Aurelia Butler

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    in Economy

    Putin decree outlines Russian response to any US seizure of frozen assets

    G7 negotiators have been discussing for weeks how to best exploit some $300 billion worth of Russian financial assets, such as major currencies and government bonds, which were frozen shortly after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.Russia’s ability to mete out like-for-like retaliation if Western leaders seize its frozen assets has been eroded by dwindling foreign investment, but it may go after private investors’ cash instead, officials and economists told Reuters this month. Thursday’s decree stated that a Russian entity can ask a Russian court to determine whether its property has been unjustifiably seized and seek compensation. The court would then order for compensation to be transferred in the form of U.S. assets or property in Russia from a list that would be drawn up by Russia’s government commission on foreign asset sales.The decree listed securities, stakes in Russian companies, real estate, movable property and property rights among the U.S.-owned assets potentially liable for seizure. Former president Dmitry Medvedev acknowledged last month that Russia holds an insignificant amount of American state property and that any response Russia makes would be asymmetrical, focusing on private individuals’ assets. The assets of many foreign investors, including both individuals and major U.S. investment funds, are held in special ‘type-C’ accounts Russia introduced shortly after sending its army into Ukraine and being hit by a barrage of Western sanctions in February 2022.Money in those accounts cannot be transferred out of Russia without permission from Russian authorities. Washington has passed legislation allowing President Joe Biden’s administration to confiscate Russian assets held in American banks and transfer them to Ukraine, something Russia has repeatedly called illegal. More

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    in Economy

    Economic feel-bad factor hangs over the UK election

    Standard DigitalWeekend Print + Standard Digitalwasnow $85 per monthBilled Quarterly at $199. Complete digital access plus the FT newspaper delivered Monday-Saturday.What’s included Global news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print editionWeekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts10 monthly gift articles to shareGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print editionEverything in PrintWeekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisPlusEverything in Premium DigitalEverything in Standard DigitalGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresFirstFT newsletterVideos & PodcastsFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit app10 gift articles per monthExclusive FT analysisPremium newslettersFT Digital Edition10 additional gift articles per monthMake and share highlightsFT WorkspaceMarkets data widgetSubscription ManagerWorkflow integrationsOccasional readers go freeVolume discountFT Weekend Print deliveryPlusEverything in Standard DigitalFT Weekend Print deliveryPlusEverything in Premium Digital More

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    in Economy

    US weekly jobless claims fall as labor market remains solid

    Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 215,000 for the week ended May 18, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 220,000 claims in the latest week.The labor market is steadily rebalancing in the wake of 525 basis points worth of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve since March 2022 to slow demand in the overall economy.Minutes of the U.S. central bank’s April 30-May 1 policy meeting published on Wednesday showed officials assessed that “demand and supply in the labor market, on net, were continuing to come into better balance, though at a slower rate.” But they also noted that conditions had “generally remained tight.”The Fed has kept its benchmark overnight interest rate in the current 5.25%-5.50% range since July. Financial markets expect the first rate cut will come in September.The claims data covered the period during which the government surveyed employers the nonfarm payrolls component of May’s employment report. Claims were little changed between the April and May survey weeks. Data next week on the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, could offer more clarity on the state of the labor marketThe so-called continuing claims rose 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.794 million during the week ending May 11, the claims report showed. More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    MANTRA Secures Strategic Investment from Nomura’s Laser Digital to Accelerate RWA Tokenization Initiatives in the Middle East and Asia

    MANTRA, a Layer 1 blockchain solution for Real World Assets (RWA), today announced a strategic investment from Laser Digital, Nomura’s digital asset subsidiary.This additional investment, extending the recent funding round, aims to accelerate MANTRA towards its goal of becoming the de-facto RWA Layer 1 blockchain for Middle East and Asian markets and marks a collaboration with Laser Digital, bringing their complementary expertise and pertinent experience of RWA tokenization to the partnership. Additionally, Laser’s footprint in the Middle East is firmly established, having been granted a Virtual Asset Broker-Dealer license and a Management and Investment Services license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority last year and has In-Principle Approval by the FSRA of Abu Dhabi Global Market.About MANTRA MANTRA aims to be the world’s leading RWA L1 blockchain, designed to adhere to and enforce real world regulatory requirements. By accelerating the adoption of tokenized RWAs, MANTRA has the potential to unlock the US $16 trillion RWA economy with a regulatory-ready blockchain. As a permissionless chain, MANTRA empowers developers and institutions to seamlessly participate in the evolving RWA tokenization space by offering advanced technology modules, compliance mechanisms, and cross-chain interoperability.For further information, please visit https://www.mantrachain.io/Website | X | LinkedIn | Telegram | Medium | InstagramAbout Laser Digital Laser Digital is a digital asset business redefining the frontier of digital finance. Backed by Nomura, Laser Digital delivers scalable, robust opportunities across trading, asset management, and ventures. The team works at higher risk management standards, compliance, and commercial viability, all driven by a belief in more responsible engagement in digital assets. With an open and dynamic culture, Laser Digital has the freedom to adapt to market needs, to move swiftly to capitalisation, and to share learnings with clients and partners – bringing greater confidence to the institutional market for the benefit of all. For more information, please visit: https://www.laserdigital.comContactMarketing LeadChristoph [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Dora Factory Secures $10M in Strategic Funding

