Web 3 News
Coinbase COIN 0.00%↑ CEO Brian Armstrong says they are the custodian for ~90% of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF assets, per Bloomberg
On March 7th, Coinbase Derivatives LLC filed certifications with CFTC to list U.S. regulated futures for Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash
They will begin trading on April 1st as long as there are no objections from the CFTC
Coinbase announced they been chosen as a key infrastructure provider for BlackRock's BLK 0.00%↑ and Tokenized Investment Fund
International trading volume on Coinbase has been increasing in 2024, per The Block
The DOJ filed dozens of victim impact statements from FTX creditors on 3/18/24 ahead of Sam Bankman-Fried's sentencing next week, per CoinDesk
Sam Bankman-Fried says U.S. prosecutors’ proposal to put him in prison for up to 50 years “distorts reality” and paints him as a “depraved super-villain”, per Bloomberg
Current FTX CEO John J. Ray III sent a letter to Judge Kaplan saying, that SBF's statements saying that FTX was "solvent at the time of the bankruptcy petition" and that "the harm to customers, lenders, and investors is zero." is "categorically, callously, and demonstrably false."
FTX is set to sell its 8% stake in Anthropic for $1 billion, double the value the bankrupt exchange paid for the shares in 2021, per CoinDesk
Ex-Binance CEO ChangPeng Zhao (CZ) to launch a new Web 3 education project
Despite a departure from the U.S. market, Binance continues to have the largest market share of all centralized exchanges globally
OKX, the 2nd largest offshore exchange, has notified Indian users asking them to close their accounts and redeem funds before April 30, nearly 3 months after the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued a notice of non-compliance to 9 foreign crypto exchanges, per Cointelegraph
Robinhood $HOOD has launched their crypto wallet on Google Play for Android users
Avalanche is working with China's largest payment app Alipay+ to launch an e-wallet and a voucher program that supports Web 3
They are planning to gradually expand to 100 million users from the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand
The IMF is demanding Pakistan impose a capital gains tax on digital asset investments in order to receive a $3 billion aid package
The world's largest pension fund, Japanese GPIF ($1.43 trillion AUM), is considering Bitcoin as a way to diversify its investments, but isn't committing to buying it just yet
Indonesia's crypto regulator announced a record $1.92 billion in transactions took place in February
Nigeria's SEC is proposing a 400% increase in crypto firm registration fees as the Nigerian government continues to blame the crypto industry for their recent currency woes, per CoinDesk
The European Union has now banned the use of unidentified self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets (such as Metamask), for cryptocurrency payments of any size, per Finbold
Any cash payment above €10,000 will also become illegal
Dutch prosecutors have released details in the $1.2 billion money laundering charges against Tornado Cash dev Alexey Pertsev, whose trial begins in the Netherlands March 26, per CoinDesk
Prosecutors list 40 suspicious transactions, with the largest coming from the Axie Infinity exploit
Terra co-founder Do Kwon’s extradition to South Korea has now been halted following a legal challenge from the top prosecutor of Montenegro, per CoinDesk
Argentines are buying Bitcoin to protect themselves from 276% inflation instead of rushing to exchange Argentine pesos for U.S. dollars, per Bloomberg
Genesis (a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group) has agreed to pay a $21 million fine to settle charges related to their crypto asset lending program Gemini Earn with the SEC
A Utah judge has found that the SEC engaged in bad faith conduct against crypto firm The Debt Box, per Fox Business
The judge has placed sanctions on the SEC for “abuse of judicial process,” ordered them to pay the legal fees of Debt Box, and denied its motion to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning it will not be able to refile the same charges at a later date
In the judges 80 page opinion they said the SEC engaged in "gross abuse of the power entrusted to it by Congress”, "undermined the integrity of the judicial process”, and “the critical evidence the Commission offered to obtain and defend the ex parte TRO lacked any basis in fact, yet the Commission nonetheless advanced that evidence in deliberately false and misleading way."
