Standard Chartered Bank partners with Microsoft to become a cloud-first bank – Stories – Microsoft

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SINGAPORE and REDMOND, Wash. Aug. 11, 2020 Standard Chartered Bank and Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced a three-year strategic partnership to accelerate the banks digital transformation through a cloud-first strategy. This partnership marks a significant milestone for Standard Chartered in making its vision for virtual banking, next-generation payments, open banking and banking-as-a-service a reality. Leveraging Azure as a preferred cloud platform, the companies will also co-innovate in open banking and real-time payments to help the bank unlock new banking experiences for clients.

Embarking on a cloud-first strategy

As part of its digital transformation, Standard Chartered will adopt a multicloud approach, where significant applications, including its core banking and trading systems and new digital ventures such as virtual banking and banking-as-a-service, will be cloud-based by 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. The bank will also adopt a cloud-first principle for all new software developments and major enhancements.

As technology reshapes the banking industry, Standard Chartered recognizes that a cloud-first strategy is critical to the banks ambition to make banking simpler, faster and more convenient. By being digital-first, the bank will be able to meet the demand for seamless banking virtually anytime, anywhere, and make banking more accessible to people across its network.

Michael Gorriz, Group Chief Information Officer of Standard Chartered, said, Cloud is a cornerstone of Standard Chartereds strategy to meet the present and future banking needs of our clients. Cloud providers have invested massively in the reliability and automation of infrastructure and platforms. Using cloud services improves our ability to be agile and innovative, while increasing our operational efficiency and resilience. As disruption in the financial industry continues, we can focus on client benefits by deploying our solutions quicker and allowing for faster integration of new business models and partners. To realize our digital ambitions, Standard Chartered has chosen Microsoft as a strategic partner and this partnership marks a major milestone for the bank in adopting a cloud-first approach.

Bhupendra Warathe, Chief Technology Officer, Cloud Transformation at Standard Chartered, added The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the need for businesses and banks to be resilient from a risk mitigation, cost and security perspective. With the increasing trend of an always-on digital economy, commercial and consumer clients are looking for applications and services that empower them to do online banking from anywhere, flexibly and efficiently. The speed and scale of continuous innovation offered by Azure allows us to innovate with the latest AI services to meet evolving client needs. We can pilot new apps in one market and scale them rapidly across others. This is especially important for a bank with a footprint as broad and diverse as ours.

Standard Chartered will adopt Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud platform to meet the banks need for resilient data centers and cloud services and addressing customers security, privacy and compliance requirements across the banks global footprint.

The first set of capabilities to move to Microsoft Azure will be Standard Chartereds trade finance systems, allowing for seamless cross-border trade for the banks corporate and institutional clients.

The partnership will also advance the banks digital workplace transformation with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams providing modern productivity and collaboration tools to Standard Chartereds 84,000 employees across its 60 markets.

Co-innovating the future of banking

Standard Chartered will also use Microsoft Azure artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics capabilities to enhance and automate banking processes as well as deliver hyper- personalization of its client products and experiences. Co-innovation in open banking application programming interface (API) and Internet-of-Things-based, real-time payments will also help the bank unlock new banking experiences for clients.

Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Financial Services at Microsoft, said, Cloud computing is an enabler for financial institutions to modernize their infrastructure and systems, to gain the agility they need to respond to competitive pressures, regulatory environments and customer demand. We are committed to helping Standard Chartered Bank in its ongoing digital transformation journey as it strives to address evolving customer needs and build the next generation of banking experiences.

Addressing the social needs of communities in the emerging markets

Standard Chartered strives to understand the evolving needs of its communities and be an enabler for change. As a part of the strategic partnership, the bank and Microsoft will explore sustainable finance and business initiatives to expand sustainability across the industry.

About Standard Chartered Bank

We are a leading international banking group, with a presence in 60 of the worlds most dynamic markets, and serving clients in a further 85. Our purpose is to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, and our heritage and values are expressed in our brand promise, Here for good.

Standard Chartered PLC is listed on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.

For more stories and expert opinions please visit Insights at sc.com. Follow Standard Chartered on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq MSFT @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, please contact:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@weworldwide.com

Julie Gibson, Standard Chartered, julie.gibson@sc.com

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center athttp://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsofts Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed athttps://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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Standard Chartered Bank partners with Microsoft to become a cloud-first bank - Stories - Microsoft

The State Of Educational Travel In a World Gone Virtual – Skift

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Educational travel has largely kept under the radar since the pandemic began, but recently made the headlines after one of the largest specialist agencies in the U.S. filed for bankruptcy.

Lakeland Tours LLC, parent company of WorldStrides,filed a Chapter 11 petition last month. WorldStrides operates educational trips for 550,000 students annually, partnering with 7,000 schools and 800 universities around the world.

But with those institutions closed and the majority of field trips and other types of travel canceled, the company had to issue refunds. It has now agreed to a recapitalization plan with shareholders and lenders.

A spokesperson told Skift: This recapitalization is a positive development for us overall as it helps to reduce our debt and provide significant new financing.

Its a niche but multifaceted sector. Travel can take the form of exchanges, with pupils studying in another country, or field trips. Theres also academic travel, such as teachers attending conferences or professors carrying out research projects.

In WorldStrides case, it also offers language immersion, sports travel and career exploration, which are programs for high-achieving school students to get a taste of further education at a college campus.

Universities and colleges certainly havent been immune to the global restrictions but they have been afforded some privileges.

Like international corporations shutting down business travel, so too did educational institutions go into lockdown. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the U.S., all university-sponsored travel outside of Wisconsin or by air within the state remains cancelled until further notice, according to its website.

The policy states that these restrictions are in place for all employees, students and registered student organizations. Some limited cases of travel by ground and air outside of Wisconsin, or by air within the state, may be approved by vice chancellors, academic deans and research center directors.

Many institutions will have cancelled their exchange programs this year. Picture: Mikael Kristenson, Unsplash

But depending on the country, some institutions are being granted more leniency. Australia, for example, enjoys the revenue overseas students bring in, and as far back as April declared it would keep its borders open for education travel, but shut out international tourists. International education is its fourth-largest foreign exchange earner, worth $26.14 billion a year.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the State Department announced in July that foreign students coming from Europe would be exempt from a travel ban.

In Hong Kong, Connexus Travel was experiencing a slowdown in business long before the pandemic started, CEO Gloria Slethaug told Skift, as bookings dropped following a series of anti-government protests. Those images of demonstrators in the airport, beamed on news channels across the world, didnt help either.

But educational travel proved to be a lifeline, because Hong Kong subsidizes overseas travel for schools. These bookings havent stopped, and Slethaug even believes Connexus will grow its market share over the course of the year.

Its against this backdrop that specialist travel agencies are being challenged.

A lot of universities that have an international focus are still trying to bring students over, in a roundabout way, said Christopher Hellawell, director of account management at Diversity Travel. Obviously the capacity isnt there to bring 400 students from China here to the UK, so theyve been looking into charter aircraft to facilitate that.

A couple of universities have done this, and were also talking to some of our clients. But there are complexities at both ends, around quarantines. And also chartering a plane and landing it in China poses its own challenges as well.

Another specialist has reacted by postponing travel arrangements, and adjusting cancellation policies.

Since the announcement of the March 11 travel restrictions, we have offered every customer the chance to move their tour to another date, thereby protecting every dollar of their investment, international education company EF Education First said in a statement, in relation to its EF Educational Toursdivision. At this time, the majority of our 2020 tour groups have opted to accept flexible travel vouchers, allowing them to rebook their educational tours at no penalty or added cost.

And like most educational travel providers, EF Education First is also navigating the new world of hygiene protocols, and has set up safety hubs teams located domestically and internationally that make recommendations about how various parts of its travel experiences will be adjusted in response to the pandemic. EF has also signed on to the World Travel & Tourism Councils Safe Travels Protocols.

In the long term, the education travel sector will also be assessing the Zoom effect, and Hellawell noted many institutions quickly adapted to video conference-style teaching.

The biggest piece for us is that a lot of bookings in the education sector are conference and events travel, he added. The pandemics impact could be large for us if it moves online, or takes a long time to get back. For some universities, academic travel makes up 40 percent of their travel spend.

For now, the good news is that the fast-tracking of foreign student travel could kick-start a wider recovery welcome green shoots of international recovery and potential valuable lessons for other agencies to learn from. At the same time, how students themselves respond will determine how quickly the industry bounces back.

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Photo Credit: Some countries are waiving travel restrictions for overseas students. StephanieHau / Unsplash

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The State Of Educational Travel In a World Gone Virtual - Skift

Stuck at home, TV travel show host continues to collect stories from around the world – Palo Alto Online

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Nothing could more swiftly and effectively impede Megan Zhang's work as a freelance journalist and host of "Travelogue," an international travel show, than a global pandemic.

