Things That Look Positive for Cryptocurrencies

The corporate environment is characterized by a number of variables: competition, dynamism, turbulence, complexity and change. All organizations must develop ability to continuously and consciously transform themselves and their contexts. Such contexts include restructuring for optimum effectiveness, reengineering key processes and streamlining functions that are able to provide a source of competitive advantage. The aim is to adapt, regenerate and most important, survive. (McLean, 2006).

For a company to thrive today, strategists must find ways to increase the organization’s ability to read and react to industry and market changes. They must know their goal to boost the company’s strategic flexibility by recognizing disruptions earlier and responding faster.

Strategic flexibility or adaptability can be defined as the organization’s capacity to identify major changes in its external environments, quickly commit resources to new courses of action in response to such changes, and to recognize and act promptly when it is time to halt or reverse existing resource commitments. Being adaptable means leaders must not get stuck in a too-rigid way of looking at the world. The organization must view change as an inevitable and essential part of an organization’s growth, in order to achieve this adaptability.

When there is uncertainty or unpredictability in the environment, managers tend to focus almost all their energy on successfully executing the current strategy. What they also should be doing is preparing for an unknown future. Flexibility stems from the ability to learn; managers tend to overlook the negative and emphasize the positive. They need to understand not only what led to the positive outcomes but also what led to the negative ones. This will optimize their learning experience. According to Ford (2004) four points to foster and maintain adaptability include challenging complacency, giving all employees a voice, encouraging participative work and driving fear out of your group.

The companies chosen for this task vary by industry: a famous automobile manufacturer (Ford) a bank going through a merger (Compass) and a start-up software company (DawningStreams). Ford and Compass have been in business for a long time; it is likely they have changed their strategic plan based on changing forces and trends. DawningStreams is new (established in 2005 and incorporated in 2007). Even though they have not had their first sale and have no staff, the owners have devised several iterations of their strategy.

There is a diversity of stakeholders all that are interested in the activity of business organizations. Emphasis must be placed on their adaptability in strategic analysis and their adaptability in strategic management of business organizations. The organization must have a strategic management model.

Each company might scan the same areas, but for different reasons. Considering technological advances, Ford would prepare itself to lead the market by having various electronic equipment in their vehicles, as well as robotic equipment with which to build them and the supply chain technology to keep all in check. Compass Bank is going through a merge and expanding globally; therefore they will need to keep abreast of communication technology. DawningStreams is a software company; they will need to monitor those companies who would be their competition to ensure their product offers better functionality. All three companies would make sure potential customers would be able to get good information from internet websites and advertisement, which encompasses yet another area of technology the organizations may need/want to scan. In this instance, many members of the organization must be enrolled: upper management and finance, who will determine budgetary factors; the IT department, who will be responsible for the implementation and maintenance of some of the technology; the staff who must be trained to use the technology; a sales force who will sell the technology.

To the outside observer, it may seem unnecessary for any but Ford to scan the (actual) environment when it comes to issues such as emission control, fuel efficiency and hybrid cars. That is true however; Compass Bank and DawningStreams can plan a strategy to be friendlier to the environment (and their pocketbooks) by practicing paper reduction (through the aforementioned technology). Lastly, DawningStreams’ product may be useful as a file sharing service to environmental groups.

With regard to the legal environment, all three must be acutely aware of laws, which affect their respective industry among others. To Ford, legal applies, among other areas, to environmental protection laws and department of transportation safety laws. To Compass Bank, they would abide by the rules of the Federal Reserve (www.federalreserve.gov) and the Federal Insurance and Deposit Corporation (www.fdic.gov). DawningStreams must follow laws as they pertain to the transfer of files, which have intellectual property and also the export of products, which have algorithms. All three companies are global and will need to monitor those laws in other countries, which could effect the strategic planning.

At one company after another–from Sears to IBM to Hewlett-Packard to Searle, strategy is again a major focus in the quest for higher revenues and profits. With help from a new generation of business strategists, companies are pursuing novel ways to hatch new products, expand existing businesses, and create the markets of tomorrow. Some companies are even recreating full-fledged strategic-planning groups. United Parcel Service expects to spin out a new strategy group from its marketing department, where strategic plans are now hatched. Explains Chairman Kent C. Nelson: “Because we’re making bigger bets on investments in technology, we can’t afford to spend a whole lot of money in one direction and then find out five years later it was the wrong direction.”

In such a world we need a planning model that allows us to anticipate the future and to use this anticipation in conjunction with an analysis of our organization–its culture, mission, strengths and weaknesses–to define strategic issues, to chart our direction by developing strategic vision and plans, to define how we will implement these plans and to specify how we will evaluate how well we are implementing these plans. The fact that the world is changing as we move forward in the future demands that the process be an iterative one.

Ford Motor Company – Socio-cultural

Ford Motor Company embraces the socio-cultural changes taking place to allow the company to move in the right direction with respect to attitudes in the society. Two areas that stand out in terms of socio-cultural attitudes would be that of fuel economy and smaller cars. The growing concern by the public for better fuel economy has influenced the company’s introduction of the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid. The organization is committed to the hybrid to improve fuel economy as a global strategy to meet customer demands. The increased demand in society for such environmentalism has assisted in the decision for Ford Motor Company to look forward to adding the hybrid feature to the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan and continue in such a strategic planning direction.

The customers that use these vehicles get a substantial break on their insurance in many states and a tax credit as well while enjoying the increased mileage of a vehicle that runs on gasoline and capabilities for 100 percent electric power. The environmental scanning by Ford Motor Company has allowed the company to be knowledgeable of the fact that the people in the United States are buying more small cars today than any other type of vehicle segment. The lifestyles changes have been monitored and there is good data that shows that such a trend will continue in this direction and the expected growth in this segment will continue. The company has redesigned the inside and outside of the Ford Focus to set the car apart from the competitors in the small car segment while increasing upgrades and features to experience positive outcomes. The direction that the company is taking is based on a competitive advantage and being a leader in the industry. The vehicle line has both a sedan and a coupe to attract targeted markets including younger buyers at an entry level to build upon brand loyalty and customer retention. Ford Motor Company will continue to use the socio-cultural factors to drive the business and enjoy future success.

