Schmidt Walter

• The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, recently stated that there was no direct exposure to Silicon Valley Bank in Nigerian banks‘ bond portfolios.
• The CBN has stringent guidelines such as a non-performing loans ratio of 4.2% and a capital adequacy ratio of 13.7%, which the governor believes makes for a „very safe“ banking system.
• According to Emefiele, depositors‘ funds are given priority over shareholders, and since 2003 no Nigerian depositor has lost money due to a failed bank.

Banking Crisis: Nigerian Banks Not Directly Exposed to SVB

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, recently reviewed the bond portfolios of Nigerian banks and found that none had any direct exposure to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). He added that CBN’s prudential guidelines help create a “very safe” banking system in the country.

Priority Given To Depositors

Emefiele went on to explain how CBN’s guidelines ensure only healthy banks are allowed to operate in Nigeria. These include having an average non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 4.2%, capital adequacy ratio at 13.7%, liquidity ratios, and loan-to-deposit ratios at 43% and 52% respectively. He also mentioned how depositors are given priority over shareholders and since 2003 no Nigerian depositor has lost money due to a failed bank situation.

Central Bank Guidelines

Apart from NPLs, capital adequacy ratio, liquidity ratios, and loan-to-deposit ratios; other regulations enforced by CBN include minimum capital requirement for all banks operating in Nigeria as well as regular monitoring by their risk management division for compliance with these measures and soundness indicators before granting licenses or renewing existing ones for operators in the sector.

Strict Enforcement Of Regulations

In addition to these measures employed by CBN, they also have strict enforcement policies against defaulting financial institutions, with sanctions ranging from fines or suspension/revocation of licenses depending on severity levels associated with each case reported or discovered through audits conducted by their risk management division regularly throughout the year on all players within the sector including deposit money banks (DMBs) & Payment Service Providers (PSPs).

Conclusion

The review conducted by Governor Godwin Emefiele clearly shows that Nigerian financial institutions were not directly exposed to Silicon Valley Bank – this is due to strict regulations imposed by Central Bank Of Nigeria which creates an overall ‚very safe‘ banking system within the country where depositors funds are prioritized over shareholders‘.

• Ethereum developers announced that the blockchain is scheduled to upgrade on April 12, in 27 days, which will include the implementation of Beacon chain push withdrawals.
• This will enable network validators to support withdrawal operations following the ruleset change, as well as optimize fees through EIP-3651, EIP-6049, EIP-3860 and EIP-3855.
• The developers have been testing the upgrade on several testnets and completed Goerli testnet upgrade on Tuesday ahead of Shapella’s activation on mainnet.

Ethereum Upgrade Scheduled for April 12

Ethereum developers announced that the blockchain is scheduled to upgrade on April 12, 2023 in 27 days. This upgrade is known as Shanghai-Capella or Shapella and will include the implementation of Beacon chain push withdrawals. The latest Ethereum upgrade was originally planned for this month but was postponed until April 12th.

Beacon Chain Withdrawals & Fee Optimization Enhancements

The Beacon chain contract holds 17,680,535 ether at the time of writing worth $29.33 billion using today’s Ethereum exchange rates. Push withdrawals will be enabled via a new ’system-level‘ operation type according to Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4895 architecture which is ‚push‘-based rather than ‚pull‘-based meaning withdrawals must be processed in the execution layer as soon as they are dequeued from the consensus layer.
In addition to push withdrawals, Shapella will also include fee optimizations such as limiting initcode size to 49152 and applying an extra gas cost of 2 for every 32 byte chunk of initcode according to EIP 3860 documentation.

Testing & Final Preparations Ahead of Mainnet Launch

The development team has been conducting testing of the upcoming upgrades on several testnets prior to its launch on mainnet with Goerli testnet being upgraded successfully last Tuesday marking an important step towards activating Shapella on mainnet.

Implications & Benefits Of Upgrade

The upcoming upgrade marks an important milestone for Ethereum offering numerous benefits both in terms of increasing its scalability by enabling quicker transactions and improving security with improved consensus algorithms while also providing network validators with more options when it comes to withdrawal operations following rule set changes as well better fee optimization options resulting in lower costs for users who interact with contracts deployed onto Ethereum blockchain platform.

Conclusion

Overall this is an exciting development for Ethereum ecosystem ensuring it remains competitive within cryptocurrency space while offering additional features and benefits which can be leveraged by its users making it more attractive compared to other blockchains currently available in market place .

• Hexa, a 3D modeling company, has raised $20.5 million in its latest funding round to facilitate the task of bringing products into the metaverse.
• It will allow the company to expand its current workforce involved in engineering and business tasks, to improve the workflow of the company.
• The tech has different uses like creating complete metaverse stores and helping gaming engines like Unity to populate their assets for third parties.