Before COVID-19, Zhang was in Chongqing, China, documenting its modest but vibrant culinary scene and in a city in Inner Mongolia, where temperatures dip to -22 degrees Fahrenheit and yet still feel right for daring athletes who race on snowmobiles or compete in Mongolian wrestling.

But like many of us, Zhang is stuck at home in Palo Alto. It's hard to tell when she'll be back out in the field.

"Throughout this whole pandemic, I've definitely felt very lost and uncertain," Zhang said in an interview with the Palo Alto Weekly. "The future kind of looks blank, almost."

Still, it hasn't stopped Zhang's passion for telling other people's stories. Since April, a month after California's lockdown began, she has collected stories of people from all over the world China, England, the Czech Republic and Jordan, to name a few and cities across the U.S. and shares them on her new website, TalkingThroughWalls.com.

In brief articles, she gives insight into the lives of a student, a teacher, a musician, a hotel owner even a Florida resident who dresses in an inflatable unicorn costume and gallops around her neighborhood to spread joy during times of social distancing.

No story told in her project is the same, but they all serve a similar purpose.

"I just thought, maybe by bringing these stories to the surface, it might help people feel a little more connected or hopeful," Zhang said. "It's a little bit of a reminder that this fight is everybody's, and there are so many people trying to make a difference."

Using her journalism skills, and with the help of Zoom and her phone, Zhang has been able to seek out stories of resilience from all walks of life.

In Detroit, for example, Asha Shajahan, a medical director turned COVID-19 unit physician, told Zhang about the emotional toll of working five consecutive nights of 12-hour shifts, constantly treating infected patients.

"Dr. Shajahan recalls sometimes simultaneously covering 50 patients, many of whom were having difficulty breathing," Zhang wrote. "On some nights, she would see five patients pass away usually with no loved ones at their side."

Even after being surrounded by so much death, Shajahan felt a sense of optimism, though "measured," when the influx of patients slowed down.

In a small town in Slovenia, just by the northern Italian border, Tina i told Zhang about her work on a historic stud farm, where the nearly five-century-old tradition of horse breeding has survived World War II when American soldiers helped save thousands of horses on the farm from being potentially slaughtered by Nazis and continues during the pandemic.

Each story shows how someone's life was suddenly disrupted by the global health crisis and how they have learned to adapt to a fluid situation. For Zhang, it's not only her passion project, but also her own source of hope.

"It's been just an amazing reminder of how much resilience and resourcefulness and strength is out there," Zhang said.

Zhang was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but moved through five different states and two different countries before her parents finally settled in the Bay Area. During her nomadic childhood and onward, Zhang always loved storytelling, whether through writing her own novellas or exploring her growing interest in videography and filmmaking.

"Some part of me always knew that I wanted to tell stories," Zhang said. "I just didn't know necessarily in what capacity."

That became more clear as she pursued her degree in broadcast journalism at New York University. As a journalist, Zhang realized she was free to do what she loved using many different avenues.

As a part-freelance journalist and part-presenter for China Global Television Network's "Travelogue," Zhang has traveled the world to share the stories of other cultures as she experiences them. One day, she hopes to visit Africa. But in the meantime, Zhang continues to look for her next story from home.

"I do very much believe that everyone has a unique perspective to share and that everyone is the protagonist of their own life story," Zhang said. "So if there's anyone out there who knows of someone who has a particularly inspiring, relatable or interesting story to share, I would love to hear it."

Anyone with a story they'd like to share with Megan Zhang can contact her at [emailprotected]

Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula's response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.

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Stuck at home, TV travel show host continues to collect stories from around the world - Palo Alto Online

WTTC Calls on Global Government Coordination for COVID-19 Recovery – Travel Agent

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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has called on the U.S. and other governments to show leadership and unprecedented international collaboration to save the struggling travel and tourism sector and recover the millions of jobs already affected. Over 100 major travel and global business leaders worldwidefrom major airlines, airports, hotels, tour operators and travel companieshave, according to WTTC, backed the move.

The industry leaders signed and sent the letter, which called for urgent coordinated action, to U.S. President Donald Trump and the six other heads of state of the G7countries (Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, U.K.), as well as Australia, South Korea and Spain. Beyond President Trump, the letter was also sent to former vice president and current presidential nominee Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other such international opposition leaders, highlighting the non-partisan nature of the crisis.

In the letter, WTTC says political leaders of these major powers must step forward to save the global economy and support the recovery of the hundreds of millions of jobs already impacted. If the global leaders fail to come together, WTTC anticipates irreversible damage to the travel and tourism sector.Furthermore, as travel restrictions remain in place, the number of jobs losses around the world will continue to increase. Recently, at a Virtuoso Travel Week virtual event, Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and CEO, said the worst case scenario is a loss of 197 million jobs by the end of the year.

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Despite travel and tourisms importance to the local and global economies, WTTC is gravely concerned there is no clear or internationally coordinated effort to protect this uniquely exposed sector.

In this letter, WTTC has identified four measures which need concerted international framework and leadership to combat the coronavirus:

WTTC research has shown that even a modest resumption of traveling can have massive economic benefits and bring thousands of desperately needed jobs back.

Among those backing the WTTC call were: WestJet, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad and Virgin Atlantic; Accor, Best Western, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Marriott, Melia Hotels and Radisson; and American Express, Carlson Wagonlit, Expedia, Travelport, TUI and Uber.

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WTTC Calls on Global Government Coordination for COVID-19 Recovery - Travel Agent

Opinion: Science in a Time of Crisis – The Scientist

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The speed of the COVID-19 outbreak has forced humanity to conduct research, craft policies, and make decisions at an unprecedented rate, outside of wartime. The pandemic has highlighted and amplified some of the cracks in these processes. I present evidence of these failings in my book, The State of Science.COVID-19 is truly a wicked problem. Because of its contradictory, incomplete, intertwined, and rapidly changing components, the pandemic seems resistant to resolution.

Epidemiologists have been predicting and preparing for a viral outbreak such as COVID-19 for many years. Live animal markets, which can act as viral mixing bowls; increased world travel; and population density have made a pandemic pretty much inevitable. Despite this, we werent ready. The combined budgets of federal agencies that might have funded and conducted research to better prepare the US for this situationspecifically the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundationare only 7 percent of what the United States spends on defense. The country was prepared for terrorist attacks and war, but not SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In the United States, the pandemic has highlighted not only the lack of scientific knowledge among elected officials, but the devaluation of scientific expertise, as well as the consequences of budget cuts in government science agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A whole section of my latest book, The State of Science, is devoted to bad science, which is research mispresented for personal or political gain. During the pandemic, it has been more important than ever to get peer-reviewed information out quickly. But the peer-review process is not designed for quick turnaround times. The researchers most qualified to review virology, epidemiology, and modeling papers are working on COVID-19 projects and dont have time to review papers. Preprint servers should have filled the void, but they were swamped by COVID-19 submissions. As the crisis grew initially, everyone was an expert, everyone wanted a slice of the pie, and there werent enough experts doing thorough quality control. These conditions resulted in a breeding ground for bad science and misinformation.

The internet has grown from one website in 1991 to more than 1.6 billion in 2018. We have instant access to more news and information than ever before. Neighborhood gossip has been magnified by websites and social media. Manlio De Domenico is the head of the Complex Multilayer Networks Research Unit at the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Trento, Italy. He and his colleagues used machine learning to analyze more than 112 million COVID-related tweets in 64 languages About 30 percent of those posts were from unreliable sources, as defined by nine publicly available databases such as MediaBias/FactCheck. Waves of unreliable and low-quality information preceded the arrival of the epidemic, exposing countries to irrational social behavior and serious threats to public health. De Domenicos team also tracked the level of misinformation rising exponentially and then, in some countries, falling as the pandemic progressed. In places where misinformation eventually decreased, local leaders tended to play their part and stop spreading misinformation themselves. For example, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who holds a doctorate in quantum chemistry, has gained her nations trust. She has relied heavily and very publicly on the expertise of a handful of qualified experts. US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have not done the same.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increased focus on science, which ironically has an associated risk of further eroding the publics trust in science, especially amongst those who do not understand the nonlinear, consensus-establishing nature of scientific research. Todays high-profile expert assertions can be disproven by tomorrows events, but this is not a shortcoming of science. This is how science works. Epidemiological models, like climate models, are mathematical tools designed to predicted the probability (with large error bars) of certain outcomes under a prescribed set of conditions and assumptions. They are not crystal balls.

When asked what keeps him awake at night, virologist Christian Drosten recently told The Guardian about something he calls the prevention paradox. If social distancing works and the curve is flattened people will ask: Why did we close businesses? Why did we overreact? Anti-vaxxers commonly use this argument when they claim that the low rates of diseases that are vaccinated against are evidence that the vaccine wasnt needed in the first place. If all of our mitigation efforts and preventive actions work, the outcome is that we dont get sick. But not being sick was the state we were in before we took those actions, so it could appear as if science did nothing. If science works to stem the spread and toll of COVID-19, will it reflect badly on science, at least in the publics eyes?

