Coin News

Abra, a global currency wallet that was the belle of the early Bitcoin ball, has just added twenty cryptocurrencies and fifty fiat currencies, a feature that allows you to top up and send cash and cryptocurrencies from inside the wallet. “Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Zcash, Bitcoin Gold, Stellar Lumens, DigiByte, […]

Abra, a global currency wallet that was the belle of the early Bitcoin ball, has just added twenty cryptocurrencies and fifty fiat currencies, a feature that allows you to top up and send cash and cryptocurrencies from inside the wallet. “Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Zcash, Bitcoin Gold, Stellar Lumens, DigiByte, […]

Abra, a global currency wallet that was the belle of the early Bitcoin ball, has just added twenty cryptocurrencies and fifty fiat currencies, a feature that allows you to top up and send cash and cryptocurrencies from inside the wallet. “Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Zcash, Bitcoin Gold, Stellar Lumens, DigiByte, […]

• Stock-trading app Robinhood could be valued at $5.6 billion when it closes an upcoming fundraising round, according to a Thursday report in The Wall Street Journal.
• According to The Journal's sources, the funding round is being led by Russian billionaire Yuri Miller's investment firm, DST Global.
• DST Global led Robinhood's previous funding round in 2017. 

Popular zero-fee trading app Robinhood could be valued in excess of $5 billion dollars — a huge increase over its previous $1.3 billion valuation in 2017 — when it closes a fundraising round that's currently in the works, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The five-year-old company is finalizing a new funding round led by DST Global, the firm led by influential Russian billionaire Yuri Miller, The Journal reports, citing anonymous sources. The firm led the company's previous funding round in 2017, which was the first time Robinhood was valued at over $1 billion.

Robinhood gained notoriety early on its for its straightforward design and zero-fee trading, which recently expanded to include cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin.

In addition to fundraising talks, Robinhood has received other interest from investors recently as well. On Wednesday, the company announced that Greylock investor Josh Elman would be joining Robinhood in a senior position. In a statement to Recode, Elman described Robinhood as "hyper-growth company."

Robinhood's reported $5.6 billion valuation would place it ahead of its rival platform, Coinbase, which was most recently estimated to have a $3.2 billion valuation. 

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• Stock-trading app Robinhood could be valued at $5.6 billion when it closes an upcoming fundraising round, according to a Thursday report in The Wall Street Journal.
• According to The Journal's sources, the funding round is being led by Russian billionaire Yuri Miller's investment firm, DST Global.
• DST Global led Robinhood's previous funding round in 2017. 

Popular zero-fee trading app Robinhood could be valued in excess of $5 billion dollars — a huge increase over its previous $1.3 billion valuation in 2017 — when it closes a fundraising round that's currently in the works, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The five-year-old company is finalizing a new funding round led by DST Global, the firm led by influential Russian billionaire Yuri Miller, The Journal reports, citing anonymous sources. The firm led the company's previous funding round in 2017, which was the first time Robinhood was valued at over $1 billion.

Robinhood gained notoriety early on its for its straightforward design and zero-fee trading, which recently expanded to include cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin.

In addition to fundraising talks, Robinhood has received other interest from investors recently as well. On Wednesday, the company announced that Greylock investor Josh Elman would be joining Robinhood in a senior position. In a statement to Recode, Elman described Robinhood as "hyper-growth company."

Robinhood's reported $5.6 billion valuation would place it ahead of its rival platform, Coinbase, which was most recently estimated to have a $3.2 billion valuation. 

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According to Brazilian news outlet Agência Brasil, authorities in Rio de Janeiro recently uncovered a money laundering scheme in which state officials misstate the budget spent on food for state-run prisons. Bitcoin was reportedly used to exchange some of the scheme’s proceeds, which totaled roughly $22.4 million. After the scheme was discovered, search warrants were

The post Brazilian Prison System Officials Caught in $22.4 Million Bitcoin Fraud appeared first on CCN

• A bridge at Florida International University's campus collapsed on Thursday, resulting in multiple injuries and casualties to those who were trapped beneath it.
• The 950-ton bridge, which was set to be completed in 2019, was designed to make it safer for students to travel between FIU's campus and Streetwater, a city where around 4,000 students live.
• The bridge was installed in a single day on Saturday through a method that was supposed to increase safety for workers, pedestrians, and drivers.

A bridge on Florida International University's campus collapsed on Thursday, resulting in multiple injuries and casualties to those who were trapped beneath it.

WSVN reported at least six injuries and The Miami Herald reported multiple deaths as a result of the bridge's collapse.

The 950-ton bridge was designed to make it safer for students to travel between FIU's campus and Streetwater, a city where around 4,000 students live. According to The Miami Herald, students and faculty had asked for a bridge that would span the seven-lane road where a student was killed by a motorist in August.

The bridge was installed in a single day on Saturday after the 174-foot span and support towers were built over several months. The rapid installation method was supposed to increase safety for workers, pedestrians, and drivers.

The bridge was set to be completed in 2019, and was part of a $14.2 million project, paid for by the US Department of Transportation, that would feature sidewalks, a plaza, benches, tables, and Wi-Fi.

Before and after the bridge was installed, MCM Construction, which built the bridge with FIGG Bridge Design, retweeted posts on its Twitter account which alluded to how the bridge and its installation were designed with student safety in mind.

"Student #SafetyFirst !!" one tweet read after the bridge was installed.

The company later released a statement about the collapse on Twitter.

"Our family's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy," the company wrote. "The new UniversityCity Bridge, which was under construction, experienced a catastrophic collapse causing injuries and loss of life. MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist. We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way."

SEE ALSO: A pedestrian bridge near Florida International University collapsed, trapping people and cars underneath; several deaths reported

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Lightning Labs, a young, Bay Area-based startup, is trying to make it easier for users to send bitcoin and litecoin to each other without the costly and time consuming process of settling their transactions on the blockchain. It has investors excited about its work, too. The company is announcing today that it has raised $2.5 […]

Lightning Labs, a young, Bay Area-based startup, is trying to make it easier for users to send bitcoin and litecoin to each other without the costly and time consuming process of settling their transactions on the blockchain. It has investors excited about its work, too. The company is announcing today that it has raised $2.5 […]

• Tech investor Peter Thiel talked cryptocurrencies, the potential outcome of the 2020 election, and Silicon Valley's insulated culture during a fireside chat at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday.
• Thiel, an early bitcoin investor, predicted there will be one leading future cryptocurrency that will be the digital equivalent of gold.
• Thiel suggested that, if President Trump runs again, he'd see a positive outcome in the 2020 election.
• Thiel also chatted candidly about his negative opinions of Silicon Valley, which he described as having a "lemming-like" quality. 

