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Teleconference company Zoom (ZM) turned its name into an everyday word in a matter of months but constant use of the platform has given rise to a phrase of its own: Zoom fatigue.

While some users yearn for in-person interactions, Zoom believes it can develop a videoconference experience that customers will favor over face-to-face conversations and it plans to do so within the next five or 10 years, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan told Yahoo Finance at its All Markets Summit on Monday.

Yuan lamented the absence from the Zoom platform of social rituals like handshakes and hugs, but pointed to the company's work on developing augmented and virtual reality.

"We truly believe video communication like Zoom can give a better experience than face-to-face meetings in the future," Yuan says. "We are not there yet but [we're] working to get us there."

Zoom, which went public in 2019, saw user growth and revenue explode when the pandemic forced hundreds of millions in the US into their homes. But as the pandemic continued and videoconferences became a mainstay of work and social life, some users grew exhausted.

Eighty-one percent of US adults say they've talked with others over video at some point since the onset of the pandemic last February, according to a Pew poll released last month. But of those who've used the technology, 40% say they've felt worn out from spending time on the calls, the survey found.

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In May, Yuan told the Wall Street Journal that he was experiencing Zoom fatigue himself. But on Monday, Yuan said that he no longer feels tired of using the product, noting that he cut down his schedule from up to 19 video meetings in a day to five or six.

Still, Yuan has advocated for hybrid office schedules that include both in-person and remote work, saying that the company is in the process of moving toward that approach.

"We are human beings and need social interaction," Yuan says. "Unfortunately, Zoom does not have that feature yet. Like, we cannot shake hands with each other; I cannot give a hug."

"We need to get together," he added. "That is why the hybrid work is the wave of the future: Two days in the office and two days at home."

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan attends the opening bell at Nasdaq as his company holds its IPO, Thursday, April 18, 2019, in New York. The videoconferencing company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Shares of Zoom are down about 19% since its second quarter earnings release, on Aug. 30, when it exceeded analyst expectations on revenue but showed slowing growth. Revenue in the second quarter increased 54% over the same period a year earlier; as opposed to the 191% revenue spike Zoom reported in the prior quarter.

Yuan said he company is "absolutely" considering how to adapt its product for the metaverse, an immersive online experience described in recent months by CEOs in the sector including Microsoft's (MSFT) Satya Nadella and Facebook's (FB) Mark Zuckerberg as the next frontier of social technology.

"We always think about how to fully integrate," Yuan said. "Actually, we already started a while back [on] how to support [augmented reality] and [virtual reality], and I think [there are] a lot of new ideas and new innovations."

"Unfortunately, I think it will take several years," he adds.

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Zoom meetings will offer 'better experience' than face-to-face: CEO - Yahoo Finance

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act helped create the modern Internet by allowing companies like Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR), and Google (GOOG) to operate without being held liable for content posted on their platform by third parties.

But what if that changed? Not all at once as some like President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have suggested but one brick at a time.

Going at the law piece by piece is what many tech critics want, and some think health misinformation is the way to start.

Thats the idea behind a recent bill from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), co-sponsored with Sen. Ben Ray Lujn (D., N.M.) that would create an exception to Section 230 when it comes to platforms and algorithms that promote misinformation related to an existing public health emergency.

In a statement to Yahoo Finance, Klobuchar said that for far too long, online platforms have not done enough to protect the health and safety of Americans. The recent testimony from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has led to growing momentum to do something to rein in big tech, including targeted reforms to Section 230 such as her bill, she added.

The issue could be even more pointed in the coming months with a new social media network in the works from Trump (who some claim has trafficked in health misinformation) set to launch and use the protections from Section 230.

Klobuchar may have some support from the Biden administration.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (2nd R) and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki (R) talk to reporters during the daily news conference at the White House on July 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. Murthy announced the publication of a Surgeon's General's advisory titled, 'Confronting Health Misinformation,' and called on social media companies to do more to combat false information about the coronavirus vaccine and other health care topics. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In a new interview for Yahoo Finance's All Markets Summit, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said he wants aggressive action against big tech: Given the pernicious effects of health misinformation, we should keep all options on the table as we look to how to address this," he said.

