Sunday, February 28, 2021

Bitcoin Price Breaks $50,000 For The First Time In History

The price of Bitcoin just surpassed another milestone – the $50K, according to Bitstamp. This comes only five weeks after breaking $40K and six weeks following the $30K breakout.

Bitcoin is now recording a 72% return on investment in 2021 alone. The cryptocurrency has also delivered a 1200% ROI since recoding its 2020 low of $3,800 from March.

BTC/USD, chart by TradingViewThe price of BTC had a great year. Starting 2020 below $8,000, the cryptocurrency broke $13K only in the middle of October, following the exciting news from PayPal.It was back then when the parabolic move of 2020 – 2021 started. Just two months after, and Bitcoin broke its previous all-time high of $20K, and from there, the primary cryptocurrency took the spaceship to the moon.On the second day of 2021, Bitcoin left $30K behind. It then took only five days, and on January 7, 2021, BTC broke $40,000 to a new all-time high set on January 8th at $42K. After that, Bitcoin charted a 30% correction to retest the levels below $30K. This kind of correction was typical during the 2017 bull market.Last Monday, the giant announced a Bitcoin purchase worth $1.5 billion in January. The cryptocurrency immediately spiked above the January 8 ATH at $42K, recording its largest-ever daily candle.It’s interesting to note that the increase in Bitcoin’s price over the last couple of months has driven the entire market upwards.Major altcoins have charted serious gains as the total market capitalization now sits at above $1.5 trillion. Title: Bitcoin Price Breaks $50,000 For The First Time In History
Sourced From: cryptopotato.com/bitcoin-price-breaks-50000-for-the-first-time-in-history/
Published Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2021 13:33:20 +0000

99Bitcoins Takes Over the “Dead Coins” Project to Become the Crypto Undertaker


[PRESS RELEASE – Please Read Disclaimer]

Singapore, Singapore, 17th February, 2021, // ChainWire //

99Bitcoins, an educational website that maintains a list of Bitcoin obituaries made by the media, has taken over the Dead Coins project as well. This move effectively crowns 99Bitcoins as “The undertaker of the cryptoverse”.

Deadcoins.com was established in late 2017 to document the death of thousands of altcoins that popped up during the cryptocurrency mania of that time. The idea was simple – create a list of coins that have ceased to exist after the hype died down.

A coin can become “dead” due to a variety of reasons such as its development being halted, having no one that uses or trades it, being exposed as a scam and more. While the project was initially maintained only by its founders, it was later outsourced to the cryptocurrency community which was allowed to add their own dead coins.

“I think the dead coins project is a brilliant idea that needs a bit of polishing” says Ofir Beigel, owner and founder of 99Bitcoins. “The fact that anyone can add a dead coin themselves made the list of coins very inaccurate. We’ve spent days going through the complete list and sifted out all of the coins that were buried alive, so to speak. For example, Bitcoin, Tron, Dogecoin and Tether are just some of the coins that were listed when we took over the project.״

“I think the community sometimes mistakes a shitcoin for a dead coin.” Ofir adds “We’ve put clear death indicators in place so it would be easy for us to decide whether a coin is actually dead or not. This way we still use the community’s input, but we make sure it goes through another filter to verify the submission’s accuracy”.

In the future, the project is planned to automatically add coins to the list through the use of APIs to index sites such as CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap. With the latest rise in the cryptocurrency market, it seems only logical that a lot of new submissions are coming their way once the hype dies down.

Title: 99Bitcoins Takes Over the “Dead Coins” Project to Become the Crypto Undertaker
Sourced From: cryptopotato.com/99bitcoins-takes-over-the-dead-coins-project-to-become-the-crypto-undertaker/
Published Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2021 16:34:40 +0000

Mountain Ranges Expert: Tickets to see Nolan Arenado and St. Louis play at Coors Area will certainly be actually hot-- and also expensive-- product

This is an interesting article by Kyle Newman from The Denver Post talking about some important news items this week. Kyle Newman recently published this and I thought it was a great post for sharing here.

Like salt in an open wound, if you’re a Rockies fan who wants to catch another glimpse of Nolan Arenado this summer in LoDo — albeit wearing Cardinals colors — you’re going to have to pay a premium for the experience.

Arenado and the Cardinals come to town for a four-game series July 1-4, the final home series of the first half for the Rockies. Two of those games are fireworks games, and the other two are categorized as “premium” games according to 2021 season ticket pricing. (Official information on 2021 single-game ticket pricing has yet to be released.)

That means that seeing Arenado back at Coors Field this season will cost more for fans than other “standard” or “value” 2021 games. Only Colorado’s home opener April 9 against the Giants will be a more expensive ticket. The Cardinals’ series is one of 14 featuring premium games out of 26 total home series in 2021.

Factor in a large Cardinals fanbase already within this state, the popularity of fireworks games and the likelihood that attendance will be dramatically restricted due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and the result is going to be high demand for those tickets — and probably sky-high prices on the secondary market.

So, if you really want to see Arenado in a St. Louis uniform, terrorizing Colorado pitching, start saving up now.

— Kyle Newman, The Denver Post

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Must-Read

Andy Cross, The Denver PostColorado Rockies pitcher Jon Gray, right, tosses to fellow pitcher Antonio Senzatela during drills at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Feb. 23, 2021.

Rockies Mailbag: Jon Gray needs to find some swagger, Trevor Story update, spring training news and more

Have a question about the Colorado Rockies or Major League Baseball? Patrick Saunders has some answers.

The Denver Post’s MLB beat reporter fields the most engaging, the most insightful and the most entertaining questions in his very own Rockies Mailbag. Read more…

RJ Sangosti, The Denver PostThe Rockies workout during summer camp in an empty Coors Field on July 7, 2020 in Denver.

Rockies expected to allow fans at Coors Field for 2021 season

Rockies baseball fans are expected to return to Coors Field for the 2021 season.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) approved a variance for fans in the stands “pending a few adjustments,” according to a department spokesperson who did not identify themselves. It was unclear what percentage of capacity would be allowed entry to games. Read more…

Andy Cross, The Denver PostColorado Rockies infielder Brendan Rodgers during an interview at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Feb. 23, 2021.

Rockies’ Brendan Rodgers knows it’s time to fulfill his potential

On a gorgeous 76-degree day in the desert, Brendan Rodgers sat in the shade, looking fit and relaxed and bubbling with confidence as he discussed the season ahead.

“You haven’t seen me, be me. I’m ready to be me and get out there and show people what I’m capable of,” Rodgers said Tuesday after the Rockies’ first full-squad workout of spring training. Read more…

Quick Hits

+ Saunders: Bold predictions on Rockies’ record, Trevor Story’s future and Nolan Arenado’s season with Cardinals

+ Newman: Nine things of note as Rockies 2021 spring training heats up

+ Rockies’ Daniel Bard happy to be more than baseball’s feel-good story

+ Rockies turn to catchers Elias Diaz and Dom Nunez, hoping for more offense

+ “I love every part of it”: Nolan Arenado talks about joining the Cardinals

+ Rockies’ Ian Desmond decides not to play in 2021 season, “for now”

+ Newman: Soak in shortstop Trevor Story while you can, before the Rockies probably trade him away, too

+ Rockies’ C.J. Cron is healthy, ready to stake claim at first base

+ Rockies’ Jon Gray hopes to regain command of nasty slider

+ Want to chat about the Rockies? Ask to join our closed discussion group on Facebook.

By The Numbers

30-30

Trevor Story sets 30-30 goal, deflects talk about his Rockies’ future

Star shortstop Trevor Story has become adept at deflecting questions about his future with the Rockies, but he’s not shy about addressing one of his goals.

On Tuesday, as the Rockies held their first full-squad workout of spring training, Story said he wants to be a 30-30 man: 30 home runs, 30 stolen bases in a season. Read more…

Parting Shot

Andy Cross, The Denver PostColorado Rockies mascot Dinger reads a program up in the right field stands during the Rockies home opener against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field July 31, 2020.

Kiszla: On the Road to 100. Why first 100-loss season in Rockies history could be best thing to happen to baseball in Colorado.

Only a Rockies franchise that cared nothing about winning would send Nolan Arenado packing and keep general manager Jeff Bridich behind the wheel of a clown car on the Road to 100. Read more…

Get in Touch

If you see something that’s cause for question or have a comment, thought or suggestion, email me at jbailey@denverpost.com or tweet me @beetbailey.

The Snow Moon are going to climb overhead tonight. Listed here's when it'll be brightest.

Interesting piece by Jake Shapiro, The Know from The Denver Post talking about several important events this week. Jake Shapiro, The Know recently posted this and I decided it was worth sharing on this website.

Late this evening, as Friday turns to Saturday, the Snow Moon will light up the night sky.

At 1:17 a.m. Saturday, February’s full moon will be at its fullest illumination. Likely to be clear, according to the National Weather Service, Colorado has a great shot at seeing the Snow Moon.

So what is it?

The Snow Moon is what The Old Farmer’s Almanac calls the February full moon, and its nomenclature is based in Native American, Colonial American and European culture, according to the almanac. 

February is an easy one to reason as heavy snowfall occurs this month. Denver had its snowiest storm in five years earlier this week. On average, February is the United States’ snowiest month; in Colorado, it’s March.

In other cultures, the Snow Moon is known as the Bald Eagle Moon, Bear Moon, Raccoon Moon, Groundhog Moon and Goose Moon.

The moon will rise at 6:27 p.m. and set at 7:11 a.m. Friday into Saturday.

Here are the rest of this year’s full moons with their names:

January 28 — Wolf MoonMarch 28 — Worm MoonApril 26 — Pink MoonMay 26 — Flower MoonJune 24 — Strawberry MoonJuly 23 — Buck MoonAugust 22 — Sturgeon MoonSeptember 20 — Harvest MoonOctober 20 — Hunter’s MoonNovember 19 — Beaver MoonDecember 18 — Cold Moon

Fun lunar fact: A little more than 50 years ago, on Feb. 6, 1971, Alan Shepard became the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon.

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3 reasons why IOST price has risen 650% in 2021



Keeping up with the latest trends in cryptocurrency is a must for projects that want to stay relevant and continue to gain market share. The hype is currently swirling around decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) — and IOST is one protocol that has been capitalizing on these growing movements to help expand its community.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of IOST, the 78th-ranked digital asset by market capitalization, has risen 650% since Jan. 8, from $0.0058 to $0.045 on Feb. 17, its highest level since June 2018.



