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Economist Mohamed El-Erian, Allianz’s chief economic advisor and chair of Gramercy Funds Management, has warned that the Federal Reserve cannot achieve its 2% inflation target without crushing the U.S. economy. “You need a higher stable inflation rate. Call it 3% to 4%,” the economist suggested. The Fed Could Crush US Economy, Economist Warns Economist Mohamed El-Erian warned on Friday that the Federal Reserve cannot achieve its inflation target of 2% without “crushing the economy.” El-Erian is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge University, and chair of Gramercy Funds Management. He is also chief economic adviser at Allianz, the corporate parent of PIMCO, one of the largest investment managers. “You need a higher stable inflation rate. Call it 3% to 4%,” the economist stressed in an interview with Bloomberg Television. He emphasized: I don’t think they can get CPI to 2% without crushing the economy, but that’s because ...

The Bitcoin miner announced the purchase of 20,000 new Antminer S19j Pro+ at a 25% discount, approximately $13.25 per terrahash. Bitcoin miner CleanSpark is growing its mining capacity in the United States, with the purchase of 20,000 new Antminer S19j Pro+ units for $43.6 million. The acquisition is expected to boost the company's computing power by 37%, and brings the total number of miners purchased during the bear market to 46,500 units. According to a statement on Feb. 16, CleanSpark will pay $32.3 million for the machines after applying coupons, at a 25% discount or a total price per terrahash of approximately $13.25. The Pro+ rigs are 22% more productive than its previous models and are planned to be delivered in batches between March and May. The company is leveraging the market's lower rig prices to boost its mining capacity, while the Bitcoin (BTC) price rebounds. According to data from Hashrate Index, the current price per TH of same efficiency Bitcoin mining ASICs...

Meme coins, including Baby Doge Coin and Floki Inu, have been putting on a head-to-head competition in 2023. In 2023, cryptocurrency assets, including meme coins, put on a good show with double-digit gains. However, to everyone’s amazement, Baby Doge Coin and Floki Inu have performed exceptionally well in the past 30 days. At press time, Baby Doge Coin is trading at $0.000000003961, a 2.9% decrease in value over the last 24 hours, while Floki Inu is trading at $0.00006529, a whopping 84.7% increase in value over the same period. Read more: How $5.9 Million Worth of Crypto Was Seized From $600 million Axie Infinity Hack In a deeper comparison over the last 30 days, Floki Inu has emerged as a clear winner in terms of price performance. Source: Bitcoinist Floki Inu surpasses BabyDoge in market cap Baby Doge Coin has displayed a gain of 266.4% in the last 30 days. This is primarily due to the anticipation and launch of its burn portal. Source: Baby Doge Coin : CoinGeck...

The only exception to the law will be where the public key is unavailable to disclose details of the digital asset, digital identities, interest or right. Wyoming lawmakers have passed a bill that will prohibit courts in the state from forcing someone to disclose their digital asset private keys, with one minor exception. The bill was passed through the Wyoming House of Representative in the state’s 67th general session of 2023 on Feb. 15. If the bill is approved by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, the Law will come into effect on Jul. 1, 2023. The new law — W.S. 34-29-107 — titled “Production of private keys; prohibition.” Source: The State of Wyoming Legislature. “No person shall be compelled to produce a private key or make a private key known to any other person in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative or other proceeding[s]” in the state of Wyoming, the incoming law reads. The law includes any private keys associated with digital assets, one’s digital identity or any ot...

Rightfulshare, an income equality advocacy movement, recently said it has launched what it describes as the “first unconditional” crypto universal basic income (UBI) transfer. According to Karen Jooste, the crypto UBI not only expands the possibilities for unemployed South Africans but also nurtures their entrepreneurial spirit. Fairer Income Access Rightfulshare, a movement advocating for equality, recently said it had sent its “first unconditional” crypto UBI transfer to a local entrepreneur residing in South Africa. According to the movement’s Jan. 31 press release, selected beneficiaries will receive the crypto UBI “in Gooddollar to use as they choose.” Also, in the statement, Rightfulshare touted the launch as a pioneering step that channels “both resources and Web3 solutions to a small town in the country.” Commenting on the launch, which has been described as “a pioneering step for fairer income access,” founder of R...

