When I founded MFS Africa more than a decade ago, I set a simple measure of success for the business. To facilitate access for my mom’s honey business in Porto-Novo, Benin, to collect payments from her customers from across the continent – and to make the process as easy as a phone call. When it comes to Africa and financial empowerment, we must acknowledge that consumers have the same wants and needs as consumers everywhere else in the world. Africans on the continent want to order the latest clothes, and electronics and have them delivered timeously. We can agree that mobile money has done a lot to expand financial inclusion, but more is needed if they’re to seamlessly make purchases outside their countries and the continent. We must enable interoperability between mobile money and cards. That is, ensuring that merchants are able to accept payments from any consumer, whether they’re using mobile money or a card and whether they’re online or offline. To understand the scale of the opportunity that interoperability represents, it’s worth taking a look at the African retail sector. In a sector worth hundreds of billions of dollars, online retail accounts for just one percent of sales, against a global average of 15%. Interoperability between cards and mobile money has the potential to not just bring that ratio more in line with global standards but to grow the sector as a whole. The appetite, after all, is clearly there. The COVID 19 pandemic saw African eCommerce sales grow 42% between 2019 and 2020. Imagine what the growth will be like as people are able to buy and sell seamlessly, no matter where they are and what channel they use. Beyond the mobile money narrative This focus on interoperability represents a slight shift from the mobile money narrative that’s dominated discourse to date (some might argue that even this narrative has been overly focused on the success of MPesa in Kenya, with people elsewhere on the continent simply seen as unbanked). In many ways, it’s understandable that so much focus has been put on the mobile money narrative in Africa. Its growth has been nothing short of explosive. According to GSMA’s 2022 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, African mobile money transactions grew 39% in 2021 to reach US$701.4 billion, accounting for 70% of the global total. As a result, many of the world’s largest digital merchants – including the likes of Spotify in partnership with dLocal – have started accepting mobile money payments. By 2025, it’s estimated that some one million young people across Sub-Saharan Africa will have some kind of informal employment in the mobile sector, with many of them working as mobile money agents. Much of mobile money’s growth has been down to the fact that many Africans – around 57% of people on the continent, approximately 95 million people, do not have a traditional bank account. But for all the acceptance of mobile money, there are still instances where cards are the preferred payment method for consumers and merchants alike. It’s imperative, therefore, that we change the narrative from one where Africans will never have to adopt cards because of mobile money. Instead, we need to look towards facilitating interoperability between mobile money and cards and promoting adoption at scale. Making payments truly borderless For the African fintech revolution to reach its true potential, interoperability cannot be confined to the continent. It needs to be completely borderless. That means that African consumers and businesses alike should be able to make payments to any destination, whether it’s online or offline. For us at MFS Africa, that means connecting mobile money to the rest of the world. Card networks very much appear to be the best way of doing so. It’s something that we’ve been working on for some time too. In 2019, for example, we concluded an agreement with Visa to connect our MFS Africa HUB to the Visa Network to enable card issuing at scale. It was a slow burn, but with the recent acquisition of US company GTP we’re in a prime position to accelerate interoperability. We’re not the only ones thinking this way either. The recent launch of the Mpesa Global card with Visa underscores how quickly international players are waking up to the need for interoperability. We are now at the point where the dream of every mobile money user having a card attached to their mobile money accounts is a feasible reality. In order for our continent to achieve the potential of the fintech revolution, mobile money needs to keep evolving and interoperability is key to that. By Dare Okoudjou, Founder and CEO, MFS Africa Via https://www.jbklutse.com/why-card-and-mobile-money-interoperability-are-critical-dare-okoudjou/
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Nominations have officially opened for the 6th edition of the annual Sustainability and Social Investment Awards (SSI). With nominations now opened, corporate organisations, civil society organisations, and individuals are encouraged to submit their entries before or on Thursday, September 29, 2022. The ceremony comes off on Friday, November 18, 2022, at Kempinski Hotel, Accra. The awards scheme, which seeks to honour and celebrate individuals and corporate bodies for their consistent investments in socially responsible programmes that impacted and continue to impact society, has over the years honoured business leaders, corporate institution and not-for-profit as well. Through the 5th edition, the SSI Awards has received more than 600 registered applications from more than 200 organizations representing various industry sectors across several categories. Hosted and organized by Ianmatsun Global Services, the 2022 edition of the Sustainability & Social Investment Awards is endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), National Road Safety Authority (NRSC) and supported by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources. Uniqueness of 2022 awards scheme For this year’s awards, the organisers and partners have developed a set of categories that reflect the latest trends and practices in sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). From the most ambitious net-zero carbon programmes through to cutting-edge climate leadership innovations; from impactful climate partnerships and social sustainability initiatives to the heroes on the ground who are driving positive change. “The awards scheme offers a unique opportunity to have your sustainability achievements recognised