IOST/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Three reasons for the strong price performance thus far in 2021 include its entrance into the DeFi arena, the addition of NFT functionality combined with a new marketplace where users can buy and sell items, and increased support for staking from top exchanges, which led to a significant increase in the token's trading volume.

IOST enters the DeFi arena

DeFi’s central role in expanding the cryptocurrency ecosystem is now undeniable, and the developers at IOST recently took steps to capitalize on this growing trend.

Network congestion and high gas fees on Ethereum have led cryptocurrency traders to seek alternatives outside of the Ethereum network, and IOST is now emerging as one of those options as a result of its partnership with the new DeFi platform Donnie Finance.

The partnership was initially announced on Dec. 4, 2020 and is now preparing for its official launch on Feb. 18, which will enable IOST holders to stake their tokens in the protocol to participate in platform governance as well as earn native DON tokens.

IOST token price also received a boost after it was announced that 10% of the total supply of DON would be airdropped to IOST tokenholders as a way to help get them involved in the newly launched DeFi platform.

NFT introduction helps boost community involvement

Similar to the CryptoKitty craze in the bull market of 2018, NFTs have again emerged as a hot topic in the cryptocurrency space.

Following the release of its IRC-722 NFT standard in April 2020, IOST jumped into the NFT arena through a partnership with the Japanese blockchain game developer and consultancy company Platinum Egg and the creation of the TokenLink NFT marketplace.

TokenLink was designed to allow IOST gamers to trade NFTs and game items in a secure manner.

The beta version of the marketplace launched in January and is available for community members to try out by trading items from CrossLink, a GPS-linked strategy game developed by Platinum Egg that was released in September 2020.

IOST has also been chosen by Japanese regulators to demonstrate how NFT technology can be applied to peer-to-peer electricity trading and medical data sharing by utilizing NFTs to serve as liquid intellectual property in secondary markets.

Exchange staking support and increases in volume

The third driving force behind the recent price growth of IOST is the addition of staking on several top cryptocurrency exchanges including Binance and Huobi.

As DeFi grows and offers ways for tokenholders to earn a yield on their holdings in a decentralized manner, centralized exchanges have increasingly had to offer higher-yielding investment products in order to attract liquidity and users.

During the month of January, several top exchanges announced that they would be adding support for IOST staking, with an annual percentage yield ranging from 20% on Huobi to a high of 54.49% on some Binance contracts.

The partnership with Huobi also included the addition of the HUSD stablecoin to the IOST ecosystem, an important development, as it is the first stablecoin on the IOST blockchain, which should bring fresh liquidity to its DeFi ecosystem.

Rising fundamentals and market sentiment boost IOST

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for IOST have been favorable for some time.

For instance, the VORTECS™ score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.



Cointelegraph Markets Pro - VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. IOST Price

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ score for IOST began to pick up on Feb. 15, around 48 hours before the price increased 80%.

Since Jan. 8, trading volume for IOST has also seen new record daily volumes, which have surpassed $1 billion as interest in the protocol continues to grow.

Title: 3 reasons why IOST price has risen 650% in 2021
Sourced From: cointelegraph.com/news/3-reasons-why-iost-price-has-risen-650-in-2021
Published Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2021 21:00:00 +0000

'Shaq's First Name Video game' Is Actually The Latest Humorous 'Inside The NBA' Bit


TNT

You don’t really go to Inside the NBA for hardcore basketball analysis. That’s been pushed further and further to the sidelines over the years to make room for its oversize personalities to simply entertain us. To be certain, they throw out basketball opinions left and right, although it can oftentimes feel like that’s more designed to illicit a reaction than anything.

Heck, you don’t even expect them to be particularly knowledgeable about today’s players. I mean, one of their longest-running gags is literally called “Who He Play For?” a game in which Charles Barkley hilarious and incorrectly makes wild stabs in the dark about where a particular player happens to be suiting up this season.

So it’s no surprise they’ve tweaked that idea a little to showcase Shaq’s similar lack of knowledge about players’ first names with a segment called “Shaq’s First Name Game,” a nod to his recent inability to come up with Pascal Siakam’s first name.

“Do I get a lifeline?”

“Shaq’s First Name Game” went as expected. pic.twitter.com/qMygFgNHax

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 26, 2021

As you may have guessed, Shaq didn’t fare too well here, but the results were hilarious. “Eli” Monk got us off on the right foot, and it only got better from there. Shaq’s ownership stake with the Sacramento Kings couldn’t help him figure out Richaun Holmes’ name, though we suppose “John” was close enough?

He didn’t do much better with Immanuel Quickley (“Gerard”), but “Stuart” Robinson (Mitchell) was the icing on the cake before correctly coming up with Desmond Bane’s name to cap off a 1-for-5 performance. Granted, there are 450 some odd players in the NBA, so it’s impossible to keep track of everyone, but most of these are relatively well-known, especially if you are in the business of covering the league.

Still, we wouldn’t have it any other way. The results are comedic gold.

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BTC Has a 10x Potential, Says The Motley Fool and Plans to Buy Bitcoin Worth $5M


The private financial and investing advice company The Motley Fool has announced plans to allocate $5 million in Bitcoin.

The Motley Fool Joins The BTC Party

The Virginia, US-based company announced its intention to buy BTC in its Twitter account earlier. It reads that “we are buying $5 million in Bitcoin on our own balance sheet.”

The Motley Fool also provided several reasons behind its decision. The firm believes that the cryptocurrency will “store value more effectively than gold over the long term,” it could become a legitimate medium for transactions if its price stabilizes soon, and BTC “can act as a productive hedge against inflation.”

The investing advice company claimed that BTC will play a vital role in its diversified portfolio “built with a focus on the long term.”

The Bitcoin purchase will go through the company’s 10x real-money portfolio as one of the 40 assets that could provide a 1,000% return over the next 10 to 15 years.

“While Bitcoin may very well continue to be volatile in the short term, we think it has 10x potential from today’s levels over the long term as part of a diversified portfolio. We plan to hold this Bitcoin investment for many years.”

Should the company’s prediction materializes and BTC increases by ten-fold to $500,000 per coin, its market capitalization will be north of $9 trillion – or just shy of the estimated gold market cap.

The Motley Fool’s Turnaround

Bitcoin is no stranger to changing people’s (or companies’) minds, especially during the latest bull run, and it seems that The Motley Fool is the latest example.

Prior to its plans to buy BTC, the financial advisory giant has been openly negative on the primary cryptocurrency in the past. One of the first attacks was in 2013, after the asset had surged by more than 1,200% in less than five months to $240.

However, the company blasted BTC’s overall performance, neglected its potential increases, and called it a “horrible investment.”

Nevertheless, this “horrible investment” had to skyrocket by over 20,000% in the next eight years to garner The Motley Fool’s attention.

Title: BTC Has a 10x Potential, Says The Motley Fool and Plans to Buy Bitcoin Worth $5M
Sourced From: cryptopotato.com/btc-has-a-10x-potential-says-the-motley-fool-and-plans-to-buy-bitcoin-worth-5m/
Published Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2021 16:27:21 +0000

Bitcoin is a Poor Hedge Against Equities, JPMorgan Analysts Say


JPMorgan Chase & Co strategists have warned that BTC’s price could be in bubble territory as it’s significantly higher than their estimated fair value. Furthermore, the analysts believe that bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, have failed to serve as a hedge to equities.

JPM’s Swinging BTC Opinion

After being somewhat positive on BTC for months, claiming that the asset has taken some of gold’s market share because of the skyrocketing demand, JPM has changed its tune on the cryptocurrency.

Firstly, strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou questioned the sustainability of bitcoin’s record-breaking rally and asserted earlier this week that the asset’s volatility prevents it from surging even more.

During a more recent bitcoin assessment, the analysts touched upon the cryptocurrency’s infamous volatility once more. They asserted that the double-digit price swings coming from the asset had turned it into an “economic side show” and a poor hedge against a potential decline in stocks.

“Crypto assets continue to rank as the poorest hedge for major drawdowns in equities, with questionable diversification benefits at prices so far above production costs, while correlations with cyclical assets are rising as crypto ownership is mainstreamed.”

Bitcoin Trades Well Above Its Fair Value

Although JPM’s strategists failed to provide their precise fair value of BTC, they claimed that the cryptocurrency sits well above that level. As such, they joined Deutsche Bank saying that the asset is in a bubble state and could soon reverse its trend and head for a steep correction.

Previously, they were firm believers that bitcoin’s price could continue to increase as long as the demand for Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust was there. However, it seems that even the growing demand for GBTC and the entrance of large names such as Tesla would not be able to drive the cryptocurrency upwards, according to their analysis.

In contrast to JPM’s opinion comes Rick Rieder. The managing director of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, recently said the institution is “dabble a bit into” bitcoin as a possible option to diversify its portfolio. He asserted that BlackRock sits on a lot of cash because traditional hedges don’t work in these situations.

Title: Bitcoin is a Poor Hedge Against Equities, JPMorgan Analysts Say
Sourced From: cryptopotato.com/bitcoin-is-a-poor-hedge-against-equities-jpmorgan-analysts-say/
Published Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2021 13:38:54 +0000

APPS and Global Oculus piloting crypto payment infrastructure platform


CryptoNinjas » APPS and Global Oculus piloting crypto payment infrastructure platform

Atlantic-Pacific Processing Systems (APPS), a white label SaaS payment processing and acquiring infrastructure platform, and Global Oculus, a blockchain and digital currency solution provider, today announced they have partnered to provide businesses with a real-time digital currency acceptance, clearing, and settlement solution.

The companies will pilot merchant acceptance of leading digital currencies for consumer purchases using fast trade execution speeds equivalent to traditional credit card transaction processing timeframes. Banks, acquirers, and independent sales organizations will be able to provide their merchant clients with digital currency and conventional payment acceptance from the point-of-sale all the way through to transaction clearing and funds settlement.

“Global Oculus will have the tools, integrations, and technology to quickly enable digital currency payment acceptance within the parameters of traditional merchant payment checkouts while enhancing the omnichannel experience as well.” – APPS President & CEO, Abe Maghaguian

CryptoNinjas » APPS and Global Oculus piloting crypto payment infrastructure platform

Title: APPS and Global Oculus piloting crypto payment infrastructure platform
Sourced From: www.cryptoninjas.net/2021/02/22/apps-and-global-oculus-piloting-crypto-payment-infrastructure-platform/
Published Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2021 21:00:24 +0000

Saturday, February 27, 2021

Charles Hoskinson Reveals Significant Updates for Cardano (ADA) as Price Attempts Recovery

The decentralized open-source project running a public blockchain platform for smart contracts, Cardano, plans to implement several significant upgrades in the upcoming few months. During a recent interview, the project’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, also noted that Cardano has been negotiating potential partnerships with many industry names such as Celsius, Fireblocks, and Prime Trust.

