Web 3 News
Binance’s top crypto crime investigator is being detained in Nigeria, per Fox Business
He’s now being held in Nigeria over a political dispute between the Nigerian government and Binance where Nigeria is blaming Binance for its plunging currency
Nigeria has asked Binance to provide the names and transaction details of the top 100 users in the country, per Decrypt
Federal prosecutors recommended a federal judge sentence Sam Bankman-Fried to 40-50 years in prison and receive an $11 billion fine and forfeiture
SBF is set to receive his sentence on March 28th
The prosecutors emphasized in a memorandum that SBF's actions demonstrated unparalleled greed and arrogance, as he engaged in repeated gambling using other people's funds, per Reuters
Thailand’s SEC has made an exception and will now allow institutional investors and wealthy individuals to put money in crypto ETFs, per CoinDesk
South Africa will license ~60 Bitcoin and crypto platforms by the end of the month, per Bloomberg
The London Stock Exchange will now start accepting Bitcoin exchange traded note applications
A U.K. judge has ruled that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto
Sweden’s central bank governor is seeking to keep Bitcoin trading away from the country’s financial system, warning about potential losses after Bitcoin has reached new all-time highs, per Bloomberg
El Salvador has moved their Bitcoin into cold storage, and posted their wallet address to be verifiable for all
President Nayib Bukele announced the country also has increased revenue related to Bitcoin from:
Their passport program
Converting Bitcoin to $USD for local businesses
From mining Bitcoin (using renewable geothermal energy)
From government services
Bukele also said they will continue to buy 1 Bitcoin per day until it “becomes unaffordable with fiat currencies”
U.S. President Joe Biden is once again including crypto taxes in his proposed budget, including a mining excise tax and amending wash sale trading and mark-to-market rules to include crypto, per CoinDesk
Bitcoin reached an all-time high price of $73,835 this week
Bitcoin surpassed silver in market cap this week
Vanguard ($7.2 trillion AUM) CEO Tim Buckley says they're not going to offer spot Bitcoin ETFs "unless the asset class changes" and "Bitcoin is just too volatile and it's not a store of value"
Valkyrie completed the sale of its ETF platform to CoinShares this week
VanEck is removing fees on their spot Bitcoin ETF HODL 0.00%↑ until March 31st, 2025
Grayscale has filed for a Bitcoin mini fund with the ticker $BTC
Holders of GBTC 0.00%↑ will be able to get a piece of the new mini fund for a lower blended fee pending SEC approval
Investors in GBTC 0.00%↑ could be able to get into the new mini fund without tax implications via a special dividend
Patient Capital Management ($1.4 billion AUM) filed with the SEC to buy Bitcoin ETFs with up to 15% of its Opportunity Trust Fund
Cetera Financial Group ($475 billion AUM) to now offer spot Bitcoin ETFs to clients
MicroStrategy MSTR 0.00%↑ officially raised $821.7 million and used it to acquire 12,000 Bitcoin
MicroStrategy announced a new proposed private offering of $525 million in convertible senior notes to buy more Bitcoin
This is in addition to the $800 million raised this week
Drake posted a clip of Michael Saylor speaking on CNBC to his Instagram story this week
Drake notably posts bets he makes on Stake using Bitcoin on sports often
Donald Trump on cryptocurrencies during a CNBC interview this week: "There has been a lot of use of that and I'm not sure that I would want to take it away at this point."
Trump also said while he wouldn’t want to take Bitcoin away, he also wants the dollar to remain strong
Traeger COOK 0.00%↑ says they may accept Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as payment in the future per their latest 10-K filing
Ethereum's Dencun upgrade now live, bringing reduced transaction fees on ETH Layer 2s
The Ethereum L2 Arbitrum Foundation announced plans to invest 200 million Arbitrum tokens (approximately $400 million) over two years to promote gaming projects on its blockchain, per the Block
160 million Arbitrum tokens will go towards gaming, and the remaining 40 million towards infrastructure
MetaMask is testing a fully on-chain payment card with Mastercard $MA, per CoinDesk
Macroeconomic News
The Bank of Japan will lift interest rates for the first time in 17 years due to wage increases, per the Nikkei
El Salvador has removed income tax from its original of 30% to 0% for international investments and money transfers, per CoinDesk
February CPI inflation rate rose to 3.2%, above expectations of 3.1%
Core CPI inflation fell to 3.8%, above expectations of 3.7%
February 2024 is the 35th consecutive month with inflation above 3% and 2nd straight increase month over month
February PPI inflation rose to 1.6%, well above expectations of 1.1%
Core PPI inflation came in at 2.0%, above expectations of 1.9%
The Pentagon has pulled out of a plan to spend as much as $2.5 billion on a chip grant to Intel INTL 0.00%↑, per Bloomberg
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on inflation: "I regret saying it was transitory."
