Aurelia Butler

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  • 113 Shares119 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Ripple Eyes Celsius: Preparing for Its First Major Deal?

    As stated by the unnamed spokesperson of Ripple Labs, the company is “interested in learning about Celsius and its assets” and is exploring whether they could be relevant to Ripple Labs’ business. The spokesperson though has declined to confirm if Ripple Labs is interested in acquiring Celsius Network. Both companies have not issued any official reports or comments yet.Ripple Submitted Court Fillings For Celsius Bankruptcy CaseEarlier this week the bankruptcy court approved the fillings from Ripple Labs’ legal team asking for the representation in Celsius Network bankruptcy case. The blockchain payment company has never been officially mentioned among the major creditors of the Celsius lending company.A former crypto lending giant Celsius Network collapsed in the first days of June after becoming officially insolvent and incapable to repay its creditors around $4.7 billion, according to the bankruptcy fillings. Celsius is accused of being a Ponzi scheme, which used customers’ funds to manipulate the price of its CEL token but failed to hedge risks, which consequently led to hundreds of millions of dollars lost. According to the court filing, around $1.9 billion is currently missing on the Celsius Network’s balance sheet.Reportedly, the former crypto lending giant has more than 100,000 creditors on the list, including Canada’s second-biggest pension and insurance fund The Caisse de Dépôt, and the trading company Alameda Research, which is closely related to the FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Since the middle of June the users of Celsius’ are unable to access their funds. The company has later said to be considering the potential restructuring of its debts. Ripple’s CEO Open to Company’s Growth PlansRipple Labs team does not comment on the company’s plans to potentially acquire the bankrupt crypto lending giant. However, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse noted earlier in June, that the blockchain payment firm is working through its growth stage and will continue looking at various segments of the crypto industry for potential mergers and acquisitions.If Ripple succeeds to acquire Celsius Network, the move could mark the company’s first major deal since it was founded in 2012. The publicly not traded Ripple secured a partnership with one of the biggest names in the remittance sector, MoneyGram, in 2019. It also has partnerships with numerous financial entities, including Bank of Amerika, Standard Chartered (OTC:SCBFF) Bank (SCB) and SBI Holdings. Since early 2021 Ripple Labs in a notorious legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchnge Commission (SEC), which has accused the company of selling its XRP tokens as unregistered securities and thus violating the federal Securities Act.On the FlipsideWhy You Should CareDespite the lawsuit with SEC, Ripple Labs remains one of the key players in the blockchain-based cross-border payments sector. If the company wins the legal battle with SEC, it should set a precedent on how other digital currencies should be treated. Legal clarity might also act as catalyzing factor for the price jump of the company’s native coin XRP. Continue reading on DailyCoin More

  • 163 Shares159 Views

    in Economy

    'Count on us': Scholz promises new package to help Germans with energy bills

    BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised a new package of measures on Thursday, including tax relief, to help people struggling with rising prices and higher energy bills.Speaking at his first annual summer press conference, a tradition he inherited from predecessor Angela Merkel, Scholz said such measures would still mean sticking to the government’s debt brake – which limits federal borrowing to 0.35% of economic output per year but which has been suspended since 2020 – going into next year.”Citizens can count on us not to abandon them,” he told journalists in Berlin in a press conference that lasted for more than 90 minutes. Since taking power in December, Scholz has grappled with fallout from the war in Ukraine, which has threatened to tip Europe’s largest economy into recession, driven up gas prices and led to a shake-up of energy, defence and foreign policy. The chancellor, 64, has also faced growing scrutiny in connection with the long-running “cum-ex” scandal, one of Germany’s biggest fraud investigations, dating back to his time as mayor of the northern port city of Hamburg. Questioned about his role, Scholz on Thursday denied any impropriety and said he had no knowledge of how more than 200,000 euros ($206,680) was reportedly found in the safe of a party colleague. “Two and a half years of an unbelievable number of hearings, an unbelievable number of files have brought only one result: there is no evidence that there was any political influence,” he said. He is due to testify to a committee in Hamburg next week. TALKING TO MERKELGermany has accused Russia of waging economic warfare against Europe and cutting gas supplies on spurious pretexts in retaliation for punitive sanctions on Moscow.Scholz’s Social Democrat-led government has introduced an energy levy to ease the strain for companies buckling under high gas prices, and is combining that with relief measures for struggling households. But proposals put forward by Finance Minister Christian Lindner to raise income tax thresholds have sparked criticism from within the three-way ruling coalition this week. Scholz threw his backing behind Lindner’s suggestions but separately rejected calls for Germany to impose a new profit tax, for example on oil companies.On foreign policy, Scholz said Germany would tackle the energy crisis in solidarity with the European Union and that he was pushing for the construction of a new pipeline from Portugal through Spain and France to diversify European supplies. Speaking about a proposal to cap the price of Russian oil, made at a Group of Seven summit that Scholz chaired in June, the chancellor said it would need buy-in from other countries to work.He also stressed the importance of German companies not becoming too dependent on the Chinese market and said no date had yet been set for a visit to Beijing. Scholz was criticized for dragging his feet over heavy weapons supplies to Ukraine in the first months of the war. But the country has considerably ramped up arms deliveries to Kyiv since then, and Scholz said Berlin would continue to do so. Asked whether rising prices could trigger social unrest, Scholz said: “No, I don’t think that we will see unrest in this country in this form, on the grounds that Germany is a welfare state.”Scholz took power when Merkel stepped down after dominating German politics for 16 years as chancellor. Asked about their relationship, Scholz said: “I like telephoning her, but I also like being chancellor.”($1 = 0.9677 euros) More