Significant Updates Coming for Cardano

The 33-year-old co-founder of Ethereum spoke about his current project’s upcoming plans during an interview with the Financial Fox. Although he failed to provide more precise information on what’s coming, he said that the network will see many “smart contract stuff” in the next up to three months.

Simultaneously, the research arm of the Cardano Foundation is working on several new implementations:

“We are going to be announcing several new things like a smart contract institute that specializes in smart contract development design embedded at a university.”

Cardano’s founder said that he and his team have met with representatives from Prime Trust, Fireblocks, SingularityNET, and Celsius to discuss potential partnerships, such as support for Cardano.

He believes that integrations on larger-scale companies like the aforementioned names could enhance the adoption of the entire ecosystem.

“You need that for dApps, you need that for institutional investors to come in, you need that for all different kinds of actors, and that’s what consumes the majority of our time right now as a company.”

CryptoPotato recently reported that Cardano plans to release its long-anticipated Hard Fork Combinator (HFC) called Mary on March 1st, while all quality assurance and developer checks take place on February 24th.

DA’s Price Performance

Cardano’s native cryptocurrency, ADA, has been among the best performers in the past several weeks by taking full advantage of the bull run.

The asset entered the new year at $0.16, but it exploded in value in the following weeks. Several days ago, ADA breached $1 and continued north to a new 3-year record above $1.20. Following this 650% price surge, though, came the most recent cryptocurrency market correction.

ADA traded at about $1,15 when the sentiment changed, and the bears took control. In about 24 hours, the asset plummeted by more than 30% and bottomed beneath $0.80. Nevertheless, it has reclaimed some ground since then and has neared $1 once again.



ADAUSD. Source: TradingViewTitle: Charles Hoskinson Reveals Significant Updates for Cardano (ADA) as Price Attempts Recovery
Sourced From: cryptopotato.com/charles-hoskinson-reveals-significant-updates-for-cardano-ada-as-price-attempts-recovery/
Published Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2021 22:53:38 +0000

Broncos Expert: Is Denver precisely awful group in AFC West moving right into 2021?


As the Broncos (5-10) enter the final week of 2020 in dead last in the AFC West, the question must be asked: Is Denver the worst team in the division?

Here’s a two-sentence comparison as to where the Broncos currently stand compared against the other three teams in the division as the second season of head coach Vic Fangio and quarterback Drew Lock comes to a close.

Kansas City — The Broncos appear years behind catching the Chiefs and aren’t in the same stratosphere as the five-time defending divisional champions in any aspect of the game. All-Pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ ever-escalating stardom will make sure that gap stays Royal Gorge-sized over the course of the next decade.

Las Vegas — In Denver’s first-ever trip to Las Vegas on Nov. 15, the Raiders punched them in the mouth 37-12 while dressing Lock down for four picks. The Raiders’ trajectory since that win (lost five of six) underscores that franchise’s overall inconsistencies, but quarterback Derek Carr remains leaps-and-bounds better than Lock.

Los Angeles — Only embattled Chargers coach Anthony Lynn can make Vic Fangio’s job in Denver look totally secure as seven of Los Angeles’ nine losses came by one possession or less. But even the Chargers had enough gusto to beat the Broncos last Sunday, and rookie quarterback Justin Herbert is certain to be a game-changer in L.A.

— Kyle Newman, The Denver Post

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+ Broncos Mailbag: Have a question about the team? Tap here to ask Ryan O’Halloran.

+ Want to chat about the Broncos? Ask to join our closed discussion group on Facebook.

Get in Touch

If you see something that’s cause for question or have a comment, thought or suggestion, email me at dboniface@denverpost.com or tweet me @danielboniface.

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File: Trae Youthful Acquired Criticized By Teammates Just Before His 7-Point Evening Versus Charlotte


Getty Image

The Hawks sit at 4-4 after an early-season stretch that saw them beat Brooklyn and appear to be among the more upstart teams in the NBA, and returning to .500 seems to have unraveled many of the issues that plagued the team last year as well. A new report from Chris Kirschner and Sam Amick at The Athletic indicates how both John Collins and Clint Capela have criticized Trae Young in recent days, including Collins calling Young out during a film session on Tuesday over the way Young dominates the ball offensively.

According to The Athletic, Collins expressed his opinion that the Hawks need to get into offensive sets more quickly, limit early-clock attempts, and integrate talented players like Collins himself more effectively into the offense.

While Young reportedly made it known that he disagreed with Collins’ point of view, Collins told The Athletic via text message, “Trae is my brother regardless.”

After that same Tuesday film sessions, The Athletic reports, big man Clint Capela took Young aside and explained to him how the push-and-pull between a point guard and a star big man like Collins can lead to problems. Capela explained that he had seen it take place between James Harden and Dwight Howard in Houston and didn’t want the same curse to befall these Hawks.

That all led into a Wednesday-night game against Charlotte in which Young was “disengaged,” took just nine field goal attempts, and scored just seven points. It was a performance Atlanta head coach Lloyd Pierce called “uncharacteristic.”

On top of all of this, there remains tension between Pierce and Young that first came up last season — The Athletic reports that “the basketball relationship between Young and Pierce continues to be worth monitoring, with multiple sources saying the disconnect between them remains an issue.” The Hawks spent heavily in free agency last offseason and entered the year with playoff expectations. In the Eastern Conference, hovering around .500 is more than enough to stay in the postseason hunt and would be a big improvement for a Hawks team that has been in the lottery for several years running, but it appears there may be bigger problems in Atlanta than just wins and losses.

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Today-- certainly, we imply now-- is actually the time to make your outdoor camping appointments for this summer months


For outdoors enthusiasts in Colorado, the arrival of winter means skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing and, let’s not forget, making summer camping reservations. You do not want to procrastinate.

Camping reservations for national parks, national forests and Colorado state parks may be made six months in advance, which means it already could be too late for you to reserve your favorite campground for Memorial Day or the Fourth of July.

In general, the registration process this year will look like it did last year. Reservations for national parks and national forests can be made through the website recreation.gov. For state parks, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has its own online reservation system. You also can reserve camping in state parks by phone, at 800-244-5613.

RELATED: 9 remote lakeside campgrounds in Colorado where you can embrace serenity without speedboats

The effect of COVID-19 on camping reservations this year varies, depending on the agency. And keep in mind, things could change, depending on how the pandemic evolves.

“We are not limiting reservations for COVID or any other reason,” said Bridget Kochel, statewide public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “But as we saw last year, things can change quickly, and we do ask that people be prepared in case of unforeseen closures as we work to follow all county and state public health orders.”

Keep in mind, Colorado state parks went to a reservation-only system last year, and that will be in force this year as well.

Davion Nickens, 6, at left, and his brother Wyatt, 4, cook hot dogs on the campfire with their mother Anna, at right, in an area of National Forest near Gordon Gulch near the town of Nederland in 2019. (Jeremy Papasso, The Daily Camera)

In the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, which take in national forest lands in the Front Range from Mount Evans north to the Wyoming border (not including Rocky Mountain National Park), the inventory of sites in developed campgrounds will be reduced. A limited number of sites are set aside for day-of walk-ins, but reservations are recommended.

“This year because of COVID we’ve had to reduce the number of campsites in some areas where we might have had a double site,” said Reid Armstrong, public affairs specialist for the Arapaho and Roosevelt forests. “That would be uncomfortable for people in the COVID environment, to be literally right next to another family they didn’t know. We reduced some of those.”

Things are more complicated at Rocky Mountain National Park.

“Reservations could be made starting end of November for Glacier Basin and Moraine Park campgrounds,” said park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. “Because we have some unknowns regarding public health guidance for this season, we are currently providing availability to reserve about 50% of those two campgrounds.  At this time, we are not planning on opening our other reservation campground, Aspenglen, in May until we know more regarding COVID-19 guidance. Last year we had to cancel many visitor camping reservations, adversely impacting their plans, so until we know more we don’t want to put visitors and our staff in that position again.

RELATED: Ditch campgrounds. Here’s your basic guide to dispersed camping in Colorado.

“We have two first-come, first-served campgrounds, Timber Creek and Longs Peak, and will make the determination later in the season as to whether we will be able to operate those campgrounds this summer.”

Then there are those camping alternatives for those willing to rough it, including dispersed camping in national forests and wilderness permits at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Backcountry permits that allow camping in Rocky Mountain National Park at designated wilderness sites from May through October typically go on sale in March. Eager backpackers either gather in throngs at the backcountry office the day permits go on sale or try to score their spot online — and spots go fast.

“How we issue wilderness permits will look a little different this year, due to COVID,” Patterson said, adding that details have yet to be finalized.

Officials at RMNP also have to weigh the effects of the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires, which impacted about 9% of the park.

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“We are still assessing wilderness backcountry site availability this year due to fire impacts,” Patterson said. “There will be less availability this year in areas that were burned or sites that are accessed through burn areas.”

In national forests, “dispersed” camping means pitching your tent in areas that have no picnic tables, drinking water, fire grates or toilets. Trash cans usually aren’t available, either. They can be in designated or non-designated areas, as determined by the local ranger district, and cannot be reserved. The forest service has an interactive map that allows you to click on national forests in Colorado for a list of dispersed camping areas.

The forest service also has an interactive map for backpacking, but that is a list of trails in each forest where you can hike and spend the night in the wild. There you can click on specific trails for descriptions and other important information.

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Wolde Harris returns to Colorado Rapids as being one of two brand new aide trainers

Interesting article by Chase Howell from The Denver Post discussing several important news items for the week. Chase Howell recently published this and I thought it was a great post for posting on this website.

Wolde Harris is back with the Colorado Rapids. This time as a coach.

The Rapids are adding the former striker and Chris Little as assistant coaches, the team announced on Friday.

“We’re delighted to strengthen our technical staff with coaches of Wolde’s and Chris’ quality,” general manager Padraig Smith said in a news release. “Wolde’s experience and familiarity with our club, both as a former Rapids player and as a member of the Switchbacks’ coaching staff, will be a great asset for (head coach) Robin (Fraser) and our technical staff. We’re equally excited to welcome Chris to the club, as he brings a wealth of experience in developing players, which is a key focus for us as we continue to build toward a model of sustainable success.”

