#USD 2.5 million in foreign currency
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bharatkhabarnama · 10 days ago
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Canada’s largest 400 kg gold and $2.5 million heist : Wanted key accused Simranpreet Panesar found in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, February 15, 2025 ( Bharat Khabarnama Bureau) Simranpreet Panesar, a 32-year-old former Air Canada manager and the alleged mastermind behind Canada’s biggest gold heist, is currently residing on the outskirts of Chandigarh with his family, according to Peel Regional Police of Ontario. Mentionably, the heist, which took place in April 2023, involved the theft of 6,600 gold bars…
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idlemerald · 5 years ago
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Lebanese Protests (21/10/2019)
Over the past week or so, Lebanon has been in total anarchy. About a week ago, hundreds of wildfires (or artificially started fires) spread throughout the whole country (which has about 10.5 thousand square kilometers of overall landmass), killing a firefighter. This occurred during a heatwave.
Starting Friday, thousands of citizens crowded the streets to riot after the final straw when the government thought it was a good idea to tax WhatsApp calls. Over the past few months, Lebanon’s economic status took some severe hits when American dollars became no longer available (Lebanese currency heavily leans on the USD, especially for trade). This lead to strikes in banks, gas stations, and bread-making companies. Prime minister Saad Hariri suggested a total reform of the government in the space of 72 hours (which have already passed) in an attempt to calm down the protesters.
Around 2.5 million of Lebanon’s total population of almost 7 million people have taken to the streets of Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, and other central cities demanding the entire government’s resignation. On top of all that, many schools have been closed by government orders due to the protests. About 4 people have died so far because of escalated violence in the riots.
Honestly, I’m baffled as to why foreign news sites haven’t said anything about Lebanon’s situation. As a Lebanese citizen myself, I don’t see this going anywhere good without outside intervention.
Please spread this because it’s a serious issue and it seems outside news companies don’t find the total anarchy of an entire country to be relevant material.
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extreme-investor-network · 3 years ago
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Market Talk - July 21, 2022
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ASIA: Asian Development Bank (ADD) in its “E-Mobility Options for ADB Developing Member Countries,” which both forecast and recommended the quick shift to electric vehicles in the region to stem both climate change issues and the rising cost of fuel. The report noted how in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) focused on EV production and development both in the small, personal mobility space as well as development of battery and drivetrain technologies locally and in partnership with other car brands. The result is that in the last decade, the uptake of electrified vehicles in China is the highest in the Asian region at 16% — translating to over 4 million pure electric and hybrid vehicles. Automotive industry experts of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Automotive Federation are adamant of the viability of electric transport in the region. The group said that the growth of electric vehicles will come from private vehicle purchases first before public transportation. India’s central bank is prepared to sell a sixth of its foreign exchange reserves to defend the rupee against a rapid depreciation after it plumbed record lows in recent weeks, Reuters reported. The rupee has lost over 7% of its value in 2022 and weakened past the psychological level of 80 per U.S. dollar on Tuesday, but the source said the fall would have been far bigger if the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had not stepped in to stem the decline. The RBI’s currency reserves have fallen by more than $60 billion from its peak of $642.450 billion in early September, in part due to valuation changes, but largely on the back of dollar selling intervention. Despite the drawdown, the RBI’s reserves of $580 billion remain the fifth largest in the world, giving the central bank confidence in its ability to prevent any sharp, jerky depreciation of the currency. The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: - NIKKEI 225 increased 122.74 points or 0.44% to 27,803.00 - Shanghai decreased 32.72 points or -0.99% to 3,272.00 - Hang Seng decreased 315.59 points or -1.51% to 20,574.63 - ASX 200 increased 35.10 points or 0.52% to 6,794.30 - Kospi increased 22.31 points or 0.93% to 2,409.16 - SENSEX increased 284.42 points or 0.51% to 55,681.95 - Nifty50 increased 84.40 points or 0.51% to 16,605.25 The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today: - AUDUSD increased 0.00142 or 0.21% to 0.68985 - NZDUSD decreased 0.00121 or -0.19% to 0.62149 - USDJPY decreased 0.618 or -0.45% to 137.824 - USDCNY increased 0.00842 or 0.12% to 6.78252 Precious Metals: l Gold increased 17.23 USD/t oz. or 1.02% to 1,713.66 l Silver increased 0.094 USD/t. oz or 0.50% to 18.748 Some economic news from last night: Japan: BoJ Interest Rate Decision remain the same at -0.10% Adjusted Trade Balance decreased from -1.89T to -1.93T Exports (YoY) (Jun) increased from 15.8% to 19.4% Imports (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 48.9% to 46.1% Trade Balance (Jun) increased from -2,385.8B to -1,383.8B Australia: NAB Quarterly Business Confidence decreased from 15 to 5 New Zealand: Exports (Jun) decreased from 6.87B to 6.42B Imports (Jun) increased from 6.68B to 7.12B Trade Balance (MoM) (Jun) decreased from 195M to -701M Trade Balance (YoY) (Jun) decreased from -9,560M to -10,510M Some economic news from today: Hong Kong : CPI (YoY) (Jun) increased from 1.20% to 1.80% Australia: HIA New Home Sales (MoM) increased from -1.2% to 1.9% EUROPE/EMEA: French economic growth will slow sharply next year in the face of mounting geopolitical risks, pushing back improvement in the public sector budget deficit until afterward, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. Updating its long-term forecasts, the ministry said growth in the euro zone’s second-biggest economy was now expected to slow from 2.5% this year to 1.4% next year. Growth was seen gradually picking up to 1.8% in 2027 as the economy benefited from planned reforms ranging from the pension system to unemployment insurance, Le Maire added. As a result of the lower growth next year, the public sector budget deficit was seen unchanged from this year at 5% of gross domestic product. It would be gradually reduced afterward to within an EU limit of less than 3% by 2027, the ministry said. The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day: - CAC 40 increased 16.45 points or 0.27% to 6,201.11 - FTSE 100 increased 6.20 points or 0.09% to 7,270.51 - DAX 30 decreased 35.34 points or -0.27% to 13,246.64 The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today: - EURUSD increased 0.00122 or 0.12% to 1.01913 - GBPUSD decreased 0.00097 or -0.08% to 1.19581 - USDCHF decreased 0.002 or -0.21% to 0.96930 Some economic news from Europe today: UK: Public Sector Net Borrowing (Jun) increased from 11.80B to 22.12B Public Sector Net Cash Requirement (Jun) increased from 12.103B to 12.610B France: French Business Survey (Jul) decreased from 108 to 106 Euro Zone: Deposit Facility Rate (Jul) increased from -0.50% to 0.00% ECB Marginal Lending Facility increased from 0.25% to 0.75% ECB Interest Rate Decision (Jul) increased from 0.00% to 0.50% US/AMERICAS: Initial jobless claims in the US rose by 7,000 last week to 251,000 from the week prior. The figure surpassed the 240,000 estimate provided by Dow Jones. Unemployment filing reaching the highest weekly level since November 2021 as the job market begins to wane. Continuing claims, collected a week behind, rose to 1.384 million. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index slipped 9 points to a reading or -12.3%. Most (61%) firms stated there was no change in activity, but nearly a quarter reported decreases. Only 12% of businesses studied reported any increases. New orders declined for the second consecutive month to -24.8 from 12.4%. The shipment index advanced to 14.8 from 10.8. Inventories and unfilled orders reached negative territory at -9.3% and 10.4%, respectively. US Market Closings: - Dow advanced 161.93 points or 0.51% to 32,036.77 - S&P 500 advanced 39.18 points or 0.99% to 3,999.08 - Nasdaq advanced 161.96 points or 1.36% to 12,059.61 - Russell 2000 advanced 8.74 points or 0.48% to 1,836.69 Canada Market Closings: - TSX Composite advanced 42.18 points or 0.22% to 19,062.85 - TSX 60 advanced 3.36 points or 0.29% to 1,153.43 Brazil Market Closing: - Bovespa advanced 746.34 points or 0.76% to 99,033.17 ENERGY: The oil markets had a negative day today: l Crude Oil decreased 3.37 USD/BBL or -3.37% to 96.510 l Brent decreased 2.79 USD/BBL or -2.61% to 104.13 l Natural gas decreased 0.02 USD/MMBtu or -0.25% to 7.9850 l Gasoline decreased 0.114 USD/GAL or -3.48% to 3.1614 l Heating oil decreased 0.0632 USD/GAL or -1.75% to 3.5411 The above data was collected around 14:13 EST on Thursday - Top commodity gainers: Methanol (1.91%), Platinum(1.37%), Palladium (1.37%) and Rhodium (2.35%) - Top commodity losers: Palm Oil (-5.46%), Gasoline (-3.48%), Lumber (-3.83%) and Crude Oil (-3.37%) The above data was collected around 14:18 EST on Thursday. BONDS: Japan 0.237%(-0.6bp), US 2’s 3.12% (-0.129%), US 10’s 2.9300% (-10.6bps); US 30’s 3.08% (-0.087%), Bunds 1.2200% (-4bp), France 1.8090% (-2.6bp), Italy 3.6220% (+12.4bp), Turkey 16.82% (-11bp), Greece 3.583% (+12.5bp), Portugal 2.409% (+0.7bp); Spain 2.502% (+1.6bp) and UK Gilts 2.0470% (-9.4bp). Original Article Original Article Here: Read the full article
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kryptoupdates · 3 years ago
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Silverline krypto news live
Kerala Hc Observes State 'Mustn't Intimidate People' To Implement Silverline Project
The active shopper ratio improved to forty.2 per cent from 39.7 per cent in the December quarter. The firm's line of business consists of the retail sale of new car tires, batteries, and different vehicle parts and equipment. Silverline Capital is predicted to begin out making its first investments in the summertime of 2022. Against the backdrop of such protests, Vijayan will name on Modi and seek his nod for the project. Apparently, the senior K-Rail officers who are in Delhi, have already met the Railway Board officers ahead of PM-Vijayan meet.
