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2022-06-21 14:27:21 Visa Launches Bitcoin and Crypto Enabled Cards in LATAM

Visa, one of the biggest payments companies in the world, has announced the launch of a series of crypto-enabled cards in partnership with several fintech startups in Latam. These cards will allow users to spend crypto, purchase crypto where Visa cards are accepted for such, and also receive crypto cash back through different fintech partners in the region.

The crypto ecosystem continues to gain momentum in the region with increased investment, more consumer adoption, and more crypto-enabled use cases, and we will continue to build on our strong strategy to build the future of crypto and payments for our customers, partners and consumers.

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2022-06-20 17:52:12 New Android spyware ‘Hermit’ now being used by governments

Cyber-security researchers have unearthed a new enterprise-grade Android spyware called 'Hermit' that is being used by the governments via SMS messages to target high-profile people like business executives, human rights activists, journalists, academics and government officials.

The team at cyber-security company Lookout Threat Lab uncovered the 'surveillanceware' that was used by the government of Kazakhstan in April, four months after nationwide protests against government policies were violently suppressed.

"Based on our analysis, the spyware, which we named 'Hermit' is likely developed by Italian spyware vendor RCS Lab and Tykelab Srl, a telecommunications solutions company we suspect to be operating as a front company, " the researchers said in a blog post.

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2022-06-19 18:12:13 25% of U.S. expats ‘planning’ to renounce citizenship or ‘seriously considering’ it

While many taxpayers dread tax-filing season, Americans living abroad face even bigger yearly burdens, and those are now so frustrating that some want to ditch their U.S. citizenship.

Roughly one in four American expatriates is “seriously considering” or “planning” to renounce U.S. citizenship, according to a survey from Greenback Expat Tax Services.

American expats must pay annual U.S. income taxes on worldwide earnings, including their salaries, business profits, investment income and more, which involves filing returns and paying taxes in two countries.

While the U.S. has measures to prevent double taxation, such as the foreign-income exclusion and tax credit, many expats still oppose the dual-filing requirements due to the time commitment and expense of preparing those returns. What’s more, nearly 80% don’t feel they should have to pay U.S. taxes while living abroad, the survey finds.

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2022-06-18 19:12:23 Stock investors are still in danger, but history says bear markets are relatively brief

We have no idea how long the bear market on Wall Street will last, or how far down the major averages will go. But we do know what won’t help you forecast the bear market’s severity: valuation. Bear markets that occur when the stock market is more overvalued do not last longer, on average, than those that begin when equities are less overvalued. Nor do they produce bigger losses, on average.

That should come as a relief, since the stock market currently is either overvalued or extremely overvalued, according to almost any valuation indicator with a solid long-term track record.

These are the conclusions we reached upon analyzing all U.S. bear markets since 1900, according to a calendar maintained by Ned Davis Research. We determined where the stock market stood at the beginning of each bear market,according to eight well-known stock-market valuation models.

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2022-06-18 19:09:28 ECB considers capping Digital Euro in circulation at 4,000 per Capita, Panetta reveals

With concerns about financial stability in mind, the European Central Bank (ECB) plans to limit digital euro holdings, according to Board Member Fabio Panetta. The plan is to have a maximum amount of digital cash in circulation similar to that of euro banknotes today, the official unveiled.

If not well designed, a digital euro could lead to the substitution of an excessive amount of these deposits. Banks can respond to these outflows, managing the trade-off between funding cost and liquidity risk.

This amount would be comparable with the current holdings of banknotes in circulation. As the population of the euro area is currently around 340 million, this would allow for holdings of around 3,000 to 4,000 digital euro per capita.

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2022-06-18 19:03:35 From Great Resignation to Forced Resignation: Tech companies are shifting to layoffs after a huge ramp up in hiring

The Great Resignation is pivoting to a Forced Resignation.

Thousands of layoffs in the tech sector, compounded by hiring freezes and a slowdown in hiring, highlight the abrupt shift in fortunes over the past several months as a result of rampant inflation, fear of stagflation and recession, supply-chain interruptions, the war in Ukraine, an ailing stock market and other red-alert economic factors.

‘The market cap aggregate of about 300 publicly traded tech companies with operations in San Francisco and the valley is at its lowest now, $9.98 trillion, since 2013 after peaking at nearly $15 trillion in November 2021.’

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2022-06-18 19:00:25 Bitcoin below $20,000, Ethereum slips under $1,000

Bitcoin fell below $20,000 on Saturday, as the sell-off in cryptocurrency markets continued to start the weekend. ETH was also trading below a key level, as prices fell below $1,000 for the first time in over 18 months.

Percentage wise, the drop in ETH over the past seven days has been greater than in BTC, with prices here falling by nearly 40% since last Saturday.

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2022-06-16 14:42:09 US Central Bank Hikes Benchmark Rate by 75 bps, Fed's Largest Increase Since 1994

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 75 basis points (bps) on Wednesday, and it was the largest increase since 1994. According to the Fed member’s expectations, the central bank will likely add another 1.5 percentage points by the year’s end.

America’s central bank raised the interest rate by 75 bps on June 15, as it was the highest increase in decades. The last 75 bps rate hike took place during Alan Greenspan’s tenure, as the central bank’s former lead shocked the nation with the drastic increase.

“Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices, and broader price pressures.”

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2022-06-15 20:04:43 European stocks jump as ECB holds surprise meeting

European stocks rallied on Wednesday, with banks leading the gains, after the European Central Bank said its rate-setting Governing Council would hold an unscheduled meeting to discuss the recent sell-off in government bond markets.

An index of euro zone shares climbed 1.5%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 added 1%.

Shares of euro zone banks have fallen sharply in the past week, hit by a selloff in southern European bond markets after the ECB said last week it saw no need to create a new tool to help weaker economies cope with rising borrowing costs, as it ends bond buying and looks to hike rates.

“However, if there aren’t any important details delivered today, we see the case for the massive selling in bonds to continue.”

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2022-06-15 20:01:10 Bank of America: 90% of US Adults Surveyed Plan to Buy Crypto in 6 Months

A new Bank of America survey shows that out of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, 90% plan to buy crypto in the next six months. Moreover, nearly 40% of respondents revealed that they use cryptocurrency as a means of payment.

It was interesting to see that 90% of respondents said they do plan to buy some amount of crypto in the next six months.

Using it as a payment method is interesting for sure and we think what that’s highlighting is the increased use of certain, what we call, crypto-to-fiat-type products.

The reality is our view has been there are too many crypto exchanges. There are too many cryptocurrencies and tokens.

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