FINMA approves Switzerland’s first retail Bitcoin ETF

Regulation (1)

• Perpetuals.com, a tokenized-stock venue, and OKX notified the SEC of plans to operate tokenized securities venues. The SEC’s five-year exemption does not guarantee that applicants meet its requirements; tokenized shares could trade around the clock, while David Bennett predicted scams and a messy fight with companies opposed to the model.

Adoption (1)

• A proposed SpaceX-Tesla merger remains exploratory, but Tesla and SpaceX together hold 30,221 Bitcoin worth about $2.5 billion, with a combined cost basis near $1 billion. David Bennett said a merger could place the companies among the largest public Bitcoin holders and put their holdings under one public company’s disclosures and fair-value accounting.

BTC Markets (4)

• David Bennett argued that a combined Tesla-SpaceX company could fare better than Strategy if MSCI excludes firms with large non-yielding Bitcoin holdings from its indexes. He said index exclusion could make Strategy harder for institutions and pension funds to buy, while the merger might satisfy MSCI’s listing rules.
• The host said a one-shot sale of the seized Bitcoin could pressure the market, while returning Bitcoin directly to victims would avoid converting the entire stash to cash. He also relayed a listener’s concern that some Mt. Gox claimants might stay silent because their coins could have come from Silk Road purchases.
• JPMorgan Asset Management forecast a 10% annual compound return for Bitcoin over the next 10 to 15 years, its first Bitcoin forecast in 31 annual editions. Its report assigned Bitcoin 55% annualized volatility and excluded it from its main covariance model, citing volatile correlations; David Bennett said the firm’s forecast could be conservative.
• The host’s market roundup put Bitcoin at $81,400, the 10-year Treasury yield below 5%, and energy prices mostly higher while metals and major U.S. indexes were mixed or lower. The report also cited roughly 67,000 unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions and a high-priority fee rate of 2 sat/vbyte.

Corruption (1)

• Chinese prosecutors are seeking 61,800 Bitcoin tied to an alleged investment fraud that raised more than 40.37 billion yuan from over 102,000 investors. A Chinese court accepted the confiscation request, and a U.K. ruling said Chinese law should govern victims’ claims; David Bennett said China’s decision to sell or retain the coins could signal its Bitcoin policy.

Protocol (1)

• The Liquid Network said it had entered the final recovery stages after an inflation bug let attackers create unauthorized LBTC and exchange it for real Bitcoin. Blockstream said most of the stolen funds were returned through a white-hat operation, but the attackers kept about 600 Bitcoin; the network was working to restore one-to-one backing and re-enable authorized peg-outs.

Mining (2)

• CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju called rising Bitcoin hash rate an indirect bullish signal because publicly traded miners have traditional-finance backing and higher hash rate strengthens network security. David Bennett noted that hash rate had returned to zettahash territory despite miners’ stated plans to shift capacity toward AI infrastructure.
• NIP Group agreed to buy another tranche of deployed Bitcoin-mining hardware, which could raise its total hash rate to nearly 14 EH/s. Its shares fell 6.8% on Wednesday and were down 86% over the year; David Bennett questioned whether miners were actually abandoning Bitcoin mining for AI infrastructure.

Agents (1)

• OpenAI acquired Orchestra Bio, whose agents coordinate drug-development schedules, information, and responses across company teams and outside research and manufacturing partners. OpenAI said scientists and program leaders retain final decisions; the financial terms and integration date were not disclosed.

Models (1)

• OpenAI’s GPT Rosalind biology model was limited to vetted U.S. enterprise customers such as Amgen and Moderna, while a new academic plan offered eligible university labs up to 30 free seats for 12 months. David Bennett argued that unequal access could disadvantage smaller drug companies and deepen existing problems in the medical system.

Biology (3)

• David Bennett argued that AI companies’ control over access to drug-discovery tools raises ethical concerns that markets alone may not resolve. He opposed relying on laws to force companies to share products, and said capitalism depends on personal morality and restraint as well as market rules.
• OpenAI has expanded into health and scientific research through ChatGPT Health, its reported $100 million purchase of Torch, and the Prism research platform. OpenAI’s CFO Sarah Friar said licensing, intellectual-property agreements, and outcome-based pricing could let the company share in value created by AI-assisted drug discovery.
• Anthropic pursued a similar biotech strategy, buying AI biotech startup Coefficient Bio and launching Claude for Science. Anthropic said Claude helped identify an unknown enzyme system resembling CRISPR, though some scientists called the finding overblown.

Health (1)

• David Bennett argued that the FDA’s handling of RNA vaccines failed to provide adequate testing and treated recipients as guinea pigs. He said drug approvals should normally take many years, presenting the vaccine rollout as a case where that standard was not met.

Society (1)

• David Bennett warned that the mountain road into Ouray, Colorado has exposed stretches without guardrails and can be dangerous for inattentive drivers. A listener said Ouray’s mountain setting could make it an appealing refuge, and the host recommended the scenic drive while urging caution.

Digital Sovereignty (1)

• A listener argued that people can create a personal version of Galt’s Gulch by minimizing interactions with the state. Another listener suggested Mt. Gox claimants might avoid filing claims if their Bitcoin had come from Silk Road, because Mt. Gox operated without KYC.