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Metaverse In Spotlight At MWC 3D Tech Fair Even As Doubts Arise

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METAVERSE – air taxi, buckled my seat belt, and braced myself as the plane took off. Busan, South Korea’s futuristic cityscape, faded away, and a digital avatar with a message appeared on the windshield.

As a wave of motion sickness hit me, I couldn’t respond. When I put on the virtual reality goggles and sat in the seats that moved back and forth and side to side, it felt like I was flying and turning in the air. They also made me feel so sick that I had to close my eyes for the rest of the three-minute ride.

Then again, who doesn’t?

The air taxi mockup by South Korean company SK Telecom was one of the most eye-catching demonstrations at MWC, or Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest telecom industry trade show. At this week’s expo in Barcelona, tech companies and wireless carriers demonstrated advances in connecting people and businesses online, increasingly in new virtual reality worlds dubbed the metaverse.

Visitor Mark Varahona felt woozy after trying the flight experience, but he is still considering purchasing a virtual reality headset required to enter any immersive digital universe.

“I was considering purchasing it before coming here. “And maybe I’ll buy them now,” he said. “They appear to be quite nice.”

The metaverse exploded in popularity after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg declared it the next big thing for the internet in late 2021, renaming his social media empire and investing tens of billions of dollars in the concept.

metaverse

The metaverse exploded in popularity.

He portrayed it as a 3D community where people can meet, work, and play, like trying on digital clothes, holding a virtual meeting, or taking an online trip.

However, as the initial excitement fades, concerns about the metaverse’s viability have emerged. According to NPD Research, sales of virtual reality headsets in the United States fell 2% in December compared to the previous year. Reality Labs, which makes Meta Quest headsets, posted an operating loss of $13.7 billion in 2022.

Meta has stated that it intends to employ 10,000 engineers in Europe to work on the metaverse. “Our expansion in Europe was always a long-term one planned over several years,” the company said when asked for an update. We will continue to support Europe.”

The “metaverse has not vanished,” according to Ben Wood, the principal analyst at CCS Insight. “However, there is much more skepticism about what role it will play, particularly in the consumer domain beyond the obvious areas like gaming.”

The difficulty in defining the metaverse has added to the skepticism. According to Tuong Nguyen, a Gartner analyst specializing in emerging technologies, it is not the same as virtual reality or its cousin, augmented reality.

“So, in the same way, that computers are related to the Internet, AR and VR are very closely related to the metaverse,” he explained. “Think of it as the evolution of the Internet, changing how we interact with the world.”

So, how should the flight simulator of SK Telecom be defined?

“Technically, it’s not metaverse, but kind of metaverse,” Ken Wohn, a company manager, explained.

metaverse

At French wireless company Orange’s metaverse demonstration

Last year, South Korea’s largest telecom provider collaborated with Joby Aviation of California to develop an electric air taxi service for the country.

According to Wohn, air taxis could one day operate autonomously, using high-speed 5G wireless connections.

At French wireless company Orange’s metaverse demonstration, users were transported to a futuristic neon-hued technoscape with lightning bolts, giant robots, and a falcon carrying a green orb in its talons.

A dancing figure appeared, representing the movements of a real-life dancer wearing motion-capture gear. It was a stunning display, though it needed to be clarified what consumer purpose it served.

It demonstrates how new 5G networks will eliminate lag for metaverse users watching something far away, according to Miguel Angel Almonacid, Orange’s network strategy director for Spain.

Analysts believe the metaverse is better suited to practical purposes in the workplace.

“We’ll see traction first because the barriers aren’t as high,” Gartner’s Nguyen predicted. A worker, for example, could use augmented reality glasses to access diagnostics or an instruction manual.

La Frontera, a Spanish startup, uses the metaverse to provide virtual meetings with “realistic avatars,” according to Marta Ortiz, a business development executive who guided me through the company’s metaverse.

We began our journey on a beach with boulders, palm trees, and a light blue sea. Her avatar appeared as a head and shoulders, with disembodied hands hovering before her chest. We entered a conference room with a boardroom table, where I picked up 3D objects like a toy ray gun and a bottle of Champagne with handheld controllers.

metaverse

The virtual world could also be useful for displaying products too large to transport easily

Training for risky, repetitive, or highly detailed procedures, such as surgery, is another example of a metaverse application.

