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MusiCares & The Onsite Foundation Partner for Workshop to Help Music Professionals Affected by Pandemic
“The music industry was greatly affected by COVID, as individuals lost their sense of security and identity, experienced tremendous loss and grief, and struggled to cope with the loss of control over their own destiny,” said Laura Hutfless, FlyteVu co-founder and president of the Onsite Foundation board of directors in a statement. “We are so thankful that MusiCares has stepped up to help us meet this overwhelming need with financial resources.” The workshop will provide tools, resources and educational sessions to guide individuals back to a place of wellness. “As the leading music charity, MusiCares is dedicated to supporting music people in times of crisis and beyond,” says Laura Segura, MusiCares executive director. “We’re excited to partner with The Onsite Foundation and create these ...
Executive Turntable: New Hires at Obama’s Media Company & Warner’s Social Justice Fund
Dan Fierman most recently served as president of Epic Media in Los Angeles, leading the media start-up to acquisition by Vox Media in 2019. Prior to that, he led news coverage at MTV, was the Editorial Director of the pop culture site Grantland and oversaw culture and special packages at GQ. He and Holmes oversaw the launch of The Michelle Obama Podcast and Renegades: Born in the USA, the podcast hosted by President Obama and Bruce Springsteen. Mark R. Wright was an executive at MACRO, where he developed and produced Juel Taylor’s directorial debut, They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix). His slate of projects also includes the Oscar-winning film Judas and the Black Messiah, Alan Yang’s Tigertail and Birth of Cool. He has produced several short films, including an award-winning science fiction film,...
Tezos, Stellar and Tron analysis: Bearish trend after a bullish week
Tezos, Stellar Lumens and Tron all recorded a net positive week but are in danger of slipping into a bearish trend following recent performances This week was a positive one for the general cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin finally reaching the $40,000 mark and Ether surpassing the $2,000 resistance point. However, the performance has dropped recently, with Bitcoin now trading below the $39,000 mark. Tron, Tezos and Stellar all recorded positive weeks. However, the recent performance could see them slip into bearish territory ahead of the weekend. XLM price outlook Stellar Lumens had the least-impressive week of the three cryptocurrencies. XLM’s price is up by less than 1% over the past seven days, and it is now trading in the red zone. The XLM/USD 4-hour chart shows the cryptocurrency i...
Binance to shut down crypto derivatives trading in Europe
Troubled global cryptocurrency exchange Binance continues moving fast in curbing services to respond to the ongoing regulatory scrutiny worldwide, partly shutting down derivatives trading. Binance officially announced Friday that it would suspend its derivatives trading across the European region, starting with Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. The company clarified that users in mentioned countries cannot open new futures accounts on Binance effective immediately. We’re continually evaluating our products and working with our partners to meet our users’ needs. Today we’re announcing that we plan to wind down our derivatives products offerings across the European region, commencing with the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. — Binance (@binance) July 30, 2021 Binance added that the e...
Crypto-friendly app Robinhood loses 8% in public Nasdaq debut
Shares of cryptocurrency-friendly trading app Robinhood dropped more than 8% in its public Nasdaq debut on Thursday, marking one of the worst initial public offering (IPO) debuts of its size. Robinhood’s HOOD stock tumbled 8.4% below the IPO price in the company’s first trading session on July 29, dropping from $38 to $34.82. The company went public on Nasdaq at a $32 billion valuation to see its market capitalization fall to $29 billion after the HOOD stock ended the session below $35. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the company’s first trading day marked the worst debut on record among 51 firms in the United States that raised as much cash as Robinhood or more. The company reportedly flipped the 2007 IPO by MF Global Holdings brokerage as the worst debut among qualifying firms, ...
Binance banned in Malaysia, given 14 days notice to shut down operations
Malaysia is the latest regulatory theater to come after Binance as authorities in the country have accused the exchange giant of continuing to operate in the country illegally. According to an announcement released on Friday, the Securities Commission (SC) Malaysia has served a public reprimand against Binance, calling for the exchange and all of its entities to cease operations in the country. The SC stated that Binance continued to operate in Malaysia despite previous warnings. Indeed, back in July 2020, Cointelegraph reported that Binance was not permitted to operate in Malaysia. At the time, the SC published an “Investor Alert List” containing several digital asset exchanges offering services in the country without due authorization from Malaysian regulators. Bina...