Cryptocurrency Prices In India Today 19th July
There are 1000's of cryptocurrencies floating out on the market now, but Bitcoin is way and away the most well-liked. The total crypto market capitalization is down practically 2.5% up to now 24 hours. If an investor believes within the technology-backed digital foreign money, then cryptocurrency must be his cup of tea. Just a decade-old asset class, it has yielded astronomical returns through the years.
Cryptocurrency Information, Cryptocurrency Costs In India At Present Tuesday July 19, 2022
Celsius' legal professionals claimed that almost 80% of the funds deposited on the platform were at its disposal, not the users'. Cryptos can be sent directly between two parties, in a rapid and low-cost course of, compared to conventional bank transfers. Since there is not any central authority or a intermediary, the customers can undergo the method with out having to worry about complying with completely different rules. Reproduction of news articles, photos, movies or any other content in complete or partially in any kind or medium without specific writtern permission of moneycontrol.com is prohibited. Coinbase began providing its cryptocurrency providers in Italy some time in the past, offering Coinbase card services in the country as of June 2019.
Cryptocurrency Prices In India Today Nineteenth July
In its newest Adoption Update, Chainlink, the widely used oracle network, knowledgeable its users of a series of integrations. London-based British public sale home, Christie’s has announced its undisclosed funding in LayerZero, the first ever commitment it is going to be making ... Su Zhu, the co-founder, and CEO of bankrupt Three Arrows Capital is reportedly amongst the creditors that filed claims in opposition to the embattled... The Dutch Central Bank has imposed a three.3 million euros ($3.4 million) fine on Binance for extending unauthorised companies to Dutch citizens. The warning comes only days after hackers compromised the website of Premint NFT, making off with more than 300 NFTs and $375,000...
Cryptocurrency Goes Green
Today's transfer does not seem to be driven by any real fundamental change within the crypto market, however broadly there's good news. If "The Merge" is accomplished this fall and lowers costs and increases transaction pace on Ethereum, it will be bullish for the crypto industry overall. Ethereum has probably the most developers and plenty of cryptocurrencies are simply tokens on Ethereum, so a faster base blockchain could be good for everyone. With a 24-hour trading quantity of $14,438,a hundred ninety,514 USD, the current Ethereum value is $1,959.95 USD. With a reside market cap of $228,799,493,639 USD, CoinMarketCap at present ranks #2. As of last week, previous to ether's rally, the cryptocurrency had lost around 70% of its market cap since the yr started.
Ripple Worth Analysis
Ripple is the name of the company and the network, and XRP is the cryptocurrency token. The purpose of XRP is to function an intermediate mechanism of trade between two currencies or networks – as a sort of momentary settlement layer. During the creation of Ripple’s native cryptographic token XRP, 100,000,000,000 units were created. While some of the units were distributed to people and institutions, Ripple at present owns and controls over 50% of the total unit provide. This reality has made the corporate come under fire with accusations of centralization.
Cryptocurrencies News & Prices
Celsius froze withdrawals final month, citing "extreme" market conditions, cutting off access to savings for particular person traders and sending tremors by way of the crypto market. Crypto market highlights from the earlier week show that the market was uneven, not just for crypto traders, but also for crypto companies. However, extra companies are accepting crypto and you can buy items and services as numerous as actual property, stocks, travel, gambling, web sites, and rather more.
Newest Cryptocurrency News, Cryptocurrency News On Samsung Cryptocurrency, Iphone, Android, Nokia, Blackberry Phone News
Other cryptocurrencies are additionally now strong funding choices and the Shiba Inu-themed Dogecoin, whose image is DOGE, which was initially created as a joke, is now one of the best known tokens. It is now priced at ₹5.40, up from ₹5.38, a change of zero.19% in 24-hours. Find out how much your bitcoins are price, or evaluate costs, and check market cap. You can check the costs for Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Dogecoin throughout all the top Indian exchanges right here. Cryptos got here into existence after the 2008 monetary market disaster when a necessity was felt to democratise how currencies are held, exchanged and regulated. That year a person underneath the anonymous name Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin.
Solana Sol Stock Worth, News & Info
With this, we can actually say that SOL has been doing its job well in developing its platform through the years. Regarding its network technology, Solana featured a fast, safe, and censorship-resistant blockchain offering an open infrastructure required for world adoption. Also, Solana is considered one of the most chosen crypto platforms in developing DeFi, Web3, and blockchain gaming that can process 50K transactions per second. Whether solana has a future is dependent upon whether or not it could prove its long-term capability to unravel a problem and remain secure.
Cryptocurrency Latest Information
The solution is mining pools, teams of miners who band collectively and are paid relative to their share of the work. Thanks to Satoshi Nakamoto's designs, Bitcoin mining turns into tougher as extra miners join the fray. In 2014, it would take roughly ninety eight years to mine only one, according to 99Bitcoins. As for mining Bitcoins, the process requires electrical power.
Newest Binance News
Among crypto-related shares on the move are miners like Marathon Digital +20%, Hut 8 +15%, and Riot Blockchain +15%. Crypto trade Coinbase is ahead 13%, and crypto merchant banker Galaxy Digital (GLXY.TO) is larger by 17%. The DNB mentioned it has not but approved Binance's registration nevertheless it had lessened the fantastic it had initially intended by 5% because the company has "been relatively clear about its operations all through the process". Binance stated it had obtained regulatory approvals in European international locations including France, Italy and Spain. The makers of many popular software improvement instruments — including GitHub and GitLab — have additionally built-in safety features directly into the workflow.
Cryptocurrency Prices In India At Present 19th July
If these traits falter, so will the users' faith in that currency to the extent that he or she may seek a substitution for that medium of trade. But, thus far, none of them has surpassed Bitcoin’s market capitalization. Some alternatives purpose to add features similar to Namecoin which stores data to be used as a decentralized Domain Name System; or Emercoin which offers a distributed trusted storage service to call simply two. B.Second, a self-regulatory framework involving effective partnership between the business and regulators should type an integral a half of the regulatory architecture for cryptocurrencies.
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justwravel-blog · 5 years ago
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15 Incredibly Useful Travel Tips for Egypt! Below you’ll find my top travel tips for Egypt along with a little personal advice sprinkled on top. I hope you find these Egypt travel tips helpful. If you find these tips to be helpful or you have some tips of your own, please be sure to leave a comment at the end of this article. Egypt is one of my favorite countries in the world for a variety of reasons. I’ve visited the country on four different occasions over the course of the last few years and three of those visits were 3 weeks or longer. While I love this country to pieces, it also should be known that it’s one of the more difficult countries I’ve ever traveled to. Ready to learn more about my top 15 travel tips for Egypt? Let’s get started.
Travel Insurance
When preparing for a trip to Egypt your first priority should be to make sure you make the small investment towards your health and well being by purchasing a flexible, reputable and affordable travel insurance policy for your trip. Not only will this travel insurance policy cover you if your bags are lost/stolen and if your flight is delayed/canceled, but you’ll also be covered for all medical and injury-related issues as well. Let’s face it. No parents, family or friends want to have to cover the cost of you getting MedEvaced home from the middle of Egypt. As you know, in life, things happen. Do yourself a favor and get your coverage now so you can rest assured that you’ll be taken care of in the event of a serious emergency in Egypt.
Hire an Egypt Tour Guide
Planning a trip to Egypt isn’t as easy as you’d think. From accommodations to transportation and planning all the smaller logistics, there always seems to be a major disconnect somewhere along the way. As you know, I’m more of an independent traveler than anything else and I rarely recommend hiring a tour guide. If there’s one place in the world that I would recommend hiring a guide, it’s in Egypt. Why? Because Egypt is a very unique and difficult country to travel to if you don’t have any prior experience. In order to be sure that you have the best trip possible, my advice is to head on over to my recent article:
Bring Your Haggling Skills
One of the most important skills you need in order to have a positive experience in Egypt is the skill of haggling and negotiating. Everything is negotiable in Egypt and it’s expected so don’t worry about offending anyone with your offers. From buying water at the corner store to shopping for souvenirs at the market to non-metered taxis, haggling is absolutely necessary.
Bring Your Own Toilet Paper
Bring your own toilet paper. Trust me on this one. You’ll be hard-pressed to find toilet paper in most restrooms in Egypt. The toilets have a built-in bidet spray nozzle for those who forget to bring toilet paper along but who the heck wants to walk out of the bathroom with a wet behind? Not me. That’s for sure. I think it’s safe to assume you wouldn’t either. To avoid this sticky situation simply stop into a local shop and pick up a roll of TP and take enough to last you the day when you’re heading out to explore.