The Federal Reserve's Bank Term Funding Program has now ceased making new loans as scheduled on March 11, 2024
It was launched a year ago amidst the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and others
New York Community Bank NYCB 0.00%↑ is seeking stockholders’ approval for a 1-3 reverse split at least following their $1 billion capital raise
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok, per CNBC
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 finished lower for the 2nd straight week this week
Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ has started formal development of a new MacBook Pro with an M4 Chip, per Bloomberg
Apple has agreed to pay $490 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged Chief Executive Tim Cook defrauded shareholders by concealing falling demand for iPhones in China, per Reuters
Lawyers for the shareholders may seek fees of up to 25% of the settlement amount
Apple has acquired AI startup DarwinAI, per Bloomberg
Estimated number of AI-related acquisitions since 2010, per Bloomberg
Amazon AMZN 0.00%↑: 10
Microsoft MSFT 0.00%↑: 17
Meta META 0.00%↑: 18
Google GOOGL 0.00%↑: 21
Apple AAPL 0.00%↑: 33
Amazon AMZN 0.00%↑ is buying a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania for $650 million, as it works to power its data centers with cleaner energy
Eli Lilly LLY 0.00%↑ says that Amazon Pharmacy will help deliver certain prescription drugs, including weight loss treatments like Zepbound, directly to patients’ homes through the drugmaker’s new direct-to-consumer website, per CNBC
WeightWatchers WW 0.00%↑ CEO Sima Sistani sent an internal memo to employees as the stock has crashed amid debt concerns and Oprah's exit from the board
IBM IBM 0.00%↑ is asking employees to volunteer for layoffs and is targeting 80% cuts in key departments, including HR
Lumen Technologies LUMN 0.00%↑ to lay off ~2,800 employees in April
John Deere DE 0.00%↑ to layoff 150 employees based out of Ankeny, Iowa
Tyson Foods TSN 0.00%↑ is shutting down a pork plant in Perry, Iowa, and will layoff 1,276 employees on June 28, 2024 as indicated in an Iowa WARN notice
Restaurant chain Boston Market, which had 300 locations at the start of 2023, is down to 27 locations still operating now
Dollar Tree $DSTR will shut down ~1,000 Family Dollar stores, which will impact ~7,500 workers nationwide
Kohl’s KSS 0.00%↑ will add Babies R Us shops to approximately 200 of its stores across the country in the fall
Kohl's wants to increase the amount of merchandise in stores, and attract more foot traffic from younger shoppers
Home Depot HD 0.00%↑ says that it will open 4 new distribution centers as the look to increase sales from remodelers, contractors and other home professionals, per CNBC
Target TGT 0.00%↑ has laid off ~300 corporate employees
Nordstrom $JWM to layoff 784 employees in California
Adidas has posted its first loss in 30 years and warns sales in North America would fall again, per Reuters
Telegram has hit 900 million users, and is nearing profitability as the company considers going public via an IPO, per Financial Times
EV startup Fisker FSR 0.00%↑ is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing and is hiring restructuring advisers, per WSJ
Nissan and Honda have announced they are studying the possibility of a partnership that is focused on electric vehicles
Wynn Resorts WYNN 0.00%↑ has unveiled renderings for a $12 billion casino project located in New York City
The project would include an 80-story hotel tower (which houses the gaming facility) with office buildings, apartments, and a 5.6-acre park to surround the casino
Layoffs were at the highest levels for the month of February since 2009, per CNBC
There were 10,404 new AI job postings in January, a 42% increase from December 2022, per Axios
A record 3.6% of 401(k) plan participants took hardship withdrawals last year, per Vanguard and reported by the WSJ
More people have been taking 401(k) hardship withdrawals since the government loosened rules
Average 401(k) account balances rose 19% LY after a 20% drop in 2022
The average overall retirement balance is at $118,600, per Fidelity
The average 401(k) balance for a member of Gen Z is ~$7,100
The average amount consumers spend per year on household bills grew 4% year over year, per the U.S. Household Bill Pay Report
The report found that the average U.S. household spends $25,513 per year, or 34% of income on the 10 most essential household bills
The average consumer credit score in the U.S. has now dropped for the first time in a decade, although by just one point, per Bloomberg
First-time buyers accounted for the smallest share of home sales on record last year, at 26%, even as home values started to cool, per the National Association of Realtors (NAR)
The NAR settled their lawsuit and will pay a fine of $418 million
They will also no longer have a standard 6% commission to be split between the buyer and seller’s agents, which will open up the possibility of lower fees to be paid in real estate transactions
Owning the average home in 2024 now requires an income of $106,000, per Zillow
4 years ago, you needed $59,000 in income to afford the average home
That's a $47,000 (80%) increase in income required while wages are up just 23% over that time
The median household income is ~$75,000
In order for U.S. home prices to return to pre-pandemic affordability levels:
Incomes would need to increase by 69%
Home prices would need to fall by 41%
OR
Mortgage rates would need to fall by 430 bps (4.3%)
Disclosures:
I am not a financial advisor, and whatever I post should not be taken as financial advice. It is for education and entertainment purposes only. Anything I post does not constitute an offer to sell or trade, a solicitation to buy, or recommendation for any security, cryptocurrency, digital asset, or related product, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advice or other related services by myself or Minerva Digital Asset Education, LLC. I and/or Minerva Digital Asset Education, LLC may have a financial investment with the cryptocurrencies/digital assets discussed. In preparing the content created, no individual financial or investment needs of the viewer have been considered nor is any financial or investment advice being offered. Any views expressed in the posted content were prepared based upon the information available at the time such views were written. Changed, new, and/or additional information could cause such views to change.