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☆ Kraken exec Ankur Ranshid just exited the high-profile crypto exchange. Here's why he left, and exclusive details on his new a16z-backed gig's $200 million funding round.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Matter Labs announced a $200 million Series C round, led by Blockchain Capital and Dragonfly. Kraken, which has a reported valuation of $10.8 billion, is trying to fill C-suite-level roles such as chief product officer, chief commercial officer, chief technology officer, and a chief compliance officer, Forbes reported last month. (The firm, however, told Insider in an email that the only existing vacant C-suite positions were chief product officer and chief compliance offer. Matter Labs' $200 million raiseFounded in 2018, Matter Labs is best known for developing a scaling protocol, or zero-knowledge rollup called zkSync. Matter Labs says nothing about the company's funding round or executive appointment has changed following this news.

☆ Internal forums, major deals, and employee exits: Inside BlackRock's long road to embracing crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

A group of employees at the firm organized and started holding a forum to discuss crypto, five people familiar with the group told Insider. Eager, usually more junior, staff members huddled around to hear industry experts talk about crypto and blockchain. A junior employee touched off BlackRock's crypto effortsThe blockchain working group and the informal crypto-asset forum will end up being key footnotes in the firm's history. Leaving BlackRock for cryptoLader left BlackRock in June 2021 for Uniswap, the world's largest decentralized-exchange protocol, where she is now the chief operating officer. She was "very, very central" to the firm's crypto efforts," a former employee said.

☆ How ethereum's merge made crypto mining more sustainable
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Katie Brigham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Called proof-of-stake, this system has reduced ethereum's energy consumption by more than 99%. All of this work helps to secure the network by making it nearly impossible for bad actors to accrue enough computing power to take control. But recent research also shows that in 2020, mining Bitcoin consumed 75.4 terawatt hours of electricity, more than all of Austria or Portugal. Ethereum proponents say this penalty will make the network more secure, while bitcoin enthusiasts see proof-of-work as the more secure, tried and true approach. However, the optics of bitcoin's energy use in the midst of the global climate crisis has become a problem for the network.

☆ A month after the Ethereum merge, supply is finally declining as hoped but the price of ether remains stuck
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In crypto terms, that means that the supply of ether is now decreasing rather than increasing. Despite basic supply and demand dynamics on the network, the macro backdrop still has a strong hold on crypto prices. "Theoretically speaking, if we see a deflationary environment then there should be upward pressure on the price, but there are other factors that affect the ether price," said Owen Lau, an analyst at Oppenheimer. Ethereum uses those gas fees to burn tokens, so with higher fees the network had more money to burn. High gas fees can always come down however, Lau said, and that would mean the network would have less ether to burn.

☆ Crypto investors still haven't priced in the upside from the Ethereum merge, JPMorgan says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Excitement around the merge has already faded, but the long-term benefits Ethereum will reap from the technical upgrade have yet to be realized, according to JPMorgan. The merge refers to a technical transition meant to improve its security in a way that lowered energy consumption by almost 100%. One of the most attractive potential outcomes of the merge for investors, a smaller supply of ether, hasn't quite arrived yet, but JPMorgan says it's still early. While the ether supply has continued to increase since the merge, it has slowed to a di minimis pace, Worthington said. "We believe that the Ethereum Merge could be a big factor in terms of increasing the use cases for blockchain into new areas, including financial services," Worthington said, highlighting decentralized finance and NFTs.

☆ Everything you want to know as OPEC+ agrees to cut oil production
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

OPEC+ agreed to cut production. But the group — which includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia — agreed Wednesday to slash daily oil production by 2 million barrels, in a bid to send crude prices higher. But OPEC+ defended their decision, saying it was in response to "uncertainty that surrounds the global economic and oil market outlooks." At a news conference after the meeting, the Saudi energy minister added: "We would rather be pre-emptive than be sorry," the New York Times reports. The country's deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said the EU's plan could lead to Russia temporarily cutting oil production further — a move that would see crude prices rise, and gasoline follow.

☆ I binge-listened to tech podcasts for a week, and what I learned about Silicon Valley is kind of scary
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

2: The hosts don't know what they don't knowThe problem is, VC podcasts don't stick to the core issues of venture capital. 3: The hosts want us to believe what they don't knowThere's a shocking amount of this kind of drivel on the tech podcasts. This is what a good tech podcast should do: Use access to the best and most successful investors and innovators to illuminate the way Silicon Valley works. But that's not what matters in the world of tech podcasts. But after 40 hours of listening to tech podcasts, I feel kind of bad about it.

☆ Ether is down almost 20% since the merge. Here’s what’s going on
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Twice during the week, as bitcoin dipped below the $19,000 level, ether hovered at $1,300 (about 70% below its all-time high). Many expected the merge to be a buy-the-rumor/sell-the-news event, and there are growing concerns in the crypto community about the post-merge Ethereum. Ahead of the merge, many investors were buying spot ether and shorting ether perpetual futures , in order to get tokens of the "forked" version of Ethereum for free, without the ether price exposure. Growing concerns Ahead of the merge, there were two main concerns the crypto community had begun exploring. "It looks like Ethereum Classic has been the main beneficiary post merge," JPMorgan's Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said in a note this week.

