U.S. small business confidence and hiring plans rose to their highest levels of the year in May, but the upcoming U.S. presidential election also pushed uncertainty to a near four-year high, according to a survey released Tuesday. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its small business optimism index rose eight-tenths of a point to 90.5 last month.

This month's figures show a continuing cooling of the labour market in the UK. Job vacancies are falling while unemployment is rising, although earnings growth remains strong. Both employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey and estimates of paid employment from HMRC's real-time information data have fallen in recent months.

Fireblocks, which provides secure infrastructure for digital assets, has announced a partnership with Coinbase International to extend its Multi-Party Computation (MPC) protection to Coinbase clients. From now on, customers using the brokerage platform can use the Fireblocks Network to reduce operational risks in both spot and futures trading. This service is available to both institutional and retail users.

The team behind Ethereum's largest DeFi protocol, Uniswap Labs, has acquired the blockchain-based game Crypto: The Game, which is a Survivor-like elimination competition. According to the terms of the deal, CTG founders Dylan Abruscato, Tyler Cagle, and Bryan Lee will continue developing the game as employees of Uniswap Labs, preparing for the launch of the next season. Uniswap Labs has not disclosed the purchase price for CTG.

The Ethereum layer-2 network zkSync has launched its new community-driven governance system called ZK Nation. This system allows token holders to propose and vote on network changes. Its primary responsibilities include managing protocol updates and maintaining security. The governance system unifies three on-chain entities: the Token Assembly, the Security Council, and the Guardians.

18 Jun 2024 - 11:00am (GMT +1)Previous: 2.4%Becslés: 712K Source: forexfactory.com Previous data Impact on markets A general market effect that is constantly changing depending on the current economic environment. Summary - Analysis Long term trend of data: Declining Most expected effect: Forex ( EXY ), Europe Stocks If new data is higher than previous: Positive ( Forex:EXY ), Negative ( Europe Stocks ) If new data is lower than previous: Negative ( Forex:EXY ), Neutral ( Europe Stocks ) Effect-balancing with other data: Yes More on TOTM PROConclusion Conclusions based on the new data will be included in the TOTM PRO level live stream announcements every Monday and Thursday.

Several blockchain security firms, including Arkham, have reported that the lending and liquidity protocol UwU Lend has suffered an exploit worth $19.3 million. UwU Lend, a project initiated by the former CFO of Frog Nation, 0xSifu, is an Aave fork used to support lending of the MIM stablecoin. The hacker managed to steal WETH, WBTC, and stablecoins, selling part of the stolen assets on Uniswap. UwU Lend is currently investigating the cause and plans to offer compensation to affected users.

NewsWhile it was already known that OpenAI would have some serious competition in this space (Meta and Google, among others, are experimenting with a similar solution), Sam Altman's company has now found some serious competition from an unexpected place: according to Tom's Guide, a Chinese company, Kuaishou, has not only done much the same as OpenAI, but has also made the technology available to Chinese users in a queuing system.After literally starting a revolution in computing with ChatGPT, OpenAI came up with another sensational innovation in February this year: the video generator Sora looked very promising from the first demos, and based on the videos published by the developers since then, it's not too much to assume that generative AI will soon bring the same breakthrough to moving images as it did to written text and still images. Based on the videos released so far, the generative AI called Kling could be a real competitor to Sora, and the specifications that have been made public also reveal highly advanced capabilities. Kling can generate videos at up to 30 fps (frames per second) in Full HD resolution and up to two minutes in length. Kling also performs well in a number of areas that are difficult or usually difficult for artificial intelligence, such as the ability to reconstruct people's faces and bodies in three dimensions and to realistically represent limb movements.Related categories RecommendedYou may also be interested in these articles![brbl_post_grid include_categories="current" order="DESC" post_count="3" post_padding="0px|0px|0px|0px|true|true" content_padding="0px|0px|0px|0px|true|true" image_height="200px" date_spacing="0px" date_icon_size="0px" date_icon_color="RGBA(255,255,255,0)" excerpt_spacing_top="0px" author_spacing="0px" author_icon_size="0px" author_icon_color="#ffffff" column_gap_x="30px" column_gap_y="0px" show_avatar="off" thumb_size="medium" content_length="120"...

The latest mixed data has prompted major brokerages to lower their expectations for a US Federal Reserve rate cut in September or beyond. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is widely expected to leave the benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged at its two-day meeting that ends on Wednesday. The range stands at 5.25-5.50%, where it has been since July last year.

