Research
Cambridge University launches crypto research project with IMF and BIS
The University of Cambridge is collaborating with some of the world’s top banking institutions and private companies to introduce a new project targeting cryptocurrency research. The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, or CCAF, has launched a research initiative aiming to bring more insights on the rapidly growing digital asset industry, the CCAF announced to Cointelegraph on Monday. Dubbed the Cambridge Digital Assets Programme, or CDAP, the project is a public-private collaboration with 16 companies including public institutions like the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub and the International Monetary Fund. The initiative also includes banks like Goldman Sachs, financial giants like Mastercard and Visa, as well as major exchange-traded fund providers like Invesco. O...
Total stablecoin supply hits $180 billion: Report
Move aside Bitcoin (BTC), stablecoins are holding the spotlight. Crypto research outlets Arcane Research and CryptoRank confirm that the stablecoin supply has hit the milestone amount of $180 billion. The growth in stablecoins continues to outpace the rest of the market, up 6% in the past 30 days. In times of market volatility, stablecoins can offer price stability, backed by specific assets or algorithms. Source: CryptoRank Over the month of February, three stablecoins entered the top 10 coins by market capitalization as Binance USD (BUSD) briefly entered. According to Arcane Research, the three largest stablecoins, Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC) and BUSD now account for a total of “9% of the total crypto market cap.” Plus, while volatility reigns proud, the stablecoin sup...
A quarter of people will spend time in the Metaverse by 2026: Research
By 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the Metaverse for work, shopping, education, social, and entertainment purposes, according to new research. The Feb. 7 report by technology research and consulting company Gartner found that in anticipation of this migration to the Metaverse, brands are already building the infrastructure to allow their users to replicate their lives digitally. According to Gartner Vice President Marty Resnick, brands will need to collaborate in order to unify the Metaverse as their users continue to demand virtual, interactive, three-dimensional experiences. He explained, “from attending virtual classrooms to buying digital land and constructing virtual homes, these activities are currently being conducted in separate environments.” He believes ...
Three in Four Black Music Professionals Have Experienced Racism, Study Finds
New research out of the U.K. has put numbers to the issue of racism in the music industry. Thorough and wide-reaching, the first-of-its-kind study, titled “Being Black in the UK Music Industry,” quantifies experiences of anti-Blackness and its consequences on wages, mental health and education. On both the creative and business ends, 88% of Black music professionals have experienced direct or indirect racism in their line of work, according to the study. “We’re not allowed to be above average…We’re expected to be perfect,” one respondent described. “We’re expected to be the full package before our career has even started.” Nearly three in four Black respondents have also experienced racial microaggressions: “...
Digital Audio Engages Long-Term Memory More, According to Spotify “Neuromarketing” Study
A recent study conducted by neuromarketing company Neuro-Insight for Spotify found that digital audio is more likely to engage long-term memory for details and past memories than radio, TV, social media, or digital video. The study isn’t peer-reviewed so it’s not entirely concrete, but it did reveal a few interesting data points. Neuro-Insight’s goal is to provide brands a better understanding of users’ brain activity while consuming different types of content. Spotify’s partnership with Neuro-Insight allowed them to study more than 600 subjects as they listened to various kinds of content on the platform, including rock music, rap, Latin music, and even advertisements. The researchers collected data in real-time of the subjects’ brains using steady stat...
Haiti police say they have president’s suspected killers, still hunting masterminds
Haiti’s police has killed or apprehended the suspected killers of President Jovenel Moise, officials said on Thursday, and are hunting for the masterminds behind the assassination that stunned the impoverished Caribbean nation. Moise, 53, was shot dead early on Wednesday at his home by what officials said was a commando of apparently foreign, trained killers, pitching the poorest country in the Americas deeper into turmoil amidst political divisions, hunger, and widespread gang violence. Police Chief Leon Charles said in a televised briefing on Thursday that authorities had tracked down the suspected assassins to a house near the scene of the crime in Petionville, a northern suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince. A fierce firefight lasted late into the night and six suspects were taken in c...
