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S&P 500 near flat as investors weigh chances of less aggressive rate hikes

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  • Tech shares gain
  • Macy’s, Lululemon drop on holiday-quarter warnings
  • Indexes: Dow down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.1%, Nasdaq up 0.6%

NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 index (.SPX) erased early gains to close nearly flat on Monday as expectations that the Federal Reserve will become less aggressive with its interest rate hikes were offset by lingering worries about inflation.

The Dow ended lower, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) ended well off the day’s highs.

Investors are awaiting comments Tuesday from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who some strategists expect could say more time is needed to show inflation is under control.

Money market bets were showing 77% odds of a 25-basis point hike in the Fed’s February policy meeting.

A consumer prices report due Thursday could be key for rate expectations, said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist, LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The CPI report this week is going to be essential for fine-tuning the Fed funds futures market.”

Investors also may have sold some shares after recent strong market gains, said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management in Chicago. “You’re seeing a little bit of profit-taking ahead of the CPI number due out this week.”

The technology sector (.SPLRCT) gained as Treasury yields fell. Consumer discretionary stocks (.SPLRCD) also rose, with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) up 1.5% after Jefferies said it saw cost pressures easing for the e-commerce giant in the second half of the year.

Also, S&P 500 companies are about to kick off the fourth-quarter earnings period, with results from top U.S. banks expected later this week.

Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 112.96 points, or 0.34%, to 33,517.65, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 2.99 points, or 0.08%, to 3,892.09 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 66.36 points, or 0.63%, to 10,635.65.

Shares of Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O) fell in late trading to end down 2% after Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Apple Inc (AAPL.O) plans to drop a Broadcom chip in 2025 and use an in-house design instead.

Friday’s jobs report, which showed a moderation in wage increases, lifted hopes that the Fed might become less aggressive in its rate-hike push to reduce inflation.

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) shares rose 5.9% after the electric-vehicle maker indicated longer waiting times for some versions of the Model Y in China, signaling the recent price cuts could be stoking demand.

Macy’s Inc (M.N) fell 7.7% and Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU.O) dropped 9.3% after both retailers issued disappointing holiday-quarter forecasts.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.35 billion shares, compared with the 10.90 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.85-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.48-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 129 new highs and 32 new lows.

Additional reporting by Shubham Batra, Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Chang

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Bitcoin dips below $20,000 | Reuters

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A neon logo of cryptocurrency Bitcoin is seen at the Crypstation cafe, in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina May 5, 2022. Picture taken May 5, 2022. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo

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Aug 27 (Reuters) – Bitcoin dipped below $20,000 on Saturday, continuing a drop that has taken it down nearly 60% from its year high.

Bitcoin , the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, was last down 1.5% at $19,946 on Saturday, down $298 from its previous close.

It is down 58.7% from the year’s high of $48,234 hit on March 28.

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Ether , the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, meanwhile dipped 2.76 % to $1,467.2, losing $41.60 from its previous close.

Bitcoin’s fall comes after a weak day on Friday for the currency, which fell as Wall Street slumped with all three benchmarks ending more than 3% lower.

The weakness in risk assets came after Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell cautioned against expecting a swift end to its rate tightening. The Fed’s actions on interest rates has caused some investors to forecast more pain for equities. read more

“Bitcoin broke below 20,000 as investors expect a weekend full of pessimism from Jackson Hole to drag down sentiment,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said on Saturday.

“European and Asian central bankers will likely be much more pessimistic than Fed Chair Powell and that has many traders bracing for a weak open on Sunday night,” he added.

Bitcoin was last below $20,000 in mid-July.

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Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru and Megan Davies in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Chizu Nomiyama

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Business

Wall Street ends in a hole after Powell’s Wyoming speech

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  • Fed will keep tightening until inflation controlled – Powell
  • Core PCE increases 0.1% in July vs. 0.6% rise in June
  • Dell, Affirm tumble on weaker forecasts
  • Indexes down: Dow 3.03%, S&P 3.37%, Nasdaq 3.94%
  • Lower for the week: Dow 4.2%, S&P 4%, Nasdaq 4.4%

Aug 26 (Reuters) – Wall Street ended Friday with all three benchmarks more than 3% lower, as Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell’s signal that the central bank would keep hiking rates to tame inflation nixed nascent hopes for a more modest path among some investors.

The Nasdaq led declines among the three U.S. benchmarks, registering its worst daily performance since June 16, weighed by high-growth technology stocks which tumbled after rallying the previous day in anticipation of Powell’s scheduled speech to the Jackson Hole central banking conference in Wyoming.

The U.S. economy will need tight monetary policy “for some time” before inflation is under control, Powell said at the event. That means slower growth, a weaker job market and “some pain” for households and businesses, he added. read more

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Investors knew further rate rises were coming, and they have been divided between whether a 75-basis-point and a 50-basis-point hike by the Fed was coming next month.

However, recent data highlighting continued strength in the labor market, to offset two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, had led to some speculating a more tempered pace of hikes could be forthcoming.

“The pushback is coming from the idea that it’s not about the pace of hikes going forward and how they tighten financial conditions, it’s about the duration of remaining at that restrictive policy stance,” said Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers.

“That’s the nuance they are trying to push forward and Powell was, maybe, a bit more explicit in that today. But if you’ve listened to other Fed speakers in the last couple of weeks, it’s the same message.”

Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics

With investors repositioning after absorbing the speech, the Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX) jumped 3.78 points to 25.56, its highest close in six weeks.

All the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, led by declines of between 3.9% and 4.3% in the information technology (.SPLRCT), communication services (.SPLRCL) and consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) indexes.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 141.46 points, or 3.37%, to end at 4,057.66 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 497.56 points, or 3.94%, to 12,141.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 1,008.38 points, or 3.03%, to 32,283.40.

High-growth and technology stocks dropped. Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Amazon.com Inc fell 9.2% and 4.8%, respectively, having led gainers in the previous session. Meanwhile, Google-parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Meta Platforms Inc , and Block Inc (SQ.N) also dipped between 4.1% and 7.7%.

U.S. stock indexes have retreated since the turn of the year as investors priced in the expectation of aggressive interest rate hikes and a slowing economy.

But they have recovered strongly since June, with the S&P 500 recouping nearly half its losses for the year on stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and hopes decades-high inflation has peaked.

However, Friday’s falls wiped out the modest August gains which all three benchmarks had previously carved out, and sent the trio to their second straight week of declines.

For the week, the Nasdaq slid 4.4%, the Dow lost 4.2%, and the S&P 500 fell 4%.

Data earlier showed consumer spending barely rose in July, but inflation eased considerably, which could give the Fed room to trim its aggressive interest rate increases. read more

Dell Technologies Inc (DELL.N) fell 13.5% as it joined rivals in predicting a slowdown as inflation and the darkening economic outlook prompt consumers and businesses to tighten their purse strings. read more

Affirm Holdings Inc (AFRM.O) tumbled 21.3% after the buy-now-pay-later lender forecast full-year revenue below Wall Street estimates, underscoring the broader downturn in the fortunes of the once high-flying fintech sector.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.37 billion shares, compared with the 10.64 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

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Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar, Devik Jain, Anisha Sircar and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru and David French in New York; Editing by Maju Samuel, Aditya Soni and Grant McCool

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Tesla shares slip as 3-1 stock split kicks in

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Aug 25 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) shares slipped on Thursday as a three-for-one stock split announced by the world’s most valuable automaker to woo retail investors took effect.

Shares of the electric-car maker, led by Elon Musk, opened at $302 and dipped to $293 in early trading.

Tesla’s second stock split in as many years follows those by other high-growth companies, including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), and highlight the increasing need to diversify investor base.

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Stock splits “certainly have a higher appeal to retail investors, and makes their options more affordable as well,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley.

“Retail investors are a very important cohort for Tesla, and today’s stock split is essentially an acknowledgment of that fact.”

Austin-based Tesla had debuted at $17 in 2010 and shares sky-rocketed to trade at more than $2,000 at their peak, becoming among the highest priced on Wall Street and making it difficult for small investors to bet on the high-growth stock.

In August 2020, the company decided to split its stock on a five-for-one basis, and breached the $1 trillion in market capitalization in 2021.

The stock closed at $891.29 on Wednesday before the three-for-one split took effect.

The EV maker is the sixth company in the S&P 500 index to have split its shares this year, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst for S&P and Dow Jones indices.

Tesla’s ticker was trending on social media stocktwits.com, indicating increased chatter among individual investors.

The company’s shares have fallen about 11% since the company announced in March plans to increase its number of shares.

“In typical buy-the-rumor, sell-the-news style, investors tend to drastically scale back purchases of splitting stocks in the weeks ensuing the effective split date, causing price momentum to slow,” analysts at Vanda Research said in a note.

Tesla shares have risen to take the company’s market cap to over $1 trillion since its previous split

A stock split does not affect the fundamentals of a company, but makes it easier for individual investors looking to do small trades. However, the benefits of stock splits are becoming less clear as brokerages let customers buy parts of a company’s share.

Tesla’s shares have fallen about 16% this year as worries over aggressive U.S. interest rate increases and geopolitical uncertainty triggered a sell-off in high-growth stocks.

The latest three-for-one split means that stockholders will get two additional shares for each they owned as of Aug. 17.

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Reporting by Akash Sriram and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Devik Jain; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila

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Sudden crypto drop sends bitcoin to three-week low

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Representations of cryptocurrencies are seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

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SINGAPORE, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Cryptocurrencies fell sharply on Friday, with sudden selling dragging bitcoin to a three-week low.

Bitcoin fell as much as 7.7% to $21,404 over a few minutes during the European morning, at around 0640 GMT. It recovered slightly then continued its downward trajectory to trade around $21,400 at 1138 GMT, down 8.2% on the day.

Ether also dropped around the same time and was last down 8.8% at $1,685.

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The reason for the drop was not clear.

“It’s not showing the pattern of a flash crash, as the assets didn’t immediately rebound sharply but sank even lower in the hours that followed,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“It seems likely that this was as a result of a large sale transaction.”

Streeter said it appeared the cryptocurrency cardano had been the first to move, followed by bitcoin and ether, and then others such as the altcoin dogecoin.

Cryptocurrencies have fallen dramatically so far this year, as Federal Reserve rate hikes and ultra-high inflation prompt investors to ditch riskier assets.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said bitcoin’s failure to recover its losses “suggests there is substance to the move”.

Such sharp moves are common in the highly volatile cryptocurrency market. On June 15, bitcoin plunged more than 15% as investors were spooked by the collapse of a so-called stablecoin, TerraUSD, and a major crypto lender freezing customer withdrawals. read more

Friday’s move put bitcoin on track for its worst day since the June meltdown.

“Speculating in cryptocurrencies is extremely high risk and is not suitable for the vast majority of people,” Hargreaves Lansdown’s Streeter said.

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Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Toby Chopra, Kirsten Donovan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Elizabeth Howcroft

Thomson Reuters

Reports on the intersection of finance and technology, including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, virtual worlds and the money driving “Web3”.

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Cryptoverse: Blockchain bridges fall into troubled waters

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Representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dash plunge into water in this illustration taken, May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

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Aug 9 (Reuters) – Another day, another hack – and another blockchain bridge burned.

When thieves stole an estimated $190 million from U.S. crypto firm Nomad last week, it was the seventh hack of 2022 to target an increasingly important cog in the crypto machine: Blockchain “bridges” – strings of code that help move crypto coins between different applications. read more

So far this year, hackers have stolen crypto worth some $1.2 billion from bridges, data from London-based blockchain analysis firm Elliptic shows, already more than double last year’s total.

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“This is a war where the cybersecurity firm or the project can’t be a winner,” said Ronghui Hu, a professor of computer science at Columbia University in New York and co-founder of cybersecurity firm CertiK.

“We have to protect so many projects. For them (hackers) when they look at one project and there’s no bugs, they can simply move on to the next one, until they find a one weak point.”

At present, most digital tokens run on their own unique blockchain, essentially a public digital ledger that records crypto transactions. That risks projects using these coins becoming siloed, reducing their prospects for wide use.

Blockchain bridges aim to tear down these walls. Backers say they will play a fundamental role in “Web3” – the much-hyped vision of a digital future where crypto’s enmeshed in online life and commerce.

Yet bridges can be the weakest link.

The Nomad hack was the eighth-biggest crypto theft on record. Other thefts from bridges this year include a $615 million heist at Ronin, used in a popular online game, and a $320 million theft at Wormhole, used in so-called decentralised finance applications. read more

“Blockchain bridges are the most fertile ground for new vulnerabilities,” said Steve Bassi, co-founder and CEO of malware detector PolySwarm.

Reuters Graphics

ACHILLES HEEL

Nomad and others companies that make blockchain bridge software have attracted backing.

Just five days before it was hacked, San Francisco-based Nomad said it had raised $22.4 million from investors including major exchange Coinbase Global (COIN.O). Nomad CEO and co-founder Pranay Mohan called its security model the “gold standard.”

Nomad did not respond to requests for comment.

It has said it is working with law enforcement agencies and a blockchain analysis firm to track the stolen funds. Late last week, it announced a bounty of up to 10% for the return of funds hacked from the bridge. It said on Saturday it had recovered over $32 million of the hacked funds so far.

“The most important thing in crypto is community, and our number one goal is restoring bridged user funds,” Mohan said. “We will treat any party who returns 90% or more of exploited funds as a white hats. We will not prosecute white hats,” he said, referring to so-called ethical hackers.

Several cyber security and blockchain experts told Reuters that the complexity of bridges meant they could represent an Achilles’ heel for projects and applications that used them.

“A reason why hackers have targeted these cross-chain bridges of late is because of the immense technical sophistication involved in creating these kinds of services,” said Ganesh Swami, CEO of blockchain data firm Covalent in Vancouver, which had some crypto stored on Nomad’s bridge when it was hacked.

For instance, some bridges create versions of crypto coins that make them compatible with different blockchains, holding the original coins in reserve. Others rely on smart contracts, complex covenants that execute deals automatically.

The code involved in all of these can contain bugs or other flaws, potentially leaving the door ajar for hackers.

BUG BOUNTIES

So how best to address the problem?

Some experts say audits of smart contracts could help to guard against cyber thefts, as well as “bug bounty” programmes that incentivise open-sourced reviews of smart contract code.

Others call for less concentration of control of the bridges by individual companies, something they say could bolster resiliency and transparency of code.

“Cross-chain bridges are an attractive target for hackers because they often leverage a centralized infrastructure, most of which lock up assets,” said Victor Young, founder and chief architect at U.S. blockchain firm Analog.

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Reporting by Tom Wilson in London and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pravin Char

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China’s Alibaba to apply for dual primary listing in Hong Kong

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A man walks past the Alibaba Group office building in Beijing, China August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

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  • Expects to add HK primary listing by end-2022, keep NYSE listing
  • Hong Kong shares jump 5%; move will diversify investor base -CEO
  • Seen boosting mainland China investor access to Alibaba shares
  • In line with move Ant execs step down from Alibaba partnership

SHANGHAI, July 26 (Reuters) – Alibaba (9988.HK) will apply for a primary listing in Hong Kong and keep its U.S. listing, the first big company to take advantage of a rule change allowing high-tech Chinese firms with dual class shares to seek dual primary listings in Hong Kong.

The e-commerce giant’s move, announced on Tuesday, comes as both Washington and Beijing sharpen scrutiny over Chinese companies’ listings, and after a devastating regulatory crackdown in China left Alibaba with a $2.8 billion fine and scuppered an initial public offering (IPO) of its affiliate Ant.

Alibaba’s stock jumped 4% at the start of trading in Hong Kong as analysts said the change should give mainland China investors easier access to the shares via a link to the Hong Kong bourse known as the Stock Connect. At 0303 GMT, the shares were up 5% while the Hong Kong benchmark (.HSI) was up 1.2%.

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Already present on the Hong Kong bourse with a secondary listing since 2019, Alibaba said it expects the primary listing to be completed by the end of 2022. Chief Executive Daniel Zhang said the dual listing would foster a “wider and more diversified investor base”.

The move comes after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in January changed its rules to allow “innovative” Chinese companies – operating an internet or other high-tech business – with weighted voting rights or variable interest entities (VIE) to carry out dual primary listings in the city.

Under a VIE structure, a Chinese company sets up an offshore entity for overseas listing purposes that allows foreign investors to buy into the stock.

“Hong Kong is also the launch pad for Alibaba’s globalisation strategy, and we are fully confident in China’s economy and future,” Alibaba’s CEO Zhang said in a statement.

SWEEPING CRACKDOWN

Alibaba listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, marking what was at the time the largest IPO in history.

Since 2020, the company’s share price has tanked in both markets, as a sweeping regulatory crackdown by Beijing has battered Chinese tech companies.

At the same time, U.S. regulators have stepped up scrutiny of accounts of Chinese firms listed in New York, demanding greater transparency.

While broad in scope, a core focus of China’s crackdown has been regulators seeking to expand oversight of public offerings.

Last year, Chinese authorities launched a probe into ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing just after it listed in New York, citing data privacy concerns.

The company later de-listed and began preparations to list in Hong Kong, leading analysts to interpret the probe as driven by a desire on Beijing’s part for data-rich companies to list domestically.

ANT DECOUPLING

Alibaba also found itself in similar crosshairs when regulators abruptly halted Ant Group’s planned $37 billion IPO in Hong Kong in Shanghai in late 2020.

Concurrent with the announcement of its dual primary listing, Alibaba said on Tuesday in its annual financial report that several Ant Group executives had stepped down from their posts in the Alibaba Partnership, a top decision-making body for the e-commerce giant. read more

The departures are part of an ongoing decoupling of the fintech division from Alibaba, spurred by the botched IPO. read more

Justin Tang, head of Asian research at investment advisor United First Partners in Singapore, said that Alibaba’s decision would boost Alibaba shares due to its potential inclusion in Stock Connect.

“With regards to other tech listings of similar kind, this will be the playbook for companies looking to hedge against regulatory risk that Chinese companies are facing on the U.S. bourses,” he said.

In order to switch to a dual primary listing, the HKEX said companies had to have a good track record of at least two full financial years listed overseas, and a capitalisation of at least HK$40 billion ($5.10 billion) or a market value of at least HK$10 billion plus revenue of at least HK$1 billion for the most recent financial year.

($1 = 7.8493 Hong Kong dollars)

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Reporting by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai, Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell

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Bitcoin recovers after falling on news Tesla sold 75% of its holdings

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A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin is seen in this picture illustration taken October 19, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

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NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) – Bitcoin rebounded after a brief sell-off late on Wednesday sparked by news that electric carmaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) had sold about 75% of its holdings of the virtual token.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk cited concerns about his company’s “overall liquidity” as the reason for the sale.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 1.04% at $23,494.57, after sliding as much as 0.5% to $23,268.92 on the news.

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Tesla sold $936 million worth of bitcoin in the second quarter, more than a year after the company bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency at the peak of its massive growth and popularity.

Musk has been an outspoken supporter of cryptocurrencies. His statements on the future of crypto and disclosures about his ownership of digital assets often boost the price of dogecoin and bitcoin.

On Tesla’s earnings call, Musk said the primary reason for the sale was uncertainty about lockdowns due to COVID-19 in China, which have created production challenges for the company.

“It was important for us to maximize our cash position,” Musk said. “We are certainly open to increasing our bitcoin holdings in future, so this should not be taken as some verdict on bitcoin. It’s just that we were concerned about overall liquidity for the company.”

Musk added that Tesla did not sell any of its dogecoin, a meme-based cryptocurrency that he has touted.

Tesla accepted bitcoin as payment for less than two months before stopping in May 2021. Musk has said the company could resume accepting bitcoin once it conducts due diligence on the amount of renewable energy it takes to mine the currency.

Bitcoin has been in recovery mode so far this week, in line with the stock market, as investors appear more optimistic about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s ability to rein in decades-high inflation.

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Reporting by Hannah Lang, Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Nivedita Balu; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Richard Pullin and Richard Chang

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Bankman-Fried’s FTX says no talks to acquire Robinhood

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The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company’s IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

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June 27 (Reuters) – Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange said it is not in talks to acquire Robinhood Markets Inc (HOOD.O), after a report on Monday claimed the exchange was exploring such a deal.

Bloomberg News reported on Monday FTX was discussing internally how to buy the app-based brokerage and that Robinhood had not received a formal takeover approach, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

“There are no active M&A conversations with Robinhood,” Bankman-Fried said in an emailed statement.”We are excited about Robinhood’s business prospects and potential ways we could partner with them.”

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Robinhood declined to comment. The retail-trading platform’s shares were down 5% in extended trading after jumping over 14% on the report.

Last month, the founder and chief executive of FTX revealed a 7.6% stake in Robinhood but said he did not have any intention of taking control of the retail-trading platform.

Robinhood’s dual-class shares give its founders control of 64% of the voting shares outstanding, making it virtually impossible for takeovers without their support. read more

The popular trading platform has come under pressure this year as trading volumes ease from 2021’s frenetic pace – when retail investors used it to pump money into shares of so-called meme stocks such as GameStop (GME.N) and AMC Entertainment (AMC.N).

That slowdown, along with a sell-off in high-growth technology stocks, has driven a near 50% slump in Robinhood shares this year. The company had a market valuation of nearly $7 billion as of Friday’s closing price.

FTX’s U.S. arm announced in May it would launch a stock trading platform by the end of the summer. Last week, it acquired partner Embedded Financial Technologies for an undisclosed amount, which would add custody, execution and clearing services to its equity trading platform.

FTX and its billionaire founder Bankman-Fried have rescued other players during the crypto market’s recent crash. It provided crypto lender BlockFi with a $250 million revolving credit facility to help the firm avoid a liquidity crunch.

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Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru, John McCrank and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Aditya Soni and Richard Chang

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Elon Musk sued for $258 billion over alleged Dogecoin pyramid scheme

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NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) – Elon Musk was sued for $258 billion on Thursday by a Dogecoin investor who accused him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency.

In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, plaintiff Keith Johnson accused Musk, electric car company Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and space tourism company SpaceX of racketeering for touting Dogecoin and driving up its price, only to then let the price tumble.

Musk is CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX.

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“Defendants were aware since 2019 that Dogecoin had no value yet promoted Dogecoin to profit from its trading,” the complaint said. “Musk used his pedestal as World’s Richest man to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement.”

The complaint also aggregates comments from Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and others questioning the value of cryptocurrency.

Tesla, SpaceX and a lawyer for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A lawyer for Johnson did not immediately respond to requests for comment on what specific evidence his client has or expects to have that proves Dogecoin is worthless and the defendants ran a pyramid scheme.

Johnson is seeking $86 billion in damages, representing the decline in Dogecoin’s market value since May 2021, and wants it tripled.

He also wants to block Musk and his companies from promoting Dogecoin and a judge to declare that trading Dogecoin is gambling under federal and New York law.

The complaint said Dogecoin’s selloff began around the time Musk hosted the NBC show “Saturday Night Live and, playing a fictitious financial expert on a “Weekend Update” segment, called Dogecoin “a hustle.”

Tesla in February 2021 said it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin and for a short time accepted it as payment for vehicles.

Dogecoin traded at about 5.8 cents on Thursday, down from its May 2021 peak of about 74 cents.

The case is Johnson v. Musk et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-05037.

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Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler

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