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Abstract

gital pieces of art as NFTs. If you are not yet familiar with NFTs, <a href="https://readmedium.com/are-socks-the-new-tulips-4825ab13695b">here’s</a> a quick 101 on them. Over one weekend, with pieces selling from 10s to 100s of thousands of dollars each, Beeple — an ‘average’ dad driving an ‘average’ car — netted $69 million.</p><p id="457e">That, is why you should know of the name Beeple. And why NFTs might be a trend you want to learn more about.</p><p id="f997">Why would anyone buy the ‘digital’ artwork, you may ask? Good question. After all, I just snipped a photo of it above, and pasted it right here, for free, where you also enjoyed it, also for free.<b> So why would someone pay up to$ 777,777 for one digital artwork, when we can all have access to it?</b></p><p id="9f8f">The sense of ownership, proprietary rights to the ‘original’.</p><p id="1545">Still doesn’t make sense? Well, you are not alone. And not wrong. It does not really make sense.</p><p id="2427">The world is going places we do not yet understand.</p><p id="5b1b">Stay with me for the ride!</p><h2 id="d280">Enter Liink.</h2><p id="735e">And JPM Coin, and Onyx, and Format, and Confirm.</p><p id="83cc">JP Morgan is on top of this.</p><p id="14b8">Here are the cole’s notes.</p><p id="a5ce">A couple of years ago [yes, already], JP Morgan created JPM Coin, a digital coin used to speed up transactions and transfers of USD across the network, built on an Ethereum network they called Quorom. JPM Coin is stable coin, pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar [<a href="https://readmedium.com/three-crypto-trends-to-get-into-early-5cf090b07334">here</a> is a simple explanation of stable coins].</p><p id="1047">If you are asking, why would JP Morgan need a blockchain network to simply trade coins where their value 1:1 US Dollar? Well;</p><ul><li>the coin can be exchanged between entities digitally, instantaneously, without the intermediate ‘processing’ period we sometimes have to get our money transferred.</li><li>To transfer a digital coin, you need a blockchain platform. Hence Quorom.</li><li>Because it is cool and they wanted to get into this! So ‘cool’ that some digital coin enthusiasts don’t even recognize this one as a true digital coin — discrimination in digital coins already!</li></ul><p id="7650">Once they set up Quorom, JPM started a payment messaging system, Liink.</p><p id="1759">The “IIN” in the middle stands for interbank information network. Any bank which joins this network can have access to the ledger of transactions done on the network, i.e. can see every payment which went through on Quorom.</p><p id="e47f">Also using Quorom, JP Morgan went on to start new tech-enabled solutions such as Confirm and Format [JPM seems to be into puns].</p><p id="1124"><b>Confirm </b>is used to validate account info before payment is done, this is so costs are not wasted on potentially fraudulent transactions. <b>Format</b>, you guessed it, checks if the format for payments match and conform to the receiving party’s country’s requirements.</p><p id="2f5f">Today, JPM no longer ow

