The Day the Markets Broke and The Company That Wants to Take Over Crypto
It’s time for some more hits from our YouTube channel to brighten your week. Today you’ll hear all about the recent mini financial crisis in the UK and our investigation into a company that could be poised to dominate the crypto industry.
The UK has a new Prime Minister and a new Chancellor of the Exchequer and it’s safe to say they haven’t got off to the most auspicious of starts. Once parliament had reconvened following the period of mourning for the Queen, Chancellor Kwazi Kwarteng announced a so-called ‘mini budget’ that was focused on growth. The only problem was, this involved borrowing billions of pounds to not just cover soaring energy bills, but also to effectively fund a tax cut for the rich.
The markets were unimpressed and the pound plunged. What was more disconcerting however was the state of the UK bond market. The yield on UK gilts (government bonds) shot up, while the price went the other way. As a result, it became much, much more expensive for the government to borrow money. It also meant that UK pension funds became dangerously exposed, all of which is explained in the first part of this episode. It’s a sorry tale and a bitter pill for us Brits to swallow.
Then, in the second part of this episode, you’ll hear all about Circle, the company that is fast becoming one of the richest and most powerful forces in crypto. For those unfamiliar, Circle issues USDC, the second largest stablecoin by market cap. It also has some seriously heavyweight backing from the likes of BlackRock and Goldman Sachs.
Circle has been around for a few years now and began life as a bitcoin-focused payments company before moving into the stablecoin sector. It is also due to go public later this year, which would make it only the second crypto company after Coinbase to take this massive step. Suffice to say, this is a company you need to be aware of.
We hope you enjoy the show.
Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown
Editor: Semir Mutapcic
Theme music composed by: Noel Brown
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