Bitcoin hit $12,000 but then fell as long derivatives traders were wiped out. Meanwhile, DeFi lending continues to grow. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,884 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 1.8% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,468-$12,084 BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market...Read More
COMMENT Herman Mashaba doesn’t want you to remember. With an abrupt resignation from political office and from the right-wing Democratic Alliance (the official opposition party), the former mayor of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, intends to rewrite his legacy and begin again. He wants to govern for a second time by launching a new political...Read More
Human ingenuity finds a way around limitations. Sometimes these limitations are obstacles in the way of progress, and creative thinking comes up with new paths. Sometimes these limitations are a lack of knowledge, and experimentation pushes the boundaries of the possible. And sometimes the limitations are rules, which a few believe don’t apply to them,...Read More
The rags-to-riches legend of Cosmos from 2017 (turning a $17 million token sale into roughly $104 million by 2019) almost came to an end in February 2020 when the interoperability project’s co-founders engaged in a scathing feud. Jae Kwon accused Zaki Manian of blasphemy, arguing over whether this software was “godly” and demanding that Manian...Read More
Update (12:12 UTC): Bitcoin fell by nearly $500 to $11,546 in the 10 minutes to 10:30 UTC, after failing to absorb selling pressure above the $12,000 mark during the early European trading hours. It’s the second rejection above $12,000 in eight days, and comes as the U.S. dollar shows signs of bottoming out. Bitcoin is...Read More
A member of the Australian cabinet has said a new government-backed initiative, which uses blockchain, can help grow the national economy and create new jobs. Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an...Read More
Bitcoin climbed above $12,000 early Monday, before dipping once more, as traders weighed U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to provide emergency aid amid new signs that the labor market recovery is stalling. The oldest and largest cryptocurrency is up 63% on the year. You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team,...Read More
COMMENT Sixty percent of adults do not want schools to reopen during the peak of Covid-19, a survey conducted by the University of Johannesburg and the Human Sciences Research Council found. Likewise, teachers’ unions have called for school closures to alleviate anxiety experienced by parents, pupils and teachers. However, scientists who are members of the...Read More
A northern KwaZulu-Natal retailer that hiked its maize meal price without a corresponding increase in costs early on in the Covid-19 pandemic is the latest business to be nailed by the Competition Commission for price gouging. Cambridge Food Jozini, a division of Cambridge Food and a Massmart subsidiary, was fined for hiking the price of...Read More
Covid-19 is as contagious economically as it is medically. Estimates by the Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge put the worst-case scenario cost of the pandemic to the global economy at a nightmarish $82-trillion over five years, with an optimistic loss of $3.3-trillion in the case of speedy recovery. Like the Covid-19...Read More
