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☆ Sam Bankman-Fried is set to testify before Congress on Tuesday. He could be grilled on his past statements — and expose himself to more legal risks.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried plans to appear remotely before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. The House Financial Services committee has its own investigative mandate, outlined by its role in inquiring into financial failures, and in helping to craft legislation to prevent similar episodes in the future. Participating could expose Bankman-Fried to more legal risksTestimony provided to House lawmakers would usually be under oath, thought not necessarily so. The House Financial Services committee, chaired by Democratic Representative Maxine Waters of California, comprises progressive political stars like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. The House Financial Services committee hearing is scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday.

☆ Crypto winter end in sight as Ethereum looks to shake the chills- analysts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

J.P.MORGAN:"We believe that the Ethereum Merge and really the Ethereum Surge could be a big factor in terms of increasing the use-cases for blockchain into new areas, including financial services," analysts said in an early December note. The Ethereum Merge was a major software upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain that went live in September and reduced its energy usage by 99.95%, according to developers. "We continue to see the Ethereum Surge as a catalyst for development in the cryptocurrency markets, which appears at least 6-12 months away." "From the China crackdown to the several price crashes in earlier 2022, crypto mining has shown an approximately 1-to-1 price-power relationship. Norwood expects the crypto market to pick up in about six months.

☆ Institutions are charging forward in crypto, even in the industry's darkest days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

After years of pooh-poohing cryptocurrency, institutions finally entered the crypto market last year and fell straight into crypto winter. "Right now [investors] are going back to basics, doing their homework, finding out what this means," said Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy. Near-term risk Institutions often look at big crashes like this one as opportunities , Alden said. "FTX destroyed trust in the industry and may delay traditional finance institutions that haven't already committed to digital assets to invest," Belshe said. However, for "institutions and brands that are already building products in crypto and Web3, we have not seen a slowdown of interest to build, grow and invest."

☆ Chelsea reportedly loses $25 million crypto sponsorship deal as FTX's collapse hammers other platforms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Crypto lender Amber will end its $25 million sponsorship of Chelsea soccer club, Bloomberg reported Friday. In March, Amber agreed to pay 20 million pounds ($25 million) for its flagship crypto exchange WhaleFin to become Chelsea's official sleeve sponsor. As the prices of digital asset prices surged last year, digital asset companies sealed sponsorship deals with top sports franchises. In addition to the job cuts and cutting the Chelsea deal, Amber will pivot to focus on institutional investors and wealthy individuals, per Bloomberg. Read more: FTX's rescue by Binance is a red flag for sports heavyweights that signed sponsorship deals with the crypto exchange

☆ Kim Kardashian and other celebrities beat crypto investors’ lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The lawsuit filed in January claims EthereumMax executives schemed with celebrity promoters to induce investors to buy the EMax token, driving up its price and allowing them to sell their own tokens at a profit. US District Judge Michael Fitzgerald in Los Angeles said that the investors may amend and refile their proposed class action. In Wednesday’s ruling, Fitzgerald said that investors had failed to show that the executives and promoters schemed to mislead investors, rather than acting in their own self-interest. The investors’ fraud claims failed because they had not stated whether or when they saw the promotions, the judge wrote. Kardashian agreed in October to pay the SEC $1.26 million to settle claims that she failed to disclose she was paid to promote EthereumMax tokens.

☆ EMax crypto investors’ lawsuit against Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather Jr., other celebrities dismissed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The lawsuit filed in January claims EthereumMax executives schemed with celebrity promoters to induce investors to buy the EMax token, driving up its price and allowing them to sell their own tokens at a profit. U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald in Los Angeles said that the investors may amend and refile their proposed class action. In Wednesday’s ruling, Fitzgerald said that investors had failed to show that the executives and promoters schemed to mislead investors, rather than acting in their own self-interest. The investors’ fraud claims failed because they had not stated whether or when they saw the promotions, the judge wrote. While the investors may revise those claims, Fitzgerald permanently dismissed their claim under California’s consumer protection law, which he said applies to tangible goods and services, not “intangible goods” such as cryptocurrency.

