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Nasdaq At Record as Investors Bet on Big Tech to Weather Virus Storm; Dow Falls – Yahoo Finance

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com The Nasdaq closed at a record high for the second straight day Thursday as investors continued to seek refuge in megacap tech stocks at a time when the spread of the coronavirus threatens a V shape recovery.

The S&P 500 lost 0.52%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.63% to close at record hghs, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.38%.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), theso-called Fab 5, which collectively make up about 40% of the Nasdaq, ended higher to help keep broader market losses in check.

Total cases rose to about 3.05 million from 2.98 million yesterday, with the death toll rising to deaths 991 from 932, according to the Center for Disease Control.

As the outbreak continues to hit key hotspots including Texas, Florida and California, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases saidstates should opt to pause reopening measures rather than revert to a complete shut down.

"Rather than think in terms of reverting back down to a complete shutdown, I would think we need to get the states pausing in their opening process," Fauci said.

But that did little quash investor jitters of looming shutdowns that threatened to undo the economic progress seen recently.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial jobless claims decreased by about 100,000 to 1.31 million in the week ended July 3, beating forecasts for a decline to 1.3 million.

Continuing claims fell 698,000 to 18.06 million, extending a trend of downside momentum that is "encouraging," Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) said. "Continuing claims are down 2.5 million over the past 4 weeks."

Energy led the selloff, paced by a decline oil prices as the pause of reopening measures in pockets of the U.S. offset signs of a recovery in gasoline demand seen a day earlier.

Financials were not far behind, falling 2% just days ahead of quarterly results from banks. The second-quarter earnings reports for a slew of Wall Street banks are likely to underscore a rough quarter amid rising loan loss provisions and weaker profit from lending activity weighed down by near-zero interest rates.

Elsewhere, AMC Networks (NASDAQ:AMCX)rallied as rumors swirled the company had hired Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to explore a sale.

Tesla appears poised to electrify S&P 500

Day Ahead: 3 Things to Watch for July 10

U.S. Supreme Court to weigh FTC authority to seek ill-gotten gains

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Nasdaq At Record as Investors Bet on Big Tech to Weather Virus Storm; Dow Falls - Yahoo Finance

The National Research Cloud: Big Tech And Academic Research – Seeking Alpha

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Information continues to grow and information continues to spread throughout the world. The world thrives on information.

But how is the growth and spread of information going to play out in the future? Especially with the challenges coming from China, specifically in the area of Artificial Intelligence?

To meet this challenge, the United States is exploring how it can possibly generate the resources to meet the requirements of this new world that is before us.

One answer is the National Research Cloud, an initiative that has just received bipartisan support in both houses of the United States Congress.

A National Research Cloud

Last month, Reps. Anna G. Eshoo, (D-CA), Anthony Gonzales (R-OH), and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) introduced the National AI Research Resource Task Force Act; Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

The Act would create a task force of leaders from the worlds of government science leaders, academics and industry representatives to build a plan for the operation and funding of this national research cloud.

Steve Lohr writes in the New York Times,

The purpose of this organization is to give academic scientists access to the cloud data centers of the tech giants and to public data sets for research.

Mr. Lohr continues,

The cost and need for vast computing resources are putting some cutting-edge AI research beyond the reach of academics.

and,

Only the tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft can spend billions a year on data centers that are often the size of a football field, housing rack upon rack with hundreds of thousands of computers.

Because of this situation, computer scientists have moved to the big tech companies from the university world, and not just because of bigger pay. This has raised a concern. Academic research, which is very often the source of future breakthroughs, is losing out.

The objective of the plan would be for the academics to use the cloud factories of the big tech companies.

"Academic scientists would be government-subsidized customers of the tech giants.

Many see this approach as the only feasible alternative for academics to obtain the resources they need and that society needs. Other paths are just way too expensive.

What Does This Mean?

But this concept raises some real questions about the future of big tech and its relationship with the federal government.

There is enough concern already about the role that the tech giants now play in the world of computing. A National Research Cloud just ties the big giants more closely to the government, to the academic world, and to the total domination of the future of computing.

In some areas, like AI, the U.S. government knows they must keep up and cannot allow China to get ahead of it. Nor, can the United States allow China to get ahead of it in any part of the field of information technology. China is now driving so much of what is going on in the world and the United States must respond. This is similar to how the Soviet Union's Sputnik launch in 1957 spurred America's space program, but arguably on a much bigger scale and with a greater impact on our daily lives.

Cutting-edge technology is essential for both the national security of a country, but it is also a requirement for the maintenance of economic competitiveness. It should be noted that the legislation connected to this initiative is in an amendment to this years defense budget.

How Do You Structure A National Research Cloud?

The implications of this initiative are enormous, for the government, for academics, and for the big tech giants.

First off, there is concern enough about the power that the big tech giants have. There has already been lots of talk what to do with these behemoths. Should the tech giants be broken up? Heavily regulate them? Maybe they should be taken over and run as government agencies?

The situation arises because of the economics of big tech companies: they are scalable in a way not seen before.

The New Domination

Companies like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and so on, are built on a foundation of intellectual capital which allows these organizations to scale their businesses like no others before. This has allowed them to dominate the cloud and data and information.

Now we seeing how these new modern corporations, who can expand the cloud beyond anything that universities and other research facilities can reasonably finance, are coming to dominate even the research world. This push to create a National Research Cloud should be a real wake-up call to the realities of the Information Age.

The alternative is for the government to get involved. And, I believe, the cry for government intervention is going to grow. Monopoly power is just going to grow. Imagine the wealth that might be created if these businesses stay as they are. (As of July 6, each of the four companies mentioned above - Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Google - has a market cap in excess of $1 trillion, the first time that's occurred since February.)

The government believes that it must do something. Mr. Lohr mentions that the federal government has long backed major research projects like particle accelerators for high-energy physics in the 1960s and supercomputing centers in the 1980s.

But in the past, the government built the labs and facilities.

Here we are talking about an entirely different relationship. The scale factor is something different from what existed before. The National Research Cloud is the beginning of an entirely different relationship, one that is not yet fully defined.

If big tech is left all alone in this new format, it will become more indispensable, more powerful, and, hence, more valuable. But, can the government allow this monopoly power to grow?

But, what might be the right balance? Or, will government eventually come to take it all under its wing?

To me, this move to construct a National Research Cloud is a move into unknown territory and it is almost impossible to discern how this story will carry out. All one can say is that information is going to continue to grow and spread and a growing portion of this movement is going to impact national interests. The unknowable issue for investors is: what will be the structure that gets us there...gets us to the future?

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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The National Research Cloud: Big Tech And Academic Research - Seeking Alpha

Big Tech companies have got universities in their sights – Telegraph.co.uk

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Part of our education system is doing what they need our Caltechs and MITs and so on are doing what they need but thats not what most of our education system is doing, says Richard Scott, emeritus professor of sociology at Stanford University, who co-authored a book about Silicon Valleys relationship with the school system.

Technology has tried to intervene in education before, without the desired results. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) were heralded as the future of teaching back at the start of the last decade. But high dropout rates and low engagement put paid to that idea.

Online education is not straightforward. Any parent who has spent the last three months standing over bored and restless children spending hours each day staring at their teacher and classmates on Zoom will tell you that its a tough ask.

In Kansas, Summit Learning, which is funded and supported byZuckerberg and Priscilla Chans foundation,was embroiled in controversy after some parents pulled their children out of the public school system because they were unhappy with the levels of screen time involved in the programme.

And any further expansion of tech companies empires is likely to be viewed with suspicion, particularly over their use of data.

In 2015, digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation claimed that Google had been mining students data and sharing it with the companys other services, forcing the business to change some of its practices.

Tech companies have also been accused of seeing the education market as a way to begin embedding themselves in students lives.

Its that early brand loyalty if you donate iPads to an elementary school, youve got early Apple users, and then all subsequent use of tech has to be Apple-friendly, says Cherkin.

Galloway says many industry figures believe the value of a degree from elite universities is often simply an expensive signal of someones aptitude, rather than the knowledge gained over three or four years, and that tech may be able to improve that.

When you really think about what is the value of these elite brands, its certification. The value comes out of the admissions department. Tech companies could bring in outstanding testing, they could measure student outcomes and probably do a better job. He says a qualification with Googles stamp on it could hold as much value as one from a traditional university, and potentially at a fraction of the cost.

Does that make it a good idea? Quite frankly, in academia, we deserve it. If its anything like whats happened with tech and other industries, our ability to regulate wont keep up with the pace of change.

I dont know if itll be good or bad. But what Im more certain is, its going to happen.

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Big Tech companies have got universities in their sights - Telegraph.co.uk

Tech Stocks Are Getting Scary. Why Theres No Way to Escape Them. – Barron’s

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

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Like an Escher drawing hanging in a students dorm room, the stock market has begun to look rational and irrational simultaneously. Nowhere is that more obvious than in the Nasdaq Composite.

