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Silk Road Founder Shares Health Update from Jail 

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the once-popular Dark Web marketplace Silk Road, has shared his health update with members of the tech and crypto communities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.Ulbricht was identified as the marketplace’s creator in 2013, and he’s been in jail for about seven years. However, with the coronavirus pandemic causing special attention to prisons, he’s come out to put everyone at ease on his health. Prisons: Petri Dishes for VirusesIn a tweet posted earlier this week, he explained that he’s completely fine and doesn’t know anyone in

The Platform Is Set for Virtual Conferences: Will It Live Up to Its Promises?

As the global economy struggles to adapt to the rapid changes the coronavirus pandemic has forced upon the world, the virtual conference space is booming. The need to engage, communicate and expand our network has perhaps never been so necessary as businesses struggle to survive what may be the next great economic depression. Blockchain and cryptocurrency are sectors of the financial technology industry that are used to leading the way when it comes to innovation, and it’s no surprise that blockchain conferences are quickly moving online in an effort to keep

Bitfarms Streamlines Workforce As Coronavirus Threat Continues

Birfarms, a cryptocurrency mining outfit based out of Canada, would be trimming its staff. This is due to the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on its operations.The company made the decision known in an update published earlier this week, explaining that it will be making some adjustments to the coronavirus amid both its economic and social effects.Focusing on Sustainability and ProfitsVia the update, the company explained to stakeholders and community members that it had optimized its operations to maximize mining power over the past few weeks. As a result, it’s been able

P2P Protocol Aims to Simplify Crypto Wallet Transactions With Domain Names

A new protocol is hoping to make peer-to-peer transactions between various wallets and cryptocurrencies simpler for users.FIO Protocol, which launched its mainnet chain on March 26, provides users with interoperable domain names instead of alphanumeric blockchain addresses.An acronym for the “Foundation For Interwallet Operability,” the FIO protocol is live on Trust Wallet and is in the process of integrating with several popular wallet providers — including Bitcoin.com, Edge, Enjin, Coinomi and Atomic.Rather than integrating directly with blockchains, the project offers a decentralized and open-source “usability layer” that integrates with services

Cuomo Does a CoCo

If you want to see what good Coronavirus Communication looks like, just watch Andrew Cuomo. This is not a political statement (we’re beyond politics now), it’s about effective communication in a time of crisis. New York governor Andrew Cuomo has been consistently following Coronavirus Communication Best Practices, which we gave to you in our free CoCo Cheat Sheet several weeks back. You won’t sit through the entire video, so we’ve snipped a few soundbites so you can get the flavor. Watch a few seconds of each. [embedded content] Be honest: In

Rune Christensen: ‘Our Job Is to Support Whatever the Maker Community Decides’

As the dust begins to settle over MakerDAO’s Black Thursday incident, the team is now returning to a normal working pace. We took the opportunity to catch up with Rune Christensen, one of the original founders of the protocol, for a full recap of the situation and what it means for Maker (MKR). Christensen had been oddly quiet as the events were unfolding, never joining any forum discussion or issuing comments to the media — until now.MakerDAO provides users with stable DAI cryptocurrency in exchange for their volatile crypto holdings, and

Introducing the new Blockchain.com monthly newsletter — April Edition: “After the Dust Settles”

The quality of information and data in crypto has improved in recent years, so you may be asking why another monthly newsletter?There are still some big data and analysis gaps in crypto. Crypto markets are nowhere near as widely served with reliable research and data as traditional markets. Indeed, the March 12–13th crypto stress test demonstrated there are also still some very significant issues with the state of crypto exchange infrastructure.What you can expect from our monthly newsletterOur intention with this newsletter is to avoid repeating what you can find

New Zealand Financial Regulator Warns Public About ‘Profit Bitcoin’ Scam

Amid the apparent global surge of cryptocurrency-related scams, New Zealand’s financial regulator has warned the public against another suspected Bitcoin (BTC) investment scam scheme.In an April 6 statement, the country’s major financial watchdog, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), issued an official warning against “Profit Bitcoin” — an alleged get-rich-quick scam that promises returns by using software that “wins” Bitcoin trades with “99.4% accuracy.”Scam purportedly involved false claims from the New Zealand’s governmentThe FMA noted that the entity and its website, theprofitbtc.com, have the “hallmarks of a scam,” emphasizing that Profit

Talking Digital Future: Smart Cities

My journey into smart cities and their future development was a really big surprise, as the way I arrived there was not something that I had planned. I was working as the chief information officer for a company in Northern California called O'Reilly Media when I got a call from a headhunter who asked if I would consider being the chief information office for the City of Palo Alto. I can vividly remember — it was only about eight years ago — my feeling when she asked the question. The

Don’t Waste a Good Crisis: Opportunity During Coronavirus

“Don’t waste a good crisis.” It’s a helpful mantra for tough times. There will be much difficulty and suffering in the days ahead, yes, but also a magnificent opportunity to reinvent, rebrand, and rebuild. You may know of Geoffrey Moore, the author of the classic business book Crossing the Chasm. Here’s what he recently tweeted: From now until June, you have an opportunity to do something you wouldn’t normally do. It’s like a portal has opened up. This portal goes to another dimension, an alternate reality where you are somehow