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What constitutes health misinformation under the Klobuchar and Lujn bill would be up to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which would be tasked with providing guidance.

The idea has its critics. Jeff Kosseff, professor of cybersecurity law at the U.S. Naval Academy and author of a book on Section 230 titled The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet, has argued that efforts to outlaw certain social media content could face an uphill battle.

He says the idea is very well-intentioned, but it attempts to define health misinformation by allowing a single government official to issue guidance and that is what really scares me; that gets a little too much like the ministry of truth for my taste.

Kosseff notes that what is called misinformation today could swing from administration to administration. Another challenge would be how the provisions would be enforced given that much false speech is protected by the First Amendment.

Conservatives, of course, have often seen efforts to curb health misinformation as one with malicious intent.

United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy during a news conference at the White House this summer. (REUTERS/Tom Brenner)

A letter this summer from Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg slammed Murthy and the tech giant for an advisory that warned about health misinformation and offered guidance for strengthen the monitoring of misinformation and impose clear consequences for accounts that repeatedly violate platform policies.

The Hawley letter asked whether this meant social media platforms like Facebook have functionally become arms of the federal government.

The response from many Democrats is that voluntary policies arent enough to stop the flood of health misinformation weve seen over the last year.

Klobuchar and Lujn have also sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Zuckerberg demanding they take action against disinformation on their platforms, and cited a recent study which had volunteers anonymously report misinformation and found that fewer than 1 in 20 posts were actually dealt with.

The ongoing release of the Facebook Files, showing the pernicious reach of misinformation into the 2020 U.S. election, and violence in India, among other incident, is likely to increase pressure on Section 230 to be removed or at least carved up in some form.

The law has had a carveout since 2018 when Section 230 was amended to open up websites to liability for content promoting sex-trafficking victims, but many say that the move has led to unintended consequences that put sex workers in new danger.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (second from left), speaks with former Facebook employee Frances Haugen (second from right) along with Senator Richard Blumenthal as the whistleblower arrived to testify during a hearing on Capitol Hill on October 5. (DREW ANGERER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In addition to Klobuchars bill are a host of proposals on Congresss docket for reforming or revoking Section 230 from cases related to civil rights violations, to advertising, to perceived censorship of conservative voices online.

Kosseff says the core challenge to any new steps is that Congress is divided not only on the best action, but even on defining what the problem is. He says he often meets with lawmakers to discuss Section 203 and when it comes to health misinformation, there's about half of Congress who would disagree with that even being a problem, and they would say the problem is that the platforms already voluntarily do too much blocking of content.

Whether the Biden administration tries to push lawmakers to pass some sort of action in the coming months is unclear, but Murthy says weve got an extraordinary problem in our hands, and its one that requires technology companies to step up and take some responsibility.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

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If Section 230 is going to be dismantled, some say health misinformation is a way to start - Yahoo Finance

Apple's third-generation AirPods pack fantastic audio and many of the features found on the more expensive Pros, but they don't offer active-noise cancelling. (Image: Howley)

Apple (AAPL) has finally released its long-awaited upgrade for its incredibly popular AirPods. Available Tuesday for $179, the third-generation AirPods sport a new design, better battery life, water resistance, and improved audio quality.

The third-gen Airpods slot in between Apples entry-level second-gen model, which cost $129 but lack many of those new features, and the $229 AirPods Pro, which get everything found on the latest AirPods, as well as interchangeable ear tips and active-noise cancellation.

The Pros are still undoubtedly the best option for people who want the top of the line Airpods. But for the majority of consumers, the less expensive third-gen AirPods should be their new go-tos thanks to their audio capabilities and battery life.

The third-gen AirPods get an all-new look thats more in line with the AirPods Pro. They have shorter stems than the second-gen AirPods, and the mesh around the audio driver is more open to allow for better audio passthrough.

