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4 Best Practices for Virtual Shareholder Meetings

Virtual shareholder meetings were one of the biggest trends during the coronavirus pandemic, but anecdotal evidence shows they could be here to stay.

According to Gartner, a global research and advisory firm, the world’s top leaders are rethinking how their employees work after reopening from the pandemic. Nearly half of these professionals (47%) said they’ll allow their employees to work from home permanently.

This poll reflects the growing corporate vacancy rates in North America. More offices are sitting empty than ever before, as Moody’s Analytics reports a record-breaking 19.4% vacancy rate across the board.

Large and small organizations are shuttering to save on overheads as their workforce works remotely, and they’re quickly adopting architecture that allows them to provide their services digitally.

Distance from the corporate workspace will continue your need for virtual meetings. But now a year into the trend, attendees expect a smoother, engaging experience.

To make sure you exceed these expectations, keep scrolling. Here are four best practices for shareholder meetings favored by investor relation professionals.

1. Share Clear Instructions

Stakeholders don’t want to wade through clunky, jargon-riddled communications before they arrive at your meeting. This dense language overly complicates your message and can leave your investors confused about how they can participate.

A major role of investor relations is learning how to optimize your investor relations strategy in a transparent, easy-to-understand way. You can do this by using plain English when sharing any proxy disclosures or instructions about submitting questions.

2. Run Through Rehearsals

Just like in-person events, any delays on your end during a virtual meeting will reflect poorly on your brand. To prevent these disruptions, make sure you provide adequate training for your team and give them time to familiarize themselves with your chosen platform.

If you’re working with an investor relations professional, this is the perfect opportunity to ask for their insight on any IR tools and services you’re using during the meeting.

4. Have IT Support On-Hand

Technical difficulties aren’t always your fault. Investors could face glitches and other problems on their own. However, you’ll want to provide adequate support for any attendees struggling to sign on or participate. You can streamline their experience by providing early access to your platform, so they’re comfortable navigating it on the big day.

You may also consider providing a live operator on the day of the meeting in case your attendees run into problems they can’t solve independently. This is a huge boon to any attendee who isn’t particularly tech-savvy.

5. Streamline Participation

A successful virtual event makes it easy for attendees to engage with your speakers and content. Before you go live, make sure your meeting platform streamlines any voting or Q&A portion of your live event.

You’ll want to make sure these actions are accessible and intuitive for most attendees, so keep things simple. Rather than have them open a new window or tab to participate, make these functions available on the main screen.

Simplicity is at the heart of most of these best practices. Do whatever it takes to streamline the experience for you, your team, and your shareholders.

Bottom Line

By all indications, virtual meetings won’t disappear once the economy fully reopens. If you’ve integrated them into your normal operations, follow these best practices from here on in. They’ll help you deliver the best virtual experience for your shareholders — pandemic or not.

How Bitcoin works? Is it a Balloon?

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Bitcoin is a digital asset that operates on software and has a set of principles and protocols. Bitcoin is the most successful attempt at creating virtual currency through cryptography, a science used in making or breaking codes. After its success, it inspired the formation of Alternative cryptocurrencies known as Altcoins.

The Blockchain

Bitcoin was formulated by a person or group of persons called Satoshi Nakamoto, and its protocol is run on a blockchain. Bitcoin is run on a chain of database blocks arranged chronologically. A user’s gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and political standings do not matter when trading in cryptocurrency.

After satoshi formulated a bitcoin blockchain, the developers’ work was done: due to its decentralized nature, the users get about building their wealth, and every transaction is made public.

1. Post-trust

Bitcoin has no physical location, so users cannot protect it by installing physical security measures. Criminals can steal crypto wealth through hacking block platforms. Double spending is another security risk associated with crypto coins due to technological tampering.

Developers and miners can contain these occurrences, trust is required, and this was achieved by a public display that allows all the users to keep an eye on everyone else’s coins in the market. The first step in how bitcoin works are creating trust between the developers and the users and later on amongst users as a community.

2. The Mining Process

Mining is the process that maintains this trustless ledger. Miners are bitcoin users who trade crypto amongst each other as they keep those records public. Mining has been designed to be difficult and time-consuming; this was to curb fraudsters and protect the validity of the bitcoins and earn them a respectable place in the market. Mining with an accompaniment of proof of work has legitimized the bitcoin trade.

3. Halving

Miners are rewarded with bitcoin after verifying blocks of transactions. The blocks are split into halves for every 210,000 blocks mined, and this is referred to as halving. Developers will add more bitcoin to the system after all the coins have been mined, and this is estimated to be around 2140.

4. Hashes

This involves miners’ worldwide receiving transactional data, and they have to run it through cryptographic algorithms to generate a hash. The hash technology allows the bitcoin platform to check on the validity of a block in real-time. The hash blocks are added to the existing strings of blocks that allow real-time confirmation of transactions. Since this process is not as complex as mining, bad actors can still swamp the network with wrong information. That is why bitcoin operates on a proof of work basis. 

