The Guardian - Cryptocurrency News Sites

The growth of non-fungible tokens has given rise to massive windfalls for those behind early virals. Sirin Kale and Alex Hern explain allOn 28 May 2016 the photographer Jeff McCurry was taking pictures of a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla called Harambe in Cincinnati zoo when a child entered the enclosure. The zookeepers reacted by shooting the gorilla dead. The child was unhurt. What was a local story suddenly became a global phenomenon due to the combination of social media and McCurry’s picture. Harambe’s image was everywhere. But, despite his photo being shared billions of times, McCurry did not see much of a financial benefit. Now advances in technology have given the world non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – and McCurry has a way of finally cashing in on his famous image.The Guardian’s technology editor, Alex Hern, tells Rachel Humphreys that this year’s craze for NFTs follows in the wake of speculation on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Now similar technology means unique images, film clips, animations and even poems are being bought and sold online for increasingly large sums. Continue reading... […]

Once, people who owned viral photos made little money from them. Now, the ‘original’ can potentially sell for an enormous sum. But are buyers savvy investors – or unwitting dupes?The photographer Jeff McCurry’s favourite Harambe memes are the ones where the dead gorilla is in heaven, Photoshopped alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, Tupac and Muhammad Ali. “It’s like: wow,” says McCurry. “What greater spot can you be placed in? Harambe’s at the top of the hill, waiting to meet you there.”McCurry took the photograph of the 17-year-old western lowland gorilla that went on to become a meme. In it, Harambe kneels, projecting a fearsome aura of strength, nobility and calm. A former volunteer photographer at Cincinnati zoo, McCurry was there on 28 May 2016, the fateful day a three-year-old boy climbed into the gorilla’s enclosure, forcing zookeepers to shoot Harambe dead. “It didn’t seem real at first,” says McCurry, who was a regular visitor to the zoo. “When any of your friends die, it’s hard to process. I was in shock.”I never gave my permission for this to happen in the first placeI think they are decent investments … some of the most collectible assets will be the things that our culture valuesWhat is important and interesting about memes from a critical perspective is that they don’t belong to anybody Continue reading... […]

The government’s stale plans for the broadcaster should be rejected in favour of cherishing it as a risk-takerWhat’s the subplot with the government’s latest flirtation with the idea of privatising Channel 4? There was a clue, possibly, in the view expressed this week by Tory MP Andrew Griffith, who has clout in these matters since he was a long-serving finance director of Sky.In a column in the Telegraph, Griffith complained about how parochial UK competition regulators have stymied growth in the sector, missed the rise of on-demand streaming and failed to understand that UK-based TV players need scale to compete with the Americans. Specifically on Channel 4, he said: “Its next, and most enduring, contribution to the UK media landscape may be to keep some of its distinctive remit but as part of adding useful scale to another UK-based operator.” Related: Channel 4 privatisation – how would it work and who would buy it? Continue reading... […]

Investors wary after authorities in Sichuan ordered bitcoin mining projects to closeBitcoin has tumbled further in the wake of China’s expanding crackdown on bitcoin mining, as investors grow more uncertain about the future of the leading cryptocurrency.Bitcoin fell as low as $31,333 on Monday, a two-week trough, dragging down other cryptocurrencies. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency has lost more than 20% in the past six days alone and was at half its April peak of almost $65,000. In the year to date, it remains up about 11%. Related: ‘I put my life savings in crypto’: how a generation of amateurs got hooked on high-risk trading Continue reading... […]

Losses almost double last year despite growing demand for crypto trading pushing up revenues 34%Losses at the British fintech firm Revolut nearly doubled last year, despite cashing in on the year-end cryptocurrency boom.The company – founded by the former Lehman Brothers trader Nik Storonsky and chaired by the ex-Standard Life Aberdeen boss Martin Gilbert – said it made £39m on its cryptocurrency investments last year, while growing demand for its crypto trading services helped pushed revenues up 34% to £222m in the 12 months to 31 December. Continue reading... […]

Online trading apps are drawing in novice investors willing to risk everything on volatile stocks. Do they really know what they’re doing?Noor is whispering so her boyfriend won’t hear her. The 30-something designer from London is down about £14,000 as a result of her decision to get into investing, in addition to another £8,000 profit she made on bitcoin last year, but then lost. Nobody knows the full extent of Noor’s losses – hence the whispering. “I feel so stupid,” she says. “I can’t talk about it to my friends, I can’t talk about it to my boyfriend.” Noor is not her real name.It started in November 2020, around the time of the US presidential election. “People expected Trump to win again,” she says, “and it was a weird time, because it was mid-pandemic, and it just seemed like this financial moment might be happening.”People talk about their crypto wallets. I ask: What does that coin do? They say: We don’t know. It’s just done really wellAnyone with the brains to put money into the stock market knows the risk, and if you don’t, that’s your faultPeople brag about making money. But you never hear when people start losing money, because of the guilt and the shame Continue reading... […]

FCA says the digital assets appear to have become more normalised and viewed less as a gambleThe number of UK adults who hold cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin has risen to an estimated 2.3 million, despite warnings from regulators and the head of the Bank of England that people should be prepared to lose all their money.Research by the Financial Conduct Authority also revealed that almost 20% of buyers said they were driven by a fear of missing out, while one in seven were going into the red to finance their cryptocurrency purchases. Related: Global banking regulators call for toughest rules for cryptocurrencies Continue reading... […]

Tesla CEO says transactions made in digital currency will resume once crypto mining is greenerThe price of bitcoin hit a three-week high on Monday, climbing back above $40,000 after Elon Musk said that Tesla would resume allowing transactions made in the digital currency once crypto mining becomes greener.The electric car company’s latest change of direction on its acceptance of bitcoin once again highlighted the continuing ability of Tesla’s billionaire chief executive to influence the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Related: Electricity needed to mine bitcoin is more than used by 'entire countries' Continue reading... […]

The Bank of England’s consultation on public digital cash could represent the biggest shift in the monetary system for 200 yearsLast week, the Bank of England launched a consultation on a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC) and the regulation of private digital currencies, joining dozens of other central banks around the world who are investigating “digital cash” and some, like the Chinese, who are already trialling it.Modern digital money that we use for everyday transactions on our credit cards and for online transactions has become increasingly important to the functioning of the economy, accounting for 97% of the circulating money supply. But unlike physical cash and coins, digital money is not created by the central bank or government but by commercial banks. When a bank makes a loan, it creates new, sterling-denominated electronic deposits in your bank account: money. The total “money supply” in the economy is determined by the rate of new loans issued to households and firms and the rate of repayment by those borrowers.Josh Ryan-Collins is head of finance and macroeconomics at University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose Continue reading... […]