Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On January 27, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a gunman shot ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshippers as they came out of the Ateret Avraham synagogue in the Neve Yaakov Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. The gunman was 21-year-old Khairi Alkam a resident of East Jerusalem. He was later shot dead by Israeli police. The dead were five men, aged 20 to 60, and two women, aged 60 and 70. Three others were wounded. The Neve Yaakov Jewish settlement’s population is about 23,300. The Jews there have citizenship, civil rights, and human rights. They can travel and…

Chinese consumers splurged during the Spring Festival holiday, not only on things like duty-free commodities, jewelry and health-related products, but also on experiences such as travel and entertainment, fueled by the optimization of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, industry experts said. They added that China’s consumer market, which plays a fundamental role in bolstering the country’s economic growth, is expected to gain momentum this year, and the consumption boom during the weeklong Chinese Lunar New Year holiday showcased the enormous vitality and strong resilience of the nation’s economy. Statistics from the Department of Commerce of Hainan province showed that the…

The retail giant’s initiative, especially in NFTs, may force some regulatory clarity for digital assets. Cryptos surge in Sunday trading. Prices: Bitcoin tops $23.9K before retreating slightly amid ongoing investor optimism. But one market observer says the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization could be due for a U-turn. Insights: Amazon is rumored to be unveiling an NFT initiative, part of the retail giant’s larger push into Web3. The project could raise significant regulatory issues. Catch the latest episodes of CoinDesk TV for insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis. And sign up for First Mover,our daily newsletter putting the latest moves in crypto markets…

The market cap of Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hovered around $457.24 billion, with a dominance of about 42.47%, an increase of 0.18% over the day, according to CoinMarketCap. New Delhi: The cryptocurrency market was trading in the green on Monday. Bitcoin (BTC) rose 2% to $23,700, whereas Ethereum (ETH) was above the $1,600 level. BTC volume in the last 24 hours stood at approximately $25.72 billion, rising 46.95% in the last 24 hours. “BTC gained 2% in the past 24 hours and is currently trading above the US$23,600 level. If bulls can hold BTC above the current level, the impulse may continue towards…