Posts published in July 2020

In a surprising development, Tech Entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan come up with an offer of a bounty of $1000 in Bitcoins to anyone who can get Vox’s Recode website to retract a story on COVID 19. As per the details, the story was published in February, and it dealt with the overreaction of Silicon Valley to the COVID 19 situation. The Tech entrepreneur mainly targeted Kara Swisher, who is the Editor and Co-Founder of Recode. He believes that with such an announcement, he will surely get the result as expected.

$1000 bounty in Bitcoins

Srinivasan said in his tweets that he will offer $ 1000, which is equivalent to 0.11 BTC to any person who is able to get a reply that is time-stamped from Recode agreeing to make corrections to the article. He also mentioned that the correction needs to be published in order to get the bounty. This tweet has drawn the attention of many tech experts and induced them to have the bounty in their wallet. Some people also reacted as a surprise in response to the tweets made by Srinivasan. However, the experts in this field look it from a different viewpoint.

Balaji Srinivasan tweets on Bitcoin bounty offer

He mentioned that Kara Swisher has not yet run a formal retraction of the article that contained false reports about the reaction of silicon valley to the COVID 19 situation. He alleged that the business model of Recode does not incentivize truth, and it has now become the responsibility of the public to do it. He clearly said that any person who can get Recode to correct the record will get a $ 1000 bounty. He even gave the link of the article in his tweets. His announcement is loud and clear and hence also got a good response on social media. However, yet it is not confirmed if any tech expert has contacted him and if there is any further development in this direction.

The Recode article about COVID 19

The story about COVID 19 was first published in February, and Srinivasan soon posted his disagreement on Twitter. He alleged that the article omitted many contexts and contained false statements. The article had said that the risk of virus transmission in public places was low, which later turned out to be false. In the same way, the article also mentioned that the CDC did not recommend avoiding handshakes, and this was later condemned by many people as CDC was always in favor of social distancing norms.

The writer also went on to make fun of other people who take too many precautions about avoiding meeting people during this situation. However, at that point, there were less than 100 cases in the United States, and the understanding about this disease was very less. Not much information about the transmission and other things was available from China, and the errors in the article may be due to those reasons.

Reactions over Bitcoin bounty

The reactions to this bounty in Bitcoins were mixed. Many people felt that Srinivasan went overboard in offering a bounty on journalists, and he should not have done so on a public platform. A tech entrepreneur doing this will set the wrong precedents for other people in the future, and many people may resort to using this method for harassing people. However, Srinivasan also got many supporters who mentioned that the media needs to be more responsible in reporting issues about COVID 19 pandemic. However, the crypto world got into big-time news with such a bounty offer coming in Bitcoins mode. This may set a trend for many such offers from various people across the globe.

From the past few years, a huge eye is upon Bitcoin. Due to the method of transaction used in Bitcoin, it is among a lot of words criticizing it. One of the most criticized things about Bitcoin is that it can’t be used by the users to make the reverse of any transaction. Once the processing begins, it is not possible to undo or reverse it. The transaction processing mechanism is one of the points which is making Bitcoin stand in the criticism.

Another key caution which the entire beginners in the Bitcoin trading must remember is keeping an eye upon the Bitcoin wallet address.

Invention to reduce the chances of human mistakes:

Kirobo, a startup from 2 years that came into emergence from the Middle Eastern country, announced the new thing founded by it. It revealed that a means had been found, which can help reduce the chances of human errors in the transactions involving cryptocurrency. As a solution, it reveals that inverting a feature known as “retrievable crypto transfers” can enable a sender of Bitcoin to vanish the ongoing transaction status by canceling it, which is by mistake sent to another address.  

The company also came up with a cite reference to the Fio Foundation’s study, wherein it is revealed that about 55% of investors engaged in cryptocurrency dealings face human errors while using the digital currency. In the survey report, it was found that about 18% of the users lost their funds because of human errors.  

