Author: Steven Sahiounie

The sector has had a calamitous year, with assets collapsing in value by an estimated 75% from their peak of about $3 trillion in November 2021.Ministers estimate up to 10% of UK adults now own some form of crypto.They plan to use existing regulations for the industry, rather than creating a bespoke regime.The Treasury says that will allow crypto to benefit from the “confidence, credibility and regulatory clarity” of the existing system for financial services, as set out in the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).It wants to create a level playing field between traditional and emerging financial…

In 2022 India instituted a 30% tax on profits and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on all transactions for the crypto sectorBut this may not be all bad for the crypto ecosystem as it might incentivize retailers to return to local exchanges.”Until now there was no penalty for non-deduction. Budget 2023 has now established that,” said Ashish Singhal, a co-founder of Indian crypto investing app CoinSwitch Kuber.”This is to say, don’t try to avoid TDS by using offshore or non-compliant platforms. You may be penalized as per Section 271C of the Income Tax Act. If you are investing in crypto, use…

The Treasury also gave crypto companies a time limited exemption to approve their own crypto promotions until more regulation comes.February 1, 2023 by Camomile ShumbaThe U.K.’s finance ministry is proposing new rules to govern multiple areas of the crypto sector and wants stakeholders to weigh in.The hotly anticipated consultation, to be published by His Majesty’s Treasury on Wednesday, asks for feedback from industry members and experts on rules that focus on protecting consumers that also align with the country’s ambition to become a hub for crypto.Some proposals will place more responsibility on trading venues, such as crypto exchanges, to define…

Full-year GDP shrinks 3.5%, slightly worse than estimatesEconomy contracts 4.2% in 4Q as global demand weakenedFebruary 1, 2023, 8:37 AM UTCUpdated onFebruary 1, 2023, 10:17 AM UTCHong Kong’s economy contracted last year for the third time since 2019 as slowing global demand, rising interest rates and a prolonged exit from isolating Covid curbs weighed heavily on the financial hub. Gross domestic product fell 4.2% in the October-to-December quarter from a year earlier, advanced figures from the Census and Statistics Department showed Wednesday. The drop was worse than economist estimates, though not as severe as the third quarter’s 4.6% decline. This article…

Crypto-mining services firm Luxor Technologies said Wednesday it has launched a trading platform for Bitcoin mining machines. The first “request-for-quote” marketplace will allow users to create requests and negotiate on price directly, attempting to improve both transparency and liquidity in the secondary market. The platform comes amid a glut of equipment being sold by troubled miners and crypto lenders seeing a surge in machine-backed loan defaults. The market for mining rigs — specialized computers that earn tokens by validating blockchain transactional data — tends to be volatile as the value of machines are highly correlated with Bitcoin prices. “We built Luxor RFQ because…

Famed author and former trader says the market is not ready for high interest ratesFormer banker Nassim Taleb, best known for his bestseller “Black Swan,” has advised market players to brace for drastic changes worldwide, due to rising interest rates.In an interview with Bloomberg TV, aired on Tuesday, he said that over the past 15 years, investors have grown used to near-zero interest rates, introduced to drag Western economies out of the 2008 financial crisis. This triggered a number of asset bubbles, with assets trading much higher than their true value. Taleb estimates these at more than half a trillion…

The company’s stock has suffered its biggest monthly decline since 2020 as demand wanes for coronavirus productsUS pharmaceutical giant Pfizer released a disappointing earnings report on Tuesday, with a weaker-than-estimated sales outlook for its Covid-19 drugs.The drugmaker’s stock plunged 14% this month, erasing $40 billion in market value. Pfizer told investors to expect revenue to decline by a third in 2023, as the world emerges from the pandemic, and demand for coronavirus drugs slows.The company’s combined sales from its Covid vaccine and antiviral treatment reportedly generated more revenue last year than Pfizer’s total sales in 2019. The Comirnaty vaccine and…

The move bans sales to buyers that implement the limitation in their contractsRussia has banned the sale of crude oil to parties that implement the West’s price-ceiling mechanism.From February 1, Russian exporters are obliged to prevent any direct or indirect mention of the price-cap mechanism in contracts with their overseas clients at all stages of fuel delivery to the end customer.If such a mention is discovered in a contract, the exporting company must inform Russian customs authorities and the Ministry of Energy, undertaking to revise the document to eliminate the violation within 30 days. Otherwise, the supply of Russian fuel…

Supplies have recovered from a recent drop due to rising demand on expectations of colder weatherRussian energy giant Gazprom has increased its daily volume of gas transit through Ukraine to the EU by 20% for the first time in weeks, the company announced on Wednesday.  Supplies jumped to 29.4 million cubic meters (mcm) on February 1, compared to 24.5 mcm pumped the previous day through the Sudzha entry point, which remains the only operating interconnector in Ukraine. “Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine in the amount confirmed by the Ukrainian side through Sudzha – 29.4 mcm…

Loadings from two Baltic ports have surged to their highest levels since 2019, data showsExports of Russian oil loaded in Western-insured tankers surged in January as prices for Moscow’s flagship Urals grade stood below the cap set by the Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union, Reuters reported, citing tracking data.   The price cap on Russian seaborne oil exports of $60 per barrel was introduced by the EU, G7 countries, and Australia on December 5. It bans Western companies from providing insurance and other services to shipments of Russian oil unless the cargo is purchased at or below…