Latest news with #TheJourneyof
Shafaq News
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Shafaq News
From Iraq to Russia: Iraqi calligraphers exhibit 39 pieces in Kazan
Shafaq News/ Six leading Iraqi calligraphers are exhibiting their work in Russia for the first time as part of a groundbreaking cultural showcase in Kazan. Titled The Journey of Arabic Calligraphy: From Iraq to Russia, the exhibition opened May 16 at the Museum of Islamic Culture inside the Qol Sharif Mosque and is part of the Kazan Forum's cultural program organized by the Russian House in Iraq and Tatarstan's Ministry of Culture. The show features 39 pieces by members of the Iraqi Calligraphers Association's Babil branch, blending classical forms with modern flair. Traditional ink and gold-leaf works appear alongside bold acrylic and copper compositions, highlighting both the heritage and evolving aesthetics of Arabic calligraphy. Featured artists include Jassim Hammoud Hussein Al-Najafi, Jassim Al-Tamimi, Qassim Taher Abbas Al-Hafizi, Rasoul Hamza Nasser Al-Zarkani, Khudair Sharad Kareem Al-Jubouri, and Haidar Ali Jabr Hussein Al-Shaibani. Murat Ilshatovich Gatin, Assistant to the President of Tatarstan and Deputy Chair of the Russia–Islamic World group, inaugurated the exhibit with Dr. Alq Ali Mohammed Al-Barghash, head of the Russian House in Iraq. Gatin described the exhibition as 'a symbol of deepening cultural dialogue,' while Al-Barghash emphasized the role of art in strengthening Iraqi-Russian ties.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Legacy: Securing Your Block of Generational Wealth
(0:30) - The Journey of Bitcoin: In Search of Scarcity (9:15) - Trey Sellers Teaches "Bitcoin for Bankers" (21:00) - No Dumb Questions: Finite Supply, Self-Custody, Cold Storage (25:25) - Unchained Services for Security and Legacy (33:30) - FIRE & BTC: Bridging Two Worlds With Common Goals (42:55) - Las Vegas Bitcoin 2025: Trey Will Be On FIRE! Podcast@ Welcome back to Mind Over Money. I'm Kevin Cook, your field guide and storyteller for the fascinating arena of Behavioral Economics. In this episode, I sat down with a Wall Street veteran who now spends his days helping high-net-worth individuals, families, and business owners to secure their Bitcoin for optimal inheritance planning, loans, and legacy solutions. Trey Sellers has worked for Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, and MetLife where he specialized in technology consulting and back-office systems. At the investment bank Truist, he worked on the capital markets trading floor running risk analysis and P&L models for multi-asset institutional portfolios. Trey is now a Vice President of Sales for a company called Unchained. Unchained offers a suite of financial and custody services designed to, in their words, "protect your bitcoin with cold storage -- that you control." Clients also get access to other services including trading, inheritance planning, loans, and Bitcoin IRAs. Unchained helps thousands of individuals and businesses by securing nearly $10 billion worth of Bitcoin. Bitcoin Security and Scarcity Are For Everyone Now if you don't consider yourself HNW, don't worry 'cause I'm not either. Recall that Forbes, in their original definition of "rich" for the "400" list, used to define it as "$10 million net worth and $1 million in annual income." Now I think everyone on the list is a billionaire. In the conversation with Trey, you are still going to learn a lot about the Bitcoin investment frontier that will apply to you as you build your own family legacy and inheritance plans. You should take away key questions that you can ask your financial advisors about Bitcoin and your own "family office." Trey helps us navigate terminology like "on-chain," self-custody, and cold storage. And he lays out the importance of knowing how you own and secure your Bitcoin, whether you bought some in a Coinbase COIN or Robinhood HOOD account, or you're using a hardware wallet and private keys. Your Own Personal Fort Knox There were three highlights in my conversation with Trey that I want to preview. First, was how he seized the moment at Truist to teach the staff at all levels about what he thought was coming with Bitcoin after the "halving" in 2020. He built a slide deck he titled "Bitcoin for Bankers" which made its way throughout the organization and made him an authority as interest grew during the rally to $69,000 in 2021. Second, as he was explaining the services of Unchained and how they openly work with your financial advisors -- legal, tax, planning, estate -- to create sound structures and procedures, he said it's like building your own 'personal Fort Knox.' The third highlight with Trey is how he has adapted the FIRE concept of "Financial Independence, Retire Early" to the ultimate freedom asset. You can jump right into the podcast linked above and hear Trey's story in his own words, but be sure to come back to this article as I have some goodies for you. Millions of Stories, Only 21 Million Bitcoin Since I've been in financial markets for three decades, I tend to notice a big divide between the "youngsters" who grew up with Bitcoin just like smartphones, and the traditional finance or "tradfi" folks (like me) who studied the new asset class for years and one day finally realized the true power of Bitcoin (btw, I still capitalize the "B" just like the Internet as a unique technology protocol). The first group