Economics

Authored by Patrick Drennan via RealClearDefense,

Drone boats, drone planes, trolly drones, drone traffic lights and more…

The 2024 word of the year was controversially proposed as either Brat (Collins dictionary), Polarization (Miriam Webster dictionary), or Brain-Rot (Oxford University Press) – however no word has more impact on the modern psych than the word Drone.

The weird and extravagant reactions to drones spotted in the night sky of New Jersey recently reflects that fascination. One member of Congress speculated that they came from outer space.

From drones that can soar through the stratosphere, to rotor drones that hover a few feet above the ground, and submersible drones that glide 50 feet underwater, drones have transformed our lives and modern warfare.

Their impact mainly comes from daily news and internet video images of war footage – particularly the fiery, innovative, and futuristic use of drones in Ukraine.

Cost effective FPV (First Person View), and kamikaze drones excel in reconnaissance, artillery spotting, and direct strikes, proving highly effective at targeting enemy positions…but they have been upgraded for much more than that –

Sea Drones

Ukraine use their Magura V5 and Sea Baby drones to sink Russian barges, attack oil rigs and devastatingly, sink billion-dollar Russian warships.  In February 2024, a video depicted a Ukraine sea drone sinking a Russian battleship. Later, Ukraine used a sea drone with a mounted remote-controlled machine gun to shoot at Russia helicopters. The Russians called in jet fighters to sink these drones, but it is only a matter of time when the sea drones will be mounted with MANPAD ground-to-air missiles.

Trolly Drones

The Palianytsia drone is actually a converted heavy missile powered by a turbojet engine and guided by GPS. It motors down a runway on a wheeled trolley, abandoning the trolley as it gains lift. 

Plane Drones

The Ukrainians have adapted small kitset sports planes into combat drones – flying them by remote control, loaded with explosives. They extend the range of normal drones and increase the payload. On December 15, a video was released showing a Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat drone aircraft damaging a Chechen/Russian military facility 500 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Drone Swarms

Both sides in the Russian/Ukraine conflict use cheap plastic, polystyrene and wooden drone swarms to confuse and confound sophisticated radar systems, like the Russian TombStone system. The drones are often used in conjunction with more sophisticated drones and ballistic missiles. The Russians combine swarms of Iranian HESA Shahed 136 drones with Kalibr cruise missiles, and 9K720 Iskander ballistic missiles to attack Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians.

Both sides effectively use electronic jamming equipment to counter drones. In response both sides are increasingly reverting to algorithm trained drones that fly by visual navigation without ground signals. Ukraine also cheekily diverted some attacking drones into the territory of Russian ally Belarus.

Drones Operated by Long Fiber Cables

In response Russia developed drones that were operated by attached thin fiber-optic cables that were over 6 miles long. With no radio signal the drone was impossible to detect, and impossible to jam. However, when former U.S. Marine Troy Smothers saw this, he built similar drones for Ukraine with an incredible range of 15 miles.

Ground Combat Drones

Robot ground drones are being used for a variety of purposes including delivering equipment such as landmines, and astonishingly Ukraine has developed a tracked drone armed with a Browning 12.7 mm machine gun – the Droid TW 12.7. It has a range of eight miles and is also equipped with hi-tech cameras for reconnaissance. They are limited in number but have great potential.

Drone Traffic Lights

A telegram user posted a video of a Russian military traffic light system. It flashes a yellow light when a distant hostile drone is detected. The light turns red when there is a high-level threat, and green when there are no nearby threats at all.

Drone Detection From Space

The Chairperson of the Russian Center for Unmanned Systems,  Andrei Bezrukov claimed on December 14 that the center developed the “Kalinka” monitoring system to detect drones that connect to satellite systems, including Starlink. Bezrukov claimed that the system can detect Ukrainian aerial and maritime drones up to 10 miles away.

Specialized Military Drone Branches

Ukraine and Russia have both established large, dedicated military drone branches.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered  the establishment of a separate branch within the Ukrainian Armed Forces on February 6, 2024, called the Unmanned System Forces (USF). The USF is responsible for interactions with already existing unmanned systems units and with supporting these units. The USF is also responsible for supplying units with drones, training specialists, planning military operations involving unmanned systems, and cooperating with domestic unmanned systems manufacturers.

In response the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) launched a coordinated effort in August 2024 to create a centralized separate branch for unmanned systems, likely to reorganize informal specialized drone detachments and centralize procurement of unmanned systems. The Russian MoD is mainly trying to consolidate the state’s control over Russian drone operators and developers, some of whom had enjoyed relative semi-independence from the Russian military bureaucracy.D

While Russia seeks centralized control, Western armies are offering different tactics. Every British and American army platoon will now have a drone operator. The 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning is being trained in using the RQ-28A short-range reconnaissance (SRR) quadcopter drone.  “The SRR RQ-28A capability will provide game-changing technology to Army platoons, enhancing both soldier lethality and survivability,” said Carson L. Wakefield.

