The food industry is setting up shop in the metaverse,
MicroStrategy is set to buy more Bitcoin,
and the Fed's preferred inflation indicator puts in a 40-year all-time high.
My name is Ben.
This is your crypto nightly news wrap-up.
Let's get it!
There's no pizza like virtual pizza.
Following in the footsteps of McDonald's, Burger King and Panera Bread,
Yum! Brands has submitted several trademark applications for NFTs and metaverse services.
Yum! Brands includes the likes of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
I think they just call it KFC now.
A tweet from metaverse trademark lawyer Mike Kondoudis
indicates the trademark applications KFC and the others filed for
are virtual food and drink,
NFT and NFT-backed multimedia,
online stores featuring virtual goods,
and virtual restaurants featuring real and virtual foods.
In a recent press release, Kondoudis stated,
"Clearly, Yum! Brands sees the potential of the metaverse
and is preparing its trademarks and brands for the virtual economy that will dominate it."
Yum! Brands isn't alone on this move either
as other companies that have recently filed for trademark applications
include Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John's, Sonic, Dunkin' and Hooters.
If that's not enough to make your avatar stomach grumble,
Guy Fieri will be mixing his special sauce in Flavortown as well.
Soon, you'll notice every notable global brand jump into NFTs and the metaverse
because they see the marketing opportunity,
and no one wants to get left behind.
With our long-term mindset in mind,
this is very bullish for the future of NFTs and crypto integration.
And at least we'll never get hangry in the metaverse.
The more attention you pay to this industry,
you'll see a handful of certain names getting repeated over and over again.
And there's a reason for that.
These seasoned trading veterans and macro analysts have earned their accolades
through decades of success using tried-and-true tactics.
So when they make a big move,
it's worth paying close attention to.
MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor, is accumulating Bitcoin in a big way.
He's not scared to use other people's money to do it.
MicroStrategy subsidiary MacroStrategy is now set to buy a large amount of Bitcoin
following $205 million loan from Silvergate Bank.
Silvergate provides a loan through its SEN Leverage program.
The SEN Leverage program provides secure, institutional-grade access to capital
through US dollar loans collateralized by Bitcoin.
WVNews.com reports,
under the terms of the agreement,
MacroStrategy will use the loan proceeds to purchase Bitcoin,
pay fees, interest and expenses related to the loan transaction,
or for MacroStrategy's or MicroStrategy's general corporate purposes.
Michael Saylor is playing the long game,
and he's not afraid to take on such a big loan
because he knows that the Bitcoin he buys using that money is going to pay for itself
and put him further into the green.
He even weighed in on the $205 million loan by stating,
"Using the capital from the loan,
we've effectively turned our Bitcoin into productive collateral,
which allows us to further execute against our business strategy."
CryptoPotato.com reports that MicroStrategy is the largest corporate Bitcoin holder,
owning nearly $6 billion worth of the asset.
Whale moves like this are a great indication on the bullish potential for Bitcoin in the coming years.
Alright, guys. Let's head to Frankie Candles for a market update.
Thanks, Ben!
Alright, guys. Let's jump in and do a little market watch here.
We got Bitcoin coming in at $45,817.
Down about 2.5% for the day.
We have Ethereum coming in at $3,287.
Down about 3% for the day.
Let's go ahead and check our top gainers.
GMT up another 33% today.
Unbelievable!
We have SKL up about 10% on the day.
And then TFUEL up 8% for the day.
Real quick, let's check in on our top losers here.
Aave down 9%.
Loopring down 7%.
And HBAR also down 7% along with VeChain and ApeCoin.
Guys, I have been mentioning in the previous videos that we were expecting a little pullback here.
It is looking like a healthy correction, in my opinion, at this point.
If you guys want to follow me,
it's Frankie Candles on YouTube and @Frankie_Candles on all socials.
Back to the news.
Thank you, Frank!
Alright, guys.
Although the consumer price index is the most commonly watched inflation tracker,
that's not the one the Fed has been paying close attention to.
The tracker they've been following is the personal consumption expenditures price index,
also known as the PCE.
What's the difference between the two?
bls.gov says
the CPI measures the change in the out-of-pocket expenditures
of all urban households
and the PCE index measures the change in goods and services
consumed by all households and nonprofit institutions serving households.
The US central bank uses PCE instead of CPI to gauge inflation
because it encompasses a broader range of costs.
Given the supply chain issues as a result from the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
the PCE index is up 6.4% compared to last February,
marking an all-time high in over four decades.
A recent report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis states
the $34.9 billion increase in the current-dollar PCE in February
reflected an increase of $98.3 billion in spending for services
that was partly offset by $58.9 billion in spending for goods.
The report also mentioned that energy prices have increased 25.7%
and food prices increased 8% as well.
While the prices are up,
the report also indicated that consumer spending has slowed from 0.2% to 2.7% in January.
Prices are higher, spending is lower, and inflation is still putting in record numbers.
This combination indicates to me that the Fed needs to continue its hawkish approach
toward hiking up the interest rates,
which is why Bitcoin and other crypto assets
are the best bet to hedge against this record high inflation.
Simple math.
Use a depreciating asset to buy an appreciating asset.
That's all I got.
Be blessed.
BitBoy out.