Private Equity Moris Beracha Wuani

By Vildana Hajric   While U.S. lawmakers zero in on Facebook Inc.’s ambitious plan to upend the global financial system via its cryptocurrency project, technical indicators are flashing major warning signals when it comes to the price of digital assets. Based on the GTI VERA convergence-divergence indicator, the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index -- which tracks some of the largest digital assets and is comprised 30% of Bitcoin -- received its first sell signal since early June. The indicator detects positive and negative trends, and the last time it flashed a warning sign on June 4, the index fell about 10% in one trading session.  It’s been a volatile month for crypto assets. Prices surged in June after Facebook announced plans to launch its own digital coin called Libra, which the company hopes will one day trade much like the dollar. The launch added to optimism that digital assets are becoming more widely adopted by mainstream instituti...

By Helen Partz European crypto exchange Bitstamp has set up its own Lightning Network (LN) node to boost the network’s capabilities, the company tweeted on July 8. As a second layer over the blockchain of the biggest cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC), the LN is designed to enable fast and zero-fee transactions by creating payment channels between users. Specifically, the network aims to address bitcoin’s scalability problem by keeping the majority of transactions off-chain. By launching its own LN node, Bitstamp aims to promote the growth of the network, as well as encourage the crypto industry to adopt the technology, the firm wrote in an official announcement. Bitstamp said that bringing more nodes to the LN will keep the network active, describing the nodes as its basic building units. As more nodes generate payment channels, the total network liquidity increases, which in turn increases the transactions capabilities on the network, Bitstamp explained. Most recently, LN ser...

Two years after adopting its "AI first" strategy, CEO Sundar Pichai showcased how Google is applying AI across its platforms to make a "more helpful" Google. By  Stephanie Condon for Between the Lines |   Thanks to advances in AI, Google is moving beyond its core mission of "organizing the world's information," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Tuesday.  "We are moving from a company that helps you find answers to a company that helps you get things done," Pichai said in his Google I/O keynote address. "We want our products to work harder for you in the context of your job, your home and your life."  Two years ago at the annual developer conference, Pichai laid out Google's " AI first " strategy. On Tuesday, he laid out ways AI is having a significant impact across across all of its pl...

By Daniel Palmer Starbucks is moving to give consumers more information on its coffee products using a blockchain system that will track beans from “farm to cup.” For the effort, the coffee chain is working with Microsoft to harness its Azure Blockchain Service in tracking coffee shipments from across the world, bringing “digital, real-time traceability” to its supply chains, according to an announcement from Microsoft. With the partnership, Microsoft’s blockchain service will record all changes along the journey of the coffee on a shared ledger, providing participants with a “more complete view” of the supply chain. Starbucks will use all that information to bring a new feature to its mobile app, giving consumers details on where the coffee was sourced and roasted, as well as on tasting notes. As part of its commitment to ethical sourcing, it’s also hoping that the blockchain system can help benefit growers too, by providing them with data...

  By Jeff Kauflin A new movement is pumping oxygen into the cryptocurrency industry despite asset prices that remain 75% lower than where they were in late 2017. It’s called DeFi, short for decentralized finance—it’s the notion that crypto entrepreneurs can recreate traditional financial instruments in a decentralized architecture, outside of companies’ and governments’ control. And with fresh allegations of misused funds against the centrally controlled cryptocurrency tether, the argument for decentralized applications has become even more relevant. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the original DeFi applications. Both are controlled by large networks of computers, not central authorities. Many investors use bitcoin like gold, as a store-of-value investment that protects against inflation, while Ethereum has been instrumental—and controversial—in helping startups crowdfund their operations. But newer apps are dominating the DeFi...

Staff of the nation’s largest pension is trying to sell a new investment model to its sometimes skeptical board By Chris Cumming The board of the nation’s largest pension still has plenty of questions about a proposed shake-up in its private-equity strategy, roughly two years after the pension’s staff began developing the plan. Ben Meng, chief investment officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, on Tuesday detailed the proposed new strategy for private-equity investing, arguing that without it the underfunded pension system could have trouble hitting return targets and making its required payouts to retirees. Mr. Meng, who joined the $337 billion fund last month, argued that the new strategy was necessary to get more exposure to the best-performing private-equity managers. “We need private equity, we need more of it, and we need it now,” he said. Calpers’ private-equity reform has attracted some controversy si...

  T heblockcrypto.com Pantera Capital , a blockchain and crypto-related venture firm, has raised $125 million in its on-going third round of funding, CoinDesk reports . The $175 million funding round is expected to close in March. Pantera partner Paul Veradittikit is hopeful the company will secure the remaining funds, although he admitted the crypto winter had made it more challenging to gather funds. So far, high net-worth individuals, family offices, and those with the ability to move money fast have contributed to the fund, he said and he would continue meeting with institutional investors. According to Pantera’s pitch deck, the new fund is aiming to “invest in later stage rounds to support the more mature companies” at between $3 million to $8 million per investment. Half of the capital is allocated for follow-on funding, which will go towards investing in around 30 to 50 firms – depending on much funding is secured in the current ...

Anna Baydakova General Motors Financial, the financing arm of the automaking giant, said Monday that it is partnering with blockchain startup Spring Labs on solutions for identity verification. The startup – which counts former Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn on its board of advisors – said that GM is exploring the acquisition of a stake alongside other use cases. A spokesperson for GM Financial declined to comment on the possibility of GM or its subsidiary becoming a Spring Labs shareholder. “We are actively exploring the development of auto finance and GM specific use cases, in addition to the identity verification products being developed,” co-founder and CEO Adam Jiwan said via a spokesperson. He added that the blockchain network Spring Labs a working on at the moment will be available in private beta for the partners inQ3, and the live network is scheduled to launch in early 2020. In a press statement, Mike Kanarios, chief strategy off...

ETC Wallpaper - Ethereum Classic Cryptocurrency By Adrian Zmudzinski | Cointelegraph     The Ethereum Classic 51 percent attacker has reportedly returned $100,000 to cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io, a post on the official exchange’s blog reports on Jan. 12. The company further noted that they tried contacting the attacker but didn’t get any reply until now, and that they do not know the reason why the funds have been returned. The exchange declared: “If the attacker didn't run it for profit, he might be a white hacker who wanted to remind people the risks in blockchain consensus and hashing power security.” A white hat hacker is a hacker with a strong professional ethic who uses his hacking abilities for good and not for personal gain. The jargon file , a staple of hacker culture, further explains: “The term white hat [stands] for an ally or friendly security specialist.” On Jan. 9, Gate.io published their analysis of the 51 percent attack, fi...

The Chinese tech giant has announced the universal accessibility of its Blockchain Service (BCS) platform, following its debut in China, to deploy blockchain apps at scale Huawei has announced that its Blockchain Service (BCS) platform, which has been designed to support and enable business to develop blockchain-based applications, has been made available on a global scale following its commercial launch in China in October. According to Huawei, the BCS platform, hosted on the Huawei Cloud website, offers decentralization, tamper resistance, traceability and transparency in transactions, providing businesses with the ability to "create, deploy and manage blockchain applications quickly and at minimal cost on Huawei Cloud". The BCS platform can be used for various use cases such as data, IoT and finance-related applications, as well as data transactions, identity authentication, proof of information (such as real estate and education), remote healthcare, food sou...