Web 3 News
FTX CEO John J. Ray III says that Sam Bankman-Fried’s victims “will never be returned to the same economic position they would have been in today absent his colossal fraud", per CoinDesk
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison this week
SBF could serve less time with good behavior
He is recommended to be in low or medium security prison near the San Francisco Bay area
Judge Kaplan during SBF's sentencing: "When not lying, he was evasive, hair splitting, trying to get the prosecutors to rephrase questions for him. I've been doing this job for close for 30 years. I've never seen a performance like that."
Trading volume on Coinbase's $COIN Ethereum L2 Base has been rapidly increasing this month
Coinbase's Bitcoin reserves have hit a 9-year low of ~345,000 BTC, per glassnode
Cryptocurrency Exchange KuCoin and 2 founders have been criminally charged with bank secrecy act and unlicensed money transmission offenses, each of which carries a maximum of 5 years in prison
GAN, TANG, and KuCoin allegedly attempted to conceal the existence of KuCoin’s U.S. customers
In the CFTC's complaint against KuCoin, they called Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin digital asset commodities, contradicting other lawsuits calling Ethereum and Litecoin digital asset securities by the SEC and others
OKX, the second-largest offshore exchange, has internally moved its U.S.-based compliance department to the highest priority of all departments in light of the enforcement actions against KuCoin, per Wu Blockchain
CommEx, the exchange that undertakes Binance’s Russian business, announced that it will cease operations and the official website will be closed on May 10th
Philippine's SEC said that it will continue to block Binance and block citizens’ access to Binance’s main website and related platforms, saying that Binance is a threat to the security of the Philippines, per Nikkei
A detained Binance executive has escaped from prison in Nigeria
The executive fled and boarded an international flight on March 22 after attending Friday Ramadan prayers at a mosque, per Premium Times
Singapore-licensed institution DigiFT has announced the launch of the first ever U.S. Treasury Bill depository receipt tokens that represent direct beneficial ownership in the underlying U.S. Treasury Bill
Authorities in the U.S. and U.K. are investigating the possible trading of $20 billion worth of $USDT through Garantex, a sanctioned Russian exchange, a probe the 2 countries hope will clamp down on efforts to support Russia's war in Ukraine, per Bloomberg
Hong Kong to allow in-kind creations and redemptions for spot Bitcoin ETFs when they launch in Q2 of this year (unlike U.S. which is cash creations only), per Bloomberg
Hong Kong’s largest bank (HSBC) announced the launch of gold tokenized products for Hong Kong retail investors, per CoinDesk
HSBC claims to be the first bank to create a blockchain-based real-world asset (RWA) for the retail market
Avalanche has announced a collaboration with Chainlink and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group to explore on-chain asset settlement
The partnership aims to connect the Avalanche network with Ethereum to enable the circulation and settlement of tokenized assets
The London Stock Exchange has announced that it will accept listing applications for Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto ETNs starting on April 8th
The first cryptocurrency ETNs can begin trading on May 28, 2024, subject to approval from the Financial Conduct Authority
Dutch prosecutors are asking for a 64-month prison sentence for Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev for allegedly laundering $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency, per CoinDesk
Other Tornado Cash developers linked to Pertsev also face charges of money laundering and sanctions violations in the U.S.
South American gold miner Nilam Resources $NILA has announced plans to acquire ~24,800 Bitcoin (worth ~$1.7 billion) "at a discounted rate relative to current market prices" via an acquisition of a special purpose entity under the name MindWave
Nilam Resources CEO Ron McIntyre resigned the following day, calling the letter of intent to purchase Bitcoin "a classic pump and dump" orchestrated by the company without his review and "There will be a FINRA investigation into Nilam Resources", per Protos
El Salvador's treasury now holds 5,700 Bitcoin worth over $400 million
Swift announced successful sandbox testing for its CBDC interlinking solution
38 institutions participated, affirming its potential to demonstrate new use cases across digital trade, securities, and foreign exchange
There are currently 29 Bitcoin Layer 2 protocols in production use, per L2 Watch
There are an additional 40 Bitcoin Layer 2 protocols in various stages of development
Out of 11,338 global funds, the 2 with the largest assets under management (AUM) in history after 50 trading days are both spot Bitcoin ETFs, per Bloomberg
WisdomTree has gained approval to purchase spot Bitcoin ETFs for 2 funds
Bitdeer is negotiating with private credit companies to raise $100 million in financing, which will be used to increase their Bitcoin mining capabilities, per Bloomberg
