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Fear, Greed and the Evolution of Money in the Age of the Coronavirus Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is not going to end soon. Fear and anxiety have skyrocketed, and nearly half of the people in the United States feel the coronavirus has harmed their mental health. People are scared, anxious, depressed, on edge and struggling to sleep through the night.We watched as China took extreme measures to improve the coronavirus crisis there. We watched as Italy locked down the country and people scurried to other parts of Europe. We then watched as California Governor Gavin Newsom took early measures for the U.S. and locked

Mike Novogratz Thrashes Stocks in Favor of Bitcoin and Gold 

Mike Novogratz, the billionaire and founder of cryptocurrency merchant banking firm Galaxy Digital, has cast doubt over the long-term stability of the United States stock market.In the wake of widespread market rebounds from the coronavirus, the billionaire and Bitcoin bull has come out to bash traditional stock portfolios, touting alternative investment classes like Bitcoin and gold instead. Cash is Trash, and Stocks are MisleadingNovogratz appeared on a recent episode of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” segment earlier this week, where he counseled investors to keep off traditional stocks and keep their wealth

Exclusive: US Congressional Watchdog on Prototyping Smart Contracts

The supreme audit institution of the United States, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), posted two job positions with its Innovation Lab concerning the development of prototype applications for blockchain technology during March.Cointelegraph spoke to Chuck Young, the managing director of public affairs at GAO, to find out more about the agency’s interest in distributed ledger technologies, or DLT.GAO to refine auditing processes for blockchainYoung stated that GAO's primary application for blockchain will be as “a digital financial ledger” — indicating that the chief auditor is planning to use blockchain to

The Platform Is Set for Virtual Conferences: Will It Live Up to Its Promises?

As the global economy struggles to adapt to the rapid changes the coronavirus pandemic has forced upon the world, the virtual conference space is booming. The need to engage, communicate and expand our network has perhaps never been so necessary as businesses struggle to survive what may be the next great economic depression. Blockchain and cryptocurrency are sectors of the financial technology industry that are used to leading the way when it comes to innovation, and it’s no surprise that blockchain conferences are quickly moving online in an effort to keep

Risky Assets Are Rallying, Bitcoin Back Above $7,000

“In every generation a man is obligated to feel as if he himself has experienced the exudes from Egypt.” This is one of the core principles of the upcoming holiday of Passover that Jewish people across the globe will celebrate tomorrow. It’s the very reason that we embrace strange customs like eating herbs that are so bitter they make you cry, drinking four full glasses of whine, and of course the famous flat bread known as matzah. Though I will never ever understand what it must have been like to

The Crypto Industry’s ‘Bloody Friday’ Lawsuits: Do They Hold Weight?

On April 3, a massive deployment of lawsuits were filed against major crypto industry players across the globe. The eleven lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in what is being called “Bloody Friday” for the industry.These lawsuits are class action in nature. For those unfamiliar with the term, this means a group of people have joined together to file a lawsuit against another party. Class action lawsuits are not very popular on an international level for a number of reasons,

Streamr to Offer Binance’s Real-Time Trade Feeds on Marketplace

Open-source blockchain infrastructure Streamr announced on April 7 a new integration with cryptocurrency exchange Binance, in which Streamr will offer the exchange's real-time trade feeds on its marketplace.From now on, Binance’s real-time trades and quotes data for all asset pairs will be available on Streamr, with the aim of targeting algorithmic traders.According to Streamr, traders will now be able to obtain sentiment data and data from other markets via a single technical integration.Motivations behind the partnershipSpeaking with Cointelegraph, Henri Pihkala, co-founder and CEO of Streamr, said that with crypto exchanges serving

Deutsche Bank Places Bitcoin (BTC) at the Center of All Currencies 

As the world records more than one million confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus, the German multinational investment bank, Deutsche Bank (DB), sees a strong need for a cashless society during this pandemic time. Current Flaws With Physical Money The use of physical cash potentially poses the risk of spreading the virus, especially dirty banknotes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In line with the warning, the central bank of South Korea began quarantining banknotes and even went on to destroy some notes to curb the spread of COVID-19

Secure, Controllable, Decentralized Data Sharing: An Interview With bitYoga CEO Antorweep Chakravorty

Beyond its primary use case of powering cryptocurrencies, there’s no denying the priceless possibilities embedded in the underlying blockchain technology.  Coinfomania recently spoke to bitYoga CEO Antorweep Chakravorty. The Norway-based startup is a member of the EU-H2020 ARTICONF project and is piloting the adoption of blockchain technology for decentralized and secure data file sharing for the next generation of internet applications. He first spoke to us about how bitYoga got started. Antorweep was an associate professor of the University of Stavanger, Norway along with co-founder, Chunming Rong who was also

Charities Are Turning to Bitcoin Amid the Global Fight Against Coronavirus

In the war against the novel coronavirus, cryptocurrencies are emerging as a much-needed tool for charity and fundraising projects. Already there are a number of large nonprofits accepting Bitcoin donations. Plus, some blockchain and crypto firms are contributing medical supplies to hospitals in an attempt to curb the virus, while others are setting up fundraisers and charities that are aimed at helping its victims.As a number of nonprofits continue to accept cryptocurrency donations, they are starting to realize that crypto transactions significantly reduce costs in terms of fees. Here are

The New Land of Crypto Fundraising Is in Asia and Europe, Says PwC

Most of the fundraising in the cryptocurrency space shifted from the Americas to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and the Asia Pacific regions (APAC), according to a recent report by Big Four auditing firm PwC.According to PwC's 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report, during 2019, fundraising efforts in the crypto space obtained 18% less funding, while funds in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the space decreased by 40%.As funding decreased overall, APAC and EMEA's share of the pie got larger. While APAC and EMEA saw 44% of

Poloniex Enters Controversial IEO Space With Tron-Only Platform

Poloniex revealed its forthcoming Tron (TRX)-powered initial exchange offering (IEO) platform on April 5.Projects seeking to conduct their offerings on Poloniex’s LaunchBase platform face the stipulation of issuing tokens in exchange for TRX, and will be considered on a “first-come, first-serve” basis.Poloniex announces Tron-powered IEO platformPoloniex asserts that LaunchBase is intended “to help quality blockchain projects grow and further develop their ecosystem,” stating that it will “offer professional advice and guidance” to assist partner projects.In addition to agreeing to raise funds in TRX, partner projects will be subject to “eligibility