Fintech news

Circle said it will officially launch its stablecoin in Japan on March 26 after one of its local partners received regulatory approval to list the US dollar stablecoin three weeks ago.USDC (USDC) will first be listed on the “SBI VC Trade” crypto exchange under a joint venture between its parent firm — Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings — and Circle’s Japanese entity Circle Japan KK, Circle said in a March 24 statement.The news comes three weeks after SBI VC Trade secured an industry-first regulatory approval on March 4 to list USDC under the Japan Financial Services Agency’s stablecoin regulatory framework.Circle is also looking to list USDC on Binance Japan, bitbank, and bitFlyer in the near future.Japan’s bitbank and bitFlyer are two of the country’s largest crypto exchanges — having processed more than $25 million each over the last day with over 1.85 million visits to their websites in the last month.The regulatory approval comes after two years of back-and-forth negotiations with regulators, banking partners, and industry players, Circle’s Jeremy Allaire said in a March 24 X post.“[This] unlocks tremendous opportunities not just in trading digital assets, but more broadly in payments, cross border finance and commerce, FX,” he added.Source: Jeremy AllaireSBI Holdings CEO and president Yoshitaka Kitao said the USDC launch would enhance financial accessibility and drive crypto innovation in Japan’s evolving digital economy.“[This aligns] with our broader vision for the future of payments and blockchain-based finance in Japan.”Related: Gold-backed stablecoins will outcompete USD stablecoins — Max KeiserMeanwhile, USDC and Circle’s euro-backed EURC (EURC) stablecoin were recognized as the first stablecoins under the Dubai Financial Services Authority’s new regime on Feb. 24.The recognition allows companies operating in the Dubai International Financial Centre — a free economic zone — to integrate the two stablecoins into a range of digital asset applications, including payments, treasury management and services.USDC remains the second largest stablecoin by market cap at $59.7 billion, trailing only Tether’s USDT at $143.8 billion, CoinGecko data shows.Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Trump Media has signed a non-binding agreement with Crypto.com to launch a series of exchange-traded funds in the US.Trump Technology Group Corp (TMTG) — the operator of the social media platform Truth Social and fintech brand Truth.Fi — is also part of the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, according to a March 24 statement from Trump Media. The parties plan to launch the ETFs later this year through Crypto.com’s broker-dealer, Foris Capital US LLC. The ETFs will consist of digital assets and securities with a “Made in America” focus.Crypto.com will provide the infrastructure and custody services to supply the cryptocurrencies for the ETFs, which may include a basket of tokens, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Cronos (CRO).The parties involved expect the ETFs to be widely available internationally, including in the US, Europe and Asia across existing brokerage platforms.”Once launched, these ETFs will be available on the Crypto.com App for our more than 140 million users around the world,” Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said.The ETFs are anticipated to launch alongside a slate of Truth.Fi Separately Managed Accounts (SMA), which TMTG also plans to invest in with its cash reserves.Source: Kris MarszalekRelated: Who’s running in Trump’s race to make US a ‘Bitcoin superpower?'The potential ETF launch would mark yet another crypto-related endeavor involving US President Donald Trump.However, Democratic lawmakers say that conflicts of interest have already arisen between Trump’s presidential duties and the Trump Organization’s ownership of the crypto platform, World Liberty Financial, in addition to the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin that launched three days before he was inaugurated.House Representative Gerald Connolly recently referred to the TRUMP token as a “money grab” that has allowed Trump-linked entities to cash in on over $100 million worth of trading fees. Democrat Maxine Waters also criticized Trump’s memecoin on Jan. 20, referring to it as a rug pull that represented the “worst of crypto.”Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a financial zone with over $635 billion in assets under management, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chainlink in a move to connect the world of traditional finance with blockchain data.The agreement will allow ADGM to use Chainlink’s suite of tools, such as data feeds and interoperability technology, ADGM said in a March 24 announcement. The partnership also aims to encourage further discussion around blockchain, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies in the region.ADGM, which opened in 2015, is in the United Arab Emirates’ financial free zone. It operates under its own civil and commercial legal system, based on English Common Law. Designed to bolster Abu Dhabi’s status as a financial hub, ADGM plays a central role in attracting global firms and expanding the city’s financial services sector.By the end of 