That's true, when posting I was kind of thinking 2%! That can't be right but I mean maybe it's just really well worded in the article

A London based company called Elliptic recently made a claim that only 2% of Bitcoin transactions are unlawful. To respond to that a partnered study was created by IBM and MIT to check whether the statement was actually true. It "utilized Artificial Intelligence and deep learning algorithms to reach its conclusions, represents something of a landmark for the use of AI in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Of the 200,000 transactions analysed throughout the study, two percent were deemed unlawful, 21 percent were considered legal, while the remaining 77 percent were left unclassified. A key element in the success of the recent study is the utilization of artificial intelligence throughout the procedure. The integration of AI into the process of AML(Anti Money Laundering) protocols is significant in that it highlights how far the technology has come. Artificial intelligence is now sophisticated enough to both analyse and navigate the complexities that the blockchain presents.
Artificial intelligence’s role in the world of cryptocurrency and the prevention of criminal behaviour is already fairly well defined at this point, but the integration of the technology into the blockchain industry could be a game-changer of significant proportions." Especially considering the reputation Bitcoin is creating for itself for unlawful and illegal activities despite the evidence this research has created against it. "Today there is still a lot of skepticism of the blockchain and crypto worlds, more so the latter, but that is to be expected of an industry that is still relatively young and finding its feet. What cannot be denied is the vast potential that blockchain technology offers, and the integration of AI is yet another facet of this industry that could change the way we go about business in the future.
The Elliptic report isn’t the first time we’ve seen AI technology used in the blockchain and crypto world. Companies such as Singapore-based DeepBrain Chain and Velas, a startup based out of Europe have been forging a path for quite some time now.
For Alex Alexandrov, CEO of both Velas and crypto payments gateway CoinPayments, the role of artificial intelligence in the blockchain industry is simple: To solve problems. “Here at Velas, our purpose is to address and fix existing issues and challenges faced by most existing Blockchains, such as centralization for example, or 51% attack, nothing at stake problem, scalability, security, high upfront expenses and so on. This is done by using neural networks optimized by artificial intelligence to enhance its consensus algorithm.”
In a recent interview with a leading cryptocurrency news outlet, DeepBrain Chain CEO He Yong explained that DeepBrain Chain aimed to “connect all the idle AI computing resources globally so that the entire network can share computing power.”
We are seeing the technology gain more and more acceptance from academics and developers alike, which can only be a good thing for overall progress within the space. The work carried out thus far by companies like Velas and DeepBrain Chain is shining examples of what is possible when AI is utilized alongside blockchain technology."
-Source https://www.investing.com/analysis/elliptic-data-ibm-find-only-2-of-bitcoin-transactions-are-unlawful-200453542

