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On May 16th, Berkshire Hathaway released its first-quarter holdings report (13F). Berkshire increased its holdings in Alphabet (GOOGL.O), The New York Times, and other stocks in the first quarter. Alphabet saw an increase of over 36 million shares, raising its stake from 2.04% to 5.93%. It completely sold off its holdings in Amazon (AMZN.O), Visa (VN), Mastercard (MA.N), and UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N). It reduced its holdings in Chevron (CVX.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N). It established a position in Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), purchasing 39.8 million shares, with a market value of approximately $2.65 billion. Its holding in Apple (AAPL.O) remained unchanged, ending three consecutive quarters of reductions; Apple remains its largest holding. Overall, Berkshires holdings in US stocks were valued at $26.3 billion as of the first quarter, compared to $27.4 billion in the previous quarter. During the quarter, the company bought approximately $16 billion worth of stocks and sold approximately $24 billion worth, resulting in a net sale of approximately $8.15 billion. The number of stocks held plummeted from 42 to 29, indicating a significant increase in market concentration.On May 16th, Bridgewater Associates, the worlds largest hedge fund, released its Q1 2023 13F report on its US stock holdings as of the end of March. The report shows that Bridgewater established new positions in 214 stocks, increased its holdings in 292 stocks, liquidated 261 stocks, and reduced its holdings in 487 stocks during the first quarter. Bridgewater significantly increased its holdings in chip stocks such as Nvidia (NVDA.O), Broadcom (AVGO.O), and Micron Technology (MU.O) during the first quarter, while liquidating its holdings in enterprise software stocks such as Salesforce (CRM.N) and ServiceNow (NOW.N), and reducing its holdings in Adobe (ADBE.O). As of the end of Q1, Bridgewaters US stock holdings were valued at $22.4 billion, compared to $27.4 billion in the previous quarter. Specifically, Bridgewater increased its holdings in Nvidia by 827,800 shares, raising its stake from 2.63% at the end of last year to 3.65%; it increased its holdings in Broadcom by 670,000 shares, raising its stake from 1.47% to 2.54%; and it increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 586,000 shares, raising its stake from 0.93% to 2.23%. In addition, Bridgewater initiated its first position in TSMC with 1.077 million shares, which accounted for 1.62% of its portfolio as of the end of the first quarter.On May 16, US President Trump posted on social media that the US military and the Nigerian armed forces carried out a joint operation that evening to "eliminate" Abu Bilal Minuki, the number two leader of the extremist group "Islamic State".US President Trump: Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the second-in-command of the Islamic State extremist group, has been eliminated. The operation was carried out jointly by the US military and the Nigerian armed forces.According to the official measurement of the China Earthquake Networks Center, a magnitude 2.3 earthquake occurred at 11:12 on May 16 in Weichang County, Chengde City, Hebei Province (42.40 degrees north latitude, 117.37 degrees east longitude), with a focal depth of 10 kilometers.

The acceptance of Bitcoin by the Central African Republic perplexes the cryptoverse

Skylar Shaw

Apr 29, 2022 09:36


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Buying and selling goods and services using bitcoin, a digital money that resides on a shared ledger across a worldwide network of computers, requires a dependable, fast internet connection and broad access to computers or cellphones.


Despite this, the Central African Republic has an internet penetration rate of about 11%, or around 550,000 individuals online last year, according to the DataReportal website. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, just around 14% of people have access to power, and fewer than half have a mobile phone connection.


Four analysts and crypto specialists stated that adopting bitcoin in one of the world's poorest nations, with low internet usage, extensive warfare, unreliable energy, and a populace that is mostly unaware of cryptocurrency, would be difficult.


In a statement released on Wednesday, the Central African Republic gave little information on how it intended to solve these issues. It did not reply to a request for comment from Reuters.


The decision, according to the government, made the Central African Republic one of the world's "most imaginative nations," but locals in Bangui, where most people use mobile money to purchase items and pay bills, were perplexed.


"What is Bitcoin?" you may wonder. "What can bitcoin offer to our country?" Auguste Agou, who operates a local forestry firm in Bangui, remarked on Thursday.


After El Salvador, the African country of 4.8 million people is the second in the world to use bitcoin.

A tiny but growing network of corporate and individual crypto users already existed before the Central American nation legalized bitcoin as legal cash in June. However, internet faults have hindered its usage in commerce.


"We do not expect widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country, given the enormous barriers to adoption and risks associated with use, as well as the seemingly limited upsides," said Nathan Hayes, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.


Chainalysis, a crypto use tracker based in the United States, has no data on the Central African Republic, which has been wracked by turmoil for years and is home to Russian mercenaries assisting the government in its fight against rebel groups.

IMF CAUTION

Some argue that by embracing bitcoin, the Central African Republic is sending a statement about the Central African CFA franc, a regional currency managed by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) and tied to the euro that is used by six countries.


The BEAC is required under the monetary union to keep at least 50% of its foreign assets with the French Treasury, a requirement that has been criticized as stifling economic growth.


According to Rahul Shah, director of financials equities research at Tellimer, Bangui's crypto move "reflects regional dissatisfaction about the usage of the CFA franc, with its colonial implications."


Other cryptocurrency supporters saw it as a criticism to the CFA franc.


"In terms of development, Central Africa is significantly behind," said Chris Maurice, CEO of crypto exchange Yellow Card Financial, which has roughly a million members in 16 African nations and is authorised to operate in the CFA franc region.


"To the French economic system, it's a gigantic middle finger."


On Wednesday, a BEAC representative told Reuters that it had not been informed in advance and that no answer had been received. On Thursday, the BEAC did not respond to calls for comment.


The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had persuaded El Salvador to abandon its plan to declare bitcoin legal money in January, has expressed reservations about the Central African Republic's proposal.


"It's critical not to consider such things as a solution for the economic issues that our nations confront," IMF Africa Department Director Abebe Aemro Selassie said during a news conference on the organization's economic forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa.


"You must ensure that the legal structure, in terms of money flow transparency, and the governance framework that surrounds it, are all solidly in place."

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