Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul><li><keyword id="5182473" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="epns" source="Orion">EPNS</keyword> stands for <keyword id="13067151" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ethereum-push-notification-service" source="Orion">Ethereum Push Notification Service</keyword>.</li><li>EPNS aims to solve the problem of sending push notifications to users, which is missing from the web3 ecosystem right now.</li><li>EPNS is backed by renowned web3 investors including <keyword id="6672551" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wazirx" source="Orion">WazirX</keyword>’s <keyword id="2675296" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nischal-shetty" source="Orion">Nischal Shetty</keyword>, <keyword id="2462624" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="polygon" source="Orion">Polygon</keyword>’s Sandeep Nailwal and Balaji Srinivasan.</li></ul>Amongst the many good things about the web3 ecosystem is one big flaw — the fact that it doesn’t have infrastructure for push notifications right now. This is the problem that homegrown firm Ethereum Push Notification Service (EPNS) has set out to solve. The company launched its own <a href="https://app.epns.io/">mainnet</a> earlier this month, and has been touted to be amongst the most important early-stage web3 startups in the world right now. EPNS has raised $1.41 million in two funding rounds so far, from investors including WazirX’s Nischal Shetty, Balaji Srinivasan, a former chief technology office (CTO) at a16z General Partners, Gitcoin co-founder Scott Moore, Mariano Conti, the founder of MakerDAO, and more. Polygon co-founder, Sandeep Nailwal, also participated in the company’s second funding round. The company also partnered with <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=article-advertorial">WazirX</a> on January 27, to promote blockchain-based notifications that are chain-agnostic. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="wazirx" comment="wazirx" text="wazirx">wazirx</cmsannotation> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What does EPNS do?" comment="subhead" text="What does EPNS do?">What does EPNS do?</cmsannotation> Push notifications are at the core of most connected ecosystems today. Introduced as far back as 2008, it’s what allows apps on our iPhones and Android devices to communicate with users about offers, delivery updates, and other actions. This is a service that’s not available for web3 protocols and decentralised apps (dapps) right now. EPNS aims to solve this by building something called ‘channels’, which allows dapps to communicate with users by sending them alerts. Essentially, the standard will allow a decentralised wallet service to send notifications to users on their devices, and tell them when the value of their non-fungible token (NFT) or cryptocurrency has changed, etc. The EPNS communication layer is built on top of the EIP-712 standard, which is a system that’s built into the Ethereum protocol. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="EPNS’ possible use-cases" comment="subhead" text="EPNS’ possible use-cases">EPNS’ possible use-cases</cmsannotation> As mentioned above, the protocol can be used by dapps to send notifications. This includes decentralized exchanges (DEXs), decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces and projects. For instance, a DeFi app can send notifications to users when they’re about to be liquidated, while a DEX can send a notification when the price of a token falls. NFT marketplaces, on the other hand, can send notifications about specific items going live, or a specific rise or drop in the price of an NFT. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How does a person use EPNS?" comment="subhead" text="How does a person use EPNS?">How does a person use EPNS?</cmsannotation> EPNS users are split into two groups — channels and subscribers. Channels are for the companies and dapps that want to send notifications, while subscribers are the users who will get notifications. To get channels, developers will have to use EPNS’ own dapp or the company’s javascript library. EPNS is an open source protocol, which means anyone can not only use it, but also build on top of it. Unlike web2 systems, like Android or iOS, notifications on web3 won’t be completely free, which means that dapps will need to pick and choose which notifications they should or should not send. Why? Because everything on a blockchain system is another transaction. And that transaction requires a payment. EPNS offers open, closed and mutual channels, which are meant for different kinds of platforms. An open channel means literally anyone will be allowed to subscribe to a platform’s notifications, while closed and mutual channels allow a greater degree of control. With a closed channel, dapps can choose to send notifications only to their users, like a wallet service sending notifications to individual holders. A mutual channel is where channel creators will be able to approve subscribers, but anyone can apply for that approval. For subscribers, the EPNS dapp acts as a go-between for the web2 and web3 worlds, allowing the notifications to come through on Android, iOS devices or Chrome Browser extension. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="EPNS’ governance token" comment="subhead" text="EPNS’ governance token">EPNS’ governance token</cmsannotation> Much like any new web3 service, EPNS also has its own cryptocurrency. However, the company’s token isn’t really one that’s meant to be traded and made money off in the short term. Instead, EPNS’ token, called $PUSH, is a governance token that was launched last year. It is listed on <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=article-advertorial">WazirX</a> as well and was trading at ₹97.36 at the time of writing this report. The holders of this token actually have a stake in the system, in the sense that they will have a say in the future of the protocol. Those holding the PUSH token will not only have governance rights about features, charges and other elements of EPNS in future, but they will also have their own rewards for the same. The fees dapps pay to EPNS’ network in future will be used to reward the holders of PUSH in future. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="EPNS Mainnet" comment="subhead" text="EPNS Mainnet">EPNS Mainnet</cmsannotation> EPNS has existed for over a year, but if you troll around on the internet for a bit, you might find articles talking about EPNS ‘going live’ on January 11. That’s because January 11 is when the mainnet for EPNS went live. Channels and subscribers will both sort of live on this mainnet. Just like most other web3 services that aim to be platforms of the future, EPNS’ mainnet is what decides how the protocol progresses in the long term. Basically, the mainnet is to EPNS what the Android Open Source Project is to Android. The mainnet is where the company, and the community at large will innovate in the long term. In web3 terms, the mainnet is the primary blockchain platform that powers a protocol. The company’s token, its features and everything else is built through the mainnet, and rule changes too will be dictated by this platform in future. “We’ll post more information about the post-mainnet roadmap for EPNS soon, but expect incentives, governance, multi-chain support, and more,” the company said. EPNS Governance recently passed a $<a href="https://snapshot.org/#/epns.eth/proposal/0xfdb92444974c9ab607d96e7a4a1ad71299e47a755955951ae5ce8b86aa9a1400">1 million worth of PUSH Grants Program</a> to facilitate and empower building on top of the EPNS ecosystem. Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in partnership with WazirX. Do your own research (DYOR) before deciding to invest in any asset, cryptocurrency or otherwise. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/polkadot-filecoin-bittorrent-and-other-exciting-web3-crypto-tokens-to-watch-out-for-in-2022/articleshow/89076820.cms">Decentralised file sharing, movie streaming, and much more — these are top five Web3 cryptocurrencies to keep an eye on in 2022</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/crypto-fear-and-greed-index-shows-extreme-fear-is-ruling-the-markets-is-this-an-opportunity-or-warning-sign-for-investors/articleshow/88890883.cms">‘Extreme fear’ is ruling the crypto markets — is this an opportunity or a warning sign for investors?</a>