On Thursday, tech investor and Facebook boardmember Peter Thiel chatted with journalist Maria Bartiromo during a fireside chat at the Economic Club of New York. Thiel talked about a range of topics including the viability of cryptocurrencies, the results of the 2020 election if Trump were to run again, and Silicon Valley's insulated culture.

Thiel invested early in bitcoin, and said he's "long bitcoin, neutral to skeptical on everything else."

"I’m not exactly sure whether or not I would encourage people to turn out and buy these cryptocurrencies right now," he said. 

In the future, Thiel predicted that there will be one prevailing cryptocurrency that will viewed as the digital equivalent of gold. "It will most likely be bitcoin," Thiel said, although he hinted at the possibility of ethereum.

Thiel seemed unswayed by the increasing speculation regarding what many feel to be the cryptocurrency bubble.

"Any of the objections most people would have to bitcoin are the same objections people would have had to gold," he said. "But money is a bubble that never pops ... and there is this bubble-like aspect to money that can be quite stable."

Thiel, who recently announced that he intends to move from his longtime home of Silicon Valley to Los Angeles, reiterated his thoughts that the tech hub has become the home of pervasively hermetic ideologies. More than once, Thiel described the valley's tech community as having a "lemming-like" quality which lacked diversity of thought. 

"I thought it would be healthier to be somewhere outside [Silicon Valley]," Thiel said. 

Thiel stressed the importance of investors considering the geographic expansion of the tech community, not only within the United States, but globally as well. 

"This geographic question is something we should be thinking about super hard[...]" Thiel stated. "We're living in a very different world where we have to think about how we get American companies to compete globally."

Thiel said that his stance on global economics was a contributing factor in his political backing of President Trump, a move that was controversial within the left-leaning community of Silicon Valley.

"I thought that supporting Trump was one of the least contrarian things I've ever done," Thiel said, citing the president's popularity among voters and victory. 

Thiel, while initially hesitant to speculate on the 2020 election, predicted a positive outcome for President Trump.

"I’m not trying to speculate on this," Thiel said. "[...but] I think if he runs again, he will get re-elected."

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This is a submitted sponsored story. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the content below. The startup behind Eligma, an AI-driven and blockchain-based cognitive commerce platform, is announcing Elipay, the first of the many platform’s features. The Crypto Transaction System is a demonstration

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Mobile Bitcoin wallet Abra has unveiled its new trading platform that lets users invest in 20 cryptocurrencies and 50 fiat currencies in the same app that they use to manage their BTC. Abra announced on Thursday that the latest version of its mobile app now includes support for a total of 70 currencies as a real-time

The post Bitcoin App Abra Adds Support for 70 Cryptocurrency and Fiat ‘Stablecoins’ appeared first on CCN

• A whistleblower is suing Walmart, saying the company " issued misleading e-commerce results."
• Shares of the company sank as much as 2.4% Thursday.

Shares of Walmart sank as much as 2.45% from their intraday highs on Thursday following a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the company " issued misleading e-commerce results."

In a suit filed in San Francisco on Thursday, the company's former director of business development, Tri Huynh, said he was wrongly fired for raising concern about Walmart's "overly aggressive push to show meteoric growth in its e-commerce business by any means possible -- even, illegitimate ones," according to a Bloomberg News report.

Walmart has been aggressively investing in its e-commerce business following its $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com in August 2016, including further buyouts of niche online stores like Bonobos and Modcloth.

On its most recent earnings report in February, Walmart said its online sales growth had slowed more than Wall Street expected, sending the stock tumbling. Shares of Walmart are down 11.7% since the beginning of 2018.

This story is developing...

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• A whistleblower is suing Walmart, saying the company " issued misleading e-commerce results."
• Shares of the company sank as much as 2.4% Thursday.

Shares of Walmart sank as much as 2.45% from their intraday highs on Thursday following a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the company " issued misleading e-commerce results."

In a suit filed in San Francisco on Thursday, the company's former director of business development, Tri Huynh, said he was wrongly fired for raising concern about Walmart's "overly aggressive push to show meteoric growth in its e-commerce business by any means possible -- even, illegitimate ones," to head of e-commerce Marc Lore, according to a Bloomberg News report.

Walmart has been aggressively investing in its e-commerce business following its $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com in August 2016, including further buyouts of niche online stores like Bonobos and Modcloth.

On its most recent earnings report in February, Walmart said its online sales growth had slowed more than Wall Street expected, sending the stock tumbling. Shares of Walmart are down 11.7% since the beginning of 2018.

This story is developing...

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The most virulently anti-Bitcoin congressman at this week’s House Capital Markets, Securities, and Investment Subcommittee hearing on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) received his largest campaign donations from industries threatened by widespread cryptocurrency adoption. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) — who made headlines when he called Bitcoin a “crock” during Wednesday’s hearing — has received

The post Bitcoin is a ‘Crock’ Politician Received Biggest Donation from Company at Crypto Disruption Risk appeared first on CCN

Blockchain is good for a lot more than just Bitcoin

This promoted article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

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• Toys R Us filed liquidation papers on Thursday. 
• The store blamed rivals Amazon, Walmart, and Target for undercutting it on price.
• Some retailers could potentially benefit from Toys R Us' going out of business.

RIP Toys R Us. 

On Wednesday, America's best-known toy store informed employees that it would be closing or selling off all of its more than 700 stores in the US. The following morning, it filed liquidation papers. 

In a conference call with employees on Wednesday, CEO David Brandon partly blamed its downfall on a devastating holiday season, where sales were less than half of the $600 million usually made in a year.

The company has lashed out at its competitors, claiming that Walmart, Target, and Amazon created the "perfect storm" to kill off the chain after these stores cut prices on toys during the holiday season. Toys R Us said it could not offer such low margins given that it relies solely on its toy sales. 

These rival businesses, along with several others, are now set to capitalize on its demise. Find out who below:

SEE ALSO: Claire's is reportedly planning to file for bankruptcy as dying American malls claim another victim

Walmart

Walmart is the largest toy retailer in the country.

In 2017, it doubled down on its efforts to capture more of this market, adding 1,000 new toys to its selection during the holidays, offering exclusive products, and being more competitive on price. Toys R Us said in its liquidation filing that these price cuts were one of the big reasons behind the weak holiday sales that crippled the company. 

Given its large store base in the US, Walmart is well-positioned to capture the lost foot traffic from Toys R Us stores. It is also the second-largest online toy retailer, following Amazon. 

Amazon

Amazon is leading the way in online sales of toys. In 2016, toy sales amounted to $2.16 billion in sales, according to data from Ecommercedb.com. This figure eclipsed sales numbers from Walmart and Toys R Us.

