
<p>Veena Marcano usually starts her holiday shopping early, but this year she set a new personal record: July. Given everything she had heard about shipping delays, product shortages and price increases, she figured she had better get a move on. So she began hitting retailers like Amazon, T.J.Maxx and Burlington, diligently stocking up on gifts for her two kids, nieces and godchildren. Well before Black Friday, she had all that she needed—and then some.</p>



<p>“I have more gifts than kids needing gifts,” says Marcano, 28, who lives in Pennsylvania, and expects to return some books and a craft set.</p>



<p>She’s not alone. For many Americans, the holiday scramble started long before Thanksgiving, with 45% starting their holiday shopping by early October, according to McKinsey. One defense mechanism: Overbuying, with one in five shoppers saying they are ordering more gifts than needed in case some items are delayed or canceled, according to Oracle.</p>



<p>“I think consumers are doing a little bit of hoarding. Things that might not be perfect gifts are still being held onto,” says Anisa Kumar, chief customer officer at retail technology company Narvar. If they get their hands on something better? “They’ll return it post-holiday.”</p>



<p>Panic, it seems, is in the air. Shoppers have heard about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurendebter/2021/10/21/americas-supply-chain-woes-by-the-numbers/">the snarled global supply chain</a>&nbsp;for months, which has caused shortages and delays of everything from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/business/car-shortage-shopping.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cars&nbsp;</a>and fridges to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/29/business/toy-shortage-supply-chain-shipping-holidays/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">toys&nbsp;</a>and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nikes-revenue-pinched-by-supply-chain-disruptions-11632434721" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shoes</a>. And now they’re coming face-to-face with it as they do their holiday shopping. There were 2<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2021/11/09/supply-chain-crisis-hits-home-with-2-billion-out-of-stock-messages-in-october/">&nbsp;billion out-of-stock messages</a>&nbsp;online in October, with the dreaded alert popping up on one of every 50<strong>&nbsp;</strong>pages a shopper visited, compared to about one in 140 pages before the pandemic, says Adobe. Half of people say they expect packages to take longer to be delivered this year, according to Narvar.</p>



<p>Kevin Sims and his wife started shopping in earnest for the holidays in early October, after the Halloween costumes they ordered on Amazon weeks in advance were delayed, forcing them to think up alternate ideas. They had planned a Super Mario theme with their twin children and dog, and even if one item were missing, it would threaten the entire ensemble. The costumes showed up just in the nick of time, but they were spooked.</p>



<p>“It got us thinking that if we want to have a good Christmas, we have to start ordering now,” says Sims, 39, a technical writer for Hitachi Vantara who lives in San Jose, California. “Some things may not get here at all. Some things may get delayed.”</p>



<p>Shoppers are fighting over a slimmer selection of inventory. Victoria’s Secret is facing delays on 90 million out of 200 million pieces of merchandise that were supposed to have arrived for the holiday season, including 25% of its pajamas. Toymaker Basic Fun intentionally&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurendebter/2021/10/05/supply-chain-war-games-toymaker-basic-fun-holiday-sales/?sh=4ea8520e774f">left 160,000 Tonka trucks behind in China</a>&nbsp;until after the holidays, because it was too expensive to ship them. Williams Sonoma, Inc., which owns Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate &amp; Barrel and West Elm, still has “a lot less inventory” available than it would like, said CEO Laura Alber on the company’s earnings call last week. The seasonal items it does have are “flying” off the shelf, she said.</p>



<p>“With broader awareness of potential global supply-chain disruptions, we’re seeing many consumers looking to purchase products as soon as they are available in our stores,” said Bill Bortz, executive vice president of merchandising at Lowe’s on the company’s earnings call.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p>One in five shoppers say they are ordering more gifts than needed in case some items are delayed or canceled.</p></blockquote>



<p>CityRow, which sells a $2,100 smart rowing machine, received a spike in orders in October and heard from dozens of customers who wanted to make sure the machine would be delivered in time for Christmas.</p>



<p>Retailers are egging shoppers on. Amazon, Target, Best Buy and Lowe’s rolled out Black Friday-like deals in October, while Walmart followed in early November. Apple has a red banner at the top of its website urging people to shop early if they want the best selection of items. That has further catalyzed spending, with UPS citing data that half of holiday shopping could be done by the Monday after Thanksgiving.</p>



<p>The deals are less enticing, though, with Black Friday discounts in the&nbsp;5% to 25% range on average across categories, rather than the normal 10% to 30% range, says Adobe. When you couple that with inflation, consumers will pay&nbsp;9% more&nbsp;on average during Cyber Week this year, compared to last year, Adobe says.</p>



<p>“The pitch on Black Friday is we’ve got it—not we’ve got it cheaper,” says Jay Foreman, the CEO of toymaker Basic Fun, which sells Care Bears, Tonka Trucks and Lincoln Logs in Walmart, Target and Amazon.</p>



<p>Relaxed, pandemic-era policies could further exacerbate product shortages. For instance, Target lets shoppers buy stuff online—including its hot-ticket Black Friday deals—and arrange to pick it up later, holding inventory for three days before putting it back on the shelf and issuing a full refund. In the meantime, that merchandise isn’t available to other shoppers.</p>



<p>Return policies have gotten more generous, too. Retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and Macy’s are giving shoppers an extra month to return holiday gifts, now allowing items that were purchased as early as October to be returned until the middle or end of January; Before the pandemic, the holiday return window applied only to items purchased in November or December.</p>



<p>It will contribute to a returns avalanche after the holidays, a phenomenon already so big that January 2 has been dubbed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/02/today-is-national-returns-day-and-ups-anticipates-nearly-2-million-unwanted-gifts-to-ship.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Returns Day</a>. Last year, Americans returned $428 billion in merchandise, up from $369 billion in 2019.</p>



<p>“Retailers will see the boomerang of overbuying come back around post-holiday in the form of returns,” says Mike Webster, general manager of Oracle’s retail group.</p>



<p>It typically takes three weeks for a return to be processed and put back on the shelf, but after the holidays, retailers are sometimes working through the glut of inventory until April or May. “That’s a long time to have inventory out of stock,” says Narvar’s Kumar, especially when it relates to seasonal items. Half of returns never make it back on the shelf, instead getting liquidated, destroyed or thrown in a landfill, according to Forrester Research.</p>



<p>In the face of the holiday hysteria, some shoppers are looking for zen. Corinna Bechko, 48, began getting nervous in October and quickly went out and did half her holiday shopping, then decided her friends and family really shouldn’t be upset if a gift was late because of the supply chain. She certainly wouldn’t hold it against anyone.</p>



<p>“I was stressing about it a lot,” says Bechko, who works at a museum in Los Angeles. “Then I thought of everything there is to stress about—this is not one of them.”</p>



<p><em><strong>By Lauren Debter, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Coronavirus – Stralsund

