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visual art

asset management decentralized finance NFTs and digital objects visual art

·Dec. 18, 2020

Connecting the $2T in Art owned by UHNW investors, with the rise of crypto art and Beeple’s $3.5MM NFT digital art auction

A few delicious morsels for us today, connecting ideas between the automation of the institutional art world, and the rise of non-fungible token art. We are surprised by how things are clicking.

We caught up recently with Lori Hotz of Lobus. Lori used to work in the wealth and investment management businesses of Wall Street (Lehman, Lazard) and comes to art with a background of asset allocation and investment assets. One core narrative in wealth management has of course been roboadvisors and digital wealth, and the automation of the financial advisor process. Whether you are doing client experience, CRM, financial planning, trading, or performance reporting, there are now lots of platforms for everyone from mass-retail to ultra-high-net-worth and family office advisors.

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exchanges / cap mkts identity and privacy marketing Metaverse / xR NFTs and digital objects Social / Community visual art

·Oct. 6, 2021

User-Generated Finance and Cultural Financial Instruments, via Snoop Dogg, Dapper Labs, and $1.5B Decentralized Social

The structure of capital markets precedes the innovations that come from it. High frequency trading, passive ETF investing, SPACs, and crypto assets all telegraphed their value proposition before becoming large and meaningful in scale. We are now seeing a new market shape emerge, one that starts with community and builds up into financial instruments that are cultural and social. This analysis looks at the most recent developments in the overlap between decentralized social and cultural work and related financial features.

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artificial intelligence civilization and politics Metaverse / xR philosophy visual art

·Jul. 3, 2020

White Obama made by Artificial Intelligence

What we know intuitively, and what the software shows, is that the pixelated image can be expanded into a cone of multiple probable outcomes. The same pixelated face can yield millions of various, uncanny permutations. These mathematical permutations of our human flesh exit in an area which is called “latent space”. The way to pick one out of the many is called “gradient descent”.

Imagine you are standing in an open field, and see many beautiful hills nearby. Or alternately, imagine you are standing on a hill, looking across the rolling valleys. You decide to pick one of these valleys, based on how popular or how close it is. This is gradient descent, and the valley is the generated face. Which way would you go?

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decentralized finance NFTs and digital objects visual art

·Sep. 10, 2021

Art Blocks CEO Erick Calderon on Generative Art, Blockchains, and the NFT movement

In this conversation, we chat with Erick Calderon is the founder and CEO at Art Blocks, a platform for creating on-demand, generative art pieces. Since its launch a year ago, Art Blocks has garnered the attention of many, including auction house Sotheby’s, which recently sold 19 of the platform’s pieces in a deal totaling $81,000. Calderon, a native Houstonian, uses the online handle Snowfro, which stems from a snow cone stand he used to own.

More specifically, we touch on projection mapping, generative vs. algorithmic art, machine learning, smart contracts, the constructivist art movement, Artblocks’ unique approach to NFT algorithms and minting, NFT flipping vs. scalping, gas price wars, flashbots, dutch auctions, and the massive demand for anything Artblocks in the world today and the justifcations behind such demand.

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Metaverse / xR NFTs and digital objects visual art

·Oct. 2, 2020

Fintech in the Metaverse, plus NFTs, Crypto Art, and Epic Games

Today, we’re joined by Angela Dalton to explore the fun and fantastical world that sits at the intersection of gaming, immersive technology, crypto and economics, namely, the Metaverse.

Angela is the Founder and CEO of Signum Growth Capital, an M&A advisory firm focused on emerging opportunities in fintech, especially blockchain, and digital media.

In this conversation, we discuss expectations for both recreation and work in a digital future, technological advances in recent years that underpin coming changes to immersive virtual experiences, the economics of virtual worlds and more.

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Crypto DAOs gaming & sports Metaverse / xR neobank NFTs and digital objects Social / Community visual art

·Aug. 23, 2021

Creating, Transacting, and Storing Value in the Financial Metaverse of NFTs, DAOs, and DeFi

The evolution towards a financial metaverse is rapidly accelerating, with the growth in generative assets, profile picture avatars, the emerging derivative structures that build on their foundation, and DAOs that govern them. This article highlights the most novel developments, and builds the case for what a digital wallet / bank will need to be able to do in order to succeed on the way to this alien destination.

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artificial intelligence big tech China civilization and politics Metaverse / xR visual art

·Jul. 27, 2020

OpenAI, backed with $1B+ by Elon Musk & MSFT, can now program SQL and write Harry Potter fan-fiction

This week, we look at a breakthrough artificial intelligence release from OpenAI, called GPT-3. It is powered by a machine learning algorithm called a Transformer Model, and has been trained on 8 years of web-crawled text data across 175 billion parameters. GPT-3 likes to do arithmetic, solve SAT analogy questions, write Harry Potter fan fiction, and code CSS and SQL queries. We anchor the analysis of these development in the changing $8 trillion landscape of our public companies, and the tech cold war with China.

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music industry NFTs and digital objects supply chain / trade visual art

·Mar. 5, 2021

How a moment on the NYC 6 train turned into using NFTs in the $74T supply chain industry before NFTs were cool, with Tyler Mulvihill of EulerBeats

In this conversation, we talk with Tyler Mulvihill of Treum and EulerBeats, about how he became involved in the very first non-financial production grade blockchain use case, tracking & tracing tuna from Fiji to New York using Treum. Additionally, we explore the nuances of NFTs and how EulerBeats is using bonding curve economics to price the future of NFT use rather than mere collection.

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civilization and politics crowdfunding DAOs ICO / IEO NFTs and digital objects visual art

·Jun. 24, 2021

Inspiring creativity, collaboration, and visual conversation by harnessing decentralized tech, with Beatriz Helena Ramos of DADA.art

In this conversation, we talk with Beatriz Helena Ramos – artist, entrepreneur, film director, producer and illustrator – the mind behind DADA.art. DADA is “a space where everything is about cooperation and solidarity, which are amazing ways to allow self-expression, as well as constant inspiration. Additionally, we provide simple tools to encourage creativity, and erase intimidation.”

More specifically, we discuss Beatriz’s journey to creating DADA, decentralized power structures, community-inspired creative collaboration, assymetric rewards in NFT markets driving new value distribution methodologies, DADA’s latest project called “The Invisible Economy”, and technology-inspired and centric approaches to empower artists in the future.

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big tech gaming & sports Metaverse / xR NFTs and digital objects Social / Community visual art

·Jul. 25, 2021

Getting ahead in Facebook’s Metaverse by earning the Harvard of NFTs

Facebook is building towards a Metaverse version of the Internet, in both its hardware and software efforts. What are the implications? And further, how does one acquire status, work, and social capital in such a world? We explore the recent NFT avatar projects through the lens of Ivy League universities and CFA exams to understand some timeless cultural trends.

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