Friday, August 4, 2017

LA's Tech Industry Unfavorably Linked To Rise Of Steve Bannon

How is the tech industry in Los Angeles linked to the rise of Steve Bannon? An unfavorable story, published in the Washington Post on Friday, investigates the link between a "gold farming" startup in Hong Kong, which allowed videogame players to buy virtual goods on videogames (such as Everquest) which had been gathered by low wage, Chinese workers, and the rise of Breitbart. That gold farming startup, Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), was founded by prominent Los Angeles investor Brock Pierce. The back end technology for Breitbart--blamed for driving the rise of the "alt right", and arguably leading to the election of Donald Trump--was originally built by veterans of Demand Media. Brock Pierce is currently a major backer of Bitcoin and Ethereum, co-founded such companies as GoCoin, Playsino, Evertune, Xfire, and many others, and is an advisor to Hyperloop Transportation Technology.

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