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Bitcoin Is An ‘Insurance Policy’ Against The Fed

Bitcoin Is An ‘Insurance Policy’ Against The Fed

The U.S. dollar has been under pressure this year, taking a big hit as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on America’s economy.

In the run up to next month’s U.S. presidential election, investors are scrambling to understand how a win for either incumbent Donald Trump or Democratic challenger Joe Biden will move the dollar and currency markets.

However, former Facebook
FB
 executive-turned venture capitalist, Chamath Palihapitiya, has warned neither Biden nor Trump will help U.S. dollar—but holding bitcoin is an “insurance policy” that helps him to “sleep soundly at night.”

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“The reality is that [the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury] have printed so much money that the likelihood is that we’re going to continue to see asset price inflation independent of who’s in the White House,” Palihapitiya told CNBC’s Squawk Box this week, adding he holds bitcoin just “in case the central banks and governments of the world step on a landmine.”

The Fed and the Treasury have embarked on massive stimulus programs this year, injecting trillions of dollars in the financial system in an attempt to offset the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

This unprecedented intervention, propelling the stock market to record highs even as unemployment has spiked and businesses struggle nationwide, has sparked fears among some investors that a severe bout of inflation is on the way.

Palihapitiya, who began his VC career while still

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New Yelp Policy Will Flag Businesses Accused of Racism

New Yelp Policy Will Flag Businesses Accused of Racism

Yelp  (YELP) – Get Report rolled out a new feature Friday that will alert users when an establishment has been associated with what the review site called “egregious, racially charged actions.” 

The San Francisco company’s site enables users to rank and comment about businesses.

“As the nation reckons with issues of systemic racism, we’ve seen in the last few months that there is a clear need to warn consumers about businesses associated with egregious, racially charged actions to help people make more informed spending decisions,” the company said in a statement. 

A banner with a red exclamation point and a tile of “Business Accused of Racist Behavior” will appear under a business where “someone associated with this business was accused of racist behavior.”

The banner also will say whether the racist behavior resulted in an influx of people posting their views to a business’s Yelp page. Those negative reviews must reflect actual first-hand customer experiences, the company said. 

Twitter to Turn Off Some Retweets of Misleading Posts

To protect against what it calls “media-fueled reviews,” it will require that user experiences be first-hand accounts of racist behavior. 

Yelp reported seeing more than a doubling of of media-fueled “incidences” on the site so far in 2020. 

From May 26 through Sept. 30 the company placed more than 450 alerts on business pages that were either accused of, or the target of, “racist behavior related to the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Once Yelp notices an unusual spike in activity on a business’s Yelp page, the company’s moderators investigate and temporarily disable content, as they place an alert warning users that some reviews may not be based on first-hand experiences. 

When allegations of racism are present, the company will default to a general public attention alert and will escalate that banner

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Factbox: What a second Trump term would mean for U.S. financial policy

Factbox: What a second Trump term would mean for U.S. financial policy

By Pete Schroeder, Michelle Price

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A victory by U.S. President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election would continue his administration’s four-year deregulatory streak, which has delivered at least $40 billion in gains to banks and other financial firms, according to industry estimates.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump stands on the Truman Balcony after the president underwent a fourth day of treatment for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as he returns to the White House in Washington, U.S., October 5, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott

Here are some more key financial rule changes that policy experts said they would expect if the Republican incumbent wins a second term in the White House.

HOUSING FINANCE OVERHAUL

Trump’s administration could push ahead with its ambitious overhaul of the housing finance market.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has begun the fraught process of returning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that guarantee over half the country’s mortgages, to the private markets. It has allowed the pair to bolster their capital bases by retaining more of their profits and is drawing up new capital requirements that should be finished by the end of this year.

In a second term, FHFA Director Mark Calabria would be able to proceed with plans to potentially raise billions of dollars of extra capital from private sources, slimming down the pair’s activities, bolstering their internal controls and reducing their risk exposure.

FINTECH PUSH

The Trump administration has been a major proponent of innovation in financial services and has already taken steps to make it easier for technology firms to get into banking. A second term would give Trump officials more leeway to push further into this often controversial territory.

Brian Brooks, acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), has strongly

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How To Select Your Life Insurance Policy During Coronavirus

How To Select Your Life Insurance Policy During Coronavirus

As the world is battling with the deadly COVID-19, major concerns around combatting the fallouts of the impact of the virus have been ubiquitous. India, a country of 1.38 billion people, has been facing one such concern—ambiguous financial future.

With life insurance penetration at 2.74% as of 2018 and expectations for the life insurance industry to grow 12% to 15% annually over the next three to five years, now may be a good time to consider life insurance policies that may help ease your anxiety about protecting yourself and your loved ones financially.

We spoke to insurance companies offering life insurance to know how to select your life insurance policy during the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what they said. 

Choose A Life Insurance Plan That Offers Protection First

Although the crisis has created uncertainty, it has also offered insurance companies time to think more deeply about innovation, improved customer experiences, fundamentally different cost structures, and an upskilled and reskilling workforce, says a McKinsey report.

Given how insurance companies are tailor-making their policies to address life insurance concerns holistically, this could be an ideal time to select a policy that protects you as well as your savings. Let’s look at your options:

Term Life Insurance Plans

Term life insurance plans offer protection to an individual for a set period of time or term decided upon for which a premium is paid. In the event of death or total and permanent disability, depending on the policy, the life assured’s dependants are paid a benefit. If the policyholder survives the term of the term insurance plan, no benefit is normally payable.

Tarannum Hasib, chief distribution officer of Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance, finds term plans basic hygiene for every earning member of the family as they serve as income replacements

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Internet Security Market with COVID-19 Recovery Analysis 2020 | Rapid Adoption of BYOD Policy to Boost Market Growth

Internet Security Market with COVID-19 Recovery Analysis 2020 | Rapid Adoption of BYOD Policy to Boost Market Growth

The global internet security market size is poised to grow by USD 20.41 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 10% throughout the forecast period, according to the latest report by Technavio. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download a Free Sample of REPORT with COVID-19 Crisis and Recovery Analysis.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201007005681/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Internet Security Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The Internet security market is driven by the rapid adoption of BYOD policy. The perpetual changes in work locations, time zone barriers, as well as the pressing need to access official and confidential data on an employee’s personal device are resulting in the adoption of bring your own device (BYOD) policy. The increased adoption of the BYOD policy requires a secure network management suite that can be provided by commercial routers. SMEs and individual customers who have a high rate of data usage are focusing more on 3G/4G wireless routers. Thus, the market will experience continuous growth during the forecast period due to the abundant benefits of mobility.

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Report Highlights:

  • The major Internet security market growth came from the products segment in 2019, and it is expected to witness the fastest growth during the next five years. This is primarily because of the increase in sales of hardware security components.

  • APAC was the largest Internet security market in 2019, and the region will offer several growth opportunities to market vendors during the forecast

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