The tech-heavy index has gained 18% this year, after practically ignoring the explosion of Covid-19 cases in places like Florida and Texas. It ended the week with three consecutive highs, and for good reason: The index is composed of the kinds of companies that can not only survive, but thrive, in a world where going about your normal, everyday business could get you sick.

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Yet there comes a point when even the soundest argument starts to sound specious, even to those making it, and that seems to be what is happening now. Deutsche Bank analyst Jeriel Ong went on record with his worries about Apples (ticker: AAPL) rally, yet left his Buy rating intact and raised his price target to $400 from $380. Others warn that the big tech stocks are getting expensive and crowded, yet see no alternative when future economic growthand corporate profitscould be impaired. I compare the current environment to the Twilight Zone, says Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research. There are so many possible ways this could go.

For now, though, it seems to only go upand there may be more to this than fundamental strength. Chris Harvey, U.S. equity strategist at Wells Fargo Securities, notes that when the Russell 1000 Growth index was rebalanced on June 26, the combined share of Apple, Microsoft (MSFT), and Amazon.com (AMZN) rose from 25.3% of the index to 28.6%. Just getting to an index weight required a lot of buyingand most active mutual-fund managers were underweight. With those stocks among the years best performers, it meant managers would underperform the growth index by even more unless they started buying.

While the shift toward the biggest techs is most pronounced in the Russell 1000, most indexes are seeing the same. At Thursdays close, technology made up 28% of the S&P 500, up from 21.5% on Nov. 8, 2016, when the Real Estate sector debuted. The Communications Services sector, which includes Facebook (FB), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Netflix (NFLX), has increased to 11.1% from 2.5%.

Economically sensitive sectors have stayed about the same, and are largely immaterialmaterials, utilities, and real estate have 2.5%, 3%, and 2.8% weightings, respectivelyor seen their shares decline. Energy has fallen from a 7.2% weighting to 2.5%, while Financials have dipped to 9.7% from 13.4%.

A friend wondered only half-jokingly how long it would take for the SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund (SPY) to have the same weightings as the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq 100. But it is also clear how reliant the market is on the tech stocks in the Nasdaq for further gainsand how that could lead to future losses. Its a conundrum for investors, who know they are in the same trade together, says Nordea strategist Sebastien Galy.

Like it or not, were all tech investors now.

Write to Ben Levisohn at Ben.Levisohn@barrons.com

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Tech Stocks Are Getting Scary. Why Theres No Way to Escape Them. - Barron's

Ethereum Activity Metric Hits Highest Level in 2 Years – CoinDesk – CoinDesk

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Levels of activity on Ethereum have peaked to their highest in two years, going by one metric.

The seven-day moving average of the number of active ether addresses rose to 405,014 on Friday a threshold not seen since May 2018, according to data provided by the blockchain analytics firm Glassnode.

Active addresses are the number of unique addresses that are active in the network either as a sender or receiver. Glassnode takes into account only those addresses that were active in successful transactions.

As of Monday, the seven-day average was down slightly to 390,162. Thats still 115% growth from the low of 180,750 seen on Jan. 30.

The increased ether activity could be associated with the explosive growth of Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, as well as the number of daily tether (USDT) transactions on the network.

At press time, about 3.1 million ether were locked in various DeFi applications, according to data source defipulse.com. Meanwhile, the number of daily USDT the most used stablecoin transactions on ether has increased by over 400% this year, as per CoinMetrics.

The heightened demand for ether from such use cases is expected by many to fuel a major bull run. So far, however, the cryptocurrency has struggled to decouple from bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is moving pretty much in tandem with bitcoin. The ether-bitcoin one-year correlation has risen to 89%, the highest on record, according to crypto derivatives research firm Skew.

Some observers would argue that address growth is not a reliable indicator of adoption, as a single user can own multiple addresses. Crypto exchanges also store coins belonging to traders in multiple addresses.

While thats true, ethers active addresses metric is more reliable compared to that of bitcoin. Active addresses are inflated on bitcoin because of the UTXO model, tweeted to Anthony Sassano, SetProtocol product marketing manager and co-founder of EthHub, an open-source initiative founded by the Ethereum community.

UTXO stands for unspent transaction output. Under the UTXO model, bitcoin users have to use new addresses with each transaction. Meanwhile, Ethereum uses an accounts model, under which addresses get reused, as noted by Sassano.

Bitcoins daily active addresses recently rose to the highest level since December 2017, suggesting scope for a price rally to $12,000, according to Bloomberg analysts.

At press time, bitcoin is changing hands at $9,270, representing a 0.8% drop on the day and ether is trading at $238, down 1.7%, according to CoinDesk data.

Ether jumped 6% on Monday to print its biggest single-day gain since June 22. However, a trendline falling from June 2 and June 24 highs is still intact.

If network activity is a guide, the cryptocurrency could soon breach the trendline resistance, currently at $246. That would signal a continuation of the rally from March lows below $100 and expose $289 (Feb. 15 high).

Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency assetsat the time of writing.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Ethereum Activity Metric Hits Highest Level in 2 Years - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Active DApp Users on Ethereum Doubled in Q2, While COMP Hit ATHs – Cointelegraph

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on the Ethereum blockchain surged in the second quarter of 2020 as the daily transaction volume reached an all-time high in June.

The 2020 Q2 Dapp Market Report published by analytics website Dapp.com showed that the number of active DApp users on Ethereum (ETH) increased by 97% in Q2 to reach an all-time high of 1,258,527. In addition, the transaction volume of ETH DeFi DApps reached $5.7 billion in June, making up over 97% of the entire DApp volume on the network.

Cointelegraph reported Compound (COMP) emerged as the largest DeFi token by market cap after it was listed on June 16, rallying by more than 60% in a few hours. According to Dapp.com, the number of daily DeFi DApp users on ETH saw a corresponding rise, from 7,682 on June 15 to 11,230 immediately after its release, an increase of 48%.

Source: dapp.com

When the COMP token reached an ATH price of more than $372 on June 21, the daily transaction volume of DeFi peaked at more than $608 million. Although COMP had a very successful introduction to the blockchain, DApp.com reported Braves Basic Attention Token (BAT) was actually the most used token in DeFi, with a transaction volume of $931 million.

Cointelegraph reported on DappReviews analysis, which showed a roughly 12% reduction in activity for EOS and 74% drop for TRON from Q1 to Q2. According to dapp.com, though the transaction volume of ETH DApps is nearly 10 times EOS and TRONs, the number of active users on the protocols still grew by 30% and 50%, respectively.

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Active DApp Users on Ethereum Doubled in Q2, While COMP Hit ATHs - Cointelegraph

Lex Sokolin: Weed Out the Ponzi Scheme Eating Ethereum – CoinDesk – CoinDesk

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Lex Sokolin, a CoinDesk columnist, is Global Fintech co-head at ConsenSys, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based blockchain software company. The following is adapted from hisFintech Blueprintnewsletter.

We have a beautiful Ethereum garden. In it we grow cash equivalents called stablecoins powering applications that run on open-source, programmable blockchains. It promises to be the new economy free, permissionless and global. It saw more than $50 billion in transaction volume in June 2020 alone.

But there is a hungry weed growing underneath. In our beautiful public garden, there spreads corruption. Can we root out this plant? Can we turn the soil?

The weed is called a pyramid scheme, and it always takes advantage of those who feed it. Take a look at the diagram below (from the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission). After four levels of targets, the scheme needs just 7,000 people to be profitable to the swindlers. After the 10th level, it needs 60 million people. By the 13th level, you must consume 13 billion participants. There is never enough for the weed.

The weed can work on any technology, as long as it touches a human mind. You can spread it with words, on paper, by fax or in code. Here is how the weed looks when its implemented in software: This academic paper, published in January 2020, traces 184software implementations of pyramid schemes operating on permissionless networks. There are more now.

Maybe you dont understand how bad this is for the garden. Maybe you think letting this grow and overtake our mutual work is freedom. The strongest survive, the weakest die.

With that mindset, we would have no delicate flowers or cultivated beauty. All we would have is a desert of dandelions and horseradish. In the world of money and cryptocurrency, there would be no real economic activity, no central bank digital currency, no crypto-native businesses, no new financial infrastructure and no technology platform shifts to blockchain. Just a loud grind of theft guzzling gas fees, crowding out productive activity from Ethereum forever.

The weed has a name

Let me introduce you to MMM, a pyramid scheme with roots in the former Soviet Union, which stole from nearly 10 million people during the 1990s. While decentralized finance and digital asset companies bend over backwards to be customer-centric and reform financial services (each in their own way), MMM is a pretender. It is a pretender that has stolen the language of the crypto economy to create a cancer in its body. It hides in the Paxos project and uses Ethereum for its 21st century machinations.

A personal aside: Growing up in the crumbling Soviet Union of the late-1980s, a series of TV commercials are etched into my memory.

