Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Crypto Investments in India Skyrocket by 19,900% in One Year
Despite regulatory uncertainty, cryptocurrency investments in India grew from about $200 million to nearly $40 billion over the past year.
By Andrew Asmakov
2 min read
Jun 28, 2021
In brief
* Indians are going nuts for crypto, a new report shows.
* But regulatory uncertainty in the country mires their ambitions.
Despite continued regulatory pressure from the country’s government and central bank, Indian investors demonstrate increased confidence in cryptocurrencies.
According to data from blockchain forensic firm Chainalysis, crypto investments in India rose over the past year by as much as 19,900%—from $200 million to nearly $40 billion—Bloomberg reported on Monday.
The surge in investment comes despite regulatory uncertainty around the status of crypto in India, with the country's central bank repeatedly threatening to impose a ban on cryptocurrencies. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) even went so far as to bar local financial institutions from serving crypto companies in April 2018.
Even though last month the RBI backtracked, telling banks that they can ignore a 2018 circular that prohibited them from working with crypto companies, uncertainty remains over India's next steps.
The government has softened its stance somewhat, with the country's finance minister mooting a "window" to allow experimentation with crypto. The government has also convened a panel of experts to consider regulation, arguing that a forthcoming crypto bill will protect investors from volatility.
As Chainalysis's data shows, the authorities' muted enthusiasm for crypto isn't matched by that of local investors, with Indians aged 18 - 35 showing the most appetite for crypto.
“They find it far easier to invest in crypto than gold because the process is very simple,” Sandeep Goenka, the co-founder of local exchange ZebPay told Bloomberg. “You go online, you can buy crypto, you don’t have to verify it, unlike gold.”
When it comes to profits on Bitcoin investments though, India, according to another Chainalysis report released earlier this month, is lagging behind other markets, ranking 18 out of the top 25 nations at just $241 million.
To put this in perspective, the US topped the list at $4.1 billion followed by China ($1.1 billion), Japan ($900 million), the UK ($800 million) and Russia ($600 million).
According to Chainalysis, this may be a result of the Indian government’s hostility toward the cryptocurrency, as the RBI’s 2018 ruling made it “extremely difficult” for local residents to purchase or trade digital assets.
https://decrypt.co/74630/crypto-investments-in-india-skyrocket-by-19900-in-one-year?&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_source=coinbase
Bitcoin’s Energy Consumption Has Nosedived Since China’s Mining Crackdown
Bitcoin has been consuming less and less energy ever since China cracked down on the Bitcoin mining industry.
By Scott Chipolina
3 min read
Jun 28, 2021
In brief
* Bitcoin's energy consumption has halved in recent weeks.
* The fall in Bitcoin's energy consumption comes amid China's
crackdown on its domestic Bitcoin mining industry.
Bitcoin’s energy consumption has halved since China’s crackdown on crypto mining, according to Cambridge University’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.
Currently, Bitcoin consumes 68 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year. TWh is a measurement that tracks a unit of energy equal to outputting one trillion watts for one hour—and it's used to track the annual energy consumption of entire countries.
Earlier this year—before China's crackdown on Bitcoin mining really began to bite—Bitcoin was consuming up to 130 TWh, placing it comfortably among some of the world’s leading countries by energy consumption.
Specifically, the Bitcoin network’s energy consumption has fallen by 51% since May 10, from an all-time high of 141 TWh to 68 TWh.
“It's also telling that we have seen an increase in Chinese-linked mining entities selling Bitcoin since this began, almost certainly due to the costs of relocation,” Jason Deane, Bitcoin analyst at Quantum Economics, told Decrypt.
China’s ban on Bitcoin mining
China has come down hard on the Bitcoin mining industry throughout 2021.
At the end of February 2021, Inner Mongolia released plans for reducing energy consumption. Those plans included closing down Bitcoin mining facilities. By April 2021, those plans had been enacted and Bitcoin mining was no longer legal in Inner Mongolia.
After Inner Mongolia banned Bitcoin mining, other Chinese provinces including Qinghai, Yunnan, and Xinjiang, followed suit.
Earlier this month, Sichuan ordered energy companies to cut power to Bitcoin mining farms across the province, causing the hash rates of some of the biggest mining pools to plummet by as much as 37%.
Historically, China has controlled approximately two-thirds of the Bitcoin mining hash rate, so the crackdown on mining farms has inevitably made a dent in the network’s energy consumption.
What does this mean for Bitcoin?
In the short term, Bitcoin’s drop in energy consumption lessens the network’s impact on the environment.
At its 2021 peak of 141 TWh, the Bitcoin network’s carbon footprint was greater than 60 billion pounds of burned coal, or 9 million homes’ average electricity consumption for the year. Since the drop in Bitcoin’s energy consumption has since fallen by over 50%, so too will the network’s immediate impact on the environment.
However, the dip in Bitcoin’s carbon footprint is likely to be short-lived. Since China’s crackdown, many Bitcoin miners are relocating to other jurisdictions.
For example, Bitcoin mining firm BIT Mining—which previously operated in China—has already delivered its first batch of mining machines to Kazakhstan.
https://decrypt.co/74624/bitcoins-energy-consumption-has-nosedived-since-chinas-mining-crackdown?&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_source=coinbase
Blackstone Invests in Ad Tech's Simpli.fi, Valuing It at $1.5 Billion
June 28 2021 - 08:00AM
Dow Jones News
By Matt Grossman
Blackstone Group Inc. is making a private-equity investment in Simpli.fi, valuing the advertising-technology company at $1.5 billion, Blackstone said Monday.
Simpli.fi provides software for media buyers to manage operations and execute digital ad campaigns. Blackstone and GTCR, another private-equity investor that invested in Simpli.fi in 2017, will be the company's majority shareholders.
Blackstone executive Sachin Bavishi said that the investment accords with Blackstone's conviction around digital advertising. The investment will help accelerate Simpli.fi's growth, he said.
Blackstone and GTCR will have equal representation on the board of Fort Worth, Texas-based Simpli.fi, which is led by co-founders Frost Prioleau and Paul Harrison.
Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 28, 2021 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NYSE/blackstone-BX/stock-news/85457183/blackstone-invests-in-ad-techs-simpli-fi-valuing
This NYDIG Partnership Could Bring Bitcoin to Your Local Credit Union
Up to 18.3 million Q2 customers will soon be able to buy, sell and hold bitcoin directly from their bank accounts.
Cheyenne Ligon
Jun 24, 2021 at 1:53 p.m. EDT
Updated Jun 24, 2021 at 4:16 p.m. EDT
This NYDIG Partnership Could Bring Bitcoin to Your Local Credit Union
Institutional bitcoin shop NYDIG has partnered with Texas fintech firm Q2 to provide bitcoin access to Q2’s 18.3 million users.
Q2 is a behind-the-scenes player providing online banking software to over 450 small and medium-sized banks and credit unions, including Texas Security Bank, Mercantile Bank and Scotiabank. The partnership with NYDIG will allow Q2’s institutional partners to provide their customers with access to buy, sell and hold bitcoin through their bank accounts.
According to Jean Kondo, Q2’s vice president of communications, Q2’s decision to partner with NYDIG was based on client demand.
“We are excited to work with NYDIG to enable financial institutions to take advantage of this market opportunity and meet the demands of their account holders,” said Q2 executive Jonathan Price in a press statement.
NYDIG’s collaboration with Q2 is one of many recent partnerships for the institutional asset manager. The bitcoin heavyweight has hired Wall Street veterans and even made the foray into bitcoin insurance products. In May, NYDIG was tapped by Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge to custody its pending bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
NYDIG CEO Robert Gutmann said the ultimate goal of the partnership is to increase bitcoin adoption.
“The work we will do together will be key to making bitcoin as easily accessible as possible through the incumbent financial institutions, enabling the continued growth of the Bitcoin network,” Gutmann said in a statement.
Correction: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect title for Jean Kondo.
https://www.coindesk.com/this-nydig-partnership-could-bring-bitcoin-to-your-local-credit-union
ARK Invest Bought $29M Shares in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust During Crash
Ark Invest purchased more than 1 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust during Tuesday's trading session.
By Andrew Asmakov
2 min read
Jun 24, 2021
ARK Invest, the investment firm headed by Cathie Wood, went big during Bitcoin’s drop below $30,000 on Tuesday, snapping up $29 million in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares.
According to data shared by the investment firm, the addition of 1,046,002 shares of GBTC was made through ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), one of the company’s six actively managed funds.
Tuesday's purchase brought ARKW’s total holdings of GBTC to almost 8.6 million shares worth $238.9 million. With a weight of 3.99%, GBTC is the seventh-largest holding in the fund, which is topped by Tesla, Shopify, and Twitter.
GBTC, which currently commands $21.9 million in assets under management, is the oldest and largest crypto fund launched by New York-based firm Grayscale Investment. It offers investors SEC-regulated exposure to Bitcoin, tracking the price of the benchmark cryptocurrency. One GBTC share currently trades at $28.96.
Since Tuesday, Bitcoin has somewhat recovered, changing hands at $34,000 at the time of writing.
ARK activity still long crypto
On Tuesday, in a purchase worth nearly $50 million, ARK Invest also added 214,718 shares of cryptocurrency Coinbase to its ARK Innovation Fund (ARKK). The fund now holds over 3.6 million shares in the cryptocurrency exchange worth more than $820 million.
ARK Invest was among the first to buy Coinbase stock after Coinbase debuted on the Nasdaq in April this year.
Wood, who last month joined the board of crypto technology platform Amun Holdings, is known as a vocal supporter of Bitcoin and sees it going to $500,000 in the long-term.
Earlier this year, she said that Bitcoin is a new asset class that could one day even serve as a reserve currency.
https://decrypt.co/74421/ark-invest-bought-29m-shares-grayscale-bitcoin-trust-during-crash?&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_source=coinbase
New York City will become a bitcoin center, says city's mayoral lead Eric Adams
by Yogita Khatri
June 24, 2021, 7:20AM EDT · 1 min read
Eric Adams, the current front-runner in the 2021 New York City mayoral election in the Democratic primary, appears to be pro-crypto.
"I'm going to promise you in one year … you're going to see a different city," Adams said during his election night party speech on Monday. "We're going to bring businesses. We're going to become the center of life science, the center of cybersecurity, the center of self-driving cars, drones, the center of bitcoins."
Adams aims to turn New York City into a technology center if he wins the mayoral race, which he is currently leading with nearly 32% votes, according to data from the New York Times. The final results are likely to be announced during the week of July 12.
Adams is currently over 75,000 votes ahead of his closest rival, Maya Wiley, according to the New York Times data. While Adams, a retired police officer, didn't elaborate how he plans to turn New York City into the center of bitcoin, he will be competing against Miami, which is becoming a crypto center, thanks to his bitcoin-friendly Mayor Francis Suarez and low taxes. "Miami, you had your run. We're bringing our businesses back," said Adams.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a longtime bitcoin proponent, dropped out of the New York City mayoral race earlier this week as preliminary data showed poor results.
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/109475/new-york-city-center-of-bitcoins-eric-adams-mayoral-lead?utm_source=coinbase&utm_medium=rss
NYDIG and Q2 partner to enable Bitcoin trading for 18M US bank customers
OSATO AVAN-NOMAYO
5 HOURS AGO
Millions of people in America could soon be able to buy Bitcoin from their bank accounts following a partnership led by NYDIG and Q2.
New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) has partnered with Q2, a firm specializing in providing digital services to financial institutions, to provide access to Bitcoin (BTC) for bank account holders in the United States.
According to a release issued on Wednesday, the partnership will potentially open up Bitcoin buying, selling and custody channels to about 18.3 million bank customers in America.
Indeed, Q2 provider internet banking services to about 30% of the Top 100 U.S. banks and serves over a tenth of the country’s digital banking customers.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, NYDIG began working towards providing Bitcoin trading services to Americans via their bank accounts. At the time, the firm partnered with fintech outfit Fidelity National Information Services to provide U.S. lenders with the ability to offer crypto trading services to their customers.
Apart from Q2, NYDIG has also partnered with cloud-based digital banking service provider Alkami and global payment services outfit Fiserv to enable Bitcoin access for more customers of financial institutions.
Detailing the specifics of its partnership with NYDIG in a separate announcement, Fiserv revealed that its collaboration was tailored towards banks and credit unions amid the growing interest for BTC.
First Foundation Bank, a California-based financial institution, is reportedly working with NYDIG and Fiserv to onboard Bitcoin trading and custody for its customers. Back in April, the bank’s parent company, First Foundation Inc., invested in NYDIG to provide clients with access to Bitcoin-based investment products.
Related: US banks to allow Bitcoin trading in 2021, says NYDIG execs
On the Alkami front, NYDIG is now part of the firm’s Gold Partner Program — a significant step in enabling banks and credit unions to offer BTC buying and custody products to their customers.
Commenting on the importance of these collaborations, NYDIG co-founder and CEO Robert Gutmann declared that these partnerships were necessary to make Bitcoin readily accessible via legacy financial institutions.
According to Gutmann, such integration efforts will help to ensure the continued expansion of the Bitcoin network.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/nydig-and-q2-partner-to-enable-bitcoin-trading-for-18m-us-bank-customers
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust to Acquire Home Partners of America
June 22 2021 - 08:00AM
Business Wire
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (“BREIT”) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Home Partners of America (“HPA”), valuing the company at $6.0 billion. HPA’s unique, resident-led business model expands housing access and choice, while providing a clear path to homeownership to individuals and families across the United States. BREIT’s investment in HPA will be supported by its perpetual capital, enabling a truly long-term approach to the management of the properties. Furthermore, Blackstone’s substantial experience with rental residential properties and commitment to acting responsibly to support residents will bring valuable perspective and best-in-class operating standards to the ownership and maintenance of these homes.
HPA has a high-quality portfolio of over 17,000 homes across the United States. Its strong and experienced management team is committed to responsible ownership and seeks to provide potential residents flexibility, choice and control when deciding where and how to live. By purchasing homes on behalf of residents, HPA has helped thousands of home seekers live in a home they otherwise are not yet ready to purchase, under terms that best fit their needs. Furthermore, HPA’s program is built on transparency and can provide more optionality while lowering risk for residents as compared to a typical home purchase.
BREIT will support the HPA management team as it explores opportunities to expand access to high-quality housing for lower income households, including by formally launching its Choice Lease® program. Choice Lease is intended to provide a direct and tangible opportunity to help address housing affordability challenges for families across the U.S. Additionally, BREIT is committed to continuing and expanding the financial planning assistance program offered to all residents, free of charge.
Jacob Werner, Blackstone Real Estate Senior Managing Director, said, “The fundamental premise of the HPA platform is to provide residents with the opportunity to live in their chosen home with the option to purchase it—we intend to build on that goal and expand access to homes across the U.S. We look forward to working with HPA’s leadership team to further invest in the properties and continue its role as a valuable resource for people considering home purchases.”
Bill Young, Co-Founder and CEO of HPA, said, “This partnership with Blackstone Real Estate and its consistent support of our business will ensure we are well-positioned to expand the reach of our program to provide access to more homes while also delivering on our commitments to our current residents for the long-term. Our goal has always been to make homeownership a reality for more people, and now we can continue that mission, while providing even more flexibility and services for our residents.”
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and approvals.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor and Sidley Austin LLP and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP acted as legal counsel to HPA. BofA Securities and Wells Fargo Securities acted as financial advisors to BREIT and Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP acted as its legal counsel.
About Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT) is a perpetual-life, institutional quality real estate investment platform that brings private real estate to income focused investors. BREIT invests primarily in stabilized, income-generating U.S. commercial real estate across key property types and to a lesser extent in real estate debt investments. BREIT is externally managed by a subsidiary of Blackstone (NYSE: BX), a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has approximately $196 billion in investor capital under management. Further information is available at www.breit.com.
About Home Partners of America
Chicago-based Home Partners of America, Inc. purchases, owns and operates high-quality single-family rental homes, dedicated to making living in a single-family home accessible for more people. Through their innovative Lease Purchase Program, Home Partners has provided access to single family housing for thousands of households all across the country. Home Partners is a dynamic leader in today's single-family housing market helping home seekers, sellers, and agents meet their various housing needs. Further information is available at https://www.homepartners.com/.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210622005666/en/
Blackstone
Jeffrey Kauth
jeffrey.kauth@blackstone.com
+1 212-583-5395
HPA
Madeline Sweeney
madeline@sccadv.com
+1 630-706-1068
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NYSE/blackstone-BX/stock-news/85415698/blackstone-real-estate-income-trust-to-acquire-hom
Major players will speak at a new Bitcoin event aimed at institutional investors
June 24 2021 - 11:45AM
Cointelegraph
Featured speakers include Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Blockstream founder Adam Back, and Ark Invest's Cathie Wood.
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/85439873/major-players-will-speak-at-a-new-bitcoin-event-ai
TURNER WRIGHT
57 MINUTES AGO
Major players will speak at a new Bitcoin event aimed at institutional investors
Featured speakers include Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Blockstream founder Adam Back, and Ark Invest's Cathie Wood.
The Crypto Council for Innovation is hosting a virtual event on July 21 aimed to “destigmatize mainstream narratives about Bitcoin.”
According to a Thursday announcement, Square, Ark Invest, and Paradigm are backing The ? Word, an event on “how institutions can embrace Bitcoin.” The project scheduled for launch next month will offer featured speakers including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Blockstream founder Adam Back, Ark Invest's Cathie Wood, former acting and deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell, and John Newbery, director of Brink — a nonprofit focused on supporting Bitcoin development.
“The ? Word is a Bitcoin focused initiative that aims to demystify and destigmatize mainstream narratives about Bitcoin, explain how institutions can and should embrace it, and raise awareness around areas of the network that need support,” said the project.
Formed in April, the Crypto Council for Innovation, or CCI, is an alliance of crypto-friendly firms including Coinbase, Square, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paradigm. The group was created to give companies a better means to lobby lawmakers on crypto and blockchain regulation.
“Bitcoin is a positive force in the world because it increases financial access and opportunity, but the complexity that makes its network so powerful also makes it difficult to understand at first," said Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang. "We hope this initiative helps the investment community and policymakers better understand how transformative a moment we're in right now."
Related: The remaining steps to mainstream institutional investment
At the time of publication, the event lists five sessions to be available on July 21, with an additional live panel with Dorsey, Wood, and others on Bitcoin As A Tool For Economic Empowerment. Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter and MIT Digital Currency Initiative director Neha Narula will also be speaking in the online sessions.
Many experts have posited that institutional investors would help drive mainstream interest in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, in addition to potentially helping its price. Data from banking giant JPMorgan in May, however, suggest that retail investors may be purchasing more BTC using platforms like PayPal and Square than institutions.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/major-players-will-speak-at-a-new-bitcoin-event-aimed-at-institutional-investors
One thing to be aware of in China, is the blocking of communications...
Scholars on LinkedIn Are Being Blocked in China ‘Without Telling Them Why’
Affected users say social-networking site owned by Microsoft is obstructing them over ‘prohibited content’ without further explanation
By Liza Lin
Updated June 23, 2021 2:12 am ET
SINGAPORE—Eyck Freymann, an Oxford University doctoral student, was surprised to get a notice from LinkedIn this month telling him his account had been blocked in China. The “Experience” section of his profile, which detailed his career history, contained “prohibited” content, he was informed.
The social-networking site owned by Microsoft Corp. didn’t explain more, but Mr. Freymann said he thought it was because he had included the words “Tiananmen Square massacre” in the entry for his two-year stint as a research assistant for a book in 2015.
“LinkedIn is pulling people’s material off without telling them why,” he said. “It was surprising because I am just a graduate student. I didn’t think I would have mattered.”
The academic is one of a spate of LinkedIn users whose profiles have been blocked in recent weeks. The Wall Street Journal identified at least 10 other individuals who had their profiles blocked or posts removed from the China version of LinkedIn since May, including researchers in Jerusalem and Tokyo, journalists, a U.S. congressional staffer and an editor based in Beijing who posted state media reports about elephants rampaging across China.
A LinkedIn spokeswoman said in a statement that while the company supports freedom of expression, offering a localized version of LinkedIn in China means adherence to censorship requirements of the Chinese government on internet platforms. The company didn’t comment on whether its actions were proactive or in response to requests from Chinese authorities.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/academics-bristle-over-linkedin-blocking-their-profiles-in-china-11624366667?mod=world_major_2_pos5
Also, more on the potential opportunity of helping China to reverse its birthrate decline...
China Takes Aim at Educational Costs as It Seeks to Reverse Birthrate Decline
Officials plan measures to boost couples’ willingness to have children
By Keith Zhai
June 24, 2021 7:51 am ET
China is planning new policies to rein in rising education costs seen as deterring couples from having more children, according to people familiar with the matter, as Beijing confronts a worsening demographic outlook.
Among the measures are new laws and tighter regulations aimed at private education companies that offer tutoring services, which have been blamed for fueling competition and increasing education costs for urban families. New restrictions would, for example, curb private lessons during school holidays, the people said.
Separately, Beijing policy makers are discussing measures to tamp down real estate frenzies that have sprung up in desirable school districts in China’s wealthy cities, adding educational anxieties to a housing market that many officials fear is overheated, according to two of the people.
Taken together, the policies are intended to blunt two trends seen as driving up the perceived cost of education for many Chinese families, which is in turn regarded as an obstacle discouraging couples from having more children.
Decades of birth restrictions have led many Chinese families to invest their hopes—and much of their savings—into improving their children’s prospects. As incomes rise, that has fueled an arms race on private tutoring classes as more students compete for scarce placements at top schools.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-takes-aim-at-educational-costs-as-it-seeks-to-reverse-birthrate-decline-11624535498
Blackstone Life Sciences, Cellex Cell Professionals, and Intellia Therapeutics Launch New CAR T-Cell Company
June 22 2021 - 07:00AM
Business Wire
Focus will be on Development of Allogeneic Universal CAR T-Cell Therapies for Immuno-oncology and Autoimmune Diseases
- Blackstone Life Sciences Commits to an Active Role and a $250 Million Financing as Sole Founding Investor
- Cellex to Contribute Switchable Universal CAR-T Technology Developed by GEMoaB GmbH and Manufacturing Expertise
- Intellia Contributes Best-in-Class CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Technology that Creates an Allogeneic Universal CAR-T Platform
- Intellia to Host Conference Call Today, June 22 at 8:00 a.m. ET
Blackstone (NYSE: BX) announced today that funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences have committed $250 million towards the launch of a new autologous and allogeneic universal chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy company, along with Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTLA) and Cellex Cell Professionals GmbH (“Cellex”), the parent company of GEMoaB GmbH (“GEMoaB”), a clinical-stage cell therapy company. The new company will combine GEMoaB’s world-leading clinical-stage universal CAR-T platforms with Intellia’s differentiated allogeneic cell platform and CRISPR cell engineering.
Intellia Therapeutics is a clinical stage, leading genome editing company focused on developing curative therapeutics using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Cellex Cell Professionals GmbH holds the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company GEMoaB, which is focused on the development of next-generation immunotherapies and cell therapies for hard-to-treat cancers.
The new company will be headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and will acquire Cellex’s subsidiary GEMoaB GmbH with established offices and labs in Dresden, Germany. GEMoaB is developing a switchable universal platform to improve the therapeutic window of CAR T-cell therapies. This approach enables increased efficacy and safety across a range of cancers, including solid tumors, that are currently a challenge for existing cell therapies. In addition, the new company and Intellia will gain access to Cellex’s established cell therapy manufacturing capabilities to accelerate their respective ex vivo programs.
Andrew Schiermeier, Ph.D., current Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Intellia, will lead the launch as President and Chief Executive Officer.
“This launch represents the first of many steps to addressing the various limitations that currently exist in the cell therapy space, and I am both humbled and excited to be leading the creation of this company with a team of extremely talented individuals,” said Schiermeier. “Bringing together GEMoaB’s universal CAR-T platform with Intellia’s differentiated allogeneic T cell platform and CRISPR-based cell engineering provides a unique opportunity to move cell therapy technology to new heights. Our focus is on providing significantly safer and more efficacious treatments to patients who are suffering from hard-to-treat cancers and autoimmune diseases.”
“We can now build on our established and ongoing collaboration with Intellia,” said Dr. Armin Ehninger, GEMoaB’s Chief Scientific Officer. “With Blackstone’s contribution of funds and expertise, we will be able to combine our switchable CAR-T platform which has broad potential applicability and has already shown early signs of efficacy and a favorable side effect profile in an ongoing Phase Ia trial, with Intellia’s leading genome editing technology,” added Gerhard Ehninger, M.D., founder of Cellex and GEMoaB. “This will allow us to potentially replace the living drug, currently manufactured from the patient’s own immune cells, by cells from healthy donors. Our goal is for these cells to be immediately available to patients. This is a good day for patients.”
“Collaborations like this one are a key instrument for Intellia to strengthen investment in areas of strategic importance to us, enabling us to more quickly realize the full scope and potential of our genome-editing technology for patients in need of more effective therapies. With today’s announcement, we can drive the expansion of our pipeline into new areas, accelerating clinical validation of what we believe to be a platform for universal, allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies. Further, we can fortify our allogeneic cell engineering capabilities for wholly owned programs through a preferred relationship with Cellex,” said Intellia President and Chief Executive Officer, John Leonard, M.D.
“We believe that this exciting effort has the potential to leapfrog current CAR-T technologies and improve the standard of care for a broad range of patients,” said Dr. Nicholas Galakatos, Global Head of Blackstone Life Sciences. “As the sole founding investor, Blackstone will be actively involved in building this platform, leveraging our deep expertise in oncology and our scale capital. Our partnership with Intellia and Cellex is customized to address the new company’s needs and set it up for success from day one, and while it is an earlier-stage, growth investment for us, it demonstrates the versatility of our investment platform and commitment to advance potentially transformational technologies to benefit patients.”
Business transformation and responsibilities
Key components of the new company upon formation include the following highlights:
The new company will have an exclusive license to combine Intellia’s CRISPR/Cas9 allogeneic platform with GEMoaB’s switchable, universal CAR T-cell platforms (UniCAR and RevCAR).
GEMoaB will become a subsidiary of the newly established company and will continue to advance its clinical stage CAR T-cell programs.
The new company and Intellia will also simultaneously enter into a co-development and co-funding (Co-Co) agreement to develop an allogeneic universal CAR T-cell product for an immuno-oncology indication. Intellia will have one additional option to enter into a second Co-Co agreement from selected allogeneic universal CAR T-cell therapy products that the parties will develop under the collaboration.
Blackstone Life Sciences, Intellia and Cellex (and certain related entities) will each have equal ownership of the new company.
Experienced management to drive growth and scientific advancement
Dr. Schiermeier has spent more than two decades as an executive in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, with experience ranging from managing the growth and operations for startups to directing the strategic and operational expansion of global brands for large pharma companies. At Intellia, he was responsible for working with the board of directors and executive committee in establishing and overseeing the implementation of Intellia’s strategic direction in both in vivo and ex vivo (engineered cell therapy) areas. He also oversaw the company’s portfolio management, drug development, manufacturing, and business development efforts. Prior to Intellia, he served as SVP and Global Head of Merck KGaA’s Oncology Business, a global operation with revenues in excess of $1 billion across 66 countries.
The new company includes a seasoned management team, including Chief Medical Officer Professor Gerhard Ehninger, a founding shareholder of GEMoaB who served as its Chief Medical Officer. Prof. Ehninger is also a founding shareholder and Chief Executive Officer of GEMoaB’s parent company Cellex. Prof. Ehninger was the Head of Hematology and Oncology at University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus of the Technical University Dresden, Germany, as well as the former President of the German Society of Hematology and Oncology (DGHO). As one of the world’s leading researchers in the areas of acute leukemias and solid tumors, Prof. Ehninger has published more than 700 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and was principal investigator for multiple pivotal studies in hematology and oncology. The new company has also appointed Dr. Armin Ehninger as its Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Ehninger has served as Chief Scientific Officer of GEMoaB since 2014. He has more than 15 years of research and drug discovery experience in oncology and hematology, stem cell biology as well as cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Ehninger’s expertise and leadership were decisive in establishing GEMoaB’s Research & Development and pre-clinical capabilities. At GEMoaB, he was responsible for pre-clinical Research and Development, the translational programs for clinical studies as well as for Quality Systems and Quality Management.
The new company’s Board of Directors will be chaired by Dr. Olivier Brandicourt, a Senior Advisor to Blackstone Life Sciences and the former CEO of Sanofi S.A.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Intellia and Goodwin Procter and Hogan Lovells (Germany) acted as Intellia’s legal advisors. Ropes & Gray and Freshfields (Germany) acted as legal advisors to Blackstone Life Sciences. Noerr and Morgan Lewis acted as legal advisors to Cellex and GEMoaB.
Intellia Therapeutics Webcast Information
Intellia management will host a live webcast today, June 22, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. E.T. to discuss the corporate development. To join the webcast, please visit this link, or the Events and Presentations page of the Investors & Media section of the company’s website at www.intelliatx.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on Intellia’s website for at least 30 days following the call.
About Blackstone Life Sciences
Blackstone Life Sciences is an industry-leading private investment platform with capabilities to invest across the life cycle of companies and products within the key life science sectors. By combining scale investments and hands-on operational leadership, Blackstone Life Sciences helps bring to market promising new medicines that improve patients’ lives. More information is provided at https://www.blackstone.com/our-businesses/life-sciences/.
About Intellia Therapeutics
Intellia Therapeutics is a leading clinical-stage genome editing company, focused on the development of proprietary, potentially curative therapeutics using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Intellia believes the CRISPR/Cas9 technology has the potential to transform medicine by both producing therapeutics that permanently edit and/or correct disease-associated genes in the human body with a single administration, and creating enhanced engineered cells that can treat oncological and immunological diseases. Intellia’s combination of deep scientific, technical and clinical development experience, along with its leading intellectual property portfolio, puts it in a unique position to unlock broad therapeutic applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology and create new classes of therapeutic products. Learn more about Intellia and CRISPR/Cas9 at intelliatx.com. Follow us on Twitter @intelliatweets.
About GEMoaB
GEMoaB is a privately owned, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
GEMoaB is developing switchable universal CAR-T platforms (UniCAR and RevCAR) to improve the therapeutic window and increase efficacy and safety of CAR-T cell therapies in challenging cancers, including acute leukemias and solid tumors. Conventional CAR-T cells depend on the presence and direct binding of cancer antigens for activation and proliferation. An inherent key feature of the GEMoaB platforms is a switchable on/off mechanism enabled by pharmacokinetic half-life and internalization of soluble adaptors termed targeting modules (TMs). These TMs provide the antigen-specificity to activate UniCAR or RevCAR gene-modified T-cells (UniCAR-T or RevCAR-T) and consist of a highly flexible antigen-binding moiety, linked to a motif recognized by UniCAR-T or RevCAR-T respectively.
