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    German economy to stagnate as labour market cools, tariffs loom

    Europe’s largest economy unexpectedly grew, albeit only by 0.2%, in the three months to September but the Bundesbank said there was little to suggest this would continue as demand from abroad and investment both remained weak.”All of the key demand components therefore currently offer little reason for a noticeable short-term recovery in the German economy,” the Bundesbank said in its monthly report. In addition, it warned “political demands for new tariff barriers pose considerable additional risks for international trade”, a likely reference to the protectionist stance of U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump which could hit Germany’s export-oriented economy hard.A bleak domestic picture helps explain a shift in the Bundesbank’s stance inside the European Central Bank from a laser-focus on fighting inflation to a greater emphasis on stimulating growth via lower borrowing costs.High wage growth, until recently a source of worry about a potential new leg-up in inflation, had likely peaked in the third quarter at 8.8% for collective agreements and was now likely to be “noticeably lower”, the Bundesbank said. “In view of the long-lasting economic weakness and significantly lower inflation rates, it is to be expected that the upcoming wage negotiations will result in noticeably lower agreements than in the past two years,” it said. More

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    FirstFT: Chinese tech groups expand AI teams in Silicon Valley

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    ECB must commit to faster rate cuts, says Bank of Italy governor

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    US federal workers hope Republicans will curb Trump, Musk firings

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Members of the over 2 million-strong U.S. civilian federal workforce are looking to an unlikely source to protect it from Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s promise to slash government employees and cut costs: the incoming Republican-controlled Congress. Federal employee unions are lining up lawyers and preparing public campaigns to try to stave off any mass firings, but they’re hoping Republican Congress members will join Democrats in defending their importance to local economies, health and safety, union members and government watchdogs tell Reuters. Trump has tasked Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head a panel to streamline the U.S. government and is expected to revive a plan to convert some federal employees to “Schedule F” status which strips them of job protections. Musk has said he could cut $2 trillion in spending, more than the annual discretionary budget; Ramaswamy recently proposed cutting 50% of the workforce by firing everyone whose Social Security number ends in an odd number.  Because the U.S. Congress sets federal spending levels, Republicans may balk at any erosion of their power, unions say. Trump, Musk and Ramaswamy are “going to come up against congressional mandates and come up against the Constitution, and it’s going to set off this (debate) who has the right to spend money on behalf of the American people,” predicted Steve Lenkart, the executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents over 100,000 federal employees. The U.S. government is the country’s largest employer. While workers are concentrated in Washington, D.C., and nearby Maryland and northern Virginia, some of the greatest concentrations of federal workers can be found in areas like southern Oklahoma and northern Alabama, which are represented by Republicans in the House.The biggest federal employees’ union, the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 750,000 federal workers, is also looking to Congress, said Jacqueline Simon, the AFGE’s policy director.Trump may ask Congress to refuse to spend money on government agencies that it has already approved, a process known as impoundment, to drive out workers, Simon said. “That’s something that we’ll certainly be looking to Congress for them to uphold their own interests in maintaining their ability to determine appropriations,” Simon said.”The American people reelected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver,” Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, said. The Musk and Ramaswamy panel’s advisory role means its real power is still an unknown. “It’s unclear what kind of authority it would have or what sort of legal oversight it would have,” said Michael Knowles (NYSE:KN), a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employee who represents the agency’s workers at the American Federation of Government Employees union.Many federal agencies, including USCIS, which has a massive backlog of asylum cases, actually have fewer employees than they need to run efficiently, he said. “I would certainly hope that all members of Congress, regardless of their political persuasion, would be, you know, protecting their prerogatives in our check and balance system to oversee the functioning of and the funding of government,” he said. REPUBLICAN CUTS Republicans won some modest spending curbs in a 2023 showdown with U.S. President Joe Biden, but since then have shown little interest in scaling back the largest federal employers. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives this year voted to increase spending at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which employs 487,000 civilian workers, more than any other single agency.Government watchdogs say they are hoping Congress will stop Trump from “purging departments he disagrees with ideologically, regardless of what that means for government efficiency or serving in the public interest,” said Joe Spielberger, policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight. “This is an issue where we can push Congress to fully exercise its oversight authority,” he said. A rule that Biden introduced in April to bolster protections for government employees could slow down any plans to slash employees.  It is “not an executive order that can be changed willy nilly by the next president,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said. But the rule and Congress’ ability to block some Trump layoffs taken together represent just “a guardrail, not a guarantee,” Kaine said. “We are going to need not only Democrats but some Republicans battling against efforts to turn the federal civil service into a political loyalty spoils operation,” said Kaine.  Trump may have the backing of some courts, however. Last year, two judges on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that a president should have broad powers to fire government workers.Whether there are Republicans in Congress willing to oppose Trump on the issue remains to be seen. “Where you have the three arms of government that are all on the same page, there’s not as many checks and balances, obviously,” said Lilas Soukup, president of an AFGE local that represents workers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Energy.  More

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    Cryptoverse: ‘Elation’ as bitcoin basks in Trump glow