Amazon is winning over parents who are ditching stores to shop online for toys. Online retailing has doubled its share — 14.7% of consumers say they now go online to purchase toys, versus 7.3% five years ago, according to a report done by Fung Global Retail & Technology.

Amazon wants its customers to know it's getting serious here. This month, it sponsored Khloe Kardashian's over-the-top baby shower.

"So grateful to be surrounded by a beautiful support system. And special thank you to @Amazon for helping me bring it all together! ... #AllOnAmazon#AmazonBabyRegistry," Kardashian captioned her Instagram post.

Target

Target was also singled out by Toys R Us as being part of a triumvirate of retailers that contributed most to its declining sales.

During the holiday, Target reported stronger-than-expected sales results thanks to surging online sales and more store traffic. While Target does not report its toy sales separately, Reuters reported in January that the lack of other strong retail and online players who sell toys would have helped the company to keep its "loyalists" away from bankrupt Toys R Us.

Similar to Walmart, Target has a strong store presence in the US and a growing online platform, which means it's well-positioned to scoop up former Toys R Us customers. 

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

This promoted article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman just published their annual blue paper on wholesale banks and asset managers.
• The report highlights growing pressures on the asset management industry, which will in turn translate into added cost pressures for the wholesale banks that serve them.
• "We think we are at an inflection point," the report reads. "Institutional and corporate client revenue pools have historically grown at a similar pace, each comprising ~50% of global wholesale banking revenues. However, tailwinds on the corporate wallet and pressures on the institutional wallet present a shift that we think is here to stay."

Wall Street banks are at "an inflection point."

According to a big report from Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman on wholesale banks and asset managers, it's now time for banks to shift their focus towards corporate business, versus the institutional investor clients they've been focused on.

That's because the asset managers are under intensifying cost pressure. As a result, institutional client revenue growth over the next three years is forecast to slow to a compound annual growth rate of 2%. Corporate client revenues in contrast are forecast to grow at CAGR of 5% in the short term, as rising rates bolster various business lines.

"We think we are at an inflection point," the report reads. "Institutional and corporate client revenue pools have historically grown at a similar pace, each comprising ~50% of global wholesale banking revenues. However, tailwinds on the corporate wallet and pressures on the institutional wallet present a shift that we think is here to stay."

The report highlights a positive medium-term outlook for corporate revenues in macro trading, dealmaking, and transaction banking.

"Cyclical tailwinds are set to drive revenue growth in the corporate segment, but with very different dynamics between "CFO-down" and "CFO-up" relationships," the report said. 

"CFO down" businesses include debt business, lending, cash management and trade finance. As the name suggests, these are usually delivered to the CFO and Treasury units. These businesses tend to be sticky and stable, and will benefit from rising rates. And it's here that Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman are forecasting the fastest growth in revenues (5.5% CAGR over the next five years).

"CFO-up" products in contrast include headline grabbing equity deals, mergers and acquisitions, and leveraged finance. These are higher return businesses, but also more volatile and more relationship based. Specialized advisory firms have already eaten in to this revenue pie, taking market share from the bigger banks. 

The report said:

"To win with corporates, banks need to invest in relationship bankers for CFO-up businesses and in technology for CFO-down businesses. CFO-up products, like M&A advisory, are high-touch relationship-driven businesses. We don't think that will change any time soon. Highly skilled relationship bankers are key for banks to continue investing in. For CFO-down products, like transaction banking, technology is set to disrupt, define and expand the future state of the industry."

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NOW WATCH: Goldman Sachs investment chief: Bitcoin is definitely a bubble, Ethereum even more so

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

You might have seen the news yesterday that Playboy will soon accept a slew of cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ethereum — as payment, but there's another little-known coin the porn site is supporting that could radically change how porn is paid for online. 

Business Insider tech reporter Becky Peterson has everything you need to know here>>

Here are the current crypto prices:

SEE ALSO: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The surprising reason why NASA hasn't sent humans to Mars yet

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

You might have seen the news yesterday that Playboy will soon accept a slew of cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ethereum — as payment, but there's another little-known coin the porn site is supporting that could radically change how porn is paid for online. 

Business Insider tech reporter Becky Peterson has everything you need to know here>>

Here are the current crypto prices:

SEE ALSO: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The surprising reason why NASA hasn't sent humans to Mars yet

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

You might have seen the news yesterday that Playboy will soon accept a slew of cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ethereum — as payment, but there's another little-known coin the porn site is supporting that could radically change how porn is paid for online. 

Business Insider tech reporter Becky Peterson has everything you need to know here>>

Here are the current crypto prices:

SEE ALSO: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The surprising reason why NASA hasn't sent humans to Mars yet

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

You might have seen the news yesterday that Playboy will now accept a slew of cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ethereum — as payment, but there's another little-known coin the porn site is supporting that could radically change how porn is paid for online. 

Business Insider tech reporter Becky Peterson has everything you need to know here>>

Here are the current crypto prices:

SEE ALSO: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The science of why human breasts are so big

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

You might have seen the news yesterday that Playboy will now accept a slew of cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ethereum — as payment, but there's another little-known coin the porn site is supporting that could radically change how porn is paid for online. 

Business Insider tech reporter Becky Peterson has everything you need to know here>>

Here are the current crypto prices:

SEE ALSO: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The science of why human breasts are so big

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

You might have seen the news yesterday that Playboy will now accept a slew of cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin and ethereum — as payment, but there's another little-known coin the porn site is supporting that could radically change how porn is paid for online. 

Business Insider tech reporter Becky Peterson has everything you need to know here>>

Here are the current crypto prices:

SEE ALSO: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The science of why human breasts are so big

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Goldman Sachs has launched a new incubator program, according to a memo seen by Business Insider. 
• The point of the program is to keep good ideas within the firm by providing resources to help people turn out-of-the-box ideas into real businesses. 

On Wall Street, they say a company's most valuable asset walks out the door at the end of the work day. 

So how does a large bank like Goldman Sachs hold on to its people who want to swap their suit jacket for a Silicon Valley hoodie? It launches an incubator. 

That's exactly what Goldman has done, according to a memo seen by Business Insider. In an internal memo, chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and president David Solomon announced GS Accelerate, a new incubator that'll provide employees with capital to help turn out-of-the-box ideas into to real businesses within the bank.

Goldman's chief strategy officer Stephanie Cohen will work with leaders across the bank to select teams for the incubator, the memo said. 

"By applying to GS Accelerate, you will have an opportunity to submit ideas that can deliver best-in-class solutions for our clients, take Goldman Sachs into new business areas, manage risk and tackle inefficiencies in our operations," the memo said. 

