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    in Economy

    South Korea signals its chipmakers can fill gap after China’s ban on Micron

    Seoul has signalled it will not intervene to stop South Korean companies Samsung and SK Hynix from filling in a market gap after China imposed a ban on US chipmaker Micron, in an escalation of the tech battle between the superpowers.Last month, the White House quietly asked South Korea to urge its chipmakers to hold back from boosting sales to China if the sale of Micron products was restricted by Beijing.But policymakers in Seoul on Monday said they were unwilling to wade into the dispute and would defer to the companies. “Regarding what the US tells us to do or not to do, it is actually up to our companies. Both Samsung and SK Hynix, with global operations, will make a judgment on this,” South Korea’s vice-minister of trade Jang Young-jin told reporters. Samsung and SK Hynix declined to comment on the issue.Washington last year unveiled tough chip export controls on China and has hit Huawei and many of the country’s top tech titans with sanctions. Beijing on Sunday retaliated by imposing sanctions on the US memory chip champion, limiting its sales in the country on cyber security grounds following a seven-week review.The measures against Micron outlined by the Cyberspace Administration of China bar critical infrastructure operators from buying products containing the US company’s chips because of alleged “serious network security risks”.Analysts say the ban is expected to force manufacturers of servers, computers and other electronics sold into China to turn to South Korean chipmakers such as Samsung and SK Hynix for replacements, potentially making the companies beneficiaries of the rising geopolitical tensions. Samsung and SK Hynix are also working to increase business in the US and need one-year waivers from the country to be extended so they can ship new equipment into their chip fabrication facilities in China. The waivers must be renewed later this year, giving Washington potential leverage to use against the companies. Shares in Samsung and SK Hynix both ended the day up less than 1 per cent, buoyed by expectations of positive effects on them from China’s move against Micron. Shares in Micron were down 5 per cent in pre-market trading. “There are not many Chinese companies that get chips only from Micron. Even if we increase our supply to Chinese customers, how can they examine all these deals individually and judge that the increased volume comes from us, replacing Micron’s?” said a senior industry executive in Seoul.

    The comments from Seoul come after a three-day G7 summit in Hiroshima where leaders pledged to tackle Beijing’s use of economic coercion.While South Korea is not a member of the G7, the group said it would work on creating a mechanism with a broad set of partners to deter and respond to Beijing’s use of economic sanctions to further its geopolitical goals.Analysts said they expected a limited hit to Micron, which had sales of $30.8bn in its last fiscal year, with 16 per cent coming from companies headquartered in mainland China or Hong Kong. Dylan Patel, chief analyst at semiconductor research group SemiAnalysis, said it was very easy to swap between memory chips produced by the leading chip groups, suggesting that the long-term damage to Micron may be manageable. “You can swap a Micron memory part out for Samsung or SK Hynix in nearly all cases without any changes,” he said. “Memory is a commodity and supply chains will adjust in a couple [of] quarters.”Additional reporting by Qianer Liu and Eleanor Olcott in Hong Kong and Nian Liu in Beijing More

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    in Economy

    Japan govt eyes new budget account focused on childcare spending – media

    Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to double childcare spending to reverse Japan’s dwindling birthrate, by making it easier for a both married couple to work and the husband to take paternal leave so that they can share household chores more fairly.The new account will be created through a partial merger of two existing accounts, for the welfare ministry and the childcare household agency, to be run by the latter and giving it more flexibility in earmarking spending, the Nikkei said.The new account will come on top of existing 13 special budgets Japan has put in place.However, the government is struggling to secure permanent sources of funding for the planned childcare spending, which some lawmakers estimated to cost 8 trillion yen to accomplish, in light of another new spending programme to double defence outlay over the next three years.In parallel, the government has promised to achieve a primary budget surplus excluding new bond sales and debt servicing costs by the fiscal year ending in March 2026.Rounds of heavy fiscal stimulus over the past years in response to the COVID outbreak have saddled Japan with public debt that tops 250% of annual economic output, by far the heaviest in the industrialised world. More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    On-Chain Data Reveals Volatility Is Likely on BTC’s Horizon