Use Uber in Cairo
Did you know Uber operates in the city of Cairo? If not, well now you know. What’s even better is that you can get your first ride free (up to 70 EGP or approximately $8 USD) when signing up for a new Uber account. While taxis are generally safe and easy to use, Uber is definitely your best bet if you’re looking to move around the city without worries. All you have to do to take advantage of this Uber first ride free discount is the following:
Beware of Scammers
Be careful who you trust in Egypt. Many people are out for your money. That being said, you should be able to figure out who is genuine and who's not after the first few minutes of conversation. If a person mentions a single thing about money, simply move along. Personally, I’ve met some of the most genuine people in the world during my travels to Egypt, so I highly recommend that you attempt to initiate a conversation with the locals. Note: If someone approaches you and starts to tell you that he owns a perfume shop, or mentions the Arabic word “baksheesh” which means “tip” in English, tell them “La, Shukran” which means “No, thank you.” in English and simply walk the other way.
Always Ask for Prices
Ask the price before buying water, soda, candy, and anything else that you can imagine buying at a convenience store. If you’re used to paying a lower price in other shops for your item, haggle with the shop owner a bit to get a little closer to the local rate.
Use the Cairo Metro System
The Cairo Metro system is surprisingly one of the more efficient metro systems that I’ve encountered on my travels. Be aware that it’s rare that you’ll run into other foreigners on the metro. I’ve taken the metro countless times and never once saw another tourist or foreigner. Considering you’ll be a minority, expect the train to go silent at times and when you look up, the entire car will be looking at you out of curiosity. Did you know that the Cairo Metro system is the first of two built and completed metro systems in the entire continent of Africa?
Wear Comfortable Shoes
Walking shoes or comfortable sneakers are best when planning a trip to Egypt. Sure, you can wear flip flops or sandals from time to time but please realize that the streets of Cairo and the majority of Egypt are dirty therefore you’ll be sure to return to your hotel with a pair of dirty feet.
Don’t Forget to Wash Your Hands
Carry hand sanitizer with you when you travel to Egypt! You’ll constantly be touching doors, handrails, and currency while you’re in the city and you won’t be the only one touching these things. Remember, there are an estimated 20-25 million people in Cairo. Be sure to wash your hands often and use hand sanitizer whenever you don’t have the opportunity to make a bathroom stop.
Watch Your Step
Watch where you’re walking while exploring the city. The streets of Cairo are not maintained well. One time I got really lucky and avoided breaking an ankle or worse after my foot and half of my leg fell into a hole in the sidewalk while walking through the city. This was not your typical pothole, this was a hole that engulfed half of my leg to above my knee. Dangerous isn’t even the word for the streets and sidewalks in Cairo. Beware.
Stay Hydrated
No worries about drinking tap water because nobody drinks it (including the locals). During your trip, you’ll be buying lots of bottled water. You’ll need it to brush your teeth, drink during the day and maybe even some to pour over your head after being in the extreme heat all day. Note: As a foreigner, you’ll be charged anywhere from 4 to 10 EGP for a “big bottle” (1.5, 2 liters) of water depending on where you purchase it. Trust me, you can get these bottles for 2, 2.5 EGP. Just haggle with the shop owner and you’ll get it for 2 EGP. If they say that it’s 4, or 5 EGP just tell them that you buy water down the street all the time for 2EGP and they’ll usually have no problem selling it to you. Just be aware of what the real “Egyptian” prices are for certain items and you’ll be fine.
Eat Where the Locals Eat
There is a universal rule for consuming food in foreign countries. The rule is to only eat at street stalls and restaurants that are occupied by locals. If there’s nobody in the restaurant during what should be a busy time of day, avoid it. If there’s a line of locals standing in front of a street stall, get in line because you know that it’s not only great food but it’s also very affordable.
Cross the Streets with Confidence
The driving and traffic in Cairo will be shocking to you when you first arrive. Crossing the streets is quite intimidating at first but after you get used to it, you’ll be crossing the streets without issue. Trust me, there’s a science to it! Don’t bother getting assistance from the “Tourist Police” when crossing the roads as it’s not necessary. Note: If you’re wondering why a police officer is asking you for baksheesh (tip) it’s because they probably just did something for you that you thought was a kind gesture (like escorting you across the road). This happens often so be prepared.
Respect the Dress Code and Culture
If you’re planning on traveling to Egypt please do your research before you leave. Many foreigners arrive in Egypt and dress like they’re still in their home country. This type of behavior can and will attract more unwanted attention, stares, and even perhaps physical advances by Egyptian men. In order to blend in a little more and avoid disrespecting the culture, my best advice is to choose your clothing carefully. Females:
Be sure to keep your knees and shoulders covered at all times.
Bring a scarf to cover your hair when visiting mosques and other religious sights.
Always remove shoes before entering a mosque.
If you’re visiting a mosque and do not have something to cover your shoulders, legs (from the knee down), and hair the staff will likely provide you with an oversized robe.
Bikinis and other swimwear are totally acceptable to wear while at the resorts on the Red Sea.
Males:
Wearing shorts when exploring the city isn’t a problem but you’ll need a pair of long pants or jeans for the evenings as well as when you visit someone's home or get invited to an event.
Sleeveless shirts, tank tops, and gym attire is not acceptable. Don’t be that guy.
Think light, comfy and layers for the chilly nights.
Swimming trunks and other swimwear would be acceptable to wear at the resorts or wandering around town in the destinations on the Red Sea.
Check Egypt Tour Packages from USA
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michaelbennettcrypto · 6 years ago
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Binance Invests $2.5 Million in Blockchain-Based Travel Startup
Binance had to move its headquarters from China to Japan in the wake of the PBoC’s crackdown against local cryptocurrency firms. But that didn’t discourage it from becoming the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange.
The company is now making waves in Australia as it invests USD$2.5 million into a local blockchain startup.
A report from Business Insider confirmed that Binance is working with Queensland-based TravelbyBit to develop a point-of-sale (POS) payment system for airports around the world.
With an aim to encourage travelers to adopt digital currencies, the Binance-TravelbyBit partnership would enable merchants at international airports to accept payments in Bitcoin and other digital assets. Also, the duo would allow digital currency travelers to book travel plans using digital currencies.
Multiple Destinations, One Currency
Chengpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, said there is no better way to use digital currencies than traveling and expected TravelbyBit would make commuting more accessible for people.
Traditionally, travelers rely on expensive forex cards or over-the-counter (OTC) solutions to exchange local currencies to foreign currencies. The process also comes with unrealistic forex rates. For instance, travelers pay more than the current exchange rate when buying foreign currencies. Similarly, at the time of selling foreign currency for a local one, forex vendors reimburse travelers less than the actual forex rate. It’s a common practice.
Zhao said TravelbyBit would be more straightforward than its traditional counterparts, confirming that travelers would only need to top-up their TravelbyBit wallet with digital coins like Bitcoin and Binance Coin for paying merchants directly.
“Look for TravelbyBit and put your coins (hopefully the Binance Coin or BNB) to use,” he said. “Let’s start with airports and go from there.”
TravelbyBit, which also won a kickstart grant of $100,000 from the Queensland government, acknowledged blockchain for its potential to offer a frictionless experience to travelers.
“We’re working with the most innovative airports and retailers who want to offer their consumers non-traditional payment options and a chance to experience cutting-edge technology,” said Caleb Yeoh, CEO of TravelbyBit. “Imagine traveling with multiple stopovers and only needing a single currency.”
Binance is beginning to lead the forefront of blockchain innovation with its back-to-back investments into talented startups. Just recently, the company’s incubation wing, Binance Labs, invested ‘millions of dollars’ in Contentos, a YouTube-like platform which would reward its users with crypto-assets.
“We are very excited to witness the next wave of game-changers that will come out from Binance Labs and join us in realizing the full potential of blockchain technology,” Binance stated in its recently published roundup report.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post Binance Invests $2.5 Million in Blockchain-Based Travel Startup appeared first on NewsBTC.
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brettzjacksonblog · 6 years ago
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Binance Invests $2.5 Million in Blockchain-Based Travel Startup
Binance had to move its headquarters from China to Japan in the wake of the PBoC’s crackdown against local cryptocurrency firms. But that didn’t discourage it from becoming the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange.
The company is now making waves in Australia as it invests USD$2.5 million into a local blockchain startup.
A report from Business Insider confirmed that Binance is working with Queensland-based TravelbyBit to develop a point-of-sale (POS) payment system for airports around the world.
With an aim to encourage travelers to adopt digital currencies, the Binance-TravelbyBit partnership would enable merchants at international airports to accept payments in Bitcoin and other digital assets. Also, the duo would allow digital currency travelers to book travel plans using digital currencies.
Multiple Destinations, One Currency
Chengpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, said there is no better way to use digital currencies than traveling and expected TravelbyBit would make commuting more accessible for people.
