Decentralized science, or DeSci, aims to apply decentralized business models to medical research.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s tenure as the CEO of Binance may be over, but the exchange giant’s loss could be a boon for the decentralized science (DeSci) sector.
In a comment on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Nov. 28, the former Binance CEO revealed an interest in the rapidly developing sector.
Blockchain enhances daily healthcare by securing patient data, streamlining coordination and minimizing errors for efficient care delivery.
Blockchain has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by preserving data integrity, fostering better teamwork, and increasing patient care — even in the face of ongoing difficulties with scale and integration.
Blockchain technology has the potential to completely transform healthcare practices.
Blockchain makes it easier to create a decentralized ledger that safely keeps patient data private and permits authorized access.
Additionally, the technology can strengthen clinical trial integrity, guaranteeing the reliability of outcomes and advancing medical research.
Blockchain technology’s intrinsic transparency and immutability are vital in the fight against drug counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
Blockchain follows the movement of pharmaceuticals from production to distribution, providing an immutable record of every stage along the way by generating an unchangeable ledger of transactions.
Every drug batch is registered as a distinct block on the chain, holding important data, including quality certifications, shipment information and production details.
Innerworld CEO Noah Robinson and grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jewel spoke with Cointelegraph to explain how mental health support systems thrive in virtual reality.
Like many other industries, healthcare has begun implementing Web3 technologies to better serve those in need. Healthcare services now appear in the metaverse, specifically for those seeking mental healthcare.
Cointelegraph spoke with two executives from Innerword — a metaverse peer-to-peer mental health support group program — about how the metaverse can change the next generation of mental healthcare services.
Connectivity is a trait inherently built into virtual environments, as is the ability to connect with more anonymity via the use of avatars and usernames. Noah Robinson, the platform’s CEO and founder, said, in the mental healthcare scene, “this helps people open up more and be more vulnerable, which in turn leads to faster healing.”
He continued to say that unlike traditional therapy sessions, which are often limited in their access, metaverse-based sessions allow people access to “an entire community full of empathetic, caring people” available 24/7.
“Democratizing access looks like allowing people to access mental health help whenever they need it, however much they need.”
According to the Innerworld CEO, the platform underwent three years of clinical research, with over 20,000 hours in beta before its launch.
Innerworld’s chief strategy officer, Jewel — also known for her career as a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter — said her mental health journey began as a teenager and that she wonders what it’s like today for kids like her.
Jewel told Cointelegraph that as she began to look at virtual reality, she quickly realized that it could be used as a tool to provide peer-to-peer support, using methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Tools.
“The potential was great — we actually had a system that could scale that could deliver profound mental health intervention.”
Already other Web3 tools such as artificial intelligence, robots and blockchain have been said to be the building blocks of the next generation of healthcare. Now the connectivity and peer-to-peer promises of the metaverse add another layer of support for those in need.
Related: The ethics of the metaverse: Privacy, ownership and control
Jewel said this allows platforms like Innerworld to start proof scaling tools, which are typically only available in a clinician’s office, along with scaling mental health experts and activities.
“I believe it’s going to be the biggest disrupter in a positive way for the mental health space.“
According to data collected by Innerworld on user involvement in its metaverse-based support groups, users have experienced a “significant decrease in symptoms of depression and anxiety.”
In the academic sphere, professionals have said mental health support is a prime industry for decentralization.
Emerging technologies are revolutionizing medicine – person by person and pill by pill.
Pharmacy visitors expect quick service – to have their prescription filled quickly, or over-the-counter remedy purchased in just a few minutes. In this rapid interaction, little thought goes to the journey of that medicine from a microscope slide to mass production.
In reality, the drug discovery process is incredibly time and research-intensive. Despite significant advancements in manufacturing and discovery, the average time to bring a drug from the initial stage to market is 10-15 years and costs millions of dollars.
Emerging technologies are transforming healthcare and drug discovery. Artificial intelligence, for example, is doing the “dirty work” of drug discovery by running simulations of drug efficacy instead of timely trial-and-error testing. Blockchain secures healthcare records and connects patients with new clinical trials. AR and VR tools help patients overcome phobias and fear during medical treatments. AI will help future drugs reach the market (some believe this can be cut down to just five years!), delivering life-changing results for illness sufferers worldwide.
The biggest obstacle to achieving these changes and this tech going mainstream? Us, the patients. We all need to understand the power and promise of these technologies and push for them – or, at least, not fear them.
There’s a popular image going around on social media that reads, “AI will not replace jobs. People using AI will replace people’s jobs.” With its easy-to-use interface, ChatGPT is showing people how AI might look in our day-to-day lives. One thing you probably can’t ask the chatbot for? A new compound for a pill to cure deadly diseases. And that’s good because AI applications in medicine should be managed by professionals.