You have to sympathize a little bit, and imagine a country that had no functioning economic system and a massive black market. As the Berlin Wall collapsed, so did the economic hallucination that was the centrally planned economy. The Chicago School of Economics group advised then-President Mikhail Gorbachev on a shock therapy approach to transition, leading to an unprecedented distribution of state assets (e.g., factories, buildings, natural resources) to people who could not tell the difference between a stock certificate and a stamp. Lets just say China did better with the gradual approach.

Into this context came the ads. They feature a Russian man, Lenya Golubkov, who invests his money with a securities cooperative called MMM. His fortunes soon improve. He is able to buy boots, then a coat for his wife, eventually touring America with his brother and starting a successful business. The securities he buys look like stock certificates, promising returns of 100% per month and more.

White hat hackers should come together to protect their users against naked pyramid schemes. If we don't, there may never be real money in the system.

You must understand that everything on TV carried authority in those times. Like movies from the U.S. that hinted at Western opulence and the promise of new wealth associated with liberalization, MMM was sold as a dream to regular people in a language they understood. I imagine in many poorer, less-educated parts of the world, such storytelling still works. As does this image of a voucher for a share in a pyramid scheme.

The man behind the scheme, Sergei Mavrodi, is a cartoon villain, dead at the age of 62 from a heart attack (who knows what that means in Russia now). He spent his life openly gaslighting regulators and politicians, briefly even becoming one to get immunity from prosecution. The people he was defrauding voted him in, but he ended up jailed anyway. Seemingly a brilliant mathematician and deeply cynical, Mavrodi wrapped the popular sentiments on the ground into a misleading trap for the unwary consumer.

It feels like a long time since the 1990s. But in terms of human nature it has been barely a blink. After Mavrodi got out of jail, MMM resurfaced in 2011, made its way to the internet and has now implanted itself into the body of cryptocurrency. Mavrodi is dead, but his scheme is the decentralized autonomous organization that nobody wanted, living on in the code forever. Like a tapeworm, it eats 10% of Ethereums transactions and is responsible for 50% of the transfers for stablecoin Paxos, according to Coin Metrics.

The weed is not alone, it inspires others. Another pyramid called Forsage is eating up 25% of Ethereums bandwidth, beating MMM at its parasitic game. Forsage is the decentralized app with the most users and volume, outperforming legitimate DeFi pioneers like Compound and Kyber Network. Other software versions of this same thing will proliferate and evolve as the smart contracts ecosystem of Ethereum matures. They prey on how easy it is to fool people and sell them a lie, and to undermine the infrastructure on which they grow.

Regulators in the Philippines have attempted to go after the pyramid scheme, but of course to no avail. It has no reach over Lado Okhotnikov, the developer of the code. And we are in the Pirate Bay age of money: There is nothing to shut down, many will argue. This is permissionless.

Root out the weeds

There is hard work ahead. Instead of yield farming arbitrage, the crypto community must root out these weeds. If we ever want broad adoption, it is unrealistic to say caveat emptor. Most people are not able to probability-weigh payoffs and parse financial products for what is real and what is false.

Think for a moment of computer viruses. Just because computers can become infected and send your data and passwords to maleficent third parties doesnt mean that is likely to happen. Various shields, defenders and open software protect users from those seeking to troll and harm us. In the early-1990s, there were just 5,000 viruses transferred between computers. In 2020, research shows, there are now nearly a billion infections per year, across millions of websites designed to trap and mislead people.

We still use computers. We still use the internet. It is safe to do so because the tools to protect people have been created and are as widely available as their adversaries.

In 30 years, I hope to say we still use Ethereum. If black hat hackers can band together to exploit well-meaning decentralized finance projects for their own gain, white hat hackers should come together to protect their users against naked pyramid schemes. If we dont, there may never be real money in the system. Or worse yet, there will be no real decentralized system at all.

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Lex Sokolin: Weed Out the Ponzi Scheme Eating Ethereum - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Crypto Giant Grayscale Boosts Bitcoin and Ethereum Exposure At Expense of XRP, BCH and LTC in Large Cap Fund – The Daily Hodl

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Crypto asset management firm Grayscale Investment is increasing the weights of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in its digital large-cap fund (DLC) product at the expense of XRP, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).

In a series of tweets, Grayscale illustrates the new composition of its DLC fund an investment option product that offers exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.

The worlds leading crypto asset manager reveals that between March 31st to June 30th, it tweaked its DLC holdings and added 0.5% weight in BTC and 2.1% weight in Ethereum. Meanwhile, the investment firm decreased the shares of XRP by 1.4%, Bitcoin Cash by 0.8%, and Litecoin by 0.6% over the same period.

The digital asset investment firm announced the updated weightings for its DLC after releasing the funds latest quarterly review on June 30th. The firms net assets under management (AUM) in its digital large-cap fund stands at $33 million.

As of July 10th, Grayscale manages $4.1 billion worth of crypto investments, which include $3.55 billion in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and $410.1 million in Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE).

Grayscales current AUM of $4.1 billion represents a whopping 250% increase from its total crypto investments of $1.17 billion at the end of 2019.

The influx of investment capital in Grayscales crypto products in the first six months of this year significantly outweighs all the investments from 2013 2019 combined.

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Crypto Giant Grayscale Boosts Bitcoin and Ethereum Exposure At Expense of XRP, BCH and LTC in Large Cap Fund - The Daily Hodl

Ethereum 2.0 Is Likely to Boost DeFi Further, Even After Parabolic Rally | NewsBTC – newsBTC

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

One of the hottest crypto trends over recent months has been Ethereum DeFi. Also known as decentralized finance, DeFi is the industry of building decentralized applications for financial services.

As can be seen below, coins related to this sector have gone parabolic, outpacing Ethereum. Take the example of Aaves LEND token, which is up by over 700% since the middle of April.

According to a prominent executive in the space, DeFi is likely to be boosted even further once Ethereum 2.0 goes live.

Ethereum 2.0 is slated to implement what is known as staking. In laymans terms, staking allows one to allocate their holdings of a cryptocurrency to the governance of a network, then earn rewards as a result.

Some in the DeFi space have postulated that the upgrade will decimate DeFi. After all, the primary use case of many DeFi applications at the moment is to provide yield on top of ones cryptocurrency.

According to Marc Zeller, CEO of a top DeFi protocol Aave, this may not be the case.

Writing to Aaves community on Telegram, Zeller wrote on July 11th that if anything, ETH2 phase 0 will multiply the supply rate of ETH. The term supply rate is used to describe how much of a cryptocurrency is deposited into a DeFi protocol.

As to why he thinks this is the case, Zeller said that many will be hesitant to deposit their money into Ethereum 2.0 staking. But, there will still be some looking to stake their cryptocurrency, pushing rates higher on DeFi platforms as borrowing activity increases:

Markets love equilibrium so you will end up with a small discount between ETH supply rate on Aave and the staking yield on ETH2. So my take is that ETH2 will grow DeFi instead of being a threat.

Unfortunately for DeFi and Ethereum bulls, theres been some recent talk of the upgrade being pushed back.

Justin Drake, a researcher at theEthereum Foundation, said that he personally doesnt think its viable for the upgrade to go live this year. This comes in spite of the initial goals of many developers to roll out the upgrade in Q3 2020.

All the above cannot happen in Q3 2020. With Thanksgiving on November 26 and the December holidays Id say the latest practical opportunity for genesis in 2020 is mid-November, 4 months from now. As such, Im now inclined to say that the earliest practical date for genesis is something like January 3, 2021 (Bitcoins 12th anniversary).

Yet, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has politely disagreed with the sentiment, as have others.

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Ethereum 2.0 Is Likely to Boost DeFi Further, Even After Parabolic Rally | NewsBTC - newsBTC

EOS, Ethereum and Ripples XRP Daily Tech Analysis July 10th, 2020 – Yahoo Finance

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

EOS

EOS fell by 1.15% on Thursday. Partially reversing Wednesdays 4.80% rally, EOS ended the day at $2.6523.

It was a mixed start to the day. EOS fell to an early morning low $2.63 before rising to a mid-morning intraday high $2.7296.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $2.7474 EOS fell to an early evening intraday low $2.5833.

Finding support at the first major support level at $2.5855, EOS recovered to $2.65 levels to limit the downside.

At the time of writing, EOS was down by 0.28% to $2.6450. A bearish start to the day saw EOS fall from a Thursday $2.6523 to an early low $2.6450.

EOS left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

EOS would need to move through the $2.6550 pivot level to support a run at the first major resistance level at $2.7268.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for EOS to break back through to $2.70 levels.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Thursdays high $2.7296 would likely cap any upside.

Failure to move through the $2.6550 pivot would bring the first major support level at $2.5805 into play.

Barring another extended sell-off, EOS should steer clear of sub-$2.50 levels. The second major support level at $2.5088 should limit any downside.