Blocks mined are put up on the network to be confirmed, and this takes some time. Blocks are not hashed in their entirety; instead, they are broken up into efficient structures.

5. Confirmation Time

To confirm any block, it depends on the type of traffic the network is currently experiencing. The bitcoin protocol required longer or shorter strings of zeroes to hit a new block every 10 minutes. At the beginning of 2008, the difficulty was at 1, and by October 2019, it was 6.379 trillion, which means it is becoming harder to mine bitcoin.

6. Difficulty

Mining is an intense activity that is time-consuming and uses up loads of electricity, and it is highly competitive. At the early stages, miners increased their chances by combining mining pools, sharing computing power, and dividing the rewards amongst themselves. Currently, coins are halved into three hence making it more difficult to mine bitcoin. 

7. Bitcoin transactions

Outside of the mining process, bitcoin miners then purchase their cryptocurrency through Bitcoin exchange, an online platform that facilitates transactions of Altcoins and bitcoins. Bitcoin platforms such as the Bitcoin Compass website then bring together traders from all parts of the world to trade, buy and sell their cryptocurrency. This market is, however, very volatile, and the prices keep fluctuating.

8. Keys and Wallets

To protect all investments made, bitcoin users move to store their goods in digital wallets with private keys that are used to access them. It comes down to a public key and a private key. The public key is the address displayed on the blockchain because a sender needs to know where to send the traded coins. For a user to send money, the system requires verification, and that’s where the private keys come at.

To access your bitcoin, you use your wallet, which is a set of keys. The wallets can take different forms like hot wallets- those directly pegged to online services and are vulnerable to hacks; cold wallets are not connected to the internet.

Is bitcoin a balloon? NO. Balloons in finance are lump-sum amounts of money paid at the end of a trading term, especially loans, and they are at least twice as large as the regularly scheduled payments. Bitcoin is not a ballooned currency as the interest rates on borrowed crypto are low, and the loans are paid back just once after a trade. The mining process is profitable and brings high returns. 

Trump Spent USD 28 Million For Every Kilometer Of Wall With Mexico

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The White House announced on Friday that the Pentagon recovered about $ 2.2 billion that former US President Donald Trump diverted to build the wall on the border with Mexico, and asked Congress not to force him to spend 1.4 billion more on the border barrier.

The former president managed to build 52 miles of wall, at an average cost of 46 million dollars per mile . Or what is the same, 25.8 million for each of the 83 kilometers that he managed to build.

In a statement, the White House explained that the Pentagon will dedicate the 2,200 million that the Trump administration diverted to the items to which those funds were originally intended : a total of 66 projects in 11 US states, three territories. and 16 countries.

Of that amount, almost 1,300 million will be dedicated to projects abroad, including some 90 million dollars in facilities of the US Navy in Spain, where the United States has a naval base in Rota (Cádiz) , and more than 33 million in the Guantanamo naval base (Cuba), according to the Pentagon.

Although the administration of President Joe Biden may recover some of the funds diverted by Trump, there are another $ 1.4 billion that the US Congress approved specifically for the border wall for this fiscal year.

The Department of Homeland Security is required by law to use these funds for the purpose designated by Congress, so the White House asked the legislature to “cancel” that item , in order to spend that money on other types of border security measures. , more “modern and efficient” than the wall.

Biden takes the US back to the Paris Agreement and stops the construction of the wall with Mexico
Biden takes the US back to the Paris Agreement and stops the construction of the wall with Mexico

During his four years in power, Trump raised $ 15 billion to replace the border fence and erect new stretches of wall along 727 kilometers (452 miles) of the border, covering more than a quarter of the border. the 3,145 kilometers (1,954 miles) that separate the country from Mexico.

Of those $ 15 billion, about $ 5 billion were approved by Congress specifically for Trump’s flagship project, and another $ 10 billion was diverted from anti-drug and other projects.

Upon leaving power, he had about $ 3.6 billion to spend on the wall, which includes the 2,200 recovered this Friday and the 1,400 tied by Congress to the border project .

On his first day in power, on January 20, Biden signed a decree that ordered an end to the national emergency decreed by Trump to divert funds towards the construction of the wall, and stop works on it.

The Department of Homeland Security announced this Friday, in addition, that after reviewing what to do with a grant that Congress had granted to build the wall, it decided to use those funds to “address urgent environmental and security issues” that resulted from the construction of the barrier in California and the Rio Grande Valley (Texas).

“This is a victory for border communities, for immigrant communities and for our environment. Once again, they will be able to prosper without the threat of a border wall ,” the director of legislation and community policy of the organization Earthjustice, Raúl García.

5 steps for agile transformation in financial companies

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Everyone at least once heard about Agile. You may not know all the details, but we can say for sure that this framework and its practices are practically everywhere. Or not? What about your company? As the annual VersioneOne poll says, 75% of world companies using Agile are not from the IT-sphere.