Hexa Raises $20.5 Million

Hexa, a 3D modeling company, has raised $20.5 million in its latest funding round to facilitate the task of bringing products into the metaverse. This new injection will ostensibly allow the company to expand its current workforce involved in engineering and business tasks, to improve the workflow of the company.

Investors

The Series A funding round was participated by Point72 Ventures, Samurai Incubate, Sarona Partners, and HTC. This investment will allow Hexa to extend its current workforce to tend to a growing number of customers seeking its services which tripled this year.

Process

Hexa’s process consists in taking real products to metaverse worlds through semi-automatic modeling using AI algorithms and engineers that transform catalogs of 2D images into 3D assets that can be used by different platforms such as stores or gaming engines like Unity for third-party experiences.

Differentiating Factor

Hexa wants to differentiate itself from other players in three key aspects: ease of use, quality of 3D conversions, and support; providing an edge over other companies that have to build products from scratch with high fidelity models aligned with source imagery for compliance at pixel accuracy level or better.

Conclusion

Hexa is working with stores like Macy’s, Logitech, and Unity thanks to this investment that allows them to grow their workforce and operations while providing innovative solutions for their customers

• Mawson Infrastructure Group, Inc., announced that the firm has broken ground at a new site in Sharon, Pennsylvania.
• The new Mawson site is capable of reaching 4.2 exahash per second (EH/s) when fully complete and will be divided into self-mining and hosting services.
• Mawson’s two bitcoin mining sites combined will produce an estimated 7.8 exahash per second (EH/s).

Mawson Infrastructure Group Launches Bitcoin Mining Operation in Pennsylvania

Mawson Infrastructure Group, Inc., recently announced that the firm has broken ground at a new site in Sharon, Pennsylvania for its bitcoin mining operation. Reports detail that six modular production units have been delivered to the site capable of housing 3,528 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bitcoin miners that consume 12 megawatts (MW) of capacity. When fully complete, the facility is expected to reach 4.2 exahash per second (EH/s).

Sharon Site Divided Into Self-Mining and Hosting Services

The Sharon mining operation will be divided between self-mining and Mawson’s hosting services. The first six modules are expected to become operational during the next quarter with the remaining 120 megawatts coming online throughout 2023 and into early 2024 according to Mawson’s Chief Operating Officer Liam Wilson.

Midland Site Also Operational

In addition to the Sharon facility, Mawson also operates a 100-megawatt site in Midland, Pennsylvania which together with Sharon produces an estimated 7.8 exahash per second (EH/s).

Bitcoin Market Performance

The current market performance of bitcoin has been positive over the past few months resulting in an all-time high difficulty rate this week at 43.05 trillion hashes despite some mining operations experiencing losses due to downturns earlier this year.

Conclusion

Robert Kiyosaki’s Investment Advice

• Famous author Robert Kiyosaki has warned that investing in a well-diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is „very risky“ advice.
• Kiyosaki recommends gold, silver, and bitcoin as the best investments for „unstable times“.
• He believes that financial planners are “henchmen for banks and mutual funds” and recommends avoiding paper gold or silver ETFs.

Background on Robert Kiyosaki

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has been giving investment advice for years now. His 1997 book co-authored with Sharon Lechter has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years and 32 million copies have been sold in 51 languages across 109 countries.

Risky Advice to Avoid

Kiyosaki has previously said that investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds or ETFs is “very risky” advice. He calls rookie investors who follow this advice “morons” and instead recommends buying gold, silver, or bitcoin “as insurance against morons running the world”. He also doesn’t believe in paper gold or silver ETFs because they are a ripoff. Financial advisors who recommend these investments to customers take their money and use it to get richer while charging them fees at the same time.

Predictions For 2025

Kiyosaki predicted last December that owners of gold, silver and bitcoin will get richer when the Federal Reserve pivots and prints trillions of dollars. By 2025 he predicts that gold will be at $5 000; silver at $50; and bitcoin prices will go up and down depending on market conditions.

Twitter Responses

Many people on Twitter disagreed with Kiyosaki’s views about stocks, bonds etcetera being very risky investments Some accused him of pumping Bitcoin for personal gain but he denies this claim.

• Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) prices plunged during today’s session, with bears recapturing market sentiment.
• SOL/USD moved to an intraday low of $20.20 earlier in the session, dropping to its lowest point since January 19.
• ADA/USD dropped to an intraday low of $0.3558 earlier today, slipping to its weakest point since January 25.

Biggest Movers: SOL and ADA Plunge

Cryptocurrency markets remain firmly bearish as global market cap is trading 4.23% lower at the time of writing this. Both Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) have taken a hit, plunging during today’s session as bears recapture sentiment.

Solana (SOL)

SOL/USD moved to an intraday low at $20.20 earlier in the session, which resulted in the token hitting its lowest point since January 19 when solana last collided with a floor at $20.00. Since hitting a peak of 87.67 on the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) back on January 13, price strength has consistently declined, now tracking at 44.21 – its weakest point since January 2 when SOL was under $10.00..

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano also extended its own recent sell-off on Friday, with prices falling for a third straight session and reaching an intraday low of $0.3558 earlier today after peaking at $0.3896 on Thursday – resulting in the token slipping to its weakest point since January 25 and breaking out of a floor at $0.3590 in the process..

Analysis

As bulls move to buy the dip in price following Cardano’s drop from support levels, longer-term investors may see this as a sign that prices are gradually moving in the right direction as RSI levels out at 46:70 with cardano currently at $0:3611..

Conclusion

The current bearish momentum seen across cryptocurrency markets presents both short-term challenges and long-term opportunities for investors looking to capitalize on market movements over time. If Solana’s floor on RSI continues to hold firm there could be potential for further upside growth over the week ahead for both SOL and ADA tokens alike

• The Ghanaian cedi is the second worst-performing among Sub-Saharan Africa’s top 15 currencies, depreciating by 12.7% in just the first 17 days of the new year.
• This follows the Ghanaian cedi ending 2022 as one of the world’s worst-performing currencies, with a 38.86% depreciation.
• The Ghanaian government is hoping to ease pressure on the cedi through the gold-for-oil scheme and a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

The Ghanaian cedi is facing a difficult start to the new year, with the currency depreciating by 12.7% in just the first 17 days of the year, making it the second worst-performing among Sub-Saharan Africa’s top 15 currencies. This follows the Ghanaian cedi ending 2022 as one of the world’s worst-performing currencies, with a 38.86% depreciation.

The latest Bank of Ghana data shows that while one U.S. dollar bought 13.10 units of the cedi on the parallel market, today one greenback buys around 10.36 units of the local currency. This sudden slump indicates that the currency’s resurgence that started in late 2022 has dissipated.

The Ghanaian government is hoping to ease the pressure on the cedi through the recently launched gold-for-oil scheme and a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF loan package will help Ghana to stabilize its economy and the gold-for-oil scheme will also help to ease the burden on the nation’s currency.

Aside from the IMF loan package and gold-for-oil scheme, the Ghanaian government is also looking to introduce fiscal and monetary policies to help stabilize the cedi. However, it remains to be seen if these policies will be enough to curb the current devaluation of the cedi and stop the currency from further depreciation in the coming months.

• Avalanche (AVAX) rose to a multi-month high on Tuesday, as prices rallied for a third consecutive session against a backdrop of bullish news.
• Polygon (MATIC) climbed higher in today’s session, following a collision with a key price floor. MATIC/USD raced to a peak of $1.04 earlier in the day.
• Both tokens have seen their respective RSI levels remain away from their respective floors, with AVAX’s RSI currently tracking at 71.11, and MATIC’s RSI at 63.27.

Today marked an exciting day for crypto traders, as both Avalanche (AVAX) and Polygon (MATIC) soared to new heights on the charts. AVAX, the native token of the Avalanche network, rose to a multi-month high on Tuesday, after reports that the number of Bitcoin on its network had risen to 5,493. This news saw the token surge by nearly 5%, with prices reaching an intraday peak of $18.86. This marked the third consecutive session of gains for Avalanche, as the token broke out of a ceiling at the $18.50 mark. The 14-day relative strength index (RSI) also neared a resistance level of its own at 72.00, with the index now tracking at 71.11, with earlier gains fading, resulting in AVAX currently trading at $18.22.

Meanwhile, Polygon also moved higher on Tuesday, hitting a one-week high. MATIC/USD raced to a peak of $1.04 earlier in the day, less than a day after hitting a low of $0.9849. This move saw polygon reach its highest level since last week Monday, when price was last close to a resistance of $1.05. However, momentum was not strong enough to force a breakout, with prices now trading at $1.00, which is also its long-term support point. The RSI for polygon seems to be a fair distance away from its floor at 61.00, and is currently tracking at 63.27, with a ceiling of 77.00.

Overall, both tokens have seen their respective RSI levels remain away from their respective floors, indicating that there is still room for further gains in the near-term. With that said, traders remain cautious as to whether today’s gains can be sustained, and will be closely monitoring the charts for further developments.