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Cryptocurrency markets took fleeting support from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which, under new leadership, said it will form a task force to help advise on crypto regulation. Markets were left wanting as Trump did not sign any executive orders related to crypto in his first few days in office, despite several industry participants hoping for such a move. The launch of $TRUMP, which logged wild price swings since its debut, also contributed to additional volatility in markets, while hype over artificial intelligence saw risk-heavy traders turn more biased towards equity markets. Bitcoin fell 2.9% to $102,600.2 by 00:54 ET (05:54 GMT). The world’s biggest cryptocurrency briefly hit a record high above $109,000 before Trump’s inauguration this week, but has since logged steep declines. Bitcoin largely failed to maintain its gains this week, as optimism over crypto-friendly policies under Trump appeared to be short-lived. While the SEC announcement does herald some progress towards friendlier regulation, the commission provided few details on just what policies will be covered by its task force. The SEC also did not provide a timeline for new regulation.A major point of contention for crypto markets was also that Trump signed no crypto-related executive orders, while his threats of tariffs on major economies dented risk appetite. Trump’s memecoin- $TRUMP- slid 13.7% to $37.413 on Thursday, sliding further from record highs of nearly $80 hit just after its launch. The token raised some concerns over the ethics of Trump using his influence to further his personal wealth. The President was seen largely avoiding questions over the billions of dollar of paper gains he had likely made from $TRUMP.BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) CEO Larry Fink offered some positive comments on Bitcoin, stating that he believed the crypto could rise to a $700,000 price if more people adopted it on concerns over the economic and political stability of their countries.Fink told Bloomberg that he believed in the utilization of Bitcoin as an internationally based instrument, although he clarified he was not promoting the crypto.BlackRock had last year launched an exchange-traded fund that tracked the spot price of Bitcoin- iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT). The launch had initially attracted a deluge of capital flows in early-2024, although inflows have since floundered. Broader crypto prices fell in tandem with Bitcoin. World no.2 crypto Ether fell 3% to $3,216.16, while XRP fell 0.7% to $3.1404. Solana, Cardano, and Polygon sank between 2% and 4%, while among meme tokens, Dogecoin lost 3.8%. More
$99 for your first yearFT newspaper delivered Monday-Saturday, plus FT Digital Edition delivered to your device Monday-Saturday.What’s included Weekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysis More
$99 for your first yearFT newspaper delivered Monday-Saturday, plus FT Digital Edition delivered to your device Monday-Saturday.What’s included Weekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysis More
$99 for your first yearFT newspaper delivered Monday-Saturday, plus FT Digital Edition delivered to your device Monday-Saturday.What’s included Weekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysis More
$99 for your first yearFT newspaper delivered Monday-Saturday, plus FT Digital Edition delivered to your device Monday-Saturday.What’s included Weekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysis More
WELLINGTON (Reuters) -People leaving New Zealand hit record levels in the year to November 2024, in another sign of the weakness in the country’s economy that moved to a technical recession in the third quarter.Data released by Statistics New Zealand on Thursday showed that 127,800 people left the Pacific nation in the year to November, up 28% on the prior 12 month period. This was provisionally the highest number of people leaving in an annual period ever, according to the statistics bureau.Of those leaving, more than 50% were New Zealand citizens, according to the data.New Zealand, which has a population of just 5.3 million, has seen its economy struggle over the last couple of years as the central bank increased the official cash rate to dampen historically high inflation.Michael Gordon, senior economist at Westpac said that a lot of people come to New Zealand for work opportunities and when these dry up people leave. “It’s about work opportunities, especially here (New Zealand) versus Australia. Australia’s economy is still running reasonably strongly,” Gordon said. “There are more opportunities over there now so we are seeing quite high outflows of Kiwis.”However, people leaving does continue to be offset by inward migration. Statistics New Zealand said net migration – the number of people moving to New Zealand permanently minus those leaving New Zealand – was at 30,600 in the year to November 2024. Net migration peaked in the year ended October 2023 at 135,700. Gordon added that net migration was now back at historic averages and that over the longer term net migration would support the country’s economy. “It’s something to keep in mind, that for a big chunk of the world, New Zealand is an attractive place to live, but also for us (New Zealanders) there are also places look more attractive Australia, or going to the U.S. or the UK,” Gordon said. More
