🛒 BOGO Freedom
Buy one exit plan, get fooled for free.
Good morning!
Bitcoin's very first block carried a flourish in its code: a 2009 Times of London headline about Britain's finance minister on the brink of a second bank bailout. A coin born to spite bankers and the governments that rescue them. Weeks before America's midterms, Fairshake, the industry's super PAC, is spending more than $30M to keep Sherrod Brown, a former Senate Banking chairman and its loudest critic, out of the Senate. The man in the White House once called Bitcoin a scam based on thin air and now sells his own. $TRUMP cleared $5B within hours of launch, lost three quarters of it in three weeks, and by midsummer nearly 1M wallets were down $3.8B. The small print said it was no investment.
The grievance behind it was never tidily left-wing. Ron Paul, the libertarian congressman, was selling "End the Fed" in 2009, two years before Occupy pitched its tents, and his gold-hoarding fans sat closer to the source code than any anarchist with a drum circle. The politics sharpened when a better villain than the bank turned up. When PayPal and Apple Pay cut off white nationalist sites after Charlottesville, when GoFundMe refunded Canada's protesting truckers and Ottawa froze their accounts, the state and its contractors became the people who empty an account over an opinion. A ledger nobody can freeze is a civil liberty. It is also an impeccably conservative one.
Sanders and Le Pen jab at the same Davos lanyard and split over the cure. The left wants to seize the winnings and share them out, which takes a strong state. The right wants to walk out and let the pile compound in private. Crypto is the second cure written as code: exit, private property, no central bank, nobody to appeal to, nobody to censor. It could never serve the left, which needs the very authority it dissolves. The far right did not win the argument. It was the only customer whose manifesto matched the merchandise. Fairshake entered the year with $193M and funds both parties. The creed fits only one. The movement sworn to route around power bought a share of it, and the president pardoned the convicted founder of Binance.
The cryptography is real. It shields the reporter in Minsk and the dissident in Tehran from prying governments. That tradition has been stripped for parts and resold as a slot machine. Marine Le Pen's party, which wanted cryptocurrencies banned in 2016, now wants France's state-owned reactors to mine Bitcoin. Argentina's Javier Milei plugged a token that collapsed within hours, and Nigel Farage's Reform UK takes donations in Bitcoin. The men who dreamed of abolishing the sovereign have ended up stoking his furnace. And the buyer promised an exit from the rigged game is learning, coin in hand, that he was never the one leaving. He was the exit liquidity.
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇫🇷 After Hours. Paris and major French cities will see overnight curfews as the government tries to restore order following violent protests and widespread damage. (BBC)
- 🇮🇹 Class Action. Northern students and southern farmers launched separate protests against soaring prices, forcing Meloni’s administration to juggle law and order with economic discontent. (New York Times)
- 🇸🇪 Center Stage. Sweden’s centrist leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist is now tasked with forming a government after months of deadlock and failed attempts by the left. (Le Monde)
- 🇪🇺 Small World. Andorra and San Marino sign an association agreement with the, gaining access to the single market after more than ten years of talks. (Les Echos)
- 🇦🇱 Rock Bottom. Violent clashes between Albanian protesters and police have entered a seventh day, with students demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation and over 295 people injured so far. (BBC)
- 🇨🇴 Fool's Gold. A landslide at an illegal gold mine in Colombia’s Nariño region killed 14 and injured 7, highlighting how criminal groups profit from deadly, unregulated extraction. (Le Monde)
- 🇲🇲 Drone Alone. Myanmar is now the site of the world’s second most intense drone war after Ukraine, as the military junta overtakes the opposition in drone strikes and turns the technology against civilians. (El Pais)
- 🇦🇺 Office Hours. Independent MP Helen Haines is hospitalized with critical injuries after a man allegedly rammed her with his car outside her constituency office, prompting a terrorism probe. (France Info)
