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• Outgoing Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said in an interview that she feels "bittersweet" about leaving her position.
• While it is tradition to renominate Federal Reserve chairmen for a second term, President Donald Trump nominated Fed board member Jerome Powell instead of Yellen.
• The economy, job market, and stock market have improved considerably since Yellen took office.
• Yellen was the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve in US history.

Janet Yellen says she was disappointed that President Donald Trump didn't offer her a second term as Federal Reserve chair.

But she says she supports her successor at the central bank, Jerome Powell, and calls him "a very thoughtful policymaker."

It had been the tradition over the past four decades for the president to renominate the Fed leader for a second term, but Trump decided to nominate Fed board member Jerome Powell to the position instead.

Yellen says that she was saddened to leave a position she had devoted so much of her life to. 

"It is a bittersweet moment, because I really love this job," she told CBS' "Sunday Morning." "It has been the central focus of my life. You know, I enjoy time with my family outside of work. But the work I do here is the core of my existence, and it's been my identity."

Yellen was the first woman to lead the Fed. She said that part of her mission was to promote women in economic and monetary fields.

"Well, I've tried to do a good job, and I suppose a theme of my life is that I try to be prepared and to get good grades," she said. "Yes, I do want to show that women can perform well in these positions."

She also confirmed that she and her husband, Nobel Prize-winning economist George Akerlof, met at the Fed in the 1970s while they were both working there.

Yellen told CBS that the stock market — despite the Dow's 666-point drop on Friday — is high, and that the financial system is in better shape to handle a sharp sell-off than it was during the 2008 financial crisis. In addition, inflation has dropped to less than 2%, and the unemployment now sits at 4.1%, down from 6.7% when she took office.

"The labor market has become stronger," Yellen said. "I believe that since I've become Chair, several million jobs have been created, [something] on the order of ten million."

Her four-year term ended Friday, and Powell takes over on Monday.

SEE ALSO: YELLEN: Bitcoin is a 'highly speculative asset'

DON'T MISS: Yellen's new job will ensure she stays active in the debate over Fed policy

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• Kingsley Advani is a cryptocurrency millionaire at age 24.
• He invested $34,000 and turned it into low seven figures in six months.
• The 24-year-old quit his job last fall and now travels the world as a startup advisor and angel investor.

In the summer of 2017, 24-year-old Kingsley Advani sold his worldly possessions — a laptop and headphones — and emptied thousands of dollars from his bank account.

After seeing the once-in-a-lifetime returns that bitcoin has brought, he wanted in. Advani invested $34,000 in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and startups working on related technologies, and he watched his net worth balloon to low seven figures in six months.

At an age when many people are trying to climb up the career ladder, Advani works as an advisor to cryptocurrency startups with a $0 salary. He travels between London, New York, and San Francisco, taking meetings and scouting startups working on what may be the next great blockchain technology.

"I think at no point in human history have people in their twenties had such an opportunity to invest in such high-growth assets," Advani told Business Insider.

Created in 2008, bitcoin is a payment system that allows people to buy things and send money with anonymity. There are no banks or middlemen. Transactions are recorded on a digital ledger called a blockchain, which stores the information with full transparency.

It was the blockchain that first excited Advani about cryptocurrencies. 

In 2012, a friend introduced Advani to bitcoin, which at the time was largely used for buying and selling illegal drugs online. Advani saw the full potential of the technology.

"It's like a rebellion to traditional finance," Advani said. He believes its creation in 2008 — at the height of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression — was no coincidence. "You don't need centralized banks to send money, you have these great pieces of tech send money for you through cryptography. So unlike banks, it's faster, cheaper, and more secure," he said.

Advani started reading white papers on cryptocurrencies and watching the market more closely last summer. He decided he would not miss a second chance to take part. He invested all of his savings and part of his income from his job as a data scientist at a small software company.

"Every month I was waiting for that paycheck and I put it straight in," Advani said.

So far, his gamble has paid off. When Advani invested in bitcoin, it was worth about $4,000 per coin. As of February 1, the cryptocurrency has doubled in value. At its peak, Advani's investment had grown to low seven figures, though it fluctuates with the swing of the market.

He quit his software gig in October and now travels the world as an advisor and angel investor. Advani invests mostly in startups spun out of top universities, like Stanford, Cornell, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that are working on high-speed blockchain technology.

The 24-year-old is currently crashing on a bunk bed in a San Francisco hacker house for young cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and plans to move to the city full-time.

Advani said he doesn't drink or party; instead, he spends most of his free time meditating and reading cryptocurrency research online. During our interview, he whipped out his phone to share data from Headspace, a meditation app. He hasn't missed a session in over 400 days.

"I've decided to optimize time in front of the computer, because it's so easy to get distracted. I order all my food online to the door. I don't spend any time grocery shopping because I think it's a waste of time," Advani said. He added, "I try to live in a 'bunker' as much as possible."

He believes the key to his success has been limiting the number of things he focuses on. He doesn't read every news story on the value of bitcoin or pay close attention to its rise and fall.

Instead, Advani reads the latest research on the underlying technology and possibilities of cryptocurrencies, and tries to map where they're headed. He doesn't recommend investing in cryptocurrencies for everyone, unless they're willing to dig into the white papers like he has.

"Only put in what you can afford to lose," Advani said.

Disclosure: The author owns small amounts of bitcoin and Ethereum.