Japan's economy contracted less than initially announced in January-March due to upward revisions to investment spending and inventory data, providing modest support for the central bank's plan to raise interest rates again this year.

The Ethereum-based ZK-rollup protocol, Loopring, has announced that its Guardian wallet recovery service, which relies on two-factor authentication, was compromised in a hack, resulting in approximately $5 million being withdrawn from wallets protected by the Loopring Guardian service. The company has temporarily suspended the services and is cooperating with law enforcement to track down the perpetrator.

Decentralized infrastructure provider (DePIN) Io.Net, which allows users to contribute surplus GPU power to a shared pool in exchange for token-based payments, has replaced its CEO Ahmad Shadid, who is also a co-founder. The Solana-based project has appointed Tory Green, another co-founder and former COO, to the CEO position.

The South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) has issued new guidelines for regulating NFTs, stating that mass-produced, interchangeable NFTs will be treated as crypto assets. However, non-transferable digital tokens with little or no economic value, such as transaction receipts or NFT concert tickets, will still be classified as traditional NFTs.

HSBC Bank's China division has become the first foreign bank to offer e-CNY services. These services, related to the central bank's digital currency, are available to both retail and corporate customers. The bank has also assisted an educational group in accepting payments in e-CNY for its six branches in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Jiaxiang, and Suzhou.

NewsQUICK OVERVIEW Binance announces compliance with EU regulations and restrictions on stablecoins Galaxy Digital tokenizes a 300-year-old Stradivarius StarkWare brings ZK scaling to Bitcoin MoonPay lays off 10% of its workforce Cardano promotes blockchain technology in Argentina Binance resumes collaboration with Mastercard Robinhood acquires Bitstampr Financial Institutions and Crypto BrokersOKX, a crypto broker, has announced the official launch of its trading platform and Web3 wallet service in the Netherlands. The platform will allow Dutch customers to trade nearly 150 crypto assets. As a promotional offer, Dutch customers can deposit euros into their accounts for free, and the broker offers at least 60 trading pairs that can be traded with EUR. American broker Robinhood announced the acquisition of one of Europe's largest crypto brokers, Bitstamp, for $200 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Bitstamp currently holds more than 50 active licenses and registrations worldwide, with Galaxy Digital Partners LLC acting as its sole financial advisor. Binance announced that it will restrict the availability of stablecoins in the European Union that are deemed unregulated by the EU from the end of June. The rules outlined in the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) will come into effect at the end of June. This will be the first step towards entering the new regulatory framework and will significantly impact the stablecoin market in the European Economic Area. During the transitional period, there is no information yet on which assets meet the MiCA regulations. Until further notice, trading with the two most popular stablecoins, USDT and USDC, will continue to operate smoothly on the platform. Austrian financial company Bitpanda has partnered with Deutsche Bank to enable real-time incoming and outgoing fiat payments for German crypto traders, providing greater liquidity for the platform....

GameStop-inspired memecoins GME, KITTY, and ROAR fell by 31% when meme-stock favorite influencer "Roaring Kitty," also known as Keith Gill, held his first live stream in three years. Gill became famous in 2021 for sparking a retail frenzy in GameStop and AMC stock prices. Officially, none of the memecoins are associated with Roaring Kitty, and the GME Solana-based memecoin has no connection to the GameStop stock trading under the same ticker.

Nostra, the leading DeFi protocol on Starknet, has announced the upcoming launch of its NSTR token on June 17, along with its tokenomics. Additionally, a liquidity bootstrapping pool (LBP) snapshot will be taken between June 10 and 13, which includes the airdrop distribution. A total of 100 million NSTR tokens will be unlocked at the time of issuance, with 11% allocated for a community airdrop during the Token Generation Event (TGE).

One of the leading interoperable platforms, Wormhole, has launched the "Stake For Governance" feature, allowing W token holders to participate in the Wormhole DAO and influence the platform's future direction. However, they need to bridge their W tokens from Solana to an EVM chain. Introducing staking for governance is a significant step towards decentralizing Wormhole through MultiGov, the industry's first multichain governance system for Solana, Ethereum mainnet, and EVM layer 2 DAOs.

Cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinGecko confirmed that it suffered a data breach on June 5. The attacker sent nearly 24,000 phishing emails through a third-party email platform used by CoinGecko. According to the statement, user accounts and passwords remained secure during the incident, with only data such as user names, email addresses, IP addresses, and the locations where emails were opened being leaked.

