The Weekly Blip - Friday 26th May 2023

Space cities before Mars?

Hi folks, I know the monthly Blip (yeah, the April one, is long overdue - but it’s coming up soon).

In the meantime, back to the weekly Blip:

• Taoiseach poses for launch of crypto exchange in Ireland?

• Space cities before Mars

• Avoiding subscription services.

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Taoiseach poses for launch of crypto exchange in Ireland?

This photo here caught me a bit off guard. It’s the Taoiseach along with IDA project manager Siobhan Hanley with the Winklevoss twins - originally of suing-Facebook fame.

Screenshotted from the Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/2023/05/25/crypto-exchange-gemini-names-dublin-as-european-hq/

A few notes on background here:

• Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss initially made lots of money when suing Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly having stolen the idea for Facebook.

• The twins were early to Bitcoin (early 2010s) and so made their fortune even bigger.

• Some of that fortune funded Gemini, which is a crypto exchange - registered in Ireland since 2022.

• Recently, Gemini have been in the news for their Gemini “earn” program where consumers could deposit dollars (as dollar stable coins) and earn high interest (although they would have called it rewards). Ultimately those dollars were being loaned out via a third party (DCG), which itself is currently in trouble. So, consumers are currently short on their deposits they made to Gemini Earn, although there is some chance of recovery.