tends to be tech-savvy and skeptical about old institutions, while my group can be full of late-adopters who understand the fiat monetary system that got us to the day where we said "Wow, this digital gold is really an entirely new and compelling asset class that can compete with barbarous gold and money printing!" Trey Sellers is a bridge in the middle of these two broad groups. You can follow him on X @ts_hodl for excellent education and wry wit to understand why. Even Michael Saylor, the current champion of "hodling" (buying, "holding on for dear life" and never selling) didn't "get Bitcoin" until 2020. My story of "getting Bitcoin" is summarized in this 9-minute video... Bitcoin for Family Offices in 500 Seconds To symbolize the "speed of light" power of Bitcoin as a digital asset, I tried to make the message only 8.33 minutes long, the time it takes the Sun's light to reach Earth. I wish I could say I borrowed the "Bitcoin for [insert professional audience]..." idea from Trey because that means I might be further along on my Bitcoin accumulation journey by now! But since my full appreciation of this new asset class didn't occur until March of 2024 -- after I listened to Saylor speak -- I think my story might also be useful to some people. From Fed Apologizer to Fiat Antagonist In 2017, I learned a "little bit" about Bitcoin and Blockchain. Like "a little enough" to be dangerous. I thought it could be a big force of change in finance and technology, but I didn't really understand how. I even did a podcast episode titled "CRISPR or Bitcoin: Which is the Bigger Disruptor?" Turns out neither were working for me, so I just stuck with the one area I did understand and had high conviction about: the NVIDIA AI revolution. But I was still watching Bitcoin. Like "on the edge of my seat" during the 2022 bear market when it looked like Michael Saylor's Bitcoin strategy was about to implode his company MicroStrategy... because his "digital real estate" was about to go below his average buy price near $15,000. He had just bought new highs above $60,000 in 2021. And then he lived under constant media and Wall Street scrutiny as prices collapsed again. The last thing he needed was a numbskull by the name of Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) creating yet another scandal in the wild west of crypto. As I've written about since my first article on "rogue traders" in 2008 -- before we even heard Bernie Madoff's name -- technology and regulations may evolve, but human nature never does. In fact, it just occurred to me that my study of Mental Models of Financial Sabotage was the perfect precursor to what Satoshi Nakamoto invented: impossible to trust jungles of finance in search of a trust-free asset. But what kept me on the sidelines, or "on the orange fence" to turn a phrase, was that I still couldn't answer two important questions: (1) How does Bitcoin keep getting hacked, stolen, and lost? (2) How do I know the supply cap of 21 million is real and permanent? Sam Bankman Fried, Champion of Dunces When I learned that SBF didn't even read books, it all made sense. So many kids who grew up with the web, social media, and online forums pride themselves on their internet education. And there's more than ever on X spouting wild views, who you can tell got their "minor in macro" from YouTube. The problem with this approach is that while Bitcoin is a revolutionary financial asset, technology, protocol, and network... it is not completely separate from the traditional finance world that made it possible. I know that must sound heretical to some Bitcoin maxis listening, but hear me out. How finance works, how derivatives work, how the Black-Scholes option pricing model works, how complex systems emerge, how semiconductors have evolved because of traditional capitalism -- all of these areas have created the soil for Bitcoin to develop and grow. Satoshi didn't invent the Secure Hash Algorithm 256 out of thin air. Cypherpunks like Tim May and Hal Finney had been in search of digital, stateless, private money for decades... until the greatest "anon" who ever lived, finally found a recipe in 2008. The Problem with Fiat Was Still Invisible To Me But even as recently as early 2024, I was still on the "orange fence." Then I listened to an event where Saylor was on stage with Peter Diamandis and a Strategy MSTR investor in the audience essentially asked him, "I have made so much money on your stock, why should I buy Bitcoin?" The next few minutes were a masterclass for me. Here was a guy who spoke my language of markets, derivatives, and economics with the knowledge and conviction that only an MIT engineer could. Saylor explained how he could offer convertible bonds to investors and arbitrageurs that created a packaged, lower-risk form of Bitcoin volatility for them. He was essentially siphoning-off capital from Wall Street to build his revolution -- that he now teaches other corporations. I went on to watch more of his interviews and presentations about his 2020 "conversion" moment. Saylor admits he was acting out of desperation during the pandemic when his company was barely growing and he might only have a 2-3 years of cash runway. But when he studied "the problem" of run-away inflation from deficit-driven fiat printing, it became crystal clear that a digital, secure, finite-supply asset was "the solution." You couldn't run and you couldn't hide from dollar debasement. And