Semler Scientific, a Nasdaq-listed medical technology company, has expanded its bitcoin holdings by purchasing an additional 247 BTC for $17 million, bringing its total to 828 BTC. The company views bitcoin as an inflation hedge and safe haven amid global instability. Additionally, Semler Scientific announced plans to raise $150 million in capital, part of which will be used to purchase more bitcoin, similar to the strategy of MicroStrategy led by Michael Saylor.

Negotiations and discussions have begun in Hong Kong with spot Ethereum ETF issuers and custodians about the possibility of ETH staking. According to experts, it is highly likely that this will be approved by the end of this year. Financial company Hashkey and blockchain infrastructure provider Blockdaemon are actively participating in the discussions. They believe this service will provide a significant competitive advantage over American products.

In the week ending June 1, the seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims total was 229,000, up 8,000 from the previous week's revised level, according to preliminary data. The previous week's figure was revised up by 2 000, from 219 000 to 221 000. The 4-week moving average was 222 250, 750 fewer than the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised by 500, from 222 500 to 223 000.

Asset manager Franklin Templeton is considering launching a new crypto fund that would invest in tokens beyond just BTC and ETH. This new crypto fund plans to offer staking rewards as part of its benefits, which is unusual since such a feature was not included in the approved spot Ethereum ETFs.

WWE wrestling legend Hulk Hogan reportedly entered the crypto industry for a brief period. He promoted a Solana-based memecoin online, but shortly after, he deleted his posts. In this rugpull-like operation, the token's market capitalization suddenly plummeted from $17 million to $2 million after he deleted his tweets about it.

Dubai-based crypto broker Bybit has officially announced that Chinese users living outside their home country can now open accounts and trade digital assets, as well as utilize the platform's full range of services. Bybit had previously strictly prohibited registration and use by all Chinese users, but this policy has now changed. Data indicates that the number of potential Chinese users could be in the tens of millions.

Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, has announced a new payment system for digital goods and services. Telegram Stars allows users to make in-app purchases on iOS and Android for digital services, complying with Apple and Google's digital product sales guidelines. App developers can swap the new token for TON on the Fragment exchange.

The Governing Council decided today to cut the ECB's three key interest rates by 25 basis points. On the basis of an updated assessment of the inflation outlook, underlying inflation dynamics and the strength of monetary policy transmission, it is now appropriate to ease the monetary policy stance after nine months of keeping interest rates unchanged. Since the Governing Council meeting in September 2023, inflation has declined by more than 2.5 percentage points and the inflation outlook has improved significantly.

American brokerage Robinhood has announced its acquisition of Bitstamp, one of Europe's largest crypto exchanges, for $200 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Bitstamp currently holds over 50 active licenses and registrations worldwide, with Galaxy Digital Partners LLC serving as its exclusive financial advisor.

Binance has renewed its partnership with Mastercard, allowing users to purchase crypto assets using their cards. Following a comprehensive review of Binance's stringent checks and processes, Mastercard has decided to permit purchases linked to Binance on its network. In the future, additional products, such as withdrawals, will also be supported.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, estimates for April 2024 the volume of seasonally adjusted retail trade decreased by 0.5% in the euro area and by 0.6% in the EU, compared with March, according to its first estimate. In March, the volume of retail trade increased by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.6% in the EU. On an annual comparison, compared with April 2023, the index for calendar-adjusted retail trade remained unchanged in the euro area and fell by 0.1% in the EU.

The Nocturne privacy protocol, supported by Vitalik Buterin, has announced it will gradually shut down operations and discontinue the privacy protocol established last year. According to the announcement, their frontend will remain open until the end of the month, after which withdrawal processes will only be accessible through a self-service system via GitHub. The reason for the closure was not disclosed.

The Cardano Foundation, which supports the Cardano blockchain, has announced a new partnership in Argentina. Under the agreement with Entre Ríos province, Cardano will facilitate the adoption of blockchain technology in the region. This latest move represents a significant development for the Argentine nation, which has recently focused on strengthening its crypto sector.

Cryptocurrency payment infrastructure company MoonPay has laid off 10% of its workforce, amounting to around 30 employees, citing structural changes, a high cost structure, and lower-than-expected operating margins. These changes aim to improve their cost structure and strengthen the foundations of the financially stable company.

Paxos International, operating in the United Arab Emirates, has announced its new yield-generating stablecoin, the Lift Dollar (USDL), with Argentina as its initial market. Theoretically, USDL promises a risk-free yield of approximately 5%, paid daily to users. The asset, which runs on Ethereum, is backed by US dollar deposits and short-term US Treasury bills.