The beach vanished, replaced by a burning overturned tanker truck. A fire extinguisher was suspended in midair. Ortiz instructed me to grab it with my virtual hand and spray it at the dying flames.

The virtual world could also be useful for displaying products too large to transport easily, such as private jets.

They may also be too small for humans.

The setting changed to a science-fiction setting, with crimson walls rising around us to represent the inside of a blood vessel. Blood cells in the shape of doughnuts floated by, followed by spiky orbs. The blood vessel’s wall collapsed, revealing pulsing white streaks on a blue background representing neurons in the brain.

La Frontera collaborates with pharmaceutical companies to “demonstrate how a drug works in the body at a cellular level,” according to Ortiz. It was a medicine used to treat multiple sclerosis, which attacks brain neurons.

SOURCE – (AP)

 

 

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Bitcoin To The Moon? Here’s Why It’s Near An All-Time High, With A Surge Of 20%

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Last month, as bitcoin hit $45,000, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon compared it to a Pet Rock and told people to “stop talking about this s—.”

Investors are currently laughing all the way to the bank.

In just five days, the cryptocurrency had surged by 20%. With Wednesday’s gains, the coin is on track to reach an all-time high of about $69,000 in November 2021, the last time it traded above $60,000.

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Bitcoin To The Moon? Here’s Why It’s Near An All-Time High

Billions of dollars have flowed into the cryptocurrency since the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds last month, contributing to the boom.

The other key element at work is the impending “halving” of Bitcoin. Halving is a built-in feature of Bitcoin that automatically limits the rate at which new coins enter circulation. It occurs every four years and, in principle, raises the price of Bitcoin because it increases the scarcity of an already finite currency.

This occurs because miners (the programmers responsible for solving complicated math problems inherent in the currency) see their Bitcoin-denominated payout cut in half when a threshold is reached.

bitcoin

Bitcoin To The Moon? Here’s Why It’s Near An All-Time High

In the past, halvings have triggered substantial bull markets. However, there is no clear rule that guarantees this conclusion every time. Various events, such as the prospect of additional rules, might reduce any possible advantages from a halving.

However, investors are hopeful that this will not play out, and they are hurrying to get in on the action or pay out their winnings. Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, faced substantial interruptions due to the increased trade volume, according to CEO Brian Armstrong in a post on X Wednesday.

“Some users may see a zero balance across their Coinbase accounts & may experience errors in buying or selling,” Coinbase Support said on X at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday. “Our team is looking into this and will provide an update shortly. “Your assets are safe.”

bitcoin

Bitcoin To The Moon? Here’s Why It’s Near An All-Time High

An hour and a half later, Coinbase announced in another X post that it was “beginning to see improvement in customer trading.” It also stated that consumers may still be experiencing problems “due to increased traffic.”

Coinbase declined to comment to CNN about the problems other than the X postings.

SOURCE – (CNN)

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A Guide to Spotting Bitcoin ETFs for Everyday Investors and Retires in 2024

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A Guide to Spotting Bitcoin ETFs for Everyday Investors and Retirees

(VORNews) – Shortly before the US Securities and Exchange Commission authorized spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (Bitcoin ETFs) on Wednesday night, it reiterated its “no FOMO” caution to investors.

The caution not to invest for “fear of missing out” stressed the volatility of digital assets, pointing out how popular cryptocurrency investments experience tremendous highs and lows, resulting in billions of dollars in profits and losses.

Gary Gensler, head of the SEC, stated following Wednesday’s announcement in which the commission approved the bitcoin ETF listing but stated that “we did not approve or endorse bitcoin.” Digital asset investment is now regulated and standardized thanks to the SEC’s approval.

However, mainstream investors should proceed with caution, according to financial analysts, because bitcoin (BTC-USD) is still seen as a speculative asset. “You have to be very careful,” said Kiran Garimella, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida Muma College of Business, speaking to Yahoo Finance from a very conservative financial standpoint. “If the financial instrument that’s being traded doesn’t actually represent anything of specific value underlying it, then you’d have to sit back and question that.”

First, what exactly is a spot Bitcoin ETF?

