2024-07-25 10:11

NASHVILLE, July 25 (Reuters) - Republican nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump once blasted cryptocurrency, calling it a "scam." Now, he is headlining one of the industry's biggest conferences. Trump, who made the comment in 2021, will speak on Saturday, the last day of the three-day Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville. Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Republican former candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming will also speak. Among Democrats, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna of California is on the roster. The industry has quickly rebounded after FTX and a series of other crypto companies collapsed in 2022, sending token prices sliding and forcing multiple companies into bankruptcy. Digital asset proponents say that cryptocurrency users are becoming a growing political force this election cycle, although it is unclear just how many users would prioritize crypto over other issues at the ballot box. The Republican Party is courting their votes by promising lighter regulation, potentially tying a currency built to circumvent government to a major U.S. political party. "For most of its history, crypto was really a nonpartisan issue," said David Yermack, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, because Republicans and Democrats alike did not understand it or care to learn more. "I do think the Republicans in the last year or two have begun to move a little more quickly in the area." Stand With Crypto, a nonprofit industry group backed by crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab, has organized over 1.3 million advocates. Meanwhile, three major pro-crypto super political action committees - Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, and Protect Progress, all of which did not exist until this cycle - have raised over $230 million to support friendly candidates. That influence is already being felt. Fairshake, a super PAC promoting pro-crypto candidates, has spent over $10 million this year against California progressive Democrat Katie Porter, who was running for the Senate. Porter, who questioned bitcoin mining's effect on climate change, lost her primary. Some crypto advocates are backing Trump, including the billionaire Winklevoss twins who founded crypto company Gemini. Each gave him $1 million in bitcoin but had to take back the money because it exceeded the maximum allowed under federal law. Overall, 7% of U.S. adults held or used crypto in 2023, down 3 percentage points from 2022 and down 5 percentage points from 2021, the Federal Reserve reported in May. “It's pretty clear what the industry wants is to buy as many politicians as possible to hijack the agenda of the American people and put their special interests on the top," said Dennis Kelleher, CEO of Washington advocacy group Better Markets. "Their special interest is, of course, having little or no regulation," he added. The annual convention, however, is pulling in more politicians than ever. "There's a joke going around that the list of speakers looks like the RNC Lite," one attendee said in an interview, referring to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in mid-July. TRUMP'S NEW EMBRACE Trump's appearance at Bitcoin 2024 is his latest show of support for the industry. In a June fundraiser in San Francisco, he slammed Democrats' attempts to regulate the sector. He met bitcoin mining companies at his Mar-a-Lago resort last month. "We have tried to engage with the Biden administration and they have not been receptive unfortunately," said Jayson Browder, head of public policy for Marathon Digital Holdings, who attended the Mar-a-Lago meeting. "And former President Trump has been more than receptive and is now being an active supporter of our industry." Trump recently indicated he would like to see more bitcoin mining by U.S. firms. Crypto executives are upset with the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement actions under U.S. President Joe Biden. The agency has alleged that several crypto companies, including Coinbase and Binance, facilitate the trading of digital assets on their platform that should have been registered as securities, which the firms deny. The White House told Reuters the Biden-Harris administration will continue meeting with stakeholders and working with Congress to develop necessary safeguards to harness the potential benefits and opportunities of crypto-asset innovation. Vice President Kamala Harris would likely advance Biden's crypto policies if she wins the presidential election in November. Neither the Trump nor Harris campaigns immediately commented for this article. Traders betting on a second Trump presidency are flocking to asset classes likely to get a boost under his administration. Crypto and bitcoin in particular are "the cleanest and most direct way to play the 'Trump trade' so far," said Cameron Dawson, chief investment officer of NewEdge Wealth. Conference attendee Hillary Adler, who co-founded operating system BitcoinOS, has previously voted Democratic but now describes herself as left libertarian. Calling herself an undecided voter, Adler said she is not surprised that some Republican politicians have pivoted to supporting crypto. "The Republicans have always had better long-tail strategies, politically," she said. "Now, they care about crypto." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-republicans-court-crypto-votes-dollars-bitcoin-2024-2024-07-25/