Finance companies always chase trends, keep an eye on innovations, and apply them on time. We can say from our practice that banks, insurance and other financial companies are the first to implement new things.

What challenges do they face?

They all manage huge amounts of data – starting from personal data and ending billion transactions. Shit happens when no knowledge management system occurs. This leads to service problems while working online, or by phone, or using an ATM.

As one of the main Agile thesis states, being ready for changes is more important than doing everything according to plan.

And if you work in one constant rhythm for years and even decades, in which every team member works in only one sphere he knows backward and forward, and he is the only one who can arrange super important issues, and keeps the solutions locked behind seven seals, this will get you only so far.

And it turns out that all gained experience and knowledge are accessible to only a few.

A proper system of knowledge management will solve this problem. It collects all the company’s information and experience. Make knowledge the main asset of the company and accessible at the right place and at the right time.

This problem leads to another one: how to increase customer service level?

You can do this with Service Desk, which simplifies the work of IT and customer service teams, and this means your customers and you as a business owner can breathe again.

The main goal of a service desk is to become a Single Point of Contact between customers and service providers. You need it if:

  • The number of customer requests grows
  • There is no center to coordinate the work of many departments, as well as
  • There is no statistics or reports of all requests, work log and solution quality

The Service Desk service forms the dream team in which everyone knows not only all the answers but can also react to the incidents on time.

As a result, the quality of customer service grows, especially if the company has several offices in different regions. IT infrastructure security also rises, and expenses decrease, and it’s possible to forecast them.

How can we help fintech companies with Atlassian tools and ITSM and Agile practices?

To stand still on the market, fintech companies chase the one goal: be more open, transparent, robust, and hardly integrated into customers’ lives.

According to our experience, we know that the work of every team in a fintech company can be optimized with the help of specialized software and basic Agile and ITSM Processes Integration.

1.   Integrate knowledge management system

Fintech companies need it first for the IT department to keep their knowledge, share it in the department, and collaborate on the technical documentation and information security. For better knowledge management we provide Confluence Knowledge base integration as one of ITSM ITIL practices.

Though it isn’t enough just to install Confluence, it’s also essential to teach people how to use it. We provide training sessions for users and admins, in which we teach them how to:

  • Navigate in Confluence hierarchy
  • Manage tasks in Confluence, create and edit documents
  • Organize all information and knowledge into effective structures
  • Improve level of productivity and increase Confluence reliability

As a result, all teams and departments in the company keep all the gained knowledge and use it. Effective Knowledge Base lets the organization resolve a growing number of incidents faster, which is important for the fintech company of this level.

2.   Customize Confluence

As a separate tool, Confluence is good on its own, but it isn’t a universal solution for every business. In this case, we do Confluence customization so that it can fit to the client’s needs.

Atlassian based apps & add-on custom development on Java and JS solves the problem of showing the data about organizational structure and charts online.

How does it work?

Addon is integrated within Active Directory of the company to receive all data from it. Active Directory is a server which collects all information about staff, their positions, their organizational structure, emails, phone numbers, etc. In such way the company got:

  • All data monitoring via charts in Confluence
  • Possibility to check all organizational information online and in one place.
  • Information filtration. We added filters that allow checking data of a certain department.

As a result, the functionality of addon allows the company to get all necessary information online from corporate ldap-server, visualize corporate organizational structures – organizational charts, and use them on Confluence pages. In two words, now the company has all needed data on hand.

3.   Implement Service Desk

Fintech companies often face the problem of how to maintain a high level of support services in every area and cope with fast growth of customer requests.

We provide Jira Service Desk integration service in the way that the company can maintain faster customer requests service, and of high quality:

  • Create and adjust Service Desk portal with user friendly forms of requests
  • Set up incidents escalation to make it possible to solve requests in time by increasing the staff capabilities, level of effort and priority meant to solve them.
  • Add SLA (Service Level Agreement) and reports.

This functionality lets the customers and manager officers see the whole picture: they can control requests and see the steps of processing the requests, monitoring how SLAs are carried out. Using basic ITIL practices of incident management and Agile, we helped the company to increase the transparency of work, and therefore the level of customer satisfaction.

Building Agile Teams and encouraging them to use Agile frameworks is really important for fintech companies. It brings the company strict structure of work, divides big projects into small pieces of work and visualizes the workflow, involving people from different teams and increasing quality and general transparency of work, and allowing regular product releases.

4.   Collecting all instances into single goer

If the company already uses some of Atlassian products like Jira, Confluence, or Bitbucket on server, we provide:

  • Merge of all Jira instances into one Jira Server;
  • Server or Cloud Migration of all projects and users, workflows and tickets.

As a result, the company gets one single working Jira instance which unites the work of all departments, so that all working processes are synchronized, allowing staff to react to incidents faster and raise the customer satisfaction level.