Ford Motor Company – Legal –

Ford Motor Company with regard to the Environmental Protection Agency adheres to the legal aspect of environmental scanning. Ford Motor Company accepted an award in March 2007 from the Environmental Protection Agency called the Energy Star 2007 Partner of the Year Award in Energy Management. The company is the first automaker to have ever been awarded the award two years in a row. The award has come to be presented due to the commitment made by the company to increase energy efficiency and to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from all of the facilities in the company.

The organization is committed to the responsible use of resources and energy efficiency. The leadership realizes that the environmental protection laws are of great importance and use the environmental scanning to move in the right direction to obtain future success in the company. In 2006 alone the company has improved the energy efficiency in the United States operations by five percent and saving approximately $25 million with enough energy saved to equal 220,000 homes. The effective energy management protects the environment and reduces the greenhouse emissions. Some of the actions taken by the company include replacing lighting fixtures that use 40 percent less energy and using different low-energy, long-lasting compact fluorescent lamps in the properties to include the plants, corporate offices, distribution centers, and research and development campuses. Due to the environmental scanning that takes place at Ford Motor Company the company will use the information that is collected and continue in this direction. New projects for the company include Fumes-to-Fuel that is a system that converts paint fumes into electricity that is being performed with Detroit Edison along with attempting to consolidate the application of primer, base and clearcoat paint applications into a single application to eliminate the need for separate applications and ovens. In addition to the paint booth emissions Ford Motor Company will continue to rely on alternative energy sources such as landfill gas and wind and solar technologies to power their manufacturing facilities.

Ford Motor Company – Technology –

Another environmental scanning tool that Ford Motor Company monitors and uses would be the technological portion. The company has invested $1 billion in the latest technology for flexible manufacturing. The technology that is involved is in many forms to include wireless technology that is installed on the delivery trucks with supplies to the plant as a monitoring status and improved efficiency to reduce inventory. The flexibility of products in the same plant allows the organization to use the same machinery and process for all areas from body assembly, paint facility, and final assembly. The improved efficiency at the manufacturing facility allows for several vehicle platforms to be built on the same line to produce multiple models and quickly change the vehicle mix, the volume, and options based on customer demand.

The technological changes that are being embraced by Ford Motor Company through environmental scanning enables the company to experience huge cost savings through new product launches and 50 percent reductions in cycle changeovers along with waste reduction. Robots are among the technological changes that are being experienced within the organization to include the 400 from the project that are used to weld and assemble the metal body of the vehicle for stamping and assembly. Artificial intelligence in the form of advanced visions systems and laser tracking systems are used to ensure quality through accuracy and dimension abilities. A multi-million dollar training facility is used to ensure that the workforce has the knowledge, skills, and ability to reap the benefits from the new technology that is being used by the company. The training that is administered includes the new servo-electric weld gun system that identifies the perfect center for welding that has replaced the older and loud air-powered system that used a less sophisticated spring system. The environmental scanning of technology that is performed by Ford Motor Company has allowed the company to have positive outcomes in efficiency while remaining a competitive company in the industry through cost savings and continuous improvement.

Compass Bank- Political –

On February 16, 2007, Compass Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of Compass Bank, announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBV Madrid: BBVA) (“BBVA”) will acquire Compass for a combination of cash and stock. Compass will become a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of BBVA and will continue to operate under the Compass name. The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2007, pending customary closing conditions, including necessary bank regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Spain and the approval of the stockholders of both Compass and BBVA.

BBVA, which operates in 35 countries, is based in Spain and has substantial banking interests in the Americas. The transaction will facilitate BBVA’s continued growth in Texas and will create the largest regional bank across the Sunbelt. Upon completion of the transaction, Compass will rank among the top 25 banks in the United States with approximately $47 billion in total assets, $32 billion in total loans and $33 billion in total deposits. In addition, the combined company will rank fourth in deposit market share in Texas with $19.6 billion in total deposits and 326 full-service banking offices.

Compass is a $34 billion Southwestern financial holding company that operates 415 full-service banking centers in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. Compass provides a broad array of products and services through three primary lines of business – Corporate Banking, Retail Banking and Wealth Management. Compass is among the top 30 U.S. bank holding companies by asset size and ranks among the top earners of its size based on return on equity.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, which has been approved by the board of directors of Compass and the relevant bodies of BBVA, Compass will become a wholly owned subsidiary of BBVA. After closing, BBVA intends to merge its U.S. based banking affiliates – including the former operations of Texas Regional Bancshares, State National Bancshares and Laredo National Bancshares – with Compass.

The aggregate consideration is composed of a fixed number of approximately 196 million shares of BBVA common stock and approximately $4.6 billion in cash. The merger is subject to customary closing conditions, including necessary bank regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Spain and the approval of the stockholders of both Compass and BBVA. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2007.

The merger between both companies will be determined by the political factors ranging from implications of laws and regulations to the state of world politics including the consideration of wars which may be going on in different parts of the world. New laws, regulations, tax programs and public policy create forces and trends, which may provide challenges and barriers or opportunities for any company or organization.

Compass Bank – Technology –

Ford is in the process of implementing a laser marking system on its production line to ensure the highest standard on each transmission assembled. The system will be checking for quality on different points on the assembly line. Ford is teaming up with a company called MECCO to implement this process and a trial run of the new system will last for 3 months. MECCO is a leader in its industry when it comes to laser technology. The decision to implement this new laser marking system came because it is more cost- effective and safer than previous ways of marking checkpoints for quality.

Although this process at Ford has not officially been implemented yet, Compass Bank can learn a few different things. It may be a good idea for Compass Bank to do a short trial of online cell phone banking to see how popular it becomes and if it worth all the time and effort, being spent to get it launched. Compass Bank should also consider investing into a company who is the best at what they do, is in the same time zone, and can meet their demands in a timely manner, not simply because they may be cheaper. Finally, Compass Bank can learn that they need to consider what will be most cost-effective and in the best interest of the company over time. Organizing a time line and a list of costs and potential risks would also be beneficial to Compass Bank so they know what to expect and when with the implementation of online cell phone banking.

When completing the global scan one looks for emerging new technologies which may impact any business in any industry. At one time the emergence of the Internet was a technology that was becoming an emerging trend across all industries. Today very new technologies are used to develop information systems at a fraction of the cost and time of processes that were used five years ago. Wireless is a telecommunications technology that may have moved from a trend to a force in revolutionizing the way information is stored, accessed and used across all industries around the world. Some, if leveraged by a company within an industry before competitors use it, may even provide a competitive advantage.

