Elon Musk declares allegiance to Dogecoin (Image: WCCFTech) Elon Musk declared his allegiance to Dogecoin causing its value to increase by 15% during this crypto volatility. The billionaire American businessman responded to a Twitter thread speculating about his Dogecoin holdings with the message: “I have not and will not sell any Dogecoins.” This move of Elon Musk immediately caused Dogecoin to increase in value after many days of falling. Earlier, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX posted on Twitter a photo of a laptop with a $1 bill sticker on it with the caption: “How many Doge’s in the window.” If you look closely, you can see that this bill has a picture of a Shiba Inu dog, the symbol of Dogecoin, in place of President George Washington. Elon Musk’s post on Twitter (Image: Twitter) This is the second time this week that Elon Musk has publicly expressed support for cryptocurrencies, after making an announcement on Twitter that Tesla would hold onto its Bitcoins as the market shows signs of a market crash. Earlier, Elon Musk faced criticism from social media users when some suggested that he sold his Bitcoins when its price peaked in the market. Elon Musk responded by tweeting that the electric car company has a “Diamond Hand,” referring to traders who hold stocks when prices fall with the goal of making long-term profits. The drop in cryptocurrency value over the past few days is said to have started after Elon Musk posted an announcement saying that Tesla was temporarily suspending Bitcoin as payment for its car orders, due to concerns about the risk of loss of money. Bitcoin mining will have a bad effect on the environment. Since then, however, he has repeatedly said that the company will keep its Bitcoins and will allow the use of the cryptocurrency to trade again when mining becomes more stable. Elon Musk announced that he will not sell Tesla’s Bitcoin (Image: Twitter) According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, the Bitcoin industry’s annual energy consumption is on par with that of a country the size of Malaysia. And most of the mining is located in regions of China, where electricity is produced cheaply by coal-fired power plants. Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin at the end of 2020 when the price of each Bitcoin was below $20,000 and sold 10% in early 2021 when the price of this virtual currency reached $50,000/Bitcoin, earning on a profit of 101 million USD.

Audi unveiled up to four brand-new models this week at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, where the stretched A7L and A6 e-tron sedans garner the most attention. The two models share the stage with an upgraded long wheelbase Q5 and a mysterious new Audi Shanghai concept in the form of an all-electric SUV. While the A7L will be the first Audi model in China developed with local Volkswagen Group partner SAIC – other models developed with another partner FAW – this new electric vehicle is not far behind. . Considered a research concept at the moment, it will evolve into a production car in the second half of this year. Details are still scarce, but we do know that it will be 4,870 mm long. The figure on this electric luxury Audi Shanghai makes it nearly as long as the Audi e-tron SUV currently sold in many parts of the world, and some local sources say it will be built based on Volkswagen’s MEB chassis. Group, similar to the Q4 e-tron and the smaller Q4 Sportback e-tron. The concept car shown at the show has a camouflage cover with an e-tron mark and all the windows are darkened, meaning the company is not ready to reveal the interior of the new car. With Audi quiet, all we can do is speculate. Considering the announced overall length of the car, perhaps the production version will be equivalent to the Volkswagen ID.6 that also debuted at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show. That three-row electric SUV also uses the MEB chassis and measures 4,876 mm in length. However, this is merely a speculation. If that is the case, we can expect the best version of the new electric SUV to be equipped with the AWD Quattro drivetrain with 2 electric motors delivering a total output of 302 hp and 310 Nm of maximum torque. the equivalent of the dual-motor ID.6, or even more powerful, to deserve the Audi title. At ID.6, this capacity allows it to accelerate from 0-100 km / h in 6.6 seconds and the top speed is electronically limited to 160 km / h. In terms of travel distance, we can also see ID.6 modeled with two options of 58 kWh and 77 kWh, with the second type providing a maximum travel distance of 588 km / h according to the Chinese NEDC cycle. . Time will tell what real specs will be on the new Audi electric SUV. The model on display only has a simple name, the new electric Audi Concept Shanghai, and will certainly bear a different name when it goes into production. Also, it is worth noting that this model will be exclusive to the Chinese market. Video: Audi introduces a series of luxury electric cars in China.

