{"created_by":"untitled, xyz","description":"Coincidence or sign of fate? The celebration of the Olympic Games coincides with that of the Halving, an event specific to the Bitcoin network which is also celebrated every four years.\n\nKirk Finkel, aka \"untitled, xyz\", looks ahead to the year 2140, the last Halving event. He imagines that technological progress and overdeveloped brains have stifled the notion of physical well-being: our relationship with the body is no longer the same, and sport is a forgotten practice, replaced by intellectual competition. So much so that the celebration of the Olympic Games has merged with the Halving: competitions take place in virtual worlds, where athletes are avatars with augmented intelligence. The artist proposes a complex imaginary construction reminiscent of the impossible structures of the artist M. C. Escher. His columns have lost their supporting function, seeking a new role, trying out new tasks: filling gaps, punctuating surfaces, becoming bridges (obsolete since the avatar is capable of leaping great distances) or pedestals (useless since nothing will be placed on them). One thing's for sure, these columns remain a familiar and reassuring part of the scenery in a world where all the rules have changed.","name":"2140 #1/21","Abstract":"A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.  Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main benefits are lost if a trusted third party is still required to prevent double-spending. We propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network. The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work.  The longest chain not only serves as proof of the sequence of events witnessed, but proof that it came from the largest pool of CPU power.  As long as a majority of CPU power is controlled by nodes that are not cooperating to attack the network, they'll generate the longest chain and outpace attackers.  The network itself requires minimal structure.  Messages are broadcast on a best effort basis, and nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will, accepting the longest proof-of-work chain as proof of what happened while they were gone.","image_details":{"bytes":24446401,"format":"PNG","sha256":"fcb0a6552b2a4fef2ade7b247eba3595491e5f988663217546278a44cd0401e3","width":3840,"height":3840},"image":"https://arweave.net/3JWY6PAtuomlKtXLYMhbeaFB3wYOtiYb_SLQtv1Ezis","image_url":"https://arweave.net/3JWY6PAtuomlKtXLYMhbeaFB3wYOtiYb_SLQtv1Ezis"}