Payment apps, like PayPal, Zelle, and Apple Pay have grown so much in popularity they are ubiquitous. Consumers often have more than one. But, other than popularity, what criteria is most important when choosing a mobile payment app? For me, the primary issue is privacy – avoiding the IRS! So, I went on a mission to determine which ones are the safest from prying eyes.
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“Should these measures prove ineffective at reducing impacts, the [Biden] administration should explore executive actions, and Congress might consider legislation, to limit or eliminate the use of high energy intensity consensus mechanisms for crypto-asset mining”
BitcoinBTC +0.1%, using the energy-intensive proof-of-work consensus mechanism, could be banned in the U.S. under a proposal made by the White House Office of Science and Technology.
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Following an executive order made by U.S. president Joe Biden in March in the aftermath of an extraordinary 2021 bitcoin price surge, the Office of Science and Technology said the government “has a responsibility” to “protect” people from pollution caused by cryptocurrencies.
The proposal comes amid a crypto market shake-up caused by ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, beginning its long-await transition from proof-of-work to the far more energy-efficient proof-of-stake—something some think could trigger a massive bitcoin price crash.
“Electricity usage from digital assets is contributing to [greenhouse gas emissions], additional pollution, noise, and other local impacts, depending on markets, policies, and local electricity sources,” the report reads, adding: “The U.S. government has a responsibility to ensure electric grid stability, enable a clean energy future, and protect communities from pollution and climate change impacts.”
The climate impact of bitcoin mining has become a hot topic in recent months as the soaring bitcoin price pushed up bitcoin’s energy demands and fears over climate change reached fever pitch.
The bitcoin price rocketed higher at the end of 2020 and into 2021 only to crash back this year—though it remains around twice its mid-2020 level.
The bitcoin network is thought to use roughly as much energy each year as some smaller countries, with the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance recently calculating it consumes around 110 terawatt hours per year, or 0.55% of global electricity production, equivalent to the annual energy demands of the likes of Malaysia and Sweden.
The Office of Science and Technology recommends creating so-called clean energy “performance standards” for bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining—which involves using powerful computers to both secure the blockchain network and create new coins—including encouraging the “use of environmentally responsible crypto-asset technologies.”
“Should these measures prove ineffective at reducing impacts, the [Biden] administration should explore executive actions, and Congress might consider legislation, to limit or eliminate the use of high energy intensity consensus mechanisms for crypto-asset mining”—referring to bitcoin’s proof-of-work.
Earlier this year, internal European Union documents revealed Swedish financial regulators and the EU’s European Commission discussed the possibility of banning bitcoin’s proof-of-work mining mechanism due to its environmental impact.
Meanwhile, ethereum, which still currently uses the proof-of-work system pioneered by bitcoin, has begun a long-awaited switch to proof-of-stake, removing its reliance on miners while reducing the ethereum network’s carbon footprint by 99%.
Ethereum is expected to complete its transition to proof-of-work around mid-September.
Billy Bambrough – Senior Contributor to Forbes.com
September 8, 2022
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Bitcoin has not only been a trendsetter, ushering in a wave of cryptocurrencies built on a decentralized peer-to-peer network, but has also become the de facto standard for cryptocurrencies, inspiring an ever-growing legion of followers and spinoffs. Let’s review the top altcoins out there.
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A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers.
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Blockchain has been primarily associated with the financial industry and cryptocurrency, but it has also been used for various other applications in several industries including healthcare, supply chain management, asset tracking, energy management, smart home/city and Internet of Things (IoT).
What other ways can Blockchain be used throughout the Web to expand usability?
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Published: Feb. 23, 2022 at 10:54 p.m. ET By Associated Press
BOSTON — Ukraine’s parliament and other government and banking websites were hit with another punishing wave of distributed-denial-of-service attacks Wednesday, and cybersecurity researchers said unidentified attackers had also infected hundreds of computers with destructive malware.