What is EPNS and why does it matter

<ul><li><keyword id="44033" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="hike" source="Orion">Hike</keyword> has raised a new round of funds from marquee web3 investors <keyword id="13620005" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="jump-crypto" source="Orion">Jump Crypto</keyword>, <keyword id="9200827" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tribe-capital" source="Orion">Tribe Capital</keyword> and <keyword id="12309404" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="republic-crypto" source="Orion">Republic Crypto</keyword>.</li><li>The fresh funding will be used to bring Hike’s gaming platform, the Rush Gaming Universe, onto the blockchain. </li><li><keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>, CEO and founder of Hike, wants to create a gaming experience where gamers are owners of the assets they create online.</li></ul> Kavin Bharti Mittal’s homegrown startup, Hike, has raised fresh funds for its gaming platform, the Rush Gaming Universe. Led by Jump Crypto, the round also saw participation from Tribe Capital and <keyword id="12968708" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="republic-capital" source="Orion">Republic Capital</keyword>’s Republic Crypto. The company has not disclosed the funds raised by the three investors. However, it plans to use most of these funds to build out their web3 vision for Rush Gaming Universe (RGU). Mittal wants to bring consumers in emerging markets like India on-chain by creating a blockchain gaming platform where users can play, earn and grow. <div type="ExtQuote" text="India being a mobile-first market needs a unique approach and our years of building for this market help tremendously in building a seamless user experience to bring the next billion users on-chain. We’re incredibly excited about the future" auname="Founder and CEO of Hike, Kavin Bharti Mittal"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="It takes time for technology to catch up" comment="subhead" text="It takes time for technology to catch up">It takes time for technology to catch up</cmsannotation> Mittal initially wanted to launch RGU on blockchain 15 months ago when they created the application. According to him, at the time, there were too many bottlenecks within the technology. It was only in January this year that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/rush-by-hike-plans-to-turn-into-a-play-to-earn-game-with-polygon-matic-blockchain/articleshow/89154622.cms">Hike partnered with Polygon</a> to bring RGU onto web3. The platform also airdropped non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called <keyword id="13842773" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rush-avatars" source="Orion">Rush Avatars</keyword> to its existing users on the path to coming on-chain. In just 13 months since its launch in March last year, the Rush Gaming Universe is clocking in over 160 million gameplays every quarter with over $90 million in gross winnings annually across 1.8 million monthly active users (MAUs). <div type="image" title="IMG-20220506-WA0007" msid="91373637" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Monthly active users, games played and gross winnings distributed.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Hike's new strategic investors" comment="subhead" text="Hike's new strategic investors">Hike's new strategic investors</cmsannotation> In building RGU’s vision for web3 gaming, Jump Crypto will serve as the market maker to help the platform navigate exchanges, Tribe Capital comes with years of expertise in the web3 world, while Republic Crypto will act as a token advisory and sale partner. <div type="ExtQuote" text="We’re excited to finally see a mobile-only product emerge in the web3 space. Gaming is going to be a gateway for the next billion users to come onto crypto and Hike’s Rush Gaming Universe is building a seamless web3 experience to enable that." auname="Arjun Sethi, Co-Founder and Partner at Tribe Capital"></div> The lead investor, Jump Crypto, has made over 23 investments in crypto projects globally including Streamflow, SnackClub, and Ethereum Push Notification Service (EPNS) – a homegrown blockchain communication decentralised application (dApp) founded by Harsh Rajat. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoin-craters-7-amid-broader-stock-market-sell-off-reinforcing-its-high-correlation-to-risk-assets/articleshow/91354850.cms">Bitcoin craters 7% amid broader stock market sell-off, reinforcing its high correlation to risk assets</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bored-ape-yacht-club-drives-196-spike-in-weekly-nft-sales-these-were-the-5-best-selling-digital-collections-/articleshow/91322399.cms">Bored Ape Yacht Club drives 196% spike in weekly NFT sales. These were the 5 best-selling digital collections.</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/microstrategy-said-it-would-face-a-margin-call-and-be-forced-to-sell-some-of-its-crypto-if-bitcoin-falls-to-21000/articleshow/91320454.cms">Microstrategy said it would face a margin call and be forced to sell some of its crypto if bitcoin falls to $21,000</a>

Kavin Bharti Mittal’s Hike raises fresh funds for its web3 play-to-earn blockchain gaming project

<ul class="summary-list"><li>VanEck's first <keyword id="11893902" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bitcoin" source="Orion">bitcoin</keyword> futures ETF will begin trading on Tuesday, Cboe said in a notification. </li><li>The VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF will be listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange under the ticker symbol XBTF. </li></ul>Asset manager VanEck's bitcoin futures exchange traded fund (ETF) will start trading Tuesday, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) said in a <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/notices/new_listings/details/?etf=true&amp;firm_name=VanEck&amp;first_trade_dt=2021-11-16&amp;ipo=true&amp;symbols=XBTFamp;symbols=XBTF">notification</a>.Last month, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/vaneck-launch-bitcoin-futures-etf-october-cryptocurrencies-xbtf-sec-markets-2021-10">VanEck said</a> the fund would start trading after October 23 on the Cboe BZX Exchange. It will be listed under the ticker symbol XBTF, and gives investors exposure to bitcoin without holding the coin.The Securities and Exchange Commission pushed back its deadline to make a decision on the fund several times after Cboe <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/bitcoin-etf-btc-van-eck-cboe-files-for-approval-sec-2021-3">first filed</a> for the bitcoin futures ETF in March. The VanEck launch follows a blockbuster launch for ProShares' bitcoin futures product (BITO), which saw 24 million shares change hands on its first day of trading in October - the second-biggest ETF <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/proshares-bitcoin-fund-strong-demand-biggest-etf-launches-ever-2021-10">debut</a> in history. That and the launch of Valkyrie's bitcoin futures ETF (BTF) the same month is viewed as a pivotal moment for <keyword id="11893898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">crypto</keyword> assets.The news comes after the SEC <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/spot-bitcoin-etf-sec-reject-application-vaneck-btc-2021-11">rejected the application</a> for a long-awaited spot <keyword id="11964437" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bitcoin-etf" source="Orion">bitcoin ETF</keyword> from VanEck on Friday, citing exchange rules linked to preventing fraud and manipulation. "While a 'physically backed' bitcoin ETF remains a key goal, we are very pleased to be providing investors with this important tool as they build their digital asset portfolios," Kyle DaCruz, VanEck's director of digital assets, said in a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211115005723/en/Lowest-Cost-Bitcoin-Linked-ETF-to-Launch-on-November-16-VanEck-Bitcoin-Strategy-ETF-XBTF">company launch statement</a> Monday.The VanEck product will only invest in cash-settled bitcoin futures traded on exchanges registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, such as the CME Group, according to its SEC filing.Last week, Bitwise Asset Management <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/bitwise-bitcoin-futures-etf-application-spot-etf-valkyrie-proshares-sec-2021-11">withdrew its application</a> for a bitcoin futures ETF, saying it made the decision because of the high cost and likely underperformance of the fund. The crypto index fund manager's CEO Matt Hougan said he believes bitcoin futures ETFs will generally underperform spot bitcoin, and most long-term investors are better served by spot exposure.VanEck is still waiting on the SEC to approve or reject the ethereum-based ETF that it <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/ethereum-etf-vaneck-bitcoin-sec-approval-cboe-crytocurrencies-eth-btc-2021-5">filed </a> in May. The company could not be reached for comment when contacted by Insider.