ADP reported Wednesday that private sector job creation slowed more than expected in May, signaling further weakness in the labor market. According to the payroll firm, companies added 152,000 jobs, down from a downwardly revised 188,000 in April and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 175,000. This is the lowest monthly level since February. That said, annual wage growth remained at 5%, a level it has held for three months.

Activity in the French services sector fell slightly in May, after rising for the first time in almost a year in April. Sales continued to rise on the back of domestic demand and employment also increased. Inflationary pressures eased, with input costs and output prices growing at their slowest pace since 2021.

Dapper Labs, the creator of the popular NBA Top Shot Moments NFT collection, has reached a settlement in the class-action lawsuit alleging the company violated securities laws through the improper sale of digital collectibles. According to court documents, the company agreed to pay $4 million into a settlement fund for eligible plaintiffs.

StarkWare, the developer of Starknet, will extend its zero-knowledge technology to Bitcoin in the future, scaling the network alongside Ethereum. This initiative will make them the first network capable of settling transactions on both Bitcoin and Ethereum, scaling Bitcoin to handle thousands of transactions per second. This upgrade is expected to occur within six months following the implementation of the OP_CAT technical proposal.

Polygon Labs has announced the acquisition of Toposware, a blockchain research company specializing in zero-knowledge technology. This marks Polygon Labs' third significant ZK acquisition in less than three years, as part of its strategy to enhance its ZK arsenal. While specific details of the deal were not disclosed, Toposware was valued between $20 million and $30 million.

Modular blockchain Avail, which spun out of Polygon last year, has raised $43 million in a Series A funding round ahead of its mainnet launch. Investors include Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Dragonfly, and Cyber Fund. This round brings total funding to $75 million, which will be used to build rollup-centric infrastructure.

The IOTA Network has announced the launch of IOTA EVM, a fully EVM-compatible layer 2 solution for the IOTA network. This introduces features such as smart contracts, cross-chain functionality, parallel processing, and enhanced security against Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). The launch is a significant step toward integrating DeFi with real assets, with partners including LayerZero, Stargate Finance, the Pyth Network, and Supra.

Austrian financial company Bitpanda has partnered with Deutsche Bank to enable real-time incoming and outgoing fiat payments for German crypto traders, providing greater liquidity to the platform. Bitpanda aims to improve the efficiency and security of transfers with this service.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.3% in May 2024 compared with the previous month, reaching 107.7 points. Compared to the same month last year, inflation was +1.4%. These are the results of the Federal Statistics Office (FSO). The increase of 0.3% compared to the previous month is due to several factors, including the rise in the price of renting a home and international package holidays. The price of various fresh vegetables and petrol also rose. In contrast, the price of heating oil and foreign red wine fell, as did the price of additional accommodation.

Intel on Tuesday unveiled its next-generation Xeon server processors in a bid to regain market share in the data center market, and revealed that the Gaudi 3 artificial intelligence accelerator chips will be priced much lower than rivals' products.

New orders rose again in May in the US manufacturing sector, leading to a faster expansion of production in the middle of the second quarter of the year. Strengthening business confidence brought positive expectations, boosting hiring, purchasing activity and the accumulation of finished goods inventories. The pace of input cost inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in more than a year, to which firms responded by raising their selling prices.

North American bitcoin mining and hosting provider Core Scientific has signed a 12-year contract with AI hyperscaler CoreWeave. This partnership diversifies Core Scientific's business model between bitcoin mining and alternative computational hosting, aiming to maximize cash flow and minimize risk. The agreement is expected to generate approximately $290 million in average annual revenue, totaling over $3.5 billion in cumulative revenue over the 12-year period.

Galaxy Digital, led by Michael Novogratz, has tokenized a Stradivarius violin made in 1708, which once belonged to Catherine the Great of Russia. The current owner, Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, values the violin at approximately $9 million. This tokenization marks a significant advancement in using blockchain technology to preserve the value of unique real-world assets.

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has appointed Mo Shaikh, co-founder and CEO of Aptos Labs, as a new member of its subcommittee on digital assets. He joins other members from organizations such as BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Uniswap Labs, and Polygon Labs. The 34-member team will advise the agency on regulatory and rulemaking matters.

Binance has announced that starting from the end of June, it will restrict the availability of stablecoins deemed unregulated by the EU in the European Union. The rules outlined in the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) for stablecoins will come into effect at the end of June. This will be the first step towards entering the new regulatory framework and will significantly impact the stablecoin market in the European Economic Area. There is currently no information on which stablecoins comply with the MiCA regulations.