GEMoaB has a broad pipeline of product candidates in pre-clinical and clinical development for the treatment of hematological malignancies as well as solid tumors. Its clinical stage assets GEM333, a T-cell engaging bispecific antibody (TCE) with binding specificity to CD33 in relapsed/refractory AML, and GEM3PSCA, a TCE with binding specificity to PSCA for the treatment of castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer and other PSCA expressing late-stage solid tumors, are currently investigated in Phase I studies and globally partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb. Phase I studies of the lead UniCAR assets UniCAR-T-CD123 in hematological malignancies and UniCAR-T-PSMA in solid tumors are currently recruiting patients. Clinical proof-of-concept data were recently published in Blood and at key scientific meetings including the 3rd EHA-EBMT European CAR T-Cell Meeting and the 2021 AACR Annual Meeting. More information can be found at www.gemoab.com.
About Cellex Cell Professionals
Cellex Cell Professionals is a world leader in manufacturing hematopoietic blood stem cell products and a leading European manufacturer for CAR-T cell products, co-operating in that area with several large pharma and biotech companies. Their large, experienced collection centers and fully automated, audited and inspected GMP facility for UniCAR production support the worldwide distribution of cell products, including same-day delivery in the U.S. and Europe.
More information is provided at www.cellex.me.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, express or implied statements regarding Intellia’s beliefs and expectations regarding: its strategy, business plans and focus; its ability to quickly and efficiently realize the scope and potential of its genome-editing technology; its ability to maintain, expand and maximize its intellectual property portfolio and pipeline as well as accelerate clinical validation for its platform; the therapeutic value and development potential of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technologies and therapies; its ability to combine its allogeneic T cell platform and CRISPR-based cell engineering with GEMoaB’s universal CAR-T platform; the expected strategic benefits of the formation of the new company and resulting collaborations; its expectations on the new company’s ability to develop CAR-T Cell therapies for immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases and the timing and potential success of such therapies; its ability to optimize the impact of its collaborations on its development programs, including but not limited to its collaboration with Blackstone Life Sciences, Cellex, or the new company; its and the new company’s ability to enter into a license and collaboration agreement and co-development and co-promotion agreement; the new company’s use of capital, expenses, future accumulated deficit, future results, and ability to fund operations at least through the next 24 months.
Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's current expectations and beliefs of future events, and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, risks related to Intellia’s ability to protect and maintain its intellectual property position; risks related to Intellia’s relationship with third parties, including its licensors and licensees; risks related to the ability of Intellia’s licensors to protect and maintain their intellectual property position; uncertainties related to the authorization, initiation and conduct of studies and other development requirements for the new company’s product candidates; the risk that any one or more of the new company’s product candidates will not be successfully developed and commercialized; the risk that the results of preclinical studies or clinical studies will not be predictive of future results in connection with future studies; and the risk that Intellia’s collaborations with Blackstone Life Sciences, Cellex, or the new company or its other collaborations will not continue or will not be successful. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Intellia’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Intellia’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent Intellia’s views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Intellia explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210622005618/en/
BLACKSTONE LIFE SCIENCES
Paula Chirhart
+1-347-463-5453
paula.chirhart@blackstone.com
GEMOAB and Cellex
Marika Geissler
+49-351-4466-45011
m.geissler@gemoab.com
INTELLIA:
Investor Relations:
Lina Li
Director
Investor Relations
+1-857-706-1612
lina.li@intelliatx.com
Media:
Julie Ferguson
(Interim) Head of External Affairs & Communications
+1-312-385-0098
julie.ferguson@intelliatx.com
media@intelliatx.com
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NYSE/blackstone-BX/stock-news/85414909/blackstone-life-sciences-cellex-cell-professional
Central Bank Of Portugal Approves Licenses For Crypto Exchange
June 22 2021 - 04:25PM
NEWSBTC
In another win for the adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, the Central Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal) has officially announced that they will begin approving licenses for crypto exchanges to operate within the country. Two have already been granted. This is the first time that crypto asset exchanges are able to operate within […]
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/85420823/central-bank-of-portugal-approves-licenses-for-cry
Central Bank Of Portugal Approves Licenses For Crypto Exchange
Cameron Bailey by Cameron Bailey 5 seconds ago in Crypto Reading Time: 2 mins read
In another win for the adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, the Central Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal) has officially announced that they will begin approving licenses for crypto exchanges to operate within the country. Two have already been granted.
This is the first time that crypto asset exchanges are able to operate within the country since a new law on blockchain technology was passed earlier this year.
Criptoloja and Mind the Coin are currently the only virtual assets service providers officially licensed and listed on the bank’s website. However many more are sure to follow suit. The decision has been a long time coming as Criptoloja initially attempted to register in Sept 2020.
From the Central Band of Portugal’s official announcement, with these licenses, Criptoloja and Mind the Coin are now able to:
* exchange services between virtual assets and fiat currencies or
between one or more forms of virtual assets;
* transfer services of virtual assets;
* safekeeping and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments
that enable the control, ownership, storage or transfer of such
assets, including private encrypted keys.
The people of Portugal can now be certain that their crypto assets are transferred and can be kept securely on these open exchanges. Having a license issued from a central bank shows Portugal’s confidence in crypto assets and the continued adoption of the technology.
Countries Around The World Warming Up To Cryptocurrencies?
Portugal is just one of many countries in Europe allowing cryptocurrencies to be traded within its borders. Just last month Malta Financial Services Authority (MSFA) issued Xcoins, a major cryptocurrency exchange, a Class 3 Virtual Financial Asset License. This is the second license that the MFSA has given out with the first being Crypto.com.
Not only are countries in Europe quickly moving to adopt both blockchain and crypto technology, but El Salvador was also recently the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Many other South American countries have been quick to also jump on the growing crypto revolution. See our related reading below for a run down of the recent adoption movement in South America.
Related Reading | South American Countries Are Interested In Adopting Bitcoin: Who Will Be Next?
Only time will tell what countries will wake up and join to the blockchain revolution next. But as more an more countries jump on the blockchain train, others will be sure to follow suit or quickly get left behind. Blockchain technology is still very young so as more applications that the blockchain has become available, more countries will allow exchanges to operate within their borders so as to let their citizens reap the benefits of decentralized networks.
https://www.newsbtc.com/crypto/central-bank-of-portugal-crypto-exchange/
Apple Tower Theatre Opens Thursday in Downtown Los Angeles
June 22 2021 - 01:00PM
Business Wire
Historic theater has premiered new technology since 1927
Apple® today previewed its newest retail location at the historic Tower Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. One of Apple’s most significant restoration projects to date, Apple Tower Theatre aims to inspire even more creativity in the heart of downtown. Apple will also launch Today at Apple Creative Studios, a global initiative that will provide hands-on experience and mentorship to young creatives, kicking off with the opening of the new store in Los Angeles.
Apple Tower Theatre is Apple’s 26th location in greater Los Angeles. The store’s nearly 100 talented retail team members join more than 3,000 Apple Store employees across the region. Also based in Los Angeles, Apple TV+? works with many of the world’s most creative storytellers and supports thousands of jobs in the creative industry across California.
“At every corner, Los Angeles bursts with creativity across the arts, music, and entertainment, and we are thrilled to build on our relationship with this special city,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People. “Apple Tower Theatre honors the rich history and legacy of this entertainment capital.”
A Building Steeped in History
Originally home to the first theater in Los Angeles wired for film with sound, the historic Tower Theatre was designed in 1927 by renowned motion-picture theater architect S. Charles Lee. That legacy of technological innovation continues today as the perfect venue to discover Apple’s full line of iPhone, iPad and Mac, each of which has transformed modern-day filmmaking, photography, and music composition.
Upon the closing of its doors in 1988, the space has lain empty and unused. With the same level of care found in previous restoration projects, Apple collaborated with leading preservationists, restoration artists, and the City of Los Angeles to thoughtfully preserve and restore the theater’s beauty and grandeur. Every surface was carefully refinished, and the building has undergone a full seismic upgrade.
Apple Tower Theatre anchors the corner of Eighth Street and Broadway, where visitors will immediately recognize the fully restored clock tower, recreated Broadway marquee, clean terra cotta exterior, and renovated historic blade sign. After walking through the Broadway doors, guests enter the monumental lobby inspired by Charles Garnier’s Paris Opera house, featuring a grand arched stairway with bronze handrails flanked by marble Corinthian columns.
In the heart of the store is the Forum and signature video wall, sitting underneath the fully restored arch and surrounded by the theater’s original balconies. The Forum will be home to Today at Apple®, where free daily sessions led by Apple team members and members of the local creative community provide inspiration and teach practical skills. The expansive auditorium, surrounded by embellished arched bays and restored bronze, displays all of customers’ favorite products, including the all-new iMac®, iPad Pro®, and Apple TV 4K®.
Visitors looking for service and support from Apple team members have ample space, as the theater’s original seating on the upper level has been modernized and made accessible to create an open, flexible space for Genius Bar® appointments. Two new elevators have been installed in the theater, welcoming all customers to every level of the new store.
Today at Apple Creative Studios
Today at Apple Creative Studios - LA kicks off a global initiative for underrepresented young creatives as part of the ongoing Today at Apple programming offered in Apple Store locations worldwide. In collaboration with the nonprofit Music Forward Foundation, as well as Inner-City Arts and the Social Justice Learning Institute, Creative Studios LA will provide access to technology, creative resources, and hands-on experience, along with a platform to elevate and amplify up-and-coming talents’ stories over nine weeks of free programming.
Today at Apple will also offer public in-store sessions at Tower Theatre and virtual sessions hosted by Creative Studios teaching artists and mentors, including photographer and filmmaker Bethany Mollenkof, rapper and producer D Smoke, singer-songwriter Syd, and cellist and singer Kelsey Lu. Noah Humes and his mentor, Maurice Harris, two artists who worked on the mural outside Tower Theatre inspired by the spirit of Creative Studios LA, will also teach a virtual session. Everyone is welcome to register at apple.com/creative-studios-la.
Apple Tower Theatre Opens Thursday at 10 a.m.
The store team will welcome its first customers Thursday, June 24, at 10 a.m. Apple Tower Theatre will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, with team members ready to provide support and service to all visitors. For those wishing to order new products online, customers can get shopping help from Apple Specialists, choose monthly financing options, trade in eligible devices, receive Support services, and elect for no-contact delivery or Apple Store® pickup.
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom (www.apple.com/newsroom), or call Apple’s Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.
© 2021 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, Apple TV+, Today at Apple, iMac, iPad Pro, Apple TV 4K, Genius Bar, Apple Store, and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210622005920/en/
Nick Leahy
Apple
nleahy@apple.com
408-862-5012
Monica Fernandez
Apple
monicaf@apple.com
669-218-1802
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NASDAQ/apple-AAPL/stock-news/85419159/apple-tower-theatre-opens-thursday-in-downtown-los
Is this company still planning on helping Women in China with reproductive health? It seem like a much needed and growing market, according to the last weekends Wall Street Journal article, that I happen to pick up and read...I actually bought the weekend edition for other investments, but as I still own a substantial amount of this stock, I figured others might be interested, too! I am not pleased with the lack of updates or progress, but it still looks like the market opportunity exists, IMO...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-plans-further-shift-toward-encouraging-childbirth-11624003448?mod=latest_headlines
WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
China Considers Lifting All Childbirth Restrictions by 2025
Concerned about falling birthrates, policy makers plan further shift toward policies that explicitly encourage childbirth
Brave Launches Privacy-Preserving Search Engine in Beta
It’s the latest addition to the browser’s suite of tracking-prevention tools.
Benjamin Powers
Jun 22, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EDT
Updated Jun 22, 2021 at 12:13 p.m. EDT
Brave Launches Privacy-Preserving Search Engine in Beta
Privacy-oriented web browser Brave has launched a new feature in beta, Brave Search, which does not track users’ searches or what they click on.
The browser looks to rival other search engines: Google is top of mind but other firms like DuckDuckGo have carved out a small but growing niche among tracking-wary web users.
“Brave Search extends the same privacy and independence guarantees that Brave has made to browser users,” Brave CEO Brendan Eich told CoinDesk in an email. “Brave Search is based on an independently built search index, whereas other search engines are critically dependent on big tech search engines under the hood.”
The new service offers fully anonymous searching and is transparent regarding how search results are ranked, Brave added.
Brave Search is based on Tailcat, the open search engine Brave acquired in March. The move continues Brave’s march to build a competitive and private alternative to other browsers, with Brave News being another recent addition.
Prior to this, Brave had only been able to offer search through third-party providers. While that met some of the company’s needs, Eich said Brave realized the search experience could be improved upon.
“In spite of the need for a better search experience, most search engines are not equipped to build one,” Eich, the developer of JavaScript and a co-founder of the Mozilla Project, said, adding:
“In fact, nearly every single Western search engine is nothing more than Google or Bing search under a different name, a so-called ‘skin.’ Because we don’t rely exclusively on big tech search engines under the hood as other private search engines do, we’re able to give our users the privacy guarantees they expect from Brave products.”
Read more: Brave Acquires Tailcat to Create Private Search Engine Competitor to Google
Brave Search uses an anonymous crowd-based indexing algorithm (so it can scale user growth to cover pages that matter) and doesn’t have to crawl the entire web just to answer common queries. Some features, like images, will still be accessed from Microsoft Bing.
Google is still the elephant in the room. According to one estimate, the search giant does the number of searches in about 12 minutes what DuckDuckGo does in a day.
Brave Search will not display ads during the initial phase of the beta, but plans to offer both ad-free paid search and ad-supported free search options. The company will consider bringing private ads with BAT (-6.43%) revenue to Brave Search at a later date.
Said Eich: “As Brave Search grows, the anonymized contributions from the community will improve and refine our results, and will help Brave Search provide the relevant results that will make it on par with big search engines – minus the tracking.”
https://www.coindesk.com/brave-launches-privacy-preserving-search-engine-in-beta
Financial Advisor Ric Edelman Sees 'Tremendous Investment Opportunities' in Bitcoin
by Kevin Helms
6 hours ago
Financial advisor Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines and RIA Digital Assets Council, has recommended having bitcoin in investment portfolios despite the cryptocurrency’s volatility. “This is totally new and different and it’s the first genuinely new asset class in about 150 years,” he said, emphasizing that “It has tremendous investment opportunities.”
Ric Edelman Sees Benefits of Having Bitcoin in Portfolios
Ric Edelman talked about bitcoin and cryptocurrency investments in an interview with Yahoo Finance last week. He founded Edelman Financial Engines and RIA Digital Asset Council. He is also the author of several personal finance books and the host of a weekly personal finance talk radio show called The Ric Edelman Show.
Edelman explained that “most financial professionals,” who have been in business a long time and are “very successful, very talented, and experienced,” are missing out on opportunities from the new asset class because they do not have a good understanding of cryptocurrency, like bitcoin. “The more talent you have, the more professional designations, the more college degrees in this space you have, the more difficult it is to get your head around bitcoin.”
Noting that he uses “bitcoin as a proxy for all digital assets,” the financial advisor emphasized, “It’s important to recognize this is a completely new and different asset class that doesn’t have anything in common with anything else we’re familiar with: stocks, bonds, real estate, oil, gold, commodities.” He further opined:
This is totally new and different and it’s the first genuinely new asset class in about 150 years … It has tremendous investment opportunities.
Regarding how one should invest in bitcoin, Edelman said, “It’s time to get off zero.” He stressed: “We need to recognize that bitcoin and digital assets are non-correlated assets” to traditional investments, like stocks and bonds, making them an “ideal addition to a diversified portfolio … You lower the risk while giving yourself the opportunity to improve returns.”
Recently, famed hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones also said that he likes bitcoin as a portfolio diversifier. He recommends putting 5% of portfolios in the cryptocurrency.
