🔔Bitcoin Briefly Topping $93K

☀️Good morning. It's Thursday, Nov. 14, and we're covering, Asian Markets Decline As Strong Dollar And China’s Economic Struggles, OpenAI To Launch AI Agent To Automate Complex User Tasks, Trump Returns To Washington For A Transition Meeting With Biden, and much more. First time reading? Sign up to get this newsletter: Sign up here.

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MARKETS

Cryptocurrency Prices by Market Cap

• The global cryptocurrency market cap today is $2.98 Trillion, a 2.69% increase in the last 24 hours.

• The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $306.15B, which makes a 3.60% decrease.

• The total volume in Defi is currently $12.51B, 4.09% of the total crypto market 24-hours.

• The volume of all stablecoins is now $280.79B, which is 91.72% of the total market 24-hour volume.

• Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 59.63%, an increase of 0.01% over the day.

Bitcoin Breaks New Record, Briefly Topping $93,000

Bitcoin briefly surged to a record high of $93,469 on Wednesday before settling at $91,201, as investors responded to new inflation data and the postelection rally in risk assets. October’s CPI report showed a 0.2% rise, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.6%, fueling Bitcoin’s status as an inflation hedge. The broader crypto market saw a sell-off, with Coinbase and Bitcoin miners like Mara Holdings and Riot Platforms experiencing sharp declines. Dogecoin gained 2%, buoyed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in Donald Trump’s new administration. (Read Deeper)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Asian Markets Decline As Strong Dollar And China’s Economic Struggles

Asian stocks fell on Thursday, pressured by a strong U.S. dollar and concerns about China’s economic outlook. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped by 0.5%, with Chinese and Taiwanese shares leading the declines, while Japanese stocks rose as the yen weakened further. The dollar’s strength has continued to impact Asian currencies and equities negatively, while uncertainty over China’s economic stimulus added to the caution. Chipmakers across the region, like Taiwan Semiconductor and SK Hynix, also saw declines due to trade policy concerns.

Takeaway: Tencent and Geely shares rose on positive earnings and economic signals, while Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady, though job growth was slower than expected. Treasury yields increased as U.S. inflation data hinted at a possible Federal Reserve rate cut in December. The yen’s continued drop has raised concerns in Japan, while Bitcoin reached a record high, bolstered by favorable comments from President-elect Trump. ( Read Deeper )

AMD To Cut 1,000 Jobs As It Sharpens Focus On AI Chip Market

AMD announced it will cut around 1,000 jobs, or 4% of its workforce, in a move aimed at enhancing its competitiveness in the booming artificial intelligence (AI) chip market, currently dominated by Nvidia. With 26,000 employees globally, the job cuts are part of AMD's strategy to focus resources on growth opportunities, particularly AI. Despite being the second-largest GPU maker, AMD's market share lags behind Nvidia, which holds over 80% due to its software ecosystem widely used for AI applications like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Takeaway: AMD’s recent AI hardware, like the MI300X chip for data centers, is gaining traction with clients such as Meta and Microsoft, though the company faces a substantial revenue gap compared to Nvidia. AMD expects to generate $5 billion in AI chip sales this year, while Nvidia’s 2024 revenue is projected to reach $125.9 billion. AMD’s gaming revenue is forecasted to decline significantly in 2024, highlighting challenges in that sector. AMD has seen growth in its server CPU segment, competing against Intel and increasing its market share by 3% year-over-year. (Read Deeper)

TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

OpenAI To Launch AI Agent To Automate Complex User Tasks

OpenAI is set to launch a new AI agent, codenamed "Operator," in January, which can autonomously perform tasks like writing code or booking travel for users. Operator will be available as a research preview and through OpenAI's API for developers. This development aligns with a larger trend in AI, where companies are creating “agentic” AI tools that can handle multi-step tasks with minimal user supervision.

Takeaway: The development of Operator builds on several agent-related projects OpenAI has been working on. This initial release is expected to be a general-purpose tool capable of executing various tasks within a web browser, making it versatile for both individual users and developers. CEO Sam Altman sees agentic AI as the next big advancement in AI, as OpenAI and others like Microsoft, Anthropic, and Google shift focus from building more complex models to creating functional tools that can streamline digital workflows for users. (Read Deeper)

Apple Faces £3 Billion Compensation Claim Over 'iCloud Monopoly'

A U.K. consumer rights group, Which?, is suing Apple for allegedly using its dominance in the iOS market to unfairly promote its iCloud service, leading to overcharging for storage. The lawsuit, seeking £3 billion (about $3.8 billion) in compensation, claims Apple has made it difficult for users to switch to other cloud services and has inflated iCloud prices due to a lack of competition. The case, filed with the U.K.'s Competition Appeal Tribunal, covers around 40 million iCloud users in the U.K. and follows a similar lawsuit in the U.S.

Takeaway: The lawsuit states that iOS users are encouraged to rely on iCloud for storage, but once they exceed the free 5GB limit, they are forced to pay for the service, with few options for third-party providers. Which? argues that this lack of competition has allowed Apple to overcharge U.K. customers. The consumer rights group wants Apple to refund affected users and allow greater choice in cloud services on its platform. (Read Deeper)

AROUND DE WORLD & POLITICS

Trump Returns To Washington For A Transition Meeting With Biden

President-elect Donald Trump returned to Washington, D.C., meeting with President Joe Biden and House Republicans following his recent election victory. During a cordial meeting with Biden at the White House, both leaders discussed national security, domestic policies, and Congress’s priorities before Biden’s departure. Trump expressed a commitment to a “smooth transition” and sought Biden’s insights on Middle East issues.

Takeaway: Trump met with House GOP leaders, celebrating their regained control of Congress, which could last until at least 2026. Elon Musk attended this session, having been appointed by Trump, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency focused on federal reforms. Trump’s victory will be formally certified on January 6, with his inauguration set for January 20, marking his return to the White House. (Read Deeper)

One Dead After Attempted Attack On Brazil’s Supreme Court

A man was killed in Brasília after attempting to attack Brazil’s Supreme Court with explosives. Witnesses saw him throw devices that exploded outside the court building, killing him but injuring no one else. Authorities locked down the area, and a bomb disposal robot was deployed, finding a timer on the man’s body, possibly linked to other explosives. Brazil’s solicitor general condemned the attack and called for a full investigation. The incident occurred near the presidential offices and comes just before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit, prompting increased security in the area.

Takeaway: Deputy Governor Celina Leão suggested the attacker may have acted alone, comparing the incident to other lone-wolf attacks worldwide. She recommended that parliament remain closed on Thursday for security reasons. An eyewitness, Lavana Costa, recounted seeing the attacker wave before he threw explosives at the court. The Supreme Court had recently adjourned a session and quickly evacuated justices after hearing the blasts. The attack occurred at the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, where the Supreme Court, Congress, and presidential offices are located. (Read Deeper)

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

Mark Zuckerberg And T-Pain Release The Remix Of ‘Get Low’

Mark Zuckerberg teamed up with T-Pain to produce an acoustic remix of “Get Low,” a 2002 rap hit by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. This quirky project honors a significant moment in Zuckerberg's life: meeting his wife, Priscilla Chan, at a college party where the song was playing. The couple celebrates this memory annually, and this year, Zuckerberg decided to go big with a special duet featuring T-Pain. (Read Deeper)

Spotify To Reward Video Podcast Creators With New Monetization Program

Spotify is launching a new “Partner Program” to reward video podcast creators based on their videos’ performance, marking its push into the video podcast market to rival YouTube. Starting January 2, 2025, creators in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Canada can monetize through this program, providing an income stream beyond ad revenue. Premium Spotify users will also gain ad-free access to video podcasts, creating a smoother viewing experience that Spotify hopes will attract users away from YouTube. (Read Deeper)

PODCAST(WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO)

• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and Bitcoin represent two vastly different visions of digital currency, and there’s a growing debate over their relative success and long-term viability. (Listen)

EXTRA BREVITI

• Bluesky, the micro-blogging platform, has gained over 1.25 million new users in the past week, following the U.S. presidential election. (Read More)

• Federal agents raided the New York apartment of Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket, early Wednesday morning, seizing his phone and electronic devices as part of an investigation into the crypto-driven betting platform. (Read More)

• Amazon has introduced a new budget-friendly shopping platform, Amazon Haul, aiming to take on discount giants like Shein and Temu. (Read More)