ETFs that track the performance of bitcoin are known as spot Bitcoin ETFs. Asset managers who hold the actual bitcoin and its current value (“spot”) as the underlying asset manage the fund, in which investors buy shares. Management fees and the thin margin between the price at which they sell the shares and the actual price of bitcoins (which fluctuates) are how these managers make money.

Although the value of ETFs will fluctuate in tandem with Bitcoin, the funds themselves may be more stable because fund administrators can employ a variety of financial instruments to mitigate the fund’s volatility.

“Investing in an ETF not only simplifies the process of purchasing, selling, and trading bitcoins, but it may also mitigate a portion of the associated strategic risk,” Garimella explained. Unknown but utilizing the alias Satoshi Nakamoto, an unidentified individual created the initial Bitcoin in 2008.

It was established on the decentralized, free market tenet that digital currencies be generated, distributed, traded, and recorded in the blockchain, a peer-to-peer ledger. In the past week, Bitcoin’s price fluctuated around $46,500; at one point last week, it surged to $49,000 due to the reactions to the SEC approval.

In 2021, when the price surpassed $65,000, the value of a coin reached its historic apex. A mere twelve months later, however, it plummeted to approximately $16,000 as investors gradually lost faith in the industry.

Do you need to include bitcoin ETFs in your portfolio?

Everyone may now possess Bitcoin in their investing or retirement accounts, according to the much-anticipated SEC clearance. No longer do investors need to purchase digital tokens directly from a crypto exchange.

Even though many Americans still don’t understand or have access to cryptocurrency, eleven new spot funds have been launched on the NYSE, CBOE, and Nasdaq, the same exchanges where equities, mutual funds, and other conventional assets are traded.

According to Garimella, the new funds significantly lessen the administrative risks associated with Bitcoin investments. Previously, interested parties needed to generate “private keys” and create a “wallet” to own the tokens. There was a chance of fraud or hacking on crypto exchanges.

“Oh, boy, you’d have to go through hoops just to acquire a fraction of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency for that matter,” said Garimella. “Most people had no clue what a wallet or private key is.” There is still a strategic risk in investing in a Bitcoin fund, even though the funds themselves are standardized.

“If you can manage to invest $5, sell it for $500, and then make a lot of money, it would be fantastic,” Garimella added. But can you be reliable and organized, and can you develop a plan to make the most of the value that results from that? Cryptocurrency and its speculative character continue to inspire widespread mistrust.

Such instruments rely only on investors’ expectations that the price of the digital asset will rise, rather than any inherent value in the asset itself. According to Mark Higgins, CFA, author of “Investing in US Financial History,” “Cryptocurrency seems like speculation that central banking will be replaced—that maybe the US dollar is going to be replaced as the dominant reserve currency,” as reported by Yahoo Finance. “I am skeptical.”

Neither the creation of a spot bitcoin ETF nor the offering of any crypto-related products are in the cards for the second-largest ETF provider, The Vanguard Group. “Our perspective is that these products do not align with our offer focused on asset classes such as equities, bonds, and cash, which Vanguard views as the building blocks of a well-balanced, long-term investment portfolio,” according to the firm.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Fidelity Investment, a global leader in asset management, introduced the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), describing it as an effective tool for investors looking to get exposure to Bitcoin. “We’ve long felt a spot-priced exchange-traded vehicle would be an effective method for investors to obtain exposure to bitcoin,” stated Cynthia Lo Bessette, head of digital asset management at Fidelity.

However, investors are being asked to undertake Fidelity’s Designated Investment Agreement (DIA) when they purchase the FBTC fund, which shows how unexplored this area is. The digital product investors have been verified by the DIA to be experienced, risk-tolerant, and financially stable enough to bear the possibility of partial or whole loss of investment.

Everyone may now possess Bitcoin in their investing or retirement accounts according to the much-anticipated SEC clearance. No longer do investors want to purchase digital tokens directly from a crypto exchange. However, asset managers may mitigate the funds’ risk through complex strategies including strengthening laddering, adding call options, launching futures contracts, and hedging, thus these ETFs may be a safer method to buy bitcoins.

“When you have an ETF that does all of that stuff, it introduces a certain level of stability or risk management to that underlying instrument,” explained Garimella. “In a crypto market, you’re exposing yourself to a certain level of risk, which could be minimized with the right ETF.”

