The "Internet of Money" and Future of Crypto Commerce
Litecoin, the 5th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is on a tear, rallying over 50% during the past week. Kenneth Asare, CEO of LitePay, a Litecoin payment processor, was with us to explain why merchants need to be ready for the digital currency revolution.
On February 26th, 41 countries will have access to LitePay merchant payment processing. Retailers will be able to use LitePay's retail, e-commerce, billing, and donation tools to accept Litecoin payments from customers anywhere on earth. Asare said the platform is targeting people with access to smartphones, but not banking.
Asare said Litecoin is the 'internet of money.' He stressed that it's not a way to replace fiat currency or the stock exchange, and it's not something to invest in. Instead, this is the very beginning of a new way of sharing and transferring value, he said.
As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to grow, so do concerns over the impact it could have on the international space community, and more specifically, the International Space Station. Those concerns come after Dmitry Rogozin, the director of Russia's state space agency, posted several tweets over the last few weeks in which he threatened to 'destroy Russia's cooperation on the ISS.' Olympia LePoint, rocket scientist and author of 'Answers Unleashed II: The Science of Attracting What You Want,' joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
U.S. markets closed the day at session lows as the Dow marked its fifth straight week of losses. Investors continue to weigh inflation and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and growing economic risk factors. George Seay, CEO of Annandale Capital, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Jarrod Loadholt, Partner at Ice Miller, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he calls President Biden's executive order on digital assets a 'home run' and explains the ways it benefits the greater cryptocurrency market.
Auction-based advertising infrastructure startup Topsort
raised $8 million in a seed funding round. Topsort says companies like Google and Amazon have been making huge profits from auction-based advertising for decades, but that the technology is complicated, exclusive, and hard to build. The company is trying to be a solution, by offering an auction-based advertising API to smaller retailers and marketplaces. Regina Ye, CEO and co-founder of Topsort, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Lance Ippolito, Head Trader at Future of Wealth, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the President's executive order on crypto is a step in the right direction even though investor sentiment cooled off on Thursday.
After a week of headlines that ranged from a potential criminal investigation by the Justice Department to a 20 for 1 stock split, Michael Pachter, the managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, joined Cheddar News to shake out what wild week means for the tech giant and what he thinks is behind possible government antipathy towards the company. "If you look at Amazon, Capitol Hill hates them," he said. "And maybe it's just because Bezos looks like Dr. Evil, but I think part of it is that a lot of constituents of these legislators just don't whine at Congress, 'leave my company alone,' the way they do with Disney or Microsoft."
The ongoing semiconductor chip shortage has been impacting everything from the purchase of cars to smartphones. Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves spoke with Cheddar about the Biden administration's efforts to combat the issue and if the current crisis in Ukraine will have any impact on the global supply chain problems for semiconductors. "We're working very closely with all of our partners and allies around the globe, just as we have on the export controls and sanctions that we've applied to Russia to deal with that needless aggression," he said. "We're also working with them on the challenges of raw materials for a range of industries, including the semiconductor industry. We believe that we are going to be able to meet the demand for the for the near term."
Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves spoke to Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo about the ongoing semiconductor shortages and the push from the Biden administration to cover the supply chain problem as well as look ahead to future-proofing it.
