Benjamin Powers

Powers is a tech reporter at Grid. Previously, he was privacy reporter at CoinDesk where he focused on data and financial privacy, information security, and digital identity. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Daily Beast, Rolling Stone, and the New Republic, among others. He owns bitcoin.

Benjamin Powers

Latest from Benjamin Powers


Layer 2

What Is Zcash? The Privacy Coin Explained

Zcash has seen ZKP breakthroughs, its first halving and progress toward further scalability. This feature is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

(z.cash, modified by CoinDesk)

Layer 2

Monero: The Privacy Coin Explained

Privacy coins built on their own blockchains have a firm hold within the larger cryptocurrency community, even as regulators and exchanges seek to limit their adoption. This post is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week series.

(Monero Project, modified by CoinDesk)

Tech

Privacy Startup Nym Hires Whistleblower Chelsea Manning to Audit Mixnet

Manning has joined privacy startup Nym as a security consultant.

Former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning

Tech

Secret Network Adds Private Governance to Its DeFi Project

The practical implications of private DeFi governance may lead to more questions than answers.

tingey-injury-law-firm-nSpj-Z12lX0-unsplash

Tech

Reddit Rolls With Arbitrum to Scale Its Ethereum-Based Community Points System

The large Arbitrum ecosystem was a factor in the decision as well as ease of use for developers, Reddit said.

reddit

Finance

Bitcoin Miners Now Have a Tool to Verify Their Machines' Hashrate

Data for independent ASIC operators is still fairly splintered in terms of transparency. Compass and Navier are hoping to provide a fix.

Máquinas de minería de bitcoin (Shutterstock)

Tech

This Token Could Bridge the Incentive Gap Between Ethereum Miners and Ethereum Users

The Ethereum Eagle project says its EGL token can bring two key stakeholder groups into alignment.

The Ethereum Eagle project (EGL) is an effort to provide a signaling mechanism for some of the network's key stakeholders.

Finance

Jay-Z to Auction ‘Reasonable Doubt’ NFT at Sotheby’s

The news comes fresh on the heels of a lawsuit filed against another Roc-A-Fella founder over an attempted NFT.

Jay-Z sits courtside with Beyoncé at a Brooklym Nets game on June 5.

Finance

Opera Browser Adds First Stablecoins to Native Wallet – cUSD, cEUR

Opera said the Celo tie-up is part of an overall strategy to eliminate hurdles to using blockchain technology.

Opera

Finance

Roll, Repairing From Hack, Enlists Fireblocks for Key Protection

The "social money" platform will also provide cybersecurity insurance of up to $30 million for Roll creators and users.

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