Latest news with #Berryman
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Man accused of stalking ex-girlfriend, crashing into her car in Baton Rouge arrested
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A Baton Rouge man was arrested on Sunday, May 29, after being accused of stalking a woman and ramming her car. According to an affidavit, officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department were called to a hit-and-run incident in the 2600 block of Coursey Boulevard on Wednesday, May 25. When they arrived, the victim told the officers that her ex-boyfriend, Edward Berryman Jr., 36, intentionally hit her vehicle. She also shared that she has a restraining order against him. The victim told detectives that she was leaving the hair store when Berryman blocked her car in with his black Dodge Challenger. She said she put her car in reverse and exited the parking lot. She later accused Berryman of following her through a neighborhood and ramming the driver's side of her car. Berryman exited the vehicle after the crash, but the victim pulled off. The affidavit states that Berryman then followed her onto Coursey Boulevard, where he hit her vehicle again, running her off the road and disabling her car. At the time of the crash, the victim's 15-year-old child was in the passenger seat. She said she captured the collision on her dashcam. After reviewing the dash camera footage, detectives found it supported the victim's claims. She later explained that the relationship recently ended and that she filed the restraining order in October 2024. While on the scene, detectives saw a Black Challenger with a missing passenger front tire. They took the vehicle in as evidence. Berryman was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on charges of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property, stalking, violation of protective orders, and a bench warrant. Power outage planned in Plaquemine for early morning hours of Father's Day Secret recording leads to Fla. child trafficking victim's rescue after sister calls 911: sheriff Lawmakers condemn Boulder attack Congressional leaders press Russia to end war with Ukraine Faith leaders protest 'big, beautiful bill' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Institutional investors and the future of digital asset ETFs
The rise of digital asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has been reshaping the investment landscape, offering institutional investors a new way to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies while mitigating the complexities of direct ownership. Steve Berryman, chief business officer of Bitwise Onchain Solutions, is at the forefront of this transformation. With a deep background in financial technology and blockchain infrastructure, Berryman shares his insights on the role of digital asset ETFs in institutional portfolios, the risks and opportunities of staking, and the future of crypto-based financial instruments. Berryman's path into the digital asset space was not a conventional one. After spending years developing risk management systems for tier-one banks, he found himself intrigued by blockchain technology in 2015. A pivotal encounter with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin led him to leave traditional finance behind and immerse himself in the world of decentralised finance. 'I spent most of my career working as a software developer for tier 1 banks primarily building risk management systems for fixed income and derivative products,' he recalls. 'In 2015 I was looking for a new challenge and found myself attending a one-day conference on blockchain, where I got the opportunity to speak to Vitalik Buterin. I was taken aback with his intellect and was so intrigued to understand more.' From running his own mining rigs to consulting for blockchain firms like ConsenSys, Berryman developed a strong foundation in decentralised finance. This journey eventually led him to co-found Attestant in 2019, a company dedicated to institutional-grade Ethereum staking services. Recognising the future potential of staking-enabled ETFs, Attestant aligned with Bitwise, culminating in its acquisition in 2024. 'This new home for Attestant has positioned the business well to continue to provide staking for existing ETPs in Europe and at the same time futureproof ready to stake in the US when ETFs are enabled to do so,' Berryman explains. Institutional investors entering the crypto market often face unique challenges, particularly in managing custody, security, and regulatory compliance. Bitwise Onchain Solutions provides a secure and efficient infrastructure for institutions looking to stake their digital assets while maintaining full control. 'For clients that are looking for a return on their digital assets, Bitwise Onchain Solutions provides the ability to stake their digital assets using our secure infrastructure whilst always retaining full control and custody. We offer a white glove service so clients can safely stake either through our web-portal or integrate into our API if they are larger institutional organisations,' Berryman says. The firm's institutional focus extends beyond just providing access; it also ensures that digital asset ETFs align with traditional investment structures, making them more accessible for fund managers operating across multiple jurisdictions. One of the primary advantages of incorporating digital asset ETFs into institutional portfolios is their potential for diversification. While cryptocurrencies have historically been volatile, Bitcoin and Ethereum have demonstrated resilience and impressive long-term performance. 