Technology

Blockchain is perhaps the most exciting technological development since the internet. It is also, through the use of tokens, an investment vehicle. This has created an unusual paradox. Are companies issuing tokens to help finance blockchain technology, or are they simply capitalizing on blockchain speculators hoping to catch the next bitcoin at $1?

Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver on December 1st on the grounds of alleged financial fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice issued these charges in order to give Canada a legal pretext to extradite her to the United States, where she could face charges of helping Huawei evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. Unfortunately for her, Meng Wanzhou sits at the intersection of this administration's harsher Iran policy and its desire to protect U.S. corporations from international competition.

Earlier this year, San Francisco-based think tank Compass Group published its Global Startup Ecosystem Report, an exhaustive comparison of the top twenty global tech locales. The group consulted with industry leaders from 25 countries, conducting 200 interviews and 11,000 surveys to compile the list.