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Unlike the second-gen AirPods, the third-gen model gets pressure-sensitive controls that let you squeeze their stem to pause and play music, skip songs, and call up Siri. You can also Hey, Siri to call up the assistant. Just dont do this in public. Its weird.

A nice addition to the AirPods is their new skin-detect sensor, which can determine if the earbuds are in your ear or your pocket and pause and play audio based on where they are.

Another feature Im glad Apple added to the third-gen AirPods is sweat and water resistance. Im what you could call an incredibly sweaty man. So the fact that the third-gen AirPods have both sweat and water resistance is a much-appreciated addition. That said, Ive used the second-gen AirPods while working out, and never had a problem with them shorting out due to my copious amount of sweat. Still, its comforting to know theyre protected should I get caught in a rainstorm while out for a run.

Finally, Apple has added its location tracking Find My feature to both individual third-gen AirPods. That means in addition to being able to locate their case, you can find your AirPod similar to how you would track an AirTag. You can even have the AirPods play a sound to make finding them easier.

On occasion, in the middle of the night, my cat decides that my AirPods dont need to be on my kitchen table anymore. So when I wake up in the morning, and see the case on the floor with no AirPods in sight, I usually panic and search frantically for them. Thankfully, the Find My feature now cuts out what would normally be about 20 minutes of me having to angrily push around my couch and TV stand looking around for my missing AirPods.

The latest AirPods get about an our more battery life, and are sweat and water resistant. (Image: Howley)

Despite lacking active-noise cancelling, which significantly cuts down on ambient noise,, the third-gen AirPods have excellent audio quality. Like the Pros, which do have active-noise cancelling, the third-gen AirPods get Apples Adaptive EQ and computational audio capabilities.

The Pros certainly offer exceptional audio quality, but the third-gen AirPods produce far more bass than the Pros. I was actually surprised by how much I appreciated the range of the third-gen AirPods compared to the Pros. Needless to say, the third-gen AirPods sound much better than the second-gen models.

Heres the thing, though. Because the third-gen AirPods dont have active-noise cancelling, ambient sound will bleed in. So if youre looking for something that will drown out the sound of traffic outside your window, or help block the sound of people talking on the train during your commute, youll need to crank the volume of the third-gen AirPods up pretty high.

The Pros, meanwhile, can drown out that noise without much issue, and can even do so without having to rip the knob off. Plus, they have a transparency mode that lets you amplify ambient noise. If thats your thing.

The AirPods spatial audio feature, like that found on the Pros, makes compatible music sound like its coming from all around you rather than just your left and right side. The AirPods also also get movement detection. That way, if youre listening to a show, and turn your head to the left, it will sound like the audio is changing direction to keep it centered.

As for the fit, Ive never had a problem with AirPods, and the third-gen versions are no different. But since everyones ears are different, you can usually go to the Apple Store and try them on in person.

Apples AirPods Pro are still the best choice if youre looking for iPhone-friendly earbuds with active-noise cancelling. And for users who need the feature to better enjoy their tunes, and travelers who need to drown out ambient noise, thats enough reason to buy the Pros.

That said, for users who are just looking for a great pair of earbuds and dont necessarily need active-noise cancelling, the third-gen AirPods are my new go-tos. They offer excellent sound quality, pack a host of premium features, and cost $70 less than the Pros.

The second-gen AirPods are still a solid option, but the sound quality and water and sweat resistance make the third-gen models a far more compelling option.

Now if youll excuse me, Im off to sweat all over my third-gen AirPods.

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As supply-chain bottlenecks persist, investors are preparing for backlogs to continue into next year, and thats fueling concerns of even higher inflation.

The biggest risk that we have right now is that inflation expectations become unanchored, Katie Nixon, Northern Trust Wealth Management CIO, said Monday at Yahoo Finance's All Markets Summit when discussing higher prices driven by the current supply-chain crisis. We have seen expectations rise pretty notably over the past couple of weeks.

