Aurelia Butler

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    in Cryptocurrency

    $200,000 for Bitcoin (BTC) Reality Now

    With its 2023 update, this chart, which has historically helped Bitcoin holders navigate through different market cycles, still suggests potential for expansion. Increased demand and buyer enthusiasm are indicated as Bitcoin moves closer to the upper spectrum, suggesting that the market may be preparing for a longer bubble phase. There are more details in the two-Year MA Multiplier chart. This graph, which compares the historical price trajectory of Bitcoin to the two-year moving average (MA), currently indicates that if Bitcoin crosses the red line, it could reach a maximum potential of about $200,000. Reaching this level would likely be the current cycle’s peak, as this red line has historically represented the upper bounds of Bitcoin’s price range during previous bull runs.It is conceivable that Bitcoin may test these higher boundaries in the upcoming months given its current volume and momentum. This potential is further supported by the daily chart’s technical analysis. Bitcoin has shown strong bullish sentiment by breaking above earlier resistance levels, which were around $80,000. Its long-term descending channel breakout and high trading volume suggest a strong trend reversal. With this increasing trend, Bitcoin looks poised to delve into uncharted territory and get closer to the anticipated $200,000 mark. These indicators taken together give Bitcoin a good chance of reaching $200,000, even though reaching this milestone is not assured, particularly if macroeconomic conditions continue to be favorable for cryptocurrency’s growth. As Bitcoin moves toward new all-time highs, holders and prospective buyers should keep an eye on these technical indicators.This article was originally published on U.Today More

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    in Economy

    Manufacturing fetishism is destined to fail

    Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.To think that two and two are four / And neither five nor three / The heart of man has long been sore / And long ‘tis like to be. A.E. Housman.In 1810, 81 per cent of the US labour force worked in agriculture, 3 per cent worked in manufacturing and 16 per cent worked in services. By 1950, the share of agriculture had fallen to 12 per cent, the share of manufacturing had peaked, at 24 per cent, and the share of services had reached 64 per cent. By 2020, the employment shares of these three sectors reached under 2 per cent, 8 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively. The evolution of these shares describes the employment pattern of modern economic growth. It is broadly what happens as countries become richer, whether they are big or small or run trade surpluses or deficits. It is an iron economic law. Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.What drives this evolution? In Behind the Curve — Can Manufacturing Still Provide Inclusive Growth?, Robert Lawrence of Harvard’s Kennedy School and the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) explains it in terms of a few numbers — the initial shares of employment in each of the three sectors, “income elasticities of demand” for their products, their “elasticities of substitution” and relative rates of growth of productivity. Income elasticities measure the proportional increase in demand for a category of goods or services relative to income. Elasticities of substitution measure the impact of changes in price on demand. A crucial consequence of the simple model that emerges is “spillovers”: what happens to a sector also depends hugely on what happens in the other sectors.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.Now make the following simple and empirically-based assumptions. First, productivity grows fastest in agriculture, followed by manufacturing and then services. Second, income elasticities of demand are below one for agriculture, but above one for manufactures and still higher for services. Third, elasticities of substitution are all below one. This means that the proportion of income spent on a given broad category declines as it becomes relatively cheaper. Assume, too, that economies have all started with similar proportions of workers in the three sectors to those of the US in the early 19th century.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.What happens is the pattern seen in the US and other contemporary high-income countries (except city-states, where food was partly imported from outside). Initially, two positive forces — cheaper food and higher incomes — shift spending towards manufactures and drive up the share of manufacturing in employment. But two negative forces — the decline in prices of manufactures relative to services and the higher income elasticity of demand for the latter — do the reverse. Initially, the positive effects on manufacturing dominate, because the agricultural revolution is so huge. Yet there comes a time when agriculture is too small to provide a positive impulse to manufacturing. Then forces operating within manufacturing and the service sector dominate. Employment shares in manufacturing start to fall. In the US, these have been falling for seven decades. The idea that this process is reversible is ridiculous. Water flows downhill for a good reason.In manufacturing, tasks are repetitive and must be done precisely in a controlled environment. This is perfect for robots. The overwhelming probability then is that in a few decades nobody will work on a production line. In some ways, that is a pity. But the work was also dehumanising. Surely, we can do better than hanker nostalgically for this inescapably vanishing past.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.Humans seek to blame someone for events beyond anybody’s control. It is so much easier to blame the disappearance of US manufacturing jobs on China than on domestic consumers and automation. The bilateral US trade deficit in goods with China is only 1 per cent of GDP. The overall US deficit in goods has been around 4 per cent of GDP since just after the 2008 financial crisis. If that were eliminated (probably impossible, given US competitiveness in services and the macroeconomic forces causing US trade deficits), it would indeed increase domestic output of goods (presumably at the expense of services). But the very most it is likely to do is to bring employment shares to the levels of a decade or two ago.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.In fact, as Lawrence shows in another paper for the PIIE, “Is the United States undergoing a manufacturing renaissance that will boost the middle class?”, even Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act merely delivered a further “steady decline in the manufacturing employment share of non-farm employment”. Trump’s tariffs will probably deliver no more than this. After all, rich Asian countries with trade surpluses in manufactures also have falling shares of jobs in that sector.This is not to argue that there are no important issues in production and trade in manufactures. Some manufactures are indeed vital to national security. The ability to produce some manufactures may also generate important externalities for the economy. Even so, the idea that these are manifestly more important than in other sectors — software, for example — is nonsense. Equally, as the structure of the economy shifts, people need help in developing new skills. The absence of a market in the creation of human capital is a market failure that justifies intervention.Fetishising manufacturing cannot restore the old labour force. Worse, the Trump tariffs will not only fail to achieve that goal, but will cause further malign side-effects. Not least, they will create a clash between the effects of the tariffs, the intended expulsion of millions of illegal immigrants and the planned tax cuts. The consequences for political and economic stability will be the subject of next week’s [email protected] Martin Wolf with myFT and on Twitter More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Warped Games Announces Official Partnership with Mysten Labs to build on Sui

