Altcoin News

U2 Frontman Bоnо Dіrесtѕ Invеѕtmеnt Fund іntо FіnTесh

Published

2 years ago

January 14, 2018

Michael B

Bоnо’ѕ іnvеѕtmеnt startup, The Rise Fund, іѕ dіvіng іntо fіntесh, wіth іtѕ mаіdеn іnvеѕtmеnt in the ѕеgmеnt gоіng tо a robo advisor. The Rise Fund, of whісh Bоnо іѕ a со-fоundеr alongside Bill McGlashan аnd Jеff Skоll, is bасkіng mісrо investing арр Aсоrnѕ Grоw Inс., taking a page оut оf the bооkѕ of Aѕhtоn Kutcher (whо іnсіdеntаllу ѕаіd thаt the best іnvеѕtmеnt he ever mаdе wаѕ in rеlаtіоnѕhірѕ) and Kеvіn Durant, bоth of whom have еԛuіtу роѕіtіоnѕ іn thе fintech startup.

Thе Rise Fund mау bе a ѕtаrtuр, but it has thе bасkіng оf рrіvаtе equity shop TPG Grоwth, which oversees more thаn $8 bіllіоn. Rіѕе, wіth Bоnо’ѕ help, hаѕ rаіѕеd a wаr chest оf $2 bіllіоn tо іnvеѕt wіth a fосuѕ оn рrоjесtѕ that are dеѕіgnеd tо have a positive іmрасt society and gеnеrаtе рrоfіtѕ fоr the fund, аll of whісh fіtѕ thе persona оf muѕісіаn/асtіvіѕt/іnvеѕtоr Bоnо. Kind of ѕоundѕ lіkе Vіtаlіk Butеrіn’ѕ blосkсhаіn. Mеаnwhіlе, іn аddіtіоn tо the U2 frоntmаn, thе Rise board rоѕtеr extends to thе lіkеѕ of Richard Brаnѕоn.

Aсоrnѕ’ chief Noah Kеrnеr ѕаіd оf thе Rіѕе backing:

“I bеlіеvе іn thе American Drеаm; in the іdеа that nо matter whеrе уоu ѕtаrt, anyone саn grоw wealth. Thіѕ investment аnd ѕuрроrt frоm TPG’s Rіѕе Fund, which has brоught tоgеthеr ѕоmе оf the wоrld’ѕ mоѕt іnfluеntіаl thought lеаdеrѕ соmmіttеd tо driving ѕосіаl сhаngе, wіll help us furthеr dеlіvеr thе tools, knоwlеdgе аnd inspiration tо сhаmріоn thаt idea.”

Newport, Cаlіf.-bаѕеd Aсоrnѕ is a dіgіtаl wеаlth mаnаgеr thаt appeals tо mіllеnnіаlѕ in particular, соmраrаblе tо fіntесh Bеttеrmеnt but оn the micro lеvеl, bоаѕtіng AUM оf $500 million асrоѕѕ millions of accounts аnd ассоunt sizes аѕ lоw аѕ USD 175.

US-bаѕеd Acorns likely арреаlѕ tо mіllеnnіаlѕ fоr its еаѕе оf uѕе аnd lоw fееѕ. Uѕеrѕ соnnесt their саrdѕ thаt they use fоr everyday рауmеntѕ оntо thе Aсоrnѕ рlаtfоrm. Frоm thеrе, they go about thеіr daily ѕреndіng habits, аnd the ѕраrе сhаngе frоm those іnvеѕtmеntѕ іѕ automatically dіrесtеd tоwаrd іnvеѕtmеntѕ by Aсоrnѕ асrоѕѕ thоuѕаndѕ оf ѕtосkѕ and bоndѕ. Cоnѕіdеrіng that Bono trаnѕсеndѕ gеnеrаtіоnѕ, hіѕ аffіlіаtіоn with Acorns ѕhоuld rаіѕе thе mісrо wealth management app’s рrоfіlе even higher.

It’ѕ nо wonder thаt Bоnо’ѕ Rіѕе іѕ drаwn tо robo-advisory, wіth Cеrullі Associates hаvіng рrеdісtеd the ѕіzе of the dіgіtаl-аdvісе market оf $220 bіllіоn аt year-end 2017, uр аlmоѕt threefold frоm thе previous уеаr’ѕ lеvеlѕ.

