Daily Archives: January 5, 2022

Cryptocurrencies boomed in 2021, but Bitcoin's (BTC-USD) late year retrenchment left many investors unsure about the same returns in the new year.

Buoyed by demand for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi), Ethereum (ETH-USD) and smaller cryptocurrencies ended up stealing the spotlight from Bitcoin. Its market capitalization, currently under 40%, is the second lowest it has ever been according to Trading View data.

Trading around $47,300, Bitcoin is down 8% since last week and 31% lower than the all-time high it hit in November near $69,000. While hopes for Bitcoin $100,000 have been dashed in the short-term, bulls remain unflappable and some arent afraid to double down on their predictions.

Short-term, there may be some volatility, CryptosRus George Tung told Yahoo Finance on Monday. Long-term, inflation is going to be a continuing issue, and bitcoin is seen as the best hedge against inflation at this point.

Samson Mow, chief strategy officer for Bitcoin software company Blockstream, was among those who predicted a move into six-figure territory. He insists the lofty water mark is still a real possibility.

Well see $100k within the first half of the year, Mow told Yahoo Finance.

He admitted that in the short-term Bitcoin will continue to perform like a risk-sensitive asset, fluctuating based on central banks and government policy, as well as broader shifts within the stock market. But "on a long enough time horizon, [Bitcoin] does its own thing," Mow added.

His comments follow a similar prediction from El Salvador President turned Bitcoin evangelist, Nayib Bukele, who made a similar call over the weekend. Bukele predicted that two more countries will adopt Bitcoin as legal tender this year.

Recently, Blockstream and El Salvador made headlines, after Bukele and Mow unveiled a partnership to offer so-called volcano bonds.

Half of this billion dollar sovereign debt offering will go towards financing Bitcoin City, an economic development project located in the Southern part of the country said to be a tax haven, that will also harvest nearby geothermal energy from a volcano to mine Bitcoin.

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Among other amenities, Mow said a zero tax on everything development zone will transform El Salvador into the Singapore of Latin America.

While the bond isnt available yet, Mow said Blockstream is working with a number of brokers.

The other half of this U.S. dollar denominated 10-year bond offering will be converted into Bitcoin. The 10-year bond which reaches maturity in 2032, carries a coupon of 6.5%. While Mow admitted this novel sovereign security is far more popular with Bitcoin investors than the general investing public, he suggested institutions starving for yield will snap up the bonds.

El Salvadors bond offering follows the International Monetary Funds (IMF) warning as far back as June that making Bitcoin legal tender exposed the country to significant volatility risks. Yet like Bukele, Mow hinted at the possibility that in 2022 other countries especially those involved in Bitcoin mining will follow El Salvadors move to make it legal tender.

For other countries, [Bitcoin] mining at the national utility level is the first step, Mow added.

Bitcoin mining operations attempt to generate revenue by acquiring Bitcoin at below market rates. Individual hobbyists and companies do this by contributing computing power to the token's decentralized payment network. Known as proof of work (POW), the system has never been hacked, but its high energy has drawn the ire of climate activists.

While the Chinese government banned cryptocurrency mining in June of 2021, the industry has resurfaced in other countries including Canada, Iran, Germany, Malaysia, Russia and the United States, according to research compiled by the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI).

How Bitcoin is used and who mines it can be tracked, but the process isnt perfect. The assets payment rails allow observers to trace the flow of funds from different wallet addresses. And determining who owns any particular wallet address whether it's a sovereign nation, corporation or individual remains more art than science.

A recent paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) shed some light on exactly who owns Bitcoin tokens. It found individual holdings are "highly concentrated," with the top 1000 investors controlling 3 million, or about 20%, of all Bitcoin in circulation.

Antoinette Schoar, an MIT economist and one of the paper's authors, told Yahoo Finance said that this level of concentration undermines one of the key promises of cryptocurrencies: to democratize finance.

"We know that just through selling and buying, one of these individuals can create massive amounts of volatility in Bitcoin, which as we've seen has huge consequences," said Schoar.

However, some Bitcoin investors dispute those findings even as an analysis from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode found that the rising number of "whales" are indicative of institutional interest in crypto.

David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers.

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Why Bitcoin bulls still think $100K is in the cards despite ugly end to 2021 - Yahoo Finance

CES 2022, one of the worlds largest technology conventions, kicks off today and runs through Thursday in Las Vegas. Much of the show will, however, take place away from the bright lights of The Strip and instead be live-streamed on laptops and desktops around the world.

The Omicron variant has upended some of the biggest exhibitors plans, forcing the likes of Intel, Google, and GM to host virtual press conferences rather than in-person events. The Consumer Technology Association, which runs CES, even canceled the last day of the show.

And while many participants will still participate in person, the show is unlikely to be the kind of massive tech extravaganza that youd find prior to the pandemic.

Still, there will be an impressive array of new and interesting products on display during the COVID-shortened show, which various companies are streaming for the public. From self-driving cars and massive new TVs to smart home gadgets, the metaverse, and NFTs, CES 2022 will feature all of the latest tech has to offer. Heres what to expect from one of the biggest tech shows of the year.

One of the biggest focuses of the show will be the ongoing electric car race. CES is as much a car show as it is a technology show, and the same can be said of this years pared down version of the event. In prior years automakers ranging from Hyundai to Mercedes Benz and Fisker have shown off their high-tech autos and automotive concepts, and 2022 will be no different.

The Sony Vision-S prototype electric vehicle, designed to showcase Sony's advanced electronics technologies, is displayed during the 2020 CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Marcus

Expect to see GM (GM) roll out its highly anticipated electric Silverado pickup, which the company says will get a whopping 400 miles of range. But the Silverado is coming to market with some serious competition in the form of Fords (F) F-150 Lightning, which that automaker says has nearly 200,000 preorders and goes on sale this year.

