US senators investigate Tether over payments of millions of dollars to a company owned by former White House crypto advisor Bo Hines

Pershing Square Capital CEO Bill Ackman stated that the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Iran war, persistent high inflation and interest rates are weighing on an otherwise stronger market environment. However, with geopolitical risks easing and energy prices declining, he expects market prospects to improve notably, dubbing 2027 "an amazing year". In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Ackman noted that if war-related uncertainties recede—especially if the Russia-Ukraine situation progresses in a positive direction—energy prices could fall sharply, which would support lower inflation and better financial market performance. He also referred to the Iran war as "an extremely well-executed war", adding that peace in the Middle East would not only benefit the region but also ultimately the United States.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has banned personnel at the Pentagon and defense agencies from using non-public information to bet on upcoming military operations, including trading on prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. In a memo sent Tuesday to senior officials at the Department of Defense and related defense bodies, Hegseth stated the ban covers both classified and unclassified information, noting that betting on prediction markets could expose military operations and undermine operational security and personnel judgment. The directive comes after U.S. Army soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke was charged in April with using classified information about the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to bet on related outcomes on Polymarket, earning over $400,000 in profits. Prosecutors alleged Van Dyke participated in the planning and execution of the operation, while he has pleaded not guilty to all charges. In February this year, Israeli authorities arrested and charged a military reservist and a civilian, who are suspected of using classified information to bet on Polymarket regarding the outcome of a potential Israeli military strike on Iran. (Cointelegraph)

Aave founder Stani stated in a Q3 live stream that Aaveonomics 3.0 will include AAVE repurchases, staking, and burns. AAVE repurchases have been suspended since April 19, the day after the rsETH exploit incident. Since then, the DAO has committed 25,000 ETH to DeFi United to cover losses, and arranged a credit line of up to 30,000 ETH from Mantle. Ahead of the repurchase suspension, a forum proposal had suggested cutting the annual repurchase budget from roughly $50 million to $30 million.

Western Digital’s first fiscal quarter results exceeded all market expectations, driven by robust data storage demand and improved product pricing, prompting the company to raise its quarterly dividend. The firm reported fiscal 2027 first-quarter revenue of $4.381 billion, up 55% year-over-year, beating analysts’ prior consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) came in at $4.64, surging 161% YoY, versus the FactSet-surveyed analysts’ forecast of $4.11 per share. For the second fiscal quarter, Western Digital projects adjusted EPS of $5.60 to $6.00 and revenue ranging from $5 billion to $5.2 billion. By contrast, analysts had expected adjusted EPS of $4.84 and revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, meaning the company’s midpoint guidance significantly outpaces market consensus. Despite Western Digital’s strong performance, storage and AI-related stocks overall remained under pressure. Market concerns over whether large-scale capital expenditures will generate effective returns in the short term have not dissipated, a sentiment that continues to weigh on sector valuations. Following the earnings release, the stock rose briefly before falling sharply; as of press time, it was down 6.3% in after-hours trading.

Meta’s Q3 revenue and Q4 guidance both exceeded expectations, pushing its shares up over 6.5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday. However, regulatory filings released Thursday revealed that as of the end of September, the company’s total committed future expenditures stood at around $825 billion, covering agreements including leases, cloud computing contracts, and data centers, with a large portion of the funds directly tied to AI computing power and infrastructure construction. This figure is a sharp increase from the roughly $700 billion disclosed in July, with over $100 billion in new commitments added in just a few months. The market reversed course immediately: by Thursday’s U.S. market close, Meta’s shares fell around 7%, wiping out over $100 billion in market capitalization. The five-year credit default swap (CDS) price, a key gauge of Meta’s credit risk, surged to an all-time high, and the company’s bonds weakened significantly relative to U.S. Treasuries. Analysts pointed out this reflects deep-seated investor concerns: tech giants’ continued borrowing to expand AI capabilities will further exacerbate the already oversupplied bond market pressure. Meanwhile, CDS prices for hyperscale cloud providers and chipmakers including Oracle, Microsoft, and Broadcom also rose in tandem, signaling spreading market caution over debt risks across the entire tech sector.

SK Hynix announced in a statement that its overseas subsidiary Solidigm has canceled its pre-IPO financing. Amid market conditions and stock price trends, the company has halted its IPO review. The necessity of investing in Solidigm’s growth remains unchanged, and it will continue to explore alternative plans to enhance shareholder value.