Aurelia Butler

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former product manager at non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea was convicted on Wednesday of fraud and money laundering for using inside knowledge of which assets would be featured on its home page to trade NFTs.    Nathaniel Chastain was accused of buying NFTs he had decided to feature on the OpenSea website and selling them shortly afterward to make more than $50,000 in illegal profit, in what federal prosecutors in Manhattan described as the first insider trading case involving digital assets.”Although this case involved trades in novel crypto assets, there was nothing particularly innovative about his conduct – it was fraud,” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. The charges against Chastain, announced last June, were the first in a series of high-profile cases related to digital assets launched by Williams’ office last year.The case could have broader implications for assets that do not fit in to existing regulations preventing investment advisers, brokers and others from trading on material nonpublic information, legal experts have said.Chastain had pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, David Miller, said following the verdict that the legal team would “evaluate our options.” “We respect the jury process. We respectfully disagree with their decision,” Miller told reporters.Chastain’s lawyers argued that OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, did not treat knowledge of what NFTs would be featured on its home page as confidential information when Chastain worked at the company.    “You can’t hold Nate to a standard that didn’t exist,” his lawyer Daniel Filor told jurors in his closing argument on Monday. “Nobody told Nate that he couldn’t use or share that information.”Prosecutor Allison Nichols said Chastain used anonymous OpenSea accounts to make the illegal trades, showing he knew that what he was doing was wrong.    “He hid what he was doing,” Nichols told the jury in her rebuttal argument. “He knew that he had violated OpenSea’s confidentiality agreement.”U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, who presided over the trial, set Chastain’s sentencing date for Aug. 22.  More

(Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever.The Fed on Wednesday delivered what markets are convinced will be the last rate hike of the cycle, bond yields and the dollar fell, yet investors are rattled. Asian markets wake up on Thursday to the realization that although U.S. rates have probably peaked and could soon fall, sentiment is wary at best and gloomy at worst due to increasing fears over U.S. banks, credit conditions, and the debt limit.Australian trade figures for March and final reading of China’s manufacturing PMI for April are the indicators most likely to give local markets a steer on Thursday, while the European Central Bank is expected to raise rates later. (Graphic: China manufacturing PMI – Caixin – https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/klvygjobqvg/ChianPMI.png) (Graphic: China PMIs – official – https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/egvbybwqopq/ChinaPMIs.jpg) But the tone will be set by the fallout from the Fed. The performance of U.S. regional banks on Wednesday is telling. They rose as much as 3% in early trade, recouping some of the previous two days’ heavy losses. Booming private sector U.S. jobs data also soothed hard landing or recession fears.They remained in positive territory after the Fed’s policy statement strongly suggested a pause is imminent but quickly retreated as Fed Chair Jerome Powell struck a cautious tone in his press conference. They closed down for a third day, shedding 1%, while Wall Street’s three main indices lost between 0.4% and 0.8%, short-dated Treasury yields plunged, and the dollar fell.Notably, the dollar’s biggest loss amongst FX major currencies was against the yen, which surged around 1% for its best day in six weeks. The Japanese currency appears to be rediscovering some of its famed safe-haven status.Markets are simply not buying Powell’s insistence that this time really might be different and the United States can avoid recession after the most aggressive tightening campaign in 40 years – they are pricing in 75 bps of Fed easing this year, the two-year U.S. yield is down 25 bps since Wednesday, oil is down 10% this week. (Graphic: SOFR implied US rates – https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/xmpjkqxnqvr/SOFR2023.png) Meanwhile, pressure in Hong Kong’s financial system is building as the monetary authority’s aggregate balance — a gauge of cash levels in the banking system — has slumped to a 14-1/2 year low of HK$49 billion ($6.2 billion).The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has been forced to intervene to defend the HK dollar’s peg, and on Wednesday local interbank rates shot higher. With the ECB also set to raise rates on Thursday – will it be 25 or 50 bps? – it’s shaping up to be a rocky start across Asian markets.Here are three key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Thursday:- China manufacturing PMI (April)- Australia trade (March)- ECB rate decision (By Jamie McGeever) More

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Argentina has offered to fast-track imports from Brazil if its neighbor adopts a new credit system that reduces its dependence on the dollar, which it has in short supply, officials in both governments told Reuters.The proposal would cut the processing and payment time for Brazilian products to 30 days from 180 days at present, reducing trading risks with a country with high inflation and exchange rate variations, the sources said.Argentina’s import system SIRA would be modified to be able to handle operations in the Brazilian currency, said one source.Payment in reais by Argentine importers would be made possible through the new financing system designed by the Brazilian government, though technical aspects have yet to be defined, the source said.Brazil offered to help cash-strapped Argentina and support Brazilian exporters so that they can continue to sell to their neighbor, the main export market for Brazilian manufactured goods. The plan was announced during a visit to Brasilia on Tuesday by Argentine President Alberto Fernandez.More than 200 Brazilian companies have stopped exporting to Argentina or are not receiving payments due to the lack of foreign currency there, Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told reporters.The economic teams of Brazil and Argentina will meet further next week in Buenos Aires.”Why will Argentina benefit? Because it can trade in reais and that lowers the pressure for dollars on its Central Bank, and lowers pressure on its international reserves,” said the other source.The official, who requested anonymity, said one of the issues in the negotiations was what kind of guarantees Argentina can give to make the operations viable. He said a mechanism discussed was an “escrow” account in a Brazilian bank that would receive guarantees.Such guarantees could, for example, be Chinese bonds, or contracts for the future purchase of gas or wheat, assets with international liquidity which Brazil could access to compensate losses in the event of non-payment by an Argentine importer. One idea is for Brazil’s development bank BNDES to manage the financing.The plan is to facilitate sales by 210 Brazilian businesses that have had trouble exporting to Argentina, including in the auto, steel, chemical, home appliances and food industries.Brazil has been losing ground in its bilateral trade, with its share of Argentine imports dropping $4 billion dollars from 2014 to 2019, one of the sources said.China, which has financing mechanisms that assist exports, took over that lost market share.On Tuesday, alongside Fernandez, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the New Development Bank of the BRICS group of leading emerging nations could help Argentina by giving guarantees for Brazilian exports, though that would require changes in the bank’s operating rules.”We don’t even want them to lend money to Argentina. What we want is for them to give us guarantees, which then greatly facilitates Brazil’s relationship with Argentina,” he said. More