Theres also the Rivian (RIVN) RT1, which should begin ending up in consumers driveways in March. And then theres Teslas (TSLA) Cybertruck, which will begin production later this year.

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Mercedes, meanwhile, debuted its new Vision EQXX concept on Monday, with a claimed 620 miles of range per charge.

Its not just about the vehicles themselves, though. CES 2022 will also give us a look at the technology behind future cars including self-driving features that will, eventually, ensure you can get from place to place without having to even glance at the road.

Cars may be the new stars of CES, but TVs are still one of the most watched categories of products at the show. Where else can you get a look, virtually at least, at some of the most impressive sets around.

This will be the 11th CES Ive covered throughout my career, and each one has showcased the latest and greatest TVs have to offer.

People view the LG Signature OLED R rollable televisions at the LG booth at CES 2020. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

This year, youll see plenty of news about 8K sets, the next step up in resolution from 4K for TVs. Heres the thing though: Unless youre mounting a TV the size of a billboard in your home, or sitting so close your eyes are touching the screen, 8K isnt for you. Oh, and theres the little issue of 8K content, which is sorely lacking. Heck, weve only just started getting a sizable amount of 4K content.

Putting that aside, though, 2022 will give us a number of innovations from high-end, mid-range, and entry-level TV makers. Samsung has already leaked its CES news, announcing an updated version of its Frame TV with an anti-reflective matte display. The company also debuted a new battery-free remote that Samsung says can be charged via sunlight or by absorbing energy from a routers radio waves.

Expect to hear plenty of chatter about display technologies including OLED and micro LED, both of which promise better image quality than traditional LED panels. And dont rule out some slick new form factors. Dont forget, LG previously debuted its rollable TV at CES, while Samsung showed off its rotating TV during prior shows.

Its hard to imagine that Intel (INTC), AMD (AMD), Nvidia (NVDA), and Qualcomm (QCOM) will take the virtual stage at CES 2022 and not debut at least some new chips. Intel is expected to show off its latest mobile laptop chips as well as its dedicated graphics cards.

AMD is reportedly set to debut its own new graphics cards, while Nvidia could give us a look at its own beefy cards. Qualcomm could also give us a better idea of its augmented reality/virtual reality and automotive strategies too.

Gamers, for their part, should also get some good news in the form of a slew of gaming PCs and hardware that's sure to leave players drooling.

The metaverse and NFTs (non fungible tokens) became some of the most popular terms in tech, and finance, in 2021, and you can bet that will continue in 2022. Need proof? Look no further than Samsung, which announced that it is launching the worlds first TV screen-based NFT explorer that will let users search for and display their NFTs on their big screens.

You can bet that the metaverse, or at least the various visions companies have for the collection of persistent online worlds, will also be on full display during this years event. That could come in the form of new VR/ AR headsets or actual metaverse platforms. Well just have to wait and see.

Yahoo Finance will be covering all things CES throughout the week. Stay tuned.

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CES 2022: The biggest trends to expect from the consumer tech conference - Yahoo Finance

The volatile but lucrative cryptocurrency boom has created vast fortunes practically overnight, and to new cash flooding sports and entertainment in aggressive brand-building efforts.

But the latest twist involves Peter McCormack, a Bitcoin (BTC-USD) investor and podcaster, who has opted for a different approach. He bought his hometown soccer club (or football, as it's called in the United Kingdom), in a bid to attract money to build the squad into a powerhouse.

Bearing hallmarks of AppleTV+'s breakout series "Ted Lasso," McCormack has become the new chairman of Bedford FC. He's now setting out to take his club to English footballs highest competitive circuit, the Premier League.

Born and raised in Bedford, McCormack told Yahoo Finance, it's a childhood dream that ultimately can help him build more hometown pride and turn the team into a contender.

Bedford is an area that really hasnt seen any major growth apart from people moving back from London who can afford to buy bigger houses, and I was like 'whats the one thing I can do?'" McCormack explained to Yahoo Finance.

"Ive got a Bitcoin community of these crazy 100 million Bitcoin users around the world who will get behind the project. We can create success in the town with a football team, he added.

But Bedford FC is "not a crypto club. This isn't about getting people to buy cryptocurrencies or [non-fungible tokens] or any of that nonsense," McCormack said.

"What we are is a football club that will be run as a professional business" that attracts sponsorships to create the money to spend on players, equipment and facilities," he added.

A representation of virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin is placed on a U.S. Dollar banknote in this illustration taken November 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Last year, companies bulging with fat with profits from a booming cycle for crypto confronted a new problem: Rapid growth didn't translate into name recognition.

To remedy that problem, many funneled over a billion dollars into advertising and cryptocurrency exchanges were the most aggressive. Gemini commissioned a Spike Lee commercial, and Crypto.com paid Matt Damon to say Fortune Favors the Brave in a widely panned move.

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But the most significant crypto campaigns have focused on sports, another sector awash in new money created by betting.

Enter the "Ted Lasso" analogy. The show features an English football squad competing in an open league, where the plot revolves around a bumbling American coach hired by a new owner to turn the woeful franchise around. Based on performance, the best and worst teams are promoted (or demoted) within a league.

The Bedford Football Club sits in Englands tenth division which means the club must be promoted 9 times before it can compete in the Premier League.

No stranger to this system, McCormacks strategy hinges on leveraging a worldwide community of Bitcoin enthusiasts to and advertising demand from Bitcoin companies.

He's not the only one. The Washington Post first reported that WAGMI United, a group of high-profile U.S. cryptocurrency investors recently made an offer to buy Premier League team, Bradford City AFC.