    The on-chain analysis platform, Glassnode, recently took to Twitter to share some new insights about the crypto market leader Bitcoin (BTC), and explained that some high volatility is likely on the horizon for the crypto. This conclusion was drawn based on BTC’s price movements over the past week.BTC 7-day price high and low (Source: Twitter)According to the post, the 7-day price range that BTC has been consolidating within is the tightest seen in the past three years. Glassnode added that this consolidation for BTC can be compared to those from January of 2023 and July of 2020.The analysis platform added that it is worth noting that these consolidation phases for BTC preceded large price moves. This may lead traders to assume that there could be some volatility in the cards for BTC in the near future.Although things might get rocky for BTC, Glassnode added in a separate Tweet that the magnitude of drawdowns experienced across BTC’s recent upswing in price action remains marginal when compared to other cycles. The bull peak drawdown for 2011-2013 stood at -71.2%.Bitcoin bull market correction drawdowns (Source: Twitter)In addition to this, the 2015-2017 and the 2018-2021 bull peak breakdowns stood at -36% and -62.6% respectively. To put this into perspective, the 2022+ bull peak breakdown stands at only -18.6%, according to Glassnode’s data.Meanwhile, CoinMarketCap indicated that at press time, BTC was trading hands at $26,835.02 at press time. This followed a 0.90% price drop in BTC’s price over the past 24 hours. BTC was also down by more than 2% over the past week of trading.Disclaimer: The views and opinions, as well as all the information shared in this price analysis, are published in good faith. Readers must do their own research and due diligence. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Coin Edition and its affiliates will not be held liable for any direct or indirect damage or loss.The post On-Chain Data Reveals Volatility Is Likely on BTC’s Horizon appeared first on Coin Edition.See original on CoinEdition More

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    in Economy

    Fresh round of debt ceiling talks kick off as US default worries grow

    Staff members from both sides reconvened at McCarthy’s office in the Capitol on Sunday evening for talks that lasted about two-and-a-half hours, after McCarthy said he had a “productive” call with Biden earlier in the day.Biden also struck an upbeat tone about the conversation, telling reporters “It went well. We’ll talk tomorrow,” as he arrived back at the White House after a three-day meeting with fellow Group of Seven leaders in Japan. A failure to lift the debt ceiling would trigger a default that would shake financial markets and drive interest rates higher on everything from car payments to credit cards. Ongoing uncertainty is already weighing on investors and stocks.Any deal to raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit must pass both chambers of Congress before Biden could sign it into law.McCarthy’s Republicans control the House 222-213, while Biden’s Democrats hold the Senate 51-49, making it difficult to reach a bipartisan deal that would secure enough votes to pass. Biden returned to Washington after cutting his Asia trip short to address the looming debt crisis before June 1, when the U.S. Treasury Department has warned the federal government could be unable to pay all its bills, a deadline U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed on Sunday.Republicans are pushing for sharp spending cuts — except in defense where they want increases — in exchange for backing an increase in the government’s self-imposed borrowing limit that would cover the costs of lawmakers’ previously approved spending and tax cuts.Democrats want to hold spending steady at this year’s levels, while Republicans want to return to 2022 levels. A plan passed by the House last month would cut a wide swath of government spending by 8% next year. Biden has said he would consider spending cuts alongside tax adjustments but that Republicans’ latest offer was “unacceptable.” The president tweeted that he would not back “Big Oil” subsidies and “wealthy tax cheats” while putting healthcare and food assistance at risk for millions of Americans. McCarthy told reporters debt ceiling talks have not included discussions about tax cuts passed under former President Donald Trump, a Republican.Both sides must also weigh any concessions with pressure from hardline factions within their own parties. Some far-right House Freedom Caucus members have urged a halt to talks, demanding that the Senate adopt their House-passed legislation, which has been rejected by Democrats. Far-left progressive Democrats have pushed back against any cuts that would harm families and lower-income Americans, with some urging Biden to act on his own by invoking the Constitution’s 14th Amendment — an untested move the president himself on Sunday said would face constraints.The amendment states that the “validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned,” but the clause has been largely unaddressed by the courts.Biden, who has made the economy a centerpiece of his domestic agenda, is racing to find a solution after refusing for months to negotiate on the debt ceiling and insisting that Republicans should pass a “clean” unconditional increase before he would agree to any spending negotiations.In Japan on Sunday, Biden pressed Republicans to “accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely, solely on their partisan terms. They have to move as well.”    Republican negotiator Representative Garret Graves, asked about spending limits versus other conservative priorities, told reporters Sunday: “A red line is spending less money. And unless and until we’re there, the rest of it is really irrelevant.”        “They know exactly where we are, they know exactly what would make this productive. That means — yeah — both sides would have to have compromise,” McCarthy added.  More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Hotbit Announces Closure of its CEX Operations From Today