Panic In The Aisles: Holiday Shoppers Are Buying Early, Hoarding Items


<p>When Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and maimed a third in August 2020, Facebook&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/brianfishman/status/1299083851596214272" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">took relatively swift action</a>. A day after the incident in Kenosha, Wisconsin, it removed his Facebook and Instagram accounts, started to prohibit posts praising him and blocked his name from the apps’ search function.</p>



<p>The moves came as part of another new Facebook policy around violence and mass shootings that debuted that same week, though it’s unclear whether it dropped before&nbsp;<em>or&nbsp;</em>after Rittenhouse shot those men. And as part of its decision to reduce Rittenhouse’s profile on the platform, the company officially designated Rittenhouse as a “mass shooter.”</p>



<p>But the steps immediately drew criticism from within Facebook. In a post to Facebook’s internal Workplace message board days later, one employee wrote: “If Kyle Rittenhouse had killed 1 person instead of 2, would it still qualify as a mass shooting? Can we really consistently and objectively differentiate between support (not allowed) and discussion of whether he is being treated justly (allowed)?”</p>



<p>The Workplace post went on: “Can we really handle this at scale in an objective way without making critical errors in both under and over enforcement?”</p>



<p>That comment really hits the nail on the head. Facebook has been caught up in a years-long reckoning over what type of content to regulate and how it should do that. It has been roundly criticized by liberals for not doing enough and by conservatives for doing too much. As a result, it is pulled in both directions, more often than not pleasing neither side.</p>



<p>Recently, it has been pressed recently to take a stronger stance against violent content and posts that might lead to violence, which you might think could draw universal support. It hasn’t. And on Friday, it became even more complicated for Facebook: A jury found Rittenhouse <a href="https://www.forbes.com/video/6282826589001/biden-and-politicians-responds-to-kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/">not guilty</a>, reigniting outcries from right-wing pundits that Facebook had unfairly rushed to penalize him. (His lawyer had successfully convinced the jury that he acted in self-defense that August evening in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a city then engulfed in protests over the police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man, Jacob Blake.)</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">FACEBOOK DECLARED KYLE RITTENHOUSE A MASS MURDERER<br><br>PRESERVE YOUR RECORDS ZUCKERBERG</p>&mdash; Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1461764109402316808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/facebook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Facebook</a> owes Rittenhouse and its users an apology, to start. <a href="https://t.co/DPGT3PNcHx">https://t.co/DPGT3PNcHx</a></p>&mdash; Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomFitton/status/1461781361380016130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p>Facebook has long been reluctant to make judgment calls about what belongs on its site—and when it has prohibited material such as violent content, it has not always been successful in keeping it from appearing on its platform. One of the most dramatic examples: the March 2019 Christchurch shooting in New Zealand, where the shooter livestreamed his onslaught on Facebook and YouTube. No one reported the video to Facebook until 29 minutes after it went up, and no part of the video triggered Facebook’s automated moderation software, according to a internal Facebook report about the Christchurch shooter. Facebook eventually shut off the feed, but it would spend the next day taking down 1.5 million copies of the video. In response, Facebook changed a number of its policies related to live videos, including speeding up how quickly its software reviews new live videos. (Before Christchruch, a broadcast would typically have lasted for 5 minutes before the program noticed it; subsequent changes lowered it to about 20 seconds.)</p>



<p>As with many Facebook policy changes, these were reactive, and the more recent past has seen more of Facebook trying to keep up with current events unfolding on its platform. In August 2020, shortly after the Rittenhouse shootings, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the company had erred in not taking down a Facebook event page that encouraged a militia to form in the same Wisconsin city where Rittenhouse had shot the three men. Facebook users reported the militia group 455 times before Facebook removed it. And then in January, Facebook took measures against posts related to the U.S. Capitol riots only in the aftermath to the insurrection—even though sentiment delegitimizing the election had blossomed on Facebook in the months after Joe Biden’s victory, another internal Facebook report shows.</p>



<p>The Rittenhouse verdict raises a whole new set of questions. When should a “mass shooter” label get affixed to someone—before or after a trial? Ever? How exactly should Facebook tamp down on posts? Should it scrap the mass shooter policy entirely?</p>



<p>Over the weekend, Facebook, which didn’t return requests to comment, was again sent backtracking. It lifted its block around searching for “Kyle Rittenhouse” on Facebook and Instagram, helping posts about Rittenhouse from right-wing media personalities like Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino to attract tens of thousands of comments, reshares and reaction emojis, the signals that then boost their posts further up users’ Facebook feeds. One Facebook group, American Patriots Appeal, is advertising a Rittenhouse T-shirt. It costs $27.99 and shows him crouched, G.I. Joe-style, holding a semiautomatic rifle. An emblazoned phrase appears alongside: “Kyle Rittenhouse Did Nothing Wrong.”</p>



<p><em>The internal Facebook documents cited in this story come from the documents that Facebook whistle-blower Frances Haugen turned over to the SEC; redacted versions have gone to Congress and a consortium of news organizations, including </em>Forbes. <em>They’re popularly known as The Facebook Papers.  </em></p>



<p><em><strong>By Abram Brown, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Kyle Rittenhouse Found Not Guilty In Kenosha Protest Shootings

Will The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict Change How Facebook Treats Gun Violence—Again?


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease expert, walked back a claim he made earlier this week that a booster shot is needed to be considered fully vaccinated in a Sunday interview on&nbsp;<em>This Week</em>&nbsp;— though that could change, he said.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Fauci&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/fauci-fully-vaccinated-definition-changing-include-boosters/story?id=81299248" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;“fully vaccinated right now, by definition, is the original two doses&#8230; of the Pfizer and Moderna and a single dose of J and J.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>However earlier this week, in a pre-taped video for the STAT News summit, the White House chief medical adviser&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/live-updates/coronavirus/?id=81174715&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn#81225526" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;he “believes” that “a third shot boost for an mRNA [vaccine]&#8230; should be part of the actual standard regimen” and not “an add-on.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Fauci did not rule out the possibility that booster shots could become necessary to be fully vaccinated, saying his team will “continue to follow the data” and monitor how immunity to Covid-19 increases, and how long that increased immunity lasts after the extra dose.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>17.6%. That’s how many Americans have received a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. That’s expected to rise after the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna to all adults on Friday. It’s advised that anyone get the booster shot at least six months after they became fully vaccinated.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>The governors of Connecticut and New Mexico&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/582269-governor-says-boosters-needed-for-people-to-be-fully-vaccinated" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;this week that they consider the definition of fully vaccinated to include the booster shot.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The FDA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/09/22/fda-authorizes-pfizer-covid-booster-shots-for-seniors-and-high-risk-patients---but-not-for-all-americans/?sh=6808ad2e5468">authorized</a>&nbsp;Pfizer’s booster shot in September. Last month, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/10/20/fda-approves-moderna-and-jj-covid-booster-shots-signs-off-on-mix-and-match-approach---heres-who-is-eligible/?sh=692809483986">CDC ruled</a>&nbsp;that it was safe to mix and match booster shots, meaning that recipients can get a shot from a different drug maker than the one they got for their first doses from. The extra dose was first available for high-risk Americans, including elderly people, those who work in healthcare facilities and people who are immunocompromised. Before the FDA opened up eligibility for the booster to all U.S. adults, some states had already offered the shot to their residents 18 years old or older.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/11/19/fda-authorizes-covid-booster-shots-for-all-us-adults/?sh=267c7e933923">FDA Authorizes Covid Booster Shots For All U.S. Adults</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/11/19/cdc-advisors-recommend-letting-all-us-adults-take-a-covid-booster-shot/?sh=27d0dc6c6050">CDC Advisors Recommend Letting All U.S. Adults Take A Covid Booster Shot</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><strong><em>By Marisa Dellatto, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/"></a></p>