Major Support Level: $2.5805

Major Resistance Level: $2.7268

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $6.62

38% FIB Retracement Level: $9.76

62% FIB Retracement Level: $14.82

Ethereum fell by 2.07% on Thursday. Partially reversing a 3.25% gain from Wednesday, Ethereum ended the day at $242.00.

It was also a mixed start to the day. Ethereum fall to an early morning low $243.10 before striking a mid-day intraday high $247.67.

Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $251.46, Ethereum slid to a mid-afternoon intraday low $237.04.

Ethereum fell through the first major support level at $240.37 before recovering to $242 levels.

At the time of writing, Ethereum was down by 0.47% to $240.87. A bearish start to the day saw Ethereum fall from an early morning high $242.12 to a low $240.72.

Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Ethereum would need to move through the $242.24 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $247.43.

Story continues

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break back through to $247 levels.

Barring another extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Thursdays high $247.67 should cap any upside.

Failure to move through the $242.24 pivot would bring the first major support level at $236.80 into play.

Barring another extended sell-off, Ethereum should continue to steer clear of sub-$230 levels. The second major support level at $231.61 should limit any downside.

Major Support Level: $236.80

Major Resistance Level: $247.43

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $257

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $367

62% FIB Retracement Level: $543

Ripples XRP fell by 1.13% on Thursday. Partially reversing Wednesdays 10.98% breakout, Ripples XRP ended the day at $0.20276.

A bearish start saw Ripples XRP fall to an early morning low $0.19785 before making a move.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.1910, Ripples XRP rallied to a mid-day intraday high $0.21199.

Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.2138, Ripples XRP slid to a late afternoon intraday low $0.19718.

Steering clear of the first major support level, Ripples XRP recovered to $0.2020 levels to limit the downside.

At the time of writing, Ripples XRP was down by 0.66% to $0.20143. A bearish start to the day saw Ripples XRP fall from an early morning high $0.20286 to a low $0.20142.

Ripples XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Ripples XRP will need to move through the $0.2040 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.2108.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripples XRP to break back through to $0.21 levels.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Thursdays high $0.21199 should cap any upside.

In the event of a breakout, Ripples XRP should test the second major resistance level at $0.2188 before any pullback.

Failure to move through the $0.2040 pivot would bring the first major support level at $0.1960 into play.

Barring another extended crypto sell-off, however, Ripples XRP should avoid sub-$0.1900 levels. The second major support level sits at $0.1892.

Major Support Level: $0.1960

Major Resistance Level: $0.2108

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $0.3638

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $0.4800

62% FIB Retracement Level: $0.6678

Please let us know what you think in the comments below.

Thanks, Bob

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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EOS, Ethereum and Ripples XRP Daily Tech Analysis July 10th, 2020 - Yahoo Finance

Good for Bitcoin and Ethereum: CFTC introduces new regulatory framework – Crypto News Flash

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reached a consensus among the political parties to create and approve the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan. The U.S. regulator has set itself the goal of improving innovation and regulation for market participants. In that sense, the regulator stated that it will address:

() the risks and opportunities arising from 21st century commodities. We will develop a holistic framework to promote responsible innovation in digital assets.

The U.S. regulator recognized that Bitcoin and Ethereum are part of this new commodity category. Therefore, in the next few years both cryptocurrencies could enjoy full approval from a U.S. institution and legal framework. Consequently, a new era of adoption could arrive in the coming years.

In its strategic plan the CFTC recognizes that it still has a long way to go in this area. It further states that the way it regulates matters as much as what it regulates. Therefore, the institution will be guided by the following:

() we will be guided by the important results of the resistance, avoiding systemic risk, and improving the integrity of the derivatives markets and advancing the interests of Main Street.

In addition, the regulator will implement the new regulatory approach proposed by its chairman, Heath Tarbert. In an attempt to maintain Americas leadership in innovation, Tarbert proposed a system of principles to replace fixed rules. That way, the regulator will have more freedom to regulate new assets such as cryptocurrencieswhile no longer applying obsolete regulations that prevent it from doing its job. The CFTC stated that for the Strategic Plan:

() we will emphasize the principles to which we expect the industry to adhere. Where appropriate, a principled approach can help our markets remain fair, innovative and vibrant.

The CFTC president was pleased with the unanimous approval he received for the plan. He also noted that, unlike previous years, the regulator was able to create a short and concise document on the objectives of the CFTC. In that sense, Tartbert stated:

It will guide the last of the CFTCs pending issues to completion and better position the agency to address the unwritten future.

As part of the Strategic Plan, the regulator will seek to strengthen the derivatives market. The CFTC will promote transparency and liquidity for assets under its jurisdiction. This could reduce the number of cryptocurrencies and digital assets that obtain the classification of commodities, such as privacy coins Monero, Dash, Zcash. As reported by CNF, this issue is one of the most important currently in crypto space.

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Good for Bitcoin and Ethereum: CFTC introduces new regulatory framework - Crypto News Flash

Ethereum (ETH) Up $1.72 Over Past 4 Hours, Fares the Worst Out of Top Cryptos to Start the Day; Entered Today Down For the 3rd Day In A Row -…

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Ethereum 4 Hour Price Update

Updated July 13, 2020 03:20 AM GMT (11:20 PM EST)

The back and forth price flow continues for Ethereum, which started the current 4 hour candle off at 242.24 US dollars, down 0.17% ($0.42) from the previous 4 hours. Out of the 5 instruments in the Top Cryptos asset class, Ethereum ended up ranking 2nd for the four-hour candle in terms of price change relative to the previous 4 hours.

Ethereums 3 day negative streak has officially concluded, as the candle from the day prior closed up 1.5% ($3.59). The price move occurred on stronger volume; specifically, yesterdays volume was up 73% from the day prior, and up 46.38% from the same day the week before. Ethereum outperformed all 5 assets in the Top Cryptos asset class since the day prior. Congrats to its holders! Here is a daily price chart of Ethereum.

Notably, Ethereum is now close to its 20 and 50 day moving averages, which may act as price barrier for the asset. Trend traders will want to observe that the strongest trend appears on the 14 day horizon; over that time period, price has been moving up. Or to view things another way, note that out of the past 30 days Ethereums price has gone down 19 them.

For laughs, fights, or genuinely useful information, lets see what the most popular tweets pertaining to Ethereum for the past day were:

@TylerDurden Ethereum staking is a marketing ploy to suck greedy ETHtard plebs into useless 2.0 and trap their ETH there forever while insiders, whales and Eth Foundation gang unload premine riches of ETH 1.0 without retail competition. Wicked clever, just like other ETH scams.

The difference between what some folks call .eth shills versus actual-token-shills is that we dont just love $ETH, we love Ethereum.We really use it everyday, and were hyper-aware of the panoply of apps emerging on it.Thats why we saw DeFi coming, well over a year ago.

When I joined Bitcoin in 2013, there was a great desire for decentralized applications over BTCSpeculation ran wild around the possibilities, predicting most of what exists todayDeFi was always an early dream of BitcoinNow this dream is being fully achieved over Ethereum

As for a news story related to Ethereum getting some buzz:

Simpler Ethereum sync: Major/minor state snapshots, blockchain files, receipt files Eth1.x Research Ethereum Research

It should be possible to organise the state database as an overlay, where actively modifiable state sits on top of the immutable snapshot file.Anytime we try to read anything from the state, we look up in the modifiable state, and if not found there, we look up in the snapshot file (that means that snapshot file needs to have an index in it).The second approach to syncing (from recent state snapshot) still requires executing at most 1m blocks.If it is too much to ask to run through at most 1m worth of blocks, we can introduce minor snapshots, or booster snapshots that would need to be downloaded on top of the most recent major snapshot.For example, if we make major snapshots every 1m blocks (~6 months), we could make minor snapshots every 100k blocks (~18 days).

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Ethereum (ETH) Up $1.72 Over Past 4 Hours, Fares the Worst Out of Top Cryptos to Start the Day; Entered Today Down For the 3rd Day In A Row -...

Pay with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple (XRP) on Expedia – Crypto News Flash

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

In a press release published on July 6th, Travala platform announced the launch of a partnership with Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS), a subsidiary of Expedia Group. Through the partnership and powered by EPSs API, called Rapid, cryptocurrency payment will be enabled for more than 700,000 Expedia Group hotels. Travala allows users to pay for their accommodations with more than 30 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Binance Coin (BNC), among others.

Senior Vice President at Expedia Group, Alfonso Paredes, said that EPS is passionate about innovation. In that sense, they recognize that there is a need to expand payment options for users. Paredes added:

Our aim is to support Travala.com to scale their business faster than ever before. Through our expansive travel supply, partner support and cutting-edge technology, we specialize in helping partners like Travala.com build fantastic experiences for their travelers.