To put inflationary pressures in perspective, the Consumer Price Index has climbed at least 5% on an annual basis for the past five months. The most recent reading showed inflation picked up 0.4% in September, bringing the year-over-year climb to 5.4%, and in turn, matching the largest annual gain since August 2008.

And consumer expectations for inflation remain elevated, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Inflation expectations for the year ahead rose to 5.3% last month, marking the eleventh monthly increase in a row and a new high since the start of the survey in 2013.

Higher inflation expectations among investors and consumers come as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned last week that supply-side constraints have gotten worse, and that the risks are now for longer and more persistent bottlenecks.

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The White House is paying close attention to the issue as well as higher prices hit Americans at home. President Biden laid out his plan to keep the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help alleviate supply-chain pressures, but a number of experts caution that his plan doesnt go far enough, and in turn will do little to tame inflation in the short term.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance Live, American Apparel and Footwear Association CEO and President Stephen Lamar said ordering 24/7 operations at key West Coast ports is "too late to do much now."

It really is a crisis that has taken on unprecedented proportions, explained Lamar, referring to the supply-chain issues. This is really going to require the concerted and continuous effort by the U.S. government to really try to move us forward and move us out of the crisis that we're experiencing right now.

While the broader market may not reflect investors concerns given the fact that were hovering near all-time highs, policymakers and strategists are keeping a close eye on rising prices, and its an issue that Nixon expects to take about a year to work through.

We are seeing [inflation] expectations rise as supply-chain issues become more prolonged than we had anticipated ... Its probably the biggest risk in the market right now, Nixon added. But we do think, though, a year from now investors will not be worried about inflation. This will pass, its just going to take a little bit longer.

Seana Smith anchors Yahoo Finance Lives 3-5 p.m. ET program. Follow her on Twitter @SeanaNSmith

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Inflation is the 'biggest risk to the market': Northern Trust Wealth Management CIO - Yahoo Finance

Hat tip to Goldman Sachs for taking a somewhat contrarian take on the longer-term outlook for inflation.

Whether it proves correct is anyone's guess as headlines continue on price spikes for commodities and consumer goods.

"We are boosting our sequential inflation assumptions for Q4 and early 2022. We now expect year-on-year core PCE inflation of 4.3% at year-end, 3.0% in June 2022, and 2.15% in December 2022 (vs. 4.25%, 2.7% and 2.0% previously). This slower resolution of supply constraints means that year-on-year inflation will be higher in the immediate aftermath of tapering than we had previously expected. While we expect inflation to be on a sharp downward trajectory at that point and to continue falling through end-2022, this higher-for-longer path increases the risk of an earlier hike in 2022," said Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius in a new research note on Tuesday.

Hatzius sees three drivers of cooling inflation in 2022.

First is an improved supply of semiconductors as manufacturers such as Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor ramp up production. Second, a better supply of labor that will likely help tame hourly wage inflation. And lastly, the wind down of U.S. port congestion which should mean a tempering in freight costs and potentially, fewer prices increases by companies.

"A quicker flow of imports would help to alleviate shortages and reduce inflationary pressures for items such as furniture and sporting goods," points out Hatzius.

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To be sure, the thought of a "sharp downward trajectory" in inflation currently is hard to imagine.

"Hyperinflation is going to change everything. Its happening," Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted to his 5.8 million followers late Friday.

Dorsey's tweet has sparked a raging social media debate on whether hyperinflation is around the bend, or actually happening now with oil prices climbing to $90 a barrel, freight costs going through the roof due to supply chain bottlenecks and giant companies lifting prices materially on consumers.

"People have different definitions of transitory. I'm not quite sure how long you would define transitory these days. I mean, I think the real question is, do we see expected cyclical inflation or does it turn into a structural inflation? I don't think it's the latter one, personally. But I think with the inflation environment, we will see around us for some time. It's not going to go away overnight and we're prepared to deal with that," Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer said on Yahoo Finance Live.

Whirlpool continues to push through price increases to offset a $1 billion inflationary hit to profits this year.

