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    Surging German wage growth casts doubt on timing of ECB rate cuts

    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

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    Avocado DAO Launches BBQ Bumpathon: Exciting rewards and prize pools await

    Avocado DAO, a leading Web3 gaming guild, is proud to announce the launch of their new event, Bumpathon. This event celebrates the introduction of Bumpies Brawl Quest, an incremental idle game incubated by Avocado DAO. The event will run until May 30, 2024, offering participants the chance to win a prize pool of $1,400 worth of ETH and various exciting rewards. Avocado DAO’s mission is to foster and empower Web3 gaming communities, offering scholarships in games such as Axie Infinity, Heroes of Mavia, and more. It also invests in promising Web3 gaming projects and incubates its own projects, such as the Bumpies NFT collection and Bumpies Brawl Quest, establishing itself as a leader in Web3 community gaming. The Bumpies Brawl Quest game utilizes the Bumpies NFT collection on Base network.The collection was launched by Avocado DAO in early 2024, and serves as a dynamic ecosystem connecting Avocado’s digital ID with its questing platform and partner products. The collection features multiple rarities—common, rare, epic, and galactic—each designed to provide additional advantages for users in the upcoming Avocado products. This utility-based NFT’s initial functionality includes integration into Bumpies Brawl Quest, an incremental idle game within the Bumpies ecosystem. Future integrations will expand into Avocado’s partner ecosystems, offering various benefits across different projects.Bumpies Brawl Quest is an on-chain incremental idle game that requires a Bumpie NFT to play. Similar to classic Tamagotchis, players raise digital pets (Bumpies) to interact, brawl, and play mini-games. As the game progresses, characters level up, unlock room upgrades and new battlefields. The game requires players to raise and interact with their Bumpies featuring competitive PVP brawls and daily Pachinko games, providing players with numerous opportunities to earn $ETH rewards. The rarity of a Bumpie NFT multiplies the reward mechanism, adding a gacha element in collecting higher rarity Bumpies.Inspired by popular on-chain games like Frenpet and Xpet, this game offers its unique flavor with enhanced visuals, entertaining characters, and, most importantly, a strong sense of community. Avocado DAO’s Bumpies Brawl Quest aims to push the boundaries of Web3 game development, providing a polished, on-chain gaming experience.Here’s how to participate in the Bumpathon:ContactNisha RameshAvocado [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    GoMining to Celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day with Exclusive NFT Collection Launch and Generous Prizes for Competition Winners

    GoMining, a premier Bitcoin mining company operating nine top-notch data centers worldwide, has prepared an exciting lineup of community activities to celebrate the annual Bitcoin Pizza Day. The festive program will culminate with the launch of a unique Pizza Miner collection and a big community contest with amazing prizes, including a one-year supply of pizza, 2,000 GOMINING tokens, and three supercharged NFT miners from the celebratory drop.The Pizza Miner NFT CollectionThe festive Pizza Miner NFT drop will comprise only 50 digital miners with unique pizza-style designs, each one optimized for outstanding mining performance and daily Bitcoin rewards for their lucky holders. Each Pizza Miner will represent a computing power of 16 TH/s with an incredible energy efficiency of 20 W/TH.The limited drop will become available for purchase on May 22 at 3 PM UTC, giving anyone prompt a chance to grab a unique NFT with real utility by GoMining. The Pizza Miner collection will be available on GoMining’s primary marketplace and the festive landing page.GoMining Pizza Miner CompetitionThose willing to try their luck and creativity will have a real chance to compete for three Pizza Miners from the latest collection, as well as a 2,000 GOMINING token prize and a one-year supply of pizza from GoMining in a community competition, also starting on May 22.To participate, entrants must share a creative post on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, or Facebook (NASDAQ:META) with any authentic creation, such as a photo, collage, meme, or video, that includes three essential elements: pizza, Bitcoin, and GoMining. The final requirement is to use the hashtags #pizzaminer and #bitcoinpizzaday and tag the official GoMining account on the chosen platform.The Festive DiscountAs a cherry on top, GoMining is happy to introduce a three-day-long 10% discount on all new 2 TH/s and 4 TH/s-charged digital miners available with the PIZZAMINER promo code until May 26. The discount is also available directly via this link.When reached for a comment regarding the Bitcoin Pizza Day celebration, Mark Zalan, GoMining CEO, congratulated the crypto community and emphasized his deep belief in Bitcoin.GoMining NFTsVirtual miners are NFTs by GoMining, backed with a real share of computing power ranging between 1 and 5,000 TH/s, depending on the NFT and its level. Each NFT can be easily upgraded in both computing power and energy efficiency attributes, allowing holders to scale their output with just a few clicks.BTC mining rewards for holding an NFT are delivered daily to any wallet, whether internal or external, of the holder’s choice.GOMINING TokenThe native token of the GoMining ecosystem, GOMINING, is accessible on both the Ethereum (ETH) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchains. The token is currently available on various exchanges, including Gate.io, Bitfinex, Bitget, MEXC, and Uniswap.GOMINING is utilized for various on-platform payments, including NFT purchasing and upgrading, as well as granting access to an additional 10% discount for electricity fees.ContactSeva [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    $BEER, a New Solana-Based Memecoin completes Pre-Sale of 30,000 SOL this week

