Weekly SmartPills #64
Financial Markets
This week, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant downturn, with Bitcoin (BTC) suffering a notable decline. After reaching record highs in December, BTC fell below $100,000, marking a substantial correction around the $80,000 level. Geopolitical and macroeconomic events played a crucial role. The Trump administration's imposition of new trade tariffs increased uncertainty in global markets, prompting investors to reduce exposure to riskier assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Traditional financial markets exhibited volatility this week. European stock exchanges recorded a downturn, influenced by concerns related to trade policies. Additionally, rising gas and oil prices contributed to the climate of uncertainty, while the euro showed signs of weakening against the dollar. Despite these upheavals, the real estate market demonstrated resilience, with some real estate companies listed on Piazza Affari (the Italian stock exchange) posting positive performances.
Economics and Regulation
Donald Trump plans to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada starting March 4, citing fentanyl smuggling as a key reason. He will also double tariffs on Chinese imports to 20% and impose additional trade taxes in April. The stock market reacted negatively, with the S&P 500 falling 1.6%, and economists warn of inflation risks. Mexico and Canada are seeking negotiations, while both countries have threatened retaliatory tariffs. Consumer confidence has dropped sharply, raising concerns about economic instability.
The European Commission has not announced retaliatory measures but warns it is ready to act if Trump's 25% tariffs on EU steel and aluminum take effect on March 12. High-level talks between the EU and the US continue, with both sides debating the true trade deficit figures. EU officials stress that barriers to trade harm both sides and emphasize the bloc’s commitment to fair trade. Negotiations are ongoing, but the EU has prepared a list of potential countermeasures if needed.
Blockchain and Innovation
This week, we want to take a closer look at Monad, a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain designed to address the scalability limitations of existing networks like Ethereum. Monad offers full compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing developers to seamlessly migrate existing decentralized applications (dApps) without requiring any code modifications. One of the most remarkable aspects of Monad is its ability to process up to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS), compared to Ethereum’s 15-30 TPS. This improvement is made possible through the implementation of parallel transaction execution, enabling a more efficient and faster handling of operations on the network
Trends and Statistics
Consumer Prices in Italy in February 2025
In February 2025, the Italian consumer price index (NIC) rose by 0.2% monthly and 1.7% annually (up from 1.5% in January).
Energy prices saw significant changes: regulated energy increased from 27.5% to 31.5%, non-regulated energy improved from -3.0% to -1.9%.
Core inflation remained stable at 1.8%, while inflation excluding energy also stayed at 1.8%.
Goods inflation rose to 1.2% (from 0.7%), while services inflation decreased to 2.4% (from 2.6%), narrowing the inflationary gap.
The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) increased by 0.1% monthly and 1.7% annually, unchanged from January.