I already agreed with him that a precious relic like gold couldn't be the only way. This was a turning point in my Bitcoin education. I trusted Saylor's knowledge, his conviction, and his long-term plan. So I hit the books to learn all I could about monetary history and fiat debasement. And to get my two burning questions answered about security and scarcity. I had always taught investors that we could easily beat price inflation with stocks and real estate. Now I suddenly saw the "hidden inflation" of excessive money printing -- driven by endless fiscal deficits. And then I saw what it could do to silently degrade any investment portfolio with another 5-10% of annual monetary inflation. My "Gradually, Then Suddenly" Moment In the podcast, Trey Sellers and I talk about the work of Parker Lewis who wrote the 2023 book Gradually, Then Suddenly: A Framework for Understanding Bitcoin as Money to explain the inevitable Bitcoin monetary revolution. I hadn't read it, but the title sounded like a microcosm of the thought process one goes through as they study Bitcoin. We discuss the view that you should be skeptical as you do "the work" of understanding Bitcoin. And there are no dumb questions. Is it a commodity? Is it money? Is it a better store of value than gold? Who controls it? Can it be outlawed? These are all smart and essential questions that you must pursue to their ends. Once I "got Bitcoin" I wanted to explain it to everyone I knew. I started a small education group for friends and family and began recommending to investors to at least get started with the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT. Once they had some skin in the game, I knew their interest and learning curve would accelerate like mine did. And in October, I published an article that basically said, "Get ready to go all-in because Bitcoin is about to breakout above $70k and it will go very quickly to $85K and then $100k." That prediction worked and my followers and I made some dough using call option strategies. Then things got tricky as Bitcoin stalled again below $100k. The nation-state 'sovereign cavalry' was not showing up to send Bitcoin to $125,000 as I had imagined would happen in Q1. But my conviction remains that Bitcoin can hit $500k in 5 years by 2030 -- that's only a 38% CAGR and there's no reason that Bitcoin shouldn't ascend to a ratio with gold of at least 25% to 50% of gold's current $22 trillion market cap. In fact, in my October article, I give you 10 reasons -- without even comparing the two assets. I think they will coexist for some time, just like the US dollar will still be a central part of the global economy in 2050. Here's that article... Scaling Laws 101: It's Beyond Exponential and Bitcoin Will Benefit I also have a special gift if you are trading options. My PDF, titled OptionsPhysics 101: Put-Call Parity, is the foundation of understanding and working with options even before you learn about volatility strategies, Black-Scholes, and the greeks. That link will lead you to the Gumroad site where thousands of creators post their work for free and for pay. In my case, I just post valuable long-form content there for free. Cantor Equity Partners and Twenty One Capital Speaking of scaling, there was an incident last week that attracted lots of attention in the Bitcoin community. First, Bitcoin surged 6.8% Tuesday April 22, its biggest one-day rally since November 11 (the Sunday March 2 rally of +9% I'm not counting because it was immediately reversed on 3/3). I was scratching my head about that surge for days, until I started to see the chatter about a new Bitcoin "consortium" to challenge Michael Saylor's Strategy, announced on April 23. The announcement was previewed on Tuesday evening by the Financial Times (FT) and Reuters... CANTOR NEARS $3BN CRYPTO VENTURE WITH SOFTBANK AND TETHER - FT TETHER WOULD CONTRIBUTE $1.5BN OF BITCOIN, WHILE SOFTBANK AND BITFINEX WOULD CONTRIBUTE $900MN AND $600MN- FT This consortium came about after Cantor Equity Partners CEP went public as a SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company) in August 2024, raising $100 million through the sale of 10 million Class A ordinary shares. Brandon Lutnick, son of U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and chair of brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, somehow found his way to partner with SoftBank, Tether and Bitfinex to create a multibillion-dollar bitcoin acquisition vehicle. And their plans appear to be for a 'soft IPO' of Twenty One Capital as a SPAC entity under the stock symbol XXI. XXI expects to launch with more than 42,000 bitcoin, which would make it the third-largest bitcoin treasury in the world, it said. The transaction gives Twenty One a $3.6 billion enterprise value. It is expected to provide $540 million in proceeds to Twenty One as the company also entered a subscription agreement with investors to raise $585 million of additional capital. Some of the net proceeds will be used to purchase additional bitcoin. Shares of Cantor will continue trading on Nasdaq under the symbol CEP until the transaction closes. And that's okay, as they've already created quite a few millionaires in just a week. CEP shares vaulted +55% off of $10 on 4/23 and the next day traded as high as $39 but fell back to $25 on some fast profit-taking. On the morning of May 1 as I write this, CEP has hit $57 for a gain of over 400% since the