Serena Williams, four-time Olympic gold medallist and eight time world no. 1 tennis player, invested in Coinbase in 2014.

According to an Instagram post from 17^th April, Serena Jameka Williams, the four-time Olympic gold medallist tennis player, back in 2014 she launched an investment business called Serena Ventures, and quietly invested in more than thirty companies – on of which was San Francisco-based Coinbase.

Now, in 2019, Serena Ventures claims the market cap of its portfolio is more than $12 billion! Its investment portfolio also includes Tonal, Rockets of Awesome, billie, OLLY, Honeylove, Floravere, S by Serena, Brandless, Lola, Daily Harvest, Propel, The Wing, Mayvenn, Little Spoon, Gobble, Teespring, Impossible, Wave, Adela, Masterclass, and Neighborhood Goods .

Proving that some people are just superhumans, in addition to her four Olympic gold medals, Williams was ranked world No. 1 no less than eight times by the Women’s Tennis Association, and her net worth is now estimated to be around $180 million.

Investing in Coinbase back in 2014 was certainly a smart move. Founded in June 2012 the company, by 2018 the company was being reported as valued at around $8 billion. Today is offers cryptocurrency – fiat exchange services in 32 countries and crypto transactions and storage in 190 countries.

Despite the extended ‘Crypto Winter’ and collapse in ICOs over the past year, Reuters recently reported that venture capital investment in blockchain and crypto startups is expected to break records this year, with even the US federal government expected to increase its blockchain spending more than 1,000% to $123.5 compared to the $10.7m spent in 2017 (IDC Government Insights).

AYO.NEWS says:

As we have noted many times, despite the mainstream media declaring crypto ‘dead’ and either ignoring or completely misunderstanding blockchain, behind the scenes smart people and businesses have been diligently investing and developing. Though most people still see the 2016-17 crypto boom as a bubble, it may well eventually be seen as merely the very start of an all-encompassing revolution.

Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, with support from Nomura Research Institute, publishes first study comparing global crypto regulations.

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, with support from the Nomura Research Institute (NRI), has published its first global study comparing the regulation of cryptoassets across 23 jurisdictions.

The jurisdictions included in the report are: Abu Dhabi, Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Estonia, European Union, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Malta, Mexico, China, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, and United States.

The general picture that it paints won’t surprise anyone involved in crypto – highlighting a confused mix of inconsistent approaches, with progress hampered by a failure to even employ common international terminology.

Interestingly, the report found that the nations with the most sophisticated regulatory frameworks tend to be those with more relaxed traditional financial regulations and low domestic crypto activity. Conversely the nations with more domestic crypto activity tend to be those which are trying to shoehorn cryptos into existing laws and regulations.

It also highlights that, thus far, regulators around the world have been focused almost exclusively on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and exchanges, paying scant attention to things like alternative token distribution methods, like airdrops and forks, or even crypto mining.

Illustrating the confused global approach is distribution of regulatory authorities that issued the first official statements on cryptoassets in their respective jurisdictions. In 40% is was a Central Bank, 17% a Financial Supervisory Body, 17% a Government Department, 8% a Tax Administration, 8% a Legislature, 5% an AML Regulator, and in 5% several simultaneously.

Another important observation was that the vast majority of examined jurisdictions have distinguished cryptoassets that exhibit characteristics of a security from other types of cryptoassets. This has meant that activities dealing with cryptoassets that qualify as a security are automatically subject to securities law.

Perhaps most fascinating is the analysis of the terminology used by regulators from 2013-19. For example, in the early years of 2013-14, it was common for official authorities to refer to cryptoassets as ‘bitcoin’ – something that died away around 2017. Today almost half of regulators use the term “Virtual currency”, but other are also using an array of terms including “Cryptocurrency”, Digital currency”, “DLT asset”, “Virtual asset”, “Cryptoasset”, “Digital financial asset”, and “Digital asset” – all to refer to the same things!

The full report can be read here.

AYO.NEWS says:

We highly recommend anyone interested in cryptocurrencies takes a look at this thorough 123-page report – it’s a long but fascinating read, packed with insights and nice graphs and visualisations.