    Expanding the Warped Universe with Mysten Labs and SuiWarped Games, an indie game studio consisting of web3 and veteran game developers who have a legacy in creating player-focused games like LEGO Universe, Jumpgate, and Dragons and Titans, is on a mission to onboard millions of players to expand the Warped Universe, an immersive blockchain-powered game where players’ actions and decisions shape the environment and influence each season’s direction. After extensive exploration, Warped Games selected Sui as the blockchain to support this ambitious vision, thanks to its player-friendly approach and innovations in the Move language.The announcement of Warped Games becoming an official partner with Mysten Labs arrives at a pivotal moment for blockchain gaming. With games like “Off The Grid” making strides toward mainstream adoption, this new collaboration marks another significant step in expanding blockchain gaming’s reach to a wider audience. Breaking Barriers to Blockchain AccessibilityOne of the largest obstacles facing blockchain adoption today is its intimidating complexity for newcomers. Traditional blockchain experiences involve managing seed phrases, navigating wallets, high fees, slow speed, and unfriendly, often intimidating transactions—barriers that can alienate potential users. Sui’s design eliminates these hurdles by offering a seamless, user-friendly blockchain experience required by games like Warped Universe, aiming to appeal to a mainstream gaming audience. With Sui’s zkLogin feature, players can access the blockchain and create wallets using familiar credentials, like passkeys or existing logins, removing the need for seed phrases and technical know-how. For those who prefer greater control, Warped Universe will also allow players to connect their own self-custodied wallets, giving them the option to manage their assets independently. This accessibility empowers users to focus on what matters most—the game experience itself.Enhanced NFT Utility with MoveSui’s Move language and object model empower Warped Universe to create NFTs that go beyond static assets, offering dynamic, context-rich tokens that evolve with each player’s journey. Sui treats each asset as an individual, on-chain object with unique IDs and customizable fields, allowing NFTs to reflect player progression and deepen in-game immersion.Innovations extend to the use of closed-loop tokens for in-game purchases and season pass NFTs, which act as “time capsules”, allowing players to revisit exclusive content from past seasons. With each season in Warped Universe serving as a self-contained story arc, these season passes aren’t just NFTs—they’re gateways to the game’s evolving history, creating lasting value and enhancing player ownership.Kiosk: Marketplace Re-ImaginedKiosk is a decentralized system designed for commerce applications on the Sui network, similar to traditional markets where vendors sell goods or services from small, standalone booths. Just like in those markets, where individual sellers operate their own kiosks, owning the products on display and managing their own sales, with Kiosk, shared objects are owned by individual parties who store assets and may list them for sale as well as utilizing custom trading functionality, such as royalties and the ability to rent assets.Walrus: Re-Defining Digital Ownership In Warped UniverseAs Warped Universe expands, decentralized storage will play a crucial role in ensuring the authenticity and accessibility of in-game assets. Mysten Labs’ Walrus protocol is set to support this need, providing a secure and efficient way to store raw data and media files—such as images, audio, video, and other game assets—at low cost without compromising performance. Unlike traditional NFTs, which often store metadata off-chain on platforms like IPFS or AWS, Walrus enables both the NFT and its metadata to be stored in a decentralized manner. This integration introduces new ways for players in Warped Universe to experience genuine ownership of their digital assets, giving them the ability to store in-game captures or statistics, and creating a more immersive and reliable player-driven experience.High Performance, Scalability, and Environmental ResponsibilityIn Warped Universe, players aren’t just playing a game; they’re building and defending entire solar systems each season, with their achievements and digital assets minted and transacted on-chain in the background. This model requires a blockchain capable of handling high transaction volumes both efficiently and affordably. Sui’s high throughput and low transaction costs make this possible, providing fast, cost-effective, and seamless on-chain transactions that support a robust gaming economy.Sui also prioritizes environmental sustainability by using a delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus model rather than energy-intensive proof-of-work. With its efficient Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) architecture, Sui can process large transaction volumes with minimal environmental impact—aligning perfectly with Warped Games’ vision of a sustainable, responsible gaming ecosystem.Looking Ahead with Warped Universe and SuiCurrently, the blockchain element in Warped Universe is the $WARPED token, an ERC-20 token designed to give holders a voice in game design, seasonal voting, discounts, potential rewards, and exclusives. While specific plans for the token’s future are yet to be announced, the Warped Universe team is committed to keeping current holders top of mind as they explore expanding to the Sui blockchain. Plans for the WARPED token, on-chain assets, skins, seasonal passes, and other elements will be shared in due time—stay tuned for updates.As Warped Universe continues to develop, the teams at Warped Games and Mysten Labs are dedicated to working closely together to explore practical blockchain integration in games, enhancing player ownership, scalability, and immersive gameplay. Together, through Warped Universe and the Sui blockchain, they’re building a unique, player-driven experience that showcases the future of blockchain gaming.Warped Games is an indie game studio dedicated to creating immersive, player-driven gaming experiences with a focus on blockchain integration. Known for pushing the boundaries of web3 technology, the team behind Warped Games combines industry veterans from both gaming and tech to bring innovative worlds like Warped Universe to life.About Mysten LabsMysten Labs is a technology company focused on advancing blockchain infrastructure to support next-generation applications. Founded by experts in distributed systems, Mysten Labs developed the Sui blockchain, a high-performance, user-friendly platform designed to make blockchain technology accessible and scalable for mainstream audiences.ContactBusiness DevelopmentReece HubbardWarped Games [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    XION Launches “Believe in Something” Airdrop Checker to Reward Unwavering Supporters