    Dora Factory, the leading decentralized governance infrastructure, announced the closing of another $10 million strategic raise. Nomad Capital, No Limit Holdings, Sky9 Capital, Singapore’s UOB-Signum Blockchain Fund, Interop Ventures, Cai Wensheng’s Longling Capital, and nine other renowned institutional investors joined the round. The raise will accelerate the adoption and strategic expansion of Dora Factory’s decentralized governance and public goods funding tech stack.Dora Factory is a leading infrastructure focused on decentralized governance and public goods technology. Its core products include the flagship Public Good Staking infrastructure, which enables block incentive driven ecosystem funding; Dora Vota, a Cosmos SDK appchain hosting dGov protocols; anonymous MACI and general MACI, the privacy-preserving, collusion-resistant zk voting infrastructure, and the multi-chain Quadratic Governance protocol stack, the on-chain mechanism that democratizes public goods funding. Last week, the Cosmos Hub community approved governance proposal No.917 and a $1 million grant to AEZ Quadratic Grant to run ten rounds of Quadratic Funding in the next 24 months via Dora Factory’s Voting appchain, Dora Vota. All of the funding will be distributed to public good builders and start-ups in the Cosmos Hub and related ecosystems building a prosperous ATOM Economic Zone.Earlier this year, Dora Factory announced its first strategic round led by dao5, a new venture capital firm founded by former Polychain General Partner Tekin Salimi, and Whampoa Digital, co-founded by Amy Lee, a former senior partner at Lee & Lee, a Singapore law firm started by Lee Kim Yew and Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew and his wife. Prior to this, Dora Factory had raised a total of $17.5 million in 2021, with investors including Binance Labs, HashKey, and The LAO.”Building leading public goods funding and governance infrastructure is a critical step for the Dora team to advance the global hacker movement and drive frontier tech innovation,” said Eric Zhang, Architect of Dora Factory. “We are humbled to receive much support from our ecosystem partners and the Web3 community. In fact, decentralized governance has a deep and interesting tech stack, and we are still at a very early stage. There are a lot of exciting developments ahead. The work from Dora Factory during the past three years has laid a solid foundation for them.”Since its founding in 2020, Dora Factory has dedicated itself to the research and development of decentralized governance infrastructure and applications. Over 2,000 startups have secured $20 million in grants on-chain with Dora Factory’s infrastructure.Over 30 Web3 ecosystems, including Aptos, Celestia, Injective, Klaytn, and Akash, have worked closely with Dora Factory as their core ecosystem partner and adopted Dora Factory’s protocol stacks. Through Public Good Staking, an innovative initiative created by the Dora Factory team in 2022, they have provided long-term, block-native, sustainable funding support to public goods builders and early-stage developer teams. “The assets under governance for on-chain communities has grown to a hundred-billion dollar scale. Now is the golden era for governance technology,” said Erick Zhang, Partner of Nomad Capital. “Dora Factory has become the industry’s cornerstone public goods infrastructure after four years of dedicated development and iteration. We are thrilled to support the Dora team in their mission to empower developers, foster innovation in the Web3 space, and expand the adoption of new technologies, including aMACI, through this investment.””Dora Factory’s development of Dora Vota and anonymous privacy voting technology demonstrates their leadership in Web3 governance and public good funding. This is a crucial piece of blockchain’s value proposition, and we recognize their impact with millions of votes cast and over 2000 projects receiving funding via QF. Our investment is a first step in continuing to support their effort.” said Gin Chao, Founding Partner of No Limit Holdings. “With support from new investors, we are excited to grow the Dora Factory ecosystem further. Our plans include innovations in multi-chain quadratic funding and Public Good Staking, encouraging developers to expand the use cases of anonymous MACI, and building new governance apps on Dora Vota. Our goal is to deliver a suite of products that provide an exceptional experience for on-chain communities and teams working on frontier technologies,” commented Steve Ngok, core contributor to Dora Factory.About Dora FactoryDora Factory builds protocols and infrastructures to enable decentralized governance and efficient funding for the global hacker movement, open-source communities, and Web3 public goods. Dora Factory’s flagship Public Good Staking is one of the fastest-growing multi-chain staking infrastructures, providing block-native incentives to grow the next generation of blockchains. Dora Vota is a special-purpose blockchain for decentralized governance, supporting general MACI interface, anonymous MACI, and quadratic governance rounds.To use Dora Factory products, go to DoraFactory.org.For more information, visit research.dorahacks.ioContactCommunity contributorChris LeeDora [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    in Economy