But the current Bradford Chairman denied the offer, after reports that fans were resisting the possibility of the new ownership, according to Coinmarket cap. McCormack was more lucky.

There are a few things for me that are lucky that converged in a few months. Ive lived here [Bedford] for my whole life I do understand British football. I love Football. I go to games all the time, McCormack said.

The podcaster spent years building his own business from advertising deals with crypto companies for his show. From the level of interest in merchandise, and at the pace he is selling sponsorships, the clubs first year of revenue could match a small league 1 club," the entrepreneur said.

According to the clubs website, it is already sponsored by three Bitcoin mining companies: Compass Mining, Hut 8 and Luxor.

Yet crypto is notoriously whipsaw. McCormack added that his team, which will be rechristened as Real Bedford FC, wont be susceptible to short-term swings in Bitcoin prices.

I don;t want people looking at this as a weird crypto project thats a flash in the pan idea," he told Yahoo Finance. "Its not a crypto project, its a business and football project. We just operate with a Bitcoin standard."

David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers.

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Bitcoin's 'Ted Lasso' explains the 'real plan' behind buying a UK soccer team - Yahoo Finance

The second year of the coronavirus pandemic showed that the world isn't slowing down any time soon, and neither is creativity.

From biographies of famous economic leadersto a retrospective of our nations responseto the pandemic and a deep dive into the scandals of Nixons VP Spiro Agnew, there was no shortage of books that captured the attention of the Yahoo Finance staff in 2021.

Here are the top nine books the Yahoo Finance staff read and loved this year.

(Photo: Penguin Random House)

This historical biography of economist John Maynard Keynes delves into the life and work of one of the most influential economists over the last century. Economies across the world the U.S. most of all have been built on Keynesian economics. The book explains why Keynes views on money and democracy play such an important role in how most of society works today. David Hollerith, Yahoo Finance cryptocurrency reporter

[WATCH: Zachary D. Carter's interview with Yahoo Finance]

It was Milton Friedman, and later Richard Nixon, who said in times of financial turmoil, We're all Keynesians now. After falling out of favor for some time, the ideas of John Maynard Keynes are experiencing something of a resurgence amid the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic, making this canny biography of one of the most influential economists all the more compelling.

In 'The Price of Peace,' HuffPost senior reporter Zachary Carter tells the story of Keynes's social life with the Bloomsbury group and his designs for monetary policy. No deep understanding of economic theory is required here to be swept away by the tides of twentieth-century events. Plus, four-day work week proponents will find fellow feeling in the man who predicted his grandkids would clock in for 15 hours a week (a gross miscalculation, as it turned out). A good portion of the book is devoted to tracing the afterlife of Keynes's work, but Carter doesn't let us forget the optimism and humanistic ideals that underpin Keynes's broader vision for society. Grace ODonnell, Yahoo Finance editor

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(Photo: Penguin Random House)

"This is one of those books that has stayed on my mind since I finished it earlier this year. Weve learned a lot about the Sacklers over the years through reporting, but never in such a comprehensive way like this book. Even if you dont follow big pharma news, the story behind this family will certainly captivate you." Adriana Belmonte, Yahoo Finance reporter and editor

[WATCH: Patrick Radden Keefe's interview with Yahoo Finance]

I'm powering through Empire of Pain. It's hard to put down. This is first-rate reporting, writing, and insight. Wow, what a saga. Andy Serwer, Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief

(Photo: Penguin Random House)

Author Max Chafkin takes a deep dive into the life and history of billionaire entrepreneur and Silicon Valley whisperer Peter Thiel. The writer even travels to Thiel's alma mater Stanford and digs up articles from the library's basement of the right-wing newspaper he launched, 'The Stanford Review.' What's striking to me about the book is the number of people who chose not to go on the record, out of fear of possible retaliation. A great read if you're looking to understand the nuances of PayPal's origin story and Thiel's contributions to Trump's 2016 election run. McKenzie Stratigopoulos, Yahoo Finance line producer

(Photo: Penguin Random House)

As a Boomer, ... Bag Man is near and dear [to me], but man, the parallels to now are pretty incredible. Curious how and why Maddow chose the subject [of Spiro Agnew], but who cares. Worth reading. Andy Serwer, Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief

(Photo: Bloomsbury Publishing)

"The country has spent a lot of time focused on the opioid crisis (and rightfully so) but as a result, drugs like synthetic opioids and meth have creeped their way to the forefront. Quinones conducts interviews with those in recovery and those who have lost loved ones to these drugs and explains how Chinese fentanyl manufacturers have been able to utilize Mexican drug dealers to get these drugs into America. A sobering look at our next drug crisis in the U.S." Adriana Belmonte, Yahoo Finance reporter and editor

(Photo: Penguin Random House)

"Indra Nooyi is one of the most distinguished corporate leaders of the past 25 years. But the road to reach the peak of her corporate career chairman and CEO of PepsiCo wasnt easy by any stretch of the imagination as detailed in My Life in Full. In her new memoir, Nooyi recalls her childhood growing up in Madras, India (now Chennai). While Nooyi was always encouraged by her parents to seek out higher education, learning and to pursue her dreams, the social norm in India was the man of the household earns and the woman attends to family and home.

