Raphael Stevens

Checkout.com said it will let settle payments in the stablecoin USDC through a partnership with crypto security firm Fireblocks.
The $40 billion start-up is the latest major financial institution jumping into crypto; rival payments group Stripe launched a similar feature earlier this year.
Regulators have gotten worried about stablecoins after the collapse of UST, a token that aimed to maintain a $1 peg using code rather than a reserve of assets.

The logo for payments start-up Checkout.com.
Checkout.com

AMSTERDAM — Online payments company Checkout.com says it will settle payments for its merchants round-the-clock using stablecoins, making it the last major financial services firm taking the plunge into crypto.
The start-up, which competes with the likes of PayPal and Stripe, said Tuesday it is launching a feature that allows businesses to accept and make payments in USD Coin, a popular stablecoin that’s pegged to the U.S. dollar. Checkout.com said it is offering the new payment method through a partnership with Fireblocks, a crypto security firm.

Stablecoins are a key part of the crypto market, helping investors trade in and out of digital currencies rapidly without having to go through banks. With a circulating supply of more than $50 billion, USDC is the world’s second-biggest stablecoin.
The feature will allow merchants to settle payments even on weekends and public holidays, something that’s not currently possible with fiat currencies, according to Jess Houlgrave, Checkout.com’s head of crypto strategy. She used the example of someone buying bitcoin from a crypto exchange. While the user can get their bitcoin straight away, how banks and card schemes like Visa and Mastercard operate means merchants may not receive the funds for several days.
“Between the time that they’ve sent the bitcoin, and the time that they receive those funds, they have a working capital constraint,” Houlgrave told CNBC on the sidelines of the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam.
Checkout.com said it has tested the feature privately with select clients, facilitating $300 million in transaction volumes in the past few months. It now plans to roll the product out globally, with Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX among the first to use it.
Last valued at $40 billion, Checkout.com is the latest major financial institution betting big on crypto. Stripe recently launched its own stablecoin payments feature, allowing Twitter creators to get paid in USDC.

Such developments come at a time when cryptocurrencies have tumbled sharply from the peak of a seismic rally last year. Bitcoin has more than halved in value since an all-time high of nearly $70,000 in November.
Unlike bitcoin, stablecoins aren’t meant to fluctuate that much in price. They’re designed to be tied to the value of traditional assets like the dollar. But recent events have put stablecoins’ main selling point to the test.
Last month, a so-called stablecoin called terraUSD imploded after falling below its intended dollar peg, shaking investors’ confidence in cryptocurrencies. TerraUSD, or UST, used code to maintain a price of $1. That’s different to more mainstream stablecoins like tether and USDC, which are backed by cash and other assets.
Tether, meanwhile, also briefly slipped below a dollar on numerous exchanges as crypto investors fled the token due to panic over the UST debacle. Tether, which has long faced questions over its stablecoin’s backing, said it processed more than $10 billion in redemption requests in May.
Regulators are getting worried about the phenomenon. Last week, the U.K. government announced new proposals that would give the Bank of England the power to intervene and manage the collapse of certain stablecoins if they pose a risk to financial stability. Stateside, Treasury Janet Yellen also wants the U.S. lawmakers to approve stablecoin regulation by the end of the year.

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Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:
Target (TGT) – Target announced a series of moves to “right-size” its inventory levels, including additional markdowns and canceling orders. It cut its operating margin guidance for the current quarter to 2% from the prior 5.3% but said the margin would recover to about 6% in the back half of the year. Target slumped 7.9% in the premarket.