From Mark Ehren, tagesschau.de The company is located in a place that actually stands for old industry. The automobile company General Motors (GM) has its headquarters in the US metropolis of Detroit. The start-up StockX also resides on Woodware Avenue – whose business does not deal with tires, but with rubber soles. Among other things, sneakers are traded on the StockX Internet platform, sometimes at horrendous prices. The name of the roughly five-year-old company could suggest that it trades in stocks. In fact, it refers to inventory.

A kind of eBay for sneakers

However, StockX hardly has any shoes in stock, but functions primarily as a trading platform. Similar to eBay, the platform brings buyers and sellers together. But in contrast to the well-known auction house, StockX checks the offered goods for authenticity and condition before a transaction. Sellers have to send in their items, the company sends them to buyers after the authenticity and quality checks and processes the payment. At StockX, the motto is: the rarer and more unusual a model, the more popular it is – and the more expensive it is. The prices of some shoes run into six figures. But sneakers for just under 20 euros are also on offer. The price jumps can be enormous. StockX users can see the development in graphics that are confusingly similar to stock market charts. A model was recently offered with a surcharge of almost 30,000 percent compared to the recommended retail price. For its service, StockX collects a commission of three percent plus a transaction fee of almost ten percent for new users.

More than seven million transactions

The high fees apparently do not deter customers: In the past year, StockX processed more than 7.5 million transactions and posted sales of more than 400 million US dollars. More sneakers are now being traded on StockX than on eBay. Company boss Scott Cutler worked for the auction portal before moving to the start-up in 2019. Cutler also gained professional experience in management positions at the New York Stock Exchange.

Eminem and Mark Wahlberg on board

The boom in the sneaker business has long since attracted investors. According to its own statements, the company is now valued at $ 3.8 billion. In addition to traditional investment companies, two celebrities from the entertainment industry are also involved in StockX: the rapper Eminem and the actor Mark Wahlberg. The growth should continue. In addition to sneakers, clothing, handbags and watches, electronic items can now also be traded on StockX. And the company is now also considered a candidate for an IPO.

The German financial regulator BaFin is examining possible stock speculation by employees at the authority. In a total of two cases, BaFin is investigating the question of whether the reported private financial transactions are to be classified as speculative, said the Federal Ministry of Finance. Two people are affected. The ministry responded to a request from Fabio de Masi, the left wing’s financial expert in the Bundestag. The deals were noticed during an investigation of employee deals with shares in the US companies Gamestop and AMC Entertainment. The federal government pointed out that Gamestop and AMC are US companies and that shares in these companies are not subject to the BaFin’s trade ban for private financial transactions. These companies are also not subject to BaFin’s corporate supervision.

Purely speculative business is prohibited

Basically, trading in these shares would be permitted for BaFin employees. However, this does not apply if it is speculative business, because such private business has no longer been allowed in the authority since October 16, 2020. If the two employees actually carried out such transactions, this would be unacceptable from the point of view of BaFin and the ministry. At BaFin, “speculative transactions” means short-term trading in the market – for example with derivative financial instruments or shares. When speculating, the focus is on short-term gains, while an investment aims to achieve long-term returns.

Course capers at Gamestop

The The US video game retailer Gamestop’s price capers had kept the stock exchanges in suspense for weeks. There was also speculation with shares in the AMC cinema chain. The value of the shares had increased significantly in some cases. At Gamestop, for example, small investors with concerted purchases forced hedge funds to cancel their bets on a collapse in the price of the securities. That drove the price higher as the hedge funds were forced to stock up on Gamestop stocks. But then profits melted again. Anyone who happened to hit the right time could still rake in massive price gains. These had nothing to do with the company’s economic or business success – it was a pure bet. As a retailer in the games industry, Gamestop has long been under pressure as the business is increasingly shifting to the Internet.

Northern flow 2: Germany receives a request for a building permit, President Biden falls into a ‘dilemma’. (Source: The Brussels Times)

The website Tagesspiegel.de recently published an article titled “A guaranteed gas supply even without the Northern Stream 2 project”.

Accordingly, the Northern Flow 2 gas pipeline project not only supplies gas to Germany and the European Union (EU) but also has strategic implications for the transition of energy, the environment and political geography.

Once again, this has become a central issue in the context of Russia increasing its military forces on the Ukrainian border and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin making his first visit to Germany.