Edelman acknowledged that bitcoin’s price is volatile and unpredictable. However, he sees enough upside potential in a 1% or 2% allocation in most portfolios. “This can be a materially beneficial way to improve your overall returns over the long term,” he detailed, emphasizing that “it does not take much to have a material impact on your investment portfolio.”
The financial advisor also commented on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). He said blockchain technology, digital assets, NFTs, CBDCs, and tokens are “the most impactful commercial innovations since the development of the internet itself.” He exclaimed: “This is huge. It’s going to have a tremendous impact on global commerce.”
https://news.bitcoin.com/financial-advisor-ric-edelman-tremendous-investment-opportunities-bitcoin/
Apple iPhone production in 2021 to grow 12.3% YoY – TrendForce
Monday, June 21, 2021 10:46 am
This year, the US and Europe, which are Apple’s main markets for iPhone devices, are seeing an easing of the pandemic and expecting an economic recovery. Furthermore, Apple is expected to benefit from Huawei’s abandonment of some market share for high-end smartphones, and the sales of the new iPhone devices in 2H21 will likely be boosted thanks to this development. On the whole, the outlook on Apple’s performance in the smartphone market for the whole year is positive, according to TrendForce’s latest investigations. Although the ongoing capacity crunch in the foundry industry will have a constraining effect on Apple in terms of ramping up its iPhone production and growing its market share in the future, TrendForce is still maintaining a cautiously optimistic view and forecasts that the annual total iPhone smartphone production for 2021 will grow by around 12.3% YoY to 223 million units, with additional room for a slight growth going forward.
Apple will prioritize the optimization of existing functions with the iPhone 12s series, while retail prices are expected to remain on par with last year’s release of iPhone 12 models
Apple plans to unveil the next generation of iPhones, tentatively called the iPhone 12s series (official name has yet to be revealed), in September 2021, and the smartphone market has placed the spotlight on the new handsets’ physical appearances as well as retail prices. Regarding the general outward appearance of the upcoming iPhone devices, the notch on top of the screen will shrink due to the decreased size of their sensor housings. Apart from this, other upgrades will mostly relate to the optimization of existing functions and features. All in all, the degree of innovation is not particularly significant in terms of appearance, and the four new models can be regarded as an extension to the iPhone 12 series. Because of this, TrendForce also believes that Apple will continue the proactive pricing strategy that it adopted in 2020 so as to maintain its market share for high-end smartphones. Even though prices of some key components have risen due to tightening supply, Apple is taking into account of the growth in the revenue of peripheral services in relation to the growth of iPhone sales. This means that the starting price of the upcoming iPhone series will likely be relatively on par with the starting price of the iPhone 12 series.
For the latest iPhone models, Apple has made certain upgrades to the handsets. TrendForce here summarizes the key components of the latest iPhone models, including the processor, display, memory, and camera. The iPhone 12s series will feature the A15 processors manufactured at TSMC’s 5nm+ node. Regarding the display, the new models will be equipped with flexible AMOLED panels with On-cell touchscreen technology; the two Pro models will also feature a 120Hz refresh rate. Judging by the iPhone 12s series’ starting prices as well as the differences among various models’ retail prices, TrendForce expects the new handsets’ memory capacities to remain the same as their iPhone 12 counterparts. On the camera front, Apple has upgraded all iPhone 12s handsets’ main cameras to include sensor-shift image stabilization technologies. For the Pro models, not only are their ultra-wide cameras now equipped with 6P lens (which is an upgrade over the previous generation), but they are also capable of autofocus functions. Notably, it should be pointed out that LiDAR scanners are available in the Pro models only.
On the whole, TrendForce expects the latest iPhone devices to account for about 39% of Apple’s total annual production volume for 2021. As all iPhone 12s handsets contain 5G modems, the share of 5G models in the overall iPhone production is projected to expand massively from 39% in 2020 to 75% in 2021. Furthermore, Apple is expected to focus on driving sales of the three non-mini models in the iPhone 12s series in view of the fact that the iPhone 12 mini (which reached End-of-Life ahead of time in 2Q21) suffered disappointing sales performances compared to other models in the iPhone 12 family.
MacDailyNews Take: “Duuuhhh, what’s that now?” – Goldman Sachs “analyst” Rod Hall.
https://macdailynews.com/2021/06/21/apple-iphone-production-in-2021-to-grow-12-3-yoy-trendforce/
Pantera Capital CEO: Bitcoin Has Only Been This “Cheap” 20% Of The Last 11 Years
by Cameron Bailey 3 days ago in Bitcoin Reading Time: 3 mins read
The best time to buy Bitcoin was a few years and when it first came around in the early 2010’s. The next best time to buy BTC? Right now according to Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead.
In a tweet sent out recently, Morehead laid out the facts for why the the market is below trend, making now one of the best times to buy.
For new investors, it’s best to buy when the market is well below trend. Now is one of those times.#Bitcoin has only been this “cheap” relative to its trend 20.3% of the past 11 years.
Bitcoin Below Market Trend?
What Morehead explains about the price of Bitcoin is clear to see. Right now, Bitcoin is trading at 36% below its 11 year exponential trend. So, relative to this trend, or the overall direction of market price, it has only been this “cheap” to buy and under the trend for a little over 20% of the last decade plus.
This means that typically, people pay more for BTC relative to what they should have paid based on price movement. For those looking to buy bitcoin at a potential discount, now may be that time since Bitcoin is not normally under the trend in this way.
Although Bitcoin is trading at a lower price after the downturn in recent weeks, that doesn’t mean the market isn’t poised for a rebound. Investors should be bullish that the cryptocurrency is currently cheap relative to the trend. This along with the fact that it’s year over year return is up 281% shows that there should be no worry from crypto investors and those holding any digital assets.
Pantera Capital is the first U.S based institutional asset manager focused completely on blockchain technology. Since their first fund in 2013, they have continually been on the cutting edge of funding blockchain businesses, and investing in digital assets.
In Pantera Capital’s blockchain letter from 6/14/2021, they further clarify the reasons why holders should not worry about the recent losses:
It has averaged more than tripling annually for ten years. Anyone that has held bitcoin for 3.25 years has made money. Bitcoin has only printed one calendar year with a lower low. So, most of those investors are up big-time.
Why Is The Crypto Market Below Trend ?
Many factors play into the reasons that the crypto market is below trend right now. But the biggest comes from the large dip crypto prices took a few weeks ago. With that drop, many investors were scared into liquidation and fears that the market could completely bottom out. The prevailing side effect, Bitcoin trades at a lower price relative to it’s decades long trend.
If you were thinking about dipping your toe into the cryptocurrency market, there is no better time like today to get a good deal on the price of Bitcoin relative to its history.
https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/bitcoin-this-cheap-20-of-last-11-yrs/
Microstrategy Buys Another $489 Million Worth Of Bitcoin
by Hououin Kyouma 4 hours ago in Bitcoin Reading Time: 2 mins read
Microstrategy bought on Monday 13,005 Bitcoins worth about $489 million at an average price of $37,617 per coin.
Now the business owns a total of 105,085 BTC that they bought for $2.74 billion. The average price per coin comes out to be $26,080.
Microstrategy’s CEO Makes Bitcoin Acquisition Second Business
BTC is down 8% to about $33k today as a result of China’s continued crackdowns on mining hubs. As Microstrategy’s stock is tied to BTC, it too fell over 6%.
As of right now, the 105,085 BTC that Microstrategy holds is worth more than $3 billion. The software company acquired them at an average price of $26,080 per coin including fees and other expenses.
Microstrategy had to take debt offerings so that the firm could pick up more coins, and they seem to have doubled down even more on their Bitcoin pursuits after the $489 million buy today.
Regarding their BTC business, Saylor says:
We rotated our shareholder base and transformed ourselves into a company that’s able to sell enterprise software and to acquire and hold bitcoin, and we’ve done it successfully with leverage.
The software developer has also decided to sell more stock worth $1 billion so that they can fund more Bitcoin purchases
All these purchases have been a big benefit for the company as the year-on-year revenue jumped to 10%. Saylor says:
Microstrategy has also seen the benefit in terms of stock value. In August last year, when they first started buying BTC, their stock price was around $120. Today, it is $580, a sharp increase of over 400%.
The bitcoin business is driving shareholder returns. I think the employees are happy. The shareholders are happy.
Bitcoin Price
BTC is down to $32,195 today. This value is 19% down compared to last week. While over the entire month, its down slightly less, around 15%.
It looks like the market is bearish right now, and it’s unclear when it would change for the better.
China’s crackdowns on crypto seem to be having a major effect on the price of BTC so the future of the market probably depends on that as well. Right now, China doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
Some experts believe the market could correct itself to 1/2 of the value at $17k, and only after that a bullish pattern will make a return.
https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/microstrategy-buys-million-bitcoin/
Hawkish Fed comments push Bitcoin price and stocks lower again
JUN 19, 2021 | by Jordan Finneseth
Source: Coin360Ether (ETH) saw its price slide more than 13% to reach a low at $2,137 and Amp (AMP) fell 33% from its all-time high of $0.1211...
https://cointelegraph.com/news/hawkish-fed-comments-push-bitcoin-price-and-stocks-lower-again
I decided to start accumulating AMP last week based on the information below:
Flexa, which describes itself as the “first ever digital currency payment option for brick-and-mortar retail,” aims to offer a blanket solution for cryptocurrency acceptance and spending.
Its previous infrastructure token, Flexacoin (FXC), was converted to AMP late last year as part of an overhaul.
The replacement appeared to fare better than the original almost instantly, rising throughout 2021 from a starting value of just $0.006 — year-to-date gains of around 1,700%.
Flexa has already partnered with Canadian multinational e-commerce company Shopify. When the latter announced that it would expand its payment features to all Facebook and Google merchants this week, AMP cemented its ongoing bull run, jumping 25% in the past 24 hours alone as exchange Coinbase launched trading.
In late May, U.S. food and retail chain Sheetz confirmed that it would begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments using Flexa’s services.
“Since launching Flexa just over two years ago as the first ever digital currency payment option for brick-and-mortar retail, we’ve scaled to support more than 41,000 merchant locations across the US,” Tyler Spalding, co-founder and CEO of Flexa, commented last month.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/flexa-amp-cryptocurrency-hits-new-highs-on-coinbase-listing-up-1-700-in-2021
Smartwatch and phone data led husband to confess to murdering his wife Caroline Crouch
Friday, June 18, 2021 4:01 pm
After being tripped up by smartwatch and phone data that contradicted his cover story, a 33-year-old Greek pilot has confessed to the killing of his young British wife, Caroline Crouch, police say, in a crime that shocked Greece.
BBC News:
Babis Anagnostopoulos was picked up after attending his late wife’s memorial service on the island of Alonnisos, where she grew up.
He originally claimed three robbers had broken into the couple’s Athens home and tied him up.
But after a lengthy investigation, police said his story did not add up.
They found no trace of the gang he claimed had tied him up, suffocated his wife and stolen €15,000 (£13,000; $18,000) in cash.
Then they checked a range of technical devices to corroborate his account. Caroline Crouch’s biometric watch revealed her pulse readings on the day she died. Babis Anagnostopoulos’s movements were also tracked via his mobile phone, and the couple’s surveillance system also highlighted discrepancies.
Although the suspect said he had been tied up, police said he had managed to use his phone at the time…
Caroline Crouch’s smart watch showed that her heart was still beating at the time her husband claimed she was murdered. The activity tracker on his phone showed him moving around the house while he said he was tied up; and the recorded time at which data cards were removed from the home security camera also told a different story to his version of events.
MacDailyNews Take: Prosecute Anagnostopoulos to the fullest extent of the law.
https://macdailynews.com/2021/06/18/smartwatch-and-phone-data-led-husband-to-confess-to-murdering-his-wife-caroline-crouch/
More Than Two Dozen Crypto ATMs to Be Installed in Texas-Based H-E-B Grocery Storesby Jamie Redman
8 hours ago
H-E-B shoppers will soon be able to obtain digital assets at more than two dozen locations in Texas. Coin Cloud, a crypto automated teller machine (ATM) provider, says 29 H-E-B stores will feature kiosks that provide access to more than 30 crypto assets including defi tokens and stablecoins.
H-E-B Stores in Texas to Host Coin Cloud Digital Currency ATMs
29 H-E-B locations will soon have cryptocurrency ATMs at their disposal. The machines will be provided by Coin Cloud, a digital currency ATM provider based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Coin Cloud calls its devices “digital currency machines” or “DCMs.” The company is set to reach 2,000 DCM installations after the H-E-B locations are complete.
Besides H-E-B grocery stores, Coin Cloud has partnerships with the National Alliance of Trade Associations, United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), and CAL’s Convenience Store. The DCMs are stretched across the United States and countries in South America as well.
In the U.S., Coin Cloud has crypto machines in states like Delaware, Texas, Oregon, New Jersey, California, Kansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, and more.
According to a report from the Houston Chronicle, a H-E-B grocery store chain executive confirmed that 29 stores will start the pilot program. Most of the Coin Cloud H-E-B-based DCM kiosks will be located in the Houston area.
Coin Cloud crypto machines accept both debit and credit cards, alongside cash. The announcement on Friday revealed that over the last six months, Coin Cloud has installed 750 DCMs.
“We’re thrilled to reach this juncture of our business, as our growth is a tangible representation of interest in digital currencies and of Coin Cloud’s mission to provide communities with seamless options to buy and sell,” Chris McAlary, the founder and CEO of Coin Cloud, remarked. “As we continue to expand, retailers will become increasingly aware of the important role digital currency plays in the future.”
According to coinatmradar.com statistics as of June 19, 2021, there are approximately 21,842 cryptocurrency automated teller machines installed worldwide. Other crypto ATM providers competing in Texas for ATM real estate include Coinsource, Rockitcoin, and Bitaccess.
https://news.bitcoin.com/more-than-two-dozen-crypto-atms-to-be-installed-in-texas-based-h-e-b-grocery-stores/
Miami Mayor Tries to Entice China's Bitcoin Miners — 'We Want You to Be Here'
Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez told the press on Thursday that his city was open to bitcoin miners from China who are flocking to find new homes. Suarez says he hasn’t actually talked to any miners from China but said he wants them to know the opportunity is there.
Miami’s Mayor Says City Is Open to Chinese Mining Operations, Touts Florida’s Cheap Nuclear Power
According to an interview, Francis Suarez, the American attorney and 43rd mayor of Miami, is inviting Chinese miners to his city to set up shop if they desire.
Suarez is a fan of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the decentralized crypto asset bitcoin (BTC), and he has explained that he owns BTC as well. The Miami mayor has also said on a number of occasions that he wants the city of Miami to become a crypto hub for entrepreneurs and builders.
At $0.11 per kWh, a Bitmain Antminer S19 Pro with 110 terahash per second (TH/s) can get around $18.59 per day using current BTC exchange rates. The Microbt Whatsminer M30S++ 112 TH/s gets around $18.50 per day at $0.11 per kWh according to data from asicminervalue.com.
Suarez’s invitation to Chinese miners comes at a time when governments in China’s provinces are banning bitcoin mining operations. The latest crackdown happened today, as Sichuan miners have been instructed to close shop by June 25, 2021.
“We understand how important this is… miners want to reach a certain kilowatt price per hour, and we’re working with them on it,” Suarez told CNBC.
https://news.bitcoin.com/miami-mayor-tries-to-entice-chinas-bitcoin-miners-we-want-you-to-be-here/
On Thursday, Suarez told CNBC he’s inviting Chinese miners to seek shelter in the region after the crackdown stemming from Beijing. Suarez explained that the region has an abundance of clean and cheap electricity thanks to nuclear energy.
