Two lead attorneys for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the case against crypto firm Debt Box have reportedly resigned. This followed a federal judge sanctioning the SEC for its “gross abuse of power” after the agency made “materially false and misleading representations” in its lawsuit against the cryptocurrency firm. Lead Attorneys in […]
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‘Bond King’ Bill Gross Predicts Q4 Recession: Loan Delinquencies and Regional Banks in the Crosshairs
Bill Gross, revered as Wall Street’s ‘Bond King,’ foresees a recession clouding the U.S. economy by the year’s final quarter. He pinpoints the burgeoning issue of overdue car payments and the financial strains beleaguering regional banks as catalysts for the impending economic slump.
Bill Gross Foresees Economic Clouds on the Horizon
On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, stock markets have risen, somewhat healing from the previous week’s bruises. Despite this uptick, market conditions remain tumultuous, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield hovering at 4.84%. Inflation has nudged slightly upward in the last two months, prompting anticipation of a 0.25% interest rate escalation in the forthcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
On the social media network X (formally Twitter), the bond connoisseur Bill Gross publicly shared his projection of a deceleration in the U.S. economy’s momentum come the fourth quarter. “Regional bank carnage and recent rise in auto delinquencies to long-term historical highs indicate U.S. economy slowing significantly,” Gross said. “Recession in 4th quarter,” the investor added.
Auto loan tardiness has surged of late, with other financial slip-ups such as consumer loans and credit card lapses reaching peaks not seen in over ten years. Just last month, an alarming 6% of sub-prime car loan patrons lagged behind by a full 60 days. The unsettling trend of vehicle confiscations began to rise in January and hasn’t looked back since. Intriguingly, while auto loans and other consumer debts reveal escalating delinquency, single-family mortgage payment misses haven’t shown the same consistent uptrend in 2023, though they’ve inched upward.
A closer look at the data paints a mosaic of delinquency trends, oscillating based on the mortgage type and the specific timeframe in focus. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has pointed out a noticeable uptick in delinquencies for commercial real estate and multi-family sectors in 2023’s second quarter. Amidst this backdrop of rising defaults and a stubbornly high federal funds rate, 2023 has been particularly brutal for regional banks. The scenario grew direr after the abrupt downfall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March.
In Gross’s commentary on X, he emphatically noted, “I’m seriously considering regional banks again,” following up with the investment advice: “On bonds. Invest in the curve.” The year has seen regional banks not only underperforming but also plummeting even deeper than their lows during the SVB debacle. The financial institution Huntington Bank felt the pressure, shuttering dozens branches across the Midwest.
These regional financiers, are heavily tied to commercial real estate (CRE) and are grappling with the rising defaults. This, coupled with consecutive Federal rate boosts, has nudged their unrealized losses perilously close to the edge.
What do you think about Gross’s prediction? Do you expect a recession in the fourth quarter? Share your insights and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
What Is XRP? A Brief History of the Real-Time Gross Settlement System
While Ripple has its critics, there exists a passionate ‘army’ of XRP advocates who firmly believe it represents the future of decentralized finance and cross-border settlement. In this Learning and Insights guide, our objective is to walk you through a brief history of Ripple and its native cryptocurrency XRP, examining its roots, purpose, benefits, criticisms, and key players.
Unveiling the Ripple Effect: A Journey Through Ripple’s Origins and Impact
The origins of XRP can be traced back to 2004 when developer Ryan Fugger created a payments platform called Ripplepay to facilitate financial transactions. In 2012, Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and David Schwartz built upon Fugger’s ideas to create Opencoin, which would later be renamed Ripple Labs. Ripple.com, once in the possession of a telecommunications company named Ripple Communications, underwent a pivotal shift in late 2012 when Ripple Labs assumed ownership.
The goal was to develop a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange, and remittance network using the cryptocurrency XRP as a bridging asset. XRP was designed to offer speed, scalability, and stability. Transactions settle in 3-5 seconds, far faster than Bitcoin (BTC), and the network can handle 1,500 transactions per second, dwarfing Bitcoin’s 7 transactions per second.
The total supply is 100 billion XRP, with 99,988,438 in circulation today, making it more abundant than scarce cryptocurrencies like BTC. XRP is currently the 6th largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of over billion and 99 billion XRP in circulation. Nearly 5 million unique addresses hold XRP, though the distribution is top-heavy — the top 10 accounts own 11% of the supply and the top 100 holders command 33% of the total supply.
Ripple Labs continues to develop and promote Ripplenet, a network of banks and financial institutions that use XRP for global payments. Ripple claims this allows secure, instant, and nearly free cross-border transactions. Though founded by McCaleb, he left Ripple in 2013 to co-found the Stellar Development Foundation and XLM cryptocurrency, a fork of XRP.
Ripple is led by CEO Brad Garlinghouse, CTO David Schwartz, and other executives like Monica Long, the senior vice president of marketing, and Kristina Campbell, the firm’s chief financial officer. XRP’s main goal is to facilitate liquidity, instant settlement, and lower fees for the institutions on Ripplenet sending cross-border payments. Earthpoint, Fidor Bank, Bank of America, and HSBC are among the financial institutions that have utilized Ripple’s services.
The Regulatory Battle: Ripple’s Legal Challenges
However, some argue it is overly centralized and Ripple too closely controls the XRP supply. Understanding its origins and current landscape allows an informed perspective on the sometimes controversial, yet popular cryptocurrency. While new to many investors, XRP has been in development for well over a decade and it’s one of the oldest crypto projects. Nevertheless, Ripple has found itself entangled in a legal battle with the U.S. securities regulator for several years, and in the summer of 2023, the situation has taken an intriguing turn.
In December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs and its executives, alleging they raised over .3 billion through an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP to retail consumers. This sparked a heated legal battle, with Ripple arguing XRP is sufficiently decentralized to be considered a commodity, not a security. The lawsuit has continued into 2023, creating massive uncertainty around XRP’s regulatory standing in the United States.
On July 13, 2023, Ripple Labs scored a partial victory in its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the sale of XRP tokens. The ruling by U.S. District judge Analisa Torres allowed some of the SEC’s claims to proceed to trial but dismissed others. However, the SEC is appealing the partial victory that Ripple Labs scored in its legal battle. On August 24, 2023, a judge granted the SEC’s request to appeal the matter.
What do you think about Ripple and XRP’s history? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
2Crazy brings professional poker player Jeff Gross onboard to create a comprehensive gaming experience
Gaming platforms have garnered massive attention due to the advent of NFTs. From what looked like a casual competition has transitioned to worldwide tournaments with top gamers joining the space. The evolution of this multi-million dollar industry has attracted the likes of celebrity stardom and eye-watering sums creating the best action in the NFT sphere. Diverse NFT platforms have bought in real use-cases in the quest to develop sophisticated gaming & e-sports experience.
According to DappRadar, the total NFT sales volume stands over .5 billion in Q1 2021. The NFTs have exploded in popularity, and now it’s time to usher in the new era of gaming experiences. Online gaming & e-sports have been one of the significant sources of passive income, providing high-level satisfaction to the users from the comfort of their desktops. The integration of NFTs in the gaming arena has created immersive virtual experiences that have gained traction in full swing, a collective mania for NFT enthusiasts and sportive players.
The creators behind 2Crazy revealed that as part of their latest alliance, star poker player Jeff Gross would be joining their platform as a global ambassador and the brand’s face to drive mainstream adoption of NFTs in the gaming sphere. 2Crazy is known for creating realistic experiences for users by launching unique NFTs by some of the biggest sports tournaments and leagues, along with personalized merchandise. To unlock the potential of 2Crazy, users can leverage the native CRZ tokens enjoying various perks associated with it. Currently, 2Crazy is operational on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks and aims to expand in the future.