Peaceful Drones 

Drones have incredible value in the civilian world. They assist in humanitarian and disaster response, engineering, construction, crop monitoring, weather forecasting, and search and rescue. They even have drones that can clean high-rise windows.

Despite all the remarkable innovations above, drones are not as destructively effective on the battlefield as artillery, missiles and landmines. However, drones are what captures the public imagination. Now imagine drones that are not operated by humans at all, but by AI programmed robots. Are you ready for that?

Patrick Drennan is a journalist based in New Zealand, with a degree in American history and economics.

Authored by Ana Paula Pereira via CoinTelegraph.com,

The year 2024 will be remembered as a landmark chapter in crypto history. From surging mainstream demand for Bitcoin-regulated financial products to an expected crypto-friendly White House, the Web3 industry has made significant strides despite facing notable challenges along the way.

With its resilience finally paying off, the industry is now setting its sights on another promising year as hopes for regulatory clarity converge with years of innovation and development.

Experts are closely watching emerging trends poised to not only redefine the crypto landscape but also affect the world as a whole. To explore what lies ahead, Cointelegraph has compiled a list of key crypto trends expected to take center stage in the months to come.

RWAs: The use case to watch in 2025

If you have never heard about it, make a note of this word: tokenization. It refers to the art of turning traditional assets into tokens, making them tradable, even in small fractions. 

Developers, investors and companies from a range of industries were enraptured by the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) fever in 2024, as it unlocks liquidity for traditionally nonliquid assets, such as real estate, and allows people around the world to access investments not always accessible to small investors. 

“RWAs are the use case to watch in 2025. The value of tokenized assets will double in the year,” predicts Sergey Gorbunov, CEO of Interop Labs and co-founder of Axelar Network. 

Gorbunov’s view is followed by venture capital firm a16z. In its annual report on trends in the crypto and blockchain industry, the VC said that “tokenizing unconventional assets could redefine income generation in the digital age.”

According to data from RWA.xyz, the total value of tokenized assets now stands at nearly $13.9 billion, a 67% jump from $8.3 billion in January.

Real-world assets onchain are now worth over $13.8 billion. Source: RWA.xyz

Financial institutions are now looking at risk frameworks for tokenized assets. In other words, they want to ensure compliance with legal requirements, security risks and market volatility issues are addressed. According to Gurbunov:

“Multiple major financial institutions will develop the risk frameworks needed to issue RWAs that can move across interconnected, public blockchains.”

ID checks by AI agents

Several protocols have been working on ways to provide ID verification onchain over the past few years. 

One of the advancements in this field is undoubtedly the emergence of zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, a technology that allows a human to prove themselves without revealing any personal information. Startups developing this technology include Worldcoin, ONCHAINID and RisedID, to name a few. 

Moving forward, onchain biometric verification is expected to be increasingly powered by artificial intelligence. In other words, you will be checked for your identity autonomously onchain by an AI. This may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s just an example of AI and blockchain coming together.

“We expect to see automated biometrics and/or government ID checks become the norm, not the exception,” said Civic CEO Chris Hart. He continued: 

“As AI agents increasingly act on behalf of users, robust identity verification and authorization frameworks will be crucial for controlling what these agents can do and for how long — especially in financial transactions.”

DePINs to take off

Community-driven energy services, online storage and internet connectivity are already a reality through decentralized physical infrastructure networks, or DePINs. 

DePINs allow users to become stakeholders in the network, meaning they can own a piece of the infrastructure they use, thus creating new opportunities for financial inclusion.

Borderless Capital, a venture firm pouring millions of dollars into DePIN protocols, claims the sector holds “the most compelling opportunity” in Web3.

“It is the only Web3 vertical generating revenue and fundamentals with zero correlation to the crypto market, delivering real-world value,” Álvaro Gracia, partner at Borderless, told Cointelegraph.

According to data aggregated by DePIN.Ninja, the market capitalization of DePIN protocols has exceeded $50 billion.

More yields from Bitcoin

Finally, it is impossible to discuss 2025 without mentioning Bitcoin. Once a discredited asset, Bitcoin has made significant strides over the past decade, earning adoption within Wall Street and solidifying its position in the financial landscape.

While developers still struggle with possible upgrades to a network that now has more stakeholders than ever before, startups are exploring alternative ways to unlock yield generation for holders.

“This is the natural need for holders, including the retail and institution. This is the native demand for holders,” said Kevin He of Bitlayer, a Bitcoin layer-2 protocol backed by asset manager firm Franklin Templeton.

According to He, not only investors but also large holders of BTC, such as MicroStrategy, are looking for additional sources of revenue through the fusion of Bitcoin and decentralized finance. 

According to He, Bitcoiners could soon generate annual returns of up to 40% on their holdings.