insights from a blockchain developer, researcher & investor
exploring emerging opportunities in decentralized finance
3 DIFFERENT WAYS I CAN HELP
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Can ChatGPT & Keras Predict The Price Of Bitcoin
I get asked a lot if ChatGPT can be used for trading and I normally say “no, it’s a language model which isn’t designed to find market patterns in numerical price data”. ChatGPT works more like predictive text in a search engine or on your phone but what it is good at is writing code…
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Calculating CAGR in Python & JavaScript
The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is a useful measure for assessing the mean annual growth rate of an investment or business metric over a specified period longer than one year. Unlike other growth metrics, CAGR smooths out the volatility, providing a clearer picture of how investments grow over time. In this guide, I’ll show…
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Web3 Social Network
Today I’m going to explore what a web3 social network could look like and try to figure out what we want from social networks and where they might be going in the future. Let’s first look at some existing social networks and what makes them popular The thing that all these products have is targeted…
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How To Check Token Balances Using Python
To check a wallet token balance on the Ethereum blockchain using Python you will need the following: Once we have our API key ready and Python installed we can install web3.py using the following command Now let’s create a file called balance.py and add the following code. Note the code is also available in the…
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Using ChatGPT To Explore Future Investment Opportunities
This post was inspired by @Jake_Pahors post on Twitter which led me down a rabbit hole of thinking about what the world might look like in 10 years time and what investment opportunities might arise from these changes. The first step was to get ChatGPT to check what I was missing using the following prompt.…
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DeFi Whale Watching Tutorial & Code
Imagine if you could tap into the strategies of top investors and see where the smart money is allocating capital? Welcome to the world of DeFi whale watching, where tracking high net worth wallets can give you the edge and open up new Whale Watching Explained DeFi whale watching involves tracking the investments of “smart…
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Investment Thesis for Alibaba Group (BABA)
I first became addicted to eBay a couple of decades ago, over time I started ordering more and more on Amazon, I’ve now found myself ordering more on AliExpress and having items shipped directly from China. During the Euros (soccer tournament) AliExpress was one of the main sponsors which got me thinking that this trend…
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DeDollarisation In The Changing World Order
What if the world’s most dominant currency, the US dollar, is losing its grip on global power? De-dollarisation is a seismic economic shift that could reshape the global financial landscape as we know it. Imagine a future where the dollar’s influence wanes and emerging currencies, backed by hard assets rise to prominence. This change will…
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DeFi Analysis With Rust
In this tutorial I’m going to provide some code and show you how to monitor the number of depositors to Eigenlayer over the last 24 hours. We will be using Rust with the Tokio and Ethers libraries along with the Infura API which you can get a free key from here. The first thing we…
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Structured Products DeFi
We all remember the 2008 financial crisis, a global upheaval sparked in part by complex structured products like collateralised debt obligations. These financial instruments are still widely used in traditional finance to manage risk and enhance returns. But what if we could reimagine these products in DeFi? In this article, we’ll explore how decentralised structured…
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ChatGPT vs Claude
In this test we will be comparing the performance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT to Anthropic’s Claude. Both are LLM based AI models designed to offer virtual assistant type services. Update 2024-08-09 I find I’m using Claude more and more for complex coding tasks. It seems to have access to more up to date data and I’m…
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Web3 vs Cloud Computing
Have you ever wondered if decentralised data storage can truly rival the convenience and efficiency of traditional cloud services like AWS? Web3 devs today face several significant challenges. On-chain data is currently slow, expensive, and often comes with a poor user experience. However, with the rapid advancements in technology, the future could look very different.…
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How To Lookup An ENS Name In Python
To check a wallet token balance on the Ethereum blockchain using Python you will need the following: Once we have our API key ready and Python installed we can install web3.py using the following command Now let’s create a file called enslookup.py and add the following code. Enter your Infura API key on line 5.…
