Austin Hill Austin Hill is an entrepreneur and active investor.In 1997 Austin co-founded Zero–Knowledge Systems, which became the largest and most funded research company focused around cypherpunk technologies for privacy, anonymity, and electronic cash.The company also pioneered anonymous networking technology and invented cryptographic identity trust metric systems.Since leaving Zero–Knowledge in 2006 Austin has been an active investor, game designer, and a neuroscientist researcher who designed happiness games based on gift economics and social capital.Austin has been involved in the founding of approximately 300 companies as an investor, board member or active instigating participant.In 2013 Adam Back inventor of bitcoin's HashCash proof of work system, a former cypher scientist at Zero Knowledge, reunited with Austin to found the BlockStream Project.Joined by other founding team members, the BlockStream project includes many of the core developers of bitcoin responsible for the recent invention of the side chain technologies.

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and cryptocurrency, are disrupting the world of finance, possibly leaving some behind in the dust.Cramer's lightning round: You're swinging for the fences in this space Jim Cramer flies through his take on callers' favorite stocks, including this optical play.ethereal blade slowCramer's game plan: In a market on edge, stick with the bulls Jim Cramer looks to the stocks and events on his radar next week, including a meeting at Cisco and a key Fed report.ecb bitcoin reportHere's what it looks like to live in the first level of Super Mario Bros.ethereum price tickerDesigner Abhishek Singh built an AR app for Microsoft Hololens that makes the real world look like Super Mario Bros.bitcoin mehr verbindungen

Top States For Business CNBC's annual study measures all 50 states on more than 60 different metrics.Paris Airshow 2017 The International Paris Air Show is celebrating its 52nd anniversary this year with the big movers and shakers in the aerospace and defense industry all attending the event.bitcoin mining hardware linuxDalian - World Economic Forum International business and political leaders gather in Dalian, China for the 2017 instalment of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions.cyprus bitcoin atmBitcoinWhy You Shouldn’t Invest in BitcoinKerry CloseAs bitcoin prices dominate headlines, you might be wondering whether you should invest in the popular cryptocurrency.Probably not: It's just too volatile.The virtual currency is known for wild fluctuations in price.The value of one bitcoin—which was created in 2008 by an anonymous programmer or group of programmers—reached its all-time high of $1,165.89 in November 2013 before taking a major dive, according to CoinDesk data.Since then, prices have more or less inched up, and at the turn of the year, they started to approach record highs.

On Thursday, the value of a bitcoin reached $1,153.02.However, later Thursday morning, prices suddenly fell by about $200."Liquiditydried up—no shorts, no sellers, which means a volatile little bubble formed quickly," Peter Smith, chief executive of bitcoin wallet Blockchain, told CNBC.Those sudden ups and downs would be bad news for your portfolio.Although bitcoin had a more than 100% return on investment in 2016, it's also five times more volatile than the S&P 500, said Campbell Harvey, a professor of finance at Duke University, who described bitcoin as "an extremely risky investment."Evenif you were to buy bitcoin low and sell high, you still might not see the big payday you're hoping for."You try to sell it, and by the time the order goes through, the price may have dropped," said Matthew Elbeck, a professor of marketing at Troy University."It's really, really not worth it for the ordinary consumer."Ifyou do choose to take the plunge and buy a bitcoin, make sure it's a very small part of your diversified portfolio—and that you can afford to lose your investment.

"I would never recommend this on a stand-alone basis," Harvey said.Still, for some people living internationally—like Venezuelans plagued with a shortage of cash and those in China, where the government has restricted movement of capital outside of the country—bitcoin presents an attractive option to get ahold of cash, Harvey said.Its rising popularity in these countries are part of the reason behind bitcoin's recent surge.Regardless of bitcoin's ups and downs, the technology behind it—particularly the blockchain, the common ledger that the virtual currency uses—could have a long-lasting impact as a medium of exchange.As Harvey told MONEY's Taylor Tepper in 2015:For me, though, I look at Bitcoin not just as a currency, but what it could do in the future in other applications.Think of the Bitcoin technology as a way to exchange and verify ownership.It’s like getting into your car with your smartphone.You present cryptographic proof of ownership.You’re the owner, and it’s verified through this common ledger.