Harris has been an assistant coach with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks since 2015. The Jamaican native originally joined the Rapids in 1997 after being named the A-League Rookie of the Year with the Colorado Foxes. He spent three seasons with the Rapids before moving around and returning to the Rapids in 2005.

“We are very excited to have hired Wolde,” Rapids head coach Robin Fraser said. “He’s had vast experience playing professionally here and abroad, as well as an illustrious international career. He is the rare find of an attacker who has an excellent overall view of the game. Our attacking players will benefit greatly from Wolde being here.”

Little is the former head coach of the Tacoma Defiance, which plays in the USL Championship and is involved with the Seattle Sounders academy.

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“We are extremely pleased to have been able to hire Chris,” Fraser said. “He is one of the premier minds in the country in terms of developing players. Given the model of how we want to move forward as an organization, Chris is an ideal fit for us.”

Little, a native of Scotland, has spent 20 years in the United States coaching at both the college and professional levels. He is best known for his ability to build academies and develop youth talent. He is expected to put specific emphasis on youth development and integrating youth talent in his role with the Rapids.

Little and Harris will join Neil Emblen (assistant coach), Chris Sharpe (assistant and goalkeeping coach) and Jase Kim (analyst) to fill out Fraser’s staff.

Preseason officially begins March 8 with the regular season kicking off April 17.

Charlie Munger Compared Bitcoin to Gold But He Won’t Buy Either

Charlie Munger, the longtime Warren Buffett partner, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and BTC critique, has lashed out against the cryptocurrency once again. During a recent interview, the executive dismissed bitcoin’s chances of becoming a medium of exchange but made a rather compelling comparison with gold.

Munger Blasts BTC’s Price Fluctuations

The 97-year-old billionaire investor spoke about the recent developments in the stock markets and the crypto field covered by CNBC. More specifically, he commented on BTC’s price reaching and exceeding $50,000 and the chances of Tesla’s fully diluted enterprise value to top $1 trillion.

“Well, I have the same difficulty that Samuel Johnson once had when he got a similar question, he said, ‘I can’t decide the order of precedency between a flea and a louse,” and I feel the same way about those choices. I don’t know which is worse.”

Berkshire Hathaway’s VC also touched upon BTC’s notorious volatility as the asset is no stranger to double-digit percentage movements daily. Munger believes that these fluctuations will ultimately prevent bitcoin from serving as “the medium of exchange for the world.”

He called BTC the “artificial substitute for gold,” which seemed like the most positive comment he has ever made towards the cryptocurrency. However, he added that “since I never buy any gold, I never buy any bitcoin.”

“Bitcoin reminds me of what Oscar Wilde said about fox hunting. He said it was the pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable.” – Munger concluded.



Charlie Munger. Source: CNBC

Promoting BTC on Twitter is Wrong

In another topic of discussion that brought bitcoin and Tesla together, the CEO of the European fintech company Klarna, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, touched upon the social media promotional posts about BTC.

While he believes that the cryptocurrency is an “interesting technology,” he considers the actions by Tesla’s Elon Musk to update his Twitter bio to display Bitcoin or other similar endeavors as “deeply” worrying.

“If I go on Twitter and search for bitcoin, I can see people writing: ‘Buy now, or you’re going to miss the biggest opportunity of your life.’ If I would take Klarna stock and advertise it with similar writing, I would get a fine, or I would even be put to jail. I am very surprised why regulators aren’t chasing these elements.”

Tesla’s $1.5 billion allocation in BTC opened the door for numerous traditional media outlets to discuss the relationship between the two and draw comparisons by their performance.

Title: Charlie Munger Compared Bitcoin to Gold But He Won’t Buy Either
Sourced From: cryptopotato.com/charlie-munger-compared-bitcoin-to-gold-but-he-wont-buy-either/
Published Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:38:20 +0000

13,000 Bitcoins Withdrawn from Coinbase: Institutional Investors Still Buying at $48K?

While the BTC price continues to struggle slightly above the $50,000 mark, on-chain data revealed that over 13,000 bitcoins had been moved out from Coinbase to custody wallets. CryptoQuant’s CEO believes that these withdrawals went towards institutional investors, and he categorized it as the “strongest bullish signal.”

Bullish Developments on the BTC Horizen?

BTC’s price has suffered in the past several days after the asset peaked above $58,400 for a new all-time high record. However, the bears were looming, waited for their opportunity, and plummeted the cryptocurrency to a low beneath $45,000.

Despite bouncing off somewhat rapidly following this $13,000 nosedive, bitcoin is still more than 10% down from its latest price peak. However, data provided by the monitoring company CryptoQuant suggests a more favorable short-term future for the primary cryptocurrency.

The firm’s CEO, Ki Young Ju, took it to Twitter to exemplify a substantial withdrawal from the largest US crypto exchange – Coinbase. Earlier today, nearly 13,400 bitcoins were withdrawn to “multiple Coinbase custody wallets.”



Bitcoin Withdrawn From Coinbase. Source: CryptoQuant

Consequently, he concluded that this sizeable amount worth approximately $650 million has ended up on wallets linked to US institutional investors. According to Young Ju, such investors have continued allocating funds in BTC even after the cryptocurrency lost nearly 20% of its value in a matter of days.

As institutions don’t seem deterred from buying the dip, Young Ju classified it as the “strongest bullish signal I’ve ever seen.” Keeping in mind that corporations such as Square and MicroStrategy also doubled-down on their belief in BTC with considerable allocations, the asset could indeed be heading for a sharp price recovery.

The Role of Coinbase Withdrawals for BTC’s Price

Apart from buying shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), Coinbase is among the most preferred channels for US-based corporations and institutions to buy bitcoin. After all, the exchange facilitated at least one of MicroStrategy’s massive purchases.

Consequently, Young Ju has repeatedly outlined the vital role of large Coinbase withdrawals to custody wallets on BTC’s price. For instance, CryptoPotato reported another similar development in which 15,000 bitcoins were transferred out of the exchange in one day on February 3rd.

Upon the time of the withdrawals, bitcoin traded below $33,000. However, the cryptocurrency skyrocketed in value in the following days and less than a week later neared $50,000 for a new price record.

Title: 13,000 Bitcoins Withdrawn from Coinbase: Institutional Investors Still Buying at $48K?
Sourced From: cryptopotato.com/13000-bitcoins-withdrawn-from-coinbase-institutional-investors-still-buying-at-48k/
Published Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:38:15 +0000

Sorare takes fantasy football NFTs to new level after $50 million funding round


Sorare announced today the completion of a $50 million funding round led by Benchmark and with participation from Accel. Leading celebrities in the world of football also took part, such as Antoine Griezmann, Rio Ferdinand, Oliver Bierhoff, Alexis Ohanian and Gary Vaynerchuck. 

Nicolas Julia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sorare, the global fantasy football game. He says he started his journey back in 1998 when France hosted the World Cup. He completed his very first sticker album that year, and he said it helped to bring him closer to the game of football, but also closer to his friends who were also collecting the stickers. 

Years later, in 2018, Julia and his Co-Founder Adrien discovered the new technology of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). They realised that this could take digital collecting to a new level, and that it would be the perfect fit for introducing digital scarcity into the world of fantasy football. 

Julia says that working with Benchmark has brought his dream to reality. He believes Benchmark to be “one of the best early-stage venture capital firms in the world”. Benchmark has also successfully backed top internet companies such as Twitter, Snap, Instagram and Discord. 

The Sorare CEO says what the company will do with the funding: 

“We’ll be using this new funding to propel our vision forward. Our mission is to create “The game within The game”. We are transforming online football fandom and giving fans like us the power to own the game they love.” 

He goes on to say that the funding will help in hiring a first-class team, onboard the top 20 football leagues in the world, and launch a mobile app. He also adds: 

“More importantly, these funds will serve to delight our current and future community. Clubs, footballers and fans are at the heart of the game. We’re designing an experience where fans can celebrate, share, and live football moments at a deeper connection. We’re making fantasy football a reality.” 

Finally, he describes how the technology of NFTs will work to give digital cards superpowers: 

“Blockchain technology gives Sorare cards superpowers. We are building more than collectibles. Our digital cards have a utility that can be used in our global fantasy football games and myriads of games. The potential is limitless and we can’t wait to see the amazing football projects that are built around Sorare cards!” 

NFT technology is really exploding onto the Blockchain/Cryptocurrency scene currently. Christies is involved with selling art NFTs and the world of DeFi is using the technology in ever more innovative ways. The future does look bright for the companies that can become the first movers. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. 

Title: Sorare takes fantasy football NFTs to new level after $50 million funding round
Sourced From: cryptodaily.co.uk/2021/02/Sorare-fantasy-football-50-million-funding-round
Published Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:37:58 +0000

Friday, February 26, 2021

Broncos Expert: Checking out Eric Bieniemy's head training candidacy


For the third straight season, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is a top head coaching candidate. And for the third straight season, the ex-CU running back and offensive coordinator may somehow get left out in the cold.

If Bieniemy returns to Kansas City in 2021, it would be a fumble by a league that already has a glaring lack of head coaching diversity (only two Black men). It would also be a missed opportunity by the six franchises looking to fill their vacancies.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes acknowledged as much in a local radio appearance earlier this week, saying Bieniemy’s “track record speaks for itself.”

“The type of man he is, the way he can control and be a leader of the locker room, the way that he coaches and schemes he brings to us (is all crucial),” Mahomes told KCSP in Kansas City. “If he doesn’t (get hired), people are crazy.”

To date, Bieniemy’s interviewed with the Jaguars, Lions, Falcons, Chargers and Jets, and reportedly has another interview coming with the Texans after Kansas City’s season ends. But once again, the candidacy of the 13-year NFL coaching vet (his first 10 were as running backs coach for the Vikings and Chiefs) is being asterisked by his team’s success.

The critics wonder how much of the 51-year-old’s accomplishments are a result of working with future Hall of Fame coach Andy Reid, who is the Chiefs’ primary play-caller. Along the same vein, they also ask if Bieniemy’s resume is largely due to having a once-in-a-generation quarterback in Mahomes who is surrounded by a bevy of All-Pro weapons (i.e. Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill).

In addition to those doubts, Bieniemy’s candidacy is being held back by logistics.

With the Chiefs set to make a deep playoff run for a third straight year, the teams that are seriously interested in him will have to wait to make the official hire as other top coaching candidates get scooped up in the coming weeks. A team really has to believe Bieniemy is their guy — and be confident they’re actually going to get him — before taking the risk of holding out to hire him until after Kansas City’s probable Super Bowl appearance Feb. 7.