VanEck’s bitcoin futures ETF will launch on Tuesday - after the SEC rejected the company’s spot ETF application

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="4668945" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="nft">NFT</keyword> sales have generated nearly $500 million in the past month alone.</li><li>A <keyword id="10871093" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto-art">crypto art</keyword> piece sold for nearly $70 million on Thursday.</li><li>NFT buyers say the process can be confusing and include multiple levels of hidden fees.</li></ul>Over the past few months, digital assets known as non-fungible tokens, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-does-nft-mean-crytpo-non-fungible-tokens-art-explained-2021-2">or NFTs,</a> have picked up steam as celebrities, artists, and investors generated <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/grimes-nft-art-warnymph-sells-for-millions-20-minutes-2021-3">millions of dollars</a> selling them.But NFT <keyword id="35175" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="investing">investing</keyword> is a largely uncharted territory, and while some NFT sellers have made millions of dollars, others have not been so lucky. The process also can include large fees that first-time sellers might not be aware of, which can significantly cut into profit margins or even result in a loss.In the past month alone, top NFT platforms have sold nearly $500 million in digital assets, according to <a href="https://www.cryptoslam.io/">CryptoSlam</a>. On Thursday, digital artist Mike Winkelmann - more commonly known as <keyword id="10848595" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="beeple">Beeple</keyword> - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/art-auction-nft-beeple-top-selling-most-expensive-sale-millions-2021-3">shattered online sale records and became the third most valuable living artist</a> when he sold a piece for nearly $70 million.Creators and buyers alike have seen significant profit from <keyword id="902592" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="NFTS">NFTs</keyword>. In February, Miami-based art collector Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile first showed just how lucrative the NFT market can be when he resold a piece by Beeple for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/art-nft-beeple-blockchain-pieces-sell-for-millions-2021-3">near 1,000% increase over its original price.</a>The $6.6 million piece was the highest digital token sale at the time, but was upstaged by Beeple's $70 million sale weeks later.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nft-startups-non-fungible-tokens-the-art-world-2021-3?inline-read-more">Here are 4 NFT startups transforming the way we buy art and sports memorabilia</a>Many are trying their hand at buying or selling NFTs amid the headline-grabbing sale prices.A senior content strategist at Kapwing, a platform catered to digital storytelling, <a href="https://www.kapwing.com/resources/how-to-create-and-sell-nft-crypto-art/">tried his hand at buying and selling NFTs</a> and told Insider the process is not nearly as simple as it seems. "It's like the wild west," Robert Martin told Insider after he lost over $200 in gas fees.<h1>What is a gas fee?</h1>The primary currencies used on NFT trading platforms include Ether, WAX, and Flow. On most NFT trading platforms, users are responsible for paying for the computing energy required to process and validate transactions on the blockchain. The gas fees fluctuate depending on the time of day.Martin said he bought an NFT for about $30 worth of ethereum on Rarible and ended up losing over $200 on the NFT, even after a buyer offered over three times the token's original price less than 24 hours after he bought it.While additional fees fluctuate between sites, many popular sites charge users a gas fee for minting a token, as well as a fee for selling and buying. Most platforms also require digital wallets, so users must take into account conversion fees between different forms of ether.Martin said he was taken by surprise when Rainbow Wallet charged him nearly $80 to convert wrapped ether (WETH) into regular ether (ETH)."It was on me for receiving the WETH, but it's [was] also hard to tell whether I was charged or the sender was charged," Martin told Insider. Martin said, as a new user, the gas fees were not readily apparent to him and what seemed like a good deal at the time - a sale for nearly three times its original price in under a day - ended up costing him far more than his original purchase price.On Martin's digital wallet, Rainbow Wallet, he said the fees were in the fine print, but it would have been helpful for him if there was an alert or notification before he made the purchase regarding the fee. <div type="image" title="NFT fees can be confusing, especially to new users." height="709" width="946" msid="81496819" hostid="261"></div>"[Gas fees] could pose a risk to new users," Martin told Insider. "There needs to be a lot more education out there. It seems like most of the resources are catered to people who are already involved in the crypto world." Another NFT artist, known only by his Twitter handle @SHL0MS, told Insider he wrote off the gas fees when he minted his first NFT, largely as an experiment. "The space is moving so quickly that there's a lot of pressure for artists to use it to their advantage," @SHL0MS told Insider. "There's pressure to start minting and buying NFTs, but for me it was about being in a place where I was financially comfortable paying the fees without expecting anything in return."@SHL0MS started by minting a single transparent pixel on Rarible a few months ago, a piece that cost him over $200 in gas fees, but sold for $300. Last week, @SHL0MS sold a piece for about $17,000.<h1>NFTs could represent the future of the art world</h1><div type="image" title="Beeple &quot;Everydays&quot; piece on Christie's." height="675" width="1350" msid="81496820" hostid="261"></div>Rodriguez-Fraile told Insider he knew Beeple's work would someday be valuable, but he had no idea it would rise from $67,00 to $6.6 million in a matter of months."I had no intention of being a flipper, but I also do not like to lose value," Rodriguez-Fraile told Insider. "I had a higher offer for another Beeple piece, but I kept it for its historical value. The only reason I sold 'Crossroads' was that I thought it could act as an important catalyst in realizing the value of digital art." The art collector told Insider creators are pushing the limits of art. When he first met Beeple, he realized he would be a symbol for the movement."This will become the art world over time," Rodriguez-Fraile told Insider. "For the first time we can mathematically provenance, history, and everything around the movements of a piece of art. It's more desirable than a physical piece and gives collectors a closer connection to the artist."John Crain, SuperRare's CEO, told Insider the company is working to develop new income streams for artists, allowing them to connect directly with their fans on the site.Nifty Gateway co-founder Griffin Cock Foster compared the development of NFTs to the beginning of the internet - a system which started off as a type of "wild west," a way to make connectivity and work easier, but quickly became enmeshed in day-to-day life and a world unto itself. "It'll be interesting to see a world where everyone is an art collector," Griffin Cock Foster told Insider. "I think we're very much in the first inning of NFTs taking off. It's a very powerful and transformative technology and we don't even know what it might lead to further down the road."<h1>There are still many barriers to the NFT space</h1>Rodriguez-Fraile said NFTs still have a long way to go before they can be more accessible to the general public. In particular, platforms need to work on developing a better user experience, in order to avoid confusion on gas fees and make NFTs more accessible to users outside of the crypto community.Griffin and Duncan Cock Foster told Insider Nifty Gateway is working to bring NFTs to the general public through simplifying their user experience. The site is one of the only platforms that allows users to purchase NFTs using their credit cards instead of a <keyword id="6357017" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="cryptocurrency">cryptocurrency</keyword> wallet.The process allows users to avoid additional fees. Many platforms are also working to alleviate their environmental impact, through streamlining use of the blockchain.For <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nft-marketplaces-where-to-buy-sell-non-fungible-tokens-online-2021-3">NFT buyers, the site can also impact a token's value</a>, according to Rodriguez-Fraile. As more platforms continue to crowd the space, the art collector said he places most of his trust in highly curated sites like SuperRare and Nifty Gateway, because they are more selective about the artists they work with. For users looking to start out creating NFTs, community-owned sites like Rarible and Mintable are more accessible for new creators.Martin told Insider he's not sure whether NFTs are here to stay or whether they're operating under a bubble, but he plans on buying more.

Selling crypto art can come with huge hidden fees, leading some people to lose hundreds of dollars