announcement. The backroom deals in Washington DC should never cease to surprise us. And with crypto, the grifts have grown even greater as suggested by this morning's New York Times article "Trump Shapes the Policy on Crypto, and Cashes In: Hushed Deals and Foreign Investors Propel President's Digital Money Start-Up." But after we recover from the shock of the latest "political blessing on private wealth" (bypassing all regulatory functions in favor of crony capitalism) we must then consider if any of this can benefit us... vs the insiders who easily grow their fortunes. The one way this works for you and I as Bitcoin investors is that this new institutional demand will make a scarce commodity-asset-protocol even more scarce. So if you buy this year, you'll have increased leverage on the future where 95% of the population still doesn't understand or care about the Bitcoin monetary revolution. I don't think Twenty One Capital will meet its claim to be the biggest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world. There's a low probability they will catch Saylor's Strategy which has amassed over 550,000 BTC. But the race is heating up among big players. In the last slide of my video presentation (link below), I show a favorite Saylor image of the greatest purchases on the American frontier, from Louisiana to Alaska, and I say: 'This is our chance to grab big pieces of the new world for ourselves… while it's still on sale.' Remember that there are only 22 million 'dollar' millionaires in the USA. And that means there's not enough Bitcoin for them all to own even ONE. Now is our time. Bitcoin For Family Offices in 500 Seconds To wrap this up, I encourage everyone to watch the video linked above. My goal was to encourage busy HNW individuals to give just a few minutes to understand why their assets were not entirely safe in the dollar system of stocks, bonds, real estate, and private equity. But the real message is this: it won't move the needle for HNW as much as it will for you and I. So my goal here is really for all of us to learn quickly about monetary debasement and investment alternatives outside of any fiat system. It will make you think strongly about why you need to allocate a portion of your savings outside of the stock market and real estate into Bitcoin -- either directly with self-custody or just getting your beak wet with the iShares Bitcoin ETF IBIT. Where to Learn More about Bitcoin and Unchained If you go to the Unchained website, you'll find educational resources and a link to their YouTube channel with lots of good discussion and tutorials. And Trey Sellers will be speaking at the world's largest Bitcoin conference May 27-29 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The theme of Bitcoin 2025 is "Embrace Game Theory." One more thought: As many of my followers know, I am building a free youth STEM education organization that I want to be funded by Bitcoin. I already know that when I launch the non-profit and begin accepting Bitcoin donations to fund it for a century or three, I will be calling Trey and Unchained to help me plan it properly for such longevity. I leave you with an X post by Saylor on Monday 4/28... When banks finally bless Bitcoin and the experts agree it's a good idea, everyone will want to buy it, no one will need to sell it, and you won't be able to afford it. Talk soon, Cooker Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Campaign ME
24-03-2025
- Business
- Campaign ME
Connecting with consumers beyond sales through meaningful Ramadan campaigns
Ramadan is a time for spiritual and cultural sensitivity, with 91 per cent of the MENA audience listening to and reading more religious content. Often, brands turn Ramadan into merely a marketing opportunity to boost sales, losing sight of its important meaningful aspect. Which begs the question, how can companies create more nuanced and meaningful marketing campaigns to build consumer loyalty and establish an emotional connection with their audience in the long-term. The role of cultural and religious sensitivity in Ramadan marketing Ramadan is a time of deep reflection, community, and spirituality, making cultural and religious sensitivity essential for brands looking to connect meaningfully with local audiences in MENA. According to Ipsos research, the majority of the MENA audience practice their faith by increasing their exposure to religious content (91 per cent), praying more (95 per cent), and engaging with the community by helping those in need (95 per cent). Therefore, every detail, colour, symbol, timing, and messaging, plays a crucial role in creating an authentic and respectful marketing campaign. When designing marketing campaigns for Ramadan, it is best to use colours that hold cultural and spiritual significance for Muslims, such as green, which symbolises prosperity and faith, gold, representing generosity and celebration, deep blue, transmitting peace and reflection, and white, signifying purity, sincerity, and spiritual enlightenment. Brands can also use Ramadan-themed visuals, like crescent moons, lanterns, and warm colours, to evoke a sense of tradition and togetherness. Another aspect of communication relates to the mindfulness of the timing of content publication in the evening during Ramadan, particularly for restaurants and food brands. Brands align their campaigns with Ramadan's values, such as generosity, togetherness, and compassion: for