hello. this is business live from bbc news with ben thompson and david eades. is bitcoin about to get a clearer future? traders can now bet on the price of the crypto currency rising and falling. so could banks be holding bitcoin alongside their gold and dollar reserves? live from london, that's our top story on monday the 11th of december. the price of bitcoin has surged as the crypto currency goes mainstream and begins trading on a major exchange for the first time. we'll be explaining what it all means. also in the programme: talking tough on trade — the wto rejects president trump's protectionist rhetoric and calls for a more free—flowing relationship. and markets across europe are looking like this: it is a big week for central bank action. we will

have all the details. and we'll be getting the inside track on the man bringing the family name back to the chocolate business. james cadbury will be here to talk about his ethical chocolate business. and new research suggests the price of christmas is rising significantly. today we want to know if you will be celebrating this year, do you have any clever tricks to bring the price down? let us know. just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. welcome to the programme. we start with a major step for the digital currency bitcoin. it's begun trading on a major exchange for the first time. the cboe futures exchange in chicago opened trading in bitcoin futures on sunday, and the cryptocurrency rose above $18,000. bitcoin started the year at around

$1,000, but the crypto—currency has surged in value recently and last week hit $17,000 for the first time. last friday, it fell by 14% in a single day, but supporters say this weekend's introduction of futures trading will make it more mainstream. that allows investors to lock in a price at which they can buy or sell something in the future. this allows them to profit from price increases or limit their losses if prices fall. thank you very much, ben. simon taylor, co—founder and blockchain practice lead at 11: f5, a consultancy which advises banks and governments on the future of money, hejoins me 110w. it is one—way traffic, which begs

the question, who is losing? this is an asset which is limited in supply, there are only 21 million bitcoin, after all. so will it continue on this extraordinaryjourney after all. so will it continue on this extraordinary journey upwards? who knows? it has the capacity to surprise, it went from less than $100 to nearly $1000 before, and then fell off a cliff, and this may happen againjust then fell off a cliff, and this may happen again just as much as it continues to grow. it is now trading in chicago, it has gone a certain level of respectability? that is the first step, isn't it? it is certainly a mainstream moment, but it is interesting that the volumes are very low. that could be just because it is early and it may continue. it is also interesting that, the mainstream media is paying

attention, we are talking about it on the bbc, instants. i have had 37 people get in touch at the last week asking how to buy it, which says a lot. we were reflecting on christine lagarde from the imf saying, it is not the time for bitcoin, far too early, and looking at the dark side of the criminal underworld that uses it as well, and yet as we sit here, that has been relegated to the last question i am going to ask you rather than the first. i think that is important, because that used to be the perception, whereas when you look at the data, that is a very small useful bitcoin. because it was assumed to behave like cash, people treated it like that, and u nfortu nately treated it like that, and unfortunately cash is used for illicit goods quite often, but what they don't look at is, why would i spend bitcoin when it is going up in value so much? it is a very bad form of cash right now because it is gaining value so quickly. so you wouldn't do it for that reason. you took out bitcoin a long while ago, is so you have seen the one—way

traffic, hence you have 38 very good friends you forgot you had. yes, it is something where it was just this strange story after the side, and 110w strange story after the side, and now everybody is paying attention just because the price has moved. but let's not lose sight of the fact that this currency was invented by people on the internet that was anonymous that is getting a mainstream attention from central banks, so the really interesting question is, is losing? i really don't know. when the price of gold goes up, jewellery makers lose, technology makers lose. who loses when the price of bitcoin goes up? that is a very good question. thank you very much indeed. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the french baby milk formula maker lactalis has ordered a global product recall over fears of salmonella contamination. it covers hundreds of baby milk powder products marketed globally under the milumel, picot and celi brands. health authorities in france says 26 infants in the country have become sick since early december. the gulf state of qatar has signed

another major deal to buy hi—tech defence equipment. it will spend $8 billion on 2a typhoon fighterjets, which will be built in the uk. it follows a deal struck last week with a french supplier for nearly 500 armoured vehicles. and germany's intelligence agency claims that china has been using fake linkedin profiles to gather information on german officials and politicians. the agency alleges that chinese intelligence used the networking site to target at least 10,000 germans, possibly to recruit them as informants. now, a meeting of the world trade organisation has opened in buenos aires with a call for the 164 member international trade body to be strengthened. mariko 0i is in singapore. is this basically a message for