To mitigate COVID-19 resurgence and to prevent future pandemics, trust in science and global cooperation is essential. The USs decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, along with similarly isolating policy decisions, are not going to help. It will just antagonize our allies, which may further weaken our medical supply chains and endanger our epidemiological early warning systems. The reckless COVID-19 blame-game and associated political machinations are endangering US-China cooperation and Americas influence overseas at a time when global cooperation in scientific inquiry is desperately required to deal with the virus.

Marc Zimmer is the Jean C. Tempel 65 Professor of Chemistry at Connecticut College. Read an excerpt ofThe State of Science.

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Opinion: Science in a Time of Crisis - The Scientist

Trump Immigration Policy Now Blocks Worlds Most Highly Skilled – Forbes

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The U.S. Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany. (Photo by Boris Roessler/picture alliance via ... [+] Getty Images)

Today, even the most highly skilled individuals in the world cannot enter America under the Trump administrations immigration policy. Reports from attorneys and a statement from the State Department confirm that U.S. consular officers in Europe are denying O-1 visas for individuals with extraordinary ability based on a health pretext. The strict interpretation of Trump presidential proclamations means individuals that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have found to possesses extraordinary ability or a record of extraordinary achievement are and will be refused visas in Europe and cannot come to America.

What is an O-1 visa?: The O-1 nonimmigrant [temporary] visa is for the individualwho possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The State Departments Foreign Affairs Manual provides a similar definition for consular officers.

To obtain an O-1 visa, an individual must receive an approved petition from USCIS after documenting their ability and achievement. Then, he or she must be approved for a visa at a U.S. consulate. However, Trump administration policy often makes that no longer possible.

Background: On March 11, 2020, the Trump administration issued presidential proclamation 9993, which stated, The entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of all aliens who were physically present within the Schengen Area during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States is hereby suspended and limited. The Schengen Area includes almost all European countries.

On March 14, 2020, presidential proclamation 9996 extended a similar set of restrictions to cover England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. (A NAFSA resource contains a list of executive branch Covid-19 travel restrictions.)

A presidential proclamation (P.P. 10052), issued on June 22, 2020, suspended the entry of foreign nationals on H-1B, L-1 and certain other temporary visas (but not O-1 visas) until at least December 31, 2020. The proclamation extended P.P. 10014, which suspended the entry to the U.S. of most immigrant visa applicants.

State Department Reply on Visa Policy: Attorneys say clients applying for O-1 visas intend to quarantine for 14 days in a country not subject to the proclamations yet are still being denied visas. That removes the possibility of a visa holder quarantining in a non-banned country before they enter the United States, which should be sufficient to gain entry.

Is it the policy of the State Department to deny all O-1 visa applicants in the Schengen area? I asked the State Department.

A State Department official replied on background and confirmed that O-1 visa applicants cannot get visas to the United States unless they qualified for a national interest exception, which relatively few would.

To the extent that an O-1 applicant believes that he/she meets the exception requirements, the applicant can apply for an exception and consular officers will make that determination, said the official.

The reason for the policy is the March 11, 2020, (presidential proclamation 9993) travel ban for the Schengen Area. On March 11, 2020, the president signed a proclamation suspending the entry into the United States of any foreign nationals who were present in the 26 European countries comprising the Schengen Area during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States, said the official.

After noting the measures were extended to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, the official added, Certain business travelers, investors, treaty traders, academics, and students may qualify for national interest exceptions under Presidential Proclamations (PPs) 9993 (Schengen Area) and 9996 (United Kingdom and Ireland). Qualified business and student travelers who have valid visas or ESTA [Electronic System for Travel Authorization] authorization may travel to the United States even as PPs 9993 and 9996 remain in effect. Consular officers also continue to consider national interest exceptions for qualified travelers seeking to enter the United States for purposes related tohumanitarian travel, certain public health and healthcare travel, and national security.

Attorneys believe administration policy harms their clients and the United States. The statement from the State Department appears to confirm that the current position is not to issue visas to anyone who is subject to Presidential Proclamations 9993 and 9996 but does not qualify for a national interest exception, said Rita Sostrin, a partner with Sostrin Immigration Lawyers, LLP, in an interview. National interest exceptions are generally reserved for an exclusive group of frontline workers, and most visa applicants would not meet the standard.

Sostrin believes the Trump administration has twisted the proclamations purpose and is now simply enacting additional restrictions on immigration. The spirit of the proclamations is to limit the spread of Covid-19, not to refuse visas to qualified individuals.This will hit particularly hard O-1 visa applicants, who have already been approved by USCIS as individuals of extraordinary ability the highest legal standard to work in non-medical/non-scientific fields like arts, culture and entertainment, as they are unlikely to qualify for a national interest exception.

The State Department published a few paragraphs on the national interest exceptions, but the wording is similar to the statement from the official above.

I cant help but feel this is just another effort by the current administration to restrict admission into the United States of even some of the worlds most talented people, said Debbi Klopman, a Brooklyn, NY-based immigration attorney, in an interview. The travel bans were certainly, at least initially, motivated by strong public health concerns. This current policy appears driven by an anti-immigrant culture within the administration.

Examples of O-1 Visa Refusals: Attorneys provided examples of recent O-1 visa refusals.

-A filmmaker was refused an O-1 visa at the U.S. consulate in Paris on August 4, 2020. My client is a highly accomplished filmmaker who has worked on numerous award-winning productions, said Rita Sostrin. USCIS approved his O-1 petition and he received a visa interview in Paris. He was planning to quarantine in another country but the consular officer refused his visa after a short interview. There was no discussion of his qualifications or the merits of his O-1 eligibility, said Sostrin. It appears that he was simply denied because of the Schengen ban, although the reason listed was the proclamation that restricts H, L and J visas.

-A Polish actress and singer of note was refused an O-1 visa on August 5, 2020, at the U.S. consulate in Warsaw. Debbi Klopman believes the visa should have been issued to her client. Proclamation 9993 is not a ban against visa issuance in Schengen Area countries, she said. The consequences of a visa refusal or denial in such circumstances are significant. There is every likelihoodshe will no longer be able to obtain authorization to travel to the United States. A visa denial creates significant roadblocks to the applicant the next time he or she attempts to obtain a visa.

-An O-1 visa was refused to a material designer at the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt on July 28, 2020. The officer refused the visa, simply stating that they would not issue the visa until after the Schengen Area travel ban is lifted, said Christy Turovskiy, a Portland-based business immigration attorney at Hammond Neal Moore, LLC, in an interview. The officer indicated that the only way the visa applicant could be allowed to travel is if the work is related to Covid-19 or if the applicant is married to a U.S. citizen. While these are two of several factors that can be considered for a national interest exception waiver, these are not requirements for visa issuance.

Strategy: My current advice to a nonimmigrant visa applicant is to travel to a non-travel-banned country where the U.S. embassy is open and processing temporary visas, said Debbi Klopman. They should document their arrival and their 14-day stay. An appointment should be arranged for visa processing at this non-travel banned country on or after day 15 following arrival. The applicant should then fly directly to the United States. She notes that transit through a travel-banned country triggers the ban and the visa holder will be banned from traveling through the transit country to the United States.

Christy Turovskiy points out another problem with the Trump administrations policy and consular officer refusals. These proclamations are bans based upon a persons physical presence in an affected country within 14 days immediately preceding entry to the United States, she said. Yet the government is creating a hurdle for foreign nationals to later enter the United States even after the travel ban is lifted or after they make an intervening trip for at least 14 days in a country that is not listed within the proclamations.

She says that refusing visas due to the proclamations is misguided. A visa is the stamp, representing a travel document that allows a person to apply for admission to the United States. It does not guarantee admission to the United States but allows the person to appear at the airport or land port of entry and be inspected.The consular officers should be issuing the visas and it is the job of inspectors at ports of entry to decide whether to allow someone to enter the United States using that visa. Customs and Border Protection is the agency that may refuse someone entry if he or she is subject to the travel ban if they have been in one of the affected regions during the 14 days before seeking entry to the United States.

Donald Trump has spoken repeatedly about a merit-based immigration system. That rings hollow and appears to be just a code phrase for less immigration when even people who meet the highest standards for obtaining a visa are refused.

Opponents of immigration often have argued that if a foreign national was extraordinary, they could just get an O-1 visa. Like most such arguments, it is not true, particularly during the Trump years. Today, if Superman and Wonder Woman lived in Europe, it appears they would fail to possess enough extraordinary ability to obtain a visa to enter the United States.