- 🇦🇺 Crossing the Line. Independent MP Helen Haines was hit by a car outside her office in Wangaratta, with police treating the incident as intentional. (BBC)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Mail Storm. Political activist Tommy Robinson faces court for allegedly intimidating Daily Mail journalists, accused of posting their home details to his millions of followers. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Gift Aid. Undercover footage shows Nigel Farage ignored his party's press office line and called a £5M donation from Christopher Harborne a Brexit thank-you, raising questions about his explanations. (The Guardian)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇬🇧 Paper Trail Mix. The LBMA’s paperwork shuffle let Madagascar’s tainted gold, mined by children and criminals, pass as legitimate, proving that in this industry, documentation trumps reality every time. (New York Times)
- 🇫🇷 Show Me the Brands. Facing falling ad revenues, French producers want the ban on product placement in non-fiction TV lifted, arguing it is vital for survival. (Le Monde)
- 🇩🇪 Pitch Perfect. With "Invest in Germany," Berlin tries its hand at France's summit strategy, hoping the imitation will bring real investment, not just applause. (Les Echos)
- 🇩🇪 Made in Decline. Auto, metal, and machinery jobs have vanished across Germany since 2019, as the country’s industrial backbone gives way to a service-heavy future. (Die Zeit)
- 🇪🇺 Cold Feet. The will stop pushing for a global ban on Arctic oil and gas drilling, shifting its focus to security risks in the polar region instead. (Financial Times)
- 🇪🇺 Access Denied. The European Commission formally objects to KKR’s $26B NetCo deal, accusing the US firm of supplying misleading information about key access agreements. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Swap Fiction. Investors are piling into credit default swaps tied to AI giants like Nvidia, Meta, and Amazon as fears of an AI debt bubble send CDS trading volumes to record highs. (Financial Times)
- 🇨🇳 Two-Speed Economy. China narrowly meets its growth target with a 4.5% GDP bump, but the real story is exports sprinting while domestic demand limps behind. (Le Monde)
- 🇯🇵 Rare Earthquake. Japan warns it could run out of yttrium within months as China tightens rare earth exports, threatening global car, defense, and chip supply chains. (Financial Times)
- 🇦🇺 Rate Expectations. Ares Management warns that Australia's rising interest rates could squeeze the private credit sector, especially with heavy exposure to shaky real estate loans. (Bloomberg)
- 🌍 All That Glitters. Digital gold’s value has soared to $55B, tripling in a year as Gen Z and millennials turn precious metal into a swipeable asset. (Financial Times)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 No Gain, No Pain. John Healey refuses to hike Capital Gains Tax, brushing off Labour MPs who wanted the levy closer to income tax rates. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Disclaimer Required. The UK's FCA urges AI firms like OpenAI and Google to add clear disclaimers when offering financial advice through chatbots, warning that most users do not realize there is no safety net if things go wrong. (FinExtra)
- 🇬🇧 Cliff Edge. Crossing the £100K salary mark in Britain means a 62 percent marginal tax rate and sudden loss of childcare support, trapping top professionals in a system that punishes ambition with higher bills. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Jet Set Go. New York City’s $326B pension chief called out a private equity firm for trying to bill investors for private jet trips, accusing the industry of letting luxury creep into ordinary fees. (Financial Times)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇬🇧 Silicon Pastures. Plans for a massive AI facility in north Devon spark outrage among residents who say green fields and quiet nights are not up for negotiation. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Debt of a Salesman. The Villages, famous for selling the dream of endless leisure, now hopes investors will buy $180M in high-yield bonds to fund its next phase. (Bloomberg)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Low Spirits. Confidence among home builders just hit its weakest level since June 2012, thanks to expensive mortgages and a labor crunch that will not quit. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Rich List Only. The housing market now caters to affluent cash buyers as high mortgage rates force everyone else to watch from the bleachers. (Wall Street Journal)
🔗 On-chain
- 🇺🇸 Coin and Able. JP Morgan 🇺🇸 brings its JPM Coin to the Ethereum blockchain, letting institutional clients move dollars onchain with Wall Street’s blessing. (FinExtra)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇬🇧 Time's Up. A London judge tosses out the $333M case by black cab drivers against Uber 🇺🇸, declaring their challenge expired before it even began. (Boursier)
- 🇫🇷 Bag Raid. Louis Vuitton and Hermès boutiques were among luxury retailers looted during riots across France, as police and security struggled to contain the chaos. (Financial Times)
