31932
Crypto, trade & finance news with a grain of humor For contact – t.me/NickMMarket
'Jack Dorsey's First Tweet' NFT bought for almost $3 million, now worth just $48
The fading crypto euphoria is clearly visible through changing behavior on the NFT market:
◾️ Iranian-born crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi purchased in 2021 for a whopping $2.9 million the NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first-ever tweet (you can download it for free by clicking on the image above).
◾️ He has now listed this NFT for sale, but the auction has so far received just five total offers ranging from 0.002 ETH ($3.79 at current prices) to 0.025 ETH ($47.39).
This isn't the first time the hapless crypto entrepreneur has tried to sell this NFT. Estavi wanted to sell it for an insane $48 million a year ago, but the auction then received only seven offers, with a maximum price of just $277.
Earlier on Wednesday, former SEC attorney John Reed Stark said the NFT of Jack Dorsey's first Tweet is worthless and has no value, adding that the NFT market is completely manipulated or controlled by deceptive ways.
More and more people now seem to agree with this
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
🇷🇺🏥🇻🇪 Venezuela gets insulin from Russia
A shipment of more than 1.1 million containers of insulin arrived in Venezuela from Russia on Wednesday.
This happened under an agreement between the Russian company Geropharm and Venezuela's Espromed Bio.
This shipment will thus cover the needs of all patients in the country for up to three months, according to Geropharm.
The company also sent more than 40,000 modern reusable insulin syringe pens, which allow for more comfortable and safe use of the drugs.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
🇮🇳 India imposes major rice export ban
India imposed a ban on rice exports on Thursday, roughly halving supplies of the world's biggest exporter of the grain, raising fears of further inflation on global food markets.
The Indian government announced a ban on non-basmati white rice after retail rice prices rose 3% in a month after late but heavy monsoon rains caused significant damage to crops.
India accounts for more than 40% of global rice exports, and low inventories with other exporters mean any cut in supplies could push food prices even higher.
Rice is a staple for over 3 billion people, and nearly 90% of this water-intensive crop is produced in Asia, where the El Niño weather pattern brings lower rainfall. Global prices are already hovering at their highest level in 11 years.
With Thailand and Vietnam lacking sufficient inventories to make up the shortfall, African buyers, already hit by the unfulfilled grain deal, will now also be affected by India's sudden ban.
Experts on India are kindly invited to comment
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
🇦🇪 UAE aims for 7% growth to double economy
The United Arab Emirates is looking to boost economic growth to double its gross domestic product to more than $800 billion by the end of the decade.
“The focus is to grow by 7%,” Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the country’s economy minister, said in Thursday. “We need to double our economy” so it reaches 3 trillion dirhams ($817 billion) in output by the end of 2030, he added.
The UAE, OPEC's third-largest oil producer, is seeking to build on its position as a global center of business and finance. Especially in the face of growing regional competition from larger neighbor Saudi Arabia.
In the past two years, the UAE has struck trade deals worth billions of dollars with countries such as India, Indonesia and Türkiye.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
🇩🇪 Nothing special – just Europe's best economy
A clear example of the impact of the green and woke agenda on a once-thriving country.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Grain deal led to billions of dollars in losses for Russia, says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the grain deal resulted in direct losses of $1.2 billion and $1.6 billion respectively for Russian agrarians and fertilizer producers.
"Due to a 30-40% discount on Russian grain on world markets, the losses of Russian agrarians amounted to $1.2 billion," the president said.
"In addition, the rise in the cost of sea freight for cargo transportation and the cost of international settlements and other transactions has led to a twofold drop in the profitability of shipments," Putin added.
Russian fertilizer producers, whose losses totalled $1.6 billion, faced similar problems, he said.
Moreover, Russia was prevented from even providing fertilizers for free to the poorest countries in need.
"The West profited shamelessly on the grain deal. It simply completely perverted the meaning and essence of these agreements," Putin stated.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
🇷🇺🇻🇪 Russia's Mir cards coming to Venezuela
The Venezuelan resort island of Margarita has started accepting Mir payment cards, Moscow's alternative to Visa and Mastercard, the Russian Ambassador to Venezuela said on Wednesday.
In late June, representatives of the Mir payment system said its cards are being accepted in terminals of trade and service companies in Venezuela.
Russia's central bank said it also plans to introduce Mir cards in five or six new countries this year.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
VanMoof e-bikes gone bankrupt
VanMoof – the e-bike maker that once boasted of being "the most funded e-bike company in the world" – has been declared bankrupt in the Netherlands.
Bankruptcy trustees are now assessing the feasibility of a restart in case of a possible sale of all of VanMoof's assets to a third party.
All repair work and deliveries of parts is currently stopped as VanMoof's e-bikes require custom parts and specialized service.
Moreover, if the sale to a third party fails, VanMoof's servers may soon go offline, leaving thousands of e-bike owners with essentially dead weight.
Those lucky few who have just received their new VanMoof e-bike will no longer be able to refund it. Those who have not yet received their new e-bike will only be able to get their prepayment back after filing a claim in the bankruptcy proceedings.
Looks like the "Tesla of bicycles" failed miserably
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
India's sunflower oil imports at risk following grain deal end
India's sunflower oil imports are likely to decline in the coming months as it becomes uncompetitive against rival oils due to rising prices after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal, industry officials warned.
India could import about 275,000 tons of sunflower oil in July, but imports could fall to 200,000 tons from August.
Spot prices have risen from $850 to $965 per metric ton over the past five weeks on expectations of an end to the grain deal and amid rising prices of competing oils.
Experts already anticipate market uncertainty to force some processors to switch to palm and soybean oil.
More soy, just as the West wants
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
ECB to push rates to 4% peak in September, economists say
As inflation proves to be stubborn, analysts raised their forecast for the maximum European Central Bank's deposit rate from 3.75% to a peak of 4% in September, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Such an outcome would mean two more quarter-point rate hikes – starting with one on July 27.
Behind the change in forecast is a worsening outlook for inflation that is not slowing as quickly as previously expected. Moreover, inflation in 2025 is now expected to be 2.1% – up from 2% before.
How and when the unprecedented bout of hikes will end is still hard to predict. Some top officials refuse to rule out extending the campaign beyond the summer, though others worry about the state of the economy, which is struggling to emerge from the recession it fell into over the winter.
The first cut in interest rates is currently expected to come at least until April 2024.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Putin to take part in BRICS summit via video call
Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in South Africa’s BRICS summit in August via a video call, RIA reported, citing the Kremlin.
It will be full participation, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted.
South Africa said earlier on Wednesday that Putin had agreed not to attend in person "by mutual agreement."
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Zimbabwe's dollar gaining strength
The Zimbabwean dollar (ZWL) has gained more than 40% against the US dollar in one month.
The rate hike was because of corporate taxes now to be calculated in ZWL. This is expected to reduce inflation.
Banks initially suffered losses due to the sharp change. But now adjusting to the stronger local currency.
Furthermore, amid the earlier plunge in the Zimbabwean dollar, Zimbabwe's stock index – ZSE All Share – has risen more than 500% since the start of 2023.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Consumption and investments powering growth in developing Asia
In 2023 growth in developing Asia will be higher than a year earlier.
This is due to high levels of consumption and investment offsetting the impact of weak global demand.
Developing Asia includes 46 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has maintained its growth forecasts for East and South Asia.
China and India are still expected to grow at 5.0% and 6.4% this year, respectively, and 4.5% and 6.7% in 2024.
The growth rate forecast for Southeast Asia has been slightly trimmed and it's growth is now expected to be 4.6% this year and 4.9% next year. This is mainly due to weaker global demand for export products.
Inflation in the region is projected to slow to 3.6% this year from the previous forecast of 4.2%, and is expected to slow further to 3.4% in 2024.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
EU wanted to make ties but instead... had a row?
The European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held a Summit on 17 and 18 July, but failed to reach an agreement.
The quarrel was over a final statement due to disagreements on Ukraine. This was reported by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on July 18.
According to Michel, the success of the final statement was not achieved, but "the summit was a huge success."
Earlier on Tuesday, Politico reported this contradictions. Apparently, EU's negotiators were trying to convince Latin American countries to condemn Russia for it's special operation in Ukraine. And Nicaragua and Cuba opposed the proposed wording.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
🤡 Gary Gensler seeks to boost SEC budget to strengthen Americans' defense against crypto
US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler asked the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday to increase his agency's multi-billion budget to further protect investors against the "Wild West" of crypto.
"We've seen the Wild West of the crypto markets, rife with noncompliance, where investors have put hard-earned assets at risk in a highly speculative asset class," Gensler said.
By getting more money, he added, the SEC "can be an even stronger advocate for the American public – investors and issuers alike."
The SEC's budget for fiscal year 2024 is only a paltry $2.364 billion, apparently not enough to protect investors and prevent crypto crimes.
Well at least the SEC is doing its job well and successfully thwarting crypto collapses, right?
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Robert Kennedy Jr vows to back dollar with Bitcoin and exempt it from taxes
US Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled a plan to exempt Bitcoin from capital gains tax when it is converted into US dollars and to begin backing the greenback with "real finite assets" such as gold, silver, platinum and Bitcoin.
"Backing dollars and US debt obligations with hard assets could help restore strength back to the dollar, rein in inflation and usher in a new era of American financial stability, peace and prosperity," Kennedy said, speaking at a Heal-the-Divide PAC event.
He said he would start the process by having "very, very small, perhaps 1% of issued T-bills" be backed by hard currencies such as gold, silver, platinum or Bitcoin.
Kennedy also reiterated that he would defend the right to self-custody Bitcoin and run blockchain nodes at home, as well as promising industry-neutral energy regulation.
"The benefits include facilitating innovation and spurring investment, ensuring citizen privacy, incentivizing ventures to grow their business and tech jobs in the United States rather than in Singapore, Switzerland, Germany and Portugal," he said.
Kennedy earlier wrote on Twitter that the US government was hobbling the crypto industry and "driving innovation elsewhere," and that Biden's proposed 30% tax on crypto mining was "a bad idea."
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
UK denies treating crypto as gambling
The British government on Thursday rejected calls from lawmakers to control the crypto industry as a form of gambling, saying the industry will be regulated just like any other financial service.
The UK Finance Ministry has thus shown firm disagreement with the recommendations of the parliament's Treasury Committee, which proposed to regulate retail trading and investment activities in unbacked cryptocurrencies as gambling.
Treating crypto assets as gambling would conflict with other regulators in the European Union and elsewhere in the world, and would not mitigate the risks associated with the crypto sector, according to the ministry.
Surprisingly, the UK government actually makes sense here
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
🇺🇸 US leading indicators point to recession starting soon
An index designed to track turns in US business cycles fell for the 15th straight month in June, led by weakening consumer outlook and rising jobless claims – the longest streak of declines since the run-up to the 2007-2009 recession, Reuters reported.
Conference Board's Leading Economic Index – a gauge predicting future economic activity – fell more than expected by 0.7% to 106.1 in June after declining 0.6% in May.
"Taken together, June's data suggests economic activity will continue to decelerate in the months ahead," said the Conference Board, a New York-based think tank.
It now expects the US economy to be in recession from the current third quarter to the first quarter of 2024.
As soon as Jim Cramer said yesterday he didn’t see a recession on the horizon, it was just a foregone conclusion
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
😁 US looking for counterweight to China
Granny Yellen continues to travel around Asia urging to do business with the US rather than China.
So this time in Hanoi the US Treasury Secretary met Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Among the topics of discussion were developing trade relations, new supply chains, of course renewable energy and, perhaps most importantly, the need to cut dependency on China.
Earlier this year, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Vietnam weeks after the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
Blinken then pledged to boost relations to new levels – something Janet Yellen was apparently instructed to do.
She ain't no fortunate one, no?
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
🇹🇷 Türkiye slows place of hikes
Türkiye's central bank slowed the pace of interest rate hikes, hiking its key rate less than expected.
The rate was raised to 17.5% (vs. expected 18%) from the previous 15%, while further tightening of monetary policy was announced to curb inflation.
The Turkish stock market soared after the rate decision, while the lira continued its descent into the Mariana Trench again.
Investors wanted to see bigger steps to combat double-digit inflation regardless of the risks involved.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
China's ongoing battle
China's biggest state-owned banks are selling dollars in attempt to slow yuan's rapid depreciation, according to Reuters.
Also an easing of cross-border financing rules was announced, making it easier for domestic companies to raise funds from overseas and to help easing pressure on the yuan.
Following that offshore yuan strengthened more than 0.7% to a high of 7.1812 per dollar.
In the onshore market, a similar trend was shown, but its still down by about 4% today, making it one of the worst performing Asian currencies for 2023.
Can they hold it though?
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
US companies fleeing China – India taking advantage?
New World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Wednesday that India has an opportunity to cash in on global companies' efforts to build factories outside China as companies seek to diversify their supply chains.
His comments followed recent announcements by US companies to invest in India as the US seeks a powerful counterweight to China in Asia amid rising tensions.
According to Banga, the ex-Mastercard CEO who became World Bank chief last month, India has three to five years to seize the opportunity to attract investment.
🇮🇳 Made in India?
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
World tired of Ukraine, says Brazil's Lula
The world is tired of the conflict in Ukraine, Brazilian President Lula da Silva said after a summit of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
The Brazilian president also said that Zelensky and Biden are to blame for their failure to come to an agreement with Putin.
Lula had earlier initiated the launch of a new format to make a dialog between Moscow and Kiev possible, adding that he was ready to mediate direct talks between the two sides if necessary.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Argentina to postpone joining BRICS at EU request
Argentina applied to join BRICS more than a year ago, but will postpone it at the request of the European Union due to the conflict in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported citing a source.
On July 17-18, Brussels hosted a summit of the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which includes Argentina. Following the summit, the participants did not agree on a joint statement because of their positions on Ukraine.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, noted that Europe and CELAC have diverged in positions on the conflict. Many South American countries "do not see it the same way we do," he said.
Apart from Argentina, official applications to join BRICS have been submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran. In total, about two dozen countries want to join the group, as Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
US suspends funding for Wuhan lab linked to COVID outbreak
The US has suspended funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a months-long review that found the Chinese research institute "is not compliant with federal regulations and is not presently responsible," Bloomberg reported.
While the lab has not received US funding since July 2020, the country's Department of Health and Human Services has announced it is seeking to permanently cut off funding.
The move came amid an ongoing investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 virus.
A US-based infectious disease prevention organization – EcoHealth Alliance – won a grant in 2014 for research on bat coronavirus emergence that was funneled to the Wuhan Institute of Virology with funds from the US Agency for International Development. And just six years later, the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Last month, a declassified report from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence revealed safety and security problems at the institute.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Societe Generale becomes first company to obtain French crypto license
Societe Generale's crypto division – SG Forge – has become the first company to receive a license to offer crypto services in France from the country's financial regulator.
SG Forge is now licensed to provide buying and selling, exchange and custody of digital assets as of July 18, according to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.
Licensing requires the firm to be established in France and meet certain regulatory requirements.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
⚡️ Putin will not attend BRICS summit in South Africa
South Africa's presidency said Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend next month's heads-of-state summit of BRICS leaders in person, Bloomberg reported.
Russia will be represented at the BRICS summit by its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The leaders of the remaining member countries – Brazil, China, India and South Africa – will attend the summit.
Earlier, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the country's authorities would not follow the International Criminal Court's warrant for Vladimir Putin's arrest, as it would be tantamount to declaring war on Russia.
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Europeans get poorer
Europeans are facing a new economic reality: they are becoming poorer and their purchasing power is melting away, The WSJ reported.
The French are eating less foie gras and drinking less red wine. Spaniards are stinting on olive oil. Finns are being urged to use saunas on windy days when energy is cheaper. In Germany, rising prices have caused meat and milk consumption to fall to its lowest in three decades and the once-booming organic food market to tank. Pasta, Italy's favorite staple, jumped to more than double the country's inflation rate in May.
Governments' responses only compounded the problem. To preserve jobs, unlike Americans, Europeans steered their subsidies primarily to employers, leaving consumers without a cash cushion in case of a price shock.
In the past, the continent's robust export industry might have come to the rescue. But China's sluggish recovery, a crucial market for Europe, is undermining that growth pillar. As global trade cools, Europe's heavy reliance on exports – accounting for about 50% of eurozone GDP versus 10% for the US – is becoming a weakness.
Adjusted for inflation and purchasing power, wages have declined about 3% in Germany, 3.5% in Italy and Spain, and 6% in Greece since 2019. Real wages in the US rose about 6% over the same period, according to the OECD.
Furthermore, the eurozone economy grew about 6% in dollar terms over the past 15 years, compared with 82% for the US, the IMF said. That has left the average EU country poorer per capita than all US states except Idaho and Mississippi.
Yet things could get even worse due to increased defense spending, higher borrowing costs and hence increased taxes, putting extra pressure on consumers. And that's despite taxes in Europe being already high: around 40-45% of GDP compared to 27% in the US.
If the current trend continues, by 2035 the gap between per capita economic output in the US and the EU will be as large as that between Japan and Ecuador today.
Europe is lost
Subscribe to Multipolar Market
Food inflation still high
Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world, according to the latest updated food security report by the World Bank.
People in Venezuela, Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Argentina and Suriname particularly hard hit.
In real terms, food price inflation exceeded overall inflation in 79.8% of the 163 countries for which data are available, the World Bank said.
Subscribe to Multipolar Marker