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What Moved Global Markets
– Global stocks stay near record highs, pausing ahead of this week’s central bank meetings, economic data and earnings, while oil prices rose to their highest in over a week after blockades began shutting down two Libyan oilfields.
– The Bank of Japan meets on Tuesday, while the ECB is expected to open a key strategic policy review when it gathers on Thursday. Friday brings the release of key business activity data, while the World Economic Forum in Davos is also in focus, with U.S. President Donald Trump expected to discuss trade disputes with the European Commission President.
– CNBC put together a useful list of people to follow at WEF in Davos. That includes: Prime Minister of Finland, President of the European Commission, ECB president, Huawei Technologies’ founder, Managing Director of the IMF, Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary and more.
Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Down 0.23% to $8,661.21
Total trading volume (24h): $25.74+ billion USD
Ethereum: Up 0.99% to $167.27
Total trading volume (24h): $10.91+ billion USD
3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: Uquid Coin (UQC) is up 81.82% to $0.396339
Biggest Mover 2: Gene Source Code Chain (GENE) is up 73.09% to $0.004261
Biggest Loser: FuturoCoin (FTO) is down 41.23% to $0.073644
What moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)
– Check the WEF blockchain agenda – brought to you by Coindesk.
– The UK’s tax authority wants to deploy a blockchain analytics tool to catch crypto cybercriminals. The tax agency wants to analyze cryptocurrency transactions, such as for bitcoin and ether, which are being used for “tax evasion and money-laundering.”
– The government of South Korea is planning to charge a 20% tax on income from cryptocurrency transactions. The country’s Ministry of Economy and Finance recently ordered its office of income tax to review a crypto taxation plan, local news outlet Pulse reported Monday, citing “multiple” government sources. Previously, the ministry’s office of property tax had reviewed the plan. This change has reportedly raised speculation among Korean experts that the government will treat crypto trading gains as “other income” and not as “capital gains.”
Other Specialties
Fintech: The Catalyst Fund has gained $15 million in new support from JP Morgan and UK Aid and will back 30 fintech startups in Africa, Asia, and Latin America over the next three years. The Boston based accelerator provides mentorship and non-equity funding to early-stage tech ventures focused on driving financial inclusion in emerging and frontier markets. That means connecting people who may not have access to basic financial services — like a bank account, credit or lending options — to those products.
Healthtech: Sweden’s digital health provider KRY raises €140 million in financing. KRY’s health app provides users with video-based doctors appointments. Since the company was founded in 2015 it has completed more than 1.4 million patient meetings, making it Europe’s leading digital healthcare provider.
Al: Google CEO Sundar Pichai made it clear: he thinks AI needs to be regulated. In an op-ed for the Financial Times, he spotlit the perils of “nefarious uses of facial recognition” as well as deepfakes. He suggested that regulation should be nuanced, balancing mitigation of “potential harms” with space for “social opportunities.”
Smart cities: Blockchain trust protocol launched at the Geneva Blockchain Congress to connect Beijing, Geneva and Toronto. The cities will serve as interconnected hubs for blockchain centres of excellence around the world and operate under a common trust protocol.
NexChangeNOW Pick of the Day
South Korea Mulls 20% Tax on Crypto Gains