Compass Bank – Competition –

Although mergers may be costly and rather difficult, the value it creates in the end is the desired outcome companies seek. The eagerness to merge is based on several beliefs, those beliefs are, that the performance gains are greater, expenses are reduced, market power is increased, and shareholder’s wealth is also greater than before. The value of a merger is enhanced when the overall benefit is more valuable than the aggregate of two separate pre-merger companies.

In the end, both John and Bernard should consider this before finalizing a decision. When Zion’s purchased Stockmans, there overall value increased by 43 branches. These branches will help performance and brings much more power to the financial market. In the Journal of Money article, Pilloff states “Companies are more willing to acquire others to avoid being acquired themselves.” Keeping this in mind, companies must figure out a cross border strategy.

As part of the broad environmental scan, it is important to identify the internal capabilities of the organization. There are various models for defining capabilities. Most focus on the broad set of intangible assets such as brand, human capital, organizational capital and even relationship capital. Others include the more concrete assets such as available capital, the organization structure, current technologies and information technology infrastructure. In addition to doing a broad environmental trend, Compass Bank needs to do a more detailed capability assessment using any of the models available.

DawningStreams – Competitors –

Business activities are becoming more and more complex to manage, because of distance, time zones, number of parties involved in projects, number of tasks to achieve, multiple prioritizations, lack of general synchronization, insufficient secure and confidential communication channels and growing complexity of IT infrastructures. The use of task list managers has become very common. It is becoming more difficult to keep teams synchronized, to follow and to implement new business processes and to exchange sensitive information confidentially. The DawningStreams software application is aiming at increasing the practicality of daily executive activities. The types of business, which will most probably be interested in our product, are construction (size of network), consulting (need for synchronization), pharmaceutical research (secure exchange of information) and the software industry (complexity of manufacturing).

Many companies have already developed software applications that enable secured communications and file sharing. However, most, if not all, are relying on Microsoft technologies, which prevent them from expanding to Mac or Unix users. DawningStreams is developed in Java, which can be used on any platform, including Mac and Unix. Microsoft has acquired the Groove Company and has released a new version of the product, which can perform many of the functionalities of DawningStreams, but not generic activities (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/groove/default.aspx). This is our closest competitor by far. More recently, we found, merely by accident, a company called Shinkuro (www.shinkuro.com), which offers the file sharing aspects of DawningStreams but lacks other capacities.

Although DawningStreams will face competition from many existing players, the fact that it will combine a super-set of functionalities in one application, for a very reasonable price, will give it some leading edge over other competitors. If the US patent is granted, the position of DawningStreams will become a niche. Even if the patent were not granted, it would take a profound architectural redesign of Groove (or other competitors) to include generic activities and match the offer of DawningStreams. As a strategy we will monitor the activities of those companies’ websites and understand what they offer in terms of similar functionality and try to ensure we match or best those functionalities to the best of our ability and resources

DawningStreams – Political –

Maintaining the secrecy of information is the fundamental function of encryption items. Persons abroad may use such items to harm US law enforcement efforts, as well as US foreign policy and national security interests. The US Government has a critical interest in ensuring that persons opposed to the United States are not able to conceal hostile or criminal activities, and that the legitimate needs for protecting important and sensitive information of the public and private sectors are met. Since 2000, US encryption export policy has been directed by three fundamental practices: technical review of encryption products prior to sale, streamlined post-export reporting, and license reviews of proposed transactions involving strong encryption to certain foreign government end-users and countries of concern. US encryption policy also seeks to ensure that American companies are not disadvantaged by the European Union’s “license-free zone.” (Bureau of Industry and Security, 2007).

DawningStreams will contain cryptographic functions. Any reliable and efficient cryptographic system requires a central authority to avoid identity theft. Cryptography is a key functionality of DawningStreams. All specialists insist on designing systems using well-studied algorithms and fully tested protocols; novelty is considered a source of risk. The cryptographic layer of DawningStreams will rely on a dual public-private key system. The private key encryption system will implement Rijndael, the Advanced Encryption Standard (http://csrc.nist.gov/CryptoToolkit/aes/rijndael/), the public key system will implement RSA (www.rsa.com) and the hashing function will implement the 256 bits version of the Secure Hash Algorithm (http://secure-hash-algorithm-md5-sha-1.co.uk/ ).

Encryption products can be used to conceal the communications of terrorists, drug smugglers, and others intent on harming U.S. interests. Cryptographic products and software also have military and intelligence applications that, in the hands of hostile nations, could pose a threat to U.S. national security. The national security, foreign policy, and law enforcement interests of the United States are protected by encryption export controls. These controls are consistent with Executive Order (E.O.) 13026, which was issued on November 15, 1996, and the Presidential Memorandum of the same date. (Bureau of Industry and Security, 2007).

DawningStreams also plans to be an international company, as offices now exist in the Netherlands and the US. As part of the strategy, we will ensure we remain compliant by registering our product with any necessary agency and allowing those agencies access to the processes if they feel there is a threat. We will be responsible to monitor (as best as we can) our client base and to put the proper verbiage in our contracts that illegal activities will not be tolerated. We will continue to monitor the BIS site mentioned in previous paragraphs and also sites in the European Union such as the Crypto Law website of legal expert Bert-Jaap Koops (http://rechten.uvt.nl/koops/)

DawningStreams – Technology/Intellectual Property –

The management of organizational strategy requires a comprehensive assessment of the macro environment of the business. Intellectual Property (IP) refers to the original ideas and innovations evolved by an organization in order to haul up its systems and processes. Creation of ideas requires large investments. This necessitates the protection of IP. Benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring products, processes, and systems of an organization against those that are rated best in the industry. It helps in uncovering weaknesses and flaws in the organizational systems, processes, and products. (Watson, 2003)

The study of the global research conducted by McAfee Inc. and MessageLabs Ltd. on security threat in small businesses in the U.S. reveals that 80 percent of small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMB) believe that an information technology (IT) security failure would be damaging in attaining their business priorities. Yet, only few are courageously making steps to fight against infringements due to resource limitations from other business related priorities. The research implies that company size plays an essential part in the way senior management views security. Among the challenges that SMBs face include keeping up-to-date with security solutions and keeping costs low. Small-to-medium businesses’ behavior towards security is very tactical and meets only immediate requirements. (unknown, 2007)

DawningStreams’ relevance to these forces is two-fold. We are a software company—there is an opportunity for us to lose the intellectual property by those who would download and attempt to modify the code. We have competitors who offer functionality similar to ours, however we offer an additional functionality the others do not. It is this ‘specialty functionality’ for which we applied for a patent the United States Patent and Trademark Office. If the patent is granted, there is less likelihood of software piracy or the loss of our IP. Environmental scans should show us if there are other companies trying to do this.

