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There’s one hopeful sign for the Fed on inflation. Really.
“If we have a wage-price spiral, the Fed really has to slam on the brakes,” said Dean Baker, a senior economist at the progressive Center for Economic and Policy Research. “You can’t have that if wage growth is slowing, and it clearly is.” “This takes an enormous amount of pressure off the Fed,” Baker said. For now, that’s cold comfort to millions of Americans who are seeing less and less money left over in their wallets after their monthly expenses. The trend has contributed to a dour national mood that could feed fears of an impending economic slump and doom Democrats’ prospects at the polls in November. The latest consumer price index report showed that prices skyrocketed by 1.3 percent in June alone from the previous month, partially reflecting a jump in gas prices that has since begun...
U.S. inflation reached a new 40-year high in June of 9.1%
Gas prices are displayed at a filling station in Philadelphia, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. | Matt Rourke/AP Photo By Associated Press 07/13/2022 08:51 AM EDT Surging prices for gas, food and rent catapulted U.S. inflation to a new four-decade peak in June, further pressuring households and likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with higher borrowing costs to follow. Consumer prices soared 9.1% compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, the biggest 12-month increase since 1981, and up from an 8.6% jump in May. On a monthly basis, prices rose 1.3% from May to June, another substantial increase, after prices had jumped 1% from April to May. The ongoing price increases underscore the brutal impact that inflation has inflicted on many ...
U.S. inflation reached a new 40-year high in June of 9.1 percent
The ongoing price increases underscore the brutal impact that inflation has inflicted on many families, with the costs of necessities, in particular, rising much faster than average incomes. Lower-income and Black and Hispanic Americans have been hit especially hard, because a disproportionate share of their income goes toward such essentials as housing, transportation and food. Some economists have held out hope that inflation might be reaching or nearing a short-term peak. Gas prices, for example, have fallen from the eye-watering $5 a gallon reached in mid-June to an average of $4.66 nationwide as of Tuesday — still far higher than a year ago but a drop that could help slow inflation for July and possibly August. In addition, shipping costs and commodity prices have begun to fall. Pay i...
Bitcoin not a currency? South Africa to regulate crypto as financial asset
The South African Reserve Bank is set to introduce regulations next year that will see cryptocurrencies classed and treated as financial assets to balance investor protection and innovation. Cryptocurrency use in South Africa is in a healthy space, with around 13% of the population estimated to own some form of cryptocurrency, according to research from global exchange Luno. With more than six million people in the country having cryptocurrency exposure, regulation of the space has long been a talking point. Companies or individuals looking to provide advice or intermediary services involving cryptocurrencies are currently required to be recognized as financial services providers. This involves meeting a number of checkboxes to comply with global guidelines set out by the Financial Action ...
MoonPay to make Web3 payments with Unstoppable Domains partnership
Unstoppable Domains has partnered with crypto payment firm MoonPay to incorporate nonfungible token (NFT) domains in transactions within the platform. With the collaboration, MoonPay users can send and receive digital assets using their domain names, eliminating the need to enter long and complicated wallet addresses. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Ivan Soto-Wright, the co-founder and CEO of MoonPay, said that the partnership would make it easier for people to come into the Web3 world. According to Soto-Wright, while MoonPay deals with the front-end, Unstoppable Domains enhances the tail-end of a user’s journey by removing the complex characters and replacing them with customizable NFT domains. Sandy Carter, an executive at Unstoppable Domains, also commented on the ...
Shanghai included blockchain, NFTs and Web3 in its 5-year plan
China’s biggest city Shanghai officially intends to boost the development of innovations such as blockchain, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), metaverse and Web3 in general during its next five-year plan. On July 13, Shanghai’s Municipal Government published the draft of its “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Shanghai’s Digital Economy”. A document sets the mission of “promoting the deep integration of digital technology and the real economy,” with “scientists judging technology prospects” and “entrepreneurs discovering market demand”. The plan suggests supporting the enterprises that plan to construct the NFT trading platforms and “research and promote the digitization of NFT and other assets.” A separat...
Dogecoin misses bullish target after Elon Musk snubs Twitter — what’s next for DOGE price?