  • 163 Shares119 Views

    in Economy

    EU says U.S. plan for EV tax breaks discriminatory, may breach WTO rules

    Under a provision of the $430 billion climate and energy bill that was passed by the Senate on Sunday, U.S. buyers of zero-emissions electric vehicles (EVs) would be eligible for tax credits worth several thousand dollars.However, domestic content conditions would apply to the tax breaks to push the EV industry away from reliance on China and spur local investment in battery minerals and manufacturing.”We think it’s discriminatory, that it is discriminating against foreign producers in relation to U.S. producers,” said European Commission spokesperson Miriam Garcia Ferrer. “Of course this would mean that it would be incompatible with the WTO.”Garcia Ferrer told a news briefing the EU agreed with Washington that tax credits are an important incentive to drive demand for EVs and promote the transition to sustainable transport and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”But we need to ensure that the measures introduced are fair and … non-discriminatory,” she said. “So we continue to urge the United States to remove these discriminatory elements from the bill and ensure that it is fully compliant with the WTO.”A group of major automakers said last week that most EV models would be ineligible for tax credits because of requirements for vehicles’ batteries and critical-mineral contents to be sourced from the United States.The EV tax break is part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is likely to be passed by the House of Representatives this week and then sent to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign it into law. More

  • 138 Shares169 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    The SEC Opens Probe Into Coinbase’s Crypto Yield And Staking Products

    SEC Investigates Coinbase’s Staking ProductsIn its recent quarterly report disclosing a $1 billion loss, the crypto exchange revealed that its staking product, which allows investors to earn yield by locking up certain cryptos, is being probed by the SEC.Coinbase disclosed in its 10-Q form that the SEC was probing the company’s “processes for listing assets, the classification of certain listed assets, its staking programs, and its stablecoin and yield-generating products.” In July, the securities agency charged a former Coinbase product manager in an insider trading case and stated that nine crypto tokens listed on Coinbase are securities.Coinbase Will Benefit from More RegulationsIn the heat of regulatory scrutiny, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said that “the more regulation there is for crypto, the better it is for Coinbase.” Armstrong explained that his company was willing to meet with regulators worldwide and doesn’t see crypto regulations as bad. Coinbase has dismissed claims that it listed the exchange listed any securities. Armstrong has said that he isn’t sure if the SEC’s inquiry will become a formal investigation.On the FlipsideWhy You Should CareArmstrong, like most experts, believes that regulatory clarity over crypto will be the best way to help the industry move forward.Read the full details of Coinbase’s Q2 report below:Coinbase Posts $1 Billion Dollar Loss in Q2, Trading Volumes Take Major HitGet more info on the Coinbase insider trader in:Former Coinbase Manager Ishan Wahi Under Arrest, Charged with Insider TradingThe shares dump by Ark Invest is covered in:Cathie Wood of Ark Invest Dumps Coinbase Shares Amid SEC ProbeContinue reading on DailyCoin More

  • 125 Shares99 Views

    in Economy

    U.S. high-yield bond funds draw cash as recession fears ebb

    (Reuters) – U.S high-yield bond funds are attracting heavy investments, a turnaround from the selloffs of the first half of this year, as investors bet that the Federal Reserve will limit future interest rate hikes to try to avert an economic slowdown. Fund managers are also increasing their investments in junk bonds to take advantage of widening yield spreads, as bonds trade at steeper discounts than at the start of the year. Refinitiv data shows U.S. high-yield bond funds received an inflow of $4.8 billion in July, the first monthly inflow in 2022. GRAPHIC: US high yield bond fund flows (https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/jnpwenazxpw/US%20high%20yield%20bond%20fund%20flows.jpg) So far in August, U.S. high-yield bond ETFs increased by $2.18 billion, the data showed. GRAPHIC: Biggest money inflows into US high yield bond ETFs in July (https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/byprjyqdxpe/Biggest%20money%20inflows%20into%20US%20high%20yield%20bond%20ETFs%20this%20month.jpg) “High-yield bond funds are getting inflows due to enthusiasm that the U.S. economy will avoid a recession or, if it does have one, that it will be mild,” Thomas Samuelson, chief investment officer at Vineyard Global Advisors, said. “Less severe recessions cause less stress on corporate cash flows and thus fewer defaults of riskier high-yield bonds.”U.S. high-yield bond funds witnessed a cumulative outflow of $52.25 billion in the first half of this year, as the U.S. central bank raised its interest rates aggressively to tame soaring price pressures. But a drop in commodity prices in recent weeks has reduced expectations of higher inflation. The ICE (NYSE:ICE) BofA U.S. High Yield Index, a benchmark for the junk bond market, has risen by more than 7% since July, after declining 14% in the first half of this year.The yield spread between the junk bond index and U.S. Treasuries stood at 452 basis points on Thursday, much higher than 285 basis points at the start of the year. TOO SOON FOR ‘ALL-CLEAR’ SIGNSome fund managers said high-yield bonds also helped to diversify portfolios and had provided some safety meaning many firms issuing junk bonds had stronger balance sheets. CreditSights data found the U.S. high-yield distress ratio, a measure of risk in the bond market, declined to 10.6% in July, from 15.2 in June, suggesting default rates are moderating. “Structurally, we are seeing high-yield asset allocators being more dynamic on how they are allocating using core/satellite approaches which is common in equity, but was not common in high-yield bonds,” said Manuel Hayes, senior portfolio manager at Insight Investment.Some investors are still wary. “We think it’s too soon to plant the ‘all-clear’ sign ..” said Vineyard’s Samuelson.”We are maintaining our underweight position on high-yield bonds until we see more evidence that the Fed is closer to the end of its tightening cycle and the risk of a recession subsides.” More