The functionality, which most resembles our competitors’, is the ability to share files. That brings in a different concern with intellectual property- the possibility someone else’s IP could be sent from one of our users to another, as this could seriously damage our reputation, as what happened with Napster. (www.napster.com).

Conclusion

At one company after another–from Sears to IBM to Hewlett-Packard to Searle, strategy is again a major focus in the quest for higher revenues and profits. With help from a new generation of business strategists, companies are pursuing novel ways to hatch new products, expand existing businesses, and create the markets of tomorrow. Some companies are even recreating full-fledged strategic-planning groups. United Parcel Service expects to spin out a new strategy group from its marketing department, where strategic plans are now hatched. Explains Chairman Kent C. Nelson: “Because we’re making bigger bets on investments in technology, we can’t afford to spend a whole lot of money in one direction and then find out five years later it was the wrong direction.”

In such a world we need a planning model that allows us to anticipate the future and to use this anticipation in conjunction with an analysis of our organization–its culture, mission, strengths and weaknesses–to define strategic issues, to chart our direction by developing strategic vision and plans, to define how we will implement these plans and to specify how we will evaluate how well we are implementing these plans. The fact that the world is changing as we move forward in the future demands that the process be an iterative one.

References

Bilek, E. (n.d.) Compass Bankshares to be Acquired by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.,

Investor Relations. Retrieved from the Internet on March 31, 2007 at

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/77/77589/bbvarelease.pdf

Cole, Jim. Zions makes small deal, cites growing Arizona market. American Banker, 171(175), 1-1. Retrieved March 31, 2007 from Proquest Database.

Ford Motor Company (2006). Ford Motor Company. Retrieved March 2007,

from the World Wide Web, Web Site: [https://ford.com]

Ford, S. (2004) Adapted from 13 Skills Managers Need to Succeed, Harvard Business School

Press. Retrieved March 31, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.

Hockenberry, Todd. (2006). Ford implements advanced laser marking. Industrial Laser Solutions, 21(4), 6-7. Retrieved March 31, 2007, from EBSCOhost database

Jacobs, P. (2005) Five Steps to Thriving in times of Uncertainty. Negotiation (p.3) Retrieved

April 1, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.

McLean, J. (2006) We’re going through changes! British Journal of Administrative Management

54. Retrieved March 30, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.

Pearce, J. & Robinson, R, (2004). Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. The McGraw-Hill Companies. Retrieved March 2007, from the University of Phoenix, Resource, MBA 580-Strategies for Competitive Advantage Course Web Site: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp

Author Unknown, Strategic Planning, After a decade of gritty downsizing, Big Thinkers are back in corporate vogue. (2006) Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.businessweek.com/1996/35/b34901.htm

Unknown (2007) 80% of Small-to-Medium Sized Firms Fear a Security Threat. Computer Security Update 8 (4). Retrieved March 30, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.

Unknown (2006) Strategic Planning, After a decade of gritty downsizing, Big Thinkers are back

in corporate vogue. Retrieved from the Internet at

http://www.businessweek.com/1996/35/b34901.htm

US Department of Commerce (2007), Encryption (ch.10, section 742.15). Retrieved March 27, 2007 from the Bureau of Industry and Security Website at http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2007/foreignpolicyreport/fprchap10_encryption.html

Watson, G. (2003) Business Environmental Scans for Intellectual Property Strategy (PowerPoint Presentation). Retrieved March 28, 2007 from the Oklahoma State University website at http://www.okstate.edu/ceat/msetm/courses/etm5111/CourseMaterials/ETM5111Session3Part2.ppt#260,1,Business Environmental Scans for Intellectual Property Strategy

Tall and slim, Melissa is a woman most people would turn their head to. Her eyes are expressive and full of life, and she seems to know how to use this beautiful, lively face and body to her advantage. Her friends adore her generous and sunny personality and often compliment her on the good job she’s done turning her life around. She is now aware of her inner beauty and works hard to preserve the gift of her outer attractiveness. She learned to love herself.

Melissa hadn’t been this joyful most of her life; in fact, this newfound peace of mind had eluded her for a very long time.

Until ten years ago, Melissa suffered from a severe eating disorder. She was practically saved by the unwavering efforts of her mother, family and professional help (family doctor and therapist).

In her therapy sessions, Melissa learned about her own body image, her perfectionistic attitudes toward herself and others, her judgmental nature, and her need for control. Brave work paid off; Melissa overcame the disease and then pursued what she considered a productive, creative and comfortable life.

Four years ago, Melissa became romantically involved with a young man she loved and respected, and wanted to marry. Steve was blown away by her beauty and personality, as well as her quality of life, her positive energy, vivacity and yes, her cooking skills. They didn’t like spending time away from each other and decided to move in together. Both worked on their careers and slowly built their love nest; a beautifully decorated house where they were happy to come.

On a Saturday night a few weeks ago, Melissa and Steve went dancing at the club where they first met. They do it often and they are both good dancers. This time, however, a young woman was dancing beside them. She wore a red top that was cut short, revealing her firm abs, her large breasts were accentuated by a low neckline, and her nipples peeked through the red fabric. Steve looked intrigued. The young woman looked back at him and smiled. When Melissa and Steve returned to their seats, he was still staring at the woman in the red top. Melissa noticed his fascination and felt that something inside her had just been provoked. She let him know how she felt. Steve kept saying (defensively) that he was just watching and that watching is not action, acting, etc. His words did not help her emotional state. If anything, those words made the situation worse.

Within a week, Melissa was back to her old eating disorder behaviors. Her tendencies to starve herself and purge after eating have returned. She became obsessive about perfecting her environment, controlling, judging and feeling miserable. Melissa lost her trust in Steve; projecting her insufficiently good condition onto him and feeling depressed. Melissa regressed.

Let’s go back to that Saturday night at the club. Steve, at the club, was unaware of Melissa’s predicament. He reacted to an external stimulus; breasts and nipples exposed near him, why? What’s wrong with that?