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The Future Of Cryptography
Have you ever wondered how the world of cryptography will evolve in the next two decades? As technology races forward, the landscape of data security is set to undergo dramatic transformations. From quantum resistant algorithms to biometric encryption, the world of cryptography is evolving. Let me take you through the fascinating journey of where we…
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Bitcoin Censorship Resistance
Imagine a world where your transactions are dependent on government approval. A central authority has the ability to cut off your right to trade for any reason they see fit. We aren’t far from this already and we’ve things like sanctions and freezing of assets by governments around the world. This primarily targets the banking…
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The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade
Imagine your everyday Ethereum account could temporarily transform into a powerful smart contract wallet. This is exactly what EIP-7702, a core part of the Pectra upgrade, promises. This new feature will allow normal Ethereum account addresses (EOAs) to act as smart contracts during transactions, only to revert to their original state afterwards. This upgrade has…
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Building A Portfolio Tracker In Python
In this tutorial we will be building a digital asset portfolio tracking tool using python and the Coinbase API. You’ll need to install python and the following library to make requests. The code for this is open source on Github at: https://github.com/jamesbachini/Python-Portfolio-Tracker Put this in a file called portfolio.py or fork the repo above. Then…
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Apple Tap To Cash
Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote unveiled Tap to Cash to simplify p2p payments, simply tap one iPhone to another to send money via Apple’s wallet. Why should you care about a minor tech upgrade from Apple? Because this one could be the first step towards a wider change in how we handle personal transactions. Dive in…
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Interest Rates, FOMC & Crypto
Ever wondered why crypto traders are obsessed with FOMC meetings and what the Federal Reserve are planning next? Interest rates set by the Fed impact the price of Bitcoin and other digital assets alongside stocks, shares and bonds. What if you could anticipate long-term price movements just by understanding a few macro economic principles? Let…
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Building a Career in Web3
Web3 represents the future of the internet, where developers can deploy permissionless code on a decentralized network. Building a career in this space requires a combination of technical skills, practical experience, and a strategic approach. This article outlines the key steps for anyone looking to forge a career in Web3, from learning Solidity to launching…
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Frontrunning Crypto Catalysts For Fun & Profit
There is opportunity in crypto markets if you can get ahead of the next narrative and allocate capital prior to mass of market participants. Staying ahead of the curve often means keeping an eye on emerging trends and strategic moves that can significantly impact a project’s market perception and value. In this article I’m going…
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Ethena USDe | DeFi Analysis Report
Ethena Labs has introduced USDe, a synthetic dollar on the Ethereum blockchain. USDe is designed to be crypto native, stable and censorship resistant. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to Ethena or USDe at time of writing. Do your…
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Creating A Solidity Escrow Smart Contract
In this tutorial, we will create an Escrow contract using Solidity and deploy it to an Ethereum testnet. An Escrow contract is a financial agreement where a third party (the arbitrator) holds and regulates payment of the funds required for two parties involved in a given transaction. It helps make transactions more secure as it…
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Starknet STRK Tokenomics
Starknet is a layer 2 zero knowledge rollup which uses a STARK cryptographic proof and Cairo based smart contracts. A few days ago they released the STRK token and in this article I’ll dive in to the tokenomics. Currently at time of writing the token trades at $1.91 and has a $1.39 billion dollar circulating…
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How To Create ERC404 Tokens Solidity Tutorial
An ERC404 token is a digital asset that combines the characteristics of ERC20 fungible tokens and ERC721 non-fungible tokens (aka NFT’s) to enable fractional ownership of an NFT. In essence, ERC404 tokens represent divisible parts of an NFT, allowing multiple individuals to own shares of a single NFT. This approach is designed to enhance the…
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Aggregated Blockchains and Polygon’s Agglayer
