The quarterly report of Meta (formerly Facebook) made investors quite happy. Everything seems to indicate that the “year of efficiency” is going from strength to strength. Cost cutting plans are underway. In addition, the company announced a buyback of shares of 40 billion dollars. Revenues are down, but a slight increase is expected for the next quarter. Of course Reality Labs, the division tasked with creating the Metaverse, is still making losses. We are talking about 4.3 billion dollars in the last three months. The total annual loss amounts to 13.7 billion dollars. Despite everything, investors, in general terms, interpreted the report as positive.
Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell reported big profits ($56MM, $37MM and $40MM, respectively). Obviously these exceptional gains are directly related to the price of energy. Like it or not, the energy sector is the big winner in this situation. Financial markets are off to a great start due to a revival of hope. In fact, the IMF is now forecasting higher global economic growth than previously estimated. Fears of a recession are increasingly dissipating.
The Federal Reserve of the United States returned to increases of 0.25%. Now interest rates are in the 4.5%-4.7% range. We must remember that they had not been like this since September 2007. That is, Bitcoin has never been in a monetary environment like it is today. I mean, it could be said that we are entering unknown territory.
Can we trust the patterns of previous cycles to predict what is coming our way? Not at all. Of course, it would be a mistake to dismiss the past entirely. Nevertheless, it is sensible to expect the new context to cause deviations from historical behavior. New game, new rules. Not everyone thinks so. Some think that the macroeconomic and monetary context does not matter. Personally, I do not belong to that group.
Now, let’s talk about the top crypto news of the week according to Cointelegraph in Spanish. This is not a news summary. This is an opinion article. The intention is to reflect on the following headlines in a skeptical and critical way. This is an article for free thinkers.
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Hints at the Beginning of “Disinflation” as Crypto Market Capitalization Rebounds to $40 Billion
Well, that’s the idea. The cost of credit is being increased to reduce demand. The intention here is to lower inflation to return to the 2% annual target. In my opinion, the word “innuendo” is not appropriate. What is happening is that the measures are beginning to work. The data confirms it. The economy is indeed slowing down. And we owe that to the monetary policy implemented by the Federal Reserve. As simple as that.
Of course, we are still a long way from the goal. True, the peak of inflation is surely behind us. And indeed, there are already signs of “disinflation”. But that does not mean that we can claim victory. We still have a long way to go. It will not be easy to reach 2% per year. We will probably continue with increases of 0.25%. And probably after reaching a certain rate, it will pause. At that time, the information will be reviewed in detail. Everything will depend on the inflation data. With the clearer picture, the Federal Reserve will proceed to make the pertinent decisions. It could be assumed that for the last semester of the year we have less uncertainty in this regard.
Of course, not everyone thinks the same. Right now, the market is counting the chicks before hatching. The emotion usually arrives in very exaggerated ways at the first exchange. The advances are overstated. So we have “bear market rallies” due to bouts of optimism. However, one must be very careful with false expectations.. It is extremely naive to assume that this story is about to end. Inflation is a very difficult beast to tame. Underestimating the complexity of our situation could lead us to a mistake.
Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly used FTX money to invest $400 million in a little-known venture capital firm
Things keep coming up. Apparently, at FTX everything happened. Sam Bankman-Fried provided the entire cake. And prosecutors find more to the extent that they seek more. What a mess!
SEC Investigates Traditional Wall Street Investment Advisers Offering Custody of Digital Assets
This is an extremely delicate matter. Of course, after the collapse of FTX, the pressure is greater. According to the Reuters reportMuch of the SEC’s efforts in this investigation are focused on whether registered investment advisers have complied with rules and regulations surrounding the custody of clients’ crypto assets. It seems fair and necessary.
The Supreme Court of Panama will rule on the legislation related to cryptocurrencies
Panama is not El Salvador. Panama is a financial center of global importance. Of course, legislation regarding cryptocurrencies is required. The important thing is that there is a broad debate so that the best possible regulation is adopted. If a country in Latin America can do it, that country is Panama.
Mastercard and Binance will launch their second cryptocurrency prepaid card in Latin America
I think it’s great. We need more products of this type. What is required are alliances. What rivalry? Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao sometimes picks a fight with traditional finance to please crypto militants and Twitter fans. However, that is on a rhetorical level. In practice, there is no rebellion. What is emerging is an integration. On the one hand, we have headlines like this: Changpeng Zhao predicts “existential implications” for traditional finance’s denial of cryptocurrencies. But then Mastercard and Binance launch their second cryptocurrency prepaid card in Latin America. What is said and what is done do not always coincideSDI. The future is integration.
Disclaimer: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information presented here should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
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