**General News:**
• Major U.S airline CEOs warned of an impending „catastrophic“ aviation crisis on Wednesday when AT&T and Verizon are set to deploy new 5G service, citing concerns that the new service could potentially make a significant number of widebody aircraft unusable and „could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas.“
• Following weeks of soaring infections, the latest Covid surge shows signs of slowing in a handful of areas hit earliest by the omicron variant — offering a glimmer of hope that this wave is starting to ease.
• Ralph Lauren CEO Patrice Louvet said Monday that the fashion brand is chasing opportunities in the metaverse to attract younger shoppers.
• Ford signed a five-year payment deal with stripe to push e-commerce.
• Amazon has abandoned a plan to stop accepting Visa credit cards in the U.K.
• Tesla is turning to Mozambique for a key component in its electric car batteries, which analysts believe is a first-of-its-kind deal designed to reduce its dependence on China for graphite.
• Peloton is about to effectively charge customers more for its original Bike and Tread products, citing rising inflation and heightened supply chain costs.
• Moderna is looking to market a combined COVID and flu booster in 2023.
• Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International, both subsidiaries of Royal Caribbean Group, have canceled cruises as COVID continues to spread.
• If the Russia-Ukraine crisis escalates, gas prices in Europe – which soared to highs last year – could surge further.
• U.K. autonomous driving start-up Wayve has been backed by a host of big-name investors, including Microsoft, Virgin, and Baillie Gifford, in a $200 million funding round that brings total investment in the company up to $258 million.
• Shopify has partnered with e-commerce giant JD.com to help U.S. merchants sell their goods in China.
**Cryptocurrency News:**
• Walmart has filed a trademark application in what seems to be an attempt to venture into the metaverse with plans on creating its cryptocurrency and releasing a collection of NFTs.
• Bitcoin enthusiasts are flocking to Puerto Rico, thanks to tax breaks and an island lifestyle.
• Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com suspended withdrawals on its platform on Monday following reports from users of „unauthorized activity.“
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for global cooperation to tackle the challenges posed by cryptocurrencies.
• Binance has teamed up with Gulf Innova Company — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thailand billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi’s Gulf Energy Development Public Company — to set up a crypto exchange in the country.
• LinkedIn, the popular social networking site for professionals, said last week that the number of job ads related to the digital asset industry soared in 2021.
• The U.K. government said it plans to strengthen the rules governing crypto ads to align with other financial assets.
• Crypto firm BitMEX Group announced its plan to acquire Bankhaus von der Heydt, a 268-year-old private bank based in Germany.
• Crypto exchange Binance announced Monday that it has burned over 1.68 million BNB tokens in its 18th burn. The burned tokens are worth nearly $800 million at current prices, but the actual dollar amount of the burn isn’t known as Binance recently implemented a new system for its BNB burns.