Traditionally, travelers rely on expensive forex cards or over-the-counter (OTC) solutions to exchange local currencies to foreign currencies. The process also comes with unrealistic forex rates. For instance, travelers pay more than the current exchange rate when buying foreign currencies. Similarly, at the time of selling foreign currency for a local one, forex vendors reimburse travelers less than the actual forex rate. It’s a common practice.
Zhao said TravelbyBit would be more straightforward than its traditional counterparts, confirming that travelers would only need to top-up their TravelbyBit wallet with digital coins like Bitcoin and Binance Coin for paying merchants directly.
“Look for TravelbyBit and put your coins (hopefully the Binance Coin or BNB) to use,” he said. “Let’s start with airports and go from there.”
TravelbyBit, which also won a kickstart grant of $100,000 from the Queensland government, acknowledged blockchain for its potential to offer a frictionless experience to travelers.
“We’re working with the most innovative airports and retailers who want to offer their consumers non-traditional payment options and a chance to experience cutting-edge technology,” said Caleb Yeoh, CEO of TravelbyBit. “Imagine traveling with multiple stopovers and only needing a single currency.”
Binance is beginning to lead the forefront of blockchain innovation with its back-to-back investments into talented startups. Just recently, the company’s incubation wing, Binance Labs, invested ‘millions of dollars’ in Contentos, a YouTube-like platform which would reward its users with crypto-assets.
“We are very excited to witness the next wave of game-changers that will come out from Binance Labs and join us in realizing the full potential of blockchain technology,” Binance stated in its recently published roundup report.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post Binance Invests $2.5 Million in Blockchain-Based Travel Startup appeared first on NewsBTC.
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cryptodictation · 5 years ago
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Economic measures against coronavirus | Economy
The coronavirus pandemic has generated an unprecedented economic crisis. The main global economies are in a sharp recession, and this will inevitably impact Latin America. In fact, since the financial crisis of 2008 we did not see a combination of factors so harmful to the region, ranging from the trade contractions caused by the closure of factories in Asia, to the collapse of the price of raw materials – especially energy. – and the drought of external financing.
A sign of the seriousness of the situation is that since the beginning of January, the block of emerging countries has accumulated capital outflows of approximately USD 85,000 million, much higher than those observed during the 2008 crisis and other episodes of financial volatility in the last decade.
It is important to understand that the necessary measures of social distancing or quarantines that are adopted have a significant economic cost. The paralysis of activity, particularly in the sectors that generate the most jobs – services, construction, commerce and tourism – significantly reduces the income of households and companies, and drastically limits consumption and investment.
Faced with this, the governments of the region are considering immediate attention measures to the emergency in the monetary, exchange, financial and fiscal fields. On the one hand, central banks implement monetary policies to prevent companies from running out of liquidity and to enable them to pay their employees, avoid mass layoffs and maintain payments to suppliers. At a technical level, these measures focus on reducing interest rates and increasing liquidity in national currency through extraordinary facilities.
Foreign exchange measures include direct interventions in the currency markets to reduce volatility and accelerated depreciation of the exchange rate (for example, in Brazil), or the use of financial instruments to reduce uncertainty about the price of the currency. For example, the Bank of the Republic of Colombia announced an auction of forwards of currencies for USD 1,000 million to give stability to the market.
On the financial side, interest and principal payments on companies' debts are also being restructured. Public and development banks are also contributing their resources to support companies. For example, measures have been announced such as the refinancing of the credit lines offered by BIESS in Ecuador, the increase in funds to Siga for loans to SMEs in Uruguay, or the liquidity credit line for companies in the tourism and aviation sector of Bancoldex in Colombia.
These measures are being complemented with fiscal contributions, the scope of which may be greater and more expeditious. In the case of a health emergency, it is imperative, first of all, to strengthen the capacities of the health sector to protect the population.
It is also seeking to support the productive sectors and segments of the population most affected by the crisis, safeguarding its operability and consumption capacity. On the business side, for example, payments of corporate taxes, payroll and VAT are being deferred and, in parallel, transfer systems have been expanded for the vulnerable population, such as unemployment insurance and pensions.
Taking into account the high levels of labor and business informality in Latin America, it is necessary to extend support and reach the lowest income segments of the population and the most vulnerable productive sectors, such as micro-SMEs, through mechanisms such as direct transfers . It will also be necessary to include independent workers and class professionals who provide personal services, without unemployment insurance, with little ability to save and who do not receive social transfers from the most vulnerable groups.
The authorities face enormous challenges to achieve the expected objectives. In the first place, there are few countries in the region with space to advance fiscal stimuli that respond to the magnitude of this crisis. Many of the countries go through budget consolidation processes to restore or guarantee the sustainability of their debt, a fact that reduces their room for maneuver. In this sense, many of the measures represent advances of expenses or reallocations of budget items, rather than additional stimuli.
Second, the cessation of domestic activity will imply a substantial deterioration in tax revenues, something that will further reduce the space to apply necessary measures such as reducing taxes or expanding spending. Third, the financial panic in international markets will limit the possibilities of indebtedness, and this will restrict the margin of action, especially in countries with poorly developed domestic financial markets and which resort mainly to external financing.
In this scenario, in the short term the action of multilateral organizations will be important. IMF, World Bank and at the regional level, the IDB and CAF have offered new loans to face the coronavirus as well as readjust existing credits to face the emergency. In the case of CAF, an emergency credit line of USD 2.5 billion has been launched for the countries of the region.
In summary, high uncertainty prevails regarding the effect that this crisis will have on the economies of the region and on their resilience. However, decisive and timely action must be taken to prevent these disruptions from causing much more permanent damage to the economy.
Pablo Sanguinetti, is vice president of Knowledge at CAF
Information about the coronavirus
– Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the pandemic
– The coronavirus map: this is how cases grow day by day and country by country
– Questions and answers about coronavirus
– Guide to action against the disease
– In case of symptoms, these are the phones that have been enabled in each community
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payment-providers · 5 years ago
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New Post has been published on Payment-Providers.com
New Post has been published on https://payment-providers.com/open-banking-a-challenge-for-the-u-s/
Open Banking - A Challenge for the U.S.
In a December 20th article titled, “Without Open Banking regulation, banks and fintechs clash in the US” (*), we get a taste of the first issues that are arising in the U.S. of trying to work in a somewhat open banking space without regulation. One of the issues mentioned in the article relates to aggregators in the U.S. being blocked by banks that are upgrading their security features from accessing account holder data. This is, in turn, preventing fintechs from delivering services that use these aggregators to obtain data from the banks of which the account holders have granted these fintechs permission to do so. Account holders are now upset with the banks for making these security changes. But the question that is coming to the forefront in the U.S. is who actually owns client data? The banks or the customers themselves? As there is no regulation in the U.S. yet to determine this, it is unclear. In the United Kingdom this is clearly stated under open banking regulation.
It has long been debated if regulation is truly needed with many out there that still believe that it is not needed. The U.S. is the one country that needs regulation more than any other. Why? Because the U.S. is more divided and geographically challenged than any other country in the world.
(*) Reference – https://econsultancy.com/without-open-banking-regulation-banks-and-fintechs-clash-in-the-us/
  Geographical Challenges of the U.S.
Let’s go on a quick trip of the U.S.
Fintech Hub – In the West, we have Silicon Valley which is still the heart of where the most (and influential) fintechs exist.
Banking Hub – In the north East, specifically New York, we have Wall Street, the heart of the financial sector.
Government – Also in the East, but slightly south, we have Washington D.C. the epicentre of U.S. politics, legislation and regulation. 
To put this in numerical perspective:
2937 miles separate Wall Street from Silicon Valley.
From a LATAM perspective, this is roughly the distance between Mexico City and Bogota crossing 7 countries in total.
From a Europe perspective, this is roughly from Copenhagen to Tel Aviv crossing 12 countries.
225 miles separate Washington DC from Wall Street
This is roughly the distance from London to Paris.
Or from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
In comparison to other “open banking” countries:
Australia
153 miles separate Canberra, where the Australian government is placed, and Sydney where the financial and fintech sector can be found.
Mexico
Government, financial and fintech sector are all in Mexico City.
United Kingdom
Government, financial and fintech sector are all in London within 2 square miles!!
Canada
When (yes when not if) Canada joins the open banking movement, they have their primary government situated in Ottawa, their financial sector primarily in Toronto and the fintech sector divided between Ottawa and Toronto. The distance between the two cities is only 279 miles. 
Distance is certainly relevant when trying to bring the three key players together on such an important movement. 
  U.S. Regulators (*)
To add more complexity to the U.S., they have, as we know, 52 states which have independent laws and regulations. Having said this, the financial sector in the 52 states must follow federal and/or state regulations. 
The federal regulations are divided into 5 regulators:
Federal Reserve System (FRS) – regulates state-chartered member banks, bank holding companies, foreign branches of U.S. national and state member banks and state-chartered U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) – regulates national banks though they must also be members of the FRS.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) – provides the oversight and insuring deposits across U.S. banks.
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) – regulates, charters and supervises federal credit unions.
Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) – regulates, under the Department of the Treasury, all federal chartered and state-chartered savings banks and savings and loans associations.
At state level, each state has an office(s) or agencies that are charged with supervising and regulating state-chartered banks and thrifts.
*Reference – https://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2006/november/commercial-banks-regulation/ 
  What does the Above Tell Us?
