(Photo Illustration by Filip Radwanski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The price of bitcoin fell 48 percent in two days and lost 30 percent of its value this week, moving in tandem with risk assets and challenging the narrative that bitcoin acts as a safe haven asset in times of political and economic uncertainty.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $5,364, about 40 percent up from a low of $3,858 late Thursday night – the lowest since May 2019. Bitcoin has historically demonstrated strong recoveries from similarly violent sell-offs.
Crypto exchanges briefly went offline early Friday morning, and the New York State Department of Financial Services is requiring licensed crypto firms to produce coronavirus contingency plans.
On Thursday afternoon, between President Trump's speech about travel restrictions and before Christine Lagarde's speech in which she refused to cut rates, the crypto markets fell 20 to 30 percent in the span of an hour in one of bitcoin's sharpest ever selloffs. Gold, platinum, palladium, gasoline, and sugar plummeted around the same time.
"The latest market meltdown centers around liquidity (or lack thereof) as investors sell whatever they can to minimize additional losses or cover their positions," Kevin Kelly, lead analyst at Delphi Digital, said in an investor note Thursday. "The old adage 'cash is king' rings truer than ever at times like this as markets crater and hysteria takes hold. Beware fakeout rallies and false bottoms as they've claimed more careers than they've made."
The crypto industry is still reeling from Terra's recent crash. The company's blockchain was temporarily halted earlier this month after the collapse of its cryptocurrency Luna (LUNA) and its stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), which led to almost $45 billion being wiped from the tokens' market caps within a week. Now, many are left wondering what Terra's struggles mean for the broader crypto market. Reeve Collins, CEO of the NFT platform BLOCKv, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell from Davos 2022 to discuss.
China's largest ride-hailing company will no longer be listed on the world's largest stock exchange. Didi shareholders voted on Monday to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, less than a year after launching a $4.4 billion IPO with the most significant U.S. share offering by a Chinese company since Alibaba debuted in 2014. Since going public in June of last year, around $70 billion has been wiped from Didi's market value and shares of the company have dropped nearly 90%. Now, Didi is expected to begin preparations to list in Hong Kong. Kevin T. Carter, founder and Chief Investment Officer of EMQQ Global, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Ahead of the Meta shareholder meeting, more than five hundred doctors have jointly sent a letter to investors to hold the Facebook parent accountable for the risks its platforms have posed to the public and mental health. Dr. Rob Davidson, a West Michigan ER physician and executive director of the Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar News to discuss how medical professionals are coming together to highlight the social media giant's spread of misinformation, especially during the pandemic. "We've seen the direct impacts of misinformation and disinformation that spreads like wildfire on the social media platforms," he said. "Our goal with this letter is to try to get the shareholders of Meta to convince leadership that they need to do a better job."
Snap downgraded its earnings and revenue expectations for the second quarter, saying the "macroeconomic environment" has deteriorated faster than the company anticipated. The warning sent shockwaves through the digital ad industry, dragging down a handful of other tech stocks, including Pinterest, Meta, and Twitter. Daniel Cobb, CEO and Chief Strategy Officer of Daniel Brian Advertising, joined Cheddar to discuss the reason behind this warning, and why it's bringing so many social media stocks down.
Pamela Rucker, CIO Advisor and Instructor for Harvard Professional Development, joins Cheddar to discuss how perceptions of Environmental, Social, and Governance–or ESG–changed over the past couple of years, and how using machine learning and artificial intelligence could pave the way to a more sustainable future.
Bob Lockett, Chief Diversity & Talent Officer, ADP, joins Cheddar to break down why offering more flexibility at work is a top way to retain talent at work, and how strong DEI policies help encourage employee loyalty.