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ns Quorom, it spun it off and invested in the new owner — ConsenSys — so it can remain independent as it creates more tech solutions.</p><h2 id="c8e1">Next up: Diem.</h2><p id="000b">Diem is Facebook’s digital currency — because, why not.</p><p id="ebaf">Facebook has been trying to get regulatory approval to issue its own stable coin, on its own payment network, Diem Association, for a while. It finally got approval last month.</p><p id="d413">Why is this one in particular an interesting one to watch, especially since it seems everyone wants to issue their own coin? Exhibit A [or F!]: Amazon made a similar announcement recently.</p><p id="3ed3">A Facebook coin has one major advantage — its potential customer base. Diem in itself is ‘just another stable coin’. Facebook however has almost 3 billion users. If, say, 15% of these users adopt Diem, it will far supersede the use of any digital currency so far, including Bitcoin. It will also make it a lot more ‘mainstream’ given the on-the-ground average-person users of Facebook.</p><p id="aedf">Worth keeping an eye out for. Might change the digital currency story.</p><p id="3be4">So, less awkward intro than you expected, I hope? Willing to go for another date? My guess is ‘crypto’ will keep us interested for a few more.</p><p id="2b4a">Quick note, some stories above are not as recent, e.g. JP Morgan’s plays. I included them because the stories continue to evolve, and these terms are making it into mainstream media; this gives the background of what you might come across more often now.</p><p id="f261">Keep watch for more crypto news, and shoot me a response if you want to learn of anything in particular.</p><p id="d2e8">Feel free to join my newsletter <a href="https://www.getrevue.co/profile/ialmouaswas">here</a>, where I send a summary of my weekly articles, usually including one crypto-based.</p><div id="e0c4" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/are-socks-the-new-tulips-4825ab13695b"> <div> <div> <h2>Are SOCKS the New Tulips?</h2> <div><h3>How socks became digital and memes became coins.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*kvKzo_U2ugHXMvGyulkurw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="8299" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/three-crypto-trends-to-get-into-early-5cf090b07334"> <div> <div> <h2>Three Crypto Trends to Get into Early</h2> <div><h3>Get ready to pick your favourite content creator.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*E7hcmlmlYS2afQMj4q9TpQ.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

A Letter To My Parents

On their 25th Wedding Anniversary

He is a man of black and white. And she is colour. All the colour he had.¹

Hello People

Namaste, this is Vedaant R Lathi, the second and favorite child of this lovely couple still young and in love: the most important people of the day and (I request you to listen to me for some minutes) they have managed to tolerate me for about 20 years you should try listening to me for a few minutes and learn their pain.

It is rare to get this kind of opportunity to be able to express your feelings to your parents, so yeah I’m lucky to do this. I honestly need you two to listen to every word carefully and understand the depth of what I am saying cause let me tell you I have spent a lot of time writing this little letter to you, Mummy and Papa. I bet Papa has never heard a single one of my many speeches so well this is a good chance to force him to sit tight in his seat and listen.

Today, 21st November 2021 marks the celebration of your 25 years of togetherness, joy, and sorrow. you have completed 25 years of your life in this social institution called marriage, you have completed one-fourth of a century on this planet in this institution of marriage & it is a humongous deal and usse badi baat hai ki (a bigger deal than that is) they have done this while raising someone like my sister. So a big round of applause for them, it must have been so difficult and I am not kidding!

We have seen you grow as people as individuals and improve as parents…you know looking at you two, at times I feel afraid and unsettled at times, I keep wondering if I can ever be such a good parent to my kids, I am very selfish.

Parenting is just one aspect of your life, so let’s talk about your individuality, which you never let go of. So instead of one role, you played as parents that should not be in the spotlight but “You” should be.

Most people lose their individuality in a marriage, they forget themselves.

You never lost your ‘you’ in your ‘we’.

Mom and Dad, you married each other pretty young at the age of 21 and 24 respectively. So basically you started your adult life together, kind of a baal vivaah (Child Marriage). I’m trying to be objective and not see you as mom and dad but as people, I have known all of my life!

Dad:

You’re so charming! Starting with one, you are very lucky to have a wife like her in your life, ask anyone; I’m not saying she isn’t but you are lucky. You’re a gem of a person, you don’t just have a pure heart or clean conscience but you are a pure soul altogether. It is an absolute mystery how you have managed to hold on to your innocence in this cunning, competitive, and selfish world. You derive your joy in making other people happy and are always there to help people. You’re an amazing friend, one I can only wish for. Let me tell you, I look up to you every day, the discipline you command in yourself and your ability to work relentlessly is something that I am absolutely very jealous of. Your interest in learning new things, every day, you have a curiosity of a child, that’s so inspiring. You never once forced or asked anything of me, you just let me be, you gave me my space always. I still remember I was very nervous for one exam, I was literally about to break & you told me that you didn’t care if I even failed the exams and you meant it, unlike mom. You are a satyug human being and the ‘kind of child of your parents’ that I can only dream of becoming. Dadaji and Dadiji (paternal grandfather and grandmother) are so very lucky to have a kid like you, you’re like Shravan Kumar reborn. You try your best to not showcase your love for Mom but it just doesn’t stay hidden, it just reveals itself.