Perhaps the greatest allure of blockchains is their possible future use cases, which is why Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency in the world. Supporters of the technology think it has the potential to revolutionize the way money is exchanged. According to Garimella, who holds bitcoin for educational purposes, he is considering increasing his investment in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) shortly due to the innovations in the field that might allow the digital coin to be linked to a physical asset class.

“However, would I suggest it to my grandma as an investment?” “I highly doubt it,” Garimella remarked.

Even though many Americans still don’t understand or have access to cryptocurrency, eleven new spot funds have been launched on the NYSE, CBOE, and Nasdaq, the same exchanges where equities, mutual funds, and other conventional assets are traded.

According to Garimella, the new funds significantly lessen the administrative risks associated with bitcoin investments. Previously, interested parties needed to generate “private keys” and create a “wallet” in order to own the tokens. There was a chance of fraud or hacking on crypto exchanges.

“Oh, boy, you’d have to go through hoops just to acquire a fraction of a bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency for that matter,” said Garimella. “Most people had no clue what a wallet or private key is.”

There is still a strategic risk in investing in a Bitcoin fund, even though the funds themselves are standardized.

“If you can manage to invest $5, sell it for $500, and then make a lot of money, it would be fantastic,” Garimella added. “But can you be consistent and systematic, and can you come up with a strategy to capitalize on the value generated by that?”

Cryptocurrency and its speculative character continue to inspire widespread mistrust. Such instruments rely only on investors’ expectations that the price of the digital asset will rise, rather than any inherent value in the asset itself.

According to Mark Higgins, CFA, CFP, author of “Investing in US Financial History,” “Cryptocurrency seems like speculation that central banking will be replaced — that maybe the US dollar is going to be replaced as the dominant reserve currency,” as reported by Yahoo Finance. “I am skeptical.”

Neither the creation of a spot bitcoin ETF nor the offering of any crypto-related products are in the cards for the second-largest ETF provider, The Vanguard Group.

“Our perspective is that these products do not align with our offer focused on asset classes such as equities, bonds, and cash, which Vanguard views as the building blocks of a well-balanced, long-term investment portfolio,” according to the firm.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Fidelity Investment, a global leader in asset management, introduced the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), describing it as an effective tool for investors looking to get exposure to Bitcoin.

“We’ve long felt a spot-priced exchange-traded vehicle would be an effective method for investors to obtain exposure to bitcoin,” stated Cynthia Lo Bessette, head of digital asset management at Fidelity.

However, investors are being asked to undertake Fidelity’s Designated Investment Agreement (DIA) when they purchase the FBTC fund, which shows how unexplored this area is.

The digital product investors have been verified by the DIA to be experienced, risk-tolerant, and financially stable enough to bear the possibility of partial or whole loss of investment.

Where to purchase ETFs and what fees to expect

Through their brokerage accounts, investors can purchase shares of bitcoin ETFs to diversify their portfolios. Traders can trade the funds throughout the day for liquidity, similar to other funds. ETFs approved by the SEC are funds from big financial players such as Fidelity, Invesco, and BlackRock.

The costs for managing the ETFs have been announced by many providers. The largest asset manager in the world, Blackrock (BLK), which oversees roughly $10 trillion in assets, has reduced its fee from 0.30% to 0.25%.

The new market is quite competitive, with Grayscale charging 1.5% and Franklin announcing that it will eliminate management costs until August. As of today, January 11, 2019, bitcoin’s market value of $913 billion makes it the biggest cryptocurrency in the world.

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Bitcoin ETFs Approved for the First time by the SEC, Boosting Crypto Advocates

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Bitcoin ETFs Approved for the First time by the SEC, Boosting Crypto Advocates

(Z.News) – Cryptocurrency aficionados are predicting that the approval of the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds by the US Securities and Exchange Commission will attract more institutional and individual investors.

Sponsors of the eleven exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that were approved for listing by the leading US securities regulator included both well-established companies like Fidelity and Invesco and up-and-coming digital firms like Grayscale and Ark Invest.

To promote its iShares Bitcoin Trust, BlackRock will ring the opening bell at Nasdaq on Thursday morning, marking the beginning of trading for the first funds. These funds trade on exchanges like stocks and have unique tax protection in the US.

