Tech

The Federal Reserve is moving forward in its efforts to develop its own digital currency, announcing Thursday it will release a research paper this summer that explores the move further.Though the central bank did not set any specific plans on the currency, Chairman Jerome Powell cited the progress of payments technology and said the Fed has been “carefully monitoring and adapting” to those innovations.”The effective functioning of our economy requires that people have faith and confidence not only in the dollar, but also in the payment networks, banks, and other payment service providers that allow money to flow on a daily basis,” Powell said in a video message accompanying the announcement.”Our focus is on ensuring a safe and efficient payment system that provides broad benefits to American households and businesses while also embracing innovation,” he said.Fed officials have emphasized the importance of getting the issuance of a central bank digital currency right rather than participating in a race with its global peers.However, the moves of multiple countries, most prominently China, in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) space has intensified talk about how aggressively the Fed should move. China’s progress has stirred worries that it could undermine the dollar’s position

In this article4165.T-JPTSLATesla Model S PlaidTeslaElon Musk said in a tweet on Thursday that Tesla will hold a “delivery event” at the company’s Fremont, California, factory on June 3 for the long-delayed Model S Plaid.Specifically, he wrote: “Tesla Model S Plaid delivery event June 3 at our California factory. Fastest production car ever 0 to 60mph in under 2 secs.”The Model S Plaid is an updated version of the company’s flagship battery electric sedan, which has been in production since 2012.Musk and Tesla first promoted and promised Plaid versions of the Model S, Model X SUV and Tesla Roadster in September 2019. At that time, the CEO told his tens of millions of Twitter followers that a Plaid powertrain was about one year away from production.Tesla drew criticism when it revealed the interior of the Model S Plaid during an earnings update in January this year. The design includes a steering yoke option, in lieu of a round steering wheel. Steering yokes are more appropriate for the race track than everyday vehicle use, in part due to steering ratio and because average drivers need to frequently reposition their hands on the wheel.During that quarterly earnings call, Musk said that the Model

Evan Spiegel, SNAP Inc. CEO wearing SpectaclesSource: SNAP Inc.Snap on Thursday announced a new version of its Spectacles smart glasses. They use augmented reality, which means you can look through them and see digital objects on top of the real world.The new glasses allow users to see computer-generated imagery overlaid on their field of view in the real world. The Spectacles include two cameras, four microphones, a touchpad and buttons for controls. Users can also give audio commands to the device by saying “Hey Snapchat.”The company, which is the maker of Snapchat, announced the new devices at its 2021 Snap Partner Summit where it also announced a flurry of new augmented-reality e-commerce features and new features for social media creators.Snap is among a flurry of tech companies working on smart glasses, along with Apple and Facebook.

The Robinhood application on a smartphone.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesRobinhood is giving amateur investors access to initial public offering shares in its latest move to democratize retail investing.IPO shares have historically been set aside for Wall Street’s institutional investors or high-net worth individuals. Retail traders typically don’t have a vehicle to buy into newly listed companies until those shares begin trading on an exchange, which is often after the share price has surged.”We’re starting to roll out IPO Access, a new product that will give you the opportunity to buy shares of companies at their IPO price, before trading on public exchanges. With IPO Access, you can now participate in upcoming IPOs with no account minimums,” Robinhood said in a blog post Thursday.Robinhood will not be an underwriter for companies hitting the public markets but will get an allocation of shares by partnering with investment banks.This move is Robinhood’s latest to antagonize Wall Street. IPO stock pops on the first day averaged 36% in 2020, according to Dealogic, demonstrating individual investor thirst for some of these popular names that is not priced into IPO pricing. These are gains the little guy is missing out on.The traditional IPO process has

In this articleAAPLGoogle Store in ChelseaGoogleGoogle announced on Thursday its first-ever retail store, where it plans to sell Pixel phones, Fitbit wearables, Pixelbooks, Nest thermostats and speakers, and more. The store is in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City at Google’s office and is close to an Apple Store.The store is expected to open this summer.Google has toyed with retail in the past, sometimes with little pop-up shops where people can browse new gadgets when they’re announced. But it has otherwise relied on its website and other retailers to sell its hardware and services. This means Google is slowly taking a different approach more akin to Apple by creating a space where people can come in and try its products and get support.It may help Google too, at least if it continues to open additional stores, since it hasn’t offered many ways for customers to try its products before buying them outside of “experience” mini shops in places like Best Buy.Some tech companies, like Apple, are better at retail than others.Microsoft, for example, announced last June that it was permanently closing its 83 Microsoft Store locations because it found its online sales were growing and that it was better