J.M. Smucker (SJM) – The food producer’s shares slid 3.5% in premarket trading despite better-than-expected quarterly results. Smucker said inflation, supply chain issues and other factors continue to impact results and increase uncertainty. It also said full-year profit would be negatively impacted by a recall of its Jif peanut butter product.
Kohl’s (KSS) – Kohl’s surged 11.2% in premarket trading after saying it was in advanced takeover talks with retail holding company Franchise Group (FRG), the parent of Vitamin Shoppe and other retail brands. The deal could value Kohl’s at about $8 billion. Franchise Group added 2.7%.
United Natural Foods (UNFI) – The food distributor’s shares jumped 5.8% in the premarket after it reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue. United Natural sales were boosted by increased business from new and existing customers as well as inflation, and it raised its full-year forecast.
G-III Apparel (GIII) – The apparel and accessories company earned 72 cents per share for its latest quarter, 14 cents a share above estimates. Revenue came in well above Street forecasts. G-III also issued an upbeat outlook and its shares rose 2.3% in premarket action.
BuzzFeed (BZFD) – BuzzFeed rebounded 4.9% in the premarket, not nearly enough to make up for Monday’s 41% slide. The plunge in the digital media company’s stock came following the expiration of BuzzFeed’s post-IPO lockup period.

GitLab (GTLB) – Gitlab rallied 9.3% in premarket action after the software platform developer reported better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its earnings outlook.
Peloton (PTON) – Peloton announced the departure of Chief Financial Officer Jill Woodworth after four years with the fitness equipment maker. She’ll be replaced by former Amazon and Netflix executive Liz Coddington, effective June 13. Peloton added 1.6% in the premarket.
Novavax (NVAX) – A Food and Drug Administration panel will convene today to consider the drugmaker’s approval application for its Covid-19 vaccine. Novavax shares rose 3.8% in premarket action.
Affirm Holdings (AFRM) – The fintech company’s stock fell 2.8% in the premarket following yesterday’s 5.5% drop. The decline came in the wake of Apple’s (AAPL) announcement that it would add “buy-now-pay-later” options to its Apple Pay service. Block (SQ), the payments company formerly known as Square, lost 3%.

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Jane Street Global Trading filed a judicial review claim in the English High Court on Monday, a memo from LME-owner Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) confirmed.
The filing from the U.S. market maker comes just days after hedge fund Elliott Associates filed a suit for $456 million relating to the same chaotic morning in March.
The LME suspended trading activity and cancelled nickel trades on March 8 due to a spike in volatility, which saw nickel prices double to a record $100,000 per ton in the space of a few hours.

Traders operate in the Ring, the open trading floor of the new London Metal Exchange (LME) in central London.
Matt Clinch | CNBC

LONDON — A second U.S. firm has sued the London Metal Exchange for $15.3 million over canceled nickel trades in March.
Jane Street Global Trading filed a judicial review claim in the English High Court on Monday, a memo from LME-owner Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) confirmed.

The filing from the U.S. market maker comes just days after hedge fund Elliott Associates filed a suit for $456 million relating to the same chaotic morning in March.
The LME suspended trading activity and cancelled nickel trades on March 8 due to a spike in volatility, which saw nickel prices double to a record $100,000 per ton in the space of a few hours.
‘Exceeded its powers’
A spokesperson for Elliott confirmed that it has initiated judicial review proceedings against the LME.
“Elliott considers that when the LME cancelled Nickel trades on 8th March 2022 it acted unlawfully in that it exceeded its powers when it cancelled those trades, or that it exercised the powers that it did have unreasonably and irrationally in particular by taking into account irrelevant factors (including its own financial position) and failing to take into account relevant factors,” the spokesperson added.
In a statement Tuesday, Jane Street said it had taken action to recoup its losses caused by the LME’s “illegal actions” and to “strengthen the exchange and restore the market’s trust in it.”

“The LME’s arbitrary decision to cancel nickel trades during a period of heightened volatility severely undermines the integrity of the markets and sets a dangerous precedent that calls future contracts into question.”

The wild trade in the nickel market in early March came around two weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted supply fears that sent commodity prices spiralling upward across the board.
Extreme price moves in Asian trading hours overnight sent the market into a frenzy as dawn broke in London. Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of nickel — a key ingredient in stainless steel and a major component in lithium-ion batteries.
However, in the weeks following the attack, banks began cutting their exposure to Russian commodities, and shipping giants swerved the country’s key ports.
Shortly after nickel prices soared past $100,000 per ton Saxo Bank Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen told CNBC that it was a “very dangerous market” that was “not driven by supply and demand” but rather by “fear.”
‘Without merit’
A spokesperson for the LME said in a statement on Tuesday that the exchange took the view that the nickel market in the early hours of March 8 had “become disorderly,” and therefore took the decision to suspend trading in nickel contracts from 8:15 a.m. U.K. time, and to cancel trades executed after 00:00 U.K. time.
The LME said the aim was to “take the market back to the last point in time at which the LME could be confident that the market was operating in an orderly way.”
“At all times the LME, and LME Clear, sought to act in the interests of the market as a whole. The LME therefore considers that Elliott’s and Jane Street’s grounds for complaint are without merit, and the LME will defend any judicial review proceedings vigorously,” the spokesperson added.

Sarah Taylor, partner in the global commodities group at international law firm Holman Fenwick Willan, told CNBC on Tuesday that the LME has a responsibility to maintain an orderly market, so it would be “challenging to argue that its decision to suspend trading was inappropriate” given the unprecedented turbulence in nickel prices at the time.
“But the position with cancelling trades may not be as straightforward, and where a party has a very significant loss, it is natural that they will look at their legal options,” Taylor added.
“The Court may need to consider not only the rationale for the LME’s decision to cancel trades, but also the consequences.”

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OnlyFans executives say the platform is not experiencing a slowdown in subscriber numbers despite climbing prices.
In April, Netflix reported its first quarterly drop in paid users in more than a decade.
Last year, OnlyFans faced intense backlash from its users over a decision to ban pornography — a plan the firm subsequently decided to drop.

In this photo illustration, the OnlyFans logo is displayed on a smartphone.
Sheldon Cooper | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images

AMSTERDAM — OnlyFans is not experiencing a slowdown in subscribers like Netflix even as people grapple with rising prices, executives at the company said Tuesday.
“We’re not experiencing that slowdown,” Keily Blair, OnlyFans’ chief strategy and operations officer, told reporters at the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam.

In April, Netflix said subscriber numbers dropped by 200,000 in the first quarter, marking the first time the streaming platform has reported a decline in paid users in more than a decade.
Netflix is facing a slew of challenges — not least the reopening of economies after two years of Covid lockdowns. Inflation also poses a key risk to the business, as people are having to balance their budgets to deal with rising costs.
OnlyFans has a “completely different business model” to Netflix, said Lee Taylor, the firm’s chief financial officer. Netflix is “competing in a very saturated market,” he added, including large tech firms like Amazon and traditional media players like Disney, which has its own streaming service, Disney Plus.
Whereas Netflix and other tech firms have laid off staff in recent weeks, OnlyFans is continuing to grow, Taylor said, with its team increasing 2% to 3% each month. OnlyFans has over 1,000 employees globally.
“We are aware of the cost of living crisis,” OnlyFans’ finance chief said. “We are building a team in the U.K. to help our creators maximize their earnings.”

OnlyFans isn’t exactly a name you’d associated with fintech — the company made a name for itself offering amateur adult content creators a way to make money through subscriptions.
Blair said OnlyFans was attending Money 20/20 to address “misconception” about its brand and “take control of our own narrative.” OnlyFans has built up a sizable payments business, according to Taylor, and recently processed $18 million in payouts to creators in a single day.
Last year, OnlyFans faced intense backlash from its users over a decision to ban pornography — a plan the firm subsequently decided to drop. Months later, OnlyFans co-founder Tim Stokely resigned.
“We kind of broke the internet when we said we were going to change our acceptable use policy,” Blair said.
Taylor admitted he underestimated the “strength” of OnlyFans’ creator community.
“It was obviously a challenging time,” he said. “The thing I’m proud of the most is how quickly we were able to reverse it.”
The platform has sought to branch out into other areas of content beyond porn, an industry that has had an awkward relationship with the mainstream financial world. In 2020, Mastercard and Visa said they would cut ties with Pornhub, the biggest porn site, over allegations that it hosted child sexual abuse material.

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