  • 188 Shares189 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    New Whale Becomes Top Bitcoin Holder With $3 Billion Acquisition, BTC Surges To New High

    A New Bitcoin Whale Is BornOn August 10, on-chain data trackers reported that an unknown investor had purchased approximately 133,000 (BTC) in several transactions at an average price of $23,000, amounting to $3 billion in total. Further inspection of the transactions revealed that it was an old Bitcoin whale moving its funds to a new wallet. However, the wallet now counts as one of the top three largest individual Bitcoin holders.
    Largest Bitcoin HoldersMicroStrategy, most famous for its Bitcoin purchases, is the largest corporate holder of the crypto, with over 129,699 BTC in its purse. Satoshi Nakamoto is the biggest individual Bitcoin holder, reportedly holding over 1.1 million Bitcoins.Global asset manager Grayscale sits just below Satoshi with approximately 683,480 BTCs. Binance is the top cryptocurrency exchange holding Bitcoin, with about 447,197 Bitcoins. Bitcoin (BTC) Spikes to New HighThe accumulation/transfer of Bitcoin by the whale precedes a market rally which has seen Bitcoin’s price spike by 7%. The price of Bitcoin has risen from as low as $23,031 on August 10 to as high as $24,670 on August 11.
    On the FlipsideWhy You Should CareThe accumulation of Bitcoin by whales is usually interpreted as a precursor to a major crypto market rally or the end of a bullish cycle.Read about Bitcoin forecasts in:Scaramucci Believes Bitcoin’s (BTC) Real Value Is $40,000: Here’s WhyRead about Wright’s claims of being Satoshi below:Craig Wright Claims People Can Prove His Identity As Bitcoin’s Creator–Satoshi NakamotoContinue reading on DailyCoin More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    LongHash Ventures Launches Its $100 Million Web3 Venture Fund II with Successful First Close

    LongHash Ventures has received strong support from global investors and industry veterans for its successful first close. It has raised capital from well-known Web3 VCs, single family offices, and Web3 founders such as Hashkey Capital, NGC Ventures, Protocol Labs, Gnosis Safe, MEXC, Synthetix founders Kain and Jordan Warwick, Qiming VC founding partner Duane Kuang, and Astar founder Sota Watanabe, amongst others. The fund will continue to take in capital until the end of the year. Meanwhile, its accelerator arm LongHashX has recently obtained funding at an undisclosed valuation from Superscrypt, a Web3 investment firm founded by Temasek, as well as few large fund LPs including NGC. LongHash Ventures has earmarked its second fund for multi-chain Web3 infrastructure projects that support key verticals such as DeFi, NFT, GameFi, and the Metaverse. It will be investing in projects and teams from pre-seed to Series A. Thus far, LongHash Ventures has backed more than 60 projects, including Polkadot, Astar, Dodo, Coinshift, Acala, Zapper, Gnosis Safe and Balancer. LongHash Ventures Fund II will also be investing in the pipeline of projects graduating from its accelerator arm LongHashX. Since its inception in 2018, the LongHashX Accelerator has emerged as Asia’s leading Web3 accelerator. It is the go-to partner for protocols like Polkadot, Filecoin, Algorand, and others looking to accelerate the growth of their respective ecosystems. Accelerator alumni include well known projects such as Astar, Xanpool, and Lit Protocol. As Asia’s first and leading Web 3 accelerator, LongHashX Accelerator has partnered with Polkadot, Algorand, Filecoin and others to build more than 50 global Web3 projects which have raised more than $150m in the past 4 years. We are committed to realizing our mission of catalyzing growth for the next generation of the Web.LongHash Ventures is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.For more information, visit: Website | Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) | LinkedInContinue reading on DailyCoin More