Scotch tape maker 3M is also dealing with high levels of inflation that CEO Mike Roman doesn't see abating anytime soon.

"We have been talking about inflation since the first quarter. We called out what we thought the impact was, we put a range around it. As we came into the third quarter we updated the range about in the middle to the higher-end of our range. So we continue to see inflation increasing as we have come through the year. As we look out, it's difficult to estimate where it's going to go," said Roman on Yahoo Finance Live.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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Inflation will plunge in 2022: Goldman Sachs - Yahoo Finance

Facebook (FB), in the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons, is in uncharted territory for reasons partly of its own making, prominent technology entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian told Yahoo Finance.

Whistleblower Francis Haugen, who told lawmakers how her former employer puts profits ahead of the mental well being of its users, sparked a firestorm that was followed by a worldwide outage at Facebook and its apps Instagram and WhatsApp.

Afterward, CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly signed off on an internal effort to push pro-Facebook content on users News Feeds. Theyre just the latest in a string of scandals to plague the worlds top social media platform.

Were in territory that I dont think any of us expected, Ohanian, who founded Reddit, told Yahoo Finance Live in an interview this week.

I started Reddit in 2005 and Zuck started Facebook in 2003. We were building things that we thought we would like and other college kids would like, and the reality is its having much bigger implications on far more people than we ever expected," he added.

When asked if Zuckerberg should step down as Facebooks CEO, Ohanian answered with a question, Does that come down to the shareholders voting? I dont know, he said.

It disappoints me when leaders lead by reacting as opposed to making hard decisions and leading from the front lines as opposed to just being reactive to press cycles or outcry," Ohanian said. "Part of that comes from the responsibility of accepting the reality of what an impact these platforms are having.

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Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on "An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors" in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on October 23, 2019. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Less than two years after he created Reddit, Ohanian sold the company to publisher Conde Nast for $10 million. In its most recent funding round in August, Reddit was valued at $10 billion. The platform, which has become the site of choice for meme stock investors, is reportedly mulling an IPO sometime next year.

Zuckerberg is expected to face renewed calls from shareholders to ease his iron grip on the company he founded, and finally split his roles of CEO and chairman.

Despite the recent controversies, shares of Facebook are still up by double-digits year-to-date, as investors continue to bet that regulators wont clamp down on the social networking giant that now boasts nearly 2.9 billion users.

Ohanian, who is married to tennis star Serena Williams and is co-founder of the venture capitalist firm Seven Seven Six, said lawmakers are at an inherent disadvantage because they dont fully understand the technology theyre trying to regulate.

He pointed to a recent exchange that went viral on Twitter, in which Senator Richard Blumenthal grills a Facebook executive asking, Will you commit to ending Finsta?

Facebooks safety chief explained that finsta is slang to describe a private Instagram account created by teens to interact with a trusted group of friends.

There is such a gulf between the folks who understand the technology and the folks regulating it in almost all cases, Ohanian said, which presents a really big challenge because well-intentioned regulation can have really unintended consequences.

Alexis Christoforous is an anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter@AlexisTVNews.

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Alexis Ohanian on Facebook: 'Were in territory I dont think any of us expected' - Yahoo Finance

The year after Satoshi Nakamoto put out a white paper on a concept for a new peer-to-peer currency called bitcoin (BTC-USD), Jonathan Dharmapalan realized that digital currencies are the future.

The entrepreneur, a trained electrical engineer, spotted companies involved in electronic money flourishing all over, as people learned to transact electronically using apps and mobile phones. It occurred to him that governments around the world would eventually want to get in the game and create their own digital currencies.

Dharmapalan is chief executive of eCurrency a firm at the forefront of creating technology to execute a central bank digital currency (CBDB), part of cryptocurrency's next frontier. His company has been advising the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve for nearly a decade on how to create a CBDC.

With investors ranging from Ray Dalio to Vikrim Pandit, Dharmapalan advises central banks around the world like the Banks of England and Jamaica, the latter having just launched its own central bank digital currency.