    The Liquid Gold, $BEER, has become the most discussed topic on Solana over the past two weeks. $BEER has skyrocketed into Twitter trends across Europe & Asia, captivating beer lovers worldwide.After amassing an incredible community of over 300,000 followers on Twitter, Telegram, and Instagram in just a few days, Beercoin launched a massive pre-sale with a hard cap of 30,000 $SOL, equivalent to $5 million USD. This target was achieved in a record time. Pre-sale participants who joined before the $3 million mark will receive a 20% bonus in $BEER, while those who entered before the $5 million mark will receive a 15% bonus.With the pre-sale concluded, the Beercoin team is planning to list $BEER on Raydium and other DEXes in coming days. Also, the team has pre-announced a massive marketing campaign for $BEER holders and promoters with prizes such as a private jet trip to Oktoberfest and brand-new Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CyberTruck loaded with beer. $BEER is aiming to get into the league of the industry giants like $PEPE, $WIF, and $FLOKI, which are now dominating the top of memecoin charts with billions in market cap.For those who missed the pre-sale, there will be plenty of opportunities to acquire $BEER. Users can stay updated by following the official Beercoin website and social media channels.About $BEER$BEER is more than another coin, it works as the universal currency of enjoyment, bringing people together regardless of their ethnicity or social status.ContactDirectorHandzy MykhBeersol [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    Political tide is turning positive for crypto, seen as a ‘significant catalyst’ for Coinbase

    In a note to clients Wednesday, the investment firm reiterated a Market Outperform rating and $320 price target on Coinbase shares, with the target reflecting an ~11x EV/revenue multiple on JMP’s 2025E revenue expectation. “Over the past week, several notable events have developed around the digital asset industry that we estimate could create further catalysts for the broader space and in our coverage universe, could add to the positive momentum at Coinbase and, to a lesser degree Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD, MO, $30 PT), albeit still positive overall,” wrote analysts at JMP. They caution that, it is not completely clear yet the degree political winds are structurally shifting, although the firm notes that momentum has clearly moved closer toward bipartisanship with SAB 121 repeal resolution passing the House and Senate last week.Analysts also highlight other developments in recent days, including “the SEC’s apparent about-face on spot-ETH approval.”At the very least, analysts believe these developments individually have positive implications, and if the tide has truly shifted politically, they think the implications for the industry are transformative in the U.S., accelerating its move into the mainstream and creating a springboard for exponential expansion,” adds JMP. More

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    Kelp DAO raises $9 million to boost DeFi and restaking platform

