Keeping Incentives Low, 4.5 Billion Bitcoin Seized by Gov’t, Hyundai/Kia Catching Fire

February 9, 2022
Today we’re covering the usual wide-shot spanning from Crypto-crime to a rather large Hyundai recall. We also cover one OEM’s plan to keep incentives low as inventory ramps back up.
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Speaking of Crypto: 3.6  Billion Dollars in Bitcoin seized by Justice Department

  • “Ilya Lichtenstein, 34 years old, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, were both arrested without incident Tuesday morning in Manhattan, the department said. They have promoted themselves on social media as entrepreneurs with deep knowledge of tech and a love of travel.”
  • Allegedly stole 120,000 bitcoin from Bitfinex platform. A Hong Kong company
  • Only worth $70M at the time, now $4.5B
  • Ari Redbord, a former senior Treasury Department official says about tracking techniques, “Blockchain is forever”

Kia telling 500k owners to park it away from buildings 🔥

  • Certain models could spontaneously catch fire via the ABS control module having foreign contaminants in them
  • 3 fires reported so far
  • A variety of 2014-2019 vehicles Hyundai 357k Kia 126k vehicles

Honda looking to keep incentives low as inventories increase

  • Low incentives are boosting profitability amongst shortages w current inventory as low as 11 days
  • As inventories increase, the automaker wants to work with dealers to find a balance between how much inventory a dealer will hold and how much will be invested in incentives for buyers
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