Russia yesterday accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin in a late-night drone attack on the Kremlin, vowing to take retaliatory action. But Kyiv denied any responsibility. Putin’s press service said two Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russia’s military and secret services, which it said “acted in a timely fashion”. Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time and was working instead from his residence outside Moscow, said his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.If confirmed, the apparent attempt on Putin’s life and the acknowledgment from the Kremlin would mark an extraordinary admission of Russian vulnerability. It would also be one of Kyiv’s most daring strikes since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.Dozens of explosions were reported in Ukraine and near Russian-occupied Crimea yesterday, as both sides stepped up air attacks ahead of an expected counter-offensive by Kyiv to recapture lost territory.FT investigation: Our reporters have revealed that a Russian spy network managed to smuggle sensitive EU technology to fuel Putin’s war on Ukraine.Here’s what else is happening today:Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: Foreign Ministers of the SCO will meet in Goa, India. UK local elections: This will be Rishi Sunak’s first big electoral test since becoming prime minister — and we’ll find out whether Labour can win back “red wall” voters.Earnings: Results are expected from Anheuser-Busch InBev, Apple, Carlyle, ConocoPhillips, Kellogg, Lyft, MetLife, Novo Nordisk, Swiss Re, and Volkswagen. We just relaunched our Working It newsletter today with a new section, where editor Isabel Berwick will answer all of your office dilemmas. Sign up here and stay one step ahead at your workplace.Five more top stories1. US investor interest in Chinese stocks has cooled significantly after hitting a record late last year. China’s announcement that it would lift pandemic restrictions late last year prompted a burst of enthusiasm for Chinese stock markets, but trading in the most liquid US-listed options that track Chinese stocks has more than halved since November.2. The UK competition watchdog is launching a review of the artificial intelligence market, including the models behind popular chatbots such as ChatGPT, as the industry comes increasingly into global regulators’ crosshairs. The chief executive of the UK Competition and Markets Authority detailed to FT what the regulator would assess.More UK news: The country’s executives should be paid more if the UK wants to retain talent and deter companies from moving overseas, said the head of the London Stock Exchange.3. The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to hit a new target range of 5-5.25 per cent, the highest level since mid-2007. However, the central bank signalled it could soon pause its aggressive monetary tightening campaign. Read more in the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement.4. Washington has signalled that it will allow South Korea to send US chipmaking tools to China, in a concession to an ally that is key to curbing Beijing’s access to cutting-edge semiconductors. People familiar with the situation said Korean producers would be given a waiver for at least another year.5. Iran has seized a second oil tanker in a week, the US Navy said yesterday, increasing tensions in one of the world’s key shipping lanes as Tehran steps up retaliation for the US seizure of a cargo of its crude. The Big Read

Kais Saied © FT montage; AFP/Getty Images/AP

In recent weeks, more than a dozen politicians, activists, judges, trade unionists and a leading independent editor have been arrested in Tunisia, in what Amnesty International has called “a politically motivated witch hunt”. Here’s how President Kais Saied, who staged a power grab in 2021, is dismantling the country’s young democracy.We’re also reading . . . Whale poo: Carbon-sucking phytoplankton thrive on the substance, but it may not mean whales can be turned easily into financial assets for carbon credit trading, writes Anjana Ahuja.KPMG: Silicon Valley Bank, Signature and First Republic had one thing in common: the Big Four auditor gave them a clean bill of health.Quantum computing: The technology could one day crack the most common encryption methods used to secure digital data. In this visual story, the FT explores its possibilities — and enormous risks.Chart of the dayHuawei’s mobile phone business was decimated by US sanctions introduced on security grounds. Lack of access to chips forced the telecoms company to stop making 5G phones, a situation a Huawei official described as a “joke”. But a flood of grants from Beijing has helped Huawei turn things around.

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Take a break from the newsChinese noodle soups are the perfect vehicle for a little culinary creativity: quick and easy to make yet extremely exciting, writes Fuchsia Dunlop. The two essential ingredients are a decent stock and, obviously, noodles — but think of this recipe as a template for your own imagination.

© Yuki Sugiura

Additional contributions by Gordon Smith and Tee Zhuo. More

“Although these (AI) tools are novel, they are not exempt from existing rules, and the FTC will vigorously enforce the laws we are charged with administering, even in this new market,” FTC Chair Lina Khan wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Wednesday.The sudden popularity of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT this year has prompted global calls for regulation amid concerns about its possible use for wrongdoing even as companies seek to use it to enhance efficiency.She described the agency as “well equipped” to handle the job.One risk she noted was that firms that dominate cloud services and computing would become even more powerful as they help startups and other firms launch their own AI. AI tools could also be used to facilitate collusion to raise prices.Khan expressed concern that generative AI, which writes in conversational English, could be used to help scammers write more specific and effective phishing emails. “When enforcing the law’s prohibition on deceptive practices, we will look not just at the fly-by-night scammers deploying these tools but also at the upstream firms that are enabling them,” she wrote. More