On the other hand, Travala.coms CEO and co-founder, Juan Otero, said that the adoption of cryptocurrencies is growing. Therefore, from the platform they aim to ensure that users have a variety of payment methods with transparent prices. Otero says:

EPS Rapid is the best API product in the travel industry and this partnership unlocks greater accommodation choice and availability for our users, including 4- and 5-star hotels in top destinations.

Our latest month-on-month data shows consumer confidence and the desire for travel is returning, with an 81% increase in room nights booked and website traffic up 50% week-on-week. Working with Expedia means we can drive traveler loyalty throughout the recovery period, offering unparalleled last-minute availability and fantastic rates and offers.

In May 2020, says the statement, Travala merged with TravelbyBit to form the worlds largest blockchain travel agency. The merger was consolidated with the support of the crypto exchange platform Binance and allowed for greater ease of payment with cryptocurrencies. About this partnership, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated the following:

Travala.com has proven their ability to build a world-class travel booking platform. Were excited to see the development of Travala.coms relationship with Expedia Group, as they enhance the use of cryptocurrency in travel.

Bitcoin, Ethereum & Co Have Plenty of Room Left to Take Over TikTok – Cryptonews

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Source: Adobe/mehaniq41

Though TikTokers found one coin to pump, it looks like cryptoassets haven't taken over the major video-sharing social networking service yet. The creators of crypto TikToks (CrypToks, if you will) are few, and videos on the topic are relatively scarce.

The power of TitTokers to affect the current happenings, it seems, is not to be underestimated. Their strength is in numbers and commitment. And they're the talk of the town these days. TikTok has turned the eye of the Cryptoverse towards itself as a number of creators are working to pump dogecoin (DOGE) to USD 1. Tron's CEO Justin Sun decided to join the game too, and a few major exchanges followed soon after.

But it seems that the position of the top 10 coins by market capitalization on this platform leaves a lot to be desired.

Looking at the hashtags alone, 'cryptocurrency' has 33.8 million views, while 'crypto' has 80.3 million, compared with 375.5 million 'dollar' views, while 'money' is now getting closer to 10 billion views. Also, 'banking' has 57.2 million views.

It's also important to note that the vast majority of hashtags for individual coins doesn't refer to the cryptocurrency alone, but are connected to KPOP and other music genres, gaming, clothing, etc., but it's worth taking a look at each nonetheless. While a term on its own will often bring you nowhere crypto-related, adding 'crypto' to it helps.

What can be noticed is that the crypto community is still small on TikTok. Many of the videos seem to be made by the same several creators. One of the more active creators is VirtualBacon, with more than 48,000 followers.

Many of the videos are mining- or news-focused. There are numerous short 'lessons' or 'tutorials' on TikTok too, mostly teaching people what these coins are. You can also find many analyses, some jokes, as well as Ashton Kutcher mentioning Ripple on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Also, the videos on the topic don't seem to be a daily occurrence. The 'freshest' videos, so to say, that could be found easily and without digging too deep, were focused onCardano (ADA), not surprising given all their recent developments.

Meanwhile Binance.US, and particularly its CEO Catherine Coley, are also quite active.

Another type of videos you might easily notice is made by the 11th by market capitalization Crypto.com (CRO), often promoting the platform's MCO Visa cards, even starting its 'wipechallenge'.

Though the numbers would be presumably a lot smaller for each coin - massively changing the ranking - if only crypto videos, and only those connected to that specific coin could be filtered, here are the views for each hashtag at the moment:

Meanwhile, hashtag 'dogecoin' now has 10.5 million views, up from 4.9 million recorded two days ago. DOGE, however, dropped 12% in 24 hours, and appreciated 66% in a week, to USD 0.0039.

Also, it looks like with the help of the seemingly massive campaign, "dogecoin" overtook "bitcoin" on Google on July 8, but now it's back to more or less usual interest.

And here are some fun CrypToks for the end:

Carnt believe Ive just found my grandads bit coins from 1990 in my loft ##bitcoins ##loft ##noway

##irs ##surveillance ##freeross ##usa ##monero ##crypto

We are doing it , they can't stop us! ##Dogecoin ##Crypto ##cryptocurreny ##Stock ##fyp ##Stonks

##bitcoin ##xrp ##digitalassets ##blockchain ##crypto ##cryptocurrency ##btc ##useatrisk ##ripple ##ice ##moon ##lambo ##1 ##bitcoinchallege ##assetclass ##fyp ##duet

##perte ##viral ##foryou ##challenge ##crypto ##EOS s##myboy

Wise choice to spend your ##bitcoin with ##MCOVisaCard ##wipechallenge

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Bitcoin, Ethereum & Co Have Plenty of Room Left to Take Over TikTok - Cryptonews

The science of smoking and COVID-19 – Anchorage Daily News

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Presented by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

At this point, everyone is familiar with the steps to take to guard against COVID-19: Wash your hands well with soap and water. Stay six feet from others outside your home. Cover your cough. Avoid touching your face.

Heres one that you dont hear as much: Stop smoking.

While some COVID-19 risk factors have to do with age, chronic illness or immunocompromisation, theres one thats tied directly to a different kind of medical concern -- addiction to cigarettes. While smoking cigarettes doesnt necessarily make you more likely to become infected with the novel coronavirus, smokers who do contract COVID-19 may be more likely to have serious or fatal cases than non-smokers.

Why might COVID be harder on smokers? The answer lies in the lungs.

COVID-19 and your breathing health

Not everyone is affected equally by COVID-19, said Dr. Thomas Kelley, a pulmonologist at the Alaska Native Medical Center.

While about 80 percent of patients experience mild to moderate symptoms, others develop a devastating lung infection, according to Kelley. These infections inflame the alveoli, fine sacs in the deepest portions of the lungs. This inflammation interferes with the bodys ability to take in the oxygen it needs and expel the carbon dioxide it doesnt.

This can cause the development of viral pneumonia that may show up as ground-glass opacities on chest X-rays and CAT scans of the lungs, Kelley said. Ground-glass opacities, which indicate that a lung is sick, are often also seen in scans of patients with diseases like congestive heart failure and viral pneumonia.

About 14 percent of COVID-19 patients come down with severe cases, usually affecting both lungs. When this happens, the alveoli can fill with fluid and debris. And about 5 percent of patients develop critical cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which can damage lungs -- extensively, permanently, and sometimes fatally.

Patients this sick usually require admission to an intensive care unit, where they are often provided higher concentrations of supplemental oxygen and closely monitored for further deterioration, Kelley said. If they do get worse, they may be placed on mechanical ventilation.

This is where the danger to smokers comes in.

What it comes down to is: COVID-19 is a disease that attacks your respiratory system, said Crystal Meade, program manager for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortiums Tobacco Prevention Program. So if youre a tobacco user or vaper, youre already at increased risk of respiratory infections.

Preliminary research also suggests that smoking provides COVID-19 additional points of entry into the lungs. COVID-19 infections start when the virus binds itself to the ACE2 receptor, a protein found on the surface of the lung. Researchers have found that smokers have more ACE2 receptors -- meaning a smokers lungs have more spots where the virus can attach and begin its destructive work.

Think of your immune system, Meade said. Think of it being weakened by tobacco use already. With COVID-19, there are certain populations that are at higher risk. If you take these comorbidities and then you add them together and take COVID-19 and put it on top of that When you start adding in all these health disparities, its definitely harder to fight it off.

Even for patients who survive severe cases, the damage from ARDS can be lasting or even permanent.

Some patients likely will experience some recovery to their lung function over time and others may not, Kelley said. We do know that patients with ARDS often require weeks to months of rehabilitation to get their strength back. These patients often experience shortness of breath and fatigue months and even years out from their original infection.

Additionally, while there is currently no evidence about the relationship between electronic cigarettes and COVID-19, what we already know about vaping is enough to indicate that vape users are probably also at higher risk for harm from the virus, according to Kelley.

Intuitively, given that existing evidence indicates that e-cigarettes are harmful and increase the risk of heart disease and lung disorders, (it) would appear that their use also increases the risk of developing severe infection and death in vapers exposed to the COVID-19 virus, Kelley said.

No better time than now to quit

Its definitely on peoples minds, she said. Weve had comments like, Ive been contemplating quitting for a while, but this was the motivation I needed.

In response to hunker down orders this spring, ANTHCs free tobacco cessation program adapted quickly to ensure it would still be able to help anyone who is ready to quit.

Weve had to make quite a bit of adjustments in how we offer our treatment, but we are super lucky that we have the technology and the means to offer the treatment still, Meade said. We are able to do consultations over the phone, and then were actually in the process of being able to do virtual consultations using telehealth.

Whether or not the motivation to quit comes from the threat of COVID, its important that it comes from the smoker themselves, Kelley said.

The bottom line is that despite all the evidence of the dangers of smoking and how smoking may increase the risk of COVID-19 infection severity and death related to it, smokers will quit when they feel that they are ready to quit, he said. As physicians, we can and should encourage them to quit at every visit.

