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According to the crypto firm Circle Internet Financial, the company is “deepening” its partnership with the world’s largest asset manager Blackrock. Circle disclosed that it has started to transfer USDC reserves into a Blackrock-managed fund that’s registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Circle Deepens Relationship With the World’s Largest Asset Manager Blackrock In mid-April 2022, Circle detailed that the company entered an investment agreement with Blackrock Inc., Fin Capital, Fidelity Management and Research, and Marshall Wace LLP. The investment was a $400 million funding round and during the announcement, Blackrock explained how Circle and the New York-based multi-national investment company would expand the two companies’ existing relationship. It was also revealed that Blackrock would be used by Circle for “managing significant assets for the reserves that back USDC.” Six months later, Circle disclosed on Nov. 3, 2022, that the company would be deepening its relationship with Blackrock, and Circle has started to move USDC reserves into a Blackrock-managed fund. “Through our partnership with Blackrock, we have begun investing in the Circle Reserve Fund to manage a portion of the USDC reserves,” Circle’s chief financial officer (CFO) Jeremy Fox-Green explained. The Circle CFO added: We expect the reserve composition will continue to be approximately 20% cash and 80% short-duration U.S. Treasuries. The investment objective of the Circle Reserve Fund (USDXX) is to “seek current income as is consistent with liquidity and stability of principal.” Circle is the only investor and the fund invests in “at least 99.5% of its total assets in cash, U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and other obligations.” According to Circle’s announcement, the company hopes to be fully transitioned by the end of March 2023. Number of USDC Stablecoins in Circulation Slides Significantly, Circle’s EURC Token to Be Supported by Solana Next Year Circle says the fund is held by Bank of New York Mellon as the financial institution has already been a custodian for USDC’s reserves that are comprised of U.S. Treasuries. Circle’s announcement on Nov. 3 follows the number of USDC in circulation decreasing rapidly during the last few months. Additionally, in mid-June, Circle announced the launch of a euro-backed stablecoin called euro coin (EURC). Marcus Boorstin, Circle’s director of engineering, announced this week at a Solana-centric conference that EURC would be minted on Solana next year. What do you think about Circle’s blog post about deepening its relationship with the world’s largest asset manager Blackrock? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On Nov. 2, 2022, the digital asset custody business and financial services provider Bitgo introduced a wrapped version of the meme coin asset dogecoin built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. The company detailed the wrapped dogecoin initiative, the Wdoge DAO, is through a partnership between the Dogecoin Foundation, Bluepepper, and Mydoge wallet. Bitgo Introduces Wrapped Dogecoin Initiative Almost four years ago in January 2019, Bitgo launched the popular ERC20 token wrapped bitcoin (WBTC). WBTC is essentially a wrapped version of bitcoin built with the ERC20 standard on top of Ethereum and every WBTC is backed by bitcoin (BTC), at a 1:1 ratio. Today, statistics show there are 245,379 WBTC in circulation, worth roughly $5.2 billion using today’s exchange rates. On Wednesday, Bitgo revealed the company has built a similar initiative for the popular meme coin asset dogecoin (DOGE). Wrapped dogecoin (WDOGE) tokens are also backed by a 1:1 ratio with dogecoin (DOGE). The WDOGE token has its own website that explains the project’s benefits, including utilizing WDOGE with decentralized finance (defi). The website says “lend WDOGEs on defi protocols using your WDOGEs as collateral” and “get a loan in defi protocols using your WDOGEs as collateral.” The website’s frequently asked questions (FAQ) section explains that the developers will “soon publish a dashboard similar to WBTC’s dashbard” for proof of assets. Bitgo’s blog post says the company will also offer two types of custody services and provide hot wallets for WDOGE as well. The WDOGE announcement follows dogecoin’s recent market tear after Elon Musk officially acquired the social media platform Twitter. Dogecoin has managed to capture the eighth-largest position in terms of market capitalization size. Bitgo currently has a registration form for getting started with the wrapped dogecoin (WDOGE) project. What do you think about Bitgo introducing a wrapped dogecoin token? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

In this week’s hottest stories from Bitcoin.com News, veteran trader Peter Brandt says the bear market that began for dogecoin back in May is over, Bitcoin.com-backed boxer Gilberto ‘Zurdo de Oro’ (Golden Southpaw) Ramírez steps up for a shot at the World Boxing Association light heavyweight title, the United States Federal Reserve’s key inflation gauge increases in September, and Robert Kiyosaki warns of real estate markets crashing and advises buying bitcoin before the ‘Fed pivot.’ All this and more, just below. Veteran Trader Peter Brandt Says Dogecoin Bear Market Has Ended Veteran trader Peter Brandt says the dogecoin bear market that began in May last year has ended. His comment came after the price of dogecoin soared following Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform Twitter. Read More Fed’s Key Inflation Gauge Jumps 0.5% in September, America’s Rising Costs to ‘Punish’ Democrats The U.S. central bank’s key inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, increased by 0.5% in September, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Oct. 28. Meanwhile, markets expect with near-certainty that the Federal Reserve will codify its fourth consecutive rate hike by 75 basis points (bps) next month. While investors await the next bank rate increase, midterm elections start on Nov. 8 and reports say inflation is weighing heavily on the minds of most Americans. Read More Undefeated (44-0) Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramírez Challenges for WBA Light Heavyweight World Title vs․ Dmitry Bivol With Bitcoin․com Backing Gilberto ‘Zurdo de Oro’ (Golden Southpaw) Ramírez, with Bitcoin.com in his corner, has a shot at the World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight title as he faces Dmitry Bivol, also undefeated. In what is being hailed as the biggest fight of the year, Ramirez vs Bivol is the main event of a DAZN card that will be aired live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on November 5. Read More Robert Kiyosaki Warns Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate Will Crash as Fed Continues Rate Hikes — Advises Buy Bitcoin Before Fed Pivot The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has warned that stock, bond, and real estate markets will crash as the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates. Noting that the Fed will pivot, he advises investors to buy bitcoin. Read More What are your thoughts on this week’s stories? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Members of the expanding blockchain sector of Vietnam have called on government and educational institutions to turn more attention to the deficit of talent. With the shortage of qualified personnel being a global challenge, they say the country needs to address the lack of training. Industry Players Highlight Growing Need for Blockchain Experts in Vietnam Vietnam is not the only nation in search of blockchain developers with the deficit seen as a common problem for countries like the United States, China and India, too. When it comes to the new technology, Vietnam is for the first time in the same situation as these tech hubs and it’s just as understaffed, business executives told local media. The scarcity of expertise is inevitable in both Vietnam and internationally, said Pham Van Huy, CEO of Moonlab, a company working on blockchain and metaverse projects. Quoted by the English-language daily Vietnam News, he elaborated: It is extremely difficult to recruit human resources specializing in this field as blockchain is still quite new and there are no training programs at universities, colleges, or even information technology centers in the country. Huy also remarked that if Vietnam wants to become a hub for blockchain talent, in terms of quantity and quality, it’s necessary to focus on training on all levels and start a dialogue about the technology between government officials, business owners and managers, as well as employees and students. Huy also insisted that the country should try to bring back Vietnamese experts who were trained or are working abroad with job opportunities and attractive remuneration. The executive emphasized on the importance of international cooperation programs as well. The CEO of Moonlab believes that successful blockchain businesses need to organize courses for undergraduate IT students and internships to enhance their skills and knowledge about blockchain while offering attractive salaries for those who join their companies. “Vietnam should soon establish training centers and courses in universities and colleges for this tech industry,” said Phan Duc Trung, vice chairman of the Vietnam Blockchain Association. He added that the organization is currently working to prepare qualified experts that can contribute to blockchain research, testing and deployment. “It is the first time that Vietnam is in the same starting position with the whole world with a new technology,” commented Huy Nguyen, co-founder of Kardiachain. He is convinced that if the country can tackle the problem at the root it will be able to meet the needs of the market in the next five to 10 years and help wide implementation. Do you expect Vietnam to invest more efforts into blockchain training and education? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Non-fungible token (NFT) sales increased a great deal during the last seven days as NFT sales jumped 56.73% higher than sales recorded the week prior. Over the last seven days, out of 889,499 NFT transactions, NFT sales volume reached a total of $170.48 million this past week. Art Gobblers and Keepers Collections Give NFT Sales a Push NFT sales have risen during the last seven days as sales volume increased by more than 56% tapping $170.48 million this week. Sales stemmed from 18 different blockchain projects and Ethereum (ETH) captured $139.31 million of the aggregate. ETH-based NFT sales have increased by 95% week-over-week. While ETH-based NFT sales jumped by 95%, the second largest amount of sales stemmed from Panini-based NFT sales which increased by 74.27%. Ethereum and Panini were followed by Immutable X and Solana, respectively, in terms of week-over-week percentage increases. Polygon-based NFT sales dropped by 80.66%, however, and Cardano-based NFT sales slipped by 44.11%. The top NFT collection this week, in terms of seven-day sales, was Art Gobblers as the collection accrued $51.78 million in total sales. Art Gobblers was followed by Bored Ape Yacht Club’s (BAYC) $9.45 million and the Keepers collection’s $8.57 million. While Art Gobblers was a stand-out collection this week in terms of sales, the collection Art Blocks jumped by more than 73% this week. The most expensive NFT was sold four days ago as BAYC #5,979 sold for $339.75K. BAYC #2,764 came in second as it sold for $297.75K six days ago. Cryptopunk #6,869 sold less than 22 hours ago for $179K and BAYC #9,270 sold for $149.47K. Lastly, the fifth most expensive NFT sold this week, according to cryptoslam.io statistics, was BAYC #2,957 when it sold for $145.74K five days ago. What do you think about weekly NFT sales jumping more than 56% higher this week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Dogecoin, the king of meme coins, has been one of the best performing crypto assets during the last 30 days and ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter. Statistics show that dogecoin has risen 116.3% against the U.S. dollar during the last two weeks, and the token has situated itself in the eighth largest crypto market position today. Who Let the Dogs Out? Dogecoin Stomps the Competition by Gathering Triple-Digit Gains in 2 Weeks Dogecoin (DOGE) has seen an incredible jump in recent times and it all started when Elon Musk officially took the reins of Twitter. Two-week metrics against the U.S. dollar show DOGE has jumped a whopping 116.3%, surpassing the gains recorded by crypto asset leaders like BTC and ETH. 30-day statistics indicate DOGE is up 98.8% and over the last week, dogecoin gained 52.8% in value. Although, despite the mega gains during the last month, DOGE is still down 51.3% year-to-date and 82.5% lower than the $0.73 all-time high. During the past 24 hours, DOGE has had a price range between $0.122 and $0.134. Doge is now the eighth largest coin in terms of market capitalization and the coin has seen $3.10 billion in 24-hour global trade volume. The DOGE market cap today is $17.5 billion according to today’s metrics and there’s a circulating supply of more than one hundred thirty-six billion DOGE. The top meme coin has also fueled the entire meme coin economy as it is now valued at $25 billion, or 5.9% higher in USD value during the last 24 hours. The second largest meme coin has not seen gains like DOGE has during the last week. Shiba inu (SHIB), however, did rise 8% higher this past week. Other meme coin assets like dogelon mars (ELON) and floki (FLOKI) increased in value by 31% to 52% over the last week. Today, DOGE equates to 70% of the entire $25 billion meme coin economy, while it also represents 1.587% of the entire crypto economy valued at $1.1 trillion. Tether (USDT) is dogecoin’s top pair as it equates to 52.88% of all DOGE trades today, while BUSD follows behind with 18.76% of all DOGE trades during the past 24 hours. BUSD is followed by USD (16.76%), BTC (2.70%), KRW (2.68%), and TRY (2.03%) respectively, according to metrics compiled by cryptocompare.com. What do you think about dogecoin’s market performance since Elon Musk took over Twitter? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On Friday, as the global cryptocurrency market cap jumped 5.4% higher against the greenback, U.S. stocks rallied toward the end of the day with the top four major stock indexes gathering gains. Precious metals also soared as the New York spot price of gold per troy ounce increased by 3.20%, and silver’s price value skyrocketed by 7.14% against the U.S. dollar. Four days ago, a blog post published on Peter Schiff’s website schiffgold.com stressed that silver typically outperforms gold and if people are bullish on gold, they “should be even more bullish on silver.” Silver Jumps 7% Higher, Schiff Gold Report Says People Should Be ‘Even More Bullish on Silver,’ Investors Talk Silver Squeeze Silver has been performing better than it did at the end of the summer, back when the price per troy ounce of fine silver reached $17.97 per unit on Aug. 31, 2022. At more than $20 per ounce of silver today, the precious metal has increased more than 15% against the U.S. dollar since Aug. 31. However, silver’s spot market price per ounce is over 21% lower than it was during 2022’s silver price high at $26.37 per ounce. After the New York spot price of silver jumped 7.14% on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, the hashtagged term “#silversqueeze” started to trend on Twitter around 6 p.m. (ET). One Twitter account said the silver rally on Friday was crafted by “the banksters” and further insisted an ostensible silver price suppression would end soon. “Today’s gold and silver rally was brought to you by banksters,” the Twitter account said. “How did I know that? Because of the near exact pattern of gold and silver (indicates algos play). This means banksters deliberately want