Nooyi chose a different path, however, in large part because of her own inner drive to succeed. Nooyi is quick to say she is thankful for the support structure of friends of family, which allowed her to continue to charge hard in her work." Brian Sozzi, Yahoo Finance anchor and editor-at-large

[WATCH: Indra Nooyi's interview with Yahoo Finance]

(Photo: Penguin Random House)

Madam is amazing because it seems so long ago and yet it really isn't. Research is fantastic and narrative pulls you through. And on the Upper West Side! Who knew! Andy Serwer, Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief

(Photo: Macmillan)

If you think you know everything about Silicon Valley culture, you could still glean insights into the Valleys weirdness by reading this memoir. Wiener left a job in the poorly paid publishing industry for life at a hot startup. She doesnt name the place, but its GitHub, and she manages to capture the strange language and behavior of young startup workers without making fun of them. This is almost an anthropological study of the startup scene at a certain moment in time. But its also extremely well-written and uses a literary device that works extremely well. Rather than naming companies, she uses no proper nouns and simply describes what the company does: the search engine, the platform to make payments to your friends, and of course, the social network. This device makes you think about technology in new ways and reevaluate your relationship with it. Erin Fuchs, Yahoo Finance deputy managing editor

[WATCH: Anna Wiener's interview with Yahoo Finance]

(Photo: W.W. Norton)

"If you needed a reminder about how woefully unprepared our country was for a pandemic, look no further than Lewis latest book. The Premonition features fascinating interviews with public health experts and former government officials and provides insight into the politics that plays into major health situations. Its infuriating, but also incredibly enlightening." Adriana Belmonte, Yahoo Finance reporter and editor

[WATCH: Yahoo Finance's interview with Michael Lewis]

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The best business books we read in 2021: Yahoo Finance - Yahoo Finance

WASHINGTON Folks, I know were all tired and frustrated about the pandemic, President Biden said on Tuesday ahead of his meeting with his pandemic response team. It was not the message with which hed hoped to open the new year, but with the nation recording more than a million coronavirus cases on Monday, there was little to do but acknowledge reality, which is that the virus Biden had promised to vanquish remains very much unvanquished.

These coming weeks are going to be challenging, the president said, himself sounding weary from months of battling crosscurrents of political resistance and medical misinformation, not to mention a virus that has proved intractable at every turn.

President Biden meets with members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team on Tuesday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

As he has in the past, Biden trained his frustrations on the millions of Americans who remain unvaccinated, despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that the vaccines are safe and effective. He bluntly charged the unvaccinated with taking up hospital beds and crowding emergency rooms and intensive care units, thus not only endangering themselves but also prolonging a pandemic that many had hoped would be over by now.

Although the highly transmissible Omicron variant does have some ability to break through vaccinations, it is unvaccinated people who are by far the most vulnerable to severe or critical cases of COVID-19. If youre unvaccinated, you have some reason to be alarmed. Many of you will experience severe illness, the president said.

Some will die needlessly die, he added moments later.

Biden did acknowledge that a booster shot is necessary to bolster the immunity accorded by vaccines. For Americans, that means a third shot of an mRNA vaccine like those offered by Pfizer or Moderna, or a second shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We have booster shots for the whole nation. You can still get COVID, but its highly unlikely very unlikely that youll become seriously ill, the president said.

The Biden administration has been trying to shift focus away from infection rates to hospitalizations, since many vaccinated people may test positive for the coronavirus but experience either mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. The Omicron variant has generally led to less severe symptoms, particularly for those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and received a subsequent booster shot.

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It is much more relevant to focus on the hospitalizations as opposed to the total number of cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the presidents top medical adviser, said on Sunday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci at a briefing with the White House COVID-19 Response Team. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden also announced on Tuesday that his administration would buy 10 million more doses of a new Pfizer treatment, administered in pill form, that is highly effective against preventing the most severe effects of COVID-19, death in particular. And he looked forward to imminent approval by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of booster shots for adolescents, though not yet for children under 12. Children under 5 remain ineligible for vaccination.

Touching on another issue that has resurfaced in recent weeks, Biden reiterated that schools can and should be open this winter. More than 2,000 schools across the country are closed this week because of high numbers of positive cases among teachers and students.

He also vowed that the scarcity of diagnostic testing would soon be alleviated, though that is unlikely to happen in time to blunt the Omicron surge.

Theres a lot of reason to be hopeful in 2020, Biden said at the conclusion of his remarks, which took place on the fourth day of 2022.

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Biden tries to rally COVID-weary nation: 'We're all tired and frustrated' - Yahoo News

A year filled with highs and lows for cryptocurrency is ending with surprising winners neither of which are Bitcoin (BTC-USD), Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) and Shiba Inu (SHIB-INU), the three digital coins that grabbed most of the headlines in 2021.

Ether (ETH-USD) was one of the year's biggest winners, more than quadrupling Bitcoin as an investment. Despite heavy investor buzz and new exchange-traded funds, the leading cryptocurrency spiked to a fresh record near $69,000 only to retreat in dramatic fashion this month, and is currently languishing below $50,000.

As of Friday, Bitcoin has added over 60% year to date, and ETH is up 410%, according to Yahoo Finance/Coinbase data.

"Ultimately, I do think there's a little bit of a sentiment letdown right now in cryptocurrency," DailyFX analyst Chris Vecchio told Yahoo Finance on Friday. "I'd be very surprised if Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have a good year unless someone like Elon Musk is pumping them on Twitter."

Meanwhile, several smaller cryptocurrencies are fueling a new generation of blockchain protocols, challenging Ether.

Cardano's native cryptocurrency, ADA (ADA-USD) jumped a whopping 657%, and the price of Solana (SOL1-USD) leapt over 9,258.2%, according to Yahoo Finance/Coinbase data. Meanwhile, Polygon (MATIC-USD) and Terra (LUNA-USD) both eclipsed SOL with staggering price gains topping 13,000% each.

As the cryptocurrency ether fuels Ethereum, each of these less known cryptocurrencies offers something similar for their own protocols, most of all to pay transaction fees.