These professionals have known about the power of AI for years, working behind the scenes to develop real use cases. Insilico Medicine brought its knowledge into the spotlight when it announced its “sixth-generation” robotics laboratory in early January. Sixth-gen status means the lab is fully automated, with robotics and AI algorithms conducting target discovery, compound screening, precision medicine development, and translational research.
You may be wondering, what does fully automated mean for the scientists previously doing these jobs at Insilico? It’s just as the image I mentioned earlier suggests: by integrating technology and speeding up processes, researchers can focus on the “human” side of their work. They are free to focus on critical tasks like clinical trial development and side effect studies because they know technology handles the rest. Ask anyone in biotech: AI is now foundational to drug discovery,
AI-native Insilico Medicine is no stranger to this emerging tech. In 2019, the company partnered with clinical trial startup Longenesis and a South Korean medical center to create a blockchain-powered health data management tool. They designed the platform to protect patient information and comply with guidelines like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Patients may have known these guidelines existed but did not understand how to manage their data effectively. In contrast, blockchain technology brings these regulations to life, empowering patients to manage their privacy and monitor their data. That’s where the future of health tech lies, at patients’ fingertips.
One of the lasting takeaways from COVID-19 was how crisis catalyzes breakthroughs. When faced with a common threat, scientific collaboration was not just a feel-good initiative–it was a dire mandate. The results were astonishing and historic. Scientists from around the globe used existing research to produce a vaccine in just a year, remarkably faster than the typical 5-10 year vaccine development timeline.
The breakthroughs continued after vaccine distribution. Scientists today are applying the mRNA technology used in COVID jabs to develop new vaccines. Their targets? Devastating and hard-to-treat diseases like colorectal cancers and Lyme. AI and other technologies will help accelerate this process and propel this innovation forward, supporting researchers to change (and save) lives.
2020 also taught us that public health matters for everyone. The onslaught of COVID brought concepts like mRNA and cytokine storms into daily life as people tuned into news reports and scientific publications to stay informed. This trend needs to continue. We have a responsibility to stay educated about healthcare breakthroughs as they impact us immeasurably. I cannot stress this enough: to take advantage of the future of medicine, you need to keep an open mind.
I have complete faith in the crypto community to take this to heart. We’ve seen the technology behind Bitcoin redefine the digital art world with NFTs. We’ve witnessed DAOs revamp how teams manage projects. We’ve raised money for the world’s most important causes using decentralized tech. Now, it’s time for us to explore the next frontier of health. Scientists are building a future where AI-discovered medicines, virtual appointments and psychedelic mental health treatments will be the norm. Are you ready to be part of it?
The scientific community came together before to deliver life-changing research, and it is time for us to rally again in support of a more digital future of health. I encourage you to donate to research organizations, get smart on health tech and explore what artificial intelligence and personalized medicine could mean for your personal care. Resources are available across the web, and joining communities like nonprofits, DAOs and Discord chats is a great place to get started. In conclusion: technology can and will transform our health. It’s up to us to bring this transformation to life.
Blockchains are decentralized, transparent and increase the capacity of a whole network while giving users full control of their data.
Blockchain use cases have expanded far beyond cryptocurrency in recent years, with multiple industries embracing the technology in a wide range of fields, including healthcare, logistics and financial services.
There are many factors behind the hype. Blockchains are decentralized, transparent and increase the capacity of a whole network, opening a window for solutions that require significant computational power. More importantly, they give users the capacity to control their assets, including their data, without relying on third parties.
As blockchain evolves, companies across the world are working to find the best ways to implement the technology for a range of applications. To gain further insight, Cointelegraph reached out to projects disrupting industries and bringing blockchain closer to people’s daily lives.
Healthcare on the blockchain
Medical records have long been considered the domain of clinicians or health institutions worldwide. In 2020, a database that included sensitive information such as government IDs and tax ID numbers of over 115,000 people who applied for COVID-19 circulation permits was exposed in Argentina.
This incident inspired ShelterZoom to develop a solution to shield patients’ medical data from similar future cyber breaches. The company created a smart-document software-as-a-service provider and partnered with a private hospital to give patients complete ownership and control over medical records.
“Each patient record is tokenized, meaning a private key is attached to each online record,” ShelterZoom CEO Chao Cheng-Shorland told Cointelegraph.