Some patients may find that the choice is made for them. During the weeks or even months that an ARDS patient is in the ICU and then a rehabilitation center, they wont be able to smoke at all -- a sort of forced smoking cessation, as Kelley described it.

This is not the kind of approach I would want to take to smoking cessation if I were a smoker, he added.

For Meade, the motivation -- and empathy -- to help others try to quit is rooted in a personal loss. Her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014 and passed away the following spring, seven years after she defeated a cigarette addiction that had lasted more than four decades.

That was her way of dealing with stress, Meade said. It was her outlet. It was her break. I get that now.

That experience helps Meade stay driven to help Alaskans quit -- and stay quit. The yearlong program she leads at ANTHC is designed to help participants develop strategies for the times when theyre likely to struggle.

Maybe sometimes you can quit cold turkey, and youre quit a month or two and something happens, she said. All of a sudden you have a very stressful situation that you havent prepared for as far as your tobacco use. What we really aim to do is talk with the patient and come up with what we call a quit plan.

Nationally, less than 10 percent of smokers successfully quit each year, but ANTHCs program typically sees about 40 percent of participants make it to the six-month mark, according to Meade.

With COVID-19 still circulating in Alaska, she said she hopes more smokers will use the virus as motivation to kick the habit for good.

Theres really no better time than now to quit your tobacco use, Meade said.

ANTHCs Tobacco Prevention Program offers free tobacco cessation services to ANTHC employees and patients of the Alaska Native Medical Center. To enroll in the program, call (907) 729-4343. If you are not enrolled in the Tribal health system, you can find free smoking cessation resources through Alaskas Tobacco Quit Line at AlaskaQuitLine.com or by phone at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

This story was sponsored by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, a statewide nonprofit Tribal health organization designed to meet the unique health needs of more than 175,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska.

This story was produced by the creative services department of the Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. The ADN newsroom was not involved in its production.

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San Quentin COVID-19 Outbreak Continues To Grow; More Than 1,600 Active Cases Among Inmates, Staff – CBS San Francisco

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

SAN QUENTIN (CBS SF) The COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin State Prison continued to escalate Sunday with more than 1,600 active cases among inmates and staff.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation COVID-19 tracker, the number of active cases among inmates had increased to 1,485 by Sunday. Another 27 inmates had been released from the facility while infected, 372 inmates once infected had recovered and seven inmates have died.

While many inmates had been refusing to be tested, prison officials said 1,290 have now been tested within the last 14 days.

Dozens of critically ill inmates many the old and frail from San Quentins Death Row remain in local hospitals. Some are under ICU care with ventilators.

Since the San Quentin COVID-19 outbreak began last month, six inmates sentenced to Californias death row have died. Three death row inmates Dewayne Carey, Scott Erskine and Manuel Alvarez have been confirmed as victims of the illness.

David Reed and Joseph S. Cordova, who had been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in San Pablo, died while being treated in an outside hospital for COVID-19 complications. The Marin County coroners office has yet to confirmed that COVID-19 was the cause of death.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that roughly 8,000 prisoners will be released to try to contain the COVID-19 outbreak at state prisons.

Those who have been advocating for early release of certain inmates say this is a step in the right direction but only a hundred or so are expected to be released from San Quentin, where more than 1,750 inmates have been infected since coronavirus outbreak began weeks ago.

Jacques Verduin, the founder of GRIP Guiding Rage Into Power helps inmates transition to life on the outside. Over the past eight years, GRIP has graduated 913 with 321 of them being released. Only one has returned to prison.

So far, not one GRIP graduate has been granted early release. The governors plan does specify low-level offenders with 180 days or less remaining in their sentences and those who are at risk of COVID-19-related complications.

We are evaluating every prisoner for release that they are on a pathway to rehabilitation that they are non violent, non-sex-offenders, non-serious-offender that have a place to go, said assemblyman Marc Levine.

Levine, whose district includes Marin County, feels it took too long for the governor to take action, especially at San Quentin.

I asked for this in April, its something that must be done, Levine added.

Those who have connections to inmates serving at San Quentin agree. Many describe dire conditions with inadequate medical care.

One of my dearest friends a mentor of mine is in a ventilator right now, said James King, a former San Quentin inmate.

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San Quentin COVID-19 Outbreak Continues To Grow; More Than 1,600 Active Cases Among Inmates, Staff - CBS San Francisco

First confirmed cases of COVID-related child illness in SC; 1,952 new confirmed cases – WLTX.com

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 56,485, probable cases to 163, confirmed deaths to 950 and 11 probable deaths.

COLUMBIA, S.C. South Carolina health officials say they've recorded the two cases of a coronavirus related child illness in the state, the first time this complication has been seen in the state since the pandemic began. The news comes a day after the state recorded its first child death from COVID-19.

The state also recorded its second-highest total of coronavirus cases since the outbreak began in March and a record number of hospitalizations.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) confirmed Sunday cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). Two children are the first in the state with a confirmed diagnosis of MIS-C, a rare health condition recently recognized to occur in some children and teenagers who have contracted COVID-19 or been in contact with someone infected with the virus.

One child is from the Midlands region and one is from the PeeDee region. Both are under the age of 10. To protect the privacy of the children and their families, no other information will be disclosed at this time.

We continue to see more and more young people, especially those under 20, contracting and spreading COVID-19, and we know MIS-C is a threat to our youngest South Carolinians, said Dr. Linda Bell, State Epidemiologist. MIS-C is a serious health complication linked to COVID-19 and is all the more reason why we must stop the spread of this virus. Anyone and everyone is susceptible to COVID-19 as well as additional health risks associated with it, which is why all of us must stop the virus by wearing a mask and stay six feet away from others. These simple actions are how we protect ourselves and others, including our children.

The first reports of this syndrome came from the United Kingdom in late April. Cases in the United States were first reported in New York City in early May.

On May 15, 2020, DHEC sent a health alert informing healthcare providers and facilities of the condition and requesting that all providers report suspected cases of MIS-C to the agency. Symptoms of MIS-C include fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, and feeling tired.

DHEC recommends parents and caregivers learn and watch for the signs for MIS-C in their children. Emergency warning signs of MIS-C include trouble breathing, chest pain or pressure that does not go away, confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, bluish lips or face, and severe abdominal pain. For more information about MIS-C, click here.

Latest Overall Numbers:

There were 1,952 new confirmed cases and no new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, 10 additional confirmed deaths and no new probable deaths. There are currently 1,472 hospital beds occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19, and 188 of those patients are on ventilators.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 56,485, probable cases to 163, confirmed deaths to 950 and 11 probable deaths.

Eight of the deaths occurred in elderly individuals from Anderson (1), Charleston (1), Chester (1), Clarendon (1), Greenville (2), Horry (1), and Lexington (1) counties, and two of the deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals from Lee (1) and Lexington (1), counties.

The number of new confirmed cases by county are listed below.

Abbeville (3), Aiken (62), Allendale (2), Anderson (19), Bamberg (13), Barnwell (3), Beaufort (66), Berkeley (93), Calhoun (8), Charleston (282), Cherokee (9), Chester (12), Chesterfield (11), Clarendon (6), Colleton (15), Darlington (16), Dillon (8), Dorchester (83), Edgefield (4), Fairfield (9), Florence (51), Georgetown (23), Greenville (216), Greenwood (32), Hampton (5), Horry (213), Jasper (7), Kershaw (13), Lancaster (23), Laurens (23), Lee (8), Lexington (109), Marion (17), Marlboro (5), McCormick (6), Newberry (26), Oconee (15), Orangeburg (36), Pickens (31), Richland (152), Saluda (9), Spartanburg (97), Sumter (51), Union (1), Williamsburg (6), York (53)

The graphic below shows the total number of daily cases since the virus began.

Testing in South CarolinaAs of Saturday, atotal of 538,022 tests have been conducted in the state. See a detailed breakdown of tests in South Carolina on the Data and Projections webpage.DHECs Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week, and the Public Health Laboratorys current timeframe for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.

Percent Positive Test Trends among Reported COVID-19 CasesThe total number of individual test results reported to DHEC Saturday statewide was 8,769 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive of those tests was 22.3%.

More than 75 Mobile Testing Clinics Scheduled StatewideAs part of our ongoing efforts to increase testing in underserved and rural communities across the state, DHEC is working with community partners to set up mobile testing clinics that bring testing to these communities. Currently, there are 79 mobile testing events scheduled through August 1 with new testing events added regularly. Find a mobile testing clinic event near you at scdhec.gov/covid19mobileclinics.

Residents can also get tested at one of 180 permanent COVID-19 testing facilities across the state. Visit scdhec.gov/covid19testing for more information.

Hospital Bed OccupancyAs of Sunday morning, 2,890 inpatient hospital beds are available and 7,721 are in use, which is a 72.76% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. Of the 7,721 inpatient beds currently used, 1,472 are occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

This graphic below shows the daily hospital bed use related to COVID-19 in South Carolina.

