The idea of a non-taxed, non-regulated, digital currency can sound incredibly appealing for many uses, but are cryptocurrencies all they’re cracked up to be and should we be advocating their use? That’s what we discuss with the published researcher, Dr Catherine Flick, known on BBC local radio as being able to explain Bitcoin in 15 seconds.



Catherine brought so much insight to help us understand what exactly cryptocurrencies and the blockchain are, and why they’re not as great as those involved in them think. We also dig into how NFTs got into the video game industry and of course the environmental impact of the blockchain.



We know this topic can stir up a lot of discussions, and we’d love to hear from you (as long as we can all keep things civil). So, send a note over to [email protected], leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server



Episode Links




Dr Catherine Flick: Mastodon / Website



WWF UK faces backlash over ‘destructive’ plans to sell ‘eco-friendly’ NFTs (Sky News)



ACM Code of Ethics



A critical professional ethical analysis of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)



The Missing Cryptoqueen: Apple Podcasts / BBC Sounds



Cross-cultural patterns in mobile playtime: an analysis of 118 billion hours of human data




Chapter Times




00:00:04: Introductions



00:16:05: Privacy & The Ick Factor



00:24:17: What Is Blockchain?



00:34:26: Lack of Financial Protection



00:39:42: Regulation?



00:43:15: Virtual Currences vs Proof of Work / Stake



00:49:57: The Environmental Impact



00:54:32: Decentralised



01:00:20: NFTs & Video Games



01:18:17: Solving Actual Problems



01:22:40: Wrapping Up




Credits



Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

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