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Money

How DeFi ‘Degens’ Are Gaming Ethereum’s Money Legos

By Gertrude Aziz 11 hours ago

First there were Tendies and YFI. Then came (and went) YAM. And, as of yesterday, we have Based Money.

Meet today’s decentralized finance (DeFi), in what amounts to a crossover between massive multiplayer online (MMO) games, like World of Warcraft, and crypto pump-and-dump schemes.

These aren’t the same DeFi projects launched earlier this summer, said Amentum Capital co-founder Steven McKie. They’re projects are about leveraging Ethereum’s tech for unintended uses. They’re about making crypto fun again.

Related: Market Wrap: Stuck at $11.5K, Bitcoin Surpasses 25K Locked in DeFi

They’re about making money.

Yam Finance launched Tuesday. By the following day, YAM shot upwards of $160 per token and had some $700 million in no-loss collateral obligations under contract (aka yield farming). Early Thursday morning, YAM entered Github Valhalla when a bug locked the project’s governance and $750,000 treasury. The token’s market cap swiftly lost $60 million in 35 minutes.

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Money

‘If I start university this year, I’m worried I won’t make friends or get the support I need’

By Gertrude Aziz 19 hours ago

Olivia dark, 18: ‘I’d mentally prepared to go this year and have no idea what I’d do in a gap year. I feel ready to start a new chapter in my life’ - JAY WILLIAMS — Olivia dark, 18: ‘I’d mentally prepared to go this year and have no idea what I’d do in a gap year. I feel ready to start a new chapter in my life’ – JAY WILLIAMS

For countless British school leavers, the emotional maelstrom of the past few months didn’t end on Thursday when A-level results were announced.

This weekend, many Year 13 students are grappling with the dilemma of what to do next. Accept a university offer, even though they might miss out on the full student experience because of the pandemic? Or defer or reject a place, until some semblance of normality returns?

With little or no face-to-face teaching at universities until 2021, the prospect of starting an expensive degree just doesn’t add up for some students.

There are also fears that all the fun of starting university, and opportunities to make friends, will be missing because freshers’ week

Money

I was a Chinese grad student and lost all of my money in a scam. How could it happen to me?

By Gertrude Aziz 20 hours ago

Xinlu Liang, 22, a Chinese grad student who lost all her money in a telephone scam. <span class="copyright">(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)</span> — Xinlu Liang, 22, a Chinese grad student who lost all her money in a telephone scam. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

“Hi, is that Xinlu Liang?” The caller, speaking in Chinese, woke me from a nap. “This is a call from UPS. You have a suspicious package blocked at Chinese customs” in Beijing.

The person on the other end of the line said he was checking the information on the mailing label. “If you didn’t send this package, then your personal information may have been leaked. We suggest you report this to the Chinese police.”

I’d arrived in Los Angeles just 45 days earlier — at the end of June 2019 — to start work on a master’s degree in journalism at USC, and every day was a struggle: seven hours of classes, Tuesday through Friday, followed by many more hours of writing.

I lived in an apartment near

Money

See How Much Money Warren Buffett, Dana White and 35 Other CEOs Are Pouring Into the Election

By Gertrude Aziz 22 hours ago

The November election could prove to be one of the most controversial ever when it comes to the American presidency. President Donald Trump is already sounding off that the election is ripe for fraud, with him questioning the reliability of mail-in ballots. Worth noting is that on a national basis, President Trump trails in the polls less than three months before Election Day. In the event trends continue and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the election, President Trump is setting the stage to contest his defeat, unless the results are resounding.

In this environment, many noted CEOs and other wealthy corporate executives are supporting candidates and causes with significant amounts of money. To unearth the identities of the biggest donors, GOBankingRates analyzed data from the Federal Election Commission to tally up the amounts donated by prominent corporate figures to various political causes. Results have been presented in reverse order,

Money

28 Dumb Ways You Could Lose It All by Trying To Get Rich

By Gertrude Aziz 23 hours ago

Everyone wants to get rich quickly, but no one likes the risks involved in chasing that elusive fortune. If you want to learn how to get rich, you’ll receive conflicting advice and run into a dizzying array of investment opportunities. And low returns aren’t the only danger. If you choose a bad method for making money, you could end up losing a big chunk instead of gaining one.

Last updated: Aug. 12, 2020

Inexperienced rehabbers often drool at the prospect of a cheaply priced house, thinking it will bring them riches as a rental. They ignore the fact that there’s a reason for the price. Brian Davis, the co-founder of SparkRental, learned this the hard way.

