Historic confiscation US Justice Department officials seized 120,000 stolen bitcoins overnight in the biggest confiscation of the apparently untrackable cryptocurrency in history. Now worth US$5 billion, they were stolen from the Bitfinex exchange in 2016 when they were worth US$71 million. Officials arrested a 30-something couple who have been on the run ever since then, alleging they laundered over 25,000 bitcoins through more than 2,000 transactions. The arrested couple have regularly put out their own rap videos online and one openly uses a twitter account to put out reckons on decentralised finance. (BBC, Buzzfeed)
Happy days…for now US stocks rallied around 1% by mid-afternoon in celebration at a fall in US bond yields from post-covid highs. The US 10-year Treasury bond yield fell four points to 1.92% and European yields also nudged lower. But most remain on the sidelines ahead of tonight’s US inflation figures, which are expected to show annual CPI inflation rose to a 40-year high of about 7.3% in January. (Reuters)
Oil pressure up Oil prices initially spiked overnight to over US$91 for a barrel of crude oil after the release of figures showing a sharp drop in US oil inventories, but eased back in later trade. A potential Russian invasion of Ukraine remains the main factor in traders’ thinking, with some seeing the current stasis ending once the Winter Olympics finish and Russia can move ahead without stealing China’s publicity thunder. (Reuters) One strategist said overnight oil could hit US$120/bbl if Russia invades. (CNBC)
Nuclear fusion breakthrough European scientists reported overnight a major breakthrough in their quest to generate electricity from nuclear fusion, which is seen as the holy grail if nuclear energy is to help solve the need to pivot away from fossil fuels. Scientists at the JET facility in Oxford used the same reactions as those that power the sun to produce enough energy to boil 60 electric kettles. (BBC, Guardian)
Supertanker-sized profit Global shipping giant Maersk reported overnight its profit almost quintupled to US$18.7b in the 2021 year on US$61.8b of revenue after a surge in container shipping costs because of covid supply chain disruptions. Profit was up from US$3.3b the previous year and revenue of US$40b the previous year. (AP)
Fresh on BusinessDesk this morning
Peter Griffin writes his weekly column about Tonga’s moves to do an ‘El Salvador’ and adopt a crypto-currency.
Pattrick Smellie writes in a column about whether Rio Tinto can ever be loved in NZ.