Of course, this isn't just a human capital play. Keeping good ideas within the firm could translate into new businesses that drive growth, cut costs, or generate returns.

Ideally, those business will experience the same amount of success as Goldman's retail lending arm Marcus, launched in 2016, which was able to originate more than $1 billion in loans quicker than any of the bank's small fintech rivals. 

"If we're creative, imaginative and learn from what did and didn't work, GS Accelerate can become a powerful engine to bring important ideas to life and continue our long tradition of pioneering innovations that eventually become standard in our industry," the memo said. 

How will it work?

At a firm like Goldman Sachs, it can be hard for new ideas to make their way through the red-tape, especially if it's an idea that's tangential to the main business. GS Accelerate attempts to address that.

For instance, let's say a FICC trader has a new idea for the bank's burgeoning retail business. Typically, that would be difficult - if not impossible - to get through the traditional chains of command. Through GS Accelerate, however, that trader could submit their idea online, which would then be reviewed by business leaders at the firm.

Ultimately, that idea could be picked alongside others for the program, which provides the necessary resources and access to mentors. At this point, it's not clear how many teams will go through the incubator.

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• Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman just published their annual blue paper on wholesale banks and asset managers, highlighting growing pressures on the asset management industry. 
• As part of the study, the two firms set out their predictions for compensation spending by role across both wholesale banking and asset management. 
• Technologists are going to be in demand, with engineering, tech, quant and analytics staff making up a bigger chunk of bank front office operations, and IT making up a huge portion of the back office. There's a similar story in asset management.
• The report estimates that up to 40% of the asset management workforce "will require fundamental re-training."

The finance workforce of the future is going to look very different. 

That's the conclusion of the annual Morgan Stanley/Oliver Wyman blue paper on wholesale banks and asset managers, published Wednesday. The report highlights intensifying cost pressures on asset managers, which will in turn translate into added cost pressures for the wholesale banks that serve them. 

And that dynamic is going to have significant repercussions for those employed in the finance industry. The report said: 

"As banks adopt new technologies and build new businesses, the talent model will need to shift profoundly. In the front office, demand for quants will increase significantly, while technology experts such as user experience (UX) specialists will need to be aligned with business teams to enable agile proposition development. We estimate these two roles will grow to represent 25% of compensation from <5% today.

"In the back office, IT will make up ~60% of future compensation, driven by higher salaries for more specialized, in-demand technology skill-sets such as user interface (UI) developers."

The same is true for those working in the asset management industry. The report suggests asset managers could cut costs by 30% as a result of investments and advancements in automation and oursourcing. The report said: 

"We expect headcount to reduce due to automation and externalization of the skill-set. We also estimate that up to 40% of the workforce will require fundamental re-training. This will be most significant in portfolio management and asset administration roles where the use of better data and analytics will transform roles.

"As a result, compensation structures will shift. Investment management will continue to demand the lion’s share of compensation spend. Technology and Data Management’s share of compensation will grow fourfold whereas relative spend on automated back office functions will decrease. The share of Distribution will remain largely flat but we expect this role to shift most fundamentally as data and technology will be increasingly important at the interface to customers."

To be sure, there are challenges. For one, attracting these skilled technologists to finance can be difficult, with the report saying "wholesale banks will need to evolve their talent models to compete."

And for asset managers, the retraining of 40% of a workforce isn't likely to come easy. 

"Overseeing this transition should be a CEO role," the report said. "The depth and speed of change required far exceeds the traditional change management process handled by HR departments."

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NOW WATCH: Overstock CEO and bitcoin pioneer explains his long-standing crypto play and his philosophy on life

Big investors are lining up to back the startup behind the most advanced implementation of bitcoin's in-development Lightning Network.

• Pratt & Whitney's new PurePower geared turbofan engines are designed to be cleaner, quieter, more powerful, and more fuel-efficient than existing jet engines.
• The engines will power the next generation of narrow-body airliners from Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Mitsubishi, and United Aircraft Corporation.
• However, the engines have been plagued by a series of teething problems that have slowed down aircraft deliveries, increased maintenance costs, and even a forced the Indian Government to ground a fleet of planes.
• Fortunately, Pratt & Whitney is expected to overcome these issues. 

Pratt & Whitney's new PurePower line of geared turbofan engines is the next big thing in airplane tech. For commercial aviation engines, it's supposed to be the biggest step forward in 30 years. They are set to power the next generation of narrow-body commercial airliners from Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Mitsubishi, and Russia's United Aircraft Corporation.

In fact, Pratt & Whitney PurePower is the sole engine supplier for Bombardier's revolutionary composite C Series airliner.

In 2016, Richard Anderson, then CEO of Delta Air Lines called the engine "the first true innovation" to hit airline industry since the Boeing Dreamliner revolutionized carbon composite airframes.

Thus far, the Connecticut-based subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation has committed a couple of decades and roughly $10 billion to develop its geared turbofan (GTF) technology.

Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer for this piece of newfangled equipment to hit its stride.

Even though PurePower engines entered service in 2016, the number of aircraft using the engine remains limited due to a series of teething problems.

The first issues came to light that year when Qatar Airways' Airbus A320neos experienced uneven cooling in their GTF engines. Uneven cooling could lead to deformations and parts rubbing against one another while prolonging turnaround times between flights. As a result, the airline deemed the engines unable to meet its performance requirements. 

In December, Qatar replaced its troubled order for 50 A32oneos with an order for 50 larger A321neos. This time around, the airline is expected to use engines from rival CFM International instead of Pratt & Whitney. 

In February, IndiGo, an Indian low-cost airline, announced that it had to replace 69 engines in 18 months on its fleet of around 30 A320neo jets, Bloomberg reported.

Around the same time, Airbus had to temporarily halt deliveries of GTF-powered jets due to on-going issues with the engine.  

The problems culminated with India's aviation authority, DGCA, grounding 11 PurePower GTF-powered Airbus A320neo jets. According to the Economic Times, the decision was made after GTF powered Airbus jets suffered three mid-flight engine failures in two weeks. The failures have been attributed to an issue with a seal located inside the engine's high-pressure compressor.

In a statement to Business Insider, Pratt & Whitney said it was aware of the decision made by the DGCA and that it, along with Airbus, is fully committed to maintaining the airworthiness of its planes.

The statement went on to explain that Pratt & Whitney took immediate action last month after identifying an issue related to the knife edge seal in the high-pressure compressor of 43 PW1100G-JM engines designed for the Airbus A320neo. Pratt received "all necessary approvals" from European aviation regulators for the changes it made to the engine by February 21, the company said. According to Pratt & Whitney, it began shipping updated engines by March 1. 

It should also be noted that modern twin-engined jetliners are designed to be able to operate on a single engine. 

Pratt & Whitney's new geared turbofan engine is still a gamechanger for the industry

The idea of a geared turbofan engine centers around the principle of a bypass ratio. Modern turbofan engines produce thrust in two manners.

First, there are the compressors and combustion chamber at its core. It's the part of the engine we most commonly associate with a jet. Then there's the fan at the front of the powerplant that's driven by the jet core. It directs air through bypass compartments around the core of the engine. 

The bypass ratio is the proportion of the air that bypasses the core versus the amount that goes through it. Generally speaking, a higher bypass ratio means quieter, more efficient, and more powerful engines. 

In conventional turbofan engines, a bypass ratio reach can reach as high as 9:1. Pratt's PurePower GTF engines have a bypass ratio of 12:1.

To increase bypass ratio, engine manufacturers have to increase the length of its fan blades. However, if elongated enough, the speeds achieved at the tip of the blades will be so fast that it generates unwanted vibrations.

This is where the "gear" in geared turbofan comes into the picture, aviation industry analyst Richard Aboulafia told Busines Insider. 

"You can get as high as eight or 10:1 without a gear, but to move beyond that ratio you need something to slow down the fans so they don't go too fast basically," Aboulafia said. "And the gearbox does that for you."

According to Pratt & Whitney, its engine's gearbox doesn't just slow the fan down, like the transmission in a car, it helps the fan spin at its optimal speed.

And the results are incredible.

Compared to current generation engines, Pratt claims it can achieve 16% better fuel efficiency, 50% lower emissions, and is 75% quieter.

In fact, SWISS and Air Baltic have reported their GTF powered C Series jets have returned even better fuel economy than Bombardier's projections.

Fortunately for Pratt & Whitney, all of the problems the company's next-generation engines have encountered do not point to fundamental flaws with the technology and can be fixed, Aboulafia said. 

It'll just take time. 

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• Experian buying ClearScore for £275 million.
• 2-year-old ClearScore offers people credit checks for free in the UK and has over 6 million customers.
• The deal is the biggest UK tech exit in years and five times bigger than the average exit since 2010.

LONDON — Credit checking company Experian plans to acquire UK credit startup ClearScore for £275 million ($385 million) in one of the biggest UK tech deals in years.

Experian announced plans to acquire to two-year-old London startup on Thursday. Experian CEO Brian Cassin said the deal was part of his company's "strategy to extend the services we provide to UK consumers."

The acquisition is subject to approval from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority and regulator the Financial Conduct Authority.

If cleared, the takeover represents one of the biggest tech exits in the UK for years and a huge win for the UK's fintech sector. A report last year from innovation consultancy Mind the Bridge found the average UK tech exit since 2010 was $75 million, meaning the ClearScore deal is around five times bigger than average.

ClearScore was founded in July 2015 and was the first company to provide totally free credit checks and scores to consumers in the UK. The business makes money from commission on products sold to customers who get their checks done.

Despite still being a startup, ClearScore already has over 6 million customers in the UK and the business is on track for revenue of $55 million this year, according to Experian. ClearScore also has operations in South Africa, where it serves 200,000 customers.

ClearScore CEO Justin Basini said in a blog post announcing the deal: "I believe that this acquisition will allow us to grow faster and develop exciting new innovations that will deliver improved financial well-being to you, our current users, in the UK and South Africa, and hopefully millions more around the world."

The big price tag is a win for ClearScore's backers: London-based venture builder Blenheim Chalcot; and QED Investors, the venture capital business set up by CapitalOne cofounder Nigel Morris.

SEE ALSO: Google's former No. 2 in Europe just launched a startup that gives you a completely free credit score

DON'T MISS: The former boss of Google UK explains why he left to become a fintech investor

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• This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the collapse of Bear Stearns, which proved to be the first domino of the banking system that fell.
• Economists aren't sounding the alarm for another implosion of  the global financial system. 
• But the belief that financial risks are low is a "myth," according to David Rosenberg.

The worst financial crisis in modern history claimed its first victim during this week a decade ago. 

Bear Stearns, the 85-year old investment bank and America's fifth-largest at the time, failed to convince its shareholders that it had enough staying power to survive the housing collapse. Many of the mortgages taken by underqualified borrowers had been bundled into securities that Bear Stearns put together. 

And so as more Americans struggled to make mortgage payments, putting these securities in jeopardy, Bear Stearns' own creditors began to panic. In a deal arranged by the Federal Reserve, JPMorgan acquired the firm for a tiny fraction of its then market value.

You'd be hard pressed to find an economist who's speculating that another collapse of the financial system is imminent. At best, we could be looking at another economic crisis.

David Rosenberg, the chief economist at Gluskin Sheff, looks no further than where it all began a decade ago — in credit. This time, however, Rosenberg isn't worried about housing. 

"Watch investment-grade corporate and high-yield spreads very closely," Rosenberg told Business Insider. "There is a bubble on business balance sheets."

What Rosenberg calls a bubble, investors would describe as a hunt for yield. Investor appetite for returns wherever they may be found pushed the yields on the riskiest, most indebted companies to levels close to those last seen in 2006, before the last financial crisis began to unfold. 

But the credit market is starting to show cracks. Investors "haven't learned how important it is to believe in mean reversion and too many are lured into the herd mentality camp," Rosenberg said.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch data showed bond funds saw outflows of $14.1 billion during the week ended February 14, the fifth-largest redemption on record. About $11 billion of that came from high-yield funds, even after the market weathered the volatility that shook stocks and Treasurys in early February.

"I am also concerned about auto loan and credit card delinquencies which are rising, and we haven't even seen the unemployment rate start to rise just yet," Rosenberg added. "Wait till that happens. This tells you the quality of the credit out there — very weak. In fact, almost half of the investment-grade corporate bond market is now rated BBB!"

A "BBB" rating is just two notches above junk. 

Although more Americans struggle to make their car payments on time, there's hardly any siren-blaring about a housing-style meltdown. In a recent note, however, Rosenberg argued it's a "myth" that financial risks are modest. 

"I think the White House has to be very careful not to deregulate so quickly when it comes to the financial sector, especially now as credit quality starts to erode," he said. 

"Remember — the financial setbacks that always occur amidst a Fed tightening cycle don't have to include the banks," Rosenberg said. "We had savings & loans companies in the 1980s, mortgage funds in the mid-1990s, a hedge fund (LTCM) in the late 1990s, for some examples."

And so, the lesson for money managers here is that the time for reaching for the stars is over — at least for this cycle, Rosenberg said. He advises raising cash and reducing the beta or volatility of your portfolio. 

