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Bitcoin open interest mimics Q4 2020 as new report ‘cautiously optimistic’ on BTC rally
Bitcoin (BTC) futures open interest is mimicking the start of the BTC price bull run, data shows. As BTC/USD hovered near $40,000 on Thursda, a fresh bullish report from Stack Funds called for “cautious optimism” about further price rises. Bitcoin has sought to flip $40,000 to support this week, returning to the level multiple times and refusing to leave recent gains as a blow-off top. According to its latest weekly market appraisal, however, Stack Funds believes that it is derivatives that are giving stronger hints about potential bullish price continuation. Bitcoin open interest is currently exhibiting the style of increase that characterized Q4 last year — the springboard for current $64,500 all-time highs. “Those who wanted to accumulate lower might have missed out on the large swings,...
U.S. economy surpasses prepandemic size with 6.5% Q2 growth
By contrast, consumer spending — the main fuel of the U.S. economy — was robust last quarter: It advanced at an 11.8% annual rate. Spending on goods grew at an 11.6% rate, though down from a 27.4% surge in the first quarter. And spending on services, from restaurant meals to airline tickets, expanded at a 12% rate, up from a 3.9% gain in the January-March period as vaccinations encouraged more Americans to shop, travel and eat out. For all of 2021, the economy is expected to expand perhaps as much as 7%. If so, that would be the strongest calendar-year growth since 1984. And it would mark a sharp reversal from last year’s 3.4% economic contraction — the worst in 74 years — as a result of the pandemic. Yet overhanging the rosy economic forecasts is the possibility of a resurgent coronavirus...
Simon Cowell’s ‘The X Factor’ Canceled In U.K. After 17 Years
The X Factor, Simon Cowell’s ratings juggernaut that first aired in the U.K. in 2004 and has given rise to some of the biggest pop acts of the 2000s, has been canceled by British network ITV. The broadcaster has confirmed that there are “no current plans” for another season of the show in the U.K. following rumors in the British media that Cowell himself was axing his most famous reality creation after 17 years. The X Factor — which helped lead to the formation of boy band One Direction and girl group Little Mix, and made Cowell a household name around the world — last aired in Britain in 2018. The show, in which contestants are mentored by judges that over the years have included Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Nicole Sherzinger as they aim to win the public vote, was produced by Fremant...
AMD’s Revenue Skyrocketed 99% In Q2 of 2021
Computer chip producer AMD has seen its revenue growth skyrocket by 99 percent over the second quarter of 2021. Over the quarter ending June 30, the tech giant brought in $3.85 billion USD in revenue along with $778 million USD in net income, equating to 63 cents per share, which beat out previous expectations of 54 cents per share. The company has seen massive success in recent years as its processors and graphics cards continue to gain market share from its main competitor Intel. “Our business performed exceptionally well in the second quarter as revenue and operating margin doubled and profitability more than tripled year-over-year,” said AMD CEO Lisa Su in a statement. “We are growing significantly faster than the market with strong demand across all of our businesses. We now expect ou...
Study shows 11% of Russians ready to be paid in digital rubles
A group of 12 banks are taking part in the pilot programme for the new digital currency A recent study of more than 3,000 people by HeadHunter found that 11% of Russians are ready to receive their salary in digital rubles, according to a report from Russian news outlet Izvestia yesterday. The survey revealed that 41% of citizens are categorically unprepared to accept digital ruble payments, while the rest were unsure. Those that were ready for the digital ruble disagreed about how much of their salary should be paid in it, with some willing to receive all of it in the new digital currency and others no more than half. The Central Bank will run a pilot programme for the digital ruble with the participation of 12 banks, which between them facilitate the salary payments of 87% of the country’...
Cardano price analysis: ADA fails to test resistance at $1.42
Cardano has failed to break the $1.42 resistance level again, but it will likely retest this level as its price is currently up by less than 1% over the past few hours The cryptocurrency market is recovering after a slight dip a few hours ago. Bitcoin was able to reach the $40,000 mark, and its value is now up by less than 1% in the past 24 hours. Ether, Dogecoin and Binance Coin are also trading in the positive zone, despite adding less than 1% to their value. Cardano failed to break the resistance level at $1.42 yesterday, with the cryptocurrency correcting lower towards the $1.25 region. However, ADA is attempting to break past the resistance level again, with its price currently up by over 1%. ADA price outlook The ADA/USD 4-hour chart is turning bullish after the cryptocurrency retrac...
