Aurelia Butler

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    in Economy

    German inflation rises in December due to base effects

    Inflation, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, rose in December to 3.8%, the federal statistics office said on Thursday, in line with the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters.German consumer prices had risen by 2.3% year-on-year in November.Economists pay close attention to German inflation data, as Germany usually publishes its figures one day before the euro zone inflation data release.Euro zone inflation is expected to rise to 3.0% in December from 2.4% in November, according to economists polled by Reuters.In December, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde flagged upside inflation risks to push back on imminent rate cuts.The rise in German inflation is due to base effects stemming from last December’s energy relief measures for gas and district heating, the statistics office said. More

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    in Economy

    US online holiday spending up 5% on steep discounts, BNPL options – report

    Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, Americans spent about $222.1 billion online, a touch above Adobe’s earlier projection of $221.8 billion, the report said. In 2022, online spending grew 3.5%.Heavy discounts on everything from TVs, smart speakers and tablets to sporting goods and furniture during some of the biggest shopping days such as Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving and Black Friday encouraged cautious shoppers to open their wallets.Consumers also leaned on ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) services, with a 14% jump in usage.”In an uncertain demand environment, retailers leaned on discounting and flexible payment methods to entice shoppers this holiday season,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.Adobe said online spending during the period was boosted by fresh consumer demand instead of higher prices. A Labor Department report showed U.S. producer prices were unchanged in November, adding to signs of subsiding overall inflation.While holiday sales grew this year, the pace of growth is still slower than pre-pandemic levels. Last week, Mastercard (NYSE:MA) SpendingPulse report showed a slower-than-expected rise in U.S. retail sales between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24.Adobe Analytics measures e-commerce by tracking transactions at websites, and has access to data covering purchases at 85% of the top 100 internet retailers in the United States. About 56% of the total online spending was in November, when shoppers took advantage of hefty discounts during the Cyber Week to make purchases, according to Adobe.A majority of the deals were for electronics, where discounts peaked at 31% off listed price versus 25% in 2022. Toys saw discounts as high as 28% versus 34% previously. More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Sphere 3D Provides December 2023 Production and Operation Updates

    Key Highlights:*Unaudited 1 – Includes Sphere 3D assets temporarily custodied by Gryphon related to the terminated master services agreement.CEO Comments”What a year it has been as we end 2023 on a high note! We brought over 1.3 EH/s online, cancelled our master services agreement with Gryphon Digital Mining, Inc (“Gryphon”) which we expect to result in an additional 22.5% to our margins, and came to an agreement with Core Scientific, Inc (“Core Scientific”) on a complex litigation. In December 2023, we mined 73.5 Bitcoin, representing a 311% increase year-over-year and a 3% increase from November 2023. One of our hosting sites was down for a significant period (51% uptime in December) and we are working with our hosting partner to improve its uptime. The Core Scientific settlement provides us with expected additional capital of $10 million that is non-dilutive to our shareholders. We plan to allocate the new capital to growth that will increase our EH/s. We believe we are well positioned for take-off in 2024!”Core Scientific UpdateOn December 21, 2023, Sphere 3D agreed to terms outlining a settlement with Core Scientific and its debtor affiliates, subject to the approval of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”). The terms of the settlement include the following:The Plan currently contemplates that General Unsecured Creditors such as Sphere 3D will receive equity of reorganized Core Scientific, which equity is expected to freely trade after the effective date of the Plan. The settlement terms provide Sphere 3D with non-dilutive capital to focus on its strategic growth, while realizing significant savings on litigation expenses.The terms of settlement expressly does not waive any claim Sphere 3D has against Gryphon Digital Mining. Sphere 3D is seeking recovery from Gryphon for damages in connection with Gryphon’s failure to file a timely proof of claim in the Core Scientific bankruptcy proceeding before the deadline. Core Scientific previously argued that Gryphon’s failure to file the proof of claim before the passage of the bar date was a defense to Sphere 3D’s proof of claim against Core Scientific.Gryphon UpdateAs previously disclosed, on October 6, 2023, Sphere 3D terminated, effective immediately, the Master Services Agreement (“MSA”) between Sphere 3D and Gryphon, dated August 10, 2021, as amended on December 29, 2021. The termination of the MSA is expected to result in an additional 22.5% in gross profit.In November 2023, Gryphon indicated, through its counsel, that upon receipt of certain information it would be remitting outstanding proceeds, less fees and expenses, generated under the MSA that Sphere 3D asserts is currently held by Gryphon on behalf of Sphere 3D, which Sphere 3D believes amounts to approximately 21.6 bitcoin, or $919,377, at December 31, 2023, before factoring in fees and expenses. Sphere believes that Gryphon has received the information mentioned in the prior sentence; Gryphon, however, has yet to return the funds. Sphere 3D hopes that Gryphon will remit the proceeds soon, but Sphere 3D is exploring its regulatory and legal options.Havening UpdateSphere 3D has anticipated the havening and is preparing accordingly. We are focusing on various alternatives and considering all options for growth, including, but not limited to, adding exahash organically, mergers and acquisitions, as well as other options. Sphere 3D is currently focused on strategic opportunities and on maintaining operational efficiency. More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Bitcoin slips, extending recent decline from 2024 high