and admired by thousands of businesses and CSR experts. Winning an SSI Award empowers teams, inspires stakeholders and accelerates sustainable business growth,” Isaac Adu-Gyamfi, Managing Director of Ianmatsun Global Services, said. To be held under the theme ‘Leading the Sustainability Transition through Private-Public Partnerships and Collaborations, the awards are open to all businesses and organisations across the public and private sectors and of all sizes from the largest multinationals to the smallest micro-organisations. “As long as the initiative, project, product or strategy shows commitment, credibility and concrete results, we want to hear about it. The winning projects must leverage the latest technologies but protect the environment, deploy best practices in the area of sustainability and can be replicated and scaled up across the country to achieve nationally improved quality-of-life, sustainability and climate goals. This awards scheme honours the most innovative sustainable initiatives in a various categories. Nominees and applicants are encouraged to apply for the award category that best represents the primary goal or overall benefit of the initiative. To nominate kindly visit www.ssigh.com/nominate,” Mr. Adu-Gyamfi added. Contacts
Via https://www.jbklutse.com/nominations-open-for-6th-sustainability-social-investment-ssi-awards/ The chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. has appointed himself the industry’s savior—and crypto investors are closely watching his moves after months of market carnage. This year, he bailed out a troubled digital-currency lender and tried to stabilize another. He acquired crypto exchanges in Canada and Japan. He appeared in magazine ads opposite supermodel Gisele Bündchen in a bid to keep mainstream investors enthusiastic about crypto despite the downturn. That kind of speed is routine for Mr. Bankman-Fried, a 30-year-old billionaire with a mop of curly hair who sleeps a few hours a night and toys with a fidget spinner during interviews. Last year, when regulatory scrutiny of crypto led Mr. Bankman-Fried to move FTX’s headquarters from Hong Kong to the Bahamas, dozens of employees relocated to the island nation within about a month. Mr. Bankman-Fried says his ultimate goal is to bring crypto to the masses. He wants to make FTX a household name and use the technology behind bitcoin to reinvent traditional finance, including the stock market and ordinary consumer payments. He has a lot of work to do. More than a decade after bitcoin’s birth, proponents still struggle to explain the value of digital currencies to a broad audience. Bitcoin has fallen nearly 70% from its November peak and the crash has erased $2 trillion of value from the crypto market, hurting millions of investors. Not all of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s moves have paid off. An investment in Japan has proved rocky for FTX. And the trading firm he owns alongside FTX, Alameda Research, took losses when it tried to prop up troubled crypto lender Voyager Digital Ltd. Alameda lent Voyager $75 million and increased its stake in the company to 9.5%—only for Voyager to file for bankruptcy less than two weeks later. “We want to do what we can to stem contagion, and sometimes that’s going to mean that we try to help out in cases where it’s not enough,” Mr. Bankman-Fried said. “If that never happened, I’d feel that we were being way too conservative.” Like other crypto exchanges, FTX’s core business is to facilitate the buying and selling of digital currencies, and it takes a small cut of transactions. The firm has grown into a juggernaut since it was founded three years ago. With only about 300 employees, FTX is the world’s third-biggest crypto exchange by volume, doing $9.4 billion worth of trades on an average day, according to data provider CoinGecko. The firm made net income of $388 million on $1.02 billion of revenue last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. It has stayed profitable in 2022 even as crypto prices slumped, Mr. Bankman-Fried said. FTX was valued at $32 billion during its last funding round in January. Now, with bitcoin hovering around $21,000—roughly in line with its level in late 2020, before last year’s big bull market—Mr. Bankman-Fried says the worst is over. “Anything could happen, obviously, but as far as I know, we’ve seen most of the contagion already flushed out of the system,” he said. Expanding an empire The plea for help from the CEO of BlockFi Inc., a digital-currency lender, came on a Saturday evening in June. Mr. Bankman-Fried saw the message around 11 p.m. after playing padel, a tennis-like sport, with colleagues. He jumped into his Toyota Corolla with fellow FTX executive Ramnik Arora, turned on the air conditioning and returned the call. BlockFi was essentially a crypto bank, taking deposits and lending them to borrowers that use the funds for trading purposes. In return, depositors earned interest on their digital money—usually at much higher rates than traditional banks offered on dollar deposits. BlockFi and other crypto lenders did brisk business until May, when the swift collapse of two cryptocurrencies called TerraUSD and Luna sent shock waves through the market and blew up hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd., one of the biggest borrowers in crypto. Fears of a 2008-style financial contagion spread. On June 12, a popular crypto lender called Celsius Network LLC suspended withdrawals. Other lenders, including BlockFi and Voyager, were threatened with the crypto equivalent of a run on the bank. The crash set off rounds of calls into FTX’s headquarters in the Bahamas. Around 15 crypto firms sought money from FTX during a two-week stretch in June, including “miners” who run computer algorithms to generate bitcoin, as well as Celsius itself, Mr. Arora recalled. Mr. Bankman-Fried at the FTX office in the Bahamas last month. Celsius, which has since filed for bankruptcy, didn’t respond to a request for comment. FTX concluded that Celsius was beyond saving, FTX executives said, but that BlockFi was healthier. Following a Sunday morning Zoom meeting with BlockFi’s leadership on June 19, the day after the initial call from his car, Mr. Bankman-Fried decided to push for a deal. By throwing BlockFi a lifeline, Mr. Bankman-Fried also seized the opportunity to expand his empire. In the final deal unveiled on July 1, FTX agreed to loan BlockFi $400 million with an option to buy the firm for up to $240 million. That price is a steal compared with the $4.75 billion valuation that BlockFi reached in July 2021, according to PitchBook data. “It’s certainly not the outcome that we were expecting last summer,” BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said, but he called the FTX deal a win for the company and its clients. Unlike other offers BlockFi received, which could have forced BlockFi’s retail customers to lose part of their deposits, the FTX transaction was designed to keep depositors whole. BlockFi says it has more than 650,000 funded accounts. If FTX ends up buying BlockFi, it will expand into the lending market, adding the crypto version of a big bank to Mr. Bankman-Fried’s portfolio. Mr. Bankman-Fried says he wants to turn FTX into a sort of financial supermarket, offering everything from lending to stock trading to payments. “The idea generating this is, ‘What do you actually want to do with your money, as the typical consumer? What are the things that are actually valuable for your day-to-day life?’ ” he said. Sam Bankman-Fried owns FTX, a major crypto exchange, and Alameda Research, a trading firm. During the recent downturn, he attempted to bail out two crypto lenders, BlockFi and Voyager, by loaning them money from FTX and Alameda, respectively. FTX also acquired two crypto exchanges—Liquid and Bitvo—expanding into Japan and Canada, respectively. FTX has invested in non-crypto companies too, such as U.S. stock exchange operator IEX, as it expands into other markets. Mr. Bankman-Fried has also invested personally in Robinhood Markets and a media startup, Semafor. Mr. Bankman-Fried is a longtime vegan. He majored in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and worked for quantitative-trading giant Jane Street Capital for three years before diving into crypto. He is the son of two professors at Stanford Law School. Bloomberg recently estimated his net worth at $11.9 billion, down from nearly $26 billion last year before the crypto crash. He is an adherent of effective altruism, a philosophical movement that says individuals should maximize their positive impact on society by making substantial money and giving it away. His favored causes include pandemic prevention and preventing artificial intelligence from harming humanity. People close to him express surprise at how naturally Mr. Bankman-Fried became a public figure. He has become a regular in Washington, testifying before Congress, promoting FTX’s agenda and lobbying for the crypto industry. “He has had to transition from talking to a purely crypto audience to dealing with lawmakers, journalists and the public,” said Chris McCann, a partner at Race Capital, an early investor in FTX. “In 2019 he didn’t have a lot of those skill sets. He was much more of a shy, quirky, geeky person.” ![]() Mr. Bankman-Fried’s first headquarters was a rented house in Berkeley, Calif., where he started Alameda Research in 2017—outfitted with desks and computers bought on Amazon. He later moved Alameda to Hong Kong, where crypto regulation was lighter than in the U.S. Alameda sought to capture profits from the bitcoin market, where a mishmash of exchanges enabled arbitrage opportunities—the ability to buy a coin in one location and sell it elsewhere for more. One early strategy involved buying bitcoin in the U.S. and then selling it in Japan, where it commanded a premium. He launched FTX in 2019, betting that his team could build a better exchange than the incumbents. Last year, amid mounting scrutiny of crypto by global regulators, Mr. Bankman-Fried decided to move FTX’s headquarters to the Bahamas, where the government had established a crypto-friendly regulatory regime. Today FTX is based in an office park ringed by palm trees and dominated by a sun-baked parking lot. Mr. Bankman-Fried lives in a nearby luxury apartment complex. Although he has a reputation for living frugally—he has long lived with housemates and often sleeps on a beanbag at work—real-estate records show a unit of FTX paid $30 million for a five-bedroom penthouse there. Mr. Bankman-Fried said he’s one of 10 FTX colleagues who share the apartment. “Obviously, it would be a ridiculous place for me to be living alone,” he said. ‘Salvage our business’ FTX expanded earlier this year by acquiring Japanese crypto exchange Liquid, which was hit by a $97 million hack in August 2021. Shortly after the hack, Seth Melamed, then a Liquid executive, was getting on a plane to Tokyo. Liquid faced insolvency, customers were angry, and Mr. Melamed worried that Japanese police might arrest him at the airport. He wrote to Mr. Bankman-Fried on the Telegram messaging app. His note read: “Fully understand this unusual, but if FTX would consider investing or acquiring Liquid it would salvage our business and benefit the crypto community more broadly.” The plane had no Wi-Fi. When it landed, he was relieved to find no police waiting for him and a response from Mr. Bankman-Fried: “happy to take a look!” A few days later, FTX agreed to loan Liquid $120 million, keeping it afloat and setting the stage for the takeover. It wasn’t an entirely smooth acquisition. FTX ended up losing thousands of Japanese customers who were already using FTX and refused to move over to the local unit regulated by Japan’s Financial Services Agency, a person familiar with the matter said. Mr. Melamed, now chief operating officer of FTX Japan, said, “We are confident we can return to previous levels of activity by Japanese users at FTX before the end of this year and surpass this by 2023.” In June, FTX agreed to buy Canadian crypto exchange Bitvo Inc. FTX has also amassed licenses to provide financial services in Australia, Dubai and the European Union as part of an international push. ![]() FTX’s ambitions extend to traditional markets. After buying a registered U.S. brokerage firm last year, it recently allowed American customers to trade stocks on its app alongside bitcoin. In May, Mr. Bankman-Fried spent $648 million of his personal fortune to buy a 7.6% stake in Robinhood Markets Inc., maker of the popular trading app. He revealed his purchase after Robinhood stock plunged nearly 80% from its initial public offering; the shares have edged slightly higher since then. Mr. Bankman-Fried is the majority owner of both FTX and Alameda, an arrangement that has drawn criticism from crypto skeptics as well as some digital-currency traders. In traditional markets such as stocks and futures, exchanges are required to be neutral platforms