'In a multi-asset portfolio construction process the fund manager's goal is to create a well-diversified portfolio that has exposure to many asset classes and sectors to maximise the Sharpe ratio (risk reward ratio),' Berryman explains. 'This is where having a crypto asset ETF holding could add diversity to the portfolio as the correlations of this crypto asset class to other traditional asset classes, such as bonds and equities, in the portfolio are likely to be very different.' This unique risk profile makes digital asset ETFs particularly attractive to institutional investors with a higher risk tolerance. However, as Berryman points out, even more conservative institutions will likely allocate to crypto over time to avoid the risk of being left behind. 'Although over time we will expect to generally see more institutions getting involved in the digital asset space as they realise not having an exposure to this asset class would potentially be a bigger risk in itself as their underlying clients are able to move to institutions that do offer the exposure to this asset class,' he notes. One of the lesser-known advantages of digital asset ETFs is their tax efficiency. Compared to direct crypto ownership, ETFs offer a structured investment vehicle that helps investors manage tax liabilities more effectively. 'We have seen in the US and UK, income tax on directly held crypto is paid in the year it is earned and that creates a big risk for the buyer,' Berryman explains. 'You could find yourself paying more tax than you earned if the prices or FX have moved against you. Funds will manage these risks and will have more tax efficient wrappers.' Additionally, while technical risks such as custody and staking security remain key concerns, Berryman emphasises that institutional-grade staking providers mitigate many of these risks. 'Once investors are happy and understand the risk of staking, many will assess the level of risk for the level of return and could decide it is worth participating, especially if knowing that the staking is run by professional institutional grade staking companies with all the appropriate security safeguards in place,' he says. Despite the growth of crypto ETFs, institutional investors must still contend with risks such as asset concentration and regulatory uncertainty. Unlike traditional ETFs, which typically hold a diversified basket of assets, digital asset ETFs often focus on a single cryptocurrency, increasing exposure to market swings. 'Typically, digital asset ETFs are currently single asset holding ETFs, which means there is concentration risk for an investor vs traditional ETFs which are usually composed of multiple holdings to reduce the concentration risk to any single holding in the fund,' Berryman explains. 'However, if the digital asset ETF is held as part of a balanced multi-asset portfolio this risk can be reduced.' Regulatory clarity will play a crucial role in further adoption. Berryman believes that while regulatory uncertainty has slowed institutional participation in the past, increased oversight will ultimately benefit the market. 'Regulations have an important role to play, as they ultimately give guidelines or clarity to asset managers as to how to manage this new asset class in a compliant fashion,' he adds. 'The digital asset space has generally been devoid of specific regulations, which has actually hindered its progression, but as the regulators focus further on this space and evolve the regulations this is likely to lead to more growth and adoption by asset managers and allocators.' Looking ahead, Berryman predicts that institutional engagement with Ethereum staking will grow significantly as wealth managers become more familiar with its risk-reward dynamics. 'If you are generating a yield after paying management, custody, insurance, tax and staking fees then why would you prefer not to invest in a staked product?' he argues. 'However, there are liquidity considerations to be taken into account and what we may well find is that traditional wealth managers actually end up keeping a mix of the staked and unstaked versions in their portfolio allocation depending on the purpose.' As more institutional capital flows into the digital asset space, Berryman expects Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs to dominate, with sovereign wealth funds and pension funds eventually joining the fray. 'We certainly see flows continuing to grow in the digital assets ETF space, and most funds are likely to head into Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, as the leading cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation. The general expectation is that funds will be significantly larger in AUM within the next 5 years as more professional investors, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and hedge funds start to allocate capital to this space,' he notes. 'Even though we have seen very strong flows from the outset of these ETFs, this has mainly come from the traditional digital asset players, and we have yet to see the large pension funds and sovereign wealth funds come into this space in significant volumes.' For institutions hesitant to enter the crypto ETF space, Berryman recommends a cautious but proactive approach. 'These digital asset ETFs are still in their infancy phase and potentially could be a good long-term investment,' he advises. 