Telefonica Forms Strategic Partnership with Chainlink Labs, Citibank Completes Tokenization Pilot on Avalanche

Market Update A flurry of economic data this morning has provided mixed signals for markets. On one side, retail sales decreased 0.8% MoM versus an expected 0.2% decline. On the other side, jobless claims came in lower than expected and the Empire State manufacturing survey showed higher than expected prices paid. U.S. equities are mixed, with the SPY gaining 0.29% and the QQQ showing a modest decline of 0.05%. $BTC (+0.75%) continues its strong February performance, trading above $52k. $ETH (+1.89%) is showing larger gains and has surpassed $2800. Bitcoin-related names have outperformed this week. $STX (one of our core strategy picks) and $ORDI have gained 40% and 12%, respectively.Telefonica, a global telecommunications company, has announced a strategic partnership with Chainlink Labs to help protect customers against SIM-swap attacks. A SIM-swap attack is when hackers get control of a person’s phone number, enabling access to important information like credit cards, bank accounts, or crypto wallets. SIM swapping has become a prevalent method for scammers over the past few years. Telefonica will leverage Chainlink’s Functions technology to ensure the secure connection of smart contracts with Telefonica’s GSMA Open Gateway API. With the integration, smart contracts c