Steemit Using Community Events To Reach To Africa
The city of Johannesburg, South Africa, kicked off the first issue of Steem Saturday, an event created by community members of the decentralized social media platform Steemit on Saturday, October 29.
This is the first time the platform will host a major event aimed at increasing its value in Africa.
The event, which preceded the proposed 3-day SteemFest scheduled for Amsterdam next weekend, attracted local Blockchain crowds and cryptocurrency fans as well as financial experts.
Steemit's co-founder, Ned Scott, was in South Africa to give a keynote address and ask some questions afterwards.
He cited the lack of transparency and fraud in the banking sector and how social networks interact with users as a motivation to launch Steemit. He added that the structure of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter acts as an intermediary between users and advertisers, who use the personal information of people to take advantage of the benefits.
He says:
"What we want is a paradigm in which data is transparent, where the utilities we use online work for us and are not taken from us."
He added that users spend so much time, creativity and energy contribution to this social media platform that takes all the information along with our personal data and puts it behind the wall guards to take advantage of their shareholders' benefits.
"With Blockchain, we can reverse the model so that its data is public so our time, energy, attention and creativity are appreciated.
"We are at a unique moment in time where we can pick up Blockchain and Crypto-currency content and apply it to this social network in a way that creates more synergies between end users, platforms and businesses entering the platform to get our attention.
Zambian investors and entrepreneurs, Ceaser Siwale, talk about the challenges of transacting across borders in African countries while Lorien Gamaroff from Bankymoon alludes to the use of Blockchain and crypto technology for crowdfunding and how this will help save huge expenses in getting funds where they are needed.
Bitmex: Tether 'Maybe' Has Enough Cash Reserves, Can Still Be Closed
Bittrex Research released an in-depth report on Tether today, Feb. 19, detailing the reasons why Tether is most likely backed by sufficient fiat reserves, and what problems with regulatory agencies that Tether may face in the future.
Tether is a digital token supported by fiat currency, which should be pegged 1: 1 with US dollars. Due to the lack of a bank audit released by the public, there is a rumor that Tether actually does not have enough inventory to redeem all Tether tokens with US dollars if those needs will arise.
The Bitmex report tries to dismiss the rumors by pointing to a possible correlation between the increase in cash reserves from the International Financial Entities (IFE) banking category in Puerto Rico, under the section entitled "Lack of transparency may not indicate fraud."
Cointelegraph recently reported that Puerto Rico may emerge as a "crypto secret paradise".
The Bitmex report puts the Puerto Rico-based Noble Bank Bank as a potential candidate to withhold Tether's cash reserves, primarily because it is one of two reserve banks in Puerto Rico that operate publicly with crypto.
However, no one knows for sure where Tether's cash reserves are outside the Bitmex report, because even though their website's "Transparency" page lists their current balances and claims, they are "audited regularly" and "completely transparent, completely disbanded with a New York-based auditor in January before releasing a full audit publicly.
Litecoin Cash - Another Bitcoin-Bitcoin Saga Cash?
All eyes are at Litecoin amid a surge in prices that matches the recent rebound from Bitcoin.
Cryptococcus Charlie Lee, created in 2011, increased by 30 percent over the past 24 hours, for several reasons.
According to CNBC, Litepay CEO Kenneth Asare announced that more than 41 countries, including countries such as Britain, Britain, China and Germany that have access to the Litepay payment system.
Meanwhile, Coinbase also announced that it will launch a 'Coinbase Commerce' software that will allow vendors to receive payments in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereal and Litecoin.