Opinion


Policy

China Leads Africa's Digital Currency Race

With years of public investment and plenty of penetration for its phone makers, China is well placed to establish a digital currency in Africa.

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Markets

A Big Year for Decentralized Identity and Infrastructure

The World Economic Forum's head of blockchain highlights four trends to look out for in the year ahead.

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Policy

Why Crypto Markets Aren't 'All-to-All' Either (and How They Can Be)

GameStop-Robinhood revealed inequalities in the retail equity trading system. Can crypto markets do better? They must.

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Tech

Robinhood Can't Democratize Finance Using Old Tools

Robinhood saw the ire of traders last week because it promised to be different. It turned out to be fancy app on top of an antiquated system.

The Robinhood app in 2018

Policy

The GameStop Stop Is Not a Technology Problem

Robinhood didn't halt GameStop trading to punish retail players. It reacted to market risk. And, no, blockchain wouldn't have fixed this.

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Policy

Money Reimagined: Narratives Wall Street Can't Control

It used to be that Wall Street dictated the big stories around finance. It’s unclear whether that’s still the case.

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Markets

GameStop and the Real Market Manipulators

WallStreetBets traders coordinated buying of GameStop stock to squeeze short-selling hedge funds – but was that collusion?

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Finance

Scarcity Gives Bitcoin Value, but Not the Way You Think

Bitcoin is "scarce" (and therefore valuable) when demand for it exceeds the available supply, not because of its 21 million hard cap, says our columnist.

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Policy

'The Squeezening': How the GameStop Backlash Will Curtail Freedom

GameStop's "squeezening" is likely to increase calls for curbs on "memetic disturbances." That could be dangerous for free speech.

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Finance

What DeFi Has in Common With Cubism

DeFi's innovation system is reminiscent of an art movement that passes ideas back and forth until lasting breakthroughs emerge.

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