5.   Implement the change control system

The next step is to create a whole change control system. Changing control management is a formal process which guarantees that all product or system changes are under control and coordinated.

Difficult working processes in organizations are always changing. That’s why it’s important for every company to control these changes, meaning documents.

Using Jira Service Desk for change control management you can create change requests.

Let’s say that a user from the IT department of your company wants to update a program up to the latest version. He opens Jira, fills in the request form, stating all needed information (what the problem is, deadline for completion, potential risks, urgency of request and what impact will be), and sends it.

The request is being served, and all details are documented.

To maintain the right change control process, we:

  • Install Jira and develop a plugin for it, to implement an already-present document for change control management into Jira Service Desk. By this the company don’t change all working processes for the new tool.
  • Maintain tech support for the teams of project management and change control, and other teams that use Jira for general organizational projects.
  • Do the optimization of reporting system to capitalize on the needs of the user
  • Create documentation and user guides
  • Provide Jira Service Desk training

As a result,  the company can have the complete system that controls the life cycle of all changes and helps to сarry them out much faster, and breaks the process of service delivery only in case of emergency.

The $1.6 Trillion Student Loan Crisis of USA and What You As a Student Can Do About It

The student loan crisis is rooted in unprecedented social and economic complexities. Instead of accepting to pay a long-term price just to obtain a degree, students should seek a different approach to fund their education.

Student Loans: An Unbeatable Crisis (?)

As of December 31, 2020, the average student loan debt was $37,500, as more than half of American students started college with debt on their shoulders. But what makes student loan a crisis, other than the staggering amount? On the one hand, knowing that most repayments will span over decades. On the other, required monthly installments chase you at any point in your career, whether you have a lucrative job or just an hourly side gig.

At present, student debt has reached a nationwide $1.6 trillion, and it is projected to grow by 7% each year, reaching $2 trillion by the end of 2021. One of the worst effects of this debt is that it reduces people’s purchasing power, particularly when it comes to cars, houses, furniture, and even vacations. This is why many economists go even beyond, stating that student loans are not just a college graduate problem, but an issue for the entire nation’s economy.

Although defying the student loan crisis is not a one-person task, each student should adopt a more reflective approach towards their future:    

Understand The Loan

Understanding how student loans work is crucial to avoid any future overpayments. For every loan you take, there are three main things to keep in mind: principal, interest rate, and repayment plan. Federal loans are based on a standard 10-year plan unless you have chosen otherwise. If you realize you cannot keep up with your repayment plan, you can change it based on your needs. Bear in mind that although extending your repayment will lower the monthly payments, your interest will increase. For this reason, some borrowers are presented with different loan options such as income-based repayment plans (IDR), which cap monthly payments based on a fixed percentage of income every year.

Study Your Repayment Options

When managing your student loan, keeping track of balance, lender requirements, and repayment status help you stay in control of your expenses and potential repayment options over the months and years. If you are unsure about your loan requirements, you can always ask the lender for more information. For instance, paying more than the required monthly amount will immediately lower the amount of interest over the life of the loan. Just inform the lender to remove the extra payment from the amount owed.

Adopt a Repayment Strategy

Certain college degrees require more money than others, with medical professionals taking on the highest debt. With doctors averaging around $200,000 in loans, many struggle to come up with a repayment strategy that best fits their income and financial needs. To cope with this burden, you may consider paying off high-interest loans first. For instance, private loans tend to have higher interest rates than federal ones, and their repayment options are not as flexible. Therefore, repaying private loans ahead of time can make your future federal payments much easier to handle.

Summing Up

The fallout from the student loan crisis goes far beyond the money repayments – it also depends on the behavior of the students and how they decide to cope with this heavy financial obligation. A great portion of this massive debt comes from students who have been counseled into borrowing large sums of money for their education without understanding its implications.Virtually, there is no “one size fits all” solution to student loans, as each individual’s situation is different, though equally complex. Whenever possible, prospective students should think carefully about whether or not borrowing money is worth their education.

Highly Profitable Bitcoin Mining is Now at Your Fingertips with Bitcoin Pro

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The world is still reeling under the shadow of the global pandemic. Businesses and economies are still struggling to get back on their feet whereas the livelihood of people has kind of decimated.

Amid all this catastrophe, the crypto market withstood everything and has taken huge strides to become the future of trading. The crypto market is attracting news investors more than ever due to the high profit-making potential of the market.

The shutting down of businesses and job losses have forced many people to look for alternate income sources, and crypto trading turned out to be one of the options. The crypto market did not face the brunt of the pandemic like other regulated financial markets and has helped users make large amounts of profits despite the price swings.

Over the past couple of years, thousands of new investors have thronged the crypto market, who have no trading experience. Despite the high earning potential of the crypto market, it has elements of risks, and not ideal for new investors. However, with the help of automatic trading platforms like Bitcoin pro software, crypto trading has become much easier with minimum risk. Users can now make huge profits after getting trading signals from the app. This trading robot allows users to trade on Bitcoin even if they do not have any fundamental knowledge of trading.