instance, Emirates Airline's 'The Journey of Faith' campaign highlights spiritual journeys during Ramadan, featuring travel packages to culturally significant Islamic heritage sites. In another initiative, Emirates Airline celebrated Ramadan by offering culturally inspired meal boxes with traditional dishes and Al Sadu patterns, along with special inflight religious content, making the journey more meaningful for passengers. By respecting cultural nuances and Ramadan's true essence, brands can create impactful marketing campaigns that resonate with their audience in an authentic and meaningful way. The power of inclusive and meaningful content in Ramadan initiatives It is essential for brands to uphold the principle of inclusivity in their social initiatives during Ramadan by supporting charitable projects, selecting the right partners for collaborations, and integrating social agenda into their corporate communications and content. Inclusive content helps brands connect more deeply with their audience and strengthen customer loyalty. TikTok serves as a strong example of how engaging and inclusive content can benefit companies in supporting charitable initiatives and the spirit of giving back to the community. TikTok promotes an inclusive Ramadan community, which is proven by its internal research: 68 per cent of consumers actively search for diverse Ramadan content on TikTok. As a vivid example, The Children with Disability Association (CWDA), a non-profit organisation from Saudi Arabia, became an inspiring example on how social media content can draw an audience's attention to important issues and raise awareness of the work of non-profit organisations. During Ramadan 2023, the CWDA used the power of storytelling and empathy to connect with people and encourage donations through TikTok. Knowing that trust is key, they put the real heroes of their work, children, families, and dedicated staff, at the centre of their content. By using Spark Ads, every like, comment, and share helped grow their community in an authentic way. The response was incredible: in just one month, their TikTok following jumped from 488 to over 16,000, with 22 million video views. This campaign proved how meaningful, heartfelt content can inspire action, especially during Ramadan, a time when generosity and giving are at the heart of people's minds. Authentic storytelling: Social media and content strategies during Ramadan During Ramadan, brands can increase their marketing efforts, focusing on authentic storytelling — creating content that genuinely connects emotionally. Engaging video content, influencer partnerships, and live, interactive campaigns are perfect ways to capture attention and make the message feel more personal. YouTube, being one of the video platforms for online consumption during Ramadan in the Middle East, conducted deep research on video consumption in the region and found out that creator content is found to be 2x times more credible and relatable than branded content, and the creators' authenticity and relatability have a positive impact on content recall. That's why the focus of the content should be on human relationships and images of family coming together — human-centric content truly resonates during Ramadan, promoting the values of generosity, community, family traditions, and spirituality. For instance, the IKEA Ramadan campaign in the UAE, 'Togetherness Assembled,' highlighted the importance of family and togetherness during Ramadan, showing how IKEA's products help create memorable moments and meaningful connections around the Iftar table. Another strong strategy is to collaborate with local talents — artists, influencers, and niche communities — whose authenticity naturally resonates with audiences. An example is Flowwow's Ramadan campaign, where the brand partnered with Emirati artist Mariam Alobeidli to lanch a special card game, «Ramadan Moments: Heart-To-Heart Talks». The deck included 30 uniquely designed cards, with each card featuring a profound question inspired by the richness and diversity of Emirati culture, as well as the long-lasting tradition of gift-giving. The collaboration hit popularity and was featured across over 30 leading UAE media, highlighting a yearning for something meaningful that resonates with the true spirit of Ramadan. Focus on community, generosity, and meaningful experiences Hosting Iftar events is a well-established practice among brands during Ramadan, reinforcing values of generosity and community. However, to stand out, they can add cultural elements, storytelling, or interactive experiences that create deeper connections. For example, Majid Al Futtaim, the retail giant in the MENA region, organised Iftar dinners as part of their charity initiatives this year, offering meals to underprivileged communities across the UAE, while promoting their hypermarkets as community hubs during the holy month. These events not only promoted social responsibility but also created authentic, memorable experiences for customers, allowing the brands to show their commitment to the values of Ramadan beyond marketing. By promoting the true spirit of Ramadan through empathy, cultural sensitivity, and community-driven initiatives, brands can build deeper emotional connections with their audience, encouraging long-term loyalty and creating a richer customer experience. By Irina Tatarinova, Brand Director at Flowwow, a UAE-based gifting marketplace
