Crypto News: 5 things to start your day

Good morning. China quells unrest, BlockFi files for bankruptcy and Elon attacks Apple. Here's what people are talking about.

Protests against China's stringent Covid regime failed to take place Monday night, as authorities deployed a heavy police presence in major cities to deter a repeat of the weekend's demonstrations. With evidence of a clampdown on the streets of Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and elsewhere, crowds largely stayed away, despite plans to gather disseminated on social media.

Crypto lender BlockFi has filed for bankruptcy. The latest digital-asset firm to collapse in the wake of the rapid downfall of the FTX exchange has stoked worries that more corporate failures lie ahead. BlockFi will use the Chapter 11 process to "focus on recovering all obligations owed to BlockFi by its counterparties, including FTX and associated corporate entities," the company said in a statement. FTX bailed out BlockFi in the summer.

The greenback looked unstoppable earlier this year when investors were adding to bets on inflation and US rate hikes. Now they're turning against it in droves. Former bulls including JPMorgan Asset Management and Morgan Stanley say the era of dollar strength is ending as cooling prices spur markets to trim bets on further Federal Reserve tightening. That may spell buying opportunities for the currencies of Europe, Japan and emerging markets.

European Union states debated whether to set a price cap as low as $62 a barrel on exports of Russian crude oil after several countries demanded a level that could put more pressure on Moscow, but the talks remain stuck, diplomats said. Poland and the Baltic nations said the price level was still too high, according to the diplomats. Diplomats met Monday night to discuss the negotiations after they were suspended last week, but it's unclear how quickly they can find agreement.

Here's what caught our eye over the past 24 hours.

Elon Musk attacks Apple over decline in advertising
LME says halt to nickel trading stopped 'death spiral'
Fed officials warn of more rate hikes to come
Rishi Sunak outlines softer UK stance on China
China's Covid-zero policy upends car manufacturing
iPhone Pro wait times jump on factory turmoil
Luxury home prices jump in Dubai, tumble in London

European stocks are headed for a flat start as investors assess property stimulus in China and hawkish Fed commentary. NATO foreign ministers begin two days of meetings in Romania. Expected data include GDP from Sweden and Switzerland, as well as Swedish confidence indicators and German inflation. Euro-area economic and consumer confidence are also on deck. Intuit reports earnings, and may trim its revenue outlook due to Credit Karma and Mailchimp challenges. Orlen, Wise and EasyJet also deliver results.

Our MLIV Pulse survey this week focuses on corporate credit. We ask about high grade, junk and leveraged loans. We also ponder on the FTX disaster and potential for similar blow-ups. Share your views here.

High natural-gas prices in Europe are likely to speed up the global energy transition, leading to strong copper demand, and good times ahead for miners. European consumers have already shown a propensity to change behavior because of higher energy prices. Yet oil has outperformed copper over the past year, with the price ratio between the two commodities dropping to levels prevalent a decade ago. This is a short-term anomaly brought about by OPEC+ actions and the war in Ukraine. In the long run, it's reasonable to expect copper to become more expensive relative to oil.