Senate Hearing Examines Continuing Response To Covid-19

Fauci Walks Back Claim Booster Shot Is Needed To Be Fully Vaccinated


<p>After seven years of funding their Gemini cryptocurrency empire out of pocket, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are in the process of signing the last documents on their first round of capital, a $400 million investment that values the New York parent company, Gemini Space Station, LLC, at $7.1 billion. If the epic competition between the twins and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a tortoise vs. hare scenario, now is starting to look like the moment momentum shifts.</p>



<p>Led by capital management giant Morgan Creek Digital, with participation from decentralized finance venture firm ParaFi Capital, and others, the investment sets the stage for a possible final showdown between more than just the twins and their archrival, Zuckerberg, but between the very idea of so-called Walled Gardens, where companies like Facebook own and profit from user data, and a free, open-source future.</p>



<p>Setting the stage for the clash, last month dozens of blockchain startups raised a total of more than $4 billion to chip away at the exterior defenses of these Walled Gardens by building a virtual, holographic, augmented reality version of the internet, called the metaverse, that anyone can build on (and monetize) while Facebook, Epic Games and other Big Tech giants prepare a counterattack to ensure that the billions of people already creating value for their firms’ shareholders continue to do so.</p>



<p>“There’s these two parallel paths, in terms of technology right now,” says Cameron Winklevoss, 40, speaking from his home in California. “There&#8217;s a centralized path, like Facebook or Fortnite, that is one step away from being a metaverse, and that’s totally fine. But there is another path, which is the decentralized metaverse and that&#8217;s the metaverse where we believe there&#8217;s greater choice, independence and opportunity, and there is technology that protects the rights and dignity of individuals.”</p>



<p>As part of the capital raise that roughly equates to a Series D, New York-based Morgan Creek contributed $75 million and general partner Sachin Jaitly became the third member of Gemini’s board of directors. The other board members are Tyler and Cameron. Other investors expected to participate in what would be the<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninabambysheva/2021/08/11/10-giant-crypto-and-blockchain-rounds-single-handedly-raised-39-billion-this-year/?sh=bc9dba12e2e8">&nbsp;fourth-largest capital raise in crypto history</a>&nbsp;include rapper and tycoon Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners, former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WnderCo, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, private equity firm 10T, family office advisory Newflow Partners, as well as United Talent Agency, Jane Street, K5 Global, Pantera, VanEck and BoostVC, among others.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The brothers are expected to retain 75% ownership in the company after the investment, and their combined net wealth will nearly double from $6 billion in April to $10 billion today. </p>



<p>This is not the first time the brothers have dueled with Zuckerberg. Raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, the 2008 Olympic rowers skyrocketed to fame in 2010, when Columbia Pictures released&nbsp;<em>The Social Network</em>, a film by David Fincher, telling the story of how they hired classmate Mark Zuckerberg to build a social network for university students. After a protracted legal battle that largely focused on the question of who founded Facebook, the brothers settled in 2011 for what at the time seemed like a paltry $65 million in Facebook stock and cash. In 2013, they spent about $11 million to buy what at the time was estimated to be 1% of all bitcoin in existence. Parlaying their newfound passion into a licensed exchange in what has become known as the Wild West of cryptocurrency, they distinguished themselves by luring accredited and institutional investors looking to follow the letter of the law.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Seven years later, New York-based Gemini’s annual revenue has increased 600% since last year and a company spokesperson says it is on track to be profitable by the end of this year. While they are not sharing the actual revenue numbers, they say the largest segment comes from the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, which charges active traders 0.6% for transactions less than $500,000, and less for larger amounts; 0.4% on $30 billion in assets under custody, and an average of about a 1% fee to borrow 40 different cryptocurrencies, among other sources. Cameron says the 600-person firm with offices in London and Singapore will have 1,000 employees by next year.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This is where history starts to repeat itself. In a seeming slight to the brothers’ astrologically named firm, their former employee at Harvard, Zuckerberg, launched Libra, his own attempt to capitalize on bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology in 2019. A consortium of potential cryptocurrency users, including MasterCard, PayPal, Stripe and Visa, briefly committed to building technology that would peg the libra cryptocurrency to a basket of national currencies, including the U.S. dollar and the British pound. Shortly after the announcement, however, the group largely disbanded, following U.S. lawmakers’ apprehension over the initiative led by a firm that so controversially sold influence over its users’ behavior.&nbsp;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<p>Months after Zuckerberg launched Libra, Tyler and Cameron again blazed a trail destined to be followed by the Walled Garden kingpin. In Act 3 of the story, on which the curtain rose in November 2019, the brothers bought non-fungible token (NFT) exchange Nifty Gateway, a marketplace for the then nearly unknown assets that now form the building blocks of the metaverse by helping value accumulate to otherwise easily copied digital objects. Since the acquisition, when the industry was conducting fewer than $2 million in volume over a 30-day period, according to data site, NonFungible.com, it has exploded to a high of $3.7 billion over 30 days in September and $1.8 billion today.</p>



<p>Ironically, for founders who claim to be building a world beyond Walled Gardens, Nifty follows a similar path to Gemini’s, which sought to build crypto investing services for&nbsp;<em>compliant</em>&nbsp;investors, by deeply vetting the NFT creators allowed on-site. “Decentralization is a spectrum,” says Cameron. “We want to continue to move down the spectrum toward empowerment. But you have to start somewhere.” It turns out this philosophy is not without its risks.&nbsp;</p>



<p>While the promise of trillions in institutional adoption continues to remain their North Star, less discerning exchanges, frequently with fewer licenses, are so far winning the day. Gemini is only the 11th-largest exchange in the world on data site CoinGecko, and among those exchanges, relative newcomer FTX just raised $900 million at an eclipsing $18 billion valuation. Similarly, Nifty doesn’t even appear on many lists of the largest NFT exchanges, because much of its $420 million in total volume is done off-chain, making it impossible for third parties to aggregate—more like the discretion of Sotheby’s than the openness of eBay.</p>



<p>In addition to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2021/04/05/revenge-of-the-winklevii-facebook-winklevoss-bitcoin-nft-billionaire-revenge/?sh=7b1b7bfb1572">personal investments in the metaverse through Winklevoss Capital</a>, more than half the newly launched Gemini Frontier Fund’s portfolio consists of firms related to the burgeoning space and an additional $35 million is set aside from the capital raise for future investments. Already, they’ve bought stakes in NFT firms Alethea AI, based in Singapore, and Recur, in Florida; Prague-based metaverse startup Somnium Space; and, in an early version of the metaverse, The Sandbox (SAND), being built by $2.2 billion Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands. Between October 27 and November 18 the price of SAND increased 413% to $3.94.</p>