Right now, Bieniemy has a lot of choices on the table. Perhaps in the end, he’ll end up having none at all. Perhaps he decides the offers he has in front of him after Kansas City’s season ends aren’t the right fit, especially considering the likelihood he’ll again be a top head coaching candidate next year.

But one thing is for sure: for the six downtrodden teams currently in the market, Bieniemy is worth taking whatever perceived risk that comes with his hire — even if that hire is preceded by a three-week wait.

— Kyle Newman, The Denver Post

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If you see something that’s cause for question or have a comment, thought or suggestion, email me at dboniface@denverpost.com or tweet me @danielboniface.

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Beeple's NFT Auction Set To Begin Today At Christie's


As the auction of Beeple’s “EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS,” is set to begin today at the world’s oldest fine art auctioneer, Christies. The art world is primed for the first purely digital artwork to be sold at a major auction house.

Beeple’s NFT represents a major potential investment, according to Noah Davis, specialist in Post-War and contemporary art who is leading the sale at Christie’s. Davis anticipates the sale being akin to a “mosh pit” and commented on its unique nature in an interview:  

“That is the residue that enchants an artwork, this idea that you’re establishing its identity and scarcity, its rarity, and that is what’s so great about blockchain. You can do that in a way that is very obvious, even if it is a little bit beguiling and tricky because we’re so used to thinking about art in this very literal, real, lived way.”

The artwork, made up of 5,000 unique digital pieces, created every day between 2007 and 2021, will be auctioned over a period of 14 days. The price tag - “estimate unknown”.

The digital artist Mike Winkelmann, who goes under the name Beeple, has thus far sold his art work on blockchain art platform - Nifty Gateway. Recently selling an NFT in a resale for a whopping $6.6 million on the secondary market. The most expensive NFT sale in history. 

NFT’s are not new to the digital world, with ‘non-fungible tokens’ popularised by the blockchain-based game CryptoKitties in 2017.  These distinct, easily verifiable digital assets, have exploded in popularity in the past year, and can take many forms - from a video of Lebron James dunking, to music videos, and of course, digital artwork. 

The Christie’s lead on Beeple’s artwork, Davis, commented on the place he believes NFT’s will take in the art world:

“I don’t believe we are at the point now where NFTs are going to overtake paintings, sculpture, and drawings, as investment classes and things that people love to experience and engage with, because that’s never happened in the history of art. I don’t think we’ll ever lose that physicality, even if we wind up in a world that is more or less lived completely virtually. There’ll still be a place for fine art as we understand it right now.”

The significance of the Christie's auction is enormous for the NFT world. The bridging of two worlds, that will bring digital blockchain art into the mainstream.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Title: Beeple's NFT Auction Set To Begin Today At Christie's
Sourced From: cryptodaily.co.uk/2021/02/Beeple-NFT-Auction-Set-To-Begin-Today-At-Christies
Published Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:37:56 +0000

Broncos Freelance Targets: Veteran CB Xavier Rhodes interesting for Denver after bounce-back year in Indianapolis

Take a look at this article by Kyle Newman from The Denver Post talking about several important events this week. Kyle Newman recently published this and I thought it was a great post for publishing on this website.

Fourth in a series looking at players who could be targeted by the Broncos when free agent negotiating window opens March 15.

After a career year with the Vikings in 2017 that saw Xavier Rhodes earn first-team All-Pro honors, the cornerback’s play deteriorated over the next couple seasons in Minnesota.

Rhodes got consistently torched to the tune of an 81.5% completion percentage in 2019, and he was released last March. After signing a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the Colts, Rhodes allowed a completion percentage of 51.9%, an enormous improvement from 2019 and the second-lowest mark of his career behind 2017.

So the Colts are sold on Rhodes. Now, it’s just a matter of money. Spotrac projects the corner could command a two-year, $14.7 million deal, though Rhodes will likely demand more depending on the cornerback market.

“Xavier had a heck of a year,” Colts GM Chris Ballard told reporters at the end of the year. “He worked and bought into everything we’re doing. We’ll wait and see how it works out here in free agency, but we like Xavier.”

Rhodes started all 16 games for the Colts last year, with two interceptions in one game (one of which was a pick-six) and 12 passes defensed.

A free agent again, Rhodes is an intriguing candidate for the Broncos, who already released A.J. Bouye this offseason. As Michael Ojemudia and Essang Bassey continue to improve in their second seasons, Rhodes could be the veteran addition the Denver cornerback corps needs. And, new general manager George Paton is certainly familiar with Rhodes from his time as the Vikings’ vice president of player personnel/assistant general manager.

Rhodes File

Experience: Rhodes was the Vikings’ first-round pick (No. 25 overall) out of Florida State in 2013. As a rookie he saw action in 13 games, starting six, before becoming a full-time starter in his second season.

Rhodes started all but five games for the Vikings from 2014-19, emerging as one of the best cornerbacks in the league during the front end of that time frame. In his career he has 12 interceptions and two touchdowns, and has recorded at least one pick in six seasons.

A three-time Pro Bowler, Rhodes was the Colts’ best cover corner last year.

Case For: The Bouye trade didn’t pan out, as his season was marred by injuries (shoulder, concussion) as well as a season-ending suspension for performance enhancing drugs. With Bryce Callahan as the most experienced returner at cornerback, Denver could use another veteran presence to lead the unit’s promising younger players (Ojemudia, Bassey, another cornerback via the 2021 draft). Rhodes’ play in 2020 could mean his dips in 2018 and 2019 were an aberration.

Case Against: Or, those dips could be a sign Rhodes is far from the All-Pro cornerback he once was, and the Broncos are unlikely to sign a player who matches the strong performance he showed with the Colts. Rhodes will be 31 when the season begins, and an aging corner might not be the best answer when the Broncos have a No. 9 pick they could use on a dynamic rookie at that position instead.

Tape Analysis (Colts vs. Bengals, Week 6 2020): In a win over Cincinnati, Rhodes had a season-high three pass break-ups. Rhodes demonstrated impressive closing speed in one pass break-up as he streaked across the field with Mike Thomas in coverage. Later in the game, he had good timing closing on a route to break up Joe Burrow’s third-down pass for A.J. Green. In the third quarter, Rhodes came up and stuck his helmet in on a draw play, showing he can still play the run. In the fourth quarter, Rhodes shut down Green again with physical coverage on a deep in-breaking route.

Final Take: Rhodes may still have something left in the tank and could very well be a key defensive component if he ends up in Denver. But the cost may not justify that, especially if Denver is having to compete with offers from other teams willing to go in the range of a $10 million annual salary.

Why the Polkadot network needs ‘Common good Parachains’


The Polkadot network has many parachains that are optimised to operate on a specific area. These areas vary between DeFi, identity, smart contracts, robotics and bridges, among many others. All these parachains were designed to interact with each other, but not all of them can obtain a “slot lease” at the same time, and certain “common good” parachains need to be allocated to their own subset of parachain slots. 

The relay chain in the Polkadot network can only support a limited number of parachains, and so in most cases it employs an “on-chain auction”, whereby parachain teams bid to lock up a “bond”, which is basically the amount of DOT tokens that they will lock up for the duration of the slot lease. 

The Free Rider Problem 

Some of the parachains could be considered as “common goods”, and therefore may be required to have a parachain slot at all times, or at least while they are acting in the common good of the network. 

An example of what can happen is quoted here: 

“Take a bridge to another network as an example: every parachain team may believe that having this bridge would benefit their parachain and its users. If an individual team contributes to the bridge’s auction campaign, then they are giving up resources that they could use in their own auction. If they do not contribute, and enough others do, then they can still use the bridge. These free riders would benefit from the parachain on the backs of those who did support its slot lease. Because of the incentive to free ride, parachains that have almost universal buy-in may end up without enough DOT backing their auction bid.” 

Polkadot has a governance system that can be used to register those chains that are considered as common goods, and therefore will not go through the auction process. Therefore, there may well be two categories of chains, which could be designated “system level” and “public utility” chains. 

System Level and Public Utility Chains 

“System level chains move functionality from the Relay Chain into parachains”, therefore applying less administrative load.  

“Moving the logic from the Relay Chain to a parachain is an optimization that makes the entire network more efficient. All validators need to process all Relay Chain transactions, but split into small groups to validate parachains in parallel. By moving system level logic to a parachain, and allowing the processing to be done by a subgroup of validators instead of all, it frees capacity in the Relay Chain for its primary function: validating parachains. Adding a system level chain could make the network capable of processing several more parachains. Rather than taking a slice of a 100 parachain pie, a system level chain takes one slice and bakes a bigger pie.” 

On the other hand, Public Utility Chains add value to the entire network, and therefore the governance process is used in order to evaluate this value and decide whether a parachain slot should be allotted. 

General examples of such chains are those that would operate with the native token of the relay chain (DOT or KSM). These parachains could typically be bridges, DOT denominated smart contracts, or generic asset chains. 

“Because public utility chains add functionality beyond the scope of the Relay Chain, we expect the network stakeholders to approve them only in rare scenarios. The vast majority of common good chains will likely be the unopinionated system level chains.” 

By reserving parachain slots to common good chains, valuable parachains can be allowed to contribute to the network, that otherwise might not have been given a slot due to the free-rider problem.  

“Polkadot’s governance system is on the bleeding edge of social coordination and it will be exciting to see how it helps the network evolve to meet the needs of its constituent parachains and stakeholders.” 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. 

Title: Why the Polkadot network needs ‘Common good Parachains’
Sourced From: cryptodaily.co.uk/2021/02/Why-the-Polkadot-network-needs-Common-good-Parachains
Published Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:37:50 +0000

Twenty Colorado secondary school children baseball players to enjoy in 2021


Ben Bowen, Sr., G/F, Mountain Vista — The 6-foot-2 senior signed a letter of intent to play for Wyoming following a breakout junior season that saw him average 16.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game during a run to the 5A Sweet 16.

Brayden Carter, Sr., F, Mullen — A double-double machine with averages of 18.7 ppg and 10.4 rpg in his first varsity season last winter, the 6-7 power forward is a key figure for the Mustangs as they look to rebound from a rough 2019-20 season.

Greysen Carter, Sr., F, Fairview — The 6-4 Carter is best known for his work on the baseball diamond, where he’ll play for SEC power Vanderbilt soon enough. But on the court, he’s a deadly offensive weapon (17.5 ppg on 58% shooting) for a Raiders team eyeing a repeat trip to the 5A Final Four.