- 🇩🇪 Factory Settings. Germany signs a partnership with Nvidia 🇺🇸 to push industrial AI, betting its manufacturing muscle can reboot its global competitiveness. (Le Figaro)
- 🇩🇪 Wage Against the Machine. Volkswagen’s board wants a global pay freeze through 2030, but IG Metall calls the plan unrealistic and vows to fight it. (Die Zeit)
- 🇱🇹 Firewall. Authorities in Lithuania report a failed arson attack on Starlink infrastructure, with Molotov cocktails used but no disruption to the satellite network. (New York Times)
- 🇪🇺 Calling Space. Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Telefonica are exploring a joint bid for European satellite mobile frequencies, aiming to connect smartphones directly to satellites by 2027. (Le Figaro)
- 🇨🇭 Bar None. Lindt loses its CEO as the Swiss chocolate maker’s slump deepens, with two profit warnings this year and cocoa costs at record highs. (Bloomberg)
- 🇨🇭 License to Bill. Roche 🇨🇭 signs a cancer drug partnership with Hansoh Pharmaceutical 🇨🇳 that could bring the Chinese firm over $15B, proving blockbuster deals are still in style. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Binge Limits. After dominating streaming, Netflix 🇺🇸 abruptly fires top executives and axes 1,000 jobs, discovering even endless content has its boundaries. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Child’s Play. Elon Musk says every American child will get a SpaceX 🇺🇸 share in 2027, making childhood dreams and campaign promises equally speculative. (Le Figaro)
- 🇺🇸 Patriot Games. JPMorgan Chase 🇺🇸 claims its $1.5T security push has already financed $230B in projects, proving Wall Street can wave the flag and the checkbook at once. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇯🇵 Risky Business. SoftBank 🇯🇵 sees its credit-default swaps spike to a four-year high as investors worry about AI funding pressures and possible big-ticket acquisitions. (Bloomberg)
- 🇮🇩 Index Fingers. Indonesia will remove thinly held stocks from its main index to appease MSCI, hoping to avoid a downgrade to "standalone" status. (Boursier)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Water Under the Bridge. Prime Minister Andy Burnham orders officials to scrap current rescue plans for Thames Water 🇬🇧 and propose more radical public control options, making the utility a test case for his nationalization pledge. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Case Closed. The High Court dismissed a mass lawsuit by London’s black-cab drivers against Uber 🇺🇸, ending a multimillion-pound legal threat before it could reach trial. (Financial Times)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- Unilever 🇬🇧 has agreed to sell its Welly bandage business to Forward Consumer Partners 🇺🇸.
- Panzani 🇫🇷 is in exclusive talks to merge with Cerealis 🇵🇹 in a $2B deal.
- Capgemini 🇫🇷 acquires WayKonect 🇫🇷 and TMDS 🇫🇷 from TotalEnergies 🇫🇷 for around €5M.
- Lufthansa 🇩🇪 is exploring the sale of its software unit Lufthansa Systems 🇩🇪 for $1.1B.
- Delfin 🇮🇹 held preliminary talks on financing options to purchase stakes in itself from one or more shareholders.
- Celsa 🇪🇸 is weighing a sale or IPO.
- EQT 🇸🇪 has agreed to acquire Cleanaway Waste Management 🇦🇺 for $6.5B, including debt, at a 32% premium.
- Accenture 🇮🇪 is exploring a $1.5B sale of its China unit.
- Avenue Capital 🇺🇸 emerged as the leading bidder for a 10% stake in Serie A 🇮🇹’s international media rights, valued at $360M.
- PACT Capital 🇺🇸 acquired a minority stake in private equity firm Sterling Investment Partners 🇺🇸.
- Silgan Holdings 🇺🇸 has agreed to combine with Trivium Packaging 🇱🇺 in an all-cash deal valued at $3.4B including debt.
- Acorns 🇺🇸 acquires Frich 🇺🇸, a Gen Z-focused social finance app.
- Tradeweb Markets 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire fixed-income trading platform Trumid 🇺🇸 for about $1.97B.
- H.B. Fuller 🇺🇸 rejects Ancora 🇺🇸’s latest bid to acquire its building adhesives solutions business.
- Itaú Unibanco 🇧🇷 to acquire a 35% stake in alternative asset manager Prisma Capital 🇧🇷.
- SoftBank 🇯🇵 is considering an acquisition of Allied Universal 🇺🇸 for $30B, including $12B of debt.
- Daiichi Life 🇯🇵 has offered to acquire the remaining 80% of Challenger 🇦🇺 at a $5.5B valuation, representing a 20% premium.
🇺🇸 United States
- Platinum Equity 🇺🇸 has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Trime 🇮🇹, an Italian manufacturer of mobile lighting, generator and security equipment, subject to regulatory approvals.
- Glenbrook Capital Management 🇺🇸 now owns more than 30% of SenesTech 🇺🇸 and urges the company to limit equity dilution and improve its marketing strategy.
- Ardan Equity 🇺🇸 and GI Partners 🇺🇸 announce investments in Clinical ink 🇺🇸 through a co-control partnership in the clinical trial technology sector.