“We want to make sure that our city has an opportunity to compete,” Suarez said during his interview. “We’re talking to a lot of companies and just telling them, ‘Hey, we want you to be here,’” the mayor added.
Suarez made these statements to CNBC from the second floor of the Miami City Hall building which is located near the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant. In fact, Florida houses a great abundance of nuclear power plants all over the state.
“The fact that we have nuclear power means that it’s very inexpensive power,” Suarez stressed during his chat with the press in Miami. According to CNBC’s report, miners in Miami could obtain a rate of 10.7 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Out of All the American States Study Shows Hawaii Expressed the Most Crypto Demand This Year
EMERGING MARKETS
by Jamie Redman
1 day ago
A report published by the independent marketing intelligence company, Miq Digital, explains that Hawaii has seen the most crypto demand of all the states in the U.S., with a 687% increase since 2020. As far as increased cryptocurrency demand since last year, Nevada, California, Florida, and Colorado followed the island state with increases of over 600% as well.
The independent marketing intelligence firm Miq Digital has published a research report on interest in cryptocurrencies across all the American states since 2020.
According to the study, demand has increased this year following a similar pattern as the crypto asset market bull run. The firm analyzed search data from sources like Google Trends and found that around 6% of Americans either use or own digital currencies in 2021.
“Around 6% of the U.S. population now use or own crypto, and the trend is growing,” the Miq Digital report details. As far as the top five states that saw increases above 600%, Hawaii topped the list with 687%. The Aloha State is followed by California (655%), Colorado (637%), Florida (628%), and Nevada (621%).
“We analysed search data to uncover the states driving the ongoing crypto craze. These are the areas with the largest interest in crypto in 2021, alongside the increase in demand since 2020,” Miq explains. In addition to the U.S. “hotspots,” the Miq Digital study also highlights some of the most popular cryptocurrencies discovered in the search analysis.
The top coin on the list is the meme-based crypto asset dogecoin (DOGE), followed by other popular tokens such as maker (MKR), ethereum (ETH), dash (DASH), litecoin (LTC), and bitcoin (BTC).
The study shows the Shiba Inu crypto asset DOGE saw a “1,781% increase in interest across the U.S.” The Miq Digital study indicates the “dogecoin hotspots” in the U.S., and highlights Alaska, California, North Dakota, and Washington as the biggest DOGE-supporting states.
Ethereum followed dogecoin with a 777% increase in interest across the nation. “Ethereum hotspots” include California, New Jersey, and Washington according to the researchers. Furthermore, “acceptance of cryptocurrencies among businesses is slowly growing across the U.S.,” the study reveals.
Moreover, the acceptance of BTC has proliferated across a number of different states. California has the most businesses recorded with “440 businesses” and the state is followed by the Sunshine State, as Florida captures “180 businesses.”
https://news.bitcoin.com/out-of-all-the-american-states-study-shows-hawaii-expressed-the-most-crypto-demand-this-year/
Bitcoin To Reclaim $50,000: Legendary Technical Analyst John Bolinger
June 16 2021 - 04:29PM
NEWSBTC
Technical analyst John Bolinger says that the price of Bitcoin is trying to move up. He pointed out that the first real target is the bottom side of the prior. This means the $48k to $50k range. This was in response to a tweet from BigCheds on Twitter which posted a candlestick chart showing Bitcoin’s […]
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/85379160/bitcoin-to-reclaim-50-000-legendary-technical-an
https://www.newsbtc.com/analysis/btc/bitcoin-to-50000/
Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels are now available worldwide
June 15 2021 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Thousands of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels from the world’s best audio creators, including the Los Angeles Times, Luminary, NPR, Pushkin Industries, and QCODE, are available today, with more launching every week
Apple today announced Apple Podcasts® Subscriptions, the global marketplace for premium podcast subscriptions, is now available. Starting today, listeners in more than 170 countries and regions1 can purchase subscriptions for individual shows and groups of shows through channels, making it easy to support their favorite creators, enjoy new content, and unlock additional benefits such as ad-free listening and early access, directly on Apple Podcasts.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210615005485/en/
Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels are available for listeners starting today. (Photo: Business Wire)
Listeners can discover thousands of subscriptions and channels featuring brand new shows that span many genres and formats, including news, comedy, sports, and true crime, offering listeners premium experiences that help them stay informed, entertained, connected, and inspired. These include subscriptions to shows from essential independent voices like "Birthful” with Adriana Lozada, “Pantsuit Politics” with Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland, “Snap Judgment” with Glynn Washington, and “You Had Me At Black” with Martina Abrams Ilunga; premier studios such as Lemonada Media, Luminary, Realm, and Wondery; and leading media and entertainment brands, including CNN, NPR, The Washington Post, and Sony Music Entertainment.
With Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, listeners can experience never-before-heard stories on Luminary’s “The Midnight Miracle” with Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey, and Dave Chappelle, and Pushkin Industries’ “Revisionist History” with Malcolm Gladwell; the next chapters of QCODE’s apocalyptic thriller “Blackout,” starring Rami Malek and Aja Naomi King, and Realm’s “Orphan Black,” featuring Tatiana Maslany; the unrivaled chemistry and insightful commentary driving CNN’s “The Handoff,” and Politico’s “Playbook: Deep Dive”; and many more.
“Listeners can’t get enough of their favorite podcasts and want a simple way to support the extraordinary creators who make them possible,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats. “Now, listeners can enjoy new content and additional benefits for thousands of new and popular podcasts, alongside millions of free shows, with more arriving every week. Apple Podcasts Subscriptions will help creators grow their businesses and continue to make podcasting an important source of information, entertainment, connection, and inspiration for hundreds of millions of listeners around the world.”
Discover Subscriptions and Channels
When listeners purchase a subscription to a show, they automatically follow the show and the page is updated with a Subscriber Edition label so they know they have access to the premium experience. Listeners can discover channels for their favorite podcasts from each show page and through Search, explore recommendations from the Listen Now and Browse tabs, and share channels using Messages, Mail, and other apps. As listeners subscribe to channels, the Listen Now tab expands with new rows that provide easy access to all of the content included in the channel and with their subscription. Listeners who subscribe to two or more channels will see a My Channels row in the Listen Now tab, where they can browse and follow all of the shows offered.
New Shows and Seasons, Available with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions
Listeners can hear new and original shows and get early access to new seasons of critically acclaimed and fan-favorite series, all ad-free, including:
“Chameleon: High Rollers” with Trevor Aaronson, from Campside Media: Last year, Josh Dean and Vanessa Grigoriadis told listeners the remarkable true story of the Hollywood Con Queen scam. This summer, the critically acclaimed series returns with a new story about a doomed FBI sting operation in Las Vegas. Trevor Aaronson investigates what happened and how it all went off the rails. Subscribers enjoy new episodes first starting today, plus exclusive bonus episodes throughout the season.
“The Handoff” with Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo, from CNN: The love viewers witness between Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo in the handoff between their evening broadcasts is real. Now, Lemon and Cuomo are stepping out from behind the anchor desk for a weekly conversation where nothing is off limits. “The Handoff” is available today exclusively to subscribers on Apple Podcasts.
“The Midnight Miracle” with Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey, and Dave Chappelle, from Luminary: A groundbreaking original series that uniquely blends the salon and variety shows formats, recorded during Chappelle’s legendary 2020 Summer Camp in Ohio. “The Midnight Miracle” is available exclusively to Luminary subscribers today.
“Revisionist History” with Malcolm Gladwell, part of PushNik from Pushkin Industries: Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell’s journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood moments in history continues. In this new season, Gladwell races autonomous vehicles, rewrites one of America’s most beloved fairy tales, falls in love with a small college in New Orleans, and dives into dirty laundry.
“To Live and Die in LA” with Neil Strauss, part of TenderfootPlus+ from Tenderfoot TV: After revealing the truth about the tragic death of an aspiring Hollywood actress, the award-winning series returns to uncover the baffling, tragic, and mysterious disappearance of Elaine Park. Neil Strauss investigates — along with his wife, neighbors, Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger, and concert violinist Ann Marie Simpson — to advance the investigation and provide closure for her loved ones. TenderfootPlus+ subscribers will gain early and exclusive access to upcoming bonus episodes.
New Subscriptions and Channels from Premier Studios
Lemonada Media: Sort through the messiness of life and get inspired by high-quality shows with all-star hosts focused on important causes. Subscribers to Lemonada Premium join an incredible community, support meaningful, world-shaping content from a women-run network, gain early access to new series, and unlock bonus episodes from leading shows.
Radiotopia from PRX: Home to podcasts from extraordinary, independent creators, including “Ear Hustle,” with Earlonne Woods, Nigel Poor, and Rahsaan Thomas, “Criminal” with Phoebe Judge, “Song Exploder” with Hrishikesh Hirway, “The Stoop” with Hana Baba and Leila Day, “Passenger List” starring Kelly Marie Tran, and more. Subscribers to Radiotopia Uninterrupted support the work they do and gain access to ad-free listening across the award-winning network.
Pushkin Industries: Listen to revelatory shows from world-class writers and thinkers, including “A Slight Change of Plans” with Dr. Maya Shankar, “The Last Archive” with historian Jill Lepore, “The Happiness Lab” with Dr. Laurie Santos, “Against The Rules” with author Michael Lewis, “Broken Record” with legendary producer Rick Rubin, and more. PushNik subscribers can hear these shows and more with no interruptions and access exclusive bonus content.
Tenderfoot TV: Dive into gripping true-crime narratives, documentaries, and anthology series from the award-winning, independent, Atlanta-based production studio behind “Up and Vanished” and “Atlanta Monster” with filmmaker Payne Lindsey, “Whistleblower” with sports journalist Tim Livingston, “Radio Rental,” and more. Subscribers to TenderfootPlus+ enjoy ad-free listening and gain early and exclusive access to upcoming bonus episodes.
Beginning today, listeners can find additional subscriptions from other premier studios and entertainment brands, including Audio Up, Betches Media, Blue Wire, Imperative Entertainment, Lantigua Williams & Co., Magnificent Noise, The Moth, Neon Hum Media, Sony Music Entertainment, Three Uncanny Four, and Wondery, plus channels from Audacy’s Cadence13 and Ramble, Barstool Sports, Jake Brennan’s Double Elvis, Headgum, iHeartMedia’s The Black Effect, Big Money Players, Grim & Mild, Seneca Women, Shondaland, and Relay FM.
New and Emerging Formats Powered by Subscriptions
Scripted Fiction: Subscribers get early and exclusive access to immersive original narratives with uninterrupted listening experiences from award-winning storytellers, produced by Meet Cute, QCODE, Realm, and more.
Mindfulness and Sleep: New shows featuring calming meditations, soothing music, and relaxing stories from WaitWhat’s “Meditative Story” with Rohan Gunatillake, Frequency’s “Drift” with Erin Davis, and “Sleep by Headspace” help listeners practice mindfulness and support a good night’s rest.
Kids and Family: Introduce kids to their new co-detectives, downtime companions, and study buddies with premium subscriptions featuring curated collections of age-appropriate, ad-free original stories spanning mysteries, comedies, musicals, and more from GBH, Gen-Z Media, Pinna, Wonkybot Studios, TRAX from PRX, and others.
News Providers Offering Subscriptions and Channels
The Athletic: Join the conversation on every sports story that matters. With breaking news, expert commentary, insightful analysis, and unrivaled narratives, The Athletic is powered by hundreds of full-time local writers to deliver exclusive sports coverage built around fandom.
FOX News: Hear from Dana Perino, Bret Baier, Shannon Bream, Trey Gowdy, Martha MacCallum, and other signature voices — all without commercials. Subscribers receive early access to seasonal series from FOX News Investigates, bonus episodes from FOX News Radio’s talk shows, audio versions of popular FOX News Channel programs, and a variety of long-form interviews.
Los Angeles Times: Enjoy the engaging, informative, and diverse journalism and storytelling the L.A. Times is known for with access to ad-free versions of “The Times,” a new daily news podcast hosted by columnist Gustavo Arellano; the new season of “Asian Enough” with reporters Jen Yamato, Johana Bhuiyan, Tracy Brown, and Suhauna Hussain; “Chasing Cosby” with Nicki Weisensee Egan and other narrative series; plus subscriber-exclusive bonus episodes for the all-new “The Trials of Frank Carson” from Christopher Goffard, host of “Dirty John” and “Detective Trapp.”
NPR: Enjoy sponsor-free versions of leading NPR shows across news, business, culture, and more, including “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, “How I Built This with Guy Raz,” “It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders,” “Planet Money” with Jacob Goldstein, Karen Duffin, and Sarah Gonzalez, “Short Wave” with Madeline Sofia, and the Apple Podcasts 2020 Show of the Year, “Code Switch,” with Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby.
The Washington Post: Listen to ad-free editions of The Post’s award-winning podcasts spanning daily news, documentaries, investigations, and deep discussions around specific topics and moments in history, including “Post Reports” with Martine Powers, “Moonrise” with Lillian Cunningham, “Canary” with Amy Brittain, and “Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart.”
This month, listeners can also find subscriptions from Bloomberg Media, Los Angeles Times, Politico, and Vox Media, plus channels from other leading newspapers, magazines, broadcasters, radio stations, and digital publishers, including ABC News, Axios, Billboard, Bravo, CNBC, CNN, Crooked Media, Dateline, Entertainment Weekly, Futuro Media, The Hollywood Reporter, LAist Studios, National Geographic, MSNBC, NBC News, NBC Sports, New York Magazine, The New York Times, SiriusXM, SB Nation, Southern Living, The Verge, TODAY, VICE, Vogue, Vox, and WBUR.
Even More Subscriptions and Channels
Notable international subscriptions and channels available beginning today include ABC, LiSTNR, and SBS from Australia; Abrace Podcasts from Brazil; CANADALAND and Frequency Podcast Network from Canada; GoLittle from Denmark; Europe 1, Louie Media, and Radio France from France; Der Spiegel, Podimo, and ZEIT ONLINE from Germany; Il Sole 24 Ore and Storielibere.fm from Italy; J-WAVE from Japan; Brainrich from Korea; libo/libo from Russia; Finyal Media from the UAE; and Broccoli Productions, The Bugle, Content Is Queen, the Guardian, Immediate Media, and Somethin’ Else from the UK.
Creators interested in offering subscriptions and channels are encouraged to visit Apple Podcasts for Creators.
Pricing and Availability
Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels are available to listeners in more than 170 countries and regions on Apple devices running iOS 14.6, iPadOS® 14.6, and macOS® 11.4 or later.
Customers can play subscription content on Apple Watch® with watchOS® 7.5 or later, on Apple TV® with tvOS® 14.6 or later, and with HomePod®, HomePod mini®, and CarPlay®.
Pricing for each subscription is set by creators and starts at $0.49 (US) per month. Listeners can manage their subscriptions, and switch from monthly to annual billing if offered, from their Apple ID Account Settings, accessible from the top of the Listen Now tab in Apple Podcasts.
Apple Podcasts Subscriptions can be purchased and gifted using Apple Gift Card™.
Apple Card™ customers receive 3 percent Daily Cash with each Apple Podcasts Subscription and can view itemized receipts for each Apple Podcasts Subscription in the Wallet app.
Each Apple Podcasts Subscription can be shared among six family members through Family Sharing.
For recommendations on shows to follow and what to listen to next, follow @ApplePodcasts on Twitter.
1 Subscriptions and channel availability and pricing vary by country and region. Some features are not available in all regions and for some languages.
