Weekly Bitpanda Market Recap #15 - Insights from the world of investing

News from the crypto world

For most of last week, the crypto market mostly showed positive performances with Bitcoin climbing back to $45k and most altcoins following the uptrend. However, the weekend had the opposite effect, as it saw major cryptos such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano and Solana falling back into the red.  

Crypto crimes and scams: what happened this week

In New York, a married couple was arrested for allegedly stealing $4.5 billion in Bitcoin. The pair, Heather Morgan, also known under her rapper name Razzlekhan, and Ilya Liechtenstein, are accused of conspiring to launder billions in BTC and are facing up to 25 years in prison. More than 119,000 BTC were stolen from a hacked cryptocurrency exchange in 2016. This enormous sum of Bitcoin was sent to the couple’s crypto wallet and, even though some of it found its way to different bank accounts, the department of justice managed to retrieve 94k BTC. 

Another scam story that ended up in the spotlight this week comes from Twitter. In a thread, the user thomasg.eth exposed an attempted crypto scam he almost fell victim to. In a nutshell, the scammers pretended to be business partners for an extended period of time and tried to scam him into sending them his crypto assets by asking him for support in an NFT project. The user realised it was a scam and the worst was averted in time. 

Please remember to always do your research and due diligence before investing: be cautious on the web and keep your funds safe. 

McDonald’s joining the metaverse

The famous American chain, McDonald’s, is planning to enter the metaverse. According to trademark attorney Josh Gerben, McDonald’s has recently applied for NFTs of virtual products and for virtual trademarks in preparation for its plan to operate virtual restaurants. Apparently, in the near future we could see McCafes and McDonalds around the metaverse and they are set to even deliver their products - both in virtual and real life. 

News from the stock market

Recent earnings reports:

• Nvidia: February 16

• Tripadvisor: February 16

• Dropbox Inc: February 17

Stock market performance

The stock market closed the week with mixed performances. Major European indices closed the week positively but started the new one in the red. Major U.S. indices have been generally wavering in the red, while Asian ones went through mixed performances. 

Super Bowl and the stock market

The well-known sport event that keeps millions of people glued to their screens - or seats - both in the U.S. and all over the world was at the centre of a very curious report. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, there could be a correlation between the Super Bowl and stock market performance. 

S&P Global Market Intelligence gathered some data that show that when Super Bowl’s games are played west of the Mississippi river, the market returns of the following year are lower than when games are played east of the Mississippi river. 

Russia-Ukraine tensions driving the stock market

European stocks have been dropping since the beginning of the week over the fear of Russia carrying out an imminent attack against Ukraine. The relations between the countries have been tense lately. According to Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, an attack by Russia could happen “any day now”. The market has been heavily influenced by the situation, and major European stocks went down, while gas prices kept going up. 

Check out the price developments of your favourite cryptocurrencies, stocks*, ETFs* and precious metals on our app for iOS and Android or on our web app. Check our blog and follow our social media channels to always be up to speed. Don’t forget to subscribe to the official Bitpanda youtube channel for our weekly recaps and video content. 

Disclaimer

This article does not constitute investment advice, nor is it an offer or invitation to purchase any digital assets.This article is for general purposes of information only and no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of this article or opinions contained herein. *Bitpanda Stocks are contracts replicating an underlying stock or ETF. More information and the PRIIPs key information document (KID) are available at bitpanda.com.