More Insights into Bitcoin pro

Bitcoin pro is a leading and reliable trading platform that provides real-time accurate trading signals to users through its smart algorithm backed by artificial intelligence technology. The integration of advanced technology and excellent accuracy of the software have made it faster and more efficient than most other apps in the market. Bitcoin pro scans the crypto market and identifies possible price swings of Bitcoin and accurately (99.4 percent accurate) predicts the market outcome.

The intuitive feature of Bitcoin pro can analyse the volatile crypto market and detect even minor price swings. The software helps users to trade based on these trading signals and make maximum profits. Users, who turn on the automatic feature of the software, do not have to do anything, as the software will do the trading for them.

How Bitcoin Pro Works

Bitcoin pro has integrated the most advanced technology and works automatically to scan the market and find out the best trading scopes for users. This process is called “scalping.” With this particular feature, the software stays ahead of other competing apps by milliseconds, which is sufficient to gather market data and provide accurate trading signals.

The software can detect even the most moderate Bitcoin price swings and helps investors with that data so that they capitalise on those opportunities and make the most of them.  

Crypto pro has both manual and automatic trading options for users. If you have experience in trading, you can opt for manual mode and use your knowledge and judgement to make profits by trading. However, if you are a beginner, it is ideal to choose the automatic mode to minimise your risk.

Benefits of Bitcoin pro

User-Friendly Interface

Bitcoin pro has a simple interface that makes it easy for users to navigate the platform with ease. Even if you are a beginner, you will feel comfortable using this software, as every section is prominent and there is no complexity. To access the features of this software, you only need a few taps.

Great Accuracy

The predictions of Bitcoin pro are 99.4 percent accurate. It means the software can detect price swings of Bitcoin with more than 99 percent times. That is highly impressive considering the market fluctuations. The software is 0.01 seconds faster than most trading apps and provides traders an early advantage of trading ahead of others.  

Market Analysis

The Bitcoin pro is based around futuristic AI technology, which gathers large volumes of market data and analyses it to spot the best possible trading scopes. Also, there are several top brokers aligned with this platform, who share their market knowledge and insights to help users generating maximum income.

Secure Platform

Bitcoin pro provides encrypted security to protect user data and funds from external threats. All confidential user data and their earnings remain completely secure in this platform.

Earning Potential by Using Bitcoin Pro

Undoubtedly, you can generate significant and consistent income using the Bitcoin pro software. Typically, traders make between $500 and $1500 from this platform on average every day. The scope of making large amounts of profits using this app is unlimited, as many existing users have already turned heads by earning incredible amounts of profits within a few months of trading.  

4 Expenses Every New Property Investor Should Budget For

Once you figure out a budget for your new property, it might all seem smooth sailing at first glance. 

But getting to that figure is a toiling act. Not all folks have the same figure they can easily copy off of online since it’s highly specific to your location and needs.

And once you get into shelling out expenses, there’s a high likelihood for even more expenditures to slip through the cracks of your budget.

Let’s take a look at these 4 expenses that every new property investment should watch out for, lest they have a headache once it arrives.

Property Insurance

Have you ever considered insuring your home right before moving in?

It’s always a smart idea to have coverage for your home in case things take a turn for the worse. There’s always the looming tendency for theft, vandalism, impact damage (from a car or tree), kitchen fire, burst pipes, and natural disasters to degrade the quality of your home. 

Instead of constantly worrying over the possibility of these expenses, property insurance can give you both the assurance and the help you’ll need for your new property and its wellbeing. 

There are three types of property insurance plans:

  • Building Insurance
  • Contents Insurance
  • Contents and Building Insurance

If the new property is fully under your ownership, you might like looking into the contents and building insurance to protect all facets of your new home.

Aside from those types of insurance above, the insurers may include benefits such as temporary accommodation (in case your home becomes unlivable) and legal liability cover (covers payment for when an injury takes place or someone’s property is damaged at your home).

If you’re searching for solid insurance coverage for your new property, learn more about types of property-related insurance here and get an online quote.

Loan Establishment Fee

While you may be familiar with the loan plan of your new property, some (not all) lenders charge this to property owners as a fee. The purpose of this fee is to account for the lender’s expenses for the documentation of the process of undergoing the loan.

These are the expenses that’s covered in the loan establishment fee: 

This fee, also called an application fee, gets spent once you first put down your signature on the mortgage. It’s a one-time, upfront fee that goes for about $250 on average and reaches $800 to $1000 on the highest levels.

Ongoing Loan Fees

Aside from the upfront payment, there are also the annual and monthly charges of your loans to take into account. Lenders only charge one type or the other – so have that written down to understand the breakdown of your costs.

The purpose of ongoing loan fees is to pay the operational costs of maintaining the loan of your home. Additionally, it’s also chargeable as part of the mortgage’s package fee if it’s bundled as a set with other banking products.

