satpile 🥞ⓢ
591 posts
@satpile
Watch-only address tracker wallet for #Bitcoin hodlers & ⓢats ⓢtackers • BTC-only, free, no ads, no account, open-source • xpub & segwit friendly • by @ZLOK
Anyone in my network could help me get in touch with journalist and author Jack Hitt @JackHitt? Can't seem to find a direct email address to reach him. Context: I was quite touched by his piece on the island nation of Nauru @Republic_Nauru, and as I have developed a potential solution to the core problems he described (and more recent additional ones), I would very much value his perspective. Thank you. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hitt
Bitcoin on-chain transactions cost 11 sats fee. Bitcoin has a limit of ~7 tx/s. Instead of endlessly obsessing about spam, which is a non-existent threat to bitcoin, we should be strategizing how we convince more people to actually use bitcoin as everyday money.
Zhengzhou makes your iPhone. Now the central Chinese city is churning out cheap lab-grown diamonds for your engagement ring. The prices for synthetic diamonds have plummeted, falling by nearly 90% over the past five years. It is cheaper than ever to buy sparkling stones that are chemically identical to their natural cousins. Once a fringe choice, lab-grown diamonds now account for over half of engagement rings sold in the US. The majority of these rings begin their life in a factory in Henan, where a handful of factories are undercutting their rivals with more affordable technology and lower energy costs. Consumers don't realise the central role China plays in this growing trade, because the diamond "origin" is linked to where the stone is polished rather than where it is mined. Around 70% of lab-grown diamonds for jewellery originate from China. The stones have become so inexpensive that I saw uncut gems lying around unguarded during my reporting trip to Henan. The current market rate for an unpolished one-carat stone is just $15. As synthetic stones flood the market, the future of natural diamonds - once marketed as eternal - now looks anything but certain. This was a fun one to report with the sparkling @lesliehook on.ft.com/3TUUAYy