Quis Davis, Jr., G, Denver East — Lightning quick, springy and a smooth shooter from the outside, the 6-foot point guard burst onto the scene as a sophomore, and should get even more responsibility after posting 10.4 pgg, 6.7 apg and 3.1 spg in his debut varsity season.

Assane Diop, So., F, Belleview Christian — Upon joining the varsity at midseason, the 6-10 Diop posted double-doubles in 11 of 12 games and a Dennis Rodman-esuqe average of 18.9 rpg. Throw in bucket-getter Logan Owen (25.5 ppg), and the Bruins are 1A sleepers.

Baye Fall, So., F/C, Lutheran — A native of Senegal, the 6-11 Fall submitted a sensational freshman season (19.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.8 bpg) one year after emigrating to Colorado to earn 3A all-state recognition and national buzz as ESPN rated him the No. 4 sophomore in the nation.

Jaeton Hackley, Jr., PG, Douglas County — Following an impressive sophomore year that saw the 5-10 guard average a team-high 14.2 ppg and 3.3 apg, Hackley takes over the controls of a Huskies offense that figures to be explosive with 6-5 forward Keegan Phillips also in the fold.

Julian Hammond III, Sr., G, Cherry Creek — With a second straight 5A football championship already in his back pocket, the 6-2 all-state guard has one last thing to do before he heads to Boulder to play for Tad Boyle’s Buffs: Bring a basketball title back to Greenwood Village.

Sam Howery, Jr., PG, St. Mary’s — Much like his older sister, two-time 3A player of the year Josephine Howery, the 6-foot guard is a dynamic, do-it-all spark who can find his own shot (20.5 ppg), create for others (8.5 apg), and make an impact at the defensive end (3.9 spg, 6.2 rpg).

Jarmell Johnson, Sr., G, George Washington — The No. 2 option on a Patriots team that reached the 5A Great 8 last winter, Johnson’s role should only grow in his senior season after the 6-3 guard averaged 12.0 ppg on an efficient 58% shooting from the floor as a junior.

James Shiers, Jr., C, Mead — Several seniors have moved on from the Mavericks squad that finished 25-1 last season, but the 6-9 Shiers and fellow junior Elijah Knudsen (11.6 ppg) remain for a team that enters 2021 ranked No. 1 in CHSAANow.com’s Class 4A poll.

Nolan Marold, Sr., F, ThunderRidge — The Grizzlies came on strong at the end of 2019-20, with the 6-7 Marold (10.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 bpg) a central part of the surge. Paired with up-and-coming 6-9 junior center Zach Keller, second-ranked ThunderRidge figures to have a formidable frontcourt.

Amondo Miller, Sr., G, Valor Christian — A long, athletic wing at 6-6, Miller was the leading scorer (12.1 ppg, 2.8 apg) for Valor’s 5A Final Four team last March. He figures to have an even bigger impact this winter with the Eagles’ only other double-digit scorers since graduated.

Cade Palmer, Sr., G, Rangeview — One of the few remaining contributors from a Raiders core that claimed a 2019 5A title and was 26-0 before play was halted by COVID last March, the 6-foot Palmer is a deadeye shooter (career 43% from 3) who will get plenty of opportunities to let it fly this winter.

Myles Purchase, Sr., G, Cherry Creek — The 5A football player of the year is bound for Iowa State next fall. But first, Purchase (13.6 ppg, 3.2 apg, 3.2 spg) will team with seniors Julian Hammond III and Sebastian Cole to form one of the most potent perimeter trios in the state.

Ty Robinson, Sr, G/F, Eaglecrest — The 6-5 Robison was recruited by the CU football program as a rangy pass catcher, but his refined basketball skills (13.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and elite athleticism were good enough to gain interest from Division-I basketball programs as well.

Related Articles

George Washington guard Jaida Redwine was one of Colorado prep hoops’ biggest secrets. Not anymore. CU Buffs commit Julian Hammond III leads loaded Cherry Creek into abbreviated 2021 season 20 Colorado high school girls basketball players to watch in 2021 CHSAANow.com preseason prep basketball rankings: Cherry Creek, Grandview atop 5A boys, girls top 15 Grading the Week: Word of advice for new Broncos general manager George Paton: Next time, order the surf and turf

Wes Ryan, Sr., G, De Beque — A two-time first-team 1A all-state selection, Ryan is a prolific scorer (1,324 career points) who can also hold down the boards (10.1 rpg last season) and provide a defensive deterrent (1.2 bpg, 1.0 spg).

Boston Stanton III, Sr., G, Denver East — The Angels’ leading scorer as a junior (21.0 ppg), the 6-4 wing can get buckets from just about anywhere on the court. And he just might have to with last year’s No. 2 offensive option, Langston Reynolds, off to Colorado Prep.

Blakeley Stoughton, Sr., F, Regis Jesuit — The Raiders’ Cinderella run to the Great 8 as a No. 29 seed was fueled by the triumvirate of Stoughton (10.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.6 spg), Michael Wolf (11.5 ppg) and Alonzo Paul (9.4 ppg, 2.1 apg) — all of whom return for their senior seasons.

Colin Westfall, Sr., G, Lewis-Palmer — The Rangers bring back a majority of the production from the 2019-20 team that closed out the season on a 7-2 tear, with Westfall (14.8 ppg, 3.8 apg), 6-5 post Eddie Speller Jr. (14.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and wing Cameron Lowe (11.5 ppg, 45% from 3) the leading standouts.

* All stats taken from maxpreps.com

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Charlie Munger Relates Oscar Wilde's Fox Hunting Quote to Recent Bitcoin Frenzy


Billionaire Nonagenarian, legendary investor, and polymath, Charlie Munger, shared his thoughts on bitcoin recently and quoted Oscar Wilde in the same breath too.

Bitcoin questions were presented at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Daily Journal Corporation (DJCO) by Yahoo Finance correspondent Julia La Roche where Munger ended his comments saying:

“Bitcoin reminds me of what Oscar Wilde said about fox hunting. He said it was the pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable”.

Charlie Munger is the Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett's long-time business partner. Munger is also the chairman of Daily Journal Corporation which has been publicly traded since 1987 on the NASDAQ.

Munger’s Thoughts say Nay to Bitcoin

Munger was asked if bitcoin could be one of the biggest competitive threats to US banks. Munger replied:

“Well, I don’t think I know exactly what the future of banking is and I don’t think I know how the payment system will evolve. I do think that a properly run bank is a great contributor to civilization and that the central banks of the world like controlling their own banking system and their own money supplies. So, I don’t think Bitcoin is going to end up the medium of exchange for the world. It’s too volatile to serve well as a medium of exchange. And it’s really kind of an artificial substitute for gold and since I never buy any gold, I never buy any Bitcoin, and I recommend other people follow my practice.”

When asked if bitcoin or any other crypto would make its way to the DJCO’s balance sheet as an asset as Tesla did, Munger answered:

“We will not be following Tesla and the Bitcoin.”

 Munger’s Stance Hasn’t Changed in Years

Munger has always been a vehement critic of bitcoin. He was reported to have called bitcoin “a total insanity” speaking as a guest in an event hosted by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business in November 2017. On a phone interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in January 2018, he referred to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as “bubbles.”

A month later, at a Q&A session at the Daily Journal’s 2018 annual shareholders meeting, once again, Munger had no love for Bitcoin, calling it a “noxious poison.” In an interview with Yahoo Finance in April 2018, Munger criticized bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, saying that those buying them were speculating rather than investing. His latest comment comes as no surprise.

Bestie Warren Buffet Thinks Along The Same Lines

Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and business tycoon, has stated that cryptocurrencies will end badly. At the Berkshire Hathaway 2018 annual shareholder meeting in May 2018, Buffett stood by his criticism on bitcoin, saying it is “probably rat poison squared,” CNBC reports. 

Not Everybody in Wall Street Hates Bitcoin

A recent article by CNBC mentioned that the wall-street bigwigs are talking about bitcoin. Wall Street banks are definitely feeling the heat that bitcoin’s spiking value has left in its trail. JPMorgan co-president Daniel Pinto said: 

“If over time an asset class develops that is going to be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved. The demand isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point.”

This is a sharp turn JPMorgan has taken considering JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon's standpoint during bitcoin’s boom-cycle in 2017 where he called bitcoin a fraud that wouldn’t end well.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Title: Charlie Munger Relates Oscar Wilde's Fox Hunting Quote to Recent Bitcoin Frenzy
Sourced From: cryptodaily.co.uk/2021/02/charlie-munger-bitcoin
Published Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:37:47 +0000

Amazon, IBM, JP Morgan, Microsoft, and R3 Corda: The State of Enterprise Blockchain


What is the state of Enterprise Blockchain? Are we advancing? Are we stalled? Why?

This article examines the state of the industry; this is not intended to be a comprehensive review, rather, the goal is to focus on the primary market participants. With this report-out for context, it then posits a platform strategy for industry success based on my multi-decade experience building platforms (SOA, .NET architecture, Azure incubation etc.) and tools (Visual Studio .NET/Fx, patterns & practices etc.).

First, let us review what today’s prototypical enterprise IT customer has been accustomed to expecting from an enterprise blockchain product line.

The kernel of an enterprise blockchain product is expected to enable a cryptographically trusted ledger of corporate data; this data is shared across a network of entities; multiple parties are able to securely access this data in real-time, with constraints in place for identity, authorization, entitlements and data privacy; the primary participants treat this as a read-write ledger and there are typically secondary participants whose roles span governance, risk and compliance enforcement and reporting.

Second, let us review the dominant camps of industry watchers; what drives the “Whither” (Pollyanna) and the “wither” (Cassandra) perspectives?

On one side, we have (to oversimplify) – blockchain is the antithesis of top-down, centralized command and control; a corporate entity will not abdicate authority; enterprise blockchain is a solution in search of a problem and there are no real-world use cases; enterprise projects are still in prototype/proof-of-concept stages; the legal and governance models that need to be in place for multiple corporate entities to connect and collaborate are exorbitantly complex and expensive.

On the other side, we have (to oversimply, again) – blockchain does not have to be a dis-intermediator to disrupt business models; similar to the cloud, medium-term benefits arise from cost reduction and increased efficiency; the requirement for trust (at the corporate/consumer level) continues to critically surpass today’s IT centralized cloud capabilities; global cross-organizational collaboration demands a resilient, scalable foundation to build new revenue streams; the first-movers will dominate and take-all.