NBA All-Stаr аnd MVP Kеvіn Durant of thе Golden Stаtе Wаrrіоrѕ has similarly bееn drawn to fіntесh аnd through his tech-focused investment fіrm соuntѕ Acorns аѕ wеll аѕ on-demand delivery ѕеrvісе Pоѕtmаtеѕ in the portfolio.

In аddіtіоn tо сеlеbѕ, Acorns hаѕ thе backing оf other well-known bасkеrѕ іnсludіng fеllоw fіntесh PауPаl. Thе Acorns app іѕ сurrеntlу being іntеgrаtеd іntо PayPal, which ѕtаndѕ to bolster the lаttеr соmраnу’ѕ рrоfіlе among a fіеld of growing payments companies. Aсоrnѕ acquired Portland-based Vаult, whісh allows арр users tо dіrесt ѕоmе оf thеіr раусhесkѕ іntо a retirement ѕаvіngѕ ассоunt.

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Altcoin News

Venezuelan President Mandates New Petro-Financed Housing Scheme

Published

9 hours ago

September 21, 2019

Stefan

The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, is in the latest cryptocurrency news again. This time, the Venezuelan President has mandated that the country's oil-backed cryptocurrency - the Petro - must be used for funding the 'Great Housing Mission Venezuela' social hosing program. The minister of popular power for habitat and housing named Ildemaro Villarroel, said that the program will be funded using the Petro cryptocurrency. In an official announcement posted on the department's official website, the minister said that the Venezuelan President put start to the scheme. He also noted that the financing mechanism is offering greater guarantees that the scheme's outcomes will be achieved.

“We tell President Nicolás Maduro that we continue to follow his instructions, moving forward and giving concrete samples when delivering homes, and the next milestones will be with Petro and the homes will be more protected by this mechanism.”

Another member of the Venezuelan government was in the altcoin news. Joselit Ramirez, who is the superintendent of virtual currency in the country, praised the department and its confirmaiton that it will adhere to the Petro Incentive plan. He described the department as “a bastion of transformation of the entire national economy" and stated that this program will allow private investors to finance the construction of public housing through the stock market with 4,000 houses set to be constructed. This announcement was featured on many best cryptocurrency news sites and local news sites portraying the Venezuelan president as an authority leading the scheme. The announcement also comes 15 months after the government in the country and its desired to finance public housing using Petro cryptocurrency was first reported. As the coming altcoin news show, the financing initiative approved by the Venezuelan president Maduro is the latest attempt of the government in the country to cultivate Petro adoption via executive mandate. Earlier this month, the Bank of Venezuela launched an online portal which aim is to facilitate Petro wallet registrations. The announcement followed an official order from the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in July - which demanded that the country's central bank must provide support for Petro. At the end of August 2018, Maduro ordered banks throughout Venezuela to accept the oil-backed virtual currency as a unit of account.

Altcoin News

Will Next Gen Altcoins Blossom In The Next Crypto Bull Run?

Published

9 hours ago

September 21, 2019

Stefan

The coming altcoin news today show that altcoins are retracing in the same manner as Bitcoin. For those of you not following the news, untested altcoins emerged in 2017 where retail crypto investors loaded on them, finding the equivalent of the next Bitcoin. Now, the question is: "Will next gen altcoins blossom soon?" After the 2018 bear market, the hopes and dreams of many investors have been shattered - and the sentiment surrounding the once surface of the sun hot altcoins may never recover - even if the market does. As the latest cryptocurrency news show, the next crypto bull run will likely be driven by a new wave of emerging and unheard of altcoins which satisfy the shiny newness, hype and promise the older coins offered before. So, will next gen altcoins be in the focus again? No one knows for certain. However, last night, Coinbase was in the news for revealing a lineup of new altcoins that they are exploring as coins that they may potentially list in the future. The initial reaction from the cryptocurrency community was nothing but shock - mostly because of the fact that the leader in crypto neglected a lot of the altcoin projects that investors have long been hoping to see get listed. The list included noteworthy names such as Telegram, or older crypto mainstays such as Filecoin. Still, there are some newer and unreleased tokens in the altcoin news too - including the names of Polkadot and Chia. https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/1174776579827929088 The common thread across a lot of these altcoins is that they are from US-based businesses. Chia, for example, is a project based in San Francisco where Coinbase's headquarters reside - led by a former BitTorrent frontman named Bram Cohen. If you are asking yourself: Will next gen altcoins rise again - the reality is that no one knows. The coins from last year that were the most talked about or hotly traded are now dead in the water. Even though there are always gems and altcoins that managed to surge a lot, crypto is a speculative market and in it, value is driven predominantly from hype and future expectations. Because of all these factors, it is expected that the shiny new altcoins offering promise, potential and hype will vastly outperform the older ones during the next crypto bull run.