In my recent book Booby-Trapped, How to Feel Normal in a Breast-obsessed World, there is a discussion (including historical research) that explores Steve’s thoughts on this culture and how young men have become so obsessed with women’s breasts, or more visually descriptive; ‘mini-trap’. Steve reacts to the woman with the red top as he did to Melissa a few years earlier; with fascination, provocation, sexual attraction and intrigue. However, his apparent callous behavior at the club is an area that needs improvement. Steve belongs to this generation where large breasts are considered one of the main criteria of attractiveness. It’s a kind of code we teach our young men. It is now a mental health hazard with many painful consequences. And it’s a family problem that becomes serious, like an eating disorder.

Back to Melissa. She instinctively felt threatened by Steve’s reaction and recoiled in depression. Why such a strong reaction from Melissa? She has a great body, thin and sexy. She also has big breasts. Did I mention that Melissa had breast augmentation surgery as part of her quest for self-improvement?

Well, as you have learned by now; Melissa is at least as ‘trapped’ as Steve; namely, she is obsessed with the size and shape of women’s breasts. These emotions and preoccupation with body parts such as breasts often mask deep feelings of shame about one’s femininity and self-worth. No wonder she is threatened by the sight of another woman’s deliberately displayed large breasts, attracting the attention of her man.

Melissa, like many women of her generation, accepted the culture-induced ‘norm’ of large female breasts.

What kind of example will he set for his future children? How will she ‘deal’ with breastfeeding, motherhood, aging, life and other maturing processes?

Notice how Melissa’s regression was not caused by a bare, firm stomach, but by envy of her boyfriend, large dancing breasts, and noticeable nipples that set off a ripple effect.

What Melissa will learn is actually the message and motto of Trapped, How to Feel Normal in a Breast Obsessed World; http://www.boobytrapped.com

Size and shape are human tissues,

Shame and fear are human issues!

The art of averaging

Average is a term that can sometimes be encountered in the markets; this refers to the average price paid for a particular share if you had bought shares in that particular company.

To calculate the average price paid for a particular stock, you add up the total amount you paid for the stock and divide that by the number of shares you bought in that company.

The answer is the average amount you paid per share.

Try this math question:

There are five numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50

What is the average number?

Calculation:

Add the five numbers: 10 + 20 + 30 + 40 + 50 = 150

Divide the total of five numbers (150) by 5

150 divided by 5 = 30 (answer)

You can easily do this with a calculator.

Today, there are so many stock trading platforms that investing directly in the stock market has never been easier for the common man and woman.

So how does the average work?

If you buy stocks at regular intervals, you will pay different prices for each share as stock prices go up and down. Imagine you bought something at the supermarket last week at full price and then bought the same item this week on sale. The average price you paid for the item will be somewhere between the higher price and the lower price.

That’s how the stock market works. By buying a certain stock at regular intervals, you will be able to pick up some of the shares in it when the price is lower. This is the advantage of regular savings.

In fact, I think there is a reason to buy more stocks when the price is low. The average price paid per share is determined by calculations as explained earlier.

Averaging strategy can also be used in cryptocurrency investing.

Bitcoin is more volatile than the stock market, so a shrewd investor with an eye for a bargain can invest when the price drops.

There are so many stock trading platforms available that playing the markets is accessible to everyone. I joined two of them in New Zealand. Most countries have stock trading platforms available. Signing up for them is easy; you need some form of identification. Just follow the instructions and you’re all set.

TO SUM UP

Playing the market requires a positive mindset and a cool head. If you have them, you can profit from falling markets. Averaging is a method that takes advantage of falling markets.

The world has been changing rapidly lately, as has the currency system. With the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in vogue, people are curious to assess the possible future of Bitcoin which needs to be established and supported by facts and shrewd rationality.

In 2009, a new concept of currency appeared and was introduced to the financial world. It was a little confusing for people, but within a year or two, it emerged as a trend. Today, more and more people and business ventures are using Bitcoins for various reasons. The digital currency is still going through regular updates to improve it in every possible way.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT BITCOIN

People around the world have become quite aware of cryptocurrency. Moreover, there are many more expert opinions about it. It is quite common to find that pro-bitcoin currency experts believe that the currency is expected to reach between $250,000 and $500,000 for each coin in the next few years.

On the other hand, you will find several recognized financial analysts and experts who do not hesitate to warn people about the problems they may face when investing in Bitcoin. Experts accept the fact that this currency called Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may have a lot to give to the public, but the day is not far when people who invest will suffer and take a significant hit.

There are several advantages and disadvantages of Bitcoin. If the shortcomings are removed, there is a good chance that the entire international financial system will undergo a transformation. Let’s take a look at them:

SOME ADVANTAGES OF BITCOIN

• You really have full control over your money and can send and receive any amount 24×7. This is possible because transactions are not executed by central or commercial banks or any centralized organization.

• Transaction fee is minimal compared to any other money transaction online. The mining service that records transactions on the blockchain in question actually charges fees, and quite low fees at that.

• Since no personal information is traded, it is the safest way to transact money. Moreover, there are no problems.

• With minimal processing costs, everyone can rely on the most reliable and fastest way to transfer money.

• Bitcoin is not affected by price fluctuations in any of the global economies, unlike other currencies.

AGAINST BITCOIN

• Bitcoin needs to hold up better in global and local financial markets.

• Bitcoin price stability should be focused on more people and businesses using crypto currency.

• There is no guarantee yet on the purchasing power of Bitcoin, which could be provided to investors or users.

The future of Bitcoin is simply all about speculation

Bitcoin’s disadvantages cannot be easily ignored, but they can be somewhat easily avoided. With a stronger market presence and greater price stability, it may be the easiest type of online currency in the future. The future of Bitcoin is basically nothing but speculation. There are positive responses from people all over the world, and it has the potential to become the next big thing.

Kaspersky antivirus products are always worth using – especially for Windows users. Of course, it’s not just limited to Windows. There are subscription options that include usage on multiple devices, including Mac, Android, and iOS. Keep in mind that this company has won more awards than any other cyber security company, so if you want to get great protection for your computer, this product is the best choice. There are many positive reviews of Kaspersky Antivirus for PC from experts.

It offers protection against all types of viruses, dangerous apps, suspicious websites, phishing attempts, ransomware and more. Security is designed to protect your computer without distraction. It works seamlessly and quietly in the background and receives automatic updates so you’ll know your antivirus is always up to date.