donald trump that we don't like so much protectionism talk? you can definitely say that, as you mentioned the world trade organisation has been criticised a lot lately, especially from president donald trump. this is the first meeting since he took office, he has called the global trade body a disaster, as he pushes his america first policy. he has for example threatened to pull the us out of the trade organisation, and not only that, the wto is racked by disagreements over china, beijing wants to be recognised as a market economy as opposed to the current status of a nonmarket economy, while some of its members accused china of selling its products cheaper than the market rate, everything from steel to alimony, and the wto has been unable to solve these problems and kick—sta rt a been unable to solve these problems and kick—start a stalled trade talks, notjust the and kick—start a stalled trade talks, not just the transpacific partnership. so the trade

organisation is facing quite a lot of challenges as it continues its meeting until wednesday. of challenges as it continues its meeting untilwednesday. as of challenges as it continues its meeting until wednesday. as always, good to see you, thank you very much explaining all of that. a quick look at the numbers for you. this is what the picture looked like across asia overnight. some optimism over what is going to be a big week for the central banks, notably the fed and whether we will get a rate rise on wednesday. this gives us an indication of quite how monetary policy is changing, and the very different response that we are seeing in places like the united states versus what for example we are seeing here in the uk. let me just show you what europe is doing at this point in the day as well, and yes, little bit of optimism ahead of what is going to be starting to wind down before the christmas holiday, of course, and we will discuss these numbers injust christmas holiday, of course, and we will discuss these numbers in just a moment, jane foley is standing by to do that. but first we will head to the us, because samir has the details of the day ahead on wall street. the focus this week will be on the us federal reserve is two—day meeting in washington, which begins on tuesday.

now, the fed will announce its decision on interest rates the next day. the fed kept interest rates unchanged at the previous meeting while pointing to a solid us economic growth and strengthening labour market. now, investors will focus on the quarterly results of some major companies on thursday. 0racle, adobe systems and costco wholesale will be reporting earnings. but on monday, the focus will be on bitcoin, the crypto currency that has been skyrocketing in value in the last few weeks. now, the first bitcoin futures will be traded on the cboe‘s futures exchanges. this could be a gateway into giving the crypto currency some legitimacy, but others worry that the volatility of bitcoin may make these kinds of futures somewhat unreliable. joining us is jane foley, senior currency strategist at rabobank. thank you forjoining us. we are all

sort of looking forward to christmas, but this is a busy week for the central bank. it is. you have the federal reserve announcement on wednesday, and the market is fully priced for another rate hike. the fed tipped to hike interest rates by 0.25% to 1.5% on wednesday. but perhaps that would be the interesting thing about this meeting, because we really want to know the message. we are seeing tax reform going through the process, and that could have an impact on growth, and of course that could have an impact then potentially an inflation, so is the fed is going to hike more or less than we think? that is the message that we want to hear on wednesday. and that message could give us an indication about whether there will be further rate rises in 2018. we were still talking about potentially four rate rises next year, and i touched on it there, it is so different to what we're seeing in the uk, where we have had one rate rise, and that is itfair have had one rate rise, and that is it fair now, we don't do anything too soon. that might be the case,

but certainly we still draw, features, and one of these is despite the fact and we have very low unemployment levels. we are not seeing the wage rises come through, and without wage rises, you don't get the demand for your deflation, and the federal government said it was a mystery that we are not seeing more inflation in the us despite the low unemployment rate, and i think thatis low unemployment rate, and i think that is one of the reasons why, we're not seeing wage inflation. yes, growth is relatively poor here than perhaps we are seeing across the pond, and you expect another rate rise asap? that is different, what the by giving them are saying here is that we're not getting the investment that we otherwise would because of the political uncertainty, and without investment, you don't get the extra capacity and therefore you hit inflationary constraints. but there are similarities with the labour market, certainly. jane, thank you very