The question is, is this piping system really necessary? What would the consequences be if the pipeline didn’t go into service?

The opinions are mixed

Experts have many different opinions. Some people, like Jens Hobohm from Prognos Institute for Economic Research (Germany), believe that Northern Flow 2 from an energy point of view is necessary and meaningful.

In contrast, expert Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) argues that the answer is “definitely not”.

According to Kemfert, it is not necessary to have any additional infrastructure for the transportation of natural gas from Russia. In addition, the plan to increase natural gas consumption will conflict with the discussed and agreed climate protection goals.

This expert said that there would be no serious problems if the Northern Flow 2 could not be completed and put into operation. If gas from Russia cannot reach Germany through this pipeline system, Germany and Europe will find other energy solutions.

In this regard, new US President Joe Biden has stated that, like his predecessor, Donald Trump, he wants to prevent the completion of the project through the threat of punishing companies involved in the project. .

Still many EU partners believe that, with the assistance of the Northern Flow 2, Germany is acting against the common interests of Europe.

Chairman of the European People’s Party (EPP) group at the European Parliament Manfred Weber said that the Northern Flow 2 project “will definitely not be feasible” if Russian President Vladimir Putin lets the conflict in the region. East Ukraine escalated.

Will the gas supply be at risk then? To answer this question, the forecasts of the amount of gas that Germany and Europe will need in the coming years are central.

From the outset, critics accused the conglomerates that built the pipeline project “inflated” the data on German and European gas demand, making the project indispensable. and completely overwhelmed the opposition.

However, Jens Hobohm believes that this criticism holds true only in previous years, but in recent years, gas consumption in Germany and Europe has increased more than expected due to the need for natural gas. as a bridge for energy transitions.

When countries like Germany give up nuclear power, Poland reduces its dependence on coal, while solar and wind energy are still unable to meet demand, gas is the optimal solution.

According to a study by the Prognos Research Institute, in 2014, the EU consumed 400 billion cubic meters of gas; in 2015, the figure was 419 billion cubic meters and in 2019 it was 470 billion cubic meters.

Consumption figures for 2020 have not been specifically calculated, but according to expert Hobohm, this number is expected to decrease due to the impact of the epidemic of acute respiratory infections Covid-19.

In Germany alone, gas consumption will also increase from 77 billion cubic meters in 2015 to 89 billion cubic meters in 2019, while in 2020 this figure will decrease by about 2.5 percent.

Is that a compelling argument for the construction of the Northern Flow 2 project or would the existing pipes be enough to meet demand?

Is the project really necessary?

If we compare the gas consumption figures for 2019 to 2006, when the first Northern Flow system was planned to be constructed, it can be seen that the consumption volume has never been as high as it was before. Meanwhile, the project construction consortium insists that pipelines are needed as gas consumption will increase continuously. In fact, in 2006, Germany consumed 92 billion cubic meters of gas, while in the EU it was 511 billion cubic meters.

Hobohm adds that Europe’s gas imports from outside Europe depend on how much the continent can produce and to what extent can it meet its own demand?

Currently, the amount of gas produced internally has decreased, partly due to the Netherlands cutting production share faster than planned.

The key point now, experts say, is that the Northern Flow 2 project is still under construction. And Europe has no problems with gas supplies. Whether this project can go into operation or not and never work is an open question.

The later this pipeline is completed, the less necessary it is to be, as the role of natural gas will decline more and more.

Along with that, security policy risks are also very concerned.

First, it is due to the dependence of Europe and Germany on gas from a Russia.

Second, additional risks come from this project because the pipeline runs from Russia through the Baltic Sea and then directly to Germany, not through intermediate states such as Ukraine, Belarus and Poland.

Critics of the project raise two questionable issues.

FirstlyMr. Putin wants free hands to implement his policies with neighboring countries without being afraid to depend on them (when gas exports no longer have to pass through these countries).

Monday, the operation of the Northern Flow 2 system leads to a decrease in the amount of gas flowing through the existing pipes, thereby reducing Ukraine’s income from allowing gas from Russia to transit through its territory. .

The national budget of Kiev will be more than 2 billion euros. Then, the pressure on the EU to increase its aid to Ukraine will grow.