Polygon is gearing up to launch its AggLayer v1 mainnet with an event later today at 14:00 UTC Feb 23rd “Aggregation Day 2024”. In this article I’ll look at what aggregated blockchains are and how Polygon’s Agglayer works. What Are Aggregated Blockchains? The idea of aggregated Blockchains is to facilitate developers in bridging different blockchains…
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Adversarial Simulation Testing For Smart Contract Developers
I recently read Gene Kranz’s first hand account of the Gemini and Apollo Nasa missions. He talks about the rigorous simulation testing that flight directors had to partake in prior to a mission. Simulation testing plays a crucial role in ensuring the preparedness of astronauts and flight controllers for spaceflight. This process is managed by…
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Javascript Smart Contracts
As an experiment I converted this Vyper token contract to a Javascript/Typescript syntax to see if we could make it easier for web developers to get up to speed with smart contract development. Solidity is the most popular smart contract language and it is already based losely on Javascript but there are plenty of syntax…
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Vyper Tutorial | Learn Vyper In 24 Hours
Vyper is a pythonesque smart contract language that can be compiled and deployed on Ethereum and other EVM blockchains. 90%+ of blockchain devs use Solidity but there are some big projects such as Curve using Vyper and it’s growing in popularity and tooling compatibility. The best way to get started with Vyper is to head…
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Using Vyper With Remix
You can now use Vyper (a smart contract programming language similar to python) with remix to build and deploy contracts on Ethereum and other EVM blockchains. The first step is installing the Vyper plugin at https://remix.ethereum.org/ where you’ll find a list of plugins using the icon in the bottom left. You’ll then get an extra…
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Sell Me This Pen.sol
What happens when you ask a blockchain developer to sell you a pen? Etch your words permanently on the Ethereum blockchain where they will outlive you & create an everlasting record of your thoughts, contemplations & predictions. This is your chance to leave an eternal mark and express your presence in the digital age while…
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LRTs | Liquid Restaking Tokens
I’ve previously discussed Eigenlayer and how restaking works but let’s look at what this will look like for the majority of users. Liquid Restaking Tokens are the equivalent of stETH for restaking where users can deposit assets to gain exposure to yield from restaking using a simple ERC20 token. This is a write up of…
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Crypto Market Thesis 2024
The crypto market has experienced significant recovery this year, with Bitcoin’s value surging from $16,500 to over $40,000. Growth was shadowed by increased regulatory scrutiny, particularly impacting centralized exchanges. The Bitcoin halving in April 2024 is poised to be a pivotal event, historically triggering market rallies. The potential January approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs could…
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Nixon Shock | The Beginning Of The End
In a bold and controversial move in 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon instigated what is now known as the “Nixon Shock“ Faced with soaring inflation, Nixon implemented drastic measures including wage and price controls, import surcharges, and ending the U.S. dollar’s gold convertibility. This move effectively dismantled the Bretton Woods system, an international monetary framework…
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Midjourney vs Dall-E (ChatGPT) | Best AI Image Generator Tests
I currently have a subscription to both Midjourney and ChatGPT but find myself using Dall-E more and more often for image generation tasks. I wanted to carry out some tests to decide if I still needed the Midjourney subscription. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/mf1kWjzlsqI |Subscribe Midjourney vs Dall-E | The Differences Interface Dall-E…
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How To Deploy A Website Or dApp To IPFS | Fleek Tutorial
Gm, in this tutorial we are going to be deploying a website to IPFS to create a decentralized frontend. To do this I’ll be using Fleek which has a free tier and which suits our needs. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/https://youtu.be/DmpXbmjnpec |Subscribe We will start by getting our site on Github. We can…
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Etherspot Account Abstraction Tutorial
I find it surprising and rare when using new technology and it just works and is intuitive. Getting up to speed with Etherspot and account abstraction is one of those rare occasions. In this tutorial I’ll show you how I created a little demo to create a smart wallet, fund it and then send batched…
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TradingView Pine Script Examples | Master Pine Script With 6 Real World Examples
TradingView’s Pine Script coding language has emerged as the leading tool for traders looking to craft custom indicators and strategies with accuracy and ease. In this Pine Script tutorial I’ll provide a practical gateway into the intricacies of this coding language, tailored with useful examples to get you started. Whether you’re a novice coder or…
