The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is ramping up pressure on the crypto sector. On Feb. 9, the SEC reached a $30 million settlement with Kraken over the centralized staking program it offered to its users. The news of the crackdown sent the price of Bitcoin (BTC) to a three-week low as investors became
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Debt market specialists have been banging the drum on this for months: bonds are back. Now it appears this message has cut through sufficiently clearly — particularly on corporate bonds — that the popularity of the bet is one of the few things they think could hold the asset class back, at least in the
The American Dream Mall is being sued by a group of junior lenders of private loans that helped finance the construction of the $5 billion shopping complex in New Jersey, according to documents filed on Feb. 7 with the New York State Supreme Court. The lawsuit, Bloomberg Law reported, was brought by SOL-MM III LLC,
The Florida Legislature concluded its special session on Friday and passed new laws that renamed the Reedy Creek Improvement District and put its control in the hands of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Legislature approved a bill in April to dissolve all independent special districts created before 1968. The bill’s authors and DeSantis made it clear it was intended to punish the
Nearly half of Puerto Rico’s residents will be exempt from paying a proposed charge to support the restructured Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bonds, the Puerto Rico Oversight Board said. The amended proposed PREPA plan of adjustment, filed Thursday, calls for a monthly fixed $13 fee and a volume-based charge for use up to 500
The City of London will ask its cluster of skyscrapers to dim their lights at night as part of a new strategy to reduce visual pollution and save energy. Property owners across the Square Mile will be asked to switch off unnecessary building lights as part of a proposal by the City of London Corporation
In 2022, the six largest western oil companies made more money than in any year in the history of the industry: over $200bn, largely from pumping and selling the fossil fuels the world must replace to avert the climate crisis. The windfalls that BP, Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total revealed in their end-of-year results
The CEO of crypto exchange Kraken, Jesse Powell, has called on Congress to pass a law to protect the U.S. crypto industry after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took action against his trading platform over its crypto staking service. Kraken’s CEO Responds to SEC Action Kraken CEO Jesse Powell urged Congress to pass a
By now, the chances of survivors being found under the rubble left by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria are extremely slim. The death toll has already climbed to 22,000, surpassing that claimed by Turkey’s huge quake in 1999. The human cost will inevitably climb higher still. But aid and attention must now focus
Ukraine has pleaded with its allies for ammunition and artillery “immediately”, warning it is running short of stocks to defend against a new Russian offensive that Kyiv fears is imminent. The demand, by deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna, came on a day when Moscow launched ballistic missiles against Ukraine’s infrastructure. It also followed a tour
On Feb. 9, United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler explained why the regulator had cracked down on Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, forcing it to stop its crypto staking program for U.S. clients. This news may have rattled crypto investors and they sold aggressively. Bitcoin (BTC) crashed about 5% on Feb. 9 and several
February has been a rollercoaster ride for cryptocurrency traders, with market volatility leading to high levels of price uncertainty. Following a strong start to the month, bitcoin prices have since plunged, resulting in a current bear run. However, with just over two weeks left of this short month, what else could be in store for
Nevada’s rainy-day fund has soared to $904 million, the highest balance in state history, according to Nevada State Treasurer Zach Conine. The balance grew to this level following the transfer of $516.9 million from the state’s general fund last week, according to a release from the treasurer. The balance is more than double what it
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said the odds of the Federal Reserve being able to control inflation without triggering a recession are growing, but that the key interest rate must get above 5% and stay there to ensure price pressures ease. “We actually are increasing the odds — we can get a soft landing. That
Michigan is considering a large, first-time road tolling program that would establish a public tolling agency and new borrowing credit to shore up a long-struggling road funding system. The toll program, which would begin with nearly 600 of mostly interstate miles, would also be somewhat unusual in that it would build on existing roads. Most
Illinois’ consolidation of suburban and downstate police firefighter pension fund assets cleared a second legal hurdle but it could take a decision from the Illinois Supreme Court to clear the path for full participation in the plan. Kane County Circuit Court Judge Robert Villa last May upheld the law and an appellate court this week
The writer is the Freeman chair in China studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Close followers of the US-China relationship have become accustomed to both whiplash and cognitive dissonance. First, the whiplash. A little more than a week ago, US secretary of state Antony Blinken was set to travel to Beijing for
Following the recent court filing from liquidators for Three Arrows Capital (3AC) claiming frustration with the 3AC co-founders for allegedly failing to respond to subpoenas sent via Twitter. Su Zhu, one of the co-founders, recently tweeted about his new crypto venture, Open Exchange. The exchange aims to provide users with the ability to trade or
An aerial view from a drone shows homes in a neighborhood on January 26, 2021 in Miramar, Florida. According to two separate indices existing home prices rose to the highest level in 6 years. Joe Raedle | Getty Images The U.S. housing market cooled off pretty dramatically last year, after mortgage rates more than doubled
Volume in the Northeast fell 11.3% last year as issuers sold $102.3 billion of municipal bonds in 1,520 deals compared to $115.4 billion in 2,283 deals in 2021. The region still beat the national numbers, which saw municipal bond issuance fall 19.5% to $389.1 billion. In the Northeast in 2022, tax-exempt issuance dropped 3.4% to
In this modern era, many technological advancements have long moved past utilitarian purposes and are instead designed for convenience and comfort. But with the onset of stay-at-home orders and social distancing in the early days of the pandemic, what was merely convenient suddenly became essential and contactless technologies became commonplace. Although made necessary by the