Using the new crypto feature, Kirobo is planning to help the crypto users enjoy the convenient use of transactions without facing any loss due to human errors. Asaf Naim (Chief executive officer of Kirobo) came up with an explanation that the company aims at ensuring cryptocurrency transactions to be conducted ad safely securely in comparison to the conventional crypto transactions. With the emergence of the logic layer by the company, it will release a unique code that will be sent with the transaction, and the recipient requires to use the code for availing the funds. 

Such a platform is already interesting, which has made it get support from the Authorities of Israeli Innovation. It is the arm of government that fosters all the arriving development linked with industrial purposes. Also, it is claimed by the platform that it has gone through the auditing process conducted by the “Scorpiones Group.” This group comes in the list of most-famed Israel’s cybersecurity groups.

Crypto transactions becoming convenient and easily accessible:

The feature of “WKirobo’s Retrievable Transfer” is applicable over all the wallets, including crypto ledger. Using this feature, one can easily get a smooth and safe Bitcoin transaction experience. And this feature can only be used over Bitcoin transactions, and it doesn’t cost any charges for transactions amounting to $1,000. It is an interesting initiative that can make it a better experience for crypto users.

All the crypto users will develop a feeling of trust to use cryptocurrencies and become frequent in using such transactions. The products list is the latest feature that came into arrival and aims at improving the crypto experience of users to make it convenient and safe for them. Also, another announcement was made regarding the Freewallet application that it will enter into a partnership with the Changelly for coming up with a new feature that speeds-up the process of crypto transactions. 

Not only will the feature ensure saving a lot of time, but Freewallet also revealed that such a technology could turn down the expense over crypto transactions. All the transfers with the feature will be conducted in an “off-chain” medium. This means that the crypto users can freely use the “optimal anonymity” related features while making crypto transactions.

The use of digital currencies is an entirely new thing, but it is getting popular, especially cryptocurrencies. It is a digital currency developed to function as an exchange agency.

It utilizes cryptography to protect and verify transactions and to run the development of new units of a particular cryptocurrency. Sometimes it does not matter how advantageous things are. Everything has it’s good and bad. That’s what you’ll know here about cryptocurrencies.

Major Pros of Cryptocurrencies

Motility

This is one of the biggest benefits you get using cryptocurrencies. You are able to transport a huge amount of cryptocurrencies at one go very much, unlike real money. You can carry billions of bitcoins with you in a memory drive.

Clarity

You get an open ledger with bitcoin known as a blockchain. On a blockchain, each and every transaction is recorded and tracked. As a result, once a transaction is accomplished and recorded on the ledger, it cannot be altered. Thus, this is the most secure transaction.

Under your Control

Every user is under the control of his or her transactions. This is helpful enough to keep the amount safe. The transaction done does not depend on the identities of the parties making it. Thus, it is an excellent approach in favor of the users that guard them against identity theft.

No Inflation

The Government keeps on printing more money, and the economy keeps on shifting prices. This is why all traditional currencies experience inflation. But, it is not the case for bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies. Why? Because there is a limited count of minable bitcoins.

Population growth would come to rest when there would be 10 billion people by 2050, based on research. The last bitcoins will be extracted around this period, and the market would get no more.

Cons of Cryptocurrencies

Uplifted Explosiveness

Cryptocurrency ICOs are way more explosive or volatile when compared to investing in the stock market or real estate. A small hack can cause a considerable loss of the investors. Such drastic incidents are rare in the case of cryptocurrency, but things should be carried forward very carefully.

Possible Network Stall

Building up a sturdy product that a particular network of users would desire to use is what the actual worth of any cryptocurrency relies on.

But, by any chance, the network crashes to attract users or not get enough users to use the platform, the currency would be facing a snooze in price. A lot of the current ICOs that failed to perform after launching did so for a deficiency of management of the network.

Scarcity of Resources

If cryptocurrency ICOs do not elevate enough money, just as startups can lose resources and cannot carry out operations. Many cryptocurrencies are doing pre-ICO elevation to get strong commitments of resources and illustrated demand for the currency.

