Federal Reserve's Harker: May Temporarily Hold Rates Steady

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy recently told Fox Business’ *Varney & Co.* that he will not sell his Bitcoin holdings even if the cryptocurrency drops to zero. He told host Stuart Varney, “I’m holding on forever, even if it goes to zero,” adding that he would rather “go down with the ship” this time than repeat his past mistake of selling only to see prices surge afterward. Portnoy admitted he bought Bitcoin at a high near $100,000 and is now sitting on millions in unrealized losses. He confessed that his Bitcoin trade is “the biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” noting that every time he sells, prices skyrocket, and every time he buys, prices drop. Notably, Portnoy has a history of controversial moves in the meme coin space: In February 2025, he launched the GREED token on Pump.fun, bought 35.79% of its total supply, then dumped all his holdings at once, causing the token to crash 99% while he pocketed around $258,000 in profits. After facing backlash, he released GREED2 and JAILSTOOL in succession, admitting during a live stream that he “did consider a rug pull, and might still be thinking about it.” He has also been involved in the collapse of the LIBRA token, which was endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei: he bought $4.5 million worth of the token, later recovering $5 million in compensation. Earlier, he settled a lawsuit related to SafeMoon for $20,000.

U.S. tech firms have pledged a record $850 billion in data center leases, up $570 billion year-over-year (+204%) and $200 billion quarter-over-quarter (+31). Meta added roughly $79 billion in new data center lease commitments in Q1 2026, a 76% quarter-over-quarter rise, bringing its total to around $183 billion. Microsoft added about $41 billion, a 26% QoQ increase, pushing its total to roughly $197 billion. Oracle leads with a total commitment of approximately $250 billion, and has secured key data center resources for its partnership with OpenAI. This signals that demand for AI infrastructure is entering a long-term structural growth phase, with supporting industries like semiconductors, energy, and liquid cooling set to benefit continuously. Meanwhile, surging computing power demand may further exacerbate GPU supply shortages, providing support for AI concepts and valuations of related tokens. Click the original link below to join Beating · Feishu AI News Channel, which monitors global AI hotspots and news 24/7.

According to EmberCN’s monitoring, the ETH/BTC exchange rate has rebounded from a low of 0.0252 to 0.0285 over the past month. A whale that has accumulated 6,389 ETH (worth around $1.134 million) in coin-based profits via two ETH/BTC exchange rate trades this year executed its third such trade of the year today: selling 4,695 ETH at a rate of 0.0285 to receive 133.8 BTC. The whale is betting the ETH/BTC rate will weaken going forward, meaning ETH will post smaller gains or larger losses relative to BTC. On-chain data shows the whale’s prior two ETH/BTC swing trades this year both involved selling ETH at high rates and buying back ETH at lower levels, netting a total of 6,389 ETH. Details: In early January, it sold 22,345 ETH for 774 BTC, then repurchased 24,564 ETH by the end of January, earning a profit of 2,219 ETH. In mid-April, it sold 24,564 ETH for 784.7 BTC, and repurchased 28,734 ETH in early June, adding another 4,170 ETH in profit.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, whale address "FU76ac" has deposited approximately $2.76 million worth of USDC into Kamino Finance's lending vault. The funds were routed via the Invest function of the Kvault Program to Kamino Lending Program for participation in lending activities and generating returns.

The New York Times published an article stating that, amid the U.S. reaching an understanding with Iran and the Trump administration adjusting its Middle East policy, rifts between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are growing, and U.S.-Israel relations are at a critical turning point. The report said Trump had reportedly privately criticized Netanyahu for escalating military actions in Lebanon, telling him "everyone hates you now". U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance recently publicly stated that Israel "cannot rely on constant warfare to solve all its national security issues", emphasizing that U.S. and Israeli interests are not always aligned. Recent public criticism from the U.S. administration toward the Israeli government has sparked discontent among Israeli domestic conservatives and Netanyahu’s pro-Netanyahu camp. A latest poll shows that Trump’s approval rating among Israeli citizens has dropped significantly after the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran. The article argues that Israel’s long-held security strategy of relying on military force to achieve "total victory" is facing growing skepticism. Against the backdrop of ongoing wars and deepening international isolation, no matter who comes to power in the future, Israel will have to reassess its security strategy and foreign policy.

Driven by the 2026 FIFA World Cup, U.S. prediction market platform Kalshi’s June trading volume rose to around $9.4 billion, a nearly 77% jump from May’s roughly $5.3 billion and an all-time high. In the same period, Polymarket International’s trading volume grew from around $3.5 billion to approximately $4.3 billion. Data shows the World Cup served as a key catalyst for the growth of prediction market trading. As this World Cup expanded to 48 teams for the first time, increasing the number of matches and knockout scenarios, it boosted activity in single-match event contracts. Notably, the Round of 16 match between Canada and Morocco saw trading volumes exceeding $48 million on Kalshi and $26.8 million on Polymarket respectively. However, the rapid surge in trading volume has also intensified regulatory debates. Multiple U.S. states continue to argue that sports event contracts should be subject to gambling regulation, rather than being classified as derivatives markets overseen by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Meanwhile, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) recently warned that some event contracts may fall under the regulatory scope of existing binary options rules. Analysts note that the World Cup has validated prediction markets’ ability to attract liquidity during major events, but whether sports event prediction contracts should be regulated as financial derivatives or gambling remains a core regulatory issue facing the industry.