A London based company called Elliptic recently made a claim that only 2% of Bitcoin transactions are unlawful. To respond to that a partnered study was created by IBM and MIT to check whether the statement was actually true. It "utilized Artificial Intelligence and deep learning algorithms to reach its conclusions, represents something of a landmark for the use of AI in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Of the 200,000 transactions analysed throughout the study, two percent were deemed unlawful, 21 percent were considered legal, while the remaining 77 percent were left unclassified. A key element in the success of the recent study is the utilization of artificial intelligence throughout the procedure. The integration of AI into the process of AML(Anti Money Laundering) protocols is significant in that it highlights how far the technology has come. Artificial intelligence is now sophisticated enough to both analyse and navigate the complexities that the blockchain presents.
Artificial intelligence’s role in the world of cryptocurrency and the prevention of criminal behaviour is already fairly well defined at this point, but the integration of the technology into the blockchain industry could be a game-changer of significant proportions." Especially considering the reputation Bitcoin is creating for itself for unlawful and illegal activities despite the evidence this research has created against it. "Today there is still a lot of skepticism of the blockchain and crypto worlds, more so the latter, but that is to be expected of an industry that is still relatively young and finding its feet. What cannot be denied is the vast potential that blockchain technology offers, and the integration of AI is yet another facet of this industry that could change the way we go about business in the future.
The Elliptic report isn’t the first time we’ve seen AI technology used in the blockchain and crypto world. Companies such as Singapore-based DeepBrain Chain and Velas, a startup based out of Europe have been forging a path for quite some time now.
For Alex Alexandrov, CEO of both Velas and crypto payments gateway CoinPayments, the role of artificial intelligence in the blockchain industry is simple: To solve problems. “Here at Velas, our purpose is to address and fix existing issues and challenges faced by most existing Blockchains, such as centralization for example, or 51% attack, nothing at stake problem, scalability, security, high upfront expenses and so on. This is done by using neural networks optimized by artificial intelligence to enhance its consensus algorithm.”
In a recent interview with a leading cryptocurrency news outlet, DeepBrain Chain CEO He Yong explained that DeepBrain Chain aimed to “connect all the idle AI computing resources globally so that the entire network can share computing power.”
We are seeing the technology gain more and more acceptance from academics and developers alike, which can only be a good thing for overall progress within the space. The work carried out thus far by companies like Velas and DeepBrain Chain is shining examples of what is possible when AI is utilized alongside blockchain technology."
-Source https://www.investing.com/analysis/elliptic-data-ibm-find-only-2-of-bitcoin-transactions-are-unlawful-200453542

But what if china sees that every other country on the planet is using this technology and they're not

I do personally feel that this more 'biological' approach is the way forward

Over the years AI has been becoming an increasingly large part of the crypto industry and is used in many aspects of it now. As of late various utility tokens have been upgrading the framework on which they operate for example - "Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has been through several iterations over the years and currently exists in several forms. The most popular of which, blockchain, was made famous by the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as it grew in popularity over the past decade. Some other DLT concepts which support cryptocurrencies include Nano's block directed acyclic graph (blockDAG) and IOTA's transaction-based directed acyclic graph (TDAG)." However, they all encounter the same problems in that they're Proof of work and are constantly operating at full capacity which renders them fairly slow and leads to lack of decentralization. 

"Over the past few years, artificial intelligence has exploded in popularity, with several companies like Numerai and Peculium combining AI with blockchain concepts to improve trading accuracy. Other companies like Singularity.NET and DeepBrain Chain have developed open-source, blockchain-based services to facilitate the advancement of AI technology. However, few companies have investigated utilizing AI specifically to resolve the issues affecting how a blockchain operates." So this leaves us with a problem in that we need to upgrade the block chain to 'blockchain 3.0' via AI integration

"Velas AG is a company founded by Alex Alexandrov, the CEO of long-running crypto payments platform Coinpayments. Alexandrov believes we can overcome the problems found in modern blockchains by removing the human element and automating the network's management tasks with artificial 'intuition,' rather than intelligence. His company has developed the first AI-enhanced distributed proof-of-stake (AI-DPoS) blockchain network, VELAS (Virtual Expanding Learning Autonomous System).

The idea is that 'swarms' of artificial intuitions constantly evaluate every potential block producer on the network, running all necessary data through an algorithm and making the best possible decision for the network at any given moment. As conditions change, the network is slowed down or sped up as needed, and block producers are elected and re-elected to fit the requirements."

This gives the concept of AI a much needed refurbishment meaning that for example Googles model of AI is much less complex and easier to grasp than this new one, Google uses complex algorithms and large portions of logic to create their AI whereas Velas are using swarms of 'single cell organisms' to create a much bigger framework with its own DNA making it almost human like in that it's constructed from single cells that work together to create a bigger model

source - https://hackernoon.com/blockchain-30-taking-dlt-to-the-next-level-with-ai-integration-vu1vt3zrd

I see, so what you're saying is when several different countries in china's 'economic area' start accepting cryptocurrency china will miss out on that development? Which will cause them to suffer long term?