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider obtained a list of the <keyword id="25455" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="finance" source="Orion">finance</keyword> and banking <keyword id="6354741" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="apps" source="Orion">apps</keyword> that are skyrocketing in popularity this week. </li><li>The list, compiled by Apptopia, included many apps for managing and trading cryptocurrencies. </li><li>Here are the fastest-growing finance apps in the US last week based on increase in downloads.</li></ul>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/crypto-apps-dominated-the-28-fastest-growing-finance-apps-this-week-heres-the-full-list-/articleshow/86282087.cms">cryptocurrency</a> boom has smartphone users wanting to jump in on the action: buying, trading, and <keyword id="35175" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="investing" source="Orion">investing</keyword> in all kinds of coins. This has led to a boom in crypto-related app downloads, according to recent data obtained from app-monitoring platform Apptopia. The data shows which apps have grown most quickly in both the iOS and Android app stores, according to percent increase in downloads week-to-week. Here are the 28 fastest-growing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/crypto-apps-dominated-the-28-fastest-growing-finance-apps-this-week-heres-the-full-list-/articleshow/86282087.cms">finance apps</a> for the second week of September. <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 3042px;" class="redcator-table-advance"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 22px;">APPLICATION</td><td style="width: 50%; height: 22px;">PERCENT INCREASE</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">Coinbase Pro Coinbase's premium cryptocurrency wallet and trading app that shares market stats, among other information. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">318.85% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">Voyager A free cryptocurrency investing app that allows users to buy, sell, and trade more than 60 different altcoins. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">232.73% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Providers A popular app for checking Electronic Benefits Transfer balance. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">130.02% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Binance The app for Binance, a very active cryptocurrency exchange platform. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">120.34% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">Stash An investing app aimed at beginners. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">113.76% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">BofA Prepaid Mobile The app for Bank of America's prepaid accounts. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">113.47% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">CareCredit Mobile An app for monitoring healthcare spending accounts. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">107.56% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">DasherDirect By Payfare DoorDash's mobile payment account app for delivery drivers. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">100.65% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Webull An investing platform for stocks, cryptocurrency, and other assets. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">99.43% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">Truist Mobile The app for Truist's digital-only banking services. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">96.6% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">myWisely A digital banking service. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">95.97% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">eToro A cryptocurrency trading platform that allows users to buy, sell, trade, and copy top traders' moves in real time. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">91.66% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Albert An automated financial services app that lets users consult with real financial advisors 24/7. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">90.62% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">Allstate Mobile Allstate's mobile insurance management app. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">80.2% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">U.S. Bank U.S. Bank's mobile banking app. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">78.07% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Earnin An advance payment service for getting earned money before the paycheck </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">76.06% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Dave A digital banking app with warnings to prevent overdraft fees, among other services. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">74.53% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">State Farm The app for State Farm insurance customers. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">70.92% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Amex The app for American Express members to manage their accounts. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">67.73% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Coinbase The standard version of Coinbase's cryptocurrency wallet and sales platform. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">65.71% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">Credit One Bank Mobile Credit One's mobile banking app. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">65.09% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">Navy Federal Credit Union The banking app for the Navy's credit union customers to check their balance and manage their accounts. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">63.93% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">CoinMarketCap A cryptocurrency monitoring app with realtime market data and push notifications for multiple coins. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">63.78% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">PODERcard A digital banking app aimed at Latino and Spanish-speaking communities. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">63.71% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">Citi Mobile Citibank's mobile banking app. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">62.2% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">Crypto.com An app for buying over 80 cryptocurrencies with a credit card and a digital wallet. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 111px;">60.94% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">Greenlight Debit Card for Kids A debit card for kids with parental controls including limits on specific stores and balance monitoring. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 133px;">57.13% </td></tr><tr><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">Google Pay Google's digital wallet and payments platform. </td><td style="width: 50%; height: 89px;">56.19% </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>

Crypto apps dominated the 28 fastest-growing finance apps this week. Here's the full list.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Massive layoffs are happening at companies like Twitter, Amazon, and Meta.</li><li>CEOs are publicly taking the blame, some saying they grew their companies too quickly.</li></ul>CEOs are sorry you got fired and are issuing mea culpas to jobless ex-employees, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-11/apologies-from-tech-ceos-abound-amid-mass-layoffs-and-losses">according to Bloomberg</a>. At tech firms, more than 25,000 employees have been laid off in this month alone, according to the <a href="https://layoffs.fyi/">Layoffs.fyi</a>, a tracker compiling tech layoffs since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Since the pandemic, the largest tech layoffs have been at Meta, Getir, Booking.com, Twitter, Uber, Better.com., Peloton, and Groupon, Layoffs.fyi data show. "Now in recent weeks, it's the biggest startups and tech companies that have been announcing layoffs compared to earlier this year," Roger Lee, co-founder of Human Interest who launched the Layoffs tracker, told Insider. There could be a couple of reasons behind this pattern. Lee pointed to better times in 2021 when the tech industry was booming and companies were rapidly expanding their products and workforces as a result of the pandemic. More employees were working from home, and Fed monetary policy was not as tight. Now companies in tech are reversing some of the huge hiring that they did in the past couple of years, Lee said."The best CEOs know that they are accountable for this," Lee said. "That's why these leaders are apologizing for making the initial poor decision to over hire last year, and now apologizing for the decision to do the layoffs as a result. Does it make a situation better? That's a different story."Here are some of the CEOs who have issued public apologies for the layoffs. <h2>Mark Zuckerberg, Meta</h2><div type="image" title="Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about &quot;News Tab&quot; at the Paley Center, in New York on October 25, 2019." height="3276" width="4914" msid="95541975" hostid="261" sizebytes="1070886"></div>In a memo to his employees, Zuckerberg apologized for over-investing in Meta as he announced more than 11,000 staff would be laid off, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-apologizes-meta-layoffs-metaverse-2022-11">Insider reported</a>. In the memo he wrote: "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments. Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected."<h2>Jack Dorsey, ex-CEO Twitter</h2><div type="image" title="Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey" height="1365" width="2000" msid="95541978" hostid="261" sizebytes="102648"></div>Elon Musk's Twitter plans to cut 50% of the company's workforce, including its contractors, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-twitter-identifies-thousands-who-will-be-laid-off-2022-11">Insider reported</a>. The Twitter founder <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1588913276980633600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1588913276980633600%7Ctwgr%5Ee46c6e9b9b246ee552bd63da377b2c2b7f161e3e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Ftwitter-founder-jack-dorsey-apologizes-layoffs-elon-musk-employees-2022-11">tweeted</a> his sympathies: "Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that."<h2>Evan Spiegel, Snap</h2><div type="image" title="Evan Spiegel at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2019 conference." height="2604" width="3696" msid="95541980" hostid="261" sizebytes="143412"></div>Snap let go more than 1,200 employees — about 20% of its full-time workforce — this summer in a move that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/snaps-messy-layoffs-locked-workers-out-so-fast-they-couldnt-be-let-go-2022-9">surprised </a>many insiders. In a memo published online, CEO Evan Spiegel wrote that the company "must now face the consequences of our lower revenue growth and adapt to the market environment." The company announced it was pulling out of its investments in Snap Originals, Minis, Games, Pixy, and slowing down Zenly and Voisey.In his memo, Spiegel stated: "I am deeply sorry that these changes are necessary to ensure the long term success of our business. The friendship and camaraderie we all share as a team make these changes particularly painful, and we will make every effort to treat our departing team members with the respect and gratitude that they deserve."<h2>Tobias Lütke, Shopify </h2><div type="image" title="Tobi Candid 4 (1)" height="1080" width="1920" msid="95541985" hostid="261" sizebytes="42688"></div>Summer cuts hit Shopify earlier this summer as CEO Tobias Lütke announced a 10% reduction in the workforce. In a <a href="https://news.shopify.com/changes-to-shopifys-team">memo</a>, Lütke said e-commerce growth was "steady and predictable" before the pandemic, leading the company to bet that "the share of dollars that travel through ecommerce rather than physical retail would permanently leap ahead by 5 or even 10 years."Lütke continued: "It's now clear that bet didn't pay off. What we see now is the mix reverting to roughly where pre-Covid data would have suggested it should be at this point. Still growing steadily, but it wasn't a meaningful 5-year leap ahead. Our market share in ecommerce is a lot higher than it is in retail, so this matters. Ultimately, placing this bet was my call to make and I got this wrong. Now, we have to adjust. As a consequence, we have to say goodbye to some of you today and I'm deeply sorry for that."<h2>Patrick Collison, Stripe</h2><div type="image" title="patrick collison" height="1287" width="1675" msid="95541988" hostid="261" sizebytes="148726"></div>In an <a href="https://stripe.com/newsroom/news/ceo-patrick-collisons-email-to-stripe-employees">email</a> announcing 14% workforce cuts to Stripe employees, CEO Patrick Collison wrote, on behalf of himself and his brother, company president John Collison: "Today we're announcing the hardest change we have had to make at Stripe to date. We're reducing the size of our team by around 14% and saying goodbye to many talented Stripes in the process. If you are among those impacted, you will receive a notification email within the next 15 minutes. For those of you leaving: we're very sorry to be taking this step and John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it."<h2>Glenn Kelman, Redfin</h2><div type="image" title="Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman" height="1500" width="2100" msid="95541990" hostid="261" sizebytes="69640"></div>After announcing an 8% company reduction earlier this month, Glenn Kelman, CEO of the real estate firm, apologized several times in a <a href="https://www.redfin.com/news/layoff/">memo</a>: "To all the departing people who put your faith in Redfin, I'm sorry we can't keep our commitment to you. With May demand 17% below expectations, we don't have enough work for our agents and support staff, and fewer sales leaves us with less money for headquarters projects."<h2>Vlad Tenev, Robinhood</h2><div type="image" title="Vlad Tenev" height="3337" width="5000" msid="95541993" hostid="261" sizebytes="658896"></div>In August, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev announced a 23% workforce reduction, particularly in the trading platform's operations, marketing, and program management functions. The letter followed an earlier decision to cut 9% of Robinhood's workforce.In a <a href="https://blog.robinhood.com/news/2022/8/2/a-message-from-our-ceo-and-co-founder-vlad-tenev">letter</a> to employees, Tenev wrote: "Since that time, we have seen additional deterioration of the macro environment, with inflation at 40-year highs accompanied by a broad crypto market crash. Last year, we staffed many of our operations functions under the assumption that the heightened retail engagement we had been seeing with the stock and crypto markets in the COVID era would persist into 2022. In this new environment, we are operating with more staffing than appropriate. As CEO, I approved and took responsibility for our ambitious staffing trajectory – this is on me."<h2>Brian Armstrong, Coinbase</h2><div type="image" title="brian armstrong coinbase" height="1333" width="2000" msid="95541995" hostid="261" sizebytes="60248"></div>In June, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/blog/a-message-from-coinbase-ceo-and-cofounder-brian-armstrong">wrote in a letter</a> that he was trimming the Coinbase team by about 18% to ensure the crypto-exchange platform stays "healthy during this economic downturn." He pointed to rapidly changing economic conditions, cost management in down markets, and over-hiring during a bull market. Armstrong wrote: "First I want to start by taking accountability for how we got here. I am the CEO, and the buck stops with me."He continued: "To our colleagues who are departing, I want to say thank you for giving everything to this company, and that I am sorry. I hope that as we grow again we get a chance to hire you back. We would not be where we are today without your hard work and dedication to our mission. I am incredibly grateful for everything you have done to contribute to our success."<h2>Niraj Shah, Wayfair</h2><div type="image" title="Wayfair co-founder Niraj Shah." height="591" width="887" msid="95541996" hostid="261" sizebytes="20824"></div>In August, furniture retailer Wayfair said it would lay off nearly 900 people, or about 5% of its workforce, the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/wayfair-to-lay-off-about-5-of-global-workforce-11660912543" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wall Street Journal reported</a>. In a published <a href="https://www.aboutwayfair.com/category/company-news/a-message-from-ceo-and-co-founder-niraj-shah">letter</a>, CEO Niraj Shah wrote: "Over the past few years, we've grown Wayfair significantly to keep pace with the ecommerce growth in the home category. We were seeing the tailwinds of the pandemic accelerate the adoption of ecommerce shopping, and I personally pushed hard to hire a strong team to support that growth. This year, that growth has not materialized as we had anticipated. Our team is too large for the environment we are now in, and unfortunately we need to adjust.Shah continued: "I take responsibility for the impact this decision will have on the nearly 900 Wayfairians who will be told today they are no longer a part of building our company's future."<h2>Rich Barton, Zillow</h2><div type="image" title="Rich Barton CEO and cofounder of Zillow" height="674" width="899" msid="95541998" hostid="261" sizebytes="31908"></div>Zillow laid off 300 employees in October, or about 5% of its workforce, according to Bloomberg. The latest cut came less than a year after the real estate marketplace announced a 25% workforce reduction in November 2021 in a letter to shareholders. Zillow CEO Rich Barton apologized for the prior layoff on a call with analysts: "I'm sorry for how difficult and disruptive this will be."