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Published: Feb. 16, 2022 at 9:01 a.m. ETBy Jack Denton
With Roblox stock in free fall Wednesday, Wall Street is reevaluating the company’s earnings potential as well as what comes next for a videogame group focused on the metaverse.
Analysts’ conclusions could also have significant implications for Meta Platforms (ticker: FB), the embattled social media giant increasingly betting its future on the metaverse.
Shares in Roblox (RBLX) already were down more than 25% so far this year as of the close Tuesday. The stock has since crumbled more than 17% in premarket trading Wednesday after it reported quarterly results.
Roblox reported record daily active users — up 33% year over year — but its fourth-quarter loss of $143.3 million, or 25 cents a share, disappointed Wall Street, which was looking for a loss of 12 cents, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Roblox’s product is a platform that provides users — for the most part children and teens — the ability to make their own games and online experiences, and allows for online virtual interaction. As such, it is both a video game group and a company at the forefront of the metaverse, which describes emerging platforms and technologies that serve a vision of virtual worlds.
Analysts are divided on what comes next.
Drew Crum of Stifel reiterated his Buy rating on Roblox stock with a target price of $110. Crum’s target implies upside for the stock of 78% based on the Wednesday premarket action in the shares.
“We believe Roblox represents a compelling play on the convergence of content and social, two ‘viral loops’ that provide a mutually reinforcing network effect, and together should drive higher engagement, and hence monetization across its platform,” Crum said. The analyst did note that January saw a deceleration in bookings, an adjusted revenue metric used in the videogame industry, which was a negative sign.
Analysts led by Bernie McTernan at Needham were even more bullish, reiterating their Buy rating with a target price on the stock of $136, implying more than 120% upside from Wednesday premarket levels.
Like the team at Stifel, the group at Needham were positive on Roblox’s brand partnerships, like the one with the NFL, which it views as key to long-term growth prospects.
“Roblox is taking a wait-and-see approach to more directly monetize brand spend on their platform, opting for allowing brands to experiment in an environment with less which down the road will allow for a greater monetization opportunity from their massive engagement,” McTernan said.
It was a more bearish picture at Benchmark, where Mike Hickey reiterated his Sell rating with a target price of $70. Roblox closed above $73 Tuesday, before earnings, so Hickey’s target at the time implied 4% downside.
Hickey’s outlook on the company highlights a number of existential concerns that go beyond Roblox and into the metaverse, including the future of these platforms as the days of strict Covid-19 pandemic restrictions come to an end.
“We are cautious the pandemic pulled forward growth, and normalized behavior may dampen outlier engagement trends,” Hickey said. “The metaverse platform was a social utility during the pandemic, in our view, which could unwind as social restrictions are now removed, schools stay open, and parental spend reallocates.”
Moreover, Hickey struck a cautious tone in describing how the depth of virtual worlds can also usher in threats to users in the metaverse, especially among children.
“We are not convinced that Roblox offers a safe play environment and worry over the potential for child abuse,” Hickey said.
More specifically on Roblox, Hickey outlined a business risk that parents — who are likely the ones actually paying for the product — are not connected to the company and could “throttle back spend,” with children happily switching to other games.
The company has some ambitious growth initiatives, Hickey added, but the investment bank is cautious about the ones that extend beyond core game play. The analyst also said that at some point Roblox likely will have to increase developer exchange fees, pinching margins, and that its growth opportunities in China now look more gloomy.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com
December 15, 2021
By David Shepardson
Reuters.com
WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Major U.S. air carriers warned on Wednesday that plans by wireless carriers to use spectrum for 5G wireless services starting Jan. 5 could disrupt thousands of daily flights and cost air passengers $1.6 billion annually in delays.
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Now one of the top 150 most visited websites in the US – another milestone passed.
Rumble, the popular, free speech friendly video sharing platform, hit a record number of monthly visits in July and is now close to becoming one of the top 100 most visited websites in the US, according to data from web analytics service SimilarWeb.
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