The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant plunge on Sunday/Monday, 5th August 2024, losing approximately $270 billion in value within a 24-hours.
Both Bitcoin and Ether underwent substantial declines as investors moved away from high-risk assets. This downturn followed the Nasdaq’s worst three-week performance in two years and occurred as the Nikkei 225 reached a low not observed since the Black Monday crash of 1987.
As OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider, Microsoft leverages OpenAI’s AI models for products aimed at commercial clients and consumers. Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, has reportedly invested some $13 billion in the firm.
Microsoft’s filing lists OpenAI, the entity behind the ChatGPT chatbot, as a competitor in AI solutions, as well as in the realms of search and news advertising. OpenAI recently unveiled a search engine prototype named SearchGPT.
However, recent developments suggest a shift, with both companies encroaching on each other’s domains.
While some opt to directly pay OpenAI for model access, others utilise Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service. Additionally, Microsoft offers the Copilot chatbot as an alternative to ChatGPT, accessible via the Bing search engine and Windows operating systems.
Shares in the Dutch company ASML soared by around 10% on Wednesday 31st July 2024 following a Reuters report indicating that the firm might be exempt from the broadened export restrictions on chipmaking equipment to China.
Additionally, it was also reported that the U.S. is contemplating an expansion of the foreign direct product rule.
U.S. chip export restrictions to China could exclude allies such as the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. Taiwan is the home of TSMC, the world’s biggest chip manufacturing plant.
AMD
Shares of global semiconductor companies surged on Wednesday 31st July 2024, lifted by positive earnings within the sector and reports suggesting potential easing of U.S. export restrictions to China.
AMD emerged as one of the standout performers, with its shares climbing over 9% in U.S. premarket trading following a robust second-quarter earnings report.
Microsoft reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for Q4
In extended trading on 30th July 2024, the stock experienced a quick decline as attention was drawn to the less-than-expected Azure revenue, despite management’s forecast for growth in the upcoming quarters.
The company’s total revenue saw a 15% increase compared to the previous year.
Despite surpassing earnings and revenue expectations, Microsoft’s shares dropped by up to 7% in extended trading on Tuesday, with investors concentrating on the underwhelming cloud revenue. However, executives offered a positive outlook, anticipating an acceleration in cloud growth during the first half of 2025.
Microsoft one day chart 30th July 2024
Microsoft one day chart 30th July 2024
Microsoft’s cloud division holds significant interest for investors, as it competes with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google in the artificial intelligence (AI) work arena. These three tech giants are pouring substantial resources into enhancing AI capabilities, aiming to attract both startups and established companies as generative AI technology swiftly progresses.
For Amazon, AWS has served as a vital profit centre for the past ten years.
Apple has been ousted from the top five smartphone vendors in China during Q2, as local brands like Huawei continue to escalate competition
Apple is no longer among the top five smartphone vendors in China as local brands take over the market.
Apple’s market share in China has declined, falling to 14% in the second quarter from 15% in the first quarter and 16% 2023.
For the first time in history, domestic vendors have taken over all top five positions in China.
According to reports, incorporating Apple’s Intelligence systems in its products in mainland China will be crucial over the next 12 months, as Chinese brands are rapidly integrating generative AI into their designs.
This is not good news for Apple. The company is facing challenges, notably lagging behind in the AI innovation race, and compounded by a rapidly falling share of the mobile market in China.
OpenAI on Thursday 25th July 2024 announced a prototype of its search engine, called SearchGPT, which aims to give users “fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.”
The company has announced plans to eventually incorporate the tool, presently in testing with a select user group, into its ChatGPT chatbot.
The introduction of ChatGPT could have significant implications for Google’s search engine dominance. Since ChatGPT’s debut in November 2022, there has been growing concern among Alphabet’s investors that OpenAI may capture a portion of Google’s market share by offering consumers innovative methods to obtain information on the internet.
Alphabet three month share price as of 25th July 2024
Alphabet three month share price as of 25th July 2024
OpenAI’s ChatGPT was incorporated into Microsoft’s search engine Bing as Copilot and the companies have kept market dominance with this shrewd AI move. Google, on the other hand, has struggled to keep up in the AI race and may now be suffering the effects.
This announcement could have implications for Microsoft’s Copilot as well.