It’s also important to keep in mind that not all properties have this fee; in fact, more homes on average aren’t annually charged for their loans.

So while the average cost of this loan across the market is $35, the highest that it can go for is as much as $400 per year — with monthly rates spent more than the market average! If you want to save on costs, direct your eyes instead on investors who don’t charge those fees.

Interests

The interest is not considered a fee per se, but don’t skimp on it. It’s the biggest expense you’ll dump on a home loan. If you have a low interest rate, you could be potentially saving thousands of dollars from the purchase of your property.

Typically owner-occupier loans are the low-cost option compared to investment home loans, so keep that in mind while making the purchasing decision for your property.

According to statistical studies, the average variable home rate for owner-occupiers is 3.29%. For a 2-year fixed home rate for owner-occupiers, the interest is considerably lower at 2.29%. 

Due to the economic situation Australia and the rest of the world are currently facing, home loan interest rates are at historical lows. And with interest taking the bulk of recurring annual expenses — it might be tempting to consider keeping an eye on the current home-ownership situation of Australia.

Want to know more? Contact us for a free strategy session.

Donald Trump Sends Bitcoin Tumbling

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The first few months of 2021 made it look like it was going to be a great year for Bitcoin and perhaps even for cryptocurrency in general. Bitcoin’s price even surged to a new high of sixty thousand dollars at one point. By the time we get to December, it might turn out that it’s been a great year for crypto after all, but there have been a couple of unexpected bumps on the road during the past few months.

The first came when Elon Musk appeared on the American entertainment show “Saturday Night Live” and jokingly referred to Dogecoin – a comparatively small cryptocurrency that he’s been a champion of on social media – as “a hustle.” While it was obvious to most viewers that Musk was joking, the crypto markets didn’t take the joke well. Within a few hours of his appearance, the coin lost almost a third of its value, and the market as a whole was down. That triggered an ongoing price drop that eventually saw Bitcoin fall all the way to thirty thousand dollars per coin – still a huge figure, but half of where it was just a few weeks ago.

Like the other big cryptos, Bitcoin has been staging a slow but steady recovery during the past few weeks, but now another heavyweight commentator has weighed in. During an interview with Fox Business, the former president launched a furious tirade against Bitcoin during which he called it a scam and said he wants it to fail because it “competes against the US dollar.” Not content with that, he also voiced his opinion that regulators in the USA should take action against the cryptocurrency to prevent it from becoming any more popular. An hour after the interview ended, the price of Bitcoin dropped by 1.3% from $36,472 to $35,973. It’s not a huge wobble, but it’s a wobble nonetheless – and precisely the sort of wobble that shouldn’t be happening at this point in Bitcoin’s existence.

We’ve been here before with Trump and Bitcoin, and Bitcoin investors should be relieved that his voice isn’t as influential as it once was. When he spoke out against the coin in 2019, he almost single-handedly shaved ten thousand dollars off its value. At the time, former National Security Advisor John Bolton was believed to be pressuring his Treasury colleague Steve Mnuchin to outlaw all forms of cryptocurrency in their entirety. That hasn’t happened and isn’t likely to happen now the Democrats are in power, but their views are representative of an older, conservative core of people who either don’t trust or don’t understand cryptocurrency.

The fact that Trump doesn’t understand the principles of cryptocurrency isn’t all that surprising. Firstly, he’s admitted that he wants the US dollar to be the most dominant currency in the world, so his views are framed by American nationalism. Secondly, this is a man who once said that global warming was necessary because it was snowing in New York. Understanding complicated things isn’t exactly his forte. The problem in this instance isn’t so much what Trump said as the effect it had on the price of Bitcoin. When Musk talks about Bitcoin or cryptocurrency, we can almost understand why the price would move because Musk is a respected authority on the topic. Trump’s understanding of cryptocurrency is non-existent, and he’s no longer in a position to make political changes. What he says or does shouldn’t matter, and yet the market still appears to be sensitive.

As many of you will already know, Bitcoin isn’t a “true” competitor to the US dollar at all. By many definitions, it isn’t even a currency. It doesn’t have a unit of account. It’s not universally accepted as a means of payment and doesn’t provide a good store of value. It’s an alternative to conventional currencies, not a rival to any one of them specifically. This is the argument that’s increasingly being lost or missed in the press, and it’s part of the reason that so many people still lack a fundamental understanding of what Bitcoin and currencies like it really are. Unfortunately, that applies to many of the people who invest in it.

With so little understanding and so much nervousness, it’s inevitable that the price of Bitcoin will always be jittery. Bet on it at the right moment, and you could end up rich, but bet on it at the wrong moment, and you could make enormous losses. That’s around the same level of security that someone has when they play online slots, and it’s not a sound basis for making investments. The comparison isn’t an unfair one to make. In many ways, the complicated mathematical formulas that drive the production of Bitcoin are similar to the mathematics that underpin the online slots at Rose Slots Canada. These days you’ll even find that Bitcoin and Ethereum are accepted as valid forms of payment at a few online slots websites. You still wouldn’t go into such a game with the expectation of winning money, though, and that’s what’s supposed to differentiate them from investments. When you get that same sense of uncertainty from investing in Bitcoin, something’s seriously wrong.