☆ GameStop's third quarter disappoints on lack of hit titles, inflation pinch
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GameStop launched a digital wallet earlier this year to enable transactions in a marketplace it is building for gamers and others to buy, sell and trade non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. However, with crypto winter setting in and the value of cryptocurrencies plummeting, GameStop's digital wallet ambitions face a bleak future. GameStop posted revenue of $1.19 billion in the third quarter, missing estimates of $1.36 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data. On an adjusted basis, the company lost 31 cents per share, compared with analysts' estimates of a loss of 28 cents per share. GameStop's expenses as a percentage of revenue was 32.7% in the quarter, down from 34.1% in the second quarter, as the company has tried to cut costs by reducing its workforce and shutting down stores.

☆ GameStop posts 9.4% fall in third-quarter revenue
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - GameStop Corp (GME.N) posted a 9.4% fall in quarterly revenue on Wednesday as consumers cut back spending on discretionary items amid stubbornly high inflation. The company launched a digital wallet earlier this year to enable transactions in a marketplace it is building for gamers and others to buy, sell and trade non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. However, with crypto winter setting in and the value of cryptocurrencies plummeting, GameStop's digital wallet ambitions face a bleak future. GameStop's revenue in the third quarter fell to $1.19 billion from $1.30 billion a year earlier. Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Crypto winners and losers from the FTX fallout, according to Bernstein
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bernstein has sifted through the various sectors of the crypto industry and identified winners and losers for 2022. Crypto suffered the added handicap of the financial contagion from the collapse of Terra in the first half of the year and FTX currently. Binance, which operates in a regulatory gray zone, will eventually become the "global consolidator" of smaller off-shore exchanges, Bernstein said. While FTX taught investors about the risks of storing crypto holdings with centralized entities, revelations in the stablecoin sector went the other way around. Solana, on the other hand, took a hit, stained by the fallout of FTX, a big and early backer of Solana.

Bitcoin balances on crypto exchanges - where retail investors typically transact - have fallen to around 2.3 million from its 2020 all-time high of 3.1 million, exchange Bitfinex said. "There are signs that a significant number of retail investors have been discouraged to the point of exiting crypto entirely," Bitfinex analysts said. DAVID VS GOLIATHCrypto retail investors losing money is nothing new. A study from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), conducted between 2015 and 2022, estimated that 73% to 81% likely lost money on their investments in cryptocurrencies. Eloisa Marchesoni, a trader who said she had about $2,000 on FTX she was unable to withdraw, is sure crypto will retain its attraction for smaller investors.

☆ iPod creator Tony Fadell designed a $279 credit card-sized device for storing your crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

watch nowThe creator of the iPod, Tony Fadell, designed a new hardware wallet for people to store their cryptocurrency. The Ledger Stax sports a black-and-white E-ink display, similar to that of Amazon's Kindle e-readers. The Ledger Stax is the latest hardware crypto wallet from French startup Ledger. The Ledger Stax, which retails at $279, is available for preorder starting Tuesday and will start shipping in the first quarter of 2023, Ledger said. In 2018, during the last so-called "crypto winter," HTC launched the Exodus 1, a mid-range phone with a crypto wallet included.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Netflix, Coinbase, Costco, Etsy & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight JPMorgan said Apple's iPhone supply chain challenges appear to be moderating. JPMorgan reiterates Netflix as overweight JPMorgan said it sees a "heavily backend-weighted quarter" for Netflix. Morgan Stanley initiates Marriott as overweight Morgan Stanley said it likes how the hotel chain has transformed its business and that it sees a "further re-rating." Jefferies reiterates Amazon and Etsy as buy Jefferies said Amazon and Etsy will be winners this holiday shopping season. Morgan Stanley downgrades Silvergate to underweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of the crypto bank that it sees too many headwinds due to the FTX collapse. "

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the market Monday: Stocks, China, Apple
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