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇬🇧 Royal Treatment. ME+EM 🇬🇧, the brand worn by British royals, reports a 24% sales boost as its US push adds $111M to the till. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇬🇧 Mind Over Model. AlphaGo architect Thore Graepel leaves DeepMind to found Metis Reasoning, aiming to teach AI the art of actual reasoning. (Sifted)
- 🇺🇸 IPOasis. With OpenAI out of the running, Anthropic 🇺🇸 stands as the last major AI company likely to announce an IPO in 2026, while the rest of the field dries up. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Bug Bounty. Abdulrahman Alfozan, accused of bugging an OpenAI conference room, is denied bail after the Saudi government offers to cover his release. (CNBC)
Fundraising
- Tenstorrent 🇨🇦 (Semiconductors): $1.5B (Trace Capital, Innovation X)
- Neolix Technologies 🇨🇳 (Mobility): $400M (Boyu Capital, AEF NextGen Fund, Monolith Management, Granite Asia Capital, Vertex, Stone Venture, Trustar Capital)
- iwoca 🇬🇧 (Fintech): €185M (ABN AMRO, Neuberger)
- Nouscom 🇨🇭 (Biotech): €120M (M Ventures, Revelation Partners, Angelini Ventures, EIB, Neva)
- Souffle Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $135M (Juvia Group, TCG Crossover Management, BB Biotech, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Balyasny Asset Management, a Leading Sovereign Wealth Fund, Amgen Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Breyer Capital, The Invus Group, Janus Henderson, Leaps by Bayer, Polaris Partners, Safar Partners, TAS Partners, Temasek, Vida Ventures)
- Hertha Metals 🇺🇸 (Steel): $133.65M (U.S. Government, Khosla Ventures, Doerr Capital, CEV, Pear Ventures, Gates Frontier, Niterra SUISO no MORI Fund, Toyota Ventures, Siemens Financial Services)
- Town 🇺🇸 (AI): $108M (Forerunner Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Precedent.vc)
- Dream Labs 🇺🇸 (AI): $90M (B Capital, Kindred Ventures, A.Capital, Unusual Ventures, SV Angel, Wing VC, Scribble VC, Adrian Aoun)
- Salmon Group 🇵🇭 (Fintech): $90M (Spice Expeditions, WashU, Moore)
- Hang Ten 🇺🇸 (AI): $53M (Xora, Temasek)
- Tolan 🇺🇸 (AI): $30M (Union Square Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Homebrew)
- High Lander 🇮🇱 (Aviation): $30M (EDGE Group, STEP, Protego, Kinetica)
- RapidCanvas 🇮🇳 (AI): $29M (Vertex Ventures SEA & India)
- Sharp Performance (Performance coaching): $18M (Hidden Variable)
- Sunlight AI 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $17.4M (Basis Set Ventures, Sofeon Ventures, Social Leverage, Actions Capital, Overlook Ventures, Early Light Ventures, Chris Hubbell, Tilli Bannett, Dara Rahimzadeh, Frank Williams)
- Pandektes 🇩🇰 (Legaltech): €13.5M (Alstin Capital, PROfounders, Scale Capital)
- seragy 🇩🇪 (Biotech): €12M (Commerzbank, Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Niedersachsen, State of Lower Saxony)
- Linkener 🇪🇸 (Energy): €7.5M (Klima Energy Transition Fund, GoHub Ventures)
- Multiliquid (Fintech): $8M (Polychain Capital)
- Allswell 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $7M (Rethink Impact)
- Kodama 🇺🇸 (Robotics): $7M (Konvoy Ventures, Breakwater Ventures, Blue Forest Asset Management, NYA Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Dangerous Ventures, M1C)
- Vessla 🇸🇪 (Proptech): SEK 33M (Fredrik Hjelm, Lukas Saari)
- CoComply 🇬🇧 (RegTech): £1.9M (Mercia Ventures, Haatch, Richard Law, Seb Timpson, Stephen Cann)
- Fibraterre 🇫🇷 (Construction): €1.8M (Bpifrance, Normandie Participations, UTC Alumni & Side Angels)
- HapWare 🇺🇸 (Wearables): $1.5M (Adaptation Ventures, Sidecut Ventures, Mines Venture Fund, Avesta Fund, The Pitch Fund)
- Huppa 🇳🇱 (SportsTech): €1M (Founders of Sentia, Keylane, TicketSwap, Moneybird, and Revue)
- POV Beauty 🇺🇸 (Beauty): Undisclosed (Silas Capital, RÉDO Capital, Imaginary Ventures)
Fund Watch
- GTCR 🇺🇸: $14.2B (latest flagship fund)
- OrbiMed 🇺🇸: $3B (10th US and Europe privates fund and 6th Asia fund)
- EMK Capital 🇬🇧: $1.4B (continuation vehicle for Dutch technical installation services provider VDK Groep, led by LGT Capital Partners and Coller)
- Cliffwater 🇺🇸: $1B+ (real assets funds, AUM surpassed in one month)
- CAZ Investments 🇺🇸: $900M (private markets interval fund, AUM)
- Quantisimo 🇨🇭: $666M (merger with SPAC GigCapital8, pro forma equity value)
- Apogem 🇺🇸: $472M (4th real asset funds, lower middle-market and middle-market opportunities)
- Legal & General and NTR 🇬🇧: $370M (4th clean power fund)
- Lightspeed Venture Partners 🇺🇸: $250M (5th India fund, targeting)
- The Meritex Company 🇺🇸: raised a multi-asset continuation vehicle led by Goldman Sachs
- Coller 🇬🇧: launching 3rd credit secondaries fund
🔔IPO
- Schneider Electric 🇫🇷 (Electrical Equipment): launching a €6B capital increase to help finance the acquisition of PTC.