    By 06:11 ET (11:11 GMT), Bitcoin had slipped by 4.63% to $43,069.3.The world’s most well-known cryptocurrency had dropped sharply on Wednesday, dragging its value down by as much as 7% from the year’s high of $45,922 reached on Jan. 2.Analysts at AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) said the coin’s correction stemmed from a report from independent crypto trading firm Matrixport regarding the potential approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).In a note, Matrixport Head of Research Markus Thielen argued that the ETF applications will likely be denied because they fall short of a “critical requirement.” Thielen added that SEC Chair Gary Gensler is “not embracing crypto in the U.S., and it might even be a very long shot to expect that he would vote to approve Bitcoin spot ETFs.”According to Reuters, the SEC has a January 10 deadline to approve or reject a spot ETF application from Ark and 21 Shares. The ruling could set the precedent for a host of current ETF applications from several other fund managers for a similar product, including one from the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock (NYSE:BLK).Goldman Sachs is also in talks to be an authorized participant for the potential spot Bitcoin ETF funds of both BlackRock and Grayscale, CoinDesk reported on Wednesday.Speculation that the bids would get the green light from SEC partly fueled a more than 100% surge in Bitcoin in 2023. Proponents argue that the approval of a spot ETF will spur a deluge of capital inflows for Bitcoin, given that the product allows traders to invest in the token without directly holding cryptocurrency.Analysts have cautioned that the approval may not trigger as large a bull run as expected, particularly in the wake of a string of recent scandals that have dented retail investors’ interest in the crypto industry. Meanwhile, elevated interest rates have also limited the amount of capital flowing into crypto.The SEC has repeatedly rejected applications for a spot bitcoin ETF over the past two years, citing concerns that the token’s decentralized and volatile nature will prevent fund managers from protecting investors against market manipulation. Currently, all U.S.-traded bitcoin ETFs track the futures of the token, which are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.”We continue to maintain that all price dips to the ETF are market opportunities to buy Bitcoin/Bitcoin miners, and the market will likely bounce materially off the actual approval event,” the AllianceBernstein analysts said. More

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    in Economy

    Ukraine’s total export value fell 18.7% in 2023, to lowest in a decade – economy minister

    Maritime export saw an increase of 30.7% in December compared with November, she said on the LinkedIn platform. “In total, for the year 2023, we have almost 1 million tons more maritime exports,” Svyrydenko added. Road exports were affected by a blockade of border crossings by protesting Polish truckers, resulting in an 18.3% decline in December compared with November, when the protests started. However, year-on-year the reduction was only 0.7%, Svyrydenko added. In total, Ukraine exported 99.8 million tons of goods in 2023, 112,000 tons more than in 2022, she added. More

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    in Economy

    Hong Kong will not sell residential, commercial land this quarter amid slow demand

    This would be the first time Hong Kong’s government has not rolled out any residential sites in a quarterly sale, analysts said, highlighting weak demand in one of the world’s most expensive property markets. The decision came after the government sold a residential rural land site to the only bidder at the low end of price expectations last month, and six failed residential and commercial land auctions during 2023, the most on record.Hong Kong private home prices in November fell for the seventh month in a row to their lowest since February 2017, official data showed. Analysts expected they will continue to drop in the first half of 2024, hurt by weak buying sentiment amid a higher interest rate environment.”The fact that market sentiment in land tender is rather sluggish recently, the government will not separately put up any residential site for sale in the fourth quarter,” Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn told a press conference, referring to a financial year ending in March. She added land supply from various sources for this financial year would already provide capacity to build 11,530 apartments, very close to the government target of 12,900. Regarding commercial land, Linn said the government has to consider the current high vacancy rate and soft land appetite. “And we see some gigantic commercial buildings will complete construction in the next few years, which means the supply will rise.”Real estate consultancy CBRE said vacancy rates of Grade A office rose in the financial hub to an all-time high of 16.4% in 2023, leading to a rent decline of 6% for the full year.Total value of commercial property investment deals worth over HK$77 million each also halved last year to HK$40 billion ($5.12 billion), a 15-year low, CBRE said, due to high financing costs, banks’ reluctance to lend and economic uncertainties. “Anticipated rate cuts will likely improve business and investment market sentiment and result in a recovery in deal flow in 2024,” said Jonathan Chau, executive director of CBRE Hong Kong. ($1 = 7.8085 Hong Kong dollars) (This story has been refiled to add ‘this quarter’ in the headline) More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Ault Alliance’s Sentinum Reports 151 Bitcoin Mined in December 2023

    William B. Horne, Chief Executive Officer of Ault Alliance, stated, “Reaching this milestone represents a significant stride forward for the Company. We are immensely satisfied with the progress and overall performance of our mining operations, particularly those of Sentinum. We believe that Sentinum is in an excellent position to sustain its track record of producing impressive monthly revenues. This is largely due to our ongoing efforts to streamline operations and the upcoming transfer of some of our mining rigs hosted by Core to our Montana site. It is important to recognize that we believe that the current trading price of our stock does not fully capture the intrinsic value that Sentinum adds to our company.”Ault Alliance notes that all estimates and other projections are subject to the volatility in Bitcoin market price, the fluctuation in the mining difficulty level, the ability to build out and provide the necessary power for miners, and other factors that may impact the results of Bitcoin mining production or operations.For more information on Ault Alliance and its subsidiaries, Ault Alliance recommends that stockholders, investors, and any other interested parties read Ault Alliance’s public filings and press releases available under the Investor Relations section at www.Ault.com or at www.sec.gov. More