    The fresh capital injection comes amid growing interest in liquid restaking, with the total value locked across leading platforms surpassing $4 billion. The latest round was led by SCB Limited, a proprietary trading firm based in the Bahamas, and Laser Digital, the digital asset arm of Nomura Global, who collectively invested $3.5 million. Other participants in the round included Bankless Ventures, Hypersphere, Draper Dragon, DACM, Cypher Capital, ArkStream, Cluster Capital, GSR, Longhash, Side Door Ventures, NOIA Capital, HTX Ventures, Avid3, ViaBTC Capital, DWF Ventures, Coinseeker, and many others.Dheeraj Borra, Co-founder of Kelp DAO, comments: “This fundraise propels our expansion in the market and sharpens our focus on building customer-centric solutions. It’s truly thrilling to have our investors share that vision.” Both Kelp DAO founders, Amitej Gajjala and Dheeraj Borra, voiced their gratitude for the investor support, which will drive Kelp DAO towards scaling new heights in restaking solutions.Kelp DAO plans to use the funds to upgrade its platform’s capabilities, expand to other ecosystems like Solana and Bitcoin, and further restaking solutions. This comes on top of the platform already boasting over $850 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) and more than 40,000 active restakers.The funding round includes support from notable angel investors in the crypto community, such as Scott, Cofounder of Gitcoin; Alex, CEO of Nansen; Sam K, Cofounder of Frax; Marc Zeller, from Aave Chan Initiative; Saurabh Sharma, from Jump Crypto; Amrit, COO of Altlayer; Anthony, Cofounder of Swissborg; and Winslow Strong from Mr. Block.Laser Digital CEO Jez Mohideen stated: “We are very excited to support Kelp DAO and the passionate team in its journey towards building innovative restaking infrastructure solutions.”Jack Platts, Co-founder of Hypersphere Ventures, added, “We’re excited by the prospect of restaking enabling more developer experimentation and use cases. Kelp’s proven team and focus on user experience is playing a key role in restaking’s early success. We look forward to the team executing on its vision of enhancing yields and optionality for ETH stakers.”The idea behind liquid restaking offered by Kelp and others is to allow ETH holders—whether holding native ETH or LST tokens—to invest and restake without losing access to the underlying capital. This is why it’s called “liquid” restaking.Kelp DAO’s liquid restaked token (LRT) was the first to hit the Ethereum mainnet, and currently offers service for native ETH and LSTs across Ethereum mainnet and eight L2 networks. More

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    Bitcoin price today: slips to $69k while Ether pulls back after ETF hype surge

    World no.2 cryptocurrency Ether also gave up some gains after hitting an over two-month high, propelled by this week’s reports indicating some progress towards the approval of spot ETFs by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator is set to make a hotly-anticipated decision on potentially approving the ETFs later this week.But warnings on sticky U.S. inflation and high-for-longer interest rates kept traders cautious towards crypto markets and also pulled Bitcoin back from recent gains.Bitcoin fell 2.1% over the past 24 hours to $69,763.0 by 08:48 ET (12:48 GMT).Ether fell 3% in the past 24 hours to $3,663.08 after nearing the highest level since early-March. The token surged as much as 18% on Monday.The surge was fueled by media reports suggesting that the SEC had asked exchanges to fine-tune their filings for spot Ether ETFs on Monday, ahead of a crucial decision on their approval later this week.The move marks some progress towards the approval of the ETFs, although the SEC could still deny the applications, given that it has not engaged with any of the applicants so far.Still, analysts said the SEC’s move reflected a greater probability of an eventual approval of a spot Ether ETF. The approval is expected to spark a rally in crypto prices, akin to that seen with the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.The token had risen as far as $71,000 on Tuesday, before falling back into a $60,000 to $70,000 trading range seen over most of the past two months. Sentiment towards crypto, despite optimism over a spot Ether ETF, was still constrained by persistent concerns over U.S. interest rates.Several Fed officials warned this week that the central bank needed more confidence that inflation was coming down before it could begin cutting interest rates. Focus was now on the minutes of the Fed’s late-April meeting, for more cues on when the central bank could begin trimming interest rates. High for longer rates bode poorly for crypto markets, given that they limit the appeal of high-risk and highly speculative assets. Broader altcoin prices also cooled as Bitcoin retreated, while traders remained largely biased towards Ether in the altcoin complex. Resilience in the dollar also limited any major upside in crypto.Solana slipped 1.6%, while XRP shed 2.3%. Among meme coins, Dogecoin and SHIB each lost 2.8%.IBIT, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, is witnessing increased activity after a few quiet weeks, as Bitcoin trades above the $70,000 level for the first time in a month.Specifically, IBIT saw inflows exceeding $290 million on Tuesday, according to preliminary data from Farside Investors, marking its highest single-day inflow this month and the largest since April 5. This figure is nearly three times the previous monthly high of $93 million recorded on May 16.As a result, IBIT’s total holdings have now surged to over $19 billion, as indicated on its product page.Tuesday’s inflows are notably large compared to earlier this month, where IBIT saw low or zero inflows before May 15. In April, IBIT recorded its first-ever day of outflows, contributing to some bearish sentiment for Bitcoin at the time.Elsewhere, asset manager WisdomTree has received approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to list crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).WisdomTree said that it is among the first applicants to have its prospectus approved by the U.K. regulator.The Physical Bitcoin (BTCW) and Physical Ethereum (ETHW) ETPs are set to begin trading on May 28, available exclusively to professional investors. These ETPs will carry fees of 35 basis points, according to the announcement made on Wednesday. More