Through a blockchain-based extension or mobile app, users can access medical record dashboards and carry out all required operations at any time. It also allows patients to track email attachments and revoke access, regardless of whether the recipient has opened the email. The executive explained:
“By moving record-keeping to a blockchain ecosystem, providers and patients can have access to medical records instantly, rather than waiting for paper records to be delivered or faxed.”
More than 300,000 patients currently have access to the Web3 application as a result of the partnership, and there are plans to expand the service to other healthcare providers in Argentina.
Data ownership
Data has become a valuable resource in the decades since the internet’s debut. Historically, users have given up their private information to websites and services for free and do not benefit financially when those companies sell their private information to third parties. With Web3, however, users can once again take control of their own data — and determine whether to monetize it for their own benefit.
Dimo is a decentralized transport data protocol allowing users to create verified vehicle data recordings. Owners can share this information privately with applications, enabling them to negotiate better insurance and financing rates. Referrals and participation in the network are rewarded in it native DIMO token.
Related: What is blockchain technology? How does it work?
Alex Felix, chief investment officer of CoinFund — one of Dimo’s investors — told Cointelegraph:
“Whether it is NFTs or gaming, the more blockchain technology is used outside of trading and speculating, the more we expect consumers to understand the value of this technology more broadly. We want to get to a place where consumers are choosing crypto technology without thinking about it, and that comes from focusing on the best use cases.”
Felix believes that projects focused on first-party data will replace cookies in advertising and underpin personalization. “Web3 allows users to monetize their own data, and consumers stand to benefit materially from this fundamental innovation made possible through blockchain technology,” he noted.
Luxury turns to blockchain
The Aura Blockchain Consortium was founded to allow luxury brand customers to verify product authenticity. Through a partnership with Aura, for instance, Prada is enabling clients to trace recycled gold jewelry and diamonds, ensuring their authenticity and transparency at every step of manufacture.
Other members in the consortium include LVMH brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. The group offers its clients a diamond certificate powered by Aura, which stores each stone’s characteristics, provenance and journey.
Traceability, especially as it relates to diamonds, has long been a challenge to the jewelry industry, which strives to ensure that only conflict-free diamonds are sold.
Aura is based on the Ethereum blockchain and uses Microsoft Azure, while the project’s traceability smart contracts and blockchain infrastructure were developed by ConsenSys. Other funding members also include Mercedes-Benz and Cartier.
NFT artist Nikita Replyanski on the future of NFTs, his work with the Longevity Science Foundation, and art as community building.
Just as Art Basel has expanded beyond its initial gallery showcases in Switzerland, where the international art fair was conceived, the pursuit of longer and more fulfilling lives has grown from the subject of science fiction novels to real, viable science.
Now the evolution of art is being leveraged as the Longevity Science Foundation’s partnership with Triptych and digital artist Nikita Replyanski leveled up during Art Basel in Miami Beach. The partnership to launch a collection of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) was announced during the summer. Longevity Volumes” will help fund LSF research grants for longevity projects.
Replyanski said he showed his own work and his collaborations, including the one with the LSF, at Beyond Basel, a star-studded, cutting-edge NFT event curated by Trippy Labs.
“All my art is inspired by the transformation of humanity by technology,” he said.
Replyanski hopes that his work with the LSF will help change attitudes about basic and experimental science. “I like to think that through projects like this, I am participating in shaping the image of medicine and science of the future,” Replyanski said.
His work has been connected to the intersection of technology and humanism for nearly a decade when he was involved in designing bionic/robotic hands with Motorica. Replyanski collaborated with engineers to develop several design lines used by people with disabilities today. Models with his art prosthetics participate in fashion shows and photoshoots designed to transform how the world perceives prosthetics and disabilities.
One of Replyanski’s bionic prosthetics designs
“I am very passionate about the values of transhumanism, among which, of course, biology and medicine play a huge role,” he said. how the results of your work can change lives.”
Events evolve. Science evolves. Art evolves, and NFTs are playing an important role in redefining the evolution of media. Events like Art Basel are an opportunity to expose what may be an uninitiated audience to the potential that exists for this medium.
“The role of such events for the NFT community and digital art, in general, is enormous,” Replyanski said. “First of all, it’s the development of digital art as a genre, opening it up to the audience of traditional art, representing brands and galleries. Of course, it is expanding the boundaries of the NFT community. I am sure a lot of people will change their attitude toward NFTs thanks to such events.”
He said having the opportunity to engage with an audience in person, versus across a more contained medium like his Instagram feed, allowed for a greater experience and a more authentic expression of the artistic statements he’s trying to convey.
“Context is very important to any artwork,” Replyanski said. “Immersing yourself in it through huge screens is not comparable to scrolling through an Instagram feed where people often see my pieces. It’s another level of communication with my art. immerse themselves in my world.”