much, and jane will return to talk as though some of the papers later. still to come. we are going to get the inside track of the man putting ethics back in the chocolate business. james cadbury will be here to talk to us about it, and most importantly, he has got samples, we are told! you're with business live from bbc news. he hasjust given me he has just given me the thumbs up! boxes of chocolate! he hasn't got mince pies or brussels sprouts. christmas wouldn't be christmas without a table piled high with food. but the price of the festive grocery shop has spiralled this year, thanks to growing food inflation. joining us now is yael selfin, chief uk economist at kpmg. good morning. explain this for us. it is no surprise that prices are going up, but we are so used to food

prices coming down as a result of prices coming down as a result of price wars between the big supermarkets. indeed, we have had that for quite some time, but now with the fall of the pound, what we have seen is the cost of imports rising, and that causes inflation overall, and food prices as well, to rise. it is a seasonal issue, too, for some things as well. brussels sprouts up 8.5%. is that down to the strength of the pound or the wea kness strength of the pound or the weakness of the season? there will be different factors each food category if you like. for example we have seen fish going up quite significantly, we above what we have seen on significantly, we above what we have seen on the rise for meat, for example, over the year to october. but overall, i would say the pound made a big impact given that we importa made a big impact given that we import a lot of our food, but there will be other seasonal effect as well as weather and labour related

issues. and how much will people stop paying christmas to? not very much. thank you very much. smoked salmon up 22%, would you believe. there is much more on the business live page, if i can show you some of the numbers. it includes food, but also things like laptops, up by 1a%, premium smartphones up nearly 7%, and as david touched on there, the pound falling by as much as 20% relative to other currencies, it makes clear there, so that means the stuff that is being imported by retailers is much more expensive. much more on the business live page if you want to take a look, including the latest market news for you this morning, and snow related of course, you know a lot of disruption yesterday, we havejust heard from eurotunnel, they are telling us, if we can get the pictures to load, services back to normal after a difficult day for

them yesterday. you're watching business live. our top story: bitcoin has begun trading on a major exchange for the first time. it launched on the cboe futures exchange in chicago late on sunday, allowing investors to bet on whether bitcoin prices will rise or fall. a quick look at how markets are faring. markets are looking like this across europe in the first 45 minutes and we are going to keep a close eye on those, because as we discussed with jane earlier, the fed is expected to raise rates on wednesday so they will be keeping a close eye on what the minutes tell us about potential rate rises for next year. the name cadbury is synonymous with chocolate here in the uk, but it's now owned by kraft after a takeover in 2010. and that's prompted one descendant of founder john cadbury to re—enter

the chocolate business. sirjames cadbury founded love cocoa last year, inspired by his great—great—great grandfather's ethical and philanthropic business ideals. well, love cocoa aims to use ingredients from independent british suppliers where possible and his start—up donates 10% of all profits to charity. we are going tojoinjames now. thank you for coming into the studio. we are bound to say, with a name like cadbury how can you fail, but it is not on the box, you're love cocoa. why didn't you pick up the cadbury mantle? love cocoa. why didn't you pick up the cadbury mantle ?|j love cocoa. why didn't you pick up the cadbury mantle? i wanted it to be my own brand. there is a big player doing that sort of thing so i wa nted player doing that sort of thing so i wanted it to be me own brand. so i thought love cocoa. so you couldn't have used your own name even if you wa nted have used your own name even if you wanted to? no, i looked into a lot, but it was going to create too much

issues. i didn't think it was worth it. i wanted to create something which i was really proud about and i didn't want to rely on the cadbury name. how frustrating is it not being able to use the cadbury name? is it frustrating? it was a bit frustrating at the start especially when everybody said why are you not calling it james cadbury? when everybody said why are you not calling itjames cadbury? yeah, it is frustrating, but at the same time ididn't want is frustrating, but at the same time i didn't want to just rely on that, it is nice to have some independent and also we are aiming at a different customer. we are using the principles when cadbury first started, it was about being the purest and the best and they had a really amazing packaging which was hand drawn. we use the principles with love cocoa. so we wanted to create something different. pass it over. if you look inside, when we started the business, it was all about providing better box to consumers.