There's less than 2% upside at the high end of his year-end S & P 500 price target of 4,000 to 4,150. Citi cuts price target on Club holding Salesforce (CRM) to $164 per share from $170 but keeps neutral rating. Deutsche Bank downgrades Starbucks (SBUX) to hold from buy but increases price target to $106 per share from $100. Ulta Beauty (ULTA) price target raised to $548 per share to $511 at Barclays, which also keeps its overweight rating. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Is the worst over for bitcoin and the rest of crypto?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This is not the first crypto winter, as long-term fans of bitcoin can attest. “It is very clear that we as an industry need to build better products,” said Hany Rashwan, CEO of 21.co, a crypto investment firm. That’s about triple where prices were during the depths of the crypto bear market in the early pandemic days of 2020. Others point out that the underlying blockchain technology behind bitcoin and crypto remains solid. Pride and Reynolds added that it’s erroneous to think that bitcoin can hold up well during stock market volatility.

☆ Piper Sandler says Coinbase may capitalize on FTX bankruptcy, sees shares more than doubling
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Piper Sandler is reaffirming its bullish outlook on Coinbase even amid chaos in the cryptocurrency space given the fallout at FTX. On the other hand, Robinhood reached profitability sooner than expected because of aggressive cost cutting, which Coinbase may want to consider, Repetto noted. Crypto winter contingency Still, signals point to the current crypto winter being near an ending point that could help boost Coinbase. "Using history as a guide and ignoring macroeconomic (interest rates), regulatory, geopolitical factors, we could be near a bottom in this crypto winter," said Repetto. And, if the crypto winter is not over soon, Piper Sandler noted that Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas said the company has contingency plans in place to weather the storm.

☆ Mike Novogratz backs off his call for bitcoin to hit $500,000 in 5 years, blaming the Fed's rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mike Novogratz believes it'll take longer than he previously expected for bitcoin to hit $500,000. Federal Reserve rate hikes have suppressed the token's value this year, the Galaxy Digital CEO said. Novogratz had previously predicted bitcoin would hit $500,000 within five years. "No, not in five years," he told Bloomberg TV when asked about a previous prediction he'd made that bitcoin would hit $500,000 by 2027. "The Fed's in control and they're doing a darn good job and that's the main reason why crypto went down," he said.

☆ Coinbase says Apple blocked its last app release on NFTs in wallet
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) said on Thursday customers using Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iOS will not be able to send non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the cryptocurrency exchange's wallet anymore. "Apple's claim is that the gas fees required to send NFTs need to be paid through their In-App Purchase system, so that they can collect 30% of the gas fee," Coinbase Wallet added in a tweet. Coinbase said it would not be able to comply with the requirement even if it tried as the iPhone maker's proprietary in-app purchase system does not support crypto. Coinbase's issue with Apple comes at difficult time for the crypto exchange, whose shares are down roughly 80% so far this year. Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bitcoin is on the 'road to irrelevance' and its last gasp was already on the horizon before FTX's collapse, ECB officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bitcoin was heading for a dead-end even before the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX, ECB officials wrote Wednesday. The recent price spike is likely an "artificial last gasp before the road to irrelevance," officials noted. "More likely, however, it is an artificially induced last gasp before the road to irrelevance – and this was already foreseeable before FTX went bust and sent the bitcoin price to well below $16,000." Despite the ongoing 'crypto winter', VC investments in the crypto and blockchain industry totalled $17.9 billion as of mid-July." And while the crypto industry faces growing calls for oversight, the ECB officials cautioned that regulation can be misunderstood as approval.

☆ Kraken to cut about 1,100 global jobs as crypto winter bites
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken said on Wednesday it would cut its global workforce by 30%, or about 1,100 employees, citing tough market conditions that have crippled demand for digital assets this year. Earlier this month, crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) slashed jobs in its recruiting and institutional onboarding teams. Kraken, which earlier slowed hiring and pulled back marketing spending, said it was forced to cut jobs as it had exhausted other measures to bring expenses in line with current demand. Meanwhile, the implosion of crypto exchange FTX, the highest-profile casualty of the year's market turmoil, continues to ripple across the industry, with BlockFi filing for bankruptcy earlier this week. Global regulators have since been circling crypto firms with many seeking to set tough rules to govern the largely unregulated sector.

