Trump and Japan launch first joint yen buy since 1998
$89 million in Bitcoin vanishes from “secure” Coldcard wallets
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First U.S.-Japan yen intervention in 28 years shocks markets
$89 million in Bitcoin vanishes from “secure” Coldcard wallets
Nvidia CEO says AI boom delivers six-figure paychecks to trade workers
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First U.S.-Japan yen intervention in 28 years shocks markets
The U.S. and Japan confirmed a coordinated Yen-buying intervention Friday, the first joint operation since 1998, after the currency hit 163.73 per dollar and both sides signaled they will not hesitate to act again.
Both sides signal readiness: Japan’s Finance Ministry and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed Friday’s action countered disorderly yen moves and said both sides will not hesitate to conduct further coordinated interventions.
Large scale yen buys: Bank of Japan data showed Japan may have bought as much as $58.97 billion of yen on Thursday, helping drive a more than 3% surge over two sessions and a 1% rise to 156.01 Monday.
Treasury market concerns raised: Analysts cited U.S. worries that Japan, as the largest foreign holder of Treasurys, might dump bonds to fund unilateral action, so the Fed FIMA repo facility will be used instead.
Euro sale questions raised: Reports the U.S. sold euros rather than dollars to buy yen surprised markets, with Robin Brooks arguing this twist undercuts the efficacy of American participation in the intervention.
$89 million in Bitcoin vanishes from “secure” Coldcard wallets
A software flaw in Coldcard bitcoin hardware wallets is linked to the theft of nearly $89 million from more than 1,200 addresses after attackers exploited predictable recovery phrases, with the maker urging immediate fund migration.
Massive rapid theft: Galaxy Research reported more than 1,000 bitcoin drained from 1,196 wallets in 41 minutes on July 30, with additional waves pushing estimated losses to nearly $89 million.
Predictable seed phrases: A coding mistake in certain firmware versions weakened key security features, making some recovery phrases predictable enough for sophisticated attackers to steal funds remotely.
Maker issues update: Coinkite released a software fix for new wallets but warned existing seeds remain vulnerable and users must generate brand-new recovery phrases then migrate their bitcoin.
CEO takes accountability: Coinkite CEO Rodolfo Novak apologized, saying the team is heartbroken and taking full accountability while urging customers to act immediately as attacks remain ongoing.
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ChatGPT grabs nearly 88% of all House AI spending
OpenAI’s ChatGPT accounted for about 88% of identifiable House spending on AI tools in the year ending March 31, appearing in at least 71 member offices as lawmakers debate industry regulation.
ChatGPT leads spending: The chatbot generated $100,580 of the $113,740 in named AI vendor purchases across 798 transactions, representing roughly 88% of dollars and 96% of transactions reviewed.
Wide office adoption: ChatGPT purchases appeared in at least 71 House member offices, or roughly 1 in 6, while Anthropic’s Claude totaled only $13,160 across 37 transactions.
Democrats spend more: Democratic member offices accounted for $54,165 in identified AI purchases, more than three times the $15,782 spent by Republican offices on the tools.
Early OpenAI advantage: The dominance traces to Congress’ first formal AI experiments and training partnerships that made ChatGPT the first product many offices knew by name.
Nvidia CEO says AI boom delivers six-figure paychecks to trade workers
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the AI data-center build-out will unlock a lot of six-figure jobs for plumbers, electricians and construction workers as the largest infrastructure project in human history unfolds.
Trades jobs surge: Huang told BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at Davos that the AI boom is creating six-figure opportunities in plumbing, construction, electricians and steelworkers to build new AI centers.
Infrastructure scale huge: Tech giants are racing toward $7 trillion in global capital outlays for data centers by the end of the decade, described as the largest infrastructure build-out in human history.
Skilled worker shortages: McKinsey estimated the U.S. will need an additional 130,000 electricians, 240,000 construction laborers and 150,000 supervisors between 2023 and 2030.
No degree required: Huang emphasized that everyone should be able to make a great living and that a PhD in computer science is not needed for these high-paying roles.
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Palantir jumps 2%+ as earnings loom, what’s coming?
Palantir shares rose more than 2% in premarket trading Monday ahead of fiscal second-quarter results after the bell, with investors focused on commercial progress and Pentagon contracts.
Premarket gains noted: The data and analytics software company’s stock jumped more than 2% in premarket trading as the overall market was set to rise ahead of the quarterly report.
Commercial focus key: Investors will watch progress on commercial agreements that have accelerated this year along with renewals of overseas contracts.
Pentagon role expands: Earlier this year the company’s Maven Smart System became an official Pentagon program of record, locking in a bigger role in U.S. military AI projects.
Analyst remains bullish: D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria has a Buy rating and $175 price target, citing Palantir’s orchestration tool advantage for switching between AI models.
Musk’s SpaceX hits all-time stock low before earnings
SpaceX will report its first earnings as a public company Tuesday after the bell with shares at a new all-time low after plunging more than 50% from the post-IPO high and a large lockup unlock days away.
Stock hits new low: Shares reached a new all-time low Monday after falling more than 50% from the $225.64 high and nearly 30% from the $150 debut, erasing over $500 billion in market value since the June IPO.
Major lockup unlock: On Aug. 6 the lockup frees 911.5 million shares, more than the current 640 million float and up to 20% of the company, raising fears of heavy selling by early holders.
Earnings numbers expected: Consensus forecasts Q2 revenue of $6.87 billion up from $4.7 billion, an adjusted loss of $0.25 per share and adjusted EBITDA of $2.03 billion amid rising capital spending.
Analysts divided on outlook: Some call the drop an attractive entry with enormous growth and a wide moat while short sellers have booked about $8.3 billion in paper profits since the IPO.