DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ A 20-Minute Cleaning Playlist
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dear listeners,Over the weekend, I got my first cordless vacuum — a truly game-changing invention — and embarked upon an epic cleaning spree of my entire apartment. Or — I think you see where I’m going with this — a cleaning playlist. Today’s playlist is short by design: just six songs, clocking in at a little over 20 minutes. You know what’s even better than a 20-minute timer, though? A 20-minute playlist.

Persons: Dustin ’, don’t, I’ve, Marlen Komar, she’d

☆ Coinbase’s stablecoin bet pegs to wishful thinking
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The crypto exchange will take a minority stake in Circle Internet Financial, issuer of stablecoin USDC. Such tokens, designed to track the U.S. dollar, haven’t delivered on promises of transforming finance. Coinbase already earns interest from reserves backing USDC through a partnership with Circle, and doesn’t expect any new major financial benefit. Meanwhile, U.S. legislation to regulate the tokens is stalled, and PayPal’s (PYPL.O) stablecoin launch last month drew criticism from Representative Maxine Waters, among others. Coinbase, meanwhile, is cozying up to pillars of traditional finance like BlackRock (BLK.N).

Persons: haven’t, Coinbase, Maxine Waters, Brian Armstrong, Anita Ramaswamy, EY’s loveless, Jonathan Guilford, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, U.S ., Wall Street Journal, BlackRock, Twitter, TPG, Thomson

☆ Singapore among world's first to agree stablecoin crypto regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Singapore's financial regulator on Tuesday said it had finalized rules for a type of digital currency called stablecoin, putting it among the first jurisdictions globally to do so. Stablecoins are a type of digital currency designed to hold a constant value against a fiat currency. The stablecoin market is valued at around $125 billion, with two tokens — Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC — dominating roughly 90% of the market cap value. The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) framework spells out some key requirements:Reserves that back stabelcoins must be held in low-risk and highly-liquid assets. These rules will apply to stablecoins that are issued in Singapore and mimic the value of the Singapore dollar, or of any G10 currency, such as the U.S. dollar.

Persons: — Organizations: Monetary Authority, Singapore's, Singapore, U.S . Locations: Singapore

☆ Bernstein says crypto may finally have its killer application
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

According to Bernstein, stablecoins are "the monster crypto killer-app" and could be a nearly $3 trillion market over the next five years. "Going forward, we expect tokenized stablecoins to be a $2.8 trillion market, led by regulated, onshore stablecoins." The stablecoin market has dropped sharply this year despite bitcoin being up about 75%. In July, it hit an all-time high of $83.8 billion and now accounts for 68.5% of the overall stablecoin market. The crypto market currently awaits a vote in Congress on a key stablecoin bill , which has just advanced to the House with three other crypto bills for the first time.

Persons: Bernstein, stablecoins, Gautam Chhugani, Chhugani, bitcoin, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: U.S .

Da Ponte denied a Bloomberg report that the payments processor paused development of its stablecoin in February. But da Ponte argues this troubled backdrop is exactly why PayPal is poised to succeed. Then there's the hypothetical digital dollar that would be the Fed's take on a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. "We have a large base of consumers; we have a large base of merchants," da Ponte said of PayPal's "two-sided network." Da Ponte sees PayPal's more than 20-year tenure in the payments space as one of the company's chief advantages in the stablecoin market.

Persons: Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal's, Da Ponte, Paxos, it's, Ponte, stablecoins, Nic Carter, Stablecoins, Carter, Andy Bromberg, Andreessen Horowitz, Bromberg, PYUSD, Jeremy Allaire, Allaire, Patrick McHenry, McHenry Organizations: PayPal, CNBC, Bloomberg, SEC, New, Regulators, Valley Bank, U.S ., U.S, Castle, Ventures, Companies, Eco, Coinbase Ventures, Paypal, Facebook, Financial Services, America Locations: U.S, New York, Bromberg, web3, United States, R, DexTools

☆ PayPal bets on crypto's future with US-dollar-backed stablecoin PYUSD
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The stablecoin, PayPal USD, is fully backed by the US dollar and is “designed to reduce friction” for payments within virtual spaces and provide faster, cheaper transfers of money across borders. But PayPal is betting on a future in which digital currency is more mainstream and merchants may request payment in stablecoins to avoid credit card processing fees. In May 2022, the “algorithmic” stablecoin TerraUSD collapsed when the crypto token backing it, Luna, collapsed. The value of PayPal USD, or PYUSD, doesn’t rely on a complex algorithm the way Terra did. In other words: every PayPal USD should be worth $1.00, no matter what.