This is extremely important for artists, especially given the state of the financial markets as investors look for alternatives. “Thanks to the bear market, there are still those people for whom NFTs are not the way to make fast money, but a full-fledged platform for self-realization of a creator’s art or a niche for web3 project development,” he said. “I am one of those who have invested time and money in building my own little universe within the NFT community. coming up in the near future.”
Flora, one of Nikita’s earlier NFT art pieces. View more of his work here .
Replyanski said he is particularly excited about the potential NFTs hold for nonprofit organizations like the Longevity Science Foundation.
“NFT drops for nonprofit organizations is a new tool of participation for those who want to support them,” he said. This is an open gateway for anyone who wants to become a participant in the life of a Web3 charitable company. Simplicity, accessibility, gamification, or the ability to vote in DAO. For the artist, it’s an opportunity to show their vision and involvement in the theme.”
Sagacity, by Nikita Replyanski.
Proceeds from this NFT, his most recent digital art, will support the Longevity Science Foundation.
The Longevity Science Foundation is a global nonprofit dedicated to expanding the human lifespan. Most recently, the LSF further developed its presence in the US with a new headquarters in Miami and appointed president and CEO, Lisa Ireland. NFTs will play a valuable role in advancing the LSF’s work funding cutting-edge longevity research. Nikita’s “Longevity Volumes” collection explores the relationship between humans and technology, and the proceeds will go directly toward supporting the LSF.
From insurance to telehealth, smart contracts are finding use cases across the healthcare industry.
Smart contracts are self-executing lines of code that run atop blockchains and are triggered once a set of predetermined conditions are met. They are used to automate the execution of online agreements without the involvement of third parties. Today, they are used across many industries, including the healthcare industry.
The healthcare sector stands to benefit a lot from the widespread implementation of these self-executing programs, especially when it comes to streamlining arduous manual processes, automating bureaucratic procedures and alleviating issues caused by human error.
Today, many healthcare institutions rely on highly centralized conventional management systems to handle sensitive tasks such as record keeping, transactions and correspondences. While some traditional systems can undertake some of the tasks exceptionally well, many of them are prone to failure due to limited interoperability, susceptibility to data corruption and lack of transparency.
The good news is that smart contracts can solve many of these problems.
Smart contracts can be programmed to perform a wide range of tasks. They can, for example, be programmed to record payment information on the blockchain once a transaction is made while ensuring that only entities with permissioned access can view the details.
In the healthcare industry, companies can use smart contracts to send out staff salaries, record patient information and notify insurance companies about pending medical bills.
Smart contract programs are usually deployed in compatible runtime environments. On the Ethereum blockchain, for example, smart contract codes are executed via the Ethereum Virtual Machine, which supports the installation of decentralized applications, including smart contracts.
Medical records are an essential part of patient management. Smart contracts can be used to create patient profiles on the blockchain while allowing doctors and relevant medical practitioners to view past medical records. This would allow them to come up with better treatment procedures based on a patient’s past treatment history and subsequent outcomes.
Such a setup would save lives and help doctors avoid issues related to medical negligence. Health centers can also configure smart contracts to track health complications arising from treatment side effects and encode them to share the information with partner drug manufacturing companies and medical associations that have yet to uncover the full side effects of new drugs.
It is additionally possible to have smart contracts that send patient information to insurance companies for the purposes of patient compensation claims to smooth out such processes.
The lack of effective healthcare billing systems can present many challenges to healthcare institutions, especially when it comes to revenue cycle management. Errors related to billing and collections can hinder optimal service in the event that they cause major interruptions.
Trustless blockchain networks incorporating smart contracts can mitigate many of these challenges by ensuring elaborate checklists are implemented to avoid common errors.
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Such systems would be beneficial in situations where there are preexisting transparency issues. The use of multisignature smart contract fail-safes would ensure consensus within management to avoid related problems.
Additionally, the storage of billing information on the blockchain would help to prevent problems related to data loss due to the immutable nature of decentralized ledger networks.
Delayed medical information transfers sometimes lead to poor service. Smart contracts have the ability to change this by disseminating patient information across relevant departments in healthcare institutions. Some smart contract systems are able to generate unique anonymized identifiers that can be used to identify each patient without revealing their identity in order to safeguard their privacy.
Moreover, they can be set up to block unauthorized access and, at the same time, allow the scrutiny of the records by personnel, partners and regulators.
The data can also be used for numerous purposes, including clinical research.
That said, smart contracts that manage confidential patient information sometimes require periodic security audits, which can lead to the exposure of sensitive information.