Plausible mismanagement

New investment pathways come up every day, and this is why it isn’t easy to keep up with what options you have for wealth management. Good portfolios are prone to include some riskier assets like venture capital, while portfolios should be balanced.

Conclusion

So, that was all you needed to know about the goods and bads if you are making any transaction or exchange with cryptocurrencies. Now, knowing the cons you might question would the pros manage to cover the negatives. Well, it depends on how you intend to move.

Buying bitcoins for trading at a later time has been proven to be the right decision. One thing is for sure; cryptocurrencies are looking up unlike saving real money that would be wiped out in time due to inflation, at least in the foreseen upcoming times.

According to Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm owner, there is continuous growth and demand for cryptocurrency. There are social media, developers, and startups that are using the crypto cycle. It is giving favorable results for the investors. A report released by the US-based company analyzed the crypto of the last few years, i.e., 2012, 2013, and 2017 and saw a steep rise since 2010. Many projects are using cryptocurrencies such as payments, infrastructure, games, and finance, and web applications.

Though the cycle of cryptocurrency is found to be messy, there is a massive growth of cryptocurrency in startups. Many innovations are happening based on the cryptocurrency. Many entrepreneurs and technologists are evincing interest in using the cryptocurrencies. Everyone is enthusiastic about using this type of digital currency.

Coinmarketcap disclosed that cryptocurrency users increase in different countries such as India, Canada, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Columbia. There is an increase in female users who are using this type of currency in Greece and Romania.

Entrepreneurs are not ignoring cryptocurrency and blockchain. There is no sign of the cryptocurrency slowing down.

The blockchain-based information and tokens are giving many opportunities for entrepreneurs. It is helping to come up with innovative solutions that are highly secure, transparent, and fast.

Here is how crypto is bringing a change in the entrepreneur world:

Give access to entrepreneurship education.

People of all ages and from different walks of life would show interest in becoming an entrepreneur. Not many would have enough money to pursue their management degree from the top colleges, which would have a whopping fee. Moreover, the regular job would not let people pursue their entrepreneurial dreams as they could not enroll in the management degree.

Despite going for formal education, many entrepreneurs are not showing interest in the new way of getting educated and looking out for affordable educational options that allow them to hone their business skills. Blockchain tokens are being used to access the video content, digital courses, and provide coaching to the budding entrepreneurs. It covers various topics. The immutable ledger and smart contracts offer ample educational opportunities for people to have cost-effective education. All the entrepreneurs would need is to have access to the educational content.

Unlock the potential of crowd opportunities

The impact of crypto and blockchain is that it is allowing entrepreneurs to carry out crowdfunding campaigns. The blockchain startups would use USD 5.6 billion of funds for community campaigns. The fundraising model using the blockchain has found to be grabbing a lot of investment.

Give new opportunities

There are many ways that an entrepreneur would look to diversify their investment. The coin-based transactions are giving new hopes for them. Many industries widely use blockchain. The token-based opportunities would help the entrepreneurs to buy assets by abiding by the laws and regulations.

Develop a loyalty platform

Businesses need to gain customer loyalty. It strengthens the relationship between customers and businesses. Many customer loyalty issues would arise, which causes headache and increase bookkeeping issues. The blockchain would reduce the entrepreneurs’ stress by helping them come up with the stress-free customer loyalty programs, reward customers, and strengthen their relationships.

Rise of the cryptocurrency market

A decade ago, cryptocurrency was just studied in books, but now the majority of the population is aware of it. It changed with the creation of bitcoin. Though, many are not aware of how the cryptocurrency market functions, but they are aware of the cryptocurrencies.

The cryptocurrency is gaining huge popularity in the government sector and businesses.

• Governments and big corporations keep a close watch on the cryptocurrency market to find out how they can embrace the cryptocurrency mechanism and use blockchain technology.
• Many companies are using blockchain to check the feasibility of integrating technology into business.
• Internet would connect people and let them exchange data, and today blockchain is considered the second internet.