Why corporate leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Evan Spiegel are all apologizing for the massive layoffs at their companies

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Consumers and advocates are fed up with it being incredibly difficult to cancel subscriptions.</li><li>Democratic Rep. Mark Takano plans on trying to tackle the topic again this Congress.</li></ul>It's the new streaming show you can't miss. The one-time gift that you probably forgot about. The New Year's resolution that started strong, but by February you're having second thoughts. Whatever it was, it's a subscription now.Today, you can't escape subscriptions. They encompass everything from our binge-watching to our meal kits to books and makeup. It's when you want to cancel that things get tricky. The struggle frustrates even the professionals who deal with this. Do you need show up somewhere in person? Click through a maze of prompts? Call a hotline? That is if you even can find the number, which can take a "National Treasure"-level of sleuthing skills. According to Pymnts.com, a site that tracks e-commerce, just over 80% of American households held a subscription <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/news/2022/retailers-success-could-come-down-to-the-abcs-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">near the end of last year</a>. And while the retail industry is seeing subscription numbers decline, you can be sure it's been a pain for consumers to get free. <h2>Advocates are pushing for Congress to act</h2>Congress has tried twice already to make it easier for Americans to unsubscribe. Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat, told Insider that he plans to reintroduce The Unsubscribe Act for a fourth time later this year. Consumer Action and National Consumers League have helped push the legislation in past. "Deceptive practices by large corporations make it easy to sign up for subscriptions, but nearly impossible to opt out," Takano said in a statement to Insider. <div type="image" title="Mark Takano" height="1249" width="2500" msid="97987632" hostid="261" sizebytes="126094"></div>The bill would require companies to be upfront when they roll a free trial into a paid plan without expressly telling you, a practice known as negative option billing. The legislation would also require a company to offer a straightforward cancelation process. That would mean that a company that lets you subscribe via an app can't then require you to come in person to cancel.Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat, has worked on companion legislation in the past. His bill had the distinction of garnering bipartisan support, including Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican. Getting any bill passed in a divided government will be daunting, but the prospect of bipartisan support could offer a glimmer of hope though.<h2>Hard-to-cancel subscriptions are a widespread business model across many industries </h2>Consumer advocates that Insider spoke to said they were turned onto this issue by their own struggles. Ruth Susswein, director of Consumer Action, was taken aback when she noticed that what she thought was a one-time gift had actually turned into a recurring charge, thanks to an automatic renewal clause that was buried in the terms of service."That is more than just an inconvenience, that is not the way anyone should be doing business," Susswein said. She added that companies must find it cost-effective to automatically enroll consumers without concern for those who might object or for potential legal issues with regulators or attorneys general.John Breyault, an official with the National Consumers League who focuses on telecoms and fraud, said that his organization was turned onto the topic after they realized their office furniture lease had an automatic renewal. "We weren't aware of the automatic renewal provisions of the contract," Breyault told Insider. "We had to fight like heck to get out of it.""If it happens to us, it happens to consumers and nonprofits and businesses all the time," he said.Search any social media thread about subscription woes, and you'll see some frequent offenders.Adobe is so notorious for its use of cancellation fees that users have <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/qg1tyr/adobe_is_shady_company_canceling_a_free_trial_for/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed workarounds. </a>A representative for the company to did not respond to a request for comment.Many complaints are devoted to publications, an American Press Institute <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/03/most-u-s-news-organizations-still-wont-let-readers-cancel-their-subscriptions-online/">survey in 2021 found</a> that only 41% of US publications made it "easy" for readers to cancel their subscriptions online. The New York Times <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/theodorecasey/2017/10/16/we-shouldnt-have-to-call-to-cancel-the-new-york-times-in-2017/?sh=46391b7954cc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/darkpatterns/status/1479528080737808392?s=20&amp;t=-Q14fkFFez5r8pV2bV9ltw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">direct subscribers </a>to either a virtual chat or a hotline. Only last year did the Times begin to allow digital subscribers to cancel their subscriptions directly, Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander told Insider. He added the publication hopes to soon make this available to all print subscribers soon — currently only some can use this method.Planet Fitness<a href="https://www.planetfitness.com/en-au/about-planet-fitness/customer-service" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> is up front </a>that its members must cancel at a gym or by mail, even if they can sign up online."Our standard cancellation policy, which is outlined for members upon joining, notes that cancellation in person or via written mail notification is required," said McCall Gosselin, senior vice president of communications and corporate social responsibility at Planet Fitness in a statement to Insider. Gosselin added that they have added the ability to digitally cancel in some states and are exploring ways to expand access to that function.<h2>Biden could do something about it</h2>The Federal Trade Commission could also use its policies to go after companies. It has in the past.The FTC<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/11/ftc-action-against-vonage-results-100-million-customers-trapped-illegal-dark-patterns-junk-fees-when-trying-cancel-service" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> fined Vonage,</a> an online phone service, $100 million after the agency alleged that the company used "dark patterns" that made it difficult for customers to cancel. In some cases, the agency alleged that the company continued to charge customers even after they hunted down the cancelation hotline number and spoke to an actual person.<a href="https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/subscribe#:~:text=subscribe%20to%20something,or%20for%20a%20computer%20service." target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In October 2021</a>, the FTC issued an enforcement policy statement making it clear that it was putting companies on notice if they made subscribing easy and canceling far too difficult.The problem is so large though, Breyault cautioned that the agency can't tackle it alone. He added that the FTC has so many different responsibilities, including crypto, that it looks for only the most egregious defenders. Passing the Unsubscribe Act would give the federal government additional legal authority to hold companies accountable beyond the FTC's overall powers.There's precedent for executive action working on this, but it's mostly abroad. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/01/amazon-ends-prime-cancellation-dark-patterns-europe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon agreed to change</a> how users cancel its Prime membership after European regulators, US consumer groups, and, finally, the FTC stepped in. Before the tech giant changed its practices last summer, Public Citizen, another US consumer group,<a href="https://twitter.com/Public_Citizen/status/1349727430278225922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1349727430278225922%7Ctwgr%5E2e97d7eb76aab056b667337c6bf0586f01b60891%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.citizen.org%2Fnews%2Fftc-complaint-ending-an-amazon-prime-membership-is-a-deceptive-unlawful-ordeal%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> published a video</a> showing the long process it took to cancel the service. It was an odd juxtaposition for a company that makes purchasing with just one click a huge part of its model.State and local officials have also taken notice.Then-DC Attorney Karl Racine went after the food delivery service Grubhub for hitting customers with hidden fees and using deceptive marketing about its subscription service. The company<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/30/grubhub-suit-dc-attorney-general-fees/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> later agreed</a> to pay an $800,000 fine and an additional $2.7 million to settle the suit.Still, the chances of a bill passing this Congress a longshot. President Joe Biden called out consumer-related issues in his State of the Union, but it's unclear where unwanted subscriptions fit in.While consumers wait for regulation, the situation is so bleak that some companies are now devoted to helping you get out of the pile of undesired subscriptions. Naturally, you often have to subscribe for that, too.

It's far harder to cancel a subscription than it is to sign up for one. A bill in Congress wants to change that.

Brittney Griner's return to Phoenix: Behind-the-scenes details of the 'joy' and uncertainty surrounding the WNBA superstar's homecoming

