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NEW NewsBusters Podcast: Our Memories of the Brief, Fumbling Life of CNN+

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Newsbusters

After roughly $300 million invested and just 23 days in operation, the new owners of CNN quickly and publicly pulled the plug on their streaming serving CNN+. Brian Stelter tried to claim that they didn’t have enough time to prove they were a failure, but the weak 10,000 daily viewership numbers underlined it would be a financial sinkhole.

Kyle Drennen joins the show to discuss how many strange things outlasted this venture and to discuss some of the lowest recent moments on MSNBC, like how conservatives would denounce Jesus if he came back to Earth today as a groomer, as woke, and as a socialist.

Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. We ask you to share with friends, family, or liberals who don’t have a clue about media bias!

Over A Third Of Nigerians Are Invested In Bitcoin, Crypto; New Report Finds

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Over A Third Of Nigerians Are Invested In Bitcoin, Crypto; New Report Finds

Authored by Shawn Amick via BitcoinMagazine.com,

  • KuCoin conducted a report with multiple surveys that shows 35% of the adult population aged 18-60 in Nigeria are vested in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

  • The investor class is largely made up of a youthful population driven by Nigeria’s median age of 18.4 years old, which leads to 52% of the investors being below the age of 30.

  • Nigeria hosts many long-term investors in the space as its currency, the Naira, has seen a 60%-plus depreciation against the dollar since 2014. 37% of investors in the space have been invested for over 3 years.

KuCoin, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, recently released a report titled “Into The Cryptoverse” where they discussed the penetration of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies into populations of varying countries. Most notable among them is Nigeria; 35%, or 33.4 million, of its adults aged 18-60 owned or traded bitcoin or some form of cryptocurrency in the last 6 months.

USERS WITH INTERNET ACCESS

This staggering amount of 35% of adults becomes even more bewildering when one recognizes that as of January 2022, only 51% of the entire population of Nigeria has access to the internet, according to the report. Of that 51% of the population, 86% of Nigerian internet users are familiar with cryptocurrency as an investment vehicle. The report also states that according to Google Trends, Nigeria hosted the highest number of searches for Bitcoin in early 2021.

A survey conducted of the penetrated 35% shows that 70% of those users intend to increase their holdings within a short period of time. Another 6% of the population not currently invested were surveyed and said they are interested in investing within the next six months.

YOUTHFUL INVESTOR INTEREST GROWS AS NAIRA FALLS

Over the course of the last eight years, Nigeria’s currency, Naira, has depreciated over 60% against the dollar.

The adoption rate of Bitcoin is far more substantial in populations that have a need for Bitcoin, rather than just a want for it. The failing Naira led to earlier adoption than most, as 37% of those currently involved in bitcoin have been invested or trading in the asset for more than 3 years, with another 27% having just started within the past 6 months.

A need to opt out of the existing structure is being driven by the youthful population of Nigeria as its median age sits at 18.4 years old, according to Statista cited in the report. This drives the statistic in which 52% of Nigerians invested in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under the age of 30.

GENDER PARITY AMONG INVESTORS OF NIGERIA

One interesting statistic KuCoin uncovered in a survey of those currently vested in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies showed 50% gender parity. Nigeria seems to be proving that when economic need, youth of a population, and innovation collide, gender plays no role in the adoption of an emergent monetary system.

NIGERIA’S LONG-TERM INVESTOR OUTLOOK

Low-time preference seems molded with entrepreneurial spirit in Nigeria with 62% of investors believing this emerging system is the future of finance and 50% of investors saying they are in it for the long run. 40% of investors look to use their gains to start a business, 36% are looking for another revenue stream, and 26% seek to rely on their investment as primary income.

PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION

The portfolio diversification, or the lack of diversification in some cases, is a fascinating statistic among Nigerian investors. On average, these investors allocate 60% to cryptocurrency, 20% to cash or bank deposits, and 7% to foreign currencies with additional financial instruments closing the gap, which means over 52% of investors are allocating over half of their portfolio to cryptocurrencies, according to the report.

A little over one-fifth of these investors (22%) store over 90% of their assets in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. This minority group tends to be slightly older and less familiar with other financial products with a focus on money transfers and transactions, rather than trading.

CONCLUSION

As of February 2022, 65% of these investors utilize peer-to-peer trading to deposit fiat for cryptocurrencies after the Central Bank of Nigeria barred banks from enabling crypto transactions in February 2021, according to another survey conducted by KuCoin cited in the report.

Further KuCoin data shows a 1,386.7% increase in monthly transactions across African countries from January 2021 – January 2022. During the same period, active users also increased by 2,467.2%.

Countries like Nigeria showcase the need of a new monetary system that allows cross-border payments with minimal fees and global access in its most reliable form. The central authorities of Nigeria have failed to properly care for its citizenry and its youthful population has taken it upon themselves to enforce needed change. While bitcoin certainly serves as a store-of-value for many in more developed places of the world, the humanitarian and altruistic use cases of Bitcoin are what truly make it inevitable. 

Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/13/2022 – 12:25

Illinois Governor Invested In Company With $2.6 Billion In State Contracts

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Illinois Governor Invested In Company With $2.6 Billion In State Contracts

Authored by Adam Andrzejewski via RealClear Policy,

Amid the national debate over whether members of Congress should be able to trade stock, the governor of Illinois is demonstrating how prevalent conflicts of interest are for elected officials who own securities.

In 2020, Gov. JB Pritzker’s trust bought stock in the health insurance company Centene Corp. That same year, Illinois gave $2.6 billion worth of Medicaid contracts to Centene Corp.

An investigation by the Better Government Association, a nonprofit Illinois watchdog, uncovered these interesting investments. Even though Pritzker’s investments are in a blind trust, which means that Pritzker is not privy to investment decisions, they demonstrate why blind trusts can’t prevent conflicts of interest.

Each year, Pritzker receives a copy of his current investments from his fund managers, which have the potential to influence the state contracting process.

Pritzker, a member of the family that owns the Hyatt Hotel dynasty, has a net worth of $3.6 billion, according to Forbes.

During his 2018 campaign, he pledged to purge his investment portfolio of companies that held state contracts, according to the report.

However, in 2020, his portfolio managers invested in Centene Corp., one of Illinois’ largest Medicaid contractors, according to the association’s report. While not illegal, the association’s experts say Pritzker could have instructed his trust managers not to invest in state contractors to eliminate the potential for a conflict of interest.

Pritzker and his trust managers refuse to disclose how much the investments are worth nor when the investments were made. All that has been disclosed so far is that his stake in Centene Corp is worth over $5,000, according to his Statement of Economic Interest form filed with the state.

These investments should serve as a wake-up call for investment reform for public officials. Public servants should be transparent when it comes to investing.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 03/29/2022 – 17:25

Have you ever wondered why customers never come back to a business or do not increase orders?

Filed Under: BUSINESS

Jesus said to the slave who invested well with a talent given to him, “Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things” (Matthew 25:23 NASB).

Jesus knew we must first be faithful with the first assignment, whether in spiritual or business issues, even if we feel the work is beneath us and unimportant or the customer is a minor income producer.

Do not allow an attitude to develop, neither within you nor within your staff, that any customer order, request, or need is immaterial, or your business will begin to slide.

Treat every customer order well, meet all client commitments, ship only the best quality, and then watch as customers come back for more and increase their orders.

Netflix Invests $100 Million in Black-Led Banks to Help Narrow Racial Wealth Gap

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

Netflix said it has invested $100 million so far into six Black-led financial institutions in the U.S., as part of the company’s pledge to allocate 2% of cash holdings into banks serving Black communities. In June 2020, amid racial-equality protests across America, Netflix announced plans to invest capital in Black banks to help address racial […]

Crypto Lender Celsius Network Invests $300M in North American Bitcoin Mining Operations: Report

Filed Under: BUSINESS, Coindesk

Cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network has further invested $300 million for its bitcoin mining operations in North America, taking the total investment this year to $500 million, according to a report from The Block.

  • The $300 million comes after Celsius invested $200 million earlier this year in bitcoin mining equipment and equity of bitcoin mining firms Core Scientific, Rhodium Enterprises and mining pool Luxor Technologies, according to the report.
  • “These are commitments for this year and next year — so we will be adding [mining] capacity all the time until the end of next year,” CEO Alex Mashinsky said.
  • The investment was made to expand its bitcoin mining hash rate and power capacity in North America, Mashinsky added.
  • Mashinsky said Celsius now has an operational mining fleet of about 22,000 bitcoin ASIC miners, most of which are Bitmain’s newest generation of AntMiner S19 series, according to the report.
  • Celsius will use the bitcoin it mines for its lending business, the report added.
  • Last month, the lender had raised $400 million in equity funding, in an effort to reassure regulators of its business credibility. The round came after Celsius received multiple notices from U.S. state regulators, in response to its lending products.

Read more: Crypto Lender Celsius Network Raises $400M in Bid to Reassure Regulators

ViacomCBS Q3 Profit Dips on Streaming Costs, But Revenue Rises

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

ViacomCBS said third-quarter profit declined as it invested in more content for streaming audiences, but noted that its revenue from just that consumer activity was on the rise, with 4.3 million new subscribers to its broadband outlets added during the period. The New York owner of the CBS broadcast network, the Showtime premium cable network […]