Altcoin News

BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes: ‘Traditional Traders Are Under Pressure’

Published

16 hours ago

September 21, 2019

Stefan

The BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, who has always been a topic in the latest cryptocurrency news, is now with a new statement where he points out to traditional traders. As Hayes summed up, traders may lose lunch breaks and weekends as digital finance is going to change everything - including workplaces. Hayes was featured in a Septemebr 19 article on Bloomberg which was featured on many best cryptocurrency news sites. In it, he noted that cryptocurrencies trade 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. He also summed up that this will end up affecting “everything from traditional equities, bonds and currency trading, to the way payments are processed and recorded.” The BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes also made his remarks at the Milken Institute Asia Summit held in Singapore. He added that “traders may even lose their lunch breaks and weekends as traditional assets absorb some characteristics of digital ones" and fully backed up this statement by saying:

“Some of the practices in our market are going to be mimicked in traditional trading [...] All these things about being somewhere and trading something and physically reconciling records is all going to go out the window. Once you get away from that and understand that everything will be digital in the next 10 years, you realize that Bitcoin isn’t such a strange idea.”

It remains to be seen how labor organizations which were crucial in the adoption of weekends, the 40-hour workweek and mandatory break - will respond to the claims of the BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes and especially if his prediction passes. On September 18 and before this, the CEO of BitMEX was in the news for predicting that Bitcoin (BTC) could soon shoot to $20,000 as a result of emergency measures from the United States Federal Reserve. The comments by Hayes came right after the Federal Reserve swooped in and decided to decrease interest rates on some loans which reached more than 10% or four times its target. More than $53 billion was pumped in the economy through the quantitative easing (QE) measures.

“QE4eva is coming. Once the Fed gets religion again, get ready for #bitcoin $20,000,” the BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes tweeted back then.

The latest Bitcoin and altcoin news show a new correction on the market. The total market cap is now at $267 billion and Bitcoin is again below $10,100.

Altcoin News

Upbit Exchange Delists Privacy Coins Including Monero, Dash and Others

Published

16 hours ago

September 21, 2019

Stefan

The major exchange from South Korea is in the latest Bitcoin and altcoin news for becoming the latest one to delist privacy oriented coins. The Upbit exchange decided to follow the moves of Coinbase this month and delisted a slew of privacy coins based on the recent regulatory requirements from the international body - the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). As the notice from the South Korea exchange officially showed, the transaction support for Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), Zcash (ZEC), Haven (XHV), Bittube (TUBE) and PIVX (PIVX) will be put to an end on Monday, September 30. Upbit exchange announced its investigation of the six coins earlier this month. It seems that the exchange was determining if the privacy coins met the requirements listed by the FATF guidance issued last June. The latest cryptocurrency news also show that privacy coins conduct transactions on public ledgers without exposing the address or identity of an individual. Aside from Upbit exchange, there were other exchanges which also started delisting the coins as well. Examples include Coinbase and Zcash from this summer in the UK - and the Korean exchange OKEX which dropped five privacy coins earlier this month. Upbit wrote on its company blog and said that money laundering and the possibility of inflows of privacy coins were the leading reasons for delisting.

“There are also crypto-assets that can selectively utilize anonymity features among projects that are subject to end of transaction support. For these crypto-asset, Upbit has only supported transparent withdrawal/deposit support. Nevertheless, the decision to end trading support for the crypto-asset was also made to block the possibility of money laundering and inflow from external networks. Upbit will continue to consider crypto-asset that represent anonymity functions as candidates for designation of investment warning crypto-asset.”

Now that Upbit exchange decided to delist the privacy coins, the coming altcoin news show that coin prices are starting to drop. According to Messari analytics, the Zcash price dropped over 50% since July 1 joined by Monero, which has been down near 20% over the same period. Still, the exchange delistings and price drops have not necessarily slowed privacy coin tech development. Over the past month, the Electric Coin Company by Zcash released Halo which is the long-awaited zk-SNARK which can verify a single blockchain in one proof.