Cheddar's weekly program "The Crypto Craze" tracks the latest trends in the cryptocurrency space. Cheddar Anchors Hope King and Brad Smith track the biggest movers of the week, and new ways investors might be able to capitalize on this market.
Coinbase users took to social media and Reddit to complain about glitches on the platform. Coinbase says the root of the problem is credit card processing managed by Visa. But, Visa says they didn't cause the problem. Russell Brandom, Reporter at The Verge, explains the implications of these problems on the platform.
"This was going on for three weeks, and we're talking about thousands of dollars disappearing from people's accounts. That's kind of the worst thing that could happen for a service," said Brandom. "Coinbase has to take a lot of blame for this."
Bitcoin rebounded this week, trading above $10,000 for a short time. It still remains far from its all-time high of $19,000.
Brandom says Coinbase is getting most of the pie right now, but it should expect more and more competitors to emerge as this market continues to grow.
There's a new way to invest in Blockchain technology. Amplify ETFs launched a blockchain-based technology fund under the ticker "Blok" in January. Amplify ETF explains the opportunity he sees in this market, and responds to criticism facing one of the companies in this ETF's holding.
"The smallest position in the fund is Riot Blockchain," said Magoon. "The fund is actively managed so I expect the fund portfolio managers are adjusting the portfolio. This was a controversial company that we did some research in." Shares of Riot Blockchain plummeted after CNBC released a report suggesting the re-branding of the company was done for personal gain.
"Now that news has come out it really seems like the momentum of this stock is going downward, and I'm expecting that come tonight when we update our holdings I wouldn't expect to see that stock in the portfolio based on this report," said Magoon.
Jim Corridore, Senior Insights Manager at Similarweb, joined Closing Bell to break down the competing offers from JetBlue and Frontier as both airlines look to join forces with Spirit Airlines.
Child care marketplace startup Kinside announced raising $12 million in a Series A round led by venture capitalists who are mothers themselves. The company aids parents searching for affordable child care easier by providing concierge support in a marketplace of verified professionals and helping them tap into flexible spending accounts (FSA) and other benefits. Founder and CEO Shadiah Sigala joined Cheddar News to talk about the fresh funds and the ongoing effects of the pandemic on the care of young children.
Apple revealed its plans for new IOS software, products, and more at its Worldwide Developers Conference. However, new features added to iMessage, including options to delete and edit already sent text messages, stole the show.
Hyatt Hotels released new data showing just how seriously consumers are looking at summer 2022 for revenge travel following previous disruptions from the pandemic. Joan Bottarini, CFO of the hotel chain, joined Cheddar News to break down the report. "We've got on the books a 15 percent increase on a global basis in demand over the summer months from June to August," she explained.
A survey by the BMO Real Financial Progress Index found that 25 percent of Americans are pulling back on retirement contributions to offset the cost of inflation. This comes as market volatility reduced retirement savings with the S&P 500 shedding more than 12 percent this year alone.
Meta's announcement that COO Sheryl Sandberg will be stepping down from her role after 14 years with the company has left investors wondering about the tech giant's future. Doug Astrop, a managing partner at Exponential Investment Partners (an investor in Meta), joined Cheddar News to discuss what the personnel change to Javier Olivan means for investors and the future of the Meta. "They are bringing somebody up who's been there a long time, who has been the chief revenue officer, and so I don't think it means major changes," he said. "but symbolically it's important and significant."