Persons: ”, Dan Schulman, Stablecoins, Stablecoins aren’t, TerraUSD, Luna, Kwon, Charles Cascarilla Organizations: New, New York CNN, PayPal, Securities, Exchange Commission, Paxos Trust Locations: New York, cryptocurrencies, Venmo, Terra

☆ The stablecoin market has shrunk this year while bitcoin has rallied — What investors should know
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Bitcoin is up more than 75% this year, but the market capitalization for stablecoins has dwindled during the same period. "This is unusual as often the market capitalization of stablecoin increases during rallies and decreases during downturns, matching the trend of the overall crypto market," JPMorgan analyst Steven Alexopoulos said in a note Thursday. "An explanation for the decline of the stablecoin market may be due to investors preferring the higher returns of bitcoin and Ethereum or even traditional assets (benefiting from a rise in interest rates)." In July, it hit an all-time high of $83.8 billion and now accounts for 68.5% of the overall stablecoin market. Tether's prominence Instead of focusing on declines in USDC, investors could point to Tether's growth as evidence of stablecoin inflows, for example.

Persons: Bitcoin, Steven Alexopoulos, bitcoin, USDC, Steven Lubka, Swan, David Wells, Coinbase, Lubka, Michael Bloom Organizations: U.S ., JPMorgan, Drivers, Bank, U.S, Services, Enclave Markets, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission Locations: New York, Silicon, SVB, U.S, USDC

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency which aim to keep a constant value and are usually backed by traditional assets such as dollars. Tether's reserves report, signed off by accountants BDO Italia, says Tether's assets rose to $86.5 billion in the three months to June 30, 2023, up 5.7% from the previous quarter and a record high, according to previous reports on its website. Tether is a key cog in global digital asset trading, with many crypto-to-crypto trades denominated in the stablecoin. U.S. regulators have warned banks that stablecoin reserves could be subject to rapid outflows, for example if holders rushed to exchange such tokens back into traditional currency. Tether's holdings of U.S. Treasury Bills hit $55.8 billion, up 5.2% from the end of March, while non-U.S. Treasury Bills rose to $62.9 million, up more than 30% from the previous quarter, the report said.

Persons: Elizabeth Howcroft, Christina Fincher Organizations: BDO Italia, Treasury Bills, U.S . Treasury Bills, New York Attorney, Thomson Locations: . U.S, U.S

☆ Across rural America, data center development booms as investors race to cater to artificial intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Data center development is booming and AI is expected to stoke already growing demand. Demand is sapping power grids in major markets and pushing data center development across the US. The project's neighbors include Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon – all of whom have similar plans, or are already underway with major data center projects. The message came after a torrid period of growth by the data center industry in that region. Wes Swenson, Nova's CEO, said the Reno region was becoming increasingly popular for data center development because of its access to power.

Persons: Matt McCollister, Martin Peck, Lincoln Rackhouse, Peck, Blackstone, Jonathan Gray, Drew Angerer, Bard, Gray, Pat Lynch, Robbie Sovie, Sovie, Georgia Power, Skybox, Rob Morris, Morris, George Frey, Novva, Wes Swenson, Nova's, Swenson, CBRE, Lynch Organizations: stoke, Lincoln Property Company, Harrison Street, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Lincoln, Carrier, QTS, Dominion Energy, Dominion, Washington DC, APS, QuadReal, Georgia, Reuters, Data Centers, CIM Group Locations: Ohio, New Albany, Columbus, Northern Virginia, Dallas, Phoenix, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Virginia, Loudoun County, Washington, Arizona, Southwest, Lithia Springs , Georgia, Atlanta, Vancouver, Hutto , Texas, Austin, Eagle Mountain , Utah, Reno , Nevada, Storey County, Reno, Silicon, Salt Lake City, West Jordan , Utah, CBRE

