Who remembers Libra, the blockchain based digital currency that Facebook announced exactly a year ago in June 2019? The one which was supposed to be governed by an association with lots of prominent members, like MasterCard, PayPal, Visa, eBay, Spotify, Uber, Lyft, Vodafone Group, Andreessen Horowitz, and of course, Facebook. The one which was supposed to be officially launched in 2020.
If you’ve already forgotten about Libra, then you’ve probably also forgotten about Calibra, which was what the platform and wallet was called. We were told that Calibra wallets would be accessible via Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and it would also be released as a standalone app.
Read MoreI actually disagree to some extent with the traditional differentiation between speculating and investing. I think many people (and firms) who call themselves investors are in fact speculators. The case is clear if you have someone who just picks some stocks and hopes that they will go up. Sure, you can do fundamental analysis and form a strong “informed” opinion, but essentially you’re just placing bets. I would argue that the same is true for a larger buy-and-hold investor with a globally diversified portfolio. I don’t think global diversification helps much in today’s connected world, and in essence this investor is just placing a bigger bet that the markets (or rather the global economy) will continue to go up over a longer period of time.
Read MoreOn Wednesday June 10th, as Nasdaq hit a new all-time high of 10,020, Apple also made history when its stock price went up to $352. With that price Apple became the first US company to reach a $1.5 trillion market capitalization. With the current erratic behavior of the stock market, who knows what happens next. it could very well be that Apple hits the $2 trillion milestone a lot sooner than anybody thinks.
Read MoreBut has the economy recovered at all? Is the COVID-19 crisis really over? Nobody can know for certain what will happen in the autumn, but many researchers and medical professionals are warning about the possibility of a serious second wave of the virus. And in the US they have – on top of all the misery caused by a pandemic – massive civil unrest and political uncertainty ignited by the killing of George Floyd. Yet, if you look at the stock markets and the US markets in particular, it would seem as though everything is just as rosy as it was in January. I find this completely absurd.
Read MoreThe question about retirement age pops up every now and then and it’s of course a can of worms that few politicians would like to open. Political strategists have always known that a sure-fire way to cause a drop in your support numbers is to suggest a higher retirement age.
Read MoreThe New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced a few days ago that its trading floor is reopening, following its temporary closure two months ago in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the stock markets rallied in response to this news, my initial reaction was: What? There’s actually still a physical trading floor on NYSE!
Read MoreWe believe that smart aggregation and deep usage of data are essential building blocks for fast-growing successful software companies.
Read MoreA growing number of investors in the startup and venture capital (VC) ecosystem have finally started to emphasise environmental, social, and governance (ESG) related matters. There are good reasons behind it and the purpose of this article is to explain why that’s the case and what we at OpenOcean are doing about it.
Read MoreThe European startup scene is crowded with FinTech startups but the vast majority is focusing on payments, savings, lending or PSD2 related opportunities. A lot fewer startups are aiming to disrupt insurance related services, even though the insurance industry is equally ripe for digital disruption as the banking industry.
Read MoreMany successful software products have started out as being vitamins but eventually evolved into being painkillers. What’s the difference and what should you aim for as a software entrepreneur?
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