    (Reuters) – Joe McCann was sitting in his Miami condo, eyes glued to screens flashing with bitcoin trades as the American election results rolled in. “When the first polls closed, we started to see massive U.S. buying and it just hasn’t stopped since,” said McCann, founder of crypto-focused hedge fund Asymmetric. “The sentiment in the crypto community is a form of elation at this point.”Indeed bitcoin has skyrocketed over 32% since Nov. 5 to an all time high of more than $91,000 dollars as traders bet President-elect Donald Trump’s promised support for digital assets would lead to a less restrictive regulatory regime and inject some life back into bitcoin after a listless few months. On Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, the average bitcoin daily trading volume from Nov. 6 to Nov. 13 jumped to about $493 million, nearly double the year’s average of around $252 million, as per crypto data provider Kaiko. Volumes on Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) were triple the year’s average during the same period, averaging over $108 million per day. Meanwhile, U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds tracking the spot price of bitcoin, products favored by institutional investors, notched their biggest daily net inflows on record of $1.43 billion dollars on Nov. 7, according to CoinShares.Yet many market players cautioned that investors could get burned by profit-taking and market pullbacks in the coming weeks, with Coinglass’ bitcoin “fear and greed” index – a measure of market sentiment – firmly in “greed” territory.”Expect some confusion as even the most sophisticated and connected market participants try to parse if a Trump administration means a more balanced regulatory regime, a Wild West free-for-all, or if Trump will simply forget about crypto entirely,” said Matthew Graham, managing partner at Ryze Labs. CRYPTO MARKET TOPS $3 TRILLIONIt’s definitely getting choppy.Bitcoin’s annualized 30-day volatility ticked back up to over 58%, its highest since September and after slumping as slow as 25% in June, according to data from The Block. The market gains go beyond bitcoin; The total cryptocurrency market value has soared to an all-time high of $3.16 trillion, according CoinGecko. Open interest on derivatives exchanges is at a record high of over $102 billion, Coinglass data showed. Ethereum has jumped about 32% since the election, while the market value of decentralized finance-focused tokens touched a five-month high of $93 billion. Despite the initial excitement, details on what exactly will change under a new administration remain hazy.The main focus now is the appointment of Trump’s U.S. Treasury Secretary, with a few potential candidates including Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent, seen as more crypto friendly. Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, warned traders should stay alert for sudden pullbacks: “The appointment could trigger short-term speculation.” More

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    Bybit Unlocks 50,000 USDT bbSOL Staking Rewards on On-Chain Earn

    Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has unlocked a fresh prize pool of 50,000 USDT in bbSOL on Bybit On-Chain Earn for a limited time only. From now to Nov. 28, users looking to get the most out of staking bbSOL have the opportunity to earn rewards with Bybit On-Chain Earn.Bybit users stand to share a rewards chest worth 50,000 USDT in ten days by simply staking bbSOL on On-Chain Earn. Eligible users only need to take two steps: staking bbSOL, and holding for the duration of the campaign. Successful participants will take home a share of the prize pool in SOL in accordance with the corresponding bbSOL holdings. Since its launch, bbSOL has been making waves in Web3 staking as the first exchange-backed liquid staking token on the Solana blockchain. The trailblazing SOL staking solution has shown demonstrably healthy returns, while bridging on-chain and off-chain rewards between Bybit’s exchange and Web3 offerings, recording over 120 million USDT in total value locked as of Nov. 2024.Find out more about SOL staking on Bybit On-Chain Earn. #Bybit / #TheCryptoArkAbout BybitBybit is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving over 50 million users. Established in 2018, Bybit provides a professional platform where crypto investors and traders can find an ultra-fast matching engine, 24/7 customer service, and multilingual community support. Bybit is a proud partner of Formula One’s reigning Constructors’ and Drivers’ champions: the Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Red Bull Racing team.For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press. For media inquiries, please contact: media@bybit.comFor more information, please visit: https://www.bybit.comFor updates, please follow: Bybit’s Communities and Social MediaContactHead of PRTony AuBybittony.au@bybit.comThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    Bitcoin price today: upbeat above $91k on record MicroStrategy purchase

    The prospect of friendlier U.S. regulations under second Donald Trump presidency continued to underpin crypto prices, after Trump’s election win earlier in November. Bitcoin rose 0.8% to $91,359.6 by 00:30 ET (05:30 GMT). The world’s biggest cryptocurrency hit a record high of $93,226.6 last week.MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) disclosed on Monday that it had bought about 51,780 Bitcoin in the past week for roughly $4.6 billion in cash, at an average price of $88,627 per coin.The buy was by far the company’s biggest purchase of the cryptocurrency, furthering its spot as the world’s biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin. The company now holds a total 331,200 Bitcoins, and has flagged plans to purchase even more coins in the coming years. Shares of the firm, which are closely tied to Bitcoin prices, surged nearly 13% to a record high after the disclosure on Monday. MicroStrategy’s shares have also been on a tear since Trump’s election victory earlier in November. The firm, which is led by Bitcoin proponent Michael Saylor, has consistently taken on new debt over the past three years to increase its Bitcoin stockpile. Saylor has also reiterated plans to roll out more debt offerings in the coming years to buy Bitcoin. But even as Bitcoin remained largely upbeat, broader crypto prices now appeared to be cooling as optimism over Trump petered out in anticipation of just what his administration will entail for crypto. Most major altcoins remained close to recent peaks, although their pace of gains now appeared to be slowing after a nearly two-week rally.Trump’s victory sparked sharp gains in crypto prices, given that he has maintained a largely pro-crypto stance. But markets were now waiting to see actual policy changes from Trump, who is set to take office in about two months. Among major altcoins, Ether rose slightly to $3,134.55, remaining in sight of a recent three-month high.SOL, XRP and ADA retreated after rising sharply in recent sessions, while MATIC added 5%. Meme token Dogecoin was an outperformer among its peers, rising more than 5% and remaining close to a three-year high. The token had nearly doubled in value after Trump’s victory, and also benefited from increased social media buzz after Trump referenced the token with the Department of Government Efficiency, which will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. More

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    EU and Mercosur miss a trick at Rio summit devoid of trade talks

    $1 for 4 weeksThen $75 per month. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism. Cancel anytime during your trial.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 edition More