PayPal will roll out crypto super app soon, says CEO
Payment provider PayPal said it is working on a cryptocurrency super app, and it will be released soon PayPal CEO, Dan Schulman, revealed during the company’s Q2 2021 investor update call yesterday that they are close to rolling out their cryptocurrency super app. He stated that their users won’t have to wait much longer to enjoy additional cryptocurrency functions through their platform. Schulman told investors that the initial version of PayPal’s super app wallet was “code complete”, and he expects the wallet to be available to its US customers in the next few months. However, he didn’t give an exact month when he expects the app to be available to cryptocurrency investors and traders. According to PayPal, the super app wallet will come with numerous features, including high yield saving...
BlockCrushr drops lawsuit accusing ConsenSys of stealing its IP
Canadian blockchain startup BlockCrushr has agreed to drop an intellectual property (IP) lawsuit against early backer, Ethereum-focused software engineering firm, ConsenSys. The two firms filed a joint agreement to dismiss the case on July 27, with the deal’s terms prohibiting BlockCrushr from attempting to pursue the matter in future. ConsenSys has characterized the agreement as a victory for its position, stating: “BlockCrushr has dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice after review of the evidence provided in discovery established that BlockCrushr’s claims were entirely without merit.” ConsenSys’ lead counsel, Tibor Nagy, added: “This is an important and complete victory for ConsenSys and illustrates the value of aggressively combating meritless claims.” Filed in July 2020, the...
Erik Voorhees lashes ‘disgusting’ behavior of Bitcoin maxis: ‘Not the community I come from’
Erik Voorhees, the founder and CEO of ShapeShift, has revealed in a podcast that he felt embarrassed and disgusted by the behavior of Bitcoin maximalists at the 2021 Bitcoin conference in Miami. A Bitcoin OG who can see some merit in altcoins, Voorhees spoke on a panel during day two of the Miami conference in June. He caused a stir when he said “Did I hear someone on that prior panel say ‘If you’re against toxic maximalism, you’re against Bitcoin and you’re against freedom?’… Yeah, that’s some bullshit.” The ShapeShift CEO expanded on those comments in a July 27 interview on the Unchained Podcast hosted by journalist Laura Shin. The 35-year-old slammed Bitcoiners who believe that toxic behavior such as trashing proponents of other cryptocurrencies is a good thing for BTC: “They’ve spun th...
Senators add crypto taxes to infrastructure deal to raise $28B in extra revenue
Last-minute additions to the bipartisan infrastructure deal in the United States Senate saw lawmakers propose expanded cryptocurrency taxation to raise an additional $28 billion in revenue. The proposal will implement tighter rules on businesses handling crypto, expand reporting requirements for brokers and mandate that digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 are reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, the lead Republican for the infrastructure discussions, noted Congress has expressed concerns regarding crypto reporting and taxation requirements for some time: “Everybody’s been talking about the appropriate way to provide more reporting in particular and that leads to better compliance.” The crypto measures were hastily add...
Nano seeks $700K in costs from plaintiff who dropped class action with ‘absurd’ claims
An ongoing lawsuit involving crypto project Nano has taken another turn this week when the developers sought a sanction after the plaintiff dropped the case. The Nano team is after $701,000 in attorney fees and costs as a sanction after a token buyer dropped his proposed class action. On July 27, its legal team told a California federal court that some of the claims against them had been “legally baseless”, according to Law360. Token buyer Alec Otto had accused the Nano developers of fraud, violating securities laws and other offenses, in connection with the loss of millions of tokens following the BitGrail exchange hack in 2018. The developers stated that Otto’s class action claims were filed too late, at least one filing contained allegations unsupported by evidence and that he adv...
Google’s Parent Company Alphabet Sees 62% Revenue Surge in Q2 2021
Google‘s parent company Alphabet continues to grow throughout 2021, see a staggering 62 percent increase in revenue over the second quarter year-over-year. Bringing in $61.9 billion USD in Q2, the sum also trumps the previous $55.3 billion USD in revenue over the last quarter. Net income rose even more significantly from $7 billion USD to $18.5 billion USD compared to the same period a year ago. CEO Sundar Pichai attributes the company’s success largely to increased online activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In Q2, there was a rising tide of online activity in many parts of the world, and we’re proud that our services helped so many consumers and businesses,” said Pichai in a statement. “Our long-term investments in AI and Google Cloud are helping us drive significant improvements in e...