A combination of RSI, Bollinger Bands and MACD indicators can help investors confirm winning trades. Cryptocurrency trading has evolved from the perception of simply being a game of chance to a strategic process. Successful traders rely on a combination of technical analysis, specific indicators and metrics to find trades with a high probability of profit. Before explaining the three technical analysis strategies that can help confirm a winning trade, let’s first define the key terms: Technical analysis — is all about analyzing statistical trends, so as long as an asset has historical data, technical analysis can be applied. Technical analysis involves looking at the past trading activity and price variations of a crypto asset, with the goal of understanding how the supply and demand of a specific asset might influence its future price changes. By using charts to evaluate price trends and patterns, it’s often been possible to find profitable trading opportunities. Indicator — is a too...

One lawyer said that while stablecoins are meant to be stable, buyers may possibly profit from a range of arbitrage, hedging, and staking opportunities. Recently reported planned enforcement action against Paxos by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over Binance USD (BUSD) has many in the community questioning how the regulator could see a stablecoin as a security. Blockchain lawyer s told Cointelegraph said that while the answer isn't black and white, there exists an argument for it if the stable coin was issued out in the expectation of profits or are derivative of securities . A report from the Wall Street Journal on Feb. 12 revealed that the SEC is planning to sue Paxos Trust Company in relation to its issuance of Binance USD, a stablecoin it created in partnership with Binance in 2019. Within the notice, the SEC claims that BUSD is an unregistered security. don't hate me but custodial stablecoins are probably all securities I have said this consist...

During the first week of 2023, payment service giant Paypal said it was exploring the launch of a stablecoin. At the time, an executive at Paypal stated that if the company moved forward, it would work closely with financial regulators. However, on Feb. 10, a source noted that Paypal has put the concept on hold for now amid the regulatory scrutiny of the crypto industry. Paypal Pauses Stablecoin Development as Regulatory Concerns Loom On Jan. 7, 2023, it was reported that Paypal was exploring the creation of a stablecoin.“We are exploring a stablecoin,” a Paypal executive told reporters at the time. “If and when we seek to move forward, we will, of course, work closely with relevant regulators.” The multinational financial technology company, founded in Dec. 1998, is one of the largest online payment systems in the world. However, Paypal appears to have slowed its plans to develop a stablecoin, according to a Bloomberg report citing a person with knowledge of the matter. Paypal was ...

Following the recent court filing from liquidators for Three Arrows Capital (3AC) claiming frustration with the 3AC co-founders for allegedly failing to respond to subpoenas sent via Twitter. Su Zhu, one of the co-founders, recently tweeted about his new crypto venture, Open Exchange. The exchange aims to provide users with the ability to trade or use portfolio margin with claims against bankrupt cryptocurrency firms. 3AC Co-Founders Launch Bankruptcy-Focused Crypto Exchange, Community Reacts Skeptically Su Zhu, co-founder of the defunct crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), stated on Thursday that June-July 2022 was a “total darkness” for him and his partner, Kyle Davies. “It was a dark period, and we were not perfect in how we handled the fallout, but we were determined to do all we could,” Zhu tweeted. He went on to emphasize that “words and liquidations can only go so far,” and the duo wants to build something that “takes all the ...

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently revealed that some 25,188 of its value-preserving gold coins were sold between July 2022 and Jan. 13. According to the central bank governor, John Mangudya, the gold coins “have proved to be an effective open market instrument for mopping up excess liquidity in the economy.” Gold Coins as Alternative Value Preservation Tool According to the Zimbabwean central bank, about 25,188 “Mosi-oa-Tunya” gold coins valued at over $28 million (ZWD$20 billion) were sold between July 2022 — when the coins were initially introduced — and Jan. 13. From this total, acquisitions by the so-called corporates accounted for 84% “while purchases by individuals accounted for 16%.” Initially launched to act as “an alternative retail investment product for value preservation,” for the wealthy, the bank said lower denomination gold coins introduced in Nov. 2022 “accounted for 38% of all sales.” Commenting on the ...

A proposal to integrate NFTs (non-fungible tokens) into the Bitcoin (BTC) network was posted to the Bitcoin dev email list in February 2022. According to the proposal, each Satoshi (a Bitcoin unit) would be given an ordinal number. The ordinal number would then be connected to other information like text, photographs, videos, or games. As a result, digital artifacts, or NFTs, might be produced and kept on the BTC blockchain. A digital asset stored on the BTC network is called an inscription. It differs from conventional tokens as it is kept in the limited-capacity OP_RETURN field of a BTC transaction. This field can store small amounts of data. The use of inscriptions enables the development of one-of-a-kind, non-fungible digital objects. Ordinals debuted in January 2023 and left the Bitcoin community split. Developers, fans, and supporters debated the advantages of placing JPEG on the blockchain. Some believe that Ordinals unlock a world of dangers for the Bitcoin network...