☆ Indonesia launches new crypto bourse, clearing house
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//JAKARTA, July 21 (Reuters) - Indonesia has launched a national crypto asset bourse to provide regulators with transaction records and better protect crypto investors, the government announced this week. The launch of the exchange and clearing house is also intended to strengthen monitoring of the booming sector amid a transition in regulatory oversight, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti). Rising global interest rates have, however, dampened demand for crypto assets in recent months. The new bourse will list existing licensed crypto companies, such as Binance's Tokocrypto, Indodax and others as traders. PT Bursa Komoditi Nusantara will run the bourse and PT Kliring Berjangka Indonesia will clear transactions there, Bappebti chief Didid Noordiantmoko said in a statement.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Didid Noordiantmoko, Bernadette Christina Munthe, Gayatri Suroyo, Kanupriya Kapoor Organizations: REUTERS, Commodity, Trading Regulatory Agency, Bursa Komoditi Nusantara, bourse, Kliring Berjangka, Tennet Depository Indonesia, Financial Services, Thomson Locations: JAKARTA, Indonesia, Indodax, Bursa, Kliring Berjangka Indonesia, Bappebti

☆ The 'Bitcoin Family' has a special algorithm that tracks moon cycles — and it's helped them gain 50% since the bear market bottom
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Didi Taihuttu in Lagos, Portugal MacKenzie SigalosTaihuttu's indicator considers a mix of inputs, including directional trading data and moon cycles. Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) compares two moving averages of a cryptocurrency's price by subtracting the 26-period exponential moving average (EMA) from the 12-period EMA. When the 50-day moving average crosses below a falling 200-day moving average, it is known as the Death Cross , signaling a bear market may be imminent. When the 50-day moving average crosses below a falling 200-day moving average, it is known as the , signaling a bear market may be imminent. Price chart showing the 'Didi BAM BAM' market indicator Didi TaihuttuAnd then there are the intangible price influencers — like moon phases.

Persons: Thailand Didi Taihuttu LAGOS, Didi Taihuttu, Portugal MacKenzie Sigalos Taihuttu's, Bitcoin, Taihuttu, DAI —, Didi, Portugal MacKenzie, Portugal —, Portugal Didi Taihuttu, Mayer, It's, Price, —, I'm, Didi Bam Bam, Thailand Didi, ChatGPT, Goldman Sachs, Marco Argenti, Goldman, Louisa, David Solomon, Morgan Stanley, Morgan, Jeff McMillan, — CNBC's Ryan Browne Organizations: CNBC, Didi BAM, BAM, Bollinger Bands, Bollinger, Lightning Networks Locations: Phuket, Thailand, PORTUGAL, Lagos, Algarve, Taihuttu, bitcoin, Portugal, cryptocurrency, ChatGPT

☆ Russia's near-mutiny just cratered its currency against the dollar
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The near-mutiny in Russia this weekend had some unexpected consequences for currencies — more on that below. And yet — the Russian ruble still plunged 3% to a 15-month low on Monday, trading at one point near 87 per dollar. The Kremlin said there was a huge uptick in foreign currency demand across 15 regions in Russia, per Reuters. During the mutiny, Russian banks had cut their ruble exchange rates to over 100 per dollar, though they've since eased prices. What's your outlook for the Russian ruble by year-end?

Persons: Phil Rosen, You'll, Vladimir Putin, GAVRIIL, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Wagner, Prigozhin, Andrei Belousov, Putin hasn't, Spencer Platt, Morgan Stanley, Billionaire Ron Baron, Warren, there's, Goldman Sachs, Elon, Max Adams, Hallam Bullock Organizations: SPUTNIK, Getty, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Manchester United, Walgreens, Alliance Inc, Billionaire, Dow, Harvard, Bank of America, Elon Musk's Locations: New York, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, —, Voronezh, Rostov, Lipetsk, London

☆ I'm the 'Car Mom' and review family cars for a living. Here's my favorite models and why 100,000-mile vehicles shouldn't scare you.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Kelly Stumpe, also known as the Car Mom, has test-driven and toured 65 family cars. The problem with buying a family car is, it's not just a matter of: "I don't like the drive." It is not as simple as if it has a seatbelt, it can fit a car seat. In the Sequoia, I can only put it in the middle seat, so I could not have another child in this car who would still be in a car seat. It actually allows you to access the third row when a car seat is still installed.

