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Melanie Kramer

Melanie Kramer

A technology, blockchain, and cryptocurrency, writer and reporter based between France and Canada. Melanie has studied and retains an avid interest in global politics, business, and economics.

Stories by Melanie Kramer

  • tools-taxes copy Rodrigo Martinez

    What Sam Bankman-Fried Allegedly Did, Explained Like You're Five

    A once crypto-superstar, Sam Bankman-Fried, goes on trial for 13 charges of fraud and conspiracy centered around the alleged mismanagement and/or misappropriation of FTX exchange customer’s crypto holdings.  Sam Bankman-Fried co-founded Alameda Research in 2017 and the FTX cryptocurrency exchange in 2019. He quickly became an icon of the cryptocurrency industry, garnering mainstream attention for crypto, even helping to turn Super Bowl 2022 into “Crypto Bowl” with other advertisers.  Today, Bank...

  • ai ethical implications rodrigo martinez

    What is Google Bard, and Can it Compete with ChatGPT?

    Bard is an AI-powered chatbot and Google’s answer to ChatGPT. According to Google, it’s still an “experiment,” but like ChatGPT, we will be able to use it more and more in our everyday apps. Can Bard compete? It’s a cliche, but Open AI’s ChatGPT did take the world by storm when it launched in 2022. The event catapulted AI and concerns about the technology into the spotlight. Sam Altman’s OpenAI was well before its competitors, namely Microsoft and Google.  Chat With Your Emails and Documents: Go...

  • An illustration of Bitcoin sign with blockchain nodes around it c. Rodrigo Martinez

    What is the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index?

    Earn a free on-chain certificate by taking Decrypt U's free course, Bitcoin’s price is ultimately influenced by human emotion, and the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index is a measure of this investor sentiment. Here, we find out why the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index can be an important market tool.   In an ideal world, Bitcoin’s price would always reflect its underlying or intrinsic value. In reality, and in the same way as other as other assets, Bitcoin’s price is significantly driven by how investors...

  • web3 and nft networked devices c. Rodrigo Martinez/Decrypt 2022

    NFTs: An Introduction

    When you think of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), what might come to mind are images of cartoonish apes and kitties that sell for millions. But that's just scratching the surface of NFTs. As you will learn in this course, NFTs have the potential to revolutionize the worlds of finance, art, trademark law, and even real estate. Basically, NFTs are pieces of code designed to carry out a set of instructions if certain conditions are met. This code is also known as a smart contract. Usually, at the heart...

    Courses
    4 min read
    Melanie Kramer, Daniel Phillips, Stephen Graves
  • NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are cryptographically unique digital assets. Image: Decrypt

    Beginner's Guide to NFTs: What Are Non-Fungible Tokens?

    Cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, security tokens, privacy tokens… digital assets and their classifications are multiplying and evolving right alongside cryptographic and blockchain technology. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are one of the fastest-growing sectors in the crypto industry. In this guide, we explore what they are, how they work, and how they're being used. What are non-fungible tokens? Non-fungible tokens are digital assets that contain identifying information recorded in smart contract...

  • What is Maker (MKR)?

    Many new stablecoins have emerged over the past 18 months in the cryptocurrency space. Their development has partly been inspired by the need to fill a potential stablecoin void, as the first and most commonly utilized stablecoin Tether faces concerns. There is, of course, also ongoing impetus in the cryptocurrency space to develop less-volatile tokens which will be used more widely. Below we take a closer look at Maker, the governance token at the heart of MakerDAO.  What is Maker? The Maker (M...

  • Image: Shutterstock

    Crypto mining out, blockchain gaming in for AMD

    AMD saw its revenue and share price boom in 2017 driven by demand from cryptocurrency miners. By 2018, crypto mining was a bust—but the company hasn’t given up on blockchain. In fact, AMD could soon be bundling blockchain-based games with its graphics cards in the new year. AMD yesterday became the first hardware manufacturer to join the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA), a collaboration of mostly developers and publishers, which includes the likes of gaming giant Ubisoft, and Ethereum incubator Co...

    NewsBusiness
    4 min read
    Melanie Kramer

  • Crypto, blockchain and the UK general election: what you need to know

    Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are increasingly part of millennial lives—and this demographic could determine the outcome of this week’s UK General Election. But it appears the country’s leading political parties—the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats—have forgotten that these new foundational financial technologies exist. British millennials love cryptocurrency Millennials’ connection to cryptocurrency cannot be ignored. They’re the first truly digital generation, and t...

    NewsBusiness
    6 min read
    Melanie Kramer
  • Image: Unsplash

    Taxman cometh for cryptocurrency in South Korea

    South Korea is the world’s third-largest market for bitcoin trading, and a region known to influence cryptocurrency prices—which makes today’s news all the more impactful. The Korea Times reports that South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance is “pushing” for taxes on capital gains from cryptocurrencies that could be included in tax regulations in coming months. A ministry official confirmed that “discussions” had been taking place and a “revised bill will be drawn up by the first half of ne...

    NewsCoins
    3 min read
    Melanie Kramer
  • IMAGE: Unsplash

    Thailand is putting visas on the blockchain

    Australian startup ShareRing will provide its blockchain technology to one of Thailand’s two electronic visa system partners enabling millions of tourists to apply securely for a travel visa online. The Electronic Visa On Arrival (eVOA) supplier to Thailand’s government will use a module of ShareRing’s blockchain, ShareLedger to secure and record sensitive visa information for short-term entrants to the country. The OneID module, says ShareRing, is designed for fast data collection and “agility....

    NewsBusiness
    3 min read
    Melanie Kramer
  • decentraland metaverse Rodrigo Martinez

    What is Decentraland?

    SimCity, Civilization, Minecraft. Game developers have spent years creating world-building games that allow people to construct buildings, cities or colonize entire worlds. But beyond your vanquished digital foes, what do you have to show for all the hours it took to make these fantastic creations? Not much. What would happen if you could ascribe real monetary value to what you created, and sell it to the highest bidder? That's the promise behind Decentraland, a blockchain powered world-building...

  • What are Consensus Protocols?

    One of blockchain's biggest promises is that it's a trustlesssystem that uses the community to help verify if transactions are genuine. But how does it do that? Well, different networks use different methods, and those methods are called consensus protocols. It's essentially the rules by which a network operates. Below we explore what they are, how they work, and the most popular types currently in use today. What are Consensus Protocols? A blockchain, or distributed ledger, is spread across nod...

  • What is the Brave browser?

    Popular web browsers and the gigantic corporations behind them, like Google and Microsoft, are under ever-increasing scrutiny. Concern is rising over how they store data and share it with advertisers. And, how they enable advertisers to collect data themselves through the use of cookies and other trackers. Could the Brave browser offer an alternative? We explore below. For more, check out our full review of Brave Browser. What is the Brave browser? Brave is a free web browser designed to help p...