Bills so pretty you’d never spend them.
Industrial designer Andrey Avgust hails from Belarus, a country whose currency I admit I’ve never seen. But he’s seen our yankee dollars and recognizes that their design kind of stinks.
For fun Avgust gave U.S. bills a redesign, starting with the material: Polymer.
Two years ago, the entire cryptoasset market had a value of $9 billion. Had it been a public company, it would barely have cracked the S&P 500 index. Fewer than two years later, the cryptoasset market is $300 billion in size, roughly double the market capitalization of RBC, Canada’s largest lender.
The explosion (and recent pull-back) of value in cryptoassets like bitcoin and ether has captured the imagination of developers, and the attention of the media, governments, central banks, the investing public, and regulators. It has made enthusiasts euphoric, Nobel laureates skeptical, and old-school billionaires dyspeptic. Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway went so far as to call bitcoin “noxious poison.” Is there any other kind of poison?
To be sure, there is a lot of hype in this market, and the industry must confront such implementation challenges as scaling technology and regulatory uncertainty. But beyond the hype and mania, something profound is happening—the creation of an entirely new digital asset class.
Continue reading… “Cryptocurrency is just one of seven types of cryptoassets you should know”
Public embarrassment is a horrible feeling. We’ve all experienced in one form or another. Predicting the future of technology is daunting enough but mix that with the future of money and markets – forget about it. The effort was to convey a whole worldview in less than ten minutes. Needless to say, it required a fair amount of sweating to be more than an embarrassment, which it undoubtedly will be considered by some as. The risk seems worth it though so let’s do this!
The below video and continued text go into why many of our trusted systems no longer function properly. I don’t know who built the pyramids but they certainly had their measurement system right for it to be possible and sustainable. The damage done by tech advancements are not yet visible in society on a large scale. We hear of declining sales in music, the press, deteriorating health care budgets, automated factories, AI in commerce and about self-driving cars. The heads of many old systems have already been cut, are bleeding heavily and lashing out aimlessly as the body of the octopus still moves. To make some sense of this, the topics include crypto, capitalism, communism, genetics, competition, media, competence, fairness, cultural revolutions and our shared decentralized future.
Continue reading… “Why the Crypto market will be trillions”
Most advice around ICOs tends to center on researching the team or project themselves, but Draper favors a different approach.
The never-ending debate is if Bitcoin is a universal currency. I attend the final session of the Blockchain Economic Forum in San Francisco, where venture capitalist Tim Draper was interviewed by former Obama administration CFTC chairman and current MIT lecturer Gary Gensler.
In a wide-ranging conversation, the pair covered many of the key elements causing so much excitement in the crypto space, and confidence in the future was the running theme.
Continue reading… “‘You can hear the panic in the bankers’ voices’ says Tim Draper”
A Canadian province is giving people money with no strings attached—revealing both the appeal and the limitations of the idea.
Dana Bowman, 56, expresses gratitude for fresh produce at least 10 times in the hour and a half we’re having coffee on a frigid spring day in Lindsay, Ontario. Over the many years she scraped by on government disability payments, she tended to stick to frozen vegetables. She’d also save by visiting a food bank or buying marked-down items near or past their sell-by date.
Continue reading… “Basic income could work—if you do it Canada-style”
Bird, one of many scooter startups currently sweeping the US, was last valued at $400 million after closing $100 million in series B funding in early March. In late May, Bird was reported to be raising $150 million in series C funding led by Sequoia Capital, at a $1 billion valuation.
People familiar with the deal told Quartz that at least three investors involved in that round—Sequoia, Accel, and Tusk Ventures—have already signed documents and wired money to Bird.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has thrown his weight behind Jack Dorsey’s hope that Bitcoin will emerge as the global currency of the internet.
The Twitter (TWTR, +3.02%) and Square CEO said last month that the internet is “going to have a native currency” and he hoped Bitcoin would be it.
No cash here.
The Dutch central bank DNB said on Tuesday it had concerns about the decline in the use of cash, saying the lightning-fast rise in digital payments could lead to vulnerable groups having limited access to goods and services.
While apps and other digital methods of payment are rising in popularity, ‘there is a risk that certain groups of consumers could be left behind and cut out of the payment systems,’ the bank said in a new report.
‘To make sure that everyone can continue to participate, paying in cash must remain an option. At the same time, the accessibility and ease of electronic payment systems should be improved.’
Continue reading… “Dutch central bank warns about the rise of the cashless society”
Ryan Van Wagenen has been with Global Private Equity for nearly a decade and is no stranger to the cryptocurrency movement. Since being promoted to Director within GPE in 2011, Van Wagenen has been covering the firm’s technology coverage and has seen a lot of growth in the sector. The question one must ask about crypto is what role it will play in digital currency going forward.
The crypto market that trades diverse virtual coins can look scary, exciting, as well as mysterious most especially to the casual observer. Bitcoin is the pioneer in cryptocurrency. It drastically surged in price and steeply gone down recently. Initial Coin Offerings or ICO for short in the meantime is emerging at a remarkable rate.
On one end, there are positive bulls and on the other extreme bears like Harvard Economist Kenneth Rogoff who is calling for the fall of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. Despite the fact that a number of monetary advisers all over the world remain dubious and doubtful, it is hard to take for granted the remarkable amount of money invested in this kind of currency. Two premier futurists, study and forecast technology trends regarding where they see virtual currency headed and why you must be aware of it.
Fiat money will lose its significance to gold and the cryptocurrencies in the next twenty years, said Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and his latest ,”Why The Rich Are Getting Richer.”
The self-proclaimed gold bug is one of few investors to be bullish on both bitcoin and gold, noting that the cryptocurrency will slowly erode fiat currencies’ relevance, while gold will act as an important hedge instrument.
Continue reading… “The dollar will be replaced by gold and cryptocurrency by 2040”
The SEC is scrutinizing Ether, second only to bitcoin in value, to determine if it should be considered a security; the decision could affect other digital currencies launched through initial coin offerings.
The second most valuable cryptocurrency behind bitcoin, Ethereum, is under regulatory scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is considering whether it should be classified as a commodity or a security.
An SEC decision to classify Ethereum’s Ether cryptocurrency as a security could have far-reaching consequences for other digital monies originally crowdfunded through initial coin offerings (ICOs).
Continue reading… “SEC decision on Ethereum cryptocurrency could affect others funded by ICOs”
A recent analysis of American debt revealed a startling shift: Borrowers between the ages of 45 and 74 now owe more money in education-related debt, on average, than do younger college graduates.
People under age 35 with student debt owe $32,900 on average, according to data from the Fed’s 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances. That debt number is higher for every other 10-year age bracket up to age 75: It peaks at $37,000 for 45- to 54-year-olds, but even 65- to 74-year-old borrowers owe an average $35,400.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.