A nine-member jury found Rothschild liable for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and "cybersquatting," awarding Hermès $133,000 in damages. On Feb 8, a jury trial in the Southern District of New York reached a verdict in Hermès' lawsuit against MetaBirkins. The court ruled that artist Mason Rothschild had violated the trademark protections of the brand Hermès. Rothschild's 100 "Metabirkins" NFTs were found to not be artistic commentary and therefore not protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. According to a report by Vogue Business, a nine-member jury found Rothschild liable for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and "cybersquatting," awarding Hermès $133,000 in damages. Notably, the decision marks the first time the relationship between digital art, NFTs, and physical fashion has been addressed in court. Hermès argued that NFTs represent a new product category, while Rothschild argued that there is no such thin...

Ethereum block statistics show that the average number of blocks mined each day showed little to no change while the total block size per month increased by 7%. Stepping into 2023, the cryptocurrency market seemingly shrugged off the year-long bearish sentiment from 2022. As investors took notice, the long-awaited price corrections had a significant reaction, showcased through on-chain activities on the Ethereum blockchain. According to a Data report from Analytex, Ethereum’s average gas price — calculated in terms of the smallest Ether (ETH) denomination, Gwei — increased by 29.27% in January 2023. The report compares gas price s in January and December 2022, noting an increase in user activity as a key indicator for the rise in average gas price from 19.2 Gwei to 24.82 Gwei month on month. Ethereum average gas price per month. Source: app.analytex.today The report also notes that the average number of unique active Ethereum wallets per day decreased by around 10% to 387,475, the...

The Bank of England has officially launched its digital pound CBDC project as a “new form of money,” for households and businesses. An official consultation paper distributed by the Bank of England and HM Treasury outlines the new project and the various facets of the digital pound. The CBDC project from the UK has been in the works for some time, with many anxious about its eventual release. According to the documents, the digital currency would be issued by the nation’s central bank. Households and businesses would access it through digital wallets. JUST IN: 🇬🇧 Bank of England launches digital pound CBDC project. — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) February 7, 2023 Bank of England Outlines CBDC Project The Bank of England has officially launched its new digital pound CBDC project. A development that is set to implement a “new form of digital money for use by households and businesses for their everyday payment needs.” ...

The co-founder of Webaverse said they somehow got their crypto hacked from their Trust Wallet during a meeting with two people claiming to be investors. The co-founder of Web3 metaverse game engine “Webaverse” has revealed they were victims of a $4 million crypto h after meeting with scammers posing as investors in a hotel lobby in Rome.  The bizarre aspect of the story, according to co-founder Ahad Shams, is that the crypto was stolen from a newly set up Trust Wallet and that the hack took place during the meeting at some point. He claims the thieves could not have possibly seen the private key, nor was he connected to a public WiFi network at the time. The thieves were somehow able to gain access while taking a photo of the wallet’s balance, believes Shams. The letter which was shared on Twitter on Feb. 7, contains statements from Webarverse and Shams, explaining that they met with a man named “Mr Safra” on Nov. 26 after several weeks of discussions about potential funding. “We con...

The GameFi industry is on fire, and everyone is looking for their next big win. CoinMarketCap.com has recently opened a new tab named “Play To Earn,” where we can see the latest trends in the gaming world. As GameFi grows we aim to spotlight the best upcoming projects in the space. Have you ever heard of Robot Era? If not, it's time to sit up and take notice of the game making waves recently. Robot Era is a GameFi platform with a difference. One that offers players the opportunity to design and build their own robots. This allows players to use their creativity and imagination to create unique bespoke avatars. These can then participate in a variety of games and challenges. The platform is incredibly user-friendly and accessible - huge barriers to past GameFi projects. Robot Era makes it easy for anyone to get involved and start building as part of the on-boarding process. This enables users to get ready to start exploring the world of Robot Era as soon a...

The Global Financial Crisis was a widespread economic downturn that began in 2008 and resulted from the collapse of the housing market and investment banks. When the financial system or the economy as a whole undergoes a rapid and large decline, it is said to be in a financial crisis. Financial assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate often see a sharp and significant decline in value during financial crises. They can also be identified by a decline in credit availability and a loss of faith in financial institutions like banks. Related: DeFi vs. CeFi: Comparing decentralized to centralized finance Financial crises can be caused by a variety of factors, including: Overleveraging: When people, businesses, and governments take on excessive debt, they put themselves at risk of a financial collapse. Asset price bubbles: When the cost of an asset, such as a home or stock, rises quickly, it can lead to a financial crisis when the price falls sharply. Bank runs: When enough customers attem...