Author: Forbes
In an effort to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine, a little-known, but incredibly powerful organization known as SWIFT has entered the zeitgeist. Without it, banks around the world wouldn’t be able to do business with each other. But even before the acronym, short for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, became widely known, competitors had emerged to try to break its monopoly on cross border transactions between banks. Founded in 1973 and connecting more than 11,000 financial institutions around the world, the Belgian messaging service that lets banks securely arrange financial transactions is co-owned by some…
U.S. authorities on Tuesday filed criminal charges against a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and levied separate charges against him and his sister for allegedly defrauding thousands of retail investors out of more than $124 million through unregistered securities offerings over the course of nearly five years—the latest in a string of federal actions targeting fast-growing cryptocurrency-based crime. KEY FACTS The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged John and Jonatina Barksdale with violating securities laws by misleading retail investors into buying an unregistered security called Ormeus Coin since at least June 2017. The siblings acted as “modern-day snake-oil salesmen, using social…
The newest trend among crypto projects is sports sponsorships in football, Formula 1, UFC, eSports, and baseball. The multi-million dollar investments in sports deals is mainly aimed at building legitimacy and engagements with sports fans. Crypto deals with sports teams and leagues grew over 100% in 2021 and are expected to reach $5 billion by 2026, according to sports analytics firm, Nielsen Sports. The Growth of Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu coins can largely be attributed to the massive communities behind the projects. Crypto companies have come to understand the importance of having a large community behind one’s project. A…
We all know that the world is abuzz with cryptocurrency. Mainstream financial media covers it almost daily. Tune into social media and someone’s hollering about the hottest new coins. It also appears that retail investors, businesses and financial institutions are increasingly getting in on the cryptocurrency action at some level. But here’s something interesting: Although everyone’s talking about cryptocurrency, it’s also likely that they’re not talking about the same thing. What is cryptocurrency anyway — some kind of future money, a speculative (non-monetary) asset or a technology that can pave the way for decentralized finance (DeFi)? Some people believe it…
It’s been two years since central banks issued trillions in fiat currency in response to a global pandemic, and now another destructive force has reared its ugly head: inflation. Today, the U.S. is grappling with its highest inflation reading in decades, and many of us — especially younger generations — are getting a crash course in economics as prices continue to rise. It’s natural to wonder if the future will become even more extreme with a hyperinflationary collapse. Hyperinflation can be scary for those who haven’t experienced it before. Luckily for us, there are some parallels, both historical and in…
As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to rage, the human toll and cost cannot be understated; this tragedy must be resolved as quickly and peacefully as possible. Framed against these unimaginable costs, discussing financial measures and other such items can seem trivial. Seemingly trivial, but financial headlines and the actions taken by both Russia and the nations supporting the people of Ukraine have generated significant conversation and debate. At the heart of the matter lies the following question, among others; what role do cryptocurrencies have to play during times like this? Before analyzing some of the more direct…
Formed in a fury to counter Russia’s blitzkrieg attack, Ukraine’s hundreds-strong volunteer “hacker” corps is much more than a paramilitary cyberattack force in Europe’s first major war of the internet age. It is crucial to information combat and to crowdsourcing intelligence. “We are really a swarm. A self-organizing swarm,” said Roman Zakharov, a 37-year-old IT executive at the center of Ukraine’s bootstrap digital army. Inventions of the volunteer hackers range from software tools that let smartphone and computer owners anywhere participate in distributed denial-of-service attacks on official Russian websites to bots on the Telegram messaging platform that block disinformation, let…
Crypto was supposed to be Ukraine’s launchpad into the future. Instead it is proving to be a necessary lifeline in a country ravaged by war. Since Russia’s invasion on February 24th, Ukraine has raised more than $56 million in donations spread across assets such as bitcoin, ether, polkadot, solana, dogecoin, tether and more. These funds have gone to help humanitarian agencies distributing aid in the country, procure necessary supplies for soldiers such as food, uniforms, and bullet-proof vests. They are also being used to help Ukraine’s growing ranks of cyber warriors, which has reportedly defaced Russian government websites, provided intelligence, and…
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have ricocheted over the last week as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine first tanked markets then sparked a bitcoin and crypto rally. The bitcoin price, after dropping to lows of $35,000 per bitcoin last week, bounced to $45,000 this week on the back of a surge of bitcoin interest from sanction-fearing Russian billionaires and oligarchs. Other top ten coins ethereum, BNB, solana, cardano and XRP have also seen severe price volatility. The bitcoin price has now dropped back as fears mount the Russia-Ukraine situation could spark harsh new crypto regulation. However, many bitcoin and crypto investors are feeling…
On Friday, the reigning Premier League champions announced a multi-year agreement naming OKX their official cryptocurrency exchange partner. The deal, which is OKX’s first foray into the sports world, will cover Manchester City’s men’s and women’s teams as well as its esports operations. It will include a presence inside both Manchester City venues, the 55,000-seat Etihad Stadium and the 7,000-person capacity Academy Stadium, as well as collaboration on future projects. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source tells Forbes that the deal with the club, the world’s sixth-most-valuable soccer team at $4 billion, is in the multimillion-dollar range annually. It’s the latest in…