2024, ADGM hosted 134 asset and fund managers overseeing 166 funds. The total number of financial institutions operating within its jurisdiction rose to 275, with 79 new firms, including prominent names such as BlackRock, PGIM, and Morgan Stanley.Related: What is Chainlink, and how does it work?UAE sees rising crypto adoptionMultiple metrics show that cryptocurrency adoption in the UAE is rising, aided by government openness to the emerging technology. The country saw a 41% increase in crypto app downloads in 2024 from 2023, and it ranked third out of 28 countries in the Henley Crypto Adoption Index 2024.Abu Dhabi in particular has been a hot spot for crypto firms. In December 2024, the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority officially recognized Tether’s USDT (USDT) stablecoin as an accepted virtual asset, paving the way for the cryptocurrency’s integration into the local financial ecosystem.On March 12, Binance announced that MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, had invested $2 billion into the exchange, one of the largest funding deals in the industry’s history.Dubai, another Emirate in the UAE, has also shown itself open to cryptocurrency businesses. In February, Dubai approved USDC (USDC) and EURC as the first two stablecoins under its regime.Magazine: X Hall of Flame: ChainLinkGod was in High School when he started the account! 

Today in crypto, DeFi lender Nostra paused borrowing on two liquid staking tokens after a critical price feed issue on Starknet. MicroStrategy bought 6,911 Bitcoin, pushing its holdings past 500,000. Meanwhile, BTC eyes $90K as Trump hints at easing tariffs.DeFi lender Nostra pauses borrowing after price feed errorNostra, a lending protocol on Starknet, has paused borrowing for two liquid staking tokens after identifying a “critical issue” with its price feeds, the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol said. On March 24, errors in Nostra’s price feed inflated the reported prices of xSTRK and sSTRK — two liquid staking derivatives of Starknet’s native STRK token — to approximately three times the tokens’ actual value, Nostra said in a post on the X platform.According to Nostra, “[s]uch an inflated price feed could have caused unnecessary liquidations of otherwise safe positions, resulting in users with healthy positions getting liquidated.” In response, the DeFi protocol has disabled any further borrowing against xSTRK and sSTRK collateral deposits, Nostra said. Nostra has also recommended that users with existing xSTRK and sSTRK deposits withdraw the collateral immediately. “Since we don’t have a secondary (fallback) oracle to support these assets, as none are available, we are unable to fully prevent similar events from occurring in the future,” Nostra added.“Our priority has always been and continues to be to keep existing user funds safe and with no fallback oracle, the risks outweigh the benefits,” it said.Michael Saylor’s Strategy surpasses 500,000 Bitcoin with latest purchaseStrategy has acquired over $500 million worth of Bitcoin as institutional interest and exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows make a comeback.Strategy acquired 6,911 Bitcoin (BTC) for over $584 million between March 17 and March 23 at an average price of $84,529 per coin, according to a March 24 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Strategy’s SEC filing, March 24. Source: US SECFollowing the latest acquisition, the company now holds more than 500,000 Bitcoin, with a total of 506,137 Bitcoin acquired at an aggregate purchase price of roughly $33.7 billion and an average purchase price of approximately $66,608 per Bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.The milestone comes a day after Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor hinted at an impending Bitcoin investment after the company announced the pricing of its latest tranche of preferred stock on March 21.Strategy total Bitcoin holdings, all-time chart. Source: SaylortrackerThe preferred stock was sold at $85 per share and featured a 10% coupon. According to Strategy, the offering should bring the company approximately $711 million in revenue scheduled to settle on March 25, 2025.Bitcoin bottom forming as Fed eases, Trump softens on tariffs, says analystBitcoin may have bottomed and could rebound toward $90,000 after US President Donald Trump signaled a willingness to ease tariffs and the Federal Reserve resisted short-term pressure last week, according to 10x Research’s founder Markus Thielen.“Bitcoin is attempting to form a bottom, supported by Trump’s recent shift toward ‘flexibility’ on the upcoming April 2 reciprocal tariffs, softening his earlier rhetoric,” 1Thielen said in a March 23 report.Bitcoin’s bottoming formations over the last two years. Source: 10x ResearchThe Federal Reserve signaled in its March 18-19 meeting that it would also “look past short-term inflationary pressures, laying the groundwork for potential future easing,” Thielen added.“Powell’s mildly dovish tone suggests that the Fed's put remains intact, providing further support for a recovery in stock prices.”10x Research’s Bitcoin reversal indicators have turned bullish as a result, with Bitcoin’s (BTC) 21-day moving average now at $85,200, Thielen noted.