so we saw stuff going to consumers and we wanted wanted to get feedback and we wanted wanted to get feedback and we wanted wanted to get feedback and we have got into harvey nichols. this is hand—made chocolate rather than from a factory. i can see the high end appeal. what difference does it make in terms of the product? sorry. what difference does it make if it's hand—made? product? sorry. what difference does it make if it's hand-made? in terms of being hand—made you're guaranteeing the quality will be there. we are employing people in there. we are employing people in the uk so rather than it being made ina huge the uk so rather than it being made in a huge factory in other parts of the world, we are making it in the uk. and there is a lot of detail and attention going into that. that's grown—up packaging. you talk about the traditional element, don't you? this is grown—up packaging. i'm going to share some! i note your name is on it? we have

got it on there. byjames cadbury. that was allowed, but i wasn't allowed to call it james cadbury chocolates. this is organic. this is a more sophisticated view when you might have your chocolate with a glass of wine or with coffee? we wa nted glass of wine or with coffee? we wanted to do something for adults and we are going with lots of different flavours. we have got avocado and a gym bar. we wanted to stand out. we do try and do things differently. i was listening about how bitcoin is rising. we take bitcoin which is something to stand out from the market. so all these little things to stand out is where you need to be because that's what cadbury did when they started. they we re cadbury did when they started. they were a challenger brand and they came from being challenger to being the biggest in the uk and we want to do something similar, but retain the

quality. james, thank you very much indeed. good luck with it. later this week the eu summit will ta ke later this week the eu summit will take place in brussels. businesses across europe, of course, are following the talks closely. that includes the airline industry and the bbc‘s correspondent spoke to the account and ceo of the dutch airline, klm and asked him how crucial a brexit deal was for european carriers. for klm, the uk is an extremely important market. swerve out of amsterdam 16 destinations in the uk and swerve more cities in the uk if amsterdam by klm than ba does out of london heathrow. it underlines the releva nce london heathrow. it underlines the relevance of the uk market for us. if we look to the brexit, obviously, it will create a complicated picture even more complicated picture for the uk carriers as compared to the european carriers. so, we need to

see what the exact structure is going to be. and there is a lot of unclarity. there is unclarity with the various parties and stakeholders as to how it will look like and clearly for us, as a business, clarity is an extremely important thing to get going forward. what would be the ideal scenario from a klm point of view? there should not be an eua la klm point of view? there should not be an eu a la carte, you can pick and choose what you want. it's very important from an eu prospective that there is pros and cons and there is things you like and things you like less. it is very relevant evenif you like less. it is very relevant even if we look to the aviation sector we are part of a global trade system between the eu and the uk. so i think it's very important that even a aviation should be considered which is found in other industries as well. jane foley hasjoined up again.

there is a lot of change in saudi arabia in terms of the crowned prince wanting to open up the kingdom, from early 2018, they will allow cinemas in the country. up until now, there has been no cinemas there. so, a new industry opening up in saudi arabia. 0pening there. so, a new industry opening up in saudi arabia. opening up to foreign films that we would also expect, but they say the first cinemas could open from march 2018. that's a significant change, isn't it? it is the latest story of change. we heard that they are going allow women to drive. they want tourism and perhaps these two reforms are tied in with that. they wa nt reforms are tied in with that. they want tour ym. they have a lot of pressure on their budget and this is because, of course, the price of oil in recent years has fallen dramatically, from an economic point of view, there is a need for saudi to move into different areas, hence the tourism, but it is about a clamp down on corruption and reform. huge

changes really in saudi over the last couple of months. there must be so many businesses, cinema operators, now waiting on the sidelines trying to find out what the change is and waiting to go in. so be the tourism companies and be the cinema operators and the popcorn, all those wanting to move into saudi arabia? one of the interesting things about the stories, we haven't seen much push back from the conservatives because a lot of people said well, surely the conservatives are going to push back on this, saying this is too far, too fast in terms of opening up this economy. if there is a push back, it will have a business implication for those companies who wa nt to implication for those companies who want to move into saudi from a business prospective. this is in the ft on new zealand looking to ban foreigners from buying houses. this isa foreigners from buying houses. this is a country which had an open door policy until recently about trying to bring more people in, but now suchis to bring more people in, but now such is the shortage of stock, it's putting up the shutters. it is