- Anthropic 🇺🇸 (AI): will commit 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund.
- City Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biotech): raised $200M in an upsized IPO at a $1.16B valuation.
- Elice 🇰🇷 (Data centers): raised ₩201B ($151M) in South Korea’s largest Kosdaq IPO this year.
- Mynt 🇵🇭 (Fintech): set to raise $1B at a $7B valuation in the Philippines’ largest-ever IPO.
- Jio Platforms 🇮🇳 (Telecoms): targeting up to $3.2B its IPO, with an $854M anchor book attracting $26.3B bids.
- Dubai Investments Park Development 🇦🇪 (Real Estate): pushing ahead with plans for a UAE IPO.
- Banque du Caire 🇪🇬 (Banking): seeking to raise $455M through a 30% IPO.
🧳 Debt
- Kimberly-Clark 🇺🇸: discussing bonds to fund its $36B Kenvue acquisition.
- Bank of America 🇺🇸: sold $8B in high-grade debt.
- Carlyle 🇺🇸: agreed to buy $7.7B of unsecured personal loans from Truist Financial.
- First Horizon 🇺🇸: will offload $4.5B of consumer mortgages.
- Proofpoint 🇺🇸: secured $1.25B in high-yield debt to fund its $6.3B acquisition of Varonis Systems.
- Sound Inpatient Physicians 🇺🇸: nearing a $1B refinancing with existing lenders.
- Anthropic 🇺🇸: offered Blackstone a yield above 10% to finance its latest chip deal.
- Microsoft 🇺🇸: pulled out of a compute-leasing deal with Nscale 🇬🇧.
- Persistent Systems 🇮🇳: set to raise $840M local bonds to fund its $1.25B acquisition of Nagarro.
- Angola 🇦🇴: weighing panda and Islamic bond sales to diversify funding.
🇺🇸 United States
- Clean Power Alliance 🇺🇸: secured $1.4B in prepayment financing, expected to save $91.1M.
- April Housing 🇺🇸: secured a $369M Fannie Mae facility for 11 Florida properties.
❌ Failures
- Partners Group 🇨🇭: the private equity firm is blocking hedge funds from disrupting efforts to refinance $6.7B in debt.
- Oaktree 🇺🇸: its deal to acquire an Advantage Capital Holdings-owned life insurer collapsed amid exposure to failed investment firm 777 Partners.
- New World Development 🇭🇰: the struggling Hong Kong developer is in talks with banks to extend $11.2B in loans.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇺🇸 Passing the Bill. Warren Buffett’s $150B legacy lands with his children, who now face the challenge of distributing one of history’s largest fortunes. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Whac-A-Rat. New York City deploys the BurrowRx carbon monoxide machine in its endless rat war, but with 600,000 tree beds, victory remains theoretical. (New York Times)
- 🌎 Fool's Gold. The London Bullion Market Association certified gold mined by children and criminal gangs as "clean" without ever inspecting the sites, letting tainted gold flow to Wall Street and government mints. (New York Times)
- 🌍 Origin Story. Scientists highlight three major turning points in early evolution, but the true origins of life on Earth remain a fiercely debated mystery. (New York Times)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Ship Happens. Engineers have finally removed the masts from the bomb-packed WWII wreck SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames, narrowly avoiding a 1,400-tonne fireworks show for Kent and London. (The Guardian)