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Trump Immigration Policy Now Blocks Worlds Most Highly Skilled - Forbes

United States Agritourism Market share forecast to witness considerable growth from 2020 to 2028 | By Top Leading Vendors BCD Group, Travel Leaders…

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The AgritourismIndustry market study now available at Grand View Report, is a detailed sketch of the business sphere in terms of current and future trends driving the profit matrix. The report also indicates a pointwise outline of market share, market size, industry partakers, and regional landscape along with statistics, diagrams, & charts elucidating various noteworthy parameters of the industry landscape.

The Agritourism Market research report offers an exhaustive analysis of this business space. The key trends that define the AgritourismIndustry market during the analysis timeframe are mentioned in the report, alongside other factors such as regional scope and regulatory outlook. Also, the document elaborates on the impact of current industry trends on key market driving factors as well as top challenges.

Agritourism or agrotourism, as it is defined most broadly, involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Agritourism has different definitions in different parts of the world, and sometimes refers specifically to farm stays, as in Italy. Elsewhere, agritourism includes a wide variety of activities, including buying produce direct from a farm stand, navigating a corn maze, slopping hogs, picking fruit, feeding animals, or staying at a bed and breakfast (B&B) on a farm.

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Covid-19 pandemic affects most industries in the globe. Here at Grand View Report we offer you comprehensive data of related industry which will help and support your business in all possible ways.

Top Key Players Profiled in This Report: , Expedia Group, Booking Holdings (Priceline Group), China Travel, China CYTS Tours Holding, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), BCD Group, Travel Leaders Group, Fareportal, AAA Travel, Corporate Travel Management, Travel and Transport, AlTour International, Direct Travel, World Travel Inc., Omega World Travel, Frosch, JTB Corporation, Ovation Travel Group, World Travel Holdings, TUI Group, Natural Habitat Adventures, Abercrombie & Kent Group, InnerAsia Travels, Butterfield & Robinson

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Under COVID-19 outbreak globally, this report provides 360 degrees of analysis from supply chain, import and export control to regional government policy and future influence on the industry. Detailed analysis about market status (2015-2020), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise products, industry development trends (2020-2028), regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policy has also been included. From raw materials to end users of this industry are analyzed scientifically, the trends of product circulation and sales channel will be presented as well. Considering COVID-19, this report provides comprehensive and in-depth analysis on how the epidemic push this industry transformation and reform.

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United States Agritourism Market share forecast to witness considerable growth from 2020 to 2028 | By Top Leading Vendors BCD Group, Travel Leaders...

Different Travel Rules In Europe Are Delaying The Recovery Of Tourism – CEOWORLD magazine

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The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) is calling for uniform rules on the movement of tourists in Europe to deal with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, stressing that the many different measures applied in European countries after the lifting of travel restrictions discourage traveling all over Europe while at the same time delay recovery.

In the Schengen area, the Council emphasizes, the measures must be uniform and not a deterrent to cross-border traffic. Unnecessary and different border restrictions act as a deterrent for travelers, at a time when recovery is urgently needed for destinations to gain tourists and employees of the tourism sector get back to their jobs.

According to the WTTC, every 2.7% increase in travel traffic generates one million jobs in the tourism sector. Governments adopting well-coordinated measures could increase travel by 27%, re-creating 10 million jobs in Travel and Tourism, the Council said. The WTTC cited the confusion of travelers using a face mask. In some countries it is mandatory to use public transport. These countries are for example France and Germany. While in others not, such as Norway and Sweden. In Italy, masks should be worn in all enclosed public places, while in Switzerland, in these areas, it is recommended to keep a distance of 1.5 meters and the mask is only necessary if there is no such distance.

According to medical advice for example from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, the use of a face mask helps reduce the risk of transmitting the virus by up to 90%. Also, protects the user and those around him and restores a greater sense of normalcy to travelers. However, the WTTC warns that if European governments will not align their policies, they will stagnate and slow the fragile tourism recovery, putting 16 million jobs in travel and tourism at risk.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of WTTC called the leaders of European countries to unite and come up with uniform regulations for the benefit of the millions of people who depend on tourism in Europe. The past, she emphasizes, shows that only by coordinating and harmonizing travel rules can the recovery be accelerated, as travelers confidence will be restored. Different approaches to mask use, testing and contact detection create a climate of uncertainty for travelers, points out Gloria Guevara. She is also emphasizing in her statements how important especially this year is the restoration of travelers trust. The time to work together is now, she says. The private sector wants to work with governments and destinations using WTTCs carefully crafted Safe Travels protocols to clarify and eliminate tourist confusion. Tourism contributes 9.1% of Europes GDP, generating a turnover of over 2 trillion dollars, while last year the sector offered 37.1 million jobs.

Have you read?Highest Paying Business Jobs.Highest Paying Creative And Media Jobs.Highest Paying Social Services Jobs.Crewed MegaYacht charter in Greece and the Greek Islands.

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Different Travel Rules In Europe Are Delaying The Recovery Of Tourism - CEOWORLD magazine

The Latest: S Korea fears infections getting out of control – GoDanRiver.com

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Tribal President Jonathan Nez says the Navajo Nation wont rush to fully reopen, recognizing that cases could spike if residents become complacent.

Employees at tribal and national parks on the reservation say they will be busy this weekend preparing for tourists.

MELBOURNE, Australia The Australian state of Victoria continues to flatten the curve in its wave of coronavirus infections and deaths.

The state on Saturday reported four more COVID-19 deaths and 303 newly confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours. It is the second-lowest daily figure reported in Victoria this month after 278 cases Thursday.

Victorias daily case numbers are gradually decreasing, with the seven-day average down to 344 from 521 a week ago.

But authorities warn there is more progress needed before lockdown restrictions in the city of Melbourne can be eased.

Melbourne residents and those in a nearby shire remain subject to strict night-time curfews, time limits on outdoor exercise, distance allowed from home, mandatory public mask wearing and shutdowns of non-essential industries.

MEXICO CITY Mexicos number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen to 511,369, as health officials say they believe the country's infections have peaked.

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The Latest: S Korea fears infections getting out of control - GoDanRiver.com

Bitcoin price, charts, market cap, and other metrics …

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What Is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a completely decentralized digital cryptocurrency. Unlike US dollars that you can hold in your hand (or in your bank account), there is no central authority or centralized payment system controlling Bitcoin. Instead, Bitcoin operates in a peer-to-peer network that allows anyone in the world to send and receive Bitcoin without any middleman (like a bank, central bank or payment processor).

Although there are thousands of cryptocurrencies ranked on CMC today, Bitcoin was the very first cryptocurrency ever created. On Oct. 31, 2008 a person (or group of people) under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published the now-world famous Bitcoin white paper.

The first line reads: A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash, which would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.

The Bitcoin network then launched on Jan. 3, 2009, marking the start of the cryptocurrency revolution.

Bitcoin is a purely decentralized digital currency, which makes it unlike any other asset that came before it.

Before the digital age, everyone transacted in physical forms of currencies, from livestock and salt, to silver and gold, and finally to banknotes. Only in recent times was money digitized allowing bank accounts to exist online, as well as creating the many online payment processing platforms, such as PayPal and Square, that you often use today without thinking about it.

However, all of these digital transactions require a centralized system to operate. Your bank, or financial services like PayPal, needs to ensure that all of their users accounts are constantly updated and tallied correctly. These systems represent the centralized form of digital money.

Bitcoin revolutionized digital money by decentralizing this accounting process. Instead of a central figure that is responsible for making sure that their users transactions were always adding up, Bitcoin works by sharing the account balances and transactions of every user across the globe in a pseudonymous form. In simplest terms, this means that anyone can download and run the free and open-source software required to participate in the Bitcoin protocol.

As a Bitcoin user, all you need to know to send Bitcoin to someone else is their Bitcoin address (a series of letters and numbers, not their name or any personal information!). By sending your Bitcoin to an address, what you are doing is broadcasting your transaction (Hi, Im Alice sending 1 BTC to Bob!) across the Bitcoin network using blockchain technology (more about that below). Since the Bitcoin network has the most up-to-date ledger tracking Alices wallet balance, the system checks her wallet balance (i.e., Alice has 2 BTC in her wallet, so a transaction of 1 BTC to Bob is valid), and then completes the transaction.

In summary, Bitcoin works by ensuring that this shared ledger always tallies up, and that new Bitcoin transactions (Bob sends 2 BTC back to Alice. Go Alice!) are validated, recorded and then added to the ledger in order. That is the heart of blockchain technology, where new blocks of information are added to the chain of blocks that already exist.

Mining refers to the act of adding new blocks to the blockchain. In simple terms, Bitcoin miners dedicate significant amounts of computing power to solve a cryptographic problem, which is basically a very complex puzzle. The successful miner that solves the puzzle before all the other miners gets rewarded with a block reward, which is an allocation of a predetermined number of Bitcoin. In some cases, the block rewards are awarded to mining pools, when miners group together to share resources.