The Donald Trump-backed crypto venture World Liberty Financial launched a US dollar-pegged stablecoin with a total supply of more than $3.5 million.According to data from Etherscan and BscScan, the project launched the World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) token in early March. Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao noted the project’s smart contract was deployed on the BNB Chain and Ethereum, while World Liberty said the stablecoin was “not currently tradeable.”The USD1 stablecoin launch comes as US lawmakers consider passing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS, Act. The bill moved out of the Senate Banking Committee on March 13 and is expected to be taken up for a full floor vote soon. Bo Hines, the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, said he expected the GENIUS bill on Trump’s desk by June.Former Binance CEO acknowledging the USD1 launch. Source: Changpeng ZhaoSince the launch of the platform in September 2024, many aspects of World Liberty’s intentions have been shrouded in secrecy. The project’s website notes that the US President and some of his family members control 60% of the company’s equity interests. As of March 14, World Liberty has completed two public token sales, netting the company a combined $550 million. The launch of the stablecoin on the BNB Chain came amid reports that the Trump family held talks with Binance about acquiring a stake in the crypto exchange and separately granting a presidential pardon to Zhao. CZ has denied reports of a deal between Binance.US and Trump and a pardon.Conflicts of interest in Trump’s crypto ventures? Before the project’s first public token sale in October 2024, World Liberty faced scrutiny from US policymakers, accusing Trump of conflicts of interest while running for office. Days after Trump won the US presidential election, Tron Founder Justin Sun announced he would invest $30 million in World Liberty, likely leading to his position as an adviser to the firm. After Trump took office on Jan. 20 and Commissioner Mark Uyeda began leading the US Securities and Exchange Commission as acting chair, the regulator asked a federal court to pause its case against Sun “to explore a potential resolution.” Sun and three of his companies faced allegations from the SEC of selling unregistered securities. Other executives at crypto companies who backed Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections — some with financial contributions — including from Coinbase and Ripple, have since seen their SEC enforcement actions dropped under Uyeda. Related: Trump becomes first US sitting president to speak at a crypto conferenceWorld Liberty’s launch comes as the stablecoin market continues to grow. Online analytics platforms Artemis and Dune showed that the number of active stablecoin wallets increased by more than 50% from February 2024 to February 2025. The total market capitalization of stablecoins also surpassed $200 billion in January, with Tether (USDT) and USDC remaining two of the most popular ones on the market.Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Solana's native token, SOL (SOL), gained 8.5% on March 24, reclaiming the $142 mark for the first time in two weeks. This rally mirrored the gains seen across the broader cryptocurrency market as traders began to expect reduced risks of an economic downturn. The growing risk appetite can also be seen among memecoins, several of which rallied by 12% or more since March 23.Outside of the broad market rally, SOL has its own merits, including a rise in network activity and the direct involvement of US President Donald Trump with the memecoin market. Additionally, growing interest from top traders on exchanges and the increasing likelihood of a spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval suggest further potential for SOL’s price growth.SOL/USD (green) vs. crypto market cap (orange). Source: TradingView / CointelegraphDespite the recent rally, SOL has underperformed the broader crypto market by 23.7% over the past two months. This weakness is linked to a 93% decline in Solana network fees during that period. The decline likely began with traders’ disappointment in the memecoin sector but gradually affected the entire decentralized application (DApps) market.SOL still trades 52% below its all-time highTraders now question whether the selling was an overreaction, as SOL is currently trading 52% below its all-time high of $295. This comes despite Solana remaining the second-largest blockchain in terms of total value locked (TVL) and