House concurs with Senate, approves $6.183 billion external loan request
The House of Representatives has approved the federal government’s request for $6.183 billion (N2.343 trillion) as external borrowing in 2021 Appropriation Act. The approval followed the consideration and adoption of clauses in the report presented by the committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, chaired by Hon. Ahmed Dayyabu Safana. The House also gave approval for the bill seeking to establish a Defence Research and Development Bureau (DRDB) to conduct and coordinate robust research and development in the Armed Forces of Nigeria. The approval was sequel to the consideration and adoption of the 5 parts and 34 Sections of the Bill’s report, presented by Chairman House Committee on Defence, Hon. Babajimi Benson. Presenting the report, Benson said the objective of the Bureau was to condu...
UNN vice chancellor: Coronavirus pandemic most global challenge since World War II
Prof. Charles Igwe, the Vice-Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has said that COVID-19 pandemic is arguably the most global challenge since world war II. Igwe said this in Nsukka on Monday during UNN 1st Annual International Conference titled: “A Whole New World; Research, Development and Innovation in the Pandemic Era.” He said that COVID-19 which has killed many people across the globe as well as infected many others has affected the economy, lives, people’s ways of living in virtually every country of the world. “COVID-19 pandemic is the most serious global challenge since the world war II the world has witnessed. “As this has affected the economy, people’s ways of life and behaviour of entire people of the world,” he said. He commended federal government on handling the ...
Lago governor appoints new LASPPPA chief
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has appointed Kehinde Osinaike as the General Manager of the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA). Osinaike’s appointment contained in a letter LGS/HOS/178/Vol.X/30 issued on Friday by the Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, takes immediate effect. Muri-Okunola said the appointment was in cognisance of his impressive track records. According to him, Sonaike succeeds the former General Manager of the authority, Funmi Osifuye, upon retirement. Muri-Okunola urged the new general manager to continue to justify the confidence reposed on him by the governor. He charged the new head of LASPPPA to bring his wealth of experience to bear in the delivery on the authority’s mandate. Prior to his appointment, Osinaike was a Special Assista...
ITF chief: President Buhari providing quality leadership skills
Industrial Training Fund The Director General of Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari, said President Muhammadu Buhari has provided quality leadership through Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo and his counterpart, Amb. Mariam Yalwaji Katagum which has unleashed innovations and creativity of various agencies under their control. Ari in a press statement signed by Director, Public Affairs Department, Suleyol Fred Chagu, in Jos on Friday after the formal presentation of the ITF Mobile Android GSM smart phone to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, credited the achievement to the inspirational leadership and support to the Ministers. He said the ITF mobile phone, which was comparable in quality to any other brand of Android...
NGO: Oil spills killed 16,000 Niger-Delta babies in a year
The Stakeholders Alliance for Corporate Responsibility (SACA) has faulted the Nigerian government and multinational oil companies operating in the Niger-Delta over health hazards associated with exploitation and exploration activities. Newsmen learnt that SACA was formed and registered in Nigeria by an Irish Priest, Reverend Fr. Kevin O’ Hara, as a Non-Governmental Organisation in 2012 to find solutions to environmental problems inherent in the exploitation and exploration of oil by multinationals operating in the Niger-Delta region. Speaking to journalists at the inauguration of the group’s “Project Management Committee (PMC),” the Executive Director, SACA, Kingsley Ozegbe, hinted that statics available to his organisation through researches carried out revealed that in 2012 alone, about ...
2023: Kogi commissioner tackles Ohanaeze over zoning
Mr Kingsley Fanwo, Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, has reacted to comments by Igbo socio-political group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Gov. Yahaya Bello’s assertion about rotation of Nigerian presidency among the different regions of the country. Bello had during a maiden edition of the ‘Governor Yahaya Bello seminar for political and crime correspondents’ in Abuja on Friday, described rotational Presidency as “unconstitutional.” The Governor, who has also declared his intention to run for the presidency in 2023 added that “Nigerians should be allowed to make their choices for the best candidate to emerge for the top post”. But reacting to the claim, Ohanaeze Ndigbo which has been at the vanguard of the clamour that a Nigerian of South-East origin should succeed President...