Melissa Alsoszatai-Petheo, of Microsoft’s Bing search engine, announced its advertising arm is banning all cryptocurrency advertisements. This follows market leaders such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter either severely restricting crypto ads or banning them altogether.
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Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine Bans Crypto Ads
Advertiser Policy Manager, Melissa Alsoszatai-Petheo, posted an update to Microsoft’s Bing search engine ad policy. Bing Ads to Disallow Cryptocurrency Advertising is the title of the company’s rather obvious move. “We are always evaluating our policies to ensure a safe and engaging experience for our Bing users and the digital advertising ecosystem,” Ms. Alsoszatai-Petheo began. “Because cryptocurrency and related products are not regulated, we have found them to present a possible elevated risk to our users with the potential for bad actors to participate in predatory behaviors, or otherwise scam consumers.”
Bing has consistently ranked a very distant second behind the Google juggernaut, which gobbles up better than 60% of search traffic on the internet. Google at the beginning of 2018 a far more specific series of cryptocurrency related prohibitions, down to defining contract for difference (CFDs) products.
It wasn’t too much later when Facebook , as we reported at the end of January, with “a new ruling issued on January 30, ‘ads must not promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings, or cryptocurrency.’” Twitter too, a mere two months later, its new advertising policy, severely restricting initial coin offering (ICOs) and token sales.
Protection is the Pretext
“To help protect our users from this risk,” the notice from Bing continued, “we have made the decision to disallow advertising for cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency related products, and un-regulated binary options. Bing Ads will implement this change to our financial product and services policy globally in June, with enforcement rolling out in late June to early July.”
Other than seeking a press cycle of promotion, it does appear “scams” were a bit of a problem during 2017, according to Bing’s annual report. “Tech scams are widely used by bad actors and we rejected 25 million ads in this category in 2017,” they insisted. And under the banner of misleading ads, Bing how last “year, we took down 30 million such ads, 20,000 such websites and 43,500 bad actors.”
Do you think crypto ad bans will have a negative impact? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
Do you agree with us that bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread? Thought so. That’s why we are building this online universe revolving around anything and everything bitcoin. We have a. And a. And a, a and real-time .
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bitcoin has become the embodiment of a new class of wealthy investors. Those, who bet big on bitcoin in the early days, have made out well, and several industries are seeking ways to cater to those, who have made their fortune through investing in cryptocurrencies. One San Diego-based investment firm, , is turning to bitcoin as an alternative to traditional methods of selling real estate.
Canter has listed two properties in La Jolla, CA as the company’s initial launching point in crypto real estate sales, and it hopes the move will continue to follow a growing trend of properties changing hands with bitcoin as the medium of exchange. One property, owned by Canter, is located at 6653 Neptune Place and goes by the moniker Marine Lair. For generous $11.8 million, the 3,124 square foot beachfront property can become yours.
The other estate, owned by Canter client Alan Ezeir, sits at 1257 Silverado St., encompasses 5,213 square feet of luxurious modern architecture, and has a price tag of $7.8 million.
The option to purchase the properties using the most popular cryptocurrency on the planet is in lockstep with the trends of the financial sector, which has seen alternate means of payment – namely, cryptocurrencies – increase in value and adoption for some time now. Though the value of bitcoin has receded from its high-water mark, it’s shown steady resilience, making it evident that cryptocurrencies are here to stay as a form of investment and store of value. It only makes sense to parlay bitcoin’s popularity into industry, especially considering that one-time purchases of high-priced assets, such as real estate are ripe for the use of cryptocurrency. And, as Andrew Canter, Founder and CEO of Canter Companies explains, it can reorient the way that buying and selling a home is seen.
“We realized there is so much new wealth in the crypto space,” he said. “There are a lot of new buyers and a lot of people that have seen their wealth fluctuate over the last year.”
By working with banks to install futures contracts that lock in an agreed-upon price at the time of sale, buyers and sellers are afforded protections from bitcoin’s daily fluctuations once terms are settled. It should be noted that Canter Companies is not alone in the crypto real estate sphere. They are acting astutely along the lines of what appears to be a growing trend in property sales.
In September of last year, Kuper Sotheby’s brokered the sale of a home in Austin, Texas, for which terms were not disclosed. At the time, bitcoin was valued at $3,429, and that seller was proven shrewd as the price of the cryptocurrency would skyrocket in ensuing months. Canter Companies’ two for-sale homes are not even the only bitcoin-optional properties in the San Diego area. A 2.32-acre site at the end of Boundary Street in North Park has been listed since November.
There’s no doubt that the bitcoin-for-property arrangement will require the right pairings of buyers and sellers. Veering from customary modes of transaction may be daunting for some, especially when it comes to a purchase as significant as a multi-million dollar property. That said, those, who understand the nature of cryptocurrencies, may be inclined to accept bitcoin as payment, hoping that the value of the coin will increase in the future. Others will also be more comfortable being paid with something that has proven less volatile than bitcoin, but for those, willing to take the risk, accepting bitcoin when it comes time to sell their property could also offer a significant reward.
“It’s a personal preference when it comes down to it,” Canter said. “I don’t think we can speak to a financial benefit here or there. Obviously, the chance [bitcoin’s value] goes up is just as much as it goes down right now.”
