Currency

Blockchain can help filter the fake news dilemma

Gartner predicts that the majority of individuals in developed economies will consume more false than true information by 2022. While trust in mass media and established institutions is declining, the use of online social media to connect is rising sharply and it has become an important source for the distribution of digital deception. Researchers claim that although fake news detection could be a complicated process, the traceability of the data, the communications architecture, and the transactions, can be controlled.

That being said, blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) are the rising technologies that can help to combat digital deception. These technologies enable privacy, security, and trust in a decentralized Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network without any central managing authority. In fact, as blockchain gains credibility, it is being piloted for uses never before considered. Groups, as varied as newsrooms, nonprofits, major corporations, and start-ups, are all eagerly pursuing the technology to create distributed, transparent networks for reliable media and digital information.

How does blockchain help?
The main issue about fake news is the rapid speed with which it…read more.

Kevin Muir – The MacroTourist

Long passionate about markets, Kevin grew up in a household where his father was an equity research director. Being exposed to market talk as long as he can remember, Kevin’s true love was always macro. In fact, his first trade was in the US dollar index which promptly went limit-locked against him.

Not deterred, Kevin persevered and got a job on institutional equity desk for a big Canadian bank in the 1990s. Kevin moved into a proprietary group where he was in a charge of the equity derivatives book. Kevin had a ringside seat for the madness of the DotCom bubble, but in 2000, with a new young family, and the desire to no longer work for a bank, Kevin set off on his own. For the next 17 years, Kevin would trade his own account with another former co-worker, and a full-time computer programmer student they hired. Since then, Kevin has joined a well-establish prop group.

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China has shut down a key terminal at its Ningbo-Zhoushan port, the third busiest port in the world, after one worker was found to be infected by Covid — a move that will likely put further pressure on already stretched supply networks.

It was the second time this year that the country suspended operations at one of its key ports.

Analysts say China’s “zero tolerance” approach toward Covid will exacerbate already stressed supply chains this year. Some warn that this may not be the last closure at a port as long as Beijing continues to take this stance…read more.

Canada Is Spending $73 Billion On Affordable Housing, And It Will Push Prices Higher

Canada’s massive multi-billion dollar program to create affordable housing will only have a “limited” impact. That’s the take from the non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), tasked with explaining the numbers behind policies, to lawmakers. They found the federal program is billed as a “$70+ billion plan,” but failed to find a significant impact. In fact, in some cases they indicate it might be taking credit for existing supply in the pipeline. It’s actually generous to say it does nothing though. The plan creates an environment that actually attempts to drive home prices higher.

Canada’s $73.4 Billion Affordable Housing Plan
First, let’s start with the PBO’s breakdown of where the $73.4 billion in spending actually comes from:

The CMHC is delivering $36.7 billion to execute the National Housing Strategy from 2018 to 2028;
An additional $24.4 billion will be delivered through the same plan; and
Existing spending represents $12.3 billion of funding.
That’s not all. according to the PBO. On top of that, new and existing loan authorities get $31.2 billion. Non-incremental provincial-territorial cost matching, also adds up to another $7.4 billion. Though they explain these commitments aren’t a budget issue for the Federal government. They are commitments undertaken by other taxpayer entities…read more.

Hackers start to return some of the $600 million they stole in one of the biggest crypto heists

Hackers have started returning some of the $600 million they stole in what’s likely to be one of the biggest cryptocurrency thefts ever.

The cybercriminals exploited a vulnerability in Poly Network, a platform that looks to connect different blockchains so that they can work together.

Poly Network disclosed the attack Tuesday and asked to establish communication with the hackers, urging them to “return the hacked assets.”

A blockchain is a ledger of activities upon which various cryptocurrencies are based. Each digital coin has its own blockchain and they’re different from each other. Poly Network claims to be able to make these various blockchains work with each other.

Poly Network is a decentralized finance platform. DeFi is a broad term encompassing financial applications based on blockchain technology that looks to cut out intermediaries — such as brokerages and exchanges. Hence, it’s dubbed decentralized.

Proponents say this can make financial applications such as lending or borrowing more efficient and cheaper.

“The amount of money you hacked is the biggest in defi history,” Poly Network said in a tweet…read more.