About Apple Podcasts
Apple took podcasts mainstream. With iPod® and iTunes®, listeners could enjoy thousands of free shows from the best radio stations, news publishers, and independent creators instantly. For more than 15 years, podcasts have informed, entertained, and inspired hundreds of millions of listeners with gripping stories and fresh perspectives. Today, Apple Podcasts is the best place for listeners to discover, enjoy, and support their favorite podcasts, now featuring millions of shows with programming in more than 100 languages. Apple Podcasts is available for free in over 170 countries and regions on iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch®, Mac®, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod and HomePod mini, CarPlay, iTunes on Windows, and other smart speakers and car systems.
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom (www.apple.com/newsroom), or call Apple’s Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.
© 2021 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Apple Podcasts, iPadOS, macOS, Apple Watch, watchOS, Apple TV, tvOS, HomePod, HomePod mini, CarPlay, Apple Gift Card, Apple Card, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210615005485/en/
Zach Kahn
Apple
zkahn@apple.com
(669) 276-2811
Apple Media Helpline
media.help@apple.com
(408) 974-2042
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NASDAQ/apple-AAPL/stock-news/85363430/apple-podcasts-subscriptions-and-channels-are-now
HealthLynked Corp Presents at the World Stem Cell Summit on Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 12:45pm Eastern Standard Time
June 16 2021 - 08:00AM
InvestorsHub NewsWire
HealthLynked Corp Presents at the World Stem Cell Summit on Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 12:45pm Eastern Standard Time
Naples, Florida -- June 16, 2021 -- InvestorsHub NewsWire -- HealthLynked (OTCQB: HLYK) a global healthcare network focused on care management of its members and a provider of healthcare technologies that connects doctors, patients, and medical data, today announced that its CEO Dr. Michael Dent and CFO George O'Leary will present at the Investor Forum at the World Stem Cell Summit to be held (virtually) June 14-18, 2021 – the Company's presentation will be on Thursday June 17, 2021 at 12:45pm Eastern Standard Time and consist of a 20-minute formal description of the Company and its financial position, followed by a 20-minute Q&A session moderated by a Noble Capital Markets equity research representative.
The presentation can be accessed in two ways: by registering for the full World Stem Cell Summit www.worldstemcellsummit.com, or by registering (at no cost) for the Investor Forum only at www.channelchek.com; the investor portal created by Noble. The video webcast will be later archived on Channelchek as part of its C-Suite Series www.channelchek.com/c-suite, and on its YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/channelchek.
About HealthLynked Corp.
HealthLynked Corp. provides a solution for both patient members and providers to improve healthcare through the efficient exchange of medical information. The HealthLynked Network is a cloud-based platform that allows members to connect with their healthcare providers and take more control of their healthcare. Members enter their medical information, including medications, allergies, past surgeries, and personal health records, in one convenient online and secure location, free of charge. Participating healthcare providers can connect with their current and future patients through the system. Benefits to in-network providers include the ability to utilize the HealthLynked patent-pending patient access hub "PAH" for patient analytics. Other benefits for preferred providers include HLYK marketing tools to connect with their active and inactive patients to improve patient retention, access more accurate and current patient information, provide more efficient online scheduling, and to fill last-minute cancelations using the Company's "real-time appointment scheduling" all within its mobile application. Preferred providers pay a monthly fee to access these HealthLynked services. For additional information about HealthLynked Corp., please visit www.healthlynked.com and connect with HealthLynked on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About the World Stem Cell Summit
Produced by the nonprofit Regenerative Medicine Foundation (RMF), the 2021 Summit is the most inclusive and expansive interdisciplinary networking and partnering meeting in the stem cell translation and regenerative medicine field. With the overarching purpose of fostering biomedical research, funding and investments targeting cures, the Summit is the single conference serving the diverse ecosystem of regenerative medicine stakeholders. Combined with the WFIRM & RMF Regenerative Medicine Essentials Course, the Summit provides distinctive educational and futuristic experiences through which all participants collect opportunities, become inspired and flourish.
About Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
Noble Capital Markets ("Noble") is a research driven boutique investment bank that has supported small & microcap companies since 1984. As a FINRA and SEC licensed broker dealer Noble provides institutional-quality equity research, merchant and investment banking, wealth management and order execution services. In 2005, Noble established NobleCon, an investor conference that has grown substantially over the last decade. In 2018 Noble launched www.channelchek.com - a new investment community dedicated exclusively to small and micro-cap companies and their industries. Channelchek is tailored to meet the needs of self-directed investors and financial professionals. Channelchek is the first service to offer institutional-quality research to the public, for FREE at every level without a subscription. More than 6,000 emerging growth companies are listed on the site, with growing content including webcasts, podcasts, and balanced news.
Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Our actual results, including as a result of any acquisitions, performance, or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by our management, and us are inherently uncertain. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Certain risks and uncertainties applicable to our operations and us are described in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings we have made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are publicly available at www.sec.gov.
Contacts:
George O'Leary
Chief Financial Officer
goleary@healthlynked.com
(800)-928-7144, ext. 103
William Hayde
Capital Markets Strategist
bhayde@healthlynked.com
(631)-403-4337
Investor Relations Contacts:
Jim Hock
Hanover International Inc.
jh@hanoverintlinc.com
(760)-564-7400
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/USOTC/healthlynked-qb-HLYK/stock-news/85374493/healthlynked-corp-presents-at-the-world-stem-cell
More Brits bought crypto than shares last year, new survey suggests
MARTIN YOUNG
9 HOURS AGO
More than 70% of U.K. crypto investors surveyed reported a profit.
A new survey suggests Brits have become more eager to invest in cryptocurrencies than in traditional stocks and shares-based investments.
United Kingdom investment firm AJ Bell’s survey found that 7% of British adult respondents reported they had bought crypto over the last year, compared to 5% who invested in stocks and shares individual savings accounts (ISA). A stocks and shares ISA is a type of savings account that lets users invest without ever paying tax on any income or capital gains.
The survey was conducted by online market research tracker Find Out Now and polled 1,269 respondents. Laith Khalaf, a financial analyst at AJ Bell, commented that the results overturned common perceptions:
“When more people are buying cryptocurrency than investing in a stock market Isa, you have to conclude the world’s gone crypto crazy.”
The poll found that crypto investors are predominantly male and under 35, and 71% of those who said they had bought crypto assets claimed to have made a profit, while 12% reported making a loss in the past year. Amusingly, 17% said they did not even know what they had made or lost with their crypto investments.
The survey seems to be in contrast to research from U.K. think tank Parliament Street in March that revealed that 52% of the 2,000 respondents in that particular survey expressed that they are more likely to invest in the stock market and traditional assets such as gold than in crypto, with a third stating they will not invest in crypto, as they believe they have already “missed the boat.”
U.K. finance outlet This is Money reported that AJ Bell’s analyst stated the new research showed that younger people have more confidence in their understanding of cryptocurrencies, but Khalaf remained skeptical of them personally, “It certainly looks like some consumers are jumping into the deep end with cryptocurrencies, before learning how to swim in shallower waters.”
Khalaf recommended investing in a diversified portfolio that is not overexposed to crypto, adding:
“The youthful profile of crypto buyers suggests they may have accumulated few assets so far and could find their finances seriously damaged if crypto markets take a turn for the worse
.”
Related: UK Starling bank to resume crypto exchange deposits in late June
The analyst commented on Elon Musk’s influence over Bitcoin markets, referring to some of his recent tweets and stating that “they are hardly a measure of wider business sentiment towards Bitcoin.”
The U.K.’s Express reported that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs data published last week is another sign that the current cryptocurrency investing frenzy is showing no signs of slowing down.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/more-brits-bought-crypto-than-shares-last-year-new-survey-suggests
Paul Tudor Jones: Bitcoin Is “100% Certain”
Tony Spilotro in BTC Reading Time: 3 mins read
Bitcoin price is back to around $40,000 but whether or not the bull market is over or not isn’t yet certain. What is certain, according to Paul Tudor Jones, is the cryptocurrency itself.
Not the asset or its price, but the underlying ironclad cryptographic code. Here’s why the billionaire investor has allocated as much as 5% of his wealth to Bitcoin – an asset he holds in equal amounts next to gold, cash, and other commodities.
Paul Tudor Jones: Keep Assets In Commodities, Cash, Gold, And Crypto
It was the shot heard around the world: Paul Tudor Jones had given Bitcoin a nod of approval, comparing the ultra scarce cryptocurrency to gold in the 1970s. At that time, the gold standard lost its dollar peg and was trading at around $32 an ounce. Today, it trades at just under $2,000.
But the billionaire philanthropist believes that Bitcoin can be even better than gold, and labeled the cryptocurrency “the fastest horse in the race against inflation” back in May of last year. Since then he’s done nothing but double down on the emerging asset, comparing it to investing in a Apple or Google early.
Now he’s back with more comments about Bitcoin, revealing that he now holds equal parts gold, cash, commodities, and crypto. Jones says that each are held in 5% increments, with the remainder on hold waiting to see what the Fed and the rest of central banks do next.
Sorry Humans: Bitcoin Is Math, “Is 100% Certain”
Paul Tudor Jones initially revealed a 2% allocation and has since upped it to 5% – as much as gold, cash or commodities. The reason the invest likes the digital asset so much, is because “Bitcoin is math.”
“Math has been around for thousands of years. Two plus two is gonna equal four and it will for the next two thousand years,” he said. ” I like the idea of investing in something that’s reliable, consistent, honest, and a hundred percent certain.”
Using the Biden and Trump administration as an example along with the Fed, Jones asks “do I want to have faith, in that same reliability and consistency in human nature?” The answer time and time again has been no, as history has proven money is regularly debased by the governments that issue it.
Questions on if the investing icon liked the cryptocurrency at current prices were largely ignored, and instead Jones reiterated his stance: “I like Bitcoin.” You can watch the interview segment below.
"The only thing that I know for certain is I want to have 5% in #gold, 5% in #bitcoin, 5% in cash, 5% in commodities," said legendary investor
@ptj_official
https://www.newsbtc.com/analysis/btc/paul-tudor-jones-bitcoin-100/
.
Apple hosts ‘Today at Apple’ sessions for Black Music Month
Monday, June 14, 2021 5:11 pm
In celebration of Black Music Month, Apple’s newest U.S. store in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, has teamed up with the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) to host virtual Today at Apple sessions with country artists Willie Jones and Valerie June. Attendees learn music-making skills from these incredible songwriters as they explore the rich history of music, story, and culture.
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with our next-door neighbor, the National Museum of African American Music, to celebrate Black Music Month and bring Today at Apple programming to the Nashville community,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People, in a statement. “Our Today at Apple sessions aim to inspire creativity, and with sessions led by incredible artists like Willie Jones and Valerie June, we are excited to hear what our attendees create.”
Hosted by Apple Music’s Rissi Palmer, the Today at Apple sessions feature Jones and June leading participants through songwriting skills. In Jones’s session on June 8, he shared his songwriting process, which begins when he pulls out his iPhone to capture the spark of a melody in the Voice Memos app. Once he has the basis of his melody, he takes it to the studio, where he pulls inspiration for lyrics from the Notes app — his preferred method for getting out his ideas. He often works collaboratively with co-writers in Pages, using different fonts and colors just to “make it fun” before building out the track in Logic Pro.
Tomorrow, June 15, singer-songwriter Valerie June will explore mindfulness and creativity, and will teach participants how to draw inspiration from the rich history of African American culture. Together with Palmer and NMAAM Vice President of Brand and Partnerships Tuwisha D. Rogers-Simpson, June will then lead a creative exercise to explore gratitude, courage, and joy using the Notes app on iPhone.
“Here at NMAAM, our main focus is to educate the world, preserve the legacy, and celebrate the central role African Americans have played in creating the American Soundtrack,” said Rogers-Simpson, in a statement. “Today at Apple shares that focus of educating and inspiring others through the power of music and creativity, and we look forward to working together on many more sessions in the future.”
Apple Music is celebrating Black Music Month worldwide with an exploration of the legacy, artistry, impact, and influence of black musicians. For the first time ever, Apple Music is taking the significance of Black Music Month worldwide with bespoke global playlists in over 30 different countries that explore the undeniable impact of black music on local popular music. Apple Music also commissioned 15 new DJ Mixes from standout black artists including Honey Dijon, Amorphous, DBN Gogo, DJ Clue, DaM FunK, and more. Across the platform, Apple Music’s celebration of Black Music Month will feature special programming on Apple Music TV and in radio programming across Apple Music 1, Apple Music Country, and Apple Music Hits.
MacDailyNews Note: To register for Valerie June’s Today at Apple session, visit apple.co/music-legacy-series.
https://macdailynews.com/2021/06/14/apple-hosts-today-at-apple-sessions-for-black-music-month/
Dow Jones tumbles despite Apple stock’s gain
Monday, June 14, 2021 2:29 pm
Nancy Gondo for Investor’s Business Daily:
The Nasdaq was up 0.3%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% and the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.7% in today’s stock market. Small caps tracked by the Russell 2000 gave up 0.2%. Volume was higher on both major exchanges vs. the same time Friday.
Apple rallied 1.8% in above-average volume to lead the blue chip index. The iPhone maker is working on new Apple Watch models with a faster processor and better screen, Bloomberg reported. The stock retook its 50-day moving average and is on track for its sixth gain of the past seven sessions.
But its lagging relative strength line indicates significant stock market underperformance. Apple is shaping a new flat base with a 137.17 buy point after triggering the 7%-8% loss-cutting sell rule from a 135.63 entry in early May.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, but what do the entrails say, Nance?
https://macdailynews.com/2021/06/14/dow-jones-tumbles-despite-apple-stocks-gain/
Pension provider partners with Coinbase to offer 5% exposure to crypto
June 15 2021 - 12:12AM
Cointelegraph
Pension funds are looking to crypto investments despite the recent market sell-off.
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/85356536/pension-provider-partners-with-coinbase-to-offer-5
MARTIN YOUNG
1 HOUR AGO
Pension provider partners with Coinbase to offer 5% exposure to crypto
Pension funds are looking to crypto investments despite the recent market sell-off.
United States-based retirement plan provider, ForUsAll, is joining forces with Coinbase to allow clients to invest up to 5% of their portfolio assets in cryptocurrencies.
The pension provider, which primarily serves small-to-medium-sized businesses, is working to offer exposure to more than 50 cryptocurrencies in a product called Alt 401(k).
The firm’s co-founder and chief investment officer, David Ramirez, acknowledged concerns regarding offering crypto products in pension portfolios due to their volatility, but argued that U.S. citizens will be at a “disadvantage” if they are not given the option of accessing crypto assets in their retirement plans:
“The average American may be at a structural disadvantage relative to large institutions and high net worth individuals, and we just don’t think that’s right.”
ForUsAll handles $1.7 billion in retirement plan assets, which accounts for a small portion of the $22 trillion retirement-account markets.
In the United States, a 401 plan is an employer-sponsored defined-contribution pension account defined in subsection 401 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Larger institutional investment firms such as Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab do not allow customers to directly buy or sell cryptocurrency in taxable accounts or individual retirement accounts. However, they can purchase shares in trusts that do invest in crypto assets from companies such as Grayscale Investments.
One firm that does allow the direct purchase of crypto assets and gold for retirement plans is BitcoinIRA, which was founded in 2016. Commenting on ForUsAll’s collaboration with Coinbase, co-founder and chief operating officer at BitcoinIRA, Chris Kline, stated:
“ForUsAll and Coinbase wouldn’t be doing this if there wasn’t a market. There are people that want this with these types of funds. And they want to have access to new and exciting things with their 401(k)s.”
MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor responded to ForUsAll’s move to embrace crypto.
