CSUN On Point

Cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, has been making headlines recently, but its true meaning isn’t well understood by the public.

“Bitcoin is basically a digital currency,” said Alula Zeryihun, a CSUN pre-accountancy student who organized CSUN’s Blockchain Summit last year.

Consumers can use this currency to send payments from peer to peer.

“A person can send money to another person without the need of a bank or any centralized authority to facilitate the transfer of the fund,” Zeryihun said.

But it would be difficult to explain bitcoin without talking about blockchain. Blockchain is a ledger, or a record-keeping mechanism. It’s a way of keeping a record of where, and to whom, bitcoin is sent.

Morgan Steckler, vice president of CoinIRA, said it’s important to note that there’re different types of block chains for Bitcoin.

Steckler said one of the advantages of using Bitcoin is being able to transfer money without having to go through a middleman such as a banking institution.

“You’re no longer tied to a bank account,” Steckler said. “You’re no longer controlled by these walls. You will become the bank, and you can go anywhere in the world and you can convert it [to physical currency] wherever you want.”

Steckler said Bitcoin is completely safe because it’s a one-way transaction. However, consumers still need to educate themselves and do some research before using this currency.

Steckler said about 800,000 companies are using Bitcoin as a form of payment. These companies include Microsoft, GE, Amazon, Tesla, among others.

Zeryihun said he doesn’t think traditional financial establishments will completely disappear. “If anything I see some sort of integration of block chain technology into what’s already here today.”

Moderator: Savannah Palacio

Producer: Kelcey Henderson

Anchor: Karen Elle

Social Media Editor: James Farr

Reporters: Karen Elle, James Farr, Kelcey Henderson, Son Ly, Savannah Palacio

­­Whether or not college athletes should get paid has become a controversial topic in sports in recent years.

College sports as a whole pull in about twelve billion dollars annually from television, marketing, school ticket sales and student fees, but NCAA players get none of it.

Ninety-six percent of the money the NCAA generates is used to build stadiums and sports facilities, pay staff, coaches and to buy sports equipment.

“I don’t think we should have an actual income for playing,” said CSUN baseball player and starting pitcher Conner O’Neil. “However, I don’t think we should have to pay to go to school either.”

It’s no secret that being a college-student athlete is hard work and takes outstanding time management and balancing skills, but along with that comes many positive benefits and potentially life-changing opportunities.

“I think besides those being on scholarship or getting a free education, they have access to strength and conditioning coaches, sports psychologists, facilities, good coaching,” said CSUN Kinesiology Professor and expert in sports psychology Dr. Jacob Jensen. “I feel like all of that adds up to thousands and thousands of dollars, and I don’t see that they need to be getting paid more than that.”

Electronic Arts’ most popular video games were NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball, but EA Sports has discontinued its college video game series amid lawsuits raised by former players seeking compensation against the NCAA. The students sued the NCAA claiming that the organization had violated US antitrust laws, by prohibiting the athletes from receiving any of the revenue the NCAA earned by selling their likenesses.

Although this topic has been an ongoing debate, what separates professionals from amateurs is the ‘business aspect’ of sports, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon.

Moderator: Kiesha Phillips

Anchor: Celene Zavala

Producer: Jordan Williams

Social Media Editor: Delmy Moran

Reporters: Delmy Moran, Brittni Perez, Kiesha Phillips, Daniel Saad, Jordan Williams, Celene Zavala