Very true, it's becoming more well known and used, but not exactly accepted. We still have to go through companies like wirex in order to use our crypto

As of late countries seem to be doing one of two things, either regulating crypto and making it less accessible like india or they're making it more easily accessible by adding special measures for crypto like tax waivers for people who earn crypto or spend in crypto. This surely will get more people involved in the industry and lead to a much wider adoption of crypto.
Recently "Singapore’s Inland Revenue Authority (IRAS) recently put forward a proposal to waive sales tax on goods or services paid for in cryptocurrency or similar digital assets. The proposal intends to help spur development within the local blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.

Existing tax laws have historically resulted in Singaporean residents being excluded from initial coin offerings (ICO’s) launched in the country. Singapore’s goods and services tax (GST) means residents wanting to get involved in ICO’s have to pay seven percent tax on their purchases. The cryptocurrency industry may have been around for over ten years, but as far as daily use cases go, it’s still in its infancy. For the industry to break into the mainstream, favorable policies need to be enacted to ensure everyday citizens can use digital assets constructively.

Overbearing taxes and strict regulation only serve to drive users away from adopting digital assets as a means of payment. The development of logical and clearly defined regulation is supported by innovative blockchain firms like Coinpayments, a payment gateway service that works hard to help enable retailers around the world to accept cryptocurrency payments. It recently formed a partnership with crypto directory startup Cryptwerk to provide a single resource that allows users to spend their crypto in 182 countries around the world."

Countries contributing in this manner should certainly contribute towards global adoption of cryptocurrencies

-source https://www.the-blockchain.com/2019/08/06/singapore-considers-tax-waiver-on-cryptocurrency-purchases-an-example-for-other-countries/

But what if we make a mistake and the ai somehow becomes self aware xD

I agree, to an extent. I don't think it'll become more affordable in that 1 bitcoin = 10gbp I believe items that we buy today will cost like 2/3 satoshi's rather than like paying in whole bitcoins

Within recent years the utility, spending and trading of cryptocurrencies has seen a huge leap forward in that we can now pay with our currencies using items like a wirex card and trading can be done over vast networks with many different currencies, each having their own utility. As of late "Bitcoin rewards startup Lolli recently partnered with U.S. grocery store chain Safeway to expand its services from simple online merchants to physical retail stores. In an interview with Yahoo! Finance, Lolli CEO Alex Adelman said: “Right now, we’re trying to make bitcoin accessible to everybody… we’re trying to make Bitcoin part of everyone’s daily life.”

The Lolli system works by rewarding customers in Bitcoin for making purchases with any of its multitude of partner firms. For a company that only began life less than a year ago, Lolli has made leaps and bounds in the industry. Soon after raising $2.25 million from investors including the Digital Currency Group and Square, Lolli began forming partnerships with travel companies like Booking.com and Priceline. Last month it partnered with travel company Hotels.com to provide its customers with free BTC every time they use the site to make a booking.

The payment gateway platform Coinpayments.net is another company that has been helping to increase cryptocurrency adoption by helping users with to spend digital assets. Since 2013, the company has been helping retailers and merchants, both online and in-store, to add crypto payment options to their services. Recently, Coinpayments formed a strategic partnership with the crypto directory listing site Cryptwerk, a single repository listing thousands of places around the world where crypto is accepted.
 
These companies and many others like them are key to helping grow cryptocurrency adoption in a natural and positive fashion. Many financial analysts believe that once real-life use cases are fully realized, massive amounts of capital will enter the market from institutional investors."