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• Statoil, Norway's government-owned oil company, has changed its name to Equinor.
• It announced the news with a bizarre video that features gymnasts, an acne-covered teen, and a woman giving birth.
• Statoil/Equinor says that the name change is not just cosmetic, however, and signals a move towards being a "broad energy company," rather than simply focusing on oil.

Statoil, Norway's government-owned oil company, has changed its name — and it made the announcement in a bizarre fashion.

The firm, the world's 11th largest oil and gas company, released a video on Thursday announcing that after 45 years of operations, it is changing its name to Equinor.

The video is perhaps not what you'd expect from a company with assets worth more than €100 billion.

Starting off with the scream of a woman echoing through a forest, the video then cuts to her giving birth, before shots of a little girl doing gymnastics, a classroom of children learning that "to learn is to change", and a spotty teenager looking in the mirror cross the screen.

After a minute or so, the video's narrator confirms that even big companies like Statoil change, eventually announcing the change of name right at the end of the two-minute long clip.

Here's the video in all its glory:

Explaining the meaning of the new name, the company said that "Equinor is formed by combining ‘equi’, the starting point for words like equal, equality and equilibrium, and ‘nor’, signalling a company proud of its Norwegian origin, and who wants to use this actively in its positioning."

"Equinor is a powerful expression of who we are, where we come from and what we aspire to be. We are a values-based company, and equality describes how we want to approach people and the societies where we operate," Eldar Sætre, chief executive of Statoil, or is it Equinor, said in a statement.

"The Norwegian continental shelf will remain the backbone of our company, and we will use our Norwegian heritage in our positioning as we continue growing internationally within both oil, gas and renewable energy."

Equinor says that the name change is not just cosmetic, however, and signals a move towards being a "broad energy company," rather than simply focusing on oil.

SEE ALSO: The world's biggest sovereign wealth fund partnered with the Queen to buy nearly £200 million of London property last year

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NOW WATCH: Goldman Sachs investment chief: Bitcoin is definitely a bubble, Ethereum even more so

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• Equity research firms have seen revenues slashed in 2018, with some experiencing drops of as much as 60%.
• The catalyst for the decline is sweeping European financial reform that went into effect January 3.  Although the rules originated in Europe, they're having a global impact.
• For global banks, where research isn't a profit center, falling revenues aren't a giant concern — at least not yet.
• For struggling specialist and domestic firms without diversified revenue streams, the decline poses a more existential threat.
• Some boutiques have capitalized on the new environment and have outperformed top-tier banks.

Some of the top equity-research shops in the world have seen revenues decline by 10% to 30% so far in 2018 — and those are the lucky ones. 

Others are staring at declines of as much as 60%, according to figures from consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

Equity research revenues were widely anticipated to decline in the wake of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), the complex and sweeping European regulatory reform that went into effect January 3. 

That's because one of its headline provisions prohibits free and bundled research, requiring asset managers to pay for it separately from commissions for executing trades — a significant departure from past procedure that has shaken up the industry.

Since most asset managers elected to absorb the cost of research rather than pass it along to their own customers, they were expected to trim their research budgets and the number of analysts they work with.

"I was dealing with 10 of you; I don't want 10 of you anymore, I only want the five best of you," Mary Erdoes, the head of JPMorgan Chase's massive asset and wealth management business, explained at an analyst conference in November.

And that's how it's been playing out thus far in 2018, according to research from Oliver Wyman, which speaks with top management at financial firms and has been following the MiFID II impacts closely. 

"Almost every buy-side client has come out as absorbing the research cost, placing further downward pressure on prices,” said Michael Turner, a partner at Oliver Wyman.

Turner explained that the leading banks have seen research revenues drop 10% to 30% compared with last year. The upside is that they haven't been losing many clients. 

For global research banks firmly outside the top five, the year has been more of a struggle.

“Tier-2 banks have seen much worse declines, with some up to 60% down in research revenues,” Turner said.

It's a much more mixed bag for specialist and regionally focused firms. Some boutiques have actually outperformed the tier-1 global banks, while others that lack a distinct offering are getting battered as bad or worse than the tier-2 banks. 

“We’ve seen a wide divergence in specialists and domestics. Some who have a particular content edge have actually outperformed the big banks, with slight revenue gains, while those without a niche have been really hurt,” Turner said.

Overall, Oliver Wyman expects global equity research revenues to decline 30% to 40%, or $2 billion, by 2019. Trading execution revenues have remained surprisingly resilient. 

It's not a crisis for everybody

It's important to put these figures into context. There are roughly $60 billion in equities-related revenues worldwide, according to Oliver Wyman and others, and equity research only accounts for about $5 billion of that pool. 

It's not chump change, but for global banks, declines in research revenues don't pose dire consequences, given the size of the banks and their breadth of activities.

"It's bad, but it's not an existential crisis,” Turner said. "We expect few capacity withdrawals, especially at the global banks, given the importance of research for other areas of the firm."

Research itself isn't a major profit center, but it plays a role in myriad other business lines at bulge-bracket banks, especially trading execution, equity derivatives, and prime brokerage (servicing hedge funds). It also impacts investment banking, including equity capital markets. 

Erick Davis, CEO of research firm Autonomous Research, a boutique that specializes in financial firms, says the revenue pool that research indirectly contributes to could exceed $100 billion, if you combine global equities with capital markets.

For the big banks, remaining connected to the customers who fund that larger revenue pool is more critical than taking small losses from the shrinking $5 billion equity research pool.

"It's disadvantageous to screw up customer relationships around research," said Davis, though he questioned the sustainability of treating research as a loss leader and expected that some banks will eventually have "tough decisions that need to be made."

For firms that specialize in research, however, such a decline is far more critical. 

"Specialists who have seen revenues drop by more than 40% will be in a real tough place at the end of the year," Turner said. 

"They just pulled a rug out from underneath everyone else"

Davis' firm is among the cadre of specialists that have outperformed in 2018. Autonomous has retained most of its clients and is optimistic about its revenue opportunity going forward, hiring one new senior analyst and their associate away from a global bank this year, Davis said.

Why have some specialists faired so well? Part of that has to do with how investors and asset managers have cut and reprioritized their research budgets in the post-MiFID II world. 

What Erdoes described in November has largely aligned with what Davis has heard from large clients: They're looking for just five or six global research firms. That "opens up a lot more wallet to specialists," said Davis, who observed that buy-side firms have embraced a more intense relationship with research shops that provide niche, premium products, as Autonomous does.

The types of firms left out in that picture: the tier-2 global banks and the regional or specialist firms that don't offer a premium product — the companies that Oliver Wyman say have been worst hit thus far in 2018.