    Hotbit, a prominent player in the cryptocurrency industry with a history of 5 years and 4 months, has recently announced the halting of its CEX operations. The platform had amassed a substantial user base of 5 million during its tenure.According to the announcement, starting May 22, UTC 04:00, all CEX operations of Hotbit will come to an end. The exchange also urged the users to withdraw their assets before June 21, UTC 04:00. Hotbit mentioned three key reasons as to why it is ceasing its CEX operations.One of the primary factors contributing to this decision is the deterioration of operating conditions. In August 2022, an investigation compelled Hotbit’s management team to temporarily suspend operations for several weeks.The cryptocurrency industry has also experienced a series of crises, including the collapse of FTX and banking crises that resulted in off-peg events for USDC. These circumstances collectively led to a steady outflow of funds from users of Hotbit.The shifting trend within the cryptocurrency realm is another major element that Hotbit has identified. The sector has had to adjust in one of two ways as a result of the repeated failures of huge centralized institutions: either by embracing restrictions or by pursuing greater decentralization.The Hotbit team thinks that centralized exchanges are becoming more and more burdensome since they have complex and interwoven corporate structures that make compliance and decentralization difficult. They believe that it is doubtful that these exchanges will follow long-term business trends.Hotbit has a reputation for providing a wide variety of resources and value-added services. The exchange suffered significant losses as a result of persistent cyberattacks and hostile project vulnerability exploitation. As a result, the Hotbit team thinks that, from the perspective of risk management, the operational model supporting a wide variety of assets is unsustainable.The post Hotbit Announces Closure of its CEX Operations From Today appeared first on Coin Edition.See original on CoinEdition More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Bitcoin Pizza Day: A Historic Moment for the Crypto World