    The airdrop acknowledges both XION community members and industry participants who have demonstrated exceptional strength in beliefXION, the first walletless L1 blockchain for consumer adoption, today announced the launch of its airdrop checker coined “Believe in Something.” It allows community members who have been participating in the XION ecosystem since launch to verify their eligibility to receive XION tokens, in addition to a wide range of partner communities, ahead of the network’s highly anticipated mainnet launch.In an industry where trends quickly come and go, XION acknowledges the importance of having unwavering belief and commitment. The “Believe in Something” airdrop is a bold statement and clear indication of the project’s appreciation for community members who have stood by its side, contributing to its growth and embracing its vision, as well as outside participants that have embodied this spirit.Up to 5% of the total $XION token supply is allocated to the Believe in Something airdrop. The lion’s share, 69%, is allocated to the XION community, and the remaining 31% is allocated towards a wide variety of community and industry participants that have demonstrated their clear belief in something. This includes the long-time Berachain collection holders, the original SPX6900 and Gigachad holders that haven’t sold since Murad’s endorsement, and a variety of other notable ecosystems, communities, and individuals who have demonstrated strong belief.To check if a user is deemed a true believer, they visit: https://xion.burnt.com/believeThe “Believe in Something” airdrop is one of the many initiatives XION has planned to engage and reward its community. The project emphasizes that belief is a journey, and there are many opportunities ahead for everyone to participate and grow within the XION ecosystem. Users can stay tuned for upcoming events, announcements, and opportunities to be part of the mainnet launch and beyond.About XIONXION is the first walletless L1 blockchain purpose-built for consumer adoption through chain abstraction. Utilizing protocol-level implementations related to abstracted accounts, signatures, fees, interoperability, and more, XION empowers developers to build secure, intuitive, and seamless user experiences. Everyone, regardless of technical knowledge, should be able to have the same access to true ownership. The project has raised over $36M from top-tier investors including Multicoin, Animoca, Circle, Hashkey, Arrington Capital, Spartan, and more.Website | Twitter | Discord | Telegram | YouTubeContactPatrick JordanM [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Michael Saylor Issues Bitcoin “Space Travel” Tweet As BTC Gets Close to $90,000