You can choose between different levels of protection: Basic, Internet Security and Total Security. The free version of Kaspersky Antivirus for PC provides basic protection, but nothing else. Internet Security includes all the tools needed to prevent malicious attacks and detect malware behavior, as well as privacy tools to help keep all your online transactions and banking information safe.

There is also an option to upgrade your antivirus by paying a one-year, two-year or three-year fee to protect 3 – 5 computers. This is a good option if you have a home or small business network that you need to secure. It automatically scans your computer for threats, including new “crypto mining” infections that could seriously damage your computer’s performance if not handled properly. If your computer gets infected with this, Kaspersky technologies help to save and reset it.

Setting up and managing Kaspersky Antivirus for PC

Another great thing about these products is that they are very easy to set up and operate. There is technical support for every type of user, including home users, small businesses, medium-sized businesses, and enterprise-level businesses. You’ll be able to manage security from anywhere when you log in to your My Kaspersky account.

If you have an older computer, read the system requirements to make sure you can run the antivirus effectively. All versions of Windows from Vista onwards are supported. It is recommended that you have at least 2 GB of RAM and 1 GB of hard disk space. Kaspersky products are also available for Mac users.

Before choosing to subscribe and upgrade, you can always try a free trial of Kaspersky Antivirus for PC. Coupons are available when you want to upgrade, and they help bring the price down significantly.

New digital threats emerge every day, so don’t delay buying protection. You should be able to get it at an affordable price as long as you use Kaspersky Antivirus for PC promo codes. It’s time to start protecting your computer!

Because virtual currencies have a unique nature, they offer many advantages over traditional currencies. In the last few years, the world of digital currency has been going through many positive changes. There are many cryptocurrencies, but Bitcoin is one of the most popular. In this article, we will look at some of the most prominent advantages of paying with Bitcoin. Read on to find out more.

1. User autonomy

For many users, digital currencies allow much more freedom than conventional currency. People can have more control over how they spend their money. The good thing is that they don’t have to deal with middlemen like the government or the bank.

2. Discretion

Another advantage is that things purchased with Bitcoin are discreet. Only the user can publish their Bitcoin transactions. Additionally, transactions do not have their name next to them. In addition, these transactions are almost impossible to trace.

In fact, each transaction has a different Bitcoin address. But that doesn’t mean these transactions are impossible to trace. So if you don’t want to let others know where you spent your money, you can use cryptocurrencies to pay.

3. Peer-to-Peer Focus

Another great advantage of the Bitcoin payment system is that it is based on a peer-to-peer system. In other words, users can receive and send payments without getting approval from any authority. Payments can be made within seconds as long as the user is connected to the Internet.

4. No bank fees

Unlike traditional fiat currencies, Bitcoin does not include any deposit, overdraft, or minimum balance fees. So you don’t have to worry about account maintenance or account balance fees.

5. Low transaction fees

Overseas purchases and regular bank transfers usually come with costs and fees. Since cryptocurrencies do not require the involvement of the government or any intermediary institution, transaction costs are quite low. If you are a traveler, this can be a great advantage for you. In addition, bitcoin transfers are very fast, eliminating the need for authorization and long waiting periods.

6. Mobile payments

Like any online payment system, cryptocurrency users can pay through their mobile phones as long as they are connected to the internet. Therefore, they do not need to travel to their bank to make a purchase. Moreover, you do not need to show your personal identity to complete the transaction.

7. Accessibility

Genuine users can receive and send Bitcoin using their computer or smartphone, no need to involve a traditional bank or other authority. In addition, users do not need to use their credit cards to make payments. So Bitcoin provides more access than other options you can try.

In short, these are just some of the main advantages of paying with Bitcoin instead of using traditional means of payment. We hope this article will help you better understand cryptocurrencies.

The price of Bitcoin skyrocketed in 2017. Coinbase, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the rise in interest. Even so, Coinbase isn’t interested in taking its crypto gains for granted. To stay ahead of the much larger cryptocurrency market, the company is pouring money back into its master plan. By 2017, the company’s revenue was $1 billion, and over $150 billion in assets were traded by over 20 million clients.

Coinbase, a San Francisco-based company, is known as the leading cryptocurrency trading platform in the United States, and with its continued success, it was ranked 10th on the CNBC Disruptor list in 2018 after failing to make the list for the previous two years. .

On its way to success, Coinbase left no stone unturned in its pursuit of key executives from the New York Stock Exchange, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. In the current year, the size of its full-time engineering team has nearly doubled.

Earn.com acquired Coinbase this April for $100 million. This platform allows users to send and receive digital currency while responding to mass market emails and completing micro tasks. Currently, the company plans to bring in former Andreessen Horowitz venture capitalist Earns founder and CEO as its first chief technology officer.

According to current estimates, Coinbase valued itself at around $8 billion when it moved to acquire Earn.Com. This value is much higher than the $1.6 billion value that was estimated in the last round of venture capital funding in the summer of 2017.

Coinbase refuses to comment on its valuation despite the fact that it has more than $225 million in funding from major VCs, including Union Square Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and also from the New York Stock Exchange.

To meet the needs of institutional investors, the New York Stock Exchange plans to launch its own cryptocurrency exchange. Nasdaq, the NYSE’s rival, is also considering a similar move.

• Competition is coming

As competing organizations look to take a bite out of Coinbase’s business, Coinbase is seeking other venture capital opportunities in an attempt to build a moat around the company.

Dan Dolev, an instant analyst at Nomura, said Square, the company run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, could eat into Coinbase’s exchange business because it began trading cryptocurrencies on its Square Cash app in January.

According to Dolev’s estimates, Coinbase’s average trading fees were roughly 1.8 percent in 2017. Such fees could drive users to other cheaper exchanges.

Coinbase wants to become a one-stop shop for institutional investors while protecting its exchange operations. To attract investors to that white-glove class, the company announced a fleet of new products. This class of investors was especially cautious when diving into the volatile cryptocurrency market.

Coinbase Prime, The Coinbase Institutional Coverage Group, Coinbase Custody and Coinbase Markets are products launched by the company.

Coinbase believes that there are billions of dollars of institutional money that can be invested in the digital currency. It already has $9 billion in client assets.

