Spring Forward, Bitcoin FOMO: Saturday US Briefing

Spring Forward, Bitcoin FOMO: Saturday US Briefing

Something for the weekend.

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(Bloomberg) — Hello and hope you enjoyed a lie-in before tonight’s time change costs you an hour of precious sleep. Benjamin Franklin is credited with inspiring the idea to adjust clocks so folks have more light in the evening (and can reduce their candle consumption).  

The S&P 500 Index fell 0.3% this week, its first weekly drop in three. Try not to lose sleep over that though. The benchmark is still 7.4% higher this year, and household wealth rose to a record in 2023, according to Federal Reserve data. Still, one year after Silicon Valley Bank failed, a sharp drop in another regional bank stock has dragged the group back into focus.

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The crypto-curious, on the other hand, may be wondering if now is the right moment to buy — or buy more. Bloomberg’s Charlie Wells sees both sides of the (bit)coin. There’s also a humongous market in memecoins, an inside joke that has bloomed into a $50 billion industry.  Dogecoin is its king, with a market value of more than $22 billion. Woof. 

Meanwhile, crypto miners have been buying up machinery to increase efficiency and lock in favorable electricity rates. Miners drew a record 19.6 gigawatts of power, up from 12.1 gigawatts the same period in 2023, according to an estimate by Coin Metrics. That’s equivalent to the electricity capacity that can power about 3.8 million homes in Texas, where many of the mining operations are located. Speaking of Texas, the blaze burning through the Panhandle may be out in days, but the legal fallout will hang over Xcel Energy for years.

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Former NFL wide receiver Andrew Hawkins has some regrets about missing out on a lucrative investment opportunity. The co-founder of the sports technology and gaming startup StatusPro shares his lessons learned in this Q&A.

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President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address received high marks from Bloomberg columnist Nia-Malika Henderson, who called it forceful, combative, sharp and funny. His reelection campaign has also launched a new television ad poking fun at his age in which he says: “Look, I’m very young, energetic and handsome – what the hell am I doing this for?”

Meanwhile, Democrats have seized on access to IVF as a key vulnerability for the GOP. Keep in mind though: The seven swing states most likely to decide the 2024 presidential election have been facing more economic misery than the rest of the US.

And lastly, a condo board representing owners of 443 Greenwich Street in Manhattan’s Tribeca is suing its architect and developer for $376 million, claiming crumbling walls and a leaky roof among other problems. Harry Styles, Jennifer Lawrence and Meg Ryan have reportedly owned units in the building, which touts an underground garage widely hailed as “paparazzi-proof.” Check back with us tomorrow for a look ahead to the coming week.

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