Similar to how Tesla (TSLA) has a market capitalization that dwarfs more established auto companies producing more vehicles, the outperformance of these newer tokens comes with "the expectation for growth," Gil Luria, technology strategist with D.A. Davidson Companies, told Yahoo Finance.

Despite crypto's current drawdown, and the belief that the digital currency trade has gotten overcrowded, Luria and others remain bullish, with increasing demand and competition for smart contracts compatible layer-1 protocols (like Ethereum) driving 2022 growth.

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Solana logo displayed on a phone screen and representation of cryptocurrencies are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on August 21, 2021. (Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Spurred by demand for two of this years hottest crypto frontiers, decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), transaction fees on Ethereum have spiked to high sometimes outrageous levels.

Soaring costs are a barrier to retail investors, as well as developers aiming to build enterprise-grade applications, like a streaming platform or video game.

That's why Luria and others analysts believe smaller protocols will "gain [market] share at Ethereums expense" by soaking up its unmet demand for investors and developers.

Akin to the fierce competition between the worlds major tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google (MSFT, AMZN, GOOG) over the last decade, the D.A. Davidson team is billing this crypto competition as the new cloud wars.

It's the latest version of the scaling wars," a topic crypto developers and investors have debated for years. Bitcoin acts primarily as a decentralized ledger for money rather than a smart contract platform like Ethereum.

Mauricio Di Bartolomeo co-founder and chief strategy officer of crypto lender, Ledn, called the latter "clogged" given high fees and surging demand. "It's like where Bitcoin was in 2017 where transaction fees were outrageous," he told Yahoo Finance in an interview.

Currently, Bitcoin processes about 7 transactions per second (TPS) at a cost of $3.34 per transaction. Ethereum can do 15, but at an average cost of $20 to $40 per transaction. For context, Visa is capable of 24,000 TPS with fees ranging from 1.4 to 2.4%.

"Anything over a dollar is too much," Baxter Hines, chief investment officer of Honeycomb Digital Investments, told Yahoo Finance and a tough sell for anyone using an enterprise-scale blockchain application.

The competition to effectively scale is taking several different forms, designed to improve network speed, decentralization and security. This 3-part "trilemma" a term coined by Ethereum creator, Vitalik Buterin entails that all three can't be achieved at once.

To improve scale, Ethereum began implementation of its ETH 2.0 upgrade in August. The fee-improving part of the upgrade - a transaction innovation called "sharding" - isn't estimated to finish until 2023.

Kevin Woicki, Co-founder of Gitcoin, a developer fundraising application and DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) explained Ethereum's strategy is to become a blockchain of blockchains," where most scaling is streamlined by second-layer applications and providers like Polygon.

Woicki said investors concerned about Ethereum losing market share should weigh whether the protocol's current transaction fee problem can overshadow its hefty network effects.

Smart contract platforms are all about being able to build financial applications like legos. Every new lego added on Ethereum makes it better to build on the network. If I walk into an Ethereum hackathon, I am able to build something in a weekend that 10 years ago would have taken a bank $30 million and a staff of thousands of developers to build, Woicki told Yahoo Finance.

For 2022, a lot of the high-value applications will be built on Ethereum. The more forward-looking, ambitious and lower value stuff will get built on other chains because Ethereum has become so expensive.Gil Luria, D.A. Davidson

Solana is another emerging contender, as its design allows for faster and cheaper transactions. Still in beta, its protocol processes currently 2,682 transactions per second (TPS), with average costs adding up to fractions of a penny. However, Solana's white paper states "up to 710k TPS is possible."

A report from The Block Research reveals Solana's other biggest advantage is fund raising. Amid the DeFi and NFT boom this year, Ethereum-based projects took 26% of the total funds raised; Solana took second place, with 73 deals (9%) of total deal flow.

And better fundraising is imperative to building a richer network faster because it can attract more developers.

Our primary customer isnt the end user. Its the devs, the engineers, the app developerstheyre trying to build the next generation of applications, Anatoly Yakenvenko Co-founder and CTO for Solana Labs, the company that built Solana, told Yahoo Finance.

Yet there are concerns surrounding validators, i.e. protocols that verify blockchain transactions. The top 19 control a 33% stake of the network according to Solana beach, meaning together they could halt the network, or censor transactions.

And because its still in its infancy, Solana's comparatively low number of validators makes it easier to jam the network with Denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks. In September, one such attack shutdown Solana for 17-hours, and sent the token reeling. The protocol is exploring a "validator delegation strategy" to mitigate the problem.

"We're still in the earliest inning," D.A. Davidson's Luria said. "For 2022, a lot of the high-value applications will be built on Ethereum. The more forward-looking, ambitious and lower value stuff will get built on other chains because Ethereum has become so expensive."

In Messari's 2022 trend report, CEO Ryan Selkis dubbed the new crypto units "ethereum killers" that "all have the money to compete aggressively... Either way, these assets are tethered to ETH."

David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers.

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Ether outshines Bitcoin in whipsaw year, rises to the top in crypto's 'cloud wars' - Yahoo Finance

The Minnesota Vikings' season, for all intents and purposes, came to an end with Sunday night's loss in Green Bay.

One might naturally assume that the Vikings' Week 18 game against another dead team walking, the Chicago Bears, might be used to evaluate some young players with the 2022 season in mind.

Namely third-round QB Kellen Mond, right?

Wrong. At least as far as head coach Mike Zimmer is concerned.

Asked after the Week 17 game whether Mond might get an extended look in the season finale, Zimmer didn't mince words.

Not particularly, the coach said.

Mond entered the Green Bay game on the Vikings' penultimate possession after replacement starter Sean Mannion was hurt briefly, completing 2 of 3 passes for 5 yards. It was Mond's first regular-season action after the Vikings used the 66th overall pick on him in April.