It’s taken years to get the words “Bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency” into the consciousness of the general public. We’ve finally arrived at the point where the majority of people know what they are, even if they don’t understand how they work. Explaining how they work is the next step along the road and also the most difficult. Learning how cryptocurrencies work takes time and effort, and not everybody wants to commit that level of time and effort even when they’re willing to commit their money to invest in crypto. For as long as that remains the case, prices will drop whenever negative press coverage happens because investors who lack understanding will panic and dump their holdings. For those who are serious about turning Bitcoin into a stable, dependable currency, this situation cannot be allowed to persist for much longer. We’ve found a way to make Bitcoin popular. Now, we have to find a way to make it immune to the thoughts and words of the Donald Trumps of the world.

Hair transplants in Turkey: low cost, high quality

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Financially savvy hair loss sufferers are discovering that a hair transplant in Turkey offers more advanced technologies than in the UK, but at significantly lower costs.

A typical cost per hair graft in the UK is around £3, so a typical hair transplant of around 3,500 grafts ends up costing about £10,500. By contrast, prices for a 3,500 graft Sapphire FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) operation at the best hair clinic in Istanbul start at £1,800, rising to around £3,350 for a VIP package with the most modern technique, Micro Sapphire DHI (Direct Hair Implantation).

These prices are fixed price packages including hotel accommodation, transport, aftercare, and many other features.

The best quality on the market

Private health care in the UK is known for its high quality, but also for its high costs. The NHS never pays for a hair transplant, so patients must pay the costs out of their own pocket.

There have been some scare stories in recent years about low-quality hair transplant operations in Turkey. However, as a state that is applying to join the EU, Turkish clinics are subject to the same safety standards as those in Germany, France, or the UK.

What is more, the intense competition between clinics in Istanbul has meant that those at the top of the market offer the best hair transplantation methods available.

Which techniques are used for hair transplants in Turkey?

Turkish clinics mainly use the modern FUE procedure: Follicular Unit Extraction. In an FUE hair transplant, the hair grafts – meaning the hairs, the roots and surrounding tissue – are removed individually, medically prepared, and then transplanted into the new area of the scalp.

First, the hair in the donor area is shaved, then the grafts are removed individually. In the recipient area, the surgeon creates channels with a hollow and implants the groups of hair follicles.

The procedure takes place under local anaesthesia and allows the patient to talk to the staff, read or even watch television.

The Cosmedica Clinic in Istanbul specialises in the Micro Sapphire DHI method. This is a further development of the FUE technique. Instead of a normal scalpel, the lead surgeon at Cosmedica, Dr. Levent Acar, uses a particularly small and thin one made of the precious stone sapphire.

Then he removes the grafts with highly specialised implanter pen and immediately reinserts them in the recipient place. Such specialised tools allow for a 99% graft success rate. The sapphire tools make finer incisions which gives a faster healing process. The implanter pen gives the grafts total protection, and the time that the follicles are outside the body is minimised.

Hair Transplant Turkey Costs – what do I need to consider?

The full hair transplant turkey costs are not just the transplant itself, but also includes things like travel, accommodation, and aftercare. Most clinics in the UK charge per graft, so the more grafts, the more expensive.

Many doctors in Turkey nowadays offer hair transplant packages. These typically include hotel stays, aftercare, VIP transfer from the airport and hotel, and a personalised consultation. However, travel is usually not included, so you need to factor that in as well.

However, even with all the travel costs, top quality hair transplant cost in Turkey remains much cheaper than in the UK. Istanbul is one of the world’s best-connected cities.

The best clinics will offer aftercare solutions which involve hair washing for the first time a few days after the operation. Many patients take the opportunity for a short holiday in Istanbul, one of the world’s great historical cities.

Why are hair transplants cheaper in Turkey?

Low prices for medical services in Turkey are possible because the general cost of living is much lower. This includes rents and electricity costs, transfer costs and more, so that even world class clinics have much lower overheads than in the UK.

All in all, a good estimation is that when all costs are considered, an affordable hair transplant in Turkey costs only about half as much as in the UK.

The best hair clinics in Turkey offer standards at least as good as in the UK, because medical tourism has become one of Istanbul’s major industries.

The Micro Sapphire DHI hair transplant method is only available in very few clinics around the world. This pioneering hair transplant procedure is favoured by the rich and famous as it offers superior success rates and quicker healing.

Affordable Micro Sapphire DHI

Cosmedica Clinic’s Micro Sapphire DHI is favoured by the rich and famous, such as TV personality Calum Best, actor Ricky Whittle, Spanish model Jesus Palacios, and German World Cup-winning football star Andreas Brehme.