As the Federal Reserve weighs whether to launch a CBDC with a forthcoming paper on the pros and cons of a digital dollar, Dharmapalan says designing a central bank digital currency depends on the existing legal framework.

Our perspective is that currency is the law, Dharmapalan said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.

Every nation or monetary union has a foundational law that defines what their currency is. So if youre thinking about a digital form of currency then the law must accommodate its existence, the executive added.

Under his interpretation, if the U.S. were to pursue a digital dollar, then Congress would have to authorize the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to issue and distribute it first.

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Photo taken on July 15, 2021 shows the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., the United States. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday that he was "legitimately undecided" on the benefits and costs of issuing a U.S. central bank digital currency CBDC. (Photo by Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images)

According to Dharmapalan, Treasury and the Fed have said a central bank digital currency would probably work in the same way paper money is created and issued, the thinking goes though theres no consensus within the U.S. government yet about how to go about doing it.

Dharmapalan thinks the odds are the current law will be extended to apply to a digital form of the dollar and that the existing infrastructure should be used.

Could we cook up a different set of rules for digital currency? Maybe, he suggested. But the odds are well rely on how currency has been defined in the past, he added.

Under the current currency system, the Treasury prints the money and hands it over to the Fed, which circulates the currency in the economy, leaning on banks from Bank of America to local banks to get cash into the hands of people.

Likewise, with a digital dollar using the current system, Treasury would need to securely mint it, then hand it off to the Fed to circulate, mostly likely through commercial banks and other financial players. It would then float to people through digital ATMs or cards or smartphones.

If we want it to be ubiquitous, digital currency must be available through ATMs, cards, smartphones and anything new we can think of. Creating access to anyone is key.Jonathan Dharmapalan, CEO of eCurrency

A CBDC likely wouldnt use blockchain or even a ledger: Dharmapalan says it would function like a physical dollar, which has no ledger. The Treasury would create a secured digital instrument thats so cryptographically secured that it could float around digitally, where the value is contained in itself.

Dharmapalan says the best way to think of it is as a photograph that cant be counterfeited or changed. If Im holding a photo and I send it to you, once its sent then I dont hold the photo anymore, he says.

Maintaining Americans privacy with a CBDC is key. The currency is secured through something called a cryptogram, thats secured with multiple layers of cryptography i.e. lots of public and private keys that enable high levels of security.

While not impossible to duplicate, it would be very difficult, similar to paper bills. Physical currency has signatures from the Treasury Secretary and the Comptroller of the Currency, various colored threads, a reflective portion and a digital watermark make it difficult to counterfeit.

If we want it to be ubiquitous, digital currency must be available through ATMs, cards, smartphones and anything new we can think of. Creating access to anyone is key, he explained.

One way, Dharmapalan suggested, is creating accessibility via inexpensive smart cards that arent any more sophisticated than a transit card so that everyone from school children to someone without a bank account can use them.

The card could have a magnetic strip or smart chip and the person could just stick it into a machine to put money on it. Another option is putting Bluetooth on the cards so that people can bump cards, and send money directly to each other between cards.

It also has to perform the same thing in all hands and have the ubiquity and the fungibility to settle debts between two parties instantaneously, by executing that value and moving it in the blink of an eye.

A $5 bill in my hand needs to buy the same thing that your $5 would buy, he says. He added, If you give me bananas and theyre $3.85, I should be able to give you $3.85 and then be able to walk away it must exchange on a person to person basis. Right now, the only thing that works that way is paper bills and coins.

Unlike private cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, a U.S. central bank digital currency would be issued by and backed by the Fed, just as U.S. paper dollar bills and coins.

Dharmapalan explained that Jamaica is a good model for the U.S. to follow. The government is in the process of creating new laws to authorize its central bank to issue a digital currency.

The Bank of Jamaica minted its first batch of digital currency in August, which it is testing. Next, it will issue that batch to commercial banks, which will test with consumers before establishing new criteria by December. Officials are looking to the first quarter of 2022 for the national roll out.

