Ethereum Founder on How Facebook Can Do Crypto Right
Facebook could use blockchain technology to overhaul its business model, giving users more control over how their data is used, said Joseph Lubin, the founder of the crypto platform Ethereum.
Using a decentralized ledger would allow Facebook users to “store their own personal data in encrypted form” and decide which companies have access to their information, Lubin said. Giving users more control over their information could increase the quality of Facebook's data.
“If you know that this data is protected well, you can put it on data markets and Facebook can potentially participate in those sorts of data markets,” Lubin said Monday in an interview with Cheddar.
A new Ethereum-based system, uPort, is already providing this service. Users can store all of their data in a secure "wallet" that can be used to log in to other apps and make digital transactions.
Last week, Cheddar [reported](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-plans-to-create-its-own-cryptocurrency) that Facebook may be building its own cryptocurrency, part of the social media company's exploration of how to use blockchain technology.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/ethereum-co-founder-joseph-lubin-2).
Coming off of a fourth-quarter delivering just over 300,000 cars, Tesla is expected to report tremendous earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Al Root, a senior writer for Barron’s, spoke with Cheddar’s Baker Machado about the anticipated earnings report and speculated about what Elon Musk will discuss during the call with investors, including a Cybertruck update, new factories, a possible new vehicle, and/or new larger form batteries. "There's a menu of things he could talk about, and any combination of those would be good," said Root.
The American Federation Teachers Union has announced its latest partnership with NewsGuard in efforts to help educators play a greater role in deciphering facts from fiction that students see online. They say the goal is to help students build critical-thinking skills while also teaching them the importance of media literacy. Executive Vice President of Partnerships at NewsGuard, Sarah Bandt, joined Cheddar to talk more.
James Whitley, Core Contributor at cypher, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the underlying factors that support a bounce-back for Bitcoin despite the token's recent slump.
Commercial and residential buildings account for 13% of carbon emissions in the U.S., according to the EPA, and one company says it has a solution. Runwise says it has updated the boiler and heating systems of thousands of buildings, and that its technology not only lowers carbon output but also saves landlords money. Lee Hoffman, Co-Founder and COO of Runwise, joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Following sales tech startup Scratchpad raising $33 million in Series B Funding, CEO and co-founder Pouyan Salehi joined Cheddar to discuss how his company's software works to help salespeople with an all-in-one workspace, integrating with Salesforce to optimize notes, spreadsheets, and other relevant information so businesses can forecast and make the best decisions. "If you look at other crafts like artists, they'll have studios; chefs, they'll have kitchens; scientists will have labs, and we just asked, well, if you look at sales as a craft, why doesn't something exist that is designed solely for a salesperson?" Salehi said about his workspace app.
Google could be gearing up to release its own wearable device as rumors swirl about a potential smartwatch with the Pixel brand. Jon Prosser, the creator of Front Page Tech, who tweeted a possible leak about the product, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to discuss potential the benefits of it entering the same space as the Apple Watch. Prosser said, while he doesn't expect it to launch until at least 2023, the Pixel Watch will be "one of the most vital, most important wearables that we can have on the market," noting that it won't likely challenge Apple for much market share but will set the standard for other Android wearables to come.