    In the modern world, the community is not surprised by retail stores that accept BTC as a form of payment. In fact, when McDonald’s allowed customers to pay with BTC, the Twitter crypto community questioned when the other stores would start adopting this new revolutionary form of payment. Moreover, BTC’s fame was boosted when El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele proposed to make the king of cryptocurrencies the legal tender of the country.However, this was not always the case! When the concept of Bitcoin was proposed in 2008 as the people’s shield against the world’s reliance on banks, there were many skeptics concerned about BTC’s utilities. Many claimed that the introduction of Bitcoin is just a fad and that the trend would end soon. However, after two decades, Bitcoin has become part of the real economy and is creating a huge impact nationwide.Of course, many of us believe that the price and utility of BTC will continue to grow. However, there was always a first-time event for this well-known cryptocurrency. For instance, during the dawn of Bitcoin, BTC witnessed its first real transaction. So, who conducted the first real-time transaction with Bitcoin? And, what specific item was involved in BTC’s first real-time transaction?Let’s take a deeper look at the birth of Bitcoin Pizza Day and what it signifies for the crypto community.So, what is Bitcoin Pizza Day? Basically, a ‘legend’ (yes, a legend) decided to purchase two Papa Johns pizzas with 10,000 Bitcoin! You read that right,10,000 BTC.Back in 2010, when Bitcoin’s price was less than $1 and crypto adoption was still quite low among the community, a Florida-based developer reached out to the Bitcoin forum asking if anyone would buy him pizza in exchange for Bitcoins.To be specific, the Florida-based developer stated:After the developer made his request, many users in the Bitcoin forum found it difficult to purchase the pizza for the Florida-based developer, stating geographical barriers as one of the main reasons.However, four days later, the Florida-based developer reported that he had successfully traded 10,000 bitcoins for pizza, sharing a picture of him and his family enjoying the treat. So who was that “legend?” It was none other than Laszlo Hanyecz who made history in the crypto community by showing the world Bitcoin’s first real-time transaction by purchasing pizzas with a digital coin.In the end, Hanyecz also thanked Jeremy Sturdivant, who also goes by the user name ‘jercos’ in the Bitcoin Forum. This indicated that Hanyecz’s wishes were met – the transaction was successful – thus, Bitcoin Pizza Day was formed!Some people might be wondering, “Bitcoins and Pizza?!! How did that combination become so important?” Here’s the thing. Bitcoin was a new decentralized digital currency that was still in its early stages. At a very young phase, Bitcoin was able to conduct real-time transactions for the very first time, which some altcoins are still struggling to do. Eventually, making Bitcoins and Pizza a popular event.Allow me to further simplify it for you. People used to barter goods and services in the past instead of exchanging them for money. Many historians believe that the Mesopotamian shekel was the first currency ever.Now Imagine this, you decided to buy a flatbread with toppings (aka pizza in modern times) and traded it with Mesopotamian shekel, instead of bartering it for some good or service. By trading with currency, you broke an old traditional system which was complicated and confusing.Bitcoin, a revolutionary idea, was formed to create a decentralized system for users and challenge the traditional fiat currencies, thus breaking the chains of control made by the central authority. The community thought that Bitcoin would just be another trend or fad, that would die in the future. However, BTC rose in value with transfers happening from one wallet to another. Currently, many individuals are seeking to invest in BTC believing that the king of cryptocurrencies’ value and utility function could develop as time passes. Moreover, it has been proven that BTC would continue to exist as various banks have shut down after facing tough financial weather.Concurrently, Hanyecz was the one to prove BTC can be used to conduct real-time transactions at an early stage of Bitcoin, thus, marking Bitcoin Pizza Day as one of the most historic moments in the crypto industry.Bitcoin has traveled a long way ever since, hitting milestones like reaching its all-time high to becoming a country’s legal tender. Thus, proving that the BTC aka the crypto leader has potential that is yet to be discovered.Many people often see Bitcoin only for its price and have not opened their eyes to see its greater benefits. However, BTC has continuously proved that it’s more than just an opportunity to get rich. Let’s break down BTC’s adventure, starting 2011:2011 – The Launchpad for BTC’s Real-Economy PerformanceIn 2011, Forbes reported that WikiLeaks has started to accept BTC as donations, indicating that industries have started to accept BTC as a form of payment. Moreover, the launch of BitPay, a Bitcoin payment service provider, helped boost BTC’s adoption2012 – BTC’s Travel Across The WorldThis year BTC traveled to various countries as BitPay reported that over 1000 merchants were using the company’s services to accept Bitcoin as a mode of payment. Moreover, BitPay highlighted that the majority of their merchants were from the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and Finland.2013 – Meet the First-Ever BTC ATMFinally, after Bitcoin started to become quite popular, the first BTC ATM, built by a Nevada company called Robocoin, was introduced in Canada. This machine would act as a medium, allowing users to trade bitcoins for cash easily. Another feather in the hat for BTC was that approximately $1 million worth of BTC was sold in 30 days.2014 – Bitcoin’s Entry Into The Hospitality SectorThe D Las Vegas Casino Hotel and Golden Gate Hotel & Casino properties announced that they started to accept Bitcoin as a payment method through BitPay. Also, BitPay made a sponsorship deal with ESPN Events where BTC was accepted for ticket and concession sales at the game as part of the sponsorship deal.2015 – BTC’s Touch in The Art IndustryThe Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art (MAK) became the first museum in the world to purchase artwork called Event Listeners, using BTC. Once again, the International Business Times reported that 100,000 retailers accepted BTC as a form of payment. Some of those industries included Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Dell, Wikipedia, Twitch, and Greenpeace.2016 – Bitcoin Recognized as ‘Real Money’By 2016, BTC and digital assets caught the attention of many nations including Japan. The Cabinet approved a set of bills to help banking industries to understand the technology and recognize virtual currencies similar to real money. Also, the Swiss Railway’s operator made a breakthrough by updating their automated ticket machine, which allowed users to buy a “Bitcoin paper wallet.” 