☆ Bitfront: The crypto winter claims another casualty after FTX's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New Delhi CNN Business —Bitfront, a crypto exchange backed by Japanese social media app Line, is shutting down after failing to overcome turmoil in the industry. The announcement by the US-based exchange comes at a time when the market for digital assets is grappling with financial contagion unleashed by the spectacular collapse of another crypto exchange, FTX. Its decision to shut down the exchange came on the same day crypto lender BlockFi filed for bankruptcy. BlockFi, founded in 2017 by Zac Prince and Flori Marquez, made loans to customers using crypto assets as collateral. Shortly after filing for Chapter 11, BlockFi filed a lawsuit against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s Emergent Fidelity Technologies, demanding he turn over collateral that BlockFi claims it is owed.

☆ Here’s how China’s COVID lockdown protests are sparking unrest across markets and rattling the global investing landscape.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Today we're going over what the ongoing protests in China mean for markets and investors. While the protests in China have been largely peaceful, some protesters have been met with violence from the authorities. Anti-government protests have erupted from Shanghai to Beijing as citizens rise up in opposition of China's zero-COVID policies. "Markets don't like bad news, and protests are bad news," Laffer told me on a phone call yesterday. China protests over lockdown measures could mean inflation gets stuck at 4%, according to Mohamed El-Erian.

☆ 2 Crypto lender BlockFi files for Chapter 11
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It listed crypto exchange FTX as its second-largest creditor, with $275 million owed on a loan extended earlier this year. COMMENTS:MARTHA REYES-HULME, HEAD OF RESEARCH, BEQUANT, LONDON"The BlockFi bankruptcy is a sad chapter in the short history of our industry that has forced participants to be more mindful of risk management, counterparty risk, and governance. MONSUR HUSSAIN, SENIOR DIRECTOR, FITCH RATINGS, LONDON“BlockFi’s Chapter 11 restructuring underscores significant asset contagion risks associated with the crypto ecosystem, and, potentially, deficient risk management processes. It was yet another example of neglected risk management when prices were going up, as crypto winter hit those that took on the most counterparty risk are getting exposed." "From a customer standpoint it serves as another reminder to be skeptical of any crypto yield products on offer, particularly those that sound too good to be true.

☆ 3 Crypto lender BlockFi files for Chapter 11
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

It listed crypto exchange FTX as its second-largest creditor, with $275 million owed on a loan extended earlier this year. MARTHA REYES-HULME, HEAD OF RESEARCH, BEQUANT, LONDON"The BlockFi bankruptcy is a sad chapter in the short history of our industry that has forced participants to be more mindful of risk management, counterparty risk, and governance. MONSUR HUSSAIN, SENIOR DIRECTOR, FITCH RATINGS, LONDON“BlockFi’s Chapter 11 restructuring underscores significant asset contagion risks associated with the crypto ecosystem, and, potentially, deficient risk management processes. The decentralized finance models used proper collateralization and they're intact. It was yet another example of neglected risk management when prices were going up, as crypto winter hit those that took on the most counterparty risk are getting exposed."

☆ Another tech bubble bursts: 2022 has been brutal for Silicon Valley workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +28 min

Gem: 100A maker of recruiting software, the startup cut a third of its workforce Nov. 1, The Information reported. HealthCare.com: 149The health insurance marketplace announced the job cuts Aug. 3, Miami Inno reported, citing state regulatory filings. Fabric: 120The robotics startup said July 13 that it was layoffing off 40% of them, TechCrunch reported, citing company confirmation. It affected about 300 people, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported, citing company confirmation. Policygenius: 170The online insurance company cut about 25% of its staff, Axios reported June 6, citing company confirmation.

☆ Crypto winter highlights gold’s warming qualities
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Edward Chancellor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

That’s why crypto pioneers developed stablecoins, which peg their market price to old-fashioned fiat currencies. The FTX founder agreed that digital tokens were impossible to value since they generated no cash flow. In other words, the entire crypto world has the mechanics of a Ponzi scheme. In such a nightmare scenario, access to a decentralised, anonymised type of digital money could prove indispensable. In this world bitcoin serves as the lifeboat for civilisation, offering protection against both anarchy and the surveillance state.

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