Bitcoin smashes record as it crosses $69K mark for first time

Published

2 months ago

March 7, 2024

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Bitcoin briefly surpassed its record high of $69,000 per unit before it dipped by more than 10% on Tuesday capping a wild roller coaster ride for the worlds most popular digital coin which has officially emerged from its months-long crypto winter.

Bitcoin reached a high of $69,202 on Tuesday eclipsing the all-time record of $68,999.99 that was set in Nov. 2021 before retreating to around $62,300 as of 4 p.m. Eastern time.

Other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum, BNB, Solana and Dogecoin appeared to follow bitcoins trajectory on Tuesday.

Ethereum, which started the day at $3,698 per unit, rose 3% on Tuesday to $3,815 before it fell below $3,400 shedding more than 6%.

Despite bitcoins late-day dip, things are looking up for investors who have snapped up the digital currency in recent weeks.

Since Jan. 1, bitcoin has gained nearly 40%. In the last year, the cryptocurrency has risen by a whopping 175%.

Bitcoins rally is a far cry from the crypto winter which began in late 2021, when the digital coin flirted with $70,000 before freefalling to below $16,000 in late 2022.

Since then, bitcoin has been gradually recovering in fits and starts.

Experts told The Post that a regulatory stamp of approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which greenlighted 11 spot exchange traded funds, whetted investor appetites.

Crypto analysts are also anticipating a halving of bitcoin next month.

Halving is a process that takes place every four years in which the rate at which tokens are released is cut in half, along with the rewards given to miners.

Supply of bitcoin is limited to 21 million, of which 19 million have already been mined.

Ted Jenkin, CEO of Atlanta-based financial planning firm oXYGen Financial, told The Post that investors, who are betting on bitcoin while anticipating interest rate cuts by the Fed, should still be cautious.

Part of the growth is always linked to the frenzy of people chasing a hot category or stock and the law of supply and demand kicks in to drive up price, Jenkin told The Post.

He compared bitcoin with AI chip maker Nvidia, whose market capitalization crossed the $2 trillion mark thanks to Wall Street enthusiasm over its growth potential.

Just remember, these are highly volatile early stage technology assets and they will have a ton of volatility, Jenkin said.

Be careful about thinking of this as a get rich quick scheme.

With Post wires

Entertainment

Steve Albini, producer of Nirvana and Pixies albums, has died aged 61

Published

2 hours ago

May 9, 2024

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Steve Albini, producer of Nirvana and Pixies albums, has died aged 61

US musician and rock producer Steve Albini, who has worked with acts including Nirvana, PJ Harvey and Pixies, has died aged 61.

The “punk legend” recorded Nirvana’s third and final studio album In Utero, released in 1993, as well as Pixies’ debut studio album Surfer Rosa, which came out in 1988, and PJ Harvey’s second studio album Rid Of Me, in 1993.

Pixies were one of late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain’s favourite bands.

Albini also recorded and mixed the 1998 record Walking Into Clarksdale, the only album by surviving Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

He also performed in his own bands including Big Black and his most recent project, Shellac.

Shellac had just finished recording a new album, To All Trains, due for release next week, and the group were set to tour the record prior to Albini’s death, according to the music website Pitchfork.

In 1997, he opened his famed Electric Audio recording studio in Chicago.

He told The Guardian last year: “The recording part is the part that matters to me – that I’m making a document that records a piece of our culture, the life’s work of the musicians that are hiring me.

“I take that part very seriously. I want the music to outlive all of us.”

Brian Fox, an engineer at the studio, said Albini died following a heart attack on Tuesday night.

Speaking in 2018, Albini said he had worked on more than 2,000 albums, mostly for underground or indie bands.

Among the tributes, Pixies posted a photo of him on X, with the caption RIP Steve Albini.

The Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood wrote: “Ugh man, a heartbreaking loss of a legend. Love to his family and innumerable colleagues. Farewell, Steve Albini.”

Rough Trade, a retail chain of record shops in the UK and US, wrote on X: “Musician, studio engineer and the mastermind behind some of rock’s greatest albums. A hero to us all. Thank you for setting the standard so high. RIP Steve Albini. Deeply missed, forever loved.”

Born on 22 July 1962 in Pasadena, California, he grew up in Montana and went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied journalism.

He became a fixture on the Chicago punk rock scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he began performing with various bands and engineering albums.

Albini remained a prominent figure in the Chicago music scene after his time at Northwestern, owning and operating Electrical Audio.

Pitchfork reported he did not take royalties from records he worked on, and he kept his day rates for artists comparatively low, especially as a producer with his pedigree.

He also became well-known for his commentary on the state of the music industry in the age of streaming.

Albini is survived by his filmmaker wife Heather Whinna.

UK

British girl’s hearing restored in pioneering gene therapy trial

Published

2 hours ago

May 9, 2024

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British girl's hearing restored in pioneering gene therapy trial

A British girl has had her hearing restored after becoming the first person worldwide to take part in a pioneering new gene therapy trial.