Future of cryptocurrencies

There is nothing that can help you anticipate the future of cryptocurrencies; however, if bitcoin is going to be successful, cryptocurrencies would have a bright future.

The price of a bitcoin was just USD 280 in 2015, and it rose to USD 1000 in 2017. There is a steep rise in the demand for cryptocurrency. The bitcoin price has increased to USD 17,000. There is another cryptocurrency known as Ether that has grown at a rapid pace.

Initial coin offerings (ICO) would be playing a critical role in the cryptocurrency market. It makes use of the coins or the tokens to buy a share in the company. These are given to the investors who are involved in the initial public offering (IPO) transaction. You can link ICO to the crowdfunding and use this as a way to earn funds by the startup companies. Many assumed that this type of currency would go into oblivion. However, the market is consistent though it seems to be inconsistent.

Conclusion

The crypto world is not as inconsistent as it seems. There is a steep growth in the industry since its inception. Many innovations are happening around the cryptocurrency.

Binance Charity, a blockchain NGO, striving to fight various social problems, is now up-in-arms with the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent press release, the NGO announced that it would be launching a ‘First-ever, fully-transparent campaign’ to provide relief to affected countries worldwide. The campaign titled, ‘Crypto Against COVID’ aims to raise funds from the blockchain and cryptocurrency markets to combat this global pandemic.

The Head of Binance Charity, Helen Hai, said, “Binance is proud to help those on the front lines of the fight against the global pandemic, through direct contributions and a platform that will continue to help long after COVID. Blockchain is a powerful antidote to a problem that has long plagued the philanthropy sector: distributed ledgers have the speed, scalability, and immutability to alleviate donor concerns, ultimately maximizing charitable impact. At Binance Charity, our mission is to amplify the use of this cutting-edge technology for social good, and with COVID-19’s unprecedented arrival and startling spread, we have provided a trustworthy approach to remedying the spread of the pandemic.”

Binance Charity so far has provided thousands of PPE kits (personal protective equipment) to hospitals in China, Italy, Spain, and other severely affected countries. The organization firmly believes that most people are unable to track their donations due to the lack of transparency. Therefore, they have ensured that their campaign will be 100% transparent. They have taken the fight against the Coronavirus to the crypto market, where donors can track the funds using a unique transaction ID.

Focusing their efforts on New York, the press release further mentioned that the magnitude of cases in the city was severe. New York is the worst-affected state in the USA, with over 387,000 people affected with Coronavirus. They selected 11 hospitals in the city to fulfill the urgent need of N95 masks. The hospitals that benefitted in the city included NY Presbyterian Hospital, NYU Langone, Lenox Hill Hospital, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Staten Island University Hospital, Huntington Hospital, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, among others.

Binance had started a social impact cryptocurrency called PPE Token, which showed the powerful impact of cryptocurrency. They successfully managed to deliver 200,000 N95 masks untampered to eleven hospitals in and around New York. PPE Token had administered complete transparency on its public ledger. It provided information regarding the channels from where the donations came, its distribution, and how it was redeemed. It included the details of the purchase of the N95 masks, flight details for transporting them, and also photographic evidence of hospitals receiving them.

The Crypto Against COVID campaign has managed to raise over $4 million till now, which has allowed them to provide around 1 million healthcare kits to hospitals around the globe. Countries like India, China, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the United States, and more have been gravely affected during this pandemic and have immensely benefitted from this fundraiser.

The founder and CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, mentions on their website, “The crypto community is a growing force, and we have an opportunity to strengthen this through philanthropy. We encourage the community to take part in this initiative as we unite against COVID-19, and together, we’ll drive impact.”

Binance is one of the world’s major cryptocurrency exchange. It started its Blockchain Charity Foundation in 2018, intending to change the transparency aspect of donations. Besides, the COVID-19 crisis, this foundation has strived to part-take in several other social problems that are faced globally. They aim to unite the global crypto community to eradicate the root cause of social issues and transform into a better society.