- The $SPY (+0.70%) and $QQQ (+0.82%) are rallying today following the latest Employment Cost Index (ECI) release, which showed continuing deceleration of wage growth, reducing the risk of a wage-price spiral that could keep inflation persistently higher. Crypto markets are following suit, with $BTC rising 1.30% and $ETH rising 1.65%, recouping some of yesterday’s losses. Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that Twitter has begun applying for various regulatory licenses across the US that would allow the social media platform to enable in-app payments, which could be an early step in turning Twitter into an “everything app.” Elon Musk said that the payments software would initially be designed to support fiat payments but built in a way that could support crypto functionality down the line. Following the report, $DOGE quickly surged before retracing the move. Today $DOGE is outperforming, rising 7.69% at the time of writing.
- Binance has partnered with Mastercard to offer its “Binance Card” in Brazil. Brazil is currently a top 10 market for Binance globally and will become the second country in Latin America to have access to the card after Argentina launched the product last year. In a 2022 Mastercard survey of more than 35,000 participants, Brazil was one of the top crypto markets in the world, with 49% of Brazilian consumers completing at least one crypto activity in the last year compared to the 41% global average. The Binance card will allow new and existing users in Brazil with a valid national ID to make purchases and pay bills with crypto. The card will support fourteen cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BUSD, which can be used globally at any of the over 90 million Mastercard merchants. The Binance Card converts crypto to fiat currency at the point of purchase and includes up to 8% cashback in crypto on eligible purchases. The Binance Card is currently in the testing phase and should be available more broadly in the next few weeks.
- In an independent review by Shoba Pillay, a partner at law firm Jenner & Block, it was determined that bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network was using customer funds to pay out other customers’ withdrawals. This type of fraudulent activity is typically known as a Ponzi Scheme. Pillay alleges Celsius misled its investors “In every key respect – from how Celsius described its contract with its customers to the risks it took with their crypto assets.” Pillay added that the misappropriation of customer funds didn’t start in 2022 and that problems surfaced in 2020 when Celsius used deposits to fund operational expenses and rewards. To top it off, Pillay claims that Celsius's senior management repeatedly lied to the public about what was going on while selling a total of $80 million worth of $CEL tokens between 2018 and bankruptcy. Celsius had agreed to an independent examiner’s review in part of a deal that reduced the scope of the investigation proposed by the US Department of Justice, but the findings should lead to further repercussions for former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, who is currently facing fraud allegations.
Binance and Mastercard Team Up in Brazil, Celsius was Running a Ponzi Scheme
Jan 31, 2023
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