Opal Sandy was born totally deaf due to auditory neuropathy, which disrupts nerve impulses from the inner ear to the brain.

But the 18-month-old’s hearing is now almost normal – and could improve further – after having the one-time treatment.

Opal was treated at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and the head of the trial, Professor Manohar Bance, said results were “better than I hoped or expected” and he hopes medics might be able to cure others with this type of deafness.

“We have results from (Opal) which are very spectacular – so close to normal hearing restoration. So we do hope it could be a potential cure,” he said.

Auditory neuropathy can be caused by a fault in the OTOF gene, which makes a protein called otoferlin and enables cells in the ear to communicate with the hearing nerve.

Opal, from Oxfordshire, had an infusion of the working gene into her right ear during surgery in September – the treatment developed by biotech firm Regeneron.

Her parents noticed changes in only four weeks and the improvements were especially noticeable 24 weeks later.

Jo and James Sandy, both 33, said they were “gobsmacked” when she responded to sound tests at home without her cochlear implant, the usual way to treat the condition.

“I thought it was a fluke or like a change in light or something that had caught her eye, but I repeated it a few times,” said Mrs Sandy.

They say she now enjoys the sound of slamming her cutlery on the table and playing with toy drums and wooden blocks.

“We were told she had near normal hearing last time,” she added. “I think they got responses at sort of 25 to 30 decibels.

“I think normal hearing is classed at 20 decibels, so she’s not far off. Before, she had no hearing whatsoever.”

Opal’s surgery was very similar to fitting a cochlear implant, according to Prof Bance.

He said the inner ear (cochlea) was opened and the treatment infused using a catheter over 16 minutes.

“We have to make a release hole in another part of the ear to let the treatment out because it has to go all the way through the ear,” he said.

“And then we just repair and close up, so it’s actually a very similar approach to a cochlear implant, except we don’t put the implant in.”

He said the gene therapy potentially “marks a new era in the treatment for deafness”.

“It was just the fact that we’ve been hearing about this for so long, and there’s been so much work, decades of work… to finally see something that actually worked in humans… It was quite spectacular and a bit awe-inspiring really,” he said.

The treatment was developed especially for children with OTOF mutations, and a second child who has had the same surgery is also seeing positive results.

The trial has three parts – with three deaf children, including Opal, getting a low dose in just one ear.

Another three children will get a high dose on one side. Then, if safe, a new set of children will get a dose in both ears at the same time.

Up to 18 people from the UK, US and Spain are being recruited and will be followed up for five years.

Results of the study were presented on Wednesday to the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy conference in Baltimore.

UK

Patients forced into ‘pharmacy bingo’ – as survey says medicine shortages ‘beyond critical’

Published

2 hours ago

May 9, 2024

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Patients forced into 'pharmacy bingo' - as survey says medicine shortages 'beyond critical'

People are having to play “pharmacy bingo” – going from shop to shop to find stocks – as medicine shortages are worsening, experts have said.

Health leaders say some patients are even having to “ration” their drugs, with a new poll suggesting shortages are a “daily occurrence” for many of England’s pharmacies.

Treatments for ADHD, diabetes and epilepsy are among those affected this year, according to trade body Community Pharmacy England.

Its survey of more than 6,000 pharmacies and 2,000 staff found shortages are “wreaking havoc” on patients.

Nearly all (97%) of staff said patients were being inconvenienced, while 79% said health was being put at risk.

Some 98% said they were also giving out more “I owe yous” – where they can only fulfil part of the prescription.

Nearly all (99%) pharmacies reported supply problems at least weekly, and 72% said they were having “multiple issues a day”.

Another survey last month, by the Nuffield Trust thinktank, said drug shortages had more than doubled between 2020 and 2023 and that Brexit was likely to “significantly weaken” the UK’s ability to deal with the issues.

Shortages have also been a growing problem in Europe and the US in recent years.

However, the UK leaving EU supply chains is said to have added complications such as custom checks at borders and drug makers facing extra regulation.

The falling value of the pound after Brexit has also made it more expensive for the NHS to buy medicines.

Community Pharmacy England boss Janet Morrison said the supply problems were “beyond critical” and had become an “ongoing battle” for pharmacies.

“Patients with a wide range of clinical and therapeutic needs are being affected on a daily basis and this is going far beyond inconvenience, leading to frustration, anxiety and affecting their health,” she added.

“For some patients, not having access to the medicines they need could lead to very serious consequences, even leaving them needing to visit A&E.”

Ms Morrison said the survey was “yet another stark warning which must not be ignored”.

William Pett from Healthwatch England called it an “ongoing issue that continues to wreak havoc on patients”.

“Healthwatch England hears about how shortages can lead to rationing and desperate instances of ‘pharmacy bingo’, where patients must travel from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for stock,” he said.

Paul Rees, head of the National Pharmacy Association, urged the government “to sort out the UK’s fragile medicines supply system, so that pharmacies can do their job and patients can get their lifesaving medicines in time”.

The Department of Health and Social Care is yet to comment.