that don’t benefit one trader over another. Regulators discourage them from being intertwined with trading firms, considering it a conflict of interest. No such restrictions exist in crypto. Mr. Bankman-Fried said Alameda doesn’t get special privileges on FTX. While it was initially a major participant on FTX, helping to juice trading activity, it has since dropped to a small share of trading volumes, he said. Last year Mr. Bankman-Fried resigned from his role as CEO of Alameda, saying he was spending most of his time on FTX. The firm continues to generate significant profits for him. One cryptocurrency wallet controlled by Alameda—where the firm holds some of its funds—has generated more than $550 million in trading profits since 2020, according to Nansen, a blockchain analytics firm. FTX amassed a war chest of some $2 billion in a series of funding rounds in 2021 and early 2022, while crypto prices were still high. Investors in FTX included established asset managers such as Singapore state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The funding allowed FTX to make acquisitions after crypto crashed. Mr. Bankman-Fried said that FTX has a few billion in cash that it could use for other deals—money it keeps in dollars, not crypto. —Megumi Fujikawa contributed to this article. Via https://www.jbklutse.com/the-30-year-old-spending-1-billion-to-save-crypto/ Rt. Rev. Mrs. Patricia Sappor, Immediate Past President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB), has launched her second book titled ‘Creating Wealth and Enjoying It’. The book, which is inspired by very personal encounters with individuals and organizations, seeks to provide in-depth knowledge to readers including persons without finance background regarding the application of critical wealth creation principles to improve their financial lives. Speaking at the launch, which took place on Saturday, August 13, at the auditorium of Action Chapel International in Accra, Rt. Rev. Mrs. Patricia Sappor, who is the Past Regional Head of Corporate Communications at Ecobank Anglophone West Africa (AWA), observed that many individuals often ended up in financial crises because of inadequate knowledge on how to effectively create and manage wealth. She said the book will not only serve as a guide for every individual but also draw attention to the importance of wealth creation as it highlights personal experiences and underscores the fact that clean wealth can be created using biblical principles. “This book ‘Creating Wealth and Enjoying It’ was birthed out of my continuous interest and desire to share the wealth of knowledge I have gained about wealth creation. It is also based on some financial lessons I have learnt over the years and observations made in the lives of other people. In my life’s journey, both personal and corporate, I have learnt some interesting lessons and have also observed the various lifestyle changes of different categories of people due to some choices and decisions they made about their finances,” she said. Mrs. Sappor , using a scripture , stated that just being a Christian does not guarantee financial success, but following the right biblical principles is an empirical tool on which anyone can rely in their wealth creation efforts. “2nd Kings 4: 1-2 reads, A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves’. From the above scripture, it is very clear that ‘fearing God’ alone will not make you rich nor keep you away from debt but acting and applying the principles of financial planning as prescribed by God Himself will make a difference in your financial life,” she said. Founder and General Overseer of United Denomination of Action Churches (UDAC) and NDW Ministries, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, who launched the book said it is critical to always share personal experiences and knowledge in order to enrich and deepen readers’ experiences. “A new generation will rise up to enter the field of politics, diplomacy, and other business, and it could take them many years to learn the skills required to build their capacity to become better in these fields, and when the time comes to pass the baton to the next generations, they will die and go to the grave with all the knowledge they have accumulated. There is a lot of knowledge in the grave which never had the opportunity to be institutionalized as we are witnessing today.” He believes the time has come for Africa to change the narrative by telling the story in its own unique way. This, he claims, is possible if people seize the opportunity to share their experiences and knowledge with the rest of the world. “One thing about Africa is that we have refused to tell our stories and have left it for others to tell those stories. I believe that one thing we as Africans need to do is to define ourselves and tell our stories the way we want to, it is high time we changed the narrative,” he urged. “Speaking as the event’s chairperson, Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi, Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), praised the author for completing and launching her second book, emphasizing that the new book is not only filled with sound financial principles but also real-life experiences that will serve as a guide to achieving financial freedom and improving financial security for all. “Writing a book is not an easy ride. Many dream of doing so but it takes a lot of guts, commitment, and discipline to get it all out of the production line, and I must congratulate you for making this book project a reality. The principles for creating wealth can fill a whole book, as can the principles for maintaining and enjoying wealth, but she manages to combine them all in one book, and the result is a real powerhouse of wisdom”. She stated that the set of values that underpin the book are a clarion call to all to reconsider the values that would help the nation grow in the right direction. “What struck me is that it is not only a book about money but one also about values that underpin wealth creation some of which are no longer respected today. This book serves as a wake-up call for us to return to these values in order to create sustainable wealth as individuals, families, and organizations, so that together we can build a strong nation,” she said. Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh reiterated that the book arrived on time to meet the needs of all individuals in terms of financial freedom. “If you want to be successful, you must put in place certain mechanisms. I believe that achieving financial independence and how to do so has a lot to do with the knowledge or information that will guide you, which is why this book appeals to me”. Creating more financial awareness and improving financial literacy is one of the goals we have as an institution, and I believe this book is just on time to complement what we do,” he said. President of Accra Business School, Bishop Titi-Ofei also stated that the youth should acquire the book to guide their progress in life. He congratulated Mrs. Sappor on her excellent book and hoped that more experts in other fields would publish more books to aid Ghana’s development. Photos from the book launch: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Via https://www.jbklutse.com/rt-rev-mrs-patricia-sappor-launches-creating-wealth-and-enjoying-it-book/ FTX rode the crypto craze to a billion dollars in revenue last year while expanding its global footprint through a flurry of acquisitions, according to internal documents seen by CNBC. The audited financials give a rare glimpse into the privately held company’s finances. FTX was profitable, quickly expanding across the globe, and saw breakneck growth. The crypto exchange’s revenue soared more than 1000%, from $89 million to $1.02 billion in 2021. Its profitability, like many start-ups, depends on how you measure it. Operating income was $272 million, up from $14 million a year earlier. FTX saw a net income of $388 million last year, up from just $17 million a year earlier. FTX declined to comment on the leaked financial documents. The company brought in $270 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2022 and was on track to do roughly $1.1 billion in revenue in 2022, according to an investor deck shared with CNBC. But it’s unclear how FTX held up in the second quarter as crypto prices plunged during the recent so-called “Crypto Winter.” By way of comparison, publicly traded Coinbase also experienced a cash boom during crypto’s bull market, with $7.4 billion in revenue and $3.6 billion of net income last year. But in the second quarter of this year, it reported $808.3 million in revenue, a decline of 64% from the year-ago quarter, and a surprise net loss of $1.1 billion, compared with $1.59 billion in net income a year earlier, as retail trading volumes cratered. FTX was founded three years ago by former Wall Street quant trader Sam Bankman-Fried. The 30-year-old CEO has recently stepped in as the industry’s lender of last resort, looking to backstop companies as liquidity dried up. On top of multiple loans of hundreds of millions of dollars, Bankman-Fried’s companies also looked to acquire distressed assets. In July, FTX signed a deal that gives it the option to buy lender BlockFi and was in discussions to acquire South Korean Bithumb. FTX also offered to buy Voyager in August but was turned down for what the company claimed was a “low ball bid.” FTX had roughly $2.5 billion in cash at the end of last year and 27% profit margins, according to the documents. Margins were closer to 50% if advertising and “related party” expenses were stripped out. It last raised money in January, collecting $400 million from investors like SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global, at a $32 billion valuation. Global footprintFTX was founded at a time when Coinbase and Binance had solidified themselves as the world’s largest trading venues. Coinbase still operates largely within the U.S. Binance, the largest exchange by trading volume, got its start in China, later moved its headquarters to the Cayman Islands, and is now making a push for the U.S. market with an American subsidiary. FTX has been quietly building its own fleet of global subsidiaries to compete. FTX Trading Ltd. is headquartered in Antigua, with FTX Derivatives Markets based in the Bahamas, where Bankman-Fried lives. FTX Trading recently bought Digital Assets DA AG, out of Switzerland, as well as IFS Group and Hive, out of Australia – bringing the total to 15 smaller companies across the world. Its portfolio companies span Cyprus, Germany, Gibraltar, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, according to the documents. Crypto companies often acquire start-ups to quickly get the proper regulatory licenses to set up a shop in a new country. Bankman-Fried also founded the trading firm Alameda Research, which accounts for about 6% of FTX’s exchange volumes, according to the documents. FTX’s U.S. business is technically owned by a parent company, West Realm Shires Inc. As of 2021, FTX U.S. made up less than 5% of FTX’s total revenue. Still, the company is making a push to expand in the U.S. with a series of high-profile ads and sponsorships. FTX spent roughly 15% of its revenue on advertising and marketing in 2021, according to the documents. That may account for its 2022 Super Bowl ad with actor Larry David and high-profile celebrity endorsements by Tom Brady and Giselle Bündchen, who are also equity investors in the company. FTX also bought the naming rights to Miami’s NBA arena, formerly the American Airlines Arena. FTX planned to spend an estimated $900 million in advertising in the coming years, according to the documents. The crypto exchange is also expanding into stock trading. It launched equities trading weeks after Bankman-Fried took a 7.6% passive stake in Robinhood, fueling speculation that FTX is looking to buy the trading app in a landgrab for U.S. retail accounts. Robinhood and Bankman-Fried have denied that a deal is in the works. FTX has certainly ramped up its retail expansion efforts. But the documents show that it’s still mainly a venue for more sophisticated traders using derivatives – either futures or options. About two-thirds of revenue came from futures trading fees, while roughly 16% came from so-called spot trading. Futures and derivatives trades tend to be more lucrative for exchanges. Via https://www.jbklutse.com/ftx-grew-revenue-1000-during-the-crypto-craze/ Cryptocurrency transactions are becoming more and more popular. They are relevant for investors, goods and service providers, sellers, and persons earning on exchange rate differences. To ensure a high speed of buying and selling electronic coins and absolute security of transactions, you need to choose a reliable platform. These include the LetsExchange service. This is a modern, convenient platform for automatic exchange, operating around the clock. Interface and functionality of the exchangerGetting to the site of the payment service, it is immediately clear that the developers took into account the need of users for the prompt conclusion of transactions:
What are the benefits of Letsexchange?Multicurrency exchange service has several undeniable advantages. Among the main benefits, users note the following factors:
Automatic operation of the service ensures instant transactions. The absence of mandatory registration eliminates the loss of time when fixing the best rate. The interface of the exchanger is optimized for user requirements and has a high level of intuitiveness. Processes are repeatedly checked, and modern data encryption technologies are used. The service has an SSL certificate and reliable protection against DDoS attacks. Its support team is available 24/7. There are dozens of exchange directions, including helium to usd with the display of rates. It is possible to receive receipts for payment. In addition, a blog with helpful information is available to visitors, constantly updated with interesting articles, reviews, forecasts, and guides from independent experts. How to make a quick exchange?To exchange cryptocurrency for LetsExchange, you must first choose a direction, like here https://letsexchange.io/exchange/sol-to-usdc After that, a standard form for entering personal data will appear. Then all that remains is to confirm the operation and wait for the payment to be processed. Before making a deal, you should pay attention to the reserves. As for the restrictions on the minimum or maximum amounts, they are absent. For any additional questions or troubleshooting, please get in touch with support. The most comfortable method to do this is via online chat. Its window is located in the lower right part of the site. Service staff responds at any time almost instantly. Via https://www.jbklutse.com/quickly-and-safely-exchange-cryptocurrencies-the-benefits-of-letsexchange/ Today, Meta announced that applications for the AR/VR Africa Metathon in partnership with Imisi 3D and BlackRhino VR are now open. The AR/VR Africa Metathon is a series of programmes and activations under the Meta global XR fund aimed at supporting African XR talents to build innovative solutions that demonstrate various use cases of the metaverse in Africa. The AR/VR Metathon will feature three major components including a training program, an Africa-wide hackathon which will take place across 16 countries in Africa physically and open to everyone virtually, followed by an intensive bootcamp to further develop solutions. These components will run from Mid-August – April 2023. According to Phil Oduor, Policy Programs Lead for Africa at Meta, “The AR/VR Africa Metathon is an opportunity to demonstrate how artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality technologies that have been around for decades, are core to the future of the metaverse and what Africans are building in the industry.” Oduor further adds, “The XR Programs and Research Fund is a two-year $50 million investment into programs and external research focused on building the metaverse responsibly. Through this fund, we are collaborating with industry partners, civil rights groups, governments, nonprofits and academic institutions to determine how to build these technologies responsibly. This is why we have partnered with Imisi 3D and BlackRhino VR, an extended reality ecosystem developer and a virtual reality production company, who represent Africa’s creative and innovative landscape, to launch this program to support African XR talent who are building innovative solutions that demonstrate the various aspects of the metaverse in Africa.” Judith Okonkwo, Founder Imisi 3D & AR/VR Africa said, “Six years after our first hackathon, and following subsequent events in over 28 countries across the continent, we are especially thrilled to be partnering with Meta and BlackRhino VR for the 2022 edition. This year’s AR/VR Africa Metathon brings together our AR/VR Africa pre-hackathon training, hackathon, and bootcamp in one programme. Working with partners in 16 countries, it is our biggest and most ambitious event yet providing even greater access for XR. In addition to physical events in these countries, we welcome participants across the continent who will be able to learn and hack virtually. At this time of intense global interest in the Metaverse, our mission remains the same – increasing access to XR resources on the continent, accelerating XR talent, showcasing African XR solutions and creating pathways for careers and industry.” “We are honored and elated to have partnered with Meta and Imis 3D on this promising project. The Metathon will encourage exploration and discovery among young African creative technologists who will have the opportunity to develop Afrocentric XR use cases that will tackle some of the unique challenges they are facing in our continent. This type of collaboration is what Africa needs to highlight the potential of new and untapped socioeconomic opportunities created by XR Technologies” commented Brian Afande, Co-founder and Managing Director, BlackRhino VR. All developers, programmers, UI/UX designers, artists, animators, storytellers, professionals and students interested in participating in the 12 weeks training can register through this link: https://form.typeform.com/to/qHCfq759 for the opportunity to share their innovative work in AR/VR. Via https://www.jbklutse.com/meta-ar-vr-africa-metathon-application-open-imisi-3d-black-rhino/ The practice of data tape shredding should not be taken lightly. However, it may seem tedious and monotonous, ensuring your data’s security is of utmost importance. There are many ways to shred your data tapes, but some methods are more secure than others. It is important to remember that when shredding your data tapes, the goal is to destroy them entirely so that they cannot be accessed by anyone who shouldn’t have access to them. Follow these best practices for shredding your data tapes, and rest assured that your information is safe and sound! ![]() Data Tape Shredding and Its ImportanceData tape shredding is the process of destroying data tapes to protect the information they contain. Data tapes store large amounts of data and can be very difficult to destroy. Shredding data tapes is one of the most effective ways to ensure that the information they contain is not accessible to anyone who should not have it. There are several reasons why data tape shredding is so important.
How to Choose the Right Method for Your Needs?There are many different methods of data tape shredding, and the right method for you will depend on your specific needs. If you need to destroy a large number of data tapes, you may want to consider using an industrial shredder. These machines are designed to shred large data tapes quickly and effectively. If you only need to destroy a few data tapes, you may be able to use a personal shredder. However, it is essential to note that not all personal shredders are capable of destroying data tapes. You will need to check the specifications of your particular model to ensure that it can handle the type of material you need to shred. Once you have determined the best method for your needs, you can begin shredding your data tapes. Best Practices of Data Tape ShreddingNow that you understand the importance of data tape shredding, it’s time to learn about the best practices for doing it. The first step is to choose a data tape shredder that is right for your needs. Many types of data tape shredders are on the market, and not all are created equal. You’ll want to choose a shredder designed specifically for data tapes that can handle the amount of data you need to destroy. Once you’ve selected a data tape shredder, it’s time to start shredding!
Data Tape Shredding ServicesYou can always use a data tape shredding service if you don’t have the time or resources to shred your data tapes. Data tape shredding services are designed to destroy data tapes quickly and efficiently. They can also provide you with a disposal bin for the shredded material. When choosing a data tape shredding service, be sure to select one that is reputable and offers a high level of security. You’ll also want to ensure that the service can destroy the amount of data you need to shred. What to Look for in a Data Tape Shredding Service?Many different data tape shredding services are available, and not all are created equal.
How to Search for the Best Data Tape Shredding Service?Searching for the best data tape shredding service can be a daunting task. However, you can do a few things to make the process easier.
ConclusionShredding your data tapes is a great way to ensure that your information is completely destroyed and that it can’t be accessed by anyone who should not have it. Follow these best practices for shredding your data tapes, and rest assured that your information is safe and sound! You can always use a data tape shredding service if you don’t have the time or resources to shred your data tapes. Just be sure to choose a reputable and experienced service that offers a high level of security. Via https://www.jbklutse.com/data-tape-shredding-best-practices/ When a website is fake, it can be a serious problem. The site may be spreading false information, or it could be stealing people’s personal information. In some cases, the site may even be selling counterfeit products. If you believe a website is fake, taking action as soon as possible is vital. However, it’s essential to understand the best practices for domain takedown before taking action. This article will discuss your steps before taking down a fake website. ![]() Gather EvidenceThe first step is to gather evidence that the website is fake. This may include screenshots of the site and any information you have about the site’s owner. Once you have this evidence, you should contact the hosting company and request that they take down the site. In most cases, the hosting company will comply with your request. When gathering evidence, you should keep a few factors in mind.
Take ActionIf you’ve gathered evidence that a website is fake, you can take steps to have the site taken down. In most cases, you’ll need to contact the hosting company and request that they take down the site. In some cases, you may also need to contact law enforcement. Contact the Hosting CompanyThe first step is to contact the hosting company and request that they take down the site. In most cases, the hosting company will comply with your request. When contacting the hosting company, you should consider a few factors.
Contact Law EnforcementIf the site is hosted outside your jurisdiction, you’ll need to contact law enforcement in that country. In some cases, law enforcement may be able to help you take down the site. There are a few factors you should keep in mind when contacting law enforcement.
Send a Cease and Desist LetterIf you cannot take down the site yourself, you can send a cease and desist letter to the site’s owner. This letter will demand that the site be taken down. When sending a cease and desist letter, it would be best to keep a few factors in mind.
File a Complaint with GoogleIf the fake website appears in Google search results, you can file a complaint with Google. In most cases, Google will remove the site from its search results. There are a few factors you should keep in mind when filing a complaint with Google. To file a complaint with Google, you’ll need to provide proof that the website is fake. This can be in the form of screenshots, customer complaints, or other documentation.
