Recession, inflation and regulation.
A triple threat hits crypto markets as Bitcoin and Ethereum fall again.
Welcome to The Daily Forkast, June 23rd, 2022.
I'm Forkast's Joel Flynn.
Worries about the global economy have dragged major currencies lower overnight.
After three days of gains, crypto firms continue to struggle, meanwhile, with another blockchain
bailout, we'll take a look at that, plus a whole lot more coming to you from Asia to
the world.
Join thousands of NFT traders who already start their day on CryptoSlam.
Well, after three days of steadying prices, major cryptocurrencies have been falling again
overnight.
UK inflation and recession warnings have exacerbated crypto market worries.
Bitcoin continues to drop off the US$21,000 mark, while there's been notable falls for
Ethereum as well.
As markets continue to stumble, Liquidity problems continue at major crypto firms after
ex-boss Sam Bankman-Fried has just agreed to a second bailout of a struggling company
forecasts.
Monika Ghosh has more.
Bitcoin was trading down 3.5% in the 24 hours to Thursday morning in Asia, before rebounding
slightly to over US$20,000.
Ethereum was also down, changing hands at close to US$1,000 with the rest of the non-stablecoin
tokens in the crypto top ten also in the red.
Recent data out of the UK showed inflation running at a 40 year high of 9.1%, with the
prediction of hitting 11% in October.
Citigroup said with central banks raising interest rates to combat rising inflation,
the probability of a global recession has risen to 50%.
And amid the market turmoil, liquidity issues are hounding some major crypto firms.
After rescuing crypto asset broker Voyager Ddigital last week, crypto exchange FTX founder
Sam Bankman-Fried, often known as SBF, has now agreed to bail out the crypto lender BlockFi.
In a tweet, BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said FTX agreed to extend a US$250 million revolving
credit facility to the firm.
For his part, SBF said that Blockfi has careful risk management and great leadership with
no debt or risk from 3AC, Celsius and others.
For Forkast and Monika Ghosh.
More crypto taxes could soon hit India.
A higher goods and services tax or GST may soon be imposed on crypto transactions there.
According to Bloomberg, authorities will meet on June 28th to discuss levies of up to 28%
that would put them on par with taxes on lotteries, casinos and other forms of betting.
Currently, the GST on crypto transactions is 18%, but that's on top of the 30% tax on
profits and a 1% charge on transactions over US$128.
That is due to come into effect next month.
Meanwhile, financial regulators in the Chinese city of Shenzhen are cracking down on crypto
trading again after a ban last year.
Local authorities have just issued another warning about the legal risks of working for
overseas exchanges or supporting crypto trading.
The country's central bank today also warned about crypto scams.
Crypto related businesses have been withdrawing from China since September's ban, but investors
have also been looking for ways around it, including by registering companies abroad.
Make sure you check out the latest at Forkast.News for more on that.
New York's Pride March takes place this weekend, and Web3 efforts to join in are in focus.
Experts have been discussing the potential for the metaverse to provide a safe space
for the LGBT community.
Forekast's Timmy Shen reports.
Decentraland and the Sandbox are among the Metaverse players organizing Pride events
at the same time as the Pride Parade takes place in real life.
Decentraland's events include panel discussions on everything from LGBT inclusion to financial
empowerment for queer people.
Cash Lab CEO and Decentraland event curator David Cash told Forkast there are many practical
reasons for doing this.
What if you live in Saudi Arabia or a country where being queer is, you know, chastised?
And what if you can't celebrate pride openly and publicly and in your own skin?
I think the metaverse and solutions like Decentraland really do offer an opportunity for for people
without the without the privilege to be able to be out and proud themselves.
The Metaverse Innovation Lab People for Crypto is also on board, teaming up with a sandbox
to airdrop thousands of avatars over the course of the month featuring various sexualities
and skin tones.
It's also launching an inclusivity hub called The Valley of Belonging, which aims to amplify
projects representing people of color and LGBT creators.
Their cofounder, Simone Berry, told Forkast that Web3 can only scale if diversity and
inclusion are rooted in its foundations.
Offering different narratives, creating a game that really promotes your authentic self
in pieces that are in wheelchairs.
Non-binary black characters, LGBTQ characters are we're able to actually customize our avatars
so that you can self-identify.
For those who really want to get involved with what's happening in New York, Metapride
Land will be livestreaming concerts and performances in the metaverse.
Its founder, Matt Stevenson, agrees that early representation of the community is vital.
As we engage more queer individuals or disenfranchized individuals in these spaces, at least we'll
have a voice in how things should be built to make sure that we are represented or our
best interests are represented as these platforms are being built.
Stevenson says he feels that oftentimes the community is just being leveraged to take
the diversity box and that once June is over, the rainbow flags and products disappear.
David Cash says it's vital that doesn't happen.
For queer people.
We're queer 365 days of the year.
We don't we don't turn it off when June ends.
Cash says the metaverse adds value, allowing people to do things that are physically impossible
in their day to day lives.
For Forkast, I'm Timmy Shen
Well, if you want a deeper dive on these stories, the Daily Forkast newsletter can be delivered
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Follow us on Twitter as well for the latest updates @Forkast_News.
For now, though, that's your Daily Forkast from Asia to the world.
I'm Joel Flynn.
I'll see you next time.