The global banks suffering this year can thank JPMorgan, in part, for their pain. Last year, when banks were figuring out how to price research separately in preparation for MiFID II, the bank reportedly undercut the competition and came out with an entry-level price option of $10,000 — four times less than what some rivals were considering. 

"It was massively disruptive to firms that cover all sectors," Davis said, adding that it was probably a brilliant strategy by JPMorgan, which has a strong research offering. "They just pulled a rug out from underneath everyone else that had come out with a pricing point for global sectors."

Despite the ugly numbers to start the year, it's still early on and there hasn't been a scramble to cut analyst jobs.

One top equities headhunter told us they weren't "seeing any analysts going out to the market," but that the story could change by the third quarter.

Even then, talented analysts aren't likely to find themselves out of work.

Given the desire of asset managers like Erdoes to only work with the "five best," it's essential for competitive research shops to staff the best analysts.

The head of one global bank's research department, who told Business Insider in November that there was "a resurgence in competition for the best talent" ahead of MiFID II, said he is "still seeing escalated levels of competition for world class talent."

Mediocrity is what will get left behind.

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This is a sponsored story. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the content below. Founders of the Bitcoin.com wallet have announced this week the milestone reached of over 2 million wallets created, which has happened over a period of just 7 months. The

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• Twenty six percent of British bankers believe their job negatively impacts their health and wellbeing.
• That's according to the third annual review from the Banking Standards Board.
• Investment banking, long seen as the pinnacle of the banking industry, was more likely than other areas to negatively impact workers' health, the survey showed.
• However, investment bankers "were the least likely to see pressure in their roles as excessive."

LONDON — Long hours, punishing deadlines, and very little sleep. That's the outside of view of banking for many not involved in the industry.

A new survey from the UK's Banking Standards Board released on Thursday seems to confirm that view, with 26% of bankers surveyed saying that "working in their organisation was having a negative impact on their health and wellbeing."

"In areas of firms with the lowest scores for this question, employees commonly described what they saw as inconsistent and unfair treatment within their organisation of different departments, teams or geographic areas," the report noted.

Investment banking, long seen as the pinnacle of the banking industry, but also as the most gruelling part of it, was more likely than other areas to negatively impact workers' health, the BSB said.

"People working in investment banking, were the least likely to see pressure in their roles as excessive, yet more likely to experience work having a negative impact on their wellbeing, suggesting their concept what is ‘excessive’ differs from other areas in banking."

Twenty nine percent of investment bankers reported their work having a negative impact on their health and wellbeing.

Not only are a significant proportion of bankers negatively affected health-wise by their jobs, so too are many scared of what might happen if they speak up about their concerns, the BSB's third annual report said.

Over a quarter of the 36,000 people surveyed by the BSB said that would be "worried about negative consequences for themselves if they raised concerns," although 60% said they would not. 

"This is a mixture of fear that they will get into trouble and futility that it will serve no useful purpose," Dame Colette Bowe, the BSB's head said, according to the Financial Times.

The Banking Standards Board was set up in 2015 by Britain's seven biggest banks as a measure to improve conduct in the industry in the wake of scandals like LIBOR.

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Australia’s official tax authority has warned the public of scammers purporting to be tax agents demanding cryptocurrencies like bitcoin for tax payments. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is alerting citizens of fraudsters impersonating the tax agency to seek payments of faux tax debts from unsuspecting victims in cryptocurrency. The scammers who purport to be ATO … Continued

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• Cryptocurrencies are falling on Thursday morning.
• Bitcoin is below $8,000 at a 5-week low.
• Investors are spooked by Google's advertising bans, as well as ongoing regulation fears.
• The crypto market has now lost over $130 billion since the start of March.

LONDON — Cryptocurrencies are falling again on Thursday morning amid continued bearish sentiment in the market.

Bitcoin dropped below $8,000 to a five-week low and the rest of the market is following its lead. Here's the scoreboard at 7.15 a.m. GMT (3.15 a.m. ET):

• Bitcoin is down 3.6% against the dollar to $7,906.21
• Ethereum is down 3.5% to $590.42
• Ripple is down 5.8% to $0.64
• Bitcoin Cash is down 5.5% to $892.73
• Litecoin is down 3.1% to $155.72

You can find other live cryptocurrency prices on Markets Insider.

The slump is part of a wider sell-off in the crypto market that began at the start of the month. Investor confidence was last week been shaken by fears of regulation, big sellers liquidating holdings in the market, and rumours of another exchange hack.

The latest blow to already shaky investor sentiment is Google's decision on Wednesday to ban all cryptocurrency advertising on its platforms, which pushed cryptos into the red.

Trey Ditto, the CEO of crypto-specialist PR firm Ditto, said in an email on Wednesday evening: "Today’s decision to ban ads on Google feels like they’re throwing the baby out with the bath water.

"We use Facebook and Google to educate potential investors and users about a range of topics and opportunities. I worry this punishes the good actors in this fast-growing space and will thus hurt the consumers and investors who are looking for information to make smart crypto investment decisions."

Chris Keshian, CEO of Apex Token Fund, took a more optimistic view, saying in a statement: "Banning is simply a 'pause' button as organisations tease out better ways to regulate an asset class that they are in the process of understanding.

"This won’t be the last ban but, in time, we expect to see some of these restrictions lifted, as more meaningful regulations come into force."

Still, the combination of all the negative factors means that the size of entire cryptocurrency market has now declined by over $130 billion since the start of March, according to market data provider CoinMarketCap.com.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin is slumping and analysts say there are 3 big reasons for the 'fear and panic'

DON'T MISS: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Jim Chanos says Elon Musk just told his 'biggest whopper' about Tesla yet

• Cryptocurrencies are falling on Thursday morning.
• Bitcoin is below $8,000 at a 5-week low.
• Investors are spooked by Google's advertising bans, as well as ongoing regulation fears.
• The crypto market has now lost over $130 billion since the start of March.

LONDON — Cryptocurrencies are falling again on Thursday morning amid continued bearish sentiment in the market.

Bitcoin dropped below $8,000 to a five-week low and the rest of the market is following its lead. Here's the scoreboard at 7.15 a.m. GMT (3.15 a.m. ET):

• Bitcoin is down 3.6% against the dollar to $7,906.21
• Ethereum is down 3.5% to $590.42
• Ripple is down 5.8% to $0.64
• Bitcoin Cash is down 5.5% to $892.73
• Litecoin is down 3.1% to $155.72

You can find other live cryptocurrency prices on Markets Insider.

The slump is part of a wider sell-off in the crypto market that began at the start of the month. Investor confidence was last week been shaken by fears of regulation, big sellers liquidating holdings in the market, and rumours of another exchange hack.