<p>As part of The Sandbox deal the brothers also bought a plot of virtual land where they hope to build the first of many virtual locations, similar to a website but in three dimensions. “Instead of building brick-and-mortar bank branches in meatspace,” says Tyler, using the slang for the real world where we actually live, “we&#8217;re gonna build a Gemini experience in different metaverses, where you can go into Gemini and trade, but it would be immersive instead of on your phone.” &nbsp;</p>



<p>Instead of the ad-driven model that has proved so lucrative to social media companies (and fertile for misinformation and political influence), most metaverses will require tiny amounts of cryptocurrency, similar to “gas” used to run other decentralized applications. While revenue models will certainly proliferate, the more demand there is for these tokens, the higher the price, increasing the value of the very same currency the users now own and letting the wealth accumulate to users instead of shareholders.</p>



<p>Because the currency of these networks increases at a fixed rate and assets, like a new pair of digital shoes, a flaming sword, or one’s avatar, can be tracked and issued as non-fungible tokens on public, transparent blockchains, users have both increased certainty that the market for their digital possessions won’t be flooded and the freedom to take their NFTs elsewhere. Early blockchain competitors include Decentraland and The Sandbox, which run on Ethereum; Upland, which runs on the EOS blockchain; and Victoria VR, expected to launch soon on Ethereum and pivot to a blockchain of their own design.</p>



<p>If this all sounds a bit too much like science fiction, it’s well to remember that in addition to the billions of dollars raised in recent months, proven leaders in the existing massively multiplayer online gaming (MMOG) industry are also moving to the metaverse. Perhaps most notably, North Carolina-based Epic Games has already proved out a similar business model selling its centrally issued v-bucks digital currency to buy in-game accessories and weapons. In April Epic CEO Tim Sweeney revealed a $1 billion funding round to expand into the metaverse. The MMOG industry is expected to reach $55.7 billion by 2027, according to industry analysis<a href="https://www.strategyr.com/market-report-mmog-massively-multiplayer-online-games-forecasts-global-industry-analysts-inc.asp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;site</a>&nbsp;StrategyR and Sweeney called the metaverse a “multi-trillion”-dollar opportunity in a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-17/metaverse-is-a-multitrillion-dollar-opportunity-epic-ceo-says" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>.</p>



<p>Not to be outdone, Zuckerberg again followed his old college employers. In October 2021 he rebranded Facebook as Meta. While details are scarce, Zuckerberg appears to be once again following a similar path as Libra, which while releasing open code that anyone could build on, is restricted to only a few companies who are allowed to directly monetize the economy. In an open letter Zuckerberg declared that “the metaverse will not be created by one company. It will be built by creators and developers making new experiences and digital items that are interoperable and unlock a massively larger creative economy.” Microsoft, worth $2.5 trillion, and $731 billion Nvidia, quickly followed suit with their own metaverse visions.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The difference between these and other efforts being led by truly open-source startups is that while Big Tech is trying to avoid obsolescence, the Winklevii are investing in startups that assume those companies are already redundant, according to Gemini’s newest board member, Sachin Jaitly. Jaitly previously invested in Mike Cagney’s crypto mortgage firm Figure and blockchain infrastructure provider Blockdaemon, and says that many are “missing the boat” of letting users own their own identities and move digital objects anywhere online. “There is something true and pure about having the authenticity and the originality of something. And whether it’s physical or virtual is irrelevant,” says Jaitly. “They&#8217;re just missing what I think is going to be an enormous amount of value creation.”</p>



<p>While Zuckerberg continues to follow the Winklevii into industry after industry, the brothers earlier this year came full circle by making their first investment directly into a social network, and it seems that’s only the beginning. In September Winklevoss Capital participated in a $200 million investment in the DeSo (short for “decentralized social”) Blockchain.” Founder of social media giant Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and about 44,000 other potential users also bought the token.</p>



<p>In an industry where reach is so directly correlated to value, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit and most other mainstream social networks have what seems to be an insurmountable lead. For now, they are the epitome of Walled Gardens. DeSo hopes to solve this problem by building a shared infrastructure on which anyone can create a social network of their own. There’s already 150 projects being built on the blockchain, including 8 social networks, and—you guessed it—a metaverse. “It&#8217;s very easy to identify the problems with the existing networks and social spaces. But there haven’t been many solutions,” says Tyler. “We believe crypto offers that, so we&#8217;ll continue to look at investing through Gemini Frontier, or maybe even building.”</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/"></a><em><strong>By Michael del Castillo, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Bitcoin Conference Draws Cryptocurrency Fans To Miami

Gemini Raises $400 Million To Build A Metaverse Outside Facebook’s Walled Garden


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Within hours of its release Friday, Adele’s highly anticipated album&nbsp;<em>30</em>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.popvortex.com/music/charts/top-new-albums.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rocketed</a>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;<a href="https://snkhan.co.uk/stuff/iTunes.php?chart=USalbums" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">top</a>&nbsp;of the iTunes chart, overtaking Taylor Swift&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/11/12/taylor-swifts-red-taylors-version-tops-itunes-chart-hours-after-release/?sh=773b0ca45ff6">newly-released re-recorded</a>&nbsp;album,&nbsp;<em>Red (Taylor’s Version)</em>&nbsp;and setting the stage for another blockbuster hit for the British singer after lead single ‘Easy On Me’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/10/15/adeles-easy-on-me-breaks-spotify-record-for-single-day-streams/?sh=74f88cc74902">smashed</a>&nbsp;streaming records and topped the charts worldwide.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Adele’s new album&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2021/11/listen-adele-new-album-30-released.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">features</a>&nbsp;12 tracks, including ‘I Drink Wine’, ‘To Be Loved’ and ‘Easy On Me<em>,’</em>&nbsp;while some lyric videos for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/adelelondon/videos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">individual</a>&nbsp;songs have already garnered hundreds of thousands of views hours after going live on YouTube.&nbsp;</p>



<p>‘Easy On Me’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/10/15/adeles-easy-on-me-breaks-spotify-record-for-single-day-streams/?sh=74f88cc74902">broke</a>&nbsp;Spotify’s record for single-day streams when it was released in mid October,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/arts/music/adele-easy-on-me-chart.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">grabbing</a>&nbsp;24 million clicks and<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/arts/music/adele-easy-on-me-chart.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Article&amp;state=default&amp;module=styln-adele&amp;variant=show&amp;region=MAIN_CONTENT_3&amp;context=storylines-toplinks" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;topping charts&nbsp;</a>around the world.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The sweeping success of ‘Easy On Me<em>’&nbsp;</em>and Adele’s previous albums puts&nbsp;<em>30&nbsp;</em>on track to be another blockbuster hit. The singer’s previous album,&nbsp;<em>25,&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/arts/music/adeles-25-sells-record-shattering-3-38-million-copies.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sold</a>&nbsp;a record-breaking 3.38 million copies in the U.S. in its first week and its lead single ‘Hello’ also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-music-charts-adele/adeles-hello-breaks-1-million-digital-sales-in-record-idUSKCN0SR2AX20151103" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">smashed</a>&nbsp;sales records. Adele’s previous album,&nbsp;<em>21,</em>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/adele-25-sales-first-week-us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spent</a>&nbsp;24 consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 and sold 11.2 million copies in the U.S. The album addresses Adele’s divorce from Simon Konecki in 2019. Before the album dropped, the singer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/teakvetenadze/2021/11/18/adele-discusses-quite-bad-postpartum-depression/?sh=534eec07596b">opened</a>&nbsp;up about her experiences of being a single parent, postpartum depression and the divorce.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://theface.com/music/adele-new-album-30-candice-carty-williams-interview-volume4-issue9-burberry-stormzy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">What the world is waiting for — Adele meets Queenie author Candice Carty-Williams to talk music, motherhood, dogs, divorce (babe, divorce) – and her record-breaking comeback.</a>&nbsp;(The Face)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/11/17/adele-will-make-country-radio-debut-with-easy-on-me-chris-stapleton-duet/?sh=dceffde53bce">Adele Will Make Country Radio Debut With ‘Easy On Me’ Chris Stapleton Duet</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/10/15/adeles-easy-on-me-breaks-spotify-record-for-single-day-streams/?sh=6b43c7a64902">Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ Breaks Spotify Record For Single-Day Streams</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/10/15/adeles-easy-on-me-tops-itunes-chart-grabs-millions-of-views-hours-after-release/?sh=179cc9a51b76">Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ Tops iTunes Chart, Grabs Millions Of Views Hours After Release </a>(Forbes)</p>



<p><em><strong>By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


The 59th GRAMMY Awards – Roaming Show

Adele’s ‘30’ Knocks Taylor Swift Off Top Of iTunes Chart Hours After Release


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>The reigning winner of the Miss Universe beauty pageant, Andrea Meza, said Wednesday the next edition of the competition set to be held in Israel shouldn’t be politicized, amid pressure for contestants to set aside their hopes for the crown and boycott the event in solidarity with Palestinians.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Meza, a 27-year-old who represents Mexico,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-travel-lifestyle-boycotts-middle-east-d55495b4c920b2e9b708e4425fcc2699" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>Associated Press</em>&nbsp;she wouldn’t fault women who boycotted this year’s pageant, but said she had no problem with it being held in Israel, stating that “it’s just about embracing other women.”</p>



<p>Palestinian activist groups like PACBI, a founding&nbsp;<a href="https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">member</a>&nbsp;of the movement for a cultural and academic boycott on Israel, called on contestants to “do no harm to our struggle for freedom, justice and equality by withdrawing from the pageant.”</p>



<p>Meza will hand over the crown in December when the 70th Miss Universe pageant takes place in Eilat, Israel.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



<p>The South African government&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/government-withdraws-support-miss-south-africa-resisting-israel-boycott-2021-11-15/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">withdrew</a>&nbsp;its support for Miss South Africa on Monday after the local pageant organizer and the most recent winner, Lalela Mswane, refused to pull out of the competition earlier this week. Malaysia announced it would not send a representative due to Covid-19, but the country has been a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-israel-ban/malaysia-imposes-ban-on-events-involving-israelis-idUSKCN1PA0MA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">supporter</a>&nbsp;of Palestinian rights, the&nbsp;<em>AP</em>&nbsp;reports.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, said Israel has been in contention as a host country “due to its rich history, beautiful landscapes, myriad of cultures and appeal as a global tourist destination.” The BDS movement, which promotes boycotts, divestment and sanctions of Israel, has had mixed results in recent years, with some singers like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/25/lorde-cancels-israel-concert-after-pro-palestinian-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lorde</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/31/lana-del-rey-pulls-out-of-israeli-festival-after-backlash#:~:text=Del%20Rey%20had%20come%20under,to%20play%20in%20apartheid%20Israel.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lana Del Rey</a>&nbsp;cancelling shows in the country, while Irish author Sally Rooney&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/teakvetenadze/2021/10/12/author-sally-rooney-turns-down-israeli-publisher-in-solidarity-with-palestinians/?sh=5cdbde0e3f0d">declined</a>&nbsp;to have her most recent book translated into Hebrew until she found a publisher complaint with BDS’ “institutional boycott guidelines.”&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-travel-lifestyle-boycotts-middle-east-d55495b4c920b2e9b708e4425fcc2699" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">In Israel, Miss Universe says pageant no place for politics</a>&nbsp;(The&nbsp;<em>Associated Press</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/government-withdraws-support-miss-south-africa-resisting-israel-boycott-2021-11-15/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Government withdraws support for Miss South Africa for resisting Israel boycott</a> (<em>Reuters</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan-1/"></a><em><strong>By Anna Kaplan, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan-1/"></a></p>


The 69th Miss Universe Competition

Miss Universe Says Pageant In Israel Shouldn’t Be Politicized Amid Boycott Pressure


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>AstraZeneca on Thursday said its Covid-19 prophylaxis drug is 83% effective in reducing the risk of symptomatic Covid-19 infections six months after being given, signaling that the antibody cocktail could be used as an effective means of preventing severe disease in individuals who may not develop a robust immune response to Covid-19 vaccines.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/astraz/media-centre/press-releases/2021/new-analyses-of-two-azd7442-covid-19-phase-iii-trials-in-high-risk-populations-confirm-robust-efficacy-and-long-term-prevention.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to</a>&nbsp;AstraZeneca, the antibody therapy called AZD7442 was also 88% effective in reducing the risk of severe Covid-19 or death when administered to Covid-19 infected patients within three days of symptom onset.</p>



<p>A separate follow-up of the prophylaxis’ phase three trials showed that the drug eliminated the risk of severe Covid-19 and deaths among all recipients over six months after a dose was administered.</p>



<p>The drugmaker noted that the trials used a 300-milligram dose of AZD7442 administered into the muscle to individuals who had not been exposed to Covid-19.</p>