However, a high quality hair transplant is not just for celebrities. The affordable prices offered in Istanbul make a full head of hair an attainable goal for everyone.

How Localisation is the Key to Boosting Your Global Web Traffic

Have you ever visited a website that was written in a foreign language? Or maybe you tried to buy something, and the site listed prices in another country’s currency. Or perhaps you noticed something a little off, like a request to enter your zip code when you have a postcode.

These alienating experiences happen when a company doesn’t localise. Choosing not to localise when you go global can have a devastating effect on your impact and sales. Simply put, people don’t want to do business with a company that doesn’t care about their experience.

To create a website that appeals to a broad audience, you’ll need to localise. Localisation is a crucial marketing technique that helps you tailor your website for international visitors.

Before you launch an international website, you’ll want to keep scrolling. This guide tells you everything you need to know about localisation.

What is Localisation?

Localisation makes your website more accessible to a global audience. It’s a way of adapting your website to the unique needs of different markets so that it’s easier for international visitors to navigate your content and purchase your products.

Translation is a major component of localisation services. After all, your international visitors have to understand what you’re offering to engage with you properly. Making sure your site displays in different languages means your visitors won’t have to guess at what you mean in product descriptions or payments pages as a result.

Translating an entire website into multiple languages is a big job, and it’s not always within your communication team’s abilities. Many international companies turn to a professional translation service like LingArch to get their global site up and running.

Professional translation services employ experienced linguists whose sole duty is to expertly translate your website. Their website translation services offer a holistic approach to your content, not only making sure it’s technically correct but also culturally relevant.

To see how website translation services differ from straight translation services, check out Lingarch.com for more information.

How is it Different from Machine Translation?

Machine translation is an automated process that relies on powerful technology to translate text into another language. Google Translate is one of the most popular translating programs in use today. If you’re using Chrome, the browser uses Google’s patented algorithms to translate on-site text into another language.

Machine-based services are ideal for when large volumes of text must be converted in a short period of time. However, it’s not suitable when you want to make an impactful, eloquent message to a foreign audience.

That’s because machine-powered translations can be inelegant or even grammatically incorrect. It might get your company’s point across, but it will be clear to any native speaker a human didn’t write it.

Localisation services are a considerable upgrade from in-browser translations. While some agencies may use machines to translate the bulk of your text, localisation means a human will always edit and proof the results.

This helps website translation services in creating copy that reads flawlessly in your chosen language without errors. This added touch demonstrates to your international customers that you care.

3 Benefits of Targeted Localisation

Localisation is more than just a translation service. It’s about maximizing your website’s content in every language so that you can attract a global audience and rank higher in international Search Engine Results Pages (SERP).

Here are the top four perks to using website translation services that specialises in location.

1. Creates Culturally Relevant Content

Sometimes, a word-for-word translation isn’t appropriate. Literal translations can wind up implying something entirely different from your original message, causing confusion about your brand, services, or products. It could even lead to publishing something offensive without realising it.

A talented linguist will proof your website with an eye for cultural relevancy. As native speakers, they’ll be able to spot any content that doesn’t make sense for your intended audience, offering more appropriate alternatives in their place. They can even suggest replacements for trends or holidays to generate better content.

2. Reaches Local Searches

A localised website will help you rank better in local searches, especially if you combine it with an SEO campaign in that language.

In many cases, a localised SEO campaign requires you to create geo-related content. You’ll create specific pages for a country, region, or even city. This locally customised content is just another way to provide content international audiences appreciate.

After doing targeted keyword research, you’ll be able to optimise your international copy to drive traffic and rank in SERP. You could even curate your campaign to rank in other popular search engines, such as Baidu, the most used search engine in China.

3. Improves Customer Experience

Although English is broadly spoken all over the world, there’s still a large demand for localised websites and products. According to Common Sense Advisory, three-quarters of Internet users won’t purchase something unless its description is in their language.

People seek out websites that tailor their content to their language, location, and culture, so having a professional translation service convert your text could have a significant impact on your traffic and sales.

4. Ensures Legal Compliance

Beyond your brand’s specific site content, you also need to post a privacy policy. That’s according to the law in many places around the world, including the US, UK, and EU. This policy is a legal agreement that informs visitors how you intend to gather, store, and use their personal information.

A translation service specialising in legal translations can ensure your privacy policies and terms of use meet strict compliance on both a micro and macro scale.

These experienced professionals will be familiar with sweeping laws, like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as niche legislation regulating your industry, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) for American medical practices.

It’s Time to Localise Your Website

Don’t write off localisation. If you expect to create an appealing website to people from around the world, you’re going to have to make some changes.

When you do, look for professional translation services that specialises in localisation and legal translations. These experts will help you create a compliant website that speaks directly to your customers, wherever they may hail. Global traffic, SERP ranking, and happy customers will soon follow.

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