Having A Gas: This Week In Crypto Pop Culture, February 4-8

It’s Friday, February 8, everybody! In case you didn’t know, Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring on Groundhog Day. Much like the Phil, I too am a marmot, but unlike the Seer of Seers, I only use my powers for good. What powers are those? Bringing you the newest edition of Having A Gas, where we gather up a few of the lighter stories this week in crypto and blockchain news.

More Like Hashcan

If I had an Eth for every bad hash-related pun in the Having A Gas publication universe (HAGPU) …

The sensor building company lidbot introduced a new product this week: robin, a #smartbin that operates on IOTA’s distributed ledger and enables users to “know exactly what bins need changing and when,” giving them the option to “pay someone for each time they change a waste bin.”

The company’s tweet says the high-tech trash can will be available for order in the second quarter of 2019. While this might seem like another unnecessary blockchain pairing, I’d argue it’s the most necessary blockchain pairing that has ever existed.

It’s the perfect container to throw out all of those really unnecessary blockchain projects.

According to Vitalik Buterin, most of the time, they’re centralized piles of trash, anyway.

The Crypto Age of Television

Yesterday, the television show “Broad City” aired its final season’s third episode, “Bitcoin and the Missing Girl.” In case you couldn’t tell from the title, the episode focused heavily on the character Ilana searching for an ex-boyfriend, who knows the password that will give her access to her third of a bitcoin. (Don’t worry, she has her private key written on a Fruit by the Foot wrapper.)

Unfortunately, the show didn’t get everything right. When Ilana eventually gets her third of a bitcoin, she receives $8,256, which is definitely too high, even in if it were still bitcoin’s heyday.

On the other hand, the show did get other facts right, like when Ilana meets a group of protestors who teach her about how crypto mining is contributing to climate change. The show also captured the subtle simplicity we all love about cryptocurrency when her ex-boyfriend manages to convert the third of a bitcoin into fiat and transfer the money into Ilana’s bank account with just a couple of clicks on his computer.

Proof of Speed

This week, the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team announced that it had partnered with FuturoCoin, which means the coin’s branding will be featured on the team’s transporters, the drivers’ overalls, and one team car.

FuturoCoin features a four-second transaction time, so it seems fairly obvious why it would link its brand to Formula One racing, where the highest speed ever recorded at a race was 231.523 miles per hour. Partnerships like this, and others that have shown up in the HAGPU, got me thinking about which coins could take something specific about their brand and partner with a similar sport.

How about Tether? It has a lot of money, but it’s also made some questionable decisions. Sounds like the NFL to me.

Dogecoin makes us laugh. It could get really specific and sponsor whatever team thinks they can beat the Warriors in this year’s NBA finals.

Bitcoin is old, but once in a while we’ll gather around and watch what’s happening. I guess it could just sponsor the summer and winter Olympics?

That’s it for Having A Gas. Join us next week, and remember, [insert clever catchphrase here].

Nicholas Ruggieri studied English with an emphasis in creative writing at the University of Nevada, Reno. When he’s not quoting Vines at anyone who’s willing to listen, you’ll find him listening to too many podcasts, reading too many books, and crocheting too many sweaters for his dogs, RT and Peterman.

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