With this frame, let us now review the primary industry participants.

mazon: The AWS Strategy, ReplayedAmazon’s enterprise blockchain strategy is in many ways a replay of their hugely successful AWS strategy. Given the scope of the AWS stack, it is sometimes easy to forget that it all began with storage (S3) and compute (EC2); from a small seed a mighty trunk may grow, and that is how AWS has scaled to now be the leading cloud vendor in the market. Amazon’s Quantum Ledger Database may very well play the role that S3 and EC2 did a decade earlier as Amazon’s enterprise blockchain ambitions scale.

QLDB is a managed ledger database that provides a transparent, immutable, and cryptographically verifiable transaction log (albeit ‎owned by a central trusted authority). QLDB may be used to track each and every data modification as it maintains a complete, verifiable, and auditable log of the changes. In real terms, QLDB is not close to being a blockchain platform; it does not have a model for consensus, nor does it have any smart contract execution environment et al; however, it does serve a precisely defined business need.

Amazon also provides a full managed cloud service to create and manage enterprise blockchain networks (restricted to Hyperledger Fabric at this time); it supports the ability to quickly create networks spanning multiple entities, enabling a collection of entities to collaborate (again limited to Hyperledger Fabric).

Customers who have grown up with AWS, and who are able to start small with the ledger and scale up as Amazon eventually extends their portfolio of capabilities will likely look to Amazon.

IBMThe SOA Strategy, Redux

IBM’s enterprise blockchain strategy is reminiscent of their hugely successful SOA/Websphere strategy. They took an early marketing position in the industry with their Hyperledger portfolio of initiatives; they were able to clearly articulate the business opportunity and translate this into a broad-based set of business capabilities that appealed to the enterprise CxO; and they led with their focus on business outcomes.

The Hyperledger set of projects focused on developing a family of frameworks, and libraries for enterprise blockchain scenarios; they also serve as a ‘container’ for a variety of distributed ledger frameworks including Hyperledger Fabric, Sawtooth, Indy etc. IBM took the initiative in placing these under the Linux Foundation, and further embraced a broad swathe of scenarios and use cases with a diversity of projected extensible building blocks. The breadth and scope of the Hyperledger portfolio is possibly a double-edged sword.

Unlike the hugely success SOA/Websphere strategy, which relied on harnessing complexity and enabling customers with consulting and professional services, the enterprise blockchain market has been less amenable to a services-led play. Enterprise customers are still in the early stages of aligning their business and technology priorities and have tended to focus more on in-house prototyping and pilot initiatives than on outside vendors.

Customers looking for a full-scale enterprise-wide blockchain architecture and associated industry blueprints, and who are committed to extensive customization and joint development with a services partner will likely look to IBM.

JP Morgan/ConsenSys: The Private Cloud Strategy, Cloned

Quorum was not JP Morgan’s first blockchain project; ‘Juno’ was their pioneering attempt at building a “distributed crypto-ledger.” With Quorum, JP Morgan set out to develop a private, permission version of the public Ethereum network and this project was subsequently taken over by Consensys. JP Morgan’s strategy may be viewed in retrospect as a variant of the “Private Cloud” approach pursued by a number of industry vendors in their attempt to compete with the early successes of the public cloud.

Quorum consists of two projects: one based on Hyperledger Besu and another on GoQuorum. Hyperledger Besu is a Java-based client and Apache 2.0 licensed; GoQuorum is a Go-based client and GPL licensed. Consensus algorithms supported include PoA (IBFT/Clique), PoW and RAFT. Tools that work with the mainnet are able to be repurposed to work with Quorum, and this is an advantage for a customer that is knowledgeable with the mainnet tools.

Similar to the lessons learned from the battle of private versus public clouds, there are key elements to consider using the People/Process/Technology troika. First, Technology: trading-off ‘symmetry’ of the on-premises stack at the expense of the customer’s on-boarding experience/their initial set of needs. Second, Process:the ‘morphing of the governance mechanisms and their relevance/fit inside the entity. Third, People: the ‘translation’ of the incentive models and their application within the organization. An attempt to “directly” map from the public to the private has not been successful in the past.

Customers looking for near-complete symmetry with the Ethereum mainnet will likely look to Quorum.

Microsoft: Developers, Developers, Developers, and Azure-first

Microsoft continues to lead the industry when it comes to their focus on developers.

Decades of experience at obsessing over developer tools and frameworks is evident in their strategy of investing in tooling, guidance, and samples.

The Azure Blockchain Development Kit was a pioneering effort at delivering a comprehensive set of tools; capabilities included the ability to connect various data producers and consumers to and from a blockchain, integrating legacy tools, systems, and protocols, as well as samples and guidance via accelerators. The preview of the Azure Blockchain Workbench focused on ease of experimentation with the ability to plug-in integrations and extensions to the Azure cloud services.

Consistent with their Azure-first platform strategy, Microsoft have invested on their managed Azure Blockchain Service, rather than leading with a pure-play blockchain platform; the Azure Blockchain Service enables simple network deployment and operations, with built-in consortium management. Continuing their focus on developer tools, the Azure Blockchain Service emphasizes application development and business logic over managing virtual machines and infrastructure.

Microsoft builds on their strengths with the breadth of their managed services to take on a broad industry focus in enabling partners and customers with their vertical offerings and go-to-market, and their extensive support of industry standards.

Customers embarking on broad-based industry digital transformation and building on a vendor-neutral managed services cloud framework will likely look to Microsoft.

R3: Different Rules, Different Game

R3 are playing a different game, with a different set of rules; as they themselves say – ‘When is a blockchain not a blockchain? When it’s Corda.’

Transactions on Corda have a cryptographic dependency chain; in practical terms, Corda may be deemed a domain-specific blockchain platform, designed for the highly regulated financial services domain.

Why a domain-specific blockchain platform?

In the financial services sector, there are extensive regulatory requirements that focus on the agreements across involved parties; these agreements need to be recorded by all the entities concerned, and often this happens in a diverse set of systems (with diverse tools technologies etc.). When these systems are in synch and in their happy path all is good; however, when different systems have different views of the resulting states of transactions, hundreds of billions of dollars are at stake.

The Corda domain-specific blockchain serves to provide a shared system for recording and managing financial agreements across multiple entities; the primary goal is to ensure that the agreements are recorded identically and consistently, and that regulators have the matching shared view of the participating entities. R3 stand alone and as pioneers with their stack.

Customers in the Financial Services sector, looking for a proven platform that meets regulatory requirements and constraints will likely look to R3 Corda.

Looking Ahead: A Winning Enterprise Blockchain Strategy

If you stayed through this article, it is probably apparent to you that different vendors are and have been staking out various segments of the market, as they look to scale their enterprise blockchain market share.

What then does a winning enterprise blockchain strategy look like?

Two things are obvious.

Developers: Clearly, the strategy has to lead with developers-first (ala Microsoft): without developer tools and frameworks, a platform will not have a fair shot at serving a majority of the customer base.Managed Multi-Cloud: the strategy should support multiple cloud infrastructures: a plurality of enterprise customers will have applications and infrastructure spanning multiple cloud providers (Microsoft Azure, AWS etc.)

What next?

Here are the key unmet needs and challenges: 1) enterprise customers want to start small initiatives, and then grow out; 2) they want to control or at least have the illusion of control in being able to choose and mix/max components and capabilities as they scale; 3) they want to be able to lock-down and deploy the services that they absolutely require without being forced into a one-size-fits-all model.

Modularity and Componentization: a winning enterprise blockchain platform should be modular and composable: deploy as a centralized ledger ala QLDB if required; deploy in full-scale model ala Hyperledger or Quorum if required; deploy as a decentralized ledger and lock-down the smart contract execution if required; deploy in domain-specific modes ala R3 Corda and more. This enables the enterprise customer base to scale with the vendor as opposed to being boxed into any one provider.Whilst Developers first and Multi-cloud are table stakes, modularity and componentization of the capabilities and the ability to configure and customize multiple extensible deployment scenarios in order to scale up (and down and across organizational models) is the dark horse that we have yet to meet in the enterprise blockchain market.

The post Amazon, IBM, JP Morgan, Microsoft, and R3 Corda: The State of Enterprise Blockchain appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Title: Amazon, IBM, JP Morgan, Microsoft, and R3 Corda: The State of Enterprise Blockchain
Sourced From: cryptoslate.com/amazon-ibm-jp-morgan-microsoft-and-r3-corda-the-state-of-enterprise-blockchain/
Published Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:37:36 +0000

SwissBorg launches yield wallets for USDC and CHSB


We are excited to announce the launch of the SwissBorg yield wallets – a smart, simple and secure way for investors to earn yields on their favourite crypto tokens! The rollout of SwissBorg’s USDC yield wallet began in December 2020, and the feature is now available to all SwissBorg app users.

SwissBorg offers two categories of yield wallets – Smart Yield, and the CHSB Yield Program, which each have different mechanisms for calculating a yield.

Earn up to 32.18% p.a. on USDC

The Smart Yield wallet simplifies and optimises earning a yield on crypto assets, with the goal of finding the best return for the lowest risk, as well as offering some of the best yielding conditions available in the market.

Initially launched for the stablecoin USDC, the Smart Yield wallet gives users the opportunity to earn up to 32.18% p.a. on their crypto!

The account manages risk with SwissBorg’s strategy optimiser, which monitors and rates all available investment opportunities available based on their risk and expected returns. SwissBorg has also established a Safety Net Program to protect against Smart Contract Risk. Starting with USD1 million in CHSB, the program continually contributes the equivalent of 25% of maximum yield earnings into the program to ensure it grows alongside our community’s investments.

SwissBorg’s Smart Yield wallet then delivers maximum returns by offering a variable rather than a fixed. While most crypto companies offer a fixed yield, this isn’t the best solution for users as it allows these companies to hide their total returns in the fixed rate. At SwissBorg, our yield fluctuates to match real market conditions and our fees remain fixed. This ensures our users are getting the highest available yield for the best risk/return ratio.

Currently, more than 40 million in USDC in the SwissBorg Smart Yield wallet is generating returns every day, with Premium users having received an average return of 24.77% p.a. over the past 30 days!

The Smart Yield wallet is currently available on USDC, with wallets on BTC, ETH, BNB and DAI to be released in the coming weeks.

38.28% of CHSB tokens are locked in the Yield Program

The CHSB Yield Program is tailored for the SwissBorg token, CHSB, and is designed to reward CHSB token holders by tying the yield offered to the performance of the SwissBorg ecosystem.

Launched on January 28th, within two weeks 38.28% of the token’s circulating supply had already been locked in the CHSB Yield Program!