amazing, we have seen strong house price gains in a number of countries in recent years and of course, i would say that this is one of the main features that buyers, the recent election in new zealand. auckland house prices have gone up 90% ina auckland house prices have gone up 90% in a decade and that's squeezing people out. now, we had the election recently. we had the labour party coalition come in, and that was, what we saw is a king maker was the new zealand first. a real nationalist party who wanted to ban foreigners from buying houses so that domestics can buy, but to stop foreigners from investing in the country. this is real nationalistic policies that we're seeing in new zealand which i think is really quite dramatic given that it's a g scene 10. jane, do you think you will spend more this christmas than you have in previous years? probably. it is always the way. we have been asking you for your comments this morning about how you might save a few quid. william says,

"don't buy stuff you don't need. it will cost money and cost the environment." i like this from citizen "get yourself invited to someone citizen "get yourself invited to someone else's christmas party. it will save you money." buy in the sales, you can't really do it, you would save 50%, but lose credibility at home. food price inflation means that things are getting more expensive, but somehow we always spend more. it is an easy hit for the sellers, isn't it, retailers, you have got to buy? yes. marketing is so big this time of year as well. jane, lovely to see you, thank you very much indeed. thank you for your company, we will be back at the same time, same place tomorrow. bye—bye. it was a cold and a wintry weekend.

weekend. some places seeing the most snow fall we have seen in four yea rs. snow fall we have seen in four years. this picture taken in leicestershi re years. this picture taken in leicestershire showing the depth of the snow. scenes like that across many central parts of the country. this one is from shropshire. we have had to up 33 centimetres of snow in males. it has caused significant disruption and during monday morning, ice is going to be the main hazard. during the day our attention turns 0 this area low pressure. the northern edge could bring heavy rain and strong winds into the south east of england. perhaps snow and also sleet mixed in, but ice developing widely during monday morning. so for the rush hour, take care on the roads. there could be slipper surfaces around. let's take a look at monday morning in more detail then. we will see the mix of rain, sleet and snow across the south east. the winds picking up too, away from the south east of england,

there is brighter conditions, but a very cold start to the day certainly with temperatures well down in the minus double digits in one or two parts of the countryside. sunshine across northern england. watch out for icy stretches. across northern ireland and scotland we will see a northerly breeze bringing in snow showers through the day. as we head through monday then, that rain sleet and snow will ease from the south east. the winds will ease too. away from the south east, lots of dry weather and wintry sunshine, but temperatures will struggle to get above freezing and we will continue to see rain, sleet and snow showers across northern ireland and northern parts of scotland. overnight, one or two coastal showers in the far north, west and east, the bulk of the rain clears from the south east and again, very cold into the early hours of tuesday morning. we could see the temperatures as low as minus 12 celsius particularly where you have got the lying snow around and the clear skies too. some freezing fog patches likely on tuesday. they could be stubborn to clear through the day. if you don't see the fog,

you'll see the wintry sunshine if the word go. another cold day for central and eastern parts of the country, just one or two degrees here. milder weather moving in from the west with the arrival of cloud and rain. that's all courtesy of this weather front through tuesday night and into wednesday. that shifts its way eastwards across the country. so it will bring a spell of rain and wind during wednesday, but things will turn milder through the middle part of the week with the return to heavy showers and perhaps hail around as well, but temperatures between three to 11 celsius. bye for now. hello. good morning. it's monday, it's nine o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. our top story today — treacherous road conditions and hundreds of schools closed as snow turns to ice. yes, at hasn't stopped, didn't stop snowing until the early hours here, we have had about eight centimetres. i'm in worcester. but in other parts

of the west midlands, up to 20 centimetres, and temperatures are dropping, turning the snow to ice, so dropping, turning the snow to ice, so people are being warned to take ca re so people are being warned to take care when they go out today. wherever you are, how is the snow is affecting you. we'll get the latest from our correspondents right across the uk. also on the programme: as the inquiry into the fire at grenfell tower gets under way today, we'll talk exclusively to the leader of the local council and ask her why so many survivors are still living in hotels. we lost lives, some people lost all their families.