Once the puzzle is solved, the block is confirmed, and it is added to the blockchain. This new information is sent to all nodes, aka participants in the Bitcoin protocol, and the shared ledger is updated once again.

As Bitcoin's price rises, the block reward becomes increasingly more attractive. This incentivizes more miners to join in the competition to mine for blocks. In return, the more miners there are in the system, the more secure the network is. In addition, the increased competition also means miners are continually investing in newer hardware to ensure their computing power remains relevant for the fight for block rewards.

To ensure that the value of Bitcoin is not compromised by an infinite supply, Satoshi Nakamoto wrote in a halving event that happens every 210,000 blocks. When Bitcoins network first began, Bitcoins block reward was 50 BTC per block mined. This was halved in 2012, at block #210,000, where the block reward became 25 BTC. The second halving was in 2016, at block #420,000, and the block reward became 12.5 BTC.

This process will continue every 210,000 blocks, until the total supply of BTC (21 million BTC) has been reached. It is estimated that the final block reward will be paid in 2140! For more information on the Bitcoin halving, check out our Bitcoin Halving page and blog post!

There are many different ways of storing your Bitcoin heres just a few:

There are many Bitcoin different exchanges all over the world. All of these exchanges allow you to sell Bitcoin for other cryptocurrencies (altcoins) or government currencies (USD, EUR, GBP etc.) At the same time, these Bitcoin exchanges allow you to store your BTC with them, which means that the burden of keeping it safe is on them. Do note that incidents have occurred when exchanges have been hacked or lost their customers BTC, so do your own research when youre looking for an exchange thats safe to hold your cryptoassets. For the latest list of exchanges and trading pairs for this cryptocurrency, click on our market pairs tab.

Instead of keeping it on a Bitcoin exchange, you could keep your Bitcoin in a Bitcoin wallet instead. Wallets come in two forms hot and cold. Hot wallets are software that stays connected to the internet, aka storing your Bitcoin online. It is more convenient to transact via a hot wallet, but they logically are more susceptible to being attacked, as they stay connected to the internet.

Cold wallets are wallets that are not online. They are less prone to attack, as hackers cannot access this type of cold storage via the internet, but they are also a lot less convenient for the user as they may be cost-prohibitive and require more technical understanding to operate. Examples of cold wallets are hardware wallets and paper wallets.

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TradingView Confirms It: People Love Bitcoin And Tesla – Cointelegraph

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All eyes are on Bitcoin (BTC), crypto's largest coin by market cap, and Tesla, a future-centric car company run by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk, thanks to a standout year for both assets.

Tradable equity in Tesla, under the ticker TSLA, has captured more of the American public's attention than any other investable asset, according to July figures from financial charting platform TradingView, posted on Aug. 13. Bitcoin held the spotlight as the second most popular asset charted on the platform.

TradingView also pointed out that Bitcoin interest is on the rise specifically in Washington, California and Oregon. "The west coast loves crypto the most," the article said. "Boeing was the third most viewed stock and American Airlines the 10th," the article added, detailing the airline sector an industry that saw the brunt of COVID-19 restriction consequences.

Bitcoin and Tesla earned their spots in the limelight as both have rallied tremendously in price over 2020. Bitcoin hit a low near $3,800 back in March as COVID-19 fears were ramping up. The asset recovered fast, however, flying up past $12,000in the following months, tallying a radical comeback.

Looking back on a similar story, TSLA's price fell down near $350 in March before flying up past $1,750 by July, as if riding one of its CEO's SpaceX rockets.

Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk is no stranger to the crypto space, although he reportedly onlyowns 0.25 BTCas of May.

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TradingView Confirms It: People Love Bitcoin And Tesla - Cointelegraph

Will Bitcoin Break $12,000? 4 Things to Know Heading Into the Weekend – Cointelegraph

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Bitcoin yet to clear $12,000 hurdle

Ethereum Gas prices skyrocket

Small-cap cryptos shine

Watch the Bitcoin and gold correlation

This week, the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency market roared into Monday like a lion only to end the week more like a lamb. Going into the weekend, lets take a look at the major developments that have shaped the past week and what can be expected for the price of Bitcoin during the weekend.

Bitcoin (BTC) price tested its year-to-date high, briefly surging past $12,000 only to fall back down into the same mid-$11,000 range it has been stuck in for the better part of the past couple weeks.

Ether (ETH) also surged, along with Gas fees, largely on the back of DeFi growth and speculation. But the big story was a previously unknown token that shot astronomically higher only to fall back to earth almost as quickly.

Moving over the $12,000 hurdle was always seen as the key to Bitcoin retesting all-time highs. Overcoming the gauntlet of resistance levels between the $12,000-14,000 level would be followed by a vacuum all the way to record highs, some analysts believe.

Heading into the week, Bitcoin made a run at the $12K key psychological barrier. But despite leveraged interest, the lack of follow-through resulted in Bitcoin falling back below it. In turn, the market was forced to try again, in part helped by flat to minor positive perpetual funding rates.

Alongside the technical price rejection, it is worth noting that Ethereum transaction fees began to creep ever so higher and, in fact, over the subsequent day, the rise was such that transaction fees reached $6.04 on Wednesday night, the highest since 2015.

Ethereum network fees. Source: Etherscan

Various network upgrades are supposed to solve this issue or, at the very least, alleviate the immediate pressure, but these developments are believed to be months away.

Still, despite the aforementioned price swings, the in-vogue DeFi sector continued to grow from strength to strength and the total amount locked across the ecosystem remained largely unaffected by the swings in the secondary market.

In turn, this resilience and the appetite to take on risk to experiment with DeFi, AMM, and yield farming, as evidenced by the ongoing surge higher in the total amount of value locked across the DeFi ecosystem, pointed to strong dip-buying interest.

Total value locked in DeFi (USD). Source: DeFi Pulse

Strong dip-buying interest was subsequently confirmed over the following days when the initial unwind of bullish price expectations in the options market, as seen by the evolution of Bitcoin and Ethereum front-end options skew, was gradually retraced.

ETH 25d skew and implied volatility. Source: skew.com

Whats more, this was driven by the front-end of the futures curve, while the back end held largely steady. A much more significant development, rather than profit-taking, would result in a much more significant and broader market repricing.

However, while the media focused on yet another round of price swings by Bitcoin and ETH, the real movement was in small-cap tokens, which outperformed large-cap counterparts by a ratio of 3:1.

The fast-growing world of DeFi is not without its risks and as well documented by CoinTelegraph earlier in the week, Yam Finance, an experimental DeFi protocol, made major headlines.

The Yam protocol initially gained steam as the second purely decentralized DeFi project after Yearn Finance. It deployed a decentralized governance model that enabled YAM holders to have a say across the protocol. Within 24 hours, nearly $500 million worth of capital was locked in only for it to soon crash back down to zero after the discovery of a rebase bug.

Initially, Yam opened staking pools for Compound, Aaves Lend, Chainlinks Link, Wrapped ETH (WETH), YFI, Synthetix (SNX), Maker (MKR), and Uniswap V2 LP tokens.

But most of the tokens that were used in Yam staking pools crashed after the bug occurred. Despite the harsh lesson and reminder of the high risks that are involved, the market staged a strong recovery.

Bitcoin was able to gradually recover into the $11,500 zone, but the total value locked on DeFi tracked near record highs.

On a macro level, the one-month correlation between Bitcoin and gold has begun to grow closer by the day, climbing all the way to 68% before a slight correction.

However, caution is warranted before extrapolating the thesis from the above, as the more prudent measure, the three-month correlation coefficient currently sits at 15%.

It is also worth noting that while gold has advanced past $2,000 per ounce in the wake of rising uncertainty surrounding the ongoing monetary policy easing stance by the Federal Reserve and other central banks, continued uncertainty will make the correlation worth keeping an eye on for the foreseeable future.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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Will Bitcoin Break $12,000? 4 Things to Know Heading Into the Weekend - Cointelegraph

Is Bitcoin Still Considered Cheap In 2020? – CryptoPotato

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Bitcoin went through a significant price surge in the past month, jumping from $9,000 to about $12,000. By heading into five-digit price territory, this 33% increase has many people speculating that the primary cryptocurrency may be too expensive, and the train has left the station.

However, looking at Bitcoins pre-programmed deflationary mechanism and several macroeconomic factors, the assets price may actually be (still) cheap.

Before we begin, lets face some sizing facts. As of writing these lines, Bitcoins total market cap is approximately $220 billion, whereas the entire crypto market cap is $370 billion. The all-time high was over $800 billion in the peak of the crypto bubble of 2017.

In contrast, all Gold existing worth $12 trillion (55x Bitcoins), whereas the worlds 2000 billionaires alone worth $8 trillion. The stock market value is roughly $100 trillion.

Some would still say that Bitcoins market cap is overvalued; however, keep the above figures when thinking how tiny this market is compared to other types of investments.

