behind the scenes

TikTok Ban: The Beginning of a New Age in Social Networks?

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that forbids American companies to transact with Tencent and Bytedance. The ban comes after a long debate involving alleged data mining from apps like WeChat and TikTok. Following the ban, Tencent shares fell 5%. American companies will effectively have 45 days to stop transacting with these companies. The ban is sparking worldwide debate regarding the boundaries of national security. Is this an opportunity for decentralized social media platforms to step up? Tencent and the Yuan Plummet The announcement was immediately felt on

The crypto lending industry — a ticking time bomb, rather than a shortcut to mainstream adoption

In his book “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”, Charles Mackay says that men think in herds and go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one. That was written in 1841. Today, it is even more relevant.The most illustrious collective obsession in the past decade is cryptocurrencies. For the last couple of years, we witnessed industry-specific shocks with varying implications, be it exchange hacks, scam schemes, or else. Although covered in controversies, in the long-term, the rise of cryptocurrencies should be