    Yellen wants G7 ‘wall of opposition’ to China’s excess industrial capacity

    STRESA, Italy (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that she wants market-driven countries to present a “wall of opposition” to China over its state-driven industrial policies, a key issue she is pushing at a G7 finance meeting this week.Yellen also told a news conference that she is looking for “general agreement on the concept” from G7 finance ministers and central bank governors on a plan to bring forward the earnings from some $300 billion in frozen Russian assets that could provide Ukraine with significant financial support beyond 2025.The two topics are expected to dominate a finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in northern Italy on Friday and Saturday.Yellen said that many countries beyond the G7 advanced industrial democracies were concerned about China’s overinvestment in electric vehicles, solar products, semiconductors, steel and other strategic industries, including Mexico, India and South Africa.Without changes in Chinese policy, including a shift from increasing production to boosting domestic demand, Yellen said market driven economies face a flood of cheap exports from China that will threaten the viability of their manufacturers.She said she was not asking countries to mirror U.S. tariffs or closely coordinate their trade policy responses.”But we need to stand together and send a unified message to China,” Yellen said. “So they understand it’s not just one country that feels this way, but that they face a wall of opposition to the strategy that they’re pursuing.”She said the G7 officials would discuss their responses and concerns that they are presenting to Beijing.Yellen’s call for G7 unity on China comes just after the Biden administration announced steep new tariffs on Chinese EVs, batteries, solar panels and other products in a bid to protect U.S. investments to develop these industries at home. Some of these higher duties will start on Aug. 1Yellen called this week for the U.S. and Europe to respond to China’s overinvestment in electric vehicles, solar products, semiconductors, steel and other key sectors in a “strategic and united way” to keep manufacturers viable on both sides of the Atlantic.RUSSIAN ASSETS PLANYellen said that if G7 ministers can agree on a concept for bringing forward the earnings on the frozen Russian assets, they will spend the time before a G7 leaders summit in Puglia in mid-June on refining the details. She added that while a figure of $50 billion has been discussed, there have been no decisions on the size of a potential loan to Ukraine that would be backed by earnings of around $3.5 billion.”This is an assured source of financing and it’s important that Russia realise that we will not be deterred from supporting Ukraine for lack of resources,” Yellen said.The funding could sustain Ukraine beyond 2025, as Ukraine now has a $60 billion U.S. package of aid and about $50 billion from the EU.G7 negotiators have been discussing for weeks how to best exploit some $300 billion worth of Russian financial assets, such as major currencies and government bonds, which were frozen shortly after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    ‘$1 Million Bitcoin’ Advocate Samson Mow Reveals Last Chance to Sell ETH

    As the deadline for the SEC to reveal its decision on spot Ethereum ETFs is drawing closer, Mow began to slam Ethereum-based ETFs. In a recent tweet, this “$1 million Bitcoin” advocate wrote that he is expecting them to be beaten by Bitcoin-based ones.Besides, he believes now is the last time for holders to sell Ethereum at a good price against Bitcoin.For those who are in doubt, the Bitcoin maximalist suggested comparing demand for both BTC and ETH on other markets and said it is important to consider that Ethereum will not give staking rewards.Mow concluded his tweet by saying that now is “the last chance to sell ETH above 0.05 BTC.”In the comments to his root tweet, Samson added that he expects the news of the potential approval to become one of the biggest “sell the news events” this year.When a commentator pointed out that there is no company of the scale of MicroStrategy, which is acquiring Ethereum now in the same amounts as Michael Saylor’s company, is accumulating Bitcoin.Contrary to Mow, Bitcoiner and VC investor Anthony Pompliano believes that the potential approval of Ethereum ETFs by the SEC could become “the last dam to be broken” before the U.S. approves the entire cryptocurrency space.The BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) fund remains the leader among ETFs, with $92 million coming into it on Wednesday. On May 21, BlackRock’s IBIT had the largest inflow over the past 32 trading days – $291 million.This article was originally published on U.Today More

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    in Economy

    The trade dispute dividing the US solar sector

    Standard DigitalWeekend Print + Standard Digitalwasnow $75 per monthComplete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders. Pay a year upfront and save 20%.What’s included Global news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print editionWeekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts10 monthly gift articles to shareGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts20 monthly gift articles to shareLex: FT’s flagship investment column15+ Premium newsletters by leading expertsFT Digital Edition: our digitised print editionEverything in PrintWeekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysisPlusEverything in Premium DigitalEverything in Standard DigitalGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresFirstFT newsletterVideos & PodcastsFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit app10 gift articles per monthExclusive FT analysisPremium newslettersFT Digital Edition10 additional gift articles per monthMake and share highlightsFT WorkspaceMarkets data widgetSubscription ManagerWorkflow integrationsOccasional readers go freeVolume discountFT Weekend Print deliveryPlusEverything in Standard DigitalFT Weekend Print deliveryPlusEverything in Premium Digital More