Bitdeer recently released their latest chips and mining rigs to compete with Bitmain’s Whatsminer
Over 95% of the Bitcoin supply is currently in profit, per glassnode
Bitcoin and Ethereum have continued their multi-year trend of decreasing the % held on exchanges, per glassnode
$4.5 trillion asset manager Fidelity filed an S-1 form for their Spot Ethereum ETF with staking included
BlackRock $BLK CEO Larry Fink said that even if the SEC designates Ethereum as a security, it is still possible to launch an Ethereum ETF, and it will continue to try to launch an Ethereum spot ETF, per CoinDesk
MetaMask parent company ConsenSys submitted a comment letter to the SEC, advocating for the approval of a spot Ethereum ETF emphasizing Ethereum’s distributed verification process, high attack costs, and environmental benefits
Kevin Hart has sold his Bored Ape NFT for ~$46k, which he sold for more than a $200k loss
The Fantom Foundation has announced Fantom Sonic, which will be used to create a new shared sequencer for L1 and L2 chains and Sonic’s ability to process 2,000 TPS at sub-second finality improving on the current 200 TPS
The new chain will launch in the late summer/early fall of 2024
Layer-1 blockchain WAX has signed a deal to use Amazon Web Services (AWS) $AMZN and integrate the WAX network into the Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB) service, per CoinDesk
Galaxy $GLXY posted a $296 million profit in 2023 after posting a loss in 2022, per CoinDesk
3 AI blockchain protocols, SingularityNET, Fetchai, and Ocean Protocol, are discussing merging their tokens into the ASI token, which would be worth approximately $7.5 billion, per Bloomberg
Diamonds are the latest conventional asset to get crypto's real world asset (RWA) tokenization treatment on the Avalanche blockchain from Diamond Standard and Oasis Pro, per CoinDesk
Real world asset (RWA) platform Ondo Finance plans to move $95 million of assets to BlackRock's tokenized fund to back its $OUSG token, aiming to boost redemption time, per CoinDesk
Macroeconomic News
China has started blocking the use of Intel $INTC and AMD $AMD chips in government computers, per Financial Times
Country Garden, once one of the largest Chinese real estate developers, has delayed reporting their 2023 results and will suspend trading of their stock
Gold imports in China have reached the highest level in years, per Bloomberg
China will sue the U.S. at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over rules which discourage EV manufacturers from sourcing battery materials from the country, per Bloomberg
The Japanese Yen fell to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in 34 years, per Barchart
The richest 1% in India now own 40% of the country’s wealth, per Bloomberg
The EU has opened its first Digital Markets Act probe into Apple $AAPL, Google $GOOGL, and Meta $META
Sweden's Riksbank has left rates unchanged at 4%, but is signaling rate cuts in May
Residential property prices in Germany fell 8.4% in 2023, per Reuters
Vodafone’s German business to lay off ~2,000 employees
Stellantis $STLA to eliminate over 3,000 jobs in Italy after an agreement was reached with the union, per Reuters
Canadian banks are pushing for the Bank of Canada to remove the shelter component from the CPI reading which would result in an artificially lower inflation figure as they call for rate cuts
Canada Goose $GOOS is laying off 656 employees, ~17% of their workforce
U.S. Treasury issuance is now at peak pandemic levels
Since 1800, there have been 52 countries that saw a Debt-to-GDP above 130%, 51 of those countries have defaulted, per Fox Business
The U.S. currently has a Debt-to-GDP ratio of 124%, up 20% since 2020
The Federal Reserve generated their largest loss in history of $114 billion in 2023, per Yahoo Finance
The Fed has $948 billion in unrealized losses on their Treasury/MBS (mortgage backed securities) holdings
Fed’s Waller: “It is prudent to hold this rate at its current restrictive stance perhaps for longer than previously thought to help keep inflation on a sustainable trajectory toward 2%”
Fed Chair Powell this week:
PCE inflation in line with our expectations
Commercial Real Estate will be a problem for some years
Can hold rates steady if inflation doesn't come down
Don't think rates will come down to pre-pandemic levels
The economy is not suffering from this level of rates
U.S. M2 Money Supply has fallen 3.8% over the last 2 years, the largest 2-year decline on record following a record 40% increase in 2020-2021
The final reading of U.S. Q4 2023 GDP came in at 3.4%, above expectations of 3.2%
This makes 6 consecutive quarters of positive GDP growth (not adjusted for inflation)
February PCE inflation "the Fed's preferred inflation measure" rose to 2.5%, in-line with expectations
Core PCE inflation was 2.8%, in-line with expectations of 2.8%
CPI, PPI, and PCE inflation are all on the rise
The U.S. dollar has lost ~25% of its value over the last 4 years, per Truflation
Cocoa prices continue to reach all-time high prices, per Barchart
Gold prices hit all-time highs this week
Trader Joe’s recently raised the price of individually-sold bananas by roughly 20%, to $0.23 up from $0.19, the first price increase in over 20 years, per CNBC
Hedge funds' use of leverage in equities trading is nearing record levels, per Reuters