For the latest information related to COVID-19 visit scdhec.gov/COVID-19. Visit scdmh.net for stress, anxiety and mental health resources from the S.C. Department of Mental Health.

*As new information is provided to the department, some changes in cases may occur. Cases are reported based on the persons county of residence, as it is provided to the department. DHECs COVID-19 map will adjust to reflect any reclassified cases.

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First confirmed cases of COVID-related child illness in SC; 1,952 new confirmed cases - WLTX.com

More than 500 Arizona COVID-19 deaths announced in July – Verde Independent

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Sundays announced COVID-19 numbers included the addition of 86 deaths to the states total.

The Arizona Department of Health Services statistics show that since July 1, there have been 517 Arizonans added to the list of those who have died of COVID-19.

ADHS says a total of 2,237 Arizona residents have died of the disease.

This past week, ADHS announced its largest one-day death total to date when 117 deaths were announced Tuesday; the previous high had been less than a week prior, when 88 deaths were announced July 1.

The Sunday, July 12 total of 86 new deaths marked the third time 80 or more deaths had been announced by ADHS in a single day.

The states oldest residents continue to be the segment of Arizona population most vulnerable to COVID-19. Almost 1,650 of the 2,237 deaths so far have been from the 65-and-older age group, despite that group accounting for only 11% of the states COVID-19 cases.

The 20-44 age group has about half of the states COVID-19 diagnoses, with more than 61,000.

Sunday, the agency also announced 2,537 new diagnoses of the disease among Arizona residents. While thats the lowest total from any of the first 12 days of July, the Sunday tally brings the statewide total to 122,467 Arizonans who have tested positive for COVID-19.

So far in July, the Arizona Department of Health Services has confirmed more than 38,000 new cases.

The positive test rate, which had been climbing consistently over the past two weeks, crept up to 11.8% with Sundays numbers. There have been almost 900,000 people tested in Arizona for COVID-19, or more than one-eighth of the entire population of Arizona.

Also, Sundays ADHS numbers show the state is using about 90 percent of its 1,700 intensive-care hospital beds.

Arizona crossed the 100,000-case mark earlier this week, according to the ADHS website, azdhs.gov.

Yavapai County and the Verde Valley area

Yavapai County Community Health Services has not been reporting numbers on weekends, and this weekend was no exception.

Fridays YCCHS report shows 14 more cases than Thursdays report for a total of 1,070.

There have been more than 22,000 county residents tested, with the positive rate holding steady at 4.9%.

There have been 420 recoveries in the county and 11 deaths. One death was newly reported this week.

YCCHS reported Friday that there are two new diagnoses in the City of Cottonwood since its last report on Thursday, bringing the total for the city to 135.

Camp Verde has one new case for a total of 67 cases. Sedona is unchanged at 61.

Clarkdale is unchanged at 28 cases; Rimrock is unchanged at 14; Cornville is unchanged at 17 and there is one "Verde Valley other" case.

Verde Valley Medical Center reported Sunday that 14 COVID-19 hospitalizations and zero persons under investigation, or PUI, and overall census that has decreased to 48 at the 100-bed facility. The Cottonwood hos-pital is using five of its 13 critical care (ICU) beds.

Flagstaff Medical Center reports slightly more COVID-19-positive patients than VVMC, at 22, with six pend-ing tests. That facility is using 187 of its 300 beds, and is also using 37 of its 55 ICU beds.

Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Prescott reports 26 COVID-19 patients on the West Campus and one PUI as well as three COVID hospitalizations on the East Campus with five PUI.

The VA facility in Prescott is caring for five COVID-19 patients with zero PUI.

Positive test rate

The Sunday morning report from ADHS shows 2,537 new cases, with the states positive test ratio continuing its upward climb, moving up 0.1 percent Sunday to 11.8%.

The Sunday morning ADHS COVID-19 report shows 122,467 positive cases from 892,480 tests. About one-eighth of all Arizonans have been tested for COVID-19.

Arizona hospital Intensive Care Units are currently at 90% capacity, according to ADHS.

So far in July, in only 12 days, there have already been more than 38,000 new positive results in the state, as well as 517 deaths.

ADHS reported 63,920 new COVID-19 cases and 803 coronavirus-related deaths in June, so July is looking to be a worse month for Arizona in those categories.

In May, Arizona had 12,475 new cases and 597 deaths.

Demographic breakdown of Arizona cases

There have been 312 deaths reported among people 55-64 years of age.

ADHS reports women contract the virus in higher numbers than men in Arizona (52%), but more men than women die from COVID-19 (55%).

Location of cases

Maricopa County has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Arizona with more than 80,000, as of Sun-day, with more than 1,100 deaths.

Pima County has more than 11,000 cases and 327 deaths.

The next-highest total is in Yuma County, which has more than 8,300.

Pinal County has more than 5,600 cases. Navajo County has passed the 4,000 mark; Apache County has more than 2,500; Coconino County has 2,457, with 30 new cases announced Sunday, and Santa Cruz County has almost 2,200 documented cases.

Testing data

ADHS reports almost 900,000 Arizonans have been tested for COVID-19, with the states rising positive test ratio currently standing at 11.8%. More one-eighth of all Arizonans have been tested for COVID-19.

People between the ages of 20 and 44 have had the highest number of positive tests (more than 61,000) with 125 deaths. Seniors in the 65-and-older age group have had more than 16,000 people test positive with 1,645 deaths.

See azdhs.gov for more testing data.

Hospital Reports

ADHS reports 5,795 Arizonans have been hospitalized for coronavirus. That represents about 5% of the people who have tested positive for the virus.

The Sunday ADHS report shows there are currently more than 1,500 patients in Intensive Care Units in Arizona hospitals, which represents 90% of the states ICU capacity.

U.S. and global totals

This weeks estimates of U.S. and global cases of COVID-19 put the U.S. caseload past the three-million mark, as of Sunday morning. The U.S. death tally is at 136,621, the highest of any nation in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

More than 970,000 Americans have recovered from COVID-19.

The virus is present in all 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the CDC.

There have been more than 12.5 million cases confirmed worldwide, with 560,000 deaths and 6.9 million re-coveries.

COVID-19 confirmed cases in Arizona

July 12 122,467 cases

July 11 119,930 cases

July 10 116,892 cases

July 9 112,671 cases

July 8 108,614 cases

July 7 105,094 cases

July 6 101,441 cases

July 5 98,089 cases

July 4 94,553 cases

July 3 91,858 cases

July 2 87,425 cases

July 1 84,092 cases

June 30 79,215 cases

June 29 74,533 cases

June 28 73,908 cases

June 27 70,051 cases

June 26 66,458 cases

June 25 63,030 cases

June 24 59,974 cases

June 23 58,179 cases

June 22 54,586 cases

June 21 52,390 cases

June 20 49,798 cases

June 19 46,689 cases

June 18 43,443 cases

June 17 40,924 cases

June 16 39,097 cases

June 15 36,705 cases

June 14 35,691 cases

June 13 34,458 cases

June 12 32,918 cases

June 11 31,264 cases

June 10 29,852 cases

June 9 28,296 cases

June 8 27,678 cases

June 7 26,889 cases

June 6 25,451 cases

June 5 24,332 cases

June 3 22,223 cases

June 2 21,250 cases

June 1 20,123 cases

May 30 19,255 cases

May 29 18,465 cases

May 27 17,262 cases

May 23 16,039 cases

May 21 15,315 cases

May 18 14,170 cases

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More than 500 Arizona COVID-19 deaths announced in July - Verde Independent

Libertarian 2020 candidate appears on podcast tied to boogaloo movement – The Guardian

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Libertarian party presidential candidate, Jo Jorgensen, has appeared on a podcast associated with the anti-government boogaloo movement just days after an adherent of the movement was arrested for allegedly murdering two law enforcement officers.

One of the other people on the podcast also runs a Facebook page which is strewn with memes that reference insurrectionary violence, and appear to invoke white nationalist and neo-Nazi imagery and subject matter.

The Libertarian party is one of the largest political parties in the US, outside the dominant pairing of the Democrats and Republicans. Although the partys vote is still comparatively small, it has finished third in the last two presidential elections, and has increased its share of the vote in four successive elections, going from 0.4% of the vote in 2004 to 3.3% in 2016, when it fetched almost 4.5 million votes

On the Roads to Liberty podcast, Jorgensen was quizzed on her policy proposals by a group of men who were introduced as some of the head admins for some of the most influential pages in the so-called boogaloo movement.

The word boogaloo refers to the prospect of a second civil war in the US by playing off a reference to a movie sequel, Breakin 2: Electric boogaloo. For some in the anti-government boogaloo movement, any such civil conflict carries the possibility of an insurrection against an overbearing state and the law enforcement officers who serve it, particularly agencies tasked with enforcing restrictions on gun rights. But others who use the term conceive of the boogaloo as a race war.