Initially, Jamaicas virtual currency will be offered through an app on the phone, and citizens will access through a digital wallet.

So how long it could take the U.S. to adopt a CBDC?

Dharmapalan stated the technology is ready now, its just a matter of Congress and government agencies coalescing around a concept. Yet Fed officials are divided on whether to adopt a central bank digital currency.

Advocates, including Fed Governor Lael Brainard, say a CBDC will help get relief payments to Americans and states hit with natural disasters faster, while also helping the unbanked. The Fed plans to launch the review by releasing a paper analyzing the issue and seeking public comment, but it is unlikely to include a firm policy recommendation.

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Crypto CEO: A viable central bank digital currency would have to be 'the law' - Yahoo Finance

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is on a collision course with its rival World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as the company gets set for a weekend of anticipated shows 'Rampage' and 'Dynamite.' AEW founder, co-owner, president, and CEO Tony Khan joined Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the evolution of the pro-wrestling industry and what it feels like to go head to head with WWE's Friday Night SmackDown.

"I was surprised when I found out we had head to head competition tonight because it's kind of a first. We rise to these challenges and we have the best wrestlers in the world and the best wrestling in the world."

AEW's flagship show, "Dynamite," on TNT, has delivered its best ratings since launching in October of 2019. In August and September, the show ranked as the #1 cable program on Wednesdays in the 18-49 age demographic for six weeks in a row. As part of an extended partnership with WarnerMedia, AEW launched a second show in August 2021, Rampage.

Since its August 13 debut, "AEW: Rampage" has also ranked as one of the top cable programs on Friday night. For the first time ever, Rampage will coincide with WWE flagship Friday show, Smackdown.

AEW Dynamite AEW

On September 22, AEW made history when it held its first show in New York City at Arthur Ashe stadium in Queens AEW Grand Slam. The show was not only a commercial success with 20,000 fans filing in, but it was seen as a big step up for the company to hold a show in what has traditionally been "WWE territory."

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Khan tells Yahoo Finance that the brand AEW has cultivated is not just an evolution of the wrestling industry but also a revolution.

"This is a revolution for the fans that happens to be the name of our Q1 pay-per-view event, which has been very successful for us. And we built this big audience on TV and on pay-per-view and have really evolved the business model."

Khan says that he tries not to oversaturate the pay-per-view world with too many shows and instead holds fewer shows but are are large in scale. The company boasts a roster filled with well-known, established names such as CM Punk, Chris Jerico, Sting, Kenny Omega, and Jon Moxley. The AEW roster also features some of the most popular up-and-coming talents in the industry: Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, Jungle Boy, and Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF).

Khan said he is also mindful of not over-saturating his talent as well. He says that there is plenty of room for all of AEW's talent to shine.

"He [CM PUNK] is quite possibly the biggest name in all of professional wrestling, and it's been a huge attraction for us Darby Allin is a young, exciting wrestler," Khan said. "So it's really a great time for us."

"AEW: Rampage" will emanate from Miami on October 15 at 10 p.m. EST on TNT, and "AEW Dynamite" will air on Saturday, October 16 starting at 8:00 p.m. EST on TNT.

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President Joe Biden touted the countrys progress in the fight against COVID-19 this week as new cases decline and vaccination rates rise.

But despite the recent progress, health officials are warning that the pandemic is far from over, even with the Delta variant in retreat, saying Americans should brace for another wave this winter.

It's just a matter of time before we have another surge, Dr. Murtaza Akhter, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix Emergency Physician told Yahoo Finance Live in an interview.

My concern is with the holidays coming up, we know people will congregate. They did last year and they're definitely going to do it again this year," he added.

Last summer,I thought we would have beaten this by now. It's crazy that it's still here, Dr. Akhter added. If you look at the numbers in certain states and nationally, we're better than before but not even quite at the level that we were at before the surge we had in the summer.

Over the past two weeks, the 7-day average of new daily cases reported has declined by nearly 30% to 86,287, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, the lowest since August 2. And the drop in cases comes as more Americans get vaccinated.