But on the final drive, Mannion was back out there. They were the only two active quarterbacks, with starter Kirk Cousins in the COVID protocol.

Asked why the Vikings might not want to see more of Mond against the Bears, Zimmer offered a pretty damning response.

I see him every day (in practice), he said.

Ouch.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer walks off the field after losing to the Green Bay Packers. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

This appears to suggest two things:

1. Zimmer either wasn't a fan of the Vikings drafting Mond or he's clearly soured on the rookie since he joined the team.

2. Most coaches wouldn't say something that strong on a rookie unless they were extremely firm in their employment status ... or they know they're getting fired.

The latter feels like the overwhelming favorite at this point. Zimmer's record over his eight years is quite strong at 71-56-1 (.559 win percentage), as well as a 2-3 mark in three postseason appearances. He also signed a three-year extension in June of 2020, through the 2024 season.

That might lead one to believe his status might be secure. However, the team now has missed the playoffs three of the past four seasons, and they never got back on track after a 1-3 start to this campaign. It was at that time that Zimmer indicated he thought this team had a chance to be pretty good. Eight of their nine losses have been by one score; Sunday night was the first blowout loss of the season.

Their inability to win the close ones could cost Zimmer his job a week from Monday. And based on his unvarnished comments on Mond, it's safe to assume that result would not surprise the coach one bit.

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Vikings Mike Zimmer on if he wants to see QB Kellen Mond in Week 18: Not particularly - Yahoo Sports

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is conducting a review of a secretive division that uses some of the countrys most sensitive databases to investigate the travel and financial records and personal connections of journalists, members of Congress and other Americans not suspected of any crime.

A review is underway to ensure that the activities in question during the prior Administration remain an isolated incident and that proper safeguards are in place to prevent an incident like this from taking place in the future, Luis Miranda, a spokesperson for CBP, told Yahoo News.

CBPs internal probe was prompted by Yahoo News reporting earlier this month on Operation Whistle Pig, a leak investigation targeting reporter Ali Watkins and her then boyfriend, James Wolfe, a Senate staffer. The investigation was launched by Jeffrey Rambo, a border patrol agent assigned to CBPs Counter Network Division who was looking at whether Wolfe provided classified information to Watkins and other reporters.

James Wolfe, former director of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

As many as 20 national security reporters were also investigated during this time, according to an FBI counterintelligence memo included in the Department of Homeland Security inspector general report obtained by Yahoo News.

The DHS inspector general investigation was launched in response to an article in the Washington Post identifying Rambo as a border patrol agent who used a fake name to meet with Watkins, then a reporter for Politico. During the meeting, he questioned her about her sources and about her relationship with Wolfe, and also discussed leak investigations.

At the end of their two-year probe, investigators referred Rambo, his supervisor Dan White and a colleague Charles Ratliff for potential criminal charges including conspiracy and misuse of government computers. White was also referred for multiple potential counts of making false statements. Federal prosecutors declined prosecution, citing, among other reasons, the lack of policies and procedures governing their work.

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Rambo told Yahoo News he was authorized every step of the way, and records included in the DHS investigative report show that his supervisor Dan White ordered him to expand his probe into journalists. White is still working at the Counter Network Division, and Rambo is currently employed as a border patrol agent in San Diego.

The Counter Network Division regularly investigated potential contacts, including journalists, as part of a process it referred to as vetting. As part of this process, the subject would be run through multiple databases, including a terrorism watch list.

Jeff Rambo at his coffee shop in San Diego. (Sandy Huffaker for Yahoo News)

The division regularly conducts database checks on reporters to determine personal connections, Rambos supervisor Dan White told investigators, according to the DHS investigation report obtained by Yahoo News.

Charles Ratliff, another CBP employee brought in to assist Operation Whistle Pig, used the vast resources and databases available to the division to build what investigators later described as a phone tree of contacts mapping out connections between people to identify a hidden network. Such work, which was used to track terrorists, was also directed at Americans, including congressional members and staffers and journalists..

When Congressional Staffers schedule flights, the numbers they use get captured and analyzed by CBP, Rambos supervisor, White, told investigators.

White stated that Ratliff does this all the time inappropriate contacts between people.

Ratliff regularly compiled reports on members of Congress with alleged ties to someone in the Terrorist Screening Database, according to the investigative report obtained by Yahoo News.

CBP marshaled those same resources to identify journalists' confidential sources, which was then passed to the FBI.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press reporter Martha Mendoza was one of the journalists vetted by the Counter Network Division targeted only because shed reported on forced labor, one of the issues related to CBPs work. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington was also swept up in its dragnet.

There is no specific guidance on how to vet someone, Rambo later told investigators. In terms of policy and procedure, to be 100 percent frank there, theres no policy and procedure on vetting.

Martha Mendoza, a journalist with the Associated Press. (Khairil Yusof/Flickr)

The Counter Network Division also investigated NGOs, members of Congress and their respective staffs. Enough Project, a nonprofit named by CBP as one of those organizations investigated by Rambos team, told Yahoo News it was troubled by the revelations.

If the Enough Project was in fact targeted for extreme vetting by a United States government agency for our work to improve mineral supply chains originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo and investigate corruption that robs the Congolese people of their countrys natural resource wealth, it would be deeply troubling, the organization said in a statement to Yahoo News. Such invasive and arbitrary targeting of human rights defenders would be a violation of privacy, a hindrance to this important work, and a waste of public resources.

A CBP official who asked not to be named told Yahoo News that the National Targeting Center has put in place new procedures and training designed to ensure that the First and Fourth amendments are not being violated. The official declined, however, to specify what those measures were.