2024-07-25 10:06

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan The worst day for the S&P500 (.SPX) , opens new tab since 2022 and mounting central bank easing bets suggest markets' serene 'soft landing' scenario is being questioned as China growth worries and U.S. election risks mount. Even though a withering swoon in megacap tech stocks this week comes in the thick of the corporate earnings season, the incoming aggregate profit growth picture remains buoyant overall. A first cut of second-quarter U.S. GDP estimates later on Thursday will hold that further up to the light. Jitters about the lofty valuations of the so-called Magnificent Seven stock leaders, worries about excessive spend in artificial intelligence and exposure to China's stuttering economy have all been cited variously for the sharp pullback. Wednesday's Wall Street stock rout, which saw the S&P 500 mark its first 2%-plus loss in 356 sessions after sharp post-earnings losses for Tesla and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab, sent shares tumbling around the world overnight. The VIX volatility gauge (.VIX) , opens new tab topped 19 for the first time since April even as stock futures tried to find a foothold on Thursday. But aided by stepped-up Federal Reserve interest rate cut bets, a second Bank of Canada rate cut of the year on Wednesday and after China's central bank added more cuts to this week's surprise monetary easing, there appeared to be a dash for safety in bonds and havens like Japan's yen and the Swiss franc surged. Despite a heavy diary of new Treasury sales this week, two-year U.S. yields fell to their lowest since February and the yield curve steepened. Partly on post-election fiscal worries, the 2-to-30-year yield curve has turned positive to its steepest in almost two years. And a discombobulating twist behind the soaring yen, which hit its best levels since early May, was rising speculation about a Bank of Japan interest rate rise as soon as next week just when all its peers are in reverse mode. Sources told Reuters that the central bank is likely to debate whether to raise rates next week and unveil a plan to roughly halve bond purchases in coming years. China's yuan , recently tied at the hip yen trends, also jumped. And yet worries about the world's second largest economy - which potentially faces a ratcheting of trade tariffs and curbs after the U.S. election - was a theme through the stock wobble too. Europe's China-exposed luxury sector, reeling from this week's earnings disappointment from LVMH (LVMH.PA) , opens new tab, took another hit on Thursday as Gucci-owner Kering (PRTP.PA) , opens new tab missed and its stock plunged 8%. Another standout loser in Europe was Universal Music (UMG.AS) , opens new tab, which plummeted 26% after reporting a slowdown in its subscription and streaming segment. Key developments that should provide more direction to U.S. markets later on Thursday: * US Q2 GDP, weekly jobless claims, June durable goods orders, July Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey * US corporate earnings: AbbVie, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Dow, Eastman Chemical, Honeywell, Union Pacific, Northrop Grumman, PG&E, Dover, Norfolk Southern, Valero Energy, DTE Energy, CMS Energy, Baker Hughes, CBRE, Hasbro, Keurig Dr Pepper, Cincinnati Financial, Principal Financial, Dexcom, Deckers Realty, Juniper Networks, L3Harris, Verisign, Weyerhaeuser, Wills Towers Watson etc * European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaks * US Treasury sells $44 billion of 7-year notes and $90 billion of 4-week bills Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-view-usa-2024-07-25/

2024-07-25 09:54

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - The Bank of England allotted a record 30.359 billion pounds ($39 billion) on Thursday in its weekly short-term repo, which is designed to smooth out volatility in sterling lending markets as it unwinds its quantitative easing programme. Sums allotted in the repo have been hitting fresh records on an almost weekly basis since April. Last week the BoE allotted 29.076 billion pounds of 7-day funds at the repo. On Monday the BoE's executive director for markets, Victoria Saporta, welcomed the increased use of the facility, which she said reflected banks' increased familiarity with it and the ease of rolling over financing. Repos, or repurchase agreements, allow banks to temporarily exchange government bonds they own for central bank cash, helping to keep market interest rates in line with the BoE's policy rate. Saporta said the time when banks would regularly need to use BoE repos to obtain cash was "firmly within sight", as the BoE was reducing its government bond holdings at a rate of 100 billion pounds a year, draining cash from the market. Adding further pressure was the end of a separate BoE scheme which offered banks cheap credit to lend to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The BoE also wanted to expand usage of its Indexed Long-Term Repo, Saporta said. The ILTR offers cash for six-month terms against a wider range of collateral than the Short-Term Repo, but is currently barely used by banks. ($1 = 0.7759 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/bank-england-allots-record-30-billion-pounds-weekly-repo-2024-07-25/