Hello, and welcome to this Wednesday's edition of the Insider Tech newsletter, where we break down the biggest news in tech.<h4><a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-tech">Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Get Insider Tech straight in your inbox by subscribing here.</a></h4>Soundtrack: For maximum enjoyment of this newsletter, <a href="https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OmsXsIv2Ppw&amp;list=RDAMVMOmsXsIv2Ppw2Ppw">we recommend The Beatles' "Revolution."</a><h2>This week: <keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword>'s bottom-up worker revolution is a shot against the reign of corporate stockholders</h2>If this were a normal year, corporate CEOs would be just starting to pack their bags for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where many execs would eagerly preach <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sustainable-investing-transition-requires-systemic-change-esg-financial-tools-davos-2020-1">the virtues of stakeholder capitalism</a> - the notion that companies have obligations to more constituents than just their investors.Davos is a virtual affair <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-davos-world-economic-forum-conference-2020-1">this year because of COVID-19</a>, but for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-alphabet-brin-page-leadership-style-2020-11">Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai</a> and other executives at Google's parent company, the <keyword id="8992779" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stakeholder-capitalism">stakeholder capitalism</keyword> debate has suddenly become more real than any speech they would have heard in Switzerland.The new <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-alphabet-workers-form-union-us-canada-contractors-2021-1">Alphabet Workers Union, launched on Monday</a>, is essentially a labor union forged on the principles of stakeholder capitalism.<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-google-union-plans-to-build-space-for-worker-activism-2021-1">This union isn't fighting for wages</a> - it doesn't even have collective bargaining power. It's fighting to overturn the fundamental concept that management's primary goal should be to generate as much profit as possible.</li><li>"We prioritize society and the environment instead of maximizing profits at all costs," <a href="https://alphabetworkersunion.org/principles/mission-statement/">reads one of the key points in the union's manifesto</a>.</li><li>The union's website lists various past company controversies, including Google's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-caves-to-criticism-over-military-drone-work-wont-renew-project-maven-pentagon-contract-2018-6">military AI contracts</a> and its efforts to build a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-empoyees-petition-for-china-search-engine-project-dragonfly-shut-down-2018-11">censored search engine for China</a>. All of these, the union argues, demonstrate that <keyword id="6357623" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="alphabet">Alphabet</keyword> leadership puts: "Profit before users; Profit before workers; Profit before being a force for good in the world."</li></ul>It's an ironic, and striking, turn of events for a company whose 2004 IPO prospectus famously declared: "We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served-as shareholders and in all other ways-by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains."Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the authors of those words, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-alphabet-brin-page-leadership-style-2020-11">are no longer directly involved in the company</a>. But it would be unfair to lay the blame at Pichai's feet. Many of the problematic incidents cited by the union occured while the two founders were still leading the company. How much power this union will actually wield remains to be seen. It so far includes only a few hundred of Google's more than 100,000 employees, and says it intends to also represent the company's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/technology/google-temp-workers.html">even greater number</a> of contract and temporary workers.But I'd argue that even if the union's influence is limited to generating public attention, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-google-union-plans-to-build-space-for-worker-activism-2021-1">emergence of an internal group pushing stakeholder capitalism in an organization from the bottom up</a> is a big deal. The biggest question is whether this new breed of union is something that could only exist at Google - a product of the culture and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-downgrades-dont-be-evil-2018-5">ideals that Google historically touted</a> to employees - or if it's the first example of a bigger wave that's about to upend the stockholder-primacy that has long dominated corporations.<h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-plans-a-new-sleep-apnea-device-powered-by-alexa-2021-1">Amazon wants to watch you sleep</a></h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-plans-a-new-sleep-apnea-device-powered-by-alexa-2021-1"><div type="image" title="Jeff Bezos India" height="1513" width="2200" msid="80138400" hostid="261"></div></a>The next frontier for <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>'s Alexa voice assistant is sleep apnea, the sleeping disorder in which a person's breathing can be interrupted. As Insider's Eugene Kim exclusively reports, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-plans-a-new-sleep-apnea-device-powered-by-alexa-2021-1">the company is working on a palm-sized device that sits on a nightstand</a> and uses wireless technology to track sleeping and breathing patterns.The device is code-named Brahms, likely a reference to the 19th-century German composer Johannes Brahms who wrote "Lullaby" and who may have suffered from sleep apnea himself.The Brahms device could be Amazon's tip of the spear in a broader effort to conquer the sleep market, where Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi have made inroads, writes Kim, citing one of his sources: "Amazon expects to leverage its advanced machine-learning capabilities and cloud infrastructure to build out a deeper sleep-analysis program that covers other sleeping disorders, one of the people said."<h2>In memoriam</h2><div type="image" title="FarmVille 2" height="690" width="920" msid="80138401" hostid="261"></div>FarmVille (June 2009 - December 31, 2020): Whether you or not you played FarmVille - a sim game that involved tending to a virtual patch of land and planting crops - chances are notifications and updates about your friends' Farmville endeavors invaded your Facebook news feed like a weed. Facebook eventually clamped down on social games' access to the newsfeed, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zynga-charts-2012-9">Farmville's popularity dried up</a> almost <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zynga-discloses-revenues-2009-10">as quickly as it sprouted.</a>This New Year's Eve, Farmville creator <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/farmville-leaving-facebook-by-end-of-2020-zynga-2020-9">Zynga officially pulled the plug on the Facebook version of the game</a> (owing to the fact that Facebook has stopped supporting the Adobe Flash technology the game relied on), marking the end of an important chapter in internet history. Farmville's biggest legacy, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/technology/farmville-zynga-facebook.html">The New York Times points out</a>, is the "attention hacking" and gamification techniques that now underlie so many things on the internet, from Instagram to QAnon.Haven (January 2018 - February 2021): When Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-jpmorgan-and-berkshire-hathaway-healthcare-company-details-2018-1"> created a healthcare company for their combined workforces</a> three years ago, the world took note. After all, the financial might and business savvy of the three firms gave them a good shot at re-inventing a byzantine market and reining in the "ballooning costs of healthcare." Or so it seemed.The joint venture, called Haven, announced this week <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/haven-is-disbanding-after-3-years-of-struggling-to-fix-healthcare-2021-1">that it would shut down</a> by the end of February. As<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3-reasons-why-haven-was-doomed-from-the-start-2021-1"> Insider's Blake Dodge reports</a>, its demise owes to a mix of factors including lack of direction, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/whats-ailing-an-amazon-health-venture">leadership changes</a>, and obstacles inherent to the healthcare landscape. One takeaway likely to strike many people though: Even Amazon - famous (or notorious) for driving down consumer prices - was not able to bring down the inexplicably high prices that hospitals charge.<h2>Snapshot: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/den-cabin-diy-kit-became-wildly-popular-during-covid-19-2020-12">Would you Airbnb your house and move into this cozy cabin?</a></h2>Here's a fun way to capitalize on the growing demand for remote-work spaces and vacation homes during the pandemic: List your spacious home on Airbnb, renting it out to strangers willing to pay generous nightly booking fees, and squeeze yourself into <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/den-cabin-diy-kit-became-wildly-popular-during-covid-19-2020-12">this cozy do-it-yourself, A-frame cabin.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/den-cabin-diy-kit-became-wildly-popular-during-covid-19-2020-12"><div type="image" title="Den A-frame cabin" height="837" width="1116" msid="80138404" hostid="261"></div></a>The 115-square-foot wood cabin, designed by New York's Den Outdoors, is 12-feet tall and can accommodate two twin beds. Its insulated floors and window mean it's apparently suitable for any season of the year.The cabin come as a kit that costs $21,000 and can be assembled in three days, according to Den Outdoors. It's small enough that you can plop it down wherever you want - a mountain vista, the banks of a gurgling brook, or your backyard. You'll have to get used to a "glamping" lifestyle, free of plumbing and other standard amenities. But while you're cooped up in this slender shack, you'll sleep comfortably knowing that the Airbnb guests living in your real house are paying down your mortgage.<h2>Recommended Readings:</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-brexit-deal-startups-limbo-financial-services-data-2020-12">The UK's last-minute, skinny Brexit deal leaves tech businesses furious: 'The government has no true understanding of the impact.'</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-benefit-from-solarwinds-hack-cloud-2021-1">Microsoft could benefit from the SolarWinds fallout even though hackers used its products as part of the attack - here's why</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-tech-startups-to-watch-in-2021-according-to-vcs-2020-12">VCs share the 46 climate-tech startups that are set to soar in 2021</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-blast-trump-administration-for-rushing-new-crypto-regulation-2021-1">'That is madness': Andreessen Horowitz and Fred Wilson blast the Trump administration, saying it's trying to 'squeeze' new and 'defective' crypto rules into place at the 11th hour</a><h2>Not necessarily in tech:</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ghislaine-maxwells-husband-scott-borgerson-profile-2020-12">The untold story of Ghislaine Maxwell's secret husband, Scott Borgerson</a><h4>Sponsored content: </h4><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-tech-startup-is-reshaping-cybersecurity-as-we-know-it-2020-12">This tech startup founder went from helicopter pilot to cybercrime fighter. Here's how his company is reshaping cybersecurity as we know it.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-one-founder-helping-women-led-businesses-earn-more-funding-2020-12">This startup founder is reshaping the way women-led businesses get financial support</a>Thanks for reading, and if you like this newsletter, <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-tech">tell your friends and colleagues they can sign up here to receive it</a>.And as always, please reach out with rants, raves, and tips at aoreskovic@businessinsider.com- Alexei

Google's worker revolution is a shot that could end the reign of corporate stockholders

