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What Moved Global Markets
– IBM shares jumped 3.5% after the company forecast full-year profit above market expectations on strength in its high-margin cloud computing business. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Wednesday.
– The new government of Spain said on Wednesday it would raise the minimum wage by 5.5 percent effective immediately.
– Tesla Inc shares surged on Wednesday, and the company became the first publicly listed U.S. automaker to cross $100 billion in market valuation, more than Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co combined. Shares of Tesla were up 8.1% at $591.78 in late morning trading, continuing their furious rally that has more than doubled the share price in the last three months.
Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Down 1.39% to $8,605.76
Total trading volume (24h): $22.87+ billion USD
Ethereum: Down 1.93% to $165.83
Total trading volume (24h): $9.30+ billion USD
3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: Polybius (PLBT) is up 162.43% to $1.60
Biggest Mover 2: Blockcloud (BLOC) is up 101.96% to $0.001892
Biggest Loser: BenePit Protocol (BNP) is down 66.25% to $0.001622
What moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)
– Former CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo has released first formal remarks about his Digital Dollar Project. Giancarlo said he launched the project because the circulation of U.S. central bank money has remained “strictly local” and its functionalities are “limited.” “We seek to encourage the next major innovation in the U.S. currency: a tokenized fiat currency issued by the Federal Reserve System,” said Giancarlo. “A new digital form of the Dollar that, alongside traditional fiat coins, banknotes and reserves, would enjoy the full faith and credit of the U.S. government as central bank money.” Giancarlo launched the non-profit Digital Dollar Project last week, in an association with IT giant Accenture. The project’s other partners include Daniel Gorfine (a former CFTC official), Giancarlo’s brother Charles Giancarlo, a former Cisco Systems executive and a former executive at the private-equity firm, Silver Lake Partners.
– The Blockchain Association has filed an amicus curiae brief in response to litigation against Telegram initiated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. An amicus curiae is an entity that does not participate in specific litigation, but has a right to advise the court regarding some matter of law directly concerning the lawsuit. In the letter, the association disputes the charges the SEC brought against Telegram, and argues that Grams are actually not securities.
– The Chamber of Digital Commerce also filed an amicus brief in the ongoing court case between encrypted messenger service Telegram and the SEC, on Jan. 21. The Chamber emphasized that it is not trying to prove whether Telegram’s $1.7 billion Gram token sale was a securities transaction. Instead, the trade association aims to ensure that there is enough clarity around regulations applying to digital assets.
Other Specialties
Fintech: Hong Kong and Thailand’s central banks have stepped closer to implementing a joint central bank digital currency (CBDC) for cross-border payments. On Jan. 22, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) officially announced the outcomes of a joint CBDC research project called Project Inthanon-LionRock. Alongside publishing a joint press release, the banks have issued a detailed 90-page report providing an exhaustive analysis of the potential risks and benefits of CBDCs for real-time money transfers, liquidity management, regulatory compliance, and other aspects of finance.
Healthtech: EuroLeague basketball team Maccabi Tel Aviv is testing new sleep technology in the hope that it will be able to reduce players’ travel fatigue, preventing injuries and optimising recovery. It is the first professional team in the world to trial the solution by Israeli app makers Sleeprate. The Boost – Sleep for Performance technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms based on elite athletes’ sleep data. By linking heart rate and brain activity throughout the night, the product creates an individual-tailored sleep coaching programme for players.
Al: Artificial intelligence regulation needs to be crafted with “precision,” IBM chief Ginni Rometty told CNBC on Wednesday, in an interview from Davos. Rometty said regulation should target how the technology is used, but not the technology itself.
Smart cities: New York is the best city in the world for talent competitiveness, followed by London, Singapore, San Francisco and Boston. Switzerland remained the number one country in the rankings, but the U.S. climbed to second place, followed by Singapore.
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