The Trade Republic app.Trade RepublicLONDON — German stock-trading app Trade Republic said Thursday it raised $900 million in a huge funding round that values the start-up at $5.3 billion.The round, a Series C, was led by American venture capital firm Sequoia, with additional backing from new investors TCV and Thrive Capital. Existing shareholders include Accel, Founders Fund and Creandum increased their holdings.Trade Republic is essentially Europe’s answer to Robinhood. The app lets users trade in stocks and exchange-traded funds without paying a commission. Trade Republic makes money from a flat 1 euro  ($1.22) fee it charges per trade.Trade Republic recently added a cryptocurrency feature, launched just as the prices of bitcoin and other digital coins were rallying wildly. More recently, crypto markets have suffered a sharp downturn.Like Robinhood, Trade Republic has benefited from rising interest from retail investors in the stock market. Earlier this year, usage of online trading platforms spiked amid volatile trading in GameStop and other stocks promoted on the Reddit board WallStreetBets.Trade Republic says Europeans are flocking to financial markets as they struggle to make a decent return on their savings due to ultra-low interest rates. The company now has more than 6 billion euros in assets under management.”Fifty

Host Elon Musk during the monologue on Saturday, May 8, 2021.Will Heath | NBCUniversalThe price of dogecoin spiked on Thursday morning after Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned the coin on Twitter, adding another chapter to the volatile history of a cryptocurrency that started as a joke.The price of the digital coin was up 11% to about 40 cents shortly before 7 a.m. ET after the Musk tweet.”How much is that Doge in the window?,” Musk wrote on Twitter.Thursday’s move comes after a wild day for cryptocurrencies on Wednesday, which saw bitcoin, ether and dogecoin all plunge sharply before clawing back a chunk of those losses later in the day.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsDogecoin jumps on Musk tweetMusk talks and posts about dogecoin frequently, and said earlier this month that he was working with developers to improve the cryptocurrency. He has also referred to it as a “hustle” on “Saturday Night Live” and said its value was largely speculative at this point.Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro. Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV. Sign up to start a free trial today.

A customer uses a bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM) in a kiosk Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021.Angel Garcia | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBitcoin fluctuated between gains and losses Thursday, as the world’s largest cryptocurrency struggled to recover from a major sell-off during the previous session.The digital currency initially climbed Thursday morning, trading as high as $40,700 at one point, before slipping down as low as $38,965, according to data from Coin Metrics. It was last up 2.6% at a price of $39,980.Some of bitcoin’s younger alternatives also attempted a comeback Thursday, with ether up 2.2% at $2,676 and litecoin rising 3% to $209.It comes after a brutal plunge for cryptocurrency markets. On Wednesday, bitcoin dived 30% to nearly $30,000 at one point, before paring some of those losses later in the session. The entire crypto market lost hundreds of billions of dollars of value in a single day.The move lower was likely driven by mixed signals from Tesla CEO Elon Musk — who came out as a believer in bitcoin earlier this year — and a regulatory clampdown on the market in China.On May 12, Musk said his electric car firm had suspended vehicle purchases with bitcoin due

In this articleTEF-ESLBTYAA person walks past a Virgin Media mobile phone store, closed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in London on May 4, 2020.Tolga Akmen | AFP via Getty ImagesLONDON — Virgin Media and O2’s £31.4 billion ($44.4 billion) merger has been approved by U.K. competition regulators.Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority said Thursday it had greenlit the deal after finding that it was unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the telecoms market.The CMA had earlier expressed concern that the tie-up may lead to price increases or reduce the quality of wholesale services, which it says would have negatively impacted consumers.The watchdog said there was sufficient competition in the leased-line market from players like BT Openreach, meaning the combined company would “still need to maintain the competitiveness of its service or risk losing wholesale custom.”At the same time, the CMA said O2 faces stiff competition in the mobile networks market.”O2 and Virgin are important suppliers of services to other companies who serve millions of consumers. It was important to make sure that this merger would not leave these people worse off. That’s why we conducted an in-depth investigation,” said Martin Coleman, CMA panel inquiry chair.”After looking

In this articleFBIn this photo illustration, the Facebook logo is seen on a smartphone screen with the EU flag in the background.Chukrut Budrul | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty ImagesLONDON — Facebook faces a potential ban on the transfer of Europeans’ data to the United States. That would be a “massive blow” to the social networking giant and could impact other large American tech firms, according to analysts.Last week, Ireland’s High Court dismissed a challenge from Facebook over a regulatory inquiry that could lead to a ban on the flow of its user information from the European Union to the U.S. It comes after a landmark ruling from the EU’s top court invalidated the use of Privacy Shield, a framework for the transatlantic sharing of data.The decision was a victory for Max Schrems, an Austrian privacy activist who has taken Facebook to task over how it handles data on European citizens. Schrems argued that, in light of revelations from American whistleblower Edward Snowden, U.S. law did not offer sufficient protection against surveillance by public authorities.In September, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission sent Facebook a preliminary order to stop using an alternative tool, known as standard contractual clauses, to send user information