    “Have Spacesuit, Will Travel,” he wrote, adding an emoji of a rocket ship flying into space to the tweet.Last week, Bitcoin set a new all-time high of $75,000, and today it whooshed to $89,956, which is just inches away from $90,000.MicroStrategy’s recent Bitcoin success has led to a large increase in its share price, as MSTR soared by more than 27% in the past month, greatly outperforming Bitcoin.Bitcoin has been fueled by the recent change in U.S. political leadership and the Federal Reserve’s second interest rate cut this year. While in September, Jerome Powell announced a 50-basis-point reduction, this time, the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points. Still, this rate cut catalyzed Bitcoin’s large and fast price increase, with roughly four new all-time highs reached within a single week.Besides, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief commodity strategist Mike McGlone tweeted on Monday that Bitcoin’s correlation to the S&P 500 index over the past 60 days has surged to 0.6 (unlike that of gold), which suggests that BTC’s current price surge may also be attributed to the rising stock market.This article was originally published on U.Today More

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    in Economy

    Brazil retail sales rise less than expected in September

    Retail sales volumes rose 0.5% in September from August, statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday, below the 1.10% increase forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, but above August’s 0.2% decrease.Sales grew 2.1% from the year-earlier period, compared to expectations for a 3.70% increase in the Reuters poll.The rise in sales volumes in September was driven by the personal use and domestic products segment, which rose 3.5%, IBGE said.”These results indicate that retail sales have resumed their growth trend, after a momentary drop in August,” said PicPay economist Igor Cadilhac, adding that a heated job market and good credit conditions will keep supporting consumption.Brazil’s central bank accelerated its monetary tightening pace at its meeting last week, going for a 50 basis-point hike that pushed rates to 11.25%.Strong economic activity throughout the year, a tight labor market, fiscal concerns and a weakening Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar have been pushing up inflation expectations in Brazil. More

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    in Economy

    Italy racks up delays in spending EU funds, diluting growth impact

    ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s record on spending its bumper share of the EU’s post-COVID funds is patchy at best, data showed, as the minister in charge of the matter faced a European Parliament hearing on Tuesday over his prospective new job at the European Commission.EU Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto is in line to become the EU Commission’s vice-president for Cohesion and Reforms, a position that would give him responsibility of overseeing EU funds spending by member states, including Italy itself.If confirmed, Fitto would leave his as-yet unnamed successor in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government with a tough task.Italy is due to receive 194.4 billion euros ($206.6 billion) in cheap loans and grants from the bloc’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) by 2026, more than any other state in absolute terms.Since the investment programme began in 2021, successive governments in Rome have presented the RRF cash as the key to unlocking the country’s growth potential and modernising its sluggish economy.However, Italy is behind schedule in using the 113.5 billion euros it has already secured, and also expects the funds to provide less of an economic boost than it had hoped.Data from the anti-corruption watchdog ANAC seen by Reuters on Tuesday showed that more than 60% of tenders in 2023 and 2024 were still incomplete.As of Oct. 2, Rome had spent 53.5 billion euros on projects to make Italy’s economy greener, ultra-fast broadband networks and rail infrastructure, the latest available data showed.This spending represents less than 30% of the total resources to which Italy is entitled, and is below previous government goals, already revised downwards several times.Tardy implementation puts Italy at risk of losing money unless it renegotiates commitments agreed with Europe.Delays already come at a cost with the Treasury saying in its multi-year budget plan that the recovery funds were expected to boost GDP growth by just 0.7 percentage points in 2024, one third of the 2.1 points it had originally forecast in April 2022 for the current year.Complicating matters, the Italian economy is seen as losing traction despite the EU funds and a deficit-to-GDP ratio targeted to fall below the EU’s 3% ceiling only in 2027.Most analysts and forecasting bodies see growth below 1% both this year, broadly in line with last year’s 0.7% rate and far below the 4.7% reported in 2022.($1 = 0.9409 euros) More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Bybit Posts Remarkable Volume Surge, Exceeding 639 Billion in Monthly Futures Trading Volume

    Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has cemented its position as a major player in the derivatives market. In a remarkable surge, Bybit’s futures trading volume soared by 61% from September to October. This is one of the highest increases among top centralized exchanges, reaching an impressive 639 billion in monthly trading volume, according to a recent report from Wu Blockchain. This exponential growth is attributed to several key factors:About 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, users can visit Bybit Press For media inquiries, users can contact: [email protected] more information, users can visit: https://www.bybit.comFor updates, users can follow: Bybit’s Communities and Social MediaDiscord | Facebook (NASDAQ:META) | Instagram | LinkedIn | Reddit | Telegram | TikTok | X | YoutubeContactHead of PRTony [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More