-Source https://bitcoinwarrior.net/2019/08/spending-and-earning-cryptocurrency-is-getting-easier-by-the-day/

I totally agree with you and i'm pretty sure velas are creating their own ecosystem for them to implement their own AI rather than integrating it into Dogecoin for example

China is appearing to soften its stance on cryptocurrencies as of late

"In an unexpected move, a major Chinese state bank has posted what appears to be a positive infographic on its website detailing the history of Bitcoin and some basic cryptocurrency concepts. The infographic notes the impressive gains that Bitcoin has benefitted from recently and appears to address the relevance of cryptocurrency in today’s world.
Leading crypto payment gateway Coinpayments recently formed a partnership with directory listing site Cryptwerk, in a move that will no doubt help increase adoption within the industry. In the press release regarding the partnership, Sean Mackay from Operations at Coinpayments raised an interesting point when he said that “It’s important to remember to not just hodl your crypto, but also to spend it to help increase adoption. Since the crypto space is still early days, spending and transferring cryptocurrency has never been so important!”
Trading of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in China has been illegal since the country banned Bitcoin exchanges back in 2017. While the ban forced some exchanges to move their operations to other countries, it is believed that millions of Chinese citizens still trade cryptocurrencies through subversive means. Although trading is banned, mining cryptocurrency in the country is still legal, and it is estimated that 60 percent of all Bitcoin’s hash power comes from China.
The change follows a recent legal ruling by China’s Hangzhou Internet Court that classified Bitcoin as a commodity that should be considered ‘digital property.’ While the ruling didn’t go so far as to give it a ‘legal currency’ status, the recognition by an authoritative body is evidence of changing mindsets within the country."

This brings the question of will china accept cryptocurrency as a currency or will it just stop its level of support at accepting it as a commodity [/font]

-source : https://cryptocurrencynews.com/china-stance-cryptocurrency/

personally I believe that an AI driven ecosystem will be possible in the next year or so, however there is still a lot of big companies who control peoples data and they will want to maintain control over that data which means that companies like VELAS will need a lot of attention from the media to outdo these bigger companies

Decentralization At The Moment And Where AI Stands.

"Centralization is becoming an increasingly contentious point in the blockchain space as the decentralization of several crypto projects has come into question lately.
[justify]Blockchains that run on both proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS) protocols face a variety of issues that threaten their decentralized nature. As the centralized mining pools that support traditional PoW networks like Bitcoin continue to grow exponentially, decentralization of the networks decrease. Similarly, many PoS networks suffer from inequality in token distribution, giving wealthy investors an unfair degree of control over the network.[/justify]
To combat this threat, a new startup based in Switzerland plans to utilize artificial intelligence and neural networks to create an enhanced consensus algorithm unlike anything seen before."

Personally I believe that the idea of introducing AI into the mix would be beneficial for people who do not want anybody to have control over their data however only time can tell before somebody learns how to exploit this.



AI is already being used with companies like VIA where they are currently incorporating AI and Blockchain for some of the largest energy companies to conceptualize and utilize their data properly.
On the other end of the spectrum VELAS is working on the issue previously talked about in this thread "V[font="Open Sans",sans-serif]ELAS (Virtual Expanding Learning Autonomous System) is a highly scalable, interoperable blockchain that uses AI technology to circumnavigate scalability and capacity limitations that are presented by human involvement. The improvements equate to a massive increase in transactional speeds when compared with existing blockchain networks." [/font][/color]




[font="Open Sans",sans-serif]A roadmap to true decentralization [/font][/color]


[justify]"Velas has already made the project available to developers to build on and begun working with companies like Mind.AI to develop systems on its VELAS mainnet. Asset tokenization, smart contract creation, and AI-integration are just a few of the benefits that the VELAS blockchain currently offers. Future developments, some of which will be launched this month, include a multi-signature wallet, custody solution and a fully licensed cryptocurrency exchange.[/justify]

The Velas token (VLX) is also scheduled for launch this month and will initially be issued to four masternodes which will begin to process transactions on the network. The initial public listing of the VLX token will be through an IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) before being made available on several major crypto exchanges. An expansion to 10 masternodes and AI-testing across four servers will follow in Autumn this year."



Source: https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2019/07/is-a-completely-decentralized-ai-driven-ecosystem-possible-what-effect-would-it-have-on-the-crypto-industry