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    Wall St set for subdued open ahead of Nvidia results, Fed minutes

    (Reuters) -Wall Street’s main indexes were set for a lackluster open on Wednesday as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of AI chip leader Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s quarterly results and the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting minutes later in the day. All eyes will be on whether semiconductor bellwether Nvidia’s first-quarter results, due after market close, can meet sky-high expectations and sustain bumper gains recorded by the company’s shares and other AI-related stocks. Nvidia has emerged as the third-largest U.S. company by market value following a more than 92% surge in its shares this year and an over threefold jump in 2023. “The market is looking for a new catalyst, and maybe that will be Nvidia. We’ve come off of a very strong earnings season, but at current levels, you could be subject to some sort of a pullback on any disappointment,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.The company’s shares were up 0.1% in premarket trading, after rising more than 3% over the past two days.Nvidia’s results will test the strength of Wall Street’s recent bullish run that has carried all three major indexes to record highs this month, driven by a strong earnings season as well as renewed hopes for interest-rate cuts and a so-called soft landing for the U.S. economy.The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 closed at fresh record highs on Tuesday.Market participants are also keenly awaiting minutes from the U.S. central bank’s latest policy meeting, due at 2 p.m. ET, for more clarity on the timing of a rate cut. Several policymakers have reiterated the need to wait for more signs of easing inflation before cutting rates.”The Fed’s data-dependent over the next two months or so but I do see a little bit of a shift in terms of perhaps members warming up to a rate cut possibly in the fourth quarter or the very latter part of the third quarter,” Cardillo said.Traders see near 68% odds of the Fed cutting rates in September by at least 25 basis points, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.Home sales data for April, due at 10 a.m. ET, is also on the radar.At 8:24 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 83 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 9.5 points, or 0.18%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 4.25 points, or 0.02%.Shares of retailer Target dropped 8.1% on weak quarterly results and second-quarter forecasts for profit and comparable sales that were below expectations. Off-price retailer TJX (NYSE:TJX) rose 1.4% after lifting its annual profit forecast and beating first-quarter sales estimates.Chipmaker Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) jumped 5.5% after forecasting third-quarter revenue above expectations, while U.S.-listed shares of PDD Holdings soared 6% as the e-commerce platform operator beat first-quarter revenue estimates.Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) climbed 2.9% after first-quarter results surpassed expectations on strong demand. Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) dropped 3.9% after the athletic apparel retailer announced the departure of Chief Product Officer Sun Choe. More