The total market value of cryptocurrencies surpassed $1 trillion for the first time Thursday amid a frenzied and volatile rally in Bitcoin to yet another record. Cryptocurrencies hit the milestone after a fivefold climb in market value in the past year, data from tracker CoinGecko shows. Strategists have cited demand from speculative retail traders, trend-following quant funds, the rich and even institutional investors as among the reasons for the surge. Bitcoin rose as much as 5 per cent on Thursday to touch a high of $37,802 and has more than quadrupled in the past…

January 6, 2021 5 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. There’s no question that the current health and economic crisis has shifted priorities for small businesses. However, one priority above all remains unchanged and that’s building a healthy bottom line. Profit isn’t the only priority, of course, but it’s a major focus. Staying profitable means staying in business, and that usually means marketing.  Yet with all that’s changing around you daily, how can you as a small-business owner maximize your company’s marketing efforts while addressing shifting consumer expectations, economic downturns and startups, and different buyer behavior? …

The Income Tax department on Wednesday said it has issued refunds worth over Rs 1.64 lakh crore to over 1.41 crore taxpayers so far this fiscal. This includes Personal income tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 53,070 crore and corporate tax refunds of over Rs 1.10 lakh crore during this period. “CBDT issues refunds of over Rs. 1,64,016 crore to more than 1.41 crore taxpayers between 1st April,2020 to 04th January,2021.Income tax refunds of Rs. 53,070 crore have been issued in 1,38,85,044 cases & corporate tax refunds of Rs. 1,10,946 crore…

Snapping its 10-session rising streak, equity benchmark Sensex tumbled 264 points on Wednesday as investors booked profits in Reliance Industries, as well as IT, finance and FMCG stocks amid mixed global cues. However, a recovering rupee and sustained foreign fund inflows restricted the fall, traders said. After touching its record intra-day high of 48,616.66 in early trade, the 30-share BSE index pared all gains to end 263.72 points or 0.54 per cent lower at 48,174.06. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 53.25 points or 0.38 per cent to 14,146.25. It touched a…

January 5, 2021 5 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The pandemic and everything related to it caught many business owners by surprise and, even worse, caused some businesses to fold. Yelp reported that permanent business closures have reached 97,966, representing 60{bce2ac57dae147ae13b811f47f24d80c66c6ab504b39dda4a9b6e8ac93725942} of closed businesses that won’t be reopening. Imagine investing so much into an entity, and because of some virus, things start to slow down, till they eventually go under. It’s the new year, and nobody knows what it holds. But as a business owner, you have to plan and fortify your business against such…

In 1977, Rev. Leon Sullivan, an American Baptist minister, civil rights leader, and corporate board director, created a set of guidelines to engage U.S. corporations in resisting and eliminating legalized systemic racism under apartheid in South Africa. Known as the Sullivan Principles, these guidelines urged company leaders to promote racial integration in company facilities; equal pay for equal work; the advancement of more Black and “nonwhite” employees to supervisory positions; improved housing, schooling, and recreation and health facilities for all employees; and other targeted measures. More than 40 years later, we are witnessing a similar call to action. The killings…

Gold prices hit a two-month high on Tuesday, lifted by a lacklustre dollar as investors awaited the US Senate runoffs in Georgia that will determine which party controls Congress and prospects of additional fiscal stimulus. Spot gold was up 0.12 per cent to $1,946.52 per ounce by 9.16 pm IST, after hitting its highest since November 9 at $1,947.96. “Much will depend on the outcome of the runoff elections in the state of Georgia in the US and there are certainly hopes among market participants that the Democrats are to win…

January 4, 2021 6 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. History has proven that pandemics and outbreaks have pushed forward the evolution of ecommerce.  In 2003, Alibaba had to quarantine almost all its staff due to the positive SARS diagnosis of one staff member. This period became the incubation period where Jack Ma perfected the Taobao website and launched his first C2C eCom platform. The SARS coronavirus pandemic was a buffer for Taobao and Alibaba as a whole, as they registered immense profits.  During pandemics, online transactions become habitual for a large chunk of the world’s…