'However, like any typical investment drip feeding in a small amount of capital over time is better if one is uncertain about the value or volatility of the investment. Digital assets are extremely volatile, so not adding your entire allocation of capital in a single go, but rather spreading your allocation until you have reached your goal is generally the rule of thumb for any investment strategy.' With Bitwise Onchain Solutions leading the charge in staking and institutional crypto adoption, Berryman remains optimistic about the role of digital asset ETFs in the broader financial ecosystem. As traditional finance and crypto continue to converge, institutions that embrace this new asset class may find themselves well-positioned for the future. "Institutional investors and the future of digital asset ETFs" was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
CBS News
11-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
North Texas mother advocates for Black maternal health following daughter's death
A North Texas mother is speaking out for the first time about the death of her 26-year-old daughter last fall. Her daughter, Tierra Jackson, died suddenly last November, just days after giving birth to her third child. "There are a lot of sleepless nights," said Nicole Berryman, Tierra's mother. She said she's still struggling with the loss of Tierra. "All she did was smile," she said. "I would say she's the perfect mother." Berryman said her daughter was struggling with chest pain days after giving birth to her third child and was re-admitted to the hospital. Days later, she died from natural causes, according to the medical examiner. "I just keep reliving that day. Every time I open my eyes. I need answers," Berryman said. One of Tierra's four sisters, Alexus Morris, cried alongside her mother, admitting her sister's death has been a tragedy for the whole family. "It's like we were robbed, to say the least. We were robbed of our sister and her daughter's life," she told CBS News Texas. Tierra's death recently caught the attention of local organizations like Viola's House and United Way of Dallas, prompting a larger conversation about maternal healthcare for Black mothers. Viola's House led a panel discussion Tuesday in partnership with Parkland Hospital and United Way, addressing alarming trends, including a recent CDC report that shows Black women are 3.5 times more likely than White women to experience a pregnancy-related death. "I never heard so much about Black women passing away after having babies. We're giving our lives to bring a baby into the world," Berryman said. Tierra's three young children are now left to grow up without her, having to attend their mom's funeral just weeks before Christmas. The family hopes their story makes a difference for other mothers. "My life will never be the same," Berryman said with tears in her eyes. "Love your babies because mothers give their life."
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Spacewoman' Doc About First Woman to Command a Space Shuttle Mission Screens at CPH:DOX While NASA Axes Pledge to Land a Woman on the Moon
Hannah Berryman's documentary 'Spacewoman' chronicles the life and career of astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a spacecraft in an era where many men still thought there was no place for women in space. During her time working at NASA in the 1990s, Collins broke many glass ceilings, which culminated in four dramatic and dangerous space shuttle missions. Through archival materials and intimate interviews, Berryman's doc celebrates Collins' groundbreaking work in space while also considering the emotional drama Collins' family experienced during her trailblazing career. The film is timely, given the fact that in February, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered NASA to purge diversity, equity, and inclusion frameworks specifically targeting women in leadership. In 2023, NASA proclaimed that it would 'land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.' However, since Trump's February mandate, that language has been removed from NASA's website. More from Variety 'Always' Review: Deming Chen's Strikingly Confident Debut Plays Like a Long Visual Poem Deming Chen's 'Always' Wins Main Prize at CPH:DOX as Mstyslav Chernov Nabs F:ACT Award for '2000 Meters to Andriivka' Kansas City Chiefs Docuseries Set at ESPN and Disney+ From 'The Last Dance' Producers Berryman has made several documentaries about influential women, including Princess Margaret ('Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal') and Coco Chanel ('Coco Chanel: Unbuttoned'). The director spoke to Variety about 'Spacewoman,' which made its European debut in CPH:DOX earlier this week.. 