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of counterfeit drugs find their way into the healthcare industry every year. The bogus drugs cause pharmacies and hospitals to suffer financial losses and sometimes also lead to the death of victims who take them. The flow of these fake medicines is enabled by dysfunctional supply chain systems that are unable to track the origin of supplied drugs.
Healthcare substitutions can use smart contracts to detect fake drugs by confirming supply chain data provided by manufacturers. The implementation of such systems would allow tracking of the drugs using custody logs as they move through the supply chain.
Because the data is stored on the blockchain, which is transparent, healthcare institutions and their suppliers can easily identify supply chain weaknesses that lead to the entry of fake drugs.
Cointelegraph had the chance to speak with Guy Newing, the founder of Immunify.Life, about this problem. His company specializes in the development of secure, self-sustaining blockchain networks for the healthcare industry. According to the executive, there are many ways of countering the issue, including withholding payments for drugs that are not from legitimate sources.
“For instance, a smart contract can be programmed such that retail drug sellers may need to only pay for items received when certain conditions that would have otherwise been tampered with at any point in the supply chain have not been tampered with. This solidifies the integrity of the drugs and healthcare ecosystem as a whole.”
Alex Pipushev, founder of blockchain services company GTON Capital, said that blockchain supply chain systems were evolving at a fast pace and will most likely cater to a wider range of healthcare services as their utility increases.
“Blockchain is a great tool for verification. The healthcare use case is amazing here because you can technically store stamps for each pill set/box in an encrypted way, and anyone who bought it from a pharmacy can verify if legit or fake medicine was sold,” he said.
Remote monitoring devices have revolutionized some aspects of telehealth. Today, wearable devices are able to measure important physiological elements such as a patient’s heart rate and transmit the data in real time to healthcare professionals.
Smart contracts have the capacity to not only store such data on the blockchain but also keep it confidential through encryption while ensuring that only intended recipients are able to access it.
The benefits of smart contracts are also becoming apparent in health insurance due to their ability to improve customer experiences.
For example, claims payments handled by smart contracts are typically processed at a faster rate compared to manual procedures, which can sometimes drag on for weeks.
However, there are some limitations when it comes to the use of these technologies in the sector due to constantly changing pre-contractual disclosure obligations, which require some level of human interaction.
The insurance sector is also a regulated market, so there will always be concerns, particularly regarding consumer outcomes. These challenges are further compounded by decisions made by regulators and underwriters that are, in some cases, of an extra-contractual nature.
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As such, smart contracts are presently being used in the sector for impermanent processes such as the confirmation of payments.
Smart contracts have a lot of use cases in the healthcare industry. However, the sector has been slow to embrace the new technology, which has the potential to transform how the industry works.
That said, the healthcare smart contracts market is growing. It was valued at approximately $1.6 billion in 2021 and is projected to breach the 1.78 billion mark in 2022.
The emerging longevity sector is attracting many crypto natives, who can both benefit from it and contribute to it with blockchain tools.
The nascent longevity industry focuses on the research and implementation of solutions and technologies to extend the lifespan of human beings — making people live healthier, longer lives.
Longevity is not yet considered an official medical term, and aging is not officially considered a disease but a natural occurrence in every living thing.
However, some biologists, researchers and practicing doctors believe this approach should change, and they are striving to discover the mechanisms of aging in humans. In doing so, they are creating age clocks by defining biomarkers for measuring biological age, exploring the best lifestyle habits and natural supplements, and inventing new drugs that could stop us from getting older.
Longevity has been on the radar of crypto leaders for some time already, which is not a surprise given that the industry promises to improve humankind through innovation. Indeed, one prominent event in the longevity industry, the Longevity Investors Conference, is organized by Marc P. Bernegger and Tobias Reichmuth, who were previously involved with the Crypto Finance Group.
At the most recent iteration of the Longevity Investors Conference in September 2022, speakers taking part in the “Crypto meets longevity” panel noted that both industries — crypto and longevity — are disruptive fields that challenge established norms.
“Everybody here in this room is, to a certain extent, a pioneer because we really come together in a phase where it’s similar to the internet, Bitcoin and other exciting industries,” said Bernegger, who is the founding partner at Maximon — an accelerator for longevity companies.
Aubrey de Grey, an English author and biomedical gerontologist, highlighted that the mindset of crypto and longevity innovators is very much alike, with both being “completely comfortable working in an area that is still very unorthodox and needs to be taken forward.”
