go in there, you can get your username at Trust and link all your different wallet chain addresses to one single handle.
That's what's coming. And then on our developer side, our infrastructure team just continues to develop tools to make it easier to use, make it fun to use. We will be sponsoring one of the first events in the U. S. Next year, Wagme, Miami, and we're going to have some cool features. We're going to unveil at that conference and also some great promotions and giveaways as well.
So we're just continuing to focus on user adoption, and continue to focus on expanding our partner base. You know, and without, you know, without trying too far away from what really got us to where we are today. I mean, the field protocol has been live for a few months. We'll celebrate our five year anniversary.
And so five years is a long time in this industry, but we're gonna continue to innovate and ramp up our focus on user adoption.
Richard Carthon: Absolutely. We all definitely crushed the game there. And definitely appreciate you being a part of it. So everyone listening, make sure you go check out FIO and be on the lookout in 2025.
And if you happen to go to IRL events, there's a great chance you're going to see blockchain Wayne, AKA Wayne Marcel at it because man, he is all over the place representing FIO very well. So that wraps up today's exciting discussion. We explored Google's quantum computer chip and its implications for Bitcoin, Microsoft shareholders voting against Bitcoin reserve and the 2 million treasure hunt inspired by web three.
And finally. 2 million BO handles registered on the chain. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Drop us a comment or connect with us on social media.
Josh Kriger: So thanks for tuning in to this week's journey through the hottest web three topics. I'm Josh here with Richard and our amazing guest star, Wayne Marcell. Signing off, stay curious, stay innovative and catch you next time.
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