The S&P 500 has closed with the best 1st quarter since 2019
McDonald's $MCD will sell Krispy Kreme $DNUT doughnuts across the U.S. starting later this year, per Bloomberg
Apple $AAPL CEO Tim Cook says Apple will launch the Vision Pro in China this year
Qualcomm $QCOM, Google $GOOGL, and Intel $INTC plan to work together to try and capture some of Nvidia's $NVDA market share lead on AI software, per Reuters
Amazon $AMZN announced layoffs in their advertising unit of ~160 people
Amazon has invested $2.75 billion on AI startup Anthropic in its largest outside investment ever, per CNBC
Amazon will reduce their office footprint to save $1.3 billion, per Business Insider
Amazon has an office vacancy rate of ~34%
Microsoft $MSFT and OpenAI are plotting $100 billion U.S.-based supercomputer for AI dubbed "Stargate", per The Information
Dell $DELL laid off ~13,000 employees over the last year, a larger reduction in headcount than they initially announced, per Bloomberg
Through March 25th, >50,000 workers in the tech industry have been laid off this year, per BI
Facebook $META allegedly snooped on Snapchat $SNAP users' encrypted network traffic to study how they behaved, unsealed court documents reveal, per TechCrunch
John Deere $DE will lay off 317 manufacturing employees amid slower than expected sales in Waterloo, Iowa, per an Iowa WARN notice
Fisher Price (subsidiary of Mattel) $MAT has eliminated ~1,000 jobs
Tupperware $TUP is warning they could go out of business over liquidity problems, per Reuters
Today Tupperware delayed a 10K filing for FY2023 saying “there can be no assurance with respect to the timing of completion of the filing.”
Tupperware employs ~11,000 people
Dollar Tree $DLTR announced their maximum price on an item will be raised to $7
GameStop $GME has announced an undisclosed number of layoffs amid "soft consumer spending"
Johnson & Johnson $JNJ is in talks to acquire Shockwave Medical, and the deal could be finalized in the coming weeks, per WSJ
The FDA has approved a drug made by Merck $MRK designed to treat a rare, progressive and life-threatening lung condition called pulmonary arterial hypertension, per CNBC
Novo Nordisk's $1,000 diabetes drug Ozempic can be made for less than $5 a month, per a study by Yale University, King’s College Hospital in London and the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders
General Electric $GE will lay off ~1,000 employees in their wind energy and power division
Boeing $BA CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shakeup amidst many public issues for the company
Maersk confirmed it chartered the ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, per CNBC
Ford $F says the bridge collapse in Baltimore may impact their supply chain, and they are looking to re-route car part shipments to other ports on the east coast
Ford to eliminate ~700 positions through buyouts due to worse than expected F-150 Lightning sales
GM's $GM CFO says EV demand is much lower than what the industry has forecasted
CATL is in talks With Tesla $TSLA and other automakers to license battery technology in the U.S., per WSJ
Tesla will now offer 1 month free Full Self-Driving (FSD) capability for new vehicle purchases in the U.S. and Canada
The NYSE is suspended Fisker $FSR trading immediately this week citing the stock’s low price levels
New vehicle inventory is at 3-year highs in the U.S., per Cox Automotive
The average new car incentive has reached $2,800, nearly double last year, and incentive spending is now up 66% compared to March 2023, per JD Power
WeWork founder Adam Neumann is looking to buy back WeWork for more than $500 million, per WSJ
The U.S. housing market is “overvalued” by 13.9%, per Moody's
The median sale price of a new house has dropped from $497k in mid-2022 to just over $400k today (-19.6%), per Reventure
A much faster decline than what occurred from 2007-2010 (-23%) in about half the time
Prices remain much higher than pre-pandemic levels
A U.S. homebuyer now needs to earn ~$114,000 to afford the median priced home for sale, per Redfin
The median household income is ~$84,000
U.S. new home listings +14.9% year-over-year, per ResiClub
U.S. active home listings +25.5% year-over-year
40% of Gen Z TikTok users have made career-related decisions based on advice on the app, per Resume Builder
The jobless rate for 20-24-year-olds increased to 7.2% in January, compared to 3.2% for workers aged 25+, per BI
74% of Gen Z and millennials are worried about their job security, compared to 47% of the general population, per McKinsey & Company
70% of the 400 largest U.S Metro areas in February reported an unemployment rate greater than six months ago, up from ~60% in January
44% of Americans can't pay an unexpected $1,000 expense from savings, per CNBC
U.S. households are allocating 48% of their financial assets to equities, per Goldman Sachs
Americans aged 65 to 74 have a median of $164,000 in their retirement accounts, while those 75 and older have $83,000 saved for retirement, per the Federal Reserve
The average net worth for those aged 65 to 74 is $1.2 million, and for those 75 years or older, it falls to ~$958,000, per the Federal Reserve
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.