Seek Legal HelpSometimes, taking down a fake website can have serious legal consequences. If you’re unsure about the best course of action, you should consult with a lawyer. There are a few factors you should keep in mind when seeking legal help.
Monitor the SituationOnce you’ve taken down the fake website, monitoring the situation is crucial to ensure the site doesn’t come back up. Sometimes, the people behind the fake site may try to recreate it using a different domain name. If this happens, you’ll need to retake action to have the site taken down. There are a few factors that you should consider when monitoring the situation:
ConclusionTaking down a fake website may be time-consuming and difficult. However, if you believe your company is unfairly represented online, it’s vital to act quickly. You can make the process go as smoothly as possible by following the techniques outlined in this article. Via https://www.jbklutse.com/fake-website-takedown-best-practices/ Content marketing is becoming more competitive each day. So, how exactly can tools help with unique content creation? The importance of unique Content is undeniable in today’s world. On average, 60% of content marketers produce one piece of Content every day. That is a lot of competition in any niche or industry. That’s why unique Content is important. But it begs a few questions: why exactly is it important? And, what even is unique Content? Furthermore, how can tools help with it, and which are the best tools to write unique Content? Let’s dive right into it and find out. What is Unique Content?Unique Content is something that stands out in a field of other similar Content. If a blog captures your attention from the ten other similar topics, then something unique about it is. Now, the unique characteristics of said blogs could be caused by many reasons, such as:
According to content marketing experts, the primary trait of unique Content in the online world is its plagiarism-free nature. Therefore, it must be original and shouldn’t be duplicated from anywhere else. If the Content is written through proper research and exclusive ideas, then it will have enough traits to stand out as unique. Why is Unique Content Important?The internet is vast, and it’s easy for people to get lost in the sea of information out there. The only way to stand out from the crowd is by having unique Content. Thus, Content is the lifeblood of any website or blog. It is what attracts people to your site and makes them want to stay. People will quickly get bored and leave if your Content is not unique and exciting. Companies trying to grow their business should invest in unique Content because it will drive traffic and help them reach their goals faster. Consequently, if any website or blog wishes to stand out in SERP (search engine results page), then it should focus on churning out unique Content. The competition in today’s world is very high, and that’s why they must focus on writing original and unduplicated Content. So, if you were to sum it up in a few words, unique Content is essential because it helps with:
Therefore, your website needs unique Content to achieve all the goals mentioned above. How Paraphrasing Tools Can Help Create Unique ContentLet’s talk about the basics first; paraphrasing is a technique that helps you to create unique Content. It is a dependable way of rephrasing the original text in your own words. For many, the idea behind paraphrasing is to avoid plagiarism and ensure you are not copying someone else’s work. For others, it is about avoiding repetition and making your Content more readable. Regardless of your goal, paraphrasing can be done by using synonyms, changing the order of sentences, or adding new sentences to the original text. Now, a paraphrasing tool can do all this, except it’ll do it in a matter of seconds. Where a writer might take an hour to rewrite a few paragraphs, a paraphrasing tool will do the same within a few seconds. That’s why these paraphrasing tools are ideal for helping create unique Content. Top 3 AI-Based Paraphrasing Tools for Unique Content CreationNow that the basics are out of the way let’s talk about the tools that we’ve selected. Each one of these tools is ideal for one aspect of unique Content or another. So, without further ado, let’s dive right into our list of the three best AI-based paraphrasing tools available today. 1. Plagiarismremover.netPlagiraismremover.net does precisely what the name says. It’s an ideal tool for removing plagiarism. It’s important to remember that it doesn’t detect plagiarism. However, once you find it through another tool, like a plagiarism checker, all you need to do is use this tool to remove duplicity from your text. ![]() Besides that, the tool offers an extensive word limit, which ensures that you can rewrite a whole blog using it. But, the quality of the text paraphrased by this tool puts it on the top of our list. And you can use it on all operating systems, like Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, and even Linux. Pros-
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2. Paraphraser.ioParaphraser.io is our second tool and is a household name for many writers today. This outstanding paraphraser is ideal for many reasons, and one of them is its ability to rewrite quality content within seconds. ![]() The quality of paraphrasing achieved by this tool is also outstanding. However, some might feel a little drawback because of its 500-word limit. However, when you compare it with some of the significant names, none offer as many free words as this. So, it stands a strong second on our list. Pros-
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3. Neuralwriter.comNeutralwriter.com is the third tool that thoroughly employs AI in its paraphrasing techniques. The tool stands out because of its unique UI design. Mainly because it offers a flag for each language that it can paraphrase your text into. ![]() Besides that, it offers 10,000 characters, which is roughly around 2,000 words. However, the tool only has two modes: light and medium. Yet, they work flawlessly and are ideal for any sort of unique Content. Pros-
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ConclusionThese are the three best tools that a writer can use today for unique content. We explored why it’s important and what characteristics unique Content usually has. So, use these tools to achieve those goals. Via https://www.jbklutse.com/top-3-ai-based-paraphrasing-tools-for-unique-content-creation/ |