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Twitter Gets Tough on @Bitcoin (Again) 4 3707

@Bitcoin Ban

Social media platforms and search engines don’t seem to like digital currency very much. After Google announced the ad ban on any content related to cryptocurrency, ICOs, or exchanges, Twitter promptly followed suit. And its stance against cryptocurrency is turning positively aggressive, as now even the @Bitcoin account has been banned, as well.

While the reasons for banning advertisements may be in the best interests of Twitter users, it’s not clear as to the purpose behind the outright ban on the @Bitcoin handle.

What’s Behind The @Bitcoin Account Ban?

Speculation, speculation, speculation. Is Twitter in league with some mysterious entity driven on flooding the crypto markets with FUD? Is there something underhand happening that the wider public don’t know about? Twitter claims that the @Bitcoin Twitter account, is in “violation of the Twitter rules.” Which could be 101 different things, and this vague statement raises a lot of additional questions.

For an account to get suspended on this social media platform, it has to get a few complaints. And it needs to be reported by several people. Well, the @Bitcoin account has certainly had its fair share of adversaries over the last few months.

A lot of the people against the @Bitcoin handle seem to be Bitcoin fans themselves. The content shared lately by this account seemed to be favoring Bitcoin Cash over the classic Bitcoin. (For those of you who don’t know, there are many purists within the crypto space. They don’t like false claims or misinformation being spread).

Is This a Slippery Slope to Censorship?

Bitcoin is still not illegal in most countries, albeit, traded without the backing of any government so far. However, many countries, especially Japan and South Korea seem to be embracing the digital currency and cryptocurrencies in general, while others like Bolivia and China have banned it.

Twitter making such a drastic move starts to look a little like censorship, especially when Google will no longer display crypto advertisements either.

And while it’s very nice of Twitter to look out for its users’ best interests, its users are, for the most part, adults who can decide for themselves where to invest their money. It remains to be proven that the @Bitcoin account was actually spreading misinformation, as no evidence of this has been submitted, thus far. In fact, it may not have even violated Twitter’s terms of service, so it could be reinstated.

Twitter and Cryptocurrency in General

What has a lot of people wondering is just how aggressive Twitter plans to get on cryptocurrency in general. Because with the way they’re treating @Bitcoin, it is starting to feel an awful lot like using a search engine or social media platform in China or Russia. Preventing advertisements thought to be misleading is one thing. Preventing open discussion about a topic that is not even illegal on social media is another.

And will it lead to regular accounts being shut down should they dare to speculate on the state of digital money? Thanks to the reaction from the crypto community and public at large over this maneuver, it’s likely that Twitter will release some kind of statement at the very least. This is not the first time the @Bitcoin account was suspended from Twitter. And the last time, the account was reinstated pretty fast. Whether that will be the case this time around is not clear.

But as is the case in this lawless community, new developments happen daily to drive the discord and fractionism among parties. We’ve already seen a breakaway from those who prefer Bitcoin Cash over traditional Bitcoin. We’ve seen a split between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. And now we’ll certainly hear of other debates as emotions escalate and contribute to the already bearish crypto markets.

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Christina is a technology and business communicator who has worked with high profile ICOs and blockchain influencers to break industry news.

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Why Is Everyone Talking About NFTs? Comments Off on Why Is Everyone Talking About NFTs? 142

In this writer’s opinion the NFT hype is warranted — but not for the reason most people are investing. 

For those who’ve been in the space since Bitcoin’s early surge, you’ll remember the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) boom of 2017. The crowdfunding vehicle, which mirrored an IPO on the public market, brought with it massive amounts of investment into the blockchain space that seemed to mirror Bitcoin’s rapidly increasing value. 

In retrospect, none of it made sense. 

With all the hype, the investment in the space didn’t match due diligence. As of August 2018, investors had lost nearly $100M in ICO exit scams, a major reason we no longer hear about ICOs. 

From there, crowdfunding through token sales was rebranded alongside SEC regulation as Security Token Offerings (STOs). Additional fundraising iterations to enter the scene are Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs) and Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs).

NFTs are having a similar moment to the immature and potentially reckless ICO market of 2017. The danger can be credited to a mix of hype and a widely unregulated environment with various points of entry and gatekeepers that are not incentivized to shore up fraud. 

As a result, many purchasers of NFTs are falling victim to a spectrum that spans undeserving projects on the mild end and outright scams at the extreme. Meanwhile, hackers are exploiting the unregulated environment. 

Just yesterday, $3 million in NFTs were stolen via an Instagram phishing scam. 

This writer, however, is still bullish on NFTs — just not the ones that are getting all the attention.