Taking into consideration the geographical and regulatory challenges in the U.S., it is very unlikely that the entire U.S. will be able to adopt open banking without a single open banking regulation that clearly stipulates the core structures that were implemented in other open banking countries:
Overarching regulation
Common data standards (this is a topic on its own)
A desire for true innovative collaboration between banks, fintechs and regulators
This is, unless, each state or a small number of states create an alliance in which they share the above bullet points and begin to influence other states. This, in turn, may create the use cases necessary to convince other jurisdictions and financial institutions to follow suit, but it will take time. 
  Risks
The risks that may exist in the U.S., as collaborative innovation continues and banks as well as fintechs realise and jump on the “open” movement, are:
Customers will continue to be frustrated with banks as they continue to enhance security features resulting in even lower confidence in the financial sector.
Consumers will continue to feel frustrated that they may not avail of the many innovative payment solutions, for example, that an “open” movement will bring to neighbouring countries like Mexico and Canada.
Consumers may find it a challenge (or not?) to jump from the current payment capabilities to the ones offered by open banking or even to the rest of the world. Today, over 60% of retail payments are made by cheque (*). If the A side does not start using innovative payment solutions, then the B side won’t feel obliged to do so either.
(*) Reference – https://www.theverge.com/ad/16774328/american-checks-currency
Independent groups continue to work on creating certain rules and data standards that are not in line with global practices (which is already occurring). The risk here is that the U.S. (or parts of) may end up isolating itself from either other parts of the country or with other open banking countries creating a higher development cost in the future to benefit from true cross border opportunities for banks, fintechs but mainly for consumers.
The U.S. will remain behind the rest of the world as it relates to technology and innovation in the financial sector. Let us be reminded that:
the U.S. still depends heavily on cheques with 28 million cheques processed daily of which each one has to go through an average of 2.5 banks to process. In the UK, less than 350 million (and declining) were processed in the year 2017. Sweden and Denmark stopped accepting cheques in 2017.
Credit cards became contactless in the U.S. only in 2019 while in the United Kingdom it started in 2007.
  Opportunities
The U.S. has a population of over 329.45 million, according to the 2019 census. This makes the U.S. a formidable market not only for fintechs but also for financial institutions if they can adopt open banking. With the U.S. having one of the most active retail markets in the world with e-commerce sales alone totalling USD 154,543 million per quarter in 2019 which is approximately 8.9% of overall retail sales valued at over USD 5 trillion, there are certainly opportunities for new products and services to leverage these numbers.  
With a growing trend in e-commerce sales brought on by millennials and simply convenience (7,4% in 2015 versus 8.9% in 2018), this is where we may see fintechs realise the opportunity of open banking to facilitate payment products and services not to mention a mobile phone penetration of 103%.
  Summary
The U.S. has always faced challenges in the adoption of global payment services in the financial sector as mentioned above. But will consumers finally push banks and regulators into open banking due to the unstoppable force of innovation? With global travel becoming more appealing to US residents and with some of the largest fintech firms based in the US jumping on the “open” movement, it seems that this may finally be the push needed. Like other countries with large populations, the US is certainly an appealing commercial venture, but its main hurdle is simply all of the red tape and geographical challenges surrounding it. 
While some independent efforts are on the way within the US, it will be interesting to see what the actual trigger will be that will cause the US to adopt open banking.
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personafinancesxyz · 6 years ago
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What Causes Volatility in the Pakistan Stock Market
For a long time, Pakistan’s Stock Market was performing exceptionally well. Over the years of continued stable political and improved security indicator further strengthened the economic activity in the country. All of a sudden, political turmoil gripped the country in wake of Panama Leaks accusing head of the ruling party. Here are the reasons why the Pakistan stock market has been experiencing major volatility. Political ripple effect: Pakistan’s largest party and PM accused in Panama Gates and ousted after marathon hearings in the country’s highest court. As a result, PSX – biggest stock market of Pakistan invariably had a ripple effect all over. When the KSE100 index fell after marking historic high of around 53,000 slipped more than 30% despite venturing into MSCI regime. Risk of fiscal gaffe: Persistent rise in the current account deficit due to a higher trade gap led by a significant increase in imports as compared to exports. Pakistan’s trade deficit rose 24.18% to over $9.2 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal, while foreign currency reserves were declining at a rapid pace. The markets are worried the way the local Rupee devolution in recent past, higher trade deficit may pose extra pressure on Pak Rupee. The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $18.413 billion on end of February, 2018 including $12.34 held by the SBP and remaining $6.067 billion by the commercial banks. Foreign Remittances: According to figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan for the period July-Feb increased by 3.41% to $12,833.64 Million compared to $12,410.54 Million for the corresponding period from last year. Foreign direct investment (FDI) remained dried up in the seven months of FY18, as FDI inflows came to $1.487 billion during July-January FY18, compared with $1.532 billion a year ago. Recuperating Exports: The exports achieving the highest monthly growth yet in the fiscal year by posting 16% increase in dollar terms exports in February 2017. However the current year’s export has already contributed additional inflows of around USD 1.5 bn during the first eight months and is expected to reach the figure of additional USD 2.5 bn, during 2017-18. This increase in economic activity in external sector reflects an increase of 0.8% of GDP. Keep Check on Macroeconomic trends: Economic manager needs to keep CHECK on current macroeconomic trends to sustain the achieved growth and huge catch up in the financial years ahead provided with controlled and fiscal discipline. Here are the encouraging signs to buildup. Timely completion of Energy Projects and low output cost would bring down cost of production. Inflation Rate around 4%. CPEC projects on track. Senate Elections clearing the political vague. Attractive Valuations. Potential growth in FDI’s.
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linabrigette · 6 years ago
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Binance Invests $2.5 Million in Blockchain-based Travel Startup
Binance had to move its headquarters from China to Japan in the wake of the PBoC’s crackdown against local cryptocurrency firms. But that didn’t discourage it from becoming the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange.
The company is now making waves in Australia as it invests USD$2.5 million into a local blockchain startup.
A report from Business Insider confirmed that Binance is working with Queensland-based TravelbyBit to develop a point-of-sale (POS) payment system for airports around the world.
With an aim to encourage travelers to adopt digital currencies, the Binance-TravelbyBit partnership would enable merchants at international airports to accept payments in Bitcoin and other digital assets. Also, the duo would allow digital currency travelers to book travel plans using digital currencies.
Multiple Destinations, One Currency
Chengpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, said there is no better way to use digital currencies than traveling and expected TravelbyBit would make commuting more accessible for people.
Traditionally, travelers rely on expensive forex cards or over-the-counter (OTC) solutions to exchange local currencies to foreign currencies. The process also comes with unrealistic forex rates. For instance, travelers pay more than the current exchange rate when buying foreign currencies. Similarly, at the time of selling foreign currency for a local one, forex vendors reimburse travelers less than the actual forex rate. It’s a common practice.
Zhao said TravelbyBit would be more straightforward than its traditional counterparts, confirming that travelers would only need to top-up their TravelbyBit wallet with digital coins like Bitcoin and Binance Coin for paying merchants directly.
“Look for TravelbyBit and put your coins (hopefully the Binance Coin or BNB) to use,” he said. “Let’s start with airports and go from there.”
TravelbyBit, which also won a kickstart grant of $100,000 from the Queensland government, acknowledged blockchain for its potential to offer a frictionless experience to travelers.
“We’re working with the most innovative airports and retailers who want to offer their consumers non-traditional payment options and a chance to experience cutting-edge technology,” said Caleb Yeoh, CEO of TravelbyBit. “Imagine traveling with multiple stopovers and only needing a single currency.”
Binance is beginning to lead the forefront of blockchain innovation with its back-to-back investments into talented startups. Just recently, the company’s incubation wing, Binance Labs, invested ‘millions of dollars’ in Contentos, a YouTube-like platform which would reward its users with crypto-assets.
“We are very excited to witness the next wave of game-changers that will come out from Binance Labs and join us in realizing the full potential of blockchain technology,” Binance stated in its recently published roundup report.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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The post Binance Invests $2.5 Million in Blockchain-based Travel Startup appeared first on BTC News Today.