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Ryan Pyle, founding partner at Maine Investments — a Zug-based company managing digital assets — said that the longevity industry reminds him of what crypto was like in 2013 and that while no one knows precisely where the industry will be in five to 10 years, the potential is very promising:
“So, I see the ecosystem being very exciting, and I think what Maximon is trying to do at this longevity conference is really early stage — like probably two or three years, maybe, too early, which is great. That’s where you want to be, right? You’d rather be too early than too late. A lot of crypto people have invested in this space just because they’re totally accepting of this level of risk.”
Bernegger also shared that because the longevity industry is at such an early stage, it’s currently a highly attractive period for investors to enter and that “similar to Bitcoin back then, it is less about the price but also about the underlying technology and potential.”
On the application of blockchain technology itself, Bernegger is less optimistic, stating, “I think it’s difficult, then, to combine [blockchain] technology with another exciting field like longevity. […] From my side, personally, I think the biggest synergy is less in combining two technologies and really more the money.” On the potential in the investing and funding side of crypto, Bernegger added:
“I personally rather would focus on the funding side and less on the technology side, without neglecting that there are few exciting projects in the DeSci [decentralized science] space which definitely have huge potential. But I think it will take years to really see tangible products solving a real-world problem there.”
Bernegger also mentioned the compliance aspects of both industries, stating that regulators might be a burden to research and adoption not only due to their role to protect end customers but “to another extent also to protect the status quo.”
The longevity industry is still in a very nascent stage and has not seen many blockchain-related use cases yet. Nevertheless, knowing what kind of problems have already been solved with the help of blockchain technology allows some professionals to see potential applications.
Claire Cui, a self-described longevity enthusiast and blockchain adviser, mentioned decentralized data as one potential use case:
“What crypto has figured out is basically [the potential of] blockchain technology to cover some of the issues that people have today, like data privacy, data ownership. So, that’s where people are very curious about. And in health, it’s even more sensitive. Nobody wants to have his DNA in health records leaked somewhere because somebody hacks it.”
Data ownership also allows users to earn from sharing it with companies that use it for scientific research. Thus, regular users become part of the revenue chain.
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Another application of blockchain in the longevity industry is decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, and decentralized intellectual property. One existing example is a platform called VitaDAO, a DAO for community-governed and decentralized drug development that collectively funds and digitizes research in the form of nonfungible tokens representing IP. Christian Angermayer, founder of Apeiron Investment Group, said:
“I think one interesting part of blockchain technology could be that we sort of make sure that people can collaborate better but then also that literally everybody collaborates and gets a fair share in whatever comes out of it, both reputation-wise and, especially, also financially.”
The longevity industry seems to be an exciting area in which the crypto community can explore investment and use cases, particularly because, by its nature, it is reminiscent of blockchain’s early days. At the same time, many existing areas of blockchain adoption can be applied to the longevity industry to solve some of the problems it’s facing.
A Bitcoiner in London brings new meaning to the phrase “generational wealth.” Noodle sold some Bitcoin to pay for IVF treatments for two babies.
Hold Bitcoin till the very end or sell a little bit to start a family? For one Bitcoiner in northwest London, it was a no-brainer.
Noodle (a nickname), a Brit who first heard about Bitcoin around 2012, took profits on his Bitcoin buys to pay for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment for his wife. He told Cointelegraph he has “no regrets,” about his decision to start a family using fiat-denominated profits from buying, holding, a then selling Bitcoin.
Welcoming Noodle Jr II to this crazy world. After a tough 6 days in hospital due to unforeseen complications, Mrs Noodle and I, couldn’t be happier to bring this little hodler home! pic.twitter.com/JvlLfzABgg
— Noodle ⚡️ (@NoodleNakamoto) June 14, 2022
Noodle first found out about Bitcoin at the tail end of 2012, when 1 BTC was worth roughly $13.
“I was in the gym chatting to this guy that I get on well with. We were speaking in the changing rooms, and it’s funny because he was trying to explain this Silk Road thing to me — which was on the dark web.”
The now-defunct marketplace Silk Road was a place where early Bitcoin users could buy and sell pretty much anything using Bitcoin as the in-house currency. At the time, Noodle didn’t necessarily dismiss Bitcoin despite his gym buddy’s recommendation, but it passed him by until a close friend explained how to buy cannabis with Bitcoin on the Silk Road.
Once his close mate had explained that they might be able to use the Bitcoin to buy real-world items, Noodle was convinced:
“And I thought, ‘Let’s do it.’ So we bought seven Bitcoin, and at the time, they were $57 a pop.”
The price of Bitcoin has since risen almost 400x higher, to a $20,000 bear market value in 2022. For Noodle in 2013, he explained it was actually quite difficult to obtain Bitcoin — it was “a really convoluted process.” However, he persevered and managed to obtain Bitcoin to buy goods. Unknowingly, Noodle had also tripped down the rabbit hole and his Bitcoin journey had just begun.