The SEC will now be forced to pay the legal fees and court costs of both the Debt Box and the Receiver (the third party the court appointed to manage the company), ultimately costing taxpayers
The State of Oklahoma, with an 81-1 vote in favor, passed a Bill to protect fundamental Bitcoin rights out of the State House this week
The Bitcoin hashrate reached a new all-time high, surpassing 636.42M EH/s
MicroStrategy MSTR 0.00%↑ has bought an additional 9,245 Bitcoin for $623 million
They now hold 214,246 BTC (more than 1% of the supply that will ever exist) at an average cost of $35,160 per BTC
Grayscale’s Bitcoin Fund GBTC 0.00%↑ had their largest single-day outflow today yet of -$643 million this week
Since the transition to an ETF, Grayscale's GBTC 0.00%↑ has gone from holding ~600,000 BTC down to ~330,000 now
At the current selling pace, GBTC 0.00%↑ would run out of BTC to sell in 2-3 months
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein says: "I'll happily confirm that, over time, as this market matures, the fees on GBTC 0.00%↑ will come down"
Legendary rapper Ghostface Killah (of the Wu-Tang Clan) has inscribed his latest music on Bitcoin Ordinals
The total supply of Ethereum is at the lowest level since August 2022
The Ethereum Foundation is under investigation by an unnamed "state authority," according to the group's website's GitHub repository, per CoinDesk
A Swiss regulator may have served a document request to the Ethereum Foundation, and may be working with the U.S. SEC
The SEC is waging an energetic legal campaign to classify Ethereum as a security, per Fortune
The SEC’s probe of the Swiss-based Ethereum Foundation began shortly after the blockchain’s shift to proof-of-stake from proof-of-work in September of 2022 otherwise known as the merge, per Fortune
In NY Attorney General's lawsuit against centralized exchange KuCoin, Letitia James is suggesting that Ethereum is a security due to their ICO in 2014
This case is still ongoing
Fidelity has amended their spot Ethereum ETF application to include the possibility of staking the ETH through "one or more trusted staking providers"
Grayscale has a new filing related to their spot Ethereum ETF that allows them to stake ETH for the ultimate benefit of $ETHE shareholders
BlackRock BLK 0.00%↑ has launched a digital asset fund under the ticket $BUID which includes a $100 million deposit in $USDC on the Ethereum blockchain
Google GOOGL 0.00%↑ has integrated Ethereum Name Service (ENS) into the Google search function
CryptoPunk 7804 sold for 4,850 ETH ($16.42 million)
It last sold for $7.6 million in March 2021
Starbucks SBUX 0.00%↑ has terminated their "Odyssey" NFT program, which was still in its beta phase, per Blockworks
Polygon Labs paid $4 million to host Starbucks' failed NFT-powered loyalty program, per CoinDesk
The original picture of Achi, the dog wearing a pink beanie hat (dogwifhat $WIF), sold for 1,210 ETH in an auction on Foundation, with influencer GCR winning the bid
Solana memecoin Slerf has accidentally burned $10 million worth of funds raised from presale investors
Immutable, King River Capital, and Polygon Labs have set up a $100 million Web 3 gaming fund, per CoinDesk
Espresso Systems announced it has received $28 million in funding led by a16z
Espresso Systems is the lead developer of Espresso, a shared sequencing marketplace for rollups
Macroeconomic News
Evergrande’s alleged $78 billion fraud in China is among the biggest ever, per Bloomberg
Apple held preliminary talks with Baidu BIDU 0.00%↑ about using the Chinese company’s generative AI technology in their devices in China, per WSJ
Taiwan Semiconductor TSM 0.00%↑ is looking at building advanced chip packaging capacity in Japan, per Reuters
The Bank of Japan will end yield curve control and ETF purchases from Tuesday, per Nikkei
The Bank of Japan is considering further interest rate increases this year, per Nikkei
Japanese 1-month Treasury Bills are now paying a yield of 0.010%, the first positive yield since 2016
Japan's core inflation accelerated to 2.8%, the first increase in 4 months, per Barchart
Japan's core inflation has now been above the Bank of Japan's 2% target for 23 consecutive months
Japanese stocks closed the week at an all-time high
78% of equity options that traded worldwide were traded in India last year, per WSJ
India's currency (Rupee) has closed at an all-time low against the U.S. dollar, per Barchart
Uber UBER 0.00%↑ to pay $178 million in Australia to settle a class action lawsuit, per Reuters
New Zealand has entered a recession
Saudi Arabia is making a push into AI and is looking to back tech startups that are tied to artificial intelligence, per New York Times
The British pound is holding up better than 90% of the world's currencies this year, showing signs the nation’s economy could be holding up better than expected, per Bloomberg
Robinhood HOOD 0.00%↑, is now officially live in the United Kingdom
Payment for order flow is not allowed in the U.K., so they will need to make revenue from Robinhood Gold and interest on deposits
Options and margin trading are not yet available
The Swiss National Bank cut rates by 25 basis points, per Bloomberg
French luxury group Kering shares fell on Tuesday after the company warned that Gucci sales look set to fall 20% year-on-year in the first quarter
Kering owns multiple luxury brands including Gucci, Balenciaga, and Saint Laurent
The Bank of Canada is worried that a rate cut now could overheat the spring housing market, per CBC
The Bank of Canada says conditions for rate cuts should materialize later in 2024
Mexico's Central Bank has cut rates for the first time in 3 years down 25bps to set the rate at 11.00%
Cocoa prices reached fresh all-time highs this week
The national average price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped to $3.496/gal, the highest level since October 2023, per GasBuddy
Oil prices are at their highest since November 2023
The U.S. government is granting Intel $INTC up to $8.5 billion to help fund new chip plants in four states (Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, and Ohio), per WSJ
The Fed has left rates unchanged for the 5th straight meeting at 5.25%-5.50%
The Fed says that inflation has eased, but remains elevated
The Fed does not expect to cut rates until they have "greater confidence" inflation is headed to 2%
Empower Oversight has filed a new lawsuit against the SEC because of their refusal to comply with FOIA
Hedge funds have sued the SEC over a rule requiring firms that routinely deal in government bonds, other securities to register as broker-dealers, per Reuters
The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 reached all-time highs this week
Barclays BCS 0.00%↑to cut hundreds of jobs in their investment banking unit
Major CPG company Unilever to separate their ice cream unit which includes brands like Ben & Jerry's and Magnum as part of a restructuring plan that will impact 7,500 jobs, per CNBC
Nordstrom's JWN 0.00%↑ founding family is seeking to take the company private, per Reuters
Bristol Myers Squibb BMY 0.00%↑ will lay off 252 employees in San Diego, California, per a California WARN notice
MrBeast and Amazon AMZN 0.00%↑ have announced a new deal for a show called “Beast Games” a reality-competition game show promising the winner a $5 million cash prize, per Variety
The $5 million prize is believed to be the largest single payout ever in TV history
Amazon and FedEx FDX 0.00%↑ discussed FedEx accepting returns of Amazon packages at its retail locations last year, but were unable to come to a deal, per WSJ
Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ suppliers are nearing the start of production for the next AirPods line, per Bloomberg
The new AirPods will be a renewed push to address the lower end of the market on wireless earbuds
The DOJ has sued Apple saying the iPhone has a monopoly in the smart phone market that has harmed consumers, developers, and other companies
They also say that Apple's ecosystem such as the Apple Watch, Apple Pay etc. support the monopoly.