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hotelsmarket · 7 years ago
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Casablanca's Hospitality Market Is Largely Dependent on Business Travellers
Earlier this year, the Moroccan Central Bank (Bank Al-Maghrib) introduced the gradual floatation of the Moroccan Dirham, providing more flexibility to real estate investors  and paving the way for a more buoyant real estate market in the year ahead. According to JLL’s Morocco 2018 report, the bank widened the official band within which the dirham may fluctuate to 5 percent, with a maximum daily move of 2.5 percent above or below the official rate. As part of a broader monetary reform, this move is intended to bolster the competitiveness of Morocco’s economy and will potentially position the country as a regional economic hub, and the gateway to Africa.  The Moroccan economy is expected to record real growth of 4% in 2018, primarily driven by increased domestic consumption and public investment, highlights the report. The economy has attracted increased levels of FDI yearly since 2005 (with the exception of 2015) with real estate attracting around half of the total FDI. The significant increase in FDI aligns with the Moroccan government’s Vision 2020 outlining Morocco’s goals of becoming one of the world’s 20 leading tourist destinations by 2020. Almost 40% of foreign investment is from the GCC region, with a significant proportion of this total being invested into the real estate sector. “The reforms introduced by the Moroccan government, will have a ripple effect on the real estate sector, as investors across all sectors now have the opportunity to be more flexible in their decision making,” said Craig Plumb, Head of Research, JLL MENA. “If the currency softens against the USD and the Euro, this will effectively make Moroccan property cheaper for investors from markets denominated in these currencies and attract further FDI into the real estate sector across Morocco and most specifically into Casablanca,” he added. Another factor likely to result in additional investment into the real estate sector is the launch of REIT’s, that will reduce the level of investment required to own real estate and therefore expand the market to a wider range of investors.   Although there are no listed REITs on the Moroccan stock exchange as of yet, the merger of VLV and Petra in 2017 resulted in the creation of a new commercial real estate platform comprising of 27 assets (with a total GLA of more than 215,000 sq m) across 15 cities in Morocco. Grit real estate income group (previously known as Mara Delta) has also announced plans to list its Moroccan assets separately as a REIT (with Anfa Place being a prime asset in its portfolio).  “REITs will boost the demand for investment in the office market.Casablanca is Morocco’s main commercial centre, and has a significantly bigger office market than the capital Rabat. With many national and international companies located in the city there is a growing need for modern office space in Casablanca,” said Craig Plumb. The retail market in Casablanca is largely dependent on street retail, however organised retail malls are becoming increasingly preferred, reflected in the high footfall levels across major centres such as Morocco Mall and Anfa Place Shopping centre. “The continued move towards retail malls will create future opportunities for both developers and investors” said Plumb. Casablanca’s hospitality market is largely dependent on business travellers, and has relatively limited hotels in the luxury segment. Occupancy rates recovered in 2017 from 62% in 2016 to 66% in 2017, owing to the performance of the 4-start hotel segment catering to conferences and exhibitions across the city. “With the government’s vision 2020 of converting Morocco into one of the world’s hottest tourist destinations by 2020, occupancy rates seem to be growing positively. We look forward to seeing strong results in the hospitality market this year as performance shows an upward trajectory,” he added. Being the gateway location between Europe and Africa, Morocco has attracted a number of major international manufacturers such as Renault Nissan investing into the key industrial areas. The government launched an industrial acceleration program in 2014, which is designed to generate half a million jobs in the industrial sector that  will in turn significantly increase Morocco’s GDP as well as providing further opportunities for real estate developers and investors. For further information, please download the full report here. Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
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cryptochurp · 7 years ago
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Cointed ICO: Real Problems, Working Solutions
Cointed provides full-fledged financial services for both individuals and business clients. Their easy to use crypto ATMs and online exchange skyrocketed the company to the top of cryptocurrency service providers in Europe.
Their ICO reached a hefty 4,2 million euro cap.
With this funding, their mission to go international is set and ready. Cointed’s exchange is going live in Turkey quite soon and new ATM locations are popping up almost weekly. Things are looking bright as day for the team.
Crypto ATMs
Cointed have more than 100 operating ATM machines in 4 different countries. Most of them are in Austria, but there are ATMs running in Italy (5), Hungary (2) and Spain (1). From this year on, all the newly installed locations will set up the entirely custom in-house-built Model X.
Holders of CTD tokens will be able to pay exchange fees using tokens.
Also, for ATMs, the transaction fee is 60% lower if you pay with CTD tokens. This means users will go from paying 1.5% to a bargain 0.2%.
Businesses can also benefit from the ICO as token holders get 15% off the price of the whole machine. Also, they are free to get their ATM fully customized for their specific needs.
And soon, all machines will be equipped with NFC chips. This will allow mobile payments.
Online Exchange
With the rising popularity of crypto, many fiat-to-crypto exchanges like Coinbase are becoming a bit flooded and slow. Cointed is an ideal alternative.
They offer 7 different cryptocurrencies to choose from, compared to only 4 on Coinbase. And they’ll be adding some in the future. If you wish to see a new currency to be listed simply become a contributor and raise your proposition on the voting platform!
Green Mining
Cointed is not foreign to environmental concerns. They run a mining facility in Sweden that uses 100% renewable energy! The green mining operations started in Q4/2017 and are completely sold out for the upcoming months.
The special thing about mining with Cointed is that don’t just lease the equipment. You literally own it.
Clients may choose between getting the rigs delivered or keeping them in the facility for a small fee. These two options make Cointed the way to go for experienced and entering crypto miners.
Clients with a technical background and access to cheap electricity can take the first option and save on fees. Beginners or those not so tech savvy, for the small fee, can benefit from the facility’s cheap energy and Cointed’s permanent technical service.
The CTD token offers quite versatile benefits for those interested in mining. Get hosting for 10 months with tokens and you get 10% off, which is 4% more profits each week. As always, contributors get a 15% discount on the hardware
Craving for more mining power? Token holders get exclusive access to special rigs with 25% stronger performance.
Crypto Debit Card
Cointed’s crypto debit card is a dual prepaid supporting both fiat and bitcoin. It can be used at any place that works with Amex and MC. The renowned Italian card issuer TAS Group will issue the card.
The transaction fee is 2.5% but using CTD tokens it goes down to 1.5%.
PayCo
PayCo is a payments solution for crypto. It allows clients to pay in crypto and the store owner to receive fiat.
Here’s how it works. Once the payment is registered, Cointed immediately buys the crypto from the store owner and sends them the amount in euro or USD based on the current rate. Transaction fees are cheap, ranging from 1% to 2%.
The cool thing about this feature is that store owners will be more open to trying out other cryptocurrencies than bitcoin.
Merchant token holders can lower their fees by 20%. In addition, if they accept payments with CTD tokens at their store, Cointed will return 5% of the fees.
It all boils down to…
There are plenty of ICO’s that collected millions based on just a good idea, as reported in the Bitcoin News. With Cointed, we’ve seen ideas materialize.
On November 2017 they asked us if we can cover their transparency report on our blog. On January 18th, 2018 we published the first article about it. This report was inspired by the requests of their community.
Having a brilliant idea is nice. However, not all that glitters is gold. Cointed’s products are working solutions to real problems.
Images courtesy of Cointed
The post Cointed ICO: Real Problems, Working Solutions appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.
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lewisgabriel84z31 · 7 years ago
Text
Cointed ICO: Working Solutions to Real Problems
Cointed ICO: Working Solutions to Real Problems
Cointed provides full-fledged financial services for both individuals and business clients. Their easy to use crypto ATMs and online exchange skyrocketed the company to the top of cryptocurrency service providers in Europe.
Their ICO reached a hefty 4,2 million euro cap.
With this funding, their mission to go international is set and ready. Cointed’s exchange is going live in Turkey quite soon and new ATM locations are popping up almost weekly. Things are looking bright as day for the team.
Crypto ATMs
Cointed have more than 100 operating ATM machines in 4 different countries. Most of them are in Austria, but there are ATMs running in Italy (5), Hungary (2) and Spain (1). From this year on all the newly installed locations will set up the entirely custom in house-built Model X.
Holders of CTD tokens will be able to pay exchange fees using tokens.
Also, for ATMs the transaction fee is 60% lower if you pay with CTD tokens. This means users will go from paying 1.5% to a bargain 0.2%
Businesses can also benefit from the ICO as token holders get 15% off the price of the whole machine. Also, they are free to get their ATM fully customized for their specific needs.
And soon, all machines will be equipped with NFC chips. This will allow mobile payments.
Online Exchange
With the rising popularity of crypto many fiat to crypto exchanges like Coinbase are becoming a bit flooded and slow. Cointed is an ideal alternative.
They offer 7 different cryptocurrencies to choose from, compared to only 4 on Coinbase. And they’ll be adding some in the future. If you wish to see a new currency to be listed simply become a contributor and raise your proposition on the voting platform!
Green mining
Cointed is not foreign environmental concerns. They run a mining facility in Sweden that uses 100% renewable energy! The green mining operations started in Q4/2017 and are completely sold out for the upcoming months.
The special thing about mining with Cointed is that don’t just lease the equipment. You literally own it.
Clients may choose between getting the rigs delivered or keeping them in the facility for a small fee. This two options make Cointed the way to go for experienced and entering crypto miners.
Clients with a technical background and access to cheap electricity can take the first option and save on fees. Beginners or those not so tech savvy, for the small fee, can benefit from the facility’s cheap energy and Cointed’s permanent technical service.
The CTD token offers quite versatile benefits for those interested in mining. Get hosting for 10 months with tokens and you get 10% off, which is 4% more profits each week. As always, contributors get a 15% discount on the hardware
Craving for more mining power? Token holders get exclusive access to special rigs with 25% stronger performance.
Crypto Debit Card
Cointed’s crypto debit card is a dual prepaid supporting both fiat and bitcoin. It can be used at any place that works with Amex and MC. The renowned Italian card issuer TAS Group will issue the card.
The transaction fee is 2.5% but using CTD tokens it goes down to 1.5%.
PayCo
PayCo is a payments solution for crypto. It allows clients to pay in crypto and the store owner to receive fiat.
Here’s how it works. Once the payment is registered, Cointed immediately buys the crypto from the store owner and sends them the amount in euro or usd based on the current rate. Transaction fees are cheap, ranging from 1% to 2%.
