Category: Finance

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Finance News

Chinese Online Payment Company Could Raise More Than $150 Billion from Investors

Online payments have taken over cash operations at a speed rate. Nowadays, people would rather pay through online methods than by classical means. Investors from all over the world felt the worldwide need to make payments by modern means and created companies specialized in this kind of operations.

One of these smart businessmen is Jack Ma. He has created a company that is already worth over $150 billion. Now, he seems to be willing to do the same thing with Ant Financial, a name that is becoming huge in the world of online payments.
Several reports say that the Chinese tech company is willing to raise billions of dollars from business people who will become its’ investors. In their opinion, the company would be worth $150 billion and this is an estimation prior to the initial public offering.

Ant is part of another company founded by Ma, Alibaba. The holding was valued at $168 billion in 2014, when it was first published at the New York Stock Exchange. Now, the value has considerably grown up to over $445 billion.

Better known as Alipay platform, Ant Financial has serious competition to face; the WeChat Pay platform owned by Tencent is choosing by millions of Chinese shoppers every day. This is not surprising, since everything is bought in China through mobile payment apps. Since the trend is similar all over the world, Ant had the perfect conditions for expanding its services around the Earth.

The difference was made thanks to the diverse services provided to users: next to the online payments, the company also offers an app for the money market fund and opportunities for businesses. These options drawn many investors.

According to economical publications, Ant is heading towards raising at least $8-10 billion only from investors and they will use the money to continue their international expanding. So far, they have partnerships with other mobile payment platforms like Kakao Pay in South Korea, Dana in Indonesia, Paytm in India and GCash in the Philippines.

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Finance News

Zuckerberg Invited to Start a Social Media Company in China after his Testimony in the U.S Congress

Everybody knows that, lately, Facebook has been involved in a huge data sharing scandal. This unfortunate event caused the social media giant a lot of trouble, since the company had lost a lot of its’ stock market value and their users’ confidence. As a result, the Chairman and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has been invited to testify on this matter in front of the U.S Congress.

The decision to appear in front of the Congress was welcomed by Facebook users. They considered that Zuckerberg wants to be transparent and make up for the damage, so now Facebook is a company with increasing market value. Furthermore, the Chinese have been impressed by Zuckerberg’s speech, considering it honest and transparent.

Now, they almost consider him a hero and are inviting him to start a social media network in China. This move is surprising, since in 2010 the country banned Facebook.

What could be the grounds for a social network like Facebook in China

It seems that people have many reasons to think that Zuckerberg will move to China and start a social network there. Over the years, he has learned Mandarin and has declared his affinity for Xi Jinping’s book, so he could be prepared for a total change in his personal and professional life.

The absence of Facebook has helped China develop its own social technology. The best example is Tencent, the Chinese equivalent of Facebook, a network that in 2017 had a market value more important than Facebook, of over $500 billion. Considering this, we can imagine why Zuckerberg wouldn’t want to break up Facebook – he knows that this would mean an important boom for China’s companies and a big loss for American ones.

Until we will know for sure what will happen with Facebook and whether the company’s CEO will move it in China, we can still enjoy the benefits of online communication. Facebook remains one of the most appreciated social networks.

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Finance News

How Much are Cybercriminals Earning and What do They Choose to Buy?

Cybercriminals are some of the most successful criminals nowadays. However, maybe you have wondered what they are doing with their money. A new independent study asked the same questions and they managed to find out how much money they are earning and what they choose to spend it on.

The business of cybercrime

“Cybercrime is a lucrative business, with relatively low-risks compared to other forms of crime. Cybercriminals are rarely caught and convicted because they are virtually invisible. As criminals further monetize their business allowing anyone to buy pre-packaged malware or hire hackers on demand, the ability to catch the king-pins becomes even more challenging,” said Gregory Webb, CEO of Bromium, the company who announced the findings of the study.

The study managed to find out how much cybercriminals are earning, and it appears that the income is quite high. High earners earn about  $2m/£1.4m. Meanwhile, mid-level criminals make up to $900,000. This is more than double than the presidential salary in the United States. Even the entry-level hackers are earning around $42,000, which is quite a lot.

“The cybersecurity industry, business and law enforcement agencies need to come together to disrupt hackers and cut off their revenue streams. By focusing on new methods of cybersecurity that protect rather than detect, we believe we can make cybercrime a lot harder,” explained Bromium.

What are they spending the money on?

The data was collected from 100 cybercriminals, both currently engaged and convicted. When it comes to spending, the study discovered that 15% of the hackers used that money for their immediate needs, including bills. 20% spend the money on their vices, such as drugs. 15% spend their money on objects that could be used to improve their status, such as jewelry.

30% of cybercriminals prefer to invest the money. Either into new property or other things such as wine or art. Finally, 20% of cybercriminals use the money for more equipment.

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Crypto Finance News

Max Keiser talks Bitcoin in the Latest Interview

Max Keiser is a veteran when it comes to Wall Street. He has plenty of experience and recently he shared with us some of his predictions for Bitcoin. When it comes to this coin, Keiser’s show, The Keiser Report was one of the first ones that covered it, almost 7 years ago.

One of the first ones to buy Bitcoin

Max Keiser recommended Bitcoin back in 2011, when it was priced at $3. Later that year, Bitcoin’s price went under $1, so a lot of persons had a chance to buy it. When Max Keiser was asked if he believes that Bitcoin will be “the single currency for the internet”, he agreed.

Bitcoin manipulation

Keiser also discussed about the possibility that Bitcoin could be manipulated. He believes that there is no proof of manipulation when it comes to comes to Bitcoin futures contract. He believes that the low price of Bitcoin and the launch of Bitcoin Futures is just a timing coincidence.

He also believes that we might see some important investors on the crypto market in the future: “On the flip side, I think the futures contract will be a factor with the next leg of the rally to new all-time highs. Investors like George Soros and the Rockefellers will use these instruments to hedge positions and so can build much bigger positions.”

The future for banks

Keiser was also asked whether he believes that banks are quietly buying Bitcoin in order to use it as a hedge in the future. According to Max, this is definitely true and he knows him. However, Keiser says that banks are not buying enough Bitcoins in order to save them. “If you know someone who works for a Central Bank, kiss them goodbye. It’s over,” he added.

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Crypto Finance

A New Update was Released for Cardano (ADA)

Cardano (ADA) has released a new update for its 2018 roadmap. This means that they have some great projects on their way for this coin. Let’s see what is on its way for Cardano.

Paper wallets

There will be a new update for the Paper Wallet. Cardao wants to introduce Paper Wallets which is a great new addition that will allow users to store their ADA coins in a protected offline storage. This means that users will also be able to send, receive or keep their coins.

This update means that users will receive certificates that can be printed and that will help them keep money in their offline wallets. It appears that when it comes to Paper Wallets, the progress is at 33%.

Linux

As Linux OS was forgotten when Daedalus was released, and the attention went to Mac and Windows, it appears that the Cardano Team wants to fix that.  A Beta version was already announced and it is supposed to be released on Linux.

However, the Linux version is not complete yet. For example, the Daedalus software has a feature that brings updates automatically, but this version is only available for Mac and Windows.

Decentralization

Decentralization is something that becomes more and more important for the crypto world. That is why Cardano is working hard in order to go through the decentralized phase, and move from the centralized phase. The initial phase is named the Byron Phase and the next one is supposed to be called Shelly Phase.

The decentralized features will start to be testes around Q3 and Cardano will test them through participation on testnet. This means that a new decentralized Cardano Netowork should be completed and ready to emerge by the end of this year.

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