Bitcoin debuted on the world's largest futures exchange on Sunday. CME Group launched their Bitcoin Futures, a move that further promotes and brings attention to the cryptocurrency craze.
Tim McCourt is the global head of equities and alternative investments at CME Group, and he joins Cheddar to explain CME Groups decision to launch the BTC Futures. McCourt explains that investors were eager to work with the crytocurrency and CME wanted to help facilitate that.
After the initial launch, the BTC Futures saw a lot of action. According to CME Group, more than 1,000 contracts were traded with a value of more than $100 million, and there were nearly 100 market participants across all regions.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