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/ David McNewIs this the man behind the coin?</div></div>Good morning! Here's what you need to know.
It's jobs day in America. The monthly report <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/february-jobs-report-preview-2014-3">will come out at 8:30 a.m. ET</a>. Economists estimate that U.S. companies added 149,000 to nonfarm payrolls in February, up from the prior print of 113,000, and that the unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 6.6%. "The market appears to be set up for a weak number, and a disappointing report will be taken with a grain of salt," said TD Securities' Millan Mulraine. "Hiring in February looks unlikely to have snapped the recent slowdown," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/monday-scouting-report-mar-3-2014-2014-2">said Wells Fargo's John Silvia</a>. "Another winter storm hit the Southeast and Northeast during the survey week, which is likely to have curtailed hiring over the period." 
Will the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up? Yesterday, Newsweek <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/newseek-reporter-findsf-bitcoin-inventor-2014-3">dropped a bombshell report outing Satoshi Nakamoto</a>, the creator of Bitcoin, the prominent digital crypto-currency. According to Newsweek's Leah McGrath Goodman, Satoshi Nakamoto is 64-year-old Japanese American man living outside Los Angeles. His name is indeed Satoshi Nakamoto, once thought to be a pseudonym. Later in the afternoon, Nakomoto emerged from his house - which was surrounded by reporters - to have lunch with a journalist from the AP. The AP's story <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nakamoto-never-heard-of-bitcoin-2014-3">conflicted Goodman's account</a>. Nakamoto had nothing to do with Bitcoin and had never even heard of it before his son was contacted by Newsweek three weeks ago, he told the AP. Newsweek stood by it story. Everyone is still confused.
Bill Gross vs. Mohamed El-Erian. Things got feistier between the two former PIMCO colleagues - Gross still heads the bond fund while El-Erian just had a high-profile exit - after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reuters-report-on-bill-gross-2014-3">Gross told Reuters that El-Erian is trying to "undermine" him</a> in the press. Gross said that El-Erian "wrote" a damning account in the Wall Street Journal himself. And when Reuters pushed back on that assertion, Gross accused the news organization of also favoring El-Erian. Gross also suggested that he had been monitoring El-Erian's phone calls.
Putin brushes off the west. The Russian president <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/03/07/business/07reuters-ukraine-crisis.html?ref=business&amp;_r=0">spoke with President Obama over the Russian incursion into Crimea</a>. He said that "Russia cannot ignore calls for help and it acts accordingly, in full compliance with international law." Also, Russian parliament will <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303369904579424540787917088?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories&amp;mg=reno64-wsj">support the region's bid to join Russia</a>, the speaker said.
We'll get trade balance data at 8:30 a.m. Economists think the trade deficit widened to $38.5 billion in January. "We anticipate a widening of the trade deficit in January due to a pickup in imports," wrote Citi's Peter D'Antonio. "January is a month when imports typically decline, yet customs duties increased in the month, suggesting a sizable rise in the seasonally adjusted figure. Our forecast actually includes a pullback in oil imports reflecting a decline in price."
At 3:00 p.m., consumer credit will be released. Economists predict consumer credit balances expanded by $14 billion in January. "After rising by $18.8bn in December, we forecast that total US consumer credit outstanding rose by $13.0bn in January," wrote Barclays' economists. "As has been the case in the past few years, this would largely reflect steady growth in the nonrevolving component, specifically in federal student loans; over the course of 2013, nonrevolving credit rose by over $165bn, while revolving credit increased only $16bn."
Introducing "5 Questions," a new feature where we interview top strategists and economists for their views on the market. Today's interview is with Gary Shilling, famed market timer.
BUSINESS INSIDER: To what extent has the weather impacted the winter economic data?
GARY SHILLING: Like American Olympic athletes at Sochi who blamed the slush for their poor performance, retailers and everyone else always faults the weather for their shortfalls. In January, only 262,000 people reported that they couldn't get to work because of the weather but the average over the 2003-2013 years is much higher, 330,000. And bad weather in January should have not only kept shoppers at home but also given them plenty of time for online buying. Yet non-store sales--largely online purchases--actually fell 0.6% that month in contrast to earlier double-digit year-over-year gains. Do they ever credit good weather for robust sales?
BI: What's the big story that nobody is talking about right now?
GS: A shock that would distort investor euphoria and collapse stocks. Candidates include a financial crisis among Chinese shadow banks, a Middle East blowup that spikes oil prices, a dust-up between Russia and the West over Ukraine and contagion resulting from faltering emerging markets.
BI: Are you optimistic about Janet Yellen as Fed chair?
GS: Yellen is competent, but she was part of the FOMC that, by its own admission, was "behind the curve" in 2008 and didn't foresee that the collapse in subprime mortgages, which commenced in Feb. 2007, would precipitate runs on Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.
BI: The stock market is roaring back to all time highs. Do issues in EM not have as big an impact on U.S. markets as people argued a few weeks ago?
GS: Except for the hot money that's gotten burned, the emerging market crises don't have a big global impact--unless they prove contagious.
BI: What's something you'll be watching this week and next?
GS: Watch for persistent weak U.S. economic numbers after the ice breaks and the excuse of bad weather fades.
And now back to 10 Things...
Global markets were mixed in overnight trading. Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.92% and Korea's KOSPI fell 0.05%. European markets were broadly lower, with Germany the most off the mark. U.S. futures were roughly flat.
German manufacturing lights up. Industrial orders in the country <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/06/uk-germany-orders-idUKBREA250PC20140306">jumped 1.2% in January</a>, double the forecast from economists. "Industrial orders started the new year well, despite a small volume of big-ticket orders... The strongest momentum is coming from abroad, from both within and outside the euro zone. Domestic demand is also developing positively, at a slightly more modest pace," the economy ministry said in a statement.
Finra strips red flags on its brokers. A new WSJ report from Jean Eaglesham and Rob Barry shows that the Wall Street regulator "routinely" removes red flags on brokers from its database. Investors can look up brokers on a Finra database, but according to the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, the regulator was "scrubbing potential black marks from the information it provided to investors," the Journal reports. 
China sees its first domestic corporate bond default. Solar-equipment maker Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science and Technology Company <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304732804579424152861860372?mg=reno64-wsj">did not meet interest payments on a bond</a>, becoming the first Chinese company to default on a bond traded in the mainland, the WSJ reports. "Defaults of some debt products are not on a similar scale to a collapse of a major financial institution," P<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-to-see-first-onshore-bond-default-2014-3">atrick Chovanec at Silvercrest Asset Management told Business Insider in January</a>. "As we think corporate bonds and incoming trust loan defaults will not lead to a credit crunch, and we are reasonably confident with our 7.6% GDP growth forecast for this year."
Guggenheim's Chris Krueger sums up the situation in Russia and Crimea:
The Sanctions Bill is non-binding (carries no weight of law), though it does carry maximum messaging and symbolism weight. The Obama Administration also announced visa bans for a handful of Russian and Ukrainian officials and that the Crimean Referendum vote (formally secede from Ukraine and join Russian Federation - we strongly believe that it will pass) in nine days was unlawful without the approval of the interim government in Kiev. Administration officials wouldn't say how many individuals are included in the visa restrictions and wouldn't release their names, but said they would be notified (no specifics on the notification process). They also said the Administration could/would add additional names to this seemingly phantom list if the crisis continues - in effect setting the stage for the next round of sanctions (perhaps asset freezes). The danger is not the actual bills that Congress is passing (none of them have any real teeth), but that it ratchets up further pressure and all but invites a response from the Russian parliament. We continue to believe that we are witnessing a massive shift in geopolitics and a rekindling of a Cold War-esque competition between the West and Russia that will later this year (FY15 begins October 1) justify halting the planned drawdown of the U.S. military and a push for greater U.S. defense spending.

You Searched For "crypto push notifications" and got 10 results

What is EPNS and why does it matter

Insider Studios

Kavin Bharti Mittal’s Hike raises fresh funds for its web3 play-to-earn blockchain gaming project

BI India Bureau

VanEck’s bitcoin futures ETF will launch on Tuesday - after the SEC rejected the company’s spot ETF application

Camomile Shumba

Selling crypto art can come with huge hidden fees, leading some people to lose hundreds of dollars

Grace Kay

Crypto apps dominated the 28 fastest-growing finance apps this week. Here's the full list.

Madeline Renbarger

Why corporate leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Evan Spiegel are all apologizing for the massive layoffs at their companies

Sarah Belle Lin

It's far harder to cancel a subscription than it is to sign up for one. A bill in Congress wants to change that.

Brent D. Griffiths

Brittney Griner's return to Phoenix: Behind-the-scenes details of the 'joy' and uncertainty surrounding the WNBA superstar's homecoming

Meredith Cash

Google's worker revolution is a shot that could end the reign of corporate stockholders

Alexei Oreskovic

10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Steven Perlberg

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides