Sen. John McCain, the War Hero Who Became a Political Titan, Dies at 81

Sen. John McCain, an admiral’s son whose rebellious streak nearly got him expelled from Annapolis but helped him survive North Vietnamese torture and rise to the top of the Republican Party, has died. He was 81.
WSJ.com: What’s News Asia

How Thailand became the ‘Detroit of Asia’

CNN.com – RSS Channel – World

Kidnapped to Impersonate Aretha, She Became a Star

She started as Mary Jane Jones and became Vickie Jones and performed as Aretha Franklin and returned to the life of Mary Jane Jones—with a kidnapping, an arrest, and a spell of stardom in between, the Smithsonian reports. Jones was a standout gospel singer in ramshackle West Petersburg, Virginia,…
Newser

How one Chinese businessman became the largest fireworks supplier in the U.S.

Roughly 70% of all Chinese fireworks entering the United States come here under the control of a Chinese businessman who has used his influence to raise prices and block competitors, leaving many U.S. executives fearful of losing access to their most important Fourth of July inventories.

Ding Yan…

L.A. Times – Business

How a Florida Utility Became the Global King of Green Power

NextEra became a wind and solar Goliath almost entirely under the radar, using tax subsidies to help finance projects around the country. It has avoided debt and the kind of claims of altruistic motives common among some renewable-energy companies.
WSJ.com: US Business

How Lithuania Became a Hub of Cryptocurrency Innovation

On the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea lies Lithuania, a country of some 2.8 million. Most most people would struggle to place it on a map, and there are 77 European cities larger than its capital Vilnius, which number just 578,000. Despite this, Lithuania has outperformed nations 20 times its size in the token economy, making it Europe’s fifth largest country for crowdfunding. The small nation boasts a burgeoning cryptocurrency scene, aided by fast internet and a favorable regulatory climate.

Also read: Niall Ferguson Tells Bank of England Bitcoin Is Financial System of the Future

From Small Nations, Mighty Crypto Projects Grow

During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe, but the country has suffered some shrinkage since then, centuries of skirmishes and annexations taking their toll. Today it ranks 35th out of 49 European nations by population, but in some respects Lithuania still punches above its weight. ICO Watchlist places Lithuania fifth for European crowdfunding, based on the number of projects to have launched within its borders; Bankera alone raised $ 150 million, and it has been reported that 10% of all ICO money raised last year went to the Baltic country.

It’s not the only nation in that part of the world to have embraced the crypto revolution; neighboring Latvia and its neighbor Estonia have are also cryptocurrency hotbeds, while adjacent Belarus recently legalized crypto and declared zero tax for cryptocurrency firms until 2023. Lithuania’s love affair with crypto is partially a regional thing, then, though its penchant for all things digital and decentralized seems stronger  even than that of its peers. Anecdotally that certainly seems to be the case; attend any crypto conference this year and the odds are you’ll have met more Lithuanians than you did Russians, Ukrainians, and Estonians combined.

Education, Independence and Fast Internet

Bescouted is a photography community that’s preparing to launch its own crowdsale and native token to reward users for sharing content. Its founder, Deividas Leilionas, believes that Lithuanians were primed to adopt cryptocurrency long before bitcoin was even a thing, explaining: “Historically Lithuania has always maintained high standards for education. After getting back their independence, Lithuanians were contracted to build software solutions for western companies, and hence developed a vast number of skilled engineers. The government is also very tech oriented and assisted with developing an excellent IT infrastructure. For a while, Lithuania was running the fastest internet per capita in the world.”

Vladas Jurkevičius, the CEO of Lithuanian digital identity startup Safein, echoes this sentiment, adding: “Lithuania doesn’t have a track record of world-famous tech startups, and we didn’t have access to large VC funds. ICOs and crypto communities remove boundaries so that no matter where you are located, only the team, technology and idea matters. In addition, the blockchain community is very strong within Lithuania; people share their ideas and experience freely. The country is famous for its regulatory framework for fintech companies as well, and when blockchain technology was on the rise, a lot of projects received support from the government.”

Cryptocurrency Is a Great Leveler

One of the greatest things about cryptocurrency is that it gives nations a chance to compete on an even keel. It doesn’t matter what your GDP is, or how many nukes are locked in your bunker: on the internet, everyone’s equal. This has given countries that have traditionally lagged industrially and economically a chance to make amends. From tiny islands to humble nation states, a series of global outposts have made it known that they’re open for crypto business. In terms of cryptocurrency adoption, for example, the UK has long been synonymous with bitcoin. (It’s even been speculated that Satoshi may have been British on account of his spelling and colloquialisms.) But the UK government has been glacially slow to capitalize on cryptocurrency, allowing European nations such as Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Malta, and Lithuania to steal a march.

Joao Martins is head of business development for Birdchain, a Lithuanian tokenized advertising and rewards platform. He moved to the country two years ago from his native Portugal and has been smitten with it ever since. Joao speaks of sensing “the beating pulse of a whole generation embracing this adolescent energy [of cryptocurrency] with a voracious hunger and drive to prove their worth to the world”. Like Be Scouted’s Deividas, he praises the country’s internet quality and notes: “Since they became part of the EU, there has been a clear path of investment in technological infrastructure and education…Lithuania is also a small society where entrepreneurs get in touch with their peers and openly exchange experiences. Blockchain and cryptocurrency hit Lithuania at the right moment and was gratefully seized”.

Cryptocurrency is an alien aircraft, crashing landed in a pasture, and global governments are the startled cows trying to make sense of it. Some are spooked, and some oblivious, while others walk right up, give it a lick, and decide they like what they see. Right now, Lithuania and its neighboring territories are at the head of that herd.

What other small countries do you think are over-achieving when it comes to cryptocurrency innovation? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.

The post How Lithuania Became a Hub of Cryptocurrency Innovation appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitcoin News

How a weakened ESPN became consumed by politics

Arguments over tweets, tension with owner Disney increased anxiety over the network’s future in era of cord-cutting.
FOX News

Iowa Just Became Ground Zero in Debate Over Abortion

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday signed a law banning most abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, or at around six weeks of pregnancy, marking the strictest abortion regulation in the nation. The move sets the stage for a lengthy court fight. The Republican governor signed the legislation…
Newser

A Supermodel Just Became Single

Supermodel Paulina Porizkova is back on the market for the first time in almost 30 years. “As a bicycle, my husband and I no longer pedal in unison. So, we’re ditching the bicycle,” the 53-year-old wrote on Instagram Wednesday, describing herself as “peacefully separated” from former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek,…
Newser

How North Korea’s Hackers Became Dangerously Good

North Korea’s fingerprints have appeared recently in some surprisingly sophisticated cyberattacks, including on central banks and cryptocurrency exchanges. Pyongyang is cultivating elite hackers much like other countries train Olympic athletes.
WSJ.com: What’s News Asia