The Hindenburg Effect
Once Hindenburg releases a report, the subject of their report tends to nose-dive.
Here is an excerpt from the report:
“In sum, we think Block has misled investors on key metrics, and embraced predatory offerings and compliance worst-practices in order to fuel growth and profit from facilitation of fraud against consumers and the government."
The firm is open about disclosing the position they've taken and on Thursday, after the report was released, Block shares dropped as much as 17% in pre-market trading. However, Block wasn't going to roll over, they responded by saying:
"Hindenburg is known for these types of attacks, which are designed solely to allow short sellers to profit from a declined stock price... We have reviewed the full report in the context of our own data and believe it’s designed to deceive and confuse investors...We are a highly regulated public company with regular disclosures, and are confident in our products, reporting, compliance programs, and controls... We will not be distracted by typical short seller tactics."
It's still early in this story but what doesn't help Dorsey and his co-founder James McKelvey is the fact they've already sold over $1bn of Block stock themselves. Brace yourselves.
LVMH <3 Blockchain
This year, at Paris Blockchain Week, LVMH gave the audience an update on their Aura Blockchain Consortium. The consortium includes the Prada Group, OTB Group, and Cartier.
“When you talk about luxury, you are talking about long-term products, repair, and care,” Frank Le Moal, vice-chairman of Aura Blockchain Consortium and LVMH’s CIO, told Decrypt. “Digital passports backed by a blockchain are a way to provide better repair and care services to customers, and to develop a better one-to-one relationship with them.” (Decrypt)
Clearly, there is a lot of excitement from the luxury market as they continue to tackle fakes and counterfeit goods and also ensure their premium image is shinier than ever.
Tether Strong. Tether Best.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether's CTO, believes USDT is becoming the 'safest asset to hold in the world.' Bold claim Paolo.
Tether is expected to make over $700m in profit in the first quarter of 2023 alone, matching the last quarter of 2022 as well. Ardoino went on the say:
“So it means that our company equity will grow to $1.5 billion or $1.7 billion that are on top of the reserves that we have that are backing 100% of the assets.”
He went on to express that their fractional reserve model is more resilient than the banking system and dug into the banking sector's current failures.
