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Remember when Elon Musk used to be one of Bitcoin's biggest proponents? It sure seemed that way. One could even purchase Tesla vehicles using Bitcoin. Then, something changed in May 2021.

At that point in time, Musk stated that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin. Why? Over climate concerns. To those not oriented, they may have been scratching their heads. What was the connection between Bitcoin and climate change?

Bitcoin is said to rely on something called PoW. Not a Prisoner of War, but a Proof of Work, which is, basically, an algorithm that requires miners to solve complex puzzles for transactions to be validated. It sounds cool and very National Treasure-y, but this is something that requires a lot of computational power, consuming a lot of electricity. It's so substantial that just Bitcoin is said to consume more electricity than a couple of countries, including Norway. That might leave a dinosaur-sized carbon footprint, especially if that electricity comes from fossil fuels. On top of needing a lot of electricity for crypto mining equipment, there are said to be cooling systems required to prevent overheating.

So, has that been the stone in crypto's shoe? Not as green as Greta Thunberg would like? Because crypto is something that has been lauded as a phenomenon that could revolutionize finance by decentralizing transactions. But, could crypto be greened? Or could its environmental impact be reduced?

Before Twitter was X and had an X logo, it had that famous blue bird logo. But, in April 2023, Elon Musk briefly changed that bird logo to a picture of a Shiba Inu, which is a dog breed from Japan. Why did he do that? 

It may be, because it's, also, the picture that represents the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, which Musk seems to be a fan of. Wait, what's Dogecoin? Just regular crypto?

Well, what do you get when you combine Internet memes and cryptocurrency? You get memecoins, which Dogecoin is. In some ways, memecoins, like Dogecoin, started as a parody, but seemed to gain a massive following, almost being like a digital expression of creativity. They are said to have playful or humorous branding inspired by memes, with their value mostly being influenced by social media trends, online communities and celebrity endorsements. 

Tanmay Bhat. Dr Mike. Joe Rogan. MostlySane. BeerBiceps. They're what's being called "creators". And over time, mostly since the COVID-19 pandemic, there's been a rise of an economic system featuring independent creators connected to businesses and audiences through the internet. This is being dubbed "the creator economy". And it has about 160 million amateur content creators.

So, how does that work? The audience supports the creator financially by engaging with their content, purchasing their merchandise, buying from brands the creator is associated with or, just simply, making the creator a thought leader. It's not just singing or dancing or telling jokes. Creators can also have newsletters, podcasts, informative videos and more. It seems like a new force shaking the status quo. It's getting so cool that a lot of young people may prefer being a creator to an astronaut.

The creator economy is expected to grow from about $128 billion in 2023 to close to $530 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of about 23%. So, if it has potential, it could be a new frontier for the VC community, who aim to have their finger on the pulse of innovation.

With so many players in the finance and crypto market, who threw their hat into the ring? The Indian government. The Reserve Bank of India launched a pilot project on the Central Bank Digital rupee in December 2022 called CBDC: Central Bank Digital Currency.

This would be digital and dematerialized banknotes that's considered convenient, safe, secure and accessible. The goal is said to be complementing physical cash, not replacing them. So, apart from taking out your wallet, using UPI or a card, there's a CBDC option available.

And it's said that India CBDC worth about 16 crore rupees is in circulation, as of March 2023. So, there is some traction.

But, there might be another looming worry: do CBDCs have the potential to give a government increased visibility into a person's financial transactions and track their spending?

"The future of money". That's how crypto was heralded. And the markets seemed to agree. At one point in time, in November 2021, it hit close to $70,000. Then, there was an FTX debacle in 2022 that seemed to hurt the sentiments around crypto. A stablecoin called Terra and its sister token Luna collapsed, wiping out about half a trillion dollars from crypto markets. And after peaking at $3 trillion in November 2021, the crypto market plummeted in 2022, hitting a 2-year low of about $795 billion. So, Bitcoin got to a point as low as about $16,000 in 2022 after its high point of about $70,000.

Though, since then, Bitcoin gradually began to rise. In April 2024, it hit the $71,000 mark. Yet, it's fallen a bit since then.

And at a time that's being considered the golden age of AI, is something like crypto a neglected child? How relevant is it in 2024?

So, in April 2024, there was a Bitcoin halving event, which is said to occur approximately every 4 years. 
If you're into puzzles, this is for you. Because if you like solving complex math puzzles, you could be a Bitcoin miner. In the Bitcoin network, as a miner, not a minor, you get rewarded with newly-created Bitcoins when transactions are verified and added. For every block that gets mined, there's a set amount of Bitcoins rewarded. So, if it were 12.5 bitcoins per block, it'd be halved to 6.25 bitcoins per block.

Still not in with the jargon? There's a public ledger called Blockchain, which you may have heard of. And Bitcoin mining is how transactions are verified and added to this ledger. If there's a transaction on the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin gets transferred from one user's digital wallet to another. Miners are said to collect these individual transactions from the network and organize them into a block. This means verifying each transaction to make sure the sender has the authority to transfer them. And by forming a block, multiple transactions could be simultaneously processed efficiently. And if you're able to tell Pat you can solve the puzzle, you get rewarded with newly minted Bitcoins.

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