Persons: Kelly Stumpe, Alexa St, Stumpe reevaluated, St . Louis, there's, I've, shouldn't, Joe Raedle, it's, Stumpe, It's, they're, I'm, Sienna Organizations: Morning, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Ford Expedition, Toyota Sequoia, Leasing, Ford The Ford Expedition, General Motors, Honda, VW Locations: John, St, Louis , Missouri, St ., Florida, Hyundai Santa Fe, Autotrader, Edmunds, Yukon

☆ I'm a mom that's test-driven or toured 65 family cars — these are my favorite models and top tips for buying
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

☆ Bitcoin drops below $25,000, Tether's stablecoin falls under its dollar peg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Standard Chartered predicts that bitcoin could fall to $5,000 in 2023 as part of their research on potential market surprises next year. Cryptocurrency prices fell after the Federal Reserve's June meeting, with bitcoin falling below $25,000 for the first time since March. On Thursday, bitcoin was lower by around 4% at $24,866.92, according to Coin Metrics, while ether fell more than 5% to $1,632.47. And selling pressure weighed on Tether (USDT), which lost its peg to the U.S. dollar on most exchanges Thursday, falling to 99 cents in its biggest drop since November. "Given how thin trading volumes are at the moment, a sizable (but not massive) sell order is enough to set off liquidations."

Persons: bitcoin, Altcoins, Polygon's, Cardano's, Stocks, Michael Safai Organizations: Chartered, Federal, Metrics, U.S, Federal Reserve

Over 50 cryptocurrencies worth over $100 billion in total and making up about 10% of the overall market, are now viewed by the SEC watchdog as securities, according to CCData. Among major players, for example, solana , polygon and cardano have sunk between 23% and 32%. Bitcoin and ether weren't named in the SEC's lawsuit, nor were stablecoins such as tether and USC Coin. By contrast, bitcoin investors who have held their coins for more than five months appeared relatively calm and accounted for just 1.9% of deposit volume. Investment products tracking altcoins have seen positive - albeit small - net inflows this year, in contrast to bitcoin and ether, Coinshares data showed on Monday.

Persons: Vetle Lunde, Ryan Rasmussen, solana, Lucas Kiely, Alex Thorn, Noelle Acheson, James Butterfield, Lisa Mattackal, Medha Singh, Pravin Organizations: U.S, SEC, K33 Research, solana, Securities, Bitwise Asset Management, Reuters Global Markets, Cardano Foundation, Solana Foundation, Reuters, Polygon Labs, Reuters Graphics Reuters, USC, BTC, ETH, Firmwide Research, Galaxy Digital, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: cardano, altcoins, Bengaluru

☆ Binance plans to swap 750 million of token pairs to ensure liquidity
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 12 (Reuters) - Binance said in a tweet on Monday it would swap 750 million tether-tron token pairs for tether-ether in an attempt to maintain the stablecoin's liquidity. The move comes amid renewed regulatory scrutiny at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange and will help cushion some of the fallout from recent blows, including Binance being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The swap, set to start after 12 p.m. UTC on Monday, will be held directly with the tether team, the tweet said. Tron is the ninth largest cryptocurrency with a $6.3 billion market value, while ether is the largest after bitcoin, with its $210 billion market capitalization. A month later the U.S. arm of Binance said it would remove digital asset token tron from its trading platform.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Justin Sun, Mehnaz Yasmin, Medha Singh Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S ., SEC, U.S, Binance, Tron Foundation, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Banks are cutting off Binance's access to U.S. banking system, exchange says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Securities And Exchange Commission has filed lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Binance for allegedly violating multiple securities laws. Binance announced the change late Thursday night on Twitter, and blamed the Securities and Exchange Commission's "unjustified civil claims against our business." Binance's banking transactions are the center of immense scrutiny by the SEC, which filed a civil complaint against the exchange and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, alleging both violated U.S. securities laws. But it suggests that Binance's banking partners have decided the exchange is too risky a client to keep on, and that the revelations from the SEC case have grown too significant to ignore. Multiple banking partners had already stopped serving Binance, and it wasn't immediately clear which banking partners Binance retained.

Persons: Justin Sullivan, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, —, wasn't Organizations: Securities, Exchange, Twitter, SEC, Axos Bank, Bank Locations: CALIFORNIA, San Anselmo , California, United States, Silicon Valley

☆ Tether CTO says stablecoins will move toward a full audit to prove reserves
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTether CTO says stablecoins will move toward a full audit to prove reservesPaolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether, said the stablecoin industry will likely move closer to full audits to prove they have assets to back their digital currencies.