Tesla’s shares dropped in U.S. pre-market trading following the electric car maker’s Q2 earnings report, which fell short of expectations.
The company saw a 7% year-on-year decrease in automotive revenue for the June 2024 quarter, down to $19.9 billion, and a decline in its ‘adjusted’ earnings margin.
Investors are divided on Tesla’s stock, with some concerned that the core car business is struggling, while others remain optimistic about Musk’s vision for autonomous driving.
Tesla continues to lead in U.S. electric vehicle sales, yet it’s facing declining market share as competitors emerge, partly due to its older range on offer and Elon Musk’s occasional controversial public statements.
Attention has shifted to other aspects of Tesla’s narrative, such as the anticipated introduction of a new mass-market vehicle to refresh its vehicle lineup. Musk reportedly re-affirmed that Tesla plans to launch an ‘affordable’ car in the upcoming year.
Tesla 3-year share price chart as at: 23rd July 2024
Tesla 3 year share price chart as at: 23rd July 2024
The earnings also highlighted his robotaxi vision. Musk shared his ‘expectation’ of a future where Tesla owners could allow their vehicles to operate in an Uber-like ride-hailing environment, with the cars driving autonomously.
And then we have the prospect for the greatly hyped arrival of Tesla’s humanoid robot due in 2025.
Tesla boss Elon Musk says the electric car maker will start producing and using humanoid robots from next year.
In a social media update, Elon Musk stated that Tesla will initially employ the robots, with plans to commence production for sale by 2026.
He had earlier anticipated that the robot, named Optimus, would be operational in Tesla factories by this year’s end. Additionally, companies such as Honda Rototics and Boston Dynamics are also advancing their humanoid robot technologies.
“Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026,” Mr Musk posted on his social media platform X.
Wiz has apparently walked away from a deal with Google that would have valued the company at $23 billion.
The deal would have nearly doubled the $12 billion valuation of the startup from its most recent round of funding.
CEO of WIZ Assaf Rappaport told employees the company would pursue an IPO as originally planned.
Wiz was founded in 2020 and has grown rapidly. The company had been targeting an IPO as recently as May 2024. The business hit $100 million in annual recurring revenue after 18 months and reached $350 million last year.
Wiz’s cloud security products offer prevention, active detection and response, a portfolio that’s appealed to large firms and would have helped Google compete with Microsoft, which also sells security software.
CrowdStrike’s shares fell a further 13% on Monday 22nd July 2024 while the cybersecurity software firm attempted to help clients from various sectors to recover from an outage that disrupted millions of Microsoft Windows devices on Friday 19th July 2024.
CrowdStrike 5-day share price chart
Early Friday, the company released a flawed update to its Falcon vulnerability-protection software, leading to crashes in PC’s, data centre servers, and networked display screens.
IT staff swiftly acted to repair computers. At the same time, hackers attempted to exploit the turmoil by creating malicious websites that seemed to provide software updates.
Chief security officer Shawn Henry said the incident had been a “gut punch” for the firm, which had previously been one of the most trusted names in the industry.
“We let down the very people we committed to protect, and to say we’re devastated is a huge understatement,“ he reportedly said.
Mr Henry, a former FBI executive assistant director, reportedly said the weekend had been “the most challenging 48 hours” of his 12 years at the company. He promised it would use the incident as an opportunity to “emerge better and stronger than ever”.
“The confidence we built in drips over the years was lost in buckets within hours, and it was a gut punch,” he said in a LinkedIn post, on Monday 22nd July 2024.
“But this pales in comparison to the pain we’ve caused our customers and our partners.”
CrowdStrike issue causes major outage affecting thousands of businesses around the world
The irony
It has been widely reported that an ‘update‘ by ‘cybersecurity‘ firm CrowdStrike led to a major IT outage on Friday 19th July 2024, impacting businesses around the world. Microsoft systems have been badly affected.
CrowdStrike statement
“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” CEO George Kurtz said in a statement on X. But not before untold havoc was caused across the globe.
Blue screen of death
The comments came after widespread reports of technical issues, with many Microsoft users around the world facing an error screen known as the ‘blue screen of death.’
Biggest IT fail ever – Elon Musk
Elon Musk on X called it the ‘Biggest IT fail ever’.
Problems
Reports flooded in all day from around the world of systems and businesses impacted by the issue.
Without going into individual failings, here are some of the areas impacted by this problem.
NHS and GP practices in the UK, airport delays, flight cancellations, SKY TV off air, Microsoft system failures, VISA issues, Sainsbury’s and Morrissons supermarket card payments down, banks hit, Lloyds, Tesco, airlines in U.S., Germany, Canada, Italy, India and around the globe. UK Rail payment systems down and trains cancelled, New York Metro train issues, schools, betting firms hit, finance, pharmacies, payrolls and even the Paris Olympic system too.
Interconnected frailty
I think you get the picture. This is by no means an exhaustive list – but it aptly demonstrates the severity of this failed system update and how interconnected our world has become.
Crowdstrike says global IT issues caused by ‘defect’ in ‘content update’
Here’s the full statement from George Kurtz, the CEO of Crowdstrike
“Crowdstrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.
“Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack.
“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.
“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.
“We further recommend organisations ensure they’re communicating with Crowdstrike representatives through official channels.
“Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike customers.”
Who and what is Crowdstrike?
CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity firm established in 2011, dedicated to protecting major corporations and their hardware from cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
The company specializes in endpoint security, striving to block malicious software and files from compromising corporate networks via connecting devices like phones and laptops.
Additionally, CrowdStrike focuses on securing the data of businesses that have transitioned from hosting it on-premises to utilizing cloud-based services.
Should we worry?
As our world becomes over interconnected and closely Intergrated, should we be concerned about a handful of powerful companies dictating the tech world we live in?
I believe we should be concerned. This was just a routine upgrade and the company let us down.
I used to run my own IT business and upgrades and system improvements were a big part of my then tech life, so I have a pretty good understanding of these issues, especially performing a system upgrade.
Preparation is key. Sometimes things go wrong – the unforeseen. But you must quickly overcome the problem with a ‘backup’ contingency plan.
Others are depending on YOU!
My mantra then and it is still the same now: BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP!
You have to get these this right – but CrowdStrike didn’t!
U.S., UK and Germany hold more Bitcoin than you may think.
According to the Arkham website, the United States’ government holds some 212,847 BTC making it one of the biggest holders of Bitcoin, while the treasuries of the U.K. and Germany reportedly hold around 61,245 BTC and 49,858 BTC each. (These values alter daily).
In addition to Bitcoin, the U.S. government also holds around $200 million in other cryptocurrencies like Ether (ETH), as well as major stablecoins like USDC.
U.S. Bitcoin holding by current value according to Arkham
Arkham, a crypto intelligence platform focused on deanonymizing entities on the blockchain network, has introduced a dashboard featuring the governments with the largest crypto holdings.
The U.K. government, reportedly ranked second, holds around $3.5 billion worth of Bitcoin at current valuations, according to Arkham’s data. The German government owns roughly $2.5 billion.
UK Bitcoin holding by current value according to Arkham
Data centres are expected to consume over 3% of Europe’s electricity demand by 2030
The surge in artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly increased the demand for data centres, essential for the ‘exploding’ tech sector. This necessity has led Europe to consider spatial alternatives for digital storage, aiming to diminish reliance on energy-intensive ground facilities.
The Advanced Space Cloud for European Net zero emission and Data sovereignty (ASCEND), a 16-month study investigating the viability of deploying data centres in orbit, has reportedly reached a ‘very encouraging‘ conclusion, according to the report.
The ASCEND study, coordinated by Thales Alenia Space for the European Commission and valued at 2 million euros ($2.1 million), asserts the technical, economic, and environmental viability of space-based data centres.
“The idea [is] to take off part of the energy demand for data centres and to send them in space in order to benefit from infinite energy, which is solar energy,” according to a spokesperson for ASCEND.
Data centres are crucial for advancing digitalization; however, they demand substantial electricity and water to operate and cool their servers. The total global electricity consumption from data centres could reach more than 1,000 terrawatt-hours in 2026 – that’s roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of Japan, as reported by the International Energy Agency.
The ASCEND study is not alone in exploring the potential of orbital data centres. Microsoft, which has already trialed the use of a subsea data centre – positioned 117 feet deep on the seafloor, is collaborating with companies such as Loft Orbital to explore the challenges in executing AI and computing in space.
More than $170 billion has been erased from the cryptocurrency market due to concerns over the Mt. Gox bitcoin payout.
Bitcoin’s price plummeted over 6% in 24 hours, reaching $54,237, marking its lowest point since late February 2024.
The total cryptocurrency market lost over $170 billion in market capitalization within the same timeframe, according to CoinGecko.
The Mt. Gox bankruptcy estate’s trustee announced on Friday that repayments in Bitcoin have commenced for certain creditors via specified cryptocurrency exchanges.
What is, or was, Mt. Gox Bitcoin?
The Mt. Gox Bitcoin payout pertains to the reimbursement process for creditors of the defunct Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange. Previously the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox fell in 2014 due to a significant hack, leading to the loss of about 740,000 Bitcoins.
Following extensive legal battles and postponements, the exchange is poised to start disbursing roughly $9 billion in Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash to its creditors. This payout is noteworthy as it entails a substantial return of bitcoin to users, which may influence the cryptocurrency market dynamics.
Tubi is a complimentary streaming service akin to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. It boasts a substantial library of more than 20,000 movies and television shows available for streaming on your smart phone, smart TV, or streaming device.
As a free service, you’ll encounter ads while accessing the content. Tubi operates on an advertising-based model, which enables them to offer their wide-ranging collection at no cost. Content will be available from Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Disney and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
It has been owned by Murdoch’s Fox Corporation since 2020. As of May 2024, the service boasts 80 million monthly active users in the U.S.
During intraday trading on Wednesday 26th June 2024, Amazon’s market capitalisation surpassed $2 trillion.
The company now stands among other tech giants like Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft, which have also achieved a market cap of over $2 trillion ($3 trillion for in Nvidia Apple and Microsoft).
Amazon’s shares have experienced a significant increase in the past year.
Amazon one year chart from 27th June 2023 – 26th June 2024. Share price: 193.61
Amazon one year chart from 27th June 2023 – 26th June 2024. Share price: 193.61
To put this figure into some perspective, the loss is comparable to the GDP output of a small country, such as Norway, Singapore, or the UAE, for example.
Global semiconductor stocks experienced volatility on Tuesday following a decline in Nvidia’s shares from the previous trading sessions.
Shares of chip firms in Europe and Asia fell in early trade as investors reacted to Nvidia losing more than $500 billion in market capitalization over three trading days. Some of the stocks recouped losses, however, as shares in the U.S. chipmaking giant recovered around 6 – 6.5% as of Tuesday 25th June 2024.
This follows a significant drop in Nvidia’s share value, which fell 13% over three consecutive sessions from the record highs achieved on Thursday 20th June 2024.
On Monday 24th June 2024, Nvidia’s stock closed down 6.7%, marking its second-largest decline of the year, yet the shares began to recover in early trading on Tuesday 25th June 2024.
Last week, the company surpassed Apple and Microsoft to become the most valuable U.S. company, achieving a market capitalization of over $3.4 trillion. However, by the end of Monday, Nvidia’s market value had declined by more than $540 billion from its intraday record on Thursday 20th June 2024.
Nvidia reported that the demand for its highly sought-after artificial intelligence graphics processing units (GPUs) continues to be strong.
Companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are investing billions of dollars in these chips to enhance their data centres and cloud services.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained as investors rotated out of ‘hot’ chip stocks, including Nvidia.
Nvidia shares fell a little under 7% on Monday 24th June 2024, the chipmaker’s third down day in a row. The stock is down 13% from its peak last week.
Other stocks that also experienced drops on Monday were some of the biggest gainers of late due to their exposure to the artificial intelligence (AI) feeding frenzy.
Investors may be taking profits and locking in gains in Nvidia and similar momentum stocks after a number of extremely busy trading months.
The price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin was down more than 6% at close to $60,000 on Monday 24th June 2024 – its lowest level in more than a month and about 17% from its March 2024 record.
In the past week, it’s fallen more than 10%.
Crypto investment products reportedly notched a second consecutive week of outflows, according to analysts. Last week, they saw their lowest trading volumes globally since the U.S. Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024.
Bitcoin one day chart 24th June 2024 at around $60,000 (CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin one day chart 24th June 2024 at around $60,000
The S&P 500 retreated on Thursday 20th June 2024, having momentarily surpassed the 5500 for the first time ever, as Nvidia, a favourite stock with Wall Street investors, relinquished its earlier gains.
The S&P 500 index fell 0.25% to end at 5473. Earlier in the session, the S&P 500 gained around 0.34% to hit a new all-time high.
S&P 500 one day chart 20th June 2024
S&P 500 one day chart 20th June 2024
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.79% to finish at 17721. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) jumped around 299 points, to close at 39134.
Nvidia lost ground and handed the Market Cap crown back to Microsoft after briefly enjoying the accolade for just 2 days. At one point, Nvidia trimmed around $240 billion off its Market Cap as investors took profits.
Will Nvidia regain the crown in the coming weeks? Probably.
Anthropic, a rival to OpenAI, unveiled Claude 3.5 Sonnet on Thursday, touting it as their most advanced AI model to date.
Claude has joined the ranks of widely used chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Founded by former OpenAI research leaders, Anthropic has secured backing from major tech entities like Google, Salesforce, and Amazon. Over the past year, the company has completed numerous funding rounds, reportedly amassing approximately $7.3 billion.
The announcement comes after Anthropic introduced its Claude 3 series of models in March, followed by OpenAI’s GPT-4o in May 2024. Anthropic has stated that Claude 3.5 Sonnet, the initial model from the new Claude 3.5 series, surpasses the speed of its predecessor, Claude 3 Opus.
“It shows marked improvement in grasping nuance, humour, and complex instructions, and is exceptional at writing high-quality content with a natural, relatable tone,” the company said in a blog post.
It can also write, edit and execute code in a real time workspace open for the user to engage.
Nvidia, traditionally recognised within the gaming community for its graphics chips, has become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
On Tuesday 18th June 2024, Nvidia’s shares rose by 3.6%, increasing its market cap to $3.34 trillion and overtaking Microsoft, now valued at $3.32 trillion. Earlier in the month, Nvidia’s valuation reached $3 trillion for the first time, surpassing Apple.
Nvidia $3.34 trillion market cap
Nvidia $3.34 trillion market cap
So far this year, Nvidia’s shares have surged over 170% and saw further gains after announcing first-quarter earnings in May 2024. Since the close of 2022, the stock has increased more than ninefold, paralleling the rise of generative artificial intelligence.
Apple’s shares dropped by 1.1% on Tuesday, resulting in a market value of $3.29 trillion for the tech giant.
Nvidia commands roughly 80% of the market share for AI chips in data centres, a sector that has expanded rapidly as companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta have competed to acquire the necessary processors for constructing AI models and managing growing workloads.
In the latest quarter, Nvidia’s data centre business saw a 427% increase in revenue from the previous year, reaching $22.6 billion and comprising approximately 86% of the company’s total sales.
Established in 1991, Nvidia initially focused on hardware, selling gaming chips for running 3D games. The company has also ventured into cryptocurrency mining chips and cloud gaming services.
However, in the last two years, Nvidia’s stock has soared as investors recognised its pivotal role in the AI boom, a trend that continues to accelerate. This surge has increased the net worth of co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang to an estimated $117 billion, ranking him as the 11th richest individual globally, according to Forbes.
But is the rise too fast and is it time for a share price valuation adjustment in its meteoric rise, to bring it back down to Earth?
Beginning in 2030, Mastercard will eliminate the need for Europeans to manually enter their card numbers during online checkout, regardless of the platform or device used.
The familiar 16-digit card number will be substituted with a randomly generated ‘token.’ This change will enable consumers to complete payments with a single click at the checkout page, authenticated by a thumbprint.
Mastercard reported that 100% tokenization across e-commerce sites will reduce fraud rates dramatically.
The way we pay for products and services online will feel very different in the coming years.
Bitcoin’s price has experienced a dip, struggling to maintain above the $66,000 mark.
It started the week on a decline after a not-so-good weekend, with its volatility making it challenging to hold its price level. Despite this, Bitcoin recorded a minor gain on Monday 17th June 2024, in early trade, with its price on international exchanges standing at roughly $66,000.
The $66K level is now seen as ‘critical’ for Bitcoin’s future price movements
Bitcoin slips to around $66,000 level but holds at key support