In April, Cointelegraph reported that pension funds and insurance firms have been increasingly dedicating part of their asset bases to Bitcoin and crypto assets as concerns over inflation escalated amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In May 2020, Kingdom Trust, a regulated custodian managing over $13 billion in assets, launched a retirement account supporting both Bitcoin and legacy assets.
The firm noted that when the Internal Revenue Service decided to tax Bitcoin, it directly enabled the asset to be held by qualified custodians and in retirement accounts.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/pension-provider-partners-with-coinbase-to-offer-5-exposure-to-crypto
MicroStrategy Sells $500 Million Notes To Buy Bitcoin
June 14 2021 - 03:36PM
NEWSBTC
MicroStrategy has successfully sold off $500 million worth of notes (“the notes”) which it announced it was selling on June 8th in a press conference, to buy Bitcoin. The notes were sold to qualified institutional buyers in a private offering in reliance to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933. They were all sold […]
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/85354202/microstrategy-sells-500-million-notes-to-buy-bitc
MicroStrategy Sells $500 Million Notes To Buy Bitcoin
owiebest by owiebest 8 hours ago in BTC Reading Time: 3 mins read
MicroStrategy has successfully sold off $500 million worth of notes (“the notes”) which it announced it was selling on June 8th in a press conference, to buy Bitcoin. The notes were sold to qualified institutional buyers in a private offering in reliance to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933. They were all sold to persons outside of the United States in accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act.
At the time of offering, MicroStrategy estimated that the net proceeds from the sale of the notes and related guarantees after deducting initial discounts and commissions and estimated offering expense payable by MicroStrategy would be $488 million.
MicroStrategy Confirms Sale Of Notes
In a press release that came out earlier today, MicroStrategy states that the notes and guarantees were all sold to qualified institutional buyers under the Securities Act.
“The notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior secured basis, jointly and severally, by MicroStrategy Services Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of MicroStrategy, and may be similarly guaranteed by certain subsidiaries of MicroStrategy that may be formed or acquired after the closing of the offering.”
There was massive interest in buying the notes offered by the corporation as the company reportedly received more than $1.5 billion in orders for the notes worth $500 million.
CEO Michael Saylor who has always been bullish on Bitcoin said the plan was to buy more Bitcoin to add to its portfolio which now sits at approximately 92,079 Bitcoins.
The press release also issued a notice;
“This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the notes or any other securities, nor shall there be any sale of the notes or the related guarantees in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.”
The company is yet to disclose when it will purchase more Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy Unveils A New Subsidiary
The corporation also announced a new subsidiary, MacroStrategy LLC, which now holds all of the bitcoins the company has purchased thus far. This is assumed to be a play to separate the investment portfolio from the core business of MicroStrategy, which is an enterprise business application software vendor.
MicroStrategy is the largest independent publicly-traded analytics and business intelligence company. Its ticker symbol is MSTR and it is traded publicly on the NASDAQ.
The stock market has reacted positively to this news. Shares of MicroStrategy are up 80% as at the time of this writing. MicroStrategy’s market cap now sits at around $5.82 billion, a massive jump from $5.03 billion as at yesterday.
Bitcoin Market Reaction To MicroStrategy
This news follows Paul Tudor Jones announcing that he wants to allocate 5% of his portfolio to Bitcoin. Giving Bitcoin the bump it needed to finally get over the $40k hump after news of Tesla resuming payments with Bitcoin pushed it closed. Bitcoin price is up 9% today and is currently a little over $40k.
While this is by no means the bullish rally that investors have been hoping for but it shows that institutional investors are still optimistic about the future of the asset as it begins its climb back from its crash about a month ago.
MicroStrategy currently owns $3.7 billion worth of Bitcoin according to today’s prices, all of which were bought at an average of $24,000 per Bitcoin. This amount is higher than any other publicly-traded company in the world.
https://www.newsbtc.com/analysis/btc/microstrategy-to-buy-bitcoin/
GME and AMC stock surge may impact crypto meme coins, BTC not so much?
ANIRUDH TIWARI
6 HOURS AGO
GME and AMC push to greater highs on the back of memes as correlations with crypto begin to emerge.
This year, stocks like the movie theater chain AMC Entertainment and video game retailer GameStop (GME) have been the vehicle for individual retail traders to show their dissent against the so-called “free market.”
Starting in late January and driven by sentiment from Reddit communities such as r/Wallstreetbets, these meme stocks have seen enormous growth this year. GameStop has shown 1,069.80% year-to-date returns, while AMC has shown 1,919.34% gains. At this rate, they should have 2,440% and 4,378% returns on an annual basis, respectively.
Around the same time, Bitcoin (BTC) ventured beyond the $50,000 mark for the first time ever following the now infamous GME short squeeze and Tesla’s purchase of BTC worth $1.5 billion. While BTC’s price momentum carried on to reach its all-time high of $64,889 on April 14, it crashed severely to reach its pre-surge levels of early January at around $35,000 at the time of writing.
Correlation of GameStop/AMC with BTC unclear
On June 1, the AMC stock began rallying yet again, more than doubling in value in a single day. The stock rose from nearly $30 to hit a high of $65.57 in the mid-day trading session on June 2. BTC also saw a small rebound from the sub-$35,000 levels on the same day to reach the $38,600 range on June 3. Since meme stocks and cryptocurrencies often trade purely on market sentiment and have seemingly correlated in the past in their upward movement, it’s important to assess the correlation between the two, if any at all.
Martin Gaspar, research analyst at CrossTower — a digital assets exchange — told Cointelegraph, “There doesn’t seem to be a large correlation between GME/AMC stock price and Bitcoin price. In the short squeeze that we saw earlier this year, the rise of the price of both GameStop and BTC is likely to have been coincidental.”
About the prospects of AMC in the near future, he added, “AMC could very well be the new GameStop. Stock forums and memes online are showing that many traders seem to believe in AMC, despite its soaring price relative to fundamentals.”
Due to the recent meme frenzy for AMC, the company even got an upgrade in credit rating. According to analysts at S&P Global Ratings, the firm has a lower chance of defaulting after it leverages on the meme frenzy by raising cash in the equity markets. It sold 11.55 million shares at an average price of $50.85. Even though the company’s bonds are classified in the most speculative category of bonds, quite close to companies that are defaulting or at near defaulting, S&P upgraded its rating to CCC+, which is two tiers above its previous levels and seven tiers below investment grade — i.e., BBB-.
Adding to the correlation aspect, Gaspar also commented, “We have also seen more recently that BTC’s price has languished, while AMC has soared, further underscoring this relationship.”
The existence of the correlation between the GME/AMC stocks is often difficult to concretely prove due to the inherently volatile nature of the cryptocurrency markets. Johnny Lyu, CEO of KuCoin — a cryptocurrency exchange — told Cointelegraph:
“There are only similarities between these assets for traders who know how to benefit from high-risk trades, which includes Bitcoin, under pressure from regulation and influencers and assets that allegedly had no real prospects. Fluctuations in the price of both Bitcoin and stock memes are very familiar to the old-timers of the crypto market — pump-and-dump in action.”
AMC shares rose 95.22% on June 2 to hit $62.55. Following the announcement of the 11.55-million-share sale, the share price fell by 17.92%. This, combined with the fluctuations seen in GameStop earlier in the year, is proof that any scenario is possible with these stocks due to missing fundamentals and information spreading on Reddit.
Although, Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s Mad Money, has indicated that this might be the right time to get into GameStop and AMC, although he warned that “if you’ve ridden them up from much lower levels, take a little off the table. These stories could always get dinged.”
Do Kwon, co-founder of Terra — a protocol for fiat pegged stablecoins — elaborated on the relationship between Reddit and these stocks, telling Cointelegraph, “Both [GME and AMC] reflect the retail trader’s dismay with the current HFT [high-frequency trading] incumbents and asymmetries of the TradFi world.” He added further, “It wouldn’t be surprising to see this continually happen to other assets in the future, especially as social media and the way people organize and interact online evolve.”
Speaking of stocks with well-established correlations with Bitcoin, MicroStrategy (MSTR) is the first stock that comes to mind due to the large Bitcoin reserves it holds, along with the high bullish stance of its CEO and founder, Michael Saylor. The company holds 92,079 BTC valued at over $3.4 billion, accounting for 0.43% of the token’s maximum supply of 21 million tokens.
The firm was one of the first publicly traded companies that added Bitcoin to its balance sheet and was also considered a proxy of BTC by the investors in the traditional financial markets. Lyu further said, “The shares of companies that own Bitcoin depend on its value. MicroStrategy lost up to 10% during the week; Bitcoin lost the same amount. It’s okay when you have 90,000 BTC.”
In fact, MicroStrategy is included in JPMorgan’s Cryptocurrency Exposure Basket (CEB), which is a debt instrument portfolio comprising 11 unevenly distributed stocks. These stocks are either issued by the companies that hold BTC on their books as a treasury asset or related to the cryptocurrency in an auxiliary manner.
Apart from MicroStrategy that has 20% of the total allocation, the CEB also has stocks of the companies Square, PayPal, Nvidia Corporation, Riot Blockchain, Advanced Micro Devices, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd, Intercontinental Exchange, CME Group, Overstock.com and Silvergate Capital Corporation. Gaspar further spoke on the performance of the CEB in comparison to BTC:
“JP Morgan’s Cryptocurrency Exposure Basket has likely performed better than BTC, given that this basket includes companies that are not pure-play cryptocurrency companies. This insulates investors from the movements in BTC. Nvidia, one of the companies included in this basket, is currently at all-time highs, while BTC is down roughly 45%.”
Meme stock phenomenon to drive meme coins
Regarding the impact of the meme stock phenomenon on the flagship cryptocurrency in BTC, it remains unclear due to some of the movements looking to be seemingly coincidental. However, it could be a precursor for another meme coin rally similar to the performance of Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) earlier this May as Gaspar stated, “There is speculation among traders that meme coins could be positioned to rally once the crypto market regains its footing.”
What’s important is that the communities that drove the meme stocks to such levels are also behind the stock surges for GameStop and AMC. According to Kwon, “What’s interesting is that the fundamentals for GameStop, AMC and DOGE are all subpar within their relative markets, but they represent a new kind of social Schelling point that is a manifestation of investor dismay with current limits in the current system.”
However, a meme coin supported by a motivated and decentralized community of online proponents grows out of being a meme after a certain point, as seen in the case of Dogecoin.
It is highly likely that once these meme stocks are saturated with demand, some part of this demand has a high chance of flowing into altcoins, more specifically, meme coins. Especially through trading platforms like Robinhood, retail traders crowd the site looking to make a quick buck and have a laugh with their friends while doing so.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/gme-and-amc-stock-surge-may-impact-crypto-meme-coins-btc-not-so-much
Brave Browser’s Next Trick: Privacy-Preserving News Recommendations
The federated learning approach allows users to keep their data on their local device rather than on a centralized server. “Brave Today” is just step one.
Benjamin Powers
Jun 10, 2021 at 1:36 p.m. EDT
Updated Jun 10, 2021 at 2:28 p.m. EDT
Brave Browser’s Next Trick: Privacy-Preserving News Recommendations
The privacy-focused Brave browser is seeking to walk the line when it comes to preserving users’ privacy while also offering up news recommendations in its recently launched Brave Today, a news aggregator integrated into the browser.
This continues Brave’s incremental progress toward building out a suite of services meant to rival, and exceed, dominant browsers like Chrome and Safari.
In March, Brave announced the acquisition of Tailcat, an open search engine, to be the basis of its forthcoming product Brave Search. Brave is pitching Brave Search as a non-tracking alternative to Google Search on Chrome and mobile.
Recommendation systems are a feature of the web today. Whether it be YouTube’s recommendation algorithm or Spotify’s weekly playlist offerings, these systems often rely heavily on tracking your behavior online – meaning, essentially, gathering and analyzing your data.
Brave Today allows users to “anonymously subscribe to RSS feeds of their favorite news outlets and stay up to date with all the latest news in a single place.” Users are able to choose from 15 different categories of curated sources and then customize their stream further by adding or removing them (including CoinDesk).
“Starting with on-device recommendation for Brave Today, we want to start offering Brave users a level of personalization powered by models that are trained locally, all while keeping user privacy our first priority,” said Pete Snyder, senior privacy researcher at Brave.
Tracking without the ick factor
To avoid collecting users behavior data in the service of recommendations, Brave is proposing “a new framework for making on-device privacy-preserving recommendations that doesn’t require user interaction data to be collected on a server.”
Brave is using a technique it calls “Federated Learning With Privacy.”
Federated learning is a machine-learning technique that trains prediction models (algorithms) while keeping data locally on devices, rather than feeding that data to a central server (whether that be on the premises of a company or in the cloud) that hosts the model.
“Users train local models on their private data and share only their local model updates with a central server,” said a blog post announcing the proposal. “The central server computes a global model as the aggregate of all local models and sends it back to the users, where the process repeats.”
Snyder said while typical federated learning systems have important implications and risks for user privacy, there is a large and active research community working to improve the privacy of federated learning systems, so that users can collaborate to improve the system’s accuracy, without revealing their private information and behaviors.
Privacy is quickly becoming something large tech firms value. Google, for example, has introduced and implemented a system called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), albeit with mixed results. Various browsers, such as Brave, have refused to adopt FLoC and, in fact, have disabled it in its browser.
Snyder said FLoC and federated learning are categorically different. FLoC is a privacy-harming behavioral advertising system proposed by Google and implemented in some Chromium-based browsers, he said.
“While the ‘FL’ in FLoC stands for ‘federated learning,’ this is now a palimpsest of Google’s original implementation plans for FLoC; FLoC doesn’t actually use any federated learning in current implementations,” Snyder said via email. “Google mentions this in their documentation too, where they note ‘no Federated Learning is used (despite the ‘FL’ in the name).”’
Next steps
Snyder said Brave’s ultimate goal is to improve the user experience on the Brave browser through federated private learning with the private on-device recommendation framework for Brave Today is merely the first step.
“We plan to get there gradually and in measurable steps. Our focus at the moment is building the federated learning infrastructure,” he said, adding:
“Once this is up and running, we are planning on testing it on smaller optimization problems that have practically no privacy cost. If our tests are successful, we can use our federated private learning framework to power user-facing features like Brave News, and optimize already existing ones, such as our local ads targeting machine learning.”
https://www.coindesk.com/brave-browsers-next-trick-privacy-preserving-news-recommendations
Stablecoins not that radical, says Bank of England official
MARIE HUILLET
17 HOURS AGO
The Bank of England’s executive director of the Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate says that stablecoins are hardly “launching us off into some brave new world.”
There has been much commotion about stablecoins among central bankers, regulators and lawmakers in recent years, most notably in the furor surrounding Facebook’s repeated attempts to launch variously designed stablecoins that would be native to its multiple social media platforms.
Not everyone in the financial world is that perturbed though. A new speech for the Westminster eForum Policy Conference by Christina Segal-Knowles, executive director of the Bank of England's Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate, is titled “What’s Old is New Again” and aims to tone down some of the excitement and agitation surrounding the issue.
Restricting her focus to stablecoins that are designed to be used for payments, Segal-Knowles argues that financial regulators know perfectly well what’s required to ensure that private money is secure and stable enough for public use:
“Stablecoins are not launching us off into some brave new world [...] The key here is to ensure that just because something is packaged in shiny technology we don’t somehow treat the risks it poses differently.”
Segal-Knowles admitted that the idea of stablecoins — and, more generally, of private money — “feels innovative and flashy” and attributes this to the simplification in popular culture of how money works and which forms it takes, already in the present. In most cases, most people in fact rarely use public money from central banks like the Bank of England, but rather private IOUs from commercial banks.