<p>The antibody cocktail could prove to be an effective tool to protect people who may not develop a robust immune response after receiving Covid-19 vaccines.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>AstraZeneca’s chief of research and development, Mene Pangalos, said: “AZD7442 is the only long-acting antibody with Phase III data to demonstrate benefit in both pre-exposure prophylaxis and treatment of Covid-19 with one dose.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>700,000. That’s the total number of doses of the antibody-drug that AstraZeneca has agreed to supply to the U.S. government in case it receives emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/10/11/astrazenecas-injectable-antibody-cocktail-halves-risk-of-death-or-developing-severe-covid-trial-finds/?sh=3a98d20842ce">sought</a>&nbsp;FDA emergency approval for the drug back in October.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>AstraZeneca’s data from a fresh trial of the drug among already infected Covid-19 patients is encouraging, as a previous post-exposure trial in June&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/06/15/astrazenecas-covid-19-antibody-treatment-failed-to-prevent-symptoms-in-exposed-individuals/?sh=705fe47c6ee8">suggested</a>&nbsp;that AZD7442 failed to prevent symptoms. The June trial showed that the antibody cocktail was only 33% effective in individuals exposed to the virus—even including exposed individuals who tested negative—compared to a placebo. But Thursday’s announcement suggests that injection may prove to help reduce the severity of the disease in individuals who are already exposed. Despite encouraging numbers, AstraZeneca’s drug will likely have to show a significantly higher level of effectiveness than Merck and Pfizer’s antiviral pills which have also demonstrated the ability to significantly reduce the risk of deaths and severe disease in high-risk individuals. Antiviral pills are relatively cheaper and easier to produce compared to antibody treatments like AZD7442. Additionally, such pills can be administered orally to patients outside hospitals, making them a highly effective tool in places with limited healthcare infrastructure.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/10/11/astrazenecas-injectable-antibody-cocktail-halves-risk-of-death-or-developing-severe-covid-trial-finds/?sh=3a98d20842ce">AstraZeneca’s Injectable Antibody Cocktail Halves Risk Of Death Or Developing Severe Covid, Trial Finds</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/10/05/astrazeneca-seeks-emergency-use-authorization-in-us-for-covid-prophylaxis-drug/?sh=c71afa463ef0">AstraZeneca Seeks Emergency Use Authorization In U.S. For Covid Prophylaxis Drug</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><meta charset="utf-8"><strong><em>By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Scientists and doctors are fighting to create a coronavirus vaccine

AstraZeneca’s Antibody Cocktail Is 83% Effective At Preventing Covid-19 Symptoms After Six Months, Trial Shows


<p><a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Scientists have identified a number of alarming issues with genetic studies of Europe’s long-persecuted Romani people, with an op-ed published Wednesday by the leading science journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03416-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Nature</em></a>&nbsp;pointing to ethical lapses in collection of samples and their overrepresentation in databases accessed by law enforcement agencies — part of a wider problem with “unethical uses” of DNA databases.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>DNA samples have been collected from thousands of Roma since the 1990s and possibly as far back as the 1970s, many of which were taken without consent before being shared for research purposes and added to public databases, the authors wrote.</p>



<p>In some cases genetic material was taken from prisoners, while in other instances people were offered incentives to give DNA, a practice “considered unacceptable by most human geneticists.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“In our view, research and peer-review practices must change across a broad array of disciplines, from forensic genetics to molecular anthropology,” the authors wrote in&nbsp;<em>Nature</em>. “Failure to correct past and ongoing mistakes puts more people at risk of harm from the collection of DNA. It also threatens the reputation of human genetics — and of science in general.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/roma-eu/roma-equality-inclusion-and-participation-eu_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10-12 million</a>. That’s how many Roma are believed to live in Europe, according to the European Union. “Roma” is itself an umbrella term that includes a number of diverse identities.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The issues of racism and discrimination within genetics have become more prominent in recent years with the discussion of historic cases of abuse such as that of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02494-z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Henrietta Lacks</a>&nbsp;in the United States, or of China&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03416-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">using DNA</a>&nbsp;to monitor the Uyghurs. Romani people continue to face persecution in Europe, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-roma-segregation-ruling/hungarian-roma-feel-vindicated-by-school-segregation-ruling-idUSKBN22P1WK" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">segregation</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2016-eu-minorities-survey-roma-selected-findings_en.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lack of access</a>&nbsp;to food and water.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p>“<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03416-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Europe’s Roma people are vulnerable to poor practice in genetics</a>” (<em>Nature</em>)</p>



<p>“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/science/genetics-ethics-roma.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The DNA of Roma People Has Long Been Misused, Scientists Reveal</a>” (<em>New York Times</em>)</p>



<p>“<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-roma-rights/roma-people-10-ways-europes-biggest-minority-faces-discrimination-idUSKCN1RK01Y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Roma people: 10 ways Europe’s biggest minority faces discrimination</a>” (Reuters)</p>



<p><meta charset="utf-8"><em><strong>By Téa Kvetenadze, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/teakvetenadze/"></a></p>


SINGAPORE-ANIMAL-CRIME-ENVIRONMENT-WILDLIFE

Scientists Raise Ethical Concerns About Genetic Research Of Roma


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Hundreds of billions has been wiped from the cryptocurrency market Tuesday amid a market-wide crash that has seen the prices of major cryptocurrencies—including bitcoin, ethereum, cardano and solana—plummet and fall sharply from near record highs this week.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The price of bitcoin plummeted to around $60,500 Tuesday morning, down 8% from 24 hours before, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinGecko</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Most major tokens—including ethereum, XRP, cardano, solana and dogecoin—experienced similarly steep drops over the last 24 hours, falling between 7% and 10%.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Of the four most valuable cryptocurrencies by market capitalization—excluding the biggest, bitcoin, and tether, a stablecoin pegged to USD—ether fell 9.6% to around $4,300, Binance’s BNB 8.9% to $590, solana 7.5% to $225 and cardano 9% to $1.90.</p>



<p>XRP, polkadot, dogecoin and shiba inu coin—the next largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, excluding another stablecoin, USD Coin—fell 9.3%, 12.4%, 8.8% and 6%, respectively.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The losses come as part of a wider rout in the cryptocurrency market, which is now worth some $2.76 trillion, according to CoinGecko, down 8.6% from the day before.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The crash comes less than a week after bitcoin hit a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/11/10/bitcoin-hits-new-record-high-after-inflation-surges-to-30-year-peak/?sh=23b1a8897422">record</a>&nbsp;high, jumping just above $69,000. This came as part of a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/10/20/bitcoin-hits-first-new-record-high-in-more-than-six-months-after-historic-fund-debut/?sh=ca1b26b5a31f">wider</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/11/09/bitcoin-ether-hit-record-highs-as-crypto-market-rallies/?sh=e53627c35692">rally</a>&nbsp;following a market&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/06/21/major-cryptocurrencies-including-bitcoin-ethereum-dogecoin-plummet-as-china-widens-crackdown/?sh=37b2cbd71087">crash</a>&nbsp;earlier this year, a response to an intensifying regulatory&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/06/09/chinas-crypto-crackdown-intensifies-with-new-mining-ban-and-censorship-but-bitcoin-is-rallying/">crackdown</a>&nbsp;in China and growing concerns over bitcoin’s environmental impact. The crash wiped many of the gains made throughout the pandemic, when the volatile market thrived due to numerous factors including an influx of retail investors, more options to trade digital currencies and the popularity of meme stocks and tokens driven by online forums on sites like Reddit and celebrity endorsement.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-we-don-t-know">WHAT WE DON’T KNOW</h2>