Congressional oversight committees have also begun looking into the divisions activities.

Rep. Benny Thompson, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and Carolyn Maloney, chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent a letter to the DHS inspector general requesting the report.

We write you regarding disturbing reports that the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Counter Network Division used government databases to vet journalists, government officials, congressional members and their staff, NGO workers, and others by obtaining travel records as well as financial and personal information, they wrote in a Dec. 14 letter to the DHS inspector general.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated at least one Counter Network Division employee, Mr. Jeffrey Rambo, who used government databases to gather information on an American journalist Ali Watkins, Thompson and Maloney wrote the DHS, citing reporting by Yahoo News.

Ali Watkins during an interview regrading her reporting on Russian espionage on PBS on June 1, 2017. (PBS/YouTube)

Chairs Thompson and Maloney requested a copy of the Office of the Inspector General report for its investigation into Rambo and any other reports related to conduct by the Counter Network Division by Dec. 21, 2021. The DHS inspector general has to date not provided the committees with the requested information, according to congressional sources.

Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, which has oversight over CBP, has also requested a copy of the inspector general report, but a spokesman for Wyden said he has still not received a copy.

The inspector general did not respond to a request for comment from Yahoo News about the congressional requests.

The DHS has declined to answer any questions posed by Yahoo News about Operation Whistle Pig and the activities of the Counter Network Division. However, in a statement, the department said that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is deeply committed to ensuring the protection of First Amendment rights and has promulgated policies that reflect this priority.

We do not condone the investigation of reporters in response to the exercise of First Amendment rights, the statement continued. CBP and every component agency and office in the Department will ensure their practices are consistent with our values and our highest standards.

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CBP launches review of secretive division that targeted journalists, lawmakers and other Americans - Yahoo News

Before the national championship game between Alabama and Georgia is played, there is one more bowl game. Its the Texas Bowl between LSU and Kansas State on Tuesday night in Houston.

LSU (6-6) opened as a slight favorite but that point spread has swung pretty significantly toward Kansas State (7-5). The Wildcats are now 7-point favorites at BetMGM with the total sitting at 47.5 as of Tuesday morning.

Why the line movement? Well, LSU will be without a significant chunk of its roster and is expected to split quarterback reps between two walk-ons and a wide receiver. According to The Athletic, the Tigers will have roughly 39 scholarship players available because of transfers, opt-out, COVID and academic issues.

The opt-outs include linebacker Damone Clark, defensive tackle Neil Farrell and running back Tyrion Davis-Price, all of whom have declared for the NFL draft. LSU is also very thin at cornerback.

And then theres the quarterback situation. Max Johnson, the teams starter throughout the regular season, transferred to Texas A&M. Myles Brennan, who was expected to compete with Johnson for the starting job before getting injured, announced he will be back next year under new coach Brian Kelly but reportedly wont play in the bowl. Freshman Garrett Nussmeier played in four games this season and does not want to burn his redshirt.

That leaves the two walk-ons Tavion Faulk and Matt ODowd and Jontre Kirklin, a receiver who played high school quarterback. Its obviously a tenuous situation for the Tigers.

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is not expected to play in the Texas Bowl in order to preserve his redshirt, leaving two walk-ons and a receiver to play QB for the Tigers. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Kansas State, meanwhile, is expected to have longtime starting quarterback Skylar Thompson back on the field after a late-season injury. The Wildcats, who finished 7-5 overall, were 6-3 with Thompson in the lineup this season.

From a betting perspective, the spread moved toward Kansas State pretty slowly. K-State was still available at -4.5 a few days ago, but the number has moved to 7 with the reality of LSUs roster situation more publicly available.

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Kansas State is not a team I typically bet as a favorite, though it is 9-5-1 ATS as a favorite during Chris Kliemans three seasons as head coach. Even better, the under is 11-4 when Kansas State is the favorite during that same span.

With LSUs roster in such shape and the fact that Kansas State plays such a plodding style of offense (just 48 plays of 20-plus yards this season, No. 104 in the country), I lean toward the under. But its probably going to be a game Im more inclined to live bet or just stay away from altogether.

Things have been dicey in college basketball lately with so many postponements, but Tuesday nights schedule looks very promising.

The top matchup of the night comes out of the SEC where No. 21 LSU is hosting No. 16 Kentucky. LSU is a 3.5-point favorite with the total at 141.5.

Kentucky is 11-2 on the year and has won four straight games in blowout fashion after losing at Notre Dame on Dec. 11. The four-game winning streak includes an 83-56 blowout over Missouri in UKs SEC opener. LSU, meanwhile, is 12-1 on the year and is coming off that lone defeat a 70-55 road loss to Auburn in the conference opener.

Elsewhere, No. 1 Baylor hosts Oklahoma and is a 12.5-point favorite. No. 2 Duke hosts Georgia Tech as an 18.5-point favorite. No. 6 Kansas travels to Oklahoma State and is favored by 6.5.

In the Big Ten, struggling Michigan is a 4.5-point road favorite over Rutgers while Illinois is favored by 7.5 on the road against Minnesota. There are also two intriguing Big East matchups. Butler is a 3.5-point home dog against No. 24 Seton Hall, and Marquette is favored by 1.5 at home against No. 16 Providence.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari directs players against Notre Dame on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, in South Bend, Indiana. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin)

There was just one game in the NHL on Monday night, but the action is more plentiful on Tuesday with eight matchups on tap.

In the NBA, there are five games on the schedule. The Cleveland Cavaliers, the best ATS team in the league at 25-10-2, host the Memphis Grizzlies and are 3.5-point favorites. Elsewhere, the Raptors are 5.5-point home favorites over the Spurs, the Knicks are favored by just 1.5 at home against the Pacers, the Suns are 7.5-point road favorites over the Pelicans, and the Lakers are favored by 6.5 at home against the Kings.

