NOTABLE MOVES
As of Sat, Dec 29, 08:00 Singapore Time Zone UTC+8
USDJPY, -0.65%, $110.28
EURUSD, +0.07%, $1.1438
GBPUSD, +0.50%, $1.2707
USDCAD, +0.15%, $1.3639
AUDUSD, +0.11%, $0.7044
NZDUSD, +0.15%, $0.6714
S&P500, -0.12%, 2,485.74
Nasdaq, +0.08%, 6,584.52
Nikkei Futures, -0.10%, 20,000.0
MARKET WRAP
- The U.S. Dollar Index lost -0.1% to 96.34. The Chicago PMI, decreased to 65.4 in December from 66.4 in November. The December pullback took place after the Index soared by nearly eight points in November. The key takeaway from the report is that the overall reading remained elevated thanks to strong order backlogs and an increase in the Production Index. U.S. Treasuries remained resilient to selling pressure with the 2-yr yield and 10-yr yield decreasing one basis point each to 2.52% and 2.74%, respectively.
- The S&P 500 lost -0.12% on Friday in what was another whipsaw day of trading that saw the S&P 500 up as much 1.3% at its high and down as much as -0.6% at its low. The S&P 500 sectors finished mixed with energy (-0.9%) and materials (-0.6%) underperforming the broader market. Conversely, the consumer discretionary (+0.3%) and real estate (+0.2%) sectors outperformed.
BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS
Chinese Survey Finds Nearly 40 Percent of Respondents Would Invest in Crypto
A Chinese survey of 4,200 respondents has shown that 40 percent are willing to invest in crypto in the future. According to the answers gathered during the crypto-related survey, about half of all the respondents had heard of the following terms: cryptocurrency, digital currency or Bitcoin (BTC). On the other hand, 63 percent of the respondents believe that there is no necessity for crypto as a means of payment. As well, only 22.2 percent of the surveyed individuals were aware of the concept of blockchain-powered tokens. The Chinese government recently released its latest ranking of cryptocurrencies, which places Bitcoin in 18th place and EOS at the top. The second place is held by the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum (ETH). Also, a more recent survey conducted by the German Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bitkom) revealed that over-one third of big German businesses consider blockchain as revolutionary as the internet.
A Chinese survey of 4,200 respondents has shown that 40 percent are willing to invest in crypto in the future. According to the answers gathered during the crypto-related survey, about half of all the respondents had heard of the following terms: cryptocurrency, digital currency or Bitcoin (BTC). On the other hand, 63 percent of the respondents believe that there is no necessity for crypto as a means of payment. As well, only 22.2 percent of the surveyed individuals were aware of the concept of blockchain-powered tokens. The Chinese government recently released its latest ranking of cryptocurrencies, which places Bitcoin in 18th place and EOS at the top. The second place is held by the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum (ETH). Also, a more recent survey conducted by the German Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bitkom) revealed that over-one third of big German businesses consider blockchain as revolutionary as the internet.
White Hat Hackers Earned $878,000 from Crypto Bug Bounties in 2018
White hat hackers have been awarded $878,000 in bug bounties this year. Bug bounties are a type of competition in which companies that develop software invite hackers to break their software and responsibly disclose the vulnerabilities, so they are able to fix them before they are exploited. hackers earned $534,500 on HackerOne, a bug bounty platform connecting companies with hackers just from Block.one, the company which stands behind EOS. In fact, Block.one is reportedly responsible for 60 percent of all the bounties handed in this year. Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is reportedly the second-largest bounty spender and spent $290,381 in 2018. Tron is third-largest bounty spender, reportedly paying $76,200 this year. Nearly four percent of all bounties awarded on the platform were for blockchain vulnerabilities, a HackerOne spokesman told TheNextWeb. The average prize in the blockchain industry was $1,490 this year, while the average HackerOne bounty in Q4 2018 was about $900.
White hat hackers have been awarded $878,000 in bug bounties this year. Bug bounties are a type of competition in which companies that develop software invite hackers to break their software and responsibly disclose the vulnerabilities, so they are able to fix them before they are exploited. hackers earned $534,500 on HackerOne, a bug bounty platform connecting companies with hackers just from Block.one, the company which stands behind EOS. In fact, Block.one is reportedly responsible for 60 percent of all the bounties handed in this year. Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is reportedly the second-largest bounty spender and spent $290,381 in 2018. Tron is third-largest bounty spender, reportedly paying $76,200 this year. Nearly four percent of all bounties awarded on the platform were for blockchain vulnerabilities, a HackerOne spokesman told TheNextWeb. The average prize in the blockchain industry was $1,490 this year, while the average HackerOne bounty in Q4 2018 was about $900.
Nvidia Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Losses After Diminished Mining GPU Demand
Graphics processing unit (GPU) producer Nvidia is facing a class action lawsuit over the losses reported by the company when lower crypto prices diminished demand for GPUs by miners. The complaint states that “the Company made false and misleading statements to the market.” Namely, according to the announcement, Nvidia “touted its ability to monitor the cryptocurrency market and make rapid changes to its business as necessary.” The GPU producer also declared: “Any drop off in demand for its GPUs amongst cryptocurrency miners would not negatively impact the Company’s business because of strong demand for GPUs from the gaming market.” After the cryptocurrency mining crash, Nvidia was the worst reported performer in S&P 500. After a massive sell-off of its shares, the stock price of the company fell by 54 percent.
Graphics processing unit (GPU) producer Nvidia is facing a class action lawsuit over the losses reported by the company when lower crypto prices diminished demand for GPUs by miners. The complaint states that “the Company made false and misleading statements to the market.” Namely, according to the announcement, Nvidia “touted its ability to monitor the cryptocurrency market and make rapid changes to its business as necessary.” The GPU producer also declared: “Any drop off in demand for its GPUs amongst cryptocurrency miners would not negatively impact the Company’s business because of strong demand for GPUs from the gaming market.” After the cryptocurrency mining crash, Nvidia was the worst reported performer in S&P 500. After a massive sell-off of its shares, the stock price of the company fell by 54 percent.