“My particular mistake was investing in super low-end properties, chasing super high returns,” he said. “In rental investing, bad neighborhoods look great on paper, because the typical numbers that investors use to forecast income … Read More

Money

L.A. County offering money to renters affected by COVID-19 pandemic

By Gertrude Aziz 1 day ago

Rodolfo Cortes, 30, of El Monte and other tenant rights activists assembled in March at El Monte City Hall to demand that the City Council pass an eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic. <span class="copyright">(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)</span> — Rodolfo Cortes, 30, of El Monte and other tenant rights activists assembled in March at El Monte City Hall to demand that the City Council pass an eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County renters who’ve suffered financial setbacks because of the COVID-19 pandemic can soon apply for thousands of dollars in assistance to help them get on top of their payments.

The application period for the income-based L.A. County COVID-19 Rent Relief program opens Monday and will remain open until Aug. 31. Up to $10,000 will be given to households that meet the program’s income guidelines.

The emergency rent relief is financed through $100 million in federal CARES Act money. Its goal is to help about 9,000 households.

Half of the available money will be directed to residents who live in specific ZIP Codes the county identified where residents are at higher risk

Money

How “Geographic Arbitrage” Can Make You Money

By Gertrude Aziz 1 day ago

Geographic arbitrage is a term coined by the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early). FIRE advocates combine investments and a typically high-paying job to achieve the dream of retiring by the time they hit their early 40s or even late 30s. One of their core tactics is to take advantage of local costs of living around the country and even the world to maintain the lowest cost of living possible, thereby stretching out their money and making early retirement possible.

This isn’t a new insight. Americans routinely look for lower costs of living. What geographic arbitrage adds is the idea of taking that model to the extreme. Where moving from the city to the suburbs can let you upgraded from a one-bedroom apartment to a house, moving from New York City to Naxos, Greece, can let you rewrite your financial future.

Here’s how it works.

What Is Geographic Arbitrage?

Arbitrage

Money

The Trump campaign accidentally gave YouTube ad money to Chinese state media

By Gertrude Aziz 2 days ago

Omelas

The Trump campaign is unintentionally funding Chinese and Russian state media outlets by running YouTube ads on their channels, a new study found.
At least 22 Trump campaign ads ran on YouTube channels linked to the Chinese government this month alone, according to an analysis of thousands of YouTube videos by cybersecurity firm Omelas.
The findings come after the Trump administration cracked down on Chinese-owned media outlets earlier this year, imposing steeper requirements on how they operate in the US.
The Trump campaign said it didn’t intentionally target those YouTube channels. YouTube ads typically target specific types of viewers, rather than individual channels, but ad buyers can choose to opt out of showing ads on certain channels.
Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump has made China a target of his campaign for reelection — but in an ironic twist, some

Money

Savvy shopper shares easy way to save money while shopping online: ‘Lifesaver’

By Gertrude Aziz 2 days ago

With retail stores either closed or at limited capacity, online shopping is the new normal. In fact, according to data compiled by Adobe Analytics, online sales increased 55 percent to $66.3 billion in July 2020 compared to a year prior.

If you’re one of the many people who spends their days in quarantine purchasing everything under the sun, it might please you (and your wallet) to learn that there is a Facebook feature that makes it easier than ever to find active promo codes for all your favorite brands.

On August 10, TikTok user slimeseason33 — who works in marketing — made a video detailing how to use the Facebook feature.

In her video, which has nearly 200,000 likes, slimeseason33 explains that all you have to do to find promo codes is search your favorite brand in the Facebook ad library. (Make sure you’ve clicked ‘Search All’ instead of ‘Issues,

Money

Raffles To Raise Money For Scholarships

By Gertrude Aziz 2 days ago

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — This week the Havre de Grace Art Show is going virtual. For 2020, the event sponsored by Soroptimist International of Havre de Grace plans to showcase artists online.

Traditionally, the art show has brought artists, food vendors and entertainers in addition to thousands of visitors to Tydings Park.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the show’s organizers decided the summer event would not be possible in its traditional form.

In addition to showcasing local art, the Havre de Grace Art Show, now in its 57th year, enables Soroptimist International of Havre de Grace to raise money for college scholarships. In an attempt to deliver on that promise and to help exhibitors, art show organizers say they have been working on a virtual solution since late May.

This weekend the Havre de Grace Art Show plans to feature artists, entertainers, food vendors and local businesses on its