DeFi gold products deliver sub-1% yields while traditional finance earns 3%-5% on the same asset. Token printing and forced complexity destroy returns. Opinion by: Shaaran Lakshminarayanan, co-founder of Mulitipli DeFi gold products are fundamentally broken. Despite Tether Gold having more than $800 million locked in tokenized gold with Paxos Gold sitting on almost as much, yields average under 1% while traditional finance generates 3%-5% on the same asset. The supposed innovation of blockchain technology somehow made gold less profitable. Read more
Families huddled hungry and homeless days after a deadly earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan, not daring to set foot in the few remaining buildings for fear an aftershock could bring them down. The initial powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck remote regions along the border with Pakistan, killing more than 1,400 people, with at least six strong aftershocks and countless smaller tremors. Some farming villages tucked among the green mountainsides were flattened, with people still under the rubble days later. Elsewhere, some houses were only partially destroyed, but residents preferred to brave the elements rather than risk being crushed. Still haunted by the “terrifying night” when the quake destroyed his house in the village of Dar-i-Nur in Nangarhar province, Emran Mohammad Aref said he had since slept with four other family members outside on a rough plastic mat. An Afghan man sits amid the remains of a damaged house, in the aftermath of an earthquake at the Dara-i-Nur district of Nangarhar province, Afgh...
Crypto astrologists say planetary shifts move markets. Skeptics call it nonsense. But crypto astrology might make you a better trader anyway. While many crypto traders are busying themselves with wacky Fibonnaci charts and Bollinger Bands, theres a growing cohort of traders who say prices can be predicted by crypto astrology. Psychic services, which include astrology and other divinations, have become a $2.2-billion business in the US alone, and some forecasts estimate astrology could be a $22.8-billion industry by 2031. Meanwhile, a recent Pew Research Center Study that surveyed 9,593 Americans found that in 2024, about 28% of people said they consulted astrology at least once a year. Social media is also chock-full of stock and crypto traders who claim to use their high self to win in the stock market. Read more
Crypto astrologists say planetary shifts move markets. Skeptics call it nonsense. But crypto astrology might make you a better trader anyway. While many crypto traders are busying themselves with wacky Fibonnaci charts and Bollinger Bands, theres a growing cohort of traders who say prices can be predicted by crypto astrology. Psychic services, which include astrology and other divinations, have become a $2.2-billion business in the US alone, and some forecasts estimate astrology could be a $22.8-billion industry by 2031. Meanwhile, a recent Pew Research Center Study that surveyed 9,593 Americans found that in 2024, about 28% of people said they consulted astrology at least once a year. Social media is also chock-full of stock and crypto traders who claim to use their high self to win in the stock market. Read more
“Red September” is Bitcoin’s worst month, but rate cut hopes and institutional momentum could extend its winning streak. Bitcoin snapped a three-year streak of negative summer average returns, but it now enters its worst month, known as “red September.” September carries the dreaded nickname because it has delivered the lowest monthly returns for Bitcoin (BTC), averaging –3.77% across 12 years from 2013. It is also the month China imposed a pair of major crypto bans in 2017 and 2021. That record is weighed down by six consecutive years of losses from 2017 to 2022. The tables turned in 2023, and Bitcoin has now posted two straight September gains, including its best September ever in 2024, when it closed the month up 7.29%. Read more