Cryptocurrency
‘AI has killed the industry’: EasyTranslate boss on adapting to change
The launch of generative AI products over the past nine months has the world talking about how it will change the future. Many are frightened. Others are excited about the opportunity.
A report last month from Next Move Strategy Consulting predicts the AI industry will grow 20x in the next seven years, creating a $2 trillion business, up from its current value of $100 billion. It might sound like wild hype, but other analysts from McKinsey, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock all map out a similar trajectory. AI is here to stay, and a lot of human lives will be upended. But it’s also the chance of a lifetime.
Frederik Pedersen, the co-founder of Danish AI company EasyTranslate and son of one of Denmark’s most famous men, is approaching the future head-on.
“I have been saying for a long time that translation is dead and AI has killed the industry as we know it, but that hasn’t gone down particularly well with my competitors. Now, however, those same people are listening and are realising that they may be too late if they want to transform their business.”
Son of Danish politician Klaus Riskær Pedersen
It’s not easy to be the child of a powerful person, as has been recently and brilliantly illustrated by the TV series Succession. If there’s a Logan Roy in the family, it’s difficult for the child to be their own person.
Some crash and burn; some, such as singers Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, try to shock their parents by being outlandish and independent. It’s rarely a good look.
Others, however, do it in smarter ways and emerge from that parental shadow by adopting different mechanisms to build their own reputation.
In the case of Pederson, now 35, it was technology that enabled him to do so. First, with translation software, and now, generative AI has overtaken it.
His dad, Klaus Riskær Pedersen, is a controversial Danish political party leader, entrepreneur, businessman and author. Everybody in Denmark knows his name.
His chequered career includes being a member of the European Parliament for the Liberal Party, writing books, developing, building and selling around 15 companies over three decades. He set up his own political party in 2018.
But there have been controversies. He has several convictions for fraud and has spent different spells in jail, as well as splitting Danish public opinion and having the social life that goes with such apparent conviviality.
At first, (Frederik) Pedersen suffered. In and out of schools, he tried to find a way of acceptance and struggled. He didn’t make it to university, but he did know about technology and became interested in its power and consequently found a way to plow his own furrow.
“It took me some time to find a direction, but slowly I realized that the world was all about communication. I knew I was from a privileged family, but educators always seemed to have a lack of empathy and communication when I was a child. I was made to feel different, and it was a difficult place to be.
“But I came through it, and those life lessons set me up for all the changes that life throws at you. So I set up a translation company, and now I’m pivoting the company into generative AI because of the huge opportunity it offers humanity, not least the same elements of communication,” says Pedersen.
Early access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT
The AI light started to dawn on him back in 2020.
That year, Pedersen applied to the Danish Innovation Fund for a 65,000 euro grant to create a content generator engine that would enable him to create a new form of translation:
“I realized that the biggest issue in e-commerce when it came to languages was not translation in itself, but creating localized content for retailers’ different products that customers could relate to,” he explains, adding the company spent the money to train “neural networks to create these product descriptions.”
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A neural network is a type of machine learning process called deep learning that uses interconnected nodes or neurons in a layered structure that resembles the human brain.
“We branded it content-as-a-service and couldn’t believe we were one of the first companies to do it,” he says, though it ended up proving the old adage that being early is the same as being wrong.
“Ultimately we were ahead of the technology and while our technology could build sentences, it just wasn’t good enough for our customers.”
This first effort was not wasted time and money, however, as it meant the company was able to hit the ground running when large language models were released publicly. EasyTranslate obtained early access to ChatGPT because it already had an account with OpenAI and was able to adopt and execute the technology instantly.
From that point, EasyTranslate pivoted to a generative AI content future based on Pedersen’s thesis that traditional translation was indeed “dead.”
Translation meets technology
It was not the first change in direction for Pedersen’s company. Formed in 2010 without venture capital, the translation service grew quickly.
In 2016, it went after bigger fish and started offering interpretation services to the Danish government after realizing there was an opportunity with the launch of Apple’s FaceTime. According to Pedersen, interpreters were super-expensive, inefficient and slow, and travel for in-person events wasn’t exactly “climate change-friendly.”
Pedersen created a video interpretation app that streamlined costs and increased efficiency by offering a marketplace and matching service for interpreters as well as remote interpreter services.
Danish municipalities signed up for the service, including the Danish Ministry of Justice, recognizing that bringing an interpreter to a court was a very expensive business, especially due to the often last-minute nature of such needs.
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At its height, the company was running 1,000 interpretation meetings a day, and between 2017 and 2019, it was responsible for more than 70% of the Danish government’s interpretation business.
However, Pedersen says the Danish government had never outsourced such business, and the relationship turned sour.