<p>It’s not clear why the cryptocurrency market is crashing, though there are several factors that could contribute. Chinese authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/16/investing/bitcoin-china-crypto-mining-crackdown-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">renewed</a>&nbsp;efforts to crackdown on cryptocurrency mining Tuesday, slamming the energy consumption and carbon footprint of the process. China’s earlier crackdown on mining saw cryptocurrency miners&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/10/13/us-claims-top-spot-for-bitcoin-mining-as-miners-flee-china-crackdown---here-are-the-worlds-biggest-mining-hubs/?sh=a22d13f6af7c">flee</a>&nbsp;the country en masse, many of whom landed in the U.S. Another&nbsp;<a href="https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/biden-infrastructure-bill-hands-crypto-231651953.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">possible</a>&nbsp;reason could be responses to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, which includes provisions for potentially regulating and taxing cryptocurrency.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/10/20/bitcoin-hits-first-new-record-high-in-more-than-six-months-after-historic-fund-debut/?sh=ca1b26b5a31f">Bitcoin Hits First Record High In More Than Six Months After Historic Fund Debut</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-08/elon-musk-shows-crypto-may-start-ruining-stock-traders-weekends" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Elon Musk Shows How Crypto May Start Ruining Stock Traders’ Weekends</a>&nbsp;(Bloomberg)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/10/13/us-claims-top-spot-for-bitcoin-mining-as-miners-flee-china-crackdown---here-are-the-worlds-biggest-mining-hubs/?sh=a22d13f6af7c">U.S. Claims Top Spot For Bitcoin Mining As Miners Flee China Crackdown — Here Are The World’s Biggest Mining Hubs</a> (Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/"></a><strong><em>By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Blockchain Hackaton in El Salvador

Hundreds Of Billions Lost As Major Cryptocurrencies—Including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano—Tumble In Crypto Crash


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of 125 attendees of Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival&nbsp;and family members of those who died against the rapper, Drake, Live Nation, Apple Music and others, seeking $750 million and a jury trial.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The lawsuit, which was filed in Texas’ Harris County District Court by the Buzbee Law Firm, alleges the attendees suffered mental and physical distress from the event due to the Astroworld organizers and performers’ “senseless gross negligence.”</p>



<p>The lawsuit claims the people behind the event did not “make an even minimal effort” to keep concertgoers safe, citing the death of 21-year-old Axel Acosta, who was “crushed” by the “out of control” crowd and went into cardiac arrest before falling to the ground and being “trampled.”</p>



<p>The lawsuit alleges Scott had “glorified violence and other dangerous behaviors” prior to the concert, citing a 2015 incident at Lollapalooza, in which he faced reckless conduct charges, and posts encouraging the crowds prior to Astroworld.</p>



<p>Scott, whose real name is Jacques Webster, recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2021/11/12/astroworld-blame-game-travis-scott-rep-says-he-couldnt-have-stopped-concert-while-police-say-they-couldnt-have-either/">said</a>&nbsp;he did not have the authority to stop the concert and although he was “not responsible” for what happened at Astroworld, he wants to be “responsible for the solution.”&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>has reached out to Scott’s representatives and Live Nation for comment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>10. That’s how many people have died from the crowd surge at the concert, who ranged in age between 9 and 27.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Houston officials and Travis Scott have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2021/11/12/astroworld-blame-game-travis-scott-rep-says-he-couldnt-have-stopped-concert-while-police-say-they-couldnt-have-either/?sh=39c66f9e381b">traded blame</a>&nbsp;over who was responsible for stopping the concert during the deadly crowd surge. Houston police&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/11/10/houston-police-chief-backtrack-claim-security-guard-was-pricked-and-injected-with-substance/?sh=398896315f5a">said</a>&nbsp;a “mass casualty incident” was declared after they received multiple reports of people suffering from heart attacks during Scott’s performance on stage. Scott has said he would pay for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/travis-scott-concert-astroworld-victims-funeral-expenses/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">funeral expenses</a>&nbsp;for families who lost a loved one during the Astroworld event and is cooperating with the police’s investigation. Other&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/teakvetenadze/2021/11/08/astroworld-tragedy-travis-scott-was-warned-first-civil-suits-are-filed-and-police-investigation-in-early-stages/?sh=abb282e5ac3a">civil lawsuits</a>&nbsp;have been filed against the Astroworld organizers, Live Nation, Scott and Drake.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/11/14/astroworld-death-toll-rises-to-10-as-nine-year-old-boy-succumbs-to-injuries/?sh=32db6922ec1b">Astroworld Death Toll Rises To 10 As Ezra Blount, 9, Dies From Injuries</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2021/11/12/astroworld-blame-game-travis-scott-rep-says-he-couldnt-have-stopped-concert-while-police-say-they-couldnt-have-either/?sh=39c66f9e381b">Astroworld Blame Game: Travis Scott Rep Says He Couldn&#8217;t Have Stopped Concert, While Police Say They Couldn&#8217;t Have Either</a> (<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/"></a><strong><em>By Kimberlee Speakman, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


US-ACCIDENT-MUSIC

Lawsuit Seeks $750 Million From Travis Scott, Drake And Live Nation Over Astroworld Disaster


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Users began reporting outages for over a dozen major websites and apps, including Snapchat, Spotify and Google, around 1 p.m. EST Tuesday, according to outage tracker <a href="https://downdetector.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Downdetector</a>, though multiple companies have since confirmed their issues have been fixed.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Google Cloud said in a tweet it was experiencing&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/googlecloud/status/1460676724186918914" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interruptions</a>&nbsp;on some of its services including Google Cloud Networking, Google Cloud console and the Google App engine.</p>



<p>Snapchat&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/snapchatsupport/status/1460672190987202567" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acknowledged</a>&nbsp;users were having trouble accessing the app and said it was working on fixing the issue and recommended people stay logged in.</p>



<p>Spotify told&nbsp;<em>Reuters</em>&nbsp;over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-amazon-several-other-websites-down-2021-11-16/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50,000 users</a>&nbsp;were reporting issues, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SpotifyStatus/status/1460668396824154115" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;on Twitter it was checking them out.&nbsp;</p>



<p>As of about 2:30 p.m. EST,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/snapchatsupport/status/1460691527315849220" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Snapchat</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SpotifyStatus/status/1460692471432757252" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>&nbsp;said the issues have been cleared, and asked the public to contact them if they were still having any problems.</p>



