Coinbase competitor Blockchain.com raises $300 million in crypto funding frenzy

Coinbase competitor Blockchain.com raises $300 million in crypto funding frenzy

Eat This, Not That!

The news surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine has been confusing at best: Its distribution was paused in Europe due to a potential link to blood clots (although a US trial said it’s perfectly safe) and today came reports that information released in a press release about its effectiveness were “outdated.” “I was stunned,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the President and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Stat about the wrong data. He also spoke with Good Morning America about the issue. Read on to see what he said about the AstraZeneca vaccine’s safety—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had Coronavirus. 1 Dr. Fauci Said, Indeed, Incorrect Data About the AstraZeneca Vaccine Was Released GMA host Robin Roberts brought up the “major concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information in its trial results. How did that happen? And what could this mean about its possible effectiveness?”“Well, what happened Robin is that the data that are analyzed from any given trial go through what’s called a Data and Safety Monitoring Board, which is an independent group of people who are experienced and who look at the data,” said Dr. Fauci. “When the data from the trial that was conducted predominantly in the United States was analyzed by the DSMB together with the company, what happened is that the company put out a press release giving data and making some conclusions about the efficacy and the Data and Safety Monitoring Board. When they saw that press release, they got concerned and wrote a rather harsh note to them. And with a copy to me saying that, in fact, they felt that the data that was in the press release were somewhat outdated and might in fact be misleading a bit and wanted them to straighten it out on the basis of that. We put out the release that you just showed that essentially told the company they better get back with the DSMB and make sure the correct data get put into a press release.” Keep reading to see if Fauci thinks the vaccine will be any good. 2 Dr. Fauci Said It’s “Very Likely” That the AstraZeneca Vaccine is “Very Good” “It really is unfortunate that this happened, you know,” said Dr. Fauci. “This is really what you call an unforced error, because the fact is this is very likely a very good vaccine. Then this kind of thing does…do nothing but really cast some doubt about the vaccines and maybe contribute to the hesitancy. It was not necessary. If you look at it, the data really are quite good, but when they put it into the press release, it wasn’t completely accurate.” 3 Dr. Fauci Says Remember: There are Safeguards in Place in America, So No Unsafe Vaccine Should Get Through How to convince people these vaccines are safe, with these flubs happening? “We have to keep essentially trying as hard as we can to get people to understand that there are safeguards in place,” said Dr. Fauci. “And I think the Data and Safety Monitoring Board picking up this discrepancy was an example of a safeguard. And at the end of the day, all of this is going to be decided by the FDA. They will independently go over every bit of data themselves and not rely on any interpretation from anyone, including the company. So that’s one thing that the American public should realize, and probably the global public also that our FDA independently goes over that data. So that’s something you don’t need to be worried about.”RELATED: Doctors Say “DO NOT” Do This After Your COVID Vaccine. 4 Dr. Fauci Don’t Be Concerned About the Speed of Vaccine Creation “Well, you know, Robin, one of the things that people are concerned about that I think we can get around by essentially taking the time to explain to them that the vaccine was developed in really record time,” said Fauci. “It was really quite quick, the fastest we’ve ever had a vaccine go from a discovery of a pathogen. In this case, the coronavirus and the time it went into people’s arms, that speed was not reckless speed. It really was a reflection of decades of extraordinarily exquisite science, which went into things like the development of new black vaccine platforms and emitted genes. So I think when people understand that, that this is the result of a lot of science over many, many years and a very, very extensive clinical trial process. So this has really been done really quite well. We just gotta make sure that people understand that.” 5 How to Stay Safe During This Pandemic So follow Fauci’s fundamentals and help end this pandemic, no matter where you live—wear a face mask that fits snugly and is double layered, don’t travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, don’t go indoors with people you’re not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.

Crypto wallet and exchange company Blockchain.com raises $300 million at $5.2 billion valuation

As Coinbase is about to go public in the U.S., another cryptocurrency company is having a blockbuster first quarter of 2021. Blockchain.com, the company behind a popular cryptocurrency wallet, an exchange, a block explorer and more has raised a $300 million Series C round.

If you’ve been paying attention, you may remember that I wrote about Blockchain.com last month. At the time, the company announced a $120 million funding round. In other words, the company is raising once again just a few weeks after its previous funding round.

This time DST Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners and VY Capital are leading the round. Existing investors also participated. Following today’s funding round, the company has reached a post-money valuation of $5.2 billion.

Originally named Blockchain.info, the company first launched a blockchain explorer. If you’re not familiar with the blockchain industry, an explorer lets you enter the hash of any transaction that occurs on a blockchain to get more information — you can retrieve the transaction amount, the number of confirmations, the wallet addresses of the sender and the receiver, etc.

But Blockchain.com is better known for its open-source wallet. The company offers a noncustodial wallet, which means that you’re in control of your private keys. Blockchain.com can’t directly access your funds.

Thirty-one million users have verified their identities on Blockchain.com. The number of active users have tripled over the past 12 months.

Blockchain.com has diversified its activities over time. It has launched an exchange so that you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies from Blockchain.com directly. The startup also offers services to institutional investors. Blockchain.com can help you when it comes to buying and selling cryptocurrencies, custody, large over-the-counter transactions, etc.

When it comes to revenue, “Blockchain.com is highly profitable across each of our business lines,” co-founder and CEO Peter Smith wrote. The new influx of funding is all about working with late-stage investors and growing rapidly. You can expect some Blockchain.com acquisitions down the road for instance.

Women Prove They Belong in the Crypto World

Long gone are the days when women played a back-seat role on Wall-Street, or in investments as a whole. Since 2009, the birth of Bitcoin has made financial investment more accessible, not just for the few, but for all. Women, as much as men, are curious to understand crypto and are ready to invest.

Traditional Finance

In our traditional system, there are countless challenges alongside levelling the investment playing field and achieving financial freedom. In 2020, the national gender pay gap in the United States was roughly 18%, with not a single US state paying females higher than males (on average). This resulted in increased difficulties for women attempting to build their 401k’s and plan for retirement in a way as effectively as men could. Due to the large disparities in active income, more women are looking for ways to invest in forms of passive income…cue cryptocurrencies.

How Crypto Supports Females

Decentralised finance allows for transactions to occur without passing through a third-party intermediary, granting individuals complete control and freedom over their own assets. This not only increases efficiency and affordability but provides a sense of security that is often overshadowed when interacting with third-party sources. Gemini conducted a survey that found among those planning to invest in crypto, 40% are women. Additionally, 39% of millennial women would be more interested in crypto if they knew it could make finance more accessible. Proving the intense need for women to feel empowered by their financial options and decisions.

Women in Crypto

Stats published by eToro showed only 15% of Bitcoin investors were women, however, this number had increased from 10% in 2020. Though only a small increase, this does show more women are becoming investors and this could be in part to the influence of women like Elizabeth Stark, and Katie Haun.

Elizabeth Stark redefined the cryptocurrency marketplace for women. This double-ivy league graduate co-founded the company Lightning Labs in 2016, a “second layer” protocol that helps run the blockchain more efficiently. One of Stark’s famous quotes is “Welcome to Bitcoin, you can’t tell people what to do.”

When speaking to Karen Hao of Quartz, Stark said “The perception that there are no women in bitcoin discourages women from getting involved.”

Katie Haun, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz was introduced to Bitcoin in the currency’s early days, utilising blockchain’s capabilities to investigate criminal activity. Haun was interviewed by Grace Hong from Business Today, where she was asked about how she got involved in crypto: “I was looking for something different, away from violent and organised crime, so my chief asked me to work on Bitcoin. I quickly realised it wasn’t something that could be prosecuted—that would be akin to saying ‘Let’s prosecute the internet’ or ‘Let’s prosecute cash.’ It’s not possible nor desirable. Instead, I set about looking at some of the cases that involved nefarious uses of cryptocurrencies.”

Haun then went on to tell Hong about the crypto task force she created in the Department of Justice, “I realised there’s a real need for bridges to be built between the crypto ecosystem on one hand, and the government, policymakers, and regulators, on the other hand. We discussed it within the Justice Department and decided we would create a task force in San Francisco.

“One purpose of the task force was to bring and investigate cases involving criminal uses of cryptocurrency. Another very important purpose was to help educate and facilitate understanding on all ends: government regulators, technologists, developers, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders in the crypto ecosystem. There was a liaison function and mutual cooperation.

“A third purpose was having a point of contact—a lot of times, the government’s first line of defence against the criminals in the community would be the people at crypto companies, and naturally, crypto companies also wanted a point of contact to go to. And finally, the task force was the training ground to keep prosecutors and other government agents up to speed with developments in the sector.”

Flashforward a decade and Haun is serving as an independent director on the board for the billion-dollar company, Coinbase. Her crypto advice reads, “Don’t let yourself think ‘Oh, it’s too complex, I don’t want to go dive deep in it.’ You don’t need to dive deep into it, just go learn something about it that you didn’t know.” Haun encourages all individuals to be patient with the crypto space as it is ever-changing and evolving. Having seen the success that Haun has had, it is likely many more women will be inspired to get involved in crypto.