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The Altcoin Rises

O n May 11 2020, the crypto world experienced the phenomena knows as Bitcoin halving . For those who are still a little looney-toons regarding this phenomena, here's the lowdown . Moral of the story is that, as the Bitcoin supply decreased and it's 21 million market cap slowly approached, it was widely accepted that the low supply and high demand will increase the price of the cryptocurrency back to its previous highs. Basic business right? Wrong! Source: Equity Trust Company BTC prices actually fell and after briefly holding steady, are only just rising above the 10000 USD range. Surprise eh? Well, we are not done yet. Because while the most valuable crypto coin wasn't showing it's expected gains, some other cryptocurrencies shot to outer space. There was no SpaceX rocket nor a Tesla Roadster involved. These "altcoins" bumped up in their market value thanks to the entire underlying system of cryptocurrency: investor speculation.  But what exactly are these ...

Not Everything Sucks In This Pandemic

If COVID-19 was a YouTube channel, it would be pretty darn happy right now. Imagining starting your vlogging career in December 2019 and now, 6 months into 2020 having well over 10 million subscribers? What a big hit!

Unfortunately, unlike perhaps Pewdiepie vs T.Series, no one really wants to subscribe to a global pandemic. Cause in a standard YouTube channel, however dumb it may be, the worst-case scenario is wasted time of 10 -20 mins. Not death. COVID-19 leads to death. Not a channel you want to subscribe to.

The pandemic has ruined our day to day lives to an extent never seen before by this generation. But even in these dark days, our world still moves on and creates some great news to warm our hearts

A man receives a knighthood for walking around his garden

That's right. Screw the Olympics. You complete a few laps around your garden and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will put a shiny sword on your neck twice. I jest of course, as these were no ordinary laps, and completed by no ordinary man. 
Twas the one and only Captain Sir Tom Moore, a WW2 Veteran who decide to complete laps around his garden to raise funds for the NHS Charities Together organization. 

Coronavirus: Captain Tom Moore to be knighted after raising £33m ...
Source: Sky News

The idea was simple. The 99-year-old would be walking with his...um...walker for all the days leading up to his 100th birthday, all to raise 1000 British Pounds. 
Guess what? When Tom here hit the big century, he had raised over 30 Million Pounds. From 1000 to 30,000,000. For his wonderful achievements at the ripe old age of one hundred, he was knighted on the 20th of May

The World becomes less Polluted

Ever since human's had to stay in, Mother Earth has slowly begun healing. Animals can be spotted casually walking on the empty streets. The flora and fauna have started increasingly inhabiting urban areas. 

Coronavirus Lockdown: Nature takes back world's empty city streets ...
Source: Deccan Herald

The skies of major cities all the way from Los Angeles to Mumbai became clearer an cleaner. Asthmatic people are now celebrating like never before.

Coronavirus lockdowns have sent pollution plummeting ...
Source: NBC News

The snowy tops of the Himalayas are now more 4K HD than ever. Venice had the Rise of The Almost Transparent Canals and the Return of the Dolphin (which is fake).

Venice's Canals Are Beautifully Clear As Italy's Coronavirus ...
Source: Travel+Leisure

 In the countries under lockdown, the drop in pollutant levels in the air was staggering. Both Europe and China, where the novel coronavirus originated, so a drop in NO2 levels by almost 40%. NO2 here isn't the nitrous which makes Vin Diesel drive rapidly for his "family". In fact, NO2, also known as Nitrous Oxide, is a dangerous gas which causes respiratory issues. So in a weirdly convoluted way, the COVID-19 crisis is actually reducing the number of deaths every year, thanks to its impact on pollution

Protests demanding change

Racism is an issue that had been overlooked far too long by our society. Almost every country has some form of racism, directed either subtly or just good old explicitly. However, George Floyd's needless murder at the hands of Minessota Police Cops seems to have shocked most of the world into action. 

The Story Behind The Mural At The George Floyd Memorial
Source: Forbes

Why now though, with such forms of police brutality taken place multiple times before? 

People were frustrated at being unable to live their lives thanks to the pandemic lockdown. The frustration combined with the widespread viewer count to the chilling video thanks to almost staying at home, well, that led to many people reach the boilover point and now here we are.  

George Floyd's death sparks global protests against racism and ...
Source: Slate.com

The best part is that while this murder took place in the United States of America, protests against systemic racism took place in other parts of the world too. All the way from Japan to South Africa, from Sweden to Brazil, people were protesting because they had had enough. They demanded change, whether it be for Black Lives Matter, government corruption, to police brutality and negativity against minorities. Some protests have led to change, others yet to make an impact. 

However, the fact that humanity has awoken to the problems facing our society, apart from Pennywise asking children to play with him, and are willing to fight for it, that is a beautiful sentiment.

After all, what matters most is the first step, no?

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