Institutional investors are concerned about security despite knowing that Coinbase has never suffered a hack like some other global cryptocurrency exchanges. Coinbase’s president and CEO said the impetus for launching Coinbase Custody last November was the lack of a trusted custodian to protect their crypto assets.

• Right now Wall Street is moving from Bashing Bit to Cryptocurrency Backer

According to the latest data available from Autonomous Next Wall Street, interest in cryptocurrencies appears to be on the rise. There are currently 287 crypto hedge funds, while in 2016 there were only 20 cryptocurrency hedge funds. Goldman Sachs even opened a cryptocurrency trading desk.

Coinbase also introduced Coinbase Ventures, which is an incubator fund for early-stage startups working in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. Coinbase Ventures has already accumulated $15 billion for further investments. His first investment was announced in a startup called Compound that allows lending or borrowing of cryptocurrency with interest rate earnings.

In early 2018, the company launched Coinbase Commerce, which allows merchants to accept major cryptocurrencies for payment. Another bitcoin startup was BitPlay, which recently raised $40 million in venture capital. Last year, BitPlay processed more than $1 billion in bitcoin payments.

Proponents of blockchain technology believe that in the future cryptocurrency will be able to eliminate the need for central banking authorities. In the process, it will reduce costs and create a decentralized financial solution.

• Regulatory certainty remains intense

For restricting access to four cryptocurrencies, Coinbase has drawn a lot of criticism. But they must be careful as US regulators consider how to control certain uses of the technology.

For cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, the question is whether or not cryptocurrencies are securities that would fall under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, Coinbase has been slow to add new coins since the SEC announced in March that it would apply security laws to all cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Coinbase met with SEC officials to register as a licensed brokerage and electronic trading venue. In such a scenario, it would become easier for Coinbase to support more coins and comply with security regulations.

As the current world leader in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin has been in serious headlines and serious fluctuations over the past 6 months. Almost everyone has heard of them, and almost everyone has an opinion. Some cannot fathom the idea that a currency of any value can be created out of thin air, while others like the idea that something without government control can be traded as a valuable entity in its own right.

Where do you sit on the “Should I Buy Bitcoin?” The fence probably comes down to one question in the end: Can I make money from Bitcoin?

Can you make money from Bitcoin?

In just the last 6 months we have seen the price go from $20 per coin in February, to $260 per coin in April, back to $60 in March and back to $130 in May. The price is now set at around $100 per Bitcoin, but it’s anyone’s guess what will happen next.

Bitcoin’s future ultimately rests on two main variables: its adoption as a currency by a wide audience and the absence of prohibitive government intervention.

The Bitcoin community is growing rapidly, interest in the cryptocurrency has expanded dramatically on the Internet, and new services are increasingly accepting Bitcoin payments. Blogging giant WordPress accepts Bitcoin payments and African mobile app provider Kipochi has developed a Bitcoin wallet that will enable Bitcoin payments on mobile phones in developing countries.

We have already seen people make millions on the currency. We’re seeing an increasing number of people experimenting with living off Bitcoin for months at a time while filming the experience for documentary viewing.

You can buy takeout in Boston, coffee in London, and even a few cars on Craigslist using Bitcoin. Bitcoin searches increased in 2013, with a spike in April and a subsequent drop in the price of Bitcoin. Last week, the first major acquisition of a Bitcoin company was made for SatoshiDice, an online gambling site, for 126,315 BTC (about $11.47 million), from an unknown buyer.

This rapid growth in awareness and acceptance looks set to continue, if confidence in the currency remains strong. Which leads to another addiction. Government regulation.

Although specifically designed to operate independently of government control, Bitcoin will inevitably be influenced by governments in some way. This must be the case for two reasons.

First, to achieve a high level of adoption, Bitcoin will need to be accessible to a large number of people, and that means expanding beyond the realm of hidden transactions to normal everyday transactions for individuals and businesses. Second, these Bitcoin transactions could become a traceable part of people’s taxable wealth, to be declared and regulated along with any other type of wealth.

The European Union has already announced that Bitcoin is not classified as a fiat currency, nor as money, and that it will not be regulated as such. In the US, 50 state systems and the number of bureaucratic bodies involved have inevitably made decisions difficult, with no consensus yet achieved. Bitcoin is not considered money as such, but it is considered to act like money.

The successful US Bitcoin market has a more uncertain future for now, and any final US legislation could have a very positive or very negative effect on the future of Bitcoin.

So should you buy Bitcoin?

The answer largely depends on how risk-averse you are. Bitcoin will certainly not be an easy investment, but the potential of this currency is huge.

Corda is the solution to all frictions in blockchain business by not only delivering on the great early promise of blockchain technology, but also addressing business needs for interoperability as well as privacy. For example, it enables businesses to transact directly by removing the costly friction involved in any business transaction. In addition, it guarantees all business parties that they are always aligned, which in turn enables dramatic business efficiency benefits in a complex business.

To understand what the Corda project is all about, let’s take a deeper look at what it entails, its benefits, and how it achieves the privacy it promises.

What is Corda?

In short, Corda is an open source blockchain business project designed by the R3 community. Being the result of a collaboration between technology partners and financial institutions, Corda was designed specifically for business from the ground up to serve a variety of purposes. These include:

• Integrate directly into the organization’s systems.

• Enable rapid implementation of the new process.

• Enable a smooth transition to new processes.

As a platform, Corda does not have any cryptocurrency embedded in it, but rather one that controls existing and proven infrastructure and technology. As such, Corda does not require consensus on a mining style. Such results lead to the presence of large costs associated with small business benefits.

Advantages of Corda in the Blockchain world

Based on its aforementioned designed purpose, the blockchain world should celebrate Corda—because it has brought more positive impacts in the blockchain world. The main ones are:

• Allowing parties to transact directly – With its modern cryptographic techniques, Corda has ensured that the direct transfer of value can occur efficiently and that systems are in agreement. This in turn helps to remove costs which consequently facilitates and drives the presence of direct transactions between the involved parties.

• Securing and maintaining privacy over transaction history – Since preserving privacy and ensuring integrity and validity is a major challenge in the blockchain world, Corda has another reason to celebrate as it offers a solution to the challenge. Through its various techniques, Corda ensures both the validity and integrity of transactions – confirming competing and conflicting transactions in the transaction history. When doing the above, Corda also makes sure to maintain privacy.