While examining BTCs relatively short history of just over a decade, one could spot several main outtakes. For instance, its volatile Bitcoin has seen double-digit percentage moves in a matter of hours and sometimes even minutes.

Despite multiple substantial price dives, however, the increases are much more evident, and Bitcoin became the best performing investment asset throughout the past decade with an ROI of 8,900,000%.

Aside from vigorous short-term price movements, BTC also tends to move in more extensive cycles. According to one theory, the primary cryptocurrency moves in so-called expanding cycles. Meaning, each cycle is longer than the previous one. So far, there have been three completed, and the last one coincided with the end of the 2017 bull run when Bitcoin topped at nearly $20,000.

Then came a prolonged bear market as the largest cryptocurrency plummeted to $3,100 a year later. However, that massive dip has initiated the fourth and current expanding cycle, which will supposedly end in late 2022. This theory suggests that when it ends, BTC could be as high as $100,000. As such, the current price doesnt seem all that expensive.

Since supply and demand are the factors that arguably weigh in the most in pricing an asset, its worth outlining some of BTCs features. As it was created during the last financial crisis in which world governments initiated large-scale money printing, the creator(s) Satoshi Nakamoto decided to base its supply in precisely the opposite manner.

Instead of having an unlimited supply, Bitcoin has a pre-programmed number of coins ever to exist 21 million. Moreover, the rate in which the new tokens are created is also pre-determined and doesnt rely on a central authority (like a government or a central bank). After an event called Bitcoin halving that occurs roughly every four years, the network slashes the number of new coins created in half.

By doing this, Bitcoins supply actually decreases over time, which ultimately reduces the inflation rates. At the same time, as the world witnessed during the COVID-19 crisis, governments can print excessive amounts of fiat currency, which not only depreciate its value against other currencies and asset classes but could increase the inflation rates.

Simultaneously, banks provide 0% interest rates on deposits and even go into negative territory in some countries. According to experts, this is another bullish factor for Bitcoin, hinting that the price could still be cheap. Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki recently said that only the rich would be able to afford Bitcoin once they realize BTC grows more valuable as the Fed prints trillions of USD.

Although Bitcoin has increased its value by over 60% since the start of the year, the asset also experienced some of the aforementioned significant price drops. In mid-March, during the most intense days of the COVID-19 pandemic, BTC plummeted by almost 50% to below $4,000.

Such vigorous price developments could scare away investors and hodlers or provide alluring opportunities to buy the dip. Nevertheless, knowing that this is indeed a dip and being able to time it ideally to maximize the best possible entry point is rather challenging, to say the least.

Consequently, applying the popular dollar-cost average strategy might be the best solution. DCA allows investors to average the entry price by purchasing specific portions at a specific timeframe. For instance, one can decide to buy $100 worth of BTC on the same day of every month.

Time has proven DCA as a successful strategy. According to a recent research, even if the investor started to DCA $1 per day from the $20,000 top in late 2017, his position would be over 60% up today, despite the price being 40% down from the ATH.

As mentioned above, you cant time the market properly. Another strategy to keep in mind is the HODL methodology. Those who believe in Bitcoin insist that it will increase over the long-term.

Hence, they are holding it ( the simple explanation of the verb HODL), and not selling despite the stages of the market cycles. After all, most of us were not born traders and especially crypto traders. And if youre HODLing, this means that the funds are not accessible. So if you plan on using those funds to pay the mortgage do not invest them in Bitcoin.

Only invest amounts you afford to lose completely. Bitcoin might go to zero (as it might go to $1 million). If you arent able to sleep, thinking that your crypto investment is down 80% youre investing too much.

During times of economic uncertainty, investors start looking into possible, and sometimes untraditional, assets to protect and even enhance their savings. While central banks are printing lots of cash and risk raising the inflation levels, Bitcoin offers a pre-programmed deflationary approach with its maximum cap of 21 million and supply cut every four years.

The primary cryptocurrency indeed seems to move in cycles, and its merits are working in contrast with the rest of the market. In theory, this should increase the demand in the following months and years. Adding the decreasing supply due to the halving, this could (again in theory) spike its price up, thus making Bitcoin seem like a bargain to buy today.

Or, as Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss recently put it its still the bottom of the first inning.

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Is Bitcoin Still Considered Cheap In 2020? - CryptoPotato

Miner Hut 8 Reports Q2 Revenue Plunged 67% to $6.9 Million Due to Bitcoin Halving – Bitcoin News

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Canadian miner Hut 8 Mining Corp has reported that second quarter revenue tumbled 67% to $6.9 million from $21.2 million a year ago, as Bitcoins supply cut in May forced production to decline.

The Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company extracted just 795 bitcoin (BTC) in the April to June quarter, compared to 1,165 BTC in the preceding three-month period.

However, Hut 8 posted a net profit of $2.1 million thanks to the revaluation of its bitcoin holdings, which generated $7.6 million.

Still, Q2 net earnings show a decline of 91% from the $22.7 million reported a year earlier. The firm said profit from mining activities came in at $440,000, down from $13.4 million the year before.

Altogether, Hut 8 ended the review quarter with 2,954 BTC on its balance sheet.

Management blamed the decline in profits to the Bitcoin third halving event of May 11, which slashed miner rewards by 50% to 6.25 BTC per block.

The network difficulty decreased subsequent to the halving by 15%, but quickly returned back to levels prior to the halving, said the company, in its earnings release on August 13.

This posed a difficult challenge to many bitcoin miners as they saw the bitcoin block reward drop by 50% with similar network difficulty rates meaning that revenue dropped by nearly 50% for all bitcoin miners, including Hut 8, it added.

During the quarter, Hut 8 raised $6.2 million from a share sale. The funds have been used to buy new mining hardware, which is expected to add 275 petahash per second to the companys existing mining capacity.

Shares of Hut 8 rose 4.4% to $0.89 in Toronto trading Friday. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has reached a low of $0.38 and a high of $1.98.

What do you think and Hut 8s second quarter earnings? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Miner Hut 8 Reports Q2 Revenue Plunged 67% to $6.9 Million Due to Bitcoin Halving - Bitcoin News

Chinese Bitcoin Miners Develop Strong Relationships and Crypto Mining Facilities in Iran – Bitcoin News

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During the last few months, crypto proponents have focused their attention on Iran. The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani initiated a new mining strategy last May, and the government-licensed 14 bitcoin mining farms in July. According to the Chinese mining operation Lubian, it claims to operate one of these regulated bitcoin mining farms in the oil-rich nation.

The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index or Bitcoin Mining Map attempts to visualize the geographic distribution of global Bitcoin hashrate. Iran is the sixth most powerful country in terms of global hashrate.

Of course, China consumes a vast amount of the global hashrate and Chinese miners also have a strong relationship with the oil-rich nation of Iran. Back in April 2019, news.Bitcoin.com reported on Chinese miners migrating to Iran for cheaper electricity rates.

At that time, it was difficult for the bitcoin miner, Liu Feng, to get his ASIC mining rigs into the country. However, when miners got into Iran, they had access to extremely affordable electric prices ($0.006 per kilowatt-hour).

However, the Iranian government caught wind of these unlicensed operations when certain subsidized organizations like mosques were caught mining bitcoin with near-free electricity.

The government then mandated licensure for mining farms and the electric rate was upped to fluctuating export prices depending on the season. More recently, President Hassan Rouhani initiated a bitcoin mining strategy and the government is focused on bolstering the industry.

The Chinese mining operation Lubian.com recently told the financial columnist Vincent He that the company operates one of the largest regulated farms in Iran.

Lubians cofounder Liu Ping detailed that it has a partnership with a power facility in Iran and the investors are both Iranian and Chinese. Power companies in Iran are now allowed to house bitcoin mining operations. Unlike the Chinese miner Liu Feng who had an awful time dealing with customs getting ASIC mining rigs across the border, Liu Ping said his firm has no problems with clearance.

We have our own customs clearance channels as we have the experience of establishing the logistics company, Liu Ping stated. And we have good local resources in Iran, and we have maintained good relations with the Ministry of energy, the Ministry of foreign affairs, and even the army in Iran, the miner added.

Lubian is a relatively new mining operation and more recently it was the sixth most powerful mining operation in terms of hashrate. Today, Lubian has around 3% of the global hashrate or around 3.86 exahash per second (EH/s).

This puts the firm in the eleventh position among a number of mining pools and giant operations like Poolin, F2pool, and Antpool. Liu Ping said that the Iranian farm is housed in containers within the power plants property lines.

The Chinese miner also said the operation pays the power company in shares of bitcoin (BTC), as well as traditional means of payment.

Compared with traditional industries, crypto mining is a profitable business, Liu Ping concluded. Apart from the mining pool business, at present, there is no other crypto financial service business conducted by Lubain.com. At present, their purpose is only mining and accumulating Bitcoin.