The latest blow to already shaky investor sentiment is Google's decision on Wednesday to ban all cryptocurrency advertising on its platforms, which pushed cryptos into the red.

Trey Ditto, the CEO of crypto-specialist PR firm Ditto, said in an email on Wednesday evening: "Today’s decision to ban ads on Google feels like they’re throwing the baby out with the bath water.

"We use Facebook and Google to educate potential investors and users about a range of topics and opportunities. I worry this punishes the good actors in this fast-growing space and will thus hurt the consumers and investors who are looking for information to make smart crypto investment decisions."

Chris Keshian, CEO of Apex Token Fund, took a more optimistic view, saying in a statement: "Banning is simply a 'pause' button as organisations tease out better ways to regulate an asset class that they are in the process of understanding.

"This won’t be the last ban but, in time, we expect to see some of these restrictions lifted, as more meaningful regulations come into force."

Still, the combination of all the negative factors means that the size of entire cryptocurrency market has now declined by over $130 billion since the start of March, according to market data provider CoinMarketCap.com.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin is slumping and analysts say there are 3 big reasons for the 'fear and panic'

DON'T MISS: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Jim Chanos says Elon Musk just told his 'biggest whopper' about Tesla yet

• Cryptocurrencies are falling on Thursday morning.
• Bitcoin is below $8,000 at a 5-week low.
• Investors are spooked by Google's advertising bans, as well as ongoing regulation fears.
• The crypto market has now lost over $130 billion since the start of March.

LONDON — Cryptocurrencies are falling again on Thursday morning amid continued bearish sentiment in the market.

Bitcoin dropped below $8,000 to a five-week low and the rest of the market is following its lead. Here's the scoreboard at 7.15 a.m. GMT (3.15 a.m. ET):

• Bitcoin is down 3.6% against the dollar to $7,906.21
• Ethereum is down 3.5% to $590.42
• Ripple is down 5.8% to $0.64
• Bitcoin Cash is down 5.5% to $892.73
• Litecoin is down 3.1% to $155.72

You can find other live cryptocurrency prices on Markets Insider.

The slump is part of a wider sell-off in the crypto market that began at the start of the month. Investor confidence was last week been shaken by fears of regulation, big sellers liquidating holdings in the market, and rumours of another exchange hack.

The latest blow to already shaky investor sentiment is Google's decision on Wednesday to ban all cryptocurrency advertising on its platforms, which pushed cryptos into the red.

Trey Ditto, the CEO of crypto-specialist PR firm Ditto, said in an email on Wednesday evening: "Today’s decision to ban ads on Google feels like they’re throwing the baby out with the bath water.

"We use Facebook and Google to educate potential investors and users about a range of topics and opportunities. I worry this punishes the good actors in this fast-growing space and will thus hurt the consumers and investors who are looking for information to make smart crypto investment decisions."

Chris Keshian, CEO of Apex Token Fund, took a more optimistic view, saying in a statement: "Banning is simply a 'pause' button as organisations tease out better ways to regulate an asset class that they are in the process of understanding.

"This won’t be the last ban but, in time, we expect to see some of these restrictions lifted, as more meaningful regulations come into force."

Still, the combination of all the negative factors means that the size of entire cryptocurrency market has now declined by over $130 billion since the start of March, according to market data provider CoinMarketCap.com.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin is slumping and analysts say there are 3 big reasons for the 'fear and panic'

DON'T MISS: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Jim Chanos says Elon Musk just told his 'biggest whopper' about Tesla yet

• JPMorgan Asset Management's Malcolm Smith shares what an average day looks like as a $135 billion money manager.
• Smith starts working between 5am and 6am
• He steers of clear of social media platforms like Twitter and does his best thinking on planes.

LONDON — Work starts early when you're in charge of more than $100 billion of other people's money.

Malcolm Smith, the head of JPMorgan Asset Management's $135 billion international equity group, usually wakes at around 5:00 am, and is working almost straight away, he told Business Insider in an interview in February.

"I'm doing emails, speaking to people from five or six in the morning," he said.

"The first thing I do when I get up is check markets to see what's happened overnight, check the news flow that's incoming from people around the world. Occasionally I'll end up doing calls at the time of the morning, but will normally be in the office between 7:30 and 8:15."

Smith's day then progresses in a manner that would be recognisable for many office workers, with a whole heap of meetings. 

"There's normally a round of morning meetings for different investors, and investor groups.

"Then its straight into the day of CIO reviews, what's happening in individual portfolios, any new client work we're doing, and I'll probably see a couple of clients across the day."

Smith doesn't normally have time for lunch, but has frequent dinners with clients.

• SEE ALSO: A JPMorgan asset manager with $135 billion to play with tells us the 3 areas of the market that excite him the most

Staying up to date is crucial in the markets right now, especially given the increasing influence politics and geopolitics on market movements, and the unpredictable nature of the current news cycle.

Just look at Tuesday's shock news that President Donald Trump had sacked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, an event which caused the dollar to drop almost half a percent.

To keep on top of things, Smith uses a variety of tools, including the traditional media. 

"I tend to look at the standard news sources — Bloomberg, the FT, and [when prompted by a press officer] Business Insider."

Internal research from fellow JPMAM employees also plays a key role.

"We have a lot of internal research capability, so I consume a huge amount of that. We get a lot from the sell side as well — so overnight trading desks, how the US has finished up, how Asia's opening and how its trading so far that morning. I get that from both internal sources and external sources."

"We have a great infrastructure here in doing that. We have people on the ground all over the world, trading guys, people who are looking at live markets and news flows the whole time, and they're connected into Twitter, social media, live news feeds, the whole nine yards."

Smith himself, however, is not a fan of Twitter, saying he avoids using the platform for fear of having "too much" information, a problem he believes plagues many in the markets and can disrupt investment decisions.

"The problem with Twitter is that you can't read everything all the time. You end up with the classic problem of having too much information. That's a problem for our industry actually," he said.

"There's this wonderful drive to learn more and share information, but there's a limit to how many words you can read in a day. You can't read every piece of content that's been produced in that day."

Information overload is something Smith is keen to avoid, and the enormous amount of time he spends travelling helps him with that.

"One of the places I find the most productive for me is sitting on a plane. I'm sure people think I'm nuts when they sit on the plane next to me, because sometimes I'll just stare out the window," he said.

"It's quite good to be isolated and just to have time to think about things. Time on a plane to look out the window and get lost in your own thoughts is quite an important thing. Some of my best thinking ever has been done there."

"I have a pen and a notepad sitting there, and I just work through problems I'm dealing with."

SEE ALSO: A 36-year-old in charge of $135 billion shares his 'awkward' advice for making it to the top — and it involves going against your instincts

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This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.