Scientific American Talks The Rise of Cryptocurrency
Jen Schwartz, senior editor and blockchain expert at Scientific American, talks the magazine's latest articles on the rise of Bitcoin and what impact cryptocurrencies may have on our future.
Schwartz digs into how what people currently love about cryptocurrency could be seen as a threat in the future. One of the positives of cryptocurrency is its lack of centralization and regulation. But if entire countries begin to use it as their national currency, everything citizens purchase will be seen by the government.
Schwartz digs into some of the biggest questions around the rise of Bitcoin today - how will it benefit everyday people in the long-term? What happens if the bubble bursts, and what will that do for investor trust in cryptocurrency?
Schwartz gives her advice for people looking to possibly invest in Bitcoin, adding that if you are not concerned with losing money and you're looking to experiment, make the investment. If risk is a big concern for you, investing in crypto right now may not be the right move.
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Student loan collection company Navient agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt and paid more than $140 million in other penalties to settle a lawsuit over abusive lending practices. Josh Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania who led negotiations in the settlement, joined Cheddar to go over the details of the company's predatory lending. "What Navient would do is charge [borrowers] these exorbitantly high rates, even though they knew people couldn't pay them or they would likely default on them," he explained.
An economic development agency, the Northwest Arkansas Council, is looking to draw technology professionals to their region of the Southern state with incentives like $10,000 worth of Bitcoin and a new bicycle. Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the private nonprofit made up of companies like Walmart and Tyson Foods, joined Cheddar to talk about the program to further power his local economy. "By offering the payment in Bitcoin, we're looking to identify those people with interest and expertise in the underlying technologies, the blockchain technologies," he said.
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Retail platform operator and delivery company, Foxtrot,
raised $100 million in a Series C round led by D1 Capital Partners. Foxtrot bills itself as the modern convenience store that combines what it calls in-store curated discovery with 30-minute delivery and 5-minute pickup. Since launching first as a digital-only delivery service, the company has since grown into a popular local retailer, opening 16 brick and mortar locations across Chicago, Dallas, and Washington, DC. Foxtrot co-founder and CEO Michael LaVitola joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