'Spacewoman' is based on the 2021 book 'Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars.' Did you read the book and immediately know that you wanted to make a doc, or did someone suggest making a doc about the book? Berryman: The producer, Keith Haviland, has been involved with making major space films, and thought Eileen's story was of special interest. After optioning her book, he came to me with fellow producer Natasha Dack, who knew my work, to see if I was interested in making a film about Eileen. I read the book and immediately wanted to make the documentary. Eileen wasn't from a privileged background and had issues from that to deal with. She became a pilot and then the first woman to pilot and command a space shuttle through sheer willpower. Alongside all that was the complex emotional journey for her own family. It was this engrossing story and the fact that she became a pioneer in this new world for women that made me want to make the film. Why does it make sense to tell the story of Eileen Collins now? There have had many films made about male astronauts, and I was very surprised there hadn't been a film about the first woman to pilot and then to command a spacecraft. Piloting was such a testosterone-driven arena in the 1970s and '80s, the world of 'Top Gun.' It was really extraordinary to have been a woman breaking through into this world at that time. Since NASA now plans to send a crew to the moon again that will, this time, include women, it made sense to look back at the story of this woman who trail-blazed for other women to follow. You have made several films that profile women. What about that topic intrigues you the most? I really only make films that I can connect with personally, and I guess as a woman, it is easier for me to connect with the experience. It's also great to be able to look at the lives of women doing something totally new to me, finding out about being a woman in their worlds, and trying to delve into the broader themes each of their stories touch on. With Eileen, I was interested in how her difficult background had, in a way, helped her to conquer fear more easily, a skill she'd had to develop as a child. And this grit was necessary to do the work she did, pioneering in the dangerous world of aviation, especially when it came to piloting the space shuttle. Yet on a private level, conquering this fear and being able to compartmentalize emotion, something women have traditionally not been seen as doing as much, had implications for her in terms of family life and motherhood when her turn came. So in a way, the film turns into a meditation on fear, emotion, and family life, and all the ways that can work. The first and second half of 'Spacewoman' are structured differently. Can you talk about how you decided to structure the film and what was behind that decision? I like films that start one way and give you something you didn't expect by the end. When you start the film on Eileen, you know it will be a film about firsts for a woman. Establishing the person Eileen was, and the unlikely background she had, together with the challenges faced by women back then, was crucial as the film's beginning. Then it turns a corner and becomes a film about a commander in charge of an experimental and hazardous mission, the return-to-flight after NASA lost the whole crew in the Columbia accident. Her being a woman is only part of the story – and that's how it should be. Her background and family situation in the present continues to be woven through, hopefully giving the whole story added emotional weight – so that you come out both with an understanding of an incredible woman, and with thoughts about the nature of human risk-taking in general, and especially in space. National Geographic released 'Sally' about Sally Ride, the first American woman to blast off into space, at Sundance. Does that concern you in terms of finding distribution for this doc? We are optimistic. Sally Ride has a different story since she wasn't a pilot, but rather a scientist who went to space in this capacity and was the first woman to do that. We also want 'Sally' to be a tremendous success. After all, there have been many films about male astronauts, surely there's room for more than one film about the women. 'Spacewoman' is a Haviland Digital Production in association with TigerLily Films. Best of Variety What's Coming to Disney+ in April 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read This Year: From Chelsea Handler to Anthony Hopkins
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Yahoo
Home invasion suspects nabbed in Cameron
CAMERON — A man and two women accused of several crimes in Harnett County were recently arrested with the help of several law enforcement agencies. On Monday around 4:30 p.m., the Harnett County Sheriff's Office arrested Frederick Donte Berryman Jr., 26, with assistance of the Sanford Police Department and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Berryman was charged with first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of felony conspiracy. These charges stem from an investigation where HCSO responded to a home invasion on Ted Brown Road in Cameron on March 17. The investigation revealed that a black man, later identified as Berryman, forced entry into the victim's residence with a firearm, where two victims were robbed. Berryman allegedly broke into the home at 1:46 a.m. and used threats with a handgun to steal an iPhone and $6,000 worth of medicine from Malinda Ann Martin and Tony McNeill, according to a search warrant. Berryman, who has an address on Lora Ann Lane, southwest of Carolina Trace Country Club, was held on a $100,000 secured bond, according to eCourts. He has a court date set for April 8 at 9 a.m. Two women were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday in connection with the robbery, a release states. April Sierra Richardson, 37, and Kace Machel Cox, 37, were also charged with first degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of felony conspiracy. Richardson, of the 1000 block of Bella Bridge Road in Broadway, was held on a secured $100,000 bond, and Cox, of the 200 block of Alfrada Drive in Cameron, was initially held without bond.