“It was a very mutual and fruitful relationship for a long time, but we realized that working with governments was more difficult than we imagined. It was like the cliche of a heavy tanker not being able to turn around.
“Again, it was the first learning curve for me. Yes, our data processing wasn’t as good as it could have been and working with antiquated systems and reasoning was very difficult.
“Eventually, the Danish government decided they didn’t want to carry on with our relationship. It was hard at the time, but I still believe we succeeded, and we learned a lot,” he says.
“Let’s just say, the operation was a success, but the patient died. There was also a lot of opposition from the strong Danish trade unions who thought we were putting people out of jobs.”
“But it was not about putting people out of jobs, it was working with technology in the same way we work with AI now. Our interpreters who decided to join our community were extremely happy with our software. They said it was like having a PA that coordinated their calendar and ensured them productive days with the highest possible earnings — they managed to increase those earnings.”
Impact of AI on jobs
The impact of AI technology on employment is a source of great anxiety for many, with some predicting entire industries will be wiped out, while others suggest jobs will change and evolve rather than disappear.
A recent study by the International Labour Organization found that women will be disproportionately affected by automation, with around 7.8% of jobs held by women in high-income countries (or 21 million) likely to be automated, but only 2.9% of jobs held by men (9 million).
Translation is a highly gendered industry too, with women accounting for around 67% of translators.
Pedersen’s thinking about the essential human element in technology — be that content generation or generative AI — is now central to EasyTranslate’s business.
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He believes that the combination of humans and AI is more powerful than just letting the AI do everything, using the example of a hard-working high school student who was angry at classmates for using AI to cheat.
Instead of cheating herself, she asked ChapGPT to mark her already-written essay. It sorted out the grammar and typos, and it gave her extra resources and links to improve her work beyond that of the cheater.
“In business, everybody is looking for the magic of balance in the marketplace, that sweet spot where pricing, innovation and technology are aligned. We are also doing that when it comes to AI and humans; we want that magic balance there as well,” he says.
Humans still required in the loop
He cites “humans in the loop” as the way forward for humans and machines. Generative AI can do the heavy lifting, and humans can finish and finesse the job. It creates content in any language generated by AI but enhanced by humans.
“There are others in business, such as Reuters, who also profess the ‘humans in the loop’ phrase. Again, I’ve been saying for a long time that this is the way forward to make both technology and humans better.
“By harnessing the power of both and increasing machine learning in the process, I believe that the current dominance of LLMs will be replaced by small language models that can be tailored exactly for the customer — open source generative AI — that will be the future.”
“That’s what we’re planning for and how the whole AI sector will play out. Those companies that are prepared for that will prosper; those who aren’t will fail,” he says.
Since Pedersen’s pivot to AI at the end of 2022, there has been increased investor interest in EasyTranslate, and the company raised 2.75 million euros earlier this year
“We think that we’ve been ahead of our time, and that thinking has led us to embrace AI and take us to the next level. AI itself is just the mirror of what humanity has already created; AI is really the technological history of human knowledge.
“I think it’s obvious that the two are perfectly compatible, that magic balance, so as generative AI evolves, so will those humans in the loop. Nobody with a good and adaptive brain will lose their job; their jobs and roles will be better and more creative,” he concludes.
His father should be proud.
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Bitcoin’s upward momentum has weakened as it approaches the key $111K resistance zone, increasing the risk of another rejection.
However, bullish sentiment remains intact, with market participants anticipating a breakout, though a renewed influx of demand is essential for any sustained move beyond the all-time high.
Bitcoin Price Analysis: Technicals
By Shayan
The Daily Chart
BTC continues to face challenges in surpassing the key $111K resistance level, its current all-time high, after several weeks of consolidation. Despite multiple attempts, intensified selling pressure and profit-taking at this level have repeatedly halted bullish momentum, resulting in sideways price action.
Recently, the cryptocurrency dipped below the $100K support zone, triggering a liquidity sweep and collecting the fuel for a potential new leg up.
However, the subsequent rebound has stalled around the $107K mark, signaling weakening bullish strength. If demand returns and buying pressure increases, a breakout above the $111K ATH could materialize. Otherwise, another rejection is likely, pushing the price back toward the critical $100K support in the coming sessions.
The 4-Hour Chart
On the lower timeframe, Bitcoin has been forming a bullish flag just below its all-time high, a pattern typically signaling continuation of the existing uptrend.
Following a liquidity grab beneath the lower boundary of the flag near $100K, Bitcoin rallied toward the upper boundary at $107K. Despite this upward move, the price has entered a low-volatility phase, indicating a loss of momentum as it approaches resistance.
Should a breakout occur early next week, a new all-time high is likely. Conversely, failure to hold above the current level could trigger another drop, sending the price back toward the lower end of the flag. Until then, price action remains confined, with both bulls and bears waiting for confirmation of the next directional move.
Bitcoin On-chain Analysis
By Shayan
On-chain data from CryptoQuant reveals a sharp decline in Bitcoin reserves held on centralized exchanges, now at their lowest levels in several years.
This ongoing outflow underscores a growing preference for self-custody and accumulation among investors, a pattern typically associated with reduced sell-side pressure and a long-term bullish outlook. A lower supply of readily available BTC on exchanges often sets the stage for potential supply-side shocks during periods of renewed demand.
That said, while dwindling reserves are historically correlated with major bull runs, they should not be viewed as immediate catalysts for short-term price rallies.
Market conditions and liquidity dynamics still play a vital role, and without a corresponding uptick in demand, price corrections remain a possibility. In summary, the exchange reserve trend highlights strong foundational support for Bitcoin, but near-term price action may still be subject to broader macro or technical headwinds.
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.
Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
Ripple has been trading within a prolonged descending wedge pattern, roughly reaching the upper boundary. The bullish momentum apears to be insufficient with expectation pointing toward continued consoldiation within this pattern, until a valid breakout occurs.
By Shayan
The Daily Chart
Ripple continues to trade inside a long-standing descending wedge pattern, fluctuating between the $1.6 and $3.3 levels.
After briefly dipping below the psychological $2.0 support, XRP tapped into a liquidity pocket filled with sell-side stop orders, prompting a swift bullish rebound. The price has since recovered and is currently attempting to test the $2.4 resistance zone, coinciding with the wedge’s upper trendline.
However, despite the recent rally, bullish momentum remains weak, suggesting that the current move may lack the strength for an immediate breakout. Unless a decisive surge above $2.4 occurs, XRP is likely to remain range-bound within the wedge.
A confirmed breakout above this structure, however, would signal trend reversal and could open the door for a rally toward the $3 resistance zone.
The 4-Hour Chart
In the lower timeframe, XRP is forming a descending channel structure that resembles a potential bullish flag – a continuation pattern often following an uptrend.
The price recently bounced off the channel’s lower boundary and rallied above the midline before pulling back to retest it, an action that suggests increased buyer interest and accumulation at the current levels.
Following this healthy retest, XRP has surged once again and is now approaching the upper boundary around $2.2. Should the price manage to break through this resistance, it would validate the bullish continuation pattern and likely drive XRP higher toward the $2.4 region, where stronger resistance awaits.
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.
Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
This year US corporations have begun stockpiling Bitcoin treasuries in earnest as the race for 21 million BTC tokens continues. This creates enormous structural support for market prices. But is it ideal?
After setting a historic record high around $109,000 on Jan. 21, Bitcoin prices retraced back to $82,000 by mid-April. After that they skyrocketed to another record around $112,000 in May.
Supporting these sea level changes in Bitcoin’s global capitalization is a spree of corporate BTC buys in Q1 and Q2 that signal a paradigm shift in the demand for these highly valued cryptographic hash tokens.
Is it all good news for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies?
Here is why it may be good:
1. Institutional Validation
Bitcoin price news headlines and searches for cryptocurrency on Google periodically erupt along with bull runs on the currency. Still, not everyone is sure if it is a good idea to invest.
Many investing and financial authorities like NYU Econ. Professor Nouriel Roubini and EuroPac Chief Peter Schiff are skeptical or highly critical of Bitcoin.
It ROIs are in another league entirely compared to US stocks and private placement investments by accredited investors and high net worth individuals. While that attracts many investors, others don’t understand how it is possible or sustainable.
Institutional validation for Bitcoin investing signals signals to investors with a similar view of the world that BTC markets are really on to something. If corporations are hoarding Bitcoin then it’s probably real and safe.
When public companies like MicroStrategy, Tesla, or Square buy Bitcoin, it legitimizes Bitcoin as a treasury asset. Bitcoin is not just a speculative tool for them, but a long-term store of value.
2. Reduced Sell Pressure
In addition to creating a bandwagon effect and fear of missing out among new entrants to crypto markets, the treasury race is locking up supplies and reducing sell pressure.
Basic supply and demand economics dictates this creates price support for the underlying good or commodity. Bitcoin’s brutally deflationary design boosts this effect on token prices.
Corporate treasuries typically buy to hold long-term, not trade. For Bitcoin, Strategy and others have indicated they have no plans to ever sell their holdings.
3. Onboarding Traditional Finance
Corporate adoption creates incentives for developers to build bridges from Bitcoin to TradFi (traditional finance). Because Bitcoin is maintained by software on an open peer network, the field is wide open for app development.
