Author: Steven Sahiounie

The price of ether climbed on Thursday, after investors put uncertainty surrounding the long-awaited Shanghai upgrade behind them. Ether rose more than 4.5% to $1,989.02, according to Coin Metrics, while bitcoin gained more than 1%. After a two-year lock up period, Ethereum staking withdrawals were enabled by the Shanghai upgrade around 6:30 p.m. ET on April 12. Investors were optimistic but cautious in the weeks leading up to Shanghai, also known as “Shapella.” While many agree the upgrade is good for Ethereum in the long-term – because it allows more liquidity to ether investors and stakers which could also be a catalyst for a change in…

The Japanese yen could strengthen to 120 per dollar by the end of the year on the back of a change in the central bank policy. “We have quite high conviction in our view — we’re looking at 125 [per dollar] by the end of June, and we’re actually looking at 120 by the end of this year,” said Craig Chan, Nomura’s head of global FX strategy. The forecast is supported by Nomura’s view that the Fed has reached “the peak” in terms of hiking rates, as well as how Japanese financial holding company expects the Bank of Japan could to tweak…

The Group of Seven advanced economies is not expected to update its price cap on Russian oil in the coming weeks amid contrasting views on whether the policy is truly denting the Kremlin’s revenues. The G-7, alongside the European Union and Australia, decided late last year to impose a cap of $60 a barrel on Russian oil in an effort to ratchet up the pressure on Moscow. As part of the agreement, they said they would review this cap in mid-March. However, despite calls to do so from several countries in Europe, the threshold was not revised last month even…

The Egyptian Official Gazette published President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s decision to approve the amendment of a financing agreement with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. The amendment included the credit ceiling of the agreement to be 6 billion US dollars, instead of 3 billion, which was the agreement signed in Sharm El-Sheikh on June 3, 2022. The agreement aims to find the necessary ways and means to ensure close cooperation and coordination of efforts between the government and the corporation, and to implement the strategic partnership between the two parties in the field of trade finance. Under the agreement, the…

An informed source revealed to “Novosti” agency that the Russian government estimates the growth of the Russian economy in 2023 at about 1%, and in 2024 at 2%. The source said, “The government has estimates of about 1% this year, and 2% next year. These are current estimates, and they are not official expectations yet, but there are such expectations in the current estimates.” The current expectations of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development indicate a decline in the economy by 0.8% this year, but last March, the Minister of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, stated that the ministry expects the…

The Dutch energy minister has said the government will not sign new supply contracts for Moscow’s LNG The Netherlands is working to end liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing Dutch energy minister Rob Jetten. He said the government has already stopped signing new contracts for importing the fuel from the sanctioned country. “We have to do what we can do to make sure there is no Russian fossil energy in our system, and we have been successful on coal, pipeline gas and oil,” Jetten explained, adding that authorities are in constant talks with domestic…

Russian units tracked and eliminated two sabotage and reconnaissance groups of Kiev’s forces in the Kupyansk direction. According to the head of the press center of the Zapad group of the Russian military, the abovementioned units were belonging to the 14th Ombre and 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade. At the same time, Russian artillery disrupted three rotation attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the forefront near the settlements of Ivanovka, Stelmakhovka and Artemovka. On top of this, fire of the Russian 2S19 “Msta-S” howitzer destroyed the Polish-made self-propelled artillery gun “Crab” and a battle tank with high-precision ammunition “Krasnopol”…

Clients that pay taxes in Russia have reportedly been notified that their accounts may be closed Banks in Switzerland are monitoring the transfers of their Russian clients to determine whether they pay taxes in Russia, RBK reported on Thursday, citing sources in the banking and legal industries. According to the report, a number of banks have warned clients who do so that their accounts may be shut down. “About ten people have applied to our law firm, who have so far received unofficial calls from bank employees warning that if they do not stop being owners of companies located in…

Though a close partner of Moscow, Pretoria is legally obliged to enforce the International Criminal Court’s summons The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin has thrown a “spanner in the works” of an upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa, a spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday. As a signatory to the 2002 Rome Statute, South Africa is obliged to enforce the ICC’s warrant for Putin’s arrest. However, the country is also hosting this year’s BRICS summit in August, at which the leaders of the world’s largest emerging economies – Brazil, Russia,…

Russia’s Federal Security Service officially announces that Ukraine’s Special Services were behind the assassination of Russian military journalist Vladlen Tatarsky. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) revealed on Thursday that the special services of Ukraine and their agents, including from among the Russian opposition, were behind the terrorist attack on a cafe in the center of St. Petersburg, which killed Russian military reporter Vladlen Tatarsky. Journalist Vladlen Tatarsky was brutally assassinated on April 2 in a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia. A day after, The Russian Investigative Committee detained Daria Trepova in St. Petersburg, on account of her involvement in the killing of Tatarsky. At…