Apart from the podcast host, who broadcasts under the name Hobbs, and the producer, Ben Backus, the questioners included a man identifying himself as Rick, an administrator of the North /K/arolina Facebook page; a man identifying himself as Justin, an administrator of the now-absent Thick Boog Line Facebook page; and Cameron Purser, a North Carolina man who runs Flytrap Firearms Consulting, a firearms training business.

Also questioning Jorgensen was a man identifying himself as Squid, an administrator of the Patriot Wave: V 2.0 (PW2) page, which currently has 10,000 followers. A group associated with a previous, since-banned incarnation of that page were responsible for the first high-profile public appearance of the boogaloo movement, when they paraded masked and armed at a large pro-gun rally in Richmond, Virginia, in January.

While some boogaloo adherents articulate a racially inclusive, universalist form of anti-government ultra-libertarianism, the PW2 page features dozens of memes which reference fascist, white nationalist, and accelerationist neo-Nazi imagery.

Several memes featured on the page venerate white soldiers of the Rhodesian army who fought to maintain white supremacist minority rule in that country before it became Zimbabwe.Several other PW2 memes positively couch images of Nazi Germany and second world war German soldiers.

Other memes feature a reference to Marvin Heemeyer, aka Killdozer, a Colorado businessman who demolished several buildings with a modified bulldozer in 2004 before taking his own life. The Heemeyer incident was referred to by Steven Carillo, the accused double killer and apparent boogaloo sympathizer who allegedly scrawled a Heemeyer quote in blood on the hood of a police cruiser before his arrest on 6 June.

Alex Newhouse is the Digital Research Lead at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute, and has recently published two research papers on the boogaloo movement.

Upon viewing a selection of PW2s memes, Newhouse wrote in an email: While Patriot Waves memes do not explicitly promote Nazi ideologies, they are clearly evocative of more fringe and extreme Nazi accelerationist communities, and the allusions to Rhodesia and South Africa are clearly racist dog whistles which attempt to stoke fears of white displacement and genocide.

Cassie Miller, a senior researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center who has written on the boogaloo movement, said: Patriot Wave reflects the overlap between the so-called boogaloo movement and the racist far-right.

The questioners ask Jorgensen about a range of policy areas, including taxes, veterans affairs, and second amendment issues.

Squid, however, asks about Jorgensens views on the boogaloo movement as a whole.

Jorgensen replies, Oh, can you please explain that to me again?, and appears not to know about the movement, despite recent arrests of alleged violent extremists who identified with the movement.

Squid explains the purpose of the movement as basically liberty and justice for all.

Well, I am definitely for liberty and justice for all, Jorgensen replies.

On Jorgensens appearance on a boogaloo related podcast, Newhouse, the extremism researcher, says: When politicians make outreach to boogaloo communities, they are mainstreaming this explicitly revolutionary, anti-government movement that has already been linked several instances of real-world violence.

He adds: Boogalooers routinely celebrate and call for deadly violence against journalists and government officials, which means that politicians who ally with them may tacitly legitimize anti-democratic actions, such as armed intimidation and confrontation of political opponents.

In an email, after being given examples of troubling images on the PW2 page, Jorgensen declined to specifically repudiate the support of the boogaloo movement, writing: I welcome the support of anyone who will reject violence and bigotry in favor of non-aggression, peaceful persuasion, and voluntary cooperation.

Asked if the boogaloo movement were anti-government extremists, Jorgensen wrote: The media tend to lump together peaceful protesters and those who advocate violence, and paint the entire group as being violent.

She added: The boogaloo movement is highly decentralized and comprises both those who are aligned with the principle of nonaggression, and some who run counter to it.

Squid, the PW2 administrator, denied that the group were racist in an email, writing that they were constitutionalists.

Dozens of boogaloo groups, including many of the largest ones, have been promoting Jorgensens candidacy in recent days, and a dedicated Jorgensen meme group involves many self-identified boogaloo adherents.

Facebook, meanwhile, banned hundreds of boogaloo-related accounts, pages, and groups on Instagram and Facebook on 30 June, explaining the move as designating a violent US-based anti-government network as a dangerous organization.

The Libertarian party formally condemns racism in its platform. However in 2017, after the Unite the Right rally, the partys leadership had to issue a public denunciation of white nationalism.

This was necessary because lawyer and recently accused domestic abuser, Augustus Sol Invictus, was a featured participant, having previously run in a primary to be the partys Florida senate candidate.

Asked about how the Libertarian party will keep extremists at a distance in future, Jorgensen wrote: The Libertarian Party is the only political party that favors non-aggression as a fundamental principle. Every Libertarian Party member has signed a pledge that they oppose the initiation of force for the purpose of achieving social or political goals.

See original here:

Libertarian 2020 candidate appears on podcast tied to boogaloo movement - The Guardian

We’re a cashless society now and the libertarians are nervous – Assiniboia Times

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Danzig

Libertarians want absolute freedom in all circumstances, even if this means reducing governmental amenities and retracting technological advances.

Libertarians by nature detest impositions by governments and financial institutions.

Right wing libertarians such as Ron Paul dislike complex economic systems and have called for a return to the gold standard a financial arrangement removed in the 1930s.

The gold standard was system where the value of a currency was defined in terms of the amount gold represented by the exchange of paper currency a system discarded by many countries in the Depression era.

These days, bankcards and computer-generated apps are replacing cash and the libertarians are typically upset.

Bankcards and ATMs have a long history in Saskatchewan dating to the 1970s.

Saskatchewan and Alberta had the first financial institutions on the Canadian Prairies to use card-based, networked ATMs beginning in June 1977.

Later, credit unions in Saskatchewan introduced debit cards, which were usable wherever credit cards were accepted in 1982.

By the 1990s, most of us were carrying bankcards in our wallets and purses. Bank websites were supplanting personal interactions with tellers at regional branches since the early 2000s.

Digital payments gained partiality over banknotes in the 2010s, as recorded in article by the Independent in May 2015.

PayPal, digital wallets like Apple Pay, contactless and NFC payments by electronic cards and smart phones are preferred for transactions in 2020.

Electronic payments can be insecure, mismanaged and data can be easily stolen.

Yet, the convenience of electronic cash is obvious, even if the libertarians dont agree.

Security measures for electronic payments are improving, as we buy groceries, gas, cigarettes and other goods with bankcards and apps, instead of pulling out masses of coins and bills from our pockets to spread over shop counters.

Electronic cash transfers are the bedrock of modern personal finance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when cash is considered grimy and disease-bearing.

Although COVID-19 is a genuine threat, the growing apprehension over physical cash is ridiculous.

According to SCOOP Business in June 2020, There is no evidence linking cash to the transmission of COVID-10. Cash is sanitized before being delivered by cash companies to venues and ATM operators.

To have cash as an option for buying goods and services, instead of being solely reliant on electronic payments, will always be desirable.

Sometimes, cash is the only option with services such as coin laundromats.

Cash is defended by a libertarian group known as Cash is Legal Tender, but these Luddites are more than champions of banknotes and coins.

From reading several posts, these libertarians on the far right share French philosopher Michel Foucaults ideal of personal ethics in favour of the collective a development founded upon Nietzschean self-creation.

Foucault believed all human-led organizations had grown far beyond the needs of the individuals who were engaged with them.

Thus, Foucault decided the participants in society were trapped in games of power.

But the pro-cash libertarians arent gathering online to discuss French poststructuralism and German nihilism. More exactly, the online, anti-bankcard sect are using social media to disperse the views of American pop culture paleoconservatives like Tucker Carlson, who once shared their libertarian ideas on economics long before he became a Trumpist.

The Cash is Legal Tender sect are right in defending cash but their denunciation of organized societies is alarming and meaningless.

Society funds libraries, schools, roads, electrical grids and other public aims. Without communities, weve returned to the Hobbesian age of fear, loathing and self-interest.

Governmental organizations on all levels often misrepresent society but the outright rejection of society is short-sighted and founded on ignorance.

Critical theorist Jrgen Habermas accused Foucault and other like-minded postmodern libertarians as uncaring individualists disguised as philosophers who disdained the constraints of governments, but in turn scorned progressive ideals such as emancipation and equality in a 1981 paper he wrote titled Modernity versus Postmodernity.

Habermas disliked Foucaults libertarianism but like Foucault, the German philosopher and sociologist hated dictatorships. Habermas promoted the idea of a public sphere, where societies were occupied in public debates and where every citizen had access to forming public opinions a superior ideal compared to Foucaults nihilistic individualism.

Cash is Legal Tender are spot-on for defending banknotes and coins we still need cash for payment alternatives, but the groups libertarian-based fears about governments, societies, technology and globalism are mistaken and conspiratorial.

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We're a cashless society now and the libertarians are nervous - Assiniboia Times

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