At the time of publication, the BTC hashrate has been high at around 135 EH/s and there are 18 mining operations mining the BTC chain.

What do you think about Lubian.coms cofounder statements about mining bitcoin in the oil-rich nation of Iran? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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Chinese Bitcoin Miners Develop Strong Relationships and Crypto Mining Facilities in Iran - Bitcoin News

Bitcoin Price Keeps Rejecting $12K Heres What Can Happen to BTC – Cointelegraph

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The price of Bitcoin (BTC) rejected the $12,000 resistance level for the second time in the past 10 days. Traders are generally optimistic about the short-term trend of BTC, following its extended consolidation below a critical resistance level.

When an asset stays relatively stable near a major resistance area, it typically suggests a bullish continuation is likely. It shows that sellers do not have enough pressure to push BTC down to a pivotal price point. Many traders seemingly anticipate the price of Bitcoin to remain in the $10,500$12,000 range. If BTC does not drop below a key support level at $10,500, technical analysts say that the bullish market structure will remain intact.

The confluence of a positive global macro backdrop and a robust market structure are just some of the encouraging sentiments around Bitcoin, but investors have also expressed concerns about some short-term roadblocks facing it.

The primary factor behind predictions for a bullish continuation of Bitcoin in the near term is its long-term market structure. Analysts say that the high time frame charts of BTC, like the monthly chart, indicate a clear breakout, with BTC escaping a prolonged price range that often leads to an extended rally, especially if the breakout occurs on a high time frame chart. Raoul Pal, CEO of Global Macro Investor, stated:

Super early days for what is likely to be a very big move as institution finally follow what retail BTC investors have known all along that this is the future and its wildly under priced.

Since its peak in 2017, when it almost achieved the $20,000 mark, BTC has ranged within a multiyear price range, bottoming out at $3,150 in 2018 while seeing a local high of $14,000 in July 2019 and establishing a three-year range. But when the price of Bitcoin recently surpassed $11,500, it confirmed on the weekly and monthly charts that the dreaded range has been broken. Various market data could also supplement the uptrend of Bitcoin over the longer term.

Kyle Davis, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, hinted that there is a small gap between $14,000 and $20,000 in the options market. Citing data from options exchange Deribit, Davis said, $BTC air above $14k up to $20k, which suggests that a breakout above $14,000 could fuel the next BTC rally.

Some Bitcoin traders also emphasized that the current market structure of Bitcoin is highly optimistic. Scott Melker, a cryptocurrency trader, said that the absorption of Bitcoins dips shows that the trend of BTC is bullish: Its dip buying season and that any chance to grab a higher low is welcome. This is a bullish chart, period.

In the four-hour price chart of Bitcoin published by Melker, Bitcoin recorded four higher lows, or four local low points that are higher than previous lows. A higher low pattern in technical analysis is considered a positive formation because it demonstrates strength from buyers. Every dip in the past 10 days was bought by Bitcoin buyers.

The positive technical factors surrounding Bitcoin have been complemented by encouraging on-chain data points. According to on-chain market data provider IntoTheBlock, the number of Bitcoin HODLers has substantially increased:

The HODLING trend for #Bitcoin continues. As can be seen in the graph below the number of $BTC hodlers has increased by almost 4 million within the last twelve months. As of August 9, a total of 20.47 million addresses were holding 11.51m BTC for over a year.

In the short term, Bitcoin faces two obstacles: first, a historically relevant fractal, and second, a slight drop in liquidity. Both factors could impose selling pressure on Bitcoin in the near term, but compared to a few weeks ago, the overall sentiment around BTC remains positive.

Nik Yaremchuk, a cryptocurrency trader, said that historical fractals hint at a short-term pullback. He compared the current price action of Bitcoin to that seen in May. Three months ago, BTC also saw a similar trend where the price looked to break out and then recorded a correction: We now have a fractal since May 2020, where we have been in range for a while, I do not think that we are here for long, but it seems to me that we will get another dip.

The fractal coincides with a slight decline in the liquidity of Bitcoin. Market research firm Glassnode said that while the overall transaction rates of BTC are healthy, they declined slightly in the past week:

Liquidity also saw a slight decrease, losing 3 points due to a drop in the transaction liquidity subcategory. This, in turn, was caused by the above-mentioned decrease in the number of on-chain transactions over the past week. However, overall transaction rates remain high relative to pre-bull market levels.

Still, speaking to Cointelegraph, Denis Vinokourov, head of research at exchange and brokerage platform BeQuant, said that Bitcoin being rejected at $12,000 is not necessarily bad. The pattern of an upsurge followed by consolidation stabilizes the market and provides investors some breathing room:

Price discovery and consolidation following a strong run up is an indication of a healthy two way market flow. Price rejection is not necessarily a bad development, as it gives market participants an opportunity to take stock of the situation and look to align the interest of both leveraged/speculative flow and those of long-term holders.

In the upcoming weeks, there are several variables that could affect Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies. The most prominent factor that might impact Bitcoin is likely the upward run of altcoins.

In recent weeks, altcoins, especially in decentralized finance, have gained substantially against major cryptocurrencies. Band Protocols native BAND token and Chainlinks LINK, for example, rose by 348% and 88%, respectively,from Aug. 1 to their monthly highs.

In the near term, whether profits from altcoins will flow into Bitcoin remains in question. Vinokourov noted that the willingness of the market to take on additional risk with altcoins demonstrates a positive market sentiment:

Interestingly, year-to-date (YTD) the MVIS 100 small caps index is up 74.51% and large caps index is up 74.23%. Markets willingness to take on more risk, as evidenced in capital flow into small cap assets is a net positive overall.

The combination of a favorable high time market structure and positive on-chain data has lifted the sentiment around Bitcoin in the longer term. But in the short term, some predict a minor pullback, which would make the market less overheated.

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Bitcoin Price Keeps Rejecting $12K Heres What Can Happen to BTC - Cointelegraph

With All Eyes On Bitcoin, Another Crypto Is Up 500% In The Last YearAnd Its Still Soaring – Forbes

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Bitcoin has been pushed back into the spotlight thanks to its recent rally and renewed interest from Wall Street and big-name day traders.

The bitcoin price, jumping over $12,000 per bitcoin late Sunday evening, has added 30% in the last monththough some smaller cryptocurrencies have made far bigger gains.

Chainlink's link token has now added 120% to its price in the last month, climbing to over $13 per token, and building on gains of around 500% during the last yearwith some investors saying link is still "wildly undervalued."

Traders have sent the price of Chainlink's link token sharply higher over recent months, dwarfing ... [+] bitcoin's latest rally.

"Chainlink is on track to function as [the decentralized web3's] de facto security layer for any and all transactions of meaningful value," Michael Anderson, co-founder of Framework Ventures, the largest private holder of link tokens outside of the core team and bitcoin and crypto exchanges, said via email.

"We believe the value of link will track the value of the smart contract platform it is securing, meaning the long term market cap of link will eventually be larger than ethereums current market cap today."

Chainlink, an ethereum-based token that powers a decentralized network designed to connect smart contracts to external data sources, currently has market capitalization of just under $5 billion compared to ethereum's $45 billion.

Chainlink, up 65% in the last week alone, has has been boosted in recent months by a surge of interest in decentralized finance (DeFi)the idea that blockchain entrepreneurs can use bitcoin and crypto technology to recreate traditional financial instruments such as loans and insurance.

"As it stands, blockchains are unable to speak in a trustless way with real world data, meaning they require some sort of blockchain abstraction layer that lies between the blockchain and the outside world," said Anderson, adding Chainlink's importance has "become more apparent as billions of dollars have been locked up in DeFi products reliant on smart contracts."

Since early June, the total value locked in DeFi protocols has risen from around $1 billion to almost $5 billion, according to data from DiFi Pulse.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency token of a Chainlink competitor, band, the native token of Band Protocol, has also soared in recent weeks. Band, ranked 43rd on CoinMarketCap's list of most valuable cryptocurrencies compared to link's 6th, has added almost 5,000% since its rally began in early April.

Over the weekend, trading of Chainlinks link token surged, knocking bitcoin off the top spot on the largest U.S. bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, to become the most traded cryptocurrency on the popular platform over a 24-hour period.

Links 24-hour trading volume on Coinbase Pro climbed to $163 million, some 70% higher than bitcoins trading volume of $96 million, according to data from bitcoin and crypto analysis firm Messari.

However, around the world, link's 24-hour trading volume of just over $3 billion is still just a fraction of bitcoin's $17 billion.

The price of Chainlink's link token has more than doubled in value over the last month, far ... [+] outpacing bitcoin's 30% rally.