ranking third in onchain volumes. For comparison, BNB is trading 20% below its all-time high, and XRP is 28% below its peak.Blockchains ranked by total value locked (TVL), USD. Source: DefiLlamaWhile Tron and BNB Chain provide competition in terms of onchain volumes, deposits in Solana network’s smart contracts are valued at $6.8 billion. In third place, BNB Chain holds 21% less TVL, with $5.4 billion. Key highlights on Solana include the Jito liquid staking solution, Kamino lending and liquidity platform, and the Jupiter decentralized exchange.The fees on the Solana network are now higher than those on the Ethereum base layer, surpassing $1 million per day. More importantly, Solana's revenue has recently reached its highest levels in two weeks. While still far from the levels seen two months ago, the increase in Solana network activity suggests that the bottom may have been reached as the numbers continue to improve steadily.Solana network daily fees, USD. Source: DefilLlamaAs a comparison, Ethereum accrued less than $350,000 in fees on March 23, leading to an increase in ETH supply as the built-in burn mechanism failed to offset weak blockchain activity. Solana, on the other hand, offers a 7.7% native staking reward rate, surpassing the equivalent 5.1% inflation rate, according to StakingRewards data.Solana ETF decision nears while Trump tweet boosts memecoin momentumDespite SOL’s price weakness, top traders on Binance have increased their leveraged long (bull) positions on SOL, according to CoinGlass data.Binance top traders' long-to-short SOL ratio. Source: CoinGlassThe long-to-short ratio among top traders on Binance surged to 2.40 on March 23, its highest level in over two months. Part of the excitement can be attributed to the anticipation of the spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in the US.The US Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to issue its final verdict before the end of the year, according to Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital asset research. Although success is not guaranteed, the eventual spot Solana ETF approval would set SOL apart from its competitors, adding legitimacy to the asset, especially among institutional investors.Another source of momentum came from a weekend social post by  President Trump, which explicitly mentioned the TRUMP memecoin and helped to create a buzz in the sector. In the Solana ecosystem, Fartcoin gained 15% on March 24, Dogwifhat (WIF) rallied 12%, and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) traded up by 12%.Ultimately, SOL has significant potential for higher gains, given the network’s TVL and fees, especially in comparison to competitors, along with bullish positioning from whales using leverage.This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

BNB Chain (BNB) has launched a $100 million program designed to bootstrap liquidity for its native projects on centralized exchanges (CEXs).The network is allocating $100 million in incentives, primarily in the form of its native BNB tokens, to projects that successfully list on any of 11 major CEXs specified by BNB Chain, according to a March 24 announcement.The program aims to “further enhance BNB Chain’s ecosystem liquidity and foster project growth by incentivizing exchanges to list native BNB Chain tokens,” the chain said in the statement. BNB Chain previously launched two smaller liquidity incentive programs, allocating two tranches of $4.4 million in February and March to incentivize CEX listings for memecoins and other ecosystem projects. Rewards vary based on the prominence of the exchange listing. Source: BNB ChainThe network’s latest liquidity incentive program will be executed on a first-come, first-served basis and will initially run for a three-month trial period, it said. Only projects with at least a $5 million market capitalization and $1 million in daily trading volume are eligible, among other criteria, BNB Chain said. The largest rewards — $500,000 in permanent liquidity — are reserved for projects that list on major CEXs such as Binance and Coinbase, it said.In some cases, rewards will be limited to non-withdrawable BNB token liquidity and in others, they will also include purchases of project tokens to create two-sided liquidity, according to BNB Chain.Chains by TVL. Source: DeFILlamaRelated: Binance CEO reiterates denial of Trump family deal talksLagging competitorsBNB Chain has a total value locked (TVL) of approximately $5.4 billion, according to data from DefiLlama. It ranks fourth among blockchain networks in TVL, lagging behind leading smart contract platforms Ethereum and Solana, with TVLs of about $46 billion and $7 billion, respectively, according to DefiLlama. BNB Chain is affiliated with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In March, The Wall Street Journal reported that entities affiliated with US President Donald Trump were in talks to buy Binance.US, an independently-operated US crypto exchange.Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has denied many of the reports’ claims, including any suggestion that a deal was contingent on Trump pardoning Zhao following his conviction on charges of violating the Bank Secrecy Act. In 2023, Binance agreed to pay a $4.3 billion penalty and for Zhao to plead guilty to one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act for shortcomings in Binance’s Anti-Money Laundering program.Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is considering a major capital raise ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) early next year, Bloomberg reported on March 24. Citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg said Kraken is exploring a debt package worth anywhere between $200 million and $1 billion. The exchange is reportedly in preliminary talks with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase about facilitating the transaction.The funds would be used to support Kraken’s growth and not for operational expenses, Bloomberg cited the source as saying. Bloomberg has been reporting about Kraken’s IPO ambitions for the better part of a year. Talks of going public have intensified following the election of US President Donald Trump, with Bloomberg reporting that Kraken’s IPO could come in the first quarter of 2026.A Kraken representative declined to comment on the potential debt package when contacted by Cointelegraph.Kraken is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, facilitating more than $1.1 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. The exchange grew rapidly in 2024, with year-end financial statements showing $1.5 billion in revenue — a gain of 128% from 2023. The company’s adjusted earnings reached $380 million for the year. Kraken’s year-end financial statements show significant growth in revenue, funded accounts and assets. Source: KrakenRelated: Kraken secures MiFID license to offer derivatives in EuropeKraken’s latest acquisitionKraken is expanding its footprint in the derivatives market with the $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader, a popular brokerage service specializing in futures contracts. The acquisition is part of the exchange’s broader push into multi-asset services, including equities and payments. NinjaTrader was founded in 2003 and is registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Source: Arjun SethiThe acquisition suggests crypto companies are growing their businesses with confidence following the election of a pro-crypto Republican administration. As Cointelegraph reported, Kraken was one of several crypto exchanges to be freed from enforcement action by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. A positive regulatory climate may have contributed to Kraken’s decision to resume crypto staking services for US clients after a nearly two-year hiatus. Clients in 37 states can now access staking services across 17 cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL).Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Nostra, a lending protocol on Starknet, has paused borrowing for two liquid staking tokens after identifying a “critical issue” with its price feeds, the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol said. On March 24, errors in Nostra’s price feed inflated the reported prices of xSTRK and sSTRK — two liquid staking derivatives of Starknet’s native STRK token — to approximately three times the tokens’ actual value, Nostra said in a post on the X platform.According to Nostra, “[s]uch an inflated price feed could have caused unnecessary liquidations of otherwise safe positions, resulting in users with healthy positions getting liquidated.” In response, the DeFi protocol has disabled any further borrowing against xSTRK and sSTRK collateral deposits, Nostra said. Nostra has also recommended that users with existing xSTRK and sSTRK deposits withdraw the collateral immediately. “Since we don’t have a secondary (fallback) oracle to support these assets, as none are available, we are unable to fully prevent similar events from occurring in the future,” Nostra added.