2017 – BTC’s Symbol Receives International RecognitionBitcoin’s symbol finally earned its place in Unicode version 10.0 at the position of “U+20BF,” indicating the digital asset had been recognized by various industry experts. CNBC reported that Japan legalized cryptocurrency as a payment method, while Russia made plans to regulate it.2018 – Bitcoin Meets G20 LeadersThe G20 Financial Stability Board opined that crypto assets did not pose a threat to financial stability anymore. Even though there were bans on crypto ads, Facebook (NASDAQ:META) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) allowed few industries to run their ads across the digital public sphere.2019 – BTC Joins NASDAQ Stock ExchangeThe NASDAQ stock exchange announced that it would be sending real-time Bitcoin and Ethereum Index-level information on the Nasdaq Global Index Data Service SM (GIDS). BTC’s price experienced a short burst of surge after China’s President Xi Jinping’s speech about the opportunity presented by blockchain.2020 – Bitcoin’s Halving EventOne of the main events observed in the crypto community is the BTC halving, which played a major role in affecting Bitcoin’s prices. In May of 2020, after the halving event, it was observed that BTC experienced a price surge. Also, various institutions started to allocate some of their investments to the top leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Some of the institutions such as CitiBank, Grayscale, Stanley Druckenmiller, and MicroStrategy showed interest in the digital currency this year.2021 – BTC Becomes the Legal Tender of El SalvadorBTC became the legal tender alongside the US dollar for a North American country. The idea was proposed by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and, a few days later, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador made the decision. Furthermore, BTC reached its All-Time High at $68,789.63 in November, according to CoinMarketCap.2022 – Bitcoin Experiences 100% UptimeThis was considered one of the toughest years for the digital asset industry as the collapse of various crypto industries sent a ripple effect across the sector. However, reportedly, BTC managed to function 100%, facing no hard forks, hacks, or bugs within its network. Additionally, with the introduction of Machankura, a non-custodial wallet, users were allowed to send and receive BTC with just a basic phone.To commemorate BTC’s first real-time transaction, the crypto community celebrates Bitcoin Pizza Day on May 22 every year. The annual Bitcoin Pizza Day’s anniversary is also a celebration of BTC’s progress throughout the years.However, there are still new and upcoming crypto enthusiasts who would like to partake in Bitcoin Pizza Day and are still unaware of how to celebrate this historical event.So, let’s take a look at the different ways to celebrate BTC’s first real-time transaction. Here are some fun ideas to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day:1. Buy Pizza with Bitcoin:To be specific, buy two large Papa Johns Pizzas just like Laszlo Hanyecz. As many countries are recognizing the importance of cryptos, there are retail traders that accept Bitcoin as a payment method. However, on the off-chance retail traders do not accept crypto, few crypto exchanges offer the chance to buy gift cards for different retail stores.2. Celebrating With Bitcoin Pizza Enthusiasts:There are various crypto communities across the industry that are always looking to celebrate this historic event. One way to celebrate with them is through the social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Binance will be hosting many events and offering pizza for its crypto community in various locations. Moreover, crypto exchanges will also be offering promotions and offers especially for Bitcoin Pizza Day, which users and traders could take advantage of.3. Be Kind, and Donate BTC:If you are feeling humble and empathetic, this method of celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day is for you. Users can donate some of their BTC to various charitable causes which could help make this world better.It is evident that Bitcoin Pizza Day paved the path for further development and upgrades that supported the cause for BTC and cryptocurrencies’ adoption. Looking through the Bitcoins journey, we can see that the leader of cryptocurrencies faced difficulties and criticisms initially, however, it continued to build and improve its features. Moreover, potential investors and crypto enthusiasts believe that as time passes, BTC’s price and adoption would continue to grow. Ultimately, Bitcoin would continue to revolutionize various industries across the world.What is Bitcoin Pizza Day? Bitcoin Pizza Day marks the first real-time transaction conducted with BTC, which opened the path for future transactions with cryptocurrencies and boosted digital assets adoption. On May 22, Laszlo Hanyecz purchased 2 large Papa Johns Pizza for 10,000 BTC.How to Celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day? There are different ways to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day, such as buying Pizza with BTC, donating to charitable causes with Bitcoin, celebrating it with crypto communities, and taking advantage of deals with various digital asset industries.What is the Current Price of BTC? BTC is currently trading at $26,854.12, while facing a fall of 0.84% in 24 hours, at the reported time.What is the Future of Bitcoin? Many investors and crypto enthusiasts speculate that BTC’s price would continue to rise over time. Moreover, BTC’s utility in various industries would continue to flourish as the years go.The post Bitcoin Pizza Day: A Historic Moment for the Crypto World appeared first on Coin Edition.See original on CoinEdition More

