Elliott Investment Management Takes Multibillion-Dollar Stake in Synopsys 
Nintendo Switch 2 Production Cut as Holiday Sales Miss Targets 
Elon Musk Announces Terafab: SpaceX and Tesla to Build Dual AI Chip Factories in Austin, Texas 
Makemation: a Nollywood movie that shows AI in action in Africa 
NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey 
Meta and Google just lost a landmark social media addiction case. A tech law expert explains the fallout 
California's AI Executive Order Pushes Responsible Tech Use in State Contracts 
Rubio Directs U.S. Diplomats to Use X and Military Psyops to Counter Foreign Propaganda 
SK Hynix Eyes Up to $14 Billion U.S. IPO to Fund AI Chip Expansion 
SpaceX Eyes Historic IPO at $1.75 Trillion Valuation 
Cybersecurity Stocks Tumble After Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI Leak Sparks Market Fears 
Federal Judge Blocks Pentagon's Blacklisting of AI Company Anthropic 
Apple Turns 50: From Garage Startup to AI Crossroads 
Golden Dome Missile Defense: Anduril and Palantir Join Forces on Trump's $185B Space Shield 
NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission 
SMIC Allegedly Supplies Chipmaking Tools to Iran's Military, U.S. Officials Warn 
The Blockchain network is a wonderful technological achievement. It opens new pathways in society, economies, and even in governing. However, there are also uses of the technology that can lead to unfortunate results. A good example of this is the recent Twitch event that involved combining the popular Pokémon franchise and Bitcoin. As of writing, the project is proving to be a disaster.
For some context to this story, four years ago, there was an event held on Twitch called “Twitch Plays Pokémon.” It was basically an experiment where the platform allowed viewers to input commands in the game. The character would move, interact with their environment, and accomplish goals via a crowdfunded effort. It became a cultural phenomenon, as Futurism notes.
In an attempt to replicate the event, a software engineer named João Almeida launched his own project titled “Poketoshi.” Much like “Twitch Plays Pokémon,” viewers are basically able to move the character in the game as they please. However, this experiment came with the added stipulation of requiring payment via Bitcoin.
That’s right. In order to play “Poketoshi,” players would need to pay for the privilege and this is accomplished through the system called the “Lightning Network,” The Next Web reports. Basically, it’s a platform that can process minor bitcoin transactions in real time.
Participants will need to spend 10 Satoshi if they want to input a command. This is equivalent to one ten-millionth of the value of a single Bitcoin. As expected, this didn’t take off with the audience on Twitch.
From the start of writing this piece to its end, the game did not progress at all. It’s clear that very few viewers on the platform were willing to subject themselves to such a complicated process just to play the game. This version of “Twitch Plays Pokémon” just made everything unnecessarily complex.
On the other hand, the success of the event might not have been the point. It seems this project was simply a means of showing how fast the “Lightning Network” can process Bitcoin transactions. The game was just a medium.
