Exploring transformation of value in the digital age By Michael J. Casey, Chief Content Officer Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. |
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Hello readers, David Z. Morris here filling in for Michael Casey. Market participants continue to feel the jitters as the Fed maintains its new hardline monetary policy. This week’s column takes a look at Jerome Powell's battle against inflation. It looks into the question of whether his efforts to raise interest rates will risk overcorrection or successfully cure inflation and ultimately revitalize the economy. This week’s episode of the “Money Reimagined” podcast looks at what's driving the fintech space and tells the story behind Cloud Money in an era of rapid digitization and breaks down its ideology. Have a listen after reading the newsletter. |
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Launched in September 2017, KuCoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange with its operational headquarters in Seychelles. As a user-oriented platform with focus on inclusiveness and community action reach, it offers over 700 digital assets, and currently provides spot trading, margin trading, P2P fiat trading, futures trading, staking, and lending to its 20 million users in 207 countries and regions. In 2022, KuCoin raised over $150 million in investments through a pre-Series B round, bringing total investments to $170 million with Round A combined, at a total valuation of $10 billion. KuCoin is currently one of the top 5 crypto exchanges according to CoinMarketCap. Forbes also named KuCoin one of the Best Crypto Exchanges in 2021. In 2022, The Ascent named KuCoin the Best Crypto App for enthusiasts. |
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Powell’s Interest-rate Antibiotics Could Succeed, But Not Without Risk
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(Malte Mueller/Getty Images) There has been renewed speculation in recent days about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s commitment to its rate-hiking cycle. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has been unwavering in his clear message that the beatings will continue until discipline improves: In August he said rates could keep going up “for some time”, and in early September that hikes would continue “until the job is done.” That job, of course, is to get inflation back down to the Fed’s 2% target range, from the 8.3% consumer price index reading in mid-September. That print saw the curve bending further downward from the peak reading of 9.1% in June. (The next CPI report will come Oct. 13.) I’ve seen a handful of optimists speculate that we could bend the curve so fast that we’d wind up seeing rates drop back down again in 2023. That includes more than a few cryptocurrency speculators who would love a rate cut, which would send capital back into “risk-on” mode and likely juice (highly speculative) token prices. But the idea that we’ll actually whip inflation that fast strikes me as verging on delusion – or what we in the cryptoverse call “hopium.” What’s more interesting are the growing signs that rate hikes are slowing down the real economy, and tentative voices from within the Fed itself that suggest some (very mild) resistance to Powell’s unwavering rate-hiking agenda. This has been seized on by the hopeful, who would love to see Powell reinstate the Alan Greenspan-era “Fed put” after staggering stock market losses. Such a reversal still seems, at best, optimistic. Read the full story here... |
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Off the Charts: Dogecoin and Twitter Correlation
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As you probably know by now, Dogecoin and Elon Musk share an intimate connection. Elon, a.k.a. “The Dogefather” has tended to spike the price of the coin with his comments on twitter and television. But it has seemed that any bullish news surrounding Elon Musk has tended to affect the price of Dogecoin, regardless whether the pup was even mentioned. For today’s chart, I had my colleague Sage Young check to see whether Dogecoin had been an equal beneficiary to the Twitter stock surrounding news on October 4rth that Musk proposed to proceed with the Twitter acquisition. |
(Sage Young/CoinDesk) The main takeaway here: Twitter got the better benefit of the acquisition news for sure. But Dogecoin pumped as well, suggesting a correlation. |
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The Conversation: Frozen Funds Debate
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As governments worldwide continue to chase Do Kwon, following a request by Interpol for his arrest and a demand by South Korea that he surrender his passport, the Terra blockchain founder is acting like a one-man emergency PR firm. Apparently he is not worried that his tweets will make things worse for him in court and has not been restrained from commentary by a lawyer.
Here’s Do Kwon's reply to CoinDesk reporting that his funds were frozen:
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The reactions on Twitter to Do Kwon’s rebuttal were interesting. Laura Shin responded back to Do Kwon with this comment: “Do repeatedly has implied that the South Korean government keeps lying about his case.” In reply to Shin, Do Kwon reiterated that he would acknowledge frozen funds and contest action if it were true. TraderSZ responded to Do Kwon’s tweet with the question, “What you having for dinner tonight?” – to which Do Kwon replied back saying, “cigarettes and beer.” Not much of a dinner for a man with $39.6M in funds. What do you think? |
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Relevant Reads: Celsius Bankruptcy Heats Up |
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The Celcius bankruptcy case continues to heat up, as the fate of customers and their deposits remains in question and lawyers assess fraudulence. As is so often the case, the amateurs are at a distinct disadvantage to the investing pros in this battle. Ian Allison reported that changes to Celsius’ corporate structure just months before the collapse put payments to customers behind that of equity holders in the event of bankruptcy. Krisztian Sandor and Nikhilesh De reported that top executives from Celsius, including Alex Mashinsky and Daniel Leon, pulled $17M in crypto out from their accounts in May before the company suspended customer withdrawals. |
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Don’t miss out on this powerful and entertaining weekly podcast that celebrates women supporting women, investing in women and bridging the gender gap in wealth through Web3. Each week brings a new and exciting guest sharing insights on topics like starting an NFT project, creating belonging and inclusivity in digital spaces, building prosperous Web3 projects, investing in cryptocurrencies and building wealth.Listen now! |
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