Bitcoin slides after a muted week for crypto
The largest cryptocurrency was trading around 4% lower on Friday morning
Bitcoin continued a descent into negative territory during early trade on Friday. Its value at 07:45am BST (UTC +1) was $32,889.59, down 3.77% on the previous 24 hours and 4.29% off last week’s closing price, according to CoinMarketCap.
The second most-traded crytocurrency ether was down 8% on the day at $2,034.00, but up 3.23% compared with the same time the day previously.
Tether remained steady at $1.00, while binance – which has seen its UK operator Binance Markets barred by the FCA from trading in the UK – was down 5% on the previous 24 hours and 8.11% on the week at $280.03.
Cardano was last valued at $1.29, down 2.59% on the previous 24 hours and down 5.19% on the previous seven days.
FTSE 100 trade
Financial companies listed on London’s FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks could be the most-watched today following the UK Chancellor of the Exchqueur Rishi Sunak's Mansion House speech on Thursday
The annual speech, made to financial workers at a glitzy event in London’s financial centre, was a more muted affair this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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Talking to financiers in the City of London, Sunak reaffirmed the government’s support for the UK’s financial services industry following Brexit and announced he would not be “significantly” increasing the 8% surcharge on bank profits.
Uncompetitive burden for banks
The government had raised concerns in March that the proposed higher level of corporation tax would create an excessive and uncompetitive tax burden for UK banks. The Chancellor said: ”Ongoing conversations have only reinforced my view that the combined tax rate on UK banking profits should not increase significantly from its current level.”
Ian Sayers, CEO of the Association of Investment Companies, welcomed the decision. He said: “Public markets have more than proved their worth during the pandemic. They have enabled companies to swiftly raise money, allowing them to ride out the tough economic conditions caused by the pandemic and participate in the UK’s recovery.”
However, David Barmes, an economist at Positive Money, said the chancellor’s decision might not hit the right tone with the British public.
He said: “At a time when so many households and small businesses have struggled, banks have continued to profit, pocketing huge amounts from the public purse through the government’s guaranteed loan schemes. There is no reason why they should be exempt from paying a fairer share of tax on these profits.”