Segal-Knowles noted, ”ninety-five percent of the funds households and businesses hold that are typically used to make payments are now held as commercial bank deposits rather than cash.” Post-pandemic, the use of cash is only declining further.
Segal-Knowles went so far as to title one section of her speech “Why do we care?” The nub of the issue when it comes to private money, she said, is the security that its current forms can offer to their users. Private monies in circulation today guarantee uniformity and are reliably interchangeable with cash. Deposit protection schemes and regulation and liquidity requirements offer yet further security.
Most of the time, households and businesses rarely lose faith in the state’s backstop of their currency — with the important exception that in recent history, emerging market crises have in some cases cast doubts on states’ ability to maintain the value of their national currencies against the United States dollar, as with Argentina in the early 2000s. In the 2007–2008 financial crash, a bank run on Northern Rock signaled a similar crisis of confidence, triggering governments’ notorious bail out of the banks.
For Segal-Knowles, these risks and issues posed by stablecoins are “not fundamentally new” but continuous with the challenges regulators have long faced in making private money safe for wide-scale use. It follows then, that a similar toolkit — the underpinning of a legal claim, capital requirements for issuers, deposit protections, etc. — could be adapted and tailored to regulate stablecoins of systemic significance. Segal-Knowles noted this toolkit would not be identical:
“If stablecoin operators are restricted to backing themselves in high quality liquid assets they won’t need regulation to cover credit risk. If they only back themselves in central bank reserves, which are inherently liquid, they don’t need liquidity facilities. Ultimately, the specific requirements may well be different from those applicable to banks, but the outcome will be the same.”
In a recent speech dedicated to the same issue, Bank of England deputy governor Si Jon Cunliffe took a slightly different tack, arguing that the increasing shift away from public money to private money in various forms does raise significant questions for states and central banks.
Cunliffe went so far as to suggest that technology-driven developments and shifts in the use of different forms of money, including non-bank private money, could make general access to a digital form of central bank money crucial for ensuring financial stability in the future.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/stablecoins-not-that-radical-says-bank-of-england-official
IMF plans to meet with El Salvador’s president, potentially discussing move to adopt Bitcoin
June 10 2021 - 05:00PM
Cointelegraph
The International Monetary Fund has previously spoken out against smaller nations like the Marshall Islands recognizing a digital currency as legal tender.
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/85336344/imf-plans-to-meet-with-el-salvador-s-president-p
TURNER WRIGHT
6 HOURS AGO
IMF plans to meet with El Salvador’s president, potentially discussing move to adopt Bitcoin
The International Monetary Fund has previously spoken out against smaller nations like the Marshall Islands recognizing a digital currency as legal tender.
The International Monetary Fund has said El Salvador’s recent decision to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country may raise legal and financial concerns.
In a Thursday press briefing from the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, spokesperson Gerry Rice said the group was already in discussions with lawmakers in El Salvador over a loan to support the country’s economy, having approved emergency funds related to the pandemic last year. However, Rice said an IMF team would be meeting with President Nayib Bukele today and implied crypto would be a likely topic for discussion.
“Adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender raises a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues that require very careful analysis,” said Rice. “We are following developments closely, and we’ll continue our consultations with the authorities.”
Spokespeople for the IMF have often voiced concerns about countries adopting digital currency. In March, the group issued a similar warning against the Marshall Islands’ recognizing its digital sovereign currency, called SOV, as legal tender, as it may pose similar legal and financial risks. In that case, a spokesman said the islands’ local economy had been strained by the economic fallout of the pandemic and likely wouldn’t be corrected with the SOV.
In the case of El Salvador, the time between the introduction of ideas and action is seemingly short. President Bukele first announced he would propose a bill making Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender in El Salvador at a pre-recorded video message at the Bitcoin 2021 conference this weekend. The legislation passed with a supermajority in the nation's Legislative Assembly yesterday.
Though the country is still seeking support from the IMF related to the pandemic this year, it has already begun to consider the energy needs of Bitcoin miners. Bukele said he would be instructing state-owned electrical company LaGeo, to make certain facilities available to miners to utilize geothermal power from the country’s volcanoes — El Salvador currently operates the two geothermal plants in Ahuachapán and Berlín.
“Crypto assets can pose significant risks,” said Rice. “Effective regulatory measures are very important when dealing with them.”
https://cointelegraph.com/news/imf-plans-to-meet-with-el-salvador-s-president-potentially-discussing-move-to-adopt-bitcoin
Analyst: Apple could hit $3 trillion market cap in 2022
Thursday, June 10, 2021 11:19 am
Apple could hit a $3 trillion market cap in 2022, according to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, as quoted on CNBC.
Sanghamitra Saha for Zacks:
Apple has a market cap of over $2 trillion, currently. It topped $1 trillion mark in 2018 and the $2 trillion threshold in 2020.
The company is benefiting from continued momentum in the Services segment, driven by strong App Store sales and robust adoption of Apple Music and Apple Pay. Non-iPhone devices, particularly Apple Watch and AirPod, are the other notable drivers in the long haul.
Going by valuation metrics, P/E (ttm) of AAPL is 28.4 times versus the industry-average of 26.0 times. Forward P/E of AAPL is 24.5 times versus the industry score of 22.1 times. Though these measures point to higher valuation of Apple than the industry, a higher P/E is always not a sign of worry. It shows investors’ confidence in a particular stock among the bunch.
MacDailyNews Take: From Danny’s lips to Mr. Market’s ears!
https://macdailynews.com/2021/06/10/analyst-apple-could-hit-3-trillion-market-cap-in-2022/
It is good that you liked the report! Yes, I hope so too! LOL
The female speakers who made an impact at Bitcoin2021 in Miami
June 10 2021 - 09:14AM
Cointelegraph
There may not have been as many female speakers at Bitcoin 2021, but the women who presented were phenomenal. Here’s why.
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/85331999/the-female-speakers-who-made-an-impact-at-bitcoin2
RACHEL WOLFSON
3 HOURS AGO
The female speakers who made an impact at Bitcoin2021 in Miami
There may not have been as many female speakers at Bitcoin 2021, but the women who presented were phenomenal. Here’s why.
Dubbed as “the largest Bitcoin event in history,” Bitcoin 2021 consisted of 12,000 attendees from across the globe. Undoubtedly, Bitcoin (BTC) adoption is growing at an impressive rate. Yet judging by the attendance at Bitcoin 2021, men still appear to be the primary audience for Bitcoin.
While the lines to the bathroom made it obvious that there were nowhere near as many female attendees as there were males, there were also fewer women speakers than men at Bitcoin 2021. For example, only 27 women are featured on the Bitcoin 2021 website, which consists of over 150 speakers in total.
Although this was the case, the 27 women who did speak at Bitcoin 2021 left a lasting impact. The female speakers at Bitcoin 2021 discussed a number of different topics including regulations, technical aspects, legal requirements and more.
Wyoming sets the stage for Bitcoin innovation
United States Senator of Wyoming Cynthia Lummis discussed how regulators can encourage Bitcoin innovation in the country. Lummis was joined by Representative Warren Davidson for the panel “Bringing Bitcoin Innovation Home to America.”
Lummis kickstarted the discussion by explaining how she got involved with Bitcoin, saying: “I got into Bitcoin after being Wyoming State Treasurer. I was looking for great stores of value.”
Lummis mentioned that the “fun” thing about Bitcoin is that it’s very non-partisan and bi-partisan at the same time. As such, she noted that it’s a great space for those struggling with other issues that are decisive in Congress. “Bitcoin is a great ‘Switzerland’ kind of a place for us, where we can work on these issues and put aside some of the political consequences.”
While Lummis made a number of notable points, the audience applauded her comment regarding Bitcoin’s use as an asset to interconnect with the U.S. dollar:
“It can be the underlying network worldwide to keep the dollar the global reserve currency, but still allow people to transact in a very freedom-loving way. Whether you’re in Venezuela, where inflation is outrageous and you’re trying to get your wealth out of the country, you can get it out through Bitcoin. And, the United States, if we get to the point where we’re experiencing the kind of inflation that we’ve seen this year, we may want that alternative as well.”
Given Wyoming’s friendly stance toward Bitcoin, it was no surprise to also see Caitlin Long, CEO and founder of Avanti Financial Group — a Wyoming bank formed to bridge digital assets with the U.S. dollar payment system — speak at Bitcoin 2021. Long spoke on a panel entitled “Evolutions of Exchanges” and made a number of insightful points.
For instance, when asked about centralization risks associated with exchanges, Long noted that the digital asset industry is making some of the same mistakes as traditional financial services:
“You cannot have perfect markets if you don’t have perfect information. The intermediaries in this industry are not doing proof-of-reserves and are not voluntarily disclosing financial statements to understand the counterparty risk associated with them. In some cases, with 100-to-1 or 125-to-1 leverage future contracts, the probability of loss is in the high 90th percentile. Would people actually trade those if they knew they were virtually guaranteed to lose money?”
When asked about the ethos behind Avanti Financial, Long further remarked that “Satoshi gave us money that isn’t debt,” noting that Avanti is committed to solvency instead of liquidity. “A lot of folks are obsessed with liquidity, but Satoshi didn’t create anything designed to be leveraged and didn’t care about liquidity,” she said. Long additionally advised the audience to learn about circulation credit.
Bitcoin’s network effect explained
The “Bitcoin for Billions, Not Billionaires” fireside chat featuring Elizabeth Stark, co-founder and CEO of Lightning Labs, and Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, was also interesting. The discussion focused on the importance of Bitcoin’s network effect, something which both Stark and Alden are very passionate about.
Alden explained that Bitcoin’s network effect is important to understand when considering Bitcoin as an investment asset. The economist shared that, initially, she was wary of covering Bitcoin as an asset class due to its open-source nature, which could easily be replicated, along with its giant price run in 2017. However, after watching Bitcoin’s network effect over time, Alden noted that the digital assets could withstand its competitors while also maintaining its strong, devoted community. “Over time, my conviction kept growing and growing. By the time we had the early 2021 liquidity issue, that’s when I finally said ‘I’m in,’” she said.
After monitoring Bitcoin’s network effect for some time, Alden noted that her fascination extended to the Lighting Network, a layer-two payment protocol. She explained that in some ways, the layer-two aspect is more reliant on the network effect than Bitcoin’s base layer since the key limitation of the second layer is liquidity:
“The stronger this gets over time, the more usable the network gets as a protocol of value. It’s been important to monitor the network effect to see it continue to grow. This is separate from Bitcoin’s price fluctuations, as the underlying fundamentals here are use cases and technology improvements, which are the key things for Bitcoin’s success.”
Investing in the Bitcoin space for growth
Another notable female speaker at Bitcoin 2021 was Hong Fang, CEO of OKCoin. Fang spoke on the “Giving Back to Bitcoin” panel, where she discussed how to prioritize investments in the Bitcoin space, who to invest in, and how to make the Bitcoin community scalable. “As to date, our investment in sponsoring the developers is up to $1 million, which is about $500,000 a year. To us, this is a significant amount of money, but when you think of the funding needs of developers, this is a small amount,” she said. As such, Fang noted that it’s important to keep Bitcoin developer funding diversified and flexible.
An interesting point regarding Bitcoin and decentralization was further made by Alyse Killeen during the “Investing in the Bitcoin Ecosystem Panel.” Killeen told Cointelegraph that the panel mainly focused on the risks that can occur when money is centralized, such as inflation. With this in mind, she explained the importance of Bitcoin’s decentralization:
“One of the necessary things for a thriving decentralized finance environment to exist is for decentralization to be present at the base layer. It doesn’t make sense to build decentralized finance on software controlled by rulers. Bitcoin is a system of software enforced by rules, but absent of rulers.”
New legal requirements for Bitcoin
To Killeen’s point, there are a number of rules associated with Bitcoin. Hailey Lennon, partner at Anderson Kill law firm, and Teana Baker-Taylor, general manager for Crypto.com U.K., made this clear during the “Bitcoin Makes the Laws” session.
For example, Baker-Taylor explained how the Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, relates to Bitcoin. Specifically, she explained the privacy issues brought about by the Travel Rule, which aims to require individual crypto users to provide information when sending or receiving Bitcoin across any blockchain network. “How are we supposed to record and store this information, and who is responsible for storing it? Several things have to be put in place to allow virtual asset service providers to be compliant with the Travel Rule,” she said.
Lennon further touched on the topic of secondary market regulations, noting how great it is for companies to now have different licensing options:
“What all the oversight is looking to do is to be a supervisory role and to ensure there are consumer protection rights in there and that companies are well-capitalized and have a compliance program. The process of getting these licenses is tedious and expensive, but there are different options now.”
Bitcoin-inspired art
It’s also important to mention that there was one female artist featured at the event’s Bitcoin art gallery, which showcased an elaborate collection of Bitcoin-inspired artwork from various creators.
Trew Love, a muralist and mixed media artist, told Cointelegraph that she was discovered by NFT Glee — a nonfungible token platform for artists and creators — and was curated within its collection by Evie Phillips, chief marketing officer of NFT Glee.
Love noted that when she heard about the opportunity to join the NFT curation, she began to mint her collection. “I jumped on it and created an exclusive one-of-a-kind piece featuring Mike Tyson and a Bitcoin champion winning belt. I believe Bitcoin is the coin to rule it all,” she said.
Notable attendees
While a handful of female speakers discussed relevant topics on stage at Bitcoin 2021, notable female attendees had news to share with Cointelegraph.
Vanessa Grellet, head of portfolio growth at CoinFund, told Cointelegraph that she plans to achieve two main goals moving forward. Grellet noted that CoinFund will take a multi-strategy approach to launch various vehicles related to different strategies such as NFTs, DeFi, farming and more. “We want to create specific vehicles for investors and to focus on those activities,” she commented. Secondly, Grellet explained that CoinFund will be expanding to become bi-coastal, including a location in Miami.
Related: Women-led events may encourage long-term female participation in blockchain
Lisa Nestor, senior director of enterprise ecosystem for the Stellar Development Foundation, told Cointelegraph about a new partnership with Wyre, a blockchain payments company. Nestor noted that the Stellar Network is powering a new Wyre Savings API where fintechs can access yield-earning savings products leveraging USD Coin (USDC) on the Stellar blockchain.
In addition to women discussing company growth and innovation, some ladies shed some insight on the quality of the conference. Mandy Campbell, head of content for OKCoin, told Cointelegraph that she had heard from a lot of inspiring women at Bitcoin 2021:
“It’s clear there are more and more brilliant women pushing Bitcoin forward every day, both building the technology and expanding how it’s used. I saw a lot of passionate female supporters in attendance as well. Bitcoin is for everyone, and the people who participated in the conference reflected that.”
Quality over quantity
Overall, while there were significantly fewer women speakers and attendees than men at Bitcoin 2021, the event was still high-level, informative and fun. Moving forward, though, the Bitcoin community may start to see more women participation at conferences as the topic gains momentum.
For instance, Teodora Atanasova, VIP relations manager and founding team member at crypto-friendly bank Nexo, told Cointelegraph that Nexo sponsored the Bitcoin art gallery at Bitcoin 2021. Atanasova mentioned that she wasn’t previously aware that only one female artist was featured at the gallery. As such, Atanasova said she would make sure that more women are present and featured at Nexo’s upcoming events.
“The Bitcoin 2021 Art Gallery started as a cause — physically bringing together the talent that already had a lot in common conceptually. As a company, Nexo supports various causes, but since we hold financial literacy — and, thus, freedom — for women especially close to our hearts, we’d love to see more female artists step forward and participate as exhibitors at the next Bitcoin Art Gallery going forward.”
https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-female-speakers-who-made-an-impact-at-bitcoin2021-in-miami