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    in Economy

    BoE pins its hopes on falling inflation easing wage growth

    Bank of England officials hope the ratchet between higher prices and wages will soon moderate as official figures on Wednesday are set to show a large drop in the headline inflation rate.The central bank is expecting the annual rate of consumer price inflation to drop almost 2 percentage points from 10.1 per cent in March to 8.4 per cent in April, and decline to its 2 per cent target in late 2024 or early 2025. If the BoE’s expectations are met, prices would still rise quickly, but not as rapidly on an annual basis as they have over the past year. Officials hope that the falling rate of inflation will persuade companies to think twice before increasing prices or agreeing generous wage settlements. Andrew Bailey, BoE governor, said last week that the bank’s contacts with companies suggested “the decline in inflation and the looser labour market [will] begin to reduce pay awards in the second half of the year”.

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    In the same speech, however, he noted, that officials fear a wage-price upward spiral might continue even as the headline rate of inflation declines. The greater the signs of these “second-round effects” persisting, the more the BoE would need to raise interest rates, he said. Bailey’s comments came after BoE chief economist Huw Pill said the danger for the bank’s inflation fighting credibility was that people and companies kept on “trying to maintain their level of spending before the pie shrunk”. Economists are expecting a large drop in the headline rate of inflation in this week’s data because the 54 per cent rise in the energy price cap for gas and electricity tariffs, imposed in April 2022, will drop out of the annual inflation calculation. With the energy bill for a household with average consumption capped at £2,500, compared with £1,971 in April last year and £1,277 in March last year, energy price inflation will drop in the April figures to below 40 per cent compared with 90 per cent a year ago, according to the Resolution Foundation think-tank.Ofgem, the energy regulator, will announce on Thursday the energy price cap for July to September, with Cornwall Insight, the consultancy, expecting the bill for the average consumer to fall to £2,054 for that quarter. Although headline CPI inflation is set to fall sharply in the data to be published on Wednesday, economists expect measures of underlying price pressures to show little improvement. Ben Nabarro, chief UK economist at Citigroup, forecast that the UK’s core CPI inflation rate, excluding food, alcohol, tobacco and energy prices would climb from a 6.2 per cent rate in March to 6.5 per cent in April. Such a rise would underline BoE officials’ concerns about persistently high inflation, which have prompted the central bank to raise interest rates at the past 12 consecutive meetings of its Monetary Policy Committee.

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    The path of core inflation is, however, uncertain and other economists, such as Bruna Skarica, UK economist at Morgan Stanley, expect it to edge down to 6.1 per cent in April. Skarica also expects food price inflation to begin to moderate, following high-profile announcements from supermarkets on cuts in the price of milk. The annual rate of food price increases hit a 45-year high in March of 19.2 per cent.

    Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said that while energy’s role in driving high inflation was declining, “that of food very much has not”.With poorer households allocating roughly 15 per cent of their budgets to food compared with 10 per cent for the richest households, inflation was more heavily skewed to the poor than at any time since equivalent records began in 2006. “Everyone realises food prices are rising, but it’s less clear that the scale of the increase has been fully understood in Westminster . . . The cost of living crisis isn’t ending, it’s just entering a new phase,” Bell said. More