“Our priority has always been and continues to be to keep existing user funds safe and with no fallback oracle, the risks outweigh the benefits,” it said. Nostra’s collateral token options. Source: NostraRelated: Starknet to settle on Bitcoin and Ethereum to unify the chainsStarknet DeFi protocolStarknet is a layer-2 scaling chain of Ethereum secured using zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. It launched its mainnet in late 2021, according to Messari.It has a total value locked (TVL) of approximately $575 million, according to data from L2Beat. Lending protocol Nostra is among the larger DeFi projects operating on the chain. It has a TVL of approximately $55 million, according to its website. On Nostra, users post collateral in one token to borrow in another token. The DeFi protocol’s most popular collateral tokens are Ether, STRK, and stablecoins USDC (USDC) and Tether (USDT). Starknet designed STRK to be staked in exchange for a portion of the network’s fee revenues, according to its documentation.xSTRK and sSTRK are liquid staking tokens issued by independent DeFi protocols Endur and Nimbura, respectively. Magazine: What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum’s latest innovation

Bitcoin (BTC) delivered its best weekly performance in over two months, climbing 4.24% to an intra-day high at $88,804. BTC also reclaimed a bullish stance on the charts, closing above the daily chart’s 200-day exponential moving average (EMA).Bitcoin 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewWith a weekly close above $84,600, the likelihood of BTC testing $90,000 increases. However, BTC price must overcome the descending resistance level to make a sustainable move at the range highs. Bitcoin correction is a “healthy pause”Bitcoin researcher Axel Adler Jr. explained that based on onchain metrics, the current price cycle reflects a healthy consolidation rather than the beginning of a bear market. Adler Jr. noted that BTC has not yet entered “overheated” territory in this cycle, as indicated by BTC’s Investor Price Model. This metric flashed a sell signal twice during 2021, and the model incorporates the realized cap, thermo cap, investor price, and Bitcoin supply. Using Bitcoin’s cumulative value days destroyed (CVDD), Adler argued that the market remains in a “growth stage.”Bitcoin cumulative value days. Source: adlercryptoinsights / SubstackThe CVDD metric monitors selling activity among long-term holders. The current bull cycle (2024-2025) triggered a sell signal just once, back in March 2024. In a Substack article, Adler said,“Considering the current market dynamics, we might see seasoned investors taking profits once Bitcoin breaches key peak levels ($123K), potentially exerting downward pressure on the price.”From the above analysis, Adler Jr. predicted that Bitcoin could climb to $130,000 within 90 days.Related: Bitcoin must reclaim this key 2025 level to avoid new lows — ResearchBitcoin open interest jumps $1.5 billion in 24 hours According to Velo data, Bitcoin's open interest (OI), representing the total value of outstanding futures contracts, jumped by over $1.5 billion in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the funding rate, which reflects the cost of holding leveraged positions, stayed near neutral. This suggests that neither bullish (long) nor bearish (short) traders were dominantly in control.  Bitcoin price and aggregated open interest. Source: Velo.chartBitcoin experienced a surge in upward momentum late on Sunday, March 23rd. Weekend price rallies like this often occur with lower trading volume, as larger market participants tend to step back until the start of the week. In such a scenario, leveraged trades amplifying the action could heavily influence the price movement.In an X post, anonymous crypto analyst IT Tech PL also pointed out the OI level rise after BTC exceeded $87,500. However, the analyst added, “But here’s the catch: High OI + Rapid Price Increase = Risk of Liquidation Cascades!”Bitcoin 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewFrom a technical perspective, Bitcoin registered a new high at $88,750 over the previous week’s top. However, as the chart exhibited, the price tested the upper Bollinger Band alongside the descending resistance. Additionally, BTC is also oscillating within an ascending channel. Based on the above confluence, BTC could witness a short-term correction to test the demand zone around $86,000-$87,000 before breaking through the $90,000 threshold. Related: Michael Saylor’s Strategy surpasses 500,000 Bitcoin with latest purchaseThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.