New bill proposes US Treasury to have full authority over fiat stablecoins
A new bill introduced by United States House Democrat Don Beyer of Virginia has proposed a far-reaching regulatory and legal framework for digital assets across the board. Entitled “The Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act of 2021,” the bill touches on virtually all the important grey areas that continue to exist regarding cryptocurrencies in the U.S. context. One of its primary goals is to establish statutory definitions for digital assets and digital asset securities, bringing the former under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the latter under that of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Both the SEC and CFTC would be tasked with providing legal clarity regarding the regulatory status of the top 90% of crypto ass...
Monthly Report: Binance’s regulatory challenges grab the headlines
Binance dominated the headlines this month thanks to its regulatory challenges and its desire to become a publicly-listed company in the US Binance struggled with regulatory challenges Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance struggled with regulatory challenges this month. The challenges began when the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) banned Binance Markets Limited from operating in the region on the grounds that it doesn’t have the necessary licence to operate. This led to some banks and financial institutions taking drastic action against Binance. Barclays and Santander blocked customer deposits to Binance, and Clear Junction also stopped processing payments to the cryptocurrency exchange. Binance briefly halted deposits from Europe’s critical payment network: the Single Euro Payme...
The Kid Laroi, Justin Bieber ‘Stay’ at No. 1 in Australia
The highest new entry this week belongs to Lil Nas X, whose “Industry Baby” (Sony) featuring Jack Harlow, bows at No. 6. It’s Lil Nas X’s third Top Ten appearance in Australia, and the first single to chart from his forthcoming album Montero, following “Holiday” (which peaked at No. 42) and former leader “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”. Over on the ARIA Albums Chart, The Jungle Giants swing in to top spot with Love Signs (Amplifire/Orchard), for the Brisbane indie pop-rock outfit’s first No. 1. Frontman Sam Hales says it’s a “childhood dream come true.” He continues, “we set the goal to be completely independent in order to make albums we wanna make. It’s incredible to be sitting here today knowing that our record Love Signs just went No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.” Love Sign...
Greenidge to build solar farm with Bitcoin mining profits
After becoming carbon neutral earlier this year, the mining company will build the new solar farm on a former coal ash landfill Bitcoin mining and power generation company Greenidge Generation Holdings announced yesterday that it would be funding the development of a new solar farm. The farm will be built on the site of a coal ash landfill which is soon to close in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. Constructed in 1979, the Lockwood Landfill disposed of wastes such as coal combustion residuals until it was purchased in 2014 by Greenidge Generation Holdings subsidiary Lockwood Hills. The company has since maintained the site and is now expediting its closure. President of Greenidge, Dale Irwin, said, “For those of us who grew up and still live right here in the Finger Lakes, the Lockwood ...
Shanghai Man: Crypto recovers, disasters strike, and China’s crackdown moves to other sectors
This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations. It was a tumultuous week in China outside the financial world with severe flooding hitting Zhengzhou and typhoon In-Fa lashing into cities around Shanghai. Even worse, a COVID-19 Delta-variant outbreak in Nanjing is now threatening to disrupt the relatively open lifestyle that residents have enjoyed since strict anti-infection measures got the initial outbreak under control in early 2020. Shanghai city skyline (Pexels) Trouble in paradise? Inside the Chinese financial world, government regulations on tech and education companies sent the loc...
MicroStrategy pledges to buy more BTC despite paper loss on its holdings of $424.8M in Q2
Business intelligence and mobile software firm MicroStrategy has pledged to buy more Bitcoin despite reporting impairment losses of $424.8 million in Q2. This is only a paper loss however based on the price of Bitcoin at the end of the quarter and does not reflect a realized loss. Depending on how you add the figures up, MicroStrategy appears to have made nearly a billion dollars more from Bitcoin than it spent. Along with CEO Michael Saylor’s fervent belief in Bitcoin, that may be why it’s resolved to add more Bitcoin to its reserves going forward. The report stated: “We continue to be pleased by the results of the implementation of our digital asset strategy. Our latest capital raise allowed us to expand our digital holdings, which now exceed 105,000 bitcoins. Going forward, we intend to...