Simply, every week SwissBorg releases its Community Index, which is a score based on the volume of assets held in the SwissBorg app, the price of the CHSB token, the level of activity in SwissBorg’s wealth management and Community apps, and the level of engagement on social media and in SwissBorg’s DAO.

Benefits of both yield wallets

While the mechanisms for calculating the yields are different, both the SwissBorg Smart Yield wallets and CHSB Yield Programs share a number of benefits.

First, all SwissBorg yield wallets pay and compound the yield paid every 24 hours, resulting in even higher overall earnings.

Second, users who upgrade to a Premium account by staking CHSB in the app also benefit from earning double the yield of Standard users!

Finally, the terms of the SwissBorg yield wallets account are also some of the best available, with no minimum investment amount and no minimum investment period.

For more information about the SwissBorg yield wallets, visit https://swissborg.com/smart-yield-account

To learn about the SwissBorg app, visit https://swissborg.com/, or download in the App Store or Google Play.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post brought to you by SwissBorg.

The post SwissBorg launches yield wallets for USDC and CHSB appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Title: SwissBorg launches yield wallets for USDC and CHSB
Sourced From: cryptoslate.com/swissborg-launches-yield-wallets-for-usdc-and-chsb/
Published Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:37:30 +0000

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Courtland Sutton's ACL rehab about small-- and significant-- triumphes: "Receive 1% far better every day"


The mental and physical grind of rehabilitating an anterior cruciate ligament injury is about small victories. Full extension of the leg. Achieving time thresholds on the stationary bike and treadmill. Less and less post-workout soreness. Re-learning to trust your body.

“Get 1% better every day,” has been the mantra of Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton.

But Jan. 14 felt different. Under sunny skies, Sutton jogged for the first time. It was two sideline-to-sideline lengths measuring 100 yards, a fraction of the distance he will cover in a practice or game. But it felt like his Super Bowl.

In a process of minor wins, this was a significant.

For just a few minutes, Sutton felt like a football player again.

“It was such a surreal moment,” he said in an interview with The Denver Post last week, his first since being injured in the Broncos’ Sept. 20 loss at Pittsburgh. “I stood there, looked at my cleats, looked at the grass and just took in the moment. The last time I had cleats on was the day I got hurt.

“To jog like I did, 50 yards down and back, it was humbling and puts everything into perspective of how precious the day-to-day things are, like waking up and walking, like getting out of bed and your knee isn’t hurting, like being able to go up and down the stairs. It makes you appreciate all those little things even more.”

The Broncos’ appreciation for Sutton only grew in his absence. The passing game was projected to go through him last year, but once their best offensive player was lost after 20 snaps and three catches, the offense scuffled during a 5-11 season.

After his workout last Tuesday, Sutton, who now has jogging as a regular part of his routine, detailed his injury, the rehabilitation process and how he wants to “dominate” when he returns in September. Every day — every single day — is a step forward and being on the field two weeks ago was monumental.

“It’s so important,” said Dr. Burt Mandelbaum, an orthopedic surgeon and co-chair of medical affairs at Cedars-Sinai’s Kerlan-Job Institute in Los Angeles who specializes in ACL surgery and recovery. “To smell the grass, to put your practice gear on, to move around and feel the wind — it’s such an important motivating and emotional and inspiring step in their rehabilitation.”

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Said Sutton: “I’m very grateful to be on-track and be feeling good with the spot I’m in.”

”Oh No Moment”

Sutton’s first injury adversity came in a Sept. 10 practice, four days before the season opener against Tennessee. During a routine drill, Sutton went up to catch an off-target pass and landed on his shoulder, sustaining an AC joint separation. The Broncos’ loss to the Titans was the first missed game of his career.

“I feel like I have to catch everything; I should have let it go,” he said. “I tried to catch it and tried to tuck-and-roll like we’re taught and I didn’t tuck all the way. I felt something pop. I knew something wasn’t right, but I didn’t know exactly what it was. I was able to get it to a spot that I felt semi-comfortable to go out and play (at Pittsburgh). I felt at my 70%, I could contribute.”

Sutton debuted against the Steelers and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur dialed up the opening play for him, which resulted in a 29-yard catch. After Drew Lock left the game because of an injured shoulder, Sutton caught passes from Jeff Driskel for gains of one yard and 45 yards. He looked like the same exciting Sutton.

But then it was all over.

Sutton lined up on the right side of the formation, ran forward 10 yards and broke toward the middle of the field. Driskel’s pass was slightly high but catchable. Sutton jumped but the ball went through his hands and was intercepted by Joe Haden.

Sutton never gave up on the play, missing the initial tackle, but still chasing Haden and eventually pulling him to the turf. In the pile of bodies, he immediately grabbed his left knee.

“I caught a cramp at the same exact time so when (it was reported in-game) as a cramp, it really was,” he said. “I had no idea I had torn my ACL. I thought the cramp was really severe and once it went away, it would stop pulling on my knee and it would start to feel better.”

Sutton didn’t want to go to the locker room to get an IV (“I’m not a big fan of needles”) to treat the cramp, but acquiesced and only then did he become concerned.

“Things didn’t feel right, but I said, ‘It will go away eventually,’” he said. “We get back outside to the front of the tunnel and our trainers said, ‘Jog to the goal-post to see how it feels.’ I literally took two steps and that was definitely my, ‘Oh No Moment.’”

Season over.

Sutton has watched a replay of the injury “maybe twice. I guess you could say it’s a freak thing, how my body was, how many people were around me. It was just an uncontrolled situation.”

What Sutton could control: His return-to-play mindset. There was no time to be depressed, no time to think about the future, no time to ask, “Why me?”

“I gave myself a very small window to sulk,” he said.

A really small window.

“Maybe three minutes,” he said. “They told me I had torn my ACL and obviously my season was over so there was a moment when it hurt and I knew I wouldn’t be able to play the game I love and be around my boys and do something I’m really good at. I let myself have a little pity, but then I pulled myself out of that hole because I’m a big believer in positivity and if you can even trick yourself into perceiving things are OK even when they aren’t and have an attack mindset, I feel like you put yourself in a better situation.”

In the Heinz Field locker room, receiver coach Zach Azzanni delivered his first post-injury message.

“Listen, this is a different challenge for you. This isn’t going out and game-planning and playing, this is having a game plan and attacking the rehab and your strength and conditioning — you have to flip your mind into, ‘This is my new season,’” he told Sutton.

Sutton underwent surgery a month after the injury. His new kind of season was underway.

“How Can I Get Better Today?”

Mandelbaum, who has served as chief medical officer for Major League Soccer, said ACL surgery is put on hold for 2-5 weeks so the capsule containing the cartilage and ligaments gets “sealed up and that makes the surgery easier and allows for some of the meniscal tears to start healing. You have a slower start, but come out of the blocks faster.”

The reality of the rehabilitation road for Sutton hit him with a thud when he started light mobility training.

“Having to learn how to walk again was the most humbling thing,” he said. “And then it was learning how to walk normally.”

Mandelbaum said the rehab process begins with leg lifts and gentle squats and advances to walking (2-6 weeks post-surgery) and riding the stationary bike to build strength in the hip and lower-extremity muscles. The workouts generally last around an hour so as to not overstress the knee, but also the hip, quadriceps and hamstring.

An important landmark for Sutton was jogging on the Alter-G, an anti-gravity treadmill in which his lower body is in a pressurized air chamber that reduces the pounding. He started at 60% of his body weight (he is listed at 216 pounds).

“It’s a fantastic way to begin running and just such a great tool,” Mandelbaum said. “We couple that with cycling and a couple of rehab exercises like blood-flow restriction and we put it all together. It’s an orchestra of things we put together and it is one step at a time.”

Sutton’s process was led by Matthew Kee, the Broncos’ director of rehabilitation and assistant trainer.

“It’s fun because Matt pushes me,” Sutton said. “I know where I want to get to and he helps me understand by saying, ‘You may not be able to get this on Monday, but keep working and come Thursday, when you do the workout again, it will be easier.’”

Azzanni witnessed one example last week.

“He said, ‘Look at this, Coach,’ and he moves his leg completely straight out and he says, ‘I couldn’t do this two weeks ago,’” Azzanni said. “You can see his face just light up. Little goals are huge landmarks.”

Kee served as Sutton’s top teammate because players with season-ending injuries are detached from their position group and coaches, especially under the league’s COVID-19 rules which called for virtual meetings. When the receivers were going over the game plan, Sutton was doing his morning rehabilitation. When they were walking onto the practice field, he was driving home, his day completed. And when they were on the road for games, he was watching on television.

Thus the mental gymnastics for player and training staff.

“Optimism and positivity are so essential for these athletes because that’s what makes them great in the first place,” Mandelbaum said.

As the day, weeks and months clicked off the calendar, Sutton’s goal remained a constant.

“It was, ‘How can I get better today?’” he said. “I’ve been attacking each day ferociously and pushing myself to different limits and making sure I don’t stop when I feel comfortable. When they give me the go-ahead-and-play call, I want to look back and say I gave it everything that I possibly could every single day to go out and perform at a high level whenever that time rolls back around.”

Not sweating contract

If the coronavirus pandemic allows for any kind of offseason program this spring, that time will arrive in brief spurts. Sutton said his participation will be “something we dip our toe into. The biggest focus is getting me to the season. They’re going to baby-step me into it and let me do some position stuff.”

By the spring, Sutton will be at the seven-month mark post-injury. Mandelbaum said an ACL recovery entails six “basic maneuvers” — stepping down, cutting, shuttling side to side, deceleration, triple jump and jumping down.

“They have to check the box on each,” he said. “They need to have it all together — the biomechanics, the strength, the moving patterns and, coupled with the emotional part, it’s a very complex grid.”

The rehabilitation is complex. Each day of progress feels like a touchdown, each jog up and down the field feels like a victory. Sutton hopes his future is less complicated.

Had he matched his 2019 season (72 catches-six touchdowns) with a similarly productive 2020, he might have been in-line to receive a contract extension from new general manager George Paton. But now? Sutton is back in prove-it mode.

He is scheduled to be a free agent in March 2022, but is confident he can compartmentalize the on-field and business aspects of his professional life. The last four months have hardened his already tough resolve and the next seven months will be testing, but he is embracing the grind.

“I’m not going to sweat about it,” he said. “The contract is controllable to an extent, but what I can really control is how I meet, how I practice, how I play. I’m going to continue to dominate this rehab and come back next season and dominate every practice and dominate every game. I’ll make sure to do those things so when it’s time to have a conversation, I’ll know I’ve done everything I can to put me in a position to get the best out of that next contract.”

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