☆ Here's what Ethereum's Merge means for investors who want to generate extra cash flow from crypto staking, according to 2 industry experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Industry analysts have predicted that this upgrade could triple current Ethereum staking yields. Here's how staking will change in light of Ethereum's Merge — and what that means for returns. There's another reason the Merge was so important, Perfumo told Insider — eventually, it will single-handedly increase the total market cap of staked crypto assets from 25% to 30% to over 50%. Because Ethereum validators also earn gas fees, higher transaction volumes mean a higher yield. But since these exchanges effectively manage custody of a user's assets, Perfumo emphasized the importance in choosing a trusted exchange to minimize counterparty risk.

☆ A former Point72 portfolio manager turned crypto CIO breaks down why Ethereum's Merge is not a bullish enough catalyst for a market rally right now
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Travis Kling is the chief investment officer at crypto asset management firm, Ikigai. The ex-Point72 portfolio manager says crypto markets won't rally until macro conditions recover. The exec breaks down why Ethereum's Merge is not a catalyst for an immediate bull run. Travis Kling, the CIO of crypto asset management firm Ikigai, says the upgrade isn't a catalyst for an immediate bull run or even rally. Although, the Merge is "the most significant catalyst in crypto history" traditional makes are in "turmoil," Kling says.

The Ethereum blockchain's mega-upgrade finally went live on Sept. 15, moving it to a less energy-intensive "proof of stake" (PoS) system with hardly a hiccup. Some crypto investors are now turning their attention to the next event that could shake up prices. It would allow validators, who have deposited ether tokens on the blockchain in exchange for a yield, to withdraw their staked coins, to hold or sell. Longer-term, though, the switch to PoS is expected to decrease the rate at which ether tokens are issued - potentially by up to 90% - which should drive up prices. Additionally, annual yields of 4.1% for staking ether tokens to validate transactions could prove tempting for investors.

☆ Crypto’s bear market is unlike others before it. This time the Fed's steering the ship
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

In any other year, the bitcoin price would have skyrocketed after the BlackRock announcement, but it didn't. Bitcoin hit its all-time high on Nov. 8, less than a week after the Fed first introduced the tapering . "Bitcoin OGs want to believe that it's a risk-off asset – that's a long-term trajectory," said Burak Tamac, senior researcher at CryptoQuant. It's bitcoin that's received so much hostility about being environmentally unfriendly, but myths about the cryptocurrency's environmental impact are slowly being debunked . Beyond bitcoin, crypto remains just a little too out of reach for many.

☆ The Merge: These 10 podcasts will help you better understand the impact of Ethereum's highly anticipated upgrade on crypto's ecosystem
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Ethereum's Merge is complete, transitioning its network from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. Insider compiled a list of podcasts that detail the upgrade's impact on crypto's ecosystem. Ethereum's highly anticipated upgrade, the Merge, has finally happened. The upgrade will cut the network's energy usage more than 99% by changing Ethereum's consensus mechanism from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. Insider compiled a list of 10 podcasts to help you better understand the Merge and its impact on crypto more broadly.

☆ Peter Thiel's fellowship program has birthed power players worth more than $220 billion collectively, including design software firm Figma that Adobe said it was acquiring for $20 billion
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Katie Canales | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Peter Thiel's fellowship program has been doling out $100,000 checks to young entrepreneurs for 11 years now. Adobe plans to acquire the design software firm Figma in a deal worth about $20 billion, the company announced Thursday. Figma was founded in 2012 by Dylan Field with the help of Peter Theil's fellowship program. The famed Silicon Valley investor and former Trump adviser founded his Thiel Fellowship program through his foundation for students aged 22 or younger. Here are some of the projects that have come out of Thiel's fellowship.

☆ Ethereum's massive software upgrade just went live — here's what it does
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The overhaul to the ethereum network fundamentally alters the way the blockchain secures its network and verifies transactions. But with the upgrade, ethereum has migrated to a system known as proof-of-stake, which swaps out miners for validators. "But the network as a whole — because of the redundancy across all this different software — will very likely be stable and fine." The rewards for validators are much smaller than those that went to proof-of-work miners, meaning that less ether will be minted as a result of this upgrade. Next few hours, days are keyThe next few hours and days will be key to gauging the health of the ethereum network post upgrade.

☆ The 'merge' has arrived — Wednesday is your last chance to buy ether before historic makeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

While analysts say that anticipation around the merge has helped pump up the price, some experts see the real upside coming after the merge takes place. watch nowJuicing institutional interestWith the upgrade, ethereum won't become faster, cheaper or more scalable. Research firm Fundstrat wrote in a note that a successful merge would cement ethereum as the "premier blockchain network." The bitcoin network experiences a similar type of supply reduction roughly every four years. WATCH: Bitcoin falls below $19,000 as Ethereum upgrade kicks into full gear

☆ Ethereum's path to $40,000, plus 5 stock picks from Baillie Gifford
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-09 | by ( Business Insider | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Here's what's on the docket:If you aren't yet a subscriber to Insider Investing, you can sign up here. Wang also laid out a valuation framework that explains how the red-hot cryptocurrency could eventually reach $40,000. Read the full story here:Dave Bujnowski Baillie GiffordDave Bujnowski is an investment manager for the $144.9 million Baillie Gifford US Equity Growth fund, which returned 125% in 2020. He shares 5 stocks set to benefit from the end of the pandemic and a hyperconnected economy. For more tips, tricks, and best practices on your path to financial success, tune in Tuesday, May 18 at 12 p.m.

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