Ways Corda achieves privacy

Securing and maintaining privacy as one of Corda’s main strengths in the blockchain world, it does so through:

• Full encryption – For this it targets peer-to-peer network.

• Randomization and key rotation – Will do this in combination with automatic identity management when the goal is to de/anonymize transactions.

• Intel Software Guard Extensions – Through these, Corda will enclave the technology and consequently allow records to be verified at the same time and remain encrypted for all parties involved.

• Transaction Structuring – Corda will structure transactions in a Merkle tree which in turn helps it to allow only selective information disclosure.

Parting Shot

With expensive frictions being a popular and common occurrence and challenge in business, there is a need for the blockchain world to embrace Corda as a solution only if they are to witness great performance. Corda will remove such frictions and in turn will have advantages aligned with the blockchain world, such as the presence of a direct transaction between parties and maintaining privacy over transaction history. As such, there is no doubt that Corda is the right solution in the blockchain world.

In a world driven by hype and FOMO [Fear Of Missing Out]every day it becomes clearer that the hardworking crypto enthusiast must have a litmus test for choosing a token to support in a world where real sustainable projects are hard to find, and good projects with long-term prospects even harder to distinguish from money grabbing ‘shitcoins’.

With recent developments in which most new cryptocurrencies hit record lows and new ICO projects fail to live up to their post-Crowdsale aspirations, it is now common for disappointed ‘investors’ to blame the ICO promoters on social media rather than blaming themselves for they didn’t do proper analysis to pick the most likely winner after the crowdsale before buying the tokens during the ICO.

From my extensive observation, it seemed that most crypto buyers simply bought the coins during the ICO based on the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) created by the hype masters behind those coins. Many simply bought without understanding the purpose of the coin after the ICO or what the token was supposed to do after the Crowdsale. When nothing happened after the ICO, as is often the case now for many ICOs, then they would jump on social media to scream bloody murder.

Recently, me and my team just finished a tour of Africa and some parts of the US to promote the Nollycoin ICO. We have organized and sponsored various conferences, held live AMA (Ask Me Anything) press conferences, and held many one-on-one meetings with crypto whales, retail investors, and crypto millionaires of all stripes.

With all that, one thing that amazed me above all else was that MOST token holders had NO IDEA about the underlying business or project behind the token sale they were participating in.

Even stranger to my observation was the incredible fact that many couldn’t tell you the value of the project, its goals, or the company’s plan to disrupt the market and grab a share of the customers in its industry. They simply bought the ICO because several telegrams or Facebook pages they visited kept telling them to buy. Hodl and buy more’. Most simply operated on herd instinct rather than objective deliberation.

Now, if most of the people I met were just teenagers or people with no education, I wouldn’t be so surprised at the level of ignorance of many of the crypto ‘investors’ I met. On the contrary, many of those I met were university graduates and people of some means. However, less than 10% of them could easily articulate why they bought the coin in the expectation that its value would increase over time. Everywhere I went, very few people could tell me the name, experience, and ability of the corporate managers of the company selling the coins.

The only thing most of them could point out was that the coins were recommended by ‘respected’ influencers when the facts proved that most of them were paid to create FOMO and reputation for otherwise useless shitcoins.

Apart from the so-called fake influencers, all that many cryptocurrency buyers knew was that the names of the team leaders were Russian, Chinese or Korean, even though they knew absolutely nothing about them. As if all you needed for a successful ICO was to list the names of people from Korea, China or Russia that no one could verify with a simple Google search.

While I agree that there are certainly many things to consider when deciding whether a project’s tokens will grow over time, I think the acid test and most immediate evaluation criteria should be the utility of the coin itself beyond what would happen in crypto exchanges.

Although most crypto token holders I’ve met didn’t even know it, the reality is that if you bought a token from most ICOs, you weren’t actually ‘investing’ in that company. You would not buy shares in the company and you did not buy any securities from the company.

And at best, what you were doing when you bought tokens during most ICOs was ‘donating’ to a project in exchange for providing a utility token or coin that legally had no real value outside of the business ecosystem controlled by the issuing company.

In words, apart from your hope that the price of the token will ‘replace’ or rise to make you a millionaire, there is nothing else you can do with the token other than enjoy the utility attached to it by the ICO company, if anyone.

Since no one could predict with certainty how Crypto will behave on the crypto exchange when it finally arrives there, and recent experiences have shown that the prices of most tokens would most likely jump in the first weeks after the exchange opens (due to heavy selling by speculators), it would have it makes sense to look at what other value or utility you can get from your token, other than the expected ‘mooning’ of the stock market.

As the crypto revolution has continued to evolve, reshape, and adapt to different market developments, the only way to ensure that your money doesn’t go down the drain is to make sure you can still use those tokens to get great value and benefits even if you could immediately sell it for a profit on the exchange.

In making this decision, you must ask yourself this primary question: What is the value, product, or service generated by the token sale company that will give me enough value for my money to make this purchase worth my time?

In a world of falling token prices on various exchanges, the more opportunities you have to use tokens in real life outside of the expected listing on a crypto exchange, the better the chances are that you won’t end up frustrated or stranded with tokens that are useless to you.

So you have to ask again and again: IF this coin was never traded on an exchange, would I still be happy to support the vision? If this token has lost 70% of its value on an exchange, can I still use it and get value for my money elsewhere?

If you couldn’t answer these questions positively after reviewing the WHITEPAPER and investing the company’s claims, then you should think twice before buying that coin.

A recent case study

Take the current ICO like Nollycoin which is a token that powers a Blockchain powered film distribution ecosystem. Coin promoters have created various utility scenarios for coin buyers to ensure that no matter what happens to Nollycoin on the crypto exchange, their sponsors and token holders will continue to smile.

Some of the great utilities related to the Nollycoin token in the Nollytainment ecosystem include

• Ability to use Nollycoin tokens to watch exclusive movies in theaters and cinemas

• Ability to use Nollycoin tokens to access 1000 movies on their Netflix-on-steroids blockchain Movie distribution.

• Ability to use Nollycoin tokens to purchase products and services in NollyMall which is like Amazon platform for entertainment based products.

• The possibility of using Nollycoin tokens to pay school fees on the NOLLY Academy platform and partner companies

As you can see, beyond the usual expectations of tokens being listed on a cryptocurrency exchange, you have to look beyond the hype ico, the immediate and future utility of the token and the viability of the underlying project behind it.