Despite link's massive rally and suggestions link's price could be a swelling bubble about to pop, Anderson is confident the link price will continue to climb, pointing to Chainlink's ambitions to work with smart contracts "for any transaction that requires real world data, events and payment" and plans to for so-called staking, meaning "users will be able to stake their link as collateral with Chainlink nodes, allowing them to earn a passive income stream when said nodes complete jobs by providing useful data to smart contracts."

"A correction is possible in the short term, but even if the link price were to double tomorrow, wed still think it's wildly undervalued in light of the long term vision," Anderson added.

"If they achieve even a fraction of what theyve set out to do, the implications for enterprise, banking, derivatives, insurance and more will be enormous."

Link's surge over the last week has been put down to a massive short squeeze in the futures market, according to reports, leading some to warn its rally may not hold.

"Chainlink can be a very bubbly asset and it looks very bubbly now," cautioned chartered alternative investment analyst and manager at Cane Island Alternative Advisors, Timothy Peterson, via Twitter.

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With All Eyes On Bitcoin, Another Crypto Is Up 500% In The Last YearAnd Its Still Soaring - Forbes

Coinbase to Offer Bitcoin-Backed Loans to US Customers – CoinDesk – CoinDesk

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Coinbase will allow U.S. retail customers to borrow fiat loans against as much as 30% of their bitcoin holdings in the fall, the San Francisco-based exchange announced Wednesday.

Coinbase is one of the largest and most regulated crypto exchanges to get into the lending business, and the exchange is setting conservative parameters on the product, capping credit lines at $20,000 per customer and offering an interest rate of 8% for bitcoin-backed loans with terms that are a year or less.

Customers will need to fill out a brief application but wont have to go through a credit check, however, and borrowers will be able to receive their loans in two to three days.

Customers may use bitcoin-backed loans in different ways depending on their financial needs, including for large expenditures like home or car repairs, financing major occasions like a wedding, or helping to manage higher-interest personal loans or credit card debt, Max Branzburg, head of product at Coinbase, said in an emailed statement.

The product is available in only 17 states but Coinbase is pursuing licenses in other states and countries to be able to expand its lending service, he said. A waitlist opened Wednesday afternoon, including the tagline:

Have you ever needed cash for something urgent, like a car or home repair? In the past, you might have sold Bitcoin to cover it and incurred a taxable gain or loss. Now you dont have to.

Adding a lending product can be a way for exchanges to keep customer funds at the exchange instead of moving them elsewhere, said Joseph Kelly, CEO and co-founder of crypto lender Unchained Capital. Squares bitcoin-friendly Cash App also announced this week that it is testing a lending product that will offer customers short-term loans of between $2 and $20.

Coinbases low interest rate will also allow it to operate in many states that would otherwise require additional licensing to avoid usurious lending practices.

Its a good bull-market product when customers have excess capital theyd like to do something with, Kelly said. Weve almost never seen a monopoly lending market Id expect other exchanges to follow suit.

The new Coinbase product is only available in the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Nebraska, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

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Coinbase to Offer Bitcoin-Backed Loans to US Customers - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Bitcoin.com Wallet Reveals USDT Support – Users Can Swap and Store SLP-Based Tether | Promoted – Bitcoin News

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During the first week of July, Bitcoin.coms Wallet added a number of new features including a portfolio breakdown and honestcoin (USDH) swapping abilities. With the latest update this week, Bitcoin.com Wallet users can now store the SLP-based stablecoin tether (USDT) in their wallets as well.

Tether (USDT) is the most popular stablecoin in the crypto ecosystem to-date and Bitcoin.com Wallet users can now store, send, and receive the stablecoin at any time.

News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on how the firm Tether Limited utilized the Simple Ledger Protocol technology in order to issue over 6 million SLP-based USDT. Today there are 6,001,007 SLP-based tethers in circulation according to statistics provided by Simpleledger.info.

So similar to having the ability to hold any SLP token, the Bitcoin.com Wallet now allows users to store, send, and receive SLP-based tether (USDT). It is important to note that tether (USDT) is minted on a number of different blockchains. ETH-based tethers or other types of USDT coins not minted with the Simple Ledger Protocol, will not be compatible with the Bitcoin.com Wallet software.

The Bitcoin.com Wallet offers a method for people to obtain the SLP-based tethers by using the in-app swap features.

The Bitcoin.com Wallet allows users to swap coins by leveraging the Sideshift.ai application. The process is intuitive and it only takes a few minutes to swap coins using Bitcoin.coms client. Users can swap bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin (BTC), honestcoin (USDH), and tether (USDT) using the wallet software.

In order to swap bitcoin cash for SLP-based tethers, simply tap the swap button on the bottom of the wallets home screen and it will direct you to the in-app swapping window.

From here you can select which coin you want to trade, and the other day our newsdesk swapped $6 worth of BCH for 6 tethers. The swapping feature shows a live exchange rate for BCH and the price per tether as well.

We simply chose BCH and USDT swap and selected the receiving wallet, which displays the wallets Simple Ledger Protocol address. The minimum of bitcoin cash (BCH) needed to complete a swap is 0.003934997 BCH. After selecting the amount of tether, simply press confirm and swap to initiate the process.

The software lets you know that the swap is taking place on the Sideshift application, and the wallet also sends a message to you via the notifications section. Sideshift gives you an invoice number and the notification lets you know the process started.

After the funds are confirmed on the BCH blockchain, the tokens are sent to the SLP-token address. From here the USDT tokens will be accounted for in the portfolio balance section under stablecoins, and tallied up with the total value of all the crypto assets held in the wallet.

Bitcoin.com has always provided top-notch products and services that give people lots of exposure to the innovative crypto ecosystem. Allowing users to hedge stablecoins and swap BCH or BTC for coins like USDT and USDH with ease, gives users far more control over their investments.

What do you think about the ability to swap coins for SLP-based tether (USDT) using the Bitcoin.com Wallet? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Bitcoin.com Wallet

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Bitcoin.com Wallet Reveals USDT Support - Users Can Swap and Store SLP-Based Tether | Promoted - Bitcoin News

Surging Chainlink Pushes Bitcoin Cash Out Of The Crypto Top Five As Wild Value Tops $6 Billion – Forbes

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Chainlink, an ethereum-based cryptocurrency token that powers a decentralized network designed to connect smart contracts to external data sources, appears unstoppable.

The price of Chainlink's link token has soared by almost 80% over the last seven days, adding to gains of 120% this month and a staggering near-600% rise over the last year.

Chainlink has now knocked bitcoin cash, an offshoot of the original bitcoin, from the top five cryptocurrencies by value, according to CoinMarketCapwith its total value now an eye-watering $6 billion.

Cryptocurrency traders have sent the price of Chainlink tokens to over $17 per link, with the ... [+] cryptocurrency knocking bitcoin cash out of the top five cryptocurrencies by value.

"Its been pretty wild," Thomas Kuhn, an analyst with money management company Quantum Economics, said via Telegram, pointing to Chainlink's role in the "trinity"along with bitcoin and ethereumof tokens required for the "effective execution of smart contracts" as compelling.

Kuhn also thinks current sky-high equity valuations are forcing investors to look for elsewhere.

"With tech stocks at all-time-highs and without yield to be found, I think that we are seeing renewed institutional interest in digital assets, especially in those trading higher when bitcoin is weak or down on the daythese have been DeFi assets."

The price of Chainlink's link token has soared amid a flurry of interest in decentralized finance (DeFi)using crypto technology to recreate traditional financial instruments such as loans and insurance.

Chainlink's blockchain network can be used by DeFi and broader projects to connect external data sources, APIs, and payment systems.

Chainlink is "one of the more accessible ideas," related to DeFi, according to Kuhn.

"On the micro level, the asset has an incredible community, born in 4chan meme culture," Kuhn said, referencing a group of highly vocal Chainlink supporters on Twitter and other social networks, as well as messaging apps such as Telegram, that have become known as Link Marines.

"A major aspect of pricing in link is the question of whether it will be used as an escrow asset for smart contracts," Kahn added.

"If it is, large values would be needed to be held in escrow for contract execution which would reduce velocity as well as act as an upward price pressure."

Elsewhere, Chainlink is rumored to be close to offering "staking"something that will allow link holders to earn passive income from the tokens.

The chainlink price has more than doubled over the last month, adding to massive gains over the last ... [+] year.

Last week, Michael Anderson, the co-founder of one of the largest private holders of link tokens, Framework Ventures, said Chainlink was still "wildly undervalued" and predicted the cryptocurrency's total value could eventually eclipse ethereum's near $50 billion price tag.

Meanwhile, other DeFi related projects have also soared in recent months. The price of Tezos' XTZ tokens has almost doubled since early July and the two-day-old DeFi project Yam soared to around $60 million over the last two days only to crash to zero after a last-minute attempt to fix a bug in its code failed.

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Surging Chainlink Pushes Bitcoin Cash Out Of The Crypto Top Five As Wild Value Tops $6 Billion - Forbes