Mom:

Your one smile sets my day straight, you’re so beautiful inside and out, precisely what we call beauty with brains. The amount of potential you have gives me shivers from top to bottom, I get goosebumps. You’re the strongest and most courageous person I know on this planet, the difficulties and hardships you’ve faced in your life at a very early age and how you’ve come out of them is just wow. Losing Nanaji (maternal grandfather) at the age of 5 and then Naniji (maternal grandmother) when I was 4, the way you have kept your pieces of heart glued for us is beyond my understanding. I know that you remember them every day, even today you must wish so badly for them to be here with you and let me tell you they are, they have always been, and are so proud, so very proud to see the kind of woman you have become and are still becoming, the way you’ve undertaken this journey of life with so much bravery and strength, Nanaji has his chest swollen with pride and Naniji is so happy, I can’t even tell you, yes she is crying, crying out of happiness. They are happy to see their eldest daughter and their amazing jawai (son-in-law) who keeps their daughter like the queen she is and the beautiful marriage you’ve.

Your intelligence and the enthusiasm to always keep on going is something that blows my mind. I truly wish I inherited a bit more of your intelligence, I would be at different heights altogether. Yes, You were very short-tempered, and impulsive during your early years, but that okay, you were young and just figuring out life with everything going on.

Mom & Dad:

Now, let’s talk about both of you; you’re not an ideal couple but yet the one that I draw my inspiration from. One thing that I really admire is that ever since the beginning the transparency amongst us, you always respected my opinions and inputs even as a kid. The kind of relationship you have is just amazing. They say a good relationship is supposed to be like a bow and arrow, one needs to bend to let the other one get ahead. And that’s what you have done, launched each other time and again. Oh man, you guys fought! Damn you still fight and have fought so well, it’s good entertainment and a bond strengthening exercise for you two, so I’m looking to more heated discussions here onwards! Like it was fun to witness it. But the thing is now both of you know how to deal with each other and there’s a lot less drama, so come up with something new! Both of you are very strongly opinionated and you have had a fair share of debates and nok jkhoks (cute clashes) but you have always respected each other’s opinions and points of view.

You have completed 25 years of your marriage and there are only more years to come.

Thank you so much for everything you have ever done for me and my sister, every parent sacrifices a lot for their children but…you have given all of you to us that rarely happens. You’ve fulfilled every wish of ours and always been a rock of support, do forgive us and always keep showering your blessing onto us, we are nothing, absolutely nothing without you, we owe you everything (the good parts only) and we need your blessings to grow and we need them immensely. I feel guilty at times like you have held yourself back for me and my sister; you both had countless opportunities and more chances at happiness but you always gave them up for us, which is not fair to you and simply wrong. Starting now, keep yourself above us, put yourself first and stop being so selfless. What you have done for us, despite both of us trying our very best I don’t think we’ll be able to match up with even a bit of it. I tried so much to not make this speech a thank you one (full of gratitude) but also some flaws to make it real but I couldn’t find many. I know this speech is nothing compared to what you had to tolerate & go through, for me; but this is the least I can do to try to make you smile. Mummy, Papa can’t live without you for even a single day, he’s not dependent on you but he just wants you not far from his sights, his love for you is boundless. And of course nor can you, I don’t know what your souls are made of, but mummy and papa, I’m sure your souls are made from the same². I know too corny but true! Mom,

All that you’re is all that he’ll ever need and has needed.

I close my eyes, I can see a great new world waiting for you as you march onto your 26th Year in marriage!

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References:

1. ‘A Man Called Ove’ by Fredrick Backman

2. ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte