Author: Steven Sahiounie

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has confiscated over $260,000 worth of NFTs and cryptocurrency after a tip-off by pseudonymous blockchain sleuth ZachXBT. According to a forfeiture document published by the agency on February 4, the FBI has seized several assets from Chase Senecal, a resident of Brunswick, Maine, including 86.5678 ETH ($116,433) and two NFTs: Bored Ape Yacht Club #9658 ($95,495) and Doodle #3114 ($9,361). The agency also seized an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Watch valued at $41,000. ZachXBT, a self-described crypto sleuth, made the seizure possible after conducting a thorough investigation of Chase Senecal, also known as HZ online. “After…

Tech giants Apple and Google have reported lower-than-expected revenue and profits for the last three months of 2022, as online retail behemoth Amazon warned of uncertainty in the months ahead. Apple, the world’s biggest company in terms of market value, blamed falling sales of its flagship iPhone on production disruptions in China. Apple’s revenue was $117.1bn for the three months that ended December, down 5.4 percent from a year ago. Profit after tax was $30bn, but both sales and profit were below analysts’ expectations. China is the main manufacturing centre for Apple’s iPhones and the strict curbs imposed in line with Beijing’s…

The good times are back on Wall Street. Stocks have surged since the start of the year. The Nasdaq is up nearly 15% this year after posting its best January since 2001. And it’s not just stocks: bonds have risen and even bitcoin has made a roaring comeback, though all markets fell a tad on Friday. This is all after a miserable 2022, when markets were hit hard by fears about surging inflation and about how the Federal Reserve was fighting it, with the biggest increases in the country’s interest rates since the early 1980s. Today, hope has replaced that fear. Inflation…

The EU country reopened coal-fired plants to generate electricity after Russian supplies stopped. Coal consumption in Finland surged 10% last year compared to 2021 as the country boosted its use in power generation and heating, Statistics Finland said on Wednesday. The highest increase was recorded in the second quarter of 2022 when coal reserves jumped by 23% compared to the previous year amounting to 1.49 million tons, and consumption surged by more than a quarter on an annual basis. “The consumption of hard coal as a fuel in the generation of electricity and heat and in manufacturing amounted to 2,015…

The country has been ramping up output despite Western sanctions, official statistics show. Production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Russia increased by 8.1% last year to a record 32.5 million tons, the Federal Statistics Service Rosstat reported on Wednesday. Data showed that in December the figure was down by 4.8% compared to the same month in 2021, at 2.8 million tons. It was 0.4% higher than in November 2022. According to the report, 11.5 million tons of LNG was produced at the plant of the Sakhalin-2 project. The statistics service said the main reason for the record production was…

Local refiners are reportedly using UAE dirhams to pay for most of the Russian oil bought from Dubai-based traders Indian refiners are now using Emirati dirhams instead of US dollars to pay for most of the Russian oil they purchase via traders based in the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reported last week, citing sources familiar with the matter. The Indian authorities have not supported the measures against Russia adopted by the G7 in response to the conflict in Ukraine. The steps are aimed at cutting Moscow’s energy revenues. A $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil exports was introduced by…

The sanctions policies pursued by the US, EU, and allies against Russia, one of the world’s top producers of crude oil, will result in energy shortages in the future, according to Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. EU member states have imposed ten rounds of sanctions on Russia in an effort to reduce the country’s revenues from energy exports, in response to the military operation in Ukraine. The latest measures, backed by the Group of Seven and Australia, came into force on February 5. “All of those so-called sanctions, embargoes, lack of investments, they will convolute into one thing…

Industrial demand in Sweden is growing faster than energy production, Svenska kraftnat says Sweden will have to reckon with a dearth of electricity starting in 2027, as industrial power demand is growing faster than energy production, Mattias Jonsson, a manager for electricity market analysis at the country’s grid operator, Svenska kraftnat, said on Sunday. The projection takes into account the latest report prepared by the country’s energy agency in cooperation with state regulatory bodies, including the Swedish Transport Agency, Energy Markets Inspectorate and Svenska kraftnat. “We see a risk that large industrial investments won’t be possible if we do not…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On February 3, the Turkish interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, blasted the US Ambassador to Turkey, Jeffry L. Flake, saying, “Take your dirty hands off of Turkey.” The outrage was prompted after Washington and eight European countries issued travel warnings over possible terror attacks in Turkey. The US and its western allies have attempted to connect a recent Quran burning in Sweden with travel danger inside Turkey. Muslim countries worldwide have denounced the burning as hate speech, not free speech, but this has no apparent connection to travel safety issues inside Turkey. The US travel…

Wednesday morning’s ADP jobs and ISM manufacturing reports both came in weaker than expected. Private hiring slowed to its weakest level in two years, according to the ADP National Employment Report, with just 106,000 jobs added in January. In addition, the manufacturing sector continued to contract, with the ISM Manufacturing Survey for January dipping to 47.4. An index reading above 50 indicates an expansion of the manufacturing segment of the economy compared to the previous month. A reading of 50 means no change. A reading below 50 suggests a contraction. Bitcoin (BTC) barely noticed the news, continuing to trade flat over…