It has been an incredible year for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency crossed the $1,000 mark on New Year's Day 2017. It was a headline maker that was a hint of things to come. Now it is trading below $15,000, after reaching a high of $20,000 earlier this month. This episode of The Crypto Craze dives into the biggest stories of the year in cryptocurrency, and looks at how several start-ups are disrupting industry with blockchain technology.
Cryptocurrency network iCash just launched a digital billboard in Times Square. The advertising campaign just in time for an estimated 1 million people will gather to ring in the new year. iCash's Chief Economist Max Wolff explains the message he hopes these billboards send. "We'd like to be part of the future and that's what new years eve is all about," says Wolff. "We think we are part of the future for everyone's that interested in cryptocurrency."
CryptoBnB is banking on blockchain to transform the travel industry. The company's founder and CEO Tariq Alwahedi explains how this start-up can transform the travel booking industry. "We are building a new disruptive technology," says Alwahedi. He says CryptoBnB is applying blockchain for short term rental application. CryptoBnB is currently in beta stage.
Blockchain has the power to transform the healthcare industry. That's according to cyberneticist Jonny Dubowsky. He explains how this technology can impact the way we protect and distribute data. "We are just exposing the utility and value of blockchain," says Dubowsky. He compares bitcoin to the dot com bubble, and says he we might have further corrections. My Personal Therapeutics is now using blockchain technology to protect and eventually monetize personal data.
Oracle soars as it cashes in on the AI boom, Plus: Starbucks shares continue to fall under its new CEO, and does anybody actually want a new iPhone Air?
Swedish buy now, pay later company Klarna is making its highly anticipated public debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, the latest in a run of high-profile initial public offerings this year. The offering priced at $40 Tuesday, above the forecasted range of $35 to $37 a share, valuing the company at more than $15 billion. The valuation easily makes Klarna one of the biggest IPOs so far in 2025, which has been one of the busier years for companies going public. Other popular IPOs so far this year include the design software company Figma and Circle Internet Group, which issues the USDC stablecoin..
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison wrested the title of the world’s richest man from longtime holder Elon Musk early Wednesday as stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading. That is according to wealth tracker Bloomberg. A college dropout, the 81-year-old Ellison is now worth $393 billion, Bloomberg says, several billion more than Musk, who had been the world’s richest for four years. The switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle. Forbes still has Musk as the richest, however, valuing his private businesses much higher.
