PR: World Blockchain Forum Brings Global Blockchain Elite to Dubai
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Dubai, UAE
Following the historic response to sister event The North American Bitcoin Conference, held in Miami earlier this year, Keynote has released details of their World Blockchain Forum in Dubai, 16th and 17th April.
Known as a global centre for innovation and investment opportunity, Dubai provides an inspirational backdrop for the 3rd annual World Blockchain Forum. Visionary leaders, economic pioneers and enterprising investors from around the world will come together for one of the most exclusive events on the global blockchain calendar.
As the longest-running crypto-technology conference in Dubai, WBF will delve into the innovative possibilities of blockchain technology, the impact of cryptocurrencies on global financial markets and the shifting landscape of ICOs.
With more than 500 Bitcoin and blockchain innovators and investors expected to attend, WBF – Dubai builds on the success of similar events in London, Los Angeles and Chicago as part of the World Blockchain Forum. The two-day event focuses on the future of finance and investment, successful past and future ICOs, regulation & governance, and considers how decentralization continues to disrupt the banking sector.
“We are thrilled to host another meeting of brilliant minds in the heart of the UAE and look forward to welcoming leaders of the crypto community from around the globe. Since 2015 we have been committed to bringing more companies and dedicating more resources to the UAE, to bring His Highness Sheikh Hamdan’s blockchain strategy and vision to life,” said Moe Levin, Founder and CEO of Keynote.
World Blockchain Forum Program Details
Held at the stunning Madinat Jumeirah overlooking the Gulf, this year’s internationally-acclaimed event speakers look at the ways in which vanguards, executives, and entrepreneurs can innovate the future of a new world economy.
Past WBF Speakers include:
Vitalik Buterin – Co-founder, Ethereum
H.E. DR. Aisha Bin Bishr – Director General at Smart Dubai
Patrick Byrne – CEO, Overstock & t0
Star Xu, CEO – OKCoin
Roger Ver – CEO, Bitcoin.com
Eva Kaili – Greece, Member of European Parliament
Charlie Shrem – Bitcoin Pioneer
Gabriel Abed – Founder, Bitt
Ola Oudin – CEO, BitOasis
Gabriel Kurman – Co-founder, RSK Labs
Ryan Taylor- CEO, Dash Core
Jason King – Co-founder, Academy
Moe Levin – Founder, Keynote
Ruslan Gavrilyuk – Co-founder, Taas.fund
For a full list of speakers visit: https://dubai.keynote.ae/speakers/
Tickets can be purchased at: dubai.keynote.ae/tickets/
About Keynote
Keynote was launched in 2012 by blockchain strategist Moe Levin. For further information and details about Keynote and the WBF – Dubai event, visit dubai.keynote.ae
For media inquiries, please contact Amandah Hendricks, Keynote’s Chief of Communications at [email protected]
Contact Email Address
[email protected]
Supporting Link
dubai.keynote.ae
This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.
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Atari Joins Growing List of Old Brands Trying To Revitalize Through Cryptocurrency
For generation X-ers, old enough to remember a time when photographs were analogue and games consoles were 16-bit, brands such as Kodak and Atari evoke fuzzy nostalgia. Nothing perfect lasts forever though, and those companies which once dominated their respective spheres have not aged well. Many assumed these 80s stalwarts had already given up the ghost amidst growing financial problems. As it turns out, not only are the Kodaks and Ataris of the world still limping on, but they’re seeking an injection of new blood and fresh capital in the form of an ICO (Initial Coin Offering).
Also read: Kodak Getting Into Bitcoin Mining
The Childhood Companies Coming for Your Crypto
In 2013, Atari filed for bankruptcy which, coincidentally, was the same year that Kodak followed suit. Five years on and Atari is throwing its hat into the blockchain ring. The pattern is a predictable one now: company trading on former glories announces ICO. Stock leaps by over 50%. Reality settles in. Stock tumbles. The company once synonymous with such classic games as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Asteroids is now seeking to establish a reputation as a cryptocurrency pioneer, powered by its Atari Token.
You Nostalgia, You Lose
Brands are obliged to move with the times. The alternative is extinction. Thus it would be unrealistic to expect Atari to base its core business model around churning out retro consoles, just as it would be unrealistic to expect Kodak to turn a profit from selling photographic film. The entry of these brands into the crypto space is not in itself a cause for concern or recipe for mockery. Rather, it’s the way in which these firms have gripped onto this outstretched branch in a bid to break their fall that invites scepticism.