Apple is in talks to build Google's GOOGL 0.00%↑ Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone, per Bloomberg
X (formerly Twitter) has now received a money transmitter license for payment services in 22 U.S. states
X’s AI, Grok, has now been open sourced
OpenAI is scheduling meetings in Los Angeles next week with Hollywood studios, media executives, and talent agencies in an effort to form partnerships in the entertainment industry and encourage filmmakers to integrate its new AI video generator into their work, per Bloomberg
TikTok's User growth is stagnating, per WSJ
TikTok is still gaining users, but the number quitting is increasing
TikTok remains unprofitable at the moment
Meta META 0.00%↑ to shut off data access to journalists, per Axios
Reddit's RDDT 0.00%↑ IPO went live this week at a price of $47 per share
Trump's Truth Social DWAC 0.00%↑ is going public after winning DWAC merger vote, per Axios
ESPN DIS 0.00%↑ has signed a 6-year extension worth $7.8 billion to remain the sole TV partner for the College Football Playoff, per Axios
FedEx FDX 0.00%↑ announced: "We made the difficult decision to reduce a small percentage of positions"
Stanley Black & Decker SWK 0.00%↑ is closing two of its U.S. plants (Mission, TX and Fort Mill, SC) which is expected to leave ~400 employees without jobs
Kroger KR 0.00%↑ to sell their specialty pharmacy business, per MarketWatch
JOANN Inc., the major fabric company and retailer, has filed for bankruptcy
JOANN will continue to operate normally for now post-bankruptcy filing, with the company citing that 95% of stores are cash-flow positive
Shell to sell 1,000 retail locations for EV charging expansion, per Bloomberg
Chipotle CMG 0.00%↑ announced a 50 for 1 stock split
Lululemon LULU 0.00%↑ stock suffered its largest decline in more than 3 years after the company disappointed in their most recent earnings
More companies have defaulted on their debt to start 2024 than any year at this point since the Great Recession in the late 2000s, per FT
75% of the jobs the U.S. economy added in 2023 were in three sectors: government, healthcare and hotels/restaurants, per MarketWatch
66% of drivers now say that they are afraid of self-driving cars, up from 55% in 2022, per AAA
The average amount consumers owe on upside-down auto loans has set a record high of $6,064 in Q1, per Edmunds
Vehicles with negative equity account for a record high ~20.4% of the current trade-in market
Stellantis STLA 0.00%↑ will layoff ~400 U.S. workers as it works to cut costs, boost efficiency, and ramp up EV production plans, per Reuters
The SEC has charged Lordstown Motors $RIDE founder and former Chairman & CEO Steve Burns with fraud
This is in addition to previous fraud charges against the company last month
There are currently ~625,000 more Realtors than homes listed for sale, per the NAR
In February, housing inventory in Florida was ~4,000 homes shy of pre-pandemic levels
State Farm will non-renew ~30k home insurance policies and 42k apartment policies, per SF Chronicle
State Farm already stopped writing new California policies last year and raised rates by an average of 20%
The average starting salary for recent graduates is ~$56,000, per CNBC
Current college students expect to make ~$85,000 per year in their first job out of college
~60% of students with degrees in marketing are working high-school level jobs 5 years after graduation, per Bloomberg
47% of parents are financially supporting adult children at an average of $1,384 per month, per CNBC
Fidelity says the average millionaire account saves 26 years to get there, and the average age of a retirement account millionaire is 59
Americans with feelings of financial insecurity is at a record high, per Northwestern Mutual
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.