About 217 million people, or 65% of the total U.S. population, have received at least one dose, which is about 12 million more than just one month ago. While its a step in the right direction, more needs to be done, experts warn.

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In a speech from the White House on Thursday, Biden urged unvaccinated Americans to get the shot, calling the number that remain unvaccinated "unacceptably high," while encouraging businesses to implement vaccine mandates.

We have critical work to do and we cant let up now... Im calling on more business to step up. Im calling on more parents to get their children vaccinated when they are eligible, the president added.

As the U.S. heads into the holiday season, hospitalization rates and deaths remain elevated. Nearly 2,000 Americans are dying each day from the virus as hospitalizations in some northern states continue to trend upward.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed a page on its website with guidelines on holiday gatherings, which included an image of a virtual Thanksgiving. The agency says it is working on an update and that new guidelines will be coming "soon."

Seana Smith anchors Yahoo Finance Lives 3-5 p.m. ET program. Follow her on Twitter @SeanaNSmith

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Doctor: 'Just a matter of time before another COVID-19 surge' as new infections fall - Yahoo Finance

The Great Resignation is beginning to create even more havoc for thinly staffed restaurant chains trying to rally back from being hammered during the pandemic.

This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that quits rates in the food service industry hit 6.8%, compared to an overall quits rate of 2.9%. Guggenheim analyst Gregory Francfort notes the quits rate for food service is well above the 5% peaks seen in quits in 2006 and 2019, and 4.1% average over the past 20 years.

Nearly 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August as many people sought out higher wages amid the recovery from the pandemic, opted for lifestyle changes, or lacked affordable childcare.

"Workers continue to leave the retail and restaurant industries amid challenging demands put on existing staff due to labor shortages and other measures, such as mask requirements for customers. With the persistent high quits rate in these industries throughout the pandemic, both will remain constrained due to a lack of available people willing to work in these jobs. That will continue to weigh on overall employment given the size of both industries," opined DataTrek's Jessica Rabe in a research note to clients.

Domino's Pizza became first major restaurant chain to warn this week on the increasing impact of The Great Resignation.

It's getting harder to find drivers to deliver pizza. Image: Getty

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The company saw sales fall in the third quarter after 41 straight quarters of U.S. same-store sales increases, ending one of the most impressive runs in the fast food industry. Top line sales missed estimates, too.

"Yes, staffing has been a challenge most certainly during the quarter as we highlighted," Domino's Pizza CEO Ritch Allison told analysts on a conference call. "What I can tell you is that when you look at the third quarter relative to the first half of the year, we certainly saw more of an impact in the system around some things like reduced operating hours and some challenges with respect to delivery service times in particular. And when we look at it in our own corporate store business, we certainly saw our staffing levels relative to ideal were lower than we saw during the first half of the year."

Domino's says it's raising wages at company-operated restaurants and speeding up new hire applications to address the issue.

Caribou Coffee CEO John Butcher tells Yahoo Finance Live he is also dealing with staffing challenges. The privately owned coffee chain has 718 stores to staff, but is also looking to accelerate its new store openings.

"I wish we could say we were immune from staffing challenges. We're not. We always see fall turnover when students go back to school and work. What we are seeing is the inbound applicant flow is less than it is typically," Butcher says. "I think there is a variety of reasons for that. But for the most part our team is faring pretty well. We have the extra challenge of having to staff our existing stores and then fuel all the growth we have coming for the next couple of years. We are ready. We have many of next store managers already on staff. It's just a daily battle."

Analysts believe it will be some time before the battle to secure workers for the industry cools down. In turn, that raises the risk of a stretch of mixed earnings reports for the sector into 2022.

"This pressure is not Dominos specific and, in our view, should rather be a harbinger for the rest of earnings season," says Francfort.

The analyst joined several of his peers on Friday in cutting their sales and profit estimates on Domino's.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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The Great Resignation is ripping through the restaurant industry - Yahoo Finance