Canter understands that there is an element of uncertainty that accompanies parting with or accepting cryptocurrency in exchange for something that is more tangible, like a house. But, allowing parties who are either looking to utilize their crypto earnings, or add to their store of bitcoin, makes sense, and could potentially expand the luxury real estate market to a demographic not otherwise inclined to purchase.
Canter sees the option as a dedication to embracing change and staying ahead of the curve in a crowded real estate industry.
“As a company, we think it’s important to embrace change and adapt as the world evolves. As the cryptocurrency market continues to expand with new high-net worth individuals, there is a growing need for some of these investors to diversify their assets. Offering real estate for bitcoin opens a different opportunity for this new class of wealthy that could help decrease volatility.”
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Major company milestone announced with Nokia and OSIsoft on stage at Consensus 2018 in New York
Zug, Switzerland – May 16, 2018 — Streamr, the blockchain-backed data platform, today launched its real-time data Marketplace that connects data producers and consumers. The launch took place on-stage at Consensus in New York, and was followed by the announcement of industry-leading partnerships with Nokia, the multinational telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics company, and OSIsoft, the industry’s trusted leader in operational intelligence.
Streamr’s partnership with Nokia will see the development of the next generation of mobile base stations and enable Nokia customers to monetize their data while the partnership with OSIsoft will focus on enabling new business cases and data sharing solutions that are not currently available on the market. This announcement comes as Hewlett Packard Enterprise recently partnered with Streamr to monetize vehicle data in real-time.
Commenting on the announcement, Henri Pihkala, CEO of Streamr said, “The launch of our Marketplace represents a pivotal moment for our platform and underlines our commitment to driving the future of data utilization and monetization. To realize our vision of a sustainable, equitable, and efficient data economy, we needed to create a space in which buyers and sellers could come together freely, and today we have achieved just that.”
Streamr’s Marketplace is a web-based application where data providers can list real-time data streams, and data consumers can subscribe and pay for access to those data streams. Terms of use, pricing schedule, and time-based access control, are coded in Ethereum smart contracts. By using Streamr’s cryptographic token, DATA, it is possible to make data streams around the globe freely tradeable.
By partnering with Nokia, Streamr will play a role in building the next generation of mobile base stations. A multinational telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics company, Nokia is shaping the technologies at the heart of the connected world to transform the human experience. By integrating Nokia’s Kuha transportable base stations into Streamr’s data Marketplace, Nokia customers will be able to monetize their data while receiving a better offer when it comes to connecting to a range of IoT sensors and devices. Users of the base stations will be able to buy and sell data worldwide.
“Providing smart mobile coverage for up to four billion individuals across the world is a major challenge and current solutions don’t go far enough. We recognize a growing movement of empowered mobile customers who want to control and monetize their own data. Our partnership with Streamr reflects our firm belief in the platform, as well as our commitment to better serve our customers,” said Martti Ylikoski, Radio System Evolution Lead at Nokia.
In addition, Streamr is partnering with OSIsoft to enable new business cases and data sharing solutions. A proven leader in enabling operational intelligence, OSIsoft delivers an open enterprise infrastructure and PI System to connect sensor-based data, systems, and people, resulting in real time, actionable insights that empower companies to optimize and transform their business.
OSIsoft own and run the software that powers plant information systems for over 1,000 leading utilities. OSIsoft’s PI System is a suite of software products that are used for data collection, historicizing, finding, analyzing, delivering, and visualizing. It is essentially an enterprise infrastructure for management of real-time data and events.
“By integrating OSIsoft’s PI System with the Streamr Marketplace, we take a step toward offering our customers the ability to share and monetize their operations data. The partnership with Streamr demonstrates how the PI system can plug into an open source platform and highlights our commitment to empowering our customers to maximize the value of their business operations data. Together with Streamr, we can be the enablers of innovation in the ever-evolving data market,” said Richard Beeson, CTO of OSIsoft.
“Today marks a hugely significant day in Streamr’s history, not only showcasing our platform to the world on-stage at Consensus but announcing two stellar partnerships that underline our bold ambition to build the world’s leading, citizen friendly, data ecosystem. It is a great honour to work alongside Nokia and OSIsoft and we look forward to shaping the future of the data economy,” added Pihkala.
About Streamr:
Streamr is a blockchain-backed data platform based in Zug, Switzerland. Scheduled for launch in Q2 2018, Streamr’s real-time data Marketplace will allow users to trade information over their P2P data network using the DATA token as a means of payment. Streamr’s October crowdfund campaign raised $30 million USD in just over 24 hours.
A coconut farmer in Papua New Guinea has used a drone powered by blockchain and artificial intelligence, and charged by renewable energy, to count his yield in a unique trial conducted in the Pacific island nation. The UK-based started went to Papue New Guinea’ capital city then travelled four hours to get to the small village of Kokopo to conduct this trial last year. Farming employs more people in developing nations than any other industry, yet innovation within the sector is lacking. Julien Bouteloup, an entrepreneur and blockchain technology developer with university degrees in electrical engineering and AI machine learning, came up with the idea for Flyingcarpet whilst travelling last year to more than 20 countries.
Flyingcarpet is powered by the AIR Network protocol, a decentralised autonomous services network enabling people to deploy IoT devices such as drones to collect data in a timely, terrain-unspecific and cost-efficient way, which can help poorer communities automate tasks that are often laborious and expensive.
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