the price to spike. The suppression most likely ends today.” Another user said that the silver market could get lit at any moment and stressed: “most people have no idea what is about to happen.” Peter Schiff’s website schiffgold.com says people should be bullish on silver and the blog post discusses how Doug Casey discussed silver with International Man. The blog post explains that gold bulls should be “even more bullish on silver.” “Silver typically outperforms gold in a gold bull market,” the editorial highlights. “And the silver-gold ratio indicates that silver is significantly underpriced when compared to gold. Historically, when the spread gets this wide, silver doesn’t just outperform gold, it goes on a massive run in a short period of time.” Fed Rate Hikes Put Pressure on Precious Metals, US Mint Says Its ‘Silver Suppliers Are Increasing Capacity’ Not everyone is bullish on silver and the most recent U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike has added pressure to U.S. equity markets, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals like gold and silver. At the end of August, the German-based firm Heraeus wrote that “rate hikes and dollar strength” have suppressed the price of silver and gold in the company’s precious metals appraisal. A few days later after the appraisal published, however, Heraeus said silver demand could jump thanks to an increase in polysilicon production. Moreover, in more recent times, there’s been a lot of talk about a silver shortage stemming from increased demand. After publishing a historical tweet from the U.S. Mint’s official Twitter account, the U.S. Mint replied to an individual who asked why the coin issuer wasn’t able to keep up with demand. “Worldwide, silver fabricators are struggling to keep up with demand for silver blanks,” the U.S. Mint wrote on Oct. 31, 2022. “The Mint’s silver suppliers are increasing capacity in an effort to meet demand. The Mint is also reaching out to additional fabricators to supply silver.” Additionally, people have noticed that while the spot price of one ounce of silver is $20.85 per unit, buying a physical round is more expensive. A one-ounce American eagle silver coin will cost almost double the spot market price at $39 or more per unit. A 90% silver Morgan silver dollar will cost $36.99, which is 77% higher in price than today’s silver spot market values. What do you think about silver’s recent market performance and the future value of the precious metal? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Bank of Ghana recently warned businesses quoting U.S. dollar prices that the practice is still prohibited and that the cedi remains Ghana’s sole legal tender. The bank said it is working with law enforcement to “clamp down on illegal foreign exchange operations.” In addition to naming and shaming businesses violating the law, a Ghanaian actress urged the central bank to stop Ghanaians from operating USD accounts. Cedi Ghana’s Sole Legal Tender As shortages of foreign exchange and currency depreciation continue to weigh on the Ghanaian economy, the country’s central bank has again warned businesses displaying prices in U.S. dollars that the cedi is the sole legal tender. Responding to Ghanaian actress Lydia Forson’s Nov. 2 tweet which questioned the practice of quoting prices in U.S. dollars for local real estate transactions, the Bank of Ghana (BOG) insisted that the practice is still outlawed. Dear @thebankofghana we need to know the dollar is the official currency for transactions, if not why are so many properties quoted in dollars? I will tweet about this until you respond; if you don’t I ( and everyone else) will assume your laws are only on paper! — miss forson (@lydiaforson) November 2, 2022 Also, in its reply to the actress’ tweet, the BOG said it has since enlisted the services of law enforcement agencies in its bid to end the practice. “BOG is collaborating with law enforcement agencies to clamp down on illegal foreign exchange operations. We encourage you to report any violations to complaints.office@bog.gov.gh,” the central bank said. As explained in the BOG’s April 22 public notice, Ghanaian businesses are prohibited from pricing, advertising, or paying for goods and services using foreign currency. The notice warned persons found violating the law they risked being imprisoned for up to 18 months. Bank of Ghana’s Seriousness Questioned Meanwhile, some Twitter users that replied to the BOG’s tweet seemed to query the central bank’s claim it wants to stop the practice. For instance, one user named Amin asked: “Are you saying no agents of BOG have seen those billboards in town advertising properties in foreign-denominated currencies?” @lydiaforson please look at this. Yet their not enforcing what is written in here. Just paper talk. pic.twitter.com/shZSuTpG0z — Mishael (@MGyemawu) November 2, 2022 Others suggested that the cedi’s depreciation is the primary reason why some businesses are quoting prices in U.S. dollars, and naming and shaming institutions that are violating the law. One user added that the BOG should “stop people from operating USD accounts especially those who have nothing to do with international trade or schooling abroad.” Another user, The Ivan, claimed that Ghana’s import duty is indexed to the greenback which may suggest that the laws against quoting prices in U.S. dollars “are just for show.” Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox: What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Software giant Microsoft has made a $14.8 million investment in Wemade, a Korea-based blockchain gaming services company that has recently launched its own stablecoin, named Wemix. The company was part of a $46 million investment round, that also saw the participation of two more companies: Shinhan Asset Management and Kiwoom Securities. Microsoft Backs Korea-Based Gaming Company Wemade Microsoft has participated in a $46 million investment round to back Korea-based blockchain gaming operator Wemade. The round, which involved Wemade selling convertible bonds, saw Microsoft purchase $14.8 million in these bonds. Two other companies also participated — Shinhan Asset Management and Kiwoom Securities — with bond purchases of $21.2 million and $10.5 million respectively, according to regulatory filings. Founded in 2000 and having operated more than 20 blockchain games, Wemade sees this development as a big success, more so in the troubling economic times that the cryptocurrency industry is going through. In a press release, Wemade CEO Henry Chang stated: This is a meaningful investment by reputable financial and strategic investors with proven track records. Wemade and Wemix will continue to exert efforts to attract more capital and actively invest to build the global digital economy platform. Stablecoins in Addition to Gaming Though Wemade’s primary focus is on its gaming operations, the company is also establishing a token economy via its gaming properties. On October 22, Chang launched the company’s own stablecoin, called Wemix, aiming for it to be established as an important part of the gaming ecosystem in the region. The stablecoin, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, is backed entirely in USDC and operates through a balancing protocol called Dios, which is designed to allow the price to be maintained even as the asset faces periods of peak demand. On this experimental launch, Chang stated: If Wemix operates successfully as planned, it will not only contribute to the growth of the mainnet ecosystem of Wemix but also become a key currency for blockchain transactions. While Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has been critical of what emergent tech like play-to-earn models, NFTs, and the metaverse bring to the traditional gaming table, this has not affected moves regarding other companies in the sector. On Aug. 5, Star Heroes, a blockchain-based game still in development, received a Microsoft grant to access tools available for other AAA game developers. What do you think about Microsoft’s investment in Korea-based Wemade? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Nigerian currency appeared to accelerate its decline versus the U.S. dollar after it slipped to a new low of 900 naira for every dollar. The currency has continued to depreciate even after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s raid on suspected illegal foreign exchange dealers. Continuing U.S. Dollar Shortages Following the Oct. 27 announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that intends to put into circulation newly designed naira banknotes, the local currency’s parallel market exchange rate versus the dollar has slipped by almost 20%. From an exchange rate of around N760:$1 at the time of the announcement, the naira had, by Nov. 2, dropped to a new all-time low of 900:1. As noted by several local media reports, the CBN’s decision to release the new banknotes as well as to demonetize the current 100, 200, 500, and 1,000-naira banknotes after Jan. 31, 2023, has sparked a rush to buy the greenback. According to one report, the shortage of the U.S. dollar on both the official market as well the parallel market has increased pressure on the naira. Despite receiving the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari, the CBN’s currency redesign plans have seemingly failed to halt the naira’s slide. One Nigerian economic expert, Andrews Elueni, the managing director at Flawless Capital Limited, was recently quoted suggesting that the naira’s exchange will slip past the N1,000:$1 mark before the end of 2022. “It will get to N1,000 before the end of the year, the reason being that there is a lot of fraud and corruption in the system,” Elueni reportedly said. Official and Parallel Market Gap Widens to 450 Despite the naira’s accelerated slide versus the dollar on the parallel market, Nigerian monetary authorities continue to keep the naira pegged at just under 450 per dollar. Meanwhile, following the CBN announcement, Nigeria’s anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) warned the public it would pounce on suspected illegal currency dealers. Since then, local media reports suggest the EFCC has raided bureaux de change operators who stand accused of fueling illegal foreign exchange activities. According to one report, when the EFCC pounced, the naira’s parallel market exchange rate stood at 840:1. However, more than 24 hours later, the gap between the currency’s parallel and official market exchange rates had widened to a new high of N450. Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox: What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Foundry Digital, a digital asset mining and a staking-focused subsidiary of Digital Asset Group, has announced the launch of a new bitcoin mining hardware training program. The training course, which is expected to commence on Nov. 7, is expected to help professionals and enthusiasts learn how to set up a miner as well as to identify and solve common hardware failures. ‘In-Person Classes’ to Be Conducted by Industry Players Foundry Digital, a subsidiary of Digital Asset Group (DCG), has announced the launch of a new training course for individuals seeking to further “their education in the areas of installation, maintenance and troubleshooting of bitcoin mining machines.” The three-day training program seeks to produce top technicians for what has been described as “the fast-growing mining industry.” According to Foundry Digital’s Nov. 3, 2022 press statement, the training program, which includes “in-person classes” conducted by players in the industry, will cover topics such as setting up an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining machine. The program, which commences on Nov. 7, will also involve helping the learners identify and solve regular hardware failures. Helping Learners Gain ‘Valuable Technical Skills’ Remarking on the training program’s launch, Craig Ross, the executive director of Foundry Academy, praised the training course which he described as an “opportunity to gain valuable technical skills” quickly. He said: Foundry Academy’s curriculum remains on the leading edge of industry standards, with this new program designed in response to direct requests from the mining community. The 3-Day Mining Intensive provides enthusiasts and industry professionals the opportunity to gain valuable technical skills on an accelerated timeline. As per the statement, Foundry Academy, which is expected to spearhead the training activities, will do so on behalf of Foundry Digital, which also owns the largest bitcoin mining pool, Foundry USA. What are your thoughts concerning this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency recently said it has launched a blockchain training program and over 30,000 people are set to participate. The objective of the training course is to make the participants “early solution providers in the fourth industrial revolution.” Hastening Adoption of Blockchain The Nigerian government has said it plans to educate over 30,000 people about blockchain technology. The training, which will be conducted by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), is intended to hasten the adoption of the tech and make Nigeria a leading player in the blockchain industry. According to a report by Radio Nigeria, the announcement was made by the director-general of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, who encouraged Nigerians to take advantage of the scholarships which have been made available for this purpose. Inuwa also suggested the purpose of the government’s push to train many Nigerians is to ensure they become “early solution providers in the fourth industrial revolution.” As stated in the report, NITDA’s training program is set to be delivered to learners from across Nigeria’s 36 states. According to the report, learners that complete the training will get an opportunity to be part of a London incubation program. Others will reportedly get exposed to the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) ecosystem. Meanwhile, Mohammed Jega, the co-founder of NITDA’s blockchain partner for the training program, reportedly reiterated his entity’s commitment to producing “quality education and equipping participants with the skills to build real-life blockchain solutions.” What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Payments giant Mastercard has added seven startups to its Start Path program to make cryptocurrencies more accessible. “We’re welcoming a new cohort of startups to ease access to digital assets, build communities for creators and empower people to innovate for the future through Web3 technologies,” said Mastercard. Mastercard: ‘Anyone Who Uses Crypto Should Be Able to Do so Simply and Safely’ Payments giant Mastercard announced Thursday that seven startups from around the world have joined its Start Path program. The announcement details: Through the Mastercard Start Path global startup engagement program, we work with digital asset, blockchain and cryptocurrency-based companies that share a vision to make blockchain technology and digital assets more accessible. “We’re welcoming a new cohort of startups to ease access to digital assets, build communities for creators and empower people to innovate for the future through Web3 technologies,” the payments company added. The startups are Singapore-based Digital Treasures Center, Abu Dhabi-based Fasset, U.S.-based Loot Bolt, U.S.-based Quadrata, Colombia-based Stable, Dubai-based TBTM (Take Back the Mic) Studios, and U.S.-based Uptop. They will join more than 350 companies from 40 countries that have participated in Mastercard’s Start Path program since 2014. “NFTs [non-fungible tokens], blockchain gaming, and metaverse experiences could transform how consumers shop and communicate,” Mastercard described. “However, we need to collaborate and bring together tech, banking, fintech, and crypto to unlock this potential.” The company elaborated: There is no single vision for the crypto economy other than anyone who uses crypto should be able to do so simply and safely. For Mastercard, it’s about offering choice in how people pay, spend and buy crypto. Mastercard is focusing on five key areas to turn crypto into an everyday way to pay. Last month, the company introduced a new program called Crypto Source to enable financial institutions to offer cryptocurrency trading and related services to their customers. What do you think about Mastercard working with startups to make crypto more accessible? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest brokerage firms with $9.9 trillion in assets under administration, is launching Fidelity Crypto, a service that allows retail investors to trade bitcoin and ether commission-free. “A meaningful portion of Fidelity customers are already interested in and own crypto,” the firm said. Fidelity Investments to Begin Offering Crypto Trading to Retail Investors Fidelity Investments, one of the largest brokerages in the world, is launching a commission-free crypto trading service for retail investors. The firm serves about 40 million individual investors and had about $9.9 trillion in assets under administration as of June 30. The financial giant’s website explains: Fidelity Crypto is your opportunity to buy and sell bitcoin and ethereum in the Fidelity Investments app. The company opened an early access waitlist to users Thursday morning but did not provide an exact date of launch. The official Twitter account for Fidelity Investments wrote: “Get on the early-access list to trade bitcoin and ethereum and discover educational resources that make crypto a lot less cryptic.” The crypto custodial and trading services will be provided by Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments. Users will be able to trade with as little as $1. While trades with Fidelity Crypto will be commission-free, the company said it will factor in a 1% spread into every trade execution price. Fidelity told CNBC Thursday: A meaningful portion of Fidelity customers are already interested in and own crypto. We are providing them with tools to support their choice, so they can benefit from Fidelity’s education, research, and technology. Fidelity Digital Assets has been offering bitcoin (BTC) services to institutional investors since 2018. The firm recently added ether (ETH) trading. What do you think about Fidelity Investments offering retail crypto trading to customers? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says that it is “very premature” to think about pausing rate hikes. “We have a ways to go,” he stressed. However, economist Peter Schiff warned that “Planned rate hikes and QT will only succeed in crashing the economy, not bringing down inflation.” Fed Chair Powell Says ‘Very Premature’ to Talk About Pausing Interest Rate Hikes Fed Chairman Jerome Powell clarified during a news conference on the central bank’s economic outlook Wednesday that the Fed is not thinking about pausing its rate hikes. The conference followed the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting where the U.S. central bank decided to raise interest rates another 0.75 percentage point — the fourth consecutive time this year. Powell said, “The FOMC raised our policy interest rate by 75 basis points and we continue to anticipate that ongoing increases will be appropriate,” adding: It is very premature, in my view, to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hikes. We have a ways to go. The Fed chairman also noted that “the ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected” and the chances of a soft landing have narrowed. Commenting on Powell indicating that a Fed pivot is not going to happen anytime soon, economist and gold bug Peter Schiff tweeted: “Powell just threw cold water on the idea of a pause in interest rate hikes, causing an immediate, and sharp sell-off in financial markets. The sell-off will likely continue until Powell ‘clarifies’ his remarks to prevent the stock and bond markets from crashing to new lows.” In a follow-up tweet, he wrote: Powell said he’d prefer to over-tighten to beat inflation as it will be easy for the Fed to use its tools to stimulate the economy if it weakens too much. Powell doesn’t get it. Planned rate hikes and QT will only succeed in crashing the economy, not bringing down inflation. Schiff also recently cautioned that the U.S. dollar will crash. He further said the Fed’s action could lead to a massive financial crisis and a severe recession. A growing number of economists have warned of severe recession in the U.S. as the Federal Reserve continues hiking interest rates to fight inflation. A recent survey shows that 98% of chief executives are preparing for a recession in the U.S. Renowned investor Jim Rogers expects the recession to be the worst one in his lifetime. Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki said that the Federal Reserve’s continued rate hikes will crash the U.S. economy. What do you think about Fed Chair Powell’s comments and Peter Schiff’s warning? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Over three billion in value was erased from the stablecoin economy during the past 30 days. The trend occurred despite the number of tethers in circulation rising by 2.2% last month. On Oct. 1, 2022, tether’s market capitalization was approximately $67.95 billion, and it’s risen to $69.36 billion since then. Circle’s usd coin, on the other hand, had a valuation of around $47.20 billion 30 days ago and today, the market cap is $42.54 billion, after the stablecoin project’s number of tokens in circulation dropped by 10.3%. Stablecoin Economy’s Supply Tightens The stablecoin economy has lost approximately 3.32 billion in nominal U.S. dollar value during the past 30 days, according to statistics recorded on Nov. 2, 2022. Most of the action derived from the top two stablecoins (USDT & USDC), as usd coin’s (USDC) number of stablecoins in circulation slid 10.3% lower since last month. Archived records show, that while the stablecoin project’s supply lost 9.6% the month before, USDC’s market cap dropped from $47.20 billion to $42.54 billion through the month of October. Records published on Oct. 1, 2022, further show that the month prior, tether’s (USDT) number of coins in circulation was up roughly 0.6%. Throughout the month of October, USDT’s coins in circulation, according to coingecko.com statistics, indicate the supply has risen by 2.2% since then. At the time, 30 days ago, tether’s market capitalization was roughly $67.95 billion and on Nov. 2, 2022, USDT’s market cap is currently valued at $69.36 billion. Although, USDC was not the only stablecoin that recorded 30-day supply drops since the first of October, as a myriad of stablecoins saw supply reductions. The stablecoin DAI, issued by the Makerdao project, has seen a 10.7% reduction since last month. Frax (FRAX) saw an 11.1% slide downward and pax dollar (USDP) dipped by 2.2%. The number of trueusd (TUSD) declined by 7.4%, and Tron’s USDD stablecoin supply reduced by 7.2% during the last 30 days. While BUSD’s supply jumped 8.1% higher at the end of September, BUSD’s overall number of coins in circulation increased by 2.9% this past month. BUSD’s market cap is now more than half of USDC’s valuation, as the number of BUSD coins in circulation represents 50.82% of the USDC supply. Another interesting factor that took place within the stablecoin economy was the recent HUSD depegging event. Three days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on HUSD sliding to record lows and now it’s trading well below that number today. HUSD is currently exchanging hands for $0.324 per unit on Nov. 2, 2022. HUSD slid to an all-time low at $0.283, and it’s currently 14.4% higher than that all-time low, but the token’s current value is not even close to the $1 parity it once held on Oct. 1, 2022. What do you think about the stablecoin action during the last 30 days? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A new survey has revealed that Democrats and Republicans agree cryptocurrency is the future of finance. The national survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager. In addition, 44% of the respondents said they expect to have crypto as part of their investment portfolio in the future. ‘Cryptocurrencies Are the Future of Finance’ Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, announced Tuesday that its new national survey has revealed that “Democrats and Republicans agree cryptocurrency is the future of finance.” The online survey was conducted on Grayscale’s behalf between Oct. 6-11 by The Harris Poll, a global market research and consulting firm. A total of 2,029 adults, who are likely voters, participated. The survey examined “how Americans view the state of the economy and cryptocurrency against the backdrop of the 2022 United States election,” the crypto firm detailed, adding: More than half of Americans surveyed (53%) agree that ‘cryptocurrencies are the future of finance,’ including 59% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans, with 44% of Americans noting that they expect to have crypto as part of their investment portfolio in the future. With record-high inflation and a looming recession, 25% of respondents say inflation and the current economic climate have made them more interested in cryptocurrency. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein commented: “As we approach the midterm election, U.S. voters are considering the intersection of cryptocurrency, traditional finance, and the state of the economy.” Clear Crypto Regulation Has Bipartisan Support Regarding cryptocurrency regulation, 39% see the U.S. as being behind other countries in creating a regulatory environment that makes it easy or safe for anyone to buy or trade digital assets. Moreover, 81% agree there should be clearer cryptocurrency industry regulation, including 88% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans, Grayscale detailed, adding: More than four in five of both Republicans (81%) and Democrats (82%) feel it is important to take a consumer-first approach to regulation. That means “allowing consumers (not the government) to decide how to invest in cryptocurrencies by providing necessary information about various products,” the company clarified. The Crypto Council for Innovation, a crypto advocacy group, also recently conducted a national survey and found that a majority (52%) think that crypto needs more regulation than presently exists. What do you think about this survey? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc., more commonly known as Unionbank, announced that the financial institution launched bitcoin and ethereum custody and trading services. The ninth largest bank in the country by assets, Unionbank, will leverage Metaco’s platform Harmonize to pilot the crypto services for clients. Unionbank to Provide Bitcoin and Ethereum Custody and Trading Services via Metaco On Nov. 2, 2022, the Philippines-based financial institution founded in 1981, Unionbank, revealed it is now offering bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) services for customers. According to the announcement published on Wednesday, Unionbank is one of a number of select financial institutions approved by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to operate as a virtual asset service provider (VASP). Unionbank has started the pilot with bitcoin and ethereum custody and trading services. In 2019, Unionbank launched a stablecoin pegged to the value of the Philippine peso. At the end of April 2022, Unionbank entered the metaverse economy as well. The Philippines-based universal bank Unionbank is utilizing Metaco’s platform Harmonize, which is dubbed a “digital asset custody and orchestration platform, as a fully managed service deployed in the cloud.” Metaco’s Harmonize will “manage governance and operations for the [Unionbank] pilot. “Unionbank’s collaboration with its strategic partner Metaco has been critical in the bank’s pursuit of realizing its vision of delivering superior, customer-centric services to the Philippine market,” Henry Aguda, the chief technology and operations officer and chief transformation officer at Unionbank, remarked. “We are proud to continue UnionBank’s series of industry firsts, this time being the first regulated bank in the country allowing digital currency exchange feature for clients.” Unionbank aims to expand the service in the future as it wants to craft a “safe and compliant environment for millions of Filipinos to custody and exchange digital currencies such as bitcoin.” The Philippines-based financial institution said it is readying itself for “wider rollouts of its digital asset services” while at the same time “future-proofing its business model.” What do you think about Unionbank offering bitcoin and ethereum services? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Federal Reserve introduced another jumbo rate hike on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, by hiking the federal funds rate (FFR) by 75 basis points (bps). The American central bank said on Wednesday that the hike aims to curb inflation and the Fed says “recent indicators point to modest growth in spending and production.” U.S. Central Bank Hikes the Federal Funds Rate by 75bps While U.S. president Joe Biden hosted an event called the “Infrastructure Talent Pipeline Challenge,” the country’s central bank increased the FFR once again by 75bps on Wednesday. Markets had priced in and predicted the 75bps increase well before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) convened. Just before the rate hike, the White House reported that the Biden administration plans to allocate $13.5 billion to help low-income American households pay for heating this winter. This is due to the fact that red-hot inflation has contributed to U.S. consumers paying 28% more to heat their residences than they did last winter. “Recent indicators point to modest growth in spending and production,” the FOMC announcement said on Wednesday. “Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures,” the central bank added. The Fed’s FOMC statement continued: Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing tremendous human and economic hardship. The war and related events are creating additional upward pressure on inflation and are weighing on global economic activity. The Committee is highly attentive to inflation risks. The Fed’s rate hike follows the U.S. central bank’s key inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index report, showing an increase of 0.5% in September. Moreover, the most recent consumer price index (CPI) report, noted U.S. consumer prices jumped 8.2% in September. Stocks, Bitcoin, and Precious Metals Rise on the Possibility of a Fed Pivot Stocks jumped ahead after the Fed announced the 75bps raise and bitcoin (BTC) also jumped 1% in the last hour following the announcement. The price of gold, per troy ounce, jumped 0.98% higher, while the price of one ounce of fine silver increased by 1.58% over the $20 per ounce region. Markets rebounded as the Fed’s announcement hinted at a possible pivot. “The committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments,” the U.S. central bank said. Freddie Mac reported last week that the average rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage jumped above 7%, after it was only 3.14% a year ago. The FFR increase will likely slowly trickle down to mortgage, credit, and lending rates affecting every American citizen looking to access these financial vehicles. During Jerome Powell’s follow-up speech, he still insisted that rate hikes and monetary tightening were and still are needed to address the country’s red-hot inflation. Powell remarked on multiple occasions that the 2% inflation rate is still a strong goal the Federal Reserve is aiming for at the moment. Although, he also said a slowdown in restrictive measures “is coming” and insisted it could very well happen “as soon as the next meeting or the one after that,” when reporters asked the central bank chief if the Fed would pivot by December. Following Powell’s news conference with reporters, stocks, precious metals, and bitcoin started to lose the gains they saw an hour after the FOMC statement was released. By 2:55 p.m. (ET), all four major stock indexes declined, gold was up by 0.13%, and BTC was up by 0.6% on Wednesday afternoon. What do you think about the Fed’s fourth consecutive 75bps rate hike? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Newly proposed legislation aims to permit the minting of any cryptocurrency in Russia, a prominent lawmaker has revealed. While the draft law states that the circulation of the minted coins should take place outside Russian jurisdiction, an upcoming bill provides for their use under “experimental regimes.” Parliament Prepares to Legalize the Mining of Cryptocurrencies in Russia After rejecting one crypto mining bill for being fragmented and ambiguous, Russian lawmakers accepted to review another draft law, which more comprehensively regulates the extraction of digital currencies in the country. The main goal of the latest legislative proposal is to permit the minting of all cryptocurrencies, according to Anatoly Aksakov who heads the Financial Market Committee at the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s bicameral legislature. In an interview, the high-ranking deputy shared details about the new draft law. Speaking to the business news channel RBC-TV, he stated: The idea is to allow mining, and the mining of any cryptocurrency. Discussions on the need for more elaborate regulations for crypto-related activities have been going on for months and most Russian officials favor the legalization of mining. Previous proposals envisage its authorization only in energy-rich areas. In Europe, attempts have been made to prohibit the power-hungry mining of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. Aksakov emphasized that the circulation of the produced coins should take place outside of Russia’s information systems, in other words, not in Russian jurisdiction. He noted, however, that a draft law that will be filed soon opens the door to using the digital assets under experimental legal regimes. Within their framework, the lawmaker explained, it will be possible to employ cryptocurrencies to pay for parallel imports, for example. Most institutions in Moscow do not want to threaten the status of the Russian ruble as the only legal tender in the country but the idea to use crypto in cross-border payments has gained traction amid increasing pressure from Western sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Anatoly Aksakov also added that while the draft federal law “On Mining in the Russian Federation” will reflect some general principles of the existing legislation, the government is yet to determine its stance on the taxation aspects. Certain points require clarification, the lawmaker said, expressing hope this will happen soon. Do you expect Russian lawmakers to quickly adopt the legislation legalizing cryptocurrency mining? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Participate in the Verse Public sale and opt into the exclusive raffle on Bitcoin.com Games to get up to $25,000 worth of Verse tokens for free. Bitcoin.com is launching Verse, a rewards and utility token that will be used across the full range of Bitcoin.com products including the official non-custodial wallet app where users can buy, sell, trade, earn and use crypto. Stake it or use it as collateral, the VERSE token will give its users exclusive access to Bitcoin.com products and services while being traded on the Verse DEX. Exclusive Raffle on Bitcoin.com Games Bitcoin.com Games, our premium crypto casino, is offering any player old or new, that is a registered member, a chance to multiply the tokens they purchase in the Verse public sale. All Bitcoin.com Games players that participate in the public sale will be entered into a raffle where 3 lucky participants will win from a prize pool of $50,000 worth of Verse tokens. The first lucky draw will win a 5x multiplier on their Verse purchase and get up to $25,000 in Verse tokens. How to Participate Any registered member of the Bitcoin.com Games casino can opt into the promotion before participating in the Verse public sale at getverse.com with any amount of their choice to be eligible for a ticket to the Exclusive Raffle. Players that participate in the VERSE token sale can even get extra entries into the raffle by opting into the promotion and wagering a minimum of $100. Every $100 wagered will also grant an extra ticket for the raffle. The token sale for VERSE has begun on the 1st of November, 2022 and interested buyers can purchase VERSE using BTC, BCH, ETH, or USDT/USDC. Find more information on VERSE and the token sale on getverse.com. Participate in the ongoing Exclusive Raffle on Bitcoin.com Games and stand a chance to win up to 5x Verse tokens! What do you think about Bitcoin.com Game’s Exclusive Raffle? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. This is a promoted post. Learn more on how to reach our audience here. Read the disclaimer below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. MEXC Global will list Hashflow on November 7, 13:00(UTC) with Binance together, and users will be able to trade their native token HFT(HFT/USDT). Meanwhile, MEXC has launched a deposit competition for HFT, and the total prize pool is 5000MX. Hashflow (HFT) is a decentralized exchange that supports cross-chain interoperability. It can link users with professional market makers and aims to provide zero slippage, low GAS fee, and MEV-protected trading experience. Currently, Hashflow has supported public chains such as Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and BNB. The core advantages of Hashflow include zero slippage, no impermanent loss, bridgeless cross-chain swaps, and MEV(Miner Extractable Value)-resistance. Hashflow adopts the request-for-quote (RFQ) model to allow professional market makers to manage liquidity pools, which differs from AMMs that generate high slippage during transactions. RFQ includes off-chain pricing functions and on-chain settlement. Professional market makers can bridge CeFi prices with DeFi through Hashflow and do this in a trustless and easy-to-use way. Meanwhile, users can get the same price on DeFi as they see on MEXC. Hashflow enables the native-to-native swap function where users no longer need to rely on cross-chain bridges prone to problems. It should be noted that Hashflow does not rely on external bridges or require users to escrow their assets on the source chain to mint a bridged asset on the destination chain. According to public information, Hashflow has raised funding of $3.2 million, and the investors include Dragonfly Capital, Electric Capital, Alameda Research, Metastable Capital, Galaxy Digital, etc. According to public information, MEXC, established on April 2018, is one of the world’s Top 10 cryptocurrency trading platforms. The core products include spot trading, leveraged ETF, futures, NFT Index, Staking, etc. As of September 2022, the platform has exceeded 10 million users, and the platform’s cryptocurrency liquidity has already ranked first in the world. In addition to supporting more than 160 cryptocurrency futures trading, it also supports more than 1,600 cryptocurrency spot tradings and more than 400 cryptocurrency ETF tradings. MEXC is the trading platform with the fastest listing speed and the most abundant trading assets. According to M-Research, among the top 10 cryptocurrencies in 2021, MEXC listed the top five: SHIB, GALA, FTM, and MANA. From 2019, nearly 100 other projects, including public chain, DeFi, GameFi, Layer2, Metaverse, DAO, Meme sectors, etc., such as DOT, OP, UNI, APT, GLMR, etc., have been listed on Binance successively. MEXC is ‘the first stop for quality projects.’ As of October 27, among MEXC’s 2022 debut projects, 150 projects have increased by more than 10%. Among them, 65 projects have an increase of 10%-100%, 86 projects have an increase of more than 100%, and the highest increase of a single project is between 166% and 479,900%. Visit the website and blog for more information, and follow MEXC Global and M-Ventures & Labs. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

The Solana-centric lending application Solend lost $1.26 million in an oracle attack, according to Solend’s official Twitter account on Wednesday. A number of affected pools were disabled, and Solend says it has given crypto exchanges the exploiter’s address. Solana Defi Application Solend Loses $1.26 Million in Oracle Exploit The crypto community has seen two significant hacks in the last 24 hours, and one of them stemmed from the decentralized finance (defi) protocol Solend. The team’s official Twitter account tweeted about the loss after it said it suffered from an oracle attack that affected a number of isolated pools. “An oracle attack on USDH affecting the Stable, Coin98, and Kamino isolated pools was detected, resulting in $1.26M in bad debt,” Solend tweeted. “All other pools including the Main pool are safe. Affected pools have been disabled and exchanges have been notified of the exploiter’s address — Note that the attack did not involve Pyth,” the Solend team added. The Solend exploit was also reported by the blockchain and smart contract security auditors Peckshield and Certik. “Solend has detected an oracle attack, resulting in ~$1.26M in bad debt. Affected pools have already been disabled,” Peckshield told the firm’s 37,900 Twitter followers. Certik also confirmed the exploit on Twitter when the company wrote: Solend has reported that an oracle attack on USDH has affected the Stable, Coin98, and Kamino isolated pools. The affected pools have been disabled — Stay vigilant. The Solend hack follows the crypto options giant Deribit losing $28 million in a hot wallet attack on Nov. 1, 2022. The two hacks further follow a significant rise in hacks that took place during 2022’s third quarter. Certik’s “2022 Q3 Hack3d Report” highlights the fact that malicious actors drained more than $504 million in value from Web3 protocols in Q3 2022. What do you think about Solend losing $1.26 million in an oracle attack? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Litecoin rose to its highest level in over six weeks on Wednesday, as the token moved past a key price ceiling. Today’s move comes despite cryptocurrency markets mostly trading lower, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Unus sed leo (LEO) was also higher, climbing for a ninth consecutive session. Litecoin (LTC) Litecoin (LTC) rose by as much as 10% on Wednesday, despite cryptocurrency markets mostly trading lower. Following a low of $54.64 during Tuesday’s session, LTC/USD surged to an intraday peak of $61.89. The rally sees the token move past a key resistance level of $58.20, hitting its strongest point since mid-September in the process. As can be seen from the chart, the 14-day relative strength index has also surged, and is now firmly in overbought territory. The index is currently tracking at the 69.32 level, which is its highest point since last November. In addition to this, the 10-day (red) has now continued its uptrend, maintaining its recent crossover with its 25-day (blue) counterpart. Should this momentum continue, we may see LTC bulls attempt to push the price to a ceiling of $64.40. Unus sed leo (LEO) Unus sed leo (LEO) extended an impressive run of gains in today’s session, as prices rose for a ninth straight day. LEO/USD surged to a high of $4.66 earlier today, which comes less than a day after hovering at a low of $4.51. Like with litecoin above, today’s surge sees LEO move past a key ceiling of $4.55, on its way to a multi-week high. Overall, the token is now trading at its highest point since September 23, with the RSI also substantially higher. The index is currently tracking at 66.14, which is its strongest level in the last two months. A resistance of 68.00 seems to be the target of current bulls, and if reached, some traders could move to secure previous gains. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Do you expect any significant gains in crypto markets after today’s FOMC meeting? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

The host of Mad Money, Jim Cramer, has apologized to investors for being wrong about Facebook parent Meta Platforms after its stock plunged to a record low. “I made a mistake here. I was wrong,” he said emotionally after stating previously that Meta was a good investment. “I failed to help people. And I own that.” Jim Cramer’s Apology About Meta: ‘I Was Wrong’ The host of CNBC’s Mad Money show, Jim Cramer, apologized to investors Thursday for recommending Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (Nasdaq: META) after the stock kept tanking following the company’s Q3 earnings release. Cramer is a former hedge fund manager who co-founded Thestreet.com, a financial news and literacy website. Appearing emotional on CNBC Market Alert, Cramer admitted that he made a wrong call about the Meta stock, telling investors previously that the social media company was a good investment. He said: I made a mistake here. I was wrong. I trusted this management team. That was ill-advised. The hubris here is extraordinary, and I apologize. When asked what he got wrong about his previous advice, Cramer replied: “I believed that there was a recognition that there is an amount that you can’t spend … I trusted them, not myself. For that I regret. I’ve been in this business for 40 years and I did a bad job. I’m not proud.” He added: “I did believe that there would be some discipline … I expected discipline.” The Mad Money host reiterated that his goal is to “try to help people every day,” noting: I failed to help people. And I own that. Was I too close to the company? I did not think the company would be as ill-advised as to spend through what they had without any discipline whatsoever. Cramer also tweeted Thursday: “Meta bought back $6.5 billion as free cash flow dropped off the face of the earth. I did not see this coming. I trusted this management and that was ill-advised.” He detailed in another tweet: “It is Ford v. Facebook. Ford recognizes that it isn’t ready to produce the best Driverless and wants to spend the money elsewhere and be frugal. Frugality is a word never spoken at Facebook. At a point it is too late to sell META. But it is a seething monster of spending.” META shares closed at $97.94 Thursday, having dropped over 71% so far this year. This wouldn’t be the first time Cramer has made a wrong call about a stock. Earlier this month, Tuttle Capital Management filed for two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the Inverse Cramer ETF and the Long Cramer ETF. In August, the Mad Money host recommended investors avoid crypto and other speculative investments. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth has also shrunk by over $100 billion from its peak a year ago. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 38-year-old now has a net worth of $38.1 billion, a steep fall from a peak of $142 billion in September last year. The company’s Q3 revenue fell 4.5% from a year ago, the second consecutive quarterly drop, after never posting declining sales prior to 2022. The social media platform faces ballooning costs from Reality Labs, its metaverse division. However, Zuckerberg has doubled down on his metaverse focus. “I get that a lot of people might disagree with this investment,” the Meta CEO said, calling it “fundamentally important to the future.” He added: “I think we’re going to resolve each of these things over different periods of time, and I appreciate the patience and I think that those who are patient and invest with us will end up being rewarded.” What do you think about Jim Cramer apologizing for recommending Facebook parent Meta? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article