The confused mix of terminology is a natural result of the rapid emergence of a totally new field, of which existing experts and officials had little or no understanding. We expect to see terminologies naturally tend towards standardisation over time – though it would undoubtably be beneficial for all to speed this process.

Regarding the countries with more relaxed traditional financial regulations and lower domestic crypto transactions taking the lead with the most sophisticated crypto-specific legislative frameworks, we would suggest this is simply due to the fact that its easier for small nations to pivot quickly.

Taking Malta as a case in point – its much easier to create and pass completely bespoke legislation in a smaller government, where there are fewer people who need educating and convincing, and fewer special interest groups with vested interests in maintaining the status quo.

The smaller the nation is, the quicker the benefits of embracing the new industries like cryptocurrency become noticeable too – leading to a self-reinforcing enthusiasm for things like crypto and blockchain businesses.  

British Virgin Islands partners with LIFElabs.io to establish blockchain-based Rapid Cash Response system to speed emergency aid.

The government of the British Virgin Islands has entered a partnership with LIFElabs.io with the aim of providing Rapid Cash Response in the event of emergencies.

A British Overseas Territory located in the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands has an estimated GDP of over $1 Billion, and suffered damages in excess of $3 Billion during hurricane Irma.

The project aims to enable an even faster response to any future disasters, and will also create an alternative digital currency payment method for facilitating ongoing financial transactions across the islands.

Talking about the plans, Premier and Minister of Finance for the British Virgin Islands, the Honourable Andrew A. Fahie, said:

“It is of utmost importance that our citizens receive immediate and proportional response in the midst of emergencies. LIFElabs’ innovative financial technology comes at a pivotal time for our people and our economy, while the memory of recent natural disasters remains fresh in our minds and hearts, and the pressure for increased economic efficiency keeps mounting. It is with high expectations that we enter into this unprecedented partnership, together, building a better BVI for the future.”

The project is also part of the government’s efforts to promote the BVI as a hub for the emerging blockchain industry, following the lead of other small island nations and territories, notably Malta, Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands, who have identified blockchain industries as a core plank of future economic growth. To this end, the BVI is already planning several blockchain conferences to showcase new business opportunities.

Discussing the project LIFElabs.io CEO, Sanjay Jadhav, explained:

“The intrinsic value of LIFElabs.io’s platform is found in its trifecta of security, transparency, and efficiency.  It is estimated that adopters of our blockchain Platform as a Service (PaaS) will reduce their current transactional fees in excess of 50%, all while incurring zero out of pocket cost to implement it, speeding the average transaction time exponentially compared to Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic payments, wired or over the counter cash transactions.”

Under current plans, BVI residents will be able to download the LIFEwallet® app on either Apple iOS or Google Android mobile devices, giving them access to an account that can have funds deposited to it during a disaster situation. There will also be provision for digital currencies to be sent and received via SMS, making it accessible even to those without smart mobile devices.

It will also be possible to use the wallet app for peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, and for day-to-day purchases from local businesses.

Through the new system, in the event of a disaster, people all around the world will be able to donate directly to the BVI/LIFE Rapid Response Cash Fund, speeding response times and cutting costs.

It will also enable donating members of the public to see exactly what their funds are being used for, building transparency and trust. This could significantly increase public faith in donations – a faith that was severely damaged in scandals like the 2010 Haitian earthquake relief effort, when incredible amounts of money were raised, but only a fraction actually reached communities in need.

AYO.NEWS says:

Its fantastic to see blockchain being put to such good use, and its clear to see the potential for making financial relief both quicker and more transparent. While this system does have some clear limitations – for example, in cases of severe disaster, if mobile/internet networks are damaged and power is out, it might be very difficult for people to access networks or charge their devices – it will certainly speed recovery, as fixing a few mobile towers could be done much quicker than fixing the traditional financial infrastructure. It might also be beneficial to public order, reducing the threat of crime like robberies and looting during a post-disaster situation.