Poker to NFTs, Jeff Gross to officially endorse 2Crazy
With hundreds of NFT platforms popping daily, it is a visual representation of how the NFT mania has taken place by the fire. Celebrity & Sports endorsements have managed to catch the enthusiasm of the buyers and have resulted in billions of dollars of revenue. 2Crazy has an intuitive platform allowing users to purchase digital collectibles and fun moments in the effortless way possible.
As per the latest news, the collaboration of Jeff Gross with the 2Crazy platform will fuel mainstream adoption in the crypto space as the star player will amass an enthusiastic audience from his community to flock to the 2Crazy platform. Poker enthusiasts, amateur players, and professional gamers will now be able to experience the world of NFTs. Jeff Gross has a proven record of bagging several tournament championships and has recorded a whopping .5 million in revenue through his poker playoffs. He has been an active proponent of his game on the native Twitch Channel with over 87K subscribers and millions of views. Currently, the channel has a library of over 140 videos that a user can access.
Jeff Gross has entered into collaboration with various brands as an ambassador resulting in driving the overall credibility of 2Crazy. He has gained immense popularity on social channels like Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and others. Jeff Gross has in-depth experience in live tournaments and online tournaments and has managed to take over the hearts of the audiences through his breathtaking performances.
With 2Crazy witnessing a bright future on e-sports in the NFTverse, the solid partnership with Jeff will drive more awareness and global connections to the platform. 2Crazy aims to bridge the gap between player-superstars and fans, thus bringing in the sense of closeness in the gaming arena.
Bitcoin Mining Giant Canaan Reports 417% Increase in Gross Profit
Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Canaan has recorded a net loss of .6 million in Q1 2020, despite seeing a huge increase in profits. According to the company’s newly released financial report, its gross profit increased by 417% from Q1 2019, while total net revenues increased by 44%.
Unaudited Report Shows Canaan Suffered Huge Losses in Q1
According to an earnings report released earlier today, mining hardware manufacturer Canaan has recorded a .6 million loss in the first fiscal quarter of the year. The financial results published by the company end with Mar. 31 and include both operating and financial highlights.
The Bitcoin company’s net loss for Q1 2020, while high at 39.9 million yuan, still represents a significant decrease from the 67.9 million yuan loss the company reported in Q1 2019.
On the other hand, the company’s total net revenue saw a significant increase last quarter, with the report stating that it grew by 44.6% year over year to 68.3 million yuan, or .6 million. The company reported a net revenue of 67.9 million yuan in Q1 2019.
“Despite facing increasing macroeconomic uncertainties, we carried through our growth momentum to deliver better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter of 2020,“ said Quanfu Hong, Canaan’s chief financial officer.
Canaan Reports a Fourfold Increase in Gross Profit
In the company’s report, Hong explained that Canaan’s net revenue increase was a direct result of an increase in the total computing power sold and the average selling price per terrahash during the last quarter.
The report also cited that there has been a 417% increase in gross profits at Canaan year over year, with the company pocketing 2.4 million yuan, or around 0,000. The company earned 500,000 yuan, or around ,000, during the first quarter of last year.
Zhang Nangeng, the CEO and chairman of Canaan, said in an earnings call that the overall situation in the mining market hasn’t been “too good” last year, which is why the company lowered the price of its mining hardware by more than 50%. Many have also attributed a lack of interest in mining equipment due to the Bitcoin halving as the main driving force behind Canaan’s poor performance.
Mining equipment demand will rise again for Canaan if it is able to stay ahead of the innovation in the mining equipment manufacturing curve. The firm’s largest competitor in Bitcoin startup Bitmain continues to be an industry leader.
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Bitcoin SV Miners Saw Gross Losses of $2.2 Million Since Fork BitMEX
n The estimated accumulated gross losses of Bitcoin SV miners amount to .2 million, says BitMEX reportn
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