“Once the weed arrived, I was fully down the rabbit hole, like I was looking into everything. I never, ever thought I would have any interest in fiscal policy, in macroeconomic outlooks, etc. — any of this stuff!”
For Noodle, Bitcoin opened his eyes to finance, education and a whole world of new information. From fractional reserve banking to the Federal Reserve to currency debasement and how money works, Noodle was hooked. Naturally, Noodle’s wife with whom he’d been since 2008, was exposed to Noodle’s newfound passion.
The passion eventually rubbed off as in 2014, Noodle’s wife took some of the newly married couple’s wedding money to buy Bitcoin. Noodle jokes, “And who would know […] that that Bitcoin would then go on to effectively fund IVF — which is not fuking cheap!”
The Noodle family had always planned to have kids. Sadly, due to the medical condition of his wide, conceiving was a challenge. They sought medical advice and soon realized that they may have to undergo fertility treatment:
“We struggled for a long time. We’ve never really liked the stigma around IVF, which means we prefer to talk about it then kind of keep it sort of hush.”
IVF is a fertility technique in which an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilized egg is returned to the woman’s womb to grow and develop.
The process is time-consuming, expensive and has a success rate of 4% to 38% depending on various factors. Plus, as Noodle alluded to, there is still a stigma attached to IVF treatment, despite being a regular occurrence in Noodle’s home country, the United Kingdom. Noodle continued:
“The costs behind IVF are astronomical. Most people can’t afford it or they go into debt to afford it. Some people said, ‘You shouldn’t sell Bitcoin; you should have got a loan.’ But I wasn’t prepared to be that pigheaded about it.”
So Noodle sold some Bitcoin. In sum, Noodle converted north of $70,000 in Bitcoin into government-issued pounds over the course of a few years. The fiat-denominated profits paid for several rounds of IVF treatment for both of his children leading to two healthy babies.
Without Bitcoin, Noodle explained he would have likely taken out a loan to pay for the treatment: “Family is important to me, and I would have thrown anything and everything at it in order to try and make it work. But we were very fortunate that we had some Bitcoin, and I didn’t sell it for a long time.”
Related: The UK ‘Bitcoin Adventure’ shows BTC is a family affair
With Bitcoin, Noodle and his wife were able to live their dream of starting a family, but debt free. As for whether or not there might be any more Bitcoin baby Noodles running around northwest London soon, Noodle joked, “I think we’re done with two kids unless the price goes super crazy!”
Noodle’s story is part of an upcoming crypto story on Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel. Subscribe here.
Organizations are partnering with NFT projects and accepting crypto donations to draw attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The hype around nonfungible tokens (NFTs) may be fading, yet a number of organizations continue to implement Web3 initiatives. Nonprofit organizations and activists, in particular, have begun implementing nonfungible token projects to help fundraise and generate awareness for certain causes.
While these methods are still new, NFT projects for philanthropy have been met with relative success. A recent report from crypto donation platform The Giving Block found that nonprofits using The Giving Block received more than $12.3 million dollars in cryptocurrency donations from NFT-related charitable giving initiatives in 2021. The report further noted that charitable organizations using NFTs are presented with the opportunity to connect with younger donor demographics while diversifying donation methods.
Benefits such as these can be especially helpful for raising awareness around life-threatening diseases. number of breast cancer-focused organizations have started implementing NFTs this October to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
For example, Shaney jo Darden, founder of the Keep A Breast Foundation (KAB) — a California-based nonprofit that aims to reduce breast cancer risk — told Cointelegraph that KAB focuses on engaging with younger generations to bring attention to breast cancer. She said:
“Even though women over the age of 40 are typically diagnosed with breast cancer, early detection can result in a 98% survival rate. Given this, KAB aims to generate awareness about breast cancer through encouraging and fun ways, like using NFTs to educate young women.”
Darden said that last year, KAB hosted an exhibition in the CryptoVoxels metaverse to raise money for breast cancer research. “We wanted to do an event in the Metaverse as opposed to conducting a membership drive or gala, since this opens access globally,” she noted. Based on the success of this, Darden explained that she wanted to continue to implement Web3 initiatives — especially those involving artwork created by women — to generate awareness around breast cancer. Most recently, Darden partnered with the NFT project NFTitties to raise funds for KAB’s breast cancer prevention and educational initiatives.
Carlota Dochao Naveira, founder of NFTitties, told Cointelegraph that the women-led project celebrates women, art and breasts to raise funds to fight breast cancer. “Emerging artists and activists were invited to submit an artwork representing breasts, following a set of visual guidelines. The artworks were then vetted and, if selected, included in the first release of NFTitties,” she said.