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Solidity Proxy Contract Tutorial With Example Code
This Solidity proxy contract tutorial delves into the concept of upgradeable proxy contracts in Solidity, specifically utilizing OpenZeppelin’s proxy contract template. We’ll start with an understanding of how these contracts work, the compromise of immutable decentralization vs upgradeability and then dive into practical code examples. Proxy Contract Video Tutorial In this video I provide an…
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LLM vs AGI | Limiting Reality of Language Models in AGI
Artificial Intelligence has made remarkable progress in recent years, with large language models like ChatGPT demonstrating capabilities that seemed impossible just a decade ago. However, these achievements, impressive as they are, still fall far short of Artificial General Intelligence – the holy grail of AI development that would match or exceed human-level cognition across many…
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Web3 Session Keys
We are going on a journey to seamlessly integrate session keys into a web3 dApp, striking a balance between autonomy and ease of use that your users are yearning for. The goal is to enable users to authenticate with a digital wallet and store a session key on their device. This session key will provide…
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ATOM Cosmos Analysis | A Deep Dive Into The Cosmos Ecosystem
This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to ATOM at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice. What Is Cosmos Cosmos is a decentralized layer zero network of independent blockchains, designed to enable scalability and interoperability between…
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Ethers-rs Tutorial | The Rust Web3 Library
In this tutorial we will be setting up a Rust script to connect to a smart contract on a blockchain network to display on-chain data using the ethers-rs library. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/FA7WFGtyri8 |Subscribe Let’s start by setting up a new Rust project (you’ll need rust installed on your device and I’ll…
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GEAR Gearbox Protocol | DeFi Analysis Report
Gearbox Protocol introduces a framework for both passive lenders and active borrowers. It empowers traders with leverage that can be used to scale up trades and yield farming strategies on decentralized exchanges such as Unsiswap and Curve. With an emphasis on composable leverage, zero funding rates, and permissionless strategies, Gearbox Protocol is an compelling microcap…
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Rainbow Wallet vs Metamask
When it comes to cryptocurrency wallets, two names often emerge as key players for users looking to navigate the blockchain sector with ease and security: Rainbow Wallet vs MetaMask. In this article, we dive into a comprehensive comparison between Rainbow Wallet and MetaMask, dissecting each platform’s core features, security architecture, user experience and community support.…
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ChatGPT Plus vs Free | Is The Paid Version Of ChatGPT Worth It?
ChatGPT Plus vs Free [Video] James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/U3xXd3vV4iU |Subscribe Why Upgrade To ChatGPT Plus? ChatGPT Plus is the paid version of ChatGPT, it currently costs $20/month + VAT and there are 3 main reasons why the average user would want to upgrade to the premium version: On top of this paid…
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Asymmetry Finance | DeFi Analysis Report
Asymmetry Finance has emerged as a significant player in the liquid staking wars, offering an aggregated liquid staking token. This article explores the core functionalities of Asymmetry Finance and its core product safETH. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure…
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WAGMI Tutorial | The Web3 React Framework
WAGMI is a set of Typescript React hooks for web3 which enables developers to connect to smart contracts on blockchain networks. In this tutorial we will look at how to install and setup a boilerplate in WAGMI and then build a simple read query. WAGMI in 3 Mins [Video] James On YouTube Watch On YouTube:…
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Emergent use cases for self-sovereign identity in DeFi
Abstract The DeFi sector is facing increased regulatory pressure to de-anonymize certain transactions and user profiles, while simultaneously dealing with flagging user confidence in terms of their individual rights to data privacy. This is providing fertile ground for innovative companies to try to allow end users to be the sovereign of their own identity and…
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How I Track Developer Activity For Crypto Projects
In this article I’m going to share how to track developer activity for crypto projects for fundamental analysis. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/DTI7ELSA6CA |Subscribe Understanding the Crypto Development Ecosystem Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as the majority of blockchain projects are fundamentally software. They are applications that run on a decentralized…