SEE ALSO: Over half a dozen residents of this San Francisco 'castle' have become bitcoin millionaires — take a look inside

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The post BitFury Launches Blockchain Investigation Tool to Fight Bitcoin Crime appeared first on CCN

Bitfury, a well-known industry group which started in 2011 as a Bitcoin mining company and has since grown into a multinational blockchain research group, has moved into the law enforcement space with the release of its new tool Crystal. The Crystal tool was designed with two main use cases in mind. The first of which

The post BitFury Launches Blockchain Investigation Tool to Fight Bitcoin Crime appeared first on CCN

• Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Prince Charles have distinct geographical titles.
• All three have separate monikers for when they are in Scotland.
• William and Kate also have a title which is linked to Northern Ireland.
• Scroll down to find out what they are.

The top members of the British royal family are names we're all familiar with — or so we think.

Though we hear about the likes of William, Kate, Harry, and Charles all the time, they also have alternative monikers most people won't be aware of.

In amongst their crowded collections of titles and honours (Prince Charles's full name is more than three lines long) are some that only really count in certain parts of the UK — and become their main name when they're there.

Senior, married members of the royal family have these regional titles, which at the moment means Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Prince Charles.

Scotland

All three senior royals have different titles in Scotland, which has a completely separate system of nobility to England, and was a distinct country until 1707.

Prince William was given the title Earl of Strathearn when he married Kate in 2011, and in keeping with that, Kate became the Countess of Strathearn, which is their proper title when in Scotland.

Here's a front page of The Daily Telegraph's Scottish edition, which took the chance to use their local titles.

Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland, also made a point of using those names when it was announced that Kate was pregnant with Princess Charlotte.

For Prince Charles, his title is Duke of Rothesay. It was the historic title held by the heir to the Scottish throne before the two royal families merged in the early 1600s. His wife, Camilla, is likewise the Duchess of Rothesay.

Here's the Scottish edition of The Times newspaper using the title:

Northern Ireland

William and Kate likewise have a title that only works in Ireland — and only in the six counties that make up Northern Ireland, which remained part of the UK after the rest left.

The Prince is Baron Carrickfergus when in the province, and Kate is Lady Carrickfergus.

Southwest England

The Prince of Wales doesn't have an Irish title, but he is the Duke of Cornwall. When travelling in the southwest of the country (Cornwall is the southwestern tip of the UK) he is often referred to by his ducal title instead of as a prince.

What about Harry and Meghan?

Prince Harry currently doesn't have equivalent geographical titles. But, since William got his extra ones when he married, there is every chance the same thing will happen on the occasion of Harry's wedding.

Royal watchers speculate that Harry will be made Duke of Sussex (with Meghan as Duchess), believing it to be the favourite among several vacant titles. There is scant information about what, if any, Irish or Scottish titles the pair may be granted.

SEE ALSO: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle just got engaged

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• Overseas investors continued to pour money into London's pricey offices last year, driven by Asian investors who snapped up landmark buildings including the "Walkie Talkie" skyscraper.
• Over half of overseas investment in 2017 came from Asia. 
• £5.85 billion of overseas investment in 2017 was from Hong Kong.

LONDON — Overseas investors continued to pour money into London's pricey offices last year, driven by Asian investors who snapped up landmark buildings including the "Walkie Talkie" skyscraper.

Real estate firm CBRE said investors spent £16.4 billion on office buildings in the capital in 2017, 26% more than the previous year. About 81% of those deals were completed by overseas purchasers, and £6.9 billion, or 54%, of investment was from Asia.

Of that, a record £5.85 billion of overseas investment was from Hong Kong, higher than the total HK investment in London for the last three decades combined. 

Some of those Hong Kong transactions were big-ticket buys, including the record £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) purchase of 20 Fenchurch Street — known as the Walkie Talkie — and of the £1.14 billion 122 Leadenhall Street, nicknamed the Cheesegrater.

Much activity in the commercial London market from Hong Kong comes from several well-known investors who already hold high-value assets in the capital. Many of them are looking to increase their exposure, attracted by long-term leases, a discounted pound, and London's "safe haven" status.

Read more: What's driving Chinese investment in London real estate?

"London has been a focal point for global investors since recovering from the [2008] financial crisis, with interest reaching a new high peaking in 2017," said Chris Brett, head of international capital markets at CBRE. 

"This was largely driven by the landmark sales of 20 Fenchurch Street and 122 Leadenhall Street, which both sold for more than £1 billion."

He said that London looks near fully-priced, which is pushing investors to look outside of London for the best value.

"Increasingly over the course of the last 12 months we have seen this wave of investment into London pushing capital into more affordable, up-and-coming cities like Manchester and Birmingham, as some investors are unable to compete with the international money coming into London," he said.

SEE ALSO: UBS: How investors made 23% returns on a key UK property sector since the Brexit vote

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The post Fighting for Bitcoin – Is Cryptocurrency Trading a Threat to Government Policies? appeared first on CCN

The mere fact that Bitcoin is decentralized concerns governments at global scale because only a centralized system can be in full control. Mark Zuckerberg argued in a recent statement that the people once believed in the decentralized nature of technology. Over the years, they’ve lost faith because governments are now using it to manipulate the

The post Fighting for Bitcoin – Is Cryptocurrency Trading a Threat to Government Policies? appeared first on CCN