After months of waiting and a contentious legal fight, the approval has finally arrived. As a cherry on top of an already eventful day, hackers momentarily took over the SEC’s X social media account and fraudulently claimed that the applications had already been granted, causing Bitcoin’s price to fluctuate wildly.

Thursday morning saw Bitcoin trading 3% higher at around $47,000, which is still significantly lower than its $69,000 peak in November 2021 but over three times higher than its $16,000 low in December 2022 following the now-infamous crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy.

Several markets have already offered spot bitcoin ETFs

bitcoin ETFs

Although several markets have already offered spot bitcoin ETFs, US approvals are anticipated to signal a significant turning point for the most popular and liquid cryptocurrency unit.

Previously, US institutional and individual investors had to choose between purchasing on unregulated exchanges or paying more for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in bitcoin futures; now, they may have direct exposure to the currency through a regulated instrument.

“It’s a huge milestone; it’s recognition of bitcoin being a large-scale traditional investment,” commented Jad Comair, chief executive of Melanion Capital, the first business to create a bitcoin-themed ETF in the EU. “We’re letting people into Wall Street.”

The ruling also represents the SEC’s about-face. For over a decade, the regulator fought against spot bitcoin ETFs, citing the manipulated and fraudulent nature of cryptocurrencies as the reason.

However, Grayscale was able to overturn the watchdog’s previous rejection of a spot Bitcoin application last year. In August, a federal appeals court determined that the judgment lacked reasonable basis, leading to calls for the SEC to reconsider its position.

Although some ETF watchers are skeptical that huge quantities would pour into the products, crypto aficionados are wagering that the ETFs will significantly increase demand for digital assets. In 2021, ProShares raised $1 billion in just two days after launching the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on bitcoin.

However, organizations concerned about consumer safety and investors’ capital have voiced concerns that making the product accessible through an ETF would lure regular people to put their money into a market that has a history of scandals and wild price swings.

If approved, the clearance will “unleash crypto predators on tens of millions of investors and retirees but will also likely undermine financial stability,” according to Better Markets president Dennis Kelleher.

In a statement, SEC Chair Gary Gensler attempted to diffuse the conflict. Investors should “remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto,” he said, adding, “While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin.

“After a day of gains of up to 1.5% due to the misleading post on the SEC’s X account, bitcoin prices fell by as much as 3.4% following the regulator’s correction. Aspiring exchange-traded funds are comparable as they all put their money into Bitcoin. Except for Grayscale and Hashdex, all firms want to debut naturally.

Grayscale wants to turn its $29 billion bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF), and Hashdex wants to turn its bitcoin futures fund into a spot fund. The new ETF suppliers are already engaged in a pricing battle with each other. Several investment firms have pledged to forego costs in the first few months of trading, and this week alone we’ve seen updates from BlackRock, Fidelity, and others that state their fees would be less than half a percent.

The chief executive of Grayscale, Michael Sonnenshein, told the Financial Times that his business has reduced its cost from 2% to 1.5% but had no plans to decrease it anymore.

He went on to say that GBTC “is coming to market in a very differentiated way from other ETF issuers that are starting from zero and are just getting their product launched” since it is a conversion from an existing product.

Cathie Wood, of Ark, described Bitcoin as a “public good” and expressed her confidence in utilizing the product as a loss leader. Her business would not apply its 0.21% charge until six months after debut or until its ETF exceeds $1 billion.

“Our goal is to ensure that information is accessible and made as accessible as possible,” Wood stated to the Financial Times. Making the most money possible is not our goal here. Other actively managed goods are available to us and can be of assistance.

The funds will deviate from the standard practice of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by using cash instead of the underlying asset—bitcoin in this case—to generate and redeem new shares.

Despite the SEC’s initial opposition to a spot bitcoin ETF for over a decade, ProShares was able to establish the first of several ETFs that contain bitcoin futures in late 2021.

Notable ETF providers soon followed Grayscale’s lead and submitted their applications; the SEC then began collaborating with these firms to refine their plans.

The issuers have recently moved to a cash-based creation process, disclosed which financial institutions would issue and redeem shares, and outlined their plans to prevent market manipulation.

Wood said that the SEC, while being “one of the most skeptical regulators in the world and has gotten to the finish line and approved it,” maintained its stance. “And you know, this has been the subject of extensive battle testing.”

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