<p><em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;has reached out to the companies to find out more information on the outage.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>47. That’s approximately how many websites and apps were reported by users to be down at around 1 p.m. EST, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://downdetector.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Downdetector</a>, and included Target, Paramount Plus, Etsy, Pokemon Go, Discord and Lowe’s.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>This outage comes one month after Facebook, now called Meta, faced an over five-hour-long&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/10/04/facebook-blackout-is-one-of-the-platforms-worst/?sh=7bb28c1b7176">outage</a>&nbsp;on some of its major social media platforms including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which the company noted as one of the worst outages in the company’s history. Meta was estimated to have lost over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/10/08/facebook-instagram-and-whatsapp-are-suffering-another-outage/?sh=1aa28926443a">$100 million</a>&nbsp;from that outage and a second shorter one later that week. Meta&nbsp;<a href="https://engineering.fb.com/2021/10/05/networking-traffic/outage-details/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;it issued a command while performing maintenance that “unintentionally” took down connections in the backbone of its network, and when they tried to cancel the command, were unable to do so. It said engineers had to be sent out physically to data centers to reboot the systems.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2021/10/13/snapchat-goes-down-latest-in-string-of-tech-outages/">Snapchat</a>&nbsp;also experienced an outage last month, with users reporting being unable to send or receive messages, that lasted more than three hours.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/10/08/facebook-instagram-and-whatsapp-are-suffering-another-outage/?sh=271f6654443a">Facebook Lost More Than $100 Million Through Two Outages This Week</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2021/10/13/snapchat-goes-down-latest-in-string-of-tech-outages/?sh=1209c7571219">Snapchat Goes Down—Latest In String Of Tech Outages</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/10/04/facebook-blackout-is-one-of-the-platforms-worst/?sh=58cf40117176">Facebook Officials Say Outage Is Coming To An End After Five-Hour Blackout</a> (<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/"></a><strong><em>By Kimberlee Speakman, Forbes Staff </em></strong></p>


gettyimages-1173599543-594×594

Snapchat, Spotify, Google Back Up After Experiencing Outages


<p>On Tuesday, the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announced that it has signed a deal with Pfizer to provide voluntary licensing of its antiviral treatment Paxlovid. This will enable the MPP to coordinate manufacturing and distribution of the drug around the world.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Under the terms of the agreement, MPP will coordinate with qualified manufacturers of generic drugs around the world to inexpensively produce Paxlovid in 95 low and middle income countries around the world, reaching over 50% of the global population. Pfizer will not receive any royalties from sales until the World Health Organization determines the pandemic comes to an end.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“This license is so important because, if authorized or approved, this oral drug is particularly well-suited for low- and middle-income countries and could play a critical role in saving lives, contributing to global efforts to fight the current pandemic,” MPP executive director Charles Gore said in a statement.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Earlier this month, the two companies announced that Paxlovid, which is a combination of a Covid-specific antiviral agent and ritonavir, an antiviral used to treat HIV infections, has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2021/11/05/pfizer-says-its-covid-pill-reduced-risk-of-hospitalization-and-death-by-89-in-clinical-study/?sh=5612a49256be">produced positive results</a>&nbsp;in clinical trials. Those preliminary finds indicated that the Covid treatment reduced risk of hospitalization or death by 89% if administered shortly after a positive test. The companies have sent their findings to regulators for emergency authorization.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Pfizer’s Covid antiviral is a protease inhibitor, a type of antiviral medication that works by slowing down the rate the coronavirus replicates by stopping certain proteins from being made. This keeps viral loads in patients low, which gives the immune system more opportunity to deal with it. It’s co-adminsitered with ritonavir, which helps slow the rate the Covid antiviral breaks down in the body, allowing its activity to last longer.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>In signing this deal, Pfizer is following in the footsteps of Merck, which inked a deal with MPP last month to provide a similar voluntary licensing deal for its anti-Covid pill molnupiravir, which it co-developed with Ridgeback Therapeutics and was recently authorized in the U.K. In September, Pfizer and its vaccine development partner BIoNTech&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/09/22/us-to-donate-500-million-more-pfizer-vaccine-doses-to-poorer-countries/?sh=3b6d573f36a4">signed a deal</a>&nbsp;with the Biden Administration for 500 million vaccine doses to be provided to lower income countries, with those doses being sold on a not-for-profit basis.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“Pfizer remains committed to bringing forth scientific breakthroughs to help end this pandemic for all people,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. “We believe oral antiviral treatments can play a vital role in reducing the severity of COVID-19 infections, decreasing the strain on our healthcare systems and saving lives.”</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/"></a><em><strong>By Alex Knapp, Forbes Africa</strong></em></p>


Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla Interview

Pfizer Signs Deal To Share Its Covid Antiviral Pill With Low Income Nations


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>At least two people were killed and several others were injured in two explosions in the center of Kampala on Tuesday, Reuters reported citing local television coverage, an incident that comes at a time when the Ugandan military is engaged in a conflict with al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.ntv.co.ug/ug/news/national/2-explosions-rock-kampala-city-3620546" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to</a>&nbsp;NTV Uganda, the two explosions took place near Uganda’s Parliamentary main gate and near Kampala’s Central Police Station offices.</p>



<p>The cause of the blasts remain unclear, but at least two people have been confirmed dead.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.ntv.co.ug/ug/news/national/mulago-receives-27-injured-by-city-explosions-3620778" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to</a>&nbsp;news outlets, a local hospital has received 27 injured people, seven of whom are in a critical condition.</p>



<p>A Ugandan military spokesperson&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/explosion-uganda-capital-kills-least-two-local-tv-2021-11-16/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;Reuters that there had been “multiple” blasts and “multiple” casualties but did not offer any additional details.</p>



<p>The Ugandan Red Cross Society said it has managed to resuscitate at least 17 people injured in the blast and noted that its emergency teams were working closely with local police officials.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our emergency rescue teams working with <a href="https://twitter.com/PoliceUg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PoliceUg</a> emergency services to support those injured in the Kampala bomb <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/explosions?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#explosions</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/IFRCAfrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IFRCAfrica</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ifrc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ifrc</a> <br>In set is <a href="https://twitter.com/OsbertSserugo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OsbertSserugo</a>, Red Cross Kampala Central branch Manager,folding his sleeves to offer a life saving hand. <br>📸 <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyMonitor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DailyMonitor</a> <a href="https://t.co/u3FRrNomFm">pic.twitter.com/u3FRrNomFm</a></p>&mdash; Uganda Red Cross Society (@UgandaRedCross) <a href="https://twitter.com/UgandaRedCross/status/1460528098378760195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>While no one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack the Al Qaeda-linked insurgent group Al-Shabaab and Islamic State-backed Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), have carried out similar attacks in Uganda in the past. The Ugandan military is currently fighting Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia as part of an U.N.-backed African Union peacekeeping force.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/"></a><strong><em>By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


UGANDA-EXPLOSION

At Least Two Killed In Dual Blasts In Uganda’s Capital, Reports Say


<p><strong>Two explosions, believed to have been from bombs, have struck the Ugandan capital of Kampala, leaving what appears to be at least two casualties.</strong></p>



<p>Twin bomb blasts have rocked the Ugandan capital of Kampala this morning, leaving at least two confirmed dead and many injured, according to local news reports. The explosions, one of which occurred outside a nearby police station and the other close to the parliamentary building, caused cars in the proximity to go up in flames. Eyewitness videos posted on social media appear to show at least two bodies, with ambulances arriving as bomb experts began to comb the scene behind a police cordon. No official casualty numbers are confirmed, nor has a statement been issued by authorities yet. </p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-this-is-a-developing-story">This is a developing story.</h4>


Tag: Featured

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA