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Representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin are placed on a PC motherboard in this illustration taken June 16, 2023. 

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

St. Moritz, SWITZERLAND — Top players in the crypto industry gathered at a lavish hotel in elegant Swiss ski town St. Moritz ahead of the Wednesday start of the Crypto Finance Conference.

Many were at dinners and drinks when a post from the account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday claimed that the long-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) had been approved.

It turned out it hadn’t. Instead, the SEC said its account had been compromised.

The false news was enough to send bitcoin spiking briefly before falling. It also ruined the celebrations of the crypto industry players in St. Moritz, many of who have been waiting for years for a bitcoin ETF to get past skeptics at the SEC.

“We walked into the lobby bar, right as the tweet came out, and everyone was ecstatic … and then five minutes later after all the drinks were ordered … very sad,” Meltem Demirors, head of strategy at CoinShares, told CNBC on Wednesday.

“But, look, I think if you’re a screenwriter, you couldn’t write the narrative of this industry, it’s wild, its preposterous, its crazy.”

The false post has not dampened the mood among crypto bulls, who say that new bitcoin highs are possible this year.

“I think we are going over six figures by the end of the year,” Demirors said, highlighting two key reasons — a bitcoin ETF approval and the so-called upcoming “halving” event.

Bitcoin's price will be above six figures by end of 2024, CoinShares strategy head says

Both of these factors underpinned the more than 150% rally in bitcoin of last year — a rise that has continued into 2024.

ETFs excitement

Many are excited about a bitcoin ETF, which tracks the price of the cryptocurrency and allows market participants to invest in bitcoin without actually owning the crypto.

The thought is that an ETF could bring in larger and more traditional investors, who didn’t want to go near cryptocurrency.

“This is a watershed moment, no question about it. It’s going to usher in a lot of institutional capital, it’s going to change the dynamic of this asset class completely,” Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, told CNBC on Wednesday.

A bitcoin ETF approval would be a 'watershed' moment for crypto industry, CEO says

Crypto execs are not expecting that the SEC social media debacle will fully derail the ETF approval.

Fred Thiel, CEO of bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings, told CNBC that the SEC may “delay” approval, but will likely give the green light soon.

“I have a feeling that they’re likely going to approve a whole slew of them and then move on,” Thiel said.

Demirors of CoinShares said that the ETFs could potentially see capital inflows of $25 billion to $100 billion in their first year of trade, coming from various areas, including the trillions of dollars in U.S. retirement funds.

Where does the bitcoin price go in 2024?

The previous all-time high of bitcoin was logged just under $69,000 in November 2021.

The bitcoin price collapsed in 2022, as projects failed, bankruptcies flooded the industry and major players such as the crypto exchange and FTX faced criminal probes in the U.S.

Bitcoin then rose by more than 150% in 2023, with much of that increase owed to excitement around the ETF.

But bitcoin also has historically traded in cycles, which include key events called halvings — when the rewards that miners earn from mining bitcoin are slashed in half. This reduces the amount of bitcoin supply in the market and has often preceded a bull run to all-time highs. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins in circulation.

The next halving is due to take place in April 2024.

The anticipation over ETF and the halving has caused the crypto industry to get very bullish on bitcoin this year.

“I think bitcoin will either follow its historical cycle, which would have it increase in price, achieve the prior all-time high some time toward the end of this year, then new all-time highs towards the end of next year. That’s if it follows historical patterns,” Thiel said.

Bitcoin likely to hit new all-time high in 2024, Marathon Digital CEO says

Thiel added that potential monetary policy easing from central banks globally could also help support the price of bitcoin.

“We estimate internally that we’ll definitely hit the all-time high levels by the end of this year, the prior all-time highs, and we’ll see into next year what happens beyond that,” Thiel said.

CNBC previously spoke to people, both inside and outside of the cryptocurrency industry, about their price outlook, with calls ranging from $60,000 to $500,000 for bitcoin by the end of 2024.

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CNBC Daily Open: Beauty is in the eye of the U.S. jobs report beholder

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CNBC Daily Open: Beauty is in the eye of the U.S. jobs report beholder

Business representatives staff a table at a career fair in Harlem hosted by Assemblymember Jordan Wright on Dec. 10, 2025, in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The U.S. November jobs report has something for everybody.

Those convinced of weakness will highlight the higher-than-expected unemployment rate as well as the number of jobs shrinking in October.

On the other hand, proponents of a strong economy will focus on jobs growth in November beating estimates, and point out that the increase in the unemployment rate was mostly because the labor force grew, as CNBC’s Jeff Cox noted.

Without any definitive judgment that can be made on the state of the labor market, traders left their bets on interest rate cuts in January mostly unchanged. It’s currently at 25.5%, around one percentage point higher than before the release of the November jobs report, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

“Today’s data paints a picture of an economy catching its breath,” said Gina Bolvin, president at Bolvin Wealth Management Group. “Job growth is holding on, but cracks are forming. Consumers are still standing, but not sprinting.”

That ambivalence was reflected in markets as well. Major U.S. indexes were mixed: The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.24% and 0.62% respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite registered a mild gain of 0.23%, thanks to Tesla stock closing at an all-time high.

Whether you’re a bull or a bear, Tuesday’s tea leaves will show you what you want to see — but beware confirmation bias.

What you need to know today

And finally…

A general view looking past Tower Bridge toward Residential and commercial skyscrapers in Canary Wharf on June 26, 2025 in London, United Kingdom.

John Keeble | Getty Images News | Getty Images

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OpenAI in talks with Amazon about investment that could exceed $10 billion

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OpenAI in talks with Amazon about investment that could exceed  billion

Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.

Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images

OpenAI is in discussions with Amazon about a potential investment and an agreement to use its artificial intelligence chips, CNBC confirmed on Tuesday.

The details are fluid and still subject to change but the investment could exceed $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the talks are confidential. The Information first reported on the potential deal.

The discussions come after OpenAI completed a restructuring in October and formally outlined the details of its partnership with Microsoft, giving it more freedom to raise capital and partner with companies across the broader AI ecosystem.

Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI and backed the company since 2019, but it no longer has a right of first refusal to be OpenAI’s compute provider, according to an October release. OpenAI can now also develop some products with third parties.

Amazon has invested at least $8 billion into OpenAI rival Anthropic, but the e-commerce giant could be looking to expand its exposure to the booming generative AI market. Microsoft has taken a similar step and announced last month that it will invest up to $5 billion into Anthropic, while Nvidia will invest up to $10 billion in the startup.

Amazon Web Services has been designing its own AI chips since around 2015, and the hardware has become crucial for AI companies that are trying to train models and meet growing demand for compute. AWS announced its Inferentia chips in 2018, and the latest generation of its Trainium chips earlier this month.

OpenAI has made more than $1.4 trillion of infrastructure commitments in recent months, including agreements with chipmakers Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom. Last month, OpenAI signed a deal to buy $38 billion worth of capacity from AWS, its first contract with the leader in cloud infrastructure leader.

In October, OpenAI finalized a secondary share sale totaling $6.6 billion, allowing current and former employees to sell stock at a $500 billion valuation.

WATCH: Oracle says there have been ‘no delays’ in OpenAI arrangement after stock slide

Oracle says there have been 'no delays' in OpenAI arrangement after stock slide

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Shares of Chinese chipmaker MetaX soar nearly 700% in blockbuster Shanghai debut

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Shares of Chinese chipmaker MetaX soar nearly 700% in blockbuster Shanghai debut

Narumon Bowonkitwanchai | Moment | Getty Images

Shares of Chinese chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits soared about 700% in their market debut in Shanghai on Wednesday, after the company raised nearly $600 million in its initial public offering.

Shares, which were priced at 104.66 yuan in the IPO, surged to over 835 yuan on debut, marking a 697% jump.

Similar to Moore Threads, which saw a robust debut at the start of the month, MetaX develops graphics processing units for artificial intelligence applications, tapping into a fast-growing sector driven by rising adoption of AI services.

MetaX is part of a growing cohort of local chipmakers building AI processors, reflecting Beijing’s push to reduce dependence on U.S. chips following Washington’s tech curbs on export of high-end technology to China.

Washington has imposed export curbs on U.S. chip behemoth Nvidia, barring sales of its most advanced AI chips to China.

Newer Chinese players such as Enflame Technology and Biren Technology have also entered the AI space, aiming to capture a share of the billions in graphics processing unit, or GPU, demand no longer served by Nvidia. Chinese regulators have also been clearing more semiconductor IPOs in their drive for greater AI independence.

Earlier this month, shares of Moore Threads, a Beijing-based GPU manufacturer often referred to as “China’s Nvidia,” soared by more than 400% on its debut in Shanghai following its $1.1 billion listing.

Macquarie’s equity analyst Eugene Hsiao said investor enthusiasm around Chinese AI-chip IPOs such as MetaX is partly shaped by longer-term expectations that China will build a self-sufficient semiconductor ecosystem as tensions with the U.S. persist.

“For that to work, you need these players. You need names like Moore Threads, Meta X, etc,” he said.

“So I think when investors are looking at these IPOs, they implicitly are thinking about the nationalistic element,” Hsiao noted, adding that the main driver of the frenzy, however, was the firms’ growth potential.

— CNBC’s Dylan Butts contributed to this article.

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