The cool thing about this feature is that store owners will be more open to try out other cryptocurrencies than bitcoin.
Merchant token holders can lower their fees by 20%. In addition, if they accept payments with CTD tokens at their store, Cointed will return 5% of the fees.
It all boils down to…
There are plenty of ICO’s that collected millions based on just a good idea. With Cointed, we’ve seen ideas materialize.
On November 2017 they asked us if we can cover their transparency report on our blog. On January 18th, 2018 we published the first article about it. This report was inspired by the requests of their community.
Having a brilliant idea is nice. However, not all that glitters is gold. Cointed’s products are working solutions to real problems.
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unlikelydefendorfart-blog · 8 years ago
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Consultants Share Their Views On Crypto
Without understanding if miners are taking correct precautions in the face of cosmic threats, Bitcoin's future stays unsure. Can send ether to set off the IoT system (like a vending machine, or smart meter). You may be left with undercollateralised BitAssets and no matter residual BitShares you have managed to get out of escrow. This unique report aims to serve as a handbook, answering the entire questions on the Chinese multi-asset trading industry that you simply have been at all times afraid to ask. But recently, the hassle has been set back by drama and infighting among its builders. On May 23, Digital Currency Group (DCG) released the first official assertion of the Bitcoin Scaling Settlement established at Consensus 2017. There is discuss of changing bitcoin developing countries -of-work algorithm that bitcoin runs on, which could render the bitcoin mining trade, which earns hundreds of thousands a day in income, ineffective in one fell swoop. All the rest is pretty good with Bitshares and that i don`t actually assume we compete. Andrea Suisani, one other Bitcoin Limitless developer, instructed CCN that the take a look at that ought to test for this did not catch it because it could not jam transactions in quick enough to exceed 1MB.” He additional added that they are within the means of getting ready a put up-mortem doc to be shared as quickly as doable. This hurts the connection between the developers and representatives of the group. The code was originally saved at Sourceforge before being obtainable on GitHub 16 As a result of there isn't any formal construction, growth is predicated around Bitcoin Improvement Proposals or BIPs, that are much like Request for Feedback Public mailing lists are used to vet initial expressions of concepts. The developer mailing list ought to be used to discuss complicated or controversial adjustments before working on a patch set. Profitable arbitrage betting in the end ensures small returns but the sacrifice is that the process requires large funds. The rising Internet connection charge, significantly in Africa, may even add to the increasing curiosity in Bitcoin. The answers will not be quick, given the youth of bitcoin and blockchain technology, however the journey to finding them guarantees to be exciting. Notice: that is primarily meant for the BitShares group and their buyers. The nation with a inhabitants of greater than 1.2 billion folks is slowly making the required modifications to pave the best way for Bitcoin and the blockchain to enter the mainstream market. This transformation is by far essentially the most appalling thing I've ever seen, and the result is that I no longer feel comfortable being related to the Bitcoin community. Stellar cryptocurrency platform sees a shiny future with 's common global payments network. Nonetheless to run good contracts on the live community you'd have to cough up some actual ether. A key driver of stability in the market for bitcoin is that each transaction is recorded and logged, which in turn creates an error-proof and clear report of the foreign money's transaction historical past. Pursuing a median 2.5-3.zero% profit per betting round and targeting a return of 15-25% of the capital employed per thirty days, the ‘arber' wants, for instance, a beginning bank of at the least 25,000 € in order to make 5,000 € revenue per month. There are usually not many individuals on our planet which have the talent set required for doing Bitcoin core development. Gateways allow you to deposit varied cryptocurrencies into your Bitshares account together with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), DASH, STEEM, Steem Backed Dollars (SBD), DigixDAO (DGD), Maker (MKR) and Tethered USD (USDT). The challenge has the bitcoin slug on GitHub, a largely overlapping set of contributors with the undertaking (the place its binaries are launched), official help of the bitcoin subreddit, properly-named IRC channels on Freenode, large Linux Foundation mailing lists, and a lot of different property which lend it critical network effects. Extra essential, he argued, was that Bitcoin needed to succeed first as a less expensive, quicker cost network, like PayPal or Visa. In an article titled Bitcoin's Cosmic Risk: Beware the Magnetic Discipline ” revealed on Bitcoin Information by danger management knowledgeable Julio Gil-Pulgar, there are quite a few threats outlined which point out that irrespective of how much hashing power is put into to the Bitcoin blockchain to secure it, a power of nature might cause the whole thing to go completely darkish. Bitcoin, being common and decentralized with low remittance, is gradually drawing in additional customers in such countries. Contract promoting factors would be their high quality, how customizable they're, and their ease of use. Using Agile Development Methodology, your mission is delivered in iterative builds so that your suggestions constantly gets incorporated. Bitcoinica, a big online bitcoin alternate, is hardest hit, losing greater than 43,000 BTC, whereas other distinguished victims embody Bitcoin's lead developer Gavin Andresen as well as Marek Palatinus (often known as slush), the operator of a giant mining pool. Certainly one of my favorite cold storage tools is Trezor This is a hardware Bitcoin pockets that provides final security. Journal, Stellar Development has quickly constructed a popularity for being a progressive agency that is not afraid to enthusiastically go after projects of all sizes and kinds. bitcoin developing countries is a Virginia C-company being based by Cryptonomex®, the developer of BitShares and the HERO. In addition, there are institutional merchants who've some advantages over retail merchants on the subject of arbitrage trading. Your best on-line broker for trading Bitcoin ought to be able to offer both a number of account choices or present you an element of customizability. New merchants tend to get trapped by pump-and-pump buying and selling rooms, alternative cryptocurrencies that have zero value, or end up buying when they need to be promoting. Bitcoin has customers in Russia, India, Argentina and several other different locations, and the named international locations are categorized beneath developing nations in line with ICQI. But a nasty battle has torn apart the small brotherhood of Bitcoin builders and raised questions in regards to the survival of the digital forex. Today, the Bitcoin network is sort of exclusively maintained by mining pools, exchanges, and full node operators operating some model of this C++ implementation. If fewer folks begin to accept Bitcoin as a currency, these digital units may lose worth and could develop into worthless. At this point, there aren't any actual prospects for making the sorts of serious modifications that will be required for Bitcoin to become a mainstream payment network akin to Visa or MasterCard. The rising want for blockchain drove the corporate to undertake this new technology and discover its functions in fintech. But you may learn one thing about what is bitcoin change and the way the bitcoin change platforms are tasted success of their enterprise. It minimizes emotions throughout the trading course of and ensures that self-discipline is maintained as a result of the buying and selling plan can be followed exactly. When the particular person collects the pattern, they go to the dashboard, click the checkboxes to say they acquired, that updates the sensible contract. Designed to let developers build blockchain purposes with minimal problem and fuss. The power to set these strategies is one of things that can cease bots from unbalancing the market. Khan Academy has a pleasant rationalization and likewise covers why performing arbitrage reduces the opportunity. Using the data and software products presented on this website, you agree on performing at your own risk and holding legal responsibility for any losses. Along with the launch of the sponsorship programme, the firm is looking for entries to the next spherical of its Stellar Construct Challenge, a contest for innovation and development within the Stellar ecosystem”. I created this device for my personal use in my own ecom arbitrage business and have decided to release it to the general public to be able to assist other fellow ecom entrepreneurs who're struggling to find merchandise that sell. Bitcoin with its substantial demand, rising companies and its millions of followers is essentially the most advanced cryptocurrency on this planet. Contact me if in case you have any Business for me and my workforce as we're serious about Algo buying and selling (GREEK) on CO-LO or TBT. Among the Bitcoin core developers, Gregory Maxwell particularly was a robust proponent of maintaining the 1 megabyte cap. In the course of the course individuals will be supplied with a excessive stage assist by instructors. This is precisely the form of manipulative nonsense that has been infuriating developers and driving them away from Bitcoin. Regardless of totally different wallet vendors in principle competing for market space, and given everybody's desire to develop the pie, there is a large spirit of cooperation, Mr. Lombrozo says. Now we gain the entire safety and interoperability benefits of the UTXO mannequin, whereas sensible contracts are written as if they have been primarily based on the conceptually less complicated account model. He developed the first Bitcoin Android pockets in addition to many other initiatives, and has spoken on the topic at several conferences all over the world. I am a bitcoin holder although and while straightforward to take a seat idle, it's important that the voices of extra holders are heard. However as this is an ongoing marketing campaign, it is best to proactively safe your bitcoin wallets and transactions. We make on-line buying and selling faster and simpler - and supply a more complete range of merchandise - so you will have extra alternatives to revenue from the markets. We now have additionally included some details on buying and selling methods that can be used to revenue from arbitrage must you ever discover a suitable opportunity. Whereas that's still a fraction of the 20,000 or so that Visa can process, it will increase every year, in order that bitcoin may continue to grow. Years earlier than traditional venture capital firms turned involved, he turned the primary individual on the earth to begin investing in Bitcoin related-startups, nearly singlehandedly funded the entire first technology of Bitcoin companies. Unless the dissenting core devs handle to construct a greater mousetrap in a short time, it is quite attainable that Bitcoin XT will obtain the goal adoption degree and emerge because the dominant system. The terms of the license will permit the Graphene Toolkit and any derivatives thereof for use with the BitShares blockchain without any restrictions. bitcoin developing countries maintains that as a result of all transactions are trackable they're safe, however there have been just a few instances the place hackers have ransacked digital wallets used to store secret keys that give you the right to spend your bitcoins, notably when one change had 25,000 stolen. Some examples embody changes to the community price structure, updates to the core blockchain code base, or including new options to Peerplays after they are built. To support trading of a number of assets, with refined investment features resembling shorts and options, transactions between two parties will comprise info akin to bid/ask prices for a selected asset and the number of BitShares backing a BitAsset. A few of the most popular assets on BitShares are pegged to the US Dollar, gold, and the Chinese language Yuan. Although there is a bitcoin ATM in a bar in Auckland, that hasn't really caught on. These blocks are generally addressed by their block top —the variety of blocks between them and the primary Bitcoin block ( block zero , mostly known as the genesis block ). For instance, block 2016 is where issue could have first been adjusted. Arbitrage buying and selling assists in shortly correcting those non permanent inefficiencies in costs, bringing them back in line throughout totally different markets, brokers or numerous forms of the same financial instrument or asset. Simply two years old, Bitcoin achieves parity with the U.S. Greenback on the Mt. Gox alternate. There shall be Oracles and Datafeed functionality, allowing developers to create Sensible Contracts constructed around trusted sources of data. Hearn's objections to the current state of bitcoin are diversified and steadily technical in nature, however at coronary heart there are two failures: the section of the bitcoin group with energy over the way forward for the forex is overly centralised and overly resistant to alter. There could but be a center ground on the question that began the combat, however for the second the edges are deadlocked, and that has left the Bitcoin software program — and the virtual forex itself — in a state of limbo. Bitcoin was devised in late 2008 by the mysterious and presumably pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. BitShares turns out to be the lacking catalyst needed to stimulate viral development throughout our whole portfolio,” mentioned Tiffany. It would not work so nicely with cash, finance, contracts, property data, medical data, proof of id — all issues of basic significance in folks's lives that blockchain technology seeks to disrupt. So once good contracts have the power to implement agreements on their own will probably be recreation-changing. New competitive features have been added that will permit BitShares to develop and succeed as an trade leader. For some the month-to-month subscription of €129 might sound too much, but we imagine that all features this software has justify the worth. When seventy five% of the blocks are new-version blocks, a decision has been reached to begin building larger blocks that can be rejected by Bitcoin Core nodes.
