Day: February 13, 2020

DTCC Calls on Banks and Regulators to Help Address Blockchain Security Issues

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The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) wants the financial sector to form a consortium alongside regulators to reduce risks associated with blockchain. In a white paper published Wednesday, the New York-based post-trade financial services firm said participants in the financial sector should work to establish a set of “agreed-upon standards” that could address some of the security concerns surrounding the tech. “In light of the speed of digital transformation within the financial services sector, DTCC calls for a coordinated strategy for the development of a principles-based framework to identify…

Jeff Bezos Cashed Out $4 Billion in Amazon Stock For a Mighty Shopping Spree

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Jeff Bezos now has a Hollywood residence in the prime 90210 zip code. Founders of two prominent Hollywood studios previously owned the property at different times. The net worth of the Amazon boss is up $17 billion this year. In one fell swoop, Jeff Bezos has signaled with an expensive purchase that his Hollywood ambitions go beyond turning Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) into an entertainment giant. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Amazon Chairman has acquired real estate worth $165 million in the Los Angeles area. Source: Twitter The property, which…

Ricky Gervais’ Anti-Virtue Signaling Crusade Is Still Virtue Signaling

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Ricky Gervais mocked Natalie Portman’s Oscars “virtue signaling” on Twitter. His video showed him calling out “Hollywood perverts” who haven’t yet been brought to justice. Yet his anti-virtue signaling posture is itself a form of virtue signaling. Ricky Gervais isn’t just a culture warrior; he’s on an anti-virtue signaling crusade. When he presented the Golden Globes this year, he begged award winners to refrain from launching into trite speeches on “worthy” causes. Now he’s mocking Natalie Portman for pulling her own trite stunt at the Oscars. Ricky Gervais ripped Natalie…

3 Reasons Why Baby Boomers Could Cause the Next Stock Market Crash

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Baby boomers know that time is not their ally. Boomers are going all-in on stocks because they can’t rely on their pension alone. They have trillions invested in the stock market and will likely sell eventually. This may trigger a stock market crash. In this era of asset inflation, it may seem like the stock market will never experience another downturn. Why would it? The Federal Reserve is printing billions of dollars daily to keep the party going. If the Fed can keep the markets humming despite the emergence of…

Bitcoin Lender BlockFi Raises $30M in Series B Led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures

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Fresh on the heels of an $18.3 million Series A funding round last August, crypto lending startup BlockFi has secured a $30 million Series B. Announced Thursday, the new funding will help the firm expand both its product offering and geographic footprint.  “We decided to opportunistically raise the Series B to expand the balance sheet and give ourselves the ability to invest in the things we’re doing this year,” BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said in an interview.  The Series B was led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures with participation from…

SBI Crypto Subsidiary Partners With Northern Data on Mining Project

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A subsidiary of Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings is partnering with German tech company Northern Data AG and Texas-based data centers operator Whinstone US Inc. The partnership was revealed in a Feb. 13 announcement, detailing that Whinstone — a subsidiary of the Frankfurt-based Northern Bitcoin AG — will host SBI Crypto at its data center in Texas, as well as assist SBI Crypto in the development of blockchain-related projects. SBI CEO Carson Smith said that the firm had been making plans with Whinstone and Northern Data for the Texas…

Sony’s Bizarre New PlayStation Ad is too Weird to be Hiding PS5 Clues

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PlayStation new ‘Feel the Power of PlayStation’ ad yesterday. It’s a bizarre, yet welcome change of pace. One fan believes it’s hiding clues about the PS5. One fan thinks Sony is hiding PS5 clues in the latest PlayStation trailer. Yesterday, Sony released a new PlayStation ad dubbed ‘Feel the Power of PlayStation.’ It’s bizarre stuff. Feel the Power of PlayStation A squad of soldiers storms a subterranean network of concrete tunnels only to find a clandestine setup reminiscent of a crypto mining farm. Instead of industrial fan-cooled graphics cards auditing…

IRS Does Not Consider Fortnite Money as Virtual Currency After All

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) removed wording on its website that put game currencies as examples of a convertible virtual currency. This clarification is important as a new tax filing requirement obliges taxpayers to report whether they dealt with virtual currencies. The move was first reported by Bloomberg Tax on Feb. 13. Official guidelines on the IRS website indicated Fortnite’s V-bucks and Roblox’s Robux as examples of virtual currencies. A screenshot captured by Bloomberg Tax shows a fairly detailed explanation of the concept, even mentioning blockchain alternatives such as the…

Wells Fargo Invests $5M in Startup Connecting Crypto Exchanges and Banks

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Banking giant Wells Fargo is backing blockchain forensics firm Elliptic. Announced Thursday, the fresh $5 million from Wells Fargo Strategic Capital (WFSC) brings Elliptic’s Series B up to a total of $28 million. The investment is partly geared toward a recently launched product that helps crypto exchanges win banking relationships, Elliptic said. The product, Elliptic Discovery, provides a bill of health for over 200 crypto exchanges worldwide, covering everything from how they conduct know-your-customer (KYC) checks to whether they’re regulated in the first place. “Previously, a bank just didn’t know…

Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp Doesn’t Deserve to be the Manager of the Year

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Arsenal legend Lee Dixon has claimed that Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder should win the Manager of the Year award, not Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool are on course to win their first Premier League title, currently enjoying a record-breaking lead at the top. Wilder’s Sheffield United are sitting fifth in the league, and are on course to surprise all the naysayers by not just surviving, but flourishing. First of all, let me say that Jurgen Klopp is doing a fantastic job at Liverpool this season. The Anfield side is running…