Persons: stablecoins, Paolo Ardoino

☆ Binance issues could lead more people to move to USDT stablecoin, Tether CTO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBinance issues could lead more people to move to USDT stablecoin, Tether CTO saysPaolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of Tether, discusses the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations against crypto exchange Binance.

Persons: USDT, Paolo Ardoino Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange

☆ El Salvador partnership to build $1 billion bitcoin mining farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, June 5 (Reuters) - A public-private partnership in El Salvador will pump $1 billion into creating one of the world's largest bitcoin mining farms, the group called Volcano Energy announced on Monday. Volcano Energy said the funds would go toward an estimated 241 MW power generation park using solar and wind energy in the northwestern municipality of Metapan, which will eventually power the bitcoin mining farm. Bitcoin mining uses high-power computers hooked up to a global network, sucking up massive amounts of electricity in the process. The El Salvador government will have "a preferred participation equivalent to 23% of the revenues" in the project, Volcano Energy said, with private investors holding 27%. Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador and Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Josue Lopez, Max Keiser, Nelson Renteria, Kylie Madry, Aurora Ellis Organizations: SALVADOR, Volcano Energy, Salvadoran, Reuters, International Monetary Fund, El, U.S ., Thomson Locations: El Salvador, Salvador's, Metapan, San Salvador, Mexico City

Right now though, the market has never been more top-heavy and the share of market constituents outperforming the broader index has never been lower. According to Ed Clissold at Ned Davis Research, the percentage of stocks outperforming the S&P 500 this year is just 24.5%. The percentage of S&P 500 stocks outperforming the index on a rolling three-month basis is just 20.3%, a record low. Clissold says that the S&P 500's one-year gain after periods of relative strength by a small group of large caps is an average 1.8%. These five stocks account for over a quarter of the S&P 500's $36.78 trillion market cap, and the top 10 account for a third of the total.

Persons: bode, Ed Clissold, Ned Davis, Meb Faber, Chuck Prince's, Cambria's Faber, Jamie McGeever, Andrea Ricci Organizations: NYSE, Barclays, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Ned Davis Research, Reuters, Google, Cambria Investment Management, Citigroup, Thomson Locations: ORLANDO, Florida

☆ Stablecoin giant Tether to mine bitcoin in Uruguay using renewable energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Cryptocurrency giant Tether is setting up a bitcoin mining operation in Uruguay using renewable energy, as the company looks to diversify the revenue mix to support its USDT stablecoin. The company said Tuesday that it plans to invest its resources into renewable energy production, marking its first foray into the energy sector. Tether is also on the hunt for "experts in the area" to support its expansion into the renewable energy space, it said. "By harnessing the power of Bitcoin and Uruguay's renewable energy capabilities, Tether is leading the way in sustainable and responsible Bitcoin mining," said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether. "Our unwavering commitment to renewable energy ensures that every Bitcoin we mine leaves a minimal ecological footprint while upholding the security and integrity of the Bitcoin network."

CNN —Josef Newgarden won the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 in a wild finish Sunday after three crashes in the last 16 laps. When the checkered flag finally waved after nearly three hours, it was Newgarden who claimed his first Indy 500 win – but getting there required a lot of drama. The green flag waved again with one lap to go, and Ericsson initially extended his lead over the chasing Newgarden. But Newgarden caught Ericsson and slingshot past him on the back straightaway to reclaim the lead. “I’ve always wanted to go into the crowd here in Indianapolis,” Newgarden said in a postrace interview on NBC’s telecast.

☆ Crypto’s biggest headwinds this year are hurting stablecoins. Here’s what investors need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Stablecoins are like cash in crypto markets: They are supposed to be pegged to the value of a stable asset, such as the U.S. dollar. Stablecoins play an important role bridging traditional and digital currencies and giving market participants access to crypto trading and protocols. For many, that makes them a proxy for the amount of fiat money entering and leaving crypto, Panigirtzoglou said. Republican negotiators walking out of the high-stakes debt ceiling talks Friday also has implications for stablecoins. Tether and Circle's USDC hold about 65% and 57%, respectively, of their stablecoin reserves in T-bills, according to the companies' attestation reports.

Search resuls for: "Tether"

25 mentions found