2024-07-25 08:55

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency ether dropped as much as 7% on Thursday as it got caught up in the broad market sell-off and failed to get a lift from this week's launch of the first U.S. exchange traded funds tracking the currency. The world's second largest cryptocurrency was last down 6% at $3,170 in what would be its biggest daily percentage fall in three months, leaving it broadly in the middle of its recent trading range. Bitcoin was 3% lower at $63,930. The first U.S. ETFs tied to the price of ether began trading on Tuesday, but have failed to generate the bounce in the price that spot bitcoin ETFs created in bitcoin earlier in the year. Instead, broader macro trends have taken hold. Shares around the world have tumbled in recent weeks, particularly tech stocks, and other 'risk assets' which often move in line with crypto currencies. The Nasdaq (.IXIC) , opens new tab on Wednesday, lost almost 4% - the worst one-day fall since 2022 - as lacklustre Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab and Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab earnings undermined investor confidence in the already lofty valuations of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks. Shares in crypto-related stocks such as miners fell in Thursday's premarket, with exchange Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab down 2.3%, Riot Platforms (RIOT.O) , opens new tab and Marathon Digital (MARA.O) , opens new tab down 3.4-4%. European shares (.STOXX) , opens new tab dropped 1.4% in early trading Thursday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/ether-set-biggest-daily-fall-three-months-no-us-etf-bounce-2024-07-25/

2024-07-25 07:25

PARIS, July 25 - French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab reported a worse than expected 6% fall in second-quarter earnings on Thursday, driven by weaker refined product and gas sales. Adjusted net income for the three months to June 30 was $4.7 billion, down from $4.96 billion a year earlier and $5.1 billion in the first quarter, the company said. Analysts had expected income to be flat at $4.96 billion in a consensus of estimates compiled by LSEG. Total, which generates most of its income from oil and gas production and sales, is the first Western oil major to report first-half results. Biraj Borkhataria, head of global energy transition research at RBC Europe, said the results were "modestly disappointing". Earnings in recent quarters have fallen from 2022 records when they were buoyed by a spike in energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but they remain above pre-pandemic levels as demand continues to rise, in particular for seaborne liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, lower demand for refined products is weighing on profits. Low diesel demand in Europe continues to impact refining margins, the company said in a statement, coupled with lower prices as market volatility from the Russian supply disruption normalises. The company said however it would buy back up to $2 billion in shares in the third quarter. It confirmed net investment guidance of between $17 billion and $18 billion for the year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/totalenergies-q2-earnings-rise-higher-oil-prices-2024-07-25/

2024-07-25 06:45

July 25 (Reuters) - Finnish oil refiner and biofuel maker Neste (NESTE.HE) , opens new tab narrowed down its annual renewables margin guidance on Thursday, its second cut to the target this year, after low biofuel prices hit its quarterly results. Neste, which has invested heavily in biofuel production from waste and residue, said it expects the sales margin in its renewable products segment to be $480-$580 per ton this year, versus the $480-$650 per ton it forecast in May. Renewable diesel and bioticket prices continued to fall during the quarter, and are expected to remain at a low level, the company said. Its comparable earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) slumped 69% to 240 million euros ($260 million) in the quarter. Analysts in a company-provided consensus had expected 314.5 million euros on average. "Our result in the second quarter reflects the significantly weaker renewables market and the Porvoo refinery major turnaround," Neste CEO Matti Lehmus said in a statement. Lehmus, who is set to be replaced by former Outokumpu (OUT1V.HE) , opens new tab chief Heikki Malinen by Nov. 2, added that the renewable market environment remained "very challenging". Neste is building renewable fuel plants across the globe, including refineries in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, California and Singapore. But lagging demand for renewable fuels and increasing supply have put pressure on prices and raised concerns over fuel storage. Last year, Neste warned that renewable fuels could face an overcapacity as soon as 2025, and said it expected a more balanced supply-to-demand ratio only around 2030. ($1 = 0.9223 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/finlands-neste-cuts-renewables-margin-forecast-again-2024-07-25/