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greggory--lee · 8 years ago
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Hedging Foreign Exchange Risks
The exchange rate of the Macedonian Denar against the major hard budgets of the world has remained stable in the last few years. Because of the IMF restrictions, the local Narodna (Central) Bank does not print money and there are no physical Denars in the economy and in the local banks.
Thus, even if people want to buy Foreign Exchange in the black market, or directly from the banks – they do not have the Denars to do it with.
The total amount of Denars (M1, in professional financing lingo) in the economy is around 200,000,000 USD, according to official figures. This translates into 100 USD per capita. Thus, even if each and every citizen of Macedonia were to decide to convert ALL their Denars to Deutsch Marks – they would still be able to buy only 150 DM each, on average. These tiny amounts are not sufficient to raise the rate at which DMs are replaced for Denars (= the price of DMs in Denars).
But will this situation last forever?
According to economic theory scarcity raises the price of the scarce commodity. If Denars are rare – their price will remain high in DM terms, ie they will not be devalued against the stronger currency. The longer the Central Bank does not print Denars – the longer the exchange rate will be preserved.
But a strong currency (the Denar, in this case) is not always a positive thing.
The Denar is not strong because Macedonia is rich. The country is in a problematic economic situation. The banking system is perilous and unstable. The reserves of foreign exchange are minimal – less than 30 million USD.
The currency is stable because of externally imposed taxes and an artificial manipulation of the money supply.
Moreover, a strong currency makes goods produced in Macedonia relatively expensive in outside, export markets. Thus, it is difficult for Macedonian growers and manufacturers to export. When they sell their goods in Germany, they get DM for them and when they convert these receipt into Denars – they get less then they should have if the Denar reflected the true relative strengths of the two economies: the German one and the Macedonian one.
They pay expenses (eg: salaries to their workers, rent, utilities) in Denars. These expenses grow all the time as true inflation growth (as opposed to the official rate of inflation which is suspiciously low) – but they keep getting the same amount of Denars for their produce and products when they convert the DMs which they got for them.
On the other hand, imports to Macedonia become reliably cheaper: it takes less Denars to buy goods in DM in Germany, for instance.
Thus, the end result is a growing preference for imports and a decline in exports. In the long term, this increases unemployment. Export is the largest driving force in creating jobs in modern economies. In its absence, economies stagnate and dwindle and people lose their jobs.
But an unrealistic exchange rate has at least two additional adverse effects:
One – as a rule, various sectors of the economy borrow money to survive and to expand.
If they expect the local currency to be devalued – they will refrain from taking long term credits denominated in hard currencies. They will prefer credits in local currency or short term credits in hard currencies. They will be afraid of a sudden, massive devaluation (such as the one that happened in Mexico overnight).
Their lenders will also be afraid to lend them money, because these lenders can not be sure that the borrowers will have the necessary additional Denars to pay back the credits in case of such a devaluation. Naturally, a devaluation increases the amounts of Denars needed to pay back a loan in foreign currency.
This is bad from both the macro-economic vantage point (that of the economy as a whole) – and from the micro-economic point of view (that of the single firm).
From the micro-economic point of view short term credits have to be returned long before the businesses which borrowed them have matured to the point of being able to pay them back. These short term obligations bury them, alter their financial statements for the worse and sometimes put their very liability at risk.
From the macro-economic point of view, it is always better to have longer debt maturities with less to pay every year. The longer the credits a country (single firms are part of a country) has to pay back – the better its credit standing with the financial community.
Other aspect: foreign credits are a competition to credits provided by the local banking system. If firms and individuals do not take credits from the outside because they fear a devaluation – they help to create a monopoly of the local banks. Monopolies have a way of fixing the highest possible prices (= interest rates) for their merchandise (= the money they lend).
Access to foreign credits reduces domestic interest rates through competition with the local credit providers (= banks).
It would be easy to conclude, therefore, that it is an important interest of a country to be open to foreign financial markets and to provide its firms and citizens with access to sources of foreign credits.
One important way of encouraging people (and firms are made of people) to do things – is to allay their fears. If people fear devaluation – a responsible government can never promise not to devalue its currency. Devaluation is a very important policy tool. But the government can INSURE against a devaluation.
In many countries of the West, one can buy and sell insurance contracts called forwards. They promise the buyer a given rate of exchange in a given date.
But many countries do not have access to these highly sophisticated markets.
Not all the treaties can be insured in these markets. The Macedonian Denar, for instance, is not freely convertible, because it is not liquid: there are not enough Denars to respond to the needs of a free marketplace. So, it can not be insured using these contracts.
These less privileged countries establish special agencies which provide (mainly export) firms with insurance against changes in the exchange rates in a prescribed period of time.
Let us examine an example:
The firm MAK buys combines and tractors from Germany. It has to pay in DMs.
An international development bank offered to MAK a loan to be paid back in 7 years time in DM.
Today, MAK would be so afraid of devaluation, that it would rather pay the supplier of the equipment as soon as it has cash. This creates cash flow problems at MAK: salies are not paid on time, raw materials can not be bought, production stops, MAK loses its traditional markets – and all in order to avoid the risks of devaluation.
But – what if the right government agency exists?
If governmental insurance against devaluation exists – MAK would surely take the 7 year loan. It would take, let's say, 10 million DM.
MAK would apply to the governmental agency with its business.
It would pay the government agency a yearly insurance fee of 2.5% of the remaining balances of the loan (as it is amortized and reduced with each monthly payment). This would be considered a proper financing expenditure and the firm will be allowed to deduct it from its taxable income.
The government will provide MAK with an insurance policy. An exchange rate (let us say, 30 Denars to the DM) will be stated in the policy.
If – at the time that MAK had to make a payment – the rate has gone above 30 Denars to the DM – the government will pay the difference to MAK in DM. This will enable MAK to meet its obligations to its creditors.
MAK will be able to cancel this insurance at any time. If, for instance, it suddenly signs a major contract with a German buyer of its products – it will have income in DM which will be able to use to pay the loan back. Then, the government insurance will no longer be needed.
This very simple government assistance will have the following effects:
It will encourage firms to obtain foreign credits.
It will create competition to the local banks, reduce interest rates and encourage a wider and better range of services offered to the public.
It will encourage foreign financial institutions to give loans to local firms once the risk of re-payment problems due to a devaluation is minimized.
It will place Macedonia in the ranks of the more developed and export oriented countries of the world.
It will facilitate activities with longer term credits (such as modernization of plants for which longer terms of payments are required).
As time goes by, the private sector may step in and supply its own insurance against devaluation.
Insurance firms the world over do it – why not in Macedonia which needs it more than many other countries?
Source by Sam Vaknin
Source: http://bitcoinswiz.com/hedging-foreign-exchange-risks/
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