The TradFi layer is excited by the advantages of automating financial services exemplified by Bitcoin’s success. This encourages blockchain developers to build more institutional tools (e.g., ETFs, custody, derivatives), making it easier for others to follow.
Institutional finance has shown some interest in building an Ethereum app layer that offers automated financial services backed by Bitcoin layer tokens.
While this sector is still in its early stages, if it takes off, BTC tokens may be undervalued at current record market prices near historical record highs.
4. Network Effect Growth
In general system theory, network effects describe the growth of ordered phenomena in an organized system along the lines of positive feedback loops.
Meanwhile, in industrial business theory the concept denotes the simple, but powerful tendency of a market, platform, good, or service to increase in value as more participants begin to use it.
Naturally, the more high-profile holders of Bitcoin there are, the more attention and trust Bitcoin gets.
When large, established corporations regularly traded on Wall Street enter the fray, there is more safety and value in numbers.
Bitcoin investment strategist Lyn Alden says that Bitcoin’s network effects support its long term price growth because:
- It resolves hard forks through market capitalism
- Developers build new layers like Lightning Network
- mega companies like Fidelity now serve customer demand with BTC custody services
5. Defensive Hedge Narrative
Corporation are conservative with their finances because they have to make payroll and please investors. If they’re investing in Bitcoin by the half a billion dollars’ worth at a time like GameStop did in May, then it must be a good macro hedge for more conservative investors.
Companies taking a defensive financial posture using BTC reinforces Bitcoin’s role as a hedge against fiat debasement, inflation, and systemic risk. Some leaders in corporate America are beginning to treating it like “digital gold” — a modern reserve asset.
Furthermore, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) recently said that she has spoken with Defense Department generals who say they agree Bitcoin is critically important as a national strategic advantage for national security.
6. FOMO Effect on Other Institutions
Meanwhile, as more companies add BTC, it pressures others to consider it or risk falling behind (especially in financial returns or treasury innovation).
At some point the network effect of corporate Bitcoin stockpiles could snowball so far that Wall Street companies must hold some cryptocurrency treasuries to avoid a systemic shortfall against other corporate balance sheets.
This is what early Bitcoin promoter Andreas Antonopoulos once referred to in an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience as “infrastructure inversion.” He argued it would be an inevitable feature of Bitcoin’s success if the crypto were to ever become mainstream.
But here is why corporate BTC treasuries may be bad for crypto markets:
1. Centralization of Holdings
As corporations amass large BTC holdings, power and influence concentrate among a few key treasuries like those at Strategy and BlackRock, to back its Bitcoin ETF issuance.
That goes against Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos if a few entities control major stakes.
While, theoretically, it can’t pose a risk to the system, because ownership is not correlated to network validation and security (hashrate is), it can still have a negative effect. Imagine an entity controlling 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply being forced to start liquidating its holdings.
This is especially troublesome if the entity is a centralized corporation, the operation and control of which, at best, fall within a board of directors or, at worst, within a certain executive.
Moreover, centralization of holdings could deter investors from coming in because of the above concerns alone.
2. Speculative Overreach
In addition to over-centralization there’s the risk of speculative overreach. Companies may be buying to chase hype rather than for sound financial strategy.
Bitcoin bubbles are already bad. But the corporate treasury race could make the ride bumpier for smaller investors by causing more bubbles, steeper rides up, and more drastic corrections.
That could lead to more painful liquidations or bankruptcies in serious market downturns, damaging Bitcoin’s image and reputation with investors. In the crypto winter of 2022, the weakest link in the chain was corporations that held Bitcoin like Celsius, FTX, and others.
3. Price Instability Risk
Bitcoin ownership stratification and choppier waters could make its price more volatile.
For example, large corporate holders may be apt to sell massive amounts of BTC during crises just as they have snapped it up during this rally. That could crash the market due to the size of their positions.
This adds systemic volatility to an already volatile asset. Market participants always have to balance in the outlook for their forward valuations the possibility that a large ship in harbor could set sail.
4. Distorted Use Case
Bitcoin may become seen primarily as a corporate hedge or balance sheet gimmick, not as usable money. This is an ongoing debate among the online community of crypto enthusiasts.
Some like Strategy’s Michael Saylor say Bitcoin’s real role in the global financial ecosystem has emerged as an automated and completely democratic platform for final settlement in scarce digital tokens with a bearer instrument quality.
Others say this distracts from Bitcoin’s original mission of being a decentralized peer-to-peer currency. There is no consumer demand for Bitcoin this way as a daily spender, only financial and investment demand.
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