NFTs represent a concrete entry-point into the blockchain with a tangible utility and infinite disruptive implications. 

Here are a few.

Digital Assets as Social Proof 

As a Millennial, I personally have a hard time understanding the notion of owning and assigning value to a digital asset, but my kids don’t. 

I’ve written about how Gen Z has already adopted the concept of social proof in digital environments by assigning socially relevant value to digital assets like video game skins. 

As Gen Z ages and becomes an increasingly powerful consumer population, this experience will matter. Whether or not their purchase behavior translates to adulthood remains to be seen, but our kids are already leveraging digital assets in the metaverse to exhibit their position in the social hierarchy in the same way that my generation assigned value to Jansport-brand backpacks. 

Their concept of digital assets will be fundamentally different from ours, and NFTs are likely to benefit. 

But Why Are NFTs Relevant to Me Now?

Social proof is far from the most interesting use case for NFTs. 

In the near-term, NFTs can be utilized to store sale information of physical goods on the blockchain in order to eliminate nefarious actors in fraud-riddled industries like fine wine and art. 

Moreover, NFTs can disrupt any industry with a substantial secondary market. By coding royalties into the smart contract of NFTs, original sellers of wine, art and other trade-susceptible brands and industries can ensure they’ll capture a fee anytime an item is transferred. 

This solves a major problem for creators like photographers, artists and musicians that are notoriously underpaid in comparison to the value they create for brokers. It also has the potential to cut out middlemen like auction houses, record labels, and galleries to democratize the creator economy. 

Other Innovators Have Introduced Creative Use Cases for NFTs

Gary Vaynerchuk utilizes NFTs as tickets for events and other value-adds to his community. Forbes introduced a series of NFT Billionaires that will update alongside the real-time NYSE to gamify their user’s NFT experience in a way that’s brand-relevant. Foxies.art is using a gamified version of NFTs to fundraise blockchain education for women. 

The utility of NFTs is confined only by the imagination of our innovators. Whether or not NFT headlines today will remain relevant is yet to be seen, but one thing is certain: the disruption is only beginning. 

Fidelity to Offer Bitcoin in 401(k) Retirement Plans Comments Off on Fidelity to Offer Bitcoin in 401(k) Retirement Plans 49239

The move is the first for a major retirement plan provider and may signal more widespread adoption of the cryptocurrency. 

On April 26, Fidelity announced its intention to add a Bitcoin investment option to its 401(k) retirement plans. Employees of businesses that pursue the option will be able to allocate as much as 20% of their contributions to Bitcoin, all from the company’s main investment dashboard. According to reporting by the Washington Post, Fidelity said that at least one employer has already signed up for the option which will launch later this year.

“Fidelity’s leadership, especially CEO Abby Johnson, has been at the forefront of institutional Bitcoin and crypto integration for years and is no stranger to the space, with Fidelity’s private equity and venture capital arm being a major source of capital for crypto miners, crypto SPACs, crypto hedge funds and more,” says Eric Lamison-White, Director at STS Capital Group LLC, a cross-border advisory and investment firm. “It is completely in character for Fidelity to steadily and cautiously extend access to their working class customers as the regulatory climate becomes more productive.”

Critics suggest that the volatility of Bitcoin poses an unnecessary risk to a retirement portfolio. It’s a reasonable argument. At the time of this writing, the cryptocurrency’s price has fallen by more than 6% just today. Meanwhile, at $37,978 it’s a far cry from Bitcoin’s high of $68,000, representing more than a 40% drop since November 10th of last year. 

However, advocates of cryptocurrency’s long-term utility disagree.

“Cryptocurrency is a reliable, long-term store of value because it cannot be corrupted by central authorities,” says Lisa Carmen Wang, founder of The Bad Bitch Empire, a platform for female investors in web3. “We’ve already seen hyperinflation, bank failures, and other egregious disasters happen in the last few years, so trust in governments is at an all-time low. Crypto is inevitably volatile now because it is an early stage high-risk/high-reward investment, but for those who believe in the values of a decentralized economy, crypto is an attractive long-term investment that people should consider having in their portfolio.”

Regardless of your appetite for risk, the notion that savers will be able to easily manage contributions to Bitcoin in a respected retirement plan is meaningful.

As of last year, 63% of US adults that did not hold crypto were curious about it. Many people in the crypto-curious category don’t invest because they simply don’t know how. There’s a technological barrier to entry that can feel daunting. 

When you have major retirement plan managers like Fidelity making it easy to add Bitcoin to a portfolio through a dashboard users are already familiar with, we may see this group start investing in the asset class, moving digital currencies further along toward mainstream adoption.

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