Dogecoin (DOGE) has missed a much-anticipated technical upside target and is down nearly 10% over the past week amid an ongoing spat between Elon Musk and Twitter. Musk hurts DOGE price To recap: Musk, whose companies Tesla, SpaceX, and Vegas Loop accept DOGE payments, had suggested introducing the same checkout option on Twitter this April. Bitcoin spoofs a breakout while Dogecoin jumps on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover news. https://t.co/dlMH5u5jaf — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) April 25, 2022 Nonetheless, the Musk-Twitter deal has turned sour after the billionaire attempted to walk away from his $44 billion takeover bid. In response, the platform has sued Musk, alleging that his heart changed after suffering personal losses in the ongoing global market carnage. Some Dogecoin trade...
California regulator investigating crypto interest accounts
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has warned consumers to “exercise extreme caution” when dealing with interest-bearing crypto-asset accounts. The DFPI stated that it is investigating multiple crypto interest account providers to determine whether they are “violating laws under the Department’s jurisdiction.” In a July 12 note, the DFPI emphasized that crypto-interest account providers “are not governed by the same rules and protections as banks and credit unions” and that some platforms are “preventing customers from withdrawing from and transferring between their accounts.” “The Department warns California consumers and investors that many crypto-interest account providers may not have adequately disclosed risks customers face when they deposit crypt...
Liquidators can subpoena 3AC founders despite ‘tricky issues’ with crypto assets
A United States (U.S.) court has given liquidators permission to subpoena the founders of crypto investment firm Three Arrows Capital (3AC), including Su Zhu and Kyle Davies. According to a report by Law360 on July 12, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn issued an order on Tuesday allowing the subpoenas after being told by the counsel for the liquidators that the founders’ whereabouts are unknown and there were fears they could be selling off tens of millions in assets. The counsel, Adam Goldberg, said he didn’t know the current location of Zhu or Davies, alleging the duo have not provided “meaningful cooperation” with the liquidators. Goldberg raised concerns that 3AC may be selling assets by pointing to media reports that a Singapore property worth “tens of millions” was...
Institutional investor sentiment about ETH improves as Merge approaches
Ethereum prices may have dipped again today, but there are signs that professional investors are warming to the asset as the highly anticipated Merge draws closer. In its digital asset fund flows weekly report, fund manager CoinShares reported that Ethereum-based products saw inflows for the third consecutive week. There was an inflow of $7.6 million for institutional Ethereum funds, whereas those for Bitcoin continued to outflow with a loss of $1.7 million. Referring to the Ethereum funds CoinShares stated: “The inflows suggest a modest turnaround in sentiment, having endured 11 consecutive weeks of outflows that brought 2022 outflows to a peak of US$460M.” It added that the change in sentiment may be due to the increasing probability of the Merge happening later this year. The Merge is a...
Why Coinbase is banning slide decks and ‘endless meetings’
Crypto exchange Coinbase is getting rid of slide decks and “endless meetings” as a way to improve productivity following the purge of roughly 18% of employees last month. In a July 13 blog post, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong noted that the company is currently focused on “driving more efficiency” as it continues to scale, pointing to a 200% year-on-year employee growth over 18 months that had started to put a strain on the firm’s organizational structure. He suggested that many major firms experiencing rapid growth generally end up becoming complacent and slowing down, while great companies do the opposite: “While this trajectory is natural, it is not inevitable. Every great company, from Amazon to Meta to Tesla, found ways to retain their founding energy in conjunction with appropriate con...
Judge Says NBA Youngboy Lyrics Can’t Be Used as Evidence as L.A. Gun Possession Trial Begins
Youngboy Never Broke Again (a.k.a. NBA Youngboy) scored a major victory on the opening day of his Los Angeles trial for firearms possession on Tuesday (July 12), with the judge ruling to exclude the use of the rapper’s lyrics as evidence, defense attorneys confirmed to Billboard. The decision by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner means prosecutors won’t be able to use lyrics from three Youngboy songs — “Lonely Child,” “Life Support” and “Gunsmoke” — to help convict the rapper (born Kentrell Gaulden), who’s charged with possession of a firearm after he was discovered with a loaded FNX-45 gun during a traffic stop in Tarzana, California on March 22, 2021. Among other lines, prosecutors had argued that the lyric “FN, Glock, MAC-10s” from “Gunsmoke” demonstrates the rapper’s “familiarity and...