According to Dochao Naveira, almost 30 NFTs were sold during the first week the project launched on Oct.1. She further pointed out that NFTitties has helped onboard more women into the Web3 ecosystem since the initiative encourages women artists, activists and others to submit their artwork to be presented as nonfungible tokens.
Other organizations are implementing different forms of NFTs to educate individuals on this type of cancer that affects one in eight women. For example, the women’s handbag designer Vera Bradley announced on Oct. 3 that it will be donating almost 100% of the proceeds generated from its fashion NFT drops to The Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer.
Jennifer Bova, vice president of marketing at Vera Bradley, told Cointelegraph that to date, the foundation has raised and donated more than $38 million to support critical advancements in breast cancer research. Yet, Bova noted that Vera Bradley has started focusing on marketing in the Metaverse to attract new users by attaching philanthropic utility to its digital and physical fashion NFTs. “Through its NFT PFP backgrounds, Vera Bradley hopes to drive awareness for fundraising, as well as female-led conversations and initiatives in Web3,” she said.
We're proud to announce through @TheGivingBlock, we're now accepting #DOT donations to support lifesaving research in all areas of #breastcancer, from basic biology to prevention to treatment & to survivorship. Donate @Polkadot and 80+ other #cryptos today https://t.co/XoT7atRdV5 pic.twitter.com/JgTYBx1JkQ
— Susan G. Komen (@SusanGKomen) August 10, 2022
It’s also notable that Susan G. Komen, a leading breast cancer research foundation, recently began accepting crypto donations to enable cryptocurrency holders to give back. Michelle Strong, vice president of marketing strategy at Susan G. Komen, told Cointelegraph that about a year and a half ago, the organization began receiving requests from individuals interested in donating cryptocurrency:
“We implemented this feature nearly a year ago with the help of The Giving Block. This has driven interest from both current and new donors, as crypto donations have opened doors to those who haven’t been able to give before but were interested in being charitable.”
Based on the successful implementation of crypto donations over the past year, Strong mentioned that Susan G. Komen will be incorporating crypto donations, along with other digital donations received during the week of Oct. 9–15, to fund the organization’s metastatic breast cancer excellence in research award.
“Oct. 13 this year is ‘metastatic breast cancer’ day, which is the most advanced stage of the disease. Susan G. Komen is giving out the excellence in research award to bolster investment around this specific area of research and cryptocurrency is another great way to support this,” she remarked.
While the use of NFTs and crypto donations to support breast cancer is innovative, these initiatives are still only helpful ways to bring attention to certain causes. For instance, Bova pointed out that driving awareness and funds for breast cancer research in the Metaverse is not necessarily better but rather an additive resource to tap into new donors and volunteers. Echoing this, Darden mentioned that incorporating NFT projects with KAB enables the organization to diversify its funding, yet it hasn’t proven to be a better solution in comparison to traditional fundraising mechanisms:
“Many NFT projects die out over time, so KAB is taking a risk by being a part of certain projects. However, NFTitties has a clear goal and beautiful art that resonates with the KAB community.”
Indeed, even though there are a number of risks associated with NFT projects, nonfungible tokens remain appealing when it comes to increasing user engagement and interest.
“Susan G. Komen is happy to benefit from NFT projects that others are able to pull together. We are currently in conversation with an NFT project that aims to benefit our organization,” Strong noted.
Yet, it’s also important to point out that, in addition to risks, there are challenges associated with implementing such projects.
According to Dochao Naveira, targeting traditional NFT investors can be difficult when it comes to women-led initiatives “There tends to be a bro-culture in the Web3 space that doesn’t care as much about certain projects. There can also be difficulties with helping mainstream users set up a MetaMask wallet,” she said.
But, as time progresses, Web3 projects aim to incorporate new features to help ease onboarding and educate new users. For example, Carmen Toal, CEO and co-founder of Sprkl NFT Studios — a platform working with nonprofits and individuals to implement NFT technologies — told Cointelegraph that mainstream users typically need more guidance when it comes to participating in NFT projects.
As such, she mentioned that Sparkl NFT Studios incorporates familiarities with charitable NFT initiatives. “We sometimes include a ‘donate now’ button that is not directly attached to an NFT,” she said.
Most recently, Sprkl NFT Studios partnered with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (NBCF) on an NFT artwork fundraising campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Candice Hensley, senior manager of strategic partnerships at NBCF, further told Cointelegraph that working with Sprkl NFT Studios is part of the organization’s strategic plan to diversify its funds.