Investment research firm Kerrisdale Capital savaged Kodak’s proposed ICO, branding it “worthless” and the last grasp of a “dying relic of American manufacturing”. Little is known about Atari’s proposed cryptocurrency, other than that the company’s CEO Frederic Chesnais was quoted as saying: “Blockchain technology is poised to take a very important place in our environment and to transform, if not revolutionize, the current economic ecosystem, especially in the areas of the video game industry and online transactions”.
Until more information emerges, Atari deserves the benefit of the doubt. It is hard to shake the feeling though that these companies are less interested in blockchain’s disruptive potential than its ability to prop up their balance sheets. Beware of faded brands coming for your crypto and tainting your childhood memories into the bargain.
Do you think Atari’s entry into the cryptocurrency market is genuine or is it just a cash grab? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Atari.
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Trader at Chicago Firm Stole Millions in BTC – Faces 20 Year Sentence
Late 2017 will long be remembered as the time when bitcoin went mainstream. Prices were mooning, and the general atmosphere was one of fear of missing out. That sentiment was especially true in trading circles, and more traditional outlets were experimenting with cryptocurrency divisions in order to take advantage. One such experiment went sour, as a trader attempted to play upon relative company ignorance by shorting bitcoin and covering personal margin calls, with the affair ending in million dollar losses and a first of its kind federal prosecution.
Also read: Citibank India Bans Bitcoin
Bitcoin Trader Faces 20 Years in Prison
Consolidated Trading, LLC’s Joseph Kim, according to federal authorities, emailed, “Until the end I was perversely trying to fix what I had already done. I can’t believe I did not stop myself when I had the money to give back, and I will live with that for the rest of my life. You have every apology I have to give, I am sorry to betray you all like this.”
John R. Lausch Jr, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), insists Mr. Kim “worked as an assistant trader for…a Chicago trading firm that recently formed a cryptocurrency group to engage in cryptocurrency trading…Over a two-month period in the Fall of last year, Kim misappropriated at least $2 million of the firm’s Bitcoin and Litecoin cryptocurrency for his own personal benefit, and he made false statements and representations to the company’s management in order to conceal the theft.”
According to reports, Mr. Kim had previous experience in cryptocurrency by way of working in South Korea for a time after graduating from the prestigious University of Chicago. He joined Consolidated in the Summer of 2016 as an assistant bond trader. Employees describe him as having gone by the online name “degen,” as in ‘degenerative gambler’.
It’s the first federal criminal prosecution of its kind in Chicago, and Mr. Kim, 24, is being charged with one count of wire fraud punishable by up to 20 years in prison. U.S. v. Kim, 18-cr-107, states “from September through November 2017, Kim transferred more than $2 million of the trading firm’s Bitcoin and Litecoin to personal accounts to cover his own trading losses, which had been incurred while trading cryptocurrency futures on foreign exchanges.”
Attempting to Cover Tracks
By Fall of 2017, Mr. Kim was made part of a cryptocurrency wing of Consolidated, moving from its bond division. That was a heady time for crypto, especially bitcoin, and price action steeped to unheard of highs. Mainstream trading outlets were itching to be part of the market. Shortly after, the complaint alleges, Mr. Kim moved nearly 1,000 litecoin from company coffers to his own, an “intermediary holding space” he reportedly offered as excuse for the unorthodox maneuver due to Bitfinex exchange issues. Something like that, according to prosecutors, was also done with bitcoin, to the tune of 3.2 million USD, as a way to cover personal losses (1.2 million USD was eventually returned).
When questioned at the time by company officials, Mr. Kim is reported to have claimed he returned at least the litecoin (his alleged dealings in bitcoin hadn’t been discovered). When Mr. Kim was suspected of mishandling bitcoin, he again offered excuses that the company increasingly worried were not adding up, though Mr. Kim seemed to assure all was well. By late November, 280 bitcoin were suspected missing.
What seems to be clear is Mr. Kim used bitcoin for personal trading, and Consolidated and federal authorities believe he stole over 280 bitcoin at one time or another. Though he did manage to transfer some back, inevitably losses began to add up. Mr. Kim reportedly admitted to the company he indeed transferred 55 bitcoin from the company to his personal wallet. He also allegedly came forward to explain he was trying to short bitcoin, at times converting litecoin for that purpose. There are also allegations he used company bitcoin accounts to help cover margin losses.
As it stands, Consolidated was able to recover some 144 bitcoin, but claims to have lost as much as 600,000 USD as a result of Mr. Kim’s doings. Mr. Kim and his attorney have not been made available for comment. He is expected to face a federal judge today, 16 February 2018, in order to enter a plea.
What are your thoughts on this federal case? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Pixabay, LinkedIn, DOJ
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