With the NBA, you need to make sure youre aware of who is available to play before you bet. Players are dropping out of lineups left and right in recent weeks because of COVID-19.

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The Daily Sweat: There's one last bowl game, and it features LSU with a makeshift roster - Yahoo Sports

This article first appeared in the Morning Brief. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe

Wednesday, January 5, 2021

Omicron is 2022 wild card, but lots of 'dry powder' is fueling demand

Nowadays, dispatches from the impossibly hot pandemic-era labor market have become a bit anticlimactic.

Yet theyre still worth highlighting, given that employers are still trying to cope with excess demand and open jobs, and the Omicron variant crashing down on the economy driving new infections to over 1 million a day in the U.S.

On Tuesday, the Labor Departments closely watched Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) found that there were over 10 million vacancies in the latest month, with a record 4.5 million people bidding adieu to their gigs. Stocks reacted in mixed fashion, but remained perched comfortably within view of record highs.

Yahoo Finances Emily McCormick reported that turnover was particularly high in the beleaguered food service industry, where Omicron is becoming a drag on indoor dining. Meanwhile, the sheer numbers of workers testing positive and having to isolate themselves are wreaking havoc on travel, retail and public services in urban areas. On Tuesday, Macys (M) was forced to cut store hours as new infections created new staffing headaches.

The massive shortage of workers continues because the economy is booming, according to FWDBonds chief economist Chris Rupkey.

The economic recovery is over and companies have shifted their demand for workers at a pace that is normally only seen during economic booms, he said in a note to clients. The economy is booming today but for how long is the question with the spread of the latest COVID variant that is closing many schools and slowing commerce and buyer traffic at many shops and malls.

As we enter year three of the pandemic, COVID-19 still casts a pall over everything. But at a minimum, the JOLTS data reveal that soaring infections arent (yet) derailing one of the economys biggest macro trends: that is, a restless workforce desperately seeking greener pastures (i.e. better pay, benefits, work/life balance, etc).

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"The very purpose of the workplace has changed, JLL Work Dynamics Americas CEO Sanjay Rishi told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday. The purpose of the workplace has to be a social hub... Talent is so portable.

It underscores how underlying demand is still unwinding after 2020s dramatic closures, and putting upward pressure on inflation and the need for labor. The latter is being exacerbated by restrictive vaccine mandates one reason why the Morning Brief has highlighted their obvious failures as skyrocketing positivity rates lead to fewer workers on the job at all levels of the economy.

At a minimum, rapidly multiplying Omicron inflections havent yet led to the markets worst case scenario: government-imposed lockdowns that would strand workers and businesses back at square one.

And with consumers and investors unable to count on support from expansionary fiscal and monetary policy this time around, most are opting to soldier on as best as they can.

We are resolved to finally move beyond and pursue a new post-COVID normal, practice appropriate ongoing caution, and expect additional hardships, market veteran James Paulsen of the Leuthold Group, wrote in a research note this week.

But we are also determined to return to our routines and again embrace aspirations, interactions, and the business of fulfilling lives. Although COVID will still be with us this year, Americans are poised for the pandemic to become endemic, he added.

Consumers now have the wherewithal to continue to satisfy pent-up needs. Excess personal savings (above the normal pre-pandemic savings rate) have ballooned to about $2.2 trillion since March 2020 almost 10% of nominal GDP, the economist added. Never in the postwar era has there been this much dry powder sitting on the sidelines waiting to be unleashed.

The reason? One of the defining characteristics of this boom is pent-up demand [thats] more pronounced than at any point since at least 1970, Paulsen pointed out, which he argued actually predates COVID and can be traced back to the 2008 crisis.

Consumers now have the wherewithal to continue to satisfy pent-up needs. Excess personal savings (above the normal pre-pandemic savings rate) have ballooned to about $2.2 trillion since March 2020 almost 10% of nominal GDP, the economist added. Never in the postwar era has there been this much dry powder sitting on the sidelines waiting to be unleashed.

By Javier E. David, editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him at @Teflongeek

Economy

7:00 a.m. ET: MBA Mortgage Applications, week ended Dec. 31 (-0.6% during prior week)

8:15 a.m. ET: ADP Employment Change, December (410,000 expected, 534,000 during prior month)

9:45 a.m. ET: Markit US Composite PMI, December final (56.9 prior month)

9:45 a.m. ET: Markit US Services PMI, December final (57.5 expected, 57.5 prior month)

2:00 p.m. ET: FOMC Meeting Minutes, December 15

Earnings

Politics

John D. Porcari, the Port Envoy to the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, will join the White House daily press press briefing at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Two things to watch as Washington prepares for the Jan. 6 anniversary Thursday. The Senate has a hearing at 10:00 a.m. ET on Oversight of the U.S. Capitol Police." And Attorney General Merrick Garland plans a speech in the afternoon on the status of his departments efforts to prosecute those responsible for the riot.

Toyota dethrones GM as U.S. sales leader after nearly a century on top [Reuters]

Euro zone economic recovery faltered in Dec as Omicron spread: PMI [Reuters]

Elizabeth Holmes likely to face 'double-digit sentence' for fleecing investors, experts predict [Yahoo Finance]

CES 2022: The biggest trends to expect from the consumer tech conference [Yahoo Finance]

Bond king Jeffrey Gundlach: The yield curve may be sending a recessionary signal

This is the No. 1 risk to the stock market right now, according to Jim Bianco

KFC to debut Beyond Fried Chicken menu item as plant based boom expands

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

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What JOLTS says about the jobs market and everything else: Morning Brief - Yahoo Finance